| Bright Lends a Helping Hand |
| 10/13/10 | |
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Electric Cities of Alabama-Electric Cities Connected Volume 10, Issue 3 October 2010In a recent letter from Congressman Bobby Bright (AL-2) to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu, Bright shared his support for Alabama customers who rely on electricity produced from hydroelectric power generated at the Corps of Engineers Russell Dam in Georgia. As you may know, the Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA) has been debating whether or not to include roughly $340 million in disputed costs in rates for the sale of energy and capacity. These disputed costs relate to litigation commenced over two decades ago in connection with the installation of four reversible pumped storage generation units.
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| Congressman Bright Announces Grant to Improve School Safety in Hartford |
| 9/30/10 | |
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HARTFORD, AL –Hartford will receive a $20,277 grant from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the U.S. Department of Justice, Congressman Bright announced today. The Save Our Schools (SOS) Grant will provide the Hartford Police Department with funds to purchase school safety resources and establish school safety programs within the community. Funding under this program may be used for security assessments, safety training for students and personnel, and any other measure that may provide a significant increase in security. |
| House Passes Job-Training Legislation Introduced by Congressman Bright |
| 9/30/10 | |
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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House passed the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration Act (AMERICA Works). In November, Bright joined Rep. Walt Minnick (ID) in introducing H.R. 4072, which directs existing public job training funds to be used in developing nationally portable and industry-recognized credentials for workers in technical fields such as health care, energy, and construction. This is especially helpful for workers entering the job market for the first time, transitioning into a new job, currently unemployed but in the job market, and for military men and women entering the civilian workforce. This bill passed by a bipartisan 412-10 margin. |
| Weekly Columns |
| 10/19/10 | |
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Last Friday, the Social Security Administration announced that seniors would not receive a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for the second straight year. That means that Social Security retirees, veterans, and people with disabilities will not receive an increase in their monthly benefits.
Though I am deeply troubled by this announcement and believe seniors deserve a COLA, it is important to note that the COLA is not subject to a vote by Congress or the President; it is based on an automatic formula established in the 1970s and based on inflation as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (
Obviously, there are problems with this formula. For instance, the I also co-sponsored legislation to provide seniors a one-time, $250 payment in the event that no COLA is awarded this year (for fiscal year 2011). This legislation, if considered, would be fully paid for. Once it became clear last week that there would once again be no adjustment this year, House leadership announced there would be a vote on this legislation when we return to session in November. I look forward to reading the specifics of this proposal and making sure it is something that is paid for in a responsible way. It is clear, however, that seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities are disproportionately hurt in a tough economy, such as the one we’re in now. Many rely on these benefits and factor in these cost-of-living-adjustments in their already tight budgets. Without question, these are tough economic times. But we can’t use this economy as an excuse to reduce benefits to our seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities.
Last week, the Department of the Interior announced that it would be lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling, which was put in place after the Deepwater Horizon platform explosion in the spring. This is welcome news for the Gulf Coast and for domestic energy production. When the moratorium was initially announced, I believed it was necessary as long as a safety review could be completed quickly and efficiently. It appears as if the Department of Interior has done that, and in the process, set forth new guidelines for safely drilling in the Gulf. In the coming weeks and months, it will be important to ensure that the new safety requirements work for both the oil producers and offshore workers. Regardless of your thoughts on offshore drilling, it is clear that oil will be part of our energy portfolio for the foreseeable future. I believe we should access this oil from domestic sources rather than rely on foreign countries that don’t always have our best interest in mind. However, we must continue to ensure that accidents like Deepwater Horizon do not occur in the future and that our energy workers are in the safest environments possible. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call our offices in Montgomery at (334) 277-9113, Dothan at (334) 794-9680, Opp at (334) 493-9253, or Ozark at (334) 445-4600. You can also visit the website at www.bright.house.gov to sign up for the e-newsletter. It is my great pleasure to serve you and the entire Second District of Alabama.
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Ozark Office 275 N. Union Avenue Suite 214 Ozark, AL 36360 p. (334) 445-4600 f. (334) 445-0517 |