House

Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have proposed legislation that would call on a new government working group to devise a plan for cutting poverty in half over the next decade.

Under their Half in Ten Act, H.R. 2182, several dozen federal departments and agencies would participate in the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty. The working group would be led by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would appoint a staff director for the group.

Four House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require airlines to put policies in place so families can sit next to each other on flights.

The Families Flying Together Act, H.R. 2191, is a response to the growing difficulties families face staying together on flights, as airlines have begun to charge for services such as making a specific seat request.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) this week reintroduced a resolution that calls on the House Clerk to place a real time display of the United States national debt.

Reed proposed a similar resolution in the last Congress, when he said a debt clock on the House floor is needed to remind people of the nearly $60,000 per second the government is borrowing.

Two Democrats from Washington State say they are staying in touch with emergency workers and state officials after a portion of a bridge on Interstate 5 spanning the Skagit River collapsed.

No deaths were reported as of late Thursday night, but a few cars were on the section of the bridge as it fell into the river in a rural area of Washington.

"If there is a pattern of abuse that begins to develop, I think the president will have to come forward," Cantor said.

The Iowa Republican said immigrants that Ronald Reagan legalized by signing a 1986 "amnesty" bill were responsible for Obama's election. 

Members passed the Smarter Solutions for Students Act in a 221 to 198 vote, with the support of four Democrats.

The House on Thursday advanced a bill that would peg federal student loan interest rates to government interest rates.

In a party line 224-193 vote, members approved a rule for H.R. 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act. The bill is meant as a fix to the annual problem Congress now faces in adjusting interest rates for federally backed Stafford loans.

Members of the House on Wednesday introduced two flag bills on Wednesday, just days before the House and Senate will break for Memorial Day recess.

Reps. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag.

The House starts at 9 a.m., and will consider H.R. 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act.

This bill would peg the interest rate on federal student loans to the 10-year Treasury note. The rate would equal the 10-year rate plus 2.5 percent, and would be reset every year.