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Week of October 19th
CHESAPEAKE BAY: On Monday, I will be joined by Governor Martin O'Malley, Congressman Elijah Cummings, and Congressman Chris Van Hollen to outline the details of the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Act of 2009, which I will be introducing in the Senate along with Senator Barbara A. Mikulski. This legislation reauthorizes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program and gives state and local governments of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed expanded authority, $1.5 billion in new grant authorization, and strong new enforcement tools, to help restore the Bay���s health. In developing this legislation, we listened carefully to our watershed partners, our watermen, our farmers, and others whose livelihood depends on a viable Chesapeake. The result is a robust plan that will put us on a realistic but aggressive path to restoring the Bay to a healthy state that can sustain native fish, wildlife, farmland, and our regional economy.
CLIMATE CHANGE: As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Friday I look forward to the release of Senator Boxer's Chairman���s Mark of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. I support clean energy legislation that will help end our dependence on foreign oil, create American jobs by investing in our energy and transportation infrastructure, and improve our air quality by making polluters pay for the damage they are causing. One of the most important parts of this legislation is the significant investment in a new, cleaner transportation infrastructure. The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act will take the first steps to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, address the impacts of climate change at home and abroad, and ensure that our nation emerges stronger and more energy secure.
SMALL BUSINESS: As a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, I will join President Obama at Metropolitan Archives in Landover, MD, on Wednesday to support the his new small business lending initiatives designed to put capital in the hands of small business owners. I will be co-sponsoring a bill that will be introduced by Committee Chair Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to codify many of the lending initiatives announced by the President. The legislation we are introducing will help pump essential credit back into America's small business. On Thursday, I will be back in Prince George's County to help kick off a daylong conference in Capitol Heights designed to help connect local small businesses with financial resources and information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and how it can help keep their companies afloat during the recession. My top priority has long been to make it easier for small businesses to get the tools they need to need to survive and thrive.
UPCOMING MEDIA: On Tuesday (10/20) at 10 am I will be live on The Diane Rehm Show (WAMU), to discuss my bill, the Newspaper Revitalization Act. On Wednesday, (10/21), I will be live on the Ed Schultz show on MSNBC at 6:15 to discuss the President's new small business lending initiatives and legislation I have co-sponsored to codify these initiatives. For those of you on the Eastern Shore, I will be talking with Bill Reddish on WICO (1320AM) Thursday morning (10/22) at 8:10 a.m. to discuss health care reform, the current situation in Afghanistan, and my bill, the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Act of 2009.
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