CD173: War & Prairie Chickens

The law that funded the government for 2018 is 2,232 pages and Jen has finished reading a quarter of it. In this episode, learn about the most interesting provisions she found in the Department of Defense and environmental sections of the quickly passed funding law.

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The 2018 Government Funding Law

Read the latest 2018 Omnibus Provisions

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Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes

CD171: 2,232 Pages

CD168: Nuclear Desperation

CD167: Combating Russia (NDAA 2018) LIVE

CD145: Price of Health Care

CD131: Bombing Libya

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Additional Reading

• Report: DOE recommends pit production at SRS and Los Alamos; plan kills, repurposes MOX facility by Colin Demarest, Aiken Standard, May 11, 2018.

• Statement: Joint statement from Ellen M. Lord and Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty on recapitalization of plutonium pit production, National Nuclear Security Administration, May 10, 2018.

• Report: Israel launches massive military strike agains Iranian targest in Syria by Loveday Morris, Ruth Eglash, and Louisa Loveluck, The Washington Post, May 10, 2018.

• Article: Calls for restraint after Israel raids on 'Iranians' in Syria by Laurent Lozano, Yahoo News, May 10, 2018.

• Report: Israel and Iran, newly emboldened, exchange blows in Syria face-off by Isabel Kershner and David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, May 10, 2018.

• Article: Will scrapping atomic fuel plant actually bring jobs to SC? by Sammy Fretwell, The State, May 10, 2018.

• Report: SRS, Los Alamos recommended for pit production; MOX facility would be repurposed by Staff Reporst, The Augusta Chronicle, May 10, 2018.

• Article: Syria blames Israel for missile strike near Damascus, BBC News, May 9, 2018.

• Report: Israel strikes Iranian targest in Syria after rocket fire by Dan Williams and Angus McDowall, Reuters, May 9, 2018.

• Report: Israeli preemptive strike thwarts Iranian attack by Yochanan Visser, Israel Today, May 9, 2018.

• Article: Sage Grouse once again land at heart of public lands dispute by Rachel Christiansen, Nevada Public Radio, May 9, 2018.

• Report: Israel attacked Syria an hour after the Iran deal was ended, says report by Zeina Karam, Time, May 8, 2018.

• Article: For Netanyahu, vindication and new risk after Trump's Iran decision by David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, May 8, 2018.

• Analysis: In first meeting, Pompeo thrills Netanyahu with hawkish talk on Iran - and what he doesn't say about Palestinians by Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz, April 29, 2018.

• Report: Iran-Israel conflict escalates in shadow of Syrian civil war by Ben Hubbard and David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, April 9, 2018.

• Article: Aiken leaders met with NNSA's chief, discussed pit production at SRS by Colin Demarest, Aiken Standard, March 14, 2018.

• Report: DOE announces notice of sale of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, Office of Fossil Energy, March 8, 2018.

• Article: US takes steps to resume plutonium pit production for nukes, Aljazeera, February 23, 2018.

• Article: Israel air force says seized Iranian drone is a knockoff of US Sentinel by Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News, February 12, 2018.

• Report: Minister: Iran will need 'time to digest' how Israel hit covert military sites by TOI Staff and Agencies, The Times of Israel, February 11, 2018.

• Report: Israeli jet shot down after bombing Iranian site in Syria by Maayan Lubell and Lisa Barrington, Reuters, February 10, 2018.

• Report: Israel hits back at Iran and Syria as border region boils by Donna Abu-Nasr and Gwen Ackerman, Bloomberg, February 10, 2018.

• Article: U.S. oil reserve would fall nearly in half under budget deal by Ari Natter and Catherine Traywick, Bloomberg, February 8, 2018.

• Opinion: What we owe the innocent victims of America's wars by Patrick Leahy, The New York Times, November 22, 2017.

• Article: The uncounted by Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal, New York Times, November 16, 2017.

• Analysis: Israel's new missile defense system is a clear message to Iran, but it isn't perfect by Amos Harel, Haaretz, April 3, 2017.

• Article: Israeli army probing whether unprecedented use of arrow missile system was justified by Gili Cohen and Almog Ben Zikri, Haaretz, March 19, 2017.

• Article: Iran to stop using US dollar in response to Donald Trump's 'Muslim ban' by Bethan McKernan, Independent, February 1, 2017.

• Article: Measuring methane emissions from cows is elusive, but we're getting closer by Robert Parkhurst, Environmental Defense Fund, December 13, 2016.

• Article: Half-built fuel plant in South Carolina faces test on its future, The New York Times, February 9, 2016.

• Report: Iran, India to settle outstanding crude oil dues in rupees by Amitav Ranjan, The Indian Express, January 5, 2016.

• Article: Oil backers, conservationists battle over fate of greater sage-grouse by Sandra Fish, Aljazeera, December 13, 2013.

• Article: Only one currency is still backed by gold by Simon Black, Business Insider, March 29, 2012.

• Report: Iran ends oil transactions in U.S. dollars, CBS News, April 30, 2008.

• Report: Iran stops selling oil in U.S. dollars - report by Reuters Staff, Reuters, December 8, 2007.

• Report: SYRIA dollar dropped as primary hard currency by Items copiled from Tribune news services, Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2006.

• Report: Iraq nets handsom profit by dumping dollar for euro by Faisal Islam, The Guardian, February 15, 2003.

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Resources

• Bill: H.R. 1314 (114th): Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

• Bill: H.R. 22 (114th): FAST Act

• Bill: H.R. 34 (114th): 21st Century Cures Act

• Bill: H.R. 1892: Further Extension Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018...

• International Atomic Energy Agency: Verification and Monitoring in Iran

• National Nuclear Security Administration: Plutonium Pit Production Mission

• Office of Fossil Energy: Strategic Petroleum Reserve

• Open Secrets: Boeing Co Profile for 2018 Election Cycle

• Open Secrets: Chicago Bridge & Iron

• Open Secrets: Orano Group

• Open Secrets: Raytheon Co Profile for 2018 Election Cycle

• Open Secrets: Steve Cohen

• Press Release: We are now Orano!

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Visual Resources

Sound Clip Sources

Hearing: Authorization for Use of Military Forces; Senate Foreign Relations Committee; October 30, 2017.

• 8:00 Chairman Bob Corker (TN): In his last War Powers Resolution letter to Congress, the president identified the following 19 countries where U.S. military personnel were deployed and equipped for combat: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Kenya, Niger, Cameroon, Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Cuba, and Kosovo.

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Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

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Music Presented in This Episode

Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)