Good News!

***NAIS***
H.R.5384, the FY07: Blocks NAIS UNLESS USDA gives detailed report
The House Agriculture Appropriations Committee included a provision inH.R.5384, the FY07 House Agriculture Appropriations bill, that willblock funding for the NAIS program UNLESS the USDA provides a detailedreport to Congress on the program. This provision will provide anopportunity to review the impact of the proposed NAIS and to addresspotential problems. H.R. 5384 passed the House of Representatives with my supporton May 23, 2006. It must now pass the Senate to become law.

Democratic Whip Info/ Resources5384 - The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and DrugAdministration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY07House Reports in both PDF and HTML CRS Report - Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY07 Appropriations
http://democraticwhip.house.gov/links_and_resources/whip_resources/whippack.cfm?pressReleaseID=1437

H Res 830 (voted May 23, 2006) http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00830:
House Report 109-477 - PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5384,AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, ANDRELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(hr477) 2d Session 109-477 --PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5384, AGRICULTURE, RURALDEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 May 22, 2006- Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Rules, submitted thefollowingR E P O R T [To accompany H. Res. 830] The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration House Resolution830, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to the House with therecommendation that the resolution be adopted.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION
The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 5384, Agriculture,Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related AgenciesAppropriations Act, 2007, under an open rule. The rule provides one hourof general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman andranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rulewaives all points of order against consideration of the bill.

The rule waives points of order against provisions in the bill forfailure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorizedappropriations or legislative provisions in an appropriations bill),except as specified in the resolution. The rule authorizes the Chair toaccord priority in recognition to Members who have pre-printed theiramendments in the Congressional Record. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or withoutinstructions.

EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS
The waiver of all points of order against consideration of the billincludes a waiver of clause 4(c) of rule XIII (availability of printedhearings from the Committee on Appropriations). The waiver of clause 2of rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized appropriations or legislativeprovisions in an appropriations bill) against provisions in the bill isnecessary, because there are numerous unauthorized appropriations andlegislative provisions in the bill.

The waiver of all points of order also includes a waiver of section 306of the Congressional Budget Act (prohibiting consideration oflegislation within the jurisdiction of the Committee on the Budgetunless reported by the Budget Committee), because section 749 of thebill violates this section of the Budget Act.

COMMITTEE VOTES
Pursuant to clause 3(b) of House rule XIII the results of each recordvote on an amendment or motion to report, together with the names ofthose voting for and against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 205 Date: May 22, 2006. Measure: H.R. 5384, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and DrugAdministration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007.

Motion by: Mr. McGovern. Summary of motion: To waive all points of order against section 751 ofthe bill. Results: Defeated 2 to 9. Vote by Members: Diaz-Balart--Nay; Hastings (WA)--Nay; Sessions--Nay;Putnam--Nay; Capito--Nay; Cole--Nay; Bishop--Nay; Gingrey--Nay;McGovern--Yea; Matsui--Yea; Dreier--Nay.

The path less traveled. Activism is fun!

***Save The Internet***
A bipartisan majority on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed the "Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act" -- a good bill that would use antitrust law to protect Network Neutrality. Special thanks to those of you who called the key members who cast the deciding votes.

The question before us is simple: Will the Internet remain in the hands of users and innovators? Or will a handful of telephone and cable companies determine which Web sites you see and which you don't? Yesterday's vote -- a milestone for our movement -- would have been unthinkable just three weeks ago. But we've shown once again that organized people can defeat powerful corporations.

Our opponents spent untold millions on high-priced lobbyists, slick ad campaigns and fake grassroots groups. But the voices of hundreds of thousands of citizens -- your voices -- made the difference.

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition led by Free Press now boasts nearly 700 groups that span the political spectrum, including MoveOn.org, the Christian Coalition, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Gun Owners of America, Consumers Union, and the American Library Association. Thousands of blogs have taken up our cause. Yesterday, the coalition's petition drive surpassed 750,000 signatures.
Our top priority is increasing the number of people who know about this threat to Internet freedom.

One thing you can do right now: Get five friends to join the fight
The struggle in Congress isn't over. The full House will take up the bipartisan Judiciary bill (H.R. 5417) -- as well as the massive rewrite of the Telecom Act -- after they return in June. The Senate is also considering major legislation that currently fails to protect Net Neutrality, though a bipartisan group of Senators are lining up behind the excellent Snowe-Dorgan bill (S. 2917).
Our work is not done. But momentum is on our side.
We couldn't have done it without you.

Onward,
Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
http://www.freepress.net/