THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - July 26, 2013

In this issue:

• House passes troop pay increase

   

• Supporting the Lifeline program

   

• Looking for ways to defuse the Middle East

   

• $30,679 awarded for State Traffic Safety Information and System Improvements Grants 

   

• OPPORTUNITIES: Federal grants, jobs, contracts for and in the Marianas

   

• HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

House passes troop pay increase.

The 2014 Defense appropriation bill, which passed the House this week, includes a 1.8 percent increase in active duty pay, more funding to address sexual assaults in the military, investments in suicide prevention, and other spending essential for the health and quality of life of our men and women in uniform and their families. In all, H.R. 2397 provides $512.5 billion in non-war funding and $85.8 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations – paying for the war in Afghanistan. This represents a decrease of $5.1 billion below the fiscal 2013 enacted level and $3.4 billion below the President’s request for fiscal 2014. Total funding, however, would be $28.1 billion above the current level resulting from sequestration. This increase will have to be made up by cuts elsewhere. While I do support the decision to help our troops and their families with the resources they need, I am concerned that funding for education, infrastructure, and other important programs at home will have to be slashed to pay for the military spending.

Supporting the Lifeline program.

Low-income families in the Northern Mariana Islands received $210,000 in Lifeline discounts on their telephone service last year. That’s why I joined 22 of my colleagues in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressing concern about Senate legislation that would end the Lifeline discounts for wireless phones. Fraud, waste, and abuse are often cited as reasons to cut the Lifeline program, but the Federal Communications Commission is already addressing these concerns. The FCC has established a national database to insure enrollees truly qualify for Lifeline, and codified the “one-per-household” rule, which ensures there is only one discount for each eligible household. Our letter to Senator Reid recommends additional time to allow the reforms, which should save the government $2 billion by the end of 2014, to be fully implemented before Congress makes any changes that could reduce access to phone service for disadvantaged families who depend on the Lifeline program. 

Looking for ways to defuse the Middle East.

Though America must have a strong national defense, armed conflict has to be our last resort, especially when nuclear weapons could be involved. That is why 131 Members of Congress, including myself, are urging President Obama to engage diplomatically with the new President of Iran to seek an agreement from him not to acquire nuclear weapons. Dr. Hassan Rouhani was elected on June 14, replacing the confrontationally anti-American leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “We believe it would be a mistake not to test whether Dr. Rouhani’s election represents a real opportunity for progress toward a verifiable, enforceable agreement ... In order to test this proposition, it will be prudent for the United States to utilize all diplomatic tools to reinvigorate ongoing nuclear talks," our bipartisan letter to President Obama says. Dr. Rouhani was previously Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator; and he has publicly expressed the view that obtaining a nuclear weapon would run counter to Iran’s strategic interests. That is a point of view we want to encourage the new President to maintain.

$30,679 awarded for State Traffic Safety Information and System Improvements Grants.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced the award of $30,679 to the Commonwealth Department of Public Safety. The grant will support State Traffic Safety Information System Improvements to link data systems to observe and analyze local and national trends in crash occurrences, rates, outcomes, and circumstances. Congratulations to the Department of Public Safety.

OPPORTUNITIES: Federal contracts, grants, and jobs for and in the Marianas

Grants:

• Work Zone Safety Grants – The Federal Highway Administration is accepting applications for assistance to result in the award of up to ten Work Zone Safety Grant agreements that would support the development of guidelines and the provision of training to enhance highway work zone safety. Closing date is August 19, 2013. For more information, go to

  Grants.gov.

   

• Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program – This program invests in the nation’s information infrastructure by funding projects designed to address the education and training needs of the professionals who help build, maintain, and provide public access to the world’s wide-ranging information systems and sources. The program will support projects to develop faculty and library leaders, recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and archivists, conduct research, build institutional capacity in graduate schools of library and information science, and assist in the professional development of librarians and archivists. Closing date is October 16, 2013. For more information, go to http://www.imls.gov/applicants/detail.aspx?GrantId=9.

   

• Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants – SAFER Grants were created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained front line firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response, and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association. Closing date is August 30, 2013. For more information, got to http://www.fema.gov/staffing-adequate-fire-emergency-response-grants.

   

• Boating Infrastructure Grant – The purpose of the Boating Infrastructure Grants Program is to provide funding for the development and maintenance of boating infrastructure facilities for transient, nontrailerable recreational vessels at least 26 feet long operated primarily for pleasure; or leased, rented, or chartered to another for the recreational user’s pleasure. Closing date is October 25, 2013. For more information, go to Grants.gov.

Jobs:

• Physician – The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration is accepting applications for a Physician for the Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Guam. The incumbent serves as a Primary Care Physician providing comprehensive outpatient care for a panel of adult patients. Closing date is August 9, 2013. For more information, go to

  https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/347933700.

   

• Occupational Health Nurse – The Department of the Navy, Naval Medical Command is accepting applications for an Occupational Health Nurse in Guam. Duties include performing patient care activities, supervising physical examination procedures, and providing individual health care education and counseling. Closing date is August 5, 2013. For more information, go to https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/348225300.

   

• Public Affairs Specialist – The Department of the Navy, Navy Installations is accepting applications for a Public Affairs Specialist in Guam. The selectee will serve as the Community/Governmental Relations Director exercising public affairs and public relations coordination responsibilities over all naval activities under U.S. Naval Base Guam. Job position is open until July 29, 2013. For more information, go to https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/348105600.

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

THIS WEEK

On the floor

• H.R.2397 – Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014 (Passed  315–109)

   

• H.R.1542 – WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2013 (Passed  388–3)

Co-sponsorships

• H.R.2821 – To provide tax relief for American workers and businesses, to put workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America, and to provide pathways back to work for Americans looking for jobs

NEXT WEEK

On the floor

• H.R.2610 – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014

   

• H.R.367 – Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2013

   

• H.R.2009 – Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013

Committee Hearings

July 31

• Committee on Natural Resources markup

August 1

• Committee on Natural Resources oversight hearing on Transparency and Sound Science Gone Extinct?: The Impacts of the Obama Administration's Closed-Door Settlements on Endangered Species and People

August 2

• Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, oversight hearing on Missing Weapons at the National Park Service: Mismanagement and Lack of Accountability

   

• Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs legislative hearing