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Video of the Day
05/03/2017: White House Press Briefing


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Today’s Hill Action
Senate Floor Schedule
The Senate reconvenes at 9:30 a.m. and will be in a period of morning business. At approximately 10:30-11:00 a.m., the Senate may vote on a motion to proceed to a joint resolution (H J Res 66) that would nullify and disapprove of a Labor Department rule that exempts certain state-administered retirement savings plans from select federal regulations if state programs meet certain standards.
H J Res 66 – A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to savings arrangements established by States for non-governmental employees.
Committee Hearings
09:30am: Foreign Affairs
10:00am: Contributions of Defense Laboratories
10:00am:Global Philanthropy-Remittances-Development
10:00am:FBI Oversight
10:00am: Broadband Infrastructure Investment
10:00am: Streamlining Infrastructure Projects
10:30am: Economy/Private Sector Growth
10:30am: Defense Innovation/Research Funding
02:30am: Flexible Modern Military
House Floor Schedule
The House reconvenes at noon for legislative business. The chamber is expected take final votes on two bills previously debated under suspension of the rules (HR 1665 and HR 1678) and to consider a bill (HR 244) that provides government funding through FY 2017.
HR 244 – Expected Legislative Vehicle for Fiscal 2017 Omnibus Appropriations.
HR 1665 – A bill to ensure that Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers severe local impact in making a recommendation to the President for a major disaster declaration.
HR 1678 – A bill to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act concerning the statute of limitations for actions to recover disaster or emergency assistance payments, and for other purposes.
Committee Hearings
09:00am: Financial Accountability Reform
09:30am: FAFSA Data Breach
09:30am: Foreign Affairs
10:00am: Member’s Day/Outside Witnesses
10:00am: Government Fiscal Management Failures
10:00am: Veterans Affairs Oversight
10:00am Pending Pipeline/Hydropower Infrastructure Legislation
10:00am: Pending Legislation
10:00am: Oil and Gas Technology Innovation
10:00am: Maritime Regulatory Issues
10:00am: Pending Legislation
10:00am: Pending Legislation
10:30am: Public Witness Day
10:30am: Census 2020 Oversight
10:30am: Pending Legislation
11:00am: Small Business Accelerator Model
01:00pm: IRS Oversight
02:00pm: Denying Terrorists Entry
02:30pm: New Hydropower Development/Affordability
03:30pm: Littoral Combat Ships/Frigate Class Transition
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G.O.P. Eyes $8 Billion Addition to Win a Crucial Vote to the Latest Health Bill
With two days left before an 11-day recess and no vote scheduled, House Republican leaders considered last-minute changes to their latest bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, including at least $8 billion in extra spending to answer the concerns of an influential Republican who had come out against the measure.

The scramble for votes – and a potential new willingness to throw money at the bill – underscored the price another failure would carry if Speaker Paul D. Ryan could not rally his considerable House majority around a legislative priority that Republicans have promised for seven years.

Republican leaders were ready to move on from health care after the embarrassing collapse of their measure in March, but President Trump pressed Mr. Ryan hard to deliver on a major campaign promise and personally pressured House members to fall into line.

If the effort fails, it will greatly weaken the president’s hand on Capitol Hill and cast a shadow across the rest of his legislative agenda, especially the deep tax cuts and rewrite of the tax code that he has proposed – and that are likely to be no easier to tackle than health care.

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Take the long view: Trump’s trade plan a rough deal for America
U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin once said “No nation was ever ruined by trade.” President Donald J. Trump seems determined to prove Franklin wrong. In an April 29, 2017, Executive Order, Trump directed the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to review all of America’s recent trade agreements. He wants trade officials to determine if America is being treated “fairly” by it trade partners.

The Executive Order (EO) states that the president believes that trade agreements “must increase economic growth, contribute to the balance of trade, and strengthen the manufacturing base.” These agreements are not fair if they harm “American workers and domestic manufacturers, farmers, and ranchers” or fail to “protect our intellectual property; and encourage domestic research and development.”

The executive order is troubling for many reasons. First, Trump seems to believe that while our trade partners have many beneficiaries, few Americans benefit from trade agreement rules. But trade and trade agreements can bring both positive and negative effects upon American firms, producers, consumers, taxpayers, shareholders and citizens.
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While in White House, Trumps remained selling points for ‘very special’ Philippines project
Investors looking to buy a condo at Trump Tower in the Philippines would have found, until this week, some high-powered video testimonials on the project’s official website.

There was Donald Trump, in a message filmed several years before he was elected president of the United States, declaring that the skyscraper bearing his name near the Philippine capital would be “something very, very special, like nobody’s seen before.” Then there was his daughter Ivanka Trump, now a senior White House adviser, lavishing praise on the project as a “milestone in Philippine real estate history.”

Four months into President Trump’s tenure, his business relationship with a developer who is one of the Philippines’ richest and most powerful men has emerged as a prime example of the collision between the private interests of a businessman in the White House and his public responsibility to shape U.S. foreign policy.
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Until tomorrow,
Lobbyit.com