Join us at the Loft Theater Saturday, June 27 for the Premiere of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club featuring the Academy Award winning actress Kathy Bates as the Voice of Pancho. With special guest, Writer & Producer Nick Spark.

Florence “Pancho” Barnes was one of the most important women in 20th Century aviation. A tough and fearless pilot, Pancho was a barnstormer and rival of Amelia Earhart. She also made a name for herself as Hollywood’s first female stunt pilot in the 1920s and 1930s. She also made a name for herself as Hollywood’s first female stunt pilot in the 1920s and 1930s. Discover this  enigmatic icon whose story, until now, was largely unknown.

To buy tickets, click here.

For more information, download the flyer.

By Ginny Geib, UA College of Pharmacy

Helping set the stage for a community town hall discussion on national health care reform in Tucson May 26 were Richard Carmona of The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and J. Lyle Bootman of the UA College of Pharmacy.

The Health Care Town Hall sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords drew approximately 1,000 Southern Arizonans to Sahuaro High School for a wide-ranging discussion of issues surrounding how health care is financed and delivered in this country. Congress expects to take action “before the August recess” on several legislative proposals, Giffords told the audience.

In responding to the Congresswoman’s invitation to provide overviews of the current state of American health care, Carmona, the most recent U.S. Surgeon General, declared that currently the country has a “perversely incentivized sick-care system” rather than one that supports disease prevention, educates citizens on the consequences of their own behaviors and provides access to quality care to all populations.

Bootman, dean of the UA College of Pharmacy and a member of the National Institute of Medicine, said much of the current debate centers on “whether health care is a right or a privilege.” An estimated 47 million Americans lack health coverage, he said, with the cost of providing services rising from 7 percent of Gross National Product to 16 percent over the last 40 years.

Following up on Carmona’s emphasis on disease prevention, Bootman told the audience that 15 chronic conditions accounted for 56 percent of all increased health care spending over the past 20 years, and that one-third of total health care costs are associated with just five conditions (heart disease, pulmonary diseases, mental health disorders, cancer and hypertension).

Following remarks by Bootman and Carmona, Giffords introduced 14 representatives from Tucson-area business groups, health care providers, nonprofit organizations, community service agencies and other interest groups to share their perspectives.

Topics included examples of the need for better mental health coverage, using case managers more widely to improve access to services, how health coverage affects an employer’s competitive edge in government bids, the inadequacies of health services in rural areas, cost-shifting by payers, reimbursement to providers and the complexity of Medicare plans.

Several presenters supported universal coverage and a greater participation by government in payment and delivery, with one declaring that guaranteed health care is a right. Another presenter drew both applause and disapproval from the audience when he called for patients to pay directly for their services.

Giffords entertained a dozen or so comments from the audience before ending the forum, which lasted more than two hours. One speaker urged the representative to make sure the concerns of family members providing long-term care to loved ones were included in any reform legislation, a physician pointed to the federal employee benefits system and Medicare as models that work well and others argued for the special needs of the disabled, retirees and people with lifelong conditions such as diabetes.

By Bill Hess

TUCSON – Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas says it is time the few remains of soldiers from the 1860s through the 1880s  who died in the then Arizona Territory be given a final resting place.

“They need land where they will have final peace,” the bishop of the Diocese of Tucson said Friday morning.

Prior to blessing the remains of 57 soldiers, three children and an Army civilian employee at All Faiths Cemetery in Tucson, the bishop said, “All of us want our lives to be remembered and respected.”

In the case of the remains, which were placed in small wooden caskets constructed by Palominas resident Joe Smith, they have been moved a few times.

Some of the remains may have even been separated, with some being moved to California while parts remained in Tucson.

“These bodies will find their eternal rest,” Kicanas said.

The remains of the soldiers who protected the Arizona Territory in the 1800s have been forgotten for more than a century.

Years ago, their graves were paved over as roads were built in downtown Tucson. But as preparations were made for a new Pima County and city of Tucson court complex, the remains were rediscovered.

In a legal archaeological process, the remains of the 61 people, along with more than 1,700 other remains, were processed for removal and relocation.

The Arizona Department of Veterans Services, through the state-operated Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery’s administrator Joe Larson, then started the process of having the soldiers placed among the honored dead of all branches of the services that served after them.

Before the bishop gave the final blessing for the journey from Tucson to Sierra Vista on Friday, motorcyclists representing many veterans organizations carefully placed 35-star flags on each small coffin. The national banners were from the era the remains of soldiers fought under in the 1800s. The remains included cavalrymen, infantrymen, cooks, farriers, musicians and others who were stationed in the territory from the Civil War through some of the Indian Wars.

Kicanas led the people at the Tucson cemetery in singing the first verse of “Amazing Grace.”

“We pray for their souls, for those who gave their lives for the protection of our country,” the bishop said.

Blessing each casket with holy water, Kicanas told each of those whose souls were represented in the caskets to “sleep in everlasting peace.”

Then he asked the riders to form a semi-circle in an area between the rows of the caskets and blessed each of them asking God to grant them a safe drive from Tucson to Sierra Vista as they escorted the remains.

Each casket was then carried by two of the riders and placed on one of two government vehicles as a pair of soldiers from Fort Huachuca’s 11th Signal Brigade saluted each coffin as it went between them.

The trip from All Faiths Cemetery to the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Buffalo Soldier Trail took slightly more than two hours.

Upon arrival, Fort Huachuca Chaplain (Col.) Thomas Day said a prayer as the remains were received in Sierra Vista.

Soldiers and airmen from the fort then removed and ceremonially folded two large 50-star American flags that covered the caskets in the trucks.

The caskets were then removed and placed in an area where they would remain overnight waiting for today’s 10 a.m. reburial ceremony in Sierra Vista.

The Victorian-era style cemetery-within-a-cemetery that will be the final resting place was nearby. Each grave will be marked with a marble headstone in the style of the 1880s.

There will be no names on the markers, even though records indicated the possibility of names for some of those in the Tucson graves. Each tombstone will be marked unknown because of the lack of DNA required by the federal government to confirm the identification of a set of remains.

Kicanas said the short farewell ceremony in Tucson and the one today in Sierra Vista are meant to give those who served so many years ago in Arizona the recognition they deserve.

As birds sang in the growing heat of the Tucson cemetery, the bishop again addressed the remains in the caskets, saying where they were going in Sierra Vista.

“May this new resting place be a your final eternal resting place,” he said.

By C. Todd Lopez

Two members of Congress who’ve lived the life of a military spouse say the experience has better helped them understand the military family and helps them connect better with those who serve.

“Since being married to him, I understand the stresses that military families go through,” said Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, congresswoman from Arizona’s 8th district.

Giffords’ husband is Navy Capt. Mark E. Kelly, an astronaut, who currently is assigned at Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas. Kelly works on the space shuttle and has spent nearly 40 days in space — he’s served as pilot on STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and was Space Shuttle Discovery’s commander on STS-124 in 2008. He spends a lot of time training in Texas while Giffords remains in either Washington, D.C. or Arizona.

“We try to see each other if possible twice a month. That’s our goal. But it’s been more like once every three weeks,” she said. “But I am very proud of what he does — he serves his country with great honor and great distinction.”

Giffords serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is responsible for helping make decisions that affect the entire Department of Defense. She said her short time as a military spouse — she and her husband have only been together since 2007 — has given her better insight to the lives of both military members and their spouses.

“As a woman on the Armed Services Committee and a military spouse, it provides me a unique perspective,” she said. “(I’m) able to visit our troops in theater and have a conversation (with them,) not about how the weapons systems are working or not necessarily how the operation is going, but what is happening back at home. How are the kids? How is the spouse doing? ”

Giffords said she believes that communities can do more to help military families, on a person-to-person level, in the school systems, and also with the mental health issues for military members and their spouses.

“I feel very strongly that counseling should be made available to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, spouses and family members that are struggling because of maybe post traumatic stress disorder, maybe traumatic brain injury or maybe the stress of just being deployed,” she said. “And I am concerned about the divorce rate, about domestic violence rate, and the suicide rate. Those are problems we as a community cannot ignore.”

Both Giffords and husband Capt. Mark Kelly are serving their country though — she in the Congress and he in space. She said she’s proud of the work he does and proud to serve.

“Both of us are really honored to serve our nation,” she said.

Rep. Thomas Rooney, of Florida’s 16th district, is also a former military spouse — though it’d be more appropriate to say he was half of a dual-military household. Both he and his wife, Tara, began serving in the Army in 2000 as part of the Judge Advocate Corps, after the two attended law school together.

“We got married after law school and decided to join,” Rooney said, saying a recruiter had convinced them the opportunities for advancement and exciting cases were greater in the Army than in the civilian world.

The two served first at Fort Hood, Texas, where he was part of the 1st Cavalry Division and she was in III Corps.

“She was probably the most squared-away judge advocate that I ever met,” he said. “Very attention-to-detail oriented and she was a great legal assistance attorney.”

The two took a second assignment in New York at West Point, where Rooney served as an instructor of law and wife Tara switched to the Reserves. While Rooney was half of a military couple, his interactions with other military families at both his assignments have brought him a perspective that many others don’t have.

“Seeing what the spouses had to go through, supporting their spouse whether male or female, watching some of them deploy, and just becoming a support system with the rest of our friends that we either went through basic with or were stationed with — especially spouses with small children — it was very hard,” Rooney said.

“I think that what spouses go through in the modern era is certainly something I am very comfortable with, which is why I want to be on the subcommittee for personnel. You want people to want to be in the military. You want spouses to be happy — to be happy their better half served in the military. It should not be an encumbrance at all.”

Military spouses, he added are “probably the most unsung hero part of the military.”

Rooney said he is working on legislation now that helps military spouses better deal with some of the stresses they face when Soldiers come home — specifically dealing with PTSD.

“Our bill would make it a lot easier to identify what the needs are of each individual warfighter when they get home,” he said. “A large part of it was to assist the spouses who really have to deal with it in a way they probably never anticipated.

“I think the first or second bill I sponsored was directly written because of my concern for military spouses — with PTSD. I talked to a lot of women who when their husband got home, whatever level of stress they may have had, they were not ready to deal with that. And so I just thought if as a Congress we can make it easier on them by making (more accessible) whatever care the returning warfighter is going to get … then all the better.”

When President Obama unveiled his detailed budget plan earlier this month, he proposed eliminating or trimming 121 programs in an effort to save $17 billion in the next fiscal year. He said some of the cuts were “more painful than others.”

One cut, we believe, was also more irresponsible than others.

The Obama plan would eliminate the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP, which helps states partially offset costs they incur to prosecute and imprison illegal entrants. The program received $400 million last year.

This cut is unconscionable because it makes border states pay all the law-enforcement costs associated with illegal immigration, which is a federal responsibility. It is, after all, the United States border.

Many members of Congress justifiably were quick to criticize the elimination of SCAAP funding. We call on them to continue fighting to save the program.

Former President Bush also eliminated funding for SCAAP in his 2009 budget, but lawmakers were able to restore the money.

We would like to see a repeat of that effort this year.

Soon after Obama unveiled his budget, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., signed a bipartisan letter asking the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to reject the Obama proposal and fund SCAAP.
The letter, dated May 8, says: “Border protection and enforcement of immigration laws remains a federal responsibility. We will continue to make our case to the new administration that SCAAP is an important component of the Department of Justice’s support of state and local law enforcement.”

That same day, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., joined fellow Arizona Democratic Reps. Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick in writing a letter to House appropriations leaders urging renewal of SCAAP funding. Since then, 20 other lawmakers – 15 Democrats and five Republicans – have co-signed the letter.

“I’m working very hard, along with other members of Congress, to make sure the federal government stands up to its responsibilities,” Giffords told us Thursday. “State and local governments are spending a lot of tax money to make up for the federal government’s failure to protect the border. They need to be compensated for it.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and other state law-enforcement agencies received $17.4 million in SCAAP funding in 2008 and $18.4 million in 2007.

That may sound like a decent sum, but for years border-area law-enforcement agencies have been receiving about 10 cents for every dollar they spend to prosecute and incarcerate illegal entrants.
With local governments straining to pay for essential services, cutting payments for doing the federal government’s job is wrong.

Gov. Jan Brewer made an issue of the SCAAP cut in a speech Wednesday to the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, calling it another example of the federal government’s unpaid bills.
“I have personally spoken to President Obama about this and asked that he re-review his plans to eliminate the so-called SCAAP funds,” Brewer said.

Giffords said her office has been in touch with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, in an attempt to persuade the administration to renew SCAAP funding.

“She gets this,” Giffords said of Napolitano. “She herself has billed the federal government for border costs. We think she can be a conduit to the president.”

Giffords expressed cautious optimism that SCAAP funding can be restored. She also added this it is an issue with support on both sides of the aisle and from lawmakers who don’t live in border states. Lawmakers from Massachusetts, New York and Ohio have signed her letter.

Border communities are unfairly burdened by the government’s failure to solve the illegal-immigration problem.

Until that issue is solved, border states should be reimbursed for trying to clean up the federal government’s mess.

Arizona’s oldest continuously published newspaper will hit Tucson newsstands and doorsteps for the last time on May 16.

As a longtime reader of the Tucson Citizen, I think I speak for many when I say the paper’s closure will be like saying goodbye to an old, trusted friend.

What a friend it has been. The Citizen already was 11 years old when it told us about Wyatt Earp’s shootout at the OK Corral in 1881. It had been around 42 years when Arizona became a state in 1912. And when the city of Tucson celebrated its bicentennial in 1975, the Citizen had a 105-year record of reporting behind it.

Tucson will be very different without the Citizen. Our community will have one fewer voice, one fewer watchdog, one fewer place to go for the news we need to understand our increasingly complex world.

Many believe that, as an afternoon newspaper, the Citizen’s days have long been numbered. Perhaps, but the loss of the Citizen is emblematic of a far more troubling trend. The entire newspaper industry is struggling as never before, thanks in part to a seismic shift in how we get our news.

Today the Internet, not the daily newspaper, serves as our window to the world.

For news junkies and avid newspaper readers, this is a truly sad turn of events. I count myself among this shrinking community.

Sure, going online is fast and handy. But old school types love newspapers – we love holding them, with a cup of coffee at hand, and learning about what has happened in our neighborhood, city, state and country.

Some of us – the real die-hards – even like comparing competing articles and editorials on the same subject among rival newspapers. Tucson was one of the few cities where this was possible; ours was one of the last two-newspaper towns left in America.

With the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver over the past month, Tucson is by no means alone in having to rely on one newspaper. That, however, is little comfort. Competition is a good thing for newspapers, as it is for any business.

Having two newspapers fostered a competitive spirit that allowed the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star to bring out the best in each another. Reporters, editors and photographers at each of our papers wanted to scoop the other guy. In that race, readers were the winners.

Since 1870, the Citizen has kept southern Arizonans informed. We didn’t always agree with an editorial position or like the angle of a news story, yet we kept reading.

We needed the Citizen. Sometimes we needed it to figure out a City Council decision. Sometimes we needed it to tell us how the Wildcats did. And sometimes we just needed it to tell us when movies began at The Loft.

The point is, the Citizen was there for us.

From the era of the Butterfield Overland Stage to the Phoenix Mars Mission, the Citizen helped chronicle Arizona’s amazing journey from a rough and tumble territory to the second-fastest growing state in the country.

It was an indispensable part of our community. It educated us, entertained us and inspired us. It will be missed.

Goodbye, dear friend.

Gabrielle Giffords is a member of the U.S. House representing Tucson and southern Arizona.

Rachel Childers’ portrait to hang in U.S. Capitol

An Ironwood Ridge High School student has won the grand prize in the Congressional Arts Competition sponsored by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Rachel Childers, a senior, won for her painting “Portrait of Elmer,” a portrait of her grandfather. Childers’ painting is now destined to hang in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for a year. It will hang along with 434 grand prize winners from each of the nation’s U.S. Congress districts.

Childers also won second place in the general painting category for a landscape, “Norwegian Landscape.”

Friends of Western Art supports the Congressional Arts Competition with monetary prizes. This year, 49 prizes were given in eight categories during an awards ceremony Saturday in the performance garden at Tohono Chul Park. Student art work is being displayed in The Gallery at Tohono Chul from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through June 1.

This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Congressional Arts Competition, an event sponsored by the Congressional Arts Caucus. The competition is open to all high school students, and was created to recognize the creative talents of young Americans.

“If this year’s entries are any indication, we have a tremendous amount of artistic talent in Southern Arizona,” said Giffords. “Many of the paintings, drawings and photographs we looked at this year could easily be displayed in a gallery or museum.”

Childers and her parents are receiving plane tickets to travel to Washington, where they’ll attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 24 with all of the winners from each Congressional district.

Editorial

A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is a good start toward breaking the connection between lawmakers’ budget requests and companies that make campaign donations to politicians.

Giffords, a Democrat, is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. The bill would prohibit donations to a lawmaker from lobbyists or top executives in companies that donated to that individual lawmaker in the two years leading up to a politician’s re-election.

The bill doesn’t outright ban members of Congress from sponsoring earmarks – requests for money for specific projects that are put into the federal budget and not considered individually – that would benefit companies that are their donors. The time-limit approach of Giffords’ bill, while not perfect, will build in delays between the donations and earmark requests.

Lawmakers routinely deny any connection between campaign donations and budget requests or bills sponsored, but even the hint of a connection undercuts our democratic system.

This bill, the Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act, or the CLEAR Act, covers any “entity” that makes donations and requests earmarks.

Railing against earmarks is almost a franchise for Arizona politicians. Sen. John McCain has made earmark reform a centerpiece of his political persona. U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican from the Phoenix area, has made a mission of fighting earmarks.

Giffords joins that effort. She has followed the policy outlined in her bill since coming to Congress in January 2007 and has pledged, according to a story by the Star’s Daniel Scarpinato, not to make earmark requests that would benefit private companies. “Private companies don’t have that level of transparency that public organizations like the University of Arizona or nonprofits have,” Giffords said.

One shortcoming of the bill is that it doesn’t address donations and requests from political action committees, or PACs.

That loophole must be closed because federal election law allows individuals to donate up to $2,400 to a candidate, but PACs can collect donations of up to $5,000 and make contributions of up to $10,000 to a candidate.

Giffords’ bill should become law. It’s a small step in a much broader effort to resolve a problem that has continued to dog our political process. Mixing earmarks and political donations erodes the public’s confidence that lawmakers act in their constituents’ best interest, not at the bidding of monied corporations or donors.

New funds bring total received so far to more than $23 million
By Bill Hess

FORT HUACHUCA – More than $4.5 million of federal economic recovery funds have been approved for eight construction projects aimed at making the fort more energy efficient, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office said Wednesday.

Fort Huachuca has now received $23,033,166 in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to Giffords, D-Ariz. The fort is in her 8th Congressional District.

The new stimulus funding totals $4,574,808.

The new funds will go to retrofitting an administrative building by repairing electrical, heating and air conditioning, latrines, doors and windows, changing a number of energy using lights to better “green” devices, repairing the installation energy management control system, improve a water distribution loop, replace a boiler with a wood chip boiler in the central heating plant, repair two different sewer lines and repair another boiler and insulate that building, according to Giffords’ office.

Earlier this year, the fort received $18,458,358 for 32 projects that the Army approved.

In March, the post’s director of public works, John Ruble, said many of the projects being funded have been waiting for money to let contractors start, some going back five years.

The initial funding is going to many “shovel ready” projects, something the Obama Administration wanted to support so they could start faster than going though a design phase.

C.J. Karamargin, Giffords’ spokesman, said the additional stimulus  dollars are to support upgrading infrastructure with new technology.

As the stimulus stream continues, there is a possibility additional funds may come to the fort, he added.

Of the additional funds, Garrison Commander Col. Melissa Sturgeon said, “We welcome the additional economic recovery funds. They will be put to good use to repair infrastructure shortcomings on the fort and allows us to accomplish necessary projects for sustainment of this critical installation.”

Editorial

Give me a campaign donation, and I’ll give you an earmark. That’s the kind of quid pro quo that U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two fellow Democrats seek to block.

Wednesday, southern Arizona’s Giffords and Reps. Paul Hodes of New Hampshire and Thomas Perriello of Virginia introduced a bill that would bar members of Congress from taking donations of specific earmark recipients during the two years before a re-election vote.

This would be one small step for U.S. taxpayers but a giant leap for Congress, which we predict will be in no hurry to enact the legislation.

And while we laud these legislators for their right-minded effort, we also agree with Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.: Earmarks to specific companies shouldn’t be allowed, period.

“No member of Congress should be able to award no-bid contracts – which is what many earmarks are – to private companies or other institutions, particularly those whose executives and lobbyists turn around and write campaign checks to that member,” said Flake, who supports Giffords’ bill. “Earmarks . . . are a problem that infects the entire Congress. And I think this earmark reform bill is a promising development.”

We agree this bill is a start – although we don’t think it goes far enough and we fear it won’t go far at all.

The legislation comes as Flake and others have been demanding an investigation of ties between Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and the powerful defense lobbyist group PMA, which disassembled earlier this year after being raided by the FBI in November.

Murtha, chairman of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, last week reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in pending bills. The contributions all came on the same day during the earmark vetting process, The Hill newspaper reported.

“If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district,” Murtha recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

But representatives can “take care of” districts in less questionable ways.

Giffords, for example, this year has requested earmarks for the Upper San Pedro Partnership, for University of Arizona research work, for environmentally critical projects by Pima County and the city of Tucson – but not to beef up private companies’ coffers, records indicate.

If our government must continue to use earmarks, then this is how they should be designated – to public, quasi-public and nonprofit agencies for the public good, not to private firms for a candidate’s monetary gain.

The new legislation may not resolve all problems with earmarks, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. This bill is a good start, and we hope Congress will have the conscience to support it.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a resolution April 2, supporting the goals of May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, encouraging riders to get trained and licensed, always wear protective gear, never drink and ride, and ride within their limits. Another key message of the month is aimed at motorists, who need to be aware of two-wheel traffic and look out for riders.

The resolution, H. Res. 269, introduced by Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Michael Burgess, R-Texas, is similar to one unanimously passed by the full House last year.

“The resolution presents a valuable opportunity for Congress to recognize the importance of focusing on motorcyclists’ safety,” said Duane Taylor, MIC Director of Federal Affairs. “We’re calling on riders everywhere to contact their representatives to urge them to cosponsor the resolution.”

Among many safety related organizations, such as the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, May has long been designated as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. The messages for all road users are especially timely as motorcyclists nationwide gear up for the upcoming riding season. In approximately two thirds of fatal car/motorcycle crashes, the driver of the car is at fault.

“We applaud the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for passing this resolution and we look forward to continuing to work with Representatives Burgess and Giffords and other members of Congress as this resolution moves to the full House for consideration,” said MIC’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations, Kathy Van Kleeck.

Motorcycles are fuel-efficient and decrease congestion while having little impact on our nation’s transportation infrastructure, making them a valuable component of the transportation mix. With more than 7 million motorcyclists benefiting from the advantages of riding, it is important to remember their safety and to encourage safe and responsible behavior.

Editorial

The federal raid on a high-flying firm of defense lobbyists has prompted a few brave Democrats to propose the ultimate reform – an outright ban on the practice of lawmakers’ customizing budget goodies for contractors who requite with generous campaign donations. This circular flow of taxpayer money is at the heart of the investigation into the PMA Group of lobbyists.

The firm was created by a former staff member and protégé of Representative John Murtha, the powerful head of the defense appropriations subcommittee. PMA funneled tens of millions in donations to cooperative lawmakers. Last year, 104 House members earmarked $300 million worth of contracts for PMA clients.

Grateful politicians deny that their gratitude has any impact on their policy decisions – that would be illegal. Members could do away with all suspicions, and any possible temptations, by signing on now to the cold-turkey proposal of two Democrats, Paul Hodes of New Hampshire and Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. It would bar lawmakers from taking contributions from anyone who benefits from their budget earmarks.

As disruptive as this would be for the Capitol’s quid pro quo as usual, it’s a needed addition to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ethics agenda. Some of her members are warning the anticorruption pendulum that secured their majority may be swinging back toward the Republicans.

One especially nervous Democrat, Representative Peter Visclosky of Indiana, is an appropriations “cardinal” (subcommittee chairman) on a hot tin roof.

Federal agents are zeroing in on his relationship with PMA, according to a report in The Times. He is fervently promising that some of the hundreds of thousands in PMA donations he has netted will be rerouted to charity. His colleagues should be more enlightened than surprised that he now supports proposals for an ethics inquiry into PMA machinations. And – surprise- he is even finding virtue in the idea of restricting appropriators’ earmark powers.

Bill Richardson, Commentary

“We are dealing with a lethal narco-insurgency!”  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

On April 7, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., hosted a border-related crime summit in Tucson. City, county, state and federal law enforcement officials from Arizona’s border counties, Pinal County, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., attended.

Southern and central Arizona have long been destinations for organized crime. Thanks to years of neglect by state government, Arizona is now the gateway to the United States for the Mexican drug cartels.

David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal for Arizona, described Giffords’ sit-down as a milestone in addressing the problems. Gonzales, a former southern Arizona undercover narcotics agent and gang unit commander, had high praise for Giffords.

The summit focused on the totality of the state’s cross border crime problem, not just illegal immigration. Human smuggling is one of many profit sources for domestic and international organized crime that makes tens of billions of dollars from the United States’ growing supermarket of crime. Border control is just part of the solution.

The congresswoman obviously sees and understands what’s really going on. She wanted facts, not emotion and bravado. She got what she asked for, no holds barred!

Giffords assembled some of the best minds in the business. Ritchie Martinez, a criminal intelligence analysis supervisor from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Center, told Giffords that cartel members are in Arizona to protect business interests and expand their markets. HIDTA is a significant source of federal funding and support for successful local law enforcement projects designed to combat cross-border and organized crime in Arizona.

Martinez has spent 36 years working the border and is one of the top criminal intelligence experts in the world.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told KJZZ radio (91.5 FM) following the summit that violence stemming from Mexico’s ongoing drug war is here.

Gonzales, who also heads the Arizona HIDTA leadership team, said “organized crime groups with ties to the drug cartels are here, growing and joining forces with, or charging other criminals taxes to conduct criminal activity in the state.”

In a March 25 Associated Press story, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, who also attended the summit, said, “the cartels are responsible for kidnappings, shootings, rapes and banditry” in his county.

In 2007 there were 30,600 violent crimes and 279,794 serious property crimes reported in Arizona. Statewide only about one in five is solved. U.S. Department of Justice officials have attributed 80 percent of all crimes committed to organized crime groups and have reported the presence of Mexican organized crime in Arizona. The Congressional Quarterly announced in March that Arizona is America’s eighth most dangerous state.

Recent seizures of Mexican heroin in northern Arizona show how far-reaching the problem is. And the recent arrests of American street gangsters in Phoenix and San Diego for two separate multimillion-dollar fraudulent enterprises demonstrate a new level of diversification by cunning organized criminals who have long been thought of as only being capable of dealing drugs, drive-by shootings and stealing beer.

The congresswoman expressed concern about the state’s need for resources and the ability of law enforcement officials to share information and move rapidly and collectively against the growing and increasingly unified enemy of organized crime. She told meeting attendees that “communication and cooperation are not optional!”

Unfortunately Arizona is lacking significantly when it comes to effective communications. For years, state officials have chosen not to spend a small portion of the millions in federal pubic safety aid it receives on an urgently needed cooperative statewide criminal information collection, sharing and communications system for law enforcement.

Even though the Legislature has pledged $1.6 million for Maricopa County immigration sweeps, the state won’t fund a $2.5 million information sharing project to allow every police officer in Arizona to communicate and share information on crime and criminals.

Giffords’ summit jump-started a long overdue, serious, apolitical and nonpartisan discussion of the crime problem that’s permeated the border and made its presence well known throughout the rest of Arizona.

Her “take the point” leadership is extremely refreshing.

Retired Mesa master police officer Bill Richardson lives in the East Valley and can be reached at bill.richardson@cox.net.

By Philip Franchine

TUCSON – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Southern Arizona will bounce back from the economic downturn faster than other parts of the country because of innovative businesses and research aimed at renewable energy.

Giffords, delivering her State of the District meeting Wednesday in Tucson, said 2009 won’t rise above being a bad year, economically, but said signs indicate solid steps toward recovery by the end of the year.

She also said she has made more than $103 million in earmark requests for next fiscal year that will help save and create jobs in the region.

Giffords, a Democrat, defended the use of earmarks – appropriations often labeled “pork” that are attached to unrelated bills – saying many provide critical funding for important projects. She said many of her requests are aimed at cutting-edge research, mass transportation and flood control.

For the Willcox area, her list of requests for Fiscal Year 2010 includes a Wastewater Treatment Plant for the City of Willcox ($1 million) and a Surgery Facility Addition for Northern Cochise Community Hospital ($500,000).

The requests were submitted last week to the House Appropriations Committee, which will review them in coming weeks. Giffords said not all earmark requests would be funded.

The request for the wastewater treatment plant for the City of Willcox stated, “Funding will be used to design and construct a new wastewater treatment plant that will restore compliance with Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations while providing sewer service to the citizens of Willcox. In December 2008, ADEQ issued the City of Willcox Notices of Violation for the operation, maintenance, and water quality for the wastewater treatment plant. The major violations include failing or inadequate equipment, exceeding testing parameters, and possible human contact with virtually untreated wastewater. Due to the seriousness of the violations, ADEQ considers this a very high priority.

“This is an important use of taxpayer funds because the treatment plant needs to undergo extensive renovations or be replaced in order to comply with ADEQ and EPA water quality standards, ensure high quality water for citizens of the City of Willcox, and preserve the natural habitat of Cochise Lake.”

In the request for the surgery facility addition at the Northern Cochise Community Hospital, Giffords said, “Funding will be used to purchase a turn-key modular surgery facility. Northern Cochise Community Hospital is a 24-bed, critical access hospital that provides medical services for approximately 16,000 people throughout the rural areas of Cochise County.

“This project is an important use of taxpayer funds because it will save lives, reduce the cost of transporting emergency patients, wait times and medical expenses for the patient and insurance carriers. There are currently no surgical procedures performed in the Northern Cochise Community Hospital’s service area.”

Giffords said Pima County is home to businesses that could take advantage of a national effort to convert to renewable energy and that can provide scientific advances that will weather a rough economy.

Tucson exports more than $3 billion in goods each year, she said, one-third of that electronic products. The University of Arizona receives 40 percent of its research funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, more than any other publicly funded university.

Giffords assessed the district economy as being in rough shape, reflecting the national economy. She said one Arizona economist summed up 2009 by saying, “If everything goes well, it will be a bad year.” If things don’t go well, 2009 would be “terrible.”

The numbers support that difficult view of the economy: 7.4 percent of Arizonans are unemployed; 3,000 foreclosure notices were issued in Pima County in the first quarter of 2009; more than 0.5 percent of all homes in Arizona were foreclosed upon in 2008, meaning 25 a day in Pima County; and the state budget deficit is $2.9 billion.

Giffords said the economy will start to improve this year but that unemployment will lag behind other indicators.

The federal stimulus bill will save or create 70,000 jobs statewide, including 7,000 in Pima County, Giffords said. The new focus on solar energy will mean the nation can double its capacity to generate renewable energy, enough to power 6 million homes.

See the full list of earmark requests at www.giffords.house.gov/legislation/appropriations/index.shtml.

Arizona Range News Managing Edtitor Ainslee Wittig contributed to this article.

By Keith J. Allen

SIERRA VISTA – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has called on two top federal officials to address a rise in “border violence and drug trafficking.”

In letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday, Giffords also invited the two Cabinet members or representatives of their departments to a closed-door summit on April 8 in Southern Arizona to discuss the border issues.

“A comprehensive approach to addressing the crisis on our southern border is imperative and I stand committed to working with you to make the U.S.-Mexico relationship a top priority in the Obama administration,” the final paragraph of the Arizona Democrat’s letter says.

The Eighth Congressional District that Giffords represents is one of 10 districts that borders the U.S.-Mexico border. Cochise County is part of Giffords’ district.

The district, which is within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, has been the nation’s busiest sector for illegal immigrant apprehensions and marijuana seizures.

The congresswoman, who also is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, notes in her letter that more than 1,000 deaths have occurred in Mexico this year and about 6,000 last year due to drug cartel violence.

“In addition, Phoenix now ranks second in the world – after Mexico City – in kidnappings. This is unacceptable and it is clear that bold and collaborative action by the U.S. and Mexican governments is needed,” her letter says.

Giffords uses the November killing of Sonoran police director Juan Manuel Pavon Felix as an example of the need to “strengthen our international partnership with Mexico against the current increase in border violence impacting both of our countries.” She said she met the police director during a November ceremony highlighting the cooperative anti-crime operations being done by U.S. and Mexican law enforcement.

The congresswoman also tells Clinton and Napolitano that she voiced concerns about the Bush administration’s funding request for the Merida Initiative, a program that provides aid to Mexico to battle drug trafficking. Those concerns, she said, range from lack of coordination between U.S. agencies and no “measurable benchmarks” to determine success.

“I remain dismayed that this plan has not produced any clear results in stemming the flood of drugs, guns, fugitives and violence that continues to spill into our country, and my district,” she writes.

Giffords’ letters come just a day after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer sent a letter to the U.S. Defense Department requesting 250 National Guard troops be stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.

During an interview with the Herald/Review editorial board on Thursday, the Republican governor said she would be negligent if she didn’t ask for federal assistance, and that she is concerned about the drug cartel violence in Mexico. She said it is the federal government’s responsibility to protect the nation’s borders.

“We should be able to feel safe in our country,” she said.

In her letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Brewer said Arizona faces “a number of unique and/or disproportionate challenges relative to other states.”

Napolitano, who held the Arizona governorship before resigning to take the homeland security role in the Obama administration, also asked for federal assistance regarding illegal immigration, including urging the Bush administration last year not to remove National Guard troops from working on the border.

During a visit to Cochise County last month, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard also expressed concern about the deadly drug cartel feud in Mexico and that it could spread into Arizona. He noted there have been a higher number of kidnappings in the Phoenix area related to smuggling, and that smugglers were adjusting their tactics along Arizona’s border with Mexico.

Congresswoman and other political leaders react to the $165 million bonuses for AIG executives

By Bill Hess

SIERRA VISTA – While it was proper that AIG received billions of taxpayer dollars to help the global insurance giant weather the economic downturn, the company’s use of $165 million of the money to pay executive bonuses was not, Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said.

Paying bonuses with taxpayer dollars to some of the executives who help create the financial woes for AIG was not only wrong, it teeters on being dishonest, she said during a telephone interview with the Herald/Review on Tuesday.

And, yes, she did vote for the eventual passage of the TARP bill, pushed by former Republican President George W. Bush and his Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr.

But, how AIG is using the funds leads Giffords to question how Congress can better control the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

“The AIG situation is like pouring salt into an open wound,” said the representative, whose 8th Congressional District includes all of Cochise County. “I’m very angry, Congress is very angry, taxpayers are very angry.”

Gail Griffin, chair of the Cochise County Republican Party said, “The misappropriations of (TARP) funds is absolutely outrageous.”

Adding his disgust to what is happening is Bob Bland, chair of the Cochise County Democratic Committee, who said local members of the party are furious.

“People would like to assemble a firing squad and put AIG executives in front of it,” Bland said.

The continuing brouhaha is seeing bipartisan calls for bonus control as well as finger pointing with Republicans blaming Democrats and vice versa.

And, Giffords is coming in for a share of the blame.

A Wednesday release by the National Republican Congressional Committee, questioned why the Arizona Democrat voted for what the committee is now calling the “AIG stimulus bill” that allowed the company executives to receive the bonuses, courtesy of the taxpayers.

Using the word stimulus appears to try and connect TARP with President Barack Obama’s nearly trillion dollar stimulus bill that Congress recently passed.

However, Giffords said the TARP and the stimulus bills are separate issues and that the issue of AIG revolves around TARP funds.

In discussing the issue with the Herald/Review, the two-term congresswoman said that both House and Senate Democrats and Republicans supported the Bush TARP bill.

Additionally, on Feb. 5, the congresswoman expressed a need for restrictions on executive compensation as well as excessive bonuses.

TARP was “designed to stabilize the credit markets, not reward executives for their failures,” she said.

The congresswoman had already introduced a bill to curtail executive compensation for those companies that received TARP funds, and is a co-sponsor of another proposal to put constraints on executive salaries, bonuses and stock options for those who received or will receive TARP funds.

Legislative process was misused

Griffin noted that in the Senate, it was Democrat Chris Dodd, of Connecticut, who inserted language into the bill to allow the spending of the second half of the TARP money that all bonuses awarded prior to February would be paid.

And, she added it was interesting that the largest recipient of campaign donations in 2008 from AIG was Dodd, who received more than $103,000 from the company.

“Congressional Democrats and President Obama were asleep at the wheel on executive bonuses. Democrat Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd crafted executive bonus protection inside the spending bill that President Obama signed last month,” Griffin said.

“Maybe next time Democrats will choose to have a fair, open and honest debate on legislation that affects Americans instead of crafting this kind of bill in secret and forcing a vote on a spending package that few members of Congress had time to review. The responsibility for this blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars falls squarely on the shoulders of the Democrats.” she said.

However, there seems to be an ongoing blame game in D.C., as some say Dodd did push the amendment to the TARP bill, while others are saying it was members of the Obama administration that forced the issue, with Dodd finally giving in to the proposal.

When it comes to the initial TARP bill, Bland said he doesn’t think any member of Congress, of either party, had time to read the bill and fully understand all the consequences of the more than $700 billion proposal.

“I don’t think they had time to do due diligence. I think that would have taken months,” he said, adding the bill had to be passed as soon as possible as an attempt to control the growing recession in the country.

AIG reported a loss of more than $61 billion in the last quarter and received $173 billion from the U.S. government, which now owns most of the company.

According to some news reports, AIG used some of the billions to pay off banks, some of which are non-U.S. entities, and other institutions to which it owed money.

The figures indicate U.S. banks, some of which received some TARP funds, were paid nearly $25 billion by AIG and foreign banks received slightly more than $37 billion.

And one of the companies AIG paid using TARP funds is Goldman Sachs, which received the special funds on its own.

At one time Paulson was the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Paulson, whose net worth is estimated to be $700 million, worked for Goldman Sachs for more than a quarter of a century.

The use of those funds to pay banks, especially those also on the receiving end of TARP money does not set well with Giffords.

Most frustration bonus centered

But, most of the frustration in Congress, as well as with the American people is centered around the bonus payments made by AIG, which many see as a major symptom of not caring for proper use of taxpayer dollars, the congresswoman said.

Giffords is part of a group of House members who are seeking a cap on executive salaries in companies that take TARP to be $500,000 a year – $100,000 more than the president of the United States receives. House members also seek redress through law to have the AIG bonuses either repaid to the government or heavily taxed. Giffords said such actions will not only tell AIG but other institutions receiving the special funds that they cannot continue as they have in the past when it comes to financial rewards for their employees.

When the United States is only paying hundreds of dollars a year extra in combat pay for its members of the armed forces who go into harm’s way, it is patently unfair that executives of companies like AIG are paid tens of thousands of dollars, the congresswoman said, especially in light that both types of payments come from the taxpayers.

“The AIG executives should not be proud of themselves,” she added.

Congress is working to overcome the problems highlighted by AIG and its bonus payments by seeking a 95 percent federal tax on the payments, up from the existing 35 percent to 60 percent, based on how much is paid. The other 5 percent will probably end up in the hands of states, Giffords said.

As for foreign AIG employees who received bonuses, she said efforts will be made to ask those nations that have a tax treaty with the United States to recoup those funds.

That means no one will walk away with any of the bonus money, she said.

And, Congress is working to close other loopholes that will inform companies who receive bailout money how the funds can be spent, the congresswoman added.

Bland noted that when it comes to union contracts they always can be renegotiated and he sees no reason why AIG’s employee contracts could not be renegotiated.

Giffords said hardly anyone in the country is happy with the AIG bonus fallout.

“Everyone is really, really, really, really mad,” she said.

U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-District 8, said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan recently passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama is not perfect, but it puts America’s economy on track to survive the current recession.

In one of four town hall meetings held in Tucson last week, the second-term Congresswoman said the most important thing Congress can do right now is pass a bill that will help create jobs.

In January alone, 598,000 Americans were put out of work. Since the recession began in Dec. 2007, Giffords said the number of unemployed Americans has climbed to more than 3.6 million, the largest 13-month increase on record.

Consumer confidence and spending fell in December for a record sixth consecutive month, and slid to another all-time low in January.

Giffords said so many of her constituents across Southern Arizona have asked her why the hurry to pass the $880 billion stimulus package.

“Many of you asked what is the big hurry?” she said. “Well, the hurry is that the economy cannot continue on its current trend. The problem is accelerating, hence the need to act.”

Now that the bill is reality, Giffords said residents, state lawmakers and elected officials from cities and counties across America are asking what it means.

Giffords agreed that the more than 1,000-page document is difficult, and there are a lot of questions.

“My goal is to let you know what is included in this enormous legislation,” she said. “This is not a perfect piece of legislation, and this problem did not come up overnight.”

The efforts to get the economy on track will take time, Giffords stressed, as she laid out the plans for education and statewide funding at Pima Community College on Thursday.

Over the next two years, the stimulus package is expected to create 70,000 jobs in Arizona, 8,100 of those in District 8.

Giffords said there also will be tax cuts of up to $800 for two million workers and their families, and 75,000 Arizona families will be eligible for a new $2,500 college tax credit. Unemployment insurance will be expanding, and there will be funding to allow 193 aging school districts across the state to modernize buildings.

Economists looking at the stimulus bill, have said the tax cuts will bring a $13 per week tax cut to the average household.

Giffords stressed during the meeting that a lot of the funding the state may be eligible for in education, road projects and to help the state balance a $3 billion deficit, will depend on the Arizona Legislature.

In a radio show in Tucson Friday morning, Rep. Frank Antenori, R-District 30, said if the federal government wants the state to increase spending they will reject the funds being offered.

Just this year, the state legislature has cut $136 million for public education, and another $225 million from the state’s universities.

With the possibility of the stimulus package bringing an added $803 million to education in Arizona, Giffords said this could prevent deeper cuts to the school system, and prevent teachers from being laid off.

School administrators statewide have said if state lawmakers move forward with proposed budget cuts next year, they will have no other choice than to cut staff and certified teachers.

Attending Thursday’s town hall with Giffords was Dr. Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). TUSD is one of the largest districts in the state, and with the proposed state cuts, could lose up to $63 million next year.

Celania-Gagen said the stimulus bill approved by the federal government brings new hope.

Tucson Vice Mayor Karin Uhlich agreed, stating they now have hope that funding will trickle into the local economy and help with a growing budget deficit, and will pay for shovel-ready projects such as a $75-million trolley system.

Will any of the funds make their way into Cochise County? While no one from the rural county attended the town halls in Tucson, Giffords said it will come down to local governments’ applying for money.

Benson had originally submitted proposals for about $900,000 in projects, but Public Works Director Brad Hamilton said most of them were eliminated because they did not have the right classification.

A current list of road projects moving forward has Avondale receiving most of the funding with 50 approved projects. The lone project approved in Cochise County is in Tombstone.

Following Thursday’s town hall, Giffords said it’s still early, and she has been communicating with rural communities to get involved and request funding for various projects.

The points of this, she said, is not only to create jobs and improve infrastructure, but will also help local economies with a plan to buy supplies and equipment locally.

Besides education and other funding, Giffords said the massive stimulus bill also addresses the state’s social service agencies and will put more funding toward Medicaid and health insurance for unemployed workers.

These are the bottom-line reasons for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I supported this bill, and President Obama signed it into law because we recognize that bold action is needed. America has lost 3.6 million jobs since November 2007 – one of the largest 13-month job losses in our history.

Standing by and doing nothing is not an option as retirement accounts dwindle, families lose health care and venerable American companies file for bankruptcy protection.

Make no mistake, the economic challenges confronting us constitute a crisis the likes of which we have not seen for a generation or more. Economists across the ideological spectrum say it could get worse before it gets better. The legislation passed by clear majorities in the House and Senate is a critical first step to regaining our economic health.

It is equally important to remember that the recession that now has our economy in its grip was not a lightning strike out of the blue. It is the result of years of flawed economic policies and reckless decisions. Dealing with the recession and a record national debt will test the leadership skills of every federal elected representative. This is not a time for partisan politics or sitting on the sidelines.

Anyone who doubts this should speak to the business leaders, mayors, homeowners, and college students who have attended the public forums I held on the economic recovery legislation. They want help, and they want us to work together to solve problems.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not a perfect bill, but it has been carefully crafted to have the targeted and timely impact we need. For Arizona, this bill is intended to create or save 70,000 jobs over two years, cut taxes for 2 million workers and their families, give 75,000 families a new $2,500 college tax credit, expand unemployment insurance for 200,000 jobless workers, and provide funding to modernize at least 193 schools.

Particularly important are the bill’s provisions to make us more globally competitive through strategic investments in science and technology. These investments will have a profound impact on Arizona’s young but vibrant renewable energy industry. Thanks to our abundant sunshine and entrepreneurial spirit, we are poised to become a national leader in solar energy research, development, manufacturing and utilization.

Nationally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will help reach these goals by: doubling renewable energy generating capacity over three years; creating enough renewable energy to power 6 million homes; establishing a new loan-guarantee program to keep our transition to renewable energy on track; and providing tens of billions of dollars in competitive grant funding for energy efficiency and renewable-energy research and projects.

These investments represent a forward-thinking down payment on our future.

Arizonans are a resilient, creative and determined people. These characteristics allowed our ancestors to transform the desert Southwest into the second-fastest-growing state in the country. The same characteristics will enable us to emerge from this economic crisis stronger than ever.

Gabrielle Giffords – Feb. 23, 2009

by U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords

SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Last week I returned from my third visit to Iraq. Each time I have been to the front lines, the conditions have improved due to the tremendous work of our U.S. armed forces. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, it is an honor to witness the dedication and extraordinary skills of our men and women in uniform.

Last week I returned from my third visit to Iraq. Each time I have been to the front lines, the conditions have improved due to the tremendous work of our U.S. armed forces. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, it is an honor to witness the dedication and extraordinary skills of our men and women in uniform.

While I have been critical of the Bush administration’s decision to go into Iraq and its many strategic mistakes in managing our efforts there, I have always been certain that our troops are the most professional and formidable in the world.

Military experts, some right here in Southern Arizona, have long maintained that our armed forces were being stretched too thin – threatening our nation’s overall readiness. This is why I opposed the surge when it was proposed in early 2007.

As a policy decision, it failed to require the Iraqi government to take more responsibility for internal security and disregarded the growing threat in Afghanistan.

I never doubted that an additional 25,000 of the world’s finest troops would improve conditions on the ground. During my trip, I saw the results. The brilliant counterinsurgency initiatives led by Gen. David Petraeus also helped reduce violence.

Iraqis, tired of fighting and bloodshed, have stepped forward. Iraqi security forces are more capable of keeping the peace, especially since Jan. 1 when the Status of Forces Agreement went into effect. Their government is reforming de-Baathification regulations and creating oil-sharing laws. Iraqis managed provincial elections this month, reporting a 52 percent turnout and virtually no violence. Hopefully the outcome will be accepted by all factions and internal rivalries between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will be increasingly replaced by a stronger democratic process.

Like most Americans, I celebrate the success of our military operations and recognize that the additional combat units were critical to creating the current calm.

These are not surprises. Our soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors, despite extended tours, have always accomplished their missions.

Early on, our military toppled a ruthless dictator and won the fight for Baghdad even though the Bush administration failed to plan for winning the peace. We saw the country slip into civil unrest as centuries-old ethnic, religious and tribal rivalries resurfaced, each faction seeking to fill the vacuum of power left by the fall of the regime.

The decision to go to war in Iraq will probably be remembered as one of the worst foreign-policy blunders in our history. Defining success and judging the cause and effect of the Bush administration’s policies, including the surge, cannot be reduced to a simplistic snapshot. Remnants of civil strife and destruction linger and will for decades to come. Recent months of increased tranquility don’t erase six years of chaos and violence, sparked by a mismanaged war that fostered Islamic extremism.

Fortunately, the situation in Iraq is increasingly secure as we prepare to deploy out of that theater and lay the groundwork for success in another. Stabilizing Afghanistan is our long-overdue priority.

We must engage international partners in confronting the far more difficult challenges in this fractured and complex nation, where malicious factions such as the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups present grave threats.

My support for our men and women in uniform remains steadfast as they adapt their effective military tactics used in Iraq to expanded operations in Afghanistan. It is critical that we work with the Afghan people to defeat shared enemies and violent extremists.

Our troops will contribute honorably to this effort and continue serving our nation with distinction.