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Week of April 28th
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AVIATION: The Senate this week will debate the Aviation Investment and Modernization Act, which is the five-year reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This long-awaited legislation contains provisions that will prompt the return of limited commercial flights to Hagerstown Regional Airport by extending its Essential Air Service designation for the length of the bill. It also provides critical funding for the next generation of air traffic controllers, which will make the skies safer for aircraft, pilots and passengers by utilizing satellite systems rather than less-reliable ground-based radar.
SECRET LAW: The Senate Judiciary Committee this week will be holding a hearing on "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government." This important topic touches upon this Administration's warrantless wiretapping activity, provisions of the Patriot Act, and other attempts to expand Presidential powers. The lengths to which this President's legal advisors have stretched and strained the limits of the law under the guise of national security runs contrary to the concept of a transparent and democratic society.�� Secret law also subverts the checks and balances in our system of government, and the separation of powers between the branches.
UPCOMING MEDIA: For those of you on the Eastern Shore, listen to my conversation with Bill Reddish on Thursday morning (May 1) at about 7:35AM on WICO (1320AM/Delmarva Broadcasting).
FAITH & POLITICS: This week I will host a gathering of Maryland religious leaders for an ecumenical introduction to the current Senate Chaplain, the Rev. Barry Black. Former chief of chaplains for the U.S. Navy, Admiral Black (ret.) is a Baltimore native. He'll discuss the role he plays as ethical advisor to all 100 U.S. Senators and their staff; the difference between separation of church and state vs. God and state; and the path of faith that led him from his home in Cherry Hill to the Navy to the U.S. Capitol. Senator Mikulski, Majority Leader Hoyer, and Congressman Sarbanes all will join me for this enlightening event.
NEVER AGAIN: Thursday, May 1 marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is set aside each year to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and to remind ourselves what is possible when indifference permits hate to flourish. We have an obligation to future generations that we never permit these kinds of atrocities to be repeated anywhere in the world. As both Co-Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, finding an end to the genocide in Darfur is a high priority for me. I will continue to urge the Administration not to enter into discussions about normalizing relations with Sudan until the regime in Khartoum cooperates with the United Nations and provides land and water lease agreements necessary for full deployment of UN/African Union force. I will continue to provide a voice for those who want to raise awareness of the crisis in Sudan and to find a peaceful resolution. |