[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.''.
____________________