2182 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5441
Fax: 202-225-3289
e-mail: Write Your Rep. 
 
 
 
  Visit the 19th District
 
Learn more about the 19th District and see how Sue Kelly is making a difference in the Hudson Valley.
 
 
 
  Voting Record Information
 
 
Kelly, McCain Discuss Rising Energy Costs, Environmental Initiatives, and Other Issues at East Fishkill Town Hall
 
 
Congresswoman, Senator Pushing Bill to Curb Global Warming, Seeking Real Energy Solutions to Rising Gas/Oil Prices That Weren’t Addressed in Lackluster Energy Bill
 
 
EAST FISHKILL – U.S. Senator John McCain visited the Hudson Valley on April 1 with U.S. Congresswoman Sue Kelly. They met with local officials and other area residents at East Fishkill Town Hall to discuss several issues that they are working on together in Congress, including energy and environmental needs.
 
“Senator McCain and I work closely together on several issues in Congress, and I appreciate him visiting our area to see firsthand the challenges we face here in the Hudson Valley in regard to energy costs and environmental protection,” Kelly said.
 
Kelly emphasized that higher gas and oil prices across New York and across the country have demonstrated the need for energy independence from Middle East oil. She said that Congress needs to work faster to enact real solutions that address energy costs and develop alternative energy sources.
 
Kelly and McCain both voted against the Energy Bill that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last year.
 
Kelly said that she opposed the Energy Bill because it failed to address rising gas and energy costs, and instead provided excessive tax breaks for oil companies at a time when they have been achieving record-high profits.
 
“The energy bill was a failed opportunity to strengthen our nation’s commitment to renewable and alternative energy sources, and it also undermined important environmental protections in some of our existing laws such as the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act,” Kelly said. “It also failed to adequately address global warming.”
 
Kelly said Congress should be doing more to protect the environment, not less. McCain is the Senate sponsor of the Climate Stewardship Act that would put stronger restrictions in place to better protect public health and the environment from global warming pollution. Kelly co-introduced the Climate Stewardship Act in the House.
 
Their legislation would cap and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and several other heat-trapping pollutants from power plants, refineries, and other industries. In its summary of the Climate Stewardship Act, the National Resources Defense Council assesses:
 
“In contrast with the (unsuccessful) voluntary approach to curbing global warming pollution advocated by the Bush administration, the bill calls for using a market-based approach, with emissions caps and emission trading, to cut global warming pollution without hurting the U.S. economy.”
 
Among other issues that Kelly and McCain work on together in the House and Senate:
  • Eliminating wasteful government spending – McCain and Kelly have been working in support of efforts to eliminate government waste and ensure fiscal responsibility in the federal budget process. They are co-sponsoring the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act. The legislation would create an independent commission to scrutinize federal agencies. The commission, modeled after the BRAC commission that recommended base closure decisions, would fully evaluate agency programs and identify unnecessary or extraneous spending. It would then submit to Congress a legislative plan to reform or eliminate unnecessary or unsuccessful programs, and eradicate wasteful agency procedures.

  • Affordable health insurance – Kelly co-introduced the Small Business Health Fairness Act that passed the House last year, and McCain co-introduced the bill in the Senate. The legislation would create new affordable health insurance options for more than 8 million currently uninsured small business owners, workers, and their families. The Congressional Budget Office determined that it would lower the health insurance premium of the typical small business owner or employee by up to 30 percent.

  • Stem cell research – Kelly and McCain are both supporters of expanded stem cell research and have worked on the issue together in Congress. Kelly co-sponsored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act that passed the House last year. The legislation is currently pending in the Senate.

  • Health care coverage for children born with deformities – Kelly and McCain have worked together on an initiative in Congress to help children born with deformities who are being denied access to medical services that help give them a more normal physical appearance. They have led the effort to enact the Treatment for Children’s Deformities Act that would stop insurance companies from labeling reconstructive procedures to correct a child’s deformities as “cosmetic surgery” and stop them from denying coverage to help these children acquire a normal appearance. Approximately 7 percent of U.S. children are born with pediatric deformities and congenital defects such as cleft lip, cleft palate, missing limbs or ears, and other facial deformities.
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Congresswoman Kelly brought U.S. Senator John McCain to East Fishkill Town Hall on Saturday, April 1st to discuss several issues they are working on together in Congress.
 
 
 
Kelly and McCain field questions from the audience at East Fishkill Town Hall.
 
 
 
Kelly and McCain and several Dutchess County Legislators.
 
 
 
McCain along with some local residents.
 
 
 
Kelly, McCain, and members of the East Fishkill Town Board.
 
 
 
Kelly and McCain discussed the need to develop alternative energy sources and to stop excessive tax breaks for oil companies.