Media

"Lawmakers cranked up pressure Thursday on the Bush administration to stop filling the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve amid growing election-year anxiety on Capitol Hill about high gasoline prices."

"House Democratic leaders called on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether oil industry manipulation has contributed to a 24 percent rise in gasoline prices in the past year."

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing today, "Child Abuse and Deceptive Marketing by Residential Programs for Teens," to examine residential programs for teens, including boot camps, wilderness camps, therapeutic boarding schools, and behavior modification facilities. The hearing also examined legislation to prevent child abuse in these programs. Teenagers attending private residential programs would gain new protections against physical, mental, and sexual abuse under the legislation introduced by Chairman George Miller and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY-14).

See a summary of the bill (pdf) >>

Rep. Ike Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, speaks on the House floor on recent revelations from the New York Times. The story, "Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand," explained how the Pentagon set up private briefings for a network of "military experts," who often held financial stakes dependent on continued Pentagon access, in order to achieve "information dominance" in the American media.

Chairman Skelton: "...But there is a problem if the Pentagon is providing special access to retired officers and then basically using them as pawns to spout the Administration's talking points of the day.

Today, the House passed three more key bills to hold federal contractors accountable and crack down on fraud and abuse. U.S. taxpayers are outraged at the massive levels of waste, fraud and abuse that have been documented in large government contracts to well-connected firms, such as the $45 billion in reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

These three bills are:

Contractors and Federal Responsibility Act, H.R. 3033, which creates a comprehensive, centralized database that lists civil, criminal and administrative proceedings concluded by federal and state governments against federal contractors.

By obstructing a vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Senate Republicans have thwarted efforts to restore balance in the law and allow victims of wage discrimination to seek justice in the courts. In so doing, they have again stopped necessary progress for all Americans.

The Ledbetter legislation, which the House proudly passed last year, provides a remedy for women and men who have been victims of pay discrimination. It corrects a Supreme Court decision that severely restricted the right of workers to have their day in court.

Senate Republicans blocked this legislation just one day after we recognized Equal Pay Day. Women make just 77 cents to each man's dollar, and in an uncertain economy, equal pay for equal work is about daily survival for millions.

Speaker Pelosi sent the following letter today to House Republican Leader John Boehner in response to a letter sent to the Speaker yesterday by the GOP leadership.

Below is a text of the letter:

April 23, 2008

The Honorable John A. Boehner

House Republican Leader

H-204, The Capitol

Washington, D.C. 20515

Thank you for your letter from the House GOP leadership yesterday on the issue of gas prices.

As you know, the New Direction Congress has passed several pieces of legislation to promote American energy independence, prevent the manipulation of oil prices, punish those who cheat consumers, and promote the development and use of renewable fuels.

On March 3rd, 2008 the Oversight Committee released a report, "The Administration's Medicaid Regulations: State-By-State Impacts." The report examined seven Administration-imposed Medicaid regulations which, if implemented, would slash federal Medicaid funding to states for vital programs and services by about $18 billion over the next five years. They would reverse longstanding Medicaid policies and eliminate federal payments for a variety of critical Medicaid functions. As a result, they would put in jeopardy needed services and protections for millions of vulnerable beneficiaries, as well as support for critical safety net institutions in states that are financially strapped.