Capitol Catchall: Ellison praises Gaza aid, Kline signs on for pay freeze

Rep. Tim Walz is having a tough time getting House members to sign onto a bill he’s consponsoring that’d make it illegal for members of Congress to use nonpublic information gained in their jobs for personal investing. He’s got two sponsors so far: Democrat Reps. Brian Baird from Washington and Louise Slaughter of New York. Currently, there’s no law banning such insider trading, which Walz says is “just outrageous.” H.R. 862 was sent to committee late last week.

Rep. John Kline is joining Walz and Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson in supporting legislation to effectively freeze congressional salaries. The bill, H.R. 156, would halt an automatic cost-of-living increase scheduled for 2010. It now has 93 sponsors.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman, having now vacated his offices in Washington and here in Minnesota (including Mankato), is getting fundraising help for his recount trial from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The group is holding a Feb. 11 fundraiser that it hopes will extract up to $10,000 per donor, with half going to Coleman’s recount fund and half to a state GOP committee set up to help fund the recount trial.

Among the first to hail President Obama’s decision to release $21.3 million to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is, unsurprisingly, Rep. Keith Ellison, one  of a very few House members to not support last month’s resolution approving of Israel’s incursion into the Palestinian area. “I want to thank President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton for the swiftness with which they have responded to the critical humanitarian needs in Gaza,” Ellison said of a decision that will aid United Nations and Red Cross agencies in Gaza. “As a strong supporter of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, I am so grateful to the President for recognizing the dire situation that exists today in Gaza.” Last week, Ellison was among seven House members who sent a letter to Clinton urging swift action to aid residents of Gaza.

Retired 3rd Congressional District Rep. Jim Ramstad is Harvard-bound. He’ll be one of five resident fellows who’ll lead weekly study groups next semester at the university’s Institute of Politics, part of the Kennedy School of Government.