Al Franken
The Senator for Minnesota
Al Franken Who is he?
Born on May 21, 1951, Senator Al Franken grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He graduated in 1973 from Harvard where he met his wife Franni. He spent 37 years as a comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. He has taken USO tours, visiting our troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait 4 times.
In 2008 he was elected to the Senate as a member of the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) Party from Minnesota. He currently sits on the Health, Education, Labor, an Pension (HELP) Committee.
What is he involved in?
Al Franken has fought for the health care reform and the Wall street reform. He successfully fought for a provision included in the health care reform that makes insurance companies put 80 to 85 percent premiums toward actual heal services, not administrative costs, marketing campaign, or profits. Franken also passed an amendment to the Wall Street reform bill to end the conflict of interest inherent in Wall Street's current pay-to-play credit rating system. He has helped to improve education on Minnesota. He rejected the amendment passed of the Keystone Pipeline XL
Keystone Pipeline
Pipeline system that transports crude oil from oil sand on Alberta Canada primarily to refineries on the Gulf Coast on Texas. 2 phases of the project are in operation, one is on construction, and the last is still waiting for the government to approve. The pipeline currently can deliver up to 590,000 barrels a day. United States Department of State Bureau of Oceans ND international Environmental and Scientific Affairs said they should change the route of the pipeline, while others say Obama should reject the project altogether as it destroys the environment, Previous administration made a poor analysis of consequences of pipeline wherein lies the conflict of interest.