Congressional Briefing
Roberts announces grants for math, science
Posted Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 1 comment
Sen. Pat Roberts (R)
(Salina Journal) Roberts announces DoD grant to promote math, science skills: Sen. Pat Roberts' office Wednesday announced $240,000 was awarded to Kansas STARBASE by the Department of Defense to promote math and science skills to youth. The STARBASE program, which has an academy in Salina, is operated by the Kansas National Guard. Instructors work with at-risk students at the fourth- through sixth-grades, helping them learn math, science and technology skills. STARBASE also has academies in Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(Sen. Carl Levin statement) Brownback: U.S. must aid Iraqi refugees: Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Gordon Smith, Carl Levin, and Sam Brownback released the following statements on the signing of the Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report which contains provisions that would provide refugee status for Iraqis associated with the United States who are under threat of persecution. The provisions in the conference report addresses the massive refugee crisis unfolding in Iraq. This conference report requires the Administration to increase its efforts to resettle Iraqi refugees, to expand the scope of special immigrant visas for Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. government, and to improve our response to the overall refugee crisis. Already more than 4 million Iraqis have fled the country, and nearly 2 million more have been displaced internally. ... Brownback said, "The current Iraqi refugee crisis is one of grief and sorrow. At over 4 million refugees and internally displaced people, this is a humanitarian problem cannot go ignored. The focus of this situation should be kept on assisting those affected. We must do our part both by aiding those nations that are absorbing the refugees and by stepping up efforts to resettle certain refugees in the United States. So many brave Iraqis have risked their lives and the lives of their family members to support our effort there. We thank them, we applaud them, and we will not leave them in their time of need."
Comments
Jun. 16, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)ddmchatton (anonymous)
Our dependency on foreign oil amounts to nothing less than subsidizing our own worst enemies - to the tune of over $500 Billion per year! It has got to stop - and the sooner the better!
Increased drilling/oil production is necessary for an immediate, albeit temporary, solution for the current high gasoline prices. But the long-term solution to our oil addiction is significantly increased production of bio-diesel to fuel our current fleet of big trucks and heavy equipment and the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) to replace the family car. Honda recently announced it will begin mass production of their FCV and begin leasing it on the West Coast markets as early as this summer. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are developing an FCV that will be ready within a couple of years. More wide-spread production, and thus more affordable, FCVs is limited due to the lack of readily available hydrogen fueling stations.
Our politicians, and especially our current candidates, must be more pro-active, take the initiative, and introduce legislation to divert federal funds that are currently being wasted on "pork", foreign aid, and a host of other unnecessary/unimportant programs and re-direct those funds to building an FCV infra-structure. With the right tax incentives, direct Government grants, and/or low interest loans we quickly drive down the costs of FCVs and have a hydrogen fueling station within reasonable driving distance of every American within the next few years.
Presently we are in a "..chicken and the egg.." situation with FCVs; that is, auto makers won’t produce FCVs because there is no place to re-fuel them and there are no FCV re-fueling stations because there aren’t enough FCVs on the road to make them profitable. The Administration and the Congress needs to get into the chicken farming business - and quickly! If we take positive action now, we can be completely independent of foreign oil within the next five years. But it will require biting the bullet and doing what is best for the country - and doing it NOW!
We have accomplished far more difficult things in the past and we can do this if we set our minds to it. Now is the time to "...get 'er done!"
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