Senate

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Monday blamed Republicans and President Bush for the nation's economic woes calling the Bush tax cuts one of the "greatest failed jobs programs in history." 

"It’s like my Republican colleagues have thrown a lavish diner party for the last decade and now they are telling us to pick up the tab," Menendez said. "These cuts for the rich have been one of the greatest failed jobs programs in our history and one of the most ineffective stimulus efforts in our history." Read more...

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) slammed President Obama and Senate Democrats on Monday for pursuing policies he believes are crippling the economy and causing unemployment.

"Out of work Arkansans continue to struggle to find gainful employment," said Boozman. "What's more alarming is that the President and majority here in the Senate are resisting real change and instead are pursuing the same policies that gave us this sluggish economy.”

Two Republican senators from agricultural states attacked an amendment on Monday offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that would eliminate about $6 billion in tax credits provided annually to blenders of ethanol.

The senators said the tax credits, which Coburn describes as a corporate subsidy, help reduce energy costs.

"This proposal would increase the cost of energy in this country and obviously impact people across the country whose livelihood depends on this," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in comments Monday on the Senate floor. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has introduced an amendment that would require the president to give Congress regular evaluations of the national security hazards posed by the nation's debt.

“The federal government’s reckless deficit spending has created a fiscal crisis and a growing national security vulnerability," said Cornyn in a statement. "A massive chunk of our debt is held by foreign governments such as Communist-led China, whose true motivations for doing so remain unclear."

Senate committees will swing back into work on Tuesday and pursue an agenda focused on threats on the home front from both terrorism and acts of God.

As wildfires sweep across the Southwest United States, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will weigh the state of preparedness of the nation's wildfire management programs.

The Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a discussion led by Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that continues to examine how lessons learned from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan can be used to make America's nuclear industry more secure.

Details on next week’s featured Senate committee hearings follow:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will deliver his maiden speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, five months after entering the upper chamber.

The Tea Party favorite will be the final senator from the freshman class to deliver his inaugural speech in the Senate.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is offering legislation to give officials the power to block health insurance rate increases. 

The Senate on Tuesday will hold a procedural vote on an amendment that would eliminate about $6 billion in tax credits provided annually to subsidize blenders of ethanol.

The vote comes after the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), presented 16 signatures from other senators to the Senate clerk Thursday and demanded that a vote to limit debate be placed on the schedule.

Coburn has been pushing for a vote on the amendment throughout the year, selling it as an important step toward slashing out-of-control government spending.

The Senate made some progress on the pending Economic Development Revitalization Act on Thursday when it held a vote on a controversial amendment demanded by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), but major hurdles remain for the legislation in the form of at least 44 further amendments senators want tacked on to the bill.

The Senate remained dormant for much of Thursday evening as senators worked behind the scenes on how to move forward on the bill. This process mostly involves deciding which amendments to consider, and how long to consider them.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) this week introduced legislation that proposes a $100 million per year grant program that would help schools build up more capacity to teach English.

The English Learning and Innovation Act, S. 1158, would establish this program for six years, and would require the Secretary of Education to prioritize rural areas and schools that have had difficulty getting students to a level of English proficiency. Bennet said it is needed because of the growing number of "English learners" in U.S. public schools.

"School districts in rural, urban and suburban communities across the country have large and growing English learner populations," he said. "The English Learning and Innovation Act will help school districts develop successful methods to close the achievement gap and better prepare all students for success in college and the 21st century job market."