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The following is political activity for Thursday, March 15, 2012, going on in Washington and across the nation. It is courtesy of the Washington D.C. based Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available.

IN THE HOUSE

  1. The House is not in session.
  2. Obama must back away from ‘deeply damaging’ military cuts, House chairman warns  -  The Obama administration should retreat from billions of dollars in “deeply damaging” defense cuts and begin investing in a new generation of tanks, planes and ships as the nation confronts danger around the globe, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday. (Washington Post)

IN THE SENATE

  1. The Senate convenes at 9:30am.
  2. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business until 11:00am with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees with the Majority controlling the first half hour and the Republicans controlling the second half hour.
  3. Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.R.3606, the Capital Formation bill.
  4. At 1:45pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nominations with 15 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley or their designees: (1) Cal. #408, Gina Marie Groh, of West Virginia, to be US District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia and (2) Cal. #461, Michael Walter Fitzgerald, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California.  Upon the use or yielding back of time (approximately 2:00pm), there will be 2 roll call votes on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed above.
  5. Senate calls truce on Obama’s judicial nominees  -  A deal, reached after Sen. Harry Reid tried to force a vote, would allow the chamber to speed up the pace of confirmations. (Los Angeles Times)

OTHER NEWS

  1. Senate Passes 2-Year Transportation Bill  -  The Senate easily approved a two-year, $109 billion transportation and infrastructure bill on Wednesday, putting pressure on House Republicans to set aside their stalled version and pass the Senate’s before the federal highway trust fund expires at the end of the month. (New York Times)
  2. Bishops, White House talks snarl on treatment of faith-based groups  -  The Obama administration has been quietly negotiating with representatives of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in an effort to tamp down their furious opposition to a federal mandate that insurance companies cover birth control, according to sources familiar with the talks. (Reuters)
  3. Democrats up ante with domestic violence bill -  With emotions still raw from the fight over President Barack Obama’s contraception mandate, Senate Democrats are beginning a push to renew the Violence Against Women Act, the once broadly bipartisan 1994 legislation that now faces fierce opposition from conservatives. (Sacramento Bee)
  4. Gingrich plan to block Romney could result in a deal for delegates  -  Newt Gingrich’s plan to keep Mitt Romney from winning the necessary delegates for the GOP nomination means the presidential contenders might have to form a deal in order to avoid a brokered convention, a leading Gingrich surrogate told The Hill. (The Hill)

FEDERAL GRANT OF THE DAY

  •  TechWomen- The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for TechWomen. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to conduct one or two professional mentorship exchange programs. Applicants should plan to demonstrate the capacity to recruit and select 1) a total of approximately 42 women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen; or 2) a total of approximately 36 women from Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe, to participate in a four- to six-week peer mentoring program in the United States. The mentoring experience will focus on advancing the status of professional women in the field of technology through project-based mentorships, networking opportunities, and enhancement activities. Funding will also support activities in the participant’s home countries that encourage the interest of girls in technology-based careers, and that engage young women using technology in their professions. For more information, see the Department of State.

TODAY IN HISTORY

  • March 15, 1985- On this day, the first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered by the Symbolics Computer Corp. of Massachusetts.

Source and thanks to www.anchor-consult.com / For more information, contact Anchor Consulting at 703-333-6013