With so much talk of the impending November showdown between John Kerry and George W. Bush, another key race has largely remained under the public radar. Our own junior U.S. Senator, Russ Feingold, will be up for reelection this year. Allow me to make an appeal to students and other Wisconsin voters as to why you should consider giving your vote for Senator Feingold in November.
Feingold voted against both the PATRIOT Act and the Iraq War Resolution. He has indicated that he voted that way because both measures, in the form they were passed, gave an irresponsible "rubber stamp" to Bush's administration. As we have seen, U.S. intervention in Iraq has begun to accumulate an incredible debt for American taxpayers. While some of its provisions may have been necessary and long-overdue, the current version of the PATRIOT Act, as passed by Congress in 2002, has led to unprecedented abuses in violating the privacy of citizens. Russ Feingold was the only member of the U.S. Senate to cast his vote against this dangerous legislation.
Senator Feingold has called for significant increases in student Pell Grants, to help low-income students afford tuition and obtain easier access to college. He helped to sponsor a federal scholarship program (H.R. 1143) that gives up to $5,000 in aid to qualified, low-income students in good academic standing who study abroad for one semester. Feingold also coauthored a budget amendment with Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) to gradually increase grant funding of special education under
IDEA.
Most people recognize Feingold's name due to his collaboration with John McCain in pushing for campaign-finance reform. When it comes to his own campaign, Feingold doesn't accept soft money contributions and spends an average of $1 per voter in campaign spending. He has consistently opposed congressional pay raises (including the $4,900 pay raise that members of Congress received post-9/11), and voluntarily returns his portion of every congressional pay raise to the U.S. Treasury Department. Since Feingold only accepts the amount of his congressional salary that had been effective upon his reelection and swearing-in, he has remained admirably ethical in writing and supporting various legislation to freeze congressional pay raises.
Wisconsin voters should be aware of what an unflagging advocate Senator Feingold has been for our state's agricultural and dairy industries. He and our senior U.S. Senator, Herb Kohl, set up an incentive program (see www.johnes.org) to dairy farmers who voluntarily test their livestock for Johne's disease.
1 Feingold and Kohl advocate a fair-price national dairy policy to keep dairy prices low, and oppose expansion of the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact.
2 He has worked on bipartisan efforts led by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) to establish public data on preventing bovine infestation and "hoof-in-mouth" disease (S. 700). Feingold teamed up with Jeffords to lobby for USDA creation of a Small Farms Advocate position that would represent the interests of small, family farms.
Russ Feingold is a staunch supporter of civil equality for LGBT people. He voted against the discriminatory
Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, has consistently voted for the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment (which would amend the U.S. Constitution with a national ban on same-sex spousal recognition). He strongly supported the late Senator Paul Wellstone's (D-MN) legislation to conduct a federal study on the sexual harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students in public middle schools and high schools.
Opponents of capital punishment should appreciate Feingold's opposition to the death penalty. He authored the
Federal Death Penalty --Moratorium Act of 2000 to place a temporary halt to all federal executions so that a commission can review racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities in death penalty sentencing. Feingold and Harkin have been on the forefront of advocating short-term death penalty moratoriums so that a bipartisan commission can comprehensively review the current system (as was Wellstone before his death).
Senator Feingold takes the views of his constituents very seriously. He holds annual listening sessions in every Wisconsin county, where voters are given the opportunity to speak to him directly about whichever issues are most important to them. His Eau Claire office will be opening on Saturday, May 8, at the following address:
404 South Barstow St. Eau Claire, WI 54703 Prior to Eau Claire Feingold office's grand opening on May 8, student supporters of the senator will be making lit drops throughout the community. Please take the time to speak with and join Democrats, Greens, Independents, liberals, and progressives in the Chippewa Valley as we strive to get Senator Feingold reelected for another six years.
I hope those of you who are reading this will take the time to learn more about what a dedicated public representative Russ Feingold has been for our state. He has worked hard to make our country a better place for students, farmers, and those who value liberty and equality. Please consider giving him your support and your vote in November, and ask 10 friends or family members to do the same. Go, Russ, go!
For more information, visit:
http://www.russfeingold.org/volunteer.php Or email:
campaign@russfeingold.org Or phone:
(608) 831-RUSS
(715) 832-4464 1 Johne's disease is an infectious intestinal tract affliction causing milk production loss and deterioration in livestock. It can be very contagious to other livestock in a herd.
2 The Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact is an agreement between New England states that prevents out-of-state dairy producers from selling milk in the Northeast at lower prices. This compact has forced New Englanders to pay higher prices for their milk, and similar compacts are intended to maintain protectionism in small, specific regions of the country.
