Blog Post

Anne Hull and Dana Priest, Washington Post - March 1, 2007

President Bush and congressional Republicans have made many promises to the survivors of the hurricanes, but most have been broken. Largely as a result, much of the Gulf Coast remains devastated, and residents continue to suffer from inadequate housing, health care and other basic services, and an infrastructure that cannot support badly needed economic development.

Watch Rep. Gene Taylor testify on the experiences of his Mississippi constituents with the insurance companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina:

Watch Jim Hood, Attorney General for the State of Mississippi, give opening remarks on the frustrating experience his state has had with insurance companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina:

After Dr. Robert P. Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute repeatedly asserted that 95% of claims had been settled in the first year since Hurricane Katrina, Rep. Maxine Waters decided to find out exactly what he meant by that. Watch the exchange:

Chairman Miller Statement on President's Veto Threat on Employee Free Choice Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, issued the following statement today in response to a White House announcement that President George W. Bush would veto the legislation:

Kelly Kennedy, Air Force Times - February 28, 2007

Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media.

"Some soldiers believe this is a form of punishment for the trouble soldiers caused by talking to the media," one Medical Hold Unit soldier said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

It is unusual for soldiers to have daily inspections after Basic Training.

Rep. Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, responded today:

National Security FIRST Act

This week, the House will consider H.R. 556, the bipartisan National Security FIRST Act. The bill strengthens national security by reforming the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process by which the Federal Government reviews foreign investments in the United States for their national security implications.

HOUSE PASSES PELL GRANT FAIRNESS LEGISLATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation today that would repeal a rule that unfairly reduces Pell Grant scholarship aid for thousands of low-income college students who attend low-cost colleges and universities. The Pell Grant Equity Act, H.R. 990, was introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), the Committee's Senior Republican.

One answer is "When you're a woman," as the Labor Department has repeatedly found that women earn about 75 cents for every dollar that men earn for the same work.

But this week's answer is "When you are the Office of Women's Health" within the Food and Drug Administration. That office, which was at the center of a politically damaging storm over the emergency contraceptive "Plan B," just had more than one-quarter of this year's $4 million operating budget quietly removed, insiders say.