Portrait of Congressman Mike Ross
Representing the 4th District of Arkansas
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Volume 3, Issue 8,
April 22, 2002
Weekly Newsletter
 
 
MIKE'S WEEKLY MESSAGE
 
Time to be Fiscally Responsible with
our Nation’s Finances
 
"On Thursday, April 18th, the House of Representatives considered GOP-sponsored legislation to permanently repeal the 10-year sunset on last year’s tax cut.         

"While I hope our economy rebounds and our country’s fiscal house is in order in ten years so that we can continue the largest tax cut in two decades beyond 2010, this is a vote that should happen in ten years, not now.  Not now, unless we can demonstrate with out a shadow of a doubt that the money will not come from raiding the Social Security trust fund.

"Experts agree that Social Security will be broke in 2041, even if we find a way to pay back the $1 trillion that we have already borrowed from the Social Security trust fund.   And next year we are proposing to deficit spend for the first time since 1997--$80 billion by the President’s estimate—all of it coming from the Social Security trust fund.         

"This is not a partisan issue for me.  I was one of only 28 Democrats to vote for the President’s tax cut last year.  But America today is staring in the face of a potential financial crisis.  We are setting up a train wreck for our children and grandchildren:  a $5 trillion projected surplus that has disappeared, an existing $5.9 trillion national debt.         

"What does that mean to the American people?  Every single day, this country pays $1 billion, using your tax money, in interest—not principal, just interest—on the national debt.  How much is $1 billion?  That is 200 brand new elementary schools every single day in America; that is new highways; that is more economic opportunities for our people.  Instead, this  money is consumed simply by the interest on our enormous debt.        

"Now is not the time to permanently repeal the sunset on last year’s tax cuts.  This is an issue that should be properly debated when the time comes.  Now is the time to be fiscally responsible for the sake of our children and our grandchildren."
 

 
Congressman Ross Leads Debate to Extend Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Protections for Family Farmers 
 
(WASHINGTON, DC) - U.S. Representative Mike Ross (D-AR) on Tuesday led debate on the floor of the House of Representatives to extend Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection for family farmers.  Congressman Ross managed the Democrats’ floor time in support of H.R. 4167, the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Extension Act.    

“Farm families are the backbone of our rural communities, and when we lose family farms, it has a devastating impact on the economy of rural America,” Ross said.  “Unfortunately, our farmers are under increasing financial pressure each year to make ends due to low crop prices, added debt simply to get their crops planted, and increasing competition from imports from other countries.”    

Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Protection for family farmers was first enacted in 1986 and has been repeatedly extended, including twice last year.  On May 11, 2001, President Bush signed into law a measure (P.L. 107-8) extending the protection through June 1, 2001, and the most recent legislation (P.L. 107-17) further extended Chapter 12 through the end of September 2001.  A permanent extension is included in the bankruptcy overhaul legislation that passed the House and Senate last year, but that measure is currently tied up in conference committee. 

The Family Farmer Bankruptcy Extension Act, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), extends Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection for family farmers for eight months.  The extension would be retroactive to October 1, 2001, and would extend through the end of May. 

“This bill today is important to my district in rural Arkansas and family farmers across the United States.  Family farmers injured by low commodity prices are being held hostage by the lack of certainty of whether or not Chapter 12 is going to be there.  Last year, the House and Senate both voted to make Chapter 12 permanent.  Yet, we are still waiting for this to happen,” Ross added.    

“Our farm families cannot afford to continue to be left hanging out in the wind.  We need to move forward to help our farmers.  This is only a temporary fix, but it is desperately needed for our farmers and for rural America,” he concluded.    

H.R. 4167 was passed on the House floor Tuesday evening by a vote of 407-3.
 
 

 
Congressman Ross Calls for Equal Pay for Women 
 
(WASHINGTON, DC) - U.S. Representative Mike Ross (D-AR) on Tuesday joined women’s professional groups and other members of Congress as part of national Equal Pay Day in discussing the impact of unequal pay on individuals and families.  

“Unfortunately, the wage gap for women still exists today,” Ross said.  “Nationally, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women who work full-time are paid only 73 cents for every dollar men earn in the same job, and that amount is even less for minority women.  That’s essentially the same as allowing women to collect only three out of every four paychecks, and that must be changed.  If a woman reports to work every day, she should be paid for every day.”  

Congressman Ross also conveyed how this disparity affects women and their families’ economic status throughout life.  

“The wage gap hurts everyone—husbands, wives, children, and parents—because it lowers family income.  A parent’s income is used to pay for family essentials:  groceries, doctors’ visits, child-care, rent, education.  Eliminating the pay gap means increasing family income.  That’s good for everyone.”  

Ross urged Congress to address this problem through the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The Paycheck Fairness Act will strengthen existing equal pay and civil rights laws by providing more effective remedies to women who are not being paid equal wages for doing equal work.  

The Paycheck Fairness Act, with over 190 co-sponsors including Ross, would improve wages for women and families by: 

     *Enhancing equal pay requirements for employers 

     *Closing employer loopholes under current equal pay law 

     *Increasing investment in enforcement of wage discrimination claims 

     *Rewarding employers who make strides in eliminating pay disparities  

“Women and their families cannot afford to continue being shortchanged,” said Ross.  “It’s time to put an end to unequal pay.”
 

 
Please Contact Mike at 
1-800-223-2220 or 
mike.ross@mail.house.gov
 
 
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