HAI reports House Ways and Means Committee Republicans will push for a vote today, May 15, to do away with the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when the committee takes up a $57 billion bill extending various popular tax breaks.

 Gasoline prices continue to climb higher, and both the House and Senate defied the White House Tuesday, May 13, by requiring a temporary freeze on oil deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

House Democratic leaders are moving forward with a plan to pay for a new veterans’ education benefit by taxing wealthy Americans.  The provision would apply to individuals who make more than $500,000 and couples who make more than $1 million in adjusted gross income annually.

Both chambers of Congress are expected to defy the White House today, May 13, and pass legislation that would require the Bush administration to halt oil shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This represents a major shift for Republicans, who until now have generally followed the lead of President Bush in contending that halting deliveries would have almost no effect on gasoline prices.

Democratic leaders in Congress are promising a busy legislative schedule ahead of the Memorial Day Congressional Recess.  The #1 Reason:  bragging rights back in their districts over the Memorial Day Recess.

Legislation introduced last year could be on the House floor this week that could make many of the changes in export controls that industry has been seeking.  The specific language is included in a larger security assistance and arms export control reform bill.  The aerospace industry has chronically complained that the cumbersome process of approving licenses to export their products handicaps the ability to compete in an increasingly global market.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday, May 8, aimed at slowing the pace of housing foreclosures and stimulating the real estate market.  The bill now heads to the Senate, where a more conservative course exists.  The Senate passed a narrow version of the legislation last month, and with a White House veto threat looming overhead, the legislation’s prospects are uncertain.

House lawmakers continue to work on major housing legislation despite a strong White House veto threat, indicating the administration and Congress have a long way to go before a final deal is struck.  Common ground must be found soon in order for a legislative package to be cleared before Congress’ attention is drawn away from Washington for the election cycle.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) told a Senate panel this week he rejects claims that speculators have driven up the price of oil to artificially high levels as oil hit $124 a barrel this week.  The conclusion that people are not manipulating the energy markets stems from the agency’s close tracking of market activity.

The need to significantly beef up Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement authority and resources in the wake of the crash of credit markets and the home loan foreclosure crisis was the message from two former SEC chairmen to the Senate Banking Committee today, May 7.

While Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have not committed to bring any specific legislation to the floor for a vote, the first of several House hearings to consider changes in immigration laws got underway this week.

Incredulous as it may seem, Alaska Republican Congressman Don Young accused Congress of “pandering to the general public” this week, defended oil companies and proposed a one-dollar per gallon gas tax to bring down demand.

The question on the lips of Washington aviation lobbyists this week is how long Congress will temporarily extend Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding and taxes, which will signal whether lawmakers believe a compromise can still be reached this year.  Congress has extended FAA funding and excise taxes four times since they initially expired at the end of September 2007 and the current extension runs through June.

Immigration enforcement hearings this week amount to an effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to keep peace with “Blue Dog” Democrats who support get-tough immigration legislation and Hispanic Caucus Members who want nothing short of legislation that amounts to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona and 23 other Republican senators have asked Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator Stephen L. Johnson to consider waiving a requirement in last year’s energy law mandating a fivefold increase in U.S. biofuel production. The lawmakers cited growing concerns that the biofuel mandate contributes to soaring food costs.

Legislation will hit the House floor this week aimed at stabilizing the housing market.  H.R. 5830, approved by the House Financial Services Committee last week marks the most significant congressional attempt to date to slow the pace of foreclosures.

Manufacturers are lobbying hard to prevent what they regard as a critical tax break from falling victim to the budgetary and political environment on Capitol Hill.

A House Homeland Security subcommittee approved a bill Thursday to let individuals wrongly identified as terrorists at airports clear their names from watch lists.

Frustrated by a lack of progress on a major aviation policy overhaul, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has sent the Senate home for a long weekend. Reid had already announced that there would be no votes May 5, but now says the Senate would not bother coming into session until May 6 because there is still no agreement with Republicans on how to deal with legislation (HR 2881) to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and set the funding framework for modernization of the air traffic control system.

Record prices at the gasoline pump are creating a new sense of urgency, and a proposal to freeze deliveries of oil to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is gaining support from members of both parties.

Senate Republicans have unveiled a domestic oil production bill, placing the blame for high oil prices on the Democratic leadership and a veto from former President Clinton in 1995 for high gasoline prices.  The bill would allow oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf and oil and gas drilling in 2,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska (ANWR).

Legislation was approved on Wednesday, April 30 by the House Homeland Security Emergency Communications Subcommittee to authorize and finance a nationwide Citizen Corps to prepare localities for natural or other disasters.  The bill now moves to the full Committee.

At a speech before the Heritage Foundation this week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the U.S. needs to have a “nonpoliticized, serious discussion” while writing new laws to define the best way to combat terrorism.

Senate Banking Chairman, Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) is poised to move his legislation that would curb some credit card practices even though the Federal Reserve is scheduled Friday, May 2 to release rules against abusive and unfair credit card terms.  The Dodd bill represents the strongest measure so far against the trillion-dollar industry.

Prices are topping four dollars a gallon at the pump, operators are paying as much as eight dollars for jet fuel and the two political parties are working hard at playing the blame game.  Most energy experts and lawmakers agree there is not a lot Congress can do about it.

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said this week that Congress needs to focus on worker safety and strengthening the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).