Get this blog via RSSApril 01, 2011
Republican lawmakers push President Obama to keep National Guard on US-Mexico border
Ten Republican members of the House Homeland Security Committee — including Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Austin and Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio — are urging President Obama to extend the National Guard deployment of 1,200 troops along the U.S.-Mexico border beyond June 30.
The 10-month National Guard operation at federal expense began last year to temporarily augment federal law enforcement efforts in the four southwest border states including Texas.
 U.S. Army photo National Guardsman scans U.S.-Mexico border |
The lawmakers asked Obama to "ensure that ongoing efforts to secure our southwest border are not reversed by increasing violence from Mexican drug cartels operating along the border."
Of the 1,200 National Guard personnel deployed in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, less than 300 are deployed in the Lone Star State to augment civilian law enforcement efforts.
Guard personnel have assisted civilian law enforcement in seizing over 14,000 pounds of drugs and apprehending 7,000 undocumented immigrations, the lawmakers said.
"However, we remain concerned that these 1,200 Guardsmen and women will stand down before a sufficient number of Border Patrol agents have been hired and trained to replace these soldiers. We believe that this would put at risk the valuable gains that have been made in many areas along the border at a time of increasing violence which threatens to spillover to our nation's border communities."
Matt Chandler, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said
National Guard support along the southwest border "remains in place" for now as federal law enforcement agencies expand civilian-led operations with improved tactical communications systems; two additional unmanned aircraft; 1,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents; and 500 additional agents with Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Obama administration's decision to end the deployment for budget reasons has sparked congressional concern amid fears of spill over violence from gangland-style bloodshed south of the border
Congress has twice refused to approve Obama administration requests for the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon to share the multimillion dollar cost of the deployment — effectively spelling an end to the exclusive Pentagon funding on June 30, officials said.
Posted by stewartpowell at 05:58 PM in Border/Immigration, Drug wars, Lamar Smith, Michael McCaul
| Comments (0)
Share:
Rep. Ted Poe pushes for border communications law in honor of his friend Gabrielle Giffords
 Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Rep. Ted Poe on the Mexican border in Arizona |
It's an unlikely friendship and political partnership: Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Poe introduced legislation Thursday that would increase cell phone service in remote areas along the border that have been trying to combat illegal immigration — a bill Giffords had planned to introduce before she was shot in January.
After visiting Gifford's border district last week at the invitation of the Arizona congresswoman's staff, and seeing the lack of available cell-access firsthand, "I was ready to file the legislation right then."
"You get out there and some of these ranches are thousands of acres and there's absolutely no place where these people can communicate with each other or call anybody for help," said Poe.
If passed, the Southern Borderlands Public Safety Communications Act would allow the Department of Homeland Security to make grants available to build cell towers along the border.
Poe said the bill was introduced this week in honor of rancher Rob Krentz, who was murdered on March 27, 2010 by suspected drug smugglers.
"He was in an area where he could not call for help because it was a cell phone dead zone," said Poe.
Lack of cell phone service is a problem for many rural border areas in Texas and Arizona. If something happens and ranchers aren't near a landline they have no way of calling for help.
 Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Rep. Ted Poe: Honoring a friend |
Poe and Giffords developed a friendship after working together on previous border legislation, including a resolution in 2010 to bring National Guard troops to the border. Last year they made plans to visit each other's districts.
"We had already agreed that I would visit Arizona at her request and she would take me to the border and then she would come to the Texas border," said Poe.
"One of Congresswoman Giffords' top priorities since she took office was to bring her colleagues, bring decision makers to her district so they could see what was going on here," said C.J. Karamargin, Giffords' spokesman. "If able, she would've been on horseback with Congressman Poe in some rural region, there is no doubt in my mind."
Giffords is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head in a Houston facility. Poe said he plans to visit Giffords in the hospital as soon as she is able.
"They found common ground on border security issues and they developed a working relationship and I think a mutual admiration as well for each other," said Karamargin. "To all those folks that say bipartisanship is no long possible or a thing of the past I would say long at what Congressman Poe and Congresswoman Giffords are doing."
Bipartisanship is exactly why Poe thinks border security is such an important issue.
"Border security is a national security issue and it's a bipartisan issue," said Poe. "As a border sheriff told me, this is a red white and blue issue and we have both approached it that way."
Poe has also introduced legislation to send 10,000 additional National Guard troops to the border.
"Border patrol does as good a job as they can but there's not enough of them on the border," said Poe.
"I think the answer is try to prevent people from coming in to the United States, not letting them come in and then trying to catch them," he said. "Once they're in the U.S. they become our problem. I think a better use of resources would be to have more people on the border to keep them from crossing in the first place."
Posted by Heather Caygle at 02:46 PM in Border/Immigration, Ted Poe
| Comments (0)
Share:
Justice Department accuses Texas company of prescription drug fraud
The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a complaint against a Texas-based pharmaceutical company in a massive Medicare and Medicaid fraud case.
The Justice Department complaint alleged that claiming that Ft. Worth-based DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Healthpoint Ltd., violated the False Claims Act by selling an unapproved prescription drug that was ineligible for payment under Medicaid and Medicare, costing taxpayers "tens of millions of dollars."
 |
The government contends that the Texas company "submitted false statements" concerning the regulatory status of a drug called Xenaderm, "thereby causing false or fraudulent prescription claims for the unapproved drug to be submitted to Medicaid and Medicare."
The Justice Department contends that Healthpoint in 2002 launched Xenaderm, a skin ointment that treats bed sores and other ailments, without Food and Drug Administration approval and "knew or recklessly disregarded" previous FDA notices alleging the lack of effectiveness of a key ingredient.
"The problem with unapproved drugs is that FDA does not know what is in them, whether they are effective or safe, or how they are made." said FDA Commissioner Margaret M. Hamburg. "FDA routinely works together with companies to ensure that safe, effective products are available for Americans. As this case demonstrates, when companies place consumers at risk by selling drugs without required FDA approval, they should not profit from that."
The potential recovery for federal taxpayers is substantial. The civil statute being used in the case allows for damages triple the actual amount of the fraud plus $5,500 to $11,000 for each false or fraudulent claim filed.
Posted by Richard Dunham at 02:02 PM in Crime and punishment, Health care, Texas business, White House
| Comments (0)
Share:
Obama administration official admits Houston chemical plant procedure 'defies logic'
Texas Rep. Gene Green expressed concerns about overlapping of background security requirements for workers at chemical facilities during a hearing regarding chemical plant security Thursday.
An apologetic Obama administration official admitted that the problem cited by Green, D-Houston, "defies logic."
 Meredith McDermott/Hearst Newspapers |
The hearing focused on a bipartisan bill proposed by Green and Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., that would extend a program by the Department of Homeland Security that regulates security and chemical facilities until 2017.
"Chemical facility security is important to the protection of public health and safety, especially in Houston," said Green.
The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, which was enacted in 2007, was originally set to expire in Oct. 2010 but has been prolonged through the series of Continuing Resolutions, including the latest one set to expire on April 8.
"It is important we provide industry with some assurance that the program will continue to be funded," said Green. "Since 2001, chemical facilities have already invested billions in security improvements and are fully complying with current regulations."
Aside from the continuance of the program, Green is also worried about unnecessary duplication of security measures between plants in Houston.
Facilities regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) are exempt from CFATS regulation. Several companies in the Houston Ship Channel, including Exxon and Chevron, have certain plants that are covered by MTSA and other plants that are regulated under CFATS.
Green's concern is that as DHS seeks to establish security requirements for chemical plants, those requirements will differ from plants regulated under MTSA, causing overlap and "unnecessary duplication."
"One of my concerns is that we would have separate (security) cards for employees who actually go between these facilities," said Green.
According to Green, 260,000 transport worker identification credentials (TWIC) have been issued in the Houston area. TWIC cards allow workers unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA facilities. If DHS doesn't accept TWIC cards as appropriate identification for CFATS plants, workers who travel between the two, even within the same company, will have to get additional security credentials.
"We surely don't need multiple federal cards," said Green.
Rand Beers, Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, the program within DHS that is responsible for establishing chemical facility security regulations, acknowledged the problem.
"It defies logic, may I say, if we have one card for one facility and another card for another," said Beers.
Beers said the process isn't easy but the department is "committed to working on it."
Posted by Heather Caygle at 12:02 PM in Energy, Gene Green, Texas business
| Comments (0)
Share:
Energy Secretary Chu says pace of Gulf drilling 'is picking up' a year after spill
Energy Secretary Steven Chu this morning praised energy companies for improving safety measures for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
 Meredith McDermott/Hearst Newspapers Energy Secretary Steven Chu |
Speaking to reporters at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor, Chu said the rate of applications for licenses -- and licenses granted by the federal government -- "is picking up" after a drilling moratorium that followed the Deepwater Horizon disaster a year ago.
Drilling operators "realize it's in their best interest to drill safely," Chu said. "It's going in the right direction."
Texas lawmakers have complained that onerous federal regulations have created a "de facto" moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. But President Obama and his administration have been aggressively pushing back against those allegations.
"Any claim that my administration is responsible for gas prices because we've 'shut down' oil production -- any claim like that -- is simply untrue," Obama said in an energy policy address Wednesday. "It might make for a useful sound bite, but it doesn't track with reality."
Chu said that dozens of offshore licenses have been granted since the moratorium (all but a few for shallow water drilling).
He said the companies have provided the government with newly required plans to contain any spill that might take place.
"That's why you're seeing a dramatic increase in the licenses being issues in the past months," he said.
Posted by Richard Dunham at 10:13 AM in Energy, White House
| Comments (0)
Share:
Texas soldier killed in Afghan war firefight
Texas on the Potomac is dedicated to remembering every Texan or Texas-based soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Here is the latest casualty report:
 |
The Department of Defense has announced the death of a Texas soldier serving in Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
According to the Pentagon, Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess of Cleburne, and Pfc. Dustin J. Feldhaus of Glendale, Ariz., died Mar. 29 in Konar province "of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with small arms fire."
The military provided no further details.
Staff Sgt. Burgess, 29, and Pfc. Feldhaus, 20, were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Posted by Gabriella Ferrari at 09:06 AM in Military (Pentagon Watch)
| Comments (0)
Share:
TexMessage: Ted Poe pushes bill to build border fence, punish 'sanctuary' cities
Happy April Fools Day! We promise that everything in this post is true.
TEXclusive
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, is part of a bipartisan coalition pushing a measure that would provide the Secretary of Homeland Security with authority to build up to 350 miles of additional infrastructure on the Southwest border and punish cities and states that provided sanctuary to illegal immigrants. The plan also would require the Homeland Security chief to report to Congress once a sector of the Southwest border experiences a 40 percent increase in apprehensions from the previous fiscal year, including a plan to gain operational control of that particular sector.
Poe and his legislative partners introduced the Unlawful Border Entry Prevention Act after a report by the Government Accountability Office found that only 44 percent of the Southwest border is under operation control, while only 15 percent of the border is airtight. The measure is cosponsored by Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., Tim Ryan D-Ohio, Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., Brian Bilbray R-Calif., and Ed Royce, R-Calif.
The issue of "sanctuary cities" was declared a legislative emergency in Texas by Gov. Rick Perry.
Texas Tips
Every morning, we offer Texas news you may not have heard and insights from the Washington bureau staff.
★ PAUL'S HAUL. Politico reports that Ron Paul "raked in roughly $3 million during the first quarter through his various political organizations. Though not all of that money can be transferred to a potential presidential campaign, the big haul demonstrates Paul's continuing force as a grassroots-powered online fundraiser. The Texas congressman raised $1 million through his federal PAC and $2 million through Campaign for Liberty, a 501C(4) which cannot transfer funds directly to political organizations." Continue reading>>>
★ PAUL FOR PRESIDENT, PART 342. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, said he'll decide "within a couple of months" whether he'll run for president in 2012. His son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, has said that there's a 50-50 chance that a Paul will seek the White House in 2012. Dad says that also means there's an equal chance that neither will. More from his latest C-SPAN appearance>>>
 | If Ron Paul decides to run for president, he'll have money and a strong grassroots support base. Whether he wins or not, he's earned a seat at the 2012 GOP table. |
★ ESCARGOT, DC-STYLE. Freshman Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, ran against Washington in his insurgent campaign to unseat Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz. Now that he's in the devil's city, it's even worse than he thought. "I'm a freshman; I've never been in politics before, and I am amazed at the snail's pace at which stuff moves in Washington, D.C.," he told Politico.
What does he tell his Tea Party backers who expected him to kick some derriere in DC? "What I tell them is, 'Look, you guys have to have our backs on this,' and I think this is the Tea Party having our backs. They are much more impatient than people in Washington, D.C., are," said Farenthold. "So I understand their frustration and impatience, but I also see the other side of it — that you have 100 people in the Senate to deal with and 435 people in the House of Representatives to deal with and at least one person in the White House to deal with."
★ TEA PARTYING. The three GOP House freshmen from Texas, all elected with strong Tea Party support, are leaders of the movement to provoke a budget showdown with Senate House Majority Leader Harry Reid. More>>>
★ PRAYING FOR OBAMA. Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall, the chairman of the House committee that oversees NASA, had some nice things to say about the space program and some not so nice things to say about President Obama during a recent appearance in Clear Lake. Speaking to the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership Aerospace Committee, Hall said of Obama: "I pray for him. And the other day when I was praying for him, I looked up and God was rolling his eyes at me."
On the battle for NASA funding, the Science and Technology Committee chair declared: "It's time we all get together for muster and push together. And win together, because I think we've got a president who's trying to do away with NASA, for one thing, and for our position in space for another thing." More from YourBayAreaNews.com>>>
| Ralph Hall, at 87 the oldest member of Congress, can be blunt and outspoken, but he also works across party lines on issues like NASA to build legislative consensus. |
>>> Fact-checking Sen. John Cornyn's claims about the Obama health care reform law
>>> ON THE JUMP PAGE
☛ Reader poll of the week
☛ Tweets of the day
☛ Reader comment of the day
☛ Texas Watch
>>> Want a preview of political action in Austin? Nolan Hicks has The First Word every morning on Texas Politics
Continue reading "TexMessage: Ted Poe pushes bill to build border fence, punish 'sanctuary' cities"
Posted by Richard Dunham at 05:00 AM in News links, Ted Poe
| Comments (0)
Share:
March 31, 2011
Rep. Kevin Brady leads bipartisan push to repeal 'death tax'
A team of bipartisan representatives, led by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, has filed a new bill that, if passed, would permanently repeal the tax on estates — which they call "the Death Tax" — a burden that often falls to family members inheriting small businesses and estates from the deceased.
 Meredith McDermott/ Hearst Newspapers |
"The Death Tax is unfair," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a co-sponsor of the bill. "(The) last thing that people need to worry about is tax after they die."
The bill, officially known as The Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2011, is not yet scheduled to be voted on in the House, but Brady is hopeful that it will pass.
"I think there is strong support (in the House)," Brady said. He added that it's "going to be a fight in the Senate (because) some senators may not feel the urgency to act."
The estate tax was phased out under the Bush-era tax cuts, but was set to balloon back to pre-2001 levels when the Bush tax cuts were to expire last year. But President Obama cut a deal with GOP lawmakers to extend lower estate tax rates for two years.
President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders oppose a permanent repeal, calling it the "Paris Hilton tax break" that would predominantly benefit the super-rich.
But repeal supporters say small family owned businesses like farms and ranches are the most vulnerable targets of this tax, because when the full value of a business' assets, such as equipment and property, are included in someone's estate, many are forced to sell needed assets just to write a check to the Internal Revenue Service.
"The $5 million exemption expires in two years," Ross said. "A lot of the smallest businesses have inventories approaching that amount."
Other representatives on board include Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Dan Boren, D-Okla.
Posted by Heather McDaniel at 05:36 PM in Budget/taxes/economy, Kevin Brady
| Comments (0)
Share:
Democrats resist Rep. Michael McCaul's proposal to designate drug cartels 'terrorist organizations'
A Texas Republican's drive to designate Mexican drug cartels "foreign terrorist organizations" akin to al-Qaida ran into resistance today from Obama administration officials and House Democrats who insisted murderous drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border stems from organized crime and not terrorist activity.
The dispute over the politically-charged designation erupted during a House hearing, reflecting partisan bickering over the definition and scope of the threat posed to the United States by gangland-style violence in neighboring Mexico that has claimed more than 35,000 lives over the last six years.
 Official photo Rep. Michael McCaul |
Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, contended the unrelenting bloodshed threatens to create a "failed state controlled by criminals" that could "become a safe haven for terrorists who we know are attempting to enter the United States through our porous border."
McCaul introduced legislation Wednesday to add six Mexican drug cartels to the worldwide list of 47 designated "foreign terrorist organizations" to bolster the U.S. campaign against destabilizing criminal organizations in neighboring Mexico.
"In my judgment, Mexico is losing this war — and so are we," McCaul told the hearing Thursday by his investigations subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee. "The president needs to recognize this issue — we face a serious issue in our backyard and we need to deal with it."
McCaul's proposal would expose convicted suspects affiliated with "foreign terrorist organizations" to additional penalties including up to 15 years of additional prison time on each charge of providing "material support" to a terrorist organization -- and up to life imprisonment if their actions cause deaths. The legislation also would authorize deportation of any foreigner affiliated with an FTO even if they had entered the United States legally.
But U.S. officials and Democrats such as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, called existing laws adequate to deal with drug kingpins and trans-national smuggling operations as well as the threat of so-called "spill over violence" across the U.S.-Mexico border.
 Chronicle photo Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee |
Current laws "give sufficient help for law enforcement to go after the Mexican drug trafficking organizations," Jackson Lee said. Designating drug smugglers "terrorists" also could expose kidnapped teenage drug couriers to the potential life sentences available under McCaul's proposed legislation, Jackson Lee added.
Rep. William Keating, of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on McCaul's subcommittee, also downplayed the scope of the threat to the United States in line with Democrats' assessment.
"It is my understanding that most of the violence could be construed as a turf battle between rival drug traffickers," the lawmaker told the hearing, noting that 84 percent of Mexico's drug related homicides occurred last year in four of the nation's 32 states.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, from Mississippi, the senior Democrat on the parent homeland security committee, emphasized the "highly concentrated" focus of drug-related violence. "Violence in Mexico has reached an all-time high," Thompson said. Yet "despite dire predictions, statistics and concrete evidence show that this violence has not spilled over into the United States."
Three senior officials in the Obama administration described developments in Mexico without ever mentioning the word "terrorism" or "terrorist."
Designating cartels terrorist organizations would complicate collaborative U.S. efforts with Mexico to stem the north-bound flow of narcotics and the south-bound flow of drug proceeds and U.S. weapons, warned Brian Nichols, an executive in the State Department's bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs.
Cartel operations are "a complex, interconnected system of illicit pathways and transnational criminal organizations that span the globe," testified Luis Alvarez, assistant director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But the official did not equate cartel operations with terrorist organizations.
Pentagon official Frank Mora, who handles western hemisphere affairs for the Defense Department, applauded Mexico's gains "as it confronts transnational criminal organizations that seek to operate with impunity inside Mexico." Pentagon officials remain "concerned" about the escalating violence in Mexico, Mora said, but "we are confident that Mexico's democracy is strong."
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., raised concern over reports that Iran-backed Hezbollah has tried to forge ties with Mexican drug cartels for drug trafficking, money laundering and human smuggling. Duncan urged McCaul's committee to look into the potential links — a request McCaul promised to fulfill.
Posted by stewartpowell at 02:19 PM in Border/Immigration, Breaking news, Crime and punishment, Drug wars, Mexico, Michael McCaul, Sheila Jackson Lee
| Comments (0)
Share:
Fatal bus crashes increase pressure to pass Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's bus safety bill
 Sarah Tung/Hearst Newspapers Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, at the Commerce Subcommittee hearing on bus safety. |
Two fatal bus crashes in Texas in recent years — along with deadly tour bus crashes in the New York area this month — have created new momentum for adoption of new safety rules by Congress.
Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have introduced legislation that would require seatbelts on buses, the last two congressional sessions and reintroduced the bill earlier this month. They said this month's crashes proved again that something must be done.
"And we're going to pass it this year," Hutchison said at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Hutchison and Brown originally introduced the bill following the 2007 crash of a bus carrying the Bluffton University (Ohio) baseball team that killed five players and the 2005 crash of a bus carrying nursing home residents away from Hurricane Rita's path. The bus caught on fire near Dallas and exploded, killing 24. The bill would require better training of drivers in case of a fire and less flammable materials inside buses.
 Photo by Sarah Tung Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, testifies at the Commerce Subcommittee hearing on bus safety. |
In September 2008, a bus carrying Vietnamese churchgoers to a pilgrimage in Missouri blew a front tire and slipped off a highway bridge north of Dallas, killing 14. The tire that blew, causing the accident, had been refitted with a new thread, which violates safety standards. The driver was also operating with an expired medical certification.
John and Joy Betts, whose son David was killed in the Bluffton University crash, and Yen-Chi Le, whose mother was killed in the 2008 Texas crash, appeared at the hearing in support of the bill.
"We owe it to all of the victims of bus accidents and their families to get to the bottom of why these crashes happened — and to do everything in our power to prevent crashes from happening in the future," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who chaired the hearing.
Posted by Katie Perkowski at 01:01 PM in Kay Bailey Hutchison
| Comments (0)
Share:
Ron Paul says he'll decide on 2012 White House run 'within a couple of months'
Texas Rep. Ron Paul says that the slow start to the 2012 presidential race is giving him more time to make a final decision on whether to run.
 Fox News Channel |
Speaking today on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" program, the Lake Jackson Republican said he'll decide whether to make a third White House run "within a couple of months."
"I feel good that a lot of the other potential candidates are not going to decide for a couple more months," he said. "That gives me little more breathing room."
Paul, 75, said the key to his decision is whether there is a political market for his message about monetary policy, inflation and the dollar. He said he will be "really tempted" to run for president if it offered him "an opportunity for me to talk about real solutions."
He also joked that his son Rand, a freshman senator from Kentucky, has said there is a 50-50 chance that someone named Paul will run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. The senior Paul laughingly noted that there also was a similar chance that neither Paul would run.
Posted by Richard Dunham at 10:49 AM in Presidential campaign, Ron Paul
| Comments (0)
Share:
Texas House freshmen at center of spending showdown with Harry Reid
Texas' three freshman Republican lawmakers — all elected with strong Tea Party support — landed squarely in the center of a spending showdown Wednesday that threatens to shut down the government.
Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-San Antonio, stood resolute with other House GOP freshmen lawmakers who called on Senate Democrats to accept deeper cuts to avert a government shutdown when the stopgap spending bill runs out April 8.
 Texas Tribune Quico Canseco |
The freshmen Republicans, including Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, and Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, delivered a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declaring his record on spending is "one of failure" and urging him to accept cuts approved in a GOP-sponsored House bill.
"We've done it," Canseco told a news conference and rally outside the Capitol. "Now it's time for Harry Reid and the Senate to do their job."
House Republican leaders, Senate Democrats and the White House are involved in negotiations on a spending bill to head off the shutdown.
But Democrats have balked at $60 billion in cuts to domestic programs that include healthcare.
Moderate Democrats have agreed to a lesser package of cuts that would trim up to $35 billion in federal spending.
Democrats also object to riders to the GOP bill that impose cuts based on ideology, such as those to Planned Parenthood, an abortion provider.
Failure to reach a compromise, and secure Democratic House votes that may be needed to pass a spending bill, could force a closure of some federal offices, national parks and monuments.
Some Democratic leaders doubt a deal can be reached.
"It looks pretty difficult," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, Democratic vice chairman on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and a member of the moderate Blue Dog Caucus.
Cuellar said the insistence of the House freshmen Republicans to keep the ideological riders would force some moderate Democrats to walk and leave GOP leaders without the votes to pass a final bill.
"It's going to make it very, very difficult," Cuellar said.
The Republican freshmen vowed to rally every day on the Capitol steps to draw attention to the Democrats failure to reach agreement on the cuts.
Posted by Gary Martin at 09:01 AM in Bill Flores, Budget/taxes/economy, Congress (Delegation Watch), Henry Cuellar
| Comments (0)
Share:
TexMessage: Sen. John Cornyn, baffled by Obama policy, 'praying for luck in Libya'
Good morning everyone. And a very happy birthday to my mom!
TEXclusive
The Census Bureau was pretty close to the target in Texas when it came to predicting the massive gains in Latino population. The final census estimates ended up just nine-tenths of a percentage point below the final tally of 9.46 million Hispanic residents — the eighth most accurate prediction among the 50 states.
The Latino estimates were perfect in only one state: Nevada. The most inaccurate census prediction was in Alabama, where the census' early estimates ended up 16 percent below the final count.
Why such wide disparities? The Pew Research Center hypothesizes that the government is more accurate in states with large Latino populations, like Texas and California. It proved to be way off base in places with small but rapidly growing Hispanic populations.
Texas Tips
Every morning, we offer Texas news you may not have heard and insights from the Washington bureau staff.
★ SPOOKS AND PRAYERS. Texas Sen. John Cornyn remains highly skeptical of the Obama administration's strategy in Libya. He's not sure of the White House endgame and he doesn't think there's been enough consultation with Congress. Blindsided by reports that the CIA is covertly aiding anti-government rebels, the senator declared: "Praying for luck in Libya ... Hope they can make best of bad situation." More in our "Tweets of the Day." Details on National Journal.com>>>
| It's not just Republicans who have questions about the president's Libya policy. Liberals including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, have questions they want answered, too. |
 Graphic by regalatwork |
★ DRILL, DRILL, DRILL. YES, WE CAN. The federal government Wednesday granted Shell the first permit to drill a new deep-water exploration well since last year's Gulf spill. Legal challenges from the environmental community are expected. More>>>
★ ON THE HOT SEAT. The nation's top offshore drilling regulator, Michael Bromwich, is drawing fire from both ends of the political spectrum: Republicans angry about the pace of permitting and Democrats worried that the government is moving too quickly to restart deep-water drilling. More>>>
★ FROM BURNT ORANGE TO ORANGE. James Steinberg, the former dean of the LBJ School at the University of Texas is leaving his job as Deputy Secretary of State for an academic job at Syracuse University. More from Politico>>>
★ DRUG CARTELS = TERRORISTS. Six Mexican drug cartels could be designated "foreign terrorist organizations" in a potentially sweeping escalation of the U.S. attack on Mexican drug cartels, under legislation proposed by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin. The designation, if enacted into law, could expose apprehended Mexican drug traffickers and U.S. gun runners to additional charges of supporting terrorism. More from Stewart Powell>>>
★ TAX BREAKS = TEXAS DEFICIT. Five energy companies, including an Enron spinoff, are the biggest 2010 beneficiaries of an industry tax break enacted by the Texas legislature in 2003. Those five companies alone saved a total of $340 million last year. Patti Kilday Hart has the exclusive on Texas Politics>>>
>>> Fact-checking Sen. John Cornyn's claims about the Obama health care reform law
>>> ON THE JUMP PAGE
☛ Reader poll of the week
☛ Tweets of the day
☛ Reader comment of the day
☛ Texas Watch
>>> Want a preview of political action in Austin? Nolan Hicks has The First Word every morning on Texas Politics
Posted by Richard Dunham at 05:00 AM in John Cornyn, News links, Pete Olson, Ted Poe, White House
| Comments (0)
Share:
