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House Votes to Make Do-Not-Call Registry Permanent
On December 11, the House of Representatives approved legislation [H.R. 3541, the “Do-Not-Call Improvement Act”] to permanently renew the Do-Not-Call program without requiring people to re-register their phone numbers in order to continue blocking calls from telemarketers. The original Do-Not-Call Act required people to re-register their phone numbers with the Federal Trade Commission every five years. To date, about 146 million households have signed up for the Do-Not-Call registry.
For more information on the Do-Not-Call registry, click here.
House Approves Responsible Legislation to Correct AMT Problem
On December 12, the House adopted a bill [H.R. 4351] to protect more than 23 million families from being hit with a tax increase under the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when they file their 2007 taxes in a few months. The measure was adopted on a vote of 226 to 193. The tax relief is fully offset with other savings and will not add to the federal deficit or require new borrowing.
President Bush and his supporters in the Senate have taken the position that the $50 billion cost of the AMT tax relief should not be paid for, but rather added to the federal deficit. This issue of whether or not to pay for the AMT relief is expected to come to a head later this week.
Lawmakers Denounce Saudi Arabia for Sentencing Rape Victim to 200 Lashes
On November 29, Rep. Levin and more than 50 other Members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Condolezza Rice to urge the Bush Administration to denounce the decision by a Saudi Arabian court to sentence a nineteen-year-old woman who was gang-raped by seven male attackers to 200 lashes and six months in prison. Meanwhile only four of the seven attackers were punished, and they received relatively mild sentences.
The letter read, in part: “We believe that rape represents the grossest possible violation of basic human rights. The Saudi judiciary ruling that a victim of rape should be flogged and incarcerated because she was in the presence of a man with whom she was not related or married at the time she was attacked is wholly unacceptable. You should do more than simply issue a tepid response to the ruling.”
Responding to the international outcry against the ruling, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah recently pardoned the woman.
The Week Ahead
House lawmakers have a full plate of work in front of them this week as they attempt to wrap up a large number of important bills before Congress adjourns for the year. The House and Senate must complete action on a large Omnibus appropriations bill that funds most non-defense federal programs for 2008. The House is also expected to complete work on sweeping energy legislation and send the measure to the White House for the President’s signature. Lawmakers must also reach a compromise with the Senate and the President on a bill to protect 23 million Americans from the Alternative Minimum Tax.
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