August 29, 2008

Newsletter

From US Senator Saxby Chambliss

 Dear Friend:
 
The Senate stands in recess until September 8th.  Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed traveling all across the state and listening to the issues on the minds of my constituents.  Georgians continue to express their concern about high gas prices, and they want Congress to do something about it.
 
As you know, I have been leading a bipartisan group of senators who are committed to decreasing America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil.  The momentum behind our group is growing, with six more senators having joined this week.  The additional senators include John Warner, R-Virginia, Tim Johnson, D-South Dakota, Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, Tom Carper, D-Delaware, John Sununu, R-New Hampshire, and Ken Salazar, D-Colorado. 

    
The American people are looking for action on the energy crisis. They are not looking for a political issue. They simply want to be able to make ends meet without having to make difficult budget decisions.  I am pleased with the expansion of our group, and I feel confident we will continue to see it grow once we resume session after Labor Day.
 
A MUST READ:  Excerpts from Thursday’s Athens Banner-Herald
 
EDITORIAL: Compromise energy plan deserves support (August 28, 2008)
 
…Yes, it's an election year, and yes, that often means policy debates are driven more by public-opinion polling than practical reasoning. But that doesn't mean an effort in the U.S. Senate to put a national energy policy in place - an effort in which Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is playing a leading role - should be written off.
Earlier this month, Chambliss and Democratic U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota began assembling a bipartisan coalition of senators behind a proposal that would combine increased drilling for oil with the allocation of billions of dollars in funding for the development of petroleum-free vehicles and tax credits for renewable energy, according to media reports.
However improbable it may be in today's intensely partisan political climate, Chambliss and Conrad have reached across the aisle and built considerable support for the two-pronged approach to addressing the energy conundrum that now has Americans facing gasoline prices in the neighborhood of $4 per gallon. The two senators' approach is the very essence of how politics - often defined as the art of compromise - is supposed to work…
Initially, Chambliss' and Conrad's bipartisan group comprised 10 senators. The group's rapid growth to the current count of 16 is an indication there may be a critical mass of senators in place for action on the compromise energy policy proposal when Congress' summer recess ends next month…
 
IMPORTANT NOTE
 
Pursuant to Senate policy, electronic newsletters cannot be initiated by this office during the 60 day period immediately before the date of a primary or general election.  For that reason, this will be the last newsletter you will receive from me for the time being. 
 
Should you need assistance with a federal agency, you may contact my office toll free at 800-234-4208, or send an email by clicking the icon at the top of this page that says “e-mail me.”  You can also send a letter to one of my office addresses listed at the very bottom of this newsletter. 
 
Please let me know if I can be of assistance.