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Congressional legislation, November 14, 2016 – November 18, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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During their first week back in the capital after the elections, the House passed a bill to renew sanctions against Iran and a bill to prevent financial transactions for the export of aircraft to Iran. If the bill to prevent the sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran passes the Senate, Iran would likely view it as a violation of the nuclear deal. The House also passed legislation to make it easier for Congress to prevent President Barack Obama, and future presidents, from implementing last-minute regulations before he leaves office. A full recap of this week’s legislation can be viewed below.
Monday, November 14
House
- The House passed HR 985—the Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act of 2015—by a vote of 355-38. The bill "directs the Department of Commerce to issue orders applicable to manufacturers of concrete masonry products," among other things.
- The House passed HR 2669—the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2016—by a vote of 382-5. The bill "[a]mends the Communications Act of 1934 to expand the prohibition on the provision of inaccurate caller identification information (which makes it unlawful to cause a caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value) to persons outside the United States if the recipient is within the United States," among other things.
Tuesday, November 15
Senate
- The Senate unanimously passed HR 4511—the Gold Star Families Voices Act. The bill "amends the Veterans' Oral History Project Act to require the veterans oral history program to include the collection of video and audio recordings of biographical histories by immediate family members of members of the Armed Forces who became missing in action or who died as a result of their wartime service."
House
- Key vote: The House passed HR 6297—the Iran Sanctions Extension Act—by a vote of 355-38. The legislation proposed continuing to impose defense, banking, and energy sanctions on Iran for a 10-year period. The existing sanctions were set to expire at the end of the year.
- The House passed HR 5732—Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016—by voice vote. The legislation proposed allowing the president to impose sanctions on any person or entity doing business with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government.
- Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the bill’s lead sponsor, said, "Something needs to jolt this crisis out of its bloody status quo. This bill would give the Administration more tools to do so. It would impose new sanctions on any parties that continue to do business with the Assad regime. We want to go after the things driving the war machine: money, airplanes, spare parts, oil, the military supply chain. And yes, we want to go after Assad’s partners in violence. Under this legislation, if you’re acting as a lifeline to the Assad regime, you risk getting caught up in the net of our sanctions."
- The House passed H Res 780—Urging respect for the constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the democratic transition of power in 2016—by a vote of 416-3. The legislation proposed imposing "sanctions on government officials of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who impede progress toward a democratic transition through credible elections that respect the will of the Congolese," among other things.
Wednesday, November 16
House
- The House was scheduled to vote on a plan to bring back legislative earmarks, but House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) persuaded Republicans to delay the vote. Reps. John Culberson (R-Texas), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) proposed an amendment that would have created a new process to allow “lawmakers to direct spending to projects in their districts under certain circumstances.” Ryan argued that after holding a “drain the swamp” election it would be wrong to reinstitute earmarks so quickly. Rooney argued that the earmarks would allow lawmakers to direct funds to projects in their districts that directly impact their constituents. He said, “What we’re trying to do is actually a constitutional authority given to us by the Founding Fathers, not the executive branch. Do they want to waive our authority of the power of the purse to the executive branch and the answer to that, most people would say, is no.”
Thursday, November 17
Senate
- The Senate failed to move forward with S 3110—the American Energy and Conservation Act of 2016—by a vote of 51-47. According to The Hill, the legislation "would have given states 37.5 percent of the revenue that the federal government collects from oil and gas production and wind power in the outer continental shelf off their shores. It would have expanded the limited revenue-sharing that is in place for some areas of the Gulf of Mexico."
House
- Key vote:The House passed HR 5711—To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing certain transactions by a U.S. financial institution in connection with the export or re-export of a commercial passenger aircraft to the Islamic Republic of Iran—by a vote of 243-174. The legislation proposed prohibiting financial transactions for the export of aircraft to Iran. Because of the sanctions that were lifted in the nuclear deal with Iran, Boeing and Airbus were able to strike deals to export aircraft to the country.
- Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), the legislation’s main sponsor, said, “This bill would keep Americans' deposits away from a country that the president’s own State Department calls the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, and which the Treasury Department has designated a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. How many more red flags need to go up?”
- Key vote:The House passed HR 5982—the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016—by a vote of 240-179. The bill proposed amending the Congressional Review Act to allow Congress to disapprove—by a single vote—regulations that federal agencies submit for congressional review within the last 60 legislative days of a session of Congress during the final year of a president's term.
- Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the bill’s sponsor, said, “This bipartisan bill is about reviving the separation of powers to ensure our laws are written by the Representatives we actually vote for – not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats who are on their way out the door. Presidents of both parties have made habit of enacting scores of last-minute regulations, with little oversight, to sneak in as much of their agenda as possible before the clock runs out on their time in office. The bill helps ensure this President, and any future president, will be held in check and that their policies have the proper level of scrutiny by both Congress and the American people.”
Friday, November 18
- No legislative votes were held.
