Election 2010 - The Morning After
I've asked NCISS Washington
Advocate Larry Sabbath to share his thoughts this morning about how
yesterday's election results will impact private investigators and security
companies:
Although several
Congressional races remain undecided Wednesday morning, it's possible to
begin to examine how the election results will affect NCISS members when the
111th Congress convenes in January.
With Republicans taking
control of the House, they will have the opportunity to choose both the
leaders and members of committees. This will allow them to set the agenda
and also increase legislative staff. Major changes are in store for several
committees which consider relevant legislation.
The Energy & Commerce
Committee, where much privacy legislation originates, will see substantial
upheaval. Politico reported that 12 members of the Subcommittee on
Communications, Technology & the Internet won't be returning. The Chairman
of the Subcommittee, Rick Boucher (D-VA) was defeated. And it is not clear
who will chair the full committee. There is some speculation that Cliff
Stearns (R-FL) will vie for the job. Rep. Stearns is a longtime advocate for
privacy legislation.
The House Ways & Means
Committee will also see an overhaul. The likely chairman will be Dave Camp
(R-MI), who has been supportive of NCISS positions in the past. But Rep.
Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee lost his
election. He has not pushed for legislation to restrict access to Social
Security numbers during his tenure.
House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) will likely become the ranking Democrat on the
Committee. Lamar Smith (R-TX) currently serves as Republican leader on the
Committee. However, the Republicans limit how long a leader serves on a
committee and this may affect Rep. Smith.
There will also be changes
in the leadership of the Homeland Security Committee where Democratic
Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi has pushed legislation to
replace private security officers in federal buildings with federal
employees.
The Senate has stayed in
Democratic hands, albeit weaker ones, as Republicans have picked up at least
six seats. The GOP will now be able to stop virtually any legislation with a
threat of a filibuster. It will not be possible to enact the union priority
"Employee Free Choice Act" next Congress.
Over the next two weeks,
some of these possible changes will become clearer. Both parties are
expected to consider these personnel issues when Congress returns for a
"lame duck" session on November 15. Complicating these predictions is the
possibility that the new House leadership will decide to make more radical
changes. They have the ability to change the rules and reorganize the
committee structure. Democrats have done that in the past when they took
over control. There is even some discussion inside the beltway that Speaker
Pelosi may choose not to serve as Minority Leader.
This speculation is
interesting, but we also have to keep an eye on developments during the
"lame duck" session. As Jimmie Mesis has reported earlier, several major
bills remain under consideration. We will continue to work to protect the
interests of NCISS members.
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Keeping the profession informed,
Jimmie Mesis
NCISS Legislative Chairman
NCISS
7501 Sparrows Point Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21219-1927
(800) 445-8408 . Fax: (410)
388-9746
jim@nciss.org
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