House

The Senate voted 50 to 48 on Thursday afternoon to table a controversial amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that, in effect, would have prohibited the federal government from using funds raised through patent fees for unrelated purposes.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the floor manager for the patent bill, was the chief opponent of Coburn’s amendment, arguing that its addition would likely “kill” patent reform efforts because the House would not accept it.

“I’ve worked for years against fee diversion,” said Leahy, who added that he supports the content of Coburn’s amendment. “But it was already rejected by the House of Representatives and they have made it very clear they will not change.” 

Members of the House on Thursday afternoon accepted five amendments to a bill reauthorizing the federal charter school program, including several from House Democrats, which reflected the broad bipartisan support for the bill, H.R. 2218.

The House did reject one amendment, from Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), that would have prevented governors from applying for grants for charter schools.

House Democrats on Thursday had nothing but praise for a bill that would reauthorize the federal charter school program, in large part because of the bipartisan work done on the bill that led to the inclusion of language aimed at ensuring public schools can benefit from best practices at charter schools.

Members of the House were debating H.R. 2218, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charters Schools Act.

The House on Thursday afternoon approved a rule setting the terms for considering a bill that reauthorizes the federal charter school program and separate legislation that reauthorizes U.S. intelligence operations.

Members approved the rule in a 237-163 vote, mostly along partly lines despite Democratic praise for both of the underlying bills. The rule covers H.R. 2218, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act, and H.R. 1892, the Intelligence Authorization Act.

More than 30 House Democrats have signed onto a letter that calls on the new deficit-reduction committee to reach its budget-cutting goal entirely by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"To generate much-needed savings, we strongly urge you to examine the costs of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," read the letter, which is expected to be sent on Friday. "By ending the wars and paying for a safe, orderly, and responsible redeployment of troops from both Afghanistan and Iraq, we can go a long way toward meeting our fiscal challenges."

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has invited 13 industry representatives to sit in the House gallery during President Obama's remarks to Congress tonight.

The move is a way for Boehner to point out the obstacles to job creation House Republicans say the administration has imposed upon companies.

"The Speaker's guests are all employers who have run into unnecessary Washington-made barriers as they've tried to create jobs -- barriers that will be addressed by legislation scheduled for action in the House this fall as part of the House Republican Plan for America's Job Creators," Boehner's office said today.

The resolution offered by Cantor and Pelosi marks Sept. 11 as a day of "solemn commemoration."

The House meets at 10 a.m. for speeches and noon to start work on H.R. 2218, the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act.

Members will begin by debating the rule for the bill, then start debating the bill itself, then move to debate the eight amendments made in order. One of these, from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), could prove controversial because it would eliminate language in the bill that defines "high-quality charter schools" as those that demonstrate success in increasing academic achievement for economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Wednesday evening that the Senate on Thursday will hold a vote on final passage of the House-passed patent reform bill.

The legislation would change the U.S. from a first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file patent system, a move proponents say would bring the U.S. patent system closer to systems already used by most of the rest of the world.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Wednesday night warned that the U.S. needs a radical shift in U.S. policy that includes ending the wars and Afghanistan and Iraq, and focusing instead on restoring the U.S. economy and job creation.

"For the past decade we have relied on the force of our arms to make America secure while our economy has rotted from within. America has lost its focus," he said on the House floor. "America has spent more time concentrating on reshaping the world than on reshaping our economy."