GOP Senators Intro Bill To Protect SC Boeing Facility

By Andrea Salazar

A group of Republican senators urged Congress Wednesday to pass a bill limiting the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ability to shut down a Boeing Company facility in South Carolina.

The Acting General Counsel of the NLRB issued a formal complaint against Boeing alleging that it “violated federal labor law by deciding to transfer a second airplane production line from a union facility in the state of Washington to a non-union facility in South Carolina for discriminatory reasons.”

Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) warned against shutting down the South Carolina plant fearing negative economic effects.

“We want to make it easier for Boeing and Motorola and Westinghouse and Nissan and Toyota to build in the United States what they sell in the United States,” Alexander said. “NLRB’s action is making it easier for manufacturers to look at the United States and say, ‘We’re going to build overseas’.”

The bill, introduced by Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), would “prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to close, relocate or transfer employment under any circumstance.”

“It’ll be hard to continue to make products in America if the NLRB can tell a company after they make an investment, ‘By the way, we’re going to veto your decision’,” Graham said. “The amount of power that this would give an unelected bureaucracy in an American economy is chilling.”

NRSC Now Says It Will Support O'Donnell

The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a statement today saying that it will support conservative Christine O’Donnell in her quest for the U.S. Senate.

O’Donnell rode a wave of voter discontent with Washington, as well as endorsements from Sarah Palin and other various Tea Party groups to victory.

“Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee – and I personally as the committee’s chairman – strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O’Donnell in Delaware,” said NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas).

“I reached out to Christine this morning, and as I have conveyed to all of our nominees, I offered her my personal congratulations and let her know that she has our support,” Cornyn added.

The statement today comes on the heels of an earlier report that NRSC aides said their organization would not fund O’Donnell’s general election campaign. O’Donnell, a conservative who has run for office before, upset her challenger in the primary, Rep. Mike Castle (R), despite the fact that Castle had received the support of much of the party’s so-called establishment.

Those statements prompted a group known as the Tea Party Express to slam the NRSC. “The National Republican Senatorial Committee has reportedly said they will not support their own nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware…The NRSC tried to meddle in the vote recount for liberal Republican Lisa Murkowski in Alaska. Now they say they aren’t committed to supporting their own nominee in Delaware? When will this insanity stop?” said a spokesman for the group.

“We encourage the NRSC to take a night off, get some sleep, and reconsider their rash statements.”

Cornyn, however, said his organization is dedicated to helping O’Donnell defeat Democrat Chris Coons in November, and illustrated the NRSC’s efforts to help other Tea Party-backed candidates get elected.

“While it’s not in Republicans’ interest to advertise our spending strategy to our opponents, it’s worth noting that just yesterday, the NRSC’s first independent expenditure ad aired in support of Dr. Rand Paul’s campaign in Kentucky, where we firmly believe that he will win in November,” he said.

Notes From Today's White House Press Briefing

White House Press Briefing
With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs


NORTH KOREA ATTACK

Gibbs said the US is involved in reviewing South Korea’s claim that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its vessels back in March. Gibbs says the White House “strongly condemned” the attack when it happened, and said the administration is in consultations with the South Koreans and other nations, as well as the UN Security Council. Gibbs called the attack an “act of aggression” and said if in fact, North Korea was behind the attack, their actions will have isolated them even more from the rest of the world. Gibbs said the US is committed to South Korea’s defense. Gibbs called the alleged attack “extremely troubling.”


OIL SPILL

Gibbs said that the EPA supports BP’s use of an underwater dispersant to deal with the oil that is spilling 5,000 feet below the sea surface in the Gulf. Gibbs said that POTUS, however, would like BP to make its clean up efforts a bit more transparent. Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to send a letter to BP putting pressure on the company to speed up its clean-up efforts and informing the company that it will be held liable for all clean-up costs associated with the giant spill. Gibbs said Coast Guard Commander Adm. Thad Allen told him that he hasn’t seen a situation as bad as this in over 30 years. Gibbs said Allen has agreed to stay on as the White House’s point man on the spill even after he retires later this year. Gibbs said he wasn’t bothered that BP CEO Tony Hayward will be traveling to Europe to attend meetings. Gibbs refuted the notion that BP cares more about preventing a public relations crisis then fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Gibbs repeated the White House’s assertion that BP will be forced to pay for all the cleanup fees. “They will get the bill,” he said. “The taxpayers won’t.” Gibbs said everything that can be done to stop the leak is being done. Gibbs also said that the five Gulf state Governors have been participating in morning conference calls about the spill every day.


SESTAK/WHITE HOUSE RUMOR

Gibbs refused to address reports that the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in the administration earlier this year to keep him from running for the Senate against Arlen Specter. Said Gibbs, “I don’t have anything to add to what I said in March.”


FINANCIAL REFORM

Gibbs said POTUS believes in putting strong rules in place in the financial system, and said that doing so would improve the condition of the country’s economy as a whole. Gibbs said financial reform would directly benefit folks on Main Street struggling to either keep their jobs or find new ones. When asked about the Senate bill, Gibbs said, “we’re coming to the end of the process.” Gibbs said that the mid-term elections this November will be a partial referendum on financial reform.


PRIMARIES

Gibbs said the primaries proved that the Democratic Party is truly the ‘big-tent’ party. Gibbs downplayed the fact that newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D) ran away from POTUS during his primary race, saying he doubted that there are many Democrats in Congress who agree with everything POTUS does or supports. Gibbs said the primaries showed that Republicans are “having an internal battle with themselves.” On the topic of Arlen Speter, Gibbs said only that the GOP kicked Specter out of their party after his years and years of service to them. He said the same for Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett, and agreed with the belief that this is a tough year for any incumbent in Congress. Gibbs said VPOTUS connected with Specter earlier today. Gibbs also said that Rand Paul’s remarks about not voting for the Civil Rights Act “should not have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”


SALAHIS

Gibbs was asked about a report which alleged that the Salahis were apparently stopped by Secret Service in their limo near the White House last night, and he responded that once again, they were not on the guest list. “I shook my head...once again,” he said while explaining that he was aware of the report. “It seems like their 15 minutes of fame were up six months ago,” he added.


CALDERON VISIT

Gibbs more or less sideswiped a question about POTUS’s feelings on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s remarks yesterday on the recently-passed immigration law in Arizona. Gibbs said only that both Presidents share the view that they disagree with the law. Gibbs did not specifically say whether or not POTUS agrees with Calderon’s call for a flat-out ban on assault weapons, Gibbs said he had not heard of a report yesterday that an elementary school student told FLOTUS, who was visiting the schoolchildren, that her mother was an illegal immigrant.


IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

Gibbs called Iran’s agreement with Turkey and Brazil over its uranium stockpile a “step in the right direction....assuming Iran keeps up its end of the deal.” Gibbs said the proposal between the three nations still does not fully address all the concerns that the P5 have about Iran’s nuclear program. Gibbs added that the agreement is less than what Iran agreed to eight months ago.