WASHINGTON – Fresh from a tour of Afghanistan, Sen. Al Franken expressed modest support this week for the president’s plan to drastically expand America’s presence in the war, now in its eighth year.

The Minnesota Democrat previously was uncommitted on whether the U.S. should deploy 30,000 more troops to the region. Speaking to reporters Wednesday from an airport in Dubai, Franken said he will back Obama’s plan and is “cautiously optimistic” about the war’s progress.

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Under legislation introduced by Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), emergency contraception (EC) would become available to all service members at all US military bases worldwide. The Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act would add EC to the basic core formulary, a list of medications that are required to be stocked at all military health facilities. It would also enable military women without prior approval from their doctor to receive EC, according to the Air Force Times.

In a statement, Senator Franken said, “all servicewomen should have the same access to this medication as civilians do…The fact that more than 2,900 sexual assaults were reported last year in the military-a nine percent increase-only heightens the need to ensure emergency contraception is always available.”

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DFL U.S. Sen. Al Franken is offering cautious support of President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

Franken said the plan isn’t the best option, but he’ll vote to fund President Obama’s plan, which transfers security to Afghan troops and starts to bring U.S. troops home by July of 2011.

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Franni Franken could be any empty-nester housewife, whipping up a batch of cookies in her flour-dusted apron. On a recent afternoon, she ignores her ringing cell phone as she measures sugar, chops pecans and sets out a baking tray.

But she’s no ordinary home cook. Her dark blue apron bears the seal of the U.S. Senate, where her husband, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), works. And the nut-studded sweets that she’s laboring over will feed staffers working on health care legislation, just a mile away on the Senate floor.

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Today, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced that the White Earth Band of Chippewa and the city of Minneapolis will receive $3,086,817 and $4,000,000, respectively, in Pathways Out of Poverty Grants authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These grants will benefit Minnesotans from Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Mahnomen, Clearwater, and Becker Counties.

The Pathways Out of Poverty Grants are designed to aid individuals who are living below or near the poverty line by providing them with the necessary training and support services so that they can become economically self-sufficient. The grants are specifically geared toward helping individuals find employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

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Emergency contraceptives would be made available at all military hospitals and clinics under bipartisan Senate legislation sponsored by Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

The Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act would add emergency contraceptives to the core list of medications that must be stocked by every military health care facility.

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Sens. Al Franken and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have sponsored a bipartisan bill that would require military medical facilities to include emergency contraceptives among medications available to servicewomen.

A statement from mid-December at Franken’s web site says current Department of Defense policy allows military hospitals and clinics to carry the contraceptive, also known as the “morning-after pill,” but it’s not required — which means servicewomen don’t have the same access to it as the general public.

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Al Franken, hot on the heels of his legislative victory to give female military contractors access to the criminal justice system if they are sexually assaulted abroad, turned his eyes this week to the female soldiers who face spotty contraception access and assaults of their own. Franken and Maine Senator Olympia Snowe introduced the Compassionate Care For Servicewomen Act to give servicewomen access to emergency contraception at all military bases–including those that are overseas.

The bill would require that all military pharmacies stock emergency contraception and offer it to servicewomen without a prescription, as the Food and Drug Administration currently allows civilian woman to obtain it. Currently, servicewomen face spotty access to emergency contraception coverage, particularly in facilities abroad, even as they were recently threatened with court martials if their primary contraception failed, if they were sexually assaulted or if they simply failed to use contraception and then became pregnant. Military facilities are not allowed to provide abortion services under federal laws covering Medicaid and Medicare recipients, soldiers and federal employees.

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Fresh on the heels of an amendment that made some of his Republican colleagues look like they were pro-rape, Sen. Al Franken is co-authoring legislation that would make it much easier for women in the military to obtain emergency contraceptive pills, sometimes known as “morning-after” pills — a touchstone in the culture wars surrounding womens’ reproductive rights.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, A Republican, is Franken’s co-author.

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St. Paul, Minn. — DFL U.S. Sen. Al Franken says he wants to visit Afghanistan to gather more information about President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops to the region.

Franken met with former diplomats, college professors, a military official and human rights workers this afternoon in St. Paul to discuss Obama’s strategy. After the meeting, he told reporters that he’s inclined to support Obama’s plan but is still weighing his options.

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