House Cloakroom: May 9 – May 13
Analysis: Congress will return to Washington Tuesday and begin legislative business at 2:00 pm. Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act (which seeks to amend the outer continental shelf lands) leads off with “Assessing Progress in Haiti Act” on deck soon after. Wednesday will focus on the elephant fin the room as Congress is set to take up H.R. 1231 (Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act). This bill will lift the Presidents ban on new offshore drilling and establish a domestic oil and natural gas production goal. Friday will conclude around 3:00 complete consideration of H.R. 754 (Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011). This allows Congress to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities.
Major Floor Action:
- HR 1229 – Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
- HR 1231 – Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act
- HR 754 – Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
Major Committee Action:
- The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hold a hearing on “The American Energy Initiative: the Jobs and Permitting Act of 2011”
- The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology will hold a hearing on “Monetary Policy and the Debt Ceiling”
- The House Armed Services Committee will hold a full committee markup on the “Fiscal 2012 Defense Authorization”
- The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on “Medicare Physician Payment Overhaul”
- The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold a hearing on “Balanced Budget Amendment Assessment”
Senate Cloakroom: May 8-14, 2011
Analysis: Continuing the latest trend of not accomplishing much of anything in the Senate, Senators will return to Washington on Monday to vote on a judicial nomination and continue working on the Small Business bill. Senator Reid filed cloture on the bill last week, but the cloture vote failed, largely because Senator Reid continued to block votes on Republican amendments. Unfortunately, the only votes that passed in the Senate last week were a cloture vote and a final passage vote on a district court nominee, John “Jack” McConnell, who spent 14 years as the director of Planned Parenthood in his home state of Rhode Island and is a political activist for issues important to the far left. It is incredibly unfortunate that his nomination was approved by the Senate.
Major Floor Action:
- S. 493: SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011
Major Committee Action:
- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, May 10 on upstream oil and gas technologies.
- A hearing titled “Steps Needed for a Successful 2014 Transition in Afghanistan” will be held on Tuesday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
- Another hearing on Tuesday in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will be held to discuss the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).
- The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, May 11 to discuss the pending U.S. – Columbia Free Trade Agreement.
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, May 12 titled “The Endangered Middle Class: Is the American Dream Slipping Out of Reach for American Families?”