aza spades

Update from U.S. Senator Bob Corker
August 2007 



Thank you for taking the time to read our monthly newsletter. We hope it will be one more way we’re able to keep in touch with you about our work in Washington and Tennessee on your behalf.

We know the best way to keep in touch is to see you in person, so throughout the month of August I am visiting 38 counties across our state to talk with you and hear what’s on your mind.

We hope you’ll come see us, too. We have six offices located across Tennessee ready to address any concerns you may be having, and if your travels bring you to Washington, we hope you’ll stop by and say hello.

As always, I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving you in the United States Senate. 



Appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee

Last month, I was appointed to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee in addition to my other assignments on the Foreign Relations, Energy, Small Business and Aging Committees. 

I’m truly honored that Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has appointed me to this position, and I look forward to working with the other members of the Committee on the critical military and defense issues facing our country during this time of war. I believe this appointment, along with my service on the Foreign Relations Committee, will give me the opportunity to focus on many different facets of America’s interests abroad. 

Throughout the course of the campaign and during my first seven months in office, I’ve had the honor of spending time with a great number of our Tennessee military men and women. During my first trip to Iraq in February, I had the opportunity to spend time with our Tennessee troops on the ground and was deeply moved and impressed with their tremendous professionalism, commitment, ability and service to our country. I look forward to visiting with more of our troops when I return to Iraq later this month.

It is a privilege to be working on the policy issues that affect our military families in Tennessee and across the country.

News Release: Corker Appointed to Senate Armed Services Committee
Jackson Sun: Corker is strong addition to key Senate committee
Video Clip
Audio Clip

It's Time for an Honest Health Care Debate

Recently, I broke with my party’s leadership and voted for SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) reauthorization, which is funded through 2012. But I believe this is only a short-term and partial solution to a much larger crisis facing our country: the 45 million Americans, including 800,000 Tennesseans, who lack adequate health insurance. Beyond the chaos this causes to our health care system and the American economy, the human and emotional toll is enormous. In every one of our state’s 95 counties, I have visited with hardworking Tennesseans who feel insecure about their futures because they lack adequate health care coverage. 

What we need now is a real debate on this issue. The 2008 presidential election provides an opportunity to move the health care debate in this country towards an honest dialogue on solutions that would actually provide all Americans with access to affordable, high-quality private health insurance. We either need to figure out a workable, affordable, private health care solution, or I fear that frustration levels will run so high that many Americans may feel they have no choice but to move towards government-sponsored health care.

In the spirit of helping to advance a meaningful debate, I have joined with Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and others to offer what I believe is an innovative approach towards extending health insurance to every American.

From a policy perspective, our Every American Insured Health Act differs substantially from other proposals that have been offered. Most of the discussion centers around piecemeal solutions that only nibble at the edges of our health care crisis. The only thing that really allows people to own their own health insurance is the money to pay for it, so we give every individual a tax credit—cash in their pocket— ($2,160 for individuals; $5,400 for families) to purchase their own health insurance policy. These tax credits would be both advanceable and refundable, meaning that low-income families would have the money to make timed, monthly payments and would receive the full value of the tax credit regardless of the amount of taxes they owe the government. This proposal also provides states with flexible incentives to reform health insurance markets to ensure that affordable, high-quality health insurance is available. In short, this bill provides Americans cash to purchase health insurance in the private market.

Our proposal is revenue neutral, so it does not increase our ballooning deficit. Rather, we make the tax code treat all Americans equally when it comes to buying health insurance by repealing what is basically a health insurance subsidy that all employees receive when their employer provides health insurance. Under this proposal, health benefits would be included in taxable income. In turn, a person’s tax credit would be used to offset this tax. Employers would also still be able to deduct employee health care costs as a business expense.
If all Americans are able to purchase health insurance, cost-shifting as a result of uncompensated care will cease and private insurance will be less expensive for all Americans.

This proposal is not perfect, but it creates a starting point for a meaningful health care debate by the Congress. I believe we have a moral obligation to give our honest attention to a crisis that is affecting so many Americans.

"Every American Insured Health Act" Release
Reauthorization of SCHIP Release
Video Clip
Audio Clip
Floor Remarks on Health Care Reform Legislation
Heritage Foundation: Beyond SCHIP: A Serious Proposal to Reduce Uninsurance
Chattanooga Times Free Press: Sen. Corker’s health plan

Studying the Climate Change Issue

Climate change and reducing carbon dioxide emissions will be a major subject of debate this fall in the Senate. I believe we should continue to study climate change and its effects because there is still a lot that is unknown. Regardless of how one may feel about the science, there may be a unique opportunity before us to marry concerns about energy security and concerns about carbon dioxide emissions into a policy that enhances our technological capability and gives our country a competitive advantage.

Greenland/Climate Change Release

Legislative Update:

Maintaining America’s Competitive Edge
One of the reasons I ran for the U.S. Senate was to work on policies that prepare our young people and our American workforce for the jobs of the 21st century, so I’m very proud we were able to pass - and the President signed into law - the America COMPETES Act to help increase investments in research and technology and strengthen math and science education. As a result of this bill, Tennessee will see opportunities for increased research at our universities and institutions that will create new jobs and help us attract additional high-tech companies to our state. I want to applaud my colleague, Senator Lamar Alexander, who deserves a tremendous amount of credit for his leadership on this issue. Passage of this legislation shows what we can do when we put partisan politics aside and focus on the major issues impacting our country’s future.

Passage of the America COMPETES Act Release

Passing Ethics Reform 
Abuses of the earmarking system have certainly contributed to an erosion of public trust. The Ethics bill we passed gives the public greater access to earmark requests, details on who is asking for earmarks and what they are asking for. It is important that there is more transparency in the earmarking process and that members of Congress are more accountable for the way we spend our constituents’ tax dollars. As we move along, I hope we are able to strengthen this portion of the bill even further.
 
Ethics Reform Passage Release

Enhancing National Security 
I am encouraged by the way the Senate worked in a bipartisan manner to pass the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act and legislation implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations. The appropriations bill will greatly assist Tennessee in its homeland security mission by funding disaster preparedness research, interoperable communications programs and emergency management personnel. Additionally, it provides expanded funding for border security, as well as $3 billion dollars in emergency funding that will be used to help secure our borders. 

Both houses of Congress and both sides of the aisle worked together to remove the controversial pieces of the 9/11 bill, including the collective bargaining provision for TSA employees, which was not part of the Commission’s proposal and could have threatened the safety of travelers. By keeping the bill focused on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, I believe we were able to pass a bill that helps make our country safer and stronger. 

National Security Legislation Release

Improving Access to Higher Education 
Last month, I supported, and the Senate passed, the Higher Education Access Act and Higher Ed Reauthorization. I believe these bills will increase college access for many young people across America and will continue many important education programs that are at the core of our higher education system. Our economic future and our ability to compete in the world marketplace depend on having a highly educated and trained workforce. Increasing college access and affordability is critical to that goal and helps ensure that our young people are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. By increasing the Pell Grant program and simplifying the FAFSA from eight pages to two, I believe we will extend the opportunity of education to more young people across our country. As Chattanooga’s mayor, I saw firsthand the importance of having high quality teachers in the classroom, so I’m delighted the reauthorization expands grant programs to better prepare, mentor and retain America’s teachers. 

Higher Education Access Act Release
Higher Education Authorization Bill Release

Protecting Free Speech, Free Market Principles on Talk Radio 
Recent talk in Congress about reinstituting the so called "Fairness Doctrine," regulating speech on our public airwaves, has absolutely nothing to do with fairness. Broadcasters should be able to choose programming based upon their own business decisions and not what bureaucrats in Washington think should be on the air. That’s why I signed on as a cosponsor of legislation prohibiting the “Fairness Doctrine" and I look forward to its full consideration in the Senate. Permitting the government to regulate views aired in broadcasting opens itself up to abuse through political pressure and could significantly curtail freedom of speech and freedom of the press as the FCC found in 1985. Hopefully, we can follow the House of Representatives’ lead and protect fair free market principles in American talk radio.
 
Cosponsoring the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007 Release
Chattanooga Times Free Press: Don’t deny radio ‘free speech’

Focused On Tennessee:

Supporting Drought Assistance for Tennessee Farmers

The USDA designated the entire state of Tennessee as an agricultural disaster area for the second time this growing season making farmers affected by the ongoing drought eligible to be considered for low interest emergency loans. Earlier in the year, Tennessee farmers impacted by the April freeze received similar assistance from the USDA. I was proud to join my colleagues in the Tennessee Congressional delegation in writing letters of support for both of Tennessee’s requests for disaster relief. 

USDA Drought Disaster Designation Release

Promoting Arnold Air Force Base for CBAT



Last month, I joined Senator Alexander, Congressman Lincoln Davis, and Deputy Governor Stuart Brunson in a meeting with General William Looney in Washington to promote Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma as the solid choice to house the Air Force’s new Common Battlefield Airmen Training (CBAT) Program. There’s overwhelming support for this effort at all levels because the conditions exist for Arnold to become home to CBAT, virtually overnight. Arnold has the civilian infrastructure, facilities, and community support to provide a seamless startup for CBAT operations. Arnold Air Force Base sits as one of three finalists to house CBAT, and an environmental impact study shows Arnold is the only choice that already contains the prerequisite land space and doesn’t endanger any wetlands.
 
CBAT Release

Compensating Sick Nuclear Workers
Responding to a letter Senator Alexander and I wrote, the Department of Labor and the Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced they have corrected the funding shortfall in the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA) program so that our nation’s nuclear weapons workers, harmed in the service of their country, will receive the fair treatment and just compensation Congress intended. Tennessee’s workers and workers across the country deserve to have their claims processed expeditiously, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that adequate funds are available to meet that objective. 

Compensation for Sick Nuclear Workers Release

Ensuring Safe and Secure Communities in Tennessee
Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our citizens, so I’m pleased Tennessee will receive more than $20 million in Homeland Security grant funding for 2007. This funding will help Tennessee communities prevent, prepare, and respond to natural or man made disasters. 

Homeland Security Grant Funding Release

Interoperable Communications Grant Funding 
The Department of Commerce in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security announced $17.5 million in funding to help ensure that public safety personnel and other first responders have the ability to reliably share information in their efforts to protect and serve the public. Providing Tennessee’s first responders with the tools necessary to coordinate their activities during an emergency will help save lives. I thank the Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security for providing this funding for Tennessee and appreciate their shared commitment to keeping our communities safe. 

Interoperable Communications Grant Release
 
In the News: 

The Tennessee Journal: 
Miserable at First, Corker Now Finds Senate Invigorating
Heritage Foundation: Beyond SCHIP: 
A Serious Proposal to Reduce Uninsurance
Chattanooga Times Free Press: 
Sen. Corker’s health plan
Jackson Sun: 
Corker is strong addition to key Senate committee
Memphis Daily News: 
From Iraq to Memphis, Corker Settles Into Senate Life
Chattanooga Times Free Press: 
Don’t deny radio ‘free speech’