Allen’s Perspective

Americans must restart our creative engines for energy security. For more than 30 years, our engines have been in the pits, as our energy needs and innovative spark have fallen victim to environmental alarmism and strangling government regulation. What we have to do begins with where we are now.

That’s also called “the status quo.” Ronald Reagan said “status quo” was “.Latin for the mess we’re in.” In the 1980 Republican
convention, soon-to-be President Reagan said: “Those who preside over the worst energy shortage in our history tell us to use less, so that we will run out of oil, gasoline, and natural gas a little more slowly. Conservation is desirable, of course, for we must not waste energy. But conservation is not the sole answer to our energy needs.

America must get to work producing more energy.Large amounts of oil and natural gas lay beneath our land and off our shores, untouched because [some] seem to believe the American people would rather see more regulation, taxes and controls than more energy.

Coal offers great potential. So does nuclear energy produced under rigorous safety standards. It could supply electricity for thousands of industries and millions of jobs and homes.

Make no mistake. We will not permit the safety of our people or our environmental heritage to be jeopardized, but we are going to reaffirm that the economic prosperity of our people is a fundamental part of our environment.”

It’s ridiculous how little has changed in almost three decades of arguing this issue. Reagan identified the failures of Carter-era energy policies then, and now the liberals of today-along with some conservatives- are just proposing more of the same:

. Windfall profits taxes on oil companies, which only succeeded in increasing our dependence on imported oil the last time Democrats passed them in 1980.

. More regulation and taxation, such as cap-and-trade systems that are designed to raise energy costs while trying to cut carbon emissions. Studies have shown that the recent Cap-and-Trade bill would result in electricity price increases of at least 101 percent and gasoline prices increases of up to 145 percent by 2030, resulting in millions of jobs lost and a lower standard of living. The European Union has already imposed a Cap-and-Trade scheme that has proven to be spectacularly unsuccessful in lowering emissions while raising energy costs. According to an Open Europe report, emissions increased in the EU by 0.8 percent in the first year of the program, with many European nations showing emissions rising faster than in the U.S.

. Declaring American oil and gas reserves off-limits to exploration, ignoring advances in environmentally safer exploration technology that could produce more energy at home, rather than sending $600 billion out of our own country to hostile regimes. Meanwhile, Cuba and China are drilling 50 miles off the Florida Keys. Instead of falling back to failed, harmful political gimmicks, let’s start our creative engines with a strategic plan of productive action. Currently, 85 percent of America’s energy comes from carbon-based fuels. The advances in carbon sequestration technology and renewable resource energies needed to supplement and enhance oil, gas, and coal are years, if not decades, away from viability. We need to produce more energy here at home now.

. The federal government must allow willing states to explore in deep water off their coasts and share royalties with those states. From Alaska to Virginia, states want to access oil and natural gas reserves. Let them do so for the sake of our energy security and for lower prices for American families.

. America has 250 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, more than any other nation. We need to press ahead with developing clean coal for base load electricity and coal-to-liquid technology. China and South Africa are already synthesizing coal into liquid transportation fuels and so can America, to fuel cars, trucks, trains and airplanes.

. Nuclear power is a clean air source of electricity, and we must streamline the regulatory processes that have resulted in no new nuclear power plants coming online in decades. The French get more than 80 percent of their electricity from nuclear power and reprocess and recycle the spent fuel in a much safer and more efficient way. America can too, and we can finally solve the issue of nuclear storage.

If we pursue these common sense, available sources of energy now, we can fuel our economic prosperity and provide the capital to drive our innovators to develop the next generation of energy resources-whether it be clean coal, advanced nuclear, natural gas, solar, or nanotech-enhanced batteries and cost saving energy conservation-that will provide real alternatives.

America: Start your creative engines!

George Allen served as Virginia’s governor and U.S. senator. He is currently the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for Young America’s Foundation (www.yaf.org).

HumanEvents.com

Mount Vernon, Va. – Former Governor and U.S. Senator George Allen issued the following statement today, mourning the loss of Tony Snow.

“Susan and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Tony Snow. He was truly an exceptionally positive, wonderful friend and a leader in all his pursuits in life. He was always grounded in foundational principles and understood the sentiments of the American people.

“Our family enjoyed seeing him at church from time to time and were inspired by his cheerful spirit. We all must remain inspired by Tony and enjoy life to the fullest. Our prayers are with, and our hearts ache, for his dear wife Jill and their three children, in whom Tony’s blood and spirit lives on. So many people were blessed to have had Tony as a true friend and optimistic leader for wholesome American values.”

Statement from former Governor George Allen

Mount Vernon, Va. – Former Governor and U.S. Senator George Allen issued the following statement today, commending the Supreme Court ruling overturning Washington D.C.’s ban on firearms.

“The Supreme Court has come down on the side of personal liberty today by affirming the Second Amendment to mean that Americans have a Constitutional right to own firearms for self-defense and hunting. After 32 years, citizens of Washington, D.C. will be able to defend themselves against criminals who have never followed the city’s prohibition on firearms.

“When I was Governor of Virginia, we passed a ‘concealed carry’ law, allowing citizens to protect themselves, their families and their property. One of the primary responsibilities of government is to protect citizens from criminals. A government prohibition against a law-abiding citizen owning and possessing a handgun is a preposterous, clearly unconstitutional infringement of that natural and fundamental right to self-defense.

“This decision also highlights how important it is to appoint judges that interpret our Constitution as originally written and not legislate from the bench.”

###

Washington Times

WASHINGTON, DC - Governor Allen delivered the following remarks as prepared for delivery at the 19th annual U.S. Energy Efficiency Forum today at The National Press Club in Washington, DC:

It’s a pleasure and honor to be with you all to discuss the pressing, vital issue of Energy and specifically Energy Efficiency at this forum. I thank the U.S. Energy Association and Johnson Controls for sponsoring this 19th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum. Never in the two decades of this Forum has Energy, and therefore practical Energy Efficiency, been an issue that all Americans and the world care about more in operating their businesses and in their every day life.

Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and improved standard of living; whether as an air or ground transportation fuel, as an essential component for manufacturing or farming, as a source of home heating or cooling, or especially electricity. The power outages in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the D.C. area last week remind people of the importance of electricity in our lives – trust me.

I’ve been asked to present Senator John McCain’s Presidential campaign agenda on energy. The affordability, reliability and availability of electricity and energy is absolutely essential for American energy security and economic prosperity. Indeed, a free and prosperous America must be able to defend, feed and fuel itself.

Having worked with him, I know John McCain is a man who acts on his beliefs, which I will share with you concerning energy.

John McCain believes energy security is crucial to our national, economic and environmental security. John McCain will provide the leadership and make energy security a top national priority: diversify our energy mix, expand energy supply, and use energy more cleanly and efficiently.

John McCain believes market forces, political instability, terrorism and environmental pressures make our dependence on foreign oil a strategic vulnerability.

Indeed, John McCain believes we are one successful attack away from an economic crisis. Our enemy knows our vulnerability and plans for attacks on oil facilities in the Middle East and other places to harm the American economy.

That is one of his salient motivations in believing that our overdependence on imported oil and energy from unstable governments and particularly from hostile regimes undermines our National Security.

John McCain wants to unleash American creativity, ingenuity and innovation for more affordable, reliable and clean energy.

We have that energy, under our land and off our coasts, right here in America. What’s missing is the political leadership to use this American Energy. John McCain will provide that leadership.

Senator McCain wants to explore for oil and natural gas in our Outer Continental Shelf in States that support it. We need to allow Virginia and other Atlantic coast States to move toward deepwater oil and/or natural gas exploration far off their coasts and share the royalties with the States. According to the Department of the Interior, there are roughly 85 billion unexplored barrels of oil and 420 trillion unutilized cubic feet of natural gas under deep water on our Outer Continental Shelf.

Castro – with Hugo Chavez and the Peoples Republic of China – are exploring 50 miles off the coast of Florida, but the U.S. government prohibits our own gas and oil producers from exploring 50 miles off the coasts of Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. That doesn’t make sense to many Americans. Sending $500 to $600 billion out of the U.S. every year for imported oil also aggravates most Americans.

We also need to smartly utilize other sources of American energy, like clean coal technology. We are the Saudi Arabia of the world when it comes to coal. The rest of the world is using more U.S. coal for electricity. In fact, South Africa and China are refining coal to liquids for transportation fuels. So should we, rather than using food and feed for fuel. We must develop clean coal technology for our growing electricity demand and in the form of Coal-to-Liquids and Coal-to-Gases.

In addition to clean coal technologies, we also need to get more of our base load electricity from clean, advanced nuclear power. France uses advanced nuclear for more than 80% of its electricity. They reprocess their spent fuel in a much safer, efficient way. If the French can do it, so can Americans. And John McCain has been – and will be – a strong advocate of nuclear power. Senator McCain points to our US Navy aircraft carriers and submarines sailing throughout the world as examples of the ability to safely utilize nuclear power.

And of course our energy portfolio should include a diverse range of alternative energy sources such as nano-tech enhanced solar power and batteries. Plug-in or hybrid vehicles are the most practical achievable personal ground transportation alternative to petroleum based propulsion, with a distribution system for electricity everywhere you see a light bulb.

John McCain does not wish to mandate any particular building standards for energy efficient homes or buildings. Obviously, any energy efficiency realized in our homes would help to reduce the amount of energy consumed and, therefore, reduced emissions.

However, John McCain wants to create greater demand for the best technologies and practices. As he recently said, “To create greater demand for the best technologies and practices in energy conservation, we will use the purchasing power of the United States government. Our government can hardly expect citizens and private businesses to adopt or invest in low-carbon technologies when it doesn’t always hold itself to the same standard. We need to set a better example in Washington, by consistently applying the best environmental standards to every purchase our government makes.”

America needs to look at ways of being less wasteful, more efficient and smarter in the use of our energy. New government and college buildings should use the most energy efficient innovations in construction and operations. Many new homes don’t use solar or innovations due to the higher cost.

If energy efficient water heaters, solar, geothermal, better insulated walls and windows add 15% to the cost of a home and may take 10 years of savings to break even, then builders won’t risk pricing themselves out of the home market. Home buyers aren’t sure if they will live someplace more than 4 or 5 years so the “life-cycle” cost effectiveness of energy efficiency is not particularly economically relevant to them.

However, government and college buildings will be in use for 50 to 100 years or more. At the University of Virginia, the “new dorms” are 40 years old and the “old dorms” are 50+ years old. On Mr. Jefferson’s original lawn students still live in places that were built in 1819.

Look at our State and federal government buildings, courthouses, and schools. Many are at least 50 years old. So for the government, they can and should rationally look at the “life cycle” costs of operations of their facilities from construction materials to lighting to heating and cooling and water usage.

Government can actually lead the way with innovative energy decisions that will save the taxpayers money by keeping the operational cost of the schools, colleges, hospitals, courthouses, prisons, agency building and many other buildings that otherwise demand a lot of energy less costly. With such demand the cost of the material and equipment will be more affordable. And, there will be an ameliorated demand for energy to heat, cool or illuminate these government facilities.

A great example of government taking the lead on this to use resources more efficiently and, more importantly, save taxpayers money during the long life-cycle of a government building, is the new California EPA building in Sacramento.

The builder invested $500,000 in efficiency upgrades to equipment, operations and employee practices resulting in $610,000 annual savings. This all included highly efficient HVAC and lighting systems, photovoltaic rooftop panels and a plate and frame heat exchanger that reduces on/off cycling of the chiller equipment. The building is 34% more efficient than California’s 1998 energy code and earned an ENERGY STAR rating of 96 out of 100. The building also saves $80,000 a year by eliminating garbage can liners and using reusable cloth bags in centrally located recycling bins. It saves $190,000 in systems calibration, monitoring, commissioning and maintenance for energy performance. It saves $100,000 a year with more efficient after-hours heating and lighting controls. It saves $9,500 with more efficient exterior lighting systems, $95,000 a year with better landscaping and grounds management and saves $19,000 a year with more water-efficient landscaping and restrooms and cooling cycles.

This is an example of innovative, practical, common sense logic for procurement that is good for the taxpayers, our economy and our environment that John McCain will advance for the federal government.

Unlike his opponent, who has proposed raising taxes on U.S. oil, coal and natural gas, which would increase energy costs and increase American dependence on foreign sources of energy, President John McCain will propose a National Energy Strategy that will amount to a declaration of Independence from energy insecurity. Promoting the diversification and conservation of our energy sources will break the dominance of oil in our transportation sector and substantially improve utilization of American resources and creativity for cleaner, reliable and affordable energy for American competitiveness and security.

I’m certain that creative ideas and practical innovations in energy efficiency from participants at this forum can and should be welcomed by the McCain administration. So I’ll stop and answer or listen to your comments, suggestions and questions today.

While the media focuses on China’s crackdown on unrest in Tibet, Taiwan has proven to be a beacon of freedom and democracy in East Asia. In late March, 76 percent of Taiwan’s 17 million eligible voters chose a new president, Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party, over the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. This vigorous election represents the second peaceful transition of power through free elections since Taiwan’s first direct presidential election in 1996.Taiwan boasts Asia’s fifth-largest economy and the 25th-freest economy in the world, according to the2008 Index of Economic Freedom ranking ahead of Sweden, Austria and Spain. These accomplishments are testament to the incredible progress Taiwan has made in the last 60 years, evolving from a poor nation under an authoritarian regime to an economic powerhouse with a vibrant democracy.

As the United States advocates the spread of democracy and freedom around the world, we should not neglect our friends in Taiwan. Specifically, we must take action to improve our close ties with Taiwan, which have been somewhat weakened in recent years as the standoff between China and Taiwan continues.

As China grows in influence as an economic force with commensurate international stature, the United States has a greater need for Chinese cooperation, particularly in dealing with problems including North Koreas nuclear program. China has been flexing its muscle, building up its cross-Strait military power with more than 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan, and boxing Taiwan in at every opportunity on the international stage. An emboldened China only points to a greater likelihood of conflict and coercion to regain Taiwan without the consent of the Taiwanese people.

The election of Taiwan’s new president offers an opportunity to refresh and strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. Mr. Ma ran on a platform of being less confrontational with China and is seen as having closer ties to the United States. The best way to blunt further Chinese aggression would be for America and Taiwan to establish a new, common agenda to include the following:

• First, strengthen Taiwan’s defenses. A strong, ready military force in Taiwan can be a deterrent to Chinese aggression and can protect Taiwan from being squeezed into acquiescence to an overwhelmingly powerful China. Mr. Ma must follow through on his promise to increase Taiwan’s defense budget to more than 3 percent of gross domestic product and to pursue purchases of arms approved by the United States. The United States should also approve sales of F-16C/D fighters requested by Taiwan and strengthen communications and ties between our militaries on a common defense strategy. This is consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.

• Second, promote Taiwan’s international presence. The duly elected government of Taiwan and its 23 million citizens are the only nation denied any kind of representation in the United Nations. The United States and other nations should include Taiwan in international civic organizations on issues such as public health and democracy promotion. For example, Taiwan should at least be accorded observer status in the World Health Organization so that it can contribute knowledge from its world-class public health system and receive warnings of health emergencies. Presently, the WHO sends all communications to Taiwan through China, which may or may not pass them along (usually not). In 2007, notification of an outbreak of a dangerous food-borne pathogen did not reach Taiwanese officials for 10 days because China did not relay the warning.

• Third, pursue a free trade agreement. Absent diplomatic recognition from most countries, Taiwan’s main presence on the world stage is economic. Taiwan is America’s ninth-largest trading partner and the 11th-largest export market for U.S. goods. The U.S. can build on this relationship and boost both America’s and Taiwan’s economies by negotiating a free trade agreement with Taiwan. Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, and Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, have introduced legislation calling for the United States to launch just such negotiations, but the Senate has not acted on it yet.

The stronger and closer the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, the less likely it is that China will misinterpret America’s commitment to defend Taiwan. And while we seek to prevent the chance that China will try to conquer Taiwan by military force, we also do not want to see China retake Taiwan through economic coercion and international pressure because the United States did not offer support or an alternative. As a Taiwanese friend recently pointed out to me, Americans should have no more interest in seeing Taiwan reunified with Communist China than we would have had in seeing the U.S. reunited with the British monarchy. Nor should Mexico think that they have a right to take back California, nor Spain a right to take back Puerto Rico or the Philippines.

America must defend the right of the people of Taiwan to determine their own destiny without coercion from China.

Former Sen. George Allen, who also served as governor of Virginia, is the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for Young America’s Foundation.

May 27, 2008 By George Allen The Washington Times

1. Miami – Needing a QB ever since Marino retired, the Dolphins should take a QB like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Brian Brohm. If not a QB, they should take Chris Long from the University of Virginia, but with contract negotiations, they will take a Michigan monster in Jake Long to play LT.

2. St. Louis – The Rams will be lucky to chose between Chris Long, Vernon Gholston from Ohio State and LSU’s Glenn Dorsey. I predict St. Louis fans will be thrilled with Chris Long from Virginia to play in Missouri, whose capitol is Jefferson City.

3. Atlanta – Obviously, the Falcons desperately need a QB and can’t risk waiting for second round to get a top 3 QB. Matt Ryan is a safe pick for the unhappy fans in Atlanta.

4. Oakland – The Raider Nation will have a choice between several quality DL choices, but will be raving when they draft outstanding RB Darren McFadden from Arkansas.

5. Kansas City – If the Chief’s 2007 NFL sack leader DE Jared Allen is traded, then Carl Peterson will chose great DE Vernon Gholston, probably over Glenn Dorsey. If Allen is signed, then K.C. will pick OT/G Branden Albert of Virginia for the Jefferson City state of Missouri.

6. New York Jets – The Jets will pick the best DL available, which will be Glenn Dorsey if K.C. trades Allen. If K.C. does not trade Allen, then Jets will select Gholston.

7. New England – The Patriots get to “tuck” away this draft choice to select LB Keith Rivers from Southern Cal.

8. Baltimore – The Ravens need a QB and, like Atlanta, can’t risk waiting until the second round. In a surprise, they will pick Joe Flacco who played at nearby Delaware.

9. Cincinnati – The Bengals need to improve their defense and therefore will pick DT Sedrick Ellis from Southern California. If K.C. does not trade Allen, then the Chiefs will pick Glenn Dorsey or other DE’s that are available.

10. New Orleans – The Saints will pick the best defensive player available out of Chris Long, Vernon Gholston, Glenn Dorsey, Sedrick Ellis and Keith Rivers. If K.C. trades Allen, none of these players will be available. So I predict the Saints will draft DE Derrick Harvey of Florida over many good CB’s available.

11. Buffalo/Toronto – The Bills will pick best defensive player available, so I will guess Aqib Talib from Kansas who has played in cool weather would best suit the Bills over a warmer weather CB.

12. Denver - The Broncos will want to upgrade their OL and will pick Branden Albert if KC trades Allen. Or Jeff Otah of Pitt if Albert taken.

14. Chicago – The Bears will pick QB Brian Brohm of Louisville.

21. Washington – The Redskins new Head Coach Jim Zorn could best use offensive and defensive line improvements. G Branden Albert of UVA, OT Jeff Otah of Pittsburgh, OT Ryan Clady of Boise State, Chris Williams from Vanderbilt, DE Derrick Harvey of Florida will have been selected by the 21st pick. So I predict the Redskins will pick Phillip Merling, DE from Clemson.

Is there no America-hating, anti-Israel thug that Jimmy Carter wouldn’t do business with?

The nation’s 39th president has long since shattered the tradition that former presidents refrain from criticizing their successors, even when they are from different political parties. The man who was arguably the worst president of the 20th century hasn’t stopped running his mouth against all his successors, including fellow Democrat Bill Clinton, since Ronald Reagan routed him from office in 1980.

But now Carter — who once called the current Bush administration’s Mideast and Iraq policies “criminal” — appears to be going beyond his usual wrong-headed, mean-spirited criticisms to actively undermine his government’s foreign policy.

That, in our view, makes him the real criminal.

On his Mideast travels this month, Carter is planning to meet in Syria next week with Khaled Meshai, the exiled head henchman of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that refuses to recognize the existence of Israel, is waging war against it, and pledges to destroy the Jewish state.

Perhaps Carter’s visit with the notorious terrorist leader shouldn’t be such a surprise, given that he always has favored Hamas over Fatah, the more moderate Palestinian group that Hamas clashes with ideologically — and sometimes in street battles.

The problem is that being an ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner makes Carter a person of enormous international prominence. So when he meets with a top terrorist thug, it enhances the legitimacy and stature of that thug in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Hence, the Bush administration policy of trying to isolate Hamas as an international pariah could be severely damaged by Carter’s meeting with Meshal. It might encourage European and other nations to loosen sanctions against Hamas when the U.S. government seeks to tighten them.

Carter fancies himself a peacemaker, especially since the Nobel Peace Prize was undeservedly bestowed on him. But in point of fact he’s part of a global far-left, hate-America crowd that is doing everything possible to legitimize terror and tyranny at the expense of peace and freedom.

Carter’s doing more than embarrassing his nation. He’s betraying it. The sooner this embittered man fades from the world scene, the better.

From the Saturday, April 12, 2008 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
Read On the Augusta Chronicle http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/041208/edi_194696.shtml.

Ideas and solutions that work should be models to be shared and refined. When President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to abolish parole in the federal system in 1984, he recognized that the existing sentencing and parole system was adding to rising crime rates and was fundamentally unfair to the victims of crime and to the public. This was a major shift in criminal justice policy and served as inspiration for changes I advocated during my campaign for governor of Virginia in 1993. Parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing have worked to make Virginians safer and brought credibility to the justice system. They will work now for South Carolina, where leaders are proposing similar changes for the Palmetto State.

When I became governor of Virginia in 1994, our Commonwealth had experienced a 28 percent increase in criminal violence over the previous five years. Rising crime, fear, and frustration were the results of a lenient and dishonest justice system that did not take punishment seriously and allowed early-release parole to create a revolving door for criminals.

First-time convicted criminals were eligible for parole after serving a quarter to as little as one-fifth of their sentence. First-degree murderers sentenced to 35 years spent an average of only 10 years in prison. Offenders sentenced to “life” could become eligible for parole after serving between 12 and 15 years. More than 75 percent of all violent criminals in the system in 1993 had prior convictions. Because of parole and almost automatic good time credit, no one — not the judge, the prosecutor, the juries, or the victims and their families — had any real idea of how much of the prison sentence a convicted criminal would actually serve.

In 1994, we succeeded in abolishing this dishonest parole system, increasing time served for violent crime and instituting “truth-in-sentencing,” which guaranteed that felons would serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. For the first time, there was certainty in what a sentence really meant. Inmates can still earn up to 15% “good time” credit on their sentences. Repeat violent offenders are serving sentences two to three times longer than before our reforms. Meanwhile, we overhauled the correctional classification system, building low-cost work centers for low-risk, minimum-security, non-violent offenders.

More than ten years later, what are the results of these changes? First-degree murderers now serve 91 percent of their sentences in prison with a median time served of 32 years, rather than 12 years with parole. A sentence of “life in prison” now essentially means just that. Truth-in-sentencing fosters trust in our justice system. Judges and juries do not have to play guessing games when determining sentences. Police and crime victims have a firm idea of when a criminal will be released. Victims need not fearfully plead every year to the parole board not to release the felon. Rational and consistent sentencing fosters public confidence in our criminal justice system.

Best of all, there are thousands of people who are not victims of criminals. Since 1995, the violent crime rate in Virginia has declined by nearly 23 percent. The murder rate is down by 30 percent, and forcible rape rate has dropped by more than 15 percent. This is a logical result when one realizes that most crimes were being committed by repeat offenders. If a rapist is in prison, serving now an average sentence of 18 years rather than six, he can’t be lurking in a parking garage waiting for his next victim.

Moreover, parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing did not drastically increase our prison population, as many critics feared when the reforms were enacted. As compared to a prison population that increased by 154 percent between 1985 and 1995, growth in Virginia’s prison population slowed to 31 percent between 1995 and 2004. State officials predict an annual average growth in the prison population of 2.8 percent over next six years — much less than originally forecast, and lower than the national average.

Based on this success in Virginia and in other states, elected officials in South Carolina are advocating a similar change to their sentencing system. Attorney General Henry McMaster and legislators are fighting to abolish parole and to institute truth in sentencing so that all convicted criminals must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Instilling honesty, consistency, and fairness for all in the criminal justice system is a goal that serves all citizens. As it did in Virginia, parole abolition and truth-in-sentencing can accomplish this goal for law-abiding South Carolinians by reducing the number of victims of crimes committed by criminals released early. For those who claim longer sentences are undesirable, ask them which convicted criminal they would like to rent a room in their home or move into their neighborhood.

Mr. Allen served as Virginia’s governor and U.S. senator. He is currently the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for Young America’s Foundation (www.yaf.org).

thestate.com/satopinion/story/364824.html

About George Allen

George F. Allen served the Commonwealth of Virginia for over twenty years, as Governor, in both bodies of the United States Congress, and as a delegate holding Thomas Jefferson’s seat in the Virginia General Assembly.

Sworn in as Governor in 1994 George Allen brought sweeping reform that made Virginia a national model in economic development, public safety, education accountability, and creative government. As a self-described “Common Sense Jeffersonian Conservative,” Allen pushed through cutting edge reform with bipartisan support in a legislature held by the opposition:

Criminal Justice Reform – Virginia’s criminal justice system was completely overhauled, including the abolition of parole, adoption of truth-in-sentencing, dramatic increases in prison time for violent and repeat criminals, and comprehensive juvenile justice system reform.

Education Reform – Virginia’s “Standards of Learning” became a national model for rigorous academic standards and accountability.
Welfare Reform – The Allen Administration put a two-year time limit on assistance, mandatory work for able bodied recipients, and strong measures to compel fathers to support their children.

Government Reform – Through a comprehensive reappraisal of state programs, regulatory reform, privatization, and other cost-saving measures, the Allen administration increased funding for education, public safety, and job creation with prompt permitting and lower tax burdens.

Economic Development –The Allen administration created an economic development strategy that catapulted Virginia to the forefront nationally and causing the US News and Report to dub Virginia the “Silicon Dominion.” Allen brought in over $14 billion in new investments and more than 300,000 new net jobs were created.

Elected to the United States Senate in 2000, George Allen continued to advocate policies to make America and Virginia a leader in innovation and technology. In 2001, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate High Tech Task Force and later in his term he created the Competitive Caucus to keep America the “world capital of innovation”. Allen was a member on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee as well as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on European Affairs.

Senator Allen was unanimously elected a member of the Senate Republican Leadership as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002. Under Senator Allen’s leadership, Republicans gained four seats in the Senate and expanded the Republican majority to 55-44-1.

Currently, Allen serves as the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar for the Young America’s Foundation.

George Allen holds a B.A. in History with distinction as well as a law degree from the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Susan, reside near Mt. Vernon in Fairfax County with their three children: Tyler, Forrest, and Brooke.