A Weekly e-Newsletter from
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) 

June 22, 2007 

Dear Friends,                              

This week, the Senate continued its debate on energy legislation, which passed the Senate last night.  I am disappointed in the legislation that passed the Senate and I voted against it. I believe comprehensive energy legislation must encourage all forms of energy alternatives instead of the limited number of renewable energy sources contained in the Senate energy bill. We have a diverse country with many assets that regionally are very different. The state of Georgia, for example, could not meet the renewable energy requirement in this bill because we don’t have enough wind or other resources that would be necessary. As a result, we would end up being financially penalized. If we’re going to have standards that call on us to find renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must promote all those sources and not narrow them. 

Stem Cell Research

I was very pleased this week when President Bush called on the House of Representative to pass the stem cell legislation, S. 30, that I authored, which would allow federal investment in embryonic stem cell research that avoids the moral dilemma of destroying a potential life in the process.  The President also issued an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health to make stem cell research using methods that do not destroy embryos eligible for federal funding. The President made these announcements on Wednesday as he vetoed a different stem cell bill, S. 5, that would have permitted federal funding of embryonic stem cell research involving the potential destruction of viable embryos.  

I voted against this legislation in the Senate, because I feel it is wrong to federally fund research that potentially destroys human life when there is an alternative method of research that avoids the moral dilemma.  I firmly believe there is a way to allow this important research to move forward without compromising moral standards, and the President’s actions today are a good step forward in that direction.  I am especially pleased to have the President’s support for my stem cell legislation, which my Senate colleagues supported with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority. 

Border Security and Immigration Reform

During the immigration reform debate over the last several weeks, I believe everyone did a noble job of trying to deal with the problem in a comprehensive way.  However, it became apparent that the confidence level in the Congress and in the Administration to secure the border and pay for enforcement measures is too low, because past promises have yet to be fulfilled.  Last week, Senator Chambliss and I sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request an emergency supplemental spending measure for border security and I still feel this is the best course of action.  I believe border security must be “de-coupled” from the rest of the immigration bill, and that it must be the first, separate step of reform, before anything else takes place. This is the only way to assure the American people that the President and the Congress are serious about securing the border.  Therefore, I will be voting against the cloture motion to move the Senate’s immigration bill forward next week.   

Card Check Legislation

On Tuesday, I spoke on the Senate floor to oppose legislation that would strip workers of their right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to unionize.  The so-called Employee Free Choice Act, H.R.800, would eliminate the rights of workers to participate in a secret-ballot election in order to certify the creation of a union. Instead, the legislation would force employees to make a public declaration of their preference by allowing union organizers to bypass elections if a majority of employees sign cards authorizing a union.   

I believe the current system, which allows employees to use a secret ballot in choosing whether they want a union to become their exclusive representative in the workplace, has worked well because it neither advocates nor discourages unionization.  We must continue to see to it that the employees have a free choice and have a private choice to work in a country with the greatest worker protections of any nation in the world.  I think this is one time where we ought to ratify what is right with America, honor the ills that we corrected and honor the employees that make America work. This legislation creates a situation of intimidation all for the sake of trying to save a movement that won’t save itself. Management must have the same rights as the workers and the workers must have the protection of the secret ballot.  Polls show that a majority of Americans are opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act. It also has been endorsed by the Communist Party, USA, which I view as another sign of how out-of-touch this legislation is. 

Federal Funding to Help Restore Land Affected by Wildfires

On Wednesday, Senator Chambliss and I announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service will provide $4.4 million in federal funding to help restore land and assist natural resources to recover from the effects of wildfires that ravaged southeast Georgia and Florida in April and May.   

The fires started after a tree fell on a power line in rural Ware County and have continued to spread through Georgia because of the ongoing drought.  More than 472,000 acres of federal, state and private land have burned in a 21-county area in South Georgia. This assistance is greatly needed, and I am very pleased that landowners in Georgia will be able to take advantage of this federal assistance as they recover from these devastating and widespread fires.   

What’s on Tap for Next Week?

Next week, the Senate will vote on the so-called Employee Free Choice Act and whether or not to end debate and proceed with the current immigration reform legislation.                                          

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson