House of Representatives

Letter to Agencies Calls for Consumer Protection Measures

Washington, DC – Last week, Congressman Harry Teague lead a group of 30 House members in sending a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson calling for more accurate reporting of ENERGY STAR ratings. Two recent reports released by both the Inspector General of the DOE and EPA have placed the integrity of the label in question, citing unqualified appliances that have received the energy-efficiency moniker. The letter urges the officials to provide consumers with accurate information on products claiming the ENERGY STAR designation.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- Q. When will the 2009 H1N1 vaccine be widely available in my community?

All states and the District of Columbia have placed orders for vaccine, and more orders are expected daily. Orders are coming in throughout the day; they're being processed and shipped, and vaccine is arriving in thousands of places across the country.

The vaccine situation changes rapidly and we are slowly seeing the gap between supply and demand begin to close. Because the vaccine distribution system varies by state, the vaccine situation on the ground may differ from community to community.    » read more »

Affordable Health Care for America Act holds massive benefits for rural Colorado

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman John Salazar released the list of benefits the Affordable Health Care for America Act is estimated to bring to the 3rd Congressional District of Colorado. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday, October 29. The analysis was compiled from data by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, the House Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Last week, in a statement announcing his support for the health care reform bill, Congressman Salazar said:    » read more »

11/03/09 -- U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (W.Va.) announced today the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded more than $10-million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for energy efficiency projects and conservation activities.

“This funding will support investments in state-wide and local-level energy solutions to help strengthen West Virginia’s economy and create jobs at the local level,” said Rahall.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Congressman David Price (D-NC) issued the following statement today supporting H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act:

Over the past few months, I have attended town halls and roundtable discussions, met with a wide variety of constituent groups, conducted two telephone town halls with hundreds of participants, and read thousands of letters and emails from Triangle residents about the complex issue of health care reform. I have heard a lot of different views on how to improve our health care system, but nearly everybody agrees on one thing: Maintaining the status quo is not an option.    » read more »

Murphy Testifies at Banking Hearing in Support of Bill to Provide Housing for People with Disabilities

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) testified on how to expand affordable housing options for seniors and Americans living with disabilities at a Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development hearing. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Banking Committee, joined Murphy in calling for the modernization of federal housing assistance programs to ensure they can meet the needs of low-income residents of Connecticut and the rest of the nation.    » read more »

House Democrats Introduce H1N1 Flu Emergency Sick-Leave Bill

WASHNGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, announced emergency temporary legislation today that will guarantee five paid sick days for a worker sent home or directed to stay home by their employer for a contagious illness, such as the H1N1 flu virus. The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the legislation the week of November 16.    » read more »

November 03 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Mike Michaud praised the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) announcement that Verso Paper Corporation will receive a $9,356,177 Recovery Act grant for the deployment of waste energy recovery technologies. The project will implement a portfolio of 12 waste energy recovery sub-projects at Verso paper mills located in Jay, Maine; Bucksport, Maine; and Sartell, Minnesota. The sub-projects were chosen for their energy savings potential and potential for immediate implementation. The bundled project has an overall efficiency of 33%, and will save an estimated 1.28 trillion Btu annually.    » read more »

Washington, Nov 3 -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement on the House Floor about H. Res 867, which condemns the ‘Goldstone Report’ or the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict:

“Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist.

“Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian.    » read more »

Introduces amendment to grandfather in current Medicare Advantage beneficiaries

11/04/09 -- Washington, DC – Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) today introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill currently pending in the U.S. House, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). Klein’s amendment grandfathers in current enrollees in private Medicare Advantage plans to ensure that any future changes to the program do not impact the care they receive. This amendment marks another step in Klein’s fight to strengthen and protect Medicare for our seniors.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, DC) -- Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. said the Affordable Health Care for America Act will have immediate benefits for families and individuals in Northeast Wisconsin. Leadership in the House of Representatives said they are moving toward a vote on health-care legislation by the end of the week. When the bill is passed into law, several provisions will take effect on January 1, 2010.

“As soon as this bill is signed into law we will begin to close the donut hole in Medicare part D and provide coverage for those most in need,” Dr. Kagen said. “My patients cannot afford to wait any longer and when we pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act, they won’t have to.”

On January 1, 2010, the Affordable Health Care for America Act would:    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), along with Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers [D-MI], Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott [D-VA], Rep. Anthony Weiner [D-NY] , Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX], and Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis [D-GA] today introduced the Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act (H.R. 3986), which would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.

Under current law, an inmate on death row can be stranded with no procedural options to appeal a conviction, even if there is compelling new evidence that he or she is innocent.

The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act would:    » read more »

Lawmaker says “energy efficiency is the next frontier.”

November 3, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – At a Capitol Hill press conference today, Representatives Jane Harman (D-Venice) and Fred Upton (R-MI), both members of the Energy & Commerce Committee, cheered an agreement on outdoor lighting efficiency standards between environmental and industry groups. Also in attendance were Senators Jeff Bingaman, Mark Pryor, and Lisa Murkowski.    » read more »

Hall co-sponsored legislation would end credit card companies' tricks on Dec 1

November 2, 2009 --
Washington, DC – With credit card companies doubling interest rates on consumers and ramping up other unfair practices in advance of the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights taking effect in February, U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) is pushing to speed up the effective date to December 1st to give consumers badly needed relief in time for the holiday season.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment unanimously approved Congressman Bart Gordon’s bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the United States.

The full Energy and Commerce Committee will consider Gordon’s legislation on Thursday, November 5, at 10:00 a.m. CDT.

“We’re the only nation in the world that buries the nuclear waste of other countries in our soil,” said Gordon. “I am pleased that my colleagues on the Subcommittee recognized the importance of stopping this practice and I am glad the full Energy and Commerce Committee will move forward with my bill on Thursday.”    » read more »