The Bachmann Bulletin

Op-Ed

THE BACHMANN BULLETIN

Earlier this month, I received some outstanding news for Minnesota's citizen-soldiers serving in the National Guard.

The 1,162 members of the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team served in Iraq longer than any other ground combat unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Regrettably, as a result of timing and paperwork, many of these soldiers were having difficulties obtaining the full GI Bill education benefits that they had earned. I joined with the Members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation to ask the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use his authority to ensure that these brave young men and women received every bit of the benefit they had earned.

The Secretary responded promptly that:

Each of the members affected will receive an increased monthly
amount for all Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty enrollment periods
pursued prior to payment of their Plus Up contribution.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is now working with the National Guard to ensure proper compensation for those young men and women.

Earlier this year, Congress passed an expanded GI Bill that modernizes this World War II-era educational benefit for today's troops. I was pleased to support that package of improvements and I was still more pleased to see that Minnesota's brave citizen-soldiers would receive their full GI Bill benefits for their outstanding service.

Bachmann Draws a Stark Contrast on Energy Exploration in New York Post:

Last week, the New York Post published a column I authored about the stark contrast in energy exploration policies offered by Republicans and Democrats in Congress. On September 30th, the current moratorium on drilling for the more than 88 billion barrels of oil and natural gas found offshore will expire and those vast reserves will be available to help Americans get some relief from the current energy crisis. I have authored legislation that would cut the red tape and allow Americans to access that energy more quickly. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proposing legislation that does little more than consider the possibility of allowing exploration there under still more red tape. As we approach this September 30th deadline, a day I call Energy Independence Day, the contrast in policies will become increasingly apparent.

As Nation Says 'Drill,' Nancy Says 'Stall'
New York Post, Aug 21 -

THIS summer, rather than taking a family vacation, many Americans had to take on a second or third job to offset rising energy costs. Meanwhile, Congress has done . . . nothing. For that, we can thank the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives.

Since the start of the 110th Congress, the House has had many opportunities to vote on energy legislation to decrease skyrocketing prices. But the leadership ignored the cries of the people and sent everyone on vacation - for all of August.

But many House Republicans stayed in Washington to push for at least a vote on energy solutions.

Since the August recess began, we've gathered on the House floor each day to call on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow a vote on the American Energy Act - a commonsense, taxpayer-friendly, energy-creation solution aimed at dramatically lowering prices at the pump.

All year long, Republicans have introduced key energy bills - only to be denied even a floor vote by Speaker Pelosi. She's even blocked many Democratic energy bills. Instead, floor time has gone to trivial issues such as post-office namings and commemorative resolutions.

Our "all of the above" strategy promotes using all forms of energy (while remaining sensitive to environmental concerns) to gain energy independence, create jobs and lower the price of gas. Polls show that Americans strongly favor such solutions.

Feeling the heat, the speaker unveiled what she calls a Democratic energy plan in her party's last weekly radio address. Dressed up in new language, this was just the Democrats' same old tired ideas - not a strategy or a solution, but a gimmick. For one, her package repeats the "use it or lose it" myth - which even some liberals have debunked - that oil companies are sitting on oil leases.

Pelosi says her package "will consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling." A new Interior Department analysis estimates that we have the equivalent of 30 years' worth of Saudi Arabian imports offshore. Yet all the Democrats can propose is to consider considering?

If the speaker wants to take real action on our offshore oil and natural-gas reserves, she'd let the moratorium on drilling there expire Sept. 30.

With the president having lifted the executive ban, all that stands between the American people and the estimated 89 billion barrels of oil is Congress' ban. If my fellow lawmakers would put the interest of the American people ahead of an outdated, extremist environmentalist agenda, they'd let that ban expire.

And if Congress wants to make a real difference for struggling families, it would fast-track the permitting process to reduce the average $3 billion and seven years it now takes to get an offshore platform into full commercial production.

I recently toured Northern Alaska and the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, which holds another real answer to our energy woes. The area set aside for drilling by President Jimmy Carter (but kept off-limits by Congress) is all flat arctic tundra, with absolutely no trees or mountains. It's also tiny, just 2,000 acres in ANWR's 19.6 million acres - a postage stamp sitting on a football field. Drilling threatens nothing except extremist ideology.

The Energy Information Administration estimates ANWR holds more than 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil, ready and waiting for us to retrieve. Opening it for production would create 750,000 American jobs, the EIA says - a great jumpstart for the US economy.

The Republican plan includes all of the above. If Speaker Pelosi would allow a vote on such common-sense energy legislation, American families would receive the relief they deserve.

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