WASHINGTON, DC - The Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), has scheduled a markup for Thursday, July 12, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
“The bills we will consider this week, most of which are bipartisan, are critical to advancing the priorities of the American people. Among them, these bills include important reauthorizations to strengthen our health care workforce, address key challenges facing America’s nuclear energy industry, and improve rural broadband access," said Chairman Walden. “I look forward to our continued efforts to produce commonsense solutions that empower consumers, patients, small businesses, and all Americans."
The following bills originating from #SubHealth will be considered:
* H.R. 5385, the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018, authored by #SubHealth Ranking Member Gene Green (D-TX) and #SubHealth Chairman Burgess, will reauthorize the Children’s Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program for five years. H.R. 5385 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing. H.R. 5385 passed #SubHealth last month, as amended, by voice vote.
* H.R. 959, the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2017, authored by Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), will amend Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to reauthorize nursing workforce development programs, which support the recruitment, retention, and advanced education of skilled nursing professionals. H.R. 959 also extends advanced education nursing grants to support clinical nurse specialists and clinical nurse leaders, defines nurse-managed health clinics, adds clinical nurse specialists to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education, and reauthorizes loan repayments, scholarships, and grants for education, practice, quality and retention. H.R. 959 was the subject of a September 2017 legislative hearing. H.R. 959 passed #SubHealth last month, as amended, by voice vote.
* H.R. 1676, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, authored by Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Tom Reed (R-NY), and Buddy Carter (R-GA), will direct HHS to award grants to improve the training of health professionals in palliative care. H.R. 1676 will increase education and awareness about the benefits and services of palliative care, and also enhances research on palliative care through leveraging existing authorities and funds at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The text of H.R. 1676 was the subject of a September 2016 (previous Congress) legislative hearing. H.R. 1676 passed #SubHealth last month, as amended, by voice vote.
* H.R. 3728, the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency Readiness (EMPOWER) Act of 2017, authored by #SubHealth Chairman Burgess, and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Larry Bucshon (R-IN), will amend Title VII of the PHSA to reauthorize the health professions workforce programs that support loan repayment and provider training experiences in primary care, dentistry, rural or underserved areas, and in community-based settings. These programs include the Centers of Excellence, the Health Professions Training for Diversity Program, Primary Care Training and Enhancement grants, Training in General Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry grants, Area Health Education Centers, the National Center for Healthcare Workforce Analysis, and Public Health Workforce grants. H.R. 3728 will also restructure the geriatric health professional grant program to reflect changes that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has pursued to enhance outcomes for geriatric patients. H.R. 3728 was the subject of a September 2017 legislative hearing. H.R. 3728 passed #SubHealth last month, as amended, by voice vote.
The following bill originating from #SubDCCP will be considered:
* H.R. 6032, the SMART IoT Act, authored by #SubDCCP Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), would direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on the state of the internet-connected devices industry. H.R. 6032 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubDCCP last month by voice vote.
The following bills originating from #SubCommTech will be considered:
* H.R. 2345, the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act of 2017, authored by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in consultation with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), to study and report on the feasibility of designating an N11 dialing code to be used for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system. H.R. 2345 was the subject of a March 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubCommTech last month by voice vote.
* H.R. 5709, Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, authored by #SubCommTech Vice Chairman Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), to increase fines for illegal pirate operations from $10,000 per violation to $100,000 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $2,000,000, and streamline the FCC’s enforcement process and empower state and local law enforcement in combating illegal pirate operations. H.R. 5709 was the subject of a March 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubCommTech last month by voice vote.
* H.R. 3994, the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand (ACCESS BROADBAND) Act, authored by Rep. Tonko and Rep. Lance, to establish an Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to coordinate and track federal funding for broadband across all agencies. This is an important step in the NTIA reauthorization process the subcommittee began last year and continued with the recent #SubCommTech legislative hearing on draft NTIA reauthorization legislation. H.R. 3994 was the subject of a January 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubCommTech last month by voice vote.
* H.R. 4881, Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018, authored by #SubDCCP Chairman Latta and Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA), to require the FCC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to form a task force to evaluate the best ways to meet the broadband needs of precision agriculture. H.R. 4881 was the subject of a January 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubCommTech last month by voice vote.
The following bills originating from #SubEnergy will be considered:
* H.R. 1320, the Nuclear Utilization of Keynote Energy Act, authored by #SubDCCP Vice Chairman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), revises the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) fee recovery structure and increases the predictability, transparency, and efficiency of the NRC’s regulatory processes. H.R. 1320 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubEnergy last month by voice vote.
* H.R. 6140, the Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Act, authored by Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA), directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a program to support the availability of “high-assay low enriched uranium" to help enable advanced nuclear energy technology development. The legislation provides for a public-private partnership to address regulatory and market challenges associated with advanced nuclear fuel for nuclear engineers and scientists to develop and deploy innovative nuclear energy technologies. H.R. 6140 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubEnergy last month unanimously by voice vote.
The following bills originating from #SubEnvironment will be considered:
* H.R. 2278, the Responsible Disposal Reauthorization Act, authored Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), amends the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 to extend the authorization for the Secretary of Energy to continue the operation of the disposal site in Mesa County, Colorado (known as the Cheney disposal cell) for receiving and disposing of residual radioactive material from processing sites from 2023 to 2048. H.R. 2278 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubEnvironment last month, as amended, by voice vote.
* H.R. 2389, to reauthorize West Valley demonstration project, authored by Rep. Reed, reauthorizes the West Valley Demonstration Project located in West Valley, New York. Additionally, the legislation considers the disposal pathway for the project’s radioactive waste. H.R. 2389 was the subject of a May 2018 legislative hearing, and passed #SubEnvironment last month, as amended, by voice vote.
Electronic copies of the bills under consideration can be found online HERE. A background memo, amendments, and votes will be available at the same link as they are posted.
