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REVIEW
The House votes 253-167 to require balanced budget date
from President: The
Republican-led House passed legislation that would force President Obama to
estimate when the federal budget will balance again and to outline the steps he
proposes to eliminate the budget deficit. The Require a PLAN Act is part of an
attempt to force the Democratic-led Senate to vigorously pursue efforts to cut
the deficit. (H.R.444)
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Here to express your opinion on this issue to your Senators.
New contraception regulations don’t go far enough,
bishops say: The nation’s Roman
Catholic bishops rejected the latest White House proposal on health insurance
coverage of contraceptives, saying it did not offer enough safeguards for
religious hospitals, colleges and charities that objected to providing such
coverage for their employees.
Watch your e-mail for a Regulation
Alert on this issue!
Automatic spending cuts start March
1: President Obama took a hard
line on looming automatic spending cuts, saying a standoff with Republicans over
whether to replace the cuts in part with new tax increases is “an argument I’m
more than willing to engage in.” The GOP would like to replace the
across-the-board cuts with targeted spending cuts. Democrats have said Congress
should replace them with a combination of cuts and tax increases that would
decrease the deficit by the same amount as the cuts.
Valor Act is getting another
push: Some laws are hard to kill,
even those declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Stolen Valor Act,
which makes it illegal to lie about military records, is getting a second life
and this time its supporters have taken steps to ensure its longevity. The bill
now says it is only illegal to lie about military accolades for material gain.
What qualifies as material gain would be up to the court and the prosecuting
attorney to decide. “I don’t see somebody being prosecuted because they scored a
free drink,” Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) who reintroduced the bill said.
(H.R.258)
Legal opinions on drones impact CIA confirmation
Hearing: The president ordered
the Justice Department to provide congressional intelligence committees with
access to classified information on the legal rationale for drone strikes.
Drones are unmanned aircraft that target suspected militants. The disclosure
impacted the confirmation hearing for John Brennan, the president’s pick for CIA
Director as senators from both parties studied the secret legal opinions.
Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said, "It is critical for
the committee's oversight function to fully understand the legal basis for all
intelligence and counterterrorism operations.”
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Identity Theft
Scams
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The IRS has
issued several consumer warnings about the fraudulent use of the IRS name or
logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers’ financial information in
order to steal their identity and assets. Scamsters will use the regular mail,
telephone, fax or email to set up their victims. When identity theft takes place
over the Internet (email), it is called phishing.
The IRS
does not initiate taxpayer communications through email. Unsolicited email
claiming to be from the IRS, or from an IRS-related component such as EFTPS,
should be reported to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
Additionally, clicking on attachments to or links
within an unsolicited email claiming to come from the IRS may download a
malicous computer virus onto your computer.
Learn more
about identity
theft.
Learn how
to protect your
personal information.
You may
also report instances of IRS-related phishing attempts and fraud to
the Treasury Inspector
General for Tax Administration at
1-800-366-4484. |
| Popular National Action Alerts:
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PREVIEW
Panetta calls defense cuts “the most significant
military readiness crisis in more than a decade”: Secretary of Defense
Leon Panetta said that with a CR and sequester, he would be forced to cut more
than $46 billion from the budget over the rest of the fiscal year, which ends
Oct. 1. “This will damage our national defense and compromise our ability to
respond to crises in a dangerous world,” he said.
$60.4 billion not enough for water bill:
Democratic senators from the Northeast want the next water resources
bill to authorize more money to help prepare for future extreme weather events.
The money sought would be in addition to $60.4 billion Congress has allocated in
emergency funding for post-Sandy recovery, including assistance to help rebuild
damaged transit infrastructure in the New York metropolitan area. “We have to
build stronger and smarter,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said at an
Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.
Road block in Alaska: The top Republican on
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), says
she may put a hold on President Obama’s Interior secretary nominee if the
department blocks a proposed road through a remote Alaskan wildlife refuge. The
long-sought road would eliminate the need for flights that ill residents
currently must make, which is said to have killed at least 12 people in the past
three decades.
The Week
Ahead: Please go to www.nwyc.com for the latest in congressional actions.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH
On Monday, the House is not in
session.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at
12:00 p.m. for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House
will recess no later than 5:30 p.m. to allow a security sweep of the House
Chamber prior to the President's State of the Union address. The House will meet
again at approximately 8:35 p.m. for the purpose of receiving, in a joint
session with the Senate, the President of the United States. No votes are
expected.
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) H.R.
267 - Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 2) H.R.
316 - Collinsville Renewable Energy Promotion Act 3) H.R.
235 - Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2013
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH, AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On
Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and
12:00 p.m. for legislative business.
On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last
votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m.
H.R.
592 - To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act to clarify that houses of worship are eligible for certain
disaster relief and emergency assistance on terms equal to other eligible
private nonprofit facilities, and for other purposes
H.R.
273 - To eliminate the 2013 statutory pay adjustment for Federal
employees
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