This week in Congress: Foreign aid and Tyranny

In other words, it is a typical week….

The House returns from “spring break” tomorrow. Tuesday and Wednesday the House will consider “suspensions.”

One of the suspension bills of particular interest to Campaign for Liberty members is H.R. 4509. This legislation  requires  states or “high-risk urban areas” receiving Homeland Security funds to establish a state planning committee or an urban area working group, in order to develop and revise homeland security plans and work on threat and hazard identification.

Campaign for Liberty members will be interested to know that the committees must have representatives of fusion centers– the wonderful people that consider you and I terrorists--on their board.

Campaign for Liberty members who oppose giving an organization that called Campaign for Liberty members “terrorists” new power to identify “threats and hazards” should call their Representatives and tell them to oppose H.R. 4509.

This is part of a series of homeland security bills the House will consider on Wednesday. The House will also consider H.R. 3576, the Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act. This act establishes a Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission, comprised of a northern border subcommittee and a southern border subcommittee within the Commission.The Commission is supposed to help improve border polices.

The act also creates an immigration “ombudsman” in the Department of  Homeland Security and creates new training and education requirements for border personnel.

Another piece of legislation that the House will consider Wednesday is H.R.  4482, which requires Homeland Security to assess threats on our southern border and develop a  “strategic plan” to deal with those threats.

Among the suspension bills the House will consider Tuesday  is H.R. 1567, the “Global Food Security Act.”  This bill “….requires the President to coordinate the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to accomplish the objectives of promoting global food security, resilience, and nutrition consistent with national food security investment plans.”

Because the US Government is constitutionally authorized to, and capable of, ending global hunger. Besides we all know government bureaucracy’s are more efficient at delivering effective care than private businesses, right?

The House will also consider S. 2512, which provides for priority FDA review for drugs to treat the Zika virus. This is a good bill, but it does raise the question, is our health really improved by the FDA? (SPOILER ALERT: NO IT IS NOT).

On Thursday the House will consider two bills related to reforming the Dodd-Frank law. One, H.R. 3791, exempts holding companies and savings and loans with assets below $5 billion from the act’s leverage and risk-based capital requirements.

The second bill (H.R. 3340) attempts to increased transparency and accountability of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) .

On Thursday, the House will consider H.R. 2666, which prohibits the FCC from regulating rates charged for Broadband internet.

The Senate will continue work on the FAA Reauthorization bill. Amendments are expected to increase spending on airline security. Last week, the Senate passed some amendments increasing the federal role in airline security and rejected an amendment establishing minimum standards for passenger space.