By Joseph S. Enoch
ConsumerAffairs.com Congressional Correspondent
January 4, 2007
Triumphant Democrats basked in their takeover of Congress today and, amid the hoopla, renewed their promises to pass pro-consumer legislation.
Both the House and the Senate convened today to swear in the new leaders, Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for the Senate and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the House, who became the first woman to hold such a lofty position in Congress.
On the House side, gloom hung heavy over the Republican side of the chamber as the rudimentary vote for Speaker of the House yielded an expected 233-202 advantage for Pelosi. Democrats on both sides of Congress could hardly contain their cheers and applause as family members flooded the Democratic side of the chambers and looked down from the packed galleries.
Even former President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit; he shocked reporters when he swept through the Senate Press Gallery to use the restroom.
Before the ceremonies in the Capitol, Pelosi spoke at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting where she repeated her "100-hours promise" which will affect a handful of consumer issues.
"This is where so much of the energy for change will begin, as we go through ... our first 100 hours," Pelosi told the Congressional Black Caucus. "One hundred hours to make this the most honest and open Congress in history; 100 hours to raise the minimum wage, to reduce the cost of college for our students, to make health care more affordable, to make our country safer; 100 hours to promote stem cell research; 100 hours to do that all in a fiscally sound way that does not heap mountains of debt onto future generations, but instead gives future generations what our country is all about: opportunity."
Although that 100 hours began ticking away at noon today and should continue past next week, many of the consumer issues, including college tuition and oil dependency, will probably not be voted on for another two weeks.
But in a possible act of defiance toward last term's "do-nothing," scandal-ridden Congress, Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic House had finished debating and began voting on an ethics reform bill just four hours and ten minutes after the pomp and circumstance began.
The "100 hours" are legislative hours, meaning when Congress is actually in session. That puts the conclusion of the 100 hours about 15 days away. But it still would appear to be a step up from the last Congress which had all year to pass 11 routine spending bills and only passed two.
If all goes as planned, here is the schedule for bills to be voted on:
• Thursday, January 4: House ethics package
• January 5: Budget controls
• January 9: Security recommendations from 9/11 Commission
• January 10: Minimum wage increase
• January 11: Federal funding for stem cell research
• January 12: Negotiated drug prices for Medicare
• January 17: Student loan interest rate decrease
• January 18: Tax breaks for big oil companies redirected to alternative energy research
Although many voters may be pleased with the Democrat's awareness of consumer issues and promise to vote on many of them in the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, consumers should not expect immediate returns.
Reid may share the same sympathies of Pelosi, but does not expect the Senate, where the Democrats have a razor-thin lead, to accomplish as much as fast because many Republicans still need to be involved in order to obtain the 60 votes needed to pass a bill onto the next level.
Then, there's President George Bush's veto power to deal with.
Sen. Johnson
One senator who was very much missed today was Sen. Tim Johnson's (D-S.D.), felled by a hemorrhagic stroke last month. Should Johnson die or choose to retire from the Senate, the 50-49 edge that Democrats currently hold would most likely swing toward the Republicans.
As the first roll call of the 110th Congress took place this afternoon, Johnson 's seat was the only vacant one in the chamber. He remains at George Washington University hospital, in Washington, D.C., recovering from his surgery to remove the blood clot in his brain.
In a press release, Johnson's doctor confirmed that the surgery was successful and that an angiogram revealed that the clot has cleared.
Because he has spent so much time on his back, he has developed fluid in his lung's. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who used to perform brain surgery, said that fluid in the lungs is expected after such a traumatic surgery, but that it may increase his recovery time and could progress towards pneumonia.
It is possible that his speech or other brain functions may have been affected by the surgery. But because of the fluid in his lungs, he is on a breathing machine which means doctors cannot properly test him to see if his speech is impaired.
"Senator Johnson's overall medical condition has improved steadily over the past three weeks," the press release said. "The next phase of his recovery is expected to take several months and focus upon rehabilitation and physical therapy."
