Vol. 1 No. 19 -- Week of July 10, 2000

Protecting the Northeast From High Home Heating Oil Prices

As an original cosponsor of legislation (H.R. 3608) introduced in February to create a 6.7 million barrel home heating oil reserve for the Northeast, I applaud President Clinton’s decision this week to establish a temporary two million barrel reserve. You may recall that the House passed legislation last month to authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish, maintain, and operate a permanent two million barrel northeast home heating oil reserve. I urge the Senate to follow suit.

New Hampshire residents should not be forced to endure another winter of high heating oil prices. A northeast home heating oil reserve that could be released when temporary supply shortages cause oil prices rise sharply will help drive prices down and help ensure that the region has a stable and affordable supply of home heating oil in the winter months.

Although the establishment of this reserve will help prevent a dramatic increase in the price of home heating oil, similar to the rapid rise in prices we experienced last winter, the Administration needs to develop an effective national energy policy. Without one, the nation will remain vulnerable to high gas and oil prices.

Preventing Interference with Prescription Drug Imports
Amendment Promotes Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs

High prescription drug prices are making it extremely difficult for low-income Americans and senior citizens in the United States to afford the medication they need to stay alive and well. I helped pass an amendment this week that would help lower prices, promote competition, and increase access to affordable drugs for millions of people.

The Coburn-Baldacci Amendment to the House Fiscal Year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations Act would prevent the Food Drug Administration (FDA) from stopping the importation to America of legal, safe, and more affordable prescription drugs from Mexico and Canada. Specifically, the amendment would prohibit FDA funds from being used to take any action to interfere with the importation into this country of drugs that have been approved for use here and were manufactured in an FDA-approved facility in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.

Marriage Penalty Tax Relief

The federal government currently taxes many married couples at a much higher rate than that of a cohabiting couple. The Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4810), which passed the House this week with my strong support, contains several initiatives to provide marriage penalty relief and restore fairness to the more than 139,600 New Hampshire couples who are unfairly taxed each year.

The Marriage Penalty Relief Reconciliation Act would allow the average dual-income family to keep $1,400 more of their hard-earned money each year. It would also provide an opportunity for the government to recognize and support the institution of marriage and the vital contribution marriage makes to our society.

The marriage penalty tax relief measure passed by the House in February was blocked in the Senate. The reconciliation measure that passed this week granted the marriage penalty tax bill special immunity from filibusters, which all but guarantees Senate passage of the bill.

Fighting to Cut “Cowboy Welfare”
Amendment would have Reduced Funding for Wasteful Program

I sponsored an amendment to the House Fiscal Year 2001 Agriculture Appropriations Act this week to cut $7 million in wasteful spending from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services livestock protection program. The Bass-Defazio amendment, which failed to pass, would have also limited the agency’s ability to use unnecessarily cruel lethal predator control methods for the purpose of livestock protection.

The Wildlife Services livestock protection program amounts to a de facto subsidy for wealthy ranchers and other resource users, and is simply another form of corporate welfare. Taxpayers should not be required to subsidize western ranchers who use this program to kill wild animals that prey on their livestock. It is time to put an end to this wasteful and unnecessary part of Wildlife Services.

Furthermore, Wildlife Services uses inhumane and ecologically unsound killing practices, such as poisoning, clubbing, and aerial gunning. This amendment would not restrict the tools private ranchers can use to protect livestock. But it would reduce the federal government’s direct involvement in these activities.

No Second Chances for Murders, Rapists, and Child Molesters

More than 14,000 rapes, molestations, and murders are committed each year by former inmates convicted of the same crime in a different state and released from jail. This is unacceptable.

I voted with a majority of my colleagues in the House this week for the No Second Chances for Murderers, Rapists, and Child Molesters Act (H.R.894), or Aimee’s Law, named after murder victim Aimee Willard. The bill would deduct the cost of prosecuting and incarcerating the repeat offender from the federal crime funds intended for the state that released the criminal and give the money instead to the state that obtained the second conviction. The funds would not be transferred, however, if the criminal had served 85% of his original sentence, and if the first state has a higher than average sentence for the crime.

There is no excuse for the premature release of violent criminals into society. It is time to stand up to those who let murderers, rapists, and child molesters off easy and compensate states who seriously fight crime and ensure that justice is served.