27 Jan 2011

Lowering Rx Drug Costs by Ending Sweetheart Deals Between Generics and Brand Name Drug Companies

By Grassley Press

KOHL, GRASSLEY: STOPPING "PAY-FOR-DELAY" DEALS ESSENTIAL TO LOWERING RX DRUG COSTS

Bipartisan effort to speed less expensive generic prescription drugs to market

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Chuck Grassley have reintroduced legislation limiting pay-for-delay settlements used to keep lower-cost generic drugs off pharmacy shelves.  Under these pay-off agreements, brand name drug companies settle patent disputes by paying the generic drug manufacturer in exchange for a promise that it will keep its generic version of the drug off the market. Kohl and Grassley's "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act" will stop this anti-consumer practice by presuming these deals illegal, and giving the FTC the authority to stop them.

"Generic drugs save consumers and the federal government money, to the tune of billions of dollars a year. But in order to freeze out competition and delay entry of low cost generic drugs for consumers, brand-name drug companies pay-off generic manufactures to keep their products off the market.  It is past time to put an end to these backroom deals and pass this bipartisan legislation," Kohl said.

"These agreements between generic and brand name pharmaceutical manufacturers are only serving to line the pockets of the companies.  When people across the country are having a hard time making ends meet, this wheeling and dealing simply delays the entry of lower priced medicines into the marketplace, leaving consumers on the short end of the stick," Grassley said.

A compromise version of this legislation passed the Judiciary Committee in late 2009 and was included in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee last year. Final passage of the bill stalled when the House and Senate failed to agree on an Omnibus Appropriations package last month.

The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that stopping these types of settlement agreements would save consumers at least $35 billion over the next ten years, and provide significant cost savings in the amount of $12 billion over ten years for the federal government, which pays approximately one-third of all prescription drug costs. A recent CBO report estimates that the federal government could save $2.68 billion over ten years, should this bill become law

Despite the FTC's opposition to pay-for-delay patent settlements, two 2005 appellate court decisions have permitted these payoffs.  In the two years after these two decisions, the FTC has found nearly half of all patent settlements involved payments from the brand name from the generic manufacturer in return for an agreement by the generic to keep its drug off the market.  According to a study by Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), health plans and consumers could save $26.4 billion over the next five years by using the generic versions of 14 popular drugs that are scheduled to lose their patent protections before 2010.

Brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers routinely enter into settlement agreements to end drug patent litigation, but until 2005, none of them included pay-for-delay provisions. From 2000 to 2004, companies assumed such agreements violated antitrust law.  But in 2005, following three courts of appeals decisions that prevented the FTC from taking action on behalf of consumers, pay-for-delay settlements became commonplace. In the four years following these court decisions 63 out of 194 patent settlements had provisions in which the brand name drug company made payments to the generic manufacturer in exchange for the generic manufacturer agreeing to delay entry of generic competition.  In 2009, there were a record 19 pay-for-delay settlement agreements that kept generics off the market.

Last Congress, Kohl served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. Grassley is the incoming Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.

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27 Jan 2011

BHC MEN'S BASKETBALL HOSTS ALUMNI EVENT

By Rick Martin

Moline, IL; January 11, 2011 - The Black Hawk College men's basketball team will host an Alumni Celebration at their game versus Carl Sandburg College on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

All former BHC men's basketball players will receive free admission to the 3:00 p.m. game.  Alumni are also invited to a post-game reception at 5:00 p.m. at the River House Bar & Grill, 1510 River Drive, Moline.

For more information on the Alumni Celebration, please contact Assistant Men's Basketball Coach David Burke at burked@bhc.edu.

All BHC men's home basketball games are played at 6600 34th Ave., Building 3, Moline.  Their complete schedule can be found online at www.bhc.edu.

 

 

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27 Jan 2011

The Old Creamery opens with Marriage Can Be Murder at the Ox Yoke I nn, Amana

By Shelley Oehler
Amana - A flirty bridesmaid who has a thing for the groom, an over-the-top wedding planner and an unsolved murder would spell disaster for any other wedding. But, in The Old Creamery' s production of Marriage Can Be Murder, it only brings on more laughs.

Marriage Can Be Murder, by James Daab opens Friday, Feb. 11 at the Ox Yoke Inn and runs through Feb. 27. The cast consists of Old Creamery regulars Kamille Zbanek of Ely; T.J. Besler of Manchester; Tom Milligan and Deborah Kennedy of East Amana; Jackie McCall and Sean McCall of Marengo; and Nicholas Hodge of Marion.

The evening includes a savory Ox Yoke Inn meal with choice of entrée, beverage and dessert. Performance times are 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays. Seating begins half an hour prior to performances. Cost is $40 per person for dinner and the show and includes all gratuity and tax. Because the action takes place during dinner, there are no " show only" tickets available.

For reservations, call the Ox Yoke Inn, Amana at 800-233-3441. It' s sure to be a wedding you' ll never forget!

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 40 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest. We thank KGAN and Fox 28, our 2011 season media sponsor.
27 Jan 2011

2011 Robert D. Blue Scholarship Application is Available Online

By Michael Fitzgerald

DES MOINES, IA (01/26/2011)(readMedia)-- State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald announced today that the application for the 2011 Robert D. Blue Scholarship is available online at www.rdblue.org. All Iowa residents who plan to attend college in Iowa for the 2011-2012 school year are eligible to apply.

Awards are based on financial need, an original essay, academic achievement and written recommendations. "These scholarships not only help Iowa students financially, but also honor the achievements and potential of the young people of our state," Fitzgerald stated. "Last year, ten outstanding students representing ten counties were chosen to receive awards. Each of the recipients went on to attend a different Iowa college or university."

The Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation awards the Robert D. Blue Scholarship to Iowa students attending college in Iowa. Governor Blue created the Foundation in 1949 to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Iowa's acceptance into the union. At that time, a scholarship fund was established to encourage the youth of the state to attend Iowa's fine colleges and universities. In 1990, the Foundation officially named the scholarship to honor the late Governor Blue.

Robert D. Blue Scholarship applications are only accepted online through May 10 at www.rdblue.org. The winners will be announced during the summer. Those who would like more information on the Robert D. Blue Scholarship should visit the website, or call the treasurer's office at (515) 281-3067.

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27 Jan 2011

Grassley Co-authored Bill Would Encourage Hiring of Veterans

By Nicholas Depew

WASHINGTON - January, 26, 2011 - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), today announced they introduced legislation to create job opportunities for veterans returning home from war and help businesses create jobs.

"These men and women are extremely capable," Grassley said.  "They have a lot of skills to offer in the workplace.  This legislation will clear some bureaucratic hurdles and add a financial incentive to encourage employers to seek out veterans.  These steps are a logical follow-up to my effort to increase the IRS' hiring of veterans.  The IRS saw the value of this pool of potential workers and followed through on increased hiring of veterans.  Other employers, including small businesses, should have similar opportunities."

This Veterans Employment Transition Act, or the VETs Jobs bill, would reward employers for hiring qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military with a tax credit of up to $2,400 per veteran.  A previous version of this credit, which was part of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, was designed to help employers hire veterans but expired at the end of 2010.  The new version of the legislation would reinstate the tax credit and make it easier for veterans and small businesses to use.  As a result, servicemen and women who have been recently discharged would be able to provide documentation directly from the Department of Defense without having to go through the tax credit's current certification process

Any veteran who has left active duty in the past five years who has discharge paperwork showing 180 days of qualified active duty would be eligible for the credit. This would include those men and women who were activated by their states as members of the National Guard.  The bill also helps service members market themselves to prospective employers by requiring the military to educate service members about how the credit works

Noting that the unemployment rate for veterans is higher than for non-veterans nationwide, the senators first introduced the VETs Jobs bill last May.  The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veteran service organizations are strong supporters of the legislation.

The text of the legislation can be found at http://finance.senate.gov/legislation/.

-30-

27 Jan 2011

Grassley Joins Legislation to Cut Tax Paperwork Requirement for Small Businesses, Farms

By Sen Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON - January 26, 2011 - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to repeal a burdensome tax reporting requirement on small businesses and farms enacted as part of the health care overhaul law last year.

"I had constituent meetings in 24 Iowa counties last week and heard employers say they need relief from costly mandates and regulations that undo any benefit they're supposed to get from the federal government, especially in rural America," Grassley said.  "The tax reporting requirement included in the health care law will cause a lot of hardship for small businesses and farmers when they need to focus on job creation instead."

Grassley signed onto legislation from Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) to repeal the tax reporting paperwork mandate, known as 1099 after the form taxpayers have to submit.  The Small Business Paperwork Elimination Act was introduced on the first day to introduce legislation in the new Congress.  Of the 55 senators co-sponsoring the bill, 14 are Democrats in indication of strong bipartisan support. The President also highlighted the need to repeal what he called this "flaw" in the health care bill in his state of the union address, a significant indication of support for repeal.  An identical measure introduced last year received 61 Senate votes.

The Small Business Paperwork Elimination Act would repeal the health care law's Section 9006, which expands the requirement to submit 1099 tax filing forms for business expenses to include all transactions that total $600 or more per vendor per year. The provision would impact businesses, family farms, churches, charities and local governments.  Numerous groups including the Iowa Farm Bureau and the National Federation of Independent Business, representing small businesses, are urging repeal.

-30-

27 Jan 2011

Braley Introduces Bill to Extend Payroll Tax Cut

By Alexandra Krasov

Bill Will Cut Taxes for Businesses that Hire Unemployed Workers

Washington, DC - January 26, 2011 - Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) introduced a bill to cut payroll taxes for businesses that hire unemployed workers. The Back to Work Extension Act extends a provision of the HIRE Act that provides employers a payroll tax break if they hire workers who were previously unemployed.

"Creating jobs is my top priority and this program is already proven to put Iowans back to work," said Braley. "Between February and December of 2010, Iowa businesses hired more than 104,000 workers who are eligible for this tax cut. This tax credit works - and we must extend it now to give employers incentives to create jobs and hire unemployed workers."

The Back to Work Extension Act will exempt small businesses from paying the employer's share of the Social Security tax for up to one year through December 31, 2011 - if they hire workers who have been unemployed for more than 60 days prior to employment. Employers who keep eligible employees on the payroll for 52 consecutive weeks will receive an additional $1,000 tax credit. The previous exemption expired on December 31, 2010.

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27 Jan 2011

Harkin Presses For Comprehensive Wellness Initiative To Fight Chronic Disease, Obesity And Reduce Health Care Costs

By Sen. Tom Harkin


WASHINGTON, D.C. ? January 26, 2011 - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today reintroduced major legislation to create a healthier future for America by giving our citizens access to better preventive care and consumer information to encourage healthier lifestyles.  The Healthier Lifestyles and Prevention America Act, also known as the HeLP America Act, provides all sectors of our society - child care centers, schools, workplaces, health care providers and communities - with the incentives and tools they need to reach the goal of making America a healthier place.

"Promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing chronic disease will not happen overnight.  While the prevention and wellness measures included in the new health reform law were an important step forward, much more needs to be done," said Harkin.

"We need to integrate health and wellness into all elements of American communities - from our schools and workplaces to our grocery store aisles and restaurants.  By providing people the information and resources they need to live longer, healthier lives, the HeLP America Act will empower people to take care of their health, boosting overall quality of life and lowering our spiraling health care costs."

Among other benefits, the HeLP America Act will:

·    Provide fresh fruits and vegetables to all low income elementary schools by expanding the Harkin Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
·    Create a healthier workforce by providing tax credits to businesses that offer comprehensive workplace wellness programs to their employees and allowing employers to deduct the cost of employees' athletic facility memberships
·    Reduce Americans' sodium consumption by developing two-year targets for sodium reduction in packaged and restaurant foods
·    Help Americans make informed choices about their food by establishing uniform FDA guidelines for the use of "healthy" symbols on the front of food packages
·   Ensure Individuals with Disabilities have access to community sports by creating competitive grants for the implementation of community-based sports and athletic programs for people with disabilities, including youth with disabilities.  

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are among the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, and the economic impact is staggering. More than seventy-five percent of the $2.5 trillion the United States spends on health care annually is due to chronic disease. Yet less than five percent of annual health care spending in the United States goes toward chronic disease prevention.

Harkin has promoted preventive healthcare initiatives throughout his career, including increased access to breast cancer screenings, the school fruit and vegetable pilot program, the Menu Education and Labeling Act (MEAL), and tobacco control.  Most recently, as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Harkin championed the prevention and wellness measures that are included in the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law last March.  The Prevention and Public Health title of health reform law creates incentives to prevent chronic disease and rein in costs across the full health care spectrum.  A full summary of the provisions is available here:  http://harkin.senate.gov/documents/pdf/4c2b8b9dc4e74.pdf

A full summary of the HeLP America Act is below:


Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention (HeLP) America Act of 2011


Healthier Kids & Schools
·    Nutrition and physical activity in child care quality improvement: Supports State efforts to provide resources to child care providers to help them meet high-quality physical activity and healthy eating standards.
·    Access to local foods and school gardens at preschools and child care centers: Enables child care providers to participate in the USDA's farm-to-school initiatives.
·   Fruit and vegetable program:  Expands the Harkin Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to all low income elementary schools nationwide.
·    Equal physical activity opportunities for students with disabilities: Directs the Department of Education to provide oversight, guidance, and technical assistance to ensure that schools provide equal opportunities for students with disabilities for PE and extracurricular athletics.

Healthier Communities
·   Joint use agreements: Directs the HHS, in coordination with Department of Education, to develop and disseminate guidelines and model joint use agreements to facilitate community access to spaces for physical activity.
·    Community Sports for Individuals with Disabilities: Competitive grants to public entities and nonprofit private entities to implement community-based sports and athletic programs for people with disabilities, including youth with disabilities.  
·    Community gardens: Grants from the USDA to establish, expand, or maintain community gardens.
·    Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: Requires HHS to issue physical activity guidelines for preschool children and to update the guidelines for all ages every 5 years.
·    Tobacco Taxes Parity: Increases the excise tax on small cigarettes; equalizes excise taxes for pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco; and clarifies the definition of small cigars.
·   Health in all policies: Requires HHS to conduct a health impact assessment of major non-health legislative proposals and to detail staff to other departments to assist them with consideration of health impacts of their activities.

A Healthier Workforce
·    Healthy Workforce:  Provides tax credits to businesses that offer comprehensive workplace wellness programs to their employees to improve health and wellbeing.
·    Workforce Health Improvement:  Allows employers to deduct the cost of athletic facility memberships for their employees and exempts this benefit as taxable income for employees.
·    Workplace Breastfeeding Taskforce: Establishes a federal taskforce for the promotion of breastfeeding among working mothers.
·    Healthy Federal Workplaces: Requires menu labeling in federal food facilities, the development of nutritional guidelines for food procurement and vending machines on federal property, the development of guidelines for stair placement and signage, and bicycle parking in federal properties.

Responsible Marketing and Consumer Awareness
·    Reducing Sodium Consumption: Directs the FDA to develop two year targets for sodium reduction in packaged and restaurant foods.
·   Improved food labeling: Removes nutrition labeling exemption for foods sold exclusively to restaurants.
·    Healthy Symbols: Instructs the FDA to develop uniform guidelines for the use of nutrient labeling symbols or systems on the front of food packages.
·    Protect Kids from Unfair Junk Food Advertising: Restores the rulemaking authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to issue restrictions on unfair advertising with respect to children, and gives the FTC Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking authority.
·    Health Literacy:  Strengthens federal initiatives to improve the health literacy of consumers by making health information more understandable and health care systems easier to navigate through continued research and dissemination of effective interventions.
·    Tobacco Marketing:  Eliminates tax deductibility of tobacco advertising, and funds counter-advertising.
·    Incentives to reduce youth tobacco use: Requires HHS to carry out an annual youth tobacco use survey and creates a penalty for tobacco manufacturers if youth use of their tobacco products does not decrease.

Expanded Coverage of Preventive Services
·    Preventive Services in Medicaid:  Requires coverage of preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the CDC without cost-sharing for Medicaid beneficiaries.
·    Preventive Services for Federal Employees:  Requires coverage of preventive services recommended by the USPSTF, CDC, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for children, and workplace wellness program in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program.
·   Health Professional Education on Health Eating:  Establishes a program administered by CDC and HRSA to train health professionals to better identify patients at-risk of and treat patients who are overweight, obese, or have an eating disorder.

Research and Surveillance
·    Grants for body mass index analysis: Provides grants to States to include BMI data in existing state-wide immunization databases.
·    National Assessment of Mental Health:  Requires the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to build on existing or create new monitoring systems that assess mental and behavioral health status and risks.
27 Jan 2011

Figge & university of Iowa Celebrate New exhibitions

By Stephen Mohr

On Sunday January 30th, the Figge Art Museum and the University of Iowa will be hosting a public reception celebrating three new exhibitions at the museum - "Tracks: The Railroad in Photographs from the George Eastman House Collection"; "Crossing the Mississippi: The Quad Cities, the Railroad and Art "; and "Those Who Can: The University of Iowa School of Art & Art History Studio Faculty Exhibition." The event begins at 2:00 P.M. with a lecture by University of Iowa professor of Art History Joni Kinsey, PhD. Dr. Kinsey's lecture will survey an array of images relating to American artists' involvement with railroads and the impact of their art on tourism and travel. From the earliest "Artists Excursions" sponsored by railroads for the creation of corporate railroad art collections, artists have been an integral part of our relationship with trains, travel and tourism.  Following the lecture, at 3:00 P.M., the Figge and the University of Iowa will celebrate its continued partnership with light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar in the lobby and café.  Representatives from the University of Iowa will offer remarks on the "Those Who Can" exhibition at 3:30 P.M. in the lobby.

The lecture and reception are free to members, University of Iowa faculty, staff and students, or with general museum admission.  For more information and museum hours, contact the Figge at 563.326.7804 or visit figgeart.org.

"Tracks" and its educational programming are funded in part by the Riverboat Development Authority, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

-end-

27 Jan 2011

Elected Officials comment on President Obama's State of the Union Address

By Randy Stalsberg

Statement by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley regarding the State of the Union Address by the President, Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The top priorities have to be job creation and fiscal discipline, and there ought to be broad-based political support for those goals.  It seems like the President has come to this realization after last November's election.  The new seating arrangement for tonight's State of the Union address is symbolic, but it can't do as much as the tone set by the President in his remarks and, even more so, the follow through after the speech.

I had constituent meetings in 24 Iowa counties last week and heard employers say they need long-term tax certainty and tax reforms to enhance competitiveness and enable job creation.  They need relief from costly mandates and regulations that undo any benefit they're supposed to get from the federal government, especially in rural America.  The President's goal to look at contradictory or unneeded regulations is welcome, and I intend to give him some common sense ideas from Iowa to get started.  Washington also should foster innovation and the resulting economic opportunities with initiatives such as patent reform.

American manufacturers, farmers and service industries need new markets for exports.  International trade leads to higher paying jobs and new opportunities for workers.  It's time for the administration to match its rhetoric with reality by getting the United States off the sidelines and finalizing valuable trade agreements that have been pending for years.  The rest of the world is moving forward without us, at the expense of America's workforce.  For example, Caterpillar is waiting to export more bulldozers made in Illinois to Colombia under a free-trade agreement signed in 2006 but never implemented.  If U.S. companies can't get access to foreign markets, companies in other countries will.  The President's stated goal of doubling exports will be hard to achieve on the margins, without trade agreements.  I want to work with him to achieve those agreements, if he's willing to back his words with action.

A positive outcome of the 2010 election must be fiscal restraint.  That needs to include spending freezes, spending reductions, and beefed up efforts to stop fraud, waste and abuse of tax dollars.  The renewed effort to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution is very good news for taxpayers and good government.  It should be accompanied by line-item veto authority for the President.  Both measures would result in greater accountability in Washington.

Senator Grassley will serve as Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee in the new Congress.  He has been either Ranking Member or Chairman of the Finance Committee for the last ten years and will continue to serve as a senior member of the Finance Committee.  Grassley also is a senior member of the Senate Budget and Agriculture committees.

Harkin Statement on President Obama's Second State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 25, 2011 - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama's second State of the Union address.  Harkin chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, as well as the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

"Last year, I listened as the President laid out in real terms the state of our economy and the tough road ahead.  He spoke of the need for job creation to restore our economy.  In the past year, Congress and the White House worked together to make our economy work again for hardworking Americans.

"We brought health care costs under control with the new health reform law, which I was proud to help craft.  We also took action on a long-overdue effort to make college more affordable.  And Congress passed and the President signed into law a new financial reform effort to help stabilize our economy, make future bailouts less likely and protect families on Main Street from abusive financial practices.   

"In the upcoming year, Congress will continue the effort to create jobs, restore the economy and reduce our deficit.  Tonight, President Obama laid out a number of steps on which Congress and the President can work together to achieve that goal.

"As Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, I was encouraged by the President's strong focus on education reform as an engine for economic growth.  Teachers across the country work hard every day to educate our children. It's past time for Congress to do its job and fix the No Child Left Behind Act and I look forward to leading this bipartisan effort.  Advancing education reform through a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will help ensure that all students can attend high-quality schools that equip them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college, careers and the global economy.

"The recently passed health reform law, something I have long believed was a starter home from which to continue to build, put health decisions back in patient's hands - not the insurance companies.  That important bill provided new protections to consumers by ending discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, allowing parents to keep their kids on their insurance until age 26 and investing in prevention efforts to keep Americans healthy.  I was pleased to hear the President defend these important protections and suggest we build on them as we move forward.  

"The health reform bill was also a deficit reduction bill, saving the federal government over $1 trillion over the next 20 years.  Just two weeks ago, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the House Republicans' repeal effort will drive up the deficit by nearly a quarter trillion dollars over ten years.  Health reform was the first of many efforts Democrats will take to reduce our deficit and rein in spending.   We will continue these efforts in this Congress.  There is room for significant but smart cuts in both domestic spending and defense programs.   And we also have to have a real conversation on fair taxation, which includes making sure higher income Americans and corporations pay their fair share.

"Budget cutting rhetoric is one thing, but reality is much more difficult.  That is why it is so important that our deficit reduction efforts be done in a smart way.  These cuts should not impede our recovery or be borne disproportionately by working Americans.  And they should still allow us to invest in our future.

"The economy is slowly getting back on track.  With bipartisan cooperation, Congress and the Obama Administration can accelerate that recovery."

Braley Reaction to State of the Union

Washington, D.C. - January 25, 2011 - Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement tonight on President Obama's State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress:

"In tonight's speech, President Obama presented an ambitious vision for our country's future - it's a vision that I've been fighting for since I came to Congress.

"I fully support an innovation agenda for America. In Iowa, we are already leading the way in new energies like biofuels - with help from legislation like the New Era Act, which I introduced and passed into law, Eastern Iowa Community College and Hawkeye Community College are training the next generation of biofuels technicians right now.

"And I commend the President for recognizing the state of Iowa when he talked about expanding high-speed Internet to rural communities. It's great to hear that this is high on his priority list, because it certainly is on mine.

"But even as we work to create the jobs of tomorrow, we cannot forget about jobs today - and the people who depend on having jobs today. American manufacturing is hurting - I've seen it in companies like Wilbert Plastic Service in Winthrop which has been open since the 1960's. They employed over a hundred people. And they had to close down last year. This is unacceptable to me - and I won't stop working until we can bring about a resurgence of American manufacturing. Because if we want families to make it in Iowa - or anywhere in America - we need to make things in America once again.

"I look forward to working with the President, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to create jobs, to cut the deficit in a responsible way, to simplify government, to take care of our veterans and military families - and to give hard-working Americans in all of our districts a chance to succeed."

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Statement from Governor Pat Quinn on President Obama's State of the Union Address

CHICAGO - January 25, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech:

"We in Illinois applaud President Obama's vision for American innovation, education, fiscal responsibility and bipartisanship. As our country recovers from the worst recession in decades, we must be visionaries, with our sights set on the global economy.

"In Illinois, we are investing in the infrastructure, new industries, and education that will continue to make our state competitive - for the jobs of today and tomorrow. From building high-speed rail to attracting foreign investment from China, from helping online-innovator Groupon grow to working with Ford to build the new fuel-efficient Explorer, Illinois stands poised to take advantage of the jobs of tomorrow and the next technological revolutions.

"We commend the President on his vision, and look forward to working together as a nation to keep American innovation at the forefront of the global economy."

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