Report: E-cigarettes appealing to kids
Washington (CNN) – Redeploying a major argument from the battle over traditional cigarettes, a dozen Democratic members of Congress released a report on Monday concluding that electronic cigarettes “aggressively (promote) their products by using techniques and venues that appeal to youth” and should be strictly regulated like the non-electronic versions.
“E-cigarette manufactures don’t have to play by the same rules (as traditional cigarette makers),” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, one of the leaders behind the investigation.
Sandra Fluke 'strongly considering running' for open House seat
Washington (CNN) – Sandra Fluke, the women’s rights activist who rose to stardom during the debate over Obamacare’s contraception coverage, tells CNN she is “strongly considering” running for Congress now that Rep. Henry Waxman is retiring from his California House seat.
“I’m flattered that I’m being discussed as a potential candidate, especially for Rep. Waxman's seat, considering his incredible legacy,” Fluke, 32, said in a statement. “A number of folks I respect very deeply have reached out today and encouraged me to run.”
Rep. Waxman to retire at end of term
Updated 3:51 p.m. ET on 1/30/2014
(CNN) - Rep. Henry Waxman, a longtime Democrat from California, announced Thursday that he won't seek re-election to a 21st term this November.
“In 1974, I announced my first campaign for Congress," he said in a statement. "Today, I am announcing that I have run my last campaign. I will not seek reelection to the Congress and will leave after 40 years in office at the end of this year."
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GOP on insurance cancellations: "We told you so"
Washington (CNN) - The White House isn't in damage-control mode solely over a bad health care website.
As the Obama administration is trying to calm concerns across the country from Americans being dropped from their current plans, Republicans on Capitol Hill are saying, "We told you so."
In March 2010, then-Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, came to the House floor as Democrats were poised to pass Obamacare and issued a warning.
"Look at this bill," Boehner said. "Ask yourself: Do you really believe that if you like the health plan that you have, that you can keep it? No, you can't."
Waxman charges Romney with secrecy, questions motives
(CNN) - Mitt Romney's opposition to Buffett Rule may be "because he's exploiting all of these loopholes" in the tax code, Rep. Henry Waxman charged in a Democratic National Committee conference call on Thursday afternoon.
Waxman launched into Romney for a lack of transparency as Democrats have put the Republican presidential nominee under another wave of pressure to release tax and financial documents.
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BP boss facing 'nightmare well' Hill grill
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/14/art.waxmanfile0724.gi.jpg caption="Rep. Henry Waxman warned BP CEO Tony Hayward to be prepared for tough questioning when he testifies before Congress this week."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - BP chief Tony Hayward should be prepared to face tough questioning about the cause of the Gulf oil disaster when he appears before a key House committee this week, according to a letter released Monday by the committee's chairman.
The letter to Hayward from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-California, says a congressional investigation alleges that the besieged oil company took a low-cost, speedy approach to drilling the broken deepwater well responsible for the growing spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Our "investigation is raising serious questions about the decisions made by BP in the days and hours before the explosion" that created the spill, Waxman noted. "On April 15, five days before the explosion, BP's drilling engineer called (the facility in the Gulf) a 'nightmare well.' "
The letter - co-signed by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Michigan - asserts that BP saved $10 million in part by skimping on a process to properly cement the well. It also asserts that BP ignored advice from Halliburton, its cementing subcontractor.
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Talks break down, intra-party tension heats up for House Democrats
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/24/art.waxmanfile0724.gi.jpg caption="Waxman said Fridat he wasn’t going to let the Blue Dogs ‘empower Republicans.’"]WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Democrats split sharply over the issue of health care reform Friday as negotiations between a committee chairman and party conservatives broke down.
A key leader of the party's conservative faction later warned the party leadership not to ram the current version of the health care bill through by circumventing the traditional legislative process.
The escalating tension within the ranks of House Democrats raised new questions about the bill's prospects.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman told reporters on Capitol Hill that he is willing to keep talking with members of the Blue Dog coalition - an influential group of fiscal conservatives - but also made clear he intends to move forward with the legislation.
Waxman, a California Democrat, indicated that he would bypass a committee vote if necessary and bring the bill directly to the House floor for a final vote.
"We're not going to let (the Blue Dogs) empower the Republicans. I don't see any other alternative," he said.
Speed reader makes Hill debut
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The congressional speed reader made his committee debut Thursday - but it looks like his brief taste of the limelight may mark his Capitol Hill swan song.
The top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce committee, Texas Rep. Joe Barton, has been threatening to force the committee clerk to read the 900-plus page bill as a way to drag out the markup of the Democrats' climate change legislation. Worried that this could jeopardize his goal of voting the bill out of committee before the Memorial Day break, Democratic Chairman Henry Waxman of California hired a speed reader, in case one was needed to publicly race through the massive bill.
Barton decided not to follow through on his threat - but he wanted to find out what a speed reader sounded like. He requested that one of the Republican amendments be read in full, and asked that the new hire take over for the full time committee clerk. Waxman obliged, and Douglas Wilder sat before the committee and began reading rapidly. He spoke so quickly it was impossible to decipher his words, as listeners began to laugh and applaud.
Barton decided he'd heard enough, and said he didn't need to finish. He then joked with Waxman, that since he went to all that trouble, "we should at least get the benefit of the gentleman's expertise." Smiling, Waxman asked Wilder to state his name and asked if he was available for hire. Wilder enthusiastically told the committee: "yes!"
Dems hire speed reader for climate change bill
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/20/art.waxman0520.gi.jpg caption="Democrat Henry Waxman is trying to get his party's massive climate change bill out of his committee by Memorial Day."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) – As Congress prepares for a weeklong recess next week, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have armed themselves with a special weapon to deal with a possible Republican effort to delay getting a major piece of legislation out of committee by Memorial Day.
Democrats on the committee have hired a speed reader to read the more than 900-page climate change bill if necessary.
A request to have the entire bill read aloud is a prerogative Republicans have a right to invoke which could be used to frustrate Committee Chairman Henry Waxman's deadline of Memorial Day to get the committee's work on the bill done.
Even with the use of the speed reader, reading the entire bill could take the equivalent of more than a full work day of time.
–CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
Waxman defeats Dingell for House Energy Chairmanship
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/20/art.waxman.gi.jpg caption="Waxman defeated Dingell for a powerful committee post."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - California Rep. Henry Waxman won the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, defeating the longtime chairman, John Dingell of Michigan, in a secret ballot vote of the incoming Democratic caucus.
Waxman - first elected to the House in 1974 - defeated Dingell - first elected in 1955 - by a vote of 137 to 122. Dingell has served as the Energy and Commerce Committee's top Democrat for the past 28 years. Waxman was the committee's No. 2 ranking Democrat.
"It was a contentious race, and it was a close one as well," Waxmam said immediately following the vote. "I want to point out... that this in no way diminishes the enormous contribution to our country by Chairman John Dingell." Waxman, a top ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, argued that "we needed a change for the committee to have the leadership that will work with this administration... in order to get important issues passed in health care, environmental protection and energy policy."
Regarding Dingell's long tenure in the House and on the committee, Waxman said, "seniority is important, but it should not be a grant of property rights to be chairman for three decades or more."
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