Congresspedia Review: Last Week in Congress (Nov. 30 - Dec. 7, 2007)

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As predicted, Congress' tackling of energy and climate change issues was cause for a contentious week on Capitol Hill, though they it did come several steps closer to passing a far-reaching bill. The federal budget took a back seat to other, controversial subjects - including more drama with House pages, congressional transparency and the farm bill - but that ensures it will return to the spotlight next week.

The long-debated Farm Bill is likely to go to the Senate floor for a vote next week, following an agreement between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Each party will be allowed 20 amendments on the bill, which prescribes policy for the agriculture industry. Several members planned to offer amendments regarding crop subsidies for farmers, while Republicans will introduce amendments on the estate tax and on illegal immigration.

The House page program, which broke headlines last year when allegations of inappropriate contact with pages forced Rep. Mark Foley to resign, was in the news again. Two Republican members overseeing the program, Ginny Brown Waite (R-Fla.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), resigned from the House Page Board, saying the program’s administrator did not provide timely notification of recent violations of the ethics code by several pages (who have since been sent home).

Sen. John Ensign continues to block S. 233, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, which would require Senate candidates to file their political fundraising reports electronically, thus making them accessible to citizens and journalists before the election takes place. Ensign is holding up the bill until he can get a vote on his amendment to require the outside government watchdog groups who file ethics complaints against Senators to reveal all of their own funders. Most transparency advocates (including the Sunlight Foundation) consider the amendment a "poison pill" that would kill the bill if passed.

Finally, the House and the Senate each moved forward with major energy and climate change bills. In the Senate, the America's Climate Security Act of 2007, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, clearing the way for a vote in the full Senate. The act would create a cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions, with a goal of reducing emissions 70% by 2050. Whether Republicans will allow debate to close remains unknown, but supporters say the bill probably won’t be considered until February.

In the House, lawmakers passed the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007 by a large margin. The bill would require utility companies to provide 11% of their portfolio from renewable resources by 2020 and would raise fuel efficiency standards for automobiles to 35 miles-per-gallon the same year. It would be the first such raise since 1975.

The bill, however, was stopped in the Senate after a vote to close debate and consider the bill failed garnered only 53 of the 60 needed votes. Significantly, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) pulled his support from the measure, after complaining that the House bill was developed without consultation with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he is the ranking member. Domenici also said a provision requiring utilities companies to provide 11% of their portfolio from renewable resources was not feasible for states in the Southeast. Republicans were also outspoken about repeals of $21 billion in tax subsidies for oil and gas companies.

Finally, this week saw another lawmaker announce plans to retire. Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) announced that he will not seek reelection in 2008. Among the reasons given for his decision is the 2006 shift of power in the House (which means he won't chair the House Ways and Means Committee) and a desire to spend more time with his family.