House Republicans on Monday afternoon were trying once again to keep pro-union language out of a spending bill, this time the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, H.R. 2055.

In afternoon debate on amendments, several Republicans spoke out against a proposal to change the bill to make it easier for the government to justify the use of contract labor agreements in large military construction projects.

Two Republican and two Democratic House members on Monday called on their colleagues to reject a House patent reform bill that may be taken up later this week. Among other things, the letter highlights language that many believe will allow financial institutions to force the repeal of business method patents, and make it harder in other ways to enforce current patents.

"While we may have different concerns with the legislation, as Members of Congress including two former Chairs of the House Judiciary Committee and a former Chair of the Small Business Committee, we agree that this special interest bill will cost jobs and harm small start-up inventors," the letter said.

It was signed by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), former chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), former Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has introduced an amendment that would require the president to give Congress regular evaluations of the national security hazards posed by the nation's debt.

“The federal government’s reckless deficit spending has created a fiscal crisis and a growing national security vulnerability," said Cornyn in a statement. "A massive chunk of our debt is held by foreign governments such as Communist-led China, whose true motivations for doing so remain unclear."

The House Financial Services Committee last week reported legislation to the House that would dramatically retool the federal flood insurance program, in the same year that serious floods along the Mississippi River have forced thousands of evacuations.

The bill, H.R. 1309, would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but would also make significant changes in an attempt to keep it fiscally viable.

The House returns at 2 p.m. from a weeklong recess, and resumes work right away on H.R. 2055, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Members are expected to take up a handful of amendments to that bill Monday afternoon. One amendment is expected to be offered from Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) that would eliminate language that blocks funds from being used to implement an Obama administration executive order that requires project labor agreements for certain construction projects.

Democrats spoke out earlier this month on the need for this change, and are expected to support LaTourette's amendment.

The return of the House and Senate next week marks the start of a pressure-filled, two-week work period in which both political parties are hoping to make progress on a debt-ceiling deal.

The pressure is coming from all directions: the lack of significant job creation in May, a stock market that has deflated over the last six weeks, more warnings of a housing double dip, and the fear in both parties that all of these factors will only get worse without a debt-ceiling agreement.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) says there are several positive signs suggesting Democrats can retake the House next year. 

"More and more, the polling, the pundits are indicating that Tea Party extremism is not sitting well with voters," Miller said in response to a question about whether Democrats could retake the House. "So, yes, I'm very encouraged that we will take back the House."

Miller, the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and a close ally of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), made the remarks in an interview published Thursday in a California newspaper, the Contra Costa Times.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Friday outlined a summer legislative plan that includes reducing regulations, approving pending trade deals, passing patent reform and reducing barriers to U.S. energy production.

In a memo to House Republicans, Cantor put reducing regulatory burdens at the top of his list, and listed three bills for likely action in July and early August:

Senate committees will swing back into work on Tuesday and pursue an agenda focused on threats on the home front from both terrorism and acts of God.

As wildfires sweep across the Southwest United States, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will weigh the state of preparedness of the nation's wildfire management programs.

The Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a discussion led by Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that continues to examine how lessons learned from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan can be used to make America's nuclear industry more secure.

Details on next week’s featured Senate committee hearings follow: