Mourning Connecticut's loss
| | 
| | During this time of national mourning regarding the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, it is important for us to count our blessings and appreciate our loved ones all the more. My wife Kris and I join the people of Pennsylvania and all Americans in expressing our deepest sorrow at the loss of life in the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings. As parents, we are horrified. Our hearts break for the families of these innocent victims. As our nation seeks a return to a sense of normalcy after these horrific events, please know that I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate to explore ways to improve public safety and address other important challenges before us. At the start of this New Year, I am also as committed as ever to serving the people of Pennsylvania. I will continue to seek areas of bipartisan cooperation with Sen. Bob Casey and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to grow our economy and restore our financial integrity. I hope you will find the below updates on these and other issues helpful. As always, thank you for your time and interest. Happy New Year, Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator | | |
Filling PA judicial vacancies
| | 
Sen. Bob Casey and I have worked closely on a bipartisan basis to fill our state's judicial vacancies and I am pleased to report that Pennsylvania's Middle District will soon have two new qualified and experienced judges to serve on the federal bench. On Dec. 21, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Matthew Brann and Malachy Mannion as United States District judges for Pennsylvania's Middle District. These confirmations were the result of months of hard work by Sen. Casey and me. Earlier this year, we recommended Mr. Brann and Mr. Mannion to President Obama who then nominated them in May. Now that Mr. Brann and Mr. Mannion have been confirmed by the Senate, they will begin serving Pennsylvania in the New Year. Matthew Brann has a wealth of legal experience gained from more than two decades in private practice. He will sit in Williamsport, which has been without a federal judge for two years. Malachy Mannion has distinguished himself as an outstanding U.S. magistrate judge for more than a decade, and his intellect, experience and knowledge of the law will serve him well as he takes up his judicial seat in Scranton. Since being elected senator two years ago, it has been my goal to work with Sen. Casey to help confirm individuals of unquestioned honesty, ability and integrity. I am confident that Matthew Brann and Malachy Mannion will live up to these standards. | | |
Protecting Taxpayers
| | This month, I led the effort to defeat an extension of the Transaction Account Guarantee, a taxpayer-funded bailout of banks enacted in 2008. The program was created during the height of the financial crisis to provide unlimited government protection for checking accounts above the normal $250,000 amount. While it was used mostly by corporations, municipalities and very wealthy individuals, the American taxpayers were on the hook for the full amount of these transaction guarantees. This bill also violated the budgetary limits - to the tune of $110 million over 10 years - set by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which Congress passed and President Obama signed into law. After years of industry bailouts and massive deficits, the last thing Pennsylvanian families need is the looming threat of another taxpayer funded bailout of our banks. I raised a budget point of order on the Senate floor against this program and am pleased to report that the extension of this program has been defeated. | | |
Providing for our homeless veterans
| |  I'm happy to report the Senate passed a version of my Clothe a Homeless Hero Act. I cosponsored this bipartisan bill with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to require the Transportation Security Administration to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and local charities to distribute unclaimed clothing left at airport security checkpoints to homeless and needy veterans. According to the VA, about 75,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and about 20,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been homeless within the last five years. There is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure we take care of those who have sacrificed to protect our families and our way of life. That said, this bill is a small but an important step forward. I thank my Senate colleagues for joining me in supporting this bipartisan, common-sense measure to help our veterans and their families. | | | | Preserving America's military readiness | | 
| | I continue to urge a freeze on any plans to close Pittsburgh's 911th Airlift Wing. Along with Sen. Casey, I have called repeatedly for a National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to determine what changes should be made in light of emerging national security requirements. Despite my repeated requests for over a year, the Air Force has not provided me with an analysis to explain why this base has been singled out for closure. I am concerned it would be premature to consider closing this base without an accounting of the costs and benefits the base provides taxpayers. I strongly believe that no action to close or downsize the unit should be undertaken until the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force has completed its work and Congress has been provided the analysis needed to assess such a decision. | | | |
