Al Franken's Blog, page 131

TPM: Franken Asks FEC To Investigate Chamber For Foreign Donors

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wants the Federal Elections Commission to investigate whether the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is violating election law by raising money from foreign donors. In a letter to the agency, he also asked the FEC to review its own regulations.

The Chamber raises thousands from foreign individuals and companies through its overseas branches, ThinkProgress reported yesterday. The money reportedly goes into the Chamber's general fund, which it is using to run a $75 million midterm campaign, mostly against Democrats. (The Chamber denies doing anything illegal, and says it only raises about $100,000 in dues from its foreign branches.)

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Detroit Lakes Online: Editorial: Time to end debt collector abuse

Cheers to a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Al Franken, that would help end debt collector abuse.

The End Debt Collector Abuse Act includes several provisions to eliminate predatory practices, including prohibiting debt collectors from seeking arrest warrants to collect on debts, and ensuring consumers are better protected against abusive debt collectors.

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The UpTake: Replay – Vice President Biden Stumps For Dayton

Vice President Joe Biden was in the Twin Cities Tuesday morning, stumping for Democratic-Farm-Labor gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton. Biden, Dayton and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken appeared at Leonard Center field house at Macalester College. **NOTE** This is the entire event. If you wish to zip ahead to something, you can do so by clicking on the bottom edge of the player and moving the playhead to the right.

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Star Tribune: Franken to FEC: Investigate foreign cash charges against Chamber of Commerce

Sen. Al Franken is calling for the Federal Election Commission to investigate allegations from a liberal group that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the pro-business association that's said it will spend $75 million on the midterm elections — used money from foreign corporations for its political ads.

The Chamber denies the allegations.

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The Minnesota Independent: Franken takes on Family Council, anti-LGBT bullying

Sen. Al Franken called the words of Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard "unbelievable" in an interview with the Advocate on Tuesday. Prichard wrote last week that "homosexual activists" share in the blame when LGBT students commit suicide because "they've embraced an unhealthy sexual identity and lifestyle."

To that quote Franken said, "After all the tragedy that Anoka-Hennepin school district students have endured this year, I find unbelievable that anyone would suggest that bullying is not a problem."

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Read the rest of The Minnesota Independent: Franken takes on Family Council, anti-LGBT bullying (208 words)

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The Advocate: Franken Takes on Bullying

Minnesota senator Al Franken, who earlier this year introduced a bill explicitly addressing antigay bullying in public schools, has condemned recent statements by a social conservative group claiming that such legislation is not only unnecessary but would serve to indoctrinate students into homosexuality.

Franken responded to comments by Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard, who in a blog post last week said that "homosexual activists" were manipulating media attention of multiple suicides this past year in the Anoka-Hennepin school district in the Minneapolis area to further an agenda. Prichard also asserted that LGBT youths are at greater risk of suicide because "they've embraced an unhealthy sexual identity and lifestyle" — not because they face a well-documented higher incidence of harassment from their peers.

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The Huffington Post: Preventing Tragedy in Our Schools

Over the past year, the national spotlight has focused on the deeply tragic stories of young people who were so severely bullied based on their real or perceived sexual orientation that they took the desperate step of ending their own lives.

These tragedies were entirely preventable. Schools were not protecting these children — some as young as 11-years-old. For them, school was not the safe place of learning and growth that it should be, but a place of anguish and fear.

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KSTP: Neighborhood Revitalization Project Kickoff

Sen. Al Franken helped kick off the start of a major neighborhood revitalization project Sunday.

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St. Cloud Times: Little Falls boat-manufacturing plant to add jobs after fed loans

LITTLE FALLS — Federal loans are helping create jobs at a boat-manufacturing plant here, say three U.S. lawmakers from Minnesota.

The USDA Rural Development loans were announced this week by Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Jim Oberstar.

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MinnPost: Senators demand national investigation into Indian Health Service mismanagement

WASHINGTON — Sen. Al Franken and leaders on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee from both parties later today will call for a national investigation of the Indian Health Service, MinnPost has learned, after an audit of one regional IHS showed management that led Chairman Byron Dorgan to describe it as "completely dysfunctional."

The Indian Affairs Committee this week reported findings of its own investigation into the Aberdeen office of the IHS, which covers the Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Among the findings:

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