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Public Policy by the Numbers – Democrats, 26 : Americans, 0

McHenry: Only Effects of ‘New Direction’ are Post Offices with New Nameplates

McHenry Speaks on the House Floor

 

Washington, May 16, 2007 -

More than five months after taking control of Congress, Democrats in the House and Senate have made no progress on addressing any of the major issues confronting the United States, according to data published by the Legislative Information System. Despite their highly-touted “Six for ‘06” agenda, Democrats have failed to pass into law a single piece of substantive legislation.

“So far the only Americans experiencing ‘a new direction’ are postal workers adjusting to the new nameplates on the front of their offices,” said Congressman McHenry. “Democrats have successfully passed 26 bills into law — 12 of which name a federal building, post office, courthouse, or national recreation area. Zero makes any legislative impact on fighting the war against Islamic extremists, balancing the federal budget, creating jobs, cutting pork-barrel spending, or saving Social Security.”

The Democrats’ inability to produce results seems unacceptable to Americans who expect their government to address the nation’s challenges. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 29% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. A poll conducted last month by ABC and The Washington Post shows that 73% of Americans think that Congress has done “not much” or “nothing at all.”

Please see below a list of the bills Democrats have successfully passed into law, which reflects five months of “work.”

1) S.159 : A bill to redesignate the White Rocks National Recreation Area in the State of Vermont as the “Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area.”

2) H.R.475 : To revise the composition of the House of Representatives Page Board to equalize the number of members representing the majority and minority parties and to include a member representing the parents of pages and a member representing former pages, and for other purposes.

3) H.R.188 : To provide a new effective date for the applicability of certain provisions of law to Public Law 105-331.

4) H.R.434 : An act to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small business Investment Act of 1958 through July 31, 2007.

5) H.J.RES.20 : Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2007.

6) H.R.742 : To amend the Antitrust Modernization Commission Act of 2002, to extend the term of the Antitrust Modernization Commission and to make a technical correction.

7) H.R.49 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1300 North Frontage Road West in Vail, Colorado, as the “Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Post Office Building.”

8) H.R.335 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 152 North 5th Street in Laramie, Wyoming, as the “Gale W. McGee Post Office.”

9) H.R.433 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1700 Main Street in Little Rock, Arkansas, as the “Scipio A. Jones Post Office Building.”

10) H.R.514 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 16150 Aviation Loop Drive in Brooksville, Florida, as the “Sergeant Lea Robert Mills Brooksville Aviation Branch Post Office.”

11) H.R.577 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3903 South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, as the “Sergeant Henry Ybarra III Post Office Building.”

12) H.R.521 : To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2633 11th Street in Rock Island, Illinois, as the “Lane Evans Post Office Building.”

13) H.R.342 : To designate the United States courthouse located at 555 Independence Street in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as the “Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr. United States Courthouse.”

14) H.R.544 : To designate the United States courthouse at South Federal Place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the “Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse.”

15) H.R.584 : To designate the Federal building located at 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest in the District of Columbia as the “Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.”

16) H.R.1129 : To provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of an arterial road in St. Louis County, Missouri.

17) S.494 : A bill to endorse further enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to facilitate the timely admission of new members to NATO.

18) H.R.1132 : To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide waivers relating to grants for preventive health measures with respect to breast and cervical cancers.

19) S.1002 : A bill to amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to reinstate certain provisions relating to the nutrition services incentive program.

20) H.R.753 : To redesignate the Federal building located at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee, as the “Clifford Davis and Odell Horton Federal Building.”

21) H.R.1003 : To amend the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 to reauthorize the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.

22) H.R.137 : To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting.

23) H.R.727 : To amend the Public Health Service Act to add requirements regarding trauma care.

24) H.R.1130 : To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to extend the authority to withhold from public availability a financial disclosure report filed by an individual who is a judicial officer or judicial employee.

25) S.521 : A bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse and customhouse located at 515 West First Street in Duluth, Minnesota, as the “Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Customhouse.”

26) H.R.1681 : To amend the Congressional Charter of The American National Red Cross to modernize its governance structure.

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