May 1, 2009

The President's Budget

This week the House passed the Conference Report for S. Con. Res. 13: the Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2010. This resolution provides the framework through which Congress will craft the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bills and reflects the priorities outlined in President Obama's budget released earlier this year. The budget resolution recognizes the importance of implementing health care reform by expanding coverage, improving quality and addressing costs. This budget resolution does not include the specifics of President Obama's health care reform package but the House did recognize its importance and committed to advancing reform by clearly setting aside an unfunded reserve account. It also accepts the President's increase in education funding and provides resources for improvements from early education through college. It addresses energy independence by increasing our commitment to achieving energy efficiency, investing in renewable energy sources and increasing the energy budget by 10%. It also increases veterans' funding by $5.6 billion and extends the 2001 and 2003 middle class tax cuts. S. Con. Res. 13 recognizes the importance of economic stability by cutting the budget deficit by almost two-thirds over four years. I voted YES and the entire vote is recorded below:

Hate Crimes

The House this week passed H.R. 1913: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This measure has passed in the House a number of times over the years with bipartisan support and we are hopeful that this time it will reach the President's desk. H.R. 1913 expands the federal hate crimes statute to include crimes committed because of someone's sexual orientation, gender, disability or gender identity. It provides additional resources to state and local authorities as they investigate hate crimes in their jurisdictions. The legislation allows the Attorney General to provide grants to local entities to help defray the cost of prosecuting hate crimes. I am a co-sponsor of this bill and voted YES. H.R. 1913 passed in the House and the entire vote is recorded below:

Credit Card Bill of Rights

Yesterday the House passed H.R. 627: The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009. You may recall that this legislation passed last week in the Financial Services Committee. H.R. 627 provides needed consumer protections from unfair and arbitrary practices used by credit card companies. It requires credit card companies to give consumers sufficient notice when increasing interest rates and it prohibits increasing rates on preexisting balances. It also prohibits companies from double charging consumers on parts of purchases they already paid off and it bans excessive fees. I am hopeful that H.R. 627 will pass the Senate and be signed by the President. I voted YES and the entire vote is recorded below:

Progressive Caucus Meeting with President Obama

This week I had the opportunity as a member of the Progressive Caucus to meet with President Obama. The meeting focused primarily on the President's approach to the wars in which we are currently engaged as well as efforts to achieve comprehensive health care reform. We are all concerned about the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan and were able to communicate that directly to the President. I was encouraged by the meeting and appreciated the opportunity to participate.

Tunnel Inspection Bill

I have re-introduced legislation requiring the mandatory inspection of all highway tunnels. This measure passed the House in the last Congress but was not acted on by the Senate. It is modeled after the Nationwide Bridge Inspection Program which requires that all highway bridges be inspected and establishes minimum inspection standards. After the tragic July 2006 death of Milena Del Valle due to a falling ceiling panel in a Big Dig tunnel many questions were raised, including those relating to tunnel inspections. Currently there are no national standards for inspecting highway tunnels. Instead, this responsibility lies with the tunnel owners.

In simplest terms, my legislation applies the Nationwide Bridge Inspection Program to tunnels. This will give us a much better understanding of the condition of highway tunnels nationwide. Any potential problems can be identified and addressed in a more timely fashion. My measure directs the establishment of minimum inspection requirements for tunnels, including the maximum amount of time permitted between inspections and the way they will be carried out.

I have also written to House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, asking that this legislation be included in an upcoming transportation reauthorization bill, scheduled for debate this year.

What's Up Next

Next week the House is expected to consider a number of bills, including H.R. 1728: The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act — and The Fight Fraud Act of 2009.