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JEC Hearing on Food Prices
May 1, 2008
The Joint Economic Committee, where Sen. Chuck Schumer is the Chairman and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14) is the Vice Chairman, is currently holding a hearing, "How Are High Food Prices Impacting American Families?"

Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD-07) gives opening remarks:

Blog Post
Rep. Emanuel on Bush on Baseball and "Mission Accomplished": "He's 0 for 2"
May 1, 2008
Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel spoke on the House floor on the fifth anniversary of President Bush's speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner reading "Mission Accomplished."

Full remarks:

Rep. Emanuel: "Madam Speaker, in 1993, when professional-baseball owners were deciding how to rehabilitate the reputation of baseball, after the player's strike, they debated whether to enact a wild-card rule to allow a second-place team into the playoffs. Only one owner at the time voted against this: Texas Rangers general partner George Bush.

"When the rule passed 27-1, at the time the President said, 'I made my arguments and went down in flames...History will prove me right.' [Associated Press, 9/9/93]

Blog Post
The Cost of War in Iraq: 'Mission Accomplished' - 5 Years Later
May 1, 2008
On May 1, 2003, President Bush landed on the U.S.S. Lincoln, an aircraft carrier adorned with a banner reading 'Mission Accomplished,' and declared major combat operations in Iraq over. Five years later, the war in Iraq continues to take a grave toll on our troops and their families, our military readiness, the fight against terrorism, our standing in the world and on the American economy.

The hundreds of thousands of brave men and women in uniform serving in Iraq -- and their families -- deserve reasonable rotations out of combat and a plan to responsibly redeploy from Iraq. The New Direction Congress has enacted the largest veterans' health care funding increase in history, and continues to work to rebuild our ability to respond to or deter threats around the globe.

The Cost to Our Troops & Their Families

Blog Post
House Passes Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act
April 30, 2008
The House has just passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165. This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust.
Press Release
Pelosi: We Must Do Much More to Strengthen Our Economy and Help Struggling Families
April 30, 2008
Speaker Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement in the wake of the new numbers showing anemic economic growth (0.6 percent) and the Federal Reserve Board's decision to cut a key interest rate by a quarter percentage point.
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Blog Post
GSA Administrator Doan Resigns
April 30, 2008
White House forces resignation of embattled GSA chief

Dan Friedman and Robert Brodsky, Government Executive - April 30, 2008

Lurita Doan, the embattled head of the General Services Administration, resigned at the request of the White House, sources said Tuesday.

According to people familiar with the matter, the controversial agency administrator was summoned to the White House for a late afternoon meeting Tuesday, during which she was asked to step down.

Doan's ouster comes nearly 11 months after the independent Office of Special Counsel concluded an investigation of Doan and called for President Bush to fire her for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using government resources for partisan politics.

Blog Post
Appropriations Chairman Obey Responds to President's Veto Threat
April 30, 2008
From the Appropriations Committee:

Obey Responds to Veto Threat

WASHINGTON -- Dave Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, responded to yet another veto threat from a President unwilling to work with Congress to help veterans and the unemployed.

"The President is asking us to provide $108 billion in additional spending for the war in Iraq this year and almost $70 billion in additional war spending for next year, yet this morning he said that he would veto our efforts to expand the GI Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and to extend unemployment benefits for workers who's benefits have been exhausted.

"Those two items cost less than one-tenth of what the President wants to spend in Iraq.

Blog Post
Pelosi on New GI Bill: 'We're Going to Say Thank You to Our Veterans by Sending Them to College'
April 29, 2008
Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other bipartisan Members of Congress participated in a rally at the Capitol this afternoon to support the 21st Century GI Bill, which provides a four-year college scholarship to veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bipartisan legislation has 58 co-sponsors in the Senate and 249 co-sponsors in the House, as well as the endorsements of the nation's leading veterans' organizations Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Press Release
Pelosi Statement on Consolidated Natural Resources Act
April 29, 2008
"Today is a banner day for America's natural, cultural and historic treasures. The legislation passed today signals the commitment of the New Direction Congress to protect our natural resources, including wilderness, national parks, national heritage areas, and water resources."
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Press Release
Pelosi: At News Conference This Morning, President Should Agree to Work with Congress to Help the American Economy
April 29, 2008
"The President can take three actions today to help our economy: lower gas prices by halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; save 116,000 green jobs and create hundreds of thousands more by dropping his veto threat from House legislation creating tax credits for renewable energy; and come to the table to help pass major reforms to our home lending industry which allow Americans at risk of foreclosure to affordably refinance, and to stabilize neighborhoods in foreclosure crisis."
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