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Month: May 2012

This Week in Congress

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The Senate is in recess through this week.

The House returns from recess on Wednesday. The House Rules Committee is expected to clear the way for floor consideration of three appropriations bills to be taken up over the next couple of weeks: MilCon/VA, Energy and Water, and Homeland Security. These may very well be the last bills they push through before the August recess.

On Thursday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee is holding a hearing on Promoting Manufacturing Innovation to discuss the Proposed National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.

Also on Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing to discuss President Obama’s energy strategies.

DOD Biofuels Efforts Threatened

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The House is also slated to vote on a defense authorization bill (HR 4310), which has a small provision with big implications for future transportation fuels. The Defense Department has been developing advanced biofuels for its ships and planes, helping make a market along with other federal agencies. The DOD’s goal is to curb dependence on oil products, provide reliable home-grown motor fuels with less wild price swings than oil, and perhaps ultimately deploy biofuel facilities that could shrink fuel tanker convoys that make inviting targets for adversaries. Commercial ship lines, railroads, airlines and other motor fuel users are watching, partly because biodiesel and jet fuel could help trim their emissions and partly in hopes of getting fuels with less volatile costs. House conservatives don’t like the DOD paying for alternative fuels when oil-derived fuels may be cheaper, and the authorizing bill would exempt the DOD from the alternatives program. That could cripple the effort since the DOD is the world’s largest buyer of oil fuels and its fleets are key to developing new-era fuel options.

Source:  CQRollCall.com

This Week in Congress

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The House starts its workweek considering several measures under suspension of the rules, including — coinciding with National Police Week — the National Blue Alert Act, which aims to help reduce the threat of violence against law enforcement officers.

Later in the week, the House takes up a bill that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The chamber also considers the FY2013 defense authorization.

The Senate resumes consideration of a House reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. The measure stalled last week in a dispute about offering amendments.

Appropriators in both chambers continue work on FY2013 spending bills. The House Appropriations Committee marks up Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA draft spending bills.

ARPA-E Director Majumdar Resigns

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Today, Acting Undersecretary and ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar announced that he will be resigning his role as Acting Undersecretary effective immediately, and Assistant Secretary David Sandalow has been chosen as his replacement.  Furthermore, Dr. Majumdar also announced that he will be resigning his role as Director of ARPA-E effective June 8, 2012, and ARPA-E Deputy Director Eric Toone will take over leadership of the organization.

Dr. Majumdar came to Washington, DC two and a half years ago tasked with setting up the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, a new agency in the Department of Energy to fund projects that will develop transformational technologies that reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy imports; reduce US energy related emissions (including greenhouse gasses); improve energy efficiency across all sectors of the US economy and ensure that the US maintains its leadership in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.

Dr. Majumdar has successfully accomplished the task put forth by the Obama Administration, to establish America’s first agency dedicated to catalyzing energy breakthroughs to secure America’s future.  With ARPA-E now in its third year and a solid leadership team in place, Dr. Majumdar feels that it is an appropriate time to step down to be with his family in California.  He will cherish the time he spent serving his country at ARPA-E and the Department of Energy and hopes that his work has helped lay the foundation for ARPA-E and America’s energy future.  He would like to thank the Obama Administration, Energy Secretary Chu and his colleagues at the Department of Energy and ARPA-E for their dedication, constant support and the enriching experience.

Student Loan Interest Rates

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The Senate will take up a measure today that would prevent subsidized student loan interest rates from doubling this July.  While both parties agree that they want to stop the rate hike from going forward, Senate republican leadership indicated Monday that they will likely filibuster the democratic measure because it opposes the proposed offset.   Senate democrats need 60 votes to move forward with their bill.  Democrats, who control 53 votes in the Senate, would need at least seven republicans to vote with them to overcome a filibuster and begin debate on the bill.  House republicans have already passed a different version.   

The democratic legislation would cover the $6 billion cost of preventing the interest rate increase by eliminating a corporate tax loophole that allows the wealthy to pay less in Social Security and Medicare taxes.  Republicans prefer a measure similar to the House-passed bill, which would offset the cost of the interest rate cut by eliminating a fund in the 2010 health care overhaul that covers prevention and public health.

President Obama has made a campaign issue out of the bill because interest rates on Stafford loans will jump to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent if Congress doesn’t act by July 1st.

UPDATE:  The Senate just voted to blocked the bill to prevent doubling of the student loan rates.  Stay tuned…