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Home > Issues

Letters

Letters

Agriculture

8/10/08  Letter to USDA Secretary Ed Schafer to ensure that the implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill will allow farmers to aggregate lands that are 10 acres or less to receive crop revenue payments. 
 
                           


7/11/07 Letter to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns urging prompt consideration of Governor Pawlenty's request to authorize emergency haying and grazing in Conservation Reserve Program lands severely affected by droughts.

10/29/07 The second letter is his response approving emergency haying and grazing.

              


Energy

10/17/08 - Letter to Stephen Johnson, the Administrator of the EPA, concerning their recently proposed regulations of greenhouse gases. As a result of the Supreme Court's ruling in Massachusetts vs. EPA, greenhouse gases are now considered an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act.  The problem with this is that the EPA now has a vast swath of power in which they can implement and regulate emissions standards, a power that has been long reserved to the United States Congress. Essentially, the EPA can now make overly broad regulatory pronouncements that could devastate our current fragile economy.

              



7/08 - Letter to the House Democrat Leadership urging them to allow the current prohibitions on oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and oil shale leasing on federal lands to expire on October 1, 2008, allowing for more domestic energy production to help lower gas prices.


                            
              

Financial Services

10/14/08 - Letter to Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank urging him to invite former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to testify at the scheduled hearing on October 21 on restructuring and reform of the financial system. Republican Members also requested hearings on alleged abuses by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which receives significant funding from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

              

10/3/08 – Response letter from FHFA Director Lockhart (9/11/08) regarding the suspension of contributions by the GSEs to the Housing Trust Fund.



10/2/2008 - Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader John Boehner urging them to include strong language in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to suspend the use of fair value accounting, or ‘mark to market.’ While this accounting method can raise important red flags, the mark to market rule in an illiquid market has become counterproductive.

                            

9/30/2008 - Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urging it to immediately shore up the capital of the nation’s banking system by suspending the use of fair value accounting, or ‘mark to market.’ While this accounting method can raise important red flags, the mark to market rule in an illiquid market has become counterproductive.

                           

9/24/2008 Letter to President Bush encouraging him to pursue a plan to help off-set the cost of the potential $700 billion bail-out of our struggling financial sector by the federal government with revenues from the leasing of ANWR and the Eastern Gulf of the Outer Continental Shelf.

                           

9/11/08 - Letter to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), urging it to suspend contributions by the GSEs to the recently created and vaguely defined Housing Trust Fund. The very fact that the GSEs need such a massive taxpayer bailout is proof that siphoning funds from these entities to finance the Housing Trust Fund would be irresponsible and harmful to homeowners, taxpayers, the GSEs, and America’s financial markets.

                  

8/31/2008 Letter urging U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Steven Preston to withdraw HUD’s proposed Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rule and immediately commence a joint rulemaking process with the Federal Reserve Board to produce more simplified mortgage and real estate settlement cost disclosure forms. 

                           

7/24/08 Letter to President Bush asking him to reconsider his support for housing legislation, H.R. 3221, so that Congress can have an opportunity to craft a balanced bill which ensures the long-term stability of the housing GSEs. 

               


7/15/08 Letter to Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank regarding the negative impacts housing legislation Congress is considering will have on America's taxpayers, economy, and homebuyers.

                           

7/15/08 Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank urging them to allow for open debate, hearings, and Committee consideration of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposal regarding the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

                  

6/24/08 Letter to FSC Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) requesting a hearing regarding the allegations that Countrywide Financial's Chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo administered a VIP program to Members of Congress and other government officials.

              

6/17/08 Letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging her action on allegations that Members of Congress received preferential treatment from the nation's largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial.

                            

4/7/08 Letter to Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) requesting a hearing of the full Financial Services Committee regarding the investment bank Bear Stearns.

              


Foreign Affairs

4/10/08 Letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging that the United States not participate in the 2009 Durban Review Conference.

                                          


Health Care Reform

Letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt expressing concern with the interim final rule on the Medicaid Targeted Case Management (TCM) option published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.

              


Immigration

8/1/08 Letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey urging him to ensure local law enforcement have the resources they need through the 287(g) grant program to help local law police departments enforce federal immigration laws.

                  


Transportation

5/1/08 Letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake thanking him for his department's cooperation to ensure that the land exchange project at 8th Street and Pinecone in St. Cloud is completed in a timely manner. Also listed below is his response.

                   


4/18/08 Letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting that they expedite their requests for the permits necessary to complete recontruction of the DeSoto Bridge so the project can be completed in a timely manner.

 

4/16/08 Letter to Minnesota's Governor Tim Pawlenty expressing satisfaction with Mn/DOT's acceleration in replacing the Highway 23 DeSoto Bridge in St. Cloud and their decision to fully finance replacement of the bridge in a timely manner without federal earmarks that would slow down the process.

               



8/15/07 Letter to President Bush thanking him for signing H.R. 3311, a bill that authorizes additional funds for emergency repairs and reconstruction of the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007.

                   

Values

7/16/08 Letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt urging him to implement regulations to ensure pro-life health care entities including health care professionals, facilities and insurance providers are not forced to violate their own conscience by aiding in the destruction of human life. 

                   


Veterans Affairs

8/11/08  Secretary Peake's response letter to Rep. Bachmann granting the requested retroactive Plus Up benefits to these members of the Minnesota National Guard's 1/34th Brigade Combat Team.




7/28/08 Letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Peake calling on him to ensure the Minnesota National Guard’s 1/34th Brigade Combat Team receives retroactive payment of Plus Up benefits.

              

4/9/08 Letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging her to support H.Res. 111, establishing a Select Committee on POW and MIA Affairs.

         

10/16/07 Letter to President Bush urging his action to clear up the disparity relative to the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team and their eligibility to receive Montgomery GI education benefits.

              
8/10/07 Letter to the Secretary of the Army, Preston M. Geren, III. concerning the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the Minnesota National Guard not being able to receive Active Component GI Bill benefits.

              

5/7/07 Letter to President Bush expressing concern over the deplorable conditions found at Walter Reed hospital.

              

1/17/07 Letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates concerning the extension of the Minnesota National Guard's 1st Brigade Combat Team pf the 34th Infantry division to ensure adequate Department of Defense resources are provided.


                             

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