Patricia Murphy
Patricia Murphy writes "The Capitolist" column for PoliticsDaily.com. She is the founder of Citizen Jane Politics, a non-partisan website for women... moreSenate Passes Health Care Program for 9-11 First Responders
On the frenzied final day of session for the 111th Congress, the Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday authorizing a new federally sponsored health benefits program for first responders who participated in rescue and recovery efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Later in the day, the House quickly passed the measure on a vote of 206 to 60 and sent it to President Obama for his signature. In the nine years since the attacks, hundreds of rescue workers who responded to Ground Zero have become ill or even died from serious respiratory problems. Health professionals have ...
Senate Ratifies START Treaty, 71 to 26; a Win for Obama, a Loss for Jon Kyl
The Senate voted 71 to 26 Wednesday to ratify the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a nuclear disarmament agreement with Russia signed by President Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev in April. Thirteen Republicans joined 58 Democrats to help the measure easily pass the two-thirds majority needed for ratification. The vote was a blow to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, who had tried mightily to persuade his colleagues to defeat the treaty, as well as a victory for President Obama, who named the START Treaty as his top foreign policy priority for the lame-duck session of Congress and spent hours ...
Congress Freezes Federal Salaries in Stopgap Spending Bill
The House passed a continuing resolution Tuesday by a vote of 193 to 165 to fund the federal government at current spending levels until March 4. The measure made an exception for the Veterans Administration and Pell Grants, which both received funding increases, and included language requested by the White House to freeze salaries for non-military federal workers for the next two years. The stopgap spending measure was the last act in a drama over federal funding that has tied Congress in knots in 2010. Although the House passed several of the 12 annual appropriations bills this year, the ...
START: Passage Virtually Assured as 11 Republicans Split Ranks
Republicans in the Senate broke away from their party's leadership Wednesday to help Democrats advance the Strategic Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Eleven Republicans joined 56 Democrats to end debate on the bill and move it toward a final vote on ratification, likely on Wednesday. The Republicans voting yes were Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Robert Bennett (Utah), Scott Brown (Mass.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Me.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Ak.), Olympia Snowe (Me.), and George Voinovich (Ohio). The vote, which was ...
START Treaty Up for Cliffhanger Vote in Senate
With the clock running out on the lame-duck session of Congress, the Senate expects to begin voting Tuesday on ratification of the Strategic Arms Nuclear Reduction Treaty, the arms-reduction pact signed in Prague by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April. Proponents of the bill will need 60 votes to end debate on the measure on Tuesday, followed by a two-thirds majority, likely 67 votes, to ratify the treaty later in the week. The issue has become an increasingly contentious one, as Democrats have pushed Republicans to approve the treaty without significant changes, ...
Food-Safety Bill Clears Senate in Wake of 2010's Massive Recalls
After a year of dozens of dangerous-food incidents, including a single outbreak of salmonella that led to the recall of more than half a billion eggs, the Senate passed a food-safety bill Sunday night by a unanimous voice vote. The bill will overhaul food-safety standards in the United States for the first time since 1938. In addition to adding 2,000 new food-safety inspectors, it will give the Food and Drug Administration the power for the first time to force a mandatory recall of tainted foods and products, a decision which had been left up to food companies up to now. The measure will ...
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Passes Senate, But Change Will Take Time
After months of fits and starts, a bill repealing "don't ask, don't tell," the ban against gays serving openly in the military, passed the Senate 65 to 31 on Saturday. Eight Republicans -- Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John Ensign of Nevada, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and George Voinovich of Ohio -- joined 57 members of the Democratic caucus in support of the historic measure. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) did not vote Saturday, but released a statement saying he could not support repeal "at ...
Immigration End Game: DREAM Act Defeated in the Senate
The Senate failed to overcome a bipartisan filibuster against the DREAM Act Saturday, by a vote of 55 to 41, just five short of the 60 needed to advance the immigration bill to a final debate in the chamber. The controversial measure had been the last hope of immigration activists looking this year to pass even a scaled-back bill expanding access to citizenship. Had it passed the Senate, the legislation would have given young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they completed two years of college or two years in the military. To qualify, children of immigrants also would have had to ...
Fate of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and DREAM Act To Be Decided Saturday
After months of fits and starts, the Senate will vote Saturday on two controversial measures for the last time in the 111th Congress -- the DREAM Act and a bill repealing "Don't ask, Don't tell," the ban against gays serving openly in the military. The DREAM Act would give young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they complete two years of college or two years in the military. To qualify, they also must have come to the country before the age of 16 and have been in the United States longer than five years. It is a top priority for the Latino community this year since it became clear ...
House Passes Bush Tax Cut Package; Bill Now Goes to President
The House voted 277 to 148 Thursday to temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts, continue unemployment benefits for 13 months and approve a series of smaller tax credits, cuts and extensions. A coalition of 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans voted against the measure, while 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans voted for it. Because the Senate passed the identical measure on Wednesday, the legislation now goes to President Obama for his signature Friday. The bill's passage marks a significant victory for Obama, who struck out on his own last week to forge a compromise with Senate Republican leaders ...
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