The POPVOX Blog

From our Hill Sources: After a long August break and two presidential nominating conventions, the House and Senate return this week. The primary focus will be to pass a "continuing resolution," a bill that funds the federal government through next March and avoids a government shutdown before the November elections.

The continuing resolution (no text available as of Sunday) is not expected to face opposition, since the leaders of the House and Senate, and the White House, agreed to this course of action before leaving for the summer. The continuing resolution could pass by the end of the week.

The Senate

The Senate will take up:

• S 3457 The Veterans Jobs Corps Act sets up a five-year job training program for veterans.

The House

The House has a full agenda this week, including a Republican proposal to terminate the pending "Sequester" for defense spending (no bill number yet). The Sequester is the result of the Supercommittee's failure last year to agree on $3.8 trillion in deficit reduction. Without an agreement, the Budget Control Act, which created the Supercommittee, mandates cuts to social programs and defense. The vote this week will attempt to roll back defense cuts.

The House now has just 13 more days in session planned before the November elections, and aside from the continuing resolution, little else in the way of major legislation is expected. The House finished the summer by passing HR 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act (number 3 on POPVOX last week), but the Senate will not consider it, and that bill is likely to be the last healthcare repeal bill until November.

Other bills to be considered under a rule this week are:

• HR 5949 The FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act: This bill would extend for five years the authority intelligence officials have to start overseas surveillance of terrorists without a court order.
• HR 6213 The No More Solyndras Act: This bill prevents any new clean energy loans like the one received by Solyndra, which declared bankruptcy after receiving more than $500 million.
• HR 5544 The Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act: to authorize and expedite a land exchange involving National Forest System land in the Laurentian District of the Superior National Forest

In addition, the House will take up several suspension bills, which will likely be approved after very short debate throughout the week:

• HR 406 to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to permit candidates for election for Federal office to designate an individual who will be authorized to disburse funds of the authorized campaign committees of the candidate in the event of the death of the candidate
• HR 538 The Government Customer Service Improvement Act
• HR 1410 The Vietnam Human Rights Act
• HR 1464 The North Korean Refugee Adoption Act
• HR 1775 The Stolen Valor Act
• HR 2139 The Lions Club International Century of Service Commemorative Coin Act
• HR 2489 The American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act
• HR 2706 The Billfish Conservation Act
• HR 2800 to amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program
• HR 3397 The Cabin Fee Act
• HR 3857 The Public Transit Security and Local Law Enforcement Support Act
• HR 4057 The Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act
• HR 4264 The FHA Emergency Fiscal Solvency Act
• HR 4305 The Child and Elderly Missing Alert Program
• HR 4631 The Government Spending Accountability Act
• HR 5865 The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act
• HR 6007 The North Texas Zebra Mussel Barrier Act
• HR 6028 The No-Hassle Flying Act
• HR 6080 to make improvements in the enactment of title 41, United States Code, into a positive law title and to improve the code
• HR 6122 to revise the authority of the Librarian of Congress to accept gifts and bequests on behalf of the Library
• HR 6131 to extend the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act of 2006
• HR 6185 The Local Courthouse Safety Act
• HR 6131 to extend the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act of 2006
• HR 6186 to require a study of voluntary community-based flood insurance options and how such options could be incorporated into the national flood insurance program
• HR 6189 to eliminate unnecessary reporting requirements for unfunded programs under the Office of Justice Programs
• HR 6215 to amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to correct an error in the provisions relating to remedies for dilution
• HR 6336 to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to accept a statue depicting Frederick Douglass from the District of Columbia and to provide for the permanent display of the statue in Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center
• HRes 177 expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that are necessary to ensure a lasting peace
• HRes 484 calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to respect basic human rights and cease abusing vague national security provisions such as articles 79 and 88 of the Vietnamese penal code which are often the pretext to arrest and detain citizens who peacefully advocate for religious and political freedom
• HCRes 132 providing funding to ensure the printing and production of the authorized number of copies of the revised and updated version of the House document entitled "Hispanic Americans in Congress"
• S 710 The Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act
• S 3245 to extend by 3 years the authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program, the E-Verify Program, the Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program, and the Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program
• SCRes 17 a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that Taiwan should be accorded observer status in the International Civil Aviation Organization

POPVOXnation Priorities

The top two pieces of legislation on POPVOX last week are also unlikely to advance this year:

• HR 2657 The Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act, from Rep. Nita Lowey.
• HR 2438 The American Traveller Dignity Act, from Rep. Ron Paul.