Today in Washington D. C. - April 28, 2008

On The Senate Floor: The Senate will reconvene at 2 PM today. At 5:30, the Senate is expected to vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 2881). If the Senate agrees to take up the bill, the chamber will likely spend the bulk of the week on it.

Gas Prices: House and Senate Republicans are both focusing on the glaring absence of Democrat plans on gas prices. Two years ago, Democrats held press conferences and photo ops next to signs displaying gas prices declaring that they had plans to address the high price of gas. Today, prices are even higher and truckers have come to Washington, DC, to register their frustration. The Democrats’ “commonsense plan” on gas prices remains a mystery, though. On the other hand, Republicans have long proposed opening domestic reserves of oil to exploration, including ANWR, oil shale in the West, and drilling offshore. Unfortunately, Democrats have blocked such proposals for just as long. So how high do prices have to go before Democrats show an interest in developing resources we have here in America?

Columbia Free Trade: Republicans in Congress will also continue to make the case for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which will help American workers and companies, not to mention assist a critical ally in South America. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in an op-ed on Colombia in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram today writes that although Colombia already enjoys almost no tariffs on its exports to the U.S.,

“American businesses and producers are still obligated to pay tariffs on exports to Colombia. The U.S. trade representative estimates that, since negotiations on the trade pact were completed in 2006, American products have been taxed nearly $1 billion in tariffs paid to Colombia. By eliminating this inequity, producers in the U.S. will have greater access to this lucrative market.”

The U.S. Trade Representative has debuted a Colombia Tariff Tracker to tally how much American companies have paid in tariffs since the Colombia agreement was signed that would be eliminated if the pact was approved by Congress.

Iraq & Afghanistan Supplemental Bill: While Democrats have done little in the way of legislating recently, they have managed to keep themselves busy arguing with each other about the supplemental spending bill for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette chronicles the latest twist in this saga, noting that Blue Dog Democrats would like to limit domestic projects (stop pork from being added) in the bill, though there are many other Democrats looking to add congressional pork.

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Tags: Columbia, FAA, Free Trade, gas prices, military funding, tariffs, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!