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One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

House Committee Leadership Named for 2014 (114th Congress) | Senate To Vote On Keystone XL Pipeline

Capitol Dome Restoration Project.
 Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP
Today in Washington, D.C. - Nov. 18, 2014
Capitol Dome Project: Stephen T. Ayers, the Architect of the Capitol, invited media to the roof of the Capitol Building to announce the completion of the scaffolding and the start of the repairs for the Capitol Dome Restoration Project. AP Reports that "52 miles of scaffolding pipe and two miles of completed decking will allow repair crews access to the dome at all levels, from the 36 columns at its base to the Statue of Freedom at its peak. Next, according to the Architect of the Capitol's website, 12,800 inches of cracked cast iron will be repaired, and more than a dozen layers of old paint removed. Decorative ornaments will be repaired or in some cases replaced. Then 1,215 gallons of paint will be applied in three coats — the last of which is 'Dome White.'" ... the next installment of a $60 million repair is ready to begin. ... [Ayers] hoped the current job would be good for 75 to 100 years. So far, he said, it is on schedule and on budget, and should be completed in time for the next presidential inaugural, on Jan. 20, 2017."

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and began debate on S. 2280, a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. At 6:15 PM, the Senate will vote on passage of S. 2280, with 60 votes required for passage. Following that, there will be three confirmation votes on nominees to be district judges in Georgia.

The Senate will then proceed to 30 minutes of debate on the motion to proceed to S. 2685, a bill written by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) making changes to FISA and the NSA. Following the debate, the Senate will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed (i.e. whether to take up and debate) S. 2685.

Also during this vote sequence, voice votes on 5 ambassador nominees are scheduled.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 96-1 to invoke cloture on the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant reauthorization. The Senate then voted 88-1 to concur in the House amendment to S. 1086. Following those votes, the senators then voted to invoke cloture on three Georgia district court nominees.

The House convened at 10 AM. House bill to be considered:
H.R. 1422 — "To amend the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to provide for Scientific Advisory Board member qualifications, public participation, and for other purposes."

Yesterday the House considered several administrative land, building and agency use and naming bills not reported in this report.

Today, the House Republican Steering Committee recommended the following lawmakers to serve as committee chairs in the 114th Congress:

Agriculture – Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX)
Appropriations – Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
Armed Services – Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX)
Budget – Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
Education & the Workforce – Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
Energy & Commerce – Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
Financial Services – Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Foreign Affairs – Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)
Homeland Security – Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Judiciary – Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Natural Resources – Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
Oversight & Government Reform – Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
Science, Space, and Technology – Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Small Business – Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Transportation & Infrastructure – Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA)
Veterans’ Affairs – Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Ways & Means – Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Speaker Boehner has previously announced the following committee chair appointments:
Administration – Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI)
Ethics – Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Intelligence – Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)
Rules – Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said, “These lawmakers understand that we have big challenges ahead, and the opportunity to do some great things in the new American Congress. I know they will set high standards of oversight, foster input and contributions from both the majority and the minority, and produce solutions worthy of the people we serve.”

In piece titled, “In Mr. Obama’s own words, acting alone is ‘not how our democracy functions’” The Washington Post editors write today, “Democrats urging President Obama to ‘go big’ in his executive order on immigration might pause to consider the following scenario:

“It is 2017. Newly elected President Ted Cruz (R) insists he has won a mandate to repeal Obamacare. The Senate, narrowly back in Democratic hands, disagrees. Mr. Cruz instructs the Internal Revenue Service not to collect a fine from anyone who opts out of the individual mandate to buy health insurance, thereby neutering a key element of the program. It is a matter of prosecutorial discretion, Mr. Cruz explains; tax cheats are defrauding the government of billions, and he wants the IRS to concentrate on them. Of course, he is willing to modify his order as soon as Congress agrees to fix what he considers a “broken” health system.

“That is not a perfect analogy to Mr. Obama’s proposed action on immigration. But it captures the unilateral spirit that Mr. Obama seems to have embraced since Republicans swept to victory in the midterm elections. He is vowing to go it alone on immigration. On Iran, he is reportedly designing an agreement that he need not bring to Congress. He already has gone that route on climate change with China.”

The editors remind readers, “Three years ago, when advocacy groups pressed him to take such a step, Mr. Obama demurred. ‘Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting,’ he said. ‘Not just on immigration reform. But that’s not how — that’s not how our system works. That’s not how our democracy functions. That’s not how our Constitution is written.’”

Meanwhile, The Post’s Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, examines more of the president’s prior statements where he explained how the actions he’s now threatening were not powers he possessed. Kessler writes, “Politicians generally hate to say they have changed their minds about something. With President Obama poised to take executive action to address immigration, perhaps as early as this week, he was challenged by a reporter to explain why he believed he could take this action now, after years of saying his hands were tied. The president responded with a Pinocchio-laden straw man, saying that the questions had a distinct focus: ‘their interest was in me, through executive action, duplicating the legislation that was stalled in Congress.’ But as we shall see, the questions actually specifically addressed the sorts of actions that he is contemplating now.”

And, Kessler, recalls, “In 2011, the president said he could not take action to help ‘dreamers’—immigrants aged 30 and younger whose parents had brought them to this country when they were children– from being deported. But then in 2012, he halted deportations and allowed them to apply for temporary work permits.”

Kessler then recounts four different interviews where President Obama disavowed his ability to take the actions the White House says he now plans to take

In a 2011 town hall with Univision, Obama said, “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed . . . . Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws. There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as President.”

In a January 2013 interview with Univision, when asked, “In the spirit of your push for immigration reform, would you consider a moratorium on deportations of non-criminals?” the president said, “I think it is important to remind everybody that, as I said I think previously, and I’m not a king. I am the head of the executive branch of government. I’m required to follow the law.”

During a Google Hangout a month later, in response to another question about deportations, President Obama said, “The problem is that you know I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed, and Congress right now has not changed what I consider to be a broken immigration system. And what that means is that we have certain obligations to enforce the laws that are in place . . . .”

Finally, a little over a year ago, the president told an interviewer on Noticias Telemundo, “Here’s the problem that I have, Jose, and I have said this consistently. My job in the executive branch is to carry out the laws that are passed. Congress has said, here’s the law when it comes to those who are undocumented, and they allocate a whole bunch of money for enforcement. What I have been able to do is make a legal argument that I think is absolutely right, which is that given the resources we have, we can’t do everything that Congress has asked us to do, what we can do is then carve out the DREAM Act folks…. But if we start broadening that, then essentially, I would be ignoring the law in a way that I think would be very difficult to defend legally. So that’s not an option.”

Kessler concludes, “The president has certainly been consistent on this issue—until he saw that the path through Congress was blocked. It’s clear from the interviews that the president was not being asked about executive orders that would have provided comprehensive immigration reform, but about specific actions that ended deportations of a subset of illegal immigrants—precisely the type of action he will shortly unveil. Previously he said that was not possible, using evocative language that he is not a ‘king’ or ‘the emperor.’ Apparently he’s changed his mind. The president earns an upside-down Pinocchio for his flip-flop.”

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said when the president was beginning to float this idea over the summer, “The President is required to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not—as he has admitted--make them up as he sees fit. He recently said that the type of action he’s now contemplating is ‘not an option’ and ‘would essentially be ignoring the law.’ President Obama should enforce the law, and if he would like changes, Republicans and Democrats alike have said he must work with Congress in a transparent, accountable way—not rewrite the laws on his own.”

Tags: House, Committee Leadership, 114 Congress, U.S Senate, XL Keystone Pipeline, repairs, Capitol Dome, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 1:00 PM - Post Link

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