This week, the House is expected to consider 11 bills, ranging from women’s rights to the 2013 Farm Bill.
Legislation under consideration this week includes:
Idaho Wilderness Water Resources Protection Act (H.R. 876): requires the Department of Agriculture to issue special-use permits to the owners of water diversion or transport systems within Idaho’s Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. These permits would allow the owners to repair and maintain their facilities and equipment.
Y Mountain Access Enhancement Act (H.R. 253): directs the Department of Agriculture to sell 80 acres of land on Y Mountain in Utah to Brigham Young University. The school already owns most of the surrounding land and would continue allowing public access to the trail.
H.Res. __: amends the senate amendment to the Vietnam Veterans Donor Acknowledgement Act (H.R. 588). The Act exempts the new Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center from the prohibition against donor recognition at federal memorials, allowing the Center to display an unobtrusive acknowledgement of donor contributions. The Senate’s amended version is the same but puts the law into a section of the U.S. Code dealing with commemorative works in the District of Columbia, rather than amending the law that authorized the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The House amendment would reverse the Senate amendment and also extend legislative authority for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center through November 2018.
Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks Study Act (H.R. 520): directs the Department of the Interior to study alternatives for the commemoration and interpretation of the role of the Buffalo Soldiers in the early years of the National Parks. This includes a historical assessment of the Buffalo Soldiers who served in National Parks, an evaluation of the suitability and feasibility of establishing a national historic trail commemorating their service, and an evaluation of ways of enhancing research, education, and awareness of the story of the Buffalo Soldiers.
Rota Cultural and Natural Resources Study Act (H.R. 674): authorizes the Department of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating prehistoric, historic, and limestone forest sites on Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as a unit of the National Park System.
H.R. 862: authorizes the U.S. Forest Service to sell two parcels of land totaling nearly 3 acres within the Coconino National Forest to the landowners holding interests in the adjacent land.
H.R. 1797: prohibits abortions in cases where the probable age of the fetus is 20 weeks or later, except for in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother being in danger. The bill defines "life endangerment" as a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury arising from the pregnancy itself. It also imposes criminal penalties – fines and/or up to five years in prison – on medical professionals who violate the ban.
2013 Farm Bill (H.R. 1947): extends most major federal farm, nutrition assistance, rural development and agricultural trade programs through Fiscal Year 2018. It cuts overall spending by $38 billion over 10 years, including $20 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It repeals direct and countercyclical payments to agriculture commodity producers and replaces them with new risk-management programs to protect farmers when they suffer significant losses. It also repeals several major dairy programs and replaces them with a new program to manage the supply of dairy products and consolidates major conservation programs.
International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 1896): amends the Social Security Act to ensure that the United States can comply fully with the obligations of the Hague Convention of November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. This convention, consented to by the U.S. Senate in 2010, established a comprehensive system of cooperation between the authorities of the participating countries. To execute the agreement, legislation is needed to implement improvements to the state-administered child support enforcement program and increase child support collections from parents residing overseas.
H.R. 475: includes all vaccines against seasonal influenza within the definition of taxable vaccines to help finance the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
H.R. 1151: requires the State Department to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly to be held in September 2013 in Montreal.