Daily Floor Briefing

If your boss is planning to offer an amendment to H.R. 5384 (Agriculture Appropriations), H.R. 5427 (Energy and Water Appropriations) , or H.R. -- (Homeland Security Appropriations), please let us know. In order to provide the most accurate summaries possible, we need your help. Please provide us with a brief summary of your amendment and the text (if available).

Please contact us at 202-226-2302, or email us directly anytime.
- Karen Bissell and Chris Vieson, Committee Liaisons

Daily Floor Briefing

Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour and 10:00 AM for legislative business.

One Minutes

Bills Subject to a Rule (1 bill)
H.R. 5384 - Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007

Rolled Suspension vote (1 vote)
H.R. 4681 - Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006

Special Orders
Economy / Jobs
Republicans have the FIRST HOUR
Host: Rep. Saxton (Contact 4-5171)

*Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.

*Motions to go to Conference should they become available.

*Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

Bills Subject to a Rule (1 bills)

H.R. 5384
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007

Floor Situation

The House is scheduled to consider H.R. 5384, pursuant to a rule, on Tuesday, May 23, 2006.

On Monday, May 22, 2006 the Rules Committee granted an open rule that:

Provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
Under the rules of the House the bill shall be read for amendment by paragraph.
Waives all points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized appropriations or legislative provisions in an appropriations bill) except as specified in the resolution.
Authorizes the Chair to accord priority in recognition to Members who have pre-printed their amendments in the Congressional Record.
Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Summary

H.R. 5384 provides $18.4 billion in total discretionary resources. This level represents a decrease of $96 million below the FY06 enacted level and $564 million over the President’s budget request.

FY 06: $83.068 billion total mandatory
FY 07 Request: $76.394 billion total mandatory
FY 07 Bill: $76.079 billion total mandatory

Protecting Human Health and Safety:

Avian Flu/Pandemic countermeasures and monitoring are funded at $80 million, which is $80 million over the 2006 appropriation and $33 million below the President’s request. In addition, funds from the December 2005 supplemental, totaling $111 million are available through fiscal year 2007.
Food Safety and Inspection Service is funded at $853 million, $24 million above last year and $96 million above the President’s request. The bill does not include $105 million in new user fees proposed by the Administration.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service activities are funded at $904 million, $92 million above last year and $48 million below the President’s request. The bill does not include $8 million in new user fees proposed by the Administration.
Food and Drug Administration is funded at $1.5 billion, $54 million above last year and $16 million below the President’s request. This includes the full amount requested for the medical device program, and $6 million above the President’s request for drug safety.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) detection and prevention activities are funded at about $90 million, the same as last year’s level and the President’s budget request.

Fulfilling Commitments to Important Food and Nutrition Programs:

Commodity Supplemental Food Program is funded at $118.3 million, $11 million above last year and $118 million over the President’s request.
Child Nutrition Programs (Mandatory) are funded at $13.3 billion, $685 million above last year and $300 million below the President’s request.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is funded at $5.244 billion, $40 million above last year and $44 million above the President’s request.
Food Stamp Program (Mandatory) is funded at $37.9 billion, essentially the requested level and $2.8 billion below last year. In fiscal year 2007, participation is estimated to decrease by about 1.1 million participants according to the most recent estimates by the Administration.
Food for Peace Program (PL 480) Title II is funded at a program level of $1.2 billion, an increase of $85 million above last year and $5 million above the President’s request.

Supporting Farmers, Ranchers, and Rural America:

Farm Service Agency salaries and expenses are at $1.054 billion, an increase of $34 million above last year and $38 million below the President’s request, to continue delivery of farm programs.
Agricultural Research Service is funded at $1.2 billion, a decrease of $49 million below last year’s level and $195 million above the President’s request.
Conservation Operations activities are funded at $791 million, a decrease of $40 million below last year and an increase of $47 million above the President’s request.
Rural Community Advancement Program (RCAP) is funded at $700 million, an increase of $5 million above last year and an increase of $99 million above the President’s request.

Program Eliminations:

Healthy Forests Reserve--$2.5 million.

Invasive Species Grant--$9.9 million.

Wildlife Air Safety initiative--$3 million.

Classical Chinese Garden--$8.4 million.

Financial Management Modernization Initiative--$13.9 million.

Child Nutrition Program, contingency reserve fund--$300 million (new mandatory)

Amendments that may be offered on May 23, 2006:

Rep King (IA) may offer an amendment (# 1) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would require the USDA to report on the progress of animal ID in 180 days. Contact: 5-4426 Text of Amendment

Rep King (IA) may offer an amendment (# 2) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would withhold $1 million until they reported to Congress on their animal ID program. Contact: 5-4426 Text of the amendment

Rep. Kennedy (MN) may offer an amendment (# 3) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would provide $500,000 in loan repayments for new veterinarians who choose to work in rural and other underserved areas, the same amount that was passed into law last year. The funds would be transferred from the Agriculture Buildings and Facilities and Rental Payments Account. Contact: 5-2331(Michael Yost) Text of the amendment

Rep. Paul (TX) Lucas may offer an amendment (# 4) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment states that none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or administer the National Animal Identification System. Contact: 5-2831 Text of the amendment

Rep. Carter (TX) may offer an amendment (# 5) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would authorize $3.6 million of existing funds from the Federal Crop Insurance Program’s outreach and education funds to be used to continue a data-mining project investigating anomalous payouts in the program. Contact: 5-3864 Text of the amendment

Reps. Blumenauer (OR)/Flake (AZ) may offer an amendment (# 6) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment will prevent any funds in the appropriations bill to go towards salaries or expenses of personnel who make loans in excess of 17 cents per pound for raw sugar cane or 21.6 per pound for refined beet sugar. Contact: 5-4811 (Blumenauer) Text of the amendment

Rep. Hefley (CO) may introduce and amendment (#7) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment cuts funding in HR 5384 designated for a National Animal Identification program that is equal to $33.107 million. The National Identification Program is funded under the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Contact: 5-4422 Text of the amendment

Rep. Hefley (CO) may offer an amendment (#8) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment reduces the bill’s total discretionary spending by 1 percent. Contact: 5-4422 Text of the amendment

Rep. Lucas (OK) may offer an amendment (#9) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment reduces the amount available under NRCS – Conservation Operations for “National Headquarters” by $50 million and increased the amount available for “conservation technical assistance” by the same amount. Contact: 5-5565 Text of the amendment

Rep. Schwarz (MI) may offer an amendment (#10) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has the authority provided in the bill to transfer funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation for the arrest and eradication of animal and plant pests and diseases that threaten American agriculture. The amendment states that the Secretary of Agriculture should use this transfer authority to use funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation to fully fund the implementation of the EAB eradication program that USDA and APHIS has stated is necessary to stop the spread of EAB to the rest of the United States. Contact: 5-6276 Text of the amendment

Reps. Bordallo (GU) /Faleomavaega (AS)/Fortuño (PR)/Christensen (VI) may offer an amendment (#11) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment adds $1 million to the amount appropriated for the Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in the Insular Areas. Contact: 5-1188 (Bordallo) Text of the amendment

Reps. Chabot (OH)/Brown (OH) may offer an amendment (#12) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would eliminate the Market Access Program (MAP) which subsidizes the overseas marketing and promotion of agricultural products. Contact: 5-2216 (Chabot) Text of the amendment

Rep. Gutknecht (MN) may offer an amendment (#13) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment decreases funding for the Agricultural Research Service's buildings and facilities by $65 million and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service research and education activities by $17 million. Contact: 5-2472 Text of the amendment

Rep. Johnson (IL) may offer an amendment (#14) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment requests the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the specific food consumption and nutritional value of foods purchased by households that participate in the food stamp program. The study would be used to recommend guidelines for the creation of a nutritional food list that could be used by these households for potential food purchase incentives. Contact 5: 2371 Text of the amendment

Rep. Paul (TX) may offer an amendment (#15) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment states that none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or administer the National Animal Identification System. Contact: 5-2831 Text of the amendment

Rep. Latham (IA) may offer an amendment (#16) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. A summary will be made available. Contact: 5-5476 Text of the amendment

Rep. Kennedy (MN) may offer an amendment (#17) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would provide $500,000 for the Animal Plant Health Inspective Service's bovine tuberculosis eradication program. The funds would be transferred from the National Agriculture Statistics Service Account. Contact: 5-2331 (Michael Yost) Text of the amendment

Reps. Holt (NJ)/ Leach (IA)/ DeFazio (OR)/ Kind (WI) may offer an amendment (#18) on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would increase the funding for Organic Transitions Program from $1.855 million to $5 million. Contact: 5-5801 Text of the amendment

Reps. Baca (CA)/Butterfield (NC)/Thompson (MS)/Hinajosa (TX) may offer an amendment on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment pulls $4 million out of the common computing environment account and puts $2 million into the 2501 program and $2 million into Hispanic Serving Institutions. Contact: 5-6161 (Baca)

Rep. Butterfield (NC) may offer an amendment on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment pulls $5 million out of the common computing environment account and puts $5 million into rural development community facilities, which provides loans to rural counties and cities for public buildings and emergency vehicles. Contact: 5-3101

Rep. Gerlach (PA) may offer an amendment on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment increases funding for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program by $23.5 million, bringing total funding to $73.5 million (the same amount provided in FY06). A corresponding offset, from the USDA Common Computing Environment, is included. Contact: 5-4315 (Bill Tighe) Text of the amendment

Rep. Reichert (WA) may offer an amendment on Tuesday, May 23, 2006; it will be considered under the 5 minute rule. The amendment would not allow any funds to be used to implement a recent USDA producer-handler rule for dairy farms that produce less than 9 million pounds of milk per month. Contact: 5-7761 Text of the amendment

Legislative History

H.R. 5384 was introduced by Rep. Bonilla (TX) on May 12, 2006. On May 12, 2006 the bill was reported from the Appropriations Committee and House Report 109-463 was filed.

For additional information or questions, please contact the Appropriations Committee at 5-2771.

Rolled Suspension Vote (1 vote)

H.R. 4681
Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006

Floor Situation

The House is scheduled to consider H.R. 4681, under suspension of the rules on Monday, May 22, 2006. The bill is debatable for 40 minutes, may not be amended, and requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage.

Summary

A summary will be made available.

Legislative History

H.R. 4681 was introduced by Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (FL) on February 1, 2006. The bill was referred to the Financial Services, International Relations, and Judiciary Committees. The bill was ordered to be reported from the International Relations Committee, as amended, by a vote of 36-2 on April 6, 2006. The bill was not considered by the Financial Services or Judiciary Committees.

For additional information or questions, please contact the International Relations Committee at 5-4872.

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