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September 7, 1999 Vol.1, No. 18 This Week in Washington…
They're Back-This Week in Congress: The House will begin work Wednesday by tackling the $92 billion Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Appropriations bill. The White House is already threatening to veto the legislation over efforts to eliminate funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency which runs the Americorps and Vista programs. The bill also contains large cuts in several low-income housing programs, as well as in NASA's budget. The Senate begins the week by trying to finish work on the Department of Interior and Department of Transportation Appropriations bills. Meanwhile, it is expected that President Clinton will propose a supplemental spending measure, possibly for as much as $3.5 billion. The measure would include funding for Israel and the Palestinians that was promised during the Wye negotiations last year ($500 million for fiscal 2000), and was excluded from the Foreign Aid Appropriations bills. It would also provide monies for the Balkans, Turkey, and South America, as well as debt relief for Africa. Appropriations Quagmire --- The Focus of the Next Several Weeks: As Members of Congress return to Washington, they will face their annual challenge of completing thirteen appropriations bills before the mandated October 1st deadline, which is the start of the next fiscal year. The House has passed 11 of the 13 spending bills, while the Senate has completed nine. However, conference committees charged with reconciling the versions passed by each chamber will have enormous difficulty completing their tasks. In addition the President has already threatened to veto six of the funding bills. Neither chamber has even begun work on the largest appropriations bill, the Labor-HHS-Education measure, which needs to be billions less than last year's bill in order to stay within the budget caps, a mandate most fear is impossible. Observers expect that Congress will need to pass one, if not several, temporary measures in order to buy time to resolve the myriad of pending disagreements. House Committee to Consider Sanctioning Russia: The House International Relations Committee will meet Thursday to vote on legislation that would punish Russia for helping Iran develop nuclear weapons. The initiative (HR1883) would withhold $590 million in U.S. assistance for the International Space Station unless Russia certifies that it is not transferring technology that would help Iran develop weapons of mass destruction or the missiles that carry them. The bill follows the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which requires that 50% of the foreign aid provided to Russia be withheld until the President certifies in writing that the Russian government has terminated implementation of arrangements to provide Iran with nuclear weapons technology. Movement in Senate on Two Religious Liberty Initiatives: The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet Thursday for a hearing on religious liberty. The legislators will debate the Constitutional issues surrounding the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA), passed in the House in July but yet to be introduced in the Senate. Additionally, for the first time in the 106th Congress there has been some movement in the Senate with respect to the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA). Senators John Kerry (MA) and Sam Brownback (KS) are circulating a letter asking their colleagues to join them on this initiative as original cosponsors when it is introduced later this month. WRFA would strengthen federal laws that protect the religious freedom of private sector employees, by ensuring that those employees can take time off to observe religious holidays unless doing so would impose an undue burden on the employer.
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