Organization

Sen. Stabenow glad to see progress at Armory Arts

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
By Chris Gautz
cgautz@citpat.com--768-4926

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow toured the Armory Arts Village on Monday afternoon to meet with artists and see the result of a project for which she helped secure federal funds.

“It’s all that I would hope it to be,” she said.

Her tour was led by Armory resident Judy Gail Krasnow who explained some of the history of the building, which was a former prison and now houses a variety of artists and their work.

Armory resident Jason Caldwell presented Michigan’s junior Democratic senator with a portrait of herself, with an American flag in the background, while she toured his studio space.

After her tour, Stabenow spoke to a small group of community leaders about the importance of the arts, education and her efforts in Washington to bring jobs to the state.

“Somebody needs to make something. Whether it’s beautiful art or beautiful advanced manufacturing,” Stabenow said. “That’s what we do in Michigan. We make things, we create things, we engineer things ... and we do it better than anybody else.”

Stabenow, who sits on the Senate Energy Committee, said the American Clean Energy and Security Act which the House approved Friday is moving in the right direction, but has some concerns as it moves to the Senate.

She said she wants to make sure Michigan and other manufacturing states get their fair share of the funds generated by the cap and trade bill.

She also wants to see enough funds coming back for technology manufacturing as businesses look to create parts for clean energy products.

During the weekend, President Barack Obama made it clear he does not want to see what he called the “protectionist” measures in the final version.

The measures would put trade penalties on countries that do not limit their pollution levels, which Obama said could hurt international trade.

Stabenow disagrees.

“I absolutely want to keep those in,” Stabenow said. “I have been fighting to make sure that our manufacturers are not disadvantaged because we’re doing the right thing and other countries aren’t.”