THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2015

**Members are advised that the GOP Leadership has announced that votes will occur after 7:00 p.m. when the House is considering Appropriations bills, therefore the House may be voting late into the evening today.

H.Res. 303 – Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 2393 – Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Amendments Act of 2015 (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture) and H.R. 2685 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). The Rules committee has recommended one Rule which provides for consideration of 2 bills.

For H.R. 2393, the Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.R. 2685, the Rules Committee has recommended a modified open Rule that allows any amendments that comply with House Rules to be considered. The Rule provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations. The Rule allows any Member to submit an amendment that complies with the House Rules, but only provides for 10 minutes of debate per amendment equally divided and controlled between the proponent and an opponent, and does not permit unlimited pro forma amendments. Lastly, the Rule provides up to 10 pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate offered by the Chair and Ranking Member or their designee and one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Slaughter of New York to consider both bills under an open Rule. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 2393 – Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Amendments Act of 2015 (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture) (One Hour of Debate). 2002’s Farm Bill created Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), requiring retailers of certain meat products to inform consumers on the product's label of the product's country of origin.  The provision was modified by the 2008 Farm Bill. Because COOL limits the use of the “made in USA” label to meat from animals born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States, Canada and Mexico filed challenges to the rule with the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming that COOL is discriminatory and causes lower values and less demand for their exported livestock and meats.  In response to four WTO rulings against the U.S., this bill would repeal COOL for beef, pork and chicken that is sold in the United States as one way of avoiding the retaliatory tariffs which could be imposed by Canada and Mexico if COOL remains unchanged.

Bill Text for H.R. 2393:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2393:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

H.R. 2685 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). H.R. 2685 appropriates $490.2 billion in FY 2016 base discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense – plus an additional $88.4 billion in discretionary budget authority designated for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

The measure includes a military pay raise of 2.3% (1% above the President’s request) and continues provisions prohibiting the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. It also includes funding for sexual assault prevention and response programs in the military and suicide prevention and outreach programs.

The $88.4 billion in funding designated for OCO is achieved by shifting $38 billion in funding from the President’s base defense request into the OCO war funding account - a dangerous gimmick intended to go around the sequester level defense spending cap from the Budget Control Act, while leaving the non-defense sequester level cap in place. This gambit will destabilize long-term national security planning, and allow domestic priorities to wither on the vine.  By removing pressure to replace the sequester level defense caps, it makes a new budget agreement less likely, with drastic negative consequences for our nation’s schools, roads and bridges, law enforcement, scientific research, and other domestic priorities critical to military families and all hardworking Americans. If Republicans want to lift spending above the Budget Control Act's caps, then they should work with Democrats to replace the dangerous and irrational sequester for both defense and non-defense spending with a balanced solution.

For these reasons, the Administration issued a SAP stating that, should it reach his desk, the President’s advisors would recommend he veto this bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.R. 2685:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2685:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Postponed Suspension (1 bill)

1. H.Res. 295– Supporting local law enforcement agencies in their continued work to serve our communities, and supporting their use of body worn cameras to promote transparency to protect both citizens and officers alike (Rep. Al Green – Judiciary)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, June 11: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to continue consideration of H.R. 2685– Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations).