Legislative Debate

The House bill implements the accord reached between Republicans, congressional Democrats and the White House to cut about $40 billion.

House Democrats on Thursday afternoon indicated that they oppose a Republican amendment to the Federal Aviation Authorization (FAA) bill that would limit the ability of the FAA to regulate the transport of lithium batteries.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) offered the amendment as a manager's amendment to the FAA bill, H.R. 658. Under Mica's amendment, the FAA would not be allowed to issue or enforce any regulation related to the transport of lithium batteries that goes beyond international standards.

Members of the House on Wednesday night briefly debated legislation aimed at reversing a court decision that said pesticide use is regulated by the Clean Water Act in addition to a federal pesticide law. But a vote on the measure is postponed until Thursday.

The bill, H.R. 872, would ensure that certain pesticides could be used without having to seek a Clean Water Act permit, as the court required.

House Republicans for the second day in a row on Friday voted to eliminate a federal mortgage program. 

The House convened at 9 a.m. Friday to take up H.R. 836, which would rescind $1 billion now authorized for a program that helps unemployed people make their mortgage payments for up to 12 months.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) began the debate by sticking to the themes Republicans hit on Thursday in the course of repealing an FHA mortgage relief program (H.R. 836). Hensarling said the U.S. debt is piling up too quickly, and that cuts are needed to give businesses the confidence to hire workers in the long term.

"At some point you gotta quit spending money you don't have," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a motion to limit debate on the Patent Reform Act at 6:35 p.m. Thursday night.

The patent bill has been pending before the upper chamber since Monday, as senators have attempted to alter it with amendments. Controversy over a budget extension bill and other amendments that were not germane to the underlying bill have, in part, slowed progress on the legislation.

House Republicans are expected to consider two bills that would repeal two housing programs supported by Democrats.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday that Republicans would call up H.R. 830, which would rescind the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage refinancing program, and H.R. 836, which would end FHA's emergency mortgage relief program.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) tore into the federal government’s practice of diverting tens of millions of dollars annually from patent fees to other purposes as “immoral” and offered an amendment to right the wrong.

“It’s immoral to take money from a specific purpose and not apply it to the purpose it was intended under the statute,” said Coburn.

Coburn said it was this diverting that has clogged up the system leaving 713,000 patents untouched. He said the fee money was intended to be used to process patents. Coburn said it currently takes 26 months before a patent officer even touches a patent after it has been filed.

“If we want to stay on top of innovation we cannot allow that process to continue,” said Coburn. “Now we are actually going to spend the patent money on patents.”

Coburn touted his amendment as the perfect antidote to the current system. 

“This is a moral response to an immoral thing we have been doing,” said Coburn.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) insisted Tuesday that Democrats are taking action to avoid a government shutdown.

“We are working to see if we can find a way to fund the government for the foreseeable future,” said Reid, making his first address to the Senate since a 10-day recess.

Reid noted that work on the spending bill must be completed this week, before the current stopgap measure expires on Friday.

Sen. Barbara Boxer said the cost of four hours of the Iraq war would be enough to keep PBS funded.