Reid: Financial Reform Could Hit Senate Floor By Next Week

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Thursday that he is pushing to get a full financial reform bill onto the Senate floor as early as next week.

Reid, along with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) stressed that reform of the nation's financial system would not only protect the taxpayers, but make sure that institutions would not become “too big too fail”.

“[Republicans] seem clearly focused on protecting these big banks,” said Reid “It’s as simple as this: if you want a financial system that allows banks to become too big to fail, puts your retirement security in jeopardy and leaves consumers vulnerable to excessive risk, then you should support the Republican plan.”

The legislation would put in place a better regulatory oversight program to prevent the financial system from triggering another recession.

“Everyone agrees that our regulatory [system] is broken down,” said Schumer.

Schumer added that Republican warnings that the reform plan fails to act as a safeguard against future bailouts is unfounded. According to the New York Senator, the money that would go for any future bailout of a large institution would have to come from the institution itself, and not the taxpayers.

$305 Million Project Facing Temporary Setbacks, Says FBI Director

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Setbacks facing the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Sentinel project, a $305 million effort to revamp the bureau's case management system, are temporary, FBI director Robert Mueller told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Thursday.

According to Mueller, the project is stuck in the second of four phases. The makeover was halted when reviews of the program revealed what the director described as “coding defects.”

The delay of Sentinel made many of the committee members nervous that this program will end up like Trilogy, a separate, failed revamp of the FBI’s case management program that cost around $100 million.

“Are we on the way to [a] boondoggle?” asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who chairs the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Muller defended the stalled program, and explained that the setback was minor and has enabled the FBI to seize the opportunity to take a more in-depth look at the progress of the program.

The delay will move the project's completion date to 2011.

Bipartisan Letter Sent To Obama Urges Strong Sanctions Against Iran

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Bipartisan support was shown Wednesday in a letter sent to President Barack Obama urging him to put “crippling” sanctions on Iran to stop the prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons.

“Without a doubt, Iran’s nuclear weapons program poses a severe threat to America’s national interest,” said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL.) in a press appearance with Republican colleagues.

The sanctions would place strict regulations on Iran which would stop the country from acquiring nuclear materials as well as keep the nation from becoming “a more dangerous, destabilizing and destructive force in the world,” according to Jackson.

While the United Nations is currently focusing on applying sanctions against the country, Rep. Illeana Ros-Lethinen (R-Fl.) hopes the leter prompts faster action.

“We are repeating the failures of the past and continuing to let Iran run out the clock. We can’t wait for consensus on watered-down resolutions at the United Nations Security Council,” said Ros-Lethinen.

The letter was signed by 361 House members.

Mexican Drug Cartels Under Attack From Multiple Fronts, Says Border Protection Commissioner

By Laurel Brishel Prichard-University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Alan Bersin defended the progress that the Department of Homeland Security has made in protecting the United States' southwest border and stemming the illegal drug flow from Mexico Wednesday.

“We recognize that the [drug war] is a journey that will not be accomplished over night, but the important point is that it is a journey in which the first steps have been taken,” said Bersin during a hearing before a House Appropriations Subcommittee.

Bersin stressed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) currently have one of the best working relationships that they have ever had with the Mexican government.

The CBP seized nearly 500,000 pounds of drugs in the first six months of FY 2010 and has apprehended more than $8 million in illegal currency between ports of entry, according to Bersin.

“These numbers demonstrate the effectiveness of our layered approach to security, comprised of a balance of tactical infrastructure, technology, and personnel at our borders,” said Bersin.

Rep. David Price (D-NC) argued that not enough has been done to eliminate the drug trade, and pointed out that since the Mexican drug cartels were confronted by their President Felipe Calderon, over 18,000 people, including 79 Americans, have been killed in Mexico.

“The truth is the cartels are engaged in criminal activity everyday in cities and communities on both sides of the border, and not just along the border. We need to focus on meaningful ways to deal with cartels and their violence, on the border and beyond,” said Price.

Bersin argued that with the approval of the FY 2011 budget proposal, which would allow $100 million for increased tactical infrastructure construction and improvements, the CBP and ICE could elevate and continue with the ongoing fight against the violence that threatens the United States southern border.

Doctors For America Rejoice Following Passage Of Health Care Reform

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Advocacy group Doctors For America expressed their excitement Monday over the passage of sweeping health care reform legislation the previous day. The doctors joined together from across the country in D.C. for a march and rally to congratulate the Senate and House for their work on health care reform.

“This legislation will go further and do more to fix the problems of the health care delivery system in my state then anything that I have seen proposed in the 27 years I’ve been here in the Senate,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) during a news conference for the association. “This is a great day for our country.”

The doctors, who wore patient identification bands to help associate themselves with their patients that are struggling with the cost of health care, will continue to urge the Senate to pass the reconciliation, which Bingaman says will be passed this week.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) warned that many new programs will have kinks in the beginning, but that health care reform is a monumental achievement for the nation.

“What you are seeing happen here is the beginning of an enormous change, it is not a change that is all done,’ said McDermott “We have to keep coming back and working on it just like we did with Medicare.”

The new reform should be treated like Medicare, according to McDermott, which has been amended every year since its enactment in 1965. One of the amendments that McDermott and Doctors For America pressed hope to create is a program to help future doctors, dentists and nurses with the ever rising cost of school for those fields.

“This bill tells all Americans who are suffering with chronic conditions, whose insurance companies set a lifetime or annual cap on their benefits, that those days are over this year,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) said.