Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today introduced the Best Buddies Empowerment for People with Intellectual Disabilities Act of 2008.  This bill seeks to expand the acclaimed Best Buddies program through federal grants, allowing the organization to raise awareness of their services and ultimately help many more Americans living with intellectual disabilities learn valuable social skills, obtain job coaching, and become more independent members of their communities.

Baucus, Kennedy, Grassley, Enzi, Rockerfeller, Hatch, Dodd met today to discuss prospects for advancing legislation in 111th Congress

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee committed today to work together early in the 111^th Congress toward comprehensive health care reform.  Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) were joined at an afternoon discussion in the U.S. Capitol by Finance Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and HELP Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), as well as Finance Health Care Subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Health Care Subcommittee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and HELP Children and Families Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).  The Senators issued a brief statement following the meeting today:

FARMINGTON — U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd warned Saturday that the failure to develop comprehensive after-school programs places not just children, but the nation as a whole at risk.

Speaking before nearly 300 delegates of the Connecticut After School Network symposium, Dodd hailed their efforts and told the delegates he uses Connecticut’s programs “as a model for national after-school programs.”

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) today responded to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) announcement of new Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations.  Dodd and Clinton are the authors of a provision signed into law last year that allows the family of wounded military personnel to take up to 6 months of unpaid leave, expanding on the 12 weeks of unpaid leave provided by the FMLA. 

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, released the following statement today on a new study by researchers at the University of Missouri indicating that obese children and teens are at risk of heart disease at an earlier age.

Senator Chris Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and a longtime supporter of mental health parity, held a press conference at the Institute of Living in Hartford on Wednesday to celebrate the passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

Senator Chris Dodd and his wife Jackie Clegg Dodd participated in the Connecticut Walk for Food Allergy in Killingworth on Saturday.  Ms Clegg Dodd was the honorary chair of the walk, which is supported by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN).

Senator Dodd is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families.  He is the author of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act, a bill that addresses the critical need for uniform food allergy policies in our schools and early childhood centers while providing the resources schools need to implement them.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released the following statement today on the Administration’s announcement that it is releasing the funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that was included in a comprehensive funding measure passed by Congress and signed by the President last month.  The bill provided $5.1 billion for LIHEAP including over $125 million for the state of Connecticut, nearly twice the amount of funding Connecticut received last year.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, today performed the swearing-in of members to the National Commission on Children and Disasters.  Dodd was the Senate sponsor of the legislation approved by Congress last year that created the Commission, which is charged with analyzing how the Federal government can better meet the specific needs of children before, during and after disasters.  The bill was endorsed by Save the Children, based in Westport, Connecticut.  Save the Children’s Vice President and Managing Director Mark Shriver is the elected Chairman of the Commission.   

On Thursday, the Connecticut Post published the following op-ed by Senator Chris Dodd on the Hope for Homeowners program. Senator Dodd is Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

While Congress and the Bush administration work to get our markets moving again so that small businesses can make payroll and families living paycheck to paycheck can put food on the table, the foreclosure crisis at the heart of this economic crisis continues to unfold. Before the spectacular fall of Wall Street giants such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, millions of Americans were suffering through a financial catastrophe of their own. Today, nearly 10,000 families go into foreclosure on a daily basis, while millions more suffer from plummeting home values, taking a terrible toll not only on their cumulative wealth but their sense of confidence in what the future holds for their children.