CD101: Trade Away May

Lots of new laws! Hear all about the final version of fast track and other trade related dingleberries, new measures to combat human trafficking, and new benefits for veterans. In this episode, you'll also learn about the bills that passed at least one branch of Congress in May, which include a poisonous scientific research funding bill, an anti-abortion bill, lots of bills to funnel taxpayer money into private pockets, bills that benefit veterans' families, and more. After the break, get the details for the Chicago and Miami meet-ups, an update on the Congressional Dish Arms Race, and hear a indisputable argument for why train travel is superior to plane travel. Please support Congressional Dish: to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Meet Up Times & Locations Chicago: Wednesday, August 5th 6:30pm: 225 Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 698-7111 Co-Hosted by Kevin and Loren, hosts of Miami: Tuesday, August 18th 7pm: 6pm: Meet and Greet 7pm: Meeting begins 5505 NE 2nd Ave. Miami, FL 33137 (786) 693-9309 8:30pm: 188 NE 3rd Avenue Miami, FL 33132 (305) 358-5222 Laws : Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act Became the vehicle for to become law Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers with 20 years experience to avoid a 10% tax penalty if they withdraw from their retirement plans after age 50, instead of 59.5 years old. The effects of this on the budget . Passed Sponsored by Rep. David Reichert of Washington Did Your Rep & Senators Vote for Fast Track? : Trade Preferences Extension Act Title I: Extension of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Original African Growth and Opportunity Act was signed into law by President Clinton in 2000. Allows certain products from some African countries to be imported tax-free. Oil accounted for 68% of these imports in 2014; "despite remaining the top U.S. import under AGOA, U.S. oil imports from the region have fallen by 80% or nearly $40 billion since 2011." Clothes and vehicles from South Africa are the other main products imported tax-free under this law The law was going to expire on September 30, 2015. The assistance is intended to "encourage governments to Liberalize trade policy Harmonize laws and regulations with WTO membership commitments Engage in financial and fiscal restructuring Promote greater agribusiness linkages. Reauthorization Highlights Extends the AGOA until the President's ability to terminate an African country's eligibility for the program without notifying Congress and the country 60 days before. an annual public comment period regarding whether the African countries are meeting their eligibility requirements. the number of people employed full time to make sure African food exports meet U.S. food safety standards from 20 to 30. estimates that extending this program will cost us $2.8 billion in lost tax revenue by 2025 Title II: Extension of Generalized System of Preferences A bigger program for allowing products to be imported tax-free into the United States, which was first created in 1974. President Obama terminated Russia's status as a Generalized System of Preferences country in October 2014, after the invasion of Crimea. Extension Highlights the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program until December, 2017. to July 31, 2013, when the program expired. The estimates this extension will cost us over $2.5 billion in lost tax revenue. that are eligible for tax-free import eligible for tax-free import Title III: Extension of preferential duty treatment program for Haiti tax-free import status for products from Haiti until December 19, 2025. estimates this will cost us $520 million in lost tax revenue Title IV: Extension of trade adjustment assistance trade adjustment assistance until June 30, 2021 Specifically . Brings back a for workers who lose their jobs due to trade agreements or due to failed pension plans until , which are for health insurance on the ObamaCare exchange websites. The estimates that this will cost us $2.8 billion, with the most money needed from 2017 to 2021. : Tariff classification of recreational performance outerwear Contains a modified version of the Affordable Footwear Act, which on some athletic footwear. Contains part of the OUTDOORS Act, which was Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington and Senator Kelly Ayote of New Hampshire, which lowers or eliminates tariffs that for of REI, Amazon, Nordstrom, Brooks Sports, and Eddie Bauer. of Timberland The American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Outdoor Industry Association, Eastern Mountain Sports, Kamik Boots, NEMO Equipment, and New Balance, and the Washington Council on International Trade have all voiced support for this language, with the it's because it "would save consumers money while improving profits for our retailers and apparel companies that do their manufacturing overseas". The Outdoor Industry Association lobbying Congress on the US OUTDOOR ACT and the Affordable Footwear Act in 2014. Title VI: Offsets Extends customs charges for some imports from September 30, 2024 to July 7, 2025 and then for two and a half months in the Summer 2025, after the expiration. According to the , this will cause the revenue from those fees to spike from a little under a billion in 2024, to $4.6 billion in 2025. This is the biggest single source of money that will pay for this law. taxes on corporations that make more than $1 billion in 2019 by 8% for the months of July, August, or September of 2020. The corporation's next payment will . On the estimate, this makes it seem as though there is much more revenue for the 2015-2020 period than there actually is. If the numbers weren't cooked like this, the report would show an additional $5.7 billion budget deficit from 2015-2020. Beginning in 2016, the law from students from their school. estimates this will save almost half a billion dollars. the fines for failing to file tax returns on time or including incorrect information on a return, for example from $100 to $250 and raises the caps on these kinds of fees, . this will bring in an additional $136 million by 2025. people who choose to exclude foreign earned income from their tax returns from claiming the child tax credit, effective this year. this will save $293 million by 2025. Somehow the way Medicare pays for dialysis services in a way that . Passed the Senate and the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. George Holding of North Carolina : Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act Through , a person convicted of a human trafficking related offense will have to pay an extra $5,000 fine. The money will go to a "Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund, controlled by the Attorney General. The money will be used for , to States, tribes, local government and non-profit NGO's, and . grant money specifically for victims of child pornography. the property that can been seized by the government from people convicted of human trafficking crimes. the "range of conduct punished as sex trafficking." adds "patronized, or solicited" to the list of of things punishable by a fine and at least 10 years in prison. : "Whoever knowingly" in the United States "recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, patronizes, or solicits" anything of value that arises out of forcing someone under 18 to "engage in a commercial sex act", which means "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." crime victims the right to be informed of any plea bargains or deferred prosecution agreements. that officers in anti-human trafficking programs operated by the Justice Department will have training on methods for investigating and prosecuting human traffickers and for getting proper physical and mental health care for the victims. that Federal prosecutors request restitution for the victims whether or not the victims request it. Creates an to analyze human trafficking laws every year until September 30, 2020. The members will except for travel reimbursement and per diem allowances. missing children reports to include a recent photo audits of human trafficking grants the Attorney General from giving a grant to a nonprofit that has offshore tax havens. Includes the which makes advertising the services of prostitutes who are under 18 or are forced into prostitution punishable by ten years in prison. a website for accessing victims' services the statute of limitations on civil actions by child trafficking survivors to 10 years after they turn 18. a "cyber crimes center" within the Customs and Immigration section of the Department of Homeland Security to "provide investigative assistance, training, and equipment to support United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement's domestic and international investigations of cyber-related crimes." The cyber crimes center will have a in it. The cyber crimes center will have a which will train and support Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and help "Federal, State, local, tribal, military, and foreign law enforcement agency personnel engaged in the investigation of crimes" The cyber crimes center will have a , which will "enhance" Immigration and Customs ability to "combat criminal enterprises operating on or through the Internet, with specific focus in the areas of cyber economic crime, digital theft of intellectual property, illicit e-e-commerce (including hidden marketplaces), Internet- facilitated proliferation of arms and strategic technology, and cyber enable smuggling and money laundering" and will also help "Federal, State, local, tribal, military, and foreign law enforcement agency personnel engaged in the investigation of crimes" The cyber crimes center will be allowed to coordinate with the Defense Department to . Temporarily by 10% the amount of money a State can get from Federal grants if the State has a law that allows the mother of a child to eliminate the parental rights of her rapist and authorizes $5 million for the increases (only currently have such laws). people convicted in the military justice system to the National Sex Offender Registry. a hotline for sex trafficking victims to speak with service providers starting in 2017. sex trafficking victims automatically eligible for the jobs corps. human trafficking survivors to move to vacate any arrest or conviction records for crimes that they committed as a direct result of human trafficking. Passed the Senate and the House Sponsored by Senator John Cornyn of Texas : Girls Count Act the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID to coordinate with the World Bank, UN nations agencies and "relevant organizations" to "enact, implement, and enforce laws" in other countries to register births of baby girls. Sunsets in June 2020. Passed the House and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida : Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act Clarifies the effective date of a , which will effectively pay them less, as . Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by Rep Will Hurd of Texas : Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act and additional $900 million for a Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Denver, CO. Passed the House and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado : Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act money paid to the families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty from counting as taxable income. Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota : Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act the President to give Congress any agreements with Iran within 5 days of reaching the agreement, along with a report by the Secretary of State on the effectiveness of the agreement. the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to hold hearings on the agreement within 30 days - if it would interfere with their August vacation. the President from altering sanctions on Iran during the Congressional review period. the President from altering sanctions on Iran if a joint resolution of disapproval passes both the House and the Senate for 12 days after passage. If the President vetoes the joint resolution of disapproval, the law him from altering Iran's sanctions within 10 days of the veto. the agreement to go into effect if Congress does nothing an expedited process for Congress to bring back the sanctions if Iran violates the agreement. Passed the Senate and the House of Representatives . Sponsored by Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania : Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 Clean extension of Federal transportation programs until July 31, 2015. Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Bill Schuster of Pennsylvania : Veteran's I.D. Card Act veterans who have honorably completed their service but who didn't "retire" or receive a medically-related discharge to request and pay for an ID card proving their veteran status. The fee for the card will be reassessed every . The cards would be available the bill would be signed into law. Final version passed the Senate by a voice vote and the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan Bills : America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 Funds the National Science Foundation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Institute f Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy - Science, the Department of Energy - Applied Research and Development, and the Department of Energy - Technology Transfer. Contains that in the U.S. - to the new inventions - as long as to their systems. Continues to It would of current nuclear power plants Creates a which, in part, develops "small modular reactors". , small modular reactors are factory-made mini-nuclear power plants that can be shipped to places that don't have the infrastructure or money for large nuclear power plants. The idea is to create these for to sell around the world. So far, none of these have been designed, licensed, or constructed and DOE wants them deployed within the next decade. research into hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle technology and on-site renewable energy generation for buildings. research into fish friendly turbines for hydropower Allows "energy efficiency" money to be (). Makes the Secretary perform for renewable energy projects. a and other renewable power on State or local government buildings. the objective of from energy research, research money from being used for Fossil Energy Environmental Restoration, the amount of fossil fuel research money that can be used in universities, and government research into fossil fuels from being used for regulatory assessments by the government. more taxpayer money in coal energy research. Passed the House of Representatives President Obama would the bill. The veto threat is because the bill funds much less than requested for many areas of research; for example, it provides less than half of what was requested for clean energy research and grid modernizations. Sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas : National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Passed the House and the Senate (with changes) Sponsored by Rep. Mac Thorneberry of Texas : Gold Star Fathers Act hiring advantages for Federal jobs to fathers of people killed in military service (). Passed the Senate by voice vote Sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon : Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to withdraw a that would expand protection of waterways in the United States. a new proposed rule to be crafted using studies - including an economic impact study - hand picked by the bill authors. the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to consult with "public and private stakeholders" that would be effected by the rule any additional money for the extra work. the Federal government's classification of waterways from voiding State permits for two years. Passed the House of Representatives President Obama would the bill. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, who has taken from the Oil and Gas industry, with of that for the most recent election. : Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2015 An immediate family member of a deceased fire fighter, law enforcement officer, member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew who died in the line of duty can request and be free of charge by their Congressional Representative. Caps the amount to be spent on this at . Passed the House of Representatives by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter King of New York : Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Makes it for someone to perform an abortion unless: The fetus is The abortion is performed in a way that : If the mother's life is in danger due to a physical illness or injury Incest that has been reported to the government The pregnancy is the result of a rape The mother must have gotten rape counseling or medical treatment for the rape, which in the mother's medical file The rape counseling or report be provided by a non-hospital facility that performs abortions. The penalty for performing an abortion illegally can be The who performed her abortion illegally The mother be prosecuted Passed the House of Representatives President Obama would the bill Sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona : Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 the Secretary of State to report to Congress "the activities of all satellite, broadcast, Internet, or other providers that knowingly provide material support to and any affiliates" and the status of sanctions against them as on September 23, 2001. financial institutions that process transactions for Hezbollah from opening or maintaining accounts in the United States. for facilitating Hezbollah transactions the greater of $250,000 or twice the transaction amount in addition to a criminal penalty of up to $1 million and up to 20 years in prison. This in 180 day intervals if the Treasury Secretary says it's in the "national security interests of the United States" These rules to intelligence activities Passed by Sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce of California : Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2015 Reauthorized a program for homeless veterans . that veterans being released from prison are eligible for benefits. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio : Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act the Department of Veterans Affairs to keep a copy of all official reprimands or admonishments in the employee's permanent record as long as they work at the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Ryan Costello : Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Relief Act the business that was owned by a disabled veteran to keep it's veteran perks if the spouse takes over the business for three years, if the veterans did not die as a result of a service related disability (if the veteran did die of service related injuries, the spouse can keep the benefits for 10 years or until she remarries). Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. Jerry McNerney : BRAVE Act the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs to give preferential treatment to companies that hire veterans in their choice in awarding procurement contracts. A company that lies about the veteran status of its employees will be from contracting with the Department of Veteran's Affairs for five years. Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Rice : Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2015 monthly pension payments from counting as income for veterans who become permanently or totally disabled from non-service related injuries. the total amount of bonus money allowed to be issued to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada : American Super Computing Leadership Act the definition of to include organizations that exist to benefit the Department of Energy to partner with universities, National Laboratories, and industry. the Department of Energy's High End Software Development Center and replaces it with a partnerships with universities, National Laboratories, and industry to do research. Part of this program outreach to domestic industries, including manufacturing so they can use the technology developed. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren of Illinois : Science Prize Competitions Act private for-profit entities to be given grants and contract so administer government prize competitions. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Donald Beyer of Virginia : Research and Development Efficiency Act a working group to make recommendations on how to streamline Federal regulations and to "minimize the regulatory burden" on universities performing federally funded research. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia : International Science and Technology Cooperation Act of 2015 a working group to coordinate international science and technology cooperation, designed in part to "support United States foreign policy goals". Will be by officials from the Office of Science and Technology and the Department of State. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois : Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2015 a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to improving weather knowledge, understand how the public reacts to warnings, and develop radar and other weather forecasting technologies. ) of the money for the program will go to universities, private entities, and NGO's to further their research. a tornado warning improvement program with the goal of predicting tornadoes more than an hour in advance. No budget listed. a Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program with the goal of extending hurricane forecasts. No budget listed. the government to pay commercial providers up to for weather data which makes NOAA contract with a private sector entity for weather data by October 1, 2016. (but doesn't appropriate) about $100 million per year through 2017. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma : Department of Energy Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act of 2015 an assessment and report on the Department of Energy's ability to host and oversee "privately funded fusion and non-light water reactor prototypes and related demonstration facilities at Department-owned sites" the Energy Department to carry out a pilot program research at National Laboratories. Projects with the private sector. the pilot program until October 31, 2017. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Randy Hultgren of Illinois : American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2015 a corporate tax credit for research and development the expired at the end of 2014 The effects of this on the budget estimates this would increase the Federal deficits by $182 billion in the next ten years. President Obama the bill. Passed the House of Representatives President Obama would the bill. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas Hearings Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing: , June 9, 2014. House Committee on Science, Space and Techonology Markup Hearing: , April 22, 2015 Additional Information Federation of American Scientists: Federaation of American Scientists/Washington and Lee University Study: U.S. Department of Transportation Factsheet: Associated Press Article: by Joan Lowy, July 29, 2015 Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: by (found on by mevio) by by