E-Newsletter

294 In Detention, In Senate

For years, when President Obama has been unable to negotiate a compromise, he blames Congress for inaction.  While it may be a convenient excuse for him, I would submit that it is incomplete, incorrect, and tiresome.

As an example, our Constitution states, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”  There are 12 appropriations bills which authorize funding for certain government activities such as national defense, homeland security, education, and others.  These bills require regular (usually annual) authorization.  Under the Constitution, all appropriations bills must begin in the House.  But like any other bill, the Senate must agree to it and it must be signed by the President in order to become law.  Modern history shows the Senate generally working on their appropriations language simultaneously with the House.  Their language is then offered by the Senate as a package of amendments to the original House appropriations bill.

Late on Thursday, July 10, the House of Representatives passed its sixth appropriations bill – the Energy-Water measure – for the 2015 fiscal year.  Among its other provisions, the Energy-Water bill increases funding for fossil fuels energy research and development, including funds for coal research and advanced processes such as chemical looping.  Chemical looping is a promising new clean-coal technology that extracts the energy out of coal with virtually no pollutants (see column of 6.24.13 for more).

As the Energy-Water appropriations bill deals with the Energy Department and federal water projects, a separate Interior and Environment appropriations bill deals with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  This bill, which has yet to come before the full House for consideration, hopefully will advance policies similar to my EPA Maximum Achievable Contraction of Technocrats (MACT) Act (H.R. 3641), which would cut the EPA’s workforce by 15 percent, reducing the number of EPA bureaucrats producing massive new unreasonable regulations.  It is through this Interior and Environment bill that we can fight to rein in the EPA’s regulatory overreach that hinders economic growth, ties up industries in bureaucratic red tape, and costs jobs.

Like other appropriations bills, the Energy-Water bill was considered under an open rule, which allows us to offer an unlimited amount of amendments if we see fit to do so.

And how many appropriations bills has the Senate passed, you might wonder?  Zero.

As described in the Washington Post*, “While the House continues to churn through its share of annual spending bills for the federal government, the Senate is mired in a procedural standoff directly related to the growing number of competitive races that will decide the chamber’s majority in the November elections.

Politico** reports that some Senate Democrats are “agitating over the lack of votes on amendments, a central aspect of legislating in the Senate.”  According to the Wall Street Journal***, “Senate Democrats proposed 676 amendments in the last year but were allowed votes on all of seven.  Republicans proposed 812 and got votes on 11.  Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee has been allowed twice as many amendment votes (15) in the Republican House in the last year than Mr. [Majority Leader Harry] Reid has allowed his entire Senate caucus.”  Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who served in the House from 2007 until he was sworn in to the Senate in 2013, told Politico, “I got more substance on the floor of the House in the minority than I have as a member of the Senate majority.”

Further, current House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on July 10**** that there were 294 House-passed bills that are awaiting action on Senator Reid’s desk.  294!

Not every vote is an easy vote or without consequence.  But as lawmakers, it is our responsibility – our job – to do our research, take those votes, and try to do the right thing for our constituents.  As Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) told Politico, “At the end of the day, you are not going to say you’re not going to vote for things because you’re afraid of how that vote will look. The vote will look bad if you don’t take the vote, so why not take the vote so people know where you stand?”

Modern history on Mr. Reid indicates he will continue shielding weak Senators from hard votes, and shielding the President from having to sign or veto bills.  I would encourage Mr. Reid to drop the politics, open up the floor of the Senate, and return to governing.

As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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* http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/reelection-bids-and-a-senate-rivalry-threaten-to-derail-spending-bills/2014/07/07/20228426-05fa-11e4-a0dd-f2b22a257353_story.html

** http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=982B0AF3-7FBE-42BD-A85E-11F808D41CDA

*** http://online.wsj.com/articles/democrats-against-harry-reid-1403825300

**** http://www.majoritywhip.gov/presidents-blame-game

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