U.S. EFFORTS IN THE EARTHQUAKE RELIEF IN HAITI

MR. CARDIN:  Mr. President, I rise today to express my continued concern over the humanitarian situation in Haiti after the catastrophic January 12, 2010 earthquake. While the destruction has proved to make the aid and relief situation on the ground complicated and difficult to navigate, President Obama's promise to the people of Haiti that "you will not be forsaken; you will not be forgotten" has rung true to date. The global outpouring of support,… Continue Reading

COMMEMORATING THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

Mr. President, I would like to commemorate the League of Women Voters on the occasion of its 90 th anniversary.   The League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago on February 14, 1920, by many of the same women leaders who were part of the women's suffrage movement. Ever since that date 90 years ago, the League has played an active role in educating the American public about our democracy and about those who are running for elective office.    Carrie Chapman Catt … Continue Reading

CARDIN INTRODUCES MARYLANDERS FOR KEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY OVERSIGHT POSITIONS IN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

      Washington, DC - Marylanders continue to fill important senior-level slots in the Obama administration, U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) said today, after introducing two more nominees to the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), of which he is a member. This afternoon, Senator Cardin welcomed to the EPW Committee Arthur Elkins, Jr., nominee for Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Earlier in the day, Senator Cardin introduced William D. … Continue Reading

CARDIN URGES ARC NOMINEE TO MAKE THE COMPLETION OF THE NORTH-SOUTH APPALACHIAN HIGHWAY A TOP PRIORITY

      Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today called on President Obama's nominee to co-chair the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to make completion of the North/South Appalachian Highway a priority. Speaking at a nomination hearing for Earl Gohl Jr., Senator Cardin also asked for support for removing the prohibition on state's use of toll credits as matching funds for the Appalachian Highway p… Continue Reading

CARDIN SUPPORTS LANDMARK LEGISLATION TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, today joined Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and 20 other Senate colleagues in introducing The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA).   This landmark bipartisan legislation makes … Continue Reading

CARDIN, FEINGOLD, COBURN, COLLINS INTRODUCE RESOLUTION CONDEMNING UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL AND SIMILAR EFFORTS WORLDWIDE

      Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), with Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today have introduced a resolution calling on members of the Ugandan Parliament to reject the so-called "Anti-Homosexuality Bill." The bill, which was introduced in the Ugandan parliament in October 2009, would expand penalties for homosexuality in Uganda to include the death penalty, and require citizens to report information about … Continue Reading

INTERNATIONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for the International Violence Against Women Act, introduced today by Senators Kerry, Boxer, Snowe and Collins. I am proud to be a cosponsor on this legislation simply because it has the power to save the lives of women and girls around the world while increasing our safety here at home. This bill is particularly significant because it would be a very significant effort by the United States to tackle this … Continue Reading

CARDIN AND MIKULSKI JOIN 16 SENATORS IN LETTER TO GEITHNER CALLING FOR HELP TO COMMUNITY BANKS AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (Both D-MD) joined with 16 other Senators in calling on U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to take immediate steps to utilize TARP funding to stabilize community banks and improve credit availability for small businesses.   "Community banks play a significant role in providing credit to businesses in communities throughout the country," the Senators write in today's letter… Continue Reading

THREE MARYLANDERS NOMINATED TO SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT POSITIONS BY OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced Ian Kelly of Bethesda as President Obama's nominee to be U.S. Representative to the 56-country Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.   "The OSCE is at a critical juncture.  The organization still confronts such challenges as resolving protracted c… Continue Reading

CARDIN STATEMENT ON REVERSING DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) released the following statement after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee today on President Obama's stated intention to allow LGBT Americans to serve openly in the U.S. military. "America is fighting two wars, supporting humanitarian operations in Haiti, and fighting against al-Qaeda and other … Continue Reading

CARDIN STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FISCAL YEAR 2011 BUDGET

"Our economy is beginning to show signs of growth after the most serious crisis since the Great Depression, but we have much work ahead before American families and small businesses see and feel the oncoming recovery.   Like the President, I believe that we must invest in job creation and I believe we must do so in a fiscally disciplined way.   Effective middle-class tax relief must be paired with targeted investments that we pay for as we go.   … Continue Reading

CARDIN TALKS JOBS AT CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE CENTER JOB TRAINING PROGRAM

CAMBRIDGE, MD -- U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) today met with nurse assistant trainees at the Chesapeake College Cambridge Center to talk with them about the importance of job training in this difficult economy.  Dorchester County has an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, the second highest in Maryland.   The statewide unemployment rate for December 2009 is 7.5 percent.   Senator Cardin recently introduce the Boosting Entrepreneurship and New… Continue Reading

ON THE DEATH OF FORMER SENATOR CHARLES MATHIAS

Mr. CARDIN:   Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to talk about former Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias, who represented Maryland in the U.S. Senate for three terms and whose passing on Monday was a real loss for Maryland and our nation.   Mac Mathias was a true statesman in the best sense of the word.   He became a voice for those who had no voice, he fought to better conditions for working people, and he took bol… Continue Reading

CARDIN, MIKULSKI LAUD FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN HIGH-SPEED RAIL FOR MARYLAND

Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (both D-MD), announced today, with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, that Maryland has been awarded $69.4 million for high-speed rail projects that will create jobs and improve transit locally and along the northeastern corridor. The Baltimore-Washington surface transportation corridor is the busiest section of highways and railways in the county.    "The major … Continue Reading

CARDIN STATEMENT ON THE STATE OF THE UNION

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), released the following statement in response to President Obama's State of the Union Address. Senator Cardin is a member of the Senate Committees on Budget, Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Environment & Public Works, Foreign Relations and the Judiciary. His guest for the State of the Union address was incoming Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.   "America's workforce is the most productive in the world … Continue Reading

CARDIN INTRODUCES BILL TO PROMOTE JOB GROWTH IN AMERICA'S SMALL BUSINESSES

As part of his continuing effort to support small business, U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, today introduced a bill designed to spur job creation and strengthen our economy byproviding essential tax credits and loans to small businesses. Key provisions of Senator Cardin's bill will make available urgently needed working capital loans, reward small businesses for creating new jobs, and help to offset the sky… Continue Reading

CARDIN STATEMENT ON BERNANKE

U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) today issued the following statement about the upcoming vote to confirm Ben Bernanke to a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve:   "I will vote to confirm Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke to a second term, despite my belief that he bears some culpability for the lax regulation of Wall Street and fiscal policies that encouraged irresponsible lending and speculation. Mr. Bernanke has taken important steps in the last year to help stabilize m… Continue Reading

STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR BENJAMIN L. CARDIN ON THE DEATH OF FORMER SENATOR CHARLES MATHIAS

Mac Mathias was dedicated to civil rights, equality and economic opportunity for all Americans and he relied on his internal moral compass -- not on party dogma -- to guide his views. He was a statesman in the best sense of the word and I valued his judgment and advice. Maryland was fortunate to have such a fine, principled public servant who was dedicated to improving our state and nation.… Continue Reading

TEAM MARYLAND ANNOUNCES $5.6 MILLION TO PREPARE FOR THOUSANDS OF BRAC JOBS

    SEVERN, MD - U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (both D-MD)joined Congressmen C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, (MD-2), John Sarbanes (MD-3) and Frank Kratovil (MD-1) today to announce $5.6 million in new funding to help prepare Ft. Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground for the thousands of new jobs that will be heading to Maryland through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.     The federal funds, which were included in the FY 2010 O… Continue Reading

CARDIN CALLS FOR CONGRESS TO REVIEW PLANS FOR CLOSING GITMO AND CLASSIFICATION OF DETAINEES

      Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D?MD), chairman of the Judiciary Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee, today called for a careful examination of the Administration's plans for the indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees. He released the following statement:   "One year ago today, President Obama ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.   I commended the President because Guantánamo Bay clearly represents a failed syst… Continue Reading