(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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D.C. Dispatch: Iowa lawmakers weigh in on impeachment, immigration [1]
['Jay Waagmeester', 'More From Author', '- February']
Date: 2024-02-09
In a week with an impeachment vote in the House and immigration effort buffering in the Senate, lawmakers also introduced legislation to increase teacher retention, address housing shortages and made a call for better budget practices.
Check out what Iowa’s lawmakers were up to this week:
Grassley calls for better budgeting
Sen. Chuck Grassley reacted to projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as well as the lack of budget submission from President Joe Biden.
According to the CBO, debt will reach a new record in the next 10 years and major trust funds like the Social Security trust fund and the Highway Trust Fund will run out of money within the next decade unless action is taken.
“Congress ought to interpret CBO’s projections as a ‘call to action:’ the federal government must break from its irresponsible spending pattern,” Grassley said in a news release. “Otherwise, Americans will soon find themselves paying more to cover national debt and interest costs than to fund programs that matter.”
The CBO increased Social Security and Medicare outlay projections over the next 10 years by 1% and 3%, respectively.
Grassley also criticized Biden for not turning in a budget proposal by the first Monday in February.
“President Biden has achieved a perfect score for fiscal tardiness,” Grassley said in a news release. “For four years running, this president has been unable to muster a budget proposal by the time the law says it’s due.”
Grassley also criticized Congress for its “loop of continuing resolutions,” of which there have been three, without any fiscal year 2024 appropriation bills passed.
Sen. Joni Ernst introduced legislation that would prevent Congress from inviting Biden to give the State of the Union address until the budget proposal has been introduced.
“If the President is going to be allowed the opportunity to address Congress and the entire nation, he should actually have a plan in place,” Ernst said in a news release.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, extended an invitation for Biden to address the joint chambers in March.
Mayorkas impeachment vote
The U.S. House voted Tuesday against impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas after advancing articles of impeachment to the House floor. House Republicans criticized Mayorkas’ efforts as secretary, emphasizing concerns with immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
All four of Iowa’s representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas. The vote failed 214-216 with four Republicans voting against the impeachment.
Iowa’s House members made statements defending their votes:
“Secretary Mayorkas’ unwillingness to close the border and defeat the drug cartels have left too many families mourning the death of a loved one to fentanyl and the opioid crisis,” Rep. Randy Feenstra said in a news release. “I have repeatedly called on President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to enforce the laws on the books and restore order at our border. Those calls have fallen on deaf ears, which has reinforced my decision to impeach Secretary Mayorkas.”
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Rep. Ashley Hinson said the vote was sad but necessary.
Secretary Mayorkas is complicit in the deaths of Americans poisoned by fentanyl. He bears responsibility for suspected terrorists on our soil. He is to blame for the violence against Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants. This is a solemn day, but we must impeach. pic.twitter.com/2YonkGCNk4 — Ashley Hinson (@RepAshleyHinson) February 6, 2024
Feenstra posted on X that he voted for the impeachment of Mayorkas for “intentionally failing to secure the border.”
Also on the topic of immigration, senators weighed in on the immigration bill that failed to reach a vote this week.
Grassley called instead for Biden to enforce existing immigration laws.
He also made his case against the legislation on X:
Ultimately the border deal would yield massive discretionary power on border policy to Pres Biden +his administration. I will not vote to advance a bill that would codify ineffective policies + give Pres Biden more power to abuse what he has already so badly broken — Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) February 7, 2024
Ernst posted to X that Biden could “end the border crisis today, but has refused.”
Nunn asks for collection of teacher and principal data
In an effort to boost the number of teachers in public schools, Rep. Zach Nunn introduced a bipartisan bill that would collect data from public schools regarding the population of teachers.
The bill would direct the U.S. Department of Education to collect the number of full-time principals and teachers employed, as well as their years of experience, and the number of full-time teachers who have specific qualifications to teach math, science or English as a second language, according to Nunn’s office.
Nunn called the bill a common-sense approach to provide better opportunities for students.
“Schools across the country, including in Iowa, are having difficulty finding and retaining qualified teachers,” Nunn said in a news release. “We must address the nationwide teacher shortage to ensure every child has access to a quality education, no matter their zip code.”
Not having enough teachers to staff a school can lead to high turnover, which can lead to lower student performance, according to Nunn’s office. This bill would allow legislators to track the impact of federal dollars on schools to identify the need for investment in recruitment and retention programs, according to Nunn’s office.
Nunn: Proposed loan extension would address housing shortage
Nunn introduced a bipartisan bill to extend U.S. Department of Agriculture loan program repayment period.
This bill would affect rural housing site loans by extending the repayment period from two to five years and extending what they can be used to pay for, including surveys, design and engineering, according to Nunn’s office.
The program, USDA Section 524, offers loans for low-income and moderate-income families to purchase and develop housing sites.
“Our country is suffering from an affordable housing crisis, especially in rural areas,” Nunn said in a news release. “This is a growing challenge that must be addressed now to prevent it from getting any worse. Modernizing the USDA rural housing development loans will help incentivize new construction and bolster affordable housing options in rural Iowa.”
The companion bill in the Senate passed with unanimous support in January.
Conversations on halted natural gas exports ignite
Calling it “economically and strategically dangerous,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Feenstra joined a letter written to Biden opposing an announcement that the Department of Energy will stop issuing permits indefinitely to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) during the administration’s public interest review.
“Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a temporary pause on pending decisions on exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations,” a statement from the White House read.
The review will be of environmental, economic and environmental justice effects.
“Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, DOE has consistently found that U.S. LNG exports serve the ‘public interest’ because they contribute positive economic benefits and strengthen energy security for the American people, and also have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,” the lawmakers wrote.
Feenstra called the decision to halt exportation “uninformed.”
“President Biden’s uninformed decision to stop exports of American natural gas and halt construction of new LNG export facilities will only strengthen China, make our country more reliant on foreign oil and gas, and weaken our economy,” Feenstra said in a news release.
The Biden administration said the halt will be in place until the DOE updates the underlying analyses for authorizations.
“Today, we have an evolving understanding of the market need for LNG, the long-term supply of LNG, and the perilous impacts of methane on our planet,” a statement from the White House reads. “We also must adequately guard against risks to the health of our communities, especially frontline communities in the United States who disproportionately shoulder the burden of pollution from new export facilities. The pause, which is subject to exception for unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies, will provide the time to integrate these critical considerations.”
Hostage return calls continue with Israeli leader
Ernst hosted a news conference with the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Amir Ohana, and Miller-Meeks to call for the return of hostages held by Hamas.
The two were joined by Israeli families of the hostages.
“We stand here united – across party lines, across countries – for one cause: bring our hostages home,” Ernst said at the news conference.“For 124 days, Hamas has held innocent Israelis and American citizens captive. These families live in agony every day – uncertain if their loved ones are dead or alive. We must do everything we can to bring them home.”
Ohana emphasized that Israel and the U.S. are united.
“We are united for three main goals. Number one is returning the hostages to their families as soon as possible,” Ohana said at the news conference. “Number two is very clear: total unmitigated defeat to Hamas, and we cannot stop before that happens. And number three is to strengthen and deepen the relations between America and Israel even further. On this we are all united.”
124 days away from home. Honored to stand next to @SenJoniErnst and @RepDWStweets to fight for each for each hostage that is currently detained by Hamas. #BringThemHome pic.twitter.com/o3XcDPF79E — Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (@RepMMM) February 7, 2024
Disapproval of emissions rules
A resolution stating disapproval of rules submitted by the Federal Highway Administration was introduced by Grassley this week.
The rules relating to national performance management measures, assessing the performance of the national highway system and greenhouse gas emissions measures are of concern to the cosponsoring legislators. The resolution states the rule “shall have no force or effect.”
The rules approved by the Federal Highway Administration would enable the national tracking of performance measures of greenhouse gas performance management and would create a system for state departments of transportation to set their own targets for emission reduction, according to the Department of Transportation.
The rule has been finalized by the Federal Highway Administration and would require declining emissions targets. Grassley’s office claims the administration does not have the authority to make such rules.
“Instead of burying Iowa and other states in administrative burdens, federal bureaucrats ought to empower states’ work by reducing red tape and giving them more latitude,” Grassley said in a news release.
Ernst addresses patents for small businesses
Ernst is asking for research as to how small businesses may be affected by updated march-in authority for commercialization. March-in rights allow the government to take patent licenses if they helped fund research or grant licenses to third parties if the patent holder is not commercializing the technology.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released guidance framework for considering the exercise of march-in rights. According to NIST, the guidance is meant to assist agencies when evaluating when it might be appropriate to require licensing of a patent developed with federal funding.
Ernst claims the guidelines are broad and ill-defined conditions, which could be used as price controls for products.
“It is jarring to see the expanded range of possible circumstances in which the Administration seems intent on seizing patents held by small business owners— including those developed within the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs,” Ernst and six other senators wrote in a letter to HHS and the Department of Commerce. “Broad exercise of march-in authority under the Bayh-Dole Act could disincentivize small businesses from competing for federal research and development dollars, discourage commercialization and stifle America’s innovation ecosystem at large.”
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