J Dennis Hastert News

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. held a keel laying ceremony yesterday at its Marinette Marine subsidiary for the Coast Guard's newest icebreaker, the Mackinaw.. The ceremony featured Admiral Thomas Collins, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, as the keynote speaker, with Jean Hastert, wife of J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, serving as the ship's sponsor and authenticator. "The construction of this multi-mission vessel further demonstrates Manitowoc's superior technical and engineering capabilities," said Dennis McCloskey, president of Manitowoc Marine Group. "We are on schedule to deliver this innovative icebreaker in 2005. Not only is the Mackinaw the newest vessel we're building for the U.S. The Mackinaw will be approximately 240 ft. long, 60 ft. wide, and displace 3,500 long tons.

Stressing the high value to the nation and the critical condition of some of its chief assets, the Inland Waterways Users Board released its Annual Report to Congress, and provides recommendations related to the inland waterways system of the United States. Sent to Assistant Secretary of the Army John Woodley, President of the Senate and Vice President Dick Cheney, and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, this year's report strongly urges Congress and the Administration to view our nation’s waterways as much more than just transportation routes, but also living resources that provide benefits such as flood control, hydroelectric power, local water supply, recreational opportunities, and habitat for fish and wildlife.

The House Appropriations Committee moved forward with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 supplemental defense appropriations bill yesterday afternoon, reporting a $29.7 billion package out of committee by voice vote and sending it to the House floor for a possible vote next week. Although the committee worked its way through controversial amendments to produce a bill that would be acceptable to the president, conservatives in the House remain upset that that the supplemental appropriates more funding than President Bush's initial request of $27.1 billion. GOP Budget hawks plan to press leadership on this issue as the rule for floor consideration is developed.

President George W. Bush signs the Transportation Equity Act, at the Caterpillar facility in Montgomery, Ill., Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Joining the President on stage in front row, from left, are Congressman Ray LaHood, R-Ill.; Congresswoman Melissa L. Bean, D-Ill.; Congressman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn.; Congressman Tom Petri, R-Wis.; Senator Kit Bond, R-Mo.; U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta; Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.; Congressman Bill Thomas, R-Calif.; and Congressman Bobby Rush, D-Ill. President Bush signed into law the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) – H.R.

Senators who want to open new areas of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas production heralded came to a compromise. The agreement was supported by a key Florida senator, Republican Mel Martinez, who previously had vowed to block anything he perceived as a threat to the state's multimillion-dollar beach-related tourism industry. The deal, promoted by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and several Gulf Coast lawmakers, would open an 8 million-acre segment of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to production while barring drilling within 125 miles of the Florida coastline. Drilling proponents say the new area that would be open to production contains more than 1 billion barrels of oil and more than 5 million cubic feet of natural gas.