November 5th: Today the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 11-1 to send S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act to the full Senate for consideration.

This is a good bill for our country and the entire world and I am proud to be associated with it. It's a good bill for our national security, economic security and our environment, all of which are at a critical crossroads. For our national security, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act moves us toward energy independence so that we don't have to rely on countries who disagree with our way of life for our energy needs. To strengthen our economy, it uses American technology to create American jobs. To protect our environment, it restores America's leadership position in the world by demonstrating that we, as a nation, are serious about reducing pollution and combating the effects of climate change.

This is a good bill for Maryland. Our state is already a leader in alternative and renewable fuels and Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act creates high quality jobs by investing in home-grown technology at places like Algenol in Baltimore where they are making fuel from algae; like those at Volvo-Mack Truck in Hagerstown where they are making hybrid trucks; like those at Chesapeake Geosystems, a Maryland company that's an east coast leader in geothermal heating; and like those at DAP that makes spackling that is used in weatherizing homes and businesses.

November 4th: Today I praised the Senate for its timely action to keep the $8,000 credit from expiring at the end of this month. In September, I led a group of Senators, including Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Ensign (R-NV), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), introducing a bill to extend the first-time homebuyers' tax credit.

Today, the Senate passed the H.R. 3548, the Workers, Home Owners and Business Assistance Act, which included a provision I co-sponsored extending the first-time homebuyers tax credit and providing a new $6,500 tax credit for so-called step-up homebuyers who have been in their current home for the last five years. Both credits are designed to continue to provide a temporary boost to the housing market at a critical time in its recovery.

The first-time homebuyers' tax credit has worked. In Maryland, it's estimated that nearly half of all home sales in 2009 are to first-time home buyers. Nationwide, it has triggered hundreds of thousands of sales that would not have happened if not for this tax credit. While there are signs the housing market is stabilizing, there is much more to be done. The credit has succeeded in lessening the glut of homes for sale but our economy is still hurting.

November 4th: Today I praised Senate passage of a strong Unemployment Insurance (UI) bill that would extend unemployment benefits another 14 weeks to all states, including Maryland. The House has passed a bill that would extend UI benefits only to states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher.

I urge the adoption of the much stronger Senate version of the bill that guarantees an additional 14 weeks of UI benefits to Americans who - through no fault of their own - have found it extremely difficult to get a job in this recession.

While the Maryland September unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, below the national average of 9.8 percent or the 8.5 percent cutoff contained in the House bill, six Maryland jurisdictions have high unemployment rates at or above 8.5 percent. Those six Maryland counties are: Baltimore City (10.6 percent); Caroline County (8.8 percent); Cecil County (8.6 percent); Dorchester County (10.9 percent); Somerset County (9.5 percent) and Washington County (9.4 percent).

October 30th: Today I praised the final Congressional passage of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Conference Report, which will provide $72 million in new funding to improve Maryland's drinking water systems and to help communities finance local sewer improvements.

The bill also includes $50 million, the largest funding level ever, for programs to control urban, suburban and agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake watershed. The Conference Report - which also includes a Continuing Resolution to fund much of the federal government through December 18 ���- now goes to the President who is expected to sign it.

We must ensure that Marylanders and all Americans have clean and safe drinking water and that we adequately fund much-needed upgrades to our entire water infrastructure. Final passage of this appropriations measure will help communities meet the goals of the Clean Water Act.