The Senate will convene at 12:00 noon on Friday, September 6,

for the purpose of allowing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to file the reported joint resolution to authorize the limited and specified use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria.

Sep 5, ’13 12:35 PM

Author meredith Categories Floor Updates

Pursuant to the authority provided by section 2 of S.Con.Res.22, the Majority Leader will convene the Senate at 12:00 noon on Friday, September 6, for the purpose of allowing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to file the reported joint resolution to authorize the limited and specified use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria. This will be a very short session with no other business conducted. This action will allow for a motion to proceed to the joint resolution to be in order on Monday.

Following Friday’s session, the Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, September 9. Senator Reid intends to move to proceed to the joint resolution on Syria soon after we convene on Monday.

At 5:00pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nominations, with 30 minutes for debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley, or their designees:

– Valerie E. Caproni, of New York, to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York; and

– Vernon S. Broderick, of New York, to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Upon the use or yielding back of time (approximately 5:30pm), the Senate will proceed to vote in relation to the above nominations. We expect one of the nominations to be considered by voice vote.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Last Floor Action:
12:06:45 P.M. – The Speaker announced
that the House do now adjourn pursuant to section 4(b) of H. Res. 322. The next
meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on September 9, 2013.

12:00:23 P.M.		The House convened, starting a new legislative day.
12:00:24 P.M.		REASSEMBLY OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – Pursuant to section 2 of Senate Concurrent Resolution 22, 113th Congress, the House was called to order.
12:01:20 P.M.		The Speaker designated the Honorable Jeff Denham to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
12:01:30 P.M.		NOTIFICATION TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REASSEMBLE – Pursuant to section 2 of Senate Concurrent Resolution 22 of the 113th Congress, after consultation with the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and Speaker of the House, John Boehner, notified the Members of the Senate to reassemble at 12:00 noon on Friday, September 6, 2013, and the Members of the House of Representatives to reassemble at 12:00 noon on Friday, September 6, 2013.
12:02:03 P.M.		Today’s prayer was offered by the House Chaplain, Rev. Patrick J. Conroy.
12:03:42 P.M.		The Speaker announced approval of the Journal. Pursuant to section 4(a) of H. Res. 322, the Journal of the last day’s proceedings was approved.
12:03:50 P.M.		PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
12:04:00 P.M.		WHOLE NUMBER OF THE HOUSE – Under clause 5(d) of rule 20, the Chair announced to the House that, in light of the resignation of the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Bonner, the whole number of the House is 433.
12:04:32 P.M.		The House received a message from the Clerk. Pursuant to the permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on August 2, 2013 at 3:18 p.m.: Appointments to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
12:05:33 P.M.		The House received a communication from Representative Alexander wherein he will resign as a member of the House of Representatives effective September 27, 2013.
12:05:54 P.M.		The House received a communication from Teresa Lewis, Constituent Services Liason. Pursuant to Rule VIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, Ms. Lewis notified the House that she had been served with a third-party subpoena, issued by the Hamilton County Municipal Court, Hamilton County, Ohio for documents and testimony in a criminal case. After consultation with the Office of General Counsel, she had determined that compliance with the subpoena was consistent with the precedents and privileges of the House.
12:06:45 P.M.		The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to section 4(b) of H. Res. 322.The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on September 9, 2013.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

OBAMACARE by the Numbers …

09/06/2013 Nativegrl77 3 Comments

Guess how some members of Congress are spending their August vacation:
They’re touring the country, going state by state and district by district to convince people that Obamacare isn’t working — never mind the benefits that millions of families are already feeling.
After trying and failing to repeal the law (40 times!), they’re starting to get desperate. OFA’s Truth Team is here to set the record straight.
Fight back against the cynical opponents of Obamacare by sharing some truth about how Obamacare is already helping folks all across the country — here’s a perfect graphic to get started:

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ThinkProgress

09/06/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Eight Outrageous Stories

Here’s a few stories from today that will probably leave you shaking your head.

Kansas Will Kick 20,000 People Off Of Food Stamps: Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is about to make life harder for the unemployed.

Former Senator Opens Luxury Animal Hospital, But May Try To Avoid Insuring His Human Employees: John Ensign describes his new pet clinic as the “Ritz-Carlton” of veterinary options. But the employees who work there may not have a similar level of luxury when it comes to their own health care options.

Thanks To Texas’ Harsh New Abortion Restrictions, Clinics Are Beginning To Close Their Doors: Up to seven abortion clinics in rural areas expect to be forced to close, the clearest evidence yet of the dramatic consequences of Texas’ new anti-choice law.

It Gets Worse: Russia Proposes Law To Deny Child Custody To Gay Parents: A proposed bill in the Russian legislature would disqualify gay parents from being granted custody of their children, similar to how drug addicts and child abusers are disqualified.

Without Warning, 57,000 Virginians Could Have Their Voter Registrations Cancelled: Could an ongoing voter purge tip the November gubernatorial election?

Anti-Choice Groups Won’t Stop Trying To Shut Down Mississippi’s Very Last Abortion Clinic: A federal judge has already ruled that Mississippi’s last abortion clinic can stay open. So anti-choice groups are taking a different approach to target it.

Sequestration Cuts Nevada’s Long-Term Unemployment Checks By 59 Percent: Benefit checks will be drastically reduced amid stubbornly high unemployment.

North Carolina Legislature Overrides Veto To Drug Test Welfare Applicants: After North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature to require drug tests for some applicants to the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, formally known as welfare, the legislature voted to override him on Wednesday.

BONUS GOOD NEWS STORY:

Major New Study On Obamacare Premiums Should End The ‘Rate Shock’ Hysteria Once And For All: The most comprehensive study on Obamacare to date finds that Americans’ insurance premiums under the health law will be “lower than expected.” Many Americans will pay even less than the top-line rates after factoring in government subsidies for their health coverage, with some paying nothing at all for crucial medical coverage

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Uncovering a Mystery of the Deep, a Dangerous Iceberg, and More

09/06/2013 Nativegrl77

Icebergs, Chimps, and Mysteries of the Deep

This week we’re diving deep to bring you an insider’s look at what’s happening around National Geographic.First up: Polar bears aren’t the only threat in the Arctic.

There Was This Other Iceberg…

National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala and his team are exploring Franz Josef Land, one of the world’s most remote archipelagoes. Recently, a chance event saved them from a dangerous encounter.

See what threat is bigger than a polar bear.

What Made These Mystery Circles?

No, it’s not aliens of the deep—it’s actually male pufferfish building elaborate nests to woo females. These puffy perpetrators spend about ten days carefully constructing and decorating these strange structures.

Get the story behind this labor of love.

Well, half the fish are female—I guess we could put up with a few women. - Join the Conversation

Battling the Yosemite Rim Fire

See photos of firefighters battling a massive fire that menaces Yosemite National Park.

New “Teddy Bear” Species Discovered

This rare, fuzzy forest dweller is found in Andean cloud forests.

Six Stealthy Energy Hogs

These power-hungry devices eat up more than their fair share of energy.

In Pursuit of Poachers

The typical drama of chimpanzee life, punctuated by a frequent chorus of hoots and screams, was heightened by gunshots and a foot chase through the forest to catch poachers on a recent afternoon in Uganda.

Read Young Explorer Aaron Sandel’s account of the action.

Go Beyond the Yellow Border

A lot has happened in our 125-year history. Now, go behind the scenes to learn National Geographic’s insider secrets on special expert-led tours of our headquarters in Washington, D.C. And if you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you. Experience the best of National Geographic with Nat Geo Live events in cities across the country.

Learn more about “Inside the Geographic” tours.