Congressional Report: April 22-April 28, 2018
On April 26, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill to protect Mueller. The proposed legislation is designed to make it more difficult for any president to dismiss a special counsel. 4 Republicans (Grassley, R-IA; Graham, R-SC; Tillis, R-NC; Flake, R-AZ) voted with all 10 Democrats to send the bill to the Senate Floor. The bill allows a special counsel fired by the AG or other senior Justice official to challenge the firing in the District of Columbia’s U.S. District Court. It also would protect all documents relevant to the special counsel’s work during the challenge period. Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) said he will not allow a vote on the bill. Senator Grassley’s support puts pressure on McConnell and Grassley hopes the Leader will change his mind. FYI: The April 18 DDN reported that on CNN, Senator Portman said he opposes a bill preventing the President from firing Mueller since the President has the constitutional right to fire his employees. He says that this does not mean the President should do so, however.
Representative Turner
Major Votes
April 27: Voted YEA for the FAA Reauthorization Bill. Provides funding for the Federal Aviation Administration for 5 years. Passed with bipartisan support (393-13).
Other Activity
April 22: Rep. Turner appeared on CNN with Fredricka Whitfield to discuss national security, denuclearizing North Korea, and combating Russian aggression.
April 23: With Tonko (D, NY-20), Rep. Turner sponsored the Medicaid Reentry Act to allow state Medicaid programs to receive federal matching dollars for services to Medicaid-eligible incarcerated people during the 30 days prior to their release. The hope is that helping them stay off opioids on release may prevent
deadly overdoses. These people are 129 times more likely to die of an overdose the first 2 weeks of post release than the general population.
April 23: Rep. Turner was one of many House members to introduce the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act of 2018.
April 25: With Moulton (D, MA-6), Turner introduced Sharing Health Information to Ensure Lifesaving Drug Safety (SHIELDS) which closes a gap in the Department of Defense’s practice of reporting opioid prescriptions. The DOD does not have to report controlled substance prescriptions to any drug monitoring programs at present. This hurts the military and veterans.
April 25: With Tsongas (D, MA-3), Representative Turner introduced purposefully Expanding and Reinforcing the Statutes we insist Support Our Troops Against Military Sexual Trauma Act (PERSIST Against MST Act) to further combat sexual assault in the military. Crucial legislation but who names these things?
April 25: Rep. Turner was on CNN speaking about the North and South Korea meetings. He is a skeptic about the intentions of North Korea but supports the administrations pressure to shift more focus on China’s involvement. Concerning Russia, he said he has called for stronger sanctions in the past and is still firm in the imposition of more sanctions. He cleverly talked around sharing an opinion on the administration not following through with the last sanctions proposed.
Senator Portman
Major Votes
April 26: Voted YEA on confirming Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.
Other Activity
April 24: During a Senate Finance Committee meeting, Senator Portman praised the positive impact of tax reform on small businesses. He stated this will make America more competitive and encourage businesses to move jobs home and invest here. No mention of how this added debt will affect Social Security, Medicare, and the lives of everyday Americans. The idea being pushed is that the economy will grow at such a rate that it will take care of problems.
April 24: As part of a bipartisan effort, Senator Portman co-introduced the Creating Quality Technical Educators Act to expand the training of teachers so that they are better able to prepare interested students for technical jobs.
April 25: On the Senate floor, Portman strongly recommended Mike Pompeo’s confirmation.
April 25: The Senator had an op-ed in THE HILL calling for unity in overcoming the opioid epidemic.
April 26 and 27: On the Senate floor Thursday, Portman discussed the 2 bills he had introduced earlier, (STOP Act and CARA 2.0 Act), which he believes are vital in fighting the drug epidemic. On Friday, he was back home in Cincinnati to speak at the Center for Addiction Treatment’s Annual Breakfast and also attended PreventionFirst!’s Annual Community Awards Luncheon.
Senator Brown
Major Votes
April 26: Voted NAY on PN 1761 to confirm Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State. Pompeo was confirmed (57-42).
Other Activity
are getting large tax cuts.