HR 2845 Passes in Senate

Yesterday, the Senate took up HR 2845, the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act Of 2011, under a ‘unanimous consent motion’ and passed it in record time. As is typical with this procedure in the Senate, there was no discussion and no vote; in fact I would bet that there were fewer than a dozen Senators in the chambers.

While that sounds like a good way to ram stuff through the Senate, it really works out rather well. The leadership of both parties usually coordinate the bills that are dealt with in this manner and it only takes a single voice in opposition to stop the proceedings. That is why both parties always have at least one person on the floor while the Senate is in session.

No Conference

My comments in yesterday’s blog about S 275 and conference committee no longer apply to this bill. With it being considered under unanimous consent there were no amendments made to the bill, so the House language was adopted by both bodies. The bill now goes to the President for signature.