Congressman Christopher Shays' E-Newsletter
April 2007

Dear Friend,

In this newsletter, we share information about:

• Efforts to improve the patient care process in the Department of Defense medical system;
• Recent debate in the House of Representatives on emergency funding for the Iraq war;
• Need for telecommuter tax fairness;
• Meeting about the Federal Aviation Administration's preferred route for air traffic in our region;
• Climbing energy prices in Fairfield County;
• Delays in passport processing;
• Increased punishment for animal fighting and recognition from the Humane Society; and
• Upcoming Community Meetings.

I hope you find this information useful and will not hesitate to contact our office if there is anything we can do to be helpful to you and your neighbors.

Sincerely,

Christopher Shays
Member of Congress

Efforts to Improve the Patient Care Process in the Department of Defense Medical System

In response to the disgraceful conditions at Building 18 of the Walter Reed Hospital, I am working with Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) on four bills which will make practical fixes to help wounded service members and their families more easily navigate the Department of Defense (DoD) medical system.

The bills will:

• provide independent caseworkers to help wounded service members;
• establish, publish and monitor medical holdover (MHO) process performance standards;
• create a standard Soldier Patient Tracking System; and
• create a DoD ombudsman.

I also supported the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act (H.R. 1538), which passed by a vote of 426 to 0. The bill improves care for soldiers in military hospitals by streamlining the process, providing case managers to help soldiers navigate the system and toughening oversight of the system.

Recent debate in the House of Representatives on Emergency Funding for Iraq War

Last week, I voted against H.R. 1591, a $124 billion supplemental spending bill, intended to provide funding for our troops in Iraq. The bill, which was $21 billion more than the President's request, was loaded with unrelated, non-emergency funding, including money for peanut farmers, spinach farmers, shrimp fisherman and other domestic funding.

More importantly, H.R. 1591 also attempts to micromanage the war by setting arbitrary timelines for troop withdrawal. While I support timelines to help motivate the Iraqis to make the tough decisions to stabilize their new democracy, I believe it is the job of the President as Commander in Chief to determine when and how our troops will be redeployed.

I offered an amendment to H.R. 1591, which I have also introduced as a stand-alone bill. My bill gives the President 90 days to provide dates certain for the beginning and completion of a phased redeployment of troops from Iraq. Once the President reports these dates, it requires the Iraqi government to hold a vote within its parliament or a plebiscite, or both, within 180 days. If 60 percent vote against the President's plan, the President must begin redeploying troops within 60 days.

I offered a second amendment to H.R. 1591, supporting the Iraq Study Group's bipartisan recommendations. I also offered an amendment providing $25 million to fund non-governmental organizations, such as Mercy Corps and International Relief and Development, which hire Iraqis to manage their own reconstruction programs. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership chose to offer a partisan bill, allowing no amendments.

We expect Iraqis to work out their differences and are critical when Sunnis and Shiites are unable to find common ground. Yet in this Congress, Republicans and Democrats are unable to work out our differences -- and we don't even have the threats of assassinations and bombings the Iraqis deal with every day.

We went into Iraq on a bipartisan basis and the only way we are going to get out in the next two years with any chance of success is for Democrats and Republicans to work together.

Need for Telecommuter Tax Fairness

I have teamed up with Connecticut Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman in an effort to protect telecommuters from unfair double taxation, by offering H.R. 1360, the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act. Our legislation would prevent the State of New York from taxing out-of-state residents who telecommute to New York-based companies when working in other states, such as Connecticut.

It is simply unfair to tax Connecticut residents twice. The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act will help bring taxation in line with current realities of technology and promote telecommuting, which improves traffic gridlock and reduces environmental harm.

Meeting About the FAA Announcement on Preferred Route for New Air Traffic in Our Region

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified its Preferred Alternative for the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Airspace Redesign. The alternative will route more air traffic over our region, potentially increasing noise 5 to 10 decibels if there are no noise mitigation strategies employed.

A public meeting on the preferred route and the mitigation strategies will be held April 24 at 6:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select, Stamford.

The meeting was moved to Stamford after I objected to the FAA's original proposal to hold the meeting in Danbury, which would experience a far smaller impact from the proposed redesign.

I oppose the FAA's integrated airspace alternative that would route more air traffic over residential neighborhoods and have repeatedly shared my concerns, and the concerns of area residents, with the FAA and key members of Congress. This plan brings more planes into the region at the expense of our area's quality of life. After safety, quality of life should be a primary factor in any airspace redesign, but it was not even considered in this case.

Climbing Energy Prices in Fairfield County

In 2006, Connecticut's residential power prices were the third highest in the nation. At the beginning of 2007, with the end of rate caps, residential rates charged by CL&P increased by 7.7 percent, and the residential rates charged by United Illuminating increased by 24.7 percent.

Since electric utilities were deregulated by the Connecticut legislature in 2000, electricity costs for Connecticut residents continue to rise at a rate much faster than anticipated. This can be traced to:

• high use of natural gas, which now accounts for about 30 percent of the electricity generated in Connecticut;
• limited ability to move cheaper power into the state due to constrained transmission capacity;
• limited ability for utilities to use multi-year contracts and hedges to reduce price volatility; and
• uncertainty whether existing and planned generating capacity in the state is sufficient to meet load.

People in the Fourth Congressional District tell me that rising energy costs are a huge concern for them. Working with the environmental community, one step I am taking to control long-term energy costs and consumption is authoring the Energy for Our Future Act. The bill, which will be reintroduced in the near future, encourages conservation and increases energy efficiency tax incentives to both businesses and individuals.

Delays in Passport Processing

The State Department is experiencing a significant backlog in the processing of passports due to greatly increased demand from the new requirements that all travelers to and from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda present a passport.

Regular service for applications is currently taking up to 10 weeks and expedited service is taking 3 to 4 weeks.

I wrote to the State Department to request it address the situation and suggested to the Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which I am a senior member, that our Committee hold a hearing to shine the spotlight on the problem. I also recently visited the Connecticut Passport Agency in Norwalk - one of 13 regional passport agencies nationwide - to try to understand its challenges and to thank the employees for their hard work to alleviate the delays.

If you live in the Fourth Congressional District and are traveling within the next 2 weeks and need assistance getting your passport processed, please fill out our online casework request form. One of my constituent services representatives will contact you as soon as possible.

Increased Punishment for Animal Fighting and Recognition from the Humane Society

Increased Punishment for Animal Fighting

The House of Representatives passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act (H.R. 137), which will make animal fighting a felony and increase the imprisonment penalty from one year to three years. The legislation also makes it unlawful to ship a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument used in cockfighting, and makes it a felony to use the Postal Service to promote an animal fight.

Animal fighting is a cruel pastime where, in a typical fight, animals are drugged to heighten their aggression and forced to keep fighting, even after injuries, for the amusement and illegal wagering of handlers and spectators. It's time to put an end to this form of "entertainment," which results in the brutal treatment of animals.

Humane Society Recognition

This year, I received The Humane Legislator of the Year Award from the Humane Society for my advocacy on animal welfare issues, including:

• requiring state and local agencies to include pet owners and their pets in evacuation planning;
• writing legislation to set animal welfare standards for meat, dairy and egg products purchased by the federal government; and
• supporting a crack down on "canned hunts" of exotic animals in fenced enclosures.
  
  

Community Meetings

I will be holding Community Meetings in every town in the Fourth District April 27- 29 and May 4-6.

We will keep you informed of the final schedule. I encourage you to attend, so we can continue our dialogue about issues that are important to you and your neighbors.