–Majority Leader Hopes Senate Can Pass ‘A Couple of Other Things’
–Confirms That Senate Has Limited Pre-Election Agenda
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday said
the Senate will continue to work on a veterans jobs bill this week and
threatened weekend votes to complete the bill.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Reid confirmed that the Senate’s
pre-election schedule will be quite limited.
He said that he expects the Senate to hold no votes during Monday
and Tuesday because of the Jewish holidays.
Reid said the Senate will return in the middle of next week and
then hold votes on the “CR” and possibly a “couple of other things.”
The CR refers to the stop-gap spending bill for the 2013 fiscal
year that funds the government for six months.
The House is expected to vote Thursday to pass the FY’13 stop-gap
spending bill that funds the government through March 27, 2013.
The 2013 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 and so far Congress has
passed none of the 12 spending bills for FY’13.
A number of lawmakers are pressing for at least a short-term
extension of the current farm bill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he does
not expect to have any votes before the election after it passes the
stop-gap spending bill Thursday.
McConnell also said he expects the Senate to pass the CR next
Thursday.
While there are scores of issues that are still officially on the
agenda, congressional leaders have said there is little prospect to
resolve them before the Nov. 6 elections.
** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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