For Immediate Release:
August 15, 2005

WASHINGTON D.C - U.S. Representative Dan Boren is making the rounds after a grueling first six months in Congress. While Congress is adjourned for the month of August, Boren has scheduled stops across the district to share accomplishments, talk about issues, and hear from constituents. Boren says the session has been busy - citing legislative work, votes, official travel, and getting married. 

 

Only months into his first term, the House passed a new energy policy, multiple tax reforms, a major transportation bill, and the controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement.  Despite the busy session, Boren has been growing into his assignment to the influential House Armed Services Committee and tackled an initial round of military base closures issued by the Pentagon.  He’s also visited troops in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; passed a bill; and planned a wedding.  Boren married Andrea Heupel on July 23, 2005.

 

Boren says the issues that most concern him today are the same as when he ran for Congress: economic development, saving Social Security, protecting veteran’s health care funding, and fighting the scourge of methamphetamine. 

 

Social Security

 

Boren opposes plans to privatize Social Security.  Introduced by the White House, the plan takes funds committed to guaranteed benefits and distributes them into individual accounts in private markets.

 

“The plan effectively replaces guaranteed benefits with a risky private account that would leave the fate of seniors to the whims of the stock market,” Boren said.  He says the plan could affect up to 430,171 Oklahomans, cutting their checks by $247 monthly. “It would be the single largest Social Security benefit cut for the middle class in history,” Boren said.    

 

Boren says Congress should take the necessary steps to plan for the future without reducing benefits.  He says a solution to the program’s long term problems lies in bi-partisan agreement on fiscal constraint. “We need to reinstitute strict pay-as-you-go budget rules that do not grow the deficit. We also need to expand investment options for workers to save for retirement through 401(k)s and IRA plans,” Boren said.     

 

Economic Development

 

Boren has joined Rep. John Sullivan (R-Tulsa) in introducing legislation to extend the former Indian lands tax credit.  Boren says the tax credit is, “an important tool in luring businesses to eastern Oklahoma.”   

 

With the recent passage of the Transportation Equity Act, Boren secured $25.9 million in funding for transportation projects for Eastern Oklahoma. “The funding will help to improve safety and the flow of traffic in many of our communities,” Boren said.  He also contends that updating highway infrastructure will enhance access to Eastern Oklahoma, which is an important factor in creating jobs and business growth.    

 

Boren is also excited about several federal grants for local airports in the Second District. The funding, totaling nearly $1.3 million, will be used to make improvements to rural community airports. 

 

Methamphetamine Epidemic

 

Along with Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore), Boren has introduced the Methamphetamine Reduction Act in the House, a bill to make the Oklahoma meth law a national standard.

 

Boren says a national law is needed to control meth in bordering states. “Many border counties are not feeling the full effects of the Oklahoma law because meth cooks are hopping state lines to buy pseudoephedrine,” Boren said.  “For our anti-meth law to succeed fully, bordering states must also control pseudoephedrine,” Boren explained.

 

Boren says the rest of the country is starting to wake up to the meth epidemic.  The U.S. Senate recently passed its anti-meth proposal in committee which could prompt House action soon. “I’m hopeful the House will take up an anti-meth proposal that includes the Boren/Cole language mirroring the Oklahoma law,” Boren said.    

 

Veterans

 

Boren says he is concerned about the recent budget shortfalls for veteran health care.  Shortly before the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the shortfalls in July, Boren signed a letter urging the White House to submit a budget that more accurately reflected the needs of the VA and the needs of veterans returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.   

 

Boren voted to correct a $1.3 billion shortfall in veterans’ health care funding that was acknowledged by the VA in early July. “The shortfall could reach as high as $2.7 billion in the next fiscal year,” Boren said.  “This is especially troubling when many Oklahoma veterans are already experiencing long delays in getting appointments and some are even being turned away,” Boren said.  

 

Boren says he’s worried about the message this sends to prospective new recruits. “At a time of war, and when we are lagging behind in recruitment, we need to show the next generation of veterans that we will keep our promises to them,” Boren said.

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