Congressman Denny Rehberg

June 29, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, joined renowned Montana artist, Bill Rains, and President George Bush, in an Oval Office ceremony in which Rains presented President Bush with a life size bronze statue of the late recording artist Hank Williams, Sr.

“This was sure a great opportunity to showcase Montana, and it’s a real privilege to be a part of this honor for Bill, and for President Bush,” said Rehberg, who helped arrange the White House meeting.

Rains, from Billings, MT, is recognized as one of the nation’s premier portrait sculptors, and his works, often incorporating a western theme, are displayed in exhibits and museums throughout North America, including the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“The President made us all feel at ease right from the get-go”, said Rains, who presented the statue as a gift to President Bush, an avid county music fan. “It really meant a great deal to us, and to him. He said he would display it in his presidential library. I want to thank Denny, as well, I don’t think we could have done this without him, ” Rains said.

The bronze statue was set on a walnut base, made by Rains’ son, Dustin, and stood over 6 feet tall. It weighed approximately 200 pounds, and was valued at $75,000. Rehberg worked with the White House and all the parties for almost a year to arrange the presentation.

Accompanying Mr. Rains was his wife Melissa, the daughter of Hank Sr., Jett Williams Adkinson, and her husband Keith Adkinson, and Rosebud County Commissioner, Gary Fjelstad, a friend of Mr. Rains.

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today led a successful effort on the floor of the U.S. House, resulting in the restoration of full-funding for Amtrak. In an impassioned speech before Congress, Rehberg spoke on an amendment to save Amtrak by restoring funds that had been cut by the House Appropriations Committee last week:

“I, too, recognize the difficult position the Appropriations Committee has been put in with the cost of Amtrak, and the on-going cost. I just caution the members of this body that there are states like mine. I represent an entire state. The distance of my district spans the distance from Washington, D.C. to Chicago. Our cities were not established in Montana because of rivers or ports. Ours were established because of the rail. Rail in Montana is not an essential service, it’s a critical service. In many cases we have good bus service; it just doesn’t happen to be in the area where Amtrak is. We have good air service; unfortunately, it just doesn’t happen to be in the area where the rail is. So in our particular case, having a large geographical area with very little population, it becomes a critical service to provide not only our products, but our passengers, as well.

“The Empire Builder in Montana has as many as 500,000 people traveling on it. Do we recognize it’s subsidized? Yes, we do. But I don’t think Congress ever intended it to be run entirely like a business. We want good quality service, we want a cheap price, but the problem is there cannot be competition because you can’t set up a railroad next to the other - you can’t have two railroads competing against each other.

“So Amtrak is one of those entities that cannot entirely be run like a business. So I hope you’ve listened to Mr. LaTourette’s amendment, because what it does is lay the foundation for implementing the beginning of a reform initiative within Amtrak that will make it run more like a business. It can be supported, and ultimately we will have the rail service in states like Montana, and the rest of the long lines that are so critical within our transportation system. I thank you and I hope you’ll support the amendment.”

Moments later, the full House approved the amendment, restoring funding to Amtrak. On his own last week, Rehberg began the momentum to preserve Amtrak by pressing an amendment in the House Appropriations Committee to restore funds to Montana’s Empire Builder service. Out-voted in Committee, Rehberg, from that point on set out to build a bipartisan coalition to help persuade wavering Members to support Amtrak.

“This is not about being a Republican or a Democrat, this is about doing what’s right for Montana,” Rehberg said of his breaking ranks with the White House and his own party leadership.

“We still have some technical issues to work out with the Senate on specifics, but I’m just grateful that so many of my colleagues had the courage to restore funding to our critical passenger rail service.”

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), has introduced the Private Property Protection Act (H.R. 3083) to remedy last week’s eminent domain ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Kelo v. City of New London, the High Court ruled governments may seize homes, small businesses, and other private property to further economic development. Rehberg’s legislation, a companion measure to a bill (S-1313) introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), would prohibit such transfers of private property, without the owner’s consent, if federal funds were used, and if the transfer was for purposes of economic development rather than public use.

“The High Court’s erroneous decision was a slap in the face of homeowners, small businesses, and all Americans. Ordinary property owners stand to suffer from the corrupting influence this sweeping decision will have because government officials can aggressively use the power of eminent domain purely for economic reasons,” Rehberg told the House today. “Our bill establishes two important standards that must be met before federal and local governments decide to exercise the power to take and transfer private property: That eminent domain should only be exercised “for public use,” as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment, and that this power should be reserved only for true public uses, not simply to further private economic development so government can make more tax revenue.”

The legislation would clarify that government’s exercise of its power of eminent domain is limited only for public use. The measure makes clear that the term “public use” could not be construed to include economic development. The legislation would apply only to (1) all exercises of eminent domain power by the federal government, and (2) all exercises of eminent domain power by state and local government through the use of federal funds.

“Montana is the kind of state whose citizens cherish property rights,” Rehberg explained. “This legislation strikes at the heart of what Montanans believe in: preserving small business and protecting homeownership.”

June 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC -Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, announced today the House Appropriations Committee has approved full-funding for Montana’s Essential Air Service (EAS). Rehberg’s panel approved $104 million – a $2 million increase over last year – for the EAS program as part of the Treasury, Transportation and HUD spending bill.

“Every year it seems we have to fight to preserve Essential Air Service for rural states like Montana. This year we fought off a scheme requiring local communities to help pay for their airline service. We prevailed; Montana won again,” Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee said.

“EAS is truly an essential program for our rural communities, so I really appreciate what Denny’s done. He understands how important EAS is to rural passengers across our state, and he’s always happy to stand up for us,” said John Rabenberg, who chairs the Montana Essential Air Service Task Force.

Montana has eight EAS points, seven of which – Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Lewistown, Miles City, Sidney, and Wolf Point – are served by Big Sky airlines, with its code-sharing agreements and a connecting hub in Billings. Sky West airlines provides seasonal service to Montana’s eighth EAS point, West Yellowstone.

“As long as I’m Montana’s Congressman I going to work to protect our essential air service. It’s been an annual fight, both in the House Transportation Committee and now the Appropriations Committee, but we’ve managed to win those battles each year,” Rehberg said. “Montanans have a right to expect our federal government to pay for certain essential services, such as highways, passenger rail service, and, in this case, air service to rural communities.”

Congress authorized the EAS program to guarantee a minimum level of air carrier service to small communities. The Department of Transportation currently subsidizes air service to approximately 38 rural communities in the continental U.S.

June 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, issued the following remarks regarding long-awaited Senate passage of energy legislation:

“In light of the record high prices at the gas pumps, it’s great to see that the Senate has followed the House’s lead and passed comprehensive energy legislation that will finally set policy and provide incentives to help America reach energy independence.

“A national energy policy will highlight Montana’s abundant coal, oil and gas reserves and our state’s role in our country’s future energy production.

“I call upon Congress to quickly iron out the differences in conference before the August recess.”

June 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC -At an oversight hearing on Veterans Affairs, Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today blasted the Veterans Administration for a healthcare shortfall of more than $1 billion.

“This is a huge gap created by mismanagement and compounded by the agency’s failure to come clean to Congress,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, which conducted the oversight hearing. “The agency screwed up and didn’t tell us all that it needs to ensure quality care for our nation’s veterans. We’re going to have to bail them out and find funds to meet their shortfall.”

Department of Veterans Affairs officials told the subcommittee that its healthcare system will end FY ‘05 with more than a $1 billion deficit – a shortfall that went unreported by the agency until now.

“Why are we the last to know?” Rehberg asked during questioning at today’s oversight hearing. “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

“Do you have any confidence in your actuaries?” Rehberg asked, after learning the agency spends $4 million each year on actuaries that have provided outdated healthcare cost projections, leading to the shortfall.

“The question, of course, is what about next year’s budget? Why didn’t they tell us what they needed when they came before our panel earlier this year? ” Rehberg said of legislation his panel approved last month to pay for Veterans healthcare – amounts included in the FY’06 Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which the House passed on May 25. “I will not stand by and watch our Veterans get less than the quality care they deserve. If more money is needed, we’ll come up with it.”

June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, a leading proponent of Country of Origin Labeling and the establishment of a national animal identification system, issued the following remarks regarding the latest announced case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy by the USDA:

“Why does the administration keep going down this same road, over and over and over again? Enough is enough; when you’re already in a hole, quit digging.

“This perfectly demonstrates that we need to move quickly to initiate a national system of animal ID, we need Country of Origin Labeling, we need better and more immediate testing, and we need better communication by the USDA.

“The administration keeps giving our trading partners, like Japan and Korea, excuses not to do business with us, all the while agreeing to accords with new trading partners who will not do business with us.”

June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is sponsoring a Constitutional Amendment to stop the federal government from counting illegal aliens in U.S. census. States with large populations of illegal aliens have benefited in the Electoral College, in congressional representation, and in federal funds all at the expense of states like Montana, according to recent studies.

“Most Montanans know that Census takers, every ten years, do their best to count each person residing in each state. What most Montanans don’t know is that all this time they’ve been counting illegal aliens and other non-citizens, giving states like California greater representation in the electoral college and in Congress,” Rehberg explained. “Our amendment would end that practice, restoring fairness to the people of Montana.”

Currently, the 14th Amendment enlarges the election of U.S. Representatives by “counting the whole number of persons in each State.” Rehberg’s measure would change the 14th Amendment, replacing the word “persons” with “citizens,” effectively excluding illegal aliens from the congressional reapportionment process.

“Counting illegal aliens as though they are citizens, may be sound good to people in California and Texas, but to the rest of the country, it makes about as much sense as buying a ranch to raise prairie dogs,” Rehberg said. “It’s been enough that our federal government continues to ignore the growing tide of illegals without the Census Department legitimizing unlawful residents who are stealing the voice of honest citizens.”

June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today announced the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has released payments to counties in Montana totaling $17,188,322, authorized by the Payments-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) Act for fiscal year 2005. The annual payments are made to coincide with local governments whose fiscal years begin on July 1. The amount is up by nearly half a million over last year’s PILT.

“This annual payment is critical to Montana’s rural counties and communities, home to a substantial amount of federal acreage that simply cannot be used for local tax revenues,” Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said. “Many of our counties are forced to look elsewhere to make up for the local tax revenues needed to continue vital local services.“

In Montana, three counties will receive over a million dollars in payments, including Ravalli ($1,440,198), Lewis and Clark ($1,358,615), and Flathead ($1,352,815). Payments-In-Lieu-of-Taxes are authorized by Congress to compensate counties with substantial acreage of federal land. Statewide this year, Montana will receive about a 3% increase in PILT funds over last year’s amount, $16,681,936.

June 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - A day after a House panel voted to strip funding from Amtrak’s long distance passenger train routes, Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is urging the Chairman of the committee to help keep passenger service running across Montana. During yesterday’s Appropriations Committee meeting, Rehberg, a member of the panel, was unsuccessful in his attempt to restore funding for the Empire Builder with an amendment. Rehberg today asked Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) to help “ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved” on behalf of Montana.

“A majority of my constituents - more than half a million people - live in rural areas comprising farming and ranching communities. Taking Amtrak out of Montana will have a detrimental impact on the small businesses in these rural communities, and on the families who depend on their local economy to make ends meet,” Rehberg said in a letter to Lewis. “Many Montanans who live in rural isolation along the line depend on Amtrak’s Empire Builder for medical appointments, business trips, shopping visits, college travel and, more importantly, the same access to the rest of nation as that enjoyed by urban residents.”

Last week, an Appropriations subcommittee agreed to strike funding for all of Amtrak’s long distance passenger rail lines, including the Empire Builder. Rehberg, who sits on the full Appropriations Committee offered an amendment to restore funding to the Empire Builder, but the amendment was rejected, and the committee okayed the as part of the Transportation, Treasury & HUD spending bill for 2006.

“In most of rural Montana, there is no other access to mass transportation, as bus service in the state has been scaled back, while the airlines operate extremely restricted service at only a handful of airports scattered across a state as wide as the distance between Chicago and Washington, DC,” Rehberg explained in his letter to Lewis. “I ask that you, as a valued Chairman and friend, will work with me throughout the legislative process to ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved on behalf of rural Montana.”

Rehberg has pledged to continue the fight: a vote on the legislation, including its Amtrak de-funding language, is likely to come before the full House of Representatives next week.

LETTER BELOW:

June 22, 2005

The Honorable Jerry Lewis

Chairman

House Committee on Appropriations

H-218, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Lewis,

Thank you for your leadership. I want you to know how much I appreciate the work you have done, both for the House and for my constituents.

As you know, I am deeply concerned about cuts to Amtrak reported by the Transportation, Treasury & HUD Subcommittee. I represent a magnificent, wide-open state in its entirety. A majority of my constituents - more than half a million people - live in rural areas comprising farming and ranching communities. Taking Amtrak out of Montana will have a detrimental impact on the small businesses in these rural communities, and on the families who depend on their local economy to make ends meet.

Last year, nearly 500,000 people rode the Empire Builder, including the 130,000 that rode to, from, and through Montana.

Many Montanans who live in rural isolation along the line depend on Amtrak’s Empire Builder for medical appointments, business trips, shopping visits, college travel and, more importantly, the same access to the rest of nation as that enjoyed by urban residents. In most of rural Montana, there is no other access to mass transportation, as bus service in the state has been scaled back, while the airlines operate extremely restricted service at only a handful of airports scattered across a state as wide as the distance between Chicago and Washington, DC.

I ask that you, as a valued Chairman and friend, will work with me throughout the legislative process to ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved on behalf of rural Montana.

Thank you,

Denny Rehberg

Member of Congress