A new week means new problems for Congress, some foreseen and others unexpected. Next week the funding authorization for the federal government runs out, and Congress needs to reauthorize it. The Continuing Resolution would set the federal budget for the rest of the 2013 fiscal year (Open Congress) However problems arose as the Republican party to inserted language into the legislation which would have defunded many aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a key aspect of President Obama's agenda. After the continuing resolution, with the language defunding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed the House it went to the Senate where, in the words of Harry Reid, any language affecting the Affordable Care Act was "dead on arrival"; interestingly this had been clearly communicated to the Republican leadership and they chose to ignore (Boerma). Upon the Continuing Resolution reaching the Senate a vote was held to invoke cloture, Senator Menendez voted for cloture, along with 77 other senators (Open Congress). With cloture invoked Senate Leader Harry Reid put forth an amendment which removed the language affecting the Affordable Care Act, Senator Menendez voted in favor of this and the amendment was passed (Open Congress). Following this the Senate moved to pass the, now amended, Continuing Resolution, which it did, with Senator Menendez voting for its passage (Open Congress). The legislation was then sent back to the House where, as of this writing, it has since been amended again to include language affecting the Affordable Care Act and sent back to the Senate (Cohen, Yan, Stewart). Menendez has walked the party line throughout this process, siding with the Democratic party on all votes regarding the Continuing Resolution, though he has not made any significant statements on, or contributions to, it.
In other news, earlier in the week significant developments occurred in U.S-Iran relations. Over the previous two weeks details have emerged of letters being exchanged between the presidents of the two countries and of John Kerry meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif (CNN). Crowning this weeks rapid developments was a phone call between President Obama and President Rouhani, a first since 1979 (Carter). In response to developments in the United State's relations with Iran several Congressmen have expressed doubt or a need for caution, among these have been Senator Menendez. Senator Menendez, along with Senator Lindsey Gram, sent a letter to President Obama stating that while President Rouhani's election, and his subsequent statements, have projected a willingness on Iran's part to change how it acts with regards to the international community, Iran has yet to take concrete action and that until real actions have been taken President Obama should proceed with caution (Newsmax). Senator Menendez is key player on foreign relations in the Senate as he is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recently steering the Syria Resolution through the Senate.
Sources:
H.J.Res.59- Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014. OpenCongress. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/113-hj59/show
Boerma, Lindsey. House anti-Obamacare budget bill dead on arrival, senators say. CBS News. Posted September 22, 2013. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57604060/house-anti-obamacare-budget-bill-dead-on-arrival-senators-say/
On the Cloture Motion H.J.Res.59. Opencongress. http://www.opencongress.org/vote/2013/s/206
Voting History Senator Robert Menendez. Opencongress. http://www.opencongress.org/people/voting_history/400272_Robert_Menendez
Cohen, Tom Yan, Holly and Stewart, Martina. Dems, GOP play game of chicken as shutdown looms. CNN. Posted September 29th, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/29/politics/shutdown-showdown/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
U.S and Iran's first direct talks since 1979. CNN. Posted September 26th, 2013. http://situationroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/26/u-s-and-irans-first-direct-talks-since-1979/?iref=allsearch
Carter, Chelsea. It's a three-decade first: Presidents of U.S, Iran talk directly, if only by phone. CNN. Posted September 28th, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/politics/us-iran/index.html?hpt=po_t1
Senate's Menendez, Graham Push Obama to Take Tough Line on Iran. Newsmax.com. Posted September 23rd, 2013. http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/graham-menendez-obama-iran/2013/09/23/id/527195
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