May 07, 2008

By By Susan Butler, N.Y.

Official passage of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO IP) Act in the House of Representatives has stalled. While the bill was expected to officially pass once a quorum was met Tuesday evening -- after a vote that passed the bill under suspension of House rules Tuesday afternoon -- delay tactics by most House Republicans has delayed voting on this and other bills.

House Republicans are objecting to House Democrats attempting to bring a bill concerning the war in Iraq to the House floor for a vote on Thursday without first addressing the bill in a committee for markup (i.e., discussions regarding amendments to the bill).

As a result, after each bill or resolution has been brought to the House floor during the last two days, various Republican representatives have insisted on recorded votes of all members rather than voice votes on each bill and resolution. And then, a Republican representative will move for adjournment -- and move for another recorded vote on that motion.

These repeated motions for recorded voting and for adjournment are delaying many bills that should have been voted on by a quorum by now, including the PRO IP bill. Nevertheless, the bill is expected to officially pass this week.

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