Congress

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, who is stressing her opposition to illegal immigration in campaigning for governor, has proposed in Congress to use crowdfunding to help pay for the border wall proposed by President Donald Trump, reports Fox News.  She has also issued a press release on the “Border Wall Trust Fund Act.” 

U.S. House Republicans are at each other’s throats after the Freedom Caucus delivered a shock to party leaders on Friday by killing a key GOP bill over an unrelated simmering feud over immigration, reports Politico.  Thirty Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the Agriculture and Nutrition Act, better known as the farm bill. 

In the Tennessee House delegation, Republican Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan of Knoxville, voted no along with Democrats Steve Cohen of Memphis and Jim Cooper of Nashville.  The other six Tennessee representative, all Republicans, voted yes.  The bill got 198 yes votes versus 213 noes. ( Roll call vote HERE.) 

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn gets a mention in a Washington Post report on political consequences facing members of Congress who supported 2016 legislation “that hampered the Drug Enforcement Administration’s enforcement efforts against the opioid industry.” 

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Saturday to lament the past lack of money for national park maintenance and to promote “The National Park Restoration Act,” a bill pending in Congress to change the situation, reports the News Sentinel. 

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn has warned congressional colleagues that social media companies are censoring conservative speech and recounted for lawmakers her own experience last fall when Twitter blocked a video launching her campaign for Senate, reports Michael Collins. 

“This ban hit at the fundamental freedom to engage in political speech,” said the Brentwood Republican, who is running for Senate seat currently held by Bob Corker. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03) issued the following statement upon his bill H.R. 146, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act, being voted out of The U.S. House of Representatives:

“Tonight, the House voted to keep a promise to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians by rightfully returning 76 acres of sacred land in Monroe County, putting the land back in tribal hands,”said Congressman Fleischmann. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the House of Representatives passed Congressman Scott DesJarlais’ bill to study the feasibility of placing the President James K. Polk Home and Museum in Columbia, Tennessee, under protection of the National Park Service.  An Interior Department study would be a major step towards helping the charity that maintains the property to preserve and expand it. 

WASHINGTON – During a hearing today on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) budget and economic outlook for fiscal years 2018 to 2028, U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, discussed how Congress as a whole and the Trump administration have neglected fiscal responsibility. 

“None of us have covered ourselves in glory,” said Corker. “ This Congress and this administration likely will go down as one of the most fiscally irresponsible administrations and Congresses that we’ve had.” 

Congressional ethics investigators say they have found substantial reason to believe Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. improperly used thousands of campaign dollars on personal expenses for himself and his family, reports Michael Collins. 

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander says he’s hopeful for passage this year of “the National Park Restoration Act” that could wipe out about $7 billion of backlogged maintenance in the National Parks Service over the next decade, reports the Times Free Press.