Delegation for 11.19.21: Price tag — taxes — ports — reprieve — Christmas tree

Passed

As Congress prepares for a brief Thanksgiving recess, President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better wish list — and its price tag — dominates the Washington chatter.

On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the plan’s cost, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of $367 billion over the 2022-2031 period. That number doesn’t count offsets, but the announcement comes days after the nonpartisan office remarked that the administration’s plans to raise more through vigorous Internal Revenue Service enforcement would produce far less than expected, about $120 million instead of the $400 million the administration hoped.

Biden’s Treasury Department has strong quibbles with the numbers — “We’ve made a very strong empirical case for CBO not having an accurate score,” Assistant Treasury Secretary Ben Harris told The New York Times.

Nevertheless, the news spurred a flurry of rhetoric within the delegation.

Republicans quickly pounced on the high price tags for expanded social services programs, saying that they will only increase the national debt.

“Parents put children before themselves. It’s what decent people do,” said Rep. Kat Cammack. “It’s what people who care about future generations and those in their care do.”

But the Gainesville Republican accused Democrats in Congress of pushing the spending expansion for the sake of a political win.

But Democrats called the bill an essential piece of language that will improve the lives of Americans. “I support economic growth and a clean energy future,” tweeted Rep. Charlie Crist, a St. Petersburg Democrat. “That’s why I’m proud to support the Build Back Better Act — historic investments to reinvigorate our economy and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, so Florida families are freed from impacts of high energy prices!”

Rep. Val Demings, an Orlando Democrat, views the legislation as a way to help Americans get out of the shadow of private debt. “No one should go into debt taking care of a loved one. Our Build Back Better plan will cap child care expenses and invest in senior care and long-term caregiving for American families,” she said.

Notably, Crist is running for Governor and Demings for Senate next year, so both will be counting on the program being viewed as a success for voters.

Perhaps the most important Florida voice on the bill weighed in Thursday, with Rep. Stephanie Murphy, head of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, committing to vote yes. “Despite its flaws, the Build Back Better Act has a lot of positive elements,” she said in a statement released Thursday evening. Her support could prove critical in bringing enough moderates along and sending this bill to the Senate for approval.

But some Republicans remain skeptical a bill can make it across the finish line at all. “(Speaker Nancy) Pelosi‘s going to do anything she can to get BBB off her plate and to the Senate,” Rep. Michael Waltz, a St. Augustine Beach Republican, told Fox News. “That means adding whatever appeases her moderates and progressives. It won’t pass in the Senate.”

Of course, Democrats hoped to have the legislation ready to go by Thursday, a week out from Thanksgiving. That goal proved elusive after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gave a record-length speech that lasted until 5:10 a.m. Friday.

It meant Representatives couldn’t recess, but Democrats did pass the bill Friday.

“Licking Trump’s boots. (McCarthy) must have thought his rambling diatribe, delivered during hours when most have gone to bed, would goad House Democrats into voting after midnight,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted. “I guess when you have an audience of one plus the Q Caucus, that’s all that matters.”

Tax tense

The potential to extend part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to credit card interchange fees in addition to debit card fees has surfaced again in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Florida TaxWatch isn’t happy about that.

Dominic Calabro, the organization’s president and CEO, issued a letter to Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott alerting Florida’s all-GOP Senate delegation of the financial consequences of such a policy.

“There are times when we are uncertain what will happen if a particular public policy is implemented. A proposal in Congress about cuts in interchange fees on credit cards is not one of them,” Calabro wrote. “We can be pretty certain that customer services and security for anyone with a credit card will be impacted, and low-income consumers will bear the brunt of this change.”

He wrote that when the Durbin amendment, named for sponsoring Sen. Richard Durbin, hit debit card users it transformed the industry. “In 2009, the year before Dodd-Frank, 76% of checking accounts were free of charge,” the letter states. “In 2011, right after Dodd-Frank, just 45% were still free. Within three years, the total number of banks offering free accounts fell by 50% and the minimum monthly holding required, and fees doubled for accounts.”

TaxWatch earlier this year published a brief analyzing the impact such legislation could have on consumers, and Calabro urged the senators to review the document once more.

Slammed

The ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Rubio put a hold on Biden’s picks for ambassador to China and Spain. He slammed the choices as weak, or worse, sympathetic to hostile regimes.

He accused Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, Biden’s pick as a representative to Madrid, of being a sympathizer who provided material support to the Raul Castro regime in Cuba.

“Her direct involvement in helping to exchange incarcerated members of the regime’s intelligence service, while serving a sentence in a U.S. prison amid the Obama-Castro appeasement policy, raises serious questions about her character and judgment. One thing I am confident of, though, is that Reynoso would not push Spain to increase pressure on the authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. In fact, she will likely give Spain a pass for turning a blind eye. We need someone who is committed to freedom and human rights in the Western Hemisphere, not an envoy for dictators.”

Reynoso Pantaleón was tapped while she served as chief of staff to First Lady Jill Biden. She previously served as ambassador to Uruguay and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

As for Nicholas Burns, Biden’s choice to Beijing, Rubio’s criticisms were less pointed but earned more ink thanks to China’s status as a superpower — one Rubio has repeatedly criticized for human rights violations and spying on the U.S.

“Nicholas Burns has a long career in public service, but it is a career defined by the failure to understand the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” Rubio said of Burns. “In fact, Burns displayed no remorse or concern about his current business relationships with nationless corporations operating in China. Burns is exactly the type of nominee I expect from President Biden, given this administration’s weak approach toward China, including lobbying against my bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The last thing we need is another caretaker of American decline in the room with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Port push

Scott pushed on the Senate floor to have his Supply Chain Emergency Response Act passed by unanimous consent, to no avail. Democrats blocked the bill.

The legislation would redirect $125 million in coronavirus response funding to redirect cargo vessels on the West Coast to use the Panama Canal and instead land in East Coast ports, including in Florida. The bill also would let Governors use rescue money to offset port fees.

“Just last week, I met with port and business leaders at the Port of Palm Beach and heard firsthand from them how Joe Biden’s disastrous policies and socialist agenda have created a massive supply chain crisis that is hurting businesses, fueling inflation, and leaving shelves empty in Florida and across the nation,” Scott said. “Unlike the Biden administration, we got together to talk about solutions and how we can fix this problem with common-sense legislation like my Supply Chain Emergency Response Act. While I’m fighting to solve problems, the Democrats only care to obstruct.”

The legislation lacked support in the Senate, but the Florida Ports Council loves it. “Florida’s ports are ready, willing and able to be a partner in getting America’s supply chains back on track, and we hope to see this good bill reconsidered and passed as soon as possible,” said Michael Rubin, Florida Ports Council president and CEO.

Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Miami Republican, is carrying a House version of the bill.

Job offer

Fort Walton Beach Republican Matt Gaetz has a new teenager he’s anxious to hire — murder suspect Kyle Rittenhouse.

During an appearance on Newsmax, Gaetz defended the 18-year-old, who is on trial for charges after shooting three people at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, protest, killing two of them. The defense has argued Rittenhouse shot in self-defense after being attacked, an incident caught on video. His case has become a cause célèbre on the right, and Gaetz on the national outlet said he hopes the jury acquits.

On Friday afternoon, the jury found Rittenouse not guilty on all counts.

“He deserves a not-guilty verdict, and I sure hope he gets it,” the Fort Walton Beach Republican said. “Because you know what? Kyle Rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good congressional intern. We may reach out to him and see if he’d be interested in helping the country in additional ways.”

In the same Newsmax interview, Gaetz defended Jake Chansley, a Jan. 6 Capitol riot participant known as the “QAnon Shaman” sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in jail. “This ‘QAnon Shaman’ is like a relatively harmless, nonviolent vegan, and the notion that he’s got to be in prison for three and a half years to settle some sort of political score defies justice,” Gaetz said.

But with Chansley unable to join the congressional workforce, the only on-air job offer went to Rittenhouse. Gaetz retweeted a video from the Newsmax segment on his official Twitter account, posting “he’d make a great Congressional Intern.”

Of note, Gaetz’s growing concerns of malicious prosecutions come as federal investigators continue a probe that could yet net trouble for the third-term Congressman. Former Seminole Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, a close Gaetz associate who pleaded guilty earlier this year to sex-trafficking a minor, is continuing to cooperate with prosecutors in investigations involving other individuals.

Honey, I’m home

An office inspection made for a buzzworthy discovery in Cammack’s Gainesville office. She shared pictures on social media of the active beehives retrieved.

“We discovered several thousand honeybees,” the Congresswoman shared.

But considering the shrinking populations of honey-producing bees globally, Cammack said this wasn’t a simple matter of pest control. She wanted the bees out of the building while remaining safely in her district.

“After safely removing and relocating them to a new home, we learned just this morning that they’re thriving doing what they do best: making sweet honey and enriching our ecosystem and environment,” she wrote.

Oil plug

Demings wants the Biden administration to shut off oil exports for the time being to assure there’s plenty of supply in America, with the hope that might drive down gas prices.

She wrote to National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm asking for immediate action to reduce gas prices.

Demings noted the United States previously prohibited the export of American crude oil for more than 40 years until that ban was lifted in 2015.

“This meant that domestic production which previously benefited American families and businesses is now shipped overseas for the express profit of gas and oil companies, but at the expense of the public,” Demings wrote. ”I strongly urge you to reimpose a prohibition until American production levels return to their pre-pandemic levels and fuel prices stabilize for American families. I also urge you to release fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as has been done during previous spikes in fuel prices.”

She cited reports about OPIC+ charging that there appears to be price manipulation by the largest oil and gas companies to increase their own profits at a time when Americans can least afford it.

“Whether it’s oil baron profits, illegal price manipulations, or supply chain issues, it’s clear that we need to be stronger and bolder to attack this price increase and save Floridian families money at the pump,” Demings said in a news release.

Never forget

The last living prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials received an honor from Congress courtesy three members of the Florida delegation.

Palm Harbor Republican Gus Bilirakis, West Palm Beach Democrat Lois Frankel and Boca Raton Democrat Ted Deutch, along with South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson and Maryland Democrat Jim McGovern, introduced a bipartisan bill recognizing 101-year-old Benjamin Ferencz with a Congressional Gold Medal. Wednesday marks 76 years since the beginning of the historic event, where military participants in the Third Reich were held responsible under international law for the horrors of the Holocaust.

Ferencz lives now in Palm Beach County.

“From his military service during World War II, to his role as chief prosecutor in a trial that brought 22 Nazi officials to justice, Ben Ferencz has led a remarkable life dedicated to the pursuit of justice,” Frankel said. “He is a treasure to the Palm Beach County and hero to our global Jewish community, and it is an honor to be introducing a bill to award him the Congressional Gold Medal.”

Bilirakis spotlighted particular contributions Ferencz made during the trials and beyond. “He has spent his entire distinguished career pursuing justice for victims of horrific, unthinkable crimes against humanity. And he has succeeded, over and over again,” Bilirakis said. “In one instance, he secured justice for 20 Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) officers responsible for killing more than 1 million people in towns and villages across Eastern Europe. These officers never would have been brought to justice if it weren’t for his efforts. Throughout history, humanity has encountered many faces of evil. Our brightest moments as an international community have been those in which we present a united front in our efforts to identify and eradicate its presence.”

Deutch said it’s especially important as time passes to recognize those participants in history so that future generations do not forget.

“At a time when national surveys show more and more young Americans know less and less about the Holocaust, as anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise, and as we lose the last generation of firsthand witnesses of the horrors of World War II, I can think of no better individual to receive this honor and no better moment for him to receive it,” said Rep. Deutch.

“The words ‘never again’ do not simply mean learning the facts of what happened. They require each of us to take action to prevent other atrocities, and Ben Ferencz’s lifetime of remarkable achievement shows his dedication to that work. As the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, and a man who spent more than 50 years prosecuting the most horrific war crimes, Mr. Ferencz embodies the idea that while the work is not ours to finish, neither is it ours to neglect. His work has left a shining legacy for the next generation, and in honoring him, we commit to continuing his efforts.”

In the Heights

Hillsborough Democrat Kathy Castor announced $18 million in infrastructure investment will make its way to Tampa Bay. The Florida Department of Transportation received the grant for the Tampa Heights Mobility Corridor.

“This $18-million grant is important for the growing, dynamic neighborhoods of Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights,” Castor said. “We are connecting Tampa neighborhoods, decreasing vehicle traffic and improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. I championed this grant, with Mayor [Jane] Castor, to lift our neighborhoods, increase equity, create jobs, build mobility and provide needed revitalization to our streets. We are united in our commitment to Build Back Better for our neighbors, for our environment and for future generations.”

While the statement used the messaging behind a just-signed infrastructure bill and a pending social services expansion, this money comes from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity, previously called Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development.

The mobility corridor seeks to connect Downtown Tampa with Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights through efforts including widening sidewalks, creating two-way bicycle paths and establishing a dedicated rapid bus lane between the University of South Florida and downtown.

Mayor Castor welcomed the funding. “This is huge news for Tampa and our ability to better connect historic neighborhoods just north of downtown and to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. We’re so grateful to Rep. Kathy Castor for championing the federal funding, which will tangibly improve residents’ quality of life,” the Mayor said.

Billions

Stuart Republican Rep. Brian Mast is leading a demand by five Florida Republicans that the Army Corps of Engineers find $5 billion for Everglades restoration after the effort was snubbed in Biden’s infrastructure package.

If Biden and the largely-Democratic congressional backers of the $1-trillion infrastructure bill approved this week didn’t see fit to fund the Everglades, then the Army Corps better, demanded Mast and Reps. Bill Posey of Rockledge, Bilirakis, Steube of Sarasota, and Gimenez.

The five made that plea in a letter Thursday to Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works.

“We are deeply concerned that President Biden’s “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” includes no direct funding for Everglades restoration …. We are, therefore, writing to ask you to fix this egregious mistake by including $5 billion for Everglades restoration in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work plan to fully fund the next five years of approved Integrated Delivery Schedule projects,” they wrote.

The money isn’t necessarily at risk. It’s just not allocated in advance, as could have happened with the infrastructure bill, the quintet note.

“Providing the funding up front, instead of making it subject to the unreliable yearly appropriations process, will ultimately save taxpayer dollars and protect this extraordinary ecosystem,” the letter states.

Slammed, too 

Wasserman Schultz invoked a long list of political violence — including one incident against a Republican — in rallying a 223-207 vote for the resolution she sponsored to censure Arizona Republican Paul Gosar.

Depictions like the animé short he tweeted showing Gosar killing New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Biden all too often lead to actual violence, Wasserman Schultz said.

“We know that promoting visions of violence and spreading false, hateful rhetoric foments actual violence — Jan. 6 taught us that,” she said.

She also cited the pipe bomb a Trump supporter sent to her office and the shootings of former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Republican Whip Steve Scalise and Alexander Hamilton, one of the nation’s founding fathers killed in a duel.

Gosar is stripped of his committee assignments. The action against him is one step below expulsion.

Wasserman Schultz also had words for those who would defend those like Gosar. Only two Republicans voted for Wasserman Schultz’s resolution, Wyoming’s Liz Cheney and Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger.

“The history of violence aimed at women and people of color and those who defend them are among humankind’s worst chapters,” she said.

But Cammack of Gainesville issued a statement defending her vote against the resolution. Going directly to the House floor and not through the House Ethics Committee “defies procedural precedent,” she said.

“I have and always will condemn violence and have reiterated repeatedly that it has no place in our country and our society,” the statement said.

The Democrats are damaging the precedent they started, she said. “Right now, we have got to be focused on the issues directly facing our country, including rising prices, extreme inflation, the border crisis and more,” the statement read.

Last-minute appeal

Hollywood Democrat Frederica Wilson joined forces this week with celebrity advocate Kim Kardashian West to stop the execution of an Oklahoma man. Julius Jones was scheduled for execution on Thursday, more than 20 years after his conviction for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell. Jones has maintained his innocence.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 earlier this year to recommend commuting his sentence to life in prison. Kardashian West, a criminal justice reform advocate who in the past has lobbied for pardons and sentencing changes in other high-profile cases, has led a social media campaign calling for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to act on that recommendation.

Wilson entered the picture advocating as chair of the Commission on the Status of Black Men and Boys. The Commission is part of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and was created in 2020 to study the disparities they experience in education, criminal justice, health, employment, fatherhood, mentorship, and violence impacting Black males in the country, including cases like Jones.

“I join Kim Kardashian and others in the call to Oklahoma Gov. Stitt to grant Julius Jones clemency and honor the state parole board’s recommendation to commute his sentence,” she tweeted hours before the scheduled execution.

Shortly after, Stitt indeed granted clemency, sparing Jones’ life but leaving him sentenced to spend life in jail with no chance for parole. Prosecutors maintain a belief in Jones’ guilt.

Latin lament

When the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony from Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, committee member and Miami Republican Maria Elvira Salazar took the opportunity to blast the Biden administration for ignoring many Latin American issues.

“We are losing our influence in this hemisphere,” she said. “China and Russia are pillaging Latin America while we are asleep.”

She hammered that point in talking about three countries, first among them Cuba. She noted that the administration promised to restore internet connectivity for months, since the communist regime responded to online protests by pulling the plug on the nation. “Have you done your due diligence with the companies that can provide the technology to Cuba?” she asked. “There are two companies that we can talk to. Have you done your due diligence? There is no willingness to bring connectivity to the island of Cuba. Are you aware of that, sir?”

Meanwhile, she said Mexico has cozied up too much to the regime. She was appalled when Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador received Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel “as king” and raised reports that nation may be profiting from human trafficking run by Cuba.

She also expressed alarm at Biden’s lack of engagement in Colombia. She said the nation must do something to stop the rise of socialist politician Gustavo Petro. “Biden’s top adviser, Juan Gonzalez, said that Mr. Biden ‘no tiene idea quien es Gustavo Petro.’ He has no idea who Gustavo Petro is,” Salazar said. “I’m going to tell you who he is. He’s a thief, he’s a socialist, he’s a Marxist, he’s a terrorist, and he’s leading the polls of Colombia.” He also endorsed Biden’s run for President last year.

Finally, Salazar slammed Biden for eliminating the nation’s special envoy to Venezuela and has yet to meet with opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who under President Donald Trump was recognized as the rightful leader of the nation. “Is the Biden Administration or the State Department planning on throwing the legitimate President of Venezuela under the bus?” she asked. “Are you planning to recognize the (Nicolas) Maduro regime?”

For his part, Nichols said the State Department must deal with a careful balancing act in the Western Hemisphere as the pandemic and economic turmoil create unrest. “We cannot separate our country’s fortunes from those of our closest neighbors,” he said, Reuters reports.

But he did note Biden recently signed and will enforce sanctions on Nicaragua under the RENACER Act, legislation introduced this year by Salazar.

Tree time

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Capitol. While Thanksgiving is nearly a week away, the 2021 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree has already arrived in Washington.

“America, your People’s Tree is here,” tweeted an account for the tree run either by tiny elves or congressional staffers.

America, your #PeoplesTree is here! We have arrived! Stay tuned on Facebook as we go live for the ceremony at 10 AM, EST #manypeoplesonetree pic.twitter.com/7NYs5IjWP4

— U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree (@USCapitolTree) November 19, 2021

A ceremony to stand the tree was at 10 a.m. Friday. The fauna this year hails from Six Rivers National Forest in California and has made the trip to The Capitol by truck despite a reported supply chain crisis.

So, while the Thanksgiving weeklong recess may delay a few flights by Representatives, at least they will be around for the tree lighting.

On this day

Nov. 19, 1863 — “Abraham Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address” via History.com — At the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over three days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war: General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army’s ultimate decline.

Nov. 19, 1919 — “Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles” via the U.S. Senate Art & History — When the 1918 midterm congressional elections transferred control of the Senate from the Democrats to the Republicans, Henry Cabot Lodge became both majority leader and Foreign Relations Committee chair. Whether President Woodrow Wilson liked it or not, he needed Lodge’s active support to ensure Senate approval of the Treaty of Versailles and its provision for a League of Nations on which he had staked so much of his political prestige. Wilson chose to ignore Lodge. He offended the Senate by refusing to include Senators among the negotiators accompanying him to the Paris Peace Conference and making conference results public before discussing them with committee members.

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Delegation is published by Peter Schorsch and compiled by Jacob Ogles, with contributions by Anne Geggis and Scott Powers.

Delegation will take Thanksgiving off. The next edition will publish on Nov. 30.