The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 will provide significant economic benefit to the country, said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten in an Oct. 23 letter to Congress (here). The Chamber urges House lawmakers to pass the legislation, H.R. 3080 (here), that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct new projects designed to improve the nation’s navigation system, strengthen flood-risk management and restore the environment. The House is slated to debate the bill on Oct. 23, possibly paving the way for a vote on the same day. The Senate passed its version of the bill in May (see 13102233).
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2013, scheduled for a vote this week in the House, would cost roughly $3.5 billion from 2014-2018, the Congressional Budget Office said on Oct. 21. H.R. 3080 is the House version of WRRDA legislation that passed the Senate in May (see 13101809). The government would also spend $4.7 billion from 2019-2023 for authorized projects tied to the prospective law. There are no pay-as-you-go considerations because the bill does not generate revenue or direct spending, said CBO.
New permitting regulations put into law in California on Sept. 30, as part of the California Environmental Quality Act (here), could further curtail the states’ oil and natural gas production, potentially forcing an increased reliance on gas imports, said a group of U.S. House members from California in an Oct. 17 letter to Governor Edmund (Jerry) Brown, D-Calif. Oil and natural gas production in the state create nearly a million jobs and more than $60 billion in labor income, said the lawmakers, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute. “California today relies on 50 percent of its oil from foreign sources,” read the letter. “This is troubling because it results in billions of dollars being sent overseas that could otherwise be invested in our state's economy to create jobs and build energy infrastructure.” House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., led the letter submission.
New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:
Following the end of federal government shutdown, Congress could take an easy and bipartisan step toward strengthening manufacturing by passing a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, said Jessica Lemos, National Association of Manufacturers' director, International Trade Policy, in a blog post. The House and Senate should move quickly to approve U.S. Job Creation and Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2013, a House MTB that was introduced over the summer (see 13071816), she said. Numerous duty suspensions expired Dec. 31 after Congress failed to pass an MTB last year.
The House is set to vote on the H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), on Oct. 23 or Oct. 24, a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee official said. The House Rules Committee, chaired by Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, requested the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee file a report on the legislation for consideration on Oct. 21. The bill passed unanimously by voice vote out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and bipartisan passage is likely, according to the committee official.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty will infringe on the U.S. ability to possess weaponry and sell arms to key allies, said two identical House (here) and Senate (here) letters submitted to President Barack Obama on Oct. 15. The letter was signed by 50 senators and 181 House members. The parameters of the treaty remain unclear, said the letter. “The treaty allows amendments by a three-quarters majority vote. As the treaty is amended, it will become a source of political and legal pressure on the U.S. to comply with amendments it was unwilling to accept,” said the lawmakers. “This would circumvent the power and duty of the Senate to provide its advice and consent on treaty commitments before they are assumed by the United States.” There are currently 113 signatories to the treaty, but only seven nations have completed ratification, the UN says (here). The Senate needs a two-thirds majority to ratify the treaty. Lawmakers in the House and Senate also expressed opposition to the treaty in the months and days leading up to its signing (see 13092610).
The Obama Administration should ensure Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks foster a business climate where foreign automakers, primarily the Japanese, continue to invest in U.S. auto manufacturing, said a bipartisan group of 78 House lawmakers in an Oct. 15 letter to the president. That foreign investment has honed the skills of the U.S. workforce and produced thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs, said the lawmakers.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include: