On July 22, 2008, the President honored Colombian Independence Day at the White House and urged Congress to approve the Colombia free trade agreement. U.S. exports to Colombia have surpassed $1.1 billion and more than 8,000 small and medium-sized businesses export to Colombia, while the trade deal awaits Congressional approval. On July 23, 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Colombian Minister of Defense penned a column in the Wall Street Journal outlining the significant security improvements in Colombia and stressing the importance of the U.S.-Colombia relationship as well as passage of the free trade agreement.

Tagged as: foreign affairs, trade
Posted 23 Jul 2008

The Senate Update for this week recaps the Senate’s consideration of PEPFAR Reauthorization (H.R. 5501) and provides a look at the week ahead.

Tagged as: Uncategorized
Posted 22 Jul 2008

Earlier this week the President announced that he would lift the Executive Branch ban on offshore exploration for oil and natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf. The White House released this Fact Sheet on OCS to accompany the announcement. On Wednesday, July 16, the Bureau of Land Management announced a major lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, that could result in as much as 8.4 billion barrels of oil being developed. The Heritage Foundation also released a report this week on the impact of How Rising Gas Prices Hurt American Households.

Tagged as: energy
Posted 18 Jul 2008

Each week the Policy Blog will feature a summary of last week’s House floor activity. This document will provide a summary of bills that passed the House as well as any bills that were signed into law by the President.

Tagged as: house floor summary
Posted 17 Jul 2008

This week’s Senate Update includes a summary of Senate actions for the past two weeks, as well as a look at the week ahead.

Tagged as: senate update
Posted 15 Jul 2008

The White House recently released information regarding housing legislation as well as the Administration’s efforts to address the housing crisis.  Fact Sheet: Helping Responsible Homeowners Across America

Tagged as: Uncategorized
Posted 10 Jul 2008

Congress will be in session for four weeks during July. Please find attached a list of potential legislation that the House may consider prior to the August District Work Period.

Tagged as: house floor summary
Posted 09 Jul 2008

The Heritage Foundation released a report today detailing several ideas for expanding American energy supplies.  Earlier this week, the Department of the Interior provided a helpful breakdown of oil and natural gas leasing that refutes Democrat arguments for “Use-It-or-Lose-It” legislation.

Tagged as: economy, energy
Posted 26 Jun 2008

On June 23, 2008, the Department of Defense announced the release of its quarterly report - Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq. Some of the highlights include that violence in Iraq dropped to its lowest level in four years during May 2008 and the Iraqi government’s success at fighting illegal militias and Iranian-backed groups with contributing to lower levels of violence.

Tagged as: foreign affairs, iraq, national defense, war on terror
Posted 26 Jun 2008

On June 23, 2008, Appropriations Committee Ranking Republican Jerry Lewis (R-CA) sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) urging him to schedule a full committee markup of the Interior Appropriations bill as soon as possible so that work can be done to address soaring oil and gas prices.

Tagged as: energy
Posted 25 Jun 2008