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TIAHRT TAKES MONEY FROM NORTHROP GRUMMAN DURING 2008 ELECTION
CYCLE
WICHITA, Kans. – State Senator Donald Betts, Jr. provided
information at last week’s press conference that Rep. Todd
Tiahrt had taken $3,000 from Northrop Grumman during the 2008
election cycle. Additionally, Tiahrt voted for on the Fiscal
2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill HR 4986, PL
110-81, Section 804 which allowed the Secretary of Defense the
ability to waive “Buy American” Provisions. It passed by the
House 369-46 with Representative Tiahrt voting Aye. This vote by
the entire Kansas delegation effectively allowed the Air Force
to make decisions on outsourcing military work to other
countries. Campaign donations to Tiahrt can be reviewed by at
The Center for Responsive Politics (a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization) website at this link:
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians
“Todd would have you believe that he has been an opponent of
‘outsourcing’ but the truth is he voted for the bill that
allowed foreign companies to bid on defense contracts.” “Most
people would be shocked to learn that he voted for a bill a few
years ago that undermined the ‘Buy American Act’ established in
1933 by giving the Secretary of the Defense the opportunity to
let out contracts to foreign governments.”
“I am sure that Representative Tiahrt doesn’t want the public to
realize that it was ‘him’ and other members of Congress and not
this contract that opened the door to sending our jobs and
security overseas,” said Betts. “It is an outrage that he is
acting as though he supports Boeing and opposes Grumman when the
truth is that he took campaign donations from Grumman,” said
Betts. “We should absolutely never outsource our military
contracts. The Department of Defense should always use American
manufacturing for the sake of insuring the best possible
products for our servicemen and women and for our nation’s
defense and security.”
In addition to this legislation opening the process to foreign
companies, it is important to note that in 2001, both
Representative Tiahrt and Senator Roberts started receiving
contributions from Grumman’s Political Action Committees
(Grumman is the partner with EADS (Airbus) on the tanker
project). Shortly thereafter, McCain mounted a campaign to force
the Congress and Air Force to drop the Boeing tanker leasing
deal introduced in October 2001. McCain bragged during the 2008
campaign for President that he had “saved” the American taxpayer
30 billion dollars by forcing the cancellation of the contract.
In May 2003, Roberts voted for the John McCain amendment to the
Fiscal Year 2004 military budget (Senate Bill S1050) allowing
the Department of Defense to buy military equipment and services
from foreign companies, including EADS, undermining the “Buy
American Act”. It passed with a 50-48 largely Republican party
line vote.
Senator Roberts and Representative Tiahrt are on the Senate and
House sub appropriations committees for military spending, yet
there is no evidence that they spoke out or tried to stop the
cancellation of the Boeing contract in May 2004. Furthermore,
the House and Senate in a series of continuing motions eroded
the 50% USA content rule used by the Department of Defense by
making agreements with 21 foreign countries to grant a waiver
from the 50% rule. In other words, the House and Senate declared
even if military equipment was manufactured in one of the 21
foreign countries it would be counted as “MADE IN THE USA”.
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and President Bush supported these
motions as did Roberts and Tiahrt. These motions passed without
any reported opposition from Roberts or Tiahrt.
In Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Authorization Act (HR 1815, S1042)
contained the authorization for the tanker contract. HR 1815
contained 3 strong Buy American provisions:
a. Section 817 banned the Secretary of Defense from buying
military hardware from any foreign company who receives
subsidies from a foreign government when that government is a
member of the World Trade Organization and applied only when the
US is involved in an unresolved WTO dispute over the subsidies
or the WTO has ruled the subsidies are illegal. The sole purpose
of the amendment was to prohibit Airbus from winning the tanker
contract over Boeing.
b. Section 818 required military purchases contain at least 50%
USA made content. It would have invalidated the special
agreements with 21 foreign countries allowing them to
manufacture more than 50% USA military equipment and count it as
“made in the USA”
c. Section 1212 would have prevented the US military from buying
equipment from foreign companies who have sold items on the
USA’s Munitions List to China.
HR 1815 passed the House and was referred to the Senate Armed
Services Committee on which Senator Roberts sat. Senator Warner
tried to attach the 3 “Buy American” amendments to the Senate
defense appropriations bill, but in May 2005 Roberts as a member
of the committee dropped the “Buy American” provisions. Grumman
teamed with EADS (Airbus) to bid on the tanker in September
2005. The Senate Armed Services Committee stripped “Buy
American” provisions out and it passed the Senate Armed Services
Committee without any recorded objection from Roberts. On
November 15, 2005, the stripped bill passed the Senate with
unanimous consent with no recorded objection from Roberts. On
that same day, Roberts was named to serve on the conference
committee to reconcile the differences between the House and
Senate bills. On December 21, 2005, the Senate agreed to the
Conference Committee Report by a voice vote, again without the
“Buy American” provisions.
Roberts and Tiahrt did not voice their opinions objecting to
military contracts involving bidding from foreign companies or
foreign countries, yet they have been very vocal as of late to
show the voters of Kansas that they are the advocates of keeping
military work in the U.S. “Voters need to be alert to realize
this is not how they have voted and to realize this is just the
latest in their campaign ploys to the public to present a
different image,” said Betts.
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BETTS TO TIAHRT: YOU VOTED FOR LEGISLATION THAT CAUSED THIS
CRISIS
WICHITA, Kan. – State Senator Donald Betts, Jr., issued a
statement today that Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) failed consumers
when he said that he wouldn’t support the bailout plan without
“addressing the reasons our markets are in this situation.”
Betts said he was disappointed that Tiahrt is pretending he has
no idea of how Wall Street ended up in this predicament. “Tiahrt
knows what caused these problems, he voted for the 1999
Financial Services Modernization Act that effectively gutted
protections and regulations for investment and commercial
banking authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt,” said Betts.
“When you look at all the problems we are facing with our
economy today with 143 Americans losing their homes in the next
hour and consumers suffering from rising grocery and gasoline
prices, it is disgusting that our Congress is not claiming
responsibility for passing the legislation that precipitated the
Wall Street bailout,” said Betts. “The members of Congress that
created this monster, including Congressman Tiahrt, should be
held accountable.” I want to assure you that I will always fight
for the voice of the people and put people over politics,” said
Betts. “People deserve to have a voice in our government and it
seems that the special interests and big business have had too
much control in Washington D.C. and I plan to change all that
when elected,” he said.
Following the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great
Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall
act in 1933 to protect our banking system. This legislation
addressed the concern of over-speculation by banks and set up
regulations for investment and commercial banking. The 1999
Financial Services Modernization Act essentially destroyed the
1933 legislation. With the bailout of Bear Stearns by Congress
in March (legislation Tiahrt voted for), the takeover of Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac in September, and the Federal Reserve’s help
to AIG, the focus of the entire world is on the U.S. market
which continues to teeter erratically. “It is such a shame that
our great leaders such as President Roosevelt spent so much time
ensuring legislative controls were put into place, only to have
them shattered in 1999,” he said.
With the Stock Market falling over 700 points today with news of
Congress not approving the bailout, many Americans are concerned
about how it will affect their savings, retirement and long-term
future. Senator Betts said today, “People in this country need
to be reassured that they will not lose their life savings,
retirements, and mortgages in lieu of the chaos on Wall Street.”
“There is concern and the people need to be sure that Congress
is on-the-job,” he added.
Betts is running for the 4th Congressional seat currently held
by Todd Tiahrt who has been in office since 1994. Betts has been
actively working for Kansans since 2002, when he was elected to
the Kansas House of Representatives. He went on to serve in the
Senate, bridging party lines to focus on the important issues
that affect everyone including support for education through the
Workforce Kansas Quick Careers. Among his many accomplishments,
Betts took a stand against the practices of genocide with Senate
Substitute for HB 2457 which was signed into law divesting
Kansas Public Employee Retirement Funds from Darfur. “It has
been my pleasure to represent Kansans in Topeka but I believe
that now is the time to make their voices heard in Washington,
D.C.,” said Betts. “Our nation is in an economic crisis and
people are hurting – it’s time to make some choices to make our
country strong again and to be fair to everyone, not just the
special interests.”
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Severe Weather Concerns in Southeast Kansas
Southeast Kansas is facing serious
flooding due to the continued rains in our area. The most
important thing to remember in the face of severe weather is to
try to remain calm, prepare, and follow directions given by
authorities. Purchase and monitor a NOAA Weather Radio (or a
battery-operated radio), buy bottled water, flashlights and
batteries as well as to prepare an evacuation plan for your
family if necessary. Preparedness for flooding, tornadoes and
hurricanes vary so stay updated by checking online at the
National Weather Service, watching your local weather television
stations or listening to the radio.
Here are some facts about storm
surges (information courtesy of websites of local news stations,
The Weather Channel, the National Weather Service, and various
other sources):
1.
Drivers are strongly requested not to drive through water
covered roads and to limit driving while flooding is occurring.
Cars stalling on roadways create additional problems for
emergency personnel attempting to respond to emergencies.
2.
Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other
severe weather related hazard. The main reason is people
underestimate the force and power of water. More than half of
all flood related deaths result from vehicles being swept
downstream. Of these, many are preventable.
3.
Most cars will float (and be swept away) in 18-24 inches of
moving water. Trucks and SUVs are not much better with only 6-12
more inches of clearance. Creeks and rivers can rise very
rapidly and the road bottom can also wash away making the water
much deeper than it appears.
4.
Once cars are swept downstream they will often roll to one side
or perhaps flip over entirely. The driver has a few precious
seconds to escape the vehicle. In fact, many drivers panic as
soon as the vehicle submerges and are found later with their
seat belt intact.
5.
Sedgwick County Emergency Management strongly discourages
motorist from driving into flooded roadways. Whether a water
covered road is closed with barricades or not, Turn Around,
Don't Drown!
Throughout the Fourth Congressional
District (which includes the following counties: Butler,
Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Kingman,
Montgomery, Sedgwick and Sumner Counties) many rivers and creeks
have overflowed forcing volunteer and in some cases mandatory
evacuations. If you plan to evacuate your home, please take your
pets with you or to an approved pet evacuation site. Also,
please check on your neighbors, friends and the elderly and take
valuable documents with you.
Hurricanes
Hurricane season continues until November 30th of this year. As
you know, the United States Coastline has been hit hard lately
with Hurricanes. From the recent Hurricane Gustav which struck
the Louisiana coastline to the current Hurricane Ike which is in
the trajectory to hit the Galveston, Texas coastline. The
National Weather Service for the Houston, Texas area issued a
strong warning recently to the coastal areas from Matagorda to
Galveston, saying that “Persons not heeding evacuation orders in
single-family, one or two-story homes will face certain death.”
According to the weather service, Hurricane Ike was expecting
the impact from a high end Category 2 to a low end Category 3.
Ike is scheduled to make landfall early Saturday, September 13,
with life threatening flooding rains and potentially damaging
winds spreading across inland Texas. Interior tropical storm
warnings are in effect for cities as far north as Tyler and
Waco, Texas.
As Ike weakens Sunday, the flooding rains will shift into
eastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, southeast Kansas, central
and southern Missouri and southern Illinois.
With the devastation of hurricanes and flooding, you can help
the thousands of victims by volunteering, donating, and getting
information from the American Red Cross including following this
link:
http://hurricaneike.wordpress.com/ to get information about
Ike and the relief operations.
The Midway Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross offers
disaster training for volunteers. You can check their website
at:
www.midwaykansas.redcross.org and sign up for courses online
or at their office.
Let’s all help out one another during this time of severe
weather – look out for your family, friends, pets and neighbors!
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September 11 Anniversary
As Americans pause
today to mark the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist
attacks, we remember our friends and family members that were lost
in that devastating attack on our country when two hijacked airplanes
slammed into the twin towers in New York City. I watched on
television, like millions of Americans, in total shock and disbelief
as our country was attacked. Over 2,751 people were killed in the
city representing more than 90 countries. That does not include the
attack at the Pentagon where 184 Americans were killed, and in
Pennsylvania where brave passengers on Flight 93 stormed the cockpit
to crash the plane before it reached its intended destination.
Today, I ask that
each of you pause for a moment of silence in honor of those Americans.
Their bravery, a shining beam of unselfish light for our country,
illuminates our lives. It echoes the great words “let freedom ring”
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GOVERNOR SEBELIUS ENDORSES SEN. DONALD BETTS
Governor Kathleen
Sebelius has endorsed Donald Betts Jr. for Congress citing his
leadership on issues important to Kansans. "Don Betts has been a
great leader in the Kansas Legislature where he fought for
better schools, more jobs and a clean energy future," said
Sebelius. She has been governor since 2002, uniting both parties
for a better Kansas. "It's time the people of the 4th District
had a representative in Washington who puts people before
politics, and that's why I'm endorsing Donald Betts for the
United States Congress," Sebelius said. Betts is running for the
4th Congressional seat currently held by Todd Tiahrt (R), who
has been in office since 1994.
Betts has been
actively working for Kansans since 2002, when he was elected to
the Kansas House of Representatives. He went on to serve in the
Senate, bridging party lines to focus on the important issues
that affect everyone including support for education through the
Workforce Kansas Quick Careers. Betts took a stand against the
practices of genocide with Senate Substitute for HB 2457 which
was signed into law divesting Kansas
Public Employee Retirement Funds from Darfur. "It has been my
pleasure to represent Kansans in Topeka but I believe that now
is the time to make their voices heard
in Washington, D.C.," said Betts. "Our nation is in an
economic crisis and people are hurting - it's time to make some
choices to make our country strong again and to be
fair to everyone,
not just the special interests."
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