THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

H.Res. 449 – Rule providing for consideration of both the Conference report to accompany H.R. 1735 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services) and H.R. 3457 – Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (Rep. Meehan – Foreign Affairs) (One hour of debate).  The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of two bills.

For the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1735, the Rules Committee has allowed debate on the conference report be divided pursuant to clause 8(d) of Rule XXII.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit and waives all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration. 

H.R. 3457, 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 Foreign Affairs.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

The Rule also allows for Suspension Authority on Thursday, October 1, 2015.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts to consider H.R. 3457 under an open Rule. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 3457 – Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act (Rep. Meehan – Foreign Affairs).  H.R. 3457 would prohibit the President from waiving, suspending, reducing, providing relief from, or limiting in anyway the sanctions against Iran or releasing Iranian assets pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in Vienna, Austria on July 14, 2015 until the President certifies to Congress that Iran has fully paid Americans court-ordered damages for Iranian-backed terror attacks.

H.R. 3457 would prevent the United States from implementing its sanctions relief commitments under the JCPOA by tying the Administration’s ability to fulfill US commitments to issues outside the scope of the JCPOA.  Per the White House Statement of Administration policy, the bill “would result in the collapse of a comprehensive diplomatic arrangement that peacefully and verifiably prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and in turn would allow for the resumption of a significantly less constrained Iranian nuclear program…”.  The bill constitutes nothing more than an effort to kill the Iran agreement under the guise of requiring Iran to pay legal judgments. 

H.R. 3457 is another example of House Republicans wasting more time instead of addressing some of the critical issues that face our country.  The House should be taking action on pressing issues with bipartisan support, including providing certainty to American businesses by reauthorizing the Export-Import bank, developing a long-term solution to create a solvent Highway Trust Fund that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and showing that our country is fiscally responsible by ensuring our nation can pay its bills.

In the Statement of Administration Policy, the President said if he were presented with H.R. 3457 he would veto the bill.

The Rule provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Judiciary or their respective designees.

Bill Text for H.R. 3457:
PDF Version

Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1735 – National Defense Authorization Act for FY2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services).  Today, the House will consider the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1735 – National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2016 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services).

The Conference Report would provide for the authorization of funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) and other related agencies, programs, and operations for FY2016.  It authorizes approximately $515 billion in discretionary base budget authority, including roughly $496.4 billion for the Department of Defense base budget and $18.6 billion for defense-related activities of the Department of Energy. 

It also authorizes more than $89.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), which is $38.3 billion over the Administration’s request.  This gimmick allows Republicans to both fund DOD above the sequester level defense spending cap - without offsets - and to forego negotiations with Democrats on replacing the non-defense sequester level cap. By including this fiscally irresponsible tactic to increase defense spending while maintaining sequestration’s cuts to domestic programs, House Republicans are turning a bipartisan bill that has passed 53 years in a row into a partisan package that Democrats cannot support.

If Republicans want to lift the spending caps of the sequester, then they should work with Democrats to enact a budget that replaces the dangerous and irrational sequester on both defense and non-defense spending with a balanced solution.  This approach defines security solely in terms of defense dollars.  It fails to recognize that funding defense while cutting investments in research and technology, under-funding infrastructure projects, and continuing to neglect our education system harms U.S. strength and security.  This approach also harms fundamental national security priorities by characterizing core defense items as part of “contingency operations” subject to the whims of OCO, such as the Iron Dome Missile defense program and all other US-Israel cooperative missile defense programs, which helps Israel protect its citizens from Hamas and Hezbollah rockets.

Additionally, funding such a large portion of DOD through OCO undermines the Pentagon’s long-term planning process.  This approach to budgeting has been called “managerially unsound” and does not allow for the stable, multi-year budgeting DOD needs.  Secretary Carter has warned of the “accumulating and lasting damage that comes from a paycheck to paycheck approach to budgeting for the defense of our country.”

The Conference Report for H.R. 1735 also expands a number of prohibitions at the Detention Center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO), which Ranking Member Smith (WA) and the Administration oppose.  It limits the authority and ability of the Secretary of Defense to transfer GTMO detainees to the custody or control of a foreign country unless the Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that the transfer is in the national security interest of the United States and several onerous conditions have been met.  These requirements tie the hands of the Secretary of Defense, and adding these hurdles and requirements could potentially risk our national security. 

Lastly, the Administration issued a statement saying, if he were presented with the Conference Report, the President would veto it. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for the Conference Report:
PDF Version