Newsletter Archive - Volume 8, Issue 1

Statement

January 5 2011

Effort to Change Filibuster is "Election Nullification"

In a speech this week at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, I addressed efforts to end or limit the filibuster in the Senate. Voters who turned out in November are going to be pretty disappointed when they learn the first thing some members of the Senate majority want to do is cut off the right of the people they elected to make their voices heard on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Instead of this power grab, as the new Congress begins, the goal should be to restore the Senate to its historic role --- like when Senator Howard Baker was the Majority Leader -- so the voices of the people can be heard, rather than silenced, where their ideas can be offered as amendments, rather than suppressed, and where those amendments can be debated and voted upon rather than cut off.

New Congress will get the chance to cut spending--and right away

Instead of an "Omnibus" spending bill that would have increased spending for the rest of the current fiscal year, I voted for a short-term continuing resolution that will fund the government at the current spending levels until early next year. That way the new Congress will have the opportunity to craft spending legislation that takes real steps toward reducing our debt. This was a much better alternative to the Omnibus bill, a 2,000 page bill full of surprises and increased spending that had to be pulled from the Senate floor due to rising opposition from the American people.

Tax cut package will help create new jobs

Stopping a tax hike on nearly every American was the single best thing Congress could do to make it easier and cheaper to create private-sector jobs. A tax increase on anybody when unemployment is 10 percent would have made it harder to create jobs, and the package passed by Congress and signed into law by the president prevented the single largest tax increase in history. The legislation also will help create jobs by allowing businesses to immediately deduct from their income all their purchases of equipment during 2011.

Opposing the DREAM Act

I voted against the DREAM Act and helped defeat it in the Senate. The problem with this bill is that it would give government benefits to people who are in the U.S. illegally. We need to fix our system of legal immigration first, going step by step, and we should start by securing the border.

New START Treaty will make America safer

I voted to ratify the New START treaty between the United States and Russia because it will leave our country with enough nuclear warheads to blow any attacker to kingdom come, and because the president has committed to an $85 billion, 10-year plan to make sure that those weapons work. I voted for the treaty because it allows for inspection of Russian warheads, and because our military leaders say it does nothing to interfere with the development of our missile defense system. I voted for the treaty because the last six Republican secretaries of state support it. In short, I am convinced that Americans are safer and more secure with the treaty than without it.

Reuniting the family of American hero Sgt. Michael Ferschke, Jr. of Maryville

I was pleased that members of Congress worked together to pass legislation I introduced last year--along with Senators Bob Corker, Jim Webb, and Mark Udall--to grant Hotaru Ferschke, wife of the late Sgt. Michael Ferschke, Jr., of Maryville, Tenn., permanent residency in the United States. Congressman Duncan worked particularly hard on behalf of Sgt. Ferschke's family to pass this bill to fulfill the last wish of an American hero that his wife and son be allowed to live near his family in Tennessee. This is the way Congress is supposed to work--seeing the need and finding a solution.

Protecting America's brainpower advantage so our high-paying jobs don't go overseas

America has most of the best universities in the world, yet our nation is falling behind. That's why I strongly supported passage of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, which continues an aggressive effort to preserve America's brainpower advantage -- so our high-paying jobs don't head overseas to places like India and China -- by investing in scientific research and math and science education. I was one of the authors of the original America COMPETES Act of 2007, which passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support. At a time of nearly 10 percent unemployment, this legislation is more important than ever.

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