releases: https://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-center?ContentRecord_id=2e8d5c65-9712-48ee-85ad-45c665ddcfe9
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| 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://www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-center?ContentRecord_id=2e8d5c65-9712-48ee-85ad-45c665ddcfe9 | e-Newsletter for the week ending November 22, 2013 | 2013-11-22 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | GA | Johnny Isakson | I000055 | www.isakson.senate.gov | legacy | Dear Friends, This week, the Senate began work on a defense authorization bill, S.1197. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., implemented what is known as the “nuclear option” to weaken the Senate’s filibuster rule so that Democrats can more easily win confirmation for President Obama’s judicial nominees.Nuclear Option Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., successfully changed the Senate rules to allow a simple majority of Senators, or 51 votes, to confirm President Obama’s judicial nominees. Until yesterday, judicial nominees needed 60 votes to be confirmed. This highly controversial maneuver by Senate Democrats to weaken the filibuster rule is commonly referred to as the “nuclear option.” By weakening the filibuster rule, Senate Democrats diminished the Senate’s ability to be thoughtful and deliberate and the result could be a runaway Senate. I don’t believe that the nuclear option is good for Senate or for the country. To read more about my thoughts on this issue, read my interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Obamacare This week, I signed up for an Obamacare health plan for myself and my wife. As mandated by law, members of Congress and their staff are required to sign up on the DC Obamacare exchanges by December 9. After navigating several glitches on the exchange website and attempting to submit an application three times, I was finally able to enroll in a plan. Through my own experience, I share the frustrations of the many Georgians who have contacted me about the countless glitches and issues they have encountered with the Obamacare system. Furthermore, I continue to hear story after story of how Georgians are losing their current health care coverage and seeing their health care premiums skyrocket. Are you one of the 400,000 Georgians who have lost their health care coverage or are suffering as a result of this terrible law? If so, I invite you to share your story by visiting Republican.Senate.Gov/YourStory. I appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday to discuss how Obamacare is failing and beginning to collapse under its own weight. I called on the administration to scrap this terrible law and to start over. To watch the interview, click here. I have voted to defund or repeal Obamacare almost 60 times, and I continue to support its full repeal. I have also co-sponsored dozens of legislative proposals that would repeal the law in full or provisions in the law, including both the Obamacare Repeal Act, S.177, and, more recently, the Defund Obamacare Act, S.1292. The Savannah Harbor and Economic Development in Georgia This week, as part of my ongoing work to deepen the Port of Savannah, I traveled to the Panama Canal with Vice President Biden. We were also joined by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who has been instrumental in moving the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project forward, as well as a member of Congress and mayors of port cities. Since arriving in Congress, I have worked to expand the Port of Savannah to accommodate an increase in the number of super-sized container vessels transiting the Panama Canal after its 2015 deepening. The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project is my top economic priority in the Senate because studies show this project has a 5.5-to-1 benefit to cost ratio, meaning that for every dollar spent on the deepening, the nation will reap $5.50 in benefits. According to the Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 352,000 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $18.5 billion in income, $66.9 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah is the second busiest U.S. container port for the export of American goods by tonnage. It was an invaluable experience to see the Panama Expansion Project firsthand and to learn more about the project as it relates to the Savannah Harbor. I applaud the administration for placing a high priority on U.S. ports. I am particularly excited as it pertains to the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, as it is critically important to the state of Georgia, Southeast region and nation and will support hundreds of thousands of jobs each year while generating billions in revenue. I will continue to work with the White House, the state of Georgia and Congress to see this project through to its completion. What’s on Tap? Next week, the Senate will not be in session in observance of Thanksgiving. I hope that you have a blessed and happy holiday with friends and family. Sincerely, Johnny Isakson | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |