Congressional Record Daily Digest — March 17, 2021, D258
Summary
This is D258 of the Congressional Record Daily Digest for March 17, 2021, covering committee meetings and House chamber action. The Committee on the Judiciary concluded a hearing on the Equality Act, focusing on LGBTQ rights, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship concluded a hearing on the Paycheck Protection Program. The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ordered favorably reported the nominations of Vivek Hallegere Murthy to be Surgeon General and of Rachel Leland Levine to be an Assistant Secretary. In the House, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021, H.R. 1620, was passed.
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“Congressional Record Daily Digest — March 17, 2021, D258.”
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D258 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST March 17, 2021
S. 522, to require each agency, in providing notice Pennsylvania, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of
of a rule making, to include a link to a 100 word the Department of Health and Human Services.
plain language summary of the proposed rule;
S. 111, to establish the Federal Clearinghouse on EQUALITY ACT
School Safety Best Practices; Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a
S. 664, to require the Comptroller General of the hearing to examine the Equality Act, focusing on
United States to review certain legislation in order LGBTQ rights, after receiving testimony from Sen-
to identify potential risks of duplication of and over- ators Merkley, Baldwin, Blackburn, Hyde-Smith,
lap with existing Federal programs, offices, and ini- and Lankford; Representatives Cicilline, Newman,
tiatives; and Hartzler; Alphonso David, Human Rights Cam-
S. 566, to designate the facility of the United paign, New York, New York; Edith Guffey, PFLAG
States Postal Service located at 42 Main Street in National, Lawrence, Kansas; Mary Hasson, Ethics
Slatersville, Rhode Island, as the ‘‘Specialist Matthew and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.; Stella
R. Turcotte Post Office’’; Keating, Tacoma, Washington; and Abigail Shrier,
H.R. 208, to designate the facility of the United Los Angeles, California.
States Postal Service located at 500 West Main
Street, Suite 102 in Tupelo, Mississippi, as the PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
‘‘Colonel Carlyle ’Smitty’ Harris Post Office’’; and
H.R. 264, to designate the facility of the United Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Com-
States Postal Service located at 1101 Charlotte Street mittee concluded a hearing to examine the Paycheck
in Georgetown, South Carolina, as the ‘‘Joseph Protection Program, focusing on performance, im-
Hayne Rainey Memorial Post Office Building’’. pact, and next steps, including S. 723, to amend the
Small Business Act and the CARES Act to extend
BUSINESS MEETING the covered period for the paycheck protection pro-
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: gram, after receiving testimony from Lisa Mensah,
Committee ordered favorably reported the nomina- Opportunity Finance Network, and Joel Griffith,
tions of Vivek Hallegere Murthy, of Florida, to be The Heritage Foundation, both of Washington,
Medical Director in the Regular Corps of the Public D.C.; John K. Hoey, The Y in Central Maryland,
Health Service, and to be Surgeon General of the Baltimore; and Brad Polumbo, Foundation for Eco-
Public Health Service, and Rachel Leland Levine, of nomic Education, Arlington, Virginia.
h
House of Representatives
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of
Chamber Action 2021: The House passed H.R. 1620, to reauthor-
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 43 pub- ize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, by
lic bills, H.R. 1953–1995; and 8 resolutions, H. a yea-and-nay vote of 244 yeas to 172 nays, Roll
Res. 243–250, were introduced. Pages H1497–H1500 No. 86. Pages H1432–75, H1476–79
Additional Cosponsors: Pages H1501–02
Pursuant to the Rule, an amendment in the na-
ture of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules
Reports Filed: There were no reports filed today. Committee Print 117–3, modified by the amend-
Removing the deadline for the ratification of the ment printed in part A of H. Rept. 117–12, shall
equal rights amendment: The House passed H.J. be considered as adopted. Page H1432
Res. 17, removing the deadline for the ratification of Agreed to:
the equal rights amendment, by a yea-and-nay vote Nadler en bloc amendment No. 1 consisting of
of 222 yeas to 204 nays, Roll No. 82. the following amendments printed in part B of H.
Pages H1419–32, H1475–76
Rept. 117–12: Burgess (No. 1) that requires the
H. Res. 233, the rule providing for consideration DOJ and HHS to issue guidance and best practices
on strategies to improve coordination of sexual as-
of the bills (H.R. 1620), (H.R. 6), (H.R. 1603), sault forensic examination training and program sus-
(H.R. 1868), and the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 17)
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tainability; Bush (No. 2) that ensures that survivors
was agreed to yesterday, March 16th. can access transitional housing and be protected from
unfair evictions and denial of service; Bush (No. 3)
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March 17, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST D259
that requires the Attorney General shall make pub- Fernandez (No. 15) that directs the Office on Vio-
licly available on the Department of Justice website lence Against Women to report on actions taken to
reports involving police sexual misconduct; Case prevent suicide amongst survivors and to consult
(No. 4) that ensures the inclusion of Native Indian, with SAMHSA to establish best practices to prevent
Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian groups; requires suicide amongst survivors; Leger Fernandez (No. 16)
a review and subsequent Department of Justice re- that requires that services provided pursuant to
port of Native Hawaiian interactions with the crimi- grants to support families in the justice system are
nal justice system and related crime prevention pro- provided in a culturally relevant manner and requires
grams to add to pre-existing data on Native Indians DOL’s public outreach and education campaign to
and Alaska Natives; Connolly (No. 5) that adds the be conducted in a culturally relevant manner; Levin
right to be informed of the status and location of a (MI) (No. 17) that amends Sec. 101 (STOP Grants)
sexual assault evidence collection kit to the rights of to add ‘‘implementing a vertical prosecution system’’
sexual assault survivors; Crist (No. 6) that clarifies to the list of permissible uses for STOP grants;
that STOP grants can be used to cover the fees asso- Meng (No. 18) that ensures family-focused program-
ciated with replacing driver’s licenses and birth cer- ming for prisoners—from intake through reentry—
tificates for survivors and their children; will provide to support the prisoners’ familial needs, as well as
survivors and their families with life-saving assist- provide appropriate training for correctional staff to
ance as they take steps to build a safe and inde- engage with prisoners’ families; Meng (No. 19) that
pendent life; Rodney Davis (IL) (No. 7) that requires ensures clear distribution and accessibility of sanitary
the Department of Health and Human Services to products to prisoners and provides that no visitor is
include in their Study and Report on Barriers to prohibited from visiting due to the visitor’s use of
Survivors’ Economic Security Access (Sec. 704), the sanitary products; Moore (No. 20) that authorizes a
impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on such sur- study on the intersection between domestic violence,
vivors as it relates to their ability to maintain eco- sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, and ma-
nomic security; Delgado (No. 8) that adds to the ternal mortality or morbidity; Moore (No. 21) that
findings on Economic Security for Victims that indi- authorizes and expands programs offering sexual as-
viduals living in rural areas facing intimate partner sault medical forensic exams and sexual assault vic-
violence often face barriers to accessing resources, tim services in tribal communities; Newman (No.
ranging from health care to the criminal justice sys- 22) that requires grant applicants of the National
tem; Delgado (No. 9) that requires an analysis of the Resource Center on Workplace Responses to include
unique barriers faced by survivors in rural commu- microbusiness in their outreach to qualify; Omar
nities in the study on barriers to survivors’ economic (No. 23) that includes credit history in the GAO
security; Dingell (No. 10) that establishes pilot pro- economic barrier study; Omar (No. 24) that includes
gram grants (up to 10) through the Department of barriers of legal costs and jurisdictional challenges in
Justice to state and tribal courts, offering them the the GAO economic study; Phillips (No. 25) that es-
opportunity to explore the feasibility and effective- tablishes a pilot program to identify and make im-
ness of serving protection orders electronically; migration relief available to immigrants who are de-
Kaehle (No. 11) that ensures appropriate consulta- pendent upon their abusers for immigration status
tion and inclusion with indigenous groups to sup- and have been subject to battering or extreme cru-
port the tailored needs of indigenous women; Lamb elty and have already been authorized for employ-
(No. 12) that adds training for sexual assault nurse ment; Plaskett (No. 26) that establishes a civil cause
examiners (SANE nurses) to VAWA’s Rural Pro- of action against a person that discloses an intimate
grams, to expand access to and retention of quality image of an individual without the depicted individ-
SANE nurses in rural areas; Lawrence (No. 13) that ual’s consent, if the person disclosed the image with
amends Section 102 (Grants Encouraging Improve- knowledge of or reckless disregard for such lack of
ments and Alternatives to the Criminal Justice Re- consent; Pressley (No. 27) that establishes LGBTQ+
sponse), to authorize grants to also be used for the specific grants and services to LGBTQ+ victims of
purpose of better identifying and responding to do- domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault,
mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and and stalking; Ross (No. 28) that revises the Omni-
stalking against individuals who have been arrested bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to allow
or have contact with the juvenile or adult criminal grants to be used to for the development of state-
justice system, and for developing or strengthening wide databases with information on where sexual as-
diversion programs and to ensure they receive com- sault nurse examiners (SANE nurses) are located;
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prehensive victim services; Lawrence (No. 14) that Ross (No. 29) that creates a statutory mandate that
incentivizes states to adopt laws prohibiting the a victim’s safety should be central to the housing
prosecution of minors for prostitution; Leger and housing-related decisions that covered housing
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D260 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST March 17, 2021
providers make when implementing VAWA to not study conducted under this bill includes an assess-
evict survivors, keep their information confidential, ment, to the extent practicable, of any disparate im-
and do not deny assistance; Scanlon (No. 30) that pacts of the matter studied, by race, ethnicity, sex,
provides legal representation to individuals for post sexual orientation, and gender identity (by a yea-
conviction relief proceedings; Scanlon (No. 31) that and-nay vote of 228 yeas to 197 nays, Roll No. 83);
creates a pathway for providing legal services and Pages H1463–72, H1476–77
through the Department of Veterans Affairs to ad- Wagner amendment (No. 40 printed in part B of
dress unmet needs such as elder law, child custody, H. Rept. 117–12) that enhances VAWA’s trans-
and housing disputes; Speier (No. 32) that adds the parency and accountability measures by making enti-
Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting ties found by the Attorney General to have inten-
Distribution Act (the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’) to the bill, tionally misused VAWA grant funds ineligible to
which addresses the malicious sharing of private, in- apply for future grants for up to 5 years, after rea-
timate images, known as ‘‘nonconsensual pornog- sonable notice and opportunity for a hearing (by a
raphy’’ or ‘‘revenge porn’’; Speier (No. 33) that di- yea-and-nay vote of 242 yeas to 174 nays, Roll No.
rects the Secretary of Education to make available a 84). Pages H1474–75, H1477–78
climate survey for institutions of higher education to Rejected:
administer to students on their experiences with sex-
ual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, Stefanik amendment (No. 36 printed in part B of
stalking, and dating violence; Speier (No. 34) that H. Rept. 117–12) that sought to strike all and re-
establishes an Interagency Task Force on Sexual Vio- place the text with the Violence Against Women
lence in Education to provide pertinent information Extension Act of 2021 (by a yea-and-nay vote of 177
to the government, public, and educational institu- yeas to 249 nays, Roll No. 85). Pages H1472–74, H1478
tions on campus sexual violence prevention and re- H. Res. 233, the rule providing for consideration
sponse, as well as how to better assist survivors; of the bills (H.R. 1620), (H.R. 6), (H.R.1603),
Speier (No. 35) that builds on the unanimous pas- (H.R.1868), and the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 17)
sage of the Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act establishing was agreed to yesterday, March 16th.
rights for survivors of federal sexual assault offenses Suspensions—Proceedings Resumed: The House
by incentivizing states to ensure that survivors have, agreed to suspend the rules and pass the following
at a minimum, the rights guaranteed by the federal measures:
law; includes the right to be informed if the govern-
ment intends to destroy or dispose of a sexual assault Awarding three congressional gold medals to the
evidence collection kit, the right to be informed of United States Capitol Police and those who pro-
any result of a kit, and the right to have a sexual tected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021: H.R.
assault evidence collection kit or its probative con- 1085, amended, to award three congressional gold
tents preserved without charge for the maximum ap- medals to the United States Capitol Police and those
plicable statute of limitations or 20 years, whichever who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,
is shorter; Torres (CA) (No. 37) that requires the At- by a 2⁄3 yea-and-nay vote of 413 yeas to 12 nays,
torney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Roll No. 87; Page H1480
HHS, to conduct a study investigating whether COVID–19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of
abused victims who raise evidence of domestic vio- 2021: H.R. 1651, amended, to amend the CARES
lence are more likely to lose primary custody of their Act to extend the sunset for the definition of a small
children to an abusive partner or to the State, in- business debtor, by a 2⁄3 yea-and-nay vote of 399
cluding reviewing and providing recommendations yeas to 14 nays, Roll No. 88; and Pages H1480–81
on restructuring relevant state laws, regulations, and VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund
practices; Torres (CA) (No. 38) that requires the At-
torney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Act of 2021: H.R. 1652, amended, to deposit certain
HHS, to conduct a study on the direct and collateral funds into the Crime Victims Fund, to waive match-
economic costs and risks of divorce from an abusive ing requirements, by a 2⁄3 yea-and-nay vote of 384
partner to a victim of domestic violence, including yeas to 38 nays, Roll No. 89. Pages H1481–82
payment of alimony, legal fees, spousal support, or Clerk to Correct Engrossment: Agreed by unani-
the division of property; Torres (NY) (No. 39) that mous consent that in the engrossment of H.R. 1620,
mandates state and local governments submit to the the Clerk be authorized to correct section numbers,
Attorney General a report on the number of sexual punctuation, spelling, and cross-references and to
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assault response teams at hospitals and their average make such other technical and conforming changes
victim response times to be eligible for certain fed- as may be necessary to reflect the actions of the
eral funds; and Williams (No. 41) that ensures any House. Page H1482
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March 17, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — DAILY DIGEST D261
Committee Election: The House agreed to H. Res. tion and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administra-
244, electing a certain Member to a certain standing tion.
committee of the House of Representatives.
Page H1482 AVERTING A CRISIS: PROTECTING ACCESS
TO HEALTH CARE IN THE U.S.
Quorum Calls—Votes: Eight yea-and-nay votes de- TERRITORIES
veloped during the proceedings of today and appear
on pages H1475–76, H1476–77, H1477, H1478, Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on
H1479, H1480, H1480–81, and H1481–82. Health held a hearing entitled ‘‘Averting a Crisis:
Protecting Access to Health Care in the U.S. Terri-
Adjournment: The House met at 10 a.m. and ad- tories’’. Testimony was heard from Representatives
journed at 9:53 p.m. Sablan, Radewagen, Plaskett, González-Colón, and
San Nicolas; Anne Schwartz, Executive Director,
Committee Meetings Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commis-
CLIMATE CHANGE, NATIONAL SECURITY, sion; and Carolyn Yocom, Government Account-
AND THE ARCTIC ability Office.
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense GAME STOPPED? WHO WINS AND LOSES
held a hearing entitled ‘‘Climate Change, National WHEN SHORT SELLERS, SOCIAL MEDIA,
Security, and the Arctic’’. Testimony was heard from AND RETAIL INVESTORS COLLIDE, PART II
public witnesses.
Committee on Financial Services: Full Committee held
DHS MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES a hearing entitled ‘‘Game Stopped? Who Wins and
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Home- Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail
land Security held a hearing entitled ‘‘DHS Manage- Investors Collide, Part II’’. Testimony was heard
ment Challenges’’. Testimony was heard from public from public witnesses.
witnesses.
WOMEN LEADING THE WAY: THE
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING FOR A DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT IN BELARUS
CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Eu-
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy rope, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber held a
and Water Development, and Related Agencies held hearing entitled ‘‘Women Leading the Way: The
a hearing entitled ‘‘Domestic Manufacturing for a Democratic Movement in Belarus’’. Testimony was
Clean Energy Future’’. Testimony was heard from heard from a public witness.
public witnesses.
UPDATE ON COVID–19 IN AFRICA
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: THE FUTURE
OF HIGHER EDUCATION POST COVID–19 Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa,
Global Health, and Global Human Rights held a
Committee on Education and Labor: Subcommittee on hearing entitled ‘‘Update on COVID–19 in Africa’’.
Higher Education and Workforce Investment held a Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
hearing entitled ‘‘Rising to the Challenge: The Fu-
ture of Higher Education Post COVID–19’’. Testi- THE WAY FORWARD ON HOMELAND
mony was heard from public witnesses. SECURITY
LEADING THE WAY FORWARD: BIDEN Committee on Homeland Security: Full Committee held
ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS TO INCREASE a hearing entitled ‘‘The Way Forward on Homeland
COVID–19 VACCINATIONS Security’’. Testimony was heard from Alejandro
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Mayorkas, Secretary, Department of Homeland Secu-
Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled rity.
‘‘Leading the Way Forward: Biden Administration
Actions to Increase COVID–19 Vaccinations’’. Testi- FROM RESCUE TO RECOVERY: BUILDING A
mony was heard from the following Department of THRIVING AND INCLUSIVE POST-
Health and Human Services officials: Rochelle P. PANDEMIC ECONOMY
Walensky, M.D., Director, Centers for Disease Con- Committee on Oversight and Reform: Select Sub-
trol and Prevention; Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Direc- committee on the Coronavirus Crisis held a hearing
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tor, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis- entitled ‘‘From Rescue to Recovery: Building a
eases, National Institutes of Health; and Peter Thriving and Inclusive Post-Pandemic Economy’’.
Marks, M.D., Director, Center for Biologics Evalua- Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
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