Congress has little time to finalize VA, defense bills
Congress has little time to finalize VA, defense bills
Jul. 7, 2014 - 02:33PM
By Leo Shane III
Staff writer
http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140707/NEWS05/307070037/Congress-has-little-time-finalize-VA-defense-bills
Congress returns from its July Fourth vacation to a long list of high-profile, unfinished defense business and a short legislative calendar before the November elections.
The new Veterans Affairs Department reform bill, the annual defense appropriation bill, the annual defense authorization bill, and funding for military construction and VA operations for fiscal 2015 are all on lawmakers’ immediate to-do list — in between more briefings on the situation in Iraq and other overseas threats.
But Congress is scheduled to be in session only 28 days before breaking in August, and likely will return for only a week or two in the September/October time frame before the November midterm elections. That 28-day total also includes 10 Mondays and Fridays, days which at best feature a light schedule of work under normal circumstances.
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