Politics

Our bill, S.1955, will give working families and small business owners the same bargaining power that big businesses use to negotiate with insurance companies for the benefits they want, at prices they can afford. If Small Business Health Plans can harness the power of America’s small business owners, it will force the entire marketplace to respond. And if we transform health insurance to a market where small employers and family-owned businesses can demand better benefits at better prices, insurance companies will be forced either to keep up with the competition or lose their market share.

Of all the Republicans' misguided policies regarding the Medicare prescription drug plan, their refusal to extend the enrollment deadline is one of the worst. From the onset, the enrollment procedures have been confusing and frustrating to America's seniors. This fact has been underscored by a newly released Government Accountability Office report that found that seniors have been receiving inadequate and incorrect information from Medicare Hotline operators. Each senior's decision will affect their health and their pocketbook, and Democrats have argued for months that Republicans must give them more time to figure out what works best for them. With the deadline now only days away, Democrats will continue to pressure the President and Congressional Republicans to agree to an extension that is appropriate and necessary.

Longer Statement: http://www.hoyer.house.gov/newsroom/index.asp?ID=614&DocumentType=Pres

On May 3, the White House released the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, which includes over 300 actions for Federal agencies and other entities to take. As a doctor, I believe that the plan is a great step towards ensuring a timely and appropriate pandemic influenza response at the federal level as well as providing clearer guidance to state and local communities on further needed preparedness efforts. Read more...

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), who was one of eight Democrats to vote for the lobbying reform bill which passed in the House yesterday by four votes, explained his vote in a released statement.

After months of nothing but talk, the House of Representatives has finally taken its first step toward cleaning up the mess in Washington. But this bill is only a very small step in the right direction – not the comprehensive ethics reform we need to pass if Congress ever hopes to regain the people’s trust.

If the folks in charge of Congress are serious about rooting out corruption, we’re going to need to pass a bill that’s a whole lot tougher than this. We need a high-powered pressure washer. But today, all we got was a dusty old broom. No one should be overly optimistic about what this bill will do.

This should be our starting point for the next round of reforms, not an endgame. Even a trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and in this case even a small step closer to good government is better than the status quo.  

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) introduced legislation to reauthorize portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that were set to expire next year. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) spoke about the importance of the legislation

The Voting Rights Act is the most important Civil Rights legislation of the 20th Century...It enforced the 15th Amendment, ensuring that all Americans could enjoy the most basic right of citizens in a democracy – the right to vote. Unfortunately, even in the 21st Century we continue to see attempts to disenfranchise minority voters. We cannot permit the Voting Rights Act to expire and leave the next generation of Americans without full protection for their voting rights.

The Washington Post called this bill a ruse, House Democrats call it a sham, and for the American people, it's a shame. When the energy companies write the energy bill, we have gasoline that costs $3 a gallon; when pharmaceutical companies write the Medicare prescription drug bill, we have a bill full of giveaways to cronies, but nothing for America's seniors; when lobbyists write the lobbying reform bill, we end up with a ruse that winks at reform and does nothing to curtail the culture of corruption.

Democrats offered real reform legislation and Republicans voted it down. It is clear that Republicans don't want to end the culture of corruption because they continue to benefit from it.   

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) commended the bipartisan passage of the lobbying reform bill today. The legislation passed by a vote of 217 to 213 with 8 Democrats voting for the bill, while 20 Republicans voted against the legislation.

This legislation will hold lobbyists and Members accountable for their actions...The Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act will help restore Americans' trust in their legislature, and I'm pleased a bipartisan group voted to solve a bipartisan problem

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) criticized the Bush Administration for fiscal policies which resulted in decreases in personal income and increasing budget deficits.

President Bush displayed today why Americans are now giving him the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy: He, along with Congressional Republicans, refuses to acknowledge and address the economic challenges being faced by American families. Under President Bush, median household income has decreased by $1,670 and the number of Americans living without health insurance has increased by 6 million. At the same time, American families are faced with skyrocketing prices at the pump and soaring health care costs.

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Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) successfully fought off an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to strip money from the Senate Supplemental bill for repair of California levees. Boxer said

Senator Coburn said we ‘made some really good points.’ Well, the point is that we simply cannot take the risk of ignoring vulnerabilities in our flood control infrastructure after we have seen Katrina and the direct results of infrastructure deterioration

Read more...

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) labeled Democrats obstructionist for blocking passage of a bill that would expand oil refinery production.

House Republicans today took action to move forward on legislation that will expand our nation’s refining capacity and lessen our dependence on foreign oil, but 185 Democrats voted to block progress on lowering the price of gas. The American people are paying the price at the gas pump, and it’s time for the House Democrats to join our effort to provide relief.

We have not built a new refinery in the United States in the past 30 years. We need action to increase our domestic ability to refine oil. This issue is not going away, and I challenge the Democrats to join us as we continue to work to ease the burden gas prices have placed on Americans.