In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

First Vote of the Week... Tuesday (as early as 10:00 a.m.)
Last Vote Predicted... Friday p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009

On Monday, the House will meet at 10:30 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. No votes are expected in the House on Monday.

Suspensions (13 Bills)

1. H.Con.Res. 199 - Recognizing the 10th Anniversary of the activation of Echo Company of the 100th Battalion of the 442d Infantry, and the sacrifice of the soldiers and families in support of the United States (Rep. Sablan - Armed Services)
2. H.Con.Res. 206 - Commending the soldiers and civilian personnel stationed at Fort Gordon and their families for their service and dedication to the United States and recognizing the contributions of Fort Gordon to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and its role as a pivotal communications training installation (Rep. Broun - Armed Services)
3. H.Res. 940 - Recognizing and honoring the National Guard on the occasion of its 373rd anniversary (Rep. Latta - Armed Services)
4. H.Res. 845 - Recognizing the United States Air Force and Dyess Air Force Base for their success in achieving energy savings and developing energy-saving innovations during Energy Awareness Month (Rep. Neugebauer - Armed Services)
5. H.R. 1672 - Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2009 (Rep. Larsen - Natural Resources)
6. H.R. 2062 - Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2009 (Rep. DeFazio - Natural Resources)
7. H.R. 3940 - To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend grants and other assistance to facilitate a political status public education program for the people of Guam (Rep. Bordallo - Natural Resources)
8. H.R. 3603 - To rename the Ocmulgee National Monument (Rep. Marshall - Natural Resources)
9. H.R. 86 - To eliminate an unused lighthouse reservation, provide management consistency by bringing the rocks and small islands along the coast of Orange County, California, and meet the original Congressional intent of preserving Orange County's rocks and small islands (Rep. Campbell - Natural Resources)
10. H.R. 118 - To authorize the addition of 100 acres to Morristown National Historical Park (Rep. Frelinghuysen - Natural Resources)
11. H.R. 3388 - Petersburg National Battlefield Boundary Modification Act (Rep. Forbes - Natural Resources)
12. H.R. 3804 - National Park Service Authorities and Corrections Act of 2009 (Rep. Tonko - Natural Resources)
13. H.R. 1454 - Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act of 2009 (Rep. Brown (SC) - Natural Resources)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2009 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK

On Tuesday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. Members are advised votes could occur as early as 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.

Suspensions (16 Bills)

1. H.R. 2278 - To direct the President to transmit to Congress a report on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle East (Rep. Bilirakis - Foreign Affairs)
2. H.R. 2134 - Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009 (Rep. Engel - Foreign Affairs)
3. H.Res. 915 - Encouraging the Republic of Hungary to respect the rule of law, treat foreign investors fairly, and promote a free and independent press (Rep. Donnelly - Foreign Affairs)
4. H.Con.Res. 213 - Expressing the sense of Congress for and solidarity with the people of El Salvador as they persevere through the aftermath of torrential rains which caused devastating flooding and deadly mudslides (Rep. Mack - Foreign Affairs)
5. H.R. 3951 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2000 Louisiana Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana, as the "Roy Rondeno, Sr. Post Office Building" (Rep. Cao - Oversight and Government Reform)
6. H.R. 4017 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 43 Maple Avenue in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, as the "Ann Marie Blute Post Office" (Rep. McGovern - Oversight and Government Reform)
7. H.R. 2711 - FBI Families of Fallen Heroes Act (Rep. Rogers (MI) - Oversight and Government Reform)
8. H.Res. 907 - Recognizing the Grand Concourse on its 100th anniversary as the preeminent thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx and an important nexus of commerce and culture for the City of New York (Rep. Serrano – Transportation and Infrastructure)
9. H.R. 4165 - To extend through December 31, 2010, the authority of the Secretary of the Army to accept and expend funds contributed by non-Federal public entities to expedite the processing of permits (Rep. Larsen – Transportation and Infrastructure)
10. H.R. 1854 - To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to modify an environmental infrastructure project for Big Bear Lake, California (Rep. Lewis (CA) – Transportation and Infrastructure)
11. H.Res. 35 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should provide increased Federal funding for continued type 1 diabetes research (Rep. Gene Green - Energy and Commerce)
12. H.Res. 55 - Expressing support for the designation of a National Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month to raise awareness of and promote research into this challenging disorder (Rep. Royce - Energy and Commerce)
13. H.R. 1319 - Informed P2P User Act (Rep. Bono Mack - Energy and Commerce)
14. H.R. 2221 - Data Accountability and Trust Act (Rep. Rush - Energy and Commerce)
15. H.R. __ - To extend the Andean Trade Preference Act and the Generalized System of Preferences (Rep. Rangel - Ways and Means)
16. H.R. __ - Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act (Rep. Rangel – Ways and Means)

H.R. __ - Tax Extenders of 2009 (Rep. Rangel – Ways and Means) (Subject to a Rule)

H.R. 4173 – Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (Rep. Frank – Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)

• Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
• Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
• Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

Convenes: 10:00am

Resume consideration of H.R.3590, Health Care Reform.

Following Leader remarks, the first 2 hours will be equally divided and with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The Republicans will control the first 30 minutes and the Majority will control the next 30 minutes. The remaining time will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.

Roll call votes are expected in relation to amendments to the Health Care Reform bill after 3:15pm.

Twenty-nine suspensions tells you the House is in a holding pattern. There are a couple of bills waiting for the end of the week, and they're not small potatoes. But the House's main role for the beginning of this week is to stay in session so the Senate can work. And that work will continue to be on the health insurance reform bill.

The Senate is actually moving fairly briskly for a bill this contentious. They're getting through about two amendments a day, which is perhaps no great shakes, but considering that they could be hanging up endlessly on each amendment, getting agreements in place for scheduled votes at a pace of two or more a day isn't as bad as it could be. Outwardly, there's no indication of the stacks and stacks of amendments Republicans were threatening, though I have no doubt they could generate them if necessary. But so far they're play-acting, considering the heat of the rhetoric they brought into this game. We'll see if that changes. It may just be that the glut of amendments they've got prepared is jammed up behind the negotiations aimed at getting agreements for votes on the ones they consider must-haves, and only a few at a time are getting through that process.

We shall see.

Today's the day we'll start getting a look at how the truly contentious amendments might go, with the first shot at getting Ben Nelson's Stupak-like amendment to the floor possible. Will he agree to a 60-vote threshold for passage like everyone else has been doing, and (in all likelihood) concede the contest up front? For something he says he'll filibuster the final bill over, that wouldn't be a terribly convincing display of conviction. But the Senate's a weird place, and consistency sometimes doesn't appear to have the same meaning there as on the rest of the planet.

Plenty going on in the committees this week, though. And if you feel like you don't really know much about what's going on with the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act coming to the floor this week, that's probably because you (like most of us with lives) weren't watching what used to be considered the action "behind the scenes," that is, what goes on in committee. But if health care (not to mention hundreds of years of previous experience) have taught us anything, it's that the big battles that truly shape legislation take place off the floor, in committee. The fact that there's still some form of the public option still alive, against all odds, at this stage of the game is a testament to the value of involvement of activists and advocates in these early stages of the legislative process.

As tedious and eye-glazing as the charts appearing below the fold can appear -- and indeed, they appear below the fold precisely because readers were perturbed by the real estate they took up on the front page -- watching what happens there and taking advantage of the availability of the free streaming video coverage we link to is critical to the basic idea of what you're doing on a blog. By which I mean getting more of what you want out of your government.

Those tedious and eye-glazing charts require many hours of tedious and eye-glazing work, most of which is now graciously donated by Jeremy Koulish of Carrots & Sticks, whom I thank every week work it. If you value what this information brings to the table, maybe you can stop by and check out what they're up to, and return the love.