Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2014)

26 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • NOVEMBER 2014

LEGAL BEAT

F ollowing its usual summer break over August 2014, Con- gress came back from its ? ve- week summer recess and spent a whopping eight days or so back in session before recessing once again, ap- proximately a week early, to hit the cam- paign trail for the November elections.

This essentially means that including the summer recess, Congress will have been in session for a total of about eight days between the end of July and the middle of November 2014. No wonder why

Congress has not been able to accom- plish much this year, to date.

As a result, there are a number of maritime-related bills left hanging for consideration should a lame duck ses- sion (scheduled to begin the day after

Veterans Day, November 12, 2014) actu- ally decide to move legislation this year.

Any legislation not enacted by the end of this year will have to be reintroduced in the next Congress, the 114th Congress, which begins in January 2015. That is because each Congress lasts two years, and legislation not enacted by the end of the second year of a Congress dies. The following is a discussion of the situation.

Keeping the Government Funded

A Continuing Resolution (CR) will keep the U.S. government open and funded through December 11, 2014, af- ter Congress returns from the mid-term elections. The CR includes a three per- cent across-the-board cut in all discre- tionary spending. The CR also includes authorization for the President to sup- port Syrian rebels with air strikes aimed at the Islamic State of Iraq and the Le- vant (ISIL). Of course it is impossible to predict whether Senate Leadership will change hands as a result of the elections;

In 2014, Will Congress Pass Any

Mariti me Legislati on?

BY JONATHAN K. WALDRON

Contrary to the photo, the mood in Washington, particularly regarding maritime matters, is anything but festive.

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