Today the Washington Bureau will be covering the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program”, House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on “Treatments for an Ailing Economy: Protecting Health Care Coverage and Investing in Biomedical Research”, and a DSCC press conference with Sen. Charles E. Schumer on the Minnesota recount.

The Washington Bureau will also be reporting on the Heritage Foundation’s discussion on “Assessing the Impacts of the Financial Crisis on Europe’s Political Architecture”, the Center for U.S. Global Engagement’s discussion on the presidential transition and its implications for foreign policy decision-making in the next administration, and a National Council of La Raza conference call on the impact of immigration issues on the 2008 election.

U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) speaks about the Democratic party’s push for a larger Senate majority. Allen also addressed his stances on issues like health care and oil prices.

On behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke in Denver Wednesday afternoon about the need to expand the Democratic majority in this year’s Senate elections. He introduced six candidates running for seats in the Senate this fall. Among them were former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO), Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM), Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME), Rep. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

The Democratic candidates are in close races for eleven Senate seats, and Sen. Reid was optimistic that the party will win the spots. Reid said, “The Democratic majority is slim…we know we need more numbers.”

Reid added that the Democrats are reaching for sixty seats, in order to prevent Republican filibusters, which have recently been used in record numbers. In the 109th Congress, only 54 filibusters were used. By comparison, the 110th Congress has already used a record-breaking 92 filibusters.

After Reid spoke, Sen. Charles Schumer discussed the importance of Wednesday’s meeting. Schumer said, “This gathering doesn’t have thousands of people…but it’s probably the second most important gathering that you will be at for the future of this country,” referring to this week’s Democratic National Convention.

Schumer emphasized the fact that the Senate races are just as important as the Presidential race. A Democratic majority must be elected, according to Schumer, in order to fulfill the party’s promise of change by passing comprehensive legislation. He acknowledged that if Sen. Barack Obama is elected President, he will need the support of a Democratic-led Congress.

The six candidates that joined Reid and Schumer will be running competitive races against Republican incumbents.

While the candidates all discussed change, most touched on specific issues. Allen and Shaheen shared a concern about the cost of heating oil, while Warner, the keynote speaker at the DNC on Wednesday, said he will take a stand to improve the country’s infrastructure.

Warner said “This is one of these moments in history…what happens over the next two, four, six, eight years will determine whether this country has the same preeminence in the twenty-first century that it had in the twentieth.”

The DSCC and some Senatorial candidates will address the delegates about their push for Senate seats at the DNC after the Roll Call Vote, which will take place Wednesday evening.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) says it is clear that invading Iraq was a grave mistake, diverting resources in the fight against al-Qaeda and, by failing to differentiate between a secular dictator and religious extremists, causing the United States to play into Osama bin Laden’s hands. (0:29)

 

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At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on unfair employment practices at the Department of Justice, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) describes his disgust at those who discriminated against politically liberal applicants for law positions. He calls the practice “despicable” and regrets that they may go unpunished. (0:32)

 

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House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Senate Democratic Conference Vice-Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) today introduced legislation that will expand the use of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Emmanuel and Schumer were joined by Alison Reardon, SEIU Director of Legislation and Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart Executive Vice President of the Global People Division, representatives of two of the groups that have endorsed the legislation. (more…)

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a hearing this morning focusing on the effects of high oil prices and the nations economy before the Joint Economic Committee. Schumer and the other democrats on the committee lambasted the Bush Administration for what they said was an inability to “lesson our dependence on foreign oil,” said Schumer. (more…)

Today at a Joint Economic Committee hearing on the future of the war in Iraq costs House and Senate Democrat’s reiterated their continuing criticism of the Bush Administrations economic handling of the ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the testimony even began members of the joint committee were in disagreement over whether or not the hearing should even be taking place. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) voiced his frustration with the Democrat controlled committee when he stated “I question whether it is important to hold this hearing at all.” (more…)

At a press conference following the vote on the Democratic proposal to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) says that “we are saying to the Saudis that ‘if you don’t help us, why should we be helping you?’” He says that the relationship should be a “two-way street,” and that although Saudi Arabia needs U.S. military arms, the U.S. needs Saudi Arabia to “cooperate, and not strangle American consumers.” (0:25)

 

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At a press conference following the vote on the Democratic proposal to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) says that Saudi Arabia is currently producing two million barrels of oil per day below its capacity. If it increased production by one million barrels, he said, prices would likely lower by 50 cents within a month or two. (0:36)

 

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Five senators held a press conference today immediately following a vote on a Democratic proposal to “suspend filling the nearly full Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to increase supply and lower energy prices,” the official release said. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that Saudi Arabia currently produces nearly two million barrels of oil per day below capacity, and said that prices would likely lower by 50 cents per gallon in the next month or two if they increased production by just one million barrels per day. Schumer said that himself and the other senators wanted to present President Bush with a “motion of disapproval” of the Saudi arms deal, and urge him to put pressure on the Saudis to increase productivity and lower prices as he leaves for his trip to the Middle East today. “We are saying to the Saudis that ‘if you don’t help us, why should we be helping you?’” Schumer said. “You need our arms, but we need you to cooperate and not strangle American consumers.”
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