DEMOCRATS PASS PEOPLE’S AGENDA IN FIRST 100 HOURS

01/18/2007

ST. PAUL (1/18/07) – Today, new Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz joined their colleagues in the Democratic Congress in completing their 100-hours agenda and fulfilling their promise to the American people. This past election, Democrats ran on an agenda of change, promising to clean up the Republican culture of corruption and provide relief for hard-working Americans.

In the first 100 hours of the new Congress, Democrats passed ethics reform to put an end to the pay-to-play culture of Washington that included free gifts and trips from lobbyists. Democrats voted to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, enacted the 9-11 commission's recommendations to make our nation safer here at home and abroad, voted to expand stem-cell research, allowed government to negotiate prices with prescription-drug companies, cut student-loan interest rates in half and eliminated billions in subsidies for big-oil companies.

Reps. John Kline and Michele Bachmann were among the Republican congressmembers who voted against every single one of the bills presented in the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress.

Next week, President Bush will give his seventh State of the Union address in an attempt to dress up his failed policies of the past. While President Bush and Republicans continue to offer more of the same, Democrats have acted fast – accomplishing more in the first month than the Republican Congress did in the last two years.

"If these first 100 hours are a true indication of how effective the Democratic Congress will be at passing legislation important to Minnesotans, then we are off to an excellent start," Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez said. "Our newly elected Representatives, Keith Ellison and Tim Walz, are already hard at work to ensure that Minnesotans’ interests are their first priority. It’s a disappointment and a shame that Republicans John Kline and Michele Bachmann chose to oppose every single one of the bills proposed. Luckily, their votes were not needed to pass these important measures. We now call on Senator Norm Coleman and President Bush to get behind the people's agenda and to support these bipartisan bills that work for all Americans."