House to Consider HR 2642 Conference Report

The Conference Committee Report on HR 2642, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, was submitted this evening and considered in the House Rules Committee. The rule for the consideration of HR 7 includes provisions for the consideration of the HR 2642 Conference Report.

The chemical safety and security provisions that were included in the version that the House originally passed last July were not included in the Senate version of the bill and did not make it back into the Conference Report version. The closest thing to chemical security provisions were found in Title VII, Subtitle E, Part 1 – Agricultural Security. Those provisions were funding for various biosecurity programs; including:

• Agricultural Biosecurity Communication Center, 7 USC 8912(c) {§7501};

• Assistance to build local capacity in agricultural biosecurity planning, preparation, and response, 7 USC 8913 {§7502};

• Research and development of agricultural countermeasures, 7 USC 8921(b) {§7503}; and

• Agricultural Biosecurity Grant Program, 7 USC 8922(e) {§7504}

H Res 465 provides for the consideration of both HR 7, an anti-abortion bill, and HR 2642. Section 2 of that resolution provides for an  hour of debate, no amendments, and a vote on the amended bill. There have been enough deal making made that there should be enough bipartisan support for the bill to allow it to pass over the objections of conservatives who will object that the bill does not cut spending near enough.

Because of the State of the Union Address this evening and the shortened session in the House to prepare the Chamber for the Address, it is unlikely that HR 2642 will get voted on today (Tuesday); Wednesday is much more likely.