Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers is co-sponsoring legislation that authorizes federal funding to advance the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Ehlers fought to include the provision in legislation which authorizes funds to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (H.R. 1868), stating that the MEP is vital in helping smaller manufacturing firms cut costs and become more efficient.

“U.S. small and medium-sized firms are under tremendous pressure to become more efficient, to modernize, and to cut their prices," Ehlers said. "This bill will help address long-term problems facing our nation’s manufacturers by broadening and strengthening manufacturing extension services and creating a new program to revive manufacturing innovation through collaborative research and development.”

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership is a non-profit resource center which serves small and medium sized manufacturers with expertise on improving operations. It is a vital service for smaller manufacturers in the U.S. in this increasingly competitive global economy.

Congressman Ehlers MEP bill was passed by the House twice in previous Congressional sessions, but was never adopted by the Senate. Ehlers fought to include the MEP provisions in the NIST authorization to help ensure the measure has a good chance of being adopted by both houses of Congress, and eventually signed into law by President Bush. It would authorize over $366 million in federal dollars for the not-for-profit agency. The Full Committee on Science and Technology is scheduled to markup the bill on Wednesday, April 25.

Talented high school students from around the Third Congressional District will be honored next weekend. Following the town hall meeting, Rep. Vernon Ehlers will present one senior from each high school in the district with the Congressional Medal of Merit. The medal is awarded to students who have shown exemplary citizenship and academic excellence in their high school careers. The winners will be honored in a ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Museum on May 5.

The winners of the 2007 Congressional High School Art Competition will also be announced at the Ford Museum on May 5. At noon, the grand prize winner and five runners-up will be recognized by Congressman Ehlers. The grand prize winner will have their art displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol, and will be presented with two airline tickets to travel to Washington to see their artwork on display. The Savannah College of Art & Design will offer the grand prize winner its Artistic Honors Scholarship in the amount of $5,000 per year.

On National Library Worker Day last week, Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers co-sponsored legislation introduced to help address a projected shortage of library workers in the United States. The “Librarian Incentive to Boost Recruitment and Retention in Areas of Need (LIBRARIAN) Act of 2007” would provide for Perkins Loan forgiveness for librarians working full time in low income school and municipal libraries.

Libraries face hardships across the country in retaining and hiring new librarians, particularly in low-income areas. The LIBRARIAN Act of 2007 would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for Perkins Loan forgiveness for full-time librarians with master’s degrees in library sciences who are employed in public schools that qualify for Title I assistance or in municipal libraries in impoverished areas.

“There’s a crisis looming over our nation’s libraries as an overwhelming number of highly-skilled librarians are set to retire. If they are not replaced, libraries will lack the expertise needed to properly serve their communities,” Ehlers said. “I understand the importance of qualified librarians – as a child, severe asthma prevented me from attending school, and I relied heavily on my local library as a source of information. We must ensure that future generations are not deprived of this resource.”

Rep. Ehlers helped introduce the LIBRARIAN Act with primary sponsor Rep. Xavier Beccera (D-CA), and co-sponsors Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and John Schimkus (R-IL). A word-for-word companion bill was introduced in the Senate as well.

The legislation has the support of the American Library Association and the Michigan Library Association. "The Michigan Library Association applauds Representative Ehlers for introducing legislation to provide loans to encourage students to become librarians in low-income schools and public libraries," said MLA Executive Director Gretchen Couraud. "Librarians are critical to building a knowledge-based economy and to closing the digial divide.  With almost 40% of Americans lacking internet access at home, people depend upon their libraries to connect to the internet and the world."

Congressman Ehlers heard testimony last week from the authors of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II report titled, "Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability." The report, published April 6, is the second in four volumes in the IPCC's 2007 climate change assessment.

“It is disheartening to read this report and understand that even immediate actions to curb greenhouse gas emissions will not be able to stop near-term impacts of climate change.,” said Ehlers. “We are past the point of acknowledging that this is a real issue and have moved forward to the discussion of adaptation strategies.”

During the hearing, Ehlers asked researchers about the impacts climate change could have on the Great Lakes. Report co-author Dr. Roger Pulwarty said higher temperatures threaten the lakes by increasing the rate of evaporation of the Great Lakes, and the evaporation of snow melt that contributes to lake levels.

The next volume of the report is scheduled to be released May 4, and will discuss ways to mitigate climate change. This is the fourth climate change assessment done by the IPCC since it was formed by the United Nations in 1988.

Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers is a leading advocate in Congress for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Ehlers founded the STEM Education Caucus with Colorado Democrat Mark Udall due to a growing need for innovation and problem solving skills in the new generation of jobs. The caucus, established in the 108th Congress, now has nearly 100 Members involved from both sides of the aisle who are interested in the issue.

(Bills on suspension are generally considered non-controversial and have reduced debate time, but require a two-thirds majority vote to be passed.)

Suspensions (8 bills):

1) H.Res. 179 - Expressing support for a National Foster Parents Day (Sponsored by Rep. Boyda / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

2) H.R. 625 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4230 Maine Avenue in Baldwin Park, California, as the "Atanacio Haro-Marin Post Office" (Sponsored by Rep. Solis / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

3) H.R. 1434 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 896 Pittsburgh Street in Springdale, Pennsylvania, as the "Rachel Carson Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Altmire / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

4) H.R. 1402 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 320 South Lecanto Highway in Lecanto, Florida, as the "Sergeant Dennis J. Flanagan Lecanto Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Brown-Waite / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

5) H.R. 1425 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4551 East 52nd Street in Odessa, Texas, as the "Staff Sergeant Marvin "Rex" Young Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Conaway / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

6) H.Res. 289 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to raising awareness and encouraging prevention of sexual assault in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (Sponsored by Rep. Moran (VA) / Judiciary Committee)

7) H.Res. 119 - Supporting the mission and goals of National Crime Victims' Rights Week in order to increase public awareness of the rights, needs, and concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the United States during such week and throughout the year (Sponsored by Rep. Costa / Judiciary Committee)

8) S. 521 - A bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse and customhouse located at 515 West First Street in Duluth, Minnesota, as the "Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Customhouse" (Sponsored by Sen. Klobuchar / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

Suspensions (4 bills):

1) H.R. 1675 - Preservation Approval Process Improvement Act of 2007 (Sponsored by Rep. Bean / Financial Services Committee)

2) H.R. 1676 - Native American Home Ownership Opportunity Act of 2007 (Sponsored by Rep. Boren / Financial Services Committee)

3) H.Res. 299 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should increase public awareness of child abuse and neglect and should continue to work with the States to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect through such programs as the Child Welfare Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs (Sponsored by Rep. McDermott / Ways and Means Committee)

4) H.R. 518 - International Solid Waste Importation and Management Act of 2007 (Sponsored by Rep. Dingell / Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 362 - 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Gordon / Science and Technology Committee)

H.R. 363 - Sowing the Seeds through Science and Engineering Research Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Gordon / Science and Technology Committee)

Suspensions (4 bill)

1) H.Con.Res. 7 - Calling on the League of Arab States to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur (Sponsored by Rep. Lee / Foreign Affairs Committee)

2) H.Res. 125 - Expressing deep concern over the use of civilians as "human shields" in violation of international humanitarian law and the law of war during armed conflict, including Hezbollah's tactic of embedding its forces among civilians to use them as human shields during the summer of 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and the State of Israel
(Sponsored by Rep. Ros-Lehtinen / Foreign Affairs Committee)

3) H.Res. 240 - Urging all member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service (ITS) who have yet to ratify the May 2006 Amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords Treaty, to expedite the ratification process to allow for open access to the Holocaust archives located at Bad Arolsen, Germany (Sponsored by Rep. Hastings (FL) / Foreign Affairs Committee)

4) H.R. 1678 - Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2007 (Sponsored by Rep. Smith (NJ) / Foreign Affairs Committee)

H.R. 1332 - Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Bean / Small Business Committee)

H.R. 249 - To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Rahall / Natural Resources Committee)