Chief Deputy Whip
Rep. Diana DeGette
DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan, educated at Denver's South High School and Colorado College. Read More...

The Daily WhipLine

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

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Floor Schedule and Procedure        

• H. Res. 1212–Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 6049 – Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (Rep. Arcuri-Rules):   The closed rule provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committees on Ways and Means.  The rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Debate on the rule will be managed by Rep. Arcuri, and consideration will proceed as follows: 
  • One hour of debate on the rule.
  • Possible vote on a Democratic Motion ordering the previous question. Democrats are urged to vote yes.
  • Vote on adoption of the rule. Democrats are urged to vote yes.

• H. Res. 1213 –Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 5658 – Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Rep. Hastings-Rules):  The rule provides two hours of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services.  The rule provides that no further consideration of the bill shall be in order except pursuant to a subsequent order of the House.  Debate on the rule will be managed by Rep. Hastings, and consideration will proceed as follows:
  • One hour of debate on the rule.
  • Possible vote on a Democratic Motion ordering the previous question. Democrats are urged to vote yes.
  • Vote on adoption of the rule. Democrats are urged to vote yes.

• H. Res. 1214-Rule providing for consideration of the Conference Report to accompany S.Con.Res. 70 - Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2009 (Rep. McGovern-Rules):  The rule waives all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration . The rule provides one hour of debate on the conference report, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget.  Debate on the rule will be managed by Rep. McGovern, and consideration will proceed as follows: 
  • One hour of debate on the rule.
  • Possible vote on a Democratic Motion ordering the previous question. Democrats are urged to vote yes.
  • Vote on adoption of the rule. Democrats are urged to vote yes.
    
    
• H.R. 6049 – Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (Rep. Rangel-Ways and Means):  Pursuant to the rule, debate on the bill will be managed by Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Charlie Rangel, or his designee, and will proceed as follows:
  • One hour of debate on the bill.
  • Possible debate and vote on a Republican Motion to Recommit the bill.
  • Vote on passage of the bill. 

• Possible Vote to Override the President’s Veto of H.R. 2419 - Food and Energy Security Act of 2007 (Agriculture – Rep. Peterson):  Debate on the veto override will be managed by Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Peterson and will proceed as follows: 
  • Up to one hour of debate.
  • Vote on overriding the President’s veto of H.R. 2419.  Democrats are urged to vote yes.
    
    
• Conference Report to accompany S.Con.Res. 70 - Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for FY 2009 (Rep. Spratt-Budget):  Debate on the Conference Report will be managed by Budget Committee Chair Rep. John Spratt, and will proceed as follows:
  • One hour of debate on the Conference Report.
  • Vote on Adoption of the Conference Report. Democrats are urged to vote yes on adopting the Conference Report.

• H.R. 5658 – Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Rep. Skelton-Armed Services):  Pursuant to the rule, general debate on the bill will be managed by Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Ike Skelton, or his designee, and will proceed as follows:
  • Two hours of general debate on the bill.

Possible Postponed Suspension Votes (31 Bills):

1. H.Con.Res. 300 - Recognizing the necessity for the United States to maintain its significant leadership role in improving the health and promoting the resiliency of coral reef ecosystems, and for other purposes (Rep. Bordallo – Natural Resources)
   
   
2. S.J.Res. 17 - A joint resolution directing the United States to initiate international discussions and take necessary steps with other Nations to negotiate an agreement for managing migratory and transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean (Sen. Stevens (AK) – Natural Resources)  
   
   
3. H.Con.Res. 325 - Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission's Historical Preservation and Museum Program, which began on June 15, 1958 (Rep. Stupak – Natural Recourses)
   
   
4. H.Res. 1074 - Honoring the 60th anniversary of the commencement of the carving of the Crazy Horse Memorial (Rep. Herseth–Sandlin – Natural Resources) 
   
   
5. H.R. 1771 - To assist in the conservation of cranes by supporting and providing, through projects of persons and organizations with expertise in crane conservation, financial resources for the conservation programs of countries the activities of which directly or indirectly affect cranes and the ecosystems of cranes (Rep. Baldwin – Natural Resources)
   
   
6. H.R. 3323 - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey a water distribution system to the Goleta Water District, and for other purposes (Rep. Capps – Natural Resources)  
   
   
7. H.R. 4841 - To approve, ratify, and confirm the settlement agreement entered into to resolve claims by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians relating to alleged interferences with the water resources of the Tribe, to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to execute and perform the Settlement Agreement and related waivers, and for other purposes (Rep. Bono Mack – Natural Resources)  
   
   
8. H.Con.Res. 334 - Supporting the goals and objectives of a National Military Appreciation Month (Rep. Shays – Oversight and Government Reform)
   
   
9. H.Res. 1152 - Honoring Arnold Palmer for his distinguished career in the sport of golf and his commitment to excellence and sportsmanship Michael Ferguson, Arnold Palmer (Rep. Ferguson - Oversight and Government Reform)
   
   
10. H.Res. 1132 - Supporting the goals and ideals of Peace Officers Memorial Day (Rep. Poe – Oversight and Government Reform)
    
    
11. H.Res. 1153 - Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (Rep. Hirono - Oversight and Government Reform)
    
    
12. H.Res. 1026 - Recognizing the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Congressional Club (Rep. Bishop (GA) - Oversight and Government Reform)
    
    
13. H.R. 752 - Federal Electronic Equipment Donation Act of 2007 (Rep. Butterfield - Oversight and Government Reform)
    
    
14. H.R. 5787 - Federal Real Property Disposal Enhancement Act of 2008 (Rep. Moore (KS) Oversight and Government Reform)
    
    
15. H.Res. 1137 - Supporting the goals and ideals of National Public Works Week (Rep. Oberstar – Transportation and Infrastructure)
    
    
16. H.Con.Res. 309 - Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the District of Columbia Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run (Rep. Norton – Transportation and Infrastructure)
    
    
17. H.Res. 339 - Supporting the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month (Rep. Burgess – Transportation and Infrastructure)
    
    
18. H.Con.Res. 305 - Recognizing the importance of bicycling in transportation and recreation (Rep. Blumenauer – Transportation and Infrastructure)
    
    
19. H.R. 3480 - Let Our Veterans Rest in Peace Act of 2007 (Rep. Carney – Judiciary)
    
    
20. S. 2829 - A bill to make technical corrections to section 1244 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which provides special immigrant status for certain Iraqis, and for other purposes (Sen. Kennedy – Judiciary)
    
    
21. H.R. 5571 - To extend for 5 years the program relating to waiver of the foreign country residence requirement with respect to international medical graduates (Rep. Lofgren – Judiciary)
    
    
22. H.Res. 1106 - Expressing support for designation of April 2008 as "National Autism Awareness Month" and supporting efforts to devote new resources to research into the causes and treatment of autism and to improve training and support for individuals with autism and those who care for individuals with autism (Rep. Reichert – Energy and Commerce)
    
    
23. H.Res. 1124 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Brain Tumor Awareness Month (Rep. Schakowsky – Energy and Commerce)
    
    
24. H.Res. 1022 - Reducing maternal mortality both at home and abroad (Rep. Capps – Energy and Commerce)
    
    
25. H.Con.Res. 134 - Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be established a Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to enhance public awareness of mental illness, especially within minority communities (Rep. Wynn – Energy and Commerce)
    
    
26. H.Res. 369 Supporting the goals and ideals of National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month (Rep. Berkley – Energy and Commerce)
    
    
27. H.Res. 986 - Recognizing the courage and sacrifice of those members of the United States Armed Forces who were held as prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict and calling for a full accounting of the 1,729 members of the Armed Forces who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam conflict (Rep. Boehner– Armed Services)
    
    
28. H.R. 3819 - Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act of 2007 (Rep. Space – Veterans’ Affairs)
    
    
29. H.R. 5826 - Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2008 (Rep. Rodriguez– Veterans’ Affairs)
    
    
30. H.R. 5856 - Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Authorization and Lease Act of 2008 (Rep. Michaud– Veterans’ Affairs)
    
    
31. H.Res. 1194 - Reaffirming the support of the House of Representatives for the legitimate, democratically-elected Government of Lebanon under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora (Rep. Berman – Foreign Affairs)

Bill Summary and Key Issues

H.R. 6049 – THE RENEWABLE ENERGY AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2008 (Rep. Rangel – Ways and Means)
Summary: H.R. 6049, the Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, will provide almost $20 billion of tax incentives for investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects, energy efficiency and conservation. The bill will also extends $27 billion of expiring temporary tax provisions, including the research and development credit, special rules for active financing income, the State and local sales tax deduction, the deduction for out-of-pocket expenses for teachers, and the deduction for qualified tuition expenses. In addition, the bill provides almost $10 billion of additional tax relief for individuals through an expansion of the refundable child tax credit and a new standard deduction for property taxes. The bill would be primarily offset by closing a tax loophole that allows individuals that work for certain offshore corporations, such as hedge fund managers, to defer tax on their compensation and would delay the effective date of a tax benefit that has not yet taken effect for multinational corporations operating overseas.

CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. CON. RES. 70 - THE CONCURRENT BUDGET RESOLUTION FOR 2009(Rep. Spratt – Budget)

KEY FEATURES OF THE FY 2009 BUDGET RESOLUTION CONFERENCE REPORT
A Fiscally Responsible Budget that Funds Critical Priorities

Fiscal Responsibility

The budget is fiscally responsible, returning to balance in 2012. The budget has a smaller deficit in 2009 and over five years than the President’s budget.  The budget resolution complies with the House pay-as-you-go rule that requires all mandatory spending and revenue provisions to be deficit-neutral. The budget resolution also provides reconciliation protection for a repair of the Alternative Minimum Tax that is fully paid for. The budget contains initiatives to crack down on wasteful spending, and its deficit-neutral reserve funds will encourage reductions in lower priority items to offset the cost of ensuring that new initiatives are offset by reductions in lower priority spending. The budget relies on realistic economic assumptions from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Rejecting the President’s Harmful Cuts

The budget rejects the President’s deep cuts affecting a wide range of services and constituencies, including the following:

• $150 billion of Medicare cuts over five years and billions in cuts to Medicaid;
  
  
• more than $18 billion over five years in new fees for veterans and military retirees;
  
  
• a six percent cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as a 16 percent cut to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which provides health care access to under-served populations;
  
  
• the elimination of several state and local law enforcement programs, including the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, Byrne Grants, and COPS; and
  
  
• cutting to the Environmental Protection Agency, in large part through cuts to grants that help protect public health and maintain environmental quality.

Rebuilding America’s Future

This budget is another down payment to fulfill commitments we have made to the American people. The budget rejects the President’s misguided budget, instead investing in proven programs that boost economic growth, create jobs, make America safer, promote fiscally responsible tax relief to millions of households, and help families struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.
 
Strengthens the Economy

Innovation — Provides crucial funding for the Democratic innovation agenda and the America COMPETES act to enhance our competitive edge, increasing funding for math and science education and research.

Energy — Increases funding for efficient and renewable energy programs, rejecting the President’s cuts to research as well as weatherization assistance for lower-income families, and accommodates legislation to encourage the production of renewable energy alternatives, increased energy efficiency, investments in new energy and vehicle technologies, and training workers for “green collar” jobs.

Education — Provides substantially more than the President for the education budget function, which also includes job training programs.

Infrastructure — Invests in highways, water, and other infrastructure by providing sufficient funding as well as a reserve fund that can facilitate priority new initiatives in a deficit neutral manner.

Provides Tax Relief and Help for Struggling Families
The budget rejects the President’s policy of paying for tax cuts by adding to the debt burden of our children and grandchildren, and by imposing unacceptable cuts to programs, such as $150 billion of Medicare cuts and more than $18 billion over five years in new fees for veterans and military retirees.

Tax Relief — Accommodates tax relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax for more than 20 million households, as well as middle-income tax cuts and other tax relief, so long as they comply with the pay-as-you-go rule.

Children’s Health — Accommodates a $50 billion increase to expand children’s health insurance to cover millions of uninsured children, in accordance with the pay-as-you-go rule.

Safety Net — Strengthens safety net programs by providing needed funding for home heating assistance, the Social Services Block Grant, and housing aid – in contrast to the President’s budget, which cuts funding for these programs.

Makes America Safer

Defense — Funds Provides robust funding for national defense while shifting funding to target high priorities including cooperative threat reduction, nuclear nonproliferation efforts, and quality of life issues for the troops and their families.

Veterans — Helps Takes care of veterans by rejecting the President’s proposed new fees.  It increases and increasing health care funding well above the amount needed to maintain current services –enough to allow VA to treat 5.8 million patients in 2009, including 333,275 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

Homeland Security — Protects our homeland, rejecting the President’s cuts to first responder programs – including Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and firefighter assistance grants – and providing more funding than the President’s budget for the four budget functions that contain the bulk of non-DOD homeland security funding.

H.R. 5658 – THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 (Rep. Skelton – Armed Services)

Afghanistan

• requires future budget submissions to clearly lay out requirements for the war in Afghanistan separate from those for Iraq
  
  
• requires a system to be set up to measure the success of the U.S.-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams
  
  
• provides the funding needed for our commanders’ reconstruction projects.
  
  
• includes funding needed to train and equip Afghan security forces and requires more robust congressional reporting on these forces
  
  
• the bill requires the Department of Defense to address the issue of the command and control structure for forces in Afghanistan operating under Operation Enduring Freedom as well as the NATO International Security Assistance Force.

Iraq

• Authorizes the $70 billion bridge fund for Iraq and Afghanistan
  
  
• requires that the Iraqis invest more in their own reconstruction and security efforts which are currently being shouldered by the U.S. military.
  
  
• takes steps forward in contracting reform beyond the substantial improvements in the law enacted by the Congress in last year’s bill
  
  
• requires the Department to address the problems with contracting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait by developing more contracting experts within the military who can be deployed to handle contracting during contingency operations, and provides the Department with the authority to hire and appropriately pay similarly trained civilians willing to deploy. 
  
  
• Addresses the issue of personal services contracts and the area of contractor conflicts of interest where the Committee holds that the line between inherently governmental functions and the appropriate functions of the contractors has become blurred
  
  
• bill increases Iraqi burden sharing by linking U.S. spending on reconstruction under the Commanders Emergency Reconstruction Program (CERP) to reconstruction contributions by the Government of Iraq and by banning the use of funds from the Iraqi Security Forces Fund to build infrastructure. 
  
  
• requires detailed reporting to Congress on any Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and how such agreements protect U.S. service members and affect U.S. operations in Iraq.

Other Items

• $31 million for the Cooperative Threat Reduction programs
  
  
• $215 million for the Department of Energy’s nonproliferation programs
  
  
• increases the size of the military by 7,000 Army troops and 5,000 Marines 1,023 Navy sailors and 450 Air Force personnel. 
  
  
• adds $800 million for equipment specifically for National Guard and Reserve units that continue to suffer severe shortages of equipment.
  
  
• $932 million to our Operations and Maintenance accounts to deal with key maintenance needs
  
  
• $1 billion dollars to deal with critical unfunded readiness needs.
  
  
• 3.9 percent pay increase for troops (0.5 percent above the President’s request of 3.4 percent)
  
  
• prohibits increases in health care fees in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program
  
  
• urges the President to appoint a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as required by law, at the earliest possible time. 
   
• Authorizes $3.1 billion for the Army and $1.2 billion for the Marine Corps to assist in providing facilities associated with planned increases in the Army and Marine Corps personnel
  
  
• Authorizes $3.2 billion to support and expand quality housing for all service members and their families

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