[StBernard] eupdate 1 19 10

[Westley Annis]

e-update 
1.19.10

 

After a brief but restful  Christmas break with family and friends, we head
into a busy 2010, which looks  to be another pivotal year for our country. 

National security has once  again come to the forefront following the
attempted terrorist attack aboard a  flight to Detroit on Christmas Day, and
I recently joined 18 of my Senate  colleagues in protesting the Obama
administration's decision to try the  suspected terrorist as a common
criminal in U.S. court.

The health care debate is  also continuing on Capitol Hill.  On Christmas
Eve, I voted against  President Obama's government-run health care bill, and
I later supported a  request by C-SPAN to televise final negotiations on the
package and give the  American people the transparency they deserve.

Below you can read about  these and other issues I'm working on, such as
fighting against continuing  bailout mania, and you can watch video from
some recent interviews with Fox  News, in which I discussed health care and
homeland security issues.

 

 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/.

 
PROTECTING THE UNITED STATES FROM TERRORISM
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=a9aeaded-b5f7-8c3f-0327-de8ee0e2879b&Region_id=&Issue_id=

> 


On Christmas Day, we  received a sobering reminder that al-Qaeda and other
terrorist groups remain a  grave threat to our safety.  A Nigerian man
attempted to detonate a bomb  aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, but
he was thwarted by a quick  response from passengers and crew.  Rather than
trying the suspect as an  enemy combatant, the Obama administration has
decided to afford him the full  rights of an American citizen by bringing
him to trial in a civilian court.   I joined 18 of my colleagues in sending
a letter to President Obama to protest  this decision.  You can read the
letter here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=0fe66fd2-93b4-5081-09a3-07218aed8273>  and watch my Fox
News interview on the subject here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Multimedia.Video&Video
_id=1e2b3c64-a780-529a-3d66-b515cc794c6b&PageNum=1> .

CONTINUING THE FIGHT AGAINST GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=a5c7bfc8-911e-9383-e487-9677914c8615&Region_id=&Issue_id=

> 


Louisianians have made it  clear that they strongly oppose President Obama's
sweeping health care  overhaul, and I have continued the fight against this
massive government  takeover of our health care.  Even though the Senate
passed a bill on  Christmas Eve, we are far from the end of this process.  I
joined with  several colleagues and took a key step to oppose the bill by
announcing plans  to object to the appointment of legislative conferees.
You can read my  statement detailing this process here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=fad25a06-96de-7965-5b73-62781a8bd6be&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  on my website.  I also appeared on Fox News to discuss the ways in which

the government-run health care proposals will harm Louisiana, and you can
watch  that video here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Multimedia.Video&Video
_id=0f66a9ac-fe94-09f6-0038-1964859a2cd2&PageNum=1> .

PUSHING FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Articles&Con
tentRecord_id=aa3358f4-bc07-2119-528a-603e6f8b4470&Region_id=&Issue_id=> 

President Obama repeatedly  pledged during the 2008 campaign to conduct
negotiations on the health care  bill in an open and transparent way.
Unfortunately, those discussions  have taken place almost entirely behind
closed doors.  C-SPAN called on  the White House to uphold its promise, and
I applauded this move and encouraged  the president and Congressional
leaders to have these discussions in front of  the American public.  You can
read my statement about it here
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=004fbd15-e41e-2ecb-db80-e06d49de57ba&Region_id=&Issue_id=

> .


OPPOSING THE CHRISTMAS EVE TAXPAYER MASSACRE
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Articles&Con
tentRecord_id=aa3358f4-bc07-2119-528a-603e6f8b4470&Region_id=&Issue_id=> 

While most Americans were  enjoying the holidays with family and friends,
the Treasury Department quietly  lifted the $400 billion cap on potential
losses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  and exposed American taxpayers to
trillions of dollars in potential  losses.  A great  article
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704152804574628350980043082.h
tml>  in the Wall Street Journal described this latest attempt by the  Obama
administration to extend bailouts to failing companies as the "Christmas
Eve Taxpayer Massacre."