Recently in Washington

Simpson Asks Obama to Protect INL Cleanup
Congressman Mike Simpson, in a letter to the White House, is urging the President to personally intervene in an effort to stop an Office of Management and Budget plan to gut the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Program in its Fiscal Year 2011 budget – with the States of Tennessee and Idaho taking the biggest hit. The Environmental Management Program funds environmental remediation efforts at nuclear energy sites like the Idaho National Laboratory. Simpson was joined on the letter by Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp. Both are members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development which funds all of the Department of Energy’s many functions.

In their letter to President Obama, Simpson and Wamp expressed their concern with the actions of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in seeking up to fifty percent reductions for cleanup activities in Idaho and Tennessee.

“We write today to respectfully request your assistance in preventing an attempt by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to dramatically curtail funding for the federal government’s nuclear environmental remediation efforts in our state,” the two Congressmen wrote. “Such cuts would have a devastating impact on the ability of the DOE to meet its legal and contractual obligations to our states.  Further, such reductions to cleanup funding would represent a fundamental betrayal of the trust the people of Tennessee and Idaho have placed in the DOE.”

Simpson and Wamp outlined the successes of cleanup efforts across the country and said that progress would be halted by these cuts. “We are proud to report that the DOE is making great strides in meeting its cleanup obligations in Tennessee and Idaho where amazing work is being accomplished on limited budgets. These accomplishments would not be possible but for the stable budgets we and many of our colleagues have been working toward for many years,” wrote Simpson and Wamp. “The reductions planned in your budget would undo decades of hard work to ensure adequate funding for the EM program and put an immediate halt to the tremendous progress being made on the ground all across the country – but most prominently in Tennessee and Idaho.”

“As you know, the work to date is just a portion of the long-term work that will be required to meet the DOE’s environmental cleanup obligations. Much more work is yet to be done. The longer you delay that work, the more money taxpayers will ultimately spend meeting the unquestionable obligation of the federal government to cleanup these sites,” the two Congressmen concluded.

To view a complete copy of Simpson’s letter click here: 

Minnick, Simpson announce $14 million for Idaho
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Tom Vilsack will spend an additional $14 million to manage Idaho forests damaged by bark beetle infestation.

Secretary Vilsack pledged the funding late last month after speaking to Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, who has worked in collaboration with fellow Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson to raise awareness of the serious threat facing Idaho forests.

“This issue has been one of my most important since taking office,” said Minnick, a first-term Idaho Congressman who spent nearly two decades as a business leader in the forest products industry. “I have been fortunate to spend most of my life enjoying time in Idaho’s forests and backcountry. I am committed to making sure that those forests are healthy so that they will not only be enjoyed but can also be managed to help strengthen Idaho’s economy.”

“Bark beetles are a huge menace to our forests, and throughout Idaho you can see the irreparable damage they are doing as dead and dying trees litter the mountainside,” said Simpson, who is Ranking Member of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee which funds the Forest Service. “Sound forest management practices are necessary to battle the bark beetle infestation in the West, and I want to commend Congressman Minnick for his efforts in securing needed funding to implement these programs.”

Bark beetle infestation is advancing throughout the West, and has destroyed thousands of acres of previously healthy forests. The epidemic has negatively impacted forest health and has resulted in dramatic increases in dead and dying trees.

Secretary Vilsack recognizes that Western forests have experienced significant bark beetle infestation, and that Idaho forests are damaged and threatened. He directed $14 million to the National Forests in Idaho, above amounts previously allocated for forest management and conservation programs. The funds will accelerate actions to improve watershed resiliency, restore forest health and treat areas affected by bark beetles.

“Forest lands play a critical role in providing clean water and a healthier climate for all Americans, and the USDA is committed to protecting and preserving this important resource from pests like the bark beetle,” Vilsack said. “These funds will help manage our forests and improve their health for future generations, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Idaho delegation to address these important forest and watershed health issues together.”

Delegation Seeks Assistance for Potato Growers
Idaho's Congressional Delegation is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assist potato producers struggling due to a high supply of domestic potatoes and low prices.  In a letter sent last week to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Administrator, Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Representatives Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick are asking USDA to give favorable consideration to a pending request for purchase of fresh surplus potatoes for federal nutrition programs under the Section 32 program. 
 
The Delegation detailed the considerable potato market challenges.  “The growing conditions for the 2009 Idaho potato crop were almost perfect resulting in record yields and excellent quality.  Therefore, the percentage of saleable potatoes is above average this year, and currently Idaho potato stocks on hand are nearly 13.5 percent more than last year’s stocks, despite Idaho shipping 4.5 percent more than 2008 volumes.  This situation has caused prices to drop, and prices have continued to be low for quite some time,” the Delegation wrote. 
 
Further, the Delegation emphasized the difficulty potato producers are facing nationwide.  “Potato growers are struggling right now with their returns, which are quite low.  Without action, the combination of a high supply and low prices will drive many growers in the State of Idaho and throughout the country to go out of business.  In today’s financial market, trying to get financing for next year’s crops could be quite difficult when producers present the returns for this year’s crop,” the Delegation wrote.

 House Legislative Business This Week 

Monday, January 18, 2010
On Monday, the House is not in session in observation of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Suspensions (10 Bills):

1. H.R. 3726 - Castle Nugent National Historic Site Establishment Act (Sponsored by Rep. Christensen / Natural Resources)
2. H.R. 3759 - BLM Contract Extension Act (Sponsored by Rep. DeFazio / Natural Resources Committee) 
3. H.R. 725 - Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act (Sponsored by Rep. Pastor / Natural Resources Committee) 
4. H.R. 3538 - Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act (Sponsored by Rep. Simpson / Natural Resources Committee) 
5. H.Res. 1007 - Commending the University of Alabama (Sponsored by Rep. Bachus / Education and Labor Committee) 
6. H.Res. 1004 - Congratulating the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Sponsoring Rep. Davis (IL) / Education and Labor Committee) 
7. H.Res. 776 - Congratulating the Dartmouth Outing Club (Sponsored by Rep. Hodes / Education and Labor Committee) 
8. H.Res. 1008 - Honoring the contributions of Catholic schools (Sponsored by Rep. Lipinski / Education and Labor Committee) 
9. H.Res. __ - Congratulating the Penn State women’s volleyball team (Sponsored by Rep. Thompson (PA) / Education and Labor Committee) 
10. H.Res. 991 - Commending the University of Virginia men's soccer team (Sponsored by Rep. Perriello / Education and Labor Committee)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 and the Balance of the Week On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business.

On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.

Suspensions (11 Bills):

1. H.R. __ - To accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti (Sponsored by Rep. Rangel / Ways and Means Committee) 
2. H.R. 3250 - The "Private First Class Garfield M. Langhorn Post Office Building" Designation Act (Sponsored by Rep. Bishop (NY) / Oversight and Government Reform Committee) 
3. H.Con.Res. 158 - Expressing support for the designation of an Early Detection Month for breast cancer and all forms of cancer (Sponsored by Rep. Etheridge / Oversight and Government Reform Committee) 
4. H.Res. 708 - Congratulating Nancy Goodman Brinker (Sponsored by Rep. Schock / Oversight and Government Reform Committee) 
5. H.R. 4095 - The "Congresswoman Jan Meyers Post Office Building" Designation Act (Sponsored by Rep. Moore (KS) / Oversight and Government Reform Committee) 
6. H.Res. __ - Expressing Condolences to and Solidarity with the People of Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating Earthquake of January 12th, 2010 (Sponsored by Rep. Lee (CA) / Foreign Affairs Committee) 
7. H.Res. 1013 - Condemning the violent suppression of legitimate political dissent and gross human rights abuses in the Republic of Guinea (Sponsored by Rep. Ros-Lehtinen / Foreign Affairs Committee) 
8. H.Res. 1010 - Celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Sponsored by Rep. Conyers / Judiciary Committee) 
9. H.Res. 1009 - Honoring the seven Americans killed in Khost, Afghanistan, on December 30, 2009, for their service to the United States (Sponsored by Rep. Reyes / Intelligence Committee) 
10. H.R. 2611 - To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Securing the Cities Initiative of the Department of Homeland Security (Sponsored by Rep. King (NY) / Homeland Security Committee) 
11. Sen. Amend. to H.R. 730 - Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act (Sponsored by Rep. Schiff / Homeland Security Committee)

H.R. 1065 - White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Kirkpatrick (AZ) / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 3254 - Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Lujan / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 3342 - Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Lujan / Natural Resources Committee)

In the News

Seventy GOP Congressmen Call on Geithner to Cancel the Multi-Million-Dollar Bonuses Treasury Approved for CEOs at Government-Owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Thursday, January 14, 2010
By Karen Schuberg , Washington (CNSNews.com)

Seventy Republican members of Congress want Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to cancel up to $6 million in bonuses and deferred compensation -- approved before Christmas 2009 -- for the chief executive officers of the failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“(T)here’s a letter that’s going to Sec. Geithner from a number of us calling for a rescission of those bonuses,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told CNSNews.com Wednesday.

On Christmas Eve, at the same time the Obama administration announced that it was removing any cap on the amount of taxpayer aid to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the failed mortgage giants announced that they had received approval from their financial regulator to pay $42 million in compensation packages to 12 top executives for 2009.

The compensation packages included up to $6 million each to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chief executives. For the CEOs, annual compensation consists of a base salary of $900,000, $3.1 million in deferred compensation and incentive pay of as much as $2 million. Public disclosure that the retention bonuses were being copnsidered first surfaced in the Spring.
 
In their letter, the 70 congressmen state: “Awarding lavish pay packages with hefty bonuses to government owned entities while still lacking a comprehensive plan for reform demonstrates a disconcerting lack of judgment on the part of the Treasury Department and the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Authority).

"We share (House Financial Services Committee) Chairman (Barney) Frank’s sentiment expressed March 19, 2009 in a letter to former FHFA  Director James B. Lockhart asking him to cancel retention bonuses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives," reads the letter.  "Chairman Frank stated, ‘The public, having provided significant support for the purpose of restoring trust and confidence in our country's financial system, rightfully insists that large bonuses such as these awarded by institutions receiving public funds at a time of a serious economic downturn cannot continue.’ ”

Bachmann, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said the letter, which was drafted by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and was sent Wednesday, protests the fact that the "government-sponsored enterprises" now owned by the American people, have already cost taxpayers more than $110 billion and "put taxpayers explicitly on-the-hook for over $2 trillion in potential losses through various federal programs." 

“(We are pushing) for an ending -- an unwinding, if you will -- of the U.S. owning Fannie and Freddie. We want out of this sinking business as quickly as we possibly can, and we want to pull the plug on an unlimited taxpayer bailout of Freddie and Fannie,” Bachmann said.

Bachmann's comments came at a Wednesday news conference, when CNSNews.com asked her: “The Obama administration approved the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac getting salaries of $900,000, plus $3.1 million in deferred payments, plus another $2 million in performance bonuses. (S)hould taxpayers have to pay these bonuses, or should they be cancelled?”

Bachmann replied: "I think that’s something that we’re very upset about. And I think we’re very upset about the bonuses."

“When Sec. Geithner said that there’d be unlimited taxpayer funding continuing to go into this sinking ship, and then bonuses they’re given?," she said. "On what basis?  What did they do?  What was the criteria that they could possibly be given a bonus?  The fact that they got unlimited taxpayer money?”

Bachman was referring to Treasury’s announcement that it would send unlimited tax money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, thereby eliminating the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid that Treasury can give without having to come back to Congress for authorization. 

On Thursday, meanwhile, the president proposed a fee on the nation’s top financial institutions to recoup $117 billion of money that the Treasury Department said was lost on the Troubled Asset Releif Program (TARP), the bank bailout fund.

Ironically, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM and Chrsyler would all be exempt from the fee, which would apply mainly to major private banks, many of whom have already paid back the money they took under the the $700 billion TARP.

In addition to Bachmann and Hensarling, the letter was signed by: Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio); Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.); Mike Pence (R-Ind.); Paul Ryan (R-Wis.); Scott Garrett (R-N.J.); Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.); Don Manzullo (R-Ill.); Walter Jones (R-N.C.); Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.); Bill Posey (R-Fla.); Leonard Lance (R-N.J.); Peter Roskam (R-Ill.); Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.); Geoff Davis (R-Ky.); Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.); Mike Simpson (R-Idaho); Louie Gohmert (R-Texas); Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.); Jack Kingston (R-Ga.); Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif); Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah); Todd Akin (R-Mo.); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.); Steve King (R-Iowa); Joe Wilson (R-S.C.); Sam Graves (R-Mo.); Roy Blunt (R-Mo.); Frank Wolf (R-Va.); Kevin Brady (R-Texas); Adam Putnam (R-Fla.); Greg Walden (R-Ore.); John Fleming (R-La.); Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.); Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.); Steve Scalise (R-La.); Peter King (R-N.Y.); Ron Paul (R-Texas); Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas); Joe Barton (R-Texas); Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.); John Boozman (R-Ark.); Charles Dent (R-Pa.); Pete Olson (R-Texas); Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.); Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.); Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.); Judy Biggert (R-Ill.); Ed Royce (R-Calif.); John Duncan (R-Tenn.); Robert Latta (R-Ohio); Kenny Marchant (R-Texas); Mike Castle (R-Del. At large); Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.); Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Joe Pitts (R-Pa.); Paul Broun (R-Ga.); Gregg Harper (R-Miss.); Trent Franks (R-Ariz.); John Kline (R-Minn.); Dan Burton (R-Ind.); Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); John Shadegg (R-Ariz.); Tom Rooney (R-Fla.); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.); Dan Lungren (R-Calif.); Tom McClintock (R-Calif.); Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas).