“As leaders, we must focus our nation’s economic policy on the backbone of America – working families. If we do right by them, we do right by everybody.”
- Congressman Bob Etheridge

From record energy prices and record foreclosures to the resulting job loss, working families are struggling. Congressman Etheridge believes we need to refocus our economic policies to benefit the working families that own our small businesses and drive our economy.

Earlier this year, Congressman Etheridge voted to provide 3.5 million North Carolina households with a tax rebate.  The tax rebate was meant to help families struggling to make ends meet due to the high costs of gas, and groceries, and to stimulate the economy.

Congressman Etheridge sponsored and voted for The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. ThisAct helps hard-working families to stay in their homes, aids local communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and strengthens the economy and financial markets. It will also take steps to ensure that a similar crisis will not occur again in the future.

He voted to provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax which had deviated from its intended purpose and was penalizing middle class families. Additionally, he has consistently voted to extend unemployment benefits, to increase funding for job retraining programs, and to raise the minimum wage.

Moving Forward, Congressman Etheridge is committed to seeing our tax policy reward working families. He will continue to advocate for middle class tax cuts to put money back in the hands of American consumers. He is also working with his House colleagues on a second economic recovery package to create jobs, improve infrastructure and strengthen our economy for the long term.

“North Carolinians are struggling to make ends meet as gas prices continue to sky rocket. I have put forward legislation that seeks to curb gas prices by preventing manipulation and excessive speculation in our energy markets. I will also continue to promote alternative fuels, and before we give oil companies more leases they must invest in increasing our domestic oil supply on the 68 million acres of land they are currently sitting on.”

                                                                        - Congressman Bob Etheridge

Our country has an energy crisis that will take real leadership to resolve. Congressman Etheridge continues to promote responsible domestic oil production, provide the necessary leadership for the development of alternative fuels, and offer pragmatic solutions that address the crisis today, not punt it to the next generation.

He sponsored and voted for The Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands (DRILL) Act  which requires oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres of land they already have leases for. It also speeds the development of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska which has an estimated 10.6 billion barrels, more than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and reinstates a ban on the foreign export of Alaskan oil, keeping more oil here in America.

Congressman Etheridge demonstrated his independent leadership by introducing The Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Oil Prices Act of 2008. It would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission additional authority and resources to prevent manipulation and excessive speculation in energy markets. Congressman Etheridge is the Chair of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management of the House Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the government agency responsible for protecting the public from price manipulation and over speculation in the oil market.

Congressman Etheridge has also provided desperately needed leadership and foresight in the development of alternative fuels long before gas prices hit $4 a gallon. In 2006, he hosted a BioFuels summit that resulted in legislation which increased development and production of alternative fuels. Additionally, through his senior position on the Agriculture Committee, he advocated $1.1 billion in alternative fuel development, which will  benefit to North Carolina. Congressman Etheridge recognizes that North Carolina has an abundance of the two necessary ingredients for the development of alternative energy sources – biomass and ingenuity – and thanks to his effort we now have a real investment in this promising industry.

You can count on Congressman Etheridge to continue providing common sense leadership to resolve our energy crisis with responsible solutions that will reduce our dependency on foreign oil, stimulate our economy and protect our environment.

“Healthcare is one of the most expensive items in the family budget and the one that families can least afford to be without.  We must make healthcare more affordable for working families.”
                                                                                    - Congressman Etheridge

Healthcare has become a burden on working families.  A record number of Americans do not have health insurance, and the percentage of people without health insurance coverage is growing at a faster rate in North Carolina than in most of the rest of the country. Currently, more than 1.3 million non-elderly North Carolinians lack health insurance coverage.  The rising cost of health insurance has made it more difficult for employers to offer and individuals to afford health insurance coverage.  Even when people have health insurance, they are paying more and getting less.

In the first 100 days of the new Democratic Congress, Congressman Etheridge supported two bills that would improve healthcare in this country. H.R. 4, Negotiating Lower Prescription Prices under Medicare Part D would allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of prescription drugs to lower costs for Medicare beneficiaries. This legislation corrected one of the fundamental flaws in the law that created Medicare Part D. 

The new Congress also passed H.R. 3, The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, a bill that would allow federal funding for stem cell research that gives hope to 100 million Americans and their families afflicted by debilitating or life-threatening diseases.  For Congressman Etheridge and many other North Carolinians, this was not only an important policy matter, put personal as well.  With close friends and mentors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease, he voted to allow the ethical advance of research to relieve human suffering.

We need real solutions to reduce the number of uninsured children and families, and to improve access to health care for all Americans.  Congressman Etheridge voted to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides health care to 120,000 young North Carolinians through North Carolina’s Health Choice.   This expansion would have provided cost-effective and high-quality health services to another 90,000 children in North Carolina.  He also supported increased funding for Community Health Centers, which provide health care services to nearly 400,000 North Carolinians in rural and medically underserved areas.

On October 3, 2008, Congress passed, and the President signed into law the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.  This requires those insurers or group health plans that do choose to cover mental health to do so on an equal basis with other covered health needs. This will ensure that those in need can get the treatment that is medically necessary, without creating an undue hardship on employers or insurers.

With the cost of healthcare rising faster than our wages, health insurance remains a luxury for too many Americans.  We need to reform managed care, both private and government plans, to ensure that working families and seniors receive affordable, high-quality care and that doctors can make the best medical decisions.  Financial considerations should not keep individuals from receiving the health care they need, or prevent doctors from providing it.

“Education is the key to prosperity and success. We must build more schools, raise teacher pay, reduce class sizes, and make college more affordable. Money spent on education is an investment in our future that always pays off.”

                                                                        - Congressman Bob Etheridge

We can and must build schools in our country that are safe and disciplined where highly qualified teachers provide effective instruction. And we can and must dedicate ourselves to the ideal that each and every child in America - regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnic background or family income - deserves the opportunity to obtain a quality education in order to live up to his or her God-given abilities.

As the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, Congressman Etheridge knows firsthand how important quality facilities are to successful schools. Legislation the Congressman initially introduced in his first year in Congress has been re-introduced as The America’s Better Classrooms (ABCs) Act of 2007. The ABCs Act provides a federal tax credit to bond holders to pay the interest on local school bonds enabling a massive increase in school construction. As a member of the Budget Committee, Congressman Etheridge ensured that the budget resolution Congress passed for 2009 included a provision that paves the way to approve this legislation.

But building schools is not enough. In today’s world we must make them safe and secure. Congressman Etheridge wrote and introduced The Schools Empowered to Respond Act to provide schools with the necessary resources to prepare for and respond to any emergency situation.

A post-high school Education must also be an equal opportunity for every student. Congressman Etheridge recently supported the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 and The Higher Education Opportunity Act. These initiatives increase the amount of federal student loans, provide students and families with continued, uninterrupted access to federal loan programs, and reduce the cost of tuition. As a veteran, he was also very proud to sponsor and vote for the 21st Century G.I. Bill to honor our servicemen and women for their sacrifice to our nation by fully covering the costs of their four-year college education.

“As a farmer, I understand that agriculture is the mother’s milk of American society. It supplies the food we eat and is responsible for 20% of North Carolina’s income and workforce. We must continue to support the American farmer and protect our food supply.”
                                                                        -  Congressman Bob Etheridge

Agriculture is an integral part of North Carolina’s economy. Even as we continue to develop lucrative new industries in manufacturing, technology, education and research, agriculture is still the number one industry in our state. In May 2008, Congress approved the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, a new five-year Farm Bill. As the Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, Congressman Etheridge played an integral role in writing this legislation.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 benefits every citizen in this country in some capacity, from nutrition and school lunch initiatives, to conservation, renewable energy, and food security. This legislation represents one of the most significant steps in agriculture policy reform in recent memory and provides the following:

• The Act increases funding for nutrition initiatives by more than $10 billion, including increasing assistance to food banks by $1.25 billion.
• To meet our growing energy needs here at home, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008will provide more than $1.1 billion for renewable energy. This money will fund additional research into bio-energy, incentives for cellulosic, non-food-based ethanol sources, and additional loan guarantee programs to encourage the increased production of energy crops used to make biodiesel.
• In working to improve the environment, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008increases funding for conservation efforts by $6.6 billion, a dramatic increase, doubling funding for farmland protection programs to reduce sprawl, and increasing programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), designed to reduce agricultural runoff into our streams and lakes. 

 

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 is an important step in ensuring that agriculture continues to sustain our country with a strong and safe food supply while providing a livelihood for thousands of family farmers.

“Homeland security starts with hometown security. We must ensure that our first responders are not only prepared, but equipped to act should a crisis occur.”

                                                                                                - Congressman Bob Etheridge

As North Carolina’s only representative on the House Committee on Homeland Security, Bob Etheridge believes that the first responsibility of the federal government is to protect the American people. The federal government must work in coordination with local and state governments and the private sector to keep our citizens safe and our communities secure.

Congressman Etheridge believes that homeland security starts with hometown security, and federal funding provided for local emergency preparedness and response makes our entire nation more secure. Our first responders put their lives on the line for us every day, and Congressman Etheridge is working to make sure they are well equipped, fully trained, and have emergency plans in place for any crisis.

Congressman Etheridge is also working to ensure that our first responders receive the benefits they deserve, in recognition and encouragement of their service. Congress first provided the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit (PSOB) in the 1970s to ensure that if a first responders dies in the line of duty, their loved ones would be cared for. In 2003 Congressman Etheridge introduced, and Congress passed, the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefit Act to expedite and streamline the process for those who died of a heart attack or stroke in the line of duty.

As the former North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, Congressman Etheridge has made improving federal support for local school security efforts his top priority on the Homeland Security Committee. Children spend the majority of their daylight hours in school, but schools are often overlooked when considering emergency preparedness and first responder needs. Given recent events at schools across the country, we as a nation simply must invest in emergency planning to ensure our children have safe and secure places to learn.

In April, Congressman Etheridge introduced The Schools Empowered to Respond Act, which will provide increased federal guidance and access to resources to assist schools in developing and implementing their emergency response and preparedness plans. It will create a one-stop shop within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the department’s school security efforts and provide best practices for schools. The bill will give schools more access to federal funds and provide educators with an increased voice in state and local grant decisions.

Congressman Etheridge will remain dedicated to protecting public safety officers and their families, creating safer schools, and ensuring that our communities are prepared to act in a crisis situation.

“As a veteran myself and as Ft. Bragg’s Congressman, I consider it an honor to represent the brave men and women who have defended our nation through their service in the military. The 110th Congress has passed a number of initiatives that will bring improved attention, oversight and funding for our nation’s veterans.”

- Congressman Bob Etheridge

With such a large and important military presence in North Carolina, it is not surprising that our state has one of the highest populations of veterans at more than 756,000. Congressman Etheridge knows North Carolina feels the strain when we fail to meet the needs of our veterans. As a member of the House Budget Committee, he has worked with his colleagues to make Veterans Administration funding a top priority and is proud to have supported a long list of accomplishments for our veterans this year.

Most notably, Congressman Etheridge and his colleagues passed the largest increase in Veterans Administration funding covering health care, facilities and benefits. Additionally, On March 28, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007. The act will improve access to quality medical care for service members who are outpatients at military health care facilities, restore efficiency to the disability evaluation system, and streamline the transition of wounded service members from the Armed Forces to the Veterans Administration.

Congressman Etheridge is also mindful that our troops are returning home with injuries that require different care than in the past – one-third of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan face mental health challenges. To acknowledge these changes, Congress has provided increased funding for mental health needs, including post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. 

These are some positive steps forward. However, there will always be more work to do to make sure that we are providing the best possible care and quality of life for our veterans. For instance, Congressman Etheridge recently voted for the Homes for Heroes Act which provides assistance to the more than 400,000 homeless veterans in America – a simply un-American statistic. You can be sure that Congressman Etheridge will continue to work on behalf of our veterans as long as he serves in Congress.

Because Congressman Etheridge believes that education is the key to the American dream, he supported the new GI Bill for the 21st Century included in the Fiscal Year 2008 Supplemental Appropriations bill.  The original G.I. Bill of Rights provided millions of returning World War II soldiers with new opportunities in education and business.  This new GI bill for the 21st Century updates the current Montgomery G.I. Bill to fully cover the cost of a college education for troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001.  Our returning troops can now receive education assistance for up to four years, any time within 15 years of discharge or release from active duty.