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	Friday, November 9, 2007
	Congressman Clay’s Capitol Hill Report
By Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay Member of Congress
	As Congress enters the home stretch for 2007, we are making major progress on addressing the real priorities of middle class families.  We are returning fairness to the tax code, funding important infrastructure projects, supporting life-saving research, expanding retraining for displaced workers and enhancing the civil rights of all Americans to protect them against discrimination in the workplace.  Last Wednesday, the House also advanced a resolution, which I co-sponsored, calling for articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.  The measure is now before the House Judiciary Committee.  Finally, as we honor our nation's Veterans, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you have served in the Armed Forces.  Your dedicated service, whether in wartime or peacetime, reminds us that the cost of freedom is very high, and it is always defended by the bravery of ordinary men and women who render our nation extraordinary service.  Happy Veterans Day. - Lacy House Passes Clay Extension of Breast Cancer Research Stamp, H.R. 1236 Will “Fund the Fight, Find the Cure” By unanimous vote, the U.S House approved H.R. 1236, a bill that I authored which will reauthorize the extension of the highly successful U.S. Postal Service Breast Cancer Research Stamp through 2011.  The special stamp, which was first issued in 1998, has sold more than 758 million copies and has raised more than $58.3 million for breast cancer research and treatment.  I dedicated the bill to the memory of my late colleague, Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis, of Virginia, who recently succumbed to the disease after a long fight.  Jo Ann’s courageous battle with breast cancer further inspires us to expand efforts to secure more research dollars and find a cure for this devastating disease.  As the most common cancer diagnosed in American women, breast cancer affects all of our families.  Women from every ethnic and economic background are diagnosed every day. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 180,000 new cases and over 40,000 cancer deaths this year. H.R. 3920 Will Expand Job Retraining for Displaced Workers The House voted Wednesday to significantly expand a four-decades-old program giving financial and retraining help to people who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.  The bill, which passed by a margin of 264 – 157, would extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for five years.  It would substantially expand help for displaced workers who lose their jobs because of overseas outsourcing.  Services include retraining, financial aid and healthcare programs.  For far too long, our trade policy has forgotten the dedicated workers and their communities who pay the terrible price of lost jobs, lost wages and disrupted lives.  The bill increases the ceiling on training funds from the current $220 million to $440 million and then to $660 million by 2010. Employment Nondiscrimination Act is Important Extension of Civil Rights Protection in the Workplace I was honored to support the Employment Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, which grants broad protections against discrimination in the workplace for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, a measure that I believe is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation since the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.   It was a proud moment for the House of Representatives because we affirmed that all Americans deserve equal rights in the workplace, regardless of sexual orientation.  The bill would amend the federal Civil Rights Act and make it illegal for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.” I was especially pleased that 35 of my Republican colleagues joined 200 Democrats voting for the bill, which was approved 235 to 184.  The bill now moves to the Senate where Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D) Ma, plans to offer companion legislation. Congress Overrides Bush Veto of Water Resources Development Act I was very pleased that an overwhelming bipartisan majority voted to override President Bush’s misguided veto of H.R. 1495, the Water Resources Development Act.  This bill is critical to funding long-overdue infrastructure improvements.  It provides $23.2 billion to rebuild bridges, locks & dams, and critical flood control levees, some of which are essential to Missouri and Illinois.  This act will fund flood protection projects along the battered Gulf Coast which is still reeling from damage due to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.  It will also authorize numerous navigation improvements on the Upper Mississippi, including the St. Louis area, and it also includes a $1.7 billion ecosystem restoration project to preserve natural wetlands habitat. Cheney Impeachment Resolution Advances To House Judiciary Committee  HRes 333, a resolution seeking Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney, has advanced to the House Judiciary Committee.  At the urging of my constituents and from Americans across the country, I cosponsored Congressman Kucinich’s resolution because I believe that the Vice President deliberately manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the Congress of the United States and the American people.  That deception has resulted in a tragic, unnecessary war that has already cost the lives of over 3,800 brave Americans and has cost the taxpayers over $500 billion.  The arrogant abuse of power and the complete disregard for the truth needs to stop. # #