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The Week Ahead in Congress: Jan. 26 – 30

6 min read

By Rachna Choudhry, 1/25/15

From our Hill Sources: The 114th Congress has already made history. The Senate voted on more amendments in the past one week than it considered in all of 2014! As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explained: “We’ve actually reached a milestone here that I think is noteworthy for the Senate. We just cast our 15th roll-call vote on an amendment on this bill, which is more votes — more roll-call votes on amendments than the entire United States Senate in all of 2014.” The reason for the series of votes is the Keystone XL pipeline, which may get its first Senate floor vote as early as this week.

Meanwhile, the House will be considering bills related to human trafficking, in recognition of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Keystone XL in the Senate

It’s been more than six years since TransCanada first submitted an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The House passed legislation earlier this month approving the pipeline’s construction, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to approve it this week.

From our Hill Sources: On Jan. 22, Senate Majority Leader McConnell filed cloture on the underlying bill, triggering an additional 30 hours of debate before a final vote. We can expect a final Senate vote on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline as early as this week.

  • Hoeven-Manchin Keystone XL Pipeline Act (S 1)

    — Bipartisan — "Authorizes TransCanada to construct and operate the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to the US Gulf Coast, transporting an additional 830,000 barrels of oil per day to US refineries, which includes 100,000 barrels a day from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana. Upon passage, a presidential permit would no longer be needed to approve the project," according to the bill sponsors. (Read bill text.)

Background: TransCanada has proposed laying 1,179 miles of pipe, 36 inches in diameter, that would connect oil producers in Canada’s tar sands region with refineries along the American Gulf Coast. The project has been extensively debated and studied — and the Obama Administration has not yet decided whether to approve the pipeline.

The House has passed legislation approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline ten times. Most recently, they passed the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (HR 3) in early January by a 266 to 153 vote. Twenty-eight Democrats and all but one Republican supported the bill. In the Senate, things are more complicated. On Jan. 12, the Senate voted 63 to 32 to begin debate on their Keystone XL bill – a significant step, as it was the first time a Keystone bill had cleared this hurdle. While 63 Senate supporters are three more than what was needed to send the bill to a Senate vote, it’s not enough to override a veto. The new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is allowing the bill to go through "regular order," enabling Republicans and Democrats to offer amendments — and the ensuing debate has lasted weeks, and set a vote record for the 114th Congress. 

Learn more about the Keystone XL pipeline in this Issue Spotlight.

Human Trafficking

January 2015 is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. “Today, millions of women, men, and children around the world are subjected to forced labor, domestic servitude, or the sex trade at the hands of human traffickers,” according to the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), including in the United States. (Learn more about the DHS’s Blue Campaign, which works in collaboration with law enforcement, government, non-governmental and private organizations to combat human trafficking.)

Background: According to the FBI, sex trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. As many as 300,000 American youth are at risk of becoming a victim of sex trafficking. While the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking has often been carried out by state and local law enforcement, the enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000 made child sex trafficking in interstate commerce a federal crime. The TVPA is the primary legislative vehicle authorizing services to victims of trafficking and was most recently reauthorized in 2013. (Source: House Judiciary Committee)

This week, Congress will be voting on several bills related to human trafficking:

  • Human Trafficking Prioritization Act (HR 514)

    To prioritize the fight against human trafficking within the Department of State according to congressional intent in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 without increasing the size of the Federal Government. (Bill text)

  • International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (HR 515)

    “A serious attempt to mitigate child sex tourism by noticing countries of destination concerning the travel plans of convicted pedophiles. And to protect American children, the bill encourages the President to use bilateral agreements and assistance to establish reciprocal notification so that we will know when convicted child-sex offenders are coming here,” according a floor statement by the sponsor in 2014. “In 1994, a young girl in my home town and district was lured into the home of a convicted pedophile who lived across the street from her home. Megan Kanka, seven, was raped and murdered. No one, including Megan Kanka’s parents, knew that their neighbor had been convicted and jailed for child sexual assault. The combination of concern for children and outrage towards those who abuse led to enactment of Megan’s Laws—public sex offender registries—in every state in the country.” (Bill text)

  • Human Trafficking Prevention Act (HR 357)

    “Requires additional training for Department of State officials related to human trafficking,” according to the bill sponsor. (Bill text)

Also in the House…

The House will also consider:

— Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn't imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we're simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of a complex legislative system. —

Photo credit: Route map is from TransCanada.

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