# Congress



Iowans split on party lines as House rejects Senate payroll tax cut bill

The payroll tax cut, extended unemployment benefits, and a “doc fix” affecting Medicare reimbursements look more likely to expire on December 31 after today’s votes in the U.S. House. Republicans voted to go to conference to resolve differences between their approach to extending the payroll tax cut and the bill the U.S. Senate approved on Saturday.  However, Democrats don’t plan to appoint anyone to the conference committee.

Details on today’s votes and reaction from members of Iowa’s House delegation are after the jump.

Continue Reading...

Iowa reaction to the official end of the Iraq war

The U.S. officially ended the war in Iraq today “with an understated ceremony in Baghdad” to lower the American flag of command. In a sense, Representative Ron Paul is correct to say that we’re “pretending” to bring all our troops home while putting 17,000 military contractors in Iraq. If the war is well and truly over, I wonder why two-thirds of U.S. senators recently voted against repealing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Senator Tom Harkin supported that effort to repeal the war authorization, while Senator Chuck Grassley opposed it. The proposed amendment to the 2012 defense authorization bill “would have forced the president to return to Congress and seek additional authority to send more troops” to Iraq.

In any event, today is a milestone in the war that began in March 2003. After the jump I’ve posted reaction from some members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation. I will update this post as more comments appear.

Continue Reading...

Iowa Democrats support GOP payroll tax extension in House

Only ten Democrats in the U.S. House supported a bill approved last night to extend the payroll tax cut and some unemployment benefits. All three Iowa Democrats crossed party lines to vote for this legislation, which has drawn a rare veto threat from the White House.

UPDATE: Scroll down for Representative Dave Loebsack’s statement on this vote.

SECOND UPDATE: I’ve added a statement from Representative Steve King.

Continue Reading...

Braley, Boswell, Loebsack vote with House Republicans on farm dust bill

Some bills are designed to solve real problems, some bills are designed to create the appearance of solving real problems, and some bills are designed to solve non-existent problems. The U.S. House passed that third kind of bill yesterday, seeking to block rules the Environmental Protection Agency has not even proposed.

Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among the 33 Democrats who voted with Republicans to pass the H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. The Iowa Democrats weren’t all equally supportive during the floor debate, however.

Continue Reading...

Iowans split on party lines as House passes another anti-regulation bill

The U.S. House passed another bill on December 2 seeking to complicate rule-making by federal agencies. Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) voted for H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act, as did every Republican present. Nineteen House Democrats (the usual Blue Dog suspects) voted with the majority for this bill. Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) opposed the legislation, despite having crossed the aisle the previous day to support a different GOP effort to limit business regulations.

Continue Reading...

House votes to block union election rules; Iowans split on party lines

Yesterday the U.S. House approved H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. The bill seeks to reverse proposed National Labor Relations Board actions that could make it easier for organized labor to win union elections. Although the bill has no chance of clearing the U.S. Senate, yesterday’s vote could reverberate in some of next year’s Congressional races in Iowa.

Continue Reading...

IA-03: Boswell slams Mitt Romney on taxes, middle class

While former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney campaigned in Des Moines last week, Representative Leonard Boswell publicly criticized the Republican presidential front-runner for the second time this month. The eight-term Democrat authored a guest column in the November 16 Des Moines Register criticizing Romney’s position on health care for veterans. His latest attack focused more broadly on Romney’s position on taxes and entitlement programs.

Continue Reading...

IA-01: Braley running against post office closures

Three-term Representative Bruce Braley has three potential Republican challengers for 2012, but a different adversary has been the Democrat’s prime target in public statements and many appearances around Iowa’s new first Congressional district.

Braley’s top punching bag of late has been the proposed restructuring of the U.S. Postal Service. The plan could close 178 mostly rural post offices in Iowa, many of them in the new IA-01. Braley has warned that shuttering post offices would hurt local economies. As a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he has also highlighted the impact of post office closures on veterans and deployed military personnel.

Continue Reading...

PATRIOT Act 10th anniversary discussion thread

Ten years ago today, President George W. Bush signed a bill called the “United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism,” better known as the PATRIOT Act. It’s a good time to reflect on the law’s impact as well as how the Iowans in Congress voted on its provisions over the last decade.

Continue Reading...

IA-03: Rove's group launches second anti-Boswell tv ad

The Crossroads GPS group headed by former George W. Bush spinmaster Karl Rove is spending $160,000 to run a new commercial about Representative Leonard Boswell on television stations in Des Moines and Omaha. Those media markets reach most residents of Iowa’s new third Congressional district, where Boswell will face Republican Representative Tom Latham in 2012.

Like the first commercial Rove’s group ran against Boswell this summer, the new ad is dominated by boilerplate conservative talking points against House Democrats. The transcript and analysis are after the jump.

Continue Reading...

Iowa reaction to Obama announcement on leaving Iraq

President Barack Obama announced yesterday that the last remaining U.S. troops in Iraq will leave that country by the end of 2011. All the Iowa Democrats in Congress welcomed the news and commended war veterans for their service. Senator Tom Harkin expressed regret only that the end to this “misguided” war “did not come sooner.” Representative Bruce Braley (IA-01) similarly described the war’s end as “long overdue.” Representative Dave Loebsack (IA-02) pledged to “closely monitor the safety of our troops” as they leave Iraq. Representative Leonard Boswell (IA-03) called for working “towards this end in Afghanistan as soon as possible.”

After the jump I’ve posted the president’s comments on the troop withdrawal as well as the full statements from Harkin, Braley, Loebsack and Boswell. I will update this post if I see comments from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, Representative Tom Latham (IA-04) or Representative Steve King (IA-05).

Continue Reading...

Iowa reaction to the death of former Libyan dictator Gadhafi

Libyan forces captured and killed Colonel Moammar Gadhafi today in the former dictator’s hometown of Sirte. Representative Bruce Braley (D, IA-01) welcomed news of the “victory for freedom-loving people” but added that “With Gadhafi out of the picture, it’s time for US involvement in Libya to end.” Braley has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s open-ended intervention in Libya. He has voted against authorizing military action there and repeatedly demanded a cost accounting of our mission.

Representative Dave Loebsack (D, IA-02) reacted to today’s news with a statement calling on “international organizations to step forward and help the Libyan people” so that the U.S. can “focus on creating jobs here at home.” Loebsack sits on the House Armed Services Committee but has generally avoided commenting on the U.S. mission in Libya. In June, he voted against authorizing the intervention but also against defunding it.

The full statements from Braley and Loebsack are after the jump. I will update this post if other members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation comment on today’s events. UPDATE: Added reaction from Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03) and Steve King (R, IA-05). King and Boswell supported authorizing the Libya intervention. King was one of only five House members to vote against barring federal funding for U.S. ground troops in Libya.

SECOND UPDATE: Comments from Tom Latham (R, IA-04) and Senator Chuck Grassley are below.

Continue Reading...

Boswell, Latham and King vote to override EPA coal ash regulations

Catching up on news from last week, the U.S. House approved a bill seeking to limit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate how coal ash is used. Iowa Democrat Leonard Boswell (IA-03) joined Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) in voting for the bill, although his votes on some key amendments suggested that he was not fully behind the legislation’s goals.

Continue Reading...

Iowa Congressional 3Q fundraising news roundup

October 15 was the deadline for Congressional candidates to file reports on their third-quarter fundraising with the Federal Election Commission. Follow me after the jump for highlights from the filings for incumbents and challengers in Iowa’s four new Congressional districts.

I’m covering the districts in reverse order today, because based on second-quarter filings, political junkies are most closely watching the money race in IA-04 and IA-03.

Continue Reading...

Latham, King and Boswell back another bill to undermine EPA

The U.S. House has again approved legislation to restrict Environmental Protection Agency pollution controls. H.R. 2681, also known as the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, would delay some new air pollution regulations for cement plants. The 237 Republicans and 25 Democrats supporting final passage of the on October 6 included Iowa Representatives Tom Latham (IA-04), Steve King (IA-05) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03). Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) stood with the majority of House Democrats against the bill.

Boswell has not commented publicly on his latest vote against EPA rules. Roll calls from the House floor debate on H.R. 2681 suggest that in contrast to Latham and King, Boswell was less than fully supportive of the measure. More details are after the jump, along with a nice spin attempt by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Continue Reading...

The beginning of the end for the Senate filibuster?

Senator Tom Harkin has tried repeatedly to change Senate procedures that obstruct simple majority rule. In January of this year, Senate Democrats failed to coalesce around his reasonable filibuster reform proposals, opting instead for what Harkin called “baby steps” that “don’t get to the heart of the matter.”

Tonight, while the chamber debated a low-profile bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used a simple majority vote to change Senate rules. He was targeting a procedure that amounted to a repeat filibuster rather than the filibuster itself, but he may have set the stage for major rule changes in the future.

Continue Reading...

Latham votes yes, but House rejects government funding resolution

Less than 10 days before the current fiscal year ends, Congress has not approved any appropriations bills for fiscal year 2012. Yet again, continuing funding resolutions are needed to prevent the federal government from shutting down after September 30. Yesterday Representative Tom Latham was the only Iowan to vote yes as the U.S. House failed to approve a continuing resolution backed by Republican leaders.

Continue Reading...
Page 1 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 165