By By ANDY HAMILTON / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES – Congress is unusually busy right now.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said the period between being sworn in and the State of the Union address usually involves a lot of work back home in his district visiting schools and media outlets. However, this year, and this week in particular, Upton said he has been filled with work in Washington D.C.
"Every day's busy. It's a 24-seven job and we have a lot of challenges," Upton said Tuesday morning during a stop in Niles before heading back to the House of Representatives to cast three votes in the afternoon.
Five or six bills could pass through the House before the week is over with, Upton said, including laws on ethics and raising the minimum wage, as well as measures to reduce the interest rates on student loans by 4 percent, an energy bill to allow the use of oil royalties in producing alternative fuels and a stance on the war in Iraq.
"Even though we've had these declines in gas prices … we still need to pursue alternative fuels," said Upton, who is a member of the Energy and Air Quality subcommittee. "We shouldn't walk away."
He said gas prices Tuesday in Kalamazoo were below $2, and added he expects similar costs to be advertised in the Niles area by the end of the week.
In reference to the war in Iraq and President Bush's plan for an increase of more than 20,000 troops, Upton, who said he does not support the "surge," added he expects a "motion of disapproval" about the plan from Congress to be voted on and passed later this week. He also said the surge "doesn't seem to be temporary," and added that image is compounded by the new U.S. Embassy being constructed in Baghdad that is about the size of 80 football fields.
"Certainly, I support our troops and their families … but our focus ought to really be forcing the Iraqis to take a much bigger lead in governing their country," Upon said.
Upton, in response to Dick Cheney's comments on "Fox News Sunday" where the vice president said efforts to block the president's plan would undermine troops, emphasized Congress would not take money away from the military efforts in Iraq.
"They've done everything we've asked of them," Upton said of the troops.
Upton said he has spoken with colleagues who visited Iraq around Labor Day and reported the military could have benefited from troop increases months ago, but that it is too late now. Upton has visited Iraq twice since the war started, the last time being September 2005.
Upton said he also would like to see the U.S. follow more recommendations from the Baker-Hamilton bipartisan report on Iraq and engage in conversation with other countries in the Middle East, such as Iran, in resolving the war.