Rep. Paul Ryan (Dist. 1, Rep.)
Rep. Paul Ryan continues to lobby heavily against the Obama Administration’s public healthcare plan. The Wisconsin Republican Congressman said on CNBC this week, “The whole purpose of having a public plan is not to have fair play, honest competition; it’s a stacked deck,” he told CNBC. “It’s kind of like my daughter’s lemonade stand competing against McDonald’s. Its very design is so that it doesn’t actually work.”
Ryan, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, introduced The Patients’ Choice Act in May. Ryan’s bill promises universal coverage using tax credits to help citizens fund their health insurance needs, and would replace both government-run and employer-run insurance programs with a model in which all Americans purchase their health insurance on the open-market.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (Dist. 2, Dem.)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin appeared on a local presentation of the Ed Schultz show, at the Barrymore Theater in Madison this week. Schultz is a left-wing pundit with shows on both Air America Radio and MSNBC television. The primary focus of the show was health care reform.
Baldwin also wrote an op-ed piece for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in which she pitched the House Democrats’ plan for health care reform. In her piece Baldwin wrote, “There is no reason to fear a public health insurance option. We already have a highly successful one here in Wisconsin called SeniorCare, a program that enjoys broad, bipartisan support. “
Rep. Ron Kind (Dist. 3, Dem.)
Rep. Ron Kind voted against his own party’s health care bill last Friday. Even though the Wisconsin Congressman declared an “immediate need for health care reform” on his website, he was one of three Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee to vote with Republicans against the bill, which would ensure near-universal health coverage, require Americans to carry health insurance, and create a government insurance option that would compete with private insurers.
Kind told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram that he believes the government-sponsored insurance option created by the bill would perpetuate the problem of providers being reimbursed for the volume of care they provide, not the value of that care. Despite Kind’s vote, the bill cleared the Democratic-controlled committee on a 23-18 vote and will now move to the full House.
Rep. Gwen Moore (Dist. 4, Dem.)
Rep. Gwen Moore is working to secure a $500,000 provision to the 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Act that would allow the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to use new cutting-edge nanotechnologies recently invented at that university in the development of new types of low-cost, efficient solar cells. If approved, the project could create upwards of 200 new manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin.
Earlier this month the House of Representatives approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Moore aimed at preventing commercial development at the historic veterans' grounds in Milwaukee. The amendment to the 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Appropriations Act will prohibit federal funds from being used to process new leases for commercial development on historic veterans' properties. The leases are known as Enhanced Use Leases (EUL).
"Milwaukee's historic soldiers' home site was established after the Civil War, and these buildings are still standing today," Moore said. "The history surrounding these buildings is rich, and their value to Milwaukee veterans, their families and future generations cannot be understated. We should protect this soldiers' home site for veterans' purposes, and prohibit it from being taken away from the use or benefit of servicemen for the sake of commercial development." Moore worked to coordinate communication between veterans groups and the Veterans Administration concerning this issue.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (Dist. 5, Rep.)
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner joined Lamar Smith, Peter King and Darrell Issa in writing an op-ed piece that ran in today’s Washington Post lambasting the newly proposed Pass ID Act. The proposed legislation “promises to return the nation to pre-Sept. 11 dangers,” according to the article. The Congressmen say the proposed Pass ID Act would no long require states to verify a person's identity before issuing a driver's license or identification card, to resolve Social Security number mismatches, or ensure the person does not possess duplicate or additional licenses or identification cards issued from other states.
Sensenbrenner had sponsored the Real ID Act, which was passed in 2005 but doesn't go into effect until the end of the year. At the time, the Wisconsin Congressman was the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. However, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has asked Congress to repeal the Real ID Act, which was created to enhance the security of driver's licenses but is opposed by numerous governors nationwide who say it is too costly. The Pass ID is a bi-partisan measure created in response to the complaints about the Real ID.
Rep. Tom Petri (Dist. 6, Rep.)
Rep. Tom Petri is putting his support behind legislation that would move all new federal student lending to the more cost-efficient and more effective Direct Loan Program. According to a press release put out by Petri’s office, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 is intended to end the wasteful Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program in favor of the Direct Loan program. Petri is a member of the Education and Labor Committee.
According to the Congressman, it has long been one of his priorities to reform student loans in a way which guarantees affordable loans for students while saving taxpayers' money by eliminating unnecessary middlemen. Petri said the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has determined that winding down the FFEL program in favor of the Direct Loan program will save the taxpayers $87 billion over 10 years.
Rep. David Obey (Dist. 7, Dem.)
Rep. Dave Obey, along with three other senior House Democrats, sent a letter this week to President Obama, chastising him for his use of signing statements on bills pass by Congress. The other signers were Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
According to the Associate Press, the letter to Obama read in part, "During the previous administration, all of us were critical of (Bush's) assertion that he could pick and choose which aspects of congressional statutes he was required to enforce. We were therefore chagrined to see you appear to express a similar attitude."
In state news, Obey has said the 2010 funding bill for the Department of Agriculture, which he oversees as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, includes vital investments in the nation's food system, rural economy and preservation of natural resources with additional help targeted to Wisconsin priorities. Wisconsin Agnet lists the various funding requests made by Obey.
Rep. Steve Kagen (Dist.8, Dem.)
Rep. Steve Kagen met with a House Agricultural subcommittee in Appleton, WI for a hearing this week to review forest resource management in northern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Congressman told the committee members, “I look forward to listening to the witnesses assembled here today, as they talk about how we manage our forests here in Wisconsin. I look forward to learning what lessons I can share with my colleagues on the Agricultural Committee – and in Congress more generally – as we look to craft policy that helps our forests meet their full potential today as well as future generations. I also look forward to discussing what challenges are facing Wisconsin forestry. While Congress may not be able to solve all these challenges – and perhaps Congress should not be involved in solving some of them – it is crucial that we are aware of the realities facing forestry.”
For links to contact Wisconsin Members of the U.S. House of Representatives go to:
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