VOL. 53, NO. 27 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 $3.75 DANCING DAYS ‘Hotlined’ Bills Spark Concern Conservatives Worried by Boost By John Stanton ROLL CALL STAFF Senate conservatives are upset that the leaders of both parties in the chamber have in recent years in- creasingly used a practice known as “hotlining” bills — previously used to quickly move noncontroversial bills or simple procedural motions — to pass complex and often cost- ly legislation, in some cases with lit- tle or no public debate. Tom Williams/Roll Call The increase was particularly no- Christina Diaz, 11, Megan Byers, 11, and Tanis Torres, 13, of the James Kunestsis Apache Crown ticeable just before the August re- Dancer Group of Mescalero, N.M., perform Friday at the National Museum of the American Indian. cess, when leaders hotlined more than 150 bills, totaling millions of dollars in new spending, in a period of less than a week. The practice has led to complaints File Photo Sen. Jim DeMint fears pricey from Members and watchdog bills are being “hotlined.” Ample Earmarks groups alike that lawmakers are es- sentially signing off on legislation According to a review by Roll neither they nor their staff have ever Call of Senate records, from July 31 By Emily Heil read, often resulting in millions of to Aug. 3, of the 153 hotlines put out and Anna Palmer Aid PMA Clients dollars in new spending. by leadership, 75 of those were leg- ROLL CALL STAFF In order for a bill to be hotlined, islative measures, 61 were nomina- egetarians Need Not By Tory Newmyer Defense spending bill to earmark 36 the Senate Majority Leader and Mi- tions, and 17 were post-office- Apply. A recent job ROLL CALL STAFF projects to clients of the PMA nority Leader must agree to pass it naming bills. While a number of the Vposting for a legisla- From their perch on the House Ap- Group. That represents more than a by unanimous consent, without a legislative hotlines were routine tive assistant position in the propriations Subcommittee on De- third of the projects they inserted into roll-call vote. The two leaders then procedural motions — such as re- office of Rep. Ginny fense, three House Democrats have the 2008 House Defense appropria- inform Members of this agreement porting a House-passed bill to a par- Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) — steered $100.5 million to clients of a tions bill, according to an analysis using special hotlines installed in ticular committee for consideration which included the rather lobbying firm that is emerging as a by Roll Call and Taxpayers for Com- each office and give Members a — others were for bills authorizing unusual requirement that top source of their campaign funds. mon Sense of records from the Ap- specified amount of time to object hundreds of millions of dollars in applicants “know how to The lawmakers — Reps. John propriations Committee. — in some cases as little as 15 min- new spending. cook a delicious bass” and Murtha (Pa.), Jim Moran (Va.) and Meanwhile, PMA lobbyists and utes. If no objection is registered, the According to GOP aides, that run submit recipes attesting to Peter Visclosky (Ind.) — used the See EARMARKS, page 20 bill is passed. See HOTLINE, page 22 that ability — last week got some chuckles among Hill staffers. INSIDE The help-wanted ad, which references a line For the latest news updates go to House Plans Busy 10 Weeks www.rollcall.com from the cult comedy flick “Napoleon Dynamite,” By Jennifer Yachnin er Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) outlined that committees would like to see NEWS made the rounds among ROLL CALL STAFF a 10-week work period leading up passed out of the House and aren’t Ex-VECO snickering staffers and was House Democratic leaders plan a to the Thanksgiving holiday at a necessarily things we think will be CEO says he posted to popular snarky full schedule as the final months of Democratic Caucus meeting earli- acted on by the Senate this year,” ac- paid for gossip blog Wonkette. the first session of the 110th Con- er this month, and several Democ- knowledged a leadership aide, who Stevens’ But a Brown-Waite flack gress wind down, while the cham- rats confirmed that anticipations asked not to be identified. “There’s home repair, says it’s a (sort of) serious ber awaits Senate action on annual are for the session to wrap up in certainly work to keep us busy.” p. 3. VESTED See HOH, page 18 spending legislation. mid-November. “That being said, that doesn’t INTERESTS According to one source, Speak- “We have a laundry list of things See SESSION, page 18 NEWS Brad Smith: DCCC to No reform, name p. 13. Clyburn, DeLauro vice AROUND THE HILL Get Ready for a Rock Fight in Granite State chairs, p. 3. Constitution on the road, By Josh Kurtz danger but also guarantees that the John Sununu (R-N.H.) for months, said Brad Woodhouse, executive di- p. 31. and John McArdle Granite State will be a major focus and Shaheen’s entry into the race rector of Americans United for VESTED INTERESTS No Child Left ROLL CALL STAFF of attention well beyond its first-in- means those attacks are almost cer- Change, the Washington, D.C.- Behind a AROUND THE HILL Former New Hampshire Gov. the-nation presidential primary in tain to escalate. based organization that has been boon to test, Reservists’ Jeanne Shaheen’s (D) decision to January. “I don’t think there’s any question hammering Sununu on issues rang- tutor industry, employers run for Senate in 2008 not only puts National liberal groups have been that groups like ours are going to pay ing from the Iraq War to stem-cell p. 13. hailed, p. 31. another Republican-held seat in running ads attacking first-term Sen. more attention to New Hampshire,” See NEW HAMPSHIRE, page 16 Monday, September 17, 2007 ROLL CALL Page 3 Allen Says He Paid for Work on Stevens’ Home By John Stanton company employees to do the work. Ted Stevens’ attorney, Brendan Sullivan, sonally paid outside contractors for the work ROLL CALL STAFF Allen, testifying in federal court as part of did not return a call seeking comment Friday. done on the house. Former VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen ad- a state-level bribery case, also said he gave Although Sen. Stevens has acknowledged FBI and IRS agents raided Stevens’ Gird- mitted Friday to using company funds to pay Stevens furniture for the home. Additionally, VECO’s involvement in the home remodel- wood, Alaska, home — where the work was some of the construction costs associated with Allen admitted to paying Stevens’ son, Ben, ing in the past, he has insisted the company’s done — earlier this year as part of a massive Sen. Ted Stevens’(R-Alaska) home remodel- $4,000 a month while the younger Stevens role was limited to reviewing bills from con- federal investigation into state and federal cor- ing project as well as using a small number of served in the state Senate. tractors. He repeatedly has stated that he per- See STEVENS, page 22 DCCC Will Name Two STAYING ON TRACK Vice Chairmen Today By David M. Drucker “Jim Clyburn and Rosa DeLauro are ROLL CALL STAFF savvy, strategic Members who have demon- Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of strated great leadership in the Congress on the Democratic Congressional Campaign behalf of our nation,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi Committee, is expected to announce today (Calif.) said in a state- that House Majority Whip James Clyburn ment. “They will be out- (S.C.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) will standing vice chairs.” become the vice chairmen Clyburn and DeLauro of the DCCC. become the DCCC’s first Clyburn and DeLauro vice chairmen of this cycle have been tasked with and were chosen in part be- leading the DCCC’s cause of their ties to Pelosi Member Participation Van Hollen and Van Hollen. Addition- Program, with a focus on ally, they have strong ties strategic planning and the into disparate parts of the House Democratic DeLauro use of Members as surro- Caucus. gates in targeted districts Clyburn is seen as having connections with — as well as Members’general participation black Members and conservatives in the South at the committee. Political travel, dues pay- and elsewhere; DeLauro has her finger on the ment and overall fundraising all will fall un- pulse of the Caucus’left wing. DeLauro in par- der the purview of the two new vice ticular is a close ally of Pelosi, and in addition, chairmen. could have an ally when it comes to plotting strategy in her husband, Stan Greenberg, a top De- mocratic pollster. Among the responsibil- ity of the new vice chair- men will be to aid Democ- ratic incumbents seen as vulnerable in 2008 to Re- publican challenges, Clyburn Morning whether it means facilitat- ing campaign appearances by fellow Caucus Business members or other assistance. “Their knowledge about our races, and deep Bill Clark/Roll Call pecial Election Dates Set. Ohio friendships in the Caucus will make them ex- Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Sen. John Warner on Thursday discussed cost cuts Gov. Ted Strickland (D) on Fri- tremely effective Vice Chairs,” Van Hollen designed to keep the Dulles Metrorail project on track. Sday set the dates for the special said in a statement. election to replace the late Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), who died suddenly on Sept. 5. The Republican and Democratic pri- Reichert Drops Bill to Prevent Shutdowns maries will be held on Nov. 5, which co- incides with municipal elections in the By Steven T.