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the Senate ~~ CONGRESS ~~ the House


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The Senate stands adjourned until 10:00am on Tuesday, October 29, 2013.  Following any Leader remarks, the Republican Leader or his designee will be recognized to move to proceed to S.J.Res.26, a joint resolution relating to the disapproval of the President’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit with the time until 12:30pm equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.

The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

At 2:15pm, there will be a roll call vote on adoption of the motion to proceed to S.J.Res.26. Following disposition of S.J.Res.26, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board with up to 2 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled prior to a cloture vote on the Griffin nomination.

Therefore, Senator should expect 2 roll call votes at 2:15pm on Tuesday:

–          Motion to proceed to S.J.Res.26, joint resolution of disapproval regarding the debt ceiling and

–          Motion to invoke cloture on the Griffin nomination.

During Monday’s session of the Senate, cloture was filed on the following nominations in the following order:

–          Executive Calendar #53, Alan Estevez, of the District of Columbia, to be Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense;

–          Executive Calendar #307, Katherine Archuleta, of Colorado, to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management;

–          Executive Calendar #242, Thomas Wheeler, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission;

–          Executive Calendar #63, Jacob Lew, of New York, to be the United States Governor to the following International Banks:

–          International Monetary Fund,

–          International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

–          Inter-American Development Bank, and

–          European Bank for Reconstruction;

–          Executive Calendar #209, Melvin L. Watt, of North Carolina, to be Director of the Federal Housing Agency;

–          Executive Calendar #327, Patricia Millett, of Virginia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.

If cloture is invoked on any of these nominations (60-vote threshold), there would be up to 8 hours for debate on each of the nominations, except for the Millett nomination, which would have up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate, prior to a vote on confirmation of the nomination. Unless an agreement is reached, the first cloture vote will occur one hour after the Senate convenes on Wednesday, October 30.

During his opening remarks this morning, Senator McConnell moved to proceed to S.J.Res.26, a joint resolution relating to the disapproval of the President’s exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act. Under the previous order, the time until 12:30pm will be equally divided between the two Leader’s or their designees. The Senate will then recess until 2:15pm for the weekly caucus meetings.

At 2:15pm today, we expect two roll call votes in relation to the following items:

–       Motion to proceed to S.J.Res.26, joint resolution of disapproval re: debt limit; and

–       Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

2:15pm The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to proceed to S.J.Res.26, a joint resolution relating to the disapproval of the President’s exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act.

Not Agreed to: 45-54

2:39pm The Senate began a 15-minute roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board

Invoked: 62-37

Cloture was invoked on the Griffin nomination (General Counsel of the NLRB) by a vote of 62-37. By consent, the Senate will vote on confirmation of the nomination at 5:00pm today.

5:00pm vote:

Confirmation of Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

At 5:06pm the Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board;

Confirmed: 55-44

This will be the last vote of the day.

The Senate is in a period of morning business until 7pm, for debate only and with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Senator Alexander asked unanimous consent the Senate take up and pass S.1590, A bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require transparency in the operation of American Health Benefit Exchanges.

Senator Harkin objected.

WRAP UP

ROLL CALL VOTES

1)      McConnell motion to proceed to S.J.Res.26, a joint resolution relating to the disapproval of the President’s exercise of authority to increase the debt limit; Not Agreed to: 45-54

2)      Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #344, the nomination of Richard F. Griffin, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board; Invoked: 62-37

3)      Confirmation of the Griffin nomination; Confirmed: 55-44

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Discharged the Judiciary Committee and adopted S.Res.254, designating November 2, 2013, as “National Bison Day”.

Adopted S.Res.276, designating October 2013 as “National Work and Family Month”.

Completed the Rule 14 process of S.1592, the Delay Until Fully Functional Act. (Rubio)

Additional EXECUTIVE ITEMS

Confirmed Executive Calendar #242, Thomas Wheeler, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission.

Confirmed Executive Calendar 377, Michael O’Rielly, of New York, to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission.

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Last Floor Action:
9:51:23 P.M. – The House adjourned.

The
next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on October 29, 2013.

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Join ABB to Commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act!


Dear Friend,

This week marks the 35th anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the federal law that made it illegal to fire a woman just because she is pregnant.

We are busy commemorating the anniversary with activities all week long!

Congressional Briefing

Dina Bakst, ABB Co-Founder & Co-President, will speak at a congressional briefing on Wednesday, hosted by Senator Casey, Senator Shaheen, and Representative Nadler: “Making Pregnancy Discrimination a Thing of the Past.” Click here to learn more and share with your networks!

Tweetchat on the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

We hope you will join us and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Coalition this Thursday, Oct. 31, from 2:00-3:00pm ET for a tweetchat about how far we’ve come and what we still need to do to end pregnancy discrimination around the country. Follow #PWFA and @ABetterBalance  to participate. Senator Casey and Representative Nadler will be participating!

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Rally for Pregnant Women and Mothers in New York State

Key workplace discrimination measures in the Women’s Equality Agenda (WEA), including stronger pregnancy discrimination protections, will die at the end of the year if the New York State legislature doesn’t act.

The Women’s Equality Coalition is holding a press conference and rally on Tuesday, October 29th at 11:00 am to call for passage of the WEA in the wake of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act’s 35th anniversary, so that pregnant women and new mothers get the fair and equal treatment they deserve.

Come help us make history!

New York City: Press Conference on Pregnancy Discrimination.

Tuesday, October 29th 11:00 am, Steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Gedmark at egedmark@abetterbalance.org or 212-430-5982.

Even if you can’t attend the press conference, please join our twitter rally during the press conference, Tuesday, October 29th, 11am-12pm ET.

Here are some sample tweets:

Pregnancy discrimination has been illegal for 35 yrs but NY women are still fired b/c they are pregnant We need WEA! #WEAreStrong #UpgradeNY

#NYC just passed a law strengthening pregnancy discrimination labor protections–now NY needs to follow suit! #UpgradeNY #WEAreStrong #WEA

Thank you for all your support!

The ABB Team: Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha, & Rachel

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Close the Wage Gap in Washington State


Dear Friend,

AAUW of Washington State is excited to share with you the latest development in our 2013-2014 Public Policy Impact Grant. Now you can easily take action on our policy issues of focus – equal pay and paid sick days – by signing the following petitions:

PETITION: Close the Wage Gap in Washington State

PETITION: Bring Paid Sick Leave to Washington State

The petitions are part of our joint AAUW Public Policy Impact Grant with AAUW of Oregon. We chose to focus on equal pay and paid sick days because these issues are key to women’s and families’ economic security. Women and families are stronger – and our economy as a whole is stronger – when women receive the equal pay they deserve and have the workplace flexibility to care for their medical needs.

Washington state has an opportunity to lead the nation on both these issues. We need your leadership and your support to be successful. Please sign the equal pay and paid sick days petitions today, and help us share them on social media!

Sincerely,

Kelvie Comer and Barbara Sando
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Zach Silk, Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility


I’d like to say that I can’t believe this — but almost nothing the gun lobbyists do surprises me anymore.

But here it is: A political operation working with gun lobbyists decided to declareDecember 14 — the anniversary of the tragic massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary — “Guns Save Lives Day.”

You read that right.

Naturally, they immediately bowed to pressure to not hold their crass political event on the anniversary of the shooting deaths of 28 people — most of them children — to score cheap political points and raise cash to support their organization.

So they pushed it back — one whole day.

But they’re still trying to profit — politically and financially — off of an unimaginable tragedy. Please take a second to add your name to our open letter to make them cancel this ghoulish sideshow.

I’ve worked in politics a long time. But it is really rare to see something so crass and so brazen as to try to exploit the senseless deaths of children to build your network and raise money to support the very thing that stole them from their parents and friends.

It is unconscionable.

Even worse, their terrible antics give a bad name to so many well-intentioned gun owners — the majority of whom fully support sensible reforms like I-594, our initiative to require background checks on all gun purchases in Washington.

But these aren’t genuine people — they’re political consultants and lobbyists who only care about making headlines and lining their coffers.

The only way to stop them holding this event is for public opposition to grow so large, that they will be shamed into canceling this event. But we need huge numbers on this open letter to make it happen.

Make them cancel this ghoulish “Guns Save Lives Day” — add your name to our open letter today.

Thanks.

Zach Silk Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility

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