May 2010 Archives

WASHINGTON – Continuing his efforts to rein in federal spending and reduce the record high national debt, U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) voted against legislation today which would increase the deficit by $54 billion over ten years and put into place permanent tax increases.

“It has been over a year since Speaker Pelosi and President Obama jammed their trillion dollar ‘stimulus bill’ through Congress and unemployment in the Commonwealth has increased to a staggering 10.2%,” Whitfield said. “Yet House leaders seem to think continuing these failed policies and piling onto on our national debt will somehow turn our economy around. Kentuckians understand that we cannot spend our way out of this recession. It’s time for Washington to get the picture.”

The House of Representatives passed, and Whitfield opposed, changes to H.R. 4213, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, which Whitfield originally opposed and was originally passed by the House in December and a similar version was passed by the Senate in March. The bill extends a number of programs passed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more commonly referred to as the “stimulus bill,” and extends some tax credits and reductions on a temporary basis while implementing permanent tax increases.

The legislation passed today would increase spending by $102 billion and raises taxes by $47.8 billion. The bill continues and expands a number of initiatives created under the “stimulus bill” including a program which encourages states to expand their welfare caseloads.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) voted last night to continue funding for the Joint Strike Fighter Engine Program, an initiative critical to protecting and creating jobs at the GE Aviation Plant in Madisonville.

“The Joint Strike Fighter Engine Program is critical to the life of the GE Aviation Plant in Madisonville,” Whitfield said. “This program could bring hundreds of jobs to the plant in Madisonville while protecting the facilities’ future for the long-term. During these tough economic times, I am pleased to do all that I can to support measures that will keep and create jobs in the First Congressional District.”

Whitfield voted against an amendment to H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 which would have stripped funding for the Joint Strike Fighter Engine Program. This is a competitive engine program that gives funding to GE Aviation and Rolls Royce, who have been developing an alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Despite efforts from the Obama Administration and some in Congress to eliminate funding for GE’s alternative engine in recent years, Congress has voted to keep the program.

Whitfield met with Madisonville Plant Leader David Groth this week in Washington to discuss the importance of the program and the impact it would have on the facility. The Congressman also visited the plant in April to discuss the program and other important aviation projects. The GE Aviation Plant in Madisonville is the number one payroll in Hopkins County and employs approximately 600 people. The Joint Strike Fighter Engine Program is anticipated to create hundreds of new jobs at the Madisonville plant.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) was honored this week by the Prevent Cancer Foundation for his consistent support of policies which help to prevent and fight cancer.

“Cancer continues to claim the lives of thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and loved ones right here in Kentucky every year,” Whitfield said. “To eliminate this disease once and for all, we need to give medical researchers and doctors the resources they need to find a cure while providing nurses and caregivers with the support they need to care for the ill. I am proud to do all that I can to support policies which will help us prevent and combat this disease.”

The Prevent Cancer Foundation recognized Whitfield as a 25th Anniversary Prevention Champion this week in Washington. To commemorate their 25th anniversary, the Foundation is honoring select Members of Congress for their leadership in support of research, access, primary prevention and awareness in cancer prevention.

“The Foundation congratulates Representative Ed Whitfield on his work in cancer prevention,” said Carolyn R. Aldige, President and Founder, Prevent Cancer Foundation. “Throughout our 25 years of working to promote awareness, research and Federal policy in support of cancer prevention we have been honored to work alongside Congressman Whitfield.”

The Prevent Cancer Foundation was founded in 1985 and since then has become one of the nation’s leading health organizations, catapulting cancer prevention to prominence. Over the years the Foundation has provided more than $113 million in support of cancer prevention and early detection research, education and community outreach programs across the country. The Foundation’s grants have been awarded to nearly 400 scientists from more than 150 of the leading academic medical centers nationwide. This research has been pivotal in developing a body of knowledge that is the basis for important cancer prevention and early detection strategies.

Clinton County is located in south central Kentucky between Lake Cumberland and Dale Hollow Lake. The county was formed on February 20, 1835 and is said to be named for New York's Governor DeWitt Clinton. Early settlers to the county included Simon Barber and his family from Albany, New York. The Barber’s settled in what is now the city of Albany, the county seat. Many of the early agrarian settlers ran barges of rafts along the river to take out surplus goods and bring in supplies. The county’s leading industries include agriculture, lumber, crushed stone and tourism.

Christian County was formed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1796 and organized on March 1, 1797. The county was named in honor of Colonel William Christian, a veteran of the American Revolution who settled on Beargrass Creek near Louisville in 1785 and was killed in southern Indiana the following year. Originally, the county included all land north of the Tennessee line, west of Logan County and the Green River, south of the Ohio River, and east of the Tennessee River. Today, at forty-five miles long and twenty-five miles wide, Christian County is the second largest county in the state. The county seat is Hopkinsville.

Throughout its history, Christian County has been an agriculture based community. With an estimated 1,171 farms covering nearly 300,000 acres, Christian County annually ranks among Kentucky’s top counties in crop revenues and overall agricultural revenues. Throughout Kentucky, Christian County ranks second in the growing of wheat for grain; third in dark fired tobacco; fourth in growing corn for grain; and seventh in the production of soybeans.

Today, Christian County boasts a variety of agriculture and commercial industries. The county is also home to a high number of service members and their families who are stationed at nearby Fort Campbell.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) testified today before a House Subcommittee on the importance of bipartisan legislation the Congressman helped to introduce earlier this year which would help bring down energy costs for Kentuckians, while creating new jobs and improving energy efficiency.

“In my home state of Kentucky, and across the nation, we have an electricity capacity problem, which means that the amount of electricity generated is just barely surpassing the electricity demand,” Whitfield said. “According to some estimates the demand for electricity will grow 30 percent by 2030, requiring a total of 264,000 new megawatts. This magnitude of increase is roughly equivalent to adding 4 more California’s, 21 more Minnesota’s, 2.5 more Texas’ or 13 more Kentucky’s to the demand for electricity in the United States. Although energy efficiency will not get us all the way there to meeting our electricity demands, investments in efficiency can help take the place of generation capacity that is unable to come online right now.”

Whitfield testified today before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research hearing on the Rural Energy Savings Program. The bill establishes a program to provide loans to homeowners and small business owners to make building changes which will improve energy efficiency.

The legislation creates a loan program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) which will provide loans to electric cooperatives (co-ops) to lend money to residential and small business consumers for the purpose of energy saving retrofitting. Typical consumer loans will be between $1,500 and $7,000 and cover costs for sealing, insulation, heat pumps, HVAC systems, boilers, roofs and other improvements which have been proven to increase energy efficiency. After installing these upgrades, it is anticipated that most families will be able to save hundreds of dollars on their electricity bills every year.

The Rural Energy Savings Program will also help free up electricity on an already overcrowded electricity grid. In Kentucky, electricity providers face challenges in meeting the demands for electricity and also in building new power plants. The legislation will provide some relief and free up electricity to serve other areas of our economy, including manufacturing facilities that will bring new jobs. 

The program is expected to create a significant number of new jobs. Once enacted, the Rural Energy Savings Program is anticipated to generate more than 10,000 jobs this year alone. In the years ahead, the program could employ, directly and non-directly, as many as 40,000 individuals in a given year. In addition, the bill includes ‘Made in the USA’ provisions which will be a boon to domestic manufacturing and construction industries and lead to the creation of new jobs.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) spearheaded a letter today from members of the Kentucky Congressional Delegation to President Barack Obama requesting he approve Governor Steve Beshear’s request to declare a major disaster in the Commonwealth due to heavy rains, flooding, high winds, tornadoes, mudslides, and flood damage that devastated many counties throughout the state this weekend.

“Communities throughout the First Congressional District are continuing to reel from the severe storms which struck our region this weekend,” Whitfield said. “The flooding that resulted has caused serious damage to homes, schools, businesses and city buildings. Right now we need to make certain emergency personnel have all the tools they need to keep residents safe and I remain in contact with local, state and federal officials to ensure that they do. In the days and weeks to follow, I will do all that I can to help our cities and counties deal with the aftermath and recover from the storms.”

Whitfield, along with members of the Kentucky Congressional Delegation, sent a letter to President Obama today asking he approve Governor Beshear’s request to declare a major disaster and provide Public Assistance and Individual Assistance for the Commonwealth. Additionally, the delegation expressed support for the Governor’s request that this major disaster declaration be cost shared 100% for public assistance and direct federal assistance for the first seven days. Federal assistance would help cover the cost of debris removal, emergency protective measures as well as repairs to roads and bridges, water control facilities, buildings and equipment and utilities, among other things. 

Whitfield has been in contact with FEMA officials and has expressed the dire need for the federal major disaster declaration. The Congressman has also spoken with local officials in counties throughout the First Congressional District, which have been impacted by the flooding as well as representatives from the Kentucky National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers.

This past weekend, severe thunderstorms struck the Commonwealth causing damaging winds, torrential rain, and flooding that paralyzed many counties. A number of counties in the First Congressional District were hit particularly hard by the storms.