The House and Senate both begin the week in session. The Senate is scheduled to start considering a bill (S 47) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for five years, and will then take a short recess Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for their party policy retreats. The House is scheduled to start the week with three measures, including a bill (HR 297) to fund medical education programs in children's hospitals and another measure (HR 225) that would establish a pediatric research network. Later in the week, the House is expected to take up a measure (HR 444) that would force the President to show in his fiscal 2014 budget plan which fiscal year the budget will be balanced. Under the bill, if the Administration’s budget blueprint fails to include a plan to balance the budget, the President would be required to submit a supplemental unified budget by April 1, 2013 outlining a timeline to balance the federal budget.

Links: S 47; HR 297; HR 225; HR 444