Combatting ISIL – Syria and Iraq Crises After Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet over its territory last Tuesday, President Barack Obama maintained Turkey had a right to defend its airspace. He spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that day, expressing U.S. and NATO support for Turkey’s right to defend its sovereignty. The two … Continue Reading
Terrorist Attacks – Paris and Beirut Last Friday evening, President Barack Obama addressed the nation as the press reported of numerous fatalities and injuries resulting from coordinated terrorist attacks at multiple locations in Paris, France. The President immediately offered U.S. assistance to France and said the attacks were “an attack on all of humanity and … Continue Reading
Syrian and Iraqi Crises Secretary of State John Kerry delivered remarks on U.S. Middle East policy last Wednesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Secretary called on the Russian Government to contribute to the end of the Syrian conflict, including through a political settlement. He also highlighted areas where the United States, Russia, … Continue Reading
Indonesia – Washington Visit This afternoon, President Barack Obama will welcome President Joko Widodo of Indonesia to the White House. President Widodo is making his first visit to the United States since becoming President of Indonesia. President Obama and President Widodo are expected to discuss plans to expand existing areas of bilateral cooperation, including in … Continue Reading
Iran Nuclear Deal Enters into Force – Congress Scrutinizes Iran’s ICBM Test On Sunday, President Barack Obama issued a statement on the adoption day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between the P5+1 and Iran. The President said he had directed the heads of all relevant U.S. executive departments and agencies to begin … Continue Reading
TPP Update Extending into a fifth day on Sunday, TPP negotiators spent the weekend hashing out final compromises on biologics exclusivity, dairy market access, sensitive products, investor-state dispute settlement, and other last minute issues. The United States and Japan reportedly reached agreement in principle on automobile market access and rules-of-origin in talks that also included … Continue Reading
President Obama’s UNGA Schedule President Barack Obama is in New York City (NYC) attending the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) until Tuesday. He delivered remarks at the closing session of the Post-2015 Development Agenda after he arrived Sunday afternoon. The President will address the UNGA this morning, where he is expected to review progress made over the last year … Continue Reading
Iran According to the press, the P5+1 negotiators and Iran plan to announce today that they have reached a historic deal that would address Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Though negotiators said that they had hoped to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran by last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced … Continue Reading
TPA Moves Separately, Senate Vote Sequencing Outlined After the House Rules Committee approved a vote on a standalone Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill – unlinking it from the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill that previously failed in a vote – the House passed the measure last Thursday by a vote of 218 to 208. This … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Fails to Include Cybersecurity Legislation as Part of the National Defense Authorization Act Last week, the Senate attempted to add the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 754) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) but ultimately failed to garner enough votes to move to consideration of the amendment. Senate … Continue Reading
Recap of Last Week’s House Action on Trade Legislation Last Friday, President Barack Obama made a last-minute trip to Capitol Hill in the morning to encourage support among Democrats for the bill containing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), acknowledging to the press that the vote situation remained fluid. That afternoon, the … Continue Reading
G-7 Summit President Barack Obama arrived in Germany on Sunday to attend the G-7 Summit. The leaders are expected to review the current situation in Ukraine; discuss continued support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; and underscore their support for a diplomatic solution based on full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Many expect the G-7 … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity National Defense Authorization Act Passes the House with Cyber Amendments Last week, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2016 by a 269-151 vote. During the floor debate, a number of amendments related to cybersecurity were added to the bill. Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) offered two amendments that both … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Immigration Provision Removed from House Defense Bill On Friday, the House passed H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2016, by a vote of 269 in favor and 151 against. During floor debate, the chamber narrowly approved an amendment proposed by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) stripping language from H.R. 1735 that would … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Immigration Amendments Threaten Annual Defense Authorization Bill This week, the House of Representatives will debate the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 1735), Congress’s annual measure authorizing defense programs. During its consideration of the bill last week, the House Armed Services Committee approved two amendments that would ask the Defense Secretary … Continue Reading
TPA Update Last Wednesday, 6 May, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) filed a motion to proceed to a “shell” House-passed bill (H.R. 1314) for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), a procedural tactic used since TPA is a revenue measure and must originate in the House. The next day, the Majority Leader filed cloture on a … Continue Reading
Upcoming Head of State Visit This week, President Obama will host his eighth Head of State visit, welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the White House. Previous visits include: India (November 2009); Mexico (May 2010); China (January 2011); Germany (June 2011); Korea (October 2011); the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (March 2012); and France … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity National Defense Authorization Act Last Monday, House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) provided a timeline for House action on the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). He said that the HASC subcommittees would mark up their portions of the annual policy measure the week of 20 April. The full … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Possible This Week Last week, Senate leadership began the process of moving two cybersecurity bills – the Federal Information Security Modernization (FISMA) Act of 2014 (S. 2521) and the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) Act of 2014 (S. 2519) – to the floor to be considered under unanimous consent. … Continue Reading
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Last Thursday, the House passed the Senate-House compromise FY 2015 Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon NDAA by a vote of 300-119. Retiring House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-California) gave his farewell address on the House floor last week, imploring, “I hope sometime next year a compromise can … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) The NDAA is considered a must-pass annual bill. While the House passed its measure (H.R. 4435) in May, the Senate is behind on considering its respective bill (S. 2410). Therefore, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees started pre-conference meetings last week to try and reach agreement on a final Fiscal Year 2015 NDAA … Continue Reading
EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH ACTIVITY BUDGET, AND DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION The Senate met briefly Sunday to file cloture on the two-year bipartisan budget deal (H. J. Res. 59) and the compromise FY 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3304). The House passed both measures on Thursday, December 12, before recessing for the year. Senators are expected … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Trade The third round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) discussions get underway this week in Washington. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht are expected to meet in either January or February to start a “political review” of the progress made in the … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Defense Authorization The Senate returns to Washington this afternoon and is scheduled to resume its floor debate on the Fiscal 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) ( S.1197). Top Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have been working on a scaled-back NDAA bill to ensure its passage … Continue Reading
