By The Associated Press
December 19, 2007
A look at actions in Congress on Wednesday:
BUDGET BATTLE
Congress sent President Bush a $70 billion bill to fund military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The money is inside a $555
billion catchall spending bill that combines the war money
with money for 14 Cabinet departments. Bush and his Senate
GOP allies forced the Iraq money upon anti-war Democrats as
the price for permitting the year-end budget deal to pass and
be signed. The vote in the House was 272-142. The spending
legislation affects virtually every part of the government
other than the Defense Department's core programs.
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ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX
Congress sent President Bush legislation blocking the growth
of the alternative minimum tax. The House voted 352-64 for
a one-year fix of the tax, which was created to make sure very
rich people did not totally avoid paying taxes. But since it
was never adjusted for inflation, it affects a greater number
of middle- and upper-middle-level income people every year.
Without the fix, those subject to the tax would have risen
from 4 million in 2006 to about 25 million in 2007, with the
average levy of $2,000 a taxpayer. The main beneficiaries of
the tax relief would be people in the $75,000 to $200,000 income
level. Bush said he will sign the bill because it does not
include tax increases or other new sources of revenue to pay
for the $50 billion cost of the tax relief. The legislation
will shield some 21 million taxpayers without a means to cover
the cost to the Treasury.
___
GUNS
Congress approved legislation that would make it easier to
flag prospective gun buyers who have documented medical problems.
The legislation clarifies what mental health records should
be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System, which gun dealers use to determine whether to sell
a prospective buyer a firearm. It also allows the attorney
general to penalize states beginning after three years if they
do not meet compliance targets. The bill requires federal agencies
to notify people flagged as mentally ill and disqualified from
buying a gun and to notify people when or if they have been
cleared. Propelling the long-sought legislation were the April
16 killings at Virginia Tech, when a gunman killed 32 students
and himself using two weapons he had bought despite a documented
history of mental illness.
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HEAT AID
Congress acted to give extra home heating assistance to cash-strapped
families. The government's Low Income Home Energy Assistance
program would get roughly $409 million more in a yearend budget
bill sent to Bush. The program provides heating and cooling
subsidies for the poor. Millions of poor and elderly people
on fixed incomes rely on heating assistance to help pay their
heating bills.
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SCHIP
Congress sent an extension of a popular health insurance program
for children to Bush. Lawmakers supported a $35 billion expansion
of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Bush vetoed
two bills that would have provided the additional money but
is expected to sign this version. The extension through March
2009 was part of legislation that also gave physicians a 0.5
percent rate increase when they treat the elderly and disabled
in Medicare. Physicians had been scheduled to take a 10 percent
cut. The reprieve for doctors will last until June 30. The
bill also includes a moratorium on new regulations that would
reduce Medicaid payments to schools.
___
TOY SAFETY
The House approved a bill that lawmakers hope will make children's
toys safer and increase the powers of the Consumer Product
Safety Commission. Under the bill, anything more than a minute
amount of lead would be banned in toys meant for children under
12. The bill also increases the agency's budget to as much
as $100 million for the agency by 2011, gives $20 million to
modernize the commission's testing lab and bans industry-sponsored
travel for the commission. The bill would also ban the sale
and export of recalled products, require tracking labels on
children's products to aid in recalls and require mandatory
third-party testing by certified laboratories. The legislation
now goes to the Senate.
___
CIA DESTROYED TAPES
The House Intelligence Committee threatened to subpoena two
top CIA officials to testify about the destruction of interrogation
videotapes. The Bush administration had requested that the
panel's inquiry be deferred while the executive branch investigates,
but lawmakers want to move forward.
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