SOURCE LINK
Last week my opponent raised the issue of my residential address as a registered voter. I secure my actual address from public knowledge to protect my life partner from her ex-husband. After years of domestic violence and a restraining order, we moved to Sequim to be safer. Our efforts to mask our actual address include setting up discrete entities to purchase the house and investment property in Clallam County.
My efforts to protect her also included actions to interrupt his stalking. Mission accomplished, with no blows or medical attention necessary. Unfortunately, he did file a trumped up assault charge, which I resolved with a small fine. Now I trust my opponent will drop this issue and honor the need to protect a victim of domestic violence.
Why my opponent chose to engage in this distraction rather than a discussion of credentials and issues is an interesting question.
A port commissioner needs to guide the Port in areas of economic development, maritime trades, deep-water port management, log handling facilities management, recreational boating, air facilities and real estate management. I have the combination of education and experience that makes me uniquely qualified for this position. This includes an MBA in Accounting and a career in lending, international business, consulting and owning and running a small business with over 100 employees.
Substantial maritime experience is also part of my background, as a former US Navy officer, and now as a senior sailing instructor at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. I have a current US Coast Guard Master Mariners license with over 2000 days at sea. This experience will help me deal effectively with the Port’s critical issues.
There are two issues of significant concern. The first is the discussion about the sale of the John Wayne Marina to private interests. The marina and park along with the marina in Port Angeles accounts for about a third of annual Port revenue and provide a consistent positive cash flow.
Second is the state of the Port’s finances, which may be why selling a precious public resource is under consideration. With the heavy investment in the Composite RecyclingTechnology Center, there are no reserves available for capital improvements, without new bonds and continued taxes. Selling the marina would provide significant funds but I am concerned, based on earlier investment decisions by the Port, that the money may not be used wisely.
If you care about our economic health and value the Marina, please ask yourself how the Port ended up in this situation. Who is the better qualified candidate to resolve these issues for the citizens of Clallam County. I believe I am that candidate and will appreciate your vote.
related story
PDN: Candidate challenge rejected; Port Angeles port incumbent plans to refile complaint against challenger
PORT ANGELES — Colleen McAleer, incumbent Port of Port Angeles commissioner, said.
Editorial note: I just knew there had to be a good reason behind this. As I said McAleer would be wise to drop this issue, before she ends up looking as a desperate candidate seeking re-election. Then again, if he wanted to keep his private life private, why run for office in the first place, everyone knows once you throw your hat in the ring stuff like this is made public.
Secondly something not related, but related to the format of this paper, I decided to revert back to one page reports. It seems many of my readers prefers the one page report deal, as opposed to the multi-page postings on here. I am always trying new ways to bring you informative, timely stories.
Monday, July 31, 2017
FDA announces comprehensive regulatory plan to shift trajectory of tobacco-related disease, death
Health spotlight
From the FDA Press release dated 7/ 28/ 17
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced a new comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation that will serve as a multi-year roadmap to better protect kids and significantly reduce tobacco-related disease and death. The approach places nicotine, and the issue of addiction, at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts. The goal is to ensure that the FDA has the proper scientific and regulatory foundation to efficiently and effectively implement the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. To make certain that the FDA is striking an appropriate balance between regulation and encouraging development of innovative tobacco products that may be less dangerous than cigarettes, the agency is also providing targeted relief on some timelines described in the May 2016 final rule that extended the FDA’s authority to additional tobacco products. The agency will also seek input on critical public health issues such as the role of flavors in tobacco products.
Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths every single year. In addition to the devastating human toll caused mainly by cigarette smoking, tobacco also causes substantial financial costs to society, with direct health care and lost productivity costs totaling nearly $300 billion a year. A key piece of the FDA’s approach is demonstrating a greater awareness that nicotine – while highly addictive – is delivered through products that represent a continuum of risk and is most harmful when delivered through smoke particles in combustible cigarettes.
“The overwhelming amount of death and disease attributable to tobacco is caused by addiction to cigarettes – the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “Unless we change course, 5.6 million young people alive today will die prematurely later in life from tobacco use. Envisioning a world where cigarettes would no longer create or sustain addiction, and where adults who still need or want nicotine could get it from alternative and less harmful sources, needs to be the cornerstone of our efforts – and we believe it’s vital that we pursue this common ground.”
The FDA plans to begin a public dialogue about lowering nicotine levels in combustible cigarettes to non-addictive levels through achievable product standards. The agency intends to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to seek input on the potential public health benefits and any possible adverse effects of lowering nicotine in cigarettes. Because almost 90 percent of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18 and nearly 2,500 youth smoke their first cigarette every day in the U.S., lowering nicotine levels could decrease the likelihood that future generations become addicted to cigarettes and allow more currently addicted smokers to quit.
“Because nicotine lives at the core of both the problem and the solution to the question of addiction, addressing the addictive levels of nicotine in combustible cigarettes must be part of the FDA’s strategy for addressing the devastating, addiction crisis that is threatening American families,” said Commissioner Gottlieb. “Our approach to nicotine must be accompanied by a firm foundation of rules and standards for newly-regulated products. To be successful all of these steps must be done in concert and not in isolation.”
The FDA is committed to encouraging innovations that have the potential to make a notable public health difference and inform policies and efforts that will best protect kids and help smokers quit cigarettes. To make this effort successful, the agency intends to extend timelines to submit tobacco product review applications for newly regulated tobacco products that were on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016. This action will afford the agency time to explore clear and meaningful measures to make tobacco products less toxic, appealing and addictive. For example, the FDA intends to develop product standards to protect against known public health risks such as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) battery issues and concerns about children’s exposure to liquid nicotine. It also will provide manufacturers additional time to develop higher quality, more complete applications informed by additional guidance from the agency.
The agency plans to issue this guidance describing a new enforcement policy shortly. Under expected revised timelines, applications for newly-regulated combustible products, such as cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco, would be submitted by Aug. 8, 2021, and applications for non-combustible products such as ENDS or e-cigarettes would be submitted by Aug. 8, 2022. Additionally, the FDA expects that manufacturers would continue to market products while the agency reviews product applications.
Importantly, the anticipated new enforcement policy will not affect any current requirements for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, only the newly-regulated tobacco products such as cigars and e-cigarettes. This approach also will not apply to provisions of the final rule for which compliance deadlines already have passed, such as mandatory age and photo-ID checks to prevent illegal sales to minors. It also will not affect future deadlines for other provisions of the rule, including, but not limited to, required warning statements, ingredient listing, health document submissions, harmful and potentially harmful constituent reports, and the removal of modified risk claims, i.e., "light," "low," or "mild," or similar descriptors.
In order to further explore how best to protect public health in the evolving tobacco marketplace, the agency also will seek input from the public on a variety of significant topics, including approaches to regulating kid-appealing flavors in e-cigarettes and cigars. In particular, the FDA intends to issue ANPRMs to: 1) seek public comment on the role that flavors (including menthol) in tobacco products play in attracting youth and may play in helping some smokers switch to potentially less harmful forms of nicotine delivery; and 2) solicit additional comments and scientific data related to the patterns of use and resulting public health impacts from premium cigars, which were included in the FDA’s 2016 rule. Additionally, the agency plans to examine actions to increase access and use of FDA-approved medicinal nicotine products, and work with sponsors to consider what steps can be taken under the safety and efficacy standard for products intended to help smokers quit.
“This comprehensive plan and sweeping approach to tobacco and nicotine allows the FDA to apply the powerful tools given by Congress to achieve the most significant public health impact,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Public input on these complex issues will help ensure the agency has the proper science-based policies in place to meaningfully reduce the harms caused by tobacco use.”
To complement these larger policy considerations, the FDA plans to issue foundational rules to make the product review process more efficient, predictable, and transparent for manufacturers, while upholding the agency’s public health mission. Among other things, the FDA intends to issue regulations outlining what information the agency expects to be included in Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs), Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) applications and reports to demonstrate Substantial Equivalence (SE). The FDA also plans to finalize guidance on how it intends to review PMTAs for ENDS. The agency also will continue efforts to assist industry in complying with federal tobacco regulations through online information, meetings, webinars and guidance documents.
The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, promotes and protects the public health by, among other things, assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
WASH. DOH: Time for back-to-school immunizations
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health is urging parents and guardians to make sure their kids’ immunizations are up to date before heading back to school this fall.
Last school year (2016-2017), 85 percent of kindergartners were completely immunized. This school year’s goal is 95 percent. View a list of the elementary schools that achieved 95 percent last year.
Students could be excluded from school if there’s an outbreak of a disease they are not immunized against. Vaccines are critical protection for children; they also help keep other kids around them safe from many diseases.
See all required vaccinations for kindergarten through 12th grade and child care and preschool.
Besides English, the list of required vaccinations is also available in seven different languages such as Spanish, Chinese, and Somali.
Parents and guardians can check their child’s immunization status or print their Certificate of Immunization Status at wa.MyIR.net.
Vaccines are provided at no cost to all kids through age 18. If a health care provider charges a fee to give the shot, parents or guardians may ask to have it waived if they cannot afford it.
By law, no child can be turned away from getting a recommended vaccine from their regular health care provider because the family cannot pay.
Get help finding a health care provider by calling the Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588 or visiting www.parenthelp123.org
WH: President Donald J. Trump Proclaims July 26, 2017, as a Day in Celebration of the 27th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 25/ 17
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
On the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we celebrate the landmark legislation that marks our Nation's commitment to ending discrimination against people with disabilities. The ADA's recognition of the inherent dignity of disabled persons solidified America's status as the world leader in protecting fundamental rights. Today, we pay special respect to the contributions of the more than 56 million Americans living with disabilities, and we look forward to further advancing accessibility for all those who need it.
President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA on July 26, 1990, and for 27 years it has been instrumental in protecting the rights and liberties of people with disabilities and strengthening their access to everyday American life. Disabilities are an unavoidable part of the human experience veterans injured in service to their Nation, survivors of accidents and illnesses, children born with disabilities, and our elderly. Since its inception, the ADA has helped empower people living with disabilities by ensuring they have fair and just access to employment, government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and public transportation.
Americans are justifiably proud of the ADA and its accomplishments, but more can be done to protect the rights and dignity of Americans living with disabilities. Disabled Americans in the workforce already contribute substantially to our Nation's productivity and prosperity. We must continue to empower them by breaking down obstacles that prevent their full participation in the public and economic affairs of our Nation. In addition, my Administration will encourage American ingenuity and technological advancements in medicine and science, which will give millions of Americans with disabilities opportunities to work, engage in commerce, and connect with others in ways we could not have imagined 27 years ago.
On the anniversary of the ADA, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering an environment that provides all Americans with the opportunity to pursue their American dream. Let us all take this time to refocus our efforts to support our fellow Americans and help them succeed, no matter the obstacles they may face.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 26, 2017, as a day in celebration of the 27th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that celebrate the contributions of Americans with disabilities and to renew our commitment to achieving the promise of our freedom for all Americans.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Related story from the US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Disability Employment Summit Highlights Difference U.S. Can Make
Blog posted by, CARRIE BROOKS Staff Assistant, Communications
SOURCE LINK
On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities. To commemorate this milestone, the Chamber joined with the U.S. Business Leadership Network to put on an event aimed at promoting the inclusion of all individuals with different abilities in the workplace.
Legislators, activists, and representatives from major international companies met at the Chamber for the Global Disability Employment Summit.
Chamber President and CEO, Tom Donohue, kicked off the summit, noting that, thanks to the ADA, the U.S. has set the gold standard for the inclusion of people with different abilities:
Globally, there are many people with disabilities who are willing and able to work, but they don’t have the same accommodations that workers based in the United States do...Until other countries ensure that people with disabilities have access and opportunities to work and travel, we will always be limited in our ability to operate globally.
Remarks and panel conversations at the summit covered topics ranging from diversification of supply chains to methods for furthering inclusion both in the U.S. and abroad, each with the goal of promoting hiring globally.
In his keynote remarks, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) stressed the value of common sense practices in order to increase employment opportunities:
Work experience is the number one variable that predicts success for people with disabilities.
Keynote speaker Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) described the value of work in different terms:
A job is so much more than a paycheck. It’s what gives you purpose and dignity.
Panelists from various companies reinforced these messages, describing how they have created more inclusive workplaces with commonsense strategies that their organizations have implemented. Among them was making an office that is accessible for people of all different abilities. Additional strategies included holding collaborative discussions, providing proper training for workers, and implementing technology that is accessible for all employees.
The process of crafting these strategies includes working alongside and seeking feedback from agencies and actors who have experience with disability. Panelists noted that the most effective way to enact inclusive practices is to check their egos at the door and seek feedback from those who understand the issues best. Whether it be from employees, disability-owned businesses, or customers, their input informs inclusion.
Bank of America Private Wealth Management Managing Director of U.S. Trust Paula Kelly told the audience:
Everyone in our company needs to feel comfortable coming to work as their whole selves every single day.
Participants from other companies echoed this message, enforcing the ultimate goal of diversity inclusion: that employees feel accommodated and comfortable in their work environments.
Another theme that was pervasive throughout the event was that of cooperation. Nearly every speaker mentioned that he or she relied upon the ideas and practices of other companies to boost his or her organization’s approach to disability inclusion. President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services Joyce Bender commented, “Finding global talent is about collaboration.”
One of the issues in promoting disability inclusion abroad stems from the fact that the definition of “disability” varies from one country to another. Thus, different countries have different regulations when it comes to hiring people with different abilities. Individuals who work for U.S.-based companies with global presences shared that it’s crucial to change the culture surrounding disability in order to boost the number of people with disabilities in the workforce.
IBM Director of Global and Americas Diversity and Inclusion Rosalia Thomas offered role models as a means to influence culture:
If you can present a different reality, norms shift.
Acclaimed disability rights activist Judy Heumann closed out the event, impressing upon attendees the role they can play outside the U.S. She called on them to raise the issue of inclusion with chambers of commerce and embassies, noting that when America does something right, foreign actors recognize it. Heumann said:
U.S. leadership can make a dramatic difference.
The Global Disability Employment Summit was one example of that difference.
Daily Bible verse: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14,16 NKJV
Free bible studies (WBS)
https://www.worldbibleschool.org/
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http://www.worldenglishinstitute.org/
Sunday, July 30, 2017
RUSSIA & CHINA ARE LIKE DOTING PARENTS OVER THE SPOILED BRAT IN NORTH KOREA
UN NEWS CENTER: UN chief condemns DPR Korea's latest launch of ballistic missile
SOURCE
28 July 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned today's launch of a ballistic missile of possible intercontinental range by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“This is again a manifest violation of Security Council resolutions. The DPRK leadership must comply fully with its international obligations and work together with the international community to resolve the outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula,” said the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
In the statement, Mr. Guterres reiterated his call for DPRK leadership to respond to the Republic of Korea's proposals to reopen communication channels, particularly military-to-military, to lower the risk of miscalculation or misunderstanding and reduce tensions.
On Monday, Seoul announced that its Defence Ministry had proposed to meet with DRPK representatives with the goal of ending hostilities.
RELATED STORIES
US MISSION TO THE UN: Statement by Ambassador Nikki Haley on Iran’s Missile Launch
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
The issue with Iran always comes back to mistrust. Iran’s widespread support for terrorists tells us we can’t trust them. Iran’s breaking its obligation on missile testing tells us we can’t trust them. Yesterday’s launch proves that yet again.
Under this administration, the United States will not let Iran off the hook for behavior that threatens our interests and our allies. We will not simply trust Iran’s word that they are in compliance with international obligations. We will continue to impose consequences until Iran stops its provocations and complies fully with Security Council resolutions.
WHITE HOUSE: Statement from the President on North Korea’s Second ICBM Launch
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
North Korea’s test launch today of another intercontinental ballistic missile—the second such test in less than a month—is only the latest reckless and dangerous action by the North Korean regime. The United States condemns this test and rejects the regime’s claim that these tests—and these weapons—ensure North Korea’s security. In reality, they have the opposite effect. By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people. The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region.
US STATE DEPT: On the Latest DPRK Provocation
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
The United States strongly condemns North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the second this month, in blatant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that reflect the will of the international community.
All nations should take a strong public stance against North Korea, by maintaining and strengthening UN sanctions to ensure North Korea will face consequences for its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
As the principal economic enablers of North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development program, China and Russia bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability.
The United States seeks the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the end to belligerent actions by North Korea. As we and others have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea nor abandon our commitment to our allies and partners in the region.
US DEFENSE DEPT: U.S.-South Korea Conduct Training in Response to North Korean Missile Launch Eighth Army Public Affairs
SOURCE
HUMPHREYS GARRISON, Pyeongtaek, South Korea, July 28, 2017 — U.S. Eighth Army and South Korean army personnel today conducted a second combined training event to exercise assets in view of today’s North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launch, Eighth Army officials here announced today.
This exercise once again utilized the Army Tactical Missile System and South Korea’s Hyunmoo Missile II, which fired missiles into territorial waters of South Korea along the country’s eastern coast July 5.
The ATACMS can be rapidly deployed and engaged and provides deep-strike precision capability, enabling the U.S.-South Korean alliance to engage a full array of time-critical targets under all weather conditions.
LOCAL NEWS SPOTLIGHT
PRESS RELEASE FROM COUNTY SHERIFF
Source County Sheriff facebook page
*NEWS RELEASE - PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST RESCINDED**
On Thursday, July 27, 2017, Sheriff Benedict issued a press release advising folks of a public records request which would have required the potential dissemination of personal information for all those that had obtained dog licenses. Since that time, the person requesting this information has sent the Sheriff's Office a formal communication to withdraw that request. Sheriff Benedict is honoring the request, thereby preserving the personal information of many citizens and saving taxpayers many dollars in costs.
However, the Sheriff still intends to work with our legislative members and the State of Washington to improve the open ended language contained in the Public Record Release laws of Washington State. While well intended to maximize transparency that ensures government accountability, our public records law has the potential of abuse from some with no other intent than to stall government efficiency and expose personal information of citizens.
THIS WEEK'S BIBLE STUDY
GOSPEL WAY: The Husband's Authority in the Home
SOURCE
There can be no doubt that the Bible teaches the husband to be the head of the family. Modern "liberated" women may object, but the headship of man has been clearly taught by God through several inspired men, including Moses, Paul, and Peter. For example, Ephesians 5:22-24 says: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." (See Genesis 3:16; 1 Peter 3:1-6.)
However, there would be far fewer unhappy women in the world if men would also honor the Bible teaching about how we should use our authority. Ephesians 5:25 says: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." God did not say that men could just do as they please with their authority. The husband's authority is a God-given responsibility to be used for the good of the family. Jesus does not rule selfishly over the church; He rules for our good. Men, do you show love for your wives as Christ shows love for the church?
For example, should a husband discuss decisions with his wife and listen to her ideas? Well, does God listen to the desires of the church regarding His decisions? Of course, He does! Isn't prayer our way of telling God what we want, and doesn't God promise to listen to prayer? Yes, God will make the final decision according to what He knows is best, even if it is not what we want; but He considers what we want. So ought men to love their wives.
Furthermore, men, are you patient and forgiving toward your wives? Do you sit down calmly and discuss problems, or do you become bitter and launch a personal tirade? Colossians 3:19 says: "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Surely Jesus loved us enough to be patient and forgiving toward us.Do we love our wives as Jesus loved us?
Saturday, July 29, 2017
KILMER: Puget Sound dodges budget bullet
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
While the Trump administration aims to slash funding for environmental protection nationwide and eliminate funding for cleaning up Puget Sound, the Republican-controlled Congress hasn’t seen things the same way. The House Appropriations Committee last week rejected the White House's proposal to kill funding for cleanups of major water bodies including Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes… "We fought really hard to make sure these cuts weren’t included in what came out of our committee," Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor said… "Despite the all too frequent partisan bickering, that’s a commonality that we have, Democrats and Republicans,” Kilmer said. “That sets the table well for us to try to do the right thing and ensure that this important body of water is protected."
Cantwell Statement on Failed Vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement following the failure of Affordable Care Act repeal legislation on the Senate floor:
“Tonight, the voices of millions of Americans were heard. Your stories, your phone calls, your emails, your advocacy, and all of your hard work paid off. Tonight, we were able to protect Medicaid, protect the Affordable Care Act, and preserve coverage for millions of Americans.
“Now we must chart a path to progress. We need to find bipartisan solutions, particularly in the individual health insurance market, to drive down costs, increase access, and innovate in the health care delivery system.”
Cantwell, Murray Democratic Senators Call on President Trump to Protect Dreamers
Senators: Eliminating DACA would be counter to America’s values and national interest
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 27/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) and sent a letter with 40 of their Democratic Senate colleagues to President Donald Trump to use his executive authority to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program provides temporary relief from deportation to immigrant students who arrived in the United States as children if they register with the government, pay a fee, and pass criminal and national security background checks.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other states have threatened to sue President Trump if he does not rescind the memorandum that established DACA and announce that his Administration will not renew or issue any new DACA permits. Approximately 790,000 immigrant students – commonly referred to as Dreamers – have come forward and received DACA, which has allowed them to contribute more fully to their country as teachers, nurses, engineers, and small business owners. It is estimated there are almost 20,000 dreamers in Washington state.
“We have already invested in [Dreamers] by educating them in American schools. It makes no sense to squander their talents by deporting them to countries they barely remember,” wrote the senators. “We urge you to respond to this threat... [and] to defend the DACA program and thereby allow a generation of young immigrants with great potential to continue contributing to our society and economy.”
According to the conservative CATO Institute, deporting DACA recipients would cost over $60 billion and would result in a $280 billion reduction in economic growth over the next decade. The nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that the 1.3 million young people enrolled in or eligible for DACA pay $2 billion each year in state and local taxes.
Murray says Trumpcare failed because of women, children, patients, and families from all walks of life who spoke out
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 28/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement on the failure of the Senate Republican effort to jam Trumpcare through the Senate.
“Tonight, an attempt by President Trump and Republican leaders to spike families’ premiums and deny tens of millions of people health care they depend on failed because of the women, children, patients, and families from all walks of life who made their voices heard—no matter how long the trip to the Capitol was, how frustrated they became, or how frightening it was to speak up. This may not be the last time we have to fight back against Trumpcare, but we have seen tonight that together, we can fight back and win.
“After several courageous Republicans put their constituents ahead of party politics, this latest path forward for Trumpcare has reached a dead end—and now Republicans have a choice to make. They can continue to try to bring Trumpcare back just to score political points and give special interests a massive tax break, or they can engage in the open, transparent, bipartisan process that many Democrats and Republicans agree is the right way to actually make our health care system work better for the people we serve.
“Democrats will continue to urge Republicans to do what is right for patients and families—to stop sabotaging the health care system, drop Trumpcare once and for all, and join us at the table to focus on real solutions. Chairman Alexander has proposed bipartisan hearings in the health committee, and I look forward to those and other discussions with all of my colleagues about the path to making health care more affordable, accessible, and higher quality for all.”
page 2: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS, and LOCAL MEETING AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS
Page 3: Our weekly look at our farmers, ranchers, and fisheries people who bring food to the table.
PAGE 4 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS, and News story commentary
COMMENTARY: ETHICALLY CHALLENGED OR MERE TARGETS FOR SMEAR CAMPAIGNS
Editorial Post: Starting on Sundays through Fridays I'll just post one page reports, save the four page reports for Saturday. I figure you can offer a big weekly newspaper and still provide timely informative stories.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Cantwell-Championed Infrastructure Programs Move Forward with $1.45 Billion in Department of Transportation Funding Bill
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s (D-WA) popular INFRA freight grant program (formerly FASTLANE) continues to build momentum with the announcement that the Senate Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee included $900 million dollars for the program in its funding bill for the Department of Transportation (DOT). Additionally, the TIGER infrastructure program, which Cantwell has supported throughout the funding process, received $550 million dollars of funding in the bill.
With no substantive progress being made by President Trump on his infrastructure agenda, programs with demonstrated success like INFRA and TIGER have become increasingly important.
“In funding these programs, Congress is recognizing the value of freight and transportation infrastructure to states like Washington. I have been hard at work securing funding for infrastructure projects that will help our economy continue to grow. That is why I worked to create the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program, which has already resulted in the single largest infrastructure grant ever received in Washington state. I have also worked to continue to fund the TIGER grant program, which the Administration sought to eliminate. TIGER has resulted in $239 million in funding for 16 projects in our state,” said Senator Cantwell.
The INFRA program, a product of Cantwell-authored legislation, provides funding for freight infrastructure projects of national or regional significance. These include railway, seaport, and highway projects that increase safety, move people and goods faster and more efficiently, and boost local and regional economies struggling with deteriorating infrastructure. In 2016 alone, Washington state received $50 million in INFRA funding, supporting fixes for the notorious Lander Street bottle neck in Seattle and the Strander Street bottleneck in Tukwila.
Since the TIGER program was created in 2009, it has awarded $5.1 billion to help facilitate 421 multimodal projects in every state in the nation. Washington state has received $239 million to support 16 projects, such as the Tacoma LINK Expansion, a new ferry terminal in Mukilteo, the North Spokane Corridor, the Mercer Corridor Redevelopment project in Seattle, the South Park Bridge Replacement in King County, the West Vancouver Freight Access project at the Port of Vancouver, improvements to I-5 to relieve congestion around Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and terminal modernization projects at the Ports of Seattle and Everett.
The subcommittee’s bill will be considered by the full committee this week before heading to the Senate floor for a vote before the full body.
For every billion dollars of freight investment, it is estimated that 20,000 jobs are created. The American Society of Civil Engineers has said that a failure to adequately invest in our infrastructure could cost the country more than 875,000 jobs.
Cantwell to Offer Measure to Protect Medicaid, Including Apple Health, from Devastating Cuts
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in the on-going debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate over the future of health care, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will offer a measure that would protect Medicaid, including Apple Health and the Medicaid expansion nationwide. The Republican health care bills being debated would end Medicaid as we know it, undermining coverage for more than 1.6 million Washingtonians who get their health care through Medicaid, including families, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans without access to VA health coverage.
The Cantwell measure – known in legislative parlance as a Motion to Commit – would send the current Republican health care bill back to the Senate Finance Committee to remove all provisions that would weaken Medicaid or shift costs to states to cover care. A Motion to Commit requires a simple majority vote for passage. The Cantwell measure is expected to be voted on around 3:30 ET/12:30 PT.
“More than 600,000 people in Washington state have gained coverage through the expansion of Medicaid coverage and Apple Health. For the families, persons with disabilities, seniors, and veterans who use Medicaid for health care, we cannot allow the war on Medicaid to continue,” said Senator Cantwell. “It’s time for my Republican colleagues to work with us to fix the individual market and improve the Affordable Care Act. Cutting people off of Medicaid to solve the individual market problem simply does not make sense.”
Cantwell has been a leading defender of Medicaid in the Senate, sounding the alarm over the effects that cutting and capping the program will have on patients and their families in Washington state. Over the past 6 months, Cantwell heard directly from concerned Medicaid patients, health care providers, and advocates across Washington state who would be negatively impacted from cuts to the Medicaid program. Cantwell has also heard directly from her constituents at multiple town halls in Washington.
Cantwell has also joined veterans to share how cuts to Medicaid would remove a lifeline for millions of veterans and their families who can’t access health care through the VA or can’t access VA health care facilities in their communities. Medicaid is a source of coverage for 56,000 veterans in Washington state.
To rally support, Cantwell has spoken repeatedly on the Senate floor and has urged her colleagues to focus on ways to save money in the delivery of Medicaid rather than cutting people off of their health insurance, such as helping the elderly stay in their homes to receive treatment instead of moving them to nursing homes.
At rally with Planned Parenthood, coalition partners, Sen. Murray says “I am going to keep up the fight on the Senate floor” until very end.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
(Washington, D.C.) – Facing defeat after defeat on each of their plans to rip apart the health care system, today Senate Republican leaders seemed poised to try and pass any bill in order to go to conference with House Republicans, empowering extreme conservatives to join with President Trump and get Trumpcare signed into law. Tonight, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, joined with Planned Parenthood and women’s health advocates to encourage women and patients to do everything they can in the final hours of the debate to stop Trumpcare.
In her remarks, Sen. Murray underscored the urgency of the situation, saying “everything we’ve fought for over the last decade, to advance women’s health and rights is at stake in this Trumpcare fight.”
Key excerpts from Sen. Murray’s remarks:
“Planned Parenthood…I need you to join me and send a message—loud and clear—to President Trump, Mitch McConnell, every single Senate Republican playing politics with your health care, your rights, and your lives…Let’s not forget they never wanted to hear your voices, your concerns, or your priorities; all along, they’ve kept women out of the process; and right now, they’re using every trick in the book to try and confuse you and keep you in the dark about their plans. They didn’t want to hear from you—make sure they do now.”
“Planned Parenthood, this is it. All your calls, tweets, and advocacy comes down to these next few hours. In fact, everything we’ve fought for over the last decade, to advance women’s health and rights is at stake in this Trumpcare fight. And we can’t go backward. We can’t go back to the days when women could be denied care due to so-called pre-existing conditions, like pregnancy or being a victim of domestic violence; when women could be legally discriminated against and charged more for their care; when the insurance companies had all the leverage—and too often, it was women who paid the price.”
“We cannot let that happen. So, in these next few hours, I am going to keep up the fight on the Senate floor. And I need all of you to keep up the fight outside. Together, we need to keep standing up and speaking out for those who can’t…Let’s keep fighting. Let’s keep showing up. Let’s kill this bill. And together, let’s end Trumpcare once and for all.”
From Congressman Kilmer's webpage
Trump’s ban on transgender troops is infuriating both Democrats and Republicans
POSTED 7/ 27/ 17
In a Wednesday morning tweet thread, President Donald Trump announced his plan to bar transgender people from serving in the US military. His declaration was met with confusion and dismay as it came on the heels of an Obama-era policy that was supposed to begin allowing transgender soldiers to openly serve in the armed forces July 1, but was stalled for six months. Log Cabin Republicans President Gregory T. Angelo said Wednesday that “the president’s statement this morning does a disservice to transgender military personnel,” while many federal lawmakers — especially those serving in the congressional LGBTQ caucus — expressed their concern for Trump’s tweets… Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) tweeted directly at the president, saying, “attacks on #transgender troops are wrong.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s (D-WA) popular INFRA freight grant program (formerly FASTLANE) continues to build momentum with the announcement that the Senate Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee included $900 million dollars for the program in its funding bill for the Department of Transportation (DOT). Additionally, the TIGER infrastructure program, which Cantwell has supported throughout the funding process, received $550 million dollars of funding in the bill.
With no substantive progress being made by President Trump on his infrastructure agenda, programs with demonstrated success like INFRA and TIGER have become increasingly important.
“In funding these programs, Congress is recognizing the value of freight and transportation infrastructure to states like Washington. I have been hard at work securing funding for infrastructure projects that will help our economy continue to grow. That is why I worked to create the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program, which has already resulted in the single largest infrastructure grant ever received in Washington state. I have also worked to continue to fund the TIGER grant program, which the Administration sought to eliminate. TIGER has resulted in $239 million in funding for 16 projects in our state,” said Senator Cantwell.
The INFRA program, a product of Cantwell-authored legislation, provides funding for freight infrastructure projects of national or regional significance. These include railway, seaport, and highway projects that increase safety, move people and goods faster and more efficiently, and boost local and regional economies struggling with deteriorating infrastructure. In 2016 alone, Washington state received $50 million in INFRA funding, supporting fixes for the notorious Lander Street bottle neck in Seattle and the Strander Street bottleneck in Tukwila.
Since the TIGER program was created in 2009, it has awarded $5.1 billion to help facilitate 421 multimodal projects in every state in the nation. Washington state has received $239 million to support 16 projects, such as the Tacoma LINK Expansion, a new ferry terminal in Mukilteo, the North Spokane Corridor, the Mercer Corridor Redevelopment project in Seattle, the South Park Bridge Replacement in King County, the West Vancouver Freight Access project at the Port of Vancouver, improvements to I-5 to relieve congestion around Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and terminal modernization projects at the Ports of Seattle and Everett.
The subcommittee’s bill will be considered by the full committee this week before heading to the Senate floor for a vote before the full body.
For every billion dollars of freight investment, it is estimated that 20,000 jobs are created. The American Society of Civil Engineers has said that a failure to adequately invest in our infrastructure could cost the country more than 875,000 jobs.
Cantwell to Offer Measure to Protect Medicaid, Including Apple Health, from Devastating Cuts
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in the on-going debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate over the future of health care, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will offer a measure that would protect Medicaid, including Apple Health and the Medicaid expansion nationwide. The Republican health care bills being debated would end Medicaid as we know it, undermining coverage for more than 1.6 million Washingtonians who get their health care through Medicaid, including families, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans without access to VA health coverage.
The Cantwell measure – known in legislative parlance as a Motion to Commit – would send the current Republican health care bill back to the Senate Finance Committee to remove all provisions that would weaken Medicaid or shift costs to states to cover care. A Motion to Commit requires a simple majority vote for passage. The Cantwell measure is expected to be voted on around 3:30 ET/12:30 PT.
“More than 600,000 people in Washington state have gained coverage through the expansion of Medicaid coverage and Apple Health. For the families, persons with disabilities, seniors, and veterans who use Medicaid for health care, we cannot allow the war on Medicaid to continue,” said Senator Cantwell. “It’s time for my Republican colleagues to work with us to fix the individual market and improve the Affordable Care Act. Cutting people off of Medicaid to solve the individual market problem simply does not make sense.”
Cantwell has been a leading defender of Medicaid in the Senate, sounding the alarm over the effects that cutting and capping the program will have on patients and their families in Washington state. Over the past 6 months, Cantwell heard directly from concerned Medicaid patients, health care providers, and advocates across Washington state who would be negatively impacted from cuts to the Medicaid program. Cantwell has also heard directly from her constituents at multiple town halls in Washington.
Cantwell has also joined veterans to share how cuts to Medicaid would remove a lifeline for millions of veterans and their families who can’t access health care through the VA or can’t access VA health care facilities in their communities. Medicaid is a source of coverage for 56,000 veterans in Washington state.
To rally support, Cantwell has spoken repeatedly on the Senate floor and has urged her colleagues to focus on ways to save money in the delivery of Medicaid rather than cutting people off of their health insurance, such as helping the elderly stay in their homes to receive treatment instead of moving them to nursing homes.
At rally with Planned Parenthood, coalition partners, Sen. Murray says “I am going to keep up the fight on the Senate floor” until very end.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
(Washington, D.C.) – Facing defeat after defeat on each of their plans to rip apart the health care system, today Senate Republican leaders seemed poised to try and pass any bill in order to go to conference with House Republicans, empowering extreme conservatives to join with President Trump and get Trumpcare signed into law. Tonight, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, joined with Planned Parenthood and women’s health advocates to encourage women and patients to do everything they can in the final hours of the debate to stop Trumpcare.
In her remarks, Sen. Murray underscored the urgency of the situation, saying “everything we’ve fought for over the last decade, to advance women’s health and rights is at stake in this Trumpcare fight.”
Key excerpts from Sen. Murray’s remarks:
“Planned Parenthood…I need you to join me and send a message—loud and clear—to President Trump, Mitch McConnell, every single Senate Republican playing politics with your health care, your rights, and your lives…Let’s not forget they never wanted to hear your voices, your concerns, or your priorities; all along, they’ve kept women out of the process; and right now, they’re using every trick in the book to try and confuse you and keep you in the dark about their plans. They didn’t want to hear from you—make sure they do now.”
“Planned Parenthood, this is it. All your calls, tweets, and advocacy comes down to these next few hours. In fact, everything we’ve fought for over the last decade, to advance women’s health and rights is at stake in this Trumpcare fight. And we can’t go backward. We can’t go back to the days when women could be denied care due to so-called pre-existing conditions, like pregnancy or being a victim of domestic violence; when women could be legally discriminated against and charged more for their care; when the insurance companies had all the leverage—and too often, it was women who paid the price.”
“We cannot let that happen. So, in these next few hours, I am going to keep up the fight on the Senate floor. And I need all of you to keep up the fight outside. Together, we need to keep standing up and speaking out for those who can’t…Let’s keep fighting. Let’s keep showing up. Let’s kill this bill. And together, let’s end Trumpcare once and for all.”
From Congressman Kilmer's webpage
Trump’s ban on transgender troops is infuriating both Democrats and Republicans
POSTED 7/ 27/ 17
In a Wednesday morning tweet thread, President Donald Trump announced his plan to bar transgender people from serving in the US military. His declaration was met with confusion and dismay as it came on the heels of an Obama-era policy that was supposed to begin allowing transgender soldiers to openly serve in the armed forces July 1, but was stalled for six months. Log Cabin Republicans President Gregory T. Angelo said Wednesday that “the president’s statement this morning does a disservice to transgender military personnel,” while many federal lawmakers — especially those serving in the congressional LGBTQ caucus — expressed their concern for Trump’s tweets… Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) tweeted directly at the president, saying, “attacks on #transgender troops are wrong.”
Thursday, July 27, 2017
KILMER CHASING ASTEROIDS
In a statement posted on Congressman's Kilmer's webpage, which was a share news article by Geek Wire: Congress toes a cautious line on support for commercial space partnerships
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of Congress spoke to space industry leaders on Capitol Hill last week to show their support for the private sector, but both sides expressed frustrations as well. At the sixth annual Future Space conference, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Subcommittee on Space, spoke highly of private partnerships in space. He referred to the promise of asteroid mining twice during his talk, which is good news for Planetary Resources, a space startup based in Redmond, Wash. But Babin also told the gathering of more than 100 space industry professionals that the federal government should be cautious about backing private ventures. U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., also said he’s interested in space mining and gave a shout-out to the Evergreen State’s aerospace community. “We are quickly gaining a reputation as the Silicon Valley of space,” he said. Kilmer was more effusive than Babin about public-private partnerships, but he voiced his own frustrations – about governmental gridlock rather than the private sector.
Editorial Comment: It will be years until we see actual mining of asteroids take place I suspect. But then again I could be wrong. It would be worthwhile to mine asteroids provided it was mining for a energy source.
RELATED STORIES
Former NASA space station manager makes plans for commercial outpost---GREEK WIRE
Former space station manager Mike Suffredini says he’s working on a plan to send up a commercial space module that could be attached to the International Space Station – and then detached to become the foundation for a private-sector outpost in orbit.
“We intend to work on a low-Earth-orbit platform to follow the International Space Station,” Suffredini said today at the Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace 2016 conference in Seattle.
Representatives of the new venture, called Axiom Space, are in contact with NASA about the idea, but Suffredini stressed that he’s staying at arm’s length to comply with the space agency’s conflict-of-interest requirements.
Planetary Resources strikes $28 million pact with Luxembourg for asteroid mining----Greek Wire
Planetary Resources says it has finalized a $28 million (€25 million) agreement with Luxembourg to ramp up its asteroid mining campaign.
The deal calls for the tiny European nation’s government and one of its top banking institutions, the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement, to provide €12 million ($13.5 million) in direct capital investment and €13 million ($14.5 million) in grants, Planetary Resources announced today.
George Schmit, an advisory board member of Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu initiative, is joining the company’s board of directors. Planetary Resources, which is based in Redmond, Wash., will also establish a European headquarters in Luxembourg.
New NASA Mission to Help Us Learn How to Mine Asteroids
NASA BLOG ENTERY DATED AUGUST OF 2013
Over the last hundred years, the human population has exploded from about 1.5 billion to more than seven billion, driving an ever-increasing demand for resources. To satisfy civilization's appetite, communities have expanded recycling efforts while mine operators must explore forbidding frontiers to seek out new deposits, opening mines miles underground or even at the bottom of the ocean.
Asteroids could one day be a vast new source of scarce material if the financial and technological obstacles can be overcome. Asteroids are lumps of metals, rock and dust, sometimes laced with ices and tar, which are the cosmic "leftovers" from the solar system's formation about 4.5 billion years ago. There are hundreds of thousands of them, ranging in size from a few yards to hundreds of miles across. Small asteroids are much more numerous than large ones, but even a little, house-sized asteroid should contain metals possibly worth millions of dollars.
OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team
NASA BLOG POST DATED MARCh 2017
During an almost two-week search, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission team activated the spacecraft’s MapCam imager and scanned part of the surrounding space for elusive Earth-Trojan asteroids — objects that scientists believe may exist in one of the stable regions that co-orbits the sun with Earth. Although no Earth-Trojans were discovered, the spacecraft’s camera operated flawlessly and demonstrated that it could image objects two magnitudes dimmer than originally expected.
The spacecraft, currently on its outbound journey to the asteroid Bennu, flew through the center of Earth’s fourth Lagrangian area — a stable region 60 degrees in front of Earth in its orbit where scientists believe asteroids may be trapped, such as asteroid 2010 TK7 discovered by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite in 2010. Though no new asteroids were discovered in the region that was scanned, the spacecraft’s cameras MapCam and PolyCam successfully acquired and imaged Jupiter and several of its moons, as well as Main Belt asteroids.
“The Earth-Trojan Asteroid Search was a significant success for the OSIRIS-REx mission,” said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson. “In this first practical exercise of the mission’s science operations, the mission team learned so much about this spacecraft’s capabilities and flight operations that we are now ahead of the game for when we get to Bennu.”
The Earth Trojan survey was designed primarily as an exercise for the mission team to rehearse the hazard search the spacecraft will perform as it approaches its target asteroid Bennu. This search will allow the mission team to avoid any natural satellites that may exist around the asteroid as the spacecraft prepares to collect a sample to return to Earth in 2023 for scientific study.
PAGE 2: STATE & REGIONAL NEWS
PAGE 3: BUSINESS & FINANCE
PAGE 4: WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS, and COMMENTARIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of Congress spoke to space industry leaders on Capitol Hill last week to show their support for the private sector, but both sides expressed frustrations as well. At the sixth annual Future Space conference, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Subcommittee on Space, spoke highly of private partnerships in space. He referred to the promise of asteroid mining twice during his talk, which is good news for Planetary Resources, a space startup based in Redmond, Wash. But Babin also told the gathering of more than 100 space industry professionals that the federal government should be cautious about backing private ventures. U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., also said he’s interested in space mining and gave a shout-out to the Evergreen State’s aerospace community. “We are quickly gaining a reputation as the Silicon Valley of space,” he said. Kilmer was more effusive than Babin about public-private partnerships, but he voiced his own frustrations – about governmental gridlock rather than the private sector.
Editorial Comment: It will be years until we see actual mining of asteroids take place I suspect. But then again I could be wrong. It would be worthwhile to mine asteroids provided it was mining for a energy source.
RELATED STORIES
Former NASA space station manager makes plans for commercial outpost---GREEK WIRE
Former space station manager Mike Suffredini says he’s working on a plan to send up a commercial space module that could be attached to the International Space Station – and then detached to become the foundation for a private-sector outpost in orbit.
“We intend to work on a low-Earth-orbit platform to follow the International Space Station,” Suffredini said today at the Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace 2016 conference in Seattle.
Representatives of the new venture, called Axiom Space, are in contact with NASA about the idea, but Suffredini stressed that he’s staying at arm’s length to comply with the space agency’s conflict-of-interest requirements.
Planetary Resources strikes $28 million pact with Luxembourg for asteroid mining----Greek Wire
Planetary Resources says it has finalized a $28 million (€25 million) agreement with Luxembourg to ramp up its asteroid mining campaign.
The deal calls for the tiny European nation’s government and one of its top banking institutions, the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement, to provide €12 million ($13.5 million) in direct capital investment and €13 million ($14.5 million) in grants, Planetary Resources announced today.
George Schmit, an advisory board member of Luxembourg’s SpaceResources.lu initiative, is joining the company’s board of directors. Planetary Resources, which is based in Redmond, Wash., will also establish a European headquarters in Luxembourg.
New NASA Mission to Help Us Learn How to Mine Asteroids
NASA BLOG ENTERY DATED AUGUST OF 2013
Over the last hundred years, the human population has exploded from about 1.5 billion to more than seven billion, driving an ever-increasing demand for resources. To satisfy civilization's appetite, communities have expanded recycling efforts while mine operators must explore forbidding frontiers to seek out new deposits, opening mines miles underground or even at the bottom of the ocean.
Asteroids could one day be a vast new source of scarce material if the financial and technological obstacles can be overcome. Asteroids are lumps of metals, rock and dust, sometimes laced with ices and tar, which are the cosmic "leftovers" from the solar system's formation about 4.5 billion years ago. There are hundreds of thousands of them, ranging in size from a few yards to hundreds of miles across. Small asteroids are much more numerous than large ones, but even a little, house-sized asteroid should contain metals possibly worth millions of dollars.
OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Search Tests Instruments, Science Team
NASA BLOG POST DATED MARCh 2017
During an almost two-week search, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission team activated the spacecraft’s MapCam imager and scanned part of the surrounding space for elusive Earth-Trojan asteroids — objects that scientists believe may exist in one of the stable regions that co-orbits the sun with Earth. Although no Earth-Trojans were discovered, the spacecraft’s camera operated flawlessly and demonstrated that it could image objects two magnitudes dimmer than originally expected.
The spacecraft, currently on its outbound journey to the asteroid Bennu, flew through the center of Earth’s fourth Lagrangian area — a stable region 60 degrees in front of Earth in its orbit where scientists believe asteroids may be trapped, such as asteroid 2010 TK7 discovered by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite in 2010. Though no new asteroids were discovered in the region that was scanned, the spacecraft’s cameras MapCam and PolyCam successfully acquired and imaged Jupiter and several of its moons, as well as Main Belt asteroids.
“The Earth-Trojan Asteroid Search was a significant success for the OSIRIS-REx mission,” said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson. “In this first practical exercise of the mission’s science operations, the mission team learned so much about this spacecraft’s capabilities and flight operations that we are now ahead of the game for when we get to Bennu.”
The Earth Trojan survey was designed primarily as an exercise for the mission team to rehearse the hazard search the spacecraft will perform as it approaches its target asteroid Bennu. This search will allow the mission team to avoid any natural satellites that may exist around the asteroid as the spacecraft prepares to collect a sample to return to Earth in 2023 for scientific study.
PAGE 2: STATE & REGIONAL NEWS
PAGE 3: BUSINESS & FINANCE
PAGE 4: WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS, and COMMENTARIES
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
WASHINGTON STATE REACTS TO OBAMACARE REPEAL
WH: Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Senate Supporting the Motion to Proceed on Healthcare
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 25/ 17
I applaud the Senate for taking a giant step to end the Obamacare nightmare. As this vote shows, inaction is not an option, and now the legislative process can move forward as intended to produce a bill that lowers costs and increases options for all Americans. The Senate must now pass a bill and get it to my desk so we can finally end the Obamacare disaster once and for all.--President Trump
Editorial Comment: Looks like Obama Care will be a thing of the pass, from what I gathered by the press releases which were issued yesterday. The following are reactions from our congressional, and state leaders over the vote taken yesterday.
Cantwell Statement on Vote to Proceed to ACA Repeal
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement after Senate Republicans narrowly prevailed in a procedural vote to move forward on their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“Since January, I have been repeating the same message to my Republican colleagues: don’t kick millions of Americans off of health care and instead come work with us to fix the individual market and improve the Affordable Care Act. Today’s motion to proceed formally declares a war on Medicaid, and is a key step in taking health care away from millions of Americans. I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to protect health care for Washingtonians.”
TWEETS FROM MURRAY
On Sen. Murray's twitter account this was her reaction: "Let’s work together to improve families’ health care like so many of us truly want to do." also this post on Twitter: " There is a way to get this done right—and it is to stop what Senate Republican leaders are doing right now—and start over."
https://twitter.com/PattyMurray/status/890224166976335872
Following yesterday’s vote on Senate Republicans’ rushed, damaging version of Trumpcare, Sen. Murray urges open hearings, return to regular order to fix nation’s health care system
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 26/ 17
Washington, D.C.) – On the heels of Senate Republicans’ vote to begin debate on their partisan Trumpcare plan, today Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, took to the Senate floor to urge Republicans to stop trying to jam through their failed Trumpcare plan that would gut Medicaid, put insurance companies back in charge of peoples’ care, and more, and instead work with Democrats on real solutions to fix our health care system.
Full text of Sen. Murray’s floor speech:
M. President, I hope that all Senators in this chamber took the time to listen to the very wise words from the Senator from Virginia on the fact that we are facing real issues in this country…
…and that when we work together and go through the regular process of committee hearings and no secret negotiations and back-room deals, that we can lead this country in the way it should be led.
And I thank him for coming out on the floor and reminding us that that is how we get things done in a way that America accepts it.
But we’re not here having had committee hearings, or process, or anything.
We are here because of back-room deals that have brought us to this floor in a time that no one can accept the fact that all the proposals are a result, so far, of how many millions of people will lose insurance.
22 million, 15 million, 24 million—that’s what we’re drafting here, and that’s a terrible debate.
That’s not what we should be talking about, but that is the proposal we’re being offered.
And again, Democrats are here and we are not giving up, and we are going to fight any effort to pass Trumpcare until the last possible moment—because that will be the result.
We are going to speak out for families nationwide—children, parents, patients, those with disabilities, seniors—people who’ve called, tweeted, marched—so many who are worried and frankly scared right now.
Families who are being kept in the dark by my Republican colleagues…
And are being left to wonder what might happen to their health care, their financial security, and even their lives.
M. President, it is appalling that the majority of Republicans were willing to go along with this plan and move to begin debate, without even knowing what bill they would be debating.
But, last night, the vast majority of the Senate did something unusual—it showed just how much agreement there actually could be among us.
Fifty-seven Republicans and Democrats agreed to reject a full Trumpcare replacement bill…
And sent a message that we agree with Senator McCain that we should stop letting the “bombastic loudmouths” drive our work…
And instead, return to regular order and get back to work on policies that actually help the people we are here to represent.
M. President, I know there are responsible Republicans who disagree with the way Republican leaders have hidden their legislation from Democrats and the public throughout this process…
Who think that there should be an open, transparent process with both sides at the table…
And who want hearings and public debate rather than backroom deals and secret negotiations.
Well, I do as well. And I know many of my Democratic colleagues agree.
So now that it’s clear there is no absolutely path to full Trumpcare here—what is the reason for continuing this damaging, rushed, deeply partisan effort to jam just any bill through the Senate?
Together we can do much better than a rushed, lowest-common denominator bill that simply sends Trumpcare to conference with the House and gives the Freedom Caucus a blank check to gut Medicaid, put insurance companies back in charge of peoples’ care, and more.
Because let’s be clear—the only reason to pass a bill cobbled together last-minute on the floor is to keep the extreme conservative dream of repealing Trumpcare alive…
No matter what that means for patients and families.
I truly believe there is a way to get this done right—and it is to stop what Senate Republican leaders are doing right now—and start over.
So once again, I’m going to ask my Republican colleagues to drop this partisan effort and join us at the table.
Let’s work together to improve families’ health care like so many of us truly want to do.
My door is open, and I’m ready to get started.
Thank you and I yield the floor.
On the State level reactions...
Inslee statement on today’s health care vote in the United States Senate
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 25/ 17
“It’s inconceivable that any of our nation’s leaders think our health care system will be improved by ripping away health care from 22 million Americans and vastly increasing the costs for millions more.
“President Trump promised Americans he would improve our health care system. He promised he would not cut Medicaid, and that his plan would make health care more accessible and more affordable. Trumpcare doesn’t deliver on a single one of those promises. In fact it exacerbates each of them.
“This isn’t about repeal, or repeal and replace. Republican congressional leaders and President Trump want to instead repeal and redirect this funding to an enormous tax break for the wealthiest Americans.
“The Senate bill is being written entirely in secret. Not even Republican senators know what they will be voting on today. But we know that every proposal put forward in the Senate has been just as bad or worse for our state than the bad bill passed by the House in May.
“I urge every senator to reject this cruel measure. And I encourage all Washingtonians to continue contacting their representatives in Congress to tell them to pursue real bipartisan solutions that protect and build upon our state’s progress improving health care access, quality and affordability. And finally, I want to thank Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for their hard work defending the people of Washington.”
According to Washington state agencies, the Republican Better Care Reconciliation Act that will form the basis of whatever the U.S. Senate will ultimately consider would kick more than 700,000 Washingtonians out of health coverage. It would more than double the number of uninsured children in the state, cut services for 1 in every 4 people with long-term care and developmental disabilities needs, and cost Washington state over $4 billion a year. Read the letter from Governor Inslee and Insurance Commissioner Kreidler to the Washington State Congressional Delegation here.
page 2: STATE AND REGIONAL
page 3: BUSINESS & FINANCE
page 4: WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Senators’ provisions would implement safety recommendations and establish a resource center for current and former Hanford employees
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7. 24. 17
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced they secured new provisions in the Fiscal Year 2018 Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill to address ongoing concerns about workers in or near the tank farms at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state being exposed to chemical vapors. One provision urges the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to continue implementing recommendations from the 2014 Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report, and to move forward with recommendations from three subsequent reviews conducted by DOE’s Office of the Inspector General and Office of Enterprise Assessments, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A second provision would direct DOE to work with contractors, labor unions, and the State of Washington to establish a resource center to provide education and advocacy to current and former Hanford employees on all available Federal and State compensation programs to support workers who are injured on the job. The bill containing the two provisions passed the Senate Committee on Appropriations and now moves to the full Senate.
“While continued progress at Hanford is important, it should never come at the expense of workers’ health and safety,” Senator Murray said. “I’m encouraged to see these important provisions pass this hurdle, and I will fight to make sure the Trump Administration does everything in its power to put safety first and provide Hanford workers the health care and benefits they deserve.”
“Workers at Hanford deserve the most stringent possible precautions in place as they make progress on the clean-up,” Senator Cantwell said. “The measures that Senator Murray and I were able to include in the 2018 Appropriations bill will help make progress towards that important goal, and I look forward to seeing them become law."
Both senators have been pushing for improved worker safety protections at Hanford. In December of last year, both senators called on then-Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to implement new worker safety recommendations and quickly sent the same message to Secretary Rick Perry upon his confirmation in March. In March, the senators also urged DOE’s Office of the Inspector General to look into employee concerns with the workers’ compensation claims process at Hanford, which the Inspector General has agreed to investigate. In addition, the senators are pushing the U.S. Department of Labor to ensure current and former Hanford workers receive the health care and benefits they deserve and have earned through their dedicated service to the United States.
RELATED STORIES FROM SEN. Murray's webpage
HANFORD: Murray, Cantwell, Wyden Call on Top Energy Official to Immediately Implement New Worker Safety Recommendations
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED Dec 05 2016
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to take immediate action to protect workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state by implementing new safety recommendations. The recommendations were released this week after a months-long review to address chemical vapor exposures at the Hanford tank farms by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a federal agency that is independent from DOE. NIOSH proposed recommendations within all four areas it assessed, including exposure assessment, exposure control, safety and health management, and medical. The NIOSH review included all workers and organizations that work within, or near, the Hanford tank farms.
In the letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, the Senators wrote: “With the Review in hand it is now critical that DOE take swift and definitive actions to implement the recommendations. In addressing the recommendations, we request that DOE develop an implementation plan which includes a clear schedule and the funding necessary to carry them out successfully. DOE should also work to institutionalize the improvements in workforce safety that result from the NIOSH Review to ensure that program changes continue from contractor to contractor… We owe the men and women who work in the tank farms the highest safety standards to protect them from these hazards.”
Cantwell, Murray Push for Better Worker Safety Protection, End Retaliation Against Hanford Workers and Whistleblowers
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED Mar 08 2017
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote the Acting Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to urge implementation of safety recommendations for Hanford workers and to encourage protection of whistleblowers. The senators also requested that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) review the third-party company who handles workers’ compensation claims at Hanford, Penser North America, Inc.
Hanford workers and union representation have expressed concern that, after exposure to dangerous materials at the workplace, medical claims are not being adequately addressed. The senators write: “We have been informed of multiple accounts of claims being dismissed on arbitrary grounds, tactics bordering on intimidation and actions taken to discredit worker claims. The seriousness of these allegations demands action.”
In response to these troubling reports, Sens. Cantwell and Murray requested the OIG investigate the treatment of workers and claims brought during the term of Penser’s contract with DOE. To this end, the senators requested the OIG provide answers to the following:
1. Review any allegations of harassment and/or intimidation in relation to workers who have filed workers’ compensation claims due to workplace related injuries or illnesses at Hanford.
2. Does the department perform any form of oversight on the third-party administrator, Penser? Is there any oversight specific to the management of claims? If not, why not?
3. To what extent, if at all, does the department work with the third-party administrator, Penser, to administer the workers’ compensation claims program?
4. Are the doctors and/or medical providers selected by Penser qualified to determine health conditions caused by exposure to chemicals at Hanford? What methodology is used to ensure the doctors and/or medical providers are qualified?
5. Are the doctors and/or medical providers selected by Penser provided all of the necessary and relevant information related to a workplace injury or illness to make an accurate determination?
6. Please detail the number of workers’ compensation claims that have been approved for a workplace injury or illness caused by chemical vapor exposure. Further, please provide the number of workers’ compensation claims denied in which chemical vapor exposure was detailed as the cause.
7. Develop a process by which the OIG conducts annual reviews on the implementation of current and future recommendations on health and safety practices at Hanford.
To further complicate safety matters at Hanford, DOE issued a two-month stay on vital protections provided to whistleblowers in a previous regulation. “We fear that halting this regulation would discourage both whistleblowers from stepping forward with safety concerns and workers from raising concerns with health and safety practices,” the senators write.
DOE PRESS RELEASE: Hanford contractor agrees to settle penalty for waste
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7. 7. 17
RICHLAND, WA — A company that holds contracts for major portions of the cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has agreed to establish a temporary holding area for waste that hasn’t been analyzed.
The agreement is part of a settlement between CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company – known as CHPRC – and the Washington State Department of Ecology. The settlement emerged from court mediation after CHPRC appealed an Ecology order and $50,000 penalty issued in August 2016.
“It is important to make sure that their cleanup work complies with regulatory requirements in order to make the site safer for people and to reduce environmental threats,” said Jared Mathey, an Ecology compliance inspector. “This agreement fulfills those goals.”
The company uses Hanford’s historic T Plant to treat and store mixed waste (a combination of radioactive and dangerous chemical materials) at Hanford. Workers will use the holding area for wastes generated at T Plant that need to be evaluated. This ensures that the waste held in each container is properly analyzed before moving it into storage.
CHPRC has also agreed to enhanced record-keeping on all of the waste that it generates and subsequently stores at T Plant. The records will allow Ecology to more accurately track what’s being stored and how long it’s been in storage.
Waste storage methods and record-keeping were at issue in the order and penalty that Ecology issued last year. In the settlement agreement, CHPRC doesn’t admit that it was acting improperly but pledges to meet Ecology’s requirements for storage and record-keeping moving forward. The agreement lifts the penalty entirely, but allows imposition of up to $25,000 in stipulated penalties if certain terms aren’t met.
T Plant was the world’s first facility to extract plutonium from uranium fuel rods from a nuclear reactor. And it’s the only one of five plutonium extraction plants built at Hanford that’s still in use – although not for its original purpose. Today CHPRC uses the plant as a certified Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility to sample, identify, treat and repackage Hanford waste, as well as to repair equipment.
page 2: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
PAGE 3: BUSINESS & FINANCE
page 4: WORLD, & NATIONAL NEWS, and COMMENTARY
Continuing our Milking the System report
Monday, July 24, 2017
MILKING THE SYSTEM: WELFARE FRAUD
DOJ PRESS RELEASE: Houston Physician Convicted of Conspiracy in $1.5 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 21/ 17
A federal jury convicted a Houston physician today for his role in a scheme involving approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for home health care services and various medical testing and services.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region and the Texas Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.
After a four-day trial, Ronald F. Kahn, M.D., 62, of Harris County, Texas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 25, before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt, who presided over the trial.
According to evidence presented at trial, from approximately 2006 until 2013, Kahn and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare out of approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent claims for home heath care services in connection with Allied Covenant Home Health, Inc., a Houston home healthcare agency (Allied). Kahn fraudulently admitted patients for home health care with Allied when they did not qualify for such services, the evidence showed. To make it appear that these patients did qualify, Kahn falsified medical records and signed false documents purporting to show that patients admitted to Allied’s home health program satisfied Medicare’s requirements for admission, the evidence showed.
The evidence also showed that Kahn paid illegal kickbacks for patients from Harris Health Care Group, a Houston medical clinic (Harris). Kahn paid illegal kickbacks to the owner of Harris in order to bill Medicare for facet injections that were medically unnecessary, not provided or both, the evidence showed.
The case was investigated by the FBI, HHS-OIG and Texas MFCU, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Ashlee McFarlane and Trial Attorney Scott Armstrong of the Fraud Section.
The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion.
DOJ PRESS RELEASE: Social Security Disability Lawyer Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Role in More Than $550 Million Social Security Fraud Scheme
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/ 14/ 17
A social security disability lawyer was sentenced today in federal court for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $550 million in federal disability payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for thousands of claimants.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General’s (SSA-OIG) Philadelphia Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Amy S. Hess of the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Tracey D. Montaño of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Nashville, Tennessee, Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Atlanta Regional Office made the announcement.
Eric Christopher Conn, 56, of Pikeville, Kentucky, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky to 12 years in prison, and to pay restitution in an amount in excess of $106 million to the SSA and HHS. Conn pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities. On June 2, Conn fled from federal custody and remains a fugitive. He was not present for his sentencing hearing.
According to the plea, from October 2004 to April 6, 2016, Conn participated in a scheme with former SSA administrative law judge David B. Daugherty and multiple doctors that involved the submission of thousands of falsified medical documents to the SSA. As a result of the scheme, Conn and his co-conspirators obligated the SSA to pay more than $550 million in lifetime benefits to claimants for these fraudulent submissions.
According to the plea, Conn is an attorney whose firm in Floyd County, Kentucky, focused for more than 20 years primarily on representing individuals seeking Social Security disability benefits throughout Kentucky and elsewhere. According to documents filed in connection with the guilty plea, Conn admitted that from December 2004 through April 2011, he paid Daugherty approximately $10,000 a month to award disability benefits to claimants for whom Conn submitted falsified medical documents.
As part of his plea, Conn admitted that he submitted the falsified medical documents, and Daugherty authored decisions granting disability benefits, in well over 1,700 claimants’ cases. Conn admitted that he paid medical professionals to sign medical forms that he fabricated before evaluations of claimants took place. According to the plea, Conn routinely prepared and medical professionals, such as clinical psychologist Alfred Bradley Adkins, signed evaluation reports indicating that claimants had limitations considered disabling by the SSA, irrespective of the claimants’ actual physical or mental conditions. Conn admitted that he received more than $5.7 million in representative fees from the SSA based upon these fraudulent claims.
Conn was indicted last year, along with Daugherty and Adkins. They were charged with conspiracy, fraud, false statements, money laundering and other related offenses in connection with the scheme, and that indictment remains pending. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Daugherty pleaded guilty on May 12 to a two-count information charging him with receipt of illegal gratuities. On June 12, Adkins was convicted after a jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements. Both Daugherty and Adkins are awaiting sentencing.
The SSA-OIG, FBI, IRS-CI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case. Trial Attorney Dustin M. Davis of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Elizabeth G. Wright of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case, with previous co-counsel including Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford of the Western District of Missouri and Investigative Counsel Kristen M. Warden of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. ( our focus report on welfare fraud continues on page 2)
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Senators: TIGER “puts people to work, boosts regional economies, and improves infrastructure in our states and across the country.”
Press release issued 7. 21. 17
Source: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=389EBA16-ADCC-40DA-8BAB-82D8BFAB4AB9
(Washington, D.C.) – Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 28 of their Senate colleagues sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Chairman Susan Collins and Ranking Member Jack Reed yesterday to express serious concerns regarding the House Committee on Appropriations’ elimination of funding for the TIGER program in their Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill approved on July 17th. The Senators argued that the package falls short in supporting critical infrastructure projects across the country and urged them to include robust funding for the effective TIGER program in the Senate’s funding bill. In their letter the Senators noted TIGER’s bipartisan support and the difference the program has made in their states, arguing that over 7,300 applications for more than $165 billion in transportation projects have been submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) over the life of the program, demonstrating a clear need for continued investment in the TIGER program to meet the growing needs of communities throughout the nation. Since 2009, DOT has awarded $5.1 billion through TIGER to facilitate 421 innovative, multimodal projects in every state in the nation, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
“Our national infrastructure faces serious challenges and the need for continued investment to address aging infrastructure, spur economic development, and support good middle class jobs cannot be overstated,” the Senators wrote.
The full text of the letter can be found below:
Dear Chairman Collins and Ranking Member Reed:
Our national infrastructure faces serious challenges and the need for continued investment to address aging infrastructure, spur economic development, and support good middle class jobs cannot be overstated. That is why we have serious concerns that the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill approved by the House Committee on Appropriations on July 17 has fallen short in supporting critical infrastructure projects by eliminating funding for the National Infrastructure Investments program (TIGER). As you continue your work on the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, we strongly urge you to include robust funding for this effective program.
Since its creation in 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $5.1 billion to 421 innovative, multimodal projects in every state in the nation, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Each year the demand for TIGER far exceeds the amount of funding available. Over the life of the program, DOT has received more than 7,300 applications for more than $165 billion in transportation projects throughout the country, which clearly demonstrates the need for continued investment in the TIGER program.
The TIGER program enjoys support from Democrats and Republicans alike, as we have seen firsthand the difference the program can make in our states. In January during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, Secretary Chao noted TIGER is "one area of great agreement" in Congress and that the funding levels for this program were a "modest sum." Not funding TIGER would disregard the vast bipartisan support for this high impact, cost effective, and competitive program which leverages private, state, and local investment. It would also hurt states, local governments, ports, and transit agencies throughout America working to solve complex multimodal transportation challenges.
This unique program puts people to work, boosts regional economies, and improves infrastructure in our states and across the country. TIGER merits continued investment, and we urge you to reject proposals to eliminate the program and to provide robust funding for TIGER.
Sen. Murray: “We believe health care is a right—not a privilege—and we are ready to keep working to make that goal a reality…Now, it’s time for Republicans to step up and join us, so that we can get to work on policies that help make people healthier and more financially secure.
PRESS RELEASE DATED 7. 21. 17
Source: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=EF8FFCC9-5272-4B7D-B42B-C6CB3EED21DC
(Washington, D.C.) – With President Trump and Congressional Republicans desperately working to revive their failed Trumpcare bill and rip apart the health care system, U.S. Senate Assistant Minority Leader Patty Murray (D-WA) delivers the Weekly Democratic Address calling on Democrats to keep up the pressure “because we haven’t stopped Trumpcare yet.’’ Sen. Murray once again urged Republicans to drop Trumpcare, stop sabotaging families’ health care, and work with Democrats to continue making care more affordable, accessible, and higher quality for patients and families.
A full transcript of the address follows:
“Hello, everyone! I’m here to talk with you today about one of the toughest fights we’re in right now—the fight to stop Trumpcare.
I’ve been so inspired by the stories we’ve heard from people across the country, from all walks of life. Parents and seniors. Republicans and Democrats. People of all ages—even toddlers!
Your voices matter. You are having an incredible impact. And we need you to keep it up, because we haven’t stopped Trumpcare yet.
Nobody knows what this week will bring just yet. But we do know that President Trump and Republican Leader McConnell are doing everything they can to jam their mean bill through Congress.
They don’t care about the fact that families’ premiums would skyrocket. They don’t care about the tens of millions of people who would be kicked off of coverage. They are simply desperate for a hollow, political win—no matter what price patients and families would have to pay.
It’s wrong—and it really does not have to be this way. For years, Democrats have urged Republicans to drop the partisan political attacks related to health care and instead, join us to work on policies that actually help the people we serve, by making health care more affordable, getting more people covered, and continuing to improve quality of care.
Guess what? We’re still at the table. We are ready to get to work right away—and there are only a few simple steps Republicans need to take to show they are serious about moving our health care system in the right direction for families.
First, drop Trumpcare and the partisan, political effort to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act. Because families have roundly rejected Trumpcare—that couldn’t be clearer.
Second, stop sabotaging the health care system in ways that raise families’ costs and create uncertainty. Since day one of the Trump Administration, the President of the United States himself has not only rooted for the failure of the health care system—he’s actively pursued it.
That’s simply wrong. It is raising families’ costs and limiting their choices. And Republicans have got to start cleaning up the mess they made.
And third, it’s time for Republicans to tell us their ideas. Look, let’s be honest, Trumpcare isn’t a health care bill—because what health care bill leaves families paying more and kicks tens of millions of people off of coverage?
This bill was always about giving President Trump a hollow political win and handing massive tax breaks to special interests.
Democrats have put forward our ideas to stabilize markets and lower premiums next year for families, give people more choices, expand coverage, and more.
We believe health care is a right—not a privilege—and we are ready to keep working to make that goal a reality.
And now, it’s time for Republicans to step up and join us, so that we can get to work on policies that help make people healthier and more financially secure.
That’s what patients and families expect and that’s what I hope Republicans will finally work with us to deliver.
Thank you again for speaking out against Trumpcare and all the harm it would do to patients and families nationwide.
You are the reason President Trump hasn’t signed his awful bill into law yet, and we’re only days away from making sure he doesn’t ever get the chance.
Democrats will be fighting right alongside you—let’s keep it up!”
( The weekly address from the President can be seen on page 4)
Sens. Murray, Cantwell: “This action is short-sighted and puts at risk the health and well-being of women and our most vulnerable youth”
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 7/21/17
Source: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=57660B7F-BC16-42EA-A3C2-D0E0C0D2C97F
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and 34 Senators sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price questioning plans by HHS to unilaterally shorten the duration of grant agreements for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program. Since 2015, the TPP Program has served nearly 1.2 million youth in 40 states and territories, supporting teens in adopting sexual health behaviors that help them avoid unintended pregnancy.
In their letter, the Senators say the decision by the Trump Administration to gut the TPP Program will put at risk women and our most vulnerable youth, as well as undermine bipartisan goals on evidence-based policymaking.
“This action is short-sighted and puts at risk the health and well-being of women and our most vulnerable youth who depend on the evidenced-based work that TPP Program grantees are doing across the nation,” wrote the Senators. “The TPP Program is making a vital contribution to building a body of knowledge of what works to prevent teen pregnancy… Yet, the Department’s notification to grantees suggests that HHS no longer prioritizes high quality evidence-based interventions.”
From the Governor's blog page post: 2017 legislative session produces major achievements for Washington
Source: https://medium.com/wagovernor/2017-legislative-session-produces-major-achievements-for-washington-74d6d557e3b4
OLYMPIA — At the outset of the 2017 legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were well aware of the huge task they faced. While significant progress had been made the previous four years toward meeting the state’s constitutional mandate to fully fund basic education, the job was far from complete.
In his inaugural address in January, Inslee likened it to climbing a mountain. “Mountain climbers will tell you that every ascent has a crux move, the moment at which they face the hardest, most difficult pitch,” he told lawmakers. “For us, this is that moment.”
So how did they do?
They approved a new two-year budget that includes a K-12 funding overhaul that meets the state’s basic education obligation for the first time in more than 30 years. Besides addressing significant local inequities across Washington, the plan will increase salaries for teachers and other school staff and boost funding for teacher mentoring.
Chris Reykdal, the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, called the plan “a substantial step in the right direction.”
“The budget goes beyond the basics to invest more in low-income students, career and technical education, and other critical elements that provide equal opportunity for all students,” Reykdal said. He added that the state must now work to fully fund special education and other vital programs “that set Washington up for the innovative and diverse education system we need moving forward now that we have shored up the system that was drafted almost a decade ago.”
Under the new budget, kindergarten through 12th-grade spending will make up 50 percent of total state General Fund spending for the first time since the 1980s. All told, Inslee and lawmakers have added $4.5 billion in new K-12 spending since 2013. By 2021, total new funding will grow to nearly $10 billion.
Inslee said he believes legislators “made one of the biggest strides ever in educational funding.”
Tackling the decades-old education funding problem was clearly this year’s top priority. The state Supreme Court will likely review legislators’ progress later this year to determine if the state has done enough to warrant lifting the contempt order under the McCleary lawsuit.
But as lawmakers head home, they have several other historic achievements to tout. ( continued on page 2)
page 2: Continued from page 1: ( 2017 legislative session produces major achievements for Washington)
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