TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2006 
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER OUTLINES SCHEDULE; HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER ANNOUNCES LAME DUCK SESSION

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) outlined the tentative schedule for the remainder of July, while House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced that the House will return the week after the election (Monday, November 13) for a lame-duck session that likely will extend through December. Senator Frist announced that the chamber will consider a three-bill package of stem cell research bills, defense and military construction appropriations measures, and a potential conference report on pension reform. After the August recess, the Majority Leader plans to address the Supreme Court decision on the Administration's policies on suspected terrorists, any additional appropriations bills, an extension of the Voting Rights Act, and a potential conference report on immigration. Target adjournment date is September 29, although a lame-duck session (like the House) after the November elections is likely.

Representative John Boehner announced his intent for the House to recess for the mid-term elections on Friday, September 29.

SENATE PASSES FY 2007 HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL

On July 13, the Senate unanimously passed the FY 2007 Homeland Security spending bill. The bill approves $32.8 billion in homeland security funding.

By comparison, the House version provides nearly $1 billion less for border and port security. The House and Senate versions differ on appropriation levels for specific agencies; the Senate provides more funding for Customs and Border protection and the Transportation Security Administration, while the House provides more funding for the Secret Service, local programs, and the Coast Guard. The future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is likely to be the most debated topic during the upcoming conference committee.

Senators added close to $1 billion for border and port security over the President's request. The additional $350 million for border programs would be offset by increased immigration fees while the $648 million in FY 2006 funding for port programs would be offset by redirecting unspecified previously appropriated funds that have yet to be spent. The Senate rejected amendments that would have added funding for a fence on the southern border, changed DHS grant formulas and funded more immigration officers. Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H) objected to those proposals as they would have been paid for by an across-the-board cut.

HOUSE PASSES EXTENSION OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT

On July 13, the House voted 390-33 to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act for the next 25 years. The Act is set to expire in 2007. Amendments to shorten the extension to 10 years and a bid to drop a requirement for multilingual ballots attracted a majority of GOP votes, but failed. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the measure sometime tomorrow, however Majority Leader Bill Frist has not indicated when he would take up the bill on the floor. House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner took a strong lead in defeating amendments, all four offered by members of his own party.

HOUSE PASSES INTERNET GAMBLING BILL
The House passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 by a vote of 317-93. The measure forbids the use of credit cards to settle online wagers and allows authorities to work with Internet providers to block access to gambling sites. It clarifies and updates current law to specify that most gambling is illegal online and maintains exemptions for the horse racing industry and state operated lotteries. Am amendment offered by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) to eliminate these exceptions and establish a complete ban on all internet gambling-related activities, failed by a vote of 114-297. Floor debate focused on whether it is impossible to regulate the Internet, and whether it would be better to regulate and collect taxes on the $12 billion industry instead of supporting a ban. The issue has not been debated in the Senate this year.

IMMIGRATION
House leaders recently announced a new round of hearings meant to expose what they termed as "troubling provisions" in the recently passed Senate immigration bill. Both the Senate and House have planned a series of hearings throughout July and August. The House conducted recent hearings in Laredo, Texas and San Diego, California on security threats posed by lax enforcement of immigration laws. The House will hold a new round of hearings over the next few weeks in Washington. A session on July 26 will focus on the role of the English language in the United States and whether the Senate measure would undermine efforts to promote its use by immigrants. U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, recently testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the need for a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The Secretary reiterated the President's support for some type of a guest worker program while expressing the President's opposition to amnesty for the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States.

The Senate bill, S. 2611, includes a guest worker program as well as an earned path to citizenship while the House bill, H.R. 4437, only addresses border security and interior enforcement.

The Senate has conducted hearings and meetings in Philadelphia and Miami. Future sessions will be held in Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Texas.

Even though both chambers have passed immigration bills, the stark differences between the two -- specifically regarding the guest worker program and an earned path to citizenship -- have stalled negotiations between the two chambers.

The Senate convened yesterday and began debate on three stem-cell research bills, which are expected to take up the bulk of the Senate's time this week. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, as well as the Alternative Pluripotnet Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act and the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006 will be voted on this afternoon. The chamber will then turn to the Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes $10 billion for dozens of navigation, flood control, and environmental restoration projects under the Army Corps of Engineers.

The House reconvened yesterday and will consider several bills that fall under the GOP's "American Values" agenda, including legislation prohibiting most federal courts from hearing constitutional challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance, and a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. In addition, the chamber could take up a number of stem cell research measures.


SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE APPROPRIATIONS BILL

On July 13, the Senate approved the FY 2007 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill, 28-0. The bill includes $5.1 billion in discretionary spending, $2.27 billion more than FY 2006. The House passed their version on June 29. The House appropriations procedure includes funding for the State Department, something the Senate does not. Highlights of the Senate bill include:

$745 million for Urban Area Security Initiative Grants (FY 2006 level - $765 million);
$210 million for port security grants (FY 2006 level - $175 million);
$150 million for rail and transit security grants (same as in FY 2006);
$655 million for firefighter assistance grants ($115 million is director to the SAFER Act grants, same as in FY 2006);
$205 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants (FY 2006 level - $185 million);
$150 million for the National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund (FY 2006 level - $50 million)
$1.6 billion for Disaster Relief (FY 2006 level was $1.7 billion).

The Committee summary expresses disapproval at President Bush’s request to reduce or eliminate funding for many state and local law enforcement assistance programs, despite a recent upturn in violent crime. The Senate modified the President’s budgetary request and approved $21.9 billion for the Department of Justice. $1.93 billion is included for state and local law enforcement grants, as well as $555 million for the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants program.

The bill also recommends two new justice programs, the Sexual Assault Services Act and the Child Sexual Predator Elimination Initiative. The Sexual Assault Services Act suggests $5 million in funding for state sexual assault services programs while the Child Sexual Predator Elimination Initiative recommends $55 million in funding for state and local child sexual predator arrest and prosecution. Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and John Ensign (R-NV) were successful in securing priority funding in the CJS bill for the following projects: the Carson City Anti-Meth Coalition, the Henderson Crime Lab, the National Judicial College and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Senator Reid was also successful in securing further funding for projects in Southern Nevada including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the City of Las Vegas EVOLVE Program to assist ex-offenders in obtaining viable employment, UNLV's Identity Theft and Financial Fraud Research and Operations Center, the North Las Vegas Police Department and the Nye County Nevada Sheriff’s Office. He also added the Mills B. Lane Justice Complex to the bill for special priority funding for improvements.

The Committee will specify dollar amounts for these projects when the bill goes to conference. The bill will move to the full Senate for a vote.

For more information on the bill, please visit: http://appropriations.senate.gov or http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?
id=258653&&year=2006&

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OUTLINES PHASE TWO FUNDING FOR PANDEMIC FLU PREPAREDNESS

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, recently announced that $225 million in grant funding will be provided for state and local health officials for pandemic flu preparedness efforts. The funding represents the second phase of the $350 million that was authorized in emergency appropriations legislation that Congress passed last year. The first phase of $100 million was awarded last February.

Recent and archived Federal Grants Notifications are also available on our website. www.NevadaDC.org
The State of Nevada Washington Office is reachable by phone at (202) 624-5405.  Additional contact information is available on our website.  To be added to our mailing list, please contact update@nevadadc.org.