House turns to Defense authorization, approps bills

The House this week will turn to the defense authorization bill and appropriations measures but is unlikely to consider a measure Democratic leaders had for months wanted to vote on before the Independence Day recess: a bill to curb climate change.

Amid intense negotiations among key committee chairmen and players, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in his Friday colloquy that he did not expect climate change legislation to be on the floor this week. Hoyer said the bill could come up if a deal was reached, but "my present expectation" is that it would not be brought up until the week after the Fourth of July recess.

Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., hosted Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.,; White House climate czar Carol Browner; Phil Schiliro, the White House's head of legislative affairs and a former Waxman chief of staff; and a variety of farm groups on Friday to try to get a deal.

After the roughly two-hour meeting, Waxman said no deal was struck and that it was "less and less likely" a bill will be up this week. The main issue, he said, has been "a lot of distrust" the farm community has toward EPA.

Peterson said before the meeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told him she is tired of people spouting deadlines on the issue. "The bill will come to the floor when it's ready," Peterson said, quoting a line Pelosi has often used. Pelosi had initially set a deadline of last Friday for committees of jurisdiction to mark up the bill to clear it for floor action.

Waxman in particular has stressed the desire to get the bill done so health care can be focused on in July.

The House, though, will consider the $680.4 billion fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill that sets Pentagon policy and prescribes funding levels. The bill is expected to pass by a wide margin, with the opposition coming mostly from anti-war Democrats who traditionally vote against the measure. It authorizes $130 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republicans will try to shine a spotlight on missile defense funding cuts, as well as any efforts to transfer prisoners from the military's detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to U.S. soil.

But Democrats will likely block many of those amendments from floor consideration, leaving Republicans with limited opportunities to take issue with language in the bill.

During the committee's markup last week, Democrats turned back a slew of GOP amendments that would have restored funding for missile defense programs.

The bill does include an amendment that prohibits the administration from transferring detainees from Guantanamo to the United States until President Obama has a plan mitigating risks they might pose, but Republicans pushed for stronger language.

On another hot-button issue, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said Friday he wants to introduce an amendment that would ban the release of detainee abuse photos. Conaway said he discussed the amendment with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., on Thursday but added that he wants it to mirror language approved as a stand-alone measure in the Senate last week.

Conaway offered the amendment during the markup of the bill last week but withdrew it because the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction over the issue.

The language was dropped from the conference report for the wartime supplemental spending bill amid concerns that it could complicate the House's passage of the measure, which had already drawn Republican opposition because of its funding for the International Monetary Fund.

Many members of the House Progressive Caucus oppose the language, which they believe is too broad and would weaken government transparency law. Among the language's opponents is House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., who said Friday she hopes to block it from going to the floor.

Meanwhile, Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., plans to offer an amendment requiring the Defense secretary to submit to Congress by the end of the year an exit strategy for Afghanistan. McGovern introduced a stand-alone bill in May and has attracted 87 co-sponsors, including a handful of Republicans.

It is "important we have at least some debate on Afghanistan," McGovern said, adding that he wants to prevent the conflict from becoming a "war that has no end."

Across the Capitol, the Senate Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of the defense authorization measure this week, in the hopes of sending it to the floor before the August recess. The panel plans to complete its consideration of the bill by Thursday.

Regarding appropriations measures, the House this week will take up the $46.6 billion fiscal 2010 Homeland Security and $32.3 billion Interior-Environment spending bills as House Democratic leaders continue to push to finish all 12 annual appropriations bills before the August recess.

In order to help meet the self-imposed goal, Democratic leaders Friday said they would seek to limit the number of amendments on spending bills after a standoff between Republicans and Democrats over how many amendments to the $64.4 billion fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill -- the first fiscal 2010 spending measure to reach the floor this year -- would be considered.

Partisan wrangling culminated in the House spending on Thursday on a record 53 roll-call votes in connection with the C-J-S bill. The House ultimately passed the measure Thursday, 259-197, but the daylong voting session forced the delay and cancellation of House committee hearings and markups.

These "two appropriations bills are two of the 12 appropriations bills that it is my intention to see us send to the Senate by the end of next month," Hoyer said on the floor Friday. "The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and, therefore, in order for us to get these bills completed and do them individually, rather than bundled in an omnibus, it is necessary for us to move them in a timely fashion."

He added that since no agreement has been reached over limiting amendments and time for debate, "The rules [for future appropriations bills] therefore will try to accommodate both the members and the timeframe and the time constraints that we confront."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the assistant to the speaker, said, "Obviously, we can't continue doing business that way because it [would] shut down the entire House. Let's just put it this way: We are not going to see another day like Thursday."

The Homeland Security measure, which is $2.7 billion above last year's level and about $200 million below Obama's request, includes $10 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection; $9.9 billion for the Coast Guard; $7.7 billion for the Transportation Security Administration; $5.4 billion in immigration and customs enforcement; $3.55 billion in first responder grants; and $5.4 billion in Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Interior-Environment bill, funded at the same amount requested by Obama and $4.7 billion above the fiscal 2009 level, includes $10.4 billion for the EPA; $6.8 billion to improve Indian health care, tribal law enforcement and education; $3.66 billion for wildfire prevention, and $2.7 billion for national parks.

Action on the two spending bills comes after the House Friday approved the $3.7 billion fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch appropriations bill.

Also this week, the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up Tuesday the $48.8 billion fiscal 2010 State-Foreign Ops appropriations bill and the $77.9 billion fiscal 2010 VA-Military Construction appropriations bill.

On Thursday, the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its bill, and the Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its spending measure.

Meanwhile, the full Senate is expected to take up the $42.9 billion fiscal 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

One of the main differences between the House and Senate Homeland Security bills is that Senate appropriators would give the department funding to begin procurement of a fifth national security cutter under the Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization program, as well as more money to buy medium-response boats to replace aging utility boats.

The Senate bill would also provide $350 million for port security grants and $356 million for transit security grants, compared to $250 million and $262 million, respectively, in the House bill.

The Senate bill also includes about $155 million in lawmaker earmarks, compared to about $110 million in the House bill.

The Senate could also take up the $3.1 billion fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch spending bill, which was cleared by the full Appropriations Committee last week, along with the Homeland Security measure.

The Senate meets Monday at 2 p.m. for morning business and afterward resumes consideration of the travel promotion bill.

The House is not in session Monday.