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Washington Update Congressman J. Randy Forbes, Virginia's Fourth Congressional District Weeks of December 10-21, 2007 |
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ü Cosigned a letter to the Appropriations Committee in support of maintaining the $50 million funding level for the REAL ID program. The House passed version of the fiscal year 2008 Department of Homeland Security Appropriation Bill appropriated $50 million in grant funding for states to comply with the REAL ID program. The REAL ID Act of 2005 is an opt-in program for states that aims to strengthen the legitimacy and security of driver's licenses issued in the United States. ü Cosponsored H.R. 3612, the Local Law Enforcement Restoration Act. This would add clarifying language to the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to say that local and state governments can enforce immigration law. Some recent court rulings have limited the ability of local governments to enforce immigration law. This was not the intent of Congress when immigration law was reformed in the 1996.
ü Voted in favor of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 3996, a bill to provide a one year patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT was created in 1969 as a means to ensure that the wealthiest citizens were not able to lower their taxes through deductions and tax credits. Unfortunately, the AMT was never adjusted for inflation and it is estimated that without this patch, in 2007, up to 23 million Americans could be subject to the AMT. Estimates show that by 2010, 32 million Americans could be subject to the AMT and by 2016, 50 million Americans (47% of total taxpayers) could be subject to the AMT. The House of Representatives passed two previous versions of this legislation that Congressman Forbes did not support because in each version, the temporary one year AMT patch was offset by permanent tax increases. The Senate Amendments to H.R. 3996 provide a “clean” one year patch to the AMT without increasing taxes and increases the AMT exemption amount to $66,250 for joint filers and $44,350 for individuals.
ü Voted in favor of H.R. 4040, which would establish consumer product safety standards and other safety requirements for children's products and reauthorize and modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC is an independent government agency charged with overseeing the safety of consumer products and issuing most recalls. H.R. 4040 would implement stricter standards on the amount of lead in children’s products, bringing it to 100 parts per million total lead content by weight within 4 years. Within one year, the bill would require manufacturers of children’s products containing lead to have their products tested by a qualified independent third party and certify that it meets child safety standards. Furthermore, the bill would require manufacturers of children’s products to include product labels that enable manufacturers and purchasers to determine the time and location of its production. The bill grants the CPSC the authority to immediately share information about dangerous products with the public and ensures State public health agencies are kept informed. As Chairman of the Congressional China Caucus, Congressman Forbes has expressed his concerns to the Chinese Ambassador and visiting dignitaries from China’s government about the safety of the products they export to the United States. ü Supported H.R. 2601, the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007. H.R. 2601 would extend the authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to collect fees from telemarketers and sellers to administer and enforce the provisions relating to the “Do-Not-Call” registry of the Telemarketing Sales Rule through 2012. Telemarketers and sellers can access registered telephone numbers, and pay the applicable fee for that access, if any, through an Internet website dedicated to that purpose. The federal “Do-Not-Call” Registry was established in 2003 under rules by the FTC. Early in 2003, Congress passed and the President signed the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, which provided the FTC the authority to collect fees and enforce the national registry through fiscal year 2007. The FTC rules prohibit telemarketers from calling numbers listed on the registry. ü Supported H.R. 3541, the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007. H.R. 3541 would prohibit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from removing telephone numbers from the national “do-not-call” list. Under current law, individuals are required to reregister their telephone numbers every five years. The bill also requires the FTC to remove disconnected or reassigned numbers twice per month. The original rule by the FTC required the list to be purged periodically.
üVoted in favor of S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. S.2499 would eliminate the upcoming 10% cut for physician reimbursement under Medicare and would allow for a 0.5% increase in physician reimbursements. S. 2499 would also authorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 2009, a key provision in the Barton-Deal SCHIP extension (H.R. 3584) that Congressman Forbes cosponsored. S. 2499 would maintain the 50% threshold for co-located long-term care hospitals, which is a provision in a bill, H.R. 3057, that Congressman Forbes cosponsored. S. 2499 would also reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program, another program Congressman Forbes supported by cosponsoring H.R. 2762. Furthermore, this legislation would extend the abstinence–only education program and Transitional Medical Assistance program through June 30, 2008. üSent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Republican Leader Boehner asking them to move legislation to correct Medicare reimbursements for physicians. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is scheduled to impose a 10% cut for Medicare reimbursements. Congressman Forbes requested that legislation be adopted to reform the current payment model to avoid the cut and instead provide a 5% increase for reimbursements. This would encourage doctors to continue to accept Medicare as a form of insurance from their patients. ü Supported H.Con.Res. 215, which designates National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week. Each year, 325,000 coronary heart disease deaths happen outside of a hospital or emergency room. The use of CPR or an external defibrillator can up to double the chances of survival. This resolution recognizes the first week of June as National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week. ü Supported S. 597, legislation that would extend the special postage stamp for breast cancer research for four years. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with about 1 in 8 women developing breast cancer in their lifetime. For more information about this stamp, please click here.
üOpposed the House version of H.R. 2764, the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated (Omnibus) Appropriations Bill, on December 17, 2007. While this version of the fiscal year 2008 funding bill met the President’s funding levels and included $11.2 billion in “emergency” spending, it restricted the use of funds for military operations in Iraq and included funding only for military operations in Afghanistan. Congressman Forbes voted in favor of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2764 on December 19, 2007, which added $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan without imposing artificial time tables on our troops. This is critical funding for our troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror. The President is expected to sign H.R. 2764, as amended, into law, which will complete the annual appropriations process for fiscal year 2008.
ü Supported passage of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 1585, which passed the House of Representatives and the Senate this week. The bill had been in continued negotiations over the addition of a controversial hate crimes provision to the defense bill. Congressman Forbes authored a letter with Rep. Trent Franks (AZ-02) urging conferees to remove the language from the annual defense policy bill that typically carries bipartisan support and Senate conferees ultimately dropped the controversial provision. Congressman Forbes helped secure funds for Fort Lee, Virginia, and other critical defense programs in Virginia, including shipbuilding activities. Highlights of the bill impacting the Virginia Fourth Congressional District include: 1) Authorizes BRAC funding, which will impact Fort Lee, VA; 2) Authorizes funding for the first next generation aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, CVN-21, to be built in Newport News, Virginia; 3) Authorizes $5.9 million for construction of a chapel at Fort Lee; 4) Authorizes a multi-year ship procurement for Virginia-Class Submarine program, and boosts advanced procurement by $588 million for two Virginia Class Submarines rather than the one submarine planned in the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2010; and 5) Renames the Logistics Automation Facility at Fort Lee after General Richard H. Thompson. The bill also authorizes a pay raise of 3.5% for active duty service members and prevents any increase in TRICARE fees among military retirees. ü Supported H.Con.Res. 246, a resolution to honor the United States Marine Corps for serving and defending the United States on the anniversary of its founding on November 10, 1775. The resolution, which was cosponsored by Congressman Forbes, passed the House on December 17, 2007. ü Supported H.Res. 542, a resolution to express the unconditional support of the House of Representatives for the members of the National Guard. Between September 11, 2001, and March 31, 2007, 235,703 members of the National Guard have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. The resolution, which was cosponsored by Congressman Forbes, passed the House on December 18, 2007. ü Visited Fort Lee with the Secretary of the Army
Pete Geren on Friday, December 14. The Secretary of the Army is the
senior official of the Department of the Army and responsible for the
effective and efficient functioning of the Army. Forbes said: “As Ranking
Member of the Readiness Subcommittee, I know how much Fort Lee impacts and
is going to continue to impact the Army as well as our overall military
readiness. Fort Lee is literally becoming the logistics capital of the
world and is a true leader in what makes a successful post. This
leadership is what brought the Secretary here today and what makes Fort
Lee a model for the rest of the Army.” To read more about the visit, click
here. ü Supported H.Con.Res. 261, which commemorates the centennial anniversary of the sailing of the Navy's "Great White Fleet," launched by President Theodore Roosevelt on December 16, 1907, from Hampton Roads, Virginia, and returning there on February 22, 1909. Congressman Forbes was an original cosponsor of the bill, which passed the House of Representatives on December 11, 2007.
ü Visited the Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), Richmond with the Secretary of the Army Pete Geren on Friday, December 14. The Secretary of the Army is the senior official of the Department of the Army and responsible for the effective and efficient functioning of the Army. The Congressman met with wounded soldiers and doctors at the polytrauma unit at the hospital. VAMC – Richmond is one of only five VA hospitals in the country with a dedicated polytrauma unit to provide care and services to veterans who have been subject to multiple traumatic injuries. ü Cosponsored H. Res. 111, which would establish a Select Committee on POW and MIA Affairs. The select committee would consist of Members of Congress, and would conduct a full investigation of all unresolved matters relating to any United States personnel unaccounted for from the Vietnam era, the Korean conflict, World War II, Cold War Missions, or Gulf War, including MIA's and POW's. ü Cosponsored H.Con.Res. 32, honoring the members of the United States Air Force who were killed in the June 25, 1996 terrorist bombing of the Khobar Towers United States military housing compound near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The resolution honors the legacy of the brave men and women who died in defense of our nation and calls upon every American to pause and pay tribute to those brave airmen. ü Cosponsored H.Res. 753 to honor the Soldiers and Officers of “PO Box 1142.” From 1942 through the end of World War II, a top secret Military Intelligence Service operated clandestinely on the shores of the Potomac River. Known only by its mailing address, Post Office Box 1142, the men at this post provided the military with intelligence that brought an end to the war and gave the U.S. the early advantage in the Cold War. Throughout the war and in its aftermath, the post interrogated nearly 4,000 of the most important German prisoners of war. PO Box 1142 uncovered intelligence on the atomic bomb, the jet engine and the V-2 rocket. It wasn’t until National Park Service Rangers uncovered declassified documents that the operations of PO Box 1142 finally came into public light. ü Supported H.R. 3793, the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007, which would guarantee that members of our military are allowed to keep their signing bonus and other bonuses they were entitled to if they are discharged from military service because of injuries sustained in combat. The bill was cosponsored by Congressman Forbes and passed the House unanimously on December 18, 2007. Numerous soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan were sent bills from the Army demanding the recoupment of their military signing bonuses. These soldiers were told that this was based on their inability to complete their military service obligation, even though it was combat related injuries that led to their dismissal. ü Supported H.R. 3997, The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007, which modernizes the tax code to meet the tax code challenges faced by service members. This legislation permanently extends the opportunity for service members to treat combat pay as earned income for the purposes of the earned income credit. Combat pay is otherwise exempt from Federal taxes, which can lead service members income to be artificially low in calculations for the earned income credit. The bill would also allow life insurance payments paid to survivors of military members to be contributed to a Roth IRA or a education savings account.
ü Introduced H. Res 888, a Resolution affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history. This resolution examines the religious history of our nation and how religion is reflected in our nation’s documents, events throughout our nation’s history, and places throughout our nation’s capitol, such as the Washington Monument, the Library of Congress, and the United States Capitol Building. H. Res 888 also designates the first week in May of every year as American Religious History Week for the appreciation of and education about America’s history of religious faith. To view a version of H.Res.888 with a list of sources for the historical references listed throughout, click here. ü Signed a letter to President Bush supporting Abstinence Education funding. The letter asked the President to insist that Congress maintain his requested funding levels for abstinence education programs in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. ü Voted in favor of H.Res. 847, which recognizes the importance of Christmas and the Christian Faith. This resolution would recognize the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world, express continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide and acknowledge the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. The resolution would also acknowledge and support the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization, reject bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide, and express the deepest respect of the House of Representatives to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.
ü Voted in favor of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. The Senate Amendments to H.R. 2761 would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for seven years, as opposed to the House-passed version of H.R. 2761, which included a 15 year extension that Congressman Forbes did not support. TRIA would provide a federal backstop to the insurance industry for property and casualty insurance in the event of a terrorist attack. Insurance companies would have to meet a deductible to qualify for the TRIA backstop. H.R. 2761 would also extend TRIA coverage to domestic acts of terrorism. ü Supported the Senate Amendments to H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. H.R. 3648 would codify that mortgage debt on a principal residence forgiven through foreclosure, sale or loan restructuring would no longer count as taxable income by the IRS. This temporary change in tax law would apply to 2007, 2008, and 2009. The House passed a previous version of this bill that would have made this tax change permanent. However, the Senate would only accept a temporary repeal of this tax law. H.R. 3648 also extends the tax deduction for private mortgage insurance and would provide capital gains relief to widows and widowers by allowing them a two-year grace period to sell their home after a spouse’s death. Currently law requires them to sell their home within the same year of their spouse’s death to qualify for a capital gains exclusion on the sale of their home.
ü Sent a letter to fellow Members of Congress to urge them to join with him to support the Patients First Act, H.R. 2807, in light of a major scientific breakthrough in the field of stem cell research. Researchers James A. Thomson – the first scientist to isolate human embryonic stem cells ten years ago – and Shinya Yamanaka announced on November 20, 2007 that they had discovered a way to turn human skin cells into stem cells that behave just like embryonic stem cells. These embryo-like stem cells are capable of forming into virtually every kind of cell or tissue without the need to destroy human embryos. This will have a significant impact on the ability of researchers to develop advanced treatments for many devastating diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and diabetes while maintaining ethical standards. The Patients First Act, introduced in July with Congressman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), would promote this type of innovative research by supporting the creation of pluripotent stem cell lines without destroying human embryos, and intensifying funding for stem cell research that has the best chance of producing treatments for patients. ü Cosponsored H.R. 2564, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, which would amend the federal criminal code to prohibit any public or private person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from performing or attempting to perform human cloning, participating in an attempt to perform human cloning, or shipping, receiving, or importing the product of human cloning for any purpose. This bill also would provide that nothing in the Act would restrict areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited by this Act, including research in the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or animals other than humans. ü Signed a letter supporting the inclusion of $4.5 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science in the Fiscal Year 2008 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The letter was addressed to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, and requested that they maintain funding at $4.5 billion, which is the same amount that was appropriated last year. The DOE Office of Science supports over 40 percent of total funding for basic physical sciences research – more than any other agency – and continued funding is critical if America is to compete with Asian and European nations who are making significant investments in their scientific research capabilities.
ü Opposed the House version of H.R. 6, the Energy Bill, on December 13, 2007 and voted in favor of the Senate amendments to H.R. 6, the Energy Bill, on December 18, 2007. The House version of H.R. 6 would have established a controversial Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and included nearly $21 billion in tax increases on energy producers. The Senate Amendments to H.R. 6 removed those controversial provisions while maintaining the increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards to a fleetwide standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, establishing a new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to reach 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022, providing for new energy efficiency and conservation standards, and increasing funding for research and development of alternative energy sources such as geothermal and solar technologies. The President is expected to sign H.R. 6, as amended, into law, an important step towards decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of energy.
ü Cosponsored H.R. 4193, a one year extension to the Farm Bill, a multi-year piece of legislation that evaluates federal farm support, food assistance, agricultural trade, marketing, and rural development policies. The Farm Bill will expire on July 31, 2008 and this bill would move the expiration date to July 31, 2009. This would provide farmers some certainty when they begin their planning for the next farm year. The House passed the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) on July 27, 2007. The Senate only recently passed their version of a Farm Bill on December 14, 2007.
ü Supported H.R. 1216, the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007. H.R. 1216 would direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to reduce the incidence of child injury and death occurring inside or outside of light motor vehicles. H.R. 1216 would require light motor vehicles to have power windows and panels that automatically reverse direction when they detect an obstruction to prevent children from being trapped, injured, or killed. The bill would also require light motor vehicles to have a rearward visibility performance standard that provides drivers with a means for detecting the presence of a person or object behind the vehicle to prevent death and injury resulting from backing incidents. The bill would require new light motor vehicles to comply with the regulations within 42 months. Finally, the bill would require the Secretary to create a database containing information about the hazards of non-traffic, non-crash accidents and a consumer information program to disseminate the information. ü Supported H.R. 4343, the Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act. H.R. 4343 would increase the mandatory pilot retirement age to 65. Under this legislation, pilots over the age of 60 would have to renew their First-Class Medical Certificate every six months, as well as pass a line check every six months. This legislation is not retroactive to pilots who turned 60 prior to the enactment of this legislation.
ü Supported H.Res. 695, a resolution expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the designation of a "National Fire Fighter Appreciation Day" to honor and celebrate the fire fighters in the United States.
ü Cosponsored H.Res. 856, a resolution expressing the sympathy of the House of Representatives for the victims and families of the shootings in Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, December 5, 2007. This resolution expresses gratitude to the city and county officials, and all the police, fire, sheriff, and emergency medical teams who responded swiftly to the scene and secured the mall and surrounding area. Congressman Forbes is a cosponsor of this resolution.
For a comprehensive look at Congressman Forbes' work on legislative issues, visit the Spotlight Issues page on his website.
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