Today in Washington D. C. - April 10, 2008

This morning, President Bush addressed the Nation to announce his adoption of General David Petraeus’ recommendations for troop levels in Iraq through the end of the summer and the reduction of Army combat tours in Iraq from 15 to 12 months. Bush warned Democrats about using the upcoming war supplemental bill as a vehicle for billions in unrelated domestic spending.

In The Senate: This morning, Senate Republicans took to the floor to decry Senate Democrats’ continuing inaction on judicial nominations. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “It’s been 108 days since this Senate confirmed a federal judge of any kind. It last did so the week before Christmas, on December 18, 2007. Since then, the Senate has made precious little progress on judicial nominations.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee said, “The majority has essentially shut down the confirmation process.” And Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) warned Democrats that business in the chamber could be held up if reasonable numbers of circuit court nominees don’t start being considered.

The Senate hopefully will finally vote on its first circuit court nomination of the year - Catharina Hayes to the 5th Circuit, The are to several district court nominations. After up to four hours of debate, the Senate will vote on confirming the nominees. However, Democrats continue to delay approval of Bush's circuit court nominees leaving the Federal courts stressed due a lack of judges.

The Senate will again resume consideration of H.R. 3221, the vehicle for the housing bill. This morning, there will be two votes on amendments concerning renewable energy tax credits; then the Senate will vote on final passage of the housing bill. Following completion of the housing bill, the Senate will proceed to a public lands bill (S. 2739). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid backed down from a confrontation with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) over the bill and agreed to let Coburn offer four amendments. Following up to two hours of debate on the amendments, the Senate will vote on passage of the lands bill.

In the House: In what House Republicans have called an “unprecedented” and “outrageous” move, yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to offer a resolution on a rule change that would strip fast-track rules fore the Colombia Free Trade Agreement that guaranteed a vote within 60 legislative days. If approved this could effectively kill approval of the agreement this year. House Republican Leader John Boehner sharply criticized Pelosi, saying, “Any vote to delay the consideration of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would violate the spirit of the law and undermine our ability to create more American jobs. Let me be clearer: it would be cheating. . . . Worse, such an action would wreak havoc on our international trade commitments and any future attempts to negotiate any agreement with a foreign nation.”

Pelosi’s move has brought a storm of criticism from editorial pages across the country. The Las Vegas Review Journal writes, “Ms. Pelosi, acting at the behest of the protectionist union interests who now run the Democratic Party, says she'll take the unprecedented step of holding a procedural vote today to remove the required timetable, shielding her members from having to go on the record opposing a free trade pact with our most reliable South American ally.” The Wall Street Journal says, “The Democratic Party's protectionist make-over was completed yesterday, when Nancy Pelosi decided to kill the Colombia free trade agreement. Her objections had nothing to do with the evidence and everything to do with politics, but this was an act of particular bad faith. . . . For all the talk of repairing the U.S. ‘image’ in the world, the Democrats don't really mind harming that image if it pleases the AFL-CIO.” The Washington Post sums up the Democrats’ message: “Drop Dead, Colombia.”

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