In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010
House Meets At... 10:00 a.m.: Legislative Business
First Vote Predicted... 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted... 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
"One Minutes" (10 per side)
H.Res. 1190 - Providing for consideration of motions to suspend the Rules (Rep. Slaughter – Rules)
Suspensions (7 Bills):
- H.R. 3671 - Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act (Rep. Kind - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 4252 - Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act of 2009 (Rep. Baca - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 4003 - Hudson River Valley Special Resource Study Act (Rep. Hinchey - Natural Resources)
- H.Res. 1173 - Recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Vermont Long Trail, the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States, and congratulating the Green Mountain Club for its century of dedication in developing and maintaining the trail (Rep. Welch - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 2788 - Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act (Rep. Calvert - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 1769 - Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act (Rep. Reichert - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 4395 - To revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station (Rep. Platts - Natural Resources)
Dispose of H.Res. __ - Raising a question of privileges of the House (Rep. Flake – Privileged Resolution)
Postponed Suspension Votes (3 Bills):
- H.R. 4214 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 45300 Portola Avenue in Palm Desert, California, as the "Roy Wilson Post Office" (Rep. Bono Mack - Oversight and Government Reform)
- H.R. 3542 - State Admission Day Recognition Act of 2009 (Rep. Lungren - House Administration)
- H.R. 3509 - Agricultural Credit Act of 2009 (Rep. Peterson - Agriculture)
- Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Convenes: 9:30am
Morning business for one hour with the Majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.
Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R.1586, the vehicle for the FAA Reauthorization bill. The Sessions-McCaskill amendment #3453 and Pryor amendment #3548 will be debated concurrently until 11:30am.
At 2pm, the Senate will proceed to 2 roll call votes in relation to the following:
Sessions #3453, as modified(discretionary spending) [link]
Pryor #3548(discretionary spending) [link]
Additional roll call votes are expected.
Another day of biding time in the House. Suspensions as far as the eye can see. And the Rules Committee is already issuing rules authorizing suspensions to continue into the weekend (normally you can't have debate on them on the schedule after Wednesday). Everyone's waiting on getting a CBO score on the fix bill that'll allow the parliamentarians to rule the bill in order under reconciliation rules, and that has budgeters scrambling to find the necessary savings.
How big of a task is this? CQ (subscription only) gives you an idea:
Under the arcane rules for budget reconciliation, a bill passed through the expedited parliamentary process must produce a greater deficit reduction than the legislation it amends. Since the Senate health care bill (HR 3590) would produce $104 billion in deficit savings in its first five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the final bill — which will make House Democrats’ desired changes to the Senate bill — must do better than that.
[...]
[T]he deficit-reduction figures Democrats must reach are not trivial: at least $120 billion over 10 years, with most of that — $106 billion — coming in the first five years, according to Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee. (Democratic aides did not dispute those figures.)
And in narrowing the scope of the excise tax on insurance plans, Democrats have chosen to weaken what policy experts say is one of the strongest deficit-reducing provisions in the legislation.
Day-um. Well, if you were wondering what had labor leaders back at the White House to discuss -- again -- the stubborn persistence of the so-called "Cadillac tax," now you know.
Word from The Hill is that the delay means the vote will likely be delayed until at least Sunday now. And that may just put the Senate vote right where we don't want it: after another recess. I don't know who'll be bashing their Senators more if they break without a vote, the teabaggers or the rest of us.
This is the part where I'd normally tell you about the fact that the Senate will be spending its time on the FAA authorization bill, but I get the sense that there aren't a whole hell of a lot of you who really care to hear that. You want this health insurance reform vote already.
Well, you may have to call 'em and tell 'em not to bother coming home before they're done with it. Though I'll caution you that you're likely to be disappointed. But if that were enough to stop people from calling their Senators, they wouldn't even bother having phones.
Today's full committee schedule appears below. Another whopper of a day for the appropriations folks. And yet here we are, still hung up on what should have been last year's reconciliation, with April and what's supposed to be the completion of the FY2011 budget looming large. Frankly it's amazing that those Members can keep their minds on next year's budget with all that's going on with health care. Maybe it's a welcome respite. It's starting to get crazy out there.
In the committees:
House
Committee | Date | Time | Purpose | View Online? |
Energy and Commerce | Thurs. 3/18 | 9:30 am | Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment: HomeStar: Job Creation Through Home Energy Retrofits | Yes |
Veterans' Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 9:30 am | Joint Hearing with Senate Veterans' Affairs: Legislative Presentation of the AMVETS, NASDVA, NCOA, GSW, TREA, FRA, VVA, and IAVA | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee: Bureau of Prisons FY2011 Budget Overview | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Defense Subcommittee: U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command, and Mobility Acquisition | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Homeland Security Subcommittee: Secret Service-FY2011 Budget Hearing | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Labor HHS Subcommittee: FY 2011 Budget Overview: Department of Education | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Financial Services Subcommittee: FY2011 Budget Hearing for the Judiciary | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Transportation, HUD Subcommittee: Maintaining a Safe & Viable Aviation System (Including the FY 2011 Budget Request for the FAA) | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Military Construction, VA Subcommittee: Air Force Budget | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Energy and Water Subcommittee: DOE — Science, ARPA-E, 2011 Budget | No |
Armed Services | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Budget Requests from the U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command | Yes |
Education and Labor | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee: Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Students | Yes |
Energy and Commerce | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection: Hearing On H.R. 1796, The Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, And H.R. 4805, The Formaldehyde Standards For Composite Wood Products Act | Yes |
Financial Services | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises: Insurance Holding Company Supervision | Yes |
Foreign Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade: National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats: Diplomacy and International Programs | Yes |
Homeland Security | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism and Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight JOINT Hearing: SBInet: Does it Pass the Border Security Test? | Yes |
Natural Resources | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Subcommittee On Water And Power: Hearing On H.R. 4349, "Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2009", and H.R. 4579, "South San Diego County Water Reclamation Project of 2009" | Yes |
Oversight and Government Reform | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Rewarding Bad Actors: Why Do Poor Performing Contractors Continue To Get Government Business? | Yes |
Science and Technology | Thurs. 3/18 | 12:00 pm | Geoengineering III: Domestic and International Research Governance | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 1:00 pm | Agriculture Subcommittee: FY2011 Budget Hearing for Food and Nutrition Service | No |
Judiciary | Thurs. 3/18 | 1:00 pm | Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy: Legal Issues Concerning State Alcohol Regulation | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 1:30 pm | State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee: FY2011 Budget Request for Peace Corps | No |
Select Intelligence | Thurs. 3/18 | 1:30 pm | ICM Subcommittee: Management Challenges in the Intelligence Community | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee: Major Challenges facing Federal Prisons: A View from the Inside | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Transportation, HUD Subcommittee: Maintaining a Safe & Viable Aviation System: Priorities from Aviation Stakeholders | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Homeland Security Subcommittee: FY 2011 Budget Hearing for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) | No |
Armed Services | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Readiness Subcommittee: Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for military construction, family housing, base closure, facilities operation and maintenance | Yes |
Foreign Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere: Next Steps for Honduras | Yes |
Oversight and Government Reform | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives: Administration Of The Freedom Of Information Act: Current Trends | Yes |
Veterans' Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:00 pm | Claims Summit 2010 | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:30 pm | Interior and Environment Subcommittee: Conserving America’s Land and Heritage: Department of the Interior FY2011 Budget Request | Yes |
Select Intelligence | Thurs. 3/18 | 3:30 pm | THACI Subcommittee: Hot Spots | No |
Senate
Committee | Date | Time | Purpose | View Online? |
Veterans' Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 9:30 am | Joint Hearing with House Veterans' Affairs: Legislative Presentation by AMVETS, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Non Commissioned Officers Association, Gold Star Wives, The Retired Enlisted Association, Fleet Reserve Association, Vietnam Veterans of America, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America | Yes |
Armed Services | Thurs. 3/18 | 9:45 am | "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy | Yes |
Commerce, Science and Transportation | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Nominations Hearing | Yes |
Environment and Public Works | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Mobility and Congestion in Urban and Rural America | Yes |
Judiciary | Thurs. 3/18 | 10:00 am | Markup of the Nominations of Josephine S. Tucker, to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California; Mark A. Goldsmith, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan; Brian A. Jackson, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Louisiana; Elizabeth E. Foote, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana; Marc T. Treadwell, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia; Wifredo A. Ferrer, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; William N. Nettles, to be United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina; and the following bills: S. 148, Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act; S. 2960; Refugee Opportunity Act, S. 2974, Return of Talent Act; S. 1624, Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2009; S. 1765, Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act of 2009 | Yes |
Indian Affairs | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:15 pm | Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal police recruitment, training, hiring, and retention | Yes |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:30 pm | Legislative Branch Subcommittee: Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Requests for the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and the Office of Compliance | No |
Appropriations | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:30 pm | Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee: Proposals for addressing the current financial situation facing the United States Postal Service | No |
Commerce, Science and Transportation | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:30 pm | Science and Space Subcommittee: Assessing Commercial Space Capabilities | Yes |
Select Intelligence | Thurs. 3/18 | 2:30 pm | Closed Hearing: Intelligence Matters | No |