Labor Department announced it will drop proposed rule to limit youth labor on farms

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement after the US Department of Labor announced it was withdrawing a proposed regulation that would have made it more difficult for farmers and ranchers to hire youth to work in agriculture:

"The demise of the Obama administration's proposed rule to require children be a minimum age to work on farms is welcome news. A regulation prohibiting youths from working on farms would strike at the very core of agriculture across Iowa and the Midwest.  This is Iowa. Working on the family farm is part of growing up.  I know -- I remember many hot summer days I spent as a kid detassling corn in the fields. I'll keep working to ensure misguided regulations like this one don't see the light of day."

In December, Braley wrote to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis urging her to drop the proposed rule.

 

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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack today praised the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for withdrawing a proposed rule dealing with youth who work in agriculture. Last week, Loebsack met with the DOL to urge them to review Iowans' concerns that part of the proposal would limit activities children could perform on family farms and the effect the updates could have on student education programs in rural areas.

"Iowa farmers have a long and proud tradition of feeding the world," said Loebsack. "After hearing from concerned family farmers from across Iowa and the nation, I am pleased the Department of Labor has taken this step to help protect Iowa's way of life. When I met with the Department of Labor, I stressed the importance of better cooperation and outreach to the agriculture community and raised concerns about this rule. I applaud their commitment to working in a cooperative way to make our farms safer for kids."

In addition to meeting with the DOL, Loebsack wrote to the Secretary of Labor to urge the Department to ensure Iowa farmers and families had the opportunity to be heard regarding these proposals and urged the Department to reconsider the provisions relating to the parental exemption for children helping on the farm, which had already been withdrawn prior to today.

 

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Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee

Executive Business Meeting

Thursday, April 26, 2012

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

On the agenda today are three nominations ready for committee action - Curiel, Shea, and Shelby.  I believe a roll call may be requested for Mr. Shea's nomination.

 

Before we consider the nominations, I would like to speak about yesterday's hearing and a serious matter I raised with Secretary Napolitano.  I asked Secretary Napolitano about the Department of Homeland Security's failure to approve a single chemical facility site security plan under the Chemical Facility Anti-terrorism Standards (CFATS).

 

The CFATS program was passed by Congress in 2006 to provide baseline security for chemical facilities that store certain types of dangerous chemicals.  Regulations were issued in 2007 that required sites to submit security plans for approval.  To date, 4,200 sites have submitted plans to DHS.  However, DHS has not approved a single one despite operating the program for more than five years and spending nearly a half-a-billion taxpayer dollars.  As implemented, this program is a disaster.

 

Secretary Napolitano admitted that the program is not operating as they would like.  I think that is a major understatement and an internal review of the failures of the program underscores how this is an understatement.

 

This memorandum, dated November 10, 2011, is one of the most candid assessments of an agency's failure I've ever seen. The authors found, among other things, that no site plans have been approved and that even if they were, DHS is not prepared to conduct compliance inspections.

 

Additionally, the memorandum paints the picture of an agency that has lost control.  Specifically, the authors found:

 

·         The Department had hired "people who do not have the necessary skills to perform key mission and essential functions."

 

·         "While the vast majority of employees are talented, hardworking people, there are numerous exceptions."

 

·         "There is a catastrophic failure to ensure personal and professional accountability" among agency employees.

 

·         The "lack of focus and vision has resulted in problems with how we have spent our money, and how we are managing those funds."

 

There are other major problems, including car fleet management problems, lack of oversight and accountability for purchase cards, travel cards used for unauthorized expenses, property management issues, and records management.

 

While I appreciate the candor in this memorandum and the significant detail included by those tasked with completing this analysis, it raises serious questions about how DHS uses taxpayer dollars.  It also raises questions about DHS's ability to implement the policies Congress has entrusted it with.

 

I'm also concerned with what this entails for those who are currently seeking to give DHS more regulatory authority and hundreds of millions more in taxpayer money to oversee cybersecurity.

 

For example, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy last night on the cybersecurity legislation the House is currently addressing.  One of the major reasons the statement was allegedly issued was that the bill "fails to provide authorities to ensure that the Nation's core critical infrastructure is protected."  In other words, the President won't sign the bill into law because it doesn't give DHS the power to regulate the private sector.

 

I'll admit I have been skeptical of giving DHS the power to regulate cybersecurity from the outset.

 

But, I do believe the threat to our country from cyber-attacks is real.  That is why I have cosponsored S.2151, the SECURE I.T. Act.  This legislation will enhance cybersecurity without creating a new bureaucracy at DHS and without stifling innovation in the private sector with burdensome new regulations.

 

After reading this DHS memorandum, my initial skepticism against DHS's role in cybersecurity has turned into outright concern.  Based upon the failures of CFATS to date, such an approach would surely lead to more wasted taxpayer dollars with nothing to show for it.  Given the fiscal situation we face, this is an unacceptable option.

 

Despite the failures outlined by DHS's own internal review, Secretary Napolitano did her best yesterday to say the program is moving forward.  I have my doubts, given the level of failures cited in this memorandum.  I'd be surprised if DHS has been able to turn this program around overnight.  So, I'll be requesting a briefing from DHS to find out what is being done to fix these problems.

 

Regardless of what DHS has done to address these problems, the fact remains that the American taxpayers are out nearly a half-a-billion dollars with nothing to show for it.  We have a duty to conduct oversight on the failures and problems mentioned in this memorandum.  We have a duty to our constituents and all taxpayers to ensure these problems are fixed and that they don't continue.

 

Absent proof, and not just assurances, that the problems are fixed, we should not even consider giving DHS another ounce of regulatory authority or additional layers of bureaucracy to deal with Cybersecurity.  I believe Cybersecurity is an important topic that we need to address, but not at the expense of throwing more taxpayer dollars at an agency with the sort of problems this internal review details.

 

Thank you.


Obama will issue executive order tomorrow in Georgia

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement in response to the White House's pending executive order that will target aggressive and deceptive targeting of service members, veterans, and their families by educational institutions that are abusing federal student loan programs:

"After fighting our nation's wars, our veterans shouldn't have to fight exploitative institutions looking to make a quick buck on the backs of taxpayers.  Cracking down on deceptive practices by these bad apple educational institutions is needed to stafeguard taxpayers' dollars and to keep our veterans from being taken advantage of."

 

More detail on the Obama administration announcement follows:

 

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

April 26, 2012

We Can't Wait: President Obama Takes Action to Stop Deceptive and Misleading Practices by Educational Institutions that Target Veterans, Service Members and their Families

 

On Friday, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Stewart in Georgia where the President will sign an Executive Order to help ensure all of America's service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members have the information they need to make informed educational decisions and are protected from aggressive and deceptive targeting by educational institutions. We have a sacred trust with those who serve and protect our nation. It's a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end.  That's why President Obama is committed to ensuring veterans and service members have the chance to get a college education and can find work when they return from service.

Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill became law, there have been reports of aggressive and deceptive targeting of service members, veterans, and their families by educational institutions, particularly for-profit career colleges. For example, some institutions have recruited veterans with serious brain injuries and emotional vulnerabilities without providing academic support and counseling; encouraged service members, veterans, and their families to take out costly institutional loans rather than encouraging them to apply for Federal student aid first; engaged in misleading recruiting practices on military installations; and have not disclosed meaningful information that allows potential students to determine whether the institution has a good record of graduating service members, veterans, and their families and positioning them for success in the workforce.

Members of Congress have introduced legislation to address these issues, but the Administration believes we must do all we can administratively to protect veterans from these deceptive practices by improving the quality of information and services that these schools must provide.  These steps will help ensure that Federal military and veteran education dollars are well spent. Today's Executive Order will apply to a variety of military and veteran education benefits, including the GI Bill, Tuition Assistance Program, and Military Spouse Career Advancement Account Program (MyCAA).

Today's Executive Order will:

  • Help Ensure Military and Veteran Students Have the Information They Need: The Executive Order will require that colleges provide more transparent information about their outcomes and financial aid options for students, which will help ensure that students are aware of the true cost and likelihood of completion prior to enrolling. According to the Senate HELP Committee, of the ten educational institutions collecting the most Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits between 2009 and 2011, eight were for-profit schools. Six of these schools had bachelor student withdrawal rates above 50 percent.  The Executive Order will require that the Know Before You Owe financial aid form, developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Education (ED), is made available to every college student that participates in the Department of Defense's (DoD) Tuition Assistance program (nearly 2,000 schools). The Executive Order will also direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to encourage all schools?roughly 6,000 in total?participating in the GI Bill program to provide the Know Before You Owe form.  This form provides students with critical information on tuition and fees, the availability of federal financial aid, estimated student loan debt upon graduation, and information about student outcomes like graduation rates. Further, the Executive Order will require that students are provided additional critical information, including school performance information over time, consumer protection information, and key financial aid documents, prior to the use of their benefits through the eBenefits portal.  The VA will publically post on their website if schools who receive GI Bill benefits agree to adhere to the Executive Order.
  • Keep Bad Actors Off of Military Installations: There have been numerous reports of some institutions of higher education aggressively and inappropriately targeting military students.  The Executive Order will require the Department of Defense to set forth rules for how educational institutions gain access to military installations in the first place, so that service members are not targeted by institutions known for a history of poor behavior in recruiting and marketing practices.
  • Crack Down on Improper Online Recruiting Practices: The Executive Order will direct the VA to initiate a process to register the term "GI Bill," so that external websites and programs are not deceptively and fraudulently marketing educational services and benefits to program beneficiaries. For instance, some companies have set up websites that suggest that veterans' benefits are only available at a subset of schools.  The websites are also set up to resemble official government sites, and are marketed heavily at military installations and at separating service members.
  • Provide Veterans with a Complaint System: The Executive Order will require VA, DoD, and ED, in consultation with the CFPB and Department of Justice, to create a centralized complaint system for students receiving military and veterans' educational benefits. Currently, when military and veteran students feel that their school has acted fraudulently, they have no centralized system to file complaints, and federal agencies often lack access to information that will allow for follow-up enforcement or regulatory actions.
  • Improve Support Services for Service Members and Veterans: The Executive Order will require that colleges participating in the military and veterans education benefit programs do more to meet the needs of military and veteran students by providing clear educational plans for students, academic and financial aid counseling services with staff that are familiar with the VA and DoD programs, and the ability of service members to more easily re-enroll and/or receive a refund if they must leave school for service-related reasons.

 

  • Provide Students with Better Data on Educational Institutions: The Executive Order will require DoD, VA, and Ed to develop improved student outcome measures, such as completion rates for veterans, and a plan for collecting this data, which will be made available on Ed's College Navigator website. Currently, retention and completion rates cannot be broken down by veteran or service member status.  Given the unique educational needs of veterans, active-duty service members, and their family members, it is important to provide them with a more accurate picture of what success looks like for students like them. The Executive Order will also require better reporting on the extent to which colleges rely on various types of federal benefits for operational support.

 

  • Strengthen Enforcement of Student Protections: The Executive Order will require that VA and DoD strengthen the enforcement and compliance functions of the VA and DoD, so that, working in conjunction with the Department of Education, DOJ, and the CFPB, agencies (including law enforcement agencies with responsibility over fraud investigations) can effectively act on complaints of improper activity.
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SPRINGFIELD, IL (04/26/2012)(readMedia)-- The family of an Active Army casualty from Illinois has released a statement through the Illinois National Guard in lieu of speaking publically.

"In our darkest moment, our hearts are warmed by the collective love and support of our family, our friends, our neighbors and our community. The outpouring of support and kindness has been tremendous and we cannot thank everyone enough.

Dean was a blessing on our lives and he would be proud and honored.

This is not an easy time for us. As we navigate this difficult journey, we do not intend to share it publicly and ask media to maintain a respectful distance."

Sgt. Dean R. Shaffer, 23, of Pekin, Ill., died April 19 in Helmand province, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when the Black Hawk helicopter he was riding in crashed. Shaffer was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii.

The Illinois National Guard is supporting the active component as well as providing military support to the Shaffer family.

Senator Chuck Grassley released the following statement after learning that the Department of Labor would be withdrawing the entirety of its proposed regulations that would have put stringent restrictions on young people working on family farms.  Grassley, one of the only working family farmers in the U.S. Senate, has vigorously defended the opportunity for kids to work on family farms.  He has said that generations of Iowans have cut their teeth working on the farm, whether for their own family, or a neighbor's farm and that young people are a valuable part of farming operations.

"It's good the Labor Department rethought the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families.  It would have been devastating to farm families across the country.  Much of rural America was built on families helping families, neighbors helping neighbors.  To even propose such regulations defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.  I'm glad the Obama administration came to its senses."


Thursday, April 26, 202

Senator Chuck Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, made the following statement after the committee passed "The Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012."  Grassley is one of the only working family farmers in the United States Senate.  Grassley voted for the bill.

The Chairwoman's legislation that was debated in the Agriculture Committee contained the most important parts of Grassley's efforts to limit farm program payments to small- and mid-size farmers.  The legislation that cleared the committee will limit farm payments under the proposed new commodity program to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for married couples.  The bill also includes a provision to begin closing the loopholes that allow people who aren't involved in farming to collect farm payments.  The provision prevents non-farmers from being able to use the management loophole in current law.  A person who doesn't provide labor for the farming operation will still be able to qualify for farm payments by helping manage the farm.  However, there can only be one individual per farming operation qualifying for payments based solely on their providing management.  This provision will help the Department of Agriculture crack down on the general partnerships that have multiple non-farmers trying to qualify for farm payments by exploiting the management loophole.  This will end some of the most egregious abuses of the farm program.

"Today, progress was made in one of the most important areas needed for reform in the farm programs.  I've been pushing to limit farm program payments to those who need it most for many years.  The farm program was never meant to give 10 percent of the farmers 70 percent of the benefits.  We needed a fix that keeps the farm program focused on helping small- and medium-sized farmers get through the ups and downs of farming, all while understanding the fiscal situation the country is in.  This bill takes a meaningful step in the right direction.  There are still areas of improvement that I'll be pushing for, but I appreciate Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts including this important reform in the bill."

"This bridge is structurally deficient and needs to be prioritized"

Washington, DC - Upon the announcement that the United States Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable Ray LaHood, would be traveling to Illinois on Monday, April 30, Congressmen Bobby Schilling (IL-17) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) today invited him to the Quad Cities in order to view the structurally-deficient I-74 Bridge first-hand.  Today's letter continues the Congressmen's bipartisan push for officials to prioritize advancing large interstate bridge projects in federal transportation legislation and in state long-term infrastructure plans.

"Sometimes you have to go the final three feet to truly appreciate why certain issues and situations must be rectified and we would be happy to come with you on those last three feet to show you the problems we are facing with the I-74 Bridge," the Congressmen wrote. "This bridge is an important addition to our local community, region, and states.  By working together we can ensure that the people of Illinois and Iowa can safely have their needs met and encourage growth in our local and state economies."

In 2005, the I-74 Bridge became the most traveled bridge in the Quad Cities with an average of 77,800 vehicles crossing daily.  This is despite the fact that it was built for 48,000 such crossings.  The Bridge itself is functionally obsolete, however, and has never met Interstate standards.  In addition to improving travelers' safety, the I-74 Bridge project would spur economic growth, create construction jobs, reduce traffic backups, and improve air quality.

A copy of the letter can be seen here.

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Senator Chuck Grassley released the following statement after a Seattle-based CBS television station revealed alarming information that Secret Service agents may have paid for escorts while working in El Salvador in advance of the President's trip to the country in March 2011.  Grassley is the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee which has jurisdiction over the Secret Service.

"This latest allegation only reaffirms the need for independent investigations by the Inspector General.  Regardless of whether the incidents were previously referred to internal investigators, they need to be examined.  There are rumors flying about various incidents over several years about the conduct of Secret Service personnel, as well as other law enforcement and military personnel in locations around the world.  The only way to put to rest the rumors of a much wider problem is for the allegations to receive transparent and independent reviews."

Please join us in congratulating these outstanding Middle and Upper School students at Rivermont Collegiate who have achieved honor roll status for the 3rd quarter, 2011-12.

 

**Middle School (Grades 6-8) High Honors**

All grades B+ or higher (B or higher for courses designated as Upper School level)

Sarah Bowman

Perapa Chotiprasidhi

Giavanna Eckhardt

Shivani Ganesh

Emily Goodman

Hannah Hansen

Isabella Holland

Megan Lindle

Naina Ninan

Rose Moran

Benjamin Nordick

Manasa Pagadala

Emilia Porubcin

Alexander Skillin

Collin Smith

Klaus Storl-Desmond

Marta Storl-Desmond

Sophia Xiao

**Middle School (Grades 6-8) Honors**

All grades B- or higher (C+ or higher for courses designated as Upper School level)

Spencer Brown

Hema Chimpidi

Christian Elliott

Kenton Fee

Samuel Knupp

Bailey Mangan

Alexis Shaheen

Harrison Qu

Jacob Vaughn

Aviana Zahara

 

**Upper School (Grades 9-12) Headmaster's List**

3.85 - 4.00 GPA

Adam Dada

Pavane Gorrepati

Summer Lawrence

Christine Mbakwe

Victoria Mbakwe

Grace Moran

Matthew Newsome

Meghana Pagadala

Michal Porubcin

Shravya Pothula

Kelsey Qu

Darsani Reddy

Suhas Seshadri

Ashish Tadepalli

Loring Telleen

 

**Upper School (Grades 9-12) Distinction**

3.50 - 3.84 GPA

Rebecca Cupp

Amanda McVey

Hayley Moran

Meghana Yerrapothu

 

**Upper School (Grades 9-12) Merit**

3.00 - 3.49 GPA

Vishal Bobba

Karanveer Gill

Ryan Howell

Alejandra Martinez

Ramya Prabhu

 

Rivermont Collegiate is the Quad Cities' only private, independent, nonsectarian, multicultural college-prep school for students in preschool through twelfth grade.

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