Politics

Congress Links 7/19

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

• The Senate Comitee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved $19 billion NASA bill that allows private rockets to be used for space travel. (Information Week)
• Supporters of the DREAM Act, which would allow some illegal immigrants to become citizens, started several days of lobbying today. (CNN)
• Obama calls on the GOP to pass legislation to extend unemployment benefits. (Houston Chronicle)
• The issue of Medicare physician payments may resurface in lame-duck Congress, thanks to a shorter raise that will expire at the end of November. (American Medical News)
• Harry Reid [D-NV] will finally introduce his energy and climate change bill this week. (National Journal)
• The West Virginia legislature failed to pass a bill to schedule a special election to fill the late Senator Byrd’s seat. If a bill isn’t passed today, Governor Manchin will have to set the dates for the August primary and November election that he himself might be running in. (Politico)
• Representative Bobby Rush [D-IL] is expected to introduce a privacy bill today. Though focused on online data collection, it may also include provisions for things such as store savings cards. (Politico)
• Though the Obama administration refused to call the requirement to buy insurance a tax when the health care bill was passed, it is now defending the mandate as a valid exercise of the government's “power to lay and collect taxes.” (The New York Times)

Full post as published by Open Congress on July 20, 2010 (boomark / email).