Monthly Archives: July 2013

Black History

the Senate S.1234 ~~ CONGRESS ~~ the House HR2397 & HR2610


capitol30

The Senate will convene at 9:30am on Wednesday, July 24, 2013.

  • Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour with the time equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. The Republicans will control the first half and the Majority will control the final half.
  • Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S.1234, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.  Senator Portman will be recognized to call up his amendment #1749 (bridges in critical corridor program). We hope to vote in relation to the Portman amendment Wednesday morning.
  • At 3:40pm, there will be a moment of silence in memory of Officer Jacob J. Chestnut and Detective John M. Gibson of the U.S. Capitol Police, who were killed 15 years ago in the line of duty defending the Capitol, the people who work there, and its visitors against an armed intruder.
  • We also expect to consider the Student Loan legislation during Wednesday’s session.

The following amendments are pending to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill:

The following amendment have been considered to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill:

  • Vitter amendment #1744 (sexual abuse – housing aid); Agreed to: 99-1
  • Portman #1749, as modified (bridged in critical corridor program); Agreed to by voice vote

Senator Portman called up his amendment #1749, as modified (bridges in critical corridors program). The amendment, as modified, was then agreed to by a voice vote.

Senator Murray then called up Cardin amendment #1760 (report on condition of lane miles and highway bridge decks).

Senator Murray encouraged senators with amendments to reach out to the managers in order to call up their amendments. Senator Reid would like to complete action on the bill in the next 24 hours.

We will also execute the order on the Student Loan bill potentially around noon today. Under the order, there will be up to 6 hours for debate prior to a series of 4 votes in relation to the following amendments and on passage of the bill.

–          Reed (RI)-Warren second degree amendment to Manchin-Burr amendment;

–          Sanders second degree amendment to Manchin-Burr amendment;

–          Manchin-Burr amendment, as amended, if amended; and

–          Passage of H.R.1911, as amended, if amended.

The Senate is now considering H.R.1911, the student loans interest rate bill, as provided under the previous order.

At 5:15pm the Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the Reed (RI)-Warren second degree amendment #1778 to Manchin-Burr amendment #1773 to S.1243, Student Loan Interest Rate (60-vote threshold)

Not Agreed to: 46-53

5:43pm The Senate began a 10-minute roll call vote on the Sanders amendment # 1774 to Manchin-Burr amendment #1773 to S.1243, Student Loans Interest Rates (60-vote threshold)

Not Agreed to: 34-65

6:11pm The Senate began a 10 minute roll call vote on passage of S.1243, Student Loan Interest Rates, as amended (60-vote threshold)

Passed: 81-18

The Senate is now in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. There will be no further roll call votes during today’s session of the Senate.

WRAP UP

ROLL CALL VOTES

1)      Reed (RI)-Warren second degree amendment #1778 (caps) to Manchin-Burr amendment #1773 (60-vote threshold); Not Agreed to: 46-53

2)      Sanders second degree amendment #1773 (sunset) to Manchin-Burr amendment #1773 (60-vote threshold); Not Agreed to: 34-65

3)      Passage of H.R.1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, as amended (60-vote threshold); Passed: 81-18

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Passed H.R.1092, a bill to designate the air route traffic control center located in Nashua, New Hampshire, as the “Patricia Clark Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center”.

Discharged the Energy committee of further consideration of S.1294 and referred it to the Agriculture committee. S.1294, to designate as wilderness certain public land in the Cherokee National Forest in the State of Tennessee, and for other purposes.

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

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Last Floor Action: 7/23
1:15:32 A.M. – The House adjourned. The
next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on July 24, 2013

205 – 217 the House Rejects Amdt to kill NSA Survellance Program

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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A deal reached


The White House, Washington

Hi, everyone —

We’ve got some good news to share! Senators from both parties have come up with a plan to reduce the interest rates on student loans. Once it becomes law, rates on every single new college loan will come down before the start of the school year.

Because of this agreement, 11 million borrowers will save money, and we need help to make sure that everyone gets the details. The graphic below breaks down all the facts, and gives parents, undergrads, and grad students the information they need to know what they can expect in the years ahead.

Check it out, then share it to help spread the message.

Check out this graphic about student loan rates.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/big-news-student-loans

Thanks!

Cecilia

Cecilia Muñoz Director, Domestic Policy Council The White House @Cecilia44

Black History

the Senate considers S.1243 ~~ CONGRESS ~~ the House considers HR2397&HR2610


Obama Launches DNC Campaign Tour At Illinois State Capitol

The Senate will convene at 10:00am on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

  • Following the prayer and pledge, the Majority Leader will be recognized. It is expected he will renew his motion to proceed to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The time until 12:00pm will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.
  • The next roll call vote will be at 12:00pm on Tuesday, July 23rd on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243.  Cloture was filed on that motion during Thursday’s session of the Senate.  If cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.1243 (likely a voice vote). If the motion to proceed to S.1243 is adopted, the text of H.R.2610, as reported by the House Appropriations, will be deemed House passed text for the purposes of rule 16.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings

At 12:00 noon today, the Senate will proceed to a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014.  Under the previous order, if cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.1243 (likely a voice vote). If the motion to proceed to S.1243 is adopted, the text of H.R.2610, as reported by the House Appropriations, will be deemed House passed text for the purposes of Rule 16.

The Senate will recess for the weekly caucus meetings from 12:30 until 2:15pm. At 2:15pm Senator Chiesa will deliver his maiden speech for up to 15 minutes. Following Senator Chiesa’s remarks, the Senate will begin consideration of the THUD appropriations bill, that is assuming cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed. Additional votes in relation to amendments to the THUD appropriations bill are possible this afternoon.

12:01pm The Senate  began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014;

Invoked: 73-26

The Senate then adopted the motion to proceed by voice vote.

The Senate is considering S.1243, THUD Appropriations. Senator Vitter has offered amendment #1744, prohibit housing assistance benefits for individuals convicted of aggravated sexual abuse.

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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Repeal This!


By  CAP Action War Room

Speaker Boehner’s Do-Nothing Congress

It’s simply an objective fact that this Congress is on track to be the least productive in modern history, owing largely to the inability or unwillingness of Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to move almost even the most basic legislation through the House of Representatives. That’s right, the Senate is a font of bipartisan comity and productivity compared to the do-nothing House.

Asked about this yesterday on Face the Nation, Speaker Boehner offered up this thoroughly ridiculous defense of Congress’ historically unproductive session:

We should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal. We’ve got more laws than the administration could ever enforce.

Even by Boehner’s own bizarre standard, Congress has still been spectacularly ineffective. House Republicans have not successfully repealed Obamacare or Wall Street reform, but they have wasted millions of dollars and weeks of time trying — and failing — to do so. As MSNBC’s Steve Benen noted, “In other words, by Boehner’s own standards for evaluating Congress on the merits, he’s failing.”

All that said, we’ll take the Speaker at his word. With that in mind, here’s some things we’d love for him to get to repealing as soon as possible:

  1. The Defense of Marriage Act: While the Supreme Court threw out the part of DOMA that prohibited the federal government from recognizing legally valid same-sex marriages, the part that allows states to refuse to do so is still on the books. Congress should get rid of that part too.
  2. Giveaways to Big Oil: Oil prices are once again creeping up, which is a good reminder that oil companies don’t need billions of dollars a year in giveaways from taxpayers. Some of these giveaways have been on the books for a century, so they definitely seem ripe for repeal at a time of sky-high oil prices and Big Oil profits to go along with them.
  3. Restrictions on Abortion in the District of Columbia: Unable to impose their will on the nation, Republicans have used Congress’ enduring control over the affairs of the District of Columbia’s more than 600,000 disenfranchised residents to advance various pet causes. One of them has been to forbid the District from using funds generated by the taxpayers of the District themselves (i.e local, not federal funds) to pay for abortions for low-income women.
  4. Giveaways to Hedge Fund and Private Equity Managers: The so-called “carried interest” loophole is the one that allows hedge fund and private equity managers — and hedge fund and private equity managers alone — to avoid paying their fair share in taxes on billions in income by erroneously classifying ordinary income as investment income. It has no economic justification and allows people like Mitt Romney to get away with paying a lower tax rate than many middle class workers.
  5. Restrictions on Commonsense Gun Violence Prevention Measures: Similar to the aforementioned restrictions on abortion in Washington, D.C., Congress has also seen fit to put numerous restrictions on the ability of the federal government to take commonsense steps to reduce gun violence. These NRA-backed “riders”  in annual appropriations bills, including those preventing even basic public health research on gun violence and measures meant to reduce gun trafficking, should be repealed instead of being extended for yet another year.

We could go on. In fact, there’s nearly $1 TRILLION in wasteful and unnecessary giveaways in the tax code alone that Congress could repeal today. Boehner also said yesterday that his top priority is repairing the nation’s finances. If reducing the deficit and repealing things are his top priorities, these giveaways would seem to be a good place for Boehner to start.

BOTTOM LINE: Any way you slice it, Congress is historically unproductive and historically unpopular. Instead of finding up-is-down, black-is-white excuses, Speaker Boehner should start allowing the House of Representatives — the whole House, not just the Republican caucus — to work its will and accomplish something for the American people. If Speaker Boehner is unable or unwilling to lead on issues like immigration reform with a pathway to earned citizenship, he can at least get out of the way.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

CNBC censors Warren


ELIZABETH WARREN’S EARLIER EMAIL TO PCCC MEMBERS:

http://youtu.be/Mwj0NK57VBQ

About a year ago, on the campaign trail, I asked PCCC members to join with me in pushing for a new Glass-Steagall bill.

This law stopped investment banks from gambling away people’s life savings for decades — until Wall Street successfully lobbied the regulators to chip away at the rules in the 1980s and Congress to repeal it entirely in 1999.

Over 100,000 people joined the fight. And now, I am proud to introduce the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act — along with Republican John McCain, Independent Angus King, and Democrat Maria Cantwell — as my first big banking bill in the U.S. Senate.

Will you join over 100,000 of us in calling for more Wall Street reform, starting with a new Glass-Steagall Act? Sign here!

We learned during the 2008 financial crisis that Wall Street is not just taking risks with their own money — they are taking risks with the whole economy.

A new Glass-Steagall would separate high-risk investment banks from more traditional banking. It would allow Wall Street to take risks, but not by dipping into the life savings and retirement accounts of regular people.

And by making banks smaller, a new Glass-Steagall could also help put an end to banks that are “too big to fail” — further avoiding costly taxpayer bailouts.

Please help us pass a new Glass-Steagall Act. Join the fight here.

I’ve already talked about this petition on MSNBC, and I’ll keep my Senate colleagues informed of the growing public support for this reform.

By mobilizing people across the nation, we can get this done.

Thank you, Senator Elizabeth Warren