Member of Congress returned to Washington to resume legislative work yesterday. Here’s what’s on tap this week:

On the Calendar: 

• The Senate resumes consideration of S. 954, the Farm bill, which is expected to take the remainder of the week. As we continue to take up amendments to the bill, I will be pushing for consideration of the ones I have offered to enhance the bill.
  
  
• Multiple subcommittee hearings this week in the Senate Appropriations Committee where we will hear from officials about the budget requests of the Department of Justice, Department of Labor, the Federal Housing Administration and the legislative branch.
  
  
• Over on the other side of the building, the House of Representatives is expected to take up legislation covering military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs and legislation providing funding for the Department of Homeland Security. There will also be additional hearings aimed at the IRS scandal in the House this week.
  
  
• Yesterday, President Obama signs the Stolen Valor of 2013 making it a crime to profit off fraudulent claims related to military honors. Learn more about this bill here. 

Worth Reading: 

• The President’s health care law has led four in ten small business owners to hold back on hiring. Worse yet, one in five small business owners let employees go because of this misguided law. 
   
• More concerns regarding the rollout of the President’s health care law. Nearly two-thirds of Americans who currently lack health insurance don't know yet if they will purchase that coverage by the Jan. 1 deadline set by the ACA, a new survey revealed Monday. 

• President Obama “punts” on signing UN Arms Treaty right away, but indicates he is committed to doing so. If the President does sign the U.S. as a party to the treaty, it would have to be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate. I don’t believe that this amount of support exists amongst my colleagues and I am committed to voting against ratification. 

• Stephens Media writes that suicide in Arkansas has risen significantly in the past decade and looks at efforts the state is taking to combat the growing problem. This is important in Washington as we look at how to address the shortfalls in our mental health system in wake of the mass shootings our nation has seen in recent months.  

• Accountability and transparency questions continue to plague the Obama Administration. The Associated Press (AP) reports that many top Obama officials are using secret government email accounts and that most agencies have failed to turn over lists of political appointees' email addresses. In fact, the Labor Department initially asked the AP to pay more than $1 million for its email addresses.