The 111th Congress
is off to a strong start, working with President Obama to take America
in a New Direction, to turn our economy around and create good jobs, with
common sense reforms and targeted investments in: affordable health care,
clean energy jobs, educational excellence, fiscal responsibility, and
tax fairness.
RECENTLY
SIGNED INTO LAW
CREDIT
CARDHOLDERS’ BILL OF RIGHTS, to provide tough new protections
for consumers by banning unfair rate increases, abusive fees, and penalties—such
as retroactive rate hikes on existing balances and double-cycle billing
-- giving consumers clear information, and strengthening enforcement.
MILITARY
PROCUREMENT REFORM, to crack down on Pentagon waste and cost
overruns, which GAO says amount to $296 billion just for the 96 largest
weapons systems, by dramatically beefing up oversight of weapons acquisition,
promoting greater use of competition, and curbing conflicts of interest.
HELPING
FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT, building on the President’s
housing initiative, to provide significant incentives to lenders, servicers,
and homeowners to work together to modify loans and to avoid foreclosures,
which cost families their homes every 13 seconds in America.
FIGHTING
MORTGAGE AND CORPORATE FRAUD & CREATING COMMISSION ON CAUSES OF CRISIS,
to provide tools for prosecuting the mortgage scams and corporate frauds
that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression;
and to create an outside commission to examine its causes.
SIGNED
INTO LAW EARLIER THIS YEAR
AMERICAN
RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT, enacted in the first month
of President Obama’s term, to jumpstart our economy, create and save 3.5
million jobs, give 95% of American workers a tax cut, and begin to rebuild
America’s road, rail, and water infrastructure, with unprecedented accountability
measures -- no earmarks, new state whistleblower protections, and an historic
degree of transparency at www.recovery.gov.
HEALTH
CARE FOR 11 MILLION CHILDREN, to finally provide cost-effective
health coverage for 4 million more children whose parents earn too little
to provide their own insurance, but too much to qualify for Medicaid,
and preserve coverage for 7 million children already enrolled.
LILLY
LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT, to restore the rights of women and
other workers to challenge unfair pay—to help close the wage gap where
women earn 78 cents for every $1 a man earns in America.
OMNIBUS
PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT ACT 0F 2009, the most significant
conservation bill in 15 years, to boost economic development and tourism
at 160 mostly rural American sites; creating 2 million new acres of wilderness
across 9 states; establishing 3 new national park units; designating 1,000
miles of wild and scenic rivers; and designating a National Monument and
3 National Conservation Areas.
EDWARD
M. KENNEDY SERVE AMERICA ACT, tripling volunteerism opportunities
for national service to enroll 250,000 students to retirees; creating
new service corps for education, health care, energy and veterans; establishing
a Summer of Service for middle and high school students; and increasing
college financial awards.
STRENGTHENING
OVERSIGHT OF TARP, to expand the authority of the TARP Special
Inspector General, to help ensure that taxpayers’ funds are effectively
used to get credit flowing to businesses and families.
PASSED
BY HOUSE AND SENATE
BUDGET
BLUEPRINT, reflecting the President’s plan to get the economy
moving again, by cutting taxes for middle-income families by $1.5 trillion
and creating jobs with targeted investments in health care, clean energy
and education – while cutting the Bush deficit by nearly two-thirds by
2013. [ACTION COMPLETED]
PASSED
BY HOUSE
WAR
SUPPLEMENTAL BILL, to provide funds for the remainder of
FY 2009 to provide our troops in harm’s way with what they need, implement
the President’s plans for winding down the war in Iraq and changing strategy
in Afghanistan, require a report on progress, and fund pandemic flu response.
FDA
REGULATION OF TOBACCO, granting the Food and Drug Administration
authority to regulate the advertising, marketing, and manufacturing of
tobacco products, currently the number-one cause of preventable death
in America, with 1,000 children each day becoming new, regular smokers.
MORTGAGE
REFORM AND ANTI-PREDATORY LENDING ACT, to stop the predatory
and irresponsible mortgage loan practices that played a major role in
the current financial meltdown and to help ensure that the mortgage industry
follows basic principles of sound lending and consumer protection.
PUTTING
50,000 COPS ON THE BEAT, to authorize $1.8 billion a year
for COPS grants over the next five years, which will fund putting an additional
50,000 police officers on the street across the country.
GREEN SCHOOL
MODERNIZATION, to provide critical investments to modernize,
renovate, and repair school facilities across the country, while encouraging
energy efficiency and creating nearly 140,000 new jobs.
HATE
CRIMES PREVENTION ACT, to give law enforcement the resources
they need to prevent and prosecute hate crimes against Americans because
of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, as
well as because of their race, color, religion, or national origin.
WATER
QUALITY INVESTMENT ACT, to launch clean water projects for
families and communities across America, creating an estimated 680,000
jobs over the next five years.
REDUCING
MILITARY FAMILIES TAX, which currently unfairly penalizes
the 55,000 surviving spouses of military personnel who died as a result
of their service-connected injuries.
PAY FOR
PERFORMANCE ACT, to prohibit unreasonable or excessive compensation
and non-performance-based bonuses for executives at companies receiving
TARP funds, to stabilize our financial system.
