NEWS AND OPINION:
There’s more happening in the political world this week than a presidential debate. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has shared a lengthy list of activities in the House this week with Inside the Beltway.
That list includes 52 hearings that will take place Tuesday through Thursday — and here’s a sample of the activities with their formal titles, followed by the host committee or subcommittee:
“Examining Anti-Doping Measures in Advance of the 2024 Olympics.” (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations).
“Stress Testing: What’s Inside the Black Box?” (Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy).
“The Curse of Socialism in Central America and the Caribbean.” (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere).
“Finding 500,000: Addressing America’s Cyber Workforce Gap.” (Homeland Security Committee).
“Beyond the Border: Terrorism and Homeland Security Consequences of Illegal Immigration.” (Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement).
“The U.S. Copyright Office: Customers, Communities, and Modernization Efforts.” (House Administration Committee).
“Follow the Science?: Oversight of the Biden Covid-19 Administrative State Response.” (Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust).
“Radio, Music, and Copyrights: 100 Years of Inequity for Recording Artists.” (Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet).
“Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Warfare, Part II.” (Oversight and Accountability Committee).
“From High Tech to Heavy Steel: Combatting the People’s Republic of China’s Strategy to Dominate Semiconductors, Shipbuilding, and Drones.” (Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party).
THE ’BIGGEST ISSUE’
There’s a survey for everything, including the possible topics that President Biden and former President Donald Trump will address in their debate Thursday night.
“The American people deserve to hear their competing visions loud and clear on the debate stage,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a message shared with Inside the Beltway.
It also offered a list of the possible issues which will likely come into play during the big bout. Here they are, verbatim from the committee: “Illegal immigration, election integrity, jobs and the economy, foreign policy, healthcare, inflation, Big Tech censorship, President Biden’s mental deterioration, the state of our democracy, abortion, Second Amendment matters and violent crime.”
The aforementioned committee is asking Republicans to cite the “BIGGEST ISSUE” — yes, it’s in capital letters — that they want covered in the debate.
Will the president and former president address these concerns? We’ll find out in about 72 hours.
HOMING IN ON HOME
“The tough housing market continues, as U.S. home prices hit an all-time high in May, with the median price jumping 5.8% from the year prior, while sales saw a 2.8% decline,” a Forbes analysis released Monday reported.
“The median home price across the U.S. was $419,300 in May, up from $396,500 in May 2023, the report said, and all four regions in the country experienced the price hikes,” it continued.
“With mortgage rates also stuck at comparatively high levels — current mortgage payments are ’more than double that of homes purchased before 2020’ according to Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors — it’s a tricky market for first-time buyers to break into,” the analysis said.
“President Joe Biden is the man many people blame for issues like high interest rates and stubborn inflation, rightly or wrongly, but he’s affected by them too. Biden’s net worth has stalled out at an estimated $10 million, two-thirds of which is locked up in real estate,” the analysis reported.
ONE FOR THE WILDLIFE
It’s a bipartisan thing: Three lawmakers have gotten a round of applause for watching over the nation’s wildlife.
“The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies applauds the introduction of the Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act. Today, Senator Alex Padilla, California Democrat, and Reps. Ryan Zinke (Montana Republican) and Don Beyer (Virginia Democrat) introduced the bill to bolster efforts to conserve wildlife migration corridors and seasonal habitat,” the association said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“We thank Senator Padilla and Representatives Zinke and Beyer for leading this legislation and supporting voluntary, cooperative conservation that will build on successful frameworks,” said Chuck Sykes, director of the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and president of the aforementioned association.
“State fish and wildlife agencies have developed conservation plans identifying and integrating wildlife movement and migration routes but need the funding to put these projects on the ground with their partners,” Mr. Sykes said in a statement.
State and tribal governments have worked with the Department of the Interior, U.S. Forest Service, nongovernmental organizations and private partners to improve over 3 million acres of big game habitat, with more than 1 million of those acres in state-identified migration corridors.
“The Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act would continue and expand this great work by establishing a grant program to improve or conserve habitat quality in wildlife movement areas across the country. The bill would also establish a state and tribal migration research program to provide funds for increased data collection, analysis, and identification of movement areas.
“The association urges support for the bill and looks forward to working with Congress to provide funding for the programs it would establish,” the association said.
Find the organization at FishWildlife.org.
POLL DU JOUR
• 51% of U.S. adults say they are thinking about the 2024 presidential race “a lot” these days.
• 58% of Republicans, 48% of independents and 52% of Democrats agree. 58% of men and 46% of women also agree.
• 33% overall say they are thinking about the presidential race “some” these days.
• 31% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 34% of Democrats agree. 31% of men and 34% of women also agree.
• 12% overall say they are “not much” thinking about the presidential race.
• 7% of Republicans, 16% of independents and 10% of Democrats agree. 8% of men and 15% of women also agree.
• 4% overall say they are not thinking about the presidential race “at all.”
• 4% of Republicans, 3% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree. 3% of men and 5% of women also agree.
SOURCE: A CBS News poll of 2,460 U.S. adults conducted June 17-21.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse. Contact her at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.