Jack Kingston

At yesterday’s hearing on why Democrats chose to violate the rules of the House and turn over a vote that didn’t go in their favor, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer admitted that yet another one of their promises would be broken.

According to CQ Today, “one of the dramatic changes Democrats imposed to show they had ended a ‘culture of corruption’ now is on the rocks.”

That’s right - the Dems have decided to break yet another promise.  Rep. Hoyer doesn’t believe the fifteen minutes allotted for votes is enough time to twist enough arms to keep his minority in line.  Oh wait, this isn’t news - they’ve been doing it all along…

The article goes on, “indeed, holding open votes while latecomers register or others switch their position is just as common now as before the rule, and minority party members suspect that good old-fashioned arm-twisting is happening under Democrats…”

Congressman Jerry Lewis, Republican Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee today introduced a clean supplemental that would provide troop funding without all the pork barrell, vote buying provisions Speaker Pelosi intends to include.

Lewis’ release:

Lewis Introduces H.R. 6026 – A Clean Supplemental to Provide Troop Funding

Without Strings and Extraneous Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of the continued Republican opposition to the Democrats’ yet-unseen supplemental war funding legislation, today Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif), Ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, introduced a separate war funding bill (H.R. 6026) as an alternative to the Democrats’ catch-all spending proposal*.

Lewis’s bill provides much-needed funding for U.S. servicemen and women, the Department of Defense, and foreign operations overseas. Unlike the Democrats’ legislation – which has yet to be revealed to Members of Congress or the public – Lewis’s bill is “clean” and does not include extraneous spending and war policy provisions.

In addition, the Democrat proposal would tie strings on the troop funding by including unacceptable war policies to overstep our experienced military commanders, politicize our national security, and legislate war strategy. Lewis’s bill contains no such egregious provisions.

“Our troops have been waiting for over a year for Congress to approve the funds they need to do their jobs. However, the Democrat leadership of the House has chosen to reward the service and patience of our men and women in uniform by loading up their funding legislation with unrelated spending and inappropriate war policy provisions,” Lewis said.

“Contrary to the Democrat supplemental legislation, my bill will provide our troops with the resources they need – without expensive add-ons designed to sway votes and provide political cover for anti-war Democrats.” Lewis continued.

Lewis’s bill matches the President’s request and includes $178 billion in total spending for the Department of Defense, State and Foreign operations, and military construction. In comparison, the Democrat proposal contains approximately $250 billion in total spending and includes funds for numerous extraneous programs – such as $51 billion in a new veterans’ entitlement program, $11 billion in unemployment insurance extension, $178 million for federal prisons, and $210 million for the 2010 census.

*Funding levels related Democrat’s supplemental proposal are estimates due to lack of available text.

The House Agriculture Committee has made the Farm Bill conference report available online.  You can view it here.

AAA reports that retail gasoline prices have hit their sixth straight record. The national average for regular unleaded is now $3.73/gal., up $1.40 since the beginning of the 110th Congress. This represents a 60 percent increase during Nancy Pelosi’s speakership.

For more information on the “Pelosi Premium”, check out the House Republican Conference’s energy page here.

Yesterday, several tornadoes struck Darien, Brunswick, and other areas in the First District.  Kingston staff is on the ground right now doing everything they can to assist in recovery efforts.  As we move forward, Jack will remain in constant contact with local authorities and relevent federal agencies to get whatever assistance we can to help in the recovery.

From the Agriculture Committee’s press shop: 

Congressional negotiators will announce a final farm bill conference agreement TOMORROW, May 8, 2008 at 1:30 PM EDT in 1300 Longworth House Office Building. The bipartisan, bicameral group will discuss the details of the final bill, which makes investments in conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development while continuing and strengthening farm income protection.

The event will also be webcast on the House and Senate Agriculture Committee Websites at:

http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/audio.html or http://agriculture.senate.gov/.

WHO: Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman, Senate Agriculture Committee

Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN), Chairman, House Agriculture Committee

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ranking Member, Senate Agriculture Committee

Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Ranking Member, House Agriculture Committee

Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), Chairman, Senate Budget Committee

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman, Senate Finance Committee

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member, Senate Finance Committee

Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Member, House Agriculture and House Ways and Means Committees

WHAT: Agriculture leaders to announce farm bill conference report

WHEN: Thursday, May 8, 2008; 1:30 PM

WHERE: Longworth House Office Building; Room 1300

Jack appeared on Washington Journal this morning to discuss the supplemental appropriations bill.  Due in large part to Jack and other House Republican Appropriators’ efforts to bring transparency to the bill (as well as the dissent of members within Speaker Pelosi’s own caucus), Democrat leadership has decided to consider the bill next week.  Keep an eye out, though, we’re on watch to make sure the American people have a voice on this bill.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) is on target with his action to bring some accountability and scrutiny to the supplemental appropriations bill.  Sadly, Congressman Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, didn’t follow suit.

According to today’s The Hill, Congressman Byrd has already scheduled a hearing on the bill, “sending a signal to [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid that he doesn’t agree with a strategy that calls for skipping the moneymen.”  The $200 billion package is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow despite the fact that no one except Speaker Pelosi and her inner circle have even seen the bill - that means that not even Democrat Appropriators will get to look at the bill before being expected to vote on it, much less us Republicans who represent nearly half of America’s voice in Congress.

As the article describes, the bill was crafted in, “closed-door negotiations led by Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to craft a narrowly tailored bill and devise a strategy to limit extraneous amendments.”  I’d say it’s news to the American people that amendments offered by those elected to represent them are considered “extraneous”.

One thing to note - last time an emergency appropriations bill was considered while the Republicans were controlled, fifty amendments were allowed to be offered of which twenty-seven were sponsored by Democrats.  So much for the ‘most honest and ethical Congress in history’…

Jack took to the floor today to argue against the unprecedented process by which the “emergency” supplemental appropriations bill is being brought to the floor.  Speaker Pelosi plans to push through a $200+ billion dollar package without letting anyone read the bill first.  She’s already pledged to load it up with domestic spending unrelated to the war but we won’t even know what that is until after it’s already been voted on.

Watch Video

For those of you who, like us, are still waiting on a Farm Bill we’d thought it be good to give you an update.  Most of the new Farm Bill is written and we’re all hoping up here that everything else will get resolved this week.  Right now, one of the biggest issues is President Bush’s threat to veto any legislation unless Congress prevents anyone making more than $200,000 a year from getting farm payments.  (Right now, that cap is set at $2.5 million a year)

Another big issues is on how much farmers can get from the federal government annually.  President Bush is seeking about $360,000 a year in subsidies.

CQ Today has a great, easy to understand table detailing what provisions have been agreed to so far.  A summary is included below but the chart is available here.

• “A Conservation Stewardship Program that would provide incentives for conserving agricultural
  land. The program, which would cost $12 billion over 10 years, is expected
  to enroll nearly 13 million acres annually for a total of nearly 115 million acres by the end
  of 2017.
• Grants and loan guarantees to support new biorefineries that make cellulosic ethanol.
  A provision allowing livestock farmers to decline an arbitration clause in a livestock or
  poultry contract.
• Compromise provisions regarding country-of-origin labeling of meat, fruits and
  vegetables,peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts.
• $1.25 billion in commodity purchases for food banks.
• $1 billion to improve child nutrition by expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
  Snack Program.
• $230 million in research grants for fruit and vegetable growers.
• $120 million in mandatory funds for pending rural development loan and grant
  applications for rural water and wastewater assistance.
• A reduction of 6 cents per gallon in the federal subsidy for ethanol, down to 45 cents
  per gallon.
• A two-year extension of the tariff on ethanol imports.
• New reporting requirements for the Commodity Credit Corporation, a federally owned
  entity that aids farmers in producing and marketing their crops.
• A limitation on farming losses for taxpayers.
• Tax relief for retired or disabled farmers who receive land-conservation payments.
• A deduction for private landowners who help to preserve endangered species.
• Relief for people ffected by tornadoes in Kansas.

(Catharine Reichert, “Aid for Wealthy Farmers at Issue,” CQToday, 05/05/08)

In Bob Novak’s weekly article, he highlights how Speaker Pelosi has taken a totalitarian approach to ruling the house and how little Republicans have done to to stop her:

“There has been little or no public Republican protest over seizure of the appropriating process by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her clique. For the second straight year, no appropriations bill other than defense is scheduled for passage. Instead, spending details are crafted in the Speaker’s Office, negating President George W. Bush’s veto strategy. In a little-noticed maneuver April 23, Pelosi won passage of a bill preventing Medicaid billions from being saved through Bush administration regulations. Despite the GOP leadership’s nominal opposition, House Republicans voted for higher spending by two to one.” (full article here)

House Republican Appropriators, led by Ranking Member Jerry Lewis are answering the call and standing up to Speaker Pelosi’s outrageous tactics to shove a secretive spending measure through the House without allowing for dissenting views.  In essence, the Speaker is buying votes so she can subvert the process and overcome Republican attempts to rein in wasteful spending.

From Ranking Member Lewis’ release:

“Today, the Republicans of the Appropriations committee are taking a stand against the Democrat leadership’s blatant disregard of millions of American voters through the degradation of the democratic processes of this institution.

“The Democrat leaders of the House and Senate are attempting to jam a 200-plus billion dollar spending bill through the Congress, with absolutely no oversight or scrutiny by vast majority of Members, Senators, or their constituents. Never in my 30 years in Congress has there been such an abuse of the processes and rules of the House. By going down this unprecedented path, the Democrat leadership is attempting to suppress all opposing voices – including members of their own party - while hiding the truth about the contents of this legislation from the American people.

“My Committee members and I are rising today to protest this shameful attempt by the Democrat leadership to degrade our institution. We will use every procedural option available to object to this underhanded process, and to ensure the fair representation of the voices and pocketbooks of all Americans. 

“We, the Republican Members of the Appropriations committee, demand that this polluted, back-door scheme be brought to a halt, and that we return to a proper, fair, and transparent appropriations process.”

Keep an eye on the floor tonight…it should get interesting.

Jack took to the floor today during the debate over H.R. 5522.  The bill, which would regulate combustible dust standards, was drafted after the February 7th explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth.  While Port Wentworth sits just outside the First District, Jack represented the area for a long time and many employees are Jack’s constituents.

The Federal Reserve has announced it’s cutting the interest rate by .25% making it 2%.

 The full release is available here.

Speaker Pelosi claims to be holding off on considering the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, “until we pass a legislative package for jobs and economic growth here at home, it will be extremely difficult to approve any trade legislation.” (“Pelosi: Economic Aid Must Come Before Colombia Vote” CongressDailyPM, 4/23/08).  Is she admitting that the “stimulus” Congress passed earlier this year won’t do that.  If Speaker Pelosi is serious about creating jobs and economic growth, then Congress should pass the Colombia FTA, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and do something to alievate the pain we’re all feeling at the pump.