Today in Congress/Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 27 September 2008 10:37:10 AM. © Daily Kos

In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

House meets at 10:00 a.m. for Legislative Business
Five "One Minutes" Per Side
Last Vote Predicted: Late Afternoon

**Members are advised that they will have at least 2 hours notice before votes are called.

Suspensions (44^* Bills):
1) H.Res. 1224 - Commending the Tennessee Valley Authority on its 75th anniversary (Rep. Cramer - Transportation and Infrastructure)
2) H.R. 3068 - Federal Protective Service Guard Contracting Reform Act of 2007 (Rep. Holmes Norton - Transportation and Infrastructure)
3) S. 2482 - To repeal the provision of title 46, United States Code, requiring a license for employment in the business of salvaging on the coast of Florida (Sen. Nelson – Transportation and Infrastructure)
4) H.R. 4131 - To designate a portion of California State Route 91 located in Los Angeles County, California, as the "Juanita Millender-McDonald Highway (Rep. Richardson – Transportation and Infrastructure)
5) H.R. 6999 – Integrated Deepwater Program Reform Act of 2008 (Rep. Cummings – Transportation and Infrastructure)
6) H.R. 6460 - Great Lakes Legacy Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Rep. Ehlers – Transportation and Infrastructure)
7) H.R. 6707 - Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act (Rep. Oberstar – Transportation and Infrastructure)
8) H.R. 1283 - Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act of 2007 (Rep. Eshoo – Energy and Commerce)
9) S. 3560 - A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security (Sen. Baucus – Energy and Commerce)
10) S. 906 - Mercury Market Minimization Act of 2007 (Sen. Obama – Energy and Commerce)
11) H.R. 5265 - Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research, and Education Amendments of 2008", as amended (Rep. Engel – Energy and Commerce)
12) H.R. 6063 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 (Rep. Udall (NM) – Science and Technology)
13) H.R. 7083 - Charity Enhancement Act of 2008 (Rep. Lewis – Ways and Means)
14) H.R. 7082 - The Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act (Rep. Ramstad– Ways and Means)
15) H.R. 6600 - Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2008 (Rep. Doggett – Ways and Means)
16) S. 3477 - Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008 (Sen. Warner – Oversight and Government Reform)
17) S. 3350 - To provide that claims of the United States to certain documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as waived and relinquished in certain circumstances (Sen. Schumer – Oversight and Government Reform)
18) H.R. 2786 - Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act (Rep. Kildee – Financial Services)
19) H.R. __ - Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2008 (Rep. Velazquez – Small Business)
20) S. 3325 - The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008 (Sen. Leahy – Judiciary)
21) S. 1738 - Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008 (Sen. Biden – Judiciary)
22) H.R. __ – Webcaster Settlement Act (Rep. Inslee – Judiciary)
23) H.R. __ – The Drug Trafficking Vessel Interdiction Act of 2008 (Rep. Lungren – Judiciary)
24) S. 3296 - A bill to extend the authority of the United States Supreme Court Police to protect court officials off the Supreme Court Grounds and change the title of the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice. (Sen. Leahy – Judiciary)
25) H.R. 5057 – Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Rep. Maloney - Judiciary)
26) S. 2840 - Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act (Sen. Schumer – Judiciary)
27) H.R. 6146 – To amend title 28, United States Code, to prohibit recognition and enforcement of foreign defamation judgments (Rep. Cohen - Judiciary)
28) H.R. 3174 - Equal Justice For Our Military Act (Rep. Davis (CA) - Judiciary)
29) H.R. 1777 - Need -Based Educational Aid Act of 2008 (Rep. Delahunt – Judiciary)
30) S. 431 - The KIDS Act (Sen. Schumer - Judiciary)
31) S. 3606 - The Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program Act (Sen. Hatch - Judiciary)
32) H.R. 5571 - To extend for 5 years the program relating to waiver of the foreign country residence requirement with respect to international medical graduates, and for other purposes (Rep. Lofgren - Judiciary)
33) H.R. 6838 - CAMPUS Safety Act of 2008 (Rep. Scott (VA) - Judiciary)
34) S. 2304 - Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2008 (Sen. Domenici - Judiciary)
35) S. 3569 - To make improvements in the operation and administration of the Federal courts, and for other purposes (Sen. Schumer - Judiciary)
36) S. 2816 - to provide for the appointment of the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security by the Secretary of Homeland Security (Sen. Voinovich – Homeland Security)
37) H.Res. 1429 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the employees of the Department of Homeland Security, their partners at all levels of government, and the millions of emergency response providers and law enforcement agents nationwide should be commended for their dedicated service on the Nation's front lines in the war against acts of terrorism (Rep. Clarke – Homeland Security)
38) S. 3477 - Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008 (Sen. Warner – Oversight and Government Reform)
39) H.R. 6669 - To provide that claims of the United States to certain documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as waived and relinquished in certain circumstances (Rep. Gillibrand – Oversight and Government Reform)
40) S. 3536 - Air Carriage of International Mail Act (Sen. Carper – Oversight and Government Reform)
41) H.R. 6849 - To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less, and for other purposes (Rep. Etheridge – Agriculture)
42) S. 3597 - To provide that funds allocated for community food projects for fiscal year 2008 shall remain available until September 30, 2009 (Sen. Harkin – Agriculture)
43) H.R. __ - To authorize the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign recipients, and for other purposes (Rep. Berman – Foreign Affairs)
44) H.Res. 875 - Honoring and supporting the Hadley School for the Blind, as amended (Rep. Kirk – Education and Labor)

Postponed Suspension Votes (2 Bills):
1) H.R. 928 – Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (Rep. Cooper – Oversight and Government Reform)
2) H.R. 7081 - United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act (Rep. Berman - Foreign Affairs)

Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.

Motions to go to Conference should they become available.

Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

The Senate is expected to vote at approximately 10:00am on the motion to invoke cloture on the House Message to accompany HR2638, the Consolidated Appropriations bill.

^*The Majority Leader's schedule originally listed the Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2008 twice, for a total of 45 suspensions. I've eliminated it and reduced the number to 44, though there may indeed be another bill they intended to list, bringing the number back to 45.

So, nothing screams, "The negotiations you were waiting for may be falling apart!" quite like a Saturday session with 46 (give or take) suspensions on the calendar. The House will be biding its time while it waits for the bailout plan negotiations to conclude (and for the Senate to deal with the CR they sent them yesterday) with whatever non-controversial last minute business it can find. Those of you who might be major donors on House race fundraising lists might perhaps expect to get a phone call today, as Members try to find something to do on a Saturday while waiting for these votes to start. They'll probably debate these bills one after the other and then postpone the votes until late in the day. (Remember? Clause 8 of Rule XX?) So that'll leave Members drumming their fingers on desktops somewhere, waiting for votes. They may decide to head down to the DCCC offices and start dialing for dollars.

In the Senate, it's a normal business day. Meaning they're once again voting on a cloture motion, this time on the CR sent to them by the House yesterday. Depending on how much trouble the opposition wants to make, they might have to wait until tomorrow to vote on the CR itself. Which gives bailout negotiators at least that long to put their package together. And as you know, all tasks expand to fill the time allotted to complete them. We may not see a vote on the bailout until next week.