THE DAILY WHIP: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011

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House Meets At: First Vote Predicted: Last Vote Predicted:

9:00 a.m.: Legislative Business

Five “One Minutes” per side

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. ???

All absences for this week should be reported to the Whip’s office at x5-3130.

H.Res. 502 – Rule providing for consideration of The Motion to go to Conference, Motion to Instruct Conferees, and Sense of Congress Resolution The Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for a motion to disagree to the Senate amendments to H.R. 3630 and request a Conference with the Senate thereon. It provides for 60 minutes of general debate on the motion to go to conference, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
 
It also provides for consideration of H.Res. 501 The Rule waives all points of order against the resolution and does not allow any amendments or a motion to recommit. It provides for 60 minutes of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
 
This Rule also provides for a motion to instruct conferees. It provides for 60 minutes of debate on the motion, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.
 
Lastly, the Rule provides for suspension authority and blanket martial-law authority for any Rule or bill from now through the beginning of the second session of the 112th Congress, which is almost an entire month.
 
Despite Republican arguments of achieving regular order, they are not allowing an up or down vote on the bipartisan Senate agreement, which 50 Democratic Senators and 39 Republican Senators approved. They are not allowing any Democratic alternatives or amendments, and are advocating for martial-law authority for the next month. This is not the regular order that the Republican Majority has promised. Members are urged to VOTE NO on H.Res. 501.

Motion that the House Disagree to the Senate Amendments and request a Conference with the Senate on H.R. 3630 - Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 (Rep. Camp – Ways and Means) This motion would stop the Senate proposal from being enacted into law. The House Republican Leadership has now refused to allow a vote on the bipartisan agreement that was adopted by a bipartisan vote of 89-10 in the Senate on Saturday. House Republicans must bring the bipartisan stop-gap measure to the House Floor for an up-or-down vote immediately to give middle class families certainty that they will not see their taxes increase while negotiations continue on a long term bill.

This vote is a procedural vote on disagreeing to the Senate amendment and requesting a Conference. If the motion is adopted, it would kill the Senate agreement. It will guarantee that the House of Representatives will not vote on the bipartisan Senate agreement, which 39 Senate Republicans and 50 Senate Democrats supported. This motion continues the pattern of the House Republicans’ inability to take “yes” for an answer.

With millions of Americans struggling, it would be irresponsible for Speaker Boehner to block a bipartisan agreement that would protect middle-class families from the tax increase looming on January 1st. It is time for Speaker Boehner to follow through with his promise and bring up the Senate-passed bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO on the Motion to go to Conference.

Possible Democratic Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 (1 hour of debate)
 
H.Res. 501 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding any final measure to extend the payroll tax holiday, extend Federally funded unemployment insurance benefits, or prevent decreases in reimbursement for physicians who provide care to Medicare beneficiaries (Rep. Price - Ways and Means) This resolution affirms the Republicans’ passage of the House bill (H.R. 3630), by saying that it is the sense of the House that any final bill to extend the middle class tax cut should include “reforms” to the unemployment benefits program, freeze salaries of federal employees, approve the Keystone pipeline and new regulations for boilers.
 
This non-binding resolution seeks to re-affirm the House Republicans’ position that they would like to hold a middle class tax cut ransom for all of their demands. It highlights the Republicans inability to take “yes” for an answer, and highlights that the tea party Republicans in the House are out of touch with the American people and the 39 Republican Senators, who voted to extend the middle class tax cut.
 
Bill Text for H.Res.501:
PDF Version
 
H.Res. 501 is a meaningless resolution that will do nothing to help middle class and unemployed Americans, and is nothing more than a political stunt. Members are urged to VOTE NO on H.Res. 501.
 
Postponed Suspensions (4 Votes):
  1. Senate Amendment to H.R. 2056 - To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes (Rep. Westmoreland - Financial Services)
  2. Senate Amendment to H.R. 1801 - Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act (Rep. Cravaack - Homeland Security)
  3. Senate Amendment to H.R. 1059 - To protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure reports, and for other purposes (Rep. Conyers - Judiciary)
  4. Senate Amendment to H.R. 515 - Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011 (Rep. Smith (NJ) - Foreign Affairs)
TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has not announced any legislative schedule for tomorrow.
 
The Daily Quote

“I'm hopeful, maybe without basis, the House of Representatives will pass the bill the senate passed and it will do so tonight. Speaker Boehner is under enormous pressure. He's gotten a lot of feedback from many Republicans who say we just don't like it [the payroll tax cut].  As a matter of fact, many Republicans would say we don't really want the extension of the unemployment compensation or the rest of it anyway. But I'm hopeful that our majority, Republicans and Democrats today, will proceed, because it seems to me this is best for the country as well as for all the individuals who are affected.”

 -   Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), 12/19/11
 
“We are witnessing the concluding convulsion of confrontation and obstruction in the most unproductive, Tea Party-dominated partisan session of the Congress — the most partisan of which I have participated,” Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, said during a news briefing on Monday.
 
 -   The New York Times, 12/19/11