THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2016
Mariel Saez or Latoya Veal 202-225-3130
| House Meets At: | First Vote Predicted: | Last Vote Predicted: |
|---|---|---|
10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. | 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. |
***MEMBERS ARE ADVISED THAT CLOSE VOTES ARE POSSIBLE THIS WEEK. ANY EXPECTED ABSENCES SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE WHIP’S OFFICE AT x5-3130.
**Members are also advised that the GOP Leadership has announced that votes will occur after 7:00 p.m. when the House is considering Appropriations bills.
H.Res. 736 – Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 4974 – Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations) and H.R. 5243 – Zika Response Appropriations Act of 2016 (Rep. Rogers (KY) – Appropriations) (One hour of debate). The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of two bills.
For H.R. 5243, 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 Appropriations. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.
For H.R. 4974, 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 for each bill 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 gives priority in recognition to those amendments pre-printed in the Congressional Record. The Rule provides for 10 minutes of debate per amendment equally divided and controlled between the proponent and an opponent, and 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 H.R. 5243 and H.R. 4974 under open Rules. Members are urged to VOTE NO.
H.Res. 735– Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 4909 –National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services). The Rules Committee has recommended a structured Rule for additional amendments. The Rule provides for consideration of 120 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. Members are urged to VOTE NO.
Complete Consideration of H.R. 4909 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services). The bill would authorize funding for the Department of Defense and other related agencies, programs, and operations for Fiscal Year 2017. It authorizes approximately $602.2 billion in discretionary budget authority in total. This includes $543.4 billion for the Department of Defense base budget and $19.5 billion for the defense-related activities of the Department of Energy.
Unfortunately, the bill shortchanges war funding for efforts against ISIS and others by $18 billion, redirecting that funding toward non-war related “base budget” projects – ships, planes, etc. – not requested by the Pentagon. Republicans are taking from the Overseas Contingency Operations account in order to circumvent the defense spending cap agreed to in last fall’s Bipartisan Budget Act. They are playing a dangerous political game with our troops by leaving $18 billion in war needs unfunded, creating a new funding cliff in the middle of the Fiscal Year with no plan to address it.
While the bill supports a 2.1 percent pay increase for military personnel and also updates the Uniform Code of Military Justice to include new protections for victims of military sexual assaults, it contains an amendment by Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) which would require every federal agency to allow “any religious corporation, religious association, religious educational institution, or religious society” that receives a federal contract or grant to claim religious exceptions from anti-discrimination protections for LGBT individuals whom they may employ. The Russell amendment would undo President Obama’s landmark 2014 executive order banning all federal contractors and grantees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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. In addition, the bill authorizes $412 million for the Iraq Train and Equip fund; $152 million for the Syria Train and Equip fund; $3.4 billion for the Afghanistan national army and other security forces; and $150 million for weapons for Ukraine, all while assuming that the full amounts for each of these programs requested by the President will eventually be provided through a supplemental appropriations measure by April 30, 2017.
In the Statement of Administration Policy, the President's senior advisors stated that they would recommend he veto this bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.
The Rule provides for no further general debate. A full list of the 120 amendments made in order in the second Rule can be found HERE.
The following amendments had recorded votes pending as of last night:
McKinley Amendment
Nadler Amendment
Poe Amendment
Bill Text for H.R. 4909:
PDF Version
Background for H.R. 4909:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report Part 1 (PDF Version)
House Report Part 2 (PDF Version)
Begin Consideration of H.R. 5243 – Zika Response Appropriations Act of 2016 (Rep. Rogers (KY) – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). H.R. 5243 is purportedly coming to the Floor in an effort to respond to the urgent threat of the Zika virus, but this measure is an ill-conceived, inadequate response to a national crisis. Unlike the bipartisan Murray-Blunt Amendment that the Senate invoked cloture on yesterday, which provides $1.1 billion in emergency funds for Zika, H.R. 5243 does not provide the resources necessary to begin to respond to this crisis.
In February of 2016, President Obama requested an emergency supplemental appropriation of approximately $1.9 billion to prepare for and contain the spread of the virus that had already infected thousands of people, including pregnant women, across the Caribbean and Central and South America. The Zika virus has been linked to the severe birth defect microcephaly in babies born to women infected with the virus during pregnancy. The President’s request would: build on ongoing preparedness efforts and support strategies to combat the virus, including rapidly expanding mosquito control programs; accelerate vaccine research and diagnostic development; enable the testing and procurement of vaccines; educate health care providers, pregnant women, and their partners; improve health services and supports for low-income pregnant women; and enhance the ability of Zika-affected countries to better combat mosquitoes and control transmission.
Three months ago, the President asked Congress to work with him to responsibly respond to the outbreak that had already begun to spread in U.S. territories and would certainly reach the mainland. For months, House Republicans did not respond to the request, and now more than 1,200 Americans have been infected. This week, the Senate invoked cloture by a vote of 68-29 on a bipartisan compromise to more realistically address the Zika epidemic. The Blunt-Murray Amendment provides $1.1 billion in emergency funds for Zika with no offsets. That vote can be found here.
On May 9, 2016, the National Governor’s Association released a statement that says, “The nation is on the threshold of a public health emergency as it faces the likely spread of the Zika virus. As with all such emergencies, advance planning and preparation is essential to prevent injury and death… [T]he nation’s governors urge the Administration and Congress to work together to reach agreement on the appropriate funding levels needed to prepare for and combat the virus.” The full statement can be found here.
Now, H.R. 5243 is the House Republican Leadership’s halfhearted attempt to address a public health crisis that will put at risk thousands of Americans over the coming summer months. While more cases of Zika are being reported every day, and the first U.S. case of Zika-related microcephaly was identified in a pregnancy in Puerto Rico last week, House Republicans continue to waste valuable time with a bill that does not provide adequate resources. H.R. 5243 provides approximately $622 million, less than one-third of the President’s request. The bill underfunds the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by $573 million, which severely limits the CDC’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to the virus; provides inadequate funding for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to rapidly develop and commercialize new vaccines and diagnostic tests; provides no additional Medicaid assistance to the territories, including Puerto Rico, which severely hinders their ability to provide services for pregnant women at risk of birthing babies with microcephaly; and does not allow contributions to international organizations, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), which severely hampers a world-wide response to the epidemic. The $622 million provided in H.R. 5243 is paid for by further depleting Ebola accounts and cutting the Health and Human Services (HHS) Non-recurring Expense Fund (NEF), which funds technology and capital improvements.
Additionally, H.R. 5243 does not designate this funding as emergency spending, which is how Congress has dealt with other public health crises like HIN1 and the Ebola outbreak, and limits the appropriation to this fiscal year. As a result, the funds appropriated in the bill will expire at the end of Fiscal Year 2016, although the resulting health effects will last far beyond September 30, 2016, at which point agencies will no longer have funding to combat the Zika virus.
Just like the Flint water crisis or the unfunded response to the opioid epidemic, House Republicans are fumbling another opportunity to responsibly protect the American people. H.R. 5243 is another impractical, unworkable, and insufficient “solution” by House Republicans. Members are urged to VOTE NO.
Bill Text for H.R. 5243:
PDF Version
Begin Consideration of H.R. 4974 – Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). H.R. 4974 appropriates $81.5 billion in discretionary budget authority, which is $1.6 billion more than the FY 2016 enacted level and $1.2 billion below the President’s request, alongside $102.5 billion in mandatory spending for veterans' programs and military construction for FY 2017. It also appropriates an additional $172 million in discretionary budget authority designated for Overseas Contingency Operations.
Accounting for mandatory programs, including veterans’ pensions, the measure provides a total of $184 billion in budget authority. The legislation also includes $663 million for medical and prosthetic research, $528 million for major VA construction projects, $4.2 billion for VA Information Technology and $850 million for health care needs including treatment of hepatitis C, long-term care for veterans, assistance to caregivers of veterans, and to fight veteran homelessness. In addition, H.R. 4974 also provides $66.3 billion in advance appropriations for FY 2018 for veterans’ health benefits and $103.9 billion for mandatory benefit programs.
Bill Text for H.R. 4974:
PDF Version
Background for H.R. 4974:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, May 19: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to complete consideration of H.R. 4974 – Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations). The House is also expected to complete consideration of H.R. 5243 – Zika Response Appropriations Act of 2016 (Rep. Rogers (KY) – Appropriations).
| The Daily Quote |
|---|
“The Senate on Tuesday approved a bipartisan deal to partially fund the Obama administration’s request for emergency funding to fight Zika, but the agreement is still too large for conservatives in the House… The divide between House and Senate Republicans is coming to a head after months of congressional squabbling over the administration’s funding request… ‘[I]f we fail to deal with the issue and there are hardships that would be posed on society in this country, you wouldn’t be able to compute those costs,’ said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.). ‘It’s a dice roll to get into an argument about Zika funding and running the risk in having something catastrophic happen and we own it.’” - Politico, 5/17/2016 |