FCC Chairman: Broadband Plan Holds Economic Benefits

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski described efforts to provide nation-wide broadband as a major infrastructure challenge and outlined some of the economic benefits the plan could provide.

"If you want to find a job in any Fortune 500 companies in this country, you have to go online. Well what does that mean for the country right now in this economic community? We need to find ways to get everyone online," Genachowski said Tuesday during remarks made at an event for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Genachowski added that in addition to the role broadband can play in increasing opportunity for employers, broadband can also aid in reducing government costs by encouraging agencies to place more of its services online.

Texas Congressman Credits Patriot Act For Preventing Terrorism, Saving Lives

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith, credited the U.S. Patriot Act Tuesday for shielding America from possible terrorist attacks.

"Thousands of lives would not have been saved had it not been for the Patriot Act," Smith said during a hearing with a House Judiciary Subcommittee.

Smith pointed to the prevention of a terrorist attack in London, in which suspects were planning on detonating a bomb in mid-air using various liquids, as a sign of the controversial Act’s success.

The U.S. Patriot Act allows the government to tap the emails and phone calls in the pursuit of terrorist activity. The Patriot Act was initially passed with mass support in October, 2001.

The hearing was interrupted by an irate demonstrator, who shouted at the committee members before being escorted out, with significant struggle, by security.

Gov. Barbour Wants Tort Reform To Spread

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R) said that when he ran for governor in 2003 for a third consecutive term, the U.S. Chamber rated Mississippi the worst state for lawsuit abuse. He said the reason they were rated the worst is because they were.

“We had terrifically bad problems that had been caused in part because of some bad Supreme Court decisions,” Barbour said.

In response, Barbour made tort reform one of the principle issues of his campaign, and talked about it in every speech, whether it was at schools or minority audiences.

“The first rule I would say to you is: You can’t pass real tort reform unless it’s run by the Governor,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal said Mississippi has passed the most comprehensive tort reform bill in the U.S.

“Our goal here is to have less litigation. And this way there’s an opportunity to resolve the matter without it getting in the court system,” he said.

Education Secretary: School Failure Is National Failure

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

While Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is certainly pleased over the strides made by many schools, he concedes that more needs to be done to improve education.

During an award ceremony Wednesday honoring Texas' Aldine Independent School District (ASID), Duncan noted that only seven out 10 public school students finish high school, and that only one in four college students can do college work.

"This simply isn't just a personal failure. It's a national failure," Duncan said.

An additional $100 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds has recently been allocated for education reform.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation awarded the Aldine Independent School District (AISD) from outside Houston the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education. This award is the largest education award in the country, and the school district will receive $1 million in college scholarships.

Superintendent Dr. Wanda Bamberg Ed.D., accepted the award.

Aldine has shown some of the most consistent student achievement gains nationally in the last decade and has been recognized as one of the top five most improved urban American school systems in four of the last six years.

The four finalists were Broward County Public Schools in southern Florida; Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta; the Long Beach Unified School District in California; and the Socorro Independent School District in Texas. Each finalist will receive $250,000 in college scholarships.

Dr. Bamberg said Aldine is 84% economically disadvantaged, and have watched their college students and college participation numbers decline in the past few years. She said the scholarship is truly the only way students can further their education.

"When you see the conditions that our students live, and understand that they truly do live in poverty in some places, then this doesn't just represent a scholarship opportunity, it doesn't just represent four years at school, it represents a future and a complete change of life for that individual student and, in many cases, the family of that student," Bamberg said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said excellence is what the Broad Award has always been about. She said the nation's children success is essential to the success of the U.S.

"Those blessed with the most serve all of us," Pelosi said.

Pelosi said that while a high school diploma may gain entry into the workforce, but a college degree is a ticket to higher wages, more job security and a brighter future.

House May Provide $87 Billion In Financial Aid For Students

Congressman George Miller (D-CA) said Tuesday the House will consider an $87 billion piece of legislation aimed at making college more affordable.

“The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act ... will allow us to invest $87 billion dollars to make college more affordable, to build a world class community college system, to improve opportunities for our youngest students to succeed and to pay down our deficit,” Miller said during a press conference.

According to Miller, the Act represents the single largest investment of federal college aid in history. Miller said it would give students more help in covering their tuition and expenses, including a historic investment in the Pell Grant Scholarship program, better opportunities to prepare for 21st century jobs and improved financial aid programs.

Miller stressed that Congress will be able to do this with no cost to the taxpayers by undertaking what he described as long overdue student loan reform.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that improving education is essential to recovering the U.S. economy, adding that it will also improve the U.S.' standing in the international community.

“People still think we do lead the world [in education]. That hasn’t been true for probably two and a half decades. We’re stagnated, we’re flat-lined and other countries have passed us by,” Duncan said.

“We’re not asking the taxpayers for one single dollar. We’re simply making the choice to stop subsidizing banks, to invest our young people back here,” Duncan added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the President's outlook of economic recovery had three pillars: education, healthcare and energy policy.

“This was in the context of a budget that was fiscally sound that we gave tax cuts to America’s middle class would reduce the deficit,” Pelosi said.