House OKs Hatteras beach-driving bill

The Virginian-Pilot, By Jeff Hampton, February 8, 2014

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would allow more beach driving access to Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., will go to the Senate. The Senate took no action on a similar bill in 2012 after it had passed the Republican-controlled House.

North Carolina Sens. Richard Burr, a Republican, and Kay Hagan, a Democrat, back the measure.

CONTINUED.

Coming up in the U.S.House of Representatives

Cantor Lays Out January Legislative Agenda

Roll Call, by Emma Dumain, January 3, 2014

The House will have a busy January judging by the lengthy legislative agenda Majority Leader Eric Cantor circulated among his colleagues on Friday.

The Virginia Republican’s memo, obtained by 218, lays out the obvious items of business: passing conference reports for the farm bill and for legislation funding the nation’s water programs, plus an appropriations bill for the remainder of fiscal 2014.

The GOP-run House will also continue to assail the president’s health care law, starting next week with a measure to address potential security breaches on HealthCare.gov. Cantor released a memo on that specific priority on Thursday.

Cantor also told lawmakers to familiarize themselves with other initiatives that could come to the floor in the weeks ahead, such as a possible Iran sanctions resolution that has been on the back-burner since late last year.

VIDEO AND MORE!

The Hill: House GOP takes fresh aim at ObamaCare

The House plans to take fresh aim at ObamaCare when it returns next week, with a vote on legislation to address security concerns within the new federal insurance exchange website.

In a memo to Republican lawmakers on Thursday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he would schedule a vote on a proposal to require the government to notify individuals if their personal information has been compromised on HealthCare.gov.

Cantor cited the recent data breach at Target in which hackers gained access to the financial information of millions of customers, and he pointed to a study by the credit report bureau Experian warning that the healthcare industry would be the most susceptible to data breaches in 2014.Obamaca

READ MORE! 

House Republicans will kick off the second session of the 113th Congress next week by voting on another bill to undercut the president’s health care law.

In a memo sent to Republican colleagues on Thursday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., announced that the chamber would take up a measure next week to “strengthen security requirements” on the error-plagued HealthCare.gov website and “require prompt notification in the event of a breach involving personal information.”

READ THE ARTICLE HERE.  

House Votes to Repeal Obamacare

The House voted to repeal Obamacare on Thursday for the third time since Republicans took over the chamber in 2011 and the 37th time the House GOP has voted to repeal or defund a part of the bill.

The 229-195 vote included two Democrats who sided with Republicans — Jim Matheson of Utah and Mike McIntyre of North Carolina. All Republicans voted in favor.

In a Congress where spin often trumps legislation, Republicans see a political advantage to keeping the pressure up as the administration tries to get all the moving parts of the law finally working.

Starting this fall, uninsured people who can't get coverage through their jobs will be able to sign up for government-subsidized insurance that takes effect Jan. 1. The rollout promises to be bumpy because about half the states are still resisting the law, and Republicans in Congress won't provide the administration with funds it says are needed for a smooth implementation.

Democrats said the House vote was a pointless exercise. They noted that the ACA — as the law is known — has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and millions are already receiving some benefits, from young adults able to stay on a parent's insurance until age 26, to seniors on Medicare whose high prescription drug bills have been reduced.


Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said repeal vote is "clear waste of time and of taxpayer dollars."

"Unfortunately, House Republicans seem to think that their main responsibility is to do nothing," Pelosi said.

But Republicans see a soft target in a costly program that continues to divide the country.

They're hoping that implementation problems next year will help the GOP take control of the Senate in the midterm congressional elections and build on its House majority. Part of the political strategy behind Thursday's vote was to give freshmen Republicans a chance to vote on full repeal of what they dismiss as "Obamacare."

"Republicans will continue to work to scrap the law in its entirety so we can focus on patient-centered reforms that lower costs and protect jobs," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

What that alternative would look like, no one really knows, because Republicans have not presented a plan of their own since Obama's law was debated in Congress more than three years ago.

CONTINUED:  http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Health-Overhaul-House-GOP/2013/05/16/id/504945?s=al&promo_code=13856-1##ixzz2TYjsb2Bt

House passes 'No Budget, No Pay,' sends to the Senate

The House on Wednesday put new pressure on the Senate to pass its first budget in nearly four years, by approving a bill that threatens to withhold senators' pay until that work is done. The House approved the No Budget, No Pay Act in a 285-144 vote.

Among Republicans, 33 voted against it to protest the absence of specific spending cuts in a bill that essentially extends the debt ceiling. But they were more than offset by the 86 Democrats who voted for the measure. The bill suspends the debt ceiling until May 18, and requires each chamber to pass a budget by April 15 or have its members face a suspension of pay.

Republicans are hoping the bill gives Congress a few months to find a longer-term debt ceiling agreement that includes significant spending cuts.


CONTINUED:  http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/278835-house-passes-no-budget-no-pay-sends-to-the-senate

Recent U.S. House Votes

Energy Efficiency – Suspension - Vote Passed (398-2, 1 Present, 30 Not Voting)
In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement on an energy measure, the House came together to pass a bill clarifying federal efficiency standards for a variety of heavy appliances, including air conditioners and commercial refrigerators (excluding walk-in refrigerators). Though the measure appears uncontroversial, its prospects are not clear in the Senate given the crowded calendar.
Rep. Walter Jones voted YES     Rep. G.K. Butterfield votes YES

Global Internet Governance – Adoption - Vote Passed (397-0, 34 Not Voting)
The House unanimously agreed to Senate language expressing the sense of Congress that the Internet should remain “free from government control.” The concurrent resolution was adopted amid the backdrop of a meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations body broadly responsible for fostering cooperation among governments and the private sector on international telecommunications governance. Technology companies such as Google have voiced concern that the ITU conference could lead to adoption of restrictive regulations making it easier for national governments to censor content.
Rep. Walter Jones voted YES     Rep. G.K. Butterfield votes YES

Amending Language in Federal Law – Suspension - Vote Passed (398-1, 32 Not Voting)
In its final action of the week, the House cleared a Senate bill that would remove the pejorative “lunatic” from the United States Code. The lone House dissenter was Texas Republican Louie Gohmert, who insisted that lunatic should be retained, pointing to his fellow Members of Congress as living, breathing examples of the term. The bill awaits the president’s signature.
Rep. Walter Jones voted YES     Rep. G.K. Butterfield votes  YES

UPCOMING VOTE
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 - H.R.4310
The House is scheduled to consider several bills under suspension of the rules, as well as a Motion to go to Conference on the defense authorization bill.

The Missing 13th Amendment--

In 1811 the House of Representatives voted 65 to 64 to not to renew the Charter for the National Bank. In the Senate the vote was deadlocked at 17 to 17 and the Vice President George Clinton broke the tie when he voted against renewing the Charter. This action infuriated the Mayer Amschel Rothchild and he swore that he would instigate a war that would be financially devastating to the United States.

In an effort to prevent the British and other foreign power from meddling in our affairs Congress voted 26 to 1 in the Senate and 87 to 3 in the House to propose an Amendment that would prevent agents from foreign governments from being elected to office or from accepting bribes from foreign powers . Anyone accepting or retaining a Title of Nobility or Honor or anyone receiving compensation for political favors would be stripped of their citizenship and their right to vote or hold office.

READ MORE:  http://constitutionclub.ning.com/forum/topics/the-missing-13th-amendment

Next Week in the U.S. House of Representatives

Text of Bills for the Week of Nov. 26, 2012


First Published: November 20, 2012 at 05:37 PM
Last Updated: November 20, 2012 at 06:03 PM
ems that may be considered under suspension of the rules

H.R. 6025 Mandatory Operational Control Reporting and Performance Measures Act of 2012, To provide for annual reports on the status of operational control of the international land and maritime borders of the United States and unlawful entries, and for other purposes.as amended [PDF]

Sponsor:  Rep. Candice Miller [R-MI10]  (Good bill!)

H.R. 5913 DHS Accountability Act of 2012, as amended [PDF]

To create an independent advisory panel to comprehensively assess the management structure and capabilities related to the Department of Homeland Security and make recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of the Department.
Sponsor:  Rep. Michael McCaul [R-TX10]

H.R. 5997 Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act [PDF] [XML]
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to codify authority under existing grant guidance authorizing use of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding for enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities.

Sponsor:  Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL9]

H.R. 3563 Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2012 [PDF]
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to modernize and implement the national integrated public alert and warning system to disseminate homeland security information and other information, and for other purposes.

Sponsor:  Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL9]

H.R. 915 Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act [PDF] [XML]
To establish a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance border security by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal, State, and local border and law enforcement officials to protect United States border cities and communities from trans-national crime, including violence associated with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien trafficking and smuggling, violence, and kidnapping along and across the international borders of the United States, and for other purposes.

Sponsor:  Rep. Henry Cuellar [D-TX28]

H.R. 6328 Clothe a Homeless Hero Act [PDF] [XML]
To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to transfer unclaimed clothing recovered at airport security checkpoints to local veterans organizations and other local charitable organizations, and for other purposes.  Sponsor:  Rep. Kathleen Hochul [D-NY26]

H.R. __ To designate the federal building currently known as Federal Office Building 8, located at 200 C Street Southwest in the District of Columbia, as the "Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Federal Building" [PDF]

H.R. 6374 To designate the facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs located at 180 Martin Drive in Carrollton, Georgia, as the "Trinka Davis Veterans Village" [PDF] [XML]

H.R. 5788 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 103 Center Street West in Eatonville, Washington, as the "National Park Ranger Margaret Anderson Post Office" [PDF] [XML]

H.R. 5738 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 15285 Samohin Drive in Macomb, Michigan, as the "Lance Cpl. Anthony A. DiLisio Clinton-Macomb Carrier Annex" [PDF] [XML]

H.R. 3892 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8771 Auburn Folsom Road in Roseville, California, as the "Private First Class Victor A. Dew Post Office" [PDF]
H.R. 2338 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 600 Florida Avenue in Cocoa, Florida, as the "Harry T. and Harriette Moore Post Office" [PDF] [XML]

H.R. 3912 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 110 Mastic Road in Mastic Beach, New York, as the "Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull Post Office Building" [PDF] [XML]

H.R. 5954 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 320 7th Street in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, as the "Sergeant Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. Post Office Building" [PDF] [XML]
Added 11/20/2012 at 06:03 PM

Items that may be considered pursuant to a rule

H.R. 6429 STEM Jobs Act of 2012 [Rules Committee Print 112-34, showing the text of H.R. 6249, as introduced, as modified]
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote innovation, investment, and research in the United States, to eliminate the diversity immigrant program, and for other purposes.

Sponsor:  Rep. Lamar Smith [R-TX21]  (This bill has 67 Republican cosponsors)

How the economy got this bad: A reality primer

Facts

1. The House and the Senate control the purse strings of government. Constitutionally, budgets do not come from the White House.

2. The Democrats took over the House and the Senate on January 3rd, 2007, two years before Bush left the White House.

3. Since January 3rd, 2007, the Democrats have proposed no budget as required by law.

The Housing Crisis

On January 3rd, 2007, Barney Frank, took over the House Financial Services Committee.

On January 3rd, 2007, Christopher Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee. For years the Democrats had striven to fully implement the Community Re-Investment Act, and with Frank/Dodd in control its provisions became reality.

Starting in 2001, Bush and others asked Congress to stop Fannie & Freddie 17 TIMES!

• On Sept 11, 2003, the Bush Administration submitted plans to Congress for a "New Regulatory Agency," run by the Treasury, to monitor Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Democrats blocked this effort led by Frank, Dodd, Obama, Clinton, Shumer, the Progressive (and Black) caucus.

• In 2004, the Bush Administration, investigated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and found massive fraud, yet Congress failed to penalize or prosecute anyone.

• And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? Why, it was then Senator BARACK OBAMA.

• And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie? Why it was BARACK OBAMA and the Democrat Congress.

• Also, Franklin Raines, Head of Freddie Mac, earned a $100 million bonus in 1999 and later became an advisor to the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign. Coincidence? You be the judge.

• Using Acorn for intimidation of reluctant lending institutions, the way was clear for banks to make sub-prime loans, (loans to people that had little probability of paying them back) bundle them, and sell those baskets of loans to unsuspecting domestic and international investors. Many were "non-performing," or worthless loans.

• Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac were prime lenders during the housing bubble.

o More than anything else, it was the Community Re-Investment Act and de-regulation of the banks that caused the housing bubble and the economic crises we find ourselves in today. Since January 3rd, 2007, the Democrats have created the greatest deficits, the recession, and set us up for the greatest financial disaster in the history of this country.

Sources: Any Google search

U.S. House of Representatives: the week ahead

May 29, 2012

The Senate is in recess this week.  The House returns for legislative business tomorrow, and will be voting on:

The Food and Drug Administration Reform Act (HR 5651) revises and extends the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and for medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars. Sponsor:  Rep. Frederick “Fred” Upton [R-MI6] and 5 bipartisan cosponsors.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5651

The Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (HR 3310) consolidate the reporting obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens.  Sponsor:  Rep. Steve Scalise [R-LA1] with 9 Republican cosponsors.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3310

The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) (HR 3541) prohibits discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex or race.  Sponsor:  Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ2]  with 98 cosponsors (including 3 Democrats).  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3541

The Divisional Realignment Act (HR 5512) realigns divisions within two judicial districts.

Sponsor:  Rep. Bennie Thompson [D-MS2] with 4 cosponsors (3 of which are Republicans).  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5512

The Servicemember Family Protection Act (HR 4201) provides for the protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed Forces. Sponsor:  Rep. Michael Turner [R-OH3] with 72 cosponsors (6 of which are Democrats).  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr4201

The Secure Border Act (HR 1299) achieves operational control of and improve security at the international land borders of the US.  Sponsor:  Rep. Candice Miller [R-MI10] with 32 Republican cosponsors.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr1299

HR 3670 requires the Transportation Security Administration to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.  Sponsor:  Rep. Timothy Walz [D-MN1] with 22 bipartisan cosponsors.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3670

The WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act (HR 2764) establishes weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security and to require dissemination of information analyzed by the Department to entities with responsibilities relating to homeland security.  Sponsor:  Rep. Patrick Meehan [R-PA7] with 5 cosponsors including 3 Democrats.  (House vote Wed.) https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr2764

The Jaime Zapata Border Security Task Force Act (HR 915) establishes a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance border security by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal, State, and local border and law enforcement officials to protect US border cities and communities from trans-national crime.  Sponsor:  Rep. Henry Cuellar [D-TX28] with 2 Repbulican and 1 Democrat cosponsoring.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr915

The Mass Transit Intelligence Prioritization Act (HR 3140) directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the assignment of officers and analysts to certain State and urban area fusion centers to enhance the security of mass transit systems.  Sponsor:  Rep. Jackie Speier [D-CA12] with 1 Republican cosponsor.  (House vote Wed.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3140

The Export Promotion Reform Act (HR 4041) further enhances the promotion of exports of United States goods and services. (House vote Wed.)
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr4041

The Intelligence Authorization Act (HR 5743) authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government.  Sponsor:  Rep. Michael “Mike” Rogers [R-MI8] and no cosponsors.  (House vote Thurs.)  https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5743

The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 (HR 5854).  Sponsor:  Rep. John Culberson [R-TX7] and no cosponsors.  (House vote Thurs.)
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5854

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 (HR 5325)

Sponsor:  Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen [R-NJ11] and no cosponsors.  (House vote Thurs.) 

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr5325

Monday, April 16, 2012: Today In Washington

THE SENATE: Convenes at 2 and at 5:30 will rebuff legislation to implement Obama’s “Buffett rule” — by creating a new alternative minimum income tax of 30 percent for about 210,000 people making at least $2 million annually, while phasing in the higher rate for those earning at least $1 million.

Sixty votes will be required to keep the measure alive, and there’s almost no chance the majority will be within five of that. (A pure 53-47 party-line result is the likeliest.) As will be the case on so many Senate votes over the next six months, the roll call is more about making a campaign ad than making a law, and the only suspense is whether any of the senators most vulnerable to defeat this fall — Claire McCaskill, Jon Tester and Bill Nelson among the Democrats, and Dean Heller and Scott Brown among the Republicans — go against the party line.

Senators also will confirm Stephanie Thacker, a former prosecutor who’s now partner at a firm in Charleston, W.Va., as a judge on the Fourth Circuit. She’ll be only the second new federal appellate judge seated this year; five other circuit court picks are awaiting floor votes.

THE HOUSE: Convenes at 2 and will be done no later than 6:30, after passing separate measures honoring Raoul Wallenberg, Lena Horne, Jack Nicklaus and Mark Twain.

THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama, who got back home from the Summit of the Americas in Colombia after midnight, has nothing on his public schedule.

His re-election campaign, meanwhile, announced this morning that he’d raised a combined $53 million for his own bid, the Democratic Party and other campaign funds in March — bringing his total haul this cycle to nearly $350 million.

Mitt Romney hasn’t reported his March numbers yet, but through February had raised $75 million for his campaign. (He only started raising money jointly with the Republican National Committee a few weeks ago.) The all-but-official GOP nominee began March with $7.2 million in the bank; the president’s cash on hand at the same time was $85 million.

LINE ’EM UP: With essentially no sustained and meaningful legislating in the offing during the two weeks before the next recess, Congress will while away the time with the sort of oversight efforts that make terrific television (and pretty good campaign rhetoric) but do almost nothing to shape public policy or limit governmental waste and federal employee misbehavior.


The opportunities for sound-bite mischief-making were presented on a pair of silver platters by two federal agencies — one that hardly anybody outside the Beltway knows about (the General Services Administration) and one that’s more fabled in pop culture than any other (the Secret Service). The story that broke two weeks ago about the lavish Las Vegas conference held by the GSA two years ago will be fodder for no fewer than four hearings in the next three days — starting at 1:30 in House Oversight and Government Reform, where Chairman Darrell Issa is sure to have a highly covered field day lambasting the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up excesses that GSA bureaucrats even took the time to put on film. (The organizer of the conference, Jeff Neely, will invoke the Fifth Amendment when he testifies.) House Transportation’s John Mica will take his own shots tomorrow, while a pair of Senate Democratic chairmen, Barbara Boxer and Dick Durbin, will wait until Wednesday to chime in on the GSA’s $800,000 boondoggle. And by the end of the day, it’s a sure bet that Issa, House Homeland Security Chairman Pete King and probably a couple of Senate chairmen will announce hearings as well into the revelations this weekend that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes after finishing their advance work obligations for the Cartagena summit.

But it’s tough to predict that anything substantive will come from such hearings. Issa and the Republicans will work hard to tie both the bureaucrats’ and agents’ misbehavior to one of their favorite narratives — which is that Obama and the Democrats are all to willing to turn a blind eye to governmental waste and abuse. But the Democrats will be ready with a worthy rebuttal, which is that the people and their misdeeds are about as apolitical as it gets in the government, and that such patterns of misbehavior cannot readily be linked to this president’s policies. In fact, it’s a reasonable assumption that the same sort of advantage-taking went on long before Obama took office, including during the eight years of his GOP predecessor. (In fact, GSA spending on conferences looks to have increased steadily during the George W. Bush years.)

The best possible outcome, then, is that both parties agree that there’s a longstanding and trans-administration pattern of loose spending on professional development events and “conferences” at all manner of agencies — and that, similarly, maybe some lax oversight by both sides has allowed the Secret Service to take a little too much advantage of its rock-ribbed reputation for probity. But even a congressional agreement on that much, and a shared Republican and Democratic decision to do a little wing-clipping, is probably too much to expect at this year’s Capitol.


QUOTES OF NOTE: “I’m going to probably eliminate for high-income people the second-home mortgage deduction” while pushing to close HUD and dramatically shrink the Education Department, Mitt Romney told donors at a Palm Beach fundraiser last night — his uncharacteristically specific ideas broadcast so they could be heard by reporters on a nearby beach. Ann Romney, who turns 63 today, characterized last week’s “never worked a day in her life” comments from Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen this way: “It was my early birthday present from someone to be critical of me as a mother, and that was really a defining moment, and I loved it.”


David Hawkings

dailybriefing@cqrollcall.com

CCTA ACTION ALERT! House Vote Today on Conservative Budgets!

PASSION TO ACTION!  Melt the Phone Lines


The House is scheduled to vote TODAY on one of the most conservative budgets ever offered. Jim Jordan and the Republican Study Committee have presented a plan that balances the budget in 5 YEARS without raising taxes. By contrast, Paul Ryan’s plan takes 30 years to balance the books and President Obama’s plan never does. Among other things, this budget establishes a moratorium on earmarks, repeals ObamaCare tax increases, and simplifies the current tax code.

If you think it should take less than three decades to get away from a sea of red ink, please call your Congressman and tell them to vote for H.Con.Res. 113 - Cut, Cap, and Balance: A Fiscal Year 2013 Budget.

Click Here for more information on the RSC Budget.

Also, please be aware of the Cooper-LaTourette Budget that would increase taxes by $2 Trillion! When you call your representative, tell them to vote no on this budget!

Click here to find your representative!

Thank you for your work, you are the heart and soul of the movement!

Roll-call votes in Congress, March 25, 2012

Here's how local members of Congress voted on major issues in the week that ended Friday:

House

Medicare cost controls: Voting 223 for and 181 against, the House on Thursday sent the Senate a bill (HR 5) to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board established by the 2010 health law to use expert advice from outside government to slow the growth of Medicare costs. Starting in 2015, this panel will have power to restrain any annual Medicare spending increases that exceed official per-capita projections tied to such factors as inflation and the gross domestic product. Congress cannot reduce the sum of the panel's proposed cuts but can change individual parts after clearing high parliamentary hurdles. President Barack Obama has not yet named any of the 15 panel members, who will serve full time and need Senate confirmation for their six-year terms. House and Senate leaders of both parties will recommend 12 of the 15 nominees; Obama will unilaterally select the others.

The bill limits medical-malpractice awards (which should be a states issue), in part, by capping punitive damages at $250,000; shortening statutes of limitation for filing suits; making it easier for judges to cap attorneys' contingency fees; and requiring plaintiffs seeking punitive damages to prove the defendant acted with "malicious intent" and deliberate negligence in causing the injury. 

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Renee Ellmers, R-2nd, Walter Jones, R-3rd, Virginia Foxx, R-5th, Howard Coble, R-6th, Larry Kissell, D-8th, Sue Myrick, R-9th, Patrick McHenry, R-10th.

Voting no: G.K. Butterfield, D-1st, David Price, D-4th, Heath Shuler, D-11th, Mel Watt, D-12th, Brad Miller, D-13th.
Not voting: Mike McIntyre, D-7th.

Dispute over Medicare: Voting 180 for and 229 against, the House on Thursday defeated a bid by Democrats to prevent the Republicans' bill on Medicare cost controls (HR 5, above) from contributing to any these outcomes: rationing health care; adding a voucher system that would partially privatize Medicare; ending guaranteed Medicare benefits for seniors or younger people who are disabled; or raising Medicare premiums, deductibles, coinsurance or copayments. 

A yes vote backed the Democratic motion. 
Voting yes: Butterfield, Jones, Price, Kissell, Watt, Miller.
Voting no: Ellmers, Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler.
Not voting: McIntyre.

Senate

Relaxing rules, raising capital: Voting 73 for and 26 against, the Senate on Thursday passed a bill (HR 3606) to relax major financial-reform laws of the past 10 years to help small and mid-size businesses rapidly enter capital markets, attract investors and create jobs. The bill defines a new category of firms with annual revenues under $1 billion that could float IPOs without first having to meet SEC requirements in such areas as auditing and transparency. For these companies, the bill would waive several investor-protection and corporate-governance rules set by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley and 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation laws.

This bill lowers standards for providing investors with audited financial statements; eases reporting requirements on executive compensation; lets companies "crowd-fund" by using social media and the Internet to solicit large pools of small investors; increases the amount of capital a company can raise and the number of shareholders it can have without registering with the SEC; and raises from 500 to 2,000 the maximum number of shareholders in community banks.

Additionally, the bill reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank through mid-2016 while gradually increasing its lending authority to $140 billion. It extends a Small Business Administration program that provides companies with long-term financing for purchasing real estate and other fixed assets. 
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D, Richard Burr, R.

Internet stock touts: Voting 64 for and 35 against, the Senate on Thursday added requirements to HR 3606 (above) for stricter auditing and transparency on the part of start-up companies seeking to raise capital from large pools of small investors over the Internet — a practice known as crowd-funding. For example, the amendment requires an officer of the company to stand behind the touts of the public offering, places caps on the amount individuals can invest as a proportion of their incomes, and sets up third-party intermediate portals as buffer zones between the company and solicited investors.

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment.
Voting yes: Hagan, Voting no: Burr

Key votes ahead

In the week starting Monday, the House will take up a temporary extension of surface-transportation programs, a proposed Republican budget for fiscal 2013 and later years and several competing budget plans. The Senate will consider bills to improve the U.S. Postal Service and repeal taxpayer subsidies for oil companies. Congress will begin a two-week recess at week's end.

Source:  Thomas Voting Reports Inc.
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/mar/25/wsmet07-roll-call-votes-in-congress-ar-2084633/

Federal Legislative Updae--March 23. 2012

RECENT SENATE VOTES


Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act - Vote Agreed to (60-36, 4 Not Voting)--The Senate gave final approval to the agreement to extend the Social Security payroll tax rate cut, which was reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent last year, through the end of 2012. The bill also extends certain unemployment benefits and Medicare physician payment rates through the end of the year. The president is expected to sign the bill into law. Sen. Richard Burr voted NO and Sen. Kay Hagan voted YES.

RECENT HOUSE VOTES
Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act - Vote Passed (237-187, 10 Not Voting). The House passed the first part of the surface transportation authorization bill, which has been divided into three parts. This part deals with energy and would use oil and gas revenue to fund transportation projects.  Rep. Walter Jones voted YES.

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act - Vote Passed (293-132, 8 Not Voting). The House passed this agreement to extend the Social Security payroll tax rate cut, which was reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent last year, through the end of 2012. The bill also extends certain unemployment benefits and Medicare physician payment rates through the end of the year. The Senate passed the bill a short time later, clearing it for the president's signature. Rep. Walter Jones voted YES.

Think about it.......

"The house of representatives ... can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interest, and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny." --James Madison, Federalist No. 57, 1788

Message from Congressman Allen West

Congressman West addresses President Obama's attempt to position himself as a government reformer while grabbing more power! ~Lynn

Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, it is time again to reflect on another week and look forward to the next.


In reviewing this week, I must begin with another in a series of political gimmicks emanating from President Obama masquerading as policy. The President is actually attempting to position himself as a “government reformer” by presenting an idea to consolidate a few offices and programs in the United States Department of Commerce.

Truly the President cannot believe the American people are that gullible! The absurdity of this posturing must be patently obvious to most -- well, except for those still intoxicated by the vaporous promises of “hope and change.”

Let us break down the President’s proposal, which will result in three billion dollars in savings over the next 10 years.

The day prior, the President sent a letter to Congress requesting another $1.2 trillion line of credit by raising the debt ceiling. I for one shall vote YES on the “Motion of Disapproval.” President Obama has accumulated more debt, just shy of $5 trillion, than all Presidents from President Washington to the conclusion of President Clinton’s eight years.

President Obama once called President George W. Bush “unpatriotic” for accumulating $4 trillion of debt in eight years. One has to wonder, what does President Obama call himself?

In the past three years, President Obama has supervised budget deficits of $1.42 trillion, $1.29 trillion, and $1.3 trillion. As a comparative analysis, President George W. Bush’s highest annual deficit was in 2008, his final year (Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House, Harry Reid was Senate Majority Leader) and it was $500 billion.


It seems ludicrous that President Obama would believe the American people would consider him a fiscally responsible government reformer. After all, the federal government spends $4.24 billion per DAY. President Obama crowing about a savings of $3 billion over 10 years is meaningless in the overall conversation on reducing spending.

Let us see this for what it is: another attempt for the President to attack Congress and try to convince the American public they just want to disagree with him on every point.

Mr. President, we do not just want to disagree with you, we wish you would follow the paradigm of President Bill Clinton. After the 1994 mid-term elections when the Republicans won the Majority in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, President Clinton pivoted away from a far-left liberal agenda, and worked with a Republican House and Senate. President Clinton altered his objectives, resulting in government reform, budget surpluses, a balanced budget, and welfare reform.

Instead Mr. President, you have tripled down on failed economic policies while attempting to brand House Republicans as your declared enemy in your re-election campaign.

My recommendation to President Obama: If you are serious about streamlining government, start with the 2011 GAO report that listed between $200 and $300 billion in redundant and duplicative government programs. Click here for that report.

Our small business owners, with whom I speak often, want clarity and certainty in tax policies and a reduction in the regulatory nightmare your administration has created. Taking the Small Business Administrator and making it a cabinet level position means nothing for the countless closed storefronts down here in South Florida.

Along with the concerns about the lack of a clear fiscal policy emanating from the Obama administration, we saw Standard and Poor’s downgrade nine Euro-zone countries this week. We must start to ponder what collateral effect may occur to the American financial sector in the future.

Never forget that as a community organizer, President Obama aided the 2008 financial meltdown with his efforts supporting what became the “sub-prime” mortgage crisis. Now, President Obama is not prepared for what could be another fiscal crisis coming our way. We must strengthen our economy.


Mr. President, take a page from President Clinton, and let’s work together for the best for America, rather than a personal ideological agenda which is anathema to our fundamental principles.

Lastly, after seeing and hearing much rancor in reference to the recent Marine incident I published a short statement, read here. Today, I want to share a quote, which I believe should put this issue to rest, from President Theodore Roosevelt, on April 23, 1910, from a speech entitled, “Citizenship in a Republic.”

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Steadfast and Loyal,
Allen West

MAKING LAWS OBAMA’S WAY: ‘LAWLESS PROCESS’

Constitutional expert accuses Washington of 'headlong plunge'

Violating the rules of the U.S. House. Inappropriately handing out the legislative powers of Congress. Upending the legislative process Usurping the powers reserved to the states in the U.S. Constitution. These are not accusations or charges stemming from actions by Congress and the White House, instead, these are accomplishments of Congress and the White House in members’ purpose-driven plan to open the U.S. military to openly practicing homosexuals, lesbians and those with other alternative sexual lifestyles.

That’s according to constitutional expert Herbert W. Titus, of counsel to the Vienna, Va., law firm of William J. Olson, P.C., and teacher of constitutional law for almost three decades at a number of American Bar Association-approved universities.

But perhaps there shouldn’t be any surprise, according to critics, as Barack Obama has advocated that the nation should move beyond the “constraints” of the founding document.

That happened in 2001 when Obama told Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM that the U.S. has suffered from a fundamentally flawed Constitution.

Titus’ analysis, published in the William & Mary School of Law review journal, is titled “The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act: Breaching the Constitutuional Ramparts.”

He told WND that the results of such actions recently were made clear when it was revealed that as part of the U.S. Senate’s efforts to make its policy align with the military code, senators approved a repeal of the ban on bestiality.

The vote generated a furor nationwide when Les Kinsolving, WND’s correspondent at the White House, asked of Obama press secretary Jay Carney if, in light of the 93-to-7 U.S. Senate vote, whether the commander in chief approved or disapproved of bestiality in the armed forces.

Carney said, “I don’t have any comment on – I don’t have any comment on that. Let me go to another question.”

Kinsolving tried to ask whether the president thought the law would be endorsed by animal support groups, and Carney said, “Let’s get to something more serious.”


In the wake of the controversy, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a contender for the GOP nomination for president, called the idea “abhorrent.”

In a commentary, Kinsolving later wrote, “On the air of my talk-radio program on WCBM Baltimore, which has Internet callers from across the nation – and where I often agree to disagree agreeably with callers – almost all of the callers were grateful that I asked that question of Press Secretary Carney.”

Titus said the fracas was just an indication of what will develop under the change that knocks down more than two centuries of precedent in the military.

“It’s an example of what you might call the dissonance between Congress and the bureaucracy,” Titus told WND.

But he wrote in his law review article that the real issue is the process that was used to destroy the standard for military behavior regarding intimate and personal relationships.

“At stake in the repeal of DADT is not just whether a seismic change in military policy is sustainable without damage to military readiness and unit cohesion,” he wrote.

“The lawless process by which the repeal is being accomplished shakes the American constitutional republic at its very foundations. The central purpose of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism in the nation’s constitution is to prevent the kind of headlong plunge taken by Congress and the president to repeal DADT in response to emotionally charged cries for equality,” he wrote.

“By the failure of both the legislative and executive branches to abide by the written covenant with the American people to exercise only those powers enumerated in the Constitution, and to exercise those powers only in accordance with the processes specified therein, the leaders of both major political parties have demonstrated that with the repeal fo DADT they have violated their oaths of office to support the Constitution of the United States,” he said.

Specifically, he said:  The DADT Repeal Act violated House rules

Titus notes that H.R. 2965, the eventual “repeal” vehicle for Congress, originally was titled “Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act,” and the House rules require that “no motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment.”

“It is self-evidence that the subject of DADT – open homosexual behavior in the military – is not ‘germane’ to small business technology and innovation,” Titus wrote. “The purpose of the DADT Repeal Act – permitting open homosexual behavior – is clearly unrelated to H.R. 2965′s original purpose of providing federal assistance to small business technology and innovation.”

He wrote that in the past, the House even has determined that a bill to eliminate wage discrimination based on sex “could not be amended to ban wage discrimination on the basis of race.”

He also noted the DADT Repeal Act failed the jurisdictional test – whether the proposed amendment is within the jurisdiction of the House committee reporting the bill, which came out of the House Small Business and Science and Technology committees.

“The American people are constitutionally entitled that any bill enacted into law be handled in accordance with the established rules of proceeding adopted by Congress,” Titus wrote. Instead, “the lame duck Democratic leadership … used its supermajority to bypass [the] process.”

The DADT Repeal divested Congress of legislative power

The DADT policy was codified following official findings from Congress.

“The DADT Act directed the DoD to carry out a congressional policy in a manner prescribed by Congress in the exercise of the legislative powers vested in it by Article I, Section 8, Clause 14 [of the Constitution],” Titus said.

In the repeal, however, “Congress divested itself of its constitutionally entrusted legislative powers. First the so-called DADT Repeal Act repealed nothing. Rather, [it states] as follows: ‘No Immediate Effect on Current Policy – Section 654 of title 10, United States Code, shall remain in effect.’ Instead, Congress left the repeal decision to the Secretary of Defense.”

In short, he wrote, “Congress delegated the legislative power vested in it … to the unelected bureaucrats of the DoD. Even the president has only a nominal role – that of certifying to select congressional committees that the DoD exercised the discretionary poweres delegated by the repeal act.”

The result is that the act not only delegates legislative authority, it “transfers the executive power vested solely in the president …. into the bowels of the Pentagon.”

The DADT Repeal Act upends the legislative process

“Whatever policies and regulations are ultimately selected by defense officials to replace DADT, they will not be the product of a constitutionally prescribed process,” Titus wrote. “Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution states that a bill becomes a law when it passes both houses of Congress and is signed by the president, or, if unsigned, is not returned to the house of origin by the president within 10 days. Under the DADT Repeal Act, the rules and regulations governing homosexual behavior in the military will become law without having to comply with either the bicameral or presentment principles.”

He continued, “According to the DADT Repeal Act, it is the Secretary of Defense, an unelected official, who will decide what policy will replace DADT. … And what role does Congress play? No role whatsoever, not even a legislative veto.”

The DADT Repeal Act threatens powers reserved to the states

Titus explained that the National Guard, unless actually called into action, is made up of individual militias of the states – not a creation of Congress. He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court recently affirmed that in District of Columbia v. Heller, when the justices wrote that unlike armies and navies, “which Congress is given the power to create … the militia is assumed by Article 1 already to be in existence.”

Congress is given the power, the Constitution says, to “provide for calling forth the militia” and the power not to create, but to “organize” it, Titus argued.

“Therefore, the states have traditionally set enlistment standards for their National Guard units, the most prominent of which is that one must be a citizen of the state to enlist in that state’s National Guard. There is no good reason why the states may not also determine who, among those citizens, is ‘able-bodied,’ that is, has a sound body, not incapacitated for service in the military,” Titus said. “It follows that, as a matterof state law … a statement may determine that an active, open, practicing homosexual is ineligible to serve.”

He said the issue is not whether someone exhibiting homosexual behavior would make a good soldier, the issue “is the impact of his behavior upon ‘unit cohesian’ of the whole.”

The DADT Repeal Act plays into hands of the courts

Titus said tucked into the act is an acknowledgment that the DoD will review ongoing litigation.

That provides, he said, an open door for every type of homosexual influence to demand protection by the courts.

“Because the Supreme Court has recognized … that homosexuals have a fundamental right to ‘an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct’ …. any military rules governing their expressive activity, including sexual conduct, will be perceived as an intrusion ‘upon personal and private lives.”

Activist judges undoubtedly will use the circumstances, he warned.

“There is every reason to believe that many judges will substitute their views for those of the military in the formulation and implementation of the rules that will govern homosexuals and their sexual activity in the armed forces,” he said.

It was in an interview with Chicago’s public station WBEZ-FM in 2001 that Obama charged that the Constitution is flawed.

He was discussing “redistributive change” and noted that the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren failed in its rulings on civil rights issues in the 1960s because it failed to “break free from the essential constraints” in the U.S. Constitution.

CONTINUED:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/380757/

Winston Salem Journal: Roll Call Votes in Congress for December 18, 2011

By Journal Now Staff

Here's how members of North Carolina's congressional delegation voted on major issues in the week ending Friday.

House

2012 military budget: Voting 283-136, the House on Wednesday approved the conference report (HR 1540) on a $662 billion military budget for fiscal 2012, including $117.2 billion for war in Afghanistan and Iraq, $52.5 billion for the military's health care system and $14.9 billion for naval shipbuilding. The bill requires that captured members of organizations such as al-Qaida be held in U.S. military custody and subjected to military justice. But terrorist suspects apprehended on U.S. soil who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens must be assigned to America's civilian criminal-justice system and thus accorded constitutional rights of due process. The bill toughens economic sanctions against Iran by denying access to the U.S. financial system to any foreign bank that conducts business with the Central Bank of Iran.

A yes vote backed the conference report.  Voting yes: Reps. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st; Renee Ellmers, R-2nd; Virginia Foxx, R-5th; Mike McIntyre, D-7th; Larry Kissell, D-8th; Patrick T. McHenry, R-10th; Heath Shuler, D-11th.

Voting no: Reps. Walter B. Jones, R-3rd; David E. Price, D-4th; Melvin L. Watt, D-12th; Brad Miller, D-13th.  Not voting: Howard Coble, R-6th; Sue Wilkins Myrick, R-9th.

Republican payroll-tax plan: Voting 234-193, the House on Tuesday passed a Republican bill (HR 3630) to renew through 2012 the temporary law under which employees this year are contributing 4.2 percent of their pay rather than the standard 6.2 percent to the Social Security Trust Fund. The bill also would speed construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to southern Texas; repeal Environmental Protection Agency air pollution curbs on industrial boilers; extend soon-to-expire unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless; reduce the maximum number of weeks for jobless checks from 99 to 59 while allowing states to impose requirements such as testing recipients for drugs; extend for two years existing Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors; and allow businesses to write off 100 percent of capital investments in a single year.  The bill awaited Senate action.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Ellmers, Jones, Foxx, Myrick, McHenry

Voting no: Butterfield, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller.  Not voting: Coble.

Sanctions on Iran: Voting 410-11, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 1905) to toughen existing U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Jones, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller  Not voting: Coble, Myrick

2012 intelligence budget: Voting 396-23, the House on Friday sent to President Barack Obama the conference report on a fiscal 2012 budget (HR 1892) of about $55 billion for U.S. intelligence agencies, up 4 percent from 2011. When certain military outlays are counted, the total U.S. spy budget for 2012 is expected to top $85 billion. A yes vote backed the conference report.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Jones   Not voting: Coble, Myrick

Fiscal 2012 appropriations: Voting 296-121, the House on Friday sent to the Senate a bill (HR 2055) to appropriate $915 billion in fiscal 2012 for the 10 Cabinet departments and related agencies that have not yet received regular appropriations three months into the budget year. Among the bill's many policy changes are ones to delay new energy-efficiency standard for light bulbs and bar the District of Columbia from using its own funds to finance abortions. The bill grants major spending increases to the Pentagon and Securities and Exchange Commission while imposing flat, reduced or only slightly increased budgets on most other departments and agencies. When combined with regular appropriations enacted last month, the bill raises total 2012 discretionary spending to the $1.043 trillion mark set by last summer's bipartisan deal on raising the debt ceiling.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.  Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, McIntyre, Kissell, Myrick, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Voting no: Jones, McHenry.  Not voting: Coble


CONTINUED:
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/dec/18/wsmet14-roll-call-votes-in-congress-for-dec-18-ar-1726099/

The Hill: House approves $1T omnibus spending bill in easy 296-121 vote

The House easily approved a $1 trillion omnibus Friday, sending the bill to a Senate for a likely weekend vote.


Senate passage would send the bill to the White House and avert a government shutdown, but won't end Congress's business for the year. Lawmakers are expected to return to Washington next week to complete work on an extension of a payroll tax cut.

After a brief and mostly cordial debate, the House easily approved the omnibus, funding most areas of the federal government through the 2012 fiscal year.

CONTINUED:http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/199983-house-approves-omnibus-spending-bill

News from The Hill: House expected to return next week after passing stop gap

December 16, 2011

By Erik Wasson

House lawmakers expect to leave town Friday and return next week to deal with extending the payroll tax holiday.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his caucus to expect a two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday to be sent to the House by the Senate.

He also said the House will insist that language be added to the bill that is intended to force the administration to approve the Keystone oil sands pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The White House has said Obama would reject a bill with that language.
 
CONTINUED:  http://thehill.com/homenews/house/199907-house-to-approve-short-term-spending-measure-and-return-next-week