Keystone Bill Advances On Bipartisan Vote; Unions Reiterate Their Support!

Update:  Representatives from all three legs of the traditional Republican Party electoral stool met at a Capitol Hill press conference to urge Congress to reject granting President Obama trade promotion authority, or fast track, for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty. Americans for Limited Government President Richard Manning called on Congress to "not cede any additional authority to a President who has spent the past six years shredding the constitutional separation of powers."

Sandy Rios, director of government affairs for the American Family Association, emphasized the traditional roll the United States has played in using its economic might to expand freedom around the world saying, "Wisdom dictates that America must use all means at its disposal to resist religious persecution anywhere it is found through the power of our God-given treasure and resources. It is for this reason that American Family Association opposes passage of fast track legislation that negates their ability to change the Trans-Pacific Partnership to end religious oppression in Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia."

TheTeaParty.net leader Niger Innis called ceding additional legislative powers to the Executive Branch "a monumental failure of Congressional Republicans to understand the nature of the President's fundamental transformation of America."

Others participating in the news conference were Frank Gaffney, president and founder of the Center for Security Policy, and Glyn Wright, Executive Director of the Eagle Forum who read remarks from conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly.

Recently, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell commenting on the legislation admitted, "It's an enormous grant of power, obviously, from a Republican Congress to a Democratic president." Manning agreed, calling the legislation "an ill-founded grant of trust to a President who has repeatedly shown that he has outright disdain for the legislative branch, rather than providing a speedy up or down vote, the Senate should examine every aspect of any treaty that is presented to ensure that American interests are advanced."

A group letter is being delivered to Congress urging opposition to passage of fast track trade authority. Manning promised a robust effort to educate members of Congress and their constituents about the dangers associated with giving President Obama this grant of power. Others signing the group letter were Jenny Beth Martin, founder of Tea Party Patriots and Curtis Ellis of ObamaTrade.com.
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Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan. 13, 2015:
The House convened 10 AM.  Today they may consider the following bills:
H.R. 37 - "To make technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to enhance the ability of small and emerging growth companies to access capital through public and private markets, to reduce regulatory burdens, and for other purposes."
H.R. 185 - "To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate new regulations and guidance documents."
H.R. 240 (403-0)- "To make appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 203 (403-0) — "To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for the conduct of annual evaluations of mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to require a pilot program on loan repayment for psychiatrists who agree to serve in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes."
H.R. 33 (401-0) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that emergency services volunteers are not taken into account as employees under the shared responsibility requirements contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

House Speaker Bohener commented on passed of H.R. 2013: "“Our veterans risked their lives in order to protect the freedoms and liberties of all Americans. When they return home, they deserve the ultimate support and care from this country and our health care system. Tragically, veteran suicides have become all too common, occurring at a rate of 22 per day. We must, and can, do better by our veterans. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act is an important step forward to address this problem and help ensure that our veterans have access to high-quality mental health care.”

The Senate convened at 10 AM today and resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 1, the bill to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Senate is in recess between 12:30 and 2:15 PM for weekly policy lunches.

Despite their frequent denunciations of the use of all post-cloture debate time as “obstruction,” Senate Democrats are so far refusing to allow debate on the Keystone bill to move forward quickly. If no post-cloture time is yielded back, the Senate will go ahead with the motion to proceed to S. 1 after midnight tonight.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 63-32 to invoke cloture on S. 1, allowing the Senate to take up the bill and begin debate.

The AP writes, “Legislation approving construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared an initial Senate hurdle Monday, a victory for newly empowered Republicans angling for a quick veto showdown with President Barack Obama. The bipartisan 63-32 vote was three more than the 60 required, and well above the level the highly controversial measure ever gained in recent years when Democrats controlled the Senate.”

Fifty-two Republicans and 11 Democrats voted to move ahead with the measure, a major change from the previous Democrat-controlled Senate.

“[W]ith more than enough votes at their command,” the AP notes, “Republican and Democratic supporters said they hoped the legislation could win final approval and be sent to the White House by the end of next week. ‘President Obama has every reason to sign the jobs and infrastructure bill that we will pass,’ said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He noted that the Nebraska Supreme Court had recently rejected a legal challenge brought by opponents, an obstacle the White House had cited.”

Congressional leaders are meeting with the president at the White House today, but unfortunately he is already putting a damper on some potential achievements with continued veto threats. CNN writes, “As President Barack Obama prepared to convene his first meeting of 2015 with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, his aides issued a bevy of veto threats on Republican-sponsored legislation . . . . With Republicans now in control of both chambers of Congress, Obama has foreshadowed heavier use of his veto pen while still claiming openness to working with members of the GOP. Obama's administration has threatened vetoes on two additional measures making their way through Capitol Hill: a bill approving the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and legislation stripping Obamacare of the rule forcing employers to provide health coverage for employees working more than 30 hours per week.”

The president seems determined to ignore the support across the political spectrum for the Keystone XL pipeline. Recently a number of labor unions reiterated their support for this shovel-ready infrastructure project. Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters president wrote that his union “continues to believe that the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline will contribute to enhanced energy security, economic prosperity and, of critical importance, the creation of good paying jobs.” The president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) said, “At a time when job creation should be a top priority, the Keystone XL Pipeline (KXL) project will put Americans back-to-work and have ripple benefits throughout the economy. During construction the project is expected to support at least 42,000 jobs and contribute $3.4 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.” The president of the plumbers and pipefitters union wrote to say, “This shovel-ready project will put thousands of hardworking men and women to work at zero cost to taxpayers.”

And Terry O’Sullivan, the president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), has been unsparing in his criticism of Democrats standing in the way of this project. He wrote, “Regardless of the lies and mischaracterization of construction jobs as somehow being inferior because of the temporary nature of the industry, this legislation is a jobs bill for the thousands of union construction workers that will build this pipeline. . . . If Members… want to oppose the Pipeline for partisan political reasons, they should at least have the guts to say so.  To try to justify their pandering to environmental extremists and their billionaire backers by attacking the jobs that the Pipeline would create is cowardly.”

As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this morning, “Getting Congress back to work means working to pass legislation that’s good for jobs and the middle class. That’s why we’re focused on getting measures like this bipartisan infrastructure bill over to the president’s desk. He may not sign everything we pass, but we’re getting Congress out of the business of protecting the president from good ideas; that’s our commitment. And when it comes to the bipartisan Keystone bill, it’s hard to see a serious reason why President Obama would veto these jobs anyway. The Nebraska Supreme Court just cleared away the last pretense many of us could imagine. So we hope President Obama will listen to the American people in the end. We hope he’ll sign it.”

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