Fresno, CA

DEVIN NUNES

What are the important national issues? In a January 2007 poll 59% rated the war in Iraq as an extremely important issue facing America. A February 2007 poll revealed 91% believed health care in America needs reforming. Gas prices remain high across the country, and are highest in California. Two weeks ago Live Earth concerts highlighted the importance of taking care of the environment.

The next few posts will look at the voting record of Fresno area U.S. representatives (Devin Nunes, George Radanovich, and Jim Costa) concerning the Iraq war, health care, energy, and the environment.

Elected in 2002 to California’s 21st congressional district, Rep. Devin Nunes voted for the use of military force against Iraq in October 2003. Despite opinion polls which cite public support for pulling troops out of Iraq as hovering at around 68 percent, Nunes still backs President Bush’s troop surge.

During the hearing for a Democratic House resolution which included redeploying troops from Iraq, Nunes called it “intellectually dishonest” and declared, “Iraq is the battleground…a key battleground against extremism, terrorism and the expansionist goals of our enemies.” Nunes failed to mention the lies which caused the Congress to authorize a military invasion of Iraq, namely that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda.

Nunes received campaign contributions from the health care industry totaling $97,000 in 2006, $18,000 in 2004, and $86,650 in 2002. Not surprisingly, the American Public Health Association gave Nunes a 0% rating on his public health voting record. Nunes’ voting record on public health issues include a negative vote on a January 2007 House measure which required negotiating prescription prices for Medicare’s prescription plan.

Nunes voted yes on a February 2006 measure which denied non-emergency treatment for patients who could not pay the Medicare co-pay. He also voted yes on a May 2004 measure which limited prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients, and voted no for another measure in July 2003 which would allow the prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.

The League of Conservation, the environmental movement’s political voice, rated Nunes 5% on environmental issues. Nunes voted yes on two measures environmentalists opposed: deauthorizing critical habitats for endangered species in September 2005, and speeding up the approval of forest thinning projects in November 2003.

Nunes has consistently sided with the oil industry. He voted no on criminalizing oil organizations like OPEC in May 2007. He also voted no on removing subsides for oil and gas exploration in January 2007, and on maintaining a ban on drilling for oil offshore in June 2006. He voted yes on scheduling permits for new oil refineries in June 2006, and on allowing new oil refineries to be constructed in October 2004.