Civic Register
| 10.21.21

Congress Returns From Recess for Votes on Domestic Violence Prevention, Expanding Breastfeeding Accommodations at Work
How do you feel about this week’s congressional schedule?
What’s happening in Congress?
- Lawmakers return to the Capitol from recess this week to kick off what’s expected to be a busy second half of October, as Democrats continue to negotiate their social spending plan and Congress looks to avert another lapse in the authorization of transportation programs at the end of the month.
SENATE SCHEDULE
- The Senate returns Monday for a confirmation vote on the nomination of Judge Gustavo Gelpi to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. It will then consider the nomination of a federal district court for New Jersey.
- At some point during the week, potentially Wednesday, the Senate is expected to take a procedural vote on Democrats’ revised election reform bill. The vote is expected to fail along party-lines in the evenly-divided Senate because Republicans oppose the measure and will deny it the 60 votes needed to overcome the legislative filibuster.
- Committees will hold hearings on federal health insurance coverage programs; oversight of the Dept. of Homeland Security with testimony from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; and inspector general independence.
HOUSE SCHEDULE
- The House is off Monday but returns for votes on Tuesday, when it’s expected to consider eight bipartisan bills under the fast-track “suspension of the rules” process, including legislation to address the opioid crisis. Wednesday will see votes on 10 more suspension bills, including several that would rename post offices.
- On Thursday, the House is expected to consider a bill to reauthorize and expand programs focused on preventing family and domestic violence and protecting survivors.
- Friday is expected to feature a vote on a bill to expand access to breastfeeding accommodations in the workplace, and additional votes are possible.
- Committees will hold hearings on economic prosperity in the industrial heartland; holding Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress; and oversight of the Dept. of Justice.
Check below throughout the week to see the vote results and updates to the schedule.
Schedule subject to change. All times Eastern.
SENATE
Monday after 5:30pm
- Confirmation of Judge Gustavo Gelpi to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit Confirmed 52-41.
Tuesday after 11:30am
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Christine O’Hearn to be U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey Invoked 53-44.
- Confirmation of Christine O’Hearn as U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey Confirmed 53-44.
- Motion to discharge from the Banking Committee the nomination of Brian Nelson to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, Dept. of Treasury Agreed to 50-49.
Wednesday after 11am
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Catherine Lhamon to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Dept. of Education Invoked 51-50.
- Confirmation of Catherine Lhamon to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Dept. of Education Confirmed 51-50.
- Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to S. 2747: Freedom to Vote Act Not invoked 49-51.
Thursday after 10:30am
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Tana Lin to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington Invoked 52-47.
- Confirmation of Tana Lin to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington Confirmed 52-45.
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Douglas Parker to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor Invoked 51-47.
- Cloture motion on the nomination of Myrna Perez to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Invoked 51-48.
Rest of the Week (tentative)
- Motion to reconsider the failed cloture motion on the motion to proceed to S. 2747: Freedom to Vote Act
- Additional nominations or legislative items are possible.
HOUSE
Monday
- No votes are scheduled.
Tuesday after 6:30pm (under suspension of the rules)
- H.R. 1029: Free Veterans from Fees Act Passed 421-3.
- H.R. 4089: Darren Drake Act, as amended Passed 379-51.
- H.R. 4369: National Centers of Excellence in Advanced and Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Act of 2021, as amended Passed 368-56.
- H.R. 4611: DHS Software Supply Chain Risk Management Act of 2021, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 2379: State Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act of 2021, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 3635: Strengthening America’s Strategic National Stockpile Act of 2021 Vote postponed.
- H.R. 654: Drug-Free Communities Pandemic Relief Act, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 3919: Secure Equipment Act of 2021, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 4032: Open RAN Outreach Act, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 4067: Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act, as amended Vote postponed.
- H.R. 4028: Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act, as amended Vote postponed.
Wednesday after 12pm
- H.R. 654: Drug-Free Communities Pandemic Relief Act, as amended Passed 395-30.
- H.R. 4611: DHS Software Supply Chain Risk Management Act of 2021, as amended Passed 412-2.
- H.R. 2379: State Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act of 2021, as amended Passed 380-46.
- H.R. 3635: Strengthening America’s Strategic National Stockpile Act of 2021 Passed 397-22.
- H.R. 3919: Secure Equipment Act of 2021, as amended Passed 420-4.
- H.R. 4032: Open RAN Outreach Act, as amended Passed 410-17.
- H.R. 4067: Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council Act, as amended Passed 397-29.
- H.R. 4028: Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act, as amended Passed 413-14.
- H.R. 1508: Guidance Clarity Act of 2021, as amended Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 1170: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 League in Irvine, California, as the “Tuskegee Airman Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Friend Memorial Post Office Building” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 3210: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1905 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado, as the “Officer Eric H. Talley Post Office Building” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 767: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Fulton Street in Middletown, New York, as the “Benjamin A. Gilman Post Office Building” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 3419: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 66 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, as the “Joseph R. Lentol Post Office” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 1444: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 132 North Loudoun Street, Suite 1 in Winchester, Virginia, as the “Patsy Cline Post Office” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 3175: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 135 Main Street in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the “Robert S. McKeithen Post Office Building” Passed by voice vote.
- H.R. 2044: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main Street in Herington, Kansas, as the “Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building” Passed by voice vote.
Thursday after 12pm
- H.Res. 730: Resolution Recommending that the House Find Stephen Bannon in Content of Congress for Refusal to Comply with a Subpoena Issued by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Adopted 229-202.
- H.R. 2119: Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021 Consideration postponed.
Friday between 9am and 3pm
- H.R. 3110: PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act
Possible Votes
- H.R. 4469: AI in Counterterrorism Oversight Enhancement Act, as amended
- H.R. 960: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3493 Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the “John H. Leahr and Herbert M. Heilbrun Post Office”
- Additional legislative items are possible.
Tell your reps how to vote on this week's bills and share your thoughts below!
— Eric Revell
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Please tell me why those two issues would take any of you more than 2 mins? Breast feeding and violence against women? Really? Come on. Time to look into reduced pay for you all.
@burrkitty asked Do you want women to work or not? * @burrkitty, LOL! I think you’re asking this of White Conservative Christian men, so the answer is going to be “No. The Bible says God created woman to serve man." Probably, like in the 50s and 60s it will be OK for women to do some work before getting married. * https://www.causes.com/bills/hr3110-117/positions/d4b5b390-143d-4aa1-b87b-958f6063569b
Are you kidding me? We have police and numerous social agencies. This is so redundant. Don't spend more money. Breast feeding, again you kidding? I do just fine without government help!
This is what congress has to work on? It’s amazing, the amount of problems that this administration has made,that their focus is on this. Biden has driven this country into a crisis that will take a string individual to correct. The town hall he had was a disaster! It really showed how weak of an individual he really is. Who is actually running the country? Mask mandates that have caused mass departure of police and firemen, truck drivers being fired, first responders being terminated, all because their are not getting the vaccine. The president thinks it’s great! So tell me just how is that Biden vote working out for you? #Go Brandon #Empty shelves Joe.
Government as Busybody and Micromanager Can someone definitively explain to me or justify the illogic and inconsistency of people who want absolutist government involvement in women’s reproductive rights but get angry about mask and vaccine mandates. Definitely not truly Pro-Life. The mind of the 21st Century Right seems [Pick one or more or insert one or more [illinformed, illogical, irrational, erratic, overly emotional, paranoid, untrusting, arrogant, self righteous, ..., ...]]
Wow! I am stunned!!! A sensible comment regarding Pumping breast milk from @Carina. Maybe someone is covering for the usual troll today!? See https://www.causes.com/bills/hr3110-117/positions/5ec1b87c-715a-4095-9f8f-9400d322146c
Contrarian A contrarian is a person who holds a contrary position, especially a position against the majority. I am not opposed to Congress taking the time and making an effort to deal with more mundane issues like pumping breast milk and domestic violence. Already the House passed the P.U.M.P. Bill. Importantly, some Republicans joined in with some “Yeas.” One of my high school teachers taught a pendulum view of history. This was after Humphrey lost to Nixon. (Recall: It was Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, then Humphrey vs. Nixon.) Anyway... Perhaps it takes the relatively small but still important issues to slow the Pendulum's current swing to the right; but it will take time for the Pendulum to start swinging to the left.
No accountability no checks on Shipping industry for purposeful exacerbation of problems & wanton gouging Going into winter fuel & gas gouging Irrational price increases on essentials Gop resistance on health care, vaccines, education, social programs, climate change, practically everything Dumbkopf’s big lie and continued unchecked treasonous interference Shame on you congress Shame on you scotus
MORE B/S
Congress needs to prove their worth
Some good actions scheduled but as far as I am concerned, it is mostly just background noise and busy work. The Build Back Better Plan, the Infrastructure Bill, dealing with the Climate Crisis, HR.1 and the Lewis Voting Rights Act are the most critical legislative actions. The Insurrection Committee’s work is also very important. Then we have the police reform bill, Roe v Wade legislation, controlling the spread of willful disinformation and protecting Democracy from the Republican Faction by calling out their dark money benefactors and getting another record breaking voter turnout to prove to the Republican Faction that they cannot ‘wire’ the midterms - and also to politically excise their cancerous growth from the body politic. … … … Surely there are other critical things needed like dealing with Russian aggression, Chinese expansionism as well as other legislation dealing with gun violence, Citizens United and systemic racism. The perfunctory actions of Congress are much less important than what it is that they accomplish for the future of the people of this country. We need a record setting voter turnout to gain the Congressional Seats needed to make these things happen. The obfuscation and delay by the Republican Faction and their claim that they do not want Big Government when the Democrats are in power is certainly not the way they act when they are in power. Democrats work on government of, by and for the people. The Republican Faction works on bigger government of, by, and for the PAC and their well laundered dark money benefactors.
I believe it was Strom Thurman or that other old white man, Jessie Helms, who made the comment regarding how unnecessary breast feeding education was. It was something like…. Why do we need to spend money on that, the kid just latches on to the nipple and sucks. And yes, they were in the senate for far TOO many years. Keep ‘em pregnant and in the kitchen. 💙💙💙💙
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@Sharon, your frustration comes through. When you say you want facts and fact-based analysis, I agree with you. When you assert that many of our fellow citizens wish to remain ignorant and to allow projection to substitute for acquiring information and to use reasoning and good judgment, I agree with you. When you want to take away the ability of the über wealthy individuals and companies to influence our representatives, I agree with you. We probably both agree that we have crony capitalism and faithless representatives because so many of our fellow citizens have consistently failed to pay attention or the choose to follow false propaganda that caters to their limited understanding instead of the more fact based news. Worse more liberal publication frightened them like children are afraid of monsters under the bed. But, in your recent post you flirt with the further destruction of our Federal government by giving the presidency power over Congress, ie "holding their feet to the fire," to forcr them to do this or that thing, thereby moving us even closer to an autocracy. (The very thing Trump and his Republican backers wanted.) We need our three co-equal, ie independent yet interdependent, branches of government (or something similar but better maybe four or eight co-equal branches) and we definitely need checks and balances. And, we need our fellow citizens to up their game or we all will lose. I'd love to see open discussions on how to make government better, more response to the public at large. At the same time I am interested in learning about how other countries maintain diversity with civility and fair compromise. Scandinavian countries and Germany top that list right now. In response to https://www.causes.com/comments/1503209
Larubia, Justices can be Impeached. If they overturn Roe v. Wade, we must impeach those who voted to do so. Love your comments! ❤️😊❤️😊
The voting rights bills must pass. The House must pass both the Reconciliation Bill and the Infrastructure Bill, but only together. The Senate must advance President Biden's agenda or answer to the people next year.
Senators Blunt & Hawley, I urge you to cast your votes for the people - FOR the Freedom to Vote Act.
This is a completely different topic but it needs to be said; let’s end this endless shit show of Donald Trump trying to dodge investigations because he’s afraid. Republicans want get this over with also let’s lay all the facts on the table and let the chips fall where they may and stop this loser Trump from hiding from the truth. He sure makes it look like he is hiding at this point and people have to recognize that after he’s going to such great lengths to avoid any testifying. I for one am sick to death of this loser bozo Trump dragging this country into the ground.
It’s mostly just busy-work this week. Again, if Democrats are serious on passing any voting-rights bill, they need to reform the filibuster, otherwise, they are not being serious at all. Democrats need to do more than just confirm judges and offer speeches. Tell Manchin and Sinema to get in line or get they will get kicked off their committee assignments. No more wasting time!
Are these important to consider, yes. Are they the mist important? In my opinion, no. I don’t know whether this is possible in our country, but I wish Biden could deny Congress any recesses or departures from Washington until the most important legislation - by that I mean legislation critical to upholding and strengthening the nature of the democratic pillars of our society and other legislation important to the operation and security of our society - gets finalized with a plan of action for at least getting them to the Senate floor. That means those like Sinema and Manchin don’t get to flit to fundraisers and vacations instead of spending that time devoted to serious consultation about these measures. Members of Congress, in my opinion, should be required to hold a given number of town hall meetings across the states in randomized districts of those states that they are supposed to represent - with constituent attendants randomly distributed among Democratic, Republican, and Independent affiliates and non-affiliates. Constituents would probably be less likely to feel they have to chase representatives into a bathroom if they feel they are being heard and an effort is being made by those representatives to explain their stances on something besides party rhetoric. Poor Sinema! Town hall meetings can be held by video. It’s ridiculous id the President can’t hold congressional feet to the fire when necessary, but party leaders in Congress can. First up should be voting rights, infrastructure, and reconciliation bills, in my opinion. Most Americans favor most provisions in these bills - including increasing taxes on the rich and corporations. Maybe town halls would force members of Congress to at least pretend to listen. Maybe experts in the issues addresses in the provisions of these bills should be recruited to hold town halls across the country to educate constituents, too, before members of Congress begin. Of course, some of the people on this site and others like them will stick their fingers in their ears because they don’t want to dilute their Koolaid with fact and expert analysis, but at least it’s worth a shot, I think.