THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

**Members are advised that following last votes, the House is expected to continue consideration of amendments to H.R. 1735 late into the evening and that they should be prepared to offer their amendment at the appropriate time tonight. 

Suspensions (2 bills)

1. H.R. 1191– Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (Rep. Barletta – Foreign Affairs)
2. H.R. 2297– Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 (Rep. Royce/Engel/Deutch/Meadows/Meng/Zeldin– Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 260 – Rule providing for further consideration of H.R. 1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services) (One Hour of debate). The Rules Committee has recommended a Rule which would provide for consideration of amendments to H.R. 1735.

For H.R. 1735, the Rules Committee has recommended a structured Rule for amendments.  The Rule provides for consideration of 135 amendments, each debatable for 10 minutes, equally controlled by the proponent and opponent of the amendment.

The Rule also provides the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services authority to offer amendments en bloc, consisting of amendments not previously considered. All en bloc amendments are debatable for 20 minutes equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the committee on Armed Services. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions and waives all points of order against the legislation.

The Rules Committee excluded several Democratic amendments. The Committee rejected a motion to make in order an amendment offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts that would direct the President to determine and inform Congress by March 16, 2016, how long U.S. military troops would remain in Afghanistan – the amendment would also require Congressional approval of the determination. The Committee also rejected a motion by Mr. Polis of Colorado to make in order a number of amendments related to nuclear weapons and cancer research. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Continue Consideration of H.R. 1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services). The bill would provide for the authorization of funding for the Department of Defense and other related agencies, programs, and operations for Fiscal Year 2016. It authorizes approximately $605.6 billion in discretionary budget authority in total.  This includes $495.8 billion for the Department of Defense base budget and $17.6 billion for the defense-related activities of the Department of Energy. It also includes $89.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), shifting $38 billion in funding from the President’s base defense request into the OCO war funding account. This gimmick goes around the sequester level defense spending cap, while leaving the non-defense sequester level cap in place.

The bill supports a 2.3 percent pay increase for military personnel. It also includes important provisions related to sexual assault in the military and authorizes funding for suicide prevention programs among the Special Operations community.

The legislation maintains the current restriction on domestic transfers of Guantanamo detainees and prevents the use of funds for construction or modification of U.S. facilities to house Guantánamo detainees. The bill also reverts to a more onerous certification standard for the transfer of Gitmo detainees and prohibits transfers to any country in which a previously transferred detainee was confirmed to have re-engaged in armed conflict.  In addition, the bill authorizes $200 million for a train and equip effort in Ukraine; $600 million for the Syria train-and-equip effort; and $715 million for the Iraq train-and-equip effort.  Lastly, the White House has issued a SAP stating that President’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

A full list of the 135 amendments made in order can be found HERE.

Bill Text for H.R. 1735:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 1735:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Friday, May 15: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.  The House is expected to complete consideration of H.R. 1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services).