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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…
Read more...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…
Read more...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…
Read more...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…
Read more...President Rejects Pipeline, but Controversy Continues
On January 18, President Obama announced the Administration’s decision to deny the application for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. (For background, see the December 2011 Congressional Digest titled “Keystone Pipeline.”) Republicans in Congress had forced the President’s hand on the issue last year by attaching a provision to the shot-term payroll tax cut extension legislation that required the Administration to make a decision on the pipeline within two months. In a statement released by the White House, the President said: “This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline…
Read more...Preview of the 112th Congress, Second Session
Legislative business for the second session of the 112th Congress begins in the House on January 17 and in the Senate on January 23. President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on January 24. With a number of important issues still unresolved, the combativeness of 2011 may be just a warm-up for what lies ahead, as lawmakers return to an even more partisan election year environment. Congressional Digest will be reporting on these and other topics in the year ahead.
Read more...Obama Signs National Defense Authorization Act
On New Year’s Eve, President Barack Obama signed the $662 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the Defense Department and other national security programs. The bill had became the focus of fierce debate over the past few months after Congress included provisions that mandated that suspected terrorist be detained and adjudicated by the military (see this month’s issue of International Debates). Critics of the bill argued that the language would grant the military the power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens accused of terrorism, while supporters countered that it merely streamlined and codified existing policies. Although Obama had originally threatened…
Read more...Keystone Pipeline Update
Despite the Obama Administration’s earlier assertion that it would either approve or disapprove the Keystone XL Pipeline project by the end of this year, the State Department, on November 10, announced a delay in the final decision. The proposed $7 billion, 1700-mile pipeline would connect the oil sands region of Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. (See the December 2011 Congressional Digest titled “Keystone Pipeline.”) Under the original proposal, the pipeline would pass through the Sand Hills of Nebraska, which includes the Ogalla Aquifer, a major fresh water resource for eight states. Critics were concerned that oil spills…
Read more...Court Puts Health Care Challenge on the Docket
The wait is finally over. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to a series of cases challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. For five and a half hours over the course of two days sometime next March, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on several aspects of the the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For two hours, the Court will consider whether the mandate that all U.S. citizens must buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. For the next 90 minutes, the Court will hear arguments about whether the…
Read more...Senate Blocks Infrastructure Bank Proposal
The Senate dealt the Obama Administration’s job package another blow on November 3 by refusing to consider the Rebuild America Jobs Act, a$60 billion measure to build and repair infrastructure and create an infrastructure bank to leverage private and public capital for long-term projects. The 51-to-49 vote fell short of the 60 needed to proceed to a debate and vote. All Republican senators, as well as Democrats Ben Nelson (NE) and Joe Lieberman (CT) opposed the bill. The concept of an infrastructure bank has been around for some time. As described in the January 2009 Congressional Digest on “Infrastructure Financing,”…
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