Tag: U.S. Senate

Rockefeller Says People Don't Like the President Because He's the Wrong Color

At a hearing about health care reform earlier this week, Sen. Jay Rockefeller said that legislation is stalled and progress is not being made in Congress because some people think President Obama is he wrong color.

“I think it’s very important to take a long view at what’s going on here. And I’ll be able to dig up some emails that make part of the Affordable Care Act that doesn’t look good. Especially from people who’ve made up their mind that they don’t want it to work because they don’t like the president. Maybe he’s of the wrong color.  Something of that sort. I’ve seen a lot of that. And I know a lot of that to be true. It’s not something you’re meant to talk about in public but it’s something I’m talking about in public because that is very true.”  – Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) West Virginia
 

Rockefeller was attending a hearing Wednesday of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The hearing examined the impact the minimum medical loss ratio requirements in health care reform have had on making sure that health insurers are accountable to consumers and provide appropriate value for premium dollars.

Video: U.S. Senate Hearing on W.Va. Chemical Spill

Watch video of the U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing testimony on the West Virginia chemical spill held February 4.

 
 The Committee on Environment and Public Works’ water and wildlife subcommittee convened Tuesday on the spill that left 300,000 people without clean water for days.
 
Scheduled to testify:

  • West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant
  • West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman
  • Natural Resources Defense Council official Erik Olson
  • Putnam Public Service District General Manager Michael McNulty
  • Lawyer Richard O. Faulk
  • Vice President of Government Affairs, International Liquid Terminals Association Peter Weaver

Senator Jay Rockefeller:

“Industry will resist any new regulations or stronger enforcement measures.  It’s an isolated incident in West Virginia, they will argue.” 

“Agencies in charge of oversight do not need more resources, some will claim.  In fact, Republicans have purposely sought to starve certain agencies of funding so they cannot do their job adequately.  We continue to pay a price for this cynical strategy, ” Rockefeller added.

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito:

Capito criticized the CDC for giving the “all clear” threshold of 1 parts per million of MCHM in the water and then advising pregnant women not to consume the water if levels were detected at all. She also took issue with the frequency that information was passed along to the public throughout the ordeal.

“The other thing is this slow bleed of misinformation. It comes out first that you can drink the water, maybe not, then a week later – it might have even been more than a week later – it comes out that there was not just one chemical in the water, of MCHM, there was another chemical that in the water at the same time that was leaked into the Kanawha Valley,” said Capito.

Senator Joe Manchin:

Manchin touted a bill moving through the U.S. Senate in response to the spill known as the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act. The bill is co-sponsored by Rockefeller, as well as Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.

“Our bill would require regular state inspections of all above ground chemical storage facilities and more frequent inspections of those facilities located near drinking water sources,” said Manchin at the hearing. 

“It sets minimum federal standards that chemical facilities must meet – including construction and leak detection requirements, fail safe containment standards, the development of emergency response plans, and financial responsibility requirements.”

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Mayland says he thinks the bill has a “pretty good” chance of passing. But House Speaker John Boehner has said there are enough regulations on the books.

The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold its counterpart hearing in Charleston on Feb. 10. The committee includes two West Virginia members. They are the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Nick Rahall, and Republican Shelley Moore Capito.
 

Rockefeller, Manchin Team with Calif. Senator to Introduce Federal Chemical Spill Prevention Bill

Tuesday morning U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin teamed up with Sen. Barbara Boxer of California (Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee) to introduce the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act, which gathers into one place the tools to provide oversight of chemical facilities.
 
The Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act includes common sense measures designed to ensure industrial facilities are properly inspected by state officials and both the chemical industry and emergency response agencies are prepared for future chemical incidents or emergencies.
 
Senators Rockefeller, Manchin, and Boxer said the bill would strengthen states’ ability to prevent chemical spills like the January 9th spill that contaminated the water supply in nine West Virginia counties and impacted more than 300,000 West Virginians.
 
Key principles in the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act include:
•    Requiring regular state inspections of above-ground chemical storage facilities,
•    Requiring industry to develop state-approved emergency response plans that meet at least minimum guidelines established in this bill,
•    Allowing states to recoup costs incurred from responding to emergencies, and
•    Ensuring drinking water systems have the tools and information to respond to emergencies.
 
“No West Virginian or American should have to worry about the contamination of their water supply from a chemical spill. This common sense bill makes sure all chemicals are appropriately monitored and protects the safety of the water we consume and use every day, ” said Manchin.

Boxer said the concern over access to clean safe water is “critical.”

“Our legislation makes it clear that if a chemical poses a risk to a water supply, it will be subject to safe practices so we won’t see this anxiety unleashed again,” she said in a joint statement released by the lawmakers Tuesday morning.
 
“It’s clear more could have been done more to protect the water supply for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians,” Senator Rockefeller said. 

“This bill takes a first step toward bringing accountability to companies in the state while protecting West Virginia families and our state’s economy,” Rockefeller added.

Tennant Files for Senate

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant filed her candidacy papers for U.S. Senate today.Tennant filed to run for the seat being vacated by…

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant filed her candidacy papers for U.S. Senate today.

Tennant filed to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

In a statement her campaign chairman, retired Major Gen. Allen Tackett said “Natalie always puts people above politics, and she knows West Virginia because she is West Virginia.”
 

According to the release Tennant grew up the youngest of seven children on her family farm. She worked her way through college at West Virginia University, where she was the Mountaineer mascot.

Tennant is a former news reporter and anchor and has served as West Virginia Secretary of State since 2009.

She first ran for Sec. of State in 2004, but lost to Ken Hechler. In 2011 she ran for governor but lost to Earl Ray Tomblin in the primary.

In the statement today Tennant says quote “I’m running to put West Virginia first. We deserve a Senator who will work for Main Street West Virginians, not Wall Street special interests.”

Both senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin have endorsed Tennant.

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