The Public Record
John Davison Rockefeller IV, commonly known as Jay Rockefeller, is a prominent American politician and member of the Democratic Party. Born on June 18, 1937, in New York City, he served as the Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985 and later represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1985 until his retirement in 2015. During his time in the Senate, Rockefeller was known for his work on healthcare, education, and technology issues, advocating for the expansion of access to healthcare and the improvement of education systems in West Virginia and across the nation.
Today, I had hoped to be in Sutton, WV to fully celebrate Veterans Day with West Virginia veterans and their families. Since the Senate is in session, I must be in Washington, but I do want to recognize some of our Nation's finest men and…
There have been statements made on the floor today-- which I was not here to listen to because I was in a Commerce Committee meeting--expressing concern, outrage, et cetera, about what is happening with the Senate Intelligence Committee's…
today I want to honor an extraordinary person and one of my most dedicated staff who is retiring from service in the United States Senate, Charlotte Moreland. For 19 years, Charlotte has worked in my DC office, joining my team during my…
I rise to support the Bingaman-Snowe amendment, which would bar the Department of Transportation from using any funds to implement cost-sharing requirement for communities that receive subsidized air service through the Essential Air…
I tremendously regret the argument that took place between the Senator from Alaska and the Senator from New York, because that is exactly what we do not need around here. I thought the Senator from Alaska, as much as I respect him, should…
I oppose this amendment for a variety of reasons. I do not oppose this amendment because of the intent of trying to get to the bottom of all of the problems we face in the work we are doing in the Intelligence Committee, on which I serve…
I rise in support of the erstwhile amendment--maybe it will come back--calling on the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations that senior Bush administration personnel--perhaps including those working at…
I would like to draw your attention to a few very troubling statistics. Manufacturing employment in the United States has now fallen to its lowest level in 41 years. In the last five years, we have lost 16 percent of all our factory jobs…
today I want to introduce legislation to direct the Census Bureau to develop a test census of Americans living abroad in 2004. The long-term goal is to develop methods to include Americans living overseas in our next decennial census in…
for almost a week now the Senate has been debating the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. Several amendments have been offered regarding the need to determine the accuracy of our pre-war intelligence and the use of that…
as the Medicare prescription drug debate draws to a close, I would like to take a few moments to give my colleagues my honest assessment of this legislation. I join many of my colleagues in recognizing how difficult it has been for the…
this next amendment has to do with dual eligibility. Never in the history of Medicare have we precluded Medicare beneficiaries from being Medicare beneficiaries. In the underlying bill, for the very first time, we do. The people I refer to…
the argument made by the Senator from Pennsylvania is interesting because what he is basically saying is that it is more important that corporate America not be allowed to keep one out of three of their people they currently sponsor, who…
I hope we will pass my amendment. It is worse for employees. It is worse for employers. I hope my colleagues will support the amendment.
The Senator has responded simply by saying he would have to answer it in 50 different ways because there are 50 different States. To that I say yes, and all of them are either in the process of or will be in the process of cutting Medicaid…
The first amendment I will offer is to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for this new drug benefit, including low-income Medicare beneficiaries who are currently eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. They are known as…
I fully understand the constraints of the $400 billion, as the chairman of the Finance Committee indicates, and I think we all understood that to do a full prescription drug benefit, it was going to take substantially more than that…
I am very proud today to join my colleague, the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, in introducing the Homeland Security Grant Enhancement Act of 2003. This legislation will bring much-needed coordination to the fund application process for…
I cannot emphasize the importance of a vibrant and strong aviation industry. It is critical to our Nation's long-term economic growth. It is also vitally important to the economic future of countless small and local communities that are…
I cannot support the deal that has been reached because it is so clearly designed to benefit the elite members of our society at the expense of average taxpayers in West Virginia and across the Nation. Proposals that could have stimulated…
The average public school in this country is 42 years old. Last week, I visited two in West Virginia; one was 88 years old, and the other was built the year the Titanic was sunk. It is a disgrace. This amendment will provide $25 billion…
The FMAP is currently calculated annually under the following formula. The FMAP is at least 50 percent and is calculated based on the ratio of a State's 3-year average of per capita income to the 3-year average of per capita income of the…
I am particularly proud to be cosponsoring, with Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and others, improvements to the child tax credit. I think it is one of the most valuable provisions. [...] Basically, it increases the value of the…
I would support $30 billion. I support $40 billion provided that one-half is used for Medicaid, and then others could be negotiated out. So I do not think the $20 billion is enough, but $20 billion is what we have, and $20 billion is more…
I rise in support of S. 165, the Air Cargo Security Improvement Act. This legislation is another critical piece in our ongoing efforts to increase the security of our aviation system. I commend my colleagues, Senator Hutchison and Senator…
Politicians like Jay Rockefeller
