Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is set to be the keynote speaker today at the annual fundraising luncheon held by NARAL Pro-Choice America in Washington, D.C. The luncheon marks the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that Franken raised more than $81,500 from those groups during his Senate campaign, making him the highest recipient of such cash of any congressional candidate. His haul ranked behind the campaigns of President Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain during the last election cycle.

Full Entry »

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) today (Monday, Feb. 1) released his priorities for any jobs creation bill brought to the Senate floor.

In a letter to Senate leadership and chairmen of the relevant committees, Sen. Franken called for a two-pronged approach to creating jobs and stimulating the Main Street economy.

“Enough has been done to stabilize Wall Street,” said Sen. Franken. “Now it’s time to get Main Street back in order. Luckily, the path to job-creation is clear: support unemployed workers and their families while investing in the professions that have made our country great. That means a jobs bill that incentivizes hiring, improves our communities, and maintains a reliable safety net for families.”

Full Entry »

President Barack Obama’s 2011 defense budget proposal includes language that would prevent the government from working with contractors who deny victims of sexual assault the right to their day in court.

Buried deep in the Department of Defense budget proposal (page 92 of 94 of this PDF file) released on Monday is language that mirrors an amendment passed into law this year by Sen. Al franken (D-Minn.).

Full Entry »

The White House has included Sen. Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment, which would prohibit Defense contracts of more than $1 million (a vast majority of them) from going to firms that required their employees to accept binding arbitration for claims of sexual or any other kind of harassment.

The Franken Amendment, as it has become known, was successfully attached to the Fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations bill.

Inclusion in the Fiscal 2011 budget would be a step toward permanence for the amendment, which stands as among the highest-profile legislative victories for Franken in his first year in the Senate.

Full Entry »

Minnesota Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar generally agree on the issues, but not on the vote to confirm Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday. Klobuchar supported his confirmation while Franken was opposed, along with 30 other liberals and conservatives.

Party lines on the vote were extremely blurred (roll call here). The “nay” votes ran from the staunchly liberal Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to the extremely conservative Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

Franken said in a statement on Thursday that he voted no because he didn’t trust Bernanke to protect consumers.

Full Entry »

“Cash for Jobs” is U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s plan to put Minnesotans back to work.

National unemployment is greater than 10 percent with Minnesota not far behind. High and lingering unemployment is clearly an issue in Northeastern Minnesota where several cities on the Iron Range have unemployment rates exceeding 10 percent. We need Washington to pass a bill that puts Minnesota back to work as quickly and efficiently as possible — and that’s what Sen. Franken has proposed.

“Cash for Jobs” would create jobs in the private sector by targeting small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to grow but that are unable to make hires necessary because of the economy. The legislation could provide immediate assistance to small businesses with a hiring incentive.

Full Entry »

Carol and Dave Plamann counted their blessings last week when the two young sons they’ve adopted from Haiti stepped off a plane in Miami, safe at last.

Patrick and Bridget Menke still have only a photo of Roxanne, the 6-year-old Haitian girl they’re in the midst of adopting. “When the quake happened, the bottom fell out of everything,” Bridget Menke said.

The Plamanns and Menkes embody the anguish and vexing difficulties that come with trying to navigate a dense labyrinth of paperwork and the vast bureaucratic breakdown after the earthquake that has shattered Haiti.

Full Entry »

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Friday (Jan. 29) announced a coalition of support in Minnesota for his “Cash for Jobs” proposal to put people back to work. More than 50 Minnesota workforce councils, advocacy organizations, chambers of commerce, and faith groups endorsed Franken’s jobs bill.

The “Strengthening Our Economy Through Employment and Development (SEED) Act,” informally known as “Cash for Jobs,” would take $10 billion in existing funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and re-allocate it to creating jobs in the private and public sectors. The plan is based on the Minnesota Emergency Employment Development (MEED) program, which created thousands of jobs in the 1980s.

Full Entry »

North Dakota and Minnesota politicians and lobbying groups offered varying reactions Thursday to President Obama’s State of the Union mention of the controversial health care reform legislation being considered by Congress.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., advocated strongly for the passage of the Senate’s health care reform bill during a speech Thursday morning at the Families USA Health Action 2010 conference in Washington.

“I’m hopeful the American people recognize that ‘no’ doesn’t come close to cutting it as a solution to our health care challenges,” Franken said in prepared remarks.

Full Entry »

Sen. Al Franken has caught the populist anti-bank fervor going around, voting against the confirmation of Ben Bernanke to a second term chairing the U.S. Federal Reserve Board on Thursday.

“Working Minnesotans deserve to have the same or better protections from the Federal Reserve than Wall Street and the big banks,” Franken said in a statement released after the Senate vote, which went 70-30 for Bernanke. “I opposed the bailout because I didn’t believe it afforded enough taxpayer protections, and that’s why I oppose this nomination today.”

Full Entry »