REVIEWING YEAR IN CONGRESS
States News Service
January 7, 2008 Monday
Washington
The following information was released by the office of Alabama
Rep. Terry Everett:
Frankly, 2007 was a tumultuous year with few accomplishments on Capitol
Hill. Ironically, that was not such a bad thing given the radical
agenda of the new liberal Congress. In the end, most of the flawed
or outright harmful legislation proposed by the Democrat majority
was either blocked or improved by conservatives before final passage.
As the new liberal majority in Congress convened one year ago,
promises were made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to make
this the most open, honest and ethical Congress in history. Yet, from
day one, she governed with an iron fist, shutting out Republicans from
amending or offering alternatives to key legislation. Her actions
set a sharp negative tone for the year culminating in a near revolt
on the House floor when the liberal leadership stole a vote allowing
illegal immigrants taxpayer funded benefits. This shameful episode
is still being investigated by a special Watergate-style committee.
Perhaps most of the rancor witnessed in Congress in 2007 centered
around the Democrat leadership’s insistence from the start to
micromanage and hamstring the war on terror. No less than 30 times did
the liberal leadership of Congress try to enact politically-motivated
withdrawal timelines or arbitrary restrictions, putting itself in the
role of our generals. Our troops would have been placed in jeopardy
by such moves. Fortunately, each such effort was defeated by the
conservative minority.
Another widely publicized showdown in Congress last year was the
battle to preserve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP). The liberal leadership of Congress wanted to vastly expand the
beneficial program, which provides health care to low-income children
from families that do not qualify for Medicaid, to cover middle income
adults and illegal immigrants. This attempt to create big government
health care was twice vetoed by President Bush before Congressional
Democrats backed down and allowed the program to continue as it was
originally designed.
Some 23 million Americans will not be subject to the onerous
Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) thanks to Congressional agreement late
in the year. Conservatives also prevailed in blocking the liberal
Congressional leadership from raising other taxes as part of an AMT
fix. Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats delayed the final fix of
AMT so late in 2007 that tax refunds may be delayed to millions of
Americans who are helped by the AMT fix.
Speaking of taxes, conservatives in Congress stood fast against
the liberal majority’s plan to impose more than $250 billion in
tax hikes. While the liberals’ taxing plans were placed on hold in
2007, higher taxes remain on their agenda as Congress begins a new
legislative year next week.
In a bizarre move last year that almost created an international
incident with a vital ally in the war on terror, the liberal House
leadership allowed a controversial resolution on Armenian genocide
to be passed out of a House committee. The crisis was averted when
House conservatives blocked the resolution from a House vote.
The New Year is a time of hope and optimism. It is an ideal time
for the liberal Congressional leadership to finally make good on
its year-old promise to govern fairly. House conservatives are still
waiting and willing to work on legislation that benefits the American
people and protects our national security.