Senate

Amendment Based on Recommendations of a Government Study is Latest Addition to Feingold's Control Spending Now Act to Slash the Deficit

November 17, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is hailing Senate passage of his amendment to the military construction appropriations bill to enhance the security of our nuclear arsenal and more effectively use taxpayer dollars.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the United States Senate has approved $82,257,000 in federal funding for military construction projects in Illinois.

The Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations Bill for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs includes funding for the following Illinois projects:    » read more »

Legislation invests in new military facilities in Minot, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo

November 17, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- The U.S. Senate approved an appropriations bill today that includes funding secured by U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad to construct new military facilities in Minot, Grand Forks, Fargo and Bismarck. Dorgan and Conrad said the bill will give a boost to North Dakota’s military missions.    » read more »

Senator has pushed for action to investigate and prosecute financial fraud

November 17, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said today’s announcement that the Justice Department will ramp up efforts to crack down on financial fraud “is critical to bring these modern day bank-robbers to justice, necessary to restore confidence in our financial system, and I applaud the Department of Justice for taking this action.”

Dorgan has been pushing for increased investigations and prosecutions of those who wrongly profited from the financial collapse. In January, Dorgan introduced the Taxpayer Protection Act (S. 195), which would, among other things, investigate and prosecute financial fraud that contributed to the collapse of our financial markets.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today announced that they helped secure $64.6 million for military construction projects for Connecticut military bases throughout the state. The funding, which was allotted as a part of the Military Construction and Department of Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations bill, will go towards projects in Bridgeport, Middletown, and Hartford.

In addition, the bill includes $300 million for the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) – which provides financial support to military families incurring substantial losses when service-related moves force them to sell their homes in base communities such as the one surrounding Submarine Base New London.    » read more »

Bill Will Guarantee Up to Seven Days of Paid Sick Leave for Workers Infected By the H1N1 Virus

November 17, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) today will introduce emergency legislation that will guarantee paid sick days for those who are infected by the H1N1 virus. Last week, Dodd chaired, and Congresswoman DeLauro testified at, a hearing of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children and Families in response to the H1N1 pandemic.    » read more »

Hearing on Child Nutrition Reauthorization

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today urged his Senate colleagues to take action to end hunger as the Senate begins to debate the reauthorization of U.S. Child Nutrition Programs. Senator Casey participated in a hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry entitled “Reauthorization of U.S. Child Nutrition Programs: Opportunities to Fight Hunger and Improve Child Health.”    » read more »

Senators' Legislation Provides Certainty & Fairness, While Being More Fiscally Responsible

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) today reintroduced fiscally responsible bipartisan legislation to exempt families, farms and small businesses from the estate tax burden.

The legislation, which also reflects proposals advocated by President Obama, would freeze the estate tax at its current 2009 levels. Under the bill, the value of any estate above $7 million per couple or $3.5 million per individual will be taxed at a 45 percent rate. That rate will remain constant, while exclusion amounts will be adjusted upward each year to account for inflation.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed tighter controls for dangerous sulfur dioxide emissions, winning the support of Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Clean Air and Nuclear Safety subcommittee.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a dangerous air pollutant that can travel long distances and results when sulfur-containing fuels such as coal, oil or diesel are burned. Each year, manmade sources emit more than 14 million tons of sulfur dioxide nationwide

“Current federal standards simply fail to protect public health,” said Sen. Carper. “I have long supported tighter SO2 controls that protect Americans with lung diseases like asthma, and especially children and older adults.”    » read more »

Following New Report from USDA Showing Unprecedented Rise in Hunger, Brown Emphasizes Need to Enroll More Children in Nutrition Programs

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms, attended a hearing today of the Senate Agriculture Committee entitled, "Opportunities to Fight Hunger and Improve Child Health."

Brown emphasized the need to pass his Hunger Free Schools Act, which would help enroll more students who qualify for nutrition assistance in the school lunch program by increasing the program's efficiency through technology improvements and paperwork reduction.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall reported that the Senate has approved legislation to fund key construction projects at New Mexico's military installations.

The fiscal year 2010 Military Construction and Department of Veterans' Affairs Appropriations Act sets aside a total of $172 million for Cannon, Kirtland and Holloman Air Force Bases, as well as the National Guard facility in Santa Fe.

"This bill invests millions of dollars in New Mexico's military installations and ensures that our Air Force and National Guard facilities remain in top shape," Bingaman said. "It is another way to support the men and women of our armed forces."    » read more »

Funding Included in Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill

November 17, 2009 -- Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, U.S. Senators for Colorado, announced today that the Pueblo Chemical Depot is on track to receive $92.5 million in new federal funding for construction of a facility to destroy chemical weapons stored there.

The funding was included in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010, which was approved by the Senate by a vote of 100 to 0.

The bill now goes to a conference committee to be reconciled with the version passed in the House. The $92.5 million in funding represents a portion of the money requested for work at Pueblo Chemical Depot.    » read more »

As Overall Hunger Rates Go Down Over Three Years in Colorado, Study Shows that Problem Increased in 2009 as Economic Crisis Continues to Hurt Families

November 17, 2009 -- On the heels of a new study that found 1 in 8 Colorado households lack dependable access to adequate food, as well as recent reports showing more children in Colorado are living in poverty, Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, today pushed lawmakers to revisit the role the federal government can play in fighting child hunger and improving public health.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye and Veterans Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka announced that Hawaii is expected to receive more than $365 million to fund infrastructure improvements to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Schofield Barracks and Hickam Air Force Base.

The federal funds for Hawaii-related projects were approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Military Construction Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill.

The full Senate passed the spending measure by a vote of 100 to 0. The bill still requires approval by the House of Representatives.    » read more »

Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act Would Help Localities Conduct Studies to Control Costs

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - United States Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced today the Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help states and localities better understand how to manage the growth in prison and jail populations and increase public safety.

The legislation would authorize grants to analyze criminal justice trends and to design and implement policies to better manage prison spending. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA) also introduced companion legislation today in the U.S. House of Representatives.    » read more »