the Senate ~~ CONGRESS 6/12 ~~ the House


UScapitoltakenfromkenschramstoryThe Senate stands adjourned until 9:30am on Thursday, June 12, 2014.

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 11:30am with the time equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees with the Republicans controlling the first 30 minutes and the Majority controlling the next 30 minutes.

 

At 11:30am, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #523 Crystal Nix-Hines, of California, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization with 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form. Upon the use or yielding back of time (approximately 12noon), there will be up to 4 roll call votes on the following:

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #523 Crystal Nix-Hines – for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #710  Michael J. McCord, of Ohio, to be Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller),

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #782 R. Jane Chu, of Missouri, to be Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts for a term of four years, and

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #776 Todd A. Batta, of Iowa, to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.

 

Following disposition of the Batta nomination, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 1:45pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

 

At 1:45pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session and proceed to up to 3 roll call votes on the following:

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #769, Lael Brainard, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #771, Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be  Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #767, Stanley Fischer, of New York, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

12:00 noon The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #523 Crystal Nix-Hines, of California, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization;

Confirmed: 52-41

Senator Levin asked unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the Majority leader, in consultation with the Republican Leader, the Senate vote on ratification of Executive Calendar #9, 113th Congress, 2nd Session” href=”http://democrats.senate.gov/execlookup.php?nomination=calendar+no.+9&congress=113″ target=”_blank”>Executive Calendar #9 treaty document 112-1, Protocol Amending Tax Convention with Swiss Confederation. Senator Paul objected.

The Senate confirmed the following nominations by voice vote:

 

  1. Executive Calendar #710  Michael J. McCord, of Ohio, to be Under Secretary of Defense;
  2. Executive Calendar #782 R. Jane Chu, Missouri, to be Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts for a term of four years; and
  3. Executive Calendar #776 Todd A. Batta, of Iowa, to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture

 

1:46pm The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #769, Lael Brainard, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;

Confirmed: 61-31

 

Next:

  1. Executive Calendar #771, Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be  Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and
  2. Executive Calendar #767, Stanley Fischer, of New York, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

 

2:12pm The Senate began a 10 minute roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #771, Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be  Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;

Confirmed: 67-24

 

2:29pm The Senate began a 10 minute roll call vote on Executive Calendar #767, Stanley Fischer, of New York, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;

Confirmed: 63-24.

The Fischer nominations was confirmed 63-24. The Senate is now considering the motion to proceed to H.R.4660, the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill.

 

Today Senator Reid filed cloture on the following nominations and on the motion to proceed to H.R.4660, the CJS Appropriations bill:

 

  1. Executive Calendar #740, Salvador Mendoza, Jr., of Washington, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington;
  2. Executive Calendar #741, Staci Michelle Yandle, of Illinois, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois;
  3. Executive Calendar #778, Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida;
  4. Executive Calendar #572, Peter Joseph Kadzik, of New York, to be an Assistant Attorney General; and
  5. MTP to Calendar #428, H.R.4660, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

 

On Monday, June 16, at 5:30pm there will be up to 3 roll call votes:

 

  1. Cloture on Executive Calendar #740, Salvador Mendoza, Jr., of Washington, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington;
  2. Cloture on Executive Calendar #741, Staci Michelle Yandle, of Illinois, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois;
  3. Cloture on Executive Calendar #778, Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida;

 

If cloture is invoked on any of the nominations, on Tuesday, June 17th at 11:00am, all post-cloture time will be considered expired and the Senate will vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed above followed by a cloture vote on  Executive Calendar #572 Peter Joseph Kadzik – to be an Assistant Attorney General.

 

On Tuesday, June 17 at 11:00am—up to 4 roll call votes:

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #740 Salvador Mendoza, Jr. – to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington,

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #741 Staci Michelle Yandle – to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois,

–        Confirmation of Executive Calendar #778 Darrin P. Gayles – to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, and

–        Cloture on Executive Calendar #572 Peter Joseph Kadzik – to be an Assistant Attorney General (up to 8 hours of post-cloture debate).

 

At a time to be determined by the Majority Leader, in consultation with the Republican Leader, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nominations:

 

  1. Executive Calendar #538 Brian A. Nichols – to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Peru;
  2. Executive Calendar #770  Gustavo Velasquez Aguilar – to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
  3. Executive Calendar #766  J. Mark McWatters – to be a Member of the National Credit Union Administration Board for a term expiring August 2, 2019 and
  4. Executive Calendar #712 Christine E. Wormuth – to be Under Secretary of Defense.

 

There will be 2 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form on each nomination; that upon the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed. All roll call votes after the first be 10 minutes in length. Senators will be notified when the votes are scheduled.

WRAP UP

Roll Call Votes

1)     Confirmation of Executive Calendar #523 Crystal Nix-Hines, of California, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; Confirmed: 52-41

2)     Confirmation of Executive Calendar #769, Lael Brainard, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Confirmed: 61-31

3)     Confirmation of Executive Calendar #771, Jerome H. Powell, of Maryland, to be  Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Confirmed: 67-24

4)     Confirmation of Executive Calendar #767, Stanley Fischer, of New York, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Confirmed: 63-24

 

Legislative items

Adopted S.Res.473, Celebrating the 20th anniversary of National Men’s Health Week.

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Adopted S.Res.474, Designating June 19, 2014, as “Juneteenth Independence Day” in recognition of June 19, 1865, the day on which slavery legally came to an end in the United States

 

Adopted S.Res.475, Congratulating the Alaska Aces hockey team on winning the 2014 Kelly Cup as champions of the East Coast Hockey League.

 

Adopted S.Res.476, Recognizing the 350th anniversary of the founding of the State of New Jersey and honoring the valuable contributions of people of the Garden State.

 

Additional Executive items

Confirmed the following by voice vote:

–        Executive Calendar #710  Michael J. McCord, of Ohio, to be Under Secretary of Defense.

–        Executive Calendar #782 R. Jane Chu, Missouri, to be Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts for a term of four years.

–        Executive Calendar #776 Todd A. Batta, of Iowa, to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture.

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Reduce Jacob’s charges to misdemeanor possession instead of life


Jana Duty: You promised to “restore integrity to the Williamson County District Attorney’s office” & use alternative sentencing. Reduce Jacob’s charges to misdemeanor possession.

By Robert Butler
Round Rock, Texas

Jacob Lavoro is a teenager facing life in prison for baking marijuana brownies in Round Rock, Texas. He’s a young man who has never been in trouble with the law before, and has always been a great kid who we love very much. I started the petition because I live in the same city as Jacob Lavoro and I felt a responsibility to help stand up for him. Our county has a history of excessively punishing minor crimes or even innocent people to “send a message” that has little do with justice or the best interests of the community.

In this case, the sentencing rules are being abused and stretched to increase a punishment that does not fit the allegations.  The police apparently included the full weight of the brownies: flour, sugar, water, etc and the plastic containers that held them to determine the weight of the illegal hash oil used to bake the brownies.

If our petition can convince Jana Duty, the District Attorney in Williamson County, to follow through on her campaign promises to clean up Williamson County’s justice system and offer alternative sentencing options then we hope that there will be justice for Jacob Lavoro and that county residents can breathe easier under a less oppressive atmosphere.

If Jacob Lavoro receives a harsh sentence, it will destroy this young man’s life and leave a permanent mark of injustice in Williamson County, Texas. Please join us today to stand up against unfair sentencing and ruining a young man’s life. Sign and share the petition today!

Have you heard about Moral Monday?


 

I support the Moral Monday protesters.

President Obama announced TWO pieces of GREAT news


Sign on to support President Obama’s call to action:

Moments ago, President Obama endorsed the Elizabeth Warren-John Tierney plan to effectively lower student loan debt by allowing people to refinance their loans. Add your name to support the plan:

President Obama just announced TWO pieces of GREAT news:

1. President Obama is taking executive action to expand his “Pay As You Earn” student loan program to up to five million more Americans. That means millions of college graduates won’t be forced to pay more than 10% of their monthly income on student loan bills.

2. President Obama went one step further — he called on Congress to pass the Elizabeth Warren-John Tierney bill allowing graduates to refinance their student loans, and get cheaper rates. The measure is paid for by making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.

You can bet Republicans in Congress aren’t eager to support raising taxes on their billionaire backers — even if it helps college graduates struggling under crushing student loan debt.

That’s why we need to put the pressure on today — a vote could come as soon as this week.

Join President Obama: Help us reach 50,000 strong calling on Congress to pass the Elizabeth Warren-John Tierney Student Loan Reform Bill.

Carmen, click here to add your name >>

Thanks,

DCCC Breaking News

projects that place large wood in rivers


You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in King County projects that place large wood in rivers or streams.

King County is hosting two meetings on Tuesday, June 10 to present information about 11 upcoming projects that will use large wood in their design. The two meetings, covering the same subject matter, are scheduled for 3-5:00 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, 125 Sunset Way, Issaquah.

King County uses large wood to improve habitat for fish and wildlife, as well as to redirect river currents and prevent erosion in levee repair and flood risk-reduction projects funded by the King County Flood Control District.

Presentations will include descriptions, schedules and impacts of 11 projects currently in the planning stage that include placing or recruiting large wood in rivers: 

  • Five projects are planned for the Green-Duwamish River basin – the Porter Levee Setback, Fenster 2B Revetment Setback, Fenster Large Wood Mitigation, Foster Golf Large Wood Mitigation, and the Teufel Nursery Large Wood Mitigation;
  • Three projects are planned for the Snoqualmie River basin – the Hafner Levee Setback, Winkelman Revetment Reconstruction, and the Sinnema Quaale Upper Revetment Reconstruction;
  • Two projects are planned for the Cedar River – Elliott Reach Mitigation, and the Fairwood 4 Stormwater Improvement on Molasses Creek; and
  • One project is planned for Vashon Island – the Judd Creek/Scott Property Habitat Enhancements.

Interested citizens are encouraged to attend the meetings to learn about these projects, ask questions or make comments. More information is available by contacting Laird O’Rollins of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks’ Water and Land Resources Division, laird.orollins@kingcounty.gov, 206-477-4790 or www.kingcounty.gov/rivers.

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