Taking center stage in the Senate today is the Rebuild American Jobs Act.
Recapping yesterday's action:
The House, as is it's first-day-of-the-week-in-session tradition, did practically nothing yesterday, passing its three scheduled suspension bills, plus a fourth measure making an enrollment correction to one of the three suspensions. But lest we forget, the House did pass H. Con. Res. 13, reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto! So now we can all kick back and wait for our fat checks from God!
While I have your attention on this (he said, hopefully), would you like to see the roll call on that vote? Because there were votes against it. And maybe the most interesting of them all was that of The Michigan Madman, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI-03), whom David Nir recently pointed out has made a near-pathological habit of such things.
The Senate completed its work on the "minibus" appropriations bill, not surprisingly rejecting every single remaining amendment and the motion to recommit. I say it's not surprising because I mentioned yesterday that they were amendments being brought by the usual annoyance squad, this time consisting of Senators Coburn, DeMint, Lee, and Paul. Senator Coburn had the good sense to balance his amendments for show, bringing one that at least could come within striking distance of a majority, to balance the other, which got walloped and received just 13 votes. But think about that for a second. We just recently had a fight in the Senate about dilatory amendments. And at the beginning of the year, we had the fight that resulted in the "Gentleman's Agreement," which entailed Republicans agreeing to stop filibustering so many motions to proceed in exchange for the Majority Leader agreeing to allow more Republican amendments. Well, Republicans did filibuster the motion to proceed to this bill. And yet we find that there's room enough to hold the door open for an amendment that gets no more than 13 votes.
Of course, Senator Coburn might tell you that that was an important vote, because he bravely exposed some of the hidden hypocrisies on his own side of the aisle by offering up cuts to an agency that might be more popular than most among Republican constituencies, the Rural Development Agency. On the other hand, how brave was it if it only got 13 votes and therefore was never in any real danger of passing? A favorite game among legislators, this "equal opportunity budget cutting" (that can't possibly pass, but looks great and you can brag on it).
Looking ahead to today:
Life in the fast lane continues for the House, which today takes up four suspension bills! The first is the "Civilian Service Recognition Act," on its second go-round. You may recall that this bill made it onto the schedule once before, but it ended up getting pulled from the floor when the American Legion and others raised objections about giving away flags to people who aren't them. Apparently it's been tinkered with enough to survive this time, even under suspension of the rules, which requires a 2/3 vote to pass. Two other bills slated for today are still more tweaks to the SEC regulations, designed to make it easier to make money disappear on Wall Street. They round out the day with a Veterans' benefits cost of living adjustment. How'd that get on the suspension calendar? Pretty controversial!
The Senate moves on to the motion to proceed to S.1769, the Rebuild America Jobs Act. That's part two of the now-broken-up American Jobs Act, dealing with infrastructure projects, and is summarized in the Main Street Insider "90 Second Summary" at the top of today's post. A cloture motion's already been filed on the motion to proceed, and a vote (absent an agreement to bump it up earlier) is expected on that this Thursday. Until then, the Senate's time will be spent ticking down the hours on the cloture clock. If successful on Thursday, Republicans can opt to run out the full 30 hours of post-cloture time, too, meaning that just getting to a vote on whether or not to proceed to actual debate on the bill might have to wait at least until late afternoon on Friday.
There is nothing wrong with the United States Senate!
But it does make the Occupy Wall Street consensus-seeking process look brisk by comparison.
Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
THE NIGHTLY WHIP: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.
First/Last votes are expected between 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
“One Minutes” (15 per side)
Suspensions (4 Bills)
- H.R. 2061 - Civilian Service Recognition Act of 2011, as amended (Rep. Hanna - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.R.1070 - Small Company Capital Formation Act of 2011 (Rep. David Schweikert - Financial Services)
- H.R. 1965 - To amend the securities laws to establish certain thresholds for shareholder registration, and for other purposes (Rep. Himes - Financial Services)
- S. 894 -The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 (Sen. Murray - Veterans’ Affairs)
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Senate Floor Schedule for Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Convenes: 9:30am
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business for one hour with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each with the Majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.1769, the Rebuild America Jobs Act.
As a reminder to all Senators, cloture was filed on the motion to proceed to S.1769 during Tuesday’s session. If no agreement is reached, this vote will occur Thursday morning.
Roll Call Votes
- On the Amendment (Coburn Amdt. No. 800), S.Amdt. 800 to S.Amdt. 738 to H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), To reduce funding for the Rural Development Agency. Amendment Rejected, 13-85.
- On the Amendment (Paul Amdt. No. 821), S.Amdt. 821 to S.Amdt. 738 to H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), To reallocate 10 percent of the amounts appropriated for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure from transportation enhancement activities to the highway bridge program. Amendment Rejected, 38-60.
- On the Amendment (DeMint Amdt. No. 763), S.Amdt. 763 to S.Amdt. 738 to H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), To prohibit the use of funds to implement regulations regarding the removal of essential-use designation for epinephrine used in oral pressurized metered-dose inhalers. Amendment Rejected, 44-54.
- On the Amendment (Coburn Amdt No.801), S.Amdt. 801 to S.Amdt. 738 to H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), To eliminate funding for the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Amendment Rejected, 41-57.
- On the Motion to Recommit (Lee Motion to Recommit H.R. 2112 to the Committee on Appropriations), H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), An act making consolidated appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes. Motion to Recommit Rejected, 39-60.
- On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 2112 as Amended), H.R. 2112 (Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012), An act making consolidated appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes. Bill Passed, 69-30.
Other Business
Senate Floor Wrap Up for Tuesday, November 1, 2011
LEGISLATIVE ITEMS
Adopted S.Res.308, designating November 27, 2011 as “Drive Safer Sunday”.
EXECUTIVE ITEMS
Confirmed the following:
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
#412 Patricia M. Loui – to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a term expiring January 20, 2015
#414 Larry W. Walther – to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States for a term expiring January 20, 2013