|
||||||||||
|
Washington Update Congressman J. Randy Forbes, Virginia's Fourth Congressional District Weeks of October 1-12, 2007 |
||||||||||
|
ü Voted in favor of H.R. 400, the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007, which would criminalize profiteering and defrauding the U.S. Government for goods and services provided for U.S. military, relief, or reconstruction missions abroad. The bill would impose a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for intentionally defrauding or overvaluing goods and services. The bill would impose a maximum 10-year penalty for knowingly falsifying, concealing, or covering up documents or statements related to the contract or the provision of those goods and services. Additionally, H.R. 400 would establish a fine of $1 million or twice the value of the profits earned from the contract. ü Voted in favor of H.R. 2740, the MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007. Under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), civilian Department of Defense (DOD) employees and DOD contractors can be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas that would be punishable by more than one year of imprisonment if it had been committed within the maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. H.R. 2740 clarifies MEJA to include persons under a federal contract awarded by any department or agency of the United States working in an area or in close proximity to an area where the Armed Forces are carrying out operations. In addition, it would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to create the Theater Investigative Unit to investigate allegations of criminal violation by contract personnel.
ü Introduced H.R. 3779, the Andrew Larochelle God, Family and Country Act of 2007, along with Reps. Mike Turner (OH-03), Marilyn Musgrave (CO-04), Steve Pearce (NM-02), and Steve King (IA-05), which would require the Architect of the Capitol to permit the acknowledgment of God on flag certificates that are issued at the request of a Member of the United States House of Representatives or of the United States Senate. In recent months, the Architect of the Capitol had censored the word “God” and other religious expressions from several requests for flag certificates, stating that the use of the word “God” violated the Architect’s rules prohibiting religious references on flag certificates. In response, Congressman Forbes joined with over 160 other Members of Congress in signing a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting an immediate review of the authority under which the Architect was making these rules, and seeking the reversal of this policy which censored citizens’ right to free expression of their faith. As a result of this action, the Architect of the Capitol announced new guidelines that would not restrict religious expression on flag certificates. H.R. 3779 will permanently protect Americans’ freedom of religious expression and ensure that future Architects of the Capitol will not be able to change the policy arbitrarily.
ü Joined Congressional China Caucus co-chair Madeleine Bordallo and other Members of Congress in sending a letter to the National Security Advisor requesting that he undertake an interagency review of United States policy goals with respect to the Pacific island countries. Ensuring that there is a coordinated political, economic, trade, security, and foreign aid policy is critical to the stability of the Pacific region. ü Supported H.R. 2003, the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. Sponsored by Rep. Payne, this legislation restricts U.S. aid to Ethiopia until the State Department certifies human rights and democratic reforms. The bill passed the House by voice vote and must now be considered in the Senate. Rep. Forbes led a similar effort to restrict non-humanitarian and non-defense aid to Ethiopia in the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. The amendment was adopted by voice vote. ü Cosponsored H.R. 2332, the Syrian Accountability and Liberation Act of 2007. Sponsored by the top minority member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the bill mandates that current U.S. sanctions on Syria shall not be removed until the President can certify that Syria has ceased support for terrorism and dismantled any weapons of mass destruction programs. The legislation also strengthens sanctions on Syria’s energy sector and companies that provide assistance to support Syria’s weapons programs. ü Voted in favor of H.R. 2828, a bill that provides compensation to relatives of United States citizens who were killed as a result of the bombings of United States Embassies in East Africa on August 7, 1998. The two bombings were linked to al-Qaeda, and resulted in U.S. missile strikes in Afghanistan. The bill passed 409-12, and must now be considered in the Senate. ü Supported H.R. 3432, the 200th Anniversary Commemoration Commission of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Act of 2007. The legislation was adopted by voice vote. ü Voted in favor of H.Con.Res. 203, which condemns the persecution of labor rights advocates in Iran. The bill passed by a vote of 418-1 and must now be considered in the Senate.
ü Cosponsored H.R. 3583, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act, which would provide for an automatic continuing resolution in the event that Congress does not pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year. This would prevent any political party from using the threat of a government shutdown as a political ploy. It would also prevent anyone from hiding earmarks in a Continuing Resolution. ü Cosponsored H.R. 3654, the Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act (SAFE Act), which would establish a commission to investigate entitlement spending, tax policy and all federal spending. The mission of the SAFE Commission would be to address the long-term problems facing our country such as foreign-held debt, solvency of Social Security and Medicare, increasing individual savings, and reforming entitlement programs to serve the most needy. The Commission’s recommendations would be submitted to Congress for approval.
ü Voted in favor of H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. If a homeowner’s property has devalued from its initial purchase price, the homeowner sometimes will negotiate with the bank to have some of his or her mortgage debt forgiven. This can happen through a “short sale” of the property or refinancing or even foreclosure. However, under the law, any amount of debt forgiven by the bank is viewed by the IRS as income and will be taxed. This imposes a tax on people who can least afford it. H.R. 3648 would exempt this phantom income from taxation. ü Cosponsored H.R. 3660, the Equity for Our Nation’s Self-Employed Act, which would correct the tax inequity facing self-employed workers. Under current tax law, corporations are able to deduct the cost of health insurance premiums as a business expense and forego payroll taxes on these costs. The self-employed are unable to take the same deduction. As a result they pay an additional 15.3% tax on their health insurance premiums. Virginia has almost half a million self-employed businesses and is ranked #11 in the United States based on 2005 IRS data.
ü Supported H.R. 1699, the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act. H.R. 1699 would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to issue a standard within one year of enactment of this act that requires manufacturers of infant and toddler products including cribs, cradles, high chairs, strollers, activity centers and swings to provide consumers with a postage-paid registration form with specified products and maintain a record of the names and contact information of registered consumers for at least six years after the date the product was manufactured to notify consumers in the event of a voluntary or involuntary product recall. The bill would also permanently place the manufacturer name and contact information, model name and number, and the date of manufacture on each specified product. ü Supported H.R. 2474, which would increase the maximum penalty for violations of the Consumer Product Safety Act, Federal Hazardous Substances Act, or the Flammable Fabrics Act. The Consumer Product Safety Act established the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) with the authority to develop standards to reduce the unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products and to either ban products where there is no feasible standard or pursue recalls for products that present a substantial product hazard. ü Supported the H.R. 814, Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, which would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to implement a rule that all portable gasoline containers sold in the U.S. meet the child-resistance safety requirements currently issued by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International.
ü Cosponsored H.R. 741, the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, which would create an Advisory Committee within the National Institute of Health to coordinate Lyme disease research. The Committee would focus on better diagnostic tests for better early detection, increasing education and public awareness and develop treatment outcome objectives. Lyme disease can be easily treated if caught early enough. If left untreated, the disease can lead to problems with a person’s nervous system or heart.
ü Voted in favor of H.R. 3087 which would require the President, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military leaders, to develop and transmit to Congress an update on contingency planning and strategy for the redeployment of United States Armed Forces in Iraq. The bill received bipartisan support and passed 377-46. ü Met with Dr. Charles McQueary, Director of the Operational Test and Evaluation office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense to discuss the use of modeling and simulation in the Defense Department. Dr. McQueary’s office is responsible for providing unbiased assessments of each major weapons system procured by the Defense Department. Dr. McQueary has also been a vocal proponent of ensuring all U.S. warships are tested to counter high-speed, sea-skimming anti-ship missiles believed to be developed by Russia and China. An amendment offered by Rep. Forbes in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act provided funding to accelerate preparing for the threat of the missiles a year earlier than scheduled. ü Cosponsored H.R. 826, the State Defense Force Improvement Act. Sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson, this legislation allows the Secretary of Defense to coordinate homeland security efforts with, and provide assistance to, a state defense force upon request. State Defense Forces are state volunteer units that operate under the authority of the Governor and National Guard, particularly in times of emergency and national disaster. ü Cosponsored H.R. 1357, which would mandate that U.S. government pension funds divest of any companies that are invested in Iran’s energy sector. The bill also prohibits any future investment by U.S. government pension funds in companies invested in Iran and expresses the sense of Congress that private pension funds should divest from the companies as well. Additionally, the bill directs the Federal Register to publish a list of all U.S. and foreign entities that have invested more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector between August 5, 1996 and the date of publication. If Iran ceases support for international terrorism, pension funds can be reinvested in the country.
ü Supported H.R. 928, the Improving Government Accountability Act, which would overhaul the inspector general system within the executive branch by limiting the allowable reasons for dismissing an inspector general, allow inspector generals to directly submit budget requests to Congress, and establish a Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
For a comprehensive look at Congressman Forbes' work on legislative issues, visit the Spotlight Issues page on his website.
|
||||||||||
