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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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.

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!

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.

Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

Music Presented in This Episode

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

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Jennifer Briney Podcaster

Jennifer Briney started paying attention to world events while studying in Germany in the spring of 2003 when the United States overthrew the government of Iraq. After experiencing the war from outside the United States, she started asking questions about her government. Every answer led to fifty more questions. This led to a thirst for information that she is still unable to quench.

Over the years, the feeling like she was the only person paying attention to this information was making Jen insane so in late 2012, she launched Congressional Dish in order to share the information, to have an emotional outlet for dealing with the discoveries, and to create a community of people who were interested in Congress’s effect on our lives. Congressional Dish is now her full-time career, thanks entirely to the support from our growing community of producers from all over the world.