Senate Begins Consideration of HR 4366 Amendments – FY 2023 MilCon Spending – 10-26-23

After reaching an agreement Tuesday on what amendments would be considered on HR 4366, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, the Senate began consideration of those amendments yesterday. There were 29 amendments considered; two amendments were rejected (by recorded votes), two amendments were passed by recorded votes, and 25 amendments were passed by voice votes.

None of the amendments considered were of specific interest here. There were two amendments, however, that were part of the political deal that allowed the Senate to resume consideration of the bill:

• Kennedy Amendment No. 1354 (to Amendment No. 1092), to prohibit the availability of funds for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report certain information to the Department of Justice for use by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Passed by a vote of 53 to 45.

• Lankford Amendment No. 1232 (to Amendment No. 1092), to provide for a period of continuing appropriations in the event of a lapse in appropriations under the normal appropriations process, and establish procedures and consequences in the event of a failure to enact appropriations. Failed by a vote of 56 to 42 (60 vote margin).

The Senate began the process to consider HR 4366 on September 7^th, 2023. A reminder, while this is the Military Construction spending bill, the substitute language being considered in the Senate includes language from the following Senate bills:

• Division A, S 2127, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs,

• Division B, S 2131 (removed from paywall), Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 (ARD), and

• Division C, S 2437 (removed from paywall), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 (THUD).

The House has not yet considered their versions of the ARD and THUD spending bills.

Senate Begins Consideration of HR 4366 – FY 2024 MilCon Spending

Yesterday, the Senate began consideration of HR 4366, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. A cloture motion was filed to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to HR 4366. An agreement was reached to vote on the cloture motion on Monday evening. A positive vote on that motion would allow the amendment offering process to begin.

One amendment was proposed yesterday for HR 4366 yesterday, SA 1092. It was offered by Sen Murray (D,WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The amendment offers substitute language for the bill, changing the name to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. It includes language from the following Senate bills:

• Division A, S 2127, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs,

• Division B, S 2131, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 (ARD), and

• Division C, S 2437, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 (THUD).

The bipartisan nature of the spending bills passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee means that the Senate will likely pass this consolidated spending bill after considering some number of amendments. The bill would then go back to the House for an up or down vote on the Senate amendments to HR 4366 and the House will almost certainly insist on it’s more limited version of the bill. The actual fight in the House over the provisions in the bill will only really start once the conference committee reports back a further modified version of the bill, which will again typically receive an up or down vote in the House and Senate.

There remains a very real possibility that the conference version of the bill will be essentially killed in the House Rules Committee where the Republican 11 have (probably) three votes out of thirteen. If each of the four Democrats vote against the conference report rule (historically typical) then the three radical Republican votes could block the bill from moving to the House floor. If a deal is reached, however, between moderate Republicans and at least two of the Democrats on the Committee, the bill would move to the Floor for consideration. This would get the bill passed on the floor of the House, but would cause problems for Speaker McCarthy (R,CA).

NOTE: I will be reporting on the cybersecurity and chemical safety provisions of S 2437 this weekend.

Bills Introduced – 6-22-23

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 191 bills introduced. Six of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

S 2103 An original bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Intelligence Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes. Warner, Mark R. [Sen.-D-VA] 

S 2127 An original bill making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Murray, Patty [Sen.-D-WA]

S 2131 An original bill making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Heinrich, Martin [Sen.-D-NM] 

S 2153 A bill to provide for the use of members of the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve to respond to significant cyber events. Peters, Gary C. [Sen.-D-MI]

S 2178 A bill to extend the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Peters, Gary C. [Sen.-D-MI] 

S 2201 A bill to increase knowledge and awareness of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks in the United States. Klobuchar, Amy [Sen.-D-MN] 

I will be covering S 2103, S 2153, and S 2178. A special note on S 2178, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program will terminate on July 27^th, 2023, unless it is reauthorized by Congress. S 2178 is the first bill introduced in either the 117^th or 118^th Congress that would reauthorize the program.

I will be watching the two spending bills, S 2127 and S 2131, for language addressing cybersecurity issues, particularly those addressing control system issues.

I will be watching S 2201 for language and definitions that include control system cybersecurity risks within the scope of the legislation’s requirements.

Mentioned in Passing

There are three bills that I would like to mention in passing:

HR 4310 To ban the sale of products with a high concentration of sodium nitrite to individuals, and for other purposes. Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3]

H Res 537 Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to clarify that the payment of a bail bond constitutes a gift for purposes of the Rules.  Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]

S 2168 A bill to rescind discretionary appropriations in the event of a debt ceiling crisis period and to honor the full faith and credit of the debts of the United States in the event of a debt ceiling crisis. Braun, Mike [Sen.-R-IN]

RE HR4310 - In trying to figure out why Trahan would want to see sodium nitrate sales banned leads to two possibilities, sodium nitrate capsules are being used as poison for feral hogs (there is a certain level of appropriateness in that) and there has apparently been an increase in the number of individuals that use sodium nitrate as a poison for suicide.

RE H Res 537 – This is a further attempt to deal with the ‘Santos’ problem in Congress. Making bail bond payments gifts would require a congress critter to report them to the Ethics Committee.

RE S 2168 – This is a radical ‘solution’ to the debt limit ceiling problem. It would (really?) keep the financial community happy because debt service payments could continue to be made while Congress dithered. It would also protect military pay, Social Security checks, and other mandatory spending.