House

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) on Monday recalled then-President Gerald Ford's unplanned visit to President Nixon in California, which earned Ford new respect in the eyes of Lungren's father, who was Nixon's doctor at the time.

Rep. Lungren said the visit occurred after Ford pardoned Nixon, and said Ford wanted to visit Nixon some time later, after he had taken ill. Lungren said Ford's staff warned against the visit, since it would draw attention to the pardon.

"In response, Gerald Ford said, 'Richard Nixon is my friend. He's in trouble, I want to see him,'" Lungren said.

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Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on Monday said the U.S. should not abandon the use of nuclear power in the wake of the tragedy in Japan, and said instead that the U.S. should incorporate the safety lessons learned in Japan into its own reactors.

"While the risk is by no means over and the events in Japan continue to evolve, the reactor safety systems so far appear to have done their job in withstanding the earthquake, tsunami, power loss, and explosions -- and none of the reactor containment structures seem to have been breached in these worst-case conditions," Alexander said in remarks on the Senate floor. "The lesson that America can take away is this: learn all we can from this Japanese experience to make the operation of American reactors as safe as possible."

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Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Monday he would vote against the three-week spending bill that will come up for a vote tomorrow, and said Democrats need to develop a position on spending that allows for a bill that goes beyond more than just a few weeks.

"We're borrowing billions of dollars a day, yet Senate Democrats have done little more than wring their hands for the last month," Jordan said in a statement. "With the federal government facing record deficits and a mammoth debt hanging over our economy and our future, we must do more than cut spending in bite-sized pieces."

The House Rules Committee will take up the rule for the three-week spending bill later on Monday, and the House will consider the rule and the bill on Tuesday.

The House has been in session for just a short time and is expected to remain adjourned until 6:30 p.m., when it will vote on two non-controversial bills.

House Republicans last week introduced the first flat tax legislation of the 112th Congress, the Freedom Flat Tax Act.

The bill, memorably numbered H.R. 1040, would give individuals and companies the choice to make an "irrevocable election" to be subject to the flat tax instead of the current system. Choosing the flat tax would result in a 19 percent tax for the first two years of election, followed by a 17 percent tax after that.

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House Republicans have written another short-term spending bill that includes many cuts supported by the Obama administration, although nearly half of the $6 billion in proposed cuts come from earmark terminations that are likely to draw opposition from Democrats as early as today. Opposition from conservative Republicans is also expected because it does not withdraw funding for Planned Parenthood, and otherwise does not cut deep enough.

The Republican proposal, H.J.Res. 48, is expected to be debated on Tuesday, but opposition to the bill may be heard beginning Monday at noon before two non-controversial bills are taken up.

The three-week spending bill makes more than $1.5 billion in cuts that both the Obama administration and Senate Democrats supported in their latest budget proposals. This includes $276 million for a fund to fight flu pandemics, $225 million in funding for community service employment for older Americans, $200 million in funding for Internet and technology projects, and reductions of less than $200 million in funding for a career program at the Labor Department, loan guarantees for single family housing and construction at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Republicans in both the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would declare English the official language of the United States and require the development of English language testing guidelines for those applying for U.S. citizenship.

The English Language Unity Act would set out a new chapter in U.S. code that imposes an obligation on U.S. officials to "preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the Federal Government."

Part of this chapter would include a "uniform English language rule" holding that "all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance of the Constitution."

To ensure this outcome, the bill would require the secretary of Homeland Security to issue a proposed rule for testing the English language ability of candidates for citizenship. The bill envisions possible exceptions to this standard but says these exceptions "should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asylum."

The bill also says English language requirements and workplace policies in the public and private sectors "shall be presumptively consistent with the Laws of the United States."

"This legislation will provide much-needed commonality among United States citizens, regardless of heritage," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who sponsored S. 503. "As a nation built by immigrants, it is important that we share one vision and one official language."

"We need to encourage assimilation of all legal immigrants in each generation," said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the House sponsor of H.R. 997, the companion bill. "A nation divided by language cannot pull together as effectively as a people."

The House bill is being sponsored by 60 House Republicans, but the Senate bill had no co-sponsors as of Friday.

The House and Senate next week are once again faced with a vote on a short-term budget bill. This time, the House will vote on a three-week spending resolution, H.J.Res. 48, which would fund federal operations through April 8.

House Republicans plan a Tuesday vote on their resolution, which will cut another $2 billion a week in order to keep pace with their goal of cutting $61 billion from fiscal 2010 levels. A summary of the cuts is provided here.

The three-week bill is expected to pass, since the alternative is a government shutdown. But Democrats are growing impatient. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) warned on the House floor Friday that is the last short-term spending resolution he would support, and urged Republicans to negotiate a full 2011 bill with Democrats.

A more detailed look at the week follows:

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House Republicans next week continue to assess the impact of regulations on a range of industries, and in particular will take up energy regulations. The House Natural Resources Committee holds two hearings next week, one on the drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and another on how to address rising gasoline prices.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will look at investment trends in clean energy technologies. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the report to the president from the National Commission on the BP oil spill.

A listing of full committee hearings scheduled for next week follows:

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Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) on Friday criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for lamenting funding cuts that help sponsor an annual cowboy poetry festival in Nevada, and said she believes most cowboys probably support spending cuts.

"I can assure the Senate Majority Leader that the rugged individualism of the American cowboy will not be snuffed out due to the lack of a federal subsidy," she said. "In fact, I believe that the American cowboy supports our efforts to get this out-of-control federal spending under control."

Miller also read a poem from one of the cowboy poets who has been featured in the Nevada festival. The poem is called, "How to Cut Taxes:"

"So I think if I was the president,

       of this home of the free and the brave,

I'd close up all those departments

       and think of the money I'll save."

House Democrats on Friday said Republican budget cuts would have hampered Hawaii and West Coast states as they cope with tsunami waves caused by the earthquake near Japan.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) helped prepare officials in his state to evacuate the coastline, and said waves were pounding and destroying Oregon's docks this afternoon.

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