Child advocates hail insurance expansion
February 5 – Rep. Wamp said in a statement that the bill “is a considerable expansion of the SCHIP program that will raise taxes, substitute private health insurance coverage with government-run health care and make it easier for illegal immigrants to get health care coverage at taxpayer expense.”
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Expected state benefits at odds with GOP leaders’ opposition
February 2 – With a massive economic stimulus bill backed primarily by Democrats likely to be signed into law, states expect to receive billions of dollars in federal aid. Republicans in Congress who are opposing the bill can only watch. “The larger picture is: This is not good for our country,” Zach Wamp said. “It would make our recession longer and deeper.”
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Oak Ridge could get $300 million from stimulus
February 2 – With a massive economic stimulus bill backed primarily by Democrats likely to be signed into law, states expect to receive billions of dollars in federal aid. Republicans in Congress who are opposing the bill can only watch. “The larger picture is: This is not good for our country,” Zach Wamp said. “It would make our recession longer and deeper.”
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Oak Ridge could get $300 million from stimulus
January 30 – The Oak Ridge National Laboratory could get up to $300 million from the economic stimulus proposal working its way through Congress. Rep. Zach Wamp visited the lab and agreed that it’s performing vital energy research that deserves more federal support. But Rep. Wamp said he joined other House Republicans in voting against the stimulus this week because he said only about 15 percent of the $819 billion bill will stimulate the economy in the right manner.
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Lawmakers vote on $819 billion plan
January 29 – “It’s just a bad idea with too much government growth,” Rep. Zach Wamp said. He said last year’s unpopular $700 billion Wall Street bailout serves as ample proof that government can’t be trusted with such massive sums of taxpayer money. That’s why he voted against the $819 billion economic stimulus bill.
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Stimulus to boost states
January 28 – “President Obama was very gracious and talked about being willing to negotiate, but he was dug in to the notion that government spending would help the economy, even at these extraordinarily high levels,” Rep. Zach Wamp said. “Our concern is that most of it is just spending on social programs that won’t have the desired effect, and it’ll put us into bigger debt.”
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Lawmakers push federal aid for TVA spill cleanup
January 27 – “I know TVA is committed to paying for the cleanup, but they can’t borrow money because of the cap on their debt levels, so it’s going to be passed on to ratepayers. I’m going to make the case that the ratepayers should get help,” Rep. Wamp said.
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Obama basks in sense of bipartisan good will
January 25 – Rep. Zach Wamp said President Obama must rein in liberal Democratic leaders in Congress to enjoy broad support. The $825 billion stimulus bill drafted by Democrats could be just the starting point for a liberal agenda, Rep. Wamp said. “A lot of it is (Democrats’) taking advantage of the moment to increase the size of government,” he said.
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Counties asked to match funds for maglev study
January 24 – “This is the perfect time for high-speed rail to advance because of (President Barack Obama’s) agenda,” Rep. Wamp said. Georgia and Tennessee officials jointly committed to raise the matching funds needed to apply for a federal transportation grant. The federal money would continue a feasibility study on the magnetic high-speed rail.
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Officials grease tracks for high-speed rail
January 24 – Leaders hope to win support and for a high-speed train to link the Atlanta and Chattanooga airports. Rep. Zach Wamp said a maglev train would be a natural project for the President’s administration. “They are going into this large infrastructure investment era,” Rep. Wamp said. “If high-speed rail is not part of that, it will be a real shame.”
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Panther makes footprint in city
January 23 – Panther International is entering an alliance with the Enterprise Center, the Chattanooga nonprofit that oversees many of the city’s technology growth initiatives. Rep. Zach Wamp called the alliance “another step forward for the economic stability of our community.” He said in a statement that it’s a top priority to bring advanced technology and new jobs to the region.
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Area Republicans criticize stimulus as too expensive
January 22 – The stimulus plan, drafted by Democratic leaders, includes more spending and fewer tax cuts than a package proposed by Mr. Obama, but Republicans still are criticizing the measure as runaway spending and a gross expansion of government programs. “Just because Republicans spent too much money and lost our way on holding the growth of government down doesn’t mean that the agenda the Democratic leadership is carrying out is the right approach,” said Rep. Zach Wamp.
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Area leaders weigh in
January 21 – Area lawmakers attending Tuesday’s inauguration offered new President Barack Obama their best wishes, honoring his historic presidency and pledging to work in a bipartisan fashion. Rep. Zach Wamp said even though he supported President Obama’s opponent he was happy to see the historic inauguration. “Our national character is born out of injustice being made right. For us, the day after Martin Luther King Day, to inaugurate our first black president, it says the right thing to the world and to every boy and girl that if you do the right thing and work hard enough, good things will happen.”
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Echo of the New Deal
January 18 – Mr. Obama’s pledge of change alters Chattanooga, historians agree that President Roosevelt’s New Deal clearly did. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp said the foothills of Appalachia were helped as much as any area by the New Deal and the region is better positioned than the rest of the country for the future. “But we really have to remember that you can’t borrow your way out of debt and you can’t spend your way into prosperity,” Rep. Wamp said.
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Obama not too busy for BCS concerns
January 18 – “After the circus atmosphere that surrounded the investigation into steroids and baseball, my first advice to Congress and the White House is to stay out of sports completely,” said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp. “I believe the president-elect is far better served focusing on national security, health care reform and an economic stimulus package before he thinks about a college football playoff.” At least a handful of Wamp’s colleagues apparently believe otherwise, beginning with California congressman Gary Miller, who introduced the Miller Plan (H.R. 599).
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TVA’s costly mission drift
January 18 – The TVA isn’t just going through a rough patch. Its recent problems reflect something much larger and perceptibly much more fundamental than that. The cost of TVA’s environmental negligence has prompted the concern of Gov. Bredesen and Rep. Zach Wamp. Gov. Bredesen has ordered more stringent environmental oversight by state officials and endorses a return to TVA’s charter ethic. Rep. Wamp agrees. “If TVA devolves into a super-duper private power company without a mission of land and water stewardship and economic development for the region, then they are not carrying out their original charter,” he says, “and that’s the fear for me.”
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Obama Cabinet lacks that Southern charm
January 17 – President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet has a very low quotient of Southerners, prompting some worries from U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp that the region and its more conservative bent may be ignored. “The Democratic Party, under the president-elect, is overlooking the South,” said Rep. Wamp. “I am concerned, but I don’t have much of a say in the process. I know a lot of Southern, conservative Democrats, and they’re being taken for granted.”
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Senate OKs Trail of Tears measure
January 16 – Congressmen Zach Wamp praised the passage in the U.S. Senate of legislation that will speed the documentation of the Trail of Tears. “The designation and interpretation of the additional sites and trails associated with the Cherokee Removal will enhance public understanding of American history,” according to a statement released by U.S. Rep. Wamp.
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TVA critics step up pressure
January 15 – Critics of the TVA say aging facilities, a cost-cutting mentality and resistance to oversight may have contributed to the agency’s three environmental spills in as many weeks. Rep. Zach Wamp said the agency “is at a crossroads” after the spills. “If TVA devolves into a super-duper private power company without a mission of land and water stewardship and economic development for the region, then they are not carrying out their original charter, and that’s the fear for me,” he said.
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Bankruptcy court to remain in historic house
January 11 – U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp said he continues to push for a new federal courthouse for Chattanooga. “It’s a huge investment, but our courthouse is definitely old and antiquated,” he said. “It is still very much alive that in the next decade a new courthouse will be built in Chattanooga.”
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Senate panel blasts TVA over Kingston ash spill
January 9 – TVA officials still are trying to determine what caused the earthen dam to rupture last month. Rep. Zach Wamp said Congress should push to include the funds for the Kingston cleanup in the upcoming stimulus package or in other spending bills. He said that because heavy rains may have contributed to the collapse, it should be considered as a disaster eligible for federal emergency money.
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