News From Congressman Vic Snyder

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Recent News on Capitol Hill

Last week, Members of Congress joined President Obama and national health care leaders from across the country for a summit discussing health care reform. Our nation’s health care system is costly and inefficient, so it is burdening American families, businesses, and the economy. I am hopeful that the dialogue will be helpful as Congress works toward improving our health care system and produces legislation to enhance quality of care and reduce health care costs for Americans.

On Thursday, March 5, the House passed the Helping Families Save their Homes Act of 2009. This measure works to stabilize the housing market and discourages foreclosure. It provides incentives to encourage lenders to act in good faith and negotiate affordable mortgages with responsible homeowners who are at risk for losing their home to foreclosure.

-To read more in detail about this bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR1106:/

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Recent News from the District

This week, the State of Arkansas launched a website detailing the benefits Arkansas will receive from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Congress passed in February. This website will show every dollar of federal aid that is spent in our State, and visitors also have the opportunity to examine the grant programs available for application.

-To read more in detail about the Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Arkansas, go to http://www.recovery.arkansas.gov/

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Recent News from my Committees

On Thursday, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, which I chair, held a hearing to review the Defense Travel System (DTS). The Department of Defense (DOD) spends between 9 - 10 billion dollars a year on defense travel, and the hearing showed that problems continue to plague the DTS system.

Despite a mandate from the Secretary of Defense requiring that DTS be used exclusively, the DOD witnesses admitted that they still allow several other older systems to operate and they were unable to identify precisely how many of the older systems are still in use or how the other systems are funded. The subcommittee will continue to track progress and hold another formal hearing next year.

-To learn more about the hearing and read my opening statement, go to http://armedservices.house.gov/apps/list/speech/armedsvc_dem/snyderos030509.shtml

-To watch the hearing via web cast, go to http://armedservices.edgeboss.net/wmedia/armedservices/oi030509.wvx