H.R. 5326 the Commerce and Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Summary: The bill would provide $51.131 billion in discretionary appropriations for agencies and programs funding through the Commerce/Justice/Science appropriations bill for FY 2013. Funding provided under the legislation would be $1.61 billion or 3 percent below the amount of funding provided for FY 2012. The amount of funding provided is $731 million or 1.4 percent below the amount requested by the president for FY 2013. The Commerce/Justice/Science appropriations bill provides funding for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and Federal science agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and related agencies. Appropriations for Justice programs in the bill provides money for the Federal Bureau of Investigate as well as the Federal Prison System and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Rep. Farenthold Votes:YES
Passed the House by a vote of 247-163

*Rep. Farenthold, Rep. Chaffetz and Rep. Gosar's Fast and Furious Accountability Amendment passed by a vote of 381-41, was attached to the CJS Appropriations Bill:
"The Chaffetz-Gosar-Farenthold Amendment ensures taxpayer money is not wasted covering up lies by government officials," said Farenthold. "Even after a year and after consistently misleading Congress, the Department of Justice still refuses to turn over documents and information that could shed light on who is responsible for the transfer of over two thousand weapons to Mexican drug cartels. The American people and Agent Brian Terry's family deserve better from their leaders. It is time to hold them accountable." CLICK HERE for text of the amendment.

Click on the photo above to view Rep. Farenthold's remarks on the Fast and Furious Accountability Amendment.

H.R. 5652 the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012

Summary: The bill would provide mandatory spending reductions in order to replace automatic cuts to discretionary spending (primarily from defense accounts) in 2013 under the Budget Control Act and to reduce the deficit. The savings generated from these reforms to mandatory programs would first be used to offset the approximately $78 billion cost of replacing the automatic across-the-board discretionary spending cuts that are scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013, under what is known as sequestration. The amount of $78 billion reflects the remainder of the FY 2013 discretionary sequester after accounting for lowering the FY 2013 discretionary cap from $1.047 to $1.028 as provided for in the House-approved Budget Resolution. The additional savings achieved through reconciliation beyond the $78 billion (over $180 billion in the next ten years) would further reduce the deficit. Savings contained in the legislation were produced by six House committees under reconciliation instructions contained in the House Concurrent Budget Resolution (H.Con.Res. 112).

Rep. Farenthold Votes: YES
Passed the House by a vote of 218-199

Cost:  The Committees on (1) Agriculture, (2) Energy & Commerce, (3) Financial Services, (4) the Judiciary, (5) Oversight & Government Reform, and (6) Ways & Means each produced deficit reduction legislation pursuant to the reconciliation instructions in section 201 of the House-approved budget resolution. Legislation produced by these committees and contained in this package would produce savings of $18.3 billion in the first year, $116.3 billion over five years, and $261.4 billion over ten years.