Navigation

Your Representatives in the News

Representative Joel Kitchens

Kitchens, vice chair of the Education Committee, has scheduled a special meeting with the Sevastopol Board of Education on Feb. 16 at 6:30 pm.

Source:  Sevastopol Board of Education press release

 

Representative Reid Ribble

Ribble and Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan introduced H.R. 282, the Long-Term SCORE Act. The Long-Term SCORE Act, or Studies of Comprehensive Outcomes and Returns to the Economy, takes a fiscally sound look at a major problem:  more than three out of every four Medicare dollars are spent on treating chronic diseases, many of which are largely preventable. Small investments in reducing the prevalence of these diseases in the short term could result in huge improvements in people’s lives and tremendous savings of taxpayer dollars in the long term. However, the current practice of the Congressional Budget Office to produce ten-year budget estimates is inadequate for capturing both the full costs and the full benefits of extending programs beyond the first ten years. The Long-Term SCORE Act addresses this problem by creating a separate office of long-term scoring at the CBO that could provide cost estimates for as long as 50 years into the future. 

“When you are budgeting for costs of chronic and lifelong health conditions, a 10-year window just doesn’t give us the whole picture,” Ribble said. “Our legislation would help provide the necessary tools for Congress to make smarter and more long-term investments in federal health and prevention programs.”

Source:  Ribble press release

 

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin urged the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to finalize a rule to increase oil tank car safety after the agencies missed their deadline. The agencies were required by law to have completed the rule by Jan. 15, 2015. “While I appreciate the agencies’ thoroughness when drafting in this important rule, every day we wait to finalize this rule is a day in which outdated tank cars carry volatile crude oil through Wisconsin, exposing our citizens and environment to danger,” Baldwin said. “I urge the DOT and PHMSA to adopt the stringent safety recommendations that I, along with Rep. Ron Kind, called for in our public comment on the rule.” The bipartisan appropriations bill passed in December 2014 mandated the release of the DOT/PHMSA rule on rail cars shipping oil by Jan. 15, 2015. The agencies announced that they will also miss their original late projection of March and are projected to release the rule in May. Throughout 2014 and into 2015, Senator Baldwin has advocated on behalf of Wisconsinites and called for action to improve railroad conditions in the state.

Source:  Baldwin press release

 

President Barack Obama

Obama announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Oświęcim, Poland, to attend the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 2015. The Honorable Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the Department of Treasury, will lead the delegation. Members of the Presidential Delegation include Stephen D. Mull, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, Department of State; Crystal Nix-Hines, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Department of State; David Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Department of State; Dr. Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Director for European Affairs, National Security Council; Nicholas Dean, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Department of State; Aviva Sufian, Special Envoy for U.S. Holocaust Survivor Services, Department of Health and Human Services; Israel Arbeiter, Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor; Irene Weiss, Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor; David Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee.

Source:  White House press release