Bills Introduced – 7-26-23

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session and preparing to depart for their month-long summer recess, there were 134 bills introduced. Two of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 4915 To amend title 10, United States Code, to codify the program of the Office of Small Business Programs of the Department of Defense known as Project Spectrum, and for other purposes. Joyce, David P. [Rep.-R-OH-14] 

S 2499 A bill to extend the authorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security. Peters, Gary C. [Sen.-D-MI] 

I am still waiting to see the Congressional Record for yesterday’s meeting to see if HR 4470 was taken up by the Senate. It could be a while as the Senate did not adjourn until after midnight. If HR 4470 did pass, then the introduction of S 2499 does not make much sense. If it did not pass then S 2499 would be a rewrite of S 2178 that would include language to resurrect the CFATS program which will die today if not reauthorized by Congress.

Funding exists for CFATS through September 30^th to keep the staff paid while the program winds down, but authority to take any actions (inspections, approvals, even requiring/accepting Top Screen information) disappeared (will disappear at midnight? I am not sure) if HR 4470 was not passed yesterday. So, a new bill would be required to re-instate the previous authority and provide an extension of the authority through a future date. The chance of S 2178 passing in the Senate and House today or tomorrow are slim (but not impossible) and the current plan is for both bodies to adjourn tomorrow and not return until September 5^th for the Senate and September 12^th for the House. While those plans are always subject to change, it does not look likely at this time.