Black History

the Senate ~~ CONGRESS 10/17 ~~ the House


EmptyhouseChamber

The Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, October 28, 2013.

  Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until ­­­4:30pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

The Senate will meet for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times unless the Senate receives a message from the House that the House has adopted S.Con.Res.24, the adjournment resolution.

–          Thursday, October 17th at 12:15pm;

–          Monday, October 21st at 1:30pm; and

–          Thursday, October 24th at 12:00 noon

Following morning business, 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 for a term of four years.  There will be up to one hour of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form.

Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 5:30pm), there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Griffin nomination.

*********************************************************

Last Floor Action:
10:55:07 P.M. – The House adjourned pursuant to S. Con. Res. 24.

The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on October 22, 2013.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Eye on the Amazon: Who is the real criminal?


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Smooth Criminal
Chevron Sues Rainforest Communities It Contaminated

Who is the real criminal?The Gambino crime family. The Chicago outfit. The Latin Kings. You’ve probably heard of these infamous crime families, a.k.a., the mob. The mafia. “Don” Corleone. Capiche?

But have you heard of Hugo Camacho? Or Javier Piaguaje? They’re not exactly household names. Nor gangster names for that matter. And that’s because one is a campesino farmer that makes about $200 a month growing cacao. The other is a leader of the Secoya indigenous people, and both are from the rainforests of Ecuador‘s Amazon. Their crime? Suing the second largest oil company for the worst oil-related environmental disaster on the planet. And winning.

But starting today in a lower Manhattan courthouse, they are being accused using the same criminal statute under which the big crime bosses of our time have been prosecuted: RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). It’s the latest in Chevron’s scorched earth campaign to avoid paying a record environmental verdict against the company for massive contamination stemming from its operations in Ecuador’s Amazon between 1964 and 1990.

Read the rest on Eye on the Amazon »

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Black History

the Senate ~~ CONGRES 10/16 ~~ the House


shutdownohnolook

the Media is reporting that a deal may be announced at 12ET

The Senate stands in adjournment until 12:00 noon on Wednesday,

October 16, 2013.  Following any Leader remarks, Senators will be permitted to speak for up 10 minutes each.

During the opening, Senate Reid renewed the motion to proceed to S.1569, a bill to ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until December 31, 2014.

The Senate has reached an agreement to consider the Debt Limit/CR and to go to conference on the Budget resolution. There will be a series of 2 roll call votes beginning momentarily.

By consent, the Senate will now begin consideration of H.R.2775, agree to the substitute amendment, which is the text of the debt limit and CR deal, and immediately proceed to a cloture vote on the bill, as amended. If cloture is invoked, the Senate would immediately proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended.

The Senate also agreed that if the senate passes H.R.2775, as amended, the Senate go to conference on the Budget resolution and authorized the Chair to appoint conferees with a ratio of 12 Democrats and 10 Republicans. The conferees are instructed to report back a conference report by December 13, 2013. It is not in order for the Senate to consider a conference report if it includes reconciliation instructions to raise the debt limit. If the House fails to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R.2775 (Debt Limit/CR), the agreement to go to conference on the Budget would be vitiated.

2 roll call votes at approx. 7:30pm:

–       Cloture on H.R.2775, as amended (60 vote threshold); and

–       Passage of H.R.2775, as amended, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (majority vote threshold).

Agreement to go to conference on Budget resolution

Murray:           I ask unanimous consent that if the Senate passes H.R.2775, as amended, the Senate then proceed to the consideration of Calendar #33, H.Con.Res.25; that the amendment at the desk, which is the text of S.Con.Res.8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that H.Con.Res.25, as amended, be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the motion for the Senate to insist on its amendment, be agreed to; that the Senate request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses and authorize the Chair to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, with a ratio of 12 Democrats and 10 Republicans; that the conferees be instructed to report back a conference report by December 13, 2013; that if the Senate receives from the House a request to go to conference on S.Con.Res.8, that this agreement be modified so that the Senate agree to the request to go conference on S.Con.Res.8, with the remaining provisions related to the conference remaining in effect; further, that it not be in order for the Senate to consider a conference report with respect to H.Con.Res.25 or S.Con.Res.8, if it includes reconciliation instructions to raise the debt limit; and that all of the above occur with no intervening action or debate; finally, that H.Con.Res.25, as amended, and passed, be held at the desk until a message is received from the House relative to H.R.2775 and if the House fails to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R.2775, this agreement be vitiated.

Without objection.

Agreement on CR/Debt Limit

Reid:                I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar #193, H.R.2775; that the substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to (text of debt limit until February 7, 2014 and CR through January 15, 2014); that a cloture motion on the bill, as amended, which is at the desk, then be read; that the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived; that no other amendments, points of order or motions be in order to the bill; that if cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time be yielded back and the bill, as amended, be read a third time and the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill, as amended; that if the bill, as amended, is passed, that a title amendment, which is at the desk be agreed to; finally, that if cloture is not invoked, the action above with respect to the amendment to the bill be vitiated and the bill be returned to the calendar.

Without objection.

At 7:33pm the Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on H.R.2775, as amended (Debt Limit/CR);

Invoked: 83-16

7:56pm The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on passage of H.R.2775, as amended (Debt Limit/CR);

Passed: 81-18

*******************************************************************

Last Floor Action:
10:43:49 A.M. – The Speaker announced that the House do now recess.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00 P.M. today.

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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

They called me f**got


I’m an openly gay student at Ole Miss who was threatened with anti-gay slurs. Join me in calling on Ole Miss to update its policies to protect LGBT students, faculty and staff.

I’m an openly gay student at the University of Mississippi, known as “Ole Miss.” Last week, while I was performing in The Laramie Project — a play about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed for being gay — I was booed and heckled by the audience. They laughed at me. They called me f**got.

During the performance, I felt so much judgment. And worse than that, I felt afraid. Not just afraid of what these people might do to me, but afraid that my school wouldn’t back me up — because many of Ole Miss’s policies do not include protections for gay students like me.

The Ole Miss administration has said it will “investigate” what happened during that performance, but I want more than apologies and empty promises. I want real protection.

I worked with GetEQUAL to start a petition calling on Ole Miss to update all its policies for students, faculty and staff to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Will you click here to sign?

What happened during that performance was especially upsetting to me because The Laramie Project is supposed to be a show about learning from what happened to Matthew Shepard. It’s about coming together and treating all people equally.

I hope one day to be able to be my authentic self, open, and without fear of judgment. But the message I got on stage that night was very clear: being gay means being in danger.

This Saturday is the fifteenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, and on that day, I am going to present my petition to the Ole Miss administration. I know that if thousands of people sign, they will see how important it is that they take action to protect LGBT people on campus.

Click here to call on Ole Miss’s administration to update all of its policies to extend protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity to all students, faculty and staff.

Thank you,

Garrison Gibbons
Oxford, Mississippi

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