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Please enjoy today's issue of the Congressional Climate newsletter, brought to you by Keys to the Capitol! |
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THE SENATE
The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. ET. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.J.Res. 45, debt limit legislation. Three amendments are pending to the resolution.
Committees
Senate Foreign Relations (3 p.m.): Hearings to examine civilian strategy for Afghanistan, focusing on a status report in advance of the London conference. SD-419.
Senate (Select) Intelligence (2:30 p.m.): Closed hearings to consider certain intelligence matters. SH-219 .
Senate Judiciary (10 a.m.): Business meeting to consider S.2924, to reauthorize the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, in the wake of its Centennial, and its programs and activities, S.714, to establish the National Criminal Justice Commission, S.1624, to amend title 11 of the United States Code, to provide protection for medical debt homeowners, to restore bankruptcy protections for individuals experiencing economic distress as caregivers to ill, injured, or disabled family members, and to exempt from means testing debtors whose financial problems were caused by serious medical problems, S.1765, to amend the Hate Crime Statistics Act to include crimes against the homeless, S.1554, to amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to prevent later delinquency and improve the health and well-being of maltreated infants and toddlers through the development of local Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers and the creation of a National Court Teams Resource Center to assist such Court Teams, S.1789, to restore fairness to Federal cocaine sentencing, H.R.1741, to require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to eligible State, tribal, and local governments to establish and maintain certain protection and witness assistance programs, and the nominations of O. Rogeriee Thompson, of Rhode Island, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit, James A. Wynn, Jr., of North Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, Albert Diaz, of North Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, and Robert William Heun, of Alaska, to be United States Marshal for the District of Alaska. SD-226 .
Senate Foreign Relations (10 a.m.): Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs - Hearings to examine principles of United States engagement in Asia. SD-419.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources (10 a.m.): Hearings to examine the research and development priorities and imperatives needed to meet the medium and long term challenges associated with climate change. SD-366.
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (9:30 a.m.): Hearings to examine the nominations of Kevin Wolf, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, Suresh Kumar, of New Jersey, to be Assistant Secretary and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, and David W. Mills, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, all of the Department of Commerce, Douglas A. Criscitello, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Theodore W. Tozer, of Ohio, to be President, Government National Mortgage Association, and Orlan Johnson, of Maryland, and Sharon Y. Bowen, of New York, both to be a Director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. SD-538.
Senate Armed Services (9:30 a.m.): Hearings to examine findings and recommendations of the Department of Defense Independent Review Relating to Fort Hood; with the possibility of a closed session in SR-222 following the open session. SDG-50.
Senate Appropriations (9:30 a.m.): Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies - Hearings to examine how to save and create jobs. SD-192 .
THE HOUSE
The House meets at 10:00 a.m. ET for legislative business.
Committees
House Budget (10 a.m.): Full Committee. On perspectives on long-term deficits. Public witnesses. 210 CHOB.
House Armed Services (10 a.m.): Strategic Forces Subc. On the status of the Air Force nuclear security roadmap. Dept. witnesses. HVC-210 Capitol. |
Pelosi Doesn't See Votes For Health Care Passage:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday "I don't see the votes" in the House for passing the Senate version of the health care overhaul unamended, effectively foreclosing on one fast-track option for salvaging the reform measure.
"In its present form, without any change, I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House," Pelosi said in a Thursday press conference, after a morning meeting of House Democrats. "The Members have been very clear in our Caucus about the fact that they didn't like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them."
Pelosi said that "everything is on the table," and beyond talking down swift House adoption of the Senate-passed health care reform bill, she said lawmakers are still working to evaluate their options.
But there is a recognition that there is a foundation in that bill that is important," Pelosi said. "So one way or another, those areas of agreement that we have will have to be advanced, whether it's by passing the Senate bill with any changes that can be made or just taking pieces of it."
"We're not in a big rush," she said. "Certainly there would be great consensus to take the most popular part of the bill and advance it, and that would be positive, but we have serious other structural things that have to be done," she said.
Democrats have been scrambling for a way forward on health care reform, an effort that was further complicated on Tuesday after Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate special election and shattered that chamber's filibuster-proof majority.
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Senate Votes For Faster Tax Breaks For Haiti Gifts: 
The Senate has passed a bill allowing taxpayers to write off donations to Haiti earthquake relief efforts when they file their 2009 taxes this spring.
The bill, passed by voice vote, now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Obama has enlisted two former presidents - George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - to help raise money for quake victims.
Under current law, donors would have to wait until they file their 2010 returns next year to take the deductions. The bill would allow donations made by the end of February to be deducted from 2009 returns.
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Newly Elected Senator Brown Arrives on Capitol Hill:
 Sen.-elect Scott Brown came to Congress with celebrity swagger Thursday, attracting hordes of cameras while proclaiming Washington needs help because "we've sort of lost our way."
Still basking in the glow of his stunning victory in the Massachusetts special Senate election against Martha Coakley, Brown said he looks forward to getting to work. "I plan to look at every bill and make a rational decision," said Brown, speaking to reporters outside a Senate office building after he arrived on Capitol Hill.
For all the hubbub, Brown said he held great respect for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the man who held the seat from his election in 1962 until his death in August from brain cancer.
"I'm stepping into shoes that are very, very big," Brown said during a meeting with Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode island, the late senator's son.
The pickup truck-driving candidate who caught the imagination of Massachusetts voters called Washington "the best place in the world when it comes to solving problems," if the system is working properly.
He immediately went to visit Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a staunch campaign supporter, and also had visits scheduled with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Massachusetts Democratic Sens. John Kerry and Paul Kirk.
Asked to say precisely what he hopes to accomplish here, Brown replied, "I'm certainly not in favor of higher taxes and cutting Medicare half a trillion."
Inside McCain's office, Brown said he expects to be sworn in sometime next week.
Surveying the crush of cameras and reporters, Brown said, "It's a little overwhelming seeing you all here. I understand it will calm down and we can all get to work."
He added: "People want good government. They want transparency, they want us to solve problems."
McCain was Brown's highest-profile supporter and the party's champion of campaign finance reform. Kirk has held the seat since Kennedy died in August, and Kerry will be Brown's partner in policy affecting Massachusetts.
Kerry, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery, joked that he wanted to compete in a triathlon with Brown. Kerry said he doubted that the bitter Senate race in Massachusetts would prevent the two men from working together.
"I look forward to having a good, working, friendly relationship," Kerry said.
The timing of Brown's swearing-in remained in question. While Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin sent a letter to the Senate clerk Wednesday declaring him the unofficial winner of the seat, senators had to decide whether they were going to waive a waiting period for absentee ballot arrivals.
There was almost a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"-like quality about Brown as he reflected earlier on his win. Not only did he beat a better-known rival, but he did so in one of the most Democratic states in the country and in a battle over the seat Kennedy held for nearly a half-century.
The victory will give the Republicans the 41st Senate vote they need to sustain a filibuster, while it will cost Obama the supermajority he had been counting on to power through his health care overhaul and the remainder of his midterm agenda.
"If you were to tell me growing up that a guy whose mom was on welfare and parents had some marital troubles, and I had some issues growing up, that a guy from Wrentham would be here standing before you right now and going to Washington, D.C., are you kidding me?"
Brown said at a postelection news conference.
After his day trip to Washington, Brown was returning to Massachusetts to contemplate when to resign his state Senate seat and how to cope with the new demands of being a capital commuter.
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Until tomorrow,
Keys To The Capitol |
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