This week, the Senate spent time debating various measures, including an overhaul of the United States Postal Service as well as the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. On Monday, I joined the majority of my fellow senators in voting against proceeding to debate on S.2230, the so-called "Buffett Tax," which was a tax hike on high-income taxpayers. The Senate also voted to confirm Stephanie Dawn Thacker to the Fourth Circuit federal appeals court.
Tax Reform
On Tuesday, tax returns were due to the government, and I participated in a rally on Capitol Hill where I called on Congress to enact a fairer, simpler tax system. I have co-sponsored legislation to repeal the tax code and to establish a national sales tax during every session of Congress since being elected to the U.S. Senate.
The Fair Tax Act, S. 13, would shift the federal government's method of revenue collection from income to personal consumption. The legislation would repeal all federal personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, self-employment taxes, capital gains taxes and gift and estate taxes, and replace those with a revenue-neutral, personal consumption tax on all retail sales of new goods and services.
Last month, I signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Repeal Permanency Act, S. 2242, which was introduced by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. The bill would permanently repeal the federal estate tax and the "generation skipping transfer" tax, make permanent the maximum 35 percent gift tax rate and a $5 million lifetime gift tax exemption, and maintain the stepped-up basis provisions important to family farms.
Additionally, I have introduced legislation to repeal the U.S. tax code and to force Congress to vote to reauthorize it or replace it with a new system.
Every American who filed their tax return this year was likely reminded that tax simplification is long overdue. Not only is our current tax code burdensome to families, it is a large drain on America's small businesses. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, small businesses spend between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion hours a year on tax compliance with a total estimated cost of between $15 billion and $16 billion annually. At the same time, our current tax code punishes productivity instead of taxing discretionary spending—that's why we need the Fair Tax. It's time that we simplify our tax code, clean it up, and create a more simple way to pay your fair share, and the solution is the Fair Tax.
Obama Comments on Missile Defense
Three weeks ago, I spoke on the Senate floor to demand an explanation from President Obama over his comments to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that were picked up on camera and on a microphone in which Obama said he would have "more flexibility" on issues such as missile defense after the 2012 presidential election.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I also joined more than 40 of my colleagues in sending a letter to President Obama on March 27, 2012, demanding that the president explain what he meant by his comment to President Medvedev. Click here to view the letter.
This week, I joined one of my fellow Foreign Relations Committee members, Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in sending a letter to Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., calling for an oversight hearing "to determine whether the administration has fully lived up to the expectations raised and commitments made in order to garner support" for the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty with Russia.
We wrote, "On December 20, 2010, the United States Senate provided its advice and consent on the New START Treaty. Sixteen months later, we are concerned that the conditions outlined by the Senate in the accompanying Resolution of Ratification have not been met by the administration. To that end, we write to you today asking that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee conduct an oversight hearing, with the appropriate administration witnesses, to determine whether the administration has fully lived up to the expectations raised and commitments made in order to garner support for this important treaty." The full text of the letter to Chairman Kerry is included below and is available online here.
Africa and the Kony 2012 Day of Action
During the Easter recess, as the ranking Republican of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, I traveled to the continent. I met with our special forces and U.S. advisers who have been deployed in those countries to help assist in the search for Joseph Kony.
On Wednesday, I spoke on the floor of the Senate about my trip in order to share the information about what America is doing, what Joseph Kony has done, and how important our commitment is to Central Africa and to see to it that this evil man is brought to justice.
Joseph Kony is under indictment by the International Criminal Court today. For 26 years, he has roamed Central Africa with his Lord's Resistance Army, killing, raping, and maiming the African people. By some estimates, Joseph Kony has abducted 66,000 children into his army and forced young women into sex slavery. He has displaced over 2 million Africans because their villages were destroyed and their families disrupted by his efforts. He has killed untold tens of thousands of people and is by any stretch of the imagination an evil person. Invisible Children's video posting, which went viral on the Internet, has caught the attention of America's youth, because they see the damage that has been done to the youth of Africa, and they want to know what America is doing about it.
My message to the American people and our youth is we are doing our job. Joseph Kony han't been caught, but we are in pursuit.
The Kony 2012 movement's "global day of action" is today, Friday, April 20, 2012. Yesterday, I joined U.S. Senators Chris Coons, D-Del., John Kerry, D-Mass., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in a new video on the Senate's efforts to support the removal of Joseph Kony and his top lieutenants in the Lord's Resistance Army from the battlefield in central Africa. Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is also featured in the video, which is aimed at the millions of young Americans who have become part of the Kony 2012 movement in the last month.
The seven-and-a-half-minute video, titled "Pursuing Joseph Kony: A Message from the United States Senate" went live on YouTube Thursday and can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amckcO7kUjU.
It is time for Joseph Kony to be brought to justice, and the United States is making every effort to assist in that process, which I witnessed firsthand when I traveled to Uganda two weeks ago. Our message today to the American people and our youth is that the Senate takes this issue very seriously, and we are committed to see to it that this evil man, who has killed, raped and maimed innocent people, is stopped for good.
In Other News
Also during the recess, I traveled to Africa on behalf of CARE, a tremendous nongovernmental organization based in Atlanta, Ga., that delivers humanitarian aid, assistance, education, knowledge, and technical assistance to countries around the world and, in particular, to the nation of Africa. It was the second time I traveled with CARE; the first time was 10 years ago to Ethiopia, where I saw CARE's outreach in terms of basic education improvement, particularly with young Muslim women.
On this trip, I was able see, firsthand, what they are doing in the city of Gulu, which borders the Congo and Northern Uganda--an area that 5 or 6 years ago, because of Joseph Kony, had been destroyed, people were displaced, and it was laden with hunger and violence. It is now a beautiful, peaceful village.
Because of what CARE is doing with their village savings and loan project, they are bringing microeconomics to Africa, and they are empowering women. I also visited with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff, who are delivering the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which seeks to improve health care by expanding awareness and testing to identify those with AIDS. They are also distributing anti-retrovirals to mothers who are pregnant, so their babies can be born without HIV. It was great to go with CARE and to see how the U.S. is helping uplift the nation, uplift the people and help solve the greatest scourge on the continent, which is HIV/AIDS.
I also had the opportunity to visit Armstrong Atlantic University in Savannah, Ga., where I spoke to an economics class, and I visited JCB, which is a heavy equipment manufacturer. This week, I also was interviewed on WDDQ in Valdosta by host Scott James, spoke to a government class at Heritage High School in Catoosa County, Ga., via Skype and met with the Camden County Chamber of Commerce's delegation in Washington, D.C.
What's on Tap?
Next week, the Senate will continue work on U.S. Postal Service reform legislation and the Violence Against Women Act.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
