White Sands Missile Range Security Enhancement Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 85.
White Sands Missile Range Security Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to transfer certain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army for inclusion in the White Sands Missile Range for use for military purposes.
Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a legal description and map of the public land to be transferred.
Requires the transfer to be made without reimbursement, except that the Secretary of the Army shall reimburse the Secretary for any costs incurred in preparing the legal description and map.
Requires the Secretary, if a grazing permit or lease exists for any part of such land to be transferred, to transfer or relocate the grazing allotments associated with such permit or lease to other public land that is acceptable to the permit or lease holder so that the grazing continues to have the same value to such holder.
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) establish a reservation in favor of the United States with respect to any water or water right on lands transferred by this Act, or (2) authorize the appropriation of water on lands transferred by this Act except in accordance with applicable state law. Withdraws such land from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws and geothermal leasing laws, so long as such lands remain under the Secretary of the Army's administrative jurisdiction.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on June 24, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 24, 2013: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 85.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Stevan Pearce (R-NM) introduced it on March 20, 2013. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 20, 2013, 4922 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4826 days ago, on June 24, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers