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Monday, August 6, 2007
LOOKING FORWARD TO SPENDING A MONTH IN NEBRASKA
The United States Senate may have recessed for the month of August, as it does every year, but it doesn’t mean your Senator is taking a vacation. I’m just changing work locations. I come home every weekend but in August I get to spend the entire month here. It’s important for me to stay in touch with Nebraskans in order to best represent their interests when the Senate reconvenes in September.

I have a busy schedule that involves speeches, news conferences, interviews, a statewide call-in show, and traveling around the state to meet with numerous groups and individuals on a variety of issues.

I will also be seeking input from Nebraskans on several key issues that will face the Senate when we get back to business in Washington, DC next month.  Those issues include the war in Iraq, the farm bill, and the development of renewable fuels.

I have introduced bills on each of these issues and it will be helpful to speak directly with Nebraskans about them.

Iraq:

I have joined with Senator Susan Collins of Maine in sponsoring bipartisan legislation to transition the mission for U.S. troops in Iraq. The surge is not working and the Iraqi government has failed to meet most of the economic, political and military benchmarks necessary to take control of its own country.  This amendment to the defense authorization bill will get our troops out of the civil war in Iraq and immediately refocused on our national security objectives which are fighting terrorism, protecting American personnel and assets, training Iraqi security forces and maintaining the border integrity of Iraq.

Farm Bill:

I have joined with Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado in introducing legislation that would close a loophole in current farm safety net programs and end payments to people who do not farm.  .

This bill, S. 1904, will eliminate waste and abuse in federal farm safety net programs by closing a loophole that allows some payments to go to non-farmers.  This bill would preclude direct and counter-cyclical payments from being paid on land that is no longer being used for agricultural purposes and thus helps ensure that farm safety net programs do not end up in the hands of people who do not farm.

Renewable Energy:

I have joined with Senator John Thune of South Dakota in introducing a bi-partisan bill to promote the development and production of biomass energy crops for cellulosic ethanol.  Biomass energy crops have tremendous potential to supplement corn-based ethanol allowing us to diversify our biofuels production by using alternative crops and field wastes.

Cellulosic ethanol has always faced a chicken-or-the-egg problem.  It's difficult to start commercial production without a guaranteed supply of biomass, but it's hard to encourage farmers to grow the biomass unless they know they'll have a market. This legislation will help resolve that problem by encouraging the construction of biofuel facilities while simultaneously pushing the production of biomass.

I’m looking forward to seeing and talking to as many of you as possible during the August recess but as you can see it isn’t really a recess.  As I like to put it, “instead of working for Nebraska’s interests in Washington, I’ll be working with interesting Nebraskans here at home”.

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