Week in Review- March 27, 2009

Statement

Week in Review- March 27, 2009

Posted by: Sen. Richard Burr

This was a busy week in Washington, with a number of votes in the Senate and a lot of discussion of the President's budget proposal. I am troubled by the amount of spending contained in the budget proposal—and the expansion of government and surge in the national debt that will go with it. As the Senate takes up the budget bill next week, I will begin a section on my blog that will highlight some of my concerns with the proposal.

On Wednesday, the Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing to discuss how to use state-of-the-art technology to improve claims processing at the VA. The current backlog of claims for benefits is very frustrating for veterans and must be fixed. We owe it to our nation's defenders to make accessing their earned benefits more efficient, and I support researching the use of technology to do so.

Yesterday, the Senate passed legislation to reauthorize some of our nation's community service and volunteer programs. I was pleased to have three amendments included in the bill. Two of these amendments relate to ensuring accurate graduation rate reporting and ensuring that high schools with low graduation rates receive the assistance they need to engage and better prepare their students to graduate. The third amendment strengthens the requirements for criminal background checks for individuals working with vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, the disabled. I was also very pleased that a provision was included to restrict the types of activities for which national service positions can be used, preventing participants from exploiting the program to engage in political activities on the taxpayer's dime.

On a more somber note, North Carolina lost a legend this week when historian—and history maker—John Hope Franklin passed away at the age of 94. He spent his life promoting equality and fostering understanding across racial lines. I was honored to co-sponsor a resolution in the Senate honoring his contributions to our nation.

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