Your Representatives in the News

State Assembly Representative Garey Bies

Bies is working on a bill that would eliminate the ability for a person to use voluntary intoxication as a defense in a criminal case. A similar bill was introduced in the previous session but failed to pass.

Currently, a person can use voluntary or involuntary intoxication as a defense if it renders the actor incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and the act is not pre-meditated.

Source: Bies press release, Wisconsin State Statutes

State Senator Frank Lasee

Lasee introduced a Senate Joint Resolution to honor Thomas Griffin, a Green Bay man who was a pilot in WWII and spent 22 months as a prisoner of war. He died Feb. 26, 2013.

“We’re losing hundreds of WWII veterans every day,” Lasee said. “These are men and women who stood up in the face of incredible danger and personal risk and their stories are dying with them every day.”

Source: Lasee press release

Governor Scott Walker

The Washington Post is running a series on potential 2016 presidential contenders and published a piece on what Scott Walker has to do to position himself for the nomination.

Here’s their advice: Walker has to prove he can “beat the liberals,” raise his profile by appearing on non-news media, bridge the gap between the Tea Party and traditional Republicans, and learn more about foreign policy issues.

Source: The Washington Post

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin spoke at the Medical College of Wisconsin on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to announce her Senate bill called the Next Generation Research Act.

The bill would have the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focus on promoting young scientists through mentoring, grantwriting help and directing the National Academy of Sciences to study challenges facing new researchers.

The NIH is facing $1.7 billion in budget cuts this year.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Senator Ron Johnson

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gave a nod to Johnson in a recent editorial because he doesn’t think shutting down the federal government because of the Affordable Care Act is a good idea.

Some Tea Party Republicans in Congress are talking about using a government shutdown to force the government to stop funding the Affordable Care Act.

“Even if we were to not pass the continuing resolution (to fund the federal government), you’re not going to be able to defund Obamacare, absent of President Obama signing a law, which I think is highly unlikely,” Johnson said. “So I appreciate the fact that they’ve raised the issue. But defunding Obamacare, with President Obama in the White House and Harry Reid in the Senate, I think is next to impossible.”

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

President Barack Obama

On Aug. 15 Obama announced that the U.S. has cancelled its joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army that were scheduled for September.

As of press time, hundreds of Egyptians have been killed and thousands injured in clashes between the military and followers of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi.

“While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Obama said.

The U.S. backs Egypt with military and economic aid.

Source: The New York Times