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.

Congressional Hearings – Week of 12-8-13

This may be the last week that both Houses of Congress are in session this year and there are a lot of things yet to be done. This only includes one hearing of potential specific interest to readers of this blog and that is an oversight hearing on the Coast Guard. There are a couple of on-going Conference Committee meetings that may or may not be meeting this week.

Coast Guard Hearing

The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be holding a hearing Wednesday looking at “Coast Guard Mission Execution: How is the Coast Guard Meeting Its Mission Goals?” No witness list has yet been published so I can only guess if the MTSA program will be addressed at this hearing; probably not.

Senate Floor Action

The Senate may or may not get its collective act together and take action on S 1197, the FY 2014 DOD Authorization bill. This got caught up in the application of the nuclear option on nomination filibusters before Thanksgiving. We may see some interesting legislative shenanigans used to get this passed before the House and Senate adjourn for the year.

House Floor Action

If conference committees can complete their work on time then the House (and Senate) may get a chance to take final action on a couple of interesting bills this week, all of them dealing with spending or authorizations. The Ag Authorization bill (HR 2642) and a Budget Resolution (H. Con. Res 25) may get done, but I’m not holding my breath. And of course S 1197 may come their way yet under one bill number or another.

And, of course, we are likely to see a new continuing resolution introduced this week.