Eagle Forum |
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| January 2004 |
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What Happened in the 108th Congress, 1st
Session?
With Republicans in control of the White House, Senate, and House, conservatives achieved some tremendous victories in the 108th Congress, First Session: speeding up the 2001 tax cuts, enacting a ban on partial birth abortions, expanding medical savings accounts, increasing funds for abstinence education, and more. However because margins in Congress remain close in both bodies, compromises with moderate Republicans and Democrats are an ongoing challenge. The pro-family and limited government Members are becoming well-organized and a force that leadership cannot ignore. Encourage your conservative Members to join the Values Action Team, the Immigration Reform Caucus, the Senate Steering Committee, and the House Republican Study Committee (RSC), which is one of the largest Congressional caucuses. By increasing these caucuses, the conservative voice within Congress grows louder and more effective.
Pro-family Tax Cuts Accelerated
In 2001, President Bush signed into
law the largest tax cut since 1981.
Every American taxpayer benefited, but the phase-in period for the
entire bill was drawn out over 10 years.
Early in 2003, the President and Congressional leadership began moving
legislation to accelerate to tax year 2003 the $1,000 child tax credit,
marriage penalty relief, and income rate reductions. On May 9, the House successfully passed the Jobs and Growth
Reconciliation Tax Act (H.R. 2) to
achieve those goals (222 to 203, House Roll Call Vote 182). The tougher vote came in the Senate later
that month. In a rare moment, Vice President Richard Cheney was called in to
cast the tie-breaking vote (Senate Roll Call Vote
196).
President Bush signed the bill on May 28.
In 1996, Congress passed
legislation to begin demonstration projects for medical savings accounts
(MSAs), which are tax-free interest-bearing savings accounts that pay for basic
medical expenses. However, the many
restrictions and regulations placed on MSAs made them unworkable for most
people. MSAs were set to expire the end of the year. In June, the House approved the Health Savings and Affordability
Act of 2003 (H.R.
2596), which renamed MSAs to health savings accounts (HSAs)and removed the
onerous restrictions (237 to 191, House Roll Call Vote 328). The greater challenge was consideration in
the Senate, especially opposition from Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
Health
savings account will fundamentally reform the entire health care system. HSAs will bring freedom: tax-free accounts,
roll over year-to-year, empowering individuals (instead of HMOs) to make health
choices, and allowing contributions by employers and employees. Through HSAs,
individuals would make their basic health care decisions and have catastrophic
policies for major health problems, which means lower premiums. This entire concept undermines the Kennedy
and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) concept of nationalized, socialized medicine.
The only
way to get HSAs enacted was to roll the bill into another piece of “must-pass”
legislation, which turned out to be the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (H.R. 1). This massive bill was tied up in conference
for months because Kennedy and other liberals threatened to filibuster a bill
that contained substantial reforms in Medicare and health care in general,
specifically HSAs.
When the Senate brought the
Medicare conference report, including HSAs, to the floor, Sen. Tom Daschle
(D-SD) raised a point of order against the bill stating that the provisions
related to premium support and health savings accounts violated the
Congressional Budget Act. The
procedural motion, which required 60 votes to waive, was an attempt to strip
those key provisions from the bill.
Sen. Bill Frist’s (R-TN) motion to waive the point of order narrowly
prevailed 61 to 39 (Senate
Roll Call Vote 458). Ultimately, Congress passed and the President
signed a moderate Medicare bill, including a substantial price tag, but HSAs
survived the fight. Starting in January
2004, individuals will have access to HSAs and, therefore, more choices in
health care.
Troops on the Border
Immigration Enforcement and Cooperation with Local Governments
Matricula Consular
On July 15, Rep.
John Hostettler (R-IN) offered an amendment to the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act (H.R. 1950)
to provide the Secretary of State with the authority to regulate the issuance
of consular identification cards by foreign missions in the United States.
Regulations must include: 1) notification to the U.S. government by a foreign
mission of each consular identification card issued within the United States,
2) issuance to bona fide citizens of the country of origin, 3) maintenance of
accurate and complete records, 4) notification by card recipients of any change
of address, and 5) access to auditable records. The Hostettler amendment passed
226 to 198 (House Roll
Call Vote 367). The Senate did
not complete action on the bill but will likely do so in 2004.
Social Security Benefits For Illegal Mexican Aliens
The filibustering of Charles
Pickering Sr., and Priscilla Owen carried over from the 107th
Congress and the tally rose as Democrats filibustered Miguel Estrada, William
H. Pryor, Jr., Carolyn B. Kuhl, and Janice R. Brown. Miguel Estrada faced seven cloture votes, as Democrats failed to
grant him an up or down vote in over two years. This obstructionism forced Estrada to withdraw himself as a
nominee in order to return to his law practice and family. With Democrats
particularly targeting nominees at the Appellate level, only 76 percent of
President Bush’s nominees have been confirmed, unlike the traditionally high
confirmation numbers of Clinton (90%), Bush 41 (95%), Reagan (99%), and Carter
(93%).
A possible option in the 2nd
session is a change in Senate rules that would reduce the number of votes
needed to defeat a filibuster on nominations. Cloture votes would decline from
60 to 57 to 54 and then to 51.
However, this rule’s change, which was introduced by Senators Bill Frist
(R-TN) and Zell Miller (D-GA), requires a two-thirds vote to take effect.
Republicans are more likely to focus on increasing their numbers in the Senate
in the upcoming 2004 elections. Open
seats in many Southern states offer some hope.
Justice for Judges Marathon
Limiting Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts
Under Article III, Section 2 of the
U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power limit to jurisdiction of the federal
courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Exercising this option is not uncommon; in fact, Senator Tom Daschle
(D-SD) has used it for his agenda.
Conservative Members are now pushing this Constitutional option to curb
judicial activism. From reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance to displaying the Ten Commandments, the attacks by
activist judges on the acknowledgement of God are occurring with greater
frequency.
Pressure is mounting on
Congressional Leadership to bring a court limitation bill to the floor for a
vote. Urge your Members to co-sponsor the following bills:
Defunding Enforcement of Activist Judicial Decisions
Hostettler then offered another
amendment to the appropriations bill that would prohibit use of funds to
enforce the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit in Glassroth
v. Moore, decided July 1, 2003, regarding the display of the Ten
Commandments in the Alabama Courthouse.
On July 23, 2003, this amendment passed 260 to 161 (House Roll Call Vote 419). Unfortunately, neither amendment survived
when the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill was rolled into the
Consolidated Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2673).
Human Patenting
Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-PA) and the powerful biotech industry groups attempted to water down
the language to encompass only “human beings,” which would open the debate over
the definition of a human being. Despite their attempts, the original Weldon
language was inserted into the Consolidated Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2673),
which passed the House on December 8 and awaits final action by the
Senate. If approved and sent to the
President, the Weldon Amendment will be one of the most substantial pro-life
successes because it greatly diminishes biotech’s ability to profit from
embryo-killing research.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Unborn Victims of Violence Act
Abortions in Overseas Military Hospitals
Mexico City
On July 9, Sen. Barbara Boxer
(D-CA) offered an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (S. 925) to
prohibit the President from exercising the Mexico City policy. The motion to
table the amendment failed 43 to 53 (Senate
Roll Call Vote 267). The amendment was approved by voice vote, but the
Senate never completed action on the bill.
When portions of the House version were rolled into the Consolidated
Appropriations Act (H.R. 2673),
the Boxer amendment was not included.
United Nations Fund for Population Assistance (UNFPA)
Because last year's funding for UNFPA was
essentially sitting in an account waiting for it to come back into compliance,
the President elected on September 30 to use those funds for a better
purpose. He transferred the $25 million
allocated for UNFPA to Child Survival and Health Programs Fund, which provides
food, water, and essential medicines to children in poor countries.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Curbing Federal Spending
Title X
Abstinence Education
U.S. Still Contributes to the United Nations
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) offered an
amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 1950)
to prohibit funds from being authorized to pay any U.S. contribution to the
United Nations or any affiliated agency of the United Nations. Unfortunately, the amendment failed 74 to
350 (House Roll Call
Vote 364). Rep. Steve King (R-IA) tried another approach on the same
bill that would limit the U.S. contribution to the U.N. regular budget to an
amount no greater than that paid by any other permanent Security Council
member. The vote improved, but the
amendment still lost 187 to 237 (House Roll Call Vote 365).
The Bush Administration has also
brought the U.S. back into UNESCO. Rep.
Ron Paul tried to cut off U.S. funding to UNESCO during consideration of the
Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill (H.R. 2799),
but his amendment fell short 145 to 279 (House Roll Call Vote 405).
Protecting Traditional Marriage
The amendment states: “Marriage in the United States shall consist
only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the
Constitution of any State, nor State or Federal law, shall be construed to
require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon
unmarried couples or groups.”
The amendment essentially defines
marriage and prevents both federal and state courts from forcing homosexual
marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, etc. on states. However, state
legislatures remain free to take such actions.
In 1996,
Congress overwhelmingly passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which
defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman and also interprets
the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution to permit each state
to define marriage within its jurisdiction.
Thirty-seven states responded by passing state DOMAs. Even though DOMA is solid law, many legal
scholars are now warning that activist courts will strike it down. Only a constitutional amendment would stop
homosexual marriage from spreading state-by-state. Passing an amendment is a substantial challenge. The Constitution
requires two-thirds approval in the House and Senate and then ratification by
three-fifths of the states.
In addition to an amendment, Rep.
John Hostettler (R-IN) is leading an effort to amend the Defense of Marriage
Act to remove jurisdiction from all federal courts on the question. The Marriage Protection Act of 2003 (H.R. 3313)would not stop the state courts from acting, but it would stop federal
court mischief, especially across appellate circuits.
Welfare Reform
Global HIV/AIDS bill
During the 107th
Congress, the Democrats were pushing a similar initiative but with a very
liberal spin. Once it became a
Presidential priority, conservatives had to make lemonade from this lemon of a
bill. Conservatives were successful in
adding some important provisions to direct the bill, known as the United States
Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (H.R. 1298),
away from just another funding stream for the left.
During committee consideration in
the House, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) successfully included an amendment requiring
grant recipients to have an explicit policy opposing prostitution and sex
trafficking. Even though his amendment
failed during the committee, Rep. Smith also won approval by voice vote during
floor consideration so that organizations are not required to endorse, utilize,
or participate in a HIV/AIDS prevention method or treatment program to which
the organization has a religious or moral objection.
As for HIV prevention efforts, the
Administration highlighted the successful Uganda “ABC” model, instead of the
typical condom airlift approach. The
“ABC” model prioritizes abstinence, being faithful to a monogamous partner, and
only as a last resort, condoms. Despite USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios
stating that the ABC model is American policy, codifying abstinence as a
priority in the law narrowly failed in the International Relations Committee. During floor consideration of H.R. 1298,
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) offered an amendment to ensure that at least 33 percent
of HIV prevention dollars (as part of direct U.S. aid) are used for
abstinence-until-marriage programs. The amendment passed 220 to 197 (House Roll Call Vote 157). Twice, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
offered amendments to eliminate the designated abstinence funding, but she
failed both times (45 to 52 on Senate
Roll Call Vote 180, 45 to 47 on Senate
Roll Call Vote 430).
The prostitution language, religious protections, and abstinence funding survived
the conference committee and were included in the final bill signed by the
President.
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