SCHIP
The House will vote on whether to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The House and Senate version of the bill would provide for $35 billion in funding over the next five years—enough to give millions more children access to health care. The president’s version of the program would set aside only $5 billion over the next five years, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of children who currently have insurance under SCHIP would be cut off from their access to quality health care and millions more who are eligible for the program would not be covered.
Read more on SCHIP:
Surveillance
The House will consider the RESTORE Act, which will begin to reinstate checks and balances to surveillance and better secure both liberty and security. This is responsible legislation that will safeguard civil liberties while also giving the federal government the tools they need to protect American citizens from the terrorist threat.
Read more about domestic surveillance:
Appropriations
The Senate is considering several major appropriations bills this week, including the Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies bill and the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill. President Bush has threatened to veto the Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill because, among other adequate proposals for domestic spending, it provides $64.9 billion for the Education department. That’s a full $3.9 billion more than Bush’s proposed level of $61 billion.
All but six states would see reductions in federal funding for elementary and secondary education in fiscal year 2008 if the Bush administration got its way.
Read more on the appropriations process:
Digital TV
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee will both check in on the status of the digital television transition and hear government and industry perspectives. By law, all television stations will stop broadcasting an analog signal on February 17, 2009 and will broadcast exclusively in digital format.
More on the digital television transition:
To speak with our experts, please contact:
For TV, Sean Gibbons, Director of Media Strategy
202.682.1611 or [email protected]
For print or radio, John Neurohr, Press Assistant
202.481.8182 or [email protected]
For web, Erin Lindsay, Online Marketing Manager
202.741.6397 or [email protected]