WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 – One week after lawmakers failed to find more than 50 Democratic votes in support of the American Jobs Act, S.1660, the White House push is on to break the measure into bite-size pieces and try, try again.
The U. S. Senate voted 50-49 last Wednesday on a motion to invoke cloture on President Obama’s signature jobs bill, but lacked the two-thirds majority to proceed. Democrats Jon Tester, D- Mont., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., voted against the measure, along with 47 Republicans.
This week, President Barack Obama says he’s going on the road again to give members of Congress “another chance to spend more time worrying about your jobs than keeping theirs.”
Delivering his weekly radio address from Detroit on Saturday, Obama said he’s “urging Members of Congress to vote on putting hundreds of thousands of teachers back in the classroom, cops back on the streets, and firefighters back on the job. He’s kicking off a three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia to support the Jobs Act, and encouraging Twitter followers to sign up at the WhiteHouse/tweetup
“In the coming weeks, we’ll have them vote on the other parts of the jobs bill – putting construction workers back on the job, rebuilding our roads and bridges; providing tax cuts for small businesses that hire our veterans; making sure that middle-class families don’t see a tax hike next year and that the unemployed and our out-of-work youth have a chance to get back in the workforce and earn their piece of the American Dream,” said the president.
GOP House leaders pointed out that the Democratic-led Senate has gone 900 days without passing a budget.
In the GOP weekly address, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, urged "the president to call on leaders in his party to follow the House, listen to the American people, stop pushing ideas we know won’t work, and pass these jobs bills." McCarthy also highlighted potential areas where both parties can work together to remove barriers to job growth, including including repealing the IRS three percent withholding tax and passage of the three free trade agreements that Congress approved last week.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California, in the weekly Republican address, called on the president ‘to come off the campaign trail and get to work’ on the passage of Republican bills to spur the economy. ‘All told, the House has passed more than a dozen bills as part of our plan to get Americans working again,’ he said. He said Obama should force Democrats who control the Senate to vote on the bills.”
The House is not in session this week, so the Senate will be the only show in town. Behind the scenes, work continues on providing input to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, which is likely to meet throughout the week.
The Senate is scheduled to debate 2012 spending measures at 2 p.m. today, including a “minibus” package that includes discretionary spending for the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration, Commerce, Justice and Transportation, and federal housing programs.
For other events and reports this week:
Monday, October 17
8:30-5:00 p.m., State of the Plate DC, Sustainable Meat and the Culinary Community. Marvin Center, George Washington University 800 21st Street, NW Washington DC.
10:00 a.m., the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management will hold a field hearing entitled “Texas Wildfire Review: Did Bureaucracy Prevent a Timely Response?” The Committee will meet at the Texas State Capitol, 1100 Congress Avenue, Room E1.010, Austin, TX
12:30 p.m. EDT, Committee on Natural Resources Oversight Field Hearing on "NOAA's Steller Sea Lion Science and Fishery Management Restrictions - Does the Science Support the Decisions?" Seattle, Washington.
2:00 p.m.: Senate convenes, begins consideration of H.R.2112, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012.
3:30 p.m. Secretary Vilsack will attend a Healthier US Schools Challenge event with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.
USDA Reports: Aquaculture Date, Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook, Crop Progress
Tuesday, October 18
10:00 a.m., Committee on Environment and Public Works, Full Committee hearing entitled, "A Review of the 2011 Floods and the Condition of the Nation’s Flood Control Systems." 406 Dirksen.
1:00 p.m., EDT Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water and Power Oversight Field Hearing on "Questionable Fish Science and Environmental Lawsuits: Jobs and Water Supplies At Risk in The Inland Empire.” Highland, California.
USDA Reports: Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook
Wednesday, October 19
USDA Reports: Meat Price Spreads, Milk Production, Broiler Hatchery, Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade
Thursday, October 20
USDA Reports: U.S. Export Sales, Catfish Feed Deliveries, Catfish Processing
Friday, October 21
USDA Reports: Livestock Slaughter, Dairy Products Prices, Cold Storage, Cattle on Feed, Tree Nuts: World Markets and Trade, Chickens and Eggs, Peanut Prices, Wheat Data, Feed Grains Database
Saturday, October 22
Secretary Vilsack will give a speech on the next Farm Bill at the Future Farmers of America National Convention in Indianapolis, IN.
For more Agri-Pulse news, go to: http://www.agri-pulse.com/
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