SIX MEASURES ADVANCE IN THE HOUSE 12/21/10

H.R. 6540, the Defense Level Playing Field Act has been received in the Senate after sailing through the House by a margin of 325 in favor to 23 opposed, on Roll Call vote number 658.

The KC-X Aerial Tanker

H.R. 6540 Requires the Secretary of Defense (DOD), in evaluating offers to award a contract for the KC-X aerial refueling aircraft program, to consider any unfair advantage that an offer or may possess. This bill directs the Secretary to: (1) report to the congressional defense committees on any such advantage; and (2) take into account the findings of such report in awarding a contract.

On a related front, H.R. 5136 §§824 and 848 speaks to the issue of the KC-X tanker. That bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, which is dead in the Senate requires the Secretary of DOD to submit an interim report on "any review of a covered subsidy initiated pursuant to subsection (a) of section 886 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417; 122 Stat. 4561) not later than 60 days after the date of the initiation of the review." Section 848 mandates, in subsection (a) the "Requirement to Consider Unfair Competitive Advantage- In awarding a contract for the KC-X aerial refueling aircraft program (or any successor to that program), the Secretary of Defense shall, in evaluating any offers submitted to the Department of Defense in response to a solicitation for offers for such program, consider any unfair competitive advantage that an offer or may possess."

H.R. 6523, the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, is the pared down version of the military spending bill for the next fiscal year. H.R. 6523 does not contain the language regarding the KC-X aerial tanker found in H.R. 6540 or H.R. 5136. H.R. 6523 is treading water waiting for Senate action in this Lame Duck session of the 111th Congress.

The KC-X program should see the production of 175 aircraft over a span of two decades costing in the neighborhood of $35 billion, and probably more. The current fleet of tankers is subject to uncertainty due to age and the potential for fatigue. Currently employed in the fleet are KC-135 tankers which were delivered in 1965 and KC-10 tankers delivered between 1979 and 1987.

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, H.R. 5116 passed the House on Roll Call vote number 659 by a margin of 228 in favor to 130 opposed. This was on the vote to resolve differences with the Senate. This bill originally passed in the House on May 28th. The Senate passed the measure with an amendment on December 17th by Unanimous Consent.

H.R. 5116 makes an investment in innovation through research and development, to improve the competitiveness of the United States. H.R. 5116 authorizes appropriations for several agencies to support scientific research, industrial innovation, and certain educational activities. The legislation allows for the collection of fees to offset the administrative costs of a loan guarantee program directed toward small and medium sized businesses. The CBO estimates that there is no net budgetary impact in a single year by this bill.

H.R. 2142, the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Improvement Act of 2010 passed the House on Roll Call vote number 660 by a margin of 216 to 139. H.R. 2142 expresses the sense of Congress that each executive agency should consult with the committees with jurisdiction over the agency and other interested Members of Congress each fiscal year regarding the agency's performance plan and priorities. The bill mandates that each federal agency head identify near- and long-term high-priority goals for the purpose of improving agency performance and submit quarterly reports relating to those goals.

H.R. 2142 establishes a Performance Improvement Council in the executive branch to make recommendations concerning, and to monitor, performance management. Includes among the Council's duties to: (1) develop a website for federal agency performance information; (2) link program performance information to program spending information on the website www.USASpending.gov; and (3) report to Congress on the feasibility of creating a single web-based platform for all government spending information and all program performance information.

The Comptroller Generally is directed to periodically assess the implementation of this Act. Any savings or reductions in expenditures generated by this Act are to be used to offset the costs of its implementation and any additional savings to be used to offset the deficit. Agencies are required to fund this Act's reporting requirements out of existing budgets and authorizes agencies to make necessary reprogramming of funds.

H.R. 2751, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act passed in the House on Roll Call vote number 661. The margin on the motion to resolve differences with the Senate was 215 in favor and 144 opposed. This is a major overhaul of food safety laws. H.R. 2751 began as a bill to accelerate motor fuel savings nationwide and provide incentives to registered owners of high polluting automobiles to replace such automobiles with new fuel efficient and less polluting automobiles. It was amended in the Senate with the language of S. 510 the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act introduced by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. Durbin's bill passed the Senate on a Record Vote number 257 by a margin of 73 in favor to 25 opposed. The problem with S. 510 is that one section contained a revenue measure. Bills containing revenue measures must originate in the House according to the Constitution. The language is in Article I § 7 "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."

H.R. 3082, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 is probably misnamed. This Continuing Resolution funds the government until March4, 2011. H.R. 3082 passed by a margin of 193 to 165 on Roll Call vote number 662.

H.R. 6547, the Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act, was the last measure passed by the House on 12/21/10. This bill require each state receiving funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to have in effect policies and procedures that: (1) require criminal background checks for school employees, including searches of state criminal registries or repositories, state-based child abuse and neglect registries and databases, the National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice, the National Sex Offender Registry, and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and (2) prohibit the employment of school employees who refuse to consent to a criminal background check, make false statements in connection with one, or have been convicted of one of a list of felonies.

Local educational agencies (LEAs) or state educational agencies (SEAs) are required to report to local law enforcement any applicants for school employment who are discovered to be sexual predators.

Requires Periodic repetitions of such criminal background checks are required . Requires such states to provide for a timely process under which school employees may: (1) appeal the results of a criminal background check to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information produced; and (2) seek appropriate relief for any final employment decision based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information produced. Requires this appeals process, however, to deny the individual employment as a school employee during the process.

H.R. 6547 moves on to the Senate.

Hits and Misses during the past week in the Lame Duck 111th Congress

The Senate had an idea, proposed by Delaware's Democratic Senator Tom Carper and Oklahoma's Republican Senator Tom Coburn, that the person running the Census Bureau should be qualified in running a large organization. They introduced S. 3167, the Census Oversight Efficiency and Management Reform Act of 2010.

Senator Lieberman, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs reported the bill favorably with written report Number 111-351. S. 3167 passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent.

S. 3167 did not pass in the House despite receiving a majority of votes from the Members of the House. The bill was brought up on a Suspension of the Rules basis which means it needed a ⅔ majority to pass. The vote was on Roll Call 629 where 201 Members voted for S. 3167 and 167 Members voted against the measure. A ⅔ majority required 245 votes of those Members present and voting. If the Rules Committee submits a Rule for S. 3167 then it can be submitted for passage needing only a simple majority to pass.

H.R. 2965, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell passed the House on Roll Call Vote 368 by a margin of 250 Members in favor to 175 opposed. The bill has been sent to the Senate where on a motion by Nevada's Democratic Senator, Harry Reid it was referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services with the House message accompanying HR 2965, "with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment SA 4829 made in Senate".

Senate Amendment 4829 directs that at the end of the text the following is inserted: The Senate Armed Services Committee is requested to conduct a study on the impact of implementing these provisions on the family of military members. Senator Reid then proposed Senate Amendment 4830, an Amendment to Senate Amendment 4829 proposing that at the end of the text the following should be added: ” and that the study should focus attention on the dependent children''.

Meanwhile, Senator Liebermann [I-CT] introduced, together with 49 cosponsors, S. 4023, which is an exact duplicate of H.R. 2965. The Senate need not act directly on H.R. 2965 if it passes S. 4023 as drafted. Since the two are identical the legislation is considered to be enrolled and may be sent to the President.

Apparently a major disadvantage to hybrid and all electric motor vehicles is something Detroit has been selling as an advantage for years: a quiet ride. The new vehicles are so quiet that persons with disabilities of sight and hearing are put at risk. Normal cars and trucks, as quiet as automobile manufacturers have tried to make them, make enough noise so that a person with these disabilities is not likely to step out in front of them and be struck. Not so with these new ultra quiet vehicles.

That's why Massachusetts' Democratic Senator, John Kerry, introduced S. 841, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. This bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to study and report to Congress on the minimum level of sound that is necessary to be emitted from a motor vehicle, or some other method, to alert blind and other pedestrians of the presence of operating motor vehicles while traveling. It is expected the new standards will apply to vehicles operating at slow speeds and not be required at highway speeds.

S. 841 passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent. It sailed through the House, where it was brought up on a Suspension of the Rules motion requiring a ⅔ majority. S. 841 passed the House on Roll Call 640 with 379 Members voting in favor and 30 voting against the bill. The measure required 273 votes to pass.

S. 841 has been cleared to be sent to the White House for the President's signature.

S. 3447, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010 has also been cleared to be sent to the White House for the President's signature. This bill is the first major overhaul of G.I. benefits since 9/11. S. 3447 was introduced by Hawaii's Democratic Senator Daniel Akaka, with 35 cosponsors. The bill passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent. Having been brought up in the House on a motion to Suspend the Rules, the bill needed a ⅔ majority for passage. There were 402 Members in favor and 3 opposed on Roll Call 642.

At the end of May the House passed H. R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 by a margin of 229 to 186 on Roll Call 336. That bill went to the Senate, where it was buried. H.R. 6523 is the new incarnation of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. This version passed the House by a much wider margin with 341 Members in favor and 48 opposed to the measure. A ⅔ majority of 260 votes was needed since the bill came up on a motion to Suspend the Rules.

H.R. 5136 , the CBO estimated ,would authorize appropriations totaling $726 billion for fiscal year 2011 for the military functions of the Department of Defense (DoD), for certain activities of the Department of Energy (DOE), and for other purposes. That total includes $159 billion for the cost of overseas contingency operations, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill also would authorize an additional $34 billion for fiscal year 2010 for costs associated with those operations and for DoD relief efforts associated with the recent earthquake in Haiti. In addition, H.R. 5136 would prescribe personnel strengths for each active-duty and selected reserve component of the U.S. armed forces. CBO estimates that appropriation of the authorized amounts would result in outlays of $749 billion over the 2010-2015 period..

H.R. 6523, the CBO estimates, will have the same net increase in the budget as H.R. 5136 for fiscal year 2011. That is $3,973,000,000. For fiscal year 2012 H.R. 2136 had a larger deficit reduction impact than does H.R. 6523 by $40 million. Over the next decade H.R. 5136 would have reduced the deficit by $15 million compared to H.R. 6523, which the CBO projects will reduce the deficit by only $2 million.

H.R. 6523 moves on to the Senate in the waning days of the lame duck session.

H.R. 2142, the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Improvement Act of 2010 failed to get a ⅔ majority vote after being brought up on a Suspension of the Rules motion. H.R. 2142 originally passed the House on a voice vote, June 16, 2010. The Senate passed the bill with an Amendment by Unanimous Consent. The bill failed to get the requisite 229 votes of those Members present and voting.

The CBO report says that H.R. 2142 would amend the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), requiring federal agencies to define their missions and evaluate their performance. Specifically, the legislation would require federal agencies to expand their efforts to track and improve performance by: providing the Congress and the public with additional information on their current plans; incorporating their management goals and improvement plans into the GPRA performance evaluation process; and providing information on their performance via the Internet. In addition, the legislation would require training for employees who analyze and evaluate government programs, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and a study by the Office of Personnel Management regarding the evaluation of government programs.

H.R. 5510, the Aiding Those Facing Foreclosure Act of 2010 failed to garner a ⅔ majority required because it was brought up on a motion to Suspend the Rules.

This bill Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to use otherwise unobligated amounts under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to enable nonprofit counseling intermediaries and nonprofit legal organizations to provide legal assistance to homeowners of owner-occupied homes consisting of from one to four dwelling units whose mortgages are in default or delinquency, in danger of default or delinquency, or subject to or at risk of foreclosure (including any deed in lieu of foreclosure or short sale).

Although the bill got a majority vote on Roll Call 655, 210 Members in favor and 145 Members opposed, it failed to get to the votes needed, in this case 237. Note: 78 Members did not vote!

Senator Barbara Boxer, [D-CA], introduced S. 3874, the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act. This bill passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent and managed to get the required ⅔ vote needed in the House when a bill is brought up on a motion to Suspend the Rules. On Roll Call 656 there were 226 Members in favor and 109 opposed. The magic number this time was 224.

This bill Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt from prohibitions on the use or sale of lead pipes, solder, and flux: (1) pipes or pipe or plumbing fittings or fixtures, including backflow preventers, that are used exclusively for nonpotable services such as manufacturing, industrial processing, irrigation, outdoor watering or any other uses where the water is not anticipated to be used for human consumption; or (2) toilets, bidets, urinals, fill valves, flushometer valves, tub fillers, shower valves, service saddles, or water distribution main gate valves that are two inches in diameter or larger.

Redefines "lead free" under such Act to mean: (1) not containing more than 0.2% lead when used with respect to solder and flux (current law); and (2) not more than a weighted average of 0.25% lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes and pipe and plumbing fittings and fixtures. Establishes a formula to calculate the weighted average lead content of a pipe or pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture.

Now if Senator Boxer could only manage to get the lead out of the Senate!