A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Congressional
negotiators reached a bipartisan spending agreement late on April 30,
to fund the government through September. Here are the Republican and
Democratic wins in the $1 trillion funding package. (The Washington Post)
By Kelsey Snell April 30 at 11:33 PM
Congressional negotiators reached an agreement late Sunday on a broad spending package to fund the government through the end of September, alleviating fears of a government shutdown later this week, several congressional aides said.
Congressional negotiators reached an agreement late Sunday on a broad spending package to fund the government through the end of September, alleviating fears of a government shutdown later this week, several congressional aides said.
Congress is expected to vote on the roughly $1 trillion package early
this week. The bipartisan agreement includes policy victories for
Democrats, whose votes will be necessary to pass the measure in the
Senate, as well as $12.5 billion in new military spending and
$1.5 billion more for border security requested by Republican leaders in
Congress.
The agreement follows weeks of tense negotiations between Democrats and
GOP leaders after President Trump insisted that the deal include funding
to begin building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump eventually
dropped that demand, leaving Congress to resolve lingering issues over
several unrelated policy measures.
The new border-security money comes with strict limitations that the
Trump administration use it only for technology investments and repairs
to existing fencing and infrastructure, the aides said.
“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people and takes
the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” said Senate Minority
Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars
aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill
riders and increases investments in programs that the middle class
relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”
Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) boasted that
they were able to force Republicans to withdraw more than 160 unrelated
policy measures, known as riders, including those that would have cut
environmental funding and scaled back financial regulations for Wall
Street.
Democrats fought to include $295 million to help Puerto Rico continue
making payments to Medicaid, $100 million to combat opioid addiction,
and increases in energy and science funding that Trump had proposed
cutting. If passed, the legislation will ensure that Planned Parenthood
continues to receive federal funding through September.
The package includes $61 million to reimburse local law enforcement
agencies for the cost of protecting Trump when he travels to his
residences in Florida and New York, a major priority for the two New
York Democrats involved in the spending talks, Schumer and Rep. Nita M.
Lowey.
Among the bipartisan victories is $407 million in wildfire relief for
western states and a decision to permanently extend a program that
provides health-care coverage for coal miners.
“The agreement will move the needle forward on conservative priorities
and will ensure that the essential functions of the federal government
are maintained,” said Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for House
Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.).
House Republicans have struggled in recent weeks to keep their members
focused on spending as White House officials and conservatives pressed
leaders to revive plans for a vote on health-care legislation. The
health-care fight became tangled last week in spending talks as leaders
worried that forcing a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act risked
angering Democrats whose votes are necessary to avoid a government
shutdown.
Leaders worked last week to determine whether the House has enough votes
to pass a revised health-care bill brokered by the White House, the
head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a top member of the
moderate Tuesday Group.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and his top lieutenants announced
Thursday that they did not have sufficient votes to be sure the measure
would pass but vowed to press on.
“We’re still educating members,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy
(R-Calif.) told reporters after a late-night health-care meeting last
week. “We’ve been making great progress. As soon as we have the votes,
we’ll vote on it.”