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Blog Post
February 27, 2007
More of the people's business being done in the People's House. From the Education & Labor Committee:

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.

Blog Post
February 27, 2007
Today, the Washington Post asks the question, "When is $4 million really $2.8 million?" and continues:

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.

Blog Post
February 27, 2007
As has been widely reported, the risk posed by the inordinate strain on our troops and our military continues to grow, and has been fully recognized at the top levels of our military:

Gen. Pace: Military capability eroding

Associated Press - February 27, 2007

Strained by the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a significant risk that the U.S. military won't be able to quickly and fully respond to yet another crisis, according to a new report to Congress.

The assessment, done by the nation's top military officer, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represents a worsening from a year ago, when that risk was rated as moderate.

Speaker Pelosi has just issued the following statement:

Blog Post
February 27, 2007
Whereas many derided the previous Congress as the "Do-nothing Congress," every day now one can see the wheels turning in innumerable committees and subcommittees to protect and expand opportunity for working Americans. An example of that can be found in a new report out on mine safety from the Education and Labor Committee -- but first some background.

Though the mine tragedies of recent years received a great deal of appropriate media attention, the root causes and attempts to address them received far less attention. In April of 2006, now-Chairman George Miller wrote the following:

Mine Disasters Demand Action From Congress

Re. George Miller, Huffington Post - April 4, 2004

Articles
February 27, 2007
"Pelosi will deliver the keynote address at the National Farmers Union's 105th annual convention. Her focus will be on opportunities for development in rural communities, with special attention to increasing the use of renewable fuels. The speaker recognizes that there is common ground on which the party's environmentally-conscious base can stand with farmers, and she is paying a lot of attention to that turf."
Blog Post
February 27, 2007
Lawmakers to scrutinize Walter Reed

Jonathan E. Kaplan, The Hill - February 27, 2007

Several House and Senate committees will begin oversight hearings into how Walter Reed Army Medical Center subjected wounded soldiers and Marines to bureaucratic indifference and allowed them to live in squalor.

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee and a leading critic of the Iraq war, has scheduled a closed hearing on Friday and Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), an Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee chairman, announced yesterday that he intended to conduct a field hearing to Walter Reed next Monday.

Blog Post
February 26, 2007
Last June, Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton asked Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, "Are you comfortable with the readiness level for the non-deployed units that are in the continental United States?" Gen. Schoomaker answered, "No." Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen.
Press Release
February 26, 2007
"Washington, D.C. - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement calling on President Bush to support the efforts by Democrats to provide the states with the needed funds to cover the shortfalls for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP): 'President Bush heard again this weekend from Democratic and Republican governors that unless Washington moves quickly to help states cover the $745 million shortfall in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) soon, the health coverage of many children will be in jeopardy."
Blog Post
February 26, 2007
Troops' needs not met, psychological group says

Gregg Zoroya, USA Today - February 25, 2007

A task force of the nation's largest group of mental health professionals warns that the U.S. military is not fully addressing the needs of troops and family members traumatized by war.

In a report issued Sunday, the American Psychological Association task force said families are particularly at risk. It noted that 700,000 children have had a parent sent overseas since Sept. 11, 2001, and estimated that 2,733 children have lost a parent killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Blog Post
February 26, 2007
Throughout the next week, Appropriations subcommittees will begin hearings on the fiscal year 2008 budget. The process begins with evaluating the president's budget request, and moving on from there. Chairman David Obey released a document comparing the President's budget request to the FY 2007 enacted Defense or Homeland Security bills and the Joint Funding Resolution recently passed by the House. The introduction: