THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018

Daily Leader

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HOUSE MEETS AT:	FIRST VOTE PREDICTED:	LAST VOTE PREDICTED:
10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour 12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business Fifteen “One Minutes”	1:00 – 2:00 p.m.	5:15 – 6:15 p.m.


H.Res. 989– Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 6237– Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 (Rep. Nunes – Intelligence) (One hour of debate). The Rules Committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Rule provides for consideration of 12 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes, equally controlled by the proponent and opponent of the amendment. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation. The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Mr. Hastings of Florida to make in order and provide the appropriate waivers to amendment #11, offered by Rep. Hastings which amends the National Security Act to include in its list of statutorily required positions on the National Security Council a Cybersecurity Coordinator. The Cybersecurity Coordinator shall be paid at the rate of basic pay for level III of the Executive Schedule. The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Torres of California to make in order and provide the appropriate waivers to amendment #41, offered by Reps. Torres, Hastings of Florida, McGovern of Massachusetts, Polis of Colorado, which inserts the findings of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, with respect to the Intelligence Committee Assessment (ICA) regarding Russian activities and intentions in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. It converts the Committee’s findings into findings of the entire Congress. The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Torres of California to make in order and provide the appropriate waivers to amendment #5, offered by Reps. Torres which requires the advisory report on foreign counterintelligence and cybersecurity threats to election campaigns summarizing best practices for Federal offices to also include State and Local offices, and amendment #7 offered by Rep. Torres which requires a report from the Director of National Intelligence to Congress on the use of U.S. policy on family separation as propaganda by foreign governments, including Russia, to interfere and undermine the moral credibility of the U.S. Members are urged to VOTE NO. Complete Consideration of H.R. 3281 – Reclamation Title Transfer and Non-Federal Infrastructure Incentivization Act (Rep. Lamborn – Natural Resources)(One hour of debate). The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey the title to federal water infrastructure facilities, such as dams or irrigation canals, maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to nonfederal entities if certain conditions are met. Reclamation provides one out of five Western farmers with irrigation water for ten million acres of farmland and delivers ten trillion gallons of water to more than thirty-one million people annually and is the largest domestic producer of hydropower, making BOR the nation’s largest wholesale water supplier. The American taxpayer provided the initial capital contribution to build the vast majority of these BOR projects, with the water and power customers who benefitted from the facilities entering into long-term contracts with BOR to repay a portion of the initial taxpayer investment. Under current law, BOR may transfer day-to-day operational and maintenance responsibilities of these Reclamation facilities to project beneficiaries but requires specific Congressional authorization to transfer ownership of BOR assets. H.R. 3281 removes this long-standing existing law by empowering the Secretary of the Interior to convey the title, without necessary safeguards to ensure that the American taxpayer is compensated or that affected stakeholders are consulted as part of the process. Rather than requiring Congressional approval, the bill gives Congress a ninety day window to pass a joint resolution of disapproval to prevent a conveyance from moving forward. Instead of putting any real infrastructure proposals before the Congress, the Republican majority seems intent on following through with the Administration’s plans to privatize and relinquish public assets. 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 Natural Resources. Bill Text for H.R. 3281: PDF Version Background for H.R. 3281: House Report (HTML Version) House Report (PDF Version) H.R. 6237 – Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 (Rep. Nunes – Intelligence)(One hour of debate). This legislation authorizes funding for sixteen intelligence and intelligence-related activities for FY 2018 and FY2019. The Rule provides for one hour of general debate and provides for consideration of 11 amendments. The amendments are: Keating Amendment. Adds Russian to the list of the languages in Sec. 1501. Schneider Amendment #2. Amends Sec. 1503 to include a list of foreign state or foreign nonstate actors involved in the threats to election campaigns for Federal offices. Jackson-Lee Amendment. Amends the Sense of Congress already in the bill on the importance of re-review of security clearances held by individuals by adding consideration of whether the security clearance holder’s association or sympathy with persons or organizations that advocate, threaten, or use force or violence, or any other illegal or unconstitutional means, in an effort to prevent others from exercising their rights under the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any state, including but not limited to race, religion, national origin, or disability. Vargas Amendment. Adds “the use of virtual currencies” to “section 1505” to ensure it is included in the assessment of threat finance. Torres Amendment. Directs Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis, to produce a national intelligence estimate of the revenue sources of the North Korean regime. Hastings Amendment. Directs the Director of National Intelligence to create and implement a plan that expands the recruitment efforts of all intelligence agencies geographic parameters used in recruitment efforts so that rural and other underserved regions across the nation are more fully represented in such efforts. Schneider Amendment #7. Directs the DNI to report on Iran’s support for proxy forces in Syria and Lebanon, including Hizballah, and an assessment of the threat posed to Israel and other U.S. regional allies. Bera Amendment. Requires a briefing to relevant Congressional committees on the anticipated geopolitical effects of emerging infectious disease and pandemics, and their implications on the national security of the United States. Kennedy Amendment. Requires the Director of National Intelligence to submit a report on the potential establishment of the ‘‘Foreign Malign Influence Response Center,’’ comprised of analysts from all elements of the intelligence community, to provide comprehensive assessment of foreign efforts to influence United States political processes and elections. Rice Amendment. Requires the Director of National Intelligence to report on the possible exploitation of virtual currencies by terrorist actors. Lipinski Amendment. Requires an annual report from the Director of National Intelligence describing Iranian expenditures on military and terrorist activities outside the country, such as on Hizballah, Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hamas, and proxy forces in Iraq and Syria. Davidson Amendment. Enhances oversight by augmenting existing semiannual reporting requirements regarding disciplinary actions. TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Friday, July 13: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to complete consideration of H.R. 50 – Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2017 (Rep. Foxx – Oversight and Government Reform).

THE DAILY QUOTE
“Six months after the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became law, there's still little evidence that the average job holder is feeling the benefit. Worker pay in the second quarter dropped nearly one percent below its first-quarter level, according to the PayScale Index, one measure of worker pay. When accounting for inflation, the drop is even steeper. Year-over-year, rising prices have eaten up still-modest pay gains for many workers, with the result that real wages fell 1.4 percent from the prior year, according to PayScale. The drop was broad, with 80 percent of industries and two-thirds of metro areas affected.” - CBS News, 7/11/2018

THE DAILY QUOTE

“Six months after the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became law, there's still little evidence that the average job holder is feeling the benefit. Worker pay in the second quarter dropped nearly one percent below its first-quarter level, according to the PayScale Index, one measure of worker pay. When accounting for inflation, the drop is even steeper. Year-over-year, rising prices have eaten up still-modest pay gains for many workers, with the result that real wages fell 1.4 percent from the prior year, according to PayScale. The drop was broad, with 80 percent of industries and two-thirds of metro areas affected.”

- CBS News, 7/11/2018