Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Weekly Housecall

"U.S. House"

05/09/2008

Washington DC
May 9, 2008


On Reports of Medically Unfit Troops Being Deployed to Iraq

News reports that troops determined by the Department of Defense to be medically unfit for combat have been deployed to Iraq are additional reminders of the unacceptable strain the war in Iraq is continuing to have on the readiness of our military and our national security.

House Acts to Combat Mortgage Crisis

The House passed a package of housing measures that will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process. The package is the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis.

Yoo, Addington, Ashcroft and Feith to Testify Before Judiciary Committee

The Associated Press: "The House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to compel a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney to testify to the committee about the Bush administration’s interrogation practices. David Addington, Cheney’s chief of staff, refused to testify without a subpoena."

Judiciary Hears Expert Testimony on Administration Torture Policies

The Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties heard testimony from a panel of witnesses who agreed that there is no "ticking time bomb" that justifies harsh interrogation techniques that were approved in Bush Administration legal memos. The Subcommittee also voted to subpoena David Addington, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, for a future hearing on the Administration’s interrogation rules.

Helping America’s Homeowners and Neighborhoods

Homeowners and neighborhoods across our country are feeling the painful effects of the foreclosure crisis. More than 7,000 people each day are filing for foreclosure on their homes—the place where they raise their families, as well as their primary investment. Neighborhood foreclosures lead to decreased value of neighborhood properties, increased need for services, increased crime, and other rippling effects throughout the broader economy.

This week, the House passed the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis. These measures will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process. Ending the foreclosure crisis is vital to the American economy's recovery.

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act includes several bills, including legislation to help significant numbers of hard-working American families in danger of losing their home refinance into lower-cost government-insured mortgages they can afford to repay.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Act would establish a $15 billion loan and grant program for states to purchase and rehabilitate vacant, foreclosed homes with the goal of getting them occupied as soon as possible. The bill targets low-income families and those striving to get into the middle class, requiring that homes are sold to families with incomes below 140 percent of the local median income.

This week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Congress to act quickly on the housing crisis, saying that "…doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It's in everybody's interest." While the House took swift action on the mortgage crisis, the President remains in denial about the effects of foreclosures on our economy and on our neighborhoods. He has threatened to veto both critical bills.

President Bush’s Energy Policy: Drill and Veto

Since President Bush took office in 2001, the price of oil has more than doubled—reaching $120 dollars per barrel this week. Yet, the President has stubbornly refused to work with Congress in embracing a forward-looking energy policy that would lower gas prices and invest in a clean energy future. Instead, he relies on two shortsighted ways of dealing with the energy crisis: drill and veto.

Domestic oil drilling is the same failed energy policy that has led us to record gas prices, an average of $3.61 per gallon. By threatening to veto legislation that will help families at the pump, the President is stopping us from moving towards a 21st century energy policy.

This week, House Democrats called on the President to work with Congress on energy legislation that we will bring to the House floor in the next few weeks. Before Memorial Day, we will move expanded legislation to hold OPEC accountable for price-fixing, and provide resources to prosecute price fixing by the oil industry. We will also work on an energy tax package to promote research, development, and efficiency. In a letter to President Bush, we again called on the President to exercise his authority to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Suspending deliveries of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would bring down gas prices. When it was done in 2000, the price of oil went from $30 to $20 per barrel. If the President refuses to act, Congress will take action with our own legislation.

House Democrats are not calling for quick fixes such as a gas tax holiday, which would not pass savings on to consumers, and would defeat our work to lower the cost of oil. While taking action to lower gas prices, this Congress has worked to provide long-term solutions that invest in clean energy. Our historic Energy Independence bill, signed into law this past winter, was the first step in reducing global warming, investing in renewable energy, and ensuring that our energy dollars go to the Midwest, not the Middle East.

Holding the Administration Accountable for the War in Iraq

Congress stands with Americans who want to bring our troops home responsibly, safely, and soon. Next week, the House will vote on a supplemental funding bill for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that also addresses our shaky economy—extending unemployment benefits and supporting a GI Bill for the 21st Century so that veterans can get an education when they return home from war. The number of Americans looking for work has grown by 800,000 in the last year, and unemployment insurance is a crucial safety net we must strengthen. Expanding educational for veterans will not only help our economy by creating a more skilled workforce, it also fulfills our duty to provide for our men and women in uniform when they return home from war.

This supplemental funding bill will hold the Administration accountable for its wide range of failed policies in Iraq. It includes an amendment that: requires troop withdrawal to begin within 30 days; requires that Iraqis pay for their own Iraq reconstruction; and cleans up contracting in Iraq by expanding the law to war zones. The bill prohibits torture and interrogation technique not authorized in the Army Field manual, and prohibits the establishment of permanent bases in Iraq.


Burma’s Catastrophic Cyclone

Last weekend, Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma. According to news accounts, there are up to 100,000 feared dead, and 1 million left homeless. For the last 17 years, a military junta has brutally ruled Burma, accumulating one of the worst human rights records in the world. The military regime has been too slow to help the Burmese people in this critical time. As of Thursday, the Washington Post reported that only two planes of food and equipment from the United Nations were allowed to land, with aid shipments remaining "largely stalled." The United States and the international community are ready to help those suffering, but the military regime must show leadership, and provide for their people in this time of crisis.

This week, the House passed a resolution calling for the United Nations Security Council not to accept the constitution written by the Burmese military junta, or to recognize the outcome of the May 10 constitutional referendum. The resolution denounces the one-sided and undemocratic constitution drafting process and referendum by the military junta, insists it engage in dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, and demands the immediate and unconditional releases of Aung San Suu Kyi, and all political prisoners.

The thoughts of Congress, and the world, are with the people of Burma as they struggle to recover from this catastrophic cyclone. It is our hope that the worst in Mother Nature can bring out the best in human nature.

VETOS

This week, President Bush stepped up his efforts to become the most out of touch President in the history of our nation. The President has now vetoed eight bills and threatened to veto 48 more.

This week, he threatened to veto two critical bills that address our nation’s housing crisis – the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, and the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act.

The President also made it clear that he would veto funding for our troops and veterans that the House plans to take up next week. The President objected to provisions to provide educational benefits for returning veterans, and to extend unemployment insurance and assist those looking for work in our slowing economy. He has also threatened to veto a renewable energy bill that the House will soon consider – legislation to end unnecessary subsidies to Big Oil, and to invest in energy efficiency. And In addition to his veto threats, the President has also refused to exercise his power to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which would bring down oil prices. As the President stubbornly clings to his veto pen, the New Direction Congress stands with the American people, and continues working for a clean energy future, a stronger economy, and an end to the war in Iraq.