March 2004

Welcome to the March edition of my Washington Report. I hope this newsletter helps keep you informed about important issues facing our State, our Nation, and the U.S. Senate.

In this edition, I am addressing several issues that have been in the news on the international, national and California fronts, including:

If you have any comments or questions on these issues or any other, please don't hesitate to let me know. I welcome your feedback on how you think things can be improved or if there are other ways in which I can better communicate with my constituents.

Please send any thoughts you have by logging onto to my website.

Best wishes,

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

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The Assault Weapons Ban Must Be Saved

The federal assault weapons ban -- prohibiting the manufacture and importation of 19-types of military-style assault weapons and dozens of others by physical characteristic -- will expire on September 13, unless Congress renews it.

The good news: The Senate went on record last week in support of legislation, which I sponsored with Senators John Warner of Virginia and Chuck Schumer of New York, that that would extend the ban. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate approved a straight 10-year renewal of the current ban as an amendment to a bill being pushed by the National Rifle Association giving gun manufacturers and dealers protection from civil lawsuits.

But in a bizarre twist, the NRA scuttled its own bill to prevent the extension from becoming law.

We will not give up the fight to save the ban. We will try to amend the extension of the assault weapons ban to another bill moving through the Senate before the ban expires.

Ultimately, however, the fate of the ban may be determined by President Bush, who has indicated that he supports its extension, but has not lifted a finger to help.

Over the past decade, we have had a chance to examine the assault weapons ban and to determine if it works and it enjoys support.

The results are in:

• More than three-quarters of Americans - including two-thirds of gun owners -- support the extension of the ban.
  
  
• The men and women of law enforcement across the nation support the ban. The Fraternal Order of Police endorses another ten years, as does almost every other major law enforcement organization, including chiefs of police all across California and the nation.
  
  
• No weapons have been confiscated from legitimate gun-owners. In fact, the bill specifically protects 670 shotguns and rifles used for hunting.
  
  
• Recent Department of Justice figures indicate that the use of banned assault weapons in crimes has declined by 65% since the measure took effect.

If Congress fails to act, weapons of war -- like AK-47s, Street Sweepers, and Tec-DC9s -- will once again be made in America, and potential criminals and terrorists who threaten our neighborhoods will once again be able to purchase them over-the-counter in local gun stores.

Now is the time to renew the ban for another ten years, and keep our communities safe.

Click here to learn how you can help save the ban.

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C-Change: Winning the War against Cancer

Last week, I joined with former President George H. W. Bush and leaders of the cancer community to launch C- Change: Collaborating to Conquer Cancer - an organization that will bring together the public, private and nonprofit sectors to address cancer as a societal problem.

The goal: to prevent an additional 1 million new cancer cases and 500,000 cancer deaths by 2010.

Like so many Americans cancer has touched my life. I lost my husband, my father, and many friends to cancer. When I came to the Senate, I pledged to do anything I could do to help in the fight. That was why I was so pleased to participate in this effort.

Originally formed as the National Dialogue on Cancer in 1998, the organization has evolved from a group seeking dialogue into one seeking action.

We stand at a great moment in time. It is now possible to make advances in the treatment and prevention of cancer that were not possible before -- because of the advances in molecular and cellular biology and the human genome.

I will never forget a Saturday morning sitting at a hotel in Washington, listening to the scientist who created Gleevec, one of the new, cutting edge targeted cancer drugs, used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. Gleevec shows the tremendous potential of new drugs, which are targeted at the cancer cells and do not harm good body cells. Gleevec had been given to individuals in hospice, and within 12 hours the disease had reversed, and the individual was able to walk out days later.

This indicated to me that if we act smarter, if we increase research funding into new drugs, who knows what we might be able to accomplish.

As a product of these discussions, I introduced in the Senate a new National Cancer Act. The last Cancer Act was developed in the Administration of President Richard Nixon, when cancer was a scourge, and no one thought it could be stopped.

We now know so much more than we knew then about how to prevent cancer, how to treat it, how people can recover from it. As a matter of fact, California is the first state in the Union to see a decline in lung cancer among women, as a result of the State's active prevention efforts.

C-Change has come together to try to move a cancer solution forward, for all Americans.

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Combating Gang Violence

In recent years, gangs have become more sophisticated and more violent criminal enterprises. What were once loosely-organized groups centered around dealing illegal drugs within a particular neighborhood are now complex criminal organizations whose activities include weapons trafficking, gambling, smuggling, robbery, and homicide.

In 2002, over half the 1,228 homicides committed in Los Angeles County were gang-related. Similarly, over half of the 499 murders committed in the City of Los Angeles during 2003 were the result of gang violence.

The reach of gangs, however, extends far beyond Southern California. Indeed, Los Angeles serves as a "source city" whose gang members migrate to other communities across the country and set up new criminal entities.

To address the gang problem nationwide, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and I have introduced the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act. The bill:

Recently, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton likened gang violence to a sleeping tiger. At a two-day gang violence summit held in January, Bratton warned, "When this tiger awakens it's going to explode, and many communities aren't prepared for it. And we have a national government, a Congress, that is not focused on the problem."

Gangs present a lethal threat to communities across California and across the nation. And Chief Bratton is right - it is time for Congress to focus on this problem and address it at the national level.

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Outsourcing

Our nation has entered a period of economic recovery -- with an 8 percent gain in productivity in the last quarter of 2003. But it is clear that a great deal of this productivity comes from two things:

• Downsizing - companies are increasingly laying off people and
  
• Outsourcing - companies are increasingly turning to labor in foreign places to produce their jobs.

So while corporate earnings are up and the stock market is approaching 11,000, we are continuing to lose manufacturing jobs. In fact, since January 2001 this nation has lost 2.8 million manufacturing jobs. My home state of California has lost more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs over that same period - a 16 percent decrease.

What this all says to me is that we need to create incentives for jobs to remain in this country and we have got to ensure that our immigration laws are such that we do not make it easy to replace an American worker with a foreign worker at a third of the salary.

I am deeply concerned about this issue. This is why I am working with Senators Debbie Stabenow and Jim Bunning to pass an immediate 3 percent cut in the tax rate for America's manufacturers.

A stimulus directed at this sector of our economy is long overdue. America's manufacturers need tax relief so they can grow jobs here at home.

In addition, I am concerned about the impact of outsourcing on American's personal privacy. That is why I have written letters to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the CEOs of several major U.S. corporations, and the General Accounting Office to determine the risks of outsourcing on personal information and to ensure that there are adequate safeguards in place to protect that information.

These are critical issues, and I will be following them closely to find ways to protect American jobs from downsizing and outsourcing and to protect American's personal privacy.

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My visit to California: Pandas & Stellar Students

During the week of February 15, I had the opportunity to visit Southern California, and the highlight of the week was my visit to the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, where I saw the zoo's new panda cub, Mei Sheng.

In 1996 I helped establish an agreement with the Chinese government for giant pandas to be loaned to the San Diego Zoo as part of a 12-year breeding program. In September 1996, the first two pandas to arrived at the zoo, a female named Bai Yun and a male by the name of Shi Shi. Shi Shi was later returned to China, but was replaced by another male, Gao Gao.

On August 21, 1999, Bai Yun and Gao Gao gave birth to Hua Mei, the first giant panda successfully bred in North America. Because the agreement with the Chinese government requires that all off-spring of pandas on loan be returned to China after their third birthday, zoo officials were required to send Hua Mei home in 2003. However, the outbreak of the SARS virus delayed her return until February 11, 2004. Hua Mei will be sent to the renowned breeding program at the Wolong Nature Reserve.

In the summer of 2003, zoo officials announced that Bai Yun was pregnant once again. On August 19, 2003, Bai Yun gave birth to a 13 ounce, 8 inch male cub who was later named Mei Sheng. With the birth of Mei Sheng, there are now nine pandas in zoos in the United States--three in San Diego, and two each at the zoos in Washington, D.C., Nashville and Atlanta.

As you can see from the pictures, Mei Sheng is doing quite well and has captured the hearts of all who visit him.

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Washington Reports - Stellar Students

While touring the State, I also had the opportunity to address two groups of community and business leaders - in San Diego and in Los Angeles.

At these events, I discussed some of the major issues facing the Nation and the State, including:

These are all important issues, and I encourage you to read the text of my speech if you would like more information on my views.

My favorite part of the speech, however, is when I have an opportunity to recognize some of the best and the brightest young people in our communities - our State's stellar students.
These are students who have proven that they have what it takes to succeeds students like:

Christina Marcellus -- Christina is a junior at Westchester High School. She has a 4.0 grade point average. She's been on the honor roll every semester. She's captain of the golf team where she earned the title "League Champion," and represented Westchester High School in the City Championship. She's not only an outstanding student academically and an excellent athlete but her devotion to community service is where she really shines. As Vice President of Westchester High School's Interact club, Christina has spearheaded a variety of community service activities. She has served the homeless at the Union Rescue Mission, packaged care packages at Children's Network International for families devastated by disasters around the world, and helped to run a canned food drive for the Los Angeles food pantry. What a wonderful young woman.

Alejandro Reyes - Alejandro is a senior at Bernard Catholic High School in Playa Del Rey. Alejandro has a 4.43 grade point average in honors and advanced placement classes. He has excelled athletically on varsity cross country for four years and JV soccer. He's a recipient of Gatorade's 'Will to Win' Athlete Award. He's a member of the high school marching band, president of La Sociedad de Los Latinos, the Hispanic cultural club; he's president of the literary arts magazine club. He's commissioner of environment for the Associated Student Body at his school. His hobbies include fishing, observing nature, running, writing poetry, and cooking. He plans to attend a four year college and pursue a career in Latino American studies.

Ashley Scott -- Ashley is a student at Monarch School in San Diego. She is an excellent student and a very hard worker. She's received all A's and takes advantage of every opportunity offered to her, including serving on the newspaper staff, student leadership, and participating in the schools business class. She's a voracious reader, and she reads two to three books at one time.

Daniel Mayo -- Daniel is also a student at Monarch School in San Diego. He is an exceptional student, receiving four A's and two B's this past semester. He's especially strong in math. He's also a very conscientious young man. He's considered a peacemaker by his peers and teachers. He is involved in many school activities, including working at Care House Christian Outreach program and creating beautiful artwork and mural's at campus. After receiving a degree, he plans to attend college where he intends to pursue a career in architecture.

My deepest congratulations go to all of these students and their families. They truly represent the best California has to offer, and they should be commended.

Please send any thoughts through my web site.

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