National Update
This week, the House voted on a number of consumer protection bills, several appropriations bills, an offshore drilling overhaul bill and an emergency supplemental spending bill that would provide $701 million for increased border security in Southwestern states.
Once the House completes its work today, members will recess for the August work period until September 14th.
The Senate continued work on a bill that would create a small-business lending fund.
Both the Senate and House passed a $59 billion supplemental spending bill for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The President signed the bill into law Thursday evening.
There are several important updates that I have included below on the issues we are closely following.
Immigration – Arizona update
This week, a federal judge blocked key provisions of a controversial Arizona law aimed at illegal immigrations. The judge blocked a requirement that police have to check the immigration status of detainees they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally, and stopped part of the law that makes it a crime for immigrants to be in the state illegally.
Immigration – Hill Activity
There continues to be a lot of chatter out there regarding a last-ditch effort to move immigration legislation before the session ends.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) recently signaled a willingness to consider less ambitious bills for a vote. He said on July 27 that his preference is for a comprehensive bill, but if that proves impossible to pass this year, the DREAM Act would get a “real strong look.” His spokesman, Jim Manley, said Reid is also looking at AgJOBS.
Some organizations, such as the National Latino Congress, an organization of dozens of groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens, would support passing the DREAM Act (HR 1751, S 729) and AgJOBS (HR 2414, S 1038).
However, there are a host of groups and Members of Congress, like Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who fear that any effort to move a smaller package this year will take away momentum for moving a comprehensive immigration reform package in the future.
On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) predicted that immigration legislation is dead for the year.
Stay tuned.
Comment Period For Proposed GIPSA Rule Extended
The USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration announced this week that it is extending the comment period for changes to regulations under the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act by three months. On June 22, GIPSA proposed a rule change to implement provisions of the 2008 farm bill that would allow greater fairness in marketing of livestock. It proposed a comment period until August 23, but the announcement said comments could be filed until Nov. 22.
Food Safety
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he would like to bring the food safety bill to the floor before the Senate leaves for August recess on August 6th.
The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved the bill by voice vote in November. Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and ranking member Michael Enzi (R-WY) have spent months negotiating the bill to avoid problems on the floor.
The threat of an amendment by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to immediately ban bisphenol A (BPA) from food and beverage containers continues to be a major issue that is keeping this bill in limbo.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Senate will come to an agreement on the BPA issue and other outstanding issues prior to August recess.
Child Nutrition
Majority Leader Reid also stated this week that he would like to bring the child nutrition reauthorization bill to the floor prior to the August recess.
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee approved the bill — which includes the popular school lunch program — in March. The programs will expire Sept. 30 without action by Congress.
Mandatory Price Reporting
The House Agriculture Committee approved the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010 (H.R. 5852) this week. The legislation would extend the mandatory price reporting (MPR) program for another 5 years and include additional reporting requirements for pork wholesale cuts and exports.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to mark up its version of the MPR reauthorization (S. 3656) next week, clearing the way for floor action in both chambers in September.