December '09 Nevada Government—U.S. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley Column

America’s Armed Forces Get Berkley’s Vote

** Defense Appropriations Bill Includes Pay Raise for the Troops **

December 16, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today voted to pass a defense spending package in support of America’s armed forces and military families in Nevada and across the nation. The legislation passed the House on a vote of 395 to 34.

“We ask the men and women of our armed forces to lay their lives on the line each day in defense of our nation and we salute each and every one of these brave Americans,” said Berkley. “This package ensures the troops will continue to have the equipment they need and includes a well-deserved pay raise and more resources to help military families with programs like child care, expanded counseling services and job training for spouses.”

The Defense Appropriations Act keeps our commitments to America’s troops and their families by including a 3.4% pay increase for military personnel. The legislation also continues additional payments of $500 to members of the armed forces for every month their service is involuntarily extended by the practice of stop loss.

This legislation also makes a commitment to fiscal responsibility by reigning in outsourcing and authorizing the Inspector General to hire additional investigators to ensure proper oversight of Department of Defense acquisition and contracting.

Prevents Elimination of Health Insurance Subsidies, Preserves Unemployment Assistance for Nevada Families for Two Months

** Berkley Votes To Extend Unemployment Eligibility & Cobra Assistance For Nevadans **

December 16, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today voted to extend unemployment benefits and subsidies for health coverage under COBRA. The legislation protects Nevadans during the holiday season against the loss of benefits for an additional two months.

“As families mark the holiday season and await the arrival of the New Year, we cannot allow these vital unemployment benefits to expire. At the same time, we are extending subsidies to Nevadans to help with the cost of maintaining health coverage under COBRA,” said Berkley. “Our State continues to experience high levels of unemployment and families are relying on these benefits to help them pay the bills, including insurance costs.”

The package also temporarily blocks a devastating 21 percent cut in payments to doctors in Las Vegas and across the U.S. who treat Medicare patients. Berkley is a cosponsor of legislation that would permanently eliminate cuts to the Medicare physician reimbursement rates.

“Nevadans covered under Medicare could find themselves unable to see the doctor if we do not put a stop to these drastic cuts. Our bill will protect the ability of seniors in Las Vegas to continue seeing their regular doctor,” said Berkley. “Unfortunately this is only a temporary patch that prevents the cut from taking effect for a limited time. We need a permanent fix to fully protect Medicare patients and to ensure our doctors are fairly paid for their services.”

Unemployment Insurance Benefit Extension

The extension prevents over one million workers from exhausting their unemployment benefits by the end of January, with the first wave running out of benefits on the 26th of December.

The bill provides a two month extension of the three primary Unemployment Insurance (UI) provisions established or continued by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that otherwise would be phased-out at the end of the year, including:

Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, which provides up to 53 weeks of federally-funded extended benefits;

One hundred percent federal funding for the Extended Benefits (EB) program, which provides up to an additional 13 to 20 weeks of benefits in certain states; and

Federal Additional Compensation (FAC), which increases all UI benefits by $25 a week.

COBRA Subsidy Extension

The bill would extend the duration of and eligibility for the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy included in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is estimated to have helped seven million workers facing recession-related job loss maintain health coverage for their families. The bill passed by the House extends the duration of the subsidy from nine months to 15 months and extends the deadline for eligibility from December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010.

Medicare Physician Payment

The bill includes a 60 day freeze at current payment levels to prevent a scheduled 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians and selected other providers, preserving access to care for Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries while permanent Medicare physician payment reform is negotiated in the context of health reform efforts.

On November 19, 2009 the House passed H.R. 3961, The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, which would permanently reform the Medicare physician payment system.

Berkley Votes For Tough Sanctions In Response To Iran Nuclear Ambitions

** Legislation Seeks To Block Flow of Refined Gas and other Petroleum Products **

December 15, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today voted for legislation that would allow sanctions to be used against firms that provide gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran. The House passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194) by a vote of 412 to 12.

“A nuclear Iran poses as much of a threat to the U.S., to Europe, to the Middle East, as it does to Israel. With this bill today, we show the Iranians that we will use every tool we have to stop them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. We want to avoid war, but we must not take any option off the table,” said Berkley.

The bill also includes further sanctions on Iran’s banking sector, which has already felt the squeeze from existing restrictions placed on that nation’s financial sector. The legislation comes in response to growing concerns about Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon and their refusal to engage in real negotiations.

“It is now clear once again that Iran is not serious about negotiation: a new U.S. president tried to take a different approach, extending a handshake to the Iranian regime,” said Berkley. “In exchange, the Iranians continued to show their clenched fist of deception and dishonesty. All the while, evidence mounts that Iran gets closer each day to developing a nuclear weapon.”

The bill would give the President the power to impose sanctions against companies that supply Iran with—or support its domestic production of—gasoline and other refined petroleum products. Berkley is hopeful such restrictions will help prevent Iran from fully developing a nuclear weapons capacity. But the Congresswoman is also not ruling out the need for additional action.

“If this legislation succeeds, the military option won’t be necessary. But without this bill, without sanctions, and without an Iranian regime that is willing to negotiate, what other options do we have?” Berkley asked.

House OK’s Berkley Funding For
Nevada National Guard Facilities, LV Beltway Upgrades,
Educational Needs In Clark Co.

Package Combines Transportation, Veterans, Military Construction,
Housing and Education Funding Measures

December 10, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today voted in favor of legislation that will fund dozens of projects and programs for Nevada, including new National Guard facilities, Las Vegas Beltway improvements and added resources to meet the educational needs of Clark County students. The House passed The Consolidated Appropriations Act this afternoon on a vote of 221 to 202.

“This package contains funding for educational needs in Clark County, to improve the Las Vegas Beltway and for Three Square, a local organization that provides meals to community members during these difficult times,” said Berkley. “Resources in this legislation will also be used to equip the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and for facilities and equipment at the Whittemore-Peterson Institute. And there is funding for the ACE bus rapid transit system that will carry passengers up and down Boulder Highway.”

Berkley also helped to secure more than $26.7 million in funding for two new Nevada National Guard facilities in the Las Vegas Valley.

“Nevada’s National Guard plays a vital role in meeting our defense needs, but they are also there to help in times of emergency and to protect against threats to our communities,” said Berkley. “The funding included in this package will be used for the construction of an additional readiness facility at the Floyd Edsall Training Center, which will house both current and future Guard units. Also included in this package is an additional $727,000 for the design and construction of a new Army National Guard civil support team facility in Las Vegas. The unit that will be housed in the new facility will support our local first responders in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack on the Las Vegas Valley or other location.”

In order to better serve America’s veterans, the legislation also increases funding for mental health services, health care in rural areas and assistance to homeless vets in Nevada and nationwide.

“Caring for America’s veterans is a duty we share as a nation and I am proud that this bill increases funding for programs that serve these brave men and women, including greater availability of mental health services to treat PTSD.”

Berkley secured funding for the following Nevada Projects included in The Consolidated Appropriations Act:

Military Construction-VA

Army National Guard North Las Vegas Readiness Center: $26 million

Army National Guard Las Vegas Civil Support Team Building: $727,000

Transportation-HUD

Three Square Food Bank: $200,000

City of Las Vegas Foreclosure Prevention Program: $200,000

Southern Nevada Beltway Interchanges: $3.3 million

I-15 Corridor of the Future Study: $974,000

City of Las Vegas Bonneville-Clark Couplet: $487,000

RTC ‘FAST’ Program: $681,000

ACE Boulder Highway Bus Rapid Transit: $750,000

Labor-HHS-Education

Agassi Prep Early Childhood Education: $400,000

CCSD Highly Gifted Students Program: $600,000

CCSD English Language Learners Program: $600,000

Nevada Cancer Institute Cancer Education: $600,000

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health: $1.3 million

Whittemore-Peterson Institute: $750,000

National Writing Project (national project): $25.6 million

Reading is Fundamental (national project): $24.8 million

Teach for America (national project): $18 million

Reach Out and Read (national project): $6 million

Commerce-Justice-Science

Clark County Justice Information Sharing System: $300,000

North Las Vegas Tactical Vehicle: $200,000

Las Vegas Metro Police Information Sharing Program: $1 million

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (Reno):

Child Abuse Training Programs: $1.9 million

i-SAFE E-safety Education Initiative: $630,000

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (Reno):

Judicial Training: $600,000