I have previously written about the budget process and appropriations. Now, I am turning to authorization legislation. In theory, process for funding the government is an orderly one in which each year the President proposes a budget; the U.S. Congress passes appropriations legislation; the enrolled bills are sent to the President for signing; and voila, government agencies …
If Memorial Day marked the beginning of summer when I was young, then summer marked the time when the family would visit our local national parks and monuments such as Bandelier and Carlsbad Caverns. Indeed, summer marks the time when millions of Americans visit state and national parks, forests and monuments. June 30 of this …
As an adult, I still enjoy reading children’s books. Indeed, now that I am an adult, I probably read more children’s books than I did as a kid–when I was trying to persuade the authorities to let me read adult biographies of the Tudor monarchs. One of the reasons I enjoy reading children’s books so much is …
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, it will once again be time to reset our clocks an hour ahead for daylight saving time (DST). Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-58, daylight saving time was extended by several weeks. Previously, DST ran from the first Sunday in April to the last …
We have written a number of posts about Lame Duck congresses and what happens at the beginning of a new Congress, but we thought this year we would take a moment to talk about what happens during the second session of a Congress. Before the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, Congress began on …
As a student of history, I often wonder how many people understand the significance of the date of Veterans Day and why it is always celebrated on the day of the holiday and not, like Labor Day or Memorial Day, observed on a Monday. The holiday began originally as a commemoration associated with World War I …
Every year in September, school begins, the weather cools down, and the federal fiscal year comes to an end. Congress must pass legislation before October 1 to continue funding the government for the next fiscal year. Congress has a number of legislative vehicles they can use to fund the government, including appropriation bills, or omnibus …
My sister Sarah recently sent me a book about our hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico. The book is entitled “Los Alamos and the Pajarito Plateau” and was co-written by the Los Alamos Historical Society. Though I regretted the book did not contain more pictures from the 1970s and 1980s when we were growing up, …
Several years ago, I came across a reference in the Congressional Globe to some sort of crime which seemed to have been committed by a member of Congress. I was intrigued and being an avid mystery reader, wanted to discover who had done what to whom! The entry which originally caught my eye appeared on …
