Senate passes cyber, consumer-protection and manufacturing bills as House remains out

WASHINGTON — The Senate handled the day’s major congressional business Wednesday while the House was not in session. Senators passed five bills without objection and confirmed Angela Veronica Colmenero to a federal judgeship, while disputes blocked faster action on election rules and health care prices. The House was scheduled to return Thursday afternoon.

The contrast matters because Congress has two chambers. Senate passage alone does not make a Senate bill law; the House also must pass it before it can go to the president. The Senate used unanimous consent, a procedure that allows quick action when no senator objects, to pass the five measures.

The legislation included H.R. 1721, directing the Commerce Department to study whether products in high demand across critical-infrastructure sectors could feasibly be manufactured in the United States.

It also passed H.R. 2481, requiring online dating services to notify a user who exchanged messages with an account the service later banned for fraud. The notice must include information identifying the banned account and warnings about sending money or financial information.

The Senate passed S. 1363, as amended, directing federal land agencies to coordinate with New Mexico land-grant-mercedes on historical or traditional uses of federal land. The measure calls for an agreement with the New Mexico Land Grant Council and consultation with Indian tribes.

Two measures concerned satellite policy. S. 1962 restricts certain Federal Communications Commission satellite licenses, U.S. market-access grants and earth-station authorizations involving entities on the FCC’s Covered List or their affiliates. S. 3404 calls for a review of federal support for commercial-satellite cybersecurity and a public clearinghouse of voluntary cybersecurity resources.

The Senate also confirmed Colmenero, of Texas, as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Texas by a 50-47 vote. Three senators did not vote.

The same unanimous-consent process showed its limits. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, sought passage of S. 5271, sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, which would require photo identification for voting in federal elections. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., objected, arguing that the proposal would change requirements while early voting and mail voting were already underway. Lee argued that photo identification would strengthen election security.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., requested passage of S. 2355, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, which would impose hospital and insurer price-transparency requirements. Marshall and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said price information could help patients compare care. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected, arguing that disclosure would not solve a system in which insurers and government programs negotiate or set many prices.

The Senate also continued consideration of S. 4668, the Protect College Sports Act, rather than completing it Wednesday. The bill would set federal requirements for student-athletes’ name, image and likeness agreements and provide a limited antitrust exemption for certain joint college-sports media-rights arrangements.