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Archive: 2012 February
Fracking is Topic of Hill Hearings
The natural gas drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was a topic of discussion at recent hearings on the President’s proposed energy budget for Fiscal Year 2013. (For background on this issue, see the March 2012 Congressional Digest, titled “Fracking and Drinking Water Safety.”) On February 15, at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar noted that the President has requested $45 million for a research and development initiative by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency “aimed at understanding and minimizing potential environmental, health, and safety impacts…
House Passes Line-Item Veto Bill
On February 8, the House approved legislation to allow the President to eliminate specific items from appropriations bill ― otherwise known as line-item veto authority. The authority is one that Presidents of both parties have long sought but ultimately failed to obtain. (See the September 1998 issue of Supreme Court Debates titled “The Line Item Veto ― The President, the Congress, and the Constitution.”) H.R. 3521, the Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act, introduced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (WI-R) and the panel’s top Democrat, Representative Chris Van Hollen (MD-D), passed the House by a bipartisan…
Russia, China Veto Security Council Syria Resolution
On Saturday, China and Russia vetoed a proposed UN Security Council resolution backed by the League of Arab Nations that would have imposed further sanctions on Syria and called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The two permanent members of the Council were the only two no votes versus 13 yes votes, but only one permanent member has to vote against a resolution for it to fail. Despite attempts by backers of the resolution to win Russian and Chinese support, ambassadors for the two nations said that they considered the proposal too one-sided against the Syrian regime and…
UN Security Council Meets as Syria Crisis Escalates
With U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in attendance, an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council debated a new resolution calling on the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad end its increasingly violent anti-insurgency military campaign in the countries cities, release all political prisoners, and begin a transition toward democratic elections and the end of Assad’s 11-year autocratic reign. (For video of the full meeting, click here.) The meeting began with Nabil El Araby, the secretary-general of the League of Arab States (LAS), briefing the council on current situation in Syria and the draft resolution prepared by LAS member-state…