This Week in Congress, Part Two

At this writing, it appears the Continuing Resolution will contain funding for the Commodity Credit Corporation, thus allowing the administration to continue to give taxpayer money to farmers harmed by the trade war with China. The bill is also likely to include increased Medicaid funding for U.S. territories.

In addition to the bills discussed yesterday, the  House will consider several bills under suspension of the rules including:

1. H.R. 2211 – Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to review standards for “free-standing clothing storage units” like dressers to prevent risk of tipping over, develop new testing and warning label requirements, and apply new standards to imports.

2. H.R. 3625 – Establishes a whistleblower protection program for individuals who report violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting  standards. Unfortunately, the standards only apply to private companies and not the federal government.

3. H.R. 3619 – Provides the Federal Appraisal Subcommittee with authority to modify appraisal rates and maintain a registry of appraisal trainees  who can charge lower fees. The bill also creates a grant program for states to assess appraisal compliance with the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria.

4. H.R. 2613 – Requires the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) to study the use of “emerging technologies” such as artificial intelligence and blockchain technology in order to make their data collection program more efficient.

5. H.R. 550 — Provides a gold medal to the merchant Marines.

6. H.R. 1396 — Provides a gold medal to the “hidden figures,” three African American female scientists who played a major role in the space program.

7. H.R. 3589 — Awards a gold medal to cyclist Greg LaMond.

8. H.R. 1830 — Authorizes the Treasury to issue a National Purple Heart Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin.

9. S.239 — Authorizes the Treasury to issue a gold coin commemorating Christa McAuliffe, the high school teacher killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.

Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul opposed congressional gold medals on constitutional grounds. Instead, he suggested that Congress pay for them out of their own pockets and even offered to chip in $100 toward the effort.

You can watch Dr. Paul explain his positioning on  gold medals here.