Major Accomplishments

Securing Federal Dollars

As a Member of Congress, listening to my constituents is a big part of my job. They tell me about the needs of their community and the challenges faced by them, their family and their businesses.

I'm proud of my record of securing over $100 million federal dollars to support important projects throughout my district. Among the projects that I have secured funding for are the following:

Columbia County

Columbus

• Columbus Community Hospital, to rebuild the hospital's emergency room - $650,000.
• City of Columbus, for redevelopment of the central business - $135,000.

Portage

• Portage Canal Rehabilitation and Pedestrian Facility - $1,000,000.
• Portage bike path development - $1.76 million

Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Dells bike path development - $2,100,000

Dane County

Dane County Regional Airport - to improve runway safety -- $5,500,000.

Madison

• Briarpatch - to provide housing and support for homeless teens - $250,000.
• City of Madison - to develop affordable housing - $1,300,000.
• Project Home - Allied Dunn Economic Development Initiative - $425,000.
• Troy Housing and Gardens - Economic Development Initiative- $750,000.
• New Loft teen center - $750,000.
• Madison Community Health Center -
  Preventative health program for at risk populations - $170,000.
• Urban Open Space/Madison Central Park Initiative -- $3,550,000.
• Madison Police Department - laptop computers & video in patrol cars - $1,500,000.
• Cereal Crops Research Laboratory - Repair and Modernization of facility - $11,300,000.
• State Street revitalization - $3,750,000.
• MATC - Training of closed captioners to support programs that serve the blind and visually impaired - $500,000.
• Madison Police Department (with Dane County Sheriff, Dane Co. 911) Information Systems
  Upgrade - $2,000,000.
• Commonwealth / Genesis Development, for South Madison business incubator- $90,000.
• Forest Products Lab Mold Research Facility - $500,000.
  Sonic Foundry - for research on emerging law enforcement technologies - $500,000
• Sand County Foundation - to reduce runoff from agricultural land - $1,500,000.
• Madison Police Department - for technology upgrades, including video conferencing, digital photography, and non-lethal weapons - $250,000.
• Centro Hispano, for facilities expansion - $100,000.
  East Madison Community Center, for expansion of program space - $100,000.
• Madison Area Continuing Care Consortium, to fund a program to allow seniors to stay in their homes rather than go to a nursing home - $350,000.
• East Washington Avenue reconstruction - $3,000,000.
  Alfalight, for research & development of fiber laser technology - $10,100,000.
• Forest Products Lab (Madison) - for recycling lumber from buildings at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant- $1,300,000.
• Madison Community Health Center - for dental chairs and suites - $200,000.
• City of Madison - to support the Triangle Neighborhood Health Center - $200,000.
• City of Madison - for regional transportation development (Transport 2020) - $1,250,000.
• City of Madison - Neighborhood Development Initiative - $300,000.
• Forest Products Lab - for advanced research - $1,500,000.
• Madison Starkweather Creek Bike Path - $1.6 million

Town of Madison
Novation Technology Campus - economic development funds for business incubator and job training - $660,000. .

Middleton
City of Middleton Municipal Airport - for installation of new localizer -- $400,000.

Stoughton

• City of Stoughton -- for downtown economic redevelopment - $90,000.
• Stoughton Hospital - for the purchase of biphasic defibrillators - $30,000.

Sun Prairie

• Sun Prairie Police Department (with Middleton/Fitchburg) - funding for a shared public safety records system - $500,000.
• Sun Prairie Water Pollution Control Facility - $750,000.

Waunakee
Waunakee Bike Path - $2,100,000

Green County

New Glarus
Swiss Center of North America construction - $250,000.

Iowa County

Dodgeville
Memorial Hospital of Iowa County, for dialysis equipment - $170,000.

Jefferson County

Glacial Drumlin Trail - $240,000

Lafayette County

Darlington
Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County - for X-Ray equipment- $956,000.

Rock County

Beloit

• School District of Beloit, for telecommunications upgrades - $150,000.
• City of Beloit Economic Development, for old Beloit Corporation site upgrade- $325,000.
• Gateway Boulevard economic development project - $5,700,000.
• Beloit Memorial Hospital, for medical equipment - $300,000.
• City of Beloit for Neighborhood Economic Development - $169,750.

Janesville
UW-Rock County, for laboratory equipment and computer technology - $100,000.

Sauk County

Baraboo

• Fairfield Marsh Production Area, for land acquisition for wetland restoration and waterfowl breeding - $1,000,000.
  Baraboo Hills - Forest Legacy conservation easements - $1,000,000.
• Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells Airport, to install localizer - $375,000.
• St. Clare Hospital, for radiation treatment services - $400,000.
• UW-Baraboo/Sauk, for upgrades to the campus theatre - $50,000.

Sauk City
Sauk Prairie Schools, to fund after school program- $234,000.

Sumpter-Merrimac

• Badger Army Ammunition Plant- funding for Reuse Committee - $100,000.
• Study & Removal of wood from Badger Army Ammunition Plant (through Forest Products Lab) - $450,000.

Walworth County

Whitewater
UW-Whitewater, funding for the Center for Students with Disabilities - $150,000.

Wisconsin

• Ice Age National Scenic Trail for land acquisition and educational programming - $17,922,000.
• WI Division of Vocational Rehabilitation - TechWorks program training individuals with disabilities for jobs in the information technology sector -- $500,000.
• UW System Co-Lab - technology for anywhere-anytime learning -- $500,000.
• WI Coalition Against Domestic Violence - homicide prevention program -- $100,000.
• WI Historical Society - for preservation of military documents -- $50,000.

A Congressional Office for Beloit

For the first time, residents of Beloit and others in South Central Wisconsin have a Congressional office that is staffed full time. When Beloit was made a part of the 2nd Congressional District in 2000, I pledged to open a full time office there to serve the second largest city in the district and the surrounding area. I'm proud to have fulfilled that pledge shortly I was sworn in as the new representative for the area.

Honoring our Nation's Veterans

I am pleased that my efforts to protect and enhance veterans' health care, including strong advocacy to maintain the VA hospital in Madison, have met with success.

In addition, as a Member of Congress, I have secured medals and replacement medals for hundreds of area veterans, many of whom were unaware that they had earned these important recognitions honoring their sacrifice for our nation.

Honoring a Wisconsin Legend

In 2006, President Bush signed into law legislation that I authored designating the downtown Madison Post Office as the "Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Post Office," honoring "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Wisconsin Governor, Member of Congress and U.S. Senator, who was the founder of the modern progressive movement.