Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Update for Washington State: Monday, July 3, 2006
Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Update for Washington State: Monday, July 3, 2006
Celebrating Independence Day
On Independence Day, we celebrate a revolution that gave birth to a new nation. We celebrate those whomore than 200 years agopledged their faith and sacrificed so much to uphold our most enduring values: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We also join with our family and friends to honor and thank the brave men and women serving our country today both at home and overseas. The strength of our democracy is rooted in their service, their sacrifice, and their dedication to our nation's core principles. I hope all Washingtonians enjoyed a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday.
Support for Military Families
The husbands, wives, and children of the brave men and women who have given their lives for our county need to know that our government will stand by them in their time of need. Our current survivor benefits system needs to do more. On Monday, I met with local military widows in Federal Way to discuss the current benefit plan. This plan includes two main programs that are supposed to provide benefits to military widows and widowers following the active duty death of a spouse: the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program and the Survivors Benefit Plan. The DIC program, run by Department of Veterans Affairs, provides financial benefits to surviving dependents of deceased military personnel. The military Survivor Benefit Plan, managed by the Defense Department, provides surviving spouses with a portion of what would have been their spouse's retirement pay. Under the present system, any payment received through DIC leads to a dollar-for-dollar reduction in Survivors Benefit Plan benefits. For instance, one of the military widows I met with on Monday should receive $1062 a month from the Survivors Benefit Plan, which is considered her husband's retirement benefit. Instead, after her DIC funds are deducted, she receives only $29 a month from the Survivors Benefit Plan. To correct the problem, I'm backing the Military Retiree Survivor Benefit Equity Act to help provide military widows with the benefits they're entitled to. When our servicemen and servicewomen make the ultimate sacrifice for our country, their loved ones deserve to know that our nation will support them and their families. Our current survivor benefits system should do as much as possible for these families who have already sacrificed so much.
Getting Local First Responders the Resources They Need to Fight Terrorism
At a time when it's clear our communities remain vulnerable, this administration has proposed cuts to the homeland security grants that help many of our state and local first responders become better prepared. A grant restructuring proposal put forward by the president would reduce the overall number of homeland security grants available and eliminate the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP). The LETPP program reinforced our state's law enforcement with nearly $10 billion in 2006 to support information sharing, planning, training, and equipment procurement. The fact that Washington received more funds from LETPP than from the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), a separate program focused exclusively on preparedness in our large urban centers, highlights the vulnerabilities that the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement officials have recognized in our state outside the Seattle urban area. To help make sure all our communities continue to have access to vital counter-terrorism and preparedness funds, I've written to members of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee requesting full funding for the program. The subcommittee has restored some of the funding, but full funding is needed if we want to keep from shortchanging our first responders. It is imperative that we make a real commitment to those serving our states, counties, and cities. Cutting off communities across our state and country is not the way to secure America.
A Victory in the Fight Against Enron
Last week, we saw that sometimes, the little guy does win. One week ago today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled in favor of Snohomish Public Utility District (PUD), denying Enron's attempt to collect millions from ratepayers for power it never even delivered. Snohomish PUD and its consumers stood their ground for years, fighting back against this fraudulent $122 million lawsuit. Since taking office, I've worked to help Snohomish PUD and others get relief from the Western energy crisis. In the Energy Policy Act, signed into law last year, I secured a provision to prevent a bankruptcy court from forcing Snohomish PUD and its customers to fork over millions of dollars to Enron. This measure reaffirmed FERC's authority to decide whether charges related to manipulated power contracts should be enforced. The Commission exercised this authority in the ruling issued last week in favor of Snohomish PUD.
http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/weekly_update_last.cfm