Braley and Loebsack Want More Specifics About Obama's Plans

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) released the following statement tonight in response to President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan.

“In September, I sent a bipartisan letter to President Obama outlining many of my concerns about the situation in Afghanistan and stating my strong belief that we should not commit more troops to Afghanistan without a clearly defined exit strategy. As the Iowa National Guard prepares to deploy more than 3,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, we owe it to them and their families to have a comprehensive strategy that addresses fundamental military, political and economic challenges in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.

“I look forward to reading the specific details of the proposal laid out by President Obama in order to work with my colleagues to determine the best way forward for the people of the United States and Afghanistan.”

Congressman David Loebsack said:

“I firmly believe that we must put policy before politics, and I intend to hold the Obama administration as accountable as I did the Bush administration,” said Congressman Loebsack. “As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I plan on asking some tough questions during hearings and briefings in the coming days and weeks with our senior military and civilian leaders. Our servicemembers and their families deserve a thorough and accurate assessment of the President’s strategy, and I intend to make sure that they get it.”

“I plan to review the President’s decision extremely carefully to ensure that it supports our national security and lays out achievable and well-defined goals that will effectively deny al Qaeda a safe haven and allow our troops to come home,” added Congressman Loebsack.

Congressman Loebsack will be seeking some of the following details on the President’s strategy:

· Clearly laid out goals, a well-defined mission, and a rubric for measuring progress.

· An organized political-military structure within the plan that will fully utilize and coordinate our civilian economic, agriculture, political, and development resources with the military mission.

· A realistic accounting of the cost of this plan.

· A well defined plan to transfer responsibility for Afghan security and stability to the Afghan people so that our troops can come home. This includes a plan to help the Afghan government combat corruption and assume responsibility for their country’s future.

· A commitment from our NATO allies to support this plan with additional troops, civilian experts, and resources.

· A plan to work with the Pakistani government to further secure and stabilize the region and deny extremists who wish to do us harm a safe haven.

Kresowik: We Need ACES and Truth from Critics

From University of Iowa Student President and current Sierra Club staffer Mark Kresowik:

Friends, tomorrow a remarkable bill will be voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives. It's called the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), was drafted by Congressmen Waxman and Markey, with some excellent work by our own Congressman Braley, and would be the first time our U.S. Congress made a serious effort to deal with global warming. I wasn't going to write anything until after the vote, but the misrepresentations being spouted by MidAmerican Energy in Iowa, and then the RNCC and electric cooperatives going after Congressman Braley this week, really got to me.

I have put a lot of time into analyzing the bill and the modeling done by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Congressional Budget Office. I have tracked this bill from its draft form through committee and now tomorrow, to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

I can tell you that MidAmerican, Iowa's electric cooperatives, and the GOP are full of crap. And then Congressman Boswell bought their nonsense hook, line, and sinker. So we need to contact our Congressional officials and make sure they know we're not buying what MidAm is trying to sell, and that the ACES bill needs to go forward to the Senate.

Congressman Loebsack's number - (202) 225-6576
Thank Congressman Braley for his hard work - (202) 225-2911
Congressman Boswell's number - : (202) 225-3806

First, MidAmerican and Iowa's other utilities had the very stupid idea to build a very dirty coal plant in Council Bluffs a few years ago. Their bad management decisions shouldn't be taken out on this legislation or ratepayers. They may want to whine about it, but they should bear some of the cost of their bad decisions (sound familiar?).

Second, this bill is not going to cause the rate increases these utilities are claiming. We're already giving these utilities more than 50% of their pollution for free, and even if they had to pay for all the extra pollution beyond those allowances rates would increase less than half what MidAmerican is claiming. And why is that a bad thing? It gives them an incentive to actually reduce pollution, imagine that. With the strong energy efficiency provisions, energy use in the country will be held flat - even as the economy rebounds - through 2020. Which means those of you who take advantage of efficiency opportunities may ultimately be paying less than you would if this bill doesn't pass.

Finally, that doesn't count all of the jobs Iowa stands to get from investing in clean, renewable energy or the payments to farmers to practice better soil conservation and stewardship to reduce pollution. Iowa is a leader in a lot of those areas, and this bill recognizes and rewards that.

ACES would be a huge boon to the state of Iowa, to our economy, and to the environment. MidAmerican's crap shouldn't be left unopposed.

If you do one thing today or Friday, please call Congressmen Loebsack, Braley, and Boswell.

Congressman Loebsack's number - (202) 225-6576
Thank Congressman Braley for his hard work - (202) 225-2911
Congressman Boswell's number - : (202) 225-3806

If you want more information about what MidAm is saying and why it is so blatantly wrong, send me an email. I'm happy to run you through the economics and impacts of the bill. I'm not saying it is perfect, but it should pass on to the Senate. We need it.

Thank you very much,

Mark
kresowik@gmail.com
319-621-7393

P.S. I'm not writing this as a staff member of the Sierra Club. The lies being tossed around Iowa right now hit me personally. I've spent way too much time on these issues to watch MidAmerican and the electric cooperatives misrepresent the impacts of this bill on people who are already struggling to pay their electric bills. Their statements don't serve their ratepayers. This bill does an enormous amount, possibly even too much, to cushion electric utilities and ratepayers. And it will certainly be good for Iowa. Even if you don't agree with the bill, stand up for truth in advertising!

One more thing. According to the EPA's latest modeling results, released this morning, average household electricity expenditures go DOWN through 2015 by 3.5% with ACES compared to business as usual. If you needed any more evidence that MidAmerican is full of crap, there is it is.

Braley Starts Populist Caucus

Image via Wikipedia












I don't think I'm the only one who believes that there is only one "populist, progressive" in Iowa and he is Bruce Braley. His first term was marked by a number of good votes and one of my favorite YouTube moments:



I hope that District 2's Dave Loebsack will begin to show the kind of leadership that the District 1 congressman showed in his first term.

Men's Club Continues: No Change in Iowa Delegation

As widely expected, all the Iowa Congressional seats remain in the hands of incumbents as Democrats Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, and Leonard Bowell, and Republicans Tom Latham, and Steve King handily won their district races. Also, Democrat Senator Tom Harkin dispensed unheralded Republican challenger Christopher Reed.

Iowa continues to be one of only two states that has never sent a qualified woman candidate of any party to Congress, as Marrianette Miller-Meeks, Wendy Barth, and Becky Greenwald were defeated.

Bruce Braley Throws Support to John Edwards

Congressman Bruce Braley of Iowa's Fightin' First district endorsed John Edwards, officially becoming the first House member to support a presidential candidate. Braley also supported Edwards in 2004.

"Today, I'm proud to endorse John Edwards for president," said Braley. "Throughout this campaign, on issue after issue, John has proposed bold ideas to end the power of special interests in Washington and restore our government to the American people. John is the only Democratic candidate who grew up in rural America, and he has most specific, most progressive and most far-reaching ideas. I truly believe he is the best Democratic candidate to lead us to victory in 2008. With his leadership, I believe we can make his vision of One America a reality."

``I think anybody who lived through the 2004 Iowa caucuses realizes that trying to take the temperature of the Iowa voter one month out (from the caucuses) is risky business,'' Braley said. ``I think Sen. Edwards is going to be working very hard the next month, and I'm going to be doing whatever I can when I'm back in Iowa.''

“I am honored to receive Bruce’s support,” said Edwards. “He is a true leader and a strong voice on behalf of Iowa’s families. Bruce is committed to ending the power of special interests and making sure all hard-working Iowans have the opportunity to work hard, get ahead, and leave their children a better future. I look forward to joining with Bruce to change our country.”

See the YouTube video.

Freedom Lost: 227-183

"By a vote of 227 to 183, American's saw their rights eroded further at the hands of their elected officials." This is not the headline you will see in any newspaper or on CNN or any network. Congress passed another ill-named law-- Protect America Act--yesterday while Iowans were enjoying tax free back-to-school shopping. With the exception of Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley who voted against the bill, the Iowa delegation let it happen.

So what did we lose? The government can solicit our phone records records from any telecom without a seeking a warrant, legally.

The administration legislation would allow the NSA warrantless access to virtually all international communications of Americans with anyone outside the US, so long as the government declared that the surveillance was directed at people, which includes foreigners and citizens, reasonably believed to be located outside the US, a definition that covers billions of people.

The only saving grace about the bill sunsets in six months unless acted on by Congress. However, the sunset has an exception that would allow any directives by Attorney General Gonzales and Director of National Intelligence McConnell that commandeer access to US telephone and internet companies to remain in effect until their expiration (which is likely to be until the end of the administration since the directives can be issued for up to one year, so could be issued to last for the next six months and then reissued on the eve of the sunset, in January 2008, to remain in effect until this administration is finally over in January 2009).

For more about the details of the PAA, see this document from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee

HAVA (Not so) Nice Day!

HAVA (Help America Vote Act) was designed to help states update antiquated voting systems so that hanging chads will be a thing of the past. However, despite allocating almost $4 billion dollars to do this, many states are slow to do it, even with the help of the Election Assistance Commission who reports this progress.

For instance, 5 states have spent less than 10% of the funding available to them (CT, MA, NH, NY, OK). While 12 states have spent less than 50% of the funding (AL, AK, AZ, DE, DC, FL, HI, ME, OR, SD, TN, WA, WI, WY). This would be more of concern if these states had antiquated machinery.

What should be of more concern is that, as of January 1, 2010, all voting systems may only contain software certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission. Not only are States limited to using systems that meet the guidelines established by the EAC, but they are also prohibited from using systems that have not been certified for use by the EAC. This essentially means all of the systems currently in place.

This could mean, based on who's running the show that certain vendors are favored with software that is breachable. Currently Dianne Feinstein has sponsored a bill S1487 that is co-sponsored by Dodd, Clinton and others. But it has some problems. Another bill HR 811 sponsered by Rush Holt and co-sponsored by 216 others (including all the Dems in the Iowa delegation) has more promise because it would be enacted before the 2008 election.

A New Direction: Loebsack Votes for Troop Withdrawal Beginning in 120 Days

This is a compilation of reports from the Press-Citizen and Radio Iowa
In a move that will likely face a White House veto, Rep. Dave Loebsack voted for a bill Thursday for a withdrawal of U.S. forces to begin within 120 days and move to a “limited presence” by April 1, 2008.

The troop-withdrawal measure passed the House on a 223 to 201 vote.The bill also requires the president to submit to Congress a comprehensive strategy for Iraq by Jan. 1, 2008, and justify “the minimum force level” necessary to protect U.S. security interests.

“It doesn’t go as far as I would like, but it’s an important first step,” said Loebsack, D-Iowa. “If I had my way we would begin to remove our troops tomorrow.

My goal was to have everyone out in a year,” he said. “I have concerns about this bill obviously because it says that an unspecified number of troops may be allowed to stay. I have a real concern about how President Bush would interpret that should this become law.”

Bruce Braley, US Congressman from Waterloo who also voted for the bill, said the bill gives the President benchmarks as the bill requires President Bush to come up with a "comprehensive Iraq strategy by January 1 of 2008, that report must include a discussion of U.S. national security interests in Iraq, a justification of the minimum force levels required to protect U.S. national security interests after April 1st of 2008, and also requires him to lay out specific diplomatic initiatives to engage U.S. allies and others in the region to bring stability to the area."

School of the Americas Still Open For Business

Despite the efforts of the School of the Americas Watch and support from 203 Congresspersons, the vote to not fund the SOA/WHINSEC (H R 2764 RECORDED VOTE 21-Jun-2007 11:52 PM)was 214-203 against thwe McGovern/Lewis Amendment. Our Iowa delegation was split with Democrats Dave Loebsack, Bruce Braley, and Leonard Boswell voting to close the former School of the Americas and Republicans Latham and King voting to keep it open.

I guess it is another victory for "Viva la tormenta!" in Bushland

P.S. 19 representatives didn't even vote--there must be a special place in Hell for folks like that.

How Hard are Iowa's Representatives Working in Congress?

Now it may be unfair to judge from my vantage point in Iowa City how our Congressional Reps. are doing, but remember, I do research for a living and, yes, numbers do tell a story.

So in the 110th Congress who has sponsored legislation, co-sponsored legislation, and who has had others support their legislation? Thomas Legislation tracking tells us one story

IA-1 (Braley)*
Sponsored = 3
Others Support = 3
Co-sponsored = 60

IA-2 (Loebsack) *
= 2
= 2
= 124

IA-3 (Boswell) *
= 5
= 4
= 97

IA-4 (Latham) *
= 7
= 5
= 39

IA-5 (King) *
= 11
= 7
= **

GovTrack tells a different story.

* Bruce Braley has sponsored 3 bills since Jan 4, 2007, of which 2 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Braley has co-sponsored 128 bills during the same time period (Few, relative to peers).

* David Loebsack has sponsored 2 bills since Jan 4, 2007, of which 1 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Loebsack has co-sponsored 120 bills during the same time period (Few, relative to peers).

* Leonard Boswell has sponsored 44 bills since Jan 7, 1997, of which 41 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Boswell has co-sponsored 1205 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).

* Thomas Latham has sponsored 35 bills since Jan 7, 1997, of which 26 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 1 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Latham has co-sponsored 764 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).

* Steve King has sponsored 35 bills since Jan 7, 2003, of which 34 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 0 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). King has co-sponsored 536 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers).


** Unable to determine via Thomas

Loebsack Votes Against War Supplemental--Supplemental Passes

Rep. Dave Loebsack was one of 140 Democrats (and one of three Iowa Representatives) and 2 Republicans that voted against the Iraq War Supplemental funding bill. To the 86 Dems (including John Murtha) that supported the supplemental, you should be ashamed.

In the Senate sadly both Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley voted for the supplemental bill. See T.M. Lindsey's Iowa Independent story for his comments on Harkin compared with my personal hero, Paul Wellstone.

Dave and Bruce Braley --my hat is off to you gentlemen.

(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
H R 2206 RECORDED VOTE 24-May-2007 6:45 PM
QUESTION: Concur in Senate Amendment with House Amendment No. 2
BILL TITLE: Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007

	Ayes	Noes	PRES	NV
Democratic	86	140		6
Republican	194	2		5
Independent
TOTALS	280	142		11

Dems: No Timeline Like the Present

Fearing a Memorial Day deadline (and thereby a "message" to veterans that "Democrats don't support the troops") by the White House and a new tactic by the Republican party to frame a benchmarks/timeline requirement as part of the appropriationas a "surrender date", Democratic leaders are likely backing off the requirement to fund the supplemental defense bill. They understand that they do not have enough votes to sustain a veto override and, therefore, don't think it is worthwhile to continue to fight.

This would be "mission accomplished" for the White House, but a devastating defeat for the taxpayers who are watching their wallets and families of soldiers who see the casualities mounting and Iraq slipping deeper into chaos.

Those members of the Out of Iraq caucus are likely to hold their position. Perhaps what is needed is for members of Congress to use their moral courage to defy the leadership and chart a new course.

The members of the Out of Iraq Caucus are:

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chair, Co-Founder
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Co-Founder
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Co-Founder
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), Co-Founder
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Co-Founder
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Co-Founder
Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), Co-Founder
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Co-Founder

The rest of the caucus is:
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.)
Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.)
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.)
Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.)
Rep. Donna Christensen (D-V.I.)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.)
Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.)
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.)
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)
Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.)
Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.)
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas)
Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.)
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)
Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.)
Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)
Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.)
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.)
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.)
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.)
Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.)
Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.)
Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.)
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)
Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.)
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.)
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.)
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.)
Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.)
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)
Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.)
Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.)
Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.)


Notably missing from the caucus is our own Dave Loebsack, Bruce Braley, and Leonard Boswell

The Irony of the Leach Federal Courthouse

In local news, former Congressman Jim Leach will have a Davenport Federal Court House named after him, if the U.S. Senate concurs with the House that passed a bill co-sponsored by Dave Loebsack, Bruce Braley, and many others. Clearly Jim Leach's years of service are deserving of honor, perhaps renaming the art museum in Cedar Rapids for his support of the arts and humanities, for example.

However, given that Jim Leach was very much responsible for a highly contoversial lending bill which allowed credit card companies to significantly increase their fees for services and another bill that made substantial changes in the bankruptcy laws, it may be a bit ironic for some to have to go to that building to attend to personal bankruptcy matters.

Scandal Du Jour: GSA Chief Grilled By Braley

From TPMuckraker

Don't miss this.
Here's a clip from this morning's House government reform committee hearing, investigating General Services Administration Chief Lurita Doan.

In this clip, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) grills her on a PowerPoint presentation (pdf, gark note: slide 4 is sort of a hoot) given by Karl Rove's deputy Scott Jennings to GSA personnel in January. The slides (13 pages) detailed which seats were "House Targets" and which "Senate Targets", which states were "Republican Offense," and which "Republican Defense." After the presentation, Doan reportedly asked other employees how the agency could help "our candidates." The GSA, remember, is the government's procurement agency, in charge of almost $60 billion each year. All of this seems like a clear violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits using federal resources to aid political parties.

Doan doesn't have a good answer for Braley's questions, stuttering out "I don't recall"s and something about how the meeting was a "brown bag lunch" for the purpose of “team building.” You should "ask Mr. Jennings," she says.

Hogwash-ington, D.C.

Truthout reports

Kevin Kiley, the three-star general in charge of all Army medical facilities, seemed stumped as he testified yesterday about his responsibility for the Walter Reed scandal.
"I'm trying not to say that I'm not accountable," he told members of the House oversight committee.
But try as he might, he couldn't fix blame on himself.
How could he not have known that wounded soldiers were living in squalid conditions across the street from his own home? "I don't do barracks inspections at Walter Reed," he said.
Why did he assure Congress in 2005 that the Walter Reed bureaucracy was improving, even though many soldiers were languishing in neglect at the facility? "In my role as the MedCom commander," he said, "Walter Reed was not my only command."
What did he do when a government report in 2006 found numerous problems at the now-infamous Building 18? "My staff informed me that the Walter Reed staff was working it."
Lawmakers on the committee, who were visiting Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a field hearing yesterday, quickly tired of the general's I-don't-do-windows routine. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) accused him of spouting "hogwash." Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) called his position "dishonest."