CONGRESS

The Week on the Hill

by Jill Smallen and Jason Dick

Sat. Apr. 19, 2008


Farm Bill Not Ready for Harvest

With an extension of the 2002 farm bill set to expire on April 18, the House this week passed another one-week extension and the Senate appeared set to follow suit. President Bush had said he would not sign another short-term extension unless he sees sufficient progress on the bill, but congressional leaders hoped to show that progress by the deadline. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., also said he will seek an additional two-week extension, through May 9. Bush has suggested extending the 2002 farm bill for a year or more, but Peterson and Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said they would oppose that idea. “There isn’t going to be any goddamn long-term extension,” Peterson told reporters. Early in the week, Peterson and Harkin said that all major issues within the core farm bill had been resolved. But the legislation is unlikely to be finished until early May because of conflicts between the House, the Senate, and the Bush administration over the offsets to pay for a $10 billion increase in spending over 10 years, and over a Senate-approved $2.5 billion tax-breaks package that the House opposes. Critics belittled a tax provision important to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would shorten the depreciation period for race horses. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told her caucus that the tax package proves that senators “have an addiction to tax cuts for the special interests.” --Jerry Hagstrom/CongressDaily

Technical Fix Bogs Down Senate

A seemingly innocuous bill making technical corrections to a 2005 surface transportation measure bogged down in the Senate this week because of a controversy over the puzzling history of an earmarked highway project in Florida. The wording of the earmark in question was changed—after Congress gave final approval to the 2005 bill, but before President Bush received it—from providing $10 million to improve Interstate 75 in Fort Myers, Fla., to specifically targeting the money to build an interchange at Coconut Road. Public watchdog groups charge that Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who at the time was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, changed the earmark at the behest of a campaign contributor who was tied to the project. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., with the backing of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered a proposal to the corrections bill calling for a Justice Department probe of how the earmark was changed. She said that a Justice inquiry is the best way to ensure that those responsible go to jail. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., offered an alternative plan that would set up a House-Senate committee to investigate the matter before potentially handing over findings to law enforcement agencies. --Darren Goode/CongressDaily

House Protects Student Loans

The House on April 17 voted 383-27 to approve legislation aimed at protecting federal student loans from upheaval in the nation’s financial markets. The bill, put together by the House Education and Labor Committee, would raise limits on federally backed loans by $2,000 a year per student, ultimately increasing the amount undergraduates could borrow for college from $23,000 to $31,000. It would also allow parents who are behind on mortgage payments to get loans to help their children through college. “In this credit crunch, banks are tightening their loan requirements and raising rates,” Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said on the floor. “We want to make sure that families have access to the low-interest loans, that they remain available for these hardworking families so their kids can attend college.” The legislation would allow the Education Department to buy up private loans if lenders run into difficulty accessing capital for new loans. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., promised quick action in his chamber. --Brian Friel/National Journal

Specter’s Hodgkin’s Disease Recurs

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has been diagnosed with an early recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease, his office announced on April 15. “Based on the location of the recurrence and the absence of symptoms, his lymphoma is considered stage IIIA,” the office said in a statement. “This is significantly less advanced than his Hodgkin’s disease when it was originally diagnosed in 2005.” Specter, 78, must undergo 12 weeks of chemotherapy. He had successful surgery for a brain tumor in 1993; the tumor recurred in 1996 and again was successfully treated. In 1998, he underwent bypass surgery and postoperatively suffered cardiac arrest, from which he fully recovered. “I’ve beaten some tough medical problems and tough political opponents, and I expect to beat this, too,” Specter said. The statement said he expects to “continue to perform all the duties of his office as well as his activities associated with his candidacy for re-election.” Specter announced a year ago that he plans to seek a sixth term in 2010.