Rep. Cliff Stearns (R.-Fla.) was the first member of the House to visit Blog Row here in the Cannon Building this morning. He told us about three amendments he offered this week, including two on UN funding and another about bilingual ballots.

Stearns' three amendments failed, but he came to Blog Row to speak about why he believes they're important.

The two UN amendments dealt with how U.S. money is spent in Turtle Bay. The first amendment, offered Tuesday, would have transferred $500,000 for the UN Human Rights Commission to the U.S. federal prison system. It failed on a 163-257 vote.

The second UN amendment would have prohibited "funds from being used for the design, renovation, construction, or rental of any headquarters for the United Nations in any location in the United States." It was defeated on a 131-288 vote.

Finally, on the issue of immigration, Stearns pushed for an amendment that addressed bilingual ballots. Working closely with Rep. Steve King (R.-Iowa), Stearns sought to end the federal mandate that polling places must provide bilingual ballots for voters. Instead, Stearns' amendment would have left it up to states to decide. However, it failed on a 167-254 vote.

Stearns also spoke about offshore drilling, an issue that is important to his constituents in Florida's 6th District. Stearns said he expects a compromise to reach the House floor on Rep. Richard Pombo's (R.-Calif.) offshore drilling bill.