THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2018

Daily Leader
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HOUSE MEETS AT:FIRST VOTE PREDICTED:LAST VOTE PREDICTED:
9:00 a.m.: Legislative Business

Five “One Minutes”		10:30  – 11:30 a.m.???
 
H.Res. 1180– Rule providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 88 — Shiloh National Military Park Boundary Adjustment and Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield Designation Act [Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 and the Taxpayer First Act of 2018] (Rep. Blackburn – Ways and Means) (Subject to a Rule).  The Rule provides for one hour ofgeneral debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means.  The Rule waives all points of order against the legislation. 

The Rules Committee blocked an amendment made by Reps. Lewis of Georgia, Clyburn of South Carolina, Doggett of Texas, Blumenauer of Oregon, Kind of Wisconsin, Pascrell of New Jersey, Higgins of New York, DelBene of Washington, Chu of California, and Wasserman Schultz of Florida to strike section 507 related to 501(c)(3) organizations engaging in political activities.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.Res. 1181– Rule Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules, and providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules (Subject to a Rule).  Waives clause 6(a) of rule XIII (requiring a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the same day it is reported from the Rules Committee) against any resolution reported through the legislative day of December 24, 2018.

The Rule also allows for Suspension Authority at any time through the calendar day of December 23, 2018.

Suspensions (35 bills)
  1. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to S. 756– First Step Act of 2018 (Sen. Grassley – Judiciary)
  2. House Amendment to S. 3661 – 75th Anniversary of World War II Commemoration Act (Sen. Inhofe – Armed Services)
  3. S. 2679 – Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act (Sen. Duckworth – Small Business)
  4. H.R. 7227 – Taxpayer First Act of 2018, as amended (Rep. Jenkins – Ways and Means)
  5. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 4227– Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019 (Rep. Latta – Homeland Security)
  6. S. 2652 – Stephen Michael Gleason Congressional Gold Medal Act (Sen. Cassidy – Financial Services)
  7. S. 2765 – RBIC Advisers Relief Act of 2018 (Sen. Kennedy – Financial Services)
  8. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5509 – Innovations in Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships Act (Rep. McCarthy – Science, Space, and Technology)
  9. S. 7 – NASA Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2018 (Sen. Wicker – Science, Space, and Technology)  
  10. S. 2200 – National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Sen. Thune – Science, Space, and Technology)
  11. H.R. 7328 – Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018 (Rep. Brooks (IN) – Energy and Commerce)
  12. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 767 – SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018 (Rep. Cohen – Energy and Commerce)
  13. S. 2322 – Codifying Useful Regulatory Definitions Act (Sen. Johnson – Energy and Commerce)
  14. H.R. 6418 – VA Website Accessibility Act of 2018, as amended (Rep. Esty – Veterans’ Affairs)
  15. S. 3444 – A bill to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as the Douglas Fournet Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic (Sen. Cassidy – Veterans’ Affairs)
  16. S. 3777 – Forever GI Bill Housing Payment Fulfillment Act of 2018 (Sen. Boozman – Veterans’ Affairs)
  17. H.R. 7293 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 770 Ayrault Road in Fairport, New York, as the “Louise and Bob Slaughter Post Office” (Rep. Morelle – Oversight and Government Reform)
  18. S. 2276– GAO-IG Act (Sen. Young – Oversight and Government Reform)
  19. S. 3031 – Federal Personal Property Management Act of 2018 (Sen. Peters – Oversight and Government Reform)
  20. S. 3191– Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 (Sen. Jones – Oversight and Government Reform)
  21. H.Res. 1063 – Designating room H-226 of the United States Capitol as the "Lincoln Room” (Rep. LaHood – Transportation and Infrastructure)
  22. H.R. __ – To make technical corrections to provisions of law enacted by the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, and for other purposes (Rep. Shuster – Transportation and Infrastructure)
  23. H.R. 7318 – To amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to ensure that the Public Buildings Reform Board has adequate time to carry out the responsibilities of the Board, and for other purposes (Rep. Barletta – Transportation and Infrastructure)
  24. H.R. 7319 – To amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to provide flexibility with respect to the leaseback of certain Federal real property, and for other purposes  (Rep. Barletta – Transportation and Infrastructure)
  25. S. 3367 – Department of Transportation Reports Harmonization Act (Sen. Thune – Transportation and Infrastructure)
  26. H.R. 5075 – Ashanti Alert Act of 2018, as amended (Rep. Taylor – Judiciary)
  27. H.R. 7093 – Clean Up the Code Act of 2018 (Rep. Chabot – Judiciary)
  28. S. 2896 – JACK Act (Sen. Kennedy – Judiciary) 
  29. S. 2961 – Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Sen. Blunt – Judiciary)
  30. S. 3461 – AMBER Alert Nationwide Act of 2018 (Sen. Schatz – Judiciary)
  31. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2200– Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Rep. Smith (NJ) – Foreign Affairs)
  32. S. 1158 – Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Sen. Cardin – Foreign Affairs)
  33. S. 1580 – Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act (Sen. Rubio – Foreign Affairs)
  34. S. 1862 – Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, as amended (Sen. Corker – Foreign Affairs)
  35. S. 3247 – Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 (Sen. Boozman – Foreign Affairs)
House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 88 – Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 and the Taxpayer First Act of 2018 (Rep. Brady (TX) – Ways and Means) (One hour of debate).  House Republicans are rushing to the Floor another partisan package of tax cuts, which will add $53 billion more to the deficit this year, without any consultation or cooperation with House or Senate Democrats. This 297 page bill was made public Monday evening, has received no hearings or markups, and was written without any input from Democratic lawmakers, outside experts, or the public. Earlier this month, the American people overwhelmingly rejected House Republicans’ go-it-alone approach to tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefitted the wealthy, left the middle class behind, and added trillions to the deficit. Yet, Republicans are once again rejecting bipartisanship and regular order to jam through tax cuts that aren’t paid for and won’t help working families.

The bill makes dozens of changes to tax law. While Democrats may be sympathetic to many of these policies in isolation, this bill fails to help working families, small businesses, and other Americans on many levels. It includes several “technical corrections” to drafting errors in Republicans’ hastily thrown together tax law, yet does nothing for middle-class families and repeats the same error of bringing the legislation to the Floor without public hearings or input.

Instead of working with Democrats to pass a bipartisan package of tax extenders that will help the middle-class, small businesses, and millions of Americans struggling to save for their retirements, Republican leaders are wasting valuable time on the Floor on partisan games during a lame duck session. Instead of debating this partisan bill, House Republicans should focus on responsibly funding the government before the December 7 deadline; reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act; passing a Farm Bill, which expired almost two months ago; and extending the National Flood Insurance Program, which expires on Friday.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Possible Consideration ofConcurring in theSenate Amendment to H.R. 695 – Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations) (Subject to a Rule).  This measure would kick-the-can-down-the-road on funding the remainder of government as well as extend a number of other critical programs until February 8, 2019 in order to avoid a partial government shutdown.  It contains no new funding for the President’s border wall. 

The bill extends Fiscal Year 2018 funding levels for seven of the twelve appropriations bills, comprising approximately one quarter of discretionary funding. These are Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Homeland Security, Financial Services-General Government, Interior-Environment, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-HUD bills.

It also makes three new authorization extensions for the life of the CR: Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act.
 
This bill still includes several extensions already riding on the prior CR: National Flood Insurance Programs, Violence Against Women Act, Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Additionally, several immigration extensions are included:  EB-5, E-Verify, Conrad 30 program for international medical school graduates, Special Immigrant Religious Workers program, and H2B. The bill also extends two expiring Medicaid provisions relating to spousal impoverishment and the money follows the person demonstration program.

Postponed Suspensions (2 bills)
  1. Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2606– Stigler Act Amendments of 2018 (Rep. Cole – Natural Resources)
  2. H.R. 6602 – To reauthorize the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route, and for other purposes (Rep. LoBiondo – Natural Resources)
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK

Further information regarding the schedule will be announced as soon as it is available.  
 
THE DAILY QUOTE
“The GOP-controlled Congress on Wednesday severely undermined President Trump’s drive for a border wall… Despite Trump’s insistence on building the border wall, many congressional Republicans never viewed the plan as realistic, and some never fully supported it… Trump has periodically demanded wall funding and threatened to shut down the government to get it — a fight GOP leaders ultimately persuaded him to put off until after the midterm elections. But there were never the votes in the narrowly divided Senate for Trump and Republicans to win the fight once the moment arrived, a reality that McConnell and GOP leaders acknowledged Wednesday…”

    -     Washington Post, 12/19/2018