A Press Conference with U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin
A lot on Obama’s plate
A lot on Obama’s plate
are real and we cannot afford to get into a situation of gridlock,” Baldwin said. “But secondly, there are political reasons why we need to work together. If the
American public sees this moment of opportunity squandered because of the lack of ability to negotiate and compromise, it may not be President Obama who
feels the heat. He isn’t up for election in two years. I am sure the American people will hold the Congress accountable if we can’t show that we can work
together.”
One of the big items on Obama’s plate is the Iraq War. Baldwin expects to see some change there fairly rapidly. “I think hopefully we will see redeployment
out of Iraq quite promptly,” Baldwin said. “We have to do it in a rational and safe way as possible. But he has been clear that there is going to be a new Iraq
policy the day he came into office. Hopefully we will see dramatic troop reductions even in the first two years of his term rather than his first four year term.
Actually there will be some residual troop involvement there.”
There are two major policy initiatives that will come under Baldwin’s purview as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The first is
the transformation of the American economy into an environmentally-friendly, alternative-fuel “green” economy. “I think in some ways, the climate change issue,
we know the future of the planet and future generations rests on our tackling this and we can’t put it off and not allow the discussion to occur,” Baldwin said. “We’
ve got to move forward.”
At present, in addition to the green economy features of ARRA, Baldwin is working on a bill that will allow America to gauge how well it is doing in its fight
against the build-up of greenhouse gases. “One piece of legislation related to climate change is called the Greenhouse Gas Registry Bill,” Baldwin said. “The
easiest way to describe it is if you are going on a diet, you start by jumping on the scale and weighing yourself. That’s the starting point and you reduce your
weight from there. Well, we are going to go on a carbon diet and the registry is like getting on the scale. Basically we are finding out how much power plants
emit and how much cars and trucks emit. We’re trying to get records on that so we can figure out where we need to get to in order to reduce by 80 percent what
we are emitting today by 2050. We know some of the industrialized world that tried to do this before us had a lot of trouble because they didn’t have the baseline
figures. So they gave people too much permission to pollute or had them curtail too much. They weren’t ready with the benchmarks.”
The other major policy initiative is the reformation of America’s health care system. Back in 1993 when then First Lady Hillary Clinton led the initiative to
create a national health care system, it was roundly defeated by a conglomeration of special interests. No major health care initiative — save for former
President George Bush’s prescription drug benefit legislation — has been attempted since. Baldwin feels now may be the time to get health care legislation
passed.
“There are several stakeholders, whether it is big business or small business or the doctors or the health insurance companies or the hospital lobby and they
all kind of came in and made it unacceptable,” Baldwin observed. “In some remarkable ways, things have changed since then. Remember the Harry and Louise
ads that were blamed for health care reform’s defeat? ‘We don’t want government in our medicine cabinet.’ Well the same group that put together those ads, a
few months ago was having Harry and Louise say ‘It’s time for health care reform. It’s time for national health care.’ A lot of the folks who were against it are now
saying that we have to do something and are going to try to be part of the solution.”
What has also changed is that the Democratic Party once again has control of both Houses of Congress and the Presidency and seems to be united in its
vision for what needs to happen with America’s health care system. “Through this campaign in particular, especially with health care being a theme for both
Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, similarities emerged in their health care plans that ultimately help us reach consensus,” Baldwin said. “I think we have the
building blocks already in place.”
While Baldwin and Obama do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of same-sex marriage — Baldwin is in support and Obama believes in civil unions for same-
sex partners — they are in agreement that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military should be appealed. “I do feel he will make good on
his commitment,” Baldwin said. “Obviously that is part of federal statute, so it will require Congress’ cooperation. And so we have to repeal it and replace it with a
sensible policy that enough people can agree upon.”
Baldwin is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee. She feels that Hate Crimes legislation will be passed and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
will be reauthorized. While the Commission has continued to function, its legislative authority lapsed several years ago.
During the current Congressional session, there is a lot on Obama’s — and Congress’ plate. While there have been signs that partisan bickering of
Congressional sessions past could erupt again — if the lack of Republican support for the ARRA was any indication — it will take a united Democratic Party and
Republican cooperation to turn America around. Otherwise Congress’ plate will remain full and the tables of many American families empty in the coming years.
American public sees this moment of opportunity squandered because of the lack of ability to negotiate and compromise, it may not be President Obama who
feels the heat. He isn’t up for election in two years. I am sure the American people will hold the Congress accountable if we can’t show that we can work
together.”
One of the big items on Obama’s plate is the Iraq War. Baldwin expects to see some change there fairly rapidly. “I think hopefully we will see redeployment
out of Iraq quite promptly,” Baldwin said. “We have to do it in a rational and safe way as possible. But he has been clear that there is going to be a new Iraq
policy the day he came into office. Hopefully we will see dramatic troop reductions even in the first two years of his term rather than his first four year term.
Actually there will be some residual troop involvement there.”
There are two major policy initiatives that will come under Baldwin’s purview as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The first is
the transformation of the American economy into an environmentally-friendly, alternative-fuel “green” economy. “I think in some ways, the climate change issue,
we know the future of the planet and future generations rests on our tackling this and we can’t put it off and not allow the discussion to occur,” Baldwin said. “We’
ve got to move forward.”
At present, in addition to the green economy features of ARRA, Baldwin is working on a bill that will allow America to gauge how well it is doing in its fight
against the build-up of greenhouse gases. “One piece of legislation related to climate change is called the Greenhouse Gas Registry Bill,” Baldwin said. “The
easiest way to describe it is if you are going on a diet, you start by jumping on the scale and weighing yourself. That’s the starting point and you reduce your
weight from there. Well, we are going to go on a carbon diet and the registry is like getting on the scale. Basically we are finding out how much power plants
emit and how much cars and trucks emit. We’re trying to get records on that so we can figure out where we need to get to in order to reduce by 80 percent what
we are emitting today by 2050. We know some of the industrialized world that tried to do this before us had a lot of trouble because they didn’t have the baseline
figures. So they gave people too much permission to pollute or had them curtail too much. They weren’t ready with the benchmarks.”
The other major policy initiative is the reformation of America’s health care system. Back in 1993 when then First Lady Hillary Clinton led the initiative to
create a national health care system, it was roundly defeated by a conglomeration of special interests. No major health care initiative — save for former
President George Bush’s prescription drug benefit legislation — has been attempted since. Baldwin feels now may be the time to get health care legislation
passed.
“There are several stakeholders, whether it is big business or small business or the doctors or the health insurance companies or the hospital lobby and they
all kind of came in and made it unacceptable,” Baldwin observed. “In some remarkable ways, things have changed since then. Remember the Harry and Louise
ads that were blamed for health care reform’s defeat? ‘We don’t want government in our medicine cabinet.’ Well the same group that put together those ads, a
few months ago was having Harry and Louise say ‘It’s time for health care reform. It’s time for national health care.’ A lot of the folks who were against it are now
saying that we have to do something and are going to try to be part of the solution.”
What has also changed is that the Democratic Party once again has control of both Houses of Congress and the Presidency and seems to be united in its
vision for what needs to happen with America’s health care system. “Through this campaign in particular, especially with health care being a theme for both
Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama, similarities emerged in their health care plans that ultimately help us reach consensus,” Baldwin said. “I think we have the
building blocks already in place.”
While Baldwin and Obama do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of same-sex marriage — Baldwin is in support and Obama believes in civil unions for same-
sex partners — they are in agreement that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military should be appealed. “I do feel he will make good on
his commitment,” Baldwin said. “Obviously that is part of federal statute, so it will require Congress’ cooperation. And so we have to repeal it and replace it with a
sensible policy that enough people can agree upon.”
Baldwin is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee. She feels that Hate Crimes legislation will be passed and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
will be reauthorized. While the Commission has continued to function, its legislative authority lapsed several years ago.
During the current Congressional session, there is a lot on Obama’s — and Congress’ plate. While there have been signs that partisan bickering of
Congressional sessions past could erupt again — if the lack of Republican support for the ARRA was any indication — it will take a united Democratic Party and
Republican cooperation to turn America around. Otherwise Congress’ plate will remain full and the tables of many American families empty in the coming years.
| U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin, an honorary co-chair of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, in her office at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill |
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 of 2
In response to the requests of several Madison media outlets, U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin
held a press conference on January 19 — the King Holiday — at her Rayburn House Office Building
office amidst all of the constituents coming into the office to pick up their swearing-in tickets. While
there is much work to be done during the Obama Administrations first days in office, Baldwin also took
the time to look past the American Recovery and Revitalization Act to reflect on what can be during
the first term of the Obama administration.
In the midst of crisis, Baldwin also sees a world of opportunities. “The substantive opportunities are
so enormous here,” Baldwin said. “He has the challenge of being a nation at war and being a nation
facing historic economic challenges. So the first substantive things will be sort of fixing what is wrong.
But then we have opportunities to realize all that we can be as a nation through providing health care
for everyone and making sure that every child has the best educational opportunities possible.”
And in Baldwin’s view, this moment of opportunity shouldn’t be wasted for the nation is watching. “For
many, many reasons, it’s going to be important for us to work together, first of all because the problems
Part 2 of 2
In response to the requests of several Madison media outlets, U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin
held a press conference on January 19 — the King Holiday — at her Rayburn House Office Building
office amidst all of the constituents coming into the office to pick up their swearing-in tickets. While
there is much work to be done during the Obama Administrations first days in office, Baldwin also took
the time to look past the American Recovery and Revitalization Act to reflect on what can be during
the first term of the Obama administration.
In the midst of crisis, Baldwin also sees a world of opportunities. “The substantive opportunities are
so enormous here,” Baldwin said. “He has the challenge of being a nation at war and being a nation
facing historic economic challenges. So the first substantive things will be sort of fixing what is wrong.
But then we have opportunities to realize all that we can be as a nation through providing health care
for everyone and making sure that every child has the best educational opportunities possible.”
And in Baldwin’s view, this moment of opportunity shouldn’t be wasted for the nation is watching. “For
many, many reasons, it’s going to be important for us to work together, first of all because the problems