Washington, DC – This week, Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) became a cosponsor of H.R. 1179, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, that would amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to permit a health plan to decline coverage of specific items and services, such as birth control, that are contrary to the religious beliefs of the insurance provider or beneficiary.

By Brian Vastag, Published: February 8

The budget coming Monday from the Obama administration will send the NASA division that launches rovers to Mars and probes to Jupiter crashing back to Earth.

Scientists briefed on the proposed budget said that the president’s plan drops funding for planetary science at NASA from $1.5 billion this year to $1.2 billion next year, with further cuts continuing through 2017.

It would eat at NASA’s Mars exploration program, which, after two high-profile failures in 1999, has successfully sent three probes into Martian orbit and landed three more on the planet’s surface.

“We’re doing all this great science and taking the public along with us,” said Jim Bell, an Arizona State University scientist and president of the Planetary Society who works on NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity. “Pulling the rug out from under it is going to be really devastating.”

If approved, the president’s budget will sever NASA’s partnership with the European Space Agency to send probes to Mars in 2016 and 2018. Agreed upon in 2009, NASA was to pay $1.4 billion, and the Europeans $1.2 billion, for the two missions.

In an e-mail, NASA spokesman David Weaver wrote, “Consistent with the tough choices being made across the Federal government . . . NASA is reassessing its current Mars exploration initiatives to maximize what can be achieved scientifically, technologically and in support of our future human missions.”

A congressional champion of space exploration said that the budget slashing “absolutely will not fly” with the House committee that oversees NASA.

“You don’t cut spending for critical scientific research endeavors that have immeasurable benefit to the nation and inspire the human spirit of exploration we all have,” Rep. John Abney Culberson (R-Tex.) said.

Last fall, NASA handed out $46 million to contractors to begin building instruments for the 2016 mission.

But earlier this week, Alvaro Gimenez, top scientist at the European agency, told the BBC that NASA’s continued participation in the partnership was “highly unlikely.”

“The impact of the cuts . . . will be to immediately terminate the Mars deal with the Europeans,” said G. Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University and former NASA planetary scientist who revived the agency’s Mars exploration program after the 1999 failures. “It’s a scientific tragedy and a national embarrassment.”

The 2016 mission, called the Trace Gas Orbiter, was to sniff the Martian atmosphere for methane, which could signal the existence of microbes on the surface. The 2018 mission was to land a rover to gather rocks and soil for eventual return to Earth.

An official familiar with deliberations at NASA said the agency is still hoping to launch a robotic Mars mission in 2018, although the goals and hardware would probably differ from those of the joint European project.

With austere budgets expected across the federal government, NASA is finding itself squeezed. Last year, Congress ordered the agency to build a giant new rocket and a deep-space crew capsule. Congress also told the agency to finish the overbudgeted James Webb Space Telescope, now expected to launch no earlier than 2018.

The executive branch’s budget request, unveiled every February, is used by federal agencies to set spending priorities. Details are often decided by officials in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

On Wednesday, planetary scientists accused the OMB of ignoring advice given to NASA by its scientific advisers. In May, planetary scientists told the agency they favored two big projects: the Mars missions, or, if those proved too expensive, a probe to explore Europa, an intriguing moon of Jupiter with an ice-covered ocean and, within it, conditions possibly favorable for life.

“They don’t seem to be interested in finding life in the universe or letting the experts manage their own program,” Hubbard said of the OMB. “Low-level workers have substituted their judgment for 1,700 scientists and the National Academy of Sciences.”

Culberson said the House committee would continue to push for the Europa mission, which Congress directed the agency to study this year.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper (L) and his wife Laureen disembark from their aircraft after arriving at Beijing international airport. Harper will meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, kicking off a four-day trip aimed at prying open more of the Chinese market for Canadian resources. (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)

The Canadians might not be allowed to build a pipeline going south to the Texas Gulf Coast, so now they’re determined to build one going west to the Canadian Pacific Coast.

After President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline last month, the conservative Canadian government has begun looking for another potential buyer for the oil that was intended for the pipeline. That buyer is China, the energy-craving economic giant that’s already invested more than $16 billion dollars in the Canadian oil industry in the last two years.

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper went to China Tuesday with a delegation of 40 Canadian business leaders to discuss energy.

In a word: PIPELINE.

Among members of the Texas congressional, there’s regret and disappointment that the oil intended for the U.S. may now be purchased by China.

Rep. John Culberson is angry that Canada has been “driven into the arms of the Chinese.”

“It’s outrageous and unacceptable to drive our friends the Canadians into the arms of China,” Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican, told Texas on the Potomac. “Next to our national debt, the communist Chinese government is the biggest threat to American national security in the 21st century.”

Culberson blamed the Democratic administration for the latest twist in U.S.-Canadian relations.

“President Obama has once again strengthened the Chinese, weakened the United States and driven one of our best friends into the arm of our worst enemy,” he said.

Culberson isn’t the only Texan lawmaker who is sad and angry to see the Canadian oil going to China instead of United States.

“It means that we have to import from Saudi Arabia and other countries that may not be nearly as friendly toward the United States as Canada. It makes so much more sense to import from our Canadian ally,” Rep. Gene Green, the Democrat from Houston.

The Republican majority in the House of Representatives is still trying to make the pipeline happen through legislation that Green recognizes “probably hasn’t got a chance to pass through the Senate.”

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2012/02/texan-lawmakers-angry-that-canadian-oil-for-the-keystone-pipeline-might-go-to-our-worst-enemy/

The Houston Bar Association    (713) 759-1133

www.hba.org

February 4 Legal Advice Clinic to Serve Houston Veterans

(Houston) – The Houston Bar Association (HBA) will hold a free legal advice clinic for all Harris County veterans on Saturday, February 4, from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the American Legion Post 490, located at 11702 Old Galveston Road, Houston, TX 77034, across from the main entrance to Ellington Field Air Force Base. No appointment is necessary.

Volunteer attorneys will provide legal advice on issues including family law, wills and probate, consumer issues, landlord/tenant law, worker’s compensation, tax issues, bankruptcy, and veterans’ benefits and disability claims. Any veteran or spouse of a deceased veteran can receive legal advice and counsel. Veterans who need further legal representation and meet the eligibility requirements for the HBA’s Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program may be assigned to a pro bono attorney. The guidelines have been adjusted for veterans so that they may have income up to 300 percent above the poverty level and still qualify for services.

The February 4 legal advice clinic is part of the Houston Bar Association’s Veterans’ Legal Initiative. The HBA sponsors weekly legal advice clinics at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, monthly legal advice clinics at the US VETS at Midtown Terrace residential facility, and quarterly legal advice clinics at DeGeorge at Union Station residential facility, as well as at stand-downs and other gatherings of veterans. For more information on services to veterans and for additional upcoming legal clinics, call the HBA’s Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program at 713-333-VETS or visit the HBA website, www.hba.org.

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The Houston Bar Association, with over 11,500 members, is the nation’s fifth-largest metropolitan bar association. The HBA provides professional development, education, and service programs for the legal profession and the community.

“President Obama has clearly revealed his complete disregard for American energy independence and American job growth,” said Rep. Culberson.  “The Keystone pipeline project is not just a pipeline – it’s a lifeline.  Out-of-work Americans urgently need the tens of thousands of direct jobs this project will immediately create: and countless industries across our country that will benefit from this project.”

“The President claims to be committed to ‘a future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t tied to unstable parts of the world.’   However, his policies and his rejection of this project tell a much different story,” Culberson continued.  “If we do not act quickly, the communist Chinese will happily snap up these vast oil reserves, strengthening themselves and weakening the United States.  Denying this project not only further jeopardizes our economic recovery, but continues to put us at the mercy of unfriendly foreign nations and threaten our national security.”

Rep. Culberson has been a vocal advocate for the Keystone XL project.  In July of 2010, Rep. Culberson joined other members of Congress in calling on the Department of State to support an expeditious presidential permit; Rep. Culberson also sent a personal letter to Secretary Clinton in October 2011, again urging support for the project and emphasizing its importance to our economy and national security.  Additionally, he supported the language in the Payroll Tax Extension bill requiring the President to make a decision on the permit within 90 days.

Rep. Ted Poe (TX-02) introduced the Keystone for a Secure Tomorrow Act of 2012 with Rep. Dan Boren (OK-02). Additional cosponsors include:  Rep. Charles Boustany (LA-07), Rep. Blake Farenthold (TX-27), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (VA-06), Rep. Kenny Marchant (TX-24), Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22), Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-32), and Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-01).

“I am pleased that President Obama’s State of the Union speech spent less time than usual attacking Republicans.  Unfortunately, his speech was filled with statements that will play well on the campaign trail, but it contained little substantive policy.  The proposals we did hear confirm that he will continue to try to transform the America we know and love into a European style social welfare state where a majority of Americans are dependent on the federal government for a paycheck or a handout.

“In light of the President’s policies and his recent rejection of the Keystone Pipeline, it is not believable for him to tell us he is committed to “[a] future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world [and] an economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.”  For the last three years, the President has made it more difficult for America to produce our own energy, and he is determined to raise taxes on Americans who work hard and are the most successful.

“Like so many Americans who want to see the size of the federal government reduced, I also found it absurd to hear this president claim he believes in Lincoln’s motto that “government should only do for the people what they cannot do for themselves, and no more.”  It is the height of hubris for him to promote tax cuts and deficit reduction, and to claim that he is committed to eliminating government waste and cutting regulations.  President Obama has created more debt and bigger deficits than any president in history, and he has aggressively grown the government, expanded its power, extended regulations into virtually every corner of our lives, and driven federal spending to the highest level since World War II.

“Despite the praise he properly bestowed on our men and women in uniform, Obama and his party followers are aggressively working to dismantle and dramatically weaken the greatest military the world has ever known.  At the same time, their policies embolden our enemies and strengthen Israel’s enemies yet they undermine Israel’s national security as well as our own. He has also abruptly abandoned all our sacrifices in Iraq and left that fragile democracy alone to face their fanatical enemies in Iran.

“Around the world, America’s enemies, especially communist China, Iran and other radical states in the Middle East, are growing stronger and becoming bolder, while President Obama dismantles our military and apologizes to the world for our strength and our pre-eminence.  It is appalling that he even tried to apologize to the Japanese for President Harry Truman’s necessary decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even the Japanese government understood that apology would have been a disaster and stopped it.

“His speech last night was utterly unconnected to the reality of everything he has done and is trying to do.  His State of the Union was pure political theatre designed to trick us into thinking that he shares the values and goals of most Americans. He and his party followers hope they can fool us just long enough to win this next election.

“I prefer to follow Thomas Jefferson’s advice, “Follow the core principles of the Constitution and the knot will always untie itself.”  We can balance the budget and restore our liberty and prosperity by unleashing American ingenuity and hard work with massive tax cuts matched by spending cuts but above all by restoring the Constitution’s limits on the federal government, especially the 10th Amendment’s guarantee of State sovereignty and individual liberty.”

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/index.asp

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/index.asp

“It is gratifying to see that the Supreme Court unanimously nullified the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas’ redistricting maps and ordered them to start over.  Even the most liberal members of the Supreme Court agreed that the District Court had gone too far in drawing their own legislative and congressional maps for the entire State of Texas when there was no evidence that the entire State had been redrawn in an illegal and discriminatory way.

“The Supreme Court’s opinion today built an important electric fence around activist judges to deter them from redistricting from the bench except in those narrow and specific instances when plaintiffs have proven that a particular district has been drawn in a discriminatory way.  Time and again appellate courts have reminded activist lower courts that their role is strictly limited to curing specific violations that must first be proven, and this is an especially important guiding principle in redistricting cases.  All Americans will benefit from this historic decision today because it will help ensure that legislative and congressional districts are designed by the people’s elected representatives first and foremost, while the courts exist to protect the rights of anyone who can prove discrimination.  This is the way it should be.”

“Now that President Obama has clearly revealed his complete disregard for American energy independence and American job growth, Congress needs to show leadership and work around him to require the immediate construction on the Keystone Pipeline.  I will work with my colleagues to draft an amendment to be included on must-pass legislation that will mandate the pipeline’s immediate construction.  If we do not move quickly to finish the Keystone Pipeline , the communist Chinese will happily snap up these vast oil reserves, strengthening themselves and weakening the United States.  Our economy urgently needs the tens of thousands of jobs this project will immediately create and the oil resources from our Canadian friends and allies.”