VA Scandal Hearings | Reid &, Dems Turn Senate Into 'Veritable Graveyard For Good Ideas,' Amendments & Appropriations Bills

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 9, 2014
White House is requesting $3.7 billion in emergency funds for the self-created border crisis. Today, the Washington Post reports, "The White House on Tuesday formally requested $3.7 billion in emergency funding from Congress to deal with an influx of Central American minors along the southern border. But the proposal was quickly met with broad skepticism among Republican lawmakers, who were doubtful that the package would be approved quickly — if at all. . . .

"But GOP leaders, who have called on Obama to take stronger action, said they were reluctant to give the administration a “blank check” without ­more-detailed plans to ensure that the money would help stem the crisis at the border. The president “is asking to use billions of taxpayer dollars without accountability or a plan in place to actually stop the border crisis,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. . . .

"More than 52,000 unaccompanied minors and 39,000 women with children have been apprehended on the southern border this year, far more than in past years. Most have come from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras; those countries would receive money under Obama’s proposal to help repatriate their citizens after they are returned home. . . .

"A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said the House Appropriations Committee and a separate working group of seven Republicans focused on border issues would review the administration’s proposal. 'The speaker still supports deploying the National Guard to provide humanitarian support in the affected areas — which this proposal does not address,' spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement."

The U.S. House reconvened at 10 AM today.  After a couple hours of "Morning Debate," the proceed to consideration of "Electing a Member to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives." The House the took up and are debating H.R. 4923 — "Making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes."

Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 1528 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Controlled Substances Act to allow a veterinarian to transport and dispense controlled substances in the usual course of veterinary practice outside of the registered location."
H.R. 4653 (Voice Vote) — "To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3488 (Voice Vote) — "To establish the conditions under which the Secretary of Homeland Security may establish preclearance facilities, conduct preclearance operations, and provide customs services outside the United States, and for other purposes."
H.R. 4007 (Voice Vote) — "To recodify and reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program."
H.R. 4263 (375-19) — "To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Department of Homeland Security to establish a social media working group, and for other purposes."
H.R. 4289 (393-0) — "To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Under Secretary for Management of the Department of Homeland Security to take administrative action to achieve and maintain interoperable communications capabilities among the components of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes."

Congressman Rob Woodall (GA-07) was elected unanimously by the House Republican Study Committee members to serve as Chairman for the remainder of the 113th Congress beginning July 16th. He has served as Chairman of the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force since the beginning of the 113th Congress. Woodall will begin his office as Chairman on July 16th. Current RSC Chairman Steve Scalise (R-LA) will assume his newly-elected role as House Majority Whip on July 31st. Scalise said, “I congratulate my good friend and colleague Rob Woodall today on being elected by our members to succeed me as the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee. As Chairman of the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force, Rep. Woodall has been a champion for fiscally conservative policy and presented our RSC budget that implements bold reforms to balance in four years. I look forward to working with Rob in our new roles as we continue promoting the conservative solutions necessary to unite our conference and get our country back on track.”

Yesterday, four VA employees testified before a House Veterans Affairs Committee panel about supervisors retaliating against them for exposing problems at VA medical centers. Today, the Washington Post noted, "Carolyn Lerner, who heads the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, said her organization is investigating 67 cases of alleged retaliation against VA employees. She added that the OSC has elevated 30 of those cases for deeper review and that the number of complaints increases “pretty much daily,” with the agency receiving an additional 25 of them since June 1. . . .

"VA physician Jose Matthews, who served as chief of psychiatry at the St. Louse VA medical center, said he was removed from his position after raising concerns about wait times and whether psychiatrists were spending adequate time each day providing direct patient care. . . .

"Katherine Mitchell, an internist at the Phoenix VA hospital who helped expose the agency’s record-keeping scandal, testified that the VA clinics use 'sham peer reviews' to 'permanently sabotage' doctors’ credibility. 'Physicians truly face losing their livelihood,' . . .

"VA health official James Tuchschmidt, a physician. . . expressed regrets that whistleblower retaliation occurred during his tenure with the agency. 'I apologize to every one of our employees who feel their voice has been silenced, whose passion has been stifled, because that’s not what I stand for,” he said. “I’m past being upset. I’m very disillusioned and sickened by this.' ...

"Among the other witnesses at the hearing was Christian Head, a physician and quality-assurance official for the VA’s Los Angeles health system, who said one of his bosses used an embarrassing slideshow presentation to punish him for aiding an investigation of her alleged time-card abuses. He said the supervisor is still serving in the same capacity for the VA, even though an inspector general recommended that she be removed.

Head held up a copy of one slide that his supervisor showed at the event. It contained a picture of him on his phone, and it said: 'If all else fails, he reports you to the inspector general at the VA.' "In front of 300 individuals, .... ' was labeled the person who ratted out this person.' Head said another slide was 'so heinous that I can’t even show or discuss it today.' According to a lawsuit published by a local ABC affiliate, the image showed Head’s face superimposed on a black gorilla, with another gorilla sodomizing him. . . ."

The U.S. Senate reconvened at 10 AM today. They voted 71-26 to confirm Julian Castro to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The Senate then agreed to the motion to proceed to S. 2363, the sportsmen’s bill, by voice vote.

Votes are possible on amendments to S. 2363 this week if an agreement on amendments can be reached and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) doesn’t decide to block all amendments and file for cloture on the bill.

Frustrated at more obstruction from Senate Democrats, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said today, “[T]he Democrat Majority really only has one mission these days: to protect the President and the Left at all costs. That’s why the average Democrat Senator has almost no power anymore. They’re just another backbencher fortifying President Obama’s Senate moat — the place where good ideas go to die. It’s a real shame. The Senate used to be the place where big ideas were debated and serious solutions were explored. Committees operated and amendments were offered. I remember a time not too long ago when there was even such a thing as an independent-minded Senate Democrat. But today’s Democrat leadership has put an end to all that.”

And sure enough, moments after the Senate agreed to take up a new bill today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filled the amendment tree to prevent any amendments from either Republicans or Democrats from being offered and then filed cloture to cut off debate on the bill.

How bad has the blockade by Democrat leaders gotten? The Hill reported recently that “[Sen. Mark] Begich [D-AK], who was elected in 2008, has never received a roll-call vote on an amendment he’s offered on the Senate floor. The last time [Sen. Mark] Pryor [D-AR] got a roll-call vote on one of his amendments was in March 2010. . . . Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Chris Coons (Del.), who were both elected in 2010, also have not ever received votes on amendments they offered on the floor. Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, last received a roll-call floor vote on an amendment in March 2010. . . . None of the freshman Democrats elected in 2012 have yet had a chance to get a vote on an amendment they offered on the Senate floor . . . .”

So who does get to amend legislation? Harry Reid. The Washington Times reported Monday, “Harry Reid is one of 100 senators, but so far in 2014, he’s been responsible for one-third of all the amendments proposed on the Senate floor — a number that underscores just how much one man has come to dominate the legislative process. More so than House Speaker John A. Boehner or even President Obama, it is Mr. Reid, a Nevada Democrat in his eighth year as majority leader, who has the most single-handed power to shape what gets done and what falls to the wayside in Washington. Mr. Reid is increasingly bullish on using that power, deciding what bills make it to his chamber floor, what amendments will be allowed to those bills that do get there and whether the debate will become a serious policy discussion or a political tool designed to rally his party’s supporters and annoy his tea party opponents. His control has been of incalculable benefit to both Mr. Obama, who is able to avoid embarrassing legislative rebukes, and to Senate Democrats, who are sometimes able to avoid having to take tough votes that could cost them the support of voters back home. ‘It is quite disgraceful,’ Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, fumed on the chamber floor earlier this year in what has become a running debate with Mr. Reid. ‘But it’s no surprise either, since the Democratic majority clearly ran out of ideas a long time ago. Their refusal to engage in serious debate is just another symptom of that.’ . . . The evidence of a shutdown in the Senate is overwhelming. Just 14 Senate bills have been signed into law so far this year. That’s nine fewer than at the same point in 2013, which itself is the most futile completed year on record, according to The Washington Times’ Legislative Futility Index. Through the end of June, just 41 measures have been reported as being out of committees and gone to the Senate floor, which puts senators on pace for their worst year in more than three decades. Total bills considered are also down, as are roll-call votes on amendments.”

But it’s not just amendments that Reid is preventing from going forward. He has, once again, brought the appropriations process to a halt. The Hill points out today, “Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has upset some Democratic senators by backtracking on his commitment to put spending bills on the floor this summer. The broken promise is not sitting well with appropriators, but Democratic sources point to the November elections, noting appropriations bills attract a slew of controversial amendments. Keeping the legislation off the floor shields vulnerable Democrats from taking tough votes that could be used in campaign ads this fall. Reid told Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) earlier this year that he would set aside June and July for debating appropriations bills on the floor, but no spending measure came up for a vote last month and the July calendar is already full with other priorities. Mikulski said in May that she expected to spend the weeks before the August recess putting the long-derailed appropriations process back on track. . . . Mikulski has not scheduled markups on three spending measures — the Energy and Water, the Labor Health and Human Services, and the Financial Services appropriations bills — despite expectations that the measures would be readied for floor consideration before the August break. A Democratic senator on the Appropriations Committee said Reid pressed Mikulski to delay the markups and added that she is ‘frustrated.’ ‘It’s Reid’s decision,’ said the lawmaker, who requested anonymity. ‘My guess is a couple of senators went to him and said they didn’t want to vote on some amendments.’”

Instead, Reid and Senate Democrats are vowing more political show votes on bills to overturn Supreme Court rulings they don’t like and to coordinate with their campaign activities.

As Leader McConnell explained recently, “This summer, the Democrat-controlled Senate seems to have put out a ‘Gone Campaignin’’ sign of its own. That’s why the Democrat Senate has become a veritable graveyard for good ideas. . . . The Democrats who run the Senate are so scared of legislating these days that they’re now blocking virtually every amendment on both sides. It’s gotten to the point where one House Democrat, a Congresswoman from Texas, has now had twice as many roll call votes on amendments since last July – 15 – as the entire Senate Democrat caucus combined. . . . Even committee work can no longer escape the Democrat Majority’s political obsession. The Majority shut down the committee process on important legislation that should have been bipartisan – bills about patents and appropriations. This is the kind of stuff that makes Americans so mad at Washington. I mean, how do you justify stifling the voices of so many Senators — and the tens of millions of Americans they were sent here to represent? You can’t. It’s indefensible. And it’s gotten worse and worse under current Democrat leaders.”

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