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

January 27, 2012

Dear Friends,

This week, the Senate convened for the second session of the 112th Congress. During the recess, I was able to visit the Georgia Capitol and speak to the state House and Senate, to meet with constituents and to speak to a variety of different business and community groups in the state. On Monday night, I held a telephone town hall meeting to engage with constituents from across the state and hear more about the issues on the top of their minds so that I can continue to effectively represent Georgians’ interests in Washington.

Keystone XL Pipeline
As soon as the president announced last week that he was rejecting the construction permit for the KeyStone XL pipeline, I sent a letter to President Obama criticizing the decision and argued that it is a missed opportunity to secure America’s energy future and to create tens of thousands of badly needed jobs for Americans. Last Fall, I also sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to express my strong objections when the administration last year initially postponed a decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election. I will continue to do everything I can to support this critically important project, which would bring 700,000 barrels of crude to the U.S. from our strong ally Canada and at the same time, create thousands of American jobs.

State of the Union Address
On Tuesday, which marked the 1,000th day since President Obama’s Democrat majority in the Senate last offered a budget plan, the president delivered the annual State of the Union address to the nation with the theme of “fairness.” I took to the floor of the Senate in advance of the speech to discuss this failure to offer a budget and how it is unfair to the American people. Real “fairness” would be government doing what American families have had to do: sit around the kitchen table, prioritize spending, cut spending and stop borrowing money we can’t pay back.

When it comes to tax reform, we need a comprehensive approach. The president’s own commission, Simpson-Bowles, recommended that we do away with many of the current tax expenditures and tax deductions, lower the tax rate on our taxpayers and produce more income. That would bring capital off the sidelines and investment back to small business. We need a comprehensive approach, not a winners-and-losers approach to tax reform.

Additionally, if on the one hand, the president talks about energy security and wanting to create more jobs for Americans, and on the other hand, he rejects 20,000 jobs, which the Keystone XL pipeline would have brought about, and 700,000 barrels of crude from Canada, one of our best friends, then he is saying one thing and doing something else—that’s wrong for our country. We need leadership on energy security.

Debt Limit Increase Request
On Thursday, I voted in support of a resolution of disapproval on the president’s request to increase the debt limit by an additional $1.2 trillion. Even though the resolution passed the House last week by a vote of 239 to 176, the failed vote in the Senate now means that, under the Budget Control Act of 2011, the president’s requested debt increase of $1.2 trillion will go into effect because Congress has failed to pass a resolution of disapproval within 15 days of the president’s request.

Our country is experiencing a very serious financial crisis that has been felt by families and businesses across America. I find it very troubling that the president is asking to increase the nation’s debt limit when his Democrat majority in the Senate has failed to submit budget in more than 1,000 days.

What’s on Tap?        

Next week, the Senate will begin debate on S. 2038, known as the STOCK Act that would prohibit insider trading by members of Congress and aides using information obtained through the course of their duties.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson