Weekly Updates
This past week, while participating in a conference call with General Motors management and members of the President's Automotive Task Force, I received the troubling news that General Motors plans to close its Powertrain plant in Spotsylvania County by December 2010. GM's decision to end their thirty year relationship with the area will have a tremendous impact on both the employees who worked there and the surrounding community. In response to this news, I wrote to Frederick Henderson, the C.E.O.
This week in Washington, Congress has taken action to reign in credit card companies from performing unscrupulous business practices. Unfortunately, I've heard from many constituents who have received a letter from their credit card company notifying them that their card's limit has been reduced or their interest rate has been raised without notification.
Just yesterday the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee in an effort to request 50 million dollars to cover the costs of continued detention of enemy combatants currently at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba after the facility is shut down within the next year. The money Secretary Gates is requesting could cover the costs of modifying U.S. military or civilian prisons or adding new wings to accommodate the detainees.
First, as a spouse of a public school teacher, education is extremely important to me.
Although I have spent the first week of the Congressional District Work Period back in the First District, I have continued to monitor developments in Washington and have several things to report to you all back at home. First, the Secretary of Defense issued his budget recommendations for the coming fiscal year. Then, I joined other Virginia Congressmen and others from around the country in a bipartisan letter to the President continuing to urge against the move of a nuclear aircraft carrier from Norfolk, VA to Mayport, FL.