Is this the last week of the 114th Congress? Could be!
The only must-pass legislation is a continuing budget resolution to fund the government (existing funding expires on December 9th.)
The Senate will vote on the House-passed CURES Act and the annual defense authorization (NDAA).
The House will vote on a Water Resources bill (WRDA), which may include funding for Flint, Michigan (members are still hammering out the details). The House will also vote on a host of “suspension” bills before gaveling down sine die.
See: What happens to bills after Congress adjourns?
Here's what Congress is voting on this week:
CONTINUING RESOLUTION (CR) TO FUND THE GOVERNMENT
(no bill text or details yet)
In the Senate:
H.R. 6: THE 21ST CENTURY CURES ACT
Sponsor: Rep. Fred Upton [R, MI-6]
The final $6.3 billion package contains:
- $1 billion in state grants for the opioid crisis
- $4.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health
- $500 million for the Food and Drug Administration
It is paid for with some funds from the Affordable Care Act and sale of some oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. It passed the House last week (392-26).
CONFERENCE REPORT TO ACCOMPANY S. 2943 – NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (NDAA)
"The NDAA supports $619 billion for national defense. In addition to matching the President’s original budget request of $610 billion, the NDAA also authorizes the $5.8 billion supplemental request for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Europe and a further $3.2 billion for Readiness Stabilization Funding, to stop the drawdown of the military, which is fueling the readiness crisis." (Conference summary)
The NDAA passed the House last week (277-139).
In the House:
CONFERENCE REPORT TO ACCOMPANY WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT (WRDA)
(Details still being discussed, follow POPVOX for updates when final deal is released.)
Also on the Docket:
H.R. 2726: Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Posey [R, FL-8]
Directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon.
H.R. 6427: Creating Financial Prosperity for Businesses and Investors Act
Sponsor: Rep. Scott Garrett [R, NJ-5]
Establishes a the SEC Small Business Advocate and changes some crowdfunding regulations.
S. 795: To enhance whistleblower protection for contractor and grantee employees
Sponsor: Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
Extends federal contractor whistleblower protections to employees of personal services contractors working on defense contracts .
H.R. 5015: Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. David Rouzer [R, NC-7]
Directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify certain severance payments to veterans with combat-related injuries, from which DOD withheld amounts for tax purposes, and send instructions for filing amended tax returns to recover the amount.
S. 3395: Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2016
Sponsor: Sen. John Thune [R, SD]
Prohibits the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from authorizing a prescribed burn (i.e., a planned fire intentionally ignited) on Forest Service land if, for the county or contiguous county in which such land is located, the national fire danger rating system is indicating an extreme fire danger level.
House Amendment to S. 1635: Department of State Authorities Act
Sponsor: Sen. Bob Corker [R, TN]
S. 1635 would make several changes to Department of State operations. Read Senate summary.
H.R. 756: Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act of 2015
Sponsor: Rep. Matthew Cartwright [D, PA-17]
Directs the Department of Energy's Office of Energy and Renewable Energy to establish a clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding available programs and financing mechanisms that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, distributed generation, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.
H.R. 6375: Power And Security Systems
Sponsor: Rep.Mike Pompeo [R, KS-4]
To provide for consideration of the extension under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of nonapplication of No-Load Mode energy efficiency standards to certain security or life safety alarms or surveillance systems.
H.R. 3381: Childhood Cancer STAR Act
Sponsor: Rep. Michael McCaul [R, TX-10]
Reauthorizes the national childhood cancer registry through FY2020 and requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award grants to states to improve tracking of childhood cancers.
H.Res _____: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all students should have access to the digital tools necessary to further their education and compete in the 21st century economy
H.R. 6394: Improving Broadband Access for Veterans Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. Jerry McNerney [D, CA-9]
To require the Federal Communications Commission to submit to Congress a report on promoting broadband Internet access service for veterans.
H.Res. 932: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to third-party charges on consumer telephone bills
Sponsor: Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D, IL-9]
Expresses the sense of the House that consumers should be allowed to stop third-party "cramming" charges on phone bills.
S. 2873: Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT]
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration, to study technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building models and the ability of those models to improve patient care and provider education.
H.R. 6416: Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. David Roe [R, TN-1]
Omnibus bill of service and payment delivery improvements.
H.R. 5399: Ethical Patient Care for Veterans Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. David Roe [R, TN-1]
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that each VA physician is informed of the duty to report any covered activity committed by another physician that the physician witnesses or otherwise directly discovers to the applicable state licensing authority within five days.
H.R. 4150: Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Medical Staffing Recruitment and Retention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Raul Ruiz [D, CA-36]
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modify the hours of employment for a full-time VA physician or physician assistant to be more than or less than 80 hours in a biweekly pay period if the total of such employee's hours of employment in a calendar year does not exceed 2,080 hours.
H.R. 4352: Faster Care for Veterans Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. Seth Moulton [D, MA-6]
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin an 18-month pilot program in at least three Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) under which veterans use an Internet website to schedule and confirm appointments at VA medical facilities.
H.R. 5428: Military Residency Choice Act
Sponsor: Rep. J. Forbes [R, VA-4]
This bill amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to permit the spouse of a servicemember to elect to use the same residence as the servicemember for purposes of taxation and voting, regardless of the date on which the marriage of the spouse and the servicemember occurred.
H.R. 875: Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act of 2016
Sponsor: Rep. Henry Cuellar [D, TX-28]
Authorizes the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enter into agreements with certain persons for the CBP to provide customs, agricultural processing, border security, or inspection-related immigration services at a land border port of entry, subject to payment of a fee to reimburse the CBP for providing such services.
Highlighting a bill does not indicate POPVOX endorsement in any way. Our goal is to help you stay better informed and share your input, supporting or opposing, with your lawmakers.
