Sunday, March 3, 2013
The March 1 deadline for sequestration passed, and another deadline could come and go March 27.
Northern Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-11th) called Congress "dysfunctional," as the midnight deadline on sequestration steadily approached. "It's a dysfunctional Congress," agreed Jim Moran (D-8th), who spoke with Patch at a ribbon-cutting Friday in Lorton. "I think it ill-serves the people of the United States today. It's very frustrating, very disappointing. It's an institution that is not serving its functions." Connolly didn't expect a last-minute compromise on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction, and he was right. The U.S. military will be forced to cut $46 billion and domestic defense spending will be cut by $85 billion this year alone, he said. "It is the consequence of a dysfunctional Congress," he said. "It's the …
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sequestration could affect every traveler at airports nationwide, say U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine speaking from Reagan National Airport Monday.
Federal sequestration could mean fewer flights and increased wait times at airports, Virginia lawmakers said Monday. In addition to flight delays caused by sequestration, it threatens to close small- to mid-sized airports across the country. The massive, indiscriminate spending cuts Congress put in motion to force a budget compromise would cut $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration if they go into effect Friday. Jobs on the Line Under sequestration, the FAA would have to furlough employees for 11 days — with as much as 10 percent of its workforce furloughed on any given day — and the agency would be unable to hire replacements for the 30 percent of its workers eligible to retire. Up to 2,200 air traffic controllers would be …
Friday, February 8, 2013
Northern Virginia NORML chapter would like to see marijuana laws handled on the state level, not the Federal level.
Howard “Cowboy” Wooldridge, a former police officer who is now a national lobbyist for repealing marijuana laws, turned his beliefs into a t-shirt that he proudly wears everywhere: “Cops Say Legalize Pot. Ask Me Why.” Wooldridge wore the shirt Thursday night when speaking to more than 20 people at the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) meeting in Falls Church. For the last 15 years — the last eight full time — Wooldridge, a retired 18-year police veteran in Michigan, has traveled the country spreading his opinions that the prohibition of marijuana should be repealed. Some NORML members at the meeting shared Wooldridge’s thoughts on the issue. “The national polls say 54 percent of…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Connolly writes letter to Postmaster General, asking for legal justification; cites study that says reducing mail volume will lead to revenue loss of $5.2 billion in first year.
Stopping the mail on Saturdays? Not so fast say two members of the Northern Virginia congressional delegation. Northern Virginia's U.S. Rep Gerald Connolly (D-11th) and U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-8th) expressed concern Wednesday afternoon about the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it plans to suspend delivery of first-class mail service on Saturdays beginning in August. The USPS released a fact sheet Wednesday. “I have great concerns about eliminating Saturday mail delivery," Moran wrote in an email to Patch. "The Postal Service is grappling with major forces outside of its control: an economy increasingly relying on email and the Internet for communication, and a Congress that refuses to address the redundant pension pre-funding …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Site at Herndon's Center for Innovative Technology is among those being discussed.
Local, state and congressional leaders met Thursday in Arlington to discuss six potential sites for a new FBI headquarters and to present a unified front in their commitment to landing the new federal complex somewhere in Northern Virginia. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, who called the meeting, said leaders from Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties had a "singular focus" in bringing the FBI headquarters to the Old Dominion. "We're all committed to finding a home for the FBI in the commonwealth of Virginia," Moran said during a news conference following the meeting. "We are all going to promote Virginia as the best place for this relocation." Arlington's role was simply as host. It has not put forth any potential sites …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Democrats, Republicans and hundreds of private sector government contractors gathered at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott on Monday afternoon to protest sequestration, which would cut $500 billion of federal defense spending.
U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly on Monday called on Congress to cancel its upcoming five-week recess in order to solve looming $500 billion defense cuts that could cost Northern Virginia thousands of jobs. That sentiment was echoed by Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce President Jim Corcoran, who said the federal government shouldn't balance its budget on the backs of the defense industry. And Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, who arrived late to the "Stop Sequestration" rally thanks to a flight delay, said afterward he supported Connolly's idea. "Sequestration" is the name given to $1 trillion federal budget cuts that will happen in January if Congress doesn't reach a compromise. Half of that would affect the defense industry, which some estimates…
Thursday, July 26, 2012
"Feds Feed Families" will help Reston Interfaith, other food pantries.
In the wake of the recent derecho, Northern Virginia's congressmen are helping feed needy families with its program, Feds Feed Families. Feds Feed Families kicked off this year's drive at the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters in Reston last week. Congressmen Gerry Connolly, Frank Wolf and Jim Moran attended the event and pointed out that in its three years, Feds Feed Families has collected more than 8 million pounds of food for area food banks. All food collected at USGS through August will go to Reston Interfaith. Food collected at other sites will go to various other pantries. Many of the food banks, including the one operated by Reston Interfaith, have a lower inventory following the power outages and increased need following the …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moran, Connolly, Wolf want the FCC to reconsider a regulation concerning backup power that the commission proposed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Northern Virginia's three congressmen called on the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to take action that will prevent future outages to the region's 911 systems. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf asked that the commission dust off a post-Hurricane Katrina regulation that would have required all telecommunications companies to provide at least eight hours of backup power for all cell phone towers. The regulation was subsequently struck down on a technicality related to how the commission handled public comments, according to a news release. “In the event of an emergency situation, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made threat, the public needs confidence …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
High Court ruled 5-4 today to uphold what some call 'Obamacare.'
Area leaders were quick to react today to the news that the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's health reform law. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R): "Today's Supreme Court ruling is extremely disappointing for Virginia and for America. The PPACA will create a costly and cumbersome system that will impair our country's ability to recover from these challenging economic times, infringes on our citizen's liberties, will harm small businesses, and will impose dramatic unfunded mandates on Virginia and all states. Simply put, this is a blow to freedom. America needs market-based solutions that give patients more choice, not less." (For the governor's full statement, visit his Web site.) On his Twitter feed, the governor wrote: "Simply …
Sunday, June 3, 2012
State party convention drew more than 2,000 to the city of Fairfax this weekend.
FAIRFAX — Perhaps U.S. Sen. Mark Warner put it best: "In 2008, we changed the guard. In 2012, we need to guard the change." More than 2,000 Democrats from across the commonwealth descended on George Mason University this weekend for the Democratic Party of Virginia's State Convention. The gathering served as part pep rally, part organizational meeting as activists mobilize for November. Party leaders had similar messages, previewing what they will try to hammer home while Virginia is in the national spotlight as a battleground state for the U.S. presidency. That message, they say, is that the right-wing takeover of the Republican Party has made this country, and this state, unrecognizable and infringes on the rights of gays, women and …
Harry Locock
12:18 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thanks for telling us. Connolly and Moran exempt themselves from the "dysfunctional" stigma, presumably. Moran explains: "It's all a matter of a verbal accountability from the various interest groups for the cuts that are going to happen." Oh, I see. Short of shutting down the Defense Department, what little cuts to chip away at the wholly manageable $16 trillion public debt might Messrs Connolly… more ›