[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 181 (Thursday, November 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7053-S7054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Kaine):
  S. 3631. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the 
transportation infrastructure finance and innovation (TIFIA) program, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3631

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Revitalizing American 
     Priorities for Infrastructure Development Act'' or the 
     ``RAPID Act''.

     SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE AND INNOVATION 
                   PROGRAM.

       (a) Eligibility.--Section 602(a)(2) of title 23, United 
     States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A)(iv)--
       (A) by striking ``a rating'' and inserting ``an investment-
     grade rating''; and
       (B) by striking ``$75,000,000'' and inserting 
     ``$150,000,000''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B)--
       (A) by striking ``the senior debt'' and inserting ``senior 
     debt''; and
       (B) by striking ``credit instrument is for an amount less 
     than $75,000,000'' and inserting ``total amount of other 
     senior debt and the Federal credit instrument is less than 
     $150,000,000''.
       (b) Streamlined Application Process.--Section 603(f) of 
     title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(3) Additional terms for expedited decisions.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
     of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall implement 
     an expedited decision timeline for public agency borrowers 
     seeking secured loans that meet--
       ``(i) the terms under paragraph (2); and
       ``(ii) the additional criteria described in subparagraph 
     (B).
       ``(B) Additional criteria.--The additional criteria 
     referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) are the following:
       ``(i) The secured loan is made on terms and conditions that 
     substantially conform to the conventional terms and 
     conditions established by the National Surface Transportation 
     Innovative Finance Bureau.
       ``(ii) The secured loan is rated in the A category or 
     higher.
       ``(iii) The TIFIA program share of eligible project costs 
     is 33 percent or less.
       ``(iv) The applicant demonstrates a reasonable expectation 
     that the contracting process for the project can commence by 
     not later than 90 days after the date on which a Federal 
     credit instrument is obligated for the project under the 
     TIFIA program.
       ``(v) The project has received a categorical exclusion, a 
     finding of no significant impact, or a record of decision 
     under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
     U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
       ``(C) Written notice.--The Secretary shall provide to an 
     applicant seeking a secured loan under the expedited decision 
     process under this paragraph a written notice informing the 
     applicant whether the Secretary has approved or disapproved 
     the application by not later than 180 days after the date on 
     which the Secretary submits to the applicant a letter 
     indicating that the National Surface Transportation 
     Innovative Finance Bureau has commenced the creditworthiness 
     review of the project.''.
       (c) Status Reports.--Section 609 of title 23, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Status Reports.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall publish on the 
     website for the TIFIA program--
       ``(A) on a monthly basis, a current status report on all 
     submitted letters of interest and applications received for 
     assistance under the TIFIA program; and
       ``(B) on a quarterly basis, a current status report on all 
     approved applications for assistance under the TIFIA program.
       ``(2) Inclusions.--Each monthly and quarterly status report 
     under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, with respect 
     to each project included in the status report--
       ``(A) the name of the party submitting the letter of 
     interest or application;
       ``(B) the name of the project;
       ``(C) the date on which the letter of interest or 
     application was received;
       ``(D) the estimated project eligible costs;
       ``(E) the type of credit assistance sought; and
       ``(F) the anticipated fiscal year and quarter for closing 
     of the credit assistance.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Casey, Ms. Klobuchar, 
        and Mr. Cardin):
  S. 3636. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
matching payments for retirement savings contributions by certain 
individuals; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I have introduced the Encouraging 
Americans to Save Act (EASA). This legislation makes common sense 
reforms to the saver's tax credit by making the credit refundable and 
restructuring it as a government matching contribution that is directly 
deposited into a worker's retirement savings account. This bill would 
offer matching contributions for the first time to millions of middle 
and lower income individuals not covered by an employer-sponsored 
retirement plan, including those who save through an IRA under a State 
or local government savings program--such as OregonSaves. The 
government match is also available to middle and lower income savers 
who participate in an employer-sponsored plan. The government match 
provided by the bill would both encourage saving and help middle and 
low income earners build assets by providing an immediate, meaningful 
return on their personal contributions. The legislation would also 
require the Treasury Department to reestablish the Obama 
administration's MyRA program, as IRAs established under that program 
would serve as the default account to hold government matching 
contributions in case a saver's retirement plan or IRA is unable to 
accept the government

[[Page S7054]]

matching contribution. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. WYDEN:
  S. 3637. A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to establish a program for the procurement of domestically grown 
unprocessed fruits and vegetables to provide healthier school meals, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Local School 
Foods Expansion Act to establish a permanent program that will provide 
schools with locally-grown, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.
  Hunger is a huge problem in Oregon, and this pain has a huge impact 
in schools. In Oregon, one in four children experience food insecurity 
and they face a great challenge keeping up with learning on empty 
stomachs. I have supported Federal school lunch programs for many 
years, and I strongly believe that the best programs rely on local 
producers and make an effort to ensure lunches are healthy and 
nutritious.
  The Local School Foods Expansion Act is a common sense approach to 
child nutrition that empowers children while strengthening the local 
economy and contributing to vibrant communities. The bill amends the 
National School Lunch Program to make permanent a program that 
increases opportunities for lunch programs to procure locally-grown, 
unprocessed fruits and vegetables. The bill directs the Secretary of 
Agriculture to expand the very successful pilot procurement programs to 
at least 15 States, and contains a mandatory appropriation of nine 
million dollars in each fiscal year from 2019 to 2023.
  No child should be hungry in school, and it's critical that their 
meals contain nutritious fruits and vegetables. At the same time, we 
must work to maintain domestic production of fruits and vegetables by 
ensuring that hardworking farmers have a fair and reliable market for 
their produce. The Local School Foods Expansion Act tackles both 
objectives by providing hungry kids with local, unprocessed fruits and 
vegetables.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record as follows:

                                S. 3637

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Local School Foods Expansion 
     Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR PROCUREMENT OF DOMESTICALLY GROWN 
                   UNPROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

       Section 6(f) of the Richard B. Russell National School 
     Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1755(f)) is amended--
       (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Pilot Project 
     for Procurement of'' and inserting ``Program for Procurement 
     of Domestically Grown'';
       (2) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``pilot project'' and inserting ``program 
     (referred to in this subsection as the `program')'';
       (B) by striking ``conduct'' and inserting ``carry out'';
       (C) by inserting ``domestically grown'' before 
     ``unprocessed''; and
       (D) by striking ``more than 8'' and inserting ``less than 
     15'';
       (3) by striking ``pilot project'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``program'';
       (4) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding subparagraph 
     (A), by inserting ``domestically grown'' before 
     ``unprocessed'';
       (5) in paragraph (4)--
       (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(D) the demonstrated ability of the States to 
     competitively procure domestically grown unprocessed fruits 
     and vegetables.'';
       (6) in paragraph (5)--
       (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Recordkeeping 
     and reporting'' and inserting ``Recordkeeping, reporting, and 
     evaluation'';
       (B) in subparagraph (B)--
       (i) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(iii) the challenges and opportunities presented by the 
     program in the State.''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) Program evaluation.--
       ``(i) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary shall evaluate 
     the impact of the program, including with respect to--

       ``(I) the quantity and cost of each type of unprocessed 
     fruit and vegetable procured by each State under the program;
       ``(II) the benefit of the procured unprocessed fruits and 
     vegetables to school food service in each State, including 
     the benefit to meeting school meal requirements; and
       ``(III) the economic impact of the program on agricultural 
     producers in the State.

       ``(ii) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of 
     enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary shall submit to 
     the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 
     the Senate a report that describes the results of the 
     evaluation conducted under clause (i) and an analysis of that 
     evaluation.''; and
       (7) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) Funding.--
       ``(A) Mandatory funding.--There is appropriated to carry 
     out this subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 
     through 2023.
       ``(B) Reservation.--Of the funds appropriated under 
     subparagraph (A) for each fiscal year, $10,000,000 shall be 
     reserved for States selected under the program under 
     paragraph (1) to carry out the activities described in 
     subparagraph (C)(i).
       ``(C) Administrative costs; technical assistance.--
       ``(i) In general.--The funds reserved under subparagraph 
     (B) shall be used--

       ``(I) for the administrative costs of carrying out the 
     program; and
       ``(II) to provide technical assistance and outreach to 
     vendors to become certified to participate in the program.

       ``(ii) Minimum allotment.--Of the funds reserved under 
     subparagraph (B), each State selected under paragraph (3)(A) 
     shall receive not less than $300,000 for each fiscal year 
     during which the State participates in the program.''.

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