Constitution rewrite
I wish I could say this was an April Fool's Day joke. Sadly, it is not.
As negotiations are underway with the Senate and White House to finally craft a budget deal to fund the government for the remainder of the year, the House today took up the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act." This is one of those bills whose title is great, but whose substance is suspicious to say the least. From the Washington Post:
"What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that's what the American people are expecting." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Wednesday morning at a news conference with other House Republican leaders. "The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 [the House-passed bill that cuts $61 billion] will be the law of the land. In addition to that, it says that if all else fails, and the Senate brings about a shutdown, then members should not get their pay." The House is now under new rules that require every bill submitted for consideration by the House to clearly state the Constitutional authority with which to carry out the measure. It will be interesting to see what this bill cites as its Constitutional authority. Because, as you, and I, and every single one of the eighth graders I was able to teach last week should know: Section. 7.
Clause 2: Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.
Again, I wish this were a joke, but some of my friends on the other side seem to believe that they can force a bill to become law by simply saying it is, all without the consent of the Senate or President.
Let us review once again. According to the Constitution, for a bill to become "law of the land" it must be passed by both the Senate and the House and be signed by the President. Therefore, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act is unconstitutional, on its face. I truly wish I was joking.
For your April Fool's Day enjoyment, and perhaps for the good of my colleague across the aisle, I give you a little School House Rock:
A Visit to the White House
President Barack Obama meets with the Congressional Black Caucus Executive Committee in the Oval Office, March 30, 2011. Attending the meeting are, from left; Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.; Rep. Donna Christensen, D-V.I.; President Obama; Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.;Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind.; and Rep. G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Wednesday, the Congressional Black Caucus Executive Board held our first meeting of the year with President Obama, building upon its long-standing relationship with the White House. In a substantive and wide-ranging discussion, we addressed federal budget issues and our country's long term investment in our most vulnerable communities. More specifically we discussed the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund (TANF-ECF), empowerment zones in persistent poverty communities, and unemployment benefits. If you remember, TANF-ECF played a very significant role in Missouri's Fifth District last summer, when we employed hundreds of young people in public-private partnerships. This was the first of many conversations, and I look forward to holding a follow-up meeting with the President as we move through the FY 2011 budget process. I am pleased to say the meeting reflected our on-going relationship and agreement to continue the conversation on key issues.
It is always an honor to be in the Oval Office. Each time I am fortunate enough to walk through its door and greet the President, regardless of who that President is, it is truly a special moment. Within those curved walls, decisions have been made that literally changed the course of the world's history. It is one of our nation's scared spaces, and it is my pleasure to represent you in these conversations with the President.
The Employment Situation in March
As I have tried to do each month as we learn about our national employment situation, I am pleased to let the President's Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee, share some good news.
"Today's employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months. The unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month to 8.8 percent. The full percentage point drop in the unemployment rate over the past four months is the largest such decline since 1984, and, importantly, it has been driven primarily by increased employment, rather than people leaving the labor force.
As long as millions of people are looking for jobs, there is still considerable work to do to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Nonetheless, the steep decline in the jobless rate and the solid employment growth in recent months are encouraging. The last two months of private job gains have been the strongest in five years. We are seeing signs that the initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are creating the conditions for sustained growth and job creation. We will continue to work with Congress to find ways to reduce spending, so that we can live within our means and focus on the investments that are most likely to help grow our economy and create jobs - investments in education, infrastructure, and clean energy.
In addition to the increases last month, the estimates of private sector job growth for January (now +94,000) and February (now +240,000) were revised up significantly. Overall payroll employment rose by 216,000 in March. Payroll employment grew in almost every sector. Solid employment increases occurred in professional and business services (+78,000), education and health services (+45,000), leisure and hospitality (+37,000), wholesale and retail trade (+31,800), and manufacturing (+17,000). Local government experienced a decline of 15,000, and has shed jobs in 16 of the past 17 months.
The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead. The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report."
Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
A poorly thought-out measure
This week, the House considered H.R. 658, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act. At a time when our nation's infrastructure, jobs, and economy desperately need our support, this measure was poorly thought-out to say the least. The bill passed without my support. Let me share with you just a few reasons why I opposed it.
The aviation industry accounts for nearly 11 million American jobs, and $1.2 trillion in annual economic activity. Every $1 billion of Federal investment in infrastructure creates or sustains approximately 35,000 jobs. H.R. 658 authorizes the Federal Aviation Administration for four-years (FY 2011-14), reducing investment to FY 2008 levels ($14.8 billion per year) – for a $4 billion cut from current levels. In Fiscal Year 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration's major programs were funded at approximately $15.8 billion.
The FAA's Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides grants to airports for constructing and improving runways, taxiways, and terminals, would be cut by $500 million below current levels, a total $2 billion reduction below current levels through 2014. The proposed AIP cuts alone would cost the Nation 70,000 jobs, while ignoring the significant airport infrastructure needs. Missouri would lose $2,024,224 in airport improvement grants. AIP has been funded at $3.5 billion annually since FY 2005, and the agency estimates $10.4 billion of annual AIP-eligible development needs.
Cuts in the bill would also lead to a reduction in safety personnel and delay important air safety initiatives – a bad choice for the flying public as highlighted by the recent Reagan National incident. The proposed cuts would devastate the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) air traffic control modernization effort, and would harm safety-sensitive programs, while ignoring the Nation's growing airport capital development needs. The FAA Administrator under President George W. Bush, Marion Blakey, stated that "the prospect is really devastating to jobs and to our future, if we really have to roll back [to 2008 levels] and stop NextGen in its tracks."
The bill eliminates Essential Air Service for 110 rural communities needed to connect them with global commerce, support local jobs, and spur economic growth.
The bill continues the assault on collective bargaining rights. H.R. 658 repeals a National Mediation Board (NMB) rule, finalized last year, which guarantees fair elections among workers when those workers are choosing whether or not to unionize. Under the current rule (which I support, and which the bill would repeal), when determining whether a majority of workers want to join a union, the NMB must count only the ballots of workers who voted in the representation election, and will no longer count non-votes as votes against unionization. Imagine if an elected official were running for election and all the voters who did not cast a ballot were counted as votes against him or her. That is the undemocratic method my colleagues are advocating for.
My colleague across the aisle, Rep. LaTourette (R-OH), and my colleague Rep. Costello (D-IL) offered an amendment to strike this provision, supported by Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace, AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers, and UAW. I supported this amendment, which ultimately failed.
A Green American Fleet
This afternoon, President Obama unveiled his green fleet initiative, which ensures that by 2015, all new vehicles purchased for America's federal agencies will be electric, gas-electric hybrid, or alternatively fueled.
Truly exciting. The announcement was made at UPS in Landover, Maryland. UPS will join Pepsi-Frito Lay, Verizon and AT&T and FedEx as corporate fleets who will also accept the President's challenge to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
The transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of the United States' oil use and contributes one-third of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. After housing, transportation is the second biggest monthly expense for most American families. Reducing the amount of gas consumed by our federal fleet and by America's private vehicles will lower overall fuel demand, helping to keep gas prices lower than they would otherwise be, and save all of us from spending a fortune to fill up. This comprehensive national program is also projected to save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the first five years of these new standards.
As members of the partnership, the companies -- operators of more than 275,000 vehicles combined-- pledged to support the Administration's energy security efforts and to develop new alternative fuel technologies in tandem with the government. The combination of private sector innovation with public sector support is seen as a way to drive efforts to lower America's dependence on foreign oil, while growing the domestic economy and contributing a significant cost-savings to companies.
A Conversation with Go to Market
Listen here >>>
This Wednesday, I was on a local radio program called "Go To Market." The interview was actually in lieu of a lunch with me that had been auctioned off as a school fundraiser. We had a very nice conversation. The gentlemen, Jay and Mark, wrote up a very nice description of our conversation, which is below. If you have a moment, take a listen to the program >>>
Visit the Go To Market Website >>> "The Go To Market Show sat down with Emanuel Cleaver II, a member of the U.S House of Representatives, representing Missouri's 5th District. The topic? His thoughts on the climate for business growth and how things are going in what we all know are challenging times.
When you meet Rep. Cleaver, you quickly recognize he is a man of grace. Led by conviction shaped from humble beginnings (he grew up in public housing in Wichita Falls, TX). A man who beat the odds to make something of himself through hard work and some good fortune along the way. Fast forward to 2011 and you will also see a man who at the beginning of his fourth term seems tired. The weight of dealing with issues of great magnitude - the future of social security, access to affordable health care, high unemployment, education reform, military intervention, and mounting debt - will do that to even the strongest of people.
But Rep. Cleaver knows that, in spite of the difficulties, he has a job to do. He also knows there are no easy answers to the problems we face. We are, after all, seeing fundamental shifts in our culture, our position in the global economy, attitudes toward the role of government and the very nature of what it means to be an American.
So how does a U.S. Congressman, or anyone for that matter, figure out a way forward? Our failure to act isn't based on a lack of discussion - politics and politicians are everywhere it seems. For Rep. Cleaver, the answer starts with something more fundamental. He believes we need to change the nature of the debate and the way we go about it. His mission is to bring civility back into the political process. Bring folks together from the polar extremes of 'conservative' or 'liberal' and have real dialogue about who we are, where we're headed and how we can get there. Together. Engage each other in fact-based dialogue, give and take and work to build consensus.
It's a message that's not easily consumed. Media channels play to their audience segments based on political ideology - and they make a lot of money in the process. And politicians have an addiction to negative campaigning. They fill our heads with information we should know using out of context sound bites to demonize the opposition. We as human beings do what we have always done when faced with challenging situations. We take sides, aligning in tribes to make us feel safe. It's much easier, after all, to have someone tell us we're right than to hear why we might be wrong.
In reality it's not as easy as right and wrong. The answers to the complex issues we face will only be found in the shades of gray - the spectrum of give and take that exists between one side's needs and desires and the side on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Rep. Cleaver doesn't have simple answers to the problems we face. No one does. But he does have a place to start. We have to change the way Washington works, move beyond special interests and blind partisan politics. We need to openly participate in productive ideological debate. And map out a plan for the future that we can all believe in again. The new American dream.
Rep. Cleaver says that we need a 'revolution' in the way we go about the business of government. I agree. And like every great revolution it needs to start from the ground up."
Follow me on Twitter!
You can now follow me @repcleaver. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
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Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
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