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Congress Looks to Advance President Trump's Cabinet Selections
Both the House and Senate return this week after President Donald J. Trump's inauguration last Friday. The Senate will continue to move forward with the approval of the President's cabinet nominations, with multiple Senate Committees scheduled to hold nomination votes this week. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation, and Science is expected to vote tomorrow on the nomination of Elaine Chao to be the next secretary of Transportation and Wilbur Ross to be the next secretary of Commerce. The House's legislative schedule is a little on the light side of things, as the House Republican Conference is set to hold its annual policy retreat in Philadelphia later in the week. Major areas of discussion at the policy retreat likely include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, tax reform, and the President's potential infrastructure plan.
Additionally, the Senate Commerce Committee will also conduct a markup of several pieces of legislation including S. 168
, the Commercial Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA). The bill, which is sponsored by Sens. Roger Wicker (MS), Marco Rubio (FL), Bill Nelson (Fl), John Thune (SD), would make the U.S. Coast Guard the sole federal regulator of ballast water discharges. The markup is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. and can be viewed
here
.
Other bills of interest during the markup include:
- S. 110, the Digital Coast Act, Sponsors: Sens. Tammy Baldwin (WI), Dan Sullivan (AK), Cory Booker (NJ)
- S. 129, the National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2017, Sponsors: Sens. Roger Wicker (MS), Brian Schatz (HI), Maria Cantwell (WA), Dan Sullivan (AK)
- S. 171, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments and Hydrographic Services Improvement Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2017, Sponsors: Sens. Dan Sullivan (AK), John Thune (SD), Bill Nelson (FL), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Brian Schatz (HI), Maria Cantwell (WA), Roger Wicker (MS)
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program or
Jared Mott
, Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi River at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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International Joint Commission Seeks Comment on Progress Towards Restoring Water Quality of the Great Lakes
The International Joint Commission (IJC) released its draft Triennial Assessment of Progress (TAP) report last week, which assesses the progress that the governments of the U.S. and Canada have made towards restoring the water quality of the Great Lakes under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). This is the first TAP report written under the 2012 revision of the GLWQA. The findings of the report address various issues covered in the GLWQA; including the water quality of Lake Erie, aquatic invasive species, human health, climate change, and public engagement in implementation of GLWQA objectives. The IJC seeks public comment on both its First Triennial Assessment of Progress Report on Great Lakes Water Quality and the Canadian and U.S. Governments' Progress Report of the Parties. More information on how to provide comments is given by the IJC here.
For more information, contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program or Ankita Mandelia
, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI to Host Annual Capitol Hill Reception for the Region
The Northeast-Midwest Institute will hold its annual Capitol Hill Reception for the Region on February 7.
The Reception is an opportunity to talk with elected officials and stakeholders about the upcoming federal agenda for our region. Details are below.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The Capitol Visitor's Center Atrium
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Eugene Shestakov
at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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