John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

According to a group of female U.S. Senators, women have to pay one and a half times more for health insurance than men nationwide. In addition, the Senators said that women tend to need more hospital care then men making them more susceptible to higher rates.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Barbara Mikulski (D-M.D.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) spoke at an event called “Standing Up For Women’s Health” Thursday along side National Women’s Law Center Co-President Marcia Greenberger.

“If we look at statistics, its estimated 64 million women lack….health insurance. Over half of medical bankruptcies are filled by female headed households. [For} too many women and their families, getting quality healthcare is not available for them today,” Shaheen said.

“Women want healthcare reform and they want it now,” Klobuchar said.

The Senators said that the majority of individual health insurance policies in the U.S. do not cover maternity care because it is considered to be a pre-existing condition.

“As you think of these women who are already battered and in a weak and vulnerable state and to find out they can’t even go see a doctor which is a part of their recovery and they can’t even mend because they have been domestically abused. This is why it’s important to get rid of these pre-existing condition rules,” Klobuchar said.

A July report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma is 15.4%, high school graduates without a college degree is 9.4%, and those with a college degree is only 4.7%. “I can see why the president has made it a priority to try to get people to not just finish high school, but to finish at least a year of college,” says Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). (0:17)

 

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By Sam Wechsler – Talk Radio News Service

Climate change is a real and imminent threat to national security, said a group of senators Thursday during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.

During a discussion regarding the value of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Waxman-Markey bill), the senators agreed that it is important to decrease dependence on foreign oil.

“We’re not going to say no to importing all foreign oil, but when we look at some of the countries where we rely on for energy, [they are] countries that we would rather not be dealing with, that put us at risk when they cut off our supply,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

In addition to foreign oil, climate change may also affect the U.S.’s national security by heightening the intensity of conflicts abroad.

Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn, a witness at the hearing, likened climate change to a magnifying glass on global conflicts. He argued that climate change would create water shortages in some regions, crop failure, and cause environmentally displaced people to cross borders. “[Climate change] will place an avoidable and unacceptable burden on our young men and women in uniform now, and in generations to come,” said McGinn.

“I believe we must heed these warnings to protect our nation’s security,” added Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

During her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor tells Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that the television show Perry Mason inspired her to become a prosecutor. She describes one episode in which the prosecutor says their job is to “do justice and justice is served when a guilty man is convicted and an innocent man is not.” She says she thought the idea of serving in that role was quite amazing. (0:54)

 

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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee say they find Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be qualified for a position on the Supreme Court.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) confirms that she supports Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination with the condition that Sotomayor enforce the law “without fear or favor.” Klobuchar explains that in her opinion, Sotomayor’s background and experience should allow Sotomayor to remain “humble.” (0:36)

 

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) praises the diversity of the Judicial Committee, of which she is a member, and uses her personal experience to draw a parallel with the importance of including men and women from different backgrounds and experiences in the Supreme Court to ensure that a decision is taken based on different points of view. (0:36)

 

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Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) shoots down allegations against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor that claim she has been too tough in the past. Boxer argues that all good judges have to ask tough questions. (0:24)

 

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) says President Barack Obama has a better chance of passing major health care reform than the previous Democratic administration because the cost of health care has gone up, businesses in general support the plan and the majority of Americans want the system to change. (0:41)

 

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Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

Sen. Amy Klobuchar on redistributing flood waters between Minnesota and North Dakota.

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