Source: US Rep. David Rouzer (NC-7th), 11/25/20

Dear Friend,
While much of the nation is focused on the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and President Trump’s legal challenges regarding election irregularities in several states, Congress is still at work.  Here’s an overview of the legislative agenda between now and the end of the year.  Listed below are some of the major items I expect will see action on by year end:
• Negotiations on another relief package between the Trump Administration, Speaker Pelosi and Leader McConnell stalled in the weeks leading up to the election. Despite the drubbing House Democrats took on Election Day, Speaker Pelosi continues to be unwilling to compromise and back off some of her more outrageous demands. While the prospects of getting a package negotiated, drafted, and passed by Congress in the next few weeks is uncertain, I'm hopeful that Congress will put a bipartisan measure on President Trump’s desk for him to sign before Christmas. More than $160 billion is still sitting in the Paycheck Protection Program but unable to utilized without reauthorization from Congress. I know a lot of small businesses that could use it.

So far, Democrat leadership in the House and Senate have refused to allow that narrowly tailored bill to move.  In the House, Speaker Pelosi will not bring it to the floor and in the Senate, Minority Leader Schumer will not sign off to get to the needed 60 votes.  They are holding out and using it as leverage to get a much bigger bill with their favored provisions included, many of which have nothing to do with COVID.  For example, the last House-passed COVID package mentioned marijuana more times than it mentioned jobs.    

• The current government funding measure (also referred to as a CR, which is short for Continuing Resolution) expires on December 11th, and Congress will need to pass another spending bill before then to avert a federal government shutdown. I expect an omnibus appropriations bill – which combines spending bills that fund the various parts of the federal government – will be considered by Congress during the first or second week of December. One item to watch: should talks of a broader COVID-19 relief package continue to stagnate, the extension of coronavirus-related items like the Paycheck Protection Program and pandemic unemployment assistance may be renewed as part of or alongside the omnibus spending bill. All of this remains subject to discussions and negotiations, so stay tuned for updates.

• Annual legislation authorizing spending on our military and defense programs – known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA – will need to be passed before the end of the year. The NDAA is one of the few pieces of legislation Congress passes on a bipartisan basis every year. The most recent NDAA was the 59th consecutive annual defense bill passed by Congress, something far too rare in this era of partisanship. I voted against the House version of the NDAA earlier this year for a number of reasons, and currently the House and Senate are working to reconcile their versions into a package that can pass both chambers. I’ll be weighing the outcome of those negotiations to see if the concerns I had with the House version were sufficiently resolved.

• The House is also likely to vote on the House/Senate compromise version of the Water Resources Development Act, bipartisan legislation that authorizes funding for programs relating to ports, waterways, and flood control. This bill addresses many of the unique needs we have on the coast, and its needed investments in waterway development and flood mitigation measures will be very beneficial to southeastern North Carolina. As a member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, all of the water-related infrastructure priorities of this district are addressed in this legislation. This bill is a major win for Southeastern North Carolina. 

• Democrat House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has indicated that the House will vote at some point in the coming weeks on the MORE Act, which legalizes marijuana and expunges the convictions of certain offenders charged with cannabis-related crimes. 

• Meanwhile, the legal challenges continue to be filed by the Trump Campaign with more being brought before federal courts in the various states of question. We should know a lot more by the middle of next week on those prospects. Either way, I think most of this gets wrapped up by December 14th when the electors meet. 

Stay tuned for more information on each of these topics.  Until then, I hope that you each have a safe and very Happy Thanksgiving!! 
Sincerely,
David Rouzer