FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2011

[admin]

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2011
http://www.democraticwhip.gov/sites/def ... 072611.pdf
House Meets At:First Vote Predicted:Last Vote Predicted:
10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour
12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business
Fifteen “One Minutes” per side12:30 - 1:30 p.m.5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

**Members are advised that the House is expected to debate the two bills listed for consideration under suspension of the rules after last votes. Following that, the House will continue debating amendments to H.R. 2584 into the evening.

H.Res. 370 - Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 1938 - North American-Made Energy Security Act (Rep. Terry – Transportation and Infrastructure/Energy and Commerce/Natural Resources) (One hour of debate) The Rules committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides one hour of general debate with 30 minutes equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 20 minutes equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and 10 minutes equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Natural Resources. The Rule makes in order 11 amendments and allows one motion to recommit. It also waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.

The Rules committee once again denied a Democratic motion to consider the bill under an open Rule.

H.R. 1938 - North American-Made Energy Security Act (Rep. Terry – Transportation and Infrastructure/Energy and Commerce/Natural Resources) H.R. 1938 requires the President to reach a final decision granting or denying a permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project which would transport Canadian tar sands oil to the U.S. by no later than November 1 of this year. This expedited approval process would mandate that the Department of Energy coordinate all of the federal agencies involved in the process to ensure that all parties are moving on an expedited schedule.

The Rule makes in order 11 amendments to be considered. They are:

Welch/Cohen Amendment. Adds a finding to the bill regarding the Keystone Pipeline’s path through the Ogallala Aquifer
Rush Amendment. Strikes section 15 of the findings (related to greenhouse gas emissions)
Eshoo Amendment. Adds a finding directing the US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to study the safety of transporting diluted bitumen in the Keystone Pipeline
Christensen Amendment. Adds a finding relating to the increased carbon pollution associated with the Keystone Pipeline
Cohen Amendment. Strikes section 16 and replaces it with a finding detailing TransCanada’s pipeline safety issues with the Keystone Pipeline
Murphy (CT)/Welch/Cohen Amendment. Would add findings noting that construction of the pipeline would permit new sources of oil exports to China and other nations
Rush Amendment. Would extend the permit decision deadline in the bill to no later than January 1, 2012
Hanabusa Amendment. Would require the Department of Energy to calculate a worst-case oil spill scenario related to the Keystone Pipeline
Johnson (GA) Amendment. Relating to a study of the health impacts of the Keystone Pipeline on surrounding communities
Jackson Lee Amendment. Adds a sense of the Congress related to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil
Kucinich Amendment. Mandates an analysis of the effect of the pipeline on manipulation of oil markets and gas prices for American consumers

Bill Text for H.R. 1938:
HTML Version
PDF Version
Background for H.R. 1938:
House Report (HTML version)
House Report (PDF version)

Suspensions (2 bills)
H.R. 2608 - Small Business Program Extension and Reform Act of 2011, as amended (Rep. Graves – Small Business)
H.R. 2056 - To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes, as amended (Rep. Westmoreland – Financial Services)
Continue consideration of H.R. 2584 - Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 2012 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations) H.R. 2584 makes appropriations for the department of the Interior and other related agencies and programs. It appropriates at a level that is $2.086 billion, or 7 percent, below the FY 2011 appropriations level and $3.818 billion, or 12.7 percent, below the President's request.

This bill makes many dangerous reductions, including an 18 percent cut to EPA’s budget, on top of the 16% cut already imposed on the EPA during this fiscal year. These cuts would be a huge blow to air and water programs at both the Federal and State level. It also includes many policy riders that the GOP forced into the bill. For example, it would prohibit funds for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings and critical habitat designations. This bill includes dozens of policy riders that have nothing to do with deficit reduction, but more to do with pursuing an ideological agenda.

The House completed general debate of H.R. 2584 yesterday, and had just begun reading the bill by paragraph.

Bill Text for H.R. 2584:
HTML Version
PDF Version
Background for H.R. 2584:
House Report (HTML version)
House Report (PDF version)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Wednesday, July 27: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider S. 627, as amended – Speaker Boehner’s short term debt limit act. Text can be found here.

The Daily Quote
“After weeks during which Wall Street was quietly confident Washington wouldn’t let the country go into default, the weekend’s debt ceiling drama is injecting a note of nervousness into the markets — with traders less certain than ever that Washington will get the job done....Market reaction early Monday was fairly muted, but showed signs investors are wary that a deal seems a long way off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down more than 100 points on Monday morning — roughly 1 percent in early trading — while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 also fell by about the same amount…the lack of concrete progress toward successful votes in both houses of Congress and a presidential signature this week could be very damaging and could lead ratings agencies to downgrade U.S. debt — and that could be a trigger to real stock market losses if several ratings houses join in.”

- Politico, 7/24/11




Visit http://www.democraticwhip.gov/ for more press, floor and member resources.