On September 29, 2010, the House amended and passed H.R. 2853, to require the purchase of domestically made flags of the U.S. for use by the Federal Government.
On September 29, 2010, the Senate passed H. Con. Res. 321, providing for conditional adjournment of the House of Representatives and Senate until November 15, 2010.
On September 28, 2010, 36 trade and other associations sent a letter to House leaders urging them to oppose H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. The letter called on the Administration to develop a robust bilateral and multilateral approach to achieve tangible results not only on China’s exchange rate polices, but also on other Chinese policies that are harming U.S. businesses, workers, and farmers.
On September 28, 2010, the following trade-related bills were introduced:
On September 28, 2010, the Senate rejected a motion to close further debate on the motion to proceed to consideration of S. 3816, the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act. S. 3816 would establish a payroll tax holiday for employers moving jobs to the U.S. from overseas and create certain disincentives to moving U.S. jobs overseas.
On September 28, 2010, the Senate agreed to a motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 3081, making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010.
On September 28, 2010, the House Homeland Security Committee issued a press release regarding the House passage of legislation reflecting agreement between the House and Senate to authorize the Coast Guard. The Committee Chairman urges the Senate to pass H.R. 3619 as soon as possible.
On September 29, 2010, the American Apparel and Footwear Association issued a statement following the House passage of H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform and Fair Trade Act. AAFA states that as the bill moves to the Senate for consideration, the U.S. apparel and footwear industry will continue to warn about the perils of H.R. 2378.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health has postponed "until a later date" its recently announced September 30, 2010 hearing on a discussion draft of drug safety legislation. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/22/10 news, 10092210, for BP summary announcing the availability of the discussion draft.)
On September 28, 2010, the Senate passed S. 3243, to require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to administer polygraph examinations to all applicants for law enforcement position with CBP, to require CBP to initiate all periodic background reinvestigations of certain law enforcement personnel, after agreeing to the committee amendment.