Six months of work from Joe Sestak

In just under 6 months, new Congressman Joe Sestak has been a very busy man. Sestak has been active in Washington and in the PA-7 district. I've run into him at numerous events myself. From his recent email update, he makes these statements and lists the following activities:

During my campaign, I ran on the belief that national security begins at home, in the health, education, and economic security of our people. Those three pillars, along with defense security, give us National Security.

Upon arriving in Congress, I was able to secure assignments on the committees that best serve those four pillars: Armed Services Committee (Defense Security); the Committee on Education and Labor (Education Security and Economic Security); the Committee on Small Business (Economic Security?of which I was honored to have been selected Vice-Chairman); the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (Health Security); and the Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade (Health Security).

During the past several months, I have held numerous Summits in the 7th District on the four pillars as a way to bring together local, state and national experts to develop legislative solutions to the issues facing us.

From these Summits, I have gathered numerous proposals for amendments and bills that have become passed legislation, some of which include: two amendments to improve mental health care for our wounded soldiers; an amendment providing student loan forgiveness for Head Start teachers; an amendment expanding small businesses' access to federal government contracting opportunities; and an amendment ensuring the Department of Defense is not duplicating efforts and is reaching out to small businesses.

In addition, the expansion and re-design of the Philadelphia International Airport is the major local issue within the District, as the proposed re-design flight plan by the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") will severely impact the health, safety and economic welfare of the citizens of the 7th District. I have held several hearings in the District, as well as meetings in Washington, DC with Deputy Secretary of Transportation Maria Cino, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, and House Committee on Transportation Chairman James Oberstar, to review and emphasize the impact of the FAA's proposed Philadelphia airport/airspace re-design on the District. Of most importance, I have recently been successful in getting the General Accounting Office ("GAO"), the investigative arm of Congress, to investigate the cost, efficiencies and environment impact of the re-design to prevent the proposed plan. This accomplishment was due to the factual reports of my assembled FAA Expert Advisory Board that were presented to the FAA. This should be the beginning of the end of the FAA's proposed re-design flight path over the District.
Further, because of what I believe and my previous military career, I have taken a leading role in discussing the primary issue of our time - the "tragic misadventure" in Iraq and strengthening our National Security. This past spring I traveled to Iraq with Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (a Vietnam veteran) and met with Iraq Prime Minister Maliki and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker to discuss the situation over there, as well as visited our proud men and women serving in various regions throughout Iraq. My experiences have allowed me to appear on Meet the Press with Tim Russert; This Week with George Stephanopoulos; Hardball with Chris Matthews; News Hour with Jim Lehrer; Lawrence Kudlow & Co.; PBS's Travis Smiley; and C-Span's Washington Journal, as well as several other newscasts, to forcefully assert that a "date certain" is the best, and safest way, for our troops to redeploy out of Iraq.

Set forth below are more details on the Summits and some of the significant legislation to date.

DISTRICT SUMMITS
Education Security Summits
February 26, 2007 Elementary and Secondary Education Summit with Congressman George Miller, Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and Terrell Halaska, Assistant Secretary of Education, on issues dealing with Early Childhood, Special Education, Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Head Start Program.

March 16, 2007 Higher Education Summit with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, Chairman of the Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee, which brought together Presidents of the District's 11 universities, colleges, and community colleges; Deans of Education and Engineering at various advanced training schools; chambers of commerce; businesses; unions; regional development groups; and principals and superintendents of high schools to discuss issues related to Higher Education and Advanced Training.

May 14, 2007 Congressional Field Hearing on No Child Left Behind with Congressman Dale Kildee, Chairman of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Congressional Hearing Subcommittee.


Economic Security Summits
April 24, 2007 Economic Development Summit with District's CEOs, venture capitalists, local chambers of commerce, business owners, economic development professionals, elected officials, union leaders, and members of the higher education and advanced training communities to discuss and work on strategies enhancing the local and regional economy.

May 21, 2007 Summit on Economic Growth and Resources where panels of Federal, State and Local Agencies presented their resources/programs to assist small businesses and business development.

Health Security Summits
February 27, 2007 Mental Health Parity Summit with Congressman Patrick Kennedy on mental health parity to highlight the need for insurance carriers to provide the same level of coverage for mental illnesses as they do for physical illnesses.

Upcoming June 25, 2007 Health Security Summit that will bring together, doctors, nurses, administrators, experts, and interested parties to debate ways to improve the affordability, accessibility and quality of our healthcare system.

Listed here are the summits regarding the FAA's proposed re-design flight path of the Philadelphia International Airport because of its impact upon the safety and health/welfare of the citizens of the District:

February 9, 2007 FAA Town Hall. Town hall meeting held with FAA Airspace Manager that allowed community residents to ask questions and express their health, environmental and cost concerns directly to the FAA Airspace Manager.

March 12, 2007 FAA Summit. FAA hearing held with Congressman Jerry Costello, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation; local officials; and my FAA Expert Advisory Board to discuss the impact upon Delaware County of the FAA's proposed re-design/airport expansion.

May 12, 2007 FAA Town Hall. My staff and I mobilized residents to turn-out to voice opposition to the FAA re-design plan. Over 2000 residents showed up to voice their displeasure to FAA officials, who commented that the turnout was the largest of any of the 100 meetings that the FAA had held on its re-design plan in the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area corridor.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SOME LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Education Security

Successfully passed amendment to H.R. 1429, The Improving Head Start Act, to provide for loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 for Head Start teachers upon completion of a Bachelor's degree and a commitment to work in the Head Start program for at least three consecutive years.

Along with Chairman George Miller and Congressman Dale Kildee, introduced legislation, the Improving Head Start Act (H.R. 1429), to reauthorize and improve the Head Start program, including continual support of parental involvement in local Head Start policy councils; extending eligibility of Head Start for families up to 130 percent of the poverty level; and fund methods to recruit/retain head start teachers.

Helped push, and co-sponsored, passage of the College Student Relief Act (H.R. 5) which cut interest rates on student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.
Joined Congressman Chris Van Hollen in introducing legislation, the Keep Our PACT Act (H.R. 627), to fully-fund No Child Left Behind and IDEA by 2014.

Introduced the College Aid Made EZ Act (H.R. 1608), along with Chairman George Miller to streamline and make more user-friendly the Federal student financial aid application process.

Health Security
Successfully passed two amendments - with unanimous support - to H.R. 1538, the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act, to improve mental health care for our wounded soldiers. The First Amendment clarified that 'medical care' as defined in H.R. 1538 includes mental health care services. The Second Amendment requires the Secretary of the Department of Defense to develop a plan to help prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other stress-related psychopathologies (including substance abuse conditions) from developing in our military service members. In addition, it requires the Secretary to submit to Congress within 180 days a plan for establishing a Peer-Reviewed research program to research the prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and how best to strengthen the psychological resiliency of our military service members.

Helped expand funding for embryonic stem cell research by cosponsoring and voting for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 3).

Introduced the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (H.R. 1553), along with Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH), to encourage and expand support for biomedical research programs for childhood cancer and to establish a population-based childhood cancer database.

Pushed for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate with drug manufacturers to obtain more affordable medication prices for Medicare beneficiaries by cosponsoring and passing the Medicare Prescription Drug Direct Negotiation Act (H.R. 4).

Passed the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 2007 that provides grants to improve access to and development of trauma care systems.
Cosponsored and passed the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (H.R. 1553) to encourage and expand research programs for childhood cancer.

Passed legislation to create a reserve fund of up to $50 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) - reducing the number of uninsured children across the country.


Economic Security

Successfully passed - with unanimous support - an amendment to the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act (H.R. 1873) which will ensure small businesses greater access to federal government contracting opportunities. Over the past five years, the federal government has increased the use of a practice known as "contract bundling," which allows federal agencies to consolidate purchases into mega-contracts ? contracts so large they cannot possibly be performed by a small company. As a result, significantly fewer small businesses were receiving federal government contracts. The Amendment will ensure that more large contracts will be reviewed as to their appropriateness to be bundled, and potentially broken into smaller pieces more suitable for small business.

Helped increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour by joining Chairman George Miller in introducing and voting on the Fair Minimum Wage Act (H.R. 2).

Cosponsored the Family Small Business Tax Fairness Act (H.R. 868) with Congressman Lloyd Doggett to streamline small business joint-tax filings.

Joined Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro in cosponsoring the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338), which provides for more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex.

Introduced the SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs Act (H.R. 2359) to assist small businesses through open access to loans, credit and capital.

Passed an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that mandates that a contract officer must certify that they have done market research, including by using a web browser, to see if small businesses qualify for any contract over $1 million. This is important because 23% of all federal contracts are to be given to small businesses, but currently only 6.5% them are given to small businesses in the 7th District.

Passed the Sowing the Seeds Through Science and Engineering Research Act that provides support to young researchers, who are the source of some of the most innovative research today.

Passed the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act which will increase the number of qualified math and science teachers through education scholarships.

Passed the Taxpayer Protection Act, that will increase IRS outreach to provide taxpayers with stronger protections from identity theft and tax fraud.

Passed the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act that creates a fair and open federal contracting system so that all businesses - including small businesses - have a fair shot at winning a federal contract.

Passed the Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007 that makes capital more accessible for small businesses, which often spur technological innovation.

Passed the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2007 that authorizes $21 billion in funding over three years for the National Science Foundation, including funding for math and science education.

Passed the Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007 that fully re-authorizes the National Institutes of Standards and Technology - an organization that has enabled breakthrough technologies and improved our safety and quality of life.

Passed the Veterans' Programs Act that creates two new Veteran Business Outreach Centers to help veterans pursue or resume business activities after they leave service.

Passed the Women's Business Programs Act which provides dedicated funding to open new Women's Business Centers, sets benchmarks to measure their success, and provides additional assistance for outreach and low-income areas.


Defense Security

Introduced legislation, H.R. 960, the Enhancing America's Security through Redeployment from Iraq Act, which requires that, no later than December 31, 2007, all U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq be redeployed outside of Iraq, either to locations within the Middle East or Southwest Asia regions or other regions or nations, or to the United States.

Voted for H.R. 1591, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act, which sets a date certain for redeploying our troops from Iraq.
Cosponsored and voted for H.R. 1, the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act, which is the first comprehensive response to the non-intelligence reform recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Secured $36.8 million in authorized funding, contained in the U.S. Department of Defense Authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, for vital research efforts in equipment technology, bio-terrorism, wireless technologies and software in the District and surrounding region to assist our men and women in the armed services.
Passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that makes military readiness a top priority so that our nation is fully prepared to face today's and tomorrow's threats and challenges, and focuses on improving health care, benefits, and pay for our troops.

Passed the Intelligence Authorization for Fiscal Year 2008 that authorizes the largest amount of funding in history for 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and intelligence-related activities for the U.S. government.

Passed the COPS Improvements Act of 2007 that will put 50,000 additional police officers on the streets over the next six years, and provides funds for COPS technology grants and for hiring community prosecutors.

Passed the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 that will improve the security of railroads, public transportation, and buses in the United States.

Passed the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that keeps America safe by increasing funding for homeland security supporting first responders, increasing contractor accountability, and strengthening and streamlining the Department of Homeland Security.

In response to the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, passed the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007 that includes measures to ensure our troops and veterans receive quality care.