Open Congress : Featured Members of Congress

May 09, 2008: Sen. Barack Obama [D, IL]

2008-05-09T17:36:56Z

Barack Obama's (D-IL) page views on OpenCongress have soared ahead of his presidential rival Hillary Clinton (D-NY) following the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. In recent days, Obama has surpassed Clinton in superdelegates for the first time in the campaign, and at least on of his colleagues in Congress has declared him the Democrats' presumptive nominee. As always, you can keep up with the latest on Senator Obama with OpenCongress' news and blog coverage.

Barack Obama's Profile on OpenCongress

May 08, 2008: Rep. Mark Kirk [R, IL-10]

2008-05-08T14:21:42Z

Mark Kirk (R-IL) has ramped up his push for legislation banning access to social-networking sites in schools and libraries with a press conference outlining the "dangers" and sexually-explicit content available to anyone on Second Life. "Sites like Second Life offer no protections to keep kids from virtual "rape rooms," brothels, and drug stores," Kirk said. "If sites like Second Life won't protect kids from obviously inappropriate content, the Congress will."

Mark Kirk's Profile on OpenCongress

May 07, 2008: Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D, CA]

2008-05-07T16:57:32Z

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), a supporter and pledged superdelegate to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY), may be backing off her support after the May 6th primaries. "I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I'm very loyal to her. Having said that, I'd like to talk with her and [get] her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is," she said. "I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party."

Dianne Feinstein's Profile on OpenCongress

May 07, 2008: Rep. Vito Fossella [R, NY-13]

2008-05-07T14:26:04Z

Vito Fossella's (R-NY) drunk driving arrest last Wednesday is turning into an even bigger scandal, and some analysts believe it may lead to the GOP losing his seat. A recent New York Daily News article which exposed some unflattering detailed of his behavior the night before his arrest has further damaged his reputation among constituents. Additionally, he may end up serving jail time, which Cook Political Report House analyst David Wasserman says "would make it very hard for him to run again.”

Vito Fossella's Profile on OpenCongress

May 02, 2008: Sen. Barack Obama [D, IL]

2008-05-02T16:18:30Z

In one of the sharpest policy differences so far in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama (D-IL) has come out firmly against a proposal to suspend the gas tax for the summer months. "This is a plan that would save you pennies a day for the summer months. That is unless gas prices are raised to fill in the gap," Obama said about the proposal. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) plans on introducing a gas tax holiday bill soon. John McCain (R-AZ) already has.

Barack Obama's Profile on OpenCongress

May 01, 2008: Rep. John Duncan [R, TN-2]

2008-05-01T18:54:39Z

John Duncan (R-TN) is getting a lot of attention for his comments at a recent hearing on the failures of abstinence-only sexual education. At the hearing he said, "It seems rather elitist to me for people who maybe have degrees in this field to feel that they, because they've studied it, somehow know better than the parents." His statement struck a cord not only for its controversial logic, but also for its proliferation of the pejorative use of the word "elitist."

John Duncan's Profile on OpenCongress

April 28, 2008: Rep. Peter Hoekstra [R, MI-2]

2008-04-28T14:00:01Z

Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) is getting a lot of attention for his remarks over the weekend cautioning against military action in Iran. "Iran is not Iraq. And going in there militarily would be, from my perspective, a huge mistake," Hoekstra said on CNN's Late Edition. I believe that reaching out and engaging with Iran, but doing so with our European allies, recognizing that they do have contacts into Iran, and engaging in a full-court diplomatic press with Iran is a good thing."

Peter Hoekstra's Profile on OpenCongress

April 28, 2008: Rep. Peter Hoekstra [R, MI-2]

2008-04-28T13:58:16Z

April 28, 2008: Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]

2008-04-28T13:34:54Z

The citizenship status of Senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain (AZ) will be the subject of a vote in the Senate this week. McCain was born in 1936 to American parents on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone while his father was stationed there. The non-binding resolution that will be voted on this week would express that the Senate considers McCain a "natural born citizen," and thus eligible for the presidency.

John McCain's Profile on OpenCongress

April 25, 2008: Sen. Pete Domenici [R, NM]

2008-04-25T02:07:59Z

Pete Domenici (R-NM) has been officially admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for his infamous phone call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. The Committee found that Domenici "should have known that a federal prosecutor receiving such a telephone call, coupled with an approaching election which may have turned on or been influence by the prosecutor's action in the corruption matter, created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate."

Pete Domenici's Profile on OpenCongress

April 23, 2008: Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]

2008-04-23T13:39:49Z

Carl Levin (D-MI) is preparing another push for Congress to expand the definition of hate crimes to include crimes based on a person's sexual orientation. He is hoping to include a hate-crimes amendment in the FY09 defense authorization bill that will be marked up by the Armed Service Committee next week. Levin told reporters that he considers the amendment "very appropriate" for the defense bill because it represents “one of the values of this country” that the military is in charge of defending.

Carl Levin's Profile on OpenCongress

April 21, 2008: Rep. Sue Myrick [R, NC-9]

2008-04-21T13:36:51Z

In response to former president Jimmy Carter's recent meetings with Hamas, Sue Myrick (R-NC) has called for his passport to be revoked. "He's just unilaterally going off on his own and undermining everything the international community and the United States is (sic) trying to do," Myrick said last week. "Hamas has continually stood for terrorism against peace, and the State Department, the administration [and] Israel all opposed him going over there to meet."

Sue Myrick's Profile on OpenCongress

April 17, 2008: Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT]

2008-04-17T13:32:03Z

Senate Finance chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has initiated a comprehensive review of the tax code to look at "how the tax code is used to create social policy, how the tax code affects businesses here at home, and how it can ensure that American businesses can compete around the world." He is planning to outline principles for tax reform that will be introduced as legislation when the next session of Congress convenes.

Max Baucus's Profile on OpenCongress

April 17, 2008: Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT]

2008-04-17T13:31:50Z

Senate Finance COmmittee chairman Max Bausu (D-MT) has initiated a comprehensive review of the tax code to look at "how the tax code is used to create social policy, how the tax code affects businesses here at home, and how it can ensure that American businesses can compete around the world." He is planning to outline principles for tax reform that will be introduced as legislation when the next session of Congress convenes. You can read his announcement here.

Max Baucus's Profile on OpenCongress

April 15, 2008: Rep. Geoff Davis [R, KY-4]

2008-04-15T01:27:28Z

Speaking on Saturday at a GOP dinner in Kentucky, Geoff Davis (R-KY) referred to Barack Obama (D-IL) as "that boy." As commenters have pointed out, "referring to adult African-American men as "boys" is, of course, a well-known trope of white supremacist discourse in the American south." Davis later issued an apology, saying to Obama that his choice of words "was in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity."

Geoff Davis's Profile on OpenCongress

April 14, 2008: Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA]

2008-04-14T14:09:02Z

With gas prices at record levels and expected to only increase, Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is calling for quick action on a provision passed last year calling for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether prices in the petroleum market are being manipulated. In an interview with McClatchy Newspapers, Cantwell said that the FTA is trying to "run out the clock" and pass the manipulation regulation on to the next administration.

Maria Cantwell's Profile on OpenCongress

April 11, 2008: Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]

2008-04-11T14:29:14Z

In a surprising break from the Bush administration, John McCain (R-AZ) on Friday expressed his support for a Democrat-led plan to give the FHA the ability to refinance up to 2 million at-risk subprime mortgages. At a speech in Brooklyn, McCain said, "We will combine the power of government and the private sector to find immediate solutions for deserving American homeowners." McCain's support gives the Democrat's plan, which Bush opposes, more momentum.

John McCain's Profile on OpenCongress

April 08, 2008: Rep. Nancy Pelosi [D, CA-8]

2008-04-08T14:19:09Z

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Monday issued a broad condemnation of the President's move to force a vote on the U.S.-Columbia Free Trade Agreement. "President Bush's statement today regarding his unprecedented decision to send a free trade agreement to Congress without following established protocols of congressional consultation is counterproductive, jeopardizing prospects for its passage," she said.

Nancy Pelosi's Profile on OpenCongress

April 07, 2008: Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]

2008-04-07T17:02:55Z

In advance of Gen. David Petraeus' testimony before Congress, Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have published an op-ed outlining what they see as the successes of the surge. "No one can deny the dramatic improvements in security in Iraq achieved by Gen. Petraeus, the brave troops under his command, and the Iraqi Security Forces," they write.

Joseph Lieberman's Profile on OpenCongress

April 07, 2008: Rep. Thelma Drake [R, VA-2]

2008-04-07T00:31:11Z

Thelma Drake (R-VA) is calling for "a full court press" this week in her effort to gather signatures from House colleagues on a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that would make E-Verify mandatory for all U.S. employers. The petition currently has 185 signatures; 218 are needed for it to be successful. Democratic House leaders oppose the bill and are beginning to develop alternative plans to address the issue.

Thelma Drake's Profile on OpenCongress