Sen. Voinovich’s legislation would: 1) State that a precipitous withdrawal of forces would have dangerous consequences for U.S. national security; 2) Make clear that the U.S. must remain engaged in Iraq for the foreseeable future; 3) Cite the recommendation of General Petraeus that a reduction of forces is imminent; 4) Call for the reduction to commence no later than 120 days after enactment; 5) Call for an increased role for the U.N. and other regional allies; 6) Call for a transition of the mission to focus on specific areas that are critical to U.S. objectives; 7) Not set an arbitrary deadline by Congress for the transition of mission – but require the administration, working in conjunction with the generals on the ground, to report back with a comprehensive plan; 8) Require the Secretary of Defense to report back in 180 days with a proposed date for completing a plan for reducing instability in Iraq and the region as forces are reduced.

President Bush recently delivered a speech from the White House addressing the nation’s mortgage crisis. The president said that one of the ways to help ease the problem is to enact Sen. Voinovich’s Mortgage Relief Act of 2007 – bipartisan legislation he wrote and introduced in May along with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). This vital legislation works to change current law that forces individuals to pay income tax when they have part of their mortgage loan forgiven, either as a result of a work-out with the lender, a short sale or a foreclosure. The Internal Revenue Service currently taxes any loan forgiveness as “income.” This tax actually penalizes those who are trying to work out a deal with their lender in a responsible manner. Removing this tax penalty encourages homeowners and lenders to work together voluntarily so that payments are manageable and foreclosure can be avoided. The Mortgage Relief Act will relieve families of a tax burden when their lender forgives part of the mortgage on a principal residence. Sen. Voinovich and the president are working with Congress to right this wrong as quickly as possible.

As a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Environment and Public Works Committees, Sen. Voinovich has oversight responsibility for both FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. These federal agencies are key to northwest Ohio’s short- and long-term recovery, and Sen. Voinovich is committed to working with them to ensure the federal government is doing everything possible to help citizens return to their normal lives as soon as possible. Recently, Sen. Voinovich hosted two roundtable discussions at the University of Findlay to discuss the response and recovery efforts for the counties affected by last month’s storms and severe flooding as well as ongoing flood mitigation efforts. The first roundtable with local officials, first responders, emergency managers and FEMA discussed emergency management response issues at the federal, state and local levels. The second roundtable discussed the status of an ongoing flood mitigation study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and ways that the federal government can help with future flood reduction efforts. Going forward, Sen. Voinovich pledged to do everything he can to not only recover from this tragedy, but to ensure that the affected communities continue to learn how to better prepare for the tremendous challenges that natural disasters will impose in the future.