Al Franken's Blog, page 67
March 27, 2013
MPR: Franken touts additions to Senate budget
Democratic Sen. Al Franken is calling for a new five-year Farm Bill, more funding for infrastructure and a repeal of the medical device tax.
Franken held a press conference at the state Capitol Monday to discuss how Minnesota could be affected by the Senate budget resolution, which passed over the weekend.
Franken also called for increasing access to high-speed Internet service for rural Minnesota and more spending on workforce development.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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March 8, 2013
Duluth News Tribune: Health Notes: Arthritis Foundation honors Franken
Sen. Al Franken received a national award this week for his advocacy on behalf of people who suffer with arthritis.
The Minnesota Democrat received the Arthritis Foundation’s 2013 Advocacy Leadership Award, the nonprofit reported in a news release. It was presented to him during the foundation’s 15th annual Advocacy Summit in Washington this week.
The award cited Franken for his support of the Arthritis Prevention, Control and Cure Act as well as aspects of the Affordable Care Act that are significant to people afflicted with arthritis, the news release said.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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March 6, 2013
Northlands Newscenter: President to Sign into Law Sen. Franken’s Provisions to Protect Domestic Violence Victims
Washington, DC (NNCNOW.com) — U.S. Senator Al Franken has stated the U.S. House of Representatives voted to send the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which included two provisions he wrote, to the President to sign into law.
President Obama issued the following statement:
“I was pleased to see the House of Representatives come together and vote to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act. Over more than two decades, this law has saved countless lives and transformed the way we treat victims of abuse. Today’s vote will go even further by continuing to reduce domestic violence, improving how we treat victims of rape, and extending protections to Native American women and members of the LGBT community. The bill also reauthorizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, providing critical support for both international and domestic victims of trafficking and helping ensure traffickers are brought to justice. I want to thank leaders from both parties – especially Leader Pelosi, Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Senator Leahy – for everything they’ve done to make this happen. Renewing this bill is an important step towards making sure no one in America is forced to live in fear, and I look forward to signing it into law as soon as it hits my desk.”
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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March 2, 2013
Lake County News-Chronicle: Franken visits Two Harbors
Headquartered in an unassuming single-story structure set back from the road, Granite Gear gives little impression that its products travel the world, some protecting U.S. soldiers in the deserts and mountains of the Middle East.
On Saturday, U.S. Sen. Al Franken — who’s made numerous visits to the war-torn region overseas stopped by the Two Harbors-based company to talk about jobs, the impending sequestration and his vision for economic growth in the Arrowhead.
Amid good-natured conversation and handshakes, the Minnesota Democrat spoke of budget cuts slated to take effect Friday, acknowledging that they could have a long term impact on businesses.
“That’s why we’re going to stop sequestration, because I understand a lot of your sales are to the military,” he said, referring to Granite Gear products such as body armor, ultra-light backpacks and duffle-type bags that are sold to the government, many to elite forces such as Navy SEALS.
Franken did not take issue with the idea of cutting the federal budget per se, but bristled at the idea that the impending cuts would indiscriminately eviscerate needed services rather than skimming fat from bloated budget items.
Greeting him were about 40 people, including the company’s owners, Jeff Knight and Dan Cruikshank, their spouses and children, employees and family members. While many of the company’s items are manufactured off-shore, Granite Gear is bringing some retail items for local production.
“Southeast Asia is great for mass-produced stuff, but you need a local plan to do more custom work,” said Cruikshank, noting the 25-year-old company’s success that includes securing government contracts for its products.
Cruikshank said doing business overseas can be challenging because Lake County does not yet have the technological infrastructure needed to support it, although it’s in the works. He said that tools like Skype are useful for business purposes, but “we don’t have the bandwidth to support that.”
The senator agreed that renewed focus on technology is critical.
“Broadband is part of the infrastructure that will make a difference,” said Franken, adding that domestic spending on things people and businesses really need is a priority right now, not building bombs.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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February 26, 2013
The American Prospect: Financial Reform’s Triple “F” Rating
Earlier this month, the Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general sued the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) credit-rating agency, accusing the company of improperly inflating the ratings of 40 collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)—essentially, securities made up of other mortgage-backed securities—at the height of the housing bubble. According to the suit, S&P misled investors by rating the risky securities as “triple-A,” super-safe investments. But the purchases turned into massive investor losses when the bonds failed after the bubble collapsed. Using emails and other communications, state, and federal prosecutors will seek to prove that S&P knew the securities were junk but rated them highly for the most obvious of reasons: to make more money.
The lawsuit gets at a major problem at the heart of the credit-rating business: Rather than investors paying rating agencies to assess the value of securities it is the issuers of the securities themselves who pick up the tab. It is naturally in the interest of issuers—typically big banks—for rating agencies to rate their products highly, which increases the chances investors will buy them. Under this “issuer-pays” model, the largest credit-rating agencies then have a strong incentive to highly rate securities for issuers who can give them more business in the future. This is said to be part of the reason rating agencies ignored the risks from the highly complex securities and simply let everything pass; in one communication revealed in the filing, an S&P employee boasted, “It could be structured by cows and we would rate it.”
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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TwinCities.com: Al Franken urges Minnesota educators to support teacher bill
Sen. Al Franken says his favorite teacher in high school was Harold Hodgkinson.
He was “old school,” Franken told an audience of science teachers Friday afternoon at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Hodgkinson encouraged his students to take a methodical approach to solving problems.
“He told us to use a pencil and paper and figure it out,” Franken said.
Franken was speaking about Hodgkinson at a Minnesota Science Teachers Association conference and urging support for a bill that he hopes will help retain teachers in K-12 education and boost the number of students studying math and science for a career.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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February 22, 2013
MPR News: In Minn., Vilsack urges approval of farm bill
ST. PAUL, Minn. — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack came to Minnesota on Saturday in part to urge passage of the farm bill in Congress.
Vilsack touted jobs and exports generated by the agriculture industry while visiting St. Paul-based ag transport business Rail Transfer Inc.
Flanked by U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, both D-Minn., Vilsack said the current extension of the 2008 farm bill was not enough and the new farm bill should be passed.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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University of Minnesota: Senator Al Franken to Serve as 2013 Commencement Speaker
United States Senator Al Franken will serve as the 2013 Commencement speaker at the University of Minnesota, Morris on Saturday, May 11. This year marks the University’s 50th Commencement exercise.
Senator Franken was elected to the United States Senate in 2008 as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party from Minnesota. He currently sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Committee on Indian Affairs. Senator Franken is a long-time advocate for affordable, accessible health care, an economy that works for the middle class, the protection of a secure retirement, the promise of a twenty-first century education for children, and the creation of a green economy that creates jobs and improves the environment.
Prior to his election, Senator Franken spent 37 years as a comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. He has taken part in seven United Service Organizations (USO) tours, visiting American troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan—in addition to visiting Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait four times.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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February 20, 2013
Pierce County Herald: Minnesota delegation members introduce legislation to fight Asian carp
Minnesota members of Congress introduced legislation to battle Asian carp.
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-Plymouth) and Al Franken (DFL-Minneapolis) and Reps. Keith Ellison (DFL-Minneapolis), Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie), Tim Walz (DFL-Mankato) and Rick Nolan 9DFL-Duluth) filed a bill to speed up federal officials’ decision about whether to close the Upper St. Anthony Falls lock on the Mississippi River to help stop the spread of the invasive species. The bill also would require immediate closure if Asian carp are found in the Mississippi near the Twin Cities.
“Asian carp not only pose a serious threat to Minnesota’s environment, they also threaten the recreation and fishing industries that play a key role in the state’s economy,” Klobuchar said. “We must do everything we can to stop the further spread of this invasive species into our lakes and rivers, and this legislation will help the state take action to protect Minnesota’s waterways.”
Franken said the carp’s spread would be disastrous.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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February 19, 2013
StarTribune: Franken urges new rules for ratings agencies
Sen. Al Franken said Thursday that he will push the Securities and Exchange Commission in the coming months to remove conflicts of interest between securities rating agencies and the companies that pay them to rate financial products.
Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, discussed his plans barely a week after the Justice Department charged the Standard & Poor’s rating agency with fraud for blessing what the rating agency allegedly knew were dangerously risky securities and derivatives backed by subprime mortgages.
Defaults on those mortgages eventually helped sink the global economy and plunged the United States into the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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