[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 163 (Tuesday, November 3, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1168-D1172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 39 public bills, H.R. 3879-
3917; and 3 resolutions, H. Res. 510-511, and 513, were introduced. 
                                                         Pages H7622-24
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages H7625-26
Report Filed: A report was filed today as follows:
  H. Res. 512, providing for further consideration of the Senate 
amendments to the bill (H.R. 22) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the 
Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of 
determining

[[Page D1169]]

the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (H. Rept. 114-326).       
Page H7622
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he appointed 
Representative Kelly to act as Speaker pro tempore for today. 
                                                             Page H7393
Recess: The House recessed at 10:47 a.m. and reconvened at 12 noon. 
                                                             Page H7398
Suspension--Proceedings Resumed: The House agreed to suspend the rules 
and pass the following measure which was debated on Monday, November 
2nd:
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
safety and security of Jewish communities in Europe: H. Res. 354, 
amended, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding 
the safety and security of Jewish communities in Europe, by a \2/3\ 
yea-and-nay vote of 418 yeas with none voting ``nay'', Roll No. 585. 
                                                             Page H7412
Hire More Heroes Act of 2015: The House began consideration of the 
Senate amendments to H.R. 22, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the 
Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of 
determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under 
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Consideration is 
expected to resume tomorrow, November 4th.            
  Pages H7412-H7621
  Pursuant to the Rule, the amendment printed in part A of H. Rept. 
114-325 is adopted and the Senate amendment, as amended, shall be 
considered as read. Further, the amendment consisting of the text of 
Rules Committee Print 114-32 shall be considered as pending, shall be 
considered as read, shall not be debatable, and shall not be subject to 
amendment except those printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325. 
                                                     Pages H7418, H7517
Agreed to:
  Shuster amendment (No. 1 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
makes technical and conforming changes to Rules Committee Print 114-32;
                                                             Page H7579
  Walden amendment (No. 3 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
clarifies that projects within National Scenic Areas, and projects to 
increase capacity of highway segments to improve mobility, and are 
eligible for federal funding under Nationally Significant Freight and 
Highway Projects;                                        
Pages H7580-81
  Babin amendment (No. 6 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
designates the Central Texas Corridor as the future Interstate Route I-
14;                                                          
Page H7582
  Massie amendment (No. 7 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
allows the GSA to construct, install, and operate electric car charging 
stations on federal properties for use by employees; the construction, 
installation, and operation will be funded solely through user fees, so 
taxpayers will incur no cost;                            
Pages H7582-84
  Fleischmann amendment (No. 8 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that reports language encouraging the use of geosynthetic materials and 
other innovative technologies;                               
Page H7584
  Gibbs amendment (No. 9 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
requires the Secretary of Transportation to study the methods State's 
use to procure culvert and storm sewer materials, and report their 
findings to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; 
                                                         Pages H7584-85
  Gibson amendment (No. 10 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop a comprehensive 
strategy, within 1 year, to address ``structurally deficient'' and 
``functionally obsolete'' bridges, as defined by the National Bridge 
Inventory, and to identify the unique challenges and policy solutions 
with regards to these respective categories;                 
Page H7585
  Hanna amendment (No. 12 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
adds a Sense of Congress that the engineering industry provides 
critical technical expertise, innovation, and local expertise to 
federal and state agencies to efficiently deliver surface 
transportation projects and urges the Secretary to reinforce these 
partnerships;                                                
Page H7586
  DeSaulnier amendment (No. 16 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to study methods of 
inventorying roadside highway safety hardware devices (i.e. guardrails) 
for the purpose of improving in-service evaluation of these devices; 
                                                             Page H7592
  Scott (VA) amendment (No. 17 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that includes a sense of Congress that the Department of Transportation 
should utilize modeling and simulation technology to analyze federally 
funded highway and public transit projects to ensure that these 
projects will increase transportation capacity and safety, alleviate 
congestion, reduce travel time and environmental impact, and are as 
cost effective as practicable;                           
Pages H7592-93
  Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX) amendment (No. 18 printed in part B of H. 
Rept. 114-325) that strikes the Department of Transportation's 
authority to redistribute unallocated TIFIA funds;           
Page H7593

[[Page D1170]]


  Sewell (AL) amendment (No. 20 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that seeks a public safety report to be provided to the House and 
Senate Transportation Committees on the security of locations intended 
to encourage public use of alternative transportation as well as 
personal transportation such as carpool parking lots, mass transit 
parking; local, state, and regional rail station parking, college or 
university parking, bike paths or walking trails and other locations 
the Secretary deems would be appropriate;                
Pages H7594-95
  Sewell (AL) amendment (No. 21 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that provides a report on the Internet of Things (IoT) and its 
potential to improve transportation services to the elderly and persons 
with disabilities as well as assist local, state and federal 
transportation planners in achieving better inefficiencies and cost 
effectiveness, while protecting privacy and security of persons who use 
IoT technology;                                          
Pages H7595-97
  Kirkpatrick amendment (No. 23 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that increases safety by allowing additional states that have passed 
distracted driving legislation to qualify for incentive grant funding; 
                                                         Pages H7597-98
  Duncan (TN) amendment (No. 26 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that requires the Department of Transportation to conduct a study on 
the safety of operations of a double-decker motorcoach equipped with a 
luggage carrier at the rear of the vehicle;                  
Page H7599
  Comstock amendment (No. 27 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that clarifies the restrictions placed on institutions applying for UTC 
grants, and broadens the paragraph on Focused Research for regional 
UTCs; directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop a 5-Year 
Transportation R&D Strategic Plan for FY 18 through FY 22; authorizes 
the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology to conduct a 
traffic congestion study; authorizes the Assistant Secretary to submit 
a rail safety study to Congress;                      
Pages H7599-H7601
  Barletta amendment (No. 28 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that requires all legacy tank cars retrofit for continued Class 3 
Flammable Liquid service to include enhanced top fittings protections 
for pressure relief valves;                              
Pages H7601-02
  Lynch amendment (No. 29 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
provides for an additional, independent safety review of an approved 
pipeline route or segment of route, should a state or tribal government 
deem it necessary;                                       
Pages H7602-03
  Costello amendment (No. 33 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that allows otherwise eligible Nationally Significant Freight and 
Highway Projects, which do not meet the minimum $100,000,000 threshold, 
to qualify for the specific reserved amount as provided in the 
legislation for such projects that fail to reach that threshold; 
                                                             Page H7606
  Edwards amendment (No. 35 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
seeks to improve highway designs to better manage storm water by moving 
up in the planning process from the end so that thought goes into how 
best to plan design, and construct project effectively while also 
reducing costs;                                          
Pages H7607-08
  Calvert amendment (No. 36 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
increases the limit on 10 local governments with whom the State can 
exercise its authority to eliminate duplicative reviews to 25; 
                                                             Page H7608
  Brown (FL) amendment (No. 15 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that creates a National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism 
Infrastructure which will advise the Secretary of Transportation on 
infrastructure needs related to the use of the nation's intermodal 
transportation network to facilitate travel and tourism (by a recorded 
vote of 216 ayes to 207 noes, Roll No. 589);             
Pages H7610-11
  Farenthold amendment (No. 38 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that allows for only certain trucks with current weight exemptions to 
be allowed to continue riding at those higher weight exemptions once 
certain segments of Texas State Highways are converted into Interstate 
69;                                                          
Page H7615
  Beyer amendment (No. 42 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
removes a federal preemption and restore the full right to regulate 
towing to states and localities;                         
Pages H7618-19
  DelBene amendment (No. 44 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
requires a report on the Frontline Workforce Development Program for 
each fiscal year; the report would include an evaluation of the program 
and policy recommendations to improve program effectiveness; and 
                                                         Pages H7619-20
  Napolitano amendment (No. 45 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that changes the degradation standard of an HOV lane from maintaining 
an average operating speed above 45 mph over a consecutive 180 day 
period during peak hours from 90 percent of the time to 50 percent of 
the time.                                                
Pages H7620-21
Rejected:
  Guinta amendment (No. 11 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct 
a study to understand the purchasing power of a federal highway dollar 
and quantifying the things that weaken it, such as labor and 
environmental regulations and other inefficiencies that cause delays 
and drive up the cost of projects;                       
Pages H7585-86

[[Page D1171]]


  Mullin amendment (No. 13 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to allow bridge work to be done despite the presence of swallows 
if the bridge has a condition rating of 3 or less until a rulemaking 
has occurred, requires notification to the Secretary of Interior, and 
directs the Sec. of Interior to promulgate a rulemaking to allow for 
bridge work under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA); 
                                                         Pages H7586-87
  Welch amendment (No. 19 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to strike Section 3010 of division A, which would lower the 
current federal share of bicycle facility projects from 95 and 90 
percent to 80 percent;                                   
Pages H7593-94
  Blumenauer amendment (No. 22 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that sought to increase the number of states eligible for funding 
through the nonmotorized National Priority Safety Program, and double 
the funding for that program;                                
Page H7597
  Swalwell (CA) amendment (No. 2 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that sought to expand the eligibility of the Congestion Mitigation and 
Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program to include innovative shared use 
mobility projects that can reduce congestion and improve air quality; 
expand associated transit improvements to include those shared-use 
projects that directly enhance transit (by a recorded vote of 181 ayes 
to 237 noes, Roll No. 586);                              
Pages H7608-09
  Gosar amendment (No. 5 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to require the federal government to track the total number, 
cost, and time required for each environmental review of transportation 
projects when reporting the status of these projects to the public (by 
a recorded vote of 196 ayes to 225 noes, Roll No. 587); 
                                                         Pages H7609-10
  Ribble amendment (No. 14 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to give states the option of increasing the truck weight limits 
on their Interstate Highways from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds if the 
trucks are equipped with an additional sixth axle; would not impact 
existing exemptions already enacted under the law (by a recorded vote 
of 187 ayes to 236 noes, Roll No. 588);                      
Page H7610
  Lynch amendment (No. 29 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to provide for an additional, independent safety review of an 
approved pipeline route or segment of route, should a state or tribal 
government deem it necessary (by a recorded vote of 160 ayes to 263 
noes, Roll No. 590);                                     
Pages H7611-12
  Takano amendment (No. 31 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
sought to allow for a program of eligible projects to count as a single 
project to meet the $100,000,000 threshold of project costs (by a 
recorded vote of 174 ayes to 248 noes, Roll No. 591);        
Page H7612
  Brownley (CA) amendment (No. 32 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-
325) that sought to increase the freight program small project set 
aside from 10 percent to 20 percent (by a recorded vote of 160 ayes to 
263 noes, Roll No. 592); and                             
Pages H7612-13
  Radewagen amendment (No. 34 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that sought to require the secretary to allocate program funds made 
available to the territories according to quantifiable measures that 
are indicative of the surface transportation requirements of each of 
the territories (by a recorded vote of 113 ayes to 310 noes, Roll No. 
593).                                                    
Pages H7613-14
Withdrawn:
  Rice (NY) amendment (No. 24 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have required 
states to strengthen graduated driver's licensing requirements to be 
eligible for State Graduated Driver Licensing Incentive Grants; 
                                                         Pages H7598-99
  Lewis amendment (No. 30 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have struck Section 
339(b) of the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 and make 
construction of Type II noise barriers eligible for funds from the 
surface transportation block grant programs; and         
Pages H7603-04
  Mica amendment (No. 43 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
was offered and subsequently withdrawn that would have required that a 
state may not prohibit the operation of an automobile transporter with 
a gross weight of 84,000 pounds or less on any segment of the 
Interstate System or qualified Federal aid primary highways designated 
by the Secretary; allow the chief executive officer of a State, after 
consultation with units of local government, to request an exemption 
from the Secretary if it is determined that an interstate segment is 
not capable of safely accommodating such commercial motor vehicles. 
                                                         Pages H7619-20
Proceedings Postponed:
  Hartzler amendment (No. 37 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325), as 
modified, that seeks to repeal the authority of the Secretary of 
Transportation to approve as part of the construction of federal-aid 
highways the costs of landscape and roadside development; 
                                                         Pages H7614-15
  Rooney (FL) amendment (No. 39 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that seeks to provide that a state may allow, by special permit, the 
operation of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of up to 95,000 
pounds for the hauling of livestock; the cost of a special permit may 
not exceed $200 per year for a livestock trailer;        
Pages H7615-16

[[Page D1172]]


  Rothfus amendment (No. 40 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) that 
seeks to exempt projects to reconstruct any road, highway, railway, 
bridge, or transit facility that is damaged by an emergency declared by 
the Governor of the State and concurred in by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security from any environmental reviews, approvals, licensing, and 
permit restrictions if reconstruction takes place in the same location 
and using the same design, capacity, and dimensions as before the 
emergency; and                                           
Pages H7616-17
  DeSaulnier amendment (No. 41 printed in part B of H. Rept. 114-325) 
that seeks to establish a peer review group and a comprehensive risk 
management plan to prevent cost overruns and project delays for 
transportation mega projects exceeding $2,500,000,000.   
Pages H7617-18
  H. Res. 507, amended, the rule providing for consideration of the 
Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 22) was agreed to by a yea-and-nay 
vote of 248 yeas to 171 nays, Roll No. 584, after the previous question 
was ordered by a yea-and-nay vote of 241 yeas to 178 nays, Roll No. 
583.                                                     
Pages H7410-12
Recess: The House recessed at 8:20 p.m. and reconvened at 11:23 p.m. 
                                                             Page H7621
Quorum Calls--Votes: Three yea-and-nay votes and eight recorded votes 
developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H7410-11, 
H7411-12, H7412, H7608-09, H7609-10, H7610, H7610-11, H7611-12, H7612, 
H7612-13, and H7613-14. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: The House met at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 11:24 p.m.