Capital Games

Pascrell resolution on brain injuries OK'd

The House approved Rep. Bill Pascrell's resolution today creating National Brain Injury Awareness Month. The resolution also urged President Obama to raise public awareness about what Pascrell called a "deadly but silent epidemic" that afflicts many veterans of the war in Iraq.

Pascrell, D-Paterson, is a co-founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, which this week is holding an "awareness day" in the Capitol where congressional staff members, the public and the media can get information.

The theme for Wednesday's event is “Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries: From the Football Field to the Battlefield,”  and features a panel discussion led by Col. Michael Jaffe, a doctor who is director of the national Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

Also on the panel is Dr. Andrew Tucker, president of the NFL Team Physicians Society; former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski; and Sarah Wade, the wife of Ted Wade, a member of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Graduate-level civics

Today's paper carries my story about the tortured process Congress is using to pass a bill that would create a massive expansion of protected national wilderness areas. One of the many provisions would also make Paterson's Great Falls a national park.

Garrett: AIG first, you next?

Vote #143	Yeas	Nays
Dem.	243	6
Rep.	85	87
Totals	328	93
Adler	D-Cherry Hill	Y
Andrews	D-Hadd Heights	Y
Frelinghuysen	R-Harding	Y
Holt	D-Hopewell Tsp.	Y
Lance	R-Clinton Tsp.	Y
LoBiondo	R-Millville	Y
Pallone	D-Long Branch	Y
Pascrell	D-Paterson	Y
Payne	D-Newark	Y
Rothman	D-Fair Lawn	Y
Sires	D-West New York	Y
Smith	R-Robbinsville	Y
Garrett	R-Wantage	N

 

The entire New Jersey delegation voted for a bill today to impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses received by employees of AIG and other companies that have been bailed out by the government. except Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage.

 

Garrett said he shared Americans' outrage over the bonuses but thought the bill was unconstitutional, and worried about who next would be hit by such a tax bill. Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, said he voted for the AIG employees didn't deserve bonuses and the bill was necessary to get taxpayers' money back.

 

Full statements from Garrett and Rothman are below:

Lautenberg advocates sex ed

Federal funding would back comprehensive sexual education that includes discussions of condoms, contraceptives and AIDS prevention to children of appropriate ages under a bill introduced today by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.

Lautenberg said the Responsible Education About Life, or REAL, act would counter 12 years of federal support for abstinence-based programs that he says failed stem the growth in teen pregnancies or the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

"Our bill will treat sexual education like the serious public health issue it is," Lautenberg said at a news conference in the Capitol with leaders of supportive groups such as Planned Parenthood. "We have to teach them to protect themselves."

Lautenberg said that studies have found "teen-agers ignore what they are told in abstinence-only classes" and face greater risks than youths that receive comprehensive sexual education. Advocates at the news conference said some abstinence-only programs provide false information about the effectiveness of condoms.

The bill would let local school districts design curricula and allow parents to keep their children out of the classes.

The bill is sponsored in the House by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who said federal grants would support programs that promote abstinence but also include information about contraception.

"We must get real with your young people," she said. 

Menendez: I didn't force OT on omnibus

Now that it's all over, Sen. Bob Menendez says he was willing to vote last Thursday to end debate on the $410 billion omnibus spending package, but Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't have the needed Republican votes.

Menendez publicly dropped his opposition to the bill on Tuesday, citing assurances from the Obama administration about changes to Cuba policy. But it was widely reported -- including by me -- that he was not on board last Thursday night, when what was supposed to be an 8:15 p.m. vote was postponed to this week.

Motions to end debate, known as cloture, require 60 votes in the Senate and reports said Democratic leaders were one vote short when they agreed to let several Republican amendments be considered on the floor on Monday and Tuesday.

Those amendments, which were all defeated, required Democratic senators to go on record with votes that could be unpopular in upcoming elections, including one that continues the practice of Congress getting automatic pay raises each year.

The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call quoted [link - subscription required] unnamed Senate Democrats criticizing Menendez for holding out because he is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and should be working to prevent Republicans from getting any campaign fodder.

Menendez, D-N.J., said it wasn't his fault, however, and he told Reid a half hour before the Feb. 25 vote he would have ended his holdout.

"I was willing to cast my vote last Thursday, which was the first time the cloture vote was intended. The leader didn't have the votes," he said. "So in order to get Republican votes, he had to agree to those amendments. It had nothing to do with whether or not I was willing to support cloture."

Garrett explains land vote

In my story today, there was no explanation why Rep. Scott Garrett was the only member of the New Jersey delegation to oppose a massive public lands bill that included a provison making the Paterson Great Falls a national park.

The bill lost by two votes.

This afternoon, Garrett's office released this statement:

“I have long been an advocate of open space preservation, seeking to balance the protection of New Jersey’s natural heritage with the protection of our constitutional private property rights. As an active member of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus, I worked to pass federal legislation to protect the Highlands regions of New Jersey and also authored legislation, which became law, to make the Musconetcong River a part of the national network of wild and scenic rivers.

“If The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 only contained spending that truly improved and protected our environment, I would whole-heartedly support its passage. The legislation, however, bundles good projects with pork projects and spending of $5.5 billion over five years. Examples of pork in the bill include $3.5 million to the city of St. Augustine, FL for a birthday party, $200,000 for a tropical botanical garden in Hawaii and $250,000 to study the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“This is appalling, especially in a time of economic crisis when the American people are looking to Washington to cease the excessive federal spending that continues to bloat our national debt. It’s time to get serious about fiscal responsibility and do more than simply pay lip service to the concept.”

As a member of the Land Conservation Caucus, Congressman Garrett has a strong record as a supporter of environmental protection, taking the following actions to protect the environment:

• Called FWS Acting Director Roland Gould urging him to sign the Wallkill Land Protection Plan
• Introduced Legislation to Expand the National Wallkill Wildlife Refuge
• Cosponsored (original) H.R. 189, the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Act
• Wrote letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding Ringwood Biola Testing
• Signed letter to Interior Appropriations Committee regarding EPA rural water budget
• Signed letter to Secretary of Interior Kempthorne regarding Highlands funding
• Signed letter to Interior Appropriations Committee regarding Highlands funding 
• Signed letter to Interior Appropriations Committee regarding Land and Water Conservation Fund
• Signed letter to Delaware River Basin Commission regarding flood prevention
• Wrote letter to Interior Appropriations Committee leadership recommending the testimony of Marie Springer, President of Friends of the Wallkill River
• Recognized by the Audubon Society for his support of a long-term, dedicated funding source to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered
• Wrote letter to Fish and Wildlife Service on behalf of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge
• Wrote letter to Sussex mayors and councilmen regarding the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge open comment period
• Signed letter to Interior Appropriations subcommittee requesting $2.746 million for the Eastern Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers
   

Lautenberg aides join Obama

Two of Sen. Frank Lautenberg's top policy aides are going to the Obama administration.
David Matsuda, who has been with Lautenberg for six years and was his point man on transportation and commerce, will be deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Transportation.

Arvin Ganesan, an aide for two years who handled environment, energy and agriculture work, will be deputy associate administrator for congressional affairs at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Matsuda will be replaced by David Garten, a former Lautenberg staffer who had been working for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Ben Dunham of the group Earth Justice will replace Ganesan.

Menendez, PBS anchor Judy Woodruff, Powell

Sen. Bob Menendez joined former Secretary of State and Army Gen. Colin Powell yesterday to tout the benefits of "smart power," the use of development aid, foreign assistance and diplomacy to complement military force in promoting United States interests.

Menendez, D-N.J., chairs a subcommittee in the Senate that oversees many foreign aid programs, and was in front of a friendly audience for a panel discussion hosted by the Center for U.S. Global Engagement.

He said the nation has a strong military, but it can't alleviate poverty or provide education or health care.

"Using smart power to help people in this hemisphere and elsewhere be able to have a greater standard of living, you will do several things," Menendez said. "You will stem the tide of undocumented immigration, you'll create new markets for the United States' services and goods, you'll create greater stability in those countries, [and] you'll create a greater demand for democracy and transparency."

Powell said the public needs to be convinced that United States money spent overseas provides benefits at home, because many members of Congress believe their constituents consider such spending a waste.

He and Menendez both praised the increase in funding for such programs in President Obama's proposed budget for 2010. But Menendez said it will be a challenge getting the funding approved by Congress at the same time it deals with the continuing economic crisis, needs for more money to stabilize financial institutions and Obama's call for health care reform.

"That will be an enormous competition for resources," Menendez said. "All for very good reasons, obviously, but there will be a competition for resources."