House approves two land use bills in only votes of the day

The House passed two bills dealing with federal land use in two roll call votes, and then was set to hear speeches from members, likely on the Newtown, Connecticut shooting on Friday, and possibly on today's news that Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) died.

In between the votes, the House held a moment of silence for the victims of last Friday's shootings in Connecticut, which was preceded by remarks from Rep. Chris Murray (D-Conn.).

"When people ask me how are folks doing, I tell them, right now there's a lot of blank looks. These people are just trying to process what happened," he said. "We're left asking all these questions. Why, why us? Why all these little kids? Why did he do it?

"If we ever wondered what kind of community Newtown was, if we ever doubted the deepness of our love for one another, those questions have been answered, they've been answered definitively," he said.

Later in the evening, the House also approved H.Res. 833, which condemns the attacks in Newtown, Connecticut, by voice vote.

In a 286-10 vote, members approved H.R. 4606, which authorizes right-of-way permits for natural gas pipelines in Glacier National Park. Sponsor Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) said on the floor that the bill is needed to authorize maintenance of an already-existing pipeline.

And in a 306-0 vote, members passed S. 3193, the Barona Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Clarification Act. That bill clarifies a 2004 law that incorrectly described land to be left in trust for the Barona Band of Mission Indians.

— This story was corrected to note that the Newtown resolution was passed later in the evening, just after 8:30 p.m.

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