Episode Details

In this episode, we look at a bill that furthers the "new normal" in Africa, a bill that sanctions Venezuela, a banking bill, a charter school bill, some silly bills that won't become law, and a few Presidential declarations. Presidential Declarations H. Doc. 113-107: Withdrew Russia as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences program Russia loses duty-free treatment. On what? State Dept website says: Products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP include: most manufactured items; many types of chemicals, minerals and building stone; jewelry; many types of carpets; and certain agricultural and fishery products. USTR numbers sheet: Top 6 Products: Car parts, metals, tires, oil, precious metal jewelry, corn H. Doc. 113-108: Continued National Emergency in Syria H. Doc 113-109: Proposed agreement for nuclear energy with Vietnam Bills That Passed the House HR 4386: State Supervision of Banks Allows state examinations of banks if the state examines the banks for compliance with federal rules. Became Law on August 8th without any recorded votes. H.R. 3080: Water Project Funding This was the bill that privatized water projects that was the subject of episode CD050: Privatize Water Projects. The version that became law didn't rush environmental reviews. There's no deemed approval of projects and lawsuits against a permit will be barred after 3 years, not five months. The bill keeps the provision that allows natural gas companies and utilities to pay the Army to speed up their permitting process, but added that the authority will expire in seven years and the permits have to be available to the public on the Internet. The House version would have allowed privatization of facility management and emergency water projects but the law allows privatization of the construction of publicly paid-for water projects in the United States. The pilot program to privatize fifteen flood mitigation projects also survived. [caption id="attachment_1556" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Escape from privatized flood control projects in style![/caption] HR 2548: Economic Hitmen to Africa Act of 2014 Passed 297-117 on May 8, 2014 "The Millennium Challenge Corporation's work in the energy sector shows high projected economic rates of return that translate to sustainable economic growth and that the highest returns are projected when infrastructure improvements are coupled with significant legislative, regulatory, institutional, and policy reforms." Orders a report on "Administration policy to support partner country efforts to attract private sector investment and public sector resources." Would be US policy to promote installation of 20,000 megawatts of electricity in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 and support "the necessary in-country legislative, regulatory and policy reforms to make such expansion of electricity access possible." Electricity would come from new hydroelectric dams "supported" by the private sector. The President needs to establish the policy and funding strategy which includes efforts "to attract private sector investment and public sector resources". It's the sense of Congress that USAID should give loan guarantees to banks in Africa and grants to undefined groups to support this plan. USAID is requesting $1.5 billion from Congress in 2015. Part of the strategy includes providing technical assistance to African governments "to remove unnecessary barriers to investment" in commercial projects. "Trade and development policy: In general, the director of the Trade and Development Agency should promote United States private sector participation in energy sector development projects..." Introduced by Rep. Ed Royce, who represents the hot and dusty parts of Orange County, California. S. 2508, an almost identical bill, was introduced in the Senate in June by a Democrat. The White House has not issued a veto threat. H.R. 4578: Sanction Venezuela Act No Recorded Vote - Passed Unanimously After the former Presiden