Recapping Last Week in Congress
Last week, you may recall, was a real stinker in terms of productivity. In the House, that meant passage of two Republican bills (and the rejection of every single Democratic amendment to them): H.R. 2117, the "Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act," and H.R. 1837 - San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. Though they did manage to work in a few suspension bills, and a resolution authorizing the compilation of oral histories from members who participated in the civil rights movement.
The Senate spent the week bogged down in the search for a deal to end a sorta-kinda-filibuster of the transportation authorization bill, and took care of odds and ends like confirming a single federal judge, authorizing an official Senate photograph, and declaring February 29th "Rare Disease Day."
This Week in Congress
Ready for this?
The House packs the schedule this week with four suspension bills, and the following blockbusters: 1) the "Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act," and; 2) the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act."
Well, partial credit to the Republicans for realizing that people would rather see them at least saying the word "jobs" than poking around in our medicine cabinets and/or underpants. That first bill, of course, looks like the J word was a bit of an afterthought, grafted onto the bill in desperation. The second one? Well, a meh of an acronym (we'll call it a 3 on the BANANA Scale), and I'm sure it'll shock you to learn that up until now, the bill had been titled the, "Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act." So what's it really about? It's an attempt to roll back regulations around issuing securities in "emerging growth companies," and defining them as those with total annual gross revenues of less than $1 billion. So it's a Wall Street sop. Yay! "Jobs!"
What a load of crap. They're not even phoning it in anymore. They're texting.
In the Senate, no votes are scheduled for today, but action picks up again on Tuesday, with two judicial nominations and another attempt at cloture on the transportation bill. They got to 54 votes last week, with Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) absent for the vote. We'll see if having held a vote (sort of) on the obnoxious Blunt anti-birth control amendment satisfies anyone enough to loosen up and let the transportation bill go forward.
Full floor and committee schedules are below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
THE WEEKLY WHIP: FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2012
First Vote Of The Week: Monday 6:30 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted: Thursday 3:00 p.m.
MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012
On Monday, the House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for Morning Hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Suspensions (3 Bills)
- H.R. 3637 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 401 Old Dixie Highway in Jupiter, Florida, as the "Roy Schallern Rood Post Office Building" (Rep. Rooney - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.R. 3413 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1449 West Avenue in Bronx, New York, as the "Private Isaac T. Cortes Post Office"(Rep. Crowley - Oversight and Government Reform)
- S. 1710 - A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, as the James M. Fitzgerald United States Courthouse (Sen. Begich - Transportation and Infrastructure)
TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business with last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m. On Friday, no votes are expected in the House.
Suspension (1 Bill)
- H.R. 4105 - To apply the countervailing duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 to nonmarket economy countries (Rep. Camp - Ways and Means)
H.R. 2842 - Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011 (Rep. Tipton - Natural Resources) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 3606 - Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) (Rep. Fincher - Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)
In the Senate, courtesy of the
Office of the Majority Leader:
Schedule for Monday, March 5, 2012
The Senate will convene at 2:00pm on Monday, March 5. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. There will be no roll call votes on Monday, March 5.
On Friday, Senator Reid filed cloture on the Reid amendment #1761 and S.1813, Surface Transportation bill. At 12:00 noon on Tuesday, March 6, the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Reid amendment #1761.
At 2:15pm on Tuesday, March 6, there will be 2 roll call votes on confirmation of the following nominations:
- Cal #439 Mary Elizabeth Phillips, of Missouri, to be US District Judge for the Western District of Missouri
- Cal #440 Thomas Owen Rice, of Washington, to be District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington.
The filing deadline for first degree amendments to S.1813 is 4:00pm on Monday, March 5.
The filing deadline for second degree amendments to Reid amendment #1761 and S.1813 is 4:00pm Tuesday, March 6.
Today's House committee schedule:
APPROPRIATIONS--------------------------------------------------------3:00-Open
Financial Services and General Government Subc. On the FY 2013 budget request for the Federal Trade Commission. Dept. witnesses. 2359 RHOB.
ENERGY AND COMMERCE--------------------------------------------------4:00-Open
Full Committee. Markup on H.R. 452 – Medicare Decisions Accountability Act; H.R. 3309 – FCC Process Reform Act; H.R. 3310 – FCC Consolidated Reporting Act. 2123 RHOB.
INTELLIGENCE----------------------------------------------------------4:00-Closed
Full Committee. On ongoing intelligence activities. HVC-304.
JUDICIARY---------------------------------------------------------------4:00-Open
Courts, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subc. On H.R. 3534 – Security in Bonding Act. 2141 RHOB.
RULES-------------------------------------------------------------------5:00-Open
Full Committee. On H.R. 2842 – Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act. H-313 Capitol.
No Senate committee meetings are scheduled for today.