Working to Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq
Last week, the Senate voted on a measure to set a firm target date to begin withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq. I cosponsored the measure and voted for it, but the resolution failed on a 48 to 50 vote. It needed 60 votes to pass. The conflict in Iraq requires a comprehensive diplomatic, political, and economic solution that includes sustained engagement with Iraq’s neighbors and the international community to work towards stabilizing the country. I’ll continue to press the president to change course in Iraq during the coming weeks and months.
Standing by Our National Guard Families
The multiple extended deployments of our National Guard and Reserve are having a severe impact on their families. To support families during and after deployments, I’ve joined Senator Tom Harkin and others in introducing the Coming Together for Guard and Reserve Families Act. Our legislation would expand the family assistance program to provide support staff to work with National Guard and Reserve families throughout the deployment cycle. It would also provide for post-deployment follow-up with family members of National Guard and Reserves to help with mental health and family support issues, and create outreach programs to educate professionals in childcare, education, mental health, and health care on the special needs of children in military families. Guard families often live far from bases where current support services are located, and don’t have access to the built-in support of an on-base community. As our military depends more heavily on the Guard and Reserves, the support must be there for them and for their families.
Making College Affordable
Skyrocketing tuition is making it more and more difficult for Americans to earn a college degree without going deep into debt. During the last five years alone, costs at public universities jumped 33 percent, and more than two-thirds of our college students borrow money to pay for an undergraduate degree. To help make college affordable for more Americans, I worked with my colleagues in the Senate to reverse the president’s proposed cuts to federal low-interest Perkins Loans. This year, more than 900,000 students received loans from the program—funding this program in next year’s budget will make a real difference in the lives of many who might otherwise be unable to pay for college.
Last week, I also joined Senator Chris Dodd in introducing legislation to increase the maximum Pell Grant amount to $11,600 by 2012. As the first member of my family to graduate from college—with the help of Pell Grants—I understand just how important this program is, but the purchasing power of the Pell Grant has declined dramatically over the last 30 years. In 1975, the maximum Pell Grant covered about 80 percent of the cost of attending a four-year public institution. Today, it covers just 33 percent. This critical program, like the Perkins Loan program, helps millions of Americans afford college. We need to make sure it continues to serve that purpose.
Preserving Vital Training Opportunities at Fairchild
Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane is home to the main Air Force survival training school, which includes the 36th Rescue Flight and its four training helicopters. The president’s proposed budget for next year contains no funding for these four helicopters, meaning they face likely elimination if we don’t act. These invaluable helicopters serve a dual purpose: helping airmen gain combat, rescue, and survival training, and aiding civilian search and rescue operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Since the unit’s creation in 1972, helicopters from the 36th have helped rescue more than 600 individuals. I’m working with other members of Washington’s Congressional delegation to keep these helicopters at Fairchild. Eliminating them would not only put lives at risk by slashing search and rescue capabilities in the area, but would also take away irreplaceable training opportunities.
Putting an End to Animal Fighting
Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed my legislation to help put an end to animal fighting. The House is planning to pass its version of the legislation this week. My bipartisan Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, cosponsored by one-third of the Senate, would establish felony-level penalties for knowingly buying, selling, or transporting animals for the purpose of fighting. It would also criminalize knowingly sponsoring or exhibiting an animal fight. Currently, violations of most federal animal-fighting laws are only punishable as misdemeanors. Animal fighting is a brutal, inhumane practice. Strengthening current law will combat this appalling activity more effectively.
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