THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
Press Types
Daily Leader
HOUSE MEETS AT: | FIRST VOTE PREDICTED: | LAST VOTE PREDICTED: |
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10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour 12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business Fifteen “One Minutes” | 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. | 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. |
H.Res. 694– Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 4712 – Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act (Rep. Blackburn – Judiciary). The Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation. Members are urged to VOTE NO. H.Res. 696– Rule providing for consideration of House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 195 - Making further additional continuing appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018, and other purposes (Rep. Frelinghuysen - Appropriations). The Rules Committee has recommended a motion by the Chair of the Appropriations Committee or his designee that the House Concur in the Senate Amendment with an amendment to H.R. 195 and waives all points of order against this motion, and provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations. The Rule also allows for Suspension Authority through January 20, 2018. The Rule also Waives clause 6(a) of rule XIII, the requirement of a two-thirds vote to consider a Rule on the same day it is reported from the Rules Committee against any resolution reported through January 20, 2018. The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts to limit the waiver of clause 6(a) of rule XIII to spending measures. The Rules Committee also rejected a motion by Mr. Polis of Colorado to make in order and provide the appropriate waivers to amendment #2 which inserts the text of the DREAM Act. Members are urged to VOTE NO. H.R. 2954– Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act (Rep. Emmer – Financial Services) (One hour of debate). This bill would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) authority to implement and update the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Under Dodd-Frank, the CFPB was charged with enforcing HMDA, which helps public officials monitor mortgage lending patters, to identify underserved communities and populations, and to combat discriminatory lending by mortgage creditors. In 2015, CFPB issued a revised rule requiring financial institutions to provide more comprehensive lending data. After hearing concerns from community banks and credit unions that the challenges and costs of the new reporting requirements might be greater than the Bureau had initially estimated, the CFPB modified the revised rule to exempt smaller lending institutions from the rule. H.R. 2954 ignores the fact that the CFPB listened to and accommodated the legitimate concerns raised by these institutions in revising the rule and simply limits the CFPB ability to revise the rule in the future with respect to smaller institutions if circumstances warrant it. H.R. 2954 is simply another attempt to weaken the CFPB and prevent it from doing its job – protecting the American people. This bill will hurt underserved communities and will once again allow discriminatory lending by mortgage creditors. The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services. Bill Text for H.R. 2954: PDF Version Background for H.R. 2954: House Report (HTML Version) House Report (PDF Version) House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 195 – Making further additional continuing appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018, and other purposes (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations) (One hour of debate). This resolution is yet another short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend government funding for a few weeks, this time until February 16th. Rather than work with Democrats to come to a necessary bipartisan agreement to lift the Budget Control Act (BCA) spending caps, giving appropriators the direction they need for full-year funding bills, House Republicans have chosen instead to kick the can down the road for the fourth time, despite making no progress during any of the previous extensions. This bill does not provide disaster funding, address protection for the DREAMers, extend additional health access for veterans, provide funding to combat the opioid epidemic, protect pensions, or any of the additional priorities which mounted up as Republicans focused solely on unpaid for tax cuts for the wealthy. Instead of acting responsibly to address these issues and fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, House Republicans continue wasting time. This package includes a six year reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In contrast, making CHIP permanent would not only provide long-term stability for states, providers and families, it would actually save $6 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. The authorization for the program, which provides health coverage to nine million children, lapsed at the end of September 2017. Republicans are only just now getting around to reauthorizing the program because they wasted months on efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enact unpaid for tax cuts for the wealthy. This resolution includes additional tax cuts totaling over $26 billion, including a two year delay of the medical device and Cadillac taxes, and a one year delay of the health insurance tax. At the same time, the resolution fails to address numerous other expired and expiring health priorities, from funding for community health centers to waiving caps on therapy services for seniors on Medicare, to preventing cuts to safety net hospitals. Despite controlling the House, Senate, and the White House, Republicans have not funded the government for the entire year, even though we’re already four months into the fiscal year. This is the fourth short-term CR Republicans have put forward this fiscal year. Because Republicans refuse to work with Democrats and compromise on how to provide relief from the BCA’s sequester level spending caps, they are lurching from CR to CR – degrading the readiness of our military and preventing government agencies from properly serving the American people. This is not a responsible way to govern. It is long past time for Republicans to reach agreement with Democrats and get our work done – including upholding the long-standing precedent of agreeing to parity when providing relief from sequester caps. Members are urged to VOTE NO. Postponed Suspension (1 bill)
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Friday, January 19: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to complete consideration of H.R. 4712– Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act (Rep. Blackburn – Judiciary). | ||
THE DAILY QUOTE |
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"Some conservatives oppose the short-term spending bill and said GOP leaders lacked the votes to pass it… If Congress can't temporarily finance the government by Friday, a shutdown would begin the next day, an election-year debacle that GOP leaders… are eager to avoid… But some conservatives have yet to be won over. ‘At what point do you quit kicking the can down the road and passing just another CR in hopes that things get better in a few weeks,’ said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of the chamber's most conservative faction.” - Associated Press, 1/18/2018 |