Spectator NZ

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and seven colleagues today introduced a resolution affirming Congress has no authority to declare the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratified as part of the U.S. Constitution. The resolution comes in response to Democrats’ efforts to add the ERA to the Constitution by removing the ratification deadline set by Congress more than 50 years ago. If enacted, the ERA would potentially increase abortion access across the country, threaten religious liberties, and weaken protections for biological women.

“Nobody should be allowed a backdoor way to amend the Constitution,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This resolution ensures Democrats do not set a dangerous precedent by creating an illegal workaround to the amendment process laid out in the Constitution.”

“The law and the facts outlined in this resolution are clear. Congress has no authority to go back in time to revive a failed constitutional amendment, which makes the current push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment wrong on its face,” said Hyde-Smith.  “Beyond the illegitimacy of trying to resurrect the ERA, we cannot ignore the very serious effects adding the ERA to our Constitution today would have on abortion, religious liberty, protections for women, and more.” 

Cassidy and Hyde-Smith were joined by U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) in cosponsoring the resolution.   

The six-page resolution recognizes that:

1. Under Article V of the Constitution, the legitimate constitutional role of Congress in the constitutional amendment process for the ERA ended when Congress proposed and submitted the amendment to the states on March 22, 1972.
2. The ERA expired when its ratification deadline passed with fewer than three-fourths of the states ratifying.
3. Congress has no power to modify a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment after the amendment has been submitted to the states, or after the amendment has expired.
4. The only legitimate way for the ERA to become part of the Constitution is provided in Article V of the Constitution and requires the reintroduction of the same or modified language addressing the same subject, through approval of a new joint resolution by the required two-thirds votes in each house of Congress.

The resolution reviews federal judicial findings that shoot down notions that Congress can eliminate the ratification deadline for the ERA, which fell short of the 38 state ratifications necessary for adoption under Article V of the Constitution. Only 35 states ratified the ERA before its seven-year deadline, and four of those states subsequently voted to rescind their ratifications of the ERA. 

Concerned Women for America (CWFA), the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the Independent Women’s Voice (IWV), Heritage Action, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America support the Senate resolution.

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government declared a public health emergency that temporarily changed many healthcare-related regulations, including the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment provision. This temporary measure required states to provide continuous coverage for Medicaid enrollees to ensure healthcare coverage throughout the public health emergency.

This past December, Congress approved and the President signed into law the FY 2023 Omnibus bill, which set April 1^st, 2023, as the end date for the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Period. Last week, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR) began sending letters to Medicaid beneficiaries to review or renew their enrollment. Medicaid and WV CHIP members should check their mail for a renewal letter, complete the renewal form, and contact DHHR to ensure their contact information is up-to-date. Updates can be made by email to dhhrbcfchangectr@wv.gov, online at wvpath.wv.gov, or by calling the DHHR Customer Service Center at 1-877-716-1212.

The Inflation Reduction Act established a three-year extension of the extended advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) for ACA marketplace plans, which will continue to provide more affordable healthcare options to West Virginians and help ensure those who no longer qualify for Medicaid after April 1^st will have the option to enroll in different health insurance options through the Marketplace. Those who are not eligible for Medicaid or WV CHIP or who have already ended their coverage are encouraged to contact the WV Navigator program at 304-356-5834 or acanavigator.com/wv/home for assistance in enrolling in a federal Marketplace health insurance plan.

Following the Biden administration’s decision to reapprove ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) spoke on the Senate Floor to mark the significant announcement.

Click here for a video of Senator Murkowski speaking on the Senate Floor marking the reapproval of the Willow Project.

EXCERPTS:

·        [The Willow Project] is significant for Alaska. From a job perspective, this is going to create about 2,500 jobs for a state that desperately needs that. This will be revenue and income to a state that desperately needs it. Our economy is still suffering in a post pandemic world. Our economy feels challenged in many ways. We’re seeing a net outmigration, unlike any state in the country, and it is because it’s directly tied to the state of our economy.

·        Willow represents economic security. It represents energy security, and it represents national security.

·        It was a pretty incredible effort that came together to advance the cause of this…It was an extraordinary coalition of Alaska Native leaders and individuals. It was an extraordinary coalition of labor leaders, not only in the state. 100% of the labor unions in Alaska support advancing Willow, backed by their national unions back here, because they know that these will be good paying jobs. These will be solid union jobs, these will be jobs for the future. It was backed by a coalition of industry leaders, the university, resolutions out of both houses of our state legislature.

·        It was so important that the voices of Alaskans, particularly those who live and work and raise their families on the North Slope, that those voices were heard. And what we heard from those who are from the North Slope region, are that this is not only jobs and economic opportunity, these are resources that will help us with our quality of life.

·        The administration listened [to Alaskan voices], and I thanked them for that. I thank them for allowing those voices to be heard.

·        It’s important to applaud the actions of the administration and the President in advancing this. At peak production, Willow is expected to bring on about 180,000 barrels of oil a day. That’s significant, Mr. President.

·        It’s significant and worth putting into context with where the United States has had to turn recently…The willingness to go to Venezuela, to lift sanctions to ask for more production out of Venezuela. Venezuela will be providing us about 100,000 barrels a day. Think about where we would be if Alaska’s Willow opportunity were already online. We would not have had to go to Maduro. We would not have had to go to a country whose environmental track record is abysmal.

·        We should be producing where we know we can do it safely, where it’s under tight environmental conditions and restrictions and limitations, where the producers will adhere to the rules of the road, the rule of law, that there is a sensitivity to the environment around there. As we operate up north—they say that we have some of the tightest environmental conditions on how we access our resources of the northern region than anywhere—not only in the country, but in the world.

·        People who live up there are the first stewards of the land and they get it. So, when you have whaling captains, who are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Alaska Delegation in front of the Capitol Building, standing there saying: “We need Willow. We need Willow for our economy. We need Willow for our people. We will make sure we will meet the subsistence needs of those who live in the area. We will make sure that the environmental considerations are met. We are ready to proceed.”

·        I’m regretful that I think the next phase of this is not necessarily going to be movement towards gaining production. It’s going to be movement towards the courts. Because that’s just what seems to happen in every development project in my incredible state. But we are prepared for that as well.

·        This project is environmentally sound. It is just, it is fair. It is balanced, and it is time. So, again, I stand here appreciative that the administration has heard the voice of Alaskans. Now let’s get to work. 

Murkowski: Willow Project Reapproval “Significant for Alaska”