Tagged: Bill Owens

New York Congressman Bill Owens was at a local car dealership in Plattsburgh Tuesday morning to present a signed copy of a new law eliminating an federal mandate affecting car dealerships.

Congressmen Peter Welch of Vermont and Bill Owens of New York plan to announce legislation that they say will help ensure a stable workforce for Vermont and New York dairy farmers.

Dairy farmers are ineligible for a federal agriculture visa program so many rely on immigrant farm workers who are in the country illegally.

Welch says with Congress set to start debating comprehensive immigrant reform, he and Owens will fight to get their bill or similar protections in any final reform package.

During a conference call Thursday, New York 21st District Democratic Congressman Bill Owens talked about his concerns over the sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect on Friday.

Congressman Owens is disappointed that while the president and Congressional leaders plan to meet, there has been no significant legislation, nor real conversation, to address the situation.

Last August the Ethics Committee of the 112th Congress began reviewing a trip to Taiwan that New York Congressman Bill Owens took in 2010. Last week,  the committee announced that it is continuing that review.

The Ethics Committee is investigating whether Congressman Owens’ travel expenses were originally paid by improper sources.  In announcing its extension of the review of the Taiwan trip, the release from the Chair and Ranking Member of the Ethics Committee states that it “...does not...indicate that any violation has occurred....”  Their release says the extension is to gather additional information. Democrat Bill Owens did pay for the trip after questions of impropriety were raised. He maintains that he did everything according to the rules.