The House and Senate are in session this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will vote on 12 bills under suspension of the rules, including: the "Checkpoint Optimization and Efficiency Act of 2016" (H.R. 5338), which would direct the TSA to take actions to reduce passenger wait times at airports, and a House amendment to the "Securing America's Future Energy: Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (SAFE PIPES) Act" (S. 2276), which would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) pipeline safety programs through FY 2019 and create new standards for underground natural gas storage tanks. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the "Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2016" (H.R. 4775), which would delay, until 2024, the EPA's revised air quality standard for ground-level ozone; the $3.48 billion FY 2017 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill (H.R. 5325), which provides funding for the offices of the House, security and police forces, and Capitol operations and maintenance; the "Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act" (H.R. 5278), which provides Puerto Rico with the tools to restructure its $72 billion in debt; and two nonbinding resolutions (H.Con.Res. 89 & H.Con.Res.112), expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the U.S. and opposing a $10-per-barrel tax on oil included in President Obama's budget request, as well as any new tax on oil, respectively.

 

The Senate will resume consideration of the $602 billion FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act ( S. 2943 ) and, on Monday, will vote on an amendment , introduced by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), which would modify a requirement that the Secretary of Defense inform Congress before making any changes to the military's health-care system. Other issues likely to be debated on the bill include economic sanctions against Iran, new restrictions on President Obama's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, and a provision that requires women to register for the Selective Service. The Senate will also likely consider the House-passed "Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act" ( H.R. 2576 ), which would reauthorize the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and expand the EPA's power to regulate chemicals and substances that are used to make consumer products. House and Senate leaders will also form a conference committee soon to bridge the gap over each chamber's approach to providing funding to combat the Zika virus. The House has passed legislation to provide $622 million through September 30, 2016, while the Senate would provide $1.1 billion through the end of FY 2017. Both chambers are also expected to convene a conference committee soon to hash out a compromise bill to address opioid abuse.

 

House Republicans will start rolling out their "Confident America" agenda this week. The first paper, scheduled for publication  on Tuesday , deals with poverty. The second paper covers national security and will be released  on Thursday . The overall agenda is a blueprint for legislation that would be signed into law under a Republican President. Additional papers to be released later in June include "Innovation & Investment", "The Constitution", "Health Care", and "Tax Reform". House Republicans this week will also discuss ways to get the appropriations process moving again after House Democrats attached a pro-LGBT amendment to an FY 2017 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill. The inclusion of the provision caused Republicans to vote down the spending bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has floated the possibility of changing the rules for filing amendments to spending bills.