Latest from Lamar, Notes from the Senate Desk

*Important news from
this week:*

-
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
announced Tennessee will receive nearly $1.4 million in federal grants to help
give rural Tennesseans better access to doctors, health care, school
counselors and teachers.

-
The Restore Our Parks Act is one step
closer to becoming law. This legislation that I introduced will cut in
half the nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog at our national parks,
including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

-
This week, I
supported and Congress passed a short-term funding agreement to keep the
government open.



*Supporting* *the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park*

[image =
[link removed]]

This week, the Restore Our Parks Act [link 1],
legislation I sponsored that would cut in half the nearly $12 billion
maintenance backlog at our nation's 419 national parks, including the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, moved one step closer to becoming law.
This bill was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
committee I serve on by a 15-5 vote.

This legislation could do more to
restore our national parks than anything that has happened in the last
half century, and the reason we need to restore them is so Americans can
enjoy these sites -- from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Grand Canyon -- for
generations to come. This bill will help restore the campgrounds, trails,
and roads in what one of America's greatest story tellers, Ken Burns,
calls "America's best idea" -- our national park system. This bill
will allow future generations to enjoy America's best idea in the same
way that we have.



*Considering President Trump's nominee to lead the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration*

[image =
[link removed]]

The Senate health committee
I chair held a hearing this week to consider Dr. Stephen Hahn's
nomination [link 2] to serve as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's
(FDA) commissioner. Dr. Hahn currently serves as the chief medical
executive at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
This is a critical time for FDA, and there is a lot that FDA needs to
do -- approve lifesaving drugs, regulate tobacco and e-cigarettes,
complete the ongoing lung injury investigation and continue addressing the
opioid crisis. Dr. Hahn is well prepared and a strong choice to lead
the FDA.



*Working to pass permanent funding for Historically Black
Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions*

Now is
the time to pass permanent funding [link 3] for Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving
Institutions. I spoke on the Senate floor this week after Democrats blocked my
bipartisan package of higher education proposals that includes $255
million in permanent annual funding for HBCUs and simplifies the FAFSA, the
federal aid application that eight million minority students fill out
each year. Governor Bill Haslam told me that the FAFSA form is the
single largest impediment to Tennesseans taking advantage of Tennessee
Promise, which gives students two free years of community
college.

*Addressing the real driver of the $23 trillion federal debt --
entitlement spending*

[image =
[link removed]]

*The above chart illustrates all federal spending
over the last 10 years and the projected spending for the next 10
years. Discretionary spending (blue line) is under control. Mandatory
spending (red line) is the real driver of the out-of-control federal
debt.*

This week, I cosponsored legislation introduced by Senator Mitt
Romney (R-Utah.) that would establish "rescue committees" tasked with
creating legislation to help put the United States on the road to fiscal
responsibility and get our spending under control [link 4].

The real
driver of our out-of-control federal debt is mandatory or entitlement
spending -- which is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and
interest on the debt. As spending on mandatory entitlements and interest
grows, there will be less money for national defense, national
laboratories, national parks, and the National Institutes of Health. Unless
Congress acts within 13 years, Social Security, Medicare and the Highway
Trust Funds will go broke. This legislation will help put the United
States on the road to fiscal responsibility by bringing automatic,
mandatory spending under control.



*We should spend more on clean energy
instead of wasteful wind production tax credit*

This week, I spoke on
the Senate floor about the wind production tax credit [link 5] --
taxpayer dollars given to wind developers. The wind production tax credit
has been extended 11 times, has been on the books for more than 25
years, and has cost taxpayers billions of dollars. The credit expires at
the end of this year but now some members of Congress are trying to
extend it. Asking the American taxpayer to pay more to extend the wind
production tax credit - the most wasteful, conspicuous taxpayer
subsidy in Washington D.C. -- is unjustifiable. Instead of subsidizing wind
developers, we could be using that money to double the amount we spend
on research and development to make truly bold breakthroughs that
will help us provide cleaner, cheaper energy, and raise family incomes.
Click here [link 6] for a video of my floor speech.



*Below are some
articles from this week I thought you would enjoy:*

*Chattanooga
Times Free Press: Sen. Alexander pushes for passage of Restore Our Parks
Act in what will likely be his final major piece of conservation
legislation [link 7]*

*Clarksville Online: Lamar Alexander says Congress
Would Save Lives of Thousands of Tennesseans by Controlling All Forms
of Fentanyl [link 8]*

*Nashville Channel 5: Sen. Lamar Alexander says
CDC and FDA can do more to save lives [link 9]*



Plan your work and
work your plan.

*#98 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]

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]