Wednesday: Abortion, border violence, flood insurance in the House

The House meets at 2 p.m. to start debate on 12 suspension bills, including one imposing new penalties against doctors who perform abortions based on the sex of the child, others aimed at reducing border violence and a measure extending federal flood insurance.

All 12 bills are being considered under a suspension of House rules, which shortens debate and requires a two-thirds majority vote. This process is usually used for non-controversial bills, although the abortion bill, H.R. 3541, is expected to be opposed by most if not all Democrats.

If it's not supported by roughly 50 Democrats, the bill will fail.

The two border bills — H.R. 1299 and H.R. 915 — would set up Border Enforcement Security Task Forces in areas that suffer from drug, arms and illegal-alien trafficking, and require the government to establish a five-year plan for securing the southern border.

Another bill is the Senate-amended bill extending the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by two months, H.R. 5740. That bill would give Congress (more specifically, the Senate) more time to work out a longer-term extension.

Also up is legislation reauthorizing and extending a Food and Drug Administration user fee program for drugs and medical devices, H.R. 5651.

While debate starts Wednesday, votes on many of these bills are expected later in the week. A full list of the 12 suspension bills follows here:

H.R. 5651, the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act of 2012,

H.R. 3310, the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2012,

H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012,

H.R. 5512, the Divisional Realignment Act of 2012,

H.R. 4201, the Servicemember Family Protection Act,

H.R. 1299, the Secure Border Act of 2011,

H.R. 3670, to require the Transportation Security Administration to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act,

H.R. 2764, the WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2011,

H.R. 915, the Jaime Zapata Border Security Task Force Act

H.R. 3140, the Mass Transit Intelligence Prioritization Act,

H.R. 5740, the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act, and,

H.R. 4041, the Export Promotion Reform Act.

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