April 2008 Archives

Calls for Moratorium on Filling of Strategic Reserve
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler is working to reduce the price North Carolinians are
paying at the gas pump through legislation to temporarily suspend the purchase of oil for the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The legislation, H.R. 5437, will require the Secretary of the Department of
Energy to suspend shipments to the SPR in 2008, or until the average price of crude oil drops below $50 a barrel.
 
The SPR is currently 97% full and contains enough to meet America’s national security needs, which is
its purpose. Purchases for the SPR remove up to 70,000 barrels of oil out of the market daily. Prior to the Bush Administration additions to the SPR were suspended due to market conditions. When a SPR
moratorium was announced in 2000, the price of oil in the market dropped from $30 a barrel to $20. 
 
“The SPR is 97% full, and it makes no sense for our government to continue topping it off while oil is at
record prices,” Rep. Shuler said. “Adding 70,000 barrels to market will increase supply and bring down
costs of gasoline for American families and small businesses by as much as $0.25.”
 
Independent analysis done by several economists, including a team at Goldman Sachs, have estimated
that filling the SPR has raised the cost of oil by at least $2.25 per barrel, or as much as $6 per barrel and $0.25 per gallon of gasoline at the pump.
 
Rep. Shuler, who has been a strong advocate for renewable and sustainable energy, also renewed his call for America to develop an energy policy for the 21st Century.
 
“While we can take some steps to reduce gas prices and help our families and businesses, we must focus on making America energy and petroleum independent. Unfortunately, the President has lacked a serious energy policy during his entire time in office. Rather than move toward energy independence, he has chosen to side with the big oil companies, who are making record profits, while American families and small businesses suffer,” Rep. Shuler concluded.
 
BP announced a first-quarter profit increase of 63%, while Royal Dutch Shell reported a profit increase of 25%, continuing a five-year trend of record profits for oil companies under the Bush Administration. Meanwhile, gas prices have increased by more than 110% in the past seven years.

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Download: Rep. Shuler Supports Plan to Reduce Gas Prices

Legislation now Awaits President’s Signature
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler applauded the final passage legislation
to allow for the expansion of the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat
Rock, North Carolina. The Sandburg home boundary revision, which Rep. Shuler helped
pass the House in May 2007, was part of larger Senate public lands bill, S. 2739, the
Consolidated Natural Resources Act.
 
The Consolidated Natural Resources contains more than 60 public lands bills that had
previously passed the House individually. Rep. Shuler had originally introduced the
legislation to allow for the boundary revision of the Sandburg home, H.R. 1100, in
February 2007. H.R. 1100 passed the House in May of 2007. 
 
“The Sandburg home is an important part of both our heritage and our economy in
Western North Carolina. By expanding the site and allowing the building of a new
visitor’s center we will ensure that the Sandburg Home continues to help drive our
economy,” said Rep. Shuler. “I am extremely pleased that this legislation has now passed
both chambers and will be going to the President for his signature into law.   
 
In 2003 the National Park Service recommended the expansion of the historic site’s
boundary by up to 115 acres to allow construction of a visitor center and parking lot as
well as to protect the pastoral views from Sandburg’s estate. This recommendation was
developed through a 4-year planning process that involved extensive community input.
 
Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr cosponsored companion legislation to Rep.
Shuler’s bill in the Senate.  
 

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Download: Rep. Shuler Applauds Passage of Carl Sandburg Home Expansion Bill

Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler announced today that Transylvania
Community Hospital has been awarded a rural health development grant for $540,000 over a
three-year period through the Department of Health and Human Services. The grant will be used
to further implement the local use of electronic medical records in physician offices.
 
This local network will allow Transylvania Community Hospital and its physicians to rapidly
and securely share patient information and public health data with area physician practices and
other members of the WNC Data Link Network. The exchange of patient data through the
network is done securely and in real-time.
 
“By ensuring that all of our hospitals and doctors have access to the most up-to-date,
comprehensive patient information possible, they will be able to provide the right treatment
options for patients with greater efficiency and fewer errors,” said Rep. Shuler. “Transylvania
Community Hospital and the WNC Health Network are leading the way in health technologies,
and I am proud to continue working with them to provide the best, most-efficient healthcare
available to the people of Western North Carolina.”
 
Transylvania Community Hospital and its medical staff serve patients in Transylvania County,
western Henderson County and a small portion of Jackson County. The grant will help establish
an electronic medical records network between area physician offices, Transylvania Community
Hospital and other hospitals in Western North Carolina. The network promises to lower patient
care costs and improve the speed and accuracy of delivering health care by providing physicians
and hospital staff with patients’ complete, real-time medical histories.
 
“Shared electronic medical records—by providing accurate patient information—will benefit
physicians and patients by improving the quality and safety of medical care,” said Bob Bednarek,
President and CEO of Transylvania Community Hospital. “At the same time, this electronic
network will lower patient-care costs by eliminating medical test duplication and will provide a
detailed picture of the health of the overall community. This information will help physicians
and leaders better assess the healthcare needs of the community as well as manage chronic
diseases and promote healthy lifestyles.”

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Download: Rep. Shuler Announces Health Care Technology Grant for Transylvania Community Hospital 

Moratorium on Cuts will Save NC $514 Million Next Year
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler today voted for crucial legislation to
protect Medicaid from new regulations proposed by the Bush Administration. These new
regulations could have cost states up to $50 billion in federal matching funds over the
next five years. North Carolina could have lost up to $2.7 billion over that five year
period, including $514 million next year. The Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act,
H.R. 5613, delays the implementation of the changes until March 2009.
 
The Bush Administration’s seven proposed regulation changes included restrictions on
payments for rehabilitation services, case management services, hospital outpatient
services, and safety net institutions. The changes also completely eliminated payments
for graduate medical education and school-based outreach and transportation programs.
 
“Medicaid is a partnership between the federal governments and the states. For that
system to work properly the federal government must fulfill its end of the bargain,” Rep.
Shuler said.
 
Medicaid operates on a cost sharing basis between the federal and state governments. For
every dollar a state spends on Medicaid, the federal government contributes matching
funds. In North Carolina, for every dollar spent on Medicaid, the federal government
contributes $1.78.
 
“Slashing these programs, which help the youngest and poorest citizens of this nation,
would have been immoral. I was proud to stand up with so many of my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to implement this moratorium,” Rep. Shuler concluded.
 
The Medicaid Safety Net Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support 349-62. It
had previously been endorsed by all 50 state governors, the National Association of
Counties, the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and
the AARP.

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Download: Rep. Shuler Stands Up for NC Hospitals by Protecting Medicaid

Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler today celebrated Earth Day by
renewing his call for America’s energy independence through clean, renewable, and
sustainable energy sources. 
 
“We have begun taking strides to create an energy policy for the 21st Century that reduces
carbon dioxide emissions and increases CAFE standards for the first time in a
generation,” Rep. Shuler said. “Now, we must continue working to end our dependence
on petroleum and replace it with renewable and sustainable energies.”
 
Earlier this year the 110th Congress passed and had signed into law the Energy
Independence and Security Act. The Energy Independence and Security Act will cut oil
consumption by 2.9 million gammons per year, more than the U.S. imports daily from the
Persian Gulf. This legislation also greatly expands America’s biofuels production from
non-food sources, like switchgrass.
 
The Energy Independence and Security Act also included Rep. Shuler’s Small Energy
Efficient Business Act, which will assist small businesses become more energy efficient. 
 
“After years of neglect by the Bush Administration, we are finally beginning to make a
positive impact through our nation’s energy policy. We must continue investing in the
research, development, and infrastructure necessary to truly make our nation energy
independent. With a committed effort, I know we will be successful,” Rep. Shuler
concluded.

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Download: Rep. Shuler Celebrates Earth Day by Renewing Call for Energy Independence

Western North Carolina Clean Energy Business Incubator will Promote Local Economy 
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler will join Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Community College to announce tomorrow morning that he has secured a
federal appropriation of over $350,000 for the creation of the Western North Carolina
Clean Energy Business Incubator.
 
Rep. Shuler secured the funding in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act.
The Clean Energy Business Incubator will help attract “anchor” businesses and form a
clean energy cluster. 
 
Rep. Shuler will tour the existing Small Business Incubator prior to the announcement.
 
What:  Announcement of federal appropriation for the creation of the Western
North Carolina Clean Energy Business Incubator
 
Who:  Rep. Heath Shuler; Russ Yelton, Executive Director of Entrepreneurial
Ventures and Business Incubation Asheville-Buncombe Technical
Community College
 
When:  Friday, April 11th 
10:00 a.m. – Tour of AB Tech Small Business Incubator
10:30 a.m. – Official Announcement of Federal Appropriation
 
Where:  AB Tech Enka Campus
  Room 2046 of the Small Business Center

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Download: Rep. Shuler to Announce Federal Appropriation to Expand Green Energy

Will Work to Protect WNC Specialty Crop Growers
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler has been appointed as a conferee on the
reauthorization of the Farm Bill. As a conferee, Rep. Shuler will be part a small group that works
to reach a compromise on the different versions of the Farm Bill passed by the House and Senate.
He was selected to serve as a representative of the Small Business Committee on the conference
committee.
 
“I am honored and excited to be a member of this conference committee,” Rep. Shuler said. “For
years specialty crops, like those grown in Western North Carolina, were ignored by the Farm Bill.
I am committed to working to ensure the gains made in the House bill remain in the final version
of the bill.”
 
The House version of the Farm Bill, officially the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2007,
makes historic investments in programs to support Western North Carolina’s fruit and vegetable
producers, including $1.5 billion in baseline budget funding dedicated to programs that directly
benefit fruit and vegetable producers.
 
This bill also benefits specialty growers by improving programs that provide schools with
nutritious fruits and vegetables. The House version of the Farm Bill expands Section 32 funding,
which is used by the USDA to directly purchases a variety of fruit, vegetable and tree nut
products for through domestic nutrition and food assistance programs to provide fresh fruits and
vegetables in our schools. Rep. Shuler originally requested this increase in a letter to the Rep.
Collin Peterson, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
 
“As a representative of the Small Business Committee, I will also be working to ensure that small
businesses that are related to farming, both directly and indirectly, receive security in the final
version of the Farm Bill,” Rep. Shuler continued. “From the drought to last year’s Easter Freeze,
we in Western North Carolina know that agriculture disasters affect businesses throughout a
community, not just farms.”
 
Rep. Shuler is the only Democratic freshmen to the Conference Committee.

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Download: Rep. Shuler Named to Farm Bill Conference Committee                                                       

Bill Aims to Eradicate TB, Malaria, & HIV/AIDS  
 
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler today joined with an overwhelming
bipartisan majority of the U.S. House to pass historic legislation to fight deadly diseases
around the globe. The Lantos-Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization, H.R. 5501, was approved by a vote of 308-
116.
 
Today’s legislation was to reauthorize the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act (PL 108-25), which was implemented on a bipartisan basis
in 2003. That original legislation authorized $15 billion over five years has been
remarkably successful, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the original legislation,
sub-Saharan Africa saw 1.5 million people with AIDS receive life-savings medication
and programs to prevent the spread of the HIV infection successfully promoted.
 
“America has a moral responsibility to help developing nations fight these deadly
diseases. I am very pleased that Democrats and Republicans joined together to
reauthorize this important program and to save countless lives,” Rep. Shuler said.
 
The Lantos-Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
Reauthorization Act authorizes $50 billion, and it will allow the U.S. to create strategies
to transition from emergency phase programs to long-term sustainable programs that can
be maintained by the host countries.   
 
Within the next five years, the bill also aims to train 140,000 new health care workers;
prevent 12 million new HIV infections; provide life-saving drugs for 3 million people
with AIDS; and provide medical and nonmedical care for 12 million people, including 5
million orphans.

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Download: Rep. Shuler Supports Historic Commitment to Save Lives & Fight Global Diseases