Today in Congress/Open Thread

July 14, 2008 by
Filed under Bush Powers, Capitol Hill, Clueless, Deserved, Double Standards, Idiot Ideas, Legal Ramblings, Money, Uncategorized

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Courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR MONDAY, JULY 14, 2008

House meets at 12:30 p.m.: Morning Hour; 2:00 p.m.: Legislative Business

Unlimited “One Minutes” Per Side

Last vote predicted: 7:00 p.m.

Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. [How? Why? Come on, you know!]

Suspensions (18 Bills):

H.R. 5618 – To reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes (Rep. Bordallo – Natural Resources)

H.R. 1714 – To clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P (Rep. Mack – Natural Resources)

H.R. 3227 – To direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Rep. Hastings (WA) – Natural Resources)

H.Res. 984 – Expressing support for the designation of July 26, 2008 as “National Day of the Cowboy” (Rep. Giffords – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.R. 5506 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 369 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the “Bishop Ralph E. Brower Post Office Building” (Rep. Sires – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.R. 4010 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 100 West Percy Street in Indianola, Mississippi, as the “Minnie Cox Post Office Building”(Rep. Thompson (MS) – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.Res. 1067 – Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the crossing of the North Pole by the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) and its significance in the history of both our Nation and the world (Rep. Courtney – Armed Services)

H.Res. 1080 – Honoring the extraordinary service and exceptional sacrifice of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), known as the Screaming Eagles (Rep. Whitfield – Armed Services)

H.Con.Res. 295 – Expressing the deepest appreciation of Congress to the families of members of the United States Armed Forces (Rep. Bilirakis – Armed Services)

H.Con.Res. 297 – Recognizing the 60th anniversary of the integration of the United States Armed Forces. (Rep. Rogers (AL) – Armed Services)

H.R. 3564 – Regulatory Improvement Act of 2007 (Rep. Cannon – Judiciary)

H.Con.Res. 381 – Honoring and recognizing the dedication and achievements of Thurgood Marshall on the 100th anniversary of his birth. (Rep. Payne – Judiciary)

H.Res. 1182 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that American flags flown on Federal Government buildings and on Federal property be made in the United States (Rep. Filner – Judiciary)

H.Con.Res. 369 – Honoring the men and women of the Drug Enforcement Administration on the occasion of its 35th anniversary (Rep. Souder – Judiciary)

H.R. 5057 – Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act (Rep. Maloney – Judiciary)

S. 3218 – Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2008 (Sen. Biden – Judiciary)

H.R. 5464 – A Child Is Missing Alert and Recovery Center Act (Rep. Klein – Judiciary)

S. 231 – A bill to authorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program at fiscal year 2006 levels through 2012 (Sen. Feinstein – Judiciary)

No, you’re not crazy if you think you’ve seen some of these bills listed before. Several of the suspension bills listed today are bills scheduled for action earlier, but that the House never got to. Hence, for instance, we’ll be trying again to honor Thurgood Marshall on the 100th anniversary of his birth this Monday (the 14th), even though he was born on July 2.

In the Senate:

Convenes: 2:00pm

Morning Business for up to 1 hour with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

There will be no roll call votes today. Senators should expect votes to occur Tuesday morning.

Though no votes are expected, the Senate will be debating S. 2731, the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008,” a/k/a, global AIDS relief.

ON THE RADAR:

The House Government Oversight Committee meets this Wednesday to consider a resolution citing Attorney General Michael Mukasey for contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena demanding that he turn over transcripts of the FBI’s interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney regarding his role in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

The House will have to dispense with Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s latest move to impeach President Bush, which he gave notice of his intention to raise as a question of the privileges of the House on Thursday. Under clause 2 of Rule IX, when a Member other than the Majority or Minority Leader raises a question of the privileges of the House from the floor, the chair may designate a time for its consideration within two legislative days. The expectation is that the resolution will be referred to the Judiciary committee as were Kucinich’s previous three impeachment resolutions (two for Cheney, one for Bush). Those resolutions have received no consideration in the committee, so Kucinich vowed to continue bringing such resolutions every 30 days until there was some action.
Perhaps because the rules permit Kucinich to continue to bring impeachment resolutions and receive privilege for them each time (no matter how often he brings them, as I’ve mentioned from time to time), the Judiciary committee is expected for the first time to try to find a way to accommodate some sort of action on the question.

Also expected this week in the House: H.R. 5959, the FY09 Intelligence Authorization bill. In order to avoid a presidential veto threat, Intel chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) – the man who just brought you the FISA bill — has fought back amendments seeking to ban torture, and continues to fight to keep such amendments from being offered on the floor. So that should be fun.