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Rep. Smith disappointed by Obama’s executive order “threats”

WASHINGTON – Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, admonished President Obama today for planning to issue an executive order on immigration.

Speaking on Bloomberg TV, Smith said it was disappointing “that the president is threatening Congress and threatening the American people with these executive orders.”

“He shouldn’t go it alone. He should work with Congress and then we can come up with a good product,” Smith said.

Obama said that he would likely issue an executive order on immigration before the end of the year. He has not outlined exactly what such an order would do, but Smith claimed it would “give amnesty to millions of people.”

Congress’ attempts to enact immigration reform have failed. Last year, House Speaker John Boehner refused to take up a bipartisan Senate bill that would have offered illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship, and beefed up security along the southern border.

Smith said the Senate bill lacks sufficient border security measures, and it would entice more people to immigrate illegally.

“We’re opposed to that bill because it is massive amnesty, and it never really secures the border,” he said.

The president said yesterday that he would rather that Congress pass an immigration bill than issue an executive order himself. Such a bill would replace whatever action he took.

But he also added that “before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful actions that I can take, that I believe will improve the functioning of our immigration system.”

According to Smith, Republicans wouldn’t let that slide. He said they would try to block the order by defunding its programs or filing a lawsuit.

Smith said that an executive order on immigration would make it difficult to work with Obama on other legislation.

“When he does this he’s going to frankly poison the barrel and make it awfully hard to work with him on other issues,” Smith said. “If he wants to accomplish anything lasting on immigration, he’s going to have to work with Congress and not just issue these executive orders.”

Former lawmakers give advice to conquering GOP

WASHINGTON – After a long, expensive slog to Election Day, Republicans will control both chambers of Congress in January.

Now comes the hard part.

Former senator Olympia Snowe (Pat Wellenbach/AP)

That was the message from former lawmakers and Beltway operatives on Wednesday, when the National Journal hosted a panel on the impact of Tuesday’s  midterm elections.

The panelists agreed that the elections were a referendum on President Obama’s policies, and inaction by Congress. But they also emphasized that before pursuing a legislative agenda, Republicans must learn lessons in bipartisanship and compromise.

“It was certainly a broad and sweeping repudiation of the status quo,” said Olympia Snowe, a former Republican senator from Maine. “I think it’s abundantly clear that Congress is going to have to move forward and learn how to legislate and govern.”

Republicans needed to pick up six seats to claim a majority in the Senate. They got seven, with races in Alaska and Louisiana still to be decided.

Republicans also padded their majority in the House, where they’ll enjoy their largest advantage in decades.

On Wednesday, panelists said the midterm results called for a new course of action – or any action at all. With only the lame duck session remaining, the 113th Congress has a chance to be the least productive ever.

“It was an election that sent the message ‘get something done for a change.’ That’s something that people want,” said Celinda Lake, president of the Democratic polling group Lake Research Partners.

Immigration reform could top Congress’ to-do list.

According to Martin Frost, a former House Democrat from the Dallas area, passing immigration reform would be a “true test of bipartisanship.”

“Immigration reform is a horribly complex issue,” he said. “Trying to solve this issue will be a real test to whether you can operate on a bipartisan basis.”

Former Rep. Martin Frost (Tom Gannam/AP)

Any immigration bill will require the president’s signature to become law.

Steve LaTourette, a former Republican congressman from Ohio, said that the president’s willingness to compromise will determine the success of the Republican agenda.

“The president has to dance,” LaTourette said “But if the president dances, you can get a lot of stuff done.”

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Obama said that he was “eager to work with the new Congress,” but added that “Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign.”

Before worrying about the president though, Republicans will first need to reach an accord within their own ranks – no easy task, according to Whit Ayres, president North Star Opinion Research, a Republican polling group.

Ayres said that whoever unites the various the factions within the GOP could hold the keys to the party’s presidential nomination.

Its nominee will have to bring together “the Tea Party, libertarians, establishment, social conservatives, and internationalist Republicans all in one coalition.”

“Whoever wins it will…get enough of those groups to build a majority,” Ayres said.

Roger Williams won’t seek NRCC chairmanship after GOP’s big wins

WASHINGTON — Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, won’t challenge National Republican Committee Chairman Greg Walden’s bid for a second term, Roll Call reported Wednesday.

Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin. (Michael Ainsworth/Staff)

A day after Republicans enjoyed sweeping election victories in Congress, Williams wrote a letter saying that “now is not the time for more political gamesmanship” — though he noted he was encouraged to consider running. Roll Call confirmed with Williams’ office that the letter means he won’t make a play for the position.

“Now is the time to work together as a team with strong Republican leadership,” Williams wrote.

Under Walden, House Republicans saw their majority expand to its largest total in more than 60 years. The GOP also seized control of the Senate.

Walden, an Oregon Republican, could still be opposed in his re-election. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., has signaled he may run.

Williams, first elected in 2012, said he looks forward to working with the NRCC and Walden going forward.

“The NRCC has to out-work, over-perform, and out-hustle our opposition this next cycle,” he wrote.

Texas Republicans raise concerns about federal Ebola response

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, center, and GOP lawmakers speak to reporters after a Republican caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington on May 6, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

updated at 3:51 p.m. with comment from HHS.

WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans are demanding answers from the Health and Human Services Administration about how existing public resources were used to combat the Ebola outbreak.

In a letter sent Friday, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — joined by all 24 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House — raise concerns that new Ebola cases emerged on U.S. soil despite the department’s funding for public health crises.

According to the letter, a 2013 law gave nearly $1.4 billion to “public health preparedness and response activities,” part of it to support efforts in Dallas and other metropolitan cities.

“[I]t is especially troubling to witness the federal government’s communications missteps and confusion about protocols knowing that a wide range of federal resources have already been in place for years,” the lawmakers write.

In a statement Friday afternoon, HHS said it looks forward to responding to the letter.

“HHS values working with members of Congress on this important public health matter,” spokesman Bill Hall said.

National Ebola protocols came under scrutiny after two Dallas health care workers contracted the disease while treating an Ebola patient. The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, died but the two nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, have been declared Ebola-free.

Labeling Dallas “ground zero” for the first Ebola case, the Texas lawmakers say it’s necessary to understand how the U.S. government has applied its resources before charting a path forward.

In their letter, they tick through a number of requests to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, including an explanation of how policies under a 2006 law are helping to contain and treat the disease.

That law created the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, a position whose responsibilities Texas lawmakers also want detailed.

Congress questions Ebola response

Witnesses are sworn in before testifying on the Ebola outbreak today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Update 12:45

The hearing has concluded.

Issa closed by emphasizing the need to fight Ebola in West Africa.

“There is no way that every American is going to place themselves in a hazmat suit from morning until night. We will have to go to the source,” he said. “This disease will not be eradicated if we wait until it comes to our shore.

Update 12:30:

Mica called for Lurie’s resignation, citing a lack of “preparedness” on the part of agencies responsible for responding to the Ebola outbreak.

“Somebody needs to see that we are prepared,” Mica said. “You told me that you’re responsible for preparedness.”

Mica pointed out an internal report by the DHS which said that the agency was unprepared to deal with pandemics. The report said that poor auditing practice had left the agency without a true sense of its ability to respond to emergencies.

Lurie, who works for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that she has doesn’t authority over DHS practices and policies.

Update 12:15:

After Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) beat the drum for a travel ban, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) offered another solution: quarantine anyone coming from West Africa.

“People need to be quarantined coming out of those countries. You don’t need a travel ban, you need to go to the people who pose a risk,” Mica said.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced new screening standards for anyone coming from West Africa. Those passengers will now be routed through one of five major airports for additional screening, and they will be monitored for 21 days after their arrival.

Mica said the fact that that Spencer made it through the additional screening and was later diagnosed with Ebola shows that the new measures are not working.

“The testing at the airport is not working. We need a quarantine in place,” he said.

But a quarantine could make it even more difficult to recruit healthcare workers to West Africa, according to Rabih Torbay, senior vice president of International Medical Corps.

Torbay said that his organization is already struggling to get doctors and nurses to come to West Africa. Adding an additional three-week quarantine to their period of service would make it even harder.

Update 11:40:

Houston Republican Blake Farenthold, the lone Texan on the committee, questioned whether building hospitals for Ebola patients was a job for the U.S. military.

“Traditionally, the military’s job has been to protect this country with guns and bombs,” Farenthold said. “Is this really what the military was designed for?”

Farenthold said that the task seemed more appropriate for a group like the Peace Corps, or a private contractor.

Update 11:30:

It took nearly three hours, but travel restrictions for people coming from West Africa have been discussed.

“I don’t understand why we don’t put a travel restriction in place,” said Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

Chaffetz also called for anyone who has been to West Africa to be isolated for 21 days before coming to America — the maximum incubation period for the Ebola virus.

Matthew Duckworth, a Pennsylvania Democrat, supported Chaffetz’s idea.

Troops in West Africa will be monitored for symptoms of Ebola for 10 days before they return to the U.S. Once they return stateside, they will be checked for symptoms twice a day on base for 21 days, but will be allowed to go about their normal schedules otherwise.

Duckworth asked Major General James Lariviere, the DOD deputy director for political-military affairs in Africa, why the troops couldn’t be monitored for 21 days in West Africa.

“Why couldn’t you be a little more careful with the plan, a little more overboard with the protection and extend the in-country waiting period to 21 days?” he asked.

Lariviere said that the DOD’s plan follows protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection.

Update 11:10:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) railed against President Obama’s appointment of Klain, arguing that the job should have gone to someone with a medical background instead of an attorney and political operative.

“Why in the hell did the president pick a lawyer to be the Ebola czar?” he asked Lurie.

Gowdy said that Lurie, given her record as a health professional, would have been better suited for the post than Klain. Lurie steadfastly supported Obama’s choice.

“I have a lot of confidence in Mr. Klain,” she said. “There are a tremendous number of doctors that he has it his disposal.

Gowdy didn’t buy it.

“Color me cynical, it just appears political,” he said. “The next time there’s an opening on the Supreme Court, I want you to see whether the president considers a doctor or a dentist for that job.”

Update 10:40:

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio peppered Lurie with questions about the NIH budget. The NIH is a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Jordan cited NIH expenses that he saw as frivolous, including:

  • $374,000 on “fruit and vegetable puppet shows”
  • $53,000 for a study on sighs
  • $2 million to encourage elderly people to join choirs
“Couldn’t that have been used for something like Ebola and a potential vaccine?” Jordan asked.
Lurie said that the NIH is currently supporting studies on two vaccines, but added that the “development of vaccine is a long and complicated process.”
Jordan questioned whether those vaccines might be further along had the NIH not spent money on programs like nutrition-themed puppet shows.
“I don’t believe that would be the case,” Lurie responded.

Update 10:10 a.m.:

Rep. John Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat, just read that Pham had been declared “Ebola-free,” by the National Institutes of Health. Later today, she will be released by the NIH facility in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was being treated. The NIH will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. CT today to discuss the news.

Original post:

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) met this morning for a hearing on the federal government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the U.S.

In his opening statement, Issa said that even though the U.S. has the resources to prevent the spread of Ebola, they haven’t been properly deployed.

“I think we all know that the system is not yet refined to where we could say it is working properly,” he said.

Issa also criticized President Obama for appointing Ron Klain as the Ebola response coordinator, or so-called “Ebola czar.” Issa said that Klain doesn’t have the credentials for the job.

“In my opinion it shows that this administration has on one hand recognized the missteps, and on the other hand is not prepared to put a known leader in charge, or in fact a medical professional in charge,” Issa said.

In West Africa, nearly 5,000 people have died from Ebola during the current outbreak, according to the World Health Organization. Four people have contracted the disease in the U.S.

The most recent U.S. Ebola case was discovered yesterday in New York City when Craig Spencer, a 33-year-old doctor who had treated Ebola patients in Guinea, was diagnosed with the disease.

Witnesses at the hearing emphasized the need to contain the disease in West Africa in order to stop it from spreading around the world.

“We are extremely serious in our focus on protecting America’s health security. The best way to do that is to support the response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Department of Defense will send 3,200 troops to West Africa in the next few days to build Ebola treatment centers. The contingent will include 500 troops from Fort Bliss in El Paso.

Rep. Michael Turner, an Ohio Democrat, said he was “very skeptical” of the DOD protocols to prevent troops from contracting Ebola in West Africa.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Lumpkin told Turner that there’s little risk of troops in West Africa catching the virus. He said that the mission will focus on fixing logistical problems, not treating patients.

“Direct patient care of Ebola-exposed patients in West Africa is not a part of the DOD mission,” Lumpkin said. “There is no higher operational priority than protecting our Department of Defense personnel.”

Deborah Burger, co-president of nurses’ union National Nurses United, blasted Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas for its procedures in treating Liberian Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan. Two of the nurses who treated Duncan, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, contracted Ebola.

“This is what happens when guidelines are inefficient,” Burger said.

The union was well-represented at the hearing, its members wearing red stickers reading “I am Nina Pham.”

Burger called for an executive order or congressional action to bolster equipment and training standards for frontline healthcare workers. She cited a nationwide survey of over 300,000 nurses, 85 percent of whom said that they were “not adequately trained” to treat Ebola patients.

Texas judicial nominees could get Senate committee vote in November

Robert L. Pitman, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, speaks at a news conference June 4 in Midland. (AP Photo/Odessa American, Courtney Sacco)

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee could vote as early as Nov. 13 on three nominees for lifetime appointments as federal judges in Texas.

That’s the final step before the full Senate decides whether to confirm U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III.

Unless Republicans object, the Judiciary Committee plans to hold the vote when it meets for the first time after the November elections. Under Senate rules, any committee member can postpone the vote by one week.

The Senate vote could come by the end of the year, depending on the timing of committee action.

To be confirmed, a majority of senators must approve of the picks.

At a Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz praised the nominees and their qualifications. Both Texas Republicans sit on the committee.

“Each of these three nominees are lawyers of the highest caliber and the kinds of individuals who should serve on the federal bench,” Cornyn said.

President Barack Obama announced the nominations in June, after Cornyn and Cruz recommended them to the White House.

The seat Pitman would hold in San Antonio has been vacant the longest, since the end of 2008. He Pitman would become the state’s first openly gay judge in Texas.

Mazzant would fill a seat in Marshall. Schroeder, a partner at the law firm Patton, Tidwell, Schroeder & Culbertson, is up for a post in Texarkana.

As Election Day draws near, Alameel spending slows

David Alameel raised over $24,000 this quarter. (LM Otero/AP)

WASHINGTON – Democratic challenger David Alameel pumped another half-million of his own funds into his effort to unseat Sen. John Cornyn.

He raised only about $24,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to his latest campaign finance report.

That leaves unchanged the fact that Alameel has self-funded the vast majority of his campaign. In the last three-month period he chipped in over $19,000. He also loaned the campaign $475,000, bringing the outstanding loan balance to $1,225,000.

Since filing to run last December, the Dallas dentist and investor has spent over $5.5 million of his own money, including the outstanding loans.That accounts for nearly all of the campaign’s budget.

Little of that has come during the general election. Since winning the Democratic primary runoff on May 27 against Kesha Rogers, Alameel’s spending has slowed considerably.

FEC reports filed since the runoff show less than $700,000 in campaign expenditures, for such things as staff, events, signs and shirts.

The campaign had $67,530 cash on hand at the end of September.

Cornyn’s most recent financial report is not yet available.Through the end of June he had raised $11 million.

The only debate between Cornyn and Alameel will air on Saturday at 10 p.m. on Univision stations in Texas, in Spanish.

Burgess calls for travel ban, questions CDC director

WASHINGTON – After today’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Ebola, Lewisville Rep. Michael Burgess continued to call for a travel ban between the United States and West Africa.

Rep. Michael Burgess continued to call for travel restrictions from West Africa today. (Al Key/DRC)

Burgess noted that President Obama has the authority to impose such a ban, and there is plenty of public support.

“I don’t know who has the president’s ear on this,” he said. “Clearly the country wants it to occur.”

A poll released on Tuesday by the Washington Post/ABC News showed that two-thirds of Americans support a ban on travel from West Africa.

Burgess said that a travel ban would not preclude countries dealing with Ebola from receiving foreign aid.

“You can be very generous as far as foreign aid to those countries to try and help them deal with their crisis. It’s not an issue of cutting someone off,” he said.

If the president does not impose a travel ban, Burgess said that the House should consider voting on one when it reconvenes a month from now.

Burgess also challenged some of the choices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Tom Frieden, but did not call for his resignation.

Burgess, himself a doctor, called the CDC the “most responsive” government agency he’s dealt with. But he also said that in the Ebola crisis, “we are in a war without a general.”

Burgess questioned Frieden’s decision not to immediately establish an “Ebola response team” in Dallas. Such a team is now working in Dallas, but on Tuesday, Frieden said that he wished “we had put a team like this on the ground the day the patient – the first patient – was diagnosed.”

“Here you have the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States of America, and you didn’t send our top team? I mean — that’s pretty jarring,” Burgess said.

Alameel eyeing Cruz in 2018 as he fights to unseat Cornyn

David Alameel hasn't given up in his Senate campaign.

David Alameel (Michael Ainsworth/Staff)

WASHINGTON – Even against long odds, David Alameel hasn’t thrown in the towel in his bid to unseat Sen. John Cornyn.

“I’m in it for the long run,” the Dallas investor and dentist told The Dallas Morning News editorial board on Monday.

Cornyn leads by about 20 percentage points in most polls. Alameel says it hasn’t dampened his optimism.

“My aim is not just to win. I want to change the way people think,” he said.

He also sees this year’s effort as a way to position himself to try again in 2018, when freshman Sen. Ted Cruz’s term expires.

“The next one is in four years, and you have to build a base. I’m building a base right now,” Alameel said.

To do that, Alameel has dug deep into his own pocket.

Through the end of June, he’d poured more than $5 million in personal funds into the campaign, accounting for over 99 percent of his expenditures. He’s spent another $2 million in the last three months, he said, but isn’t “keeping up exactly on how much.”

The next batch of campaign finance reports are due Wednesday.

Alameel said he sees the spending, and his campaign, as a form of public service.

“Different people have different values. My value is about doing something that makes a difference to my country, to my community,” he said. “Life’s too short, what are you going to do with your money?”

Democrats call for Justice Dept. probe into state enterprise fund


UPDATE 5:25 pm: Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Attorney General’s Office, said the lawmakers appear to be engaged in a partisan effort. He said they have failed to recognize that the attorney general has ruled 40 times in the past decade that documents from the Texas Enterprise Fund must be made public.

“Yet again, the Texas Democratic delegation is more interested in political grandstanding than correctly understanding the law or the facts surrounding an issue,” Strickland said.

Regarding the Vought documents, Strickland pointed out that the attorney general reversed it’s December 2004 decision withholding records, after lawyers for The News pointed out that Vought already had received the contract and funding. The earlier ruling had been based on the Governor’s Office assertion that the contract was still pending and competitive.

The Vought information was ordered released in April 2005.

“The Texas Democratic delegation should spend more time understanding the facts of this issue before asking for investigations into documents that have repeatedly been released to the media and the general public,” Strickland said.

ORIGINAL POST 3:30 pm: Six U.S. representatives are calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the questionable dealings of the state’s job-closing incentive fund.

Part of the request, made by Texas Democrats, is aimed at Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is now the Republican frontrunner in the governor’s race.

The Democrats are asking for the Justice Department to look into whether the Texas Enterprise Fund’s failure to follow guidelines in state law might warrant criminal charges.

They also want an examination of Abbott’s decision in 2004 to deny a public information request by The Dallas Morning News that would have shed light on problems, including the fact that some companies were receiving money without even filing an application.

The Texas Enterprise Fund was created in 2003 as a business incentive, largely administered by Gov. Rick Perry, specifically to create jobs and foster capital investments.

But an independent audit released two weeks ago showed that the fund handed out $222 million to a handful of companies and universities that never filed an application and that there was little criteria for winning an award and little state monitoring once a contract was signed.

Vought Aircraft was among seven entities that never filled out an application. It received $35 million, some of which eventually had to be paid back after the company failing to meet job creation benchmarks.

Another recipient that never filed an application was the semiconductor company Sematech, receiving $40 million. Sematech moved to New York shortly after spending the incentive money.

The News asked for the applications submitted by those companies from the governor’s office in 2004. The governor’s office appealed to the attorney general, saying it shouldn’t have to release the information because it included proprietary information from the companies that could help their competitors if made public.

Instead of saying there were no applications, the attorney general issued an opinion saying the information produced by the companies was proprietary and didn’t need to be released.

It’s that action that the congressional members want independently assessed, saying it is, “a serious matter we feel deserves immediate and independent investigation by your office.”

“We also believe that federal intervention is warranted because of the possible unethical and illegal actions by the Texas Enterprise Fund (“TEF”) and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG),” the letter stated.

It did not specify what federal laws might have been violated by the state actions. In addition, federal money was not part of the awards; all of the money provided to the companies came from state taxpayers.

The letter was signed by Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Green and Gene Green of Houston, as well as Ruben Hinojosa of Mercedes and Joaquin Castro of San Antonio.

Ag Eric Holder – Tef Oag Letter (1)