www.chriscannon.com Recent Articles

House Minority Leader Boehner: Cannon Has Influence

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:10:42 +0100

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President Bush Endorses Congressman Cannon

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:01:20 +0100

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United States Chamber of Commerce Endorses Congressman Chris Cannon

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:25:50 +0100

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All's local in airline politics on the Hill

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:08:51 +0100

WASHINGTON - To Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, the chief executives of Delta and Northwest airlines vowed the merger wouldn't hurt the Delta hub at Salt Lake City International Airport and might lead to flights to Europe and Asia.
To Rep. Stephen Cohen, D-Tenn., they talked about the importance of Memphis and how the merger may even boost traffic through the airport. To Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the executives said the new merger wouldn't harm the independence of Midwest Airlines, which is partly owned by Northwest.
All politics is local, and when airlines talk of merging, it's especially local to the members of Congress reviewing the details.
The top executives of Delta and Northwest appeared before two committees on Thursday, pitching the merger of their respective companies as a positive deal for stockholders, employees and travelers. And, under questioning by committee members, hyped the importance of the merger to their hometowns.
Representatives and senators whose states rely on the two airlines for flights, employment and tourist traffic - including Georgia, Utah, Minnesota, Tennessee, Wisconsin - showed up ready to quiz the executives.
"This is a matter of the highest importance to all of our states and, in particular, Utah," Sen. Orrin Hatch said in his opening remarks.
The most stressed point on Thursday: Hubs will remain.
"There are no hub closures," Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told the House Judiciary task force on antitrust matters.
In fact, Anderson said, the merger will boost service to small communities and will make the hub system even stronger. "Hubs get stronger when you have more traffic flow," he testified before the congressional panel. "When you combine unique cities, you create a stronger patchwork" for the system.
It wasn't all just local, though.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., focused his opening remarks on how the merger would affect the industry, and by extension, travelers.
"I'm concerned that if this merger is approved it will simply result in a cascade of other mergers: Continental- United, American and U.S. Airways," Conyers said. "We might end up in a situation of three major carriers" competing with smaller carriers.
But Hatch said he sees the merger as the reality of the airline industry and the two companies as complimentary to each other.
And assured Utah would be OK in the merger, Hatch took a few moments out of his questioning time to pose some questions for his Senate colleague, Chuck Grassley of IowaÂ. They were all about Iowa.

This article by Thomas Burr appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune April, 25, 2008

IN OUR VIEW: View Cannon's record yourself

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:13:47 +0100

This article appeared in the Daily Herald April 23, 2008

In any election, an incumbent's record is fair game for debate. That's especially true in the race for the Republican nomination in Utah's Third Congressional District, which Rep. Chris Cannon has served since 1996.

Cannon's challengers this year have similar ideological views to his own in most matters. Their main assertion is that they can do the job better than he has.

But can they? Voters should undertake a dispassionate evaluation before deciding.

Sometimes sorting out the conflicting claims can be difficult. Luckily, in the Internet age, it's fairly easy to find things out.

The Library of Congress' Thomas Web site (www.thomas.gov) has a ton of information on what members of Congress have done, from roll call votes to committee reports. For instance, one tab will highlight measures Cannon has sponsored in the current Congress -- from naming a building to bolstering a water system in Juab County.

If thomas.gov presents a broad look at what a congressman does, other online sites sift through records to provide insights on the most important issues. Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org) has a useful section of that sort. For example, you can click on "immigration" and get records for all House members on eight key immigration measures dating to 1997.

The Web site shows thousands of bills, with all sorts of information. For example, Cannon voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which provided for building 700 miles of fence on the border with Mexico. It also shows that in 2004 -- when Republicans controlled the House -- Cannon voted no on HR 3722, a bill that would have required hospitals to provide information on undocumented immigrants seeking emergency medical care. The bill failed in the House by a lopsided vote of 331-88, so neither party liked it much.

Another online tool is provided by The Washington Post (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress).

The Post provides a wealth of information, including a summary of key votes that gives a full and balanced summary of major actions comparing Cannon's votes to the general Republican and Democratic positions. Cannon usually backed the GOP position and opposed the Democrat's measures. But there were revealing exceptions. For instance, he cut against the GOP grain by voting no on HR 5, a bill that aimed to reduce the interest rate on student loans. The bill passed the House by a wide margin.

The above-mentioned Web sites are nonpartisan, but it can be useful to see what the partisan groups say. The AFL-CIO's Web site (aflciovotes.notlong.com) analyzes Cannon's votes in 2007 and in his congressional career. The liberal labor group says that in 2007 he voted for the ALF-CIO position on only two of 22 votes, 8 percent of the time -- which is consistent with his lifetime rating from the group. Conservatives, of course, might view that as a badge of honor.

The National Taxpayers Union (www.ntu.org) says he voted "right" by their stands 86 percent of the time, winning an "A" rating.

There are plenty of other groups that also evaluate members of Congress, from the American Association of University Women to the National Association of Manufacturers. Such evaluations provide voters with important context that might be missing from mere lists of votes.

There's also the congressman's own Web site. For instance, go to http://chriscannon.house.gov/Biography and you'll find out Cannon sits on these committees:

• Judiciary: Ranking Member, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee; Courts, Internet, and Intellectual Property Subcommittee; Anti-trust Task Force.

• Government Reform and Oversight: Domestic Policy Subcommittee; Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee.

• Natural Resources: National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee.

One of Cannon's selling points is that he is gaining seniority, and thus more clout, in Congress. A newcomer would have to start at the bottom and work his way up. Critics might observe that it can take many years for a congressman to get into a committee chairmanship with real influence; these critics might also wonder if dissatisfied voters are willing to wait that long.

We leave it up to the voters to decide what it means, and if any of the challengers can do better than Chris Cannon. Would Utahns be represented any differently, or about the same?

Wall Street Journal Applauds Cannon Legislation

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:12:48 +0100

From today's Wall Street Journal editorial:

"The good news is that Mr. McCain isn't the only one calling a time-out on new taxes. Last week, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.) and Chris Cannon (R., Utah) introduced a wireless tax moratorium bill. It's time to protect consumers from this tax collector raid."

Click here to read full article

Global Scorning

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:14:06 +0100

The globe isn’t warming. Nuclear power is green energy. Mining is good for Mother Nature and even better for the poor. Welcome to Earth Day, Utah style.

Salt Lake City’s conservative think tank, The Sutherland Institute, is bringing some of the country’s best known global-warming skeptics and conservative environmental commentators together for a week of programs timed to coincide with Earth Day on April 22.

Katie Christensen, Sutherland spokeswoman, says energy is a new issue for Sutherland. Previously, the institute made a splash with pro-family initiatives like the “Natural Family Resolution” that it encouraged city councils throughout Utah to adopt (Kanab did).

“With Earth Day coming up, we knew the media would be bombarded with all these messages about eliminating carbon and saving the environment,” she says. “Everywhere in the media you hear all these different green initiatives. You have Al Gore winning all sorts of awards for An Inconvenient Truth. It seems like the media is bombarded with that side of the environmental movement.”

Even Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. buys in on climate-change science, she notes, supporting the Western Climate Initiative, a partnership of states setting targets for reducing greenhouse gasses. A conservative pushback on environmental issues is needed even in Utah, Christensen says.

Sutherland’s Earth Week event includes four days of talks by scientists and conservative thinkers from across the country and is capped by the screening of the “anti-environmentalist” film Mine Your Own Business at the Gateway. The privately funded institute won’t say who is putting up the money for the four-day conservative hoedown.

Speakers include Roy Innis, head of the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) whose new book Energy Keepers—Energy Killers argues environmental restrictions on exploring American energy reserves harm the country’s poor and minorities, who put a greater part of their incomes toward gasoline and utilities. Innis has headed the civil rights group CORE since 1968 and has long been a conservative activist, backing Richard Nixon’s campaign in 1968 and Alan Keyes in the 2004 presidential election.

Earlier this year, CORE gave Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon the organization’s first ever “Energy Keeper” award, recognizing him for “keeping The Dream alive and protecting the energy and economic civil rights of American workers and families.” The award was given during CORE’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. dinner attended by representatives of the American Conservative Union and the energy industry, including Americans for American Energy, which has funded a campaign opposing designation of federal wilderness in Utah. Conservative radio talk show host Sean Hannity served as toastmaster for the evening.

Innis speaks during Sutherland’s “natural resource use day.” “Nuclear power day” features a speaker from the conservative Heritage Foundation and a retired nuclear scientist.

One of the nation’s best-known scientists to deny man-made global warming will headline on “global-warming day.” Physicist Willie Soon’s articles challenging accepted notions of global warming have made him a darling of conservative groups and the energy industry. Soon initially came to prominence with a paper claiming variations in the sun were primarily responsible for global warming. A later paper challenged the notion that modern times have been particularly warm compared to the Earth’s entire history.

Also speaking will be Roy Spencer, a former senior climate scientist for NASA. He has recently made news for studies suggesting that models used to predict global warming are flawed.

Sutherland’s Earth Week finishes up with a screening of Mine Your Own Business, a documentary in which filmmakers travel to mines in Romania, Madagascar and Chile, contrasting the lives of the impoverished residents needing jobs with the wealthy activists trying to stop the mines. Some have dubbed the husband-and-wife filmmaking team, Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, as the conservatives’ answer to liberal filmmaker Michael Moore. They will answer questions after the screening.

“We’re just trying to tell Utah some of these green policies being touted by our elected officials are not necessarily good for Utah,” says Sutherland’s Christensen. “We wanted to come out and say you’ve got to really study the issue first and don’t believe all you’re reading about man-made global warming. A lot of the policies people try to push to help the environment end up hurting poor families and the economy.”

Bill aims to require free wireless Internet access

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:09:35 +0100

This article by Matt Canham appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on April 19, 2008.

Wireless Internet access would be free nationwide within a decade under a bill introduced Friday by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah.
The bill would require the Federal Communications Commission to auction off spectrum now not being used. The winner would agree to build a network accessible by 95 percent of the country within the next 10 years.
At the least, one tier of service would be free and include tools to protect underage people from seeing obscene content. In a statement, Cannon said the bill would help many in rural America where high-speed broadband access is spotty. And he said the bill would assist the United States to catch up to other nations that have more advanced broadband networks.
"We must ensure that this alarming trend is reversed and that all Americans, including those living in our states in the West, have reliable and affordable high bandwidth broadband Internet connections."
The bill is sure to be opposed by at least some Internet service providers who will chafe at the increased competition from a free-nationwide carrier.
The bill has been forwarded to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. - Matt Canham

Group urges Interior to protect Utah lands

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:07:25 +0100

This article by Matt Canham appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on April 18, 2008.

WASHINGTON - Nearly 100 members of Congress signed on to a letter circulated by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance that urges the federal government to protect remote areas in its ongoing land use plans.
The letter, sent Wednesday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, was signed by 87 House members and eight senators, most of them Democrats. It is a follow-up to a similar letter sent in October.
None of Utah's federal office holders signed either letter and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, has previously criticized other members of Congress for "trying to protect Utah from Utahns."
Richard Peterson-Creamer, who represents SUWA in Washington, countered by saying: "These are federal public lands, so it is a national issue."
The Bureau of Land Management is expected to complete six travel management plans this summer that will control the use on about 11 million acres.
SUWA and its supporters say the "preferred alternatives" mentioned in the draft plans lack the necessary wilderness protection and allow too much off-road vehicle use, mining and drilling.
"One of the most important legacies we will leave to future generations is the preservation of our nation's vital natural resources," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who along with Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, were the main congressional backers of the letters.
Cannon, a member of the House Natural Resources committee, said: "Congressman Hinchey and friends continue to try to help us to death here in Utah, and it's growing more than a little tiresome."
Rep. Rob Bishop's chief of staff Scott Parker said: "Maybe these folks should think more about their own states and districts, rather than assuming they know what's best for us in Utah."
Many of the same members of Congress asked Kempthorne in October to block off-highway vehicle use in these remote lands because of the cultural and archaeological treasures that could be damaged.
They received a response in December from the BLM saying that the bureau has decided that designating available routes in these lands will allow for better management. SUWA criticized the bureau for "institutionalizing the status quo" by designating nearly every road as available to off-highway vehicles and much of the land as available to miners.
The latest letter asks the BLM to accept the "conservation alternative" in the draft plans, which would provide some wilderness protections to 1,000 miles of off-road vehicle routes.

Cannon Signs On To “Save Act” Discharge Petition

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:15:39 +0100

WASHINGTON DC – Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT), a leader and influential voice on immigration reform and member of the House Judiciary Committee, today signed onto the discharge petition for the “SAVE Act” (HR 4088) sponsored by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA). Upon signing the petition, Congressman Cannon said:

“After receiving assurances that the concerns expressed by institutions of faith, including my church, would be addressed, I am pleased to add my name to those calling for securing the border and getting our house in order first. There is broad consensus that we must stop the flow of illegal immigrants over our borders, ensure our broken Visa system is fixed, give employers the tools to know who they are hiring, and create an environment in America where the law is enforced. Then, and only then, can we lower the volume of this debate and address America’s need for labor within a legal framework that works. Reform is the art of the possible, and these enforcement measures are possible.”

To see who has signed the discharge petition, please visit: http://clerk.house.gov/110/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis5.htm

A discharge petition is a means of bringing a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from a Committee and usually without cooperation of the leadership.

According to the Rules Committee, after a bill has been introduced and referred to committee for thirty legislative days or more, any Member may file a motion (under clause 2 of rule XV) with the Clerk of the House to discharge the committee from further consideration of the bill. A member may also file a motion to discharge the Rules Committee of a special rule, pending before that committee for at least seven legislative days, providing for the consideration of that bill.

Note: Under a Rules change in the 103rd Congress, signatures on a discharge petition must be made available to the public on a daily basis by the Clerk. The names of new signatories are printed in the Congressional Record on the last legislative day of each week.