Bills Introduced – 7-31-24

Yesterday, with just the Senate in Washington and preparing to leave for their Summer recess, there were 62 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

S 4895 A bill to establish a program to disseminate technical and other assistance to small and rural electric cooperatives to support expanding electric transmission capacity and hardening electric transmission and distribution infrastructure against cyberattacks and threats from natural hazards, with a focus on threats from wildfire, and for other purposes. Wyden, Ron [Sen.-D-OR]

Mention in Passing

There is one other bill that I would like to mention in passing (no future coverage planned):

SJ Res 106 A joint resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against the Islamic Republic of Iran for threatening the national security of the United States through the development of nuclear weapons. Graham, Lindsey [Sen.-R-SC]

Congress has become increasingly reluctant to authorize (and increasingly adamant about the need for such authorizations for) the use of military force, so this bill is unlikely to go anywhere. Further, Graham is not a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to which this bill is assigned for consideration, so it is unlikely that SJ Res 106 will be considered by that body. Coming on the eve of the Senate’s summer recess, I suspect that this is a campaign ploy (not for Graham, he is not up for reelection until 2028) as a ‘what would Donald do?” example for the party base.