National Legislative Update

House

H.R. 1606, to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude communications over the Internet from the definition of public communication
(Failed) 11/02/2005

The House passed H.R. 3893, to expedite the construction of new refining capacity in the United States, to provide reliable and affordable energy for the American people
(Passed) 10/07/2005

The House passed H.R. 3824, to amend and reauthorize the Endangered Species Act D992 of 1973 to provide greater results conserving and recovering listed species
(Passed) 09/29/2005


The House disagreed to H.J. Res. 65, to disapprove the recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
(Failed)

-This bill would have eliminated the recommendations made by the Base Realignment And Closure Commission; which involved the closure of many Army, Navy, and Air Force bases across the country. Critics of the commission say that it used misleading data as justification and unfairly targeted the North Eastern states. Many communities will be severely affected by these closures.

The House passed H. Res. 437, to establish the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina.

-Hopefully people will get fired over this, preferably in the Bush admin.

The House passed H.R. 4128, to protect private property rights, by a yea-and-nay vote of 376 yeas to 38 nays, Roll No. 568.

- This maybe pointless and unneeded but I decided to post it anyway.

Senate

By 47 yeas to 51 nays (Vote No. 225), Senate rejected S.J. Res. 20, disapproving a rule promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to delist coal and oil-direct utility units from the source category list under the Clean Air Act.

-Failed, this kind of defeats the purpose of the clean air act. It was designed to combat coal and oil use. This failed thankfully.


By 78 yeas 22 nays (Vote No. EX. 245), John G. Roberts, Jr., of Maryland, to be Chief Justice of the United States. 9/29/05

-Old news, but the margin of his confirmation is disconcerting

By a unanimous vote of 97 yeas (Vote No. 254), Senate passed H.R. 2863, making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, as amended.

- Pretty much everyone voted for this, once we are involved in this war it is unfortunate that the only real option now is to stay in Iraq and spend more money.