url,title,date,year,month,party,chamber,state,member_name,bioguide_id,domain,scraper,source,date_source,text,has_text,collected_at,updated_at https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ron-kind-calls-congress-extend-unemployment-benefits,Rep. Ron Kind Calls on Congress to Extend Unemployment Benefits,2013-12-30,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) is calling on Congress to immediately return to Washington to vote on an extension of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, which expired for 1.3 million job-seeking Americans on December 28th. Congress needs to reconvene immediately and extend the benefits that so many job-seeking Americans and their families rely on, said Rep. Kind. Allowing UI benefits to lapse doesn't just hurt long-term unemployed workers; it directly harms entire communities, too. When families can't afford to buy groceries and other necessities at our Main Street businesses, our local economies feel the impact. In Wisconsin, approximately 23,700 people lost their benefits when the federal UI program expired last weekend. It's estimated that almost 100,000 people across the state will be affected by the loss of benefits over the course of the next year. The average job hunter in America needs 8 months to find employment, and nationwide there are three unemployed workers available for each job opening. Even though we are seeing positive changes in the economy, the job market has not recovered sufficiently to absorb all the job seekers who are trying to join the workforce, concluded Rep. Kind. And we know that if UI benefits aren't extended, almost 250,000 jobs could be lost due to reduced spending in our local economies. Job seekers are getting hit from all sides, and it's time for Congress to step up and fix this.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=966,Gwen Moore Pushes for Unemployment Insurance Extension,2013-12-28,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Jamil Smith, @JamilSmith   Even after facing backlash for effectively killing an act historically seen as a bi-partisan non-issue, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is short on answers explaining precisely why he and a number of his fellow Republicans opposed the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization.   “Majority Leader Cantor has worked hard seeking to move the bill forward so we can protect all victims and prosecute offenders,” Cantor’s office told Melissa Harris-Perry Thursday in a written statement. “The majority leader has been working with our members and directly with Vice President Biden to seek common ground across party lines and put an end to violence against women.”   But the House version Cantor supports, by definition, does not protect “all victims.” That description would apply more accurately to the more inclusive version, which added provisions granting legal protections to American Indians, undocumented immigrants, and lesbian and trans women, and passed with a supermajority in the Senate. But per a new report today from Talking Points Memo‘s Sahil Kapur, what happened when it got to the House was vintage GOP obstructionism:   Republican leaders deployed their female members to make the case for it, notably Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), a leadership member, and Rep. Sandy Adams (FL), herself a victim of domestic violence. Over the objections of advocates for abused victims, but with the support of a so-called men’s rights group, House GOP leaders passed their version on a partisan vote, despite a White House veto threat. And that’s when the legislation stalled, never to recover.   A Republican source who complained of House Democratic tactics to TPM pointed to a Dec. 7 letter from the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women applauding Cantor’s “good faith” negotiations with Democrats like Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont concerning the new VAWA provisions. Dec. 7 was a while ago; what are they saying now? In a statement posted on their site Thursday expressing their “anger” over the failure to pass a new VAWA, it appears the national task force has run out of patience. “The U.S. House of Representatives continued to voice strong opposition to offering basic protections to certain vulnerable populations…” the task force wrote. “There is no time to waste in addressing the needs of victims.  We call on the 113th Congress to act immediately on VAWA this month and pass a bill that safely and effectively meets the needs of all victims.”   One member of that new Congress, Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, has been one of the more vocal advocates for passage of the Senate version of VAWA. She was the author of a December letter signed by ten House Republicans urging that passage, and delivered to Cantor–among others. On Thursday, her office released this statement to Melissa Harris-Perry, seeking to show that the VAWA isn’t “dead,” in the purest sense:   However, reports that VAWA is “dead” are untrue; VAWA’s authorization expired over a year ago, but its programs and services continue to operate under language last updated in 2005. Still, VAWA’s current form is in serious need of the updates and enhancements suggested by the domestic violence and sexual assault community.   We must continue to fight for funds for VAWA through the appropriations process, and we absolutely must make sure that the sequester doesn’t hit at the end of February. The sequester’s cuts to VAWA programs would be incredibly harmful, particularly at the state and local level.   Our goal for the next few weeks and months is to speak out on behalf of VAWA and ensure it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of the debt ceiling and ongoing budget-related discussions.   We must reauthorize VAWA, and we must do it now.   House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi echoed Moore in her statement, but is passage of a new VAWA likely in this new Congress? Moore, a survivor of sexual assault, is one of a record 80 women now–as of today’s swearings-in–serving in the House of Representatives. A record 20 now serve in the Senate. But as both Tara Culp-Ressler in The Atlantic and The Cycle co-host Krystal Ball noted today, the problem may lie in the fact that those numbers aren’t nearly high enough. After listing the new Senate protections referenced above, Ball wrote, “I don’t know how you could object to any of those things. The only explanation is a lack of personal connection to the problem.”   To view this article online, please click here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2138,Gwen Moore Pushes for Unemployment Insurance Extension,2013-12-28,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"After the New Year, I urge my colleagues to act in the best interests of our constituents and make this extension a priority. share: f t Contact: Staci Cox (202) 225- 4572 Milwaukee, WI Today, approximately 1.3 million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance. Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) released this statement: This holiday season, Congressional Republicans have given Americans a gift' of uncertainty they did not ask for and did not deserve. Today approximately 23,700 Wisconsinites will lose their unemployment insurance benefits. In the first six months of 2014, these benefits will expire for approximately 41,800 more Wisconsinites. ""Each day, struggling families across our nation wonder how they will feed their families and warm their homes. Unemployment insurance helps to reduce this anxiety and increase the well-being of many. In our slowly recovering economy, the decision to extend these benefits to assist our families, friends and neighbors should not be difficult. ""After the New Year, I urge my colleagues to act in the best interests of our constituents and make this extension a priority. As lawmakers, we should give a hand to struggling American families, not remove their resources."" To watch Rep. Moore support unemployment insurance on MSNBC, please click here. ### For Moore News Updates",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/hunger-homelessness-summit-focuses-on-awareness,Hunger & Homelessness Summit Focuses on Awareness,2013-12-23,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Wausau, WI – More than 100 registered participants joined U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07) for his first Hunger & Homelessness Summit held in Wausau this past Wednesday. The daylong summit brought together volunteers and representatives from dozens of organizations from across the 7th Congressional District. The event included several panel discussions, a keynote address from Steve Berg from the National Alliance to End Homelessness and concluded with a “bright spots” session that challenged participants to implement a takeaway from the event. In his opening remarks to the attendees, Rep. Duffy offered: “My team and I wanted to do what we could to try to make a difference with those who have fallen on hard times and make sure we can collaborate together on community resources. Also collaborate on the Federal and state side to make sure resources don’t just flow to the urban parts of the country but can actually come to the parts of the country that have real problems but don’t have huge staffs to cut through the red-tape.” Offering his thoughts on the summit, Rep. Duffy said, “We found that by reaching out to each other and building a coalition within our community we can be more effective in our efforts to serve the neediest in our area.” Rep. Duffy’s office plans to post the entire summit on YouTube. Click here to watch and check back for updates from the daylong event. ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140106172912/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov:80/view/a-holiday-message-from-senator-tammy-baldwin,A holiday message from Senator Tammy Baldwin,2013-12-23,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,It's been an exciting year and I look forward to continue working with you next year and in the years to come to build a stronger future for Wisconsin and America. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone and a happy new year!,1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221060306/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/wishes-for-a-wonderful-holiday-season-and-a-happy-new-year,Wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!,2013-12-23,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Monday, December 23, 2013 Wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! Hello everyone! As your United States’ Senator, I want to thank you for your support over the course of my first year working for you in the United States Senate. Every day it is my honor and privilege to work for Wisconsin and give a voice to our shared values. I want to take the time to let you know how much I appreciate all you do to move our state and country forward. As I have traveled across our great state I have seen firsthand our strong “Made in Wisconsin” work ethic and innovative, entrepreneurial spirit in action. Hard working families and businesses getting up every day and through shear grit and determination are moving our economy forward. But I also know, as you do, that many of our neighbors are working as hard as ever, and they deserve to get ahead, but many are barely getting by and that is just not right. That is why it so important that Washington hears your voice.  Wisconsin needs Washington working for you and that is why I remain committed to working across party lines and putting progress for our state ahead of partisan politics. Since taking office, I have made it my priority to close the gap between the economic security Wisconsinites work so hard to achieve, and the economic uncertainty that they are asked to settle for. Because if we can’t close that gap, we might someday talk about the middle class as something we used to have, not something each generation can aspire to. The holiday season gives us a time to reflect on the things that are important, to celebrate the many joys and blessings of the season, and to renew our commitment to something bigger than ourselves. For me, it’s working in the Senate for you and the great State of Wisconsin. It’s been an exciting year and I look forward to continue working with you next year and in the years to come to build a stronger future for Wisconsin and America. Have a wonderful holiday season everyone and a happy new year!",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/media-center/enewsletters/comfort-joy,Comfort & Joy,2013-12-22,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Dear friends, During this season of joy, I find myself more aware than maybe ever before of the people in our community who are in need of great comfort this Christmas. Whether it is a mother who is struggling to pay her utility bill, or a father who is dealing with the loss of his family’s health insurance plan, this week I have been fortunate to work with many people from our community on ways we can help the neediest among us and hopefully make life a little more comfortable for them. Building Effective Awareness: A year ago I sat down with many of the pastors in Wausau and asked them, “What are the needs in our community?”  I was taken back when all of them commented on the issues of hunger and homelessness in our community. I think I’m like a lot of people in our community who don’t know the issues that a lot of people who are having a tough time are facing. I wanted to do what I could with my team to make sure we can make a difference with those who have fallen on hard times and make sure we can collaborate together on community resources. Also collaborate on the Federal and state side to make sure resources don’t just flow to the urban parts of the country but can actually come to the parts of the country that have real problems but don’t have huge staffs to cut through the red-tape. This week, more than 100 people came together for our first Hunger & Homelessness Summit. It was an honest conversation and ultimately a productive one as well.  We found that by reaching out to each other and building a coalition within our community we can be more effective in our efforts to serve the neediest in our area. We are in the process of uploading the entire summit on YouTube. Click on the image below to watch it and keep checking back for more from the day long event. They need an Obamcare exemption too: I joined with a bipartisan group of Wisconsin Congressmen to ask U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to extend the federal Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) through March 31, 2014. Gov. Walker signed legislation on Friday to extend current coverage for Wisconsin citizens under several medical assistance programs, including HIRSP, through March 31, 2014 citing the failed rollout of Obamacare. The Secretary should offer all Americans with pre-existing and, in some cases, life threatening conditions the same courtesy.  Not offering this extension nationwide could leave some of our poorest and most medically vulnerable Americans without coverage. These individuals should not lose their healthcare coverage due to technical difficulties. This Administration is delaying multiple pieces of its signature legislation on an almost daily basis because it is politically convenient for them. It is our hope that the Secretary will also offer an extension to the numerous Americans who have had their lives inconvenienced by this ill-conceived law. To read the full letter to Sec. Sebelius, click here. Waiting in joyful hope: Our family is anxiously awaiting the birth of our Lord this week and if you saw Rachel and my appearance on “Morning Joe” you may have heard that our family is also very much looking forward to the arrival of the newest addition to our Duffy clan. Click on the image to watch the full announcement and the other topics we discussed.   This is a very exciting time of year in our house. As we celebrate Jesus’ birth this week, we will also cherish this time together as a family. Rachel, the kids, and I are always grateful for the kindness so many of you have shown us. We hope that you are able to spend this time surrounded by those you love as well. We wish you and yours a safe, merry and very blessed Christmas season.   Merry Christmas,  Sean",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=365156,Why We Must Reform Military Compensation,2013-12-22,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"The Bipartisan Budget Act that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and I drafted will soon become law. We think it's a small step toward fiscal discipline in Washington. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will reduce the deficit over the next ten years by over $20 billion. And unlike current law, it will provide much-needed relief to our already strained defense budget. One part of the bill has become particularly controversial: the reduction in cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for working-age military retirees. The federal government has no greater obligation than to keep the American people safe and we must take care of the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line. For that reason, Congress is understandably hesitant to make changes to military compensation. But even hesitance has a cost. The need for reform is undeniable. Since 2001, excluding the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the cost per service member in the active-duty force has risen by 41% in inflation-adjusted dollars. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a combat vet himself, has said ""that we can no longer put off military compensation reform. DOD's leadership, Chairman Dempsey, the service chiefs, the service secretaries, and myself, we all know that we need to slow cost growth in military compensation. Otherwise, we'll have to make disproportionate cuts to military readiness and modernization."" Here's what the new law will do. We make no changes for those currently at or above age 62. This reform affects only younger military retirees. Right now, any person who has served 20 years can retire —regardless of age. That means a serviceman who enlists at 18 becomes eligible for retirement at 38. The late 30s and early 40s are prime working years, and most of these younger retirees go on to second careers. All this reform does is make a small adjustment for those younger retirees. If they retire before age 62, the annual increase in their retired pay will be 1% less than the inflation rate. In other words, their benefits will grow every year — just at a slower rate. And when the retiree hits 62, DOD will recalculate the retired pay so that it will be where it would have been if he or she had received the full inflation adjustment every year since he or she retired. Here's an example: If a serviceman enlisted at 18 and retired at 38, under this policy his lifetime benefit would be about $1.7 million instead of $1.8 million. For a service member who retired at the average military retirement age of 44, the difference would be smaller, about $30,000 over his or her lifetime. This is a far more modest reform than other bipartisan proposals, some of which would have fully eliminated the adjustments for inflation for working-age retirees. And to be clear, the money we save from this reform will go right back to the military. Veterans aren't Washington's piggy bank. They deserve fair compensation. And we owe them a benefit structure they can count on. That said, when Congress was considering the bill, many raised concerns that these reforms would affect the retired pay of service members who are medically retired and those receiving survivor's benefits. So Senator Murray and I have agreed to amend the law to exclude them well before the reform takes effect in December 2015. But I stand behind the need for reform. In 2012, Congress established the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission to examine the entire military-compensation system from top to bottom. The commission's recommendations are due in May, and the leaders of the armed-services committees in Congress have agreed to consider their recommendations and look for other ways to reform the system. That's why this reform does not take effect until the end of 2015 — it gives Congress ample time to consider alternatives. For me, there's simply no choice between responsible reforms of military compensation and making what our military leadership has called ""disproportionate cuts to military readiness and modernization."" Every time we kick the can down the road, we put our troops' combat readiness at risk. This agreement put forward one reform option, and I invite others to do the same. Our troops have been willing to sacrifice everything for this country. We owe it to them to give them the best equipment on the battlefield and a secure retirement when they come home. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012 and is chairman of the House Budget Committee. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/22/veterans-retirement-paul-ryan-budget-deal-column/4164713/",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/duffy-5-wisconsin-congressmen-to-sebelius-extend-hirsp-federal-plan,"Duffy & 5 Wisconsin Congressmen to Sebelius, ""Extend HIRSP Federal Plan""",2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"""Not offering this extension nationwide could leave some of our poorest and most medically vulnerable Americans without coverage.” Washington D.C. - U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy, with a bipartisan group of Wisconsin Congressmen, asked United States Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to extend the federal Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP) through March 31, 2014. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed legislation on Friday to extend current coverage for Wisconsin citizens under several medical assistance programs, including HIRSP, through March 31, 2014 citing the failed rollout of Obamacare. The group of Federal lawmakers pleaded with the Secretary to offer all Americans with pre-existing and, in some cases, life threatening conditions to be afforded the same courtesy. Rep. Duffy offered the following comments: ""Not offering this extension nationwide could leave some of our poorest and most medically vulnerable Americans without coverage. These individuals should not lose their healthcare coverage due to technical difficulties. This Administration is delaying multiple pieces of its signature legislation on an almost daily basis because it is politically convenient for them. It is our hope that the Secretary will also offer an extension to the numerous Americans who have had their lives inconvenienced by this ill-conceived law.""  Rep. Duffy was joined on the letter by Representatives Paul Ryan (WI-01), Ron Kind (WI-03),  Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05), Tom Petri (WI-06) and Reid Ribble (WI-08) Full text of letter to Sec. Kathleen Sebelius:",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=965,"Gwen Moore Opposes So-Called ""School Mascot"" Bill",2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Erika Eichelberger | January 2, 2013   Interstate 5 runs down the middle of California’s San Joaquin Valley for hundreds of miles. On either side are dusty rows of almond, peach and orange trees. In the summer, the ground is tan and dry. Telephone poles measure out the time for passing cars, their sagging power lines scalloping out to a vanishing point on the horizon. Somewhere almost halfway from San Francisco to Los Angeles is a town called Huron.    This is where Carla (not her real name) used to work, shaking almonds from the trees at harvest time for $8 an hour. This is also where she was raped by her foreman. But as a Mexican immigrant with no papers, she was afraid to tell anyone.    It’s a common tale. Some 630,000 of the 3 million migrant farm laborers in the United States are women, and at least 60 percent are undocumented. Most are subject to sexual abuse but fear deportation if they speak up. The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which expired almost a year and a half ago, would have helped change that. But after being held hostage by House Republicans who wanted fewer protections for women, it died in the 112th Congress. The next class of legislators will have to start from scratch on a new bill. Meanwhile, women are waiting.   A 2010 survey by Irma Morales Waugh of the University of California, Santa Cruz, reported that 80 percent of female farmworkers interviewed had been subject to sexual assault or harassment. A recent Human Rights Watch report found that sexual abuse of female farmworkers is so common that many see it as “an unavoidable condition of agricultural work.” And a mid-1990s study by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission concluded that among California crop workers, “hundreds, if not thousands, of women had to have sex with supervisors to get or keep jobs and/or put up with a constant barrage of grabbing and touching and propositions for sex.” The female laborers, or campesinas, called one company’s crops the “field of panties,” since so many women had been raped there by their overseers.    The women are stuck, because even though the same labor laws that forbid workplace harassment for legal residents also technically cover undocumented workers, enforcement is spotty and laborers seldom know their rights. Female crop workers make an average of $11,250 a year. “They don’t want to lose their job,” said Amparo Yebra, a senior caseworker at Westside Family Preservation Services Network, a community group in Huron that provides social services to migrant laborers.    The Senate passed a version of VAWA in April that would have expanded escape routes for these women. The bill would have increased the number of special U-visas, which give temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants who are victims of sexual assault or domestic violence, and who are willing to cooperate with an investigation.   * * *   When the foreman drove Carla home for the first time, it was raining. She piled into his truck with other workers. He stopped at a gas station to drop everyone else off, but told Carla he’d give her a lift all the way back to her place. Instead, he took her out into a field and raped her.    There’s so much space out there in the flat fields, sounds don’t travel much. Sometimes there’s a background noise: an unseen bird chirping, or power lines buzzing, or a giant eighteen-wheeler groaning by, mud flaps beating.    Over the next couple of months, he raped her five or six more times, and she became pregnant. She was 22. When she started to show, the women working alongside her asked who the father was, and told her to go to the Westside community group. Carla went because they gave out free food. At Westside, her caseworker Yebra, who knew all about U-visas, called the police and helped Carla through the ensuing investigation, which concluded with the arrest and deportation of her assailant back to Mexico. About eight months later, in 2010, Carla got a temporary work permit.    * * *   In 2012, the number of U-visas issued by the Department of Homeland Security hit its annual 10,000 limit a month before the end of the fiscal year—for the third year in a row. The Senate version of VAWA would have made up to 5,000 rollover visas from previous years available annually to undocumented women. The bill included additional safeguards for immigrants, and new provisions for Native American women and LGBT victims of sexual abuse as well.   But in the version of the bill that passed the House in May, Republicans stripped out the new protections for these three vulnerable groups, slamming them as politically driven. They also scaled back the law’s existing protections for women—for example, removing the chance for immigrants with U-visas to become eligible for permanent residency after their temporary visas expire. The House bill would also have required a stricter standard of proof for asylum, and would have broken with current confidentiality laws to allow the government to interview the abuser about the applicant.   Over the nearly two decades of its existence, VAWA has been renewed perfunctorily every five years, each time adding new protections to keep it up-to-date with changes in the population and the recommendations of law enforcement and advocates. “[The reauthorization] was supposed to be a yawner,” said Wisconsin Democratic Representative Gwen Moore, a fierce proponent of the Senate version of the bill. Meghan Rhoad, a women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, says the dispute over the bill this year between the two chambers “creates a really disturbing precedent, interjecting uncertainty for programs that provide really essential services for victims of sexual violence.”   At the eleventh hour, at the very end of the lame-duck Congress, the House and Senate were still squabbling over how to draw up a compromise bill. House Republicans had relented on the immigrant and LGBT sections, but majority leader Eric Cantor dug in his heels over the Native American provision, which would have expanded tribal courts’ jurisdiction over domestic violence offenses committed on reservations against Native women by non-Native men.     Action on the reauthorization awaits the new Congress. “It’s a shame to start all over again,” Moore said.   Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Democratic co-sponsor of the Senate bill, said Congress’s failure to act simply means more people suffering. “I still have nightmares from the domestic violence crime scenes I saw as a prosecutor in Vermont,” he said in a statement in December. “The thought that our inaction could lead to more such scenes is tragic.”   * * *   Carla has a baby now. She says she wants to go to school and learn English. And “she knows her rights,” Yebra says. “Women who are sexually abused are told they are good for nothing…. But they are an important person. The women are very important.”   Greg Kaufman recently (Sept. 12) presented a video [1] explaining why Native American women, in particular, need the Violence Against Women Act.    To view this article online, please click here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2112,"Gwen Moore Opposes So-Called ""School Mascot"" Bill",2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"What kind of message are we sending to our Native American neighbors, our students and school districts across the nation? I am extremely disappointed that Governor Walker has, once again, chosen to stand on the wrong side of history. share: f t Contact: Staci Cox (202) 225- 4572 Milwaukee, WI Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) spoke out after learning that Governor Walker has signed a bill making it easier for public schools to keep Native American nicknames, logos, mascots and team names. Our governor continues to make headlines for his decisions negatively impacting Wisconsinites, said Rep. Moore. This time, he is not singling out students, seniors, people with disabilities, the middle class or the poor. Rather he is turning his back on our Native American communities. This law is offensive at its core. In 2010, Wisconsin enacted a law that allowed the Department of Public Instruction to conduct a hearing on the offensive nature of a Native American public school nickname, logo, mascot or team name if one complaint was received. The so-called School Mascot bill not only essentially repeals this law, it provides more control to the Walker administration by giving hearing supervision to the Department of Administration. In addition, the new law has onerous requirements that will cause complainants to gather signatures from 10 percent of the school district population in order to file a complaint. What kind of message are we sending to our Native American neighbors, our students and school districts across the nation? I am extremely disappointed that Governor Walker has, once again, chosen to stand on the wrong side of history. According to news reports, all 11 tribal nations in Wisconsin oppose the law.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-kind-and-sensenbrenner-lead-successful-effort-include-cushing,Reps. Kind and Sensenbrenner Lead Successful Effort to Include Cushing Amendment in NDAA,2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) today celebrated the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included a provision to posthumously award Lt. Alonzo Cushing with the Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Cushing, a Wisconsin-born Civil War hero, played a key role in securing a victory for the Union at Gettysburg. It's never too late to do the right thing, especially when it comes to honoring our war heroes, said Rep. Kind. I am heartened to be joined by my colleagues in Congress in sending this bill to the President so we as a nation can finally honor Lt. Cushing with his well-deserved Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Cushing was a courageous leader who gave his life to protect our country and deserves to be recognized for his bravery, Rep. Sensenbrenner said. I am extremely pleased that the Cushing amendment was passed by the House and Senate and hopeful President Obama awards Lieutenant Cushing with the Medal of Honor for his heroic service during the Civil War."" A native of Delafield, WI, Lt. Cushing is best remembered for his actions on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg when he helped turn the tide during Pickett's Charge. On July 3, 1863, the third day of battle, Cushing and the 110 men under his command received the full force of Confederate artillery and Pickett's Charge of 13,000 infantry. Over the course of just a few hours, all of his officers had been killed and Cushing himself was wounded. But he continued to fight, and sustained two more wounds before dying on the field of battle. Recommendations for the Medal of Honor must be formally made within two years of the heroic action and awarded within three years. The legislation passed by Congress makes it possible to waive this requirement. The medal can be awarded after the bill is signed by the President and the waiver is approved by the Department of Defense. Reps. Kind and Sensenbrenner are sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel requesting his prompt attention to Lt. Cushing's record and look forward to his recommendation that Lt. Cushing be recognized with the Medal of Honor. Reps. Kind and Sensenbrenner also thanked Wisconsin Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin for leading the effort in the Senate to award Lt. Cushing. -30-",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034451/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/enroll-by-december-23rd-for-health-care-coverage-starting-as-soon-as-january-1-2014,"Enroll by December 23rd for health care coverage starting as soon as January 1, 2014",2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Friday, December 20, 2013 Enroll by December 23rd for health care coverage starting as soon as January 1, 2014 The Affordable Care Act gives millions of uninsured Americans access to health insurance, while also helping Americans who already have insurance feel more secure in their coverage, ensuring it'll be there when they need it.  Every day more Americans are signing up for plans through HealthCare.gov, and more people with insurance are benefiting from the law.   If you're currently one of those who is uninsured, you can get health coverage that starts on January 1, 2014 by signing up by Monday - December 23, 2013. Open enrollment to sign up for health care coverage will continue through March 31st. Get Covered Quick Links: Don't delay – get covered today! Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law and health care reforms have already made an empowering impact on the lives of many Wisconsinites. Today, insurance companies can no longer discriminate against children based on pre-existing medical conditions. Young adults can now stay on their parents' insurance plans up to age 26. And seniors on Medicare have received relief in their prescription drug costs and free preventive care. Visit baldwin.senate.gov/health-care-information for more information.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221060331/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/tammys-support-for-the-national-defense-authorization-act,Tammy’s support for the National Defense Authorization Act,2013-12-20,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Friday, December 20, 2013 Tammy’s support for the National Defense Authorization Act Yesterday, the Senate voted to move the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) forward. This bill governs the U.S. Department of Defense for the upcoming year. The NDAA includes a provision that maintains support for the ‘Made in Wisconsin’ Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program important to our state’s economy and nation’s defense.   Earlier this week, the newest ship of this ‘Made in Wisconsin’ fleet launched into the Menominee River, the USS Milwaukee. The LCS program, which includes the USS Milwaukee, has brought over $137 million to the Wisconsin economy already, while supporting well over 2,000 jobs at more than 240 separate businesses in the state. Senator Baldwin fought for provisions included in this year’s bill. Her provisions include: Strengthening health, education and employment benefits for veterans; combating sexual assault in the military; Authorizing the Medal of Honor for Wisconsinite First Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing for acts of valor during the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg; Authorizing the award of the Purple Heart to victims of the Fort Hood terrorist attack, six of whom were from Wisconsin; Ensuring that the Wisconsin National Guard can retain its important role in supporting American military operations worldwide;and Maintaining the possibility for 55,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) serving as replacements for the Marine Corps’ and Army’s Humvees will be built in Oshkosh. The NDAA is a critical bill that gives our troops the resources and training they need and provides security for our country.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20131224084330/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov:80/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364892,House Judiciary Committee Members Call for DOJ Investigation of National Intelligence Director Clapper for Lying to Congress,2013-12-19,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Today, Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-5), Darrell Issa (CA-49), Trent Franks (AZ-08), Blake Farenthold (TX-27), Trey Gowdy (SC-04), Raul Labrador (ID-01) and Ted Poe (TX-02) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. urging an investigation of the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, for lying to Congress while testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in March of 2013.  “Director Clapper’s willful lie under oath fuels the unhealthy cynicism and distrust that citizens feel toward their government and undermines Congress’s ability to perform its Constitutional function,” the Members write in their letter to Holder. “There are differences of opinion about the propriety of the NSA’s data collection programs.  There can be no disagreement, however, on the basic premise that congressional witnesses must answer truthfully.” “Congressional oversight depends on truthful testimony—witnesses cannot be allowed to lie to Congress.  Accordingly, we request you investigate Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s ‘erroneous’ statements to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence earlier this year.” At a March 12, 2013 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, Director Clapper was asked if, “the NSA collected any type of data at all on millions of hundreds of millions of Americans” to which he responded with, “No, Sir.”  Four months later, in June 2013, after the Snowden leaks publicly exposed Clapper’s testimony as false, Clapper finally retracted his remarks and wrote, “My response was clearly erroneous, for which I apologize.”",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221032628/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-baldwin-supports-bipartisan-unemployment-extension-legislation,Senator Baldwin Supports Bipartisan Unemployment Extension Legislation,2013-12-19,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Senator Baldwin Supports Bipartisan Unemployment Extension Legislation 99,000 Wisconsinites projected to be affected in 2014 if Emergency Unemployment Compensation not extended Thursday, December 19, 2013 Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin announced today that she is supporting bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Dean Heller (R-NV) that would prevent the expiration of unemployment insurance for 1.3 million Americans, including 99,000 Wisconsinites who are out of work and looking for a job.   “Our nation’s economy is moving forward but Wisconsin’s economy continues to lag behind other states and far too many hard working people are still looking for a job. Wisconsin’s economy can’t afford the expiration of unemployment insurance because it will cost our economy jobs and slow growth,” Baldwin said, “That is why it is critical that Congress takes action to continue federal support for unemployment insurance and provide a lifeline for Wisconsin families as they search for work in our recovering economy.”   The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act would reinstate and continue federal support for unemployment insurance (UI), effective January 1, 2014, for an additional three months, preventing the expiration of benefits for 1.3 million Americans. The legislation would effectively extend current UI policy through March 31, 2014 including the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, Extended Benefits Provisions, and Funding for Reemployment Services and Reemployment and Eligibility Assessments. The bill would allow all states to continue federal unemployment insurance without a lapse from January 1, 2014. The bill would also allow any state whose agreement was previously terminated in 2013 to enter into a new agreement with the Department of Labor for Emergency Unemployment Compensation.   In 2014, if Emergency Unemployment Compensation is not extended, 99,000 Wisconsinites are projected to be affected. According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, since Congress has failed to take action before the end of the year, nearly 24,000 jobless workers in Wisconsin will abruptly lose all of their unemployment income at the end of December. Some 41,800 additional workers will exhaust their state-funded 26 weeks of unemployment benefits in the first half of 2014 and will be denied access to federal unemployment benefits.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042429/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-baldwin-advocates-for-wisconsin-cranberry-growers,Senator Baldwin Advocates for Wisconsin Cranberry Growers,2013-12-19,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Senator Baldwin Advocates for Wisconsin Cranberry Growers Co-Chair of Congressional Cranberry Caucus Calls on USDA to Support Wisconsin Industry Thursday, December 19, 2013 Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a strong supporter of Wisconsin’s agriculture economy and co-chair of the Congressional Cranberry Caucus, today led a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, advocating for Wisconsin cranberry growers, who in 2013 produced over half of the nation’s crop and were the top cranberry producers in the country for the 19th consecutive year.   “Wisconsin produces more cranberries than any other state. In a state that depends on agriculture to support hundreds of thousands of jobs and communities small and large, it’s essential that we provide our growers with the tools and resources they need to continue to succeed,” said Baldwin.  “And that means supporting them when the markets are tough. I will continue to advocate for efforts that strengthen Wisconsin’s agriculture industry and grow our rural economies.”   The letter asks USDA to consider a purchase of cranberries to mitigate the impact on growers at no cost to the taxpayer. The program is funded through customs receipts and the products purchased are provided to food pantries, which distribute the products to families in need. In addition, the cranberry industry has also worked with agency staff at the Food and Nutrition Service to expand the availability of cranberry products in school food programs through the addition of sweetened, dried cranberries to the Foods Available List.   “The cranberry industry is facing an oversupply of berries, which has severely impacted the commodity price. Wisconsin growers produce the majority of the world’s cranberry crop, so this is a top concern in our state,” said Tom Lochner, executive director of Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association. “We are grateful to Senator Baldwin and the rest of the cranberry caucus for their efforts to support the cranberry industry in Wisconsin and nationwide.”   The WSCGA today applauded Senator Baldwin for her leadership to serve as co-chair of the Congressional Cranberry Caucus. The Congressional Cranberry Caucus was created in 2012 as a platform to educate members of Congress, their staffs and federal agencies about cranberry production across the U.S. The caucus aims to address conservation, environmental and nutritional benefits and concerns, along with issues surrounding the international trade of cranberries. Currently, the caucus is focused on securing USDA purchases of cranberry products to help offset an oversupply of the fruit. The caucus has also supported industry efforts to include more cranberry products in school lunch programs.   According to a University of Wisconsin report, Wisconsin’s cranberry industry has an annual economic impact on the state of $300 million and supports 3,400 jobs from its 21,000 acres of cranberries grown in 20 counties in central and northern Wisconsin.   The letter can be found here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221193111/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364834,Sensenbrenner and Kind Lead Successful Effort to Include Cushing Amendment in NDAA,2013-12-19,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) today celebrated the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included a provision to posthumously award Lt. Alonzo Cushing with the Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Cushing, a Wisconsin-born Civil War hero, played a key role in securing a victory for the Union at Gettysburg.“Lieutenant Cushing was a courageous leader who gave his life to protect our country and deserves to be recognized for his bravery,” Rep. Sensenbrenner said. “I am extremely pleased that the Cushing amendment was passed by the House and Senate and hopeful President Obama awards Lieutenant Cushing with the Medal of Honor for his heroic service during the Civil War."" “It’s never too late to do the right thing, especially when it comes to honoring our war heroes,” said Rep. Kind. “I am heartened to be joined by my colleagues in Congress in sending this bill to the President so we as a nation can finally honor Lt. Cushing with his well-deserved Medal of Honor.” A native of Delafield, WI, Lt. Cushing is best remembered for his actions on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg when he helped turn the tide during Pickett’s Charge. On July 3, 1863, the third day of battle, Cushing and the 110 men under his command received the full force of Confederate artillery and Pickett’s Charge of 13,000 infantry. Over the course of just a few hours, all of his officers had been killed and Cushing himself was wounded. But he continued to fight, and sustained two more wounds before dying on the field of battle. Recommendations for the Medal of Honor must be formally made within two years of the heroic action and awarded within three years. The legislation passed by Congress makes it possible to waive this requirement.  The medal can be awarded after the bill is signed by the President and the waiver is approved by the Department of Defense. Reps. Kind and Sensenbrenner are sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel requesting his prompt attention to Lt. Cushing’s record and look forward to his recommendation that Lt. Cushing be recognized with the Medal of Honor. Reps. Kind and Sensenbrenner also thanked Wisconsin Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin for leading the effort in the Senate to award Lt. Cushing.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221193128/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=365056,Congressional NSA critics: review panel report gives 'momentum' for reform,2013-12-19,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"The chief congressional critics of the US National Security Agency said Thursday that a White House review panel report gave them momentum to end bulk domestic surveillance, but expressed reservations about one of the panel’s central proposals. In an indication of the changing political landscape for the NSA, Representative James Sensenbrenner, the chief House sponsor of a bill preventing the agency from collecting US domestic phone data, said Thursday that “President Obama’s hand-picked panel” highlighted “the need to enact the USA Freedom Act. But Sensenbrenner, in an interview with the Guardian, was wary of its recommendation that phone companies or other private parties should store communications data for the NSA to search. ""The administration has not yet made the case that increased data retention is necessary, but I welcome any proposals that serve our national security interests without undermining constitutional rights” Sensenbrenner said. The report by the review group, released Wednesday afternoon, has been greeted warmly by skeptics of mass surveillance, particularly for its recommendations to add privacy advocates at the secret Fisa Court and for endorsing greater use of data encryption. But as the review group’s recommendations help reshape the debate over bulk surveillance, all sides are girding for a fight over the extent to which any entity ought to hold Americans’ data – a fight likely to determine whether bulk domestic surveillance ends, or continues in a new form. In line with the USA Freedom Act, the review group rejected a need for the government to hold citizens’ data in bulk, and held out as a solution the ability of the government “to obtain specific information relating to specific individuals or specific terrorist threats” when it can demonstrate to the secret surveillance court “that it has reasonable grounds to access such information.” But the review group had less to say about a crucial detail: how long the telecoms ought to hold the NSA’s desired call data. It urged the government and the companies to “agree on a voluntary system” and relegated to a footnote a suggestion that two years would be the maximum appropriate period of time to hold the data. Civil liberties groups who back the USA Freedom Act’s flat prohibition on bulk domestic phone data collection flatly rejected having the phone companies or other “private parties” hold the data for NSA to query. Alexander Abdo of the ACLU said it would “simply repackage the bulk collection under private control.” Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it was “still heinous, even if private company servers are holding the data instead of government data centers.” Kevin Bankston of the Open Technology Institute said it would amount to “bulk collection by proxy.” For its part, the NSA has been publicly hinting for months that as long as the surveillance agency maintains access to a comprehensive database of domestic phone call information going back three to five years, it can live with that database existing outside of the NSA’s Fort Meade campus. ""I would love to give this hornet’s nest to someone else, to say ‘You get stung by this,’” General Keith Alexander, the outgoing director of the NSA, said in October. “But don’t drop it, because that’s our country, and if you do drop it, the chance that a terrorist attack gets through increases.”  On Capitol Hill, where fallout from the review group is unsettled as aides slogged through a lengthy report, pro-reform officials noted that the review group did not endorse the NSA’s call for years. Now that both a federal judge, Richard Leon, and the review group have both doubted the necessity of bulk collection for stopping terrorist attacks, they argued that the NSA will have difficulty arguing that the companies ought to be required to store the data for as long as the agency wants, especially since the phone companies have not shown enthusiasm for the proposal. Reform advocates, who have embraced the review group as a political success, were cautious about embracing the telecom-based proposal as a solution for bulk surveillance. Senator Patrick Leahy, Sensenbrenner’s chief partner in the upper legislative chamber, said that he would hold a hearing in January with the review group to further assess its recommendations. Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the intelligence committee who said the report in general provided “substantial, meaningful reforms,” indicated on Wednesday that he had concerns about having the companies hold the phone data for the NSA. “Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of technical issues associated with telecoms having the information,” Wyden told the Guardian in an interview. “That’s going to take some time to work through.” What the telecoms, NSA and privacy advocates agree on is that requiring the phone companies to hold the data is a complicated process, technologically and otherwise. Currently, the phone companies typically store customer data for 18 months. The NSA wants the information kept for at least three years and ideally five, ostensibly to detect domestic communications pattern to known terrorist groups. Legislation would be necessary to compel the companies to store the data longer – which is both expensive and raises concerns about keeping the data secure. The telecoms “would fight tooth and nail” against such a requirement, said a congressional aide, “unless there’s compensations.” Companies as well keep their data in different file formats, complicating the ability for comprehensive and rapid searches. So far, the telecos have not embraced the proposal. “A practical concern is that when you start saying you have to keep all this data, you open it up for access to divorce cases and down the line, everyone’s going to want a bite at the apple,” said Ross Schulman, a lobbyist with the Computer and Communications Industry Association. At the same time, a powerful opponent of the USA Freedom Act, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, worried on Thursday that the review group might weaken US intelligence efforts. “Though I am still studying the details, I have serious concerns with some of the report’s 46 recommendations,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, former FBI agent and staunch advocate of the NSA’s bulk collection. ""Any intelligence collection reforms must be careful to preserve important national security capabilities. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Congress to enact meaningful reforms in the near future.” Senator Dianne Feinstein, Rogers’ counterpart in the Senate, has yet to respond to the review group’s proposals. Feinstein, a California Democrat, is backing an alternative to the USA Freedom Act that would bolster the NSA’s powers to store communications data. Its prospects are less clear in the Senate now that the White House’s surveillance review panel rejected its major rationale. The USA Freedom Act claims 132 co-sponsors in the House and Senate combined, a quarter of the Congress. Obama has yet to commit to either supporting or opposing it. “The report sent over by the White House reaffirms what many of my colleagues and I have been saying since June – the NSA has gone too far,” Sensenbrenner said. “All three branches of government have now said it is time to stop indiscriminately vacuuming up the data of innocent Americans. The report also agrees that the NSA’s bulk collection has come at a high cost to privacy without improving national security.”",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364818,Senate Passes the Bipartisan Budget Act,2013-12-18,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Budget Act, which the House approved in an overwhelming vote last week. The bill would reduce the deficit—without raising taxes—and cut spending in a smarter way. Upon passage of the legislation, Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin issued the following statement: “I want to thank Chairman Murray and her colleagues in the Senate for passing the Bipartisan Budget Act. She was a tough and honest negotiator in our talks. And this week, she worked very hard to secure final passage. I’m grateful for her leadership in forging this budget agreement. “This vote shows both parties—in both chambers—can find common ground. We can work together. This bill is only a small step. We need to do a lot more. But it’s a small step in the right direction.” Click here to learn more about the Bipartisan Budget Act.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364882,Paul Ryan: 'We owe so much to these men and women who fight for us.',2013-12-18,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"CNBC’s Kudlow Report In an exclusive interview with Larry Kudlow, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Budget Committee chairman, discusses the budget deal, the Fed's decision to taper, and veterans' pensions. Larry Kudlow: House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan is a big winner tonight. The Senate late this afternoon passing the Ryan-Murray compromise budget framework, sending it to the White House. But despite passage, there are still concerns about how the bill will affect veterans, especially disabled veterans, and that has some calling for a fix. This afternoon I had a chance to speak with Chairman Ryan and I asked him if he agreed with these comments from his Senate counterpart Patty Murray. Patty Murray: In a provision included in this deal that mistakenly included disabled retirees and survivors for changes in the pension growth will be addressed in short order following passage of this bill. Paul Ryan: Yes, I do. That will be solved with the technical correction that will pass when Congress comes back into session. We wanted to make sure that we kept military pension retirement better than their civilian counterparts. Civilians who retired before 62 get no cost of living update at all. These military retirees will still get a cost of living update then they get the benefits recalculated when they turn 62, to make sure that they got back what they had lost. In effect, build back the base of their pension. Look Larry, we owe so much to these men and women who fight for us. We wanted to make sure that they always have a better pension system than anybody else in government. We maintain that, and we have very modest reforms to help the Pentagon with their very big budget problems. The Pentagon has some budget problems. We stopped the bleeding, we stopped the cuts, we gave them some mild reforms and we have two years before this actual provision kicks in place to give Congress enough time to adjust it in another way if they want to. Larry Kudlow: Let me just be clear on this. So in other words, you agree that disabled military vets will not be take the 1% call for reduction. You agree with that, and that was an oversight? Paul Ryan: That's correct. Larry Kudlow: And another big event today, I’m sure you're aware of this. The Federal Reserve released its minutes and they’re having a small taper. They are taking $10 billion off an $85 billion-a-month bond purchase and I wanted to get your sense of that. The stock market is rallying big time. What do you think? Paul Ryan: Well, I thought they should have started tapering a lot time ago. You and I have similar views on sound money. I was not a fan of these later rounds of quantitative easing. I thought it was necessary in the beginning of the crisis. Subsequent rounds of QE, I think did more harm than good. In the long run, we'll know the answer to that for sure. High time they started. This is basically symbolic, because it's really not that big in the scheme of things. Larry Kudlow: Periodically as Budget Chair you've held hearings on the Fed. Let me ask you now, with the changing of the guard, does Janet Yellen have your confidence? Paul Ryan: I think we went to a more dovish Fed Chair with Janet Yellen. Ben ended up becoming a dove from my perspective – less of a sound money guy, more of a deflation fighter instead of an inflation hawk. More dovish. She’s clearly in the dove category. She’s a Keynesian. So, I don't expect much difference from her from where we are right now. Larry Kudlow: Let’s go directly to the spending. You've raised the spending caps from sequestration in 2014-2015, I think the number sums to $65 billion. What do you say to people, particularly conservatives, and you’ve heard this. Conservatives who are saying budget caps, spending caps, sequestration, which was a signature Republican achievement, is dead? Is that true? Are the caps dead? Is the spending discipline dead? Paul Ryan: No, not at all, actually. The Democrats came into these negotiations wanting to get rid of the caps all together – 100% of the caps. Well, we just got them to agree, in the next year and a half, to 70% of the caps. 70% of the sequester is still in place for the next year and a half. The 30% sequester relief we gave, $63 billion of spending, is paid for with $85 billion of permanent entitlement changes, permanent savings that results in deficit reduction, so that exceeds the Budget Control Act requirement of a one for one replacement, so we actually go farther than the law requires. More to the point, Larry, 92% of the sequester is left intact over the lifetime of the sequester with this agreement. So, what we like from a fiscal conservative standpoint, is we do give relief to the sequester now, particularly because the defense hawks in our conference would not support where this was going to go. We did not have the votes to stick to that $967 number, so we got excess savings to make us have more deficit reduction, and we prevent two government shutdowns from happening in the next year, which we think is a good thing for lots of reasons - for the country, for certainty, for economic growth. We want to focus on Obamacare and Obamacare oversight. We want to focus on tax reform. We want to focus on a pro-growth agenda. We don’t want to have two government shutdown scenarios, and we think this is that step in the right direction. Larry Kudlow: Another one, the feud with the tea party, Speaker Boehner took a few whacks at the Tea Party. I’ve had many of them on The Kudlow Report. They wanted the full sequester, it's not an unreasonable request. How is your relationship to the Tea Party? What do you have to say to the Tea Party, which is kind of up in arms now because it seems like a lot of Republicans are attacking them? Paul Ryan: Well, look, I have nothing but good things to say about the Tea Party. We wouldn't be here if it weren’t for the Tea Party. Look, when I started my budgets back in 2008, I had eight other members of Congress who were willing to co-sponsor and put their name on it. Eight. And because of the Tea Party, because of those grassroots conservatives out in America, I was able to pass it in 2011 with I think 233 votes. I was able to pass three budgets now because of these grassroots conservatives, these fiscal conservatives, which balances the budget and pays off the debt. There’s no way I could have passed these kinds of budgets if it weren't for them that’s why I credit them with this great success. Now, you can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. In divided government, you have to look at the situation as it is, and not as you wish it would be, and keep moving the ball in the right direction even if it’s incrementally. I would prefer that these so-called feuds are in the family and not out in the public. Larry Kudlow: You report to the Wall Street Journal that you want to be the Ways and Means Committee Chairman in 2015. Why? What’s your agenda? Paul Ryan: Look, you know me, Larry. There’s nothing new here than what I’ve always said. This has been my career trajectory in the House. People ask me if I want to be Speaker. I don't. And this is the next logical step, but what I’m really focused on right now to be honest with you Larry, is helping Dave Camp with the Ways and Means Committee. He’s our quarterback, he’s our chairman. My dream for 2014 is that the Camp-Baucus Tax Reform Act of 2014, which reduces tax rates across the board in a pro-growth way to grow the economy, becomes law. I want to help Dave do that. Then after this election, after 2015, this is really no secret, this is not a newsworthy item, that is the natural progression of how I saw things. That’s the way I’ve always planned it. And there's nothing really new here. Larry Kudlow: Are you leaving the Presidential door open for 2016? You just had a big poll in Iowa. You had the best numbers of all the Republican candidates. A lot of people are saying, ‘you know, look how he negotiated this budget. He can cut across party lines and get things done.’ You stopped the shutdown. Some people are saying you saved the Republican Party from itself because you stopped the shutdown. So is the door open for a 2016 Presidential run, I ask you, Paul Ryan? Paul Ryan: Well, I'll answer you, Larry Kudlow, that I’m going to make my mind up on that issue later on. I’m just trying to do my job right now. The people here in Wisconsin elected me to represent them. My colleagues asked me to chair the Budget committee, so I’m doing that job the best I can. I’m not going to let future ambition or career moves cloud my judgment today, and what I decided, my wife and I decided, is let's get through this session and then I’ll make my mind up down the road. I haven't foreclosed any opportunity, I haven't made a decision one way or the other. Right now, I’m just sincerely focused on doing my job. Larry Kudlow: All right. We've known each other a long time and if I may so, happy holy Merry Christmas and New Year's and thanks for coming on. Paul Ryan: Awesome. Merry Christmas, Larry. Good to see you.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042456/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/us-senator-tammy-baldwins-statement-on-the-bipartisan-budget-agreement,U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin's statement on the bipartisan budget agreement,2013-12-18,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin's statement on the bipartisan budget agreement Wednesday, December 18, 2013 ""The bipartisan budget agreement isn’t perfect, but it is progress that will help break this destructive pattern of drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. If we hadn’t reached this bipartisan compromise, we would have been left with a potential shutdown in January and continued uncertainty for our economy. This agreement rolls back the arbitrary cuts of sequestration that have slowed economic growth and cost our economy jobs and also builds on the $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction done since 2011. It is important that both parties worked together to put progress ahead of politics and produce a bipartisan agreement that is grounded in compromise, not crisis. It protects investments in education, research, and innovation and is a good first step towards providing economic security for the middle class and certainty for our economy. Now that we have put in place a new path forward, it is my hope that we can continue to work across party lines to create economic growth and take a balanced approach to reducing the deficit without shortchanging our future. There is a lot more work to be done to create jobs and grow the middle class but this compromise is a strong step forward and can be the foundation for continued bipartisan work."" --- U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042519/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-baldwin-works-to-strengthen-continued-investments-in-wisconsin-shipbuilders-and-state-economy,Senator Baldwin Works to Strengthen Continued Investments in Wisconsin Shipbuilders and State Economy,2013-12-18,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Senator Baldwin Works to Strengthen Continued Investments in Wisconsin Shipbuilders and State Economy Support for Littoral Combat Ship Program Included in National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Washington D.C. – The United States Senate will vote today to move forward on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the bill that governs United States Department of Defense for the upcoming year. The NDAA includes a provision that maintains support for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, which employs thousands of Wisconsin workers and contributes millions of dollars to our state economy. Senator Baldwin has been a strong advocate for the LCS program for years and helped ensure inclusion of the LCS language in the NDAA.   “Wisconsin is home to one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the nation, including a strong shipbuilding industry with a history of success providing ships for our nation’s defense,” Baldwin said. “I have fought for this program because it employs thousands of hardworking Wisconsinites and positively impacts not only the local community but has a ripple effect across the state, boosting our made in Wisconsin economy.”   The U.S. Navy has contracted with Lockheed Martin who contracted with Marinette Marine to build a total of 12 Littoral Combat Ships in Wisconsin by 2019. Marinette Marine has just completed production of their third ship, the USS Milwaukee, which is being launched today in Marinette. Five additional ships are currently in some stage of production. Previously in danger of being cut under sequestration, the NDAA helps secure the funding for four ships to be built at Marinette, two in 2014, and two in 2015.   “On behalf of MMC and our great mid-western employees who contribute so much to our nation's security by building the Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship, I want to express deep gratitude to Senator Tammy Baldwin for her exemplary leadership,” said Chuck Goddard, CEO of Marinette Marine Corporation. “In particular, the role she played in preserving the current 20 ship Block Buy from attacks was key in avoiding delay and harm to this critical program so needed by our warfighters. Senator Baldwin's hard work in the Senate enabled a compromise amendment that leaves the current Block Buy in place and allows MMC to continue constructing the LCS, and expanding our workforce to help us build the U.S. Navy's ship of the future.""   According to Marinette, the LCS program has brought over $137 million to the Wisconsin economy already, while supporting well over 2,000 jobs at more than 240 separate businesses in the state.   The bipartisan NDAA, which Congress has passed every year for 52 years, gives guidance to the Pentagon for all of its actions, conduct and spending for the year. This year’s bill contained other provisions Senator Baldwin has fought for as well. These included: maintaining the possibility that the 55,000 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) serving as replacements for the Marine Corps’ and Army’s Humvees will be built in Oshkosh, Wis.;  strengthening health, education and employment benefits for veterans; combating sexual assault in the military; authorizing the Medal of Honor for Wisconsinite First Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing for acts of valor during the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg; authorizing the award of the Purple Heart to victims of the Fort Hood terrorist attack, six of whom were from Wisconsin; and ensuring that the Wisconsin National Guard can retain its important role in supporting American military operations worldwide.   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061531/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/a-proud-day-for-wisconsin-the-future-uss-milwaukee-launches-today,A proud day for Wisconsin: The future USS Milwaukee Launches today,2013-12-18,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Wednesday, December 18, 2013 A proud day for Wisconsin: The future USS Milwaukee Launches today Today, the future USS Milwaukee will launch at Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette. Senator Baldwin has made it her priority to build and strengthen our ""Made in Wisconsin"" economy, including strengthening investments in Wisconsin shipbuilders.     Wisconsin is home to one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the nation, including a strong shipbuilding industry with a history of success providing ships for our nation’s defense. I have fought for this program because it employs thousands of hardworking Wisconsinites and positively impacts not only the local community but has a ripple effect across the state, boosting our made in Wisconsin economy.” --- Senator Tammy Baldwin Fun facts about the USS Milwaukee & the Littoral Combat Ships program: ### Today, the U.S. Senate will vote to move forward on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - a bill that governs the United State Deprtment of Defense for the upcoming year. The NDAA includes a provision that maintains support for the LCS program. Click here, to read more on Tammy's work to support the program. Photo credit to Lockheed Martin.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ron-kind-welcomes-usda-investment-electric-system-improvement,Rep. Ron Kind Welcomes USDA Investment in Electric System Improvement Projects in Wisconsin,2013-12-17,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) applauded the news that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service Program is making major investments in electric utility infrastructure projects in Wisconsin. Electric cooperatives do a great job of powering our rural economies and ensuring that our homes and businesses have a reliable and affordable source of electricity, said Rep. Kind. These investments from the USDA will help modernize and improve our electric system so that our rural communities have the power they need to create jobs and keep our local economies competitive. The USDA investments in Wisconsin include a $121,562,000 loan to Wisconsin's Dairyland Power Cooperative to build and improve 87 miles of transmission line and five new substations, along with other system improvements. Additionally, the Chippewa Valley Electric Cooperative is getting a $3,000,000 loan for building 40 miles of distribution line and other projects. Funding for smart grid projects is included in both loans: $800,000 for Dairyland Power and $147,188 for Chippewa Valley. A total of $1.8 billion in infrastructure funding will be invested across 25 states and one territory.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061558/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/through-the-aca-wisconsin-seniors-are-saving-money-on-prescription-drugs-and-preventive-services,"Through the ACA, Wisconsin seniors are saving money on prescription drugs & preventive services",2013-12-17,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Through the ACA, Wisconsin seniors are saving money on prescription drugs & preventive services Since America’s new health care law was enacted, nearly 7 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved a total of $9 billion on prescription drugs. In Wisconsin alone, approximately 58,900 Wisconsinites have saved $848 on average on their prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act. So what do these savings mean? Before the Affordable Care Act, if people with Medicare hit a certain threshold of spending on prescription drugs, they would suddenly have to pay out of pocket for the entire cost of the prescription drugs until they reached catastrophic coverage. Now, the Affordable Care Act is helping close this gap in coverage, also known as the “donut hole,” reducing out of pocket costs for Wisconsin seniors. In addition to these important cost-savings for Wisconsin seniors, more and more Wisconsinites are gaining access to preventive services. New data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that in the first 11 months of 2013 alone, an estimated 25.4 million people with traditional Medicare received at least one free preventive service, like a wellness visit or mammogram, at no out-of-pocket cost. In Wisconsin, approximately 461,000 people with Medicare have already received at least one free preventive service this year.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061626/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/wisconsin-scores-high-on-giving-back-through-volunteering,Wisconsin Scores High on Giving Back through Volunteering,2013-12-17,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Tuesday, December 17, 2013 Wisconsin Scores High on Giving Back through Volunteering Volunteering is an important commitment we make to our communities. It gives people an opportunity to advance the common good and helps improve the lives our neighbors.   A new report says Wisconsin ranks among the top 10 states in volunteer rates.The Corporation for National & Community Service, a federal agency that promotes public service, reviewed states' volunteer rates between 2010 and 2012. It found 35.6 percent of Wisconsin residents did volunteer work over that span, ranking them eighth among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.Milwaukee ranked third in the country with 33.6 percent of residents participating in some volunteer work. Check out these state statistics --- An annual volunteer rate of 35.6% 1.62 million volunteers 165.3 million hours of service Want to get involved? Visit Serve.Gov to find out how you can get involved in your local community.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034459/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/support-is-growing-for-tammys-bipartisan-legislation-to-increase-efficiency-in-healthcare-delivery-and-reduce-costs,Support is growing for Tammy's bipartisan legislation to increase efficiency in healthcare delivery and reduce costs,2013-12-16,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Monday, December 16, 2013 Support is growing for Tammy's bipartisan legislation to increase efficiency in healthcare delivery and reduce costs Last month, Senator Baldwin introduced the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act – a bipartisan piece of legislation she worked on with Senator John Thune of South Dakota. The legislation increases the transparency of healthcare costs in medicare – helping doctors, health systems, private insurers and research institutions provide more efficient, higher quality health care and better patient outcomes.   This month support has continued to grow for Tammy's bipartisan legislation. Late last week, provisions of the legislation moved unanimously through the Senate Finance Committee as part of a bill to reform Medicare physician payments. In addition to the progress made in Congress, health care organizations have also stepped up and shared their support for the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act:   “While more remains to be done, particularly in the area of quality and safety transparency, the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act is an important first step toward creating a more accountable, consumer-centered health care marketplace.”   The groups offering their support for the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act include the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, National Coalition on Health Care, Compass Healthcare Advisors, Corporate Health Care Coalition, HR Policy Association, Midwest Business Group on Health, National Retail Federation, ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, Wisconsin Medical Society, and the Wisconsin Health Information Organization.   Click here to read more on the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act and how Tammy is making the Affordable Care Act work for Wisconsin.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034646/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/support-grows-for-baldwins-bipartisan-legislation-to-increase-efficiency-in-healthcare-delivery-reduce-costs,"Support Grows for Baldwin’s Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Efficiency in Healthcare Delivery, Reduce Costs",2013-12-16,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Support Grows for Baldwin���s Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Efficiency in Healthcare Delivery, Reduce Costs Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act Passes Unanimously through Senate Finance Committee Monday, December 16, 2013 Washington D.C. – Major national health care organizations from across the political spectrum have added their support to the bipartisan Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act, S.1758. The bipartisan bill, introduced recently by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and John Thune (R-S.D.), increases the transparency of healthcare costs in Medicare - helping doctors, health systems, private insurers, and research institutions provide more efficient, higher quality healthcare and better patient outcomes.   In a letter of support the health care organization wrote, “While more remains to be done, particularly in the area of quality and safety transparency, the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act is an important first step toward creating a more accountable, consumer-centered health care marketplace.”   The groups offering their support for the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act include the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, National Coalition on Health Care, Compass Healthcare Advisors, Corporate Health Care Coalition, HR Policy Association, Midwest Business Group on Health, National Retail Federation, ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, Wisconsin Medical Society, and the Wisconsin Health Information Organization.   In addition, late last week, provisions of the legislation moved unanimously through the Senate Finance Committee as part of a bill to reform Medicare physician payments.   “Medicare is the single largest payer of healthcare services in the country, spending $600 billion each year. But we have very little access to what we are paying for,” said Baldwin. “The Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act provides access to that data and puts it into the hands of those who can use it, increasing efficiency in the delivery of healthcare and helping us get better bang for our healthcare buck.”   “Providing access to data that can be used to evaluate healthcare services is a critical component of increasing transparency and reducing healthcare costs,” said Thune. “Our bill would ultimately provide data to evaluate the areas of healthcare that are working and those that are not, thereby lowering costs and increasing efficiency. I hope our colleagues will join us in supporting this common-sense measure to improve the quality of healthcare while reducing costs.”   As the largest payer of healthcare in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sits on a wealth of information that can help inform healthcare providers in making better decisions that will improve patient care and reduce costs. Economists have argued that expanding access to Medicare cost and utilization data will increase efficiency in healthcare delivery, reduce costs, and improve the quality of care.   Congress and the administration have taken initial steps to make Medicare data more widely available. One of the more promising efforts is the Qualified Entity (QE) program, which permits organizations to access and analyze Medicare data for select purposes. The QE program has the potential to empower our nation’s healthcare decision-makers to make better choices. However, current law is far too restrictive on which organizations can participate in the QE program; what QEs can do with the Medicare data once they have received it; and the degree to which QEs can support their own data maintenance infrastructures.   The Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act would provide for greater access to Medicare claims data by modernizing and reforming the QE program. The legislation would:   Allow organizations receiving Medicare data to analyze and redistribute it to authorized subscribers (insurers, health systems, and physicians) so that subscribers can make more informed decisions; and Permit those entities to charge a fee to their subscribers so that the organizations can conduct robust analyses to improve healthcare quality and reduce costs.   In addition to the organizations sending the recent letter, other groups from across the political spectrum have expressed support for Baldwin and Thune’s “much-needed” efforts to reform the QE program, including: AARP, Blue Shield of California, The Boeing Company, Castlight Health, Caterpillar Inc., Communicating for America, Community Catalyst, Compass Healthcare Advisors, Corporate Health Care Coalition, The Dow Chemical Company, National Association of Health Underwriters, National Association of Manufacturers, Pacific Business Group on Health, U.S. PIRG, UPS, and Xerox Corporation. The letter of support can be found here. Link to more the Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act release.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061638/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/upcoming-staff-office-hours-for-the-remainder-of-2013,Upcoming staff office hours for the remainder of 2013,2013-12-16,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Monday, December 16, 2013 Upcoming staff office hours for the remainder of 2013 Senator Baldwin's office has announced that members of her staff will hold office hours throughout the remainder of this week in River Falls, Waukesha, and Balsam Lake. Constituents will have the opportunity to meet with staff and request assistance with a federal agency or discuss other federal issues. No appointment is necessary. Staff have also held office hours in Grantsburg, Racine and Kenosha this month. Here are the details for office hours this week: River Falls Tuesday, December 17th - 1:00-2:00pm River Falls Public Library 140 Union Street River Falls, WI Waukesha Tuesday, December 17th - 10:00 – 11:00am Waukesha City Hall Room 107 201 Delafield Street Waukesha, WI Balsam Lake, WI Thursday, December 19th - 5:00-6:00pm Balsam Lake Justice Center 1005 W. Main St. Balsam Lake, WI",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221182856/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364619,Federal Judge: NSA’s Metadata Collection Program Likely Unconstitutional,2013-12-16,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon today issued a decision, ruling that the NSA’s metadata collection program is likely unconstitutional.   Questioning the constitutionality of the collection program, Judge Leon wrote: “The Government, in its understandable zeal to protect our homeland, has crafted a counterterrorism program with respect to telephony metadata that strikes the balance based in large part on a thirty-four year old Supreme Court precedent, the relevance of which has been eclipsed by technology advances and a cell phone-centric lifestyle heretofore inconceivable.” He also stated: “The Government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the Government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature.” Leon granted “an injunction and enter[ed] an order that (1) bars the government from collection, as part of the NSA’s Bulk Telephony Metadata Program, any telephony metadata associated with their personal Verizon accounts and (2) requires the Government to destroy any such metadata in its possession that was collected through the bulk collection program.” Leon will stay his order pending an appeal. “In doing so, I hereby give the Government fair notice that should my ruling be upheld, this order will go into effect forthwith.” Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner: “Judge Leon’s decision further highlights the need to pass the USA FREEDOM Act. The slow trickle of revelations that began in June about NSA spying have exposed the most intrusive and secretive programs in American history. From the onset, I have been extremely critical of the government’s dragnet collection of Americans’ data.  I am encouraged by the district court’s ruling. It will add to the growing momentum behind the USA FREEDOM Act, which has garnered support from a large, diverse bloc of my colleagues and the business community. The Executive Branch should join Congress to institute meaningful reform.” Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced the USA FREEDOM Act on October 29. This legislation would restore Americans’ privacy rights by reining in the dragnet collection of data by the NSA and other government agencies, increase transparency of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), provide businesses the ability to release information regarding FISA requests and create an independent constitutional advocate to argue cases before the FISC. The USA FREEDOM Act currently has 115 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 18 in the Senate. It also has the support of tech giants AOL, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Mozilla and others.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/media-center/enewsletters/want-to-make-sure-youre-aware-of-this,want to make sure you're aware of this,2013-12-15,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"During this season of family gatherings and gift giving, it is sometimes easy to forget about the people in our own community who do not have a home to gather in, or the means to prepare a holiday meal. Often when we think of hunger and homelessness we imagine urban, high population centers like Madison or Milwaukee, but it is a very prevalent problem in rural communities across America and the 7th Congressional District is no exception.    According to the Wisconsin Food Security Project, 13.5% of all households in the 7th CD experienced food hardships, meaning they did not have enough money to buy the food they needed at times during the past year. Additionally, over 2,000 individuals received documented care from shelters. Most concerning, these numbers have been trending upward in Wisconsin in recent years despite a decline nationally. The increase in families suffering from hunger and homelessness requires us to no longer simply manage the problem, but to solve the problem. This shift to what has been termed the “New Approach” has produced results elsewhere and is catching on nation-wide. We see it here in our own backyard through the tireless work and dedication from organizations like the Marathon County Housing & Homelessness Coalition and the Marathon County Hunger Coalition. In addition to bringing more partners to the table through coalition building, this “New Approach” also advances a more systemic strategy with individuals and organizations – both public and private – working in a coordinated manner. Not only is this “New Approach” more efficient and a big step forward from the previous practice of serving people somewhat haphazardly through a collection of disconnected programs, the numbers also show it is working. Recent data show that the number of chronically homeless declined by 30% between 2005 and 2007 and has declined an additional 13% since. Overall, homelessness declined nation-wide by 9.2% between 2007 and 2013. This “New Approach,” also termed “housing-first,” efficiently reduces homelessness and improves the lives of no-longer-homeless individuals and families and the quality of our communities. Furthermore, it often brings net savings to taxpayers since preventing homelessness is less expensive than the cycle of emergency services that can be the daily existence of homeless individuals and families. Before communities can fully engage in this “New Approach,” however, its members need to fully understand the extent of the suffering, its root causes, and develop empathy for the individuals and families suffering from hunger and homelessness. This Wednesday, December 18, leaders from communities across the 7th CD are gathering in Wausau to learn about hunger and homelessness and its impacts on our communities, what different communities and coalitions are doing to address these problems, and to brainstorm and share ideas on how we can continue to work to solve these problems. We look forward to the summit, the various presentations, and the discussions on Wednesday. Rep. Sean Duffy co-wrote this piece with Steve Berg, Vice-President for Programs and Policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness. It appeared in the Sunday, December 15, 2013 edition of The Wausau Daily Herald.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364581,Ryan Defends Reduction to Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Early Military Retirees,2013-12-15,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By John McCormack, The Weekly Standard The two-year budget deal crafted by Republican congressman Paul Ryan and Democratic senator Patty Murray sailed through the House of Representatives on a 332-94 vote last Thursday, just two days after it was introduced. If cutting a bipartisan deal is so easy, why couldn't Republicans and Democrats have reached an agreement before October 1 and skipped the government shutdown altogether? ""I think the pressure of divided government has come full force, and I think the specter of one or two more government shutdowns concentrated our minds to make this divided government work,"" Paul Ryan said on Saturday afternoon, speaking with THE WEEKLY STANDARD by phone from his hometown of Janesville. ""It's very clear that without this deal two things would happen: The military would have borne the full force of these cuts starting in January. And we would have at least one more government shutdown drama.” “We think that's bad,” Ryan said during a break between games at his son's basketball tournament. “We think that's not in our interest. We want 2014 to be a year where we don't keep cutting the military, and we focus on Obamacare, we focus on the conservative reforms we want to roll out, and we win the next election so we can start saving this country."" But the Ryan-Murray deal is not without its critics. In the Senate, a growing number of Republicans have objected to bill's provision to reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by one percentage point for military retirees under the age of 62. Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma have all cited the issue as a dealbreaker for them. Ryan defended the provision on Saturday as a modest reform that's part of a broader plan to save the military from devastating cuts. ""We give them a slightly smaller adjustment for inflation because they're still in their working years and in most cases earning another paycheck,” Ryan said. ""Our goal here is to make sure that no other country comes close to matching the U.S. military, and the stress on the budget in the future brings that whole entire notion into question. We still have a Pentagon budget that is not where it needs to be."" Under the 2011 Budget Control Act, about $1 trillion was cut from the defense budget over 10 years--roughly $500 billion by the law's spending caps and another $500 billion through automatic sequestration cuts, which exempted personnel. The Ryan-Murray deal relieves $31.5 billion in sequestration cuts to defense over the next two years. ""From my conversation with just Chuck Hagel and General Dempsey recently, the biggest relief this gets is military readiness,"" Ryan said. ""The statistics are very, very concerning about our readiness."" The COLA reduction for military retirees, which doesn't take effect until January of 2016, would save an additional $6 billion over 10 years in the defense budget. ""The defense community asked us to look at compensation and their entitlement spending within the Pentagon. We knew we couldn't put back into the Pentagon's budget as much as we'd like to, and these reforms help them with their budget,"" said Ryan. ""The savings stays with the Department of Defense and that comes on top of the money we're giving back through the sequester."" The savings ""can go to anything,"" said Ryan. ""It can go to readiness, it can go to troops, it can go to brigades, buying equipment."" But why not grandfather benefits for current servicemembers, like Ryan does for Americans over the age of 55 in his plan to reform Medicare?  Ryan replied that grandfathering wouldn't achieve the savings the military needs, and he emphasized the pension reform only affects servicemembers who have served the 20 years necessary to qualify for a pension (just 20 percent of all veterans) and retired before the age of 62.  The bill has a ""catchup provision"" so that at age 62 the retiree's pension goes up to where it would have been without the COLA reduction. ""I don't think people know there's a catchup provision,"" said Ryan. ""Once they hit the age of 62, this provision recalculates their benefits so they get the full adjustment for inflation and their pension pay goes up as if nothing had happened. And from then on they have full inflation protection.""  According to House Budget Committee staff, a man who enlisted at age 18 and retired at 38 as a Sergeant First Class in the Army would see approximately a 6 percent overall reduction in lifetime retirement pay because of the COLA reduction--that is, he would receive about $1.626 million in lifetime retirement pay instead of $1.734 million. Earning $108,000 less in retirement pay over a lifetime certainly isn't chump change, but Ryan points out that the budget deal achieves the same amount of savings over ten years from federal civilian employees' pensions ($6 billion) by requiring new employees to make higher contributions. ""This is still far more generous than civilian retirees who receive absolutely no COLA before the age of 62,"" Ryan said. ""We still kept the military retiree in a far better position than the civilian because we think that's the way it ought to be."" Ryan also noted that the deal gives Congress time to come up with a better way to achieve the same savings. ""We delayed this provision so that it doesn't take effect until the year 2016, which gives Congress and the military community time to address the broader compensation issue, including this provision, if people believe there's a better way to solve this problem,"" he said.  The problem is that there's no way to painlessly cut $1 trillion (or close to it) from the military's budget. Defense secretary Chuck Hagel said in a November speech that because of budget cuts only 2 of the Army's 43 brigade active-duty combat teams are ready for combat, and Marine Corps units that are not going to Afghanistan are getting 30 percent less funding. At one point this summer, only 8 warplanes were ready to respond to an emergency away from front-lines operations. Simply structuring cuts more intelligently doesn't make it much better. Republican senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma introduced a proposal in 2009 to cut $1 trillion from defense as part of a plan to cut $9 trillion from the federal budget. Among other defense cuts, Coburn's plan called for closing down elementary schools on military bases, making veterans pay more for their health care, canceling the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, eliminating 1 of the nation's 11 aircraft carriers, and shrinking the Army by 65,000 soldiers. Anyone who thinks it's possible to save $1 trillion from defense by simply cutting ""waste, fraud, and abuse"" is mistaken. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ryan-defends-reduction-cost-living-adjustments-early-military-retirees_770921.html",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7aed87ac-5909-4183-b818-d494f9b18458,Senator Ron Johnson Will Support The Ryan/Murray Budget Deal,2013-12-15,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Washington, D.C. – On Sunday, Senator Ron Johnson released the following statement on the Ryan/Murray budget deal. “Funding the federal government through successive continuing resolutions is a bad idea that only results in greater inefficiencies, waste and economic uncertainty. It is a practice that should end. The budget deal struck by Paul Ryan and Patty Murray is no “grand bargain,” but I credit Paul with understanding that a grand bargain is not possible at this point in time.  “This is a limited agreement that prevents government shutdowns through fiscal year 2015 that would hurt economic growth and new job creation. It also provides executive agencies and congressional committees the opportunity to prioritize spending and eliminate duplicative programs – which is long overdue.  “Although I disagree with a number of provisions in the bill, on balance the good outweighs the bad. As long as the Senate does nothing to worsen the bill, I intend to support it.” ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-announces-service-academy-nominations-for-16-south-central,Pocan Announces Service Academy Nominations for 16 South Central Wisconsin Students,2013-12-13,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) is proud to announce the following exceptional students from Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District who received his nomination to one of the nation’s service academies. “I am proud to nominate such outstanding Wisconsin students to our nation’s service academies,” Pocan said. “These institutions provide a one-of-a-kind experience for young men and women committed to serving our country, and all of my nominees have demonstrated they have the determination and talent to meet this challenge. I wish them all good luck through the rest of the appointment process.” The Second Congressional District’s Academy Nomination Board, appointed by Rep. Pocan, included active and retired service members and community leaders from across south central Wisconsin. The Nomination Board then recommended the below 16 students from the district, all of which were nominated by Rep. Pocan. The 2014 Service Academy Classes Nominees are as follows: United States Air Force Academy Christian Brandon- Verona Area High School Jace Carlson- Stoughton High School Cory Kramschuster- Sun Prairie High School Morgan Musielewicz- Waunakee High School Xavier Santana- Madison East High School Jack Temple- Madison Lafollette High School   United States Naval Academy Ryan Hanna- Marshall High School/ Virginia Polytechnic and State University Ellen Hoffman- Madison Edgewood High School Erik-Lars Lofgren- Quantico High School Jack Lunaas- Milton High School/ Northwestern Preparatory School Nicholas Mathwig- Waunakee High School Miriam Valley- Sun Prairie High School   United States Military Academy at West Point Peter Flock- Wisconsin Dells High School Jacob Marchillo- Clinton High School Nicholas Miller- Oregon High School David Pontius- Sun Prairie High School/ Marion Military Institute   This nomination does not guarantee automatic admission--the academies make the final decision on who receives an appointment of admission.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=951,Gwen Moore Votes for Bipartisan Budget Deal,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Washington, D.C. – This week Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) voted in opposition to the Republican tax plan which would extend tax cuts to the very wealthiest Americans while raising taxes an average $1,000 on 25 million working families by reducing eligibility for Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit and ending the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Alternatively, Rep. Moore voted for the Democratic Substitute which would extend the middle class tax cuts and prevent tax increases on working families.   “It is shameful that my Republican colleagues would seek to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans on the back of the middle class and poor of this country. And though Republicans are constantly saying that we should not increase our debt, their plan would add an addition $50 billion to the deficit in 2013 alone.   “In contrast, under the Democratic alternative 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses will see no tax increase. It will extend for one year expiring marginal tax rates for income as well as rates on capital gains and dividends for taxable income of $200,000 or less for single filers and $250,000 or less for joint filers. It also extends various other tax provisions, including marriage penalty relief, expanded child and earned income tax credits, education tax incentives, and small business expensing all for one year, through 2013, and a patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax for 2012.   “We here in Congress are charged to work on behalf of all Americans – particularly the least of these. The priorities of the Republican tax plan only include the wealthiest Americans while the Democratic Substitute would give middle class families certainty that their taxes will not go up next year. It’s time we make those most in need a priority in order to build a strong, robust economy.”   To view this article online, please click here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364321,House Passes the Bipartisan Budget Act,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Budget Act. Written by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray, the bill will provide $63 billion in temporary sequester relief and $85 billion in mandatory savings. It will eliminate waste, cut corporate welfare, and make needed reforms to autopilot spending. On net, the bill will reduce the deficit by $23 billion over the next ten years. The Senate will take it up next week. Upon passage of the legislation, Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin made the following statement: “I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for supporting this bill. It reduces the deficit—without raising taxes. And it does so by cutting spending in a smarter way. It doesn’t go as far as I’d like, but it’s a firm step in the right direction. “This agreement will stop Washington’s lurch from crisis to crisis. It will bring stability to the budget process and show both parties can work together. “I want to thank Senator Murray for her hard work on this agreement. And I’m confident her colleagues in the Senate will pass this bill.” Click here to learn more about the Bipartisan Budget Act.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364400,Ryan responds to questions and concerns about the Bipartisan Budget Act,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"Ryan responds to questions and concerns about the Bipartisan Budget Act f t # e December 12, 2013 f t # e",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364401,Ryan: “This is a modest step in the right direction.”,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"Ryan: “This is a modest step in the right direction.” f t # e December 12, 2013 MSNBC’s Morning Joe   f t # e",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364418,Paul Ryan: “You can’t shoot for the moon every time.”,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"Paul Ryan: “You can’t shoot for the moon every time.” f t # e December 12, 2013 CNBC’s Squawk Box Click to play video ""We decided to focus on where is the common ground when negotiating the budget deal,"" said House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-WI), discussing how he and Sen. Patty Murrary, (D-Wa), were able to reach a deal on the budget. ""This is a small but modest step in the right direction."" http://www.cnbc.com/id/101267406   f t # e",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364509,Rep. Paul Ryan's budget deal: modest but smart,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board Reuters House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) shake hands after a news conference to introduce The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 on Tuesday. The two-year federal budget deal that passed the House Thursday is notable because it got done. It is not notable because of what got done. It has been years since a divided Congress forged a budget agreement, and this one was negotiated amiably. Style points to U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, and Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat. But are we really supposed to cheer when the best the political leadership can do is promise that the government probably won't shut down again? (Not to worry, fans of brinkmanship; there's always the debt ceiling confrontation likely coming in March). This deal leaves untouched most of the important issues. Entitlements. Nothing done. The nation's byzantine tax code. Still byzantine. We know why. There just isn't much common ground in Washington, D.C., and Ryan and Murray are crowded onto a tiny patch of land. Conservative groups heckled the agreement and tried to scuttle it. Even before it was announced, Heritage Action, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, and the Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity opposed it. The libertarian Cato Institute called it a ""huge Republican cave-in."" Some liberals complained, too, arguing that an extension of unemployment benefits should have been part of the deal. But it's the conservatives who were most belligerent. Republican pollster Glen Bolger nailed it when he said that Republicans are at a watershed moment: ""We are either a party that is serious about governing when control of Washington is split, or we are an unserious party that doesn't care about realistic incremental gains, only caring about unrealistically getting the whole ball of wax, which will never happen as long as there is a Democratic president and a Democratic majority leader,"" Bolger told The Washington Post. The GOP has too many members who would rather preach than govern. Ryan wants to govern. He deserves credit for standing up to the reactionaries in his party (so does House Speaker John Boehner). ""Look, as a conservative, I deal with the situation as it exists. I passed three budgets in a row that reflect my priorities and my principles,"" and none of the budgets passed the Senate, Ryan said. ""We're in divided government...So I'm not going to go a mile in the direction I want to go to, but I will take a few steps in the right direction."" The $85 billion agreement is the first time in years that the two parties have negotiated anything other than a stopgap measure. The proposal cuts the mindless ""sequester"" in half and cuts spending and deficits by $20 billion over the next 10 years. That's not a lot, but it's something. Yes, the additional revenue comes from fees (including on airline tickets) and gimmicks, but we'll take it for now. The nation needs more from its elected officials. It needs a real discussion about Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and the long-term deficit, which over time, must be brought under control. Austerity, no. Sanity, yes. But as Ryan said, for now it's about taking a few steps in the right direction. http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/rep-paul-ryans-budget-deal-modest-but-smart-b99162103z1-235605091.html",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-fasts-in-solidarity-with-comprehensive-immigration-reform,Pocan Fasts in Solidarity with Comprehensive Immigration Reform Activists,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) today is fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with activists across the country to build momentum for comprehensive immigration reform. In addition, Pocan attended a press conference with fasters today on Capitol Hill to reiterate his support for their efforts and to emphasize that Congress has #MoreWork2Do on comprehensive immigration reform before the end of the year. “I was moved by the tremendous resolve and passion for comprehensive immigration reform I witnessed today, and I extend my unwavering support to fasters across the country,” Pocan said. “Like these courageous fasters, I believe that congressional inaction on immigration reform is no longer acceptable. I stand with the families who have been hurt by our broken immigration system, and I urge Congress to take up comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the end of the year.” The fast, organized by Fast for Families, seeks to raise awareness of the vital need for immigration reform and spur law makers to action. Beginning in November, four activists fasted for 22 days and inspired solidarity fasts throughout the nation. Now, more than 20 House Democrats and activists have taken up the fast in support of passing comprehensive immigration reform. Pocan is a proud co-sponsor of The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, H.R. 15, which is modeled after the bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate earlier this year. The legislation currently has more than 190 bipartisan supporters in the House. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, enactment of the bipartisan Senate-passed bill would reduce the deficit by $850 billion.  The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act would: Unite families and offer hardworking immigrants an earned pathway to citizenship after passing background checks, paying penalties and taxes, learning English and going to the back of the legal immigration line. Reform our visa programs and our interior enforcement. Strengthen the E-verify program, protect workers and reward businesses who play by the rules. Despite the fact that Congress is set to pass fewer laws this year than at almost any point in history, the House of Representatives is currently scheduled to finish its “work” in Washington by the end of this week. As part of his #MoreWork2Do week, Rep. Pocan is highlighting many important items Congress should finish before it leaves on vacation, including the need to pass a new Farm Bill, vote on comprehensive immigration reform, and focus on legislation to promote job creation and economic growth.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-statement-on-budget-proposal,Pocan Statement on Budget Proposal,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), a member of the House Budget Committee, today issued the following statement after voting against the budget proposal that sets spending levels for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. “I am disappointed that I cannot vote in favor of the budget proposal on the House floor today. While I commend the budget conference committee on its work to reach a deal, just because Congress has a deal does not mean Congress has done its job. “I am thankful this proposal provides some minor relief over the next two years from the devastating, across-the-board sequester cuts that were set to once again hit critical programs in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, sequestration will continue to do needless harm to our families, our students and our economy in the coming year and for years to come. We must continue to work on a solution to replace these harmful cuts once and for all.   “At the end of the day, the bill abandons 1.3 million Americans who desperately need unemployment insurance, and does nothing to promote economic growth or job creation. Furthermore, the legislation is paid for on the backs of the middle class and military families, while not touching the wealthiest amongst us and allowing corporations to continue to benefit from tax loopholes.” “Congress shouldn’t be patting ourselves on the back just because we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot. After a year marked by petty partisanship and Tea Party obstructionism, we have to do better. The challenges of growing our economy and strengthening the middle class are too important to keep kicking down the road. There is more work to do, and I urge the House to stay in Washington until we do it.” Pocan was also disappointed that the deal only blocks a scheduled cut in payments for doctors under Medicare (also called the SGR formula) for three months. He supports a permanent repeal of the SGR formula. Pocan believes voting in favor of the budget proposal would be an unjust acknowledgment that Congress has done its job. Unless Congress passes appropriations bills by the January deadline, this vote alone will not prevent a government shutdown.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2137,Gwen Moore Votes for Bipartisan Budget Deal,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Although this deal is not perfect, it allows Congress to continue our dialogue about how we can better serve our constituents. share: f t Contact: Staci Cox (202) 225- 4572 Washington, DC Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) released this statement after voting for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. This Act passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 332-94. Congress has existed one manufactured crisis to the next. Today marked a small but positive step towards breaking this pattern. The budget agreement reached by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Paul Ryan (WI-01) represents true compromise. I congratulate both Sen. Murray and my Wisconsin colleague Rep. Ryan on negotiating in good faith. Neither party received all of what was asked. Republicans were not able to reduce funding for those who rely on our critical entitlement programs. In addition, this deal only partially replaces the sequester and does nothing to assuage the concerns of approximately 1.3 million Americans, including thousands in Wisconsin, who will lose unemployment insurance on December 28 should Congress not act. Although this deal is not perfect, it allows Congress to continue our dialogue about how we can better serve our constituents. It also affords us the opportunity to discuss items not directly related to the budget, such as passing comprehensive immigration reform. In light of this bipartisan agreement, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and continue the work we were sent here to do. To view Rep. Moore on MSNBC speaking on the budget deal and unemployment insurance, please click here. ### For Moore News Updates",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ron-kind-statement-bipartisan-budget-deal,Rep. Ron Kind Statement on Bipartisan Budget Deal,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) released the following statement after voting in support of the bipartisan budget deal passed by the House today: I voted for the budget deal because it represents a small but hopeful step away from the dysfunction that has gripped Congress for the past several years. Given the current atmosphere here in Washington, it's clear that we need to walk before we can run. This deal will bring a measure of stability to our economy so that employers can safely make long-term business decisions, and help ease the pain of arbitrary across-the-board sequestration' cuts to critical areas like education, job training, and military readiness. I am deeply disappointed, however, that an extension of unemployment benefits was not included in the package. And my ongoing concern is that Congress is still doing things backwards. The programs that we should be investing in, the ones that will strengthen our economy and lower the deficit in the long term are the very programs that are always on the chopping block. We need to focus on the biggest driver of our national deficit - rising health care costs - as well as other commonsense reforms like cutting wasteful subsidies out of our farm policy. These types of reforms, combined with smart investments in areas like education and infrastructure, are critical to ensuring prosperity.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140107190125/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov:80/press-releases/senator-baldwin-calls-on-doj-inspector-general-to-investigate-atf-operations-in-milwaukee,Senator Baldwin Calls on DOJ Inspector General to Investigate ATF Operations in Milwaukee,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Senator Baldwin Calls on DOJ Inspector General to Investigate ATF Operations in Milwaukee Thursday, December 12, 2013 Today, Senator Baldwin sent a letter to U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) expressing her continued concerns about news reports regarding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) tactics, methods and operations in Milwaukee.   She called on the Inspector General to investigate tactics used by ATF agents thoroughly and to include a review of the most recent allegations in an OIG report so that appropriate reforms can be implemented at ATF.   Read the full letter Senator Baldwin sent to U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General here.   In February, Senator Baldwin sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) outlining her concerns about news reports regarding ATF’s drug-and-gun operations in Milwaukee.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221025138/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/supporting-the-next-generation-in-wisconsins-forest-products-industry,Supporting the next generation in Wisconsin’s Forest Products Industry,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Thursday, December 12, 2013 Supporting the next generation in Wisconsin’s Forest Products Industry Wisconsin’s forest products industry has a long and proud tradition of delivering high quality timber and pulp to the state’s lumber yards and paper mills. Today, our northern communities and timber industry are facing tough challenges. Our mills struggle to find enough timber to keep their businesses running at full capacity, and our loggers often find that the trees they harvest from our National Forests are past their prime and have lost their value.  Second, third, and fourth generation loggers are concerned that after decades of work in the woods, their children may not be able to continue in the tradition of Wisconsin’s timber industry.   Senator Baldwin has made supporting the timber products industry one of her top priorities. That means supporting the sustainable harvest of timber on our national forest lands, and ensuring that our forests are managed to preserve ecosystems and forest health so these natural assets continue to provide for our communities into the future.   Federal forest policy is important to Wisconsin’s forest industry because of the significant amount of Wisconsin forestland managed by the federal government. Through recent opportunities provided in the current Farm Bill conference negotiations and through her role on the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Senator Baldwin is working hard to be an advocate for Wisconsin’s timber industry and forest communities. ""I am proud to carry on Wisconsin’s long tradition of protecting our natural resources, promoting conservation of our public lands, and supporting our timber and paper industries. Utilizing our natural resources through careful practices that sustain both our local economies and the resources themselves is important to both Wisconsin’s economy and our quality of life.” --- U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Here are some of Senator Baldwin’s most recent actions on Wisconsin forest issues: A recent Letter to the Obama Administration, urging them to address forest budget issues when they propose their budget in February by dealing with wildfire borrowing, which diverts critical services away from Wisconsin. A letter to the Farm bill conferees, urging them to provide regulatory certainty to the forest products industry, to renew stewardship contracting authority, and support programs that assist private forest owners in maintaining forest health. Our national forests play a critical role in the productivity of the economy in Northern Wisconsin, and our communities deserve more stability in the way the forests are managed.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034507/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/this-is-the-affordable-care-act-no-longer-be-denied-due-to-pre-existing-conditions,This is the Affordable Care Act: No longer be denied due to pre-existing conditions,2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Thursday, December 12, 2013 This is the Affordable Care Act: No longer be denied due to pre-existing conditions Before the Affordable Care Act, more than a third of people who shopped for health insurance in the individual market were turned down or charged more because of a pre-existing condition. Today, almost 2.5 million non-elderly Wisconsinites have some type of pre-existing health condition, including over 300,000 children.  And now because of the ACA, they have protections that they didn’t have before and can’t be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Here's the story of one Wisconsin family: Steven J., from Grand Chute contacted my office recently to tell me that his young, 27- year old daughter with a pre-existing condition has finally been able to purchase private insurance thanks to the ACA. When she was 14 she contracted food poisoning and had severe complications that eventually developed into gall bladder disease and other conditions. Due to these pre-existing conditions, she has been unable to purchase a health insurance plan on the market, and all of her life decisions have been driven by her need to be a full-time student to stay on her father’s healthcare plan. She finished school a year ago and is a successful freelance musician. Without the ACA, she would have to take a position outside of her field in order to have a healthcare plan under an employer. But now because of the Affordable Care Act she is able to continue with her career and pursue her dreams. She recently enrolled in her own plan on Healthcare.gov with a national provider network. Her parents have been worrying about their daughter getting her own insurance for 13 years, but can now rest easy and are thankful for the ACA. There are hard working families across our country that now have the peace of mind knowing they will have the quality health care coverage they want and need. In the United States of America, health care should be a right guaranteed to all, not a privilege reserved for the few. That vision has guided us for decades and now that vision is written into law. Click here, to find out more about how you can #GetCovered.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042343/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-merkley-introduce-legislation-to-level-the-playing-field-for-american-manufacturing,"Baldwin, Merkley Introduce Legislation to Level the Playing Field for American Manufacturing",2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Baldwin, Merkley Introduce Legislation to Level the Playing Field for American Manufacturing Legislation Would Help American Manufacturers Compete on Global Playing Field against Countries with Low Environmental and Wage Standards Thursday, December 12, 2013 WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have introduced new legislation that would crack down on unfair trade practices, level the playing field for American manufacturing companies, and help create middle class jobs. The Level the Playing Field in Global Trade Act would ensure that sub-standard wages, workplace safety practices, and environmental protections are properly accounted for as unfair subsidies by foreign countries when calculating American duties intended to offset cheating. It also rewards companies that meet high standards on a global basis in wages, workplace safety and environmental compliance with streamlined trade and protection from enforcement actions. “Even as the national economy is rebounding, businesses and middle-class families in my state remain stuck in neutral.  The manufacturing sector that sustained our prosperity for generations has taken a lot of hits so I’ve made it my mission to create a “Made in Wisconsin” economy that revitalizes our manufacturing sector and rebuilds our prosperity,” Baldwin said. “In Wisconsin, we believe in hard work and have a commitment to make sure that it is respected and rewarded. For decades, we’ve worked to make things: paper, engines, tools, and ships. Give our workers a fair shot, and we’ll compete against anyone.  That’s why I’m taking on unfair trade practices and policies and betting on American workers by creating an even playing field and giving them a fair shot to compete and win.”   “For far too long, Oregon’s manufacturers and workers have paid the price while companies overseas cut costs by cutting corners. These foreign companies should not be allow to gain an advantage over American businesses by treating their workers poorly and polluting their environment,” said Merkley.  “If we don’t make things in America, we won’t have a middle class in America. Oregon’s manufacturers can compete with anyone in a fair fight, and it’s time that they had a level playing field to help them grow and create good jobs in Oregon.”   In the past decade, countries like China have reaped the benefits of trade deals without upholding their end of the bargain. This lack of accountability has contributed to the shuttering of tens of thousands of American factories and the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs. Currently, U.S. companies and workers are at a trade disadvantage against companies and countries that do not pay adequate wages or maintain safety standards and environmental controls.  This results in countries and companies engaging in a “race to the bottom,” which puts U.S. manufacturing jobs at risk and is fundamentally unfair to American working families.  As the recent scandal in Bangladesh made clear, it’s also terribly destructive to workers around the world. Current American law and trade agreements prohibit “dumping” of products, where companies export products at prices below the cost of production or cheaper than they sell for in the home country, and allow the U.S. to impose duties to make the sale price in America reflect what the true cost would be without cheating.  The Level the Playing Field in Global Trade Act would, for the first time, recognize that egregious environmental and labor practices are a form of illegal subsidy that can be remedied by U.S. duties. It would also reward companies that adhere to high global standards by creating new trade and enforcement incentives. ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042558/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/this-is-the-affordable-care-act-up-to-310000-wisconsin-children-with-pre-existing-conditions-can-no-longer-be-denied-health-coverage,"This is The Affordable Care Act: Up to 310,000 Wisconsin Children with Pre-Existing Conditions Can No Longer Be Denied Health Coverage",2013-12-12,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"This is The Affordable Care Act: Up to 310,000 Wisconsin Children with Pre-Existing Conditions Can No Longer Be Denied Health Coverage Thursday, December 12, 2013 WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin released figures highlighting the number of children in Wisconsin with pre-existing conditions who, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, will be protected from discrimination based on their health. Baldwin joined her Senate colleagues Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) at a press conference on Capitol Hill today to highlight the issue.   As many as 2,489,279 non-elderly Wisconsinites have some type of pre-existing health condition, including 309,519 children.  Because of America’s health care law, since 2010 insurance companies have been prohibited from denying health coverage for children in Wisconsin with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, asthma, or diabetes. Starting in 2014, insurance companies will also no longer be able to deny coverage for adults or charge anyone higher premiums based on health status or history.   “Today, because of the Affordable Care Act, children with pre-existing conditions have protections that they didn’t have before and can’t be denied coverage. Because of America’s new health care law, for the first time insurance companies will be prohibited from denying health coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions,” said Senator Baldwin. “In the United States of America, health care should be a right guaranteed to all, not a privilege reserved for the few. That vision has guided us for decades.  But now we have begun to write it into our laws.  That is what we have fought for and will continue to fight for as we move the Affordable Care Act forward.”   Steven Jordheim from Grand Chute, Wis. recently contacted Senator Baldwin’s office to share that his young, 27- year old daughter with a pre-existing condition has finally been able to purchase private insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. When she was 14, she contracted food poisoning and had severe complications that eventually developed into gall bladder disease and other conditions. Due to these pre-existing conditions, she has been unable to purchase a health insurance plan on the market, and all of her life decisions have been driven by her need to be a full-time student to stay on her father’s healthcare plan.  She finished school a year ago and is a successful freelance musician. Without the ACA, she would have to take a position outside of her field in order to have a healthcare plan under an employer. But now because of the Affordable Care Act she is able to continue with her career and pursue her dreams.  She recently enrolled in her own plan on Healthcare.gov with a national provider network. Her parents have been worrying about their daughter getting her own insurance for 13 years, but can now rest easy and are thankful for the Affordable Care Act.   Helping middle class families take advantage of the benefits of the health care law like the security of affordable health care coverage and protection from discrimination based on pre-existing conditions should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington.  Yet instead of working to fix the law, a minority in Congress has voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times, even shutting down the government to prevent new benefits like ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, taking away peace of mind for millions of children and their parents – including up to 310,000 kids in Wisconsin.   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/duffy-applauds-budget-agreement-thanks-chairmen,"Duffy Applauds Budget Agreement, Thanks Chairmen",2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"""Now that we've shown the American people that we can have these conversations in Washington, we need to have more of them, and I believe we will."" Washington D.C. - U.S. Congressman, and Budget Committee Member, Sean Duffy (WI-07) offered praise and thanks to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees for their efforts to  break through Washington gridlock and bring forth a Budget agreement that will give much needed certainty to Wisconsin job creators, businesses and families:",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364157,A Firm Step Forward,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By Paul Ryan Yesterday, Senator Patty Murray and I introduced the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. It’s the first budget agreement of its kind since 1986, and I’m proud to support it. This bill will reduce the deficit by $23 billion. It won’t raise taxes. And it will cut spending in a smarter way. It doesn’t go as far as I’d like. But it’s a firm step in the right direction. First, let’s remember how we got here: In 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act. The law tasked a twelve-member “supercommittee” with cutting at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit. And to spur them to action, the law essentially made a threat: If the committee couldn’t come to an agreement, the law would order arbitrary, across-the-board cuts — known as the sequester — to get those savings. It would make half of the cuts in defense programs and the other half in domestic programs. In other words, the alternative to an agreement would be so painful that the supercommittee would just have to reach one. Unfortunately, the committee couldn’t come to an agreement. And this year, the sequester took effect. Now, House Republicans wanted to keep these savings. In fact, we wanted to save more. But we didn’t think our troops should bear the brunt of these cuts. The Defense Department warned it would have to shrink our armed forces and make serious cuts to training, readiness, and modernization. Members of both parties quickly realized there was a better way to cut spending. When Senator Murray and I started these negotiations, we agreed on some ground rules. We knew if we tried to force each other to violate one of our core principles, we’d never get anywhere. I wasn’t going to raise taxes. She wasn’t going to change major entitlements. Instead, we looked for common ground. There was some overlap between the budget she proposed in the Senate and the budget I proposed in the House. We knew we wouldn’t resolve all our differences. So we found some commonsense ideas both parties could support. Here’s what we came up with: The Bipartisan Budget Act will provide $63 billion in sequester relief — split evenly between defense programs and other domestic priorities — in exchange for $85 billion in savings elsewhere in the budget. In other words, this bill will reduce the deficit by an additional $23 billion, without raising taxes. And most important, it will cut spending in a smarter way. How do we cut spending? First, we eliminate waste. We stop paying Medicaid bills that dead-beat dads should cover. That alone is a $1.4 billion cut. We stop sending unemployment checks to criminals. And we stop sending government checks to dead people. There’s no reason to tolerate fraud. Second, we cut corporate welfare. For instance, we repeal a government research program for private energy companies. A profitable industry shouldn’t rely on taxpayers to pay for its research. Third, we make real reforms to the real problem: autopilot spending. The federal government makes trillions of dollars in empty promises to retirees. And these empty promises don’t only drive the national debt; they threaten these retirees’ security. We don’t solve all these problems, but we make a good start: We make sensible reforms to federal-employee and military-retirement programs. We ask new federal employees to contribute a little bit more to their retirement, so taxpayers don’t have to pick up the full tab. And for younger military retirees, we trim their cost-of-living adjustments just a bit. It’s a modest reform for working-age military retirees, many of whom have second careers after leaving the armed forces. Finally, we don’t think taxpayers should have to bail out private companies’ pension benefits. So we ask these companies to cover more of the cost of guaranteeing their benefits. That will protect taxpayers and save $7.9 billion. These are real cuts that will become law immediately. If we pass this bill, we’ll eliminate waste — right now. We’ll cut corporate welfare — right now. And new government employees will start paying a fairer share. These savings will build up over time. But they will be even greater than what we’d save by doing nothing. That’s why this is a good deal. We haven’t squandered the gains from the Budget Control Act. We build on them. Our agreement preserves 92 percent of the sequester cuts — even though Democrats wanted none of them. We don’t get rid of this fiscal discipline — we get more and do so in a smarter way. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this bill doesn’t solve the problem. I’ve passed three budgets in the House, all three of which would have fully paid off our debt without raising taxes. This bill doesn’t go nearly far enough. But in divided government, you don’t get everything you want. You have to work with the other side. And when you get the chance to take a step forward — however small — you take it. Here’s what we’ve accomplished: We’ve cut spending in a smarter way. And we’ve made it clear: Tax hikes aren’t an option. We’ve said budget talks should be about how Washington can live within its means, not how families should pay more. For conservatives, this agreement shows we can make Washington work — and on our own terms. It’s not perfect. But it’s a start. And I ask all my colleagues in the House to support it. — Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is chairman of the House Budget Committee. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/366050/firm-step-forward-paul-ryan",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364444,Some Thoughts on the Budget Deal,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By Yuval Levin, National Review The actual text of the Ryan-Murray budget deal came out late last night, so it’s only now possible to really consider the particulars and see how it looks. It seems to me that the details look a fair bit better than the general outline that had been reported in the press over the past week or so, particularly on the question of whether the entitlement cuts that would replace some discretionary sequester cuts could be expected to actually materialize.  As it stands, this strikes me as more or less a very small-scale version of the sort of thing that Republicans hoped might be made possible by the sequester but Democrats insisted could not be: a trade of discretionary savings for mandatory savings without real tax increases. The latter point depends on your view of user fees—I generally think funding government services through user fees is much better than doing so through general revenue, so I take a move toward (slightly) greater reliance on such funding in a few programs to be a reduction in the burden on taxpayers in general without an increase in the size of government. That’s a good thing, but it’s certainly not unreasonable to describe such user fees as targeted taxes either. What the Democrats didn’t get is what they want and have insisted they would not do without: income tax increases.  This deal would amount to the Democrats accepting the implications of their misjudgment in abiding the Budget Control Act in 2011: accepting discretionary spending levels below BCA levels (and below even the original Ryan budget levels) and cementing the precedent of trading discretionary for entitlement cuts and of making budget deals without higher tax rates. And by avoiding another government shutdown fight, it robs the Democrats of one of the few escape routes they might have from the political nightmare that Obamacare’s rollout has been and will continue to be for them. It’s not exactly a deal to be celebrated, because it’s a very tiny step and does nothing to address the horrendous fiscal problems of our entitlement system. But the Democrats have made it abundantly clear that those won’t get addressed while they control the Senate and the White House, and under the circumstances this strikes me as a good deal worth voting for.  What follow are a few reflections on the contours of the deal, on its benefits, and on its risks and costs.  Most simply stated, the agreement would raise the discretionary spending levels set by the sequester by about $45 billion in 2014 and by about $20 billion in 2015, in each case divided evenly between defense and non-defense discretionary increases. That basically amounts to half of the sequester cuts that were supposed to take spending below the BCA spending caps in 2014 and a quarter of those that were supposed to do so in 2015. This sequester relief (i.e. increased spending) would then be entirely offset, and about $22 billion in additional deficit reduction would be achieved over 10 years, by (very) modest entitlement reforms that take effect over a longer period, by increasing user fees on a few government services paid for directly by people who use them, and by essentially extending the mandatory-spending portion of the sequester an additional two years.  The entitlement savings would come almost entirely from non-health entitlements—there are some modest Medicaid savings in the deal but no major reform, and nothing on Medicare or Obamacare. There is also nothing on Social Security. Instead, the cuts come from things like increasing the contributions federal employees have to make to their pension fund, changing rules to reduce fraud in the unemployment insurance system, repealing some relatively small corporate giveaways, and raising the premiums paid by companies with federally guaranteed pensions. Such small potatoes can add up to a deal here because the change to the sequester is also quite small.  These sorts of modest “other entitlement” reforms have been around as part of assorted Republican and Democratic sequester-replacement proposals for several years. They have generally been included in those proposals along with other, much larger ideas—structural reforms of the major entitlements for Republicans and tax increases for Democrats. What Murray and Ryan have done here is take all the little ideas that have long been basically agreed on by both parties and put them together without the bigger ones that divide the parties.       Indeed, what stands out most as a general matter about this proposed agreement is how very small it is—for good and bad. It involves about $65 billion over the next two years (a bit less than nine-tenths of one percent of projected federal spending over that period). It doesn’t much change the terms reached in the original Budget Control Act and sequester deal, and essentially cements the Democrats’ loss and miscalculation in that deal. The Democrats’ hope, given that they control both the White House and the Senate, was to replace the sequester with some combination of tax increases and more palatable spending cuts. The Ryan-Murray deal would say instead that about 30 percent of the sequester over the next two years will be replaced with modest (and much more sensible) longer-term entitlement savings and other small reforms, and that’s it. 70 percent of the sequester remains in place in those two years, and after those two years the entire sequester remains in place. A comparison of discretionary spending in the absence of the sequester, with the sequester, and under the proposed Ryan-Murray deal, would look like this: That the Democrats would accept a deal like this is a pretty striking indication of how the Republican House has changed the conversation on the spending front since 2010. Think of it this way: In their first budget after re-taking the majority—the FY 2012 Ryan budget, passed in 2011—the House Republicans wanted discretionary spending to be $1.039 trillion in 2014 and $1.047 trillion in 2015. These budgets were of course described by the Democrats and the political press (but I repeat myself) as some reversion to humanity’s barbaric past. Yet this proposed deal with the Democrats would put discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion in 2014 and $1.014 trillion in 2015—in both cases below that first House Republican budget.  The risk and worry for conservatives in a deal like this is that it replaces some near-term discretionary cuts with entitlement cuts that mostly happen in the out-years. That’s the argument some of the critics of this proposal have made as its general outlines have been reported in the last few days. But the details of the deal should at least in large part put those concerns to rest. The basic difference between discretionary and mandatory spending, after all, is that while discretionary spending has to be legislated anew each year, mandatory spending essentially functions by rule and remains in place until that rule is changed. This is part of the problem with our larger entitlements, of course: They run on autopilot, and building the political will to change course has proven extremely difficult. But in this case, that works in favor of the possibility that these cuts will survive. Because they touch on relatively low-salience mandatory programs, these changes would have to be actively undone to be reversed, and it’s not easy to see the circumstances under which, say, the amount paid by federal workers into their pensions would become a high enough priority for the Democrats that they would fight to lower it in a future budget deal. Mandatory spending out-year cuts have a much better record of actually materializing and remaining in place than discretionary spending out-year cuts. That’s no guarantee that these cuts would remain in place, of course, and there could never be any such guarantee. But if you look at them individually, it certainly looks pretty likely that they will, and therefore that the downward effect on overall federal spending will have a good chance of persisting through and beyond the budget window and so that over the coming decade, though not in this next year, this deal looks reasonably likely to result in slightly lower rather than higher overall federal spending than we were on a course to achieve without it.  And to be sure, that course was not likely to be sustained in any case. The Republicans’ dirty little secret in this process has always been that their own appropriators hate the sequester almost as much as the Democrats do. In the absence of a deal like this, it’s not all that likely that the sequester could have held for another year or two, and from the point of view of conservatives one of the key benefits of this kind of deal, if it does get enacted, would be to sustain the lower spending levels over the budget window despite the lack of majority support for the sequester in Congress. Of course, that lack of support for lower spending levels among some Republicans is a source of great (and justified) irritation and anger for conservatives, in and out of Congress. The Republican appropriator class is a problem to be solved, without a doubt. But the idea that forcing that problem into the open at this point by forcing another budget showdown would help the conservative cause just doesn’t make much sense to me—not only from the point of view of electoral politics but also from the point of view of conservative goals.      The goal of conservatives in national politics can’t just be to have less of the same: the liberal welfare state at a slightly lower cost. That is basically what a sequester approach to the budget amounts to, after all—no reform of anything, just a small bit of across the board spending pressure. The goal, rather, should be to transform American government along conservative lines, into a government that works to sustain and expand the space between the individual and the state, to strengthen the market economy and make its benefits accessible to more Americans, to help the poor not with an empty promise of material equality but with a fervent commitment to upward mobility, to strengthen the middle class by lifting needless burdens off the shoulders of parents and workers, and to put an end to the cronyism and corporatism that have come increasingly to characterize the relationship between the private and public sectors. Such a government would certainly cost less, would have little room for the way of thinking embodied by Republican appropriators (and all the more so by congressional Democrats of course), and could help avert the fiscal catastrophe we face if our major entitlement programs are not reformed, but it would do far more than that.   Republicans have used their House majority (very much including the budgets they have passed) to set out some elements of such an agenda, but they know they cannot make much progress while Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Their goals while that remains the case should be to make what modest gains they can, to develop that agenda further (and much work remains to be done on that front), and to improve their chances of winning future elections.  A government shutdown fight, which would easily play into the Democrats’ hands and allow them to distract the public from the ongoing failures of Obamacare (among their other troubles), would surely be a setback for this cause. And we have after all seen very recently that congressional Republicans are not in good shape to make meaningful gains in such a fight at this point. By now even the people who argued most fervently for insisting on defunding or repealing Obamacare in the last budget battle have acknowledged they didn’t really believe that could happen in such a fight. Simply doing it over won’t change the players or the circumstances, however much we might wish we could change both, and won’t advance the conservative cause. A deal that keeps in place 92 percent of the sequester, replaces the rest (and adds more savings) with fairly durable mandatory savings and other small reforms, and avoids the tax increases the Democrats want would, I think, advance that cause a little.  There’s not much to celebrate here, and there won’t be until the Democrats no longer control the Senate and the White House, but there’s not much to bemoan either, and this deal would make it more likely that the Democrats will lose that control.  http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/366034/some-thoughts-budget-deal-yuval-Levin",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364517,Paul Ryan’s ride,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By A.B. Stoddard, The Hill Leaders aren’t necessarily those we find in the highest office, or those who campaign for it, or those we see on television the most. True leaders make unpopular choices. They have the guts to take the heat for tough decisions but also to call out those who take easy cheap shots from the sidelines. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, 2012 vice presidential nominee, author of “The Roadmap” for fiscal solvency, chief doer among talkers, got slapped around this week for doing something. The bipartisan budget he helped draft, which would fund the government for two years, remove the threat of shutdowns and reduce the deficit without any new taxes, made him the latest punching bag Wednesday among Tea Party conservatives who deemed the deal a sellout. Ryan didn’t touch entitlement reforms or roll back the debt he has sworn in the past would soon create a permanent crisis, and the budget deal doesn’t resemble his “Roadmap” or previous budgets he’s drafted and the House has passed that would balance the budget in 10 years. But Ryan led, governed, compromised, kept the government running and took away the threat of shutdown, so the business community could have certainty, and the U.S. government could take a step back from becoming a laughing stock as well as a liability to the global economy.  Clearly he did something wrong. Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth all oppose the deal, along with Republicans in the running for president. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was the first out blasting the deal. Ryan responded Tuesday night on Greta Van Susteren’s show “On The Record” on Fox News Channel by calling Rubio a friend. “I don’t know that he’s seen the contents of it. I do expect some people may vote against it for their various political reasons,” he said. It wasn’t as if Ryan was surprised. When he voted a year ago for the “fiscal-cliff” deal to extend most of the Bush tax cuts, conservatives in the House opposed it in droves and criticized both Ryan and Speaker John Boehner for supporting it. When asked about criticism of Ryan’s new deal on Wednesday, Boehner (R-Ohio) accused critics from outside groups of “using our members and the American people for their own goals.” Boehner’s unprecedented outburst shows, after a shutdown the party never wanted, how much further GOP leaders are willing to push back against insurgent conservatives than they ever have been before. “We’ve got to find a way to make divided government work,” said Ryan Wednesday, throwing a lit match at the smoldering Republican divide. With that, he might have constrained his political future — not only as a presidential prospect but even as a potential Speaker of the House, a position numerous Republican members hope he would aspire to in years to come. “In divided government, you don’t always get what you want,” Ryan said. “That said, we can still make progress to our goals.” As the chorus of complaints grows louder, Ryan believes he is making quiet progress toward conservative goals and that the deal he cut doesn’t require either side to “violate a core principle.” In 16 years in the House, the young Ryan has never stopped working toward fiscal solvency, even during years in the minority. In early 2010, when it became clear the GOP could take back the House that fall, Ryan told me: “I figure, try and be a Paul Revere on the fiscal situation. I might get knocked off my horse, but at least I’ll sleep well.” Unlike a lot of would-be leaders in the GOP, Ryan should be getting some good sleep.  Stoddard is an associate editor of The Hill. http://thehill.com/opinion/ab-stoddard/192857-paul-ryans-ride",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034521/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/the-affordable-care-act-strengthens-mental-health-and-substance-use-disorder-coverage,The Affordable Care Act Strengthens Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Coverage,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Wednesday, December 11, 2013 The Affordable Care Act Strengthens Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Coverage The Affordable Care Act is helping ordinary Americans and businesses take advantage of the benefits of the health care law – including one of the largest expansions of mental health and substance use disorder coverage in a generation.   Today approximately 60 million Americans – including approximately 1,018,000 Wisconsinites – have gained access to these expanded benefits and protections.   Because of the health care law, insurance companies, for the first time, in the individual and small group market are required to cover mental health and substance use disorder services as one of ten categories of essential health benefits. It is estimated that one in five adults experience a mental illness in any given year. While most mental illnesses are treatable, those with mental illness too often cannot access needed treatment if they do not have health insurance that covers mental health services. Starting in 2014, insurers will not be able to deny coverage or charge individuals more due to pre-existing conditions, including mental illnesses.   Helping our families and businesses take advantage of the benefits of the health care law, like expanded mental health and substance use disorder benefits, is priority for Tammy in making the Affordable Care Act work for Wisconsin.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034523/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/community-health-centers-increasing-access-to-care,Community Health Centers: Increasing Access to Care,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Community Health Centers: Increasing Access to Care The Affordable Care Act is supporting, expanding, and increasing funding available to Community Health Centers nationwide. Over time, health centers have helped to deliver high-quality and comprehensive preventive & primary health care to their patients, becoming essential care facilities in their communities. The Affordable Care Act allows and provides support for health center facilities to purse long-term projects to expand, improve existing facilities, and serve more patients, recognizing the need to build additional primary care capacity in advance of health insurance reforms.   Across the country, Community Health Centers provide primary care to more than 21 million Americans.  Here in Wisconsin, 17 health centers operate 98 sites, providing preventive and primary health care services to the 281,591 people.   This support is making a difference right here in Wisconsin, at clinics such as the Bridge Street Clinic in Wausau that Tammy visited this past August.  The Bridge Clinic is using the funding and support they received through the Affordable Care Act for an expansion of their dental services program that they expect to be completed in early 2014.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042631/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/us-senator-tammy-baldwin-statement-on-bipartisan-budget-act,U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement on Bipartisan Budget Act,2013-12-11,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement on Bipartisan Budget Act Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today made the following statement regarding the Bipartisan Budget Act.   “The bipartisan budget agreement isn’t perfect, but it is progress that will help break this destructive pattern of drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. This agreement is a fair bargain that invests in middle class families, reduces the deficit, and rolls back the arbitrary cuts of sequestration that have slowed economic growth and cost our economy jobs. It is important that both parties worked together to put progress ahead of politics and produce a bipartisan agreement that is a good first step towards providing economic security for the middle class and certainty for our economy. Now that we have put in place a new path forward, it is my hope that we can continue to work across party lines to create economic growth and take a balanced approach to reducing the deficit without shortchanging our future.”   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364090,Inside the proposed bipartisan budget deal: Rep. Paul Ryan - It 'moves the ball in the right direction',2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"This is a rush transcript from Fox News' ""On the Record,"" December 10, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: This is a FOX News alert. A bipartisan budget deal on Capitol Hill. House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chair Senator Patty Murray hammering out the agreement. Congressman Paul Ryan joins us. Nice to see you, sir. REP. PAUL RYAN, HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIR: Hey. Good to be back with you, Greta. VAN SUSTEREN: You must be happy tonight. You hammered out this deal with Senator Murray? RYAN: I am. I am. It's a deal that moves the ball in the right direction. It cuts the deficit without raising taxes by cutting spending in smarter ways than the across-the-board approach. All of our members were worried about all the defense cuts. We are stopping the military from getting cutting further and we are cutting spending in smarter ways on auto pilot programs that have been untouched for years by Congress. And we're doing it in a way to make sure that there is no tax increases and that we actually lower the deficit versus doing nothing. So if you take a look at -- (CROSSTALK) RYAN: Do you want me to walk it through it a little bit I'm happy to do that. If you take a look at this chart, this shows you what we call discretionary spending, spending on government agency budgets. The blue line on the top here shows you the agreement we had a year ago under the Budget Control Act. The sequester is the red line. That ended up cutting spending. What this green area does is it reflects what we are doing, which is by preventing the military from getting cut any further, we're putting a little bit of money back in the sequester here and we're paying for it by cutting spending in other areas of government. For instance, we're asking public employees to pay a little bit more for their pensions. Our argument is that hard-working taxpayers pay for their pensions in the first place and their benefits are on average better than the taxpayers who pay for them in the first place. We have got a number of reforms that are permanent, that actually save more money and pay for some relief of ""The Sequester."" We also see that this puts us in the right direction because, the numbers down here, a year ago when I was passing a budget in the House, we were hoping for a trillion, $19 billion in total discretionary spending. We won't hit that spending level until the year 2017 with this agreement. So we are well ahead of schedule and we are getting more deficit reduction in spending cuts in areas that we have never been able to get before. That's why I think this is a good agreement and it makes divided government work and prevents government shutdowns, which we think is a good idea as well. VAN SUSTEREN: I love any deal bipartisan in this city is a really good sign. I like the fact that it's two years so there is some level of certainty for the business community. Because that's what's been so painful the continuing resolutions no one know what was going to happen so they couldn't make business decisions. Other than asking the federal workers to pay more for pensions, where else? RYAN: We are opening up a little bit of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling, 172 million barrels of oil, 302 billion cubic feet of natural gas in an area that had been closed off now is going to be open up. We are saying that deadbeat dads who don't pay for their kids' Medicaid payments need to pay for them. Making sure we don't send prisoners checks from the IRS in prison that they shouldn't be getting. VAN SUSTEREN: Hallelujah. RYAN: We are making sure that people can't rip off dead people's identities so they don't keep getting checks to go to somebody else. There is a lot of fraud, waste. We also go after corporate welfare. Research and development program for energy companies that are subsidizing with public taxpayer dollars -- I mean, public spending for private taxpayer dollars. The point I'm trying to say is shouldn't be development costs. That's a program we get rid of. A lot of things like that. VAN SUSTEREN: If Senator Pattie Murray was sitting right here what would see say she was happiest about? PAUL: Stop government shutdowns and have the Congress actually appropriate money and don't do continuing resolutions anymore. Some relief from the sequester. VAN SUSTEREN: You like that too though. PAUL: She wanted relief from the sequester. VAN SUSTEREN: You wanted relief from the sequester. RYAN: So long as we paid for it and we paid for it with more deficit reduction. I didn't want to net out to zero. I wanted -- whatever we did, I wanted to make sure it was a step in the right direction towards fiscal conservatism towards deficit reduction. She wanted relief from the sequester. That's where we were able to find common ground. The way we decided to do these negotiations was I had core principles that I was not going to compromise. I'm not going to raise taxes and I'm going to lower the deficit. She had some core principles she wasn't going to compromise. VAN SUSTEREN: Like? RYAN: She wanted relief from the sequester. She wanted 50 percent go to domestic spending and 50 percent to go back to defense spending. VAN SUSTEREN: Did she get that? RYAN: She did get that and so what we did is found where is common ground. We looked at our budget passed in the house. Her budget she passed for the first time in three years in the Senate and the president's budgets. We looked at those areas of common ground, common understanding. We negotiated that and that's what this result is. The way I look at this is you don't have to require another person to violate a core principle to get things done. You have common ground. This isn't the greatest agreement of all time. We have a long ways to go to get this deficit under control. This is a step in the right direction. VAN SUSTEREN: This has obviously nothing to do with tax reform, right? RYAN: It doesn't deal with taxes. VAN SUSTEREN: It only deals with the whole budget. All right, one of the things that the Democrats want was to extend unemployment benefits. RYAN: We didn't do that so there are a number of things that they asked for we wouldn't agree to. That's one of them. VAN SUSTEREN: Did you ask for anything that they didn't agree to? RYAN: Yes, I wanted to means test Medicare benefits. I wanted to have higher income seniors to pay more of their premiums for Medicare. They would not agree to that. VAN SUSTEREN: Have you spoken to Speaker Boehner? Has he been part of this? RYAN: He has been part of this. Our leadership team, I have spoken to dozens of colleagues in the House, talking them, getting their ideas, getting input, speaking with a lot of members in the Senate. Pattie Murray has done the same thing as well. I'm trying to get input from our colleagues. We haven't had a bipartisan budget agreement where both parties since 1986. So putting something like this together is not easy to do. It allows for give and take. As far as I'm concerned, I think this is a step in the right direction. It advances our principles of fiscal conservatism. More importantly it stops the government from shutting down in January and stops the government from possibly shutting down in October. And we think government shutdowns are not in our interest. I think some people would like to seat political distraction of a government shutdown. We would like to focus on doing oversight of the executive branch, oversight on Obamacare and oversight on the IRS and not focus on government shutdowns. VAN SUSTEREN: Does this have any impact at all, directly or indirectly, on the fact that we going to likely hit the debt ceiling in the spring. RYAN: This does not deal with that issue. Just like it doesn't touch taxes or tax reform. By limiting it in scope to spending in deficits, we're able to -- it's kind of an agreement. VAN SUSTEREN: All right, in terms of getting it passed in the House, you are going -- I suspect you are going to need some Democrats. RYAN: It's a bipartisan agreement. So we anticipate that as well. VAN SUSTEREN: You are going to lose Republicans in the House. RYAN: I anticipate that some people will not vote for it for various reasons. But, as far as a conservative Republican principle is concerned, we are lowering the deficit without raising taxes by cutting spending in smarter ways we have permanent spending cuts to pay for some temporary sequester relief. We are not turning the sequester off. We are giving short-term relief for the sequester and keeping it. I think as far as conservatism is concerned we are advancing the ball. The problem is we didn't get everything we want I didn't pass my budget. My balances the budget in 10 years and pays off the debt. I know with this divided government I can't get that so I want to get this. VAN SUSTEREN: All right, so you're going to lose some Republicans in the House, you get to pick up some Democrats. That's why I asked about the issue about extending the unemployment because that would have been a way to pick them up. RYAN: It is but it's something that we weren't prepared to do. Democrats weren't interested in paying for it. That cost $20 billion to $25 billion. We also think that there is a big economic case to make with the fact that long-term unemployment is propped up. People are more induced to staying long term unemployed. That's what a lot of studies are showing by extending emergency unemployment insurance from 2008. VAN SUSTEREN: Your press conference ended, I think, about 6:20, or 6:25. At 6:33, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican in the Senate had already issued his press release to everybody in the media saying he was opposed? RYAN: Well, I haven't talked to Marco about it. I don't know that he has seen the contents of it. I do expect some people may vote against it for various political reasons. He has his reasons. In the minority you don't have to pass things. That's a luxury or not. That people have in the Senate. Marco is a very good friend of mine. I'm a big fan of his. I wish he would support it. But, if he doesn't, that's fine. For me, I'm cutting the deficit without raising taxes and I'm getting permanent spending cuts from an area of spending that we haven't been able to touch for years. I think that's a good step in the right direction. VAN SUSTEREN: What's Senator Murray's biggest problem? RYAN: They don't like federal employees, the idea that we were going to ask federal employees to pay more for their pensions. VAN SUSTEREN: Is Congressman Van Hollen -- he has a lot of federal employees. He is a big mover and shaker in the House. He has had a lot of federal employees. RYAN: He had a hand in how we did this. I was willing to negotiate on how we treated federal employees. Not if we made them pay more for their pensions. He had a very substantial involvement in how this policy works. What we basically want to do is make sure that federal employees had their benefits more in line with the hard-working taxpayers that pay for them. This is something we dealt with in Wisconsin. States are dealing with this all over the country. We really think it's time we deal with this at the federal level. I didn't get every policy I wanted on this. We got a substantial down payment on this. Senator -- and Congressman Van Hollen was a part of that. VAN SUSTEREN: I actually think that the certainty is such an important element of this. No one gets what he or she wants. The uncertainty is so important for economy, any time we get give it a shot. You know, that that helps. RYAN: I think the idea of a government shutdown in January and then the idea of another government shutdown in October, and getting rid of that is good. VAN SUSTEREN: To jump all over. RYAN: I think there are a lot of people who would like the distraction of a government shutdown for one reason or the other. The administration is not really high on the Obamacare focus that is occurring in this country. VAN SUSTEREN: Did they like the shutdown? RYAN: Completely unraveling. VAN SUSTEREN: Do you think they like the shutdown? RYAN: I don't know. I wouldn't say that they like shutdowns, but I think they like to get off ObamaCare and by not turning the government down, we are not get off ObamaCare. Keep speaking truth to power. We are going to keep doing shining the light on the problems of the law. And that to us, gives us a good position. The last point I would make is this retains the power of the purse in Congress, the legislative branch. We are supposed to set spending. We are supposed to prioritize funding. We were supposed to exercise the power of the purse. For the last three years we have been doing these things continuing resolutions where we delegate that power to the executive branch. I want Congress to reclaim that power from the administration doing something like this, guarantees that we do that. VAN SUSTEREN: Vote likely on Thursday? RYAN: Yes. VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Congressman, thank you. And congratulations to both you and Senator Murray. Good luck. RYAN: Appreciate it.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364100,Murray and Ryan Introduce Bipartisan Budget-Conference Agreement,2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"Two-year budget agreement would avoid government shutdown in January, provide certainty to businesses and families, and return budget process to regular orderBipartisan agreement would provide sequester relief for defense and domestic priorities—fully offset by concrete savings and reforms—and further reduce the deficitShort-term agreement breaks through partisan gridlock and can serve as foundation for continued bipartisan work WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senate Budget Committee chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that they have reached a two-year budget agreement in advance of the budget conference’s December 13th deadline. “I’m proud of this agreement,” said Chairman Ryan. “It reduces the deficit—without raising taxes. And it cuts spending in a smarter way. It’s a firm step in the right direction, and I ask all my colleagues in the House to support it.”   “This agreement breaks through the recent dysfunction to prevent another government shutdown and roll back sequestration’s cuts to defense and domestic investments in a balanced way,” said Chairman Murray. “It’s a good step in the right direction that can hopefully rebuild some trust and serve as a foundation for continued bipartisan work.” The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 would set overall discretionary spending for the current fiscal year at $1.012 trillion—about halfway between the Senate budget level of $1.058 trillion and the House budget level of $967 billion. The agreement would provide $63 billion in sequester relief over two years, split evenly between defense and non-defense programs. In fiscal year 2014, defense discretionary spending would be set at $520.5 billion, and non-defense discretionary spending would be set at $491.8 billion. The sequester relief is fully offset by savings elsewhere in the budget. The agreement includes dozens of specific deficit-reduction provisions, with mandatory savings and non-tax revenue totaling approximately $85 billion. The agreement would reduce the deficit by between $20 and $23 billion. The House of Representatives is expected to take up the Bipartisan Budget Act first, followed by the Senate. If this bill is signed into law, the appropriations committees will then be able to work on spending bills at an agreed-upon level in advance of the January 15th deadline.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364455,Good Deal,2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Paul Ryan,R000570,paulryan.house.gov,,,legacy,"By William Kristol, The Weekly Standard The budget deal announced today is a good deal for conservatives and Republicans. From the point of view of policy, the deal is a modest achievement—which is all that can be expected, given the unfortunate fact that Barack Obama is president and Democrats control the Senate. The trade-off in the deal of minor mandatory cuts for relatively small domestic discretionary increases is basically a wash. That leaves the defense increase, which, while insufficient, is an important step in the right direction. That alone would make the deal worthwhile. But the restoration of the normal appropriations process will also have a good effect, allowing Republicans to argue for reforms and articulate priorities in several domestic policy areas, rather than being the party of a mindless sequester that does little to cut spending, nothing to advance conservative ideas, and discourages efforts at reform. From the point of view of politics, the budget deal is a significant achievement. It averts a meltdown scenario next month, in which it would have become clear that House Republicans don't in fact have the votes in their own conference to insist on the budget caps and sequester. So the real alternative to the deal isn't a more fiscally conservative outcome achieved by Republican unity; it's GOP political disarray and policy defeat. The deal saves Republicans from this fate, while allowing for a focus throughout the next year and in the 2014 election season on Obamacare and other Obama administration failures, rather than on intra-GOP wars and possible government shutdowns. So the deal will be a small but significant step toward strengthening our national defense, and should help produce a Republican and conservative electoral victory in November. Critics can say that such a result is Mickey Mouse. I could retort that the critics are Goofy. But I won't. Instead, I'll just say that if this deal is Mickey Mouse, it's time to join the Mickey Mouse Fan Club. After all, it's made for you and me. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/good-deal_770730.html",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-releases-new-report-65000-wisconsinites-to-lose-jobless-aid,"Pocan Releases New Report: 65,000 Wisconsinites to Lose Jobless Aid Without Congressional Action",2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) today continued highlighting that Congress has #MoreWork2Do before the end of the year by releasing a new report finding that 65,000 Wisconsinites would soon lose vital unemployment insurance without Congressional action. If Congress fails to extend the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program within the next two weeks, in Wisconsin alone: 23,700 unemployed workers will lose unemployment insurance just days after the holiday season on December 28, 2013. An additional 41,800 unemployed workers would lose their insurance in the first six months of 2014. Today Pocan signed on as a sponsor of The Emergency Unemployment Insurance Benefits Act, which would extend the emergency unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed for an additional year. “Without Congressional action, the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Wisconsin families will be threatened just days after Christmas,” Pocan said. “As our economy continues to recover, we must maintain this vital unemployment insurance for Wisconsin job seekers who would like nothing more than to re-enter the workforce. Congress needs to come together to extend these benefits, focus on job creation, and strengthen middle class families across America.” Federal unemployment insurance has been reauthorized several times as Americans continue to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Despite the real progress the economy has made since its near collapse in 2008, there are still 1.3 million fewer jobs than there were before the recession began. Long-term unemployment is near historic highs at 37 percent, with the unemployment rate in Wisconsin at 6.7 percent in October and more than 195,000 Wisconsinites still struggling to find work.  Failure to extend federal unemployment insurance would also hurt job growth throughout the nation, costing the economy 310,000 jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute, while decreasing GDP and increasing government spending for other safety net programs. The White House Council of Economic Advisors estimates that in Wisconsin alone, failing to extend the program will cost more than 5,000 jobs. Despite the fact that Congress is set to pass fewer laws this year than at almost any point in history, the House of Representatives is currently scheduled to finish its “work” in Washington by the end of this week. As part of his #MoreWork2Do week, Rep. Pocan is highlighting many important items Congress should finish before it leaves on vacation, including the need to pass a new Farm Bill, vote on comprehensive immigration reform, and focus on legislation to promote job creation and economic growth.       ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-kind-delauro-and-blumenauer-tell-speaker-boehner-majority-leader,"Reps. Kind, DeLauro, and Blumenauer Tell Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor: Keep Farm Bill Loopholes Closed",2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC--Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) today implored Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor to keep loopholes for multimillionaires closed in any final Farm Bill. Both the House and Senate-passed versions of the Farm Bill reformed payment limits for commodity programs by capping the total number of active personal management who can receive commodity payments. It is unconscionable that these conferees would try to reverse the reforms backed by a majority of their colleagues so as to continue the flow of millions of dollars, beyond what they are entitled to, to a relatively few mega farms, the representatives wrote. CBO [Congressional Budget Office] has estimated $170 million in savings if Congress reforms payment limits for commodity programs by placing a hard cap of $250,000 (for married couples) on the total amount of commodity payments that producers can receive. Members of Congress are currently negotiating a new five-year Farm Bill that could cut billions from nutrition and anti-hunger programs, even as multimillionaires continue to get exorbitant farm subsidy payments. The farm subsidy programs are rife with fraud, as the Government Accountability Office recently detailed. By contrast, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), has one of the lowest error rates of any federal program. Over 90 percent of all food stamp spending goes to families living at or below the poverty line. The letter can be read in its entirety here. -30-",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042642/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/wisconsin-continues-to-pay-a-price-for-failing-to-strengthen-badgercare-through-the-affordable-care-act,Wisconsin Continues to Pay a Price for Failing to Strengthen BadgerCare through the Affordable Care Act,2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Wisconsin Continues to Pay a Price for Failing to Strengthen BadgerCare through the Affordable Care Act Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Washington, DC - Today, Senator Tammy Baldwin renewed her call for Governor Scott Walker to seize the opportunity to strengthen BadgerCare through the Affordable Care Act.   “Wisconsin continues to pay a price for Governor Walker’s insistence on putting politics ahead of what’s best for our state,” said Baldwin.  “He has refused to accept an investment to strengthen our BadgerCare program and instead he continues to take Wisconsin down a fiscally irresponsible path that covers fewer people at a higher cost to taxpayers. It doesn’t have to be this way but Governor Walker insists on his plan of kicking tens of thousands of people off of BadgerCare and into an exchange he wants repealed - while at the same time keeping over 80,000 people out in the cold for another three months without the health care they need.”   Because of the health care law, states can choose to expand their Medicaid coverage to all adults with incomes below 133 percent of poverty (around $32,000 for a family of four) and in return receive 100 percent of federal funding to cover those costs for the first three years and no less than 90 percent federal support for those costs in the years following. So far, 26 states and the District of Columbia have taken up this Medicaid expansion opportunity, In fact, thanks to these states and the opening of the new Health Insurance Marketplaces, we know that 6 in 10 currently uninsured Americans will have access to health coverage for $100 per month or less next year, and that number would rise to 8 in 10 if the states that haven’t expanded coverage – including Wisconsin – did.   Expanding Medicaid is a smart choice for Wisconsin. Since expanding Medicaid reduces medical expenses that states pay for uncompensated care, the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that states would generate net savings from expanding Medicaid. According to Kaiser, expanding Medicaid could save states a total of $10 billion through 2022.   State analyses back up these national reports that Governor Walker’s plan to reject the Medicaid expansion covers fewer people at a higher cost. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has found that compared to taking the federal investment to expand Medicaid, Governor Walker’s plan will cost Wisconsin taxpayers $119 million more over the next two years to cover 85,000 fewer people through BadgerCare. Through 2020, the Governor’s plan costs $250 million more than expanding BadgerCare under the federal Medicaid expansion.   A recent story from a patient at the St. Clare Health Mission in La Crosse highlights the personal struggles Wisconsinites are facing under Governor Walker’s plan. According to the La Crosse Tribune, a local man in his mid-40s, who has a hernia and whose employer would not allow him to work until it is repaired, is in jeopardy of losing his job because he will not have health insurance coverage at the beginning of the year. If the Governor had taken the opportunity to strengthen BadgerCare, this man would be covered and would be able to schedule a surgery the first week of January. But under Governor Walker’s plan, he is not eligible for insurance until April 1, risking loss of his job because his employer won’t wait that long.   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042654/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/us-senators-tammy-baldwin-and-edward-markey-preserve-public-access-to-local-television-channels-ensure-diversity-of-programming,"U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Edward Markey Preserve Public Access to Local Television Channels, Ensure Diversity of Programming",2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Edward Markey Preserve Public Access to Local Television Channels, Ensure Diversity of Programming Tuesday, December 10, 2013 Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Edward Markey (D-MA) today introduced the Community Access Preservation (CAP) Act, legislation to ensure public access to local television programming.   “The 80-plus public, educational, and governmental access channels in the state of Wisconsin deliver invaluable public programming on a daily basis, commercial free and with the sole purpose of informing and educating our communities,” said Baldwin. “As local budgets tighten and television delivery methods change, we must ensure that our local public access channels are able to continue to reflect local interests and bring diverse programming to the public.”   ""PEG access stations are televised town squares where local citizens can see and hear what is happening in their own community, and respond with their own voices to the issues affecting their cities and towns,” said Markey. “I have long admired the goals of education and participation heralded by these TV channels, and I will continue to support the work of these vital local resources.""   Across the country, there over 2,000 public, educational, and governmental (PEG) studios/operations and an estimated 5,000 PEG channels. In a time of media consolidation, these local, non-commercial access channels bring unique voices, perspectives, and programming to communities. Local school districts operate PEG channels to feature school board meetings and forums, homework helpers, interviews, lectures, and sporting events not otherwise broadcast on television. And religious programming represents 20-40 percent of local access programming.   PEG channels receive no federal funding.  The Telecommunications Act of 1996 grants municipalities the right to assess a small franchise fee, which is paid to local or state governments to support community media centers. Several states, while intending to preserve PEG and community media, have adopted statewide video franchising standards that have devastated PEG funding. Since 2005, PEG access channels have suffered severe setbacks as a result of these statewide franchising laws passed in 23 states. These laws took away a local community’s ability to negotiate with cable operators, resulting in six states -  Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri -  losing all funding for PEG channels in 2012.  In addition, in 2007, the FCC ruled, subject to some important exceptions, that PEG franchise fees could only be used for facilities and equipment, and not for operating expenses.  As a result, many communities are closing PEG facilities because, while they have equipment, there are no funds to operate them.   The CAP Act amends the Cable Act to ensure that PEG fees can be used for any purpose, including paying employee salaries.  The legislation reaffirms that cable operators must deliver PEG channels to subscribers without additional charges, and via channel placement with the same quality, accessibility and functionality as provided to local television broadcast stations.  Finally, it requires operators to provide the support required under state laws, or the support historically provided for PEG, or up to 2 percent of gross revenue, whichever is greater.  The CAP Act costs nothing, will address the severe challenges faced by PEG access channels and local community media, and will save thousands of jobs across the country.   “Congress, through the cable acts of 1984 and 1992, intended to make sure that local communities could have PEG access channels and funding in return for the cable operators’ use of public rights-of-way,” said John Rocco, President, American Community Television. This legislation will restore what Congress intended and helps to secure a local community’s ability to use these channels to communicate.  We want to thank Senator Baldwin and Senator Markey for working together to save these channels.”   “Wisconsin needs the CAP Act,” said Mary Cardona, Executive Director of Wisconsin Community Media. “In 2007, state franchise legislation eliminated PEG funding. Since then, citizen-produced local programming has withered while local governments strive to retain coverage of local affairs.  Some key public access centers in the state have closed their doors.  The CAP Act will restore support for the community programming residents want.  The continuing erosion of community television services in the state has been of great concern to Wisconsin Community Media and we could not be more thrilled at the re-introduction of the CAP Act by Senators Baldwin and Markey.”   “In a time when religious programming face increasing challenges to its voice being given an equal platform, PEG channels offer a venue for these programs to be accessed,” said Bishop John C. Wester, Diocese of Salt Lake City and chair of the USCCB Committee on Communications. “This is of particular importance for the elderly, disabled or homebound who long to remain connected to their religious communities but are unable to take part in their religious or community activities.”   The CAP Act is supported by the Alliance for Community Media (ACM), American Community Television, The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), The National League of Cities, The United States Conference of Mayors, Americans for the Arts, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221062024/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/a-critical-lifeline_--congress-must-act,A critical lifeline - Congress must act,2013-12-10,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Tuesday, December 10, 2013 A critical lifeline - Congress must act At this time, federal support for unemployment insurance is set to end a few days after the holiday season, cutting off vital support for 1.3 million Americans. “Our nation’s economy is moving forward but Wisconsin’s economy continues to lag behind other states and far too many hard working people are still looking for a job. Wisconsin’s economy can’t afford the expiration of unemployment insurance because it will cost our economy jobs and slow growth. That is why it is critical that Congress takes action to continue federal support for unemployment insurance and provide a lifeline for Wisconsin families as they search for work in our recovering economy,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin. According to the Wisconsin Budget Project’s report released last week, over 65,000 Wisconsinites will be impacted if Congress fails to act by the end of the year. 23,700 long-term unemployed workers in Wisconsin will be immediately cut off EUC at the end of 2013, as shown in the chart below. Some 41,800 additional workers will exhaust their state-funded 26 weeks of unemployment benefits in the first half of 2014, and will be denied access to federal unemployment benefits. Tammy joined a number of Senate colleagues is calling for the continuation of federal support for unemployment insurance. Today, she is encouraging Governor Walker and the entire Wisconsin Congressional delegation to join her efforts on behalf of hard-working families looking for a job in Wisconsin.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-calls-on-congress-to-prevent-price-of-milk-from-doubling,Pocan Calls on Congress to Prevent Price of Milk from Doubling,2013-12-09,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"MADISON, WI—Imagine if a gallon of milk suddenly cost $7 at every grocery store in south central Wisconsin. Unfortunately, that could become a reality starting in 2014 if Congress does not pass a new Farm Bill by the end of the year.  At a press conference today in Madison at the Jenifer Street Market, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) called for his colleagues not to leave Washington until action is taken to avoid these unnecessary price increases for families and farmers in south central Wisconsin. “Congressional inaction has already shut down the government, and now it is threatening to double the price of milk to more than $7 a gallon,” Pocan said. “This type of price increase would devastate our Wisconsin families and gravely harm our Wisconsin dairy farmers. Although the House is scheduled to finish its work by the end of the week, we will not have done our jobs if we fail to address this vital concern. I call on my colleagues not to leave Washington until we pass a Farm Bill and protect the economic security of our families and famers.” If Congress does not pass a new Farm Bill by the end of the year, the country will revert to the outdated dairy policies of the 1940s, which would effectively double the price of milk in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average for a gallon of milk was nearly $3.50 in October. Members of the House and Senate on the Farm Bill Conference Committee are now working to finish a final agreement on new legislation, but with the House scheduled to leave Washington at the end of this week, time is quickly running out. Reports indicate that one of the major areas of disagreement remain over cuts to the food stamp program—the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). House Republicans are advocating for $40 billion in SNAP Cuts, which would deny benefits to approximately 150,000 Wisconsinites, put 4,000 Wisconsin kids at risk of losing access to free/reduced school lunches, and result in the loss of an estimated $170 million to the Wisconsin economy just next year. Pocan voted against these cuts earlier this year. Monday’s press conference kicked off Pocan’s #MoreWork2Do Week, where he will highlight major priorities Congress should tackle before leaving on vacation. Due to a lack of leadership from House Republicans, this Congress is set to pass fewer laws this year than at almost any point in history. Among the priorities Pocan will highlight this week include the need to pass a budget, extend unemployment insurance benefits, pass comprehensive immigration reform, and focus on legislation to promote job creation and economic growth.   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221033356/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/in-the-news/immigration-vital-to-wisconsin-agriculture-farmers-tell-baldwin,"Immigration vital to Wisconsin agriculture, farmers tell Baldwin",2013-12-09,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Immigration vital to Wisconsin agriculture, farmers tell Baldwin By:  Mike Tighe Monday, December 9, 2013 Immigration reform must ensure a supply of farm workers from other countries to help sustain Wisconsin agriculture, several farmers and ag representatives told U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin on Friday in La Crosse. Immigration and reforming crop subsidies in the federal farm bill dominated discussion during a roundtable that the Wisconsin Democrat convened at Dairyland Power Cooperative. Baldwin’s session with nearly 20 farmers, educators and officials in the ag industry came as a congressional conference committee wrestles with a new five-year farm bill. Negotiators are snagged over the House version, which would cut $40 billion from food stamps over 10 years, and restructuring subsidies. “Sixty percent of the milk in Wisconsin is harvested by immigrants,” said John Rosenow, a Buffalo County dairy farmer with 500 cows. Rosenow told of a Minnesota customer whose Community Supported Agriculture enterprise had 30 workers, several of whom were deported after an immigration audit deemed them illegal. “People who had been working for him for 12 years he had to let go,” Rosenow said. “It almost killed his farm.” Rosenow, who said eight of his 20 employees are from Mexico, said that, at a time when farm labor is in short supply, “We found this great source of workers in Mexican immigrants.” Beyond the economic issue of providing farm workers is the moral aspect that it also benefits the immigrants, he said. He recently visited families of some of his workers in Mexico, where he said a building boom “is the direct result of their jobs here.” “These are people,” he said. “They are not illegal aliens. … You need to get to know them as people.” John Jones, who farms 900 acres with 100 cows near Bangor, said immigrants really want to work, while many Americans eschew hard labor. “We need the immigrants if you don’t want a lot of people to go hungry.” Agriculture faces a dearth of workers in coming years, said Michael Compton, who directs the School of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. We're going to have 130,000 vacancies in the agricultural work force,” he said. “We need to be able to recruit and retain students in agriculture.” Jake Wedeberg, a 28-year-old organic farmer near Gays Mills, said farming offers opportunities to young people like him, and the farm bill should ensure that lifestyle. “We market through Organic Valley, and we want a stable pay price to keep the organic seal strong,” Wedeberg said. Jerry McGeorge, cooperative affairs vice president for the La Farge-based Organic Valley, said exports are increasingly important to Organic Valley and its 1,834 members. But South Korea is threatening to bar any U.S. organic products, which it also attempted a few years ago but was thwarted. “Now, it’s trying it again,” McGeorge said in urging Baldwin to work against the ban. Keith Wilson, a Cuba City farmer and an Organic Valley board member, said, “In the farm bill, we’re very concerned about huge subsidies for large farms. It really distorts the picture for family farms.” During an interview after the roundtable, Wilson said, “I would really like to see a cap put on subsidies, especially to the large, wealthy farmers who don’t need it.” Subsidies often make large farms larger, benefiting investors and groups at the expense of family farms, he said. “They are making millions from subsidies and then morally how do they get rid of food stamps?” Wilson said. Baldwin said she hopes the conference committee has something to present on the farm bill to the Senate next week if there is to be any hope of passing it before Jan. 1. Conference leaders expressed confidence this week that they might reach a deal in time to avert the expiration of dairy subsides Jan. 1. Baldwin decried the House version’s slashing of food stamps, now called SNAP for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is important not only for the estimated 3.8 million people who would lose food stamps but also for farmers, Baldwin said. “There is a reason nutrition and agriculture are linked in the farm bill,” she said. “Farmers realize the connection between hunger and nutrition.”",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221183350/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363872,"Tech giants' demand for NSA reform 'a major game-changer', advocates say",2013-12-09,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Senior figures behind efforts to curtail the powers of American spy agencies have seized on the decision by the world’s largest tech companies to call for radical surveillance reform, saying the unexpected intervention is a potential “game-changer”.In an open letter published jointly on Monday, eight tech giants, including Apple, Google and Facebook, said disclosures by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that basic rights and freedoms were being undermined. The companies – which also include Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, LinkedIn and Twitter, and have a combined value of $1.4tn – called for widespread changes that, if enacted, would end many of the current programs through which governments spy on citizens at home and abroad. ""This is a major game-changer,” Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group, told the Guardian. She said the letter was certain to get the attention of the White House and Congress, not least because the often-cautious tech companies wrote the letter in unison, accompanied by personal statements from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and his counterpart at Google, Larry Page. Tech giants usually leave public lobbying to the dozen or so industry associations in Washington. It is unprecedented for the major tech giants to put their names to a single political statement of this kind. “These are companies that have been deputised to be in the middle of a new, massive, systematic collection regime, against their will,” Harris said. “They are being told they can’t tell their users about it; they are losing business around the world and discovering that their data centres are being broken into. And I think they’re ready to fight back.” Harris said senior executives in tech companies had coalesced around a set of political demands closely aligned with those called for by the internet freedom community, including her organisation. The Center for Democracy and Technology receives some funding from all eight tech giants behind the letter, but is a non-profit advocacy group. The letter comes at a critical juncture. In six days, President Barack Obama will receive the findings of an independent review panel, consisting of five top-level experts appointed by the White House to propose a raft of possible reforms. The make-up of the group, which includes Richard Clarke, a former White House counter-terrorism chief, and Michael Morell, the previous deputy director of the CIA, has been criticised as being too close to the intelligence community, but the administration insists its work has been independent and robust and will inform Obama's thinking about surveillance reform. Next month, Congress is expected to debate competing legislation that will either substantially change how the NSA and partner agencies do business – for example, by rendering illegal the current practice of collecting phone records in bulk – or make only a few marginal changes. The US intelligence community and its supporters on Capitol Hill are advocating only superficial changes that would leave their powers untouched and even codify practices that some legal experts argue are unconstitutional. This sets up a major legislative battle in the new year, which observers say could go either way. The position the White House takes in the debate could prove crucial. A key barometer of change will be whether the phone records collection program survives. In their letter, the eight internet companies pointedly said governments should “limit surveillance to specific known users for lawful purposes” and “should not undertake bulk data collection”. The letter also does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens, revealing, perhaps, that executives at the companies are acutely aware of the potential for NSA revelations to damage their business abroad. Justin Amash, the House Republican whose amendment to end the mass collection of American citizens’ phone records was only narrowly defeated in July, said the tech companies' statement would galvanise support for the USA Freedom Act, the bill which is proposing to end bulk collection. “Businesses increasingly recognise that our government's out-of-control surveillance hurts their bottom line and costs American jobs,” Amash said in a statement. The legislation, which is authored by Republican Jim Sensenbrenner in the House and Democrat Patrick Leahy in the Senate, and has 120 bipartisan co-sponsors in both chambers, has become the rallying point for advocates of reform on Capitol Hill. Sensenbrenner said on Monday that tech companies were among those “directly impacted by the NSA’s overreach”. The open letter, he added, “helps add to the growing momentum for much-needed reform”. Leahy, in a statement emailed to the Guardian, pressed the case for reform in the wake of the letter. “The global competitiveness of the American technology industry has been undermined by revelations of massive dragnet surveillance programs,"" Leahy said. ""We need to make substantial reforms to our surveillance laws to address the privacy concerns of innocent people whose information has been swept up in these programs, and to rebuild confidence in the US technology industry.” Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic congresswoman whose California district includes part of Silicon Valley, said it was too early to determine the extent to which the intervention would alter the debate in a significant way. She pointed out that while the tech industry has a large and growing influence in Washington, and includes major donors to Obama’s re-election campaign, “they’ve not always, or even often, got their way on policy issues”. “It is my perception that the spy agencies are pretty much oblivious to the impact on the country when it comes to the economy, credibility and the like,” she told the Guardian. “I don’t know if this is going to convince them.” Lofgren is close to the tech industry; earlier this year she introduced legislation to enable tech firms to disclose the nature of government surveillance orders they receive – a proposal that was incorporated into the USA Freedom Act and was among the demands in Monday’s open letter. She said that irrespective of whether Congress implemented the kind of reform advocated by the likes of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, those companies already recognise “the potential economic harm to overseas business is substantial”, and are taking defensive action. That involves hiring the best cryptologists they can find in what Lofgren described as a developing “encryption race” between the private sector and government. “All of these companies are scrambling to increase security in order to prevent surveillance from their own government,” she said. “It is very clear that the technology companies are not going to wait for Congress. They are going to amplify and deploy additional measures to protect the privacy of their users.” View online, here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221183405/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363871,"Twitter, Facebook and more demand sweeping changes to US surveillance",2013-12-09,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"The world's leading technology companies have united to demand sweeping changes to US surveillance laws, urging an international ban on bulk collection of data to help preserve the public's “trust in the internet”.In their most concerted response yet to disclosures by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter and AOL have published an open letter to Barack Obama and Congress on Monday, throwing their weight behind radical reforms already proposed by Washington politicians. “The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual – rights that are enshrined in our constitution,” urges the letter signed by the eight US-based internet giants. “This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for change.” Several of the companies claim the revelations have shaken public faith in the internet and blamed spy agencies for the resulting threat to their business interests. “People won’t use technology they don’t trust,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel. “Governments have put this trust at risk, and governments need to help restore it.” The chief executive of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, said: “Recent revelations about government surveillance activities have shaken the trust of our users, and it is time for the United States government to act to restore the confidence of citizens around the world."" Silicon Valley was initially sceptical of some allegations about NSA practices made by Snowden but as more documentary evidence has emerged in the Guardian and other newspapers detailing the extent of western surveillance capabilities, its eight leading players – collectively valued at $1.4tn – have been stung into action amid fears of commercial damage. “We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens,” they say in the letter. “But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide.” A separate list of five “reform principles” signed by the normally fiercely competitive group echoes measures to rein in the NSA contained in bipartisan legislation proposed by the Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary committee, Patrick Leahy, and the Republican author of the Patriot Act, Representative Jim Sensenbrenner. Crucially, Silicon Valley and these key reformers in Congress now agree the NSA should no longer be allowed to indiscriminately gather vast quantities of data from individuals it does not have cause to suspect of terrorism in order to detect patterns or in case it is needed in future. “Governments should limit surveillance to specific, known users for lawful purposes, and should not undertake bulk data collection of internet communications,” says the companies' new list of principles. They also argue that requests for companies to hand over individual data should be limited by new rules that balance the “need for the data in limited circumstances, users’ reasonable privacy interests, and the impact on trust in the internet”. This places them in direct conflict with Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who is sponsoring a rival bill that would enshrine the right of security agencies to collect bulk data. Feinstein, who represents California, has been accused by critics of being a cheerleader for Washington's intelligence committee but now faces opposition from her state's largest industry. The companies also repeat a previous demand that they should be allowed to disclose how often surveillance requests are made but this is the first time they have come together with such wide-ranging criticism of the underlying policy. The industry's lobbying power has been growing in Washington and could prove a tipping point in the congressional reform process, which has been delayed by the autumn budget deadlock but is likely to return as a central issue in the new year. The Feinstein and Leahy/Sensenbrenner bills agree with technology companies that there should be greater transparency of court rulings regulating surveillance and more opportunity for privacy advocates to argue against intelligence agency requests. The eight technology companies also hint at new fears, particularly that competing national responses to the Snowden revelations will not only damage their commercial interests but also lead to a balkanisation of the web as governments try to prevent internet companies from escaping overseas. “The ability of data to flow or be accessed across borders is essential to a robust, 21st century, global economy,” the companies argue in the list of reform principles. “Governments should permit the transfer of data and should not inhibit access by companies or individuals to lawfully available information that is stored outside of the country. Governments should not require service providers to locate infrastructure within a country’s borders or operate locally.” And they argue foreign governments need to come together to agree new international standards regulating surveillance, hinting at legal disputes and damage to international trade otherwise. “In order to avoid conflicting laws, there should be a robust, principled, and transparent framework to govern lawful requests for data across jurisdictions, such as improved mutual legal assistance treaty – or “MLAT” – processes,” say the companies. “Where the laws of one jurisdiction conflict with the laws of another, it is incumbent upon governments to work together to resolve the conflict.” Official responses to the Snowden revelations have been angriest in countries subject to US surveillance such as Germany and Brazil, but more muted in countries such as Britain and Australia, whose governments are close partners of the NSA. Martha Lane Fox, who recently resigned as the British government's digital champion, responded to the new letter by expressing concern at the lack of understanding of both the scale and complexity of the surveillance story within Britain's government. ""We do have an issue in this country among the corporate world, the political establishment and the general population where we have a shortage of skills and understanding for the digital age,"" she told the Guardian. ""There is an absence of a clear, coherent debate around this subject in this country and it's a very big issue that will only become more frequent the more technologically dependent we become."" She pointed to comments made by the former Conservative home office minister Lord Blencathra and the Labour peer Lord Soley, who both expressed concern at the scope of surveillance by the security services. ""[The government] needs to listen to people, to examine whether their policies are fit for the digital age. It's not that people aren't used to their data being collected, but what it is being collected for, and there needs to be a distinction between the average person and a security threat."" The eight internet companies behind the new letter also acknowledge that business also has a responsibility to protect privacy. “For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure, deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorised surveillance on our networks, and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope,” they conclude. “We urge the US to take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight.” Google, Twitter, Yahoo and last week Microsoft have all responded to public concerns over surveillance by increasing the security of their products, introducing “perfect forward secrecy” encryption to protect information travelling on their internal systems. ""The security of users' data is critical, which is why we've invested so much in encryption and fight for transparency around government requests for information,” said Google's chief executive, Larry Page. “This is undermined by the apparent wholesale collection of data, in secret and without independent oversight, by many governments around the world. It's time for reform and we urge the US government to lead the way.” View online, here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/media-center/enewsletters/real-problems-require-real-solutions,Real problems require real solutions,2013-12-08,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Dear friends,   Although the legislative year is winding down, we are not slowing down. There is still much work to be done. We’re going to spend the entire month of December working to bring relief for so many Americans who continue to experience daily hardships. Whether immediate fixes to the healthcare law, regulatory fixes for our rural communities or bringing job seekers and job holders together under one roof, read on for more about ways I am working on your behalf to make life a little easier, and hopefully a whole lot better, for our 7th District community. Real problems require real solutions: The number of Americans losing their health insurance continues to climb with estimates reaching tens of millions and some going up to 100 million. This week on the Floor of the House, I again talked about Denise, who is in need of a kidney transplant. I would prefer to fully repeal this law and replace it with an alternative, such as the one I introduced, but in the mean time, millions of Americans, like Denise, need a more immediate solution. I recently introduced H.R.3621. This bill would provide access to health insurance coverage of life-sustaining treatments furnished by certain providers and could mean the difference between life and death for many Americans in situations similar to Denise’s. To watch a clip of my Floor remarks from PBS News Hour click on the image:  Here are the jobs! I hear so many people tell me I don't have the opportunity to get a good - better paying - job. And then I hear employers say I can't find good, skilled labor to fill the spots I have open. Monday’s job fair in Wausau will bring those looking for jobs and those who are looking for employees under the same roof. Click on the image for more:    Help our rural Wisconsin communities: In the Financial Services Committee this week, we discussed legislation that would amend the CFPB’s QM rule to more accurately determine rural communities in America:   “I live in rural America…a lot of dairy there, a lot of farms in Central and Northern Wisconsin. If you look at the CFPB’s QM rule in regard to balloon loans…we have Douglas County in the northwest tip of Wisconsin…outside of that little county where Superior is located, the whole county is rural. It is farms. [Under this rule] it is designated non-rural. The industry, the agriculture is all the same, but you only get these kinds of rules from bureaucrats in Washington who have no idea about our Wisconsin communities, our makeup, and how our economies work. When you have bureaucrats in Washington making decisions you see maps like the ones we have for the balloon loans that don’t make sense.” To watch my full remarks from the hearing, click on the image:   Thanks for taking the time to catch-up on the week that was. Check out the column on the right for details on tomorrow's job fair. For the latest on all my work on your behalf, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter Have a great week,      Sean",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ron-kind-continues-fight-make-college-more-affordable,Rep. Ron Kind Continues Fight to Make College More Affordable,2013-12-06,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"Rep. Kind Cites New Study Finding that Wisconsin Ranks 8th in the U.S. for Student Loan Debt WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) today renewed his call for action to make college loans more affordable, citing a new study finding that Wisconsin ranks 8th highest in the country for percentage of graduates with student loan debt. The fact that our state has the 8th highest percentage of students graduating with debt should be a wake-up call for every Wisconsinite, said Rep. Kind. We have to reverse this trend. Helping our young people prepare to compete in the global marketplace is a smart investment, and an absolute necessity for the future of our state's economy. The study, conducted by the Institute for College Access and Success, found the 68% of last year's graduates left school carrying student loan debt. The average debt amount was $28,102, which was the 14th highest in the nation. Rep. Kind has taken concrete steps to keep college affordable, and has consistently voted against bills that aim to balance the federal deficit on the backs of students. He strongly opposed a so-called compromise on student loan interest rates this past summer, which will ultimately lead to higher interest rates. He also introduced the Protecting Education through Lifetime Learning (PELL) Grant Funding Act to direct any profit the government makesfrom federal student loan programs into the Pell Grant program. Rep. Kind's efforts are especially needed as higher education in Wisconsin faces historic challenges. The state has cut funding for our public colleges by 11%, and at the federal level, mandatory spending reductions (known as the sequester) are cutting 5% from programs helping low-income students, minorities, and students with disabilities afford college. I have the privilege of representing 14 colleges and universities in the Third Congressional District and I know how tough it is on families trying to pay for college, concluded Rep. Kind. For a Wisconsin student to graduate from college and enter the job market with over $28,000 in debt creates a huge financial strain that can last for years. The time for action is now, before Wisconsin falls any further behind.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221062114/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/upcoming-staff-office-hours-in-viroqua,Upcoming staff office hours in Viroqua,2013-12-06,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Friday, December 6, 2013 Upcoming staff office hours in Viroqua Senator Baldwin's office has announced that members of her staff will hold office hours in Viroqua on December 12, 2013. Constituents will have the opportunity to meet with staff and request assistance with a federal agency or discuss other federal issues. No appointment is necessary. Here are the details for office hours on December 12, 2013: Viroqua 2:00-3:00pm Viroqua City Hall 202 North Main Street Viroqua, WI 54665",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221193143/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363891,Patriot Act author: Obama’s intel czar should be prosecuted,2013-12-06,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the original author of the Patriot Act, says Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should be prosecuted for lying to Congress.""Lying to Congress is a federal offense, and Clapper ought to be fired and prosecuted for it,"" the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview with The Hill. He said the Justice Department should prosecute Clapper for giving false testimony during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March. During that hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Clapper whether the National Security Agency (NSA) collects data on millions of Americans. Clapper insisted that the NSA does not — or at least does ""not wittingly"" — collect information on Americans in bulk. After documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA collects records on virtually all U.S. phone calls, Clapper apologized for the misleading comment. The intelligence director said he tried to give the ""least untruthful"" answer he could without revealing classified information. Sensenbrenner said that explanation doesn’t hold water and argued the courts and Congress depend on accurate testimony to do their jobs. ""The only way laws are effective is if they're enforced,"" Sensenbrenner said. ""If it's a criminal offense — and I believe Mr. Clapper has committed a criminal offense — then the Justice Department ought to do its job."" Shawn Turner, a spokesman for Clapper, declined to comment. Sensenbrenner also said President Obama should fire Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander in the wake of the revelations about the spying programs. View online, here. He argued that, because members of the military are naturally more concerned with national security, both jobs should be filled with civilians. ""The successor of both Clapper and Alexander ought to be civilians,"" Sensenbrenner said. ""I think that civilians would be able to have a better balance in seeing the distinction between security and civil liberties."" Alexander is a four-star Army general, while Clapper is a retired lieutenant general in the Air Force. Senior White House officials are considering whether the next NSA director should be a civilian, as The Hill first reported last month. The NSA has been led only by military officers since its founding in 1952. Alexander has said he will retire in the spring. Sensenbrenner, a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is pushing the USA Freedom Act, which would limit the NSA's power, tighten oversight and end the bulk collection of phone records. He was the original author of the Patriot Act in 2001, which the NSA has cited when filing secret court requests to conduct surveillance. But Sensenbrenner claims that the NSA is overstepping the law and violating the Constitution.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221203142/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363717,Sensenbrenner Disappointed by EPA’s Lack of Transparency,2013-12-06,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Sensenbrenner Disappointed by EPA’s Lack of Transparency f t # e Washington, Dec 6, 2013 Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and several other members of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy expressing concerns with the EPA’s lack of transparency in its public outreach process regarding proposed greenhouse gas regulations for power plants.Congressman Sensenbrenner: “People around the country deserve an opportunity to weigh in on policies that directly affect their lives. But instead of conducting an honest discussion, the EPA’s listening session tour amounted to nothing more than a publicity stunt. The EPA’s proposed regulations on carbon emissions will have damning effects on jobs, energy costs and the economy – especially in states like Wisconsin that rely on coal-fueled power plants. But not one listening session was held in Wisconsin. The EPA’s disingenuous attempt at transparency is a slap in the face to all Americans who will be directly affected by its regulatory power grab.”   f t # e",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/local-headlines_-baldwin-talks-postal-reform-during-stop-at-quad/graphics,Local Headlines - Baldwin talks postal reform during stop at Quad/Graphics,2013-12-06,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,www.baldwin.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Skip to primary navigation Skip to content News About Tammy Feedback How Can I Help You? Friday, December 6, 2013 Local Headlines - Baldwin talks postal reform during stop at Quad/Graphics Print Email Tweet",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/duffy-to-host-wausau-jobs-fair,Duffy to Host Wausau Jobs Fair,2013-12-05,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"90 local businesses expected Wausau, WI – U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07) is hosting a jobs fair, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, for anyone seeking a job or a new career path. Ninety local businesses are expected to take part. The employment opportunities run the gamut from industrial and clerical positions to home healthcare and financial planners and range from internships to hourly and salaried positions. This event is free of charge and open to the general public and media:Monday, December 9, 2013 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM University of Wisconsin-Marathon County Field House 600 South 7th Avenue, Wausau Admission is free! To register, or for more information for job seekers, click here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=934,Gwen Moore Mourns Nelson Mandela,2013-12-05,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"By Derek Wallbank - May 16, 2012 5:46 PM ET   The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.   The House today passed the bill, 222-205, on a mostly party-line vote. Democrats criticized the Republican-written measure as part of the party’s “war on women.”   “They don’t want to hear us talk about the war on women, but this is a direct assault on women’s lives,” Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat, said before the vote. Moore, who sponsored a proposal similar to a bill passed by the Democratic-dominated Senate, said she was once raped. Democrats said the Republican proposal would force immigrant victims to choose between staying with their abusers and risking deportation.   President Barack Obama’s administration prefers the Senate- passed version, S. 1925, and his administration threatened a veto of the House bill. Six Democrats joined 216 Republicans in voting for the House bill, while 23 Republicans and 182 Democrats opposed it. Both parties put female lawmakers at the forefront of the debate. Republican Sandy Adams, a freshman lawmaker from central Florida who was a deputy sheriff before coming to Congress, sponsored the House bill. Adams said she had personal experience with the victims the bill is meant to aid, and that her first marriage was an abusive relationship from which she escaped.   ‘I Am Offended’ “I have sat quietly and tried to behave here but I am offended when I hear that this does not protect victims,” Adams said. “As someone who has been in the situation, who has been on the scenes of these crimes, we are trying to reauthorize something that’s very important to victims. Victims, not politics.”   The 1994 Violence Against Women Act and later reauthorizations of the law have easily passed both chambers of Congress.   The grants to women’s shelters and police training weren’t at issue, as the House and Senate versions would authorize spending of about $660 million annually. Instead, the debate centered on immigration visas for victims of domestic violence, gay rights and which party would be the best choice for women voters.   The House bill would curtail special visas reserved for immigrant victims of abuse who cooperate with law enforcement. Current law allows such visas to be used as a start toward legal permanent residence or citizenship. The House measure would block that path to citizenship in almost all circumstances unless the accused person is deported.   ‘Inexcusable’ In the Senate, a group of Senate Democrats joined with House colleagues in calling for action on the Senate bill, which passed that chamber on a 68-31 vote April 26. Every woman in the Senate, and almost a third of Republicans, supported it.   “What is happening in the House is inexcusable,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. She said the House bill wouldn’t provide adequate help for groups including immigrants, gays and college students.   With each chamber rejecting the other’s plan, the competing Violence Against Women Acts would have to be merged before becoming law. The House bill is H.R. 4970.   To view this article online, please click here.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2017,Gwen Moore Mourns Nelson Mandela,2013-12-05,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Though no words can wholly console those who mourn, my thoughts and prayers go out to every person touched by his kind spirit and resolve. May his legacy live on today and always. share: f t Contact: Staci Cox (202) 225- 4572 Washington, DC Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) released this statement after learning that Nelson Mandela had passed. Today we have lost a visionary leader and hero for human rights. Nelson Mandela broke the chains of oppression in South Africa and opened the hearts and minds of millions. His life's journey serves as an inspiration to all those who strive to create a more just world. He reaffirmed to all that hope and a steadfast dream of freedom will prevail over hatred and fear. His courage and strength freed a nation and reshaped our history. In 2005, I had the honor and blessing of meeting this remarkable man. It was a powerful moment that left an indelible mark. Though no words can wholly console those who mourn, my thoughts and prayers go out to every person touched by his kind spirit and resolve. May his legacy live on today and always. ### For Moore News Updates",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221033404/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/in-the-news/baldwin-talks-postal-reform-during-stop-at-quad/graphics,Baldwin talks postal reform during stop at Quad/Graphics,2013-12-05,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Baldwin talks postal reform during stop at Quad/Graphics By:  Arthur Thomas Waukesha Freeman Thursday, December 5, 2013",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034537/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/focusing-on-healthcare-costs-not-cuts,"Focusing on healthcare costs, not cuts",2013-12-05,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Thursday, December 5, 2013 Focusing on healthcare costs, not cuts For years now, the budget debate in Washington has come to be defined by a myopic fixation with cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits that people have worked for and earned. The common refrain we hear from Republicans in Washington is that the only path to cutting the deficit can be found in breaking our promise to today’s seniors and to the next generation who have earned the economic security these programs provide. Over the last several years, the same folks who insist on cutting benefits have obsessively worked to repeal and defund the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This obsession has produced more than 40 repeal votes in Congress and led to a government shutdown that hampered economic growth and cost us 120,000 jobs in October. The country has seen what the Tea Party brinkmanship has to offer, and it is looking for something different. The budget conference committee has provided us with an opportunity to find a bipartisan compromise that breaks this destructive pattern of drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. It provides us with an opportunity for both parties to work together to pass a responsible budget that invests in the middle class, strengthens our economy and takes a balanced approach to reducing the deficit without shortchanging our future. The budget that I supported, which passed the Senate last spring, builds on the $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction we’ve already accomplished in the last two years. This budget makes smart spending cuts and confronts wasteful tax expenditures and loopholes that are not creating economic growth. It also treats seniors and families fairly and includes significant healthcare savings, building on the $700 billion in Medicare savings included in the ACA — savings that extended the solvency of Medicare without cutting benefits. The budget savings we have proposed don’t shift the burden to seniors, increasing their out-of-pocket costs. We have shown that there is, in fact, a path we can take where we can achieve healthcare costs savings without breaking our promises. Unfortunately, a dialogue about how we continue down this responsible path of deficit reduction hasn’t gotten as much attention as it deserves in the current budget debate. Changes to our healthcare budget should focus not solely on where we spend healthcare dollars but on how we spend them. There is widespread agreement that significant savings can be achieved by reforming the way we deliver and pay for health services. Leading economists estimate that we can produce huge cost savings every year by enacting and building on smart, targeted reforms. The ACA was the first step in transforming healthcare delivery. The law provides healthcare practitioners with incentives to better integrate care, increase quality and lower costs. These efforts are producing impressive results across the country, including a number of examples in my home state. ThedaCare Healthcare Partners in Northeast Wisconsin has excelled with the ACA’s Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program, which gives healthcare providers incentives to better coordinate care. In its first year of participation, Bellin-ThedaCare earned more than $5 million in shared savings and lowered costs for its 20,000 Medicare patients by an average of nearly 4.6 percent. The Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin is using the ACA to better integrate pharmacists into clinical care teams. That initiative is set to save more than $20 million in three years. These parts of the law are empowering Wisconsin healthcare providers to provide higher-quality care at reduced costs. We must scale and build on these delivery reforms, which are already generating healthcare savings in our country. Since the ACA’s passage in 2010, real per-capita healthcare spending has grown at the lowest rate on record for any three-year period. Healthcare price inflation has also reached its lowest rate in 50 years. Most healthcare economists agree that these slowdowns in healthcare spending have resulted in part from the important structural reforms enacted in the ACA. These reforms also have led to better quality, including a significant drop in hospital readmissions after Medicare began penalizing hospitals for causing them to occur. I’m looking forward to the day when Congress moves beyond fighting old political battles. The years before the ACA, when healthcare costs were skyrocketing, people were denied coverage and families were forced into bankruptcy because our system was failing to provide healthcare security, should remain behind us. It’s time for both parties to work together to build a stronger future. There’s so much more to be done if we can form bipartisan consensus around enacting smart healthcare solutions. That’s why I’m pleased to work with senators of both parties in pushing for transformative reforms that do not indiscriminately cut Medicare benefits or shift costs to seniors and states. A Delivery System Reform working group has been collaboratively endeavoring to study and build support for cost-saving measures, including reducing the burden of healthcare-associated infections. I’ve been heartened by the bipartisan, bicameral proposals that have been recently introduced to reform Medicare physician payments to reward the quality of care over the quantity of services delivered. In November, I introduced commonsense, bipartisan legislation with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), The Quality Data, Quality Healthcare Act, which would increase the efficiency of healthcare by providing Medicare data to the decision-makers best able to use the information to improve healthcare quality and lower costs: physicians, healthcare systems, insurers, employers and research institutions. I believe that we can find significant savings in our healthcare system and improve the quality of care without slashing benefits that seniors have worked for and earned. This path continues a more fundamental shift in healthcare delivery: coordinating care, rewarding the best results and the brightest innovations, empowering physicians and health systems to make informed choices, and generating savings through more meaningful, longer-lasting reforms. A new path is before us, and the American people expect us to take it, together. ##### --- Sen. Tammy Baldwin, as recently published in The Hill.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034337/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/a-made-in-wisconsin-visit-to-quad-graphics,A 'Made in Wisconsin' visit to Quad Graphics,2013-12-04,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1920 Milwaukee, WI 53203",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043737/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/in-the-news/sen-baldwin-says-bulk-mailing-rate-amendment-will-help-printing-firms,Sen. Baldwin says bulk mailing rate amendment will help printing firms,2013-12-04,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Sen. Baldwin says bulk mailing rate amendment will help printing firms By:  Denise Lockwood Wednesday, December 4, 2013 U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is championing an amendment to the postal reform bill that would curb large increases in postal rates for bulk mailers. Baldwin visited Quad/Graphics in Sussex Wednesday morning and spoke with Milwaukee Business Journal reporters and editors Tuesday to talk about the impact of the amendment on Wisconsin’s economy. She outlined how the amendment would give postal customers “pricing predictability” and benefit forestry, paper and printing companies throughout the state like Quad/Graphics. “Forty percent of the paper we produce ends up in the mail stream… any significant – beyond inflation increases in postage – affects our paper industry very dramatically,” Baldwin said. Baldwin’s amendment strikes a section of the bill that would allow rates to be increased beyond the rate of inflation for bulk mailers. “It’s pretty simple math for these folks that the postage is a significant part of their bottom line,” Baldwin said. “If it goes up, they are mailing less and nobody benefits. It’s a very important provision to get rid of.” Joel Quadracci, president and CEO of Quad/Graphics, spoke about the issue during committee hearings on the topic earlier this year in which he told the committee: ""As discussed, above-inflation postage rate increases cannot be part of this solution (whether they are from straight rate increases or reductions in work-share discounts). The rate caps enacted as part of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) have worked well to control postage rates and provide our clients with that much needed certainty."" Jeff Landin, president of Wisconsin Paper Council, supports the amendment. “Now, unless changes are made to Section 301, an already difficult coated paper market is likely to see more damage due to further declines in mail volume,” Landin said. “Your efforts to provide predictable and moderate rate increases will not only benefit the paper industry in Wisconsin, it will help the USPS by providing more mail to deliver.” More than 600 companies, retailers, nonprofits, newspapers and other organizations around the country support the amendment. The bill is still in committee, Baldwin said.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=db926bb4-5302-45b3-83ae-ee5d7ada4793,MEDIA ADVISORY: Senator Johnson to Host Town Hall Meeting in Milwaukee,2013-12-04,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Oshkosh, WI – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson will host a town hall meeting at Milwaukee’s City Hall.  Sen. Johnson will give his State of the Nation presentation, which highlights the fiscal challenges our country faces today. Following his presentation, Sen. Johnson will take questions from the audience. What:              Sen. Johnson Town Hall When:             Friday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. Where:            Milwaukee City Hall, 200 E. Wells St., Room 301-B, Milwaukee Note:               Members of the media are invited to attend    ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-comments-on-alec-s-new-attempts-to-shield-itself-against-tax-laws,Pocan Comments on ALEC’s New Attempts to Shield Itself against Tax Laws,2013-12-03,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Mark Pocan,P000607,pocan.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) released the following statement on today’s Guardian story detailing the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) new efforts to shield itself against tax laws. When he served in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Pocan became a member of ALEC to learn more about the group and expose its potentially illegal lobbying activities. By filing as a non-profit 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt charity, ALEC is required to verify that it does not spend more than 20 percent of its time lobbying. However, as Pocan learned when he attended the group’s national conferences, ALEC spends almost all of its time lobbying—it writes model legislation on behalf of its corporate partners and then helps state legislatures pass these bills. But according to the Guardian, ALEC is now: “hoping to avoid legal, tax and ethical challenges by creating a separate sister organisation it calls the ""Jeffersonian Project"". The new body would be categorised as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organisation, a designation that would allow Alec to be far more overt in its lobbying activities than its current charitable status as a 501(c)(3).” “The only charity work ALEC does is on behalf of needy corporations and lonely legislators,” Pocan said. “It is past time that ALEC is exposed for what it is—a corporate lobbying firm doing the bidding of corporations. As the article details, they are now trying to not only hide their intensions, but their funding as well in a new “social welfare” organization. The IRS needs to step in and strip ALEC of its ability to rig the democratic system and rob the American taxpayers.”  Last year, Pocan sent a letter to the IRS urging them to investigate ALEC’s tax filing. He also wrote a letter to the ALEC Chairman asking him to justify its tax filing status. He never received a response. ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221034341/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/badger-meter_innovators-strengthening-our-made-in-wisconsin-economy,Badger Meter – innovators strengthening our 'Made in Wisconsin' economy,2013-12-03,2013,2013-12,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Tuesday, December 3, 2013 Badger Meter – innovators strengthening our 'Made in Wisconsin' economy The Milwaukee region has quickly become a world hub for water research, education and economic development and Badger Meter is just another example of bright innovators helping to build and strengthen our ""Made In Wisconsin"" economy. Badger Meter was founded in Milwaukee over a hundred years ago and is a leader in the marketing and manufacturing of flow measurement and control technologies. Badger Meter's products measure and control the flow of liquids - such as water, oil and chemicals - and have earned a reputation across the globe. They also have an Innovation Center that includes labs where engineers and scientists simulate different conditions to further develop their technologies.    Click here, to read more about building a 'Made in Wisconsin' economy.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=fd8cd3f5-3a74-4e67-9816-85b18a3c5bca,Johnson Comments on Obama Administration's New Obamacare Sales Attempt,2013-12-03,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Washington, D.C. – Senator Johnson made the following remarks on President Obama’s re-sale attempt. “Today, President Obama takes his show on the road again to re-sell Obamacare.  He will find that the American public is not quite as gullible as he hopes, and Wisconsinites and Americans across the country will see this campaign for what it is – an attempt to distract from the failed policy and incompetent management that have been hallmarks of Obamacare.  Obamacare has put America's health care system in jeopardy, and apparently the best President Obama can do is spend more taxpayer money on a public relations campaign. ""But Americans are smarter than that and they will see through his rhetoric.  The president and Democrats in Congress need to admit that Obamacare doesn’t work and begin working with Republicans to find real health care solutions.""   ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=de36a41f-3508-4817-8443-578cd63e1639,Johnson Announces Staff Mobile Office Hours,2013-12-02,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Oshkosh, Wisconsin – Senator Ron Johnson (WI) announced today that his staff would be available for mobile office hours at the dates and locations listed below. These office hours allow constituents to meet with the Senator’s staff to request assistance with a federal agency or regarding other federal matters. Tuesday, Dec. 10th, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.  Solon Springs Community Center 11523 South Business Highway 53, Solon Springs, 54873 Wednesday, Dec. 11th, 9:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.  Bayfield City Hall 125 South First Street, Bayfield, 54814 Wednesday, Dec. 11th, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.  Glen Flora Village Hall N5746 Cedar Street, Glen Flora, 54526 Wednesday, Dec. 11th, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Augusta City Hall, Council Chambers 145 West Lincoln Street, Augusta, 54722 Thursday, Dec. 12th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.  West Bend City Hall, Council Chambers 1115 South Main Street, West Bend, 53095 Friday, Dec. 13th, 11:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.  Melvina Village Hall 604 Central Drive, Cashton, 54619 Friday, Dec. 13th, 11:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.  Walworth Town Hall W6741 Brick Church Roadd, Walworth, 53184 Friday, Dec. 13th, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.  Williams Bay Village Hall 250 Williams Street, Williams Bay, 53191 Friday, Dec. 13th, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  Lynxville Village Hall 362 Spring Street, Lynxville, 54640",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/media-center/enewsletters/thanks-and-giving,Thanks and Giving,2013-12-01,2013,2013-12,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"December 1, 2013     Dear friends,   This past Thursday, Rachel and I sat down for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner surrounded by our six little turkeys (Lucia and Paloma pictured on the left), as well as a few additional friends and family, and were again thankful for the many blessings in our lives. As we now enter the official season of giving and prepare to brave the shopping mall and toy stores to find the perfect gifts, it’s worth remembering that often the most memorable gifts do not come in shiny packages with ribbons and bows. Sometimes it is the gift of our time or talent that can mean the most to a person in need – and often leave a sizable impression on us as well. The 7th District is vibrant with groups, organizations and businesses that are at the ready to give of their time and talents to help those in need in our community. This month my office is teaming up with many of them for several events and we hope you will join us! Whether lending an ear to a Veteran who may be telling his or her story for the first time, offering food and shelter to a family who has fallen on hard times, or giving council to someone in search of a new job or career path, we all have our talents and we hope you can lend a bit of your time during this busy holiday season to join us at one – or all – of the events below:   Veteran History Project Workshops Wausau   Friday, December 6, 2013  8:00am   Marathon County Historical Society   410 McIndoe Street   Wausau, WI 54403 Superior Saturday, December 7, 2013  9:30am   Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center  305 Harbor View Parkway  Superior, WI 54880 Job Fair Monday, December 9, 2013   9:00am   University of Wisconsin-Marathon County Field House   600 South 7th Avenue, Wausau, 54401 Hunger & Homelessness Summit Wednesday, December 18, 2013 8:30am   Northcentral Technical College   1000 W. Campus Drive, Wausau, 54401 For more information about any of these events, click here  or call our Wausau office, (715) 298-9344.  Rachel, the kids, and I wish you, and your family, a safe and blessed holiday season. I hope to see you at one of the upcoming events, in the mean time, have a great week.           - Sean",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=a3896d27-6f15-49cf-a7a1-639add93b32e,Johnson Comments on Latest Sign of Obama Administration Incompetence,2013-11-27,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Washington, D.C. – Earlier today Senator Johnson made the following remarks on the new delay in Obamacare. ""The delay of online enrollment for small businesses is yet another example of this administration's ineptitude and the damage Obamacare is inflicting on job-creating small businesses. The sooner we pull the plug on Obamacare, the fewer people will be harmed by this massive governmental overreach. The federal government is not even capable of doing what thousands of large and small businesses do day in and day out -- creating and operating a functioning website. We simply can't allow it to become even more involved in our health care system or our personal medical decisions."" ###",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/duffy-announces-64-million-in-state-federal-funding-for-sawyer-county-airport,Duffy Announces $6.4 million in State & Federal Funding for Sawyer County Airport,2013-11-26,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Wausau, WI --- U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07) today announced the approval of over $6.4 million in local, state and federal funding to improve and expand operations at Sawyer County Airport in Hayward. This funding includes a $4,561,868 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that Rep. Duffy's office helped secure. This project will include the addition of state-of-the-art navigational equipmentas well as a full-length parallel taxiway to the primary runway. Rep. Duffy offered the following comments:“I am excited about these upgrades for Sawyer County. These modernizations will provide greater opportunities for businesses in Hayward and nearby communities. Additionally, it will ensure critical air transport services at Hayward Memorial Hospital – even in the worst of weather. This is a great partnership between all levels of government. I am glad the local, state and federal levels could each do our part to make this a reality.” Sawyer County Clerk, Kris Mayberry added, “Sawyer County is grateful to Congressman Sean Duffy and his staff for their assistance in securing funding for the Sawyer County Airport improvement project.  The improvements to the Airport will provide residents and visitors alike with a safer, more accessible airport, including for medical patient evacuations.  The updated airport is important in keeping Sawyer County’s infrastructure competitive for purposes of economic development and job retention and creation.” Picture from Left to Right: Hal Helwig (County Chair), Kris Mayberry (County Clerk), Walt Jaeger (Airport Property Committee), Patty and Dan Leslie (Hayward Airport managers), Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07)",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://kind.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-ron-kind-praises-grant-award-improve-energy-efficiency-wisconsin,Rep. Ron Kind Praises Grant Award to Improve Energy Efficiency in Wisconsin,2013-11-26,2013,2013-11,Democrat,House,WI,Ron Kind,K000188,kind.house.gov,,,legacy,"WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) welcomed the news that Wisconsin is receiving a grant award totaling $475,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) State Energy Program. The competitively awarded grant is for projects whose goal is to increase statewide energy savings and boost the energy efficiency of public institutions, local governments and industrial sectors. This grant will help support a forward-looking approach aimed at promoting energy efficiency and helping communities reduce energy waste, said Rep. Kind. These investments will protect the environment, save taxpayer dollars and help Wisconsin continue to lead the way in smart, innovative renewable energy solutions and innovations. Wisconsin's award is part of nearly $4 million in grants to 13 states aimed at increasing statewide energy savings and boosting energy efficiency. Wisconsin's awards totaling $475,000 fall into two categories. One will attempt to remove regulatory, market and utility barriers to industrial energy efficiency (while helping create a sustainable model), accounting for $75,000 of the federal funding. The other project will focus on retrofitting public housing as well as local government and state facilities, (including the installation of low-wattage LED lighting and an upgrade to existing heating and cooling systems), accounting for $400,000 in grant funding. Rep. Kind wrote letters in strong support of the grant. The DOE's State Energy Program provides support through formula and competitive grants, assisting states in saving energy and harnessing clean energy technologies. States use the grants to increase technology use, build partnerships, and facilitate energy-related emergency preparedness.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221062223/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/upcoming-staff-office-hours-in-wausau-and-rhinelander,Upcoming staff office hours in Wausau & Rhinelander,2013-11-26,2013,2013-11,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Tuesday, November 26, 2013 Upcoming staff office hours in Wausau & Rhinelander Senator Baldwin's office has announced that members of her staff will hold office hours in Rhinelander and Wausau on December 2, 2013. Constituents will have the opportunity to meet with staff and request assistance with a federal agency or discuss other federal issues. No appointment is necessary. Here are the details for office hours on December 2, 2013: Wausau 10:00-11:00am Marathon County Public Library 300 N. 1st Street Wausau, WI Rhinelander 1:00-2:00pm Rhinelander Public Library 106 N. Stevens Street Rhinelander, WI",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221180824/http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363238,Help Me Reform the NSA & Hold the Government Accountable,2013-11-25,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,F. Sensenbrenner,S000244,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"The NSA's overreach has infringed on American civil liberties, damaged diplomatic efforts with our allies and tarnished the integrity of the intelligence community. Of course, this debate over the NSA's bulk collection of phone records is no longer simply a discussion about balancing national security and privacy. Americans' personal information, constitutional rights and livelihoods are at stake. Citizens and businesses of Wisconsin's Fifth District and around the country have been very clear: the indiscriminate, bulk collection of Americans' data must be stopped. Congress has an obligation to hold the NSA accountable and deliver effective reforms that strengthen personal privacy safeguards and individual control over our most sensitive information. That’s why I joined with Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to introduce the USA FREEDOM Act, which would end bulk collection, reform the secret FISA Court, increase transparency and protect our constitutional right to privacy. With over 100 bipartisan cosponsors and the support of businesses, our friends abroad and advocacy groups ranging from the ACLU to the NRA, I am confident that the USA FREEDOM Act is the most responsible approach to reform American surveillance. This bill is largely about accountability and transparency. And in that spirit, I’m gathering as much input as possible from my constituents.  Your questions, ideas and opinions will help me deliver reforms that work best for you and your neighbors in the Badger State. Thanks to a new online tool named Madison, we can have an open and constructive debate on the USA FREEDOM Act. Click here to sign up for Madison. Together we can strengthen your privacy rights through this comprehensive bill. I look forward to working with you in this interactive forum.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=89cbf898-2b3b-40a0-b805-4f1a7cd7661a,Johnson Announces Staff Mobile Office Hours,2013-11-25,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Ron Johnson,J000293,www.ronjohnson.senate.gov,,,legacy,"Oshkosh, Wisconsin – Senator Ron Johnson (WI) announced today that his staff would be available for mobile office hours at the dates and locations listed below. These office hours allow constituents to meet with the Senator’s staff to request assistance with a federal agency or regarding other federal matters. Monday, Dec. 2nd, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Tennyson Village Hall 101 Bunker Hill Street, Potosi, 53820 Monday, Dec. 2nd, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Rock Springs Public Library 101 1st Street, Rock Springs, 53961  Monday, Dec. 2nd, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. North Freedom Village Hall 105 North Maple St., North Freedom, 53951 Monday, Dec. 2nd, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Mount Hope Fire House 127 E. Main Street, Mount Hope 53816 Monday, Dec. 2nd, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Gratiot Community Center 5895 Main Street, Gratiot, 53541 Thursday, Dec. 5th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Mattoon Village Hall 31 Slate Street, Mattoon, 54450 Thursday, Dec. 5th, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eland Village Hall W19141 Maple Street, Eland, 54427 Thursday, Dec. 5th, 1:50 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. Hewitt Village Hall 7640 McLean Dr., Hewitt, 54441 Friday, Dec. 6th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. VFW Post 9336 514 Willow St., Arena, 53503 Friday, Dec. 6th, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Linden Village Hall 332 Church St., Linden, 53553",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/media-center/enewsletters/when-saying-sorry-isnt-enough,When saying sorry isn't enough,2013-11-23,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Dear friends, The President apologized for misleading the American people about his healthcare law. However, his apology does not change the reality that his law has forced millions of Americans to lose the healthcare plans they presumably liked. It does not change the fact that Denise may not have coverage she needs when the time comes for her to receive a kidney transplant. His apology certainly doesn’t help Warren, who had a doctor a few miles away from his home, but thanks to the President’s law, he will now need to drive up to 70 miles each way. However, it is not enough to just talk about the harmful impact of this law, we have to be resolved to do something about it. This week I re-introduced my prescription plan that would bring much needed relief to my constituents and the many Americans who have found themselves inconvenienced by this law.  A few key points from, The Patient Centered Healthcare Savings Act of 2013: ·      Allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines, which will increase choices for all Americans and ensure competition which will bring down healthcare costs. ·      Expand the usefulness of Health Savings Accounts by removing restrictions on contributions, and permit expenditures for premiums and additional preventive health services. ·      Ensures adequate coverage for all individuals by: strengthening state high risk pools, requiring coverage for pre-existing conditions, and allow those up to age 23 to stay on their parents’ plans, and permitting association health plans. ·      Roots out Medicare waste, fraud and abuse by cracking down on unlawful durable medical equipment (DME) providers. Join the Energy Revolution: This week the House passed, and I was glad to support, three bills that would bolster our energy production and create jobs. Today, thanks to the private sector, the United States is poised to become a global energy leader, decreasing our dependency on hostile foreign governments in the Middle East and creating hundreds of thousands of great paying jobs.  However, bureaucratic regulations and red tape are standing in the way of our ultimate success. These bills support energy industries in the 7th District such as sand mining.  It's time for the President to get out of the way, and join the Energy Revolution as well.  Read more here. The “Ultimate Consumer Protection”: Three of my Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reform bills cleared the Financial Services Committee this week. Among them H.R. 2571, the Consumer Right to Financial Privacy Act of 2013. When the Federal government collects and monitors information on Americans, especially when there is little or no justification for it, it really makes Americans mad. If the CFPB wants to collect, retain and monitor information on Americans, they have to get our permission. This bill is the ultimate consumer protection giving Americans direct control of our information when it relates to the government. Read more about all three bills here.  These are just a few things I did on your behalf this week with the hope of making life a little better for all of us. I’m looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving (and hopefully a Packer win) with Rachel and the kids this Thursday. As we gather around our table to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives, I remain grateful for the privilege of being your Representative in Congress. I hope you, and your family, have a very happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving.  Have a great week,    Sean",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/community-government-team-up-to-work-towards-end-to-hunger-homelessness,Community & Government Team-Up To Work Towards End to Hunger & Homelessness,2013-11-22,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Duffy to host Summit December 18th in Wausau   Wausau, WI – U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07)utilizes the commemoration of National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week to announce his plans to host a “Hunger & Homelessness Summit” in an effort to bring community and government organizations together to tackle hunger and homelessness in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. Full details about the upcoming event are below. Rep. Duffy also offered the following comments: “There is still much work to do to reduce homelessness and hunger in our communities throughout the 7th Congressional District. The December 18th summit will bring together local government officials, economic development associations, non-profits, religious organizations, and government agencies to foster what I hope will be a productive discussion about ways we can work together to curb this issue in our own backyard.” Rep. Duffy emphasized the importance of a public and private partnership adding, “Addressing and solving these issues will take whole communities and many different partners at the table. I look forward to learning more about these issues and our neighbors who are impacted by them, ways to address them in our communities, and learning about what other communities are doing to address these issues.” In 2011 and 2012, 13.5% of homes in the 7th Congressional District faced food hardships, including 22.7% of our children. Additionally, over 2,000 individuals received documented care from homeless shelters, not to mention the thousands that did not receive care or live “couch-to-couch. This event is open to members of the media and will include media availability. To RSVP and receive updates about the event itinerary, please email Cassie Smedile.   WHAT Hunger & Homelessness Summit hosted by CONGRESSMAN SEAN DUFFY   WHEN WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM WHERE Northcentral Technical College 1000 W. Campus Drive, Wausau REGISTER Register online at duffy.house.gov Or call 715-298-9344",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://duffy.house.gov/press-release/duffys-office-to-host-veteran-history-workshops,Duffy's Office to Host Veteran History Workshops,2013-11-22,2013,2013-11,Republican,House,WI,Sean Duffy,D000614,duffy.house.gov,,,legacy,"Wausau, WI –Following the success of the first workshop in Hudson, the office of U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07) is hosting two additional Veteran History Project training workshops in Wausau and Superior. The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. These recordings are entered into the collection in the Library of Congress, where they will serve as a permanent reminder of the sacrifices these men and women made defending our country.  During the workshop, interested volunteers will learn interview techniques and staff will help connect  them with a Veteran to conduct future interviewsfor the project. Anyone who knows a Veteran who is interested in telling their story, or simply wants to learn more about the project is invited to attend. For more information about the project,  and to register, click here. These workshops are open to the public and media. Details for both workshops are below:",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=929,Gwen Moore Recognizes Native American Heritage Month,2013-11-22,2013,2013-11,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"By Staff|5/16/2012 3:05 PM (Talk Radio News Service)    House Democrats voiced extreme opposition to a GOP version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) they argue lacks provisions that extend the authority of the law to minority women, Native American women and members of the LGBT community.   House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argued that the Republican bill “is a step backward” from current legislation. Instead, House Democrats are pressing leadership to take up a Senate version that gained bipartisan support and passed by a 68-31 margin.   “In sharp contrast, the House Republicans have brought to the floor today a controversial bill that will weaken protections we give to those who suffer domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking,” Pelosi said. “All people deserve to be protected from domestic violence, there should be no exceptions in this law.”   Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), through personal experience, argued that the provisions being omitted from House Republicans’ VAWA will inadequately support minority women and as well as women living on tribal lands.   “I am particularly aggrieved that this bill ignores the special circumstances of women who are minorities, women who are in the shadows,” Moore said. “And where we have created a veritable sanctuary for those who would commit sexual assault and abuse them on tribal lands.” The White House issued a veto threat to the GOP bill Tuesday.   “For instance, H.R. 4970 fails to provide for concurrent special domestic-violence criminal jurisdiction by tribal authorities over non-Indians, and omits clarification of tribal courts’ full civil jurisdiction regarding certain protection orders over non-Indians,” the White House said in a statement.   “The bill also fails to include language that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT victims in VAWA grant programs. No sexual-assault or domestic-violence victim should be beaten, hurt, or killed because they could not access needed support, assistance, and protection.” House Republicans are likely to pass their version of VAWA Wednesday. As a result, both chambers will have to move to conference – yet again – in hopes of finding common ground.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://gwenmoore.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2119,Gwen Moore Recognizes Native American Heritage Month,2013-11-22,2013,2013-11,Democrat,House,WI,Gwen Moore,M001160,gwenmoore.house.gov,,,legacy,"Gwen Moore Recognizes Native American Heritage Month f t # e Washington, DC, November 22, 2013 The rich culture and heritage of the Native American community has had an undeniable positive impact on our way of life. As Thanksgiving approaches, let us remember the great contributions that Native Americans have made and continue to make to bridge our communities and improve our nation. share: f t Contact: Staci Cox (202) 225- 4572 Washington, DC Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) released this statement in honor of Native American Heritage Month. The rich culture and heritage of the Native American community has had an undeniable positive impact on our way of life. As Thanksgiving approaches, let us remember the great contributions that Native Americans have made and continue to make to bridge our communities and improve our nation. This week I was proud to celebrate the Native American code talkers whose service and unique languages proved invaluable during WWI and WWII. The Wisconsin tribes who received the Congressional Gold Medals included the Ho-Chunk, Oneida and Menominee Nations. It was such an honor to join them as they received this long overdue recognition. Protecting the sovereignty and promoting the economic, political and social self-determination for the Native American community remains a pressing priority given the numerous challenges they face. One of our key legislative priorities this year was the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). For far too long, non-Native men could assault Native women with impunity. VAWA not only works to end this scourge, but it also helps provide vital support services to Native American victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. I was proud to be the lead House sponsor of such vital legislation that became law earlier this year. I am so pleased to support our 11 federally recognized Native American tribes in Wisconsin, including the Forest County Potawatomi whose philanthropic efforts and job creation have improved the lives of many in the Milwaukee area. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Native Americans in my state and across the nation. Native American Heritage Month is celebrated every year in November. To learn more about this month, please visit this website. ### For Moore News Updates f t # e",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z https://web.archive.org/web/20140221042714/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-klobuchar-join-in-friendly-wager-on-this-weekends-minnesota-wisconsin-football-games,"Baldwin, Klobuchar Join in Friendly Wager on This Weekend's Minnesota-Wisconsin Football Games",2013-11-22,2013,2013-11,Democrat,House,WI,Tammy Baldwin,B001230,web.archive.org,,,legacy,"Baldwin, Klobuchar Join in Friendly Wager on This Weekend's Minnesota-Wisconsin Football Games Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Senators put Minnesota turkey and wild rice and Wisconsin bratwurst and cheese on the line for the Gopher-Badger and Vikings-Packers games Friday, November 22, 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today joined in a friendly wager on this weekend’s Minnesota-Wisconsin football games. With the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers playing the University of Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday and the Minnesota Vikings playing the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the senators wagered Wisconsin bratwurst and cheese against a Minnesota Jennie-O turkey and wild rice – one dish for each game. “While I’m sure Senator Baldwin’s office would enjoy a Minnesota turkey and some Minnesota wild rice for Thanksgiving dinner, I’m looking forward to sampling some of the finest brats and cheese Wisconsin has to offer after cheering on the Gophers and Vikings this weekend,” Klobuchar said, noting that Minnesota is the number one turkey producer in the country. ""When the Badgers and Packers beat the Gophers and Vikings like they always do, the turkey and wild rice will go wonderfully with some made in Wisconsin cranberry sauce,"" said Baldwin.",1,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z,2026-03-30T12:14:52Z