Everyone in the House is waiting to hear that the President has used his first veto on H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, a bill which passed the House in May 2005 and passed the Senate last night.
Congressman Kingston weighed in on why he does not support using federal funds to destroy human embryos last night. Here’s what Jack thinks of the expected veto from the President:
From today’s Washington Times:
Still, some Republicans saw an upside to the confrontation.
By actually using his veto, Mr. Bush is making sure he remains relevant in the legislative process, actually making it easier to veto bills in the future, said Rep. Jack Kingston, Georgia Republican, who supports Mr. Bush’s position.
“If he doesn’t veto this, he’ll never be able to veto anything, and he’ll lose all of his bargaining chips and firepower at the bargaining table,” said Mr. Kingston said.
UPDATE (2:25 PM): The President has just announced his veto. The ball is in the House’s court. Any Member of the House can now motion to take up the veto, at which point we expect one hour of debate distributed between the majority and the minority. Then the House will vote. A “Yes” vote would be to overturn the President’s veto. FYI - the veto is expected to be sustained in the House and may not get the 2/3 vote necessary to overturn the veto.
UPDATE (2:30 PM): You can watch the President’s speech announcing the veto here.
UPDATE (2:40 PM): The House just received a “Message from the President of the United States in writing.” This debate should start soon. And here it is.
UPDATE (4:06 PM): The White House just sent around this talking points document.
UPDATE (4:16 PM): Just received this note from the Whip’s Office:
Following these votes, we expect to receive a veto message from the President and shortly thereafter begin up to one hour of debate on the question of Overriding the Veto on H.R. 810 - Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005.
UPDATE (5:02 PM): The Clerk just read the President’s veto. Majority Leader Boehner will control the debate. He has yielded the Democrats 30 minutes. Here we go…
UPDATE (5:09 PM): A big hat-tip to a certain Congressional staffer to pointing us to Tony Snow’s press briefing earlier today where he discusses the President’s reason for vetoing this legislation.
UPDATE (5:12 PM): Democrat Rep. Dianna DeGette of Colorado just said that she thinks that the President is confused about his role as President. Anyone agree with that?
UPDATE (6:34 PM): The House is now voting on the Veto Override of H.R. 810. The vote to Override the President’s Veto failed 235-193.