D.C. Legislative Update: December 6 – 10, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

Congressional News

  • Recovering America’s Wildlife Act – Collin O’Mara to Testify: On Wednesday, December 8 at 10am EST, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on S. 2372, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. NWF CEO Collin O’Mara will testify in support of the bill. He will be joined on the witness panel by Dan Ashe of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Sara Parker Pauley of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, and Jonathan Wood of the Property and Environment Research Center. Recovering America’s Wildlife Act has gained 32 Senate cosponsors – including 9 of the 20 members of the Environment and Public Works Committee – and 137 in the House. This hearing is a major step towards passing this key NWF priority, and it reflects the enthusiastic support of this bipartisan group of legislators, our partners, and the entire Federation Family.
    • More details on the hearing, including a livestream link are available at the Committee website here, and livestreams are also available on Twitter, and YouTube.
  • Last week, Congress passed and the president signed a stopgap government funding bill, preventing a government shutdown. The law funds the government at existing levels through February 18, 2022, with the addition of $7 billion to support Afghan evacuees. Congressional leaders are continuing to negotiate on a full-year spending package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The House and Senate appropriations committees have each posted their proposed funding bills for FY22, available here: Senate Committee; and House Committee.

Administrative News 

  • See here for White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics. 

What’s Happening This Week

  • The House and Senate are both in session this week.
  • The Senate is expected to consider nominees, and will be engaged with the House on efforts to pass a deadlocked National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.
    • Senate committees will be meeting with the Senate Parliamentarian to review provisions of the Build Back Better Act and ensure that the legislation abides by the rules of the Budget Reconciliation process.
  • The House is expected to consider R. 5314, the Protecting Our Democracy Act. a possible Continuing Resolution for FY2022 appropriations given the current CR expires this week. In addition, the House is expected to work on a number of suspension bills, including H.R.2074, the Indian Buffalo Management Act, and H.R. 5608, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act.
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

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