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March 20, 2008

Carnahan Seeks to Expand Health Care for Children
Excerpt from Report: Thousands die from lack of insurance, Kathleen O'Dell, Springfield News-Leader

June 12, 2007

Slay seeks U.S. action on flood defenses here

Ken Leiser, The St. Louis Post Dispatch

ST. LOUIS — Rusting steel gates and deteriorating flood walls and levees are all that stand in the way of future Mississippi River flooding near downtown St. Louis.

But repairs to the roughly 11-mile flood-protection system remain on hold, and more than $5 million that St. Louis voters set aside for the project in November 2005 could be diverted elsewhere if federal funding doesn't materialize soon, Mayor Francis Slay warned Monday at a riverfront news conference.

Internal Revenue Service rules require the city to spend the 2005 bond measure proceeds within three years, Slay said. That money was billed as the local share of the $15.6 million flood-protection project.

Slay wants a massive water projects bill pending in Congress amended to allow the city to begin spending its local share before the Army Corps of Engineers' portion is budgeted. The city will press Congress to fund the St. Louis flood wall repairs in the 2008 construction cycle. Advertisement

"This is about protecting thousands of lives, protecting billions of dollars of property, and also taking a pre-emptive approach," Slay said.

U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, appeared with Slay and cited a "typical bureaucratic rule" that prevents the corps from taking up new projects, including the flood wall.

"We need to get immediate action," Carnahan told reporters.

Otis Williams, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., said the existing flood walls and levees should withstand a normal flood, but sections could breach during a catastrophic event. The system of walls and levees protect mostly commercial land north of downtown and residential tracts to the south.

A July 2005 report by the Corps of Engineers and the city found more than half of the 33 metal gates in the flood wall were "severely degraded." The report recommended replacing gates in 20 locations and sealing off those that aren't used anymore.

The report also called for replacing more than 100 relief wells that maintain the integrity of the flood wall or levees by carrying away built up water.

© Copyright 2007, The St. Louis Post Dispatch

May 16, 2007

Carnahan measure aimed at helping Head Start officials

Kevin Carbery, Jefferson County Journal

A local Head Start official said she hopes legislation backed by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan makes it through Congress.

This spring, Carnahan, D-St. Louis, proposed an amendment to the Improving Head Start Act of 2007 that allows Head Start grantees to negotiate a funded enrollment level with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) if the funding does not keep pace with inflation.

What this would mean to Head Start programs would be the ability to adjust their budgets to pay for higher gas and heating costs, said Bev Henry, director of the Jefferson-Franklin Community Action Corporation (JFCAC) Head Start program.

"Basically, what the legislation does is alleviate the problem we've had the last few years where funds have been frozen or cut, even though we've still had to provide the same number of services," she explained. "This legislation would give me the right to adjust our services to our amount of funding."

Henry said that as the situation now stands, Head Start programs are bound by DHHS to offer services to designated numbers of children. While removing some children from the program is not an optimal solution, it would give the agencies more discretion in how to allocate whatever funding is available to them.

"We would try to not cut back any children," Henry said. "We would not cut any children until we absolutely had to. We would start with things like field trips and other expendable items.

"(The legislation) is just a way of helping Head Start programs cope. Everyone's been hit by the increased heating and fuel costs."

Carnahan's amendment has found support on Capitol Hill, Henry said.

"It's passed the House and has to get through the Senate," she reported.

A Carnahan spokesperson explained the representative's position.

"Basically, the congressman saw the need for an amendment after realizing that several groups in the St. Louis metro area are struggling to provide quality Head Start programs," Shannon O'Brien, a Carnahan spokesperson, said. "The federal government has neither funded the program at adequate levels nor adjusted funding levels for inflation.

"Because HHS dictates the minimum number of kids enrolled in the programs the grantees (those who receive money for Head Start programs) can have, the groups are often forced to stretch their limited funds for use by a lot of kids. This is not to say that we don't want more children to benefit from Head Start programs, but that the quality of the program suffers when it is under-funded, not adjusted for inflation and has too many children for the resources granted."

The JFCAC Head Start program has assisted 565 preschool children between the ages of 3 and 5 so far this year, Henry reported.

"We've been around 42 years," Henry said. "Head Start is a program that addresses health and education needs of preschool children in low-income homes.

"We have preschool four days a week. We provide free meals and free transportation. We have a multitude of health services that cater to their medical and dental needs."

For more information about the JFCAC Head Start program, call 636-789-3563.

© Copyright 2007

March 13, 2007

Area Bosnians get a voice in D.C.
Carnahan co-founds new caucus

Buck Collier, South City Journal

To the legislative panels representing specific groups throughout the U.S., add the latest one featuring a distinctly St. Louis flavor.

The Congressional Bosnian Caucus has been formed, the brainchild of U.S. Reps. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, and Chris Smith, a New Jersey Democrat.

Carnahan's 3rd District is home to the largest gathering of Bosnians outside of Bosnia, which was wracked by a civil war a decade ago that scattered refugees to several U.S. cities, as well as cities in Europe.

The Bosnians initially settled in South St. Louis City; in recent years more and more Bosnians have been leaving the city to take up residence in South and Southwest St. Louis County. Several have ventured into Jefferson County, as well.

It's unclear exactly how many Bosnians are in Metro St. Louis. The population in recent years has been estimated as high as 40,000, but officials of the International Institute of Saint Louis, a refugee and immigrant resettlement agency, and some within the Bosnian community have noted that an undetermined number of Bosnians who settled in other U.S. cities have relocated to St. Louis. Among the Bosnians who came to the U.S., St. Louis has become known as particularly supportive of Bosnians in terms of business opportunities.

Carnahan was unavailable for comment about the founding of the Bosnian Caucus, but spokesman Shannon O'Brien told the Suburban Journals that the caucus was formed as part of the congressman's effort to provide good constituent services.

"He just wanted to represent the growing Bosnian community in his district," said O'Brien, Carnahan's deputy director of communications.

In addition to being a voice in Congress for the Bosnians in St. Louis and elsewhere in the U.S., the caucus will work toward better relations between the U.S. and Bosnia. However, O'Brien said Carnahan has "nothing specific in mind at this point involving relations between the U.S. and Bosnia."

Just how large the caucus might become is unclear, O'Brien said. At last word, the caucus included only Carnahan and Smith. "It's just now getting started," O'Brien said, adding that an effort will be made to find other federal legislators to sign on.

The move also raises the issue of other similar caucuses with a St. Louis connection being formed. Carnahan's district includes South St. Louis City and South County, both of which are home to substantial numbers of other immigrant and refugee populations from around the world. Aside from the Bosnians, the next-largest group appears to be the estimated 10,000 Vietnamese who live in South City.

In the past few years, the area has seen an increase in the number of refugees and immigrants from Middle Eastern and African countries.

O'Brien said it's unclear if other caucuses would be created for specific ethnic groups. "I'm sure he's looking into ways to better represent all his constituents," she told the Journals.

News of the creation of the Congressional Bosnian Caucus was met warmly by a key figure in a local group that works with the Bosnians. The Rev. Tom Wyrsch, chairman of the Southside Bosnian Services Collaborative, said he is pleased to hear of the caucus and is anxious to see what it does to foster relations between the U.S. and the Balkan nation that was part of the former Yugoslavia.

Wyrsch is the pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church, 39th and Flad; the church serves as the site of the Collaborative, which is a collection of government, private and non-profit organizations that provide a variety of services to the region's Bosnians and other newcomers.

The Collaborative, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning, has been involved in an effort to bring the Bosnian ambassador to the U.S. to St. Louis for an up-close tour of South St. Louis City and the Bosnian neighborhoods.

But while Carnahan and others laud the presence of the Bosnians, other area residents - many of them descendents of earlier refugees who settled here - are critical of the attention being paid to the Bosnians.

Much of the resentment is coming from longtime residents of Affton in South St. Louis County; Affton is feeling the effect of the recent influx of the Bosnians, as well as the arrival of a growing number of other foreign-born residents. The Affton School District in particular is feeling the effect: More than 20 separate primary languages are spoken by the district's students.

Programs have been set up - including one spearheaded by the University of Missouri-St. Louis that involves the Affton School District - to help assimilate the new Bosnian residents into the community. While those programs are hailed by some, they are derided by others.

Says Gerry Arb of Affton: "I read the article recently in the (South Suburban Journals) about the new program to assist our ever growing population of Bosnians and other immigrants into our community. My great-grandparents were also immigrants who came from Europe; however, when they arrived they were not given anything."

That criticism - that Bosnians are receiving economic assistance other newcomers from generations ago did not - is a common one heard directed especially toward the Bosnians.

But, according to Carnahan staffer Erica Turner, residents such as Arb probably aren't distinguishing between refugees and immigrants. Turner handles constituent services issues in Carnahan's district office in South County.

"Refugees are treated differently," she told the Journals, noting that certain benefits are available to refugees - for a limited time - that aren't necessarily available to immigrants. The difference is that a refugee has been displaced from their home country because of war, drought or other disaster while an immigrant has left his country by choice.

But for those who feel the way Arb does, that might be a difference without a distinction. "Soon with more and more influx of immigrants into Affton and the continuing advertisements in papers that this is the place for them to move, the more the American residents will move out of the area," Arb said in his letter to the Journals. "I live in an area just perfect for these new residents and believe me when it is time to sell my home (which will be soon) my real estate agent will be Bosnian, just like everyone else in Affton in the future," he said.

© Copyright 2007

August 31, 2006

Carnahan to aid speaker series

Congressman hopes to bring international figures
Andy Dierker

Congressman Russ Carnahan met with former Missouri Governor and Webster professor Bob Holden to discuss the Holden Public Policy Forum Aug. 29. The HPPF, announced last spring, is Webster's speaker series and one of Holden's pet projects on campus.

Holden hopes Carnahan, who sits on the House's International Relations Committee, can help bring more international figures to Webster campuses.

"Russ has input that could be helpful on Webster's behalf," Holden said. "The International Relations Committee is one of the biggies. He's one of just two or three on that committee that aren't from the East or West coasts."

Carnahan, a Democrat from the congressional district encompassing St. Louis and Webster Groves, said he had to fight hard to secure his spot on the committee.

"I had to really make a case that besides my personal interest in international relations, we also have a big international interests in St. Louis," Carnahan said. "One of (those interests) is Webster University."

Holden emphasized that Webster's status as an international institution is one of its strongest selling points in getting big names to speak in the HPPF.

© Copyright 2006 The Journal

July 22, 2006

House Democratic Leader Pelosi Addresses College Democrats: Introduces 2006 Legislative Agenda

ST. LOUIS- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi gave a rousing address at the College Democrats' National Convention. After an introduction from Congressman Russ Carnahan and a student-member of College Democrats, Leader Pelosi brought convention attendees to their feet with calls to change the majorities in the United States House of Representatives and the US Senate.

Leader Pelosi congratulated Congressman Carnahan on several accomplishments including his recent appointment to the International Relations committee and the sub-committee on terrorism. She also focused on the Congressman Carnahan's support of life-saving cures in medical innovation, particularly focusing on his efforts to support stem-cell research in Missouri.

Leader Pelosi went on to promote the legislative agenda that Democrats will pursue if they take over leadership in the House of Representatives following November 2006 elections. The Democratic legislative agenda outlined by Leader Pelosi includes: rolling back tax breaks for oil companies, lowering interest rates for student loans, following the 9/11 Commission findings, promoting alternative energy sources to end international oil dependence, opposing the privatization of Social Security and making healthcare affordable for all citizens.

She finished her address by highlighting a number of races around the United States that Democrats need to win in order to take control of the House of Representatives. She encouraged College Democrats to work on Congressional races in Pennsylvania, Iowa and Ohio among other contested states around the country.

May 30, 2006

Work begins on next leg of Hwy. 21

By Tim Rowden
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

State and county officials had a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday to mark the start of work on the next leg of improvements to Jefferson County's notorious "Blood Alley," otherwise known as Highway 21.

"This is going to be a transformational project for Jefferson County," said Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, before joining county officeholders and state highway officials in turning over ceremonial shovels full of dirt near the spot where improvements to Highway 21 currently end beneath the Highway A overpass in Hillsboro.

Highway 21 cuts a north-south swath through central Jefferson County and earned the nickname of Blood Alley in the 1980s because of the high number of deaths occurring on the highway between the St. Louis County line and Hillsboro. Officials say about 16,000 motorist a day use the highway as it travels through Jefferson County.

Completing improvements on the highway, Carnahan says, will allow the name of Blood Alley to be retired and allow Highway 21 to be removed from the list of the most dangerous roads in the nation.

Officials opened a 2.33-mile, four-lane divided expressway section of Highway 21 between Highways A and B west of Hillsboro in December. However, a 4.5-mile gap of narrow two-lane highway still separates the improved sections between Lake Lorraine Road and Highway A.

The new $14.7 million improvement project will extend the four-lane divided highway about 1.4 miles from Highway A to Hayden Road.

Fred Weber Inc. was awarded the construction contract for the project in May and is expected to complete the project by the fall of 2007.

Work to improve the section between Lake Lorraine and Hayden Road is scheduled to begin in spring of next year.

The improvements between Highway A and Hayden Road will include construction of a new diamond interchange to enter the new highway on the north side of Highway A.

A similar interchange already is on the south side of Highway A.

"We began this process 15 years ago in 1991," said Wayne Wiley, chairman of the Highway 21 Task Force, a group of Jefferson County residents that organized to push for improvements to the road.

"We were losing five or six people a year," Wiley said of the impetus for starting the effort. "A lot of us are alive today because this highway has been built."

Wiley said the goal is to extend the improvements all the way to Highway 110 in De Soto.

Other speakers at Tuesday's groundbreaking included Missouri Transportation Director Pete Rahn, Rep. Belinda Harris, D-Hillsboro, Jefferson County Presiding Commissioner Mark Mertens and Hillsboro Mayor Frank Roland, whose wife, Evelyn, died in an accident on Highway 21 in 1997.

May 13, 2006

Region's disaster readiness is criticized

By Elisa Crouch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

The St. Louis region has "glaring needs" in disaster response and protection from a terrorist attack, U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan said Friday.

Carnahan, D-St. Louis, released a security analysis of the 3rd District that says Congress is underfunding homeland security needs, making the region's ports, roads and waterways more vulnerable to a terrorist-caused or natural disaster.

"There are obvious holes in the security net," said Carnahan, flanked by local public safety officials and U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., who lost a cousin in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Carnahan said such funding reductions include a 50 percent cut this fiscal year, to $550 million from $1.1 billion, in a program that provides equipment and training for first responders. Since 2004, he said, reductions to a program that buys equipment and training to firefighters has decreased by 25 percent.

After criticizing his Republican colleagues for approving the cuts, Carnahan blamed fractured governments in the St. Louis region for falling behind in spending what they have.

Missouri Auditor Claire McCaskill reported Thursday that the state has received $175 million for homeland security measures but has spent only $72 million.

Her audit found that the state has distributed almost 19,000 pieces of protective suits or equipment to local law enforcement statewide. Much of the equipment was not readily available and was still in warehouses at the time of the audit.

"That's an example of funds we've had allocated, but it's not getting down to the first responders who need it," Carnahan said.

May 11, 2006

Gathering of phone call data worries some area legislators

By Deirdre Shesgreen and Ron Harris
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

A report that the National Security Agency has been collecting telephone records of millions of Americans sparked condemnation from many bistate-area Democrats and concern from some local Republicans.

"We need to subpoena members of this administration who've been involved in these activities," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat. "I think there are very important constitutional questions about whether they have gone too far."

Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, called the report "stunning" and said it raised "gigantic red flags." He said it also cast doubt on the president's earlier statements that the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program involved only domestic calls to or from a location overseas.

"It's just another step closer to a Big Brother society that I think is not going to sit well with the American people," Carnahan said. "The bottom line is the American people deserve to know what's going on, and I hope that Congress will do a serious job of investigating and exercising their oversight."

Area Republicans did not express as much alarm over the program, and Missouri's two U.S. senators voiced support for the administration.

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February 16, 2006

Carnahan gets seat on House International Relations Committee

Associated Press

Rep. Russ Carnahan has won a seat on the House International Relations Committee, which oversees international security, terrorism and other foreign policy issues. The Missouri Democrat from the St. Louis area is replacing New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez on the committee, after Menendez was appointed last month to fill an open Senate seat.

January 30, 2006

Democrats Say Federal Budget Cuts Will Hurt College Loan Program

KSKD

"Paying for college is a key issue, as the U.S. House prepares to vote on a $42-billion budget cutting plan. Democratics warn that the bill could be bad news for families, but Republicans disagree.

At issue is 12-point-five million dollars in student aid. Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan and his fellow Democrats say if the bill passes, it will result in the largest cut to student loans in history.

More than 160,000 Missouri students have borrowed fedeal money to attend college. Keisha Young was among about 50 students who heard Congressman Russ Carnahan say passage of the current budget bill could make it harder for families to pay for a college education because, he says, of expected higher interest rates.

September 14, 2005

Jefferson County Roads

Jefferson County Journal, Chris Campbell

County roads are safer and smoother, but there remains much work to be done. That was the message U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D- St. Louis, brought to a group of civic leaders and state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) officials assembled at Festus City Hall Monday for a roundtable discussion on future county road improvements. Earlier this year, Carnahan helped pass the federal transportation bill, which provides approximately $21 million in funds for Jefferson County roads. Carnahan said this figure represents an increase of nearly 30 percent from the previous bill, about half of the funds allocated to Carnahan's district. "Frankly, Jefferson County is the area of greatest need," Carnahan said.

August 17, 2005

Fact Finding

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, by Deborah Peterson

U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, and his wife, St. Louis Municipal Judge Debra Carnahan, spent Sunday in Israel meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after lunching Thursday on a kibbutz with Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres and dining Thursday night at the Tel Aviv residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer. The Carnahans returned to St. Louis on Monday after a two-week trip to the Mideast as part of a 14-member Democratic delegation.