Dear Friends:

We must get this country back on the right track. Between rising food costs, skyrocketing gas prices, the growing foreclosure crisis and the monthly increases to the unemployment rate, it has become more difficult for Minnesota families to make ends meet.

Congress is taking action to provide relief. This week, the House passed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act, which will help homeowners keep their homes, aid local communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and strengthen the economy and financial markets.

I am pleased to report that Minnesota's overall homeownership rate is one of the highest in the nation and I am working with my colleagues to keep it that way. But this housing crisis is not the only national disaster to severely impact our great state.

We all remember August 1, 2007 when the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed. Our state's tragedy exposed an enormous problem with America's infrastructure. I commend Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, my Minnesota colleague, for his strong leadership to invest and protect our nation's vital infrastructure. He has put forth important legislation to address this national issue and I look forward to continuing to work with him to build a 21st century transportation system.

We must get the economy moving, provide opportunities for families to succeed and restore America as a global leader.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Betty McCollum
Serving Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District

McCollum Votes for Housing Relief for Minnesota Homeowners

To read Betty's floor statement, click here

On Thursday, July 24, 2008, the House passed the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act will help families keep their homes, aid local communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and strengthen the economy and financial markets.

The legislation has earned the support of Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate. And President Bush did the right thing by abandoning his veto threat and pledging to sign this legislation into law.

The legislation will allow hard-working American families in danger of losing their home to refinance into lower-cost government -insured mortgages they can afford to repay - at no cost to the American taxpayer.  The bill also:

• strengthens neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis by providing resources to allow cities and states to buy up and rehabilitate foreclosed properties that are currently driving down home prices, reducing state and local revenues, and destabilizing neighborhoods;

• expands homeownership opportunities for veterans and helps returning soldiers avoid foreclosure and stay in their home;

• provides tax breaks to spur home buying; and

• creates a new fund to boost the nation's stock of affordable rental housing in both rural and urban areas for low and very low-income individuals and families.

The package also includes provisions that will help restore confidence in financial markets and shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The measure also provides the Department of the Treasury with emergency and temporary financing authority for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are important institutions that hold or guarantee nearly half of all mortgages in the United States.

McCollum Supports Oberstar's Bridge Reconstruction Bill

Click here to watch video of statement

Congresswoman McCollum voted for the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (H.R. 3999), introduced by Chairman James Oberstar. The bill was overwhelmingly passed by the House. She delivered the following statement on the House floor on Wednesday:

"Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 3999, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act.

"Nearly one year ago, Minnesota made the national news when our community lost a bridge, and so much more.

"In the wake of a heroic rescue effort in Minneapolis, this Congress responded with an emergency federal appropriation to rebuild the bridge.

"Our community is healing, and the new bridge is nearly complete.

"But August 1, 2007 must not be about one bridge in Minnesota.

"Our state's tragedy was evidence of America's desperate problem.

"Today, the Congress is rightly and responsibly turning to the task of repairing and maintaining thousands of deficient bridges across this country.

"We are making a commitment to remove one unnecessary worry from the everyday lives of America's families.

"This vote is about investing in the public good.

"This vote is about protecting public safety.

"And this vote is about restoring a public trust that remains badly broken.

"I commend Chairman Oberstar - the dean of the Minnesota delegation - for bringing this bill to the floor, and for his strong leadership on transportation policy.

"I look forward to continuing to work with the Chairman during reauthorization next year when we begin to build a 21st century transportation system for America."

Long-Awaited Minimum Wage Increase For Minnesota Workers Takes Effect

Last year, Congress enacted the first minimum wage increase in a decade, which went in effect this week. Over 81,000 workers in Minnesota will get a boost in their paychecks as the state's minimum wage is adjusted to $7.25. Currently the state's minimum wage is $6.15 per hour. Americans who work hard and play by the rules should earn enough to be able to provide for their families.

A Look at How Raising the Minimum Wage Helps America's Families:

• Raising the minimum wage to $7.25 over two years will provide an additional $4,400 per year for the families of minimum wage workers.

• For work performed from July 24, 2008 to July 23, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $6.55 per hour.

• For work performed on or after July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

• 12.4 million workers will benefit from the increase to $7.25 - 5.3 million directly and 7.1 million indirectly as a result of a new wage floor - as well as more than 6 million children of low-wage workers.

• Of the 12.4 million workers who will benefit from the increase to $7.25, 7.6 million are women, 3.1 million are parents, and 4.6 million are people of color.  [Economic Policy Institute, 7/08]

McCollum Opposes Closing of Minnesota Peace Corps Office

On Monday, Congresswoman McCollum sent a letter to Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter, a Minnesota native, expressing concern about plans to close the regional recruiting offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver, Colorado later this year.