Today from the Capitol

Today was a busy day inside the halls of the capital. With today being dedicated as Peace Officers’ Memorial Day, there were many supporters in and outside of the capitol including a memorial gathering outside the capital at one o’clock.

As for legislative business, the House began the day discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations bill. With members entering and exiting the chamber through out the day, this issue was obviously a hotly contested one. There is a natural tussle of ideas as to whether or not to pull the funding, or to grant more money for our troops. Naturally there is a large number of representatives wanting out of the war, and a way to end the war is by stopping the funding. However, to those that do support the war, their response was that by cutting the funding, this will result in not supplying our soldiers adequately with what they need to fight the battle. So there was a struggle of ideals between the representatives as to what to do. House Democratic leadership wants this wrapped up before Memorial Day, however it seems as if this will be problematic. Speaking of House Democratic Leadership, they were the most harshly criticized group among the arguments given from Republicans. They were continually accused of setting their own agenda and not working together to get legislation passed.

The House was later on discussing the conference report on H.R.2419 which is on the “Food and Energy Security Act of 2007.”

On the Senate side, the Senators resumed debate on H.R. 2419 which is the “Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act.” Some high profile Senators were in and out of the chamber as there was a news conference held by Diane Feinstein whom was accompanied by Senators Levin, Snowe, Cantwell, Collins, Dorgan, and Wyden. Essentially the Senate passed a measure to cut off the “Enron Loophole,” which was part of the Farm Bill conference report the Senate had passed. “This legislation provides new tools to stop price manipulation, excessive speculation, and trading abuses that have too often clobbered American families with unfair energy price hikes,” said Senator Levin. “We’ve finally done it. Today, the Senate sends the President a bill to close the Enron Loophole once and for all,” stated Senator Feinstein.

Lastly, in regards to foreign affairs, The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus held a news conference to announce the top six countries which were put on the 2008 priority watch list. These countries included China, Russia, Canada, Greece, Spain and Mexico. China, Russia and Canada are the top three countries with troubling pirating issues. China especially is of concern after Canada and Russia have made minimal attempts to deal with the issue. Representatives from the MPAA and RIAA were on hand to discuss the damaging effects from piracy not only to individuals, but also to economies. If material is being stolen from others, it’s not just going to take away from the main artist, but all those that contributed to the project.