Your Reps in the News: April 14, 2017

Representative Joel Kitchens

Rep. Kitchens released the following statement regarding the Door/Kewaunee Legislative Days event at the State Capitol: “More than 125 citizen delegates from Door and Kewaunee counties traveled to Madison to advocate on issues important to our counties. The citizen delegates come from a wide variety of backgrounds ranging from residents and business owners to elected officials.”

The Door/Kewaunee legislative agenda included:

1. Support for Additional Funding for Improving Rural Broadband;
2. Protect the Public’s Drinking Water in Our At-Risk Karst Geo-Region;
3. Protect Water Quality of Door/Kewaunee Rivers;
4. School Start Date: Oppose Repeal of Statewide Standard;
5. Consistent and Adequate Funding for the Harbor Assistance Program.

“The Door/Kewaunee Legislative Days is a great opportunity to showcase the values and unique issues of our counties.”

Source: Kitchens press release

Governor Scott Walker

In a move not seen in at least 24 years, top lawmakers yanked dozens of provisions from Gov. Walker’s budget bill, including the entire transportation plan put forward by their fellow Republican. The co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee, Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), removed every policy item in Walker’s budget that didn’t have a direct financial impact for the state. Lawmakers haven’t done that to a budget from a governor of their own party since some time before 1993, according to the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office.

The move drew praise from budget purists who argue that the public doesn’t get to weigh in on policy when it gets stuffed into the state’s tax and spending plan. “I strongly applaud the move,” Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Allouez) said in a statement. “I have said, for several budgets, that these items should all be stripped out and discussed through the committee process with public input, as separate legislation.”

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Congressman Mike Gallagher

Rep. Gallagher released the following statement on Syria: “I support the administration’s decision to lead from the front and launch limited strikes against the Assad regime, not only to send a clear signal that the United States will not stand idly by while dictators use weapons of mass destruction to murder children, but also to demonstrate that the chaos in Syria affects our own national security interests. Now the critical task is for President Trump to work with Congress and our regional allies to develop a broader strategic vision in which our goal should be to pressure the Assad regime in service of negotiated settlement and, at a broader level, rollback Iran and Russia’s malign regional influence. The President should also seek Congressional authorization for any sustained military operation in Syria, and that is yet another reason why Congress shouldn’t be taking a two-week break. When our servicemen and women are at war, Congress shouldn’t take an unearned recess.”

Source: Gallagher press release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Sen. Baldwin worked across party lines to fight for full and fair funding that would help ensure EAA AirVenture Oshkosh will continue for years to come. Baldwin and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) sent a letter urging the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Chair and Ranking Member to direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide essential air traffic and safety support services at major aviation events, including airshows, around the country in the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Directing the FAA to provide these essential services would ensure that Wisconsin’s annual EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow, and other major aviation events hosted annually around the country, will continue to be enjoyed by audiences for years to come. In recent years, FAA has charged major aviation events for the essential air traffic services and safety support needed to conduct such events – ending a longstanding FAA policy. Without FAA’s air traffic control and safety support services, many annual aviation events and airshows may begin to shut down.

Source: Baldwin press release

Senator Ron Johnson

Sen. Johnson issued the following statement regarding the airstrike in Syria: “The six-year slaughter in Syria tragically has been met by a totally inadequate response from the civilized world. The Assad regime’s most recent atrocity has drawn swift and appropriate action by the Trump administration. Unfortunately, the massacre in Syria is just one of many crises that threaten world peace and require immediate attention. Responsible leaders throughout the world must work together with urgency to achieve greater stability – but America will have to lead.”

Source: Johnson press release

President Donald Trump

In the weeks after his election, Donald Trump considered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state, tapped Michael Flynn to be his national security adviser, and pondered appointing John Bolton to a senior foreign policy post. But the advisers briefing Trump last week ahead of his first military strike represented a much more mainstream bunch. In launching airstrikes on Syria, Trump relied on intelligence from national security adviser H.R. McMaster; Defense Secretary James Mattis; Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Meanwhile, his far-right political guru, Steve Bannon, was removed from his unorthodox position on the National Security Council, diminishing his power in the administration. And on Sunday came the news that K.T. McFarland, the former Fox News analyst who was Flynn’s choice for deputy national security adviser, will leave her post and become ambassador to Singapore instead, a sign of McMaster’s consolidation of power. The shift in the people Trump surrounds himself with is being cheered by Washington’s foreign policy establishment.

Source: politico.com