Hearings

The House overwhelmingly approved a resolution Friday intended to eliminate burdensome regulations in a 391-28 vote.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) became visibly emotional on the House floor Tuesday as she decried Republicans' plan to ban the use of all federal funds for abortion and count funding for the District of Columbia as "federal funds."

"Get out of our affairs," said Holmes while raising her voice. "You have enough to attend to here."

Washington, D.C., is a federal city, according to the Constitution. As such, a bill that is working its way through the Judiciary Committee that would ban the use of federal funds for abortion would cover D.C. monies. The measure is backed by Republican leadership.

But Norton argued in her speech that the use of funds that come from the residents of D.C. should be determined by the people, not the Congress.

"Don't cross the line between democracy and autocracy and dictate to a local jurisdiction how to spend its own local funds, which you had nothing to do with raising," said Norton.

Norton was replying in part to a hearing on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act held by the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution on Tuesday. Norton had petitioned the subcommittee to testify on behalf of the District, but her request was denied.

"Shame on the Judiciary subcommittee," said Norton on the House floor in response to her denial. "What are you afraid of?"

"Our new bill is designed to permanently end any U.S. government financial support for abortion whether it be direct funding or by tax credits or any other subsidy," Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) said as he explained the bill last month.

The continuing resolution (CR) pushed by Republicans in coming months will attempt to "preclude" funding for Democrats' healthcare legislation, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

"I expect to see, in one way or another, the product coming out of the House ... to preclude any funding to be used for" the healthcare reform law, said Cantor.

The CR is expected to fund the government for the 2011 fiscal year.

Many Republicans have vowed to rollback the sweeping changes in Democrats' landmark healthcare bill since the day it was signed into law by President Obama. A bill to do that has already passed the House but was stopped in the Senate late last month. Defunding the bill through the appropriations process is one of several strategies Republicans are pursuing to prevent full enactment of the bill.

In his weekly session with reporters Cantor also offered other clues on Republican's upcoming agenda.

On the CR, Cantor said Republicans would adhere to regular order and that all members who have amendments would have a chance to present them.

On repeal of the 1099 section of the healthcare law, which the Senate voted to repeal in an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill last week, Cantor noted that it is working its way through committees by regular order in the House.   He said he expects it to hit the floor in a “relatively short time.”

On the Patriot Act extension, which the House will vote on Tuesday night, Cantor signaled he expected a extension to be enacted through Dec. 8.

Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez this morning hinted that the Obama administration will not attempt to move three outstanding trade agreements in tandem early this year, and is instead likely to focus on the South Korea free trade agreement (FTA). This position puts the administration at odds with the new House Republican majority, which wants to bring FTAs with Korea, Panama and Colombia to the House floor by this summer.

Speaking on C-SPAN this morning, Sanchez said the administration would put forward the Korea implementing legislation "very soon." The administration and South Korea last month updated its agreement with Korea that will allow the U.S. to maintain its minimal auto tariffs on Korean cars, and reduce barriers to imports of U.S. cars, changes that are seen as helping to build a critical mass of Democrats who favor the Korea FTA.

But when asked to react to Republican demands to move all three FTAs, Sanchez said the administration also supports all three, but added that "not all trade agreements are created equal." Sanchez said the administration wants to move the FTAs when they are in the best interest of U.S. workers, and said all three would be pursued once this is achieved.

With a little more than two weeks under their belt, Republicans in the 112th Congress are slowly affirming their legislative goals through the process of assigning them priority bill numbers.

The Republican majority has control of bills numbered 1 through 10, and as of this week had filled four of those slots. H.R. 2, of course, is the healthcare repeal bill, which was approved on Wednesday.

In the middle of this week, Republicans introduced H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. That bill is sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and boasts 161 cosponsors. The bill has been referred to House Committees on Judiciary, Energy & Commerce, and Ways & Means, but these committees have not yet announced any hearings or markups on the bill.

The House Rules Committee next week will hold a meeting to consider H.R. 359, which would end taxpayer funding for presidential campaigns and party conventions.

The Committee announced tonight that it would take up this bill on Tuesday at 10 a.m. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and Republicans estimate it would save $520 million over ten years.

According to information on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the bill would require all presidential candidates to "rely on private donations rather than tax dollars" through the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The proposal is featured as part of Cantor's "You Cut" project that allows people to suggest and vote on ways to trim federal spending.

Our colleague Jason Millman writes that House Democratic leaders will hold a pro-healthcare law hearing at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, just before House Republicans start debate on a healthcare repeal bill, H.R. 2.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Minority Whip James Clyburn (Md.) will preside over the hearing, along with four other members of the House Democratic Steering Committee: Reps. George Miller (Calif.), Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), and Henry Cuellar (Texas).

A statement sent out by House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) this morning indicates Democrats will pursue three broad themes as they argue in favor of keeping the law. According to Hoyer, repeal would increase the budget deficit, put insurance companies "back in charge" of healthcare, and "accelerate the insolvency of Medicare" by about 12 years.

Republicans have rejected these charges and argue that efforts to replace the law with Republican alternatives would keep the deficit in check and improve health outcomes by relying more on market-based solutions, such as allowing insurance competition across state lines.

Updated at 11:05 a.m.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will play a key role in Republican efforts to roll back the healthcare reform law, has announced new and returning staff for the 112th Congress. Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said in a statement that his team will help "repeal the budget-busting health law, fight rampant regulations, fortify our energy security, cut spending, and reduce the size of government."

New staffers include Deputy General Counsel Michael Bloomquist, Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Todd Harrison, Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy David McCarthy, Senior Health Policy Adviser John O'Shea, Senior Health Policy Adviser Julie Goon, Professional Staff Member Jeff Mortier, Special Assistant to the Chairman Andy Duberstein, and Special Assistant to the Staff Director Charlotte Savercool. In December, the committee named Gary Andres as staff director to the committee.

Returning staff include Chief Investigative Counsel to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Alan Slobodin, Senior Energy Counsel Mary Neumayr, Senior Environmental Policy Adviser Jerry Couri, and Professional Staff Member Garrett Golding.

A major U.S. farm group and the Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee agree on the need for greater oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) policy decisions on farmers, and hearings on EPA regulations are expected in that House committee later this year.

The American Farm Bureau Federation held its annual meeting in Atlanta this week, and released a statement Tuesday that said EPA needs more oversight because the agency's regulations are threatening the ability of farmers to produce agricultural commodities. "EPA often does not recognize the contributions that farmers and ranchers have made to reduce soil loss and produce more with less land, water, nutrients and other inputs,” said Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman. “We need more common sense and less negativity toward production agriculture in the enforcement of the nation’s existing environmental statutes.”

The Farm Bureau on Jan. 10 said it would file a federal suit to stop the EPA's plan to curb pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, which the group says will seriously hurt farms in the region.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) already supported EPA oversight, and said last week he wants to make sure the EPA cannot impose standards that "would cripple American agriculture and stifle economic growth in rural communities." Today, Lucas welcomed the Farm Bureau's official position, and promised more EPA oversight.

"I want to commend the Farm Bureau for taking a strong stance on one of the most significant issues facing American agriculture: the hostile regulatory approach of the EPA," Lucas said. "As the new Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, I pledge to hold vigorous oversight of the administration on a number of issues that threaten the livelihoods of our farmers and ranchers."

On the specific issue of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, Lucas said that while he agreed with the broad goal, EPA is "moving forward with accelerated and questionable regulations without considering the consequences for farmers and rural communities or without considering the ongoing conservation measures our producers are using to improve water quality."

Tamara Hinton, a spokeswoman for the House Agriculture Committee, said committee hearings on EPA policies can be expected this year but that nothing has been planned yet. She also said it is premature to discuss specific measures needed to address these issues until they are explored more fully in the hearings.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has arguably gotten the fastest start out of the gate in the 112th Congress. While most committees have nothing planned for January and are still getting their websites in order, Foreign Affairs, chaired by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), has already planned two hearings next week on key foreign-policy issues.

On Jan. 18, the committee will hold a hearing on the referendum on independence for South Sudan. Among those testifying is Princeton Lyman, the Obama administration's special adviser for Sudan at the State Department.

Ros-Lehtinen has warned that the U.S. and other countries need to remain vigilant to ensure the referendum succeeds.

"The regime in Khartoum has proven time and again that it will do anything to maintain its grip on power, even the perpetration of genocide," she said in a statement over the weekend.

On Jan. 19, the committee will hold a hearing on "Assessing China's Behavior and its Impact on U.S. Interests." Larry Wortzel of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is one witness. Wortzel's group issues a list of policy recommendations related to China each year, and last year's report called on the Congress to (among other things) take steps to combat China's undervalued currency, assess the ability of the U.S. to withstand military conflict with China and ask the Obama administration for a report outlining attacks on U.S. information systems that officials have said emanate out of China.

House Foreign Affairs also had a hearing planned for this week titled, "The United Nations: Urgent Problems that Need Congressional Action," but it was postponed due to the Arizona shooting.