NC Congressional Activity January 12-16

This week we saw the first floor speeches made by our two newest elected officials in Washington. Rep. Larry Kissell spoke in support of SCHIP and encouraged congress to consider optional funding for the program. Senator Kay Hagan spoke in support of the Lily Ledbetter Act. (Video coming later today.) There is also word that Congressman Brad Miller's bill, H.R. 225 - The Emergency HOME Protection Act, may have been included in President-elect Barack Obama's new stimulus package. The bill has been mirrored in the Senate by Senator Dick Durbin who introduced S. 61. Chris Bowers at Open Left does a good job of summarizing this bill and the problems it might face.

The legislation will allow bankruptcy judges to re-write mortgages according to current home values rather than inflated "bubble" values, thus allowing hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people to keep their homes over the next two years.

:::snip:::

In late 2007, Miller's bill was defeated by an alliance of Blue Dogs and the banking and realtor lobbies. At the behest of the National Association of Realtors, which gives more money to congressional candidates than any other PAC in the country, and which has 28 people working on the Hill full time as either lobbyists or researchers, sixteen Blue Dogs sent a letter to the House leadership asking them to spike the bill. The end result was that the bill was delayed, severely watered down, and ultimately deemed insufficient by the bill's sponsor, Brad Miller. There is every reason to expect a similar effort will be attempted to spike the bill this time around. And, as I already noted, the realtors and their Blue Dog lackeys have a lot more resources than Dick Durbin and Brad Miller, who are operating this campaign almost entirely by themselves.

At this point I'm not sure the banking lobbyists have much ground left to stand on to oppose this bill. This is a bill we need to watch. Look for a call to action on this soon. On to our review:

H.R.461: To authorize the National Science Foundation to award grants to institutions of higher education to develop and offer education and training programs

NC CoSponsors
Rep. Brad Miller, NC-13

Committee
House Science and Technology

Latest Major Action
1/13/2009 Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology

H.R.463: To expand access to preventive health care services that help reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care

NC CoSponsors
Rep. David Price, NC-04

 

Committees
House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means, House Education and Labor

Latest Major Action
1/13/2009 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

H.R.515: To prohibit the importation of certain low-level radioactive waste into the United States

NC Cosponsors
Rep. G.K. Butterfield, NC-01

Committees
House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means

Latest Major Action
1/14/2009 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

H.R.554 To authorize activities for support of nanotechnology research and development, and for other purposes

NC Cosponsors
Rep. Brad Miller, NC-13

Committee
House Science and Technology

Latest Major Action
1/15/2009 Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology

H.R.591: To improve United States capabilities for gathering human intelligence through the effective interrogation and detention of terrorist suspects and for bringing terrorists to justice through effective prosecution in accordance with the principles and values set forth in the Constitution and other laws

NC Sponsor
Rep David Price, NC-04

NC Cosponsors
Rep. Mel Watt, NC-12
Rep. Brad Miller, NC-13

Committees
House Armed Services, House Judiciary, House Foreign Affairs, House Intelligence

Latest Major Action
1/15/2009 Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

NC CoSponsor
Senator Kay Hagan

Latest Major Action
1/6/2009 Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent

S.RES.17: A resolution recognizing and honoring Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, the crewmembers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, and the first responders, ferry operators and tug boat drivers of New York City, for their heroic and intuitive roles in the safe emergency landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549

NC CoSponsor
Senator Kay Hagan

Latest Major Action
1/16/2009 Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent

S.181: A bill to amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and to modify the operation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes

NC Cosonsor
Senator Kay Hagan

Latest Major Action
1/15/2009 Measure laid before Senate by motion.