Bills Introduced – 3-11-24

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 26 bills introduced. None of the bills introduced will receive additional coverage in this blog, but there are two bills that I would like to mention in passing:

HR 7610 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that utility line technicians qualify as emergency response providers. Higgins, Clay [Rep.-R-LA-3]

HR 7614 To prohibit the payment of the salaries of the President and members of the cabinet if the President fails to submit the annual budget to Congress before the first Monday in February of any year, and for other purposes. Mace, Nancy [Rep.-R-SC-1]

I am not sure what the practical effect of HR 7610 would be, it depends on what portion of the Homeland Security Act is being amended. In any event, any action that Congress would take to extend recognition for utility line technicians would not be enough. As extreme weather events and large grassland and forest fires become more prevalent, the more we become dependent upon the courageous actions of these unsung heroes of the energy grid.

While Congress officially requires the Administration to submit a budget request to start the process for developing spending bills, that budget has become an increasingly impotent part of the process. The deadline being proposed in this bill is obviously an impossible deadline for the first year of any administration, but even in follow on years it is becoming increasingly difficult for budgeteers in the Executive Branch to craft spending proposals when it takes Congress longer and longer to pass actual spending bills.

HR 7614 is a political messaging bill which no one, not even Mace, expects to receive any attention in committee and the bill will never make it to the floor of the House, much less make it to the desk of the President. I am pretty certain, however, that Mace plans on cashing in on the bill in her fundraising for November.

Bills Introduced – 10-30-23

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 31 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 6124 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a pilot program to award competitive grants for the integration of cybersecurity education, and for other purposes. Thompson, Glenn [Rep.-R-PA-15]

Mention in Passing

There is one piece of legislation introduced yesterday that I would like to mention in passing:

H Res 826 Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to limit the privileged status of a motion causing a vacancy in the Office of Speaker to motions offered by direction of not fewer than 112 Members from the majority party or 112 Members from the minority party. Miller, Max L. [Rep.-R-OH-7]

This rule change resolution is certainly part of the fallout from the Speaker Fiasco earlier this month. Everyone knew that the one-person rule adopted in January was fraught with political peril, but McCarthy was forced into acquiescence by the slim majority the Republicans held, and the pressure applied by a small number of radicals. The number required by this proposed change, 112 or almost 26% of the number of members of the House, seems at first glance to be excessive. 

The interesting thing though is that it specifically allows for the minority party to initiate a move to vacate. I can see that being used in an out-of-majority Republican congress (probably the 119^th) as another tool to obfuscate and impede the operation of Congress like we saw the fringe of the Republican Party do in the 117^th congress.

Bills Introduced – 9-27-23

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were eighty bills introduced. One of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 5759 To amend the National Quantum Initiative Act and the Cyber Security Research and Development Act to advance the rapid deployment of post quantum cybersecurity standards across the United States economy, support United States cryptography research, and for other purposes. Jackson, Jeff [Rep.-D-NC-14] 

I will be watching this bill for language and definitions that would specifically include industrial control systems and operational technologies within the scope of the requirements of the legislation.

Mention in Passing

I would like to mention two bills that were introduced yesterday that will probably not receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 5750 To direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, and the Secretary of Agriculture to collaborate to determine the feasibility of creating the Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program, and for other purposes. Donalds, Byron [Rep.-R-FL-19]

S 2950 A bill to align the fiscal year with the calendar year. Kaine, Tim [Sen.-D-VA]

Donalds has been trying to drag the country into implementing advanced nuclear technology since he came into Congress. Unfortunately, he has not been a member of the committees to which his bills have been assigned for coverage which makes it very difficult to move the bills forward. And his association with the anti-McCarthy folks during the election of the Speaker does not make it any easier to gain bipartisan support for his legislation. Still, his efforts deserve recognition.

S 2950 looks to be very similar to HR 5612 which I mentioned in passing last week. If for no other reason than to reduce the need for continuing resolutions to give law makers additional time to work out spending deals (and contrary to what the Republican 11 hope, deals will almost always need to be made to move spending bills in a narrowly divided congress), these two bills deserve action.