The Ehlers Newsletter

Tuesday, November 1, 2005


	NEWS FROM CONGRESSMAN EHLERS CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER LIES IN HONOR IN U.S. CAPITOL ROTUNDA HOUSE ADOPTS EHLERS BILL TO REVITALIZE U.S. AEROSPACE WORKFORCE PRESIDENT BUSH NOMINATES U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE ALITO SUPREME COURT THIS WEEK IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2005 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2005 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2005 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK Historical Tidbits

Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, who died Oct. 24 at the age of 92, became the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building thanks to unanimous action taken by the U.S. House of Representatives Friday, led by Congressman Ehlers.

CLICK HERE to read the complete press release by visiting our website
TOP

Seeking to revitalize an industry that could find itself in crisis in the very near future due to a rapid drain of workers, the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday approved the creation of a federal inter-agency aerospace revitalization task force. The measure, introduced by Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers and approved unanimously by House members, will now go to the Senate for consideration.

CLICK HERE to read the complete press release by visiting our website
TOP

Just three days after White House Counsel Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination from the U.S. Supreme Court, President George W. Bush Monday nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court seat currently held by Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Alito, a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd District based in Philadelphia, has served on that court since 1990 and previously worked as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and as assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General during the Reagan Administration.

CLICK HERE to read the complete press release by visiting our website
TOP

On Monday, the House will meet at 3 p.m. in a Pro Forma session.

TOP

On Tuesday, 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 (3 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. 3548 - Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. Post Office Building Designation Act (Pearl River, New York)
H.R. 2413 - Lillian McKay Post Office Building Designation Act (Humble, Texas)
H.R. 3989 - Albert Harold Quie Post Office Designation Act (Dennison, Minnesota)

TOP

On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business.

Suspensions (4 bills):

H.R. 1606 - Online Freedom of Speech Act: Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude communications over the Internet from the meaning of public communication subject to the Act. When Congress passed campaign finance reform in 2002, the legislation did not identify the Internet as a target of regulation. But recently a federal judge ruled that the FEC's previous broad exemption of the Internet was impermissible, absent clear direction from Congress. Soon the FEC is expected to finalize rules that could end up limiting free speech and regulating political activism online.
H.R. 4061 - Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Management Improvement Act of 2005: Amends Title 38 USC to improve the management of information technology within the Department of Veterans Affairs by providing the Chief Information Officer the authority over resources, budget, and personnel related to the support function of information technology for the Department. The bill requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, through the Chief Information Officer, to develop and maintain a process for the selection and oversight of information technology for the Department.
H.R. 1691 - John H. Bradley Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic Designation Act (Appleton, Wisconsin)
H.Con.Res. 281 - Congratulating the Chicago White Sox on winning the 2005 World Series

H.R. 4128 - Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005: Protects private property rights. No state or political subdivision of a state shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity to which such power has been delegated, over property to be used for economic development or over property that is subsequently used for economic development, if that state or political subdivision receives federal economic development funds during any fiscal year in which it does so. A violation of this provision shall render such state or political subdivision ineligible for any federal economic development funds for a period of two fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection has been violated, and any federal agency charged with distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2-year period, and any such funds distributed to such state or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by such state or political subdivision to the appropriate federal agency or authority of the federal government, or component thereof.

Possible Motions to go to Conference
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees

TOP


	*On Oct. 31 ...* 1868 - Postmaster General Alexander Williams Randall approved a standard uniform for postal carriers. 1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared complete after 14 years of work. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished. 1968 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam. 1998 - Iraq announced that it was halting all dealings with U.N. arms inspectors. The inspectors were investigating the country's weapons of mass destruction stemming from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. 2001 - Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the antitrust case against the software company. *On Nov. 1 ...* 1765 - The British Parliament enacted The Stamp Act in the American colonies. The act was repealed in March of 1766 on the same day that the Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts which asserted that the British government had free and total legislative power of the colonies. 1800 - U.S. President John Adams became the first president to live in the White House when he moved in. 1870 - The U.S. Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations using 24 locations that provided reports via telegraph. 1950 - Two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate U.S. President Harry Truman. One of the men was killed when they tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington, DC. *On Nov. 2 ...* 1783 - U.S. Gen. George Washington gave his "Farewell Address to the Army" near Princeton, NJ. 1962 - U.S. President Kennedy announced that the U.S.S.R. was dismantling the missile sites in Cuba. 1983 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1993 - The U.S. Senate called for full disclosure of Senator Bob Packwood's diaries in a sexual harassment probe. *On Nov. 3 ...* 1796 - John Adams was elected the 2nd U.S. President. 1992 - Carol Moseley-Braun became the first African-American woman U.S. senator. *On Nov. 4 ...* 1939 - During World War II, the U.S. modified its neutrality stance with the Neutrality Act of 1939. The new policy allowed cash-and-carry purchases of arms by belligerents. 1979 - Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 63 Americans hostage (90 total hostages). The militants, mostly students, demanded that the U.S. send the former shah back to Iran to stand trial. Many hostages were later released, but 52 were held for the next 14 months. 1991 - Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, CA. The dedication ceremony was attended by President Bush and former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford and Richard M. Nixon. It was the 1st gathering of 5 U.S. chief executives. 1999 - The United Nations imposed economic sanctions against the Taliban that controlled most of Afghanistan. The sanctions were imposed because the Taliban had refused to turn over Osama bin Laden, who had been charged with masterminding the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.