Senator Lamar Alexander - Essay Example

Senator Lamar Alexander Senator Lamar-Profile: Senator Lamar Alexander started his political career working as a legislative assistant for Republican Senator Howard Baker. This was followed by a stint with Bryce Harlow, who was Richard Nixon’s executive assistant, after which he served as the campaign manager for Winfield Dunn, who went on to successfully capture the Governor’s seat. In 1974, he received the Republican nomination for Governor of Tennessee, but was defeated by Democrat Ray Blanton. Lamar Alexander then went back to working for Senator Howard Baker who was elected as the Senate Minority Leader. Ray Blanton chose not to put himself up for a second term as Governor due to some scandals, so Lamar Alexander stood for election again in 1978. During this time, Alexander walked across the state of Tennessee, wearing a red and black plaid, lumberjack jacket, which became his campaign signature (www.who2.com). Alexander was sworn into his position three days earlier than the inauguration, in order to pre-empt the move by Blanton to pardon the sentences of any more criminals. (Boaz, 2001). Lamar Alexander later served as Education Secretary under President George Bush. He ran unsuccessfully for the Presidency in 1996 and 1999, losing out to the GOP candidate Robert Dole in 1996 and George W Bush in 1999 (www.who2.com). Senator Lamar Alexander has generally voted with the majority of his Republican colleagues. But one of the issues that the Senator has been deeply concerned with is education. He has consistently provided support in the Senate for scientific research funding. During his tenure as Governor of Tennessee, he helped the State to become one of the first to reward its teachers and pay them more for better performance, while also ending tenure for bad teachers. He also supported a bill put forward in the Senate to provide an additional 10.2 billion dollars for federal education and Health and Human Services projects.(www.ontheissues.org), but has rejected other bills to provide more resources to local educational agencies and to community centers. He has proposed that parents be encouraged to create Education Savings Accounts in order to support the education of their children. On this issue therefore, he follows the line adopted by his own Party, where the effort is to make the available funding more productive in terms of what it is able to achieve. Where abortion and the family is concerned, he follows the line advocated by his party and opposes abortion, but has diverged from his Party line in his support for research carried out using stem cells derived from embryos, as demonstrated by his support for the Bill no: H.R. 810. (www.projects.washingtonpost.com). Another important bill where he voted differently from the Republican Party was the bill H.R. 976, in which the Senate passed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which increased federal funding and provided health insurance for million uninsured American children. On the important issues, Senator Alexander has however generally voted with his Party and is conservative, leaning towards the Right on most issues. Before the Iraq war began, Senator Lamar Alexander supported the proposal to send troops into Iraq; he was in full agreement with President Bush’s argument that Iraq needed to be dealt with immediately. But after a year, when the Iraq war did not produce the swift results that were anticipated, Senator Lamar Alexander expressed the opinion that the war had been a learning experience. One of the lessons the war had taught was the “perils of waging a preemptive war.” (Chattanoogan, 2004). But he did not advocate a retreat from the war, arguing that “it would be even worse if we left before the job was done.” (Chattanoogan, 2004). He admitted that the United States was better prepared to wage the war than to handle the rebuilding process, but in the early years of the Iraq war, has generally opposed Senate efforts to end the war in Iraq or to reduce the number of troops in Iraq. For example, he voted against a bill that was proposed to mandate periods of rest before soldiers were redeployed to Iraq, and the amendment was rejected.(www.senate.gov) With the protracted role of the United States in Iraq, Lamar Alexander has also been calling for a change in policy and withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Where the question of troop surge arose in 2007, he supported the position adopted by Republican Senator Richard Luger, that where the war in Iraq was concerned, “the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that may be achieved.” (Nation, 2007). Luger expressed the opinion that with the political fragmentation in Iraq, there was growing stress on the military due to the protracted war and domestic issues and it was next to impossible for the United States to bring about a stable, non sectarian Government in Iraq within a reasonable time frame. Senator Lamar Alexander was in full support of these views and called upon President Bush to downsize troops from Iraq and transfer them to other countries. Although Senator Alexander is perceived as a strong proponent of education, having served as Education Secretary under the Bush administration, his views on this issue also toe the Republican line. For instance, an amendment was proposed to the Senate’s 2006 Fiscal year Budget Resolution that proposed an adjustment to adjust the availability of funding for education while simultaneously adjusting the federal deficit downward. The proposal was to shift $11 billion from corporate tax loopholes to education. By making provision for payment of corporate taxes through an elimination of the tax loopholes provided for the big corporations that already enjoy substantial gains and profits, it would have become possible to increase Federal Pell grant scholarships to $4500, restore funds for adult and vocational education, increase student loan forgiveness for Math and Science teachers to $23,000 and pay for other educational funding. But eliminating corporate tax loopholes would have gone against Republican policies that favor a smaller role for Government and a more significant role for private corporations and companies, because they are viewed as the means for wealth to trickle down into the economy. As a result, Senator Alexander voted No on this bill and his record shows that he has voted with his Party more than 88% of the time. On the issue of abortion as well, Senator Alexander espouses typically Republican views. He opposes abortion and believes that the states should restrict it. He has voted in favor of banning partial abortions, prohibiting minors to cross state lines to secure abortions, and on defining an unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. He has also voted yes to the imposition of a criminal penalty for harming an unborn fetus during any other crime. He also voted in support of a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriages. On oil, energy and environmental issues, he has supported the Bush administration oil policy, voting NO on several important initiatives proposed in this regard such as for example (a) reducing oil usage to 40% by 2025 (b) factoring global warming into federal project planning (c) banning drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife refuge(d) targeting for 100,000 hydrogen powered vehicles by 2010, all of which have important implications for the environment. In accordance with his interest in education, Senator Alexander has also proposed a bill in Parliament – S.CON. RES 33, to recognize the benefits and importance of school based music education. The following is the proposal for introduction of a bill to eliminate failed bilingual education programs and distribute them as scholarships for middle and low income families unable to speak English, for the specific purpose of learning English at a public or private school. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES (November 24, 2008) CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing the need to develop English as the single medium of instruction for bilingual students in American Schools and to divert funds away from ineffective bilingual education programs towards the achievement of this objective; Whereas English is and has been the common language that has bound Americans together since the foundation of this Republic Whereas it is in the interest of immigrant children speaking other languages to effectively acquire their education using English as the medium of instruction Whereas bilingual education programs have been instituted for the purpose of improving the educational outcomes of students from low and middle income families where English is not spoken Whereas current bilingual educational programs in existence at schools have been unable to achieve good results in terms of their educational output and improved performance of students. Whereas students who are going through such bilingual education programs are likely to find it difficult to successfully integrate themselves and function in a primarily English speaking employment environment Whereas every student in the United States should be able to develop proficiency in English in order to enable them to integrate effectively into the American way of life and enjoy a good future. Now, therefore be it: Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring) That it is the sense of Congress that attaining a good education should be the right of every child in the United States but funds being currently utilized for bilingual education programs be diverted into providing scholarships for these students instead, so that they may utilize those funds in order to gain enrolment in a public or private educational institution that can help them to learn English, so that they can function effectively as productive adults in the United States. References: * Boaz, David, 2001. “Pardon abuse: Deja vu”, CATO Institute, http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4353; * The Chattanoogan, 2004. “Alexander cites lessons of Iraq”, The Chattanoogan.com, February 19, 2004. http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_47008.asp; * Lamar Alexander. http://www.who2.com/lamaralexander.html; * Nation, 2007 (June 27). “Alexander joins revolt on Iraq”, http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/us/article/0,2845,MCA_25346_5604360,00.html; * U.S. Senate roll votes 110th Congress – 1st session. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00341; * The U.S. Congress Votes database. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/a000360/key-votes/; Read More