Bryan Watch: Sept Week 3
Grandstanding YES, Helping Kids NO
A major bodyslam for Donald Trump this week regarding the whistleblower complaint of August 12. In a unanimous vote of 421 to zero, the House demanded that Acting Director of National Intelligence Maguire immediately stop stonewalling and send the complaint to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. They also demanded that Maguire protect the whistleblower from any retaliation by the Trump administration (House Resolution 576, RC 548, Sep 25). This follows a similar vote by the Senate on Tuesday. Trump has literally not got a soul in Congress willing to defend him on the whistleblower issue.
Thursday saw another vote on the folly of Trump’s wall, with members voting whether to consider Senate Joint Resolution 54 (RC 549 and 550, Sep 26). S.J. Res 54, which passed the US Senate on a vote of 54-41 Wednesday, would terminate the national emergency declared by Donald Trump on February 15, 2019. Naturally, every Republican voted against even considering whether to end Trump’s phony emergency.
On Friday, the House voted 236 to 174 to terminate the national emergency, meaning Trump will have to veto the resolution. Eleven Republicans voted to support S.J. Res 54. Some were the usual suspects (Fitzpatrick, Katko, Stefanik, Upton and Walden) and a couple fairly conservative voices (Massie and Sensenbrenner) (RC 553, Sep 27) .
Every single Republican, including Steil, voted against HR 2203, the Homeland Security Improvement Act. The single biggest impact of the bill would be to end the child separation policy at the border, and would reverse Trump administration policies on asylum (RC 546, Sep 25).
Steil also voted for a poison pill motion to recommit by Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee that treats immigrants as criminals and demonizes sanctuary cities (Green motion to recommit, RC 545, Sep 25) .
As usual, Steil and every other Republican voted against consideration of HR 2203 and H Res 576, as well as HR 3525, the US Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act (RC 542 and 543, Sep 25) .
Kevin McCarthy, decided to engage in some political grandstanding, trying to pass a resolution that would condemn Speaker Nancy Pelosi for calling for an impeachment inquiry. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer quickly shot it down with a motion to table. No surprise that Steil and every other Republican supported McCarthy (H Res 590, RC 547, Sep 25). McCarthy tried it again on Friday, and Hoyer shot it down again on Friday (H Res 603, RC 555, Sep 27) .
On Thursday, the House considered HR 3525, the US Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act. It would require that the Border Patrol conduct medical screenings of those crossing the border, with highest priority on those under 18. Naturally, all but two Republicans (Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and Fred Upton (MI)) voted against protecting the health of children crossing the border (RC 552, Sep 26). In one of the most shameful votes in his short congressional career, Steil voted to delay helping children on the border until October of 2027. Steny Hoyer called Green’s motion to recommit “The gimmick of gimmicks” (Green motion to recommit, RC 551, Sep 26) .
In a good vote, Steil did support the "Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act" which allows liberalized federal banking laws regarding marijuana-related businesses. Steil rejected "Reefer Madness" and cast a sensible pro-economic growth vote. The Republican caucus split 91 for and 102 against (RC 544, Sep 25) .
In another good vote, Steil supported HR 3190, the Burma Unified Through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2019. The bill imposes sanctions on members of the former military regime that governed Myanmar, seeking to hold them to account for human rights abuses. Only 20 members of the Crazy Caucus (including Amash, Steve King of Iowa, Louie Gohmert and Tom Massie) opposed holding human rights criminals to account for their actions (RC 541, Sep 24) .
In the least controversial thing all week, all but one person voted to create the Joint Task Force to Combat Opiod Trafficking. Justin Amish was the only NO vote (RC 554, Sep 27, HR 3722) .
Scorecard: Total votes: 15 - Party Line: 12 (11 - 12; 92%)
Good Votes: RC 541, 544
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Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat5 days ago in The Swamp
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