Posted on 01/29/2003 8:31:33 AM PST by PhiKapMom
For Immediate Release
January 28, 2003
Fact Sheet: Key Initiatives in the President's State of the Union Message
Building a More Compassionate America
Combating the International HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Protecting Americans from the Threat of Bio-Terrorism
Strengthening Our Intelligence Systems to Better Protect America
For more information on the Presidents initiatives, please visit www.whitehouse.gov
The State of the Union
January 28, 2003
America faces decisive days ahead. During this Congress, we have the duty to work for a prosperity that is broadly shared, to strengthen domestic programs vital to our country, and to answer every danger that threatens the American people. In his State of the Union Address, the President proposed bold steps to address these challenges at home and abroadconfident that America will meet these tests.
The President set forth the following domestic goals for Congress and our Nation to address this year:
Goal #1: Grow the Economy and Create Jobs
The Presidents goal is an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job. The economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest. The Presidents plan:
Budget Discipline: The best way to counter deficits is by growing the economy and maintaining spending discipline in Washington. The President will propose a budget that increases discretionary spending four percent next year. At four percent, the federal budget will grow about as much as the average familys income. That is the Presidents benchmark: Federal spending should not rise any faster than the paychecks of American families.
Social Security: To keep Social Security sound and reliable, the President reissued his call for offering younger workers a chance to voluntarily invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.
Goal #2: Strengthen and Improve Health Care
Medicare is the commitment of a caring society, and we must renew that commitment by giving seniors the choice of a strengthened Medicare system that includes prescription drug coverage.
Control Rising Health Care Costs: The President believes that to improve our overall health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher costsexcessive lawsuits. He urged Congress to pass medical liability reform.
Goal #3: Promote Energy Independence While Improving the Environment
Freedom Fuel: Because the greatest environmental progress will come about through technology and innovation, the President proposed $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles. This new national commitment will open the possibility that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. This important innovation will make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy. In addition to this new initiative, the President urged Congress to act on important environmental measures he proposed last year, including:
Goal #4: Encourage Acts of Compassion
We must apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. The President:
Defending the Safety of Our People and the Hopes of Mankind
America can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a terrible disease. And, our Nation will lead the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.
Confront the International HIV/AIDS Pandemic: President Bush announced the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a five-year, $15 billion initiative to turn the tide in the global effort to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has killed at least 20 million of the more than 60 million people it has infected thus far, leaving 14 million orphans worldwide. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus including three million children under the age of 15. The Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief will help the most afflicted countries in Africa and the Caribbean wage and win the war against HIV/AIDS, extending and saving lives. The initiative will prevent 7 million new infections; provide antiretroviral drugs for 2 million HIV-infected people; and care for 10 million HIV-infected individuals and AIDS orphans.
Protect Our Security at Home and Abroad: The President outlined progress in the war on terrorism and announced new initiatives in the fight. Since September 11, America has:
Project BioShield: To guard Americans against bio-terrorism, the President proposed a new plan to pay for the delivery of next-generation medical countermeasures. Over the next 10 years, almost $6 billion will be available to purchase new countermeasures for smallpox, anthrax, and botulinum toxin. Additional funds will be available to produce and purchase countermeasures for other dangerous agents, such as Ebola and plague, once safe and effective treatments are developed.
Terrorist Threat Integration Center: To improve our intelligence capabilities, the President instructed the Directors of Central Intelligence and the FBI, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense to develop a center to merge and analyze all terrorist-related information collected domestically and abroad in a single location to form the most comprehensive threat picture.
Disarm Saddam Hussein
The gravest danger we face in the war on terror is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene next week to consider the facts of Iraqs ongoing defiance of the world. We will consult. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm, we will act for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world.
A Filibuster is the term used for an extended debate in the Senate which has the effect of preventing a vote. Senate rules contain no motion to force a vote. A vote occurs only once debate ends.
Therefore I conclude that the D's will attempt to continue debate on judicial nominees, ad infinitum, unless the R's can garner 60 supporting members to vote for an end to the debate? However, as the definition above says, "Senate rules contain no motion to force a vote." So I guess I am still a bit confused. Can 60 votes end debate and force a vote on a judicial nominee, or can the debate continue until doomsday?
In my most recent hard-copy issue of Human Events, in the Capital Briefs section, I read that "Hatch announced last week that he would drop the requirement that both senators from a given state submit positive reviews - or 'blue slips' - for a nominee to receive committee consideration.....if committee Republicans go along with Hatch, Democrats will have only the filibuster as a recourse against conservative judges."
The first part of this info is easy to understand - that denying 'blue slips' to nominees is a form of filibuster (obstructionism). The short quip does not, however, go into detail about the one final filibuster left to the D's. Is it prolonged debate without a vote?
PhiKapMom, I would guess that a thread devoted exclusively to getting out the word about a Democrat filibuster of judicial nominees in the Senate, complete with definitions!, would be useful. What do you think? Maybe you have already done that, and I just missed the thread. President Bush's judicial nominations are the most important function of his career in the White House. I believe America's future hangs in the balance on these nominees alone. I wish it were not so, but who can deny it after witnessing so much judicial activism?
"Judicial nominees have rarely been subjected to a filibuster, which is when senators speak at length on the Senate floor to prevent a measure from receiving a vote. To break a filibuster in the Senate, 60 votes are necessary."
Six Republican Turncoats Defect On ANWAR Drilling.
Didn't notice any democrats crossing the aisle on this matter.
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