Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (April. 12 - 18, 2008)

by Conor Kenny — April 14, 2008 - 11:41am
  • Topics: This Week In Congress
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    By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

    As Americans rush to finish their tax returns on Tuesday, Congress is also hustling to finish the Farm Bill and a housing crisis package while gearing up for fights over Iraq War funding.

    The 2002 Farm bill is set to expire on April 18th, and members of both chambers are scrambling to work out an extension. Substantial debate remains, however, over the bill's overall price tag: the $10 billion increase initially floated has been countered by House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who, with the support of House Republicans, wants to limit the increase to $5.5 billion.

    Peterson’s proposal would also strip out a disaster relief program championed by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Peterson cited "pay as you go" rules as his reason for opposing the program. On the flip side, Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) was upset that his proposed food stamps increase, coupled with tax breaks for farmers, was left out of the Senate version.

    (More on this weeks' legislation and a complete list of this week's committee hearings after the jump.)

    A few cracks are already starting to appear in the Senate's compromise housing stimulus bill as the House begins to draft its own version. The Senate's bill - which included tax breaks and credits for existing and future homeowners, assistance for local governments, and homebuilders and homeowners - also includes tax breaks for companies and individuals who invest in green energy.

    However, the Senate’s renewable energy breaks would cost $6 billion over the next 10 years, and are not offset by reductions elsewhere in the budget. That will be a problem for House Democrats, who are striving to abide by pay-go rules.

    Three other housing-related bills will be highlighted in Congress this week:
    * In the Senate, Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) wants to allow the Federal Housing Authority to refinance up to $400 billion for borrowers who will see their mortgage payments jump after interest rates are reset. In the House, three bills will be introduced:
    * Rep. Mike Castle’s (R-Del.) legislation could make it easier for loan servicers to let borrowers refinance to lower-cost loans, by preventing those invested in loan-backed securities from suing the servicer.
    * Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) bill goes a step further, preventing lenders from foreclosing on mortgages only after it determines the borrower can’t refinance.

    Following last week’s circus of testimony on the Iraq War, discussion will soon turn to the next round of supplemental funding. President George W. Bush has told Congress to limit spending in the supplemental to war-related costs, and has also said legislators should avoid placing conditions on the funding or calling for troop withdrawals.

    Many members are balking at the President’s demands, however, and plan to include provisions to extend unemployment benefits to the newly jobless.

    April 14, 2008

    Senate

      No committee meetings scheduled

    House

    April 15, 2008

    Senate

    • Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
      To hold hearings to examine U.S. credit markets, focusing on the impact on the cost and availability of student loans. 10:00 a.m. [SD-538]
    • Senate Finance Committee
      To hold hearings to examine tax reform, focusing on fundamentals for advancement. 10 a.m. [SD-215]
    • Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
      To hold hearings to examine ending abuses and improving working conditions for tomato workers. 10:00 a.m. [SD-430]
    • Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
      To hold hearings to examine nuclear terrorism, focusing on confronting the challenges of the day after.10:00 a.m. [SD-342]
    • Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
      To hold hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of the Interior.10:00 a.m.[SD-124]
    • Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
      To hold hearings to examine protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (the "Geneva Protocol III"), adopted at Geneva on December 8, 2005, and signed by the United States on that date; the Amendment to Article 1 of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (the "CCW Amendment"); and the CCW Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (the "CCW Protocol V") (Treaty Doc.109-10), the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (the Convention) and, for accession, The Hague Protocol, concluded on May 14, 1954, and entered into force on August 7, 1956 with accompanying report from the Department of State (Treaty Doc.106-01), and protocols to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects: the amended Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II or the Amended Mines Protocol); the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III or the Incendiary Weapons Protocol); and the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV) (Treaty Doc.105-01. 2:30 p.m.[SD-419]
    • Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee
      To hold hearings to examine S.570 and H.R. 1011, bills to designate additional National Forest System lands in the State of Virginia as wilderness or a wilderness study area, to designate the Kimberling Creek Potential Wilderness Area for eventual incorporation in the Kimberling Creek Wilderness, to establish the Seng Mountain and Bear Creek Scenic Areas, to provide for the development of trail plans for the wilderness areas and scenic areas, S.758 and H.R. 1311, bills to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Alta-Hualapai Site to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, for the development of a cancer treatment facility, S.1680, to provide for the inclusion of certain non-Federal land in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge in the State of Alaska, S.2109, to designate certain Federal lands in Riverside County, California, as wilderness, to designate certain river segments in Riverside County as a wild, scenic, or recreational river, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, S.2124, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana, to Jefferson County, Montana, for use as a cemetery, and S.2581, to designate as wilderness additional National Forest System lands in the Monongahela National Forest in the State of West Virginia. 2:30 p.m. [SD-366]
    • Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
      To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters. 2:30 p.m. [SH-219]
    • Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
      To hold hearings to examine pharmaceuticals in the nation's water, focusing on assessing potential risks and actions to address this issue. 3:00 p.m. [SD-406]
    • Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
      To continue hearings to examine the 2010 Decennial Census, focusing on automation and accuracy, and efficiency. 3:15 p.m. [SD-342]

    House

    April 16, 2008

    Senate

    House

    April 17, 2008

    Senate

    House