Daily Whipline

June 10, 2009

Whipline

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Floor Schedule and Procedure

• H. Res. 522 - Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 1886, the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009 AND H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (Rep. Hastings (FL) -Rules):  H.Res. 522, the structured rule for consideration of H.R. 1886, provides for one hour of general debate on the bill to be equally divided and controlled by the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rule also provides that the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, now printed in the bill, as modified by the amendment printed in part A of the Rules Committee report, shall be considered as adopted (a summary of the amendment is also located in the "Bill Summary & Key Issues" section of today's Daily WhipLine).  The rule makes in order the further amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules, if offered by Representative Ros-Lehtinen of Florida or her designee, which shall be in order without intervention of any point of order except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI, shall be considered as read, and shall be separately debatable for 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent.  The rule also provides one motion to recommit H.R. 1886 with or without instructions.
  
  H.Res. 522, the structured rule for consideration of H.R. 2410, provides for one hour of general debate on the bill to be equally divided and controlled by the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rule further provides that the amendments made in order may be offered only in the order printed in Part C of the report from the Committee on Rules accompanying the resolution (a list of the amendments is also located in the "Bill Summary & Key Issues" section of today's Daily WhipLine).  These amendments may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent.  The rule also provides for one motion to recommit the bill with or without instructions.  Finally, the rule provides that in the engrossment of H.R. 2410, the text of H.R. 1886, as passed by the House, shall be added as new matter at the end of H.R. 2410.  Debate on the rule will be managed by Rep. Alcee 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.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (Rep. Berman - Foreign Affairs):   Pursuant to the rule, general debate on the bill will be managed by Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Howard Berman.  Debate on the bill will proceed as follows:
  
  
  • One hour of general debate on the bill.
  • Debate and possible votes on amendments to the bill.
  • Possible debate and vote on Republican motion to recommit the bill.
  • Vote on final passage of the bill. Democrats are urged to VOTE YES.
  
  
  
• Postponed Suspension Votes:

1. H.Res. 453 - Recognizing the significant accomplishments of the AmeriCorps and encouraging all citizens to join in a national effort to salute AmeriCorps members and alumni, and raise awareness about the importance of national and community service (Rep. Matsui - Education and Labor)


2. H.Res. 454 - Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Rep. Poe - Education and Labor)


3. H.R. 1687 - To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at McKinley Avenue and Third Street, SW., Canton, Ohio, as the "Ralph Regula Federal Building and United States Courthouse" (Rep. Boccieri - Transportation and Infrastructure)

• Possible consideration of Motion to go to Conference on H.R. 2346 - Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 (Rep. Obey - Appropriations): Debate on the Motion to go to Conference will proceed as follows:
  
  
  • Possible one hour of debate on the Motion to go to Conference.
  • Possible vote on adoption of the Motion to go to Conference.
  
  
  
• Possible consideration of Motion to Instruct Conferees H.R. 2346 - Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 (Rep. Obey - Appropriations): Debate on the Motion to Instruct Conferees will proceed as follows:
  
  
  • Possible one hour of debate on the Motion to Instruct Conferees.
  • Possible vote on adoption of the Motion to Instruct Conferees.

Bill Summary & Key Issues

Summary of the amendment in Part A of the report from the Committee on Rules accompanying H.Res. 522, proposed to be considered as adopted for H.R. 1886

The amendment makes a number of changes to title II of H.R. 1886 as reported out by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.  These changes include:  1) dropping specific authorizations in fiscal years 2011 to 2013 for Foreign Military Financing  (FMF) for Pakistan and making necessary conforming changes;  2) adding additional flexibility to the FMF program for Pakistan for fiscal years 2010 and 2011; 3) amending section 204 relating to the Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF), including making adjustments to the terms and conditions of the PCCF for fiscal year 2010 and dropping the authorization for PCCF for fiscal years 2011-2013.

Authorizes the President to proclaim duty-free treatment of certain textile and apparel products, as well as nontextile and nonapparel products, from designated Reconstruction Opportunity Zones within Afghanistan or Pakistan through September 30, 2024.

Authorizes the President to designate Reconstruction Opportunity Zones within Afghanistan or Pakistan, provided (1) certain eligibility criteria are met, including that such countries establish, or make continual progress toward establishing, a market-based economy, instituting rule of law, protecting core labor standards and acceptable conditions of work; and (2) the designation of the Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) in an area is "appropriate" taking into account factors such as the desire of the country to have an ROZ designated in the area, the ability to set up a labor rights monitoring program in the area, and the potential of generating employment; Sets forth requirements to prevent the unlawful transshipment of such products; Permits duty-free treatment to be provided to products of an ROZ in Afghanistan or Pakistan after a set-up period only if the President certifies that the country has (1) established a labor monitoring program in the ROZ, (2) designated a Labor Official responsible for, among other things, overseeing the implementation of the monitoring program, and (3) agreed to require textile or apparel producers to participate in the labor monitoring program; Authorizes the President to waive, withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment under this Act.

The amendment's total cost is $105 million over a ten-year period.  These costs are paid for by increasing Customs user fees.

Summary of H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 

The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 supports efforts to rebuild the capacity of the Department of State to fulfill its core diplomatic mission in fulfilling U.S. national security goals. It also authorizes the resources necessary for the United States to meet its financial commitments to the United Nations and other international organizations that support a wide range of U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic goals. In addition, the bill initiates the process of reforming U.S. foreign assistance programs and makes numerous reforms to U.S. security assistance programs.

Title I authorizes appropriations at the level of the Administration's request for the Administration of Foreign Affairs accounts, to fund U.S. payments for its assessed share of the expenses of the United Nations and other international organizations, to meet U.S. obligations as a participant in international commissions dealing with boundaries and fisheries, for contributions to the needs of migrants and refugees, and in support of centers and foundations.

Title II provides the Department of State with specific legal authorities it has requested from Congress. It also contains authorities that will enable the Secretary of State to enhance U.S. capacity to conduct public diplomacy. It contains provisions to improve the delivery of Consular services and makes key reforms in the Department's refugee processing and resettlement program.

Title III provides the Department of State with organizational and personnel authorities that will enable the Secretary to modernize and enhance U.S. diplomacy. These authorities include reforms designed to create a more modern and expeditionary Foreign Service with enhanced foreign language capabilities and other 21^st Century diplomatic tools. It also provides the Secretary of State the authority to hire over 1500 additional entry-level Foreign Service Officers to deal with current staffing shortfalls and new diplomatic challenges. To meet the challenge of undertaking and overhauling U.S. diplomatic capability, the Title provides crucial authorities to enable the Secretary to tap the best talent available for short term assignments to mentor new recruits. The Title also eliminates the current 20 percent reduction in pay that Junior Foreign Service Officers suffer when they are assigned abroad. It requires the Department to track violence, criminalization, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms, consistent with United States law, in foreign countries based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; directs the Department to encourage the governments of other countries to reform or repeal laws of such countries criminalizing homosexuality or consensual homosexual conduct; and requires human rights reporting on violence or discrimination that affects the fundamental freedoms of an individual in foreign countries that is based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Finally, the Title contains policy directions that would require the Secretary to encourage and monitor diversity efforts at the Department and ensure that Federal requirements in support of minority contractors are strictly adhered to.

Title IV contains a number of authorities to strengthen critical missions of the United Nations and other international organizations and to enhance U.S. leadership and influence in these organizations. These authorities include mechanisms to develop U.S. diplomatic expertise in the practice of multi-lateral diplomacy and to create career incentives for Foreign Service Officers to develop these skills. The title also includes a number of authorities to support and strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency, particularly its ability to detect violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The title also provides authority to enhance the U.S. role in the Organization of the American States. Finally, it would lift a legislative cap preventing the United States from paying its agreed assessment for its share of the cost of UN peacekeeping operations.

Title V authorizes appropriations to carry out U.S. international broadcasting activities, and provides requested authority from the Broadcasting Board of Governors to rationalize its use of contractors.

Title VI strengthens the Peace Corps by making it U.S. policy to double the number of volunteers and by authorizing $450 million in FY 2010.

Title VII would establish the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation as a new executive branch Corporation to raise funds; award grants; and work with Institutions of Higher Education to dramatically expand the number of U.S. students studying abroad.

Title VIII provides for a wide variety of reforms to the Arms Export Control Act, including modernizing the defense trade control system.

Title IX would enhance efforts at addressing the increasing drug trafficking activity to our south and, especially violence in Mexico and along the U.S.-Mexico border; this includes ensuring that U.S. assistance is effective, coordinated, and carried out in light of factors on the U.S. side of the border.

Title X contains a number of reporting requirements for the Secretary of State to enable the Congress to monitor policy concerns related to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, U.S. Capacities to prevent genocide and mass atrocities, U.S. anti-corruption efforts, and the status of Hong Kong, among others.

Title XI contains a number of policy directives relating to the strengthening of the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, diabetes treatment and prevention for Pacific Island countries, U.S. efforts to reduce the number of individuals who are de jure or de facto stateless, and discrimination in Turkey. It also contains a number of Sense of Congress provisions, including provisions related to democracy in Belarus, Soviet nuclear tests, Holocaust-era property restitution, Sudan, and Vietnam.

Amendments to H.R. 2410, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011

1. Berman (CA)  Manager's Amendment which (1) makes a number of minor, technical and conforming changes, including changes to address concerns of other Committees that have jurisdiction over certain provisions of H.R. 2410 and making changes to certain authorizations; (2) adds the relevant text from H.R. 2828, 110th Congress, as passed by the House, relating to compensation of Foreign Service victims of terrorism; (3) adds a provision relating to streamlining export controls to better serve the scientific and research community, consistent with the protection of U.S. national security interests; (4) adds a  on monitoring and evaluating certain U.S. overseas activities; (5) adds a provision to improve the stabilization and reconstruction activities of the Department of State; (6) adds a provision on implementation of an international nuclear fuel bank;  (7) adds a provision relating to the development of a food security strategy; (8) adds certain other sense of congress provisions;  and (9) adds a new subsection to section 334 providing that nothing in that section shall be construed as affecting existing statutory prohibitions relating to abortion. (20 minutes)

2. Ros-Lehtinen (FL) Would require the Secretary of State to withhold from the U.S. contribution to the International Atomic Energy Agency an amount equal to nuclear technical cooperation provided by the IAEA in 2007 to Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba. (10 minutes)

3. Polis (CO) Would broaden the experience within the Foreign Service and encourage Foreign Service officers to pursue a functional specialty by making it mandatory to develop a functional focus during an officer's first two years as well as creating a more diverse promotions panel where functional and regional specialists are evenly distributed. It would require the State Department to make materials from libraries and resource centers, including U.S. films available over the internet when possible and for the advisory commission on public diplomacy to gauge the effectiveness of online outreach authorized under section 214. (10 minutes)

4. Hunter (CA) Would include the Secretary of Defense as a member of the Task Force on the Prevention of Illicit Small Arms Trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. (10 minutes)

5. Nadler (NY) Sense of Congress that the United States should continue working with the states of the former Soviet Union to see that émigrés from these states who now live in the United States are paid the pensions they are owed by these states. (10 minutes)

6. McCaul (TX) Would direct the President to develop and transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive interagency strategy and implementation plan to address the ongoing crisis in Sudan. This includes a description of how the United States assistance will be used to achieve a U.S. policy towards Sudan, financial plan, management of U.S. foreign assistance, and criteria used to determine their prioritization. (10 minutes)

7. Larsen, Rick (WA)/ Kirk (IL) Would provide that the policy of the United States, with respect to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, shall be to prevent any weakening of, and ensure robust compliance with and enforcement of, existing international legal requirements for the protection of intellectual property rights, related to energy or environmental technologies. (10 minutes)

8. Sessions (TX) Sense of Congress that Israel has the right to defend itself from an imminent nuclear or military threat from Iran and other countries and organizations. (10 minutes)

9. Davis, Susan (CA)/ Grayson (FL) Would require the Inspectors General of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to modify their auditing and assessment protocols for Afghanistan to include the impact U.S. development assistance has on the social, economic, and political empowerment of Afghan women as part of their auditing and reporting requirements. (10 minutes)

10. Brown-Waite (FL) Would strike Sec. 505, domestic release of the Voice of America film entitled ''A Fateful Harvest''. (10 minutes)

11. Holt (NJ) Would direct the Secretary of State to report within 60 days of enactment on changes in treaty and U.S. laws that could help improve compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. (10 minutes)

12. Brown-Waite (FL) Would strike section 303, establishment of the Lessons Learned Center. (10 minutes)

13. Bishop, Tim (NY) Would require a GAO study of the effects of USAID's use of waivers under the Buy America Act for HIV test kits on 1) United States-based manufacturers and 2) availability of and access to HIV testing for at-risk populations in low-income countries. (10 minutes)

14. Moore, Gwen (WI) Would make clear that passage of laws in Afghanistan that restrict or repress human rights, including the rights of women, undermines the support and goodwill shown by the international community and the U.S. through the considerable financial aid that has been provided to help rebuild Afghanistan and may make it harder to generate public support for those seeking to provide such support in the future. (10 minutes)

15. Royce (CA) Sense of Congress that Eritrea's support for armed insurgents in Somalia poses a direct threat to the national security interests of the United States, that the Secretary of State should designate Eritrea a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and that the United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions against Eritrea. (10 minutes)

16. Meeks, Gregory (NY) Would require the Secretary of State to report to Congress on bilateral efforts to promote equality and eliminate racial discrimination in the Western Hemisphere. (10 minutes)

17. Matheson (UT) Would provide that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Director of the Census Bureau, will conduct a feasibility study and issue a report to Congress on whether there can be implemented a method for using the passports of U.S. citizens living overseas to facilitate voting in U.S. elections and for being counted in the U.S. Census. (10 minutes)

18. Kirkpatrick (AZ) Would add to the monitoring and evaluation system established in the bill a requirement to look at the illegal southbound flow of cash. (10 minutes)

19. Kirk (IL) Would allow the Secretary of State, at her discretion, to make payments from the Rewards for Justice program to officers or employees of foreign governments who provide information leading to the capture of exceptional and high-profile terrorists. (10 minutes)

20. Lynch (MA) Would direct the State Department to submit to Congress a report on the 1059 and 1244 Special Immigrant Visa Programs for certain Iraqis and Afghanis who work for, or on behalf of, the U.S. Government. (10 minutes)

21. Hill (IN) Would require the Department of State to conduct a cost-benefit analysis in conjunction with all appropriate Federal departments and agencies on how to best use American funds to reduce smuggling and trafficking in persons. (10 minutes)

22. Peters (MI) Would provide that the Secretary of State shall report to Congress on the flow of people, goods, and services across the international borders shared by the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean region. (10 minutes)

23. Teague (NM)/ Titus (NV)/Giffords (AZ) Would create the Global Clean Energy Exchange Program a program to strengthen research, educational exchange, and international cooperation with the aim of promoting the development and deployment of clean and efficient energy technologies. (10 minutes)

24. Johnson, Eddie Bernice (TX) Would establish and provide financial assistance for exchange programs between Afghanistan and the United States for women legislators. (10 minutes)

25. Johnson, Eddie Bernice (TX) Sense of Congress that the use of child soldiers is unacceptable and is a violation of human rights and the prevention and elimination of child soldiers should be a foreign policy goal of the United States. (10 minutes)

26. Poe (TX) Would make it a two year requirement for the President to report total U.S. cash and in-kind contributions to the entire United Nations system each fiscal year by every U.S. agency or department. (10 minutes)

27. Castle (DE)/ Dent (PA) Would require reports to Congress every 90 days listing the countries that refuse or unreasonably delay accepting nationals of such countries who are under final orders of removal from the United States. The amendment empowers the Secretary of State to suspend diplomatic visa issuances to any country that continues to deny or unreasonably delay repatriation. (10 minutes)

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