Dear Friend,

This E-Newsletter is a new communications tool to better serve you. In this edition, you’ll find information on legislative action on health care, education, and jobs. You can now sign up to receive email updates from me with news and information about Congress and federal agencies.

You will also have the opportunity to participate in frequent surveys on issues that matter to you. But you must sign up to participate.

This new service provides a valuable way for you to express your views and opinions and I hope you’ll use it to communicate regularly with me.

This is a free service and your email address will not be shared with anyone. Sign up today.

Warm regards,

Tammy Baldwin
Your Member of Congress

HEALTH CARE
• Covering the Uninsured
• Affordable Prescription Drugs

More than 43 million Americans lack health insurance, and many millions more are struggling to cover the cost of a basic family policy. This is unacceptable. I am working hard in Congress to ensure that every American has health care coverage. Recently, I introduced the Health Security for All Americans Act. This bill allows states to work creatively to solve the challenges of covering the uninsured.
In addition, I have been a strong proponent of legislation that would guarantee a comprehensive prescription drug benefit in Medicare rather than the poorly structured and underfunded program that is currently in place.

Many of my constituents have expressed concern about the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs and the disparity of drug prices between the U.S. and Canada. Securing cheaper drugs from Canada is an approach that is being used by individuals and states to significantly reduce their costs. I support legislation that would ensure it is legal to secure the same prescription from Canada at a cheaper cost.

EDUCATION
• Improving No Child Left Behind
• Coping with Skyrocketing Tuition
• Full Funding for Students with Disabilities

Every child is entitled to a high quality, public education. While this objective has yet to be reached for all children, it is absolutely essential that the federal government partner with state and local governments to provide the resources necessary to make it a reality.

In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act to improve standards, hold schools accountable for performance and provide additional resources. In many ways, No Child Left Behind is a positive step forward. However, there are significant problems that need to be addressed. That’s why I’m a cosponsor of H.R. 3049, the Student Testing Fairness Act, to make testing requirements more rational.

No matter what changes are made to improve No Child Left Behind, they are unlikely to succeed unless we provide the full amount of funding promised. It is unacceptable that No Child Left Behind is underfunded by billions of dollars.

Too many people are facing a financial crisis in coping with the cost of higher education. College costs are soaring and students are going deeper and deeper into debt to pay for their education. When we look at the difficult situation that states such as Wisconsin and its universities are presently facing, greater commitment to federal financial assistance is desperately needed. Knowing the importance of education to our economy and our democracy, we simply cannot afford to put progress on hold because we are at war or because of an unstable economy. This is precisely the time when investment in education is most needed.

The federal government must also meet its commitment to pay for 40% of the costs of implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Requiring local school districts to provide IDEA services, while the federal government is paying less than 20% of the cost, puts a significant financial burden on local districts. This burden ends up falling on property tax payers. I am committed to full federal funding of IDEA.

JOBS
• Creating Jobs
• Outsourcing

I’m a strong supporter of a number of legislative initiatives that would create high quality jobs here at home. Among these, I support full funding of the pending 5-year Transportation Bill. While employment has shown a modest improvement in Wisconsin, many people are still struggling to find a job. The average length of unemployment has remained at a 20-year high. I support extending unemployment benefits for those workers who have exhausted their benefits.

It has become increasing clear that our economy is changing – and not for the better. Good paying manufacturing jobs are also increasingly being "outsourced " to places like India, China, and the Philippines. It is estimated that 3.4 million U.S. service jobs alone will move offshore by 2015. I was joined by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) and 13 colleagues in sending a letter to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the independent investigative arm of Congress. The letter asks the GAO to examine the loss of service industry-related jobs overseas and to suggest ways to keep these jobs where they belong – here in the United States.