Latest from Lamar, Notes from the Senate Desk
*Important news from
this past week:*
-
I wrote an op-ed with Senator Richard Burr of
North Carolina on the Coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China,
now called COVID-19. As chairman of the Senate health committee, I will
continue to monitor this outbreak, and I believe the actions of our
public health officials, state and local partners, and the Trump
administration are helping to prevent the spread of the virus in the United
States. Read more here [link 1].
-
President Trump announced this
week his intent to nominate [link 2] Tyreece Miller to serve as the
United States Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee. Deputy
Chief Miller knows how to get results and how to get local, state and
federal agencies to work together.
-
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers announced [link 3] that construction of Chickamauga Lock in
Chattanooga will receive its sixth straight year of funding, which will help
keep up to 150,000 trucks off I-75 and keep the cost of shipping goods
low for manufacturers across the state.
-
This week I voted to
approve the Iran War Powers Resolution. This vote is about the United
States Constitution. It preserves the commander in chief's Article II
constitutional responsibility to defend the country and Congress'
Article I responsibility to declare war.
*Reviewing the president's
budget recommendations*
This week, President Trump announced [link 4]
his budget recommendations for fiscal year 2021. I appreciate the
president's budget suggestions and will carefully consider them as Congress
begins the process of funding the federal government for the next
fiscal year. Under the Constitution, it is Congress' job to set spending
priorities and pass appropriations bills, and my priorities will
continue to be making sure our national defense, national laboratories, the
National Institutes of Health and national parks have the resources
they need.
In his budget, the president called for ending the
practice of surprise medical billing. Ending surprise medical billing is a
problem almost everyone wants fixed, and is a perfect example of how
Congress and the president can work together to reduce out of pocket
health care costs for patients.
The president tweeted [link 5] about
the necessity of fixing this problem earlier this week:
[image =
[link removed]] [link
6]
I am also glad to see the budget continues to include the
president's proposal to rebuild our national parks. The Restore Our Parks
Act [link 7], legislation that I introduced with Senators Portman,
Warner, and King, is based on the president's proposal and will cut in
half the maintenance backlog at our national parks. This legislation is
the only way to address the deferred maintenance backlog in our 419
national parks, and the Trump Administration agrees. This is especially
important for Tennessee, given that the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park is the most visited national park in the country.
The budget
proposes a major increase in funding for career and technical education
programs to help train more workers for our growing economy. The
budget also proposes new education tax credit scholarships to give
low-income families more of the same choices that wealthier families already
have when choosing a school for their children.
[image =
[link removed]]
I
enjoyed meeting with the Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police this week.
I appreciate everything they do to keep our communities safe.
*Chickamauga Lock construction will continue for sixth consecutive
year*
Under the work plan released this week by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Chickamauga Lock will receive $101.7 million to continue
construction for the sixth consecutive year. This funding will keep
construction of the new Chickamauga Lock on time and schedule. This is
great news for East Tennessee since it will help keep up to 150,000
trucks off I-75 and keep the cost of shipping goods low for manufacturers
across the state. More U.S. senators ask to increase funding for the
Army Corps of Engineers than any other part of the budget, and I
worked hard to provide record funding for the Corps to ensure we could keep
federal lock and dam projects on track. The work plan also provides
$8.1 million for the J. Percy Priest project, which includes an
additional $2.2 million for maintenance of recreation features and greenway
trail improvements. The work plan also includes $2.163 million for
dredging at Memphis Harbor McKellar Lake, which is good news for West
Tennesseans.
*Below are some articles from this week I thought you
would enjoy:*
*Fox News: Op-Ed by Sen. Alexander & Sen. Burr:
Coronavirus prevention steps the U.S. government is taking to protect you*
[link 8]
*Tennessean: Op-Ed by Brian Reisinger: How Sen. Lamar
Alexander had his 'Howard Baker moment' during the Trump impeachment
trial* [link 9]
*Chattanooga Times Free Press: Chickamauga Lock gets
more funding this year, but Trump budget plan could end replacement work
next year* [link 10]
Listen to the Farm Bureau.
*#240 in
Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book*
----------------------
footnotes
----------------------
[link 1]
[link removed]
[link 2]
[link removed]
[link 3]
[link removed]
[link 4]
[link removed]
[link 5]
[link removed]
[link 6]
[link removed]
[link 7]
[link removed]
[link 8]
[link removed]
[link 9]
[link removed]
[link 10]
[link removed]
Contact Information:
Website: [link removed]
Office
Location:
Washington, DC Office
455 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, DC
20510
Phone: (202) 224-4944 | Fax: (202) 228-3398
Privacy Policy:
[link removed]
Unsubscribe: [link removed]
