Members of Arkansas Delegation Urge President to Approve Disaster Declaration for State

Late last night I joined with fellow members of the Arkansas Delegation to write a letter to President Bush urging him and FEMA Administrator David Paulison to swiftly consider and approve the state’s request for a federal disaster declaration.

The congressional delegation’s request follows extensive damage as a result of flooding and severe thunderstorms beginning March 18. Additional counties affected by the floods will be added to this request as damage assessments are available.

Below is a copy of the letter we sent:


March 25, 2008





The Honorable George W. Bush

The White House

Washington, D.C. 20500



Dear Mr. President:



We are writing to support Governor Mike Beebe’s request for a Presidential declaration of major disaster for the following counties in the State of Arkansas: Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Johnson, Lawrence, Logan, Madison, Marion, Nevada, Newton, Pope, Randolph, Scott, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren, Washington, White, Woodruff and Yell.



These counties and others throughout the region suffered extensive damage as a result of flooding and severe thunderstorms beginning March 18 and continuing. Residences, businesses, and public buildings were damaged or destroyed, displacing many residents and causing an unfortunate burden on these communities. As we see in many crises, people have come to the aid of their neighbors, but further assistance is needed in order to help those impacted recover from their losses.



Currently, the State of Arkansas and local communities are beginning the process of recovering from the floods, and many of these communities are still in the process of recovering from the recent federally declared disaster caused by severe storms, tornados, and flooding in February. Pursuant to the provision of Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, we ask that the State of Arkansas receive a major disaster designation for the damage assessed in the affected counties. As you are probably aware, we represent a predominantly rural state where municipal governments are often ill-equipped to respond to disasters of this magnitude. We have no doubt that all available resources at the state and local level are being used, but federal assistance will be needed to help our communities recover.



We would also like to specifically request that the affected counties in Arkansas be eligible for Individual Assistance, including the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) to include Temporary Housing and assistance with Mobile Homes, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, Crisis Counseling, Public Assistance Grant Program, Hazard Mitigation Statewide, Small Business Administration disaster loans, and Direct Federal Assistance.

Mr. President, we respectfully request your swift consideration and approval of this request. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

America Supports You Caucus

Today, I joined over two dozen bipartisan Members in the House to form the America Supports You Caucus.

This caucus will highlight the America Supports You program, a Department of Defense initiative that connects individuals, organizations, and companies to hundreds of homefront groups that offer a variety of support to the military community.

Through the America Supports You program, people are sending care packages to soldiers, donating airline miles to help reunite returning military men and women with their families, supporting scholarship funds, and building homes for the wounded. These are just a few examples of the work this program is accomplishing for the veterans.

Because our men and women in uniform and their families deserve the best resources available before, during and after their service, I am excited to be a part of this new effort in Congress honoring their sacrifice to our country.

As an example of the positive partnerships resulting from the America Supports You program, John Potter, the Postmaster General recently announced the U.S. Postal Service’s new, larger flat-rate box for packages can be sent to military members and families stationed overseas for a reduced price.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate box is 50 percent larger than current flat-rate boxes, and for the first time in history, the Postal Service is offering a $2 discount when sending the larger box to an APO/FPO address, enabling customers to send more with one flat price

For more information about the America Supports You program through the Department of Defense or learn how you can get involved, please visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.

Berry Responds to Bush's Final State of the Union Address

The President's Final State of the Union should be a time of reflection and a speech about what we can do to improve our nation. Instead, the President's speech fell far short. Below is my response to his speech.

As President Bush addressed the nation tonight, I couldn't help but reflect on how much has changed in the past 7 years. Today, median household incomes are down over $900 and an additional 1.6 million workers are unemployed since 2001. Gas prices are more than double what they were in 2001, and the cost of food and medicine are rising as well. Today, 47 million Americans (including 8.7 million children) are uninsured, compared to 38 million in 2001. Today, the continued instability in the economy is making it harder for hard-working middle class families to make ends meet. And, finally, a projected $5.6 trillion surplus has turned into a $3.3 trillion deficit, pushing the National Debt to over $9 trillion and hampering the ability to address uncertainty in the economy and to meet urgent priorities.

The American people deserve better. It is time for Congress to step forward and work together pass legislation focused on helping the middle class rather than the special interests. This new session of Congress needs to continue to move in a new direction to refocus our nation's priorities and set an agenda for economic growth.

I have written a letter to Speaker Pelosi outlining the priorities we must address to stabilize and grow the economy. Our struggling economy requires urgent and immediate action, and then sustained attention. By reinvesting in America we can continue to ensure the prosperity of our nation for years to come."

The text of the letter below:

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515


January 28, 2008


Dear Madam Speaker,

As we begin a new session in the 110th Congress I write to thank you for your leadership in taking America in a New Direction. Over the past year Congress has worked to make the issues of working families and the middle class a priority. Although great strides have been made, we still have a lot of work to do.

On the eve of the final State of the Union address from President Bush, both the short-term and long-term economic and budgetary outlooks are at best uncertain. Ordinary Americans have borne the brunt as prices for energy, food, healthcare and education skyrocket while wages remain stagnant. Millions of Americans are one missed payment or one illness away from going from economic insecurity to bankruptcy. I strongly encourage your continued leadership to push for priorities that will benefit the Americans who most need our help.

A critical aspect of boosting the economy is strong investment in infrastructure to promote local job development. The arteries of our economy--our roads, bridges, waterways, airways, and rails--have been neglected for too long. Every dollar spent on transportation and infrastructure spurs local job development. For every billion we spend on infrastructure, nearly 50,000 jobs are created. Many states and local communities could quickly direct new targeted investments to projects that improve our aging infrastructure and create more skilled jobs with higher wages.

Another often forgotten aspect in our nation's priorities is investing in our children. This means providing children with the education and resources they need to succeed and ensuring they have access to healthcare. Children who are sick cannot learn, which is why Congress must work harder to make SCHIP law. Although Congress has passed legislation to lower interest rates on student loans, we must also find more ways to make the dream of a college education a reality for more Americans who cannot afford to attend. By giving our children every opportunity to succeed early in life, we are ensuring the prosperity of our nation in the global community.

Affordable healthcare and access to prescription drugs are more difficult to obtain than ever before. Even though our country is a frontrunner in medical breakthroughs, too many people cannot obtain these life saving medicines and technology simply because they cannot afford it. Denying a patient treatment based on the inability to pay is a tragedy that is affecting too many Americans.

Furthermore, a Farm Bill has yet to become law. Without it, we will not be able to provide our nation with the safest and most secure food and fiber supply. If we are unable to provide our own food for our nation, we risk our national security. Also, in order to increase security, we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil by increasing our efforts to produce alternative fuels. Investing more resources in our biofuels industry will help alleviate rising gas prices and create more jobs in a new and growing market.

Our fiscal situation today is the consequence of living beyond our means and of neglecting priorities. We must act quickly to strengthen the economy, and do so without making our deficits worse and without doing more damage to our long-term fiscal health. The Congressional Budget Office projects the federal government will run a deficit of $219 billion this year, which will increase upon enactment of the stimulus package to correct a faulting economy. This need for emergency spending highlights our challenge going forward to adhere to the pay-as-you-go budget principle we enacted in 2007.

In addition, to an economic stimulus plan, we must take a hard look and reevaluate our nation's economic policies. A shot in the arm for the economy is not a vaccine against failure. It is imperative we work to build a plan that learns from the mistakes of our past, corrects the problems of the present and paves a path of success for our nation's future.

Berry: Our Nation Must Pledge to Leave No Veteran Behind

On this Veterans Day, let us remember their commitment and service to our country. Below is an Op Ed I wrote that ran in the Jonesboro Sun that expresses how thankful we are for their dedication to preserve our freedom.

Article:

Throughout the history of our nation, brave men and women have answered the call of duty to defend our democracy and preserve our freedom. From the War for America's Independence to today’s operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, I am inspired by the courage, professionalism and patriotism of our men and women in uniform as well as their families. We are not just the beneficiaries of their bravery - we are also stewards of their sacrifice.



Each November our country comes together to remember veterans who served their nation and those who paid the ultimate price to preserve our country's freedom. We are eternally thankful for the sacrifices our soldiers and their families make for our country. Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines as well as their families, our country would not stand so boldly, shine so brightly and live so freely.



Unfortunately, many of the veterans who return home find they must wage a new war against the bureaucracy to receive their health care and benefits. In addition, a recent study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness found that although veterans make up only 11 percent of the general adult population, they represent 25 percent of the homeless population. These examples and countless others illustrate that promises have been broken. Any instance where a veteran receives less than the best healthcare and services this country is able to provide is not only shameful – it's wrong.

So many veterans depend on improved care, and we cannot afford to let them be treated as a number instead of the heroes they truly are. Caring for our veterans is a moral obligation our country must repay, and it should be paid promptly.

To begin to fulfill our commitment, this Congress is on course to enact a veterans’ spending bill that provides the largest increase in veterans’ health care in our nation’s history. This investment is in addition to the $5.2 billion added earlier this year to strengthen health care for more than five million veterans. This year Congress has added more than $10 billion in funding to help veterans have access to resources and get the care they need.



These are critical improvements for the thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, and are in need of better care to successfully rebuild their lives once they return home. We have also passed the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act to address the revelations of problems and gaps in care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other soldiers’ and veterans’ health care facilities across the nation.



To honor all generations of veterans, the House also passed the GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century. This demonstrates our promise to invest in veterans’ health care and to strengthen benefits for our men and women in uniform today as well as for the veterans and military retirees who have already served.



The 110th Congress has made strengthening our armed forces and restoring our great military’s capability to protect us against threats throughout the world a top priority. To address this need, we are strengthening force protection for our troops, including providing more body armor and better protected armored vehicles and providing more training for our troops. We are also focusing on rebuilding the National Guard and Reserves, which have made an unprecedented commitment in the Iraq War.



Congress is also working to keep our promises to our troops and their survivors through the bipartisan Defense Appropriations bill, which the House recently passed and we hope the President will sign. The measure increases military pay by 3.5 percent and helps the 60,000 survivors and widows of those who have died from service-connected injuries receive their benefits, which they are currently unable to do because of the Military Families Tax. The bill also makes progress toward ending the Disabled Veterans Tax.



On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind. Let us honor their service with real actions that fulfill our commitment to our troops and their families to show our veterans that we are a grateful nation. On this Veterans Day, we especially honor the more than the 3,800 Americans who have died in Iraq, as well as the 455 who have died in Afghanistan. We also honor the 28,000 U.S. troops wounded in Iraq and the 1,700 wounded in Afghanistan who must adjust to a new and different way of life.



As we celebrate Veterans Day, the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with the families who have lost a loved one. We pray for our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the world and wish them Godspeed in their return to the loving arms of their families. No other group of Americans has stood stronger and braver for our freedom than our troops and veterans. To all the veterans and their families—thank you for your courage, your character, your strength. Every American owes you a debt of gratitude that words cannot repay.

Marion Berry of Gillett represents Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District and is a member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees.

SCHIP and Tour of The Learning Center in Jonesboro

Today, I toured The Learning Center in Jonesboro and met with the administrators and families to discuss the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). After the meeting, I spoke with the families, community leaders, and reporters to further highlight the importance of the legislation for the local community.

For 10 years, this program has successfully given children, who would otherwise not have the opportunity, the medical care and attention they need. This legislation will give states the resources to help low-income children gain access to immunizations, medicines, and other valuable healthcare services enabling them to grow up healthy and strong. In the long run, it is more cost effective to give children the health insurance and preventative medicine they need, instead of having them resort to the emergency room when they become extremely sick.

Children are our most precious resource and we must do everything we can to preserve their health and well-being. As the debate continues, I will do everything in my power to give our children every opportunity available to ensure they can grow up to become healthy and successful adults. Ensuring that our children have the healthcare they need is a value not only supported by a majority of Americans, it is the right thing to do.

Berry Calls on President Bush to Take Immediate Action to Fix Continued Problems with VA

Today I released this letter to President Bush in response to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that the VA is not making significant progress with medical care and disability payments for wounded soldiers. In the letter, I urge the President to take immediate action to fix the series of ongoing problems that have plagued the VA for years.

As Arkansas’s 875^th Engineering Battalion returns home, they should return to the hero's welcome they deserve. Veterans should not have to return home to wage a new war against the VA’s bureaucracy. Anything that diminishes the healthcare and services these brave men and women have earned while protecting our country is not only shameful – it's wrong. These problems should have been fixed long ago, and I will do everything I can to keep this issue at the forefront in Congress to ensure veterans have access to the quality healthcare and benefits they deserve.

In my six terms in the House of Representatives, I have worked to become a leading advocate for veterans and their families. As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs in the current 110^th Congress, I helped pass the single largest increase in funding for the VA, The Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, The Wounded Warriors Assistance Act, and the GI Bill or Rights for the 21^st Century. These bills aim to fix problems associated with processing backlogs, increase mental healthcare including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injury services, eliminate the Disabled Veterans Tax, and establish oversight at VA facilities to prevent future Walter Reed scandals from reoccurring.

Below is a copy of the letter:

The Honorable George W. Bush

President of the United States

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As I am writing this letter, a community is preparing to welcome home members of the Arkansas Army National Guard's 875^th Engineer Battalion, who are returning this weekend from more than a year long deployment to Iraq. I share in the joy for many of the families who will be reunited but my happiness is overshadowed as I begin to realize the bureaucracy they must face to receive the benefits they earned while bravely serving our nation.

My concern has been especially heightened after reviewing a recent report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which noted that significant progress has yet to be made regarding medical care and disability payments for wounded soldiers. According to the report, veterans are waiting an average of 177 days for disability payments. In addition, 46 percent of Army veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan didn't get the care they needed because of staffing shortages. Finally, the report states the Department of Veterans Affairs and Pentagon are still from a system of sharing veterans' medical information, especially as they are moved between facilities.

As task forces and commissions from various agencies devote considerable resources to finding better ways to help the men and women who have served, time passes and veterans continue to go without care. This GAO report confirms the obvious, which is embarrassingly shameful. Our veterans should not return home to fight another war against bureaucracy simply to receive the benefits they not only earned, but need. Mr. President, this is your job.

At the beginning of the year, Congress approved funding to provide you with the resources to fix these problems, and yet substantial progress has not been made. You have the ability to set policies in motion that can remedy these problems.

A sense of urgency is lacking and it's time to take action. For many veterans, their lives depend on improved care and we cannot afford to let them be treated as a number instead of the heroes they truly are. Caring for our veterans is a moral obligation our country must repay and it should be paid promptly.

As we honor the brave men of Arkansas' 875^th this weekend, I strongly insist that you not let more time pass without giving our veterans the resources and support they have earned. Ensuring that they succeed when they return to life at home would not only make for a fitting homecoming, it is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,

Marion Berry

MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Legislative Accomplishments of the 110th Congress

As you read this email, I'm currently traveling the district getting feedback from so many of you on the progress Congress has made so far. We have been working hard to change direction from the previous Congress and restore priorities that will improve the lives of hard-working Americans.

When the new 110^th Congress took the helm at the beginning of this year, we were committed to delivering on the promises made in November – to bring fresh ideas and a new direction for the American people. We had a vision to address problems of real Americans, to make health care and college more affordable, increase our energy independence, and advance priorities that would make our nation safer and our economy stronger.

Although we have only been in session for seven months, our record of legislative accomplishments has demonstrated the amazing things Congress can do if we come together and work on a bipartisan basis for the American people. Since January, more than 68 key measures have passed the House, most of them receiving a significant amount of Republican support.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, one of my biggest priorities is to fight for our men and women in uniform and ensure they receive the benefits they earned when they signed up to serve our country. From my seat on this committee, we crafted and passed several bills honoring their service, including the largest increase for veterans healthcare funding in history.

Additionally, we provided our troops a boost in funding for a salary increase, and additional supplies and equipment they need to get the job done while serving our country overseas.

These military initiatives were passed without losing sight of our commitment to defeat terrorism, responsibly rebuild our military readiness, and wind down the War in Iraq – all while maintaining the security of America.

Read my Op Ed on giving veterans the benefits they deserve click here: (http://www.house.gov/list/speech/ar01_berry/WalterReed.html)

Last month, I worked with House leadership to write and pass a Farm Bill that helps maintain a safety net Arkansas farmers need, while still providing the American people with the safest and most secure source of food and fiber in the world. This Farm Bill, coupled with the passage of the Energy Independence Bill, will keep America secure, help lower energy costs and create new jobs in the emerging renewable energy market. These bills invest in biofuels, roll back tax breaks for Big Oil companies, and support research and development in renewable energy technology.

Over the last ten years, gas prices as well as health care, housing and other necessary living expenses have skyrocketed while the minimum wage remained stagnant. I believe an honest day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay and for the first time in ten years Congress passed an increase in the federal minimum wage. I'm proud to have helped pass this legislation through Congress, which increases the federal minimum wage by 70 cents each July for three years — bringing a final total to $7.85 an hour by July 2009.

Read my column about the minimum wage increase here:

(http://www.house.gov/list/speech/ar01_berry/MinWageOpEd.html)

In addition to these accomplishments, I am also proud of my record in ensuring the long term prosperity of our country by implementing the single largest investment in college affordability since the GI Bill, cost-effective health care for millions of children, and the creation of new high tech jobs in the energy innovation marketplace.

The new Congress is committed to bringing change and a new direction that will benefit children, veterans, farmers, and seniors to ultimately strengthen the middle class. Not only are we refocusing our legislative priorities to create family friendly policies, we have also begun to change the way business is done in Washington by passing the toughest ethics measures since Watergate. In addition, we have implemented strict pay-as-you-go spending rules, which begins to balance our budget while protecting our children from paying for previous fiscal recklessness.

These accomplishments of the New Direction Congress impact the lives of so many American families and offer real hope for the many challenges they face. As we move forward, I encourage you to continue to stay in touch with your representatives to keep the dialogue open. With your input, we will create forward-looking policies that will ensure the prosperity and security of our nation.