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July 6, 2005
WASHINGTON DIGEST Trade barrier eliminatedGUN OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS IN WASHINGTON, D.C., EASED; EMINENT DOMAIN RULING BLOCKED
By ALISON VEKSHIN and KATE BARRETT
The Senate voted 54-45 to approve the agreement, nicknamed CAFTA, with Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. Supporters maintained the agreement would open new markets for U.S. goods. Opponents said the bill could harm domestic jobs and labor rights in the participating nations. The agreement, reached a year ago, would bind the United States and the Central American nations to favorable tariff and trade rules over the next 10 years. The House is expected to consider the bill later this month. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., voted for CAFTA, while Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted against it. Human pesticide testing considered The Senate approved competing amendments to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using data from human testing in reviewing new pesticides. The Senate voted, 60-37, for an amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that would impose a one-year moratorium on the human tests. It also would bar federal funding in fiscal 2006 for the EPA to consider third-party human studies for pesticides. Ensign and Reid voted for the Boxer amendment. The Senate voted, 57-40, to approve a more lenient amendment by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., that would direct the EPA to review all third-party human testing studies to identify toxic effects. Ensign voted for the Burns amendment, while Reid opposed it. The competing approaches are expected to be negotiated later this year. House overturns DC gun ban The House voted, 259-161, to loosen restrictions on gun ownership in Washington, D.C. An amendment by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., would ban federal money from being used in the next year to enforce the 29-year-old restrictions. "I believe the good people of D.C. deserve the recognition of this basic civil right," Souder said of gun ownership. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said the city would rather keep the gun rules in place and enforced. "Please don't encourage the use of guns in the home, where their most likely use is for suicide or domestic violence," she said. Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., voted to lift the restrictions. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., voted to keep them in place. Eminent domain decision blocked The House voted, 231-189, to block federal funds to local governments that use eminent domain to force homeowners to sell their property to make room for commercial development. The vote came as an amendment to a federal spending bill and in response to the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling last month allowing the practice. Traditionally, eminent domain has been invoked to make room for such things as highways and bridges. Amendment supporters said the court ruling abused property rights. Opponents questioned the practice of withholding funds to enforce a Supreme Court decision. Gibbons and Porter voted to blunt the Supreme Court ruling. Berkley voted against the amendment. Cuban trade embargo upheld The House rejected, 250-169, an amendment aimed at lifting the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. Introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the amendment would block funds to enforce sanctions that prohibit trade and travel with the island nation. "It seems to me that American businesses are losing billions of dollars by not being able to trade," Rangel said. "And who is being hurt? It is certainly not (Cuban dictator Fidel) Castro. It is the poor people in the country." Opponents argued lifting the embargo would reward human rights abuses in Cuba with American trade. Berkley, Gibbons and Porter voted to keep the embargo in place. |
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