Capitol Hill Update, 15 April, 2013

Here’s FreedomWorks’ Weekly Update from Capitol Hill, for the week of April 15-19, 2013.

House/Senate/Schedule: Both chambers of Congress will remain in session for the next two weeks.

Legislative Highlight of the Week: This week is Cyber Week in the House, during which the House will deal with various internet regulations and cybersecurity measures.  The most important of these is the Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), H.R. 624.  Sponsored by Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-8), this bill would allow for more information sharing between the private sector and the federal government regarding cybersecurity.  Although this year’s CISPA is a net improvement over last year’s bill, it still leaves open concerns about private information being shared in the name of national security.  Until the remaining privacy concerns in the bill are addressed, FreedomWorks opposes this bill.

House/Cybersecurity: During Cyber Week, the House will also be considering H.R. 1163, the Federal Information Security Amendments (FISA) Act.  FISA has over the years repeatedly caused concerns about internet privacy, so while this bill has recieved little attention from privacy groups thus far, it bears watching.

House/Cybersecurity: The House will also vote on H.R. 967, the Advancing America’s Networking Information Technology Research and Development Act.  Sponsored by Cynthia Lummis (WY-AL), this bill would provide funding for research and development in the cybersecurity and tech industries.  In a free market, the market decides what is worthy of R&D, not the government.

House/Energy: On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote on H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act.  This bill would authorize the completion of the Keystone XL Pipeline in spite of the President’s executive orders to the contrary, and would shield the pipeline from some of the potential lawsuits which would be levied by environmentalist groups looking to stop it.  FreedomWorks has supported this bill – you can read our letter HERE.

House/New Fair Deal: With the release of the New Fair Deal Program, the first two bills will be released:

  1. The first, introduced by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (SC-5) is the New Fair Deal: Consolidating and Eliminating Outdated Subsidies (CEO’s) Act.  This bill would eliminate many direct federal subsidies, such as the infamous sugar subsidy and high-speed rail.
  2. The second bill is the New Fair Deal: Busting America’s Rigid, Outdated, and Needless Subsidies (BARONS) Act”, introduced by Rep. Mike Pompeo (KS-4).  This bill would eliminate many federal credits and subsidies which favor selected companies and industries through the tax code. The bill primarily targets energy companies which recieve taxpayer dollars to develop special fuels and green energy.