Pete Sessions votes against small business research and innovation

In an overwhelming vote of bipartisanship, the House passed H.R. 2965, the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act. Pete Sessions was one of only 41 members of Congress to vote against this bill (See Roll No. 486). For those who would like more information about this bill, Tom Price (R-GA) offers an analysis at his website Republican Study Group (Tom Price voted in favor of the bill):

H.R. 2965 would reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) for two years, through September 30, 2011. The SBIR program provides grants meant to aid certain small businesses grow in scope trough three phases of project development, implementation, and commercialization. The STTR program requires certain federal agencies to set-aside a percentage of their extramural research and development budget for the purpose of developing projects produced by small businesses. In addition, the bill would expand the amount of agency set-asides for SBIR and STTR programs and increase the maximum amount of individual awards for small businesses...

House Passes American Clean Energy and Security Act

On a near party-line vote, the House passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill passed 219-212, with some interesting crossover votes (See Roll No. 477). Eight Republicans joined the majority, and 44 Democrats voted against the bill, but for different reasons than the Republicans. Dennis Kucinich expressed the opinion of Democrats in opposition to the bill in this statement:

It sets targets that are too weak, especially in the short term, and sets about meeting those targets through Enron-style accounting methods. It gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out– coal – by giving it record subsidies. And it is rounded out with massive corporate giveaways at taxpayer expense. There is $60 billion for a single technology which may or may not work, but which enables coal power plants to keep warming the planet at least another 20 years.

Worse, the bill locks us into a framework that will fail. Science tells us that immediately is not soon enough to begin repairing the planet. Waiting another decade or more will virtually guarantee catastrophic levels of warming. But the bill does not require any greenhouse gas reductions beyond current levels until 2030.

Today’s bill is a fragile compromise, which leads some to claim that we cannot do better. I respectfully submit that not only can we do better; we have no choice but to do better...

The entire statement is available at his website: Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

Pete Sessions, of course, voted with the majority of Republicans who opposed the bill, calling it a National Energy Tax. According to Republicans, the cap and trade measures will pass the costs onto consumers. Pete Sessions' comments on cap and trade are available on his YouTube page: The National Energy Tax (Cap and Trade).

Pete Sessions votes against Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

In April, the House passed H.R. 1256, and on Thursday, the bill passed the Senate with "yes" votes from both of our Senators, Cornyn and Hutchison.

On Friday, the bill passed the House again, resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill; the bill received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing 307 - 97, with Pete Sessions as one of the 97 voting against. (See Roll No. 335).

Democrat steps forward to challenge Sessions in 2010

From Dallas Morning News

A willingness to take on tough challenges clearly runs through the Raggio family. Many longtime Dallasites know the name Louise Raggio, who as a young lawyer in the 1950s took on the establishment and spent decades winning significant rights for women, who in Texas at the time had virtually no property rights and needed their husband's signature to conduct nearly all manner of business.

(Check out our editorial on Monday commemorating Louise Raggio on her 90th birthday - coming online soon.)

Now her son, Grier Raggio, is scaling a political mountain of his own. He's decided to challenge U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions next year for his congressional seat. It's a tough assignment. Republican Sessions represents a North Dallas-based district that includes the Park cities and hasn't been seriously challenged in recent elections. (He beat Democrat Eric Roberson 57 percent to 41 percent last year.)

But Raggio, a well respected family law lawyer, will work hard. He's a graduate of Harvard College and active in a variety of civic and Democratic party causes. His wife is Judge Lorraine Raggio of the 162nd Civil District Court. Neither Grier nor his mother has ever been known to shrink from a challenge....

There's more at Burnt Orange Report.

No word yet from Alex Bischoff or anybody else from the Libertarian Party, but it's still early.

Pete Sessions fundraising idea: Win a Dinner with Newt!

From Washington Post:

Taking a page out of the Democratic fundraising machine's recent playbook, Republicans, too, are offering one of their lucky donors a free trip to Washington.

But the GOP contest differs in a few stark ways. It's charging contestants ten times more than the Democratic entrance fee, to start with. And, of course, the GOP isn't promising a night with Barack Obama, as Democrats are.

Instead, the lucky Republican winner gets dinner with GOP poster-boy Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who is positioning himself as a 2012 presidential contender.
"If you've ever watched Newt on TV and thought 'I'd like to meet this guy,' this is your chance!" reads a fundraising solicitation e-mailed today from Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Sessions says he has reserved two seats at Gingrich's table at the June 8th Senate House fundraising dinner for the winner and his or her guest. All it takes to enter the drawing is a contribution of $50 or more.

The Democratic Party fundraising letter asks for $5.00, and a chance to win a dinner with Barack Obama. It'll be interesting to see which party comes out ahead in this fundraising contest.

Florida Democrat uses Pete Sessions in fundraising ad

You know how Pete Sessions is always using the name "Nancy Pelosi" to scare conservatives into voting for him? Well, turnabout is fair play--in Florida, Alan Grayson (D-08) is using Pete Sessions' recent remarks about Obama in a fundraising email. From CQ Politics:

Freshman Grayson called Sessions, a Texas congressman, "crazy, "a lunatic," "demented," and "paranoid" in a fundraising e-mail to supporters.

Grayson attacked Sessions for stating that President Obama wishes to "inflict damage and hardship on the free enterprise system" and for the national party's attempts to blame Grayson personally for the national debt.

"Join us -- show Pete Sessions that he can take his 30 pieces of silver attacking Alan Grayson, and shove it," Grayson wrote.

Sessions joins majority in supporting supplemental appropriations

For the first time in a long time, Pete Sessions joined the overwhelming bipartisan majority to support H.R. 2346, Supplemental Appropriations, FY 2009. The 60 who voted no include Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, who oppose any additional funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. See Roll No. 265.