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.

Review - S 2437 Introduced – FY 2024 THUD Spending

Back in July, Sen Schatz (D,HI) introduced S 2437, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. The Senate Appropriations Committee also published their Report on the bill. There is just one cybersecurity mention in the bill, but there are a number of discussions of cyber issues in the Report, along with additional mentions of chemical safety issues and UAS issues.

Moving Forward

As I mentioned Friday, the Senate has started the consideration process for HR 4366, the Military Construction and VA spending bill. The substitute language that will form the basis for that consideration includes the language from S 2437 as Division C. The amended spending bill is likely to pass with bipartisan support in the Senate. Then it will go to conference to work out the differences between the Senate and House language. See my post, “Coming FY 2024 Spending Bill Logjams”, for my thoughts on the consideration process this year for spending bills.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill and the discussions in the Committee Report, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-2437-introduced - subscription required.

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 – 7-20-23

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session (and preparing to depart Washington for a four day weekend), there were 122 bills introduced. Three of those bills may receive additional coverage in this blog:

S 2437 An original bill making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Schatz, Brian [Sen.-D-HI]

S 2438 An original bill making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Coons, Christopher A. [Sen.-D-DE] 

S 2443 An original bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Feinstein, Dianne [Sen.-D-CA]

I will be covering S 2437 and S 2443.

I will be watching S 2438 for language that includes coverage of control system cybersecurity issues and chemical safety and security issues. I do not typically find any in the State Department spending bill.

Bills Introduced – 06-05-14

The House met yesterday in pro forma session (so most members were still back home) and the Senate was in full session. Between the two there were 25 bills introduced; three of which may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

S2437 Latest Title: An original bill making appropriations for Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. (D,MD)

S 2438 Latest Title: An original bill making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Murray, Patty (D,WA)

S 2444 Latest Title: A bill to authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2015 through 2016, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Begich, Mark (D,AK)

The CJS spending bill might contain cybersecurity provisions. The THUD spending bill will address chemical transportation issues. The CG Authorization bill might contain chemical security provisions. We will just have to wait and see when they are printed. As always with these types of bills, the Committee Reports will be almost as important as the actual bills.