The House of Representatives passed five new bills addressing military defense, bureaucratic transparency, ecology, and land development. The most prominent of these bills is the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act, which allocates more funding for military purposes.
This was the first bill passed by the House. Also known as House Resolution (HR) 4016, the bill provides the DOD appropriations for military personnel, operation and maintenance, and research and development.
For other programs, HR 4016 provides for the healthcare, destruction of chemical agents and munitions, and the Office of the Inspector General.
Alongside these functions, HR 4016 provides appropriations for funds like the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund and the Intelligence Community Management Account.
Second, the House passed HR 1917, also known as the Great Lakes Mass Marking Program Act. This bill provides statutory authority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to conduct mass marking of hatchery-produced fish in the Great Lakes basin.
For context, mass marking is the practice of tagging hatchery-produced fish so they can be distinguished from the wild fish population.
HR 1917 allows the FWS to purchase items to support and carry out tagging and tag recovery operations on a greater scale, and hire additional personnel.
Third, the House passed HR 3937, also known as the Wabeno Economic Development Act. This bill requires the Forest Service to transfer fourteen acres of federal land in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest to Tony's Wabeno Redi-Mix, LLC.
This transfer may only occur upon receiving an offer to buy the land for market value. With this requirement, the Forest Service must complete an appraisal to determine the market value of the land, and the offer must be received within 180 days.
Finally, the House passed HR 3351, also known as the Improving Access to Small Business Information Act. This bill excludes from the Paperwork Reduction Act actions taken by the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation within the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, agencies must comply with specific procedures when gathering information from the public.
HR 3351 seems to be an attempt to promote transparency because it requires the office to inform the person why their information is being collected.
