We are surprised the right side of the blogosphere has let us get off scot-free for not posting this interview of Tim Walz on MSNBC last week. We've taken the liberty of correcting some typos (like the spelling of Tim Walz's last name).
Once you read the transcipt from Lexis-Nexis you'll know why we've been hiding it so long:
MSNBC INTERVIEW WITH REPRESENTATIVE TIM WALZ (D-MN) SUBJECT: I-35 BRIDGE COLLAPSE INTERVIEWER: TAMRON HALL TIME: 1:14 P.M. EDT DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2007
MS. HALL: Congress is poised to provide up to a quarter of a billion dollars in emergency aid to help with recovery efforts happening right now in Minneapolis. The federal government has ordered all states to immediately inspect every bridge with similar designs.
Minnesota congressman Tim Walz is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Thank you, Congressman, for joining us.
MR. WALZ: Thank you, Tamron.
MS. HALL: I'm looking at so many numbers, Congressman, on how many numbers it would take to improve bridge quality not only in Minnesota but throughout this country. I've got a number in front of me, $188 billion. It's just one of the figures out there.
REP. WALZ: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, thanks for having me, Tamron. And I'd like to personally send my condolences to all the families who lost loved ones out in Minnesota, a thank you to my fellow Americans for all the support they've shown.
You're absolutely right, the investment in our infrastructure is going to be very expensive. But from the perspective of this week in Minneapolis, I think most Americans would agree that it's an expense that we need to be willing to put in and maintain our roadways and our bridges.
MS. HALL: And Congressman, obviously, you sent your condolences out to those families who are still waiting to learn the fate of their loved ones. But can you imagine being one of those people hearing now that this bridge, you know, did not pass certain safety standards in 1993, and that it was being checked every year.
But you look at this video, and this is the end result of being checked every single year?
REP. WALZ: Yeah, and I don't think there's any words that we're going to give them right now. It's too early, and not being a structural engineer myself, it's too early to tell exactly what the failure was. But I don't anyone is -- should be surprised about the state of our infrastructure. It's something that I've talked about often.
And two weeks [ago] out in Minnesota we held an economic summit where this very issue was brought up about safety, mobility, and then of course economics, and the congestion and what it's causing.
So it's going to be an expensive process. And this catastrophe, the silver lining will be it gets Americans talking about what it means to invest in infrastructure.
MS. HALL: You know, Congressman, just a few minutes ago we showed video of First Lady Laura Bush there at the scene and offering her condolences and just giving a hug and a kind word to the rescuers who are still out there trying to recover the missing. We know that the president is expected to also be there before the weekend.
But I've got to ask you, it's one thing to offer condolences, it's one thing to offer support. But what else can Congress do to make sure that this does not happen again?
REP. WALZ: Well, you're absolutely right. And the question now is, is that it's a twofold mission. The one is of course the recovery and the care of our citizens out in Minnesota. But Congress' next move is to make sure that we never repeat this.
And this afternoon in just a few minutes we're going to cast votes on providing that aid to get Minneapolis back on its feet. This is the largest and most traveled bridge in Minnesota. This is the heart of our economy. It has to get back up and going, and Congress needs to make sure that we're there to do that.
So you're right, and I appreciate the First Lady being there. I appreciate her thanking those first responders who have done everything asked of them. But it's not enough to just do that. We need to make sure that we're investing accordingly and doing everything possible to make sure we never see a repeat of this.
MS. HALL: All right, thank you very much, Congressman, for your insight.
REP. WALZ: Thank you.
Dog gone it, more news from last week that we concealed--a news release about children's health care. Once you read all that stuff about the bill's support from the AMA, AARP, March of Dimes, and other groups, you'll see why we hid it from you. We're still tucking under the fold, hoping you won't see:
The following information was released by the office of Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz:
Today, Congressman Tim Walz will support the Children's Health and Medical Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 3162). The legislation, also known as the CHAMP Act, would reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, which currently provides health insurance for six million kids but is set to expire on September 30th. The legislation would also help states provide coverage for an additional five million children who are eligible for the program but not enrolled in it.
The CHAMP Act will also help seniors receive care from the doctors of their choice. The bill would halt a previously-scheduled 10 percent cut in reimbursements to doctors who provide services to Medicare patients in 2008, followed by 5 percent cuts in each following year. These cuts make it difficult for hospitals and physicians to continue to serve Medicare patients, and as they opt out of treating Medicare patients, seniors have fewer doctors to choose from. Beyond preventing the cuts, the CHAMP Act would actually increase payments to physicians by 0.5 percent.
Furthermore, the bill includes $3 billion to continue a program directing supplemental Medicare payments to rural healthcare providers. Without the legislation, these provisions would expire, leaving rural providers facing even bigger Medicare payment cuts than other providers.
The CHAMP Act is a victory for kids, seniors, and the doctors who care for them, Walz said. The Medicare reimbursement cuts are having a devastating effect on healthcare providers all across southern Minnesota, from tiny rural doctors' offices to world-class institutions like the Mayo Clinic. I want to make sure that our seniors can choose their doctors and that our providers receive fair reimbursement for their services. The CHAMPS Act will accomplish exactly that.
The American Medical Association, the AARP, the National Rural Health Association, the Children's Defense Fund, the March of Dimes, and dozens of other groups have endorsed the CHAMP Act.
FYI – Closer to home,
The number of Minnesota children without health insurance has climbed to 79,000, and the number of kids living in extreme poverty has increased by 63 percent since 2000, according the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book released May 6, 2007 by Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Minnesota.
In the south-central Minnesota region, 5.4 percent of all children lacked any kind of medical insurance in 2004. That number constitutes a 54 percent increase from 2001.
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_219183715.html
If you are interested in seeing how your county's date, Minnesota KIDS COUNT provides county-by-county data on the well-being of Minnesota's children and families
http://www.cdf-mn.org./kidscount.htm
CHAMP and SCHIP are good programs that Congress needs to exercise veto-overrides if that “Compassionate Conservative” holds true with his veto.
Posted by: Minnesota Central | August 09, 2007 at 07:18 AM