Skip to content

News and updates

This week in Congress, July 10-14

Here is a selection of committee meetings taking place on the Hill this week.

TUESDAY, JULY 11

TRANSPORTATION-HUD APPROPRIATIONS
July 11, 7 p.m., 2358-A Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Markup

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12

House Appropriations
ENERGY-WATER/AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS
July 12, 10:30 a.m., 2359 Rayburn Bldg.
Full Committee Markup

House Energy & Commerce
OPIOID CRISIS IN THE STATES
July 12, 10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

House Rules
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
July 12, 3 p.m., H-313, U.S. Capitol
Full Committee Business Meeting

THURSDAY, JULY 13

Senate Appropriations
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION-VA APPROPRIATIONS
July 13, 10:30 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.
Full Committee MarkupV

Senate Appropriations
TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS
July 13, 2 p.m., Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

Congress Returns to Town

After its July Fourth recess, Congress returns to Washington for three weeks before leaving town for a scheduled five-week August recess.

The Senate Republicans are still trying to address intra-party differences on a “repeal and replace” healthcare bill.  In the House, the Appropriations Committee continues to press forward on its versions of FY2018 spending bills even as the assumed total amount of funding available for the bills will require changes to existing law; the Senate appropriators are also attempting to move their first bill this week as well.

 

Congress In Recess

Congress is in recess this week.

Although no agreement was reached in the Senate on a new healthcare bill at the end of last week, conversations continue.

Both chambers are scheduled to work next week.

What we’re reading, June 26-30

Here is a selection of articles the Office of Federal Relations has read this week.

Smartphones & Medical Research –  When smartphones first began collecting health data such as users’ heart rates and number of steps walked, doctors were dubious about the medical value of information gathered by a p hone.Three years later, doctors have changed their minds, thanks to a series of pioneering medical studies that demonstrated the efficacy of cellphone-based medical research. Read more from the Wall Street Journal.

Higher Ed Groups Criticize BCRA – The American Council on Education, along with 18 other higher education groups, wrote to Senate leaders Tuesday urging a “different approach” to the health-care bill released by Republican lawmakers last week. Read more over on Inside Higher Ed.

Free Speech Bill Struck Down – A proposal aimed at protecting controversial speakers’ appearances at Louisiana colleges and calling on campuses to penalize students who disrupt them has been vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, who described the bill as a “solution in search of a problem.” Read more from the AP at US News.

Supreme Court To Take Up Travel Ban – The Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for President Trump to prohibit the entry of some people into the United States from countries he deems dangerous, but the justices imposed strict limits on Mr. Trump’s travel ban while they examine the scope of presidential power over the border.  Read more from the New York Times.

The True Cost of Research –  Funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported countless discoveries that have saved or improved millions of lives, from Dr. Mary-Claire King’s discovery of the BRCA1 breast cancer gene to new, more accurate diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease.  As I’ve written before, the President’s budget proposal would dramatically cut NIH’s research funding, slowing progress in understanding and curing diseases that ultimately affect nearly every single American in some form. Read more from UW President Ana Mari Cauce.