House Passes S 546, the RESPONSE Act

Yesterday the House passed S 546, the RESPONSE Act, by a voice vote. There was less than five minutes of debate on the bill; mainly praise for the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s efforts to refine the provisions of the bill.

The bill now goes back to the Senate for action on the amended language. The Senate will probably accept the House changes and send the bill to the President. This will most likely be accomplished under the Senate’s unanimous consent process. If the Senate does insist on their language, there is little chance that a conference committee could complete action before the 114^th Congress’ final session sometime towards the middle of December.