Tag Archives: Senate

Three months after the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama says that the Senate has taken important steps forward to help protect our kids by reducing gun violence. The American people made their voices heard, and the Senate made progress to make it harder for criminals and people with serious mental illnesses to get guns, to crack down on anyone trying to funnel guns to criminals, and to reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons. Each of these ideas deserves a vote.

Black History

CONGRESS

03/23/2013 Nativegrl77

If the Senate does NOT receive a message that the House adopted S.Con.Res.11, the adjournment resolution, the Senate will conduct pro forma sessions with no business conducted on the following dates at the following times:

– Tuesday, March 26^th at 4:30pm

– Friday, March 29^th at 10:30am

– Tuesday, April 2^nd at 10:45am and

– Friday, April 5^th at 3:00pm

SCHEDULE FOR MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

The Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, April 8, 2013. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

At 5:00pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the Executive Calendar #14 Patty Shwartz– to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit with up to 30 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled in the usual form on the nominations.

Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 5:30pm), there will be a roll call vote on confirmation of the Shwartz nomination.

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March 2013

The next meeting in the House is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on March 25, 2013.

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Tell your Senators to vote Yes on the Murray budget

03/22/2013 Nativegrl77


	Take Action: Write your Senators today!



	Urge your Senators to vote for the Murray budget.

In a matter of days, the Senate is going to vote on a budget that we can believe in.
A budget that would give more children access to early learning, protect Social Security and most core safety net programs, expand access to affordable health insurance, end the sequester’s arbitrary program cuts, and improve tax fairness.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, did her part by developing a budget that stands in stark contrast to the devastating Ryan budget. Now it’s our turn to stand up for a better budget for women and families.
Please take two minutes to tell your Senators to vote YES on the Murray budget.
Need a reason to take action? We have five of them!
Senator Patty Murray’s budget would:

Increase investments in early learning and home visiting programs, giving more children access to prekindergarten, child care, Head Start and Early Head Start opportunities.
Protect Social Security and most core safety net programs, including SNAP (food stamps), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Supplemental Security Income.
Permanently extend the improvements in the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit that lift millions of women and children out of poverty.
Expand access to affordable health insurance and preventive care services by continuing to fully implement the Affordable Care Act.
Replace the arbitrary cuts from the “sequester,” including for this year, with a mix of revenue increases and other spending cuts.

And a bonus reason!

The Murray budget would close corporate tax loopholes and limit unfair tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, raising revenue needed to support vital programs and contribute to deficit reduction.

The time to act is now! Your Senators need to hear that you expect them to vote YES on the Murray budget.
Thank you for everything you do for women and families.
Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Vice President for Family Economic Security National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center

Helen Blank Director of Child Care and Early Learning National Women’s Law Center

P.S. To learn more about the budget visit www.nwlc.org/federalbudget.

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President Obama in Israel

03/21/2013 Nativegrl77

President Obama Holds a Press Conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

by whitehouse

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A Trillion Dollar Boost

03/21/2013 Nativegrl77

By ThinkProgress War Room

How a Path to Citizenship Will Boost the Economy

Reforming our broken immigration system and offering the 11 million undocumented immigrants already here a path to earned citizenship is morally right thing to do, but it’s also the economically smart thing. A new report out today from our colleagues at the Center for American Progress outlines how immigration reform will offer a tremendous boost to the economy — especially if reform includes the vital pathway to citizenship.

Here are some of the key numbers to know:

Cumulative increase in GDP of $1.1 TRILLION.
Cumulative increase in the income of all Americans of $618 BILLION.
Increase in federal taxes paid by undocumented immigrants of $91 BILLION.
Increase in state and local taxes paid by undocumented immigrants of $53 BILLION.
Earnings of undocumented immigrants would increase by 25.1 percent, a cumulative increase in earnings of $515 BILLION.
Average annual increase in jobs of 159,000.

(All figures are the gains over ten years based on undocumented immigrants acquiring legal status in 2013 and citizenship 5 years later.)

As this handy chart shows, the sooner undocumented immigrants become citizens, the bigger the boost to the economy:

It’s hard to appreciate what some of these figures mean in real life, so here are some examples of the economic benefits of immigration reform:

Education: The GOP budget cuts education funding per capita by 47 percent; taxes from new citizens would fund 1.5 MILLION special education teachers.
Infrastructure: While the GOP budget slashes spending on roads, bridges, schools, airports, and other infrastructure, taxes from new citizens could rebuild the San Francisco Bay Bridge 23 times over.
College Affordability: The $91 BILLION in additional federal tax revenue paid by new citizens would fund more than 16 MILLION additional Pell grants over the next ten years.
Teachers: The $53 BILLION in additional state revenue paid by new citizens would fund more than 1 MILLION new K-12 teachers over the next years.

For more information on how immigration reform will boost the economy, check out the full report HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: Undocumented immigrants are makers not takers and putting them on a path to earned citizenship will help these new citizens and their communities and boost the economy by over $1 TRILLION.