Disaster assistance legislation Last week Senator Dayton introduced disaster assistance legislation which would provide direct financial assistance to Minnesota farmers who have experienced significant losses as a result of the drought. Two weeks ago Dayton sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, urging support for Gov. Pawlenty’s requests of a disaster declaration. In addition to the low-interest loans Vene-man’s declaration would provide to farmers, Dayton’s legislation would make direct assistance available to affected farmers. Dayton’s bill is different from traditional disaster assistance legislation because it would provide direct assistance, on a graduated scale, to farmers who have experienced crop losses. It would also substantially lower the threshold of loss required for farmers to qualify for assistance from 35 percent to 20 percent. Dayton is continuing to pursue a Republican Senator to sponsor the legislation. Wounded and sick troops’ meals Earlier this month Sen. Dayton joined several of his Democratic and Republican colleagues as an original co-sponsor of a bill designed to end the practice of charging our wounded and sick soldiers for their meals while they are recovering in hospitals. Under current law, troops in combat who are hospitalized after being wounded or becoming ill are charged for their meals. The proposed legislation Dayton is co-sponsoring would put a stop to such policies. “To think that our troops who become wounded or sick while in Iraq would be charged for their hospital meals is beyond ludicrous,” Dayton said. “When the men and women who have been so ably serving our nation are hospitalized as a result of combat, the last thing they should be expected to do is pay for their meals.” Dayton delivers signatures to the President Sen. Dayton mails “Taste of Our Own Medicine” petition signatures urging the President and Sen. Frist to include an amendment in the Medicare Prescription Drug bill. Sept. 22nd, Sen. Dayton, along with Dan Mikel of the AFL-CIO Retirees Council, Marty Gates of the Minnesota Senior Federation and Marie Hauser of the Minnesota Nurses Association, mailed President Bush and Majority Leader Bill Frist a petition signed by 17,000 people during the Minnesota State Fair. Dayton’s petition urges the administration and Majority Leader Frist to ensure that his “Taste of Our Own Medicine” amendment remains in the final version of the Medicare Prescription Drug bill. Bush has requested passage of the bill by the end of the month. “Over 17,000 Minnesotans signed my Taste of Our Own Medicine petition,” Dayton said. “President Bush should stop ignoring our seniors’ concern about prescription drug legislation – they want more than a cruel hoax when the Prescription Drug bill crosses the President’s desk later this month.” Do-not-call registry Sen. Mark Dayton issued his support for the National Do-Not-Call Registry by becoming a co-sponsor of the Senate amendment which would explicitly authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to compile and implement a national phone registry. A U.S. District judge ruled that the FTC lacked authority to implement the Do-Not-Call Registry, which was set to go into effect on Oct. 1. This ruling was founded on the fact that Congress never officially provided the FTC with specific authority to implement the registry. The Senate amendment alleviates this problem by granting the FTC the official authority needed to move the list forward. Currently 1,344,766 Minnesotans have registered with the Do-Not-Call Registry. Honoring Herb Brooks Sen. Dayton and Sen. Norm Coleman honored the life of St. Paul native and hockey great, Herb Brooks, who died tragically Aug. 11, 2003. They submitted a resolution on the floor recognizing Brooks’ contributions to the game of hockey and to American sports. The resolution gained unanimous support. Denouncing proposed cuts that will cost area veterans Sen. Dayton and dozens of Minnesota veterans held a news conference to discuss his efforts to restore $1.8 billion in veterans health care funding cut recently by the U.S. House of Representatives. The cuts will deny $84 million in health care services for area veterans next year. “Right now, almost 10,000 veterans are waiting for an appointment at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Clinic alone. Many of them will have to wait as many as six months to be seen. We’re shortchanging our nation’s veterans, even as more veterans are coming home from war abroad. Restoring the funds is vitally important to our veterans and to the promise we make to every man and woman serving so bravely in our nation’s military,” Dayton said. For further information on any of these or other issues, please contact me at the above information.
