Tenure
Bright is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. He has voted with Democratic leadership 71.7% of the time., making him the second most conservative member of the House Democratic Caucus. Bright twice against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, one of only 7 Democrats voting against the final version. In February 2009, Bright voted in favor of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. In June 2009, Bright voted in favor of the Cash for Clunkers bill. In July 2009, Bright voted against establishing spending caps through fiscal year 2014. In November 2009, Bright voted against the House version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act. In March 2010, Bright voted against the Senate version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act. He has not signed a petition circulated by Iowa Republican Steve King calling for a complete repeal of the law, calling the effort "premature." In November 2009, Bright, along with Representative Walt Minnick of Idaho, introduced House Resolution 4072. This resolution reorganized public job training funds, directing them towards flexible skills and credentials recognized by industries. Also called the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration Act (AMERICA Works), the bill was targeted at new workers just entering the workforce and servicemen and women returning to civilian life. Because of his dedication to small business, Bright requested a waiver to serve on the House Small Business Committee shortly after his arrival in Washington. This committee worked to find solutions to the challenges faced by small businesses. Some of these include the cost of health care, the impact of food safety recalls, federal government regulations, and small business taxes. The first bill sponsored by Bright was intended for the benefit of small businesses. It created a bonus deprecation for the kind of large purchases made by small businesses. His legislation would eventually be included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which became law on February 17, 2009.
After the defection of fellow Alabama Democrat Parker Griffith to the Republican Party in December 2009, political analyst and statistician Nate Silver suggested that Bright could follow, naming "60/40" odds that he would eventually join the Republican caucus as well. The day after Griffith's party switch, Bright told media that he had no intention of switching parties and would remain a Democrat.
The National Journal named Bright the most conservative Democrat during the first session of the 111th United States Congress.
Read more about this topic: Bobby Bright, U.S. House of Representatives
Famous quotes containing the word tenure:
“It might be seen by what tenure men held the earth. The smallest stream is mediterranean sea, a smaller ocean creek within the land, where men may steer by their farm bounds and cottage lights. For my own part, but for the geographers, I should hardly have known how large a portion of our globe is water, my life has chiefly passed within so deep a cove. Yet I have sometimes ventured as far as to the mouth of my Snug Harbor.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a practice of tenure in public office.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)