EC From DC - May 20, 2011

Congressman Cleaver congratulates Kansas City, Missouri on being selected for Google Fiber for Communities initiative, with Kansas City Mayor Sly James and Great Plains CEO Mike Chesser

On Tuesday, I was proud to join Sly James, the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Cindy Circo, the Mayor Pro Tem, Mike Chesser, the CEO of Great Plains, and Milo Medin, Vice President of Google Access Services, to announce that the city had been selected to work with Google on the deployment of Google’s ultra high-speed broadband network. All of Kansas City took a big step forward with this announcement. And life in the Green Impact Zone just got even more exciting.

This network will deliver Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit (or 1,000 megabits) per second—100 times faster than what most of us have access to today. As the second city to be selected for this effort, we in Kansas City, Missouri join our friends and neighbors across the river, in another partnership with much promise.

This project attracted the attention of nearly 1,100 communities across the country. The city’s application was a team effort, involving the City of Kansas City, KCP&L, KCADC, KCNext, the Kauffman Foundation, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Kansas City Missouri School District, Brush Creek Community Partners, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Black Economic Union and the Mid-America Regional Council. In the end, Google selected Kansas City, on both sides of the river, as a place where they could build efficiently, make an impact on the community, and develop working partnerships with the local government, utility and community organizations.

Mayor James and the new Council, in less than a month, have been able to bring Google to Kansas City. So we are expecting an NBA team next week.

For more information about the Google Fiber for Communities initiative in Kansas City, please visit www.google.com/fiber/kansascity.

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its grant guidance for the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which funds a range of preparedness activities, including planning, organization, equipment purchase, training, exercises, and management and administration. Due to cuts approved in the FY11 budget, DHS has been forced to reduce the list of communities eligible for Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program funding by half, and the Kansas City Metropolitan area did not make the list.

As a former member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and as a longtime supporter of the Fifth District’s efforts to address homeland security risks and preparedness, I must say I was extremely disappointed with and concerned with the decision to remove Kansas City from the UASI program. The budget compromise, which I did not support, cut $162 million from the Department of Homeland Security. Now we are feeling the effects.

The timing could not be worse. Not only are we in the midst of the 2011 FEMA National Level Exercise (NLE), which is based on a major earthquake in Missouri, along the New Madrid fault, this is National Police Week, during which many communities will honor officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Yesterday the Kansas City Police Department honored those who gave all for the city in its annual memorial service.

Now, UASI may not be a household name, but it is tremendously important to our community. The Kansas City Metropolitan area stands to lose over $7 million in security funding. This loss of funds means that the jobs of police officers, fire fighters, and first responders who plan, organize, purchase equipment, perform training exercises, and prepare for the worst in order to prevent terrorism, just got a lot harder.

UASI funds can be used for medical radio enhancement, interoperability, regional planning training exercises for a natural or man-made disaster, tactical response teams, bomb squads, public health disease surveillance and response, hazmat sustainment, citizen preparedness, and much more.

This is a terrible time to withdraw support for our ability to train and equip police, firefighters, and other first responders and otherwise maintain the highest level of security. As I have said time and time again, the budget is a moral document-- a testament to our priorities. If the safety of our communities is not a priority, I do not know what is.

Congressman Cleaver and HUD Regional Administrator Watchman-Moore present $36,131 in funding to Goodwill Industries

Today I was fortunate enough to join U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Derrith Watchman-Moore, city officials, and local homeless service providers at Goodwill Industries. There was much good news at a time when so many are in need.

A total of eighteen homeless service providers, as part of the Homeless Services Coalition of Greater Kansas City, will receive $8,847,295 in funding. The grants will help homeless people throughout the area get emergency and permanent housing, job training, medical care, mental health services and substance abuse treatment so they can live independently and successfully in the community. Not only did Goodwill Industries receive a a grant totaling $36,131, but they were recognized for their good work, years of commitment and homeless services that have helped thousands of homeless individuals in the metro area.

Judging from the nutbuckets on television these days, you would not think that the debt ceiling and the debate on whether or not to raise it was a bipartisan issue. Congress has raised the federal debt ceiling limit 10 times in the past 10 years--under both Republican and also Democratic-led Congresses.

Without another increase, the government will either default on its bonds or have to slash spending by about 40 percent. My colleagues across the aisle are using the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip--they say they will not vote for an increase without big additional cuts in spending. We need to raise the debt ceiling. Until we do, the Department of the Treasury will do its best to ensure that we meet our obligations, but this can only go so far. On August 2, 2011, we will start to default. And defaulting on our financial obligations, for the first time in history, as President Ronald Reagan once said, would be “unthinkable.”

I wanted to share with you a video from Doug Holtz-Eakin, John McCain’s former economic adviser and currently the president of the conservative American Action Forum. I think Doug does a good job of explaining about what would happen to our government if we defaulted on the debt ceiling. Of course, he does not go over what would happen to the world markets and the potential economic crisis that could result from default.

Yesterday was a very good day. I had a chance to visit with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at the Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Technology, a place where a school where academic and social possibilities are created out of impossibilities. The seniors at Brookside Frontier Math and Science School invited me to hear about their college prospects, potential careers, and their future. I am proud to tell you that, because of their hard work and determination, all of them have been accepted to several colleges and universities.

And later that day, I had the pleasure to address the graduating class of the Metropolitan Community College at Penn Valley. Each fall, 6,000 students each fall come to MCC-Penn Valley, MCC's most diverse and global campus. The campus is famous for its health career and art programs. The Class of 2011 faces an uphill battle, but one for which they are well-prepared. One thought I shared with them, and one idea I remember often, is that none of us got where we are on our own. We all owe someone else for the achievements we have made.

You can now follow me @repcleaver. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Click here to add me >>> http://twitter.com/repcleaver

Emanuel Cleaver, II Member of Congress