Tag Archives: United States

the Senate 7/23 ~~ CONGRESS ~~ the House considers HR5


capitolphonelines

The Senate will convene at 10:00am on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

  • Following the prayer and pledge, the Majority Leader will be recognized. It is expected he will renew his motion to proceed to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The time until 12:00pm will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.
  • The next roll call vote will be at 12:00pm on Tuesday, July 23rd on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243.  Cloture was filed on that motion during Thursday’s session of the Senate.  If cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.1243 (likely a voice vote). If the motion to proceed to S.1243 is adopted, the text of H.R.2610, as reported by the House Appropriations, will be deemed House passed text for the purposes of rule 16.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

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July 2013
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Last Floor Action:
1:18:37 P.M. – The House adjourned
pursuant to a previous special order.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00
p.m. on July 22, 2013.

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What happened to Kelli


National Women's Law Center
We all have a health care story to tell. Just stand next to the office water cooler and you’ll hear the stories flow.
My co-worker Kelli shared this one with me:
“My older sister was diagnosed with lupus as a child. She spent much of her life in and out of hospitals and taking handfuls of expensive medications. Once diagnosed, no insurance plan would take her on. My family was stuck with our ‘major medical’ insurance, which only covered a percentage of hospitalizations but nothing else — none of her numerous prescription drugs or doctors’ visits were covered. This affected our whole family. It made it impossible for my parents to save money for our educations, their retirement, or anything else. We were always one illness away from financial disaster. If we’d had the health care law then, my family could’ve gotten better health insurance — because, under the new law, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to children who have pre-existing conditions.”
Kelli told us her story. Will you share yours?
Maybe you have private insurance that fails to cover the services you need such as mental health care, maternity care, or prescription drug coverage. Maybe high co-payments and deductibles keep you from getting the health care you need. Maybe you’re uninsured simply because you can’t afford it or you’ve been turned down for health coverage after you got sick. Whatever your story may be, it matters.
Thanks to the health care law, change is on the way. Under the law, you won’t be denied health coverage because of a pre-existing condition. You won’t lose your health insurance when you get sick. You’ll soon have affordable insurance options through a new health care marketplace.
But right now, many women and their families are still struggling to pay for health coverage and get the care they need. Sadly, there are still families like Kelli’s. Please share your story today.
I love hearing from you. Thank you for fighting with us to advance the rights of women and their families.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National

Tara McGuinness, The White House – #ACA is good


If you want tangible evidence of the way that the new health care law is already helping ordinary people, it’s worth having a conversation with one of the 8.5 million Americans who received rebates from their insurance companies this summer. Just ask the folks who got checks in the mail.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on medical care, instead of overhead like salaries or advertising. And if an insurance company doesn’t meet that standard, it has to provide a rebate to its customers.

It’s a really big deal, and we want to make sure everyone understands how it works.

Here’s a graphic that breaks things down. Will you share it to help answer questions in your community?

Check out this graphic about health care rebates.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/health-care-rebate

Thanks! Tara

Tara McGuinness Senior Communications Advisor The White House

@HealthCareTara

~~ Congress ~~ On break until 7/23


Wethepeople

The Senate will convene at 10:00am on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

  • Following the prayer and pledge, the Majority Leader will be recognized. It is expected he will renew his motion to proceed to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The time until 12:00pm will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.
  • The next roll call vote will be at 12:00pm on Tuesday, July 23rd on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243.  Cloture was filed on that motion during Thursday’s session of the Senate.  If cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.1243 (likely a voice vote). If the motion to proceed to S.1243 is adopted, the text of H.R.2610, as reported by the House Appropriations, will be deemed House passed text for the purposes of rule 16.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

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Last Floor Action:7/19
9:53:37 A.M. -H.R. 5
DEBATE – Pursuant
to the provisions of H. Res. 303, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20
minutes of debate on the George Miller (CA) substitute amendment No. 26.

USA: Save the bees


Across the USA, millions of bees are dying, threatening our food supply. Scientists blame one group of pesticides some of which have just been banned in Europe. A new bill could save America’s bees, but big Agriculture and the pesticide industry are lobbying hard against it. We only have days to make sure Congress acts to stop the Chemical Armageddon — sign the emergency petition now!Quietly, across the USA, millions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. A new bill this week could ban one group of deadly pesticides and save bees from annihilation, but only if Congress feels the sting of public opinion.

America’s bees are facing a chemical Armageddon — just last week, 50,000 died in a single car park in Oregon after being exposed to pesticides, and last winter over 50% of all California’s bees died. Leading scientists blame one group of pesticides called neonicotinoids. The evidence is so compelling that the entire European Union has begun banning them, and the Save America’s Pollinators Act could impose a ban on these deadly poisons in the US.

Now it’s up to us to get our politicians to save America‘s bees. Big Agriculture and powerful chemical companies like Bayer are already lobbying hard to stop the bill, but if we show an overwhelming public support for a ban, we can counter their influence. Sign the petition below and tell everyone — when we reach 250,000 signers, we’ll take Avaaz’s giant inflatable bee to Capitol Hill to tell Congress to save our bees:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/usa_save_the_bees/?biEWLbb&v=27215

Bees don’t just make honey, they are vital to life on earth, every year pollinating 95 types of fruits such as avocados, almonds, apples, and that’s just the A’s — with an estimated $30bn value. Without immediate action to save bees, many of our favorite fruits, vegetables, and nuts could vanish from our shelves.

Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations — some bee species are already extinct and some US species are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers. Some studies claim the decline may be due to a combination of factors including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals.

But increasingly, independent research has produced strong evidence blaming neonicotinoid pesticides, forcing the European Union to temporarily suspend use of one or more of these bee killers. But, in the US, the EPA has been slow to react — their review won’t be completed until 2018 condemning our bees to 5 more years of chemical Armageddon.

This issue is now coming to the boil as major new studies have confirmed the scale of this problem, and Representatives Blumenauer and Conyers have introduced legislation. If we can get other members of Congress to act, we could shut down once and for all Bayer’s influence on policy-makers and scientists. The real experts — the beekeepers and farmers — want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let’s support them now. Sign the urgent petition to Congress now, then forward this email:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/usa_save_the_bees/?biEWLbb&v=27215

We know we can win on bees. Last April, over 2.5 million of us signed a petition calling on the EU to adopt a ban on bee killing pesticides and won! And in the US, nearly a million of us persuaded the EPA to review their position on these poisons. Now let’s go one step further towards saving bees!

With hope,

Iain, Luis, Anne, Alex, Allison, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team

PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community. It’s easy to get started – click to start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917

MORE INFORMATION

Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms (NY Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?pagewanted=all

Bee protection: US in spotlight as EU bans pesticides (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/30/bee-protection-us-eu-bans-pesticides

Legislation to restrict pesticide use proposed by Rep. Blumenauer (Oregon Live):
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/07/legislation_to_restrict_pestic.html

Some US bumblebees see 96% drop in last decades (Treehugger):
http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/some-us-bumblebees-see-96-drop-in-last-decades.html