Recks

The Press Office of

JEROME HOOPER

Republican Congressman for Colorado's 3rd District

20 hours ago, MrAnderson said:

Follow up... 

Do you believe it was proper to choose to negate the votes of two senators from both sides of the aisle who disagreed with you, despite the period to vote ending while they were both recognized members of the Chamber? 

The vote period really falls outside of the Rules of the Senate; there is no period specified for how long the vote should last, and that prerogative has been left up to the Presiding Officer of the Senate. With that in mind, while the two Senators you are referring to were indeed Senators at the time the vote opened up, they were not Senators when I concluded the voting. The delay between the originally-scheduled vote closure and the eventual vote closure was simply the result of human error on the part of the Senate clerk staff, as I have mentioned earlier.

Going back to my decision to disqualify those votes of former Senators, I relied upon Senate Rule V.1., which essentially limits votes to all Senators, which is naturally interpreted as all sitting Senators, not former Senators. In fact, by the time that the roster was found once again, it had been updated to reflect Senator Reguerra and Senator Swinney having left the Senate, and their replacements being named.

And with that, thank you all for your questions, but I am now needed on the Senate floor ((time allocated for this press conference has elapsed)). Any further questions from credentialed press members ((AB or Player Media)) can be sent to my press secretary ((asked over PM or TG)).

3 hours ago, MrAnderson said:

Senator, 

 

Can you explain why you disqualified the votes of 20 senators and changed the votes of 27 others, including several Republicans, in a vote over the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1999? Can you explain how every single incorrect tabulation was skewed by dozens of votes in the same direction as your position? 

As I mentioned earlier in this briefing, I instructed the clerk staff to not count the votes of Senators Reguerra and Swinney, as both had permanently left the Senate with their appointments named. It just so happened that both of them had the intention of voting against the bill at hand; had it been the other way, I still would've instructed the clerk staff to not count those votes. How, exactly, the tabulation was off by so much is still unknown to me, but it is something that I'll be looking into when Vice President Gore hands the gavel over again to ensure it never happens again.

5 hours ago, Michael said:

Senator,

 

If you didn't know that the votes would benifit you why did you so hastily push for a end to debate.

you have refused to even count some votes for weeks how can we believe that you weren't helping yourself when you suddenly decided to count votes now that the system was faulty 

When I came into the position of President pro tempore of the Senate, I began to work with the Secretary of the Senate and the clerk staff to make some improvements in vote-counting and overall functioning of the body. As the Senate staff was implementing these changes, it is my understanding that some of the important tallies were put back in the wrong place. So, the tally was misplaced for a bit of time. I continued to pursue this issue, since voting in the Senate was essentially impossible to conduct.

When the tally was taken again, I can only assume that the clerk staff used some kind of an inaccurate tally and then reported the wrong results to me. These were my first votes as a presiding officer of any legislative body, and I was still getting to know many of my fellow Senators. One of the pieces of advice I was given was to respect and listen to the Senate staff - and while that's certainly true, I may have been overly reliant upon their reports.

Once the Senate staff was ready for the votes, I had them take place as soon as possible to make up for lost time. I was resistant to any attempts to re-litigate legislation that I had no reason to believe had been voted upon under faulty counts. There was no "grand conspiracy," simply a few judgement calls that, in retrospect, may not have been the best. But I broke no law and the situation appears to have been fully corrected for. Next question?

Warchest of

Senator Rebecca Morris

Income:

$300,000 - Starting Funds

$130,609 - Background Funding (link)

$246,898 - Background Funding (link)

$230,208 - Background Funding (link)

$106,404 - Background Funding (link)

$1,533 - Natural Resources/Renewables (link)

Expenditure:

-$300,000 - Net Campaign Expenditures

-$714,119 - Donation to GOP

Balance:

$1,533

Note: 1998 Campaign expenditures that drew exclusively from campaign-specific fundraising can be found in this forum.

On 10/30/2017 at 6:20 PM, Recks said:

Senate IVS is kinda important at the moment.

Bump?

Senate IVS is kinda important at the moment.

I could use a Senate IVS and a fix to the PPT masking (with the logo and red coloring, if at all possible).

Thanks!

And I'm still waiting on PPT mods, an IVS, and forums for archiving the past Congress (and there is still a bill which the old Senate hadn't taken up which ought to have passed).

Thanks...

On 10/18/2017 at 10:11 AM, Recks said:

As the new PPT, I have a few requests to make:

1. PPT mods for myself
2. AB-Senate pass or reject the bills that passed the House that have yet to be acted upon
3. Create two subforums in the PPT's office (to match the SOTH's office)
   • Legislation Inbox
   • Archives

Thank you very much!

Bump, please?

As the new PPT, I have a few requests to make:

1. PPT mods for myself
2. AB-Senate pass or reject the bills that passed the House that have yet to be acted upon
3. Create two subforums in the PPT's office (to match the SOTH's office)
   • Legislation Inbox
   • Archives

Thank you very much!

A couple of mechanics questions:

1. Can we get party-wide ARs, to complement the individual ARs and in the lead-up to the election?
2. Can we get some progress on the bills sent over to the Senate?

Thank you!

RIP Tom Petty

Am I missing where the cost sheets for the Senate elections are located, or is it yet to be posted?

Thanks!

If they exist, HML mods please.

To: Tobacco Industry

From: Congresswoman Rebecca Morris

Regarding: "Global Settlement"

Dear respected members of the tobacco industry,

I am writing you today with the intent of seeking out how you would like to see the Congress respond to the ongoing lawsuits brought against the industry. I believe that it is unjust to target an industry that is just doing its own business. I further believe that actions taken against your industry that raise tobacco prices may lead to an increase in the use of illicit drugs, something I am sure neither of us would like to see happen.

With all of that being said, you can count on me to oppose the proposed "global settlement" should you believe it to be unduly punitive. Furthermore, I would be interested in providing a legal way out for the industry, if you could potentially point me in the right direction on what must be done. Obviously, you are more in-tune with the legal statutes that are impacting your ability to do business, and I would like to alleviate some of those concerns.

I look forward to your response.

Rebecca Morris

R-MO-8