"As we begin the debate in Congress over funding for 2004, I am pleased to let our local leaders know that I am fighting to put an end to deficit spending and restore fiscal responsibility to the budget, stimulating the economy and creating jobs.  On Thursday, I joined fellow members of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition in releasing our 2004 alternative to the budget put forth by President Bush. 

"The Blue Dog plan combines short-term economic stimulus and immediate tax relief for all taxpayers with long-term fiscal discipline to balance the budget by 2009 and return to saving the Social Security surplus by 2013.  The Blue Dog budget has nearly $2 trillion less debt than the President’s budget over the next ten years.  Our budget provides the President with everything he requested for defense and homeland security, in fact it sets aside a reserve fund for additional funding for homeland security if the administration requests it.  The Blue Dog budget will hold Congress accountable for increases in the debt tax by limiting increases in the debt limit and requiring regular votes by Congress to raise the debt limit until the budget is on a path toward balance.

"That’s important, because the first $2,559 you and I pay in taxes does not go to improve education, does not go to improve roads, it does not go to provide seniors with prescription drugs – it goes toward paying the interest on the national debt; $1 billion every day.

"As a Blue Dog, I have stressed the need for fiscal responsibility from day one in office.  My grandparents’ generation left this country a little bit better off for my parents’ generation, and they did the same for my generation.  If we continue to ignore the long-term consequences of our budgetary actions, we will be forcing our children and grandchildren to pay a steep price for the deficit spending we make today.  It’s time to put an end to this unhealthy spending.  Our country cannot afford to wait any longer." 

Photo:  Glenn Bell, Executive Director of the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District, met with Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) at a breakfast hosted by Ross for the Arkansas Municipal League Tuesday in Washington, DC.  Bell was part of a large delegation of mayors and community leaders in the Municipal League who traveled to Washington to meet with their Senators and Representatives about issues facing their communities.

"Last year’s outbreak of West Nile Virus spread clear across our country to California, catching many areas of the country unprepared,” Ross said.  “This virus has claimed 274 lives.  Of the 4,071 cases in our country, 43 have been reported in Arkansas.  We cannot afford to let the same thing happen again. Our counties did an impressive job fighting the outbreaks, but mosquitoes don't abide by boundary lines on maps.  With the rise of West Nile and other mosquito-borne illness cases each season, it is vital to have a comprehensive abatement system in place as soon as possible."

The West Nile virus is now one of the most well known mosquito-borne illnesses in the United States.  Since the first case was discovered here in 1999, the virus has rapidly spread across the country – 44 states and the District of Columbia have reported human cases. 

Due to the extreme expense of establishing and maintaining a mosquito control program on a local level, many of our countries rely on tax revenue to fund their programs.  Unfortunately, it can take years for a county to raise adequate funding to initiate a program.

The MASH Act would attempt to relive some of the burden of these expenses by establishing a matching grant program through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The Federal government would provide a 2 for 1 match up to $100,000 to begin a program or to improve an existing mosquito control program.

In addition, the MASH Act provides money for states to actively plan and coordinate mosquito control programs throughout the state.