1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters
2. Pro-Diplomacy Forces Gain Ground in Iran Hill Battle
3. The New Strategy: Fighting BDS with Legislation Attacking Free
Speech?
4. Hearings
5. Members on the Record
Note: Apologies for the irregular schedule of Round-Ups in recent weeks (due to winter colds,
international visitors, and now an impending snow storm). The Round-Up should return to its regular Friday
schedule starting next week.
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APN Legislative Round-Up
Special Recess Edition
The FY14 Omnibus
Jan. 24, 2014
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Last week the House and Senate passed HR 3547, the FY 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. On 1/17/14 the President signed it into law. Division K of HR 3547 is the “Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2014,” which includes all foreign affairs appropriations (other than that which is appropriated under the Department of Defense), as well as a great deal of authorizing language (this has long been the pattern, given the inability of Congress to usually pass a Foreign Relations Authorization bill).
Below are details of the Middle East-related elements in the final bill, as well as relevant details from the accompanying report (known in this context as a Joint Explanatory Statement - JES). For details of the Middle East elements in the House version of this bill, HR 2855, and its accompanying report, see the 7/19/13 Round-Up. For details of the Middle East elements in the Senate version of this bill, S.1372, and its accompanying report, see the 7/26-8/2 Round-Up (Part 2).
It should be noted that the JES states explicitly that: “In implementing this agreement, Federal departments, agencies, and other entities shall comply with the directives, reporting requirements, and allocations contained in H. Rept. 113-185 (House report) accompanying H.R. 2855 (House bill) and S. Rept. 113-81 (Senate report) accompanying S. 1372 (Senate bill) as though stated in this explanatory statement unless specifically directed to the contrary. This explanatory statement, while repeating some House and Senate report language for emphasis or clarification, does not negate such language unless expressly provided herein.” Thus, to gain a full picture of Congressional intent and directives, the analysis below must be combined with the analysis of the House and Senate reports, linked in the preceding paragraph and examined in the relevant Round-Ups.
1. Bills and Resolutions
2. Obama vs. "Pro-Israel" Groups on Iran, Part IV
3. Congress, Diplomacy, Sanctions, and Israel - Where Things Stand, What
Next
4. White House Implores Senate to Give Time for Talks
5. NDAA Amendments in the Spotlight
6. Members Sound Off on Iran - Letters
7. Members Sound Off on Iran - Statements, Op-eds, Etc.
8. Hearings
9. Members on the Record [on things other than Iran/sanctions]