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Fischer: Senate is working
McCOOK, Neb. -- U.S. Senator Deb Fischer visited McCook Tuesday and brought with her a seldom-heard positive message, at least in recent years, "The U.S. Senate is working."
"Sometimes we don't hear that," said Sen. Fischer, adding the mainstream media liked to focus on the legislative gridlock rather than accomplishments. She said the U.S. Senate has voted on 100 amendments so far this year, compared to only 15 last year.
The Senate is working as it was intended and has advanced legislation on several key topics, including roughly 80 bi-partisan bills, according to Fischer.
A 6-year highway bill was recently passed by the Senate just prior to the August recess, a bill Sen. Fischer was a co-sponsor on and one she had repeatedly predicted would advance.
"I don't think the House thought we would be able to pass a long-term bill," said Fischer, adding she had consistently responded with confidence to media inquiries leading up to the vote.
"I kept saying, 'we are passing a long-term highway bill,'" said Fischer. She said Nebraskans understand the importance of roads and how long it can take to put a plan in place, as well as to execute it.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives didn't have Fischer's confidence in the Senate's ability to pass a highway bill, but she said it was her understanding they were coming back from recess to consider the legislation.
Sen. Fischer is a member of the Committee on Armed Services; the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; the Committee on Environment and Public Works; and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. She updated a crowd of more than two-dozen area residents attending a listening session at the Keystone Business Center, Tuesday morning, on key topics related to each committee.
She serves as Chair for a Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities as part of her role on the Armed Services Committee and said the Senate will likely take up a cyber-security bill originating from intelligence agencies after the August recess. Sen. Fischer said the U.S. needed to drill down into the difference between cyber attacks on business and those launched against a government entity, indicating it was important to define victims, the severity of attacks and appropriate response options.
Sen. Fischer praised the Unites States' ability to defend against cyber attacks and ranked Russia as the biggest cyber threat, with China, Iran and North Korea close behind and reiterating Russia was the main concern.
"We're very good at what we do, at defending against cyber attacks. Russia is also very, very good," said Sen. Fischer.
She hinted the U.S. may be holding back on responding to cyber attacks in an effort to keep our cyber-capabilities guarded and avoid providing a technological advancement opportunity to a lesser power.
"We need a policy first of all. If we do have an attack and we respond, they will learn what we have and advance their own technology by that," said Sen. Fischer. She said the U.S. has to have deterrents to cyber attacks but needs policy to define what that means.
"With nuclear technology it's pretty blatant. Cyber is not that blatant. Do we wait until it's an attack on infrastructure and a huge loss of life or respond to an attack on a financial institute," said Sen. Fischer. She reiterated the need for policy, "not just so we understand that, but so the rest of the world does as well."
As a member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works Sen. Fischer believes the Waters of the U. S., as defined in the Clean Water Rule, "will have an impact on every citizen in Nebraska."
She said home builders estimated 25 percent of the cost to construct a new home stemmed from regulations and adding the estimated costs of the Waters of the U.S., "puts owning a home out of reach for most of us."
Proposed regulations decreasing emissions from coal-fired power plants will also affect every Nebraskan, according to Sen. Fischer. She said two-thirds of the electricity in Nebraska stems from the coal industry and estimates predict the state would have to decrease emissions by 40 percent to comply.
If Nebraska closed every coal-fired power plant the debt stemming from those operations would remain and make conversion to another energy industry even more costly, significantly driving up the expense to homes and businesses alike, according to Fischer.
She said there didn't seem to be rhyme or reason as to how the EPA rules played out and predicted the issue would spend years in the court system before we would know how it was going to play out.
Fischer scheduled more than a dozen similar "listening sessions" throughout the state in August. She touted the benefits of the interaction and said it gave her a chance to learn about issues Nebraskans were focused on, which she may not be focused on yet, and said it provided an educational benefit to all.
"I bring a positive message that things are working. We're getting things done and working across the isle," said Sen. Fischer. She made it a point to individually greet and visit with the vast majority of attendees prior to beginning the listening session.