U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) says “I’m ready to work day and night to make sure that our kids have a great future and that America’s best days lay ahead.” He says he’s ready to get to work. (0:15)
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)
By Kayleigh Harvey – Talk Radio News Service
Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) discusses his two child care bills during a press conference.
The first bill, The Starting Early Right Act, would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to improve access to high-quality early learning and child care for low-income children and working families.
The second bill, The Child Care Facilities Financing Act of 2009, introduced by Casey, would set up a grant for improvement of child care facilities and construction of child care facilities.
Casey said, “I think both bills are critically important and essential in any environment because we are not doing nearly enough on child care…both of these bills speak to that basic challenge.
By Kayleigh Harvey – Talk Radio News Service
Two new pieces of legislation were introduced to the Senate yesterday
by Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) to improve access to education for children and to develop better facilities for children to learn.
The Starting Early Right Act and The Child Care Facilities Financing Act of 2009, “are critically important and essential in any environment because we are not doing nearly enough on child care…both of these bills speak to that basic challenge,” Casey said during a conference call today.
The Starting Early Right Act aims to help all children have equal and improved access to education. This bill would amend the Childcare and Development Block Grant of 1990 by investing an additional $10 billion each year to help low income families ensure their children receive access to a high quality education.
The Child Care Facilities Financing Act of 2009 aims to get to the “bricks and mortar,” Casey said. The bill would provide financial assistance to improve schools and other learning establishments. “This bill would set up a grant program,” Casey added.
Casey has already received support from Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and hopes to see bipartisan support from Senators towards this legislation.
Casey is also in talks with President Obama and his administration about education policy. Casey is an advocate of the Obama administrations focus to help children from zero to five.
“In the midst of this economy it’s especially important that President Obama has demonstrated the type of leadership that he has on his zero to five initiative…I think both of these bills are consistent with what the President is trying to do,” Casey said.
In closing Casey said these bills would, “provide the kind of dollars for good quality childcare as well as a bill to provide the dollars for the physical infrastructure for a care setting that is appropriate for children.”
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.
Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.
The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.
The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.
Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.
The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) talks with Ron Brownstein of the National Journal at a breakfast on Capitol Hill. Reid, President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden all said that they would personally support Arlen Specter in his 2010 election. Reid said that support was not conditional.
“I’m not going to be in a forever, never position, but the facts are that [Specter is] going to vote with us most of the time,” Reid Said. “I can’t foresee him doing anything that would be so mean spirited that Obama, Biden, and Reid would turn against him.” (00:44)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
“We all have an inherent right to self defense in international waters,” according to Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). This remark came out of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that saw testimony from Richard Phillips, Captain of the Maersk Alabama. Phillips received international media attention several weeks ago while being held hostage by pirates off of the coast of Somalia.
Both the Senators and the witnesses acknowledged that Piracy off of the coast of Somalia has been on the rise recently. Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said that America’s “ability to project naval power and to help ensure the free passage of goods and humanitarian aid is as important as ever.”
Phillips acknowledged that more needs to be done to secure vessels of the merchant marine, specifically arming the crew.
“In my opinion, arming the crew cannot and should not be viewed as the best or ultimate solution to the problem. At most, arming the crew should only be one component of a comprehensive plan and approach to combat piracy,” he said.
The comprehensive approach the committee discussed could include increased U.S. Navy presence in the most dangerous areas, the creation of a protected corridor that civilian ships can travel within, the rooting out of pirates in their land based sanctuaries and the “hardening” of ships, to make the ships structurally more resistant to pirates. “Hardening” measures include razor wire on railings, fire hoses to repel the pirates, and unbolting ladders that lead onto the boat. Phillips does not believe this will stop the pirates, but rather, that they will find a way to adapt.
Maersk Chaiman John Clancey, also present at the hearing, does not believe that arming the crews is a good idea.
“Our belief is that arming merchant sailors may result in the acquisition of even more lethal weapons and tactics by the pirates, a race that merchant sailors cannot win. In addition, most ports of call will not permit the introduction of forearms into their national waters,” Clancey said.
Clancey also posed that greater liability may be assumed by the companies if sailors are traveling with weapons. Neither Chairman Kerry nor Phillips felt that this argument was strong, because of the intense amount of training that mariners go through already. Kerry, a former member of the U.S. Navy, feels that the benefits outweigh the risks, and that multinational agreements can be reached to work out the issue of bringing weapons into port.
Richard Phillips is scheduled to testify next week before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
By Kayleigh Harvey – Talk Radio News Service
At a press conference to discuss proposed amendments to the Federal Power Act by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lieberman said, “The reality is that we are not adequately defended and therefore the basic systems, including particularly electricity on which we depend are not protected. This has got to change. We have got to close the gap between the attacks on us and our ability to defend them.”
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Regarding Arlen Specter changing parties, Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) said that it’s better for the constituents of Pennsylvania to decide which candidate should win the primary. He feels like the Democratic National Party backing Specter may be giving him too much of an advantage in the Pennsylvania primary. President Barack Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have already committed to personally supporting Specter in his 2010 election. (00:47)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Senator Arlen Specter (Penn.) says that he left the Republican Party because they had stuck their nose into party affairs to the point of breeding extremism. Ironically the Democrats are doing the exact same thing to their newest member. Micromanaging from the highest level doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the Republicans.
Yesterday Specter walked away from the party he has been with for nearly four decades, because he felt they were ignoring moderate voice. Specter announced his decision to defect to the Democratic Party, only the twenty-first time that a Senator has done such a thing since 1890.
President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have both said they will fully support Specter in his 2010 election, but Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) was not sure that the party establishment should be backing Specter in this way.
“If decisions and candidates are being chosen in Washington, you may just reemphasize that divisive barrier that’s between the parties,” Sestak said. “I think we cannot afford to have a decision that is so important to Pennsylvanians be decided by the party establishment,” and that the voters should be the ones to choose their candidate.
Sestak is rumored to be considering running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, and would come up against Specter in the Democratic primary. When asked directly, Sestak said he had not decided yet whether or not he would run. Another contender, Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-Penn.) said today that she would not run for the seat.
The republican response has ranged from anger to confusion. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel likened Specter to Benedict Arnold.
“Clearly, this was an act based on political expediency by a craven politician desperate to keep his Washington power base – not the act of a statesman,” Steel said. “Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists nearly absolute power in the United States Senate.”
Specter responded, “I have not represented the Republican Party, I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.” He was referencing the fact that in the past months there has been an exodus from the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, where over 100,000 individuals changed their party registration from Republican to Democrat.
Specter is defending his position as being one of riding with the tides of his constituency, instead of bowing to the will of a national political party. Critics see it as a survival move of a desperate politician.
Speaking today with President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, Specter said that staying in the Senate would allow him to carry forward important initiatives for his constituents, speaking specifically about expanding medical research.
Specter would prove to be the 60 Democrat in the Senate, provided that comedian Al Franken prevails in his court case for the Minnesota Senate. Sixty votes, called a supermajority, is enough to override a Republican filibuster. Specter said previously, though, that he was not going to simply back the Democrats automatically, and President Obama acknowledged that, saying, “I don’t expect Arlen to be a rubber stamp.” According to Obama, he and Specter agree in the areas of health care, education, medical research
