Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (May 9 - 16, 2008)

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The big action last week in Congress was the passage of the Farm Bill and continuing negotiations over the next round of funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which this week included votes on torture, troop pullout timetables and veterans' benefits. There were also a heap of superdelegate endorsements and congressional primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska (we've got the low-down on the winners).

The Farm Bill passed by Congress this week faced an immediate veto threat from President Bush, who specifically cited the failure to substantially reign in farm subsidy payments in times of record crop prices. However, the bill passed by a wide margin, indicating an easy veto-override if he carries out that threat.

The $289 billion, five year bill (or, according to some congressional Republicans, $307 billion bill) largely funds nutrition programs (such as food stamps) as well as farm subsidies, environmental and conservation programs, bio-energy programs and agricultural trade programs. Compared to the 2002 Farm Bill, the 2007 bill makes only minor cuts in crop subsidy programs but does introduce stricter income limits on farmers who can receive the subsidies. There are also potential contradictions between increases in price supports and international trade agreements made by the U.S. Under the version passed by Congress, the eligibility for food stamps was raised for the first time since 1996 in the bill and indexed for inflation. It contains $400 million for the clean-up of Chesapeake Bay.

On war spending for Iraq and Afghanistan, House Republicans threw a curveball this week, forcing the chamber to send the Senate a defense supplemental without any defense funding, a longtime goal of anti-war activists and many Democratic members of Congress, ironically enough.

Democratic leaders in the House, hoping to force votes on politically charged issues like troop withdrawals and veterans’ education benefits, split the supplemental into three sections. A domestic spending provision – containing the aforementioned veterans’ benefits, money for levees in New Orleans, and additional unemployment assistance – passed the by a healthy 90 votes.

The second part of the supplemental would require all branches of the U.S. government to abide by the Army’s field manual, which prohibits torture. It also calls for troop withdrawals to begin within 30 days (with an ultimate goal of bringing all troops home by the end of 2009) and for more time between troop rotations in and out of combat. That measure was also approved, though by a slimmer 227 to 196 margin.

When it came time to vote on the $162.5 billion in war funding, 131 Republicans voted “present.” Now the Senate will have to reinsert the Iraq and Afghanistan money, and many expect the chamber to also strip several of the most controversial measures.

In superdelegate news, this week saw a major shift in the number of endorsements being made for Sen. Barack Obama. They include: Rep. Pete Stark (Calif.), Eric Coleman (Mich.), Virgie Rollins (Mich.), Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.), Rep. Howard Berman (Calif.), Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), Larry Cohen (D.C.), Christine Marques (Dems. abroad), Rep. Peter Visclosky (Ind.), Mike Morgan (Okla.), Lena Taylor (Wis.), Robert Ficano (Mich.), Rep. Tom Allen (Maine), Dolly Strazar (Hawaii), Sen. Daniel Akaka (Hawaii), Idaho Democratic Party Chair Keith Roark, Rep. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Ray Nagin (La.), Anita Bonds (D.C.), Roy Romer (Colo.), Young Democrats Pres. Lauren Wolfe (Mi.) and VP Awais Khaleel (Wis.), Utah add-on Kristi Cumming (UT), Carol Burke (Virgin Islands), Crystal Strait (Calif.), Kevin Rodriguez (Virgin Islands), Ohio add-on Dave Regan, Arthur Powell (Mass.), and Rep. Harry Mitchell (Ariz.).

Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton was endorsed by Keith Umemoto (Calif.), Rep. Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), and Tennessee add-on Vicky Harwell.

Be sure to check in at the Superdelegate Transparency Project for the best and most accurate (and citizen-produced) reporting on Superdelegates.

Finally, both Nebraska and West Virginia had their congressional primaries last week. You can read all about the winners at our primary election recap.