THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016

Senate Amendment to the House Amendment to S. 764 –GMO Labeling Requirements (Sen. Roberts – Agriculture)(One Hour of Debate).  This legislation would direct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue federal rules for determining which food ingredients qualify as genetically modified and how consumers should be notified that foods contain genetically modified ingredients.  It passed the Senate 63-30 on July 7^th.  That vote can be found here.  

This legislation differs from earlier Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) labeling legislation passed in the House on July 23, 2015 (that vote onH.R. 1599 can be found here).  H.R. 1599 pre-empted state law on GMO labeling (currently, Vermont is the only state with a GMO labeling requirement in effect), and it did not mandate any disclosure at the federal level.  S. 764 also pre-empts state GMO labeling laws, but it requires the USDA to create a national GMO food labeling standard within two years that gives companies three options for disclosure: (1) on-package words; (2) on-package symbol; or (3) on-package electronic label (QR code) accompanied by the words “scan here for more food information.”  The legislation also clarifies that certification of a food as organic is considered sufficient to make a claim that a food is non-GMO.     

While this legislation is not perfect, it is a compromise that creates a uniform national system for labeling GMO information on food products.  Administration officials have indicated that the President intends to sign the bill into law if it passes the House in its current form.   

H.R. 5631 – To hold Iran accountable for its state sponsorship of terrorism and other threatening activities and for its human rights abuses, and for other purposes (Rep. McCarthy – Foreign Affairs) (One hour of debate).  The bill would impose new mandatory sanctions against Iran related to its ballistic missile program, support for international terrorism and its domestic human rights abuses.  

It would specifically sunset waivers to 2018 relating to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC); (2) reimpose sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program and those sectors of the Iranian economy that support it, including the chemical, computer science, construction, electronic, metallurgy, minim, research, petrochemical, and telecommunications sectors; (3) prohibit any Iranian bank from having access to U.S. financial institutions, including foreign banks with branches in the United States; (4) expand the definition of “ownership/control” to include anyone holding more than 25% of equity in a sanctioned entity; and (5) reimpose secondary sanctions against various Iranian officials, including current and former officials of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization for human rights abuses, which would sunset in 2018.

Bill Text for H.R. 5631:
PDF Version

H.R. 4992– United States Financial System Protection Act of 2016 (Rep. Royce – Financial Services) (One hour of debate).  The bill would codify regulations regarding dollar transactions with Iran.  It would also prohibit the President from allowing the U.S. dollar to be used in trade transactions with Iran by disallowing a general license under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to foreign banks or U.S. institutions for the purpose of conducting dollar transactions for Iranian persons or the Iranian government. 

Bill Text for H.R. 4992:
PDF Version

Complete Consideration of H.R. 5538 – Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (Rep. Calvert – Appropriations).  H.R. 5538 appropriates $32.1 billion in FY 2017 base discretionary budget authority for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other agencies funded in the bill for FY 2017.  It is $1.02 billion below the President’s request and $64 million below FY 2016 levels.  H.R. 5538 does the most damage to the EPA; the agency would receive $164 million below FY 2016 levels for operating its programs.  Additionally, the bill provides no new funds to address Flint’s drinking water, and the Clean Water Revolving Loan fund is cut $349 million below FY 2016 levels.

As has been the case with appropriations bills all year, House Republicans have insisted upon including ideological, controversial policy riders to H.R. 5538 that threaten to derail the bill.  H.R. 5538 includes numerous policy riders that: (1) block the Clean Power Plan which would regulate carbon pollution from new and existing electric power plants for the first time; (2) block the EPA’s program for home lead testing; (3) block agencies from calculating the Social Cost of Carbon in rulemaking; (4) block the EPA from issuing new ground-level ozone regulations; (5) block the Department of the Interior from issuing new regulations addressing methane emissions from oil and gas extraction conducted on federal lands; (6) block endangered species protections for the gray wolf, the sage grouse, and the prairie chicken; and (7) block the Interior Department’s stream protection rule regulating the disposal of mining waste. 

Additionally, because House Republicans failed to bring a budget to the Floor to guide the appropriations process, the House Appropriations Committee is prevented from presenting an enforceable full list of funding allocations for each appropriations bill, making it difficult to compare this bill to all other appropriations bills in the context of the budget caps with any certainty.  Due to this, as well as the large number of harmful policy riders, the Administration issued a SAP, in which the President’s senior advisors stated that they would recommend he veto this bill.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

The Rule makes in order no further general or amendment debate.  The following amendments have recorded votes pending:

Beyer/Cartwright/Lawrence Amendment #98
Capps Amendment
Grijalva Amendment #100
Lowenthal Amendment
Pocan  Amendment #103
Polis Amendment #104
Tsongas Amendment
Norcross Amendment
Gallego Amendment

Bill Text for H.R. 5538:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 5538:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)