Dear South Dakotan,
South Dakota leaders deal with natural and economic disaster in very different ways. When an F4 tornado hit Spencer, Governor Bill Janklow set up camp that night in the devastated town. He saw a need and took care of it. When Ellsworth was on the chopping, threatening Rapid City’s economy, Senator John Thune camped himself at the base closure hearings for weeks. He saw a need, and took care of it.
But when the James River Valley drowned under nine inches of rain last week, where was Representative Stephanie Sandlin? Well, she stopped by Aberdeen once, then jumped on a plane with Nancy Pelosi to investigate global warming…on a glacier…in Greenland. She saw a need, but didn’t stick around. It’s been raining again. Representative Sandlin, where are you when we need you? Call Stephanie Sandlin today…and ask her to come home.
Call 605-626-3440.
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Reprinted from The Politico: May 21, 2007
Global warming tour: Pelosi does Greenland
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a group of House members are planning to go to Greenland and Europe next week as part of what her critics have dubbed the "Global Warming Tour."
Pelosi will be joined by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), John Larsen (D-Conn.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and David Hobson (R-Ohio) on the trip, according to a draft itinerary of the trip circulating among House insiders and obtained by my Crypt-mate, Patrick O'Connor.
Markey is the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, a post he was appointed to by Pelosi earlier this year, and the other Democrats on the trip also serve on the panel.
Pelosi and her group are scheduled to arrive in Greenland on Saturday and after a tour of a glacier (we’re not saying which one for obvious security reasons), she will leave for London, including a dinner at the U.S. embassy there, followed by a stop in Brussels (and Berlin is possible if there’s time).
Pelosi and the other lawmakers will hold talks with English and European Union leaders on the issue of global warming and what needs to be done, or even can be done, to counter it.
House Republicans are privately claiming that Pelosi, with this trip in mind, will sign off on a deal for the long-stalled Iraq-funding bill, but the Speaker’s aides say don’t count on it.
"If national security isn't incentive enough to pass a clean bill for the troops before Memorial Day, maybe this junket will finally provide the motivation to do the right thing,” quipped a GOP leadership aide.
Brendan Daly, Pelosi’s spokesman, doesn’t think much of this charge, and he said Pelosi won’t go at all unless there’s a deal on the Iraq funding bill, which caught in a dispute between the White House and Democratic leaders over possible withdrawal dates for U.S. troops.
"The Speaker has already said that if the [Iraq supplemental] isn't done, she won’t go on this trip," Daly said.
He added that Pelosi "does believe that [global warming] a very important issue. She’s already talked to Tony Blair" and other E.U. officials on the topic.
"This is part of our responsibility, to investigate what we can do," Daly said.