Statement by the Press Secretary on H.J. Res. 59, H.R. 623, H.R. 767, H.R. 2319, H.R. 3343, H.R. 3487

On Thursday, December 26, 2013, the President signed into law:

H.J. Res. 59, the "Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013" and "Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013," which revises discretionary spending caps for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, and makes various changes to current law regarding:  budget enforcement; prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse; natural resources; Federal civilian and military retirement; higher education programs; transportation; and miscellaneous provisions; and also provides a slight increase to Medicare payments for physicians' services that are furnished through March 31, 2014, and amends a number of other health programs;

H.R. 623, the "Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Land Transfer Act," which transfers a specified parcel of Federal land in Anchorage, Alaska, to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium by warranty deed; 

H.R. 767, which expands the Federal Permit Streamlining Pilot Project to include all of the field offices within specified jurisdictions of the Bureau of Land Management;

H.R. 2319, the "Native American Veterans' Memorial Amendments Act of 2013," which clarifies certain provisions of the Native American Veterans' Memorial Establishment Act of 1994; 

H.R. 3343, which increases the annual rate of pay of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia from an amount equal to the rate of pay for a Cabinet Secretary to an amount that does not exceed the annual compensation payable to the Vice President of the United States; and

H.R. 3487, which extends for five years through December 31, 2018, and expands the authority of the Federal Election Commission to impose civil money penalties on the basis of a schedule of penalties established and published by the Commission. ###