The organizations that took Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev captive in June and July have showed their true character. Withholding doctors, withholding Red Cross or Red Crescent visits, withholding basic communication with their families; these choices show what kind of men run Hamas and Hezbollah: They’re religious but they’re deeply immoral. They’re self-righteous but they’re profoundly cruel. They’re blustery and proud but they’re sneaky and manipulative. Decent human beings don’t act this way.

Decency doesn’t depend on international law or multilateral agreements, nor does it depend on nationality. And I’m not aware that withholding medical care or basic contact with the outside world is a requirement of either Shia or Sunni Islam, or any of the world’s great religions. Read the rest of this entry »

In August of 2003, the Physicians National Health Plan was proposed in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Then endorsed by 7,782 doctors (now well over 15,000), the deans and faculties of many of America’s medical schools, and two former Surgeons General, the plan described a comprehensive proposal for a single-payer, national health care system.

Subsequently, Congressman John Conyers of Michigan introduced the plan as legislation in House bill HR 676. There it languished under a Republican-dominated House until its recent re-introduction.

The executive summary of the legislation can be found on the website of PNHP.

In brief, it is virtually total cradle-to-grave care. It includes office visits, hospital stays, surgery, prescription drugs, eye care, dental care, psychiatric care, long-term nursing care, chiropractic care, substance abuse treatment, and provision of durable medical equipment. The only thing it does not cover is elective cosmetic surgery.

Employers would pay a 3.3% payroll tax (the average cost to them today is 8.5%) while employees would pay a 1.45% Medicare payroll tax to cover the cost of the program. Mechanisms would be provided so that higher income brackets might pay more than lower ones, and additional revenues would be obtained through a small tax (about 1/2 of 1%) on stock and bond transactions. Read the rest of this entry »

Our troops deserve our unwavering support, and that’s why I am working to bring them home safely and quickly.  After meeting with our troops, US military leaders, and foreign officials in the region, I am now convinced more than ever that the only solution in Iraq is a political one.

The Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security will receive a one-sided testimony today from members of the Bush Administration who will support the President’s weak immigration policies, as well as lobbyists representing the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, an organization in support of open borders and amnesty.

Today’s Judiciary Subcommittee hearing calls for a roadmap to amnesty through the Department of Homeland Security’s “US-VISITâ€? Program. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s website, the US-Visit Program “protects the privacy of our visitors,â€? and seeks to “demonstrate that we remain a welcoming nation and that we can keep America’s doors open and our nation secure.â€?

Hey, doesn’t the fact that we have no proper border barrier — other than the fence currently being built by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps — an under-funded border patrol, and immigration laws that go un-enforced, demonstrate that “we remain a welcoming nation” and that we are ALREADY “keep[ing] America’s doors open?” Read the rest of this entry »

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Democrats and Republicans stood together on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and sang “God Bless America.” Since that time, this picture of unity has faded in the background - transcended by the partisan bickering that has characterized foreign policy debate.

While Democrats and Republicans may disagree on how best to proceed in the Global War on Terrorism, there is no disagreement on the desired outcome. The Anti-Terrorism Caucus will bring Members of both parties together in a unique forum. By discussing current terrorist threats and the underlying ideology motivating their actions, we will better understand the enemy we face and be better prepared to make policy decisions affecting our nation’s security.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey’s proposal to end the Age 60 Rule is a step in the right direction.  However, the harsh reality of the situation is that American pilots are already suffering under the current standards.  I have spoken with Administrator Blakey and she has agreed to consider addressing the impact to pilots stuck in the middle – those who will be forced to retire at age 60 before the new rule is enacted.

It is clear that there is much work yet to be done on behalf of our pilots and I will continue working to pass my “Freedom to Fly Act” to expedite this rule change.  My legislation will ensure that American pilots are granted the same rights and privileges as foreign pilots in accordance with the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] age standards.

Last week, upon Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s formal apology to Maher Arar and the Canadian Government’s multi-million dollar settlement of his Canadian lawsuit, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) once again questioned “why, even if there were reasons to consider [Mr. Arar] suspicious, the U.S. Government shipped him to Syria where he was tortured, instead of to Canada for investigation or prosecution. I look forward to hearing the Justice Department’s answer to that question next week.â€? So does Mr. Arar, the Syrian-born Canadian telecommunications engineer who was detained at JFK in September 2002 and rendered to Syria where he was interrogated and tortured, and detained for nearly a year.

The U.S. Government has not only been stonewalling efforts to get at the truth of what happened to Mr. Arar, but has pro-actively sought to undermine his efforts to attain justice. The United States invoked the “state secretsâ€? privilege in an effort to derail a lawsuit brought on Mr. Arar’s behalf by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in the United States more than three years ago, claiming that the reason Mr. Arar was sent to Syria instead of Canada is a “state secret.â€? Upon release of the September 2006 Canadian Commission Report, which found that there was absolutely no connection between Mr. Arar and terrorism, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales denied that Mr. Arar was rendered to Syria – calling it a “deportation.â€? Gonzales further claimed that “we were not responsible for his removal to Syriaâ€? and that he was not aware that Mr. Arar had been tortured in Syria – claims that were later “clarified.â€? Read the rest of this entry »

What they’re doing is they are rewriting appropriations. This is an omnibus appropriations bill. And to bring an omnibus appropriations bill to the floor with a closed rule and no chance of amendments and no chance at debate is really historic.

Renewable energies, I think, are a keystone to the future of our country. I think we need to do three critical things: first, invest much more in renewable energy than we have; secondly, conserve, because we waste a lot of our energy today; and third, look at new technologies on how we might be able to gasify coal or move forward with cellulosic ethanol and the like. But we have a huge amount of interest in the U.S. Senate today on moving forward with that kind of strategy to get us off our overdependence on foreign oil.

I welcome the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) response to a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the U.S. drug safety system that echoed my calls for legislation to give the FDA better tools to protect and promote the public health.

I am glad that FDA recognizes the need for reform in order to protect the public health and has weighed into this debate.  FDA and the industry have made some good suggestions for improving drug safety in the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) renewal proposal, and we look forward to incorporating that progress into the Enzi-Kennedy drug safety legislation.

The American people are demanding action to improve drug safety, and we owe it to them to tackle this issue and ensure that the drugs they take are safe and beneficial.  I look forward to reviewing the agency’s plans and working closely with the FDA to enact critical drug safety reform. Read the rest of this entry »