[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2018)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D597-D601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 19 public bills, H.R. 5953-
5960, 5962-5972; and 4 resolutions, H. Res. 910-913 were introduced. 
                                                         Pages H4728-29
Additional Cosponsors:                                       
  Page H4730
Reports Filed: Reports were filed today as follows:
  H.R. 5317, to repeal section 2141 of the Revised Statutes to remove 
the prohibition on certain alcohol manufacturing on Indian lands (H. 
Rept. 115-703);
  H.R. 5952, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and 
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2019, and for other purposes (H. Rept. 115-704);
  H. Res. 877, resolution of inquiry directing the Secretary of 
Commerce to provide certain documents in the Secretary's possession to 
the House of Representatives relating to the decision to include a 
question on citizenship in the 2020 decennial census of population (H. 
Rept. 115-705); adversely; and
  H.R. 5961, making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, 
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes (H. Rept. 
115-706).                                                    
Page H4728
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he appointed 
Representative Amodei to act as Speaker pro tempore for today. 
                                                             Page H4697
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019: The House 
passed H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal 
year, by a recorded vote of 351 ayes to 66 noes, Roll No. 230. 
Consideration began Tuesday, May 22nd.      
  Pages H4699-H4716, H4716-22
  Agreed to table the appeal of the ruling of the chair on a point of 
order sustained against the Thompson (CA) motion to recommit the bill 
to the Committee on the Judiciary with instructions to report the same 
back to the House forthwith with an

[[Page D598]]

amendment, by a yea-and-nay vote of 224 yeas to 191 nays, Roll No. 229.
                                                         Pages H4720-21
  Agreed to amend the title so as to read: ``To authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.''.   
Page H4722
Agreed to:
  Thornberry en bloc amendment No. 4 consisting of the following 
amendments printed in H. Rept. 115-702: Cuellar (No. 93) that requires 
the Secretary of the Air Force to conduct a core sampling study at 
Joint Base San Antonio--Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to determine if 
any regulated or hazardous substances are present along the route of a 
wastewater pipeline replacement project; requires a report on the 
results of the core sampling to the Committees on Armed Services of the 
Senate and the House of Representatives; Yarmuth (No. 94) that requires 
the Department of Defense to provide estimates of enduring costs funded 
with Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding as part of its 
budget submissions to Congress; this requirement is consistent with 
recommendations made by GAO; Sean Patrick Maloney (NY) (No. 95) that 
improves the ability of separating or retiring members of the Armed 
Forces to seek state veterans services by enabling them to elect to 
have their DD-214 shared with county veterans service officers; Correa 
(No. 96) that requires the Department of Defense to conduct a study to 
determine how they can attract and recruit individuals from 
institutions of higher education, including Hispanic Serving 
Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Asian 
American and Native American Pacific and Islander Serving Institutions 
with educational backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, 
mathematics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 
cybersecurity; Lee (No. 97) that instructs the Comptroller General of 
the United States to submit to Congress a report on how funds 
authorized for overseas contingency operations were obligated; 
Rohrabacher (No. 98) that expresses a sense of Congress that recognizes 
Dr. Shakil Afridi as an international hero and that the Government of 
Pakistan should release him immediately from prison; Soto (No. 99) that 
directs Department of Defense to also consider distributed ledger 
technologies when performing their review and assessment on 
advancements in Artificial Intelligence and associated technologies 
like quantum sciences and high-performance computing; Lipinski (No. 
100) that grants Purple Heart recipients, disabled veterans, Medal of 
Honor recipients, and their caregivers access to Department of Defense 
commissaries and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities; 
Lipinski (No. 101) that directs the Secretary of the Army to comply 
with GAO recommendations regarding armored commercial passenger-
carrying vehicles in report GAO-17-513; directs the Department of 
Defense to provide a briefing on the implementation of the Department 
of Defense Instruction O-2000.16 Volume 1; Eshoo (No. 102) that 
expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should 
explore all possible alternatives to the proposed conveyance of 17.1 
acres and 126 existing housing units known as Shenandoah Square in 
Mountain View, California, including a sublease of the property to an 
entity that can better develop affordable housing on the property in 
one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, to avoid 
displacing families currently living at Shenandoah Square; Soto (No. 
103) that permanently authorizes the Defense Exportability Feature 
Pilot Program, which encourages program management to design and 
develop technology protection features in systems during the research 
and development stage; Torres (No. 104) that requires the Secretary of 
Defense to produce a report regarding narcotics trafficking, 
corruption, and illicit campaign finance in Honduras, Guatemala, and El 
Salvador, which shall include the names of government officials who 
have engaged in such acts; Wittman (No. 105) that rectifies a clerical 
mistake by striking ``2018'' and inserting ``2019'' ' in regard to 
Maritime Administration authorization; Garrett (No. 106) that inserts 
``foreign'' before ``non-state propaganda'' on page 683, line 15; 
Cicilline (No. 107) that requires the Secretary of Defense to produce a 
report analyzing the effects of automation within the Defense 
Industrial Base over the next ten years; Cicilline (No. 108) that 
requires a report on the nations, organizations, and persons against 
which the United States has taken military action under the authority 
of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF); and 
Demings (No. 109) that ensures the Secretary of Defense and other NATO 
countries shall: seek opportunities to conduct more NATO naval 
exercises in the Baltic and Black Sea to deter Russian aggression in 
those regions; and conduct joint research to enhance military 
capabilities;                                         
Pages H4699-H4705
  Thornberry en bloc amendment No. 5 consisting of the following 
amendments printed in H. Rept. 115-702: Cicilline (No. 110) that 
requires a report on the practical impact of U.S. military strikes 
against Syria on April 13, 2018; Yoho (No. 111) that directs the 
Secretary of Defense to carry out a priority equipment purchase program 
of Department of Defense farm equipment to eligible veteran farmers; 
Marshall (No. 112) that authorizes the Society

[[Page D599]]

of the First Infantry Division to make modifications to the First 
Division Monument located on Federal land in Presidential Park, 
District of Columbia; the future additions will honor the members of 
the First Infantry Division who paid the ultimate sacrifice during 
United States operations, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and New 
Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom; Langevin (No. 113) that recognizes 
the importance of Department of State political advisors (POLADs) to 
the Department of Defense; Langevin (No. 114) that requires an annual 
report for no more than five years regarding buildings and facilities 
subject to exceptions to accessibility standards; Beyer (No. 115) that 
revises the lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection 
process in acquisition government-wide, requiring agencies to avoid 
LPTA use in circumstances that would deny the benefits of cost and 
technical tradeoffs in the source selection process; Young (AK) (No. 
116) that calls for a sense of Congress that the SECAF as part of the 
strategic basing process for the KC-46 should continue to place 
emphasis on and consider the benefits derived from locations outside 
the Continental U.S.; Dunn (No. 117) that supports upgrading 34 
existing F-22 Block 20 trainers to combat-ready F-22 Block 35s; Brown 
(MD) (No. 119) that amends language in Section 2362(d) of Title 10, 
USC, to ensure that schools which don't receive significant DoD 
funding--such as HBCUs--are more competitive against MSIs that receive 
substantial funding; Khanna (No. 120) that requires Secretary of 
Defense to conduct an investigation to determine if coalition partners 
or United States military or intelligence personnel violated federal 
law or Department of Defense policy while conducting operations in 
Yemen; Duncan (TN) (No. 121) that calls for the Secretary of Defense to 
submit a report regarding awards and commendations presented to any 
military personnel for cost-saving ideas during the prior fiscal year 
and regarding how the Secretary plans to expand and streamline such 
awards programs for cost-saving ideas; Bacon (No. 122) that requires 
the Secretary of Defense to modify the Department of Defense Annual 
Reports for China, Russia and Iran to include influence operations as a 
matter to be included in such reports; Gottheimer (No. 123) that adds a 
remembrance of the Holocaust as part of the program to commemorate the 
75th Anniversary of WWII, and directs the Secretary of Defense to 
consult with the Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial 
Museum; Gohmert (No. 124) that affirms the purpose and role of the 
military chaplancies; Bordallo (No. 125) that provides American 
companies preference on Telecom Services on military bases in the 
United States and its territories; Jackson Lee (No. 126) that provides 
information on the security threats posed by achieving stable quantum 
computing capability; and Arrington (No. 127) that requires a report 
from the Secretary of the Air Force no later than February 1, 2019 on 
how the OA-X light attack aircraft experiment program will support 
partner nation requirements in counter terrorism operations; 
                                                         Pages H4705-07
  Thornberry en bloc amendment No. 6 consisting of the following 
amendments printed in H. Rept. 115-702: Nolan (No. 128) that expresses 
the sense of Congress that a strong domestic iron ore and steel 
industry is vital to the national security of the United States; 
Davidson (No. 129) that adds an additional section on describing 
criteria and methodology used for determining military hospital 
downsizing and closures to a reporting requirement contained in the 
underlying bill; Loebsack (No. 130) that requires the Secretary of 
Defense to perform an assessment of the Science, Technology, 
Engineering, and Math, as well as Maintenance and Manufacturing (STEM) 
workforce for organizations within the DOD, identify the types and 
quantities of STEM jobs needed to support future mission work, and 
identify a plan of action to address the STEM jobs gap; Schneider (No. 
131) that authorizes the Boots to Business program which helps 
transitioning service members and veterans become entrepreneurs and 
create jobs through a standardized three-step entrepreneurship training 
track while giving access to resources in their local communities; this 
program currently runs as a collaboration between the Small Business 
Administration's Office of Veterans Business Development and the 
Department of Defense's Transition Assistance Program; Crawford (No. 
132) that provides the sense of Congress on why there is a need for a 
military explosive ordnance disposal intelligence program; Evans (No. 
133) that provides grants, financial assistance, loans, export 
assistance, and subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to 
specified small businesses, organizations, state governments, 
universities, companies, and other entities that assist smaller 
enterprises; Frankel (FL) (No. 134) that authorizes appropriations for 
research on women's contributions to security at the National Defense 
University Institute for National Security Studies; Raskin (No. 135) 
that authorizes $5 million to advance the development of canine freeze-
dried plasma; Frankel (FL) (No. 136) that amends the FY18 NDAA 
requirement for the President to develop a national strategy for 
countering violent extremism to require the President's analysis to 
account for the unique factors that lead women to act as preventers or 
supporters of violent extremism, and the ways in which women are 
targeted as victims of violent extremism; Coffman (No. 137) that 
requires the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the

[[Page D600]]

Director of National Intelligence, to develop a briefing detailing the 
costs, risks, and operational benefits of leveraging commercial 
satellite servicing capabilities for national security satellite 
systems; Shea-Porter (No. 138) that report on DoD security cooperation 
programs and activities in certain foreign countries, to include 
lessons learned and best practices with respect to DoD security 
cooperation programs and recommendations; Sinema (No. 139) that directs 
the Secretaries of Defense, State, and Treasury, in coordination with 
appropriate federal officials, to report to Congress on the current 
funding mechanisms used by Islamic State and affiliated entities; the 
most likely future financing mechanisms available to Islamic State and 
affiliated entities; and US efforts to deny access to such funding 
mechanisms; Sinema (No. 140) that expresses a sense of Congress that 
wildfires endanger national security and directs DOD to issue a report 
on wildfire suppression capabilities within the active and reserve 
components of the Armed Forces, including the Modular Airborne Fire 
Fighting System Program, and interagency cooperation with the Forest 
Service and the Department of the Interior; Sinema (No. 141) that 
ensures that the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) helps 
servicemembers obtain sufficient financial literacy to effectively 
leverage conferred benefits and opportunities for employment, 
education, vocational training, and entrepreneurship by requiring the 
Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on actions the Secretary 
intends to take to effectively incorporate financial literacy as part 
of the TAP; Newhouse (No. 142) that extends the authorization for the 
Office of River Protection through 2024; Graves (LA) (No. 143) that 
gives the Secretary of the respective branch of the military the 
ability to award the Vietnam Service Medal to participants of Operation 
End Sweep; and Schrader (No. 144) that requires DOD to report to 
Congress on ways they are finding and implementing savings laid out by 
the 2015 Defense Business Board report and for alternative 
recommendations to achieve cost-savings;                 
Pages H4807-11
  Thornberry en bloc amendment No. 7 consisting of the following 
amendments printed in H. Rept. 115-702: Stefanik (No. 145) that 
modifies federal hiring authority to make it easier to hire military 
spouses; Thornberry (No. 146) that specifies the grade of officers 
serving as Attending Physician to the Congress and the grade of Chiefs 
of Chaplains; Stefanik (No. 147) that establishes a National Security 
Commission on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to conduct a comprehensive 
and national-level review of advances in AI, machine learning, and 
associated technologies and make near-term, actionable recommendations 
to address our national security needs; Taylor (No. 148) that allows 
Defense Access Road program funds to be utilized to conduct 
construction and maintenance on highways affected by recurrent flooding 
and sea level rise; Thornberry (No. 149) that expresses a sense of 
Congress that design, manufacturing, and repair of the technology in 
unmanned ground vehicles is critical to national security; Palmer (No. 
150) that requires a briefing by the Secretary of the Air Force on the 
need for additional recruitment measures for Space related career 
fields; Kelly (PA) (No. 151) that prohibits funds from being used to 
implement the UN Arms Trade Treaty unless the Senate approves a 
resolution of ratification for the Treaty and implementing legislation 
for the Treaty has been enacted into law; Nolan (No. 152) that 
clarifies and makes certain specifications for the troop reporting 
requirement and the use of waivers; Sam Johnson (TX) (No. 153) that 
commissions a study to ascertain the impact of Medicare premiums on 
veterans on Social Security Disability Insurance returning to work; 
Barr (No. 154) that authorizes the establishment of up to 100 new JROTC 
units in low-income and rural areas and strengthens the JROTC program 
to promote military readiness; Carbajal (No. 155) that changes 
``Management'' on page 230 and 231 to ``Medical''; Reed (No. 156) that 
directs the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy to submit a 
report to Congress on the impacts to our national defense and 
manufacturing base resulting from a potential relocation of production 
of steam turbines for aircraft carriers and submarines; Hastings (No. 
157) that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to establish a joint 
Military Transition Outreach Pilot Program for contacting service-
members within 30-90 days post-separation and/or retirement from active 
duty; Foster (No. 158) that requires a report on the status of the 
counter-measures test program; the report shall include an evaluation 
and response to the 2010 JASON report titled ``MDA Discrimination''; 
Jackson Lee (No. 159) that seeks an assessment, from the Secretary of 
Defense, of the strategies that may be used to reduce the security 
threat posed by active shooter incidents at public elementary schools 
and secondary schools located on the grounds of Federal military 
installations; Flores (No. 160) that expresses the sense of Congress 
that the Air Force should consider long-term university partnerships, 
similar to arrangements in the Army and Navy, to conduct research as 
well as science and engineering education for next-generation 
hypersonics capabilities; Cramer (No. 161) that directs the SECDEF to 
include the names of the seventy-four crew of the USS Frank E. Evans 
killed on June 3, 1969 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall; Foster 
(No. 162) that requires a report on

[[Page D601]]

costs relating to ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic defenses of the 
United States; Hartzler (No. 163) that expands DOD's authority to 
interdict drones to include mobility airlift bases; Ben Ray Lujan (NM) 
(No. 164) that creates a manufacturing engineering education program to 
provide advanced manufacturing training to support the missions for the 
DOE National Security Laboratories and the NNSA sites; McClintock (No. 
165) that authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to retain fees for 
medical services provided in units of the National Park System; 
Rohrabacher (No. 166) that requires a report on the potential strategic 
benefits from security cooperation with the government of Eritrea; and 
Shea-Porter (No. 167) that states that before and during security 
sector assistance (SSA) missions, DoD reports to the congressional 
defense committees assessing US and host nation-shared SSA objectives; 
evaluating host nation's political, social, economic, diplomatic, and 
historical context that may impair or inhibit the effectiveness of SSA; 
assessing the sustainability of support provided to foreign countries 
participating in SSA; and describing measures taken to ensure foreign 
countries participating in SSA do not become dependent on the SSA the 
United States provides; and                              
Pages H4711-16
  Ferguson amendment (No. 168 printed in H. Rept. 115-702) that ensures 
competition in the commercial e-commerce portal procurement program to 
foster a marketplace that provides the best products at the best 
prices.                                                  
Pages H4716-17
  Agreed that the Clerk be authorized to make technical corrections in 
the engrossment, including corrections in spelling, punctuation, 
section and title numbering, cross referencing, conforming amendments 
to the table of contents and short titles, and the insertion of 
appropriate headings.                                        
Page H4722
  H. Res. 908, the rule providing for further consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 5515) was agreed to yesterday, May 23rd.
Permission To File Report: Agreed by unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Appropriations have until 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 24, 
2018, to file a privileged report to accompany measures making 
appropriations for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2019.                                          
  Page H4722
Meeting Hour: Agreed by unanimous consent that when the House adjourns 
today, it adjourn to meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, May 25th.     
  Page H4722
Senate Message: Message received from the Senate by the Clerk and 
subsequently presented to the House today appears on page H4699.
Quorum Calls--Votes: One yea-and-nay vote and one recorded vote 
developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H4721 and 
H4721-22. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: The House met at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 11:18 a.m.