Sen. Ernst's Bill To Defund Planned Parenthood | House Members Concerned About HUD's Move to Social Engineer Neigborhoods
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 29, 2015
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. They began to take up bills for consideration at 12:43 PM.
Bills that may be considered:
H.R. 1994 - "To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the removal or demotion of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs based on performance or misconduct, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3236 - "To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, to provide resource flexibility to the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care services, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1300 — "To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to make anthrax vaccines and antimicrobials available to emergency response providers, and for other purposes."
Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 675 (409-0) — "To increase, effective as of December 1, 2015, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and for other purposes." This act requires, "Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date. Editor's Comment: It's about "damn" time for fair treatment of disabled vets. However, for those that don't know it, this bill does not correct the unfairness that disabled retired military have to pay for their own disability out of their retirement pay.
H.R. 427 (243-165) — Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015 -"To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law." Editor's Comment: Only two democrats joined Republicans in passing this bill. 165 Democrats appear to agree with President Obama and future presidents using his pen, phone and Executive Department heads modifying regulation to oppress the citizens of the United States without asking Congress. This bill will probably hve trouble passing cloture in the Senate.
Today Speaker John Boehner addressed that the House will vote on measures to increase VA accountability and make it easier for small businesses to hire more veterans. He said, “We’ve got a lot more to do. That’s why today we’ll pass more reforms to help the nation’s veterans. That includes the Hire More Heroes Act, which makes it easier for veterans to find good-paying jobs. And we’ll pass a bill to give the VA the authority to fire any bureaucrat who is failing our veterans. We’ll continue to pass reforms, but only the president can change the culture over at the VA.”
House Republicans have requested a hearing on H.R. 1995 to prohibit Obama HUD neighborhood rezoning rule. Eighteen House Republicans in a letter urged the House Judiciary Committee to commence hearings on H.R. 1995, "The Local Zoning and Property Rights Protection Act of 2015," which would prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from implementing a rule, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" The stated:
On July 8, 2015, the Obama Administration through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new regulation known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). The final rule was subsequently published in the federal register on July 16, 2015, and will take effect 30 days after this publication. We write to respectfully request that you consider holding a hearing on H.R. 1995, the Local Zoning and Property Rights Protection Act.
"The AFFH rule seeks to use the disparate impact legal theory to justify social engineering of local neighborhoods. It would do so by withholding Community Development Block Grant funds from towns and cities unless they meet Utopian standards of integration based on sex, income, religion race and other federally protected demographics. HUD is essentially creating a set of rules and regulations by which communities must conform, or face losing out on tens of millions of dollars in grant money annually. Further, the rule will result in increased local taxes, depress property values, and cause further harm to impoverished communities that actually need these funds.
"The Local Zoning and Property Rights Protect Act blocks the new AFFH regulation, as well as the accompanying "Assessment Tool" meant to guide grant applicants and measure compliance. It also contains an important federalism provision that requires HUD to consult with local governments and communities for the purposes of furthering the Fair Housing Act of 1968, rather than through executive mandate.
"This new Washington mandate has nothing to do with race, as housing discrimination has been illegal for more than 40 years. This overreaching new regulation is an attempt to extort communities into giving up control of local zoning decisions and re-engineer the makeup of our neighborhoods. . . ." Yesterday, Americans for Limited Government board member Bill Wilson expressed support for their position: "The radical HUD plan to condition federal funding on rezoning neighborhoods to achieve a subjective and punitive set of quotas is a Utopian pipe dream, and a federal attempt to usurp local zoning authority. We urge the House Judiciary Committee to take up H.R. 1995, and to require political partisans at HUD to justify this raw power grab. This has nothing to do with individual cases of housing discrimination, which have been illegal for over 40 years. Like the IRS abuse of power targeting people who disagree with them, the Obama appointees are using the power of government to harm communities that do not vote or act as Obama and his allies think they should. It is social engineering, nothing more."
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill.
At 10 AM, the Senate voted 62-38 to approve the substitute amendment containing the negotiated text of the 3 year paid-for highway bill. The Senate then voted 65-35 to invoke cloture on the bill.
A vote on final passage of H.R. 22, as amended, is expected tomorrow.
In the News:
The Hill reports, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is fast-tracking a bill to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, after senators huddled in his office Tuesday to work out the details of a bill.
“Speaking on the Senate floor, the Republican leader started the process, known as Rule 14, which allows the bill to skip over being sent to a committee and go directly to the Senate floor for a vote. ‘The horrendous videos of senior executives from Planned Parenthood discussing in callous tones and shocking detail their role in a national scandal requires a congressional response,’ the Republican leader said in a statement. ‘This legislation would ensure taxpayer dollars for women’s health are actually spent on women’s health — not a scandal-plagued political lobbying giant.’
“McConnell is expected to finish the fast-track process Wednesday. . . . The Republican leader told reporters earlier Tuesday that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would be leading a working group of senators, which also included Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to come up with a new bill. The group huddled in McConnell's office Tuesday afternoon.”
... Leader McConnell joined Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tim Scott (R-SC), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Lankford (R-OK), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) at a press conference to introduce the legislation, S. 1881.
All are cosponsors of the bill, as are Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Richard Burr (R-NC), Dan Coats (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), James Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John McCain (R-AZ), Jerry Moran (R-KS), David Perdue (R-GA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Ben Sasse (R-NE).
At the press conference, Leader McConnell said, “By now we’ve all seen those Planned Parenthood videos that absolutely shock the conscience. I want to thank Senator Joni Ernst, Senator Rand Paul, Senator James Lankford, and others you see behind me for leading the effort to put together legislation we’ll vote on next week to address the issue.
“But before I turn it over to Senator Ernst, I want to make the point that I’m sure others will make repeatedly, this bill would ensure tax payer dollars for women’s health are spent on women’s health. This will ensure tax payer dollars that are supposed to be spent on women’s health are in fact spent on women’s health. It would ensure we’re funding that and not subsidizing some scandal-plagued organization.”
Sen. Ernst said, “The recent footage depicting Planned Parenthood’s role in the harvesting of organs . . . of unborn babies is morally reprehensible and vile. The American people—Republicans and Democrats alike—are horrified by the utter lack of compassion shown by Planned Parenthood for these women and their babies. In fact, now, Hillary Clinton is calling is calling these Planned Parenthood images, ‘disturbing,’ and I agree.”
And several Democrat senators have also said they find the videos troubling, including Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Politico adds, “The Senate GOP bill would strip the roughly $540 million in funding that Planned Parenthood is scheduled to receive and steer it toward other women’s health programs, a bid to undermine Democratic complaints about the measure. ‘Funds no longer available to Planned Parenthood will continue to be offered to other eligible entities to provide such women’s health care services,’ said a statement from Senate Republicans on the new legislation.”
And the AP notes, “The Senate will vote before its August recess on a Republican effort to bar federal aid to Planned Parenthood, GOP leaders said Tuesday, as anti-abortion groups clamored for action by lawmakers.
“The positioning came as an anti-abortion group released a third covertly recorded video of Planned Parenthood officials discussing procedures for obtaining tissue from aborted fetuses for research and showing stark close-ups of what it said was fetal tissue in a Planned Parenthood lab.”
As Sen. Tim Scott said, “To me, this is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it’s not even if whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice. This is an issue about our humanity . . . . Without any question, I think the right thing for us to do is to defund Planned Parenthood and to make sure that we see that every single dollar goes to provide women’s health services.”
Tags: Senate, bill to Defund Planned parenthood, House, concerned, HUD, re-engineering neighborhoods, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. They began to take up bills for consideration at 12:43 PM.
Bills that may be considered:
H.R. 1994 - "To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the removal or demotion of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs based on performance or misconduct, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3236 - "To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, to provide resource flexibility to the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care services, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1300 — "To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to make anthrax vaccines and antimicrobials available to emergency response providers, and for other purposes."
Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 675 (409-0) — "To increase, effective as of December 1, 2015, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and for other purposes." This act requires, "Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date. Editor's Comment: It's about "damn" time for fair treatment of disabled vets. However, for those that don't know it, this bill does not correct the unfairness that disabled retired military have to pay for their own disability out of their retirement pay.
H.R. 427 (243-165) — Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015 -"To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law." Editor's Comment: Only two democrats joined Republicans in passing this bill. 165 Democrats appear to agree with President Obama and future presidents using his pen, phone and Executive Department heads modifying regulation to oppress the citizens of the United States without asking Congress. This bill will probably hve trouble passing cloture in the Senate.
Today Speaker John Boehner addressed that the House will vote on measures to increase VA accountability and make it easier for small businesses to hire more veterans. He said, “We’ve got a lot more to do. That’s why today we’ll pass more reforms to help the nation’s veterans. That includes the Hire More Heroes Act, which makes it easier for veterans to find good-paying jobs. And we’ll pass a bill to give the VA the authority to fire any bureaucrat who is failing our veterans. We’ll continue to pass reforms, but only the president can change the culture over at the VA.”
House Republicans have requested a hearing on H.R. 1995 to prohibit Obama HUD neighborhood rezoning rule. Eighteen House Republicans in a letter urged the House Judiciary Committee to commence hearings on H.R. 1995, "The Local Zoning and Property Rights Protection Act of 2015," which would prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from implementing a rule, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" The stated:
"The AFFH rule seeks to use the disparate impact legal theory to justify social engineering of local neighborhoods. It would do so by withholding Community Development Block Grant funds from towns and cities unless they meet Utopian standards of integration based on sex, income, religion race and other federally protected demographics. HUD is essentially creating a set of rules and regulations by which communities must conform, or face losing out on tens of millions of dollars in grant money annually. Further, the rule will result in increased local taxes, depress property values, and cause further harm to impoverished communities that actually need these funds.
"The Local Zoning and Property Rights Protect Act blocks the new AFFH regulation, as well as the accompanying "Assessment Tool" meant to guide grant applicants and measure compliance. It also contains an important federalism provision that requires HUD to consult with local governments and communities for the purposes of furthering the Fair Housing Act of 1968, rather than through executive mandate.
"This new Washington mandate has nothing to do with race, as housing discrimination has been illegal for more than 40 years. This overreaching new regulation is an attempt to extort communities into giving up control of local zoning decisions and re-engineer the makeup of our neighborhoods. . . ."
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill.
At 10 AM, the Senate voted 62-38 to approve the substitute amendment containing the negotiated text of the 3 year paid-for highway bill. The Senate then voted 65-35 to invoke cloture on the bill.
A vote on final passage of H.R. 22, as amended, is expected tomorrow.
In the News:
The Hill reports, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is fast-tracking a bill to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, after senators huddled in his office Tuesday to work out the details of a bill.
“Speaking on the Senate floor, the Republican leader started the process, known as Rule 14, which allows the bill to skip over being sent to a committee and go directly to the Senate floor for a vote. ‘The horrendous videos of senior executives from Planned Parenthood discussing in callous tones and shocking detail their role in a national scandal requires a congressional response,’ the Republican leader said in a statement. ‘This legislation would ensure taxpayer dollars for women’s health are actually spent on women’s health — not a scandal-plagued political lobbying giant.’
“McConnell is expected to finish the fast-track process Wednesday. . . . The Republican leader told reporters earlier Tuesday that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) would be leading a working group of senators, which also included Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to come up with a new bill. The group huddled in McConnell's office Tuesday afternoon.”
... Leader McConnell joined Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tim Scott (R-SC), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Lankford (R-OK), John Cornyn (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) at a press conference to introduce the legislation, S. 1881.
All are cosponsors of the bill, as are Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Richard Burr (R-NC), Dan Coats (R-IN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), James Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John McCain (R-AZ), Jerry Moran (R-KS), David Perdue (R-GA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Ben Sasse (R-NE).
At the press conference, Leader McConnell said, “By now we’ve all seen those Planned Parenthood videos that absolutely shock the conscience. I want to thank Senator Joni Ernst, Senator Rand Paul, Senator James Lankford, and others you see behind me for leading the effort to put together legislation we’ll vote on next week to address the issue.
“But before I turn it over to Senator Ernst, I want to make the point that I’m sure others will make repeatedly, this bill would ensure tax payer dollars for women’s health are spent on women’s health. This will ensure tax payer dollars that are supposed to be spent on women’s health are in fact spent on women’s health. It would ensure we’re funding that and not subsidizing some scandal-plagued organization.”
Sen. Ernst said, “The recent footage depicting Planned Parenthood’s role in the harvesting of organs . . . of unborn babies is morally reprehensible and vile. The American people—Republicans and Democrats alike—are horrified by the utter lack of compassion shown by Planned Parenthood for these women and their babies. In fact, now, Hillary Clinton is calling is calling these Planned Parenthood images, ‘disturbing,’ and I agree.”
And several Democrat senators have also said they find the videos troubling, including Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Politico adds, “The Senate GOP bill would strip the roughly $540 million in funding that Planned Parenthood is scheduled to receive and steer it toward other women’s health programs, a bid to undermine Democratic complaints about the measure. ‘Funds no longer available to Planned Parenthood will continue to be offered to other eligible entities to provide such women’s health care services,’ said a statement from Senate Republicans on the new legislation.”
And the AP notes, “The Senate will vote before its August recess on a Republican effort to bar federal aid to Planned Parenthood, GOP leaders said Tuesday, as anti-abortion groups clamored for action by lawmakers.
“The positioning came as an anti-abortion group released a third covertly recorded video of Planned Parenthood officials discussing procedures for obtaining tissue from aborted fetuses for research and showing stark close-ups of what it said was fetal tissue in a Planned Parenthood lab.”
As Sen. Tim Scott said, “To me, this is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it’s not even if whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice. This is an issue about our humanity . . . . Without any question, I think the right thing for us to do is to defund Planned Parenthood and to make sure that we see that every single dollar goes to provide women’s health services.”
Tags: Senate, bill to Defund Planned parenthood, House, concerned, HUD, re-engineering neighborhoods, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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