Legislation also reverses devastating cuts to crop insurance; reauthorizes job creating Export-Import Bank

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack today voted in favor of the conference report on Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. This measure reauthorizes highway, bridge, transportation safety, and public transit projects for the next five years and provides $281 billion in guaranteed funding. Also included in the conference report is a fix to the devastating cuts to the crop insurance program, which were included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that passed earlier this year. Loebsack helped lead the fight to restore these cuts since they were originally proposed.

"I am pleased that Congress could come together in a bipartisan fashion to pass a long-term highway reauthorization bill today," said Loebsack. "For too long, Congress has passed one short-term extension after another, leaving state and local governments in limbo and preventing many transportation projects from being built. By providing guaranteed funding for the next five years, this measure will help create jobs in Iowa and give communities the certainty needed to invest in necessary infrastructure improvements."

"Earlier this year, in a misguided and potentially devastating attempt, Congress tried to balance the budget on the backs of America's farmers and ranchers by cutting the crop insurance program. I strongly opposed this move and was pleased to help lead the fight to reverse these cuts."

The conference report includes a number of key transportation provisions, including:

·       Loebsack's amendment to create a nationwide $1.5 billion grant program to update aging buses and bus facilities. The Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Grant Program gives all 50 states the ability to compete for limited bus funding based on the merits of the project not just geographic location.

·       Injecting $3.7 billion over five years into bus funding - a 75 percent increase over current levels.  This will reduce traffic congestion, by providing more public transportation options.

·       Increasing American manufacturing jobs by strengthening Buy America requirements.

·       Boosting commerce and strengthening our economic competitiveness by providing dedicated funding specifically for freight projects, including freight rail, for the first time.

·       Authorizing $10.2 billion for intercity passenger rail investment, including Amtrak, while providing $199 million in guaranteed funding to help commuter railroads implement Positive Train Control systems.

The measure also reauthorizes the critically important Export-Import Bank for four years, which helps American workers and businesses compete in the global economy.

"I am also very pleased to be voting today to reauthorize the job-creating Export-Import Bank," Loebsack said.  "For more than eight decades, the Export-Import Bank has helped level the playing field for American workers and businesses, big and small, to compete in the global economy. The Bank has created and supported hundreds of thousands of jobs over the years, all at no cost to taxpayers."

Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Federal Farm Policy and Reopening the Farm Bill

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Mr. President, I rise to speak about the 2014 farm bill and attempts to change it by members of this Congress.  The farm bill process was a long, hard and frustrating exercise.  Nobody got everything they wanted, but in the end we got a new bill for farmers across the country.

Our country needs good farm policy, which means an adequate, yet limited safety net for farmers.  Our farmers face real, uncontrollable risks every year.  The farm bill provides farmers with a number of programs that help mitigate those risks.

That is why I was very concerned when I learned the budget deal was cutting $3 billion from the federal crop insurance program.  That cut would have forced the Risk Management Agency at the Department of Agriculture to renegotiate the Standard Reinsurance Agreement next year and save $300 million per year.  These cuts were almost universally opposed by rural America.  Lenders, commodity groups, input suppliers, and many others opposed the cuts to the crop insurance program.

Beyond being bad policy, I opposed the crop insurance cuts, because like many of my colleagues on both the House and Senate Agriculture committees, I do not support reopening the 2014 Farm Bill.  I'm very glad the Highway Bill is going to reverse these cuts to the crop insurance program.

I also want to speak to the importance of not reopening the farm bill in the Omnibus.  Section 739 of the House Agriculture Appropriations Bill reauthorized commodity certificates.  For those who don't remember what commodity certificates are, they are a way around payment limits.  The language in the House bill specifically directs USDA to administer commodity certificates as they were in 2008 when they were not subject to any payment limits at all.

I want to be very clear so there is no misunderstanding by those in this body or the agriculture lobby - Section 739 of the House Ag Appropriations Bill brings back commodity certificates, which reopens the 2014 Farm Bill.

If the agriculture community wants to be taken seriously, we should heed our own advice and not reopen the Farm Bill by reauthorizing commodity certificates.  I'm opposing cuts to the crop insurance program today because that would reopen the farm bill.  I hope tomorrow I don't have to oppose commodity certificates in the Omnibus because a few people want to reinstate unlimited farm subsidies.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Rock Island, Illinois - Born and raised in Chicago, Minneapolis and New York, three area artists have created works that reflect their discovery of the Mississippi River area in an upcoming art exhibit. The Art Collective, twelve artists from the Quad City region, will present a group show during January and February at MidCoast Gallery West, 1629 2nd Avenue, Rock Island. "A River Runs Thru Us" will debut at an opening reception on January 8, from 6-9 pm and is free to the public.

One of the artists showing work is Naidine D'Angelo, who creates layered photographic works. Born and raised in the Bronx, the transplanted New Yorker was fascinated by the unexpected existence of pelicans in the Midwest. "I thought pelicans were only found in the south, so seeing these beautiful birds flying over the Mississippi was amazing," D'Angelo explained. She has created a grouping of works reflecting her curiosity about these creatures for the Collective's show.

Rose Moore moved to this region from the Chicagoland area nine years ago and felt drawn to the power and history of the Mississippi River. Traveling the upper Mississippi for work, Moore was impressed by the scenic bluffs and valleys of northeast Iowa. "I promised myself I would return to that region and paint," she said. Her works for the show reflect retro travel postcards with one work paying homage to Black Hawk and his people.

Another transplant with an urban upbringing is artist Rev. Patricia Halverson, who was raised in a suburb of Minneapolis. "Although the Mississippi was only a mile from my home, I paid little attention to it growing up," Halverson shared. "However, when I began oil painting eleven years ago, I found I was drawn to painting water in nearly all of my work." Her pieces for the show reflect the blending of industry and recreation on the river, showcasing well-known Quad-City river scenes: barges and a sailing regatta near the Village of East Davenport.

The Art Collective show will feature the work of 12 artists with media ranging from wood to calligraphy. In addition to D'Angelo, Moore and Halverson, the Collective includes Jay Stratton, Amy Nielsen, Bill Wohlford, Sheryl Lammers, Andi Naab, Bonnie Grebner, Lori Miller, Brent Langley and Judy O. Gray. For more information on the show and The Art Collective, visit our Facebook page at The-Art-Collective.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah are asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to account for how much federal money it has given to each state health care exchange, how much money it has identified as misused, what it can do to recover money for unallowable activities, and how much money for unallowable activities it has recovered.

"Given the continuing failure of SBMs (state-based marketplaces or exchanges) and the use of taxpayer funds for unallowable activities, CMS has an elevated responsibility to ensure that any future funding to SBMs is appropriate and that SBMs fulfill all grant terms and conditions," Grassley and Hatch wrote to CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt.  "With the ongoing risk that more SBMs will shut down or partially transition to the federal IT structure, and the continuing threat that SBMs will use taxpayer funds for unallowable activities, it is imperative to determine the full cost to the taxpayer of the failures thus far, and what funds the federal government has been able to recover."

Grassley and Hatch described the failure of Maryland's exchange as an example of a murky outcome for federal taxpayers.  As a result of a lawsuit, the Maryland exchange's prime contractor settled with the state for $45 million.  That amount appears to contain federal funds, since the federal government provided $179 million to create the Maryland exchange.  Grassley and Hatch said Slavitt wrote in a prior response that CMS is working with the Maryland SBM so that funds are returned to the Treasury.  The senators wrote, "but it is not clear what specifically the federal government is doing to recoup these federal monies."

The Grassley-Hatch letter to Slavitt is available here.  Their prior letter to Slavitt is available here.  Slavitt's response to the prior letter is available here.

Hatch is chairman and Grassley is former chairman and a senior member of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over federal health care programs.