IL-14: NDAA Conference Committee Finishes Work & Passes House

Lauren Underwood Service on NDAA Conference Committee Completed

Amid all of the end-of-year activity in the House of Representatives including the Impeachment hearings and Articles of Impeachment and the passage of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s prescription drug pricing bill, other work had progress made, too.

And this work was genuinely bipartisan, and a new word I’m reading/seeing much more lately, “bicameral”. Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020) began on October 1, but the federal government, to avoid a shutdown, has been operating on continuing resolutions.

The reason is Congress, and this is primarily in the Senate, has not passed all 12 appropriations bills which officially fund the government for the federal fiscal year from October 1 through September 30.

The 2nd continuing resolutions expires next Friday, December 20, and Congress is racing to pass all remaining appropriations bills in the next week.

One of the largest and most significant appropriations bills, the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) made significant progress this week.

During the summer, the House passed its NDAA in H.R. 2500, while at the same time, the Senate passed S. 1790, or its version of NDAA.

A conference committee started meeting in early October to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of NDAA, and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood was appointed to be a House conferee representing Homeland Security, through her position as Vice Chair of that committee.

The conference committee finished its work early this week, and Underwood tweeted the following:

On Wednesday, the House voted to approve the final conference report on NDAA under S. 1790, and the vote grid is below:

Source: California Target Book Twitter BOT

Of the No votes, the 41 Democratic negative votes included all four members of the Squad, and the most leftist members of the Democratic Party, including the House Progressive Caucus co-chairs.

Senate approval of the final conference report for S. 1790 is expected next week.

An additional NDAA House conferee was Congressman Mark Green (R, TN), whose Spiritual Readiness Amendment made the final NDAA conference report and also approved on Wednesday.

I’m especially pleased that this year’s NDAA includes my Spiritual Readiness Amendment, which directs the Department of Defense to assess the availability of chaplains, houses of worship, and spiritual resources for military service members who identify as religiously affiliated.

“Those who profess a faith but are not able to practice it while serving are 5 times more likely to commit suicide. We must do more to ensure our warriors are spiritually prepared for war.

Congressman Mark Green press release 12/11/19
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It is nice to see bipartisan/bicameral cooperation in Washington, especially with the backdrop of Impeachment.

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Comments

IL-14: NDAA Conference Committee Finishes Work & Passes House — 16 Comments

  1. Just a reminder that Illinois is a magnet for America’s hip young creative class, of student council throne sniffers and political choad’s.

  2. This isn’t remarkable.

    NDAA seems to always easily pass.

    Just don’t try to slip in anything that would limit executive power, government spying, or war.

    Those kinds of amendments do not pass “bicameral” scrutiny.

  3. Please vote for impeachment Ms. Underwood and make our job easier to get rid of you!

  4. **a new word I’m reading/seeing much more lately, “bicameral”**

    LOL – that’s not a new word.

  5. My questions for Miss Lauren Underwood:

    Why doesn’t she go back to Ohio?

    Why does she claim abortion is health care, but rants about abortion clinics not having to obey basic health rules of real clinics?

    Why does she say she’s ‘woke.’?

  6. Nope.

    Still not new.

    That’s a term that’s been around forever and used exactly in this way.

  7. Bicameral just refers to two chambers, in case anybody is wondering.

    “We have a bicameral legislature” means we have a legislature with two chambers.

    Given that the federal government has a split congress (one part controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans), perhaps bicameral could be a proxy for bipartisan.

    If you live in Nebraska, you have a unicameral state legislature. It is the only state in the U.S. like that.

  8. NCIS used to be a favorite program but I can’t watch it any more because Abbie s replacement looks to much Like Underwood

  9. This Underwood lady scares me. Where the hell did she come from? I think I’ll send her a comb for Xmas.

  10. Keep up the good work Lauren…people don’t know how to deal with a rep that is actually working for the us!

  11. Thank You Patriotic Representative Underwood. You prove that Democrats CAN Walk and Chew Gum at the same time. Already have passed more Legislation for #WeThePeople of #IL14 in less than a Year, than the entire 8 year Regime of the Koch Whores owned by Fascist Plutocrats that was the Teabagger Caucus. These Bills that defend and enhance our Healthcare, Lower Prescription Drug Costs, Environmental, Economic, Infrastructure, Climate Change and Gun Safety Reforms and Protections are all sitting on the Treasonous Trump Sycophant Moscow Mitch’s Desk. While Simultaneously holding the most Corrupt so called President, Putin’s Stooge, and Fascist Administration in our nations history for their Crimes against the Constitution, our Democracy and Rule of Law.

    All that is left for the Majority of Patriotic, Educated and Intelligent Americans to OUST These Fascists Republicans from the Senate and EVERY State, Local and National Election next year so that we can Enact the Legislation for We the People OVER The Republican Legislation for They The Sociopathic Oligarchs and Plutocrats. Godspeed for America!!
    #ImpeachTheMFTraitorTrump

  12. “Bob”. Are you a certain Demo party hack who owns the framery near the railway tracks between CL and Woodstock?

    Yes, you are!

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