CD103: Crazy Busy June

More bills than anyone could possible read were passed by a branch of Congress in June, including the 994 page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), four government funding bills, and thirty bills governing a wide range of topics, including Wall Street, MediCare, fishing, carbon dioxide emissions, stolen art, chemical storage, taxes, and more. 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! New Congressman of Mississippi's 1st district was sworn into office Emergency the national emergency declared in on June 16, 2006 with respect to Belarus : Prospects for Belarus' Membership in the WTO by Anna Maria Dyner, The Polish Institute of International Affairs, July 31, 2013. Laws : USA Freedom Act Outlined and discussed in Congressional Dish : United States Cotton Futures Act : House Agriculture Committee, June 17, 2015. cotton from foreign companies from , which . on the futures exchange. Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by of Georgia's 13th district , (stands for Intercontinental Exchange) which is a network of financial exchanges and clearing houses; it operates eleven exchanges, including three in the United States, Canada, and Europe that deal with agriculture futures. The company has ten lobbyists and has for the last Congressional election. In the last election cycle, ICE Group gave , and over the years, the company has given Rep. David Scott : DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act Makes the DHS about the department's technology and gives them to complete it. Passed the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice votes Sponsored by Rep. Will Hurd of Texas's 23rd district Bills : National Defense Authorization Act Passed the House of Representatives The version passed by the House of Representatives received a by President Obama Passed the Senate with changes Sponsored by Rep. Mac Thorneberry of Texas's 13th district Weird advertisement for the NDAA : Department of Defense Appropriations Act Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey's 11th district : Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Devin Nunes of California's 22nd district : Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. John Culberson of Texas's 7th district : Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida's 25th district : Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act : House Rules Committee, May 19, 2015. for management of an overfished fishery so that there is no hard deadline () to replenish the fishery and adds exceptions, including one that . the amount of time an emergency regulation can adjust a fishery management plan. to the list of factors that need to be considered when creating catch limits and for some fish with short life spans. Regional Fishery Management Council meetings will have to be All requirements of the the National Environmental Policy Act and all related implementing regulations will be if the Regional Fishery Management Council completes a fishery impact statement. a pilot program for using electronic monitoring at fisheries. independent peer-reviewed analysis' of the quality of statistics collected on fishing populations and a requirement for for Gulf of Mexico red snapper for recreational and commercial fishermen that this law will trump the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the Antiquities Act, and the Endangered Species Act the government from factoring in red snapper killer during the removal of offshore oil rigs when determining catch limits. the government from factoring fish caught by foreign vessels in the U.S. economic zone when determining catch limits. new guidelines be issued that will use nongovernmental sources for fisheries management decisions. Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Don Young of Alaska ; he has taken $9,000 from them for this election cycle as of 9/11/15. : Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015 : House Rules Committee, June 23, 2015. Prohibits from being enforced filed within 60 days of the final rule's publication are complete. Exempts states from complying with a final rule addressing carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel powered plants if the Governor informs the EPA that the rule would Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky's 1st district His #1 and #2 industries for the upcoming election are Oil and Gas and Electric Utilities; as of 9/11/15. Over the course of his Congressional career, he has taken . : Commodity End-User Relief Act : House Rules Committee, June 2, 2015. operations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that can be enacted on futures commissions merchants seven more considerations (including alternatives to regulation) to the requirements of cost-benefit analysis of regulations. the CFTC cost benefit analysis to be reviewed by a judge. the traders to be regulated to challenge new CFTC rules directly to the US Court of Appeals, the second most powerful court in the country. the subpoena power of the CFTC the that the CFTC be immune from lawsuits that arise from sharing data about swaps with domestic and foreign authorities and this change to July 21, 2010, the effective date of Dodd Frank Financial Reform. "a utility operations-related swap" to the list of swaps that can be traded, which gambling on the future of natural gas or electric generation, purchases, sales, supplies or delivery. traders from being classified and regulated as a "swaps dealer" if they trade less than $8 billion (). the number of financial models swaps dealers will be allowed to use to determine how much actual money they need to hold onto. Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas's 11th district His top contributor for the upcoming election is , which is a swaps clearing house; he received . His top 5 contributors over the course of his career are, in this order, the an international association of accountants, , a multinational corporation specializing in auditing and regulation compliance, , and even larger multinational corporation specializing in regulation compliance, , a portfolio of energy companies, and , the self-proclaimed "" multinational corporation that specializes in auditing and risk management. From these five companies, Conaway has taken . : Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2015 : House Rules Committee, June 16, 2015. the , which is designed to suggest solutions if Medicare costs get out of control. funding for the , , which is a 61% cut. Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee's 1st district ; he has taken $435,088 as of 9/11/15. : Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2015 : House Rules Committee, June 16, 2015. the The effects of this repeal on the budget that this will increase the budget deficit by $24.4 billion Passed the House of Representatives Received a from President Obama Sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota's 3rd district ; he has taken at least $654,929. His #4 contributing industry has been Health Professionals; from them, he has taken $622,645. : CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2015 the Office of Intelligence an Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security to share information and work with the Intelligence community to analyze possible chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks. the Department of Homeland Security to share information related to terrorist attacks with the public. Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. of Arizona's 2nd district : DOTCOM Act of 2015 : NTIA Announces Intent to Transition Key Internet Domain Name Functions, March 14, 2014. the transition of NTIA's functions in Internet domain name registry until 30 days after a report is submitted. Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois's 15th district : TSCA Modernization Act a requirement that EPA use the "least burdensome requirements" when regulating toxic chemicals the EPA to do risk evaluations on chemicals used, stored, sold or disposed of by commercial companies. The risk evaluations consider cost If the risk evaluation is requested by a manufacturer, the for the risk assessment The EPA to do at least 10 risk assessments per year "subject to the availability of appropriations". for "replacement parts" from the EPA rules prohibiting chemicals unless the replacement parts "contribute significantly to the identified risk". the requirement that any rules created "shall provide for a reasonable transition period." the requirement for an informal hearing when making rules about toxic chemicals. if the requirement is , if it would The exemption would be valid for The exemption on the use of the toxic chemical data to be shared with State, local, or tribal governments and with health care professionals to assist with diagnosis or treatment. companies that want to keep information confidential to explain their reasons and automatically releases the information to the public in 10 years, unless the company justifies the confidentiality again in writing. caps of fees that can be collected and creates a to collect, store, and disperse the funds to pay for the EPA's costs for regulating chemicals. Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois's 15th district : DHS FOIA Efficiency Act of 2015 the Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer of the Department of Homeland Security to update Freedom of Information Act regulations within 90 days of the bill's passage. the Chief FOIA Officer to identify the total annual cost of implementing the FOIA within 90 days. the Chief FOIA Officer to identify unnecessary actions taken in the course of processing requests and eliminate them within a year of identifying them. the Chief FOIA Officer to develop a plan to to process requests electronically. the Chief FOIA Officer to issue guidance to the necessary people to reach the goal of reducing the FOIA request backlog by 50 percent by 2018. Passed the House of Representatives Sponsored by Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia's 1st district : Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act until 2020 to provide technical assistance to small public water systems. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi : Water Resources Research Amendments Act a requirement for additional research into new water treatments into the Water Resources Research Act an evaluation of water resource research projects every three years and withdraws funds from projects that do not qualify based on the evaluation. $13.5 million per year through 2020. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland : United States Grain Standards Act Reauthorization Act of 2015 the Department of Agriculture's process for grain inspections until September 30, 2020. the Secretary of Agriculture to waive weighting and inspections of grain in an "emergency, a major disaster"; currently, the Secretary has the option to do so, but does not have to. A is defined to specifically include "a sever weather incident causing a region-wide interruption of government services". the location of export inspections to specifically "export elevators" at export port locations. the criteria for who is qualified to perform official inspections by deleting a list of requirements. Delegations of authority to conduct grain inspections to a State every five years, and my be renewed. before the Secretary can delegate inspection responsibility to a State and in the Federal Register announcing if the State was approved and the rational for the decision. The State would have to give at least advanced notice in writing to the Dept. of Agriculture if they want to stop performing grain inspections, unless there has been a major disaster. a list of the States delegated to perform official inspections, which needs to be updated at least twice a year. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas's 11th district His #2 contributing industry over the course of his career has been ; he has taken at least $646,470. : Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2015 mandatory price reporting requirements for livestock until September 30, 2020. that reports are expected on days the Dept. of Agriculture is open for business, including days when the government is "on shutdown or emergency furlough as a result of a lapse in appropriations". transactions between pork packers and producers to take place using a new pricing formula. the definition of an importer of lamb to include anyone who imports an average of 1,000 metric tons per year; importers have to comply with regulations if they import and average of 2,500 metric tons of lamb per year. the definition of a lamb packer to someone who owns 50% or more of a facility and slaughters an average of 35,000 heads of lambs per year; if they slaughter 75,000 lambs per year. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Michael Conaway of Texas's 11th district : National Forest Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2015 and $3 million per year until 2018 for the National Forest Foundation Act, which established a partnership with a non-profit to study and restore national forests. This is the previous funding. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania's 5th district : Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act : Internet tax moratorium extended again by Grant Gross, IDG News Service, December 15, 2014. Makes the moratorium on Internet access taxes . Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia's 6th district : Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act art imported into the United States to be temporarily displayed from being seized by the United States, even if that art is discovered to have been stolen. This immunity to art stolen by the Nazis. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio's 1st district and : Native American Children’s Safety Act criminal background checks of any person who lives in a house applying to provide foster care to an Indian child and placement if anyone in the home is found to have committed certain crimes. This to emergency foster care placement Both bills passed the Senate and the House of Representatives by voice votes S. 184 was sponsored by Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota and H.R. 1168 was sponsored by Kevin Cramer of North Dakota S. 184: H.R. 1168: : Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children. All 11 members by the President and Congressional leaders and their appointments will be for the entire duration of the commission. The Commission's job will be to on the effectiveness of programs aimed at the health and education of native children and to make recommendations for fixing the inadequacies. The Commission will after they submit their report. , but does not appropriate, $2 million. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota : Authorizing early repayment of obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within the Northport Irrigation District in the State of Nebraska Nebraska landowners to repay construction debts at any time. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska's 3rd district : Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act the State Department to designate an existing employee to coordinate efforts to protect art around the world from being stolen and/or destroyed. a committee, which will meet once a year and be made up of representatives from various Federal agencies, who will "coordinate and inform Federal efforts to protect international cultural property". importation of "archaeological or ethnological material of Syria" starting 120 days after the bills enactment. The import restrictions in five years, but can be extended. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel of New York's 16th district : Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act a public report every two years on competition, availability of services, and regulatory barriers to entry into the communications services business. an on privatization of the communications services industry, which includes public comments. an on foreign and domestic competition in the communications satellite market. an on the "status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming". the requirement that a report on cable industry price be completed annually. the requirement that a report on regulatory barriers be reviewed every three years. an "of whether any of such competitors have a dominant share of the market" Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by of Nevada : Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act Federal agencies to use remanufactured vehicle parts to maintain Federal vehicles. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan : VBID for Better Care Act a three year demonstration project to test for Medicare patients at two Medicare Advantage sites. Value based insurance allows insurance companies flexibility with co-payments, allowing them to lower co-payments for services deemed to be "high value" preventative services and increasing rates for services with uncertain value. It's designed to "create financial disincentives for poor health choices". The demonstration projects increases in co-payments to discourage the use of services. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee's 6th district : Increasing Regulatory Fairness Act the amount of time between proposed Medicare rate changes are announced and when they can go into effect from 60 days to 90 days. more information about why the changes are being implemented. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas's 8th district : Medicare Advantage Coverage Transparency Act an annual report to Congress detailing the location and number of people enrolled in Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania's 3rd district : Securing Seniors' Health Care Act the government from terminating a contract for a Medicare Advantage organization because it fails to meet minimum quality standards until the end of 2018. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida's 16th district : DHS Paid Administrative Leave Accountability Act of 2015 : Administrative Leave Restrictions at DHS Backed, FedWeek, July 8, 2015. to be completed by the Department of Homeland Security four times per year on the number of people on paid administrative leave for more than six months and the cost associated. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia's 11th district : Homeland Security Drone Assessment and Analysis Act on how commercially available small and medium sized drones could be used to commit terrorist attacks and what the Department of Homeland Security could do to stop this type of attack. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey's 12th district : Federally Funded Research and Development Sunshine Act of 2015 on the Federally funded research projects being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas's 4th district : Homeland Security University-based Centers Review Act on the effectiveness of using universities to conduct Department of Homeland Security research. Passed the House of Representatives by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi's 2nd district June Hearings Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: , June 4, 2015. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: , June 16, 2015. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: , June 16, 2015. House Committee on Financial Services: , June 17, 2015. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: , June 17, 2015. House Committee on Energy and Commerce: , June 18, 2015. House Committee on Foreign Affairs: , June 18, 2015. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: , June 23, 2015. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control: , June 24, 2015. House Committee on , June 24, 2015. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: , June 24, 2015 House Committee on Ways and Means: , June 24, 2015 Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: , June 25, 2015 Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: , June 25, 2015. 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