[StBernard] E-Update From Senator David Vitter

[Westley Annis]

IN THIS ISSUE

FIGHTING CORRUPTION AND CRONYISM IN WASHINGTON
REACTING TO THE STATE OF THE UNION
ALLOWING PRAYER AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS


This month the U.S. Senate has worked on crucial issues like cleaning up
politics in Washington and supporting our troops in the war on terror.  We
passed ethics and lobbying reform legislation with three of my amendments
attached, and I have actively participated in numerous Foreign Relations
Committee hearings on Iraq.  I also attended President Bush's State of the
Union address, where he focused on key domestic priorities like improving
access to health care.

Now that ethics reform legislation has passed the Senate, I will be working
to keep in important provisions, like my amendment to ban spouses lobbying,
as the legislation goes to conference with the U.S. House of
Representatives.

The Foreign Relations Committee has examined diplomatic and military
strategy in Iraq and heard from key witnesses like Secretary of State Rice
and incoming General Patraeus, and I am looking forward more committee
hearings on the strategy for achieving success in Iraq.

Please continue to contact me via letters, emails and phone calls to let me
know how you feel about what is going on in Washington.

Following you can read more about my work on fighting corruption in
Washington, the state of the union, prayer at school board meetings and
other key issues for Louisiana families. 

David Vitter

P.S. - Please feel free to forward the newsletter to your friends, neighbors
and business associates, and encourage them to sign up for their own copy by
visiting my Web site at http://vitter.senate.gov/.  




Fighting Corruption and Cronyism in Washington 

A few weeks ago the U.S. Senate passed ethics and lobbying reform
<http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=PressRoom/VittersView&ID=d642a91f-f562-40b
d-9063-25238497ec0b>  legislation.  I tried to promote real reform measures
to clean up Washington, and I am pleased to report that we had some success.
Three of my amendments were voted on and passed by my colleagues in the U.S.
Senate.  

One of my amendments stops spouses of members of the U.S. Senate from
lobbying the Senate.  If a senator's spouse is hired as a lobbyist, special
interest groups have the opportunity to place large amounts of money
directly into that senator's family bank account, but my amendment will put
a stop to this practice.  We need to hold people accountable for their
actions.  And if we are serious about changing Congress, then these
amendments will hopefully be just the start of cleaning up the murky area of
influence between special interests and politicians.


Reacting to the State of the Union 

President Bush gave his annual State of the Union address
<http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=PressRoom/VittersView&ID=18874692-154e-485
e-877e-73c7bbf2b5ad>  this month.  I thought the president gave a strong
speech in many ways.  He was bold and ambitious in addressing key domestic
challenges like health care and energy.  He put our foreign policy
challenges in the right context - the global war against Islamic extremists
- and reminded us why we cannot fail.  I look forward to working with my
colleagues in the U.S. Senate to make progress on these key initiatives.  




Allowing Prayer at School Board Meetings 

I introduced a resolution
<http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=PressRoom/PressItem&ID=f0d3d649-6314-443a-
971b-14d3b4474b11>  recently supporting the right to open school board
meetings with a prayer.  Last year courts banned prayers during the opening
of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board meetings as unconstitutional.  

A small but active group of radical judges are trying to chip away at our
right to free religious expression, but my resolution reaffirms that
voluntary prayer by an elected body should be protected under law. The U.S.
Senate opens every day with a prayer, as does the U.S. House of
Representatives and state legislatures across the country, so school boards
should not be treated any differently.