FroshUpdate: Canseco Criticizes Obama on FEMA Decision
As President Obama prepares to speak on immigration this afternoon in El Paso, Texas, local Rep. Quico Canseco (TX-23) criticizes him for talking on immigration issues while the state is still suffering from a staggering amount of wildfires.
Meanwhile, Cory Gardner is criticized by a constituent for challenging the EPA, and OH freshmen are criticized by a local paper for not being independent enough. And… Rep. Martha Roby spent Mother’s Day in Afghanistan and so deserves a clap. This is FroshUpdate for May 10, 2011.
TALKING FIRE: FF Lead – Rep. Quico Canseco asks: why is the President focusing on these things while Texas is literally burning? Last week, FEMA denied a request from Texas Governor Rick Perry for a declaration of emergency, which would have given the state access to assistance from the federal government. “Texas is on fire, from border to border and President Obama is looking the other way… when the Campaigner-in-Chief is in Austin for a fundraiser, perhaps he will find time to see the devastation,” said Canseco. http://bit.ly/jo6o4I
TAKING FIRE: The Atlantic lists freshmen Reps. Michael Grimm (NY-13) and David Schweikert (AZ-05) as two of the House Republicans “who have fielded flak from conservative bloggers, demonstrators, or town hall hecklers upset that Congress isn't acting faster to bring down the deficit.” http://bit.ly/ihrisG
ROUGH LETTER: Rep. Cory Gardner (CO-04) is criticized for challenging the EPA by a constituent whose son whose five year old son has cystic fibrosis. “Representing Northern Colorado, Gardner should know better than most that having clean air and jobs are not mutually exclusive,” she writes. http://bit.ly/ilgDBo
FroshUpdate is a regular look at how the freshman class is making news. Add us on twitter strong>@freshmenFF<, or tell others to join our mailing list by emailing strong>frosh@frumforum.com< with ’subscribe’ in the subject line.
PARTY VOTING: Ohio Republican freshmen Reps. Jim Renacci, Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson criticized by OH paper for voting with the GOP over 96% of the time, when they had all contended that their predecessors weren’t independent enough. http://bit.ly/jjiX0M
MOM IN AFGHANISTAN: Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02) spent Mother’s Day in Afghanistan, receiving briefings from military commanders and visiting wounded soldiers. http://bit.ly/mhr0a2
MAMMOTH FOSSIL MONUMENT: Rep. Bill Flores (TX-17) is advocating for the designation of a mammoth fossil site in his district as a national monument - but one that will receive no federal funding or National Park Service oversight. Flores' bill includes provisions to strip the designation away should the site ever need federal money to stay open. Flores said that it's "a win-win opportunity to be careful with our scarce financial resources and give Waco the designation the site deserves." http://bit.ly/kjbRKf