Congressman Denny Rehberg

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, sent a letter today to Richard King, President and CEO of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation, asking him to weigh in on Smurfit-Stone’s bankruptcy proceedings to ensure the Missoula mill can be reopened for business. The facility was shut down by Smurfit-Stone as a result of ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

“Missoula has a great facility that’s sitting idle and in need of a new mission,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “I want to ensure this facility is used in a way that best helps Montana’s loggers, drivers and millworkers. This is about getting Montanans back to work as quickly as possible.”

The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy of Smurfit-Stone, which resulted in the closure of its Missoula mill, has also resulted in supply chain disruptions with statewide impacts.

The letter is below:

Mr. Richard C. King
President and Chief Executive Officer
Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation
1121 East Broadway
Missoula, Montana 59802

Re: Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation Bankruptcy Proceeding #09-10235 (BLS)

Dear Mr. King:

I’m writing to thank you for your active oversight of the above referenced bankruptcy proceeding. As you know, the proper disposition of Smurfit-Stone’s Missoula facility is critical to the local economy and the entire state. As a result, I believe it’s important that the plant remain open as a paper mill or is converted to an appropriate alternative use.

The University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research says that, as a result of Smurfit-Stone’s closure, 1,700 jobs worth more than $40 million annually have been lost. In addition to the devastating economic loss, the direct impact to private landowners, resource managers and Montana’s manufacturing and professional logging community is tremendous.

Montana annually produces approximately 2.5 million tons of residual wood fiber. Smurfit-Stone utilized about 80% of this material. Not only has a key link in the wood products chain been broken, but transportation costs have increased with longer haul distances. With each mill closure, Montana loses more and more professionally trained wood workers and log haulers.

I urge your continued diligence as the bankruptcy court proceedings enter their final phase. I also encourage you to weigh in on an outcome that retains jobs and ensures the economic viability of Missoula and the surrounding communities.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has issued the following statement following the 5-4 decision in McDonald v. Chicago to apply Second Amendment protections to state and local laws, reversing a lower court’s support of Illinois’ handgun ban and Chicago’s rifle and shotgun registration.  Similar to the landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the court found that the Second Amendment establishes an individual right to bear arms.

“The ruling of the Court on the Chicago gun ban impacts the right of Montanans to own firearms for generations to come and thankfully, the Supreme Court defended individual freedom and the Constitution by the narrowest of margins.  I have no doubt that progressive interest groups will maintain their assault on the Second Amendment, and it is incumbent upon gun owners to keep up the fight.”

Rehberg has earned an ‘A+’ rating from the National Rifle Association and is a member of the Second Amendment Task Force in Congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has cosponsored legislation to prohibit the Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) from preventing the U.S. Border Patrol from fulfilling its congressionally mandated mission to control our borders.  Some DOI and USDA policies, including forbidding the use of motorized vehicles on certain lands, have seriously undermined border control efforts on the northern border.

“Once again, bungling bureaucrats have put Montana families at risk,” said Rehberg, a co-chair of the House Northern Border Caucus.  “As long as we have holes in our border security, they will be exploited by terrorists, drug smugglers and human traffickers.  It’s one thing to deal with the logistics of protecting ourselves, but it’s another thing to enact policies that actively prevent controlling the border.”

While Americans are demanding border control, inflexible environmental policies instituted on DOI and Forest Service lands have closed off large segments of the border to necessary control efforts.  More than 1,000 miles of the U.S.-Canada border are on federal lands, crossing 13 states, 12 National Parks and 4 Indian reservations.

Unfortunately, Border Patrol access has been limited by public land managers who have literally locked out Border Patrol vehicles.  To address this serious problem, Rehberg joined Western Caucus colleagues in sponsoring H.R. 5016, which would prohibit DOI and USDA from impeding the Border Patrol.

“No state other than Alaska has a longer border with Canada,” said Rehberg.  “That makes Montana particularly vulnerable to the consequences of failing to control our border.  Let’s get the federal government on the same page, and get our borders secured.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today joined House Republican colleagues in unveiling America Speaking Out.  By providing an online forum for Montanans to voice their opinions in setting priorities for a national agenda, this initiative mirrors the public input that Rehberg has solicited at 44 public listening sessions and through online social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“Montanans are sick and tired of the vote-first-ask-questions-later approach to lawmaking that Speaker Pelosi has adopted.  It’s a recipe for bad laws, and worse, it’s a sign of an unresponsive government that serves its own interests before the interests of the people.  That’s why I hosted 44 public listening sessions.  That’s why I asked for 30 days to come back to Montana and listen before any vote on a health care bill.  That’s why, on a daily basis, I interact with thousands of Montanans on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  It’s time Washington, D.C. listens to the people.  We want to know what you think.  And that’s what America Speaking Out is all about.”

America Speaking Out is the first legislative website of its kind.  Using modern online tools, it empowers users to submit their own ideas or weigh in on the ideas of others.  It creates a one-of-a-kind pipeline to Washington, D.C. that will help make Congress look a lot more like Montana.  Montanans can access America Speaking Out online at http://www.americaspeakingout.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has been recognized for promoting “the principles of liberty and the strength of the Constitution,” by the American Conservative Union (ACU), the nation’s oldest and largest conservative grassroots organization.  Rehberg was named an “ACU Conservative” with a 92% percent rating in 2009 based on 25 votes covering government bailouts, wasteful spending, taxes, and health care reform.  Rehberg has a 90% lifetime rating with the ACU.

“I voted with Montanans who believe that government isn’t the solution to all our problems and that government is most effective when it empowers individuals with freedom and opportunity,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Liberty Caucus.  “It’s these ideals, shaped by the input from Montanans at 44 listening sessions that shape my voting record.”

The American Conservative Union was founded in 1964 as a grassroots organization promoting traditional values, a market economy, a strong national defense, and the doctrines of the Constitution.  The ACU has published an annual rating of Congress since 1971 based on 25 votes each in the House and Senate.  Key issues in the first session of the 111th Congress included the financial industry bailouts, stimulus spending, energy policy, federal abortion funding, and health care reform.  Rehberg is the only member of the Montana delegation to vote against every bailout and the $1 trillion so-called stimulus package.

“This award is a reflection of Representative Denny Rehberg’s consistent support of conservative principles on a wide range of issues of concern to grass roots conservatives in 2009,” said David A. Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union.  “At a challenging time when the fundamental principles on which the American system of government are being challenged, Representative Denny Rehberg stands with those who are trying to preserve those principles.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has sponsored a resolution expressing support for the National Day of Prayer after a District Court struck down the observance which has been recognized since 1952.

“Faith and prayer have always been fundamental to the greatness of our nation,” said Rehberg.  “There’s a big difference between freedom of religion and freedom from religion.  Once the government decides to rid us of all matters of faith in public life, the freedom of religion is significantly infringed.”

On April 15, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer violates the Constitution’s prohibition against the government establishment of religion.  Established by Congress and President Harry Truman in 1952, National Day of Prayer is held the first Thursday of every May.  President Obama has said that he will recognize this year’s National Day of Prayer on May 6 despite the ruling.

The bipartisan resolution expresses “the sense of the House of Representatives that the National Day of Prayer is Constitutional and a needed tribute to the value of prayer and a fitting acknowledgment of our Nation’s religious history.”

“It’s sad that a single activist judge can turn her back on over two hundred years of history,” said Rehberg.  “Prayer is not the establishment of a state religion – it is the recognition of a higher power toward which we strive.”

BILLINGS, MT – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today released the following statement in response to reports of threats against supporters and opponents of health care reform legislation.

“There’s no place for violence in the health care debate.  These isolated incidents are unfortunate and take away from what makes American democracy so strong.  I have hosted 42 public listening sessions across Montana, and while the folks I heard from are deeply passionate about this issue, I’m proud to report that they have always disagreed in a civil way.”

WASHINGTON D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, cosponsored the Open Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) of 2010, with bipartisan supporters from other Western states. The legislation reinstates oversight and transparency measures for taxpayer payments made to organizations through the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).

“I think Montanans would be outraged to learn that huge national special interest groups with multi-million dollar endowments are bankrolling thousands of lawsuits with tax dollars meant for small businesses, individuals and non-profits,” said Rehberg a member of the House Western Caucus.  “It’s one thing to have access to the courts, but it’s another to force taxpayers to pay for it.  Since 1995, the federal government has inexplicably stopped tracking how it spends these funds, and it’s time to restore the transparency and accountability.”

Originally passed in 1980, EAJA was meant to help provide fair access to legal remedies for individuals, small businesses and non-profits with limited means.  It does this by reimbursing attorney’s fees for plaintiffs who sue the federal government if they win the case or settle out of court.  The original legislation required annual reports to Congress on the amount and nature of EAJA payments, but those reports ended in 1995.

Two private studies, one by a Wyoming law firm and another by Virginia Tech University, have shown that despite congressional intent to assist small organizations, some large environmental obstructionist groups appear to be the biggest beneficiaries of EAJA payments.  The Wyoming study, for example, found that more than 1,200 federal cases were filed in 19 states and the District of Columbia by just 14 environmental groups.  The cost to the taxpayer was $37 million.

The Open EAJA Act reinstates and consolidates tracking and reporting requirements under the Department of Justice (DOJ), and requires the DOJ to publish a public online, searchable database of EAJA payments.  It would also authorize an audit of the last 15 years, during which the fund has operated with absolutely no oversight.

“The hard working folks of the Montana Wood Products Association appreciate Rep. Rehberg signing on to the Open EAJA Act of 2010,” said Ellen Simpson, the Executive Vice President of the Montana Wood Products Association.  “Changes in EAJA are sorely needed to shine a bright light on obstructionists who have made a cottage industry out of suing the Forest Service to stop active management on Montana’s national forests.  The taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent and who benefits while the forests die.  The Open EAJA Act of 2010 will provide that information.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has co-sponsored H.R. 4556, a bill that would forbid the U.S. Department of Justice from spending any money to prosecute individuals involved with the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks. Consistent with strong public opinion, the legislation aims to prevent the domestic trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) in the heart of New York City. KSM was the mastermind of the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.

“Trying the terrorist masterminds in our regular court system on the very soil of the country they attacked on 9/11 is an outrage,” said Rehberg. “These men are not common criminals, and the act of terrorism they perpetrated is not a common crime. It was an act of war, and it should be appropriately tried in a military tribunal at a secure location like Guantanamo Bay.”

In addition to the symbolic problems of affording terrorists the protections of the Constitutional Rights they are attempting to destroy, trying dangerous men like KSM in civilian courts subjects American citizens to substantial risks. In fact, the trial, as currently planned in New York City is estimated to cost taxpayers at least $250 million per year — for a total expected cost of more than $1 billion. According to New York Mayor Bloomberg, “It would be great if the federal government could find a site that didn’t cost a billion dollars, which using downtown [New York City] will. [The trial] is going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb an awful lot of people.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, sponsored a resolution to honor the three Navy SEALs who successfully completed a mission to capture the believed mastermind of the 2004 murder of four U.S. security contractors. The three officers are facing a court-martial after the suspected terrorist, Ahmed Hasim Abed, accused them of punching him during his capture.

“The trial of these brave soldiers is not only unwarranted, but is a slap in the face to real American heroes,” said Rehberg, a member of the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. “Terrorists are instructed to make abuse allegations when captured to disrupt their prosecution. This case sends a terrible message to those we ask to risk their lives to fight terrorism. It’s important to affirm our commitment to our military.”

The resolution, (H.Res. 988), “recognizes the exemplary service, devotion to country, and selfless sacrifice” of petty officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe, and Julio Huertas in the capture of Abed, and pledges continued support to members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Abed is accused of leading numerous attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, including the brutal killing of four Blackwater guards in Fallujah, whose bodies were mutilated and put on public display.

In court rulings this month, Huertas and Keefe were granted the right to face their accuser in court, and their trial was moved overseas to a U.S. military base in Iraq. McCabe’s defense team has said they don’t need to question the detainee, and McCabe’s trial is scheduled to be held in Virginia.

The three Navy SEALs have not only received support from members of Congress but more than 200,000 people have joined a Facebook page to show their support. Rehberg has used his Facebook page to urge others to join their support group.