The bill will be considered under an open rule, which allows any member to offer a germane amendment during debate.  Republicans have committed to returning to open rules and regular order during the 112th Congress.

H.R. 2584, the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for FY12, responds to our nation’s current debt crisis by reducing spending by $2.1 billion.  Of these cuts, $1.5 billion come from the EPA.  “Currently the federal government borrows over 40 cents for each dollar it spends. While reductions in discretionary spending alone will not erase the deficit, FY12 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act is a step forward in that direction.”

The Interior Appropriations bill also addresses several regulations placed on business and industry by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “If we want our economy to make a sustainable recovery, we need to provide the certainty that job creators need to invest in their businesses and get our economy growing again. This bill takes important steps to do that.”

House Passes Cut, Cap and Balance Act
Congressman Mike Simpson, a senior Member on the House Budget Committee, joined his Republican colleagues in passing H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.  It passed 234-190.

H.R. 2560 responds directly to the budget and debt crisis facing our nation by curtailing out-of-control spending and reducing the size of the deficit through three mechanisms:

• Immediate Cuts – It cuts discretionary spending for fiscal year 2012 at $30 billion below the current spending levels.
• Long Term Caps – It caps annual federal spending at 19.9% of U.S. gross domestic product by 2021 which would force sharp spending cutbacks in coming years.
• Balanced Budget – It allows for an increase in the debt limit only after both the House and the Senate have passed a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and sent it to the 50 states.

“House Republicans are committed to bringing spending under control and brining the size of the federal government back to its historic size following years of growth and bloat.  H.R. 2560 does just that,” said Simpson. “This plan, along with the House FY2012 Budget Resolution, stand in stark contrast to what President Obama and congressional Democrats have to this point offered as their solutions – nothing.”

Congressman Simpson is an original cosponsor of H.J.Res. 2, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which he has cosponsored every session since he came to Congress. 

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, JULY 25TH
On Monday the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. First votes are expected as early as 1:00 p.m.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) S. 1103 - A bill to extend the term of the incumbent Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy / Judiciary Committee)

2) H.R. 440 - To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia (Sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf / Foreign Affairs Committee)

3) Senate Amendments to H.R. 1383 - Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Miller / Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

Begin Consideration of H.R. 2584 - Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (Open Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Michael Simpson / Appropriations Committee)

The rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order any amendment offered that complies with the House rules.

TUESDAY, JULY 26TH, AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The official photograph of the 112th Congress will be taken during the first series of votes on Tuesday.

On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) H.R. 2548 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6310 North University Street in Peoria, Illinois, as the "Charles 'Chip' Lawrence Chan Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Aaron Schock / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

2) H.R. 2244 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 67 Castle Street in Geneva, New York, as the "Corporal Steven Blaine Riccione Post Office" (Sponsored by Rep. Richard Hanna / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

3) H.R. 2213 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 801 West Eastport Street in Iuka, Mississippi, as the "Sergeant Jason W. Vaughn Post Office" (Sponsored by Rep. Allen Nunnelee / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

4) H.R. 789 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 20 Main Street in Little Ferry, New Jersey, as the "Sergeant Matthew J. Fenton Post Office" (Sponsored by Rep. Steven Rothman / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

5) H.R. 1975 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 281 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, as the "First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

6) H.R. 1843 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 489 Army Drive in Barrigada, Guam, as the "John Pangelinan Gerber Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Del. Madeleine Bordallo / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

7) H.R. 2062 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 45 Meetinghouse Lane in Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, as the "Matthew A. Pucino Post Office" (Sponsored by Rep. William Keating / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

8) H.R. 2149 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4354 Pahoa Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the "Cecil L. Heftel Post Office Building" (Sponsored by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

9) H.R. 2056 - To instruct the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to study the impact of insured depository institution failures, and for other purposes, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland / Financial Services Committee)

10) H.R. 2608 - Small Business Program Extension and Reform Act of 2011, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Sam Graves / Small Business Committee)

H.R. 1938 - North American-Made Energy Security Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Lee Terry / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee / Energy and Commerce Committee / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 2587 - Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Tim Scott / Education and the Workforce Committee)

Continue Consideration of H.R. 2584 - Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (Open Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Michael Simpson / Appropriations Committee)

The rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order any amendment offered that complies with the House rules.

Additional legislation related to the debt ceiling and restoring our nation’s fiscal house is likely, including a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

In the News

House addresses double whammy to irrigators
Bill would do away with additional permits for aquatic pesticide use
By Carol Ryan Dumas, Capital Press, July 21, 2011
Idaho water users are watching a key U.S. House subcommittee in hopes they will get relief from an aquatic pesticide regulation they see as onerous.

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho and chairman of the Interior and Environment Appropriations subcommittee, inserted language in an appropriations bill July 12 that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring additional permits for aquatic pesticide use under the Clean Water Act.

Water users, who spray aquatic herbicides to keep canals free of weeds for water delivery and to prevent flooding, are already regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, said Norm Semanko, executive director of Idaho Water Users Association.

"Double permitting is so unreasonable. We're already regulated by EPA. It's a perfect example of red tape and bureaucracy run amok," he said.

EPA's additional requirement that aquatic pesticide users have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit would go into effect Oct. 31, threatening to cripple water-delivery to farms and communities, he said.

Simpson attached legislative language that would amend both FIFRA and the Clean Water Act to clarify pesticide users would be regulated under FIFRA and not under the Clean Water Act. The language mirrors that of HR872, passed the House in March and the Senate Agriculture Committee in June.

"We now have two legislative vehicles to get this legislation in," Semanko said.
Even if the Interior appropriations bill doesn't pass, HR872 will stand on its own, he said.

Through either bill, Congress will do away with the burdensome double compliance requirement, said Ted Diehl, general manager of North Side Canal Co. in Jerome.

Irrigated agriculture is going to have a tough time if the legislation doesn't pass, he said. While Western legislators understand the issue, those back East don't.

"People back there don't understand irrigation water; they think canals are rivers," he said.
The additional permit would also apply to pesticides used to control mosquitoes and other insects, Semanko said.

"The public impacts of that are just staggering," he said.

EPA also appears to be on board. In 2006, the agency issued a rule that NPDES permits weren't required for aquatic pesticide application because those pesticides are not a pollutant, he said.

But in 2009, the 6th U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled the pesticides were a pollutant and applicators needed the additional permit under the Clean Water Act. It also ordered EPA to promulgate a new permitting process.

EPA has indicated it expects to publish that final permit July 31, he said. But EPA, at the request of congressional sponsors, also wrote the legislative language to clarify that the permit is not required.