LANDMARK LOBBYING AND ETHICS REFORM, EXTENSION OF
SENIORCARE TOP FEINGOLD’S 2007 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
December 26, 2007
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold’s 2007 list
of legislative accomplishments included helping secure the extension
of Wisconsin's popular SeniorCare program and the passage of landmark
lobbying and ethics reform largely based on legislation Feingold authored.
The extension of SeniorCare, the prescription drug coverage program
for Wisconsin seniors, runs through December 31, 2009 and will provide
approximately 100,000 low-income Wisconsin seniors with meaningful prescription
drug coverage while saving the federal government $27 million over five
years. Feingold worked closely with Senator Herb Kohl, despite opposition
from the Administration, to negotiate a SeniorCare extension in the
Emergency Supplemental Spending bill passed in May.
Feingold was the main architect of tough lobbying and ethics reform
legislation that passed the Senate in January. The bill curbs lobbyists’
gifts and privately funded travel, slows the revolving door between
Congress and lobbying groups, improves lobbying disclosure, and prohibits
elaborate parties for members of Congress at conventions. More than
two years after Feingold introduced the first comprehensive lobbying
and ethics reform bill in the Senate in July 2005, the president signed
the final version of the ethics and lobbying reform bill into law on
September 14.
“I am pleased with the success in the last year of measures to
provide the best drug coverage for Wisconsinites, clean up Congress,
and much more,” Feingold said. “I look forward to the opportunity
to work on these and other issues for Wisconsin in 2008.”
Health Care
Along with extending SeniorCare, Feingold also passed two more important
measures to improve health care for Wisconsinites. A Feingold-sponsored
amendment passed in December to more than double funding for dental
care for people living in underserved areas. The Senate also adopted
in the Farm Bill a Feingold proposal to help Congress understand the
current state of, and how to improve, health care for farmers and rural
communities.
Supporting American Workers
Feingold was an original cosponsor of successful legislation to increase
the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over the
next two years. In addition, Feingold’s Buy American reporting
requirement, which requires federal agencies to report on purchases
of foreign-made goods, was strengthened and extended for the next five
years. The requirement now requires agencies that use an exception in
the Buy American Act to specify the exact legal provision allowing them
to purchase foreign-made goods.
Education
Provisions modeled on Feingold’s legislation to allow two-year
colleges across the country to apply for TRIO grants were included in
the Higher Education Amendments passed by the Senate. The TRIO grant
program provides outreach and assistance to low-income students and
underrepresented minority students to help them achieve a college education.
Also included in the Higher Education Amendments was a measure cosponsored
by Feingold to combat ongoing student loan abuses around the country.
Rural Opportunities
The Senate Farm Bill contained many of the provisions Feingold authored
in his Rural Opportunities Act introduced in February, including improved
support for organic agriculture, beginning farmers, bioenergy, rural
broadband and local food systems. Several Feingold amendments were accepted
to the Farm Bill on the Senate floor to require improvements in the
Office of Small Farms, improved oversight of dairy markets, ginseng
country-of-harvest labeling, and a report on the safety of high protein
imports like gluten and milk protein concentrates. In addition, Feingold
was part of an effort to restore the original payment rate of the Milk
Income Loss Program, which acts as an effective safety net by targeting
small and medium dairy farmers and only operating when prices are low.
Fairness for Farmers
The Senate Farm Bill also included a provision based on Feingold’s
bipartisan legislation to protect farmers from being forced into mandatory
arbitration agreements as part of a comprehensive package to improve
the USDA’s ability to ensure fair competition. The Farm Bill also
includes language from Feingold's Farmer Tax Fairness Act of 2007 to
help ensure farmers and other self-employed individuals are able to
remain eligible for social security and disability benefits.
Veterans and Military
In response to revelations of alarming conditions at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center, the Senate passed provisions based on legislation
Feingold cosponsored to improve oversight of military medical facilities.
Feingold also passed an amendment requiring the Government Accountability
Office to report to Congress on the state of mental health care for
female servicemembers and veterans, as well as legislation to ensure
compensation for veterans who lose sight in both eyes as a result of
service-connected injuries.
Foreign Policy
As Feingold led the fight to end the disastrous war in Iraq, he also
fought to establish an inquiry into waste, fraud and abuse in wartime
contracting, including violations of law by private military contractors.
To protect against wasteful use of taxpayer dollars in reconstruction
projects, Feingold was an original cosponsor of an amendment that created
a special inspector for Afghanistan reconstruction. As the chair of
the Senate’s Subcommittee on Africa, also Feingold authored a
successful resolution calling on the warring parties in Northern Uganda
to recommit to peace talks, cosponsored an effort to prohibit assistance
to governments that use child soldiers, and two successful resolutions
calling for greater action to halt the genocide in Sudan. To help address
the ongoing conflict in Somalia, Feingold played a catalyst role in
the appointment of a Special Envoy to that country.
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