Today in Congress/Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 30 July 2008 10:15:02 AM. © Daily Kos

Working at breakneck speed and spending in the neighborhood of just ten minutes per bill yesterday, the House ripped through a schedule packed with 38 suspensions. Twenty-two more suspensions are on the calendar for today, and there may even be more waiting in the wings.

Just for kicks, note that one of yesterday's bills, H.R. 6388, was the bill that Henry Waxman's Government Oversight Committee marked up immediately following the decision to back of off voting a resolution of contempt against Attorney General Michael Mukasey for failure to comply with a subpoena for the production of the FBI's transcripts of their interviews with Cheney regarding the Valerie Plame outing. Of course, we all know that the Attorney General would have no intention of prosecuting himself for his refusal to comply.

What makes the juxtaposition of that non-vote on contempt and H.R. 6388 interesting is that the bill grants the Government Accountability Office (GAO) the authority to sue on its own behalf for access to executive branch documents. Why does the GAO need this authority? This bill is meant to address the decision in Walker v. Cheney, the suit filed by the GAO to gain access to Cheney's secret energy task force documents. That suit was dismissed for lack of standing by Judge John Bates. And Bates is the same judge considering the suit by John Conyers on behalf of the Judiciary Committee, seeking to compel... the Attorney General to prosecute the contempt of Congress citations against Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten.

Anyway...

In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2008

House meets at 10:00 a.m.: Legislative Business
Fifteen "One Minutes" Per Side
Last vote predicted: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Suspensions (22 Bills):

H.R. 6456 - To provide for extensions of certain authorities of the Department of State (Rep. Berman – Foreign Affairs)

H.Con.Res. 361 - Commemorating Irena Sendler, a woman whose bravery saved the lives of thousands during the Holocaust and remembering her legacy of courage, selflessness, and hope (Rep. Schakowsky – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 1266 - Congratulating Albania and Croatia on being invited to begin accession talks with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and expressing support for continuing to enlarge the alliance (Rep. Gallegly – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 1279 - Recognizing the Special Olympics' 40th anniversary (Rep. Terry – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 1370 - Calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately end abuses of the human rights of its citizens, to cease repression of Tibetan and Uighur citizens, and to end its support for the Governments of Sudan and Burma to ensure that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games take place in an atmosphere that honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness (Rep. Berman – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 1351 - Expressing support for the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and calling upon United Nations Member States and the international community to contribute the resources necessary to ensure the success of UNAMID (Rep. Chabot – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 1008 - Condemning the persecution of Baha'is in Iran (Rep. Kirk – Foreign Affairs)

H.R. 6604 - To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to bring greater transparency and accountability to commodity markets, and for other purposes (Rep. Peterson (MN) – Agriculture)

S. 3352 - To temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Sen. Reid/Kennedy – Education and Labor)

H.Con.Res. 296 - Expressing support for the designation of August 2008 as "National Heat Stroke Awareness Month" to raise awareness and encourage prevention of heat stroke (Rep. Boozman – Energy and Commerce)

H.Res. 896 - Primary Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month Act (Rep. Baca – Energy and Commerce)

H.R. 6432 - Animal Drug User Fee Amendments of 2008 (Rep. Pallone – Energy and Commerce)

H.R. 2851 - Michelle's Law (Rep. Hodes – Energy and Commerce)

H.R. 1108 - Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Rep. Waxman – Energy and Commerce)

H.R. 4040 – Conference Report on Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act (Rep. Rush – Energy and Commerce)

H.R. _ - Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2008 (Rep. Giffords – Judiciary)

H.Con.Res. 358 - Commending the members of the Nevada Army National Guard and Air National Guard for their service to the State of Nevada and the United States (Rep. Heller – Armed Services)

H.Res. 415 - Honoring Edward Day Cohota, Joseph L. Pierce, and other veterans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent who fought in the United States Civil War (Rep. Honda – Armed Services)

H.Res. 1248 - Recognizing the service of the USS Farenholt and her men who served our Nation with valor and bravery in the South Pacific during World War II (Rep. Ellsworth – Armed Services)

H.Res. 1316 - Honoring the service of the Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) amphibious landing craft during World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, Operation Desert Storm, and global operations through 2002 and recognizing the essential role played by LST amphibious craft during these conflicts (Rep. McGovern – Armed Services)

H.R. 3957 - The Water Use Efficiency and Conservation Research Act (Rep. Matheson – Science and Technology)

H.R. 2339 - The Produced Water Utilization Act of 2007 (Rep. Hall (TX) – Science and Technology)

H.R. 6599 - The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs FY09 Appropriations bill (Rep. Edwards (TX) – Appropriations) (Subject to a Rule)

Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.

Motions to go to Conference should they become available.

Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

Convenes: 10:00am

Resume motion to proceed to S.2035, Media Shield.

11:00am cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.2035.

If cloture is not invoked, the Senate would proceed to a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to S.3335, Tax Extenders

The Senate is playing it by ear for the balance of the week, there being no indication that Republicans are interested in actually working out any sort of agreement on actually debating anything. Despite insisting that they want to vote on energy legislation they claim they can amend in such a way as to lower gas prices (for which the fundamentals are highly dubious, although I have little doubt that the oil companies and retailers will do anything they can to create the illusion that it worked, including taking a loss on their sales), Senate Republicans rejected Harry Reid's offer of four amendments per side on the energy speculation bill that's been bottled up by a Republican filibuster. Not good enough, said the Republicans, who at first demanded nearly twice as many amendments, and then finally just stopped responding to offers altogether.

So instead, the Senate will begin with the media shield law, which is perhaps the only thing that can lure John McCain back to his day job, being that he's a big fan of the proposal (much to the chagrin of conservatives), with a strong desire to protect his "base," the barbeque-loving media.

After the media shield bill -- whatever the outcome -- the Senate is likely to take up a package of tax extensions, which includes renewable energy tax credits and other incentives. Those provisions, related as they are to the current energy crisis, are Reid's price for letting the Republicans come back to the energy speculation bill (with some number of amendments). If they can show good faith in doing their part to lower the barriers to cheaper alternative energy sources, Reid will likely permit them votes on their fake crap, like claims that allowing drilling in your flower beds or scraping at the asphalt in your driveway underneath your car will make oil companies feel so warm and fuzzy and generous that they'll lower your gas prices by a penny.

Prospects for good faith, though, are rather slim, as Republicans successfully filibustered Reid's attempt at bringing a House bill on the same subject, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act (H.R. 6049) to the floor yesterday. They're even threatening to try and hold the Senate in session into the scheduled August recess until they get their votes, though honestly, Republicans in reelection campaigns this year need that time at home a lot more than Dems do. Plus, there's really nothing Republicans can do to keep a determined majority from voting to adjourn.

On the Radar:

10:15 A.M. in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building, the full House Judiciary Committee meets to consider: A resolution and report finding Karl Rove in contempt for failure to appear pursuant to subpoena and recommending to the House of Representatives that Mr. Rove be cited for contempt of Congress.