The House is not in session today and will reconvene on Monday at 12:00 PM.
The Hose voted 359-65 to pass the conference report for H.R. 22, the five year highway and transportation bill. The compromise in the conference report was easy for 181 Democrats to join 178 Republicans in passing the revised bill. Those voting NO were 65 Republican, most principled conservatives.
The House also passed along party lines with only 9 Democrats with Republicans on H.R. 8 (249-174) — "To modernize energy infrastructure, build a 21st century energy and manufacturing workforce, bolster America's energy security and diplomacy, and promote energy efficiency and government accountability, and for other purposes."
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the conference report for H.R. 22, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act: "Today, we passed the first long-term transportation legislation in a decade. This five-year, fully-funded bill will help sustain and improve our highways, bridges, railroads, and other vital transit systems. These infrastructure projects are some of the most important investments we make as a country. ..."
The Senate is not in session today and will reconvene on Monday at 2 PM.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 52-47 to pass H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which repeals Obamacare. All Republican Senators voted to repeal, all Democrats voted to keep Obamacare, and Independent socialist Sanders did not vote. Prior to final passage, the Senate voted on 18 amendments to H.R. 3762 in an open amendment process
The bill now goes back to the House for approval of the Senate's changes.
Following that vote, the Senate voted 83-16 to pass the conference report for H.R. 22, the five year highway and transportation bill. With both houses of congress passing the conference bill on H.R. 22, it goes with strong bipartisan support to the President for signature.
Just before the final vote, Leader McConnell said, "For years, the American people have been calling on Washington to build a bridge away from Obamacare. For years, Democrats prevented the Senate from passing legislation to do so. But in just a moment, that will change.
"It will be a victory for the Middle Class families who've endured this law's pain for too long. On their medical choices. On the affordability of their care. On the availability of their doctors and hospitals. On the insurance they liked and wanted to keep.
"A new Senate that's back on the side of the American people will vote to move beyond all the broken promises, all the higher costs, and all the failures. We will vote to build a bridge away from Obamacare and toward better care. We will vote for a new beginning.
"We hope the House will again do the same.
"And then, President Obama will have a choice. He can defend a status quo that's failed the Middle Class by vetoing the bill, or he can work toward a new beginning and better care by signing it."
After the Senate passed the "Repeal of Obamacare,the media noted:
RealClearPolitics noted, "Republicans have been vowing to repeal and replace Obamacare for more than five years, voting dozens of times to dismantle key aspects of the law. This marks the first time Obama will actually have to bring out his veto pen to save the landmark law, as congressional Republicans used a budget procedure known as reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote threshold in the Senate."
As CNN put it, "By voting to nullify Obamacare -- the signature domestic accomplishment of the Obama administration -- GOP congressional leaders fulfilled a longtime pledge to voters and rank-and-file members to get a repeal to President Barack Obama's desk, even though he will veto it."
Even The Atlantic acknowledges that passage of the repeal bill was a milestone achievement: "Republicans on Thursday night achieved something of a milestone in their five-year battle against the Affordable Care Act: They finally passed a bill repealing the law through the United States Senate. . . . [P]assage in the Senate means that after dozens of failed tries by Republicans in the House, President Obama will get the opportunity to stamp his veto on a bill eviscerating the law that, in the popular parlance if not in text, bears his name. . . . It will frame the choice in 2016 clearer than ever before: Elect a Republican president, and you can be rid of this abomination once and for all."
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