H 3224 Reported in House – CWMD Reauthorization

Last month, the House Homeland Security Committee published their Report on HR 3224 [removed from paywall], the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Extension Act of 2023. The Committee considered the bill during a business meeting on May 17^th, 2023. The legislation was ordered reported favorably without amendment by a voice vote.

The bill would extend the current authorization of the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office for seven years. The legislation would also require the Government Accountability Office to compile a report on the CWMD efforts. The current authorization expires on December 21^st, 2023.

There is no specific spending authorization in the HR 3224, but the Congressional Budget Office section of the report (pgs 3-4) notes that Congress appropriated $433 million for the Office in 2023. Expanding on that base, the CBO expects this extension to cost $1.5 billion through 2028.

There are no alternative views included in the Committee’s Report.

Moving Forward

With the publication of this report the bill is cleared for consideration by the whole House at the pleasure of the leadership. The voice vote approval by the Homeland Security Committee and the lack of alternate views in the Report are indicative of broad, bipartisan support for the bill. This means that it would likely be considered under the House’s suspension of the rules process. This would mean limited debate, no floor amendments, while requiring a super majority for passage. This bill would almost certainly pass.