Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 25, 2008

The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the continuing resolution (H.R. 2638) to fund the government until March 2009. Negotiations on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s economic rescue plan continue today. Congressional leaders, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL), are expected to meet with President Bush at the White House in the afternoon. If agreement is reached on a bill, the House could take it up tomorrow.

Yesterday, the House passed the CR by a vote of 370-58. Most departments will be funded at 2008 levels, but the bill also includes the full fiscal year 2009 Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bills. The CR provides $487 billion for Defense, $40 billion for Homeland Security, and $73 billion for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Also included is $22.9 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and natural disaster relief. The bill does not extend the moratorium on offshore drilling. Two important considerations. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, realizes that this issue is not dead and that she can with a new Congress impose the moratorium again if Obama becomes president. Also, word on the Hill is that Sen. Harry Reid intends to insert a moratorium on exploration in the Western states. Reid continued to demonstrate his opposition to the will of the American people.

From Senate & News Sources: Congress has three major bills it must complete work on before the end of this session: the economic rescue legislation, a tax extenders bill, and a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

As negotiations on the economic rescue plan continue, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell identified some principles that any result should adhere to: “. . . . This isn’t about bailing out investment bankers, this is about keeping the US economy from entering a downward spiral. To that end, any action we take must include the following: Limits on executive compensation, debt reduction, congressional oversight and transparency, and taxpayer protection.”

On the tax extenders, House Democrats insist on playing around with a bill that took months to reach a compromise on in the Senate. Democrats are demanding tax increases to offset the extension of tax relief in the bill, but time and again, Democrats and Republicans have demonstrated there are not 60 votes for this approach in the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Reid implored House Democrats to accept the Senate bill, saying, “[E]veryone should understand we have had a very difficult time getting to the point where we are, in passing the final version of this bill. If the House does not pass this, the full responsibility of not passing this is theirs, not ours.”

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Tags: US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C., tax extenders,continuing resolution, moratorium To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!