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Sen. Kay Hagan is co-sponsoring an amendment that would limit the pay of CEOs whose companies are receiving federal bailout money to the salary of the U.S. president.
Hagan said top executives receiving money from the bailout were receiving an average of $2.6 million in salary and bonuses, Rob Christensen reports.
"This is a slap in the face to millions of Americans who can’t understand why the same companies who sought out taxpayer dollars to bail them out were in turn paying their top executives more money than many folks will make in a lifetime," Hagan said in a statement. "It's unacceptable, it's unconscionable, and by co-sponsoring this measure, I'm joining the chorus of Americans who have said, 'Enough.'"
Hagan joined with Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Tom Harkin of Iowa to sponsor the amendment to the Senate’s economic recovery package.
The president makes $400,000 per year.
How bipartisan has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole been?
From 2003 to 2008, the Salisbury Republican was the primary sponsor of 140 bills. Of them, 80 had no cosponsors, 27 had only Republican cosponsors and 33 had Democratic cosponsors.
Overall, her 264 cosponsors included 164 Republicans and 100 Democrats, or about three-to-two ratio. A bill to give British Prime Minister Tony Blair the Congressional Medal of Honor was the most bipartisan measure, with 30 Democratic cosponsors.
Another bipartisan bill would have phased out reduced-price lunches at public schools by increasing eligibility for free lunches. Six Republican and eight Democrats signed on.
The most frequent Democratic cosponsor was Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who signed on to seven bills, including ones to investigate Camp Lejeune's drinking water and recognize the Lumbee tribe as well as several amendments to bills.
Sen. Joe Lieberman signed onto six bills, including ones to set aside a portion of the gross domestic product for defense spending and provide job training in college. Sens. Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, Richard Durbin, Frank Lautenberg and Bill Nelson each signed onto five bills.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards signed onto four Dole bills, including recognizing the Lumbees and honoring Blair.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has called on Congress to stop funding for Planned Parenthood because the non-profit organization provides abortions.
Dole, a Salisbury Republican seeking re-election next year, joined 12 other Republicans in signing a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations, and Rep. David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, reports Barb Barrett.
The group of senators asks the appropriations committees to suspend all federal funding for “organizations that promote abortion.” The signers say Planned Parenthood Federation of America receives $300 million a year from the federal government.
The letter, spearheaded by Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas and David Vitter of Louisiana, comes in the wake of charges against Planned Parenthood in Kansas by a local district attorney who opposes abortion rights.
There, the organization is accused of performing late-term abortions against state law and not maintaining proper medical records. The clinics have denied wrongdoing.
Read more after the jump.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole joined five other senators in co-sponsoring climate change legislation.
Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and John Warner of Virginia have worked for several months to draft America's Climate Security Act, a bill introduced today that is designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions, Barb Barrett reports.
The bill's goal is to reduce total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 19% below the 2005 level in the next 13 years, and by as much as 63% below the 2005 level in 2050.
The bill allows companies to save, borrow and trade emission allowances. Companies could earn credits by "inducing" other non-covered businesses such as farms to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions.
"The solution to this serious problem is not inaction," Dole said in a statement. "We must ensure clean air for future generations, and this is a responsible, market-driven approach that strengthens our economy, competitiveness and security."
Other co-sponsors include Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Republican Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine.
The legislation is supported by both the National Wildlife Federation and Environmental Defense.
Retired cyclist Lance Armstrong is backing a bill by U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick.
Armstrong, a cancer survivor, endorsed a proposed cancer screening bill proposed by Myrick, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Olympia Snowe.
At a rally today with 200 cancer survivors in Washington, D.C., Armstrong said the Cancer Screening, Treatment and Survivorship Act of 2007 would help "the most vulnerable Americans" when they are diagnosed:
"Today we are demanding that the federal government invest in strategies that save lives. This bipartisan effort is a critical first step."
Myrick, also a survivor, sponsored a 1999 law to extend Medicaid coverage for breast and cervical cancer.