called to order by the Speaker

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Congressional Record
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United States
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PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m.
Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor.
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H7287
Vol. 166
WASHINGTON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
No. 218
House of Representatives
The House met at 9 a.m. and was
called to order by the Speaker.
f
PRAYER
The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick
J. Conroy, offered the following prayer:
Lord of all creation, thank You for
giving us another day.
We come before You again, O Lord, to
implore Your blessing upon a nation
seeing continually high rates of infec-
tion with COVID–19. Our hospitals are
near breaking point in the availability
of beds for those who are stricken.
Thank You again for those men and
women of science who have developed
the vaccines now beginning to be dis-
tributed. This is a great sign of hope in
the midst of so much suffering and
fear. Lord, have mercy.
Bless the Members of this House, and
of the Senate, as the omnibus and the
coronavirus relief bills are presented
and considered today. Give them wis-
dom and generosity; increase their
trust that Your people in this Nation
will use the assistance coming their
way to fuel a struggling economy.
May all that is done be for Your
greater honor and glory.
Amen.
f
THE JOURNAL
The SPEAKER. Pursuant to section
4(a) of House Resolution 967, the Jour-
nal of the last day’s proceedings is ap-
proved.
f
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The SPEAKER. Will the gentle-
woman from Texas (Ms. JACKSON LEE)
come forward and lead the House in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
Ms. JACKSON LEE led the Pledge of
Allegiance as follows:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America, and to the Repub-
lic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
COVID VACCINE
(Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was
given permission to address the House
for 1 minute.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker,
I join in the prayer of the Chaplain this
morning. I believe it is important to
open this day of lifesaving relief with a
prayer to ask that our Congress comes
together and stands in the face with
help on the way to dying Americans
from COVID–19, the families of those
who have died and those who are on the
front lines fighting against this virus.
It is important that we help our
schoolchildren with educational dollars
and, as well, make sure that the vac-
cines are going as fast as they can to
the sites across America.
I spoke to hospitals in my district,
smaller hospitals and community hos-
pitals that are still waiting for their
vaccine. We know that they want their
frontline medical professionals to keep
saving and serving the public.
So this is going to be a historic and
important day. We know it is not what
we want in complete, but we know we
will be working into the new year to be
able to respond to the needs of the
American people helping our local gov-
ernments and, as well, making sure
that those children who will be return-
ing to school and those teachers, as
well, will be protected after they have
the opportunity—the teachers, in par-
ticular—to have the vaccine. This is a
historic day. Let us work together.
f
RELIEF FOR THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE
(Ms. PELOSI asked and was given
permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I asso-
ciate myself with your comments and
those of our Chaplain, Father Conroy,
that it is appropriate to start today
with a prayer, and every day, but espe-
cially a day when we are seeing over
300,000—and the number getting high-
er—Americans who are dying from the
coronavirus.
We have hope because there is a vac-
cine. We have hope because we have a
President who recognizes science and,
again, the need for us to distribute the
vaccine in the most equitable, fair, and
free way. By that President, I mean
one who will take office 1 month from
now, Joe Biden.
I do want to speak to the bill that
will be on the floor shortly. It is a
good, bipartisan bill. As different from
bills that had been proposed on the
Senate side by the Republican leader,
it does things that his bill never did,
and that is that it addresses the food
needs of the American people. Maybe 15
million children are food insecure in
our country, and adults as well.
Millions of families are on the verge
of eviction, and this legislation ad-
dresses the rental needs and the short-
term moratorium. We can accept a
short-term because we will have a new
President during the length of that
moratorium to extend it further if nec-
essary.
We also have in the legislation direct
payments, which were not in the Re-
publican bill, to America’s working
families. I would like them to have
been bigger, but they are significant,
and they will be going out soon.
The President may insist on having
his name on the check, but make no
mistake, those checks are from the
American people. The American peo-
ple’s name should be on that check, no
individual, because that is the source
of the resources for those checks—tax-
paying Americans.
In addition to that, the list goes on
of some of the very positive things that
are on the bill—quite frankly, some of
them did not come to agreement until
yesterday—whether
we
are
talking
about WRDA, the Water Resources De-
velopment Act; a big jobs bill had bi-
partisan support but some disagree-
ment over language, but by the time
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that was resolved, it pushed the bill
from coming to the floor later.
We didn’t have, at the start of the
day, sick leave. That is in the bill, al-
most $2 billion for sick leave.
It didn’t have the EITC, the earned
income tax credit, for working poor
people to have that boost, as well as
the child tax credit. It did not have the
employment retention tax credit—bi-
partisan support on WRDA and on that.
Then we came to agreement not only
on the language, but where that initia-
tive would be placed in that. So many
of these things need to be precisely
written and assembled in order for a
bill to come to the floor, which we an-
ticipate will be pretty soon this morn-
ing.
One of the things, though, that is dis-
appointing because, for a long time
now, House Democrats and the Senate
have been saying we want to crush the
virus and put money in the pockets of
the American people. The title of our
bill before was about honoring our he-
roes, our State and local workers who
are on the front line.
We talk about those on the front
lines who are our heroes. They are nec-
essary in meeting and crushing this
virus. We are talking about healthcare
workers in cities, counties, and States.
We are talking about first responders,
police and fire, some who are the first
on the scene to help someone with the
coronavirus.
We are talking about our teachers,
our teachers, our teachers, who are the
custodians of our children for a large
part of the day. We are talking about
our transportation, sanitation, and
food workers and those who make our
lives possible.
I think it would be interesting to
point out that, as enthusiastic as we
are about the PPP provisions in this
bill, and we all support them in a bi-
partisan way, it is important to note
that small businesses—I always say
there is nothing more optimistic than
starting a small business, maybe get-
ting married—but the optimism, the
hope, and the dream that people have
is completely, shall we say, darkened
by the assault of this virus, and that is
why we had to start by crushing the
virus.
We couldn’t pass legislation until
now because the administration simply
did not believe in testing, tracing,
treatment, wearing masks, sanitation,
separation, and the rest—the scientific
approach. It has become clear to us
now that they believed in herd immu-
nity, a quackery springing right from
the Oval Office and not denied suffi-
ciently by some in the CDC and the
rest.
Now we have a vaccine, and that
gives us hope, a vaccine that springs
from science.
People say around here sometimes: I
am faith oriented, so I don’t believe in
science.
I say: Well, you can do both. Science
is an answer to our prayers, and our
prayers have been answered with a vac-
cine.
In this legislation, we have a provi-
sion for it to be developed, purchased,
and distributed in a way, again, that is
fair, equitable, and free.
What we couldn’t get ever—even with
the previous legislation just on top,
testing, et cetera—was the adequate
language
to
recognize
that
this
coronavirus has taken a horrible toll
on our whole country, more so among
people of color. People of color have
died from the coronavirus.
A child who was Hispanic had eight
times more of a chance of going to the
hospital with the coronavirus than a
White child. If you are African Amer-
ican, there is five times more of a
chance of going to the hospital because
of the coronavirus. So now we have a
vaccine we hope will reach everyone as
soon as possible.
One item that I am heartbroken
about in this bill, though, is that,
while we make an attempt to crush the
virus, we don’t do it adequately enough
in terms of recognizing the toll on peo-
ple of color; but we will have to do that
in the public sentiment of it, in the de-
mand that we make on Governors and
others who are in charge of the dis-
tribution.
We put money in the pockets of the
American people. We want to do more,
but, nonetheless, we are meeting the
deadline of December 26 for unemploy-
ment insurance, which was vital.
But the third thing, honoring our he-
roes, as I said earlier, healthcare work-
ers, our first responders, police and
fire, sanitation, transportation, food
workers, teachers, teachers, teachers,
we just decided that, while they are on
the front line, while they are risking
their lives to save lives—many of the
healthcare workers, the police and fire,
et cetera, many of them have lost their
jobs. Many of them have already lost
their lives. Many have lost their jobs.
So why is it that this Congress and
this White House refuses to recognize
the value, the contribution, and the
sacrifice of our, again, heroes, our peo-
ple on the front line?
It is interesting, I think, to note
that, when we passed a number of bills
in a bipartisan way—and we will pass
this one today—in the course of that,
with the CARES Act and the followup
on the PPP bill and this bill now, we
are approaching $1 trillion that we are
putting out for PPP.
b 0915
If that is what is needed and is spent
effectively, that is a worthy expendi-
ture. Almost $1 trillion—well over
$750,000. This bill alone, over $300 bil-
lion. So we have PPP.
Now, in order for the private sector
to function, in order for us to live our
lives, we need to have the public sec-
tor:
public
transportation,
public
schools, public health, the list goes on.
So it is not about public/private. It is
about people, people who are doing
their jobs, again, risking their lives to
save lives and lose their life and may
lose their jobs. Many have lost their
lives. Many more, of course, have lost
their jobs.
Madam Speaker, we have approach-
ing $1 trillion for the PPP; small busi-
ness, which I support all the way; and
$150 billion or $160 billion for State and
local government, which enables the
private sector to function, which en-
ables us to crush the virus, which en-
ables us to meet the needs of people.
Madam Speaker, $150 billion to $160
billion versus well over $800 billion al-
ready. How could that be right? Except
the Republicans insist on saying: We
don’t want to give money to blue
States where the coronavirus is.
It is in red States, too. It knows no
borders and it knows no party, this vi-
cious virus. But somehow, other Re-
publicans have said to our heroes, our
healthcare workers, our teachers, our
transportation, our police and fire, and
the rest—sanitation workers, so impor-
tant; food, food, food—you are not wor-
thy of support because perhaps you are
in a blue State, predominantly, and,
therefore, we undervalue your con-
tribution to our society, to our econ-
omy, and especially now, as we try to
minister to the needs of people in this
coronavirus crisis.
How do you think these vaccines
come into a State? They go from a lab
to your arm magically? No. They have
to be received, distributed, adminis-
tered, and done so fairly, equitably,
and free.
Who do you think is going to do
those jobs if you don’t respect the role
of State and local government in all of
this? But don’t think of it as govern-
ment. Think of it as people. Think of it
as yourself needing all of that.
So I would hope that, as we see the
need for what we have done in this
nearly $900 billion legislation that we
will vote on today, that everyone un-
derstands it is a first step. It is the
first step, as President-elect Biden has
said. It is the first step. And we will
need to do more to get more virus as-
sistance to crush the virus, but also
more money to buy more vaccines.
We need to have the Defense Produc-
tion Act in play to hasten the manu-
facture of these vaccines, and we need
to be able, as I said, to get the job
done, and that takes people.
People need to be respected. Their
worth needs to be valued, and the enti-
ties under whose auspices they work,
public hospitals, all the rest, and edu-
cation, so important.
And yet, many of our teachers have
lost their jobs. We need more teachers
because we need more space to sepa-
rate, to, again, protect our children.
We have always said, if we want the
economy to open up and we want our
schools to open up, you must crush the
virus, at least take the precautions so
that people are not in jeopardy if they
go to work or when they go to school.
Schools should be the safest places in
America for our children, and they can
be if science is respected and the mask-
wearing, distancing, and the rest. But
you need more space; you need better
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ventilation, as BOBBY SCOTT tells us
over and over; and we need more teach-
ers.
This is a big mistake. The Repub-
licans said you can get a small amount,
not even approaching in any way, the
PPP—again, no resentment there; we
support that. But the recognition that
that is important should also recognize
that the sector of our economy that
supports the private sector be recog-
nized.
So, on that score, you come to a situ-
ation where, how could it be that we
only have $160 billion for State and
local, where we have approaching $1
trillion dollars for PPP, not recog-
nizing that the private sector is con-
nected to the public sector?
Now, one more point on that.
They said: You can have some money
for State and local—we will decide how
it will be distributed—if you do sur-
render the rights of workers.
In other words, just in case anybody
doesn’t know, there are essential work-
ers who are required to go to work. If
they don’t because they are concerned
about danger to their health and the
health of their families because the
workplace is not safe, they cannot go
on unemployment insurance. And if
they go to work and contract the virus,
they have no recourse, because that is
the way the Republicans want it.
That is the way the Republicans
want it: antiworker.
Madam Speaker, just for good meas-
ure, they have thrown in certain as-
pects of the Civil Rights Act, the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the
Fair Labor Standards Act, OSHA—the
list goes on—in section 42 of their hei-
nous liability bill of all of the actions
that cannot be taken.
And I asked one of the Republican
Senators: What does preventing the
ADA, American with Disabilities Act,
to honor its responsibility?
They said: Why not have the Cham-
ber of Commerce call you and tell you.
I said: Why don’t you not waste my
time or the Chambers’ time about why
the ADA should not be enforced be-
cause of the virus?
This is coronavirus-centric. We said
that we can find a compromise on li-
ability for the time of the virus and in
a way that is fair to those employers
who want to protect their workers and
to the workers. They decided they
would turn it into some massive, long-
term, ever-encompassing liability—just
so wrong to work with. That is not
what our system is about.
But, nonetheless, I still thought we
could try to find a compromise. We
couldn’t. They were absolute: Just call
the Chamber of Commerce. They will
tell you why they can’t meet the needs
of their workers.
Madam Speaker, heading back to the
money, nearly $1 trillion PPP.
$160 billion—and not even giving the
States and localities the flexibility to
use the funds for both addressing the
COVID needs, the health needs, but
also the revenue lost. Even the Repub-
lican Governors wanted that flexi-
bility, but they wouldn’t give it to us
then, and they wouldn’t give it to us
now for fear that some blue State Gov-
ernor or city or mayor or county exec-
utive might take advantage of that.
We have never done enough for local-
ities. That is a pitch we have made.
That is what we have in the Heroes
Act. But there was no market for that
on the Republican side of the aisle.
So when we say it is a first step, that
is basic. Let us thank God CHUCK SCHU-
MER was able to dismantle, in part, the
Toomey resolution that would tie the
hands of a President to meet the needs
of the American people and our econ-
omy by exercising section 13(3) of the
Federal Reserve Board.
Madam Speaker, we got past that,
which took a long time. I felt Wednes-
day night we were finished. This mon-
strosity reared his head the next morn-
ing. Leader SCHUMER effectively was
able to fix it—it still should not even
have been initiated, but, nonetheless,
fix it—in a way that enabled us to go
forward. And that is why it has taken
this long to get here in these last few
days.
Madam Speaker, again, I look for-
ward to NITA LOWEY bringing the legis-
lation to the floor. As the chair of the
Committee on Appropriations, this will
be her last bill on the floor. In fact, it
is the last bill for many of us here, but
hers as chair of the Committee on Ap-
propriations.
She
and
her
staff—
Shalanda and Chris and so many oth-
ers—and all of our chairs did such a re-
markable job, and their staffs deserve
so much credit for all of this.
Again, we will do some good with
this legislation, but we must recognize
that more needs to be done to crush
the virus, to put more money in the
pockets of the American people—from
the American people to the American
people—and, again, to fill in the gap
that has been purposefully left to
honor our heroes with all that.
As we review policy and legislation
and negotiation and all that, just al-
ways have in our hearts every single
one of the people who have died from
the coronavirus. It can be stopped. It
can be crushed. But that is a decision,
it is a decision, and a decision to recog-
nize where it is hurting people the
most.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to a
strong bipartisan vote today on this
legislation, respecting it for what it
does, not judging it for what it does
not, but recognizing that more needs to
be done.
Again, with high praise for all of our
chairs, and, again, special recognition
of Madam Chair NITA LOWEY for her
last bill on the floor, again, I say con-
gratulations to all the staff who
worked so hard.
But it all comes back to families who
lost their loved ones, those millions
and millions of people who were in-
fected, some more seriously than oth-
ers. We don’t know the after-effects it
may have, but we do know that we
have hope.
We have a vaccine, and we have a
President coming into office who be-
lieves in science and cares about people
and values the work that our first re-
sponders and our healthcare workers,
et cetera, do for us.
Madam Chair, prayerfully, as you
and our chaplain began, prayerfully, I
close my remarks, assuring, for what-
ever it is worth, that many of us who
serve in this body and represent the
American people have had a death in
the family, because so many people
have lost their loved ones, whom we
have all lost.
f
CORONAVIRUS RELIEF AID
(Mr. SUOZZI asked and was given
permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise
today in support of our bipartisan leg-
islation to both fund the government
and for the COVID relief package. As
Speaker PELOSI just noted, this bill is
far from perfect, but we can’t let the
perfect be the enemy of the good.
Madam Speaker, today, is the dark-
est day of the year. It is a fitting sym-
bol of the misery and suffering that so
many people are facing in our country
right now. The effects of this pandemic
have been cruelly uneven.
Some people have remained rel-
atively unscathed. Some people can
work remotely, still have their jobs, no
one around them has gotten sick or
died within their immediate circle,
while others are awash in misery: un-
able to return to work, unable to pay
their rent, to pay their utilities; people
around them have gotten sick.
People have lost their lifesavings in
their small business, and many hun-
dreds of thousands have died, including
my 92-year-old father-in-law, who, in
April,
was
diagnosed
with
the
coronavirus and died within 48 hours.
Today’s relief package—and that is
what it is is relief—will provide much-
needed help for millions of Americans.
So while today is the darkest day of
the year, every day will get a little
brighter, and spring will surely follow
our dark winter. But we must remem-
ber that, while spring is on its way,
there is so much more that needs to be
done.
Our State and local governments
must have relief from their massive
loss of revenues. Without our help, po-
lice officers, teachers, and other heroes
on the front line will face layoffs.
Madam Speaker, we need to continue
today’s spirit of bipartisanship.
f
b 0930
IN SUPPORT OF COVID RELIEF
MEASURE
(Ms. LEE of California asked and was
given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms.
LEE
of
California.
Madam
Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
desperately needed omnibus measure.
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The
COVID–19
pandemic
is
dev-
astating our communities, especially,
disproportionately, African-American,
Latinx, Asian-American, and Indige-
nous people, who are suffering the
worst of this pandemic. Eight million
people have slipped into poverty since
the start of this pandemic, and one in
four adults are suffering from hunger
during COVID–19.
I am pleased that we were able to
come to this agreement.
I want to thank our Speaker, NANCY
PELOSI, who has worked day and night
for what some of us are calling a sur-
vival package. It is a lifeline payment
until we can do something and do jus-
tice by the American people.
I also want to just thank Chairman
PALLONE,
Congresswoman
DELAURO,
Chairwoman NITA LOWEY, and all of
our staffs for the amazing work that
they have done to put in so many of
our priorities on a wide range of issues.
This bill sets aside $2.8 billion to en-
sure that minority communities hit
hardest by COVID get the testing and
vaccine support they need.
I look forward to working with my
Tri-Caucus and Native American col-
leagues to see that this funding is used
to engage local community organiza-
tions and trusted messengers in the
community so people can get the infor-
mation that they need to keep them-
selves and their families safe.
f
COMMUNICATION FROM THE
CLERK OF THE HOUSE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms.
JACKSON LEE) laid before the House the
following
communication
from
the
Clerk of the House of Representatives:
OFFICE OF THE CLERK,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, DC, December 20, 2020.
Hon. NANCY PELOSI,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the
permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II
of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representa-
tives, the Clerk received the following mes-
sage from the Secretary of the Senate on De-
cember 20, 2020, at 12:54 p.m.:
That the Senate agrees to the House
amendment to the concurrent resolution S.
Con. Res. 52.
That the Senate agrees to the House
amendments to the bill S. 2174.
That the Senate passed S. 2353.
That the Senate passed S. 2800.
That the Senate passed S. 4079.
That the Senate passed S. 4222.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 1966.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 5023.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 6237.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 8906.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely,
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
f
COMMUNICATION FROM THE
CLERK OF THE HOUSE
The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be-
fore the House the following commu-
nication from the Clerk of the House of
Representatives:
OFFICE OF THE CLERK,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, DC, December 20, 2020.
Hon. NANCY PELOSI,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the
permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II
of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representa-
tives, the Clerk received the following mes-
sage from the Secretary of the Senate on De-
cember 20, 2020, at 2:30 p.m.:
That the Senate agrees to the House
amendments to the bill S. 1694.
That the Senate agrees to the House
amendment to the bill S. 2683.
That the Senate agrees to the House
amendment to the bill S. 3989.
That the Senate passed S. 2204.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 5459.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 7898.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely,
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
f
COMMUNICATION FROM THE
CLERK OF THE HOUSE
The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be-
fore the House the following commu-
nication from the Clerk of the House of
Representatives:
OFFICE OF THE CLERK,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, DC, December 20, 2020.
Hon. NANCY PELOSI,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the
permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II
of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representa-
tives, the Clerk received the following mes-
sage from the Secretary of the Senate on De-
cember 20, 2020, at 9:55 p.m.:
That the Senate agreed to without amend-
ment H.J. Res. 110.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely,
GLORIA J. LETT,
Deputy Clerk.
f
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER
PRO TEMPORE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to clause 4 of rule I, the following
enrolled joint resolution was signed by
the Speaker on Sunday, December 20,
2020:
H.J. Res. 110, making further con-
tinuing appropriations for fiscal year
2021, and for other purposes.
f
RECESS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to clause 12(a) of rule I, the Chair
declares the House in recess subject to
the call of the Chair.
Accordingly (at 9 o’clock and 35 min-
utes a.m.), the House stood in recess.
f
b 1604
AFTER RECESS
The recess having expired, the House
was called to order by the Speaker pro
tempore (Ms. JACKSON LEE) at 4 o’clock
and 4 minutes p.m.
f
COMMUNICATION FROM THE
SERGEANT AT ARMS
The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be-
fore the House the following commu-
nication from the Sergeant at Arms of
the House of Representatives:
OFFICE OF THE SERGEANT AT ARMS,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, DC, December 21, 2020.
Hon. NANCY PELOSI,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: This is to notify
you formally, pursuant to Rule VIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, that
I, Paul D. Irving, have been served with a
subpoena for testimony issued by the Queen
Anne’s County Circuit Court.
After consultation with the Office of Gen-
eral Counsel, I have determined that compli-
ance with the subpoena is not consistent
with the privileges and rights of the House.
Sincerely,
PAUL D. IRVING,
Sergeant at Arms.
f
REPORT
ON
RESOLUTION
PRO-
VIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF
SENATE
AMENDMENT
TO
H.R.
133,
UNITED
STATES-MEXICO
ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP
ACT;
PROVIDING FOR DISPOSITION OF
SENATE
AMENDMENT
TO
H.R.
1520, PURPLE BOOK CONTINUITY
ACT OF 2019; AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
Ms. SHALALA, from the Committee
on Rules, submitted a privileged report
(Rept. No. 116–679) on the resolution (H.
Res. 1271) providing for consideration
of the Senate amendment to the bill
(H.R. 133) to promote economic part-
nership and cooperation between the
United States and Mexico; providing
for disposition of the Senate amend-
ment to the bill (H.R. 1520) to amend
the Public Health Service Act to pro-
vide for the publication of a list of li-
censed biological products, and for
other purposes; and for other purposes,
which was referred to the House Cal-
endar and ordered to be printed.
f
PROVIDING
FOR
CONSIDERATION
OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R.
133,
UNITED
STATES-MEXICO
ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP
ACT;
PROVIDING FOR DISPOSITION OF
SENATE
AMENDMENT
TO
H.R.
1520, PURPLE BOOK CONTINUITY
ACT OF 2019; AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, by
direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 1271 and ask
for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as fol-
lows:
H. RES. 1271
Resolved, That upon adoption of this reso-
lution it shall be in order to take from the
Speaker’s table the bill (H.R. 133) to promote
economic partnership and cooperation be-
tween the United States and Mexico, with
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the Senate amendment thereto, and to con-
sider in the House, without intervention of
any point of order, a motion offered by the
chair of the Committee on Appropriations or
her designee that the House concur in the
Senate amendment with an amendment con-
sisting of the text of Rules Committee Print
116-68. The Senate amendment and the mo-
tion shall be considered as read. The motion
shall be debatable for one hour equally di-
vided and controlled by the chair and rank-
ing minority member of the Committee on
Appropriations. The previous question shall
be considered as ordered on the motion to its
adoption without intervening motion. The
question of adoption of the motion shall be
divided for a separate vote on the matter
proposed to be inserted as divisions B, C, E,
and F, and the Chair shall first put the ques-
tion on such portion of the divided question.
If either portion of the divided question fails
of adoption, then the motion shall imme-
diately be considered to have failed of adop-
tion.
SEC. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution,
the House shall be considered to have taken
from the Speaker’s table the bill (H.R. 1520)
to amend the Public Health Service Act to
provide for the publication of a list of li-
censed biological products, and for other pur-
poses, with the Senate amendment thereto,
and to have concurred in the Senate amend-
ment with an amendment consisting of the
text of Rules Committee Print 116-69.
SEC. 3. The Clerk shall be authorized to
make necessary technical and conforming
changes in the engrossment of the House
amendments specified in the first two sec-
tions of this resolution, to include correc-
tions in spelling, punctuation, section num-
bering, and cross-references.
SEC. 4. If a veto message is laid before the
House on H.R. 6395, then after the message is
read and the objections of the President are
spread at large upon the Journal, further
consideration of the veto message and the
bill shall be postponed until the legislative
day of Monday, December 28, 2020; and on
that legislative day, the House shall proceed
to the constitutional question of reconsider-
ation and dispose of such question without
intervening motion.
SEC. 5. The chair of the Committee on Ap-
propriations and the chair of the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence may insert
in the Congressional Record not later than
December 28, 2020, such material as they may
deem explanatory of the Senate amendment
and the motion specified in the first section
of this resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen-
tlewoman from Florida (Ms. SHALALA)
is recognized for 1 hour.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, for
the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the distin-
guished
gentleman
from
Oklahoma
(Mr. COLE), pending which I yield my-
self such time as I may consume. Dur-
ing consideration of this resolution, all
time yielded is for the purpose of de-
bate only.
GENERAL LEAVE
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
ask unanimous consent that all Mem-
bers be given 5 legislative days to re-
vise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
woman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms.
SHALALA.
Madam
Speaker,
today the Rules Committee met and re-
ported a rule, House Resolution 1271,
providing for a motion to concur with
the Senate amendment to H.R. 133 with
a House amendment.
The rule provides 1 hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the
chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on Appropriations. It
provides that the question on adoption
of the motion shall be divided for a sep-
arate vote on the matter proposed to
be inserted as divisions B, C, E, and F.
The rule provides that upon adoption
of this resolution, the House shall be
considered to have concurred in the
Senate amendment to H.R. 1520 with a
House amendment. The rule also pro-
vides that the chairs of the Committee
on Appropriations and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence may
insert explanatory materials in the
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD not later than
December 28 and authorizes the Clerk
to make technical corrections to the
bill.
Finally, the rule allows for consider-
ation of a possible veto message on the
conference report to H.R. 6395 on De-
cember 28, 2020.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong sup-
port of the bill in this rule. This COVID
bill has taken far too long. We started
these negotiations before the first day
of summer in June, the longest day of
the year, and here we are now headed
into the darkest day of the year, the
first day of winter.
I also want to acknowledge the hard
work of our Appropriations chair, NITA
LOWEY, and Ranking Member GRANGER.
But this didn’t have to happen. The
pain that has been inflicted on the
American people did not come just
from the novel virus that has spread
like wildfire across this Nation, but
also from the elected leaders sent to
Washington to help people and to help
this great Nation.
Our failure to reach an agreement
until today only added fuel to this
wildfire. It meant that not only did
people get the coronavirus, but when
they did, their families often went hun-
gry, their bills went unpaid, and they
faced possible eviction or foreclosure.
Madam Speaker, for 8 years, I worked
in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building
not very far from here. Inscribed in the
lobby of that building is a quote from
Hubert Humphrey: ‘‘The moral test of
government is how the government
treats those who are in the dawn of
life, the children; those who are in the
twilight of life, the elderly; and those
who are in the shadows of life, the sick,
the needy, and the handicapped.’’
Madam Speaker, we have failed that
moral test. We have no right to make
children go hungry in this country.
While this bill will certainly bring us
closer to passing that moral test, it is
too late for too many people, and it
will be too little for others. Nonethe-
less, we should pass this bill imme-
diately.
There are a number of things that I
am pleased to see included in this bill:
a long-fought and negotiated bipar-
tisan and bicameral compromise to
protect patients by ending surprise
billing; multiple-year funding for com-
munity health centers, the backbone of
our Nation’s primary care system for
the most vulnerable; and an added
boost in weekly unemployment bene-
fits and relief checks for people who
have been waiting for months for help.
There will be more than $300 billion
for small businesses and money to help
schools, for hospitals, and for vaccine
distribution. It will also provide food
assistance to hungry children and their
families.
This package will be bigger than the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act. It is the biggest package we have
passed since the CARES Act in March.
b 1615
But there is still more to do. I hope
when the 117th Congress convenes in
January, that they will not forget the
American people who will still be suf-
fering and will need more. I hope that
they will remember the people in my
district, a district heavily dependent
on travel, on tourism, and the service
economy.
Madam Speaker, I hope that the fam-
ilies in my community in Miami,
which have been devastated by the last
9 months—and so much more must be
done to help them.
But, today, we must pass this bill. It
is time to be done with this, and we
can wait not a moment longer.
Simply put, with this bill, we are at-
tempting to right our moral compass
and fulfill our obligation to those suf-
fering across our country and to help
guide us out of this dark winter.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentle-
woman from Florida (Ms. SHALALA),
my good friend, for yielding me the
customary 30 minutes.
Madam Speaker, we are here today to
consider a rule that provides for con-
sideration of a package of items that
are of great importance to the country.
The House amendment to the Senate
amendment to H.R. 133 includes not
only a bipartisan omnibus appropria-
tions bill covering the remainder of fis-
cal year 2021, but also a $900 billion bi-
partisan pandemic relief package to
provide help to millions of Americans
who have suffered as a result of the
pandemic.
It also includes a bipartisan com-
promise addressing surprise medical
bills, something that has been a pri-
ority for both parties.
Finally, it includes a number of end-
of-the-year tax and healthcare-related
extenders that are critical to those
they serve, especially during a pan-
demic.
While I know that we are all thrilled
to be here today to bring these items
to the floor, I am frustrated that it has
taken this long to reach this deal, and
I know the American people share that
frustration.
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The reality is that we could have had
this deal months ago on a pandemic re-
lief package, and we could have had
this deal. Individual components could
have been passed across the floor in
July of this year. Instead, Americans
were left to suffer. All the while, jobs
were being lost and businesses being
closed; all the while, small businesses
across the country were forced to make
difficult decisions about which employ-
ees to keep and which staff to let go;
all the while, a deal was available here
in Congress that could have extended
unemployment insurance and extended
the Paycheck Protection Program, a
program which Democrats in the House
rejected extending 41 times.
These two key backstops could have
helped millions of Americans. Instead,
Democrats chose to play politics and
chose not to take yes for an answer.
But now that the election is over and
the end of the year is at hand, suddenly
there is room for a deal, a very bipar-
tisan deal that was on the table all
along and that could have been passed
into law months ago.
Madam Speaker, for today, we will
look past that. Though this overall bill
is massive, I think it is easiest to di-
gest if you consider it in three separate
sections:
Section 1 is the bipartisan, bicameral
omnibus appropriations bill, which will
include our appropriations work for fis-
cal year 2021. The appropriations proc-
ess works best when it is bipartisan,
and with today’s bill, we have accom-
plished that end.
Once we step past the partisanship,
we are able to work together and reach
a deal that will fully fund the govern-
ment for the fiscal year. Our constitu-
ents deserve no less.
Madam Speaker, the deal before us
covers all 12 spending bills and it en-
sures that taxpayer dollars will go
where they are needed most. In par-
ticular, I am pleased that this bill in-
cludes key provisions supporting our
response to the pandemic, like $20 bil-
lion for coronavirus vaccines, an in-
crease in funding for the National In-
stitutes of Health, and a further $3 bil-
lion to rebuild the Strategic National
Stockpile of medical supplies and per-
sonal protective equipment. It fully
funds our defense needs and ensures a 3
percent pay raise for all military per-
sonnel. It continues to fund needed im-
provements for border security. And,
perhaps most importantly, it main-
tains all pro-life protections, as has
been the case in previous years. And
the harmful, partisan riders that ap-
peared in Democratic partisan appro-
priations bills from earlier this year
have been removed.
Madam Speaker, I think it is worth
noting that this bill came about as a
result of regular order. The Committee
on Appropriations produced each of the
12 appropriations bills from a regular
committee
process.
Members
were
given the opportunity to amend, ques-
tion, and fully examine most of the
bills on the floor, and the House and
Senate met together to conference the
bills into a final product. This dem-
onstrates how powerful and effective
regular order can be.
Madam Speaker, the second piece of
this bill is the $900 billion pandemic re-
lief package. For all of 2020, Ameri-
cans—and indeed the world—have lived
under the specter of this pandemic. It
has touched every American’s life in
some way or another, but many Ameri-
cans have been hit harder than others.
Millions have caught this disease,
and hundreds of thousands have died.
Millions more have lost their jobs, and
millions have seen their wages or earn-
ings cut. This has been a crisis that
touches us on so many levels. A health
crisis is bad enough, but adding an eco-
nomic crisis on top of it makes this
year the toughest that many of us can
remember.
The coronavirus relief package before
us will do several things to ease the
burden on all Americans. It will extend
the Paycheck Protection Program and
will ensure that many small businesses
will be able to keep their employees on
the payroll. It will extend expanded un-
employment insurance, thus providing
more funds to unemployed workers to
help make them closer to whole. And it
will provide economic impact pay-
ments of $600 to almost every Amer-
ican, except those with high incomes.
Though I expect this may not be the
last time Congress responds to the
COVID pandemic, I hope that in the fu-
ture the Speaker will embark on a dif-
ferent path of resolution. A relief pack-
age like this one may not have been ev-
erything that both parties wanted, but
a compromise deal that provides real
help to American workers is better
than no deal at all. And that com-
promise could have and should have
been reached months ago. I hope the
majority will remember that going for-
ward.
Madam Speaker, the third section of
today’s package is a number of mis-
cellaneous bipartisan items, including
a bill intended to address the problems
of surprise medical billing. This is a
problem that is known far too well by
many Americans.
You see a doctor or you visit an
emergency room, and only learn after
the fact that a medical professional
you saw during your treatment is out-
side your insurance network. This can
lead to a wildly expensive bill for the
patient, who may not have had any
choice in the matter.
The bipartisan bill before us today
will help solve this problem. It will en-
sure that the patients will only be re-
sponsible for covering the portion not
covered by their health insurance at
in-network rates when they don’t have
the ability to choose an in-network
doctor, like in emergency situations.
The bill also will make pricing more
open and transparent and will require
insurers to notify patients in advance
if they are going to receive out-of-net-
work care.
These reforms will give patients and
consumers more choice and will make
sure that they are not subjected to
massive, surprise bills, ones that pa-
tients frequently have not planned for.
Madam
Speaker,
I
applaud
my
friends on the Committee on Ways and
Means, the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor for coming to this
important compromise, and I look for-
ward to supporting its passage in law.
Madam Speaker, finally, I take a mo-
ment to acknowledge my very dear
friend, Representative DONNA SHALALA,
who is managing her final rule on the
floor today. I have always enjoyed my
interactions with my friend and it has
always been a pleasure serving with
her on the Committee on Rules. She
has been a helpful ally when we have
agreed and a worthy opponent when we
have not.
Much more importantly, she has al-
ways been, first and foremost, a public
servant. She was a public servant be-
fore she arrived in Congress. I have no
doubt she will continue to be a public
servant when she leaves. We have all
benefitted from her leadership at the
Department of Health and Human
Services during the Clinton years, from
her many years as a leader in edu-
cational institutions, from her tireless
participations on countless boards and
commissions and committees, all of
which were rendering important serv-
ice to our country.
Madam Speaker, I am going to miss
my friend on the Committee on Rules.
This Congress is going to miss her, but
I know the country is going to con-
tinue to have the benefit of her splen-
did service and insight.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
thank my distinguished colleague for
his very kind words. I will say that I
have enjoyed working with him. I have
deep respect for his leadership in this
Congress.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to
the
gentleman
from
Massachusetts
(Mr.
MCGOVERN),
the
distinguished
chairman of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. MCGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman for yielding to
me.
Madam Speaker, across America,
people are dealing with a loss of a job,
a business, or even a loved one. People
are hurting, and they are hurting badly
not only from this pandemic, but also
from the incompetence, the callous-
ness, and the negligence of the current
occupant of the White House.
When I talk about people hurting, I
don’t mean big corporations or Fortune
500 companies. I am talking about our
workers, our middle class, those on the
edge of the middle class, and those
struggling in poverty. That is where
our focus should be. And thanks to the
bipartisan efforts of Members on both
sides of the Capitol, we are acting right
now—not next year or during the next
administration, as some have sug-
gested—but right now.
This deal is not everything I want—
not by a long shot—but the choice be-
fore us is simple. It is about whether
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we help families or not. It is about
whether we help small businesses and
restaurants or not. It is about whether
we boost SNAP benefits and strengthen
antihunger programs or not. And it is
about whether we help those dealing
with a job loss or not.
To me, this is not a tough call. We
need to pass this, and then we need to
prepare to build on it in the next Con-
gress, hopefully, in a bipartisan fashion
and with an administration that actu-
ally gives a damn about the American
people.
Madam Speaker, before I conclude, I
also join the gentleman from Okla-
homa in recognizing the service of Con-
gresswoman SHALALA. Over the years,
she has had many titles: Doctor, treas-
urer, college president, chancellor, as-
sistant secretary, secretary, congress-
woman—and I could go on.
Often, DONNA has done it first: She
was among the very first Peace Corps
volunteers. She was the first woman to
lead a Big 10 Conference college. She
was only the second woman to lead a
major research university. And DONNA
was the first Lebanese American to
serve in a President’s Cabinet.
Madam Speaker, there is a saying in
Arabic, which in English is: ‘‘Do good
and throw it into the sea.’’
It means this: The reward is doing
good. Not the praise or recognition.
Just simply an act of doing good.
And DONNA SHALALA does good, pe-
riod. I know she will continue to do
good.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Mem-
bers are reminded to refrain from en-
gaging in personalities toward the
President.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3
minutes to the gentlewoman from Ari-
zona (Mrs. LESKO), my good friend and
distinguished colleague on the Com-
mittee on Rules.
Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I am
glad that we finally have a bipartisan
deal for COVID relief, but the process
has been absolutely terrible.
I have to tell you that we have, what,
6,000 pages? And what did we get?
We got it, like, maybe 2 hours ago,
the text of it. We were waiting all
night.
In fact, Speaker PELOSI had called
Members back last week. We thought
we were going to be doing this last
Wednesday. Instead, we were doing all
these suspension bills. People had to
fly from all over the country—all the
Congress Members—in crowded air-
ports, crowded planes; not really good
for mitigating COVID, if you ask me.
Madam Speaker, I will say, though,
that I am glad that, finally, after
months and months of Republicans
asking for a bipartisan COVID relief
bill that could actually get signed into
law, we are actually here today, even if
it is a couple days before Christmas.
And it is a bill that will help small
businesses and their workers, will help
the airline industry, will be a solution
to Americans who are struggling with
surprise medical bills.
b 1630
For those who are unemployed be-
cause of the coronavirus, because the
governments have shut down the busi-
nesses, it will give unemployment in-
surance relief. But there will be protec-
tions in there to make sure that the
people are really unemployed and that
they will accept a reasonable offer for
a job.
Also good in the bill is that there is
not only money for vaccine procure-
ment but for distribution of the vac-
cines.
On that note, I want to applaud
President Trump for his action in Oper-
ation Warp Speed and for working with
the private sector to get vaccines done
and out the door in record time. This
has never been done before in history.
Normally, it takes years and years for
vaccines to be done.
Thank you, President Trump, for
your hard work for the American peo-
ple.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield myself such time as I may con-
sume.
Madam Speaker, first, let me thank
Chairman MCGOVERN for his very kind
words. I have enjoyed serving under his
leadership.
Let me say to my colleague, Mrs.
LESKO, years of bipartisan investments
in NIH have, in fact, led to Operation
Warp Speed. Decades of investments in
training the world’s best scientists
have led to a very fast-paced develop-
ment of a vaccine. So, it is not just the
present President; it is Presidents be-
fore that who believed that we should
have world-class science in this coun-
try.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. GREEN).
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speak-
er, this bill will not end all the suf-
fering. However, it will ease the pain
for many who are suffering, with $25
billion for eviction prevention, $13 bil-
lion for food in the form of SNAP, and
$600 cash in pocket. It won’t end all the
suffering, but it will ease much of the
pain.
For this, I thank Chairman MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. COLE, and Ms. SHALALA. Of
course, I am always honored to serve in
the Congress of the United States of
America under the leadership of the
Honorable
MAXINE
WATERS,
and
I
thank her for her $25 billion in rental
assistance.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3
minutes to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. CHABOT), my very good friend and
the distinguished ranking Republican
member of the Small Business Com-
mittee.
Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I
thank the gentleman from Oklahoma
for his leadership on this issue and so
many other issues over the years.
Madam Speaker, for months now, our
Nation’s entrepreneurs and small busi-
ness owners have been pleading for ad-
ditional help from Congress. I have
been hearing this from small busi-
nesses back in my district in the great-
er Cincinnati area. I know that my col-
leagues on both sides of the aisle have
been hearing the same thing from their
constituents.
While I am relieved that Congress is
finally acting on those cries for help, I
am dismayed that it has taken this
long. I introduced a bill back in Sep-
tember, 3 months ago, that could have
been brought to the floor and helped
those small businesses that so des-
perately needed that help back then.
That bill included many of the same
provisions that we are voting on today.
Instead, this House, under Democratic
control, considered bills about mari-
juana and online conspiracy theories,
for example. It is an embarrassment
that it has taken this long because
every moment of delay put more small
businesses at risk of permanent clo-
sure.
These small businesses, restaurants,
shops, and manufacturers employ near-
ly half of this country’s workers and
form the backbone of communities all
across the country. Fortunately, the
provisions in today’s relief package
will bring critical assistance to these
workers and their families.
The Paycheck Protection Program,
which has supported over 50 million
employees, will be reopened for new
and second-time applicants. Funds will
be reserved for very small businesses
and community lenders. The list of eli-
gible expenses will be expanded so that
small business owners can purchase
PPE, for example, to keep employees
and their loved ones safe.
There are many more details in the
package, too many to go into here. But
the bottom line is this: These provi-
sions will bring meaningful help to
millions of Americans.
Just in my district in Cincinnati and
the surrounding area, a PPP loan
helped keep 140 employees on the pay-
roll at the Silver Spring House res-
taurant. A PPP loan enabled HomeWell
Care Services, an assisted living facil-
ity, to continue their important work
for our community’s elderly popu-
lation. And the folks at Neyer Plumb-
ing used PPP funding to carry on as an
essential business.
These are real people with real fami-
lies to support and bills to pay. That is
why it is so important that we pass
this package without additional delay.
Small businesses and their employees
are tough; they are resilient. Across
the country, we hear stories about
small businesses giving back to their
communities,
even
when
they
are
struggling themselves.
It is time for Congress to meet the
moment and get further help in the
hands of working Americans. As a mat-
ter of fact, it is far overdue.
Madam Speaker, I urge my col-
leagues to vote ‘‘yes’’ on this long-
overdue legislation.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. PANETTA).
Mr. PANETTA. Madam Speaker, I
rise in support of the COVID temporary
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relief package in this rule. We did it
before. We must do it again.
Our past COVID legislation kept the
economy afloat and our poverty rate
flat. However, as Democrats passed
more bills, the Senate and the Presi-
dent put a pause on those efforts.
Now, the pandemic is raging, hos-
pitals are bursting, and our economy is
hurting. That is why we must play our
part with Federal funding to combat
this disease and carry on through the
locally mandated shutdowns.
This relief package will allow us to
avoid calamity and aid our recovery by
providing small businesses with PPP,
laid-off employees with unemployment
insurance, families with checks, farm-
workers with PPE, renters with direct
relief, and the ailing with the HOS-
PICE Act.
To help State and local governments,
there is funding for broadband, food,
healthcare, education, and transpor-
tation.
Look, this package should have been
bigger. It should have been done
quicker. It is not entirely what we
want. But it is what we need to be that
bridge to a vaccine-fueled revival in
2021. If we do that, we will further the
faith in what we do here in Congress
for the future of our democracy.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3
minutes to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. BURGESS), my very good friend
and a distinguished member of the En-
ergy and Commerce Committee and the
Rules Committee.
Mr.
BURGESS.
Madam
Speaker,
hearing some of the earlier discussion,
just for a data point, this is December
21, the longest night of the year, as
they say.
On August 21, the former Vice Presi-
dent, in accepting the Democratic
Party nomination for President, in his
acceptance speech, said: Look, let’s be
clear. No miracle is coming.
Well, here we are, 4 months later,
with not one but two vaccines, each in
excess of 90 percent effective; abso-
lutely phenomenal.
As another data point, in August
2014, the Ebola crisis was raging in
Western Africa. A vaccine was out of
phase 1 trials. It took 51⁄2 years to de-
liver that vaccine. This one was deliv-
ered in 10 months. It is absolutely in-
credible.
Look, in the bill before us today,
there are some high points, and there
are some low points. A couple of things
I do want to point out.
The Independence at Home Act that I
introduced with Congresswoman DIN-
GELL several years ago was continued
and expanded.
One of the biggest deals for me is
coverage for immunosuppressive drugs
after a renal transplant. I have been
working on this for 10 years. Now, we
have provided additional protection for
people who are recipients of renal
transplants so that they can continue
to get their immunosuppressive drugs.
Some flexibility has been provided in
the bill to allow for value-based care.
The alternative payment model thresh-
old is frozen for 2 years. That is impor-
tant.
Project ECHO, which allows for pri-
mary care doctors in remote areas to
be able to consult with specialists, has
been continued. That is a big deal.
The out-of-network billing has been
tough, and it has been tough in a year
that has been tough on our Nation’s
frontline healthcare personnel. The
out-of-network billing language has
improved dramatically over the last 18
months. I cannot say that it is perfect,
but some of the more recent improve-
ments, such as the prevention of put-
ting payment data from public payers
in the independent dispute resolution
process, are pretty big wins for our
physicians.
I will also add that it is an unusual
time that they should have to be facing
additional cuts when our doctors have
been on the front lines of providing
care for America’s patients during this
pandemic. Faced with out-of-network
payment reductions from the insurance
companies and with reductions through
the evaluation and management codes,
the E and M codes, it is a funny way to
go about rewarding those that we
would refer to as our Nation’s heroes.
Still, Mr. Speaker, the American peo-
ple do need the relief that is provided
in this coronavirus package.
Ms. SHALALA. I yield 1 minute to
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
JACKSON LEE).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker,
help is on the way. Help cannot come
faster. Help is desperately needed.
Seventeen million Americans are in-
fected by COVID–19. Almost 320,000 are
dead, and the numbers keep growing.
Hospital beds are overutilized. Cities
across America are getting refrigerated
trucks. Help is on the way.
People are being evicted, and this
legislation helps us stop the evictions.
It provides for cash disbursements, up
to $2,400 for a family of four and $300
extra in weekly unemployment pay-
ments.
For hungry families, 54 million hun-
gry families in America, including our
young military personnel, help is on
the way.
This bill is a bill we wrote months
ago. It is downsized, but it is the very
language that we have written. So we
know, in the new year, we will come
back again to save lives.
Let’s get this done in unity. We know
how it was blocked. We know the other
House did not move forward. We know
we did not get leadership on this bill.
But as I close, let me thank Sec-
retary
Shalala,
Congresswoman
SHALALA, for what she brought to this
Congress,
what
insight,
what
specialness, and what kindness.
We wish you the very best, and I look
forward to working with you in the fu-
ture.
Mr. Speaker, help is on the way.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
for the Rule that the House is debating to pro-
vide for the consideration of the Fiscal Year
appropriations for the federal government and
urgently needed COVID–19 relief funding.
Chairman MCGOVERN, and Ranking Member
COLE, thank you for your work to bring this
Rule before the House so that Members can
debate and vote for urgently needed aid to
communities across the nation and the funding
needed to keep the federal government oper-
ational through the remainder of Fiscal Year
2021.
As a senior member of the Committees on
the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on
the Budget, and the representative of the 18th
Congressional District of Texas, an epicenter
for COVID–19 infections, I recognize the ur-
gency of providing assistance now, but I also
recognize that the assistance is insufficient to
the needs of our state and local governments,
our hospitals, or the people of our great na-
tion.
I support this rule that will facilitate passage
of this interim package, while also saying that
more is needed.
Before the Rules Committee also was the
omnibus appropriations bill providing funding
to continue the operations of the federal gov-
ernment through September 30, 2021, thus
avoiding a wasteful and irresponsible shut-
down.
I am relieved that at long last, agreement
has been reached between the bicameral
leadership to provide needed and long over-
due relief to the tens of millions Americans
whose lives and livelihoods have been dev-
astated by the COVID–19 pandemic.
I am grateful that efficacious vaccines have
been discovered and are on their way to pro-
viding much needed protection and relief, but
this is just a down payment on the relief and
support needed for our country to recover
from the pandemic and build back better.
Over the course of the 116th Congress the
House Rules Committee has done its job and
provided expert guidance on the progress of
nearly 600 bills that have passed the House
and gone to the Senate.
These bills included legislation to lower
health care and prescription drug prices, raise
wages, advance economic and retirement se-
curity, end gun violence, act on the climate cri-
sis, protect Dreamers, and strengthen voting
rights.
For example, in this Congress the House
has passed and sent to the Senate the fol-
lowing major legislative bills:
H.R. 1, For the People Act;
H.R. 2, Moving Forward Act;
H.R. 3, The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug
Costs Now Act;
H.R. 4, Voting Rights Advancement Act;
H.R. 5, Equality Act;
H.R. 6, The American Dream & Promise
Act;
H.R. 7, Paycheck Fairness Act;
H.R. 8, Bipartisan Background Checks Act;
H.R. 9, Climate Action Now Act;
H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act;
H.R. 1425, Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Enhancement Act;
H.R. 1585, Violence Against Women Reau-
thorization Act; and
H.R. 7120, George Floyd Justice in Policing
Act.
Also among the bills passed by the House
was H.R. 3710, the Cybersecurity Vulnerability
Remediation Act, legislation that increases the
responsibilities of the Department of Home-
land Security (DHS) with respect to cyberse-
curity vulnerabilities.
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The National Cybersecurity and Commu-
nications Integration Center of DHS under this
bill is directed to disseminate protocols to
counter cybersecurity vulnerabilities, including
in circumstances in which such vulnerabilities
exist because software or hardware is no
longer supported by a vendor.
This bill would also provide the Science and
Technology Directorate the flexibility to estab-
lish a competition to develop remedies for cy-
bersecurity vulnerabilities.
Today, our nation is still attempting to un-
derstand the scope and breath of the latest
Russia sourced attack on federal government
cyber assets.
In this moment we must address the crisis
created by COVID–19, and the Cybersecurity
threat that is ongoing.
There are consequences for the Senate’s
failure to take up House bills once they are re-
ceived in the Senate.
In truth the Republican-controlled Senate
has been missing in action for much of the
116th Congress.
Whether it is the urgent need to fortify our
election systems from confirmed foreign inter-
ference, notably from Vladimir Putin’s Russia,
or lower prescription drugs prices and expand-
ing and protecting the right of all Americans to
affordable, accessible, high quality health
care, fixing our broken immigration system, or
hold a wayward Executive to account, the
other body has failed the American people in
its basic duty to promote the general welfare
and provide for the common defense.
The consequences of its complete disregard
for the work of the House is now more appar-
ent than ever and is illustrated perfectly by the
Senate’s failure to take up and vote on the
HEROES Act passed by the House in March
of this year to address the devastating budg-
etary and fiscal impacts of the COVID–19 pan-
demic which the President exacerbated by his
incompetent response to the crisis.
The numbers are heartbreaking.
My thoughts and prayers are with the over
315,000 families who have lost loved ones
and the tens of thousand who are sick, and
the many others who will struggle with the ef-
fects of COVID–19 over the coming days,
weeks, months, and years.
We owe a special debt to first responders
who are the lifelines for those who are very ill
or who will need medical care to overcome
this coronavirus.
The need to begin work on the next aid
package is evident in the economic impact of
COVID–19.
Congress and the Executive Branch must
be able to manage more than one crisis at a
time, while avoiding crisis management deci-
sion making when possible.
The Obama Administration exemplified what
a President and a Congress working in con-
cert can accomplish.
The first two years of Obama’s Administra-
tion had Democrats in charge of the House
and Senate, which made it possible for the
Legislative and Executive Branches to work in
concert to attack and repel the economic dis-
aster the nation faced from the housing value
collapse; and addressing health care dispari-
ties by passing the Affordable Care Act both
of which saved millions from economic dis-
aster and saved tens of thousands of lives.
The Obama Administration had a flu pan-
demic in 2009 and Ebola that threatened to
become endemic in 2013.
Both of these global health emergencies
were expertly managed and because of this
most Americans cannot recall the threat.
President Obama had to deal with an eco-
logical disaster in the form of the Deep Hori-
zon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threat-
ened the environment and delicate hatcheries
for sea turtles and the tourism industry long
the coast.
Both the turtles and tourism were saved,
and as with the flu pandemic and Ebola crisis
most Americans cannot recall the incident, be-
cause their lives were not overly disrupted and
the problems were addressed effectively.
That is the sign of a good president be-
cause he kept American safe.
When President Obama left office on Janu-
ary 20, 2017, unemployment was at 4. 7 per-
cent; but today, due to the mismanagement of
the COVID–19 pandemic by President Trump
and Republicans, unemployment skyrocketed
to 8.4 percent and currently stands at 6.7 per-
cent.
When Trump took office in January 2017,
there were 241,000 initial unemployment in-
surance (UI) claims for the week ending Janu-
ary 28, 2017 and at the beginning of the 116th
Congress
in
January
2019,
there
were
236,000 initial UI claims.
Today, due to the mismanagement of the
COVID–19 pandemic by President Trump and
Republicans, there were 885,000 initial UI
claims for the week ending December 12,
2020.
Approximately 30 million Americans have
lost the job they had earlier this year because
of this Administration’s ineptitude and cavalier
regard for the well-being of the American peo-
ple.
During President Obama’s last full year in
office in 2016, the national debt was $20.02
trillion but due to the misguided economic poli-
cies and utter mismanagement of the COVID–
19 pandemic, the national debt has increased
by $6.7 trillion and is projected to reach an all-
time high of $29.6 trillion by the end of the
FY2021 fiscal year.
The annual deficit had been cut to $585 bil-
lion (3.2 percent of GDP) in the last year of
the Obama Administration but under the mis-
management of the current Administration, we
have seen the deficit balloon nearly seven-fold
to $3.1 trillion or 15.2 percent GDP, the larg-
est since 1945 relative to the size of the econ-
omy.
Continuing this Administration’s unbroken
chain of woe, in 2019, after repeated attempts
by Republicans to undermine and sabotage
the Affordable Care Act, there were 33.2 mil-
lion uninsured Americans, 5 million more than
when President Obama left office.
It has been estimated by reputable experts
that from February 2020 through May 2020
alone, an estimated 5.4 million Americans be-
came uninsured because of unprecedented
job loss caused by the Republican mis-
management of this pandemic.
Given the wreckage to the economy and the
damage to the lives and livelihoods of the
American people, it is unconscionable that this
Administration is pursuing a lawsuit to strike
down the Affordable Care Act, which would
take health care coverage away from 20 mil-
lion Americans and take away protections for
132 million persons who have pre-existing
conditions.
I strongly support this legislation and urge
members of the Rules Committee to join me
by voting for a rule to bring the bill to the floor
today.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2
minutes to the gentleman from South
Dakota (Mr. JOHNSON), my very good
friend.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr.
Speaker,
I
think
it
was
Winston
Churchill who said you can always
count on Americans to do the right
thing after they have exhausted all
other options.
You know, Congress looks that way
to me from time to time. This is not
the process or the timeline or the
structure I have argued for. This
COVID–19 package doesn’t have all the
provisions that I have asked for. It is
clearly not a perfect bill.
Yet, it is the targeted and focused re-
lief that our country needs. It follows
the framework that a bipartisan group
of eight Senators and eight House
Members, including myself, unveiled a
few weeks ago.
We knew then that it was not a per-
fect bill, but we knew it was the way
forward. I am proud of the role that I
have played and that the Problem
Solvers Caucus has played in breaking
this gridlock. I am proud of the role
that we have played in making sure
that our economy and our schools can
stay open and that our testing and our
vaccine deployment can be ramped up.
Madam Speaker, this has been a
messy week, but this is a good day for
America.
Ms.
SHALALA.
Madam
Speaker,
thank you for your kind words.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to
the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
CROW).
b 1645
Mr. CROW. Madam Speaker, I grew
up knowing what it felt like to strug-
gle financially, that fear and anxiety of
not knowing where your next rent
check would come from, working a
shift at Arby’s or a 14-hour day on the
construction site and still not making
ends meet. That is why I am voting for
this bill.
As imperfect as it is—and there are
plenty of things that are not in this
bill that should be—it will provide im-
mediate relief for millions of families
and small businesses that simply can’t
wait any longer, including those that
are left out of prior rounds of relief.
For example, my district is one of
the most diverse districts in the Nation
and home to thousands of refugees and
immigrants. That is why I have been
fighting hard to get payments to
mixed-status ITIN families in this bill.
We have been successful in doing that.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to
working with the Biden administration
to provide more relief in the coming
months so that we can tackle this cri-
sis together.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2
minutes to the gentleman from Ken-
tucky (Mr. BARR).
Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I rise
today in support of long-delayed legis-
lation to deliver more resources to the
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American people to defeat the COVID–
19 virus and provide much-needed relief
from government-imposed lockdowns
of the economy.
Ultimately, no amount of govern-
ment spending can substitute for a
fully functioning, open economy free of
government lockdowns. But I am con-
fident this relief package, which pro-
vides over $284 billion to reload and
strengthen the Paycheck Protection
Program, will help bridge the gap until
COVID–19 vaccines are widely distrib-
uted. It does so in a fiscally responsible
way by rescinding and reallocating $429
billion in Federal Reserve emergency
lending authority, and it repurposes
unused PPP funds.
Importantly, this bill provides effec-
tive, targeted relief, with a net price
tag of approximately $325 billion in
new outlays. It does not include the
liberal wish list that was the center-
piece of the Speaker’s originally $3.4
trillion Heroes Act, a fiscally reckless
proposal that needlessly delayed this
reasonable bipartisan compromise.
For months, I have called on Con-
gress and the administration to sim-
plify the PPP forgiveness application
for small businesses to ease their bur-
dens and ensure lender participation.
Today, that goal becomes a reality.
I also support the bill’s extension of
troubled
debt
restructuring
relief,
which allows lenders to work with
their borrowers to modify loans. And I
strongly support its provision to en-
sure small businesses can deduct ex-
penses covered by PPP loans.
While it has taken far too long to get
to this point, the bill we are passing
today will bring much-needed help to
American workers, families, and small
businesses, without putting more mas-
sive amounts of debt on the American
people.
Madam Speaker, I urge my col-
leagues to vote ‘‘yes’’ on this bill.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. THOMPSON).
Mr.
THOMPSON
of
California.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of
this legislation.
To be clear, this package is nowhere
near enough. House Democrats passed
three times more relief in May; our Re-
publican colleagues did nothing. We
passed more than double this 2 months
ago; our Republican colleagues did
nothing.
This package is not commensurate to
the magnitude of the crisis we face. We
need to do more, including vital aid to
State and local governments and help
for our restaurant industry, but this is
a start.
This legislation includes important
funding
for
vaccine
distribution,
schools, small businesses, and a des-
perately needed extension of unem-
ployment insurance.
I am pleased that this legislation
also extends clean energy tax credits,
provides disaster tax assistance, helps
prevent tragic flame jetting accidents,
and provides help for the hardworking
men and women in my district and
across this country.
Madam Speaker, this is not enough,
but it is a start. I urge my colleagues
to vote ‘‘yes.’’
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I just want to
quickly respond to my friend from
California. It is just, frankly, not accu-
rate to say Republicans did nothing.
The reality is Democrats in the Sen-
ate did nothing. They were offered a
bill about the size of this bill. Actually,
it was a little bit larger—as I recall, it
was about a trillion dollars—than this
bill, and they wouldn’t allow it to come
to the floor to be heard.
This deal has been on the table since
July. My friends chose to hold it up,
for whatever reason—be it political or
in hopes of getting a better deal—and
they prolonged the suffering of the
American people, and I regret that.
But we are here today. We have
worked together. We have got all the
appropriations bills done. I am proud of
that. We have got a good relief package
here. I am proud of that. We have
taken care of some important issues.
I see my friend, the chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means. He had
a lot to do with that, on surprise med-
ical billing. That is a bipartisan ac-
complishment and achievement.
So let’s build on the things that we
have and see what we need to do in the
next Congress.
But, again, for one side to point fin-
gers at the other here is just simply, in
my view, not appropriate.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. NEAL), the distin-
guished chairman of the Committee on
Ways and Means.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, let me
proceed with acknowledging that this
legislation had many crucial elements
that were developed and constructed by
the Committee on Ways and Means on
a bipartisan basis.
We expanded on unemployment in-
surance. We provided an additional
supplement of $300 a week. We ex-
panded the retention tax credit, which
was very important. We maintained
and expanded the EITC and the child
credit.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank
DONNA SHALALA, because perhaps one
of the most important elements in this
successful piece of legislation was ad-
dressing surprise medical billing. She
supported my position on this from day
one, and she couldn’t have been more
earnest. She has been a terrific Mem-
ber of this House.
We provide direct payments. We pro-
vide assistance in terms of tax extend-
ers. We add a really good job on the re-
newable tax credits as well, and we ex-
pand eligibility for a round of checks
to include people in mixed-status fami-
lies.
Many of these pieces of legislation
people said couldn’t happen and, in-
deed, they did.
We addressed those who are most vul-
nerable.
And, the truth is, we also give Joe
Biden a chance after January 20, be-
cause of the duration of this legisla-
tion, to provide what we all know is
going to be a plan for additional assist-
ance to members of the American fam-
ily.
Madam Speaker, there are 20 million
Americans collecting unemployment
insurance right now in America. For
people at the lower end of the economic
spectrum, this has been cruel and cal-
lous. We need to come to their assist-
ance.
People with white-collar jobs, they
have held on and their unemployment
rate is significantly less. But we know
how stubborn this problem is, and until
we defeat the virus, it is hard to see
how we get to a full economic recovery.
I hope that the argument will not be,
once Mr. Biden takes the oath, that we
need to proceed to austerity. What we
do in this legislation with these checks
is we provide additional liquidity,
which then provides additional demand
for people at the lower end of the eco-
nomic spectrum.
This is a very good piece of legisla-
tion. I am very proud of what the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means did to help
get us to this day.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
New York (Mr. ESPAILLAT).
Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I
rise in support of the rule and the un-
derlying COVID relief package:
Another $284 billion for PPP loans for
small businesses that have been hurt-
ing
for
so
long,
particularly
res-
taurants that are struggling. Finally,
Main Street will get some help. We
bailed out Wall Street a long time ago
and all the big guys; now we have got
to bail out Main Street.
$20 billion in EIDL grants for small
businesses; another $600 in stimulus
checks for individuals and children. It
should have been $1,200, but we will
take the $600 now, and we will be back
after January 20.
$300 for unemployment benefits. It
should have been a little bit more. You
can’t live on $300.
$13 billion for SNAP. People are
starving, the lines are longer, made up
of families and children.
$14 billion for public transit, in addi-
tion to $4 billion for the MTA. The
MTA has a $12 billion gap. We will be
back for the rest of that money.
$68 billion for purchasing vaccines,
and $20 billion for distributing them.
Broadband.
And, finally, Madam Speaker, $4 bil-
lion for Gavi, an international vaccine
distribution alliance, because it is not
an epidemic; it is a pandemic.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms.
JACKSON LEE). The time of the gen-
tleman has expired.
Mr. ESPAILLAT. We will not be free
of COVID unless the rest of the world
is.
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Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman
from Massachusetts (Ms. CLARK).
Ms.
CLARK
of
Massachusetts.
Madam
Speaker,
House
Democrats
took the necessary action to defeat
this virus and restore the economy in
May, but MITCH MCCONNELL said let’s
hit the pause button. So Americans
have waited 7 long months for the GOP
to take action to end their suffering.
As over 300,000 Americans lost their
lives, they said more testing was not
necessary.
As veterans and children waited in
lines at food banks, they proposed a
tax credit for business lunches.
As 8 million more Americans fell into
poverty, they proposed cutting unem-
ployment benefits.
As one out of four women have lost
their jobs and have left the workforce,
they fought to limit paid leave and ac-
cess to childcare.
As 40 million Americans teeter on
the verge of homelessness, they fought
to shield corporations from negligence
and deny workers basic safety protec-
tions.
This bill is too little too late, but it
is a lifesaving bridge to a better time
and a new President who will focus on
restoring Americans’ jobs and their
health.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I beg to differ with
my good friend from Massachusetts. It
wasn’t Republicans who did nothing; it
was Democrats who did nothing.
The Senate actually offered a tril-
lion-dollar package in July. We are
here approving a $900 billion package
today.
The President of the United States
offered a $1.8 trillion package at one
point. We are approving a $900 billion
package today.
Now, we may do more later, but the
reality is my friends drug this out all
summer long. We could have had a
package very similar to what we had
many months ago. That would have
helped
unemployed
Americans.
It
would have helped Americans with
small businesses. It would have reas-
sured the economy. My friends chose
not to do that.
I am glad, since the election, they
have decided to bargain in good faith.
We have bargained in good faith. We
have what we think is a good product
in front of us. But if we want to write
history, we have a considerably dif-
ferent version of it than has been por-
trayed on the floor here today, put in
front of the American people.
Madam Speaker, I also just want to
add for the record that, while we are
busy bashing the President, I haven’t
heard too many people thank the
President of the United States for Op-
eration Warp Speed, unprecedented tri-
umphs to actually deliver a vaccine in
less than a year. All the critics said,
not possible. The President deserves
credit for that, and so does his admin-
istration.
That is something that all of us, re-
gardless of party and partisanship,
should be proud of; and, frankly, it is
something we owe the President a
great deal of gratitude for.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, let
me remind my distinguished colleague
from Oklahoma that we sent the He-
roes Act in May.
And while I agree that the adminis-
tration should get some credit for Op-
eration Warp Speed, as I have pointed
out, it has been decades of investment
in the science that led to Operation
Warp Speed.
Many of us would have appreciated,
and we would have saved lives, if we
had made the same kind of investments
in testing so that we had an instant
test, and we would have ended up sav-
ing lives.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
GOTTHEIMER).
Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Madam Speaker,
they said it couldn’t be done, that
Democrats and Republicans could actu-
ally come together, not only in the
House, but in the Senate, too, and pass
a COVID–19 emergency relief package.
But, finally, after 9 months, it is about
to happen. We are about to cross the
finish line. This is as close to a Christ-
mas miracle as you can find in a nor-
mally polarized Washington.
b 1700
With the virus raging across the Na-
tion, the 50–Member strong bipartisan
Problem Solvers Caucus put country
over party and helped craft a package
that will help put food on the table,
distribute vaccines to our commu-
nities, save our struggling small busi-
nesses, put money in the pockets of
American families, and help keep fami-
lies in their homes.
This
emergency
relief
package
wouldn’t have happened without the
weeks of hard work from the Problem
Solvers Caucus and a bipartisan group
of Senators who put country ahead of
party to help our families, small busi-
nesses, and communities. This was
truly a model for how we should govern
in Washington.
This marks a critical downpayment
in our ongoing fight against COVID. If
you look in New Jersey, where 1 in 500
have lost their lives, and 30 percent of
small businesses are out, we clearly
have more work to do.
Madam Speaker, I urge support for
this bipartisan, bicameral legislation,
which is a critical step forward.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
I want to agree with the distin-
guished gentlewoman from Florida, my
good friend, about the investments in
NIH. I want to remind her that it was
Newt Gingrich and John Porter who
doubled the NIH during the Clinton
years, who actually put more money in
there
than
the
administration
re-
quested.
I will also remind my good friend
that when I was chairman, we put more
money in than the Obama administra-
tion requested; and we continued to do
more money than the Trump adminis-
tration requested, which actually re-
quested some cuts.
So the reality is that Congress—on a
bipartisan basis, I must say, because I
had the support of my ranking mem-
ber, now our distinguished chairwoman
of the Labor, Health, and Human Serv-
ices Subcommittee, ROSA DELAURO, in
those decisions—Congress, but particu-
larly Republicans, have made those in-
vestments over the years.
And I think the country—I agree
with my friend—has reaped enormous
benefits from that. I hope we continue
down that road in the next Congress
with the next administration. I am
looking forward to that possibility.
But I simply wanted to let the record
reflect what the contribution from our
side of the aisle has been in that re-
gard.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
don’t disagree with my colleague, but
it was bipartisan, and I think that is
the important thing about those in-
vestments over the years.
My point was it was those invest-
ments that made it possible for Oper-
ation Warp Speed. I never suggested
that it was one party versus another
that made that bipartisan investment.
It has been decades of bipartisan in-
vestments that have made a difference.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to
the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs.
BEATTY).
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman from Florida
for yielding.
I rise today to support this legisla-
tion because my constituents des-
perately need the unemployment bene-
fits, the stimulus checks, the food as-
sistance, the eviction moratoriums, the
small business Minority Development
Institution funds and the CDFI assist-
ance funds, and other protections in
this bill.
Seven months after the House passed
the Heroes Act, Republicans have fi-
nally relented to allow more support to
the American people who are strug-
gling through the three pandemics:
COVID–19, economic hardships, and so-
cial injustices.
So let me be clear: The GOP has had
a knee on Americans’ necks by holding
this bill up, and it still falls short of
what we need to get through this crisis.
But I will continue to stand up for
my constituents of the Third Congres-
sional District and for people across
this Nation and my colleagues to work
with the Biden administration to get
people the support they need to build
back better.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
I want to remind my friends who en-
gage in revisionist history, we haven’t
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held anything up. The Senate put a $1
trillion offer on the table back in July.
My friends didn’t think that was good
enough. The President put a $1.8 tril-
lion deal on the table. They didn’t
think that was good enough.
We are here now with a bipartisan,
good bill. We may need to do more
later. We will see. But the reality is
our friends held unrealistic positions
with a lot of policy riders on them that
they knew were never going to be ac-
cepted, and they did that throughout
the election season.
Fine. The election is over. All of a
sudden we are back and we are able to
compromise
after
the
election.
It
would have been better for the Amer-
ican people had we done that back in
July. My friends chose a different path,
but I am glad they have changed their
mind since the election. I am glad we
have something in front of us that is
genuinely bipartisan. We will pass it on
a bipartisan basis today.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. AGUILAR).
Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
The agreement before us today recog-
nizes that to get our economy moving
again, to return to something that
feels like normalcy, we must get this
virus under control.
In this agreement, Democrats se-
cured billions to rapidly distribute a
free and safe vaccine and to invest in
nationwide testing and tracing meas-
ures that will save lives.
It isn’t perfect, and more action is re-
quired to address the challenges that
Americans are facing, but it is every-
thing we can do right now with this
Senate and this President.
With this bill, we have averted a sud-
den end to unemployment benefits that
millions would have faced and added
$300 per week to the benefit.
We funded a new round of survival
checks and emergency rental assist-
ance, included an eviction moratorium,
and boosted SNAP and child nutrition
benefits.
And for the small businesses strug-
gling to keep the lights on, this bill
provides billions in economic assist-
ance to forgivable loans.
Across this country, people in com-
munities like mine are hurting. Frank-
ly, they have been hurting for far too
long.
We are going to work with the Biden-
Harris administration to build on this
progress and deliver for the American
people, and I am confident that bright-
er days are ahead.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield
myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I begin by saying
what a privilege it has been to serve
with my good friend from Florida these
last 2 years, not only in Congress, but
most especially on the Rules Com-
mittee. And what a particular pleasure
it is for me to have the opportunity to
manage and work with her on her very
last rule on the floor.
In closing, Madam Speaker, I thank
all my colleagues for their consider-
ation
of
this
bipartisan
package.
Though it has taken us a long time to
get to this particular point, it is a real
bipartisan compromise. And I think, at
the end of the day, it will pass with a
substantial bipartisan vote and it will
benefit every American.
The package today will fully fund the
government through September 30th of
2021, and will ensure that taxpayer dol-
lars are spent where they are needed
most. I think that is an important
point because, lost in all of this, the
appropriations process has actually
done what it was supposed to do.
I compliment my friends on the Ap-
propriations Committee; particularly
our distinguished chair, Mrs. LOWEY,
and our distinguished ranking member,
Ms. GRANGER. They brought all 12 bills
through the committee. They got a full
committee process. They were reported
out of committee. Ten of those bills
came to the floor. On the floor, those
bills got full consideration. We sat and
bargained with our friends in the
United States Senate, and now I have
brought these bills back. That is the
way Congress ought to work. I am
proud the Appropriations Committee
worked that way.
We also will be taking up in this par-
ticular bill a pandemic relief bill, en-
suring extensions for programs like un-
employment insurance and the Pay-
check Protection Program, which will
protect millions of Americans who
have lost their jobs and lost income as
a result of this pandemic.
The package is a very important
package. And we have some disagree-
ments on it. We have had some back
and forth on it in the last several
months, but still, at the end of the day,
we have come together, we have done
something important, and I think we
have set the stage for perhaps some-
thing later in the next Congress. We
will see. But this is an important relief
measure for the American people, and I
certainly urge all my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to support it.
Finally, the package also includes a
bipartisan
compromise
on
surprise
medical billing and a number of issues
to provide targeted tax relief to people
who
have
suffered
through
the
coronavirus crisis and particular indus-
tries. I think that is appropriate. I
thank my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle and multiple committees that
have been part of that particular com-
promise.
Madam Speaker, it is often said on
this floor that it is not a perfect bill,
but a $900 billion relief package that is
badly needed to the American people
close to Christmas Eve is something
that every Member on this floor ought
to be proud of, and I hope every Mem-
ber in this Chamber will see fit to sup-
port.
Madam Speaker, I urge my col-
leagues to vote ‘‘no’’ on the rule and,
most importantly, to vote ‘‘yes’’ on the
underlying measure.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the bal-
ance of my time.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield myself the balance of my time.
I thank my colleague, Mr. COLE, for
his generous remarks. I agree with
him, this is a bipartisan bill that is not
perfect. I don’t think anyone in this
Chamber believes that it is perfect.
Madam Speaker, the time to pass
this bill was yesterday. It was 6 months
ago. We pray that most Americans will
be able to get a vaccine to stop this
killer. But it is not just Americans. To
be safe, people around the world must
get the vaccine.
There will be a lot of darkness before
enough Americans and people around
the world have the vaccine to bring our
lives back to normal. Before that time,
the government must help.
By the way, it is not our money. It is
the people in our communities who
have been paying taxes for years. We
are taking the resources back to them.
We have to help the unemployed, the
shuttered
small
businesses,
the
strained hospitals, and, most impor-
tantly, the hungry child.
Madam Speaker, I strongly urge a
‘‘yes’’ vote on the rule and the previous
question.
Mr. HALL. Madam Speaker, I rise today dur-
ing a critical time in the history of the nation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic,
315,000 Americans have died, as a result of
the Administration’s mismanagement of the
federal response to COVID–19.
It has especially impacted the African Amer-
ican community and other communities of
color.
Millions of jobs have been lost, countless
small businesses have closed, and many oth-
ers hospitalized.
For the sake of controlling the virus we have
all quarantined, as we eagerly await a vac-
cine.
It is against this backdrop that we fashion a
relief bill.
Scripture teaches that which you do for the
least of these you do for Him.
I am proud to fight for the least of these dur-
ing these critical times and support this bipar-
tisan solution for COVID and the budget.
I want to commend all leaders who helped
make this deal possible, especially Speaker
NANCY
PELOSI, Leader STENY
HOYER
and
Democratic
Caucus
Chairman
HAKEEM
JEFFRIES.
This bill is critical as it helps all those im-
pacted by COVID, especially the black people
and other communities of color that have been
disproportionately impacted by this pandemic.
I am proud to support this bill, which pro-
vides $900 billion for COVID relief.
This is important as the agreement outlined
provides another round of $600 in economic
stimulus checks and another $300 per-week in
unemployment benefits, and it supports small
businesses, which are the engines of our
economy.
It also provides funds to support local
school districts and provides much-needed
funds for coronavirus testing and vaccine dis-
tribution.
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I am also proud to help secure this legisla-
tion because it supports paid sick leave, pro-
vides 25 billion in rent relief and an extension
of the eviction moratorium.
This relief bill is going in the right direction
but make no mistake, this is not enough and
must only be a down-payment.
The $1,200 stimulus checks in the CARES
Act from earlier this year was an important
factor in controlling the economic fallout from
the initial onset of the coronavirus, and I am
disappointed that tonight that this Congress
will not now act as we did in the Spring.
The situation is more dire now and calls for
more—not less—economic stimulus.
And, I am especially proud that the dis-
bursements from this relief bill starts on the
first day of Kwanzaa, December 26.
And, critically, this legislation supports Com-
munity Development Financial Institutions and
Minority Depository Institutions by as much as
$12 billion:
The agreement includes dedicated PPP set-
asides for very small businesses and lending
through community-based lenders like Com-
munity
Development
Financial
Institutions
(CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions
(MDIs); $9 billion in emergency U.S. Treasury
capital investments in CDFIs and MDIs to sup-
port lending in low-income and underserved
communities,
including
persistent
poverty
counties, that may be disproportionately im-
pacted by the economic effects of the COVID–
19 pandemic; and $3 billion in emergency
support for CDFIs through the CDFI Fund to
respond to the economic impact of the pan-
demic on underserved low-income and minor-
ity communities.
The legislation we will pass today also in-
cludes 4.2 billion for mental health and sub-
stance abuse help and another $7 billion for
broadband.
This bill includes SBA grants, not just loans
so it is critical for all applicants that they com-
plete paperwork accurately so that there is no
delay in submitting paperwork.
I encourage all constituents to reach out to
my office if they need help.
And the legislation we will pass today also
allocates $1.4 trillion for the budget which is
why we must consider the COVID relief bill
today together with the budget bill.
This bill also helps secure $10 billion for as-
sistance in child-care to help get parents back
to work so we can be ready to return to some
semblance of normalcy.
I am also proud to support this bill because
this legislation supports paid sick leave, pro-
vides tens of billions in rent relief and an ex-
tension of the eviction moratorium, another
$14 billion in SNAP benefits and $80 billion in
funding for our colleges and universities.’’
It is often said that our budget is a blueprint
of our values and with the budget we pass
today, Madam Speaker, is an affirmation of
the Gospel of Matthew.
Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I
yield back the balance of my time, and
I move the previous question on the
resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
question is on adoption of the resolu-
tion.
The question was taken; and the
Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, on that I
demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to section 3 of House Resolution
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic de-
vice, and there were—yeas 227, nays
180, not voting 22, as follows:
[Roll No. 249]
YEAS—227
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Axne
Barraga´n
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan
F.
Brindisi
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Ca´rdenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Cunningham
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael
F.
Engel
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Finkenauer
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcı´a (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Haaland
Hall
Harder (CA)
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Horn, Kendra S.
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Luja´n
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney,
Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McAdams
McBath
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Mfume
Mitchell
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O’Halleran
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sa´nchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small
(NM)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Vela´zquez
Visclosky
Wasserman
Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NAYS—180
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Bost
Brady
Brooks (AL)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Chabot
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Comer
Conaway
Crawford
Crenshaw
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
Davis, Rodney
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gabbard
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garcia (CA)
Gibbs
Gohmert
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hartzler
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hurd (TX)
Jacobs
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
Meuser
Miller
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Ocasio-Cortez
Olson
Omar
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Posey
Pressley
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (KY)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiffany
Timmons
Tipton
Tlaib
Turner
Upton
Van Drew
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Young
Zeldin
NOT VOTING—22
Abraham
Bishop (UT)
Brooks (IN)
Carter (TX)
Cheney
Duncan
Dunn
Gianforte
Holding
Horsford
King (IA)
Loudermilk
Marchant
Murphy (NC)
Rogers (AL)
Rooney (FL)
Spano
Walker
Webster (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wright
Yoho
b 1807
Messrs. SCHWEIKERT, KING of New
York, EMMER, RODNEY DAVIS of Il-
linois, BILIRAKIS, and Ms. HERRERA
BEUTLER changed their vote from
‘‘yea’’ to ‘‘nay.’’
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced
as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on
the table.
MEMBERS RECORDED PURSUANT TO HOUSE
RESOLUTION 965, 116TH CONGRESS
Allred (Wexton)
Axne (Davids
(KS))
Barraga´n (Beyer)
Bera (Aguilar)
Bishop (GA)
(Butterfield)
Blumenauer
(Beyer)
Bonamici (Clark
(MA))
Boyle, Brendan
F. (Jeffries)
Brownley (CA)
(Clark (MA))
Bustos (Kuster
(NH))
Ca´rdenas
(Carbajal)
Carson (IN)
(Butterfield)
Case
(Cartwright)
Castor (FL)
(Demings)
Cisneros
(Carbajal)
Clay
(Butterfield)
Cleaver (Davids
(KS))
Cohen (Beyer)
Costa (Correa)
Davis (CA)
(Scanlon)
Dean (Scanlon)
DeFazio (Davids
(KS))
DeGette (Blunt
Rochester)
DelBene
(Cicilline)
DeSaulnier
(Matsui)
Deutch (Rice
(NY))
Doggett (Raskin)
Escobar (Garcia
(TX))
Eshoo
(Thompson
(CA))
Finkenauer
(Underwood)
Fletcher
(Raskin)
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7300
December 21, 2020
Frankel (Clark
(MA))
Garamendi
(Sherman)
Gonzalez (TX)
(Gomez)
Grijalva (Garcı´a
(IL))
Haaland (Davids
(KS))
Hastings
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Heck (Kildee)
Jayapal (Raskin)
Johnson (TX)
(Jeffries)
Kelly (IL)
(Clarke (NY))
Kennedy
(McGovern)
Khanna
(Sherman)
Kilmer (Kildee)
Kim (Davids
(KS))
Kirkpatrick
(Stanton)
Lamb (Sherrill)
Langevin
(Lynch)
Lawrence
(Kildee)
Lawson (FL)
(Demings)
Lieu, Ted (Beyer)
Lipinski
(Schrader)
Lofgren (Jeffries)
Lowenthal
(Beyer)
McEachin
(Wexton)
McNerney
(Raskin)
Meng (Clark
(MA))
Mitchell
(Spanberger)
Moore (Beyer)
Moulton
(McGovern)
Mucarsel-Powell
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Nadler (Jeffries)
Napolitano
(Correa)
Neal (Lynch)
Neguse
(Perlmutter)
Pascrell
(Pallone)
Payne
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Peters (Kildee)
Peterson
(McCollum)
Pingree
(Cicilline)
Pocan (Raskin)
Porter (Wexton)
Price (NC)
(Butterfield)
Richmond
(Butterfield)
Rouda (Aguilar)
Roybal-Allard
(Garcia (TX))
Ruiz (Dingell)
Rush
(Underwood)
Ryan (Kildee)
Schakowsky
(Underwood)
Schneider
(Casten (IL))
Schrier
(Spanberger)
Serrano
(Jeffries)
Sewell (AL)
(Cicilline)
Shimkus
(Pallone)
Sires (Pallone)
Smith (WA)
(Courtney)
Speier (Scanlon)
Thompson (MS)
(Fudge)
Titus (Connolly)
Vargas (Correa)
Veasey (Beyer)
Vela´zquez
(Clarke (NY))
Watson Coleman
(Pallone)
Welch
(McGovern)
Wilson (FL)
(Hayes)
f
PURPLE BOOK CONTINUITY ACT
OF 2019
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to the adoption of House Resolu-
tion 1271, the Senate amendment to
H.R. 1520 is considered as agreed to
with an amendment consisting of the
text of the Rules Committee Print 116–
69.
Senate amendment:
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Purple Book
Continuity Act of 2020’’.
SEC. 2. BIOLOGICAL PRODUCT PATENT TRANS-
PARENCY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 351(k) of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262(k)) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(9) PUBLIC LISTING.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(i) INITIAL PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of the Purple
Book Continuity Act of 2020, the Secretary shall
publish and make available to the public in a
searchable, electronic format—
‘‘(I) a list of each biological product, by non-
proprietary name (proper name), for which, as
of such date of enactment, a biologics license
under subsection (a) or this subsection is in ef-
fect, or that, as of such date of enactment, is
deemed to be licensed under this section pursu-
ant to section 7002(e)(4) of the Biologics Price
Competition and Innovation Act of 2009;
‘‘(II) the date of licensure of the marketing
application and the application number; and
‘‘(III) with respect to each biological product
described in subclause (I), the licensure status,
and, as available, the marketing status.
‘‘(ii) REVISIONS.—Every 30 days after the pub-
lication of the first list under clause (i), the Sec-
retary shall revise the list to include each bio-
logical product which has been licensed under
subsection (a) or this subsection during the 30-
day period or deemed licensed under this section
pursuant to section 7002(e)(4) of the Biologics
Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009.
‘‘(iii) PATENT INFORMATION.—Not later than
30 days after a list of patents under subsection
(l)(3)(A), or a supplement to such list under sub-
section (l)(7), has been provided by the reference
product sponsor to the subsection (k) applicant
respecting a biological product included on the
list published under this subparagraph, the ref-
erence product sponsor shall provide such list of
patents (or supplement thereto) and their cor-
responding expiry dates to the Secretary, and
the Secretary shall, in revisions made under
clause (ii), include such information for such bi-
ological product. Within 30 days of providing
any subsequent or supplemental list of patents
to any subsequent subsection (k) applicant
under subsection (l)(3)(A) or (l)(7), the reference
product sponsor shall update the information
provided to the Secretary under this clause with
any additional patents from such subsequent or
supplemental list and their corresponding expiry
dates.
‘‘(iv) LISTING OF EXCLUSIVITIES.—For each bi-
ological product included on the list published
under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall
specify each exclusivity period under paragraph
(6) or paragraph (7) for which the Secretary has
determined such biological product to be eligible
and that has not concluded.
‘‘(B) REVOCATION
OR
SUSPENSION
OF
LI-
CENSE.—If the license of a biological product is
determined by the Secretary to have been re-
voked or suspended for safety, purity, or po-
tency reasons, it may not be published in the list
under subparagraph (A). If such revocation or
suspension occurred after inclusion of such bio-
logical product in the list published under sub-
paragraph (A), the reference product sponsor
shall notify the Secretary that—
‘‘(i) the biological product shall be imme-
diately removed from such list for the same pe-
riod as the revocation or suspension; and
‘‘(ii) a notice of the removal shall be published
in the Federal Register.’’.
(b) REVIEW AND REPORT ON TYPES OF INFOR-
MATION TO BE LISTED.—Not later than 3 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall—
(1) solicit public comment regarding the type
of information, if any, that should be added to
or removed from the list required by paragraph
(9) of section 351(k) of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 262(k)), as added by subsection
(a); and
(2) transmit to Congress an evaluation of such
comments,
including
any
recommendations
about the types of information that should be
added to or removed from the list.
The text of the House amendment to
the Senate amendment is as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed to be in-
serted by the Senate, insert the following:
That the Continuing Appropriations Act,
2021 (division A of Public Law 116–159) is fur-
ther amended by striking the date specified
in section 106(3) and inserting ‘‘December 28,
2020’’.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Further Ex-
tension of Continuing Appropriations Act,
2021’’.
f
MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE
A message from Senate by Ms. Byrd,
one of its clerks, announced that the
Senate has passed a bill of the fol-
lowing title in which the concurrence
of the House is requested:
S. 371. An act to provide regulatory relief
to charitable organizations that provide
housing assistance, and for other purposes.
f
COMMUNICATION FROM THE
CLERK OF THE HOUSE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.
BROWN of Maryland) laid before the
House the following communication
from the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives:
OFFICE OF THE CLERK,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, DC, December 21, 2020.
Hon. NANCY PELOSI,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the
permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II
of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representa-
tives, the Clerk received the following mes-
sage from the Secretary of the Senate on De-
cember 21, 2020, at 1:24 p.m.:
That the Senate passed S. 2346.
That the Senate passed S. 2716.
That the Senate passed S. 2827.
That the Senate passed S. 3099.
That the Senate passed S. 3100.
That the Senate passed S. 3948.
That the Senate passed S. 3952.
That the Senate passed S. 4556.
That the Senate passed S. 5076.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 1240.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 4031.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 5458.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 5852.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 6535.
That the Senate passed without amend-
ment H.R. 7460.
With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely,
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
f
DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE
HOUSE
OF
REPRESENTATIVES
TO MAKE A CORRECTION IN THE
ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 133
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I send to
the desk a concurrent resolution and
ask unanimous consent for its imme-
diate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the con-
current resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
woman from New York?
There was no objection.
The text of the concurrent resolution
is as follows:
H. CON. RES. 127
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the
Senate concurring), That, in the enrollment of
the bill H.R. 133 the Clerk of the House of
Representatives shall make the following
correction:
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Making
consolidated appropriations for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 2021, providing
coronavirus emergency response and relief,
and for other purposes.’’.
The concurrent resolution was agreed
to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on
the table.
f
DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE
HOUSE
OF
REPRESENTATIVES
TO MAKE A CORRECTION IN THE
ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 1520
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I send to
the desk a concurrent resolution and
ask unanimous consent for its imme-
diate consideration in the House.
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The Clerk read the title of the con-
current resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
woman from New York?
There was no objection.
The text of the concurrent resolution
is as follows:
H. CON. RES. 128
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the
Senate concurring), That, in the enrollment of
the bill H.R. 1520 the Clerk of the House of
Representatives shall make the following
correction:
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Making
further continuing appropriations for fiscal
year 2021, and for other purposes.’’.
The concurrent resolution was agreed
to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on
the table.
f
SUBMISSION
OF
MATERIAL
EX-
PLANATORY
OF
THE
AMEND-
MENT OF THE HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES TO THE AMEND-
MENT OF THE SENATE TO H.R.
133
Pursuant to section 5 of House Reso-
lution 1271, the chair of the Committee
on Appropriations submitted explana-
tory material relating to the amend-
ment of the House of Representatives
to the amendment of the Senate to
H.R. 133. The contents of this submis-
sion will be published in Books III and
IV of this RECORD.
f
UNITED STATES-MEXICO
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant
to House Resolution 1271, I call up the
bill (H.R. 133) to promote economic
partnership and cooperation between
the United States and Mexico, with the
Senate amendment thereto, and ask for
its immediate consideration in the
House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
Clerk will designate the Senate amend-
ment.
Senate amendment:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and
insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-
Mexico Economic Partnership Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States and Mexico have bene-
fitted from a bilateral, mutually beneficial part-
nership focused on advancing the economic in-
terests of both countries.
(2) In 2013, Mexico adopted major energy re-
forms that opened its energy sector to private in-
vestment, increasing energy cooperation be-
tween Mexico and the United States and open-
ing new opportunities for United States energy
engagement.
(3) On January 18, 2018, the Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cul-
tural Affairs at the Department of State stated,
‘‘Our exchange programs build enduring rela-
tionships and networks to advance U.S. na-
tional interests and foreign policy goals . . .
The role of our exchanges . . . in advancing
U.S. national security and economic interests
enjoys broad bipartisan support from Congress
and other stakeholders, and provides a strong
return on investment.’’.
(4) According to the Institute of International
Education, in the 2015–2016 academic year, more
than 56,000 United States students studied in
other countries in the Western Hemisphere re-
gion while more than 84,000 non-United States
students from the region studied in the United
States, but only 5,000 of those United States stu-
dents studied in Mexico and only 16,000 of those
non-United States students were from Mexico.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States—
(1) to continue deepening economic coopera-
tion between the United States and Mexico;
(2) to seek to prioritize and expand edu-
cational and professional exchange programs
with Mexico, including through frameworks
such as the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Ini-
tiative, the Young Leaders of the Americas Ini-
tiative, Jo´venes en Accio´n (Youth in Action),
the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, and the
Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program; and
(3) to promote positive cross-border relations
as a priority for advancing United States for-
eign policy and programs.
SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO PRIORITIZE AND EXPAND
EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH MEX-
ICO.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall
develop a strategy to carry out the policy de-
scribed in section 3, to include prioritizing and
expanding educational and professional ex-
change programs with Mexico through frame-
works such as those referred to in section 3(2).
(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under
subsection (a) shall—
(1) encourage more academic exchanges be-
tween the United States and Mexico at the sec-
ondary, post-secondary, and post-graduate lev-
els;
(2) encourage United States and Mexican aca-
demic institutions and businesses to collaborate
to assist prospective and developing entre-
preneurs in strengthening their business skills
and promoting cooperation and joint business
initiatives across the United States and Mexico;
(3) promote energy infrastructure coordina-
tion and cooperation through support of voca-
tional-level education, internships, and ex-
changes between the United States and Mexico;
and
(4) assess the feasibility of fostering partner-
ships between universities in the United States
and medical school and nursing programs in
Mexico to ensure that medical school and nurs-
ing programs in Mexico have comparable ac-
creditation standards as medical school and
nursing programs in the United States by the
Accreditation and Standards in Foreign Medical
Education, in addition to the Accreditation
Commission For Education in Nursing, so that
medical students can pass medical licensing
board exams, and nursing students can pass
nursing licensing exams, in the United States.
(c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of State shall brief the appropriate con-
gressional committees regarding the strategy re-
quired under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means—
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives.
SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION.
This Act shall remain in effect until December
31, 2023.
MOTION TO CONCUR
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a
motion at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
Clerk will designate the motion.
The text of the motion is as follows:
Mrs. Lowey moves that the House concur
in the Senate amendment to H.R. 133 with an
amendment consisting of the text of Rules
Committee Print 116–68.
(For text of the House amendment to
the Senate amendment, see Book II of
this RECORD.)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to House Resolution 1271, the mo-
tion shall be debatable for one hour,
equally divided and controlled by the
chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on Appropriations.
The gentlewoman from New York
(Mrs. LOWEY) and the gentlewoman
from Texas (Ms. GRANGER) each will
control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentle-
woman from New York.
b 1815
GENERAL LEAVE
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask
unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to
revise and extend their remarks and in-
clude
extraneous
material
on
the
House
amendment
to
the
Senate
amendment to H.R. 133.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-
woman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present
legislation that comprises all 12 fiscal
year 2021 appropriations bills, a num-
ber of items agreed to on a bipartisan
basis between authorizing committees,
and a coronavirus relief package.
The 12 appropriations bills include a
strong increase in nondefense discre-
tionary funding, allowing Congress to
make important investments for the
people.
I am particularly proud that we have
been able to fund better education for
our students; more affordable housing;
food security initiatives; safer commu-
nities, with funding to address Amer-
ica’s gun violence epidemic; clean air
and water; action on the climate crisis;
and care for our veterans, with a spe-
cial emphasis on suicide prevention
and gender-specific care.
As chairwoman of the Subcommittee
on State, Foreign Operations, and Re-
lated Programs, I am also proud that
this legislation bolsters international
security and stability. In particular,
the Middle East Partnership for Peace
fund will support people-to-people ex-
changes and economic partnerships be-
tween Israelis and Palestinians.
Turning to the coronavirus relief por-
tion of the legislation, the bill provides
$892 billion to confront the pandemic.
While
Republican
intransigence
means the legislation doesn’t include
the State and local relief that is des-
perately needed, the amounts it pro-
vides for education, public health, and
transportation will greatly benefit our
local communities.
Of particular importance to me, the
$4 billion for GAVI will help children
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7302
December 21, 2020
across
the
world
receive
the
coronavirus vaccine, though far greater
investments are needed to support
international COVID–19 response.
President-elect
Biden
has
spoken
about the dark winter that we face be-
cause of this pandemic. It is my hope
that this bill will be a source of light
as we face that winter.
I am proud that, through the careful
use of Federal funds, the appropria-
tions in this bill will help set our Na-
tion on a course to build back better.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of
my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support
of this bill that will provide funding for
the Federal Government through the
end of the fiscal year as well as provide
another round of desperately needed re-
lief
for
those
affected
by
the
coronavirus pandemic.
The appropriations package we will
consider today is critical because it
will allow us to prevent an unnecessary
government shutdown and avoid a
wasteful continuing resolution that
simply straight-lines funding until the
end of next year.
The bill makes us safer by ensuring
we have the funding and the tools nec-
essary to both discourage our enemies
and defend ourselves against them.
The funds provided in this bill are
also critical to continue the fight
against public health threats both at
home and abroad.
The bill ensures that longstanding
provisions to protect life, reduce bur-
densome regulation, and preserve our
way of life are retained.
I would like to highlight some spe-
cific programs in the appropriations
package.
This bill supports another significant
increase for the National Institutes of
Health, including funding for vital re-
search on Alzheimer’s disease and to
find cures for cancer.
It provides more than half a billion
dollars for NASA, to help maintain our
superiority in space. We will need to
continue to do more in future years to
establish a sustainable presence on the
Moon.
The bill also funds the U.S. Space
Force so the United States has a lead-
ing edge against China and Russia.
The bill keeps us safe by providing
the same level of funding as last year
for the border wall. It also rolls back
attempts to limit the President’s au-
thority to provide additional funds, if
needed.
The bill continues to rebuild our
military, modernize our nuclear weap-
ons stockpile, and strengthen our al-
lies, such as Israel. This bill strongly
supports our veterans and our troops
by increasing pay for our military; ad-
dressing the healthcare needs of our
brave warfighters and their families, as
well as those who previously served;
and ensuring that the United States
military has cutting-edge equipment,
such as the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter
and the V–22 Osprey, so that they can
discourage and take on any fight
against our enemies.
The bill retains longstanding Second
Amendment and pro-life protections
that my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle wanted to eliminate. In fact,
it secures the largest pro-life victory in
a
generation
by
maintaining
the
Trump administration’s Title X Fam-
ily Planning regulations.
It drops the dangerous policy provi-
sions my colleagues on the other side
of the aisle included in the House bills,
including riders aimed at defunding the
police.
Billions of dollars of unnecessary
emergency spending that the majority
included in their bills is stripped away
in this package. Many of these provi-
sions are considered poison pills that
were opposed by Republicans and the
White House.
Also before us today is another round
of coronavirus relief. Specifically, our
package will: ensure the timely dis-
tribution of vaccines across the coun-
try; help small businesses affected by
the economic downturn; and provide
much-needed relief for airports and the
airline industry, which is so important
for thousands of hardworking Texans
in and around my district.
I am glad we were able to come to-
gether on this agreement today, and I
want to thank my colleagues, Mrs.
LOWEY, Senator SHELBY, and Senator
LEAHY, for working together in good
faith.
Plain and simple, this package is
good for our economic security and our
national security because it addresses
the most pressing threats we face as a
country. I hope it will be supported.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to
join me in voting in favor of this bill,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 11⁄2
minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio
(Ms. KAPTUR), the distinguished chair-
woman of the Subcommittee on Energy
and Water Development.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, America
is grateful for Mrs. LOWEY’s years of
honorable, dedicated, and enlightened
service. We will so miss her leadership,
bright smile, and affable nature.
I would also like to thank Ranking
Member SIMPSON, who has been a con-
stant and truly valued partner, as well
as our wonderful subcommittee staff:
Jaime Shimek, Scott McKee, Mark
Arnone, Farouk Ophaso, and Mike
Brain, who have labored tirelessly to
produce this bill.
The Energy and Water division of
this bill captures the American spirit
of ingenuity and national energy inde-
pendence. It provides the foundation of
critical investments to meet the chal-
lenge of climate change, to which $12
billion, or 24 percent of our overall bill,
is dedicated. Without question, our En-
ergy and Water bill is this year’s most
important climate change legislation,
with our overall bill dedicated to sus-
taining life on Earth.
Instead of the President’s short-
sighted and devastating cuts, our bill
invests in the future to meet serious
national priorities: real jobs, as we
achieve building back better by pro-
viding $7.8 billion for the tremendous
Army Corps of Engineers, $145 million
above 2020; real innovation to invest
into the future in partnership with our
universities
and
private-sector
innovators; providing $39.6 billion for
the Department of Energy, $1 billion
above 2020; real security within the De-
partment of Energy, as we responsibly
fund a nuclear deterrent while boosting
nonproliferation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an
additional 30 seconds to the gentle-
woman from Ohio (Ms. KAPTUR).
Ms.
KAPTUR.
Mr.
Speaker,
we
achieve real impact, as our bill in-
creases the Department’s Energy Effi-
ciency and Renewable Energy program,
ARPA-E, Advanced Energy Research,
and the Office of Science.
In sum, the Energy and Water divi-
sion of this bill invests in innovative
programs to yield future opportunities
for new-age jobs.
I don’t support the cuts in the ATVM
program related to advanced tech-
nology for vehicles, but I will say that
I support the legislation overall and be-
lieve that our bill is needed more than
ever to heal our Nation and advance
our leadership globally.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
3 minutes to the gentleman from Ken-
tucky (Mr. ROGERS), the former chair-
man of the full committee and ranking
member of the Subcommittee on State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Pro-
grams.
Mr.
ROGERS
of
Kentucky.
Mr.
Speaker, I rise in support of this bill,
but I want to first congratulate our
committee’s chair and ranking member
for their great work on putting to-
gether this enormous and enormously
important bill.
First, I want to say how rare this day
really is in another way. It is the first
time that we have had a ranking mem-
ber who is a female, Ms. GRANGER, and
the first female chairman of the com-
mittee, NITA LOWEY. We will miss her
enormously on this committee and in
the Chamber.
This bill is enormous. It is not per-
fect, but it reflects a fair compromise
that includes funding for many impor-
tant priorities at home and abroad and
vital assistance for all those negatively
impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As ranking member of the Com-
mittee on State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs, I want to tell
you, this bill provides critical funding
for our national security. This includes
$3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financ-
ing for Israel and robust support to
combat transnational crime and the
flow of illegal drugs.
The bill is also tough on China, as it
commits serious resources behind our
Indo-Pacific strategy. This includes ex-
posing the censorship and propaganda
wielded by the Chinese Communist
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Party and countering Beijing’s debt-
trap diplomacy through well-funded,
open, and transparent U.S. develop-
ment by the Development Finance Cor-
poration and the Countering Chinese
Influence Fund.
This bill also protects our core val-
ues. It maintains all pro-life protec-
tions from last year and rejects efforts
to undo the President’s historic poli-
cies that protect the sanctity of life.
This bill is also great for my district
in Kentucky, if I can be parochial. It
provides the resources we need to con-
tinue to fight the opioid epidemic,
which is now more important than
ever.
It fully funds my AML pilot program,
which is truly breathing life back into
my southern and eastern Kentucky
communities. It helps our small busi-
nesses and so many Kentuckians who
are fighting tooth and nail to survive
the coronavirus pandemic.
This package does not have every-
thing that we wanted, but it is a good
bill, and I think a fair compromise.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues’
support.
Mr. Speaker, I want to wish everyone
a merry Christmas.
b 1830
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 11⁄2
minutes to the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. CLYBURN), the distin-
guished majority whip.
Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, while
today’s vote to provide relief to fami-
lies who are suffering due to cir-
cumstances far beyond their control is
welcome, it is long overdue and insuffi-
cient to fully meet their needs.
Democrats put forth our priorities
last May to bring relief to those who
are sick, unemployed, homeless, and
hungry. Republicans instead chose to
ignore and obfuscate the widespread
suffering.
This short-term package will provide
direct payments and unemployment
benefits extension and some assistance
to help families afford rent, food,
water, and broadband. I applaud our
Speaker for negotiating these critical
provisions and my colleagues who came
together in a bipartisan way to drive
this compromise, but this package
must be viewed only as a downpay-
ment.
Most of us can hardly wait to begin
the new year with renewed hope. Our
resolve as we come into 2021 with a new
Congress and a new administration is
to provide the leadership and support
Americans need and deserve to get us
beyond this pandemic. There can be no
greater pursuit in 2021.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho
(Mr. SIMPSON), the ranking member of
the Energy and Water Development,
and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise
today in support of the fiscal year 2021
omnibus appropriations bill, and par-
ticularly the Energy and Water Devel-
opment and Related Agencies Appro-
priations Act.
As ranking member of the sub-
committee, I am pleased this bill is sig-
nificantly improved from the House
bill in many ways.
First and foremost, the bill strongly
supports our national nuclear security
programs, providing $15.3 billion for
the Weapons Activities account, an in-
crease of $2.9 billion above fiscal year
2020. This funding supports the mainte-
nance and modernization of our nu-
clear weapons system, which will en-
sure a credible and reliable nuclear de-
terrent.
One of my personal priorities is pro-
moting innovation and growth in nu-
clear energy. This bill provides almost
$1.4 billion for research, development,
and demonstration activities, includ-
ing increased funding for the Advanced
Small Modular Reactors Program and
the Advanced Reactors Demonstration
Program, both programs focused on
building the next generation of carbon-
free technologies to be deployed here
and abroad.
The bill also includes critical water
storage projects in the drought-prone
West, such as the Anderson Ranch Dam
raise in my district in Idaho.
Mr. Speaker, before I yield back, I
would like to thank the full committee
ranking member, KAY GRANGER, who
has so ably led our Republican Con-
ference on appropriations matters all
Congress long. And full committee
Chairwoman
LOWEY
deserves
our
thanks for her many years of service in
this committee and to the Nation. We
will miss her.
Energy and Water Development, and
Related Agencies Chairwoman MARCY
KAPTUR and I, again, worked well with
our Senate partners, LAMAR
ALEX-
ANDER and DIANNE FEINSTEIN, to ad-
vance national and constituent inter-
ests throughout the programs that are
funded in this bill.
Finally, I would like to thank staff
on both sides of the aisle for their hard
work—extremely hard work—particu-
larly this last month, working to help
bring this bill to completion.
Mr.
Speaker,
this
appropriations
package, which includes the Energy
and Water division, is a strong bill, and
I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 11⁄2
minutes to the distinguished gen-
tleman from Indiana (Mr. VISCLOSKY),
the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Defense, who has spent the last 35
years in the Congress.
Mr. Speaker, we all share his knowl-
edge, which he shares with us so will-
ingly, and we appreciate his service,
not just to the committee, but to the
Congress, to the country, and we wish
him the very, very best. We thank him
for his service in the Congress and on
this committee.
(Mr. VISCLOSKY asked and was
given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I
thank the chairwoman for yielding and
her kind remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I ask that my col-
leagues support H.R. 133.
The Defense portion of this bill con-
tinues to focus on the well-being and
morale of those in uniform. For exam-
ple, the bill provides an additional $116
million for upgrades to childcare facili-
ties and directs the military services to
present innovative ideas to address the
serious backlog for childcare.
However, I must also share my con-
cerns over DOD and its lack of compli-
ance with many congressionally di-
rected reporting requirements. For ex-
ample, last year, the committee di-
rected the Department to submit a re-
port on its contracts for advertising
services with socially and economi-
cally disadvantaged small businesses.
The report was 5 months late.
The Department has also habitually
redirected funding in contravention of
congressional intent. One DOD official
referred to these transfers of billions of
dollars as anomalies. I refer to them as
habitual abuses. I hope in the future it
will recognize Congress’ constitutional
prerogatives.
Mr. Speaker, finally, since it was
mentioned, this will be my last floor
statement after nearly 44 years of
working in the House. I want to thank
all of the wonderful staff who have
made what successes we have enjoyed
possible.
I also want to thank my parents,
John and Helen Visclosky, and my sis-
ter, Annamarie Visclosky, who be-
lieved in me when I was an unem-
ployed, young former staffer and made
my incredible life journey possible.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Cali-
fornia (Mr. CALVERT), the ranking
member of the Defense Subcommittee.
Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in
support of this legislation.
First, I want to thank Chairwoman
LOWEY for her hard work and her dedi-
cation to this institution, and I wish
her well in her retirement.
And I certainly want to thank our
ranking member for her hard work and
all the things that went into getting
this bill together. I know it is difficult.
We certainly appreciate it.
And, finally, Chairman PETE
VIS-
CLOSKY, not only my chairman, but my
close friend, who has worked hard on
this bill, and he has done a wonderful
job over the years and is certainly a
patriot who deserves the credit in put-
ting this Defense bill together.
The Constitution grants Congress the
explicit and sacred responsibility to
provide for our Nation’s defense. This
bill before us today does just that. It
provides funding for many key pro-
grams consistent with the National De-
fense Strategy and its focus on great
power competition with China and Rus-
sia.
The bill prioritizes and funds pro-
grams essential to our continued mili-
tary dominance. It provides our com-
batant commanders with the resources
and equipment they need to carry out
their missions around the world.
We continue key investments in
fifth-generation combat aircraft, ships,
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and
two
Virginia-class
submarines,
while also continuing to invest in the
essential research and development of
new technologies essential to main-
taining U.S. military superiority.
We continue to prioritize the health
and welfare of our men and women in
uniform. The funding in this bill re-
flects the longstanding concerns that
so many of our Members have had with
Defense health programs, sexual as-
sault prevention, suicide prevention,
and the long-awaited electronic health
record, which we need to get fixed.
We must get this bill signed into law
as soon as possible. According to the
DOD comptroller, a continuing resolu-
tion wastes $1.7 billion per month and
stops many of the modernization prior-
ities that are the cornerstone of main-
taining our military’s superiority over
near-peer threats such as China and
Russia.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we
were
able
to
overcome
politically
charged issues to negotiate this final
passage. I urge all the Members to vote
for it.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am de-
lighted to yield 11⁄2 minutes to the dis-
tinguished
gentlewoman
from
Con-
necticut (Ms. DELAURO), the chair of
the Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies, and now the chair of
the full committee, where I know she
will serve with her great knowledge
with distinction.
Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank
the gentlewoman from New York, and I
hope to fill her shoes in what she has
done to promote the welfare of the
lives of the people of this country.
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this
bill.
We are at a critical moment. We are
not just living through a public health
crisis, but an economic one; two crises,
which have magnified existing inequal-
ities.
Tens of millions of workers are un-
employed. Millions of families are fac-
ing hunger, many for the first time in
their lives. Small businesses are going
under, and over 300,000 Americans have
lost their lives.
The COVID relief package that we
are voting on today is a start, and I
thank my colleagues in the House of
Representatives for elevating it to pro-
vide important relief.
It brings back the enhanced Federal
unemployment insurance, direct pay-
ments, a second round of PPP loans,
$13 billion in emergency food assist-
ance, and a temporary boost to the
monthly food stamp program. And,
critically, it includes my Preventing
Online Sales of E-Cigarettes Act.
Despite strong Republican opposi-
tion, it provides nearly $2 billion to
maintain the paid leave option. I will
fight for paid sick days and paid family
and medical leave in the new year so
that no worker is left behind.
In the Labor-HHS provisions, we
were able to secure $155 billion in life-
or-death funding: $73 billion for the De-
partment of Health and Human Serv-
ices and $82 billion for the Department
of Education.
However, it is only a start, and we
must do so much more. We need aid to
cities and States. We need a child tax
credit and much more money for
childcare.
Let us act and get the people the help
they need.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Okla-
homa (Mr. COLE), the ranking member
of the Labor, Health and Human Serv-
ices, Education, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee.
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased
today to have the Labor, Health and
Human Services, Education, and Re-
lated Agencies’ bill included in this im-
portant appropriations package. As we
have done every year since I have
served on the subcommittee, we have
been able to reach a compromise. I
want to highlight a few of the many
provisions in the Labor-HHS section of
the bill.
The agreement boosts funding for the
National Institutes of Health by $1.25
billion. I am proud to say this increase
represents the sixth straight year of
sustained increases for the NIH, thanks
to bipartisan and bicameral support.
And funding resources, expertise, and
investments we have made over the
past 6 years in biomedical research,
along with public health planning
through mechanisms like the Infec-
tious Disease Rapid Response Reserve
Fund, are helping us come out of this
pandemic faster than predicted.
Make no mistake, this is not an acci-
dent. It is a result of years of quiet in-
vestment, planning, and scientific dedi-
cation. I am glad this conference agree-
ment continues these investments in
biomedical research. It will benefit the
Nation.
Finally, the bill also funds the Presi-
dent’s childhood cancer initiative and
continues support to end the HIV epi-
demic.
This conference agreement before us
today also increases funding for edu-
cation and training programs, includ-
ing $52 million for an increase in career
and technical education, a $10 million
increase for TRIO and GEAR UP. We
have increased funds for Impact Aid
and special education and provided
funds for veterans to integrate back
into the workforce.
Finally, the bill continues existing
funding restrictions, including those
important to the pro-life community,
and drops new controversial language.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude
by thanking Ranking Member KAY
GRANGER
and
Labor,
Health
and
Human Services Chair ROSA DELAURO.
Ms. GRANGER has been a valiant leader
navigating our members through some
difficult decisions to bring us here
today.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to acknowl-
edge the negotiating skills of the chair
of the Labor-HHS Subcommittee, Ms.
DELAURO. I very much look forward to
serving with her as both the chair of
my subcommittee, as well as the chair
of the full committee in the next Con-
gress.
Last, but certainly not least, I also
want to thank our full committee
chair, Mrs. LOWEY, who has had an out-
standing career and navigated us to
this point.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I am de-
lighted to yield 11⁄2 minutes to the dis-
tinguished gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ), the chair-
woman of the Subcommittee on Mili-
tary Construction, Veterans Affairs,
and Related Agencies.
b 1845
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr.
Speaker, I rise to support the combined
fiscal year 2021 government spending
and coronavirus relief package.
The package before us today does not
have everything the American people
need. It shortchanges key relief pro-
grams, like aid to our first responders
and State and local governments.
But the American people are suf-
fering and need immediate relief. Sup-
port from Congress is long overdue.
The package includes critical Demo-
cratic priorities we fought for, like
money for small businesses, extended
unemployment
benefits,
individual
stimulus checks, and public health
funding to eradicate the coronavirus.
It contains legislation I authored to
reauthorize the EARLY Act, which
educates young and at-risk women
with breast cancer.
The appropriations bills in this pack-
age advance key priorities, like $250
million
for
Everglades
restoration,
fighting
child
exploitation
on
the
internet, and protecting migrants and
holding DHS accountable.
As chair of the Military Construction
and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee,
we fund improved healthcare for vet-
erans, modernize the VA electronic
health record system, and improve
military infrastructure to ensure readi-
ness.
And we did not include funding to re-
imburse the President for his theft of
military funds for the racist border
wall.
The Democratic House passed our
coronavirus relief bill in May and our
appropriations bills in July. Repub-
licans failed to do their job. They have
showcased
unprecedented
incom-
petence and cruelty this year.
Why did Republicans block this relief
package until now?
They thought we were too generous
with the American people, and they
wanted to protect corporations who
put workers in harm’s way, and then
tried to shackle the Federal Reserve in
a last-minute effort to make it harder
for the Biden administration to help
struggling small businesses.
Democrats will keep fighting for ad-
ditional aid once President-elect Biden
takes office. That cannot come soon
enough.
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Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
1 minute to the gentleman from Michi-
gan (Mr. MOOLENAAR), a member of the
Appropriations Committee.
Mr. MOOLENAAR. Mr. Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I support the legislation
finishing the appropriations process for
2021 because it funds important prior-
ities for Michigan families. It includes
funding for the construction of a new
lock at the Soo Locks, the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative, rural broadband
internet access, and NIH research into
cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Of course, there is more work to do.
Many communities have been af-
fected by disasters this year, including
my district, where two dams failed and
communities were flooded.
Congress should do more to help all
communities affected by natural disas-
ters this year, and I will be doing ev-
erything I can to help those in my dis-
trict apply to receive Federal assist-
ance.
I am glad we have this bill done for
the American people, and I look for-
ward to working with my colleagues
across the aisle to craft bipartisan leg-
islation again in the new year.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1
minute to the gentleman from Vir-
ginia, (Mr. SCOTT), the chairman of the
Committee on Education and Labor.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker,
I thank the gentlewoman for yielding
and for her long career helping working
men and women throughout the Na-
tion.
I rise in support of this historic legis-
lation. Under this bill, we were able to
secure expansion of Pell grants to
make it easier for students to access
aid by streamlining the free applica-
tion for Federal student aid. We were
able to eliminate the ban on Pell
grants for incarcerated students. We
were able to discharge debts for many
historically Black colleges and univer-
sities. And we were able to invest $82
billion in schools and colleges.
I am particularly proud that we were
able to provide an end to the legal pro-
hibition of the use of Federal funds in
transportation to promote school inte-
gration. That is right. It is still illegal
until this bill passes.
Finally, I want to praise the inclu-
sion in this legislation of the fact that
we are finally ending surprise medical
bills and the problems along those
lines.
Mr. Speaker, I hope we will pass the
bill and do a lot for students and work-
ers.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Flor-
ida (Mr. DIAZ-BALART), the ranking
member of the Transportation, Hous-
ing
and
Urban
Development
Sub-
committee.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I
also thank the chair, Mrs. LOWEY, for
her long career helping working men
and women throughout the Nation.
I thank Chairman PRICE for working
with me on the transportation and
housing title of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, this bill includes $230
million for port infrastructure pro-
grams, which is crucial to coastal
States, but also, frankly, to our entire
freight network.
I am particularly pleased that this
bill includes $390 million to the Mari-
time Academy Training Ship Program.
This bill also renews housing assist-
ance for millions of Americans in need.
It is our duty to meet this commit-
ment, especially for our elderly; our
disabled; and our heroes, our veterans.
I am also very pleased the bill pro-
vides $3 billion for homeless assistance
grants.
I have seen the results of those pro-
grams firsthand, as we effectively
eliminated homelessness among vet-
erans in Miami-Dade County.
As a final point on the THUD bill, I
would note that this agreement drops
the controversial riders, allowing us to
move forward.
This omnibus itself continues strong
investments also into our national de-
fense. It funds Everglades restoration
and prioritizes school safety initia-
tives.
Once again, Chairman LOWEY
and
Ranking Member GRANGER led the way
through these very difficult times by
working day and night and never giv-
ing up.
A final word to Chairwoman LOWEY
as she manages her final bill. You
know, you can agree or disagree with
this honorable Member from New York,
but she is always honorable, straight-
forward, a true gentlewoman, and she
has been a huge asset to this institu-
tion and to our country. Godspeed,
Madam Chairwoman.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 11⁄2
minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. PALLONE). We came to Con-
gress together, and he is the chairman
of the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank
the gentlewoman for yielding.
I rise in strong support of this final
omnibus package that includes critical
legislation from the Energy and Com-
merce Committee.
First, this agreement includes $69 bil-
lion to crush the coronavirus by sup-
porting the rapid and equitable dis-
tribution of COVID–19 vaccines, as well
as critical testing and contact tracing.
Second, this package finally ends
surprise medical bills for American
consumers. These surprise bills have
burdened millions of patients with
crushing
medical
debts.
It
saves
money, which pays for a 3-year exten-
sion to fund community health centers
and other vital healthcare programs.
Third, the bill phases down HFCs.
This is a big win in the fight against
climate change, along with the reau-
thorization of the Pipeline Safety Act,
which reduces methane leaks.
And, fourth, we provide major assist-
ance for struggling families to better
afford their internet service.
These are just a few of the key provi-
sions from the Energy and Commerce
Committee.
But I want to end by thanking the
chair, NITA LOWEY. As she mentioned,
she and ELIOT ENGEL, myself, and Rich
Neal are the last in our class. I hate to
say it that way. She has been an out-
standing legislator and a great friend.
My only regret is that she is going to
just leave Richie Neal and myself to
carry on here. So I really wish she
would not leave, but I know she wants
to, and I wish her the best. I love you,
Nita.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Ne-
braska (Mr. FORTENBERRY), the rank-
ing member of the Agriculture, Rural
Development, Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, and Related Agencies Sub-
committee.
Mr. FORTENBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I
thank the ranking member for yield-
ing.
I also add my thanks to my good
friend, Chair LOWEY, upon her retire-
ment from Congress. Thank you so
much for your grace-filled leadership
all these years. I am very happy for
you in this new phase of life.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair-
man of the Agricultural, Rural Devel-
opment, Food and Drug Administra-
tion,
and
Related
Agencies
Sub-
committee publicly here, Chair SAN-
FORD BISHOP. He has such a profes-
sionalism and courtesy and a working,
friendly
bipartisan
spirit.
I
really
think it is important that America
hears that.
Mr. Speaker, this bill underwrites
the stabilization policies for our farm-
ers and ranchers, the protection of our
drug supply, and what I call the farm
of the future.
Now, these elongated deliberations
have created extra time for us here in
Congress. I know you would probably
prefer to be in Maryland. I certainly
would prefer to be in Nebraska. But we
have had important work to do here.
Given the extra amount of time, I
took some liberties and I visited with a
young farmer near here, Mr. Speaker.
He lives in the Shenandoah Valley. And
on a cold Virginia night, I actually
sanitized my own shoes and walked
with him in his poultry house, and we
talked. We talked about costs, fer-
tilizer reuse, mechanical versus digital
monitors, and options for integrating
renewable energy into his operations.
Checking his birds is a routine he du-
tifully performs. And that is what
America’s farmers are about: con-
stancy, vigilance, hard work. And
whether it is in the field or among live-
stock, the day in and day out life of the
farmer in Nebraska or Virginia or
Georgia is what keeps America strong
and helps feed the world.
This bill supports our production ag-
ricultural system in many traditional
ways, while we also witness an oppor-
tunity to expand the farm family. New
forms of small-scale niche agriculture
marry high-tech with high-touch, con-
necting the rural to the urban, the
farmer to the family, and the farm to
the table. This is the future of farming.
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Of particular importance, the bill
supports rural broadband, as well as
protecting our drug supply. It is an im-
portant bill from the constructs of the
most basic systems in America.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
an additional 30 seconds to the gen-
tleman from Nebraska.
Mr. FORTENBERRY: Mr. Speaker,
the bill supports rural broadband. And
that is more than wires laid. It is about
creating an ecosystem of livability so
that the benefits of telehealth and tele-
education and telework, along with
precision agriculture, can be distrib-
uted equitably throughout the country.
The inspiring COVID vaccine approv-
als by the FDA have shown us what we
can do together, and this bill also pro-
tects our drug supply while keeping un-
safe drugs out.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that
these provisions make it into law. That
is why I am happy to support this bill.
Again, Chair LOWEY, thank you for
your leadership.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 11⁄2
minutes to the gentlewoman from Cali-
fornia (Ms. WATERS), the chairwoman
of the Committee on Financial Serv-
ices.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank
the gentlewoman for yielding.
The relief in this bill is desperately
needed, as families struggle during the
pandemic crisis. The negotiations were
difficult. They were tough. I wish we
could have done even more, but I am
pleased we have done as well as we
could have done to provide relief for so
many in desperate need for their gov-
ernment to come to their aid.
As chairwoman of the Financial
Services Committee, I am proud to
have secured $25 billion in emergency
rental assistance. We need much more.
We also got an extension of the evic-
tion moratorium and $12 billion in low-
cost, long-term capital and grants to
the minority depository institutions
and the credit unions and the commu-
nity development financial institu-
tions.
I thank Ranking Member MCHENRY,
Chairman CRAPO, and Ranking Member
BROWN for working with me on these
provisions.
I am so pleased that the legislation
includes stimulus payments for fami-
lies and individuals. Not enough, but I
am pleased.
I am also pleased it includes new
funding for unemployment insurance.
Not enough, but I am pleased.
I am also pleased we have support for
Los Angeles International Airport in
my district and small business forgiv-
able PPP loans. This bill will also ex-
pand the amount of PPP loans for
which restaurants are eligible by a con-
siderable amount.
Let me be clear: Much more is need-
ed, but this bill is a most important
first step, and I am very pleased that
we are able to come to the aid of all of
our constituents.
I thank NANCY PELOSI for the tre-
mendous job that she did in negoti-
ating to get us to this point.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
FLEISCHMANN), the ranking member of
the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I
thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Before I begin, I wish to convey my
warm thoughts and sentiments to Mrs.
LOWEY from New York, who is chair-
man of this committee. It has been a
privilege to work with you for almost a
decade in my capacity, and I wish you
the best in your future. And I thank
you for your service to this great
House.
b 1900
Mr. Speaker, tonight, I rise in sup-
port of the bill we have before us,
which is the result of months of nego-
tiations on how best to manage our
government’s resources in fiscal year
2021 and respond to the COVID pan-
demic that has gripped so many of our
communities.
Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member
of
the
Homeland
Security
Sub-
committee, I thank my full committee
leader, Ms. GRANGER, for her great
leadership in pulling this omnibus to-
gether. I also thank Subcommittee
Chairwoman Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD from
California, along with Senators CAPITO
and TESTER across the hall, for their
work and comity in resolving these dif-
ficult and challenging issues. It is a
pleasure to have served with Chair-
woman ROYBAL-ALLARD in this role.
Mr. Speaker, I think we have a very
balanced agreement. We continue to
provide $1.375 billion for border secu-
rity and funds flexibility for Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement to re-
spond to detention needs.
Further, we have significant invest-
ments in many of our Nation’s security
components,
including
the
great
United States Coast Guard, cybersecu-
rity and infrastructure, and FEMA
grants to our States and localities to
respond to disasters.
Further, the bill before us eliminates
the riders and policy provisions con-
tained in the House-reported bill that
would have inhibited the Department
of Homeland Security from fulfilling
its law enforcement responsibilities at
our borders and in the interior of our
country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ‘‘yes’’ vote on
this package. It is time for the fiscal
year to get underway.
Mr. Speaker, I wish all a happy and
healthy new year.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1
minute to the gentlewoman from Cali-
fornia (Ms. LEE), a senior member of
the Appropriations Committee.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker,
first, let me thank Chairwoman NITA
LOWEY for once again doing such a phe-
nomenal job. I am going to miss her
tremendously.
Let me just say how much I support
this survival bill, which provides a few
months of relief for those suffering
from the severe impacts of COVID.
Mr. Speaker, I also thank Congress-
woman Chair DELAURO and Chairman
PALLONE for their work with our Tri-
Caucus to include $2.8 billion for test-
ing and vaccine support in the commu-
nities of color hardest hit by COVID.
Mr. Speaker, I also thank our sub-
committee chairs and staff for includ-
ing so many of our priorities and for
their diligent work on this.
It is really shameful that it has
taken Republicans so long to realize
that their constituents are desperate
for help and need their government to
give them a lifeline during this terrible
time, also.
Eight million people have slipped
into poverty since the start of this pan-
demic, and one in four adults are suf-
fering from hunger during COVID–19.
318,000 people have died from the
Trump
administration’s
scandalous
mismanagement.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The
time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an
additional 15 seconds to the gentle-
woman.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I
support this bill. Let’s give this lifeline
to people. Let’s move forward and build
on this downpayment.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. ARRINGTON).
Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise
in support of this legislation to provide
relief to our fellow Americans, accel-
erate our Nation’s economic recovery,
and ensure our great Nation comes
back better, stronger, and healthier
than ever.
I don’t want to belabor my deep con-
cerns with the process except to say,
Mr. Speaker, that it is fundamentally
broken and that it was unnecessarily
prolonged for purely political reasons.
The American people waited, and wait-
ed for months. They deserve better, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend,
fellow Texan and ranking member, KAY
GRANGER; our leader, KEVIN MCCARTHY;
KEVIN BRADY; and many others who
helped finalize this agreement.
It is far from perfect. I haven’t met
perfect legislation since coming to
Washington. But it does a good job of
supporting
our
struggling
families,
small businesses, healthcare profes-
sionals, teachers, and other frontline
workers at a time when many des-
perately need it, and all of this at a
fraction of Speaker PELOSI’s $3.3 tril-
lion bailout bonanza, which included
cash for illegals, legalizing marijuana,
and a host of other unnecessary and ir-
responsible provisions.
Mr. Speaker, it is no small feat to
keep our annual spending below the
budget cap, and I commend my col-
leagues, including Chairwoman LOWEY,
for that.
To do that and prevail in protecting
troops and including their pay raise,
funding for the border wall, preserving
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the sacred protections for our unborn, I
have got to tell you, that is pretty darn
good.
It is hard for me to stand for some of
this stuff in this bill, this omnibus. But
on balance, it is good for the country,
and I am standing with Chairwoman
LOWEY, and I am standing with my fel-
low Texan, KAY GRANGER.
God bless America.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1
minute to the gentlewoman from Cali-
fornia (Ms. PELOSI), my friend for 32
years in the House, the outstanding
Speaker of the House.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank
the gentlewoman for bringing this im-
portant legislation to the floor. I thank
her
and
Ranking
Member
KAY
GRANGER for bringing this in a very
strong bipartisan way.
I spoke this morning at some length,
so it is on the record as to my attitude
here. I salute the legislation that is
here and urge passage, but I do want to
take a minute to thank the Madam
Chair.
She has served in the Congress for a
long time. We have sat side by side
over the years with ROSA DELAURO,
STENY HOYER, and Mr. CLYBURN as ap-
propriators. I have seen her writings-
based astute political knowledge, her
strategic thinking, her encyclopedic
knowledge of the legislation produce
the results, understanding what the
process will bear and what the country
needs first and foremost.
So, Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair-
woman LOWEY. I don’t know how many
more times we will thank her, but
hopefully, when the coronavirus goes
away, we can all join in embracing her
great leadership and expressing grati-
tude.
Mr. Speaker, I want to just again
take a moment in recognition of the
other chairs who worked to make this
legislation so, so effective with direct
payments through the employee reten-
tion tax credit, the unemployment in-
surance, to name a few.
Congresswoman
VELA´ ZQUEZ
with
Small Business, under her leadership
and working in a bipartisan way, small
businesses, which are the heart of our
economy, have received almost $1 tril-
lion in these coronavirus bills, almost
$1 trillion. We support that, but I also
would hope there would be some com-
mensurate recognition of the jobs of
small business, the jobs of State and
local government. They have received
only $160 billion in all of these bills,
$160 billion.
Does that sound familiar? That is ex-
actly the amount of money that the
Republicans put in the CARES bill to
give to the wealthiest in our country,
yet for all the States and localities,
and it was retroactive, having nothing
to do with coronavirus, $160 billion.
They thought that was commensurate
with
the
responsibilities
of
our
healthcare workers, our State and
local police and fire, first responders,
transportation, sanitation, food work-
ers, our teachers, our teachers, our
teachers.
So, yes, there is more work to do, and
it will cost some money, but it will
protect jobs. Most importantly, it will
meet the needs of the American people
to crush the virus and to do so in a way
that brings us all into the future in a
very safe way.
I thank Congresswoman VELA´ ZQUEZ
for her extraordinary leadership in
that regard.
Mr. Speaker, I thank MAXINE WATERS
for coming to the need of people, rent-
ers, landlords, et cetera, with her im-
portant legislation—of course, we want
more, but for now, this will see us
through—her Community Development
Financial Institutions legislation, her
MDIs, making all that available in the
small business piece, available to so
many more people.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. SCOTT from
Virginia. Student loans, childcare, I
thank him for making it right.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. PALLONE
for his leadership again and again. Vac-
cines, the vaccine issue is so impor-
tant, how it is delivered, how it is pro-
duced, distributed. Going from vaccine
to vaccination, from lab to arm, so
much is required, and much of it is in
this bill. Testing and tracing are still
needed. We still need to provide a relief
fund that goes along with that. I thank
him for the personal interest he took
in broadband.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. DEFAZIO on
transportation and WRDA. Yesterday
morning, we didn’t even have WRDA in
the bill. That is why this all has taken
longer to do. So, I thank him for the
important role that he played. We all
know about the airlines and the rest,
but there is so much more.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. PETERSON
for his work on nutrition. People are
hungry in our country, and we had to
fight for nutrition money, but I thank
him for his persistence.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. MCGOVERN
for his advocacy in the Congress for
children and hunger, as well as ROSA
DELAURO. But Mr. MCGOVERN has gone
on hunger strikes and the rest. He real-
ly values what is in this bill on nutri-
tion to feed the hungry in our country.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. MALONEY
for saving our Postal Service.
Just a brief reference to say thank
you. This has been a long, difficult ne-
gotiation. These chairs, their members
of the committees, and their staffs
have been invaluable. Shalanda and
Chris, I thank them so much for mak-
ing all this happen.
Mr. Speaker, I reference the state-
ment I made this morning about one
thing and another, about the attitude
we have to this and the need for us to
recognize this as a first step and the
need for us to address the important
contribution of our health workers, po-
lice and fire first responders, sanita-
tion, transportation, food workers, our
teachers, our teachers, our teachers.
If we are going to safely reenter the
economy and our schools, we must
crush the virus.
I have hope to crush the virus. That
is why we could support this bill. It
doesn’t go all the way, but it takes us
down the path, a first step.
I have hope of crushing the virus, and
I have hope because of the election of
Joe Biden as President of the United
States, a President who will follow
science. He will follow science, and he
will recognize that we have to meet the
needs of all the American people wher-
ever they live in our country, espe-
cially addressing BARBARA LEE’s con-
cerns about the communities of color
that have been underserved in so much
of what we have done.
Mr. Speaker, I have great apprecia-
tion for Madam Chair NITA LOWEY.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I re-
serve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1
minute to the gentleman from Mary-
land (Mr. HOYER), the majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank
Madam Chair for yielding, and I thank
Ranking Member KAY GRANGER for her
work.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity
to do a video, as we all are commu-
nicating with one another virtually,
about my colleague and friend with
whom I have served for over three dec-
ades, NITA LOWEY.
I went to school in NITA LOWEY’s dis-
trict many, many years ago. When she
came here, we became friends. Shortly
thereafter, she came on the Appropria-
tions Committee, and we served to-
gether, as Speaker PELOSI said, on the
Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies Sub-
committee of the Appropriations Com-
mittee. I served on that committee for
23 years. I have great affection for that
committee.
We served under a gentleman named
Bill Natcher from the State of Ken-
tucky. He used to stand when he pre-
sented that bill to the floor and say:
‘‘This is the people’s bill.’’
Mr. Speaker, this is the people’s bill.
b 1915
This is a bill that must pass. They
say that good things come to those who
wait. They have waited too long, had
too much pain, physically; too many
deaths; too much psychological dam-
age; too many lost jobs. This is, how-
ever, a good thing that will come to
those who need it so badly.
I want to thank Chairwoman LOWEY,
who has performed such extraordinary
service on the Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Edu-
cation, and Related Agencies for a long
time; and the Subcommittee on State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Pro-
grams for a long time; and for the Ap-
propriations Committee.
I want to thank my friend, KAY
GRANGER. We are perceived as being
awfully partisan, and this has been a
partisan project as well. It took us
from May 15 until today to get this
done. We passed, in the interim, Octo-
ber 1, another bill of substantially less-
er sum than the one we passed in May,
and a little more than what we are
passing—actually, twice what we are
passing today. All of it was needed.
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The American people have been wait-
ing and watching and hoping that Con-
gress would not only be able to avert a
shutdown but also to provide much-
needed COVID–19 relief.
Mr. Speaker, we now have a bipar-
tisan agreement, and the legislation
will achieve both of those aims.
KAY GRANGER, as I said, is somebody
who was a mayor in Texas, and mayors
know they have to get things done, and
Congresswoman
GRANGER
has
been
somebody who wants to get things
done. She and NITA LOWEY have been a
team in getting things done. I thank
both of them.
This bill completes the appropria-
tions process by investing in the Amer-
ican people, in our national defense, in
economic opportunity, in strength-
ening safety net programs that keep
Americans out of poverty.
As I said, I thank both NITA LOWEY
and KAY GRANGER.
I particularly want to thank an ex-
traordinary Member of this body. She
is not called a Congresswoman. She is
not a Member of this body, but she is a
person without whom we would not be
nearly as successful as we have been
over this last year. She has made this
year less painful for millions and mil-
lions and millions of Americans.
Her name is Shalanda Young. She
sits right behind me, an extraordinary
talent whose leadership makes seminal
contributions to all the sections of this
bill and to previous bills dealing with
appropriations and the COVID–19 pan-
demic.
She is, in many ways, an indispen-
sable person when we come to dealing
with bills of this magnitude. She works
for Mrs. LOWEY, as does Chris Bigelow.
Both have done extraordinary service.
Shalanda Young, Mr. Speaker, rep-
resents the best of us. I say that be-
cause she represents a lot of the staff
we have here. She is extraordinarily
talented, extraordinarily patriotic, and
extraordinarily dedicated to the work
of the American people, and extraor-
dinarily underpaid.
Members are going to be underpaid in
this bill, too. We beat our chest, and we
have money in there that says we don’t
get a COLA one more time. Aren’t we
so courageous. I am disgusted by that,
Mr. Speaker, and I want all of America
to know; I want all of my constituents
to know. Every Member in this place,
whether I agree with them or not, is
worth a COLA, at least trying to keep
them even with the cost of living in
this country. We struck it one more
time, as we pretend that we think the
COLA is unjust.
However, that is de minimis to this
bill, but, certainly, will not dissuade
me or ought not to dissuade anybody
from
voting
enthusiastically,
ener-
getically, and proudly for this bill.
As a result of this omnibus, the next
President will be able to start his ad-
ministration focusing on immediate
challenges instead of trying to finish
the previous year’s work.
I want to say something on that one
more time. I have talked to Ms.
GRANGER, who is going to be here.
There is no reason, Mr. Speaker, why
we can’t pass appropriation bills by
September 30, the ending of the fiscal
year, October 1 being the beginning of
the new fiscal year.
I am frustrated, as the majority lead-
er who is supposed to be able to make
things work here, with my colleagues.
We did make it work here, but our Sen-
ate colleagues did not pass a single bill
prior to the election, so here we are.
In
addition,
this
end-of-the-year
package includes critical clean-energy
legislation passed by the House earlier
this
year
that
makes
important
progress toward addressing the climate
crisis while ensuring that America can
create good jobs by leading the clean-
energy economy.
We were also able, in this bill, Mr.
Speaker, to include legislation that
protects patients from surprise bills by
removing them from the fight between
insurers
and
providers
and
imple-
menting a fairer process for resolving
disputes.
On COVID–19 relief, while we were
unable to secure agreement on every
priority that Democrats and some Re-
publicans wanted—we don’t always get
everything we want. So be it. That is
the process.
We were able, however, to include
many of the provisions we included in
previous bills on May 15 and October 1,
which I referred to earlier, for which
Democrats
have
been
fighting
for
months
and
that
Americans
des-
perately need.
These include resumption of ex-
panded unemployment benefits, an-
other round of direct payments, relief
for renters, and assistance to make
sure that Americans can put food on
the table. In the richest country on the
face of the Earth, we have people in
food lines who can’t feed themselves.
That is not only wrong, but it is im-
moral and inconsistent with my faith
and, I think, the faith of most.
There is additional help for small
business—appropriate—and
resources
to help schools reopen safely.
In addition, we secured another $3.36
billion for GAVI, and I thank the chair.
It is a small program, relatively speak-
ing, but it is about keeping people
healthy around the world.
We are a shrinking globe, and this
COVID crisis came from abroad—wher-
ever it came from, Europe, contrary to
the President saying it came only from
China. It came from Europe; it came
from China. We have a moral responsi-
bility to make sure that it doesn’t keep
coming and that we help our brothers
and sisters abroad as well so that we,
too, can be healthy.
In the new year, we will continue to
work to ensure that our country can
meet the challenges of COVID–19, in-
cluding help for State, local, Tribal,
and territorial governments that are
on the front line. Who is delivering the
shot in the arm? States and local gov-
ernments.
No compromise is perfect, of course,
and this is not perfect. So many people
have said that, but that goes without
saying. We don’t do perfect. We are
human beings. If we do the right thing,
we do the best we can. It is essential
that we move forward and do our jobs
for the American people.
That is why the House did its job by
passing the Heroes Act in May and
again in October and why we passed ap-
propriation bills to fund nearly all of
government by July 26.
It is disappointing, as I have said,
that the Senate waited until November
to begin serious consideration of appro-
priation bills. I don’t mean the sub-
committees didn’t work; they just
didn’t report anything out.
Thankfully, though, we are taking
action together. America, we are tak-
ing action together. And you can be
pleased when you see the board light
up, mostly overwhelmingly green.
I urge the President to sign this leg-
islation without delay, just, Mr. Speak-
er, as I urge him to sign the National
Defense Authorization Act in which
you played such a critical role, Mr.
Speaker, and we passed earlier this
month. I fear that he will veto this bill
for an unrelated, totally nongermane
issue, and we may be back here on the
28th.
If we are not here on the 28th, again,
NITA LOWEY, I want to say to you:
Thank you. How much we appreciate
your contribution, and how much we
appreciate the contribution of all of
those who might be leaving either vol-
untarily or involuntarily. We thank
them for their service.
Mr. Speaker, let’s finish the work of
the 116th Congress.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. BRADY), the ranking member on
the Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I want to
thank Ranking Member GRANGER for
her terrific leadership on this bill and
throughout this session.
This agreement is a big, important
win for American workers, healthcare
providers, Main Street businesses, and
families.
In this agreement, we have Repub-
lican tax relief for American families.
We permanently make it easier to de-
duct high medical costs and lifetime
learning costs. We extend for 5 years
the tax credit for paid family and med-
ical leave, plus we take it one step fur-
ther by helping businesses pay off stu-
dent loans for workers.
We have big wins for patients and
families together. We end surprise
medical bills when you visit the ER or
have scheduled medical procedures. We
require that patients be given a true
and honest bill ahead of a scheduled
procedure, and we make it easier to
find in-network doctors and providers.
In addition to helping patients, we
also help our doctors. We increase their
pay and stop two-thirds of planned
Medicare cuts for certain providers. We
also increase doctor pay by over $3 bil-
lion and add 1,000 new graduate med-
ical education slots to help train more
doctors.
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We took needed action to improve
healthcare in rural areas.
It also contains strong antifraud
safeguards for unemployment.
We offer crucial tax help for millions
of Americans and small businesses with
another round of stimulus checks,
more funds and flexibility for PPP
loans.
We also include important technical
corrections to the new U.S.-Mexico-
Canada Agreement, which will help our
economy rebuild from this pandemic.
Maybe most importantly, we have
big wins in this package to help us de-
feat the virus once and for all with bil-
lions more in funding for vaccines,
testing, distribution, and more.
This bipartisan solution is so impor-
tant to the American people. This is a
strong and needed package. Its benefits
will be felt for years to come.
I also want to finish by thanking our
committee
chairman,
RICHIE
NEAL,
who worked so closely with me and all
of our committee members on these
wins for the American people. It has
been an honor to work with him this
Congress.
I am also very proud of the work and
leadership that Republicans have ex-
emplified throughout this Congress, es-
pecially among the Ways and Means
Committee. I will gladly and strongly
vote in support of this bill, and I en-
courage all of my colleagues to do the
same.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Before I close, I want to take a mo-
ment to recognize my good friend and
our full committee chairman, NITA
LOWEY, as this will be the last bill that
she will take to the floor.
She is the first woman to hold the
gavel
of
the
Appropriations
Com-
mittee, and her retirement is a huge
loss to our country, to our committee,
and to me personally.
When I was named as ranking mem-
ber and she was named as chair, she
called me into her office. We really had
never worked together. We were on dif-
ferent committees. I will never forget
what she said. She said: We are going
to do it on time and on budget, and we
will become best friends.
b 1930
I wasn’t sure she wasn’t crazy, but I
said: I will do that.
We became good friends, and we did
things on time and on budget. Every-
thing was a joy working with her be-
cause she always knew what she want-
ed and what she wanted to do. She was
inclusive, and we did turn and have a
friendship that I will always cherish.
So I wanted to make sure that you
knew that I realized I had a unique op-
portunity in working with you. I
learned a lot, and we had a good time,
didn’t we?
I also want to take a minute to
thank the members of our committee
and our staff for their hard work this
year. This really is a must-pass bill
that I look forward to getting signed
into law.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to
join me in voting in favor of these bills,
and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield
myself the balance of my time, and I
rise to address this House for the final
time.
For 32 years, it has been my privilege
to serve as United States Representa-
tive from New York; and in the 116th
Congress, it has been my distinct honor
to be the first chairwoman of the
House Appropriations Committee.
By wielding the power of the purse,
this bill will make a profound dif-
ference in the lives of millions of
Americans
and
people
around
the
world.
I am proud to have worked with so
many of my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle to assemble this bill and other
legislative successes. You have chal-
lenged and inspired me, and I treasure
the friendships that we have made.
My dear friend, KAY GRANGER, it has
been such an honor getting to know
you. Texas values, New York values, no
matter what they say, we became good
friends and worked so well together.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I would be remiss if I did not thank
the talented staff who have worked so
hard to put this bill together, led by
Clerk and Staff Director Shalanda
Young, the extraordinary Shalanda
Young, who is way back there.
Thank you, Shalanda Young.
And also the extraordinary deputy
staff director, Chris Bigelow. What a
team. They manage. No matter how
much paper and no matter what the
challenge, they seem to be able to put
it all together and get it right.
Shalanda and Chris, I thank you—
and always with an assist by my chief
of staff, Elizabeth Stanley.
I do want to thank the staff director
of the State, Foreign Operations, and
Related
Programs
Subcommittee,
which I chair, Steve Marchese.
There is one principle that has guid-
ed my 32 years in public service: When
you see a problem, whether it is here or
in the district or in another commu-
nity, do something about it.
Too many people see a problem. They
are good people, but they will all go off
to this personal activity or another
personal activity. Members of Congress
know, when they see a problem, we
have a responsibility to address it and
do something about it to make life bet-
ter for our community, the Nation, and
the world. This bill does something to
crush this virus and set us on the
course for a strong and equitable recov-
ery.
Mr. Speaker, for the last time and
with a deep sense of gratitude for the
honor of serving in this House, I yield
back the balance of my time.
Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in
strong support of the Consolidated Appropria-
tions Act, 2021 that funds our government and
provides desperately needed relief to Amer-
ican families. I’m proud to support many of the
provisions in this legislation, understanding
that no compromise is perfect. Frontline work-
ers, including public health workers, fire-
fighters, and other essential workers employed
by state and local governments continue to
need our support.
The bill before us today provides a lifeline to
those who are struggling from the COVID–19
pandemic and the recession it has caused. It
extends critical programs first authorized by
the CARES Act including $300 per week in
additional unemployment benefits, a second
round of direct payments of up to $600, $284
billion for additional small business loans
under the Paycheck Protection Program, and
$13 billion in nutrition assistance for Ameri-
cans facing hunger. It also provides $25 billion
to help renters pay their rent and stay in their
homes. I’m deeply disappointed that the Ad-
ministration and the Senate Majority Leader
would not allow restaurants and their workers
to receive our help. With over 300 bipartisan
cosponsors on the RESTAURANT Act, these
businesses and their workers should have
been in this legislation.
In addition to pandemic relief, the bill funds
the government through the remainder of the
fiscal year, avoiding a costly government shut-
down before the holidays, and invests in crit-
ical priorities, including clean energy, afford-
able housing, public schools, and broadband.
I’m proud to have secured $100 million for the
electrification of Caltrain, $8.9 million for envi-
ronmental conservation of the San Francisco
Bay, $33 million for construction of the Linac
Coherent Light Source upgrade (LCLS–II) at
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and
$85.2 million for the Stratospheric Observatory
for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at NASA
Ames.
Our country is in the midst of the worst pub-
lic health crisis in a century, and I’m proud to
say that the Democrats on the Energy and
Commerce Health Subcommittee, which I
have had the privilege to lead, have stepped
up to the challenge by securing provisions that
include the following:
Provide billions to ensure the free, timely,
and equitable distribution of safe, effective
vaccines and more resources for a national
testing strategy:
End surprise medical billing. No patient will
face an unexpected, expensive bill just be-
cause they are caught in a web of providers.
Assist doctors and public and rural hospitals
survive the pandemic by stopping planned
Medicare and Medicaid cuts.
Provide three years of funding for critical
public health programs including Community
Health Centers, Teaching Health Centers, the
National Health Service Corps, and the special
diabetes programs.
Restore Medicaid coverage for the citizens
of the freely associated states living in the
U.S., to whom America has for too long aban-
doned its commitments to.
Improve Medicare coverage for beneficiaries
across the country by simplifying Part B enroll-
ment; permanently authorizing the use of tele-
health for mental health care; eliminating cost-
sharing for colorectal cancer screenings; and
extending coverage for immunosuppressive
drugs for kidney transplant patients. I’m espe-
cially proud to have co-led and championed
the immunosuppressive drug coverage legisla-
tion to correct a short-sighted coverage policy
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which will save 375 kidney transplants each
year. This provision appears in Section 402 of
Division CC and is based on H.R. 5534, the
Comprehensive
Immunosuppressive
Drug
Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act
of 2019.
Improve the Medicaid program by expand-
ing access to certified community behavioral
health clinics; eliminate spousal impoverish-
ment for partners of Medicaid beneficiaries re-
ceiving home and community-based services;
and continuing the Money Follows the Person
rebalancing demonstration which makes it
possible for people on Medicaid to transition to
a safer home or community-based environ-
ment and still maintain Medicaid funding.
Lower health care costs by strengthening
parity in mental health and substance use dis-
order benefits; removing gag clauses on
health price and quality information; ending a
loophole that allowed drugs for opioid use dis-
order to benefit from the orphan drug designa-
tion; and making it easier for biosimilar prod-
ucts to come to market by increasing patent
and exclusivity transparency. This final provi-
sion appears in Section 325 of Division BB,
and it is a bill I’m proud to have sponsored,
H.R. 1520, the Purple Book Continuity Act. It
requires patent information for biologics to be
submitted to the FDA and published in the
publicly-available ‘‘Purple Book.’’ By creating a
single, searchable list of licensed biologics,
manufacturers will be able to plan a pipeline of
lower-cost biosimilar products for years to
come.
I’m also proud to have several health appro-
priations which I requested included in today’s
agreement. These items represent the critical
advancement of life-saving research and care,
including: $15 million for the Pancreatic Can-
cer Research Program at the DOD, which I’ve
long championed and which comes as the
world continues to mourn the deaths this year
of several iconic Americans from this very ag-
gressive cancer, including Congressman John
Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg; $42.9 billion for the NIH for forward
thinking investments in medical research;
$597 million for critical biodefense and public
health emergency preparedness at BARDA,
which my legislation created. Another $19.7
billion is in the COVID–19 relief agreement for
BARDA to manufacture and procure vaccines;
$350 million for the Children’s Hospitals Grad-
uate Medical Education Program to support
pediatric medical residents’ training; and $5.4
million for research on Chronic Fatigue Syn-
drome at the CDC to better understand this
terrible disease.
There’s still so much more the American
people need. We must increase federal fund-
ing for the Medicaid program during this health
and economic crisis, including home-and-com-
munity-based services, improve infection con-
trol and quality in our nation’s nursing homes,
and address the public health crises that con-
tinue during the COVID–19 pandemic, such as
America’s unacceptable rates of maternal mor-
tality, suicides, and overdoses. I’m proud of
what we’ve accomplished in the Health Sub-
committee this year and energized to continue
the fight in 2021.
Today’s agreement includes important clean
energy provisions, including my legislation,
H.R. 1420, the Energy Efficient Government
Technology Act, which appears as Sections
1003 and 1004 of Division Z. The bill requires
government agencies to develop plans to im-
plement best practices for energy manage-
ment, purchase more energy efficient informa-
tion and communications technologies, and
submit to periodic evaluation of their data cen-
ters for energy efficiency.
Data centers are a critical part of our na-
tional infrastructure and are found in nearly
every sector of our economy. The federal gov-
ernment alone has more than 2,000 data cen-
ters which store everything from Social Secu-
rity and tax records, toe-books at the Library
of Congress. Despite their importance to our
government and our economy, many are ex-
tremely inefficient when it comes to energy
use.
The good news is many data centers can
significantly reduce their energy use using ex-
isting technology and best practices. This will
reduce not only the government’s carbon foot-
print but also its energy bills. My bipartisan
legislation has the potential to save taxpayers
hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced en-
ergy costs in the future, while setting an ex-
ample for the private sector to reduce energy
usage at data centers.
We must ensure students in need can con-
tinue their studies during the pandemic as col-
leges begin another semester of remote learn-
ing, and I’m proud that our agreement in-
cludes funding for these students. Section 902
of Division N is modeled on H.R. 6814, the
Supporting Connectivity for Higher Education
Students in Need Act, bicameral legislation I
introduced on May 13, 2020.
The provision provides $285 million to ex-
pand connectivity for historically Black col-
leges and universities, Tribal colleges and uni-
versities,
Hispanic-serving
institutions
and
other minority-serving institutions, their stu-
dents, and minority-owned businesses near
those colleges. The funding can be used to
purchase routers, modems, wi-fi hotspots, tab-
lets, and laptops. Funding recipients must
prioritize low-income students. The legislation
also
establishes
the
Office
of
Minority
Broadband Initiatives within the NTIA to carry
out programs expand access to broadband at
and in communities around HBCUs, TCUs,
HSis and other MSis.
Between 2012 and 2018, over $1.2 billion in
9–1–1 fees were diverted to uses other than
9–1–1. While most states curtailed this horrific
practice, four states continue diverting 9–1–1
fees: New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island,
and Nevada. I first co-led the bipartisan 9–1–
1 Fee Integrity Act to require by statute that
9–1–1 fees can only be used for 9–1–1 pur-
poses on September 14, 2018. I’m pleased
that the legislation appears in Section 902 of
Division FF.
I’m pleased that today’s agreement includes
funding for AI R&D. The Joint Explanatory
Statement for Division B includes direction for
AI R&D to expand at NSF and NIST, including
with a focus on increasing AI workforce diver-
sity and developing a framework for ethical
and safe AI. I’ve twice written to the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies re-
questing robust AI R&D funding, and I thank
them for their leadership in taking an important
step to increase AI funding.
I’m pleased that this legislation includes
funding for several technology and tele-
communications matters that are priorities for
me and for our country, including $3.2 billion
for a $50 per month emergency broadband
benefit for low income families, Pell Grant re-
cipients, students eligible for free or reduced
lunch, and recently unemployed individuals;
$1.9 billion to ‘rip and replace’ telecommuni-
cations equipment made by insecure supplies,
like Huawei and ZTE, which I first asked the
FCC to investigate in 2010; $250 million for
the FCC’s COVID–19 Telehealth Program;
and $65 million to develop reliable broadband
maps which are critical for the federal govern-
ment and all states to know where broadband
support funding would be most effective.
Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise to empha-
size the appropriate application and interpreta-
tion of Section 404 of the Intelligence Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which has
been included as Division W of the Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act of 2021.
Section 404 was authored by Chairman
BENNIE THOMPSON of the Committee on Home-
land Security. Its essence is to establish a
specialized fellowship program related to cy-
bersecurity and intelligence within the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security. The program is
meant for certain undergraduate students from
diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and other back-
grounds. And the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity—who shall administer Section 404—
also will have authority to hire successful fel-
lowship participants as Department employ-
ees, and into positions involving cyber or intel-
ligence.
The broader and most compelling goal
being, of course, to ensure that the Depart-
ment and the Federal government are doing
their utmost to recruit, hire and retain a highly
diverse workforce. The language of Section
404 must be interpreted and implemented by
the Department broadly, with a mind towards
attainment of this lawful objective; under no
circumstances should it be read in an inappro-
priately narrow or needlessly restrictive fash-
ion.
Although Section 404 does not require that
students attend Historically Black Colleges or
Universities or Minority-Serving Institutions in
order to participate in the fellowship program,
the Secretary of Homeland Security—who will
administer this authority—should make exten-
sive efforts to promote the fellowship among
students from HBCUs and MSIs.
Together with the other Members of the
Homeland Security and Intelligence Commit-
tees, I will look forward to receiving the report
required by Section 404, which will permit
Congress to confirm that, in fact, the Depart-
ment is conducting the necessary outreach to
HBCUs, MSIs, and other Institutions of Higher
Education; and, consistent with the approach I
have set forth here, reading and applying Sec-
tion 404’s language in a manner that fulfills
the initiative’s overarching goal.
Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I would like
to lend my support of this fiscal year 2021 ap-
propriations package.
I thank the Chair of the Appropriations Com-
mittee, Mrs. LOWEY, and my friend, Chairman
SERRANO, as they prepare to retire for their
many years of dedication and hard work to
this institution and I wish them both well.
I also want to thank Ranking Member
GRANGER for her outstanding leadership this
year.
I’m pleased that this bill supports the Trump
Administration’s Moon to Mars Artemis initia-
tive and rejects radical demands to defund the
police. It also restores long-standing Second
Amendment protections that have enjoyed his-
torical, bipartisan support yet were excluded
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from the House-passed Commerce, Justice,
Science Appropriations Act.
I am also pleased that this bill rejects issues
which previously held up a COVID relief
agreement. This bill provides individuals, fami-
lies, health care providers, and businesses the
assistance which we can agree on, to help ev-
eryone get through this pandemic. It also
looks to the future by providing additional
funding to expand internet access in rural
areas.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, The
House amendment to the Senate amendment
to H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2021, includes many important provisions.
Among them is Section 203 of Title II, Division
BB, based on H.R. 7539, the Strengthening
Behavioral Health Parity Act—an important
step forward in improving the effective en-
forcement of mental health parity laws that
govern group and individual health plans and
coverage. I am pleased to see this legislation
advance as part of our continuing efforts to
ensure the promise of parity is realized for all.
As Chairman of the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor, which has legislative juris-
diction over employee health benefit plans (in-
cluding provisions of the Mental Health Parity
and Addiction Equity Act and the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA) as
well as oversight jurisdiction over the United
States Department of Labor, I would like to
provide additional clarification for the record
regarding the interactions between this legisla-
tion and existing enforcement and compliance
efforts by the Secretary of Labor.
First, no provision of Section 203 in any way
restricts, alters, or otherwise interferes with the
existing enforcement and oversight authority of
the Secretary of Labor, including the Sec-
retary’s authority to investigate, audit, and
seek equitable or other relief to enforce any
requirements of federal law. The requirement
that the Secretary examine the comparative
analyses of at least 20 plans annually serves
as a floor, not a ceiling, on the Department’s
enforcement actions, and the Department re-
mains authorized to continue to utilize its
broad authority under Sections 502, 504, 506
of ERISA and other laws to enforce all re-
quirements of this bill, Part 7 of ERISA, and
any other requirements of federal law.
Second, no provision of Section 203 in any
way restricts, alters, or otherwise interferes
with the rights of group health plan partici-
pants to bring an action to enforce their rights
under Section 502 of ERISA, nor does it im-
pact judicial review of any statutory violations.
This bill also should not be interpreted to cre-
ate any additional presumption in favor of
health plans and issuers during judicial review
of nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL)
determinations, and the Secretary remains au-
thorized to seek equitable or other relief, in-
cluding relief regarding the re-adjudication of
claims. All provisions should be interpreted to
ensure the broadest access to relief for plan
participants.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speak-
er, I rise in strong support of the 900 billion
dollar economic relief package which has
been agreed to by Members of Congress on
both sides of the aisle. While this package is
far from what is actually needed, it is nec-
essary to act right now and we do not have
any additional time to wait. This bill will direct
billions of dollars in aid to unemployed individ-
uals who are suffering with no other hope or
help in sight.
It will provide up to $600 in stimulus checks,
it will extend unemployment benefit checks,
extend a moratorium on evictions for 1 month,
325 billion for business relief with 275 billion
going to paycheck protection, 82 billion for
schools, 20 billion for vaccine distribution.
While this is not quite exactly what I was look-
ing for, it will hold us until President Biden
takes the reins and leads us on.
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker,
the American people are incredibly frustrated,
and rightly so. This relief package, while a
step forward, should have been passed
months ago. House Democrats first passed
the Heroes Act in May; at the same time, Ma-
jority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL called for a
‘pause’ and Senate Republicans refused to act
until now.
More than 315,000 Americans have died
from COVID–19. Experts have said if we had
made a larger investment in testing and trac-
ing, many of these deaths could have been
prevented. Millions of Americans are unem-
ployed and many are facing food insecurity.
Our state and local governments, including
first responders, have been on the frontlines of
this pandemic but are being left out of this re-
lief package. We can and we must do more.
As I have said before, we cannot get the
economy up and running until we conquer the
virus.
Today’s relief package makes significant in-
vestments in testing and tracing efforts, vac-
cines, therapeutics, and medical supplies and
funding for underserved communities, all of
which are critical to crushing this pandemic.
This package provides help for the millions
of Americans who are struggling right now. It
strengthens critical programs for those who
are unemployed by extending and enhancing
unemployment insurance and rental assist-
ance. It also offers $600 in direct payments to
low- and moderate-income Americans and in-
cludes a $13 billion increase in food assist-
ance programs to help the millions of families
facing food insecurity.
This bill also includes vital funding for small
businesses, including specific funding for arts
and cultural programs and smaller businesses
who weren’t able to access the initial relief
funding.
These are welcome steps forward, but they
are just a down payment on what needs to be
done.
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in sup-
port of the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
which includes my bipartisan Water Power Re-
search and Development Act.
As we work to mitigate the climate crisis
and transition to a 100 percent clean energy
economy, we cannot ignore our ocean. It cov-
ers more than 70 percent of the surface of our
planet, and we can capture the power of its
waves, currents, and tides to power our
homes, buildings, and communities.
Marine energy has tremendous potential as
one of the last untapped renewable energy
sources, and federal investment can help
unlock it. Earlier this year, I was pleased to
work with my House Oceans Caucus CoChair,
Congressman DON YOUNG, and another ma-
rine energy enthusiast from the east coast,
Congressman TED DEUTCH, to introduce the
bipartisan Water Power Research and Devel-
opment Act. The bill would reauthorize funding
for research, development, demonstration, and
commercialization of marine energy within the
Department of Energy’s Water Power Tech-
nologies Office. Importantly, the bill authorizes
funding for existing and new National Marine
Energy Centers, including the Pacific Marine
Energy Center—operated by Oregon State
University, the University of Washington, and
the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Researchers at Oregon State University are
leading the way on this innovative work.
Through the Pacific Marine Energy Center,
OSU is currently in the process of developing
PacWave, the first of its kind wave energy test
facility off the Oregon Coast. Their leadership
scaling up the PacWave testing facility will
catalyze this nascent industry. Additionally, we
are fortunate to have the advanced manufac-
turing capacity of companies like Vigor, which
recently constructed an 826-ton wave energy
device that was deployed off the shores of Ha-
waii. It was not until I visited Vigor to see the
device that I grasped the scale of this re-
source and what we can gain from it.
I appreciate the support of Chairwoman
JOHNSON in helping to secure the inclusion of
the Water Power Research and Development
Act in today’s comprehensive energy package
and end of year spending bill, and I am thrilled
that it will soon be signed into law. I urge all
of my colleagues to support this bill, which is
an important step forward in advancing ocean
climate action.
Ms. VELA´ ZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today
in support of this relief bill because the Amer-
ican people cannot wait another day.
Over 315,000 Americans are dead. Three
out of every 4 small businesses have seen
their revenues fall, and thousands have shut
their doors for good.
Food insecurity has doubled for families with
children, and millions of Americans are turning
to food banks for the first time.
In most states, 1 in 5 households are be-
hind on rent. More than 10 million people are
unemployed.
But it’s been over six months since the
House passed the Heroes Act, comprehensive
legislation to address these issues months
ago.
And all this time, Republicans have refused
to lift a finger to provide relief to struggling
families. It is shameful that it took this long for
my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to
come to the table.
And let me be clear—$600 in direct pay-
ments and an additional $300 per week in un-
employment is not enough—in fact, it’s just
half of the aid that we passed in the CARES
Act.
So, while I am disappointed in my Repub-
lican colleagues and recognize this bill is not
ideal or as comprehensive as the Heroes Act-
it will provide some much-needed relief to the
American people until we can pass a more ro-
bust stimulus under the Biden Administration.
I’d particularly like to thank all the staff from
member offices, to committee offices, to lead-
ership and floor staff, who worked long hours
and through the weekend to help put this
package together.
For small businesses, this bill takes action
to authorize a second round of PPP loans to
the hardest hit businesses. Importantly, it will
set aside funding reserved for small busi-
nesses with 10 or fewer employees and those
in underserved communities. It also utilizes
small banks and mission-based community
lenders to guarantee fair access to small em-
ployers.
And finally, this bill provides for what we
have been hearing on the ground from small
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
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businesses—the need for cash infusions
through grants. By establishing new guardrails
and allocating $20 billion to the EIDL grant
program, we are targeting the hardest hit
small businesses to receive these grants.
Meanwhile,
as
shuttered
entertainment
venues, including our cultural institutions and
movie theaters, that depend on large crowds
to survive have been closed by the pandemic
and faced difficulties accessing PPP and other
SBA programs, this bill creates a new $15 bil-
lion dollar grant program to target these estab-
lishments that have experienced a dramatic
decline in revenue.
But our efforts do not end here. We will con-
tinue to seek more assistance next year be-
cause Main Street, especially our independent
restaurants, and working families deserve for
us to come back to the table to provide a life-
line while we await vaccine distributions.
So today, I’m voting yes but I urge my fel-
low members, let’s not stop here. Let’s come
back in January and pass more relief for the
American people.
Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to
call attention to one of the many important
provisions of today’s legislation. In particular, I
rise to discuss Section 1109 of Title XI of Divi-
sion FF, relating to aquatic ecosystem protec-
tion, which comes from the FUTURE Western
Water Infrastructure and Drought Resiliency
title that I authored in H.R. 2 earlier this year.
Today’s provision is an improved version of
that legislation, and it is the result of the ongo-
ing bicameral water infrastructure negotiations
between the committees of jurisdiction. I am
grateful for the work done on both sides of the
Capitol and both sides of the aisle to bring this
to fruition. This aquatic ecosystem protection
provision is designed to fund broadly-sup-
ported fish passage projects in the western
states, and the specific intent is to help
projects like the one in the Eel and Russian
River basins in California, where we have a
chance to significantly improve fish passage
and habitat on the Eel River while providing
long term certainty and reliability for Russian
River water users.
The Potter Valley Project Ad Hoc Com-
mittee has been refining this effort for several
years, and we now have a Two-Basin Partner-
ship that is taking the next steps. The intent of
this new aquatic ecosystem protection statute
is to support the important work of the Two-
Basin Partnership, as well as other commu-
nity-supported
restoration
projects
like
it
around the west.
I am including in the RECORD letters of sup-
port from the Round Valley Indian Tribes,
Humboldt County, Sonoma County Water
Agency, Mendocino County Inland Water and
Power Commission, and California Trout—col-
lectively known as the Two-Basin Partner-
ship—as well as from the Nature Conser-
vancy, Trout Unlimited, and California Trout—
collectively known as the California Salmon
and Steelhead Coalition.
I thank my colleagues for working with me
to bring this legislation to fruition, and thank
the staff in both the House and Senate who
have helped in this effort, especially Matthew
Muirragui from the House Natural Resources
Committee and John Driscoll, Logan Ferree,
and Ben Miller on my personal staff. I look for-
ward to working with the next administration to
support this win-win outcome for the North
Coast and North Bay.
DEAR CHAIRMAN HUFFMAN: The Round Val-
ley
Indian
Tribes,
Humboldt
County,
Sonoma County Water Agency, Mendocino
County Inland Water and Power Commis-
sion,
and
California
Trout,
collectively
known as the Two-Basin Partnership, write
in strong support of the aquatic ecosystem
restoration provision included in H.R. 2,
which we understand you and your staff have
negotiated for inclusion in the omnibus ap-
propriations bill.
The Potter Valley Project is a hydro-
electric facility that, in addition to gener-
ating a small amount of electricity, diverts
water from the Eel River into the Russian
River basin. The Project’s main facilities in-
clude two dams on the Eel River, a diversion
tunnel and a hydroelectric plant. Citing eco-
nomic concerns, current Project owner Pa-
cific Gas & Electric announced in January
2019 that it would not seek a new license
from Federal Energy Regulatory Commis-
sion to continue operating the facilities.
PG&E’s decision to not re-license the Project
left an uncertain future for both Eel and
Russian River interests. Instead of leaving it
up to the utility and federal regulators to de-
termine the region’s water future, local lead-
ers decided to work together to protect the
interests of both river basins. The Two-Basin
Partnership is a direct outgrowth of that
collaborative effort, which brought together
diverse stakeholders to develop a com-
promise solution for the future of this aging
and non-economically viable hydroelectric
project.
The Partners have joined together as the
applicant for the Project, with the collective
goal of restoring 288 linear river miles of
spawning habitat at the headwaters of the
Eel through the removal of Scott Dam, while
ensuring water supply reliability on the Rus-
sian River. Additional components of the
proposed Project Plan include improving a
water diversion infrastructure at Cape Horn
Dam and developing infrastructure to pro-
vide water to meet summer irrigation needs
for farmers and ranchers in Potter Valley.
As you know, this legislation would di-
rectly support the Two-Basin Solution’s
shared objectives, which include: minimizing
or avoiding adverse impacts to water supply
reliability,
fisheries,
water
quality
and
recreation in the Russian River and Eel
River basins; improving fish passage and
habitat on the Eel River sufficient to sup-
port recovery of naturally reproducing, self-
sustaining and harvestable native anad-
romous fish populations including migratory
access upstream and downstream at current
project dam locations; and protecting tribal
cultural, economic, and other interests in
both the Eel and Russian River basins.
On behalf of the Two-Basin Partners, we
strongly support this inclusion and your con-
tinued support of our efforts on the Eel and
Russian Rivers.
Sincerely,
KATHLEEN WILLITS,
Councilmember, Round
Valley
Indian
Tribes.
GRANT DAVIS,
General
Manager,
Sonoma Water.
HANK SEEMANN,
Deputy Director-Envi-
ronmental
Services,
Humboldt
County
Public
Works
De-
partment.
JANET PAULI,
Chair,
Mendocino
County
Inland
Water
and
Power
Commission.
CURTIS KNIGHT,
California Trout.
DECEMBER 18, 2020.
DEAR CHAIRMAN HUFFMAN: The Nature Con-
servancy, Trout Unlimited, and California
Trout, collectively known as the California
Salmon and Steelhead Coalition, write in
strong support of the aquatic ecosystem res-
toration provision included in H.R. 2, which
we understand you and your staff have nego-
tiated for inclusion in the omnibus appro-
priations bill.
The Coalition is a strategic partnership
founded to increase streamflows in Califor-
nia’s North and Central Coast watersheds,
with the goal of restoring and protecting
wild salmon and steelhead and creating
water reliability for people. We are working
toward a California where water use manage-
ment harmonizes and meets the needs of peo-
ple, needs of fish and ecosystems. It is for
these reasons that the Coalition is working
together
to
support
the
Potter
Valley
Project relicensing effort as a major restora-
tion opportunity.
The current Potter Valley Project Plan is
built around a unique collaboration among
conservationists,
county
governments,
tribes, farmers and other water interests to
shape a new future for the Project, a set of
obsolete hydroelectric facilities in the upper
Eel River and Russian River Watersheds.
This effort, if successful, will implement one
of the largest dam removals in the history of
the United States while strengthening the
security of local water supplies.
The project consists of two dams on the
upper Eel River—Scott and Cape Horn—as
well as a system of trans-basin tunnels that
divert
approximately
60,000
acre-feet
of
water per year from the Eel to the Russian
to generate hydroelectric power. This water
ultimately flows to agricultural and munic-
ipal users in the Russian River Watershed.
But, perhaps more importantly, the project
blocks fish from reaching 288 linear stream
miles above Scott Dam that were once the
spawning grounds for some of the largest
salmon and steelhead runs in California.
In January 2019, PG&E chose to dis-
continue its efforts to renew the project’s li-
cense, which expires in 2022, from the Fed-
eral Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
This left the door open for a different entity
to license the project. Seeing this as an op-
portunity to remove the dams blocking the
headwaters of the Eel River, California
Trout joined with a diverse coalition—
Sonoma Water, Mendocino County Inland
Water and Power Commission, and Humboldt
County—to notify FERC that they would ex-
plore taking over the re-licensing of the
project. Over the subsequent year, those par-
ties—joined by the Round Valley Tribe—
worked with a team of technical consultants
to develop a proposed plan to take over the
project and implement a ‘‘Two-Basin Solu-
tion’’ that would remove Scott Dam, im-
prove fish passage at Cape Horn Dam and
build new infrastructure to deliver secure
water supplies to farmers who currently rely
on the project.
In the spring of 2020, the three Coalition
groups helped negotiate an initial plan pro-
posing the removal of Scott Dam and the im-
plementation of a Two-Basin Solution to
modernize this project to improve water sup-
ply reliability for farms and communities in
the Russian and Eel River Basins; the plan
will also help to restore struggling salmon
and steelhead runs by reconnecting the river
to its headwaters. In April the Coalition se-
cured a $1.1 million CDFW grant that will be
used to develop that proposal into a com-
plete re-licensing plan. We have also made
inroads with the communities that would be
most affected by dam removal and lobbied
for state and federal funding that will be
needed to further develop and implement the
plan.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7313
December 21, 2020
We strongly support the inclusion of
aquatic ecosystem restoration funding in the
omnibus that could facilitate the watershed-
level restoration of a key salmon river in
California. Thank you for your leadership
and support.
Sincerely,
CURTIS KNIGHT,
Executive
Director,
California Trout.
MATT CLIFFORD,
Staff Attorney, Cali-
fornia
Water
Project, Trout Un-
limited.
JAY ZIEGLER,
California Director of
External Affairs and
Policy, The Nature
Conservancy.
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, the first wave of
stimulus spending proved frustrating for a lot
of small and medium sized business.
Many mom and pop businesses ran in to
loan processing problems because there were
problems with their applications.
Many applicants did not know that their ap-
plications needed to be cured from any de-
fects or that there were defects with their ap-
plication.
Some other small businesses were rejected
because their lender ran out of allocation be-
cause the lenders were focused on larger
loans.
That is why, Democrats were able to secure
$325 billion in small business aid this time
around.
Democrats secured critical funding and pol-
icy changes to help small businesses, includ-
ing minority-owned businesses, and nonprofits
recover from the pandemic.
This deal includes over $284 billion for first
and second forgivable PPP loans, dedicated
set-asides for very small businesses and lend-
ing through community-based lenders like
Community Development Financial Institutions
and Minority Depository Institutions, and ex-
panded PPP eligibility for 501(c)(6) nonprofits,
including destination marketing organizations,
and local newspapers, TV and radio broad-
casters. $20 billion is included for new EIDL
Grants for businesses in low-income commu-
nities, $3.5 billion for continued SBA debt re-
lief payments, and $2 billion for enhancements
to SBA lending.
This deal also includes $15 billion in dedi-
cated funding for live venues, independent
movie theaters, and cultural institutions.
Small businesses that took a PPP loan and
saw their revenues fall by 25% will be eligible
for a second loan.
Congress will also allow PPP borrowers to
take tax deductions for covered business ex-
penses.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time
for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1271,
the previous question is ordered.
The question of adoption of the mo-
tion is divided.
The first portion of the divided ques-
tion is: Will the House concur in the
Senate amendment with the matter
proposed to be inserted as Divisions B,
C, E, and F of the amendment of the
House?
The question is on the first portion of
the divided question.
The question was taken; and the
Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, on that
I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to section 3 of House Resolution
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic de-
vice, and there were—yeas 327, nays 85,
not voting 18, as follows:
[Roll No. 250]
YEAS—327
Adams
Aderholt
Aguilar
Allen
Allred
Amodei
Arrington
Axne
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Barr
Barraga´n
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Bergman
Beyer
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bost
Brady
Brindisi
Brooks (AL)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Bustos
Butterfield
Byrne
Calvert
Carbajal
Ca´rdenas
Carson (IN)
Carter (GA)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Chabot
Cheney
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clay
Cleaver
Cline
Clyburn
Cohen
Cole
Collins (GA)
Conaway
Connolly
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crawford
Crenshaw
Crist
Crow
Cunningham
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Davis, Rodney
Dean
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doyle, Michael
F.
Emmer
Engel
Eshoo
Estes
Evans
Ferguson
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fletcher
Flores
Fortenberry
Foster
Foxx (NC)
Frankel
Fudge
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (CA)
Garcia (TX)
Gianforte
Gibbs
Golden
Gonzalez (OH)
Gottheimer
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Al (TX)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Haaland
Hagedorn
Hall
Harder (CA)
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Higgins (NY)
Hill (AR)
Himes
Holding
Horn, Kendra S.
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hudson
Huizenga
Hurd (TX)
Jackson Lee
Jacobs
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (TX)
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kelly (PA)
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamb
Lamborn
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latta
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (NV)
Lesko
Levin (CA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Luja´n
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Sean
Marshall
Matsui
McAdams
McBath
McCarthy
McCaul
McCollum
McEachin
McHenry
McKinley
McNerney
Meeks
Meuser
Mfume
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Newhouse
Norcross
Nunes
O’Halleran
Olson
Palazzo
Pallone
Palmer
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Pence
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Phillips
Pingree
Porter
Price (NC)
Quigley
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (KY)
Rooney (FL)
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Rouzer
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Rutherford
Ryan
Sa´nchez
Sarbanes
Scalise
Scanlon
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Shimkus
Simpson
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Smucker
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Stevens
Stewart
Stivers
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tipton
Titus
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small
(NM)
Trahan
Trone
Turner
Underwood
Upton
Van Drew
Veasey
Visclosky
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Waltz
Wasserman
Schultz
Waters
Watkins
Wenstrup
Westerman
Wexton
Wild
Williams
Wilson (FL)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yarmuth
Young
Zeldin
NAYS—85
Amash
Armstrong
Babin
Banks
Biggs
Bishop (NC)
Blumenauer
Boyle, Brendan
F.
Buck
Budd
Burchett
Castro (TX)
Clarke (NY)
Cloud
Comer
Correa
Cuellar
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
DeFazio
DeSaulnier
DesJarlais
Doggett
Escobar
Espaillat
Gabbard
Gallagher
Garcı´a (IL)
Gohmert
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gooden
Gosar
Green (TN)
Grijalva
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hollingsworth
Huffman
Jayapal
Jeffries
Jordan
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kennedy
Khanna
Lee (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lofgren
Long
Maloney,
Carolyn B.
Massie
Mast
McClintock
McGovern
Meng
Mooney (WV)
Moore
Mullin
Norman
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Perry
Pocan
Posey
Pressley
Raskin
Rice (SC)
Rose, John W.
Roy
Schakowsky
Schweikert
Sensenbrenner
Steube
Takano
Taylor
Tiffany
Timmons
Tlaib
Vargas
Vela
Vela´zquez
Watson Coleman
Weber (TX)
Welch
NOT VOTING—18
Abraham
Bishop (UT)
Brooks (IN)
Carter (TX)
Duncan
Dunn
Guthrie
King (IA)
Loudermilk
Marchant
Murphy (NC)
Rogers (AL)
Spano
Walker
Webster (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wright
Yoho
b 2025
Messrs. GRIJALVA, JEFFRIES, and
WEBER of Texas changed their vote
from ‘‘yea’’ to ‘‘nay.’’
Mr. MCCARTHY changed his vote
from ‘‘nay’’ to ‘‘yea.’’
So the first portion of the divided
question was adopted.
The result of the vote was announced
as above recorded.
MEMBERS RECORDED PURSUANT TO HOUSE
RESOLUTION 965, 116TH CONGRESS
Allred (Wexton)
Axne (Davids
(KS))
Barraga´n (Beyer)
Bera (Aguilar)
Bishop (GA)
(Butterfield)
Blumenauer
(Beyer)
Bonamici (Clark
(MA))
Boyle, Brendan
F. (Jeffries)
Brownley (CA)
(Clark (MA))
Bustos (Kuster
(NH))
Ca´rdenas
(Carbajal)
Carson (IN)
(Butterfield)
Case
(Cartwright)
Castor (FL)
(Demings)
Cisneros
(Carbajal)
Cleaver (Davids
(KS))
Cohen (Beyer)
Costa (Correa)
Davis (CA)
(Scanlon)
Dean (Scanlon)
DeFazio (Davids
(KS))
DeGette (Blunt
Rochester)
DelBene
(Cicilline)
DeSaulnier
(Matsui)
Deutch (Rice
(NY))
Doggett (Raskin)
Escobar (Garcia
(TX))
Eshoo
(Thompson
(CA))
Finkenauer
(Underwood)
Fletcher
(Raskin)
Frankel (Clark
(MA))
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7314
December 21, 2020
Garamendi
(Sherman)
Gianforte
(Suozzi)
Gonzalez (TX)
(Gomez)
Grijalva (Garcı´a
(IL))
Haaland (Davids
(KS))
Hastings
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Heck (Kildee)
Jayapal (Raskin)
Johnson (TX)
(Jeffries)
Kelly (IL)
(Clarke (NY))
Kennedy
(McGovern)
Khanna
(Sherman)
Kilmer (Kildee)
Kim (Davids
(KS))
Kirkpatrick
(Stanton)
Lamb (Sherrill)
Langevin
(Lynch)
Larson (CT)
(Cicilline)
Lawrence
(Kildee)
Lawson (FL)
(Demings)
Lieu, Ted (Beyer)
Lipinski
(Schrader)
Lofgren (Jeffries)
Lowenthal
(Beyer)
McEachin
(Wexton)
McNerney
(Raskin)
Meng (Clark
(MA))
Mitchell
(Spanberger)
Moore (Beyer)
Moulton
(McGovern)
Mucarsel-Powell
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Nadler (Jeffries)
Napolitano
(Correa)
Neal (Lynch)
Neguse
(Perlmutter)
Pascrell
(Pallone)
Payne
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Peters (Kildee)
Peterson
(McCollum)
Pingree
(Cicilline)
Pocan (Raskin)
Porter (Wexton)
Price (NC)
(Butterfield)
Richmond
(Butterfield)
Rooney (FL)
(Beyer)
Rouda (Aguilar)
Roybal-Allard
(Garcia (TX))
Ruiz (Dingell)
Rush
(Underwood)
Ryan (Kildee)
Schakowsky
(Underwood)
Schneider
(Casten (IL))
Schrier
(Spanberger)
Serrano
(Jeffries)
Sewell (AL)
(Cicilline)
Shimkus
(Pallone)
Sires (Pallone)
Smith (WA)
(Courtney)
Speier (Scanlon)
Thompson (MS)
(Fudge)
Titus (Connolly)
Vargas (Correa)
Veasey (Beyer)
Vela´zquez
(Clarke (NY))
Watson Coleman
(Pallone)
Welch
(McGovern)
Wilson (FL)
(Hayes)
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.
MFUME). The Chair will now put the
question on the second portion of the
divided question.
The question is: Will the House con-
cur in the Senate amendment with all
of the matter proposed to be inserted
by the amendment of the House other
than Divisions B, C, E, and F?
The question is on the second portion
of the divided question.
The question was taken; and the
Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, on that
I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to section 3 of House Resolution
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic de-
vice, and there were—yeas 359, nays 53,
not voting 17, as follows:
[Roll No. 251]
YEAS—359
Adams
Aderholt
Aguilar
Allen
Allred
Amodei
Arrington
Axne
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Barr
Barraga´n
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Bergman
Beyer
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bost
Boyle, Brendan
F.
Brady
Brindisi
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Bustos
Butterfield
Byrne
Calvert
Carbajal
Ca´rdenas
Carson (IN)
Carter (GA)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Cline
Clyburn
Cohen
Cole
Collins (GA)
Comer
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crawford
Crenshaw
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Cunningham
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Davis, Rodney
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael
F.
Emmer
Engel
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Estes
Evans
Ferguson
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fletcher
Flores
Fortenberry
Foster
Foxx (NC)
Frankel
Fudge
Fulcher
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (CA)
Garcı´a (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Gianforte
Gibbs
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (OH)
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Guest
Guthrie
Haaland
Hagedorn
Hall
Harder (CA)
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Higgins (NY)
Hill (AR)
Himes
Holding
Horn, Kendra S.
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hudson
Huffman
Huizenga
Hurd (TX)
Jackson Lee
Jacobs
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (TX)
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kelly (PA)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latta
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Lesko
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Long
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Luja´n
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney,
Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Marshall
Mast
Matsui
McAdams
McBath
McCarthy
McCaul
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McHenry
McKinley
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Meuser
Mfume
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Newhouse
Norcross
Nunes
O’Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Olson
Omar
Palazzo
Pallone
Palmer
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pence
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (NY)
Rice (SC)
Richmond
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (KY)
Rooney (FL)
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Rouzer
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Rutherford
Ryan
Sa´nchez
Sarbanes
Scalise
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Shimkus
Simpson
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Smucker
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stauber
Stefanik
Stevens
Stivers
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Titus
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small
(NM)
Trahan
Trone
Turner
Underwood
Upton
Van Drew
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Vela´zquez
Visclosky
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Waltz
Wasserman
Schultz
Waters
Watkins
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wenstrup
Westerman
Wexton
Wild
Williams
Wilson (FL)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yarmuth
Young
Zeldin
NAYS—53
Amash
Armstrong
Babin
Banks
Biggs
Bishop (NC)
Brooks (AL)
Buck
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Cloud
Conaway
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
DesJarlais
Gabbard
Gaetz
Gallagher
Gohmert
Gooden
Gosar
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hollingsworth
Jordan
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Lamborn
Massie
McClintock
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Norman
Perry
Posey
Rose, John W.
Roy
Schweikert
Sensenbrenner
Smith (MO)
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Taylor
Tiffany
Timmons
Tipton
Tlaib
Weber (TX)
NOT VOTING—17
Abraham
Bishop (UT)
Brooks (IN)
Carter (TX)
Duncan
Dunn
King (IA)
Loudermilk
Marchant
Murphy (NC)
Rogers (AL)
Spano
Walker
Webster (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wright
Yoho
b 2108
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ changed her
vote from ‘‘present’’ to ‘‘yea.’’
So the second portion of the divided
question was adopted.
The result of the vote was announced
as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on
the table.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I was un-
able to vote on December 20, 2020 and De-
cember 21, 2020 due to not being in DC. Had
I been present, I would have voted as follows:
‘‘no’’ on rollcall No. 248; ‘‘no’’ on rollcall No.
249; ‘‘no’’ on rollcall No. 250; and ‘‘no’’ on roll-
call No. 251.
MEMBERS RECORDED PURSUANT TO HOUSE
RESOLUTION 965, 116TH CONGRESS
Allred (Wexton)
Axne (Davids
(KS))
Barraga´n (Beyer)
Bera (Aguilar)
Bishop (GA)
(Butterfield)
Blumenauer
(Beyer)
Bonamici (Clark
(MA))
Boyle, Brendan
F. (Jeffries)
Brownley (CA)
(Clark (MA))
Bustos (Kuster
(NH))
Ca´rdenas
(Carbajal)
Carson (IN)
(Butterfield)
Case
(Cartwright)
Castor (FL)
(Demings)
Cisneros
(Carbajal)
Cleaver (Davids
(KS))
Cohen (Beyer)
Costa (Correa)
Davis (CA)
(Scanlon)
Dean (Scanlon)
DeFazio (Davids
(KS))
DeGette (Blunt
Rochester)
DelBene
(Cicilline)
DeSaulnier
(Matsui)
Deutch (Rice
(NY))
Doggett (Raskin)
Escobar (Garcia
(TX))
Eshoo
(Thompson
(CA))
Finkenauer
(Underwood)
Fletcher
(Raskin)
Frankel (Clark
(MA))
Garamendi
(Sherman)
Gianforte
(Suozzi)
Gonzalez (TX)
(Gomez)
Grijalva (Garcı´a
(IL))
Haaland (Davids
(KS))
Hastings
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Heck (Kildee)
Jayapal (Raskin)
Johnson (TX)
(Jeffries)
Kelly (IL)
(Clarke (NY))
Kennedy
(McGovern)
Khanna
(Sherman)
Kilmer (Kildee)
Kim (Davids
(KS))
Kirkpatrick
(Stanton)
Lamb (Sherrill)
Langevin
(Lynch)
Larson (CT)
(Cicilline)
Lawrence
(Kildee)
Lawson (FL)
(Demings)
Lieu, Ted (Beyer)
Lipinski
(Schrader)
Lofgren (Jeffries)
Lowenthal
(Beyer)
McEachin
(Wexton)
McNerney
(Raskin)
Meng (Clark
(MA))
Mitchell
(Spanberger)
Moore (Beyer)
Moulton
(McGovern)
Mucarsel-Powell
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Nadler (Jeffries)
Napolitano
(Correa)
Neal (Lynch)
Neguse
(Perlmutter)
Pascrell
(Pallone)
Payne
(Wasserman
Schultz)
Peters (Kildee)
Peterson
(McCollum)
Pingree
(Cicilline)
Pocan (Raskin)
Porter (Wexton)
Price (NC)
(Butterfield)
Richmond
(Butterfield)
Rooney (FL)
(Beyer)
Rouda (Aguilar)
Roybal-Allard
(Garcia (TX))
Ruiz (Dingell)
Rush
(Underwood)
Ryan (Kildee)
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7315
December 21, 2020
Schakowsky
(Underwood)
Schneider
(Casten (IL))
Schrier
(Spanberger)
Serrano
(Jeffries)
Sewell (AL)
(Cicilline)
Shimkus
(Pallone)
Sires (Pallone)
Smith (WA)
(Courtney)
Speier (Scanlon)
Thompson (MS)
(Fudge)
Titus (Connolly)
Vargas (Correa)
Veasey (Beyer)
Vela´zquez
(Clarke (NY))
Watson Coleman
(Pallone)
Welch
(McGovern)
Wilson (FL)
(Hayes)
f
BANKRUPTCY ADMINISTRATION
IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2020
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I ask
unanimous consent to take from the
Speaker’s table the bill (S. 4996) to en-
sure funding of the United States
trustees, extend temporary bankruptcy
judgeships, and for other purposes, and
ask for its immediate consideration in
the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.
MFUME). Is there objection to the re-
quest of the gentleman from Rhode Is-
land?
There was no objection.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 4996
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bankruptcy
Administration Improvement Act of 2020’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a)
FINDINGS.—Congress
finds
the
fol-
lowing:
(1) Because of the importance of the goal
that the bankruptcy system is self-funded, at
no cost to the taxpayer, Congress has closely
monitored the funding needs of the bank-
ruptcy system, including by requiring peri-
odic reporting by the Attorney General re-
garding the United States Trustee System
Fund.
(2) Congress has amended the various
bankruptcy fees as necessary to ensure that
the bankruptcy system remains self-sup-
porting, while also fairly allocating the costs
of the system among those who use the sys-
tem.
(3) Because the bankruptcy system is
interconnected, the result has been a system
of fees, including filing fees, quarterly fees in
chapter 11 cases, and other fees, that to-
gether fund the courts, judges, United States
trustees, and chapter 7 case trustees nec-
essary for the bankruptcy system to func-
tion.
(4) This Act and the amendments made by
this Act—
(A) ensure adequate funding of the United
States trustees, supports the preservation of
existing bankruptcy judgeships that are ur-
gently needed to handle existing and antici-
pated increases in business and consumer
caseloads, and provides long-overdue addi-
tional compensation for chapter 7 case trust-
ees whose caseloads include chapter 11 reor-
ganization cases that were converted to
chapter 7 liquidation cases; and
(B) confirm the longstanding intention of
Congress that quarterly fee requirements re-
main consistent across all Federal judicial
districts.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act and
the amendments made by this Act is to fur-
ther the long-standing goal of Congress of
ensuring that the bankruptcy system is self-
funded, at no cost to the taxpayer.
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES TRUSTEE SYSTEM FUND;
BANKRUPTCY FEES.
(a) DEPOSITS OF CERTAIN FEES FOR FISCAL
YEARS 2021 THROUGH 2026.—Notwithstanding
section 589a(b) of title 28, United States
Code, for each of fiscal years 2021 through
2026—
(1)
the
fees
collected
under
section
1930(a)(6) of such title, less the amount speci-
fied in subparagraph (2), shall be deposited as
specified in subsection (b); and
(2) $5,400,000 of the fees collected under sec-
tion 1930(a)(6) of such title shall be deposited
in the general fund of the Treasury.
(b)
UNITED
STATES
TRUSTEE
SYSTEM
FUND.—Section 589a of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(f)(1) During each of fiscal years 2021
through
2026
and
notwithstanding
sub-
sections (b) and (c), the fees collected under
section 1930(a)(6), less the amount specified
in paragraph (2), shall be deposited as fol-
lows, in the following order:
‘‘(A) First, the amounts specified in the
Department of Justice appropriations for
that fiscal year, shall be deposited as discre-
tionary offsetting collections to the ‘‘United
States Trustee System Fund’’, pursuant to
subsection (a), to remain available until ex-
pended.
‘‘(B) Second, the amounts determined an-
nually by the Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts that are
necessary to reimburse the judiciary for the
costs of administering payments under sec-
tion 330(e) of title 11, shall be deposited as
mandatory offsetting collections to the
‘United States Trustee System Fund’, and
transferred and deposited into the special
fund established under section 1931(a), and
notwithstanding subsection (a), shall be
available for expenditure without further ap-
propriation.
‘‘(C) Third, the amounts determined annu-
ally by the Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts that are
necessary to pay trustee compensation au-
thorized by section 330(e)(2) of title 11, shall
be deposited as mandatory offsetting collec-
tions to the ‘United States Trustee System
Fund’, and transferred and deposited into the
Chapter 7 Trustee Fund established under
section 330(e) of title 11 for payment to trust-
ees serving in cases under chapter 7 of title
11 (in addition to the amounts paid under
section 330(b) of title 11), in accordance with
that section, and notwithstanding subsection
(a), shall be available for expenditure with-
out further appropriation.
‘‘(D) Fourth, any remaining amounts shall
be deposited as discretionary offsetting col-
lections to the ‘United States Trustee Sys-
tem Fund’, to remain available until ex-
pended.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding subsection (b), for
each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026,
$5,400,000 of the fees collected under section
1930(a)(6) shall be deposited in the general
fund of the Treasury.’’.
(c) COMPENSATION
OF
OFFICERS.—Section
330 of title 11, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e)(1) There is established a fund in the
Treasury of the United States, to be known
as the ‘Chapter 7 Trustee Fund’, which shall
be administered by the Director of the Ad-
ministrative Office of the United States
Courts.
‘‘(2) Deposits into the Chapter 7 Trustee
Fund under section 589a(f)(1)(C) of title 28
shall be available until expended for the pur-
poses described in paragraph (3).
‘‘(3) For fiscal years 2021 through 2026, the
Chapter 7 Trustee Fund shall be available to
pay the trustee serving in a case that is filed
under chapter 7 or a case that is converted to
a chapter 7 case in the most recent fiscal
year (referred to in this subsection as a
‘chapter 7 case’) the amount described in
paragraph (4) for the chapter 7 case in which
the trustee has rendered services in that fis-
cal year.
‘‘(4) The amount described in this para-
graph shall be the lesser of—
‘‘(A) $60; or
‘‘(B) a pro rata share, for each chapter 7
case, of the fees collected under section
1930(a)(6) of title 28 and deposited to the
United States Trustee System Fund under
section 589a(f)(1) of title 28, less the amounts
specified in section 589a(f)(1)(A) and (B) of
title 28.
‘‘(5) The payment received by a trustee
under paragraph (3) shall be paid in addition
to the amount paid under subsection (b).
‘‘(6) Not later than September 30, 2021, the
Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts shall promulgate regu-
lations for the administration of this sub-
section.’’.
(d) BANKRUPTCY FEES.—Section 1930(a) of
title 28, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (6)(B) and insert-
ing the following:
‘‘(B)(i) During the 5-year period beginning
on January 1, 2021, in addition to the filing
fee paid to the clerk, a quarterly fee shall be
paid to the United States trustee, for deposit
in the Treasury, in each open and reopened
case under chapter 11 of title 11, other than
under subchapter V, for each quarter (includ-
ing any fraction thereof) until the case is
closed, converted, or dismissed, whichever
occurs first.
‘‘(ii) The fee shall be the greater of—
‘‘(I) 0.4 percent of disbursements or $250 for
each quarter in which disbursements total
less than $1,000,000; and
‘‘(II) 0.8 percent of disbursements but not
more than $250,000 for each quarter in which
disbursements total at least $1,000,000.
‘‘(iii) The fee shall be payable on the last
day of the calendar month following the cal-
endar quarter for which the fee is owed.’’;
and
(2) in paragraph (7), in the first sentence,
by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’.
(e) APPLICABILITY.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided in
paragraph (2), the amendments made by this
section shall take effect on the date of enact-
ment of this Act.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—
(A)
COMPENSATION
OF
OFFICERS.—The
amendments made by subsection (c) shall
apply to any case filed on or after the date
of enactment of this Act—
(i) under chapter 7 of title 11, United
States Code; or
(ii)(I) under chapter 11, 12, or 13 of that
title; and
(II) converted to a chapter 7 case under
that title.
(B) BANKRUPTCY
FEES.—The amendments
made by subsection (d) shall apply to—
(i) any case pending under chapter 11 of
title 11, United States Code, on or after the
date of enactment of this Act; and
(ii) quarterly fees payable under section
1930(a)(6) of title 28, United States Code, as
amended by subsection (d), for disbursements
made in any calendar quarter that begins on
or after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY OFFICE OF
BANKRUPTCY JUDGES IN CERTAIN
JUDICIAL DISTRICTS.
(a) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGES
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2017.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judges authorized by section
1003(a) of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of
2017 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) for the district of
Delaware and the eastern district of Michi-
gan are extended until the applicable va-
cancy specified in paragraph (2) in the office
of a bankruptcy judge for the respective dis-
trict occurs.
(2) VACANCIES.—
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7316
December 21, 2020
(A) DISTRICT OF DELAWARE.—The 1st and 2d
vacancies in the office of a bankruptcy judge
for the district of Delaware—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1003(b)(1) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(B) EASTERN
DISTRICT
OF
MICHIGAN.—The
1st vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy
judge for the eastern district of Michigan—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1003(b)(3) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 1003 of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) remain applicable to the temporary
office of bankruptcy judges referred to in
paragraph (1).
(b) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGES
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2005 AND EXTENDED BY THE
TEMPORARY BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS EXTEN-
SION
ACT
OF
2012
AND
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2017.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judges authorized for the fol-
lowing districts by section 1223(b) of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C.
152 note), extended by section 2(a) of the
Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Exten-
sion Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note), and fur-
ther extended by section 1002(a) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note) are extended until the applicable va-
cancy specified in paragraph (2) in the office
of a bankruptcy judge for the respective dis-
trict occurs:
(A) The district of Delaware.
(B) The southern district of Florida.
(C) The district of Maryland.
(D) The eastern district of Michigan.
(E) The district of Nevada.
(F) The eastern district of North Carolina.
(G) The district of Puerto Rico.
(H) The eastern district of Virginia.
(2) VACANCIES.—
(A) SINGLE VACANCIES.—Except as provided
in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F),
the 1st vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy
judge for each district specified in paragraph
(1)—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(B) DISTRICT
OF
DELAWARE.—The 3d, 4th,
5th, and 6th vacancies in the office of a bank-
ruptcy judge for the district of Delaware—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(C) SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
OF
FLORIDA.—The
1st and 2d vacancies in the office of a bank-
ruptcy judge for the southern district of
Florida—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(D) DISTRICT
OF
MARYLAND.—The 1st va-
cancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for
the district of Maryland—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(E) EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN.—The 2d
vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge
for the eastern district of Michigan—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(F) DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO.—The 1st va-
cancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for
the district of Puerto Rico—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(a)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 1223 of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C.
152 note), section 2 of the Temporary Bank-
ruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28
U.S.C. 152 note), and section 1002 of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) remain applicable to the temporary
office of bankruptcy judges referred to in
paragraph (1).
(c) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGES
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2005 AND EXTENDED BY THE
TEMPORARY BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS EXTEN-
SION ACT OF 2012.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judges authorized for the fol-
lowing districts by section 1223(b) of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) and extended by section 2(a) of the
Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Exten-
sion Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) are ex-
tended until the applicable vacancy specified
in paragraph (2) in the office of a bankruptcy
judge for the respective district occurs:
(A) The southern district of Georgia.
(B) The district of Maryland.
(C) The district of New Jersey.
(D) The northern district of New York.
(E) The district of South Carolina.
(2) VACANCIES.—
(A) SINGLE VACANCIES.—Except as provided
in subparagraph (B), the 1st vacancy in the
office of a bankruptcy judge for each district
specified in paragraph (1)—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(B) DISTRICT OF MARYLAND.—The 2d and 3d
vacancies in the office of a bankruptcy judge
for the district of Maryland—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 1223 of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) and section 2 of the Temporary
Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012
(28 U.S.C. 152 note) remain applicable to the
temporary office of bankruptcy judges re-
ferred to in paragraph (1).
(d) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGES
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 1992 AND EXTENDED BY THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP
ACT
OF
2005, THE
TEMPORARY BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS EXTEN-
SION
ACT
OF
2012, AND
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2017.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judges authorized by section 3(a)
of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28
U.S.C. 152 note), extended by section 1223(c)
of Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28
U.S.C. 152 note), extended by section 2(b) of
the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Ex-
tension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note), and
further extended by section 1002(b) of the
Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) for the district of Delaware and the
district of Puerto Rico are extended until
the applicable vacancy specified in para-
graph (2) in the office of a bankruptcy judge
for the respective district occurs.
(2) VACANCIES.—
(A) DISTRICT
OF
DELAWARE.—The 7th va-
cancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for
the district of Delaware—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(b)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(B) DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO.—The 2d va-
cancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for
the district of Puerto Rico—
(i) occurring 5 years or more after the date
established by section 1002(b)(2) of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), and
(ii) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 3 of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), section 1223 of Bankruptcy Judgeship
Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note), section 2 of
the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Ex-
tension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note), and
section 1002 of the Bankruptcy Judgeship
Act of 2017 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) remain appli-
cable to the temporary office of bankruptcy
judges referred to in paragraph (1).
(e) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGE
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 1992 AND EXTENDED BY THE
BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIP ACT OF 2005 AND THE
TEMPORARY BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS EXTEN-
SION ACT OF 2012.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judge authorized by section 3(a)
of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28
U.S.C. 152 note), extended by section 1223(c)
of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 (28
U.S.C. 152 note), and further extended by sec-
tion 2(b) of the Temporary Bankruptcy
Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C.
152 note) for the eastern district of Ten-
nessee is extended until the applicable va-
cancy specified in paragraph (2) in the office
of a bankruptcy judge for the district occurs.
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(2) VACANCY.—The 1st vacancy in the office
of a bankruptcy judge for the eastern dis-
trict of Tennessee—
(A) occurring 5 years or more after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and
(B) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 3 of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152
note), section 1223 of the Bankruptcy Judge-
ship Act of 2005 (28 U.S.C. 152 note), and sec-
tion 2 of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judge-
ships Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152
note) remain applicable to the temporary of-
fice of bankruptcy judge referred to in para-
graph (1).
(f) TEMPORARY
OFFICE
OF
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGE
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
BANKRUPTCY
JUDGESHIP ACT OF 1992 AND EXTENDED BY THE
TEMPORARY BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS EXTEN-
SION ACT OF 2012.—
(1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of
bankruptcy judge authorized by section 3(a)
of the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28
U.S.C. 152 note) and extended by section 2(c)
of the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships
Extension Act of 2012 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) for
the middle district of North Carolina is ex-
tended until the applicable vacancy specified
in paragraph (2) in the office of a bankruptcy
judge for the district occurs.
(2) VACANCY.—The 1st vacancy in the office
of a bankruptcy judge for the middle district
of North Carolina—
(A) occurring 5 years or more after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and
(B) resulting from the death, retirement,
resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy
judge,
shall not be filled.
(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
PROVISIONS.—
Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2),
all other provisions of section 3 of the Bank-
ruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152
note) and section 2 of the Temporary Bank-
ruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (28
U.S.C. 152 note) (28 U.S.C. 152 note) remain
applicable to the temporary office of bank-
ruptcy judge referred to in paragraph (1).
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.
Section 375(h) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘may’’ and in-
serting ‘‘shall’’.
The bill was ordered to be read a
third time, was read the third time,
and passed, and a motion to reconsider
was laid on the table.
f
EXPLANATORY MATERIAL STATE-
MENT
ON
THE
INTELLIGENCE
AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FIS-
CAL YEAR 2021, SUBMITTED BY
MR. SCHIFF, CHAIRMAN OF THE
HOUSE
PERMANENT
SELECT
COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
The following is the explanation of
the Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021 (hereinafter, ‘‘the
Act’’).
This explanation reflects the result
of
negotiations
and
disposition
of
issues reached between the Senate Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)
and the House Permanent Select Com-
mittee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and the
(hereinafter, ‘‘the Agreement’’). The
explanation shall have the same effect
with respect to the implementation of
the Act as if it were a joint explana-
tory statement of a conference com-
mittee. The term ‘‘Committees’’ refers
to both SSCI and HPSCI.
The
explanation
comprises
three
parts: an overview of the application of
the annex to accompany this state-
ment; unclassified congressional direc-
tion; and a section-by-section analysis
of the legislative text.
PART I: APPLICATION OF THE CLASSIFIED
ANNEX
The classified nature of U.S. intel-
ligence activities prevents the SSCI
and HPSCI (collectively, the ‘‘congres-
sional intelligence committees’’) from
publicly disclosing many details con-
cerning
the
conclusions
and
rec-
ommendations
of
the
Agreement.
Therefore, a classified Schedule of Au-
thorizations and a classified annex
have been prepared to describe in de-
tail the scope and intent of the con-
gressional intelligence committees’ ac-
tions. The Agreement authorizes the
Intelligence Community (IC) to obli-
gate and expend funds not altered or
modified by the classified Schedule of
Authorizations as requested in the
President’s budget, subject to modi-
fication under applicable reprogram-
ming procedures.
The classified annex is the result of
negotiations between the congressional
intelligence
committees.
They
rec-
oncile the differences between the con-
gressional intelligence committees’ re-
spective versions of the bill for the Na-
tional Intelligence Program (NIP) for
Fiscal Year 2021. The Agreement also
makes recommendations for the Mili-
tary Intelligence Program (MIP) and
the Information Systems Security Pro-
gram (ISSP), consistent with the Na-
tional Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021, and provides certain
direction for these two programs. The
Agreement applies to IC activities for
Fiscal Year 2021.
The classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions is incorporated into the bill pur-
suant to Section 102. It has the status
of law. The classified annex supple-
ments and adds detail to clarify the au-
thorization levels found in the bill and
the classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions. The congressional intelligence
committees view direction and rec-
ommendations, whether contained in
this explanation or in the classified
annex, as requiring compliance by the
Executive Branch.
PART II: SELECT UNCLASSIFIED
CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTION
This Joint Explanatory Statement
incorporates by reference, and the Ex-
ecutive Branch shall comply with, all
direction contained in the Senate Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence Report
to accompany the Intelligence Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (S.
Rept. 116–233) and in the House Perma-
nent Select Committee on Intelligence
Report to accompany the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
(H. Rept. 116–565).
PART III: SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS AND
EXPLANATION OF LEGISLATIVE TEXT
TITLE I—INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES
Section 101. Authorization of appropriations.
Section 101 lists the United States Govern-
ment departments, agencies, and other ele-
ments for which the Act authorizes appro-
priations for intelligence and intelligence-re-
lated activities for Fiscal Year 2021.
Section 102. Classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions.
Section 102 provides that the details of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated for
intelligence and intelligence-related activi-
ties for Fiscal Year 2021 are contained in the
classified Schedule of Authorizations and
that the classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions shall be made available to the Commit-
tees on Appropriations of the Senate and
House of Representatives and to the Presi-
dent.
Section 103. Intelligence Community Manage-
ment Account.
Section 103 authorizes appropriations for
the Intelligence Community Management
Account (ICMA) of the ODNI for Fiscal Year
2021.
TITLE
II—CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY
RETIREMENT
AND
DIS-
ABILITY SYSTEM
Section 201. Authorization of appropriations.
Section 201 authorizes appropriations for
the CIA Retirement and Disability Fund for
Fiscal Year 2021.
TITLE III—INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
MATTERS
Subtitle A—General Intelligence Community
Matters
Section 301. Restriction on conduct of intel-
ligence activities.
Section 301 provides that the authorization
of appropriations by the Act shall not be
deemed to constitute authority for the con-
duct of any intelligence activity that is not
otherwise authorized by the Constitution or
laws of the United States.
Section 302. Increase in employee compensation
and benefits authorized by law.
Section 302 provides that funds authorized
to be appropriated by the Act for salary, pay,
retirement, and other benefits for federal
employees may be increased by such addi-
tional or supplemental amounts as may be
necessary for increases in compensation or
benefits authorized by law.
Section 303. Continuity of operations plans for
certain elements of the intelligence commu-
nity in the case of a national emergency.
Section 303 requires the Directors of the
Office of the Director of National Intel-
ligence (ODNI), Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA),
National
Reconnaissance
Office
(NRO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),
National Security Agency (NSA), and Na-
tional Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
to establish continuity of operations plans
for use in the case of certain national emer-
gencies as defined in statute, and share those
with the congressional intelligence commit-
tees within 7 days of a national emergency
being declared. Furthermore, Section 303 re-
quires these agencies to provide the commit-
tees with any updates to those plans as the
conditions of the national emergency re-
quire.
Section 304. Application of Executive Schedule
level III to position of Director of National
Reconnaissance Office.
Section 304 provides that the Director of
the NRO shall be designated as Level III on
the Executive Schedule, the equivalent of an
Under Secretary. The Committee further
clarifies that this provision shall apply to a
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successor civilian occupying the position of
Director of the NRO.
Section 305. National Intelligence University.
Section 305 provides the National Intel-
ligence University (NIU) with degree-grant-
ing authority and requires reporting on per-
sonnel and compensation. Section 305 also
sustains an independent, external board of
visitors to provide oversight of the NIU.
Section 306. Data collection on attrition in intel-
ligence community.
Section 306 requires the DNI to set stand-
ards and issue an annual report on the rea-
sons why different categories of IC employ-
ees separate from service or applicants to IC
positions withdraw from the hiring process
after they have been issued a conditional
offer of employment. Data on workforce at-
trition should include demographics, special-
ties, and length of service. Such reasons may
include an alternative job opportunity, a loss
of interest in joining the IC, or the length of
time to complete the clearance process.
Section 307. Limitation on delegation of respon-
sibility for program management of informa-
tion-sharing environment.
Section 307 stipulates that the President
must delegate responsibilities under Section
1016(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Ter-
rorism Prevention Act of 2004 to an official
other than the DNI.
Section 308. Requirement to buy certain satellite
component from American sources.
Section 308 prohibits an element of the IC
to award a contract for a national security
satellite if the satellite uses a star tracker
that is not produced in the United States,
with certain limited exceptions.
Section 309. Limitation on construction of facili-
ties to be used primarily by intelligence com-
munity.
Section 309 amends the Intelligence Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 regard-
ing funding and authorities for facility con-
struction.
Section 310. Intelligence community student
loan repayment programs.
Section 310 requires the DNI to establish
minimum student loan repayment standards
for IC employees.
Subtitle B—Reports and Assessments
Pertaining to the Intelligence Community
Section 321. Assessment by the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States on efforts of the
Intelligence Community and the Department
of Defense to identify and mitigate risks
posed to the intelligence community and the
Department by the use of direct-to-consumer
genetic testing by the Government of the
People’s Republic of China.
Section 321 directs the Comptroller Gen-
eral to assess efforts in the IC and Depart-
ment of Defense (DoD) to identify and miti-
gate the risks posed to the IC and DoD by di-
rect-to-consumer genetic testing by the Gov-
ernment of the People’s Republic of China.
Section 321 further requires the report to in-
clude
key
national
security
risks
and
vulnerabilities, an assessment of the IC’s and
DoD’s identification and mitigation of such
risks and vulnerabilities, and recommenda-
tions for the IC and DoD to improve identi-
fication and mitigation of such risks and
vulnerabilities.
Section 322. Report on use by intelligence com-
munity of hiring flexibilities and expedited
human resources practices to assure quality
and diversity in the workforce of the intel-
ligence community.
Section 322 requires the DNI to submit a
report describing how IC elements are exer-
cising
hiring
flexibilities
and
expedited
human resources practices afforded under 5
U.S.C. § 3326 and related regulations, includ-
ing the identification of any obstacles en-
countered by the IC in exercising such au-
thorities.
Section 323. Report on signals intelligence prior-
ities and requirements.
Section 323 requires the DNI to submit a
report detailing signals intelligence prior-
ities and requirements subject to Presi-
dential Policy Directive–28 that stipulates
‘‘why, whether, when, and how the United
States conducts signals intelligence activi-
ties.’’ This report shall be submitted in un-
classified form, but may include a classified
annex.
Section 324. Assessment of demand for student
loan repayment program benefit.
Section 324 requires the head of each IC
element to calculate the number of per-
sonnel who qualify for a student loan repay-
ment program benefit, and compare it to the
number of personnel who apply for such a
benefit. The information provided will in-
clude recommendations for how to optimize
participation and enhance the effectiveness
of the benefit as a retention tool, to identify
any shortfall in funds or authorities needed
to provide such benefit, and to include such
materials with the budget request for Fiscal
Year 2022.
Section 325. Assessment of intelligence commu-
nity demand for child care.
Section 325 requires the DNI in coordina-
tion with the heads of other IC elements to
provide a report that includes: a calculation
of the total annual demand for child care by
employees at NSA, NGA, DIA, NRO, CIA, and
ODNI; an identification of any shortfalls be-
tween demand and the child care support by
these IC elements; an assessment of options
for addressing any such shortfall; an identi-
fication of the advantages, disadvantages, se-
curity requirements, and costs associated
with each option; a plan to meet, within five
years after the date of the report, the de-
mand for childcare, and an assessment of
specific considerations that impact the al-
ternatives available to these IC elements.
Section 326. Open source intelligence strategies
and plans for the intelligence community.
Section 326 requires the DNI in coordina-
tion with the heads of each IC element, to
conduct a survey of the open source intel-
ligence requirements, goals, investments,
and capabilities for each element of the IC
and to evaluate the usability of the Open
Source Enterprise (OSE). Based on such find-
ings, it further mandates the DNI shall de-
velop, in coordination with the heads of each
IC element, a strategy for open source intel-
ligence collection, analysis, and production
across the IC; create a plan for improving
usability of the OSE; and conduct a risk and
benefit analysis of creating an independent
open source center.
Using the findings above, Section 326 fur-
ther requires the DNI to develop a plan for a
centralized data repository of open source in-
telligence. Finally, it mandates the DNI de-
velop a cost-sharing model that leverages
the open source intelligence investments of
each IC element for the beneficial use of the
entire IC. It also requires the heads of ODNI,
CIA, DIA, NGA, and NSA to jointly brief the
congressional intelligence committees on
the progress developing the aforementioned
plans.
TITLE IV—MATTERS RELATING TO ELE-
MENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMU-
NITY
Section 401. Establishment of Office of the Om-
budsman for Analytic Objectivity.
Section 401 establishes in the CIA an Office
of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity
to implement required procedures and con-
duct required activities.
Section 402. Expansion of personnel manage-
ment authority to attract experts in science
and engineering.
Section 402 facilitates NGA’s recruitment
of experts in science or engineering for re-
search and development projects.
Section 403. Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon
Kent Award for distinguished female per-
sonnel of the National Security Agency.
Section 403 requires the Director of the
NSA to establish an honorary award for the
recognition of female personnel of the NSA
for distinguished career contributions in sup-
port of the mission of the NSA.
Section 404. Department of Homeland Security
intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fel-
lowship program.
Section 404 requires the Secretary of DHS
to carry out an intelligence and cybersecu-
rity diversity fellowship program that pro-
vides paid internships, tuition assistance,
and potential employment opportunities.
Section 405. Climate Security Advisory Council.
Section 405 requires the DNI, in coordina-
tion with the appropriate heads of other IC
elements, to conduct a study on the effec-
tiveness of the Climate Security Advisory
Council as a potential model for future advi-
sory councils.
TITLE V—MATTERS RELATING TO
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Section 501. Requirements and authorities for
Director of Central Intelligence Agency to
improve education in science, technology,
engineering, arts, and mathematics.
Section 501 ensures that the Director of
the CIA has the legal authorities required to
improve the skills in science, technology, en-
gineering, arts, and mathematics (known as
STEAM) necessary to meet long-term na-
tional security needs.
Section 502. Seedling investment in next-genera-
tion microelectronics in support of artificial
intelligence.
Section 502 requires the DNI, acting
through the Director of the Intelligence Ad-
vanced Research Projects Activity, to award
contracts or grants, or enter into other
transactions, to encourage microelectronics
research.
TITLE VI—REPORTS AND OTHER
MATTERS
Section 601. Report on attempts by foreign ad-
versaries to build telecommunications and
cybersecurity equipment and services for, or
to provide such equipment and services to,
certain allies of the United States.
Section 601 requires the CIA, NSA, and DIA
to submit to the congressional intelligence
and armed services committees a joint re-
port that describes the United States intel-
ligence sharing and military posture in Five
Eyes countries that currently have or intend
to use adversary telecommunications or cy-
bersecurity equipment, especially as pro-
vided by China or Russia, with a description
of potential vulnerabilities of that informa-
tion and assessment of mitigation options.
Section 602. Report on threats posed by use by
foreign governments and entities of commer-
cially available cyber intrusion and surveil-
lance technology.
Section 602 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the threats posed by foreign gov-
ernments and foreign entities using and ap-
propriating commercially available cyber in-
trusion and other surveillance technology.
Section 603. Reports on recommendations of the
Cyberspace Solarium Commission.
Section 603 requires the ODNI, Department
of Homeland Security (acting through the
Under Secretary of Homeland Security for
Intelligence and Analysis), Department of
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Energy (acting through the Director of Intel-
ligence and Counterintelligence of the De-
partment of Energy), Department of Com-
merce, and DoD to report to Congress their
assessment of the recommendations sub-
mitted by the Cyberspace Solarium Commis-
sion pursuant to Section 1652(j) of the John S.
McCain National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019, and to describe
actions that each agency expects to take to
implement these recommendations.
Section 604. Assessment of critical technology
trends relating to artificial intelligence,
microchips, and semiconductors and related
supply chains.
Section 604 requires the DNI to complete
an assessment of export controls related to
artificial intelligence (AI), microchips, ad-
vanced manufacturing equipment, and other
AI-enabled technologies, including the iden-
tification of opportunities for further co-
operation with international partners.
Section 605. Combating Chinese influence oper-
ations in the United States and strength-
ening civil liberties protections.
Section 605 provides additional require-
ments to annual reports in 50 U.S.C. § 3237(B)
on Influence Operations and Campaigns in
the United States by the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) by mandating an identification
of influence operations by the CCP against
the science and technology sector in the
United States. Section 605 also requires the
FBI to create a plan, in consultation with
stakeholders outside the Intelligence Com-
munity to increase public awareness of influ-
ence activities by the CCP. Finally, section
605 requires the FBI, in consultation with
the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights and the Chief Privacy and Civil Lib-
erties Officer of the Department of Justice,
to develop recommendations to strengthen
relationships with communities targeted by
the CCP and to build trust with such com-
munities through local and regional grass-
roots outreach.
Section 606. Annual report on corrupt activities
of senior officials of the Chinese Communist
Party.
Section 606 requires the CIA, in coordina-
tion with the Department of Treasury’s Of-
fice of Intelligence and Analysis and the FBI,
to submit to designated congressional com-
mittees annually through 2025 a report that
describes and assesses the wealth and corrup-
tion of senior officials of the CCP, as well as
targeted financial measures, including po-
tential targets for sanctions designation.
Section 606 further expresses the Sense of
Congress that the United States should un-
dertake every effort and pursue every oppor-
tunity to expose the corruption and illicit
practices of senior officials of the CCP, in-
cluding President Xi Jinping.
Section 607. Report on corrupt activities of Rus-
sian and other Eastern European oligarchs.
Section 607 requires the CIA, in coordina-
tion with the Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the
FBI, to submit to designated congressional
committees and the Under Secretary of
State for Public Diplomacy, a report that de-
scribes the corruption and corrupt or illegal
activities among Russian and other Eastern
European oligarchs who support the Russian
government and Russian President Vladimir
Putin, and the impact of those activities on
the economy and citizens of Russia. Section
607 further requires the CIA, in coordination
with the Department of Treasury’s Office of
Intelligence and Analysis, to describe poten-
tial sanctions that could be imposed for such
activities.
Section 608. Report on biosecurity risk and
disinformation by the Chinese Communist
Party and the Government of the People’s
Republic of China.
Section 608 requires the DNI to submit to
the designated congressional committees a
report identifying whether and how CCP offi-
cials and the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China may have sought to suppress
or exploit for national advantage informa-
tion regarding the novel coronavirus pan-
demic, including specific related assess-
ments. Section 608 further provides that the
report shall be submitted in unclassified
form, but may have a classified annex.
Section 609. Report on effect of lifting of United
Nations arms embargo on Islamic Republic
of Iran.
Section 609 requires the DIA to submit to
designated congressional committees a re-
port on the Government of the Islamic Re-
public of Iran’s plans to acquire military
arms if the ban on arms transfers to or from
such government under United Nations Secu-
rity Council resolutions are lifted, as well as
the effects such arms acquisitions may have
on regional security and stability.
Section 610. Report on Iranian activities relating
to nuclear nonproliferation.
Section 610 directs the DNI to submit a re-
port on any relevant activities relating to
nuclear weapons research and development
by the Islamic Republic of Iran and any rel-
evant efforts to afford or deny international
access to related facilities in accordance
with international non-proliferation agree-
ments.
Section 611. Annual reports on security services
of the People’s Republic of China in the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Section 611 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the presence and activities of Chi-
nese security services operating within the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Section 612. Research partnership on activities
of People’s Republic of China.
Section 612 requires the Director of the
NGA to seek to enter into a partnership with
an academic or non-profit research institu-
tion
to
carry
out
joint
unclassified
geospatial intelligence analyses of the ac-
tivities of the People’s Republic of China
that pose national security risks to the
United States, and to make publicly avail-
able unclassified products relating to such
analyses.
Section 613. Report on the pharmaceutical and
personal protective equipment regulatory
practices of the People’s Republic of China.
Section 613 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the pharmaceutical and personal
protective equipment regulatory practices of
the People’s Republic of China.
Section 614. National Intelligence Estimate on
situation in Afghanistan.
Section 614 requires the DNI, acting
through the National Intelligence Council,
to produce a National Intelligence Estimate
on the situation in Afghanistan.
Section 615. Assessment regarding tensions be-
tween Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Section 615 requires the DNI to submit an
assessment regarding tensions between the
governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Section 616. Sense of Congress on Third Option
Foundation.
Section 616 expresses the sense of Congress
that the Third Option Foundation’s work on
behalf of the CIA’s special operations com-
munity and their families is invaluable, such
that the Director of the CIA should work
with the Foundation to implement section
6412 of the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew
Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020,
which provided special rules for certain
monthly workers’ compensation payments
and other payments to CIA personnel.
Section 617. Annual reports on worldwide
threats.
Section 617 requires the DNI, in coordina-
tion with IC element heads, to submit an an-
nual report with an IC assessment of world-
wide threats to United States national secu-
rity. Section 617 further required the DNI,
together with IC element heads determined
appropriate by the congressional intelligence
and defense committees in consultation with
the DNI, to testify at an open hearing before
such committees upon request. It is the in-
tent of the Committees that a request by one
of the congressional intelligence or defense
committees, or a number of them, shall trig-
ger the obligation of IC element heads to tes-
tify at an open hearing before a requesting
committee, as specified under Section 617.
Section 618. Annual report on Climate Security
Advisory Council.
Section 618 requires the chair of the Cli-
mate Security Advisory Council to submit
an annual report regarding the Council’s
prior year activities.
Section 619. Improvements to funding for Na-
tional Security Education program.
Section 619 authorizes funds for national
security-related scholarship, fellowship, and
grant programs.
Section 620. Report on best practices to protect
privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights of
Chinese Americans.
Section 620 makes certain technical and
conforming amendments to a reporting pro-
vision enacted pursuant to the Damon Paul
Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intel-
ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years
2018, 2019, and 2020.
Section 621. National Intelligence Estimate on
the threat of global pandemic disease.
Section 621 requires the DNI, acting
through the National Intelligence Council,
to produce a National Intelligence Estimate
on the threat of global pandemic disease.
Section 622. Modification of requirement for
briefings on national security effects of
emerging infectious disease and pandemics.
Section 622 amends a quinquennial report-
ing provision enacted pursuant to the Damon
Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard In-
telligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years
2018, 2019, and 2020 to require annual report-
ing.
Section 623. Independent study on open-source
intelligence.
Section 623 requires the DNI to seek to
enter into an agreement with a federally
funded research and development center or a
nongovernmental entity to conduct a study
on the future of the collection, processing,
exploitation, analysis, dissemination, and
evaluation of open-source intelligence by the
IC, with certain requirements and criteria.
Section 624. Survey on Open Source Enterprise.
Section 624 requires the Director of the
CIA (as the open source functional manager
for the IC), in consultation with the DNI and
any other IC element head that the Director
determines appropriate, to conduct a survey
to measure the satisfaction of customers of
open-source
intelligence
with
the
Open
Source Enterprise of the CIA.
Section 625. Sense of Congress on report on mur-
der of Jamal Khashoggi.
Section 625 provides that it is the sense of
Congress that the DNI should reasonably
have been able to produce an unclassified re-
port, as required pursuant to section 5714 of
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7320
December 21, 2020
the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young
Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020, and section
1277 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2020.
f
PUBLICATION OF BUDGETARY
MATERIAL
REVISION TO THE AGGREGATES, ALLOCATIONS,
AND OTHER BUDGETARY LEVELS FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2021
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET,
Washington, DC, December 21, 2020.
MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA), the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985 (BBEDCA), and the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2019 (BBA), I hereby submit
for printing in the Congressional Record a
revision to the aggregates and allocations
set forth in the statement of aggregates, al-
locations, and other budgetary levels for fis-
cal year 2021 published in the Congressional
Record on May 1, 2020, as adjusted.
In accordance with these Acts, this revi-
sion includes an allowable adjustment for
Overseas Contingency Operations and dis-
aster relief pursuant to section 251(b) of
BBEDCA. These amounts are contained in
the House Amendment to the Senate Amend-
ment to H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appro-
priations Act, 2021.
Accordingly,
I
am
revising
aggregate
spending levels for fiscal year 2021 and the
allocation for the House Committee on Ap-
propriations for fiscal year 2021. For pur-
poses of enforcing titles III and IV of the
CBA and other budgetary enforcement provi-
sions, the revised aggregates and allocations
are to be considered as aggregates and allo-
cations included in the budget resolution,
pursuant to the statement published in the
Congressional Record on May 1, 2020, as ad-
justed.
Questions may be directed to Jennifer
Wheelock or Raquel Spencer of the Budget
Committee staff.
JOHN YARMUTH.
TABLE 1.—REVISION TO ON-BUDGET AGGREGATES
[On-budget amounts, in millions of dollars]
2021
2021–2030
Current Aggregates:
Budget Authority ......................................
3,876,749
n.a.
Outlays .....................................................
3,840,592
n.a.
Revenues ..................................................
2,800,378
35,724,078
Revision for the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, FY21 (H.R. 133):
Budget Authority ......................................
12,082
n.a.
Outlays .....................................................
3,360
n.a.
Revenues ..................................................
– – –
– – –
Revised Aggregates:
Budget Authority ......................................
3,888,831
n.a.
Outlays .....................................................
3,843,952
n.a.
Revenues ..................................................
2,800,378
35,724,078
n.a. = Not applicable because annual apppropriations acts for fiscal
years 2022 through 2030 will not be considered until future sessions of
Congress.
TABLE 2.—ALLOCATION OF SPENDING AUTHORITY TO THE
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
[Unified amounts in millions of dollars]
2021
Current Discretionary Allocation:
BA ......................................................................................
1,384,434
OT ......................................................................................
1,457,837
Revision for Overseas Contingency Operations (H.R. 133):
BA ......................................................................................
– – –
OT ......................................................................................
314
Revision for Disaster Relief (H.R. 133):
BA ......................................................................................
12,082
OT ......................................................................................
3,046
Revised Discretionary Allocation:
BA ......................................................................................
1,396,516
OT ......................................................................................
1,461,197
Current Law Mandatory:
BA ......................................................................................
1,172,969
OT ......................................................................................
1,152,482
JOINT RESOLUTION AND
ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED
Gloria J. Lett, Deputy Clerk of the
House, reported and found truly en-
rolled a joint resolution of the House of
the following title, which was there-
upon signed by the Speaker on Sunday,
December 20, 2020:
H.J. Res. 110. Joint resolution making fur-
ther continuing appropriations for fiscal
year 2021, and for other purposes.
Cheryl L. Johnson, Clerk of the
House, further reported and found
truly enrolled bills of the House of the
following titles, which were thereupon
signed by the Speaker:
H.R. 1966. An act to direct the Comptroller
General of the United States to complete a
study on barriers to participation in feder-
ally funded cancer clinical trials by popu-
lations that have been traditionally under-
represented in such trials.
H.R. 5023. An act to name the Department
of Veterans Affairs community based out-
patient clinic in Youngstown, Ohio, as the
‘‘Carl Nunziato VA Clinic’’.
H.R. 5459. An act to authorize the Sec-
retary of the Interior to correct a land own-
ership error within the boundary of Rocky
Mountain National Park, and for other pur-
poses.
H.R. 6237. An act to amend the Indian
Health Care Improvement Act to clarify the
requirement of the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the Department of Defense to re-
imburse the Indian Health Service for cer-
tain health care services.
H.R. 7898. An act to amend the Health In-
formation Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health Act to require the Secretary
of Health and Human Services to consider
certain recognized security practices of cov-
ered entities and business associates when
making certain determinations, and for
other purposes.
H.R. 8906. to amend title XXIX of the Pub-
lic Health Service Act to reauthorize the
program under such title relating to lifespan
respite care.
f
SENATE ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED
The Speaker announced her signa-
ture to enrolled bills of the Senate of
the following titles:
S. 979.—An act to amend the Post-Katrina
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006
to incorporate the recommendations made
by the Government Accountability Office re-
lating to advance contracts, and for other
purposes.
S. 1694.—An act to require the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration to
add recommendations and inform other rel-
evant agencies of information relating to the
principle of due regard and the limitation of
harmful interference with Apollo landing
site artifacts, and for other purposes.
S. 2174.—An act to the extent provided in
advance in appropriations Act, the Attorney
General is authorized-to use funds appro-
priated for the operationalization, mainte-
nance, and expansion of the National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
S. 2683.—An act to establish a task force to
assist States in implementing hiring require-
ments for child care staff members to im-
prove child safety.
S. 2730.—An act to establish and ensure an
inclusive and transparent Drone Advisory
Committee.
S. 3312.—An act to establish a crisis sta-
bilization and community reentry grant pro-
gram, and for other purposes.
S. 3418.—An act to amend the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act to allow the Administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to provide capitalization grants to States to
establish revolving funds to provide hazard
mitigation assistance to reduce risks from
disasters and natural hazards, and other re-
lated environmental harm.
S. 3989.—An act to amend the United
States Semiquincentennial Commission Act
of 2016 to modify certain membership and
other requirements of the United States
Semiquincentennial Commission, and for
other purposes.
S. 5036.—An act to amend the Overtime
Pay for Protective Service Act of 2016 to ex-
tend the Secret Service overtime pay excep-
tion through 2023, and for other purposes.
f
ADJOURNMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ant to section 4(b) of House Resolution
967, the House stands adjourned until 9
a.m. on Thursday, December 24, 2020.
Thereupon (at 9 o’clock and 13 min-
utes p.m.), under its previous order, the
House adjourned until Thursday, De-
cember 24, 2020, at 9 a.m.
f
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS,
ETC.
Under clause 2 of rule XIV, executive
communications were taken from the
Speaker’s table and referred as follows:
EC-5982. A letter from the Program Spe-
cialist, Chief Counsel’s Office, Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency, Department of
the Treasury, transmitting the Department’s
final rule — Licensing Amendments [Docket
ID: OCC-2019-0024] (RIN: 1557-AE71) received
December 14, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110
Stat. 868); to the Committee on Financial
Services.
EC-5983. A letter from the Director, Office
of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,
Department of Labor, transmitting the De-
partment’s final rule — Implementing Legal
Requirements Regarding the Equal Oppor-
tunity Clause’s Religious Exemption (RIN:
1250-AA09) received December 14, 2020, pursu-
ant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-
121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee
on Education and Labor.
EC-5984. A letter from the Section Chief,
Diversion Control Division, DEA, Depart-
ment of Justice, transmitting the Depart-
ment’s interim final rule — Schedules of
Controlled
Substances:
Placement
of
Oliceridine in Schedule II [Docket No.: DEA-
715] received December 14, 2020, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec.
251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce.
EC-5985. A letter from the Regulations Co-
ordinator, Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Administration, Department of Health
and Human Services, transmitting the De-
partment’s final rule — Regulatory Clean Up
Initiative [Docket Number: HHS-OS-2020-
0015] (RIN: 0991-AC19) received December 9,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce.
EC-5986. A letter from the Regulations Co-
ordinator, Department of Health and Human
Services,
transmitting
the
Department’s
final rule — Amendments to the HHS-Oper-
ated
Risk
Adjustment
Data
Validation
(HHS-RADV) under the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act’s HHS-Operated
Risk
Adjustment
Program
[CMS-9913-F]
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7321
December 21, 2020
(RIN: 0938-AU23) received December 9, 2020,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law
104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce.
EC-5987. A letter from the Director, Regu-
latory Management Division, Environmental
Protection Agency, transmitting the Agen-
cy’s final rule — Air Plan Partial Approval
and Partial Disapproval; California; San
Diego [EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0136; FRL-10016-79-
Region 9] received December 9, 2020, pursu-
ant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-
121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce.
EC-5988. A letter from the Director, Regu-
latory Management Division, Environmental
Protection Agency, transmitting the Agen-
cy’s final rule — Test Methods and Perform-
ance
Specifications
for
Air
Emission
Sources; Correction [EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0815;
FRL-10016-14-OAR] (RIN: 2060-AU39) received
December 9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110
Stat. 868); to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce.
EC-5989. A letter from the Regulations Co-
ordinator, Office of the National Coordinator
for Health Information Technology, Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, trans-
mitting the Department’s final rule — Infor-
mation Blocking and the ONC Health IT Cer-
tification Program: Extension of Compliance
Dates and Timeframes in Response to the
COVID-19 Public Health Emergency; Correc-
tion (RIN: 0955-AA02) received December 17,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce.
EC-5990. A letter from the Attorney Advi-
sor, Executive Office for Immigration Re-
view, Department of Justice, transmitting
the Department’s final rule — Procedures for
Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Cred-
ible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review [EOIR
Docket No.: 18-0102; A.G. Order No. 4922-2020]
(RIN: 1125-AA94) received December 16, 2020,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law
104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary.
EC-5991. A letter from the Associate Ad-
ministrator for Policy, Federal Motor Car-
rier Safety Administration, Department of
Transportation, transmitting the Depart-
ment’s interim final rule — Hours of Service
of Drivers; Definition of Agricultural Com-
modity [Docket No.: FMCSA-2018-0348] (RIN:
2126-AC24) received December 9, 2020, pursu-
ant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-
121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure.
EC-5992. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Establishment of the Alisos Canyon
Viticultural Area [Docket No.: TTB-2019-
0007; T.D. TTB-161; Ref: Notice No.: 185] (RIN:
1513-AC51) received December 9, 2020, pursu-
ant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-
121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee
on Ways and Means.
EC-5993. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Establishment of the Tualatin Hills
and Laurelwood District Viticultural Areas
[Docket No.: TTB-2019-0003; T.D. TTB-160;
Ref: Notice No.: 181] (RIN: 1513-AC52) re-
ceived December 9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110
Stat. 868); to the Committee on Ways and
Means.
EC-5994. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Changes to Certain Alcohol-Related
Regulations Governing Bond Requirements
and Tax Return Filing Periods [Docket No.:
TTB-2016-0013; T.D. TTB-159; Re: T.D. TTB-
146; Notice No.: 167] (RIN: 1513-AC30) received
December 9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110
Stat. 868); to the Committee on Ways and
Means.
EC-5995. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Establishment of the Royal Slope
Viticultural Area [Docket No.: TTB-2019-
0008; T.D. TTB-162; Ref: Notice No. 186] (RIN:
1513-AC53) received December 9, 2020, pursu-
ant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-
121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee
on Ways and Means.
EC-5996. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Establishment of the Candy Mountain
Viticultural Area and Modification of the
Yakima Valley Viticultural Area [Docket
No.: TTB-2019-0006; T.D. TTB-163; Ref: Notice
No. 184] (RIN: 1513-AC42) received December
9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Pub-
lic Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-5997. A letter from the Federal Register
Liaison Officer, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, Department of the Treas-
ury, transmitting the Department’s final
rule — Establishment of the Tehachapi
Mountains Viticultural Area [Docket No.:
TTB-2020-0006; T.D. TTB-164; Ref: Notice No.
191] (RIN: 1513-AC69) received December 9,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-5998. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Services final rule —
Unrelated Business Taxable Income Sepa-
rately Computed for Each Trade or Business
[TD 9933] (RIN: 1545-BO79) received December
9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Pub-
lic Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-5999. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s final regula-
tions — Coordination of Extraordinary Dis-
position and Disqualified Basis Rules [TD
9934] (RIN: 1545-BP57) received December 9,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-6000. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s IRB only rule
— Revenue Ruling: 2020 Base Period T-Bill
Rate (Rev. Rul. 2020-25) received December 9,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-6001. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s final regula-
tions — Guidance Clarifying Premium Tax
Credit Unaffected by Suspension of Personal
Exemption Deduction [TD 9912] (RIN: 1545-
BP76) receive December 9, 2020, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121, Sec.
251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee on
Ways and Means.
EC-6002. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s IRB only rule
— 2020 Required Amendments List for Quali-
fied Retirement Plans and Sec. 403(b) Retire-
ment Plans [Notice 2020-83] received Decem-
ber 9, 2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A);
Public Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to
the Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-6003. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s final rule —
Withholding of Tax and Information Report-
ing with Respect to Interests in Partnerships
Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business [TD
9926] (RIN: 1545-BO60) received December 9,
2020, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public
Law 104-121, Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the
Committee on Ways and Means.
EC-6004. A letter from the Director, Legal
Processing Division, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, transmitting the Service’s IRB only rule
— Implementation of the CARES Act Ex-
tended January 1, 2021 Due Date for Con-
tributions to Defined Benefit Plans [Notice
2020-82] received December 9, 2020, pursuant
to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); Public Law 104-121,
Sec. 251; (110 Stat. 868); to the Committee on
Ways and Means.
f
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON
PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
Under clause 2 of rule XIII, reports of
committees were delivered to the Clerk
for printing and reference to the proper
calendar, as follows:
Ms.
SHALALA:
Committee
on
Rules.
House Resolution 1271. Resolution providing
for consideration of the Senate amendment
to the bill (H.R. 133) to promote economic
partnership and cooperation between the
United States and Mexico; providing for dis-
position of the Senate amendment to the bill
(H.R. 1520) to amend the Public Health Serv-
ice Act to provide for the publication of a
list of licensed biological projects and for
other purposes; and for other purposes (Rept.
116–679). Referred to the House Calendar.
Mr. GRIJALVA: Committee on Natural Re-
sources. H.R. 2245. A bill to amend the En-
dangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit im-
port and export of any species listed or pro-
posed to be listed under such Act as a threat-
ened species or endangered species, and for
other purposes; with amendments (Rept. 116–
680, Pt. 1). Referred to the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union.
Mr. DEFAZIO: Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure. H.R. 1108. A bill to
provide for funding from the Airport and Air-
way Trust Fund for all Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration activities in the event of a Gov-
ernment shutdown, and for other purposes;
with an amendment (Rept. 116–681, Pt. 1). Re-
ferred to the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union.
Ms. WATERS: Committee on Financial
Services. H.R. 4545. A bill to provide for the
discharge of a private education loan in the
case of death or total and permanent dis-
ability of a student obligor, and for other
purposes; with an amendment (Rept. 116–682,
Pt. 1). Referred to the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi: Committee
on Homeland Security. H.R. 4782. A bill to
establish a national commission on online
platforms and homeland security, and for
other purposes; with an amendment (Rept.
116–683, Pt. 1). Referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the Union.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia: Committee of Edu-
cation and Labor. H.R. 865. A bill to provide
for the long-term improvement of public
school facilities, and for other purposes; with
amendments (Rept. 116–684, Pt. 1). Referred
to the Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union.
DISCHARGE OF COMMITTEE
Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIII, the
Committee on Ways and Means dis-
charged from further consideration.
H.R. 865 referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H7322
December 21, 2020
Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIII, the
Committee on Ways and Means dis-
charged from further consideration.
H.R. 1108 referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union.
Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIII, the
Committees on Foreign Affairs and
Ways and Means discharged from fur-
ther consideration. H.R. 2245 referred
to the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union.
Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIII, the
Committee on Ways and Means dis-
charged from further consideration.
H.R. 4545 referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union.
Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIII, the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
discharged from further consideration.
H.R. 4782 referred to the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union.
f
PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
Under clause 2 of rule XII, public
bills and resolutions of the following
titles were introduced and severally re-
ferred, as follows:
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9039. A bill to require the Secretary of
Homeland Security to operate alternatives
to detention programs, to prioritize certain
vulnerable populations for those programs,
and to require the Secretary to justify the
allocation of resources and decisions on
whether to detain people based on ensuring
compliance with immigration proceedings in
the most cost-effective ways possible, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary.
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9040. A bill to protect aliens seeking
asylum in the United States, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on the Judici-
ary, and in addition to the Committee on
Homeland Security, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned.
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9041. A bill to amend the National
Emergencies Act to provide for a sunset of a
national emergency declared by the Presi-
dent 2 days after the declaration unless Con-
gress enacts a joint resolution affirming
such declaration and the emergency powers
approved for use by the President, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, and in addition
to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and
Rules, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
By Mr. BUDD:
H.R. 9042. A bill to amend the Public
Works and Economic Development Act of
1965 to prohibit the Secretary of Commerce
from issuing certain grants to States or po-
litical subdivisions of States that restrict or
prohibit indoor and outdoor dining, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, and in addition
to the Committee on Financial Services, for
a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned.
By Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and
Mr. FITZPATRICK):
H.R. 9043. A bill to require social media
companies to establish an office dedicated to
identifying and removing violent or extrem-
ist content associated with or distributed by
any entity identified as a terrorist organiza-
tion; to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committee on
the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each
case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned.
By Mr. JOYCE of Ohio (for himself and
Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire):
H.R. 9044. A bill to expand and enhance
programs and activities of the Department of
Defense for prevention of and response to do-
mestic violence and child abuse and neglect
among military families, and for other pur-
poses; to the Committee on Armed Services.
By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mr.
JEFFRIES):
H.R. 9045. A bill to prohibit searches based
on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion,
or sex, and for other purposes; to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary.
By Mrs. LOWEY:
H. Con. Res. 127. Concurrent resolution di-
recting the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives to make a correction in the enrollment
of H.R. 133; considered and agreed to.
By Mrs. LOWEY:
H. Con. Res. 128. Concurrent resolution di-
recting the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives to make a correction in the enrollment
of H.R. 1520; considered and agreed to.
f
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
STATEMENT,
Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII of
the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives, the following statements are sub-
mitted regarding the specific powers
granted to Congress in the Constitu-
tion to enact the accompanying bill or
joint resolution.
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9039.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Article I, Section 8, Clause 4.
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9040.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Fifth Amendment
By Mr. AMASH:
H.R. 9041.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Article 1, Section 1.
By Mr. BUDD:
H.R. 9042.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
By Mr. GOTTHEIMER:
H.R. 9043.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the Con-
stitution.
By Mr. JOYCE of Ohio:
H.R. 9044.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Article I, Section 8, Clause 14.
By Mr. KENNEDY:
H.R. 9045.
Congress has the power to enact this legis-
lation pursuant to the following:
Article I, Section 8.
f
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS TO PUBLIC
BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
Under clause 7 of rule XII, sponsors
were added to public bills and resolu-
tions, as follows:
H.R. 808: Mr. STEUBE.
H.R. 1634: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 1766: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 1897: Mr. HALL.
H.R. 2350: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 2442: Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of
New York.
H.R. 3229: Ms. BASS and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY.
H.R. 3464: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 3509: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 4098: Mr. KELLY of Mississippi.
H.R. 5002: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 5084: Ms. HOULAHAN.
H.R. 5176: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 5297: Mr. STEUBE.
H.R. 5534: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 6402: Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Ms.
LEE of California, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr.
BLUMENAUER, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi-
nois, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and
Ms. CLARKE of New York.
H.R. 6492: Mr. MFUME.
H.R. 6556: Mr. LEVIN of California.
H.R. 6560: Ms. FINKENAUER.
H.R. 6585: Mr. HALL.
H.R. 6763: Mr. HALL.
H.R. 6802: Mr. KELLY of Mississippi.
H.R. 6958: Mr. GOTTHEIMER.
H.R. 7052: Mr. RUIZ.
H.R. 8003: Mr. MFUME.
H.R. 8044: Ms. DELBENE.
H.R. 8113: Mr. NEAL.
H.R. 8196: Mr. HALL.
H.R. 8302: Mrs. HAYES.
H.R. 8362: Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. VELA´ ZQUEZ,
Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. FOS-
TER, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LYNCH, Ms.
JACKSON LEE, Mr. CLAY, and Mr. SHERMAN.
H.R. 8525: Ms. SCANLON.
H.R. 8662: Mrs. TORRES of California and
Mr. BRINDISI.
H.R. 8769: Ms. NORTON.
H.R. 8782: Mr. PANETTA.
H.R. 8801: Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. KILMER, and
Mr. HASTINGS.
H.R. 8845: Mr. KIND, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr.
RYAN, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. MARSHALL, and
Mr. DUNN.
H.R. 8912: Mr. COHEN and Mr. ESPAILLAT.
H.R. 8962: Mr. GOSAR and Mr. HICE of Geor-
gia.
H.R. 8969: Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi.
H.R. 9029: Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois and Mr.
POCAN.
H. Res. 1106: Mr. SIRES, Mrs. DINGELL, and
Mrs. NAPOLITANO.
H. Res. 1268: Mr. BACON, Mr. JOHNSON of
Ohio, Mrs. WAGNER, and Mr. GALLAGHER.
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Congressional Record
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United States
of America
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
.
S7887
Vol. 166
WASHINGTON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
No. 218
Senate
The Senate met at 12 noon and was
called to order by the President pro
tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY).
f
PRAYER
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of-
fered the following prayer:
Let us pray.
Beautiful Savior, Your mighty power
makes us glad. We celebrate the vic-
tories You have given us in the past
and trust You with our future.
Lord, You have been our dwelling
place in all generations, and we are
sustained
by
Your
steadfast
love.
Today, surround our Senators with the
shield of Your favor as they labor to
keep our Nation strong. Inspire them
to be obedient to Your commands,
doing what You desire of them as You
fill them with Your wisdom.
Lord, manifest Your power through
their labors so that this Nation will
fulfill Your purposes. May Your angels
guard us in all our ways.
We pray in Your mighty Name.
Amen.
f
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The President pro tempore led the
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America, and to the Repub-
lic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
YOUNG). The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to speak for 1
minute in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, his-
tory will look back at 2020 and find
many lessons and even some silver lin-
ings to unpack.
The loss of more than 300,000 Amer-
ican lives so far will be mourned for
years to come. Operation Warp Speed,
which
President
Trump
launched,
turned out to be a historic public-pri-
vate partnership. It has delivered a
lifesaving vaccine in record time, shat-
tering scientific benchmarks along the
way. For the last 9 months, Americans
have pulled together in shared sacrifice
to do their part.
As the COVID–19 vaccine makes its
way into the communities across our
country as it is right now, I encourage
my fellow Iowans to keep pulling to-
gether. When public health officials
say it is your turn to get a vaccine, roll
up your sleeve. I will be doing the same
when my turn arrives.
Getting immunized is the only way
we will beat the virus and get back to
the normal way of American life. His-
tory will show Americans turned the
page on the pandemic when all of us
roll up our sleeves.
I yield the floor.
f
RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY
LEADER
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader is recognized.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, yes-
terday leaders in the Senate and the
House and the Secretary of the Treas-
ury reached a major agreement that
struggling Americans have needed for
months.
We are going to pass another historic
rescue package to help American fami-
lies through this pandemic. We are
going to pass full-year government
funding so the Armed Forces and all
Federal Departments have the re-
sources and the certainty they need.
And we are going to do both of these
things as soon as possible.
Senate Republicans have been trying
since July—July—to get more tar-
geted, bipartisan relief into the hands
of the American people. Back in July,
we proposed to send about $1 trillion to
priorities including a second round of
the Paycheck Protection Program, di-
rect checks for households, and funding
for healthcare providers, testing, and
K–12 schools—back in July.
Democrats said no. They said they
would block anything short of their
multitrillion-dollar leftwing wish list.
Here was one headline that particu-
larly underscores their view: ‘‘$2 tril-
lion or bust: Democrats draw red line
in coronavirus spending battle.’’
So, in July and in August, when Re-
publican Senators tried to extend ex-
piring Federal unemployment benefits,
Democrats blocked us. Laid-off work-
ers lost their benefits.
In September and again in October,
as people kept hurting, the virus kept
spreading, and schools tried to find
footing, every Republican voted for a
multihundred-billion-dollar
package.
Both times Democrats blocked the re-
lief. Their view was all or nothing.
But a few days ago, with a new Presi-
dent-elect of their own party, every-
thing changed. Democrats suddenly
came around to our position that we
should find consensus, make a law
where we agree, and get urgent help
out the door.
In a few days of hard work, we have
assembled another historic bipartisan
rescue package: just under $900 billion
of relief targeted toward our fellow
Americans who need help the most.
I will begin where this pandemic will
end: vaccinations. Thanks to the ge-
nius of science and the leadership of
President
Trump,
Operation
Warp
Speed has produced safe and effective
vaccines. Now, we need to distribute
them nationwide.
This rescue package provides many
billions more dollars to expand vaccine
purchasing and vaccine distribution.
Until we have won, we need to keep
wearing masks and taking precautions.
Even so, more Americans will fall ill,
so this legislation continues to fund
health providers and COVID testing.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7888
December 21, 2020
The pandemic has fallen especially
hard on children and parents. Our leg-
islation includes major funding—more
than $80 billion—for K–12 schools to re-
open safely and get kids’ educations
back on track. There are billions more
for childcare providers to reopen safely
as well, and new investments in rural
broadband will improve both education
and telehealth down the road.
Then there are Americans’ personal
finances, the impossible kitchen table
questions that millions of working
families have faced this year through
no fault of their own.
Back in March, thanks to Chairman
RUBIO, Senator COLLINS, and Senator
CARDIN, we created a Paycheck Protec-
tion Program. It saved small busi-
nesses and helped millions of American
workers
keep
receiving
paychecks
rather than pink slips.
It would be insanity for us to have
saved these jobs all this time only to
drop the ball with the end in sight, so
this bill will send more than $280 bil-
lion to reopen the PPP for a targeted
second
round,
and
we
made
sure
churches and faith-based organizations
will continue to be eligible.
Of course, millions have already been
laid off, so months after Republicans
tried to stop benefits from expiring in
the first place, this package will re-
sume a temporary Federal supplement
to unemployment insurance, and it ex-
tends other programs for the self-em-
ployed and gig workers that would
have expired.
Thanks to the particular leadership
and direction of President Trump and
Secretary Mnuchin, households will re-
ceive a second round of direct relief
checks—$600 per adult and per child.
This is just some of the aid that will be
heading Americans’ way in a matter of
hours. No sprawling leftwing wish list,
no unconstrained bailouts for State
and local government with no connec-
tion to COVID needs—just smart, tar-
geted, bipartisan policies, what Senate
Republicans have been recommending
since the summer.
I cited a figure of $900 billion, but lis-
ten to this. The net new cost—new
cost—is less than roughly $350 billion.
We are recovering more than half a
trillion dollars in unspent money that
Congress had already set aside and
channeling it to these urgent needs.
Thanks to our colleague Senator
TOOMEY, this legislation winds down
some of the temporary emergency pow-
ers we lent the Federal Reserve to
make sure our financial system sur-
vived last spring.
A lot of talented leaders helped make
this happen. Leader MCCARTHY
has
been an invaluable partner. White
House Chief of Staff MARK MEADOWS
has been central. Colleagues such as
Senators COLLINS, MURKOWSKI, ROM-
NEY, CASSIDY, and PORTMAN
helped
prod the Senate toward consensus with
their bipartisan work. And I just men-
tioned Senator TOOMEY.
I want to give particular thanks to
the Secretary of the Treasury, Sec-
retary Mnuchin. Before the pandemic,
Steven was already a crucial partner
for the Republican majorities in Con-
gress. We enacted the most consequen-
tial tax reform in a generation. We
helped create the conditions for explo-
sive job growth, wage growth, and
record-low unemployment. Our country
had the strongest possible starting
point to weather this storm.
This year, the Secretary has been
even more essential. He helped Con-
gress develop and pass the historic
CARES Act in record time. It pre-
vented a complete economic collapse at
the hands of the virus. From drafting
CARES to implementing it, to the in-
tervening months, to this latest pack-
age, Secretary Mnuchin has been an ex-
tremely capable and patient partner.
He helped guide our Nation through
this dark period toward the daybreak
that lies ahead.
On behalf of the Senate and the coun-
try, I thank the Secretary for his
countless hours of work and his incred-
ible
effectiveness
in
extraordinary
times.
f
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on
a related matter, while this rescue
package will dominate headlines, we
are also set to fund the entire Federal
Government on a bipartisan basis.
We must not overlook the tireless
work from Chairman SHELBY, Senator
LEAHY, and our Appropriations Com-
mittees in both Chambers. Their hard
work goes beyond just avoiding shut-
downs. Full-year funding bills give our
Armed Forces the certainty to make
plans and budgets so we can continue
to modernize our capabilities and keep
pace with competitors like Russia and
China.
This year’s bills also tackle impor-
tant domestic priorities. Everything
from agricultural research to the fight
against opioid abuse, to border security
and law enforcement are provided for.
We aren’t defunding the police or abol-
ishing ICE around here—not on our
watch.
Federal law enforcement from the
U.S. Marshals to the Border Patrol will
get the resources they need to protect
innocent Americans and uphold the
rule of law.
And I want to especially thank
Chairman SHELBY and Congresswoman
GRANGER for beating back a number of
far-left poison pills. These bills main-
tain pro-life guardrails on funding, se-
cure President Trump’s approach to
title X, and respect our citizens’ Sec-
ond Amendment rights.
The Senate is about to cast some in-
credibly impactful votes. None of us
think any of this legislation is perfect,
but a big bipartisan majority of us rec-
ognize the incredible amount of good it
will do when we send it to the Presi-
dent’s desk.
The American people have waited
long enough. I am glad for our country
that we are now moving ahead to-
gether.
RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
the previous order, the leadership time
is reserved.
f
MORNING BUSINESS
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ate will be in a period of morning busi-
ness, with Senators permitted to speak
therein for up to 10 minutes each.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab-
sence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
WINTER SOLSTICE
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, before I
say anything else, I want to say happy
winter solstice. And 2020 is almost
gone. It is an announcement I made to
my family this morning, and I hope
America shares it. We are turning a
corner as a nation and to a new year
and a new season, and, I hope, a much
better day for all of us across this
country.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr.
DURBIN.
Mr.
President,
9
months ago, in March, we created the
relief known as the CARES Act, and it
passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to 0.
It was a measure intended to address
the pandemic and the resultant eco-
nomic downturn in America. I have
heard various estimates of the total
cost, but it is somewhere in the range
of $2 trillion to $3 trillion. It was the
largest single investment in our Nation
in our history. It was a massive na-
tional response to a massive national
health crisis, and it worked, at least on
the economic front. I believe that it
created demand in our economy that
otherwise would not have been there,
and it gave some businesses a chance
to survive. Sadly, all did not, and many
are still suffering. But it was nec-
essary. It was done on a bipartisan
basis. It was massive, and I believe it
achieved its goal.
It started us on the course of dealing
with the COVID–19 coronavirus, and
one has to look back and say it only
had limited success in that regard. As
of today, we have lost more than 317,000
American lives, and millions have been
infected. Our hospitals are still overrun
with patients. But we did the right
thing, and we quickly realized what we
did could make a difference.
The
unemployment
compensation,
which we provided for millions of
Americans, was not only the humane
thing to do but, as economists would
tell you, it was the best single thing
you could do to fight a recession. A
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7889
December 21, 2020
person who is unemployed, without a
paycheck, will spend virtually every
penny they are given into the econ-
omy, not bank it away for another day.
That spending created consumer de-
mand and gave some businesses a fight-
ing chance.
The Paycheck Protection Program,
through the Small Business Adminis-
tration, was the work product of many,
but I want to single out Senators BEN
CARDIN and MARCO RUBIO for their bi-
partisan effort. I later saw Senator
COLLINS and Senator SHAHEEN working
to give it another day. But here was a
program which extended a lifeline to
American businesses—forgivable loans
if the money were spent on the neces-
sities: utilities and rent and mortgage
and payroll.
I will quickly add that we have a re-
sponsibility to taxpayers to make an
honest assessment of how that program
was implemented. I am sorry to say
that I have already heard anecdotal
evidence that some of the loans were
not carefully made. That is to be ex-
pected in something of this magnitude.
But, by and large, this program was es-
sential.
Money
that
we
put
into
healthcare made a difference. The
CARES Act also protected those who
were renting from eviction, delayed the
payment of student loans, and a litany
of other measures that made a dif-
ference.
That bill—the CARES Act of March
of 2020—was really written with a no-
tion that this was a short- to medium-
term challenge. Many thought that, by
the middle of this year, we would be
turning the corner. Sadly, that was not
the case. As of July, it was apparent
that the worst was yet to come.
Speaker PELOSI, of the U.S. House of
Representatives, introduced a measure
known as the Heroes Act in an attempt
to have a follow-on relief bill after the
CARES Act. It was passed but was not
considered in this Chamber.
The Republican leader, who spoke
earlier today, said at the time that
there were two things he wanted to
make clear. First, he wanted to meas-
ure whether it was a needed follow-on
bill. Second, he was drawing a redline
that said unless we provided immunity
from liability for corporations and
businesses, he wouldn’t consider an-
other
relief
act.
And
the
matter
stalled.
The Speaker went on to pass another
bill, a smaller one in size, but nothing
happened. She went into conversations
with Mr. Mnuchin and Senator SCHU-
MER on the Democratic side here, but
little was produced from that ex-
change. We were stuck, stalled. As of
the election day of November 3, it
wasn’t clear that there would ever be
another relief bill this year.
I want to say a word about what hap-
pened next because I know more detail
about that than some. It was about 4
weeks ago when a Republican Senator
and a Democratic Senator invited six
of their colleagues for dinner. It was a
bipartisan
group.
When
Senator
MCCONNELL mentioned the participants
earlier, he only mentioned Repub-
licans. I want to let you know who was
in on it on both sides, Democrats and
Republicans. Yes, it was Senator COL-
LINS,
Senator
MURKOWSKI,
Senator
CASSIDY, and Senator ROMNEY at the
initial meeting; on the Democratic
side, Senator MANCHIN, Senator WAR-
NER, myself, and Senator SHAHEEN. Our
ranks changed over the several weeks
when we were debating to include
MAGGIE
HASSAN
of New Hampshire,
ANGUS
KING
of
Maine,
and
ROB
PORTMAN of Ohio.
For 3 or 4 weeks, we tried to write a
relief bill. We did it by phone, by Zoom,
and through staff work that was end-
less. Finally, Tuesday of last week, we
were able to announce it. Let me get
this number right, a $748 billion con-
sensus bill for relief. We were unable to
reach a final agreement when it came
to State and local funding, as well as
the question of liability. We set those
aside, but we produced this $748 billion
bill, much of which is included in this
relief package we are going to consider
today.
I want to thank my colleagues,
Democrats and Republicans, for their
patience and determination to reach
that point. I really believe that we
ended up opening the conversation. The
leaders, thank goodness, moved in to
follow on and make it a reality.
Today, we are going to seriously con-
sider a measure to keep America’s
economy moving and give us a fighting
chance against the coronavirus. I think
this bipartisan effort, this grassroots
bipartisan effort by the 8 of us—soon to
be 10 or 11 before it was all over—will
make a significant difference in this
Nation. We are going to come through
with dramatic offers of relief across
the board. It is in the range of $900 bil-
lion, is the total. I don’t know the
exact amount.
It is going to provide several more
weeks of unemployment compensation.
The final agreement, I am told, re-
duced the number of weeks that we
proposed, and I am sorry for that, but
it did include a cash payment, which,
under the right circumstances—I don’t
know all the details—could be a god-
send for many families across the
United States who are desperately try-
ing to survive in troubling and difficult
times.
It also extends the PPP program I
mentioned earlier for small businesses
to give them a chance for the kinds of
loans and forgivable loans that might
give them an opportunity to see an-
other day.
Money
is
there
especially
for
coronavirus vaccine distribution and
logistics—testing, tracing, and the vac-
cine.
I would say this. In fairness, I agree
with the Republican leader, who gave
credit to the Trump administration for
the Warp Speed program. That has
been a dramatic success. To think that
we have come up with not just one but
two vaccines that work against this
COVID–19 is an amazing achievement,
and I am glad that it received the high
priority it deserved under this adminis-
tration and particularly glad that the
researchers and scientists who spent
countless hours exploring opportuni-
ties for this vaccine were ultimately
successful. America owes them a great,
great debt of gratitude.
What is going to happen next? There
are some parts of this measure which,
as we study it, we will realize are inad-
equate. Merely extending unemploy-
ment benefits for 10 or 11 weeks may
not be long enough. We may have to re-
turn to take a look at it. Whether we
have enough money for logistical sup-
port for vaccines remains to be seen.
Whether the businesses of Americans
need another helping hand, we also
have to consider that as well.
Let us hope that in the new year and
the new President’s administration,
that we will have a more positive, bi-
partisan approach. This experience this
year was disappointing in some re-
spects, but it ended well with the bill
we are going to consider this after-
noon.
I want to thank all the colleagues,
Senators, who joined me in this bipar-
tisan effort, who started the conversa-
tion on Capitol Hill last week. We have
more work to be done. We are not out
of the woods. We have to consider
measures that will address the reality
of the economy in the future. We want
to make sure that Americans have a
chance to get back to work and busi-
nesses have a chance to survive in this
time of COVID–19.
By the middle of next year, it has
been estimated—this is not for certain,
but I hope it is right—by the middle of
next year, all Americans who are seek-
ing a vaccination will be able to re-
ceive one, and that will be a day when
we can finally hope that we will have
reached that magic number of herd im-
munity and turn the corner on this ter-
rible pandemic.
I want to thank Senator SCHUMER for
coming to the floor and asking me to
say a word or two more. I want to say
this about the Members of the Senate,
both
Democrats
and
Republicans.
There has been more activity on the
floor of the Senate in the last several
days than I have ever seen. And it isn’t
just rollcalls; it is Members standing
on the floor to discuss the details of
this agreement. There were parts we
were never going to agree on, that is
for sure, but so many times, I would
step into a conversation on the floor
where they would be hammering out
the final details of an agreement. It
was heartening. There has been so lit-
tle of that activity on the floor in the
past year or two. It is perilously close
to legislating to have Members of the
Senate of both political parties work-
ing toward agreeable language that can
solve America’s problems. Let’s hope
we have more of that.
Unfortunately, the Senate has drifted
away from its traditional role of delib-
eration and legislation. This year, for
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7890
December 21, 2020
example, we have only considered 29
amendments in the entire year in the
Senate, absent the impeachment pro-
ceeding.
Twenty-nine
amendments.
The year before, 2019, there were 22
amendments. That is a waste of talent.
The men and women of the Senate
should come together, hopefully on a
bipartisan basis, but regardless, should
come together to debate the issues and
offer their best ideas and, having of-
fered them, be given the chance to vote
up or down. I think that appetite is
strong on both sides of the aisle.
On the Democratic side, Senator
MERKLEY of Oregon has been a leader
in discussing changes in the Senate
rules, and we reached out to Repub-
licans as well to engage in that con-
versation. I think we are a better Sen-
ate for it if we do it and a better Na-
tion for it if the debate becomes rel-
evant to the issues of the day from peo-
ple across America who are watching
closely to see if we understand what
they are struggling with economically
and politically.
I yield the floor.
f
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY
LEADER
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
Democratic leader is recognized.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I
heard the remarks of the Senator from
Illinois. It is a hope that we can change
the way the Senate operates and do
more amendments and do more debat-
ing on the floor. We haven’t seen much
give from some of our colleagues on the
other side of the aisle, but hopefully
that could and will happen.
Now, about remarks here, every day,
it seems, for the past week or so, I have
come to the floor ready to talk about
the merits of bipartisan legislation we
have been drafting, not wanting to be
critical at all. Then I listen to the Re-
publican leader. The leader’s remarks
just about every day this week as he
has opened the Senate have been so
nastily partisan and in so many ways
false that I have no choice but to cor-
rect the record as the Democratic lead-
er.
The Republican leader’s accusation
that the blame for this bill’s delay lies
totally on one side is just ridiculous. It
is ‘‘Alice in Wonderland’’ thinking. It
defies all the facts as to what we have
seen. Then his comparison—that the
agreement we are voting on today and
the most recent Republican offer are so
similar—is absurd. The two bills are
nothing alike, and I had to point that
out several times.
I have a chart here.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent to have this chart printed in the
RECORD.
There being no objection, the mate-
rial was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
BIPARTISAN EMERGENCY COVID RELIEF LEGISLATION SIG-
NIFICANTLY IMPROVES ON McCONNELL’S INADEQUATE
PROPOSAL
Item
New Bipartisan Relief
Agreement
December 1 GOP
Proposal
Unemployment Insurance ..
$300 per week
enhanced UI and
other program
extensions through
March 14, 2021
$0 enhanced UI and
program extensions
end on January 31,
2021
Direct Payments ................
Additional round of
payments—$600
individual, $1,200/
married couple, and
$600/child dependent
$0
Corporate Immunity ..........
Excluded
McConnell/Cornyn
Corporate Immunity
‘‘Red Line’’
SNAP ..................................
$13 billion
$0
Rental Assistance .............
$25 billion
$0
Transportation ...................
$45 billion
$0
Support for Small Busi-
nesses (PPP) .................
$284.5 billion
$257.7 billion
Support for Community
Development Financial
Institutions and Minority
Depository Institutions ..
$12 billion
$0
SBA Grants ........................
$20 billion
$0
Debt Relief Payments and
Enhancements for SBA
Lending Programs ........
$5.5 billion
$0
SAMHSA Funding for Men-
tal Health and Sub-
stance Use Disorder .....
$4.25 billion
$0
NIH COVID Research .........
$1.25 billion
$0
Broadband .........................
$7 billion
$0
Mr. SCHUMER. I am just going to
read from it, comparing the new, bipar-
tisan relief agreement to the December
1 GOP proposal of Leader MCCONNELL.
How about direct payments? This bill
has $600 per individual, $1,200 per mar-
ried couple, $600 child dependent. Many
of us didn’t think that was enough, but
it is in the bill. Do you know how much
was in the Republican leader’s pro-
posal? Zero.
Unemployment insurance. This bill
that we are voting on has $300 per week
of enhanced UI and other program ex-
tensions through March 14. What does
the Republican leader’s bill have? Zero
enhanced UI. Program extensions end
January 31.
This bill has $13 billion in SNAP; the
Republican leader’s bill, zero.
This bill has $25 billion in rental as-
sistance; the Republican leader’s bill,
zero.
This bill has $45 billion in transpor-
tation for airlines and mass transit and
buses and airports and highways. What
does the Republican leader’s bill have?
Zero.
This
bill
has,
very
importantly,
money for community development fi-
nancial institutions and minority in-
stitutions, $12 billion. What does the
Republican leader’s bill have? Zero.
SBA grants, $20 billion this year; Re-
publican leader’s bill, zero.
Debt payments and enhancements for
SBA. This bill, $5.5 billion; Republican
bill, zero.
SAMHSA funding for mental health
and substance use disorder. This bill,
$4.25 billion; Republican leader’s bill,
zero.
NIH COVID research, $1.25 billion;
Republican bill, zero.
Broadband
so
homes
can
get
broadband. This bill, $7 billion; Repub-
lican leader’s bill, zero.
The list could go on. There is a com-
plete difference between the two bills.
We all know as well that the Repub-
lican leader, who blames Democrats for
delay, said for several months that the
Senate should be on pause. As Demo-
crats were demanding more action, the
Republican leader was unmoved. The
Republican leader’s answer was that 20
Republican Senators wanted to do
nothing more at all. When he finally
proposed legislation, it was completely
partisan, insufficient, and littered with
poison pills.
I forgot to add one thing that was in
the leader’s bill but not in this bill—
the broad corporate liability immunity
provision, which the Senator from Illi-
nois tried to straighten out. Another
huge difference—a poison pill.
So when the leader finally proposed
legislation because of public pressure
to do something, it was partisan—no
Democratic input, zero—insufficient,
much too little in so many areas, as I
mentioned, and littered with poison
pills designed to ensure the bill would
fail. Most notably was a provision to
give corporations, no matter how egre-
gious their behavior, sweeping immu-
nity from legal accountability. Leader
MCCONNELL said on the floor that for
Republicans, corporate immunity was
a red line.
And he blames the Democrats, as he
did again today, for why this bill is
being debated now? It is just turning
truth on its head. It is like ‘‘Alice in
Wonderland.’’
Even in the recent negotiations, the
Republican majority made an eleventh
hour demand that had nothing to do
with helping people during this pan-
demic but, rather, sabotaged the in-
coming Biden administration’s recov-
ery effort and restricted the Federal
Reserve’s ability to save jobs and right
the economy in a time of crisis.
Thankfully,
the
agreement
we
reached contains neither the leader’s
corporate immunity provision nor Sen-
ator TOOMEY’s last-minute provision to
handicap the Fed’s authority to sta-
bilize the economy in a crisis. And it
will do a whole lot of good, besides,
some of the programs I mentioned.
Look, after months of tense and dif-
ficult negotiations, we have this agree-
ment. It is not as large as Democrats
want. It is certainly larger than what
many Republicans want. That is the
nature of compromise. It does us no
good to end the year with the kind of
bitter, partisan fighting that has de-
fined too much of the year. In a new
session and under a new administra-
tion, we can and should do better be-
cause our job is far from over.
The bill today is a good bill. Today is
a good day, but it is certainly not the
end of the story. It cannot be the end
of the story. Anyone who thinks this
bill is enough doesn’t know what is
going on in America. Anyone who
thinks this bill is enough hasn’t heard
the desperation in the voices of their
constituents, has not looked into the
eyes of a small business owner on the
brink of ruin.
By all rights, there should be direct
assistance in this bill for State and
local governments. The checks should
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
be larger. While this agreement in-
cludes a new and larger forgivable PPP
loan for restaurants, we need to do
much more for restaurants. We have bi-
partisan legislation to deliver the re-
lief that is truly needed, the RES-
TAURANTS Act, which, regrettably,
did not make it into this legislation.
We must do all we can to save res-
taurants, and I will not stop fighting
until we pass the RESTAURANTS Act
into law. This bill cannot and will not
be the final word on congressional re-
lief from the coronavirus pandemic.
This is an emergency survival package.
When we come back in January, our
No. 1 job will be to fill in the gaps left
by the bill and then get the economy
moving with strong Federal input.
Still, the significance of this package
should not be underestimated. It will
be the second largest bill—the second
largest Federal input—in the history of
our country. It will be the second larg-
est amount of Federal dollars going to
the people ever. The times demand it.
Even some of our conservative Repub-
lican friends will vote for it, and it is
good we have it. For much of the year,
it looked unlikely that it would ever
get done, and our success today, our
ability to pass this bill today, should
give us confidence we can do more. We
can end the year on a rare note of opti-
mism.
Now, Queen Elizabeth, every year,
gives a talk to her subjects about the
status of the monarchy and the British
royal family. In a very challenging
year,
she
called
the
year
annus
horribilis—a horrible year. Unlike in
1992, which was the year Elizabeth re-
ferred to the problems with Charles
and Diana, this year has been an annus
horribilis not just for Great Britain
and the royal family, which she was
talking about, but an annus horribilis
for the entire world.
The global COVID–19 pandemic has
infected more than 70 million people
across the globe. Another 500 million
have gone, likely, undiagnosed. There
are 1.6 million people who have died, 20
percent of whom have been Americans,
more than 315,000—more than the en-
tire population of Pittsburgh or St.
Louis, more than all of the American
combat deaths in World War II. The
September 11 attacks to my fair city
shaped much of the first decade of this
century. In 2020, our dear country has
suffered the equivalent of a 9/11 attack
every day for 106 days in a row.
We have lost so much. We have
missed holidays and reunions, retire-
ments and graduations, bar mitzvahs
and confirmations, weddings and funer-
als. Trapped in our homes, our compan-
ions were isolation and loneliness and
the faint glow of tiny screens. The
image of seeing people on the screen,
watching their loved ones pass away
when they couldn’t be with them, will
stay with us forever. Doctors had to
stack iPads in waiting rooms for end-
of-life conversations—how tragic, how
awful. There were cars lined up, bump-
er to bumper, for food assistance.
Grandchildren, wrapped in protective
gear, waved goodbye to grandparents
from across the silence of a hospital
room.
It has been a horrible year—annus
horribilis. Yet here, at the very end, fi-
nally, there is hope—not just one, not
just two, but three strong beacons of
hope. One, soon many Americans will
have the vaccine. Two, Joe Biden will
become President. He has the experi-
ence and the empathy to handle the
COVID crisis and will replace a man
who has shown no capacity or even in-
terest in doing so. And, three, we are
on the verge of passing another his-
toric, bipartisan relief bill to deliver
emergency assistance during a time of
national emergency. So there are three
beacons of hope: the vaccine, a new ad-
ministration, and a bill that will help
in an emergency.
Very soon, our country will close the
book on the most chaotic President in
recent history. Joe Biden, an experi-
enced leader and a person of funda-
mental human decency, will become
the
46th
President
of
the
United
States.
KAMALA
HARRIS,
my
good
friend and hard-working colleague, will
become the first woman, the first
Black person, and the first Asian
American to ascend to the Vice Presi-
dency of the United States. Together,
they will return competency and com-
passion to our government after 4 long
years of division and demonization,
which far too many people have toler-
ated and gone along with.
Even though this disease has not
been vanquished yet, there is light at
the end of the tunnel in the form of a
vaccine. Everyone should appreciate
how miraculous that truly is. It usu-
ally takes between 5 and 10 years to de-
velop a new vaccine—5 to 10 years. It
took American doctors, biochemists,
and medical researchers less than 10
months to produce not one but two via-
ble vaccines for the coronavirus. The
discovery of a vaccine in a single cal-
endar year is the crowning scientific
achievement of the 21st century—the
medical Manhattan Project of our
times. It is a reminder that, when we
work together and persevere and sac-
rifice for one another, nothing—noth-
ing—is beyond our capacity as a na-
tion.
The same resilience and innovation
and fortitude that saw our country
through its darkest hours has emerged
once again. COVID–19 has changed our
country, but it has not changed our
character. America is the night-shift
nurse fashioning protective equipment
from shoelaces and sheets of vinyl.
America is a restaurant owner who
sent meals to frontline workers for
free. America is the home-stitched
mask sent to friends and families. It is
the metallic clang of pots and pans
that
celebrates
essential
workers.
America is the grocery store clerk and
the busdriver and the plasma donor and
the lab technician, late at night,
poring over the results of a clinical
trial. It is the Brooklyn doctor, 62, on
the verge of retirement, who, for 2
straight weeks, worked day shifts at
the ICU and night shifts at the nearby
hospital before finally succumbing to
the disease himself.
Last week, the first American—a
nurse
in
Queens—was
vaccinated
against COVID–19. Many millions will
soon follow. Eventually, our businesses
will reopen, our economy will reopen,
and life will reopen. We will travel and
worship and send our kids to school
and see our friends and be together
again. It won’t be tomorrow or next
week or even next month, but it will
happen, not because we merely waited
long enough, not because we were pa-
tient, but because we persevered.
Our job right now is to help the coun-
try get from this stormy present to
that hopeful future, to survive this
dark winter until spring thaws the ice.
Our job is to do what is necessary—pass
this bill, pass another stronger bill
next year—whatever it takes to hold
our country together until we eradi-
cate the awful scourge of this disease.
At the end of this annus horribilis—
this horrible year—let us give the
American people another reason to
hope.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority whip.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I am, like
many of my colleagues, very pleased
that we have reached an agreement on
a final COVID relief package and none
too soon.
Last week, we celebrated what will,
hopefully, be a turning point in the
COVID fight—the first coronavirus vac-
cinations. We need to build on that mo-
mentum and make sure that vaccine
distribution goes swiftly and smoothly
so that we can vaccinate as many
Americans as possible as quickly as
possible. The COVID relief package will
help us achieve that goal by providing
important funding for vaccine distribu-
tion. It will also provide critical sup-
port to Americans to help them weath-
er the rest of the pandemic, including a
second round of paycheck protection
funding for the hardest hit small busi-
nesses, money to help schools reopen
safely and operate so that our kids
aren’t left behind, and more money for
coronavirus treatment and other front-
line medical priorities.
I am very pleased that the final pack-
age includes my Paycheck Protection
for Producers Act, which will help
more farmers and ranchers benefit
from the Paycheck Protection Pro-
gram. The bill also includes funding to
allow the Department of Agriculture to
provide additional assistance to farm-
ers and ranchers. Ag producers were
dealing with a challenging agricultural
economy even before the pandemic hit,
and the coronavirus has only made
things tougher. I strongly advocated
for including additional funding for
farmers and ranchers in this legisla-
tion, and I am very glad that the final
bill includes this support.
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The final package also explicitly
makes biofuels, like ethanol and bio-
diesel, eligible for USDA assistance at
the discretion of the Secretary of Agri-
culture. Biofuel producers have suf-
fered from a drop in fuel demand dur-
ing the pandemic, and I hope the Sec-
retary will ensure that they are able to
receive assistance, which will further
help our ag economy recover.
I am very happy that the COVID re-
lief package includes an extension of
the Thune-Warner Employer Participa-
tion in Repayment Act. The Thune-
Warner bill allows employers to make
tax-free contributions to their employ-
ees’ student loans of up to $5,250 per
year. This is a win for employees, who
get help in paying off their student
loans, and it is a win for employers as
they look to attract and retain tal-
ented workers. Our bill was included in
the CARES Act—the major coronavirus
relief legislation we passed in March—
but it was scheduled to expire at the
end of the year. Under the coronavirus
relief package, however, our legislation
will be extended for an additional 5
years.
The COVID relief package also in-
cludes Senator CORNYN’s Small Busi-
ness Expense Protection Act, which I
cosponsored. This legislation will en-
sure that small businesses that qualify
for forgiveness of their Paycheck Pro-
tection Program loans can still deduct
their ordinary business expenses on
their taxes.
The relief package also includes leg-
islation I introduced this summer with
Senator ENZI that will establish anti-
fraud measures within the Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance program so
that we can ensure that beneficiaries
are truly eligible for the program.
We
have
addressed
a
lot
of
coronavirus priorities in this relief
package, and I am very pleased that we
are finally getting it out the door. Re-
publicans spent months pushing for ad-
ditional, targeted coronavirus relief,
and I am glad the Democrats finally
decided that they were ready to work
with us in a bipartisan way to arrive at
this legislation.
The Senate Democratic leader was
just here, once again, attacking Repub-
licans over their failure—the Demo-
crats’ failure—to work with us to get a
coronavirus
relief
bill
sooner.
We
brought up multiple times on the floor
legislation that could have passed if
there had been a little cooperation
from the Democrats. He pointed out
that this bill we are going to be voting
on today looks nothing like the Repub-
lican bill, which isn’t the case. There
are a lot of similarities between the
bill that we put on the floor in Sep-
tember and again in October—about
$600 billion in targeted relief that ad-
dresses the most fundamental needs
the American people need right now.
One is an unemployment insurance ex-
tension for those who are unemployed.
The very amount that is in the bill
that we will vote on today was in the
Republican bill that we brought to the
floor in September and again in Octo-
ber and voted on here.
The vaccine money—the money that
is out there to help with the vaccines
that are going to be so effective in try-
ing to get this pandemic under con-
trol—was also in the bill that was on
the floor both in September and in Oc-
tober.
The relief for small businesses that
have been hit hard by this pandemic
and have seen their balance sheets and
their income statements get depleted
by its economic impact also would
have been funded with additional Pay-
check Protection Program relief in the
bill that we brought before the Senate
both in September and again in Octo-
ber. That very assistance is included in
the legislation that we will vote on
today.
Money for schools, as I mentioned
earlier, to help them reopen safely—
something that was in the legislation
that we voted on in September, again
in October—is in the legislation that
we will vote on today.
The only things that are different,
really—substantially
different—from
what we brought up on the floor back
then are the assistance checks that are
included in this legislation. That is
something that was a priority. It was a
priority for Members on the Repub-
lican side; it was a priority for Mem-
bers on the Democratic side; it was a
priority for the White House, so it
ended up being included in this and,
hopefully, will provide some much
needed relief to people across this
country who have been struggling with
their personal finances and their fam-
ily finances through the pandemic.
So those are all things that we have
discussed and debated previously, and I
would point out that, contrary to the
assertions made by the Democratic
leader just now, there were numerous
attempts to try and move this legisla-
tion previously.
Now, it is fair to say that the House
of Representatives did send the Senate
a $3.4 trillion package, which was
bloated and included lots of nonpan-
demic,
noncoronavirus
relief-related
items—things that were on their lib-
eral wish list. That wasn’t realistic,
and they knew it. That was a campaign
document designed to try and help
them, at the time, win an election.
But I am glad they have decided to
get down and negotiate in a serious
way because the number that we are
going to be passing today—a little
under $1 trillion, about $900 billion—is
very close to what Republicans put on
the floor in September and again in Oc-
tober.
It is a far cry from the $3.4 trillion
bloated bill that the Democrats sent
over from the House and the Demo-
crats here in the Senate tried to ad-
vance and suggested that that should
be what the Senate should vote on.
We have said all along that we need
to address this in a targeted way, a fis-
cally responsible way, a way that rec-
ognizes the most critical needs out
there, both on the healthcare front and
also on the economic front, and we
have moved aggressively to address
those needs not once, but twice.
Legislation, a real bill brought to the
floor, which received a majority vote
in the U.S. Senate—52 U.S. Senators in
September and again in October voted
here on the floor of the U.S. Senate to
do the very things that I just men-
tioned—but it was blocked from even
being considered by the Senate Demo-
crats.
We all know here in the Senate it re-
quires 60 votes to invoke cloture. It is
a procedural motion to get on a bill.
The Senate Democrats gave us no sup-
port to even get on the bill.
So, as a consequence, even though
there was majority support—52 U.S.
Senators voting in favor of getting on
and debating the bill—because the
Democrats blocked it, we didn’t even
have an opportunity to debate—not
even to get on it, let alone offer amend-
ments and have a discussion and a con-
versation and work on legislation. If
they had objections to it or things they
wanted to improve or things they
wanted to make better, they would
have had an opportunity to do that if
we had simply been able to get on the
bill.
So we are where we are today at this
late hour in the year—December 21,
Christmas week—doing this now be-
cause they didn’t want to do it earlier,
and some have publicly acknowledged
that one of the reasons they didn’t
want to do it earlier is that there was
a campaign underway, and they had
hoped that there would be a new Presi-
dent, an opportunity to do it their way
later.
But, nevertheless, we have before us
now, finally, at long last, a piece of leg-
islation that addresses the most crit-
ical needs that are out there, and it is
very similar in many ways, in terms of
the substance, the content, and the fea-
tures of the bill and the overall
pricetag, to what Republicans have
brought on the floor of the U.S. Senate
previously.
So I am glad that we are finally
going to get this done, but I absolutely
disagree with the statements that were
made earlier by the Democratic leader,
because they don’t reflect reality. In
fact, they don’t reflect anything close
to reality about what has been hap-
pening here in this Chamber over the
past several months when it comes to
trying to provide much needed relief to
the American people who are suffering
from this pandemic.
There are a couple of things that I
would just mention briefly that aren’t
included in the bill, and I wish they
were.
I have a bill called the Remote and
Mobile Worker Relief Act, and I am
sorry that was not included in the final
bill.
This
bipartisan
legislation
would
have prevented unexpected tax bills
and tax complications for medical pro-
fessionals who traveled to other States
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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to help during the pandemic and for
Americans who worked from home to
help slow the virus’s spread.
It is unfortunate that opposition
from a handful of States with aggres-
sive taxation policies—like the Senate
Democratic leader’s home State of New
York—has so far prevented legislation
like mine from getting through Con-
gress. But I will continue to fight for
tax relief for remote and mobile work-
ers.
It has been a difficult year for our
country. There are way too many virus
infections, way too many hospitaliza-
tions, way too many people who have
lost loved ones from this dreaded virus.
It has affected people in so many
ways—their health, their confidence,
their economic standing and status,
their mental health. There are just so
many—so many—effects of this, and
this winter is likely to be very chal-
lenging.
But the encouraging news is that
there is light at the end of the tunnel.
There is a vaccine out there that will
get more widely out there, and thanks
to the resources that we put into the
first coronavirus bill—the CARES Act
that passed last March—those vaccines
have been moving forward at record
speed—five times faster than any vac-
cine in history.
Light is at the end of the tunnel. The
vaccines are coming. They are going to
be proven to be very effective, and
there is additional funding in this par-
ticular legislation that we will vote on
today to make sure that it gets distrib-
uted as quickly as possible.
We are going to make it through
this, and I look forward to sending the
additional relief that is included in
this legislation that we will move
through the Senate today and put on
the President’s desk, where he can sign
it into law. I look forward to seeing
that additional relief get out to the
American people.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. BAR-
RASSO). The Senator from North Caro-
lina.
f
HONORING JASON SHUPING
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I rise
today to honor the life and service of
Concord, NC, Police Officer Jason
Shuping, who was tragically killed in
the line of duty this week.
Officer Shuping was only 25 years old
and had served the Concord Police De-
partment for 11⁄2 years with honor and
distinction.
Officer Shuping and Officer Kaleb
Robinson were responding to a 9–1–1
call for a car crash and an attempted
carjacking. Officers Shuping and Rob-
inson located the suspect and were pre-
pared to bring him to justice. However,
when Officer Shuping, Officer Robin-
son, and a third ALE officer ap-
proached,
the
suspect
immediately
began opening fire.
Officers Shuping and Robinson were
both shot. Additional officers arrived
on the scene and took out the suspect.
While Officer Robinson is, fortu-
nately, expected to make a recovery,
Officer
Shuping,
tragically,
passed
away from his injuries.
Jason Shuping was an outstanding
police officer who courageously ran to
danger to protect residents of Concord.
He was also a loving son and a hus-
band to his wife Haylee. He was active
in his community since his childhood.
He attended East Rowan High School
in Salisbury, and he was an honor stu-
dent and track and field athlete at
UNC-Pembroke.
He was a young man with a bright fu-
ture ahead of him, described by those
who knew him as a ‘‘gentle soul who
made an impact.’’
His hometown paper, the Salisbury
Post, noted: ‘‘Whether it was staying
after practice to provide coaching to a
youngster or coming back home from
college to play the handbell in his
church’s ensemble, you could always
count on Jason Shuping.’’
It is no surprise to see the outpouring
of love coming from the community of
Concord to honor his life and service.
There have been a candlelight vigil and
a touching law enforcement escort that
brought many residents and a long line
of American flags proudly displayed.
As we gather with our families this
Christmas, my thoughts and prayers
will be with the family of Officer
Shuping, as well as the families of
Mount Holly Police Officer Tyler Hern-
don and Nash County Deputy Sheriff
Jared Allison, who also lost their lives
this month in the line of duty.
Those families are going through an
unimaginable period of grief, but they
should know that the people of North
Carolina are forever grateful for the
selfless service of their loved ones, and
I will never forget the ultimate sac-
rifice that they made in answering the
call to protect others.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Minnesota.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I
rise today to thank all of my col-
leagues who worked so hard on the bill
that is coming to the floor today, the
pandemic relief package.
We know all the top priorities in
there—the vaccine distribution—and I
want to thank Senator SCHUMER and
leaders and those on both sides of the
aisle who put more funding into that.
I want to thank the group who has
worked so hard on this agreement and
this negotiation in the Senate for their
work, including Senator MANCHIN and
Senator ROMNEY and Senator WARNER
and Senator SHAHEEN and Senator HAS-
SAN and Senator DURBIN, as well as all
of their Republican colleagues, Senator
COLLINS and Senator MURKOWSKI, Sen-
ator CASSIDY, who worked so hard on
this original agreement, with many
others who joined in as well.
This bill contains such important
priorities,
including
unemployment
and help for our hospitals and help for
our rural areas—housing, rent, small
businesses, unemployment, the direct
checks.
I think we all know that there is
more work to be done, including next
year, including for our cities and our
States, but it is so important that we
get this done by the end of the year.
I wanted to focus on something that
I have worked on for quite a while with
Senator CORNYN from Texas. We have
done this on a bipartisan basis from
the beginning, and it is the Save Our
Stages Act.
When we first introduced it in July,
we knew that it was going to be a long
road, and we also knew that the only
way we would get this done is by stick-
ing together as a team and by working
with other Members of Congress from
red and blue States. And by the end—
this bill is included in full in this pack-
age—we had 57 Senators who sponsored
this bill out of 100, with many more
supporting it. We had over 200 House
Members.
We worked so hard to make this
about America and American music
and American theater and American
culture.
We all know that you can’t go stand
in a mosh pit in the middle of a pan-
demic.
These
live
entertainment
venues were among the first businesses
to close, and they will almost certainly
be among the last to reopen.
This was about, yes, Nashville and
New York, but it was just as much
about the Fargo Theater or a small,
small country music venue in Texas.
And while we see the light at the end of
tunnel with the vaccines, we know that
it will be quite a while before these
businesses, which operate on such thin
margins as it is, can keep going.
I think we also know the importance
of the arts and music, not only as a
cultural icon in America but also as an
economic driver. It is one of our No. 1
exports, when you combine all of it.
And the fact that we were able to stick
together with not only the nitty-gritty
of this bill and this coalition and actu-
ally add partners as we went along is a
tribute to all the musicians out there,
all the venues, all the lighting opera-
tors, all the truckers—everyone who
came together and said: We are going
to get this done.
I know when Senator CORNYN and I
first introduced this, people kind of
patted us on the head and said: Oh, this
sounds nice. But I think when people
started to hear the facts and how much
this matters to economies and even
small towns, it made a difference. In
the end, to quote Minnesota’s own Bob
Dylan from ‘‘The Times They Are a-
Changin,’’ he says:
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block the hall
No one blocked the hall.
I want to thank my colleagues, and I
want to especially thank Senator COR-
NYN. We have led many bills together,
and we had to go back and forth a lot.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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I want to thank Dayna Frank, who is
the head of First Avenue in Minnesota,
made famous, of course, by Prince.
Prince wouldn’t be Prince if not for
First Avenue. Everyone in our State,
when they think about First Avenue,
they think about Prince.
She is the head of the National
Venue Association. She called me one
night in the beginning of the pandemic
and said: I just can’t make it through
this without some help.
They already received PPP loans, but
that is not enough for these venues be-
cause
of
the
unique
circumstance
where they can’t partially open. You
can’t go to a theater right now and sit
elbow-to-elbow with your friends and
family.
I also want to thank my legislative
director, Doug Calidas, who has worked
on this from the beginning, including
all the last month’s late-night negotia-
tions. He did a wonderful job.
I want to thank Senators SCHUMER
and MCCONNELL
and Representatives
Speaker PELOSI and Leader MCCARTHY
for getting this over the finish line—
Senator MCCONNELL for putting it in
his original bill and Senator SCHUMER,
who cares so much about this because
of all of the great music and acts and
everything coming out of New York
State. It was certainly very, very help-
ful—and that would put it mildly—to
have Senator SCHUMER
in the room
where it happened, where the last nego-
tiations were made.
I also want to thank Senators SHA-
HEEN and COLLINS, who worked on this
in the original negotiation; Senators
CARDIN and RUBIO with the Small Busi-
ness Committee, who made this a pri-
ority; and finally, our House authors,
our bipartisan House authors out there,
Representatives WELCH and WILLIAMS,
for their work.
So how this works—the Small Busi-
ness Administration will create a new
$15 billion grant program to help
venues cover 6 months of expenses and
make it through this pandemic. We are
very hopeful that once the summer
comes, we are going to see more and
more openings because of the vaccine,
because of what I hope will be, with a
new administration, an increased em-
phasis on testing, and that we will see
more and more venues able to open.
The grants can be used to cover all
the major costs the venues have to pay
to stay in business, including rent and
mortgage, utilities, employee wages,
key benefits, maintenance costs, State
and local taxes, payments to contrac-
tors, and purchases of protective equip-
ment.
Venues that are at the greatest risk
of closing—sadly, we have already lost
a number of our venues—will have pri-
ority access to the majority of the
grant funding. All venues will be able
to apply within 4 weeks of the pro-
gram’s launch with the Small Business
Administration, but in the first 2
weeks, those venues that have suffered
90 percent revenue loss over the year
before will be the first to be able to
apply for these grants.
So we in Congress don’t want to let
the music die, and we don’t want that
to happen to any of our other places of
culture in America either. That is why
over the last month or so, we have
worked with the museums and with the
zoos, and I want to especially thank
Senator SCHUMER for his work on that,
as well as Senator BLUNT and many
others who worked with us—as well as
the movie theaters.
We wanted to make sure that if we
expanded our coalition, that we didn’t
hurt the originals, which were these
small, small theaters and small music
venues across the country. We did not
do that, because this new program will
be a lifeline for small entertainment
venues across the country, such as
First Avenue and the Bluestem Amphi-
theater in Moorehead, MN.
It will also help the millions of
Americans who work behind the scenes
and who have been sidelined, from the
engineers and truckdrivers to the tick-
et takers and the designers and the
spot operators. It will help revive the
local economies of neighborhoods and
small towns across this Nation.
It is not every day that a coalition
sticks together from beginning to end,
that they kept with their original pur-
pose, haven’t been picked off, haven’t
gotten into infighting, but this group
did it. Maybe it is because so many
Americans at home right now cherish
music and entertainment and that part
of America like they have never done
because
they
are
watching
things
alone. They are listening to concerts
by themselves. They are listening to
them with their iPhones, or they are
listening to them on their computers,
and it is not quite the same.
We also know that all of these artists
don’t exactly get a big boost up by
themselves with huge funding when
they first start out. So many of them
start out at these little venues—a
country music band playing at the
Bluestem Amphitheater; a little local
theater troupe trying out a new play in
Lanesboro, MN. They can’t do it with-
out these venues.
So today we celebrate the fact that
we held together. Not only are we pass-
ing this bill as a part of this package,
we actually brought in friends, and we
brought in partners, and we made it an
even bigger deal than it was to begin
with.
So as I began by quoting the great
Bob Dylan from Minnesota, I will end.
He once said:
Well, I sing by night, wander by day.
I’m on the road and it looks like I’m here
to stay.
Finally, we are reaching out to this
group of employees and these busi-
nesses and saying: We want you to be
here to stay.
So thank you to Save Our Stages and
to all of our colleagues who worked so
hard on this, and special thanks to my
friend Senator CORNYN. Again, when we
did this, we didn’t know if we would be
able to mount this grassroots effort,
but it happened because artists and
fans just wouldn’t give up. So thank
you very much.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from West Virginia.
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I would
like to thank, first of all, the preceding
speaker, Senator KLOBUCHAR, for her
efforts to help those venues in those
entertainment areas that at this point
have been left out. We certainly have
some of those in West Virginia, and I
am pleased to say that the coronavirus
package we are putting together today
will help those folks and hopefully get
them over the hump.
Before I begin, I would like to wish
everybody, as much as they can, a
happy holiday and a joyful new year.
Turning the page of 2020 is something I
think we are all pretty anxious to do.
Sometimes it seems like the longest
year, and sometimes it seems like the
shortest year, but it definitely seems
like ‘‘Groundhog Day’’ a lot of the
year.
I am very pleased that we have this
relief package in front of us. While I
am
glad
an
agreement
has
been
reached, we certainly should have done
this earlier and could have done this
earlier. We have been working since
July to deliver targeted additional re-
lief through efforts such as we put for-
ward in the CARES Act, and it has
been voted down twice—once in Sep-
tember and once in October.
To date, we, the Republicans, have
offered
targeted
relief
legislation,
voted in favor of enhanced employment
benefits, more money for our schools,
which would have been great to have
had in early September and should
have had in early September. We voted
in favor of stand-alone emergency
funding for the Paycheck Protection
Program, which we know is exceed-
ingly important, and more dollars for
vaccines and testing so that we could
get the great news of the vaccine that
we see coming forward out to every-
body in this country. We offered all
kinds of ideas to the other side, but
they blocked it—all of it. I am glad to
say that after all this, we have finally
joined together, realizing that, yes, a
deal is better than no deal.
Last week, unfortunately, a very
good friend of mine passed away after
battling coronavirus. At one point in
her life, she was a small business
owner. I thought so much about her
over the last several weeks. I thought,
what would she say if she knew that
months ago, as a small business owner,
we could have delivered the same help
to her that we are delivering today.
We have to do better by the people
we represent. It is disappointing that
politics has gotten in the way. It is dis-
appointing and, quite frankly, insult-
ing, in my view, when I see the Speaker
of the House admitting to holding out
on this relief because she thought it
would be beneficial politically in the
end. We can do much better than this.
I am also a proud member of the Ap-
propriations
Committee.
We
have
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
worked hard to get these funds and re-
sources where they are most needed,
especially in a year like this one. But
due to delays, critically needed re-
sources to combat the opioid epidemic
have had to wait; investments to im-
prove broadband have had to wait; re-
search dollars into Alzheimer’s have
had to wait; and the list goes on. This
is so frustrating to me, as it should be
to every American, and I know they
are frustrated because they tell us they
are.
But here now, we were able to in-
clude funds for things that are impor-
tant to me in my State of West Vir-
ginia, such as fossil energy research,
our universities, and the many Federal
facilities that call West Virginia home.
I encourage my colleagues to support
this important legislation that reflects
our Nation’s priorities and funds the
government, which is our responsi-
bility as Members of Congress.
Within the Omnibus appropriations
act is the fiscal year 2021 Homeland Se-
curity appropriations bill. I chair that
subcommittee, and it is with great
pride that I can report to the American
people and to West Virginians that this
title invests billions of dollars to pro-
tect our homeland.
We maintain our commitment to bor-
der security through a border wall sys-
tem to include physical barriers and
enhanced technologies.
We avoided a drastic cut to our cyber
security capabilities that we see we
need now more than ever after all of
the reports and the vicious cyber at-
tack that we uncovered that has been
launched against many of those in our
country, not just the government but
the private sector as well.
We continue our commitment to use
every resource at our disposal in the ef-
fort to prevent those opioids that are
killing our people. We see overdoses
going up and deaths from overdoses
going up during this pandemic. We
tried to get the resources to our Home-
land Security folks to prevent those
drugs from entering into this country
at all.
The men and women at the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security work con-
stantly against threats both old and
new, traditional and emerging, and de-
serve the support this legislation gives
them.
So while this is great news in the
end, I will repeat what I said earlier,
and that is, Congress can do better. We
could have done this earlier, and it
should have been done earlier. So there
is no reason we should be standing here
several days before Christmas dis-
cussing the items that were ready to go
several months ago, but we are where
we are. As we turn the page gleefully
into 2021, I think we should all pledge
to one another and to the country that
we will do better, that we will work
better with each other and prevent pol-
itics from infecting every decision that
could positively impact so many people
in this country.
Lastly, I give a hat tip to my friend,
whom I will miss seeing and who was a
great friend to our family, a longtime
friend of our family. Godspeed. I know
she is dancing up there with her mom
and dad because they loved to dance.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Kentucky.
f
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, Repub-
licans like to mock modern monetary
theory—the idea that government can
print money with impunity and that
government can spend whatever it
wants without the need to tax. Modern
monetary theory is basically the Dick
Cheney ‘‘deficits don’t matter’’ crowd,
trussed up with a new fancy title.
Most Republicans rightly lampoon
this quackery; that is, when they are
not practicing the quackery them-
selves. Today, many of these same Re-
publicans will vote for a bill that
makes modern monetary theory look
like child’s play in comparison. The
monster spending bill presented today
is not just a ‘‘deficits don’t matter’’
disaster, it is everything Republicans
say they don’t believe in.
This bill is free money for everyone.
Proponents don’t care if you are fully
employed or own your own house or
own your own business. ‘‘Free money
for everyone,’’ they cry. And yet, if
free money were the answer and if
money really grew on trees, why not
give more free money? Why not give it
out all the time? Why stop at $600 a
person? Why not $1,000? Why not $2,000?
Maybe these new free-money Repub-
licans should join the ‘‘everybody gets
a guaranteed income’’ caucus. Why not
$20,000 a year for everybody? Why not
$30,000? If we can print up money with
impunity, why not do it?
The Treasury could just keep print-
ing the money; that is, until someone
points out that the Emperor has no
clothes and that the dollar no longer
has value. To so-called conservatives
who are quick to identify the socialism
of Democrats, if you vote for this
spending monstrosity, you are no bet-
ter. When you vote to pass out free
money, you lose your soul, and you
abandon forever any semblance of
moral or fiscal integrity.
So the next time you see Republicans
in high moral dudgeon, claiming and
complaining about spending of Demo-
crats and socialism, remind them—re-
mind them if they supported this mon-
strous bill, that really the difference
between the parties is less Adam Smith
versus Marx and more Marx versus
Engels.
How bad is our fiscal situation? Well,
the Federal Government brought in
$3.3 trillion last year and spent $6.6
trillion. The deficit last year, a record-
busting $3.3 trillion. If you are looking
for more COVID bailout money, we
don’t have any. The coffers are bare.
We have no rainy day fund. We have no
savings account. Congress has spent all
the money long ago.
The economic damage from this pan-
demic is not the reason for this run-
away spending. This spending has been
going on for decades. Every year, even
before we get to all the extra COVID-
free money, we have been spending $1
trillion we don’t have.
Today’s money is gone, so Congress
is spending tomorrow’s money. The
spending chart is a red line of red ink
that goes on forever. When we talk
about spending tomorrow’s money, it is
not just the money that we need next
month. It is the money we might need
in a decade. It is the money we will
need in one, two, three generations
from now—for national defense and for
infrastructure. This is the money that
your children and your grandchildren
will pay back with interest.
The deficit doubling and tripling—
under George Bush, it went from $5
trillion to $10 trillion. Under President
Obama, it went from $10 trillion to $20
trillion. We are now at $27 trillion, but
we are adding it at $1 trillion a year be-
fore we get to this COVID budget-bust-
ing bailout.
Every tax-paying American already
owes over $136,000, and they are staring
at projections into the future that
show no end. We are $27 trillion in debt
today. How do we expect a child to
have the economic opportunity when
this crushing debt is their inheritance
from Congress? The numbers are mind-
boggling. It is hard to conceive of what
$1 billion is, much less $1 trillion.
How big is $1 billion? Well, a billion
seconds ago was 1988 and Reagan was
President. A billion minutes ago, Jesus
walked the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
A billion hours ago, man still lived in
caves. But $1 billion ago, was just 80
minutes ago—$1 billion ago, at the rate
Congress spends money, was just 80
minutes ago.
All of this should be setting off alarm
bells. But the only alarm bells in Con-
gress are sounding the alarm for more
spending and more debt. No cuts, no
offsets,
no
pay-fors,
and
no
prioritization. Just print it up. Print
up more money and give it out to ev-
erybody because it is free money. Come
and get yours while the getting is good.
But it leads to a mountain of debt.
Spend all this money and leave the fu-
ture to figure itself out.
John
Maynard
Keynes
was
once
asked: What about the long run?
He said: In the short run, you can
make a stimulus. You can print money,
and you can give it to everybody.
And Maynard Keynes, his response
was: In the long run, we will all be
dead; no concern for the future, only
for the immediate.
Our budget deficit for 2020 was $3.3
trillion, but this new spending package
will also give us another $2 trillion in
the next fiscal year. By refusing to ac-
knowledge the debt crisis, we are only
hastening the day of economic reck-
oning.
Total debt was 55 percent of GDP just
20 years ago. Today, it is 128 percent of
GDP. So our annual or our total debt is
more than our GDP—128 percent of our
GDP. The World Bank estimates there
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
is a tipping point of debt to GDP at
about 77 percent. Every percentage
point costs another 10th or so of eco-
nomic growth. So every year, we are
giving out somewhere between 5 to 8
percent of growth every year because
of this burden of debt. This is thou-
sands of jobs, every year—tens of thou-
sands of jobs that we lose because of
this burden of debt.
We are borrowing and worsening this
debt crisis in part because too many
Governors and mayors have imposed
heavyhanded restrictions that crush
business. It isn’t the pandemic that is
killing the economy; it is the govern-
ment’s overzealous response that is
killing the economy. The pandemic
itself was disruptive, but Congress is
being asked to help to perpetuate these
lockdowns. The more money we give to
the States, the more they keep us in
lockdown.
Every bailout dollar printed and
passed out to the Governors only al-
lows these tin-pot dictators to perpet-
uate the lockdowns. Their rules are ar-
bitrary and unscientific. Governors and
mayors across the country are picking
winners and losers.
Businesses, some that have been in
families for generations, are being
wiped out because they are not allowed
to open. Restaurants have to close
their doors for indoor dining, but then
they are told they can open at limited
capacity, but then they are told they
have to close again. Then they are told
they can open outside, and then they
are told they can’t open outside. Con-
fusing doesn’t even explain the half of
it.
Bars are told they can only serve al-
cohol if people are sitting and not
standing and only if they have heavy
foods on their menus.
Restaurants are told they can serve
outdoors, and then they have their per-
mission revoked after they have sunk
time and money converting their res-
taurant to outdoor services, but a ca-
terer is told they can still serve out-
side.
Businesses are told they have to
close at an arbitrary time determined
by government officials, as though the
virus only comes out late at night. A
business in one ZIP Code can open, but
one in an adjoining ZIP Code across the
street has to close, as if the virus can’t
cross an imaginary line.
Airlines are allowed to fly, but hotels
have to limit their occupancy, so you
may not have anywhere to stay when
you get there.
Mom-and-pop stores and specialty
stores are forced to close, but big-box
store competitors are allowed to stay
open.
How is any business expected to sur-
vive with this kind of arbitrary regula-
tion that changes from day to day?
Meanwhile,
many
schools
remain
closed—despite overwhelming evidence
showing kids can learn safely in per-
son—which means parents can’t go to
work, which forces parents to leave
their jobs and take care of homebound
kids. Now they have no income because
the government forced them to leave
their jobs to take care of their kids.
And many kids are struggling with this
improvised virtual school.
The need for help is real. I hear it
every day from Kentuckians and across
the country. But it is clear that gov-
ernment has worsened the economic
damage and acted as the biggest obsta-
cle to economic recovery.
There is no free money that can get
us out of this situation. The only thing
that can save us is to open the econ-
omy. If we give these tin-pot dic-
tators—these Governors—more money,
they are less likely to open the econ-
omy.
The answer is not printing up and
distributing ‘‘free money’’; it is open-
ing the economy. We are not even de-
bating the real answer to this. We are
like, just print up the money and shov-
el it out the door, the deficit be
damned, the threat of the destruction
of our currency be damned.
We can choose to let our economies
open with guidance and precautions
but not obstruction. Let people rebuild
their livelihoods. Reopen our schools so
our kids can return and parents can go
back to work.
Congress should do away with auto-
matic spending increases and scruti-
nize where in the budget we can find
savings to pay for the pressing needs
arising from the pandemic, but we
shouldn’t simply print up money and
pass it out to everyone. Or Congress
can follow the status quo. Congress can
continue to borrow from our kids—the
same children we have locked out of
our schools. Congress can keep ena-
bling and shutting down businesses by
force, spend all of today’s money and
all of tomorrow’s money, and then
good luck. Good luck figuring out how
to pay for all of this massive debt.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There
is another alternative that won’t be de-
bated, and that alternative is to open
the economy. It is not too late to
change our course. Cut unnecessary
spending. Eliminate waste. Stop fight-
ing a $50-billion-a-year war in Afghani-
stan that hasn’t had a military mission
in at least a decade.
Make the hard decisions now. We
can’t keep pretending that more debt is
a sustainable policy course. ‘‘Leader-
ship’’ is not passing on the problem to
someone who can’t protest; ‘‘leader-
ship’’ is making the hard choices now.
This is what we have to do.
I will oppose this new debt, and I will
continue to sound the alarm until we
change our course. Our country can be
saved. We can survive this if we pull to-
gether. But adding more debt is a mis-
take. It is not the solution, and we
should resist it.
Thank you.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
HAWLEY). The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I was
going to speak in a few minutes, but
things have been filed now appro-
priately.
Let me speak in my role not only as
the Senator from Vermont but as the
vice chairman of the Senate Appropria-
tions Committee. We have had months
of delay and painstaking negotiations.
Sometimes those negotiations have
gone all weekend long, until midnight,
1 or 2 o’clock in the morning. But this
afternoon, we will have before us a
spending package. It includes all 12 ap-
propriations bills for fiscal year 2021. It
also
includes
a
vitally
important
COVID relief package. Those are the
numbers and figures, but let’s talk
about what it means.
It provides funding for programs that
are critically important to the Amer-
ican people, and I would like to see it
swiftly passed and on the President’s
desk. After all, it is not like we are
suddenly rushing things. We are 2
months and 20 days into the fiscal
year. It would be absolutely outrageous
if we delayed it further.
As vice chairman of the Appropria-
tions Committee, I worked hard to
reach agreement on this Omnibus ap-
propriations bill that will fund the
Federal government through the re-
mainder of the fiscal year, without re-
lying on a long-term continuing resolu-
tion, as sometimes has been done in
the past. That was not an easy task.
The budget caps are very lean this
year, and we had to stay within those.
They provided a less than 1-percent in-
crease
in
nondefense
discretionary
spending, and that is to meet the needs
of a nation that is reeling from the
worst public health pandemic in a cen-
tury.
Under normal circumstances, that
would be difficult, but it is made even
more difficult because of the global
health and economic crisis we face.
Notwithstanding the tight top line, we
have produced a bill that provides im-
portant increases in programs that
serve the American people and invest
in our economy.
I think the bill finally drives a stake
through the heart of the administra-
tion’s effort to substantially diminish
the role of government in helping
Americans in need and in promoting
economic growth.
We all know that President Trump’s
first budget proposed to substantially
diminish the role of government. He
wanted to cut nondefense spending by 9
percent in fiscal 2018 and 18 percent by
2021. He wanted to completely elimi-
nate programs millions of Americans
rely on every day. For 4 years, in Con-
gress, leading Republicans and Demo-
crats came together and we rejected
these
ill-conceived,
arbitrary,
and
reckless cuts.
This year, I will say to my col-
leagues—those who have worked hard
with us on the Democratic side and on
the Republican side and who came to-
gether on this, and, especially, those
who worked with us in the Appropria-
tions Committee—we are going to do
the same in rejecting these arbitrary
cuts.
Now, this agreement is the product of
weeks of hard work and compromise.
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This is not the bill I would have writ-
ten on my own. It includes things I
support and, I must admit, some things
I oppose. But that is often the way leg-
islation is. No one Senator gets every-
thing that he or she wants. But to-
gether, we can get things that the
country wants, and on balance, passage
of this bill is unquestionably in the in-
terest of the American people.
Let me talk about some of those
things. The omnibus spending bill in-
cludes increases for education and
early childhood programs. It provides
more funding for substance abuse and
mental health services. I think every
one of us knows, from what we hear
from back home, that these services
are of utmost importance in these ex-
tremely difficult times. It provides
more for food assistance programs both
here and abroad—the assistance that is
desperately needed as many families
struggle to survive during this pan-
demic. And it includes increases for
housing and homelessness services to
help those who are the most vulner-
able. These are all programs that my
fellow Democrats fought hard to in-
clude.
I support this agreement. As I said, I
appreciate those who have worked with
us weekends, holidays, and after mid-
night on so many nights. But I am
deeply disappointed that Congress is so
unforgivably late in completing our
work. There is absolutely no reason
whatsoever why this bill could not
have been finished months ago.
I thank Chairman SHELBY, Chair-
woman LOWEY, and Ranking Member
GRANGER
for their cooperation and
partnership. We worked through our
differences on the Omnibus spending
bill. As the Big 4, we realized we had to
balance the needs and requests of all of
our Members. I urge all Members to
support it.
That is for the Omnibus.
Now, before us today is a much de-
layed COVID relief package. It, too, is
the product of bipartisan compromise,
and while it falls short in some critical
areas, I support the agreement. It is
also long overdue. The American peo-
ple have been waiting for help for far
too long, and I am worried our Repub-
lican leadership took a wait-and-see
approach. We were ready to go on this
last summer, but for 270 days Majority
Leader MCCONNELL and the Senate Re-
publicans have blocked every reason-
able effort to provide desperately need-
ed relief, even as Members of their
party said quietly: We wish we could do
something.
Now, this package is far from perfect,
but time is not on our side. We cannot
let the perfect be the enemy of the
good. Let’s look at what the good
things are in here. It provides much
needed investments in our economy
with support for small businesses—
small businesses like those in my State
of Vermont or those in the State of the
Presiding Officer or anybody else here.
It provides relief for unemployed work-
ers by extending unemployment bene-
fits into March. It makes investments
in vaccine production and distribution.
It supports health providers, educators
and farmers and transportation pro-
viders. It provides critical investments
to expand broadband in rural and low-
income areas, access which is vitally
important during these difficult times,
when many schools and many busi-
nesses are operating remotely.
It includes another round of direct
payments to millions of Americans
who are still struggling to pay their
mortgage or their rent and feed their
families and heat their homes and meet
their monthly obligations. Many can’t
do all those things. Now they will at
least get help.
I urged that this bill also includes $4
billion in emergency funding for the
Gavi Alliance. Let me explain that.
And I appreciate those Senators who
supported me on that money, the emer-
gency funding for Gavi. This is for the
procurement and delivery of vaccines
to countries around the world whose
rudimentary public health systems are
being
overwhelmed
by
COVID–19,
whose economies are in free fall due to
the virus. We cannot defeat this global
pandemic, and international travel and
Congress will not recover without
fighting the virus overseas.
Just as we did during the Obama ad-
ministration when we were faced with
Ebola, the administration and the Con-
gress came together and said: Sure, we
will protect here in the United States,
but we will also work at getting rid of
it in other countries because if it flour-
ishes in another country, it is an air-
plane trip away from our country.
I support the package, but I want to
be very clear. This COVID bill is only a
first step. We have to do more.
Vermonters and the American people
need more.
The direct payments included in this
package are a fraction of what we
should have provided, given the dire fi-
nancial situation of millions of people
across this Nation. People are hungry.
Unemployment continues to plague our
economies.
We
should
have
acted
months ago, but let’s at least act on
this today. Families are struggling to
pay their rent and put food on their
table.
I will continue to fight for more. I
made hundreds of phone calls from my
own State of Vermont. I talked to peo-
ple whom I never met, but I know that
they are people who are typical of
Vermonters, but they are typical of
people in any one of the States we rep-
resent. I hear the fear in their voice. I
hear the concern they have. In the mid-
dle of winter, as snow is coming down,
do we heat or do we eat? How many
meals should we, as parents, go with-
out so we can make sure our children
are fed? How are children going to do
school if they are hungry?
Look at State and local govern-
ments. Around the country, they have
laid off over 1.3 million teachers, first
responders, and other employees since
March. They need our help. Sometimes
there are things that we don’t talk
about. Rates of spousal abuse and child
abuse have increased during the crisis.
We should be providing funds for the
Violence Against Women Act and child
abuse prevention grants, just as Repub-
licans and Democrats joined me a few
years ago when I greatly expanded—
with the help of Senator MIKE CRAPO in
a
bipartisan
fashion—the
Violence
Against Women Act and the things we
did. None of us, even at that time,
could have conceived of the crisis we
are facing now in the country.
In my State, Vermonters are facing
the coldest, darkest months of winter.
They are struggling to heat their
homes. And families need help paying
their utility bills through the LIHEAP
program, and we will help that pro-
gram. When it is 20 degrees below zero
and you have had 15 inches of snow
overnight, you can’t really look at this
as an abstract thing and say: Golly,
maybe we should have a program to
heat our home. You are going to die if
you don’t.
And we are finally making progress
in delivering a vaccine to the American
people, but the pandemic is far from
over. We know that, notwithstanding a
lot of the things said about this is on
its way and everybody is going to get
one, there are huge gaps in all parts of
our country and getting the vaccine to
them.
I will be the first at the negotiating
table to work with President Biden and
the 117th Congress to address the many
needs that remain unmet in this bill.
The House will send this bill over to
us. I would urge all Members to vote on
it when it comes here.
Again, I have to look back at the his-
tory of this body. I have to look at the
people who have worked so hard on so
many things over the years. I know
that we have people in both parties
who are trying to address the needs of
our country.
I don’t say this with pleasure but
with sadness, I am the dean of the
United States Senate. Next year, I will
start my 47th year in this body. I have
seen us come together at a time when
it is needed, but then I see one of the
greatest needs I have seen in my years
in the Senate that we ignored for
month after month after month. All of
this could have been done in July or
August or September or October or No-
vember, not at the very last minute.
And why didn’t we? We had to take
time. We had to take time breaking
long tradition—all of the promises that
have been given by the other side. We
had to take time to move one special
interest-supported judge after another
to lifetime jobs, but they will be paid
well. They don’t have to worry about
paying their bills.
In all 50 of our States, we had people
being tossed out of their homes, tossed
out of their apartments, lost their jobs,
unable to feed their children, or the
fear and anxiety a parent has in telling
a child: No, I don’t know what tomor-
row will be like. I don’t know what
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
next month will be like. We will pray,
and we will hope, but I don’t know.
We could have stopped that anxiety
in June, when the House bill came over
here, or in July or in August or Sep-
tember and October and November. We
are doing some of it now.
But I ask every Senator to search
their conscience. Wouldn’t it have been
better if all of us from both sides did
something and said: Put everything
else aside, put aside all the special in-
terest nominations. Put that aside, and
let’s care for the one special interest
we should have and that is the Amer-
ican people—care for those men and
women who elected us from either
party, who rely on us.
I have never seen this country so
split apart or having such fear except
for a privileged few, and maybe that in-
cludes us. I am not here to represent
me. I am here to represent over 600,000
Vermonters and fulfill my oath to the
whole country, 320 million Americans.
What we should be doing is saying that
never again will we let these kind of
partisan politics slow us and not allow
us to go forward.
We know, and it is easy to say now,
we should have taken the bill that
came from the House of Representa-
tives last summer and brought it up on
the floor. If anybody didn’t like it, file
an amendment to change it. Vote for it
or vote against it. Vote for or against
the amendments you might bring up.
That is what we usually do. I know how
to vote. I voted over 16,000 times. Why
don’t we just vote? If we had done that
this summer, it may not be a perfect
bill, but it would be better than where
we are. Every Member—Republican and
Democratic alike—would have had a
chance to bring up their amendment.
They could have made their case, ei-
ther win or lose. We go to the com-
mittee conference; we have the bill
done.
I say all this not to just be a tech-
nocrat of what needs to be done but to
say this is how you reflect the needs of
the American people.
We faced the threat of Ebola in the
last administration. We stood together,
both parties. We helped the countries
that were suffering from Ebola and, in
doing so, we protected the United
States of America, and we helped those
in this country who might face it. That
was a shining moment. That was a mo-
ment of America at its best. This is
not.
I do hope we can do better next year.
I know as senior Democrat on the Ap-
propriations Committee, I will fight to
do better. But I also use my voice and
what example I might give as dean of
the Senate to say to both parties: Here
is what we do.
I think of such examples as Bob Dole,
one of the best leaders this Senate had,
a Republican. He came together with
Senator Pat Moynihan, one of the most
brilliant Senators I served with, a
Democrat. And that Republican and
Democrat came together and set aside
their philosophical differences, cared
for the country, and saved Social Secu-
rity.
I could give so many more examples.
That was a Senate that acted as a con-
science of the Nation, and how did they
do that? They appealed to our con-
science. I just use that one example be-
cause people said that they couldn’t
possibly do the difficult things nec-
essary to save Social Security. Demo-
crats wouldn’t give this; Republicans
wouldn’t give that. Instead, you had
two Senators of conscience who said:
We can do it. Let’s do it. Let’s use our
leadership and our conscience to bring
others
together.
And
that
distin-
guished the Republican Senator Robert
Dole, and that distinguished the Demo-
cratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moy-
nihan and they came together and we
saved Social Security.
Those of us in the Senate in both par-
ties who voted for the final package
knew we were going to have to vote for
some things that would be unpopular
with constituencies. But instead of
worrying about special interests or sin-
gle-issue constituencies, we worried
about the men and women of our
States and what they would face if we
didn’t come together. And that is what
we voted for, and we saved it.
I sometimes say that Senators are
merely constitutional impediments to
their staffs, but we could not do the
work we do without the staff.
I want to thank the staff who worked
tirelessly to produce the bill. By ‘‘tire-
lessly,’’ I mean until after midnight
many nights and weekends and holi-
days. When the rest the Senate had
gone home, they were still working. I
know them. Much of the time, I would
be on the phone with them. I would be
working with them and, finally, I
would say: It is so late. Everybody
should go to bed. When I woke up in
the morning, there would be an email
sent to me at 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock in
the morning because they kept on
working.
So I thank Chuck Kieffer, Chanda
Betourney,
Jessica
Berry,
Dianne
Nellor, Jean Taol Eisen, Erik Raven,
Doug
Clapp,
Ellen
Murray,
Scott
Nance, Rachael Taylor, Alex Keenan,
Michelle
Dominguez,
Tim
Rieser,
Dabney Hegg, and all the staff of the
Senate Appropriations Committee on
both bills. I would thank Chairman
SHELBY’s staff: Shannon Hines, Jona-
than Graffeo, and David Adkins.
Normally, at this time, Senators
might just put these names in the
RECORD, but I wanted to say them out
loud, on the floor, because they should
hear their names said out loud and
know how much I appreciate what they
have done, not just for the U.S. Senate
but for the United States of America.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President,
I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
ENCOURAGING THE GOVERNMENT
AND
THE
PEOPLE
OF
THE
UNITED STATES TO ‘‘BUY AMER-
ICAN’’
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President,
I rise today to encourage all Americans
to join the fight to support our Nation
and our jobs and stand up against the
growing threat of Communist China.
I have been saying it for months:
Buying American products is the No. 1
thing we can do to support American
jobs and stand up to our foreign adver-
saries.
There is a new Cold War occurring
between the United States and Com-
munist China, and we must be crystal
clear about the negative impacts of
continuing to buy Chinese-made prod-
ucts.
General Secretary Xi is a dictator
and human rights violator. He is yet
another Communist leader trying to be
the dominant world power.
The Communist Party of China is
stripping the people of Hong Kong of
their freedoms—as the Presiding Offi-
cer experienced when he was over
there—cracking down on dissidents,
militarizing the South China Sea, sup-
porting Maduro’s genocide in Ven-
ezuela, surveilling its citizens, and im-
prisoning more than 1 million Uighurs
in internment camps simply because of
their religion.
Communist China is stealing Amer-
ican jobs and technology and spying on
our citizens.
Is this the kind of nation we want to
be sending our money to?
Absolutely not.
Washington politicians have been too
concerned with short-term political
success and have long ignored the long-
term threats of Communist China to
our way of life but not anymore. It is
time to take action.
Now, more than ever, Americans
must remember that every time we buy
a product made in China, we are put-
ting another dollar into the pocket of
the people stealing our jobs and our
technology, denying their people basic
human rights and propping up dan-
gerous dictators like Maduro in Ven-
ezuela.
We cannot continue to rely on coun-
tries like Communist China, which lied
about the coronavirus and refused to be
a partner in solving this crisis, for crit-
ical supplies.
This outbreak has shown why we
need to end our reliance on foreign sup-
ply chains. As a nation, we need to fi-
nally take a stand and demand that
Communist China is removed from our
supply chain.
I am proud to lead my colleagues in
a
bipartisan
resolution
calling
on
Americans to buy products made in the
United States whenever possible.
Buying American is not partisan, and
I am glad my colleagues from both
sides of the aisle are continuing to
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
come together to encourage Americans
to take a stand.
I know it is not always easy, but it is
an important step we can all take at
home to support American jobs, Amer-
ican producers, and American manufac-
turers, while helping build up the U.S.
supply chain.
In my State, we take immense pride
in products made in Florida. It is a
driving force that led to our incredible
economic turnaround.
A return to this pride in homegrown
businesses and products ensures that
America remains strong as the undis-
puted leader of the global economy.
We all must do our part to support
our Nation and make it clear to Com-
munist China that the United States
won’t stand for their behavior.
I am committed to supporting Amer-
ican businesses over Chinese products.
I am urging my colleagues to join me
in this effort and pass this resolution
today.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation be dis-
charged from further consideration and
the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 625.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the resolution by
title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 625) encouraging the
Government and the people of the United
States to ‘‘Buy American’’.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged and the Senate
proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President,
I ask unanimous consent that the
Scott amendment at the desk to the
resolution be agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2726) in the na-
ture of a substitute was agreed to, as
follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the resolving clause and in-
sert the following: ‘‘That—
(1) it is the policy of the United States
Government to ‘‘Buy American’’ products for
public use when fiscally and reasonably pos-
sible, in accordance with the Buy American
Act of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); and
(2) the Senate supports American manufac-
turing and strengthening our American man-
ufacturing base.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President,
I know of no further debate on the res-
olution, as amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further debate?
Hearing none, the question is, Shall
the resolution, as amended, be agreed
to?
The resolution (S. Res. 625), as
amended, was agreed to.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President,
I ask unanimous consent that the
Scott amendment to the preamble be
agreed to, the preamble, as amended,
be agreed to, that the Scott amend-
ment to the title be agreed to, and that
the motions to reconsider be consid-
ered made and laid upon the table with
no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2727) was agreed
to as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
Strike the preamble and insert the fol-
lowing:
Whereas, on July 15, 2019, President Donald
J. Trump signed Executive Order 13881 titled
‘‘Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods,
Products, and Materials’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 34257),
which would enforce the Buy American Act
of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) to the greatest
extent permitted by law;
Whereas, the Buy American Act of 1933 re-
quires Federal agencies to procure materials
and products domestically—
(1) when the materials are intended for
public use within the United States; and
(2) when the materials to be procured (or
the materials from which they are manufac-
tured) are present in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available commer-
cial quantities of a satisfactory quality;
Whereas American-made products are de-
veloped under United States’ regulations and
undergo testing to ensure their compliance
with United States’ safety standards, which
are among the highest standards in the
world;
Whereas American-made products are pro-
duced by workers earning competitive wages
and working in safe working conditions;
Whereas purchasing American-made prod-
ucts supports the producers of those prod-
ucts and their communities;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturing
Institute, each dollar spent in sales of manu-
factured products supports $1.33 in output
from other sectors of the economy;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturers
Alliance for Productivity and Innovation
Foundation, for every full-time job in manu-
facturing, there are 3.4 full-time equivalent
jobs created in non-manufacturing indus-
tries;
Whereas, according to a 2017 poll conducted
by Reuters and Ipsos, when buying products,
nearly 70 percent of Americans find it impor-
tant that the products they buy were made
in the United States;
Whereas strengthening American manufac-
turing supports employment in the United
States, produces innovation and the seeds for
future industries, and supports the global
competitiveness of the United States;
Whereas a strong American manufacturing
base is an important component in helping
to revitalize the United States economy as it
recovers from the global COVID–19 pan-
demic;
Whereas a strong domestic supply chain
for certain goods and close cooperation with
trusted allies can support national security
and public safety;
Whereas the global COVID–19 pandemic
presented significant challenges for the glob-
ally interconnected supply chain of medical
products and has heightened the need for
supply chain security of a variety of critical
materials and products; and
Whereas, regarding the manufacturing of
critical medical supplies and products essen-
tial to national security, national stockpiles
and a healthy domestic industrial base would
help handle any future surge in need for
these supplies: Now, therefore, be it
The
preamble,
as
amended,
was
agreed to.
The amendment (No. 2728) was agreed
to as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the title)
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A resolu-
tion affirming the benefits of ‘Buying Amer-
ican’.’’.
The resolution, as amended, with its
preamble, as amended, reads as follows:
S. RES. 625
Whereas, on July 15, 2019, President Donald
J. Trump signed Executive Order 13881 titled
‘‘Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods,
Products, and Materials’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 34257),
which would enforce the Buy American Act
of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) to the greatest
extent permitted by law;
Whereas, the Buy American Act of 1933 re-
quires Federal agencies to procure materials
and products domestically—
(1) when the materials are intended for
public use within the United States; and
(2) when the materials to be procured (or
the materials from which they are manufac-
tured) are present in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available commer-
cial quantities of a satisfactory quality;
Whereas American-made products are de-
veloped under United States’ regulations and
undergo testing to ensure their compliance
with United States’ safety standards, which
are among the highest standards in the
world;
Whereas American-made products are pro-
duced by workers earning competitive wages
and working in safe working conditions;
Whereas purchasing American-made prod-
ucts supports the producers of those prod-
ucts and their communities;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturing
Institute, each dollar spent in sales of manu-
factured products supports $1.33 in output
from other sectors of the economy;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturers
Alliance for Productivity and Innovation
Foundation, for every full-time job in manu-
facturing, there are 3.4 full-time equivalent
jobs created in non-manufacturing indus-
tries;
Whereas, according to a 2017 poll conducted
by Reuters and Ipsos, when buying products,
nearly 70 percent of Americans find it impor-
tant that the products they buy were made
in the United States;
Whereas strengthening American manufac-
turing supports employment in the United
States, produces innovation and the seeds for
future industries, and supports the global
competitiveness of the United States;
Whereas a strong American manufacturing
base is an important component in helping
to revitalize the United States economy as it
recovers from the global COVID–19 pan-
demic;
Whereas a strong domestic supply chain
for certain goods and close cooperation with
trusted allies can support national security
and public safety;
Whereas the global COVID–19 pandemic
presented significant challenges for the glob-
ally interconnected supply chain of medical
products and has heightened the need for
supply chain security of a variety of critical
materials and products; and
Whereas, regarding the manufacturing of
critical medical supplies and products essen-
tial to national security, national stockpiles
and a healthy domestic industrial base would
help handle any future surge in need for
these supplies: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) it is the policy of the United States
Government to ‘‘Buy American’’ products for
public use when fiscally and reasonably pos-
sible, in accordance with the Buy American
Act of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); and
(2) the Senate supports American manufac-
turing and strengthening our American man-
ufacturing base.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7900
December 21, 2020
The legislative clerk proceeded to
call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, here we
are, the 21st of December, 4 days till
Christmas, and Congress is finally get-
ting around to doing its duty on
COVID–19 relief, as well as the Omni-
bus appropriations bill, which will keep
the government open and keep the
lights on through the end of the fiscal
year next September.
I have to editorialize here that I
think this is a terrible process. It is a
terrible process. I just saw one of the
Texas delegation House Members say-
ing: I am expected to review thousands
of pages of an appropriations bill and
COVID–19 relief bill in the next couple
of hours and then vote on it this
evening?
Well, we will be in the same posture.
As terrible as this process is, it was in-
tentionally created. I am sure that the
Appropriations
chairman,
RICHARD
SHELBY, and Leader MCCONNELL would
have loved to have had a regular appro-
priations process to vote out each of
the subcommittee appropriations and
pass them using regular order, giving
the Members of the Congress a chance
to offer amendments and maybe im-
prove the bill, but we weren’t provided
that opportunity because, essentially,
the Democratic leader and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives under-
stand that this kind of broken process
empowers them to the detriment of in-
dividual Members of the Congress and
to the detriment of the people we rep-
resent. It empowers them, not the
rank-and-file Members.
So, I believe this is a—and the same
thing is true on COVID–19, of course.
We passed the CARES Act in March.
We tried to come back and replenish
some of those funds. We were success-
ful in doing so, for example, in the Pay-
check Protection Program, but it was
obvious there was more need, and on at
least three occasions—maybe four, but
at least three—we offered another half
trillion dollars in relief, only to be
blocked by Democrats here in the Sen-
ate.
Speaker PELOSI was candid. She basi-
cally said: Well, this is about politics.
We don’t want President Trump to get
credit for Congress stepping up in a bi-
partisan way to provide relief to the
American people in the runup to the
election.
So this is where we are. We know
what we have to do. We have to prevent
the government from shutting down.
We know that there is genuine need
across the country for more COVID–19
relief, so we need to do that. But I
would also point out, we are going to
do roughly $900 billion of an additional
COVID–19 relief bill when Speaker
PELOSI and the Democratic leader in
the Senate, Senator SCHUMER, turned
down a $1.8 trillion offer from Sec-
retary of the Treasury Mnuchin. So,
rather than accept twice as much ear-
lier because it didn’t fit their political
playbook, now they are accepting half
when they realized they have run out
of runway.
Well, the monthslong stalemate has
finally broken. Yesterday evening, the
so-called ‘‘four corners’’—the Speaker,
the Republican leader in the House, the
Democratic minority leader here in the
Senate, and Senator MCCONNELL—they
reached agreement on a bipartisan
package of bills to support the Amer-
ican people through the continued
fight against COVID–19. And despite
my comments about the process and
what brings us here with so little time
and ability to affect some of the con-
tent, I hope this legislation will pass
and reach the President’s desk in a
matter of hours.
I think we could all agree that this
bill could not have come soon enough.
Since this summer, Republicans and
Democrats have been miles apart on
the size and shape of the next COVID–
19 bill. Democrats, as I indicated, want-
ed a $3 trillion bill they called the He-
roes Act, while we supported a more
targeted
approach.
That
is
when
Speaker PELOSI uttered those now fa-
mous words: Nothing is better than
something.
Well, I have always believed that
something is better than nothing. But
the
big-picture
disagreements
pre-
vented any progress from being made,
even though we, by and large, agreed
on about 80 percent of what needed to
be done, and that is included in the bill
that we will vote on here in the next
few hours.
Well, after the election, the Speaker
and Democratic leader here in the Sen-
ate, I guess, decided that they no
longer needed to hold the American
people hostage because the election
had now come and gone. So there were
bipartisan negotiations that broke out,
which have led to targeted package
bills—to a targeted package that could
earn the support of both parties and
the signature of President Trump. It is
safe to say there could not be a more
urgent need for action from Congress.
The last several days have proven
that we are, indeed, at an inflection
point—turning point—in our ongoing
fight against the virus. One successful
vaccine has already been administered
to thousands of healthcare workers
across the country. In my State alone,
the Governor estimates that a million
people will be vaccinated by the end of
this month. That is something we
should all be thankful for and applaud.
On Friday evening, the FDA author-
ized a second safe and effective vaccine
made by Moderna, meaning that mil-
lions more doses will be reaching
Americans—in particular, our frontline
heroes—in the coming days. These are
developments that we have been wait-
ing, hoping, investing, and praying for,
but it is not a silver bullet. We are still
battling this pandemic, and it is likely
to be with us for the foreseeable future.
But the good news is, people who are
particularly
vulnerable
because
of
their age or underlying chronic ill-
nesses will likely be able to get the
vaccine no later than March. Dr. Fauci
said that by June, anybody in America
who wants the vaccine can get it.
This next phase of our fight will de-
termine how quickly we are able to de-
feat COVID–19 and regrow our econ-
omy. This legislation will clearly help
us get there.
First, it will provide the needed sup-
port for vaccine distribution. Not only
has there been a modern-day medical
miracle in developing these safe and ef-
fective vaccines, but now the logistics
of getting it to 330 million people in
America are completely daunting, but
it is happening. Millions of doses have
already been delivered to hospitals
across the country, and in the coming
months, tens of millions more will be
distributed as we launch this massive
vaccination campaign.
While the cost of the vaccine has al-
ready been covered, the range of associ-
ated expenses that come with it has
not been. For everything from trans-
portation infrastructure to deliver the
vaccines
to
ultra-low
temperature
freezers to store them, to personal pro-
tective equipment for our healthcare
heroes to safely administer them, those
costs have added up and need to be pro-
vided for in this legislation. This legis-
lation will, in fact, provide billions of
dollars to help cover these kinds of
costs and to ensure the race to dis-
tribute these vaccines is as successful
as the race to develop them.
Part of that is through relief for air-
lines, which will transport the vaccines
to communities across the country.
This assistance will enable our airlines
to carry out their important role in the
vaccine relay race, all while keeping
their employees on payroll and pre-
paring for a strong postpandemic re-
covery.
These two successful vaccines so far
are moving us closer and closer to the
end of this crisis, but we still have a
ways to go, and the American people
need and deserve our support in getting
there.
Millions of workers have no way to
earn a paycheck. Food banks are expe-
riencing
Depression-era
lines
each
week. Farmers and ranchers have lost
their traditional markets. Small busi-
nesses are sinking, and parents and
teachers are still worried about a safe
return to in-person learning for our
students.
This targeted relief package will send
desperately needed support to each of
these groups for each of those causes.
The workers who had the rug pulled
out from them earlier this year will
continue to receive the federally en-
hanced unemployment benefits under
the CARES Act that would otherwise
expire the day after Christmas. And
State unemployment benefits will be
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7901
December 21, 2020
bolstered, as I said, by $300 a week in
Federal benefits through March 14 of
next year.
We will also provide a second, more
targeted direct payment to the hardest
hit Americans, with up to $600 per indi-
vidual. That means that a family of
four making up to $150,000 will receive
$2,400 in the coming days. This bill will
ensure that the basic needs of low-in-
come households, schoolchildren, and
those in long lines at food banks will
be met.
It also provides $13 billion for a time-
limited Federal nutrition benefit in-
crease, as well as at least $1.9 billion
for the Coronavirus Food Assistance
Program at food banks.
Our farmers and ranchers and pro-
ducers who have lost significant or all
the value of their crops will also re-
ceive $13 billion in agricultural assist-
ance to strengthen the farm safety net
which benefits us all.
This has been a difficult year for mil-
lions of families in Texas and across
the country as parents have worried
about how to pay bills and buy gro-
ceries, let alone Christmas gifts under
their tree for their children.
I know this will not erase all of the
financial uncertainty, but it will go a
long way to provide some help to those
whose livelihoods have been thrown
into chaos, and I hope it will also pro-
vide reassurance for the parents and
teachers who have worried about a safe
return to in-person learning.
This legislation provides $82 billion
for education and will help our K–12
students, colleges, and universities get
their education programs back on
track.
This relief bill will also extend addi-
tional support to Texas small busi-
nesses. Our small businesses continue
to struggle with the arrival of winter
weather. That has been especially true
for restaurants and other businesses
that have relied on outdoor seating.
Many of these businesses utilized the
Paycheck Protection Program to help
them cover payroll and other expenses
earlier this year, but the program ex-
pired in August, and our hardest hit
small businesses are in dire need of
more support.
This legislation will provide another
$284 billion in the Paycheck Protection
Program. This has been an enormously
successful program in my State, with
414,000 loans that are convertible into
grants
under
some
circumstances
worth some $41 billion. This has been a
lifesaver for many of our small busi-
nesses and the workers they employ.
The hardest hit businesses will be able
to take a second draw of the PPP and
provide for stability for their busi-
nesses and their employee until this
crisis ends.
I am glad this bill also includes lan-
guage from a bill I introduced to clar-
ify tax deductibility for business ex-
penses paid with a forgiven PPP loan.
The average PPP loan in Texas was
$99,000, and without this change, those
businesses that received that PPP loan
and grant would face a $36,000 tax li-
ability.
That would start to show up in Janu-
ary with the estimated taxes being
paid by many small businesses that
pay on a quarterly basis. That sort of
unexpected tax liability would be a
slap in the face for those businesses
that saw this life ring and decided to
grab a hold of it. This change will en-
sure loan recipients aren’t saddled with
an unexpected tax liability that could
absolutely sink their struggling busi-
nesses that have been hanging on by a
thread.
I appreciate Chairman GRASSLEY of
the
Finance
Committee,
Ranking
Member WYDEN, and their staffs for
fighting to include this change, which
will clarify that these expenses should
have been tax deductible all along.
That is what Congress intended in
March when we passed the CARES Act.
I am also glad the Omnibus that is
paired with this package includes other
legislation that I introduced with our
friend AMY
KLOBUCHAR, the Senator
from Minnesota, called the Save Our
Stages Act, designed to help our small
independent
entertainment
venues
across the country from closing their
doors for good.
These Main Street businesses were
excluded from the original Paycheck
Protection Program, even though they
were among some of the hardest hit
small businesses. Event venues were
the first to close when COVID–19 hit,
and they are likely to be the last to
open once it is gone. This funding will
help them stay afloat until that long-
awaited day finally arrives.
I thank Senator KLOBUCHAR, who has
been my partner in this bipartisan ef-
fort, as well as Senator RUBIO, who has
been a champion for these venues dur-
ing the final critical stages of negotia-
tions.
The government funding legislation
includes a number of other bipartisan
bills which have had nearly unanimous
support in both the House and the Sen-
ate, including a bill I introduced with
our colleague BOB MENENDEZ from New
Jersey.
This legislation will finally, after 25
years or more, establish a National
Museum of the American Latino, which
will improve Latino representation
within the Smithsonian Institution.
This museum will honor the contribu-
tions of Latinos throughout our Na-
tion’s history and give their stories a
brick-and-mortar home here in our Na-
tion’s Capital. I am thrilled that gen-
erations of Americans will be able to
get a more accurate view of our Na-
tion’s history when they visit this new
Smithsonian museum, and I can’t wait
to be among its first visitors.
There is no question that there are
additional measures I would have liked
to
have
seen
included
in
the
coronavirus relief legislation, and I am
sure that is true for every Member. But
this targeted package includes critical
funding and support for Texans and
Americans at this watershed moment,
and it will break the stalemate which
has paralyzed Congress for months
now.
The American people are suffering. It
is not time for politics as usual. It is a
time to come together to compromise
and to make good on our commitment
to support them.
I appreciate the work of our col-
leagues who fought for a deal that will
give our country added strength during
this next critical phase of our fight,
and I look forward to voting for this
legislation.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the order for the quorum call
be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
BUILDING UP INDEPENDENT LIVES
AND DREAMS ACT
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee
on
Banking,
Housing,
and
Urban Affairs be discharged from fur-
ther consideration of S. 371 and the
Senate proceed to its immediate con-
sideration.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 371) to provide regulatory relief
to charitable organizations that provide
housing assistance, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the Fischer substitute at the
desk be considered and agreed to; that
the bill, as amended, be considered
read a third time and passed; and that
the motion to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2729) in the na-
ture of a substitute was agreed to, as
follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Up
Independent Lives and Dreams Act’’ or the
‘‘BUILD Act’’.
SEC. 2. MORTGAGE LOAN TRANSACTION DISCLO-
SURE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) TILA AMENDMENT.—Section 105 of the
Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1604) is
amended by inserting after subsection (d) the
following:
‘‘(e) DISCLOSURE
FOR
CHARITABLE
MORT-
GAGE LOAN TRANSACTIONS.—With respect to a
mortgage loan transaction involving a resi-
dential mortgage loan offered at 0 percent
interest with only bonafide and reasonable
fees and that is primarily for charitable pur-
poses by an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7902
December 21, 2020
and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code, forms HUD–1 and GFE
(as defined under section 1024.2(b) of title 12,
Code of Federal Regulations) together with a
disclosure substantially in the form of the
Loan Model Form H–2 (as depicted in Appen-
dix H to part 1026 of title 12, Code of Federal
Regulations) shall, collectively, be an appro-
priate model form for purposes of subsection
(b) of this section.’’.
(b) RESPA AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of
1974 (12 U.S.C. 2603) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE
FOR
CHARITABLE
MORT-
GAGE LOAN TRANSACTIONS.—With respect to a
mortgage loan transaction involving a resi-
dential mortgage loan offered at 0 percent
interest with only bonafide and reasonable
fees and that is primarily for charitable pur-
poses, an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code may use forms HUD–1 and
GFE (as defined under section 1024.2(b) of
title 12, Code of Federal Regulations) to-
gether with a disclosure substantially in the
form of the Loan Model Form H–2 (as de-
picted in Appendix H to part 1026 of title 12,
Code of Federal Regulations), collectively, in
lieu of the disclosure published under sub-
section (a) of this section.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The amendments
made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take ef-
fect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The bill (S. 371), as amended, was or-
dered to be engrossed for a third read-
ing, was read the third time, and
passed.
f
RESTORING RESILIENT REEFS ACT
OF 2019
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation be discharged from fur-
ther consideration of S. 2429 and the
Senate proceed to its immediate con-
sideration.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Ms.
ERNST). The clerk will report the bill
by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2429) to reauthorize the Coral
Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and to estab-
lish the United States Coral Reef Task
Force, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the Rubio amendment at the
desk be agreed to, and that the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third
time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2730), in the na-
ture of a substitute, was agreed to.
(Purpose: In the nature of a sub-
stitute.)
(The amendment is printed in today’s
RECORD under ‘‘Text of Amendments.’’)
The bill was ordered to be engrossed
for a third reading and was read the
third time.
Mr. CORNYN. I know of no further
debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further debate?
Hearing none, the bill having been
read the third time, the question is,
Shall the bill pass?
The bill (S. 2429), as amended, was
passed.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
JULIUS ROSENWALD AND THE
ROSENWALD SCHOOLS ACT OF 2020
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I
now ask unanimous consent that the
Senate proceed to the immediate con-
sideration of H.R. 3250, which was re-
ceived from the House.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3250) to require the Secretary
of the Interior to conduct a special resource
study of the sites associated with the life
and legacy of the noted American philan-
thropist
and
business
executive
Julius
Rosenwald, with a special focus on the
Rosenwald Schools, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the bill be considered read a
third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill was ordered to a third read-
ing and was read the third time.
Mr. CORNYN. I know of no further
debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further debate?
Hearing none, the bill having been
read the third time, the question is,
Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 3250) was passed.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
JIMMY
CARTER
NATIONAL
HIS-
TORICAL PARK REDESIGNATION
ACT
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
ate proceed to the immediate consider-
ation of H.R. 5472, which was received
from the House.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 5472) to redesignate the Jimmy
Carter National Historic Site as the ‘‘Jimmy
Carter National Historical Park’’.
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the bill be considered read a
third time and passed and that the mo-
tion to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 5472) was ordered to a
third reading, was read the third time,
and passed.
f
DIRECT ENHANCEMENT OF SNAP-
PER
CONSERVATION
AND
THE
ECONOMY THROUGH NOVEL DE-
VICES ACT OF 2020
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation be discharged from fur-
ther consideration of H.R. 5126 and the
Senate proceed to its immediate con-
sideration.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 5126) to require individuals
fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain de-
scending devices, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the bill be considered read a
third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill was ordered to a third read-
ing and was read the third time.
Mr. CORNYN. I know of no further
debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there
is no further debate on the bill, the bill
having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 5126) was passed.
Mr. CORNYN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CORNYN. I suggest the absence
of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I
ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
THANKING STAFF
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, so
much of the Senate’s work happens be-
hind the scenes and out of the spot-
light. Over the past few weeks, there
are scores of Senate staffers—probably
more than scores; hundreds, I would
say—who have spent many late nights
and some sleepless ones putting this
emergency relief and omnibus bill to-
gether, so I wanted to come back to the
floor today and acknowledge all of the
hard-working Senate Democratic staff.
To create a law, there are staffs from
committees and Senators’ offices who
are truly experts. They make sure
what we Senators want to achieve is
written properly. They have years—
some, decades—of experience in their
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7903
December 21, 2020
subject area. They are libraries of in-
formation of how programs work. They
are also creative thinkers and masters
of accomplishing what Senators might
think is easy—turning a few lines of
our direction into legislative text—
under tremendous time pressure and,
lately, during the pandemic.
These are the names of some of the
Senate’s unsung heroes to whom we all
owe an amazing debt of gratitude:
From the Committee on Appropria-
tions: Charles ‘‘Chuck’’ Kieffer, Chanda
Betourney, Hannah Chauvin, Dianne
Nellor, Jean Toal Eisen, Erik Raven,
Doug
Clapp,
Ellen
Murray,
Scott
Nance, Rachael Taylor, Alex Keenan,
Jessica Berry, Michelle Dominguez,
Tim Rieser, and Dabney Hegg.
From the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs: Beth Coo-
per, Megan Cheney, Homer Carlisle,
Elisha
Tuku,
Corey
Frayer,
Jan
Singelmann, Jeremy Hekhuis, Colin
McGinnis, Phil Rudd, and Laura Swan-
son.
From the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation: David
Strickland, Melissa Porter, Ronce Al-
mond, David Marten, Doug Anderson,
Laurence Wildgoose, Kara Fischer, Mi-
chael
Davisson,
John
Branscome,
Shawn Bone, Alicia Brown, Mary Guen-
ther, Jared Bomberg, Narda Jones,
John
Beezer,
Sara
Gonzalez-Rothi,
Nikky Teutschel, and Chris Day.
From the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs:
Lena
Chang,
Annika
Christensen,
Alexa
Noruk,
Yelena
Tsilker,
and
David Weinberg.
From the Committee on Health, Edu-
cation, Labor, and Pensions: Evan
Schatz, John Righter, Nick Bath, Andi
Fristedt,
Kara
Marchione,
Amanda
Beaumont,
Nikki
McKinney,
Joe
Shantz, Kendra Isaacson, Colin Gold-
finch,
Manuel
Contreras,
Bryce
McKibben,
Mary
Barry,
Garrett
Devenney, Leila Schochet, and Katlin
Backfield.
From the Select Committee on Intel-
ligence:
Brett
Freedman,
Jon
Rosenwasser, and Mike Casey.
From the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations: Andrew Keller, Ruchi Gill,
Heather
Flynn,
Sarah
Arkin,
and
Shelby Boxenbaum.
From the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry: Joe Shultz,
Jacqlyn Schneider, Mary Beth Schultz,
Susan
Keith,
Kyle
Varner,
Katie
Naessens, Claire Borzner, Sean Bab-
ington, and Adam Tarr.
From the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources: Renae Black, Sam
Fowler, Brie Van Cleve, Rory Stanley,
Luke Bassett, Elliot Howard, Zahava
Urecki, Nicole Buell, Armando Avila,
Adam Berry, Bryan Petit, Melanie
Thornton, and Rod Beresford.
From the Committee on Environ-
ment and Public Works: John Kane,
Annie D’Amato, Mark Mendenhall, An-
drew Rogers, Mary Frances Repko,
Laura Gillam, Michal Freedhoff, and
Lucy Xiao.
From the Committee on Finance:
Bobby Andres, Chris Arneson, Adam
Carasso,
Drew
Crouch,
Elizabeth
Dervan, Anne Dwyer, Mike Evans, Jon-
athan Goldman, Taylor Harvey, Eliza-
beth Jurinka, Rachael Kauss, Tom
Klouda, Sally Laing, Virginia Lenahan,
Kristen Lunde, Greta Peisch, Sarah
Schaefer,
Ashley
Schapitl,
Joshua
Sheinkman,
Tiffany
Smith,
Kelly
Szafara, Beth Vrabel, Jayme White,
Arielle Woronoff, and Marisa Morin.
From the Special Committee on
Aging: Stacy Sanders, Michael Gamel-
McCormick,
Samantha
Koehler,
Rashage Green, Keith Miller, and Josh
Kramer.
From the Committee on Indian Af-
fairs: Kim Moxley, Josh Mahan, An-
thony Sedillo, and Jennifer Romero.
I am sure this is very hard on our ste-
nographers, but thank you very much.
From the Committee on Small Busi-
ness
and
Entrepreneurship:
Sean
Moore, Ron Storhaug, Kevin Wheeler,
Jacob Press, and Therese Meers.
From the Committee on Rules and
Administration:
Dusty
Brandenburg
and Lindsey Kerr.
So to all of those great people and
many more—and I apologize if there
are some we have left out—thank you,
thank you, thank you, to everyone on
the committees.
I also want, for a moment, to thank
my staff. Everyone believes they have
the best staff on the Hill. I am cer-
tainly no exception. I would never ever,
ever be able to do what I do without
them. I know over the past several
days many of them have tested the
limits of exhaustion, hardly sleeping at
all, but I want them to know that all
their energy, ingenuity, and brilliance
will have made the lives of their fellow
citizens better in New York and across
the country.
I have told them that they can look
back at any age and know they have
kept businesses going, kept people em-
ployed, kept people fed, kept people
from getting sick, and even kept people
from dying, kept people alive. That is
the great work my staff and the other
staffs have done.
So to my staff, whom I am so deeply,
deeply grateful to, thank you, thank
you. Thank you to my chief, Mike
Lynch; my deputy chief, Erin Sager
Vaughn; my policy director, Gerry
Petrella, and my legislative director
and his wife, Meghan Taira; my State
director, Martin Brennan; deputy State
director, Steve Mann; Steve Barton;
Mike Ianelli; and all the regional direc-
tors from across the State.
The executive team in my office is a
tremendous asset to me and to the
Democratic caucus: Michelle Mittler,
Megan Murphy Vlasto, Emily Sweda,
Raisa Shah, and Sophia Coutavas.
The press team supports both me and
the entire Democratic caucus day in
and day out: Justin Goodman, Alex
Nguyen, Monica Lee, Ken Meyer, An-
gelo Roefaro, Allison Biasotti, Paige
Tepke, Alice Nam, and everyone at the
Senate Democratic Media Center.
Jasmine Harris, Oriana Pina, and
Dan Yoken and his amazing team of re-
searchers: Andrew Ogden, Leela Najafi,
and Hanna Talley.
The whole team is supported by the
great budding talent of our press as-
sistants: Alexandra Robinson, Alexa
Sledge, and Cyre Velez.
Cietta Kiandoli, Sol Ortega, and
Julietta Lopez do fantastic engage-
ment with many groups of people af-
fected by the legislation we pass.
Josh Molofsky and Tony Rivera are
my speechwriters and every day bring
poetry
and
organization
to
my
thoughts.
A special, special thanks to the Schu-
mer ‘‘Legislative Team.’’ These staff-
ers are so incredibly hard-working and
are always striving to find the best so-
lution for our country and New York:
Anna Taylor and Marisa Hawley; Jon
Cardinal, Leeann Sinpatanasakul, and
Rob Hickman; Mike Kuiken, Reza
Zomorrodian, and Yazeed Abdelhaq;
Matt Fuentes, Dili Sundaramoorthy,
and Juan Negrete; Christina Hender-
son, who just won for city council in
Washington, DC, and is leaving us;
Ramon Carranza; Catalina Tam; Lane
Bodian and Rodney Kazibwe; Veronica
Watters; Zack Rosenblum, Ryan Eagan
and Jasmin Aleman; Adrian Deveny,
Tim Ryder; Sean Byrne, Annie Daly
and Vandan Patel; Reggie Babin, Lucy
Panza, Mark Patterson, Didier Barjon;
Helena Contes; Charlie Ellsworth, Kai
Vogel; Jim Secreto, Patricio Gonzalez,
and Josh Gutmaker.
And, of course, I have to thank the
brilliant
floor
staff
led
by
Gary
Myrick. What a blessing.
A special thank-you from me and the
caucus and the entire staff to Tricia
Engle, Dan Tinsley, Brad Watt, Steph-
anie
Paone,
Liza
Patterson,
Nate
Oursler, and Rachel Jackson.
Thank you and also farewell to
Reema Dodin, Senator DURBIN’s tre-
mendous floor staffer who for years has
looked after the caucus and the floor.
She is heading to the White House to
help
the
President-elect,
and
we
couldn’t be happier and prouder to
have a Senate denizen at the other end
of Pennsylvania Avenue.
There are so many more incredible
staffers who deserve recognition and
thanks for making this institution
come to life. My entire staff helped
with the efforts this year, and as I con-
clude today, they are still helping. I
would like to include all of their names
in the RECORD.
Madam President, I ask unanimous
consent to have printed in the RECORD
the following names:
There being no objection; the mate-
rial was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
Yazeed
Abdelhaq;
Kathleen
Achibair;
Jasmin Aleman; Garrett Armwood; Reggie
Babin; Robert Banez; Didier Barjon; Steve
Barton; Sharon Battle; Jackie Benavides; Al-
lison Biasotti; Tinae Bluitt; Lane Bodian;
Quinn Bowman; Martin Brennan; Caroline
Burns; Sean Byrne; Jon Cardinal; Ramon
Carranza; Joyce.Chang Prepis.
Kristen
Charlery;
Emily
Cole;
Helena
Contes; Andrew Cook; Dave Cooke; Sophie
Coutavas; Annie Daly; Tushar Dayal; Adrian
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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Deveny; Jeff Dickson; Lindsay Dirienzo;
Ryan Eagan; Charlie Ellsworth; Marissa
Emanuel; Tricia Engle; Kelly Fado; Sam
Flood; Matt Fuentes; Joel Geertsma; Megan
Glander; Patricio Gonzalez; Justin Goodman;
Hayley Gray-Hoehn; Joshua Gutmaker.
Gunnar Haberl; Jasmine Harris; Marisa
Hawley; Christina Henderson; Rob Hickman;
Jon Housley; Amber Huus; Mike Iannelli;
Steven Heka; Rachel Jackson; Jessica Ja-
maica; Rodney Kazibwe; Cietta Kiandoli;
Mike Kuiken; Monica Lee; Julietta Lopez;
Mike Lynch; Grace Magaletta; Steve Mann;
Amy Mannering; Anneliese Marcojohn; Jor-
dan Marshall; Ryan Martin; Hemen Mehta.
Ken
Meyer;
Michelle
Mittler;
Josh
Molofsky; Catey Moore; Michelle Moreno-
Silva;
Rachel
Morgan;
Megan
Murphy
Vlasto; Gary Myrick; Leela Najafi; Alice
Nam;
Juan
Negrete;
Joe
Nehme;
Alex
Nguyen; Jordan Nicholson; Diana Nunez; An-
drew Odgren; Lorenzo Olvera; Suzan Orlove;
Sol Ortega; Rebecca Osmolski; Nate Oursler;
Lucy Panza; Stephanie Paone.
Vandan Patel; Liza Patterson; Mark Pat-
terson; Gerry Petrella; Oriana Pina; William
Reese; Tony Rivera; Alexandra Robinson;
Scott
Rodman;
Angelo
Roefaro;
Zack
Rosenblum; Tim Ryder; Jim Secreto; Nelson
Seijas;
Raisa
Shah;
Tyson
Sharbaugh;
Leeann Sinpatanasakul; Amanda Skapnit;
Alexa Sledge; Hannah Smith; Bre Sonnier-
Thompson;
Amanda
Spellicy;
Dili
Sundararnoorthy.
Emily
Sweda;
Hanna
Talley;
Meghan
Taira; Catalina Tarn; Anna Taylor; Taylor
Terri; Paige Tepke; Kirnarah Timothy; Dan
Tinsley; Erin Sager Vaughn; Cyre Velez; Ni-
cole Vorgona; Kai Vogel; Karine Vorperian-
Grillo; Brad Watt; Veronica Watters; Emma
Weir; Dan Yoken; Maxwell Young; Nora
Younkin;
Chris
Zeltrnann;
Reza
Zommorrodian.
Mr. SCHUMER. It is a lot of names.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Alaska.
f
TRIBUTE TO MIKE ANDERSON
Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I
would like to recognize a critical mem-
ber of my staff, Mike Anderson—he is
known as ‘‘Big Mike’’—who left my of-
fice in August to pursue a legal career
in his hometown of Anchorage, AK—
something he has aspired to do since a
young age.
Mike was my communications direc-
tor, but it was much more of an appro-
priate title for Mike because he di-
rected so many things in my office, so
much of our communication both in-
ternally and externally. You would
often find Mike going from staff mem-
ber to staff member, asking them ques-
tions, relaying information from one
team to the next.
In our office, if you had a question
about what anybody was up to, what
anybody was doing in Alaska, here in
our DC office, in our Alaskan offices,
you would ask Mike. That is a special
quality. He is an incredibly hard work-
er, incredibly gifted young man, and we
are going to miss that talent in Mike
very much.
Mike is no stranger to Alaska polit-
ical offices. Fresh out of college at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks, he
took a job with Congressman YOUNG
and then worked for Senator MUR-
KOWSKI.
In 2014, he was looking for a little
more adventure on the calm side. I was
looking for someone to help with my
communications on my campaign. It
was my first run for office. I was run-
ning against an incumbent with big
name recognition in our State. Mike
came on board and took a chance on
me. It is something I will never for-
get—loyal, great worker.
He had been taking a lot of classes at
night at Catholic University of Amer-
ica for the past few years, working in
my office, and balancing it all. He was
on the clock around the clock and did
it with grace, humor, hard work, and
excellence.
As I mentioned, he was our office
communicator, but he was also the of-
fice friend, the person you would go to
for advice on things big and small, the
person you would call on for an assist
if you needed to move. It helped that
he lived up to his name—6 feet, 8
inches. He is a big guy. Mike always
showed up, working together—as we
called in our office one team, one fight.
We got big things done for our State.
Speaking of one team, one fight, my
office has a pretty good hoops team.
Mike, as you can imagine—UAF var-
sity basketball player back in Alaska—
was the critical member of that team.
We have won a lot of games, particu-
larly against the Cruz Texans. In fact,
Senator CRUZ once gave Mike the nick-
name ‘‘Denali’’ for his size and how he
dominates the middle of the key on the
hoops court.
Mike is going to make a great lawyer
in Alaska. As a State, we have so much
potential—the biggest fisheries in the
country, the largest energy fields, huge
military complexes, and fascinating,
important Alaskan Native legal issues.
More than anything, Alaska needs good
leaders with integrity, brilliant law-
yers, hard-working people like Mike
who love their State and give it all
back to their State, and that is what
he is going to do.
We haven’t seen the last of Mike. He
has always been part of our team, and
I am sure that is what he will do, work-
ing continually in the great State of
Alaska to make sure our State thrives.
Mike, great job. Good luck to you.
You are going to be missed. Best wish-
es on a bright future ahead.
f
CHINA
Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President,
despite what you might be reading in
the press, there are a lot of recent, im-
portant, bipartisan achievements hap-
pening right here in the Senate. We are
going to vote soon on another major
COVID relief bill, which is really im-
portant. That will be our fourth major
COVID relief bill this year—much
needed, of course, for the health of
Americans and for our economy. I
think that when the history of this
very challenging year is written, that
is what is going to be remembered—
four
major,
bipartisan,
important
pieces of legislation, not the rancor in
the Senate, which has been part of our
history, part of the Republic since the
founding of the Republic.
A number of other major bipartisan
accomplishments have also occurred
just in the past few months—the Na-
tional
Defense
Authorization
Act,
which passed with over 80 Senators; the
Great American Outdoors Act, prob-
ably the biggest conservation act in
over 50 years; and the Save Our Seas
2.0, a bill I was proud to author, the
most comprehensive ocean cleanup leg-
islation ever to come out of the Con-
gress. This is just to name a few.
Let me name another important bi-
partisan accomplishment that is start-
ing to occur in the Congress, and that
is dealing with China, the important
issue of China and China policy. I know
people might be saying: Wait, are you
crazy?
China?
There
is
bipartisan
agreement on what is happening with
regard to this relationship, the United
States and China?
The answer is, yes, we have made sig-
nificant progress on this issue, too, and
it is important. I want to explain that
a little bit because I think it is a topic
that we need to be focusing on more
and more in the U.S. Senate.
Like the Presiding Officer, I am hon-
ored to be completing my first term as
a U.S. Senator and honored, like the
Presiding Officer, to have been re-
elected to continue my service.
Six years ago when I started my time
here in the U.S. Senate, I started a se-
ries of speeches that focused on the
U.S.-China relationship and the impor-
tance of it. We all have been focused
post-9/11 certainly on al-Qaida, ISIS,
the big issue of violent extremist orga-
nizations, which has been the appro-
priate focus. But as I started my career
here 6 years ago, I started to give a se-
ries of speeches where I said the big-
gest challenge that we face long term
from a geostrategic standpoint for the
United States for decades to come is
going to be our relationship with the
rising power of China.
What I was saying 4 years ago, 5
years ago in this body is that nobody is
talking about it. It is really important,
and we are not focused on it. You can’t
say that anymore. Now everybody is
talking about China. There has been an
American awakening about China. And
that is good. That is important. That is
progress. And it has been bipartisan.
I want to thank President Trump and
his team because I think they deserve
a lot of the credit.
They laid out their national security
strategy, their national defense strat-
egy. These are very well-written strat-
egies that, in essence, said that in the
United States of America, post 9/11, it
was appropriate to focus on al-Qaida,
ISIS, violent extremist organizations,
getting weapons of mass destruction.
That was clearly the main focus of our
national security.
But what their strategies have been
saying is that, yes, we need to continue
to focus on that, but now we need to
prioritize the great power competition
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that is upon us with China as the pac-
ing threat.
As you know, most Senators—Demo-
crats
and
Republicans—particularly
the ones who focus on national secu-
rity and foreign policy issues, particu-
larly those on the Armed Services
Committee—they agree with us. They
agree with this reorientation. Again,
this is important. This is progress, bi-
partisan progress, on what is really
going to be one of the most—what is
the most important bilateral relation-
ship in the world.
What we need to start doing—and I
say ‘‘we,’’ this body, the Congress, the
executive branch—is we need to start
putting details and principles into a
long-term strategy, a bipartisan strat-
egy that will be enduring to address
this challenge, to address the challenge
that is the challenge for the next dec-
ade—the rise of China and how we, as
the United States of America, need to
deal with it. As I mentioned, I believe
this is going to be the defining national
security issue for our Nation for the
next 50 to 100 years.
What I want to do today is lay out a
couple of key principles on what I see
are some of the ways in which we can
bring a bipartisan approach to address-
ing this challenge. Last year, I was
honored to be invited by the heritage
center—the Heritage Foundation—as
part of their lead lecture series on the
Asia-Pacific to talk about this issue. I
gave remarks, an address that I called
‘‘Winning the New Cold War with China
and How America Should Respond.’’
Some of the principles that I laid out
in that address from some of my expe-
riences in the U.S. relationship with
China over the last quarter century are
what I would like to talk about. Those
experiences for me have kind of run the
gamut as a U.S. marine; as a National
Security Council staffer and Assistant
Secretary of State under the excep-
tional leader, Condoleezza Rice, when
she was National Security Advisor and
then Secretary of State; as the State of
Alaska cabinet official in charge of en-
ergy and natural resources—which are
so important to my State but also to
Asian markets—and as a U.S. Senator.
First things first: I believe, as I men-
tioned, there has been an awakening
about the challenge posed by China. As
I mentioned, 6 years ago in this body,
not a lot of Senators were talking
about it. Now everybody is, and that is
important. I also think that there is a
recognition—whatever you want to call
the tensions that have arisen—that the
U.S. and China have entered into a
much more strategic competition era—
phase—with tensions that I have re-
ferred to as a ‘‘new Cold War’’ with
each other. This state of relations has
only been exacerbated by the pan-
demic, which, of course, started in
China and was covered up by the Chi-
nese Communist Party.
When I talk about this issue of a new
Cold War with China, I want to be clear
on one thing. This is not a challenge—
or tensions—of our choosing. It is the
result of a conscious decision by the
Communist Party leadership of China
to overturn key elements of the U.S.-
led, rules-based international order, de-
spite that order enabling China to
emerge prosperous and strong from its
so-called century of humiliation. This
new Cold War is not an inevitable con-
sequence of China’s rise or our status
as an established power. Rather, I be-
lieve, it stems from China’s rejection
of becoming a ‘‘responsible stake-
holder’’ in the international system
that the United States has led since
the end of World War II—a system from
which China probably, more than any
other country in the world, has bene-
fited from.
But recognizing that we have this
new tension, that we have a new Cold
War with China, does not mean that
the nature of the global challenge is
identical to that posed by the Soviet
Union or that our response should be
the same. However, it does mean that
the United States and our allies need
to recognize this challenge, address it,
counter it in ways that avoid major
conflict but in ways that also avoid
compromising our core values and in-
terests and principles in liberty.
Let me talk a little bit about what I
call America’s awakening.
Since President Nixon initiated the
opening of relationships with China,
many hoped that the country’s polit-
ical and economic system would open
as the country developed and joined
this broader, Western-led international
system. Others believed that even if
the
Chinese
Communist
Party
re-
mained in control, its external behav-
ior and relationship with the United
States would not be affected. When the
United States supported Chinese entry
into the World Trade Organization,
President Bill Clinton remarked that
American
workers
and
consumers
would be the greatest beneficiaries—
American workers. Ultimately, this
has proven not to be true.
Equally misguided was the hope that
as China grew economically, it would
liberalize politically. The expectation
was that China would lower its trade
barriers and follow WTO practices, re-
specting intellectual property rights,
promoting basic safety standards for
exports, curbing subsidies of its main
industries, and not subjecting im-
ports—our imports—to illegal, non-
tariff barriers. None of that has turned
out to be true. China did not meet
most of its commitments under the
WTO and still hasn’t. Rather, it has
employed its new access to Western
markets—American markets—to pur-
sue large-scale theft of technology, ex-
ploiting the openness of the American
economy without allowing American
companies reciprocal access to its mar-
kets as it is required to do.
Let me give one example of this that
I have seen in my experience. In 2003,
over 17 years ago, I was in an Oval Of-
fice meeting as a National Security
Council staffer with President George
W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and the
Vice Premier of China, Madam Wu Yi,
at the time. The President, President
Bush, strongly believed in the protec-
tion of intellectual property rights,
and he raised this issue with Madam
Wu Yi right there in the office—very
aggressively, leaning over in his chair.
Madam Wu Yi looked at the President
of the United States and said: Mr.
President, I am in charge of this. We
are going to fix this. We are working
on it. You have my commitment, Mr.
President. That was in the Oval Office,
17 years ago.
Where are we on intellectual prop-
erty theft from China? It is worse
today than when Madam Wu Yi made
that commitment in the Oval Office.
As a matter of fact, the U.S. Trade
Representative Office estimates that
Chinese theft of American intellectual
property costs the U.S. economy an es-
timated $600 billion annually, not to
mention the thousands of jobs lost.
President Obama also tried to stem
these blatantly unfair, nonreciprocal
practices, but Beijing did not honor the
common
understanding
reached
by
President Obama and Xi Jinping in
2015, curbing cyber hacking of govern-
ment and corporate data for economic
gain. Such theft continues unabated
today.
These episodes raise an even bigger
problem between the United States and
China. It is the problem that I call
‘‘promise fatigue’’ with China. Think
about it. Broken promises extend well
beyond the economic sphere, like intel-
lectual property.
Here is another example. Standing
next to President Obama in the Rose
Garden in 2015, President Xi Jinping
promised the President of the United
States not to militarize the South
China Sea. The commitment was bro-
ken within months, when China took a
very aggressive policy of militarizing
many of the islands and built up is-
lands in the South China Sea to the
consternation of every single country
in the region. After enduring this
promise fatigue with the Chinese for
decades, we, the Congress, the execu-
tive branch of the U.S. Government,
are finally getting wise. Everybody
thinks trade should be a win-win, but
Chinese leaders appear to view it much
more as a zero-sum game.
Ironically, this promise fatigue and
China’s predatory, nonreciprocal trade
practices have brought about—and did
bring about—the new, much tougher,
and, in my view, much needed approach
from the Trump administration that
we had prior to the pandemic.
We have this situation where we are
not trusting our relationship with
China with promises that have been
made but have not been kept across a
whole host of spheres, where the ten-
sions in the South China Sea are grow-
ing. But this current state of affairs
was not preordained.
In 2005, then Deputy Secretary of
State and future World Bank President
Robert Zoellick encouraged China in a
very well-regarded speech to become a
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‘‘responsible stakeholder’’ in the inter-
national system, which had done so
much to enable China’s rise in pros-
perity. Zoellick’s speech challenged
China to change its behavior, to sup-
port and promote and, certainly, not
undermine the U.S.-led economic order
that had brought peace and prosperity
to China and so many other countries
in the Indo-Pacific.
For a time, it appeared that China’s
leadership
was
contemplating
this
American offer to be a responsible
stakeholder in this global system—the
one that we had set up after World War
II. In my trips as an Assistant Sec-
retary of State to China, I heard Chi-
na’s leadership in many meetings—in-
cluding in meetings with Hu Jintao,
the President, and other senior lead-
ers—where they talked about being a
responsible stakeholder, where this in-
vitation on working through the sys-
tem we had developed was clearly
something they were contemplating.
But over time, it has become increas-
ingly clear that the Chinese Com-
munist Party has rejected this concept,
this idea to be a partner with us in bol-
stering the international order that
has benefited China so significantly.
In fact, the opposite has happened.
China is now working to systemically
build an illiberal sphere of influence
that threatens to exclude America and
erode our alliances in the region that
have kept the peace in the region for
decades. The challenge we face today is
rooted in the attempt by the Com-
munist Party of China to popularize its
authoritarian model abroad to ensure
China’s rise as a great power under the
Communist Party’s leadership. Presi-
dent Xi made this clear at the 19th
Party Congress, where he championed
China’s model as a new option for other
countries and nations that want to
speed up their development. We must
always remember, the Chinese Com-
munist Party’s primary goal in domes-
tic and foreign policy is to ensure the
survival and preeminence of the party.
The key driver of U.S.-China com-
petition and tension today is China’s
ambition to project its authoritarian
model abroad. China’s development
under a Leninist political model serves
as an inspiration for many illiberal ac-
tors and aspiring autocrats around the
world. It uses its economic influence as
a means of exerting political pressure.
Additionally, Chinese companies and
state-owned and state-subsidized indus-
tries are not bound by the anti-corrup-
tion laws that American and Western
companies must adhere to.
Chinese indifference to establishing
standards of transparency, which we
have certainly seen now with the pan-
demic, and project implementation
through its Belt and Road Initiative re-
sult in elite deals that concede corrup-
tion abroad, weaken prospects for long-
term prosperity, and undermine the
sovereignty of weaker nations.
China is seeking to undermine de-
mocracy and human rights and the rule
of law and international institutions—
from pushing its norms for controlling
cyber space to silencing critics of its
human rights record, including critics
in the United States, to pushing for the
enforcement of the Belt and Road Ini-
tiative at the United Nations. China is
using its growing voice on the global
stage to legitimize an approach at
home and abroad that undermines
American interests.
A recent Hoover Institution study ar-
gues that China is looking to gain in-
fluence in the United States to shape
attitudes and, ultimately, American
policy toward China. And although we
have not experienced the same level of
political interference as, say, some of
our allies, like Australia, where politi-
cians and donors linked to the Chinese
Communist Party try to sway the
country’s policies on sensitive issues,
China is clearly engaged in what the
National Endowment for Democracy
calls a significant, sharp-powered cam-
paign to influence American policy
here at home. This recent spy scandal
with a Congressman from California is
just a recent example of this.
Fortunately, the Trump administra-
tion and Members of Congress on both
sides of the aisle have awakened to the
long-term challenge that China poses
to America’s national security and eco-
nomic security interests. As I noted,
the Trump administration’s more real-
istic approach on China, laid out in its
national security strategy and national
defense strategy, offers a clear-eyed
view of Chinese ambitions and our need
to counter them. At a time when there
is not enough bipartisan agreement—
although, I think there is more than,
certainly, we get credit for—there is
broad, bipartisan focus and support
within the U.S. Government and, I be-
lieve, in the U.S. Senate on the stra-
tegic challenges posed by China.
So we have had an important Amer-
ican awakening and a good beginning
with the recent U.S. national security
and national defense strategies, and I
believe it is strongly in America’s in-
terest for the incoming Biden-Harris
administration to continue these strat-
egies that have strong bipartisan sup-
port here. In fact, in my recent meet-
ing with Secretary of Defense nominee
GEN Lloyd Austin, I encouraged such
an
approach
on
national
security
issues, particularly as it related to
China.
Yet these strategic documents that
we are talking about need more meat
on the bones. What are more details
and principles that we can add to the
national security strategy of our Na-
tion that can ensure bipartisan support
for a longer term U.S.-China strategy?
Let me recommend five core elements
that, I think, should be key in moving
forward with regard to our relationship
with China.
First, we need to demand reciprocity
in all major spheres of the U.S.-China
relationship. Second, we need to rein-
vigorate American competitiveness so
we can outcompete and outinnovate
China. Third, we need to continue to
rebuild our military’s strength and ca-
pability. Fourth, we need to deepen and
expand our global network of alliances.
Finally, we need to remember that em-
ploying our democratic values is a
huge, critical, comparative advantage
in countering China’s global authori-
tarian influence around the world. So
let me briefly touch on each of these.
First, we need to demand reciprocity.
The United States must insist that the
relationship with China be defined by
reciprocity and fairness. For too long,
the United States has ignored the
promise fatigue—that I have talked
about—with
China
and
accepted
unfulfilled Chinese promises across so
many spheres of the bilateral relation-
ship. You have seen it. When you raise
the issue of reciprocity with senior
Chinese officials, whether that be in
Beijing or with the Ambassador, and
they finally acknowledge that, yes, the
relationship isn’t reciprocal, they say
it is because ‘‘China is still a devel-
oping country.’’
I would respectfully tell senior Chi-
nese officials: Don’t use that argument
anymore. It is an insult to the intel-
ligence of American officials. We need
a reciprocal relationship because every
American understands and agrees with
this—that it is about fairness, basic
fairness.
I posed an important question of reci-
procity to former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger at a Senate Armed
Services Committee hearing a couple
of years ago, and he acknowledged
that, to have an important, sustain-
able, great-power relationship between
two of the most important countries in
the world, reciprocity was critical. The
citizens of our country need to feel
that the relationship is fair and that a
general policy of reciprocity is impor-
tant and critical in that regard, but we
all know it hasn’t been that way.
The Trump administration has made
significant progress on pressing for
more reciprocal relationships in our
trading relationships, which is very im-
portant, but we all know that the re-
ciprocal relationship doesn’t exist. Chi-
nese
companies
and
government-
backed investment funds can come to
the United States and buy companies,
but we would have no opportunity to
do the same. Yet it needs to go much
further than economics. Let me give
you an example. We need reciprocity in
the free exchange of ideas. American
journalists are not allowed to travel
freely in China, and if they are not,
then, why should Chinese journalists
be allowed to travel freely in the
United States?
Similarly—and this body is focused
on this—there are over 100 Confucius
Institutes, established by the Chinese
Communist Party, at American univer-
sities. When I was in Beijing a couple
of years ago and met with senior Chi-
nese officials, I mentioned this.
I said: I was recently with the Am-
bassador, and he said that just to go on
the campus of Beijing University you
need to be accompanied by a Chinese
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official. So if there were real reci-
procity in the relationship, if you can
have Confucius Institutes at American
universities, how about we get James
Madison Institutes of freedom and lib-
erty at Chinese universities?
Of course, the Chinese wouldn’t ac-
cept that.
They said: Well, Senator, Confucius
Institutes only teach culture and lan-
guage, and a James Madison Institute
of freedom and liberty and democracy
in China would be teaching propa-
ganda.
That is what they said.
This is just one of many examples
wherein we must have a reciprocal re-
lationship between the United States
and China going forward.
Second, we must reinvigorate Amer-
ican
competitiveness.
The
United
States is no stranger to global military
and economic cooperation, as we have
known throughout the Cold War with
the Soviet Union. Our comparative ad-
vantages globally remain significant,
but we can and should do more to bol-
ster other areas at home. We should
bolster STEM education, double down
on basic research, and support Federal
agencies like the National Science
Foundation.
We need to be able to outcompete and
outinnovate China, and, importantly,
better understand China, its culture,
its language, its history, and its strat-
egy with the new generations of Ameri-
cans who are focused on these issues,
just as Russian and Soviet studies were
emphasized during the Cold War with
the Soviet Union. Many of our most
significant
challenges—our
national
debt, infrastructure projects that take
years to permit, an education system
that leaves too many Americans be-
hind, a dysfunctional immigration sys-
tem—are all self-inflicted wounds.
I believe that the real challenges
posed by China, as they become more
broadly apparent throughout our coun-
try, will start to spur the bipartisan
motivation that will be needed to ad-
dress these significant but solvable
American challenges in order to make
us stronger.
Third, we must continue to rebuild
our military. From 2010 to 2016, the De-
partment
of
Defense’s
budget
was
slashed by 25 percent. Readiness plum-
meted, and at the same time, the Chi-
nese undertook a massive building of
its military and the modernization of
its forces while it also made concrete
moves to militarize the South China
Sea. History shows, particularly with
regard
to
America’s
authoritarian
rival, that American military weak-
ness encourages authoritarian provo-
cations globally. We must make sure
that, as we continue to engage China, a
strong U.S. military provides a hedge
against Beijing’s contemplating risky
and destabilizing military actions as
its military strength and capabilities
continue to grow. China has a long his-
tory of using its military to achieve
strategic ends when countries are not
ready, and we must be ready.
As the Presiding Officer knows, I
have mentioned that, gosh, almost 25
years ago, I was a young marine infan-
try officer who was deployed as part of
an amphibious task force to the Tai-
wan Strait, which included two carrier
battle groups as part of the U.S. re-
sponse to Chinese provocations on the
eve of the Presidential elections in Tai-
wan. It was a long time ago, but it was
certainly an example of the American
commitment and resolve of one of our
allies during a period of heightened
tensions in the Taiwan Strait that we
need to remember and be able to react
to with a strong military.
Fourth, we need to expand and deep-
en our alliances. The recalibration of
our relationship with China should be
done in partnership with our allies.
The cultivation and nurturing of these
relationships must be a foundational
pillar of any American strategy as it
deals with China.
Our greatest strategic advantage in
dealing with China is this: We are now
a rich nation with longstanding histor-
ical ties that have been reinforced by
decades of diplomatic, military, and
economic cooperation based on shared
values with our friends and allies in
the region. By contrast, China is an
ally-poor nation, with North Korea as
its closest friend and ally. The unity of
the West and our Asian allies is essen-
tial to maintaining high global stand-
ards and transparency, accountability,
anti-corruption, a peaceful resolution
of conflict, and the importance of
international law, particularly in the
global areas of sea, space, and cyber
space.
Finally, we must employ America’s
democratic values as a critical com-
parative advantage. We should never
forget that our democratic values were
critical in our successful victory over
the Soviet Union during the last Cold
War. In President Reagan’s famous
Westminster speech before the British
Parliament
in
1982,
in
which
he
launched the National Endowment for
Democracy, he argued that America
would win the Cold War not through
hard power alone but through the
power of our ideals.
As he reminded our audience and our
close allies in Britain, ‘‘Any system is
inherently unstable that has no peace-
ful means of legitimizing its leaders.’’
China’s unelected leaders, like all au-
thoritarians, ultimately fear their own
people. Our leaders do not.
It is fear that has driven China to de-
velop an Orwellian social credit score
to rank its people, while detaining as
many as 1 million Chinese workers in
concentration camps. Why else does
the Chinese Communist Party invest so
heavily in facial and gait recognition
technology to monitor their own citi-
zens? Why comprehensively censor the
internet to preclude even the most
glancing criticism of the Communist
Party and its leaders? Why do China’s
internal security services employ more
people than the People’s Liberation
Army, the world’s largest military?
The answer lies in fear, and the goal,
above all else, to make sure the Com-
munist Party remains in power.
President Reagan saw the power and
promise of our democratic ideals as a
potent critical instrument to challenge
America’s global rival, then the Soviet
Union, because the aspiration of free-
dom is universal and remains the core
commonality
that
underpins
the
strongest partnerships of the United
States with other nations. The belief
that liberty, democracy, and free mar-
kets reflect and strengthen the size of
our alliance system is something that
is fundamental to the United States
and our allies during the Cold War with
the Soviet Union and now during our
challenges with China. Helping coun-
tries protect their sovereignty so they
can be responsive to their citizens and
effective partners of our Nation is im-
perative at a time when Chinese influ-
ence risks pulling nations into a new
‘‘Sinosphere’’ hostile to American in-
terests and our democratic ideals.
Let me conclude by predicting that
the new challenges I describe with
China are going to be with us for dec-
ades. We must face this fact with con-
fidence and strategic resolve and bipar-
tisan work in the U.S. Senate.
America has extraordinary advan-
tages relative to China: our global net-
work of alliances, our military power
and economic leadership, our innova-
tive society, our abundant energy sup-
plies—we are now the No. 1 producer of
oil, natural gas, and renewables in the
world—our world-class universities, the
world’s most productive workforce, and
a democratic value system that makes
countries far more comfortable as
American partners than subservient
members of a new ‘‘Middle Kingdom’’
led by China.
As a result of the long twilight strug-
gle with the Soviet Union, we also
know what works—maintaining peace
through strength, promoting free mar-
kets and free people at home, and hav-
ing the confidence in George Kennan’s
insight that the Chinese Communist
Party, like the Soviet Communist
Party, likely bears within it the seeds
of its own decay.
While
democracies
are
resilient,
adaptive, and self-renewing, there are
many vulnerabilities embedded in Chi-
na’s perceived strengths.
One-man rule creates acute political
risks. Historical grievance can breed
violent
nationalism.
State-directed
economic growth can produce massive
overcapacity and mountains of debt.
The gradual snuffing out of freedom in
places like Hong Kong creates sponta-
neous protests of tens of thousands and
huge global backlashes across the
world. China’s budding military power
and historical view of itself as a nation
and culture superior to others is begin-
ning to alarm neighboring states, in-
spiring them to step up security co-
operation with our Nation. Nearly half
of all wealthy Chinese want to emi-
grate—and these are the winners from
China’s four decades of heady economic
growth.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
As we have in the past, Americans
can prevail in this geopolitical and ide-
ological contest, but doing so will re-
quire a new level of strategic initia-
tive, organization, and confidence in
who we are and what we stand for. This
also means that we must redouble our
efforts in making this strategic case to
others around the world, particularly
our allies, and we must continue to
work on bipartisan solutions that have
enduring support in this body for dec-
ades to come as it relates to our chal-
lenges with China.
I yield the floor.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
BOOZMAN). The Senator from Alaska.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President,
this is the time of year when we all
look forward to wrapping things up, as
they say.
Many around the country, when they
think about wrapping things up, think
about presents that they are going to
put under the tree for their family. We
think about it as closing up business
for the balance of the year, and that is
really where we are.
Hopefully, in a couple hours here, the
House will proceed in taking up the
omnibus bill, along with the COVID re-
lief package, along with a host of other
matters that the Congress has been
working to address in this past year.
I would like to speak this evening for
a few moments on the significance of
where we are, but I want to start with
just a story that I just now received
from one of my staff people back in
Alaska, and she got a video from the
medical staff at the Sub-Regional Clin-
ic there at St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s is a
small community up on the Yukon
River, and probably, I would say, 500
people, maybe more, in St. Mary’s. But
it is just a reminder to me that, re-
gardless of where you are, hope is com-
ing with the vaccine.
The comment that she shared is this
video, a pictorial of the health aides,
the PA—the physician’s assistant—and
personnel getting their COVID shots.
It was 13 degrees out. And the mobile
office where the vaccine was adminis-
tered was inside a chartered Cessna 208
Caravan sitting on the airport tarmac
there in St. Mary’s. After the shot, she
and her staff hung out in their heated
trucks for about a half an hour to see
if they had any allergic reactions.
When none showed signs, the Caravan
took off to the next village airport.
It is just an example that no matter
where you are, how remote you may
be, the logistics that may be required
to provide for this hope that comes by
way of the vaccine.
People around the country are hope-
ful. Our job now, as we wrap up, is to
make sure that we deliver this relief
quickly.
I mention the COVID relief. I have
been fortunate to be teaming with a bi-
partisan,
bicameral
group
of
law-
makers for the past 5 or 6 weeks to see
if we couldn’t come up with a proposal
that could kick-start the COVID talks.
We have had an opportunity for
many of us to come to the floor to
speak to not only how that came to be
but the ultimate result, which was a
multihundred-page document, legisla-
tion, that totaled $908 billion. But it
addressed everything from vaccine de-
velopment and distribution to what we
are going to do to assist our small busi-
nesses with additional rounds of PPP,
to extensions to unemployment insur-
ance, to what we can do with food as-
sistance,
nutrition
assistance,
and
what more might be done to help with
rental assistance. It was truly respon-
sive to the need.
Where we are today is having moved
that conversation and that debate for-
ward, I think, in a constructive, in a
positive way. We are here with a pro-
posal that looks different than what we
had produced, but that is the nature of
what happens in a body where you have
to come together to sort out the issues.
And what we will have is legislation
that, again, like the CARES Act, is
likely going to be proven imperfect,
but we have to respond to the situation
on the ground, whether it is in Alaska
or whether it is in Arkansas, and we
cannot do it too soon. So this is going
to be key, and it is going to be critical.
I am very pleased that legislation
that I had introduced that would ex-
tend the coronavirus relief funding—
the opportunity for States and local-
ities and Tribal governments to be able
to spend those funds down. Running up
against the deadline here of the end of
this year was a real concern for so
many, and so that has been included as
part of this bigger package, in addition
to so much that is good.
The carrier for all of this is the Om-
nibus appropriations bill. I have been
really pleased to be a member of the
Appropriations Committee. For some
years now, I have been chairing the Ap-
propriations Interior Subcommittee.
This is significant, certainly, for our
State, with oversight of our public
lands, and also of Native affairs, in-
cluding the EPA. It is a pretty broad
portfolio.
We have been working on this duti-
fully as a subcommittee all year—all
year. I certainly wish that I had had
the opportunity to be able to bring my
bill—our bill—to the floor for full de-
bate by all Members, and then we could
move to the Ag bill, to the T-HUD bill,
to the Defense bill—do them all sepa-
rately.
But for a host of different reasons—
most of them all come back to poli-
tics—unfortunately, we have not been
able to do that. That is something that
I regret. That is something that I
would hope that we, as Members of the
Senate, can say: We can do better.
We pledge to do it better every year.
We put our colleagues in a heck of a
spot. Not all of us are on the Appro-
priations Committee. Not all of us have
the privilege to be a chairman or a
ranking member and know the guts
and the insides of each aspect of these
bills.
But we come here with a process like
this at a late hour, and we say: This is
one where you need to know that we
have been working it hard. We have
taken into account all the priorities
and considerations on both sides. We
worked it back and forth. We worked it
with the House, and here we are. But
this is not a good process. We can and
we must do better with that.
Now, having said that, I am very
proud of the Interior bill that we have
built. I am proud of my staff. We were
a little bit leaner this year in terms of
our staffing, but with good leadership,
led by Emy Lesofski and Nona, as well
as Lucas on the team, we were able to
do the work that we needed to do and
in a way that I am proud of and proud
of their efforts.
There is so much that is wrapped up
in this bigger, broader bill, and I think
it is going to almost be gaspworthy
when you see the 5,000-some-odd pages
I am told that we will have.
It is not only the appropriations. It is
the COVID bills. It is the water re-
sources development bill, the WRDA
bill—very, very significant. There are
good bills from the Indian Affairs Com-
mittee that I have participated in,
water bills that we have been working
on.
But the one that I want to speak to
a little more in detail this evening—
and I was hoping that my ranking
member, Senator MANCHIN, might be
here on the floor, but not yet—but I
wanted to speak about title Z in the
omnibus bill.
Z, I just imagine that they put it at
the end because they figured it was the
best or maybe because they knew that
the process that the Energy Act had
gone through had probably been more
rigorous and lengthy than just about
anything out there. But Z we are at.
I begin my comments with regard to
this Energy Act that is contained in
this bill by acknowledging that I am
probably speaking on the floor for the
last time as the chairman of the En-
ergy and Natural Resources Committee
because I have hit my limit, if you will.
I have had the honor and the privilege
to be both the chairman and the rank-
ing member on the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee now for a total
of 12 years, which is pretty good.
It is pretty good to be in a position
to be able to advance legislative policy.
I have been very, very fortunate to
work with great members. Senator
Bingaman was the chairman when I
was his ranking and, of course, I was
with Senator WYDEN as the ranking
member when he was chairman. I have
had the great privilege to work with
Senator CANTWELL
when I was the
chairman and now Senator MANCHIN. I
think about these past 2 years and
what we have been able to accomplish
and just kind of the recap of where we
have been and how productive we have
been as a panel.
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December 21, 2020
We started this Congress with pas-
sage of the John D. Dingell, Jr., Con-
servation, Management, and Recre-
ation Act. This is a bipartisan package
of more than 120 different measures fo-
cused on public lands, natural re-
sources, and water.
We had worked on a lands package
throughout the last several months of
2018. I want to give former Ranking
Member CANTWELL a real big shout-out
here because her leadership was very
key in that process. We weren’t able to
get it across the finish line at the end
of the last Congress, but we reintro-
duced it in January of 2019. We passed
it through the Senate in February, and
the President signed it into law in
March. That was a pretty good start—
120 bipartisan bills.
These were bills, when you think
about it, that related to national
parks, to forests, to sportsmen’s ac-
cess. We delivered on the Federal Gov-
ernment’s promises to Alaska Natives
who served during the Vietnam war.
We permanently reauthorized the Land
and Water Conservation Fund, and we
provided new authorities to help pro-
tect from natural hazards such as vol-
canic eruptions. I will note that the
Kilauea just erupted on the Big Island
of Hawaii. I believe it was yesterday or
the day before. So it is important to be
addressing our natural hazards.
We did that at the beginning of the
Congress. Then Senator MANCHIN and I
set our sights on something that hadn’t
been done in a long time, and that was
modernization of our Nation’s energy
policies to make real reforms and bring
them in line with our current chal-
lenges and our opportunities. So we
started with some very broad—very
broad-based—hearings and then took a
very specific and deep dive into some of
the issues and the technologies.
Then we started moving bills. We
were negotiating and we were reporting
dozens of bills as part of our regular
order committee process. Knowing how
things work around here, we knew we
weren’t going to be able to move them
each individually as stand-alone bills,
so we wrapped them up into a broader
bill. We called it the American Energy
Innovation Act.
We brought that bill to the floor in
February. We were going just great. We
were working through, and it was kind
of nice, again, to be the first bill on the
floor when we began our legislative
business. And we stalled out. We were
interrupted. We were taken off the
track by an unrelated dispute over a
measure that is jurisdictional to an-
other committee, and this was just at
the start of the global coronavirus pan-
demic.
But I said: We are not done. We are
not stopping just because we hit a
roadblock here. We are going to keep
working.
We kept working. We kept working,
and we kept looking for a way to pass
the first major Energy bill since 2007—
and 2007 is a long time that we hadn’t
updated and reworked our energy pol-
icy, so it was worth working on. I kept
saying: Don’t count us out. Don’t write
us off.
Over the past few months, we found
that opening. We worked with really
good partners over on the House side
over at Energy and Commerce and the
House Science, Space, and Technology
Committee, and we wrote what we have
called simply the Energy Act of 2020—
pretty simple, pretty beautiful, in my
opinion.
But our Energy Act is included now
as division Z in the year-end omnibus.
It provides for reforms and new au-
thorities related to a range of emerging
technologies, including advanced nu-
clear; carbon capture, utilization, and
storage; carbon removal; renewables;
and energy storage. It reauthorizes
programs that many of us are sup-
portive of and want to advance: Weath-
erization Assistance and ARPA-E. It
features the bulk of my language re-
lated to critical minerals and mate-
rials to help us rebuild our domestic
supply chains, which we know are so
critical. It reflects our strong commit-
ment to cleaner energy to help us ad-
dress climate change without raising
the cost of energy or imposing divisive
mandates.
So I would suggest to the Presiding
Officer that this Energy bill is just the
perfect bookend for this Congress.
What started as a major lands package
is now going to end with a major en-
ergy package. Again, as I mentioned, it
has been since 2007. It is the first En-
ergy bill—the energy side of the En-
ergy
and
Natural
Resources
Com-
mittee—the first Energy bill in almost
13 years. It was President George W.
Bush who signed the last one on De-
cember 19, 2007.
So I want to thank Ranking Member
MANCHIN for his leadership on the en-
ergy package, as well as all of the com-
mittee members who contributed to it.
We had great help within our com-
mittee. We had great help within this
body. At last count we were looking at
input and contributions from some 70
different Members.
I also want to acknowledge the ex-
traordinary work of the staffs. I had
the opportunity to give a tribute to my
staff director, Brian Hughes, who is
leaving after many years on the com-
mittee. He did a fabulous job of advanc-
ing this, as did Spencer Nelson, Pat
McCormick,
Annie
Hoefler,
Lucy
Murfitt. There were so many others.
That team was extraordinary.
But they were joined by an extraor-
dinary team that Senator MANCHIN
had, led by his staff director, Renae
Black, and other individuals there who
really helped us advance this—Sam
Fowler and so many. We can’t thank
them enough.
I also want to really give sincere
thanks to our House partners because
they were this ‘‘six corner’’ working
group here: FRANK PALLONE, the chair-
man at Energy and Commerce and the
ranking member, GREG WALDEN; the
Science chairwoman, BERNICE JOHNSON,
and
the
ranking
member,
FRANK
LUCAS. We could not have reached an
agreement without their leadership
and their willingness to work together.
I also want to acknowledge and
thank Leader MCCONNELL and Senator
SCHUMER for agreeing to work with us
and help us secure this opening and
this commitment.
I can’t remember how many times
Leader
MCCONNELL
had
said:
You
know, LISA, you are probably going to
figure out a way to pull a rabbit out of
the hat here. And I don’t know if this
is a rabbit out of the hat, but I think
persistence certainly has paid off. So I
want to thank the teams who really
helped to make this happen.
In addition to a good energy bill, the
year-end omnibus also includes the bi-
partisan water package featuring nine
provisions that are important to West-
ern States, such as Colorado, Montana,
and Arizona. Lane Dickson on my En-
ergy Committee staff was fabulous
there. We added a few more lands bills
into the final package. Lucy and Annie
helped us on that. We really have
worked to advance so much out of the
committee.
All of these accomplishments—our
lands package, our energy package, our
water package, the lands bills that we
tried to add to everything that moved
and occasionally passed by UC, and
measures I haven’t spoken to, includ-
ing the Great American Outdoors Act—
these are all the hallmarks of a highly
productive Congress and the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Com-
mittee. I am pleased to have been able
to shepherd these measures into law.
But what I am proud of—more than
any piece of legislation, more than
anything out there in the time that I
have been able to lead this committee,
what I am most proud of is the bipar-
tisan way in which this committee has
operated. Our commitment to biparti-
sanship has produced continually good
results for our country.
What I found as ranking member and
now as chairman is that there is sim-
ply no substitute for working together
and across party lines to find agree-
ment wherever it is possible.
So I thank Senator MANCHIN for fol-
lowing that same approach, to our
committee colleagues for their own bi-
partisanship and collegiality, to our
House colleagues who have helped us
with that.
I see that my friend from the great
State of Washington and Pacific North-
west is here, and I want Senator CANT-
WELL to know that as I have spoken of
the accomplishments of the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, I am
very thankful and appreciative of her
leadership and what she has provided
over the years. Working together with
her team, we have accomplished good
things for the right reasons.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Washington is recognized.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, if I
can just congratulate my colleague
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7910
December 21, 2020
from Alaska and the ranking member,
Senator MANCHIN, for their great work
of getting these energy provisions that
have been—I don’t know how many
Members, but I am sure just about
every Member in our body has had
something to do with it and a lot of ac-
tual individual legislation. So this was
a long effort by our colleague, the
chair of the committee, and I thank
her for her diligence on this. She has
had many of us up to Alaska to look at
hydropower and alternative resources
and
how
their
grid
needs
better
connectivity and products that can
withstand and provide energy in sub-
zero weather and all sorts of challenges
that they face.
But, clearly, these tools that will be
in this legislation will move us for-
ward. So thank you and thanks to Sen-
ator MANCHIN for working so diligently
to get this finally over the goal line. It
is a big moment. Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader is recognized.
f
EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR—MOTION
TO PROCEED
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
move to proceed to the motion to re-
consider the vote by which cloture was
not invoked on the nomination of Eric
J. Soskin.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient sec-
ond.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. ENZI), the Senator
from Georgia (Mrs. LOEFFLER), the
Senator from Georgia (Mr. PERDUE),
and the Senator from South Dakota
(Mr. ROUNDS).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
Senator from California (Ms. HARRIS)
and the Senator from West Virginia
(Mr. MANCHIN) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there
any other Senators in the Chamber de-
siring to vote?
The result was announced—yeas 48,
nays 46, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 285 Leg.]
YEAS—48
Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS—46
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING—6
Enzi
Harris
Loeffler
Manchin
Perdue
Rounds
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader is recognized.
MOTION TO RECONSIDER
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
move to reconsider the vote for which
cloture was not invoked on the nomi-
nation of Eric J. Soskin, and I ask for
the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient sec-
ond.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. ENZI), the Senator
from Georgia (Mrs. LOEFFLER), the
Senator from Georgia (Mr. PERDUE),
and the Senator from South Dakota
(Mr. ROUNDS).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
Senator from California (Ms. HARRIS)
and the Senator from West Virginia
(Mr. MANCHIN) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there
any other Senators in the Chamber de-
siring to vote?
The result was announced—yeas 48,
nays 46, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 286 Ex.]
YEAS—48
Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS—46
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING—6
Enzi
Harris
Loeffler
Manchin
Perdue
Rounds
The motion was agreed to.
CLOTURE MOTION
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant
to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the
Senate the pending cloture motion,
which the clerk will state.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
read as follows:
CLOTURE MOTION
We, the undersigned Senators, in accord-
ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby
move to bring to a close debate on the nomi-
nation of Eric J. Soskin, of Virginia, to be
Inspector General, Department of Transpor-
tation.
Mitch
McConnell,
Lamar
Alexander,
Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, Mike Crapo,
Cory Gardner, Ron Johnson, James
Lankford, Roger F. Wicker, Marco
Rubio, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Thom Tillis,
Shelley Moore Capito, John Boozman,
Joni Ernst, Mike Braun, Pat Roberts.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan-
imous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the
Senate that debate on the nomination
of Eric J. Soskin, of Virginia, to be In-
spector General, Department of Trans-
portation, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory
under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. ENZI), the Senator
from Georgia (Mrs. LOEFFLER), the
Senator from Georgia (Mr. PERDUE),
and the Senator from South Dakota
(Mr. ROUNDS).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
Senator from California (Ms. HARRIS),
the Senator from Virginia (Mr. KAINE),
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr.
MANCHIN),
and
the
Senator
from
Vermont (Mr. SANDERS) are necessarily
absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there
any other Senators in the Chamber de-
siring to vote?
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 48,
nays 44, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 287 Ex.]
YEAS—48
Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS—44
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7911
December 21, 2020
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING—8
Enzi
Harris
Kaine
Loeffler
Manchin
Perdue
Rounds
Sanders
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this
vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 44.
Upon reconsideration, the motion is
agreed to.
The Senator from North Carolina.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—H.R. 1964
Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise and
in a moment I will ask unanimous con-
sent to right a wrong that has lingered
for over a century and to call up and
pass H.R. 1964, the Lumbee Recognition
Act. Prior to that, I want to say that I
am honored, with my colleague Sen-
ator TILLIS, to represent the Lumbee
people.
The Lumbee are the largest Native
American Tribe east of the Mississippi
River, with a membership of over
60,000. They have called the present-
day counties of Robeson, Scotland,
Hoke, and Cumberland their home in
North Carolina. They have been a cohe-
sive part of the community in North
Carolina for centuries, and they have
developed unique Tribal instructions
that have served their membership well
in the face of extraordinary adversity.
They have been teachers, farmers,
doctors, small business owners, sher-
iffs, clerks of court, State legislators,
and judges. Many have protected our
Nation by serving in the Armed Forces.
Their contribution to their commu-
nity, to the State of North Carolina,
and to the country is innumerable.
Their commitment to education is
unparalleled. In the 1800s, the State au-
thorized the Tribe to run the State’s
school district for Lumbee children.
The State also authorized the opening
of a specially advanced Indian school
known as the Normal School to train
teachers to teach in Lumbee Indian
schools. Although the State provided
no money for construction for the fa-
cilities, the Lumbees pulled together
and constructed an Indian Normal
School of their own. Since then, the In-
dian school has been in operation con-
tinuously. Today it is the University of
North Carolina at Pembroke.
The State of North Carolina recog-
nized the Lumbee Tribe in 1885. Three
years later, the Tribe began its quest
for full recognition. Over the next 50
years, they repeatedly petitioned the
Federal Government for assistance but
to no avail.
Then, during the height of the
shameful termination era, Congress
passed the Lumbee Act of 1956. This
partial
recognition
designated
the
Lumbees residing in Robeson and ad-
joining counties of North Carolina as
the ‘‘Lumbee Indians of North Caro-
lina,’’ while simultaneously blocking
the Lumbees from accessing Federal
services and benefits available to other
federally recognized Tribes. It is noth-
ing short of discrimination.
To put this in context, four other
Tribes were terminated by Congress in
1956, like the Lumbees. All have had
their Federal recognition status re-
stored. Only the Lumbees have yet to
receive the full Federal recognition
they deserve. As a matter of fact, in
2018, this Senate recognized Indian
Tribes. In 2019, seven Tribes in Virginia
were recognized by this Congress and
this Senate.
It is unfortunate while the Lumbee
Tribe is incredibly resilient, decades of
discrimination have caused severe eco-
nomic consequences for the people.
Robeson is one of the poorest counties
in the United States. The 1956 law has
put them on an unequal footing com-
pared to other federally recognized
Tribes and has prevented them from
obtaining access to critical services
through the Bureau of Indian Affairs
and the Indian Health Service. This is
simply unjust and it is immoral.
To correct this injustice, since 1987,
members of North Carolina’s congres-
sional delegation from both sides of the
aisle have repeatedly come together to
introduce the Lumbee Recognition Act,
which would grant full Federal recogni-
tion to the Tribe.
Over the past 11 years, I have been
proud to be the lead sponsor of this leg-
islation in the Senate, and it has al-
ways been a bipartisan effort.
This year, the bill was led by a
Democratic Member of the House of
Representatives, G. K. BUTTERFIELD,
and supported by Congressman HUDSON
and Congressman BISHOP, both Repub-
licans. Last month, the House passed
the Lumbee Recognition bill by voice
vote unanimously. Let me say that
again—by voice vote unanimously.
You would think that this great de-
liberative body could process and un-
derstand the—really the discrimination
that is going on here to these folks.
People claim that the Lumbees are not
a Tribe. Yet read the statistics—it is
the largest Tribe east of the Mississippi
River. I think they finally educated the
House. But despite the overwhelming
support for doing the right thing, Con-
gress has yet to actually do it.
The time for excuses is over. The
time for action is now. It is time to fi-
nally do what should have been done
130 years ago. It is time for the Federal
Government to recognize the Lumbees
for the Tribe they are.
I have had a great partner in Senator
TILLIS, and I would yield to him for
any comments he would like to make.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from North Carolina.
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I thank
Senator BURR for his leadership and
leaning into this for many years before
I even joined the Senate.
I thank Senator Dole for filing this
bill that actually even had Senator
MCCONNELL’s
cosponsorship
many,
many years ago.
I thank the Lumbee people for their
patience, but, quite honestly, when you
are talking about the ninth largest
Tribe east of the Mississippi River—I
am sorry—the ninth largest in the Na-
tion and the largest Tribe east of the
Mississippi River, a Tribe that has been
seeking recognition since 1888—they
were recognized as Indian by the State
of North Carolina in 1885. In 1956, they
were partially recognized.
We heard a unanimous vote coming
out of the House. They were prepared
to provide recognition. In November,
we heard President Trump and Vice
President Biden both say they support
recognition. So we are so close.
There is a compelling case. It is a
century in the making. And the fact
that we couldn’t get this through today
when it passed unanimously out of the
House just a month ago I think is a
shame.
I appreciate Senator BURR for his pa-
tience and his tenacity. We are not
going to let this go. Hopefully, it gets
done tonight, but we have to recognize
that the Lumbee people deserve rec-
ognition, they deserve respect. They
have been fighting for it for a century,
and I am going to fight for it as long as
I am in the U.S. Senate.
I yield the floor.
Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I thank my
colleague, and I reiterate that if for
some reason there is an objection—and
I think there will be tonight—either
before we swear in a new Congress or
after we swear in a new Congress, I
promise my colleagues that this place
will come to a grinding halt, and we
will take up through regular order the
Lumbee Recognition Act. We will de-
bate it for as long as people want to,
and we will make the case as to why
this discrimination is despicable.
So, at this time, as if in legislative
session, I ask unanimous consent that
the Committee on Indian Affairs be dis-
charged from further consideration of
H.R. 1964 and the Senate proceed to its
immediate consideration. I ask unani-
mous consent that the bill be consid-
ered read a third time and passed and
that the motion to reconsider be con-
sidered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
The Senator from Montana.
Mr. TESTER. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec-
tion is heard.
Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I thank my
colleagues for their time tonight, and I
urge all of our colleagues to prepare.
This will be back up.
I yield the floor.
f
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the nomination.
The legislative clerk read the nomi-
nation of Eric J. Soskin, of Virginia, to
be Inspector General, Department of
Transportation.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from New Jersey.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7912
December 21, 2020
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—EXECUTIVE
CALENDAR
Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I appre-
ciate the recognition. I ask unanimous
consent that the Committee on For-
eign Relations be discharged and the
Senate proceed to the en bloc consider-
ation of the following nominations:
PN1938, PN2024, PN2101, PN2030, and
PN2025; that the Senate vote on the
nominations en bloc with no inter-
vening action or debate; that if con-
firmed, the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table en bloc and the President be im-
mediately notified of the Senate’s ac-
tion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
The Senator from Idaho.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, reserving
the right to object, first of all, let me
say to my dear friend from New Jersey,
I fully agree with the five nominees he
has put in front of the Senate. Indeed,
we had good confirmation hearings on
all five of those, and none of these
five—other than the one I am going to
the talk about in a second—are polit-
ical appointments. These are career
people who have had long and distin-
guished service with the Secretary of
State, and they are all very legitimate
appointees to the places they are ap-
pointed to, which I am going to reit-
erate here in just a minute.
In any event, one was left off the list.
I know Senator BOOKER
had some
issues with that, but I think, in the
spirit of cooperation and in the spirit
of bipartisanship, he offers five, and I
will offer a compromise of one more. I
think that is absolutely fair—five for
one.
But I object, and indeed I would ask
unanimous consent that we do as sug-
gested by Senator BOOKER, and that is
discharge from the committee and ap-
prove the following six nominations:
PN1938, Mr. Kevin Blackstone, Class of
Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador
to the Democratic Republic of Timor-
Leste; PN2024, Ms. Cynthia Kierscht,
Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador
to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania;
PN2101, Mr. Brian D. McFeeters, Class
of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambas-
sador to Malaysia; PN2025, the Honor-
able Geeta Pasi, Class of Career Min-
ister, to be Ambassador to the Federal
Democratic
Republic
of
Ethiopia;
PN2030, the Honorable David Reimer,
Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador
to the Republic of Sierra Leone; and fi-
nally, William E. Todd, PN1598, to be
Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan.
As I said, none of these are political.
They have all had long and distin-
guished careers with the State Depart-
ment. They all have great backgrounds
to be Ambassadors, and I appreciate
Senator BOOKER helping me move all
six of these forward.
With that, I ask unanimous consent
that all six of those be discharged and
be considered and passed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the
Senator so modify?
Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I just
want to say I appreciate my friend and
my colleague, and truly, when he in-
voked the spirit of cooperation and the
spirit of bipartisanship, I felt lucky
that he didn’t invoke the spirit of
Christmas as well.
Mr. RISCH. I would like to amend.
Mr. BOOKER. But I do want to let
him know that, indeed, the five people
are nonpolitical individuals with the
State Department. I wish we could just
move them and get confirmed. But I do
have an objection to the sixth that he
would seek to add, so I will not modify
my request.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection to the original request?
Mr. RISCH. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec-
tion is heard.
The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, it is
good to see you in that seat, sir. The
post of Ambassador to Pakistan is one
that is highly relevant to American na-
tional securities, as I think all 100 of us
understand. The person selected to im-
plement the U.S. foreign policy and en-
gage diplomatically with the Pakistani
Government must be someone who un-
derstands that American-Pakistani re-
lationship and the complex and evolv-
ing challenges to regional stability in
South Asia. That person must also be
someone who can be trusted by the
American people and by their col-
leagues at the State Department to
carry out U.S. foreign policy decisions.
Unfortunately, there is a disturbing
and documented pattern of behavior
from Mr. Todd that I believe makes
him unqualified to serve as our Ambas-
sador to Pakistan.
From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Todd served in
a variety of management positions at
the State Department, including as
Acting Director General and Assistant
Secretary for Human Resources and as
Acting Under Secretary for Manage-
ment.
During that time, the House Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs and the Sen-
ate
Foreign
Relations
Committee
opened investigations into allegations
that senior State Department officials,
including Mr. Todd, were engaging in
prohibited personnel practices against
other members of the State Depart-
ment’s career workforce.
As a result of these investigations,
multiple State Department officials
told the committees that the adminis-
tration wanted to punish career offi-
cials at the State Department often for
doing their jobs, for following proce-
dures and protocols, and also punish
them for just raising concerns about
policies that they believed sincerely
would be dangerous or deleterious to
American interests.
Mr. Todd was one of the people polit-
ical appointees turned to to help carry
out a lot of those actions. When asked
about those allegations in the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs, it was
reported clearly that he was unreason-
ably agitated, even raising his voice
when asked about just these routine
issues.
The incoming administration has an
enormous task. We know the chal-
lenges in that region. In the entire
State Department, there have been
challenges as well. We should give that
new administration a chance and not
promote someone for what is a really
critical ambassadorship in a very com-
plex and challenging region. We need
to make sure that we have someone
prominent in the role who can com-
mand the confidence of State Depart-
ment officials, and that, in many ways,
gives the incoming administration a
chance to deal with that vacancy,
which has been, I will note, vacant for
2 years without a nomination.
He clearly does not have the tem-
perament or the track record of stand-
ing up for his own employees or for the
institution of the State Department.
We should be doing everything in our
power to restore credibility to Amer-
ican leadership, not just overall in the
world stage, which I know we all agree
on, but also in that region, and work to
repair a lot of the harm that this indi-
vidual may have been involved in cre-
ating that hurt morale so much.
I have a lot of confidence in the
chairman’s leadership. We have a com-
mittee that often works in a bipartisan
manner, and I am grateful for that. It
is one of the pleasures I have in serving
in the Senate. This role is critical to
the country—the U.S. Ambassador to
Pakistan. Ambassador Hale left the
post in September of 2018, and it was a
year before the administration nomi-
nated someone to the post. So, again, I
just find it, on top of my previous re-
marks, odd that the chairman and oth-
ers are now saying that we need this
Ambassador now. I believe that is not
the case, and I believe that there
hasn’t been an urgency from the ad-
ministration to fill this ambassador-
ship until today.
So it is for these reasons that I op-
pose Mr. Todd’s nomination, and I hope
that my colleague will move the other
five. They are deserving Foreign Serv-
ice officers and should be confirmed.
They should not be held up because of
objections to the nominee we have been
discussing.
So we agree on these five nominees. I
truly urge my colleague that we should
not obstruct them because of our dif-
ferences over one. There is a true ur-
gency, I believe, in this season to get
what we can agree on done, and dis-
agreement rooted as substantially as I
believe this one is should not hold up
the other ones. That is why I think the
nominees to Ethiopia, Mauritania, Ma-
laysia, and Sierra Leone—I do really
believe
they
should
be
confirmed
today.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Idaho.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I thank
Senator BOOKER
for his kind words
about the committee. I want to com-
mit that we will continue to work in a
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7913
December 21, 2020
bipartisan fashion. On the other hand,
we have a disagreement here regarding
this particular person. He is a well-
qualified
career
State
Department
nominee. He has been nominated, of
course, to be Ambassador of Pakistan.
Ambassador Todd is a career member
of senior executive service. He is well
qualified to serve as the Ambassador.
He is currently serving as the Deputy
Under Secretary of State for Manage-
ment. He has a wealth of experience,
having previously served as Ambas-
sador twice, to Cambodia and Brunei.
His qualifications notwithstanding,
now is really not the time to leave the
ambassadorship and the mission in
Islamabad vacant.
The others we have are also good. I
don’t think that it is unfair to ask that
we have a trade of five for one.
In any event, we respectfully dis-
agree at this point. I have no doubt, as
we move forward, we will have other
things we do agree on, but at this time,
I am going to continue to object to the
five.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Wyoming.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I
come to the floor today to discuss crit-
ical parts of today’s funding bill that is
before us this week. These are the re-
sult of bipartisan work that we have
done. And the Presiding Officer is a
member of the Environment and Public
Works Committee, a valued member
who has contributed significantly to
the legislation before us.
As chairman of that committee, I am
so grateful for your participation be-
cause I am going to talk about some
things that we have been able to do on
the Environment and Public Works
Committee together and in a bipar-
tisan way. You have done such a re-
markable job with the Save Our Seas
legislation, and we continue to support
that.
Now I am going to talk about a cou-
ple of additional things that are part of
this end-of-the-year legislation that we
will be voting on later this evening.
The first is historic, bipartisan cli-
mate innovation legislation. The sec-
ond is comprehensive legislation to up-
grade America’s water infrastructure.
So I want to talk about two different
things: One is the climate innovation
legislation and then what is commonly
known as the WRDA bill, the Water
Resources Development Act. Both of
these measures passed the committee
with unanimous bipartisan support.
The Republicans and Democrats on
this committee have worked together
to reduce emissions and to do it
through innovation—not taxation, not
regulation, but do it through innova-
tion—free market innovation, not pun-
ishing government regulations. I be-
lieve that is the best way to go as we
address the challenges of our environ-
ment and our climate.
We have reached a historic agree-
ment in the committee, and we will on
the floor tonight in the Senate, to in-
clude environmental innovation provi-
sions in this government funding bill.
The environmental innovation agree-
ments include three specific bills that
will significantly reduce greenhouse
gases. I have had the privilege of work-
ing closely with my friend, the com-
mittee ranking member, TOM CARPER
from Delaware, on each of these three.
The first is called the USE IT Act.
This legislation ensures that Wash-
ington is a willing partner in the re-
search and the development of carbon
capture technologies and projects. Car-
bon capture holds the key to signifi-
cant carbon emission reductions. These
captured emissions can be used to cre-
ate building materials, medical sup-
plies, even clothing. They can also be
used to extract more natural resources
to provide more energy for all of us.
The USE IT Act is going to expedite
permitting so that important carbon
capture projects can get moving. It
supports the research and the use of
carbon capture. It includes direct air
capture—actually, carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere—that will take carbon
emissions straight out of the air. It is
very innovative.
This kind of research is now already
happening in my home State of Wyo-
ming, in Gillette, WY, at the Inte-
grated Test Center, which is associated
with the University of Wyoming School
of Energy Resources.
I have worked closely with Senators
WHITEHOUSE and CAPITO and CARPER on
the USE IT Act in having it passed,
first, through our committee, then
through the full Senate, and tonight,
in a bill that will be ultimately sent to
the President of the United States for
his signature.
The second measure, part of this in-
novative work, is a bill sponsored by
Ranking Member CARPER to reauthor-
ize the Diesel Emissions Reduction
Act.
This program has already signifi-
cantly reduced the amount of black
carbon in our air by replacing older en-
gines in buses—school buses and trucks
and other vehicles. This is working
well. These replacement engines make
diesel equipment cleaner and more effi-
cient.
The legislation that we will reau-
thorize this evening sees that this im-
portant program will then continue all
the way through the end of 2024.
The last element of our bipartisan
agreement will phase down the use of
chemicals
known
as
HFCs.
These
chemicals are in every home in Amer-
ica, from cars to refrigerators to air
conditioners.
This agreement is going to authorize
a 15-year phasedown on the production
of these chemicals. Innovative break-
throughs in chemistry have led to the
development of cleaner replacement
chemicals. This legislation tonight will
help protect our air while keeping
costs down for the American people.
Importantly, the agreement, the bi-
partisan agreement we have come up
with, safeguards the essential use of
HFC chemicals when substitute chemi-
cals are less effective. Some examples
including bear spray. We use it in Wyo-
ming. I know they use it in Alaska. It
protects hikers. It is also used in fire
suppression systems on planes that
protect travelers. And we need it.
I know in my hometown of Casper,
the defense spray manufacturer, the
Safariland Group, employs about 75
people. They use HFC chemicals to
make defense sprays. It is a critically
important part of their business.
If they were forced to use replace-
ment chemicals, those sprays would be
far less effective. Well, if you are
around a bear, you want to make sure
you have the most effective spray
available. So with the changes we have
negotiated into this important bill,
companies like the Safariland Group
will be able to continue making high-
quality products that people want and
people need and that can save their
lives.
We also made sure that the manufac-
turers using these chemicals have a
clear set of rules to go by—one clear
set of rules to go by. So our agreement
preempts State and local laws to en-
sure that the specific essentials that
are being used are protected.
Now the manufacturers won’t have to
deal with different sets of rules in dif-
ferent States, which has been a real
problem. This clears that up. The end
result is clean air and clear rules. We
need both of those.
I really want to thank Ranking Mem-
ber CARPER, Senator JOHN KENNEDY of
Louisiana for working with me to
reach an agreement that will reduce
the use of HFC chemicals while pro-
tecting consumers and manufacturers
alike.
All of these three measures support
market innovation. All three will re-
duce greenhouse gases, and they will do
it in ways that will not harm the econ-
omy.
The government funding bill that we
are going to be addressing a little later
this evening also includes bipartisan
water
infrastructure
legislation.
I
know in the Presiding Officer’s home
State of Alaska and in my home State
of Wyoming, water is critical, as it is
across the entire country. But you and
I have focused specifically on this.
Certainly, in Wyoming, dams, levees,
ports, reservoirs, and water systems
are important to every community all
across the country. The infrastructure
is critical. People say the word is ‘‘in-
frastructure,’’ but when we think about
it, what it really means is dams, ports,
reservoirs, levees, and water systems.
That really, I think, shows more what
we are talking about than just this
overall word ‘‘infrastructure.’’
It protects all of us from dangerous
floods and storms, while also providing
water for our families and our farms.
The government spending bill to-
night includes the Water Resources De-
velopment Act of 2020. It is the result
of months of negotiations between
committee leaders from the Senate and
the House of Representatives.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
The bipartisan legislation is fiscally
responsible. It helps grow the economy;
it cuts redtape; and it makes our com-
munities safer. It will spur economic
growth by creating jobs and by author-
izing vital projects.
In my home State of Wyoming and
across the Rocky Mountain West, ac-
cess to consistent water supply is es-
sential for ranchers and farmers. The
water that we need in our home States
to grow crops and raise cattle has to be
delivered on time.
In several communities, the water
reservoirs
that
serve
farmers
and
ranchers happen to be old. These aging
reservoirs and irrigation systems need
maintenance or full rebuilding. This
bill makes these projects a significant
priority.
The legislation will also establish a
new Army Corps of Engineers program
for construction of new, small water
storage projects or the expansion of ex-
isting ones. It will also authorize the
Army Corps of Engineers to carry out
sediment removal projects in water
reservoirs. This improves water qual-
ity, and it increases water quantity.
The bill authorizes projects to main-
tain shipping lanes, to deepen ports, to
upgrade aging dams, and to increase
water storage across the West. Main-
tained
shipping
lanes
ensure
that
American-made goods are shipped from
the heartland to the coasts and around
the world. Deepened ports result in in-
creased commerce. If our major ports
are dredged and deep, then more ships
can use them to export more goods.
These projects that we are getting
ready to adopt tonight will all create
jobs and expand commerce in Amer-
ica’s cities and the heartland. To en-
sure these important projects get mov-
ing, the bill cuts redtape to speed up
the Army Corps of Engineers’ process.
The Water Resources Development
Act is going to expedite the permit-
ting, the construction, the repair, and
the maintenance of many Army Corps
projects. Communities can’t afford to
wait years and years for flood manage-
ment or water storage projects to be
completed. They need them now.
Finally, this legislation will make
communities safer. The critical infra-
structure projects included here will
help prevent damaging floods by main-
taining dams and levees. Floods can
take a terrible toll in property damage
and on human life.
The legislation allows the Army
Corps of Engineers to focus efforts on
fixing aging flood management infra-
structure. It prioritizes the dams and
levees most at risk.
I would like to really thank the
House Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture
Committee
chairman,
PETER
DEFAZIO, and the ranking member,
SAM GRAVES, for working with us to
get this legislation to the finish line.
I want to thank Infrastructure Sub-
committee Chair CAPITO and Ranking
Member CARDIN for their work as well.
I say to the Presiding Officer, as I
wrap this up and thank you for your in-
volvement, I want to thank every
member of the Environment and Public
Works Committee, and specifically the
ranking member, TOM CARPER—whose
staff has worked so closely with mine—
for working with me on this bill. I am
so grateful for his partnership as we
have worked together over the last 4
years as I served as chair and he served
as ranking member. We have not al-
ways agreed on every issue, but we
have respected the positions of each of
us. We have worked and found common
ground, found solutions, and I believe
made a real difference for the economy
and, most importantly here, the envi-
ronment.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
DAINES). The Senator from Pennsyl-
vania.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
CYBER SECURITY
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise
today to express concern over a monu-
mental breach to the Nation’s national
security infrastructure.
Last week, the Washington Post,
among other publications, reported
hacks of several government agencies
by way of the SolarWinds platform
over several months.
The New York Times, on the 17th of
this month, had a headline that in-
cluded these words: ‘‘Officials Warn of
‘Grave Risk.’ ’’ But in that report, the
New York Times indicated that at
least 40 companies, government agen-
cies, and think tanks had been infil-
trated. The infiltrated agencies include
the Departments of Defense, State,
Homeland Security, Treasury, Com-
merce, Energy, and Energy’s National
Nuclear Security Administration, as
well as the National Institutes of
Health. That is about seven different
entities, if you include the Department
of Energy as one entity, in the hacking
of different parts of the Department,
and there could be more.
All the reporting indicates that the
hackers are affiliated with Russian in-
telligence. Russia has proven itself
both capable and willing to invade and
exploit our digital infrastructure for
its own ends.
While
Secretary
of
State
Mike
Pompeo confirmed that Russia was be-
hind this damaging breach of our sys-
tems,
President
Trump
is
casting
doubt—and that might be an under-
statement.
Even in the waning days of his ad-
ministration, our national security
continues to suffer at the hands of the
President’s
deference
to
Vladimir
Putin.
I have to say for the record, I hope
this number changes, but only about 10
Republican Senators have expressed
concerns. I hope that number grows ex-
ponentially in the next couple of days.
I have to ask: What if this breach oc-
curred under a Democratic President—
President Obama, for example? Would
there be more than 10 statements or 11
or 12? This should be categorically,
roundly condemned by every U.S. Sen-
ator of either party.
These hacks renew the urgency for
additional
resources
for
defensive
cyber security across our government.
This need is not a new one. In fact, the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu-
rity Agency, known as CISA, C-I-S-A,
was stood up within the Department of
Homeland Security in 2018 precisely to
shore up the U.S. Government’s de-
fenses against such hacks, such intru-
sions.
However, as we all know, just days
after the 2020 Presidential election,
President Trump fired CISA’s Director,
Chris Krebs, for contradicting the
President’s own false claims regarding
the election.
The President has failed to take this
hack, this attack on our security, this
attack on our government seriously.
This hack raises serious questions
about the nature of cyber espionage
and what constitutes hostile acts by
another country.
These are questions I look forward to
exploring as we learn more about the
scope and nature of this latest breach.
While both of our countries certainly
engage in espionage, we must be vigi-
lant in the protection of our own data
and technology from foreign inter-
ference, and we need to hear more from
Senators on both sides of the aisle
about this attack.
The second and related issue is the
reporting just in the last day or so, re-
ports that the President may be seek-
ing to invoke the Insurrection Act to
impose martial law and refuse to step
down from the Presidency next month.
The reporting indicates that these dis-
cussions took place in the Oval Office.
I would argue—I think most Ameri-
cans would argue—that even the mere
discussion of martial law, the mere
mention of it, the mere invocation of
the whole notion of martial law is both
harmful and dangerous.
Republican Senators, so far, have not
condemned these actions that bla-
tantly
violate
democratic
norms.
Maybe one, maybe two—I hope that
number grows as well—but the silence
from the majority party in the Senate
on this report is deafening. I would
hope that every Senator would roundly
condemn the mere mention of martial
law.
Attempting to seize election ma-
chines—that would be the effect of the
invocation of martial law if it were
operationalized—election machines in
a number of States seized by the gov-
ernment of the United States.
I have got to ask the question: In
America? In the United States of
America? Is that what the White House
is really discussing?
All that America expects—and it is
not much—is that Senators of both
parties would condemn, in the strong-
est possible terms, even the discussion
of martial law.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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December 21, 2020
The Army Secretary and the Army
Chief of Staff released a joint state-
ment clarifying, based on these dan-
gerous actions proposed by the Presi-
dent’s team, that ‘‘there is no role for
the U.S. military in determining the
outcome of an American election.’’
It is hard to believe that those offi-
cials in our government who help de-
fend our country would even have to
say that based upon what the reporting
indicates.
So I hope that, even in this holiday
season, it is made very clear by every
Member of the U.S. Senate that this
will not be tolerated and has to be con-
demned. We can’t just say: Oh, well, it
is another outrage, another insult. It
should be condemned, just like the ac-
tions
of
the
Russian
Government
should be condemned as well.
f
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I just
want to make a couple of brief com-
ments about the legislation we are
going to be voting on, we hope, to-
night.
I will talk about, for purposes of
time, not the spending bill or the
spending portion, the so-called omni-
bus. I will talk about the COVID–19 re-
lief provisions. I won’t go through all
of them, obviously, but there is a lot of
good news for many Americans in this
legislation.
The
consensus
on
unemployment
benefits will help a lot of Americans:
$300 per week for all Americans receiv-
ing unemployment benefits through
March 14. The Pandemic Unemploy-
ment Assistance Program is extended
to help self-employed individuals, gig
workers, and others in nontraditional
employment.
The economic impact payments for
Americans across the country: $600 for
individuals making up to $75,000 a year
and $1,200 for couples making up to
$150,000 per year, as well as a $600 pay-
ment for each dependent child. That
means a family of four would receive
$2,400 in direct payments.
The Paycheck Protection Program,
so-called PPP: $284 billion for the first
and second PPP forgivable loans.
There is more money for transpor-
tation, more money for health, and, in
particular, money for the procurement
of vaccines and therapeutics, as well as
money for vaccine distribution.
Education is funded for more than $80
billion; emergency rental assistance,
$25 billion; the Postal Service, $10 bil-
lion; childcare, $10 billion—both very
important.
The ones I am especially grateful for,
even though on a lot of these I would
vote for higher numbers—a lot of us
would—are the nutrition provisions:
$26 billion in agriculture and nutrition
funding. Half of that will be used for di-
rect payments to farmers who have suf-
fered losses due to the impact of the
pandemic. The remaining 13, the other
half of the 26—$13 billion will be used
to combat food insecurity, which is on
the rise due to the economic impact of
the pandemic.
There is a lot in here that is positive
for American families, for workers, for
small businesses, and for so many
other needs. It took way too long. This
is months overdue. There are gaps in
it.
I think this is a 3-month bill to help
folks get through January, February,
and March. I think we will need an-
other bill after that. And, obviously, I
am very disappointed we don’t have
dollars in here to help nursing homes,
which I fought very hard for. We will
keep up that fight.
It doesn’t have the direct help to
State and local governments, even
though there are provisions that will
help States but not nearly enough.
So it is far, far from perfect, but I
think it is important that we pass it to
provide direct help to people who have
challenges, whether it is with employ-
ment or running a small business or
supporting their families.
The last point I will make on this is
that we gather here today—and we
hope the vote will be tonight before
midnight, but we don’t know. But it is
just ironic that today is the 21st of De-
cember, the winter solstice, the dark-
est day of the year.
I was noting this weekend Elizabeth
Dias wrote an op-ed, a very thoughtful
op-ed, in the New York Times about
winter and all of the ways different
cultures have dealt with the darkness
and the severity of winter. But here is
what she says, and I hope it provides a
context for what we are about to pass
and what we must do in the months
ahead when the virus is still raging and
the death number keeps climbing. Here
is what Elizabeth Dias says:
The great irony of winter is that the mo-
ment darkness is greatest is also the mo-
ment light is about to return. Each year the
winter solstice comes with the promise that
the next day will be brighter.
In this season of hope and this holi-
day season, we hope and we pray that
this legislation will bring some light to
people’s lives, that it will give them a
sense, in addition to having a vaccine
available now, that brighter days are
ahead.
We can’t underestimate the darkness
that has engulfed so many families, but
we hope tonight that we provide at
least a measure of light to all the dark-
ness that so many families have faced.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to engage in a col-
loquy with my friend and colleague
from the State of Delaware, TOM CAR-
PER.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I
have just recently been talking about a
number of pieces of legislation that
have come through the Environment
and Public Works Committee: the
water resources act, the USE IT Act,
the act called DERA to eliminate and
reduce emissions from diesels, as well
as additional legislation on HFCs.
My partner in all of those is here on
the floor now, and I would just like to
ask him if he would—since he has been
such a great partner for the last 4 years
that I have chaired the committee—
talk about this as an accomplishment
for the environment, for the com-
mittee, and for the Senate and for the
country.
So I am just kind of curious, from his
standpoint, where he sees things as a
sign of success.
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, if my
colleague will yield.
As Senator CASEY leaves, I thought
his point about longest night and every
day that follows will be brighter, and
some of the provisions that Senator
BARRASSO
and I, along with JOHN
NEELY KENNEDY, have included in the
Nation’s major budget piece of legisla-
tion ensure that it will be brighter.
One of the pieces of legislation, as
Senator BARRASSO knows, deals with
the
phasedown
of
HFCs,
hydrofluorocarbons.
They
are
1,000
times worse for climate change than
carbon dioxide. Under the legislation
that we have offered, it will phase
down their utilization over the next 15
years by 85 percent. What is that
worth? It is worth a half a degree Cel-
sius—just this one thing, just this one
provision.
A lot of people on this planet think
the biggest challenge that we face on
this planet right now, an existential
threat, is the fact that our planet is
getting warmer and that we need to do
something about it. In this legislation,
we do take a big bite out of it.
And my hope is what it will be is that
it will serve as a source of encourage-
ment for other Democrats and Repub-
licans, maybe an Independent or two,
to take other steps as we come back
into the new year with the new admin-
istration and make further progress.
One of the great things that I love
about our HFC legislation—thanks,
colleague.
One of the great things, Mr. Chair-
man, that I love about our HFC legisla-
tion is that it shows that you can do
good things for our planet and create
jobs. That is what I said: do good
things for our planet in the battle
against climate change and create jobs.
How many jobs? Tens of thousands of
jobs—in this country, in this country;
billions of dollars’ worth of economic
growth—in this country—and at the
same time doing good things with re-
spect to climate change.
Interestingly, it is not every day you
find legislation supported by the Na-
tional Association of Manufacturers,
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, most
major environmental groups, and co-
sponsored by, gosh, two-thirds of the
Senate—Democrats
and
Republicans
alike.
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In that case, we have done it. We
threaded the needle. I just want to
thank the chairman for his leadership
and for his patience and the staff in
working with us. And our thanks to
Rich Russell, your staff leader on the
majority side; Mary Frances Repko,
the staff leader on our side; and every-
body who worked with her.
But more than a decade ago, I re-
member standing next to my colleague
JOHN BARRASSO—I remember standing
right over close to where he is standing
tonight, and a guy named George
Voinovich came up to me—from Ohio.
He and I had been Governors together
for a number of years. Love the guy.
He said: I am looking for a Demo-
cratic cosponsor for a bill. He said: Do
you want to think about it? I said:
Well, what is it? He said: It is a pro-
posal that fosters collaboration be-
tween businesses, folks who have buses
with diesel engines, trains with diesel
engines, boats with diesel engines,
trucks with diesel engines; and it uses
some Federal money, some government
money, in order to use technology that
is available to reduce the emissions
from those diesel engines by more than
80 percent.
I said: Tell me more. And he told me
more, and about a day or two later we
signed on and introduced the legisla-
tion. He was kind enough to let me be
his Democratic lead.
One month later, it was enacted. I
have been here 20 years; I have never
seen legislation with that kind of effect
go through just like that. It was pretty
amazing. Every so often, we reauthor-
ize it; we increase the authorization.
We have done it again with respect to
reauthorizing the Diesel Emission Re-
duction Act.
One of the things I love about it is
that it gets a lot of different stake-
holders involved, and for a limited
amount of Federal dollars, we can have
a multiplier effect that can be, for
every Federal dollar, $5, $6, $7, $8 that
have come in from the private sector.
That is the way we ought to do it.
The last one is USE IT. Not many
people think Delaware is a farm State,
but we raise a ton of chickens. I think
for every person in my State, there are
like 300 chickens or more. Those chick-
ens eat corn and soybeans. We raise
corn and soybeans. Our farmers have
land that is close to the beach. We have
five-star beaches in Delaware: Reho-
both, Bethany, Dewey, and others.
There is always pressure for develop-
ment and encroachment on our farms,
and developers are trying to buy out
the farmers and pave paradise and put
up a parking lot. What we have figured
out how to do is—and it is not just—we
haven’t figured out through this legis-
lation, the so-called USE IT Act, but
what we do is—the idea is to take car-
bon out of the air and to use it for a
better purpose.
One of those better purposes is to re-
plenish the soil in my State, in Wyo-
ming, in Montana, and other places so
that our farmers will be less inclined to
leave the land. They will stay on the
land. They will be able to make money,
support themselves and their families.
It creates a virtuous cycle. That is a
wonderful thing.
I don’t think we are going to be
joined here yet—I called him just to
give him a heads-up, but I don’t think
he is able to get here that quickly, but
JOHN NEELY KENNEDY from Louisiana
was a big part of the work we did on
HFCs. I just want to say, in his ab-
sence, a real big thank-you to him. I
want to thank—gosh, I think 70-plus
Senators—Democrats and Republicans
alike—who cosponsored our HFC bill. I
want to thank our leadership, espe-
cially on our side but on both sides, for
pushing to make sure these three bills
would be included in the final com-
promise.
In addition to all the other things
that were accomplished—and Senator
CASEY and others talked about that—
we have actually done some good
things for our planet. Senator BAR-
RASSO is going to move over and be the
senior Republican on the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee come
January. I will remain on Environment
and Public Works, be the senior Demo-
crat. I want to say that this has been a
wonderful partnership, just a wonderful
partnership—fun, funny, serious when
we had to be, collegial, and really fo-
cused on getting things done for Wyo-
ming, for Delaware, for the other 48
States as well.
So you are not going to be too far,
and I will still be around. We will have
a chance to work on other things. It
has been a real joy to work with you on
these three items, and hopefully in the
future we will have many, many more.
Mr. BARRASSO. I thank Senator
CARPER. I appreciate it.
You know, it is interesting: Senator
ALEXANDER recently gave his speech,
his farewell address, and he said that
sometimes politics is like a split-
screen television set. On the one half,
you see all the fighting and contention
and the dysfunctional side. And on the
other side of the screen, you see the
functioning side. But not many people
look at that functioning side.
What we have been able to do as a
partnership on the Environment and
Public Works Committee was func-
tional—in a bipartisan way, coming up
with solutions. As you mentioned,
there were over 70 cosponsors on the
one piece of legislation. All of them, I
think, got through the committee
unanimously. That is something that
made no news because there wasn’t a
fight. There was cooperation for the
betterment—to make sure we protected
the economy and, at the same time,
preserved the environment. That is
what we need do: Continue to make
sure that we can protect both and con-
tinue with economic development as
well as environmental stewardship for
our Nation.
With that, I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the
roll.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
APPROPRIATIONS
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I
come to the floor tonight to talk about
many provisions that are currently
moving their way through the House of
Representatives and on our way to us.
Obviously, our colleagues here are, I
think, relieved that we have been able
to give relief to the American people;
that is, that we have been able to ex-
tend unemployment benefits and add
bonuses to those unemployment bene-
fits in the amount of 300 extra dollars
per week, and we have been able to ex-
pand the COBRA tax credit programs
to help people who have been unem-
ployed and not been able to continue
their insurance be able to continue
health insurance. This is very impor-
tant for laid-off workers in the State of
Washington, like the aerospace work-
ers.
We are very glad that we were able to
give a stimulus check of $600 per indi-
vidual and $1,200 for married couples;
that we were able to get the PPP pro-
gram that helps small businesses so
that they can continue to try to make
ends meet as we continue to work our
way through this pandemic; and that
we have been able to give $9 billion to
healthcare workers who are stretched
so thin on these battle lines, who need
every support that we can give them.
I want to talk about the rental as-
sistance. We are at a point where, if we
didn’t act tonight, if we didn’t act be-
fore we left here, many more people
were going to be without homes. It is
so important for us to have these pro-
visions and programs like SNAP, the
additional money for broadband, for
healthcare, and for other things that
are essential in helping to commu-
nicate during this pandemic for both
healthcare and for education.
I also wanted to mention work that
was done in tandem with this legisla-
tion, specifically on the affordable
housing tax credit. The affordable
housing tax credit was always impor-
tant. Affordable housing was always
important, but in a pandemic, in a
COVID crisis, it becomes even more
important. The affordable housing tax
credit
is
something
that
Senator
YOUNG and I worked on with Senator
WYDEN and Senator Isakson, and we
wanted to say that we needed to do
more than what our current Tax Code
could do in helping build more afford-
able housing.
The affordable housing tax credit has
provisions that have been in law since
1986, but, actually, using the tax cred-
its and how they worked have been a
fluctuating rate, so the consequence is
that the historic rate of what people
could get to use the tax credit has
changed, and this legislation will put a
floor of 4 percent in to give investors a
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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bigger idea of what this investment can
do for the market.
We believe that it will add, in the
State of Washington, more housing
that is needed immediately, more
housing that is needed on the national
basis, and help us stabilize things in
the near term so that we can work on
affordable housing and how we can put
more incentives for people to build af-
fordable housing.
People
know
affordable
housing
doesn’t just get built. People don’t just
go out and say: I am going to build
housing at this low rate.
The tax credit is a tax credit that
helps people do it by giving those bor-
rowers the ability to work with the tax
credit. But the American people have
been greatly impacted by so many
trends—baby boomers reaching retire-
ment age, not being able to save, peo-
ple being pushed out of the last eco-
nomic
crisis
into
a
rate
of
unaffordability. It really has been a
dramatic increase.
According to the Hudson Institute, 60
percent of our affordable and low-cost
housing was lost from the housing
stock between 1985 and 2013. That is the
housing that we had that was afford-
able. Basically, the time period ends,
and they end up being swallowed up,
like so many places in Puget Sound,
into
market-based
rates.
Literally,
people are pushed out of their housing,
and then there is no other affordable
housing in the region.
These tax credits can help us build
more affordable housing for the long
run. Over the next decade, nearly
500,000 low-income housing tax credit
unions and 655 other subsidized units
will reach the end of their affordability
period. Just like I was saying, they are
going to get to a point where they are
no longer in a protection of affordable
housing, and the consequence is that
growth and demand are pushing us
even higher.
For example, seniors—10,000 baby
boomers retire each day. That means
that those low-income seniors, those
woefully inadequate to pay for increas-
ing housing costs, are going to be grow-
ing every single day and putting more
demand on the system.
For veterans, nearly 2.5 million older
veteran households—almost a quarter
of men and women who helped protect
our country—are cost-burdened. That
means they spend more than 30 percent
of their income on housing. The lack of
affordable housing in our country has
been a longstanding crisis, but the
COVID crisis has made it much worse.
One in five renters is behind on their
rent, and the eviction moratorium ex-
pires in less than 2 weeks.
As I said, I am pleased that we are
voting tonight, hopefully, on this legis-
lation that includes a 1-month eviction
moratorium and $25 billion for rental
assistance and that we will continue to
work on these issues. And I am glad
that we are working on the passage of
not just the low-income housing tax
credit fix of a 4-percent floor but also
that we will continue to work across
the aisle on this legislation moving
forward.
At a minimum, the 4 percent could
increase affordable housing production
by at least 130,000 affordable homes
over the next decade. That is critically
important—130,000
more
affordable
homes over the next decade. It could
generate and help us with job growth—
162,000 jobs and about $18 billion in
wages and impacts to the economy.
Building more affordable housing
helps us solve lots of problems. We
have an increase in demand, as I just
articulated, and a COVID crisis. Invest-
ing in affordable housing is very good
for us in helping our economy grow and
putting a roof over people’s heads.
I would also like to mention as part
of the small business package, the Pay-
check Protection package, a provision
that was supported by so many of our
colleagues to help make sure that we
continue to get local news and infor-
mation out to the public. People under-
stand that local news has been threat-
ened ever since the transition to an in-
formation age and has certainly been
challenged by what I think are unfair
practices by tech companies and the
compensation for material and proper
reimbursement on advertising.
The issue for us is that COVID has
created an environment where we abso-
lutely need to get the news, and we ab-
solutely need to get the local news. It
is imperative that we do what we can
in this legislation to help small news-
papers, small broadcasters, small radio
stations that didn’t previously get
helped in the last COVID package so
they can continue to communicate im-
portant local news to people through-
out the United States.
I want to thank Senators SCHUMER,
CARDIN, and, obviously, I want to
thank specifically Senator BOOZMAN
for working so hard on this legislation
with me and introducing legislation. I
want to thank Senators KLOBUCHAR,
ERNST, and many of our other col-
leagues who signed on to that legisla-
tion, as well as our House colleagues,
Representatives
VELA´ ZQUEZ
and
CICILLINE
and SENSENBRENNER, who
also worked hard on getting this provi-
sion
in,
and
Senators
RUBIO
and
MCCONNELL for helping us in this proc-
ess.
These provisions are important to
help make sure that large public insti-
tutions, like the University of Wash-
ington and others, continue to also get
information out to the public.
This news information and local in-
formation isn’t going to go away with
the help and support of this bill, but it
may be a lifeline in helping us continue
to make sure we have critical public
health information available to the
public at all times, and, hopefully, we
will then go on to really understand
what has happened to local news and
information and do something in the
future Congress to help fix the inequi-
ties that are existing today.
If I could, I also just mention quickly
the issue about broadband. This legis-
lation that we are going to be voting
on
includes
$7
billion
for
more
broadband priorities, $1 billion for
connectivity issues for Tribal country.
I know, as the Presiding Officer knows,
that Indian Country needs a lot of
connectivity.
So
getting
more
broadband into those communities will
be very helpful.
The COVID package also contains
money, additional funding, that I know
Senator WICKER and others worked on
for telehealth. Telehealth is a critical
path during the COVID crisis to make
sure communities have the ability to
get expert advice into our homes, into
our communities, to connect people
with information.
This telehealth grant is a very im-
portant program in the State of Wash-
ington. I think we probably got some-
thing like $8 million previously from
telehealth, and this will help us con-
tinue.
I am disappointed that we did not in-
clude priorities in here for the E-rate
program to help close the homework
gap. This is something Senator MAR-
KEY and others worked on very hard,
and it is very disappointing that we
can’t come to an agreement on some-
thing as important as E-rate. This leg-
islation
provides
the
ability
for
hotspots for people who may be going
to college and not going to classes, but
are in or around a university.
I think that is a good idea, but we
were prohibited from doing the same
thing for students at the K–12 level.
One thing the pandemic has shown us
is that students are at home and need
to be able to connect to stay connected
to their education schedule, to do their
homework, and to be part of the edu-
cation system. I hope that we will ad-
dress this inequity in the bill in the fu-
ture.
I am pleased that, working with Sen-
ator WICKER, we were able include lan-
guage that gives the Federal Trade
Commission new authority to seek
civil penalties for scams and deceptive
practices related to the COVID pan-
demic. You probably think this is al-
ready something that was on the
books, but in reality, the way the Fed-
eral Trade Commission has operated,
they had to give a warning first, al-
most like a cease and desist. The next
thing you know, the same practice
would pop up over here, with somebody
making a claim about how safe their
product was or how this would stop
COVID or something of that nature.
In my home State alone, the FTC re-
ports
that
consumers
have
been
scammed out of nearly $5 million since
the pandemic and the number is over
$200 million nationwide. These scams
can range in everything from straight-
forward identity theft to making all
sorts of accusations on people during
the quarantine period.
I want to thank Senator WICKER for
working with us on this important leg-
islation. Now the FTC will be able to
go after and find these people on first-
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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time offenses. I think this is so impor-
tant to do to make sure that we are po-
licing an environment where public
health is so important.
I also want to thank Representative
SCHAKOWSKY for leading this effort on
the other side of the Capitol.
I also want to talk about very impor-
tant aviation legislation that we were
able to include as part of the larger
omnibus
package
that
is
moving
through the House, as I said, tonight.
It is so important that we make safe-
ty a No. 1 priority in the United States.
If we want to be No. 1 in aviation, we
have to be No. 1 in aviation safety.
Chairman WICKER and I worked with
our colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to produce important legislation
that improves the safety reforms need-
ed at the FAA—the safety reforms of
oversight of manufacturing and the
certification process, and reforms that
will help us here in Congress better
stay on top of the information as far as
the certification process.
This is so critical after the crash of
the Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian Flight
302, both involving Boeing 737 Max air-
crafts and the loss of 346 lives.
I can never say how painful this inci-
dent has been for those families. I can
never say how much they have suffered
in this horrific tragedy that has be-
fallen them, but I know that these re-
forms are what are needed, and their
help and support in passing this legis-
lation has been critical.
I want to thank all of the families
who helped us in communicating why
the safety reforms are important, but I
want to thank, particularly, Michael
Stumo and his wife, Nadia Milleron,
who lost their daughter Samya Stumo
in the Ethiopian air crash, and to let
them know that, even though we are
putting a big down payment on safety
reforms in the U.S. Congress by passing
this legislation, this process does not
stop with the passage of this legisla-
tion.
We need to continue to do more to
improve aviation safety and to con-
tinue to act, even on a global basis, to
be leaders—the United States leading
the way on what aviation safety needs
to be.
I also want to thank our staff: Doug
Anderson, Ronce Almond, David Mar-
tin,
Laurence
Wildgoose,
Jonathan
Hale, Melissa Porter, and David Strick-
land for their work. And on the other
side of the aisle: Mike Reynolds, James
Mazol, Simone Perez, MaryAsa Eng-
land, and John Keyes.
Many Members participated in the
formation of this legislation. I want to
thank Senator DUCKWORTH
for her
work with us on the NTSB rec-
ommendations and flight deck alert
system, which were part of this pack-
age of bills to reform the FAA and the
FAA process.
I want to thank Senator MORAN for
his focus on helping us build those
standards that we are talking about as
far as the FAA going to ICAO and say-
ing: These are the continued standards
for improvement in aviation safety.
I want to thank Senator BLUNT for
his leadership on the Air Grants Pro-
gram, a very important program that
we think will help build up the exper-
tise and knowledge of very, very tech-
nical subject certification for people
here throughout the process of over-
sight and legislating and the executive
branch.
I want to thank Senators CRUZ and
BLUMENTHAL for working on such crit-
ical elements in the legislation as to
how the certification process itself
works and what we needed to do to
continue to bolster it.
Tonight, we are sitting one step clos-
er to reforms that really will be mean-
ingful. It will return the FAA to being
in charge of what are the oversight
members of manufacturers who are
doing the work of the certification
process. It is clear that the individuals
who are part of this unit report to the
FAA. They are supervised by the FAA.
You can no longer have incentives at
the FAA for expediting work. You, ba-
sically, now have a new whistleblower
protection, thanks to my colleague
Senator WICKER
and his incredible
work on this legislation. You have bet-
ter accountability on misconduct. You
create new safety reporting standards
for the FAA employees.
We repeal authorities that would per-
mit a certification by industry. That
industry could continue to make rec-
ommendations about the certification
process is something, in specific provi-
sions, that are repealed here.
We also prohibit interference with
FAA designees. That is, no one can try
to influence a manager or someone di-
rectly involved in the certification of
the process. We also tried to make sure
the process itself worked better. And,
again, many of my colleagues played
critical roles in this.
On required safety system analysis
on any plane coming through the proc-
ess—whether it was new or a deriva-
tive—you still have to do a safety sys-
tem analysis. You have to have regula-
tions that are the most up-to-date as it
relates to making sure you comply, as
we said in this legislation, with the
NTSB recommendations on flight crew
alert systems and to mandate a safety
management system for manufactur-
ers. This is something that is long
overdue. And in some instances, people
said: Oh, the OMB and executive
branch don’t think we need to do these
things. Oh, these things are cost pro-
hibitive. These are regulations we
don’t need to put in place.
Trust me, having a safety manage-
ment system is essential, and we
should make sure that this is in place
as this legislation requires within the
next few years.
This legislation also requires disclo-
sure of safety critical information.
This was something, as I said, our col-
leagues,
Senators
BLUMENTHAL
and
CRUZ and many others, worked on as
part of this legislation.
It also provides expert teams of pan-
els. At the beginning of any kind of
certification process, the FAA will be
assisted by the best experts in avia-
tion, whether they come from NASA or
the Air Force or outside individuals
who understand the latest and greatest
technology. Why do we have that? Be-
cause we know that we are in an era of
unbelievable technological change in
which now the human interface with
technology is so critical. Whether you
are going to be in driverless cars or
whether you are in Amtrak with posi-
tive train control or you are in the
flight deck of an airplane and the soft-
ware that is working with it, we need
to understand how people are going to
respond to human factors.
We all get frustrated with our own
computers and our own software, but
we need to put safety first when it
comes to a pilot interacting with that
software in the cockpit of an airplane.
It also helps us make sure that the
process for the certification appeals
are strengthened and that we tighten
the process. We need to listen to the
engineers on the ground. The engineers
are telling us what we need to do, and
we need to listen to them. I hope that
the leaders, both within manufacturing
and the FAA, will do that.
As I mentioned, this legislation es-
tablishes a National Air Grant Pro-
gram. Some of you can think of it here
on Capitol Hill as similar to the Sea
Grant Program, a program that was
long-established to give us technical
expertise on OSHA and maritime issues
here in Congress. We want the same
thing for aviation to exist.
It is too important of a sector and
safety is too important to not have a
technical skill set here that can stay
on top and replace individuals as re-
tirements happen throughout the avia-
tion system.
It requires disclosures to Congress of
post-crash assessments. If the FAA
goes and investigates a crash, you have
to notify Congress of that information.
Why? We want to stay more on top of
that information. It requires an identi-
fication of safety trends. I have no
doubt that we are going to hear—when
it comes back as these annual reports
for the next several years—that this
issue of human interaction in a tech-
nology cockpit is going to continue to
be the largest safety trend issue, just
as it is going to be in the automotive
area and just as it is going to be in
transportation.
Those are just some of the highlights
of a very comprehensive safety reform
legislation.
I want to thank my colleague Sen-
ator WICKER for his help, his leader-
ship, his most recent report on whistle-
blower activity, and helping us get this
legislation over the goal line.
I also, as I said, want to thank,
again, those families. Our hearts and
sympathies are still every day with
you as you continue to face moving
forward. We are not going to forget. We
are going to continue to put safety as
the biggest priority for us here in the
U.S. Congress and continue to move
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forward on a process that puts the indi-
vidual engineers on the line responsible
for safety to make sure everyone con-
tinues to listen to their directives and
their recommendations.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Kansas.
REMEMBERING ALLAN WEBER
Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I rise out
of respect and in memory of Gove
County
Sheriff
Allan
Weber,
who
served his community faithfully over
the last two decades.
Allan was born and raised on his fam-
ily’s farm near Park, KS, and he went
on to marry Connie, his high school
sweetheart. The couple has three chil-
dren—Andrea, Brandon, and Cory. To
those who know Allan, it was always
clear that his family meant everything
to him. His many grandchildren were
his pride and joy.
In 1996, he ran for Gove County sher-
iff and served his community faithfully
for over two decades since first elected.
Gove County is out in Western Kansas.
It is flat. It is the prairie. It is windy.
It is hot in the summer and cold in the
winter. It is farmers and ranchers. It is
often a struggle to earn a living in
Gove County. I know the county well.
Despite those challenges, it is made up
of people who work hard, care for each
other, and try to make good lives for
themselves and their families.
In rural areas like Gove County, the
sheriff oftentimes wears multiple hats,
and Sheriff Weber was no different. In
addition to serving as sheriff, he was
also the public information officer and
the emergency operations center com-
munity liaison.
Kansans also never fail to step up to
help their neighbors in hard times, and
Allan did the same. After the tragic
death of a neighboring county’s sheriff,
he stepped up to serve as the interim
sheriff in Sheridan County, making
him the first person ever to serve two
counties as sheriff at the same time—a
first in Kansas’s history. He saw his
brothers and sisters in blue as an ex-
tended part of his family, and he held
them in the highest regard.
His colleague in law enforcement,
Sheriff Tim Morse of Jackson County,
which is on the other side of the State,
wrote this:
Kansas has lost a great sheriff. Gove Coun-
ty Sheriff Allan Weber has spent the last
couple of months fighting COVID–19 in a
Denver hospital. Today, Sheriff Weber was
escorted back to Gove County by Colorado
and Kansas Highway Patrols along with
countless Kansas Sheriffs and law enforce-
ment officers for one last time . . . Sheriff
Weber was an honorable man who was re-
spected by all. He will be greatly missed.
He respected those in blue, and those
in blue respected him.
He was a dedicated public servant
both in his home community and at
the State level. He served the Kansas
Sheriffs’ Association on its board and
as its president. I talked to the Kansas
Sheriffs’ Association today, and they
wanted me to recognize Sheriff Weber’s
professionalism and his dedication and
that he served as president of the Asso-
ciation for two consecutive terms,
which is a rare circumstance and
speaks to his effectiveness in the role
and the admiration that his colleagues
held for him.
His community also loved and re-
spected him. They came together to
welcome him home one last time with
an honor parade down Highway 212, in
Quinter, this past Saturday night, with
hundreds of cars and people lined up to
recognize his service and sacrifice over
a lifetime.
Connie, his wife, said:
It was such a beautiful homecoming. I
know he was bursting with pride and love.
After the November election, when he woke
up in the intensive care unit, I told him he
was sheriff for the next 4 years, and he gave
me a small smile and nodded his head. He
loved the Gove County community’s mind
and was always ready to give the ultimate
sacrifice if he had to. There were times that
his heart broke doing his job, but he did
what was right. He lived life day-to-day and
enjoyed it and everyone. He worked hard and
loved gently. He will be missed by many.
The outpouring of love, support, and
shared memories on their Quinter Com-
munity Facebook page has been con-
stant and speaks to the interconnect-
edness of a small community.
I should tell you that the population
of Gove County is about 2,612, and the
county seat of Gove has a population of
70. It is in places like Quinter, like
Gove, and like Gove County where the
sheriff is known by everyone, and the
sheriff is interwoven into the life of the
community and the county.
So many of his friends and family
have remarked on Allan’s contagious
smile, how ornery he was, but, most
importantly, as to the selfless way he
served people. Those of us in public
service ought to look to Allan as a role
model in that selfless service of others.
Sheriff Allan Weber embodied so many
values in Kansas—faith, family, fellow-
ship, service, and good old-fashioned
hard work. He will be missed by many.
Robba and I extend our deepest sym-
pathies to his family—both his loved
ones, which includes one of my staff
members, Chelsey Ladd, his cousin, and
his brothers and sisters in blue.
May God bless Allan Weber. May we
praise him for the life he lived, and
may we look to him as a role model to
try to do what he has done.
I offer my condolences and respect,
on behalf of the U.S. Senate, to the
family of Sheriff Allan Weber.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. KEN-
NEDY). The Senator from Maine.
CORONAVIRUS
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, later
tonight, the Senate will vote on com-
prehensive legislation to fund the gov-
ernment throughout the remainder of
fiscal year 2021 and to provide addi-
tional, long-overdue funding to address
the ongoing emergency needs of our
country during the persistent COVID–
19 pandemic.
I am proud to have helped lead a bi-
partisan, bicameral coalition that lit-
erally worked night and day to develop
a commonsense plan that provided the
foundation for this final agreement.
There are many important compo-
nents of the package before us, includ-
ing assistance for struggling families;
additional funding for testing, vaccine
distribution, and healthcare providers;
resources to help our schools operate
safely in a COVID environment; and
aid for the Postal Service and for air-
lines, airports, mass transit, and motor
coach companies that keep our country
moving.
I come to the floor tonight, however,
to focus on one aspect of the agree-
ment, and that is the extension and ex-
pansion of the Paycheck Protection
Program, better known as PPP.
As the Presiding Officer well knows,
the PPP has been a critical lifeline for
more than 5 million small employers,
at one point helping to sustain the jobs
of upwards of 50 million Americans. It
was one of the most successful pro-
grams in the CARES Act. It was so suc-
cessful that it went through the initial
allotment of money in just 13 days, and
then we had to pass additional legisla-
tion replenishing it.
In the State of Maine, the PPP has
provided nearly $2.3 billion in forgiv-
able loans to 28,000 small businesses—
that is 3 out of 4 of the small busi-
nesses in my State—and has helped
sustain more than 250,000 jobs.
In its original form, the program pro-
vided one-time loans sufficient to sup-
port 8 weeks of payroll, plus a limited
amount to help cover certain overhead
expenses. All of this was completely
forgivable as long as the borrowers re-
tained and paid their employees and
kept within the other parameters of
the program. Our whole purpose was to
help our small businesses save jobs and
pay their workers, keeping the em-
ployer-employee relationship alive so
that they could reopen and Americans
could quickly return to work when the
pandemic subsided.
When Chairman MARCO RUBIO and I,
together with Senators BEN CARDIN and
JEANNE SHAHEEN, put the PPP together
at the onset of the national emergency,
none of us could have imagined that
the pandemic would still be forcing
shutdowns and curtailing operations
and that extreme mitigation measures
would be necessary these many months
later. Yet, sadly, the virus is still
spreading, and many of the steps taken
to fight it, although they may be nec-
essary to protect public health, threat-
en catastrophic damage to many of our
small businesses and their employees—
small businesses that have now spent
their PPP loan funds but are still un-
able to return to normal operations.
I talked with a restaurant owner in
Bangor, ME, where I live, who told me
that he, because of the size of his res-
taurant and to comply with the public
health spacing and social distancing
guidelines, can only have four tables a
night. Because the Governor of Maine
has imposed a 9 p.m. curfew, he can’t
turn over those tables to compensate
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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for the reduced number of people he
can serve at one time. It is so tough,
and I could hear the pain in his voice
when he talked about having to lay off
some of his longstanding staff in order
to just stay alive.
That is why the $284.5 billion pro-
vided in this bill to extend and expand
the PPP is so vital. The program im-
provements in this bill are the result of
months of work on the part of Chair-
man RUBIO, Ranking Member CARDIN,
Senator SHAHEEN, and myself. I am
pleased to see that so much of the Con-
tinuing the Paycheck Protection Pro-
gram Act that Chairman RUBIO and I
introduced this fall is reflected in this
final bill.
The final bill also reflects the very
hard work that our bipartisan, bi-
cameral coalition put into assistance
to small business. Senator JEANNE SHA-
HEEN
and I had countless meetings,
Zooms, and phone calls to work out the
details in conjunction with the rest of
the members of our group.
I would like to take a moment to
outline a few of the key features that
are included in this package.
First, the bill will allow the hardest
hit small businesses to receive a second
forgivable PPP loan. To ensure that as-
sistance is targeted to those most in
need, eligibility for these second loans
is generally limited to small businesses
with 300 or fewer employees that have
seen their gross revenues drop by 25
percent in some quarter this year com-
pared to an identical quarter in 2019.
Second, recognizing the severe im-
pact that the COVID–19 mitigation
measures have had on our restaurants
and hotels, the bill maintains the gen-
eral terms for the loans for these enti-
ties but with an important enhance-
ment. The maximum forgivable loan
size for hotels and restaurants is in-
creased to 3.5 times their average
monthly payroll costs compared to 2.5
times for other borrowers. This in-
crease in the loan amount will be so
critical to the very survival of busi-
nesses like Simones’ Hot Dog Stand
and Restaurant in Lewiston, ME, and
the
Angler’s
Family
Seafood
Res-
taurant, which has locations in Hamp-
den, Searsport, and Newport. These
small businesses all received forgivable
PPP loans during the first round, but,
faced with continuing dining restric-
tions and a long, cold winter, they are
really worried about their survival and
about being able to retain and pay
their valued employees.
Third, forgivable expenses under the
program are expanded in very common-
sense ways. Supplier costs and invest-
ments in facility modifications and
personal protective equipment needed
to operate safely during the pandemic
will now be part of the forgivable over-
head expenses. This is especially im-
portant to restaurants struggling to
adapt dining restrictions or to get a
high-quality
food
supply
because,
through no fault of their own, they
have fallen behind on their bills.
Fourth, the bill extends the PPP to
small 501(c)(6) organizations that are
not lobbying groups and that have 300
or fewer employees, such as local
chambers of commerce and economic
development organizations.
Fifth—and I want to give credit to
our colleague Senator CRAMER for this
concept—the bill greatly simplifies the
loan forgiveness process for small bor-
rowers with loans of no more than
$150,000 and directs the Small Business
Administration and the Treasury De-
partment to develop a simplified loan
forgiveness form for these borrowers. I
remember when the first form came
out and it was 14 pages long and so
complicated that you would need an
advanced degree in economics or a CPA
to help you figure it out, even if you
had a very small loan.
The bill, to guard against fraud and
abuse, also provides the SBA with $50
million in additional audit funding.
Finally, the bill sets aside funding
for smaller businesses and borrowers in
underserved communities to ensure
that they get the help they need
through, for example, CDFIs and mi-
nority business associations and depos-
itory institutions. It also includes $25
million for the Minority Business De-
velopment Agency.
Mr. President, the Paycheck Protec-
tion Program is the result of a bipar-
tisan commitment to support our small
businesses and their employees, to
keep them afloat, the businesses afloat,
and the employees paid during this
pandemic. It has been by any measure
a tremendous success, but many of
these hardest hit small businesses re-
quire more help now in order to sur-
vive, and this bill aims to provide that
help.
Before I close, I want to talk briefly
about another provision of the bill, and
that is the grant assistance provided
for live venues, museums, and movie
theaters. Let me make clear that I sup-
port funding for our community-based
live venues. I know they have really
been hurt. They have had to cancel
their seasons. They have lost all their
ticket revenues. They are in real dan-
ger.
I have enjoyed these throughout
Maine, like the Ogunquit Playhouse
and the Center Theater for the Per-
forming Arts in Dover-Foxcroft. They
are the heart and soul of our smaller
communities.
I was disappointed to see that the
final bill had stripped provisions from
our bipartisan, bicameral group that
we included in our package to try to
keep the focus of these grants on these
smaller entities. Specifically, our pro-
posal would have limited the grant
amounts that related entities could re-
ceive to no more than $10 million and
excluded museums with endowments
larger than $75 million—commonsense
safeguards. Now, I do appreciate that
the legislation sets aside $2 billion for
entities with 50 employees or fewer,
but I am concerned that, as drafted,
many venues and museums with sig-
nificant endowments and other re-
sources could be the largest bene-
ficiaries of this section because of the
safeguards that were stripped out by
the negotiators.
For example, a museum in New York
City, say, with a billion-dollar endow-
ment could receive an outright grant
as long as the museum has an audito-
rium and meets the other eligibility re-
quirements. That surely does not seem
like an appropriate use of taxpayer dol-
lars to me and was clearly designed to
help large city venues that will survive
without our help.
Nevertheless, I am pleased to support
this package. This COVID relief is vi-
tally needed for our struggling fami-
lies, for our hard-hit small businesses,
for our challenged schools, for our
stressed healthcare system, to promote
the distribution of the vaccine and
more testing, and to help our over-
whelmed Postal Service. I urge support
for the package.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent to complete my
remarks before the vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection.
YEAR-END ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mr.
MCCONNELL.
Mr.
President,
with the Senate poised to complete
some major business for the country
and wrap up a most unusual year, I
want to express some gratitude to the
men and women behind the scenes who
make our work possible.
Passing a historic rescue package
and a full-year funding bill would be a
serious undertaking even in ordinary
circumstances. And, of course, this
pandemic year has brought anything
but ordinary circumstances to the Sen-
ate, just like everywhere else.
For about 10 months and counting,
COVID–19 has imposed new challenges
on hundreds of people who are already
plenty busy enough.
After much of the Senate worked re-
motely in April, we came back to work
in early May—like the essential insti-
tution that we are. Month after month,
we have taken smart and careful pre-
cautions and remained an exemplary
safe workplace. All along, we have not
just continued to govern but completed
landmark confirmations and historic
legislation for the American people.
None of this would have been possible
without many people beyond the 100 of
us with our names on these desks.
I want to thank the Office of the Sec-
retary of the Senate, led by Julie
Adams and Mary Suit Jones. This team
encompasses everyone from the tal-
ented professionals who sit on the dais
to the Official Reporters of Debate, to
Disbursing and many other offices.
Thanks to our Parliamentarian, Eliz-
abeth
MacDonough,
who
faithfully
calls the balls and strikes. She won the
admiration of our temporary presider,
Chief Justice Roberts, before we re-
claimed her as the Senate’s own.
Thanks also to Senate Sergeant At
Arms—Mike
Stenger
and
Jennifer
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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Hemingway and their whole team, from
the doorkeepers to the IT team that
stood up enormous telework capabili-
ties almost overnight, to the workers
who clean offices, move furniture, and
keep this place running in hundreds of
ways.
Our Architect of the Capitol, Brett
Blanton, assumed his role just before
the pandemic hit. He never missed a
beat. His team tackled cleaning in a
way that exceeded industry standards,
reconceived the food services, and,
again, physically kept the Capitol
functioning.
Of course, very special thanks are
due to our Attending Physician, Dr.
Brian Monahan, and the entire team he
leads. Believe me, they already had a
full-time job caring for Members of
Congress and the Supreme Court. We
have leaned on Dr. Monahan in count-
less ways all year long. His expertise
and wise counsel have been a credit to
the Senate throughout the pandemic.
Here in the Chamber, I want to thank
our cloakroom teams, led by Gary
Myrick on the Democratic side and
Robert Duncan on ours. Duncan had
only just stepped into his current role
when the crisis began to unfold. He
navigated about 10 years’ worth of big
challenges in his first 10 months in the
top job. Thanks to him and his capable
deputy, Chris Tuck.
Another key group these past months
has been our Rules Committee, led by
Chairman BLUNT and his staff director,
Fitzhugh Elder. The committee has run
point on coordinating many of the
changes
and
adaptions
that
have
helped keep this body safe. They have
done
an
outstanding
job
without
enough recognition or thanks.
We are grateful to the men and
women of the Capitol Police, led by
Chief Steven Sund, who have stood
their posts even when most of the rest
of us have worked remotely. They have
stood strong during this pandemic, dur-
ing protests both peaceful and other-
wise, and during the other daily oper-
ations that they handle with courage
and professionalism.
Across the board, I want to thank all
of our Senate staff. Both the smaller
footprint who have continued phys-
ically working at the Capitol and those
who kept up their hard work remotely
have confronted all kinds of novel chal-
lenges. Our institution and our country
are grateful to you all.
Last but not least, I want to thank
my own team. My personal office, led
by departing chief of staff Phil Maxson,
has fought every day for Kentuckians’
needs and priorities throughout this
crisis. Our State offices, steered by
Terry Carmack, kept us connected to
our constituents in new ways. My com-
munications director, Robert, Steurer,
and all their colleagues who staff these
operations are invaluable to me and to
Kentucky.
Here in the Capitol, my leadership
staff has given an incredible amount of
themselves to me, to our team, and to
the Senate the entire year.
Remember, this is somehow still the
same calendar year that began with an
impeachment trial, continued through
the CARES Act, other major legisla-
tion over the summer, a Supreme
Court vacancy and confirmation this
fall, and finally the all-out legislative
sprint since Thanksgiving.
First, my two deputy chiefs of staff.
Stef Muchow runs our operations in an
incredibly historically complex time to
handle operations. She has worn about
10 different hats all year long—as
usual. Scott Raab handles policy. He
has led his colleagues through a legis-
lative year like no other, from mam-
moth negotiations and historic rescue
packages to our most particular prior-
ities and everything in between. We
have all leaned on Scott heavily, and
he has been indispensable.
Beneath them, within our operation,
are a lot of talented folks I am lucky
to have. I want to name them very
briefly.
My chief counsel, Andrew Ferguson,
offers brilliant advice, from impeach-
ment to policy to the judiciary.
Robert Karem, my defense policy ex-
pert, has brought critical institutional
leadership as 2020 tested everything
from national security to continuity of
government.
Jane Lee handles her massive port-
folio—and more besides—with incred-
ible effectiveness and calm under fire,
and she sings the best Christmas carols
in the office.
Terry Van Doren is a policy master
who delivers for Kentucky and the
country every time.
Erica Suares and Jim Neill are expert
liaisons and advisers who keep me con-
nected inside the Senate and beyond.
Steve Donaldson has been my point
man for all things election law during
this election year.
John Chapuis is a seasoned Senate
veteran who picked quite the time to
join our team and cover economic pol-
icy.
Jody Wright fights to get good people
in good positions with good cheer.
Andy Quinn is a master of words and
ideas.
David Popp heads my press team. He,
Doug Andres, Scott Sloofman, and
their whole operation keep my message
and the Republican conference’s mes-
sage front and center.
Sarah Steinberg manages my days,
and Alex Jenkins manages my office—
both with great humor and even great-
er professionalism.
Moon Sulfab keeps our technology
systems running and our spirits high.
I have to mention our healthcare ex-
pert Jen Kuskowski, who worked re-
motely this spring while expecting her
baby boy and has been cheering us on
while on maternity leave. We can’t
wait to get her back.
Thanks to Grace Graham and Peter
Oppenheim, whom Senator ALEXANDER
generously shared from his HELP Com-
mittee staff to help us in Jen’s absence.
Rounding out our leadership team
are crack researchers Robert Utsey and
David Hauptmann; skilled communica-
tors Dylan Vorbach, Valerie Chicola,
Suzanne Youngblood, Emily Hauck,
and Katherine Grayson.
Our frontline troops, the jacks-of-all-
trades who keep everybody in line, are
Victoria Mason, Elise Stebick, and
Spencer Abraham.
Finally, at the head of this entire
team is our fearless leader, our chief of
staff, Sharon Soderstrom. Everybody
on Capitol Hill and everybody in Wash-
ington knows that Sharon is one of the
smartest, most dedicated, and most ef-
fective staff leaders working at any
level in any branch of government. She
is my first call and my last call on
every subject. She was in the leader’s
office before I was. She supported both
Trent Lott and Bill Frist. So I count
my blessings on a daily basis that I am
lucky No. 3. Sharon bears the weight of
the world on her shoulders and not
only delivers but somehow prioritizes
lightening everybody else’s load while
she is at it—a walking master class in
leadership.
I am proud of all that we have ac-
complished for the country in this
challenging year, and I couldn’t be
gladder to be heading into 2021 with
these talented professionals at my side.
So I thank them, Mr. President. I
thank them, one and all.
VOTE ON SOSKIN NOMINATION
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the Soskin nomination?
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask for the yeas
and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient sec-
ond.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. ENZI), the Senator
from Georgia (Mrs. LOEFFLER), the
Senator from Georgia (Mr. PERDUE),
and the Senator from South Dakota
(Mr. ROUNDS).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the
Senator from California (Ms. HARRIS) is
necessarily absent.
The result was announced—yeas 48,
nays 47, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 288 Ex.]
YEAS—48
Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS—47
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
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Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Manchin
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING—5
Enzi
Harris
Loeffler
Perdue
Rounds
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader.
f
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
MORNING BUSINESS
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
ate proceed to legislative session and
be in a period of morning business,
with Senators permitted to speak
therein for up to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
UNITED STATES-MEXICO
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask the Chair to lay before the Senate
the message to accompany H.R. 133.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
Chair lays before the Senate the fol-
lowing message from the House:
The senior assistant legislative clerk
read as follows:
Resolved, that the House agree to the
amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R.
133) entitled ‘‘An Act to promote economic
partnership and cooperation between the
United States and Mexico,’’ with an amend-
ment to the Senate amendment.
MOTION TO CONCUR
Mr. MCCONNELL. I move to concur
in the House amendment to the Senate
amendment to H.R. 133.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The mo-
tion is pending.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask unanimous
consent that there be 60 minutes of de-
bate, equally divided between the lead-
ers or their designees; and that fol-
lowing the use or yielding back of that
time, the Senate vote on the motion to
concur without further motions or
amendments in order and that 60 af-
firmative votes be required to adopt
the motion to concur.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from North Dakota.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST
Mr. HOEVEN. North Dakota is an en-
ergy powerhouse, and our late-night
producers work around the clock to en-
sure homes and businesses in the Mid-
west have affordable and reliable ac-
cess to power when it is needed most.
But the PTC, the wind production tax
credit,
is
creating
artificially
low
prices in markets for power generation.
Qualified wind projects are receiving
up to 21⁄2 cents per kilowatt hour from
the taxpayer. These subsidies distort
the market and are forcing out the
critical coal-fired baseload generation
we need to keep the lights on.
Since Congress established a wind
production tax credit in 1992, wind
power has been able to transition from
an emerging technology to a multibil-
lion-dollar industry that is clearly
commercially viable. That is why we
worked on a bipartisan agreement in
2015 to phase down and sunset the wind
tax credit at the end of 2019.
We had an agreement to do the
phaseout, and the wind industry agreed
to it. I worked with Senator THUNE and
AWEA, the American Wind Energy As-
sociation, and others to do it. And they
agreed. We had an agreement. That is
why we are opposed to extending the
PTC and offer an amendment to strike
it.
We saw what happened in California
over the summer, and we can’t afford
to have blackouts and brownouts dur-
ing the coldest of winter weather
months. We, instead, must strengthen
grid resiliency and reliability by keep-
ing diverse sources of generation avail-
able at all times, including when the
wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t
shining. That means baseload.
Instead of extending the production
tax credit, we should be working on
making technologies like carbon cap-
ture and sequestration commercially
viable.
The American Wind Energy Associa-
tion states on its website that ‘‘growth
in the wind industry is expected to re-
main strong when the PTC is fully
phased out.’’ Why, then, are we consid-
ering another extension of this credit
when the leading trade association ex-
pects to see strong growth for the wind
industry without the credit?
We need to bring back a level playing
field for competition in our electricity
markets and reverse the trend of tax-
payers continuing to subsidize a ma-
ture, multibillion-dollar wind industry.
I urge my colleagues to support this
amendment and ensure that the wind
production tax credit sunsets.
With that, I would like to ask for
some words from my cosponsor on the
amendment, Senator CRAMER.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from North Dakota.
Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, I rise to
join my colleague Senator HOEVEN in
offering this amendment and urging
our colleagues to support the amend-
ment to strip the wind protection tax
credit from this massive bill.
I feel like I am living in an episode of
the ‘‘Twilight Zone,’’ and I wish I could
say that I am surprised. But I am not,
because here we go again. Despite nu-
merous requests and appeals and deals
with the leader and the chairman of
the Finance Committee to not jam this
body with a 13th extension of the wind
protection tax credit, here we are with
another one in front of us.
Since the credit’s inception in 1992—
and for a lot of those years I was a util-
ity
regulator—it
has
always
been
promised that it would be temporary
and would expire. Last year, we got
jammed at the last minute with an-
other extension, and, rightfully, the
people back home are really, really
upset with us. And it didn’t sit very
well with me either.
That is why, in April of this year, I
led a letter to Leader MCCONNELL with
colleagues from West Virginia, Wyo-
ming, and Georgia saying it was time
to finally level the playing field and
get rid of this market-distorting atroc-
ity.
In July, I led another letter to Chair-
man GRASSLEY with even more col-
leagues—from
West
Virginia,
Wyo-
ming, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Penn-
sylvania—with the same message: Let
this credit expire.
Yet here we are again. The requests
have fallen on deaf ears, and we have
simply been given another pill to swal-
low with the extension today.
Some in this town have pointed to an
extension in carbon sequestration cred-
its like 45Q and 48A, as if they were an
equal trade. They are not. Despite
years of pleading, the Treasury Depart-
ment—yes,
this
Treasury
Depart-
ment—still has not finalized regula-
tions. So an extension of 45Q is moot if
there is no way to actually monetize
the credit.
Of equal importance, financial inves-
tors have said if renewable credits are
extended, they will absorb whatever
tax appetite exists because they are
predictable, and those deals have been
done many times.
Just to reiterate, they can’t even uti-
lize 45Q because Treasury hasn’t fin-
ished the regulations 3 years after Con-
gress expanded the credit.
More to the point, while there are
some great proposed carbon sequestra-
tion projects planned in North Dakota,
their benefit is targeted, while in con-
trast, hundreds of miners and the local
communities they have built are being
hurt by the extension of the production
tax credit. I strongly support carbon
sequester projects, but to assume that
the potential benefits of 45Q or 48A are
equal to the unilateral harm of the
wind credit is disingenuous at best.
I have heard from utilities who actu-
ally use the wind PTC, but they said
they don’t need it because the market
is so awash with wind credits, they
can’t even monetize them. It is com-
pletely upside down. In fact, the PTC
credits are actually taking money
away from other clean energy projects
like nuclear clean coal, taking emis-
sions-free energy right off the grid.
Just a few days ago, POLITICO said
this: The simplest option for tax ex-
tenders would be to let all 33 that are
scheduled to expire at the end of the
year to be renewed.
I have a simpler plan. Let them all
expire. K Street wouldn’t like it, but it
would be one less section in this giant
package.
One final point, in all of my time in
Congress—and that has been 8 years
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7923
December 21, 2020
now—the wind production tax credit
has never been extended through reg-
ular order or an open discussion or
even hearings. Despite our objections
or promises from the wind industry
that it should expire, in the 11th hour
with the government shutdown loom-
ing, it gets dropped into the Members’
laps. That alone should be a red flag
that the only time it has enough
chance to pass is when it rides the
coattails of our national defense and
the
government
operations.
It
is
shameful.
I support the amendment from Sen-
ator HOEVEN, and I urge my colleagues
to support it as well. Let the wind PTC
expire.
I yield my time.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank
my colleague Senator CRAMER and turn
to my colleague Senator LANKFORD.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I
will be brief. I did what many of us did
today.
We
spent
the
day
digging
through a 5,600-page bill, trying to find
out what is in it. We broke it up into
hundreds of pages of chunks and sepa-
rated it among our staff and just start-
ed reading through it as quickly as we
could, trying to be able to pull out the
details.
We found a lot of things that we real-
ly like. We found a few surprises as
well. So help us, we found, right in the
middle of the document on tax policy,
a zombie—the wind production tax
credit. Something that we had heard
had died—in fact, something that we
had heard died 2 years ago; in fact,
something that we had heard died 6
years ago when all of us agreed it
should die. In fact, the plan was to
take it down a little bit each and every
year until it finally got to zero. The
problem was, when it got to zero, some
lobbyist helped somebody get it back
in last year, and it suddenly, after
going to zero, reappeared. And then, so
help me, it reappeared again.
So this temporary credit that dis-
torts
the
market,
that
literally
changes the prices in all of our en-
ergy—whether that be oil or gas or coal
or solar or hydroelectric or nuclear—
gives a special perk to one, and all of
the rest of them get furious. But for
whatever reason, this simple credit
can’t seem to go away.
When we agree to something, we
should probably stick to it, and we
agreed years ago to phase this out. But
yet this zombie keeps reappearing and
walking the halls of the Senate.
Our simple challenge is this. Let’s
put this zombie in the daylight. Let’s
have the real argument over it and de-
termine: Is this distorting the energy
market for everybody else, including
all of our renewables? Is it something
we need to keep?
I live in Oklahoma, and if you know
our song, you know ‘‘the wind comes
sweeping down the plains.’’ We have
been called the Saudi Arabia of wind
power. I promise, you can’t drive very
far in Oklahoma without seeing a field
of windmills. We have lots of wind
power, and we think it is a great en-
ergy source. But it is a mature energy
source, and it does not need the wind
production tax credit. So let’s sunset
it.
With that, I yield.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I would
like to thank my colleague Senator
LANKFORD. Also, we would like to
thank Senator ALEXANDER, Senator
BARRASSO, and others who support this
legislation.
With that, I ask unanimous consent
that our motion to concur with the
amendment, which is at the desk, be
agreed to; and that the motion to re-
consider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to
object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from Oregon.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President and col-
leagues, I will be brief. I want to give
the Senate a sense of where we are
with respect to this issue. In front of us
right now is a bipartisan agreement to
extend a variety of provisions to pro-
mote clean energy and reduce carbon
emissions.
When I talk to colleagues on both
sides of the aisle, there is enormous
support for the effort to reduce carbon
emissions. Now, I can look around this
Chamber and point out colleagues who
have worked with me on the renewable
energy provisions that are part of this
bipartisan agreement, which includes
not just the credit for wind but also
solar and other renewable energy. I
would submit this is the best approach
we have today, which is to make sure
that we don’t miss out on critical in-
vestments right now.
For the future, I have a plan to move
to a technology-neutral system that
would avoid picking winners and los-
ers, take this mess of a Tax Code, with
more than 40 separate energy provi-
sions, throw it in the trash, and say we
are going to focus on one thing—reduc-
ing carbon emissions. We aren’t there
today. What is here today is climate
change. That is why it is so important
that we pass this bill and reject this
amendment.
With that, I want to thank my col-
leagues from North Dakota. I remem-
ber enjoying going to North Dakota
with the sponsor of this amendment. I
will tell you, if you are over 6 feet tall,
make sure to exercise before you go to
North Dakota because you will be in
the smallest airline seat in the history
of aviation.
JOHN HOEVEN is a very good and car-
ing man. I am looking forward to work-
ing with him on these issues in the fu-
ture.
And with that, I would object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ob-
jection is heard.
The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I would ask my col-
league from Oregon—and I did have
him in North Dakota. We had a great
time, and I appreciate his coming out
to see the energy we produce in our
great State.
I would ask the gentleman for his
help on carbon capture technologies.
We put funding in place to advance
those carbon capture technologies, and
I ask for his help and his colleagues’
help in that endeavor.
Mr. WYDEN. I would say to my col-
league, I am always interested in work-
ing with him in the future. After we
pass this bill, with these important
provisions to meet our immediate
needs, let’s set as our lodestar reducing
carbon emissions.
When you and I served on the Energy
Committee together, that was an ap-
proach that brought together Repub-
licans and Democrats.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. I thank my cosponsors
on this amendment and our efforts will
continue.
I yield the floor.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I suggest
the absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
PURPLE BOOK CONTINUITY ACT
OF 2020
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask the Chair to lay before the Senate
the message to accompany H.R. 1520.
The Presiding Officer laid before the
Senate the following message from the
House of Representatives:
Resolved, That the House agree to the
amendment of Senate to the bill (H.R. 1520)
entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Public Health
Service Act to provide for the publication of
a list of licensed biological products, and for
other purposes.’’, do pass with an amend-
ment to the Senate amendment.
MOTION TO CONCUR
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
move to concur in the House amend-
ment to the Senate amendment, and I
know of no further debate on the mo-
tion.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further debate?
Hearing none, the question is on
agreeing to the motion to concur in the
House
amendment
to
the
Senate
amendment.
The motion was agreed to.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask unanimous
consent that the motion to reconsider
be considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7924
December 21, 2020
DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE
HOUSE
OF
REPRESENTATIVES
TO MAKE A CORRECTION IN THE
ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 1520
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
ate proceed to the immediate consider-
ation of H. Con. Res. 128, which was re-
ceived from the House.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the concurrent resolu-
tion by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 128)
directing the clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives to make a correction in the en-
rollment of H.R. 1520.
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the concurrent
resolution.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask unanimous
consent that the resolution be agreed
to and that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table with no intervening action or de-
bate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The concurrent resolution (H. Con.
Res. 128) was agreed to.
f
UNITED
STATES—MEXICO
ECO-
NOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT—Con-
tinued
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to engage in a col-
loquy with my colleague, Finance
Committee Ranking Member WYDEN,
to discuss a tax provision included in
the omnibus appropriations bill cur-
rently before the Senate. The tax title
in this bill contains important clari-
fications to, and expansions of, the Em-
ployee Retention Tax Credit estab-
lished under section 2301 of the CARES
Act. This credit has provided vital pay-
roll support to struggling businesses in
Iowa and across the country. The en-
hancements included in this bill are
necessary to help more employers ac-
cess the credit. Importantly, the bill
clarifies that businesses that received
Paycheck Protection Program loans,
or PPP, are still eligible for the credit
based on other wages and benefits paid.
Does Member WYDEN agree that our in-
tent is to allow struggling small busi-
nesses to access the retention credit,
even if they have received a PPP loan?
Mr. WYDEN. That is correct. COVID–
19
has
shuttered
small
businesses
across the Country. This is especially
true in Oregon, where small businesses
are the backbone of our economy. En-
suring businesses can access relief from
both the Paycheck Protection Program
and the Employee Retention Tax Cred-
it is critical. The legislation before us
today would allow businesses who took
out a PPP loan to access the retention
credit in two instances. First, those
businesses that have had or will have
their loan forgiven can claim the credit
for any wages that were not paid for
with PPP loan proceeds. Second, a
business that does not have its PPP
loan forgiven can claim the credit for
any wages. As this change will be ret-
roactive, does the Chairman agree that
it is equally as critical that these
small businesses are able to quickly
and easily claim these past credits
they will now be eligible for?
Mr. GRASSLEY. Yes. That is why we
are allowing these businesses, both
those with forgiven loans and those
without, to claim credits for wages
paid in previous quarters that this bill
makes eligible for the credit on their
fourth quarter 2020 payroll tax filings.
This will prevent small businesses from
having to amend their previously filed
payroll tax returns, easing the paper-
work burden for both taxpayers and the
Internal
Revenue
Service.
I
know
Ranking Member WYDEN will join me
in urging the IRS to do all they can to
simplify and expedite the process for
eligible businesses retroactively claim-
ing the retention credit. The last thing
these businesses need right now is addi-
tional, complex payroll tax filings.
I thank the ranking member for en-
gaging in this colloquy to discuss this
important issue and the clarification
included in the pending appropriations
bill.
Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. President, I wish
to enter remarks regarding the Con-
solidated
Appropriations
Act,
2021,
which I will refer to as the 2021
Approps Act.
Specifically, my remarks are about
sections 1001 through 1005 of the 2021
Approps Act. I was the sponsor and
principal drafter of these sections. I
also negotiated the final legislative
text of these sections with Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin and my
Democratic colleagues in the Senate,
including Democratic Minority Leader
CHUCK SCHUMER.
These sections relate to the Federal
Reserve’s temporary emergency lend-
ing facilities under section 13(3) of the
Federal Reserve Act that are creatures
of the CARES Act P.L. 116–136. These
facilities were established in response
to the extreme turmoil in the credit
markets caused by the COVID–19 pan-
demic in March 2020. They were made
possible by $500 billion in funding and
authority provided by the CARES Act.
As a result, these facilities are often
referred to as the CARES Act facilities,
which is how I will refer to them.
The CARES Act facilities are the Pri-
mary Market Corporate Credit Facil-
ity, the Secondary Market Corporate
Credit Facility, the Municipal Liquid-
ity Facility, the Main Street Lending
Program, and the Term Asset-Backed
Securities Loan Facility (TALF). The
CARES Act required and Congress in-
tended the CARES Act facilities to
cease operations by December 31, 2020.
I was one of the two Republican Sen-
ators involved in drafting the CARES
ACT provisions that provided the fund-
ing and authority for the CAREES Act
facilities. During the last 2 days—De-
cember 19, 2020 and December 20, 2020—
I have spoken at length on the Senate
floor about the creation, intended pur-
pose, and success of these facilities, as
well as the impact of sections 1001
through 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act on
these facilities and the reasons for en-
acting these sections. As a result, I will
not repeat those remarks now.
Today, I would like to focus on the
impact of one particular section of the
2021 Approps Act: section 1005. But let
me first remind my colleagues of what
sections 1001 through 1005 of the 2021
Approps Act do. Collectively, these sec-
tions rescind more than $429 billion of
unused money out of the CARES Act
facilities and use that money for other
important purposes; definitively end
the CARES Act facilities by December
31, 2020, as Congress intended and the
CARES Act requires; forbid the CARES
Act facilities from being restarted; and
prevent the CARES Act facilities from
being replicated without congressional
approval.
Specifically, section 1005 of the 2021
Approps Act prevents the creation of
any Federal Reserve emergency lend-
ing facility established under section
13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act that is
‘‘the same as’’ any CARES Act facility.
Because an earlier version of TALF
was established in 2008 prior to the
CARES Act, section 1005 of the 2021
Approps
Act
specifically
allows
TALF—but only TALF—to be rep-
licated in the future without congres-
sional approval. Under section 1005 of
the 2021 Approps Act, all of the other
CARES Act facilities—the Primary
Market Corporate Credit Facility, the
Secondary Market Corporate Credit
Facility, the Municipal Liquidity Fa-
cility, and the Main Street Lending
Program—cannot be replicated in the
future without congressional approval.
So what does it mean for a new facil-
ity to be ‘‘the same as’’ a CARES Act
facility? That question can easily be
answered by looking at the purpose of
the CARES Act facilities. The purpose
of each CARES Act facility is identi-
fied in its term sheet.
Let’s walk through them. The pur-
pose of the Primary Market Corporate
Credit Facility was to lend directly to
corporations by purchasing bonds or
syndicated
loans
from
them
at
issuance. The purpose of the Secondary
Market Corporate Credit Facility was
to purchase corporate bonds and cor-
porate bond Exchange Traded Funds
(ETFs) in the secondary market. The
purpose of the Municipal Liquidity Fa-
cility was to lend directly to states and
municipalities by purchasing their mu-
nicipal bonds from them at issuance.
The purpose of the Main Street Lend-
ing Program was to extend credit di-
rectly to small or medium sized busi-
nesses, including nonprofit organiza-
tions.
These purposes are clear and are
what define each of the CARES Act fa-
cilities. A future lending facility that
had the same purpose as a CARES Act
facility would be the ‘‘same as’’ as
CARES Act facility and therefore could
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7925
December 21, 2020
not be created without congressional
approval. The Treasury and the Fed-
eral Reserve would need to come to
Congress for approval, just as they did
at the time of the creation of the
CARES Act facilities.
Unfortunately, I have seen some un-
informed reporters and outside com-
mentators incorrectly assert that sec-
tion 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act only
prevents the creation of new lending
facilities if the facilities are ‘‘identical
to’’ or ‘‘exactly the same as’’ the
CARES Act facilities. That is mani-
festly not true. Section 1005 of the 2021
Approps Act does not say that, nor was
that the intent of Congress. I should
know because unlike these reporters
and commentators I drafted and nego-
tiated the final text of section 1005 of
the 2021 Approps Act with my Demo-
cratic colleagues, including Minority
Leader SCHUMER.
During the course of our negotia-
tions, Democrats actually proposed
that we use the phrase ‘‘identical to’’
in section 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act.
I specifically rejected this proposal be-
cause ‘‘identical to’’ is far too limited
in scope. If section 1005 of the 2021
Approps Act had used the word ‘‘iden-
tical to’’ than that would mean only a
new facility that is identical to a
CARES Act facility in every way would
be prohibited. That would defeat the
entire purpose of section 1005.
It would have allowed the Treasury
and the Federal Reserve to essentially
restart
the
CARES
Act
facilities,
which section 1005 of the 2021 Approps
Act separately prohibits them from re-
starting, by simply tinkering with
their terms and launching them under
a new name. For example, the terms of
the Municipal Liquidity Facility only
allow it to purchase bonds directly
from and state and municipal issuers
that have a maturity of up to 3 years.
If a new facility was the same in every
way as the Municipal Liquidity Facil-
ity with the exception that it could
purchase bonds with maturities up to
10 years, rather than up to 3 years,
than it would not be ‘‘identical to’’ the
Municipal
Liquidity
Facility
and
therefore could be created. However,
such a facility would be the same as
the current Municipal Liquidity Facil-
ity because it is lending directly to
States and municipalities.
My Republican colleagues and I did
not want to permit for such a loophole
in the law. That is why I specifically
rejected my Democratic colleagues’
proposal that we use the phrase ‘‘iden-
tical to’’ any CARES Act facility. In
our negotiations, I told him that we
did not want the Treasury and Federal
Reserve to replicate the CARES Act fa-
cilities by tinkering with their terms
and then launching them under dif-
ferent names. Ultimately, my Demo-
cratic colleagues conceded on this
point and agreed to compromise by
using the broader phrase ‘‘the same as’’
instead.
So where does that leave us? Section
1005 of the 2021 Approps Act prevents a
new Federal Reserve emergency lend-
ing facility from being established
under section 13(3) of the Federal Re-
serve Act without congressional ap-
proval, if the facility has the same pur-
pose as a CARES Act facility. The
CARES Act facilities were unprece-
dented facilities that the Treasury,
with the support of the Federal Re-
serve, requested that Congress make
possible. Congress did so through the
CARES Act. These facilities required
legislation in March 2020 and the same
types of facilities would require legis-
lation in the future if the Treasury and
the Federal Reserve believed they
needed to engage in such bond pur-
chasing and direct lending again.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I want to
thank the Senator from Virginia, the
vice chairman of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence, for his
work on the Intelligence Authorization
Act, which is now part of the omnibus
appropriations bill. I wish to address a
few provisions that have been removed
or modified.
First, the IAA, as reported by the
Senate
Intelligence
Committee
in
June, included a provision requiring
the DNI to submit a report to the con-
gressional intelligence committees on
the implementation of Presidential
Policy Directive 28. That report covers
the classified annex referenced in sec-
tion 3 of PPD–28.
This report is extremely important.
It will allow the committees to con-
duct oversight of signals intelligence
collection conducted pursuant to Exec-
utive Order 12333. It will also provide
the committee the ability to under-
stand how the government interprets
and implements PPD–28, which has
broad legal, policy, and diplomatic im-
plications. In response to the outrage
from our European allies regarding
U.S. signals intelligence operations re-
vealed by Edward Snowden, President
Obama issued PPD–28 in January 2014.
PPD–28 covers topics that are directly
relevant to both Americans and for-
eigners, such as bulk collection. The
directive, and its classified annex in
particular, is designed to evaluate the
benefits and risks of signals intel-
ligence operations. It was intended to
reassure our allies about the scope of
U.S. signals intelligence collection and
to serve as a cornerstone for data-shar-
ing agreements, which are still ongo-
ing. Unlike FISA collection, however,
there is no judicial oversight of collec-
tion conducted pursuant to EO 12333
and governed by PPD–28. For all these
reasons, therefore, it is absolutely crit-
ical that there be serious congressional
oversight of PPD–28.
The PPD–28 reporting requirement
was not merely part of the IAA re-
ported by the committee. It was in the
version of the IAA that was attached to
the National Defense Authorization
Act that passed the full Senate in July.
That version was never passed into
law, however, because the IAA fell off
the NDAA, which is why the IAA is
now part of the omnibus appropriations
bill.
Unfortunately, during the negotia-
tions leading up to this bill, the House
Intelligence Committee minority in-
sisted that this bipartisan, Senate-
passed provision be modified so that
the portion of the report on the classi-
fied annex of PPD–28 is submitted to
the chairmen and ranking minority
members of the congressional intel-
ligence committee. To the extent this
language could be misinterpreted to
limit access by the full committees, it
is unacceptable and unprecedented.
Congress should not be in the position
of passing legislation that could be
seen as limiting its ability to fulfill its
own oversight responsibilities.
Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator
from Oregon. I agree that the report re-
quired by the IAA on PPD–28 is criti-
cally important and central to the
committee’s oversight responsibilities.
I share the Senator’s dismay that this
provision was modified in this way and
through what I consider to be an unfor-
tunate conference process that should
not be repeated. More generally, I op-
pose legislation that would purport to
restrict full committee access and im-
pede the critical oversight provided by
the full committee.
This provision, as modified, states
that the DNI will submit the report to
the chairman and vice chairman. It
does not, however, preclude its provi-
sion to the other members of the com-
mittee. As vice chairman of the com-
mittee, it is my intent to push for the
full committee to get this report. It is
also my intent to seek to amend this
language so that it is not misinter-
preted to limit full committee access.
Mr. WYDEN. I thank the Senator
from Virginia. On another topic, the
vice chairman and I worked together to
include in the IAA a number of criti-
cally important provisions protecting
whistleblowers. Again, at the insist-
ence of the House Intelligence Com-
mittee minority, those provisions were
taken out. The latest was the removal
of a provision that would help whistle-
blowers whose security clearances have
been revoked as a form of reprisal.
Those provisions need to be passed into
law.
Mr. WARNER. I agree. I strongly sup-
ported each of the five whistleblower
protection provisions in the IAA. It is
my intent to keep fighting for them so
that they are on next year’s IAA and
are passed into law.
Mr. SCHUMER. I thank my friends
from Oregon and Virginia for their
hard work on the Senate Intelligence
Committee. I agree with them that
oversight by the full Senate Intel-
ligence Committee on these and other
intelligence matters is at the core of
the Senate’s constitutional responsibil-
ities. I, too, agree that the language
should not be interpreted to limit that
full committee oversight. I also strong-
ly agree with the Senators’ views on
the critical importance of protecting
whistleblowers. The abuses of the out-
going administration have illustrated
the urgent need for these legislative
protections.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7926
December 21, 2020
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, Sen-
ator CARPER, ranking member of the
Committee on Environment and Public
Works, Senator JOHN KENNEDY, and I,
as chairman of the Committee on Envi-
ronment and Public Works, are the
principal Senate authors of section 103
in Division S of the Consolidated Ap-
propriations Act, 2021—the American
Innovation and Manufacturing, ‘‘AIM’’,
Act of 2020, hereinafter ‘‘section 103’’.
This bipartisan legislation will phase
down the production and consumption
of hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs, which are
potent greenhouse gases that con-
tribute to climate change. As authors,
we submit these comments to provide
the Senate with additional information
regarding the development of section
103.
Section 103 establishes a new, na-
tional program administered by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-
cy, EPA, to phase down the production
and consumption of certain HFC sub-
stances. Section 103 vests EPA with au-
thority to phase down the production
and consumption of these substances in
a comprehensive manner. It is designed
to provide regulatory certainty. Spe-
cifically, section 103 requires EPA to
implement an 85 percent phase down of
the production and consumption of reg-
ulated HFC substances, so those levels
reach approximately 15 percent of their
2011–2013 average annual levels by 2036.
Importantly, this section includes pro-
visions to safeguard consumers and
American manufacturers from cost in-
creases during the phase down while
still adhering to the phase down time-
table in subsection (e)(2)(C).
The text of section 103 reflects bipar-
tisan, necessary improvements to the
original, introduced text in the Senate.
On March 4, 2020, Senator KENNEDY
filed amendment No. 1504 to S. 2657,
which was identical to stand-alone leg-
islation, S. 2754, the American Innova-
tion and Manufacturing Act of 2019.
Ranking Member CARPER of the U.S.
Senate Committee on Environment and
Public Works Committee, EPW, co-
sponsored amendment No. 1504 and S.
2754. EPW Chairman BARRASSO opposed
amendment No. 1504 and S. 2754 as in-
troduced, hereinafter ‘‘introduced leg-
islation’’.
On March 25, 2020, Chairman BAR-
RASSO
and Ranking Member CARPER
began an electronic information-gath-
ering process on S. 2754 by EPW to so-
licit the views of stakeholders. This
process allowed EPW to hear safely
from many stakeholders during the
COVID–19 pandemic. The extensive in-
formation-gathering process generated
filings from a range of industries,
States, interest groups, and individ-
uals.
We relied on the valuable informa-
tion gained through that process to im-
prove the introduced legislation and to
reach collective agreement on amended
text. This agreement was filed as
amendment No. 2655 to S. 2657 on Sep-
tember 10, 2020. Section 103 closely re-
sembles the text of amendment No.
2655.
Our agreed-upon changes to the in-
troduced legislation have focused in a
few key areas identified by Chairman
BARRASSO. The first key area is ‘‘essen-
tial uses’’ of regulated HFC substances.
The introduced legislation offered im-
mediate relief for some special cir-
cumstances, including feedstocks and
process agents. For example, in a pro-
vision that has been present in all
versions of the legislation, subsection
(e)(4)(A) assures there are no regu-
latory requirements for ‘‘a regulated
substance that is used and entirely
consumed (except for trace quantities)
in the manufacture of another chem-
ical.’’ Where trace quantities of an
HFC regulated substance, including im-
purities or unreacted feedstock chem-
ical, remain through transformation of
a regulated HFC substance into an-
other product, that activity is covered
by the exemption as soon as the Act is
enacted into law.
The introduced legislation did not
provide immediate protection for es-
sential uses. Subsection (e)(4)(B) now
provides that relief for essential uses.
Congress has identified six essential
uses in subsection (e)(4)(B)(iv) that are
designated by law as essential uses
upon enactment: No. 1, propellant in
metered dose inhalers; No. 2, defense
sprays; No. 3, structural composite
preformed polyurethane foam for ma-
rine use and trailer use; No. 4, the etch-
ing of semiconductor material or wa-
fers and the cleaning of chemical vapor
deposition chambers within the semi-
conductor manufacturing sector; No. 5,
mission-critical
military
end
uses,
such as armored vehicle engine and
shipboard fire suppression systems and
systems used in deployable and expedi-
tionary applications; and No. 6, on-
board aerospace fire suppression.
In
implementing
this
legislation,
EPA must allocate, by rule, the full
quantity of allowances needed by each
of these six congressionally designated
uses for at least 5 years. This rule-
making only determines the quantities
of mandatory allowances that are allo-
cated to each of the six uses above.
Under
subsection
(e)(4)(B)(i)–(iii),
EPA may, by rule, designate other uses
as essential uses and allocate any such
use a quantity of allowances, provided
certain criteria are met and subject to
the applicable phasedown timelines
and regulations for the production and
consumption of HFCs under (e)(2)–(3).
The Administrator is required to re-
view each essential use application
every 5 years and shall continue to
make available essential use allow-
ances if the Administrator determines,
subject to notice and opportunity for
public comment, that statutory cri-
teria
are
met
under
subsection
(e)(4)(B)(v).
The second key area of change from
the introduced legislation is express
preemption of certain State and local
laws, reflected in subsection (k)(2).
With respect to an exclusive use for
which a mandatory allocation of allow-
ances is provided under subsection
(e)(4)(B)(iv)(I), subsection (k)(2)(A) pre-
empts any enforcement of a statute or
administrative action by a State or po-
litical subdivision of a State for 5 years
from the date of enactment. Preemp-
tion is potentially extendable for up
to—but not more than—10 years, as
provided in subsection (k)(2)(B).
The third key area of change from
the introduced legislation is the pro-
tection of consumers and businesses
from cost increases. Of particular note,
under subsection (f)(2)(B), EPA cannot
accelerate
the
15-year
regulatory
timeline faster than HFC consumption
levels that the market is already
achieving. However, EPA must ensure
any level set under this subsection is
at least as stringent as the production
and consumption levels of regulated
substances required under subsection
(e)(2)(C) for a given year, as provided in
subsection (f)(6). Language to protect
consumers and businesses, particularly
residential and small business con-
sumers, has also been added to regu-
latory provisions throughout the bill,
including essential uses (subsection
(e)(4)–(5)), accelerated schedule (sub-
section (f)), and technology transitions
(subsection (i)).
Together we support section 103. We
thank our House colleagues for work-
ing together with us to improve further
our Senate agreement reached in Sep-
tember 2020. Through negotiations with
leaders of the U.S. House of Represent-
atives Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, we agreed to additional changes
to improve legislative clarity, includ-
ing language to help protect afford-
ability for residential and small busi-
ness consumers while also protecting
the environment.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, section
20l(f) of the unemployment extension
provisions of the bill we are consid-
ering this evening contains language
limiting retroactive Pandemic Unem-
ployment Assistance compensation for
applicants that had not applied by the
date of enactment of this bill.
It is my understanding that this pro-
vision is intended to cover individuals
who have known for months of their
eligibility for benefits but failed to
apply in a timely manner. However, it
is also my understanding that this pro-
vision is not intended to apply in cases
where the individuals have only re-
cently learned they would be eligible
for PUA and a State unemployment of-
fice had previously advised those indi-
viduals not to apply for benefits. This
is the case, for instance, for secondary
schools students in Minnesota, who
were advised by the State that they
were not eligible for PUA, but a court
recently determined that the students
were indeed eligible earlier this month.
It is also my understanding that this
provision is not intended to apply to
individuals who have filed a regular
State unemployment insurance claim
that remains in adjudication, who later
find out that they are ineligible for
regular unemployment compensation
and must apply for PUA instead.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7927
December 21, 2020
Senator WYDEN was the lead Demo-
cratic negotiator on the unemployment
provisions of this bill. Does he share
the same understanding of the intent
of this provision?
Mr. WYDEN. Yes. That language was
not intended to limit retroactive com-
pensation for individuals who were pre-
viously advised by a State, that they
were ineligible for PUA, nor was it in-
tended to limit retroactive compensa-
tion for individuals who have a regular
unemployment insurance claim in ad-
judication and later find out they need
to apply for PUA.
Ms. SMITH. Thank you for the clari-
fication and for your work in drafting
the unemployment compensation lan-
guage in this bill.
Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise to
talk about the inclusion of critical pro-
tections for renters in the bill before us
today. These include $25 billion in
emergency rental assistance and an ex-
tension of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention’s nationwide evic-
tion moratorium through January 31,
2021.
This bill does not include all that I
have been calling for since this crisis
began, nor is it the bill I would have
written on my own, but it is a long
overdue and essential start on the help
families urgently need to stay or be-
come safely and stably housed right
now. And it is arriving as millions of
renters across the country are on the
precipice of an entirely preventable
eviction crisis.
One in five renters are behind on rent
right now. For renters in households
with children, this number is one in
four, and for Black renters, the rate is
nearly one in three. Economist Mark
Zandi estimates that renters are $70
billion behind on rent, with average
back rent of nearly $6,000. With mil-
lions of families potentially facing
eviction or displacement, without this
bill, the current CDC eviction morato-
rium would have expired on December
31, making for a very unhappy new
year for many renters across the coun-
try.
A wave of evictions in the middle of
this pandemic will set back millions of
families, interrupt jobs and educations,
and exacerbate inequality in this coun-
try. It will also make it harder to keep
people healthy and get the virus under
control.
I have heard from Ohioans how badly
people need housing assistance. A
group of Ohio’s homeless services orga-
nizations told me recently about the
tremendous surge in family homeless-
ness they are seeing during the pan-
demic. One reported that 80 percent of
their shelter requests have been fami-
lies with kids. These are families with
nowhere to go and trying to balance
work and school. How many of them
could have stayed in their homes, and
not disrupted their lives—and their
kids’ lives—if the Federal Government
had just stepped in with rental assist-
ance?
In Columbus, there are over 100 evic-
tion trials every day, even with the
current CDC moratorium in place. An
advocate I spoke with told me that he
expected there to be a ‘‘massive flood’’
of eviction cases in January after the
CDC moratorium expires.
We did not have to be here. Since the
passage of the CARES Act in March, I
have been calling for more help for
renters and homeowners to withstand
the COVID–19 pandemic and its eco-
nomic effects. In May, I introduced S.
3865, the Emergency Rental Assistance
and Rental Market Stabilization Act of
2020,
to
provide
these
resources
throughout the country. The House
passed this bill as part of the Heroes
Act in May. Unfortunately, Senate
Leader MCCONNELL did not see the ur-
gency to act on COVID relief for fami-
lies, and we are just coming to the
floor with a bill to help address the
COVID–19 crisis 7 months later.
Today’s bill, while not going far
enough, takes action to help renters re-
main or become stably housed and keep
their utilities running. The $25 billion
in rental assistance and extension of
the eviction moratorium will work to-
gether to protect renters from evic-
tions in the midst of the pandemic in
the middle of winter. The eviction mor-
atorium extension helps prevent evic-
tions while families await assistance.
Rental assistance will ensure that fam-
ilies can pay their bills and remain in
their homes during and after the pan-
demic without being forced to make
impossible choices between rent and
food or medicine.
Given how badly these resources are
needed in the community today, the
Department of Treasury must do all
that it can to implement this rental as-
sistance program quickly and success-
fully.
This means ensuring that States and
communities can quickly provide funds
to those who need them and minimize
artificial paperwork and documenta-
tion barriers for applicants trying to
access the funds Congress intended
them to have. Treasury should avoid
establishing requirements that are bur-
densome for both renters and grantees
administering emergency rental assist-
ance programs and that will slow down
dollars going to keep the heat on and
pay landlords.
The COVID–19 pandemic has had
broad impacts on individuals, families,
businesses, availability of government
services and supports, and throughout
our economy. It has changed where and
how many people work. It has made it
more difficult not just to keep a job,
but also to find a new job, to get
enough hours, and to find child care or
someone to care for a sick loved one.
All of these challenges brought on by
the pandemic have made it more dif-
ficult for families to make ends meet.
These effects are likely to exist for
months and years to come. As Congress
has stated in this bill, given the enor-
mous documentation challenges facing
families as businesses close and service
jobs reduce in hours, an applicant’s
written attestation should be the only
documentation
required
to
dem-
onstrate a connection to the pandemic.
In addition to financial assistance for
rent, utilities, and other housing costs,
the bill permits grantees to fund hous-
ing stability services. This will allow
grantees to offer households services
they may need to remain or become
stably housed, including case manage-
ment, landlord-tenant mediation, legal
services, eviction prevention services,
rehousing services, services to connect
eligible households to other public sup-
ports, and referrals to other services
for behavioral, emotional, and mental
health issues, domestic violence, child
welfare, employment, and substance
abuse treatment.
Finally, the emergency rental assist-
ance fund in this bill provides non-
taxable assistance for renter house-
holds that does not count toward in-
come for calculating eligibility for
other programs. Emergency assistance
is just that—emergency assistance for
an extraordinary event—and it should
not be used to penalize families fur-
ther. If there is any confusion about
the taxability of this assistance, the
Department of Treasury, in consulta-
tion with the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, should provide guidance to clarify
this for grantees and participants.
I will continue to fight for the hous-
ing resources and protections our rent-
ers and homeowners need to stay in
their homes. I also look forward to
working to successfully deploy the his-
toric resources and protections pro-
vided in this bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader.
VOTE ON MOTION TO CONCUR
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that all time
be yielded back.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask for the yeas
and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a
sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is on agreeing to the
motion to concur.
The yeas and nays are ordered.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators
are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. ENZI) and the Sen-
ator from South Dakota (Mr. ROUNDS).
(Mr. SASSE assumed the Chair.)
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
JOHNSON). Are there any other Sen-
ators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced—yeas 92,
nays 6, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 289 Leg.]
YEAS—92
Alexander
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Braun
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7928
December 21, 2020
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Daines
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Harris
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Jones
Kaine
Kelly
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Loeffler
Manchin
Markey
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rosen
Rubio
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Shelby
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NAYS—6
Blackburn
Cruz
Johnson
Lee
Paul
Scott (FL)
NOT VOTING—2
Enzi
Rounds
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this
vote, the yeas are 92, the nays are 6.
The 60-vote threshold having been
achieved, the motion to concur is
agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ator from South Dakota.
f
SIGNING AUTHORITY
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the senior
Senator from South Dakota, the senior
Senator from Kansas, and the senior
Senator from Missouri be authorized to
sign duly enrolled bills and joint reso-
lutions from December 21, 2020, to Jan-
uary 3, 2021.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I suggest
the absence of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
HONORING THE UNITED NATIONS
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME ON
THE
OCCASION
OF
BEING
AWARDED
THE
2020
NOBEL
PEACE PRIZE
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Foreign
Relations Committee be discharged
from further consideration and the
Senate proceed to the immediate con-
sideration of S. Res 774.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution
by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 774) honoring the
United Nations World Food Programme on
the occasion of being awarded the 2020 Nobel
Peace Prize.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the Boozman amendment to
the resolution be considered and agreed
to; the resolution, as amended, be
agreed to; the Boozman amendment to
the preamble be agreed to; the pre-
amble, as amended, be agreed to; and
that the motions to reconsider be con-
sidered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2733) was agreed
to, as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the resolving clause)
On page 2, lines 10 and 11, strike ‘‘staff
worldwide;’’ and insert ‘‘staff, who work tire-
lessly, and often at great personal risk, to
combat hunger and save lives around the
world;’’.
On page 3, line 3, strike ‘‘nutrition’’ and in-
sert ‘‘nutrition, including’’.
The resolution (S. Res. 774), as
amended, was agreed to.
The amendment (No. 2734) was agreed
to, as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
Beginning in the second whereas clause of
the preamble, strike ‘‘Whereas the WFP’’
and all that follows through the semicolon in
the fifth whereas clause and insert the fol-
lowing:
Whereas the WFP is the largest inter-
national humanitarian organization that ad-
dresses hunger, promotes food security, and
saves lives, including in response to many of
the most dangerous and complex crises in
the world;
Whereas, in 2019, an estimated 135,000,000
people around the world suffered from acute
hunger and the WFP provided nutrition as-
sistance to nearly 100,000,000 people in 88
countries;
Whereas the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has
contributed to a significant increase in hun-
ger around the world, and the WFP has
surged its capacity in order to meet that
compounded need;
Whereas the United States played an inte-
gral role in the founding of the WFP, re-
mains its strongest supporter, and provides,
as of the date of adoption of this resolution,
more than 40 percent of its annual resources;
In the seventh whereas clause of the pre-
amble, strike ‘‘Price’’ and insert ‘‘Prize’’.
The
preamble,
as
amended,
was
agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its
preamble, as amended, reads as follows:
S. RES. 774
Whereas, on October 9, 2020, the Norwegian
Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel
Peace Prize for 2020 has been awarded to the
United Nations World Food Programme (re-
ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘WFP’’)
‘‘for its efforts to combat hunger, for its con-
tribution to bettering conditions for peace in
conflict-affected areas and for acting as a
driving force in efforts to prevent the use of
hunger as a weapon of war and conflict’’;
Whereas the WFP is the largest inter-
national humanitarian organization that ad-
dresses hunger, promotes food security, and
saves lives, including in response to many of
the most dangerous and complex crises in
the world;
Whereas, in 2019, an estimated 135,000,000
people around the world suffered from acute
hunger and the WFP provided nutrition as-
sistance to nearly 100,000,000 people in 88
countries;
Whereas the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has
contributed to a significant increase in hun-
ger around the world, and the WFP has
surged its capacity in order to meet that
compounded need;
Whereas the United States played an inte-
gral role in the founding of the WFP, re-
mains its strongest supporter, and provides,
as of the date of adoption of this resolution,
more than 40 percent of its annual resources;
Whereas the WFP has stated, ‘‘Until the
day we have a medical vaccine, food is the
best vaccine against chaos’’; and
Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee,
in announcing the winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize for 2020, stated, ‘‘The work of the
World Food Programme to the benefit of hu-
mankind is an endeavour that all the nations
of the world should be able to endorse and
support’’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) joins the other countries of the world
in—
(A) affirming the mission of the United Na-
tions World Food Programme (referred to in
this resolution as the ‘‘WFP’’) on the occa-
sion of being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace
Prize; and
(B) supporting the leadership of the WFP
Executive Director, David Beasley, and the
contributions of the more than 17,000 WFP
staff, who work tirelessly, and often at great
personal risk, to combat hunger and save
lives around the world; and
(2) remains committed to the goal of the
international community to end hunger,
achieve food security, and improve nutrition,
including through the work of the WFP.
f
RECOGNIZING THE DEVASTATING
EXPLOSION THAT ROCKED THE
PORT OF BEIRUT ON AUGUST 4,
2020
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations be dis-
charged from further consideration of
S. Res. 682 and the Senate proceed to
its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution
by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk
read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 682) recognizing the
devastating explosion that rocked the Port
of Beirut on August 4, 2020, and expressing
solidarity with the Lebanese people.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I
know of no further debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
further debate?
Hearing none, the question is on
adoption of the resolution.
The resolution (S. Res. 682) was
agreed to.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I further ask that the
preamble be agreed to, and that the
motions to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate.
The preamble was agreed to.
(The resolution, with its preamble, is
printed in the RECORD of August 13,
2020, under ‘‘Submitted Resolutions.’’)
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
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The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
EXPANDING FINDINGS FOR FED-
ERAL
OPIOID
RESEARCH
AND
TREATMENT ACT
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consider-
ation of Calendar No. 510, H.R. 3153.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3153) to direct the Director of
the National Science Foundation to support
research on opioid addiction, and for other
purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill, which
had been reported from the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation, with an amendment to strike
all after the enacting clause and insert
in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as
the ‘‘Expanding Findings for Federal Opioid
Research and Treatment Act’’ or the ‘‘EFFORT
Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) research gaps currently exist in the pre-
vention and treatment of opioid addiction;
(2) the National Science Foundation’s re-
search on opioid addiction has increased under-
standing of the neuroscience of addiction, sub-
stance abuse intervention, the role of illicit sup-
ply networks, the secondary effects on families,
the use of technology to address the opioid epi-
demic, and options for alternative, non-addict-
ive therapeutics for pain; and
(3) the National Science Foundation and the
National Institutes of Health have recognized
that fundamental questions in basic, clinical,
and translational research would benefit greatly
from multidisciplinary approaches and collabo-
ration.
SEC. 2. NSF SUPPORT OF RESEARCH ON OPIOID
ADDICTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Direcor of the National
Science Foundation, in consultation with the
Director of the National Institutes of Health,
shall support merit-reviewed and competitively-
awarded research on the science of opioid addic-
tion.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To
carry out this section, there are authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2020 through 2024.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the committee-reported sub-
stitute be withdrawn, the Wicker sub-
stitute amendment at the desk be
agreed to, and the bill, as amended, be
considered read a third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment
in the nature of a substitute was with-
drawn.
The amendment (No. 2732) in the na-
ture of a substitute was agreed to, as
follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as
the ‘‘Expanding Findings for Federal Opioid
Research and Treatment Act’’ or the ‘‘EF-
FORT Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) research gaps currently exist in the pre-
vention and treatment of opioid addiction;
(2) the National Science Foundation’s re-
search on opioid addiction has increased un-
derstanding of the neuroscience of addiction,
substance abuse intervention, the role of il-
licit supply networks, the secondary effects
on families, the use of technology to address
the opioid epidemic, and options for alter-
native, non-addictive therapeutics for pain;
and
(3) the National Science Foundation and
the National Institutes of Health have recog-
nized that fundamental questions in basic,
clinical, and translational research would
benefit greatly from multidisciplinary ap-
proaches and collaboration.
SEC. 2. NSF SUPPORT OF RESEARCH ON OPIOID
ADDICTION.
The Director of the National Science Foun-
dation, in consultation with the Director of
the National Institutes of Health, shall sup-
port
merit-reviewed
and
competitively
awarded research on the science of opioid ad-
diction.
The amendment was ordered to be
engrossed and the bill to be read a
third time.
The bill was read the third time.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I know of no further
debate on the bill, as amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there
is no further debate, the bill having
been read the third time, the question
is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 3153), as amended, was
passed.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
TRANSPARENCY IN FEDERAL
BUILDINGS PROJECTS ACT OF 2019
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee on Environment and Public
Works be discharged from further con-
sideration of H.R. 2502 and the Senate
proceed to its immediate consider-
ation.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 2502) to amend title 40, United
States Code, to require certain prospectuses
for public buildings to be made publicly
available, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the bill be considered read a
third time and passed and that the mo-
tion to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 2502) was ordered to a
third reading, was read the third time,
and passed.
f
COMPETITIVE HEALTH INSURANCE
REFORM ACT OF 2020
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary be discharged
from further consideration of H.R. 1418
and the Senate proceed to its imme-
diate consideration.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1418) to restore the application
of the Federal antitrust laws to the business
of health insurance to protect competition
and consumers.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I ask unanimous con-
sent that the bill be considered read a
third time and passed and that the mo-
tion to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (H.R. 1418) was ordered to a
third reading, was read the third time,
and passed.
f
YUCCA HOUSE NATIONAL
MONUMENT EXPANSION ACT
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consider-
ation of Calendar No. 432, H.R. 1492.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 1492) to update the map of, and
modify the maximum acreage available for
inclusion in, the Yucca House National
Monument.
There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the bill be
considered read a third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The bill was ordered to a third read-
ing and was read the third time.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I
know of no further debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there
is no further debate, the bill having
been read the third time, the question
is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 1492) was passed.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE
HOUSE
OF
REPRESENTATIVES
TO MAKE A CORRECTION IN THE
ENROLLMENT OF H.R. 133
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consider-
ation of H. Con. Res. 127, which was re-
ceived from the House.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will report the concurrent resolu-
tion by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 127)
directing the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives to make a correction in the en-
rollment of H.R. 133.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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There being no objection, the Senate
proceeded to consider the concurrent
resolution.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that the concur-
rent resolution be agreed to and the
motion to reconsider be consider made
and laid upon the table with no inter-
vening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The concurrent resolution (H. Con.
Res 127) was agreed to.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I suggest the absence
of a quorum.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER.
The
clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to
call the roll.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The
PRESIDING
OFFICER
(Mr.
BOOZMAN). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
f
NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, for
the information of all Senators, here is
where we are on the status of the De-
fense authorization bill.
The Senate has passed this annual
bill to support our servicemembers and
our national security every year for
the last 59 years. As I indicated when I
filed cloture on the NDAA conference
report after Thanksgiving, my inten-
tion was and is to ensure the Senate
continues fulfilling our obligation to
the men and women of our Armed
Forces.
I hope the President will not veto
this bill, which redoubles our commit-
ment to modernization, advances cut-
ting-edge capabilities, and equips our
military with the tools and resources
they need to compete with our great
power adversaries on land, on sea, in
the air, and in cyberspace. These are
the steps we need to take to continue
to compete with Russia and China.
In the event that President Trump
does elect to veto this bipartisan bill,
it appears the House may choose to re-
turn after the holidays to set up a vote
to consider the veto. The Democratic
leader and I have agreed to a unani-
mous consent request as follows: The
Senate will meet for pro forma sessions
only until December 29, when we will
return to session.
In the event that the President has
vetoed the bill and the House has voted
to override the veto, the Senate would
have the opportunity to process the
veto override at that time.
f
EXECUTIVE SESSION
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
ate proceed to executive session and
the Committee on Foreign Relations be
discharged and the Senate proceed to
the en bloc consideration of the fol-
lowing nominations: PN1938, PN2024,
PN2101, PN2030, and PN2025.
There being no objection, the com-
mittee was discharged, and the Senate
proceeded to consider the nominations
en bloc.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate vote on the
nominations en bloc with no inter-
vening action or debate; that if con-
firmed, the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the
table en bloc; and that the President be
immediately notified of the Senate’s
actions.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
The question is, Will the Senate ad-
vise and consent to the nominations of
C. Kevin Blackstone, of Virginia, a Ca-
reer Member of the Senior Foreign
Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to
be
Ambassador
Extraordinary
and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of
America to the Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste; Cynthia Kierscht, of Min-
nesota, a Career Member of the Senior
Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to
be
Ambassador
Extraordinary
and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of
America to the Islamic Republic of
Mauritania; Brian D. McFeeters, of
Virginia, a Career Member of the Sen-
ior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-
Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to Malaysia;
David Reimer, of Ohio, a Career Mem-
ber of the Senior Foreign Service,
Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
the United States of America to the
Republic of Sierra Leone; Geeta Pasi,
of New York, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career
Minister, to be Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to the Fed-
eral Democratic Republic of Ethiopia?
The nominations were confirmed en
bloc.
f
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
MORNING BUSINESS
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that the Sen-
ate proceed to legislative session for a
period of morning business, with Sen-
ators permitted to speak therein for up
to 10 minutes each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
objection, it is so ordered.
f
NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, sec-
tion 1301 of title XIII of the FY21 con-
solidated appropriations act delays im-
plementation of reforms to the U.S.
Agency for Global Media outlined in
section 1299Q of the William M. (Mac)
Thornberry National Defense Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. While
the FY2021 NDAA has not yet been en-
acted and may be enacted following the
enactment of the 2021 Consolidated Ap-
propriations Act, Chairman RISCH and I
believe it is Congress’s intent that
these two provisions be understood
concurrently and that the reforms out-
lined in section 1299Q be delayed for 90
days following enactment of the FY2021
NDAA.
f
CASE Act
Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. President, after
many years of work to ensure small
creators have a voice, I am glad to
share the Copyright Alternatives in
Small-Claims Enforcement Act, also
known as CASE Act, passed the House
and Senate and is awaiting the Presi-
dent’s signature. This bipartisan and
bicameral legislation is critical for
protecting the creative middle class in
Louisiana and across America who rely
upon commercializing their creative
works for their livelihood.
Photographers, visual artists, inde-
pendent movie directors, musicians,
authors, and other creators who make
up the creative middle class rely on
copyright to protect their works from
unauthorized reproduction. However,
under current law, copyright owners
with small infringement claims cannot
obtain relief because district court liti-
gation costs are higher than the dam-
ages sought. That is where CASE Act
comes in. This legislation creates the
Copyright Claims Board within the
U.S. Copyright Office to provide a sim-
ple, quick, and less expensive forum for
small copyright owners to enforce their
rights.
The creation of this bill began more
than 7 years ago. In 2013, after a com-
prehensive study, the U.S. Copyright
Office made several legislative rec-
ommendations to help independent cre-
ators
in
enforcing
their
constitu-
tionally protected copyrights. Since
then, Congress has worked in lock-step
with the U.S. Copyright Office to cre-
ate a framework to accomplish this
goal. That framework culminated in
CASE Act.
In response to concerns raised by the
library community, the bill now in-
cludes a blanket opt-out provision for
libraries and archives. This opt-out is
expressly limited to activities covered
by section 108 of the Copyright Act. It
does not apply to activities that fall
outside that section, such as websites
making and offering unlicensed copies
of works. A library or archive must re-
main in full compliance with section
108 at all times to be eligible for the
blanket opt-out privilege and would
lose its eligibility for the blanket opt-
out if, at any time, it is found to have
violated any of the conditions through-
out section 108.
I want to extend my gratitude to the
photographers, musicians, artists, au-
thors, and many other creators who
have helped make the passage of CASE
Act a success. There are so many indi-
viduals who have been instrumental in
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
S7931
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creating and passing this legislation
that I cannot possibly name them all
here, but a few groups that deserve spe-
cial recognition are Copyright Alli-
ance, Professional Photographers of
America, Professional Photographers
of Louisiana, American Bar Associa-
tion, American Intellectual Property
Law Association, American Society of
Media Photographers, Association of
American Publishers, Authors Guild,
Graphic Artists Guild, Recording Acad-
emy, Songwriters Guild of America,
and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I also
want to thank my staff, who worked
tireless hours wading through copy-
right law to ensure we ended up with
the best bill possible. And thank you to
my colleagues in the House and Senate,
particularly Senator DICK DURBIN and
our original cosponsors, for supporting
this legislation and agreeing to its pas-
sage.
f
PROTECTING LAWFUL STREAMING
ACT
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, today I
want to say a word about the need to
revise title 18 so that criminal com-
mercial enterprises that stream pirated
content to users are subject to the
same felony penalties as criminal com-
mercial enterprises that distribute to
users or reproduce pirated content. The
provisions of the Protecting Lawful
Streaming Act target clearly criminal
conduct committed with criminal in-
tent. Lawful internet and streaming
services, licensees, other mainstream
businesses, and users engaged in ordi-
nary activities do not risk prosecution.
Most importantly, businesses engaged
in those activities are clearly excluded
by the requirements that a defendant
be engaged in conduct that is primarily
designed, intentionally marketed, or
has no commercially significant pur-
pose or use other than for use in illegal
streaming. Nor do those engaged in
noncommercial activities risk prosecu-
tion under this statute. Noncommer-
cial activities are explicitly excluded
by the terms of section 2319C(a). It is
intended that none of these activities
shall be subject to any risk of criminal
prosecution under this bill.
More generally, it is well established
that criminal penalties are the excep-
tion rather than the rule in cases of
copyright infringement. As the Depart-
ment of Justice itself has noted, crimi-
nal sanctions are appropriate only with
respect to certain types of infringe-
ment—generally when infringer knows
the infringement is wrong, and when
the infringement is particularly seri-
ous or the type of case renders civil en-
forcement by copyright owners espe-
cially difficult. As such, criminal pros-
ecution has been and is appropriately
reserved for serious forms of large-
scale, commercial infringement, not as
a means of targeting ordinary business
disputes between legitimate companies
or those which are otherwise ade-
quately addressed through civil litiga-
tion. The new section 2319C, in par-
ticular,
requires
willfulness,
which
means that the statute does not apply
in the absence of an intentional viola-
tion of a known legal duty.
Consistent with this, a provider of
broadband
internet
access
service
would not be subject to prosecution
under this statute, for example, based
merely on the attributes or features of
its service, nor could prosecution be
predicated on the misuse of its service
by its customers or others in further-
ance of an infringement scheme, where
the service provider does not itself
share the requisite criminal intent of
the underlying substantive offense and
act with specific intent to further it. In
this regard, offering high-speed connec-
tions that allow its customers to ac-
cess the internet, failing to block or
disable access to particular online lo-
cations, or failing to take measures to
restrict the use of or deny its cus-
tomers access to such service would
not be sufficient to demonstrate the
requisite criminal intent under the
bill. This conduct would also not other-
wise meet the prerequisites under the
aiding and abetting statute, regardless
of whether the broadband internet ac-
cess service provider might be civilly
liable in such circumstances under the
differing standards for contributory or
vicarious liability.
A person who willfully and for pur-
poses of commercial advantage or pri-
vate financial gain offers or provides to
the public a digital transmission serv-
ice violates the statute under section
2319C(a)(3) when that person inten-
tionally promotes or directs the pro-
motion of its use in publicly per-
forming works protected under title 17
without the authority of the copyright
owner or the law. The language of sec-
tion 2319C makes clear that it is the of-
fering of an illicit digital transmission
service,
as
defined
by
section
2319C(a)(1)–(3), that is an offense, not
the marketing activities done by or at
the direction of a person offering an il-
licit digital transmission service, as re-
ferred to in section 2319C(a)(3). Thus,
an entity that provides only commer-
cial online marketing services and does
not itself also provide an illicit digital
transmission service would not be sub-
ject
to
prosecution
under
section
2319C(a). Further, it is not the intent of
this legislation to create potential aid-
ing and abetting liability for main-
stream third party ad networks or
marketers. An online marketing serv-
ices provider could be liable for aiding
and abetting an unrelated entity pro-
viding
unlawful
streaming
services
only where the online marketing serv-
ices provider shared the same requisite
criminal intent of each element of the
underlying
substantive
offense
and
acted with specific intent to further it.
Thus, an online marketing services
provider which places an advertisement
for an entity that is violating section
2319C(a) would face aiding and abetting
liability only if the online marketing
services provider was itself associated
with the criminal venture of the illicit
digital transmission service to such an
extent that it shares the criminal in-
tent of the person offering the service
and acted with the requisite specific
intent to commit or facilitate the un-
derlying offense.
Similarly, a service that streams
content uploaded by users would not be
subject to prosecution merely because
some users might upload infringing
content. The service would be subject
to criminal liability only if it had the
requisite criminal intent and acted
with specific intent to further it.
The provisions of this statute also do
not apply to any person acting in good
faith and with an objectively reason-
able basis in law to believe that their
conduct is lawful. Thus, a bona fide
commercial dispute over the scope or
existence of a contract or license gov-
erning such conduct or a good-faith
dispute regarding whether a particular
activity is authorized by the Copyright
Act would not provide a basis for pros-
ecution. For example, neither a cloud-
based DVR service nor an application
provided by a multichannel video pro-
gramming distributor, MVPD, to en-
able such MVPD’s customers to access
its video service utilizing a mobile de-
vice, which were the subject of prior
civil copyright infringement challenges
based on good faith disagreements re-
garding the scope of rights under the
Copyright Act, would be actionable
under this provision if the provider of-
fering such services met this standard.
By contrast, a party that merely as-
serts an applicable contract, an excep-
tion, or a belief that the person’s con-
duct was lawful, in a case where the as-
sertion is not made in good-faith, is
merely a pretense, or is otherwise not
based on an objectively reasonable in-
terpretation of the law, would not
avoid prosecution on that basis.
The statute provides for an enhanced
penalty in section 2319C(b)(2) for some-
one who knowingly commits an offense
in connection with 1 or more works
being prepared for commercial public
performance.
The
‘‘should
have
known’’ standard in section 2319C(b)(2)
applies only after a finder of fact deter-
mines beyond a reasonable doubt that
the person committed an offense under
subsection
(a).
The
‘‘should
have
known’’
standard
should
not
be
conflated with the standards of willful-
ness, not primarily designed, no com-
mercially
significant
purpose,
and
intentionality set forth in section
2319C(a), all of which define the under-
lying offense and are intended to pro-
tect lawful internet and streaming
services, content licensees, and non-
commercial users.
Finally,
the
statute
in
section
2319C(d)(3) defines a work being pre-
pared for commercial public perform-
ance, based on the definition of ‘‘work
being prepared for commercial dis-
tribution’’ in section 506(a)(3) of the
Copyright Act, while updating that def-
inition to account for the challenges of
piracy in the modern streaming envi-
ronment. Section 2319C reflects the
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fact
that
infringement
threatens
unique harm when it occurs prior to or
in the earliest windows of commercial
availability.
The
definition
in
2319C(d)(3)
recognizes
that
in
the
modem streaming environment, not all
motion pictures are developed for the-
atrical distribution. The updated defi-
nition of a ‘‘work being prepared for
commercial public performance’’ af-
fords appropriately enhanced penalties
for violations of the statute involving
pre- and just-released film and tele-
vision content, whether in a first the-
atrical window or immediately upon
release to the public via a streaming or
other platform. The legislation does
not make corresponding changes to the
definition of ‘‘work made for commer-
cial distribution’’ in section 506(a)(3).
Whether it is appropriate to harmonize
the definitions is a question that is be-
yond the scope of this particular legis-
lation, which does not otherwise make
changes to title 17. Section 2319C(d)(1)
defines ‘‘motion picture’’ as defined in
the Copyright Act, which includes non-
theatrical motion pictures, television
shows, and broadcasts of live events.
f
JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, this ex-
planation reflects the status of nego-
tiations
and
disposition
of
issues
reached between the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence and the
House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence for the Intelligence Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.
The explanation shall have the same
effect with respect to the implementa-
tion of this act as if it were a joint ex-
planatory statement of a conference
committee.
I ask unanimous consent that the
joint explanatory statement for the In-
telligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2021 be printed into the RECORD.
There being no objection, the mate-
rial was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2021
The following is the explanation of the In-
telligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2021 (hereinafter, ‘‘the Act’’).
This explanation reflects the result of ne-
gotiations and disposition of issues reached
between the Senate Select Committee on In-
telligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)
and the (hereinafter, ‘‘the Agreement’’). The
explanation shall have the same effect with
respect to the implementation of the Act as
if it were a joint explanatory statement of a
conference committee. The term ‘‘Commit-
tees’’ refers to both SSCI and HPSCI.
The explanation comprises three parts: an
overview of the application of the annex to
accompany this statement; unclassified con-
gressional direction; and a section-by-sec-
tion analysis of the legislative text.
PART I: APPLICATION OF THE CLASSIFIED ANNEX
The classified nature of U.S. intelligence
activities prevents the SSCI and HPSCI (col-
lectively, the ‘‘congressional intelligence
committees’’) from publicly disclosing many
details concerning the conclusions and rec-
ommendations of the Agreement. Therefore,
a classified Schedule of Authorizations and a
classified annex have been prepared to de-
scribe in detail the scope and intent of the
congressional intelligence committees’ ac-
tions. The Agreement authorizes the Intel-
ligence Community (IC) to obligate and ex-
pend funds not altered or modified by the
classified Schedule of Authorizations as re-
quested in the President’s budget, subject to
modification under applicable reprogram-
ming procedures.
The classified annex is the result of nego-
tiations between the congressional intel-
ligence committees. They reconcile the dif-
ferences between the congressional intel-
ligence committees’ respective versions of
the bill for the National Intelligence Pro-
gram (NIP) for Fiscal Year 2021. The Agree-
ment also makes recommendations for the
Military Intelligence Program (MIP) and the
Information
Systems
Security
Program
(ISSP), consistent with the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and
provides certain direction for these two pro-
grams. The Agreement applies to IC activi-
ties for Fiscal Year 2021.
The classified Schedule of Authorizations
is incorporated into the bill pursuant to Sec-
tion 102. It has the status of law. The classi-
fied annex supplements and adds detail to
clarify the authorization levels found in the
bill and the classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions. The congressional intelligence com-
mittees view direction and recommenda-
tions, whether contained in this explanation
or in the classified annex, as requiring com-
pliance by the Executive Branch.
PART II: SELECT UNCLASSIFIED CONGRESSIONAL
DIRECTION
This Joint Explanatory Statement incor-
porates by reference, and the Executive
Branch shall comply with, all direction con-
tained in the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence Report to accompany the Intel-
ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2021 (S. Rept. 116–233) and in the House Per-
manent Select Committee on Intelligence
Report to accompany the Intelligence Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H. Rept.
116–565).
PART III: SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS AND
EXPLANATION OF LEGISLATIVE TEXT
TITLE I—INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES
Section 101. Authorization of appropriations
Section 101 lists the United States Govern-
ment departments, agencies, and other ele-
ments for which the Act authorizes appro-
priations for intelligence and intelligence-re-
lated activities for Fiscal Year 2021.
Section 102. Classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions
Section 102 provides that the details of the
amounts authorized to be appropriated for
intelligence and intelligence-related activi-
ties for Fiscal Year 2021 are contained in the
classified Schedule of Authorizations and
that the classified Schedule of Authoriza-
tions shall be made available to the Commit-
tees on Appropriations of the Senate and
House of Representatives and to the Presi-
dent.
Section 103. Intelligence Community Manage-
ment Account
Section 103 authorizes appropriations for
the Intelligence Community Management
Account (ICMA) of the ODNI for Fiscal Year
2021.
TITLE
II—CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY
RETIREMENT
AND
DIS-
ABILITY SYSTEM
Section 201. Authorization of appropriations
Section 201 authorizes appropriations for
the CIA Retirement and Disability Fund for
Fiscal Year 2021.
TITLE III—INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
MATTERS
Subtitle A—General Intelligence Community
Matters
Section 301. Restriction on conduct of intel-
ligence activities
Section 301 provides that the authorization
of appropriations by the Act shall not be
deemed to constitute authority for the con-
duct of any intelligence activity that is not
otherwise authorized by the Constitution or
laws of the United States.
Section 302. Increase in employee compensation
and benefits authorized by law
Section 302 provides that funds authorized
to be appropriated by the Act for salary, pay,
retirement, and other benefits for federal
employees may be increased by such addi-
tional or supplemental amounts as may be
necessary for increases in compensation or
benefits authorized by law.
Section 303. Continuity of operations plans for
certain elements of the intelligence commu-
nity in the case of a national emergency
Section 303 requires the Directors of the
Office of the Director of National Intel-
ligence (ODNI), Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA),
National
Reconnaissance
Office
(NRO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),
National Security Agency (NSA), and Na-
tional Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
to establish continuity of operations plans
for use in the case of certain national emer-
gencies as defined in statute, and share those
with the congressional intelligence commit-
tees within 7 days of a national emergency
being declared. Furthermore, Section 303 re-
quires these agencies to provide the commit-
tees with any updates to those plans as the
conditions of the national emergency re-
quire.
Section 304. Application of Executive Schedule
level III to position of Director of National
Reconnaissance Office
Section 304 provides that the Director of
the NRO shall be designated as Level III on
the Executive Schedule, the equivalent of an
Under Secretary. The Committee further
clarifies that this provision shall apply to a
successor civilian occupying the position of
Director of the NRO.
Section 305. National Intelligence University
Section 305 provides the National Intel-
ligence University (NIU) with degree-grant-
ing authority and requires reporting on per-
sonnel and compensation. Section 305 also
sustains an independent, external board of
visitors to provide oversight of the NIU.
Section 306. Data collection on attrition in intel-
ligence community
Section 306 requires the DNI to set stand-
ards and issue an annual report on the rea-
sons why different categories of IC employ-
ees separate from service or applicants to IC
positions withdraw from the hiring process
after they have been issued a conditional
offer of employment. Data on workforce at-
trition should include demographics, special-
ties, and length of service. Such reasons may
include an alternative job opportunity, a loss
of interest in joining the IC, or the length of
time to complete the clearance process.
Section 307. Limitation on delegation of respon-
sibility for program management of informa-
tion-sharing environment
Section 307 stipulates that the President
must delegate responsibilities under Section
1016(b) of the Intelligence Reform and Ter-
rorism Prevention Act of 2004 to an official
other than the DNI.
Section 308. Requirement to buy certain satellite
component from American sources
Section 308 prohibits an element of the IC
to award a contract for a national security
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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satellite if the satellite uses a star tracker
that is not produced in the United States,
with certain limited exceptions.
Section 309. Limitation on construction of facili-
ties to be used primarily by intelligence com-
munity
Section 309 amends the Intelligence Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 regard-
ing funding and authorities for facility con-
struction.
Section 310. Intelligence community student
loan repayment programs
Section 310 requires the DNI to establish
minimum student loan repayment standards
for IC employees.
Subtitle B—Reports and Assessments
Pertaining to the Intelligence Community
Section 321. Assessment by the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States on efforts of the
Intelligence Community and the Department
of Defense to identify and mitigate risks
posed to the intelligence community and the
Department by the use of direct-to-consumer
genetic testing by the Government of the
People’s Republic of China
Section 321 directs the Comptroller Gen-
eral to assess efforts in the IC and Depart-
ment of Defense (DoD) to identify and miti-
gate the risks posed to the IC and DoD by di-
rect-to-consumer genetic testing by the Gov-
ernment of the People’s Republic of China.
Section 321 further requires the report to in-
clude
key
national
security
risks
and
vulnerabilities, an assessment of the IC’s and
DoD’s identification and mitigation of such
risks and vulnerabilities, and recommenda-
tions for the IC and DoD to improve identi-
fication and mitigation of such risks and
vulnerabilities.
Section 322. Report on use by intelligence com-
munity of hiring flexibilities and expedited
human resources practices to assure quality
and diversity in the workforce of the intel-
ligence community.
Section 322 requires the DNI to submit a
report describing how IC elements are exer-
cising
hiring
flexibilities
and
expedited
human resources practices afforded under 5
U.S.C. 3326 and related regulations, including
the identification of any obstacles encoun-
tered by the IC in exercising such authori-
ties.
Section 323. Report on signals intelligence prior-
ities and requirements.
Section 323 requires the DNI to submit a
report detailing signals intelligence prior-
ities and requirements subject to Presi-
dential Policy Directive–28 that stipulates
‘‘why, whether, when, and how the United
States conducts signals intelligence activi-
ties.’’ This report shall be submitted in un-
classified form, but may include a classified
annex.
Section 324. Assessment of demand for student
loan repayment program benefit.
Section 324 requires the head of each IC
element to calculate the number of per-
sonnel who qualify for a student loan repay-
ment program benefit, and compare it to the
number of personnel who apply for such a
benefit. The information provided will in-
clude recommendations for how to optimize
participation and enhance the effectiveness
of the benefit as a retention tool, to identify
any shortfall in funds or authorities needed
to provide such benefit, and to include such
materials with the budget request for Fiscal
Year 2022.
Section 325. Assessment of intelligence commu-
nity demand for child care.
Section 325 requires the DNI in coordina-
tion with the heads of other IC elements to
provide a report that includes: a calculation
of the total annual demand for child care by
employees at NSA, NGA, DIA, NRO, CIA, and
ODNI; an identification of any shortfalls be-
tween demand and the child care support by
these IC elements; an assessment of options
for addressing any such shortfall; an identi-
fication of the advantages, disadvantages, se-
curity requirements, and costs associated
with each option; a plan to meet, within five
years after the date of the report, the de-
mand for childcare, and an assessment of
specific considerations that impact the al-
ternatives available to these IC elements.
Section 326. Open source intelligence strategies
and plans for the intelligence community
Section 326 requires the DNI in coordina-
tion with the heads of each IC element, to
conduct a survey of the open source intel-
ligence requirements, goals, investments,
and capabilities for each element of the IC
and to evaluate the usability of the Open
Source Enterprise (OSE). Based on such find-
ings, it further mandates the DNI shall de-
velop, in coordination with the heads of each
IC element, a strategy for open source intel-
ligence collection, analysis, and production
across the IC; create a plan for improving
usability of the OSE; and conduct a risk and
benefit analysis of creating an independent
open source center.
Using the findings above, Section 326 fur-
ther requires the DNI to develop a plan for a
centralized data repository of open source in-
telligence. Finally, it mandates the DNI de-
velop a cost-sharing model that leverages
the open source intelligence investments of
each IC element for the beneficial use of the
entire IC. It also requires the heads of ODNI,
CIA, DIA, NGA, and NSA to jointly brief the
congressional intelligence committees on
the progress developing the aforementioned
plans.
TITLE IV—MATTERS RELATING TO ELE-
MENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMU-
NITY
Section 401. Establishment of Office of the Om-
budsman for Analytic Objectivity
Section 401 establishes in the CIA an Office
of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity
to implement required procedures and con-
duct required activities.
Section 402. Expansion of personnel manage-
ment authority to attract experts in science
and engineering
Section 402 facilitates NGA’s recruitment
of experts in science or engineering for re-
search and development projects.
Section 403. Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon
Kent Award for distinguished female per-
sonnel of the National Security Agency
Section 403 requires the Director of the
NSA to establish an honorary award for the
recognition of female personnel of the NSA
for distinguished career contributions in sup-
port of the mission of the NSA.
Section 404. Department of Homeland Security
intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fel-
lowship program
Section 404 requires the Secretary of DHS
to carry out an intelligence and cybersecu-
rity diversity fellowship program that pro-
vides paid internships, tuition assistance,
and potential employment opportunities.
Section 405. Climate Security Advisory Council
Section 405 requires the DNI, in coordina-
tion with the appropriate heads of other IC
elements, to conduct a study on the effec-
tiveness of the Climate Security Advisory
Council as a potential model for future advi-
sory councils.
TITLE V—MATTERS RELATING TO
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Section 501. Requirements and authorities for
Director of Central Intelligence Agency to
improve education in science, technology,
engineering, arts, and mathematics
Section 501 ensures that the Director of
the CIA has the legal authorities required to
improve the skills in science, technology, en-
gineering, arts, and mathematics (known as
STEAM) necessary to meet long-term na-
tional security needs.
Section 502. Seedling investment in next-genera-
tion microelectronics in support of artificial
intelligence
Section 502 requires the DNI, acting
through the Director of the Intelligence Ad-
vanced Research Projects Activity, to award
contracts or grants, or enter into other
transactions, to encourage microelectronics
research.
TITLE VI—REPORTS AND OTHER
MATTERS
Section 601. Report on attempts by foreign ad-
versaries to build telecommunications and
cybersecurity equipment and services for, or
to provide such equipment and services to,
certain allies of the United States
Section 601 requires the CIA, NSA, and DIA
to submit to the congressional intelligence
and armed services committees a joint re-
port that describes the United States intel-
ligence sharing and military posture in Five
Eyes countries that currently have or intend
to use adversary telecommunications or cy-
bersecurity equipment, especially as pro-
vided by China or Russia, with a description
of potential vulnerabilities of that informa-
tion and assessment of mitigation options.
Section 602. Report on threats posed by use by
foreign governments and entities of commer-
cially available cyber intrusion and surveil-
lance technology
Section 602 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the threats posed by foreign gov-
ernments and foreign entities using and ap-
propriating commercially available cyber in-
trusion and other surveillance technology.
Section 603. Reports on recommendations of the
Cyberspace Solarium Commission
Section 603 requires the ODNI, Department
of Homeland Security (acting through the
Under Secretary of Homeland Security for
Intelligence and Analysis), Department of
Energy (acting through the Director of Intel-
ligence and Counterintelligence of the De-
partment of Energy), Department of Com-
merce, and DoD to report to Congress their
assessment of the recommendations sub-
mitted by the Cyberspace Solarium Commis-
sion pursuant to Section 1652(j) of the John S.
McCain National Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019, and to describe
actions that each agency expects to take to
implement these recommendations.
Section 604. Assessment of critical technology
trends relating to artificial intelligence,
microchips, and semiconductors and related
supply chains
Section 604 requires the DNI to complete
an assessment of export controls related to
artificial intelligence (AI), microchips, ad-
vanced manufacturing equipment, and other
AI-enabled technologies, including the iden-
tification of opportunities for further co-
operation with international partners.
Section 605. Combating Chinese influence oper-
ations in the United States and strength-
ening civil liberties protections
Section 605 provides additional require-
ments to annual reports in 50 U.S.C. 3237(B)
on Influence Operations and Campaigns in
the United States by the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) by mandating an identification
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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of influence operations by the CCP against
the science and technology sector in the
United States. Section 605 also requires the
FBI to create a plan, in consultation with
stakeholders outside the Intelligence Com-
munity to increase public awareness of influ-
ence activities by the CCP. Finally, section
605 requires the FBI, in consultation with
the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights and the Chief Privacy and Civil Lib-
erties Officer of the Department of Justice,
to develop recommendations to strengthen
relationships with communities targeted by
the CCP and to build trust with such com-
munities through local and regional grass-
roots outreach.
Section 606. Annual report on corrupt activities
of senior officials of the Chinese Communist
Party
Section 606 requires the CIA, in coordina-
tion with the Department of Treasury’s Of-
fice of Intelligence and Analysis and the FBI,
to submit to designated congressional com-
mittees annually through 2025 a report that
describes and assesses the wealth and corrup-
tion of senior officials of the CCP, as well as
targeted financial measures, including po-
tential targets for sanctions designation.
Section 606 further expresses the Sense of
Congress that the United States should un-
dertake every effort and pursue every oppor-
tunity to expose the corruption and illicit
practices of senior officials of the CCP, in-
cluding President Xi Jinping.
Section 607. Report on corrupt activities of Rus-
sian and other Eastern European oligarchs
Section 607 requires the CIA, in coordina-
tion with the Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the
FBI, to submit to designated congressional
committees and the Under Secretary of
State for Public Diplomacy, a report that de-
scribes the corruption and corrupt or illegal
activities among Russian and other Eastern
European oligarchs who support the Russian
government and Russian President Vladimir
Putin, and the impact of those activities on
the economy and citizens of Russia. Section
607 further requires the CIA, in coordination
with the Department of Treasury’s Office of
Intelligence and Analysis, to describe poten-
tial sanctions that could be imposed for such
activities.
Section 608. Report on biosecurity risk and
disinformation by the Chinese Communist
Party and the Government of the People’s
Republic of China
Section 608 requires the DNI to submit to
the designated congressional committees a
report identifying whether and how CCP offi-
cials and the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China may have sought to suppress
or exploit for national advantage informa-
tion regarding the novel coronavirus pan-
demic, including specific related assess-
ments. Section 608 further provides that the
report shall be submitted in unclassified
form, but may have a classified annex.
Section 609. Report on effect of lifting of United
Nations arms embargo on Islamic Republic
of Iran
Section 609 requires the DIA to submit to
designated congressional committees a re-
port on the Government of the Islamic Re-
public of Iran’s plans to acquire military
arms if the ban on arms transfers to or from
such government under United Nations Secu-
rity Council resolutions are lifted, as well as
the effects such arms acquisitions may have
on regional security and stability.
Section 610. Report on Iranian activities relating
to nuclear nonproliferation
Section 610 directs the DNI to submit a re-
port on any relevant activities relating to
nuclear weapons research and development
by the Islamic Republic of Iran and any rel-
evant efforts to afford or deny international
access to related facilities in accordance
with international non-proliferation agree-
ments.
Section 611. Annual reports on security services
of the People’s Republic of China in the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Section 611 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the presence and activities of Chi-
nese security services operating within the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Section 612. Research partnership on activities
of People’s Republic of China
Section 612 requires the Director of the
NGA to seek to enter into a partnership with
an academic or non-profit research institu-
tion
to
carry
out
joint
unclassified
geospatial intelligence analyses of the ac-
tivities of the People’s Republic of China
that pose national security risks to the
United States, and to make publicly avail-
able unclassified products relating to such
analyses.
Section 613. Report on the pharmaceutical and
personal protective equipment regulatory
practices of the People’s Republic of China
Section 613 requires the DNI to submit a
report on the pharmaceutical and personal
protective equipment regulatory practices of
the People’s Republic of China.
Section 614. National Intelligence Estimate on
situation in Afghanistan
Section 614 requires the DNI, acting
through the National Intelligence Council,
to produce a National Intelligence Estimate
on the situation in Afghanistan.
Section 615. Assessment regarding tensions be-
tween Armenia and Azerbaijan
Section 615 requires the DNI to submit an
assessment regarding tensions between the
governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Section 616. Sense of Congress on Third Option
Foundation
Section 616 expresses the sense of Congress
that the Third Option Foundation’s work on
behalf of the CIA’s special operations com-
munity and their families is invaluable, such
that the Director of the CIA should work
with the Foundation to implement section
6412 of the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew
Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020,
which provided special rules for certain
monthly workers’ compensation payments
and other payments to CIA personnel.
Section 617. Annual reports on worldwide
threats
Section 617 requires the DNI, in coordina-
tion with IC element heads, to submit an an-
nual report with an IC assessment of world-
wide threats to United States national secu-
rity. Section 617 further requires the DNI,
together with IC element heads determined
appropriate by the congressional intelligence
and defense committees in consultation with
the DNI, to testify at an open hearing before
such committees upon request. It is the in-
tent of the Committees that a request by one
of the congressional intelligence or defense
committees, or a number of them, shall trig-
ger the obligation of IC element heads to tes-
tify at an open hearing before a requesting
committee, as specified under Section 617.
Section 618. Annual report on Climate Security
Advisory Council
Section 618 requires the chair of the Cli-
mate Security Advisory Council to submit
an annual report regarding the Council’s
prior year activities.
Section 619. Improvements to funding for Na-
tional Security Education program
Section 619 authorizes funds for national
security-related scholarship, fellowship, and
grant programs.
Section 620. Report on best practices to protect
privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights of
Chinese Americans
Section 620 makes certain technical and
conforming amendments to a reporting pro-
vision enacted pursuant to the Damon Paul
Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intel-
ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years
2018, 2019, and 2020.
Section 621. National Intelligence Estimate on
the threat of global pandemic disease
Section 621 requires the DNI, acting
through the National Intelligence Council,
to produce a National Intelligence Estimate
on the threat of global pandemic disease.
Section 622. Modification of requirement for
briefings on national security effects of
emerging infectious disease and pandemics
Section 622 amends a quinquennial report-
ing provision enacted pursuant to the Damon
Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard In-
telligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years
2018, 2019, and 2020 to require annual report-
ing.
Section 623. Independent study on open-source
intelligence
Section 623 requires the DNI to seek to
enter into an agreement with a federally
funded research and development center or a
nongovernmental entity to conduct a study
on the future of the collection, processing,
exploitation, analysis, dissemination, and
evaluation of open-source intelligence by the
IC, with certain requirements and criteria.
Section 624. Survey on Open Source Enterprise
Section 624 requires the Director of the
CIA (as the open source functional manager
for the IC), in consultation with the DNI and
any other IC element head that the Director
determines appropriate, to conduct a survey
to measure the satisfaction of customers of
open-source
intelligence
with
the
Open
Source Enterprise of the CIA.
Section 625. Sense of Congress on report on mur-
der of Jamal Khashoggi
Section 625 provides that it is the sense of
Congress that the DNI should reasonably
have been able to produce an unclassified re-
port, as required pursuant to section 5714 of
the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young
Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020, and section
1277 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2020.
f
UNITED STATES SENATE CHAM-
BER AND GALLERIES REGULA-
TIONS
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, pursuant
to Senate rule XXXIII, I wish to inform
all Senators that on December 18, 2020,
the Committee on Rules and Adminis-
tration adopted the ‘‘U.S. Senate Al-
ternate Vehicle Parking Regulations,’’
which supersede and replace the cur-
rent ‘‘Regulations Governing Use of Bi-
cycle Racks Hart Office Building Ga-
rage.’’
The updated regulations describe the
eligibility and process Senators and el-
igible staff use to request, register, and
obtain parking permits for alternate
vehicles. The proposed regulations also
expand the use of the garage parking
racks beyond bicycles to include newer
commuting technology such as electric
scooters.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the text of the regulations as
adopted be printed in the RECORD.
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There being no objection, the mate-
rial was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
U.S. SENATE ALTERNATE VEHICLE PARKING
REGULATIONS
[ADOPTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON RULES AND
ADMINISTRATION ON DECEMBER 18, 2020, PUR-
SUANT
TO
RULE
XXXIII
OF
THE
STANDING
RULES OF THE SENATE]
1.0 Scope—These regulations describe the
eligibility and processes Senators and eligi-
ble staff shall use to request, register, and
obtain parking permits for alternate vehicles
to be parked in Senate garages.
2.0 Definitions—For purposes of these regu-
lations, the following terms shall have the
meaning specified.
2.1 Rules Committee means the U.S. Sen-
ate Committee on Rules and Administration.
2.2 Alternate vehicle means a personally
owned vehicle, other than an automobile,
motorcycle, personal assistance mobility ac-
cess device, or rental vehicle, including but
not
limited
to
bicycles,
motorized
skateboards, and manual and electric scoot-
ers.
2.3 Congressional ID means a current con-
gressional identification badge issued by the
Senate Sergeant at Arms.
2.4 Eligible Staff means employees of the
Senate or employees of the Superintendent’s
Office.
2.5 Permit means an identification sticker
affixed to an alternate vehicle permitting
parking in a Senate garage.
2.6 Senate Garage means the underground
parking areas administered by the Super-
intendent’s Office.
2.7 Superintendent’s Office means the Ar-
chitect
of
the
Capitol’s
Senate
Super-
intendent Office.
2.8 TranSAAct means the web-based pro-
gram administered by the Senate Sergeant
at Arms for Senate offices that allows offices
to request alternate vehicle parking permits.
2.9 USCP means the United States Capitol
Police.
3.0 General Use of Garage Parking Racks—
The use of the garage parking racks for al-
ternate vehicles is on a first-come, first-
served basis.
3.1 Permit holders must present their Con-
gressional ID and display their parking per-
mit to USCP at garage entrances.
3.2 Permit holders must park alternate ve-
hicles in the designated garage parking
racks in a manner that does not interfere
with others’ ability to utilize the racks and
that does not interfere with adjacent park-
ing spaces.
3.2.1 Personal property and alternate vehi-
cles that obstruct access to a parking space
or parking rack will be moved immediately.
3.3 Permits are not transferrable to other
alternate vehicles.
3.4 Alternate vehicles may not use garage
electric chargers.
3.5 The Senate, the Superintendent’s Of-
fice, and the USCP are not responsible for
lost, damaged, or stolen personal property.
4.0 Permit Eligibility—Senators and eligi-
ble staff with a valid Congressional ID grant-
ing 24-hour building access are eligible for a
permit.
4.1 The Rules Committee issues permits on
a first-come, first-served basis.
4.2 Eligibility for alternate vehicle parking
permits is in addition to other parking and
federal transit benefits.
4.3 A permit holder may register up to two
alternate vehicles under one permit.
5.0 Permit Registration—Eligible partici-
pants must submit a permit application
through their employing office’s TranSAAct
account.
5.1 The TranSAAct permit application re-
quires the registrant’s name, office phone
number, cell phone number, email address,
employing office, and the make, model/style,
and color of the alternate vehicle.
5.2 Approved permit holders must provide
their Congressional ID and alternate vehicle
to the Senate Garage Administrative Office,
SH-G12, to receive the approved permit.
5.3 The Superintendent’s Office will attach
the permit in an easily identifiable location.
6.0 Permit Renewal—Permits must be re-
newed by a permit holder’s employing office
each Congress.
6.1 The Rules Committee will contact each
office for permit renewal information.
6.2 Permit holders approved for renewed
permits must bring their Congressional ID
and alternate vehicle to the Senate Garage
Administrative Office for the new permit.
6.3 Permit holders may request the Super-
intendent’s Office either place the new per-
mit over the previous permit or remove the
previous permit and place the new permit in
the same position. The Superintendent’s Of-
fice is not responsible for damage caused by
removal or placement of a permit.
6.4 Permit holders who either leave Senate
employment or whose permits are not re-
newed must immediately stop using the ga-
rage racks and bring their alternate vehicle
to the Senate Garage Administrative Office
for permit removal.
7.0
Noncompliance—Alternate
vehicles
may not be stored in a Senate garage. The
Superintendent’s Office conducts regular in-
spections of the bicycle racks and will notify
alternate vehicle owners of noncompliance
with these regulations, including for the fol-
lowing: failure to display a valid permit;
parking outside of a designated area; and
storing or abandoning an alternate vehicle in
a Senate garage.
7.1 Any alternate vehicle that remains
unmoved for more than two weeks will be
considered as being stored.
7.2 Notice of violation (s) will be placed on
the alternate vehicle.
7.3 After the fourth notice of violation
within a 30–day period without subsequent
cure by the permit holder, the Superintend-
ent’s Office will notify the USCP to remove
the alternate vehicle and process it as aban-
doned property.
7.4 Owners of alternate vehicles removed
from Senate garages should contact the
USCP for information regarding its aban-
doned property policy.
f
REMEMBERING PAUL SARBANES
Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I rise
today to pay tribute to my friend and
former colleague, Senator Paul Sar-
banes, who passed away December 6,
2020. I join the entire Nation in mourn-
ing his passing.
Paul was born in Salisbury, MD, on
February 3, 1933. His first job was bus-
ing tables and washing dishes at his
parents’
restaurant
on
Maryland’s
Eastern Shore. He attended Princeton
University,
where
he
received
the
Moses
Taylor
Pryne
Honor
Prize,
Princeton’s
highest
undergraduate
honor. He was a Rhodes Scholar, which
earned him admission to Balliol Col-
lege of the University of Oxford in Ox-
ford, England. Upon his return to the
United States, Paul attended Harvard
Law School.
In the early 1960s, Paul Sarbanes
clerked for Fourth Circuit Judge Mor-
ris A. Soper before entering private
practice with two Baltimore law firms.
In 1966, Paul ran for the Maryland
House of Delegates in Baltimore City,
where he served on both the Judiciary
and the Ways and Means Committees.
Four years later in 1970, Sarbanes
was elected to the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives, representing Maryland’s
Fourth and later Maryland’s Third
Congressional Districts from 1971 to
1977. Paul continued his public service
when he was elected to the U.S. Senate
in 1976. Senator Sarbanes served Mary-
land well. He sat on many committees
but was chairman of the Senate Bank-
ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs Com-
mittee prior to my years as chairman.
After serving five terms in the U.S.
Senate, Paul retired to Maryland in
2007. The same year, he earned the For-
eign Language Advocacy Award from
the
Northeast
Conference
on
the
Teaching of Foreign Languages in rec-
ognition of his lifelong commitment to
the ancient world’s values and lan-
guages.
Paul was admired by many and will
be missed by his sons, JOHN and Mi-
chael, his daughter, Janet, and his
seven grandchildren. He was known for
his intellect and tenacity and will be
remembered for his devotion to Mary-
land and the Nation. I ask the entire
Senate to join me in recognizing and
honoring the life of Paul Sarbanes.
f
TRIBUTE TO LAMAR ALEXANDER
Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I would
like to start by thanking my good
friend Senator LAMAR ALEXANDER for
his nearly two decades in the Senate
and his longstanding devotion to im-
proving our country. His dedication to
the people of Tennessee and Americans
throughout our Nation has been un-
wavering. We have served together in
the Senate for 18 years, but he has been
in public service for much longer than
that.
I remember when Senator ALEX-
ANDER was first elected to the Senate
in 2002. He was no stranger to his new
colleagues. LAMAR had already served
as the Governor of Tennessee, the
president of the University of Ten-
nessee, and the Secretary of Education
under George H.W. Bush. He also ran
for President in 1996 and again in 2000.
We should have seen the writing on
the wall then—that Senator ALEX-
ANDER would be one of the smartest
and most ambitious Members we would
serve with throughout our careers.
Born in Maryville, TN, LAMAR grad-
uated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt
University and went on to receive his
juris doctor from the New York Univer-
sity, NYU, School of Law. He then
clerked on the Fifth Circuit for Judge
John Minor Wisdom in New Orleans.
Following his time in Louisiana, he
moved to Washington to work as a leg-
islative
assistant
for
then-Senator
Howard Baker of Tennessee. This is
when he met his beloved wife Honey.
They married and had four children,
and his remarkable career took off.
During LAMAR’s time as a U.S. Sen-
ator, he served as the chairman of the
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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Senate Republican conference, an im-
portant leadership position in which he
influenced his fellow Members to ac-
complish conservative achievements by
working in unison.
Currently, LAMAR is the chairman of
the Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
sions, HELP, Committee— a‘‘Class A’’
committee in the Senate. In 2016, he
was instrumental in passing the over-
whelmingly bipartisan 21st Century
Cures Act—landmark legislation that
has brought new innovations and ad-
vances to patients who need them fast-
er and more efficiently.
I have been blessed to serve with
LAMAR on the Senate Rules Committee
and the Senate Appropriations Com-
mittee, where he is the current chair-
man of the Subcommittee on Energy
and Water Development.
In this role on Appropriations, he has
supported and advanced a host of im-
portant national priorities, such as nu-
clear security, critical infrastructure
projects across the country, and the
science and research taking place at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I,
along with my colleagues on the com-
mittee, am grateful for his hard work
to craft many years of significant and
influential funding measures.
LAMAR came to the Senate as a staff-
er and is leaving as chairman of one of
the largest and most significant com-
mittees in the Senate. His impact and
leadership during his time here has
been both substantial and constructive.
LAMAR and I have travelled the world
together. Annette and I have enjoyed
the many hours spent with Honey and
him. He will be missed in the Senate. I
thank Senator ALEXANDER for his dedi-
cation to the betterment of our coun-
try and wish him all the best in his
next chapter of life.
f
HONORING AMERICA’S FALLEN
SERVICEMEMBERS
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, as we ap-
proach the end of another year, I rise
to remember all those American men
and women who have given what Presi-
dent Lincoln called ‘‘the last full meas-
ure of devotion’’ in service to this
great Nation.
I often reflect on the Gettysburg Ad-
dress when thinking about our service-
members and veterans. We all know
this short, somber speech has reverber-
ated throughout our history with an
influence that vastly exceeds the few
minutes for which Lincoln actually
spoke. In November 1863, President
Lincoln stood on the battlefield in Get-
tysburg to bless those brave soldiers
who had fallen in what was the blood-
iest battle in U.S. history up to that
point. The ‘‘last full measure of devo-
tion’’ remark has always resonated
with me, as it does with so many
Americans, but Lincoln had another
message in his address. He said, ‘‘It is
for us the living, rather, to be dedi-
cated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus
far so nobly advanced.’’
Even in moments of mourning, Lin-
coln charged those still standing to re-
dedicate themselves to the hard work
of preserving our Nation’s integrity,
protecting our fundamental freedoms,
and building our families’ security and
prosperity. In a time of great division,
this was no small task, and it today re-
mains one of our urgent and most sol-
emn tasks.
The year after the Gettysburg Ad-
dress, the women of Boalsburg, PA,
began a tradition that would carry on
for generations. They gathered to-
gether to decorate the gravestones of
their loved ones who had gone to God.
They wanted to reach beyond the pain
to show their fathers, husbands, broth-
ers, and sons that their memories en-
dure in the hearts and minds of the liv-
ing. Honoring the spirit and sacrifice of
our military and veterans isn’t just
about isolated days of commemoration
on Veterans Day and Memorial Day
each year, it is about the work we do
every day to be worthy of their valor,
as my father used to say.
As we discuss a potential U.S. with-
drawal from Afghanistan, combat the
resurgence of ISIS in the Middle East,
exercise oversight over other U.S. mili-
tary engagements overseas, and look to
resolve increasingly complicated global
crises, we must not forget those who
have given the ultimate sacrifice in
service to our country, particularly in
the most recent wars. The numbers are
important: 7034 Americans have lost
their lives in the wars in Iraq and Af-
ghanistan, with an additional 7 killed
in African Command operations since
2001. This includes 300 servicemembers
from Pennsylvania—the fifth highest
toll of any State. Over 53,000 have been
wounded, including more than 2,000
from Pennsylvania. Although this ad-
ministration refuses to be transparent
in its deployment tracking, press re-
ports indicate that approximately 7,500
Americans are currently serving in
Iraq and Afghanistan, with an addi-
tional 65,000 serving in the Persian Gulf
and Saudi Arabia.
This year, for the first time in nearly
two decades, Pennsylvania did not lose
any servicemembers abroad. While I
am grateful Pennsylvania did not suf-
fer losses this year, this milestone only
serves as a reminder of the grim toll
that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
have taken on the Commonwealth and
the Nation. As families of fallen serv-
icemembers continue to mourn, we
must reconsider the nature of our mili-
tary commitments overseas and recom-
mit to ensuring those who serve are
taken care of.
These fighting men and women were
born into families, not into divisions
and brigades. They are sons and daugh-
ters, husbands and wives, fathers and
mothers. Their love for their families
is matched only by their devotion to
our country.
But many more bear the scars of war.
Some families have a loved one who
served in Iraq or Afghanistan and re-
turned home but was one of the 53,250
wounded. And we must not overlook
the unusually high percentage of Iraq
and Afghanistan veterans who have
died since returning home, whether
from drug overdose or suicide. Thou-
sands of American families continue to
pay a terrible price for the courage and
dedication of their family members
who gave life and limb for this country.
As we look to a new year and a new
Congress, I am reminded of the mo-
ments
when
policymakers
reached
across the aisle, putting partisan dif-
ferences aside to implement ideas that
best served the American people. We
can think about the establishment of
the first system of State veterans
homes after the Civil War, enactment
of the GI bill after World War II, cre-
ation of the modern, Cabinet-level De-
partment of Veterans Affairs under
President Reagan, all required fore-
sight and courage to see come to fru-
ition. The year ahead provides an op-
portunity for further bipartisan co-
operation in service of our veterans
and our men and women in uniform.
Each of us, those who have served
and those who haven’t, must be a part
of the effort toward healing. We can
meet today’s challenges with the spirit
of the women in Boalsburg so many
years ago, to remember our past and
keep working towards our future. We
can continue our work here in Wash-
ington, in Pennsylvania, and across the
Nation, to ensure we are worthy of the
valor of the men and women we com-
memorate today. I call on my col-
leagues in the Senate to reflect every
day on the sacrifice of those who came
before us.
As another year comes to a close, we
remember and honor those who have
laid down their lives for this great Na-
tion. God bless them.
f
TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DOUG
JONES’ STAFF
Mr. JONES. Mr. President, as I men-
tioned in my farewell speech last week,
I also wanted to spend a few final mo-
ments here on the Senate floor hon-
oring my incredible staff. As the first
Democrat elected to the Senate from
Alabama in two decades, I had no idea
how many brilliant young folks would
want to come work in my offices, but
we were absolutely overwhelmed with
the talent my election attracted—and
not just from Alabama—we had appli-
cants from all over the country. We of
course tried to give priority to folks
from Alabama, but we did have a few
from other States who brought special
expertise and who, after just a short
time with us, became honorary Ala-
bamians.
Some of my staff came from other
Senate or House offices where they had
been biding their time, hoping 1 day to
work for an Alabama Democratic Sen-
ator. Their experience was critical.
Some staff members brought no legis-
lative experience at all, but they were
quick and eager learners and got up to
speed unbelievably fast. What they all
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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had in common was a deep and sincere
commitment to doing the right thing
for the right reasons.
There were very few shortcuts and
very few easy decisions, but we all
worked hard to understand the issues
backwards and forwards and to do our
best for the people of Alabama and for
our country. Although each member of
the staff was acutely aware that I
would have to stand for reelection in
just 3 short years, they were as com-
mitted as I was to not let political con-
siderations enter into our delibera-
tions. Instead we focused on the needs
of our constituents, big and small, and
doing all we could to make sure those
needs were met.
Over the past 3 years, we have be-
come a family, and we have had some
fun to boot. Equally important, we
have gotten things done. We led or
coled over 20 bipartisan bills that were
signed into law. We mustered enough
support to finally repeal the Widow’s
Tax. We secured permanent Federal
funding for HBCUs and minority-serv-
ing institutions. We made things easier
for folks applying for Federal student
loans. We secured authorizations and
appropriations for hundreds of millions
of dollars in funding for defense-related
projects in Alabama. We set up a proc-
ess to collect and make available to
the public the Federal records from un-
solved civil rights crimes. We com-
pleted 2,094 requests for casework help
and responded to hundreds of thou-
sands of calls, letters, and emails from
Alabama constituents. We submitted
624 letters in support of Alabamians’
grant
applications,
resulting
in
$270,973,411 in awards for municipali-
ties, nonprofits, colleges and univer-
sities, rural fire departments, health
centers, and others. Out of the out-
standing high school seniors who I
nominated to our military service
academies, 44 have received appoint-
ments, and that is in just our first 2
years alone; we won’t know the results
for 2020 until next spring. We did more
than 1,000 interviews, speeches, town-
halls, and events across the State of
Alabama and in DC. None of these
things, absolutely none of them, would
have been possible without the hard
work and unflagging dedication of my
staff.
My time in the U.S. Senate was en-
hanced immeasurably by the tangible
and intangible contributions of my
staff. As I said earlier, we knew we
only had 3 years guaranteed, and we
made the most of it. From our amazing
record of legislative accomplishments,
to our warm and welcoming office cul-
ture, to our emphasis on bipartisanship
and collegiality, we made a positive
difference, and I am immensely proud
to have served with each of them.
Although it is impossible to go
through the contributions of each I do
want to single out a few who really
made the office click or were respon-
sible in some way for a major accom-
plishment.
First is my chief of staff Dana Gresh-
am. Dana came to me by way of the
House and then the Department of
Transportation. He has always been a
leader, and for me, I was so proud to
have him as the first African-American
chief of staff for a Democratic Senator.
He was instrumental in building the
staff and guiding the delicate nature of
Beltway and Alabama politics.
My legislative director Mark Libell
brought a level of experience and direc-
tion to our legislative team that I
think is unmatched in the Senate. He
brought a level of skill to the legisla-
tive process that is largely responsible
for the many successes we had.
Katie Campbell doubled as the dep-
uty legislative director and legislative
assistant on our healthcare related
matters. She brought a tremendous
amount of knowledge and was thus a
tremendous resource for our healthcare
agenda, which was always one of my
top priorities.
On the Banking Committee, I was
fortunate to have Mike Berman for a
couple of years before he moved into
the private sector. Mike began the
painstaking process of revising the
country’s
money
laundering
laws
which his successor on the staff,
Lauren
Oppenheimer,
picked
up.
Thanks to their combined efforts and
working with colleagues and various
stakeholders and regulators, Congress
passed as part of the NDAA an update
to our money laundering laws for the
first time in decades.
My friend of 20 years Cissy Jackson
came to Washington after practicing
law with me in Birmingham. She had
no legislative experience but soon be-
came a rockstar among the Senate
staff on both sides of the aisle, first
with the Homeland Security Com-
mittee and then as my MLA on the
Armed Services Committee. So much
of what we were able to secure for the
people of Alabama in the NDAA is a di-
rect result of Cissy’s tireless and per-
sistent efforts.
Rebecca Howard handled education
policy for me. Through her efforts, we
secured
additional
and
permanent
funding for HBCUs, as well as the suc-
cess in simplifying the FAFSA form,
which will allow so many kids in Ala-
bama to receive a college education.
She also coordinated the annual HBCU
symposiums that we conducted each
year.
The director of my State staff was
Brantley Fry. Brantley made sure that
I stayed incredibly busy when I was at
home. We traveled from one end of the
State to the other. We visited busi-
nesses, military installations, schools,
and farms. She coordinated the town-
halls and roundtables, all with an eye
to the important issues facing the
State.
Heather Fluit was my communica-
tions director and she did tremendous
work keeping the people of Alabama up
to speed on all the good work that we
were doing in Washington and around
the State. This could be a difficult job
at times on weedy issues like money
laundering, but Heather excelled.
I could not conclude these remarks,
however, without once again noting
what was one of my proudest moments
in the Senate when we successfully
eliminated the Military Widow’s Tax.
It took a tremendous amount of effort
and persistence in making that legisla-
tion a reality, and so much of the cred-
it goes to Sarah Kate Sullivan in my
office. Like me and my colleague Sen-
ator COLLINS, Sarah Kate never gave
up, and today, so many military fami-
lies will benefit from her efforts.
My wife Louise and I thank each of
these individuals listed below from the
bottom of our hearts. We love them all
like family, and we wish them all the
very best in their future careers:
Katie Campbell, Deputy Legislative Direc-
tor.
Olivia Chartier, Deputy Scheduler.
Sam Coleman, Press Secretary.
Jordan Cozby, Staff Assistant.
Gregory Early, Military Fellow.
Elise Fink, Fellow.
Mike Flint, Fellow.
Heather Fluit, Communications Director.
Jasmine Goodman, Staff Assistant.
Dana Gresham, Chief of Staff.
Rebecca Howard, Legislative Assistant.
Cissy Jackson, Counsel and National Secu-
rity Advisor.
Roger Johnson, Staff Assistant.
Darren Kinnaird, Systems Administrator.
Smriti Krishnan, Heflin Fellow.
Mark Libell, Deputy Chief of Staff / Legis-
lative Director.
Leila Mohaideen, Digital Director / Deputy
Press Secretary.
Becca Murdoch, Legislative Correspondent.
Lacy Nelson, Digital Assistant / Deputy
Press Secretary.
Kobye Noel, Mailroom Director.
Lauren Oppenheimer, Senior Economic
Policy Advisor.
Avery Phillip, Press Assistant.
Judy Rainey, Administrative Director.
Zoe Scott, Staff Assistant.
Abby Selden, Counsel.
Laura Sherrod, Legislative Aide.
Jack Spalding, Research Director.
Jessica Spence, Legislative Correspondent.
Garrett
Stephens,
Legislative
Cor-
respondent.
Caroline Stonecipher, Press Secretary.
Brenda Strickland, Director of Scheduling.
Sarah Kate Sullivan, Projects Director.
Ted Trippi, Legislative Correspondent.
Emma Turner, Scheduling Assistant.
Calvin Wilborn, Special Assistant.
Kern Williams, Legislative Correspondent.
Michael
Williams,
Legislative
Cor-
respondent.
ALABAMA
Anna Bern, Field Representative.
Bonnie Beviacqua, Staff Assistant.
Beau Bowden, Field Representative.
Ricky Chapman, Staff Assistant.
Eden Cockrell, Staff Assistant.
Paula Cox, Staff Assistant.
Donald Dees, Field Representative.
Sam Duff, Staff Assistant.
Jason Fisher, Field Representative.
Brantley Fry, State Director.
April Hodges, Field Representative.
Sandra Jackson, Regional Director.
Shanderla McMillian, Caseworker.
Kate Messervy, Field Representative.
Jim Perdue, Regional Director.
Jose Perry Jr, Regional Director.
June Reeves-Weir, Caseworker.
Liz Rutledge, Field Representative.
Amber Selman-Lynn, Field Representa-
tive.
Ron Sparks, Senior Advisor.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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Al Stokes, Regional Director.
Rick Tate, Staff Assistant.
Susan Thompson, Caseworker and Grants
Coordinator.
Zandra Wilson, Caseworker.
Violeta Yanez, Community Outreach Coor-
dinator.
Thank you.
f
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
REMEMBERING RICHARD RONALD
KNOCK
∑Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I rise to
honor the passing of a great Ken-
tuckian, Richard Ronald Knock, or
Dick, as he was known to his friends
and family. He died December 8, 2020,
at the age of 82.
Dick was born June 28, 1938 in Cold
Spring, KY. Dick’s name was always
mentioned with high praise. He was
valued in his community, as he was
known to lend a helping hand when
needed and provided a thoughtful ear
when spoken to. Mr. Knock came from
a humble upbringing, but through his
own deeds, he rose to the pinnacle of
his profession, being a respected mem-
ber of many institutions, including as
CEO of Knock Investments; CEO of
Omaha Enterprises; through his service
on the Board of Trustees at University
of the Cumberlands; and as chairman of
Board of Commissioners for the Boone
County Water District.
Dick was also an active political pun-
dit within his community. His commit-
ment to freedom was unmatched, and
he often proved to be a great source of
wisdom for elected leaders such as my-
self. Dick worked tirelessly in bringing
Republicans throughout the Common-
wealth together in the name of free-
dom. I can recall during my first elec-
tion he opened his house for an event
that featured my predecessor, Senator
Jim Bunning, that helped unify Repub-
licans in a critical area of our State. A
picture from that event hangs in my
Washington office to this day. With his
passing, we have lost one of our bright-
est and loudest freedom fighters, but,
as Dick would want, the voices of lib-
erty will remain loud and clear.
While we share in the great sadness
of his passing, it with great joy we look
back
at
his
life,
his
many
accopmlishments, and the positive im-
pact he had on his community and
Kentuckians
across
the
Common-
wealth. We honor Dick and his family,
and may he rest in peace.∑
f
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ACADEMY OF ART MINISTRIES
∑Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr.
President, today I would like to take a
moment
to
recognize
a
milestone
achievement for a ministry in my
State. The Academy of Arts Ministries
is celebrating its 50th anniversary in
South Carolina on January 8, 2021. This
ministry has trained thousands of stu-
dents in the arts and sent them out in
their local communities to share the
Good News about God through their
art.
Its founder, Dr. Nicky Chavers, has
dedicated the last 50 years to giving
young people a safe avenue to be cre-
ative through the Logos Theatre, na-
tion-wide traveling ministries, a pro-
fessional film company and more. The
young people in my great state of
South Carolina have truly benefited
from the sacrifices of Dr. Chavers and
the entire team at the Academy of Art
Ministries.∑
f
MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE
RECEIVED DURING ADJOURNMENT
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION SIGNED
Under the authority of the order of
the Senate of January 3, 2019, the Sec-
retary of the Senate, on December 20,
2020, during the adjournment of the
Senate, received a message from the
House of Representatives announcing
that the Speaker had signed the fol-
lowing enrolled joint resolution:
H.J. Res. 110. Joint resolution making fur-
ther continuing appropriations for fiscal
year 2021, and for other purposes.
Under the authority of the order of
the Senate of January 3, 2019, the en-
rolled joint resolution was signed on
December 20, 2020, during the adjourn-
ment of the Senate, by the Acting
President pro tempore (Mr. SCOTT of
South Carolina).
f
MESSAGES FROM THE HOUSE
ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED
At 5:07 p.m., a message from the
House of Representatives, delivered by
Mrs. Cole, one of its reading clerks, an-
nounced that the Speaker has signed
the following enrolled bills:
S. 979. An act to amend the Post-Katrina
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006
to incorporate the recommendations made
by the Government Accountability Office re-
lating to advance contracts, and for other
purposes.
S. 1694. An act to require the National Aer-
onautics and Space Administration to add
recommendations and inform other relevant
agencies of information relating to the prin-
ciple of due regard and the limitation of
harmful interference with Apollo landing
site artifacts, and for other purposes.
S. 2174. An act to the extent provided in ad-
vance in appropriations Act, the Attorney
General is authorized to use funds appro-
priated for the operationalization, mainte-
nance, and expansion of the National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
S. 2683. An act to establish a task force to
assist States in implementing hiring require-
ments for child care staff members to im-
prove child safety.
S. 2730. An act to establish and ensure an
inclusive and transparent Drone Advisory
Committee.
S. 3312. An act to establish a crisis sta-
bilization and community reentry grant pro-
gram, and for other purposes.
S. 3418. An act to amend the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act to allow the Administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to provide capitalization grants to States to
establish revolving funds to provide hazard
mitigation assistance to reduce risks from
disasters and natural hazards, and other re-
lated environmental harm.
S. 3989. An act to amend the United States
Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016
to modify certain membership and other re-
quirements
of
the
United
States
Semiquincentennial Commission, and for
other purposes.
S. 5036. An act to amend the Overtime Pay
for Protective Services Act of 2016 to extend
the Secret Service overtime pay exception
through 2023, and for other purposes.
H.R. 1966. An act to direct the Comptroller
General of the United States to complete a
study on barriers to participation in feder-
ally funded cancer clinical trials by popu-
lations that have been traditionally under-
represented in such trials.
H.R. 5023. An act to name the Department
of Veterans Affairs community-based out-
patient clinic in Youngstown, Ohio, as the
‘‘Carl Nunziato VA Clinic’’.
H.R. 5459. An act to authorize the Sec-
retary of the Interior to correct a land own-
ership error within the boundary of Rocky
Mountain National Park, and for other pur-
poses.
H.R. 6237. An act to amend the Indian
Health Care Improvement Act to clarify the
requirement of the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the Department of Defense to re-
imburse the Indian Health Service for cer-
tain health care services.
H.R. 7898. An act to amend the Health In-
formation Technology for Economic and
Clinical Health Act to require the Secretary
of Health and Human Services to consider
certain recognized security practices of cov-
ered entities and business associates when
making certain determinations, and for
other purposes.
H.R. 8906. An act to amend title XXIX of
the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize
the program under such title relating to life-
span respite care.
The enrolled bills were subsequently
signed by the President pro tempore
(Mr. GRASSLEY).
At 9:34 p.m., a message from the
House of Representatives, delivered by
Mrs. Cole, one of its reading clerks, an-
nounced that the House has agreed to
the amendment of the Senate to the
bill (H.R. 1520) to amend the Public
Health Service Act to provide for the
publication of a list of licensed biologi-
cal products, and for other purposes,
with an amendment, in which it re-
quests the concurrence of the Senate.
The message further announced that
the House has agreed to the amend-
ment of the Senate to the bill (H.R.
133) to promote economic partnership
and cooperation between the United
States and Mexico, with an amend-
ment, in which it requests the concur-
rence of the Senate.
The message also announced that the
House has agreed to the following con-
current resolutions, in which it re-
quests the concurrence of the Senate:
H. Con. Res. 128. Directing the Clerk of the
House of Representatives to make a correc-
tion in the enrollment of H.R. 1520.
H. Con. Res. 127. Directing the Clerk of the
House of Representatives to make a correc-
tion in the enrollment of H.R. 133.
At 10:22 p.m., a message from the
House of Representatives, delivered by
Mrs. Cole, one of its reading clerks, an-
nounced that the House has passed the
following bill, without amendment:
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S. 4996. An act to ensure funding of the
United States trustees, extend temporary
bankruptcy judgeships, and for other pur-
poses.
ENROLLED BILL SIGNED
At 11:30 p.m., a message from the
House of Representatives, delivered by
Mrs. Cole, one of its reading clerks, an-
nounced that the Speaker pro tempore
(Mr. BEYER) has signed the following
enrolled bill: H.R. 1520. An act making
further continuing appropriations for
fiscal year 2021, and for other purposes.
The enrolled bill was subsequently signed
by the Acting President pro tempore (Mr.
THUNE).
f
ENROLLED BILLS PRESENTED
The Secretary of the Senate reported
that on today, December 21, 2020, she
had presented to the President of the
United States the following enrolled
bills:
S. 212. An act to amend the Native Amer-
ican
Business
Development,
Trade
Pro-
motion, and Tourism Act of 2000, the Buy In-
dian Act, and the Native American Programs
Act of 1974 to provide industry and economic
development opportunities to Indian commu-
nities.
S. 461. An act to strengthen the capacity
and competitiveness of historically Black
colleges and universities through robust pub-
lic-sector, private-sector, and community
partnerships and engagement, and for other
purposes.
S. 900. An act to designate the community-
based outpatient clinic of the Department of
Veterans Affairs in Bozeman, Montana, as
the Travis W. Atkins Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Clinic.
S. 906. An act to improve the management
of driftnet fishing.
S. 914. An act to reauthorize the Integrated
Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act
of 2009, to clarify the authority of the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration with respect to
post-storm assessments, and to require the
establishment of a National Water Center,
and for other purposes.
S. 979. An act to amend the Post-Katrina
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006
to incorporate the recommendations made
by the Government Accountability Office re-
lating to advance contracts, and for other
purposes.
S. 1130. An act to amend the Public Health
Service Act to improve the health of chil-
dren and help better understand and enhance
awareness about unexpected sudden death in
early life.
S. 1342. An act to require the Under Sec-
retary for Oceans and Atmosphere to update
periodically the environmental sensitivity
index products of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration for each coastal
area of the Great Lakes, and for other pur-
poses.
S. 1694. An act to require the National Aer-
onautics and Space Administration to add
recommendations and inform other relevant
agencies of information relating to the prin-
ciple of due regard and the limitation of
harmful interference with Apollo landing
site artifacts, and for other purposes.
S. 1869. An act to require the disclosure of
ownership of high-security space leased to
accommodate a Federal agency, and for
other purposes.
S. 2174. An act to the extent provided in ad-
vance in appropriations Act, the Attorney
General is authorized to use funds appro-
priated for the operationalization, mainte-
nance, and expansion of the National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
for the purpose of carrying out this Act.
S. 2216. An act to require the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to formally recognize care-
givers of veterans, notify veterans and care-
givers of clinical determinations relating to
eligibility for the family caregiver program,
and temporarily extend benefits for veterans
who are determined ineligible for the family
caregiver program, and for other purposes.
S. 2472. An act to redesignate the NASA
John H. Glenn Research Center at Plum
Brook Station, Ohio, as the NASA John H.
Glenn Research Center at the Neil A. Arm-
strong Test Facility.
S. 2683. An act to establish a task force to
assist States in implementing hiring require-
ments for child care staff members to im-
prove child safety.
S. 2730. An act to establish and ensure an
inclusive and transparent Drone Advisory
Committee.
S. 3257. An act to designate the facility of
the United States Postal Service located at
311 West Wisconsin Avenue in Tomahawk,
Wisconsin, as the ‘‘Einar ‘Sarge’ H. lngman,
Jr. Post Office Building’’.
S. 3312. An act to establish a crisis sta-
bilization and community reentry grant pro-
gram, and for other purposes.
S. 3418. An act to amend the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act to allow the Administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to provide capitalization grants to States to
establish revolving funds to provide hazard
mitigation assistance to reduce risks from
disasters and natural hazards, and other re-
lated environmental harm.
S. 3461. An act to designate the facility of
the United States Postal Service located at
2600 Wesley Street in Greenville, Texas, as
the ‘‘Audie Murphy Post Office Building’’.
S. 3462. An act to designate the facility of
the United States Postal Service located at
909 West Holiday Drive in Fate, Texas, as the
‘‘Ralph Hall Post Office’’.
S. 3989. An act to amend the United States
Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016
to modify certain membership and other re-
quirements
of
the
United
States
Semiquincentennial Commission, and for
other purposes.
S. 4126. An act to designate the facility of
the United States Postal Service located at
104 East Main Street in Port Washington,
Wisconsin, as the ‘‘Joseph G. Demler Post
Office’’.
S. 4684. An act to designate the facility of
the United States Postal Service located at
440 Arapahoe Street in Thermopolis, Wyo-
ming, as the ‘‘Robert L. Brown Post Office’’.
S. 5036. An act to amend the Overtime Pay
for Protective Services Act of 2016 to extend
the Secret Service overtime pay exception
through 2023, and for other purposes.
f
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND
JOINT RESOLUTIONS
The following bills and joint resolu-
tions were introduced, read the first
and second times by unanimous con-
sent, and referred as indicated:
By Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. KEN-
NEDY,
Mr.
MENENDEZ,
and
Mr.
TESTER):
S. 5078. A bill to amend the CARES Act to
extend the temporary relief from troubled
debt restructurings; to the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
By Mr. CASEY:
S. 5079. A bill to amend the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 to repeal the suspension of
eligibility for grants, loans, and work assist-
ance for drug-related offenses; to the Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions.
By Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr.
BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED,
Mr. MARKEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs.
FEINSTEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN,
and Mrs. GILLIBRAND):
S. 5080. A bill to amend the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 to require oil polluters to
pay the full cost of oil spills, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
By Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr.
BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. REED,
Mr. MARKEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs.
FEINSTEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. DURBIN,
and Mrs. GILLIBRAND):
S. 5081. A bill to amend the Oil Pollution
Act of 1990 to require oil polluters to pay the
full cost of oil spills, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Environment and Pub-
lic Works.
By Ms. WARREN:
S. 5082. A bill to provide Federal support
for COVID–19 testing, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
By Mr. YOUNG:
S. 5083. A bill to establish within the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs a pay-for-re-
sults pilot program to assist veterans, mem-
bers of the Armed Forces on active duty, and
their family members at risk of social isola-
tion and loneliness, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
By Mr. BRAUN:
S. 5084. A bill to increase transparency and
access to group health plan and health insur-
ance issuer reporting, and for other purposes;
to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
f
ADDITIONAL COSPONSORS
S. 1088
At the request of Mr. WARNER, his
name was added as a cosponsor of S.
1088, a bill to amend the Immigration
and Nationality Act to require the
President to set a minimum annual
goal for the number of refugees to be
admitted, and for other purposes.
S. 1827
At the request of Mr. HEINRICH, his
name was added as a cosponsor of S.
1827, a bill to amend the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 to exclude corpora-
tions operating prisons from the defini-
tion of taxable REIT subsidiary.
S. 2390
At the request of Mr. DURBIN, the
names of the Senator from Oregon (Mr.
MERKLEY), the Senator from Ohio (Mr.
BROWN) and the Senator from Massa-
chusetts (Ms. WARREN) were added as
cosponsors of S. 2390, a bill to prohibit
the imposition of the death penalty for
any violation of Federal law, and for
other purposes.
S. 2773
At the request of Mr. HEINRICH, his
name was added as a cosponsor of S.
2773, a bill to require non-Federal pris-
on, correctional, and detention facili-
ties holding Federal prisoners or de-
tainees under a contract with the Fed-
eral Government to make the same in-
formation available to the public that
Federal prisons and correctional facili-
ties are required to make available.
S. 3103
At the request of Mr. DURBIN, the
name of the Senator from Arizona (Mr.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
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KELLY) was added as a cosponsor of S.
3103, a bill to amend title XVIII of the
Social Security Act to restore State
authority to waive for certain facilities
the 35-mile rule for designating critical
access hospitals under the Medicare
program.
S. 3206
At the request of Mr. CASEY, the
name of the Senator from Michigan
(Ms. STABENOW) was added as a cospon-
sor of S. 3206, a bill to amend the Help
America Vote Act of 2002 to increase
voting
accessibility
for
individuals
with disabilities and older individuals,
and for other purposes.
S. 4055
At the request of Mr. DURBIN, the
name of the Senator from Minnesota
(Ms. SMITH) was added as a cosponsor
of S. 4055, a bill to address health work-
force shortages and disparities high-
lighted by the COVID–19 pandemic
through additional funding for the Na-
tional Health Service Corps and the
Nurse Corps, and to establish a Na-
tional Health Service Corps Emergency
Service demonstration project.
S. 4461
At the request of Mr. LANKFORD, the
names of the Senator from Alaska (Ms.
MURKOWSKI) and the Senator from Ne-
braska (Mr. SASSE) were added as co-
sponsors of S. 4461, a bill to provide for
a period of continuing appropriations
in the event of a lapse in appropria-
tions under the normal appropriations
process, and establish procedures and
consequences in the event of a failure
to enact appropriations.
S. 4742
At the request of Mr. BROWN, his
name was added as a cosponsor of S.
4742, a bill to amend title XIX of the
Social Security Act to promote access
to life-saving therapies for Medicaid
enrollees by ensuring coverage of rou-
tine patient costs for items and serv-
ices furnished in connection with par-
ticipation in qualifying clinical trials,
and for other purposes.
S. 4757
At the request of Mr. DURBIN, the
names of the Senator from Virginia
(Mr. KAINE), the Senator from Hawaii
(Ms. HIRONO) and the Senator from Col-
orado (Mr. BENNET) were added as co-
sponsors of S. 4757, a bill to amend the
Animal Welfare Act to establish addi-
tional requirements for dealers, and for
other purposes.
S. 4867
At the request of Mr. COONS, the
names of the Senator from Alabama
(Mr. JONES), the Senator from North
Dakota (Mr. HOEVEN), the Senator from
Vermont (Mr. LEAHY) and the Senator
from West Virginia (Mr. MANCHIN) were
added as cosponsors of S. 4867, a bill to
direct the Secretary of Health and
Human Services to support research
on, and expanded access to, investiga-
tional drugs for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, and for other purposes.
S. 4898
At the request of Ms. MURKOWSKI, the
name of the Senator from Arizona (Mr.
KELLY) was added as a cosponsor of S.
4898, a bill to amend title VI of the So-
cial Security Act to extend the period
during which States, Indian Tribes, and
local
governments
may
use
Coronavirus Relief Fund payments.
S. 4967
At the request of Mr. BLUNT, the
name of the Senator from Texas (Mr.
CRUZ) was added as a cosponsor of S.
4967, a bill to amend the CARES Act to
extend the excise tax holiday period for
aviation taxes.
f
AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED AND
PROPOSED
SA 2726. Mr. SCOTT, of Florida proposed
an amendment to the resolution S. Res. 625,
affirming the benefits of ‘‘Buying Amer-
ican’’.
SA 2727. Mr. SCOTT, of Florida proposed
an amendment to the resolution S. Res. 625,
supra.
SA 2728. Mr. SCOTT, of Florida proposed
an amendment to the resolution S. Res. 625,
supra.
SA 2729. Mr. CORNYN (for Mrs. FISCHER)
proposed an amendment to the bill S. 371, to
provide regulatory relief to charitable orga-
nizations that provide housing assistance,
and for other purposes.
SA 2730. Mr. CORNYN (for Mr. RUBIO (for
himself
and
Mr.
SCHATZ))
proposed
an
amendment to the bill S. 2429, to reauthorize
the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and
to establish the United States Coral Reef
Task Force, and for other purposes.
SA 2731. Mr. WARNER (for Mr. ROUNDS (for
himself and Mr. WARNER)) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by Mr.
Warner to the bill H.R. 133, to promote eco-
nomic partnership and cooperation between
the United States and Mexico; which was or-
dered to lie on the table.
SA 2732. Mr. BOOZMAN (for Mr. WICKER)
proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 3153,
to direct the Director of the National
Science Foundation to support research on
opioid addiction, and for other purposes.
SA 2733. Mr. BOOZMAN proposed an
amendment to the resolution S. Res. 774,
honoring the United Nations World Food
Programme on the occasion of being awarded
the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
SA 2734. Mr. BOOZMAN proposed an
amendment to the resolution S. Res. 774,
supra.
f
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS
SA 2726. Mr. SCOTT of Florida pro-
posed an amendment to the resolution
S. Res. 625, affirming the benefits of
‘‘Buying American’’; as follows:
Strike all after the resolving clause and in-
sert the following: ‘‘That—
(1) it is the policy of the United States
Government to ‘‘Buy American’’ products for
public use when fiscally and reasonably pos-
sible, in accordance with the Buy American
Act of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.); and
(2) the Senate supports American manufac-
turing and strengthening our American man-
ufacturing base.
SA 2727. Mr. SCOTT of Florida pro-
posed an amendment to the resolution
S. Res. 625, affirming the benefits of
‘‘Buying American’’; as follows:
Strike the preamble and insert the fol-
lowing:
Whereas, on July 15, 2019, President Donald
J. Trump signed Executive Order 13881 titled
‘‘Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods,
Products, and Materials’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 34257),
which would enforce the Buy American Act
of 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) to the greatest
extent permitted by law;
Whereas, the Buy American Act of 1933 re-
quires Federal agencies to procure materials
and products domestically—
(1) when the materials are intended for
public use within the United States; and
(2) when the materials to be procured (or
the materials from which they are manufac-
tured) are present in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available commer-
cial quantities of a satisfactory quality;
Whereas American-made products are de-
veloped under United States’ regulations and
undergo testing to ensure their compliance
with United States’ safety standards, which
are among the highest standards in the
world;
Whereas American-made products are pro-
duced by workers earning competitive wages
and working in safe working conditions;
Whereas purchasing American-made prod-
ucts supports the producers of those prod-
ucts and their communities;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturing
Institute, each dollar spent in sales of manu-
factured products supports $1.33 in output
from other sectors of the economy;
Whereas, according to the Manufacturers
Alliance for Productivity and Innovation
Foundation, for every full-time job in manu-
facturing, there are 3.4 full-time equivalent
jobs created in non-manufacturing indus-
tries;
Whereas, according to a 2017 poll conducted
by Reuters and Ipsos, when buying products,
nearly 70 percent of Americans find it impor-
tant that the products they buy were made
in the United States;
Whereas strengthening American manufac-
turing supports employment in the United
States, produces innovation and the seeds for
future industries, and supports the global
competitiveness of the United States;
Whereas a strong American manufacturing
base is an important component in helping
to revitalize the United States economy as it
recovers from the global COVID–19 pan-
demic;
Whereas a strong domestic supply chain
for certain goods and close cooperation with
trusted allies can support national security
and public safety;
Whereas the global COVID–19 pandemic
presented significant challenges for the glob-
ally interconnected supply chain of medical
products and has heightened the need for
supply chain security of a variety of critical
materials and products; and
Whereas, regarding the manufacturing of
critical medical supplies and products essen-
tial to national security, national stockpiles
and a healthy domestic industrial base would
help handle any future surge in need for
these supplies: Now, therefore, be it
SA 2728. Mr. SCOTT of Florida pro-
posed an amendment to the resolution
S. Res. 625, affirming the benefits of
‘‘Buying American’’; as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A resolu-
tion affirming the benefits of ‘Buying Amer-
ican’.’’.
SA 2729. Mr. CORNYN (for Mrs.
FISCHER) proposed an amendment to
the bill S. 371, to provide regulatory re-
lief to charitable organizations that
provide housing assistance, and for
other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Up
Independent Lives and Dreams Act’’ or the
‘‘BUILD Act’’.
SEC. 2. MORTGAGE LOAN TRANSACTION DISCLO-
SURE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) TILA AMENDMENT.—Section 105 of the
Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1604) is
amended by inserting after subsection (d) the
following:
‘‘(e) DISCLOSURE
FOR
CHARITABLE
MORT-
GAGE LOAN TRANSACTIONS.—With respect to a
mortgage loan transaction involving a resi-
dential mortgage loan offered at 0 percent
interest with only bonafide and reasonable
fees and that is primarily for charitable pur-
poses by an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code, forms HUD–1 and GFE
(as defined under section 1024.2(b) of title 12,
Code of Federal Regulations) together with a
disclosure substantially in the form of the
Loan Model Form H–2 (as depicted in Appen-
dix H to part 1026 of title 12, Code of Federal
Regulations) shall, collectively, be an appro-
priate model form for purposes of subsection
(b) of this section.’’.
(b) RESPA AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of
1974 (12 U.S.C. 2603) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE
FOR
CHARITABLE
MORT-
GAGE LOAN TRANSACTIONS.—With respect to a
mortgage loan transaction involving a resi-
dential mortgage loan offered at 0 percent
interest with only bonafide and reasonable
fees and that is primarily for charitable pur-
poses, an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code may use forms HUD–1 and
GFE (as defined under section 1024.2(b) of
title 12, Code of Federal Regulations) to-
gether with a disclosure substantially in the
form of the Loan Model Form H–2 (as de-
picted in Appendix H to part 1026 of title 12,
Code of Federal Regulations), collectively, in
lieu of the disclosure published under sub-
section (a) of this section.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—The amendments
made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take ef-
fect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SA 2730. Mr. CORNYN (for Mr. RUBIO
(for himself and Mr. SCHATZ)) proposed
an amendment to the bill S. 2429, to re-
authorize the Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000 and to establish the United
States Coral Reef Task Force, and for
other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as
the ‘‘Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2020’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con-
tents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF CORAL
REEF CONSERVATION ACT OF 2000
Sec. 101. Reauthorization of Coral Reef Con-
servation Act of 2000.
Sec. 102. Modification to section 204 of the
Coral Reef Conservation Act of
2000 (16 U.S.C. 6403).
TITLE II—UNITED STATES CORAL REEF
TASK FORCE
Sec. 201. Establishment.
Sec. 202. Duties.
Sec. 203. Membership.
Sec. 204. Responsibilities of Federal agency
members.
Sec. 205. Working groups.
Sec. 206. Definitions.
TITLE III—DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR CORAL REEF AUTHORITIES
Sec. 301. Coral reef conservation and res-
toration assistance.
TITLE
IV—SUSAN
L.
WILLIAMS
NA-
TIONAL CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT
FELLOWSHIP
Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Definitions.
Sec. 403. Establishment of fellowship pro-
gram.
Sec. 404. Fellowship awards.
Sec. 405. Matching requirement.
TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF CORAL
REEF CONSERVATION ACT OF 2000
SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION OF CORAL REEF
CONSERVATION ACT OF 2000.
(a) PURPOSES; FEDERAL CORAL REEF MAN-
AGEMENT AND RESTORATION ACTIVITIES.—The
Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16
U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) is amended by striking
sections 202 and 203 and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘SEC. 202. PURPOSES.
‘‘The purposes of this title are—
‘‘(1) to preserve, sustain, and restore the
condition of United States coral reef eco-
systems challenged by natural and human-
accelerated changes, including increasing
ocean
temperatures,
ocean
acidification,
coral bleaching, coral diseases, water quality
degradation, invasive species, and illegal,
unreported, and unregulated fishing;
‘‘(2) to promote the science-based manage-
ment and sustainable use of coral reef eco-
systems to benefit local communities and
the Nation, including through improved inte-
gration and cooperation among Federal,
State, and locally managed jurisdictions
with coral reef equities;
‘‘(3) to develop sound scientific informa-
tion on the condition of coral reef eco-
systems, continuing and emerging threats to
such ecosystems, and the efficacy of innova-
tive tools, technologies, and strategies to
mitigate stressors and restore such eco-
systems, including evaluation criteria to de-
termine the effectiveness of management
interventions, and accurate mapping for
coral reef restoration;
‘‘(4) to assist in the preservation of coral
reefs by supporting science-based, consensus-
driven State, Tribal, and community-based
coral reef management, including conserva-
tion and restoration projects that empower
local communities, small businesses, and
nongovernmental organizations;
‘‘(5) to provide financial resources, tech-
nical assistance, and scientific expertise to
supplement and strengthen State and com-
munity-based management programs and
conservation and restoration projects;
‘‘(6) to establish a formal mechanism for
collecting and allocating monetary dona-
tions from the private sector to be used for
coral
reef
conservation
and
restoration
projects;
‘‘(7) to support the rapid and effective,
science-based assessment and response to
emergencies that imminently threaten coral
reefs, such as coral disease outbreaks,
invasive species, hurricanes, marine heat
waves, coral bleaching, and other natural
disasters, vessel groundings or chemical
spills, and other exigent circumstances; and
‘‘(8) to serve as a model for advancing simi-
lar international efforts to preserve, sustain,
and restore coral reef ecosystems in the ju-
risdictions of United States allies and trad-
ing partners.
‘‘SEC. 203. FEDERAL CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT
AND RESTORATION ACTIVITIES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator or
the Secretary of the Interior may conduct
activities described in subsection (b) to con-
serve and restore coral reefs and coral reef
ecosystems that are consistent with—
‘‘(1) all applicable laws governing resource
management in Federal and State waters, in-
cluding this Act;
‘‘(2) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy in effect under section 204A;
‘‘(3) coral reef action plans in effect under
section 205, as applicable; and
‘‘(4) coral reef emergency plans in effect
under section 209, as applicable.
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—Activities de-
scribed in this subsection are activities to
conserve, research, monitor, assess, and re-
store coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems in
waters managed under the jurisdiction of a
Federal agency specified in subsection (c) or
in coordination with a State in waters man-
aged under the jurisdiction of such State, in-
cluding—
‘‘(1) developing, including through the col-
lection of requisite data, high-quality and
digitized maps reflecting—
‘‘(A) current and historical live coral cover
data;
‘‘(B) coral reef habitat quality data;
‘‘(C) priority areas for coral reef conserva-
tion to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem
structure and function that benefit coastal
communities and living marine resources;
‘‘(D) priority areas for coral reef restora-
tion to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem
structure and function to benefit coastal
communities and living marine resources;
and
‘‘(E) areas of concern that may require en-
hanced monitoring of coral health and cover.
‘‘(2) enhancing compliance with Federal
laws that prohibit or regulate—
‘‘(A) the taking of coral products or species
associated with coral reefs; or
‘‘(B) the use and management of coral reef
ecosystems;
‘‘(3) long-term ecological monitoring of
coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(4) implementing species-specific recov-
ery plans for listed coral species consistent
with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
‘‘(5) restoring degraded coral reef eco-
systems;
‘‘(6) promoting ecologically sound naviga-
tion and anchorages, including mooring buoy
systems to promote enhanced recreational
access, near coral reefs;
‘‘(7) monitoring and responding to severe
bleaching or mortality events, disease out-
breaks, invasive species outbreaks, and sig-
nificant maritime accidents, including chem-
ical spill cleanup and the removal of ground-
ed vessels;
‘‘(8) conducting scientific research that
contributes to the understanding, sustain-
able use, and long-term conservation of coral
reefs;
‘‘(9) enhancing public awareness, under-
standing, and appreciation of coral reefs and
coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(10) preventing or minimizing the likeli-
hood of vessel impacts or other physical
damage to coral reefs through navigational
aids and expansion of reef-safe anchorages;
and
‘‘(11) centrally archiving, managing, and
distributing data sets and coral reef eco-
system assessments and publishing such in-
formation on publicly available internet
websites of—
‘‘(A) the Coral Reef Conservation Program
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration; and
‘‘(B) the Task Force.
‘‘(c) FEDERAL AGENCIES SPECIFIED.—A Fed-
eral agency specified in this subsection is
one of the following:
‘‘(1) The National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration.
‘‘(2) The National Park Service.
‘‘(3) The United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
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‘‘(4) The Office of Insular Affairs.
‘‘(d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the avail-
ability of appropriations and at the discre-
tion of the Secretary of Commerce, the Ad-
ministrator may enter into cooperative
agreements with States to fund coral reef
conservation and restoration activities in
waters managed under the jurisdiction of
such States that are consistent with the na-
tional coral reef resilience strategy in effect
under section 204A.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Administrator may
not provide more than $500,000 in total fund-
ing under paragraph (1) to any one State in
any fiscal year.’’.
(b)
ADDITIONAL
PROVISIONS.—The
Coral
Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401
et seq.) is amended by striking sections 205
through 210 and inserting the following:
‘‘SEC. 204A. NATIONAL CORAL REEF RESILIENCE
STRATEGY.
‘‘(a)
IN
GENERAL.—The
Administrator
shall—
‘‘(1) develop a national coral reef resilience
strategy; and
‘‘(2) periodically, but not less frequently
than every 15 years, review and revise the
strategy.
‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by
subsection (a) shall include the following:
‘‘(1) A discussion addressing—
‘‘(A) continuing and emerging threats to
the resilience of United States coral reef eco-
systems;
‘‘(B) remaining gaps in coral reef eco-
system research, monitoring, and assess-
ment;
‘‘(C) the status of management cooperation
and integration among Federal, State, Trib-
al, and locally managed jurisdictions with
coral reef equities;
‘‘(D) the status of efforts to manage and
disseminate critical information, and en-
hance interjurisdictional data sharing, re-
lated to research, reports, datasets, and
maps;
‘‘(E) areas of special focus, which may in-
clude—
‘‘(i) improving natural coral recruitment;
‘‘(ii) preventing avoidable losses of corals
and their habitat;
‘‘(iii) enhancing the resilience of coral pop-
ulations;
‘‘(iv) supporting a resilience-based manage-
ment approach;
‘‘(v) developing, coordinating, and imple-
menting watershed management plans;
‘‘(vi) building and sustaining watershed
management capacity at the local level;
‘‘(vii) providing data essential for coral
reef fisheries management;
‘‘(viii) building capacity for coral reef fish-
eries management;
‘‘(ix) increasing understanding of coral reef
ecosystem services;
‘‘(x) educating the public on the impor-
tance of coral reefs, threats and solutions;
and
‘‘(xi) evaluating intervention efficacy;
‘‘(F) the status of conservation efforts, in-
cluding the use of marine protected areas to
serve as replenishment zones developed con-
sistent with local practices and traditions
and in cooperation with, and with respect for
the scientific, technical, and management
expertise and responsibilities of, State fish
and wildlife management agencies; and
‘‘(G) science-based adaptive management
and restoration efforts.
‘‘(2) A statement of national goals and ob-
jectives designed to guide—
‘‘(A) future Federal coral reef management
and restoration activities authorized under
section 203;
‘‘(B) conservation and restoration prior-
ities for grants awarded under section 213;
and
‘‘(C) research priorities for the cooperative
institutes established under section 215(c).
‘‘(3) General templates for use by covered
reef managers to guide the development of—
‘‘(A) coral reef action plans under section
205; and
‘‘(B) coral reef emergency plans under sec-
tion 209.
‘‘(c) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing all ele-
ments of the strategy required by subsection
(a), the Administrator shall—
‘‘(1) consult with the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, the Task Force, covered States, and
Tribal organizations;
‘‘(2) engage stakeholders, including coral
reef stewardship partnerships, coral reef in-
stitutes and research centers described in
section 215(c), and coral reef conservation
grant awardees; and
‘‘(3) solicit public review and comment re-
garding scoping and the draft strategy.
‘‘(d) SUBMISSION
TO
CONGRESS; PUBLICA-
TION.—The Administrator shall—
‘‘(1) submit the strategy required by sub-
section (a) and any revisions to the strategy
to the appropriate congressional commit-
tees; and
‘‘(2) publish the strategy and any such re-
visions
on
publicly
available
internet
websites of—
‘‘(A) the Coral Reef Conservation Program
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration; and
‘‘(B) the Task Force.
‘‘(e) TRANSITION RULE.—On and after the
date of the enactment of the Restoring Resil-
ient Reefs Act of 2020, the 2018 Coral Reef
Conservation Program Strategic Plan of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration shall be considered to be the national
coral reef resilience strategy in effect under
this section until the earlier of—
‘‘(1) September 30, 2033; or
‘‘(2) the date on which the Administrator
develops a national coral reef resilience
strategy under this section.
‘‘SEC. 205. CORAL REEF ACTION PLANS.
‘‘(a) CORAL REEF ACTION PLANS.—Except as
provided in subsection (h), not later than 3
years after the date of the enactment of the
Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2020, and
not later than 2 years after the publication
of a revised national coral reef resilience
strategy under section 204A, each covered
reef manager shall prepare and submit to the
Task Force a coral reef action plan to guide
management and restoration activities to be
undertaken within the responsibilities and
jurisdiction of the manager.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A covered reef man-
ager preparing a coral reef action plan under
subsection (a) shall—
‘‘(1) ensure that the plan is consistent with
all elements of the national coral reef resil-
ience strategy in effect; and
‘‘(2) revise the plan not less frequently
than once every 5 years.
‘‘(c) PLAN ELEMENTS.—A coral reef action
plan under subsection (a) shall include a dis-
cussion of the following elements:
‘‘(1) Short- and mid-term coral reef con-
servation and restoration objectives within
the applicable jurisdiction.
‘‘(2) An updated adaptive management
framework to inform research, monitoring,
and assessment needs.
‘‘(3) The status of any coral reef emergency
plans in effect under section 209 covering
coral reef ecosystems within the applicable
jurisdiction.
‘‘(4) Tools, strategies, and partnerships
necessary to identify, monitor, and redress
pollution and water quality impacts to coral
reef ecosystems within the applicable juris-
diction.
‘‘(5) The status of efforts to improve coral
reef ecosystem management cooperation and
integration
among
neighboring
Federal,
State, Tribal, or locally managed jurisdic-
tions, including the identification of existing
research and monitoring activities that can
be leveraged for coral reef status and trends
assessments within the applicable jurisdic-
tion.
‘‘(6) An accounting of annual expenditures
on coral reef management and restoration
activities within the applicable jurisdiction
while the preceding action plan, if any, was
in effect.
‘‘(7) Estimated budgetary and resource
considerations necessary to carry out the
proposed action plan.
‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis-
trator and the Task Force shall make all
reasonable efforts to provide technical as-
sistance upon request by a covered reef man-
ager developing a coral reef action plan
under subsection (a).
‘‘(e) ADOPTION
OF
CORAL
REEF
ACTION
PLANS.—A covered reef manager may adopt a
coral reef action plan developed by another
covered reef manager, in full or in part, as
relevant to the adopting manager’s applica-
ble jurisdiction.
‘‘(f) PUBLIC REVIEW.—The development of a
coral reef action plan by a covered reef man-
ager under subsection (a), and the adoption
of a plan under subsection (e), shall be sub-
ject to public review and comment.
‘‘(g)
PUBLICATION.—The
Administrator
shall publish each coral reef action plan pre-
pared and submitted to the Task Force under
this section on publicly available internet
websites of—
‘‘(1) the Coral Reef Conservation Program
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration; and
‘‘(2) the Task Force.
‘‘(h) APPLICABILITY
TO
COVERED
STATES
AND
CORAL
REEF
STEWARDSHIP
PARTNER-
SHIPS.—A covered State or non-Federal coral
reef stewardship partnership is not required
to develop a coral reef action plan under sub-
section (a), but may do so in its own discre-
tion. In developing a coral reef action plan,
a covered State or non-Federal coral reef
stewardship partnership is encouraged, but
not mandated, to comply with the require-
ments of this section.
‘‘(i) PLAN IN EFFECT.—A coral reef action
plan shall be deemed to be in effect if the
plan was submitted to the Task Force under
this section during the preceding 6 years.
‘‘SEC. 206. CORAL REEF STEWARDSHIP PARTNER-
SHIPS.
‘‘(a) CORAL REEF STEWARDSHIP PARTNER-
SHIPS.—The Administrator shall establish
standards for the formation of partnerships
among government and community members
for the stewardship of coral reefs (in this
title referred to as ‘coral reef stewardship
partnerships’) in accordance with this sec-
tion, including guidance for preparation and
submission of coral reef action plans under
section 205.
‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION OF REEFS.—Each coral
reef stewardship partnership shall identify
with particularity the coral reef or eco-
logically significant component of a coral
reef that will be the subject of its steward-
ship activities.
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP FOR FEDERAL REEFS.—A
coral reef stewardship partnership that has
identified, as the subject of its stewardship
activities, a coral reef or ecologically signifi-
cant component of a coral reef that is fully
or partially under the management jurisdic-
tion of any Federal agency specified in sec-
tion 203(c) shall, at a minimum, include the
following:
‘‘(1) That Federal agency, a representative
of which shall serve as chair of the coral reef
stewardship partnership.
‘‘(2) A State, county, or Tribal organiza-
tion’s resource management agency.
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‘‘(3) A coral reef research center described
in section 215(c)(4) or another institution of
higher education.
‘‘(4) A nongovernmental organization.
‘‘(5) Such other members as the partner-
ship considers appropriate, such as inter-
ested stakeholder groups.
‘‘(d)
MEMBERSHIP
FOR
NON-FEDERAL
REEFS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A coral reef stewardship
partnership that has identified, as the sub-
ject of its stewardship activities, a coral reef
or ecologically significant component of a
coral reef that is not under the management
jurisdiction of any Federal agency specified
in section 203(c) shall, at a minimum, in-
clude the following:
‘‘(A) A State, county, or Tribal organiza-
tion’s resource management agency, a rep-
resentative of which shall serve as the chair
of the coral reef stewardship partnership.
‘‘(B) A coral reef research center described
in section 215(c)(4) or another institution of
higher education.
‘‘(C) A nongovernmental organization.
‘‘(D) Such other members as the partner-
ship considers appropriate, such as inter-
ested stakeholder groups.
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph
(B), a coral reef stewardship partnership de-
scribed in paragraph (1) may also include
representatives of one or more Federal agen-
cies that have management responsibility in
the reef that is the subject of the partner-
ship’s stewardship activities.
‘‘(B) REQUESTS; APPROVAL.—A representa-
tive of a Federal agency described in sub-
paragraph (A) may become a member of a
coral reef stewardship partnership described
in paragraph (1) if—
‘‘(i) the representative submits a request
to become a member to the chair of the part-
nership referred to in paragraph (1)(A); and
‘‘(ii) the chair consents to the request.
‘‘(e) NONAPPLICABILITY
OF FEDERAL ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not
apply to coral reef stewardship partnerships.
‘‘SEC. 207. STATE BLOCK GRANTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall
provide block grants of financial assistance
to covered States to support management
and restoration activities and further the
implementation of coral reef action plans in
effect under section 205 by covered States
and non-Federal coral reef stewardship part-
nerships.
‘‘(b)
ELIGIBILITY
FOR
ADDITIONAL
AMOUNTS.—A covered State shall qualify for
and receive additional grant amounts beyond
the base award specified in subsection (c)(1)
if there is at least one coral reef action plan
in effect within the jurisdiction of the cov-
ered State developed by that covered State
or a non-Federal coral reef stewardship part-
nership.
‘‘(c) FUNDING
FORMULA.—Subject to the
availability of appropriations, the amount of
each block grant awarded to a covered State
under this section shall be the sum of—
‘‘(1) a base award of $100,000; and
‘‘(2) if the State is eligible under sub-
section (b)—
‘‘(A) an amount that is equal to non-Fed-
eral expenditures of up to $3,000,000 on coral
reef management and restoration activities
within the jurisdiction of the State, as re-
ported within the previous fiscal year; and
‘‘(B) an additional amount, from any funds
appropriated for block grants under this sec-
tion that remain after distribution under
subparagraph (A) and paragraph (1), based on
the proportion of the State’s share of total
non-Federal expenditures on coral reef man-
agement and restoration activities, as re-
ported within the previous fiscal year, in ex-
cess of $3,000,000, relative to other covered
States.
‘‘(d) EXCLUSIONS.—For the purposes of cal-
culating block grant amounts under sub-
section (c), Federal funds provided to a cov-
ered State or non-Federal coral reef steward-
ship partnership shall not be considered as
qualifying non-Federal expenditures, but
non-Federal matching funds used to leverage
Federal awards may be considered as quali-
fying non-Federal expenditures.
‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.—The Administrator is responsible
for—
‘‘(1) providing guidance on qualifying non-
Federal expenditures and the proper docu-
mentation of such expenditures;
‘‘(2) issuing annual solicitations to covered
States for additional awards under this sec-
tion; and
‘‘(3) determining the appropriate alloca-
tion of additional amounts among covered
States in accordance with this section.
‘‘(f)
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
COVERED
STATES.—Each covered State is responsible
for documenting non-Federal expenditures
within the jurisdiction of the State and for-
mally reporting those expenditures for re-
view in response to annual solicitations by
the Administrator under subsection (e).
‘‘(g) UNEXPENDED AMOUNTS.—Any amounts
available for block grants under this section
that are not expended shall be transferred to
the Coral Reef Stewardship Fund under sec-
tion 208(b).
‘‘(h) WAIVERS OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—
The Administrator may waive the eligibility
requirements under subsection (b) through
fiscal year 2023.
‘‘SEC. 208. CORAL REEF STEWARDSHIP FUND.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY
TO
ENTER
INTO
AGREE-
MENTS.—The Administrator may enter into
an agreement with the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation (in this section referred
to as the ‘Foundation’), authorizing the
Foundation to receive, hold, and administer
funds received under this section.
‘‘(b) FUND.—The Foundation shall invest,
reinvest, and otherwise administer the funds
received under this section and maintain
such funds and any interest or revenues
earned in a separate interest-bearing ac-
count, to be known as the ‘Coral Reef Stew-
ardship Fund’ (in this section referred to as
the ‘Fund’, and known before the date of the
enactment of the Restoring Resilient Reefs
Act of 2020 as the Coral Reef Conservation
Fund administered through a public-private
partnership with the Foundation), estab-
lished by the Foundation solely to support
coral reef stewardship partnership activities
that—
‘‘(1) further the purposes of this title; and
‘‘(2) are consistent with—
‘‘(A) the national coral reef resilience
strategy in effect under section 204A; and
‘‘(B) coral reef action plans in effect, if
any, under section 205 covering a coral reef
or ecologically significant component of a
coral reef to be impacted by such activities,
if applicable.
‘‘(c)
AUTHORIZATION
TO
SOLICIT
DONA-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Pursuant to an agree-
ment entered into under subsection (a), the
Foundation may accept, receive, solicit,
hold, administer, and use any gift (including,
notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31,
United States Code, donations of services) to
further the purposes of this title.
‘‘(2) DEPOSITS
IN
FUND.—Notwithstanding
section 3302 of title 31, United States Code,
any funds received as a gift shall be depos-
ited and maintained in the Fund.
‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION
REQUIRED.—Not later
than 30 days after funds are deposited in the
Fund under paragraph (2), the Foundation
shall notify the Committee on Appropria-
tions of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representa-
tives of the source and amount of such funds.
‘‘(d) REVIEW
OF
PERFORMANCE.—The Ad-
ministrator shall conduct a continuing re-
view of all deposits into, and disbursements
from, the Fund. Each review shall include a
written assessment concerning the extent to
which the Foundation has implemented the
goals and requirements of—
‘‘(1) this section; and
‘‘(2) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy in effect under section 204A.
‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—Under an agreement
entered into pursuant to subsection (a), and
subject to the availability of appropriations,
the Administrator may transfer funds appro-
priated to carry out this title to the Founda-
tion. Amounts received by the Foundation
under this subsection may be used for
matching, in whole or in part, contributions
(whether in money, services, or property)
made to the Foundation by private persons,
State or local government agencies, or Trib-
al organizations.
‘‘SEC. 209. CORAL REEF EMERGENCY PLANS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered reef manager
may develop and periodically update a plan
(in this title referred to as a ‘coral reef emer-
gency plan’) consistent with the template de-
scribed in section 204A(b)(3) to guide the
rapid
and
effective
response
to
cir-
cumstances that pose an urgent and imme-
diate threat to the coral reef ecosystems
within the manager’s responsibilities and ju-
risdictions, and consistent with any applica-
ble coral reef action plan.
‘‘(b) CORAL REEF EMERGENCIES.—The Ad-
ministrator shall develop a list of, and cri-
teria for, circumstances that pose an urgent
and immediate threat to coral reefs (in this
title referred to as ‘coral reef emergencies’),
including—
‘‘(1) new and ongoing outbreaks of disease;
‘‘(2) new and ongoing outbreaks of invasive
or nuisance species;
‘‘(3) new and ongoing coral bleaching
events;
‘‘(4) natural disasters;
‘‘(5) man-made disasters, including vessel
groundings, hazardous spills, or coastal con-
struction accidents; and
‘‘(6) other exigent circumstances.
‘‘(c) BEST RESPONSE PRACTICES.—The Ad-
ministrator shall develop guidance on best
practices to respond to coral reef emer-
gencies that can be adopted within coral reef
emergency plans. Such best practices shall
be—
‘‘(1) based on the best available science and
integrated with evolving innovative tech-
nologies; and
‘‘(2) revised not less frequently than once
every 5 years.
‘‘(d) PLAN ELEMENTS.—A coral reef emer-
gency plan shall include the following ele-
ments:
‘‘(1) A description of particular threats,
and the proposed responses, consistent with
the best practices developed under sub-
section (d).
‘‘(2) A delineation of roles and responsibil-
ities for executing the plan.
‘‘(3) Evidence of engagement with inter-
ested stakeholder groups, as applicable, in
the development of the plan.
‘‘(4) Any other information the Adminis-
trator considers to be necessary for the plan.
‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Adminis-
trator and the Task Force shall make all
reasonable efforts to provide technical as-
sistance upon request by a covered reef man-
ager developing a coral reef emergency plan
under subsection (a).
‘‘(f) ADOPTION OF CORAL REEF EMERGENCY
PLANS.—A covered reef manager may adopt a
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coral reef emergency plan developed by an-
other covered reef manager, in full or in
part, as relevant to the adopting manager’s
applicable jurisdiction.
‘‘(g) PUBLIC REVIEW.—The development of a
coral reef action plan by a covered reef man-
ager under subsection (a), and the adoption
of a plan under subsection (f), shall be sub-
ject to public review and comment.
‘‘(h)
PUBLICATION.—The
Administrator
shall publish each coral reef emergency plan
prepared and submitted to the Task Force
under this section on publicly available
internet websites of—
‘‘(1) the Coral Reef Conservation Program
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration; and
‘‘(2) the Task Force.
‘‘(i) PLAN IN EFFECT.—A coral reef emer-
gency plan shall be deemed to be in effect if
the plan was submitted to the Task Force
under this section during the preceding 6
years.
‘‘SEC. 210. CORAL REEF EMERGENCY FUND.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is es-
tablished in the Treasury an interest-bearing
fund to be known as the ‘Coral Reef Emer-
gency Fund’, which shall consist of amounts
deposited into the Fund under subsection (c).
‘‘(b) USES.—Amounts in the Fund—
‘‘(1) shall be available only for use by the
Secretary to compensate covered coral reef
mangers to implement a coral reef emer-
gency plan in effect under sections 210 and
212; and
‘‘(2) shall remain available until expended.
‘‘(c) DEPOSITS INTO THE FUND.—Subject to
the availability of appropriations, there
shall be deposited into the Fund—
‘‘(1) amounts appropriated for the Fund;
and
‘‘(2) other amounts appropriated to the
Secretary for use with respect to coral reef
emergencies.
‘‘(d) ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of carrying
out this title, the Secretary may accept, re-
ceive, solicit, hold, administer, and use any
gift (including, notwithstanding section 1342
of title 31, United States Code, donations of
services).
‘‘(2) DEPOSITS
IN
FUND.—Notwithstanding
section 3302 of title 31, United States Code,
any funds received as a gift shall be depos-
ited and maintained in the Fund.
‘‘SEC. 211. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.
‘‘(a) CORAL
REEF
EMERGENCY
DECLARA-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) SUA SPONTE DECLARATION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may de-
termine and declare a coral reef emergency,
including at the recommendation of the Sec-
retary of the Interior.
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In declaring a coral
reef emergency under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall—
‘‘(i) certify that an emergency has oc-
curred that is ecologically significant and
harmful to coral reefs; and
‘‘(ii) submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees findings and analysis to
justify the declaration.
‘‘(2) PETITIONS.—If a covered State or non-
Federal coral reef stewardship partnership
believes that a coral reef emergency has oc-
curred, and is impacting coral reefs or eco-
logically significant components of coral
reefs subject to the responsibilities or juris-
diction of the State or partnership, the State
or partnership may petition the Secretary
for a declaration of a coral reef emergency.
‘‘(3) EVALUATION AND ACTION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days
after receiving a petition under paragraph (2)
(except as provided in subparagraph (B)), the
Secretary shall—
‘‘(i) evaluate the petition to determine
whether a coral reef emergency has occurred;
and
‘‘(ii) declare a coral reef emergency or
deny the petition.
‘‘(B) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may ex-
tend the deadline provided for under sub-
paragraph (A) by not more than 15 days.
‘‘(4) APPEAL.—If the Secretary denies a pe-
tition for an emergency declaration sub-
mitted under paragraph (2), the State or
partnership that submitted the petition
may, not later than 15 days after receiving
notice of the denial, appeal the denial to the
Secretary. Not later than 15 days after re-
ceiving an appeal under this paragraph, the
Secretary shall grant or deny the appeal.
‘‘(5) REVOCATION.—The Secretary may re-
voke any declaration of a coral reef emer-
gency in whole or in part after determining
that circumstances no longer require an
emergency response.
‘‘(6) RECOVERY
OF
EMERGENCY
FUNDING.—
The Administrator may seek compensation
from negligent parties to recover emergency
funds expended in excess of $500,000 under
this section as a result of an emergency dec-
laration arising from direct impacts to coral
reefs from man-made disasters or accidents.
‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the avail-
ability of appropriations, upon the declara-
tion of a coral reef emergency under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall provide
grants to carry out proposals that meet the
requirements of paragraph (2) to implement
coral reef emergency plans in effect under
section 209.
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A proposal for a grant
under this subsection to implement a coral
reef emergency plan in effect under section
209 shall include—
‘‘(A) the name of the entity submitting the
proposal;
‘‘(B) a copy of the coral reef emergency
plan;
‘‘(C) a description of the qualifications of
the individuals and entities who will imple-
ment the plan;
‘‘(D) an estimate of the funds and time re-
quired to complete the implementation of
the plan; and
‘‘(E) any other information the Secretary
considers to be necessary for evaluating the
eligibility of the proposal for a grant under
this subsection.
‘‘(3) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after
receiving a proposal for a grant under this
subsection, the Secretary shall review the
proposal and determine if the proposal meets
the requirements of paragraph (2).
‘‘(4) CONCURRENT REVIEW.—An entity seek-
ing a grant under this subsection may sub-
mit a proposal under paragraph (2) to the
Secretary at any time following the submis-
sion of a petition for an emergency declara-
tion under subsection (a)(2) that is applica-
ble to coral reefs or ecologically significant
components of coral reefs subject to the re-
sponsibilities or jurisdiction of the entity.
‘‘SEC. 212. VESSEL GROUNDING INVENTORY.
‘‘The Administrator, in coordination with
the heads of other Federal agencies, shall es-
tablish and maintain an inventory of all ves-
sel grounding incidents involving United
States coral reefs, including a description
of—
‘‘(1) the impacts of each such incident to
coral reefs and related natural resources;
‘‘(2) vessel and ownership information re-
lating to each such incident, if available;
‘‘(3) the estimated cost of removal of the
vessel, mitigation, or restoration relating to
each such incident;
‘‘(4) the response actions taken by the
owner of the vessel, the Administrator, the
Commandant of the Coast Guard, or rep-
resentatives of other Federal or State agen-
cies;
‘‘(5) the status of the response actions, in-
cluding the dates of—
‘‘(A) vessel removal;
‘‘(B) mitigation or restoration activities,
including whether a coral reef emergency
plan was implemented; and
‘‘(C) any actions taken to prevent future
grounding incidents; and
‘‘(6) recommendations for additional navi-
gational aids or other mechanisms for pre-
venting future grounding incidents.
‘‘SEC. 213. RUTH D. GATES CORAL REEF CON-
SERVATION GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability
of appropriations, the Administrator shall
establish a program (to be known as the
‘Ruth D. Gates Coral Reef Conservation
Grant Program’) to provide grants for
projects for the conservation and restoration
of coral reef ecosystems (in this section re-
ferred to as ‘coral reef projects’) pursuant to
proposals approved by the Administrator in
accordance with this section.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—An entity described in
paragraph (2) may submit to the Adminis-
trator a proposal for a coral reef project.
‘‘(2) ENTITIES
DESCRIBED.—An entity de-
scribed in this paragraph is—
‘‘(A) a natural resource management au-
thority of a State or local government or
Tribal organization—
‘‘(i) with responsibility for coral reef man-
agement; or
‘‘(ii) the activities of which directly or in-
directly affect coral reefs or coral reef eco-
systems;
‘‘(B) a regional fishery management coun-
cil established under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.);
‘‘(C) a coral reef stewardship partnership
seeking to implement a coral reef action
plan in effect under section 205;
‘‘(D) a coral reef research center des-
ignated under section 215(c)(4); or
‘‘(E) another nongovernmental organiza-
tion or research institution with dem-
onstrated expertise in the conservation or
restoration of coral reefs in practice or
through significant contributions to the
body of existing scientific research on coral
reefs.
‘‘(c) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—Each proposal
for a grant under this section for a coral reef
project shall include the following:
‘‘(1) The name of the individual or entity
responsible for conducting the project.
‘‘(2) A description of the qualifications of
the individual or entity.
‘‘(3) A succinct statement of the purposes
of the project.
‘‘(4) An estimate of the funds and time re-
quired to complete the project.
‘‘(5) Evidence of support for the project by
appropriate representatives of States or
other government jurisdictions in which the
project will be conducted.
‘‘(6) Information regarding the source and
amount of matching funding available to the
applicant.
‘‘(7) A description of how the project meets
one or more of the criteria under subsection
(e)(2).
‘‘(8) In the case of a proposal submitted by
a coral reef stewardship partnership, a de-
scription of how the project aligns with the
applicable coral reef action plan in effect
under section 205.
‘‘(9) Any other information the Adminis-
trator considers to be necessary for evalu-
ating the eligibility of the project for a grant
under this subsection.
‘‘(d) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall
review each coral reef project proposal sub-
mitted under this section to determine if the
project meets the criteria set forth in sub-
section (e).
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‘‘(2)
PRIORITIZATION
OF
CONSERVATION
PROJECTS.—The
Administrator
shall
prioritize the awarding of grants for projects
that meet the criteria for approval under
subparagraphs (A) through (G) of subsection
(e)(2) that are proposed to be conducted with-
in priority areas identified for coral reef con-
servation by the Administrator and con-
sistent with the national coral reef resil-
ience strategy in effect under section 204A.
‘‘(3)
PRIORITIZATION
OF
RESTORATION
PROJECTS.—The
Administrator
shall
prioritize the awarding of grants for projects
that meet the criteria for approval under
subparagraphs (E) through (L) of subsection
(e)(2) that are proposed to be conducted with-
in priority areas identified for coral reef res-
toration by the Administrator and con-
sistent with the national coral reef resil-
ience strategy in effect under section 204A.
‘‘(4) REVIEW; APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—
Not later than 180 days after receiving a pro-
posal for a coral reef project under this sec-
tion, the Administrator shall—
‘‘(A) request and consider written com-
ments on the proposal from each Federal
agency, State government, Tribal organiza-
tion, or other government jurisdiction, in-
cluding the relevant regional fishery man-
agement councils established under the Mag-
nuson-Stevens
Fishery
Conservation
and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), or
any National Marine Sanctuary or Marine
National Monument, with jurisdiction or
management authority over coral reef eco-
systems in the area where the project is to
be conducted, including the extent to which
the project is consistent with locally estab-
lished priorities, unless such entities were
directly involved in the development of the
project proposal;
‘‘(B) provide for the merit-based peer re-
view of the proposal and require standardized
documentation of that peer review;
‘‘(C) after considering any written com-
ments and recommendations based on the re-
views under subparagraphs (A) and (B), ap-
prove or disapprove the proposal; and
‘‘(D) provide written notification of that
approval or disapproval, with summaries of
all written comments, recommendations,
and peer-reviews, to the entity that sub-
mitted the proposal, and each of those
States, Tribal organizations, and other gov-
ernment jurisdictions that provided com-
ments under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Admin-
istrator may not approve a proposal for a
coral reef project under this section unless
the project—
‘‘(1) is consistent with—
‘‘(A) the national coral reef resilience
strategy in effect under section 204A; and
‘‘(B) any Federal or non-Federal coral reef
action plans in effect under section 205 cov-
ering a coral reef or ecologically significant
component of a coral reef to be affected by
the project; and
‘‘(2) will enhance the conservation and res-
toration of coral reefs by—
‘‘(A) addressing conflicts arising from the
use of environments near coral reefs or from
the use of corals, species associated with
coral reefs, and coral products, including
supporting
consensus-driven,
community-
based planning and management initiatives
for the protection of coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(B) improving compliance with laws that
prohibit or regulate the taking of coral prod-
ucts or species associated with coral reefs or
regulate the use and management of coral
reef ecosystems;
‘‘(C) designing and implementing networks
of real-time water quality monitoring along
coral reefs, including data collection related
to turbidity, nutrient availability, harmful
algal blooms, and plankton assemblages,
with an emphasis on coral reefs impacted by
agriculture and urban development;
‘‘(D) promoting ecologically sound naviga-
tion and anchorages, including mooring buoy
systems to promote enhanced recreational
access, near coral reefs;
‘‘(E) furthering the goals and objectives of
coral reef action plans in effect under sec-
tion 205 and coral reef emergency plans in ef-
fect under section 209;
‘‘(F) mapping the location and distribution
of coral reefs and potential coral reef habi-
tat;
‘‘(G) stimulating innovation to advance
the ability of the United States to under-
stand, research, or monitor coral reef eco-
systems, or to develop management or adap-
tation options to preserve, sustain, and re-
store coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(H) implementing research to ensure the
population viability of listed coral species in
United States waters as detailed in the popu-
lation-based recovery criteria included in
species-specific recovery plans consistent
with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
‘‘(I) developing and implementing cost-ef-
fective methods to restore degraded coral
reef ecosystems or to create geographically
appropriate coral reef ecosystems in suitable
waters, including by improving habitat or
promoting success of keystone species, with
an emphasis on novel restoration strategies
and techniques to advance coral reef recov-
ery and growth near population centers
threatened by rising sea levels and storm
surge;
‘‘(J) translating and applying coral genet-
ics research to coral reef ecosystem restora-
tion, including research related to traits
that promote resilience to increasing ocean
temperatures,
ocean
acidification,
coral
bleaching, coral diseases, and invasive spe-
cies;
‘‘(K) developing and maintaining in situ
native coral propagation sites; or
‘‘(L) developing and maintaining ex situ
coral propagation nurseries and land-based
coral gene banks to—
‘‘(i) conserve or augment genetic diversity
of native coral populations;
‘‘(ii) support captive breeding of rare coral
species; or
‘‘(iii) enhance resilience of native coral
populations to increasing ocean tempera-
tures, ocean acidification, coral bleaching,
and coral diseases through selective breed-
ing, conditioning, or other approaches that
target genes, gene expression, phenotypic
traits, or phenotypic plasticity.
‘‘(f) FUNDING REQUIREMENTS.—To the ex-
tent practicable based upon proposals for
coral reef projects submitted to the Adminis-
trator, the Administrator shall ensure that
funding for grants awarded under this sec-
tion during a fiscal year is distributed as fol-
lows:
‘‘(1) Not less than 40 percent of funds avail-
able shall be awarded for projects in the Pa-
cific Ocean within the maritime areas and
zones subject to the jurisdiction or control of
the United States.
‘‘(2) Not less than 40 percent of the funds
available shall be awarded for projects in the
Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or the
Caribbean Sea within the maritime areas
and zones subject to the jurisdiction or con-
trol of the United States.
‘‘(3) Not more than 67 percent of funds dis-
tributed in each region in accordance with
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be made exclu-
sively available to projects that are—
‘‘(A) submitted by a coral reef stewardship
partnership; and
‘‘(B) consistent with the coral reef action
plan in effect under section 205 by such a
partnership.
‘‘(4) Of the funds distributed to support
projects in accordance with paragraph (3),
not less than 20 percent and not more than 33
percent shall be awarded for projects sub-
mitted by a Federal coral reef stewardship
partnership.
‘‘(g) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each entity re-
ceiving a grant under this section shall sub-
mit to the Administrator such reports at
such times and containing such information
for evaluating project performance as the
Administrator may require.
‘‘(h) TASK FORCE.—The Administrator may
consult with the Secretary of the Interior
and the Task Force to obtain guidance in es-
tablishing priorities and evaluating pro-
posals for coral reef projects under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(i) UNEXPENDED AMOUNTS.—Any amounts
available for grants under this section that
are not expended shall be transferred to the
Coral Reef Stewardship Fund under section
208(b).
‘‘SEC. 214. REPORTS ON ADMINISTRATION.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of the Re-
storing Resilient Reefs Act of 2020, and every
2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall
submit to the committees specified in sub-
section (b) a report on the administration of
this title during the 2-year period preceding
submission of the report, including—
‘‘(1) a description of all activities under-
taken to implement the most recent na-
tional coral reef resilience strategy under
section 204A;
‘‘(2) a statement of all funds obligated
under the authorities of this title; and
‘‘(3) a summary, disaggregated by State, of
Federal and non-Federal contributions to-
ward the costs of each project or activity
funded, in full or in part, under the authori-
ties of this title.
‘‘(b) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The commit-
tees specified in this subsection are—
‘‘(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
‘‘(2) the Committee on Natural Resources
and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives.
‘‘SEC. 215. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREE-
MENTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may
enter into and perform such contracts,
leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes
of this title.
‘‘(b) FUNDING.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under an agreement en-
tered into under subsection (a), the Adminis-
trator may reimburse or provide funds au-
thorized to be appropriated by section 216 to,
and may receive funds or reimbursements
from, individuals and entities described in
paragraph (2) to carry out activities author-
ized by this title.
‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—
Individuals and entities described in this
paragraph are the following:
‘‘(A) Federal agencies, instrumentalities,
and laboratories.
‘‘(B) State and local governments.
‘‘(C) Indian Tribes and Tribal organiza-
tions.
‘‘(D) International organizations.
‘‘(E) Foreign governments not subject to
economic sanctions imposed by the United
States.
‘‘(F) Institutions of higher education, re-
search centers, and other educational insti-
tutions.
‘‘(G) Nonprofit organizations.
‘‘(H) Commercial organizations.
‘‘(I) Other public or private individuals or
entities.
‘‘(c) COOPERATIVE INSTITUTES.—
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‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall
establish 2 cooperative institutes for the pur-
pose of advancing and sustaining essential
capabilities in coral reef research, to be
known as the ‘Atlantic Coral Reef Institute’
and the ‘Pacific Coral Reef Institute’.
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Each institute estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall be housed
within a single coral reef research center
designated by the Administrator under para-
graph (4) in the Atlantic and Pacific basins,
respectively, and may contract with other
coral reef research centers within the same
basin to support each institute’s capacity
and reach.
‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—The institutes established
under paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) conduct federally directed research to
fill national and regional coral reef eco-
system research gaps and improve under-
standing of, and responses to, continuing and
emerging threats to the resilience of United
States coral reef ecosystems consistent with
the national coral reef resilience strategy in
effect under section 204A;
‘‘(B) support ecological research and moni-
toring to study the effects of conservation
and restoration activities funded by this
title on promoting more effective coral reef
management and restoration; and
‘‘(C) through agreements—
‘‘(i)
collaborate
directly
with
govern-
mental resource management agencies, coral
reef stewardship partnerships, nonprofit or-
ganizations, and other coral reef research
centers designated under paragraph (4);
‘‘(ii) assist in the development and imple-
mentation of—
‘‘(I) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy under section 204A;
‘‘(II) coral reef action plans under section
205; and
‘‘(III) coral reef emergency plans under
section 209;
‘‘(iii) build capacity within governmental
resource management agencies to establish
research priorities and translate and apply
research findings to management and res-
toration practices; and
‘‘(iv) conduct public education and aware-
ness programs for policymakers, resource
managers, and the general public on—
‘‘(I) coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(II) best practices for coral reef eco-
system management and restoration;
‘‘(III) the value of coral reefs; and
‘‘(IV) the threats to the sustainability of
coral reef ecosystems.
‘‘(4) CORAL REEF RESEARCH CENTERS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall
periodically solicit applications and des-
ignate all qualifying institutions in a cov-
ered State as coral reef research centers.
‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—An institution qualifies for
designation as a coral reef research center
under subparagraph (A) if the Administrator
determines that the institution—
‘‘(i) is operated by an institution of higher
education or nonprofit marine research orga-
nization;
‘‘(ii) has established management-driven
national or regional coral reef research or
restoration programs;
‘‘(iii) has demonstrated abilities to coordi-
nate closely with appropriate Federal and
State agencies, as well as other academic
and nonprofit organizations; and
‘‘(iv) maintains significant local commu-
nity engagement and outreach programs re-
lated to coral reef ecosystems.
‘‘(d)
MULTIYEAR
COOPERATIVE
AGREE-
MENTS.—The Administrator may enter into
multiyear cooperative agreements with the
heads of other Federal agencies, States, In-
dian Tribes or Tribal organizations, local
governments, the coral reef cooperative in-
stitutes established under subsection (c), and
other institutions of higher education, non-
profit
research
organizations,
and
non-
governmental organizations to carry out ac-
tivities authorized under this title.
‘‘(e) USE
OF RESOURCES
OF OTHER AGEN-
CIES.—The Administrator may use, with con-
sent and with or without reimbursement, the
land, services, equipment, personnel, and fa-
cilities of any agency or instrumentality of—
‘‘(1) the United States;
‘‘(2) any State or local government;
‘‘(3) any Indian Tribe; or
‘‘(4) any foreign government not subject to
economic sanctions imposed by the United
States.
‘‘SEC. 216. CORAL REEF PRIZE COMPETITIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any Federal
agency with a representative serving on the
U.S. Coral Reef Task Force established by
Executive Order 13089 (16 U.S.C. 6401 note; re-
lating to coral reef protection), may, individ-
ually or in cooperation with one or more
agencies, carry out a program to award
prizes competitively under section 24 of the
Stevenson-Wydler
Technology
Innovation
Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719).
‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—Any program carried out
under this section shall be for the purpose of
stimulating innovation to advance the abil-
ity of the United States to understand, re-
search, or monitor coral reef ecosystems, or
to develop management or adaptation op-
tions to preserve, sustain, and restore coral
reef ecosystems.
‘‘(c) PRIORITY PROGRAMS.—Priority shall be
given to establishing programs under this
section that address communities, environ-
ments, or industries that are in distress as a
result of the decline or degradation of coral
reef ecosystems, including—
‘‘(1) scientific research and monitoring
that furthers the understanding of causes be-
hind coral reef decline and degradation and
the generally slow recovery following dis-
turbances, including ocean acidification and
its impacts on coral reproduction;
‘‘(2) the development of monitoring or
management options for communities or in-
dustries that are experiencing significant fi-
nancial hardship;
‘‘(3) the development of adaptation options
to alleviate economic harm and job loss
caused by damage to coral reef ecosystems;
‘‘(4) the development of measures to help
vulnerable communities or industries, with
an emphasis on rural communities and busi-
nesses; and
‘‘(5) the development of adaptation and
management options for impacted tourism
industries.
‘‘SEC. 217. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to carry
out this title the following amounts, which
shall remain available until expended:
‘‘(1) $31,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
‘‘(2) $32,500,000 for fiscal year 2022.
‘‘(3) $34,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
‘‘(4) $35,500,000 for fiscal year 2024.
‘‘(5) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts ap-
propriated pursuant to the authorization of
appropriations under subsection (a), not
more than the lesser of $1,500,000 or 10 per-
cent may be used for program administra-
tion or for overhead costs incurred by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration or the Department of Commerce and
assessed as an administrative charge.
‘‘(c) CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT
AND RES-
TORATION ACTIVITIES.—From the amounts au-
thorized to be appropriated under subsection
(a), there shall be made available to the Sec-
retary not less than the following amounts
for authorized activities under sections 203
and 207:
‘‘(1) $23,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, of which
not less than $8,000,000 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for the provision State
block grants under section 207.
‘‘(2) $24,500,000 for fiscal year 2022, of which
not less than $8,500,000 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for the provision State
block grants under section 207.
‘‘(3) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, of which
not less than $9,000,000 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for the provision State
block grants under section 207.
‘‘(4) $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2024, of which
not less than $10,000,000 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for the provision State
block grants under section 207.
‘‘(5) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2025, of which
not less than $11,000,000 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for the provision State
block grants under section 207.
‘‘(d) FEDERALLY DIRECTED RESEARCH
AND
CORAL
REEF
CONSERVATION
PROGRAM
GRANTS.—From the amounts authorized to
be appropriated under subsection (a), there
shall be made available to the Secretary not
less than $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2021 through 2025 to support purposes con-
sistent with this title, of which—
‘‘(1) not less than $3,500,000 shall be made
available for each such fiscal year for au-
thorized activities under section 213; and
‘‘(2) not less than $4,500,000 shall be made
available for each such fiscal year through
cooperative agreements with the cooperative
institutes established under section 215(c).
‘‘SEC. 218. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this title:
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-
trator’ means the Administrator of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion.
‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional
committees’ means the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-
sources of the House of Representatives.
‘‘(3) CONSERVATION.—The term ‘conserva-
tion’ means the use of methods and proce-
dures necessary to preserve or sustain native
corals and associated species as diverse, via-
ble, and self-perpetuating coral reef eco-
systems with minimal impacts from invasive
species, including—
‘‘(A) all activities associated with resource
management, such as monitoring, assess-
ment, protection, restoration, sustainable
use, management of habitat, and mainte-
nance or augmentation of genetic diversity;
‘‘(B) mapping;
‘‘(C) scientific expertise and technical as-
sistance in the development and implemen-
tation of management strategies for marine
protected areas and marine resources con-
sistent with the National Marine Sanc-
tuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) and the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.);
‘‘(D) law enforcement;
‘‘(E) conflict resolution initiatives;
‘‘(F) community outreach and education;
and
‘‘(G) promotion of safe and ecologically
sound navigation and anchoring.
‘‘(4) CORAL.—The term ‘coral’ means spe-
cies of the phylum Cnidaria, including—
‘‘(A) all species of the orders Antipatharia
(black corals), Scleractinia (stony corals),
Alcyonacea (soft corals, organ pipe corals,
gorgonians), and Helioporacea (blue coral),
of the class Anthozoa; and
‘‘(B) all species of the order Anthoathecata
(fire corals and other hydrocorals) of the
class Hydrozoa.
‘‘(5) CORAL
REEF.—The term ‘coral reef’
means limestone structures in the form of a
reef or shoal, composed in whole or in part
by living coral, skeletal remains of coral,
crustose coralline algae, and other associ-
ated sessile marine plants and animals.
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‘‘(6) CORAL
REEF
ECOSYSTEM.—The term
‘coral reef ecosystem’ means—
‘‘(A) corals and other geographically and
ecologically associated marine communities
of other reef organisms (including reef plants
and animals) associated with coral reef habi-
tat; and
‘‘(B) the biotic and abiotic factors and
processes that control coral calcification
rates, tissue growth, reproduction, recruit-
ment, abundance, coral-algal symbiosis, and
biodiversity in such habitat.
‘‘(7) CORAL
PRODUCTS.—The term ‘coral
products’ means any living or dead speci-
mens, parts, or derivatives, or any product
containing specimens, parts, or derivatives,
of any species referred to in paragraph (4).
‘‘(8) COVERED REEF MANAGER.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered reef
manager’ means a management unit of a
Federal agency specified in subparagraph (B)
with jurisdiction over a coral reef ecosystem,
covered State, or coral reef stewardship part-
nership.
‘‘(B) FEDERAL AGENCIES SPECIFIED.—A Fed-
eral agency specified in this subparagraph is
one of the following:
‘‘(i) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
‘‘(ii) The National Park Service.
‘‘(iii) The United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
‘‘(iv) The Office of Insular Affairs.
‘‘(9) COVERED
STATE.—The term ‘covered
State’ means Florida, Hawaii, and the terri-
tories of American Samoa, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States
Virgin Islands.
‘‘(10) INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian
Tribe’ has the meaning given that term in
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
5304).
‘‘(11) INSTITUTION
OF
HIGHER
EDUCATION.—
The term ‘institution of higher education’
has the meaning given that term in section
101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
‘‘(12) INTERESTED
STAKEHOLDER
GROUPS.—
The term ‘interested stakeholder groups’ in-
cludes community members such as busi-
nesses, commercial and recreational fisher-
men, other recreationalists, Federal, State,
Tribal, and local government units with re-
lated jurisdiction, institutions of higher edu-
cation, and nongovernmental organizations.
‘‘(13) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term
‘nonprofit organization’ means an organiza-
tion that is described in section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt
from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.
‘‘(14) RESTORATION.—The term ‘restoration’
means the use of methods and procedures
necessary to enhance, rehabilitate, recreate,
or create a functioning coral reef or coral
reef ecosystem, in whole or in part, within
suitable waters of the historical geographic
range of such ecosystems, to provide ecologi-
cal, economic, cultural, or coastal resiliency
services associated with healthy coral reefs
and benefit native populations of coral reef
organisms.
‘‘(15) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘resilience’
means the capacity for corals within their
native range, coral reefs, or coral reef eco-
systems to recover from natural and human
disturbances as determined by clearly identi-
fiable, measurable, and science-based stand-
ards.
‘‘(16) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’
means the Secretary of Commerce.
‘‘(17) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means—
‘‘(A) any State of the United States that
contains a coral reef ecosystem within its
seaward boundaries;
‘‘(B) American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,
Puerto Rico, or the United States Virgin Is-
lands; or
‘‘(C) any other territory or possession of
the United States or separate sovereign in
free association with the United States that
contains a coral reef ecosystem within its
seaward boundaries.
‘‘(18) STEWARDSHIP.—The term ‘steward-
ship’, with respect to a coral reef, includes
conservation, restoration, and public out-
reach and education.
‘‘(19) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘Task Force’
means the United States Coral Reef Task
Force established under section 201 of the
Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2020.
‘‘(20)
TRIBAL
ORGANIZATION.—The
term
‘Tribal organization’ has the meaning given
the term ‘tribal organization’ in section 3765
of title 38, United States Code.’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL
OCEANS
AND COASTAL SECURITY ACT.—Sec-
tion 905(a) of the National Oceans and Coast-
al Security Act (16 U.S.C. 7504(a)) is amended
by striking ‘‘and coastal infrastructure’’ and
inserting ‘‘, coastal infrastructure, and eco-
system services provided by natural systems
such as coral reefs’’.
SEC. 102. MODIFICATION TO SECTION 204 OF THE
CORAL REEF CONSERVATION ACT
OF 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6403).
Section 204 of the Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6403) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘this sec-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘section 213’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), block grant funds awarded to the
territories of American Samoa, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, Puerto Rico, or the United States
Virgin Islands under section 207 shall qualify
as the non-Federal share of project costs.’’;
and
(3) by striking subsections (c) through (j).
TITLE II—UNITED STATES CORAL REEF
TASK FORCE
SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established a task force to lead,
coordinate, and strengthen Federal Govern-
ment actions to better preserve, conserve,
and restore coral reef ecosystems, to be
known as the ‘‘United States Coral Reef
Task Force’’ (in this title referred to as the
‘‘Task Force’’).
SEC. 202. DUTIES.
The duties of the Task Force shall be—
(1) to coordinate, in cooperation with
State, Tribal, and local government part-
ners, coral reef research centers designated
under section 215(c) of the Coral Reef Con-
servation Act of 2000 (as amended by section
101), and other nongovernmental and aca-
demic partners as appropriate, activities re-
garding the mapping, monitoring, research,
conservation, mitigation, and restoration of
coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems;
(2) to monitor and advise regarding imple-
mentation of the policy and Federal agency
responsibilities set forth in—
(A) Executive Order 13089 (63 Fed. Reg.
32701; relating to coral reef protection); and
(B) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy developed under section 204A of the
Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, as
amended by section 101;
(3) to work with the Secretary of State and
the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, and
in coordination with the other members of
the Task Force—
(A) to assess the United States role in
international trade and protection of coral
species;
(B) to encourage implementation of appro-
priate strategies and actions to promote con-
servation and sustainable use of coral reef
resources worldwide; and
(C) to collaborate with international com-
munities successful in managing coral reefs;
(4) to provide technical assistance for the
development and implementation, as appro-
priate, of—
(A) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy under section 204A of the Coral Reef Con-
servation Act of 2000, as amended by section
101;
(B) coral reef action plans under section
205 of that Act; and
(C) coral reef emergency plans under sec-
tion 209 of that Act; and
(5) to produce a report each year, for sub-
mission to the appropriate congressional
committees and publication on a publicly
available internet website of the Task Force,
highlighting the status of the coral reef equi-
ties of a covered State on a rotating basis,
including—
(A) a summary of recent coral reef man-
agement and restoration activities under-
taken in that State; and
(B) updated estimates of the direct and in-
direct economic activity supported by, and
other benefits associated with, those coral
reef equities.
SEC. 203. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) VOTING MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force
shall have the following voting members:
(1) The Secretary of Commerce, acting
through the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
and the Secretary of the Interior, who shall
be co-chairs of the Task Force.
(2) The Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development.
(3) The Secretary of Agriculture.
(4) The Secretary of Defense.
(5) The Secretary of the Army, acting
through the Assistant Secretary of the Army
for Civil Works.
(6) The Secretary of Homeland Security,
acting through the Administrator of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(7) The Commandant of the Coast Guard.
(8) The Attorney General.
(9) The Secretary of State.
(10) The Secretary of Transportation.
(11) The Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
(12) The Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(13) The Director of the National Science
Foundation.
(14) The Governor, or a representative of
the Governor, of each covered State.
(b) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—The Task Force
shall have the following nonvoting members:
(1) A member of the South Atlantic Fish-
ery Management Council who is designated
by the Governor of Florida under section
302(b)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.
1852(b)(1)).
(2) A member of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery
Management Council who is designated by
the Governor of Florida under such section.
(3) A member of the Western Pacific Fish-
ery Management Council who is designated
under such section and selected as follows:
(A) For the period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act and ending on De-
cember 31 of the calendar year during which
such date of enactment occurs, the member
shall be selected jointly by the governors of
Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands.
(B) For each calendar year thereafter, the
governors
of
Hawaii,
American
Samoa,
Guam, and the Commonwealth of the North-
ern Mariana Islands shall, on a rotating
basis, take turns selecting the member.
(4) A member of the Caribbean Fishery
Management Council who is designated
under such section and selected as follows:
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(A) For the period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act and ending on De-
cember 31 of the calendar year during which
such date of enactment occurs, the member
shall be selected jointly by the governors of
Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Is-
lands.
(B) For each calendar year thereafter, the
governors of Puerto Rico and the United
States Virgin Islands shall, on an alter-
nating basis, take turns selecting the mem-
ber.
(5) A member appointed by the President of
the Federated States of Micronesia.
(6) A member appointed by the President of
the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
(7) A member appointed by the President of
the Republic of Palau.
SEC. 204. RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL AGEN-
CY MEMBERS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Task
Force specified in paragraphs (1) through (14)
of section 203(a) shall—
(1) identify the actions of the agency that
member represents that may affect coral
reef ecosystems;
(2) utilize the programs and authorities of
that agency to protect and enhance the con-
ditions
of
such
ecosystems,
including
through the promotion of basic and applied
scientific research;
(3) collaborate with the Task Force to ap-
propriately reflect budgetary needs for coral
reef conservation and restoration activities
in all agency budget planning and justifica-
tion documents and processes; and
(4) engage in any other coordinated efforts
approved by the Task Force.
(b) CO-CHAIRS.—In addition to their respon-
sibilities under subsection (a), the co-chairs
of the Task Force shall administer perform-
ance of the functions of the Task Force and
facilitate the coordination of the members of
the Task Force specified in paragraphs (1)
through (14) of section 203(a).
SEC. 205. WORKING GROUPS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The co-chairs of the Task
Force may establish working groups as nec-
essary to meet the goals and carry out the
duties of the Task Force.
(b) REQUESTS FROM MEMBERS.—The mem-
bers of the Task Force may request that the
co-chairs establish a working group under
subsection (a).
(c) PARTICIPATION
BY
NONGOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS.—The co-chairs may allow
nongovernmental organizations as appro-
priate, including academic institutions, con-
servation groups, and commercial and rec-
reational fishing associations, to participate
in a working group established under sub-
section (a).
(d) NONAPPLICABILITY
OF
FEDERAL
ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not
apply to working groups established under
this section.
SEC. 206. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional
committees’’ means the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-
sources of the House of Representatives.
(2) CONSERVATION,
CORAL,
CORAL
REEF,
ETC.—The terms ‘‘conservation’’, ‘‘coral’’,
‘‘coral reef’’, ‘‘coral reef ecosystem’’, ‘‘cov-
ered State’’, ‘‘restoration’’, ‘‘resilience’’, and
‘‘State’’ have the meaning given those terms
in section 218 of the Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000, as amended by section 101.
TITLE III—DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR CORAL REEF AUTHORITIES
SEC. 301. CORAL REEF CONSERVATION AND RES-
TORATION ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the In-
terior may provide scientific expertise and
technical assistance, and subject to the
availability of appropriations, financial as-
sistance for the conservation and restoration
of coral reefs consistent with all applicable
laws governing resource management in Fed-
eral, State, and Tribal waters, including—
(1) the national coral reef resilience strat-
egy in effect under section 204A of the Coral
Reef Conservation Act of 2000, as amended by
section 101;
(2) coral reef action plans in effect under
section 205 of that Act, as applicable; and
(3) coral reef emergency plans in effect
under section 209 of that Act, as applicable.
(b) OFFICE OF INSULAR AFFAIRS CORAL REEF
INITIATIVE.—The Secretary may establish
within the Office of Insular Affairs a Coral
Reef Initiative Program—
(1) to provide grant funding to support
local management, conservation, and protec-
tion of coral reef ecosystems in—
(A) insular areas of covered States; and
(B) Freely Associated States;
(2) to complement the other conservation
and assistance activities conducted under
this Act; and
(3) to provide other technical, scientific,
and financial assistance and conduct con-
servation activities that advance the purpose
of this Act.
(c) CONSULTATION WITH
THE DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE.—The Secretary of the Interior
may consult with the Secretary of Com-
merce regarding the conduct of any activi-
ties to conserve and restore coral reefs and
coral reef ecosystems in waters managed
under the jurisdiction of the Federal agen-
cies specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) of sec-
tion 203(c) of the Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000, as amended by section 101.
(d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Subject to
the availability of appropriations, the Sec-
retary of the Interior may enter into cooper-
ative agreements with covered reef managers
to fund coral reef conservation and restora-
tion activities in waters managed under the
jurisdiction of such managers that—
(1) are consistent with the national coral
reef resilience strategy in effect under sec-
tion 204A of the Coral Reef Conservation Act
of 2000, as amended by section 101; and
(2) support and enhance the success of—
(A) coral reef action plans in effect under
section 205 of that Act; and
(B) coral reef emergency plans in effect
under section 209 of that Act.
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms
‘‘conservation’’, ‘‘coral reef’’, ‘‘covered reef
manager’’, ‘‘covered State’’, ‘‘restoration’’,
and ‘‘State’’ have the meaning given those
terms in section 218 of the Coral Reef Con-
servation Act of 2000, as amended by section
101.
TITLE IV—SUSAN L. WILLIAMS NATIONAL
CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP
SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Susan L.
Williams National Coral Reef Management
Fellowship Act of 2020’’.
SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) FELLOW.—The term ‘‘fellow’’ means a
National Coral Reef Management Fellow.
(2) FELLOWSHIP.—The term ‘‘fellowship’’
means the National Coral Reef Management
Fellowship established in section 403.
(3) INDIAN
TRIBE; TRIBAL
ORGANIZATION.—
The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal orga-
nization’’ have the meanings given those
terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance Act (25
U.S.C. 5304).
(4)
SECRETARY.—The
term
‘‘Secretary’’
means the Secretary of Commerce.
SEC. 403. ESTABLISHMENT OF FELLOWSHIP PRO-
GRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Na-
tional Coral Reef Management Fellowship
Program.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the fellow-
ship are—
(1) to encourage future leaders of the
United States to develop additional coral
reef management capacity in States and
local communities with coral reefs;
(2) to provide management agencies of
States, Tribal organizations, and Freely As-
sociated States with highly qualified can-
didates whose education and work experience
meet the specific needs of each State, Indian
Tribe, and Freely Associated State; and
(3) to provide fellows with professional ex-
perience in management of coastal and coral
reef resources.
SEC. 404. FELLOWSHIP AWARDS.
(a)
IN
GENERAL.—The
Secretary
shall
award the fellowship in accordance with this
section.
(b) TERM
OF
FELLOWSHIP.—A fellowship
awarded under this section shall be for a
term of not more than 24 months.
(c) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall
award the fellowship to individuals who have
demonstrated—
(1) an intent to pursue a career in marine
services and outstanding potential for such a
career;
(2) leadership potential, actual leadership
experience, or both;
(3) a college or graduate degree in biologi-
cal science, experience that correlates with
aptitude and interest for marine manage-
ment, or both;
(4) proficient writing and speaking skills;
and
(5) such other attributes as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
SEC. 405. MATCHING REQUIREMENT.
(a) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subsection (b), the non-Federal share of the
costs of a fellowship under this section shall
be 25 percent of such costs.
(b) WAIVER
OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec-
retary may waive the application of sub-
section (a) if the Secretary finds that such
waiver is necessary to support a project that
the Secretary has identified as a high pri-
ority.
SA 2731. Mr. WARNER (for Mr.
ROUNDS (for himself and Mr. WARNER))
submitted an amendment intended to
be proposed by Mr. Warner to the bill
H.R. 133, to promote economic partner-
ship
and
cooperation
between
the
United States and Mexico; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the fol-
lowing:
SEC. lll. ENTERPRISE REGULATORY CAPITAL
FRAMEWORK RULE.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
(1) the term ‘‘enterprise’’ means—
(A) the Federal National Mortgage Asso-
ciation; and
(B) the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Cor-
poration; and
(2) the term ‘‘final rule’’ means the final
rule adopted by the Federal Housing Finance
Agency entitled ‘‘Enterprise Regulatory Cap-
ital Framework’’.
(b) STUDY
AND
REPORT
REQUIRED.—Not
later than 180 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of
the United States shall submit to Congress a
report containing the results of a study re-
garding the effect that the final rule would
have on the following:
(1) With respect to the mortgage finance
system of the United States—
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(A) the stability and resiliency of that sys-
tem;
(B) the liquidity of investment with re-
spect to that system; and
(C) the relationship of that system with
private capital.
(2) The taxpayers of the United States.
(3) The counter-cyclical role played by the
enterprises.
(4) The cost and availability of mortgage
credit for the purchase of single-family and
multi-family residences.
(5) Interested parties, including—
(A) potential sources of private capital
supporting mortgage finance;
(B) investors in mortgage-backed securi-
ties and insurance markets;
(C) market participants, including origina-
tors of mortgage loans, servicers of mortgage
loans, and sources of alternative funding
with respect to mortgage finance; and
(D) purchasers of homes, including first-
time and historically underserved borrowers.
(6) The enterprises, including the effect
that the final rule would have on the enter-
prises—
(A) while the enterprises are in con-
servatorship;
(B) if the enterprises were no longer in con-
servatorship; and
(C) during a transition between the states
described in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(c) EFFECT OF RULE.—The final rule shall
not take effect until the date that is 180 days
after the date on which the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States submits the report
required under subsection (b).
SA 2732. Mr. BOOZMAN (for Mr.
WICKER) proposed an amendment to the
bill H.R. 3153, to direct the Director of
the National Science Foundation to
support research on opioid addiction,
and for other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as
the ‘‘Expanding Findings for Federal Opioid
Research and Treatment Act’’ or the ‘‘EF-
FORT Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) research gaps currently exist in the pre-
vention and treatment of opioid addiction;
(2) the National Science Foundation’s re-
search on opioid addiction has increased un-
derstanding of the neuroscience of addiction,
substance abuse intervention, the role of il-
licit supply networks, the secondary effects
on families, the use of technology to address
the opioid epidemic, and options for alter-
native, non-addictive therapeutics for pain;
and
(3) the National Science Foundation and
the National Institutes of Health have recog-
nized that fundamental questions in basic,
clinical, and translational research would
benefit greatly from multidisciplinary ap-
proaches and collaboration.
SEC. 2. NSF SUPPORT OF RESEARCH ON OPIOID
ADDICTION.
The Director of the National Science Foun-
dation, in consultation with the Director of
the National Institutes of Health, shall sup-
port
merit-reviewed
and
competitively
awarded research on the science of opioid ad-
diction.
SA 2733. Mr. BOOZMAN proposed an
amendment to the resolution S. Res.
774, honoring the United Nations World
Food Programme on the occasion of
being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace
Prize; as follows:
On page 2, lines 10 and 11, strike ‘‘staff
worldwide;’’ and insert ‘‘staff, who work tire-
lessly, and often at great personal risk, to
combat hunger and save lives around the
world;’’.
On page 3, line 3, strike ‘‘nutrition’’ and in-
sert ‘‘nutrition, including’’.
SA 2734. Mr. BOOZMAN proposed an
amendment to the resolution S. Res.
774, honoring the United Nations World
Food Programme on the occasion of
being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace
Prize; as follows:
Beginning in the second whereas clause of
the preamble, strike ‘‘Whereas the WFP’’
and all that follows through the semicolon in
the fifth whereas clause and insert the fol-
lowing:
Whereas the WFP is the largest inter-
national humanitarian organization that ad-
dresses hunger, promotes food security, and
saves lives, including in response to many of
the most dangerous and complex crises in
the world;
Whereas, in 2019, an estimated 135,000,000
people around the world suffered from acute
hunger and the WFP provided nutrition as-
sistance to nearly 100,000,000 people in 88
countries;
Whereas the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has
contributed to a significant increase in hun-
ger around the world, and the WFP has
surged its capacity in order to meet that
compounded need;
Whereas the United States played an inte-
gral role in the founding of the WFP, re-
mains its strongest supporter, and provides,
as of the date of adoption of this resolution,
more than 40 percent of its annual resources;
In the seventh whereas clause of the pre-
amble, strike ‘‘Price’’ and insert ‘‘Prize’’.
f
APPOINTMENTS
Mr. BOOZMAN. The Chair, on behalf
of the President pro tempore, upon the
recommendation of the Majority Lead-
er, pursuant to Public Law 116–113, and
in consultation with the Chairman of
the Senate Committee on Finance, ap-
points the following individuals to the
Independent
Mexico
Labor
Expert
Board: Kyle Fortson of the District of
Columbia and Charlotte Ponticelli of
Maryland.
f
ORDERS FOR THURSDAY, DECEM-
BER 24, 2020, THROUGH TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 29, 2020
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
ask unanimous consent that when the
Senate completes its business today, it
adjourn to then convene for pro forma
sessions only, with no business being
conducted, on the following dates and
times, and that following each pro
forma session, the Senate adjourn for
the next pro forma session: Thursday,
December 24, at 10 a.m. and Monday,
December 28, at 10 a.m. I further ask
that when the Senate adjourns on Mon-
day, December 28, it next convene at 12
noon on Tuesday, December 29; further,
that following the prayer and pledge,
the morning hour be deemed expired,
the Journal of proceedings be approved
to date, and the time for the two lead-
ers be reserved for their use later in
the day; finally, that following leader
remarks, the Senate proceed to morn-
ing business, with Senators permitted
to speak therein for up to 10 minutes
each.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
f
ADJOURNMENT UNTIL THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 24, 2020, AT 10 A.M.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, if
there is no further business to come be-
fore the Senate, I ask unanimous con-
sent that it stand adjourned under pre-
vious order.
There being no objection, the Senate,
at 1:47 a.m., adjourned until Thursday,
December 24, 2020, at 10 a.m.
f
DISCHARGED NOMINATIONS
The Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations was discharged from further
consideration of the following nomina-
tions by unanimous consent and the
nominations were confirmed:
C. KEVIN BLACKSTONE, OF VIRGINIA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF MIN-
ISTER-COUNSELOR,
TO
BE
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAOR-
DINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-
LESTE.
CYNTHIA KIERSCHT, OF MINNESOTA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF COUN-
SELOR, TO BE AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND
PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA.
GEETA PASI, OF NEW YORK, A CAREER MEMBER OF
THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF CAREER MIN-
ISTER, TO BE AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLEN-
IPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO
THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA.
DAVID REIMER, OF OHIO, A CAREER MEMBER OF THE
SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF COUNSELOR, TO BE
AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE REPUBLIC
OF SIERRA LEONE.
BRIAN D. MCFEETERS, OF VIRGINIA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF MIN-
ISTER-COUNSELOR,
TO
BE
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAOR-
DINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA TO MALAYSIA.
f
CONFIRMATIONS
Executive nominations confirmed by
the Senate December 21, 2020:
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ERIC J. SOSKIN, OF VIRGINIA, TO BE INSPECTOR GEN-
ERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
C. KEVIN BLACKSTONE, OF VIRGINIA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF MIN-
ISTER-COUNSELOR,
TO
BE
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAOR-
DINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-
LESTE.
CYNTHIA KIERSCHT, OF MINNESOTA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF COUN-
SELOR, TO BE AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND
PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA.
GEETA PASI, OF NEW YORK, A CAREER MEMBER OF
THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF CAREER MIN-
ISTER, TO BE AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLEN-
IPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO
THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA.
DAVID REIMER, OF OHIO, A CAREER MEMBER OF THE
SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF COUNSELOR, TO BE
AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE REPUBLIC
OF SIERRA LEONE.
BRIAN D. MCFEETERS, OF VIRGINIA, A CAREER MEM-
BER OF THE SENIOR FOREIGN SERVICE, CLASS OF MIN-
ISTER-COUNSELOR,
TO
BE
AMBASSADOR
EXTRAOR-
DINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA TO MALAYSIA.
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EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS
∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks
E1191
December 21, 2020
IN RECOGNITION OF RALEIGH
BALDERSON’S 90TH BIRTHDAY
HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN
OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise
today
to
recognize
Mr.
Raleigh
Gilbert
Balderson, in honor of his 90th Birthday on
December 19, 2020. I would like to take this
time to recognize the many achievements of
Mr. Balderson, as well as commemorate this
special occasion in his life.
Mr. Raleigh Balderson is a resident of my
hometown, Montross, Virginia. He is a very
well-respected citizen and barber in the town
of Montross, and he is known and loved by
the entire community. He has served as a
deacon and trustee at Nomini Baptist Church
and is currently a deacon emeritus, a testa-
ment to his strong involvement in the commu-
nity and care for those he knows and loves.
This year marks a second major milestone
for Mr. Balderson, as he retired from his own
barber business on March 21, 2020. Mr.
Balderson
started
his
own
business
in
Montross, Virginia, and recently retired after
62 years of being in business. Mr. Balderson’s
barbershop in Montross is well loved by the
entire community and is known for a place of
good company and great conversations.
Therefore, Madam Speaker, I ask that you
rise with me today to honor and celebrate Mr.
Raleigh Gilbert Balderson’s 90th Birthday on
December 19, 2020. I would like to also rec-
ognize and remember the late Bonnie Jean
Owen Balderson, Mr. Balderson’s beloved wife
of 59 years. I wish Mr. Balderson a happy
90th birthday, and I hope this time is filled with
celebration and God’s continued blessings.
f
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
HON. A. DREW FERGUSON IV
OF GEORGIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. FERGUSON. Madam Speaker, I missed
the vote on H.R. 3384, the MORE Act on De-
cember 4, 2020 to leave to care for a sick
family member. If I had been present, I would
have voted ‘‘Nay’’ on H.R. 3384, the MORE
Act, Roll Call No. 235.
f
IN RECOGNITION OF GARY
JOHNSON
HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I rise
today in recognition of Gary Johnson, Assist-
ant Manager for the City of Roanoke, Texas,
as he retires from a career spanning almost
four decades in public service.
Prior to his work for the City of Roanoke in
2003, Chief Johnson served the City of
Watauga’s Department of Public Safety for
more than two decades, from 1982 to 2003.
His tenure at Watauga DPS included several
positions including Detective, Paramedic, Fire
Fighter, SWAT Team Leader, Patrol Com-
mander, and Deputy Chief. During this period,
the agency was a totally integrated public
safety department with all personnel cross-
trained in the areas of law enforcement, fire
suppression, and emergency medical services.
Chief Johnson joined Roanoke’s Police De-
partment as Chief in 2003. Under his leader-
ship, the Roanoke Police Department became
one of the best in the state, achieving the
Texas Police Chief’s Best Practices Recogni-
tion in 2011, a highly respected accomplish-
ment requiring meeting 168 standards. This
recognition has been repeated every four
years since and is one of many achievements
that led to the addition of his role as Assistant
City Manager in 2016, with responsibility over
Police and Fire Services and special projects.
In 2018 Mr. Johnson transitioned to assume
full responsibility as an Assistant City Man-
ager, providing invaluable administrative input
on operations, budgets, personnel policies and
other support critical to the City Manager’s Of-
fice. He also carried responsibility for many
major City initiatives, including the role of
Project Manager for the New City Hall facility,
the implementation of the Roanoke Citizen’s
Academy and many others. His departmental
direct reports included the Police Department,
Fire Department, Informational Technology,
Special Projects, Solid Waste Services, and
City Hall facilities.
A graduate of both Dallas Baptist University
and having completed a Master of Public Ad-
ministration from the University of North
Texas, Denton, Chief Johnson is also a grad-
uate of the F.B.I. National Academy; 207th
Session. Beyond his duties with the City of
Roanoke, he was also active within his profes-
sion as a member of the F.B.I. National Acad-
emy Associates, the International Association
of Chiefs of Police, and the Texas Police
Chiefs Association, which he served as Presi-
dent in 2018.
Through his decades of service in Public
Safety and City Management, Gary Johnson’s
effort and leadership have created a legacy
represented in the quality of life citizens of Ro-
anoke and the other communities enjoy in the
communities he has served. I wish him and
his wife, Sherrill, his daughters and family, all
the joy and satisfaction deserved in a well-
earned retirement from a life of public service.
IN RECOGNITION OF THE LEGACY
OF SHERIFF MICHAEL J. ASHE, JR.
HON. RICHARD E. NEAL
OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, it is with great
satisfaction that I rise today to recognize the
remarkable career of retired Hampden County
Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, Jr. Sheriff Ashe, in a
career spanning over four decades, has cre-
ated the model of rehabilitating inmates across
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the
country. A native of my hometown of Spring-
field, Massachusetts, Sheriff Ashe has spent
his life embodying the fundamental principle
that all who are willing to work for a second
chance, ought to receive one. His signature
philosophy of ‘‘strength reinforced with de-
cency; firmness dignified in fairness’’ led to
countless lives being changed for the better,
while resulting in one of the lowest reincarcer-
ation rates in the United States.
Originally a social worker, Sheriff Ashe
sought to provide long-term care and housing
to the youth who were most in need of it.
Serving as the first Assistant Director of Dow-
ney Side homes for the youth, Mike Ashe dis-
played remarkable leadership by being the
first to welcome to his home battered or at-risk
children, a reminder that no member of the
community shall be forgotten. His commitment
to those who are often forgotten in society led
to his candidacy for Sheriff of Hampden Coun-
ty. Since his initial election in 1974, Ashe was
re-elected every 6 years without contest until
he announced his retirement in 2016.
Anyone who has gotten to know Sheriff
Ashe will affirm that he had never been in the
business of incarceration, rather his focus was
on corrections. His doctrine on correctional su-
pervision was guided by the simple principle
that inmates should be held accountable and
be positive and productive. The Sheriff long
understood that if he were to adequately reha-
bilitate his inmates, he would need to put to-
gether a competent coalition of staff and vol-
unteers who could command the situation,
while
exemplifying
the
upmost
profes-
sionalism.
Sheriff Ashe instituted an inmate Basic In-
tensive Regimen in which all inmates are re-
quired to undergo during their first 5 weeks of
incarceration. During this critical time, inmates
are required to participate in programs that
focus on substance abuse, anger manage-
ment, cognitive thinking, victim impact, and
more. In Hampden County, it is excepted that
inmates work on assignments or some sort of
productive activity, for at least 40 hours per
week. With over 140 programs available, in-
mates are encouraged to famously ‘‘answer
the bell’’ for a productive day, just like they will
have to do if they are to be productive citi-
zens.
Under his leadership, Hampden County was
home to the nation’s first Day Reporting Cen-
ter, the first program of its kind to offer support
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks
E1192
December 21, 2020
for inmates close to re-entering society. A
model that has been replicated throughout the
country. Similarly, Sheriff Ashe was respon-
sible for the nation’s first Incarceration Support
Systems, offering assistance to those newly
freed from incarceration. And if that wasn’t
enough, Sheriff Ashe helped construct the
Western Massachusetts Correctional Addic-
tions Center, one of the nation’s original cor-
rectional facilities dedicated to substance
abuse treatment.
Throughout his career, Sheriff Ashe’s tire-
less work has made our community a safer,
more just, caring place. During his tenure,
Sheriff Ashe witnessed over 4,600 inmates
graduate his educational programs, earning a
GED or a high school equivalent diploma.
While Mike Ashe oversaw his inmates con-
tribute over 1 million hours of community serv-
ice to Hampden County communities. While
heading the Massachusetts Sheriffs Associa-
tion, Ashe was able to present his successful
philosophy for community corrections to the
rest of the Commonwealth, further promoting
an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than pun-
ishment. A recipient of the White House
‘‘Champions of Change’’ Award, Sheriff Ashe
has made the Commonwealth proud while il-
lustrating through his work, that the United
States is indeed a nation of second chances.
f
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
HON. DEBBIE LESKO
OF ARIZONA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, had I been
present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call
No. 244.
f
DALE SCHMITZ
HON. ED PERLMUTTER
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Madam Speaker, I rise
today to recognize Dr. Dale Schmitz, WWII
Veteran who served with the 115th Cavalry.
Mr. Schmitz not only served his country honor-
ably; he is a grandfather and a man of integ-
rity that has committed to serve his commu-
nity. On December 22nd, Mr. Schmitz will turn
100 years old. On this day, Adams County will
proclaim, ‘‘Dale Schmitz Day’’, honoring his six
years of service to our country and commit-
ment to his family and community.
After his service with the 115th Calvary in
World War II, Mr. Schmitz took a job with
Eaton Metals in Denver, CO, staying with the
company until the 1980’s. During this time, Mr.
Schmitz continued his service to the commu-
nity by helping the Guardian Angels Catholic
School in the Berkley neighborhood with main-
tenance work. Mr. Schmitz was an active vol-
unteer for Habitat for Humanity until the age of
95 and continues to give back to Veterans
through organizations like the Wounded War-
rior Project. At the age of 97, Mr. Schmitz flew
to Washington, D.C. by himself with the,
‘‘Rocky Mountain Honor Flight Program’’, vis-
iting the memorials and landmarks that were
dedicated to the service of WWII Veterans.
Mr. Schmitz has been recognized by his
community and has helped every neighbor
through acts of service by shoveling their
snow, mowing their grass, outdoor repairs,
and becoming a favorite with the neighbor-
hood dogs by providing them with hot dogs.
Mr. Schmitz was called to service when his
country needed him, and then continued his
service to his fellow neighbors and community.
I want to extend my deepest appreciation and
thanks to Mr. Schmitz for his contribution and
service.
f
IN RECOGNITION OF BENNY
NAPOLEON
HON. RASHIDA TLAIB
OF MICHIGAN
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to
acknowledge the work of public servant
Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon as we
honor his memory.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Benny
Napoleon began his law enforcement career
working in Detroit’s police department in the
1975. He worked his way up the ranks to
serve as chief of police in 1998 before retiring
in 2001. Napoleon became assistant Wayne
County executive in 2004. In 2009, he was ap-
pointed Sheriff of Wayne County, the role he
continued to serve in until his recent death.
Benny Napoleon’s tenure as Wayne County
Sheriff was marked by his work to reduce in-
mate populations, by utilizing alternatives to
incarceration and employing electronic teth-
ering. Napoleon was well-known for his affable
personality and big-heartedness. He is a true
son of Detroit. His absence will be felt by the
communities of Wayne County.
Please join me as we recognize Wayne
County Sheriff Benny Napoleon for his many
contributions to Wayne County and the 13th
Congressional District and honor his memory.
f
HONORING THERESA SCHUTA
HON. BRIAN HIGGINS
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Madam Speak-
er, I rise today to honor the significant con-
tributions of Theresa ‘‘Terri’’ Schuta, one of
my closest friends as well as a true leader
within the Buffalo Public Schools and the
South Buffalo community she has so diligently
served, on the occasion of her retirement as
Principal of South Park High School.
A proud product of the Buffalo Public
Schools, Terri returned to the halls of the
schools we walked together as classmates
throughout the 1970’s as the Principal of
Southside Elementary School for seven years
until her appointment as South Park High
School Principal in 2009. Rising through the
administrative ranks, she also gained experi-
ence as the assistant principal at Lorraine Ele-
mentary.
In the profile of Mrs. Schuta following her
appointment, The Buffalo News headline got it
just right when it said ‘‘Community roots an-
chor new principal to South Park,’’ Calling her-
self a neighborhood kid, Terri said, ‘‘Someone
needs to lead South Park who loves South
Park. I think that is going to resonate with the
kids.’’
As Principal, Mrs. Schuta has more than
resonated—she initiated, innovated and when
necessary, intimidated, to deliver quality edu-
cational opportunities for her students, their
families, her faculty and staff. She introduced
new programs into her school, fought for more
resources, stood up for her students and de-
manded more from them as well as herself to
better prepare her students to achieve and
succeed.
Terri brought the same energy, enthusiasm,
tenacity and work ethic I saw in her as our
1978 class president with her every day as
South Park High School Principal. She led the
way in building partnerships with local busi-
nesses and non-profits and now as a des-
ignated Community School, South Park stu-
dents and their families benefit from enhanced
learning opportunities, parent engagement and
healthy living experiences. She has been a
source of positive change in the city’s edu-
cation system as a whole and has impacted
the lives of both her students and colleagues.
Terri’s enormous contribution to South Park
High School has not gone unnoticed. In fact,
she has been recognized for fostering ac-
countability in the high school, which resulted
in a 10 percent increase in its graduation rate
over the past several years. She also pio-
neered the Bright Lights of South Park pro-
gram. This project highlights successful South
Park graduates as a source of inspiration for
current students. Students can then use that
inspiration as motivation for their academic
work and to live up to their full potential. She
oversaw the well-received and extensive build-
ing renovation project, the successful 100th
Anniversary Celebration including the 2016 re-
lease of ‘‘Our Fallen Warriors, Remembered,’’
a timeline of more than 150 of our bravest
during their experiences as South Park stu-
dents through their loss of life in service to our
country.
Amazingly, Terri has always found time for
others as she is an active and passionate
community volunteer. Terri was awarded the
organization’s Campaign Volunteer of the Year
award in 2019 in recognition of outstanding
commitment to the United Way. Her profes-
sional achievements and personal contribu-
tions earned her well-deserved recognition as
one of 42 extraordinary women featured in the
book, ‘‘Women in The City of Good Neigh-
bors.’’
Her work with United Way, local charities
and families in need has positively impacted
and inspired so many individuals as she per-
sonifies the values of faith, friendship and
service others instilled in her as a member of
the Drilling Family of Lilac Street. She and her
husband, Michael Schuta, a retired Buffalo Po-
lice Officer, continue that tradition of service
with their daughter, Katie, who has followed in
Terri’s footsteps as the principal of the Buffalo
Public Schools’ school of culinary arts and
management. Katie and husband, Jonathon
Whiteside, have recently had a son, Joseph
Michael Whiteside, adding proud grandmother
to Terri’s many titles. Their son, Michael, holds
an MBA and works as a senior accountant at
PCB Piezotronics in Cheektowaga, New York.
Madam Speaker, I am so proud of all Terri
Schuta has accomplished, the indelible mark
she has made in uplifting the lives of her
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December 21, 2020
South Park High School family and the legacy
she has left for others to follow in school and
in the community. Her spirit, steady leadership
and unwavering belief in the value of ‘‘doing
your life’s work where you live,’’ is her legacy
and an example for others to follow. I look for-
ward to years of continued friendship and wish
Terri much happiness and fulfillment in her re-
tirement. I have no doubt that she will find that
and more with her loving family and friends in
the years ahead.
f
RECOGNIZING
THE
REPUBLICAN
STUDY
COMMITTEE
NATIONAL
SECURITY
AND
FOREIGN
AF-
FAIRS TASK FORCE AND OMAR
HOSSINO
HON. JOE WILSON
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam
Speaker, I rise today to express my gratitude
to serve as the Chairman of the Republican
Study Committee’s National Security and For-
eign Affairs Task Force this Congress. In
June, the Task Force issued its National Se-
curity Strategy report after convening a num-
ber of meetings with top policy experts and
engaging in complex discussions on the for-
eign policy challenges we face. The RSC’s
National Security Strategy spans over 120
pages and includes over 100 detailed policy
recommendations on tackling the Chinese
Communist Party, Russia, Iran, and the Salafi-
jihadi movement, and for standing up for de-
mocracy and human rights. The report boldly
stood up for a foreign policy of American lead-
ership through the principle of peace through
strength. It was also noticed and condemned
by adversaries such as the Chinese Com-
munist Party, the Kremlin, and the Chief of
Staff of the President of the Iranian regime. In
only a few months a number of the report’s
ideas have already been implemented by the
Trump Administration, or have been intro-
duced as legislation. For example just last
week Secretary of State Mike Pompeo an-
nounced that the United Front Work Depart-
ment of the Chinese Communist Party would
be sanctioned, something first proposed by
the RSC Task Force report. This month also,
RSC members introduced six bills taking on
China for it’s IP theft, Rep. JACK BERGMAN in-
troduced a bill to audit U.S. contributions to
the United Nations, and I was grateful to intro-
duce the Badr Organization Designation Act,
and the Stop the Killing in Syria Act, both
based upon the National Security Strategy re-
port.
I am grateful for the leadership of my col-
leagues on the Task Force including RSC
Chairman Rep. MIKE
JOHNSON, Rep. ROB
WHITMAN, Rep. DON BACON, Rep. ANN WAG-
NER, Rep. DAN CRENSHAW, Rep. RALPH NOR-
MAN, Rep. BRYAN STEIL, Rep. ALEX MOONEY,
Rep. JACK BERGMAN, Rep. NEAL DUNN, Rep.
CLAY HIGGINS, and Rep. MICHAEL WALTZ.
I appreciate the hard work of Omar Hossino
of the RSC staff in managing the Task Force’s
meetings, developing policy recommendations,
and writing the report. I am grateful for Omar
Hossino’s dedication and service to the Task
Force. Omar Hossino has been a key advisor
and invaluable asset on foreign policy issues
not only to members of the Task Force but
also to the broader RSC. His vast knowledge
of the intricacies of both complex foreign pol-
icy issues as well as the intricacies of legisla-
tion, especially economic sanctions has been
invaluable to me and Task Force members.
Omar Hossino’s passion and tireless work
ethic has also been a driving force behind
turning the report into legislative initiatives. Fi-
nally, I would like to recognize my Legislative
Director Oren Adaki of my staff for his deep
dedication and important contributions to this
project as well.
f
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
HON. SUSAN W. BROOKS
OF INDIANA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Madam Speaker,
I was not present for the following roll call
votes. Had I been present for them, I would
have voted as follows: Roll Call 247—H.J.
Res. 107, Further Additional Continuing Ap-
propriations Act, 2021 YAY.
f
HONORING JUDITH PAXTON
HON. H. MORGAN GRIFFITH
OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. GRIFFITH. Madam Speaker, I offer
these remarks in honor of Judith Junkin Brown
Paxton of Salem, Virginia, who passed away
on December 7, 2020 at the age of 90. She
was a pillar of the Salem community who
served her fellow citizens as a volunteer and
good neighbor.
Judy Brown was born on September 9,
1930 in Roanoke, Virginia, to Elijah Brazelton
Brown and Martha Judith Junkin Brown. She
graduated from Andrew Lewis High School in
1948.
Her family, church, and community were the
objects of her activity and energy. As a mem-
ber of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, she sang
in the choir for 70 years, directed the chil-
dren’s choir, served on the Vestry, read to the
children at St. Anne’s Day School, and per-
formed numerous other services for the con-
gregation. She also volunteered at the office
for the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Vir-
ginia. Her compassion and faith inspired her
work as a coordinator for the St. Paul’s volun-
teers who serve lunches for the Roanoke Area
Ministries.
As her friends and neighbors, the people of
Salem enjoyed Judy’s goodwill and hospitality.
She cooked chili for the crews of the Street
Department as they cleared snow, organized
decorating of lampposts for Christmas, and
put up flags for Independence Day. From pro-
gressive dinners to bridge games, the activi-
ties of Salem were brightened by Judy’s
friendliness and generosity.
Judy was married to the late William Joseph
Paxton Jr., who served as Salem’s City Man-
ager. She is survived by sons W. David
Paxton and his wife Vicki of Roanoke, Joseph
Paxton and his wife Annette of Broadway, Vir-
ginia, and James Paxton and his wife Hilda of
Salem; daughter Martha Paxton Nowlin and
her husband Melvin of Big Island, Virginia;
brother William O’Brien and his wife Ellie of
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; and sister-in-law
June Newman Paxton of Roanoke. She is also
survived by ten grandchildren and their
spouses Corey (Danielle) Paxton, Traci (Matt)
Rowe, Jessica (Scott) Mackaro, Katie (Marc)
Palmieri, Jennifer Paxton, Sara (Greg) Hall,
William (Brittany) Paxton, Theresa (Michael)
Peregoff, Kimberly (Lacy) Burnette, and Rob-
ert (Courtney) Paxton, as well as ten great-
grandchildren, Hannah, Shiloah, Norah, Paige
Judith, Tyler, Victoria, Evelyn, Ava, Anna
Grace, and Joey.
f
HONORING CHEN LOK LEE
HON. DWIGHT EVANS
OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. EVANS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to
honor an influential and dedicated man, Chen
Lok Lee. Mr. Lee was a devoted educator and
prominent printmaker and painter based in
Philadelphia, PA. For over twenty years, he
was a Professor of Printmaking, Silkscreen
and Lithography at Moore College of Art and
Design in Philadelphia, which is the first and
only visual arts college for women in the
United States. Additionally, he taught Chinese
calligraphy and painting classes to the com-
munity through the Community College of
Philadelphia and other private venues.
Mr. Lee was a political refugee from China
who escaped narrowly with his life from com-
munist forces in 1950 and was forced to leave
his family behind. When his life was in jeop-
ardy, his family helped him escape, and he
swam towards Hong Kong and was rescued
by a boat and eventually taken to the shores
of Hong Kong. He stayed in Hong Kong for
eight years, studying at the prestigious Hong
Kong University, and then went on to enter the
United States as a political refugee in 1959.
He settled in New York City’s Chinatown and
worked his way through the Chinese res-
taurant business to support himself as a bur-
geoning artist and to learn enough English to
establish footing in his new country. He also
began to study under some very prominent
and contemporary artists. While at the Arts
Students’ League in New York, he worked
with George Grosz, Stephen Greene and Rob-
ert Hale, along with New York painter Hans
Hoffman.
From 1967 to 1970 Chen Lok Lee studied
abroad at the Rome Academy in Italy and
earned an MFA at the Tyler School of Fine
Arts as a printmaker, painter and lithography
under Romas Viesulas and Richard Callner. In
1973, he was awarded a prestigious fellowship
from the Ford Foundation to study at Tama-
rind Lithographies in New Mexico. He was rec-
ognized at an international exhibition in Hong
Kong, as invited by Her Majesty’s Service in
1982. In his new adopted hometown of Phila-
delphia, he was selected to participate in the
Mayor’s Commission for Cultural Exchange
between Philadelphia and sister city Tianjin,
China, from 1986 to 1987.
Mr. Lee was a loyal and dedicated husband
to Linda, whom he met while studying in
Rome. Linda, also an artist and educator,
brought Chen home to her family in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania, and then married him
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in 1973. They moved to New Mexico, and
then Chicago, before settling back in Pennsyl-
vania where Professor Lee was hired at
Moore College of Art and Design.
He was the loving and devoted father to
Romana (Cliff), whom they named after the
city of Rome where he and Linda first met,
son Raymond, and doting grandfather of
Hanalee, a naturally talented artist. He raised
his children with every devotion and detail, en-
suring they had resources, support, guidance
and care to grow up well. He sacrificed much
to give them a good life and the promise of fu-
tures they would be proud of. He was very
proud of them all.
Chen Lok Lee passed away on December
13, 2020. Professor Lee leaves behind a leg-
acy of strength, courage, honor and devotion,
and touched the lives of all who knew and
loved him.
On behalf of the 3rd Congressional District
of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia I
extend gratitude to the late Chen Lok Lee for
his dedicated support and service to the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania.
f
HONORING LIEUTENANT VEDA
FLEETON
HON. NORMA J. TORRES
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mrs. TORRES of California. Madam Speak-
er, I rise today to honor Lieutenant Veda
Fleeton of the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
for her 25 years of service. The calling to be
a peace officer is one of the highest vocations
of public service. An individual who accepts
this calling is worthy of the highest respect
and honor from their community, the State,
and our nation.
Lieutenant Fleeton’s career with the Cali-
fornia Highway Patrol began on November 6,
1995, and after successfully completing her
Academy training, she reported to the East
Los Angeles Area as a CHP officer. She was
later assigned to the Southern Division, where
she excelled in connecting with the public in
her many roles. As part of the Southern Divi-
sion Recruitment Unit, she was dedicated to
recruiting the best candidates to protect and
serve our communities. While at Southern Di-
vision, she also contributed to the Public Infor-
mation Unit through her interactions with the
news media and to numerous Dignitary Pro-
tection details where she provided security for
top-level dignitaries from around the world.
Lieutenant Fleeton also dedicated her time
and skills to the Southern Division Background
Investigative Unit, a temporary assignment
that occurred during her road patrol tenure at
Baldwin Park that began in 2003. Within this
unit, Lieutenant Fleeton conducted thorough
and comprehensive backgrounds for hundreds
of applicants who were later chosen to begin
their careers with the State highway patrol.
Because of her deep engagement with the
community in these assignments, Lieutenant
Fleeton received multiple accolades for her
hard work.
Lieutenant Fleeton was promoted to Ser-
geant on August 1, 2007 and was assigned to
the Morongo Basin Area, later transferring to
Rancho Cucamonga Area. As Sergeant, she
focused on providing her field officers with in-
valuable direction and guidance. On July 1,
2013, Lieutenant Fleeton was promoted to
Lieutenant and was assigned to the Santa Fe
Springs Area for two years before transferring
to the San Gorgonio Area. In March 2016,
Lieutenant Fleeton was appointed Lieutenant
Commander of the CHP’s Inland Communica-
tions Center in Fontana, where she provided
unwavering leadership and guidance to over
75 dispatch and Transportation Management
Center (TMC) personnel, including the River-
side and San Bernardino County Freeway
Service Patrol programs. Lieutenant Fleeton’s
unequivocal passion to mentor and develop
field officers shined throughout all these roles.
Lieutenant Fleeton officially retired from her
service with California Highway Patrol on No-
vember 17, 2020. For her remarkable accom-
plishments and 25 years of commitment to
public service as a peace officer in the greater
Inland Empire, it is my honor to recognize
Lieutenant Veda Fleeton on this day.
f
HONORING KATHRIN (KATE) SEARS
HON. JARED HUFFMAN
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise
today in recognition of Kathrin (Kate) Sears for
her outstanding career in public service as
Marin County’s District 3 Supervisor.
Kate has been a resident of Southern Marin
for most of her life, and it is the place where
she developed the principled values that have
guided her private and public careers.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian
studies at Carleton College in Minnesota, a
master’s degree in Chinese studies at the Uni-
versity of Washington, a doctorate in political
science from the University of Michigan, and a
law degree from Harvard University. In 2005,
after working as an attorney in a private prac-
tice for 16 years, Kate joined the Consumer
Law Section of the California Attorney Gen-
eral’s Office. In 2011 Governor Jerry Brown
appointed Kate to the Marin County Board of
Supervisors after the heartbreaking death of
Charles McGlashan. She was reelected in
2012 and 2016.
Throughout her tenure on the Board of Su-
pervisors, Kate represented the residents of
Marin, its renowned public lands and the envi-
ronment with passion and skill. She worked to
improve public transportation, strengthen serv-
ices for older adults, and increase affordable
housing opportunities. Kate has helped to plan
and implement key Marin initiatives including
Bay WAVE and Drawdown: Marin. As Chair of
Marin Clean Energy, Kate worked to develop
energy efficiency programs and expanded
electric vehicle charging stations in Marin.
From Angel Island to Muir Woods, Kate has
also fought for Marin’s parks and open
spaces. I am proud to have worked with her
to find compromise in resolving community
issues, including through the Muir Woods
Parking Reservation System.
Kate is a champion for the people and
places of Marin County and leaves an appre-
ciable legacy as she retires from the Board of
Supervisors. Madam Speaker, I respectfully
ask that you join me in honoring Kate for an
accomplished tenure, and extend to her best
wishes in her future endeavors.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN
OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I was not
present for the following roll call vote. Had I
been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll
Call No. 248.
f
REINTRODUCTION
OF
H.R.
8768,
THE ‘‘KEEPING AMERICA’S EN-
ERGY RESOURCES MOVING ACT’’
HON. SYLVIA R. GARCIA
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Madam Speaker, I
rise today to echo the words of my Texas
friend and colleague, Mr. WEBER, to support
the reintroduction of H.R. 768, the ‘‘Keeping
America’s Energy Resources Moving Act’’.
This is vital legislation needed to support a
vital industry, the U.S. lightering industry. In
turn, this legislation will support our domestic
refining industry and its workers and help sup-
port U.S. energy security and independence. It
is a small technical fix to the law that will allow
seafarers aboard lightering vessels to continue
to do the vital work they do—import and ex-
port crude oil and natural gas to and from our
refineries in Texas and the Gulf Coast, Dela-
ware and Southern California. We have bipar-
tisan support for the legislation and the ap-
proval of the agencies who will administer and
implement this legislation when it becomes
law. As my colleague Mr. WEBER has said, we
simply ran out of time to move the bill—but we
will continue our efforts and press forward in
the next Congress. I thank my colleagues for
their support of this legislation and look for-
ward to enacting this important technical fix in
the next Congress.
f
HONORING HYNDMAN VOLUNTEER
FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF RON-
ALD ALLEN SPIKER
HON. JOHN JOYCE
OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speak-
er, I rise to honor the life and legacy of
Hyndman Volunteer Fire Department Chief
Ronald Allen Spiker, who passed away on De-
cember 1, 2020.
Chief Spiker selflessly served the Hyndman
Volunteer Fire Department for 30 years. He
also was an EMR for the Hyndman Rescue
Squad. For this work, he gained a reputation
as a man who was always willing to offer help
to anyone who needed it. Chief Spiker also
generously invested time in teaching and men-
toring younger firefighters.
In addition to his service as fire chief, Chief
Spiker was a truck driver for his entire profes-
sional life and worked at Croner Inc., New En-
terprise Stone and Lime, and Rice Tire. He
was also a member of the Kennells Mill
Sportsmen’s Club and the National Rifle Asso-
ciation.
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I extend my deepest sympathies to Chief
Spiker’s parents Ron and Jessie, his loving
wife of 31 years Anita, and his son Tyler. On
behalf of Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional
District, it is an honor to recognize Chief Ron-
ald Spiker’s legacy of service to the John
Hyndman community.
f
HONORING
THE
65TH
ANNIVER-
SARY OF THE CHARLES HOUS-
TON BAR ASSOCIATION
HON. BARBARA LEE
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I
rise today to honor the Charles Houston Bar
Association (CHBA) and their 65 years of
service throughout California’s 13th congres-
sional district and the country.
CHBA was originally founded in 1955 as the
Charles Houston Law Club and was named in
honor of the groundbreaking lawyer and edu-
cator, Charles Hamilton Houston. Bearing his
name, CHBA continues to uphold his legacy
by fighting for racial equality and social
change.
Located in Oakland, California, The Charles
Houston Bar Association has been a driving
force promoting diversity in the legal profes-
sion and advocating against racial injustice.
In 1975, The California State Bar’s Board of
Governors recognized the Charles Houston
Bar Association as an official state bar asso-
ciation. The CHBA is also an affiliate member
of the National Bar Association (NBA) and the
California
Association
of
Black
Lawyers
(CABL).
The CHBA has been a continuous source of
legal advocacy in the African American com-
munity. Their focus on protecting the legal
rights of the people has kept them on the
precipice of change.
During the early 1980’s CHBA partnered
with the California Association of Black Law-
yers to criminalize the KKK. Through their ef-
forts California passed legislation that can still
be found in the penal code today.
The Charles Houston Bar Association has
always fought to protect civil rights and advo-
cated for equality. These efforts led to the
CHBA earning recognition from the National
Bar Association as one of its Most Out-
standing Affiliates in 1977, 1986, 2002, and
2004.
The CHBA’s values and mission are re-
flected in accomplishments and legacies of its
members. From California’s first African Amer-
ican Supreme Court Justice Wiley Manuel to
the First African American Vice President-elect
KAMALA HARRIS, The Charles Houston Bar As-
sociation and its members continue to dedi-
cate themselves to creating and being the en-
gineers of social change.
On behalf of California’s 13th Congressional
District, I want to extend my sincere congratu-
lations on this important milestone. I thank the
Charles Houston Bar Association for being a
tireless advocate for an inclusive community. I
wish them continued success in training and
organizing future generations of leaders to ad-
dress the issue of diversity in the legal profes-
sion and the challenges of racial inequality.
RON WAGONER
HON. ED PERLMUTTER
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Madam Speaker, I rise
today to recognize Ron Wagoner with the City
of Lakewood for his long tenure with the City
and his countless contributions to our commu-
nity.
Ron began work with the City of Lakewood
on December 28, 1970 and, after 50 years of
service, plans to retire in January 2021.
Throughout his time with the City, he has had
many different responsibilities and roles—from
Laborer to Maintenance Supervisor—but he is
best known for his work ethic and delightful
nature.
Through 50 winters, he has ensured snow
removal and ice control for the City of Lake-
wood and its residents. He actively partici-
pated in the Colorado Chapter of the Amer-
ican Public Works Association (APWA), par-
ticularly related to snow, ice and pavement,
and chaired the APWA Snow and Ice com-
mittee from 1985 to 2013.
During his service, he also managed pave-
ment quality for 1,345 lane-miles of city
streets. This meant selecting, coordinating and
directing suppliers of multiple maintenance
materials including pavement, sewer, water-
line, sand, and salt as well as evolving equip-
ment purchases to support maintenance of
streets, sewers, waterlines and storm water fa-
cilities. Ron also helped lead and participate in
emergency responses to infrastructure fail-
ures, storm damage, police responses and fire
responses, and helped hire and supervise un-
told numbers of employees with varied back-
grounds.
Ron’s work ethic and leadership earned him
Lakewood’s Employee of the Year in 2016.
Outside of work, Ron is a dedicated father and
grandfather. I want to extend my deepest ap-
preciation for Ron’s long career in public serv-
ice and countless contributions to our commu-
nity. I wish him the best in retirement and fu-
ture endeavors.
f
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY
OF JOYCE HABER SCHUCK
HON. DOUG LAMBORN
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. LAMBORN. Madam Speaker, I rise
today to honor the life of Mrs. Joyce Haber
Schuck, cherished wife, mother, grandmother,
patriot, community activist, and dear friend.
Joyce was born December 9, 1937, to lov-
ing parents, Frank and Florence Haber, in
Long Island, New York. She met the love of
her life, Steve, while at a party hosted by a
mutual friend. They married in 1958, following
his college graduation. As newlyweds, Steve
and Joyce lived and worked in Syracuse and
New York City until they accomplished their
dream of starting a family and moving to Colo-
rado Springs. They had three beloved chil-
dren: William David (1959), Thomas Allen
(1961), and Ann Elizabeth (1968).
Joyce lived an extraordinary life by all
measures. Her husband, Steve, describes her
as ‘‘beautiful at many levels, and bordering on
being renaissance.’’ Joyce embraced the pop-
ular role of being a homemaker to her family,
but her efforts and passions didn’t end there.
Joyce returned to college in her 40s and grad-
uated with a degree in social work. Her pas-
sion was always in the well-being of those
less fortunate.
Joyce blazed historic trails in her commu-
nity. She co-founded Community Transitions,
a non-profit organization that served homeless
families, established a volunteer program for
the District Attorney’s office, and built the DA’s
‘Shape Up’ initiative. She was appointed by
Governor Bill Ritter to the board of the Charter
School Institute and served on the boards of
the League of Charter School and the Youth
Transformation Center. Additionally, she co-
founded and chaired the board of Colorado’s
first military charter school, the Colorado Mili-
tary Academy.
The Schuck’s had an unwavering commit-
ment to children, particularly to those who are
disadvantaged. They founded Parents Chal-
lenge, a nationwide nonprofit to empower low-
income parents with financial and informa-
tional resources so that they may choose the
schools best suited for their children’s needs.
Parents Challenge has been carrying out its
mission of serving parents and children across
our nation for over 21 years.
In a move that took her out of her comfort
zone, Joyce embraced the campaign life when
Steve sought the Republican nomination for
Governor of Colorado in 1986. Not so secretly,
many expressed that they wished she was the
candidate because she excelled at building re-
lationships and communicating with people
from all walks of life. Unbeknownst to Steve,
Joyce kept a diary of her experience on the
campaign, which she converted into a trail-
blazing book titled, ‘‘Political Wives, Veiled
Lives.’’
Joyce had many passions in her life, but
none more than her family. Joyce was pre-
ceded in death by her parents Frank and Flor-
ence, and sister Rolene. Joyce is survived by
her loving husband Steve, children: Bill
(Dede), Tom, and Ann; her grandchildren:
Emily, Molly, Hillary, Whitney, Gabriel, Conner,
Colton,
and
Bryce;
great-grandchildren:
Madyson, Emyrson, Grayson, Hudson, and
Liam.
Joyce leaves behind a legacy of grace,
kindness, compassion, and generosity. She
lived her life with enthusiasm and purpose,
and her commitment to those in need will ben-
efit generations to come.
f
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
HON. DEBBIE LESKO
OF ARIZONA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, had I been
present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call
No. 246, and YEA on Roll Call No. 247.
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CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF
FRANK J. MCGUIRE
HON. BRIAN HIGGINS
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. HIGGINS of New York. Madam Speak-
er, I rise today to celebrate the life of Mr.
Frank J. McGuire. Mr. McGuire passed away
on July 7, 2020 at the age of 92, after a life-
time of business and community leadership,
philanthropy and service to Buffalo and West-
ern New York.
His contributions are so many in so many
arenas, including economic, civic, cultural and
charitable that even his son found it difficult to
describe so he let the quote that guided his fa-
ther’s work speak to how Frank McGuire lived
his life. ‘‘A ship is safe in the harbor, but that
is not what ships were built for.’’ As reported
in the Buffalo News, this well respected and
well-known leader, ‘‘was not afraid of risk or
challenge, and always described as brilliant,
tough, honest and fair.’’
Frank McGuire was a job creator and a gen-
erator of opportunity; he was an entrepreneur
for decades before that term became more
widely embraced and celebrated. Still working
into his nineties as chairman of the McGuire
Group, Frank McGuire never acquired titles,
he built companies—30 of them—giving 1,700
people employment and careers as an indus-
try leader in the fields of construction, health
care, commercial and industrial real estate de-
velopment.
His roots were anchored into the South Buf-
falo community as the oldest of five sons of
Frank J. McGuire Sr. and the former Mary
Kelly, and a graduate of Holy Family School
and South Park High School. Sergeant
McGuire served his country honorably from
1946 to 1948 having joined the U.S. Army
after becoming an electrician.
His ability to lead was recognized by his fel-
low classmates as he was president of the
School of Engineering of the University at Buf-
falo Class of 1953. His work as an electrician
during his college days took him to new
heights as he personally climbed to install the
aircraft beacon light at the top of a local radio
tower. If there was a challenge to be met,
Frank McGuire was the man to step up to get
it done.
His innate skill set was more fully on display
as an employee of General Electric Company
where at the age of 26, he became one of the
youngest managers and contributed to the de-
sign and development of the nuclear reactors
used in the first atomic submarines. Those ex-
periences formed the foundation on which this
pioneer took his limited savings and with the
support of his parents, who mortgaged their
home, founded his first company, Industrial
Power & Lighting Corporation. This electrical
engineering and construction organization be-
came a powerhouse completing more than
$200 million in projects throughout upstate
New York, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado
and Alaska and became the first American
company of its kind to work in the People’s
Republic of China in 1981. Real estate devel-
opment in Western New York and Florida
would follow as well and expansion into health
care operating nursing and rehabilitation facili-
ties in Western New York, Long Island and
Michigan.
While expanding his businesses locally, na-
tionally and internationally, he always gave
back to his community as he led the Chamber
of Commerce in the 1970s with a focus on
bringing back jobs. Even an unsuccessful run
for political office never steered him from pub-
lic service as he served as a trustee of the
New York State Urban Development Corpora-
tion and was chairman of the Western New
York Economic Development Corporation. His
efforts as a member of the New York
Sportsplex Committee secured state funding
for the Buffalo Bisons baseball stadium and as
a major player on the Business Backs the Bills
Committee in the late 1990s, he certainly con-
tributed to our beloved football team still call-
ing Buffalo its home.
I, like many others, sought his counsel and
can attest to his direct and no-nonsense way
the exchange of ideas, priorities and strategies
were debated. You knew where you stood
with Frank McGuire as he knew the value of
family, faith, friendship and loyalty. He knew
the value of a job well done and always kept
his focus on creating and expanding employ-
ment opportunities for the community that
gave him his start.
Though never seeking the spotlight, his gen-
erosity and significant contributions to numer-
ous charities were deservedly recognized.
These included University at Buffalo School of
Management
Niagara
Frontier
Executive
award in 2001, the United Way Tocqueville
Society Philanthropist of the year in 2007, and
Business First’s Lifetime Achievement Award
in 2013.
Madam Speaker, I honor the trailblazing leg-
acy of Frank J. McGuire. He embodied the
passion, energy, and commitment to cause
that makes Buffalo unique. We will forever be
grateful for his outstanding service and leader-
ship. We extend our deepest sympathy to his
wife, Donna, his children, grandchildren and
the friends and family of the McGuire Group.
f
THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF
CONGRESS
HON. KWANZA HALL
OF GEORGIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. HALL. I rise today to include in the
RECORD a statement on behalf of my prede-
cessor John Lewis and constituents of Geor-
gia’s Fifth Congressional District. We have
some unfinished business, and I call on Con-
gress to:
1. expunge all records for nonviolent offend-
ers impacted by the war on drugs;
2. permit those individuals who were pre-
viously incarcerated to vote and end the prac-
tice of disenfranchisement on these bases;
3. make it more difficult for police to escape
accountability when the rights of law-abiding
Americans are violated;
4. pass legislation that once and for all bans
the box and prevents employment discrimina-
tion against those previously incarcerated indi-
viduals;
5. establish the John Lewis Institute with an
allocation of money from Congress to support
this endeavor;
6. support the Prince Hall Masons Building;
7. support the renovation and the restoration
of Dr. King’s office; and
8. support funding for the John Lewis TOD
loop which can be a national Pilot and model
similar to our esteemed Beltline, without dis-
placing long-time residents.
I challenge my colleagues in this body to
pass these pieces of legislation and deliver on
the unfinished business of Georgia’s Fifth
Congressional District.
I would also like to take a moment to thank
leadership in the House and their staff for wel-
coming me with open arms but more impor-
tantly for their leadership in these very chal-
lenging times. Their commitment to getting re-
sults on behalf of American people is laud-
able, and the work over the last few years to
keep this giant ship on course and to get it
back on normal course.
We also need to adapt to the changing
times. The post-World War II economy is not
coming back. The gig economy is here to
stay.
The gig economy is upon us and to remain
competitive we have to invest in and reinvest
in strategies of empowering people at all sta-
tions in life to be their best selves and own
their own futures.
As more Americans choose independent
and flexible work, this coverage gap will only
get bigger, which is why our lawmakers need
to update our safety net as soon as possible.
That is why I am proud that today’s
Coronavirus relief bill delivers $900 billion in
much-needed aid but this is not enough. We
need to pass another round of stimulus
checks and we need to ensure that state and
local governments—which are at the forefront
and bearing the impact of paying for this pan-
demic—are reimbursed.
And, I would like to close on a point of per-
sonal privilege.
I have a picture of a man who was a
straight-A student at George Washington
Carver High School in Montgomery, Alabama
who was pushed out of the educational sys-
tem because he chose to stand up for justice
and equality for all in the 1960s.
He was a peaceful and law-abiding student
who organized hundreds of other students to
participate in the Selma to Montgomery
March. It was only a few years ago that I
found out who he was. I was reflecting with
my mother on her photo collection from the
civil rights movement one day, and to my as-
tonishment she stated that the peaceful
protestor being dragged on the ground by a
police officer in 1965 was my father.
His name was Leon Hall and he was the
youngest staff member of the Southern Chris-
tian Leadership Conference, and aide to Dr.
Martin Luther King, from 1963 to 1968. He
was a foot soldier in the fight for justice along
with Hosea Williams, who stood on the Ed-
mund Pettus bridge next my predecessor John
Lewis. All three of them were beaten, verbally
abused, and illegally incarcerated countless
times, just as we see today with Eric Garner,
Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others.
This has been an unfortunate reality in the
U.S. and around the world for millions of black
and brown people for far too long—injustice
and unlawful treatment by those responsible
for upholding the law has to end and it has to
end now.
While I have seen this picture for my entire
life, before that conversation with my mother I
never realized that the individual in it was my
father.
The picture was taken in 1974 and showed
my father. Leon Hall, a board member of the
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Southern Regional Council, testifying before
this very body about the issues related to edu-
cation and students being pushed out of edu-
cation systems, much as he was. Our Majority
Whip Representative CLYBURN and Represent-
ative BENNIE
THOMPSON
were also board
members of the SRC at that time.
The body of work they established at that
time is the scholarship we now refer to as the
school to prison pipeline. Some of America’s
greatest talents, our most brilliant minds—ca-
pable of creating inventions, innovations, or
great companies that can employ thousands
and provide cures to ailments—are lan-
guishing in prison due to an unjust legal sys-
tem. Many of them were brutalized on a traffic
stop or walking innocently down the street.
I rise to bring attention to the need for jus-
tice reform and to explain the import of why I
support justice ref arm projects, like the last
prisoner project, the innocence project, ban-
ning the box for reentry to work. I support the
overall evolution of the way we work, who
works, and how we contribute and provide
value to a future society that truly is just for
all.
Young people who fill prisons should be em-
powered to create and build our companies as
knowledgebased workers with or without a col-
lege degree doing jobs that require new tech
skills that they have, and those in jails for non-
violent offenses should be released and given
training to do the same. That’s why I support
the MOREs act and SAFE act. But the critical
component
of
this
is
the
categorical
expungement of records and wholesale invest-
ment in the creation of companies with, for,
and by citizens reentering the economy—com-
panies that will pay taxes and keep people off
the streets. The SAFE Act should have
minority- and women-led financial institutions
at the center of the transition that we need to
move our country forward in a uniformed fash-
ion.
We need a comprehensive solution to end
these injustices. I believe in second chances
and the power of redemption. People returning
from incarceration should have opportunities
and pathways to succeed and contribute to
society in a meaningful way without stigma
from the wrongs they’ve done in the past. This
same principle is applicable to Congress too.
I would end on the following observation.
The country was built on the backs of African
descendants of slaves, indigenous people and
other immigrants including Chinese, Irish,
Italians, Mexican and Central Americans,
those from South Asia and people from all
over the world. We need a country that func-
tions without regard to where your ancestors
come from. We need opportunity mindful of
that. We need a justice system mindful of that.
Only then can we begin to end the divisions
of our country and begin to unite.
Tough times bring out the worse or the best
in people and we need to standup and ensure
that we not let the COVID crisis continue to
bring out the worse but rather take the next
few weeks of this administration and first 100
days to 6 months to get something right in this
country and get the country back on course.
SUPPORT FOR S. 1310 (ORGANIZA-
TION
OF
AMERICAN
STATES
LEGISLATIVE ENGAGEMENT ACT
OF 2020)
HON. MICHAEL T. McCAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I want to ex-
press my support for the Organization of
American States Legislative Engagement Act.
The Organization of American States (OAS)
brings together the nations of the Western
Hemisphere to promote democracy, human
rights, security, and economic development.
This bill directs the Department of State to
develop a strategy to support efforts in the
OAS to strengthen critical anti-corruption ef-
forts and promote human rights.
It also requires a report detailing the organi-
zation’s progress toward advancing human
rights, combating impunity, and supporting the
participation of democratically elected legisla-
tors in OAS activities.
Finally, this bill encourages democratically
elected legislators from member states to dis-
cuss the most important issues facing the re-
gion—including defending human rights, pro-
moting democracy, and supporting anti-corrup-
tion efforts.
As
co-chair
of
the
US-Mexico
Inter-
parliamentary Group, I recognize the important
role that legislators can play in advancing
shared foreign policy interests. However, the
United States must take all necessary meas-
ures to ensure that any interparliamentary
forum created under this legislation provides a
platform for substantive discourse to address
serious issues impacting the region, including
countering threats to democracy and human
rights, transnational crime, impunity, and sys-
temic corruption in accordance with the Inter-
American Democratic Charter.
The United States must also make all efforts
to ensure that interparliamentary forums are
not coopted by actors who aim to undermine
U.S. policy interests in the region by pro-
moting socialism and embracing malign actors
like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
This legislation includes critical language
ensuring that only democratically elected legis-
lators participate in any newly-created forum.
A ‘‘democratically elected legislator’’ under this
legislation should be strictly defined as an indi-
vidual who was elected as a result of periodic,
free and fair elections. Further, any legislator
who is known to be convicted for or engaged
in corruption or transnational criminal activi-
ties, including trafficking of people, goods, or
illicit narcotics, moneylaundering, terrorist fi-
nancing, acts of terrorism, campaign finance
violations, bribery, extortion, human rights vio-
lations, or undermining democracy, should be
barred from participation.
The U.S. must also work with the OAS to
ensure that any forum or action taken under
this legislation is feasible and cost effective,
keeping in mind the ongoing budgetary con-
straints of the OAS and the importance of ad-
vancing the objectives outlined under the Or-
ganization of American States Revitalization
and Reform Act of 2013, including the imple-
mentation of a results-based budgeting proc-
ess in order to strategically prioritize, and
where appropriate, reduce current and future
mandates.
The State Department should also maintain
communication with the Committee on Foreign
Relations in the Senate and the Committee on
Foreign Affairs in the House of Representa-
tives through regular briefings on the progress
of any forum that is created under Section 4
of this legislation and its implementation.
With the Western Hemisphere facing seri-
ous threats from authoritarian regimes and
malign actors, it has never been more impor-
tant for the U.S. and our partners to promote
values of freedom in the region.
I commend Senator CARDIN and Senator
WICKER for their leadership on this issue, and
I urge my colleagues to support this legisla-
tion.
f
THE 2020 CHRISTMAS TREE BILL:
‘‘MONEY VERSUS WEALTH’’
HON. MARCY KAPTUR
OF OHIO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, December 21, 2020
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, Americans
should wonder why Pennsylvania Senator PAT
TOOMEY—a Harvard educated, former Wall
Street foreign currency swap trader—held up
this relief bill so necessary to help people in
our pandemic-plagued nation. He was wrong
to hold up the bill, but he is right on putting a
spotlight on the Federal Reserve. Bottom line:
How will our nation pay the $2 trillion bill for
this necessary relief to the American people,
and our escalating debt? First, let me begin
with this basic lesson President Franklin Roo-
sevelt’s generation taught mine: There is a dif-
ference between ‘‘money’’ and ‘‘wealth.’’ Sen-
ator TOOMEY appears to be concerned about
America’s deteriorating financial position. So
am I.
Wealth = tangible assets that produce real
products (agricultural land, a factory, a donut
shop, a forest, etc. . . . real products. Money
is but an ephemeral accounting transaction.
As Congress debates this $2 trillion-dollar vital
bill, of one thing we can be certain: it is not
paid for. The U.S. has gone from the world’s
largest creditor (+$360 billion) in 1980, to its
largest debtor (¥$97 trillion) in 2019. The per-
cent of household debt equals 68 percent of
the GDP, an astounding figure—($14.35 trillion
of a GDP of $21.16 trillion). The Federal Re-
serve soon will gather its member banks to
figure out how to finance this debt. The money
to pay for it will be borrowed as onerous tax-
ation at this time would harm the recovery. But
the American people will have to pay back
lenders for years to come, including increasing
payments to foreign creditors that are financ-
ing
America—China,
Japan,
and
Brazil,
among others. Senator TOOMEY is shining a
laser beam on the Fed as it will be the su-
preme negotiator in these ‘‘money’’ trans-
actions that will impact our nation’s future
‘‘wealth’’. Our nation has been accumulating
more and more debt and not been paying
down principal for a very long time due to
wars, huge tax cuts to the wealthy, and a
haughty attitude among some that the U.S. is
invulnerable to the selling off of productive as-
sets. During the 1990’s, to ease the interest
payments on our accumulating U.S. debt, the
U.S. financial system was turned inside out to
inflate
and
leverage
globally
Americans’
wealth in the housing sector. Wall Street, with
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the Fed looking on, ushered in the horrific
2008 housing crisis with millions of trans-
actions that failed. Individual American families
are still recovering from that hard body blow to
their real wealth achieved through home own-
ership, their primary source of savings. Yes,
Wall Street feverishly booked paper money
losses while big securities firms ate one an-
other, leaving about 4 giant firms that now
transact the majority of money trades in our
country. Incidentally, their CEO’s took away
more money and bonuses than before the
crash. They transferred their losses to home-
owners in every hamlet in our nation as well
as booked losses to many lenders that had
less money power.
Senator PAT TOOMEY is a former Wall Street
refugee as the bank at which he worked was
gobbled up by Germany’s Deutche Bank. He
holds a rigid fealty to free markets as a Club
for Growth endorsed Senator. He and I hold
vastly differing views about many issues, but
we come from manufacturing states deeply
harmed by the current Wall Street-Fed eco-
nomic model, where every real asset is dis-
posable. We both share a deep concern about
rising U.S. debt levels and the role of the Fed-
eral Reserve as an agent of national decline.
He has focused on America’s terrible ‘‘money
vs. wealth’’ predicament whether one chooses
to listen to him or not. Our nation’s capital
markets are now dependent on foreign invest-
ment to prop them up. Our nation is not finan-
cially independent. The question is which sec-
tor of our economy will next fall victim to Wall
Street’s financial roulette with the Federal Re-
serve’s acquiescence—will the wealth of our
states and municipalities be compromised or
emptied out as was our housing sector? That
is a deep concern in view of what Wall Street
orchestrated as the housing bubble burst.
For foreign investors buying U.S. debt, U.S.
taxpayers annually now shell out over $130
billion annually in interest payments to China,
Japan, and Brazil to name three. Since the
1980’s the share of foreign ownership of US
debt has risen from less than 4 percent to well
over 40 percent. This is an astounding indict-
ment on our unfortunate inability to live within
our means. Frankly, to be a strong and inde-
pendent nation, with wealth creation here at
home, these are bills we should aim to pay
ourselves. That requires real leadership.
The Fed’s Chair, an unelected position, is
now the second most important office in
Washington, DC. 99 percent of the public
doesn’t think much about the Fed. But it be-
comes the key lynchpin in the ability of our na-
tion to float economically. Its growing, sub-
terranean financial control over daily life can
come at a terrible price. The Fed’s money and
debt penchant for our nation is like consuming
a tad of arsenic at a time. Rather, to reverse
the cycle of middle-class downward mobility,
America needs real wealth creation at home,
not just money supply manipulation again. For
example, why shouldn’t seniors be able to
earn fair interest again on their accumulated
savings? They loan their precious dollars to
banks and are paid nothing in return. The as-
piring generation should not have to be
pawned through heavy education debt loads
from which the financial sector benefits. If
Congress fails to pay attention, real assets of
local municipalities and states could well be
leveraged by the Fed to pay more American
interest to foreign bond holders. Heedless bor-
rowing continues to fund America’s inability to
grow the real economy here at home. The sig-
nificant diminishment of manufacturing as a
robust sector of our economy that creates
broad economic uplift of the middle class can-
not be matched by the ‘‘financial services’’
sector nor the new ‘‘tech industry’’ which
produce very lopsided economies, with a few
very rich but many more poor.
Record credit card debt and the indebting of
the aspiring generation—all are signs of a
creeping financialization of our society that
takes power and control away from ordinary
citizens. Is it any wonder Americans are in
backlash mode? The amount of interest tax-
payers are paying foreign creditors has been
on an ascending curve since the l980s. It can-
not continue if our nation is to remain free.
With this ‘‘debt bomb’’ hanging over our
heads, in the future any bill Congress passes
must protect the real value of our municipal
and state assets—water and sewage systems,
bus systems, parks, hospitals and universities,
roads, equipment, etc. They should not be le-
veraged through international borrowing that
requires growing interest payments over time
that in tum indebts our communities in per-
petuity as has occurred already with student
debt loans and the housing melt down.
A truly strong America requires we look our-
selves in the mirror and design a ‘‘Build Back
Better Recovery’’ that is not financialized but
is truly ‘‘made in America’’, not borrowed. The
American people deserve no less for what
they have been enduring during this Pandemic
and with the accelerating economic washout
of the middle class since the 1980’s. There is
a huge difference between money and wealth.
f
SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Title IV of Senate Resolution 4,
agreed to by the Senate of February 4,
1977, calls for establishment of a sys-
tem for a computerized schedule of all
meetings and hearings of Senate com-
mittees, subcommittees, joint commit-
tees, and committees of conference.
This title requires all such committees
to notify the Office of the Senate Daily
Digest—designated by the Rules Com-
mittee—of the time, place and purpose
of the meetings, when scheduled and
any cancellations or changes in the
meetings as they occur.
As an additional procedure along
with the computerization of this infor-
mation, the Office of the Senate Daily
Digest will prepare this information for
printing in the Extensions of Remarks
section of the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
on Monday and Wednesday of each
week.
Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, De-
cember 22, 2020 may be found in the
Daily Digest of today’s RECORD.
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Daily Digest
HIGHLIGHTS
Senate agreed to the motion to concur in the amendment of the House
of Representatives to the amendment of the Senate to H.R. 133, Con-
solidated Appropriations Act.
Senate
Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S7887–S7949
Measures Introduced: Seven bills were introduced,
as follows: S. 5078–5084.                                      Page S7939
Measures Passed:
Buying American: Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation was discharged from fur-
ther consideration of S. Res. 625, affirming the ben-
efits of ‘‘Buying American’’, and the resolution was
then agreed to, after agreeing to the following
amendments proposed thereto:                            Page S7899
Scott (FL) Amendment No. 2726, in the nature of
a substitute.                                                                  Page S7899
Scott (FL) Amendment No. 2727, to amend the
preamble.                                                                        Page S7899
Scott (FL) Amendment No. 2728, to amend the
title.                                                                                  Page S7899
BUILD Act: Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs was discharged from further con-
sideration of S. 371, to provide regulatory relief to
charitable organizations that provide housing assist-
ance, and the bill was then passed, after agreeing to
the following amendment proposed thereto:
                                                                                    Pages S7901–02
Cornyn (for Fischer) Amendment No. 2729, in
the nature of a substitute.                             Pages S7901–02
Restoring Resilient Reefs Act: Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation was dis-
charged from further consideration of S. 2429, to re-
authorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000
and to establish the United States Coral Reef Task
Force, and the bill was then passed, after agreeing
to the following amendment proposed thereto:
                                                                                            Page S7902
Cornyn (for Rubio/Schatz) Amendment No. 2730,
in the nature of a substitute.                               Page S7902
Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools
Act: Senate passed H.R. 3250, to require the Sec-
retary of the Interior to conduct a special resource
study of the sites associated with the life and legacy
of the noted American philanthropist and business
executive Julius Rosenwald, with a special focus on
the Rosenwald Schools.                                           Page S7902
Jimmy Carter National Historical Park Redes-
ignation Act: Senate passed H.R. 5472, to redesig-
nate the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site as the
‘‘Jimmy Carter National Historical Park’’.   Page S7902
DESCEND Act: Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation was discharged from fur-
ther consideration of H.R. 5126, to require individ-
uals fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain descend-
ing devices, and the bill was then passed.    Page S7902
Enrollment Correction: Senate agreed to H. Con.
Res. 128, directing the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives to make a correction in the enrollment
of H.R. 1520.                                                      Pages S7924–28
United Nations World Food Programme: Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations was discharged from
further consideration of S. Res. 774, honoring the
United Nations World Food Programme on the oc-
casion of being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize,
and the resolution was then agreed to, after agreeing
to the following amendments proposed thereto:
                                                                                            Page S7928
Boozman Amendment No. 2733, to amend the
resolving clause.                                                          Page S7928
Boozman Amendment No. 2734, to amend the
preamble.                                                                        Page S7928
Port of Beirut: Committee on Foreign Relations
was discharged from further consideration of S. Res.
682, recognizing the devastating explosion that
rocked the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, and
expressing solidarity with the Lebanese people, and
the resolution was then agreed to.                    Page S7928
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EFFORT Act: Senate passed H.R. 3153, to direct
the Director of the National Science Foundation to
support research on opioid addiction, after with-
drawing the committee amendment in the nature of
a substitute, and agreeing to the following amend-
ment proposed thereto:                                           Page S7929
Boozman (for Wicker) Amendment No. 2732, in
the nature of a substitute.                                     Page S7929
Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects Act:
Committee on Environment and Public Works was
discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2502,
to amend title 40, United States Code, to require
certain prospectuses for public buildings to be made
publicly available, and the bill was then passed.
                                                                                            Page S7929
Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act:
Committee on the Judiciary was discharged from
further consideration of H.R. 1418, to restore the
application of the Federal antitrust laws to the busi-
ness of health insurance to protect competition and
consumers, and the bill was then passed.      Page S7929
Yucca House National Monument Expansion
Act: Senate passed H.R. 1492, to update the map of,
and modify the maximum acreage available for in-
clusion in, the Yucca House National Monument.
                                                                                            Page S7929
Enrollment Correction: Senate agreed to H. Con.
Res. 127, directing the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives to make a correction in the enrollment
of H.R. 133.                                                         Pages S7922–30
House Messages:
Further Extension of Continuing Appropria-
tions Act: Senate agreed to the motion to concur in
the amendment of the House of Representatives to
the amendment of the Senate to H.R. 1520, to
amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for
the publication of a list of licensed biological prod-
ucts.                                                                                   Page S7923
Consolidated Appropriations Act: By 92 yeas to 6 nays
(Vote No. 289), Senate agreed to the motion to concur
in the amendment of the House of Representatives to the
amendment of the Senate to H.R. 133, making consoli-
dated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2021, by the order of the Senate of Monday, Decem-
ber 21, 2020, 60 Senators having voted in the affirma-
tive.                                                                            Pages S7922–28
Appointments:
Independent Mexico Labor Expert Board: The
Chair, on behalf of the President pro tempore, upon
the recommendation of the Majority Leader, pursu-
ant to Public Law 116–113, and in consultation
with the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Fi-
nance, appointed the following individuals to the
Independent Mexico Labor Expert Board: Kyle
Fortson of the District of Columbia, and Charlotte
Ponticelli of Maryland.                                            Page S7949
Signing Authority—Agreement: A unanimous-
consent agreement was reached providing that Sen-
ators Thune, Roberts, and Blunt be authorized to
sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from
Monday, December 21, 2020 through Sunday, Janu-
ary 3, 2021.                                                                  Page S7928
Pro Forma Sessions—Agreement: A unanimous-
consent agreement was reached providing that the
Senate adjourn, to then convene for pro forma ses-
sions only, with no business being conducted on the
following dates and times, and that following each
pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next
pro forma session: Thursday, December 24, 2020, at
10 a.m.; and Monday, December 28, 2020, at 10
a.m.; and that when the Senate adjourns on Monday,
December 28, 2020, it next convene at 12 noon, on
Tuesday, December 29, 2020.                             Page S7949
Nominations Confirmed: Senate confirmed the fol-
lowing nominations:
By 48 yeas to 47 nays (Vote No. EX. 288), Eric
J. Soskin, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, De-
partment of Transportation.            Pages S7910, S7921–22
During consideration of this nomination today,
Senate also took the following action:
By 48 yeas to 46 nays (Vote No. 285), Senate
agreed to the motion to proceed to the motion to
reconsider the vote by which cloture was not in-
voked on Friday, December 19, 2020.            Page S7910
By 48 yeas to 46 nays (Vote No. EX. 286), Senate
agreed to the motion to reconsider the vote by
which cloture was not invoked on Friday, December
19, 2020.                                                                        Page S7910
By 48 yeas to 44 nays (Vote No. EX. 287), Senate
upon reconsideration agreed to the motion to close
further debate on the nomination.            Pages S7910–11
C. Kevin Blackstone, of Virginia, a Career Mem-
ber of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-
Counselor, to be Ambassador to the Democratic Re-
public of Timor-Leste.
Cynthia Kierscht, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador
to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Brian D. McFeeters, of Virginia, to be Ambas-
sador to Malaysia.
David Reimer, of Ohio, a Career Member of the
Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be
Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone.
Geeta Pasi, of New York, to be Ambassador to
the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
                                                                                            Page S7930
Messages from the House:                        Pages S7938–39
Enrolled Bills Presented:                                    Page S7939
Additional Cosponsors:                               Pages S7939–40
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST
D1123
December 21, 2020
Additional Statements:                                        Page S7938
Amendments Submitted:                           Pages S7940–49
Record Votes: Five record votes were taken today.
(Total—289)                  Pages S7910–11, S7921–22, S7927–28
Adjournment: Senate convened at 12 noon on Mon-
day, December 21, 2020 and adjourned at 1:47 a.m.
on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, until 12 noon on
Thursday, December 24, 2020. (For Senate’s pro-
gram, see the remarks of the Majority Leader in to-
day’s Record on page S7949.)
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
No committee meetings were held.
h
House of Representatives
Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 7 public
bills, H.R. 9039–9045; and 2 resolutions, H. Con.
Res. 127–128, were introduced                          Page H7322
Additional Cosponsors:                                       Page H7322
Reports Filed: Reports were filed today as follows:
H. Res. 1271, providing for consideration of the
Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 133) to promote
economic partnership and cooperation between the
United States and Mexico; providing for disposition
of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R.1520) to
amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for
the publication of a list of licensed biological prod-
ucts, and for other purposes; and for other purposes
(H. Rept. 116–679);
H.R. 2245, to amend the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 to prohibit import and export of any species
listed or proposed to be listed under such Act as a
threatened species or endangered species, and for
other
purposes,
with
amendments
(H.
Rept.
116–680, Part 1);
H.R. 1108, to provide for funding from the Air-
port and Airway Trust Fund for all Federal Aviation
Administration activities in the event of a Govern-
ment shutdown, and for other purposes, with an
amendment (H. Rept. 116–681, Part 1);
H.R. 4545, to provide for the discharge of a pri-
vate education loan in the case of death or total and
permanent disability of a student obligor, and for
other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept.
116–682, Part 1);
H.R. 4782, to establish a national commission on
online platforms and homeland security, and for
other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept.
116–683, Part 1); and
H.R. 865, to provide for the long-term improve-
ment of public school facilities, and for other pur-
poses, with amendments (H. Rept. 116–684, Part
1).                                                                               Pages H7321–22
Recess: The House recessed at 9:35 a.m. and recon-
vened at 4:04 p.m.                                                    Page H7290
Directing the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives to make a correction in the enrollment of
H.R. 133: The House agreed to H. Con. Res. 127,
directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives
to make a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 133.
                                                                                            Page H7300
Agreed to amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Making
consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2021, providing coronavirus emer-
gency response and relief, and for other purposes.’’.
                                                                                            Page H7300
Directing the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives to make a correction in the enrollment of
H.R. 1520: The House agreed to H. Con. Res. 128,
directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives
to make a correction in the enrollment of H.R.
1520.                                                                        Pages H7300–01
Agreed to amend the title so as to read: ‘‘Making
further continuing appropriations for fiscal year
2021, and for other purposes.’’.                          Page H7301
United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act:
The House concurred in the Senate amendment to
H.R. 133, to promote economic partnership and co-
operation between the United States and Mexico,
with an amendment consisting of the text of Rules
Committee Print 116–68, with the first portion of
the question comprising Divisions B, C, E, and F,
by a yea-and-nay vote of 327 yeas to 85 nays, Roll
No. 250.                                                                 Pages H7301–14
H. Res. 1271, the rule providing for consideration
of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 133) was
agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 227 yeas to 180
nays, Roll No. 249, after the previous question was
ordered without objection. Pursuant to section 2 of
H. Res. 1271, the House shall be considered to have
taken from the Speaker’s table the bill (H.R. 1520)
with the Senate amendment thereto, and to have
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST
D1124
December 21, 2020
concurred in the Senate amendment with an amend-
ment consisting of the text of Rules Committee
Print 116–69.                                               Pages H7290–H7300
United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act:
The House concurred in the Senate amendment to
H.R. 133, to promote economic partnership and co-
operation between the United States and Mexico,
with an amendment consisting of the text of Rules
Committee Print 116–68, with the second portion of
the question except Divisions B, C, E, and F, by a
yea-and-nay vote of 359 yeas to 53 nays, Roll No.
251.                                                                           Pages H7314–15
H. Res. 1271, the rule providing for consideration
of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 133) was
agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 227 yeas to 180
nays, Roll No. 249, after the previous question was
ordered without objection. Pursuant to section 2 of
H. Res. 1271, the House shall be considered to have
taken from the Speaker’s table the bill (H.R. 1520)
with the Senate amendment thereto, and to have
concurred in the Senate amendment with an amend-
ment consisting of the text of Rules Committee
Print 116–69.                                               Pages H7290–H7300
Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of
2020: The House agreed to take from the Speaker’s
table and pass S. 4996, to ensure funding of the
United States trustees, and extend temporary bank-
ruptcy judgeships.                                             Pages H7315–17
Senate Referrals: S. 371 was held at the desk. S.
2204 was held at the desk. S. 2346 was held at the
desk. S. 2353 was held at the desk. S. 2716 was
held at the desk. S. 2800 was held at the desk. S.
2827 was held at the desk. S. 3099 was held at the
desk. S. 3100 was held at the desk. S. 3948 was
held at the desk. S. 3952 was held at the desk. S.
4079 was held at the desk. S. 4222 was held at the
desk. S. 4556 was held at the desk. S. 5076 was
held at the desk.
Senate Messages: Message received from the Senate
today and messages received from the Senate by the
Clerk and subsequently presented to the House
today appear on pages H7290 and H7300.
Quorum Calls—Votes: Three yea-and-nay votes de-
veloped during the proceedings of today and appear
on pages H7299, H7313, and H7314.
Adjournment: The House met at 9 a.m. and ad-
journed at 9:13 p.m.
Committee Meetings
SENATE AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED
STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
ACT
Committee on Rules: Full Committee held a hearing on
the Senate Amendment to H.R. 133, the ‘‘United
States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act’’ [Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act, 2021]. The Committee
granted, by record vote of 8–4, a rule providing for
the consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R.
133, the ‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2021’’. The rule makes in order a motion offered by
the chair of the Committee on Appropriations or her
designee that the House concur in the Senate
amendment with an amendment consisting of the
text of Rules Committee Print 116–68. The rule
waives all points of order against consideration of the
motion. The rule provides that the Senate amend-
ment and the motion shall be considered as read.
The rule provides one hour of debate on the motion
equally divided and controlled by the chair and
ranking minority member of the Committee on Ap-
propriations. The rule provides that the question of
adoption of the motion shall be divided for a sepa-
rate vote on the matter proposed to be inserted as
divisions B, C, E, and F, and the Chair shall first
put the question on such portion of the divided
question. The rule provides that if either portion of
the divided question fails of adoption, then the mo-
tion shall immediately be considered to have failed
of adoption. Section two of the rule provides that
upon adoption of the rule, the House shall be con-
sidered to have concurred in the Senate amendment
to H.R. 1520 with an amendment consisting of the
text of Rules Committee Print 116–69. The rule
provides that the Clerk shall be authorized to make
necessary technical and conforming changes in the
engrossment of the House amendments specified in
the first two sections of the resolution. The rule pro-
vides that if a veto message is laid before the House
on H.R. 6395, then after the message is read, fur-
ther consideration of the veto message and the bill
shall be postponed until the legislative day of Mon-
day, December 28, 2020; and on that legislative day,
the House shall proceed to reconsideration and dis-
pose of such question without intervening motion.
The rule provides that the chair of the Committee
on Appropriations and the chair of the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence may insert in the
Congressional Record not later than December 28,
2020, such material as they may deem explanatory
of the Senate amendment and the motion specified
in the first section of the rule. Testimony was heard
from Chairman Lowey and Representative Granger.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST
D1125
December 21, 2020
Joint Meetings
No joint committee meetings were held.
f
NEW PUBLIC LAWS
(For last listing of Public Laws, see DAILY DIGEST, p. D1110)
S. 910, to reauthorize and amend the National Sea
Grant College Program Act. Signed on December
18, 2020. (Public Law 116–221)
S. 945, to amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
to require certain issuers to disclose to the Securities
and Exchange Commission information regarding
foreign jurisdictions that prevent the Public Com-
pany Accounting Oversight Board from performing
inspections under that Act. Signed on December 18,
2020. (Public Law 116–222)
S. 1069, to require the Secretary of Commerce,
acting through the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to estab-
lish a constituent-driven program to provide a dig-
ital information platform capable of efficiently inte-
grating coastal data with decision-support tools,
training, and best practices and to support collection
of priority coastal geospatial data to inform and im-
prove local, State, regional, and Federal capacities to
manage the coastal region. Signed on December 18,
2020. (Public Law 116–223)
S. 1982, to improve efforts to combat marine de-
bris. Signed on December 18, 2020. (Public Law
116–224)
H.J. Res. 107, making further continuing appro-
priations for fiscal year 2021. Signed on December
18, 2020. (Public Law 116–225)
H.J. Res. 110, making further continuing appro-
priations for fiscal year 2021. Signed on December
20, 2020. (Public Law 116–226
f
COMMITTEE MEETINGS FOR THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 24, 2020
(Committee meetings are open unless otherwise indicated)
Senate
No meetings/hearings scheduled.
House
No hearings are scheduled.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record (USPS 087–390). The Periodicals postage
is paid at Washington, D.C. The public proceedings of each House
of Congress, as reported by the Official Reporters thereof, are
printed pursuant to directions of the Joint Committee on Printing as authorized by appropriate provisions of Title 44, United
States Code, and published for each day that one or both Houses are in session, excepting very infrequent instances when
two or more unusually small consecutive issues are printed one time. ¶ Public access to the Congressional Record is available online through
the U.S. Government Publishing Office, at www.govinfo.gov, free of charge to the user. The information is updated online each day the
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Government Online Bookstore at: bookstore.gpo.gov. Mail orders to: Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 979050, St. Louis, MO
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Record, U.S. Government Publishing Office,
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U
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D1126
December 21, 2020
Next Meeting of the SENATE
10 a.m., Thursday, December 24
Senate Chamber
Program for Thursday: Senate will meet in a pro forma
session.
Next Meeting of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9 a.m., Thursday, December 24
House Chamber
Program for Thursday: House will meet in Pro Forma
session at 9 a.m.
Extensions of Remarks, as inserted in this issue
HOUSE
Brooks, Susan W., Ind., E1193
Burgess, Michael C., Tex., E1191
Evans, Dwight, Pa., E1193
Ferguson, A. Drew, IV, Ga., E1191
Garcia, Sylvia R., Tex., E1194
Griffith, H. Morgan, Va., E1193
Hall, Kwanza, Ga., E1196
Higgins, Brian, N.Y., E1192, E1196
Huffman, Jared, Calif., E1194
Joyce, John, Pa., E1194
Kaptur, Marcy, Ohio, E1197
Lamborn, Doug, Colo., E1195
Lee, Barbara, Calif., E1195
Lesko, Debbie, Ariz., E1192, E1195
McCaul, Michael T., Tex., E1197
Neal, Richard E., Mass., E1191
Perlmutter, Ed, Colo., E1192, E1195
Tlaib, Rashida, Mich., E1192
Torres, Norma J., Calif., E1194
Wilson, Joe, S.C., E1193
Wittman, Robert J., Va., E1191, E1194
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