Jim's Winter Newsletter

By: Senator Jim Bunning

Senator Bunning with production staff at Superior Graphite. 

Bunning Visits Western Kentucky

Last week during winter recess, I traveled to western Kentucky and visited with friends in Paducah and Hopkinsville. Western Kentucky is a great part of our Commonwealth.

One of the stops I made was to Superior Graphite in Hopkinsville. Superior Graphite is a company that literally saves the lives of our men and women in uniform. The company produces state of the art silicon carbide armor plates.

Vehicles such as troop carriers and supply trucks which historically saw little or no combat are now being targeted by threats such as rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. The Department of Defense is seeking to up-armor everything from Humvee's to tanker truck cabs to save American lives.

Western Kentucky has great military history. The storied 101st Airborne Division is based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The workers at Paducah's Gaseous Diffusion Plant were instrumental in winning the Cold War by producing the necessary fuel for our nuclear capabilities. Now the good folks at Superior Graphite are producing a product that will undoubtably save lives.

Superior Graphite presently employs 70 and is anticipating to add approximately 20 new employees to this facilities' workforce over the next three to four years. That is great news for the region, and it is also great to know that a product produced in Hopkinsville will help protect our young men and women in the armed forces.

Bunning On Iraq

Unfortunately, the same support for our military in western Kentucky does not exist among all the members of the United States Senate. The Feingold Bill, an idea that has been defeated previously four times, calls for the total withdrawal from Iraq. Should it come up for a vote I will vote against it, and I will continue to vote against legislation that only intends to politicize the war in Iraq and placate liberal organizations.

Great progress has been made over the last year in Iraq. To pull the plug now would be detrimental to our overall fight against terrorism. Attacks by insurgents have fallen seventy percent in the Baghdad area. Overall the Iraqi death toll is down sixty percent. On the important political front, their has been a surge toward reconciliation in the Iraqi parliament. The Iraqi people are finally beginning to build the political institutions that will provide them with services they need and deserve.

I look forward to hearing from General David Petraeus, commander of our forces in Iraq, when he comes and gives the United States Senate a status report in April. We must let the commanders on the ground do their jobs and be commanders. We cannot let Congress dictate strategy to our military. I trust the commanders in the field more than my colleagues in Congress.

**To view Bunning's Speech on the Iraq War click here**

Bunning On Economic Stimulus

On the economic front, Congress got its act together and passed a much needed economic stimulus package for the American people. Sometime in late spring/early summer, Kentuckians will start to receive tax rebate checks that will help boost the economy.

By giving a tax rebate to the American people, money will be pumped back into our nation's economy. The spending prowess of the American consumer is never in doubt. History shows that after the 2001 tax rebate, consumer spending increased by seven percent.

I was also happy to see that the stimulus package included tax incentives for our small business owners. Small businesses create two-thirds of our nation's jobs. They are the economic engines for the Commonwealth and the nation.

The American economy is churning slowly right now, but it is not broken. America has always managed to recover from economic downturns. Passing the economic stimulus package will ease concerns and set us back on the road towards prosperity.