The United States House will take a two month recess, Republican Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced Friday. After next week, the House will be on a break until November 13.
The 8-week break will leave several crucial bills awaiting action, although it will allow more time for campaigning.
According to thinkprogress.org, the following important bills will likely not be dealt with before the elections in November:
1. Violence Against Women Act re-authorization. Though a bipartisan Senate majority passed the a strong re-authorization bill in April, the Republican House leadership refused to allow a vote on the Senate version of the bill. The House passed a watered down version on a mostly-party lines vote, leaving victims to wait for House action.
2. The American Jobs Act. Republicans have been blocking President Obama’s jobs legislation for more than a year. Though House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised in 2010 that a GOP Congress would focus on job creation, he has blocked this bill’s immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers, and aid to state and local governments to prevent further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials.
3. Tax cuts for working families. In July, the Senate passed a billextending tax-cuts for the first $250,000 in annual income. The Republican House leadership has refused to consider the bill, holding it hostage to their demands for a full extension of Bush-era tax cuts for millionaires.
The repubs were busy submitting nonsense bills while at the same time blocking President Obama’s Jobs Bill. Now they take 2 months off. Maybe we should tell them not to come back.