The Ehlers Newsletter

For the Week of May 22, 2006


	NEWS FROM CONGRESSMAN EHLERS •GR CITY CLERK HEGARTY APPOINTED TO FEDERAL BOARD BY EHLERS THIS WEEK IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES •MONDAY, MAY 22, 2006 •TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2006 •WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2006 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK Historical Tidbits •On May 22 ... •On May 23 ... •On May 24 ... •On May 25 ... •On May 26 ...

Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers Friday announced that he has appointed Grand Rapids City Clerk Terri Hegarty to fill a two-year term on the Board of Advisors to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Ehlers, as chairman of the Committee on House Administration, is empowered to appoint members to the board. The EAC was established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. The commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource for information and review of procedures with respect to the administration of federal elections.

For more information, CLICK HERE to read the entire press release.
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On Monday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Suspensions (8 bills):

(Bills on suspension are generally considered non-controversial and have reduced debate time, but require a two-thirds majority vote to be passed.)

H.R. 5354 - Hurricane Relief Extension Act of 2006: Amends the Hurricane Education Recovery Act to allow the Secretary of Education to extend, beyond the 2006 school year, the period during which a state educational agency or local educational agency may obligate temporary emergency impact aid for elementary and secondary schools that enroll students displaced by Hurricane Katrina or Rita; though such funds may still be used only for expenses incurred during the 2005-2006 school year.
H.Res. 808 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of the goals of National One-Stop Month: Resolves that the House of Representatives supports the goals of National One-Stop Month, and supports the efforts of the workforce investment boards and One-Stop delivery system in preparing the nation's workforce. Workforce investment boards and One-Stop delivery system were created under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and are designed to provide a full range of employment solutions to employers and job seekers in a single location. More than 600 workforce investment boards and 2,000 One-Stop Career Centers are enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the nation by providing workforce solutions for hundreds of thousands of employers annually across the United States.
S. 1235 – Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2005: Authorizes a 5-year pilot program to provide adaptive housing assistance, not to exceed $14,000, to disabled veterans residing temporarily in housing owned by a family member. Offsets to pay for the pilot would come from an increase of 5 basis points in the funding fee for second and subsequent use of the VA home loan guarantee (with no money down) through September 30, 2007; provides VA the flexibility to prescribe an appropriate annual rate adjustment cap for VA hybrid ARM loans with an initial rate of interest fixed for 5 or more years; makes permanent the pilot program allowing the Secretary to make direct home loans to Native American Indians; and reinstates the Secretary’s authority to provide adaptive housing assistance to certain members of the armed forces who would otherwise qualify but have not yet separated from service.
H.R. 5401 - Lewis and Clark Commemorative Coin Correction Act: Redirects a portion of the surcharges on the sales of the 2004-issuued Lewis & Clark Commemorative Coins. As enacted, part of those funds would go to the Park Service for Lewis & Clark Bicentennial activities. However, the Park Service cannot raise the statutorily required matching funds and thus the surcharges cannot be disbursed. The bill redirects to the other major Lewis & Clark bicentennial organizations, which uses the funds to support the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial exhibit that has toured the country for the last four years and currently is at the Smithsonian.
S. 1736 - A bill to provide for the participation of employees in the judicial branch in the Federal leave transfer program for disasters and emergencies: Would allow judicial branch employees to participate in an emergency leave transfer program for major disasters and emergencies. This authority is already available to employees in the executive branch.
H.R. 4530 - Scott Reed Federal Building and United States Courthouse Designation Act (Lexington, Kentucky)
H.R. 3858 - Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2005: Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to ensure that emergency preparedness plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals. The bill ensures that these animals are taken into account when preparedness plans are developed.
H.R. 4681 - Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006: A summary of this legislation was not available at time of publication.

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On Tuesday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for morning hour and 10 a.m. for legislative business.

H.R. 5384 - Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007: Provides $18.4 billion in total discretionary resources. This level represents a decrease of $96 million less than the FY06 enacted level and $564 million more than the President’s budget request.

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On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business. On Wednesday, the House Floor will be cleared immediately after 10 a.m. in order to provide time for a security sweep of the House Chamber prior to the Israeli Prime Minister’s arrival. The House will reconvene at 10:40 a.m. in Joint Meeting with the Senate for the purpose of receiving the Honorable Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business.

H.R. 5427 - Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007: Provides a total of $30 billion in budget authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Civil, the Department of Interior including the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy, and several Independent Agencies. This bill is $172 million less than last year’s level and $546 million more than the President’s request.

H.R. XXXX - Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007: Provides $32.08 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in fiscal year 2007, $1.8 billion more than the fiscal year 2006 enacted levels, and $1.065 billion more than the President’s request. The bill balances critical homeland security and anti-terrorism activities with legacy missions; aggressively addresses new threats such as nuclear detection and the persistent challenges of border and immigration security; and requires changes in disaster assistance based upon lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. It also significantly moves DHS forward in the area of port, container, and cargo security.

H.R. 5429 - The American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act: A summary of this legislation was not available at time of publication.

Possible Motions to go to Conference
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees

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1872	-	The Amnesty Act restored civil rights to Southerners.
1882	-	The U.S. formally recognized Korea.
1972	-	U.S. President Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Russia. He met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
1998	-	A federal judge said that Secret Service agents could be compelled to testify before a grand jury in Monica Lewinsky investigation concerning U.S. President Clinton.

1900	-	Civil War hero Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor, 37 years after the Battle of Fort Wagner.
1922	-	"Daylight Saving Time" was debated in the first debate ever to be heard on radio in Washington, DC.

1913	-	The U.S. Department of Labor entered into its first strike mediation. The dispute was between the Railroad Clerks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
1983	-	The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the right to deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminate.
2000	-	The U.S. House of Representatives approved permanent normal trade relations with China. China was not happy about some of the human rights conditions that had been attached by the U.S. lawmakers.

1787	-	The Constitutional convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.
1961	-	America was asked by U.S. President Kennedy to work toward putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
1997	-	U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history (41 years and 10 months).
1999	-	A report by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China concluded that China had "stolen design information on the U.S. most-advanced thermonuclear weapons" and that China's penetration of U.S. weapons laboratories "spans at least the past several decades and almost certainly continues today."

1835	-	A resolution was passed in the U.S. Congress stating that Congress has no authority over state slavery laws.
1836	-	The U.S. House of Representatives adopted what has been called the Gag Rule.
1938	-	The House Committee on Un-American Activities began its work of searching for subversives in the United States.
1948	-	The U.S. Congress passed Public Law 557 which permanently established the Civil Air Patrol as the Auxiliary of the new U.S. Air Force.
1972	-	The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) was signed by the U.S. and USSR. The short-term agreement put a freeze on the testing and deployment of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles for a 5-year period.
1994	-	U.S. President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced that his administration would no longer link China's trade status with its human rights record. (Information from www.on-this-day.com)