The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved fiscal year 2015 funding legislation on June 24 without amendment, a committee spokesman said. The text of the bill has not yet been released. The House Appropriations Committee advanced counterpart legislation on June 11 (see 14061218).
Correction: The House Appropriations Committee advanced on June 18 fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation, after the Energy and Water Development subcommittee approved the measure on June 10 (see 14061017). The full House has not yet considered the measure (see 14061909).
The House Financial Services Committee will examine Export-Import Bank reauthorization in a June 25 hearing, the committee announced. The committee has not yet released the names of witnesses. Lawmakers are continuing to debate the credit agency program’s merits as its expiration approaches at the end of the fiscal year (see 14061804).
The Senate adjourned consideration on June 19 of the omnibus fiscal year 2015 appropriations legislation for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS), and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD). The Senate did not vote on the bill. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., adjourned the markup because he was unable to broker compromise with Senate colleagues over planned amendments to the legislation, according to reports. Reid's office did not respond for comment.
The Senate Finance Committee will consider on June 25 the nominations of Nathan Sheets as Treasury Department undersecretary for international affairs and Romin Toloui as Treasury deputy undersecretary for international finance. Sheets is the former global head of international economics at Citigroup. Toloui is the former global co-chief of emerging markets portfolio management at the Pacific Investment Management Company.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The Senate Appropriations Committee postponed consideration of the fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Development appropriations legislation, previously scheduled for June 19, said a committee spokesman. The Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advanced the bill on June 17, and the House had passed counterpart legislation on June 10 (see 14061815). The bill would direct $5.13 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge waterways to support the movement of critical commodities, along with other mandates, the committee said after its subcommittee approval.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a June 25 hearing on the impact of trade enforcement on U.S. companies and workers, the committee announced. The committee has not yet named witnesses.
The Commerce Department should reconsider U.S. industry allegations that South Korean firms are dumping Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) into the U.S. market, said more than 150 House members in a recent letter, led by Steel Caucus leaders Tim Murphy, R-Pa., and Peter Visclosky, D-Ind. The agency ruled in February to not suspend liquidation or impose an antidumping duty cash deposit requirement on South Korean OCTG, after preliminarily finding that South Korean firms did not dump the products (see 14022425).
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development approved on June 17 fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding legislation that provides $34.2 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $148 million above the FY14 funding level, the Appropriations Committee said. The committee has not released the text of the legislation. The bill would direct $5.13 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge America’s waterways to support the movement of critical commodities, along with other mandates, said the committee. The House advanced counterpart legislation on June 10 (see 14061017). The actual appropriations for the agencies in question will likely be determined through a House and Senate conference.