Rep. Louise Slaughter: Help Force a REAL Katrina Investigation...

paineinthearse

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Tue Sep-27-05 07:55 PM
Original message

Rep. Louise Slaughter: Help Force a REAL Katrina Investigation...

Here's to the next Chair of the House Rules Committee. Louise, :yourock:!

I posted this earlier this afternoon: "House Dems Filing Discharge Petition for an Independent Katrina Commission"

Edited on Tue Sep-27-05 12:49 PM by paineinthearse

Breaking.

Live on CSPAN now, Rep. Louise Slaughter D-NY, ranking member of House Rules Committee & Rep. Menendez (D-NJ).

A Discharge Petition starts a process to force a bill out of committee. A successful petition requires the signatures of 218 members, which is a majority of the House.
source - http://www.c-span.org/guide/congress/glossary/discharg....

This is due to the House-approved sham partisan commission.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Resolution_Democrats_make_another_move_for_Katrina_0927.html

Resolution: Democrats make another move for Katrina commission

09/27/2005 @ 12:16 pm

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, was joined this morning by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, in announcing the creation of a discharge petition to force debate and a floor vote on the formation of a 9/11 style, independent commission to investigate the government's response to Katrina, RAW STORY has learned.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Slaughter, follows. A move by by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) failed in the Senate.

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RESOLUTION

Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R.3706) to establish a National Independent Inquiry Commission on Disaster Preparedness and Response to examine and evaluate the Federal Government's response to Hurricane Katrina and assess its ability to respond to future large-scale disasters.

Resolved, That immediately upon the adoption of this resolution the House shall without intervention of any point of order consider in the House the bill (H.R.3706) to establish a National Independent Inquiry Commission on Disaster Preparedness and Response to examine and evaluate the Federal Government's response to Hurricane Katrina and assess its ability to respond to future large-scale disasters. The bill shall be considered as read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate on the bill equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and (2) one motion to recommit.

WHAT IS A DISCHARGE PETITION?

Under House Rules, there is a procedure that allows an individual member to bypass the committee process and bring legislation directly to the House floor, thereby forcing a vote, if that legislation has the solid backing of a majority of the Members of the House.

Rules Ranking Member Louise Slaughter will introduce a rule today to discharge H.R. 3764, legislation to establish an Independent Commission on Hurricane Katrina. H.R. 3764 was blocked by the Republican controlled Rules Committee earlier this month. If successful, the discharge petition on this rule will guarantee a vote on H.R. 3764 on the House Floor. Under House Rules, there is a 30 legislative day waiting period before a petition can be filed and signatures can be collected. It is estimated that the Katrina Commission bill and Slaughter rule will be available to begin the discharge process the week of November 7th.

At that time, Rep. Slaughter will file a motion to discharge the Katrina Commission rule (referred to as a discharge petition) with the Clerk of the House and begin obtaining signatures from House Members who support a Floor vote on the creation of a Katrina Commission.

When the signatures of a majority of the House (exactly 218 unless the total quorum is less than 435 Members due to a vacancy) have been obtained, the Slaughter rule and H.R. 3764 will be brought to the House Floor for expedited consideration.

by email

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Dear (),

This morning at a press conference on Capitol Hill I announced the creation of a Congressional Discharge Petition, which if successful, will force the House of Representatives to debate and vote, up or down, the formation of an Independent Katrina Commission.

I know you'll agree with me that an Independent Commission is a necessary step in our quest to investigate the woefully inadequate preparation and response to the horrible disaster on America's Gulf Coast.

http://www.ForceTheVote.com/

In order for the Discharge Petition to take effect and force a vote, half of the House of Representatives (218 Members) must sign on and register their support.

That's a tall order to fill, especially when you consider all that the obstructionist Republican Leadership has done to block our efforts. But even they can't stop a Discharge Petition. It truly is our silver legislative bullet.

If I am to gather the necessary 218 signatures, I'm going to need your help. Please sign up today, as a Citizen Co-Signer, and we'll keep you updated on our success advancing the Discharge Petition.

http://www.ForceTheVote.com/

Each week we'll let you know which Members of Congress have signed on to our call for a vote on real accountability. Better yet, as a Citizen Co-Signer, you'll be able to help us lobby Members who have yet to sign on.

At my press conference this morning I also accepted, on behalf of my colleagues, more than 400,000 petitions collected by MoveOn.org and Democracy for America. The petitions come from men and women just like you calling on Congress to form an Independent Commission.

People like, Leslie Durr from Charlottesville, VA who wrote on her petition, "This is a national disgrace. Please don't sweep it under the rug to preserve the party line. We need an independent commission to get to the bottom of this no matter where the chips may fall."

Or Margaret Cook from St. Cloud, MN who wrote, "The response to Katrina was disgraceful, and we need to find out why. I don't think Americans can be satisfied with a partisan group's assessment. If you really think they did a good job, or if you really think it was the fault of local governments, then you have nothing to lose in an independent commission."

My Discharge Petition is the next necessary step in our fight to achieve the goal we share.

http://www.ForceTheVote.com/

We need an independent, blue-ribbon, bipartisan Katrina Commission modeled after the 9/11 Commission. The American people have rightfully lost trust in their Government. They don't believe it can protect them… from natural or man-made disaster. An Independent Commission is essential if we are ever to regain their trust.

Our fight starts right here, right now.

Together we can build the support we need to advance our fight for the truth.

In Solidarity,

Congresswoman
Louise M. Slaughter