May '10 Nevada Government—U.S. Senator John Ensign Column

Ensign, Reid Receive Assurance From Air Force That Nevada C-130HS Are Safe From Indefinite Transfer

May 27, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senators John Ensign and Harry Reid today received confirmation from the Air Force that they would not pull C-130Hs from our National Guard indefinitely, and that should an emergency or disaster arise, the Governor would have these aircraft returned at his discretion. Because of this agreement, Senators Ensign and Reid are withdrawing their amendment that would have addressed this issue legislatively.

“These aircraft are vitally important to the mission of the National Guard,” said Ensign. “The Air Force needs to understand that taking assets from the National Guard is not the proper way to budget and do business. Today the Air Force agreed to provide a written assurance to us that the aircraft would be returned if there were a disaster or emergency.”

“I thank the Secretary of the Air Force for taking the time to meet with us and discuss Nevada’s concerns about the transfer of C-130 aircraft,” Reid said. “While we will continue to negotiate an acceptable agreement regarding the use of the aircraft, I am glad the Air Force is providing an assurance that will preserve Nevada’s ability to effectively respond in the case of an emergency.”

Senators Ensign and Reid are continuing to work with the Air Force to establish a set date for these aircraft to be returned to the National Guard. Should the Air Force not provide this by the time the Defense Authorization bill comes up for debate in the Senate, Senators Ensign and Reid will consider offering legislation to ensure that this does happen.

America’s National Debt Hits Record High Of $13,000,000,000,000

May 26, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today expressed grave concern over reports that show that the United States’ national debt has hit an all-time record high of $13 trillion. In the next few days, Democrats will attempt to add nearly $200 billion more to the record national debt level.

“The United States is self-destructing,” said Ensign. “There seems to be no alarm by this Administration or Democrats in Congress about the damage that their historic spending levels are doing to our country. Over the last few years, I have said that these out-of-control spending practices are threatening the future of our country, but the reality is that this record national debt level is actually threatening the current stability of our country.

“As we grapple with high unemployment in Nevada, Washington is continuing to spend money with little regard for our delicate economic situation. Ignoring incentives for job creation in the private sector and ignoring the reality that high spending levels only prolong economic turmoil, Democrats are forging ahead with their legislative priorities that totally miss the mark. We absolutely have to face reality and stop the spending practices that threaten to turn the stability of the United States into a distant memory.”

Ensign, Reid Legislation Will Protect C-130HS For Nevada National Guard

May 26, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senators John Ensign and Harry Reid have introduced legislation that will prevent the Air Force from indefinitely taking C-130Hs from the National Guard unless certain criteria are met and deadlines for return are promised.

“It’s so important that the National Guard have the resources that it needs to defend our nation or respond to a disaster should the need arise,” said Ensign. “The Air Force has developed a plan that seeks to indefinitely take a valuable resource away from the National Guard, and our legislation will help to ensure that this does not happen.”

“The mission of the Nevada National Guard requires them to be at their best whether overseas or at home in Nevada,” Reid said. “I understand the importance of the Air Force’s readiness objectives, but we can’t afford to limit the resources these servicemen and women need to help keep Nevada safe.”

The Ensign, Reid legislation will be an amendment to the Defense Spending Supplemental and states that no funds shall be used to transfer C-130Hs from the National Guard to the active duty Air Force without first meeting several criteria.

The criteria are: providing a date certain for their to return to not exceed 18 months; providing written justification to the HASC and SASC as to why this transfer is necessary no less than 6 months; providing the same justification to the Governors and National Guard of those states affected no less than 6 months prior to the transfer; providing the same justification to the Senate and House Congressional Delegations affected no less than 6 months prior to the transfer; providing all of the above mentioned parties a list of alternatives explored by the Air Force and a justification as to why those alternatives were not chosen; ability for Governor to recall the C-130 in order to deal with an emergency or disaster.

Ensign to State Department: Review Venezuela’s Status as Terrorist State

May 25, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and George LeMieux (R-FL) today announced an effort calling on the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to review Venezuela’s growing ties with U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations and state sponsors of terrorism. Ensign, LeMieux and ten other senators sent a letter to Secretary Clinton presenting a number of questions that should be addressed in the pending Department of State’s 2009 Country Report on Terrorism.

“It’s no secret to the American people that Venezuela wishes harm to the United States,” said Ensign. “What is a secret is how many more ties to terrorist organizations and State Sponsors of Terrorism does Venezuela need to be declared a State Sponsor of Terrorism. The letter I drafted with Senator LeMieux will ask that the State Department reassess their handling of this state to protect our national security.”

“Hugo Chavez’s relationships with Iran and other foreign terrorist organizations continue to grow and pose a serious threat to our hemisphere,” said LeMieux. “The question is how do we move forward with this information and the concrete examples of terrorist activities we have witnessed? I encourage the State Department to thoroughly evaluate Venezuela’s actions and determine if the country needs to be added to the official U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.”

BACKGROUND: U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by April 30 of each year, with a full and complete report on the extent and status of the relations of countries and non-state groups with terrorist activities. Since 2006, the U.S. has designated Venezuela as “not cooperating fully” with U.S. antiterrorism efforts, which places a prohibition on American arms sales. A ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’ designation would cause a prohibition on American arms sales, a prohibition of American economic assistance, and places several restrictions on bilateral trade with the designated country.

Under President Chavez, the Venezuelan government has established a growing alliance with state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Cuba and provided support for terrorist organizations such as the FARC in Colombia. For at least 3 years, joint Venezuelan-Iranian factories have sprung up in remote areas of eastern Venezuela - areas that are believed to be rich in uranium. Since 2007, Venezuela has conducted weekly Tehran-Damascus-Caracas flights without proper controls and customs inspections. Recently, the Pentagon reported to Congress that Iran is increasing its paramilitary operations in Venezuela while covertly continuing to supply weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The other senators signing the letter to Secretary Clinton are: Robert Bennett (R-UT), Scott Brown (R-MA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Jim Bunning (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), James Inhofe (R-OK), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), James Risch (R-ID), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).