Farm Service Agency assistance
Posted by: Dan Burton (01-08-2009, 09:15 AM)

Farm operators in Wabash, Huntington, Grant and Miami counties have been declared natural disaster counties, and are eligible for assistance from the Farm Service Agency. Assistance includes FSA emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program. FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability. Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with further information.

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Economic Stimulus Transparency
Posted by: Dan Burton (01-07-2009, 09:27 AM)

My colleagues and I have urged Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis to support transparency and accountability for the forthcoming economic stimulus package that President-Elect Obama has proposed. It is imperative that Congress mandates transparency in all federal spending, and particularly in this new package that will inject hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending into our economy. I have not supported any bailout package, and one reason why I voted against the $700 billon TARP legislation was because it lacked any guarantee of adequate oversight. If the Democrat Majority insists on these gigantic bailout packages and spending bills, I will continue to fight for aggressive oversight of the disbursement process.

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Local Economic Relief
Posted by: Dan Burton (01-06-2009, 10:50 AM)

Those in Central Indiana hardest hit by the economic meltdown will find some relief in the New Year. I recently reviewed Connet-2-Help and United Way’s “Community Economic Relief Fund Report” and was pleased to see how many local Hoosiers are benefitting from the philanthropy of five leading Central Indiana organizations. The $3.2 million fund responds to Hoosiers’ rising demand for help. The funds are used by local providers who are “first responders” in helping people deal with the worsening economy. Connect-2-Help (2-1-1) is the single point of entry for area residents hoping to tap resources from this fund. For the month of December, the majority of 2-1-1 callers asked for help with utility bills, rent or mortgage payments, and help with buying gifts for their children, among others. Should you find yourself struggling with the demands of this crisis please dial 2-1-1 for help.

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Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act
Posted by: Kerry Byrne (12-19-2008, 09:15 AM)

Congressman Burton’s address to the US House on December 10, 2008, regarding HR 7321, the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act. From the Congressional Record: Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I just want to say to Mr. Kucinich and all the previous speakers, I agree with most of what I have heard today, except the way we get there. I don't think anybody in the House or the Senate wants the auto industry and related industries to collapse. Nobody wants that. The question is, how do we get to a solution that is workable, that will work over the long term? Just a few weeks ago we passed the TARP bill, and we were told in just a day or two that we had to pass this or the entire financial system in this country and the world was going to collapse. We threw $700-plus billion at it, and today there are an awful lot of Members in both bodies that think, hey, it isn't working the way we thought it would. Things have gone south in a lot of areas, and we should have thought about this a little more carefully. Now, I had the mayor of Marion, Indiana, and a lot of GM executives come in to see me last week and they told me in Marion, Indiana, they would lose $5 million in tax revenue if these companies go under. And they would have to lay off firemen and policemen and other civil employees. Nobody wants that to happen. But how do we solve the problem long term? And my concern is we're throwing $15 billion at this right now without a solution. We're going to have these people come to the conference table after we give them $15 billion, just like we gave the $700 billion a few weeks ago in the TARP plan, and we're going to say, now go solve the problem and come up with an answer. We need to have these answers first, and then give them the money. I don't mind staying here through Christmas and New Years to find a solution to save the automobile industry and the related industries. But this isn't the way, in my opinion, to do that. Now, you know, Senator Corker, in the other body, said, here's the way that we ought to solve the problem; and I'd like to read this to my colleagues. He said, Number 1, the manufacturers should give existing bondholders 30 cents on the dollar to help reduce their overall debt. Right now they'd only get 13 cents on the dollar, so 30 cents on the dollar would make them happy, and they would agree to that. And Senator Corker said this ought to be one of the things that's in the plan. Second, he said, wages should immediately come in-line with the transplant companies. And I think everybody that thinks about this realizes that if your cost of doing business is not competitive with your opposition, you're not going to survive. So that's an essential thing, in my opinion. Third, the UAW should take half of GM's payment in the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association in GM stock; and I think they should do that because they're in this thing with everybody else, and taking half of their benefits in stock would be a great thing. And I think they would enjoy doing that if they knew the company was going to survive. And they want it to survive. And finally, the Jobs Bank program should be eliminated. He said, if you had these four things as a starting point, we could get on with the business of solving this problem. Now, at the hearing in the Senate Banking Committee the other day, Mark Zandi, who is the Chief Economist and Co-Founder of Moody's Economic Guide said, testified, ``under the most likely outlook for the economy and the auto industry, the restructuring plans in which the Big Three have requested $35 billion in loans,'' at that time it was $34 billion, ``will not be sufficient for them to avoid bankruptcy at the same point in the next 2 years. They would ultimately need another 75 to $125 billion to avoid bankruptcy.'' Now, we need to solve this problem. I want to help those employees. I want to help the executives. I want to help the communities that will suffer if they lose the tax revenues from these people who would lose their jobs and if the industry went south. I want to solve it. But rushing to judgement today, just like that, and throwing $15 billion at it, without a solution, in my opinion, is the wrong way to go. So I'd just like to say to my colleagues, if you really want to solve this problem long term, let's don't rush to judgment today. Let's stick around here a few more days and work this out so we can really solve the problem long term so the industry can survive.

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American Community Survey
Posted by: Dan Burton (12-04-2008, 08:05 AM)

Census time is quickly approaching and I wanted to make sure that you are aware of some changes the U.S. Census Bureau has made in an effort to streamline and improve data collection. Some of you may remember receiving a sample of a “long form” during the 2000 census. That sample form was a test run for the new and improved America Community Survey which, starting July 2004, has been sent to one in 480 households throughout America in every county, American Indian Alaska Native area, and Hawaiian Homeland each month. No household will receive the survey more than once every five years. You should note, however, that the ACS exists to provide a “snapshot” of America’s society each year, and that we still have a thorough, fully comprehensive census conducted by the Census Bureau every 10 years. The America Community Survey is beneficial to you and your local community because it provides updated information about American society every year as opposed to every 10 years. In the past we had to wait far too long for data that was helpful in determining where to build new roads, schools and senior centers. I support this addition to the U.S. Census Bureau’s data collection and will continue to ensure that your confidentiality is protected. For more information about the American Community Survey click here.

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