Speaker Of House Research Articles

Destination Based Corporate Tax: An Alternative Approach

With the election of Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s domination of Congress, it is time to seriously consider House Speaker Paul Ryan’s blueprint for fundamental tax reform. The Ryan blueprint combines reduced individual rates with a destination-based consumption or cash flow type business tax applicable to large businesses. This blueprint has three major problems: It is incompatible with our WTO obligations, it is incompatible with our tax treaties, and will not solve the problems of income shifting and inversions it is designed to address. This paper proposes an alternative destination-based corporate tax (DBCT) that addresses these problems while retaining the advantages of “border adjustability.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives

Reviewed by John R. Phillips

Rodzina – dom ojczysty w poezji i wojennych wspomnieniach dzieci i młodzieży na tułaczych szlakach (1939–1945)

Opracowanie, w zarysie, przybliża kwestię tułactwa dzieci polskich, ofiar deportacji, na terytorium ZSRS, będącej następstwem agresji sowieckiej Rosji na Polskę 17 września 1939 roku. Autorka snuje rozważania na temat dalszych losów deportowanych na Bliskim i Środkowym Wschodzie, dla których dom ojczysty, rodzina stały się „rajem utraconym”. Rodzina – dom ojczysty obecny w poezji i wojennych wspomnieniach dzieci i młodzieży na tułaczych szlakach, publikowane na łamach prasy polskiej wychodzącej na obczyźnie staje się wiernym odbiciem ich przeżyć, małych radości oraz bolesnych wspomnień.

Congress Curbs Medicare Premium Increase

Congress Curbs Medicare Premium Increase

The Complicated Legacy of 1960s Conservatism

The Complicated Legacy of 1960s Conservatism Alexander Bloom (bio) Penny Lewis. Hardhats, Hippies, and Hawks: The Vietnam Antiwar Movement as Myth and Memory. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornel University Press, 2013. xi + 255 pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $81.95 (cloth); $22.95 (paper). Sandra Scanlon. The Pro-War Movement: Domestic Support for the Vietnam War and the Making of Modern American Conservatism. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013. xiii + 424 pp. Notes and index. $80.00 (cloth); $28.95 (paper). One look at the calendar and anyone can see the obvious: chronologically, the 1960s have slipped well into the past, as has every other historical decade. Yet remarkably, the Sixties have held on to the American psyche well beyond that of other past decades. Many significant events of that decade have now celebrated their 50th anniversary—the Port Huron Statement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the march in Selma. Other fifty-year marks will occur within the next few years. And still, much of the 1960s remains alive in U.S. culture. Even after fifty years, 1960s’ realities still often exercise a strong influence over contemporary American life. In the 1990s, House Speaker Newt Gingrich labeled Bill and Hillary Clinton as “counterculture McGoverniks,” while evangelist Pat Robertson lamented that, with the Clintons, the office once occupied “by Washington and Jefferson” had become “the playpen for the sexual freedom of the poster child of the 1960s.” Every recent foreign policy engagement that the United States has entered has been immediately framed in terms of the Vietnam experience, as suggested by this small sampling of newspaper and magazine headlines and titles. “El Salvador—Reagan’s Vietnam” “Worrisome Echoes of Vietnam in Iraq” “Bush’s Vietnam-sized Credibility Gap” “Afghanistan is Beginning to Look Like Obama’s Vietnam” “U.S. Risking Another Vietnam War: Syria.” [End Page 710] The 1960s continue to exert a major influence over the contemporary United States, well in excess of any other recent decade. This fascination has led to both an enormous amount of serious scholarship about the era as well as a wide array of popular assessments. Sometimes these assessments are tinged with nostalgia. Sometimes bitter memories taint the viewpoint. And sometimes they repeat and perpetuate extreme stereotypic distortions, such as this paragraph from an 8th-grade school textbook, America, Land I Love (2006), which declares that it is written from “a Christian perspective” and has been adopted by Louisiana voucher schools, among others. Many young people turned to drugs and immoral lifestyles; these youth became known as hippies. They went without bathing, wore dirty, ragged, unconventional clothing, and deliberately broke all codes of politeness or manners. Rock music played an important part in the hippie movement and had great influence over the hippies. Many of the rock musicians they followed belonged to Eastern religious cults or practiced Satan worship.1 What is clear is that the meaning of the decade, now fifty years gone, remains a subject of debate and disagreement. The Sixties hold us, alive in our politics and culture, even as the events and personalities who created that world slip into old age or away altogether. In the immediate wake of the decade, numerous general accounts were published, some personal, some sweeping. Prevailing narratives were established. Individual moments were elevated to mythic status, and particular groups were singled out as forces of progress or forces of retrogression. Some groups remained entirely invisible. Over the years, other scholars and analysts have attempted to right some of the inaccuracies, to revise elements of the standard narratives, to investigate individuals and groups left out of the initial sweep of Sixties scholarship. Both of the books under consideration here fall into this latter category. On the surface, especially within the context of the prevailing narrative, these books first appear as oppositional. The picture on the cover of Sandra Scanlon’s The Pro-War Movement is of workers in hard hats waving American flags while battling antiwar demonstrators. The image on the cover...

Is Marine Conservation Science Becoming Irrelevant to Policy Makers?

The use of science in policy-making has declined dramatically around the world. One of the most obvious examples of scientific neglect is the refusal of many U.S. politicians to accept anthropogenic climate change despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. While over 97% of scientists recognize the global threat posed by human climate forcing (Oreskes, 2004a; Doran and Zimmerman, 2009; Anderegg et al., 2010; Cook et al., 2013), 72% of Republican Senators in 2014 were climate change deniers (Schulman, 2015). Senator Jim Inhofe, the chair of the US Congressional Environment and Public Works Committee is an infamous climate change denier who even published a book called “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future” (Inhofe, 2012). Such science contrarians among politicians are not uncommon, but when directly confronted on the issue two notable climate change deniers completely sidestepped it, stating “I’m not a scientist” (Senator Mitch McConnell) and “I’m not qualified to debate the science over climate change” (past House Speaker John A. Boehner; Davenport, 2014). Another problem is the treatment of information provided by the best available science as “just another opinion” at the table, to be negotiated and compromised (e.g., Schneider, 2009; Wright, 2010). Here, we seek to shine a global spotlight on the alarming disregard for science in policy decisions affecting biodiversity conservation, mainly of relevance to marine scientists. We also suggest ways for scientific societies to speak out professionally in defense of conservation science.

New House Speaker has mixed record on science

Paul Ryan has voiced support for basic science while opposing applied energy research. Paul Ryan has voiced support for basic science while opposing applied energy research.

A Lexical Analysis of an Inaugural Speech of the Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly in Nigeria

Language of Nigerian politics has been given attention in previous studies from various linguistic approaches such as pragmatics, pragma-stylistics, stylistic, syntax and discourse strategies. However, most of the research works that border on the political speeches are mainly concerned with the speeches of the executive leaders in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the pattern and functions of lexical devices in the Inaugural speech of the Speaker of State House of Assembly as an avenue to expand the frontiers of knowledge on language of politics by legislators. The data were drawn from the speech of the Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly (2011-2013) and analysed based on the Lexical Cohesion theory of Halliday and Hassan (1976). The study reflected that legislators employed lexical cohesive devices such as repetition, synonymy, antonym, collocation, superordination to achieve certain purposes such as interconnectivity, directness, emphasis, appreciation and appeal in the process of negotiating meaning in their use of language.

The View from Augusta: Developments Growing Out of the Speaker’s 2013 Round Table Discussions and 2014 Aging Summit

Mark Eves and Jessica Maurer describe the significant progress made in Maine since 2013 in addressing aging-related issues through collaboration between legislative and community-based efforts. The Maine Aging Initiative, formed in 2014 and coordinated through the Maine Council on Aging and the House Speaker’s office, plays a significant role in supporting these efforts.

Impeachment at States’ Level in Nigeria: Osun State as a Case Study

As a three-tier government that Nigeria is, three legislatures exist and all of them have impeachment powers that have often been grossly abused: The National Assembly, the States Assemblies and the Local Government Legislative Councils. A close study of their activities, regarding impeachment duties, showed a consistent power struggle between chief executives and their deputies. This was the case between Chief Adebisi Akande and Otunba Iyiola Omisore; Governor and Deputy Governor of Osun-State respectively. It was interesting to note that this power struggle did not exclude the then speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr. Mojeed Alabi. Chief Bisi Akande, OtunbaIyiola Omisore and Dr. Mojeed Alabi deployed all necessary powers and influences within and without their respective corridors of powers to achieve their inordinate ambitions. In the titanic sweepstake, extraneous actors such as party leaders, presidency, inspector general of the police, Afenifere (a yorubal socio-cultural group) and traditional rulers were not left out of the crisis that led to the impeachment of the first Deputy Governor of Osun-State in the Fourth Republic, OtunbaIyiola Omisore and the subsequent assassinations of Hon Odunayo Olagbaju the then Osun State House of Assembly member and, the Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, who was also deputy leader of Afenifere. Party leaders refer to leadership of the various political parties, especially the ruling ones at the local, state and federal levels. The following officials: party chairman, zonal chairman, state chairman, local chairman and their secretaries are very critical in the running of their various political parties at all the levels of government. Specifically, in the case of Alliance for Democracy (AD), the national leaders of the party that intervened in the crisis that rocked Osun-State between 1999 and 2003 included: the leader of Afenifere, Pa (Senator) Abraham Adesanya; Deputy leader of Afenifere and Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige; Senator A. A. Abdulkadir, national chairman of Alliance for Democracy; Pa Archdeacon Emmanuel Alayande; Justice Adewale Thomson; and All the AD Governors (Olasupo, 2014). Although attempts were made to impeach the then governor and even the speaker, both failed except that of the deputy governor, OtunbaIyiola Omisore. Why did the other two impeachments failed and that of the Deputy Governor who was from a different political party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), succeeded? This is a big question. The interplay of how these took place is the concern of this paper.

Remembering Lili‘uokalani: Coverage of the Death of the Last Queen of Hawai‘i by Hawai‘i’s English-Language Establishment Press and American Newspapers

Remembering Lili‘uokalani:Coverage of the Death of the Last Queen of Hawai‘i by Hawai‘i’s English-Language Establishment Press and American Newspapers Douglas V. Askman (bio) Introduction: The Death of Liliu‘okalani On November 11, 1917, Lili‘uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai‘i, died at her residence, Washington Place, in Honolulu at the age of 79. The queen’s death and burial were covered extensively by the press in Hawai‘i, reflecting the enormous impact she had on the people of the territory. On the front page of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser on the day following her death was a declaration from the territorial governor, Lucius Pinkham. In his statement Governor Pinkham attested to Lili‘uokalani’s strong character, “I have found her tender and kind to her own race, thoughtful and helpful to others and a valued and appreciative friend.”1 Pinkham also ordered the flags of the United States and Hawai‘i to be lowered to half-staff in honor of the queen. [End Page 91] Government agencies demonstrated their respect for the queen in various ways, reflecting her great stature. Territorial courts were adjourned, ‘Iolani Palace was draped in black, and the House of Representatives chamber, formerly the palace’s throne room, hosted her funeral. The City and County of Honolulu closed its offices to mourn. Schools, both public and private, honored the queen by preparing special programs and flying their flags at half-staff. Public schools were given a half-day holiday in order for students to pay their respects to the queen, whose body rested in state at Kawaiaha‘o Church for several days prior to her funeral. Indeed, students from over half a dozen public schools marched in procession from Thomas Square to the church on November 16. From just one of those schools, St. Louis College in Honolulu, today St. Louis School, 900 students paid their respects to the former monarch. The Advertiser reported that in the course of just one day approximately 15,000 people passed through the church.2 The American military paid tribute to Lili‘uokalani as well. Soldiers from Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter took part in the queen’s funeral as did other officials from the army, navy, and national guard companies from all of the major Hawaiian islands. The soldiers’ duties included not only marching in the funeral procession, but providing a twenty-one gun salute for the queen.3 Numerous local organizations also paid tribute to the former sovereign through official resolutions. These included the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and the Honolulu Board of Supervisors. Indeed, members of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese Association of Hawai‘i, and the United Chinese Society marched in the funeral procession.4 The queen’s honorary pall bearers included the governor of Hawai‘i, chief justice of the territory, the president of the Hawai‘i senate, the speaker of the territorial house of representatives, officials of the American army and navy, a United States senator, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Also in the funeral procession were other members of Congress, including senators and representatives from Montana, Utah, Kansas, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Maine. Local representatives included members of the territorial legislature, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, the mayor of Honolulu, and members of the Honolulu and Hawai‘i county boards of supervisors.5 [End Page 92] There was even an international component to the events surrounding the queen’s death. For example, on November 15, while the body of the queen rested in state at Kawaiaha‘o Church, Viscount Kikujiro Ishii, a special representative of the emperor of Japan who was traveling through Hawai‘i, visited the church and paid his official respects. Moreover, a contingent of several hundred Japanese sailors from the imperial navy participated in the queen’s funeral procession. In particular, a Japanese naval officer carried Lili‘uokalani’s Order of the Precious Crown of Japan, an award that was presented to the queen during her reign by the Japanese emperor. Also participating in the funeral were consuls representing Belgium, Denmark, Italy...

The 2015 White House Conference on Aging: Agenda Setting and Issue Framing

White House Conferences on Aging, dating to 1961, have long captured policy-relevant understandings about the status of older adults in American life. The initial Conference rallied support for the major legislative achievements of 1965—Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act. The 1971 Conference came together with enormous energy, both celebrating and contributing to the major legislative accomplishments of the 1965–1974 decade. The Conference in 1981 was marked by heated exchanges between insurgent Reagan administration officials and those pressing for further aging policy initiatives. In 1995, the Conference stood as a modest firewall against cuts to Medicare and Medicaid being proposed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Republican “Class of ‘94.” The Conference in 2005 was notable, in part, because for the first time the President did not participate—George W. Bush’s visiting an upscale retirement community on the day he was most likely to make an appearance—but also because of widespread concern among delegates regarding the President’s attempt to partially privatize Social Security. This year’s Conference is centered on highlighting both the needs and the contributions of the nation’s seniors. Organizers have identified four overarching themes critical to elders’ well-being: healthy aging, retirement security, long-term supports and services, and elder justice. While not being unmindful of the larger political realities surrounding the Conference, the rights, roles, and needs of seniors will hold center stage. It is important that such deliberations take place because the demographics and economics of aging continue to shift in important ways. Long gone—thanks largely to public policy—are days when elders were singularly poor and frail. Yet, a new series of pressures associated with extended lives, income differentials, and living environments will mark aging in the years ahead. Complex as these changes may be, they very often fall along a “cumulative advantage/disadvantage” faultline (Crystal & Shea, 1990). As such, it is essential that Conference participants recognize and address the structured diversity that marks contemporary aging by race, gender, age, and region. The articles in the following pages address each of the

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: its complete history and applications

Introduction by Joel K. Goldstein Preface to the Third Edition Acknowledgments from the 1992 Edition Foreword to the 1976 Edition Preface to the 1976 Edition I The Problems 1. Presidential Inability 2. Vice-Presidential Vacancy 3. Succession Beyond the Vice Presidency II The Solution 4. Early Steps to Solve the Inability Problem 5. Senate Passage of S. J. Res. 139 6. Congress Acts 7. Ratification 8. An Analysis of Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Amendment III Implementations of the Solution 9. The Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew 10. The Substitution of Gerald R. Ford 11. The Resignation of Richard M. Nixon and Succession of Gerald R. Ford 12. The Installation of Nelson A. Rockefeller 13. The Uses and Non-Uses of Section 3 IV Continued Interest and Efforts to Change 14. Congressional Action 15. Symposia, Scholarship, and Commissions 16. Representation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in Popular Culture V An Evaluation 17. Appraisal 18. Recommendations Appendixes A. Section-by-Section Development of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment B. Constitutional Provisions on Succession C. Statutory Succession Laws D. Presidential and Vice-Presidential Vacancies E. Times During Which the Speaker, the President pro tempore, or Both Were from a Party Different from the President's F. Rule Number 9 of the Republican Party 317 G. Selected Sections of the Charter and Bylaws of the Democratic Party H. Letter from President Lyndon B. Johnson to House Speaker John W. McCormack I. Schedule of Gerald Ford for August 9, 1974 J. Twenty-Fifth Amendment Memo Prepared for President Gerald R. Ford Notes Bibliography Index

National Assembly and its Controversial Pension : A Critique

The National Assembly is proposing life pensions for its principal officers. The decision of the National Assembly on the life pensions for the Senate President, his deputy, the House of Representatives Speaker and the Deputy Speaker has continued to generate controversy. Many Nigerians believe that the move smacked of egocentricity and insensitivity to the mood of the polity. And it has attracted so much condemnation. If the proposal becomes law, then, the principal officers will be entitled to a pension for life at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of the incumbent President and the Deputy President of Senate, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives. In the usual characteristic of the Nigerian political elite, the Nigerian Senate took an egocentric stand against the greater good of the Nigerian people, as the lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against local government autonomy but endorsed life pension for the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. What is clear from this self-serving action is that, our collective interest as a people is never paramount to these so-called representatives. Having conducted a public hearing in various constituencies across the land during which Nigerians overwhelming advocated total autonomy of the local government and expressed their views on other constitutional matters, one would have expected our senators to allow the wishes of the people to prevail. Rather, they chose to be on the inglorious part of history, dissipating their energies in promoting mundane desires instead of solving the peoples’ ultimate desire – welfare. The paper examines the controversial proposal and its implications for the polity.

Assessing the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

Like all but three presidents since the end of the Second World War, Barack Obama was reelected in 2012. (1) Obama triumphed over Republican challenger Mitt Romney by 332-206 in the Electoral College and by 51 to 47% in the national popular vote. Obama secured a second term with fewer electoral votes and fewer popular votes than he had accrued in the 2008 election cycle, becoming only the second Democrat in U.S. history, the other being Franklin Roosevelt, to win a majority of the popular vote more than once. Most preelection polls showed modest advantages for Obama (relative to Romney) over the course of the campaign, but the contest between the two contenders, at least according to preelection polls that registered voter preferences, remained close throughout (Panagopoulos 2013). The president faced several headwinds in his reelection quest. First, despite signs of economic recovery from the severe recession that began in 2008, the economy remained fragile. Economic growth was anemic. During 2009, gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell by 2.3% but only rebounded in 2010 and 2011 by 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively. This compares with an average GDP growth rate of 3.2% for all years from 1946 through 2011. (2) Unemployment tells a similar story. The unemployment rate stood at 8.2% in January 2012, about 2.4 percentage points higher than the average for all months from 1948 through 2011, according to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (3) Thus, on the economic front, often among the first factors that analysts look at in predicting and accounting for election outcomes, Barack Obama did not appear an overly successful steward. And the public seemed to agree that the president's economic leadership was lackluster. From mid-May 2009 onward, Gallup polls showed more voters disapproved of the president's handling of the economy than approved. (4) But elections are not only about economics. The passage of other important legislation may affect a president's reelection prospects, which is one reason Paul Light (1982), among others, urges presidents to hit the ground running to secure major legislative accomplishments. In the legislative domain, Obama was also challenged. His signature piece of domestic legislation, health care reform (or so-called Obamacare), was controversial. Early in the debate on health care reform, pluralities of voters disapproved of the president's job in handling the issue according to Gallup. Over the first six months of 2012, well into the reelection season, disapproval on health care ran ahead of approval by 15-25 percentage points in almost all Gallup polls. (5) Additionally, the passage of Obamacare contributed to a major voter backlash against the administration and to the emergence of the Tea Party, which led to a resounding election defeat for the Democrats in the 2010 midterm congressional elections. Looking at general indicators of public opinion would not necessarily indicate that Obama would be a formidable competitor. His overall job disapproval ratings tended to outpace his approval numbers by about two percentage points on average during the first six months of 2012, although his favorability ratings were stronger with about a four percentage-point edge for favorable versus unfavorable evaluations. Such modest favorability advantages do not portend a strong electoral showing. Despite these challenges for Obama, elections are contests between two candidates. In some respects, Obama likely benefitted from disarray and other developments in the GOP. First, Romney was not the darling of the Republican right wing, the strongest faction within the party. Romney had to contest for the nomination, along with other contenders including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, and Texas Governor Rick Perry, who, at one point or another were frontrunners in the GOP field. Although Romney emerged without clear evidence that the primaries divided the party, Obama appeared to have more enthusiastic backing from Democrats than Romney had among Republicans. …

R&D ekes out an increase in FY 2015 budget request

With spending caps in place, President Obama proposes an off-budget fund to support additional R&D. NASA would ground a flying observatory, and DOE would sharply curtail its nonproliferation programs.

The Performative Presidency: Crisis and Resurrection during the Clinton Years. By James L.Mast. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 198 pp.

The Performative Presidency: Crisis and Resurrection during the Clinton Years. By James L. Mast. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 198 pp. In The Performative Presidency, Jason L. Mast discusses two presidents. The first is a likeable fellow, empathetic, inclusive, and brilliant, who seemed to spring naturally from a Horatio Alger (p. 43). The second is an antidemocratic villain, verbally evasive, sexually promiscuous, with a chronically slippery relationship to the truth. Both are named Bill Clinton. Mast's book traces the waxing and waning influence of these two interpretations of Clinton's character across his first presidential campaign and through both terms of his administration. In the process, it illuminates much about how Americans make cultural meaning out of political performances. Mast frames the story of the two Clintons with twin introductions, the first theoretical and the second historical. The historical framework is wonderfully illuminating, tracing the formation of what Mast calls conditions of (p. 18) in American political culture from the turn of the twentieth century to the 1990s. Defusion refers simultaneously to the dissolution of a presumed-to-be unified American public, the dissemination of the interpretive power of the presidency across diverse technologies, and the separation of the office of the president from the officeholder. Mast identifies myriad factors in the formation of these conditions, including the decreased dominance of Congress and political parties in the American political sphere of the 1890s, the expanded interpretive authority of reporters, and the rise of televised campaigning. The factors also include historically idiosyncratic events, most notably Watergate, which opened the most radical possibilities for defusion of the president's office from its occupant. The rest of the book deftly tracks key events in the making of cultural meaning around Clinton's presidency. Mast identifies the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 as the watershed moment of Clinton's first term, a moment of symbolic inversion in which the president re-fused with his sacred office (p. 134). The analysis marshals dramatic and decisive evidence for this shift in meaning, including an evaluation of two press conferences held 24 hours apart--the first before and the second after the bombing--with breathtakingly different media and public responses. Mast also skillfully illuminates the ways in which the meanings of Clinton's performances were contingent upon those of his political adversaries, most notably President George H. W. Bush, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and special prosecutor Ken Starr. In particular, the book's extended treatment of Gingrich's performances in relation to Clinton's before and during the Monica Lewinsky scandal offers the most persuasive explanation to date for why Clinton's impeachment failed to adversely affect his popularity. …

Iran and Afghanistan: The Urgent Need for Inclusive Regional Diplomacy

Iran wants a stable Afghanistan and has meticulously worked to protect its interests before and after 2001 to this end. Prior to 2001, Iran was the primary backer of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, and after September 2011 it was one of the earliest supporters of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to rout the Taliban. Since then, the country has established considerable political and economic presence in its eastern neighbor-both overt and covert-through generous cash payments to the Afghan government and essential development aid delivered through religious and charitable organizations. Tehran also seeks long-term political stability in Afghanistan, though it is no stickler for liberal democracy. In the short term, Iran appears to be fairly satisfied with the status quo as long as Afghanistan is not used as a base for attacks against it.Tehran would like its vision for a stable Afghanistan to be realized within a context of zero U.S. troops on the ground after 2014. Consequently, it is keeping a very close eye on developments in the country, specifically the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This essay examines Iran's enduring interests in Afghanistan and their implications for relations with the United States and other regional players beyond 2014.Iran's Interests in AfghanistanAfghanistan has always been strategically significant to Iran. The landlocked country shares a 582-mile border with Iran to its west, and the two neighbors have no unsettled territorial disputes, which is a rarity in the region. They also share linguistic, cultural, and religious links-one-fifth of Afghanistan's population is Shia-owing to their common history under consecutive Persian empires.Iran has four long-standing strategic objectives vis-a-vis Afghanistan. First, Tehran wants an administration in Kabul that will not only distance itself from the United States but also remain wary of the Taliban and its state sponsors, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Such being the case today, Iran will continue its policy of supporting the Afghan presidency. It will not object to the 2014 elections producing a Pashtun majority as long as ethnic minorities, such as the Tajiks and Hazaras, obtain fair representation in the new government. Iran has previously demonstrated such tolerance in the Bonn conference of 2001 and in the 2004 and 2009 elections. This willingness ties into Iran's second non-negotiable interest: leveraging the Shiite Dari/Persian-speaking non-Pashtun population. The country has protected the interests of its traditional Afghan allies-the Farsiwan Heratis, the Shia Hazara, and Tajiks-and cultivated relations with as many factions as possible, including those supporting the incumbent president Hamid Karzai. Iran has also built and maintained close ties with key players in the Afghan political landscape, including Abdullah Abdullah, presidential candidate and leading opposition figure; Ismail Khan, vice presidential candidate and former governor of Herat; and Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, the lower house speaker and political and military heir of Ahmad Shah Massoud. This political clout will help Tehran advance its goals in Afghanistan after 2014. In addition, Iran has preserved relationships with the militias it helped train during the Soviet invasion.Iran's third priority is safeguarding on-the-ground investments and personnel, particularly in western Afghanistan. The killings of Iranian diplomats in Mazar-e-Sharif in 1998 serve as a stark reminder of the threats that Iranians engaged in commerce can face from a resurgent Taliban. Such personnel are at the forefront of Iran's strategic vision of playing a powerful role in Afghanistan beyond the political and security realms. Preserving an economic sphere of influence in Afghanistan is Iran's fourth strategic objective. The country pledged a total of $900 million in aid for reconstruction projects during 2002-13, with about $500 million disbursed at the time of writing. …

Report of the Speaker of the House of Delegates

July 17, 2013 The responsibilities of Speaker of the AACP House of Delegates transitioned for the fourth time on July 17, 2013 at the final session of the House of Delegates at the Annual Meeting. Rod Carter and John Pieper were the first and second Speakers of the House; I was delighted to serve as Speaker-elect during the final year of Dr. Pieper’s term of office and as Speaker for two years. This role also involves membership on the Board of Directors and more recently on the AACP Executive Committee. Phil Hritcko (University of Connecticut) has been installed as the fourth Speaker and will conduct the business of the House over the next two years. Much of the work of the House occurs behind the scenes. I appreciate the ongoing service of Lawrence “LB” Brown (Chapman University) as parliamentarian. Lucinda Maine is a steady presence as House Secretary and provides institutional perspectives. AACP staff members Whitney Zatzkin (2012) and Jen Adams (2013) provided capable and efficient administrative support. What have we done? I have seen tremendous progress in the support of delegates and the policy process over several years. First and foremost we have engaged faculty members and administrators, as well as our organizational units within AACP, in policy for pharmacy education. As we attempt to foresee the future for our graduates, we continually promote change and advance innovation which ultimately affects the health of our nation. I was fortunate to serve on the Bylaws and Policy Development Committee as a member and chair prior to my term as Speaker. During this time we have: • Improved communications with delegates through new delegate orientation and policy Webinars prior to the Annual Meeting. • Provided archived Webinars to delegates who were not able to participate in the live sessions. • Reviewed and archived policies (2011). • Updated House Rules of Procedure (2011). • Engaged in an open forum (2012) on “What is Policy?” and reaffirmed the need for and the unique role of the AACP House of Delegates. • Explored best practices for engaging delegates (2011-2012 Committee on Delegate Engagement and Deployment) including terms of office, selection/election and transitions. • Accomplished comprehensive revision of the AACP Bylaws (adopted July 17, 2013), including review of the Articles of Incorporation. What remains to be done? As with any process of continuing improvement, the work of the House continues. Speaker Hritcko will have many opportunities to enhance previous activities. Among these potential initiatives are: • Continuation of the new delegate and policy Webinars and discontinuation of the onsite orientation at the Annual Meeting. • Reconsideration of the deadline for resolutions at the Annual Meeting in light of new Special Interest Group meeting schedules. • Revision of the House Rules of Procedure, including references to Articles in the revised bylaws. • Engagement of the Library and Information Science Section to assist with organizing and cataloging AACP policies with a search function to assist members with referencing. • Establishment of an online process for resolutions submissions including rationale and inclusion of relevant existing policies, if applicable. • Continued education of members on the distinctions among policies (AACP position, value or belief on an issue related to pharmacy education), recommendations (to AACP), and suggestions (to schools/colleges). I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have served as AACP Speaker, and I encourage others to consider this elected office. The voice of the members in the form of the House of Delegates sits as the top of the organizational chart of AACP. I have enjoyed working with delegates from across the country in our now 130 schools/colleges and especially value the collegial culture of our “legislative process” where administrative and faculty delegates are equally represented. We can be proud of our collective efforts on behalf of pharmacy education.

The Obligation of Members of Congress to Consider Constitutionality While Deliberating and Voting: The Deficiencies of House Rule XII and a Proposed Rule for the United States Senate

Most scholarly attention on constitutional interpretation is focused on the judicial branch and its role in our system of separation of powers. Nonetheless, constitutional interpretation should not take place solely in the courts. Rather, history suggests our Framers envisioned that members of Congress, as well as the President and the courts, would have an independent and important role to play in interpreting our Constitution. Yet this obligation has eroded such that House Speaker John Boehner, with the support of the Tea Party and his Republican colleagues, called for a “sea change” in the way the House of Representatives operates, with “a closer adherence to the U.S. Constitution.” To that end, Speaker Boehner amended House Rule XII to require members of Congress who introduce bills or joint resolutions to provide a Constitutional Authority Statement (“CAS”) outlining Congress’s authority to adopt the bill or joint resolution. This Essay identifies, explains, and critically explores four key deficiencies in the House Rule in light of the history of constitutional interpretation in Congress, the incentives of members of Congress, and the realities of the legislative process. While the House Rule represents an important step in improving the quality of constitutional deliberation in Congress, it is unnecessarily bureaucratic, underinclusive, and fails to capture the importance of constitutional interpretation for all members of Congress, not just the introducers of legislation. The Rule also reflects a severely limited notion of what constitutional issues need to be considered in voting on legislation by completely ignoring constitutional infirmities involving individual rights, civil liberties, and any other potential constitutional issue aside from Congress’s authority. To address these concerns, this Essay proposes an improved rule for adoption in the Senate. The proposed rule requires a CAS for all legislation — not just bills or joint resolutions — but only when that legislation will actually receive a vote. Furthermore, the proposed rule makes it clear that all members of Congress — not just the introducer — have an individual obligation to consider the constitutionality of legislation on which they vote. Finally, the proposed Senate rule requires a CAS to include not just information about Congress’s Article I authority but also to address other possible countervailing constitutional issues, like individual liberties.