SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES BYRNE AMENDMENT TO HELP PROTECT FUTURE OF LCS

Newly elected U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne successfully got a congressional subcommittee on Wednesday to edit a defense spending bill to help protect the Mobile shipyard that has a contract to build new warships for the U.S. Navy. Byrne, R-Fairhope, got the House Armed Services' Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces to edit a study by the U.S. Navy into the long-term viability of the Littoral Combat Ship program. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the study to examine alternatives to LCSs.

Byrne wants full funding for a version of the LCS being built in his district by Austal USA. A Wisconsin shipyard is building another version. Byrne's amendment removes a summation of the LCS's alleged negative capabilities from a July 2013 Government Accountability Office report.

The Obama administration wants only three LCS ships and seeks to stop production at 32 ships instead of the current 52 ships. Reducing the order to three would mean that either Mobile or Wisconsin would lose a ship.

The full Armed Services Committee will take up the bill next week and could amend it, send it to the House Appropriations Committee this summer, and then to a full House vote. The U.S. Senate will have its own version of the fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill, al.com reported. 

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, in a floor speech this week, said delays on the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas may cause Congress to pass a law that will force approval of the pipeline and hurt relations with Canada, al.com reported. "In my time here, in the Senate, this is one of the most inexplicable actions by a president I have ever seen," Sessions said.

The U.S. State Department has final say in approving a transnational pipeline but a decision was postponed until after the 2012 elections. Now it's been postponed again until after the 2014 mid-term elections.

Sessions said he believes the pipeline decision is being delayed because a billionaire Democratic donor opposes the pipeline and wants to defeat Republicans. "I believe the public interest, the people's interest, of this country is being subordinated to either an extreme environmentalist agenda or plain money," said Sessions.

National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said "manufacturers and workers are absolutely astounded" by the delay, which is unwarranted and unnecessary.

"Today's announcement shows that Keystone XL is being judged not on its merits but in terms of scoring political points in an election year," Timmons said. "It matters to our energy security. It matters to our national security."

President Obama's new $302 billion transportation bill contains language allowing states to charge to use the nation's interstate highways. Federal law currently bars states from doing so in most places. Obama's GROW AMERICA Act contains a provision to eliminate "the prohibition on tolling existing free Interstate highways, subject to the approval of the Secretary, for purposes of reconstruction." It also would allow states more flexibility to use toll revenue for repairs "on all components of their highway systems."

The U.S. Department of Transportation proposal would increase highway spending by $87 billion to fix deficient bridges and old transit systems. The bill also would increase the fine on carmakers - from $35 million to $300 million - that fail to quickly recall deficient vehicles.

U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday stuck together and killed a procedural motion to bring up an expensive and job-killing minimum wage bill being pushed by Democrats in their bid to counter negative polling prior to the November mid-term elections. The solidarity blocked a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's economic plans and ensured the issue will be a major feature of this fall's congressional elections, the Associated Press reported.

Democrats needed 60 votes to move forward with legislation that would gradually raise the hourly federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The 54-42 vote was insufficient to move the bill. The expected defeat did not deter Senate Democrats who have pledged to make it an election issue. The minimum wage bill also faces opposition from House Republicans, who do not intend to bring it to the floor for a vote this year.

Fearing a Republican Senate takeover, Democrats have been pushing votes on bills designed to amplify their message of economic fairness, the AP reported. Republican senators accused Democrats of playing politics by pushing a minimum wage measure designed to lure voters but too expensive for employers and sure to result in lost jobs and higher inflation.

The Supreme Court this week said the Environmental Protection Agency can target air pollution that drifts across state borders from 27 midwestern and Appalachian states to northeastern states. But, as usual, politics quickly got involved.

The EPA has been trying to carry out a directive under the federal Clean Air Act to protect downwind states from other states, mostly from coal-fired power plants. Coal states and coal the industry suspect a "war on coal" by the Obama administration.

The rules from 2011 were challenged by a coalition of upwind states and industry, which prevailed in lower courts, the Washington Post reported. But the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 2 that the latest effort could be implemented.

Hal Quinn, president of the National Mining Association, said his organization "is disappointed in the outcome and gravely concerned with the latitude afforded the EPA to preempt states before they have had a reasonable chance to act."

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., wrote the EPA administrator that the EPA may have delayed proposing limits to carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants with an eye on this year's November mid-term elections, the Hill reported. Inhofe is ranking member of the oversight subcommittee within the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The EPA announced the proposed rule on Sept. 20, the date Obama had requested. The EPA submitted it for publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 25, which Inhofe said was far longer than the usual time frame. It was formally published Jan. 8. The Clean Air Act mandates that EPA finalize rules a year after they are proposed, so the final rule cannot be published until Jan. 8, 2015.

"If EPA had kept the timetable mandated by the President, it would have been obligated to finalize the new rule about six weeks before the 2014 elections," Inhofe said. "Now, because of EPA's delay, the proposal will not need to be finalized until well after this election cycle."

The actual EPA timeline is different than the one EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told lawmakers in January, the Hill reported.

Alabama's members of Congress may not agree on all political issues but when an issue is important to the state they work together and present a united front. Members of the House and Senate wrote President Obama this week in support of Governor Robert Bentley's request for an emergency declaration due to the storms Wednesday and Thursday that left death and destruction and resulted in significant flooding.

"Alabama is no stranger to such destruction and I know that our compassion for our neighbors and resilient spirit will see us through," Rep.Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said in a statement. "I am always inspired by the strength and spirit that we Alabamians possess as we step forward to help our neighbors and communities during difficult times."

Governor Bentley declared a state of emergency under Alabama law, and state and local officials are coordinating with the response and cleanup. Bentley also seeks a 100 percent federal cost share for the first 72 hours. 

Report says Obamacare will end job-sponsored medical insurance

Al.com (Diel 5/1) "About 90 percent of American workers who currently get health insurance through their employers may be pushed off of those plans and forced to buy insurance on Affordable Care Act exchanges within six years, a new analysis has found.

"The analysis by S&P Capital IQ found that large companies could save a total of $700 billion by 2025 by canceling their company-sponsored health plans, and that all companies with more than 50 employees could save a total of $3.25 trillion. The projections are consistent with those of a leading author of the law, commonly known as Obamacare, though the speed with which the shift is predicted is much greater in the new analysis, The New York Times reports.

Shelby told administration cuts are 'decimating' U.S. armed forces

Al.com (Gore 5/1) "Continual budget cuts could weaken the U.S. military to the point it is incapable of protecting the country and its allies, military officials told Senate leaders this week. That level of risk, according to Sen. Richard Shelby, is unacceptable.

"Shelby, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was among those receiving updates from Pentagon officials at Wednesday's defense subcommittee hearing. In an exchange with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, Shelby highlighted the impact ongoing budget cuts are having on the military. Shelby asked Odierno about planned end-strength reductions that will cut tens of thousands of soldiers from the Army's ranks.

"Odierno said the cutbacks would cause a "significant" level of risk and force the services to assume any conflict would be short-lived and backed by allied support. Even faced with financial restrictions, Shelby said missile defense - a hallmark of Alabama's military network - will continue to play a large role in protecting the country and its allies. 'Obviously, our missile defense program and our ability to protect ourselves are becoming more and more important as the Army continues to have over 50 percent of its ballistic missile defense capability deployed around the world in the Middle East (and in the) Pacific, trying to prevent and ensure that we protect our allies and ourselves from ballistic missile attack', Odierno said.