Floor Action:
Miscellaneous—On April 24, the House passed, by unanimous consent, H. Res. 838, a resolution honoring the life of Barbara Bush. The Senate passed, by unanimous consent, its version of the resolution, S. Res. 485, on April 25.
Violence Against Women—On April 25, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, S. Res. 401, a resolution designating May 5 as a “National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.”
On April 26, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, S. Res. 499, a resolution recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
Mark-Ups:
Appropriations—On April 26, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies approved the FY2019 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee website, the legislation provides, in total, $96.9 billion in discretionary funding. This amount is $4.2 billion more than the FY2018 discretionary spending level.
On April 26, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch passed, by voice vote, the FY2019 Legislative Branch spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $1.2 billion for House operations, which includes funding for workplace rights training, the Wellness Program, and the Office of Compliance, which would help ensure employees know their rights.
Health—On April 24, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved, 23-0, several bills, including S. 2680, the Opioid Crisis Response Act. This bill would provide treatment for pregnant and postpartum women and early interventions for pregnant women and infants.
On April 25, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health approved several bills by voice vote, including a bill to provide Medicaid coverage for pregnant and postpartum women receiving treatment for substance abuse disorders (as-yet-unnumbered), and H.R. 5562, the Protecting Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) Babies Act.
Military—On April 26, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel approved, by voice vote, its portion of H.R. 5515, the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes provisions to improve sexual assault prevention and response in the military.
Hearings:
Human Trafficking—On April 26, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing, “Oversight of HHS and DHS Efforts to Protect Unaccompanied Alien Children from Human Trafficking and Abuse.”
