TheWeekInCongress (April 23-27, 2007)

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It was another active week on Capitol Hill for both the House and Senate. In addition to major legislation on the Iraq War, measures regarding small businesses, animal rights, and genetics were also considered. For a thorough look at the bills debated and considered since Monday, we again turn to Robert McElroy’s TheWeekInCongress. Follow the headlines below to the Congresspedia articles covering the respective issues, which in turn link to and heavily rely on McElroy's analyses.

• Both the House and Senate passed a $124 billion supplemental spending bill which provides $96 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also mandates that U.S. combat troops begin leaving Iraq in 2007.
• The House passed the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, which would make it illegal for health insurers to deny coverage or charge a higher rate or premium to an otherwise healthy individual found to have a potential genetic condition or predisposition towards a disease or disorder.
• The House passed a bill reversing a 2005 law that allowed for the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros.
• The House passed a bill easing the process whereby small businesses are able to attain loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA).
• The House passed a bill which would amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize individual states to restrict receipt of foreign municipal solid waste (which currently comes predominately from Canada).