I just had a call from Sen. Dayton's office regarding body armor

[katinmn]

I had written to Sen. Dayton last week asking if he would look into why, after all the appropriations, troops STILL weren't getting all the protective armor they needed. I included a news clipping about a soldier's family that sent $600 for body armor for their son. What was unique about that story was that the new soldier had been advised by his commanding officer to do that when he arrived in Iraq.

The staff person that called said Dayton has been following this and he's very frustrated. He's written to the president and attended a hearing last night on the possible misappropriation of funds. The staffer said that the companies that have contracts to produce body armor aren't even close to producing at full capacity -- and this is after two years of promises and funding.

I'm glad some in Congress care about this issue.

They cannot let Rumsfeld and Cheney and the PResident get away with misappropriating funds meant to save lives.

The staff person also said Dayton has issued a brief statement on Bush's speech from last night. Short but to the point.

http://dayton.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=239730&&
June 29, 2005
Contact: Press Office, 202.224.3244
Press Release

U.S. SENATOR MARK DAYTON’S STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BUSH’S SPEECH ON IRAQ

“There has always been a big gap between the President's rhetoric and Iraq's reality. If conditions there were as good as he claimed tonight, the lives of the Iraqi people would be much better, the burdens on our courageous troops would be far lighter, and the levels of violence directed against all of them would be much less than they actually are.

“All Americans want the President to succeed in creating a democratic, secure, and self-reliant Iraq. We needed him to tell us tonight why, over two years, after our military forces swept the country so successfully and toppled Saddam Hussein, his efforts to secure and restore the country have been so unsuccessful and have left the conditions of lawlessness, violence, and misery that are exploited for terrorist operations.”

[Oreo]

1. Good to know he's still alive

I've started to wonder after not seeing or hearing anything from him since he announced he's not running again.

[katinmn]

2. I agree. I see he is putting a lot of effort into alternative fuels

http://dayton.senate.gov/issues/agriculture/renewablefuels.cfm

It doesn't get much coverage but I know he did a state tour during the last recess to try to draw attention to ethanol fuel.