Carper's Corner
Meltdown 101
December 3, 2008Wilmington - I want to share the recent AP news article below with you because I think it's an excellent, straightforward explanation of what the Federal Reserve - as opposed to the Treasury Department -- is doing to stabilize our economy and restore liquidity in our banking system during this recession. In the coming weeks and months, I look forward to working across the aisle and with President-elect Obama's new economic team to secure our financial system for Delawareans and all Americans. These are uncertain times on both Wall Street and Main Street, but I remain confident that under the leadership of the Federal Reserve and the new incoming Administration and Congress, our economy will weather this economic storm and begin to move toward a healthy recovery next year.
`Tis the Season
November 25, 2008Wilmington - This is my favorite time of year. As my wife Martha and I get ready for the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie, our my sons visiting us from college, the leaf-raking, the football games and Wilmington's annual Thanksgiving Day 10K for multiple sclerosis, I am reminded of a great saying from Theodore Roosevelt: "Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." This has not been an easy year for Americans. We have been through an intense and impassioned presidential campaign, and our country is in a deepening economic crisis.
Auto Industry Bailout
November 18, 2008There is a lot of skepticism when it comes to an auto industry bailout. Many are quick to point out the mistakes the auto industry has made in past decades. Some prominent economists have gone so far as to say that bankruptcy court could actually force a beneficial reorganization. If the economy was doing well and the credit markets were not frozen, it is possible that they might be right. But as things stand today, bankruptcy court is not the answer. General Motors does not have the money to reorganize, nor is there credit available. That means that we are not talking about a Chapter 11 process, but Chapter 7 - in other words, liquidation. And that means the loss of more than a million jobs at the worst possible moment.
Return Day
November 10, 2008Wilmington - I attended my first Return Day ceremony in Georgetown, Delaware in 1974. A Vietnam veteran, I had met legendary University of Delaware professor Jim Soles earlier that year after enrolling in the MBA program there. Jim subsequently won the nomination to run for Congress in 1974 against Pete DuPont, a two-term congressman who would later become Governor of Delaware in 1977. Jim ran a spirited campaign against a very tough opponent who ultimately won with roughly 60 percent of the vote. Like a lot of other young people in Delaware that year, I volunteered to help out in the Soles campaign, and ultimately served as the campaign's treasurer and fund raiser while in graduate school. Two days after the election that year, I joined Dr. Soles, his wife Ada Leigh - who later became a highly-regarded state legislator - their family and scores of volunteers for a trek to Georgetown, the county seat of Sussex County, in southern Delaware.
Chrysler
October 30, 2008Wilmington -- As one of Delaware's leaders who has spent close to 30 years working to keep our Chrysler plant competitive, I am deeply disappointed by the company's decision to close its Newark Assembly Plant at the end of this year. Although well-telegraphed, the news was painful to me and to plant employees, retirees and their families. Chrysler is a 60-year-old manufacturing icon in Delaware. Our Newark Assembly plant has played a vital role in the success of Chrysler Corporation. The Newark facility has provided tens of thousands of good-paying jobs for Delaware autoworkers, and provided even more jobs through many area businesses dependent on Chrysler for their livelihoods.
Closing the Tax Gap
October 15, 2008A couple of weeks ago, I hosted an informal roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill titled "Making Headway on Closing the Tax Gap." I wanted to bring some very bright people together to share ideas and consider each other's viewpoints on an extremely important topic commonly referred to in DC as the "federal tax gap." I sometimes prefer to hold roundtables instead of more formal hearings because roundtables provide a forum for a freer exchange of ideas than most usual Senate hearings and can be helpful in developing consensus on some of the issues and challenges that we face as a nation. My hope is that, as a result of this roundtable and other similar discussions, the Congress and the next President will be able to get something done in the near term and begin making real headway toward closing the tax gap next year.
Economic Stabilization
October 2, 2008A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was driving down the highway in a new car that he had owned less than a year. As he drove, he thought he heard a noise but wasn't sure where it was coming from, so he turned down the radio and listened. Sure enough, he did hear something. It was barely discernable at first, but then grew louder as he drove along. Sensing something was wrong, he pulled off on the shoulder and opened the hood of his engine to see what had made his oil light come on. A couple of hours later, his car was towed back to the dealer who had sold him the vehicle. The next day, my friend would learn that the mechanic who had recently serviced his car there had failed to tighten the plug that kept the oil from draining out of his engine, and it began to leak. When an engine loses enough oil, it begins to seize up and then stops running altogether, and that's what happened in this case.
Census 2010
September 26, 2008WASHINGTON -- As many of you know, the U.S. Constitution requires Congress to perform a census every 10 years. The data collected during the census, including the number of American residents and their household characteristics, is used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives, to redraw congressional and state legislative boundaries, and to allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance to state and local governments. Census data also provide information on population growth patterns and demographic information that are used by both the private sector and by federal, state, and local officials.
Staying Green in Delaware
September 18, 2008WILMINGTON - Once again, it's race weekend in Delaware! This weekend, NASCAR fans will roar into Dover with their RV's or trailers to take advantage of the Dover Downs campgrounds and to be close to the action. In fact, many fans are already here. Along with their need for speed, these visitors also bring money to spend in our state - in our shopping malls, restaurants and especially our hotels. As much as we appreciate their enthusiasm and their love for the Monster Mile, the fans also leave their environmental footprints.
Fighting for Amtrak
September 12, 2008WASHINGTON - This week, I joined congressional members and business leaders at Washington's Union Station to call on Congress to pass an Amtrak reauthorization bill before adjourning later this fall. I told them that winning final congressional approval for this bill is much like the last few minutes of a close football game. Time is running out. We have a chance to win this game. A lot is at stake. Let's win it. We know that in the past year alone, Amtrak has transported more than 26 million passengers, pushing ridership up 11 percent and revenues up 14 percent when compared to the previous twelve months.
Challenges
September 5, 2008The conventions of both major parties are now behind us. The Democratic and the Republican slates have been chosen. Each ticket is historic in its own right.
The Cost of College
August 26, 2008August is the month for students to enjoy the last few weeks of their summer break. But as September rolls around and millions of American families - including my own - are sending our teenagers off to college, we are reminded of two enduring principles of a college education—it's not cheap, but it's essential for any young adult who dreams of a prosperous future. We all know that college is one of the best ways for young adults to increase their chances of getting a good job. With today's rapidly changing global economy, it's more important than ever to have a college education. More than six out of ten jobs now require some form of post secondary education or training. According to one study, a worker with a bachelor's degree earns about 70 percent more than a worker with just a high school diploma. And earning 70 percent more over the course of a lifetime adds up to a lot more money to help us live the American dream.
2008 Summer Olympics Feature American Athletes and Ongoing Clean Air Concerns
August 18, 2008As just about everyone in America knows, the 2008 Summer Olympic Games are well underway in Beijing, China, and with lots of medals already won by our American athletes. And like many of you, my family and I enjoy watching the summer competition.
Robust freight rail service is key to nation's transportation future
August 11, 2008When enjoying a summer getaway this month, I expect you have seen one of our nation's great freight railroad cars racing along side you on the highway. Or maybe you have stopped at a sleepy rail crossing to allow a long line of freight rail cars to pass.
Nuclear Renaissance
July 29, 2008As many of you may know, I am a long-time advocate of nuclear power; of energy conservation; and of renewable sources of energy that are carbon-free or emit very little carbon. I believe that a safe "nuclear renaissance" is not only eminent, but vital to help us reduce harmful carbon-emissions in our air and break our dangerous dependence on foreign nations for oil. On July 16, 2008, I held an oversight hearing as chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. The hearing focused on nuclear plant licensing and relicensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whose job it is to keep plants safe and secure. I want to share with you the following op-ed I wrote for the Sunday News Journal (July 27, 2008) in Delaware about the hearing, the licensing process and the importance of this nuclear renaissance.
Improving Medicare
July 22, 2008Washington, DC - My congressional colleagues and I voted last week to override President Bush's veto of Medicare legislation that will provide modest increases in Medicare physician reimbursement rates over the next two years, expand subsidies to low-income seniors and increase coverage for preventative health services. More than 600 Delaware constituents wrote to me in recent months supporting this legislation to improve Medicare and permanently fix the physician reimbursement formula. Moreover, 100,000 seniors and 32,000 military men and women in Delaware receive Medicare and Tricare services. I certainly understand why this issue is so important.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
July 14, 2008Washington, D.C. -- I would like to take a few minutes today to explain why I joined the majority of my colleagues in both the House and Senate in supporting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The measure passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 293-129 on June 20 and the Senate by a vote of 69-28 on July 9. The bill was signed into law by the President on July 10. FISA was created in 1978 to establish a process for obtaining a court order to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance in the United States. Over time, dramatic changes in telecommunications technology reduced the effectiveness of the law, causing our intelligence community to miss a significant amount of foreign intelligence that we should have been collecting in order to protect our country. Rather than asking the Congress to modify the law to restore its effectiveness and better balance the need to protect our country and the safety of our citizens with the need to preserve our civil liberties, the Bush administration essentially chose to ignore the law in the days following the attacks of 9-11.
Independence Day
July 3, 2008Wilmington, DE - This July 4th, as we celebrate our country's independence from Great Britain over two centuries ago, we are confronted once again with the position of being reliant on far-away nations who are not always most concerned about America's best interests. America consumes 25 percent of the world's oil, yet we only have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. I believe it is time for a new kind of revolution. But instead of muskets and cannon balls, we will depend on American ingenuity and know-how to secure our freedom. Such a revolution is necessary to guarantee our nation's future safety and security, as well as offer relief to Americans facing record gas prices that are only projected to keep rising. In every sense of the word, we can no longer afford to be so dependent on oil, especially oil from unfriendly nations in a volatile part of the world.
Addressing High Gas Prices
June 26, 2008Wilmington, DE - As I travel around our state, I have heard from a number of Delawareans concerned that the high price of gasoline is making it particularly difficult for them to make ends meet. I am often asked what we in government can do to rein in the cost of gasoline. I thought I would take a few minutes to share with you some of the steps we have taken already and others we are contemplating. A few days ago, I filled up my 2001 Chrysler Town and Country minivan and had to pay over $75. It was the most I have ever had to pay at the pump. As you know, the price of gasoline has soared over the past year, climbing from $3 a gallon a year ago to more than $4 a gallon today. Even more dramatic, though, the price of a barrel of oil has essentially doubled over the course of the past 12 months.
The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act
June 18, 2008First, I would like to thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for passing S.2146, a bipartisan bill that gives EPA the authority to accept, as part of air quality settlements, diesel emission reduction supplemental environmental projects. I want to also thank Senators Clinton, Inhofe, Cardin, and Alexander for joining Senator Voinovich and me on this legislation. This bill is a small fix with big consequences - big consequences for jump starting the effort to clean up our nation's diesel vehicle fleet and making our air clean and toxin-free.
The Need for Global Warming Legislation
June 4, 2008As many of my colleagues know, addressing global warming has been an important issue for me since my early days in the Senate. The facts are indisputable today. Our planet is growing warmer. We as human beings are the major contributor. My passion in this issue began a dozen or so years ago when I first met Drs. Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson, as they received the Commonwealth Award for Science in Wilmington, Delaware for their pioneering work on global warming.
Sacrificing for our Veterans
May 30, 2008Friday, May 30, is Memorial Day for millions of American veterans and the organizations that represent them. Keeping with the spirit of this day of remembrance, I'm writing about one of the smartest things that Congress did in the last century - passing the GI Bill for returning World War II veterans. Upon signing the GI Bill into law, President Franklin Roosevelt emphasized that our troops "have been compelled to make greater economic sacrifice and every other kind of sacrifice than the rest of us, and are entitled to definite action to help take care of their special problems." With the passage of this bill, FDR had the foresight to ensure that the "Greatest Generation" could smoothly transition back into our country's workforce after the war had ended.
Addressing Cancer Clusters
May 21, 2008Cancer-related concerns in the First State recently raised in a series of News Journal articles are not new. During my first term as Delaware's governor in the early 1990's, we learned that Delaware's cancer mortality rate was the highest in the country. Delaware's state motto is, "It's good to be first." However, there are some things you don't want to be first in. Cancer mortality is near the to the top of that list.
National Train Day
May 9, 2008Wilmington, DE - On Saturday, May 10, 2008, Amtrak observed their first annual National Train Day, and here in Delaware we had a lot to celebrate! I was born and lived the first six years of my life in West Virginia. Even after we moved away, our family would return for a few weeks each summer to visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Whenever my sister and I stayed with our father's parents, we would wait each day inside the fence of the front yard of their home waiting for a slow-moving freight train to pass us by en route to who knows where. As the train would approach each day, my sister and I would jump up and down or pump our arms up and down to get the engineer to blow the train's whistle.
Gas Tax Holiday
May 2, 2008Washington, D.C. - There has been a lot of discussion in the news recently about the rising costs of gasoline. It's a cause of concern to me, and I know that it is to a lot of others, as well. Let me take a couple of minutes here today to outline a few things that I think we ought to be doing about it here in America.
Earth Day
April 22, 2008Washington, D.C. - Before you toss that next soda can in the trash, consider this: Each year, Americans discard enough aluminum cans to rebuild our entire domestic airline fleet... once every three months. That's 2.6 million tons of aluminum ending up in landfills, rather than recycling bins. As our nation celebrates its 39th Earth Day, we face critical environmental challenges from climate change to air and water pollution. No lone silver bullet can cure the planet's environmental ills. But recycling is one simple, yet remarkably effective, step that should not be overlooked.
Foreclosure Prevention
April 11, 2008Washington, D.C. - The Senate has passed the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 to help provide some relief for American homeowners facing foreclosure. Recently I spoke in support of this bill on the Senate floor and I'd like to reflect here on some of the key points I tried to make in that statement. I like to think of this housing legislation, not in isolation, but as the third piece, if you will, of a series of steps that the federal government has taken to stabilize our markets, restore confidence in our economy and infuse liquidity into our financial system.
Getting Your Rebate Check
April 2, 2008Washington, D.C. - The daily rain showers signal it's April. But besides setting us up for May flowers, April also means tax season. Some Americans have already filed their 2007 federal tax return, while many more must still do so before the April 15th deadline, just two weeks away. As I wrote in February, the House, Senate and President worked together to pass a timely, temporary and targeted economic stimulus package. The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 included several elements to boost our sagging economy.
Timely, Temporary and Targeted (Part 2)
February 11, 2008Washington, D.C. -- I'd like to offer, as promised, the second half of last week's blog entry that focused on the development of an economic stimulus package. You may recall I wrote that a good stimulus package should follow the three "T's" - timely, targeted, and temporary - to help ward off a recession or to reduce its length and severity. Operating in the political environment of a highly charged election year, it was probably not realistic to expect that we would come to agreement around a consensus package that all of us would step back to admire and say, "Well, we nailed those three 'T's' this time."
Timely, Temporary and Targeted
February 6, 2008Washington, D.C. -- For as long as we've been a country, our economy has gone through periods of expansion and contraction. Some downturns are short-lived and shallow, like the recession that occurred at the beginning of this decade. Others are severe and lengthy, like the Great Depression of the 1930s. Economists define a recession as two consecutive quarters in which our nation's gross domestic product (GDP) contracts. There are times when we may not know for sure that we have been in a recession until we are coming out of one; however many economists believe we may be as many as two months into a recession now.
The North American International Auto Show
January 22, 2008Wilmington, DE -- Every January, the North American International Auto Show takes place in Detroit, Michigan. Automakers come from all over the world to display their latest product offerings from tiny Smart Cars and the 2008 Car of the Year (the new Chevrolet Malibu) to the updated Chrysler Town and Country minivan. Automakers also unveil to the world a number of "concept" vehicles which may or may not become production models, but they do add a lot of pizzazz to the show. This year, among the concept vehicles were an all-electric car and a low-emission diesel-hybrid - the Jeep Renegade from Chrysler - and the Chevrolet Volt, a flex-fuel, plug-in hybrid that GM hopes to launch before the end of 2010.
Welcome to my New Website
January 16, 2008Washington, D.C. -- I hope you find our redesigned website more useful and easier to navigate. Please take a few minutes to explore the new layout and features. We have redesigned the website with three goals in mind: 1) Provide constituents with easy-to-find information about what's going on in Washington that affects their lives 2) Provide access to government services we offer and 3) Offer an opportunity to contact me with comments, concerns and questions - and to receive a timely response. As with most changes, there could be some bumps along the way. I want to hear from you - what works, what doesn't - as we continue to improve my office website. E-mail me with your comments.
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