CONGRESS

The Week on the Hill

by Jill Smallen and Jason Dick

Sat. Jul 19, 2008


Maneuvering Heavy on Housing Aid

Key lawmakers engaged in last-minute negotiations this week to complete a housing-recovery package before the August recess. A new wrinkle was thrown into the debate on July 13, when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. unveiled a legislative proposal to allow his department to provide capital to government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose stock prices have plummeted because of fears that they are undercapitalized in the midst of a worldwide credit crunch. The plan would provide a temporary increase in the credit line that Fannie and Freddie have with Treasury, allow the department to purchase equity in the two, and grant the Federal Reserve new powers so it can consult their regulator on setting capital standards. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., wanted to attach Treasury's plan to the pending housing assistance legislation, passed by both chambers, and also include about $4 billion to help cities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties. The White House had signaled opposition to that funding, saying it would primarily reward banks for making bad loans. Senators also expressed some concern over Paulson's plan. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said that giving the Fed some oversight over the GSEs would take away power from a new, strengthened regulator that the legislation would establish. Republicans, worried that the plan would amount to a blank check, want a cap on the credit line. "I'm very concerned about it," said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. The underlying package would revamp oversight at Fannie, Freddie, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System; overhaul the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance program; and allow the FHA to guarantee as much as $300 billion in new loans for at-risk subprime borrowers. It would siphon some of Fannie's and Freddie's new business to create an affordable-housing trust fund. --Bill Swindell/CongressDaily

Congress Overrides Medicare Veto

Congress on July 15 overrode President Bush's veto of legislation that averts for 18 months a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians. The House nullified the veto by a 383-41 vote; the Senate followed hours later by a 70-26 vote. "The legislation before us today is critical to ensuring access to high-quality physician services for Medicare beneficiaries," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. "If we fail to enact this legislation, physicians will face a 10 percent pay cut that jeopardizes access to care for seniors and the disabled." In both chambers, more Republicans agreed to override the president than had those who originally supported the bill. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., his party's presumptive presidential nominee, was not present for any of the votes on the Medicare measure but indicated he did not support it. Bush opposed the legislation because it cut payments for private insurers that offer Medicare Advantage plans. Under the bill, Medicare doctors will receive a 1.1 percent pay raise in 2009. It also includes provisions requiring Medicare physicians to adopt electronic prescribing systems, expanding access for Medicare beneficiaries to mental health and preventative services, and easing enrollment in low-income assistance for Medicare patients. Earlier this year, Congress twice overrode Bush's vetoes of slightly different versions of the farm bill, and in 2007, Congress overrode his veto of the Water Resources Development Act. --Anna Edney/CongressDaily

More Sparks Fly Over Energy

Both chambers this week debated key items on the Democrats' summertime energy agenda. In the House, Democrats brought up legislation that seeks more production from existing federal oil and gas leases, in an effort to counter GOP demands for opening up new U.S. areas to drilling. The Democrats' "use-it-or-lose-it" plan would forbid companies from getting new oil and gas leases unless they diligently act to produce on their existing leases. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has heard complaints from most Republicans--and some Democrats from oil- and gas-producing districts--that the proposal would set up unnecessary roadblocks for companies to get new leases. Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, charged this week that GOP proposals for more drilling and other energy solutions "time and again ... get caught up in political maneuverings from the majority party that worships at the altar of radical environmentalism." Meanwhile, the Senate dove into legislation designed to curb speculation in the oil futures market. Democratic leaders were trying to work out a deal with Republicans on limiting the scope of debate on a bill requiring greater oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate oil-market speculation. Republicans want to be allowed to offer their proposals to expand areas approved for drilling in federal waters, out West, and in Alaska. With gas prices remaining a top political issue heading into the fall elections, leaders on both sides have tried to use the ongoing stalemate to their advantage. But coalitions of moderates have formed in both chambers that seek to bypass their party leaders to compromise on the issue. --Darren Goode/CongressDaily

House Passes Intel Authorization

The House on July 16 by voice vote approved the fiscal 2009 intelligence authorization bill, setting up another national security standoff with the Bush administration, this time over whether the CIA should be able to use contractors to conduct interrogations and whether more lawmakers should be given access to secret information about covert operations. The White House said that senior advisers would recommend that President Bush veto the bill. Specifically, the White House said it "strongly objects" to a requirement prohibiting the CIA from using contractors during interrogations unless a waiver is received from the director of national intelligence. "Even with the waiver authority, this provision would impose a significant impediment to the timely and effective collection of critical intelligence," the White House said. The administration also objects to provisions that would create an inspector general for the intelligence community and withhold 75 percent of funds for covert action programs until the administration gives Intelligence Committee members more access to secret information. A companion bill approved by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee includes a provision that would prohibit the CIA and other intelligence agencies from using any interrogation method that is not approved by the Army field manual. Bush vetoed the fiscal 2008 intelligence authorization bill mainly because of that same provision. An annual authorization bill for the intelligence community has not been signed into law since 2004. --Chris Strohm/CongressDaily

CPSC Legislation Nearly Completed

The conference committee negotiating legislation to give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more funding and broader authority was hashing out the most-contentious differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill late this week. Aides predicted quick resolution and a straightforward path to floor action before the August recess. The House passed its CPSC reauthorization in December and the Senate approved its version in March. Conferees first met last month, when they agreed on 21 items. Among the remaining issues was whether to include a Senate-passed ban on chemical phthalates in children's toys that some experts argue cause health problems. "This phthalates language should be included in the final bill. The Senate passed the language, and the Senate should put it in the final bill," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the provision's chief backer. A CPSC staff report recommended against instituting a ban. Other issues included the ability of state attorneys general to recover attorney fees, the creation of a consumer complaint database, protection for whistle-blowers, lead in children's toys, rules about three-wheel all-terrain vehicles, and pre-emption of state laws. --Kasie Hunt/CongressDaily

Senate Approves AIDS Bill

The Senate on July 16 voted 80-16 to approve White House-backed legislation to fight AIDS around the world. The bipartisan measure, which expands President Bush's five-year-old anti-AIDS program, would authorize $48 billion in foreign aid to battle the disease. It also would set aside $2 billion for American Indian health programs. "We have an opportunity to save lives on a massive scale and preserve the fabric of numerous fragile societies," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Richard Lugar, R-Ind. He and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., beat back a series of amendments offered by conservatives that aimed to increase oversight of the program or limit its scope. An amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to cut back the program to $35 billion failed 31-64 on July 16. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., introduced an amendment to name the bill after former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who died on July 4 and had become a proponent of global AIDS programs after many years of opposition to federal anti-AIDS funding. But that amendment was not considered, meaning the bill will instead bear only the names of former Reps. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and Henry Hyde, R-Ill., both prior chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who died in the last year. The House passed a companion AIDS measure in April, and now the two versions will be reconciled. --Brian Friel/National Journal

CongressDaily's Final Word

"Drilling is for dental care, not Ocean City, Md."

--Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., commenting on a GOP proposal to expand the U.S. offshore areas available for oil and gas drilling