Update from the House Republican Study Committee (RSC):

The House will return to session on January 20, 2004.

Contents--January 12, 2004

• Conservative Activity
• The Money Monitor

Conservative Activity
--Various RSC Members released statements in reaction to President Bush's new immigration reform proposal.

Statements opposing the proposal (listed alphabetically):
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Blackburn-gwp.pdf
Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK): http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Istook-gwp.doc
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC): http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Jones-gwp.pdf
Rep. Steve King (R-IA):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/King-gwp.pdf
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA): http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/GaryMiller-gwp.pdf
Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK): http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Sullivan-gwp.pdf
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO, House Immigration Reform Caucus Chairman):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Tancredo-gwp.doc

Statements supporting the proposal (listed alphabetically):
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Cannon-gwp.pdf
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Diaz-Balart-gwp.pdf
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Flake-gwp.pdf
Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN):  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Souder-gwp.doc

To read a fact sheet from The White House on the President's immigration proposal, click here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040107-1.html

--Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and 48 other House Republicans sent a letter to President Bush urging him to "protect the heath and lives of American adolescents" by rejecting the petition to make the morning-after pill available over-the-counter.  The letter highlights the unknown and untested effects that a wider availability of the morning-after pill would have on adolescent health, including rates of sexual activity and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases--issues that were not addressed in a recent FDA hearing.  Read the letter here:

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/weldon-morningafterpill.pdf

--Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced legislation (H.R. 3613) that would allow the IRS to disclose certain tax return information to the U.S. Department of Education for Pell grant applicants, in order to prevent grant overpayments and fraud.  Click here for a detailed fact sheet on the issue and H.R. 3613:

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Johnson-pell.pdf
Click here to read the text of H.R. 3613:
http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Johnson-pelltext.pdf

--Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) is also calling on the Administration to re-propose tax-free savings accounts in the upcoming fiscal year 2005 budget.  Learn more here:

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Johnson-savings.doc

--Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) continues to highlight "egregious earmarks" in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (H.R. 2673), which has not yet passed the Senate.  This week's featured earmark is $225,000 for the National Wild Turkey Federation.  Click here to read Rep. Flake's statement:

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/word/Flake-turkeyearmark.pdf

For information on other activities of conservatives in the House, click here: http://johnshadegg.house.gov/RSC/activity.htm

The Money Monitor
Each week in "The Money Monitor," the RSC tracks how the bills passed by the House would affect authorizations, mandatory spending, appropriations, and federal government revenue.  Last week, because the House was out of session, no new spending was authorized.  To view "The Money Monitor" for the week of January 5-9, 2004, which includes newly updated year-to-date spending totals, click here:

http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/MoneyMonitor1504.pdf

To access earlier editions of "The Money Monitor," click here:  http://johnshadegg.house.gov/RSC/moneymonitor.htm

House Republican Study Committee (RSC)

Rep. Sue Myrick, Chairman

Neil Bradley, Executive Director