Dear Friend:
I wanted to take a moment to update you on some of the issues I have been working on in the U.S. Senate.
To respond to this email or if you have any questions or comments, please click here to contact me or visit my award winning web site here.
Tell me your cell phone story!
In the past two decades, cell phones have moved from the Wall Street to Main Street. With more than 250 million subscribers nationwide, cell phones are no longer a luxury item. For an increasing number of Americans, their cell phone is
their only phone.
Despite the explosion in the market, the wireless industry continues to operate under rules from two decades ago – when cell phones were a niche market and phones were so large they could barely fit in a briefcase, let alone a pocket.
I hear from consumers every day who feel like their wireless providers have the upper hand; who feel trapped by restrictive contracts they entered without full information; and who are shocked by the bills they receive at the end of the month.
To help these consumers, I have introduced legislation – a cell phone consumer bill of rights – that has a very simple goal: to enable Minnesotans to make the best choice that fits their particular needs and encourage fairness, transparency and quality service in the wireless market.
My legislation will require that wireless carriers pro-rate early termination fees; provide consumers simple and easy to read bills as well as information on their service quality, including maps that are honest, up-to-date, and detailed enough so consumers can tell if they will have service at their home, school or workplace.
This legislation is a direct response to what I've heard from Minnesotans during my travels throughout the state. I've found that everyone has a cell phone story!
• I've spoken to Minnesotans whose service is spotty, at best, in locations across rural Minnesota – especially one spot near Bagley, Minnesota where the service doesn't even work in front of a billboard advertising the cell service!
• I've talked to countless families, whose cell works at home but not at work, or in the neighborhood but not at the lake, or on one side of town and not the other.
• I've heard from Minnesotans with sticker shock from high bills – including one St. Paul man who had a monthly bill for more than $20,000!
• I've experienced firsthand how a move to another town or state can leave you with a contract for cell service that no longer works in your new office or home area.
• I've talked to a number of consumers confused about their bills, wondering how a plan they budgeted for turned out to be so much more each month after countless fees are added.
My legislation will require that wireless carriers pro-rate early termination fees; provide consumers simple and easy to read bills as well as information on their service quality, including maps that are honest, up-to-date, and detailed enough so consumers can tell if they will have service at their home, school or workplace.
I'm pushing the cell phone companies to get this legislation passed and I need your stories to do it. Send me your cell phone story by clicking here.
We have seen how your stories have already brought change to Washington. Since I introduced this bill last fall, all major cell phone companies have announced that they will soon prorate early termination fees, and stop the automatic renewal of contracts without the express consent from consumers.
Help me send the cell phone companies a strong message and by telling your story. With your help, we can pass this important legislation!
P.S. – Here's news about other issues I'm working on for Minnesotans:
Klobuchar Says Fed Needs to Restore Public Confidence
Questions Bernanke on how Federal Reserve can prevent future financial meltdowns
In an exchange with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the Joint Economic Committee this month, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar asked how regulators can prevent future crises such as the implosion of the investment bank Bear Stearns, and how the government can stop the ripple effects of the recent meltdown in U.S. financial markets.
Klobuchar, a member of the Joint Economic Committee, also asked Bernanke what tools the Federal Reserve needs to stabilize and adequately regulate the fast-changing investment industry. Bernanke testified today before the Committee on the health of the economy and regulation of financial markets, acknowledging that problems in the housing market are now spilling over into the broader economy.
"The country's financial-market crisis is rapidly becoming a middle-class crisis," Klobuchar said. "We need prompt action to restore the public's confidence in the financial markets, the housing market and the entire economy."
Klobuchar is a sponsor of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which would restore stability to the nation's housing markets by funding foreclosure-prevention services and helping states shore up communities hard hit by the foreclosure wave. The Senate is expected to vote soon on major housing legislation.
Klobuchar also asked Bernanke whether the federal government's large budget deficits are contributing to uncertainty in the financial markets.
"One in 12 federal tax dollars now goes to paying interest on the federal debt," Klobuchar noted. "It seems to me that restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington is crucial to restoring the confidence of our financial markets.''
Klobuchar Questions Skyrocketing Price of Drug for Premature Babies
U.S. cost of infant heart drug rose 18-fold, while price remains low in Canada
In a March letter to Ovation Pharmaceutical, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar challenged the pharmaceutical company to explain why the price of an important medication for premature babies has shot up 18-fold since the company acquired the rights to the drug in 2006.
"This company is exploiting a life-saving drug to engage in price-gouging at the expense of vulnerable, premature babies," said Klobuchar. "Even though it's an American company, the price they charge in the U.S. is actually 44 times higher than what they sell it for in Canada. Nothing can justify that kind of huge price disparity."
The pricing issue came to Klobuchar's attention recently when pediatric hospitals in Minnesota alerted her to it.
Ovation is also the sole source in the U.S. for the only other drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this infant heart condition. The price the company charges for that medicine is nearly identical to what it charges for Indocin I.V.
In a letter to the president of Ovation, headquartered in suburban Chicago, Klobuchar pointed out that the company has also raised prices sharply for other important medications, including Mustargen, a cancer drug, after acquiring distribution rights from other firms.
Klobuchar is demanding that Ovation provide details on its pricing of these medications. She said follow-up actions could include an investigation of the company by the Federal Trade Commission for anti-competitive practices; action by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services either to negotiate a change in the company's pricing or to investigate the propriety of the company's drug bills to the federal government; and fast-track approval by the FDA of a lower-cost generic equivalent. To read more click here.
EPA Takes the Easy Road on Ozone Levels
Senator Pushes Administration to put public health first
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar recently sent a letter to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insisting that he provide a detailed explanation for why the Administration chose to set the new limit on the allowable amount of pollution-forming ozone in the air at 75 parts per billion.
EPA scientists recommended a more aggressive and safer standard of 60 ppb, a level that some scientists say could avoid anywhere between 3,000 – 9,200 deaths per year. Klobuchar pressed the EPA to implement a more aggressive level, and chided the Administration for setting the bar too low and ignoring the risks to public health and the recommendation of its own professional staff.
"For over thirty years, protecting public health has not harmed the economy—nor is it likely to do so in the future. In fact, history has proven that our industry can and will rise to the challenge of high standards, creating the technology to meet them and allowing us to make continued progress on this critical issue," said Klobuchar. "As public officials, we are charged not with setting policies that are expedient, but which are in the best interests of the American people now and in the generations to come."
Research shows that pollution levels in the ozone have a direct impact on rates of heart and respiratory disease that result in premature deaths. The move would not only save lives, but could save between $2 billion and $19 billion annually in health benefits while only costing polluters between $7 and $9 billion. To read more click here.
Additional Resources for COPS Program
Amendment sponsored by Klobuchar adds $551 million to Community Oriented Policing Services, with support of Mayor Rybak, Mayor Coleman, and several local police chiefs.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) teamed up with Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) to pass legislation that would give police departments in Minnesota and across the nation the resources they need to keep communities safe. Klobuchar and Biden were successful in boosting funding for the successful Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program by $551 million in an amendment to the FY2009 Budget Bill passed by the Senate this month.
"COPS is a successful program with a proven record of reducing crime by helping local police departments put more officers on the street to fight crime," said Klobuchar. "As chief prosecutor for Minnesota's largest county, I saw for myself what a difference it makes when law enforcement officers can actually create a partnership with the community in Minnesota. This bill invests directly in our local law enforcement agencies, supporting proven programs that make a real impact."
Klobuchar's efforts to increase COPS funding was lauded by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, chair of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force on public safety for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
"As cities across America fight rising crime, it is essential that the federal government step up to help fund local public safety," Mayor Rybak said. "These funds will help to reverse the harmful state and federal budget cuts in recent years that lacerated crime enforcement and prevention programs in our cities. With the federal government as a partner, we are much better able to keep our cities safe and prosperous."
Since it was created in 1994, the COPS program has funded 118,000 officers in more than 12,000 communities nationwide. Researchers credit it as a significant factor in the national decline in violent crime that began in the 1990s. If passed, the amendment would nearly double the funding for the COPS program to a total of $1.15 billion.
The additional funding would be paid for by other offsets in the Budget Bill. To read more click here.
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