House - January 4, 2007
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Categories: 110th Congress | United States Congress | United States House of Representatives
| House - January 4, 2007 - week 1 | |
|---|---|
| 110th - United States Congress | |
| |
| Speaker of the House | Nancy Pelosi |
| Majority Leader | Steny Hoyer |
| Minority Leader | Mitch McConnell |
| Previous | 109th Congress |
| Next | January 5, 2007 |
This is the daily summary of the actions in United States House of Representatives in the 110th United States Congress for January 4, 2007 during week 1 of this Congress' term. For a summary of the actions in the Senate click here, and for Congress as a whole on this date, click here.
Contents |
House Daily Summary
The 110th Congress began its first day swearing in its memebrs and performing many of the ceremonial and more pedestrian activities associated with both a new Congress, and the change in control of of the House from the Republicans the Democrats. However this days activities in the House marked numerous historic firsts, the swearing in of Nancy Pelosi as first woman Speaker, Keith Ellison the first Muslim and Mazie Hirono as the first buddhist members of the House.
Both Democrats and Republicans joined in recognizing the significance of the moment. “This is an historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of America. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights,” Pelosi said.
As was the case on the first day of a new Congress, not a large amount was accomplished legislatively. As is custom. most of the activity on the House floor consisted of congratulatory speeches, and pledgs of “partnership, not partisanship.”
Traditionally at the beginning of every Congress, rules and regulations are adopted which guide procedure on the House floor and the conduct of its members. The Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the House Rules Committee (new Chairwoman Louise Slaughter) are responsible for enforcing these rules. However with the Democrats now in control, they began to lay out the intial planks in order to hit the ground running with their pledged "first 100 hours" agenda with the adoption of the first two Title sections of the Rules of the House.
Title I of H.Res. 6 is as insignificant as they come. All it says is that what follows (Title II-V) are the Rules of the House for the 110th Congress and was passed (426 - 0). Title II of H.Res. 6 is all about the ethical standards that members must maintain. It is the first and, perhaps, the most significant departure from the days of the Republican-controlled the 109th Congress, where meaningful ethics reforms hit major roadblocks. The rule changes would ban gifts from lobbyists and privately-funded trips without the pre-approval of the House Ethics Committee. It also prohibits former members from lobbying current members and puts a whole boatload of new restrictions on what lobbyists can say, do and pay for. Title II also changes the name of most of the House’s standing committees.
- The Committee on Education and the Workforce was changed back to its pre-1995 name, Education and Labor. Tom Kiley, a spokesman for incoming chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said Miller “believed that the name change in 1994 was a deliberate swipe at the labor movement in this country. He wanted to reverse the insult.”
- The House Resources Committee is now the House Committee on Natural Resources - the name it received in 1993 and lost in 1995. (It started in 1816 as the Committee on Public Lands.) Incoming Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said the new name shows Congress’ “commitment to conserving our nation’s unique natural and cultural heritage - including its natural environment, public lands and forests, and fish and wildlife.”
- Returning to a name first bestowed in 1922, the International Relations Committee is once again the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., wields the gavel.
- The Science Committee is now the House Committee on Science and Technology to more accurately describe the committee’s jurisdiction, Democratic counsel John Piazza said. He said the Republicans’ 1995 change shortened the name from the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Tennessee Democrat Bart Gordon is the new chairman.
- Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is chairman of the newly renamed House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which had been the Government Reform Committee only since 1999. Before then, it was the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Waxman revels in his reputation as a watchdog over the executive branch.
Title II passed (430 - 1) with Dan Burton of Indiana being the sole person not voting in favor of ethics reforms.
Several housekeeping resolutions were passed, electing certain members to standing committees [1][2], providing for the designation of certain minority employees [3], setting the time of day the house will normally meet during the 110th Congress [4] which was later modified and agreed to without objection as per remarks entered by Steny Hoyer, agreed joinhtly witht he Senate that if warranted Congress can consent to assemble outside the seat of government [5]. Finally it passed a resolution which expressed profound sadness at the death of Gerald Ford [6].
On the Floor
The above link is to the consolidated congressional record of what occured on the floor of the House on this date.
- NOTE: This area's structure and format are still in development.
- This note should be removed when content is added, by removing the {{House Daily Floor-NO CONTENT}} code from the article this message appears within.
In the Committees
- There were no House committee meetings held on this day.
Resources
See also
References
- Jan. 4, 2007 Update - U.S. House Digest blog
- Jan. 4th Addendum - U.S. House Digest blog
- Legislative Day of January 4, 2007 110TH Congress - First Session - Office of the Clerk
External Links
- The United States House of Representatives - Offical Gov. Site
- Recent bills introduced in Congress - THOMAS
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