120628NJD

A National Journal Group PublicationThursday, June 28, 2012

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Inside politics — p.6

Republican freshmen extend their power to new PAC. transportation — p.6

Highway, student-loan deal appears to be at hand.

banking — p.10Barclays case spotlights fight over funding for regulators. energy — p.10

How political rhetoric follows the trajectory of prices at the pump.

political roundup — p.12Nelson, Mack are neck-and-neck; Matheson, Barrow will vote for Holder contempt measure; Bob Turner goes from fame to oblivion; Jon Gosselin campaigns for Shmuley Boteach.

power play — p.5President Obama’s clean-air efforts are putting Tim Kaine and other Virginia Democrats in a tough spot this year.

floor schedule the week — p.13

Senate: Meets at 9:30 a.m.House: Meets at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business.

column

energy

GOP Pressure Led to Deal That Remade NRC

Regardless of Ruling, Gripes Are Guaranteed

B Y OL G A B E L O G OL OVA

On April 17, seven Senate Republican staff-ers sat in a room in the Capitol with Kris-tine Svinicki, a GOP member of the Nucle-ar Regulatory Commission whose term was set to expire at the end of June. The aides had one question for Svinicki: Do you want us to fight for your job? Her answer was a firm yes.

The next day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave an impas-sioned speech on the Senate floor about Sv-inicki, raising the profile of her stalled nomina-tion and setting off a series of events expected to culminate this week with the Senate not only confirming Svinicki to a second five-year term, but also approving a new chairwoman for the embattled commission.

But the story actually began long before that pivotal meeting.

Svinicki’s renomination was originally sup-posed to be paired with that of William Os-tendorff, another Republican member of the NRC, but the plan went awry when Ostendorff was confirmed to a second term just before his first one expired last summer.

“The idea to break that pairing ... it was a strategic blunder,” said a House GOP commit-

B Y M A RG O T S A NG E R- K AT Z

Today is the day when the Supreme Court will make a lot of people unhappy.

There’s simply no ruling on the Affordable Care Act that will satisfy a majority of Amer-icans. Polls show that people dislike the law. But they dislike the status quo. They dislike a partial solution.

They want health care reform, but not this health care reform.

The interest groups, too, are divided in their allegiances. Some businesses would benefit from the erasure of the law. Many in the health industry, who have reorganized their business strategies, would lose out. The health plans, which negotiated a com-plex deal to take cuts in exchange for new customers, stand to lose quite a lot if the un-

popular individual mandate comes down.The Democrats want a vindication of their

signature Affordable Care Act, but if they somehow get it, they would still be saddled with responsibility for a law that faces fierce public opposition. Since the law was passed in 2010, disapproval by at least 40 percent of the population has been unflinching—and recent polls rate it higher as the decision approaches. Republicans in Congress have vowed that they will move forward with their efforts to repeal the law if the Court doesn’t do it for them, a message that plays well with both Republicans and independents.

“For the Republicans, it turns out to be a good issue,” said Robert Blendon, a poll-ster and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. “It motivates their base … and

health care

Sketchy prospects: Supreme Court decision on Affordable Care Act could leave gaps in the insurance system.

continued on page 8

continued on page 8

In the military, accomplishment and trust are cherished values and you have to earn them before you can claim them. TriWest Healthcare Alliance has earned this trust with accomplishments… 16 years of service, provider networks and programs exclusively tailored to supporting the unique needs of the military.

Recently UnitedHealthcare has made claims that tell only part of the story. United’s Claim: #1 in claims processing accuracy

Really?

According to the Revive 2011 National Payor Survey, UnitedHealthcare “received the worst marks for proper payment of hospital claims.” United’s Claim: #1 in employer satisfaction

Really?

UnitedHealthcare chose to disclose only half of the J.D. Power’s survey… the other half, which surveyed employer satisfaction with fully-insured health plans, ranked UnitedHeathcare below the survey average.

United’s Claim: Most admired health insurer

Really?

That’s according to company executives, but what about consumers?

Consumer Reports concluded in November 2011 that while UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest insurer, none of its private plans rank among the top 50 plans, only 3 are in the top 100, and most occupy the bottom of the rankings.SaveMyMilitaryHealthCare.com

YOU DON’T CLAIM IT UNTILYOU’VE EARNED IT

nationa ljour na l.com national journal daily

thursday, june 28 , 2012

3

The Scan

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, leads Republican state Treasurer Josh Mandel by 16 points in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio.

Source: Quinnipiac University poll

Survey of 1,237 Ohio voters conducted June 19-25; margin of error +/- 2.8 percentage points.

Poll: Brown Leads Big in Ohio

16

50%

34 Josh Mandel

Sherrod Brown

Other/Undecided

GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING

QUOTABLE

BY THE NUMBERS

“I’ve got an election coming up, like all my colleagues.”Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., explaining to Dish Network’s chairman why he objects to the company’s new “Hopper” feature allowing customers to skip past commercials—including campaign ads

QUICK TAKES

LOOKS ARE DECEIVING. On the House floor Wednesday morning, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., gave quite the impassioned speech against Arizona’s “show me your papers” provision, slamming it as discriminatory against nonwhites. And then he led a game of “Pick Out the Immigrant.” Gutierrez displayed pictures of pop stars Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, saying, “These young people have overcome their very different national origins and become apparently a very happy couple. I’m sure Justin helped Gomez learn all about American customs and feel more at home in her adopted country.” Then Gutierrez laid on the sarcasm—thick: “Oooh, wait a minute, I’m sorry. Because I’m not a trained Arizona official, I somehow got that backwards. Actually, Ms. Gomez of Texas has helped Mr. Bieber of Canada to learn about his adopted country.”

ENERGETIC OPPOSITION. Vice President Joe Biden, in Iowa on Wednesday, lashed out at Mitt Romney for the second straight day, this time taking issue with the Republican’s reluctance to embrace tax credits for wind and solar energy.

TIME FOR A CHANGE. As the market for home-video services grows increasingly competitive, House Republicans are hinting at overhauling 20-year-old rules that govern pay TV. Since the Cable Act of 1992, satellite, fiber-line services from Verizon and AT&T, and providers that work over home broadband connections, like Netflix, have eroded cable’s share of the pay-TV market from more than 90 percent to less than 60 percent.

STEPPING UP. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has indicated he likely will seek the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee in the next Congress.

UNDER SCRUTINY. Just two days after a federal appeals court issued a strong unanimous opinion upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse-gas regulations, top agency officials will likely face criticism for those rules from House Republicans. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will testify on Thursday before the House Science Committee about her agency’s scientific practices and how they affect regulations. On Friday, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Gina McCarthy will testify at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on EPA’s climate rules—the very same ones upheld in court earlier this week.

SMOOTH SAILING. The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday passed H.R. 6018—authorizing funding for the State Department and international programs—by a unanimous voice vote. This is a significant change from last year’s heated marathon markup, which lasted for more than 30 hours, passed along party lines, and went nowhere.

TEAM EFFORT. The Obama administration is coming under increased pressure from Congress to provide lawmakers, nonprofits, and other stakeholders with more details about a trade agreement being negotiated by the United States and a group of Asia-Pacific countries. The latest complaints over the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks come from about 130 Democratic House members. In a letter on Wednesday, they urged U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to undertake “broader and deeper consultations” with lawmakers on committees with jurisdiction over the areas covered by TPP, and to allow for more input on key issues.

WHAT’S MOVING

Flood-insurance reform: House and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on compromise legisla-tion to reform the National Flood Insurance Program.

Party loyalty: As some congressional Democrats opt out of the Democratic convention, others plan to vote with the GOP in citing Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress.

Cybersecurity: Republican Senate committee leaders reintroduced a cybersecurity bill on Wednesday, setting the stage for a showdown.

$944 The amount in unemployment benefits paid by the Defense Department last year to troops who left the military but were unable to secure jobs, USA Today reported on Wednesday.

million



5

Environmentalists were surprised in part because neither Webb nor Warner is up for reelection, so attention was more fo-cused on Democrats from coal-dependent states who are run-ning this cycle, including Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania. Webb is retiring, and Warner isn’t up until 2014.

Still, the Virginia Democrats’ votes to overturn one of President Obama’s most significant clean-air rules are emblematic of politics that transcend the commonwealth.

“Virginia is a bellwether state in the sense that it is a demo-graphic microcosm of the country,” Webb told National Journal Daily after his vote. Indeed, Virginia isn’t even known for being a major coal-producing state. It ranks 12th in the country after Colorado and ahead of New Mexico, according to the National Mining Association.

“It’s coal, but Virginia has also lost a tremendous amount of man-ufacturing jobs,” Webb said. “The issues that are going to be rel-evant in the national campaign show up in different demographic pockets here.”

And that’s why the votes cast by Webb and Warner are also a portentous sign both for Obama’s bid to win the state and for for-mer Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine’s efforts to beat his likely Repub-lican opponent, former Sen. George Allen, in the race for the seat Webb is vacating.

“This issue is about a regulation that was put forward by a feder-al agency that’s under the administration of President Obama, and so to some extent I’d expect there would be a conversation about that regulation within the context of his campaign,” said former Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who lost his seat representing the 9th District in 2010 partly because of his critical role negotiating the 2009 cap-and-trade bill to control carbon emissions.

In other words, these votes put Obama in an awkward position if he tries to tout his environmental record in Virginia when both the state’s Democratic senators don’t support one of the biggest pillars of that record.

“As a Democratic state senator out here, I’ve not appreciated the position that the president has taken because I think it puts the coal industry in jeopardy,” Puckett said. “It’s a difficult spot to be in. We’d like to be able to support a Democratic president.”

It’s unclear what Kaine thinks about this particular EPA rule controlling mercury pollution from power plants. On his campaign website, Kaine says he will “resist ongoing efforts to weaken en-vironmental regulations that are needed to protect public health.”

Puckett said that while Kaine was governor from 2006 to 2010, he had been supportive of the industry. “He is one who understands how important coal is to Virginia,” Puckett said. “I don’t want to speak for him, but I believe if you asked him directly, he’d say he’s looking for a balance.”

Likely reluctant to go out on a limb over a controversial EPA rule just months before November, the Obama campaign declined to comment for this column and the Kaine campaign also did not re-spond to requests for comment.

B Y A M Y H A R DE R

T he votes of Virginia’s two Democratic senators to overturn a landmark air-pollution rule offer a glimpse into the influence of one region in the commonwealth and a portentous sign for the na-tional political fight over environmental regula-tion and the economy.

Virginia’s 9th Congressional District, cover-ing the state’s southwest corner, is known for its blue-collar voters, coal mines, and conservative bent compared with the rest of the state—especially Northern Virginia. It’s a long way from here to there: The state’s far western edge is closer to the Mississippi River than to the Potomac.

But last week, the voices of that region’s state officials and in-dustry lobbyists resonated with Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb more than anyone closer to Capitol Hill.

Warner and Webb voted on June 20 to support a disapproval reso-lution sponsored by Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., that would have nullified the En-vironmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized rule controlling mercury and other airborne toxins from power plants. The resolution failed, but the votes of Warner and Webb to support it surprised Wash-ington insiders on both sides of the fight.

“I asked Senators Webb and Warner to consider supporting the resolution because it just gives us some sense of balance in what we think is an industry very important to not just Virginia but to the en-tire country,” said Phillip Puckett, a veteran Democratic Virginia state senator who represents the southwest part of the commonwealth.

Another person key to persuading the two senators—and especial-ly Warner—to support Inhofe’s resolution was Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, which bills itself as the third-largest coal producer in the United States and fifth largest in the world. Alpha is based in Bristol, deep in southwestern Virginia.

According to several industry and Hill sources, Crutchfield called the senators in the hours before the vote and was pivotal in their decision to support the resolution.

Voting to overturn the EPA rule “represented an opportunity to send a clear signal to this administration that it is overreaching in the regulatory arena, and the costs of that overreach will equate to lost jobs and higher energy prices for Virginians and American families,” said Ted Pile, vice president for corporate communica-tions at Alpha.

Environmental and public-health groups have successfully lob-bied most coal-state Democrats to support the EPA rule by describ-ing the vote to overturn it as imperiling children and babies with mercury pollution. The votes of Webb and Warner caught environ-mentalists off guard.

“Warner has often been there for us, and this was really a shock on this issue to see him go south—or southwest, as they say,” said Navin Nayak, senior vice president for campaigns with the League of Conser-vation Voters.

Southern Discomfort

POWER PLAY

President Obama’s clean-air efforts put Tim Kaine and other Virginia Democrats in a tough spot this year.


national journal daily nationa ljour na l.com6

politics

House Freshmen Extend Their Power to PACB Y B E N T E R R IS

The House Republican freshman class doesn’t agree on everything, but members seem to be coalescing around one basic de-sire: They’d like to stick around.

Six members of the class from across the country are forming a political action com-mittee aimed at retaining as many of the 89 newest Republicans as they can. The Fresh-man Hold ’Em PAC will be asking class mem-bers to donate money to help their most vul-nerable colleagues. So far, the principals report, about 27 freshmen are set to receive support from the group. They hope to get about 50 freshmen to donate and use that to kick-start outside interest.

“When you’re part of a large class like this, you have a lot of different opinions,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., one of the orga-nizers of the PAC, told National Journal Daily. “So how can the freshman class stay unified going into an election? By coming out in sup-port of freshmen.”

According to various analyses, including rankings done by National Journal, the fresh-man class is about as diverse as the rest of the

conference. Because of that, the bloc has not always acted as strongly as outsiders may have expected or hoped. But while the group won’t always agree on whether to raise the debt ceil-ing or extend a payroll-tax cut, they can agree that just two years in the House has not been enough time to really shake the place up.

The PAC aims to serve any new GOP mem-bers of the House, regardless of where they fall on the conservative spectrum. In this utopian world of freshman camaraderie, Rep. Robert Dold (a self-proclaimed centrist) is just as deserving of some cash as Rep. Joe Walsh, a fellow Illinois freshman known as a tea party stalwart. The PAC won’t choose sides in member-against-member primaries like the forthcoming one in Arizona between freshman Reps. Ben Quayle and David Sch-weikert or the Florida battle between Rep.

John Mica and newbie Rep. Sandy Adams.In addition to helping fill campaign coffers,

the PAC will be sponsoring six regional events to drum up support for candidates. They are planning to have a kickoff event on July 25. The six freshmen in charge—Francisco (Quico) Canseco of Texas, Jeff Denham of Califor-nia, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Tom Reed of New York, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Indiana’s Stutzman—held a freshman meeting this week to pitch the idea. Normally, the meetings get about 10 or 20 people; this one had about double that, organizers said.

“We aim to make sure we continue to have the ability to change the way Washington works, and to continue to flex our ideas and power,” Gardner said. And while he admit-ted that there are some differences, he said all want to “cut spending and change Congress.”

If the organizers are concerned that the PAC runs the risk of making the class look like just another group of career politicians, they haven’t let on.

“It’s just part of the process,” said Stutzman. “We have leadership PACs and super PACs. It just shows we’re willing to stick together al-most two years after our big election.”

The Takeaway The House’s powerful freshman

Republican class is forming a PAC to help class members get reelected.

The freshmen aren’t allowing ideological differences to divide them in this effort.

transportation

Highway, Student-Loan Deal Appears To Be at HandB Y DA N F R I E DM A N A N D N I R A J C HOK S H I

Congressional leaders were finalizing an agreement on a combined highway and stu-dent-loan package late on Wednesday, in what will likely be their last shot at enact-ing a major jobs and economic-relief pack-age before November.

Democrats and Republicans on the bicam-eral transportation conference committee treated the deal as a foregone conclusion by Wednesday evening, even though the text it-self was still being written and considered.

“Our country needs the kind of econom-ic boost that this bill offers, and I am looking forward to getting it to the president’s desk,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the con-ference committee chairwoman.

If the Senate can work out an agreement on a five-year plan for the National Flood In-surance Program, that measure will also be included in the combined package, according to informed Senate aides.

Passage of the combined package would be the latest in a series of recent legislative success stories, such as the Senate’s passage of the farm bill last week, belying wide-spread assumptions that a divided Congress

is stalemated by partisanship—particularly in an election year.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Wednesday suggested a deal was in hand. “We’re moving, I think, towards an agree-ment on a transportation bill that would also include a one-year fix on the student-loan rate increase,” Boehner said after meeting with House Republicans.

The highway bill would authorize funding of highways, bridges, and other surface-trans-portation programs through the end of fiscal 2014. The $6 billion student-loan bill would freeze interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for one year. Without legislative action, rates will double on July 1.

For days, lawmakers have said there was agreement on the student-loan bill and the transportation-policy portion of the high-

way bill. At issue were environmental riders that House Republicans wanted to add to the highway bill.

The deal does not include language re-quiring construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, conferees and leadership aides said. It also excludes a provision that would block Environmental Protection Agency au-thority to issue regulations on coal ash (a by-product of coal-fired electricity) that are expected to be finalized this year. House Republicans had pushed for inclusion of both provisions.

The agreement does include another GOP priority, aides said: streamlining environ-mental review of the impacts of some trans-portation projects. If a deal is completed on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to set up floor action on the combined package Thursday. He would also seek a unanimous-consent agreement to deem the package passed after a House vote, which is expected on Friday, a senior Senate Democratic aide said. Reid would like to include the flood-insurance package in the bill but will withdraw it and return to the measure in July if its inclusion draws objection during the consent agreement, the aide said.

The Takeaway Conferees appear to have an agreement

to pass the highway bill and prevent a hike in interest rates on some student loans.

Passing a bill before recess would be another success for the Senate, which has recently seen a number of bipartisan deals.

FightingForAir.org

WHEN WE’RE SOFT ON SOOT, KIDS SUFFERCurrent soot air standards are not safe. Science clearly shows soot causes tens of thousands of premature deaths each year and childhood asthma attacks.The law requires updated standards that actually protect health. It’s time to reduce soot and its toll on our families and our lives.

Tell EPA: Set strong soot standards. Save lives.



energy

tee aide, explaining that without being cou-pled with another appointee, Svinicki’s reap-pointment was at risk of getting stuck at the White House.

A key problem for Svinicki was her past support for maintaining the controversial nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had vowed to kill the project. Reid got his way—partly with the help of a former aide, NRC Chairman Gregory Jacz-ko—when President Obama canceled the proj-ect in 2009, and the Senate Democratic leader wanted to make sure it was never revived.

Last year, the White House had told Re-publicans that Svinicki’s reappointment to the NRC would be no problem and that her papers would be sent up to the Senate by Oc-tober, according to a Senate GOP aide. But the date kept slipping.

Then all hell broke loose at the NRC. In October, all four of Jaczko’s fellow commis-sioners, including Svinicki, made accusations against him and wrote to then-White House Chief of Staff William Daley to tell him that the chairman had created “a chilled work en-vironment” at the commission with his “bul-lying” management style. Jaczko was already under fire after the NRC’s inspector general had concluded in June 2011 that he had not been forthcoming with his fellow commis-sioners about the Yucca project’s termination.

NRC continued from page 1

The letter led to congressional hearings and Jaczko was on the ropes. He didn’t help himself in February and March by twice cast-ing the only dissenting votes when the NRC approved new licenses for nuclear reactors in Georgia and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, pressure was building among Republicans to get Svinicki’s nomination to the Senate floor in time for her to be confirmed before her term expired on June 30. When Re-publican leaders contacted the White House, they learned that Reid had been lobbying hard for Svinicki not to be reappointed.

That’s when McConnell policy adviser Neil Chatterjee convened the meeting in the Capitol with Svinicki to plot a strategy for getting her confirmed. Also in attendance were Svinicki Chief of Staff Jeffry Sharkey; McKie Campbell, staff director for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Brian Clifford, a leg-islative aide for Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Jeff Wood, counsel to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; Dave Banks, deputy staff director to Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.; and Karen Billups, minority chief counsel at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Two days after the meeting, and fol-lowing McConnell’s fiery floor statement, White House officials made it known that they were snubbing Reid’s objections and renominating Svinicki.

“Once her papers were sent up, the dam

broke,” a Senate GOP aide told National Jour-nal Daily. The aide explained that Republi-cans suspected Reid was planning to hold Svinicki’s nomination hostage in an attempt to get Jaczko another term before his current one would have expired next year.

The day after the White House cleared Svinicki’s nomination, Jaczko called an im-promptu news conference at the National Press Club. Rumors circulated that he was stepping down, but Jaczko used the opportu-nity to deny the allegations against him.

One month later, though, he announced he would resign as soon as a replacement was confirmed by the Senate, and just three days after that the White House nominated George Mason University professor Allison Macfar-lane to the post.

Macfarlane, a vocal critic of Yucca Moun-tain, didn’t come out of nowhere. Reid had unsuccessfully pushed for her nomination to the NRC in 2007, and the environmental science professor had served on the Obama administration’s blue-ribbon panel on nucle-ar waste. Macfarlane wasn’t an ideal choice for Republicans, but she was no Jaczko—and that’s what mattered.

“The only way to get Jaczko out was to get Macfarlane,” a Senate GOP aide said. “We’d rather have Svinicki for five, and they get Mac-farlane for one.... She can’t possibly govern the way that [Jaczko] does.”

health care

there are more independents who say they don’t like the law than like it.”

Republicans want the law wiped off the books, but such a ruling would be likely to have unpleasant ripple effects they might not like, by creating policy turmoil and un-doing some very popular benefits.

They also wouldn’t have “Obamacare” to kick around anymore, meaning they would lose a base-galvanizing refrain. And Americans’ fundamental disagreements about the best approach to health reform means they could be the next beneficiaries of public disapproval once they suggest a replacement approach.

“We have shown in enough cases that Republicans and opponents of the Afford-able Care Act generally like lots of things about the Affordable Care Act,” said Mol-lyann Brodie, the director of public opin-ion and media research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who has done extensive polling on the law. “And, in fact, opponents of the Affordable Care Act do think there are prob-

Ruling continued from page 1

lems in our health care system that should be solved.”

The public wants to get rid of the individ-ual mandate, the centerpiece of the Court challenge and, by far, the law’s least-popular provision. Only about 30 percent of the pop-ulation supports it, even though the law’s congressional authors and the White House describe it as a linchpin needed to keep oth-er provisions in place. Losing the mandate could alienate the insurance and hospital industries, key constituencies that helped get the law passed. The law offered them a trade-off between pay cuts and more cus-tomers. If the mandate goes, they would get only cuts. Consumers could get prices even higher than those they face today and might see their local hospitals close.

“If the link were to be broken, that will re-ally mean that these market reforms could backfire on consumers,” said Karen Ignagni, the president and CEO of the health insur-ance lobby, America’s Health Insurance Plans. “Nobody wants that.”

The 26 states fighting the law want out of its massive Medicaid expansion Yet that pro-vision, which would insure some 16 million Americans, is actually pretty popular. Losing that provision would create huge gaps in the insurance system, leaving a law that provides financial assistance to the middle class but not the poor.

The Court might just want a way out, and it’s been presented with one in the way of a legal technicality. But a ruling to postpone the case’s tough choices would likely be the most unpopular of all. Everyone wants an answer now.

The unfortunate choices facing the Su-preme Court are a reminder of why it was so difficult to pass health reform in the first place. And they are perhaps an expla-nation of why so many of the justices have immediate travel plans. According to the Associated Press, Chief Justice John Rob-erts, who is widely expected to pen the ma-jority opinion, will be teaching a course in Malta by Monday.

Creating JobsInvesting in public transportation will spark our economy.

Every $1 billion we invest in public transportation means 36,000 jobs. Public transit projects will put people to work, repair our nation’s aging infrastructure and help America stay competitive long into the future.

Whether it’s more jobs or a revitalized economy, public transportation takes us there.

Congress, act now to pass a meaningful transportation bill.

publictransportation.org



banking and finance

Barclays Case Spotlights Fight Over Funding RegulatorsB Y BI L LY HOU S E , C AT H E R I N E HOL L A N DE R , A N D K AT Y O ’ D ON N E L L

The news on Wednesday that the British bank Barclays agreed to pay a whopping $453 mil-lion in penalties to U.S. and U.K. regulators in an international interest-rate conspiracy is a wake-up call to keep the government’s finan-cial watchdogs adequately funded, Democrats and others say.

The penalties levied against Barclays in-clude $200 million by the Commodity Fu-tures Trading Commission, a regulatory body that has been targeted by House Republicans for budget cuts. The amount is the biggest CFTC has ever imposed. But top House Re-publicans, who have made undoing some cor-porate regulatory controls a centerpiece of their legislative jobs agenda, showed no en-thusiasm about the development.

The offices of Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., referred all comment to House Finan-cial Services Committee Chairman Spen-cer Bachus, R-Ala. In a brief interview, Ba-chus simply shrugged when asked about the Barclays settlement. Of the regulators’ work in the matter, Bachus said, “They probably should have uncovered it a year ago.”

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Financial Services Com-mittee, strongly doubted that House Repub-licans would back off their efforts to slash the

CFTC’s budget. “I wouldn’t buy a credit de-fault swap on their changing [their minds],” quipped the lawmaker, who was one of the architects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re-form and Consumer Protection Act.

Still, Frank argued, the settlement an-nounced on Wednesday “is one more strong argument against Republican efforts to de-prive the CFTC of the funds it needs to be effective.” He added: “In this one move, the CFTC is recovering more money than the Re-publican Congress will allow it to have for a budget for an entire year.”

Making money for the federal government is certainly not the main mission of a watch-dog regulatory agency or why it’s needed. The aim is to protect consumers.

In the Barclays matter, for instance, CFTC ordered it to pay a $200 million civil monetary penalty for attempted manipula-tion of interest rates as well as making false reports to benefit its derivatives trading po-sition. The bank will also pay a $160 mil-lion penalty as part of an agreement with the Justice Department, and a $92 million

penalty to the U.K.’s Financial Services Au-thority. On top of the financial penalties, Barclays will be required to implement mea-sures to ensure its submissions are not influ-enced by conflicts of interest.

The interest-rate manipulation and false reports identified by Barclays occurred be-tween 2005 and 2009. In short, the regula-tors uncovered that the bank’s traders lied to make Barclays look more secure.

But just last week, the House Appropria-tions Committee voted down a proposed amendment to the fiscal 2013 Agriculture spending bill that would have restored funds to CFTC to implement the Dodd-Frank law. Instead, the bill grants $180 million to CFTC, a $25 million cut from current levels and $128 million less than President Obama requested .

Committee Democrats unsuccessful-ly argued that now is not the time to cut funding, repeatedly invoking the fallout over MF Global’s 2011 bankruptcy and the highly publicized recent losses at JPMor-gan Chase as they stressed the need for greater financial regulation.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Minor-ity Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on Wednesday when asked about the Barclays settlement: “Instead of siding with taxpayers by empowering the cop on the beat, Repub-licans prefer to side with the same big banks on Wall Street that profited from risky de-rivatives bets but expected taxpayer bailouts when those bets went awry.”

energy

How Political Rhetoric Follows Gas PricesB Y S H A N E G OL DM AC H E R

As the price at the pump surged this winter and spring, Republicans seized the issue as a chance to attack President Obama.

Mitt Romney in March called on Obama to fire his “gas hike trio,” three top Cabinet of-ficials he accused of helping hike fuel prices. Then-presidential candidate Newt Gingrich pledged to bring back the days of $2.50-a-gal-lon gas. And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told his GOP troops behind closed doors, “This debate is a debate we want to have.” No longer.

As gas prices have dipped, the issue has all but disappeared as a talking point, both on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress. The chart accompanying this story tells the tale. The blue line tracks the price of gasoline since January 2008. Since then, there have been three distinct spikes in prices: in June 2008, May 2011, and earlier this year. Super-

imposed in red is a graph that tracks how of-ten lawmakers said the words “gas prices” on the floor of Congress. Lo and behold, there are three distinct spikes: in June 2008, May 2011, and earlier this year.

The contours of the political debate and the gas-price chart match almost seamlessly. In 2008, as the pace of price decreases leveled off for a month, so, too, did political chatter. In 2009, as prices fluctuated up and down slight-ly, the talking points on the floor did as well.

Economists generally agree that politi-cians can do little about gas prices, particu-larly in the short term. But that doesn’t stop lawmakers from talking about the price hikes—or stop the public from blaming pols when prices soar. The good news for Obama is that energy experts are predicting fuel pric-es will continue to drop through the fall. Of course, the phenomenon of falling gas prices may be a worry in and of itself. Such declines are often a sign of a slowing economy.

The Takeaway The Commodity Futures Trading

Commission, which helped uncover wrongdoing by British bank Barclays, still faces the House GOP budget ax.

Democrats say the case proves the need to fully fund financial watchdogs.

Talk of gas prices in Congress directly correlates with high prices at the pump.

U.S. retail gas prices, dollars per gallon

Political Rhetoric and Gas Prices

Sources: Energy Information Administration; Sunlight Foundation

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

$1

0

$2

$3

$4

300

0

600

900

1,200

$5 per gallon 1,500 mentions

Mentions of “Gas prices” in Congress

– Barry Jackson, Rockville, MD

Barry had a stroke at 38. He has two young daughters. Now, he’s back thanks to new

But the NIH soon faces $2.4 billion in across-the-board budget cuts. These cuts would have

a devastating impact on medical research, new discoveries and our economy. We have an

obligation to patients like Barry and future generations to make the NIH a national priority.

It’s a critical investment in America’s health.

technology in rehabilitation and treatments NIH research made possible.

Read Barry’s story and others at ResearchSavesLives.org

Research Saves Lives. Protect the NIH.TELL CONGRESS



Powered by

contests partially stems from the preference of independent voters. In the Senate race, Casey has a 14-point advantage among inde-pendents, 44 percent to 30 percent. But Rom-ney leads Obama, 43 percent to 37 percent, with those voters.

Casey also outperforms Obama among working-class whites, a key voting bloc in the state. While Obama trails Romney by 7 points among white voters without a college degree, 43 percent to 36 percent, Casey leads Smith by 12 points among that group, 46 per-cent to 34 percent.

Smith emerged from relative obscurity to capture the Republican nomination after spending $5 million of his own money.

The Quinnipiac poll, which was conduct-ed on June 19-25, surveyed 1,252 Pennsylvania voters. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.Kevin Brennan

Bob Turner’s Path From Fame to Oblivion

new york — Political star power can be fleeting. Just ask Rep. Bob Turner, R-N.Y.

The Empire State freshman’s quick ascent and equally swift fade into the background is a reminder that today’s hero can quickly become tomorrow’s footnote. Just nine months ago, Turner was a Republi-can hero who picked up disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Queens-based seat with a special-election win over Democrat David Weprin, on turf that had been generally un-friendly to the GOP.

Today, he’s a soon-to-be former congress-man with a carved-up district who just lost a race to become Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gil-librand’s sacrificial lamb in November. Af-ter Turner learned in March that the state’s new congressional map would slice and dice his district into seven pieces, he opted for a Senate bid, triggering buzz that the heavily-favored Gillibrand might have to do a little campaigning before November.

But Turner’s campaign failed to catch fire, and he lost the Republican primary by 15 points to Wendy Long, an upstart conser-vative attorney running her first campaign.

Turner, who was a first-time candidate for the House in 2011, can appreciate an out-sider victory, and he pledged on Tuesday night to work with Long “to unite all Repub-licans and conservatives in the effort to de-feat Kirsten Gillibrand in November.”Sean Sullivan

Poll: Nelson and Mack Neck-and-Neck

florida — A Quinnipiac Univer-sity poll released on Wednesday morning shows Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican

Rep. Connie Mack running neck-and-neck in the Florida Senate campaign. Nelson leads Mack, 41 percent to 40 percent, with 17 percent undecided.

The survey is the latest in a recent string of polls revealing a tight race in the Sun-shine State. The previous poll, conducted earlier this month during a period ending one day before the start of the new survey, showed a similar spread, with Nelson lead-ing, 43 percent to 39 percent.

In the poll, Mack is significantly outper-forming presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney among Hispanic vot-ers. While President Obama leads Romney 56 percent to 32 percent among Hispanics, Mack trails Nelson by only 2 percentage points, 37 percent to 35 percent. Twenty-five percent of Hispanics are undecided in the Senate race, compared with just 10 percent in the presi-dential contest.

Mack, the son of former Sen. Connie Mack III, is the heavy favorite to win the GOP Senate nomination. Former Sen. George LeMieux dropped out of the race last week, but former Rep. Dave Weldon and retired Army Col. Mike McCalister are also running in the Aug. 14 primary.

The Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted on June 19-25, surveyed 1,200 Florida voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Kevin Brennan

Former Reality-TV Star Campaigns for Boteach

new jersey — In an unlikely com-bination of characters, celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the Re-publican nominee for New Jer-

sey’s 9th Congressional District, appeared at a press conference on Wednesday with former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Jon Gosselin. According to Newark’s Star-Ledger, the duo planned to discuss the importance of “tax-deductible marriage counseling.”

This is an issue particularly close to Gos-selin’s heart: In 2009, before seeking out the rabbi’s guidance, he went through a nasty,

public divorce with former wife Kate, dur-ing which he was accused of infidelity. He planned to use the conference to talk about the public collapse of his relationship and explain how it could have been saved by tax-deductible counseling. Gosselin also dis-cussed the post-divorce advice he has re-ceived from Boteach.

According to a campaign press release, Boteach hoped to use the press conference “to steer the political conversation” away “from scapegoating gay marriage” and toward “a more productive method for saving” marriage as an “institution.”

He is challenging Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell in the newly-drawn, Democratic-leaning district.Gram Slattery

Matheson, Barrow Will Vote for Holder Measure

Several vulnerable Democratic House members say they will vote for a GOP-sponsored mea-sure finding Attorney General

Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Thursday. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, was the first Democrat to say he would vote for the measure, and he was joined by a few others from conservative districts, including Reps. John Barrow of Georgia and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.

The list of Democratic “aye” voters over-laps with the growing list of members choos-ing to skip the Democratic National Conven-tion in Charlotte, N.C.

The National Rifle Association is also scor-ing the contempt vote; Matheson, Barrow, and Rahall were all among the Democratic candi-dates endorsed by the NRA in 2010.Scott Bland

Poll: Casey Up 17 Pointspennsylvania — Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., is a heavy favorite to win reelection, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on

Wednesday. Casey leads Republican Tom Smith, 49 percent to 32 percent, according to the poll; 17 percent of Keystone State voters said they are undecided.

The poll shows a much more competitive presidential race in Pennsylvania, with Presi-dent Obama leading Mitt Romney, 45 percent to 39 percent, in the traditionally blue state.

The difference in the results of the two

Political Roundup



13

b briefing h hearing m markup mt meeting fh field hearing jh joint hearing

JUDICIARY MPending Business2141 RHOB, NoonFull committee markup of H.R.1860; H.R.823; H.R.316; H.R.794; H.R.357; H.R.824; H.R.1857; H.R.3120; H.R.6019; and the “Third Semiannual Activity Report of the Committee on the Judiciary for the 112th Congress.”202-225-3951.

NATURAL RESOURCES HPending Legislation Revised1324 LHOB, 9 a.m.National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee hearing on H.R.624; H.R.3640; H.R.4109; H.R.4334; H.R.4484; H.R.5319; H.R.5958; and H.R.5987.202-225-2761.

Witnesses: Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and Reps. John Carney, D-Del., Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Jeff Denham, R-Calif., Steve Pearce, R-N.M., Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., and Bob Turner, R-N.Y.

OVERSIGHT H AND GOVERNMENT REFORM RevisedEPA Rulemaking Practices 2203 RHOB, 9 a.m.Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and Procurement Reform Subcommittee hearing.202-225-5074.

OVERSIGHT H AND GOVERNMENT REFORM RevisedTransition from Military to Civilian Mission in Iraq 2154 RHOB, 9:15 a.m.National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations Subcommittee hearing.202-225-5074.

OVERSIGHT H AND GOVERNMENT REFORM RevisedSEC Implementation of the JOBS Act 2247 RHOB, 9:30 a.m.TARP, Financial Services, and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs Subcommittee hearing.202-225-5074.

thursday senate

COMMERCE, SCIENCE, H AND TRANSPORTATION Industry Self-regulation in Consumer Privacy Protections253 RSOB, 10 a.m.Full committee hearing.202-224-0411.

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES HNon-Federal Financing of Energy Efficient Building Retrofits366 DSOB, 9:30 a.m.Full committee hearing.202-224-4971.

FOREIGN RELATIONS HLaw of the Sea Convention Business/Industry Perspectives216 HSOB, 9:30 a.m.Full committee hearing.202-224-4651.

FOREIGN RELATIONS HAfrica’s Market Potential Revised419 DSOB, 2:30 p.m.African Affairs Subcommittee hearing.202-224-4651.

INDIAN AFFAIRS MPending Business628 DSOB, 2:15 p.m.Full committee markup of H.R.443; H.R.1560; H.R.1272; S.134; S.1065; S.2389; and S.3193.202-224-2251.

INTELLIGENCE HIntelligence Matters Closed219 HSOB, 2:30 p.m.Full committee hearing.202-224-1700.

JUDICIARY MPending Business226 DSOB, 10 a.m.Full committee markup of S.285; S.1744; and to vote on pending nominations.202-224-7703.

thursday house

APPROPRIATIONS MInterior-Environment New Appropriations 2359 RHOB, 9 a.m.Full committee markup. (Continued from

June 27.)202-225-2771.

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE HVoluntary Workplace Revised Protection Programs 2175 RHOB, 9:30 a.m.Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing.202-225-4527.

ENERGY AND COMMERCE HFine Particulate Matter Standards2123 RHOB, 9 a.m.Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing.202-225-2927.

FINANCIAL SERVICES HAppraisal Oversight2128 RHOB, 10 a.m.Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee hearing.202-225-7502.

FINANCIAL SERVICES HFractional Reserve Banking and the Federal Reserve2128 RHOB, 2 p.m.Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee hearing.202-225-7502.

HOMELAND SECURITY HState-sponsored Economic Espionage311 CHOB, 10 a.m.Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee hearing.202-226-8417.

INTELLIGENCE MPending BusinessHVC-304, Capitol, 10 a.m.Full committee markup of H.R.5949; “Member Access Request”; and the “Semiannual Committee Activity Report.”202-225-4121.

JUDICIARY HIdentity Theft and Income Revised Tax Preparation Fraud 2141 RHOB, 9:45 a.m.Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing.202-225-3951.



Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which provides financial support to 179 torture survivor rehabilitation programs worldwide.Olivia Lueth, 612-436-4830.

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONSOutside RHOB, Independence Avenue, 8 a.m.The Postal Workers Union and postal activists “Hunger Strike to Save the Postal Service,” an effort to urge Congress to “repeal the pre-funding mandate” and “refund the pension surplus.” Jamie Partridge, 503-752-5112.

Participants: 4 a.m., Hunger strikers hold a rally and attempt to “encounter the Postmaster General” at Postal Service headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW.

HEALTHOn the steps of the Supreme Court, 1 First Street NW, 11 a.m.The Congressional Progressive Caucus news conference immediately following the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling.Adam Sarvana, 202-225-2435.

Participants: CPC Cochairs Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn.

HEALTHHVC-Studio A, Capitol, 11:15 a.m. NewNews conference on the Supreme Court’s ruling of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.202-226-9000.

Participants: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Conference Vice Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.

HEALTHSenate Radio/TV Gallery, New Capitol, 12:30 p.m. Media availability on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.Whitney Smith, 202-224-4159.

Participant: Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass.

RULES MTFinancial Services/Defense Revised Appropriations/Committee Activities Report H-313, Capitol, 2 p.m.Full committee meeting.202-225-9191.

SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY MCommittee Activities Report2318 RHOB, 10 a.m.Full committee markup.202-225-6371.

SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HEPA Regulations Postponed and the Economy2318 RHOB, 10 a.m.Full committee hearing. (The hearing will begin immediately following the full committee markup.)202-225-6371.

Witness: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

SMALL BUSINESS HFederal Prison Industries Revised Competition in Contracting 2360 RHOB, 10 a.m.Contracting and Workforce Subcommittee hearing.202-225-5821.

Witness: Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.

TRANSPORTATION H AND INFRASTRUCTURE TSA Transportation Worker ID Delays2167 RHOB, 10 a.m.Full committee hearing.202-225-9446.

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS MPending Business334 CHOB, 10 a.m.Economic Opportunity Subcommittee markup of H.R.4115; H.R.3524; H.R.4057; H.R.4740; and H.R.5747.202-225-3527.

thursday on the hill

DEMOCRATS HVC-215, U.S. Capitol, 9 a.m. NewThe House Democratic Caucus closed meeting. (Stakeout in the HVC-210 Alcove.)202-225-1400.

DEMOCRATS HVC Studio-A, U.S. Capitol, 12:15 p.m. NewWeekly news conference.Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616

Participants: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

EDUCATIONHouse Triangle, Capitol, Noon NewNews conference on H.R.4170, the “Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012” and to receive more than 1,000,000 signatures calling on Congress to pass the bill. Students and recent graduates will be in caps and gowns and holding signs that announce their debt.202-225-2261.

Participant: Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Mich.

EDUCATIONRHOB, Foyer, 6 p.m.The University of Maryland event titled “Terps on the Hill 2012,” a gathering of alumni who work on the Hill or in a government agencyDiane Hoskins, [email protected]

FINANCE2168 RHOB, 2 p.m.U.S. PIRG and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People discussion on “Americans and Credit Card Debt: Perspectives on the Credit Card Act Three Years After Passage.” (Registration required.)212-633-1405.

Participant: Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSHVC-201, Capitol, 10:30 a.m.Coptic Solidarity annual conference on “Security Issues and Advancing Human and Minority Rights in Egypt.” (Media RSVP requested.)Cynthia Farahat, 202-695-0506.

Participants: 10:45 a.m., Former Rep. Fred Grandy, R-Iowa; 3:15 p.m., Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS2237 RHOB, 2 p.m.The Center for Victims of Torture and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission briefing on the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of TortureJeanne Herrick-Stare, 202-822-0188.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS902 HSOB, 5:30 p.m.The Center for Victims of Torture reception and awards ceremony in recognition of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture—honoring the UN



15


Conference Center, 12:30 p.m.The Hudson Institute event on “What Would Jefferson Do?: University of Virginia and the Crisis of Liberal Education.” (Registration required.)202-223-7770.

EDUCATIONThe Tabula Rasa, 731 Eighth Street SE, 6 p.m.Third Way and Democrats for Education Reform discussion on “Mission Possible: How the Secrets of Success Academies Can Work in Any School.” (RSVP requested.)Michael Rady, 646-894-7355.

Participants: Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Reps. George Miller, D-Calif., James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Jared Polis, D-Colo.

EDUCATIONRonald Reagan International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Lower Level, Amphitheatre, 7 p.m.The National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy awards ceremony for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.Bobbie Mixon, 703-292-8485.

Participant: Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

ENERGYRonald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 7:30 a.m.The Association for Demand Response and Smart Grid 2012 National Town Meeting on Demand Response and Smart Grid. (Registration required.)Kelly Givan, 716-940-6130.

ENERGYRenaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, Md., 8 a.m.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission workshop to explain its oversight process for companies that support new reactor construction.Marlayna Vaaler, 301-415-3178.

ENVIRONMENTBPC, 1225 I Street NW, Suite 1000, 9:30 a.m.The Bipartisan Policy Center discussion on “Getting Infrastructure Going: Expediting Project Delivery and Environmental Review.” (Registration required.)202-204-2400.

HEALTHHouse Triangle, Capitol, 1 p.m. NewNews conference to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act.Riva Litman, 925-963-7257.

Participants: Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., Candice Miller, R-Mich., and Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio.

HEALTHHouse Triangle, Capitol, 3 p.m. NewThe GOP Doctors Caucus news conference to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and to urge “full repeal” of the president’s health care law.Amy Larkin, 202-225-2301.

Participants: Reps. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., Tim Murphy, R-Pa., Dan Benishek, R-Mich., Diane Black, R-Tenn., Paul Broun, R-Ga., Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., Michael Burgess, R-Texas, Bill Cassidy, R-La., Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., John Fleming, R-La., Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Andy Harris, R-Md., Nan Hayworth, R-N.Y., Tom Price, R-Ga., and Phil Roe, R-Tenn.

TRANSPORTATIONB-339 RHOB, 11:30 a.m.The Center for Transportation at the Free Congress Foundation briefing on “Traveling in Real Time: Mobility Management and You,” examining “mobility management technology and its import for the traveling public and transportation service provides.” (RSVP requested.)Dan Kreske, 703-837-0483.

Participants: House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., and Reps. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.

thursday off the hill

AGRICULTURESixth and I Historic Synagogue, 600 I Street NW, 7 p.m.Sixth & I Historic Synagogue discussion on “Change Comes to Dinner: A Discussion of the Positive Side of the Food Movement in D.C. and Beyond.”202-408-3100.

DEFENSECSIS, 1800 K Street NW, B-1 Conference Level, 8:30 a.m.The Center for Strategic and International Studies Southeast Asia Program second annual conference on maritime security in the South China Sea titled “The South China Sea and Asia Pacific in Transition: Exploring Options for Managing Disputes.” (RSVP requested.)Andrew Schwartz, 202-775-3242.

Participant: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn.

DEFENSEBrookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Falk Auditorium, 10 a.m.The Brookings Institution discussion on “A Next Step in Nuclear Arms Control: Securing Fissile Materials.” (Registration required.)202-797-6105.

ECONOMYMiller Library, 9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City, Md., 6:30 p.m.Transition Howard County forum on the Howard County, Md. Genuine Progress Indicator, an alternative to Gross Domestic Product for the measurement of economic prosperity. (RSVP requested.)[email protected]

EDUCATIONEmbassy Suites DC Convention Center, 900 10th Street NW, 8:30 a.m.The Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities 2012 USU Annual Summer Meeting with the theme “Place-based Engagement: Defining the Future of Public Higher Education.” 202-478-6064.

EDUCATIONWWC, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Sixth Floor, 9 a.m.The Woodrow Wilson Center discussion on “The Start-Up Act 2.0 and American Innovation,” on accelerating the commercialization of university research.202-691-4000.

Participant: Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del.

EDUCATIONHudson Institute, 1015 15th Street NW, Sixth Floor, Betsy and Walter Stern



to the Supreme Court’s health care ruling. (Registration required.)Veronique Rodman, 202-862-4871.

Participants: 9:15 a.m., Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga.; 10 a.m., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

HEALTHGeorgetown University, 37th and O Street NW, Gaston Hall, 10 a.m.Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs forum on “Religious Freedom and the Health and Human Services Mandate.” (RSVP requested.)202-687-5119.

Participants: Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., Diane Black, R-Tenn., Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill.

HEALTHIn front of the Supreme Court, New 1 First Street NE, 10:30 a.m. The Tea Party Patriots news conference on the Supreme Court’s ruling of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.Jameson Cunningham, 703-739-5920.

Participants: Reps. Todd Akin, R-Mo., Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Paul Broun, R-Ga., John Fleming, R-La., Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, Steve King, R-Iowa, and Tom Price, R-Ga.

HEALTHLOC, Jefferson Building, 10 First Street SE, Kluge Center Meeting Room, First Floor, NoonThe Library of Congress lecture on “Of All the Physicians is There a Physician? Irony in the Practice of Medicine.”Donna Urschel, 202-707-1639.

HEALTHHeritage Foundation, Revised 214 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Van Andel Center, 12:30 p.m. The Heritage Foundation discussion on the “conservative response” the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. (RSVP requested.)202-675-1761.

Participant: Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

POLITICSMicrosoft Offices, Reston, New 12012 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, Va., 7:30 a.m. Address on an economic vision with members of the Northern Virginia

Participant: Megan McArdle, business and economics editor at The Atlantic.

ENVIRONMENTKoshland Science Museum, Sixth and E Streets NW, 4 p.m.The National Academies “Get the Scoop on Climate Change” ice cream social event. (Registration required.)202-334-2138.

ENVIRONMENTThe Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 6:30 p.m.Connect4Climate discussion on “Connecting for Climate: Technology, Creativity, and Action,” celebrating the “Apps for Climate” competition winners and the launch of the Connect4Climate/MTV “Voices4Climat” global photo, video, and music competition. (Registration required.)[email protected]

FINANCEWWC, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Sixth Floor, Conference Room, NoonThe Woodrow Wilson Center discussion on “Getting by With a Little Help from Our Friends: Crowdsourcing and U.S. Agency for International Development Development Credit Loans,” on increasing financing for creditworthy but underserved borrowers.202-691-4000.

FINANCEAEI, 1150 17th Street NW, Wohlstetter Conference Center, 12th Floor, 2 p.m.The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research discussion on “Do Money Market Funds Create Systemic Risk?” (Registration required.)Veronique Rodman, 202-862-4871.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSCapitol Hill Club, 300 First Street SE, 8 a.m.The National Defense Industrial Association, Air Force Association and Reserve Officers Association forum on “Next Steps in U.S.-Russian Arms Control,” and “Nuclear Deterrence Strategy.”Peter Huessy, 703-247-5839.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSWITA, Meridian Suites, Revised Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Horizon Ballroom, 9 a.m. The Washington International Trade Association discussion on “Arab Summer: What’s Next for Trade in Egypt and the Middle East?”

202-312-1600.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSWWC, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Fifth Floor, Conference Room, 9:15 a.m.The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity workshop on “Multi-Track Diplomacy: Seen Through the Eyes of the Practitioner.” (Registration required.)202-691-4000.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSSAIS, Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Kenney Auditorium, 9:30 a.m.The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and Search for Common Ground discussion on “Reflections on Burundi’s Cinquantenaire,” to reflect on the past 50 years and consider the future.Felisa Neuringer Klubes, 202-663-5626.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSNational Press Club, 14th and F Streets NW, Murrow, White and Lisagor Rooms, 2 p.m.The Potomac Institute’s Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies discussion on “Middle East Security and the Changing Trans-Atlantic Partnership.”703-525-0770.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSBrookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Falk Auditorium, 2 p.m.The Brookings Institution discussion on “South Sudan One Year After Independence.” (RSVP requested.)202-797-6105.

FOREIGN AFFAIRSUSIP, 2301 Constitution Avenue NW, 6:45 p.m.United States Institute of Peace fifth annual Dean Acheson Lecture on “The Practice of Partnership in the 21st Century,” recognizing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for his involvement in public service, American foreign policy and national security. (Media RSVP requested.)Allison Sturma, 202-429-4725.

Participant: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

HEALTHAEI, 1150 17th Street NW, Wohlstetter Conference Center, 12th Floor, 9 a.m.The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research real-time response



17


friday senate

FINANCE MPending Nominations NewTBA, TBAFull committee markup to vote on pending nominations.202-224-4515.

friday house

ARMED SERVICES HAssessments of Afghan National Security Forces2118 RHOB, 11 a.m.Full committee hearing.202-225-4151.

ENERGY AND COMMERCE HEPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations2123 RHOB, 9 a.m.Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing.202-225-2927.

FINANCIAL SERVICES HMobile Payments in the Current Regulatory Structure2128 RHOB, 9:30 a.m.Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee hearing.202-225-7502.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS HTuareg Revolt and the Mali Coup Revised2172 RHOB, 10 a.m.Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Subcommittee hearing.202-225-5021.

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS MPending Business334 CHOB, 10 a.m.Health Subcommittee markup of H.R.3337, and the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R.4079.202-225-3527.

friday on the hill

DEFENSEB-339 RHOB, NoonThe Defense Forum Foundation forum on “Addressing America’s National Security Challenges: A Conversation with Donald Rumsfeld.” (RSVP requested.)703-534-4313.

Participant: Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Technology Council at a Tech Town Hall, cohosted by NVTC and Microsoft. (Credentialed media only.)Allison Gilmore, 703-946-0318.

POLITICSTortilla Coast, 400 First Street SE, 8 a.m.The American League of Lobbyists member of Congress roundtable discussion. (Registration required.)703-960-3011.

Participant: Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo.

POLITICSFrederick Douglass Museum, 320 A Street NE, 9:30 a.m.The Faith and Politics Institute event on “Faith, Politics, and Our Better Angels: A Christian Dialogue on Public Discourse.” Liz McCloskey, [email protected]

POLITICSMicrosoft, 901 K Street NW, 7 p.m.America’s Future Foundation discussion on “All About the Money? The Role of Business in Politics.”Roger Custer, 202-331-2261.

POLITICSNationals Park, 1500 South Capitol Street SE, 7:05 p.m.CQ Roll Call 51st annual Congressional Baseball Game. (Media RSVP requested.)Sujata Mitra, 202-650-6888.

Participants: Reps. Joe Baca, D-Calif., Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., John Carney, D-Del., Ben Chandler, D-Ky., Mark Critz, D-Pa., Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Mike Doyle, D-Pa., Tim Holden, D-Pa., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Jared Polis, D-Colo., Cedric Richmond, D-La., Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., Adam Smith, D-Wash., Sam Graves, R-Mo., Lou Barletta, R-Pa., Joe Barton, R-Texas, Kevin Brady, R-Texas, Mike Conaway, R-Texas, Rick Crawford, R-Ark., Jeff Denham, R-Calif., Robert Dold, R-Ill., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, Jack Kingston, R-Ga., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Jeffrey Landry, R-La., Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., Pat Meehan, R-Pa., Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., Steve Pearce, R-N.M., Todd Platts, R-Pa., Tom Rooney, R-Fla., Dennis Ross, R-Fla., Steve Scalise, R-La., Austin

Scott, R-Ga., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Pete Sessions, R-Texas, John Shimkus, R-Ill., Bill Shuster, R-Pa., Adrian Smith, R-Neb., Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., Daniel Webster, R-Fla., Robert Wittman, R-Va., and Steve Womack, R-Ark., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

RELIGIONNewseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Seventh Floor, 9 a.m.Interfaith Alliance, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, the British Council, and the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum symposium on understanding American Muslims. (Media RSVP requested.)Samantha Friedman, 202-265-3000.

SCIENCENAS, 2010 Constitution Avenue NW, 6 p.m.The National Academy of Sciences monthly D.C. Art Science Evening Rendezvous discussion on art and science projects in the national capital region.202-334-2000.

SOCIAL ISSUESHyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va., 8:30 a.m.National Right to Life 2012 “We the People Defending Life” convention. (Registration required.)Jessica Rodgers, 202-626-8825.

Participants: 10 a.m., House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; 8 p.m., Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

SOCIAL ISSUESNational Mall, between 14th and Seventh Street, 11 a.m.The Smithsonian Institution 2012 Folklife Festival. 202-633-5183.

TELECOMMUNICATIONSNational Conference Center, 18980 Upper Belmont Place, Leesburg, Va., 8 a.m.The National Governors Association Center national forum on “Preparing Public Safety Broadband.” (Registration required.)Alisha Powell, 202-624-3598.

TRADEITC, 500 E Street SW, 11:30 a.m.The U.S. International Trade Commission seminar on “Regulatory Reform and Australia’s Experience: A Seamless National Economy.” Ricky Ubee, 202-205-3493.




Editor Matthew CooperExecutive Editor Nicole DuranDeputy Editor Sophie YarboroughManaging Editors Maggie Fox, Jill Lawrence, Mike Magner, Kristin Roberts, Lori SantosProduction Editor Michelle BloomAssistant Production Editor Cassidy ShearrerWeb Editor Kenneth ChamberlainGraphics Editor Peter BellStaff Writers Kevin Baron, George E. Condon Jr., Dan Friedman, Juliana Gruenwald, Amy Harder, Billy House, Stacy Kaper, Rebecca Kaplan, Meghan McCarthy, Katy O’Donnell, Alex Roarty, Kelsey Snell, Ben Terris Contributing Correspondents Nancy Cook, Coral Davenport, Yochi J. Dreazen, John Aloysius Farrell, Chris Frates, Major Garrett, Shane Goldmacher, Michael Hirsh, Fawn Johnson, James Kitfi eld, Adam Mazmanian, Beth Reinhard, Margot Sanger-Katz, Jim TankersleyContributing Reporters Olga Belogolova, Julia Edwards, Catherine Hollander, Christopher Snow Hopkins, Elahe Izadi,Alexandra Jaff e, Naureen Khan, Jonathan Miller, Sophie Quinton, Lara Seligman, Josh Smith,

Sara Sorcher, Matt Vasilogambros Contributing Editors Scott Bland, Richard A. Bloom, Lauren Carroll, Charlie Cook, Jerry Hagstrom, Josh Kraushaar, Otto Kreisher, Liz Lynch, Brian McGill, Ryan Morris, Louis Peck, Julie Rovner, Bruce Stokes, Chet Susslin, Kirk Victor, Reid WilsonCopy Chief S. Scott RohrerDeputy Copy Chiefs Deron Lee, Monica SullivanSenior Copy Editor John O. MembrinoCopy Editors David Kent, Tonia E. Moore

President Andy SareyanEditor-in-Chief Ron FournierEditorial Director Ronald BrownsteinDeputy Editor-in-Chief Patsy WilsonSenior Vice President, Advertising Victoria Lion MonroeVP, Managing Director, Advertising and National Journal Live Constance SayersDirector, National Journal Live Amin CyntjeManaging Director, Membership Poppy MacDonaldMarketing Assistant, Membership Millie TranPublishing Services Director Isobel Ellis

Subscriptions 202-266-7230Editorial 202-739-8480Advertising 202-266-7325

Chairman David G. BradleyPresident Justin B. SmithPublisher-at-Large John Fox Sullivan

National Journal Daily (ISSN 2158-3862) is published daily, Monday—Friday, while Congress is in session by National Journal Group Inc. © Copyright 2012 by National Journal Group Inc., 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20037. All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or fax transmission of National Journal Daily or other National Journal Group Inc. publications call 202-266-7260 or 800-424-2921.

SOCIAL ISSUESHilton Baltimore BWI Airport, 1739 West Nursery Road, Linthicum Heights, Md., 8 a.m.The National Organization for Women 2012 national conference with the theme “A Feminist Wake-Up Call.” (Registration required.)202-331-9002.

Participant: 2 p.m., Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill.

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friday off the hill

ECONOMYChinatown Garden Restaurant, Revised618 H Street NW, Noon National Economists Club luncheon discussion on “What Should the Winners of 2012 Do in 2013?” (Rescheduled from June 28. Registration required.)Holly Wade, 202-314-2022.

ENVIRONMENTHogan Lovells LLP, 555 13th Street NW, Columbia Square, 9:30 a.m.The Environmental Law Institute workshop on “United States Fish and Wildlife Service Wind Energy Guidelines Implementation.” (RSVP requested.)Brett Kitchen, 202-939-3833.

HEALTHGeorgetown University Law Campus, Hotung Building, 550 First Street NW, Room 1000, 10 a.m.The Georgetown University Law Center and Health Aff airs event on “SCOTUS Speaks: What the Supreme Court’s Health Care Decision Will Mean for Americans.” (Media RSVP requested.)Kara Tershel, 202-662-9037.

HEALTHNational Press Club, 14th and F Streets NW, Bloomberg Room, 10 a.m.The American Alliance of Healthcare Providers Hospital of Choice Awards

Conference and Awards Banquet to recognize the nation’s 100 most consumer-friendly hospitals. (RSVP requested.)703-598-1493.

JUDICIARYHeritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Van Andel Center, 10 a.m.The Heritage Foundation event on “The Plaintiff ’s Perspective on the ObamaCare Ruling,” including its impact on states like Texas, small businesses and religious liberty. (RSVP requested.)202-675-1761.

JUDICIARYCAP, 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor, 10 a.m.The Center for American Progress discussion on “Unfair Criminalization of LGBT Youth,” on current research on LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system and school disciplinary issues. (RSVP requested.)202-682-1611.

SOCIAL ISSUESHyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jeff erson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va., 7:30 a.m.National Right to Life 2012 “We the People Defending Life” convention. (Registration required.)Jessica Rodgers, 202-626-8825.

Participants: 9:30 a.m., Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.

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