On the House Floor
The House is currently in recess for the Presidents Day District Work Period and will reconvene on February 27th.
Bridge Groundbreaking
On Thursday, a groundbreaking ceremony occurred on a bluff overlooking the Lower American River downstream of the Folsom Dam. Nearly six years after I first introduced legislation to authorize the construction of a new bridge spanning the river, I was able to join my colleague, Rep. Dan Lungren, the Folsom City Council, and various officials representing the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau), and contracting firms involved in the project. The 1,000-foot span will stand 200 feet above the American River and will include four car lanes, bicycle lanes, and a pedestrian walkway.
In 2003, the Bureau closed public access to the Folsom Dam Road for security reasons. The closure redirected approximately 18,000 vehicles per day to three nearby crossings – Rainbow Bridge, Lake Natoma Crossing and Hazel Avenue Bridge. The result has been terrible traffic congestion, longer commute times, and financial hardship for businesses in the heart of Folsom. Years prior this action, I recognized that a new bridge would be necessary to placate security concerns as well as remove the inconvenience that occasional temporary road closures had imposed on the local community. The Bureau’s decision only increased the urgency of advancing such a project.
The new bridge is the ultimate solution for a problem that has caused deep community frustration for years. It is expected to be open for public use in December 2008. Notwithstanding the numerous bureaucratic obstacles that our congressional delegation has had to work through to keep progress on track, this is an uncommonly expedited timeframe of five years from authorization to completion. This week’s ceremony marks an important milestone in making it a reality. It is very good news for commuters in Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado Counties.
Town Hall Meetings
I have had the opportunity this week to conduct town hall meetings in communities throughout the sprawling Fourth Congressional District. The primary purpose of these meetings is to invite my constituents to share their views with me on issues impacting our nation. I represent such a large and diverse district that it is important to stay abreast of the issues of importance to each respective community. Given that I am currently formulating my legislative agenda for the next two years, I greatly appreciate knowing the thoughts of my constituents. This week’s gatherings took place in Susanville, Quincy, Placerville, Orangevale, Grass Valley, and Auburn.
It is apparent that one of the most pressing problems affecting rural communities all over Northern California is the uncertain future of funding for the Secure Rural Schools Act. I am working with Western colleagues from both parties to implement an immediate fix to the crisis as well as a long-term solution that ensures stable funding for schools and roads in counties wherein the federal government owns much of the land. Another issue of great concern was the conviction of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who have been sentenced to 11 and 12 years in federal prison respectively for wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across the U.S. border last year. Like the people in my district, I find this to be a severe injustice. As such, I am supporting legislation to pardon the agents.
On Washington’s Birthday
“On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great…For his was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train…of which the history of the world furnishes no other example.” – Thomas Jefferson describing George Washington, in a letter to Dr. Walter Jones, January 2, 1814.
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