I frequently get asked about what Congress is doing. The answer is a lot. I will try to share updates with you from time to time. To follow are some talking points from the DNC.
“This Week: While Democrats continue to invest in America’s priorities and improve Americans’ quality of life, President Bush and some Congressional Republicans insist on standing in the way. We are working to fund such critical priorities as education, health care, and housing, but the President - who has spent six years ignoring working-class Americans while spending billions of dollars on a flawed Iraq policy - is blocking these efforts under the guise of “fiscal responsibility.”
APPROPRIATIONS
Republicans are content to continue rubberstamping President Bush’s misguided policies, sustain his ill-conceived vetoes and obstruct legislation at a record rate. But Democrats will continue to pursue proposals that invest responsibly in America.
Projects in the Labor/HHS bill will strengthen our education and health care systems, protect seniors and improve workers’ safety.
Over President Bush’s objection, we are working to increase by billions of dollars our investments in research for diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cancer; job training and technical-education programs to make America more competitive in the global economy; special-education and Head Start programs for low-income students; and aid for poor children and families.
We saw last week how recklessly President Bush wields his veto pen, and he is now threatening to stand in the way of these critical health and education programs. We call on him to join us in addressing America’s priorities through this legislation.
FISA
Democrats want to improve the flawed, temporary surveillance law the President signed in August.
We will ensure the intelligence community has all the tools it needs to protect Americans’ safety while also protecting the privacy of law-abiding Americans.
As that bill reported by the Senate Intelligence Committee moves through the legislative process, we will seek additional improvements to current law so that all Americans can have high confidence in the effectiveness and constitutionality of federal surveillance laws.
CHILDREN’S HEALTH CARE
CHIP is a critical program that the vast majority of the American people rightly support. As long as this President denies American children the health care they need when they get sick, Democrats will work in a bipartisan manner in the fight to do right by those who need our help the most.
We will not abandon any of the uninsured children we would have covered with the bipartisan legislation already passed by Congress.”
