Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) on Wednesday introduced a broad proposal to revamp the farm bill next year by moving billions of dollars away from the large agribusinesses that have benefited from past farm programs, and instead focus on aid to family farmers, new farmers and the production of healthy, local food.

Speaking on the House floor, Blumenauer said his proposals should find the support of many on the left and right that have protested against what they say is a cozy relationship between large companies and the federal government that has led to billions in subsidies.

"Helping more people at less cost by reducing subsidies to large agribusiness also speaks directly to the frustrations of protestors from coast to coast, whether they are occupying Wall Street, or they're Tea Party protesters," Blumenauer said.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) on Tuesday promoted a bill he has introduced that would protect the byproduct of burned coal from being eliminated by the EPA as a viable ingredient in concrete production.

The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act he authored with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) would ensure that the recycling of ash could not be banned if the Environmental Protection Agency attempts to classify it as a hazardous material. 

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would require the State Department to deny diplomatic visas to countries that refuse to accept those citizens of theirs whom the U.S. is seeking to deport because they have committed crimes here.

"There needs to be a punishment for any nation that refuses to take back lawfully deported criminal aliens," Poe said Tuesday. "We should not be issuing visas to diplomats of other nations that refuse to cooperate with our government."

House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would establish a National Infrastructure Bank, similar to what President Obama has proposed in his jobs plan.

On Tuesday, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) offered H.R. 3259, which would create the bank and fund it at $5 billion per year through 2015. Assuming that bill could be approved this year, it would provide $20 billion for the bank — double the initial amount of money the president requested.

Democrats have said any money provided to an infrastructure bank could be leveraged to provide financial support to infrastructure valued at 10 times that initial amount, or more.

“Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, we all have infrastructure that is crumbling, and we have people in our districts who are eager to get back to work,” Fudge said. “This legislation allows us to target the large number of deficient bridges in our communities and other dangerous infrastructure for repair, making travel safer for our residents.”

Fudge said the bill would provide funding for transportation, drinking water and public housing projects. Her bill is the House companion to S. 1550, which Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced in September.

While the bill could move in the Senate, controlled by Democrats, it appears to have little chance of being considered in the House. Republicans in the House continue to insist on spending cuts, and no new federal spending programs. Neither bill provides for any offset in spending to create the infrastructure bank, and instead relies on new appropriations.

Despite Obama’s call for the creation of an infrastructure bank, Fudge’s bill has no House co-sponsors, and Brown’s bill has just one Senate co-sponsor, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

The House on Wednesday will take its first steps toward repealing the 3 percent withholding rule, which would require all levels of government to withhold 3 percent of money paid to government contractors. The rule has never been implemented, and most agree that implementation would saddle government contractors with an extra cost at the worst possible time, and do little or nothing to help generate federal tax revenues.

The House will start with rule that covers the repeal bill, H.R. 674, and a bill that seems to have become the "pay-for," H.R. 2576. The latter bill would modify the way of determining modified adjusted gross income, which is used for determining eligibility for healthcare programs.

A House Republican and a House Democrat late Tuesday evening called for the deficit reduction "supercommittee" to cut far more than the $1.2 to $1.5 trillion it is looking to cut, and said deeper cuts are needed to get the U.S. out of debt.

Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) said cutting $1.2 trillion over 10 years would only amount to a 2.7 percent reduction in federal spending.

House Republicans and Democrats came together on Tuesday to speak on behalf of a bill they say is a workable solution to the hardline Republican position in favor of increasing U.S. energy supplies and reducing the debt, and the hardline Democrat position that prefers protecting the environment and increasing infrastructure spending.

Several supporters of the bill, titled the Infrastructure Jobs & Energy Independence Act, took to the floor to argue on its behalf, and as a way the two parties can work together. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) said the bill  combines these separate goals into a single bill.

Assistant House Majority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) argued in an interview published Tuesday that the U.S. economy has strengthened since President Obama took office in 2009.

"This whole notion, saying that the president is to blame for this economy... my question is, if you go 2.1 million jobs in the hole over the three months just before he became president and then you reverse that trend ... nobody can say that this economy is worse than it was three years ago," said Clyburn as reported by the The Root.

The House on Tuesday approved legislation that would grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point marines, the first black marines recruited in World War II.

The bill, H.R. 2447, was approved unanimously in a 422-0 vote after debate earlier in the day in which several members noted that the Montford Point marines were trained separately in Montford Point, North Carolina, while their white counterparts were trained in Paris Island, South Carolina.