Emergency Appropriations for the Border
The House voted 230-195 on Tuesday to pass a $4.5 emergency supplemental appropriations bill for the border after Democratic leadership added provisions to secure support from the Congressional Hispanic and Progressive Caucuses. On Wednesday, the Senate rejected the House-passed measure 37-55 before passing its own $4.6 billion bill 84-8. Leadership is now working to reconcile the differences between the two bills and produce a package that can secure enough support to send to the President for his signature before lawmakers leave for next week’s recess.
Second FY20 Minibus
Elsewhere, the House voted 227-194 to pass its second FY20 minibus, a $383 billion spending package, before taking up and passing, 224-196, a $25 billion FY20 Financial Services-General Government spending bill. The Senate continues to consider, and is expected to pass today, its FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Robocalls Legislation
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed H.R. 3375, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, unanimously on Tuesday, just weeks after the Senate passed its own legislation aimed at combatting illegal robocalls, the TRACED Act.
SPECTRUM NOW Act
On Tuesday, Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI), alongside senior House Energy and Commerce Committee members Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY), introduced the Supplementing the Pipeline for Efficient Control of The Resources for Users Making New Opportunities for Wireless (SPECTRUM NOW) Act, legislation aimed at accelerating the process to repurpose key spectrum for 5G by creating a pathway for agencies to modify operations on federally-held spectrum to make those frequencies available for commercial wireless broadband use.
President Trump is in Japan for the G-20 Summit and a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Read more in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Emerging Technologies Washington Update.