Al Franken's Blog, page 103

MinnPost.com: Telecom issues take center stage with Minnesota senators this week

Minnesota's telecommunications connections — both commercial and political — will consume significant bandwidth at a pair of hearings in Washington this week.

(...)
Read the rest of MinnPost.com: Telecom issues take center stage with Minnesota senators this week

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

Washington Post:The No-Brainer awards

This column is usually about the Big Issues. Health-care reform. The deficit. The debt ceiling. The grand, Ragnarok-level clashes (yes I just saw 'Thor') between the two parties.

But not today. Today, I want to introduce the No-Brainer Awards: a roll call honoring some of the best legislative ideas you won't see leading the evening news. These thoughtful bills and responsible reforms aren't polarizing or sweeping, which you'd think would make it easier for them to pass. But for many of them, the absence of partisan passion means they never make it to the front of the congressional agenda. So let's give them a push.

(...)
Read the rest of Washington Post:The No-Brainer awards

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

KDAL: More Federal Money For Northern Lights Express

DULUTH, Min. (KDAL) – The U-S Department of Transportation has awarded 5 million dollars to the Northern Lights Express rail project. The funding will continue preliminary engineering and environmental work on the project that will bring high speed passenger rail service between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities. The grant is part of 2 billion dollars awarded to rail projects in 15 states. Senators Klobuchar and Franken, who helped secure the funding, have requested 3 million in additional federal dollars for the NLX Project in fiscal 2011.

(...)
Read the rest of KDAL: More Federal Money For Northern Lights Express

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

Winona Daily News: Our View: Franken doing good job two years into Senate career

As Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., toured southeast Minnesota last week, it wasn't so much that he was rolling out new plans as he was trying to debunk a lot of what he's been hearing.

It was nice to see the state's junior Senator making a whirlwind tour of the area, as he spoke about the budget, military, energy and education.

(...)
Read the rest of Winona Daily News: Our View: Franken doing good job two years into Senate career

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

St. Cloud State University: Sen. Franken visits Science Express

It was a big day for St. Cloud State's Science Express on Jan. 18 when U.S. Sen. Al Franken visited the mobile laboratory. Franken not only visited, he role-played the part of a burglary suspect much to the delight of those in attendance.

Franken joined second-graders from Talahi Elementary on the Science Express, the university's mobile laboratory for science education outreach. The lab activity, led by Science Express teacher Susan Bialka, called for the second-graders to compare soil samples from four suspects with a sample gathered at a mock crime scene. Using microscopes, students determined that soil taken from Franken matched the crime scene sample.

(...)
Read the rest of St. Cloud State University: Sen. Franken visits Science Express

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

CityPages: Apple cuts back iPhone tracking after Al Franken bites

Sen. Al Franken appears to have taken a bite out of Apple.

Stung by bad PR, angry customers, and the promise of Senate hearings chaired by Franken, the computer maker says it has released an update to iPhones to cut back on the amount of time the device's software stores data about a user's whereabouts–from a year to a week.

(...)
Read the rest of CityPages: Apple cuts back iPhone tracking after Al Franken bites

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

Minnesota Daily: Franken to question Apple on smartphone privacy

If you went to Nicole Anderson's Facebook page on a Friday evening, you'd most likely be able to tell where she was. Anderson, a psychology senior, frequently uses the "check-in" application on her phone, allowing it to access her location and post it on her page.

(...)
Read the rest of Minnesota Daily: Franken to question Apple on smartphone privacy

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

Montevideo American-News: Senate Update: Paying for our wars

Over the last nine years, we've spent well over one trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and we've had to borrow nearly every penny of it, which is why I've introduced legislation to require that spending on new wars be paid for.

My "Pay for War" bill basically says that if we spend money on a new war we must pay for that spending. My bill does not specify how we should pay for our wars. It leaves that up to Con­gress. But paying for our wars will have several key benefits for our country.

(...)
Read the rest of Montevideo American-News: Senate Update: Paying for our wars

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

WCCO: Sen. Franken Talks Clean Energy On WCCO

Sen. Al Franken joined Dave Lee on the WCCO Morning News Wednesday. The Senator talked about Osama Bin Laden's demise, and shared his views on our State's role in a clean energy future for our country.

Listen online »

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags:

Huffington Post: Banks Illegally Foreclosed On Dozens Of Military Borrowers, Federal Investigators Say

Two of the nation's largest mortgage firms illegally foreclosed on the homes of "almost 50″ active-duty military service members, according to a Thursday report by the Government Accountability Office.

The report does not identify the two mortgage companies. GAO investigators attributed the finding to federal bank regulators, who recently completed a three-month probe into allegations of improper foreclosures carried out by the nation's 14 largest home loan servicers.

(...)
Read the rest of Huffington Post: Banks Illegally Foreclosed On Dozens Of Military Borrowers, Federal Investigators Say

© Al Franken - U.S. Senator, Minnesota, 2011. |
Permalink


Post tags: