The vote was 215 to 204. The bill — which also extends a number of tax breaks set to expire shortly — now moves to the Senate, which will take up the proposal after lawmakers return June 7 from their Memorial Day recess. In the meantime, the filing deadline for UI benefits will expire June 2.

In a separate vote, House lawmakers also passed a bill to prevent Medicare doctors from receiving a 21 percent pay cut at the end of the month. That proposal, too, won’t be considered by the Senate until after the recess.

While most of the roughly $50 billion savings under the amended bill comes from trimming Medicare payments to doctors, the revised proposal — which House leaders are hoping to pass today — also shortens the deadline extension for unemployment benefits and COBRA health benefits by one month.

Translation: While the original bill extended the filing deadline through the end of the 2010, the newer bill extends the filing deadline through November (i.e., just beyond the midterm elections).

(Of note: Neither proposal would create new tiers of benefits.)

If the House passes the bill today, it then moves to the Senate, where Democratic leaders will have to rally the 60 votes needed to defeat the likely GOP filibuster. Whether they can do it before they leave for their week-long Memorial Day vacation remains a real question.

The history:

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew industrial hemp and used it to make cloth. During World War II, the federal government encouraged American farmers to grow hemp to help the war effort.

The science:

Industrial hemp [is] defined to contain less than 0.3 percent THC — the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. … Nobody can be psychologically affected by consuming industrial hemp.

The current law:

Despite industrial hemp farming being an important part of American history, the federal government has banned cultivation of this crop.

The impact of that law:

Because of a federal policy that does not distinguish between growing industrial hemp and growing marijuana, all hemp products and materials must be imported. The result is high prices, outsourced jobs, and lost opportunities for American manufacturing.

The benefits of eliminating the prohibition:

Reintroducing industrial hemp farming in the United States would bring jobs to communities struggling in today’s economy, provide American farmers with another crop alternative, and encourage the development of hemp processing factories near American hemp farming.

Hemp’s utility:

Industrial hemp is used in protein supplements, non-dairy milk, and frozen desserts. Hemp flour is in breads, crackers, chips, dips, and dressings. Hemp seeds may be eaten plain or added to prepared foods. Additionally, hemp oil is used in a number of cosmetic and body care products, and hemp fiber is used in cloths. Industrial hemp is also present in bio-composite materials used in buildings and automobiles.

Paul’s bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), has 20 additional supporters.

Now it seems to me that if we are so advanced with technology and manpower and competence that we can capture illegal grasshoppers from Brazil, in the holds of ships that are in a little small place in Port Arthur, Texas on the Sabine River. …  If we’re able to do that as a country, how come we can’t capture the thousands of people that cross the border everyday on the southern border of the United States?

You know they’re a little bigger than grasshoppers and they should be able to be captured easier.

The context here creates itself.

With the Democratic primary just days away, state and local party leaders are ripping into David Krikorian, one of the hopefuls to challenge GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt in November, for disparaging remarks he’s made recently about his chief primary opponent, Surya Yalamanchili.

According to accounts given to local politicians, Krikorian has appeared at campaign events to ridicule Yalamanchili, an American of Indian descent, by dramatically pronouncing his name to emphasize its foreign nature.

“Now do you really think that a guy with a name like that has a chance of ever being elected?” Krikorian allegedly said to members of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Clermont County.

The comments —  which Krikorian denies – drew a quick response from local Democratic leaders, who shot off a letter to Krikorian Wednesday calling his behavior “deeply disturbing.”

“Your comments on Surya’s name are are best insensitive and worse appear racist,” wrote Timothy M. Burke and David Lane, the Democratic chairmen in Hamilton and Clermont counties, respectively. “It is deeply disturbing to us that you would use his name, which is obviously derived from his ethnic heritage, against him in a denigrating manner, especially considering how strongly you value and celebrate your own heritage.”

They added: “We will be voting for Surya next week, just as 18 months ago we were delighted to vote for someone else with an unusual name — Barack Obama.”

That isn’t all. Chris Redfern, chairman of Ohio’s Democratic Party, also caught wind of Krikorian’s alleged comments, and penned his own letter of disgust, calling Krikorian’s words “destructive.”

“We are a Party that proudly values diversity and inclusiveness,” Redfern wrote. “Your words fall short of these ideals.”

Yalamanchili, who recently starred on “The Apprentice,” hinted this week that he’s more concerned about what the comments say about Krikorian’s take on voter attitudes around Cincinnati than he is personally offended. “What’s most disappointing is that they seem to assume a certain level of racism on the part of the people of the 2nd district,” he told local media.

It’s not the only reason the Democrats are attacking Krikorian in the lead up to Tuesday’s primary. The Ohio businessman, while running for the same seat as an Independent in 2008, referred to himself as a “Reagan conservative,” a distinction that doesn’t exactly win points among the Democratic faithful. And during a primary debate last month, Krikorian attacked the notion that government workers should have the right to organize under unions, saying that “it puts the public at a disadvantage.”

Still, it’s the more recent charges of denigrating Yalamanchili’s heritage that are attracting most of the attention this week. And many say there’s good reason for that.

“They aren’t borderline racist remarks,” Cliff Schecter, an Ohio-based political consultant who is not involved in this race, told TWI Thursday. ”They are racist remarks.”

The episode has even attracted attention on Capitol Hill, with Schmidt herself condemning Krikorian’s remarks in an April 26 letter to the Democratic hopeful.

“Your remarks … were offensive to all that find even the hint of racism appalling,” Schmidt wrote. “You owe Mr. Yalamanchili and the Indian-American community an apology. Though I doubt one is forthcoming given your history.”

Krikorian, for his part, has denied the charges, and says he’ll be issuing a longer statement today.

The political advantage of that move is clear: The American Medical Association has been screaming from the rafters for Congress to step in and scrap the flawed formula that dictates Medicare payments to doctors — a formula that would have cut those payments by 21 percent this year without congressional intervention — only to see lawmakers continually apply short-term fixes instead.

The latest Band-Aid came earlier this month, when Congress delayed the scheduled pay cut until June. That’s better than actually having the cut realized, but it hasn’t satisfied AMA leaders, who endorsed the Democrats’ health care reform bill with the understanding that Congress would solve the Medicare payment problem once and for all.

“If the formula is not repealed, the problem will continue to grow,” AMA President J. James Rohack said in a statement earlier this month.

No word yet on how the Democrats would pay for the five-year fix, or even whether it would satisfy a doctors lobby that wants a permanent solution. But Van Hollen, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, clearly doesn’t want to step into November’s mid-term elections without at least the hint of something more long-term than another Band-Aid.

The bill, which now moves to the House,* will provide a two-month cushion for unemployed workers to access federal unemployment benefits after their 26 weeks of state benefits have expired. It does not create an additional tier of federal benefits for those at their last available level (state-dependent) of federal help.

The deadline for filing for additional benefits was April 5. The legislation passed today, which is retroactive to that date, extends the filing deadline to June 2.

The bill also extends COBRA health subsidies and delays a pay cut for Medicare doctors. The $18 billion cost was not offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

*Update: The House is expected to approve the bill tonight (Thursday) around 9 p.m.

The House ethics committee has drafted rules that for the first time would define gay married couples as “spouses” for the purposes of filling out their annual Congressional financial disclosure forms.

The proposed change is found in new draft instructions for those financial disclosure forms, which lawmakers and senior staffers have to file annually, Roll Call discovered. The language says:

Same-Sex Marriages: In 2009, there were a total of four states which issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. (New Hampshire and the District of Columbia began issuing such licenses effective in 2010). If you and your spouse were issued a marriage license by any of these states and were subsequently legally married in that state, you must disclose all required spousal information on your Financial Disclosure Statement.

But don’t be surprised if the draft language doesn’t make it into the final version. The proposal is already taking heat from both gay rights groups and those opposed to gay marriage. Roll Call explains:

For gay rights activists, the disclosure requirement is an attempt to saddle gay couples with some of the obligations of marriage without providing the full benefits of marriage, such as the right to file joint federal tax returns.

Meanwhile, gay marriage opponents say this is a case of one committee trying to override all of Congress.

Tom McClusky, vice president of Family Research Council Action, the legislative arm of the FRC, said the Defense of Marriage Act is explicit in prohibiting federal entities from equating gay partners with opposite-sex married couples.

None of Congress’ openly gay lawmakers would be affected by the change, Roll Call notes, because none is legally married in his or her state.

“My friends and family know that during the last several election cycles, when it seemed like health care reform was impossible in Washington, I considered retiring from Congress,” he said. “But in each of the past several election cycles, I chose to continue to serve the people of the first district because I felt we still had work to do.”

Today, children can no longer be denied care because of a pre- existing condition and no insurance company can drop you for your family from care or cap your insurance coverage due to a serious injury or chronic illness. Today, because of reforms, seniors will be able to afford their prescription drugs and Americans will receive preventive care that they need. And today, small businesses can receive tax credits to make employee insurance coverage more affordable.

After 18 years, together, we’ve accomplished what you sent me to Washington to do, health care for all Americans.

Stupak said he’s ready to take on “new challenges,” though he didn’t say what they might be.

The news comes a week after Spratt was named a member of the White House deficit reduction commission.