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News and updates

This Week in Congress, June 8-12

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It’s a big week for CJS and Defense Appropriations in the Senate. Both will be marked up in subcommittee and by the full Senate Appropriations Committee this week. Here’s the full list of committee’s we’re paying attention to this week.

TUESDAY, JUNE 9

Senate Appropriations
FISCAL 2016 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
10:30 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Markup

Senate Energy & Natural Resources
ENERGY MEASURES
9:30 a.m., 366 Dirksen Bldg.
Full Committee Hearing

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10

Senate Appropriations
FISCAL 2016 APPROPRIATIONS: COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE
10:30 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Markup

House Appropriations
FISCAL 2016 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR-ENVIRONMENT
10:15 a.m., B-308 Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Markup

THURSDAY, JUNE 11

Senate Appropriations
FISCAL 2016 APPROPRIATIONS: COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE
10:30 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.
Full Committee Markup

FISCAL 2016 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
10:30 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.
Full Committee Markup

Defense Money Starts Moving

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The Senate Defense Approps Subcommittee will mark up its spending bill tomorrow, and the full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take it up the measure on Thursday.

Simultaneously, the Senate will start the week with debate on dozens of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which will be on the floor all week — the Senate is expected to wrap up its work on cybersecurity legislation.  The effort, might all be for naught if Senate Democrats decide to filibuster the bill and have a similar fight to what happened on the House side, when the House considered their version of the NDAA.

On the House side, the Defense Appropriations bill will be on the floor beginning Wednesday. The House passed its version of the authorization bill in mid-May.

 

Senate Judiciary Approves PATENT Act, House Begins to Move on Innovation Act

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Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the PATENT Act by a vote of 16 to 4, with only Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), David Vitter (R-LA), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) voting against it.

During consideration of the bill, the Committee approved an amendment offered by John Cornyn (R-TX) that alters the definition of micro-entity status in a way that is potentially helpful to universities, technology transfer organizations, and research foundations. The panel also approved the manager’s amendment, which among other changes, clarifies that the burden is on the prevailing party to demonstrate that it is entitled to fee shifting, a provision which universities support.

The bill now waits for time by the Full Senate.

The House is now seeing motion on HR 9, the Innovation Act. The measure has been somewhat difficult to move due to substantial opposition by stakeholders, including higher education, which was not voiced last Congress when the measure passed overwhelmingly. The House is expected to potentially mark up the bill, with changes, late next week.

What We’re Reading This Week, June 1-5

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Here’s a selection of article the UW Federal Relations team is reading this week.


 

Not So Easy – Six months in to his tenure as Majority Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell has increasingly had challenges maintaining the Senate agenda with three Senators running for President. Governing is hard. Read more at The Hill.

Running Point – Washington Congressman Dave Reichert is the point person for policing and police issues within the House Republican caucus. With increasing attention on police and police tactics, Reichert is becoming a leading voice on how Congress can best respond to the issues in community policing. Read more a Roll Call. 

America All the Way – Chinese students are increasingly picking the US as their choice destination for higher education. There are more than a quarter of a million students from China in colleges in the United States – a third of all international students in the country – and almost a fivefold increase since 2000. University of Illinois Urbana-Champlain is the example. Read more at the BBC. 

Just Like Cable – The college tuition bill to your Comcast bill and the many bundled services and shockingly high charges within there. The bulk of these prices are being blamed on financial shortfalls universities see when students use transfer credits. Read more at the Washington Post. A similar story on colleges down playing the true cost of attending college is in USA Today.

Mind the Gap – While most are concerned about the enrollment gap for lower-income students, equal attention is not typically paid to the graduation gap, which these students also face. The graduation gap, and the hurdles to completing your college education, are actually wider than enrolling. The New York Times examines the widening gulf.

FIFA officials finally admitted to taking bribes!!!!