Tag Archives: United States

CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS

LEGISLATIVE DAY OF MARCH 11, 2011

112TH CONGRESS – FIRST SESSION

3:38 P.M. –

The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn. The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on March 14, 2011.

3:37 P.M. –

The House convened, returning from a recess continuing the legislative day of March 11.

3:02 P.M. –

The Speaker announced that the House do now recess. The next meeting is subject to the call of the Chair.

3:01 P.M. –

The House received a communication from Darrell E. Issa, Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. On March 3, 2011, Chairman Issa had notified the House formally, pursuant to Rule VIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had been served with a subpoena for documents issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in a case pending before that Court. The notification referenced the pending case as a civil case, but was in fact a criminal case.

2:06 P.M. –

SPECIAL ORDER SPEECHES – The House has concluded all anticipated legislative business and has proceeded to Special Order speeches.

1:05 P.M. –

ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with one minute speeches.

Mr. Cantor asked unanimous consent That when the House adjourns on Friday, March 11, 2011, it adjourn to meet at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2011, for Morning-Hour Debate. Agreed to without objection.

H.R. 836:

to rescind the unobligated funding for the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program and to terminate the program

12:33 P.M. –

The Clerk was authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, and cross references, and to make other necessary technical and conforming corrections in the engrossment of H.R. 830.

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

12:32 P.M. –

On passage Passed by recorded vote: 242 – 177 (Roll no. 174).

12:26 P.M. –

On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by recorded vote: 182 – 238 (Roll no. 173).

12:10 P.M. –

The previous question on the motion to recommit with instructions was ordered without objection.

11:57 A.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the motion to recommit with instructions. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the bill to be reported back to the House with amendments which provide a continuation of the provisions of the program for military veteran homeowners.

11:56 A.M. –

Mr. Connolly (VA) moved to recommit with instructions to Financial Services.

Mr. Connolly (VA) moved to recommit the bill, H.R. 836, to the Committee on Financial Services with instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith with the following amendment: ¢ In section 3(b), before “shall continue” insert the foloowing: “, and an y amounts made available for use under such Program pursuant to subsection (d),”. ***

11:55 A.M. –

The House adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.

11:54 A.M. –

The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 836.

On agreeing to the Waters amendment Failed by recorded vote: 185 – 237 (Roll no. 172).

11:32 A.M. –

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – The Chair announced that the unfinished business was on the question of adoption of amendments which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings were postponed.

11:24 A.M. –

Mr. Hensarling raised a point of order against the Sanchez, Loretta amendment Mr. Hensarling stated that the provisions of the amendment exceed the scope of the bill and the amendment is therefore,not germane. The Chair sustained the point of order.

11:19 A.M. –

DEBATE – Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 151, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with debate on the Loretta Sanchez amendment number 7 under the five-minute rule, pending the reservation of a point of order.

Amendment offered by Ms. Sanchez, Loretta.

An amendment numbered 7 printed in the Congressional Record to provide that the bill take effect on the first date occurring after enactment on which the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department, as released monthly, identifies that the unemployment rate for the United States is equal to 7.5% or less.

11:18 A.M. –

POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS – At the conclusion of debate on the Waters amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced the noes had prevailed. Ms. Waters demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until a time to be announced.

10:49 A.M. –

DEBATE – Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 151, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with debate on the Waters amendment number 4 under the five-minute rule.

Amendment offered by Ms. Waters.

An amendment numbered 4 printed in the Congressional Record to direct Housing and Urban Development Department to publish on its website, no later than five days after the bill’s enactment, to “contact your Member of Congress for assistance.”

10:48 A.M. –

On agreeing to the Neugebauer amendment Agreed to by voice vote.

10:46 A.M. –

DEBATE – Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 151, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with debate on the Neugebauer amendment number 3 under the five-minute rule.

10:45 A.M. –

Amendment offered by Mr. Neugebauer.

An amendment numbered 3 printed in the Congressional Record to include m ilitary servicemembers and veterans who have service-related injuries, as well as survivors and dependents of such individuals, in a study on use of the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program.

On agreeing to the Canseco amendment Agreed to by voice vote.

10:26 A.M. –

DEBATE – Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 151, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with debate on the Canseco amendment number 5 under the five-minute rule.

Amendment offered by Mr. Canseco.

An amendment numbered 5 printed in the Congressional Record to provide that all unexpended balances rescinded and permanently canceled by the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program’s termination be retained in the General Fund of the Treasury for reducing the federal government debt.

9:13 A.M. –

GENERAL DEBATE – The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 836.

The Speaker designated the Honorable Lynn A. Westmoreland to act as Chairman of the Committee.

House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 151 and Rule XVIII.

Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 836 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be read by section. Specified amendments are in order. It shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial Services now printed in the bill.

Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 151.

9:02 A.M. –

ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with one minute speeches.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – The Chair designated Mr. Connolly of VA to lead the Members in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

9:01 A.M. –

The Speaker announced approval of the Journal. Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Journal stands approved.

9:00 A.M. –

Today’s prayer was offered by the House Chaplain, Rev. Daniel Coughlin.

The House convened, starting a new legislative day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Senate will Convene on March 14, 2011 at 2:00pm

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

At 4:30pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive session to consider the nomination of calendar #10, the nomination of James Boasber, of the District of Columbia, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. There will be up to 1 hour for debate equally divided prior to a vote on the nomination.

Votes:

Senators should expect 2 roll call votes at 5:30pm in relation to the following items:

– Confirmation of the nomination of James Boasber, of the District of Columbia, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia, and

– Cloture on the motion to proceed to S.493, SBIR and STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011.

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Economy: A Sensible Budget Alternative

03/10/2011 Nativegrl77

Yesterday, the Senate nixed two budget-cutting proposals — the House GOP budget bill and the Senate Democratic alternative — and exposed “the fault lines within the Republican and Democratic parties over fiscal issues.” Three Tea Party Republicans “who want deeper cuts” joined all Democrats in a 44-56 vote against the GOP bill. But 11 Democrats joined all Republicans in a 42-58 vote the Democratic plan, with some arguing it cut too little and others arguing it cut too much. The government is currently funded until March 18, after which most federal services will cease if a new funding bill for the remaining six months isn’t passed. White House budget director Jacob Lew said the rejection of the two bills “made it abundantly clear that we are going to need to work together on a bipartisan basis.” But a look at the GOP’s idea of compromise reveals an aggressive need to balance the budget on the backs of the disadvantaged while simultaneously impairing economic recovery. At the Center for American Progress yesterday, Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) advocated an “all of the above” approach that “incorporate[s] mandatory cuts and revenue raisers into the mix” rather than “continuing the fixation on domestic discretionary cuts” in order to reign in the deficit responsibly. While recognizing there are tough decisions ahead to reach budgetary goals, Americans are signaling support for a progressive proposal that can responsibly avoid stymieing economic growth and hurting middle-class families at the same time.

THE SLASH AND BURN: Intent on fulfilling their pledge, House Republicans plowed through the federal budget to reach $57 billion in spending cuts in H.R. 1, their continuing resolution to fund the government through 2011. Bypassing pragmatic cuts to outdated programs and subsidies, the House GOP took their ax to vital public investments and our nation’s most vulnerable populations. It would leave 10,000 low-income military veterans and 10,000 long-term disabled people without housing assistance, nearly one million low-income students without academic support, numerous pregnant women and mothers without food and health care assistance, 11 million patients without health care received at Community Health Centers, and at least 5 million children without access to anti-poverty services when the number of children in poverty is at a record high. While leaving the Pentagon’s record-high budget request intact, Republicans still jeopardized national safety by cutting funding to food safety regulators, local law enforcement, and air transportation safety. And despite making job creation their top priority, the House GOP turned H.R. 1 into a job-killer out to kneecap economic competitiveness by drastically reducing investment in public infrastructure, cutting nearly 50 percent of federal job training funding and potentially driving the unemployment rate “up to 9.7-10 percent.” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and numerous economists have stated that the GOP bill could “cost about 700,000 jobs through 2012.” H.R. 1 ended up being so detrimental to “the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation” that President Obama promised to veto the bill if passed. “This is a highly politicized slash-and-burn budget,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said after it failed. “This debate is about more than dollars and sense. It’s about real people with real lives.”

THE RESET: The Democratic budget proposal “coalesced around a spending bill that cuts government funding by $6 billion in 2011” — a far less damaging alternative. However, as The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein indicates, the Democratic baseline still fails to “accelerate our economy” because it focuses solely on deficit reduction without offering any spending on economic investments. In a speech at the Center for American Progress yesterday, Schumer called on Congress to “reset” its approach to deficit reduction. “We need to stop falling into the trap of measuring fiscal responsibility in terms of willingness to cut government, and instead focus on what matters — reining in the deficit,” he said and proceeded to offer a more responsible way to do so. First, Schumer revived his proposal from last year to institute a surtax on millionaires and billionaires — a proposal, he noted, that was “the most popular proposal” among Americans in a recent poll. He also advocated for closing the tax gap by going after tax dodging and income sheltering by big corporations, a gap that “has gotten as high as over $300 billion a year this past decade.” Pointing to mandatory spending as “the largest contributor to the deficit,” Schumer also suggested Congress reduce unnecessary subsidies handed out to industries that don’t need them every year. In an interview with ThinkProgress‘s Pat Garofalo, Schumer said oil and gas subsidies “stick[] out like a sore thumb” because “the entire rationale for it is gone.” With the price of oil at $100 a barrel, “the subsidy, in economic terms, doesn’t mean anything other than to make some people wealthy who are already wealthy,” he said. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agreed, advocating similar millionaire surtaxes and elimination of tax breaks for oil companies to address the deficit. Schumer pushed back hard against cuts to Social Security. “Social Security doesn’t have any problems until 20 years from now,” he said, adding that the deficit needs to be reduced long before then.

THE MAIN STREET VIEW: While House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) might think “Americans don’t have a clue” about the problems facing our economy, the perspective from outside the beltway is pretty clear. Most Americans want to see a compromise on the federal budget to avoid a government shutdown, but 56 percent of Americans chose creating jobs over cutting spending as the more important government priority. Fifty-nine percent of Americans favored repealing the Bush tax cuts, and 49 percent thought defense spending should be a top priority for cuts, “even if it means eliminating programs that bring jobs to your state.” However, Americans “across all ages groups and ideologies said by large margins that it was ‘unacceptable’ to make significant cuts to entitlement programs in order to reduce the federal deficit.” What’s more, a sizable majority supported making wealthier Americans share more of the sacrifice — be it through reduced Social Security and Medicare payments or, the most popular option, a surtax on millionaires. Overall, Americans overwhelmingly rejected cuts to social programs. The progressive plan outlined by the Center For American Progress’s Michael Ettlinger, Michael Linden, and Reece Rushing “brings the budget into primary balance by 2015 and brings our deficits to sustainable levels” through pragmatic cuts in 2015, including “eliminating roughly $35 billion in corporate subsidies” and “targeting $60 billion in specific defense cuts for a 7 percent overall reduction.” Coupling responsible cuts at a more economically viable time while raising revenues — such as “applying a new 2 percent surtax to adjusted gross income above $1 million” — will help achieve important budget goals “while protecting middle-class families, continuing vital economic investments, and adequately funding other national priorities.” While tough choices must be made, “proposing to balance the budget only on tax increases or only on spending cuts” while the economy is still fragile “is both unrealistic and bad public policy.” Any feasible deficit reduction plan will balance both the budget and the sacrifice to avoid crippling the economy and hurting struggling middle-class families.

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Republican proposal is packed with extreme cuts

03/10/2011 Nativegrl77

Democrats and Republicans have to reach an agreement to keep the government operating.

Right now, President Obama is calling on both sides to come to the table and reach a reasonable solution — a plan that builds for the future while eliminating wasteful spending in the present. A plan where cutting spending is done judiciously — not recklessly. A plan with investments that create jobs — not cuts that eliminate them.

But the current Republican proposal is packed with extreme cuts that are clearly serving a political agenda — cutting billions from Head Start, slashing Pell Grants and other programs that help students pay for college, and completely eliminating funding for Title X family-planning services.

It’s not a responsible plan to cut spending — but a set of policy prescriptions intended to appease the most extreme wing of their party.

And while cuts like these make the Republican plan objectionable — it’s the fact that it puts nearly 1 million jobs at risk that makes it absolutely unacceptable.

So we’re standing with President Obama in a very public way — with an open letter calling on Republicans to work with him and Democrats in Congress to pass a commonsense budget that works for the American people. Supporters will hand-deliver the petition, with your signature, to House Republicans — making sure our combined voices ring loud and clear.

www.democrats.org

Right now, the debate surrounding our budget should be about one thing — people.

An out-of-work father of three isn’t concerned with advancing the Republicans’ social agenda. All he’s thinking about right now is getting back to work so he can pay his mortgage and his gas bill.

A single mother who relies on Head Start for her four-year-old isn’t thinking about the political sound bite of the moment — she is concerned with making sure her daughter can keep up when she enters kindergarten next year.

The American people don’t care about political back-and-forth or partisan ideology. They want their government to do right by its citizens.

And that’s where the Republican plan falls short.

They would close more than 16,000 classrooms, lay off 55,000 teachers, and cause 218,000 children to be kicked out of early-childhood education programs.

They would slash homeland security investments and lay off thousands of police officers and firefighters, leaving our communities less safe.

They would defund health insurance reform, doing away with the cost savings and vital patient protections relied upon by millions of Americans around the country.

They would eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, ending thousands of health center jobs across the country and leaving millions of women without access to preventive care.

Now, President Obama knows that this must be a shared sacrifice, and that some cuts must be made — and he stands ready to work together to find a commonsense solution.

But the current Republican plan would knock this country down just as we’ve begun to stand back up.

The American people deserve better — and it’s up to us to demand it.

Add your name to call on congressional Republicans to stand down from their irresponsible proposal and work with the President on a reasonable plan that we can all support: www.democrats.org

Thank you,

Patrick

Patrick Gaspard

Executive Director

Democratic National Committee

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Threats against Muslim Americans …change.org

03/10/2011 Nativegrl77

Tell Congressmen Royce and Miller to denounce calls for the murder of Muslim Americans

This isn’t covered in the rules on Congressional ethics, so sadly it falls to us to remind two members of Congress that it’s not OK to have your friends call for members of the armed services to murder Americans.

Last month, while protesting a group of Muslim Americans who were gathered for a charity fundraiser, Villa Park City Councilwoman Deborah Pauly said, “I know quite a few Marines who would be happy to help these terrorists to a, uh, early meeting in paradise.” Later, some of the protesters shouted slurs at families as they entered the event: “Muhammed was a child molestor,” “why don’t you go beat up your wife like you do every night,” and “you beat your women and you rape your children.”

Sharing the stage at that protest were two Los Angeles area Congressmen: Ed Royce and Gary Miller.

Spurred by Change.org activists, Congressman Royce has issued a vague statement trying to disassociate himself from the rally say such hate speech was “regrettable” and “wrong.” But he didn’t say anything about Councilwoman Pauly’s comments, and as of yet we haven’t heard anything from Congressman Miller.

Can you help send both Congressmen the message that they need to denounce Councilwoman Pauly’s comments and the hateful rhetoric used at the rally?

http://www.change.org/petitions/congressmen-miller-and-royce-denounce-calls-for-violence-against-fellow-americans?alert_id=EmZGPFrPuw_CSDrteeVuN&me=aa

The event the Congressmen were protesting was a fundraiser to combat homelessness hosted by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) in Yorba Linda, Orange County. Two speakers at the event, Siraj Wahhaj and Abdel Malik Ali, have made controversial statements in the past, and the protest was ostensibly organized in response to their presence.

However, as seen in a video of the rally put together by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the protesters insulted and threatened violence against Muslim Americans from the community who came to the event. You can see the video on the petition page.

Thank you for taking this on,

Weldon and the Change.org team

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GREENPEACE: This King’s Speech Will Get No Awards

03/10/2011 Nativegrl77

Representative King (R-NY) and the GOP have their priorities backwards.

Representative King and the GOP are playing politics with homeland security. And while they’re busy holding hearings on the ‘radicalization’ of Muslim Americans, they’re also busy extending loopholes in our chemical security law. Tell Rep. King to stop playing politics with homeland security and focus on what really threatens Americans

On the heels of an announcement that he would be holding a series of homeland security hearings on the ‘radicalization’ of Muslim Americans, Rep. King sponsored a bill to extend the loopholes in a chemical security law for seven more years instead of supporting strong legislation that will prevent chemical disasters at plants that store tons of poison gases.

The 300 highest risk chemical plants together put over 100 million Americans needlessly at risk every single day and elected officials like Rep. King and the rest of the GOP are working to keep it that way.

King claimed it’s about jobs. But you and I know better. His support for a weak chemical security law has more to do with the corporate interests of chemical manufacturers than it does jobs. He just hopes his political theater will distract you.

Representative King claims that his hearings on Muslim Americans are ‘essential’. Meanwhile, he’s ignoring one of the biggest threats to homeland security. In fact, just across the river from his district is the highest risk chemical plant in the country, the Kuehne chemical facility in South Kearny, New Jersey. According to the facility’s report to the Environmental Protection Agency, 12 million people in the New York City/New Jersey area are threatened by their bulk storage of chlorine gas.

King and the rest of the GOP need to direct their attention where it should be — protecting our safety. If we continue to ignore these high-risk chemical plants we could be opening the door to real terrorist threats like the risk of a poison gas disaster in New York and other communities around the United States.

This isn’t about saving jobs. It’s a gift to the chemical industry.

For a safer future,

Rick Hind

Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner