Legislation left undone as Congress takes off: What ARE we going to do with these bums?

Major bills that Congress left
unfinished as it left for its August recess:

FARM AND FOOD PROGRAMS

The Senate in June and the House Agriculture
Committee in July passed similar bills to set agriculture subsidy and
conservation policy and spend almost $100 billion a year over the next five
years for farm and nutrition programs. But the House Republican leadership has refused to
bring the bill to the floor, fearing a rebellion from conservatives, who say it
spends too much, particularly for the expanding food stamp program. Fearing
backlash from constituents in rural communities about failure to act on a farm
bill, the House on Thursday passed legislation to revive disaster relief
programs for livestock producers hit by the widespread drought. But Senate Democrats,
saying that the House should be voting on a comprehensive farm bill instead of a
stopgap disaster relief measure, declined to go along.

POSTAL SERVICE OVERHAUL

The U.S. Postal Service at midnight
Wednesday defaulted on $5.5 billion in scheduled payments to the Treasury for
future retiree health care benefits as it waits for Congress to come up with a
plan to help it regain fiscal solvency. An additional $5.6 billion due in
September is also likely to go unpaid. The mail agency has come up with its own
plan to restore profitability by cutting Saturday delivery, closing smaller
postal facilities and reducing retiree benefit responsibilities. A Senate bill passed in
April took a less aggressive approach, providing an $11 billion cash infusion to
help the independent agency avert a default while avoiding some of the cuts. The
House remains stalled over its version and it appears unlikely that it will pass
legislation this year. The House would set up a commission to determine facility
closures, opposed by rural lawmakers whose constituents would be most affected
by the cuts.

CYBERSECURITY

The Senate failed in a final attempt
Thursday to pass legislation to protect the U.S. electrical grid, water supplies
and other critical industries from cyberattack and electronic espionage. Both
Republicans and Democrats said they are committed to approving a final bill when
they return in September. But deep divisions between the two parties over the
right approach to cybersecurity will make it difficult to forge a compromise.
The principal stumbling block is what role the Homeland Security Department and
other federal agencies should play in protecting U.S. businesses from
cyberattacks. Republicans argued the bill would have led to rules imposed by
Washington that would only increase the private sector's costs without
substantially reducing its risks. The White House has warned that failure to
pass the bill leaves the country's essential businesses vulnerable to criminals,
foreign governments and terrorists.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

House Speaker John Boehner on Monday named
lawmakers to negotiate with the Senate on a compromise bill to
reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act for five years, but progress on the
bill remained elusive four months after the Senate reauthorized the act on a
bipartisan vote. The 1994 act, created to prevent domestic abuse and protect its
victims, expired last year. The House in May narrowly passed its own version,
but the Obama White House threatened a presidential veto, saying it didn't go
far enough to protect battered illegal immigrants, Native Americans or gays. The
Democratic-led Senate did extend new protections to those
minority groups and the legislation has become a point of reference as the two
parties campaign for women's votes before the election.

RUSSIA TRADE

Both the House Ways and Means Committee and
the Senate Finance Committee have approved bills to end Cold War restrictions
and extend permanent normal trade relations to Russia. Normalizing trade with
Russia is a top priority of U.S. business groups, because on Aug. 22 Russia will
enter the World Trade Organization and without congressional action, American
exporters will not be able to take advantage of the lowering of tariffs and
other trade barriers that will accompany WTO membership. Economists estimate
that U.S. sales to Russia, now about $9 billion a year, could double within five
years if trade is normalized. Congress left without taking up the legislation,
although House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the House was prepared
to consider the bill in September. To satisfy lawmakers concerned about Russia's
human rights record, the trade bill has been linked to legislation that would
punish Russian officials involved in human rights violations. But there is still
resistance to improving relations with Russia at a time when the Moscow
government is threatening U.S. missile defenses in Europe and aiding the Assad
government in Syria.