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WASHINGTON In a pair of symbolic votes that underscored the partisan divide over guns, a polarized Senate voted down rival proposals Thursday that could make it harder for people the government suspects of being terrorists from purchasing firearms. The roll calls came a day after the country’s latest mass shooting.
The votes demonstrated that political gridlock over curbing guns remains strong, despite the recent rash of mass shootings in the U.S. and growing attention to potential threats from terrorist groups like the Islamic State.
By 54-45, senators voted down a proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would let the government bar sales to people it suspects of being terrorists. Though she initially introduced the proposal early this year, it received attention after last month’s terror attacks in Paris.
Minutes earlier, the Senate killed a rival plan by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would let the government delay firearms sales to suspected terrorists for up to 72 hours. Under that proposal, the transaction could be halted permanently during that waiting period if federal officials could persuade a judge to do so.
Senators voted 55-44 for Cornyn’s proposal, but it needed 60 votes to pass.
Both votes were mostly party-line. They came a day after a shooting in San Bernardino, California, killed 14 people and wounded 21 others.
Even had the provisions passed, the proposals were going nowhere because they were amendments to a bill eliminating most of President Barack Obama’s health care law, which he is certain to veto.
Democrats said Cornyn’s proposal was a sham because it would be easy for a lawyer to force enough delays to last 72 hours and let gun purchases proceed.
Republicans said the government’s terror watch lists include people who are included erroneously and should not be used to deny people their right to own firearms.
Via: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47813025.html
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article47813025.html#storylink=cpy
In a move designed to lure Republican support, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has introduced a revised California water bill that could move lawmakers closer to meaningful negotiation.
The new bill drops spending proposals that had been included in the original California water bill introduced by Feinstein and Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer on Feb. 11. The $300 million in spending, in turn, had stuck in the craw of some Senate Republicans.
"It was a problem on the Republican side," Feinstein acknowledged at a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
By cutting the bill's costs, and tweaking other elements, Feinstein hopes the bill reintroduced this week can secure the 60 Senate votes needed to avoid going through the standard committee review.
Speedier Senate consideration under what's called Rule 14, in turn, is designed to pass something that can form the basis of a compromise with a far different California water bill passed in early February by the Republican-controlled House.
The redrawn Senate bill mandates that federal agencies operate California water projects with "maximum flexibility" to boost irrigation deliveries, among other provisions. It also takes a number of technical steps, some going beyond California, but unlike the House bill it does not specifically authorize big new water projects and it leaves intact the current San Joaquin River restoration program.
PHOTO: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013.Associated Press/ Evan Vucci.
Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/04/feinstein-recasts-california-water-bill.html#storylink=cpy
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
believes if you like your current health insurance plan you should be able to
keep it.
Feinstein, D-Calif., said
Tuesday she was cosponsoring legislation honoring President Barack Obama's
oft-repeated pledge allowing individuals who buy their own health plans to
retain their current rates and health providers.
The bill by Sen. Mary Landrieu,
D-La., would let those who purchased coverage after the passage of the federal
health care reform to hold onto the plans unless their insurer pulls out of the
individual market.
Feinstein's support, the
first from a senator representing a deep blue state, underscores the discomfort
among some Democrats with the health law's uneven roll-out, including computer
glitches that have hobbled early enrollment in several states. Earlier Tuesday,
former President Bill
Clinton was quoted saying he believed Obama should stand by his
original commitment.
In her statement, Feinstein
said the bill "provides a simple fix to a complex problem."
"The Affordable Care
Act is a good law, but it is not perfect," she said. "I believe the
Landrieu bill is a commonsense fix that will protect individuals in the private
insurance market from being forced to change their insurance plan. I hope Congress
moves quickly to enact it."
Keeping the
Affordable Care Act Promise Act
would require that renewal notices inform customers of their options, including
shopping for a new plan on the federal or a state insurance marketplace such as
Covered California as well as mandate insurers to state why a plan does not
meet new minimum standards established by the law.
Millions of Americans,
including nearly 1 million in California, have been notified that their plans
were being terminated Dec. 31 because they don't meet the minimum standards.
Nearly 600,000 of the customers here can expect to pay more for coverage.
Feinstein said that in the
last three months her office has received nearly 31,000 calls, emails and
letters from constituents with many of them distressed by the cancellations and
facing steep out-of-pocket monthly increases. A man from Rancho Mirage told the
senator he would have to pay about $400 more a month through the exchange for
essentially the same coverage.
"Too many Americans
are struggling to make ends meet. We must ensure that in our effort to reform
the health care system, we do not allow unintended consequences to go
unaddressed.
A similar version to the
bill is expected to be taken up in the GOP-led House later this week.
PHOTO: US Sen. Diane
Feinstein talks to the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce at the Sacramento
Convention Center, Tuesday Aug. 12, 2008. The Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer
