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The Tap: Tuesday, September 6, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #33 of The Tap, which was published on September 10, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • Eighty-eight retired generals and military officials signed an open letter endorsing Donald Trump. The letter states, “The 2016 election affords the American people an urgently needed opportunity to make a long overdue course correction in our national security posture and policy. As retired senior leaders of America’s military, we believe that such a change can only be made by someone who has not been deeply involved with, and substantially responsible for, the hollowing out of our military and the burgeoning threats facing our country around the world. For this reason, we support Donald Trump’s candidacy to be our next commander in chief.” The letter was organized by General Sidney Shachnow and Admiral Charles Williams.
  • After endorsing every Republican presidential nominee since 1968, The Dallas Morning News editorial board declined to endorse Trump in an editorial titled “Donald Trump is no Republican.” The editorial board stated, “We have no interest in a Republican nominee for whom all principles are negotiable, nor in a Republican Party that is willing to trade away principle for pursuit of electoral victory. Trump doesn't reflect Republican ideals of the past; we are certain he shouldn't reflect the GOP of the future. Donald Trump is not qualified to serve as president and does not deserve your vote.”
    • The editorial board wrote an accompanying op-ed to endorse Hillary Clinton. “We've been critical of Clinton's handling of certain issues in the past. But unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has experience in actual governance, a record of service and a willingness to delve into real policy. Resume vs. resume, judgment vs. judgment, this election is no contest,” it wrote.
    • See also: Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump
  • In a speech from the floor of the U.S. Senate, Democratic leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stated his objection to nonessential committees meeting until U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland receives a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Reid said, “To show the American people’s absolute disgust with how Republicans have treated Merrick Garland’s nomination, starting today I’m objecting to nonessential committees meeting for other purposes until the Judiciary Committee schedules a meeting to consider Judge Garland’s nomination. If the Republican leader thinks there is a committee that needs to meet because of extraordinary circumstances, I would be pleased to consider his request. But in the meantime, as of today, I’m objecting to committees meeting in line with the rules of the Senate.” Senate rules restrict committee work after the Senate has been in session for two hours or if committees are meeting after 2:00 p.m. unless there is unanimous consent to bypass these restrictions. Senate Democrats plan to object to bypassing these restrictions for nonessential committees which will limit the amount of time committees can work.
  • Hillary Clinton said in an interview on ABC News that she did not believe that former President Bill Clinton should resign from the Clinton Foundation until the presidential election concludes. She also suggested that her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, might not remain at the foundation if she won the election, as was announced last month. “As I’ve said over and over again ... these issues will be decided after the election and we will decide the appropriate way forward,” Clinton told reporters.
  • Congressional officials briefed by the U.S. State, Treasury, and Justice departments told The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration sent two additional shipments of cash in a cargo plane to Iran after sending an initial $400 million cash payment as leverage to ensure that Iran released four Americans who were being held there as prisoners. The total $1.7 billion payment settled a dispute over $400 million that Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi paid to the U.S. in 1979 for undelivered military parts. The second and third payments were made in Swiss francs, euros, and other currencies on January 22, 2016, and February 5, 2016. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The Obama administration previously had refused to disclose the mechanics of the $1.7 billion settlement, despite repeated calls from U.S. lawmakers. The State Department announced the settlement on Jan. 17 but didn’t brief Congress that the entire amount had been paid in cash.”
    • See also: Iran nuclear agreement: U.S. withheld cash until hostages were released
    • Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation to prevent the Treasury Department from sending payments to Iran until the $1.7 billion is returned. Rubio wrote in an op-ed, “I opposed the nuclear deal with Iran and have fought this administration's endless concessions to the world's foremost state sponsor of terror. Now I'm fighting this outrageous ransom payment by introducing legislation today called the No Ransom Payments Act. My bill would forbid any future ransom payments for hostages. It would require Iran to return the $1.7 billion it received from the Obama administration, and it would forbid any future settlements of Iranian claims until Iran first pays the more than $55 billion awarded by U.S. courts to American victims of Iranian-backed terror, and to the Americans held hostage by Iran in 1979. The bill would also mandate sanctions against Iranians who hold or detain U.S. citizens.”
    • Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) criticized the Obama administration for its decision to pay Iran in cash. Cotton said in a statement, “If this report is confirmed, Americans will face the reality that they live in a world where Iran’s terrorist proxies have access to $1.3 billion more in untraceable cash, on top of the $400 million cash payment the administration has already confirmed. It’s no wonder that the administration has fought so hard to keep the nature and timing of the cash transfers secret. The payment of cash ransoms to the world’s worst state sponsor of terror encourages the hostage-taking of more innocent Americans and fuels Iran’s terror plots. It’s long past time for the president to stop stonewalling on these ransom payments and start being straight with the American people about the dangerous concessions he’s made to the ayatollahs."
    • Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) commented on a House subcommittee hearing about the payments, saying, “I am concerned that this may be a part of the strategy that is being employed by my colleagues on the opposite side of aisle to discredit the president of the United States.”
    • Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) said that Republicans are trying to make the Obama administration look “like criminals dropping bags of cash in the middle of the night like drug dealers. So we gave [Iran] back their money in a form of legal tender that is very public, and [Republicans] are criticizing it because we got back four Americans. Mother of God.”
  • President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos. During a speech, he acknowledged the secret war the U.S. was engaged in from 1964 to 1973 in Laos and announced an increase in funding to help Laotians recover from the devastation of the war. He said, “Over nine years — from 1964 to 1973 — the United States dropped more than two million tons of bombs here in Laos — more than we dropped on Germany and Japan combined during all of World War II. It made Laos, per person, the most heavily bombed country in history. … Today, I stand with you in acknowledging the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict. … The United States will double our annual funding to $90 million over the next three years to help Laos expand its work. This will help Laos expand its work to remove even more bombs, allow Laotians to farm more land, and increase support for victims. I’ll bear witness to this work tomorrow when I meet with survivors. Given our history here, I believe that the United States has a moral obligation to help Laos heal.”
  • President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned North Korea’s launch of three ballistic missiles on Monday. Obama and Park met to discuss the incident and decided to “enhance combined defense capabilities to include the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system,” according to CNN. Obama said, "We are going to work together to ensure that we are closing loopholes and making them more effective. And President Park and I agree that the entire international community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable. North Korea needs to know that provocations will only invite more pressure and further deepen its isolation."
  • President Barack Obama announced that the United States and China would join the 2015 Paris climate change agreement together. The United States pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 26 and 36 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2025 as part of the agreement. China pledged that its emissions would peak before the year 2030. Though Obama announced that the United States formally joined the agreement, congressional Republicans have argued that the agreement is not binding until the U.S. Senate ratifies it as required by the U.S. Constitution. Further, the Obama administration’s signature climate change initiative for power plants was temporarily stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2016. The initiative was an integral part to the United States’ emissions reduction pledge in the Paris agreement. The outcome of the U.S. presidential election will likely determine the fate of the Paris climate agreement and the Obama administration’s signature climate change rule.
  • After Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret over his controversial comments about President Barack Obama, the two met informally before an ASEAN summit gala dinner in Laos and reaffirmed the “rock solid” relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines. Obama and Duterte were scheduled to meet on Tuesday, but the meeting was canceled after Duterte told reporters on Monday that he would not discuss the war on drugs in the Philippines with Obama. Duterte said, "You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum.” On Monday night, Duterte appeared contrite, saying, “I do not want to quarrel with [Obama]. He’s the most powerful president of any country on the planet.” According to The Wall Street Journal, “He blamed State Department officials for needling him by continually raising the issue of human rights, which Mr. Duterte says matters less than curbing crime.”
  • Tim Miller, former communications director for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, joined Definers Public Affairs, a communications firm founded by Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, and former RNC research director Joe Pounder. According to Politico, the firm brings "political campaign type research and communication tactics" to corporate consulting in Washington, D.C. Miller said that his role was to work "more aggressively ... directly after threats to our clients."
  • The United States government filed a motion in federal district court to enforce a temporary remedy to Texas' voter ID law, which a federal appeals court struck down in July, finding that the law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Under the terms of the temporary remedy, which was agreed to by both state officials and opponents of the state's voter ID law, Texas voters can use voter registration certificates, birth certificates, utility bills, bank statements, government checks, paychecks, and other government documents as identification at the polls if they "cannot reasonably obtain" the forms of identification mandated by state law (known as "SB 14 ID"). The motion read, in part, as follows: "Rather than educating voters and poll officials about opportunities to cast a regular ballot for those who ‘do not possess SB 14 ID and cannot reasonably obtain it,’ the State has recast that language to limit the opportunity to cast a regular ballot solely to those voters who present SB 14 ID or who 'have not obtained' and 'cannot obtain' SB 14 ID. That standard is incorrect and far harsher than the Court-ordered standard it would displace."
  • Republican U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-1) resigned from office on Tuesday. Whitfield had previously planned to retire at the end of the 114th Congress but announced on August 31, 2016, that he would be resigning early. Whitfield was the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation at the time of his resignation. The probe began in March 2015 and investigated reports that Whitfield and his wife, a lobbyist, worked together to advance her work for the Humane Society of the United States. The investigation found that Whitfield's wife was unfairly advantaged by having access to her husband's congressional staff. A special election to fill the last two months of Whitfield’s term will be held coinciding with the regular general election on November 8, 2016. The race is rated safely Republican.

Congressional legislation

  • Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, after a long summer recess. The Senate failed to move forward with bills to fight the Zika virus and fund the Department of Defense. The House passed S 2040—the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act—setting up a fight with the White House. The legislation proposes allowing the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for sponsoring terrorism. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill. Full coverage of this week’s legislation can be viewed here.
  • Key vote: For the third time, the Senate rejected legislation that proposed providing $1.1 billion to fight Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause paralysis and severe birth defects, by a vote of 52-48. Sixty votes were needed to move forward with the legislation. Democrats opposed the legislation because it would have denied new funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico for birth control, and it would have eased the requirements on spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes. The House passed the legislation on June 23, 2016.
  • The House unanimously passed HR 5578—the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act of 2016. According to a press release from Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.), the sponsor of the bill, “This bipartisan legislation will ensure that sexual assault survivors in federal criminal cases have a right to: a sexual assault evidence collection kit; be notified in writing before the kit is destroyed; request preservation of the kit; and be informed of important results from a forensic examination. The Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act will also require the Attorney General and the United States Department of Health and Human Services to convene a joint working group on best practices regarding the care and treatment of sexual assault survivors and the preservation of forensic evidence.”

State

  • Nevada Director of Conservation and Natural Resources Leo Drozdoff stepped down. Governor Brian Sandoval (R) had announced on July 21, 2016, that Drozdoff would retire later that year: "I will miss his leadership at the Department but wish him the very best as he enters into his retirement from state service," said Sandoval upon the announcement. Drozdoff had been appointed to the nonpartisan position by previous Governor Jim Gibbons (R) in 2010; Governor Sandoval has yet to announce a replacement.
  • New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) signed six new education bills into law. The bills:
    • (1) provide private schools with $11.3 million for security services and equipment;
    • (2) limit student suspensions and expulsions during kindergarten through second grade;
    • (3) require a review of the standards used to teach about substance abuse;
    • (4) require college graduation rates to be reported to the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority;
    • (5) encourage schools to identify students with learning or behavioral needs earlier; and
    • (6) allow state colleges to form a cooperative to purchase goods and services. During a subsequent speech, Christie also called for a longer school year and a more equitable school funding formula.

See also: Public education in New Jersey

  • Federal Judge Michael Fitzgerald ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must prepare a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement about the expected impacts of fracking on federal lands in California. In September 2011, the BLM released a draft land use plan for federal lands in Kings, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura, Madera, Fresno, and Kern counties. Accompanying this plan was an Environmental Impact Statement outlining the expected environmental impacts of activities on those lands, including oil and gas drilling. Two environmental groups—the Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres ForestWatch—protested against the plan, arguing that it did not adequately address the impacts of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). The BLM expects that 25 percent of new wells on these lands will be treated with hydraulic fracturing. The judge also gave the BLM a deadline of September 21, 2016, to present arguments about why he should not issue an injunction to stop the BLM's land use plan from going into effect.

Local

  • On Tuesday, September 6, Susan Hawk (R) resigned from her position as Dallas County District Attorney. Hawk was elected in 2014, and had been hospitalized three separate times due to depression and a mood disorder. Her election was the first Republican victory in a countywide contested election since 2004. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will appoint Hawk’s successor, who will serve until Hawk’s initial term expires in 2018. Dallas County is the second-largest county by population in Texas.
  • Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) urged the Texas State Board of Education to ban a textbook on Mexican heritage that he said was offensive. Turner said the book, Mexican American Heritage, had a number of problematic passages. One specific example cited from the textbook claimed that Mexican laborers were "not reared to put in a full day's work so vigorously” when compared to “driven” industrialists. The textbook was the only one submitted to the state board on the subject of Mexican American history. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States by population and the largest city in Texas.
  • St. Louis County, Missouri, passed an ordinance to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products and e-cigarettes by a vote of 5-1. The legal age to purchase those products will now be 21 rather than the federally mandated 18. Although this does not affect the city of St. Louis, which is independent from the county, Mayor Francis Slay (D) said that he supported the city following suit. The law will go into effect on December 1, 2016, if it is signed by County Executive Steve Stenger. St. Louis County is the largest county by population in Missouri.
  • A study by Attendance Works revealed that half of the nation’s chronically absent students attend only 4 percent of the nation’s school districts. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 15 school days, which equates to about 10 percent of the total academic year. Nine out of 10 school districts reported at least one chronically absent student. The study used data from the 2013-2014 school year. Attendance Works is a project funded by the nonprofit Child and Family Policy Center.
  • In Idaho, a general election was held for two of the seven school board seats in the Boise School District. In the at-large race for seats with six-year terms, incumbent David Wagers ran for re-election against challengers Beth Oppenheimer and Monica Walker. Wagers and Oppenheimer won the two seats. The district is the largest in Idaho and served 27,275 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which is roughly 9.7 percent of all the public school students in Idaho.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #32 of The Tap, which was published on September 3, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • Congress will return from summer recess on Tuesday, September 6, and will be in session from Tuesday to Friday. It was the “longest summer recess in at least three decades,” according to Roll Call.

Local

  • In Idaho, a general election will be held for two of the seven school board seats in the Boise School District. In the at-large race for seats with six-year terms, incumbent David Wagers is running for re-election against challengers Beth Oppenheimer and Monica Walker. The district is the largest in Idaho and served 27,275 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which is roughly 9.7 percent of all the public school students in Idaho.



The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
March: 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
April: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
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June: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
July: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
August: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
September: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
October: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7• 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
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February: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17
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