News from headquarters
I got back to Bismarck from funeral services for my grandfather in Regent, N.D., late last night. Needless to say, I didn’t have much energy to write a big critique of President Bush’s State of the Union Address then (although it deserved one).
However, I did listen to the whole speech on Prairie Public Radio on the way back. It started as I was getting gas in Richardton. I found it a little ironic that right next to the gas station is a new ethanol plant, which is now in full-swing.
As promised, Bush touched on renewable energy in his speech. Let’s hope this year he takes action to bolster that industry rather than just hosing us with his annual rhetoric on the issue.
As you probably know, our own U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan is from Regent. He had some things to say about Bush’s speech, so I’ll leave most of this column up to him today. Below is a statement I received from his office about the speech, which touches on some things I feel are worth noting.
“The President is asking Congress to dramatically increase renewable fuels, particularly bio-fuels and ethanol. He’s going to find a ‘welcome mat’ here on that proposal. We’ve been pushing for that for quite awhile, so that’s encouraging. It just underscores the point that North Dakota has a big part to play in our nation’s energy future.
“I’m also encouraged by his intention to do something about the increasing cost of health care. Of course, it’s easy to talk about that, much harder to do. If he’s prepared to take real action, then he’ll find Congress ready to work with him.
“I didn’t hear much tonight from the President about fiscal policy. So far the President’s administration has piled up mountains of new debt. In addition, he’s spent over $400 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of it paid for. We’re told he’s soon going to ask for another $120 billion, none of it paid for. We need to start dealing with our debt. It’s unfair to our kids and our grandkids to just keep piling up billions of dollars in new debt.
“The other thing I didn’t hear much about tonight was the largest trade deficit in history. We have the largest trade deficit in history. Substantial numbers of American jobs are going overseas, and for those that remain, there is substantial downward pressure on wages. Poverty is rising in this country. We have some very serious challenges here at home and we need to start addressing them. We’ve ignored them far too long.
“Finally, on the issue of Iraq, I believe the President is making a mistake by deepening our involvement in Iraq. The other day the head of our intelligence services, Mr. Negroponte, in testimony before Congress said the “greatest threat” to America’s security is Al-Qaeda, whose leaders he said, are in “secure hideaways in Pakistan.
“If we have 20,000 American soldiers ready for action, I think they ought to be prepared to go after the leaders of al-Qaeda, who, according to the President’s own head of national intelligence, are not even in Iraq. That ought to be our highest priority, not deepening our involvement in Iraq.”
A couple of shindigs in Bismarck
Today, you are invited to a retirement open house honoring Lynn Clancy from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The event will be held in the main floor conference room (Room 166) in the Federal Building, 220 E. Rosser Ave. Lynn worked for U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad and the people of North Dakota for 20 years. That’s a great accomplishment!
Tomorrow, there will be a big Century Club reception with Congressman Earl Pomeroy. The event will be at 5:30 p.m. at the home of Tim Purdon and Carmen Miller, 1243 E. Highland Acres Rd. Please RSVP with Kathi at Dem-NPL Headquarters, (701) 255-0460 or kathi@demnpl.com, if interested in attending.
However, I did listen to the whole speech on Prairie Public Radio on the way back. It started as I was getting gas in Richardton. I found it a little ironic that right next to the gas station is a new ethanol plant, which is now in full-swing.
As promised, Bush touched on renewable energy in his speech. Let’s hope this year he takes action to bolster that industry rather than just hosing us with his annual rhetoric on the issue.
As you probably know, our own U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan is from Regent. He had some things to say about Bush’s speech, so I’ll leave most of this column up to him today. Below is a statement I received from his office about the speech, which touches on some things I feel are worth noting.
“The President is asking Congress to dramatically increase renewable fuels, particularly bio-fuels and ethanol. He’s going to find a ‘welcome mat’ here on that proposal. We’ve been pushing for that for quite awhile, so that’s encouraging. It just underscores the point that North Dakota has a big part to play in our nation’s energy future.
“I’m also encouraged by his intention to do something about the increasing cost of health care. Of course, it’s easy to talk about that, much harder to do. If he’s prepared to take real action, then he’ll find Congress ready to work with him.
“I didn’t hear much tonight from the President about fiscal policy. So far the President’s administration has piled up mountains of new debt. In addition, he’s spent over $400 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of it paid for. We’re told he’s soon going to ask for another $120 billion, none of it paid for. We need to start dealing with our debt. It’s unfair to our kids and our grandkids to just keep piling up billions of dollars in new debt.
“The other thing I didn’t hear much about tonight was the largest trade deficit in history. We have the largest trade deficit in history. Substantial numbers of American jobs are going overseas, and for those that remain, there is substantial downward pressure on wages. Poverty is rising in this country. We have some very serious challenges here at home and we need to start addressing them. We’ve ignored them far too long.
“Finally, on the issue of Iraq, I believe the President is making a mistake by deepening our involvement in Iraq. The other day the head of our intelligence services, Mr. Negroponte, in testimony before Congress said the “greatest threat” to America’s security is Al-Qaeda, whose leaders he said, are in “secure hideaways in Pakistan.
“If we have 20,000 American soldiers ready for action, I think they ought to be prepared to go after the leaders of al-Qaeda, who, according to the President’s own head of national intelligence, are not even in Iraq. That ought to be our highest priority, not deepening our involvement in Iraq.”
A couple of shindigs in Bismarck
Today, you are invited to a retirement open house honoring Lynn Clancy from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The event will be held in the main floor conference room (Room 166) in the Federal Building, 220 E. Rosser Ave. Lynn worked for U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad and the people of North Dakota for 20 years. That’s a great accomplishment!
Tomorrow, there will be a big Century Club reception with Congressman Earl Pomeroy. The event will be at 5:30 p.m. at the home of Tim Purdon and Carmen Miller, 1243 E. Highland Acres Rd. Please RSVP with Kathi at Dem-NPL Headquarters, (701) 255-0460 or kathi@demnpl.com, if interested in attending.
posted by Dem-NPL at 9:53 AM
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