Congress Reconvenes

On November 13, the House and Senate reconvened following the fall elections in a "lame-duck" session of Congress in order to finish the remaining business of the 109th Congress.  (It is called a "lame-duck" session because it includes lawmakers who lost their elections but who continue to serve until the new Congress is sworn in on January 4.)  In particular, the House and Senate must complete action on the 10 remaining spending bills for the 2007 fiscal year, which began on October 1.  For the last month and a half, most of the U.S. government has been operating under a temporary stop-gap funding bill while the House and Senate seek an agreement on the remaining appropriations bills.  These bills fund everything from education, to veterans benefits, to medical research.

Big 3 Automakers Meet with Michigan Lawmakers

On November 13, representatives of General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler met with key members of Michigan's Congressional Delegation to discuss the Big 3's concerns about health care, trade, foreign currency manipulation, and energy.  The following day, the CEOs of the domestic automakers met with President Bush at the White House.  At both meetings, trade was the dominant issue as automakers seek a level playing field for U.S. vehicles in foreign markets.  Michigan lawmakers indicated that they would put pressure on the White House to dismantle trade barriers to U.S. autos in Asia. 

House Adopts Johanna's Law

On November 14, the House approved bipartisan legislation [H.R. 1245, the "Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act"] to create a federal campaign to increase early detection of Gynecologic Cancer.  Johanna's Law, first introduced by Mr. Levin in 2003, is named after Johanna Silver Gordon, a local teacher who died of ovarian cancer in 2000.  During the Floor debate on the measure, Rep. Levin said, "Johanna Silver Gordon was an active, health conscious woman who taught high school at Southfield Lathrup High School in my congressional district.  She came from a family of doctors and was conscientious about her health, but when she experienced the first symptoms of ovarian cancer, she thought they were gastrointestinal.  By the time she was diagnosed, her cancer was in stage 3.  I discovered that Johanna's story was all too common.  Each year, 77,000 women are diagnosed with gynecologic cancer, ovarian, cervical, or uterine. Most of them, like Johanna, do not have the information they need to recognize their early symptoms and are unaware that they are at high risk."  For additional information, click here.

Legislation Introduced to Renew Reconstruction "Watchdog" in Iraq

A few weeks ago, the media reported that a powerful member of the House of Representatives had airdropped a provision into a 439-page defense bill that terminated the federal agency set up to monitor waste and corruption in how U.S. reconstruction funds are spent in Iraq.  The bill was approved by Congress, although few Members of Congress knew that the provision had been secretly added to the legislation.  The watchdog agency in question is called the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, or SIGIR.  To date, SIGIR has issued 73 audit reports and 65 project assessments, resulting in the arrest of five people and the convictions of four for fraudulent use of taxpayer money.  So far, SIGIR has saved U.S. taxpayers more than $400 million.  On November 14, the Ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Skelton of Missouri, introduced legislation [H.R. 6313] to extend the mandate of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction so it can continue its oversight and audit activities.  Rep. Levin is a cosponsor of this legislation.

Ukrainian Famine-Genocide Memorial Bill Becomes Law

On October 13, the President signed into law H.R. 562, a bill introduced by Rep. Levin to authorize a memorial in Washington to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide.  The memorial will be a gift from Ukraine to the people of the United States, and no federal money will be used to build or maintain the memorial.  During the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, the Soviet Union deliberately and systematically starved to death 7-10 million Ukrainians.  Following passage of the measure, Rep. Levin said: "For too long, the tragedy of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide has been largely unknown to the American people. This Act of Congress will authorize a memorial to honor the memory of the millions who lost their lives and remind us that we must work together to prevent such tragedies in the future."  

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