Press Release of Senator Feingold

FEINGOLD COMPLETES 16th YEAR OF LISTENING TO WISCONSIN

Feingold Once Again Makes Good on His Campaign Promise to Hold a Town Hall Meeting in Every Wisconsin County, Every Year

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Red River, WI – With his Kewaunee County Listening Session today, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold completed his sixteenth year of holding listening sessions in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, making good on a promise made to the people of Wisconsin during his first run for U.S. Senate in 1992. Feingold has now held 1,152 listening sessions during his U.S. Senate career. During his sixteen years of touring Wisconsin, Feingold has met face-to-face with 55,470 people. At his listening sessions, Feingold makes brief remarks to begin the meeting but then turns the floor over to those in attendance to bring up and speak on any topic they choose. The meetings are open to the public and noticed publicly beforehand. Feingold listens, takes notes and responds to each person who speaks.

“Holding these listening sessions is the most important part of my job,” Feingold said. “In order for me to be an effective legislator, the people I represent deserve every opportunity to let me know directly how they feel about a particular issue. Not only do these listening sessions allow me to hear what those I represent are saying, but they also help restore confidence in our system of government. I am grateful to all those who took time out of their busy schedules to come to my meetings and let me know about the issues important to them. The feedback I receive is essential to my job as a U.S. Senator.”

Listening and Responding

Assisting Those Affected by the Flooding

Not only did Senator Feingold hear of the toll the early summer flooding took on central Wisconsin, he saw it first hand including while traveling to and from listening sessions. In fact, on June 8th, Feingold was returning from his Monroe County listening sessions when one of the major storms contributing to the flooding struck. On his way to his Waukesha County listening session on June 21, Feingold saw firsthand how the flooding of the Rock and Crawfish Rivers caused I-94 Westbound to shut down for a period of time.

When he arrived at his Waukesha meeting, Feingold heard from a representative of the Office of the Waukesha County Executive who thanked Feingold for his help with the recent flooding and raised concern that a recovery center may not be opened in Waukesha County. Feingold said he would look into the situation. Feingold’s staff communicated with state and federal emergency response agencies and to ensure the recovery center would be staffed and operational. The office opened days later on June 27th. Feingold also worked with other Midwestern senators to include $2.65 billion in the emergency supplemental spending bill for flooding relief.

Helping Law Enforcement

Prior to his Waushara County Listening Session on January 16, Feingold met with local law enforcement officials who advocated for support of the Byrne Grant program, a federal program that allocates grants to assist in the creation of drug task forces, drug courts, education and prevention programs, community prosecution programs, and many other efforts to reduce violent crime and drug abuse. Feingold met with members of the Waushara, Green Lake and Adams County Sherriff’s Department, as well as members of the Berlin Police Department and representatives from the Central Wisconsin Drug Enforcement Task Force. Feingold is a strong supporter of the program cosponsored amendments to the 2009 budget to provide $906 million for the program.

Lending a Hand to Small Business

In late February, Lon Schroeder of Chilton attended the Calumet County listening session with concern about his silo repair business. Schroeder told Feingold that when farmers take out Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans to cover a silo repair the loan specifies that the repair parts have to match silo brand, creating a hurdle for businesses like Schroeder’s. Feingold’s staff contacted FSA and learned that the agency can waive that requirement so other rebuild parts can be used. Schroeder was provided with a copy of FSA’s response about the waiver so he had written proof to show customers that they would be able to secure FSA loans for the rebuilds he performs.

Protecting the Great Lakes

Over the last couple years, many constituents have attended listening sessions to raise their concerns with the health and safety of the Great Lakes. During listening sessions in 2007 and 2008, Wisconsinites raised concerns with the Great Lakes including decreasing water levels and invasive species. Constituents also regularly told Feingold of their support for the Great Lakes Compact.

Feingold responded by taking the lead in requesting an expedited study of the lowering lake levels and joining other Great Lakes state Senators in pushing for strong legislation to stop invasive species from being carried into the Great Lakes by ocean-faring ships. Feingold also played an important role in the swift passage of the Great Lakes Compact, chairing a key hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee to pave the way for Senate passage. The Compact was later passed by Congress and signed into law by the president.

Helping Vets

At his Sawyer County Listening Session on February 20th, Veterans Service Officer Ray Boeckman thanked Feingold for his work to help bring outpatient clinics to Hayward and Rice Lake. Boeckman asked Feingold to try to increase the number of hours the clinic would be open. Following the meeting, Feingold wrote a letter to the Veterans Administration asking them to expand hours for the Hayward Clinic. Later in 2008, the VA contacted Feingold letting him know the Hayward Clinic would expand hours from two days a week to three starting in late November.

Throughout the year, Wisconsin veterans attended listening sessions and sought Senator Feingold’s help with VA related issues. In September, Don Lison of Florence attended the Florence County listening session to thank Feingold for his assistance with the VA. Lison said it had taken 37 years for him to get help from the VA but when Feingold’s office got involved in January, he got what he needed.

Meeting Attendance

In 2008, Feingold met with 3,530 Wisconsinites. His largest meeting of the year was his Door County listening session at the Washington Island Community Center where 203 people attended. His smallest gathering was the Bayfield County listening session at the Grand View Town Hall where 12 people attended.

Distance Traveled

In 2008, Feingold logged more than 11,000 miles traveling around Wisconsin to hold listening sessions. Over his sixteen-year career in the U.S. Senate, Feingold has logged over 160,000 miles, equal to almost six-and-half times around the planet – all within Wisconsin.

Issues Raised

In the 72 listening sessions held this year, more than 2,300 people raised questions or concerns on about 90 different topics. For the fourth year in a row, foreign affairs, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was the top issue. Health care was the top domestic issue and has been a top-ten issue in every one of Feingold’s sixteen years of holding these open meetings.

The top ten issues in 2008 were (numbers through November 13th):

1) Foreign Affairs – 285 people raised issues including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and other foreign policy issues.

2) Health Care – 230 people raised health care-related issues including the need for greater access to affordable care, Medicare, Medicaid, SeniorCare and prescription drugs.

3) Economy/jobs – 159 people discussed the economy and jobs. This includes comments and questions raised about the Wall Street bailout passed this fall and the economic stimulus package passed this spring.

4) Energy issues – 151 people raised issues related to energy including utilities and gas prices.

5) Environment – 118 people discussed the environment including drilling in Alaska and protection of the Great Lakes.

6) Veterans – 108 people discussed issues related to veterans.

7) Education – 83 people raised education issues including the No Child Left Behind law.

8) Immigration – 70

9) Taxes – 69

10) Social Security – 64

Fun Facts

  • Seventeen of Senator Feingold’s listening sessions were held in municipalities that had never before hosted a listening session.
  • Feingold’s Pierce County Listening Session on October 6th, was attended by Wilfred Moore, a Senator from Canada.
  • Feingold’s largest listening session of the year was his Door County listening session held on Washington Island. The local historian informed Feingold that he was the first U.S. Senator to visit the island since 1962.
  • Wisconsin’s frigid winter almost got Feingold’s 2008 listening tour off to a bad start. On the morning of January 3rd, after holding his first listening sessions of the year in Richland and Crawford Counties the day before, Feingold was preparing to depart for his next meetings in Grant and Lafayette Counties. But due to the -10 degree temperature, Feingold’s van wouldn’t start. Feingold was able to secure alternative transportation and made it to the meetings as scheduled.