Making Progress

The press conference went well, the bill was "dropped," and we're working on two other primary issues and many secondary ones (not to mention all of the issues besides health). I sit next to an environmental science fellow, and we find many commonalities in our philosophy and issues. I push him on agriculture issues, and he pushes me on environmental health. I'm hoping to make some progress policy-wise on health impact assessments, green building incentives, and healthy community planning and design.

With the Senate in session, and considering aviation, nominations, and many other issues, we often hear the legislative bell system. Visitors are frequently startled hearing these bells while in the conference rooms meeting with staff, as you think it might be a fire drill. But this system tells the Senators and staff what is happening on the floor, and the sounds are the summons for quorum calls, recorded votes, etc:

One long ring signals the Members to convene, and as long as the Senate remains in session, a red light remains lit on our clocks.

1 ring - start of a roll call vote - yea and nay.
2 rings - a quorum call.
3 rings - a call of the absent Senators.
4 rings - adjournment or recess at the end of the day.
5 rings - recess.
12 rings - a civil defense warning.

I haven't heard 12 bells yet (and hope never to), although we have been cautioned about demonstrators, small aircraft infiltrating protected space overhead, and last week someone was arrested in the building. A little more excitement than desired.

What is happening in the Chambers? This seems typical of many legislative issues:

"Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., spoke earlier about another potentially doomed effort in this Congress: revamping U.S. immigration laws. She said she believed the effort will not succeed in the near-term because it has become "one of the great political footballs" on Capitol Hill and a prominent talking point on the presidential campaign trail. Eshoo, whose district is in the heart of Silicon Valley, wants to lift the cap on H-1B visas for foreign workers."

As one Hill newspaper reported:

"Republicans today blocked Democrats from limiting debate on FAA legislation, potentially deflating the bill's chances of moving forward this year. Democrats fell short, 49-42, of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on a bill aimed at advancing the transformation from a ground-based to a satellite-based air traffic control system and providing consumer confidence amid rising concern over airline safety and congestion. While there is more widespread agreement on modernizing FAA policies and funding, Republican leaders have protested a move by Majority Leader Reid to limit amendments and include highway trust fund reimbursements and other non-aviation language.

"Minority Leader McConnell said Democrats "bogged [the bill] down with extraneous provisions that do nothing to improve airline safety and that don't belong on this bill." The Finance Committee, with bipartisan backing, included a $5 billion reimbursement of the highway trust fund; a doubling of the 5-cent-per-barrel oil spill tax; tax-credit bonds for rail infrastructure; $2 billion to New York City for transportation infrastructure projects; and an offset shutting down the ability of a U.S. company to incorporate in a tax haven to minimize U.S. tax on its U.S. operations. McConnell criticized Reid for "a procedure that used to be rare, to block amendments and improvements to the bill." Reid moved last week to "fill the amendment tree" to keep off non-FAA-related amendments, but he also offered to allow McConnell to help sign off on an amendment list. The vote today was the first since the Senate agreed on April 28 to limit debate on proceeding to the bill. Floor debate was stalled much of last week because of disagreements over both policy and procedure. "Last week was the most frustrating week I've spent in the Senate in my 24years here," said Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

"Meanwhile, Commerce Aviation Subcommittee ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, accused Reid today of "blocking amendments, preventing debate, forcing a cloture vote and hoping the Republicans vote against it." She called the current bill an "omnibus tax and special projects package" and has offered a bill that would bring back up the initial Finance-Commerce bill that began floor debate last week without "unrelated and extraneous tax provisions" and Finance-backed pension language. The question now is how long Congress will temporarily extend FAA funding and taxes, which will signal whether lawmakers believe a compromise can still be reached this year. There did not appear to be an agreement reached this morning on the next extension. "I'm willing to come back on this bill at a moment's notice," Rockefeller said. Lawmakers have extended FAA funding and taxes four times since they first expired at the end of September, and the current extension runs through June.

"A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Whip Durbin said before the vote that the bill would be indefinitely pulled from the floor if the cloture vote were unsuccessful. "I haven't heard of any plans to bring it back," the spokeswoman said. Senate GOP aides are saying Congress will eventually extend FAA funding and taxes until September 2009, but there did not appear to be a bipartisan agreement to do that before the cloture vote."

So you can see the politics behind every issue.

Spring here in the district continues to be delicious. Warm weather brings out the joggers and restaurant patrons dining outdoors. I’m getting in an early morning bicycle ride and my hour-long walk home from the office, so at least I get some fresh air. I read the headlines from around the world in front of the Newseum, admire the architecture, notice all of the tourists taking photos in front of the White House, and think about all of the attractions I still want to see.

We have a new legislative correspondent on our team, who’s working out very well. With briefings, a constituent breakfast, hearings and a respiratory virus going around the office, it's a typical week.