Senator Vitter Newsletter 4-28-2009

April 28, 2009

In  March, I was honored to accept a “Legislative Leader” award from the Humane  Society during their annual Congressional Humane Awards Ceremony.  Here I  am pictured with Michael Makarian, President of the Human Society’s Legislative  Fund, following the ceremony.

Last month, I sent a  letter to fellow U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and White House Counsel Greg Craig  requesting that President Obama reappoint Jim Letten as U.S. Attorney for the  Eastern District of Louisiana.  There is enormous, broad-based support for  Jim Letten’s reappointment as U.S Attorney – including Senator Landrieu’s own  strong statements of support shortly after the November elections.  In  light of all of this, Jim’s reappointment as U.S. Attorney would be  particularly consistent with calls to depoliticize the appointments and work of  U.S. Attorneys generally. In contrast, his replacement would be the  politicization of that office.

I’ve  continued to call on my colleague Sen. Landrieu to support Jim Letten’s  nomination so he can continue his vital work toward fighting crime and  corruption.  There is a great opportunity here for all of us to work  together in a genuine spirit of bipartisanship. Jim Letten’s reappointment –  and in particular his submission among the president’s initial set of Louisiana nominees –  would set us all on that desired path.

The Environmental  Protection Agency recently declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse  gases are a risk to public health and welfare.  This announcement should  be of concern to all American business owners, workers and consumers as this  could have a profoundly negative impact on Louisiana’s economy in particular,  bringing about significant job loss and increased energy prices – neither of  which we need in these trying economic times.

California is  already reeling from the impact of mandated renewable energy requirements and  carbon regulation and now claims the highest unemployment in the country. As California’s economy is  one of the largest in the world and makes up a significant component of the  American economy, the difficulties they face as a result of these stringent  regulations should give the rest of us some pause about just how far the EPA  plans to go with this

This month I sent a letter  to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano requesting an  explanation of the methodology used by the department to draft its recent  controversial report outlining the threat of rightwing extremism for America’s  law enforcement.  The report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security  cites a potential link between rightwing extremists and veterans returning from  combat duty, Second Amendment advocates, small government activists and  individuals who espouse certain conservative viewpoints.  U.S.  Sens. James Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr and  Lisa Murkowski joined me on the letter.

Certainly, extremism of  all varieties is a threat to the United States and her citizens  throughout the world.  But I don’t believe that this report contains any  evidence that would justify singling out these particular groups of Americans  as suspected terrorists.  To suggest that returning soldiers or Second  Amendment rights advocates are prone to joining extremist groups is insulting  and highly inflammatory – in addition to being a questionable focus for the  Department of Homeland Security, especially when our southern border is still a  source of major concern for a majority of Americans.