MAJORITY WHIPLINE: MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021

Monday, July 19, 2021

Floor Schedule and Procedure:

Suspensions (14 bills)

1. H.R. 3119 – Energy Emergency Leadership Act (Rep. Rush – Energy and Commerce)

The bill creates a new Department of Energy Assistant Secretary position with jurisdiction over all energy emergency and security functions related to energy supply, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

2. H.R. 2931 – Enhancing Grid Security through Public-Private Partnerships Act (Rep. McNerney – Energy and Commerce)

The bill directs the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with States, other Federal agencies, and industry stakeholders, to create and implement a program to enhance the physical and cybersecurity of electric utilities.  The bill also requires an update to the Interruption Cost Estimate (ICE) Calculator, an electric reliability planning tool for estimating electricity interruption costs and the benefits associated with reliability improvements, at least once every 2 years.

3. H.R. 2928 – Cyber Sense Act of 2021 (Rep. Latta – Energy and Commerce)

The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to establish the Cyber Sense Program.  This voluntary program would identify cyber-secure products that could be used in the bulk-power system.

4. H.R. 678 – PHONE Act of 2021 (Rep. Thompson (CA) – Energy and Commerce)

This bill would amend the Communications Act to prohibit providers of voice service from reassigning phone numbers of subscribers in area covered by a major disaster declaration, for the duration of the declaration. The prohibition may extend for a period of up to two years if requested by the subscriber. The bill also prohibits providers of voice service from assessing early termination fees to cancel service, or connection fees to re-subscribe at a new address, for subscribers whose residence is rendered inaccessible or uninhabitable due to a major disaster.

5. H.R. 1250 – Emergency Reporting Act (Rep. Matsui – Energy and Commerce)

This bill directs the FCC to issue reports following the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) and to make improvements to network outage reporting. 

6. H.R. 1754 – MEDIA Diversity Act of 2021 (Rep. Long – Energy and Commerce)

This bill Requires the FCC to consider market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals in the communications marketplace.

7. H.Res. 277 – Reaffirming the commitment to media diversity and pledging to work with media entities and diverse stakeholders to develop common ground solutions to eliminate barriers to media diversity (Rep. Demings – Energy and Commerce)

This resolution would reaffirm the commitment of the House of Representatives to media diversity. It also pledges that Congress will work with media entities and diverse stakeholders to develop common ground solutions to eliminate barriers to media diversity.

8. H.R. 3003 – Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act of 2021 (Rep. Walberg – Energy and Commerce)

This bill directs NTIA to encourage participation by trusted American companies and other stakeholders in standards-setting bodies, and to offer technical assistance to such stakeholders that elect to participate, in the course of developing standards for 5G networks and future generations of communications networks. 

9. H.R. 1158 – Refugee Sanitation Facility Safety Act of 2021 (Rep. Meng – Foreign Affairs)

The bill directs the Department of State, when providing overseas assistance for refugees, to ensure the provision of safe and secure access to sanitation facilities, with a special emphasis on safe access to sanitation for women, girls, and vulnerable populations.

10. H.R. 826 – Divided Families Reunification Act (Rep. Meng – Foreign Affairs)

The bill encourages the State Department to consult with representatives of the South Korean government and Korean American families regarding opportunities to reunite those families with their relatives in North Korea.

11. H.Res. 294 – Encouraging reunions of divided Korean-American families (Rep. Bass – Foreign Affairs)

The resolution calls on the U.S. and North Korea to begin the process of reuniting Korean-American divided family members with their immediate relatives, restore the contact between divided families, and pursue reunions as a humanitarian priority of immediate concern. 

12. H.R. 2118 – Securing America From Epidemics Act (Rep. Bera – Foreign Affairs)

The bill authorizes United States participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a partnership between several countries and private partners to produce, finance, and coordinate vaccines developments for epidemic threats in situations where traditional markets either do not exist or cannot meet sufficient demand. By supporting CEPI, the bill aims to protect the United States’ own population from epidemic threats, protect United States’ national security interests, and support burden sharing.

13. H.R. 1079 – Desert Locust Control Act, as amended (Rep. Smith (NJ) – Foreign Affairs)

The bill establishes an interagency task force to combine the efforts of USAID, State, the US Mission to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and others to assess the scope and impact of the locust outbreak, how COVID restrictions impact locust control efforts, as well as the effectiveness of regional and multilateral control efforts.

14. H.R. 1036 – Bassam Barabandi Rewards for Justice Act (Rep. Wilson (SC) – Foreign Affairs)

The bill authorizes the Department of State to offer rewards for information about the identity or location of individuals who defy sanctions imposed by the United States or the United Nations.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom"

-George Washington Carver