Begich Newsletter to Alaska for December 2011

Excerpt from Mark Begich’s Newsletter – click on image to go to Mark’s website.

Americans got good news Friday when the Department of Labor announced unemployment has dropped to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. I want to keep that trend going so I welcome the scheduled vote this week by the Senate to extend the payroll tax cut. I support keeping this cut because this is no time to put an additional financial burden on working families who are continuing to struggle to make ends meet.

While in Alaska for the Thanksgiving break, I was honored to attend the deployment ceremony for the 4/25 from Joint-Base Elmendorf Richardson. An estimated 3,500 service men and women began their deployment to Afghanistan, where they will serve for the next year. They will join the 5,000 members of the 1/25 from Fort Wainwright already serving in Afghanistan. In my comments to the troops, I promised to continue to work hard to make sure our service members have what they need to meet the challenges overseas and at home. Part of my commitment is to the families, too; we have to make sure they have the support and services they while their loved ones are deployed.

The Senate last week also passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Nearly $400 million in investments for facilities in Alaska will come to the state once the measure is finalized through conference and signed by the President (see details below). With so many of our military members serving overseas, the timing of this legislation couldn’t be more appropriate.

I hope your holidays are going well and I’ll see you home in Alaska soon.
Sincerely,

Senator Mark Begich

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