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TheWeekInCongress.com - May 19, 2009 - The Senate amended the House-passed supplemental spending bill, HR 2346, to prohibit funds being used to "transfer, release, or incarcerate detainees detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to or within the United States". The amendment offered by Senator Inouye (D-HI) was agreed to in the Senate 90 to 6. The House version of the bill did not provide the funds requested by the Obama administration for closure of the base.

A related amendment from Senator McConnell (R-KY) would limit the release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pending a report on the prisoner population at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The amendment was agreed to 92 to 3.

A 94 to 0 vote on an amendment by Senator Brownback (R-KS) expresses the sense of the Senate on consultation with State and local governments regarding the transfer of detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to US jails.

Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) stated that the Senate wants a clear plan of action regarding Guantanamo and the detainees from the Obama administration before it will agree to the requested funding.

Other Senate amendments allow the International Monetary Fund to oppose loans to countries whose governments adhere to spending programs but are heavily indebted; require the development of objective regarding Afghanistan; ensure that civilian personnel assigned to serve in Afghanistan receive civilian-military coordination training that focuses on counterinsurgency and stability operations; and block certain photographic records relating to the treatment of any individual engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside the United States from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act.

The Senate passed the bill amended 86 to 3 and selected conferees to meet with the House to settle differences in the bill, if any..

HR 2346 bill report, amendments and votes.

CBO RELEASES REPORT ON THE STATUS OF THE US ECONOMY

The Congressional Budget Office Study Sees Growth but Recession Ills Will Continue a While Longer

(What follows is an excerpt from the May 21, 2009 CBO report 'The State of the Economy.' The full 20 page report can be read at cbo.gov )

"In the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) judgment, the economy will stop contracting and resume growing during the second half of this year, but the hardships caused by the recession will persist for some time. The growth in output later this year and next year is likely to be sufficiently weak that the unemployment rate will probably continue to rise into the second half of next year and peak above 10 percent. Economic growth over time will ultimately bring the unemployment rate back down to the neighborhood of 5 percent seen before this downturn began, but that process is likely to take several years.

"On the positive side, the fiscal stimulus provided by the federal government is now beginning to boost the economy, and financial markets show clear signs of improvement since the fall and winter. Moreover, the sharp reductions seen in manufacturing production will keep inventories to leaner levels than would have occurred otherwise, so that upturns in sales, when they come, will lead to faster and larger increases in
output.

"However, many factors will temper the strength of the recovery: the loss of household wealth; the fragility of financial institutions; persistently weak growth in the rest of the world; a surplus of housing units on the market; and low utilization of manufacturing
capacity. How much those factors will dampen the recovery is uncertain: They may be overcome relatively quickly by the jump start provided by the stimulus and improvements in consumer and business confidence, or they may cause the economy to slump again next year, as the effects of the stimulus begin to wane.

"Recently released data are consistent with CBO’s forecast in March that gross domestic product (GDP) will bottom out this year. Indeed, a wide majority of economic forecasters share that view. However, CBO’s assessment of developments in the financial system and in the nonfinancial parts of the economy suggests that the initial stages of the economic recovery are likely to be more tepid than the agency had projected earlier. CBO’s March forecast of 2.9 percent growth in real (inflation-adjusted) GDP in 2010 is more optimistic than the current consensus, as is the agency’s forecast for a peak unemployment rate of about 9½ percent. CBO is now beginning the process of updating its previous forecast and will release a new forecast in August.

"The uncertainty surrounding CBO’s forecast—and the forecasts of private analysts—deserves emphasis. The future course of the economy is always uncertain, as can be seen in the confidence region around the agency’s March forecast of real GDP (see Figure 1). Moreover, uncertainty is especially great around economic turning points and in conditions that have not been seen in the economy for some time, such as the current financial crisis.

"Even if the economy returns to positive growth this year, the loss in output, income, and employment during the recession and the next few years will be huge. Under CBO’s forecast from March, the difference between the economy’s actual and potential output will average 7 percent of GDP (which is equivalent to about a trillion dollars) this year and next, and that gap in output will not close until 2013. CBO’s forecast in August is likely to show even larger shortfalls in output over the next few years. By this measure, the current recession and its aftermath will be the most severe economic downturn of the postwar period."

The full 20 page report can be read at cbo.gov

CONGRESS BREAKS FOR HOLIDAY, SENDS PRESIDENT SEVERAL NEW LAWS TO SIGN

As the House and Senate adjourn for the district work periods they have put several pieces of legislation behind them.

HR 627, a bill to reform credit card company practices with the emphasis on consumer benefits will be sent to the President for signature into law. The Senate amended the bill and agreed to an amendment from Senator Coburn (R-TX) that would allow national park visitors to carry concealed and loaded guns on park grounds.

S 896 is the Senate bill that aims to bolster federal oversight of fraud committed by mortgage brokers and others in related fields.

Congress agreed to S 454, a bill scrutinizing current programs for the acquisition of major defense systems. The bill aims to oversee research and development of those systems with the idea of avoiding cost overruns and determining the necessity of the system as development is worked on.

HR 2346, the $92 billion supplemental providing funds for Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as bolstering budgets of other federal agencies was amended by the Senate at will likely be resolved in a House-Senate conference in June.

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Bills increase transportation security; provide entrepreneurial aid to veterans; extend grants to adapt disabled vet's homes; increase veterans ability to protest job discrimination.

Transportation Security

The bill deals with appropriations, aviation security, and surface transportation security.

HR 2200

Veteran Jobs

The bill makes amendments to current law for the purpose of providing entrepreneurial training and counseling to veterans and other groups.

HR 2352

Disable Veterans

The bill authorizes a grant program for those who want to develop assistive technologies for use in the specially adapted housing.

HR 1170

Veteran Job Discrimination

Members of the Uniformed Services, when facing employment practices they think are illegal must file a complaint with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Under this bill they would file directly with OSC and OSC is given the authority to investigate and prosecute all such complaints.

HR 1089

The House is adjourned until June 1st.

The Senate will remain in session through May 22nd amending HR 2346, will adjourn, and reconvene on June 1st.