Politics

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a vital asset for working  families.  FMLA currently protects a worker’s job and continuation of  health insurance coverage while allowing up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent. 

Unfortunately, FMLA does not cover part time employees. In 2005, two-thirds of the 24.7 million people working part-time were women, many of whom fulfilled essential family responsibilities in addition to their employment.  The Family Fairness Act would cover these employees and allow them to take the leave necessary to care for their family.  It is a much needed, overdue improvement to the FMLA.

To enter into a partnership with a country for oil exploration, who has in the past expropriated American oil companies' properties in Cuba would be only to repeat a cycle of mistakes made in the past. It would be only to come into the fold of a dictator who does not observe or understand the rule of law.

I would suggest that the bill I have filed which tries to re-enact and tries to speak to the Cuban embargo that has been in place for many years, with good reason; that it would be strongly enforced against those who seek to invest in partnership with this illegitimate government, with this government that continues to be a threat to its neighbors, continues to be a hostile government to the United States.

Many times the difference between life and death in how quickly you can access care. Knowing that and with the severe shortage of doctors in rural America, something has to be done to entice physicians to rural America. My bill will offer physicians a tax credit to locate their practices in underserved, rural areas of the country, which will increase access to care, which will save lives. Montana is particularly hard hit by the lack of doctors. Forty six of Montana’s fifty six counties are classified as frontier – 24 of those have fewer than two people per square mile and ten of those have less than one per square mile. However, what is even more striking is nine of these frontier counties have no doctors at all, and ten others have fewer than three. Consequently, a large percentage of Montanans must travel great distances simply to get basic medical treatment. That has to change, and it will with my bill.

The Mayor, who knows the city better than any federal official and works closely with federal security officials, should be able to call on the D.C. National Guard to cover events such as natural disasters or civil disturbances without relying on the President, who may be preoccupied with national matters. It does no harm to give the Mayor the authority. It could do great harm to leave him powerless to act quickly. If it makes sense that a governor would have control over the mobilization and deployment of the state National Guard, it makes the same sense for the Mayor of the District of Columbia, with a population the size of that of small states, should have the same authority.

Our amendment would have adopted a CBO alternative proposal that reorganized the missile defense program in such a way as to eliminate programs that, quite simply, are wasteful and do not work. The amendment sought to chart a more responsible strategy for missile defense, focusing on research and development and the testing of current systems. Further, our amendment still provided for more than $4 billion in funding for Missile Defense Agency to accomplish this purpose. Read more...

The Tierney Amendment would have had a negative impact on national security by severely curtailing or terminating programs that protect our country against rogue nation missile attack. Simply put, now is not the time to gut our missile defense programs by slashing the Missile Defense Agency's budget in half, given the threats posed by such countries as North Korea and Iran. Frankly, I was surprised to see that amendment offered by members of the Intelligence Committee who should be aware of the threats facing this country.

The tax bill is about strengthening the economy and protecting millions of families from higher tax bills because of the Alternative Minimum Tax. It will help small businesses, encourage the kind of investment that creates jobs and makes our economy grow, and ensure more fair tax treatment for middle-income families who would otherwise have to pay a tax intended for wealthy individuals.

Some Democrats have accused Republicans of abandoning popular tax breaks like the college tuition deduction, which will expire if we don’t extend it. That’s not the case. A second tax bill is in the works that will include relief for college students paying tuition, teachers buying supplies for their classrooms, and the research and development of innovative ideas that benefit our society. These items are popular with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Look for the second bill in the coming weeks.

Much to my frustration, the federal government has long lagged behind the private sector in promoting telework-despite the traffic, energy, cost, productivity, and employee morale benefits it can provide. Perhaps the threat of pandemic flu will finally be the push the federal government needs to take serious strides in getting more employees to be teleworkers. During an outbreak, it may not be possible, or advisable, for employees to report to work and be in close quarters. Any worthwhile continuity of government plan must include the ability for employees to work off-site during emergencies, and telework can be such a simple solution in that regard.

The letter we sent to President Bush reinforces our position that access into the World Trade Organization shouldn't be taken for granted. We want to welcome Russia as a trading partner, but they need to demonstrate their ability to abide by the established rules, especially intellectual property standards.

Congress has kicked around a lot of silly ideas about how best to ease our energy crunch. There needs to be a compelling reason why American firms are barred from exploring energy resources so close to home when other countries, like China, are doing so, and I’m not sure that a 45-year-old failed embargo qualifies as a compelling reason.