It will be a relatively quiet week on Capitol Hill. After last week’s shortened session to allow Republicans to have their annual conference, House members will be working back in their districts, leaving only the Senate in session this week. Its members return on Tuesday, following the Monday observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday commemoration, with a vote expected at 5:30 p.m. on a judicial nomination.
Before adjourning for the congressional GOP retreat in Baltimore last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to H.R. 4038, American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015 (American SAFE Act of 2015). This cloture vote is expected to occur on Wednesday afternoon. The controversial refugee screening legislation, largely a response to the deadly terror attacks in Paris last November and the subsequent San Bernardino murders, would require the Secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence to approve the admission of every individual refugee from Iraq and Syria, affirming he or she is not a threat. Under this legislation, no Syrian or Iraqi refugee would be allowed entrance to the United States until Congress receives the certification. The legislation sets a threshold that almost no refugee could satisfy, and the FBI Director has effectively testified to this impossibility.
H.R. 4038 passed the House of Representatives last year by a vote of 289-137, with 47 Democrats joining the majority vote. In the face of the arguments of liberal opponents of the bill that this vetting process would be unmanageable, a veto-proof majority viewed the potential threat to the safety and security of Americans as sufficient to justify the high standards of the bill. Events surrounding refugees’ behavior in Germany and elsewhere since House passage of the bill, particularly the wave of sexual attacks during New Year’s celebrations, give proponents of the legislation even more ammunition. President Obama has pledged to veto the legislation should it be passed by the Senate. Given the bill’s House passage by a veto-proof majority, the Senate vote becomes crucial. The fate of the bill in the Senate is unclear at this point. After House passage of the bill in 2015, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) pledged that Democrats would block the legislation from consideration in the Senate, but pressure on Democratic senators, especially those up for reelection, to allow the bill to be debated will be significant. Should the cloture motion achieve the necessary 60 votes on Wednesday, the Senate is expected to spend the remainder of the week debating H.R. 4038.
The Administration’s controversial executive action on gun control will also be a focus in the Senate this week. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be among the witnesses testifying at a high-profile Wednesday hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. The subject of the hearing will be the President’s executive actions on gun control that would expand background checks on gun sales conducted online and at gun shows. The President also proposed hiring more FBI personnel to process the background checks and more ATF agents to carry out inspections of the additional licensed firearms dealers who would be captured under the new interpretation of existing regulations. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee which has jurisdiction over Justice Department funding, has expressed concerns that “the new rules that the president has put forward will unnecessarily restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, while having no direct impact on reducing gun violence.” Expect a contentious hearing at which the deep national divide on firearms policy will be in evidence.
Also of note on the hearing schedule is a Wednesday meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on “The Middle East After the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the international agreement with Iran regarding the country’s nuclear program. Iran was deemed in compliance and sanctions lifted at the end of last week, a moment marked by Iran’s release of several U.S. citizens it had been holding. Controversy over the Iran nuclear deal and Iran’s role in the region and the world remains high, presaging another contentious hearing. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee also meets Wednesday for a hearing on “Understanding ISIS,” while the Senate Armed Services Committee will also discuss U.S. Strategy in the Middle East on Wednesday. Several Senate committees are meeting this week to mark up legislation, including the Judiciary Committee, which may mark up House-passed judicial access legislation of importance to tech companies and European governments, and trade secrets legislation, of widespread interest to U.S. businesses fending off efforts, often driven by foreign competitors, to steal their trade secrets. The details of these and other committee hearings and meetings are included in the schedule below:
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Senate Committees
Near-Term Outlook for the Energy/Commodity Markets
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 366 Dirksen Bldg.
Intelligence Briefing
Senate Intelligence
Full Committee Closed Briefing
2:30 p.m., 219 Hart Bldg.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
House Committees
Southern California Veteran Homelessness
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee Field Hearing
2:30 p.m., Riverside City College, 4800 Magnolia Ave Riverside, CA 92506
Senate Committees
Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m., 328 Russell Bldg.
Gun Control Executive Actions
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
U.S. Strategy and Policy in the Middle East
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 216 Hart Building
Nomination for Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 253 Russell Bldg.
Markup of 6 Bills, 32 GSA Resolutions
Senate Environment and Public Works
Full Committee Markup
9:30 a.m., 406 Dirksen Bldg.
The Middle East After the Iran Nuclear Deal
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.
Improving the Federal Response to Challenges in Mental Health Care in America
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.
Inside the Mind of ISIS: Understanding Its Goals and Ideology to Better Protect the Homeland
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
The Adequacy of Criminal Intent Standards in Federal Prosecutions
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
Oversight of Task Force for Business and Stability Operations Projects in Afghanistan
Senate Armed Services – Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 232-A Russell Bldg.
Why is the Biometric Exit Tracking System Still Not in Place?
Senate Judiciary – Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Senate Committees
Fanning Nomination (Secretary of the Army)
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., G-50 Dirksen Bldg.
Automotive Industry Innovative Technologies
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 366 Dirksen Bldg.
Health Care Co-Ops: A Review of the Financial and Oversight Controls
Senate Finance
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.
U.S. Postal Service Outlook
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
Pending Business
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
VA’s Transformation Strategy: Examining the Plan to Modernize VA
Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m. 418 Russell Bldg.
Friday, January 22, 2016
House Committees
St. George Draft Resource Management Plan
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee Field Hearing
12 p.m., Entrada Room B/C at the Dixie Convention Center 1835 South Convention Center Drive, St. George, Utah