House Republican Study Committee Update
April 22, 2003

* Debt Limit Increase
* Title X Backgrounder
* Conservative Activity
* The Money Monitor
* Senate Inaction on House-Passed Bills

To read PDF files, download Adobe Acrobat for free: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Debt Limit Increase
On April 11, 2003, the House automatically passed without a vote a resolution (H.J.Res. 51) raising the national debt limit by $984 Billion. Under this resolution, the federal government would be allowed to carry up to $7.384 Trillion in public debt. Pursuant to a revived House rule (often known as the "Gephardt Rule"), passage of a Budget Resolution Conference Report (in this case H.Con.Res. 95) automatically generates and deems as passed in the House a separate resolution raising the national debt limit by the necessary amount. The Senate has not yet considered the resolution.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
For more information on the public debt, including historical charts and daily amounts to the penny, click here: http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opd.htm

Title X Backgrounder
Title X (pronounced "title ten"), the only federal program exclusively focused on contraception distribution, was established by the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-572). Despite the fact that the Title X program's legal authorization to exist expired in 1985, Congress continues to appropriate money to it. To learn more, read the RSC Backgrounder on the Title X Program: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/TitleX03PB.doc

Conservative Activity

--Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-CO) has introduced a bill (H.R. 1781) that would provide tax-filers an above-the-line deduction of up to $500 for the costs of preparing their tax returns. For more details, including bill text, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/word/Beauprez42103.doc

--Rep. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced The Truth in Employment Act (H.R. 1793) to protect employers against the dishonest and coercive practice of "salting." Salting is a union tactic in which a union agent attempts to gain access to a business and exert economic pressure under the guise of seeking employment. To learn more, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/word/DeMint42103.doc

--Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) has introduced the Federal Prison Industries (FPI) Competition in Contracting Act (H.R. 1829) to allow private companies to bid on contracts currently reserved for FPI. To read more about the FPI reforms Rep. Hoekstra's legislation would implement, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/word/Hoekstra42103.doc

--Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) has introduced a bill (H.R. 1807) to allow more flexibility in the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. TAA currently offers assistance to eligible workers who are adversely affected by trade. Recipients are eligible for job retraining benefits and 52 additional weeks of income maintenance when their Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits run out. Rep. Reynolds' legislation would allow workers the option of taking income maintenance benefits up-front in the form of a lump sum payment (as seed capital to start a small business) and their job retraining benefits in the form of entrepreneurship education. Click here for more details: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/word/Reynolds42103.doc

--Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) wrote an op-ed about Operation Iraqi Freedom, arguing that the American victory should be seen as a victory of optimism and courage over pessimism and fear. To read the op-ed, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/word/Sullivan42103.doc

For information on other activities of conservatives in the House, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/activity.htm

The Money Monitor
Each week in "The Money Monitor," the RSC tracks how the bills passed by the House would affect authorizations, mandatory spending, appropriations, and federal government revenue. Last week, because the House was out of session, no new spending was authorized. To view "The Money Monitor" for the week of April 14-18, 2003, which includes year-to-date spending totals and a previously unavailable revenue estimate for a bill, click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/MoneyMonitor41403.pdf

The RSC also prepared reports on the costs of all House-passed bills last year and of all bills signed into law last year. Click below: All House-passed bills (including ones not passed by the Senate): http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/MoneyMonitor107b.pdf
All bills signed into law: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/CostsofBills107b.pdf

To access earlier editions of "The Money Monitor," click here: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/budget.htm

Senate Inaction on House-Passed Bills
Click here for the most updated sheet on House-passed bills that the Senate has not yet considered on the floor this year: http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/SenateInaction03.xls