July 2010 E-News
Statement
Welcome to the July Edition of E-News! In today's 24-hour news environment, providing you with timely information on federal efforts and legislation important to Idaho and our country is a top priority for me. This electronic newsletter, along with my website, iTownHall meetings, podcasts, Facebook and YouTube gives me the opportunity to keep you informed on issues important to Idaho, the West and our country. In every edition of E-News, I include a survey question that gives you a chance to weigh in on key issues of the day, and it helps keep me informed of your views.
Reaching as many Idahoans as possible is extremely important to me, and you can use the "Tell a Friend" form on the lower left to pass this along to friends, co-workers and family members. It is my intent that E-News provides you with an interesting and informative resource to help you keep informed on developments in Washington that affect our state, and that you will let me know of anything that I can do to improve E-News and other communications tools.
Fireworks at the U.S. CapitolThis month we celebrate the 234th birthday of the United States of America! The Fourth of July marks the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress, we claimed our independence from Britain and our republic was born. As you celebrate our nation's freedom with barbecues, picnics, parades, fireworks and gatherings with our families and friends, please take a moment to think of the brave members of our military. They are the ones who have sacrificed so much to protect and defend those freedoms we hold dear.
In this month's E-News, you will find information on:
* Financial Reform-Concerns for Main Street and our economy
* Second Amendment Rights-U.S. Supreme Court upholds constitutional rights
* Rural Funding-PILT funding requested for rural counties
* Energy-National energy poilicy should be decided by the Congress, not the EPA
Financial Reform
Congress has been working on a major financial services bill in recent months. I have deep concerns about the impact that this legislation will have on Main Street and our economy and, as a member of the Conference Committee charged with ironing-out the differences between the Senate and House bills, I worked hard to try to improve it.
While I was able to make permanent a small business exemption to the burdensome Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements and make changes to protect the privacy of consumer's banking activities, the needed reforms to our financial system that have included in the bill are far overshadowed by a number of provisions that will ultimately hurt Main Street. The bill restricts access to credit and discourages capital formation in this country to work and yet once again creates a large, new, expensive government bureaucracy unreasonably extending the federal government's control over the economy.
The legislation also ignores reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which stand out as the source of the greatest taxpayer losses and a root cause of the financial crisis. I offered an amendment to show the true picture of how much our national debt has been increased by the bailout of these institutions, but it failed on a party line vote. In addition, using unspent TARP funds to offset additonal spending in the bill rather than paying down the debt is bad policy and a budgetary gimmick.
I voted against the conference report and will oppose this legislation when it is brought to the Senate floor. Return to the top.
pppppppppppSecond Amendment Rights
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court again reaffirmed Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The Court's decision in McDonald v. Chicago, which clarified that cities and states must honor the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, sends a clear signal to the opponents of lawful gun ownership that these fundamental freedoms cannot be arbitrarily abridged.
This ruling by the Court -- in addition to the Court's ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller -- is significant because it adds legal certainty to what commonsense people across the nation have known for decades: the Second Amendment to our Constitution is a fundamental, individual right that cannot and must not be restricted for lawful gun owners. Opponents will continue to make their case in the courts, but I could not be more pleased with the Court's decision. This is a proud day for law-abiding gun owners in Idaho and across the United States. Return to the top.
Rural Funding
Recently, Senator Jim Risch, Congressman Mike Simpson and I joined with 33 other members of Congress from both parties asking the Obama Administration to release funds critical for counties. In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, we requested the release of federal funding distributed under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program before the end of June.
Many of our rural counties lose so much of their tax base to federal land ownership, and the timely release of PILT payments is imperative to ensure that counties recoup lost tax dollars and can fund critical road maintenance projects and schools. In nearly every meeting I have with county commissioners from Idaho, the issue of PILT funding comes up.
PILT compensates counties for the loss of tax revenue due to federal land ownership. Nearly $381 million was distributed to counties across the nation in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. The payments were anticipated to be made by June 30, in time for the start of the fiscal year for most counties. However, the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced a delay in the release of the funds. The formula used to compute the payments is based on population, receipt sharing payments, and the amount of Federal land within an affected county. The program was created in 1977. Return to the top.
Energy
On June 10, the U.S. Senate rejected a resolution by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from imposing a cap and trade-like system to regulate carbon emissions on the American people. This vote culminated a months-long process, through which the President and many of his colleagues in Congress tried to force the House and Senate to pass a massive energy tax in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.
When Senate leaders could not muster the necessary 60 votes to pass such legislation in the Senate, the EPA began writing regulations to cap carbon without providing any legitimate mechanism for reducing the impacts on the economy. As such, I worked with Senator Murkowski and many other Senators to stop the EPA from imposing these regulations because national energy policy should be decided in the halls of Congress and not at the EPA.
The Murkowski resolution only needed 51 votes to pass the Senate, but we fell short, by a vote of 47 -- 53. This is highly unfortunate, but there are other options before the Senate, such as a two-year moratorium on these EPA regulations, and I am hopeful that, at a minimum, we can pass that legislation in the near future. I remain committed to protecting Idahoans and the American people from a highly detrimental national energy tax, whether it be imposed by the Congress or the President, and I will continue to fight for a commonsense energy policy here in the U.S. Senate. Return to the top.
Still looking for more information? Use the questions to the left to specify issues that are of concern to you.
It is my hope that you will benefit from being aware of changes in legislation of concern to you. Please visit the Issues and Legislation section of my website for information that addresses many issues important to all of us. As always, I highly value the opinions and concerns of my fellow Idahoans. With that in mind, we continue to work to improve my website.
Please do not reply to this e-newsletter. Any comments, suggestions or concerns that you have should be sent to me through the E-mail Me section on my website. Also, let me know if there are issues that you would like me to address.
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