Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (May 2 - 9, 2008)

by Conor Kenny — May 5, 2008 - 4:27pm
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Once again, housing legislation aimed at reforming the Federal Housing Administration and at helping homeowners threatened with foreclosure is at the top of the list for senators and representatives this week, as debate intensifies over differing proposals. In addition, Democrats are mulling how much domestic spending to include in a $108 billion Iraq/Afghanistan supplemental, while 10 days remain before a second extension of the 2002 Farm bill expires. Negotiations, which began last year, continue as the House and Senate work to reconcile subsidy-levels and income-brackets for farmers.

Rep. Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed legislation that would force the FHA to insure some $300 billion in home loans that are close to being foreclosed. Lenders would be asked to renegotiate the loan principle, while the FHA would insure a 30-year fixed rate the borrower could afford. According to Frank, the legislation could cost taxpayers between $3 and $6 billion, depending on how many of the new loans default.

To sweeten the deal for President George W. Bush, Frank proposed tougher oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the two government-sponsored enterprises that sell mortgage-backed securities) and new regulations on the FHA. In addition, Congress might grant local housing finance agencies the authority to issue tax-exempt bonds to help some homeowners refinance their mortgages.

For more on this week's legislation and upcoming committee schedules, click through.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are considering their options on an Iraq supplemental. With party members in both chambers eager to include a laundry list of domestic spending priorities and President Bush threatening a veto for any non-military items, striking a balance might prove difficult.

Up for possible inclusion in the war supplemental are:

  • Extended unemployment benefits The bill could as much as double the 13-week window of benefit
  • Renewable energy tax credits About $6 billion in renewable tax credits - previously stripped from last year's energy bill and this year's stimulus package - would not be paid for with tax increases elsewhere.
  • A new GI bill for veterans’ education A Bush-backed House proposal and one authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) offer varying degrees of support for different active-duty and reserve populations, and either bill could be tacked onto the war supplemental as an amendment.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va), the Appropriations Committee chairman, may throw a monkey wrench in the works for the Democratic leadership, with his plans to hold a mark-up of the supplemental in his committee. Reid and Pelosi had hoped to bring the legislation straight to the floor for debate, skipping the mark-up process.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has hinted that Republicans won't fight the bill's passage, and that his party's membership would instead support the threatened Bush veto.

And some late news on the 2007 Farm bill. Negotiations held throughout the weekend appear to be yielding some fruit, and Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin and House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson have hinted at floor votes by the end of the week. However, President Bush has also asked for another extension of the 2002 bill, this time for one year. If Congress fails to approve a final 2007 bill, look for a protracted fight over the next extension.

Today, the House Ways and Means Committee will be examining "Employment Eligibility Verification Systems." Committee members will look a proposed enforcement mechanism requiring employers to verify the citizenship of new employees.

Following special elections in Louisiana this weekend, Congress will welcome two new members to the House of Representatives:

Also during the weekend, a number of new superdelegate announcements were made: Kalyn Free (Okla.), Parris Glendening (Md.), Inez Tenenbaum (S.C.), Brian Colón (N.M.), Jaime Paulino (Guam), Jaime Gonzalez Jr. (Texas), and Herman Farrell (N.Y.) endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL); Robert Martinez (Texas) and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (Md.) endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Finally, here are this week’s committee schedules:

Hearings Schedules:
May 5, 2008

House

May 6, 2008

Joint meetings

  • Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
    To hold hearings to examine oil and food prices relating to the link between energy and environmental security, focusing on the role that environmental technologies can play in increasing energy security while combating climate change by reducing demand on hydrocarbon resources, 3 p.m., B318, Rayburn Building.

Senate

  • House

    May 7, 2008

    Senate

  • House

    May 8, 2008

    Senate

    • Senate Committee on Appropriations, Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
      To hold hearings to examine the Department of Energy's decision to restructure the FutureGen program and obtain information about the elements of the original and revised approaches to advance carbon capture and storage technologies. 9:30 a.m. [SD-192]
    • Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
      To hold hearings to examine improving the capacity of United States climate modeling for decision-makers and end-users. 2:30 p.m. [SR-253]
    • Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
      To hold hearings to examine goods movement on our nation's highways. 10:00 a.m. [SD-406]
    • Senate Finance Committee
      To hold hearings to examine social security field offices, focusing on the resources and workforce needed to deliver quality service to the public. 10 a.m. [SD-215]
    • Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
      To hold hearings to examine cancer relating to challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. 10:00 a.m. [SD-106]
    • Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
      To to hold hearings to examine the nominations of Nanci E. Langley, of Virginia, to be a Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission, and Andrew Saul, of New York, Alejandro Modesto Sanchez, of Florida, and Gordon James Whiting, of New York, all to be Members of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. Time to be announced [S-216, Capitol]
    • Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
      To hold hearings to examine recruiting and hiring the next generation of federal employees. 10:00 a.m. [SD-342]
    • Senate Committee on the Judiciary
      Business meeting to consider S. 2840, to establish a liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite naturalization applications filed by members of the Armed Forces and to establish a deadline for processing such applications, S. 2913, to provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works, S. 2511, to amend the grant program for law enforcement armor vests to provide for a waiver of or reduction in the matching funds requirement in the case of fiscal hardship, H.R. 4056, to establish an awards mechanism to honor Federal law enforcement officers injured in the line of duty, S. 2774, to provide for the appointment of additional Federal circuit and district judges, S. 1738, to establish a Special Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, to improve the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to increase resources for regional computer forensic labs, and to make other improvements to increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute predators, S. 2756, to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a permanent background check system, S. 1515, to establish a domestic violence volunteer attorney network to represent domestic violence victims, S. 2504, to amend title 36, United States Code, to grant a Federal charter to the Military Officers Association of America, and S. Res. 537, commemorating and acknowledging the dedication and sacrifice made by the men and women who have lost their lives while serving as law enforcement officers. 10:00 a.m. [SD-226]
    • Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
      To hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters. 2:30 p.m. [SH-219. D542]

  • House