This week, the House is expected to consider 13 bills, ranging from veterans’ affairs to financial services.
Legislation under consideration this week includes:
H.R. 3304: authorizes the President to award a Medal of Honor to Bennie G. Adkins and Donald P. Sloat of the United States Army for acts of valor during the Vietnam Conflict and other veterans who were previously recommended for award of the Medal of Honor.
Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 1742): excludes a disabled veteran's service-related disability benefits and expenses related to in-home care from being considered when calculating income eligibility for Section 8 rental assistance and public housing programs, thereby making more veterans eligible for federal housing aid.
H.R. 2189: establishes a special panel to evaluate how to reduce or eliminate the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department's backlog of disability claims and appeals and requires the VA to take certain actions to speed up the processing of claims.
Veterans Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 2481): creates a new office within the Veterans Affairs Department to administer existing vocational, education and other assistance programs for veterans. It also clarifies foreclosure and refinancing protections for veterans, extends homeless veterans reintegration programs until 2018, expands education benefits for certain survivors of deceased servicemembers, and protects the rights of active-duty members of the military in child custody cases when the servicemember is deployed.
H.R. 1405: modifies the Department of Veterans Affairs’ fiduciary program to limit who can become a fiduciary and to better outline their role in managing benefits. This includes giving certain state and local government workers access to the department's case-tracking system, providing information to veterans on how to appeal VA decisions if their claims are denied and limiting total bonuses paid to VA employees.
Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Education Improvement Act (H.R. 2011): extends the operating authority of the Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Education through December 31, 2015. It also adds the training and rehabilitation for veterans with service-connected disabilities to the list of topics on which the committee is authorized to advise the Veterans Affairs Department, and it adds the post-9/11 operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to the list of conflicts that should have veteran representation on the committee.
H.R. 2640: allows additional releases of water from the Arthur R. Bowman Dam in central Oregon to benefit the City of Prineville, Oregon, and modifies the boundary designation for the Crooked River in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System to allow for construction of a hydropower project at the dam.
H.R. 623: transfers a 2.79-acre parcel of land in Anchorage, Alaska, by warranty deed from the Indian Health Service to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act (H.R. 330): designates as a National Memorial the Distinguished Flying Cross memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, Calif., to honor members of the armed forces who have excelled in flight.
H.R. 2337: conveys approximately 40 acres of National Forest System land to Summit County, Colorado.
H.R. 2374: prohibits the Labor Department from issuing regulations regarding fiduciary care standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA; PL 93-406) until 60 days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalizes its own rule.
H.J.Res. __: disapproves of the President’s exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 on October 17, 2013. If enacted, it would terminate that suspension of the debt ceiling, placing government borrowing back at the limit and preventing any further borrowing by the Treasury.
Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act (H.R. 992): modifies section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act to allow commodity and equity derivatives in banks with federal insurance, thereby ensuring these swaps take place within institutions that are more closely monitored by federal regulators.