Trent's Blog

Franks in the News -- Week of 10/21/11

Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on October 28, 2011


Senators, congressmen introduce Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Congressmen Trent Franks (AZ-02), Rob Bishop (UT-01), Jeff Flake (AZ-06), Paul Gosar (AZ-01), David Schweikert (AZ-05) and Ben Quayle (AZ-03) recently introduced the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011. This legislation will stop the U.S. Department of the Interior from banning mining in a vast area of Arizona, and killing jobs in the uranium mining industry.


Bilingual election ballots an important step forward

Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, fears that it would create additional burdens for state and local budgets, which are already facing financial problems. Sue Edman, executive director of the Milwaukee’s Election Commission, noted that enactment may be more of an administrative challenge than a fiscal one.


FEATURED HEARING: JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION

Rep. Trent Franks's subcommittee gather to hear testimony from Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Colby May of the American Center for Law and Justice. Franks and other conservatives are concerned about government programs infringing on religious liberty.

Congressman Franks listens to Uganda's Childrens Choir Congressman Franks listens to Uganda's Childrens Choir

Stearns' gun bill moving along

In final committee hearings on the bill earlier this month, Franks proposed a slight change in language — covered in just eight words — that critics maintain was a significant departure from Stearns' original proposal.


ACLJ & 105 Members of Congress Urge Supreme Court to Declare ObamaCare Unconstitutional

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Florida case challenging ObamaCare on behalf of Congressman Trent Franks as well as more than 100 members of Congress and tens of thousands of Americans. In an amicus brief filed today, the ACLJ urged the high court to hear the case and declare the entire health care law unconstitutional.

 

Rep. Trent Franks Supports H.R. 1904 – Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act

Just as relying on foreign oil imports threatens national security, relying on foreign copper suppliers threatens U.S. industry. The United States must use domestic resources to meet that growing demand and this legislation is a major step in the right direction. The project could produce enough copper equal as much as 25 percent of the current U.S. demand.

 

Arizona officials still ‘in the ring’ for uranium mining

According to a press release from Denison Mines, Arizona 1 received the 2010 U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration Sentinel of Safety award in small underground metal category. The award was received Wednesday.

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Franks in the News -- Week of 10/16/11

Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on October 24, 2011

Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) released the following statement in support of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which passed last night.
 
KINGMAN - The issue of if uranium mining, or any mining, should be allowed in the land surrounding the Grand Canyon has turned into a battle of the bills in Congress. Rep. Trent Franks' bill also accuses the Interior Department of ignoring the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984. The act states that any public land in the Arizona Strip area that is not part of a national park or monument is open to mining, grazing and other uses, Johnson said.
 
Prior to the press conference, a round table discussion will be held where we will discuss what can be done to protect and secure the southern border.  Joining in the discussion will be; Congressman Trent Franks, Senate President Russell Pearce, Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs, Senator Sylvia Allen, Senator Gail Griffin, Rep. John Fillmore, Rep. David Stevens, border Sheriff Larry Dever, and members of law enforcement and border patrol organizations.
 
Recalling the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
 
"If they are committed enough to try to foment an attack here, and literally try to blow up the Israeli embassy here, or kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., let me suggest to you that the intent is so clear that our entire focus now should be upon dealing with the capacity.” Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) 
 
Congressman Trent Franks commented this week on the mission at Luke Air Force Base and the scheduling of the F-16 squadrons’ move to Holloman Air Force Base once the F-35 Lightning II lands at the base in Glendale.
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Franks in the News -- Week of 10/9/11

Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on October 14, 2011

 

 

Providing for the Common Defense: The First Duty of the “Supercommittee”

Congressman Trent Franks (R–AZ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, reminded the audience of the lessons of history. He pointed out how the hollow force in the post–Vietnam era led to the disastrous military debacle dubbed Desert One. A myopic focus on the financial situation in the 1930s led to underfunding the U.S. military; as a result, the U.S. was ill-prepared for World War II.

 

Trent Franks to Obama: Time to set an ultimatum on Iran

Arizona Rep. Trent Franks slammed the Obama administration Wednesday, calling for an ultimatum on Iran. “If this effort had been successful, it would have constituted an act of war against the United States of America, and it should demonstrate Iran’s true intentions toward America in the clearest possible terms, even to this administration.”


Between the Lines: Rep. Trent Franks Thinks DOJ Overstepped Role

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) accused the Justice Department of overstepping its "efforts to shape the process" of redistricting in his home state. "We've asked the department to clarify what their actions are in that regard," Franks said in a phone interview last week. "It was a response to a belief on our part that they planned to shape that process."

 

House GOP calls on Obama administration to explore Iran, Mexico drug cartel connections

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) argued that the Obama administration has yet to indicate it is properly concerned with how these events are tied together, and said more pressure needs to be brought on Iran as a start.

 

Feds order Milwaukee to provide ballots, voting rules in Spanish

For the first time the federal government will require that the City of Milwaukee provide ballots and other voting information in Spanish in future elections because of the growth in the number of predominantly Spanish-speaking residents in the city. The language requirement has drawn fire from some Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who said it would create additional burdens for state and local budgets already facing financial problems.

 

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: On BP spill, the gang’s all here

Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation Wednesday to prevent the Interior Department from banning new uranium mining claims on 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon National Park for the next 20 years. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar took emergency action in June to extend an existing ban on new uranium mining claims in the region for six months while the Interior Department mulls a plan to block mining on the land for 20 years. Salazar said the 20-year ban is the Interior Department’s “preferred alternative.”


Abortion foes use live ultrasounds to highlight anti-abortion-rights legislation

WASHINGTON D.C.- Though all 535 members of Congress were invited to attend the “Voices from the Womb,” only House Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Tom Marino (R-Pa.), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and a representative from Rep. Michele Bachmann’s office spoke before the crowd of more than 100 anti-abortion-rights advocates.


Republican lawmakers seeking to block Grand Canyon area mining ban

GOP U.S. Senators John McCain of Arizona, Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, both of Utah, and Republican Congressmen Trent Franks, Jeff Flake, Paul Gosar, David Schweikert, and Ben Quayle, all of Arizona, and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, have introduced legislation to prevent the U.S. Department of Interior from withdrawing from mining and exploration of 1 million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park.

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Franks in the News -- Week of 10/2/11

Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on October 7, 2011

 
Washington (CNN) - Calls to stop the execution of Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor, continue to grow after a week in which demands for leniency came from the highest levels of the U.S. government.
 
We are woefully unprepared, even though solutions are cheap and near at hand. This is why Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and several colleagues have proposed legislation known as the SHIELD Act (H.R. 668) that would promulgate standards necessary to protect the grid and require the utilities to install hardware solutions to protect the main components of the grid.
 
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Glendale, told a House Indian and Alaska Native Affairs subcommittee that his bill is the only way to protect a compact among Arizona's tribes to limit casino development in metro Phoenix. He said his bill would prevent extensive "reservation shopping" by tribes creating reservation land within cities.
 
U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, Gov. Jan Brewer, U.S. Reps. Ben Quayle, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks and Paul Gosar and Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin (all Republicans) issued similar statements Wednesday afternoon at nearly the same time blasting the map proposed the Independent Redistricting Commission.
 
Led by Gov. Jan Brewer, the state’s Republican congressional delegation Wednesday unleashed a barrage of criticism at a proposed new congressional map that would govern elections for the next decade.
 
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), a participant on the panel, warned that the super committee’s deliberations may result in “gutting our military to the point of transforming the unipolar superpower of the world into a regional power.”
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Franks in the News -- Week of 9/25/11

Posted By: Congressman Trent Franks on September 30, 2011

 
 
 
U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., wants the Obama administration to release all its documents and data for its ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious gun-running investigation.
 
 
WASHINGTON, DC -- "Nonetheless, I am still compelled to remind an ostensibly modernized government that it is shameful and cowardly to kill an innocent person for merely practicing his faith," Congressman Trent Franks (AZ02) said.
 
GOSPEL HERALD - In a statement Wednesday, Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) accused the Iranian government of hypocrisy for "disregarding one of the most fundamental human rights: the ability of the Iranian people to freely choose a faith of their choice."

WASHINGTON - A week ago, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was a relatively unknown Christian facing execution for his faith under Iran’s interpretation of Sharia law. Few people knew his name, and almost no one was aware of the fate that awaited him. His only hope was and still is an immense amount of international pressure on the Iranian government to prevent the first apostate execution in Iran in over twenty years.
 
THE AIDS BEACON - Five representatives of Congress announced the launch of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus last week. The goals of the Caucus are to maintain U.S. leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the U.S. and internationally and to prepare for the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., next year. The Caucus is co-chaired by Representative Jim McDermott from California, Representative Trent Franks from Arizona, and Representative Barbara Lee from California.
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