Republican Emerson especially supportive of Dems' 100 Hours bills

By Tom Weber, KWMU

St. Louis, MO – The six bills that Democrats in the U.S. House passed during their first 100 hours got some support from St. Louis area Republicans, but one Republican was especially supportive.

Cape Girardeau-area Rep. JoAnn Emerson (R-MO) voted for five of the six bills that passed during the 100 hours. Her only no' vote was for the bill that implements the rest of the 9/11 commission's recommendations.

Todd Akin, meanwhile, was the stingiest with the yes' vote; he only went along with the plan to cut interest rates for student loans. That bill, in fact, was the only one to get support from all seven St. Louis area Congressmen.

Kenny Hulshof and John Shimkus voted exactly the same way, approving the 9/11 and student loan bills, as well as increasing the minimum wage. But they voted against the other three.

Meanwhile, the three Democrats from the St. Louis area - Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay, and Jerry Costello - voted for all six of the bills, with one exception. Costello voted against increasing stem cell funding.

Democrats finished passing the six bills on Thursday, 13 hours ahead of their 100-hour deadline.

From noon on January Fourth, when the 110th Congress opened, the House had been in session 87 hours when, shortly after 6 o'clock Thursday night, it passed the last of the six bills that Democrats promised to deliver within 100 hours of assuming power.

Among the other bills approved a requirement that the government negotiate with drug companies to lower prices in the Medicare drug program, and eliminating tax breaks for oil companies.

All of the bills face the possibility of change in the Senate, and two of them have drawn veto threats from President Bush (stem cell & Medicare pricing).