[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 5 (Thursday, January 10, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H398-H429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House
Resolution 28, I call up the bill (H.R. 267) making appropriations for
the Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development,
and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and
for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 28, the bill is
considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 267
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Departments of
Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30,
2019, and for other purposes, namely:
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary,
$113,535,000, of which not to exceed $3,001,000 shall be
available for the immediate Office of the Secretary; not to
exceed $1,040,000 shall be available for the immediate Office
of the Deputy Secretary; not to exceed $20,428,000 shall be
available for the Office of the General Counsel; not to
exceed $10,265,000 shall be available for the Office of the
Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy; not to exceed
$14,019,000 shall be available for the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs; not to exceed
$2,550,000 shall be available for the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Governmental Affairs; not to exceed $29,244,000
shall be available for the Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Administration; not to exceed $2,142,000 shall be
available for the Office of Public Affairs; not to exceed
$1,835,000 shall be available for the Office of the Executive
Secretariat; not to exceed $12,325,000 shall be available for
the Office of Intelligence, Security, and Emergency Response;
and not to exceed $16,686,000 shall be available for the
Office of the Chief Information Officer: Provided, That the
Secretary of Transportation is authorized to transfer funds
appropriated for any office of the Office of the Secretary to
any other office of the Office of the Secretary: Provided
further, That no appropriation for any office shall be
increased or decreased by more than 5 percent by all such
transfers: Provided further, That notice of any change in
funding greater than 5 percent shall be submitted for
approval to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations: Provided further, That not to exceed $60,000
shall be for allocation within the Department for official
reception and representation expenses as the Secretary may
determine: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other
provision of law, excluding fees authorized in Public Law
107-71, there may be credited to this appropriation up to
$2,500,000 in funds received in user fees: Provided further,
That none of the funds provided in this Act shall be
available for the position of Assistant Secretary for Public
Affairs.
research and technology
For necessary expenses related to the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, $8,471,000,
of which $2,218,000 shall remain available until September
30, 2021: Provided, That there may be credited to this
appropriation, to be available until expended, funds received
from States, counties, municipalities, other public
authorities, and private sources for expenses incurred for
training: Provided further, That any reference in law,
regulation, judicial proceedings, or elsewhere to the
Research and Innovative Technology Administration shall
continue to be deemed to be a reference to the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology of the
Department of Transportation.
national infrastructure investments
For capital investments in surface transportation
infrastructure, $1,000,000,000, to remain available through
September 30, 2021: Provided, That the Secretary of
Transportation shall distribute funds provided under this
heading as discretionary grants to be awarded to a State,
local government, transit agency, port authority, or a
collaboration among such entities on a competitive basis for
projects that will have a significant local or regional
impact: Provided further, That projects eligible for funding
provided under this heading shall include, but not be limited
to, highway or bridge projects eligible under title 23,
United States Code; public transportation projects eligible
under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code; passenger
and freight rail transportation projects; and port
infrastructure investments (including inland port
infrastructure and land ports of entry): Provided further,
That of the amount made available under this heading, the
Secretary may use an amount not to exceed $15,000,000 for the
planning, preparation or design of projects eligible for
funding under this heading: Provided further, That grants
awarded under the previous proviso shall not be subject to a
minimum grant size: Provided further, That the Secretary may
use up to 20 percent of the funds made available under this
heading for the purpose of paying the subsidy and
administrative costs of projects eligible for Federal credit
assistance under chapter 6 of title 23, United States Code,
or sections 501 through 504 of the Railroad Revitalization
and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-210), as
amended, if the Secretary finds that such use of the funds
would advance the purposes of this paragraph: Provided
further, That in distributing funds provided under this
heading, the Secretary shall take such measures so as to
ensure an equitable geographic distribution of funds, an
appropriate balance in addressing the needs of urban and
rural areas, and the investment in a variety of
transportation modes: Provided further, That a grant funded
under this heading shall be not less than $5,000,000 and not
greater than $25,000,000: Provided further, That not more
than 10 percent of the funds made available under this
heading may be awarded to projects in a single State:
Provided further, That the Federal share of the costs for
which an expenditure is made under this heading shall be, at
the option of the recipient, up to 80 percent: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall give priority to projects
that require a contribution of Federal funds in order to
complete an overall financing package: Provided further,
That not less than 30 percent of the funds provided under
this heading shall be for projects located in rural areas:
Provided further, That for projects located in rural areas,
the minimum grant size shall be $1,000,000 and the Secretary
may increase the Federal share of costs above 80 percent:
Provided further, That projects conducted using funds
provided under this heading must comply with the requirements
of subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States
Code: Provided further, That the Secretary shall conduct a
new competition to select the grants and credit assistance
awarded under this heading: Provided further, That the
Secretary may retain up to $25,000,000 of the funds provided
under this heading, and may transfer portions of those funds
to the Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration,
the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad
Administration, and the Maritime Administration to fund the
award and oversight of grants and credit assistance made
under the National Infrastructure Investments program:
Provided further, That none of the funds provided in the
previous proviso may be used to hire additional personnel:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall consider and award
projects based solely on the selection criteria from the
fiscal year 2016 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall not use the Federal share
or an applicant's ability to generate non-Federal revenue as
a selection criteria in awarding projects: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall issue the Notice of Funding
Opportunity no later than 60 days after enactment of this
Act: Provided further, That the Notice of Funding
Opportunity shall require application submissions 90 days
after the publishing of such Notice: Provided further, That
of the applications submitted under the previous two
provisos, the Secretary shall make grants no later than 270
days after enactment of this Act in such amounts that the
Secretary determines: Provided further, That such sums
provided for national infrastructure investments for
passenger rail transportation projects under title I of
division C of the Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-55; 125 Stat. 641),
shall remain available for expenditure through fiscal year
2019 for the liquidation of valid obligations of active
grants incurred in fiscal year 2012: Provided further, That
such sums provided for national infrastructure investments
for port infrastructure projects under title VIII of division
F of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-6; 127 Stat. 432) shall remain
available through fiscal year 2020 for the liquidation of
valid obligations of active grants incurred in fiscal year
2013: Provided further, That the 2 preceding provisos shall
be applied as if they were in effect on September 30, 2018:
Provided further, That after calculating the distribution of
obligation limitation for Federal-aid highways for fiscal
year 2019 under section 120(a), the obligation limitation
shall be reduced by $52,000,000 to a total of
$45,216,596,000: Provided further, That the reduction in the
preceding proviso shall be applied to the obligation
limitation determined under section 120(a)(4) for the TIFIA
program (as defined in section 601(a) of title 23, United
States Code).
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national surface transportation and innovative finance bureau
For necessary expenses of the National Surface
Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau as authorized by
49 U.S.C. 116, $2,987,000, to remain available until
expended.
financial management capital
For necessary expenses for upgrading and enhancing the
Department of Transportation's financial systems and re-
engineering business processes, $2,000,000, to remain
available through September 30, 2020.
cyber security initiatives
For necessary expenses for cyber security initiatives,
including necessary upgrades to wide area network and
information technology infrastructure, improvement of network
perimeter controls and identity management, testing and
assessment of information technology against business,
security, and other requirements, implementation of Federal
cyber security initiatives and information infrastructure
enhancements, and implementation of enhanced security
controls on network devices, $15,000,000, to remain available
through September 30, 2020.
office of civil rights
For necessary expenses of the Office of Civil Rights,
$9,470,000.
transportation planning, research, and development
For necessary expenses for conducting transportation
planning, research, systems development, development
activities, and making grants, $7,879,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That of such amount,
$1,000,000 shall be for necessary expenses for the
Interagency Infrastructure Permitting Improvement Center
(IIPIC): Provided further, That there may be transferred to
this appropriation, to remain available until expended,
amounts transferred from other Federal agencies for expenses
incurred under this heading for IIPIC activities not related
to transportation infrastructure: Provided further, That the
tools and analysis developed by the IIPIC shall be available
to other Federal agencies for the permitting and review of
major infrastructure projects not related to transportation
only to the extent that other Federal agencies provide
funding to the Department as provided for under the previous
proviso.
working capital fund
For necessary expenses for operating costs and capital
outlays of the Working Capital Fund, not to exceed
$203,883,000, shall be paid from appropriations made
available to the Department of Transportation: Provided,
That such services shall be provided on a competitive basis
to entities within the Department of Transportation:
Provided further, That the above limitation on operating
expenses shall not apply to non-DOT entities: Provided
further, That no funds appropriated in this Act to an agency
of the Department shall be transferred to the Working Capital
Fund without majority approval of the Working Capital Fund
Steering Committee and approval of the Secretary: Provided
further, That no assessments may be levied against any
program, budget activity, subactivity or project funded by
this Act unless notice of such assessments and the basis
therefor are presented to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations and are approved by such Committees.
minority business resource center program
For necessary expenses of the Minority Business Resource
Center, the provision of financial education outreach
activities to eligible transportation-related small
businesses, the monitoring of existing loans in the
guaranteed loan program, and the modification of such loans
of the Minority Business Resource Center, $249,000, as
authorized by 49 U.S.C. 332: Provided, That notwithstanding
that section, these funds may be for business opportunities
related to any mode of transportation.
small and disadvantaged business utilization and outreach
For necessary expenses for small and disadvantaged business
utilization and outreach activities, $3,488,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020: Provided, That
notwithstanding 49 U.S.C. 332, these funds may be used for
business opportunities related to any mode of transportation.
payments to air carriers
(airport and airway trust fund)
In addition to funds made available from any other source
to carry out the essential air service program under 49
U.S.C. 41731 through 41742, $175,000,000, to be derived from
the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That in determining between or among
carriers competing to provide service to a community, the
Secretary may consider the relative subsidy requirements of
the carriers: Provided further, That basic essential air
service minimum requirements shall not include the 15-
passenger capacity requirement under subsection 41732(b)(3)
of title 49, United States Code: Provided further, That none
of the funds in this Act or any other Act shall be used to
enter into a new contract with a community located less than
40 miles from the nearest small hub airport before the
Secretary has negotiated with the community over a local cost
share: Provided further, That amounts authorized to be
distributed for the essential air service program under
subsection 41742(b) of title 49, United States Code, shall be
made available immediately from amounts otherwise provided to
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration:
Provided further, That the Administrator may reimburse such
amounts from fees credited to the account established under
section 45303 of title 49, United States Code.
administrative provisions--office of the secretary of transportation
Sec. 101. None of the funds made available in this Act to
the Department of Transportation may be obligated for the
Office of the Secretary of Transportation to approve
assessments or reimbursable agreements pertaining to funds
appropriated to the modal administrations in this Act, except
for activities underway on the date of enactment of this Act,
unless such assessments or agreements have completed the
normal reprogramming process for Congressional notification.
Sec. 102. The Secretary shall post on the Web site of the
Department of Transportation a schedule of all meetings of
the Council on Credit and Finance, including the agenda for
each meeting, and require the Council on Credit and Finance
to record the decisions and actions of each meeting.
Sec. 103. In addition to authority provided by section 327
of title 49, United States Code, the Department's Working
Capital Fund is hereby authorized to provide partial or full
payments in advance and accept subsequent reimbursements from
all Federal agencies from available funds for transit benefit
distribution services that are necessary to carry out the
Federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program
under Executive Order No. 13150 and section 3049 of Public
Law 109-59: Provided, That the Department shall maintain a
reasonable operating reserve in the Working Capital Fund, to
be expended in advance to provide uninterrupted transit
benefits to Government employees: Provided further, That
such reserve will not exceed one month of benefits payable
and may be used only for the purpose of providing for the
continuation of transit benefits: Provided further, That the
Working Capital Fund will be fully reimbursed by each
customer agency from available funds for the actual cost of
the transit benefit.
Federal Aviation Administration
operations
(airport and airway trust fund)
For necessary expenses of the Federal Aviation
Administration, not otherwise provided for, including
operations and research activities related to commercial
space transportation, administrative expenses for research
and development, establishment of air navigation facilities,
the operation (including leasing) and maintenance of
aircraft, subsidizing the cost of aeronautical charts and
maps sold to the public, the lease or purchase of passenger
motor vehicles for replacement only, in addition to amounts
made available by Public Law 112-95, $10,410,758,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2020, of which
$9,833,400,000 shall be derived from the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund, of which not to exceed $7,843,427,000 shall be
available for air traffic organization activities; not to
exceed $1,334,377,000 shall be available for aviation safety
activities; not to exceed $24,981,000 shall be available for
commercial space transportation activities; not to exceed
$816,562,000 shall be available for finance and management
activities; not to exceed $61,796,000 shall be available for
NextGen and operations planning activities; not to exceed
$114,312,000 shall be available for security and hazardous
materials safety; and not to exceed $215,303,000 shall be
available for staff offices: Provided, That not to exceed 5
percent of any budget activity, except for aviation safety
budget activity, may be transferred to any budget activity
under this heading: Provided further, That no transfer may
increase or decrease any appropriation by more than 5
percent: Provided further, That any transfer in excess of 5
percent shall be treated as a reprogramming of funds under
section 405 of this Act and shall not be available for
obligation or expenditure except in compliance with the
procedures set forth in that section: Provided further, That
not later than March 31 of each fiscal year hereafter, the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall
transmit to Congress an annual update to the report submitted
to Congress in December 2004 pursuant to section 221 of
Public Law 108-176: Provided further, That the amount herein
appropriated shall be reduced by $100,000 for each day after
March 31 that such report has not been submitted to the
Congress: Provided further, That not later than March 31 of
each fiscal year hereafter, the Administrator shall transmit
to Congress a companion report that describes a comprehensive
strategy for staffing, hiring, and training flight standards
and aircraft certification staff in a format similar to the
one utilized for the controller staffing plan, including
stated attrition estimates and numerical hiring goals by
fiscal year: Provided further, That the amount herein
appropriated shall be reduced by $100,000 per day for each
day after March 31 that such report has not been submitted to
Congress: Provided further, That funds may be used to enter
into a grant agreement with a nonprofit standard-setting
organization to assist in the development of aviation safety
standards: Provided further, That none of the funds in this
Act shall be available for new applicants for the second
career training program: Provided further, That none of the
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funds in this Act shall be available for the Federal Aviation
Administration to finalize or implement any regulation that
would promulgate new aviation user fees not specifically
authorized by law after the date of the enactment of this
Act: Provided further, That there may be credited to this
appropriation, as offsetting collections, funds received from
States, counties, municipalities, foreign authorities, other
public authorities, and private sources for expenses incurred
in the provision of agency services, including receipts for
the maintenance and operation of air navigation facilities,
and for issuance, renewal or modification of certificates,
including airman, aircraft, and repair station certificates,
or for tests related thereto, or for processing major repair
or alteration forms: Provided further, That of the funds
appropriated under this heading, not less than $168,000,000
shall be used to fund direct operations of the current 254
air traffic control towers in the contract tower program,
including the contract tower cost share program, and any
airport that is currently qualified or that will qualify for
the program during the fiscal year: Provided further, That
none of the funds in this Act for aeronautical charting and
cartography are available for activities conducted by, or
coordinated through, the Working Capital Fund: Provided
further, That none of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this Act or any other Act may be used to
eliminate the Contract Weather Observers program at any
airport: Provided further, That of the amount appropriated
under this heading, up to $6,000,000 shall be used for
providing matching funds to qualified commercial entities
seeking to demonstrate or validate technologies that the
Federal Aviation Administration considers essential to the
safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the
National Airspace System at Federal Aviation Administration
designated UAS test sites: Provided further, That not later
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall
identify essential integration technologies that could be
demonstrated or validated at test sites designated in
accordance with the preceding proviso.
facilities and equipment
(airport and airway trust fund)
For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, for
acquisition, establishment, technical support services,
improvement by contract or purchase, and hire of national
airspace systems and experimental facilities and equipment,
as authorized under part A of subtitle VII of title 49,
United States Code, including initial acquisition of
necessary sites by lease or grant; engineering and service
testing, including construction of test facilities and
acquisition of necessary sites by lease or grant;
construction and furnishing of quarters and related
accommodations for officers and employees of the Federal
Aviation Administration stationed at remote localities where
such accommodations are not available; and the purchase,
lease, or transfer of aircraft from funds available under
this heading, including aircraft for aviation regulation and
certification; to be derived from the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund, $3,000,000,000, of which $512,823,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2020, $2,362,977,000
shall remain available until September 30, 2021, and
$124,200,000 shall remain available until expended:
Provided, That there may be credited to this appropriation
funds received from States, counties, municipalities, other
public authorities, and private sources, for expenses
incurred in the establishment, improvement, and modernization
of national airspace systems: Provided further, That no
later than March 31, the Secretary of Transportation shall
transmit to the Congress an investment plan for the Federal
Aviation Administration which includes funding for each
budget line item for fiscal years 2020 through 2024, with
total funding for each year of the plan constrained to the
funding targets for those years as estimated and approved by
the Office of Management and Budget.
research, engineering, and development
(airport and airway trust fund)
For necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, for
research, engineering, and development, as authorized under
part A of subtitle VII of title 49, United States Code,
including construction of experimental facilities and
acquisition of necessary sites by lease or grant,
$191,000,000, to be derived from the Airport and Airway Trust
Fund and to remain available until September 30, 2021:
Provided, That there may be credited to this appropriation as
offsetting collections, funds received from States, counties,
municipalities, other public authorities, and private
sources, which shall be available for expenses incurred for
research, engineering, and development.
grants-in-aid for airports
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(airport and airway trust fund)
(including transfer of funds)
For liquidation of obligations incurred for grants-in-aid
for airport planning and development, and noise compatibility
planning and programs as authorized under subchapter I of
chapter 471 and subchapter I of chapter 475 of title 49,
United States Code, and under other law authorizing such
obligations; for procurement, installation, and commissioning
of runway incursion prevention devices and systems at
airports of such title; for grants authorized under section
41743 of title 49, United States Code; and for inspection
activities and administration of airport safety programs,
including those related to airport operating certificates
under section 44706 of title 49, United States Code,
$3,000,000,000, to be derived from the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund and to remain available until expended: Provided,
That none of the funds under this heading shall be available
for the planning or execution of programs the obligations for
which are in excess of $3,350,000,000 in fiscal year 2019,
notwithstanding section 47117(g) of title 49, United States
Code: Provided further, That none of the funds under this
heading shall be available for the replacement of baggage
conveyor systems, reconfiguration of terminal baggage areas,
or other airport improvements that are necessary to install
bulk explosive detection systems: Provided further, That
notwithstanding section 47109(a) of title 49, United States
Code, the Government's share of allowable project costs under
paragraph (2) for subgrants or paragraph (3) of that section
shall be 95 percent for a project at other than a large or
medium hub airport that is a successive phase of a multi-
phased construction project for which the project sponsor
received a grant in fiscal year 2011 for the construction
project: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other
provision of law, of funds limited under this heading, not
more than $112,600,000 shall be available for administration,
not less than $15,000,000 shall be available for the Airport
Cooperative Research Program, not less than $33,210,000 shall
be available for Airport Technology Research, and
$10,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall be
available and transferred to ``Office of the Secretary,
Salaries and Expenses'' to carry out the Small Community Air
Service Development Program: Provided further, That in
addition to airports eligible under section 41743 of title
49, United States Code, such program may include the
participation of an airport that serves a community or
consortium that is not larger than a small hub airport,
according to FAA hub classifications effective at the time
the Office of the Secretary issues a request for proposals.
grants-in-aid for airports
For an additional amount for ``Grants-In-Aid for
Airports'', to enable the Secretary of Transportation to make
grants for projects as authorized by subchapter 1 of chapter
471 and subchapter 1 of chapter 475 of title 49, United
States Code, $750,000,000, to remain available through
September 30, 2021: Provided, That amounts made available
under this heading shall be derived from the general fund,
and such funds shall not be subject to apportionment
formulas, special apportionment categories, or minimum
percentages under chapter 471: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall distribute funds provided under this heading
as discretionary grants to airports: Provided further, That
the amount made available under this heading shall not be
subject to any limitation on obligations for the Grants-in-
Aid for Airports program set forth in any Act: Provided
further, That the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration may retain up to 0.5 percent of the funds
provided under this heading to fund the award and oversight
by the Administrator of grants made under this heading.
administrative provisions--federal aviation administration
Sec. 110. None of the funds in this Act may be used to
compensate in excess of 600 technical staff-years under the
federally funded research and development center contract
between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Center
for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during fiscal year
2019.
Sec. 111. None of the funds in this Act shall be used to
pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport
sponsors to provide to the Federal Aviation Administration
without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities
and expenses, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for
services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or
weather reporting: Provided, That the prohibition of funds
in this section does not apply to negotiations between the
agency and airport sponsors to achieve agreement on ``below-
market'' rates for these items or to grant assurances that
require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the
Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control
facilities.
Sec. 112. The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration may reimburse amounts made available to
satisfy 49 U.S.C. 41742(a)(1) from fees credited under 49
U.S.C. 45303 and any amount remaining in such account at the
close of that fiscal year may be made available to satisfy
section 41742(a)(1) for the subsequent fiscal year.
Sec. 113. Amounts collected under section 40113(e) of
title 49, United States Code, shall be credited to the
appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged
with and available for the same purposes of such
appropriation.
Sec. 114. None of the funds in this Act shall be available
for paying premium pay under subsection 5546(a) of title 5,
United States Code, to any Federal Aviation Administration
employee unless such employee actually performed work during
the time corresponding to such premium pay.
Sec. 115. None of the funds in this Act may be obligated
or expended for an employee of the Federal Aviation
Administration to purchase a store gift card or gift
certificate
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through use of a Government-issued credit card.
Sec. 116. None of the funds in this Act may be obligated
or expended for retention bonuses for an employee of the
Federal Aviation Administration without the prior written
approval of the Assistant Secretary for Administration of the
Department of Transportation.
Sec. 117. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none
of the funds made available under this Act or any prior Act
may be used to implement or to continue to implement any
limitation on the ability of any owner or operator of a
private aircraft to obtain, upon a request to the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, a
blocking of that owner's or operator's aircraft registration
number from any display of the Federal Aviation
Administration's Aircraft Situational Display to Industry
data that is made available to the public, except data made
available to a Government agency, for the noncommercial
flights of that owner or operator.
Sec. 118. None of the funds in this Act shall be available
for salaries and expenses of more than eight political and
Presidential appointees in the Federal Aviation
Administration.
Sec. 119. None of the funds made available under this Act
may be used to increase fees pursuant to section 44721 of
title 49, United States Code, until the Federal Aviation
Administration provides to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations a report that justifies all fees related to
aeronautical navigation products and explains how such fees
are consistent with Executive Order 13642.
Sec. 119A. None of the funds in this Act may be used to
close a regional operations center of the Federal Aviation
Administration or reduce its services unless the
Administrator notifies the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations not less than 90 full business days in
advance.
Sec. 119B. None of the funds appropriated or limited by
this Act may be used to change weight restrictions or prior
permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New
Jersey.
Sec. 119C. None of the funds provided under this Act may
be used by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration to withhold from consideration and approval
any new application for participation in the Contract Tower
Program, or for reevaluation of Cost-share Program
participants, as long as the Federal Aviation Administration
has received an application from the airport, and as long as
the Administrator determines such tower is eligible using the
factors set forth in the Federal Aviation Administration
report, Establishment and Discontinuance Criteria for Airport
Traffic Control Towers (FAA-APO-90-7 as of August, 1990).
Sec. 119D. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
none of the funds made available in this Act may be obligated
or expended to limit the use of an Organization Designation
Authorization's (ODA) delegated functions documented in its
procedures manual on a type certification project unless the
Administrator documents a systemic airworthiness
noncompliance performance issue as a result of inspection or
oversight that the safety of air commerce requires a
limitation with regard to a specific authorization or where
an ODA's capability has not been previously established in
terms of a new compliance method or design feature:
Provided, That in such cases the Federal Aviation
Administration shall work with the ODA holder if requested to
develop the capability to execute that function safely,
efficiently and effectively.
Sec. 119E. (a) Terminal Aerodrome Forecast.--The
Administrator shall permit an air carrier operation under
part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to operate
to a destination determined to be under visual flight rules
without a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast or Meteorological
Aerodrome Report if a current Area Forecast, supplemented by
other local weather observations or reports, is available,
and an alternate airport that has an available Terminal
Aerodrome Forecast and weather report is specified. The air
carrier shall have approved procedures for dispatch and en
route weather evaluation and shall operate under instrument
flight rules en route to the destination.
(b) Limitation.--Without a written finding of necessity,
based on objective and historical evidence of imminent threat
to safety, the Administrator shall not promulgate any
operation specification, policy, or guidance document that is
more restrictive than, or requires procedures that are not
expressly stated in, the regulations.
Sec. 119F. Of the funds provided under the heading
``Grants-in-aid for Airports'', up to $3,500,000 shall be for
necessary expenses, including an independent verification
regime, to provide reimbursement to airport sponsors that do
not provide gateway operations and providers of general
aviation ground support services located at those airports
closed during a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for any
residence of the President that is designated or identified
to be secured by the United States Secret Service, and for
direct and incremental financial losses incurred while such
airports are closed solely due to the actions of the Federal
Government: Provided, That no funds shall be obligated or
distributed to airport sponsors that do not provide gateway
operations and providers of general aviation ground support
services until an independent audit is completed: Provided
further, That losses incurred as a result of violations of
law, or through fault or negligence, of such operators and
service providers or of third parties (including airports)
are not eligible for reimbursements: Provided further, That
obligation and expenditure of funds are conditional upon full
release of the United States Government for all claims for
financial losses resulting from such actions.
report on nextgen implementation
Sec. 119G. (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit
to Congress a report on the implementation of NextGen at
commercial service airports in the United States.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include the following:
(1) The number and percentage of commercial service
airports in the United States that have fully implemented
NextGen.
(2) The percentage completion of NextGen implementation at
each commercial service airport in the United States.
(c) Development of Standard to Determine Percentage
Implementation of NextGen.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator shall develop a standard
for determining under subsection (b)(2) the percentage
completion of NextGen implementation at commercial service
airports in the United States based on factors that may
include an accounting of efficiency benefits achieved, the
degree of NextGen technology and infrastructure installed,
and the extent of controller training on NextGen.
(2) Inclusion in report.--The Administrator shall include
in the report submitted under subsection (a) the standard
developed under paragraph (1).
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(2) Nextgen.--The term ``NextGen'' means the Next
Generation Air Transportation System.
Federal Highway Administration
limitation on administrative expenses
(highway trust fund)
(including transfer of funds)
Not to exceed $446,444,304, together with advances and
reimbursements received by the Federal Highway
Administration, shall be obligated for necessary expenses for
administration and operation of the Federal Highway
Administration. In addition, $3,248,000 shall be transferred
to the Appalachian Regional Commission in accordance with
section 104(a) of title 23, United States Code.
federal-aid highways
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
Funds available for the implementation or execution of
Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs
authorized under titles 23 and 49, United States Code, and
the provisions of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
Act shall not exceed total obligations of $45,268,596,000 for
fiscal year 2019: Provided, That the Secretary may collect
and spend fees, as authorized by title 23, United States
Code, to cover the costs of services of expert firms,
including counsel, in the field of municipal and project
finance to assist in the underwriting and servicing of
Federal credit instruments and all or a portion of the costs
to the Federal Government of servicing such credit
instruments: Provided further, That such fees are available
until expended to pay for such costs: Provided further, That
such amounts are in addition to administrative expenses that
are also available for such purpose, and are not subject to
any obligation limitation or the limitation on administrative
expenses under section 608 of title 23, United States Code.
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(highway trust fund)
For the payment of obligations incurred in carrying out
Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs
authorized under title 23, United States Code,
$46,007,596,000 derived from the Highway Trust Fund (other
than the Mass Transit Account), to remain available until
expended.
highway infrastructure programs
There is hereby appropriated to the Secretary of
Transportation $3,300,000,000: Provided, That the amounts
made available under this heading shall be derived from the
general fund, shall be in addition to any funds provided for
fiscal year 2019 in this or any other Act for ``Federal-aid
Highways'' under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code,
and shall not affect the distribution or amount of funds
provided in any other Act: Provided further, That section
1101(b) of Public Law 114-94 shall apply to funds made
available under this heading: Provided further, That of the
funds made available under this heading, $2,389,200,000 shall
be set aside for activities eligible under section
133(b)(1)(A) of title 23, United States Code, $15,800,000
shall be set aside for activities eligible under the Puerto
Rico Highway Program as described in section 165(b)(2)(C) of
such title, $5,000,000 shall be set aside for activities
eligible under the Territorial Highway Program, as described
in section 165(c)(6) of such title, $90,000,000 shall be set
aside for the elimination of hazards and installation of
protective devices at railway-highway crossings, as described
in section 130(e)(1)(A) of such title, and $800,000,000 shall
be set aside for a bridge replacement and rehabilitation
program for States: Provided
[[Page H402]]
further, That for purposes of this heading, the term
``State'' means any of the 50 States or the District of
Columbia: Provided further, That the funds made available
under this heading for activities eligible under section
133(b)(1)(A) of title 23, United States Code, shall be
suballocated in the manner described in section 133(d) of
such title, except that the set-aside described in section
133(h) of such title shall not apply to funds made available
under this heading: Provided further, That the funds made
available under this heading for (1) activities eligible
under section 133(b)(1)(A) of such title (2) the elimination
of hazards and installation of protective devices at railway-
highway crossings, and (3) a bridge replacement and
rehabilitation program shall be administered as if
apportioned under chapter 1 of such title and shall remain
available through September 30, 2022: Provided further, That
the funds made available under this heading for activities
eligible under section 133(b)(1)(A) of title 23, United
States Code, shall be apportioned to the States in the same
ratio as the obligation limitation for fiscal year 2019 is
distributed among the States in section 120(a)(5) of this
Act: Provided further, That, except as provided in the
following proviso, the funds made available under this
heading for activities eligible under the Puerto Rico Highway
Program and activities eligible under the Territorial Highway
Program shall be administered as if allocated under sections
165(b) and 165(c), respectively, of such title and shall
remain available through September 30, 2022: Provided
further, That the funds made available under this heading for
activities eligible under the Puerto Rico Highway Program
shall not be subject to the requirements of sections
165(b)(2)(A) or 165(b)(2)(B) of such title: Provided
further, That the funds made available under this heading for
the elimination of hazards and installation of protective
devices at railway-highway crossings shall be apportioned to
the States as described in sections 130(f)(1) and (f)(2) of
such title: Provided further, That at least one-half of the
funds made available to a State under this heading for the
elimination of hazards and installation of protective devices
at railway-highway crossings shall be available for the
installation of protective devices at railway-highway
crossings: Provided further, That the funds made available
under this heading for the elimination of hazards and
installation of protective devices at railway-highway
crossings shall be subject to the special rule described in
section 130(e)(2) of such title: Provided further, That
projects carried out with funds made available under this
heading for the elimination of hazards and installation of
protective devices at railway-highway crossings shall be (1)
subject to sections 130(b), (c), and (j) of such title, (2)
included in the annual report described in section 130(g) of
such title, and (3) subject to the Federal share requirement
described in section 130(f)(3) of such title: Provided
further, That the funds made available under this heading for
the elimination of hazards and installation of protective
devices at railway-highway crossings shall be (1) available
for matching, as described in section 130(h) of such title,
subject to the requirements of such section, (2) available
for incentive payments, as described in section 130(i) of
such title, subject to the requirements of such section, and
(3) subject to the limitation in section 130(k) of such
title: Provided further, That the funds made available under
this heading for a bridge replacement and rehabilitation
program shall be used for highway bridge replacement or
rehabilitation projects on public roads: Provided further,
That except as provided in the following proviso the funds
made available under this heading for a bridge replacement
and rehabilitation program shall be used in areas of a State
that have a population of 200,000 or fewer individuals:
Provided further, That if a State has no bridges located in
areas with a population of 200,000 or fewer individuals, or
if a State has no bridge replacement or rehabilitation needs
in areas of the State with a population of 200,000 or fewer
individuals, the funds made available under this heading for
a bridge replacement and rehabilitation program may be used
for highway bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects on
public roads in any area of the State: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall distribute funds made available
under this heading for the bridge replacement and
rehabilitation program to each State by the proportion that
the percentage of total deck area of bridges classified as in
poor condition in each State bears to the sum of the
percentages of total deck area of bridges classified as in
poor condition in all States: Provided further, That for
purposes of this heading for the bridge replacement and
rehabilitation program, the Secretary shall (1) calculate
population based on the latest available data from the
decennial census conducted under section 141(a) of title 13,
United States Code, and (2) calculate the percentages of
total deck area of bridges classified as in poor condition
based on the National Bridge Inventory as of December 31,
2017.
administrative provisions--federal highway administration
Sec. 120. (a) For fiscal year 2019, the Secretary of
Transportation shall--
(1) not distribute from the obligation limitation for
Federal-aid highways--
(A) amounts authorized for administrative expenses and
programs by section 104(a) of title 23, United States Code;
and
(B) amounts authorized for the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics;
(2) not distribute an amount from the obligation limitation
for Federal-aid highways that is equal to the unobligated
balance of amounts--
(A) made available from the Highway Trust Fund (other than
the Mass Transit Account) for Federal-aid highway and highway
safety construction programs for previous fiscal years the
funds for which are allocated by the Secretary (or
apportioned by the Secretary under sections 202 or 204 of
title 23, United States Code); and
(B) for which obligation limitation was provided in a
previous fiscal year;
(3) determine the proportion that--
(A) the obligation limitation for Federal-aid highways,
less the aggregate of amounts not distributed under
paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection; bears to
(B) the total of the sums authorized to be appropriated for
the Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction
programs (other than sums authorized to be appropriated for
provisions of law described in paragraphs (1) through (11) of
subsection (b) and sums authorized to be appropriated for
section 119 of title 23, United States Code, equal to the
amount referred to in subsection (b)(12) for such fiscal
year), less the aggregate of the amounts not distributed
under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection;
(4) distribute the obligation limitation for Federal-aid
highways, less the aggregate amounts not distributed under
paragraphs (1) and (2), for each of the programs (other than
programs to which paragraph (1) applies) that are allocated
by the Secretary under the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act and title 23, United States Code, or
apportioned by the Secretary under sections 202 or 204 of
that title, by multiplying--
(A) the proportion determined under paragraph (3); by
(B) the amounts authorized to be appropriated for each such
program for such fiscal year; and
(5) distribute the obligation limitation for Federal-aid
highways, less the aggregate amounts not distributed under
paragraphs (1) and (2) and the amounts distributed under
paragraph (4), for Federal-aid highway and highway safety
construction programs that are apportioned by the Secretary
under title 23, United States Code, (other than the amounts
apportioned for the National Highway Performance Program in
section 119 of title 23, United States Code, that are exempt
from the limitation under subsection (b)(12) and the amounts
apportioned under sections 202 and 204 of that title) in the
proportion that--
(A) amounts authorized to be appropriated for the programs
that are apportioned under title 23, United States Code, to
each State for such fiscal year; bears to
(B) the total of the amounts authorized to be appropriated
for the programs that are apportioned under title 23, United
States Code, to all States for such fiscal year.
(b) Exceptions From Obligation Limitation.--The obligation
limitation for Federal-aid highways shall not apply to
obligations under or for--
(1) section 125 of title 23, United States Code;
(2) section 147 of the Surface Transportation Assistance
Act of 1978 (23 U.S.C. 144 note; 92 Stat. 2714);
(3) section 9 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1981 (95
Stat. 1701);
(4) subsections (b) and (j) of section 131 of the Surface
Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 2119);
(5) subsections (b) and (c) of section 149 of the Surface
Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987
(101 Stat. 198);
(6) sections 1103 through 1108 of the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (105 Stat. 2027);
(7) section 157 of title 23, United States Code (as in
effect on June 8, 1998);
(8) section 105 of title 23, United States Code (as in
effect for fiscal years 1998 through 2004, but only in an
amount equal to $639,000,000 for each of those fiscal years);
(9) Federal-aid highway programs for which obligation
authority was made available under the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (112 Stat. 107) or subsequent Acts
for multiple years or to remain available until expended, but
only to the extent that the obligation authority has not
lapsed or been used;
(10) section 105 of title 23, United States Code (as in
effect for fiscal years 2005 through 2012, but only in an
amount equal to $639,000,000 for each of those fiscal years);
(11) section 1603 of SAFETEA-LU (23 U.S.C. 118 note; 119
Stat. 1248), to the extent that funds obligated in accordance
with that section were not subject to a limitation on
obligations at the time at which the funds were initially
made available for obligation; and
(12) section 119 of title 23, United States Code (but, for
each of fiscal years 2013 through 2019, only in an amount
equal to $639,000,000).
(c) Redistribution of Unused Obligation Authority.--
Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary shall, after
August 1 of such fiscal year--
(1) revise a distribution of the obligation limitation made
available under subsection (a) if an amount distributed
cannot be obligated during that fiscal year; and
(2) redistribute sufficient amounts to those States able to
obligate amounts in addition to those previously distributed
during that fiscal year, giving priority to those States
[[Page H403]]
having large unobligated balances of funds apportioned under
sections 144 (as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of Public Law 112-141) and 104 of title 23, United
States Code.
(d) Applicability of Obligation Limitations to
Transportation Research Programs.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
obligation limitation for Federal-aid highways shall apply to
contract authority for transportation research programs
carried out under--
(A) chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code; and
(B) title VI of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
Act.
(2) Exception.--Obligation authority made available under
paragraph (1) shall--
(A) remain available for a period of 4 fiscal years; and
(B) be in addition to the amount of any limitation imposed
on obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety
construction programs for future fiscal years.
(e) Redistribution of Certain Authorized Funds.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
distribution of obligation limitation under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall distribute to the States any funds
(excluding funds authorized for the program under section 202
of title 23, United States Code) that--
(A) are authorized to be appropriated for such fiscal year
for Federal-aid highway programs; and
(B) the Secretary determines will not be allocated to the
States (or will not be apportioned to the States under
section 204 of title 23, United States Code), and will not be
available for obligation, for such fiscal year because of the
imposition of any obligation limitation for such fiscal year.
(2) Ratio.--Funds shall be distributed under paragraph (1)
in the same proportion as the distribution of obligation
authority under subsection (a)(5).
(3) Availability.--Funds distributed to each State under
paragraph (1) shall be available for any purpose described in
section 133(b) of title 23, United States Code.
Sec. 121. Notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, funds received
by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of
data products, for necessary expenses incurred pursuant to
chapter 63 of title 49, United States Code, may be credited
to the Federal-aid highways account for the purpose of
reimbursing the Bureau for such expenses: Provided, That
such funds shall be subject to the obligation limitation for
Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs.
Sec. 122. Not less than 15 days prior to waiving, under
his or her statutory authority, any Buy America requirement
for Federal-aid highways projects, the Secretary of
Transportation shall make an informal public notice and
comment opportunity on the intent to issue such waiver and
the reasons therefor: Provided, That the Secretary shall
provide an annual report to the House and Senate Committees
on Appropriations on any waivers granted under the Buy
America requirements.
Sec. 123. None of the funds provided in this Act to the
Department of Transportation may be used to provide credit
assistance unless not less than 3 days before any application
approval to provide credit assistance under sections 603 and
604 of title 23, United States Code, the Secretary of
Transportation provides notification in writing to the
following committees: the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations; the Committee on Environment and Public Works
and the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of
the Senate; and the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives: Provided,
That such notification shall include, but not be limited to,
the name of the project sponsor; a description of the
project; whether credit assistance will be provided as a
direct loan, loan guarantee, or line of credit; and the
amount of credit assistance.
Sec. 124. None of the funds in this Act may be used to
make a grant for a project under section 117 of title 23,
United States Code, unless the Secretary, at least 60 days
before making a grant under that section, provides written
notification to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations of the proposed grant, including an evaluation
and justification for the project and the amount of the
proposed grant award: Provided, That the written
notification required in the previous proviso shall be made
no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act.
Sec. 125. (a) A State or territory, as defined in section
165 of title 23, United States Code, may use for any project
eligible under section 133(b) of title 23 or section 165 of
title 23 and located within the boundary of the State or
territory any earmarked amount, and any associated obligation
limitation: Provided, That the Department of Transportation
for the State or territory for which the earmarked amount was
originally designated or directed notifies the Secretary of
Transportation of its intent to use its authority under this
section and submits a quarterly report to the Secretary
identifying the projects to which the funding would be
applied. Notwithstanding the original period of availability
of funds to be obligated under this section, such funds and
associated obligation limitation shall remain available for
obligation for a period of 3 fiscal years after the fiscal
year in which the Secretary of Transportation is notified.
The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out with
funds made available under this section shall be the same as
associated with the earmark.
(b) In this section, the term ``earmarked amount'' means--
(1) congressionally directed spending, as defined in rule
XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, identified in a
prior law, report, or joint explanatory statement, which was
authorized to be appropriated or appropriated more than 10
fiscal years prior to the current fiscal year, and
administered by the Federal Highway Administration; or
(2) a congressional earmark, as defined in rule XXI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives identified in a prior
law, report, or joint explanatory statement, which was
authorized to be appropriated or appropriated more than 10
fiscal years prior to the current fiscal year, and
administered by the Federal Highway Administration.
(c) The authority under subsection (a) may be exercised
only for those projects or activities that have obligated
less than 10 percent of the amount made available for
obligation as of October 1 of the current fiscal year, and
shall be applied to projects within the same general
geographic area within 50 miles for which the funding was
designated, except that a State or territory may apply such
authority to unexpended balances of funds from projects or
activities the State or territory certifies have been closed
and for which payments have been made under a final voucher.
(d) The Secretary shall submit consolidated reports of the
information provided by the States and territories each
quarter to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
motor carrier safety operations and programs
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
For payment of obligations incurred in the implementation,
execution and administration of motor carrier safety
operations and programs pursuant to section 31110 of title
49, United States Code, as amended by the Fixing America's
Surface Transportation Act, $284,000,000, to be derived from
the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account),
together with advances and reimbursements received by the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the sum of which
shall remain available until expended: Provided, That funds
available for implementation, execution or administration of
motor carrier safety operations and programs authorized under
title 49, United States Code, shall not exceed total
obligations of $284,000,000 for ``Motor Carrier Safety
Operations and Programs'' for fiscal year 2019, of which
$9,073,000, to remain available for obligation until
September 30, 2021, is for the research and technology
program, and of which $34,824,000, to remain available for
obligation until September 30, 2021, is for information
management.
motor carrier safety grants
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
(including transfer of funds)
For payment of obligations incurred in carrying out
sections 31102, 31103, 31104, and 31313 of title 49, United
States Code, as amended by the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act, $382,800,000, to be derived from the
Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) and
to remain available until expended: Provided, That funds
available for the implementation or execution of motor
carrier safety programs shall not exceed total obligations of
$382,800,000 in fiscal year 2019 for ``Motor Carrier Safety
Grants''; of which $304,300,000 shall be available for the
motor carrier safety assistance program, $32,500,000 shall be
available for the commercial driver's license program
implementation program, $44,000,000 shall be available for
the high priority activities program, and $2,000,000 shall be
made available for commercial motor vehicle operators grants,
of which $1,000,000 is to be made available from prior year
unobligated contract authority provided for Motor Carrier
Safety grants in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century (Public Law 105-178), SAFETEA-LU (Public Law 109-59),
or other appropriations or authorization acts.
administrative provisions--federal motor carrier safety administration
Sec. 130. Funds appropriated or limited in this Act shall
be subject to the terms and conditions stipulated in section
350 of Public Law 107-87 and section 6901 of Public Law 110-
28.
Sec. 131. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
shall send notice of 49 CFR section 385.308 violations by
certified mail, registered mail, or another manner of
delivery, which records the receipt of the notice by the
persons responsible for the violations.
Sec. 132. To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall ensure the safe and
timely completion of the flexible sleeper berth pilot program
of the Administration.
[[Page H404]]
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
operations and research
For expenses necessary to discharge the functions of the
Secretary, with respect to traffic and highway safety
authorized under chapter 301 and part C of subtitle VI of
title 49, United States Code, $190,000,000, of which
$40,000,000 shall remain available through September 30,
2020.
operations and research
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
For payment of obligations incurred in carrying out the
provisions of 23 U.S.C. 403, section 4011 of the FAST Act
(Public Law 114-94), and chapter 303 of title 49, United
States Code, $152,100,000, to be derived from the Highway
Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) and to
remain available until expended: Provided, That none of the
funds in this Act shall be available for the planning or
execution of programs the total obligations for which, in
fiscal year 2019, are in excess of $152,100,000, of which
$146,700,000 shall be for programs authorized under 23 U.S.C.
403 and $5,400,000 shall be for the National Driver Register
authorized under chapter 303 of title 49, United States Code:
Provided further, That within the $152,100,000 obligation
limitation for operations and research, $20,000,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2020, and shall be in
addition to the amount of any limitation imposed on
obligations for future years.
highway traffic safety grants
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
For payment of obligations incurred in carrying out
provisions of 23 U.S.C. 402, 404, and 405, and section
4001(a)(6) of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
Act, to remain available until expended, $610,208,000, to be
derived from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass
Transit Account): Provided, That none of the funds in this
Act shall be available for the planning or execution of
programs the total obligations for which, in fiscal year
2019, are in excess of $610,208,000 for programs authorized
under 23 U.S.C. 402, 404, and 405, and section 4001(a)(6) of
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, of which
$270,400,000 shall be for ``Highway Safety Programs'' under
23 U.S.C. 402; $283,000,000 shall be for ``National Priority
Safety Programs'' under 23 U.S.C. 405; $30,200,000 shall be
for ``High Visibility Enforcement Program'' under 23 U.S.C.
404; and $26,608,000 shall be for ``Administrative Expenses''
under section 4001(a)(6) of the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act: Provided further, That none of these
funds shall be used for construction, rehabilitation, or
remodeling costs, or for office furnishings and fixtures for
State, local or private buildings or structures: Provided
further, That not to exceed $500,000 of the funds made
available for ``National Priority Safety Programs'' under 23
U.S.C. 405 for ``Impaired Driving Countermeasures'' (as
described in subsection (d) of that section) shall be
available for technical assistance to the States: Provided
further, That with respect to the ``Transfers'' provision
under 23 U.S.C. 405(a)(8), any amounts transferred to
increase the amounts made available under section 402 shall
include the obligation authority for such amounts: Provided
further, That the Administrator shall notify the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations of any exercise of the
authority granted under the previous proviso or under 23
U.S.C. 405(a)(8) within 5 days.
administrative provisions--national highway traffic safety
administration
Sec. 140. An additional $130,000 shall be made available
to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, out of
the amount limited for section 402 of title 23, United States
Code, to pay for travel and related expenses for State
management reviews and to pay for core competency development
training and related expenses for highway safety staff.
Sec. 141. The limitations on obligations for the programs
of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set in
this Act shall not apply to obligations for which obligation
authority was made available in previous public laws but only
to the extent that the obligation authority has not lapsed or
been used.
Sec. 142. In addition to the amounts made available under
the heading, ``Operations and Research (Liquidation of
Contract Authorization) (Limitation on Obligations) (Highway
Trust Fund)'' for carrying out the provisions of section 403
of title 23, United States Code, $4,000,000 shall be
available to continue a high visibility enforcement paid-
media campaign regarding highway-rail grade crossing safety
in collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration.
Federal Railroad Administration
safety and operations
For necessary expenses of the Federal Railroad
Administration, not otherwise provided for, $221,698,000, of
which $15,900,000 shall remain available until expended.
railroad research and development
For necessary expenses for railroad research and
development, $40,600,000, to remain available until expended.
railroad rehabilitation and improvement financing program
The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to issue
direct loans and loan guarantees pursuant to sections 501
through 504 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory
Reform Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-210), as amended, such
authority shall exist as long as any such direct loan or loan
guarantee is outstanding.
federal-state partnership for state of good repair
For necessary expenses related to Federal-State Partnership
for State of Good Repair Grants as authorized by section
24911 of title 49, United States Code, $300,000,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That the
Secretary may withhold up to one percent of the amount
provided under this heading for the costs of award and
project management oversight of grants carried out under
section 24911 of title 49, United States Code: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall issue the Notice of Funding
Opportunity that encompasses funds provided under this
heading in this Act and previously unawarded funds provided
under this heading in fiscal year 2017 by Public Law 115-31
and fiscal year 2018 by Public Law 115-141, no later than 30
days after enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall announce the selection of projects to receive
awards for the funds in the previous proviso no later than
180 days after enactment of this Act.
consolidated rail infrastructure and safety improvements
For necessary expenses related to Consolidated Rail
Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grants, as authorized
by section 24407 of title 49, United States Code,
$255,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That section 24405(f) of title 49, United States Code, shall
not apply to projects for the implementation of positive
train control systems otherwise eligible under section
24407(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code: Provided
further, That amounts available under this heading for
projects selected for commuter rail passenger transportation
may be transferred by the Secretary, after selection, to the
appropriate agencies to be administered in accordance with
chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall not limit eligible projects
from consideration for funding for planning, engineering,
environmental, construction, and design elements of the same
project in the same application: Provided further, That
unobligated balances remaining after 4 years from the date of
enactment may be used for any eligible project under section
24407(c) of title 49, United States Code: Provided further,
That the Secretary may withhold up to one percent of the
amount provided under this heading for the costs of award and
project management oversight of grants carried out under
section 24407 of title 49, United States Code: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall issue the Notice of Funding
Opportunity that encompasses previously unawarded funds
provided under this heading in fiscal year 2018 by Public Law
115-141 and funds provided under this heading in this Act no
later than 30 days after enactment of this Act: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall announce the selection of
projects to receive awards for the funds in the previous
proviso no later than 120 days after enactment of this Act.
restoration and enhancement
For necessary expenses related to Restoration and
Enhancement Grants, as authorized by section 24408 of title
49, United States Code, $10,000,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That the Secretary may withhold up
to one percent of the funds provided under this heading to
fund the costs of award and project management and oversight:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall issue the Notice
of Funding Opportunity for funds provided under this heading
no later than 30 days after enactment of this Act: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall announce the selection of
projects to receive awards for the funds in the previous
proviso no later than 120 days after enactment of this Act.
northeast corridor grants to the national railroad passenger
corporation
To enable the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation for activities
associated with the Northeast Corridor as authorized by
section 11101(a) of the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act (division A of Public Law 114-94),
$650,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That the Secretary may retain up to one-half of 1 percent of
the funds provided under both this heading and the ``National
Network Grants to the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation'' heading to fund the costs of project management
and oversight of activities authorized by section 11101(c) of
division A of Public Law 114-94: Provided further, That in
addition to the project management oversight funds authorized
under section 11101(c) of division A of Public Law 114-94,
the Secretary may retain up to an additional $5,000,000 of
the funds provided under this heading to fund expenses
associated with the Northeast Corridor Commission established
under section 24905 of title 49, United States Code:
Provided further, That of the amounts made available under
this heading and the ``National Network Grants to the
National Railroad Passenger Corporation'' heading, not less
than $50,000,000 shall be made available to bring Amtrak-
served facilities and stations into compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act: Provided further, That of
the amounts made available under this
[[Page H405]]
heading and the heading ``National Network Grants to the
National Railroad Passenger Corporation'', not more than
$500,000 may be made available to provide a discount of not
less than 15 percent on passenger fares to veterans (as
defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code).
national network grants to the national railroad passenger corporation
To enable the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation for activities
associated with the National Network as authorized by section
11101(b) of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act
(division A of Public Law 114-94), $1,291,600,000, to remain
available until expended: Provided, That the Secretary may
retain up to an additional $2,000,000 of the funds provided
under this heading to fund expenses associated with the
State-Supported Route Committee established under section
24712 of title 49, United States Code: Provided further,
That at least $50,000,000 of the amount provided under this
heading shall be available for the development, installation
and operation of railroad safety technology, including the
implementation of a positive train control system, on State-
supported routes as defined under section 24102(13) of title
49, United States Code, on which positive train control
systems are not required by law or regulation: Provided
further, That not less than $50,000,000 of the amount
provided under this heading shall be for capital expenses
related to safety improvements, maintenance, and the non-
Federal match for discretionary Federal grant programs to
enable continued passenger rail operations on long-distance
routes (as defined in section 24102 of title 49, United
States Code) on which Amtrak is the sole tenant of the host
railroad and positive train control systems are not required
by law (including regulations): Provided further, That none
of the funds provided under this heading shall be used by
Amtrak to give notice under subsection (a) or (b) of section
24706 of title 49, United States Code, with respect to long-
distance routes (as defined in section 24102 of title 49,
United States Code) on which Amtrak is the sole tenant of the
host railroad and positive train control systems are not
required by law (including regulations), or otherwise
initiate discontinuance of, reduce the frequency of, suspend,
or substantially alter the schedule or route of rail service
on any portion of such route operated in fiscal year 2018,
including implementation of service permitted by section
24305(a)(3)(A) of title 49, United States Code, in lieu of
rail service.
administrative provisions--federal railroad administration
Sec. 150. None of the funds provided to the National
Railroad Passenger Corporation may be used to fund any
overtime costs in excess of $35,000 for any individual
employee: Provided, That the President of Amtrak may waive
the cap set in the previous proviso for specific employees
when the President of Amtrak determines such a cap poses a
risk to the safety and operational efficiency of the system:
Provided further, That the President of Amtrak shall report
to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within
60 days of enactment of this Act, a summary of all overtime
payments incurred by the Corporation for 2018 and the three
prior calendar years: Provided further, That such summary
shall include the total number of employees that received
waivers and the total overtime payments the Corporation paid
to those employees receiving waivers for each month for 2018
and for the three prior calendar years.
Sec. 151. It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) long-distance passenger rail routes provide much-needed
transportation access for 4,700,000 riders in 325 communities
in 40 States and are particularly important in rural areas;
and
(2) long-distance passenger rail routes and services should
be sustained to ensure connectivity throughout the National
Network (as defined in section 24102 of title 49, United
States Code).
Federal Transit Administration
administrative expenses
For necessary administrative expenses of the Federal
Transit Administration's programs authorized by chapter 53 of
title 49, United States Code, $113,165,000: Provided, That
none of the funds provided or limited in this Act may be used
to create a permanent office of transit security under this
heading: Provided further, That upon submission to the
Congress of the fiscal year 2020 President's budget, the
Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to Congress the
annual report on New Starts, including proposed allocations
for fiscal year 2020.
transit formula grants
(liquidation of contract authorization)
(limitation on obligations)
(highway trust fund)
For payment of obligations incurred in the Federal Public
Transportation Assistance Program in this account, and for
payment of obligations incurred in carrying out the
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 5305, 5307, 5310, 5311, 5312, 5314,
5318, 5329(e)(6), 5335, 5337, 5339, and 5340, as amended by
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, section
20005(b) of Public Law 112-141, and section 3006(b) of the
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, $9,900,000,000,
to be derived from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway
Trust Fund and to remain available until expended: Provided,
That funds available for the implementation or execution of
programs authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5305, 5307, 5310, 5311,
5312, 5314, 5318, 5329(e)(6), 5335, 5337, 5339, and 5340, as
amended by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act,
section 20005(b) of Public Law 112-141, and section 3006(b)
of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, shall not
exceed total obligations of $9,939,380,030 in fiscal year
2019: Provided further, That the Federal share of the cost
of activities carried out under 49 U.S.C. section 5312 shall
not exceed 80 percent, except that if there is substantial
public interest or benefit, the Secretary may approve a
greater Federal share.
transit infrastructure grants
For an additional amount for buses and bus facilities
grants under section 5339 of title 49, United States Code,
state of good repair grants under section 5337 of such title,
high density state apportionments under section 5340(d) of
such title, and the bus testing facilities under sections
5312 and 5318 of such title, $800,000,000 to remain available
until expended: Provided, That $400,000,000 shall be
available for grants as authorized under section 5339 of such
title, of which $209,104,000 shall be available for the buses
and bus facilities formula grants as authorized under section
5339(a) of such title, $161,446,000 shall be available for
the buses and bus facilities competitive grants as authorized
under section 5339(b) of such title, and $29,450,000 shall be
available for the low or no emission grants as authorized
under section 5339(c) of such title: Provided further, That
$362,000,000 shall be available for the state of good repair
grants as authorized under section 5337 of such title:
Provided further, That $30,000,000 shall be available for the
high density state apportionments as authorized under section
5340(d) of such title: Provided further, That $2,000,000
shall be available for the bus testing facility as authorized
under section 5318 of such title: Provided further, That
notwithstanding section 5318(a) of such title, $6,000,000
shall be available for the operation and maintenance of bus
testing facilities by institutions of higher education
selected pursuant to section 5312(h) of such title: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall enter into a contract or
cooperative agreement with, or make a grant to, each
institution of higher education selected pursuant to section
5312(h) of such title, to operate and maintain a facility to
conduct the testing of low or no emission vehicle new bus
models using the standards established pursuant to section
5318(e)(2) of such title: Provided further, That the term
``low or no emission vehicle'' has the meaning given the term
in section 5312(e)(6) of such title: Provided further, That
the Secretary shall pay 80 percent of the cost of testing a
low or no emission vehicle new bus model at each selected
institution of higher education: Provided further, That the
entity having the vehicle tested shall pay 20 percent of the
cost of testing: Provided further, That a low or no emission
vehicle new bus model tested that receives a passing
aggregate test score in accordance with the standards
established under section 5318(e)(2) of such title, shall be
deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of section
5318(e) of such title: Provided further, That amounts made
available by this heading shall be derived from the general
fund: Provided further, That the amounts made available
under this heading shall not be subject to any limitation on
obligations for transit programs set forth in any Act.
technical assistance and training
For necessary expenses to carry out 49 U.S.C. 5314,
$5,000,000, of which up to $1,500,000 shall be for a
cooperative agreement through which the Federal Transit
Administration assists small-urban, rural and tribal public
transit recipients and planning organizations with applied
innovation and capacity-building: Provided, That the
assistance provided under this heading not duplicate the
activities of 49 U.S.C. 5311(b) or 49 U.S.C. 5312.
capital investment grants
For necessary expenses to carry out fixed guideway capital
investment grants under section 5309 of title 49, United
States Code, and section 3005(b) of the Fixing America's
Surface Transportation Act, $2,552,687,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2022: Provided, That of the
amounts made available under this heading, $1,315,670,000
shall be available for projects authorized under section
5309(d) of title 49, United States Code, $543,500,000 shall
be available for projects authorized under section 5309(e) of
title 49, United States Code, $568,000,000 shall be available
for projects authorized under section 5309(h) of title 49,
United States Code, and $100,000,000 shall be available for
projects authorized under section 3005(b) of the Fixing
America's Surface Transportation Act: Provided further, That
the Secretary shall continue to administer the capital
investment grants program in accordance with the procedural
and substantive requirements of section 5309 of title 49,
United States Code, and of section 3005(b) of the Fixing
America's Surface Transportation Act.
grants to the washington metropolitan area transit authority
For grants to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority as authorized under section 601 of division B of
Public Law 110-432, $150,000,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That the Secretary of Transportation
shall approve grants for capital and preventive maintenance
expenditures for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority only after receiving and
[[Page H406]]
reviewing a request for each specific project: Provided
further, That prior to approving such grants, the Secretary
shall certify that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority is making progress to improve its safety management
system in response to the Federal Transit Administration's
2015 safety management inspection: Provided further, That
the Secretary shall determine that the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has placed the highest
priority on those investments that will improve the safety of
the system before approving such grants: Provided further,
That the Secretary, in order to ensure safety throughout the
rail system, may waive the requirements of section 601(e)(1)
of division B of Public Law 110-432.
administrative provisions--federal transit administration
(including rescission)
Sec. 160. The limitations on obligations for the programs
of the Federal Transit Administration shall not apply to any
authority under 49 U.S.C. 5338, previously made available for
obligation, or to any other authority previously made
available for obligation.
Sec. 161. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
funds appropriated before October 1, 2018, under any section
of chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, that remain
available for expenditure, may be transferred to and
administered under the most recent appropriation heading for
any such section.
Sec. 162. Of the unobligated amounts made available for
fiscal years 2005 or prior fiscal years to ``Transit Formula
Grants'', a total of $46,560,000 is hereby permanently
rescinded.
Sec. 163. None of the funds made available under this Act
may be used for the implementation or furtherance of new
policies detailed in the ``Dear Colleague'' letter
distributed by the Federal Transit Administration to capital
investment grant program project sponsors on June 29, 2018.
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation is hereby
authorized to make such expenditures, within the limits of
funds and borrowing authority available to the Corporation,
and in accord with law, and to make such contracts and
commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations, as
provided by section 104 of the Government Corporation Control
Act, as amended, as may be necessary in carrying out the
programs set forth in the Corporation's budget for the
current fiscal year.
operations and maintenance
(harbor maintenance trust fund)
For necessary expenses to conduct the operations,
maintenance, and capital asset renewal activities on those
portions of the Saint Lawrence Seaway owned, operated, and
maintained by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development
Corporation, $36,000,000, to be derived from the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund, pursuant to Public Law 99-662:
Provided, That of the amounts made available under this
heading, not less than $16,000,000 shall be used on capital
asset renewal activities.
Maritime Administration
maritime security program
For necessary expenses to maintain and preserve a U.S.-flag
merchant fleet to serve the national security needs of the
United States, $300,000,000, to remain available until
expended.
operations and training
(including transfer of funds)
For necessary expenses of operations and training
activities authorized by law, $149,442,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020, of which $71,000,000
shall be for the operations of the United States Merchant
Marine Academy, and of which $18,000,000 shall remain
available until expended for the maintenance and repair,
equipment, and capital improvements at the United States
Merchant Marine Academy: Provided, That not later than
January 12, 2020, the Administrator of the Maritime
Administration shall transmit to the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations the annual report on sexual
assault and sexual harassment at the United States Merchant
Marine Academy as required pursuant to section 3507 of Public
Law 110-417: Provided further, That of the amounts made
available under this heading, $3,000,000 shall be for the
Maritime Environment and Technology Assistance program
authorized under section 50307 of title 46, United States
Code: Provided further, That of the amounts made available
under this heading, $7,000,000, shall remain available until
expended for the Short Sea Transportation Program (America's
Marine Highways) to make grants for the purposes authorized
under sections 55601(b)(1) and (3) of title 46, United States
Code: Provided further, That available balances under this
heading for the Short Sea Transportation Program (America's
Marine Highways) from prior year recoveries shall be
available to carry out activities authorized under sections
55601(b)(1) and (3) of title 46, United States Code:
Provided further, That from funds provided under the previous
two provisos, the Secretary of Transportation shall make
grants no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act in
such amounts as the Secretary determines: Provided further,
That any unobligated balances available from previous
appropriations for programs and activities supporting State
Maritime Academies shall be transferred to and merged with
the appropriations for ``Maritime Administration, State
Maritime Academy Operations'' and shall be made available for
the same purposes.
state maritime academy operations
For necessary expenses of operations, support and training
activities for State Maritime Academies, $340,200,000, of
which $30,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall
be for maintenance, repair, life extension, and capacity
improvement of National Defense Reserve Fleet training ships
in support of State Maritime Academies, as well as other
expenses related to training mariners, as determined by the
Secretary, of which $300,000,000, to remain available until
expended shall be for the National Security Multi-Mission
Vessel Program, including funds for construction, planning,
administration, and design of school ships, of which
$2,400,000 shall remain available through September 30, 2020,
for the Student Incentive Program, of which $1,800,000 shall
remain available until expended for training ship fuel
assistance, and of which $6,000,000 shall remain available
until September 30, 2020, for direct payments for State
Maritime Academies.
assistance to small shipyards
To make grants to qualified shipyards as authorized under
section 54101 of title 46, United States Code, as amended by
Public Law 113-281, $20,000,000, to remain available until
expended.
ship disposal
For necessary expenses related to the disposal of obsolete
vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet of the Maritime
Administration, $5,000,000, to remain available until
expended.
maritime guaranteed loan (title xi) program account
(including transfer of funds)
For administrative expenses to carry out the guaranteed
loan program, $3,000,000, which shall be transferred to and
merged with the appropriations for ``Operations and
Training'', Maritime Administration.
administrative provisions--maritime administration
Sec. 170. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
in addition to any existing authority, the Maritime
Administration is authorized to furnish utilities and
services and make necessary repairs in connection with any
lease, contract, or occupancy involving Government property
under control of the Maritime Administration: Provided, That
payments received therefor shall be credited to the
appropriation charged with the cost thereof and shall remain
available until expended: Provided further, That rental
payments under any such lease, contract, or occupancy for
items other than such utilities, services, or repairs shall
be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
operational expenses
For necessary operational expenses of the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, $23,710,000:
Provided, That the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a
final rule to expand the applicability of comprehensive oil
spill response plans within 45 days of enactment of this Act:
Provided further, That the amounts appropriated under this
heading shall be reduced by $100,000 per day for each day
that such rule has not been issued following the expiration
of the period set forth in the previous proviso.
hazardous materials safety
For expenses necessary to discharge the hazardous materials
safety functions of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration, $58,000,000, of which $7,570,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2021: Provided, That up
to $800,000 in fees collected under 49 U.S.C. 5108(g) shall
be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as
offsetting receipts: Provided further, That there may be
credited to this appropriation, to remain available until
expended, funds received from States, counties,
municipalities, other public authorities, and private sources
for expenses incurred for training, for reports publication
and dissemination, and for travel expenses incurred in the
performance of hazardous materials exemptions and approvals
functions.
pipeline safety
(pipeline safety fund)
(oil spill liability trust fund)
For expenses necessary to conduct the functions of the
pipeline safety program, for grants-in-aid to carry out a
pipeline safety program, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 60107,
and to discharge the pipeline program responsibilities of the
Oil Pollution Act of 1990, $165,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2021, of which $23,000,000 shall be
derived from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund; of which
$134,000,000 shall be derived from the Pipeline Safety Fund;
and of which $8,000,000 shall be derived from fees collected
under 49 U.S.C. 60302 and deposited in the Underground
Natural Gas Storage Facility Safety Account for the purpose
of carrying out 49 U.S.C. 60141: Provided, That not less
than $1,058,000 of the funds provided under this heading
shall be for the one-call state grant program.
emergency preparedness grants
(emergency preparedness fund)
Notwithstanding the fiscal year limitation specified in 49
U.S.C. 5116, not more than
[[Page H407]]
$28,318,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2021,
from amounts made available by 49 U.S.C. 5116(h), 5128(b),
and 5128(c): Provided, That notwithstanding 49 U.S.C.
5116(h)(4), not more than 4 percent of the amounts made
available from this account shall be available to pay
administrative costs: Provided further, That none of the
funds made available by 49 U.S.C. 5116(h), 5128(b), or
5128(c) shall be made available for obligation by individuals
other than the Secretary of Transportation, or his or her
designee.
Office of Inspector General
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the Office of the Inspector
General to carry out the provisions of the Inspector General
Act of 1978, as amended, $92,600,000: Provided, That the
Inspector General shall have all necessary authority, in
carrying out the duties specified in the Inspector General
Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 3), to investigate allegations
of fraud, including false statements to the government (18
U.S.C. 1001), by any person or entity that is subject to
regulation by the Department of Transportation: Provided
further, That the funds made available under this heading may
be used to investigate, pursuant to section 41712 of title
49, United States Code: (1) unfair or deceptive practices and
unfair methods of competition by domestic and foreign air
carriers and ticket agents; and (2) the compliance of
domestic and foreign air carriers with respect to item (1) of
this proviso.
General Provisions--Department of Transportation
Sec. 180. (a) During the current fiscal year, applicable
appropriations to the Department of Transportation shall be
available for maintenance and operation of aircraft; hire of
passenger motor vehicles and aircraft; purchase of liability
insurance for motor vehicles operating in foreign countries
on official department business; and uniforms or allowances
therefor, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901-5902).
(b) During the current fiscal year, applicable
appropriations to the Department and its operating
administrations shall be available for the purchase,
maintenance, operation, and deployment of unmanned aircraft
systems that advance the Department's, or its operating
administrations', missions.
(c) Any unmanned aircraft system purchased or procured by
the Department prior to the enactment of this Act shall be
deemed authorized.
Sec. 181. Appropriations contained in this Act for the
Department of Transportation shall be available for services
as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for individuals
not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the rate for an
Executive Level IV.
Sec. 182. (a) No recipient of funds made available in this
Act shall disseminate personal information (as defined in 18
U.S.C. 2725(3)) obtained by a State department of motor
vehicles in connection with a motor vehicle record as defined
in 18 U.S.C. 2725(1), except as provided in 18 U.S.C. 2721
for a use permitted under 18 U.S.C. 2721.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary shall not
withhold funds provided in this Act for any grantee if a
State is in noncompliance with this provision.
Sec. 183. None of the funds in this Act shall be available
for salaries and expenses of more than 110 political and
Presidential appointees in the Department of Transportation:
Provided, That none of the personnel covered by this
provision may be assigned on temporary detail outside the
Department of Transportation.
Sec. 184. Funds received by the Federal Highway
Administration and Federal Railroad Administration from
States, counties, municipalities, other public authorities,
and private sources for expenses incurred for training may be
credited respectively to the Federal Highway Administration's
``Federal-Aid Highways'' account and to the Federal Railroad
Administration's ``Safety and Operations'' account, except
for State rail safety inspectors participating in training
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 20105.
Sec. 185. (a) None of the funds provided in this Act to the
Department of Transportation may be used to make a loan, loan
guarantee, line of credit, or discretionary grant unless the
Secretary of Transportation notifies the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations not less than 3 full business
days before any project competitively selected to receive any
discretionary grant award, letter of intent, loan commitment,
loan guarantee commitment, line of credit commitment, or full
funding grant agreement is announced by the Department or its
modal administrations: Provided, That the Secretary gives
concurrent notification to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations for any ``quick release'' of funds from the
emergency relief program: Provided further, That no
notification shall involve funds that are not available for
obligation.
(b) In addition to the notification required in subsection
(a), none of the funds made available in this Act to the
Department of Transportation may be used to make a loan, loan
guarantee, line of credit, cooperative agreement or
discretionary grant unless the Secretary of Transportation
provides the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a
comprehensive list of all such loans, loan guarantees, lines
of credit, cooperative agreement or discretionary grants that
will be announced not less the 3 full business days before
such announcement: Provided, That the requirement to provide
a list in this subsection does not apply to any ``quick
release'' of funds from the emergency relief program:
Provided further, That no list shall involve funds that are
not available for obligation.
Sec. 186. Rebates, refunds, incentive payments, minor fees
and other funds received by the Department of Transportation
from travel management centers, charge card programs, the
subleasing of building space, and miscellaneous sources are
to be credited to appropriations of the Department of
Transportation and allocated to elements of the Department of
Transportation using fair and equitable criteria and such
funds shall be available until expended.
Sec. 187. Amounts made available in this or any prior Act
that the Secretary determines represent improper payments by
the Department of Transportation to a third-party contractor
under a financial assistance award, which are recovered
pursuant to law, shall be available--
(1) to reimburse the actual expenses incurred by the
Department of Transportation in recovering improper payments:
Provided, That amounts made available in this Act shall be
available until expended; and
(2) to pay contractors for services provided in recovering
improper payments or contractor support in the implementation
of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002: Provided,
That amounts in excess of that required for paragraphs (1)
and (2)--
(A) shall be credited to and merged with the appropriation
from which the improper payments were made, and shall be
available for the purposes and period for which such
appropriations are available: Provided further, That where
specific project or accounting information associated with
the improper payment or payments is not readily available,
the Secretary may credit an appropriate account, which shall
be available for the purposes and period associated with the
account so credited; or
(B) if no such appropriation remains available, shall be
deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts:
Provided further, That prior to the transfer of any such
recovery to an appropriations account, the Secretary shall
notify the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations of
the amount and reasons for such transfer: Provided further,
That for purposes of this section, the term ``improper
payments'' has the same meaning as that provided in section
2(d)(2) of Public Law 107-300.
Sec. 188. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if
any funds provided in or limited by this Act are subject to a
reprogramming action that requires notice to be provided to
the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations,
transmission of said reprogramming notice shall be provided
solely to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations,
and said reprogramming action shall be approved or denied
solely by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations:
Provided, That the Secretary of Transportation may provide
notice to other congressional committees of the action of the
House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on such
reprogramming but not sooner than 30 days following the date
on which the reprogramming action has been approved or denied
by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
Sec. 189. Funds appropriated in this Act to the modal
administrations may be obligated for the Office of the
Secretary for the costs related to assessments or
reimbursable agreements only when such amounts are for the
costs of goods and services that are purchased to provide a
direct benefit to the applicable modal administration or
administrations.
Sec. 190. The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to
carry out a program that establishes uniform standards for
developing and supporting agency transit pass and transit
benefits authorized under section 7905 of title 5, United
States Code, including distribution of transit benefits by
various paper and electronic media.
Sec. 191. The Department of Transportation may use funds
provided by this Act, or any other Act, to assist a contract
under title 49 U.S.C. or title 23 U.S.C. utilizing
geographic, economic, or any other hiring preference not
otherwise authorized by law, or to amend a rule, regulation,
policy or other measure that forbids a recipient of a Federal
Highway Administration or Federal Transit Administration
grant from imposing such hiring preference on a contract or
construction project with which the Department of
Transportation is assisting, only if the grant recipient
certifies the following:
(1) that except with respect to apprentices or trainees, a
pool of readily available but unemployed individuals
possessing the knowledge, skill, and ability to perform the
work that the contract requires resides in the jurisdiction;
(2) that the grant recipient will include appropriate
provisions in its bid document ensuring that the contractor
does not displace any of its existing employees in order to
satisfy such hiring preference; and
(3) that any increase in the cost of labor, training, or
delays resulting from the use of such hiring preference does
not delay or displace any transportation project in the
applicable Statewide Transportation Improvement Program or
Transportation Improvement Program.
Sec. 192. Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall
submit to the Committees on Appropriations and Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate
[[Page H408]]
and the Committees on Appropriations and Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on
efforts by the Department of Transportation to engage with
local communities, metropolitan planning organizations, and
regional transportation commissions on advancing data and
intelligent transportation systems technologies and other
smart cities solutions.
Sec. 193. The Secretary of Transportation shall consult
with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to
identify any existing authorities and any additional
authorities that may be needed to leverage funds from
Department of Transportation programs for purposes of inland
waterway project costs.
Sec. 194. (a) Subject to subsections (c) and (d), none of
the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the
Department of Transportation by this or any other Act may be
obligated or expended to enforce or require the enforcement
of section 127(a) of title 23, United States Code, with
respect to a segment described in paragraph (1) or (2) of
subsection (b) if the segment is designated as a route of the
Interstate System.
(b) The segments referred to in subsection (a) are the
following:
(1) The William H. Natcher Parkway (to be designated as a
spur of Interstate Route 65) from Interstate Route 65 in
Bowling Green, Kentucky, to United States Route 60 in
Owensboro, Kentucky.
(2) The Julian M. Carroll (Purchase) Parkway (to be
designated as Interstate Route 69) in the State of Kentucky
from the Tennessee State line to the interchange with
Interstate Route 24, near Calvert City, Kentucky.
(c) Only a vehicle that could operate legally on a segment
described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) before
the date of designation of the segment as a route of the
Interstate System may continue to operate on that segment,
subject to the condition that, except as provided in
subsection (d), the gross vehicle weight of such a vehicle
shall not exceed 120,000 pounds.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits a State from issuing
a permit for a nondivisible load or vehicle with a gross
vehicle weight that exceeds 120,000 pounds.
Sec. 195. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to the Department of Transportation may be
obligated or expended to implement, administer, or enforce
the requirements of section 31137 of title 49, United States
Code, or any regulation issued by the Secretary pursuant to
such section, with respect to the use of electronic logging
devices by operators of commercial motor vehicles, as defined
in section 31132(1) of such title, transporting livestock, as
defined in section 602 of the Emergency Livestock Feed
Assistance Act of 1988 (7 U.S.C. 1471) or insects.
Sec. 196. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available to the Federal Transit Administration under
this title to carry out sections 5307, 5311, 5337, and 5339
of title 49, United States Code, may be used in awarding a
contract or subcontract to an entity on or after the date of
enactment of this Act for the procurement of rolling stock
for use in public transportation if the manufacturer of the
rolling stock is incorporated in or has manufacturing
facilities in the United States and receives support from the
government of a country that--
(1) is identified as a nonmarket economy country (as
defined in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19
U.S.C. 1677(18))) as of the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) was identified by the United States Trade
Representative in the most recent report required by section
182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a priority
foreign country under subsection (a)(2) of that section; and
(3) is subject to monitoring by the Trade Representative
under section 306 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416).
(b) This section shall be applied in a manner consistent
with the obligations of the United States under international
agreements.
(c)(1) This section shall not apply to the award of a
contract or subcontract made by a public transportation
agency with a rail rolling stock manufacturer described in
subsection (a) if the manufacturer produces rail rolling
stock for an eligible public transportation agency through a
contract executed prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) A rail rolling stock manufacturer described in
subsection (a) may not use funds provided under a contract or
subcontract described in paragraph (1) to expand the
manufacturer's production of rail rolling stock within the
United States to an amount of rolling stock vehicles or
railcars that is greater than the amount required under
contractual obligations of the manufacturer as of the date of
enactment of this Act including all options for additional
rolling stock.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to
funds that are not appropriated or otherwise made available
to the Federal Transit Administration under this title.
This title may be cited as the ``Department of
Transportation Appropriations Act, 2019''.
TITLE II
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Management and Administration
executive offices
For necessary salaries and expenses for Executive Offices,
which shall be comprised of the offices of the Secretary,
Deputy Secretary, Adjudicatory Services, Congressional and
Intergovernmental Relations, Public Affairs, Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and the Center for Faith-
Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, $14,898,000: Provided,
That not to exceed $25,000 of the amount made available under
this heading shall be available to the Secretary for official
reception and representation expenses as the Secretary may
determine.
administrative support offices
For necessary salaries and expenses for Administrative
Support Offices, $556,000,000, of which $76,600,000 shall be
available for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, (and
of which $25,000,000, to remain available until September 30,
2021, shall be for the financial transformation initiative);
$98,000,000 shall be available for the Office of the General
Counsel, of which not less than $15,000,000 shall be for the
Departmental Enforcement Center; $213,300,000 shall be
available for the Office of Administration; $40,200,000 shall
be available for the Office of the Chief Human Capital
Officer; $54,000,000 shall be available for the Office of
Field Policy and Management; $20,000,000 shall be available
for the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer; $3,600,000
shall be available for the Office of Departmental Equal
Employment Opportunity; $4,300,000 shall be available for the
Office of Business Transformation; and $46,00,000 shall be
available for the Office of the Chief Information Officer:
Provided, That funds provided under this heading may be used
for necessary administrative and non-administrative expenses
of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, not
otherwise provided for, including purchase of uniforms, or
allowances therefor, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902;
hire of passenger motor vehicles; and services as authorized
by 5 U.S.C. 3109: Provided further, That notwithstanding any
other provision of law, funds appropriated under this heading
may be used for advertising and promotional activities that
directly support program activities funded in this title:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall provide the House
and Senate Committees on Appropriations quarterly written
notification regarding the status of pending congressional
reports: Provided further, That the Secretary shall provide
in electronic form all signed reports required by Congress:
Provided further, That not more than 10 percent of the funds
made available under this heading for the Office of Chief
Financial Officer for the financial transformation initiative
may be obligated until the Secretary submits to the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations, for approval, a plan for
expenditure that includes the financial and internal control
capabilities to be delivered and the mission benefits to be
realized, key milestones to be met, and the relationship
between the proposed use of funds made available under this
heading and the projected total cost and scope of the
initiative.
Program Office Salaries and Expenses
public and indian housing
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Public
and Indian Housing, $222,000,000.
community planning and development
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of
Community Planning and Development, $110,000,000.
housing
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of
Housing, $390,000,000, of which not less than $12,500,000
shall be for the Office of Recapitalization.
policy development and research
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Policy
Development and Research, $26,000,000.
fair housing and equal opportunity
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Fair
Housing and Equal Opportunity, $71,500,000.
office of lead hazard control and healthy homes
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Lead
Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, $7,800,000.
working capital fund
(including transfer of funds)
For the working capital fund for the Department of Housing
and Urban Development (referred to in this paragraph as the
``Fund''), pursuant, in part, to section 7(f) of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C.
3535(f)), amounts transferred, including reimbursements
pursuant to section 7(f), to the Fund under this heading
shall be available for Federal shared services used by
offices and agencies of the Department, and for such portion
of any office or agency's printing, records management, space
renovation, furniture, or supply services as the Secretary
determines shall be derived from centralized sources made
available by the Department to all offices and agencies and
funded through the Fund: Provided, That of the amounts made
available in this title for salaries and expenses under the
headings ``Executive Offices'', ``Administrative Support
Offices'', ``Program Office Salaries and Expenses'', and
``Government National Mortgage Association'', the Secretary
shall transfer to the Fund such amounts, to remain available
until expended, as are necessary to fund services, specified
in the matter preceding the first proviso, for which the
appropriation would otherwise have been available, and may
transfer not to exceed an additional $5,000,000, in
aggregate, from all such appropriations, to be merged with
the
[[Page H409]]
Fund and to remain available until expended for any purpose
under this heading: Provided further, That amounts in the
Fund shall be the only amounts available to each office or
agency of the Department for the services, or portion of
services, specified in the matter preceding the first
proviso: Provided further, That with respect to the Fund,
the authorities and conditions under this heading shall
supplement the authorities and conditions provided under
section 7(f).
Public and Indian Housing
tenant-based rental assistance
For activities and assistance for the provision of tenant-
based rental assistance authorized under the United States
Housing Act of 1937, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.)
(``the Act'' herein), not otherwise provided for,
$18,780,987,000, to remain available until expended, shall be
available on October 1, 2018 (in addition to the
$4,000,000,000 previously appropriated under this heading
that shall be available on October 1, 2018), and
$4,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall be
available on October 1, 2019: Provided, That the amounts
made available under this heading are provided as follows:
(1) $20,520,000,000 shall be available for renewals of
expiring section 8 tenant-based annual contributions
contracts (including renewals of enhanced vouchers under any
provision of law authorizing such assistance under section
8(t) of the Act) and including renewal of other special
purpose incremental vouchers: Provided, That notwithstanding
any other provision of law, from amounts provided under this
paragraph and any carryover, the Secretary for the calendar
year 2019 funding cycle shall provide renewal funding for
each public housing agency based on validated voucher
management system (VMS) leasing and cost data for the prior
calendar year and by applying an inflation factor as
established by the Secretary, by notice published in the
Federal Register, and by making any necessary adjustments for
the costs associated with the first-time renewal of vouchers
under this paragraph including tenant protection and Choice
Neighborhoods vouchers: Provided further, That none of the
funds provided under this paragraph may be used to fund a
total number of unit months under lease which exceeds a
public housing agency's authorized level of units under
contract, except for public housing agencies participating in
the MTW demonstration, which are instead governed by the
terms and conditions of their MTW agreements: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall, to the extent necessary to
stay within the amount specified under this paragraph (except
as otherwise modified under this paragraph), prorate each
public housing agency's allocation otherwise established
pursuant to this paragraph: Provided further, That except as
provided in the following provisos, the entire amount
specified under this paragraph (except as otherwise modified
under this paragraph) shall be obligated to the public
housing agencies based on the allocation and pro rata method
described above, and the Secretary shall notify public
housing agencies of their annual budget by the latter of 60
days after enactment of this Act or March 1, 2019: Provided
further, That the Secretary may extend the notification
period with the prior written approval of the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations: Provided further, That
public housing agencies participating in the MTW
demonstration shall be funded pursuant to their MTW
agreements and shall be subject to the same pro rata
adjustments under the previous provisos: Provided further,
That the Secretary may offset public housing agencies'
calendar year 2019 allocations based on the excess amounts of
public housing agencies' net restricted assets accounts,
including HUD-held programmatic reserves (in accordance with
VMS data in calendar year 2018 that is verifiable and
complete), as determined by the Secretary: Provided further,
That public housing agencies participating in the MTW
demonstration shall also be subject to the offset, as
determined by the Secretary, excluding amounts subject to the
single fund budget authority provisions of their MTW
agreements, from the agencies' calendar year 2019 MTW funding
allocation: Provided further, That the Secretary shall use
any offset referred to in the previous two provisos
throughout the calendar year to prevent the termination of
rental assistance for families as the result of insufficient
funding, as determined by the Secretary, and to avoid or
reduce the proration of renewal funding allocations:
Provided further, That up to $100,000,000 shall be available
only: (1) for adjustments in the allocations for public
housing agencies, after application for an adjustment by a
public housing agency that experienced a significant
increase, as determined by the Secretary, in renewal costs of
vouchers resulting from unforeseen circumstances or from
portability under section 8(r) of the Act; (2) for vouchers
that were not in use during the previous 12-month period in
order to be available to meet a commitment pursuant to
section 8(o)(13) of the Act; (3) for adjustments for costs
associated with HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-
VASH) vouchers; and (4) for public housing agencies that
despite taking reasonable cost savings measures, as
determined by the Secretary, would otherwise be required to
terminate rental assistance for families as a result of
insufficient funding: Provided further, That the Secretary
shall allocate amounts under the previous proviso based on
need, as determined by the Secretary;
(2) $85,000,000 shall be for section 8 rental assistance
for relocation and replacement of housing units that are
demolished or disposed of pursuant to section 18 of the Act,
conversion of section 23 projects to assistance under section
8, the family unification program under section 8(x) of the
Act, relocation of witnesses in connection with efforts to
combat crime in public and assisted housing pursuant to a
request from a law enforcement or prosecution agency,
enhanced vouchers under any provision of law authorizing such
assistance under section 8(t) of the Act, Choice Neighborhood
vouchers, mandatory and voluntary conversions, and tenant
protection assistance including replacement and relocation
assistance or for project-based assistance to prevent the
displacement of unassisted elderly tenants currently residing
in section 202 properties financed between 1959 and 1974 that
are refinanced pursuant to Public Law 106-569, as amended, or
under the authority as provided under this Act: Provided,
That when a public housing development is submitted for
demolition or disposition under section 18 of the Act, the
Secretary may provide section 8 rental assistance when the
units pose an imminent health and safety risk to residents:
Provided further, That the Secretary may only provide
replacement vouchers for units that were occupied within the
previous 24 months that cease to be available as assisted
housing, subject only to the availability of funds: Provided
further, That of the amounts made available under this
paragraph, $5,000,000 may be available to provide tenant
protection assistance, not otherwise provided under this
paragraph, to residents residing in low vacancy areas and who
may have to pay rents greater than 30 percent of household
income, as the result of: (A) the maturity of a HUD-insured,
HUD-held or section 202 loan that requires the permission of
the Secretary prior to loan prepayment; (B) the expiration of
a rental assistance contract for which the tenants are not
eligible for enhanced voucher or tenant protection assistance
under existing law; or (C) the expiration of affordability
restrictions accompanying a mortgage or preservation program
administered by the Secretary: Provided further, That such
tenant protection assistance made available under the
previous proviso may be provided under the authority of
section 8(t) or section 8(o)(13) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)): Provided further, That the
Secretary shall issue guidance to implement the previous
provisos, including, but not limited to, requirements for
defining eligible at-risk households within 60 days of the
enactment of this Act: Provided further, That any tenant
protection voucher made available from amounts under this
paragraph shall not be reissued by any public housing agency,
except the replacement vouchers as defined by the Secretary
by notice, when the initial family that received any such
voucher no longer receives such voucher, and the authority
for any public housing agency to issue any such voucher shall
cease to exist: Provided further, That the Secretary may
provide section 8 rental assistance from amounts made
available under this paragraph for units assisted under a
project-based subsidy contract funded under the ``Project-
Based Rental Assistance'' heading under this title where the
owner has received a Notice of Default and the units pose an
imminent health and safety risk to residents: Provided
further, That to the extent that the Secretary determines
that such units are not feasible for continued rental
assistance payments or transfer of the subsidy contract
associated with such units to another project or projects and
owner or owners, any remaining amounts associated with such
units under such contract shall be recaptured and used to
reimburse amounts used under this paragraph for rental
assistance under the preceding proviso;
(3) $1,956,987,000 shall be for administrative and other
expenses of public housing agencies in administering the
section 8 tenant-based rental assistance program, of which up
to $30,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary to
allocate to public housing agencies that need additional
funds to administer their section 8 programs, including fees
associated with section 8 tenant protection rental
assistance, the administration of disaster related vouchers,
HUD-VASH vouchers, and other special purpose incremental
vouchers: Provided, That no less than $1,926,987,000 of the
amount provided in this paragraph shall be allocated to
public housing agencies for the calendar year 2019 funding
cycle based on section 8(q) of the Act (and related
Appropriation Act provisions) as in effect immediately before
the enactment of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-276): Provided further, That if
the amounts made available under this paragraph are
insufficient to pay the amounts determined under the previous
proviso, the Secretary may decrease the amounts allocated to
agencies by a uniform percentage applicable to all agencies
receiving funding under this paragraph or may, to the extent
necessary to provide full payment of amounts determined under
the previous proviso, utilize unobligated balances, including
recaptures and carryovers, remaining from funds appropriated
to the Department of Housing and Urban Development under this
heading from prior fiscal years, excluding special purpose
vouchers, notwithstanding the purposes for which such amounts
were appropriated: Provided further, That all public housing
agencies participating in the MTW demonstration shall be
funded pursuant to their MTW agreements, and shall be
[[Page H410]]
subject to the same uniform percentage decrease as under the
previous proviso: Provided further, That amounts provided
under this paragraph shall be only for activities related to
the provision of tenant-based rental assistance authorized
under section 8, including related development activities;
(4) $154,000,000 for the renewal of tenant-based assistance
contracts under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013), including necessary
administrative expenses: Provided, That administrative and
other expenses of public housing agencies in administering
the special purpose vouchers in this paragraph shall be
funded under the same terms and be subject to the same pro
rata reduction as the percent decrease for administrative and
other expenses to public housing agencies under paragraph (3)
of this heading: Provided further, That any amounts provided
under this paragraph in this Act or prior Acts, remaining
available after funding renewals and administrative expenses
under this paragraph, shall be available for incremental
tenant-based assistance contracts under such section 811,
including necessary administrative expenses;
(5) $5,000,000 shall be for rental assistance and
associated administrative fees for Tribal HUD-VASH to serve
Native American veterans that are homeless or at-risk of
homelessness living on or near a reservation or other Indian
areas: Provided, That such amount shall be made available
for renewal grants to recipients that received assistance
under prior Acts under the Tribal HUD-VASH program: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall be authorized to specify
criteria for renewal grants, including data on the
utilization of assistance reported by grant recipients:
Provided further, That such assistance shall be administered
in accordance with program requirements under the Native
American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of
1996 and modeled after the HUD-VASH program: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall be authorized to waive, or
specify alternative requirements for any provision of any
statute or regulation that the Secretary administers in
connection with the use of funds made available under this
paragraph (except for requirements related to fair housing,
nondiscrimination, labor standards, and the environment),
upon a finding by the Secretary that any such waivers or
alternative requirements are necessary for the effective
delivery and administration of such assistance: Provided
further, That grant recipients shall report to the Secretary
on utilization of such rental assistance and other program
data, as prescribed by the Secretary: Provided further, That
the Secretary may reallocate, as determined by the Secretary,
amounts returned or recaptured from awards under prior acts;
(6) $40,000,000 for incremental rental voucher assistance
for use through a supported housing program administered in
conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs as
authorized under section 8(o)(19) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937: Provided, That the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development shall make such funding available,
notwithstanding section 203 (competition provision) of this
title, to public housing agencies that partner with eligible
VA Medical Centers or other entities as designated by the
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, based on
geographical need for such assistance as identified by the
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, public
housing agency administrative performance, and other factors
as specified by the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development in consultation with the Secretary of the
Department of Veterans Affairs: Provided further, That the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may waive, or
specify alternative requirements for (in consultation with
the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs), any
provision of any statute or regulation that the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development administers in connection with
the use of funds made available under this paragraph (except
for requirements related to fair housing, nondiscrimination,
labor standards, and the environment), upon a finding by the
Secretary that any such waivers or alternative requirements
are necessary for the effective delivery and administration
of such voucher assistance: Provided further, That
assistance made available under this paragraph shall continue
to remain available for homeless veterans upon turn-over;
(7) $20,000,000 shall be made available for new incremental
voucher assistance through the family unification program as
authorized by section 8(x) of the Act: Provided, That the
assistance made available under this paragraph shall continue
to remain available for family unification upon turnover:
Provided further, That for any public housing agency
administering voucher assistance appropriated in a prior Act
under the family unification program that determines that it
no longer has an identified need for such assistance upon
turnover, such agency shall notify the Secretary, and the
Secretary shall recapture such assistance from the agency and
reallocate it to any other public housing agency or agencies
based on need for voucher assistance in connection with such
program; and
(8) the Secretary shall separately track all special
purpose vouchers funded under this heading.
housing certificate fund
(including rescissions)
Unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover,
remaining from funds appropriated to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development under this heading, the heading
``Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing'' and the heading
``Project-Based Rental Assistance'', for fiscal year 2019 and
prior years may be used for renewal of or amendments to
section 8 project-based contracts and for performance-based
contract administrators, notwithstanding the purposes for
which such funds were appropriated: Provided, That any
obligated balances of contract authority from fiscal year
1974 and prior that have been terminated shall be rescinded:
Provided further, That amounts heretofore recaptured, or
recaptured during the current fiscal year, from section 8
project-based contracts from source years fiscal year 1975
through fiscal year 1987 are hereby rescinded, and an amount
of additional new budget authority, equivalent to the amount
rescinded is hereby appropriated, to remain available until
expended, for the purposes set forth under this heading, in
addition to amounts otherwise available.
public housing capital fund
For the Public Housing Capital Fund Program to carry out
capital and management activities for public housing
agencies, as authorized under section 9 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g) (the ``Act'')
$2,775,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2022:
Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision of law or
regulation, during fiscal year 2019, the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development may not delegate to any Department
official other than the Deputy Secretary and the Assistant
Secretary for Public and Indian Housing any authority under
paragraph (2) of section 9(j) regarding the extension of the
time periods under such section: Provided further, That for
purposes of such section 9(j), the term ``obligate'' means,
with respect to amounts, that the amounts are subject to a
binding agreement that will result in outlays, immediately or
in the future: Provided further, That up to $14,000,000
shall be to support ongoing public housing financial and
physical assessment activities: Provided further, That up to
$1,000,000 shall be to support the costs of administrative
and judicial receiverships: Provided further, That of the
total amount provided under this heading, not to exceed
$25,000,000 shall be available for the Secretary to make
grants, notwithstanding section 203 of this Act, to public
housing agencies for emergency capital needs including safety
and security measures necessary to address crime and drug-
related activity as well as needs resulting from unforeseen
or unpreventable emergencies and natural disasters excluding
Presidentially declared emergencies and natural disasters
under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) occurring in fiscal year 2019:
Provided further, That of the amount made available under the
previous proviso, not less than $5,000,000 shall be for
safety and security measures: Provided further, That in
addition to the amount in the previous proviso for such
safety and security measures, any amounts that remain
available, after all applications received on or before
September 30, 2020, for emergency capital needs have been
processed, shall be allocated to public housing agencies for
such safety and security measures: Provided further, That of
the total amount provided under this heading, up to
$35,000,000 shall be for supportive services, service
coordinators and congregate services as authorized by section
34 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1437z-6) and the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25
U.S.C. 4101 et seq.): Provided further, That of the total
amount made available under this heading, $15,000,000 shall
be for a Jobs-Plus initiative modeled after the Jobs-Plus
demonstration: Provided further, That funding provided under
the previous proviso shall be available for competitive
grants to partnerships between public housing authorities,
local workforce investment boards established under section
107 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014
(29 U.S.C. 3122), and other agencies and organizations that
provide support to help public housing residents obtain
employment and increase earnings: Provided further, That
applicants must demonstrate the ability to provide services
to residents, partner with workforce investment boards, and
leverage service dollars: Provided further, That the
Secretary may allow public housing agencies to request
exemptions from rent and income limitation requirements under
sections 3 and 6 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437a and 1437d), as necessary to implement the Jobs-
Plus program, on such terms and conditions as the Secretary
may approve upon a finding by the Secretary that any such
waivers or alternative requirements are necessary for the
effective implementation of the Jobs-Plus initiative as a
voluntary program for residents: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall publish by notice in the Federal Register any
waivers or alternative requirements pursuant to the preceding
proviso no later than 10 days before the effective date of
such notice: Provided further, That for funds provided under
this heading, the limitation in section 9(g)(1) of the Act
shall be 25 percent: Provided further, That the Secretary
may waive the limitation in the previous proviso to allow
public housing agencies to fund activities authorized under
section 9(e)(1)(C) of the Act: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall notify public housing agencies requesting
waivers under the previous proviso if the
[[Page H411]]
request is approved or denied within 14 days of submitting
the request: Provided further, That from the funds made
available under this heading, the Secretary shall provide
bonus awards in fiscal year 2019 to public housing agencies
that are designated high performers: Provided further, That
the Department shall notify public housing agencies of their
formula allocation within 60 days of enactment of this Act:
Provided further, That of the total amount provided under
this heading, $25,000,000 shall be available for competitive
grants to public housing agencies to evaluate and reduce
lead-based paint hazards in public housing by carrying out
the activities of risk assessments, abatement, and interim
controls (as those terms are defined in section 1004 of the
Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (42
U.S.C. 4851b)): Provided further, That for purposes of
environmental review, a grant under the previous proviso
shall be considered funds for projects or activities under
title I of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437 et seq.) for purposes of section 26 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1437x) and shall be subject to the regulations
implementing such section.
public housing operating fund
For 2019 payments to public housing agencies for the
operation and management of public housing, as authorized by
section 9(e) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437g(e)), $4,756,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2020.
choice neighborhoods initiative
For competitive grants under the Choice Neighborhoods
Initiative (subject to section 24 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437v), unless otherwise
specified under this heading), for transformation,
rehabilitation, and replacement housing needs of both public
and HUD-assisted housing and to transform neighborhoods of
poverty into functioning, sustainable mixed income
neighborhoods with appropriate services, schools, public
assets, transportation and access to jobs, $100,000,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2021: Provided, That
grant funds may be used for resident and community services,
community development, and affordable housing needs in the
community, and for conversion of vacant or foreclosed
properties to affordable housing: Provided further, That the
use of funds made available under this heading shall not be
deemed to be public housing notwithstanding section 3(b)(1)
of such Act: Provided further, That grantees shall commit to
an additional period of affordability determined by the
Secretary of not fewer than 20 years: Provided further, That
grantees shall provide a match in State, local, other Federal
or private funds: Provided further, That grantees may
include local governments, tribal entities, public housing
authorities, and nonprofits: Provided further, That for-
profit developers may apply jointly with a public entity:
Provided further, That for purposes of environmental review,
a grantee shall be treated as a public housing agency under
section 26 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437x), and grants under this heading shall be subject
to the regulations issued by the Secretary to implement such
section: Provided further, That of the amount provided, not
less than $50,000,000 shall be awarded to public housing
agencies: Provided further, That such grantees shall create
partnerships with other local organizations including
assisted housing owners, service agencies, and resident
organizations: Provided further, That the Secretary shall
consult with the Secretaries of Education, Labor,
Transportation, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and
Commerce, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate and leverage
other appropriate Federal resources: Provided further, That
no more than $5,000,000 of funds made available under this
heading may be provided as grants to undertake comprehensive
local planning with input from residents and the community:
Provided further, That unobligated balances, including
recaptures, remaining from funds appropriated under the
heading ``Revitalization of Severely Distressed Public
Housing (HOPE VI)'' in fiscal year 2011 and prior fiscal
years may be used for purposes under this heading,
notwithstanding the purposes for which such amounts were
appropriated: Provided further, That the Secretary shall
issue the Notice of Funding Availability for funds made
available under this heading no later than 60 days after
enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary
shall make grant awards no later than one year from the date
of enactment of this Act in such amounts that the Secretary
determines: Provided further, That notwithstanding section
24(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437v(o)), the Secretary may, until September 30, 2019,
obligate any available unobligated balances made available
under this heading in this, or any prior Act.
family self-sufficiency
For the Family Self-Sufficiency program to support family
self-sufficiency coordinators under section 23 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, to promote the development of
local strategies to coordinate the use of assistance under
sections 8(o) and 9 of such Act with public and private
resources, and enable eligible families to achieve economic
independence and self-sufficiency, $80,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020: Provided, That the
Secretary may, by Federal Register notice, waive or specify
alternative requirements under subsections b(3), b(4), b(5),
or c(1) of section 23 of such Act in order to facilitate the
operation of a unified self-sufficiency program for
individuals receiving assistance under different provisions
of the Act, as determined by the Secretary: Provided
further, That owners of a privately owned multifamily
property with a section 8 contract may voluntarily make a
Family Self-Sufficiency program available to the assisted
tenants of such property in accordance with procedures
established by the Secretary: Provided further, That such
procedures established pursuant to the previous proviso shall
permit participating tenants to accrue escrow funds in
accordance with section 23(d)(2) and shall allow owners to
use funding from residual receipt accounts to hire
coordinators for their own Family Self-Sufficiency program.
native american housing block grants
(including transfer of funds)
For the Native American Housing Block Grants program, as
authorized under title I of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) (25
U.S.C. 4111 et seq.), $655,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2023: Provided, That, notwithstanding NAHASDA,
to determine the amount of the allocation under title I of
such Act for each Indian tribe, the Secretary shall apply the
formula under section 302 of such Act with the need component
based on single-race census data and with the need component
based on multi-race census data, and the amount of the
allocation for each Indian tribe shall be the greater of the
two resulting allocation amounts: Provided further, That of
the amounts made available under this heading, $7,000,000
shall be for providing training and technical assistance to
Indian housing authorities and tribally designated housing
entities, to support the inspection of Indian housing units,
contract expertise, and for training and technical assistance
related to funding provided under this heading and other
headings under this Act for the needs of Native American
families and Indian country: Provided further, That amounts
made available under the previous proviso may be used,
contracted, or competed as determined by the Secretary:
Provided further, That of the amount provided under this
heading, $2,000,000 shall be made available for the cost of
guaranteed notes and other obligations, as authorized by
title VI of NAHASDA: Provided further, That such costs,
including the costs of modifying such notes and other
obligations, shall be as defined in section 502 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended: Provided
further, That these funds are available to subsidize the
total principal amount of any notes and other obligations,
any part of which is to be guaranteed, not to exceed
$17,761,989: Provided further, That the Department will
notify grantees of their formula allocation within 60 days of
the date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That
for an additional amount for the Native American Housing
Block Grants program, as authorized under title I of NAHASDA,
$100,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2023:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall obligate this
additional amount for competitive grants to eligible
recipients authorized under NAHASDA that apply for funds:
Provided further, That in awarding this additional amount,
the Secretary shall consider need and administrative
capacity, and shall give priority to projects that will spur
construction and rehabilitation: Provided further, That up
to 1 percent of this additional amount may be transferred, in
aggregate, to ``Program Office Salaries and Expenses--Public
and Indian Housing'' for necessary costs of administering and
overseeing the obligation and expenditure of this additional
amount: Provided further, That any funds transferred
pursuant to the previous proviso shall remain available until
September 30, 2024.
indian housing loan guarantee fund program account
For the cost of guaranteed loans, as authorized by section
184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12
U.S.C. 1715z-13a), $1,440,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That such costs, including the costs of
modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: Provided further, That
these funds are available to subsidize total loan principal,
any part of which is to be guaranteed, up to $553,846,154, to
remain available until expended: Provided further, That up
to $750,000 of this amount may be for administrative contract
expenses including management processes and systems to carry
out the loan guarantee program.
native hawaiian housing block grant
For the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program, as
authorized under title VIII of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4111
et seq.), $2,000,000, to remain available until September 30,
2023: Provided, That notwithstanding section 812(b) of such
Act, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands may not invest
grant amounts provided under this heading in investment
securities and other obligations: Provided further, That
amounts made available under this heading in this and prior
fiscal years may be used to provide rental assistance to
eligible Native Hawaiian families both on and off the
Hawaiian Home Lands, notwithstanding any other provision of
law.
[[Page H412]]
Community Planning and Development
housing opportunities for persons with aids
For carrying out the Housing Opportunities for Persons with
AIDS program, as authorized by the AIDS Housing Opportunity
Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.), $375,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020, except that amounts
allocated pursuant to section 854(c)(5) of such Act shall
remain available until September 30, 2021: Provided, That
the Secretary shall renew all expiring contracts for
permanent supportive housing that initially were funded under
section 854(c)(5) of such Act from funds made available under
this heading in fiscal year 2010 and prior fiscal years that
meet all program requirements before awarding funds for new
contracts under such section: Provided further, That the
Department shall notify grantees of their formula allocation
within 60 days of enactment of this Act.
community development fund
For assistance to units of State and local government, and
to other entities, for economic and community development
activities, and for other purposes, $3,365,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2021, unless otherwise
specified: Provided, That of the total amount provided,
$3,300,000,000 is for carrying out the community development
block grant program under title I of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (``the Act''
herein) (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.): Provided further, That
unless explicitly provided for under this heading, not to
exceed 20 percent of any grant made with funds appropriated
under this heading shall be expended for planning and
management development and administration: Provided further,
That a metropolitan city, urban county, unit of general local
government, Indian tribe, or insular area that directly or
indirectly receives funds under this heading may not sell,
trade, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of such funds
to another such entity in exchange for any other funds,
credits or non-Federal considerations, but must use such
funds for activities eligible under title I of the Act:
Provided further, That notwithstanding section 105(e)(1) of
the Act, no funds provided under this heading may be provided
to a for-profit entity for an economic development project
under section 105(a)(17) unless such project has been
evaluated and selected in accordance with guidelines required
under subsection (e)(2): Provided further, That the
Department shall notify grantees of their formula allocation
within 60 days of enactment of this Act: Provided further,
That of the total amount provided under this heading,
$65,000,000 shall be for grants to Indian tribes
notwithstanding section 106(a)(1) of such Act, of which,
notwithstanding any other provision of law (including section
203 of this Act), up to $4,000,000 may be used for
emergencies that constitute imminent threats to health and
safety.
community development loan guarantees program account
Subject to section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, during fiscal year 2019, commitments to guarantee loans
under section 108 of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5308), any part of which is
guaranteed, shall not exceed a total principal amount of
$300,000,000, notwithstanding any aggregate limitation on
outstanding obligations guaranteed in subsection (k) of such
section 108: Provided, That the Secretary shall collect fees
from borrowers, notwithstanding subsection (m) of such
section 108, to result in a credit subsidy cost of zero for
guaranteeing such loans, and any such fees shall be collected
in accordance with section 502(7) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974.
home investment partnerships program
For the HOME Investment Partnerships program, as authorized
under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act, as amended, $1,362,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2022: Provided, That notwithstanding the
amount made available under this heading, the threshold
reduction requirements in sections 216(10) and 217(b)(4) of
such Act shall not apply to allocations of such amount:
Provided further, That the Department shall notify grantees
of their formula allocation within 60 days of enactment of
this Act.
self-help and assisted homeownership opportunity program
For the Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Opportunity
Program, as authorized under section 11 of the Housing
Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996, as amended,
$54,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2021:
Provided, That of the total amount provided under this
heading, $10,000,000 shall be made available to the Self-Help
Homeownership Opportunity Program as authorized under section
11 of the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996,
as amended: Provided further, That of the total amount
provided under this heading, $35,000,000 shall be made
available for the second, third, and fourth capacity building
activities authorized under section 4(a) of the HUD
Demonstration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9816 note), of which not
less than $5,000,000 shall be made available for rural
capacity building activities: Provided further, That of the
total amount provided under this heading, $5,000,000 shall be
made available for capacity building by national rural
housing organizations with experience assessing national
rural conditions and providing financing, training, technical
assistance, information, and research to local nonprofits,
local governments, and Indian Tribes serving high need rural
communities: Provided further, That of the total amount
provided under this heading, $4,000,000, shall be made
available for a program to rehabilitate and modify the homes
of disabled or low-income veterans, as authorized under
section 1079 of Public Law 113-291: Provided further, That
funds provided under the previous proviso shall be awarded
within 180 days of enactment of this Act: Provided further,
That funds provided for such program in fiscal years 2016,
2017, and 2018 shall be awarded within 60 days of enactment
of this Act.
homeless assistance grants
For the Emergency Solutions Grants program as authorized
under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act, as amended; the Continuum of Care program as
authorized under subtitle C of title IV of such Act; and the
Rural Housing Stability Assistance program as authorized
under subtitle D of title IV of such Act, $2,612,000,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2021: Provided, That
any rental assistance amounts that are recaptured under such
Continuum of Care program shall remain available until
expended: Provided further, That not less than $270,000,000
of the funds appropriated under this heading shall be
available for such Emergency Solutions Grants program:
Provided further, That not less than $2,205,000,000 of the
funds appropriated under this heading shall be available for
such Continuum of Care and Rural Housing Stability Assistance
programs: Provided further, That of the amounts made
available under this heading, up to $50,000,000 shall be made
available for grants for rapid re-housing projects and
supportive service projects providing coordinated entry, and
for eligible activities the Secretary determines to be
critical in order to assist survivors of domestic violence,
dating violence, and stalking: Provided further, That such
projects shall be eligible for renewal under the continuum of
care program subject to the same terms and conditions as
other renewal applicants: Provided further, That up to
$7,000,000 of the funds appropriated under this heading shall
be available for the national homeless data analysis project:
Provided further, That all funds awarded for supportive
services under the Continuum of Care program and the Rural
Housing Stability Assistance program shall be matched by not
less than 25 percent in cash or in kind by each grantee:
Provided further, That for all match requirements applicable
to funds made available under this heading for this fiscal
year and prior fiscal years, a grantee may use (or could have
used) as a source of match funds other funds administered by
the Secretary and other Federal agencies unless there is (or
was) a specific statutory prohibition on any such use of any
such funds: Provided further, That the Secretary shall
collect system performance measures for each continuum of
care, and that relative to fiscal year 2015, under the
Continuum of Care competition with respect to funds made
available under this heading, the Secretary shall base an
increasing share of the score on performance criteria:
Provided further, That none of the funds provided under this
heading shall be available to provide funding for new
projects, except for projects created through reallocation,
unless the Secretary determines that the continuum of care
has demonstrated that projects are evaluated and ranked based
on the degree to which they improve the continuum of care's
system performance: Provided further, That the Secretary
shall prioritize funding under the Continuum of Care program
to continuums of care that have demonstrated a capacity to
reallocate funding from lower performing projects to higher
performing projects: Provided further, That all awards of
assistance under this heading shall be required to coordinate
and integrate homeless programs with other mainstream health,
social services, and employment programs for which homeless
populations may be eligible: Provided further, That any
unobligated amounts remaining from funds appropriated under
this heading in fiscal year 2012 and prior years for project-
based rental assistance for rehabilitation projects with 10-
year grant terms may be used for purposes under this heading,
notwithstanding the purposes for which such funds were
appropriated: Provided further, That all balances for
Shelter Plus Care renewals previously funded from the Shelter
Plus Care Renewal account and transferred to this account
shall be available, if recaptured, for Continuum of Care
renewals in fiscal year 2019: Provided further, That the
Department shall notify grantees of their formula allocation
from amounts allocated (which may represent initial or final
amounts allocated) for the Emergency Solutions Grant program
within 60 days of enactment of this Act: Provided further,
That up to $80,000,000 of the funds appropriated under this
heading shall be to implement projects to demonstrate how a
comprehensive approach to serving homeless youth, age 24 and
under, in up to 25 communities, including at least five
communities with substantial rural populations, can
dramatically reduce youth homelessness: Provided further,
That of the amount made available under the previous proviso,
up to $5,000,000 shall be available to provide technical
assistance on youth homelessness, and collection, analysis,
and reporting of data and performance measures under the
comprehensive approaches to serve homeless youth, in addition
to and in coordination with other technical assistance funds
[[Page H413]]
provided under this title: Provided further, That such
projects shall be eligible for renewal under the continuum of
care program subject to the same terms and conditions as
other renewal applicants: Provided further, That youth aged
24 and under seeking assistance under this heading shall not
be required to provide third party documentation to establish
their eligibility under 42 U.S.C. 11302(a) or (b) to receive
services: Provided further, That unaccompanied youth aged 24
and under or families headed by youth aged 24 and under who
are living in unsafe situations may be served by youth-
serving providers funded under this heading.
Housing Programs
project-based rental assistance
For activities and assistance for the provision of project-
based subsidy contracts under the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) (``the Act''), not otherwise
provided for, $11,347,000,000, to remain available until
expended, shall be available on October 1, 2018 (in addition
to the $400,000,000 previously appropriated under this
heading that became available October 1, 2018), and
$400,000,000, to remain available until expended, shall be
available on October 1, 2019: Provided, That the amounts
made available under this heading shall be available for
expiring or terminating section 8 project-based subsidy
contracts (including section 8 moderate rehabilitation
contracts), for amendments to section 8 project-based subsidy
contracts (including section 8 moderate rehabilitation
contracts), for contracts entered into pursuant to section
441 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11401), for renewal of section 8 contracts for units in
projects that are subject to approved plans of action under
the Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987 or
the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident
Homeownership Act of 1990, and for administrative and other
expenses associated with project-based activities and
assistance funded under this paragraph: Provided further,
That of the total amounts provided under this heading, not to
exceed $245,000,000 shall be available for performance-based
contract administrators for section 8 project-based
assistance, for carrying out 42 U.S.C. 1437(f): Provided
further, That the Secretary may also use such amounts in the
previous proviso for performance-based contract
administrators for the administration of: interest reduction
payments pursuant to section 236(a) of the National Housing
Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-1(a)); rent supplement payments pursuant
to section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of
1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s); section 236(f)(2) rental assistance
payments (12 U.S.C. 1715z-1(f)(2)); project rental assistance
contracts for the elderly under section 202(c)(2) of the
Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); project rental
assistance contracts for supportive housing for persons with
disabilities under section 811(d)(2) of the Cranston-Gonzalez
National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(d)(2));
project assistance contracts pursuant to section 202(h) of
the Housing Act of 1959 (Public Law 86-372; 73 Stat. 667);
and loans under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959
(Public Law 86-372; 73 Stat. 667): Provided further, That
amounts recaptured under this heading, the heading ``Annual
Contributions for Assisted Housing'', or the heading
``Housing Certificate Fund'', may be used for renewals of or
amendments to section 8 project-based contracts or for
performance-based contract administrators, notwithstanding
the purposes for which such amounts were appropriated:
Provided further, That, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, upon the request of the Secretary, project funds that
are held in residual receipts accounts for any project
subject to a section 8 project-based Housing Assistance
Payments contract that authorizes HUD or a Housing Finance
Agency to require that surplus project funds be deposited in
an interest-bearing residual receipts account and that are in
excess of an amount to be determined by the Secretary, shall
be remitted to the Department and deposited in this account,
to be available until expended: Provided further, That
amounts deposited pursuant to the previous proviso shall be
available in addition to the amount otherwise provided by
this heading for uses authorized under this heading.
housing for the elderly
For capital advances, including amendments to capital
advance contracts, for housing for the elderly, as authorized
by section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as amended, for
project rental assistance for the elderly under section
202(c)(2) of such Act, including amendments to contracts for
such assistance and renewal of expiring contracts for such
assistance for up to a 1-year term, for senior preservation
rental assistance contracts, including renewals, as
authorized by section 811(e) of the American Housing and
Economic Opportunity Act of 2000, as amended, and for
supportive services associated with the housing,
$678,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2022:
Provided, That of the amount provided under this heading, up
to $90,000,000 shall be for service coordinators and the
continuation of existing congregate service grants for
residents of assisted housing projects: Provided further,
That amounts under this heading shall be available for Real
Estate Assessment Center inspections and inspection-related
activities associated with section 202 projects: Provided
further, That the Secretary may waive the provisions of
section 202 governing the terms and conditions of project
rental assistance, except that the initial contract term for
such assistance shall not exceed 5 years in duration:
Provided further, That upon request of the Secretary, project
funds which are held in residual receipts accounts for any
project subject to a section 202 project rental assistance
contract and, upon termination of such contract, are in
excess of an amount to be determined by the Secretary shall
be remitted to the Department and deposited in this account,
to remain available until September 30, 2022: Provided
further, That amounts deposited in this account pursuant to
the previous proviso shall be available, in addition to the
amounts otherwise provided by this heading, for amendments
and renewals: Provided further, That unobligated balances,
including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds
transferred to or appropriated under this heading shall be
available for amendments and renewals notwithstanding the
purposes for which such funds originally were appropriated:
Provided further, That of the total amount provided under
this heading, $10,000,000, shall be for a program to be
established by the Secretary to make grants to experienced
non-profit organizations, States, local governments, or
public housing agencies for safety and functional home
modification repairs to meet the needs of low-income elderly
persons to enable them to remain in their primary residence:
Provided further, That of the total amount made available
under the previous proviso, no less than $5,000,000 shall be
available to meet such needs in communities with substantial
rural populations.
housing for persons with disabilities
For amendments to capital advance contracts, for supportive
housing for persons with disabilities, as authorized by
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013), as amended, for project rental
assistance for supportive housing for persons with
disabilities under section 811(d)(2) of such Act, for project
assistance contracts pursuant to section 202(h) of the
Housing Act of 1959 (Public Law 86-372; 73 Stat. 667),
including amendments to contracts for such assistance and
renewal of expiring contracts for such assistance for up to a
1-year term, for project rental assistance to State housing
finance agencies and other appropriate entities as authorized
under section 811(b)(3) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Housing Act, and for supportive services associated with the
housing for persons with disabilities as authorized by
section 811(b)(1) of such Act, $154,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2022: Provided, That amounts
made available under this heading shall be available for Real
Estate Assessment Center inspections and inspection-related
activities associated with section 811 projects: Provided
further, That, upon the request of the Secretary, project
funds which are held in residual receipts accounts for any
project subject to a section 811 project rental assistance
contract and, upon termination of such contract, are in
excess of an amount to be determined by the Secretary shall
be remitted to the Department and deposited in this account,
to remain available until September 30, 2022: Provided
further, That amounts deposited in this account pursuant to
the previous proviso shall be available in addition to the
amounts otherwise provided by this heading for amendments and
renewals: Provided further, That unobligated balances,
including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds
transferred to or appropriated under this heading shall be
used for amendments and renewals notwithstanding the purposes
for which such funds originally were appropriated.
housing counseling assistance
For contracts, grants, and other assistance excluding
loans, as authorized under section 106 of the Housing and
Urban Development Act of 1968, as amended, $45,000,000, to
remain available until September 30, 2020, including up to
$4,500,000 for administrative contract services: Provided,
That grants made available from amounts provided under this
heading shall be awarded within 180 days of enactment of this
Act: Provided further, That funds shall be used for
providing counseling and advice to tenants and homeowners,
both current and prospective, with respect to property
maintenance, financial management or literacy, and such other
matters as may be appropriate to assist them in improving
their housing conditions, meeting their financial needs, and
fulfilling the responsibilities of tenancy or homeownership;
for program administration; and for housing counselor
training: Provided further, That for purposes of providing
such grants from amounts provided under this heading, the
Secretary may enter into multiyear agreements, as
appropriate, subject to the availability of annual
appropriations.
rental housing assistance
For amendments to contracts under section 101 of the
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s)
and section 236(f)(2) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1715z-1) in State-aided, noninsured rental housing projects,
$5,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That such amount, together with unobligated balances from
recaptured amounts appropriated prior to fiscal year 2006
from terminated contracts under such sections of law, and any
unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover,
remaining from funds appropriated under this heading after
fiscal year 2005, shall also be available for extensions of
up to one year for expiring contracts under such sections of
law.
[[Page H414]]
payment to manufactured housing fees trust fund
For necessary expenses as authorized by the National
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of
1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.), up to $12,000,000, to remain
available until expended, of which $12,000,000 is to be
derived from the Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fund:
Provided, That not to exceed the total amount appropriated
under this heading shall be available from the general fund
of the Treasury to the extent necessary to incur obligations
and make expenditures pending the receipt of collections to
the Fund pursuant to section 620 of such Act: Provided
further, That the amount made available under this heading
from the general fund shall be reduced as such collections
are received during fiscal year 2019 so as to result in a
final fiscal year 2019 appropriation from the general fund
estimated at zero, and fees pursuant to section 620 of such
Act shall be modified as necessary to ensure such a final
fiscal year 2019 appropriation: Provided further, That for
the dispute resolution and installation programs, the
Secretary may assess and collect fees from any program
participant: Provided further, That such collections shall
be deposited into the Fund, and the Secretary, as provided
herein, may use such collections, as well as fees collected
under section 620 of such Act, for necessary expenses of such
Act: Provided further, That, notwithstanding the
requirements of section 620 of such Act, the Secretary may
carry out responsibilities of the Secretary under such Act
through the use of approved service providers that are paid
directly by the recipients of their services.
Federal Housing Administration
mutual mortgage insurance program account
New commitments to guarantee single family loans insured
under the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund shall not exceed
$400,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30,
2020: Provided, That during fiscal year 2019, obligations to
make direct loans to carry out the purposes of section 204(g)
of the National Housing Act, as amended, shall not exceed
$1,000,000: Provided further, That the foregoing amount in
the previous proviso shall be for loans to nonprofit and
governmental entities in connection with sales of single
family real properties owned by the Secretary and formerly
insured under the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund: Provided
further, That for administrative contract expenses of the
Federal Housing Administration, $130,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020: Provided further, That
to the extent guaranteed loan commitments exceed
$200,000,000,000 on or before April 1, 2019, an additional
$1,400 for administrative contract expenses shall be
available for each $1,000,000 in additional guaranteed loan
commitments (including a pro rata amount for any amount below
$1,000,000), but in no case shall funds made available by
this proviso exceed $30,000,000: Provided further, That
notwithstanding the limitation in the first sentence of
section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-
20(g)), during fiscal year 2019 the Secretary may insure and
enter into new commitments to insure mortgages under section
255 of the National Housing Act only to the extent that the
net credit subsidy cost for such insurance does not exceed
zero: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2019, the
Secretary shall not take any action against a lender solely
on the basis of compare ratios that have been adversely
affected by defaults on mortgages secured by properties in
areas where a major disaster was declared in 2017 or 2018
pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
general and special risk program account
New commitments to guarantee loans insured under the
General and Special Risk Insurance Funds, as authorized by
sections 238 and 519 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1715z-3 and 1735c), shall not exceed $30,000,000,000 in total
loan principal, any part of which is to be guaranteed, to
remain available until September 30, 2020: Provided, That
during fiscal year 2019, gross obligations for the principal
amount of direct loans, as authorized by sections 204(g),
207(l), 238, and 519(a) of the National Housing Act, shall
not exceed $1,000,000, which shall be for loans to nonprofit
and governmental entities in connection with the sale of
single family real properties owned by the Secretary and
formerly insured under such Act.
Government National Mortgage Association
guarantees of mortgage-backed securities loan guarantee program account
New commitments to issue guarantees to carry out the
purposes of section 306 of the National Housing Act, as
amended (12 U.S.C. 1721(g)), shall not exceed
$550,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30,
2020: Provided, That $27,000,000 shall be available for
necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Government
National Mortgage Association: Provided further, That to the
extent that guaranteed loan commitments exceed
$155,000,000,000 on or before April 1, 2019, an additional
$100 for necessary salaries and expenses shall be available
until expended for each $1,000,000 in additional guaranteed
loan commitments (including a pro rata amount for any amount
below $1,000,000), but in no case shall funds made available
by this proviso exceed $3,000,000: Provided further, That
receipts from Commitment and Multiclass fees collected
pursuant to title III of the National Housing Act, as
amended, shall be credited as offsetting collections to this
account.
Policy Development and Research
research and technology
For contracts, grants, and necessary expenses of programs
of research and studies relating to housing and urban
problems, not otherwise provided for, as authorized by title
V of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 (12 U.S.C.
1701z-1 et seq.), including carrying out the functions of the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under section
1(a)(1)(i) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1968, and for
technical assistance, $100,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2020: Provided, That with respect to amounts
made available under this heading, notwithstanding section
203 of this title, the Secretary may enter into cooperative
agreements with philanthropic entities, other Federal
agencies, State or local governments and their agencies, or
colleges or universities for research projects: Provided
further, That with respect to the previous proviso, such
partners to the cooperative agreements must contribute at
least a 50 percent match toward the cost of the project:
Provided further, That for non-competitive agreements entered
into in accordance with the previous two provisos, the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall comply with
section 2(b) of the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-282, 31 U.S.C. note)
in lieu of compliance with section 102(a)(4)(C) with respect
to documentation of award decisions: Provided further, That
prior to obligation of technical assistance funding, the
Secretary shall submit a plan, for approval, to the House and
Senate Committees on Appropriations on how it will allocate
funding for this activity: Provided further, That none of
the funds provided under this heading may be available for
the doctoral dissertation research grant program.
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
fair housing activities
For contracts, grants, and other assistance, not otherwise
provided for, as authorized by title VIII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of
1988, and section 561 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1987, as amended, $65,300,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2020: Provided, That
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, the Secretary may assess and
collect fees to cover the costs of the Fair Housing Training
Academy, and may use such funds to provide such training:
Provided further, That no funds made available under this
heading shall be used to lobby the executive or legislative
branches of the Federal Government in connection with a
specific contract, grant, or loan: Provided further, That of
the funds made available under this heading, $300,000 shall
be available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development for the creation and promotion of translated
materials and other programs that support the assistance of
persons with limited English proficiency in utilizing the
services provided by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes
lead hazard reduction
For the Lead Hazard Reduction Program, as authorized by
section 1011 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard
Reduction Act of 1992, $260,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2020, of which $45,000,000 shall be for
the Healthy Homes Initiative, pursuant to sections 501 and
502 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, which
shall include research, studies, testing, and demonstration
efforts, including education and outreach concerning lead-
based paint poisoning and other housing-related diseases and
hazards: Provided, That for purposes of environmental
review, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other provisions of law
that further the purposes of such Act, a grant under the
Healthy Homes Initiative, or the Lead Technical Studies
program under this heading or under prior appropriations Acts
for such purposes under this heading, shall be considered to
be funds for a special project for purposes of section 305(c)
of the Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform Act of
1994: Provided further, That not less than $95,000,000 of
the amounts made available under this heading for the award
of grants pursuant to section 1011 of the Residential Lead-
Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 shall be provided to
areas with the highest lead-based paint abatement needs:
Provided further, That $45,000,000 of the funds appropriated
under this heading shall be for the implementation of
projects to demonstrate how intensive, extended multi-year
interventions can dramatically reduce the presence of lead-
based paint hazards in communities containing high
concentrations of both pre-1940 housing and low-income
families by achieving economies of scale that substantially
reduce the cost of lead-based paint remediation activities
and administrative costs for grantees: Provided further,
That such projects in each of five communities shall be for
five years and serve no more than four contiguous census
tracts in which there are high concentrations of housing
stock built before 1940, in which low-income families with
children make up a significantly higher proportion of the
population as
[[Page H415]]
compared to the State average, and that are located in
jurisdictions in which instances of elevated blood lead
levels reported to the State are significantly higher than
the State average: Provided further, That funding awarded
for such projects shall be made available for draw down
contingent upon the grantee meeting cost-savings,
productivity, and grant compliance benchmarks established by
the Secretary: Provided further, That each recipent of funds
for such projects shall contribute an amount not less than 10
percent of the total award, and that the Secretary shall give
priority to applicants that secure commitments for additional
contributions from public and private sources: Provided
further, That grantees currently receiving grants made under
this heading shall be eligible to apply for such projects,
provided that they are deemed to be in compliance with
program requirements established by the Secretary: Provided
further, That each applicant shall certify adequate capacity
that is acceptable to the Secretary to carry out the proposed
use of funds pursuant to a notice of funding availability:
Provided further, That amounts made available under this
heading in this or prior appropriations Acts, still remaining
available, may be used for any purpose under this heading
notwithstanding the purpose for which such amounts were
appropriated if a program competition is undersubscribed and
there are other program competitions under this heading that
are oversubscribed.
Information Technology Fund
For the development, modernization, and enhancement of,
modifications to, and infrastructure for Department-wide and
program-specific information technology systems, for the
continuing operation and maintenance of both Department-wide
and program-specific information systems, and for program-
related maintenance activities, $280,000,000, of which
$260,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2020,
and of which $20,000,000 shall remain available until
September 30, 2021: Provided, That any amounts transferred
to this Fund under this Act shall remain available until
expended: Provided further, That any amounts transferred to
this Fund from amounts appropriated by previously enacted
appropriations Acts may be used for the purposes specified
under this Fund, in addition to any other information
technology purposes for which such amounts were appropriated:
Provided further, That not more than 10 percent of the funds
made available under this heading for development,
modernization and enhancement may be obligated until the
Secretary submits to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations, for approval, a plan for expenditure that--
(A) identifies for each modernization project: (i) the
functional and performance capabilities to be delivered and
the mission benefits to be realized, (ii) the estimated life-
cycle cost, and (iii) key milestones to be met; and (B)
demonstrates that each modernization project is: (i)
compliant with the Department's enterprise architecture, (ii)
being managed in accordance with applicable life-cycle
management policies and guidance, (iii) subject to the
Department's capital planning and investment control
requirements, and (iv) supported by an adequately staffed
project office.
Office of Inspector General
For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of
Inspector General in carrying out the Inspector General Act
of 1978, as amended, $128,082,000: Provided, That the
Inspector General shall have independent authority over all
personnel issues within this office.
General Provisions--Department of Housing and Urban Development
(including transfer of funds)
(including rescission)
Sec. 201. Fifty percent of the amounts of budget
authority, or in lieu thereof 50 percent of the cash amounts
associated with such budget authority, that are recaptured
from projects described in section 1012(a) of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 (42
U.S.C. 1437f note) shall be rescinded or in the case of cash,
shall be remitted to the Treasury, and such amounts of budget
authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to
the Treasury shall be used by State housing finance agencies
or local governments or local housing agencies with projects
approved by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
for which settlement occurred after January 1, 1992, in
accordance with such section. Notwithstanding the previous
sentence, the Secretary may award up to 15 percent of the
budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or
remitted to the Treasury to provide project owners with
incentives to refinance their project at a lower interest
rate.
Sec. 202. None of the amounts made available under this
Act may be used during fiscal year 2019 to investigate or
prosecute under the Fair Housing Act any otherwise lawful
activity engaged in by one or more persons, including the
filing or maintaining of a nonfrivolous legal action, that is
engaged in solely for the purpose of achieving or preventing
action by a Government official or entity, or a court of
competent jurisdiction.
Sec. 203. Except as explicitly provided in law, any grant,
cooperative agreement or other assistance made pursuant to
title II of this Act shall be made on a competitive basis and
in accordance with section 102 of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545).
Sec. 204. Funds of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development subject to the Government Corporation Control Act
or section 402 of the Housing Act of 1950 shall be available,
without regard to the limitations on administrative expenses,
for legal services on a contract or fee basis, and for
utilizing and making payment for services and facilities of
the Federal National Mortgage Association, Government
National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation, Federal Financing Bank, Federal Reserve banks or
any member thereof, Federal Home Loan banks, and any insured
bank within the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1811-1).
Sec. 205. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or
through a reprogramming of funds, no part of any
appropriation for the Department of Housing and Urban
Development shall be available for any program, project or
activity in excess of amounts set forth in the budget
estimates submitted to Congress.
Sec. 206. Corporations and agencies of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development which are subject to the
Government Corporation Control Act are hereby authorized to
make such expenditures, within the limits of funds and
borrowing authority available to each such corporation or
agency and in accordance with law, and to make such contracts
and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as
provided by section 104 of such Act as may be necessary in
carrying out the programs set forth in the budget for 2019
for such corporation or agency except as hereinafter
provided: Provided, That collections of these corporations
and agencies may be used for new loan or mortgage purchase
commitments only to the extent expressly provided for in this
Act (unless such loans are in support of other forms of
assistance provided for in this or prior appropriations
Acts), except that this proviso shall not apply to the
mortgage insurance or guaranty operations of these
corporations, or where loans or mortgage purchases are
necessary to protect the financial interest of the United
States Government.
Sec. 207. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall provide quarterly reports to the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations regarding all uncommitted,
unobligated, recaptured and excess funds in each program and
activity within the jurisdiction of the Department and shall
submit additional, updated budget information to these
Committees upon request.
Sec. 208. The President's formal budget request for fiscal
year 2020, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban
Development's congressional budget justifications to be
submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate, shall use the identical
account and sub-account structure provided under this Act.
Sec. 209. No funds provided under this title may be used
for an audit of the Government National Mortgage Association
that makes applicable requirements under the Federal Credit
Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.).
Sec. 210. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
subject to the conditions listed under this section, for
fiscal years 2019 and 2020, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development may authorize the transfer of some or all
project-based assistance, debt held or insured by the
Secretary and statutorily required low-income and very low-
income use restrictions if any, associated with one or more
multifamily housing project or projects to another
multifamily housing project or projects.
(b) Phased Transfers.--Transfers of project-based
assistance under this section may be done in phases to
accommodate the financing and other requirements related to
rehabilitating or constructing the project or projects to
which the assistance is transferred, to ensure that such
project or projects meet the standards under subsection (c).
(c) The transfer authorized in subsection (a) is subject to
the following conditions:
(1) Number and bedroom size of units.--
(A) For occupied units in the transferring project: The
number of low-income and very low-income units and the
configuration (i.e., bedroom size) provided by the
transferring project shall be no less than when transferred
to the receiving project or projects and the net dollar
amount of Federal assistance provided to the transferring
project shall remain the same in the receiving project or
projects.
(B) For unoccupied units in the transferring project: The
Secretary may authorize a reduction in the number of dwelling
units in the receiving project or projects to allow for a
reconfiguration of bedroom sizes to meet current market
demands, as determined by the Secretary and provided there is
no increase in the project-based assistance budget authority.
(2) The transferring project shall, as determined by the
Secretary, be either physically obsolete or economically
nonviable.
(3) The receiving project or projects shall meet or exceed
applicable physical standards established by the Secretary.
(4) The owner or mortgagor of the transferring project
shall notify and consult with the tenants residing in the
transferring project and provide a certification of approval
by all appropriate local governmental officials.
[[Page H416]]
(5) The tenants of the transferring project who remain
eligible for assistance to be provided by the receiving
project or projects shall not be required to vacate their
units in the transferring project or projects until new units
in the receiving project are available for occupancy.
(6) The Secretary determines that this transfer is in the
best interest of the tenants.
(7) If either the transferring project or the receiving
project or projects meets the condition specified in
subsection (d)(2)(A), any lien on the receiving project
resulting from additional financing obtained by the owner
shall be subordinate to any FHA-insured mortgage lien
transferred to, or placed on, such project by the Secretary,
except that the Secretary may waive this requirement upon
determination that such a waiver is necessary to facilitate
the financing of acquisition, construction, and/or
rehabilitation of the receiving project or projects.
(8) If the transferring project meets the requirements of
subsection (d)(2), the owner or mortgagor of the receiving
project or projects shall execute and record either a
continuation of the existing use agreement or a new use
agreement for the project where, in either case, any use
restrictions in such agreement are of no lesser duration than
the existing use restrictions.
(9) The transfer does not increase the cost (as defined in
section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as
amended) of any FHA-insured mortgage, except to the extent
that appropriations are provided in advance for the amount of
any such increased cost.
(d) For purposes of this section--
(1) the terms ``low-income'' and ``very low-income'' shall
have the meanings provided by the statute and/or regulations
governing the program under which the project is insured or
assisted;
(2) the term ``multifamily housing project'' means housing
that meets one of the following conditions--
(A) housing that is subject to a mortgage insured under the
National Housing Act;
(B) housing that has project-based assistance attached to
the structure including projects undergoing mark to market
debt restructuring under the Multifamily Assisted Housing
Reform and Affordability Housing Act;
(C) housing that is assisted under section 202 of the
Housing Act of 1959, as amended by section 801 of the
Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act;
(D) housing that is assisted under section 202 of the
Housing Act of 1959, as such section existed before the
enactment of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable
Housing Act;
(E) housing that is assisted under section 811 of the
Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act; or
(F) housing or vacant land that is subject to a use
agreement;
(3) the term ``project-based assistance'' means--
(A) assistance provided under section 8(b) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937;
(B) assistance for housing constructed or substantially
rehabilitated pursuant to assistance provided under section
8(b)(2) of such Act (as such section existed immediately
before October 1, 1983);
(C) rent supplement payments under section 101 of the
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965;
(D) interest reduction payments under section 236 and/or
additional assistance payments under section 236(f)(2) of the
National Housing Act;
(E) assistance payments made under section 202(c)(2) of the
Housing Act of 1959; and
(F) assistance payments made under section 811(d)(2) of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act;
(4) the term ``receiving project or projects'' means the
multifamily housing project or projects to which some or all
of the project-based assistance, debt, and statutorily
required low-income and very low-income use restrictions are
to be transferred;
(5) the term ``transferring project'' means the multifamily
housing project which is transferring some or all of the
project-based assistance, debt, and the statutorily required
low-income and very low-income use restrictions to the
receiving project or projects; and
(6) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development.
(e) Research Report.--The Secretary shall conduct an
evaluation of the transfer authority under this section,
including the effect of such transfers on the operational
efficiency, contract rents, physical and financial
conditions, and long-term preservation of the affected
properties.
Sec. 211. (a) No assistance shall be provided under section
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)
to any individual who--
(1) is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher
education (as defined under section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002));
(2) is under 24 years of age;
(3) is not a veteran;
(4) is unmarried;
(5) does not have a dependent child;
(6) is not a person with disabilities, as such term is
defined in section 3(b)(3)(E) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(3)(E)) and was not receiving
assistance under such section 8 as of November 30, 2005;
(7) is not a youth who left foster care at age 14 or older
and is at risk of becoming homeless; and
(8) is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents
who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive
assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f).
(b) For purposes of determining the eligibility of a person
to receive assistance under section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), any financial
assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition and any
other required fees and charges) that an individual receives
under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et
seq.), from private sources, or an institution of higher
education (as defined under the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall be considered income to that
individual, except for a person over the age of 23 with
dependent children.
Sec. 212. The funds made available for Native Alaskans
under the heading ``Native American Housing Block Grants'' in
title II of this Act shall be allocated to the same Native
Alaskan housing block grant recipients that received funds in
fiscal year 2005.
Sec. 213. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in
fiscal year 2019, in managing and disposing of any
multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held by
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and during
the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract
for rental assistance payments under section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 or other Federal programs, the
Secretary shall maintain any rental assistance payments under
section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 and other
programs that are attached to any dwelling units in the
property. To the extent the Secretary determines, in
consultation with the tenants and the local government, that
such a multifamily property owned or held by the Secretary is
not feasible for continued rental assistance payments under
such section 8 or other programs, based on consideration of
(1) the costs of rehabilitating and operating the property
and all available Federal, State, and local resources,
including rent adjustments under section 524 of the
Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of
1997 (``MAHRAA'') and (2) environmental conditions that
cannot be remedied in a cost-effective fashion, the Secretary
may, in consultation with the tenants of that property,
contract for project-based rental assistance payments with an
owner or owners of other existing housing properties, or
provide other rental assistance. The Secretary shall also
take appropriate steps to ensure that project-based contracts
remain in effect prior to foreclosure, subject to the
exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist
relocation of tenants for imminent major threats to health
and safety after written notice to and informed consent of
the affected tenants and use of other available remedies,
such as partial abatements or receivership. After disposition
of any multifamily property described under this section, the
contract and allowable rent levels on such properties shall
be subject to the requirements under section 524 of MAHRAA.
Sec. 214. The commitment authority funded by fees as
provided under the heading ``Community Development Loan
Guarantees Program Account'' may be used to guarantee, or
make commitments to guarantee, notes, or other obligations
issued by any State on behalf of non-entitlement communities
in the State in accordance with the requirements of section
108 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974:
Provided, That any State receiving such a guarantee or
commitment shall distribute all funds subject to such
guarantee to the units of general local government in non-
entitlement areas that received the commitment.
Sec. 215. Public housing agencies that own and operate 400
or fewer public housing units may elect to be exempt from any
asset management requirement imposed by the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development in connection with the
operating fund rule: Provided, That an agency seeking a
discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy under the operating
fund formula shall not be exempt from asset management
requirements.
Sec. 216. With respect to the use of amounts provided in
this Act and in future Acts for the operation, capital
improvement and management of public housing as authorized by
sections 9(d) and 9(e) of the United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d) and (e)), the Secretary shall not
impose any requirement or guideline relating to asset
management that restricts or limits in any way the use of
capital funds for central office costs pursuant to section
9(g)(1) or 9(g)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437g(g)(1), (2)): Provided, That a public
housing agency may not use capital funds authorized under
section 9(d) for activities that are eligible under section
9(e) for assistance with amounts from the operating fund in
excess of the amounts permitted under section 9(g)(1) or
9(g)(2).
Sec. 217. No official or employee of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development shall be designated as an
allotment holder unless the Office of the Chief Financial
Officer has determined that such allotment holder has
implemented an adequate system of funds control and has
received training in funds control procedures and directives.
The Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that there is a
trained allotment holder for each HUD appropriation under the
accounts ``Executive Offices'' and ``Administrative Support
Offices,'' as well as each account receiving appropriations
under the general heading
[[Page H417]]
``Program Office Salaries and Expenses'', ``Government
National Mortgage Association--Guarantees of Mortgage-Backed
Securities Loan Guarantee Program Account'', and ``Office of
Inspector General'' within the Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
Sec. 218. The Secretary of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development shall, for fiscal year 2019, notify the
public through the Federal Register and other means, as
determined appropriate, of the issuance of a notice of the
availability of assistance or notice of funding availability
(NOFA) for any program or discretionary fund administered by
the Secretary that is to be competitively awarded.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for fiscal year
2019, the Secretary may make the NOFA available only on the
Internet at the appropriate Government web site or through
other electronic media, as determined by the Secretary.
Sec. 219. Payment of attorney fees in program-related
litigation shall be paid from the individual program office
and Office of General Counsel salaries and expenses
appropriations. The annual budget submission for the program
offices and the Office of General Counsel shall include any
such projected litigation costs for attorney fees as a
separate line item request. No funds provided in this title
may be used to pay any such litigation costs for attorney
fees until the Department submits for review a spending plan
for such costs to the House and Senate Committees on
Appropriations.
Sec. 220. The Secretary is authorized to transfer up to 10
percent or $5,000,000, whichever is less, of funds
appropriated for any office under the heading
``Administrative Support Offices'' or for any account under
the general heading ``Program Office Salaries and Expenses''
to any other such office or account: Provided, That no
appropriation for any such office or account shall be
increased or decreased by more than 10 percent or $5,000,000,
whichever is less, without prior written approval of the
House and Senate Committees on Appropriations: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall provide notification to
such Committees three business days in advance of any such
transfers under this section up to 10 percent or $5,000,000,
whichever is less.
Sec. 221. (a) Any entity receiving housing assistance
payments shall maintain decent, safe, and sanitary
conditions, as determined by the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development (in this section referred to as the
``Secretary''), and comply with any standards under
applicable State or local laws, rules, ordinances, or
regulations relating to the physical condition of any
property covered under a housing assistance payment contract.
(b) The Secretary shall take action under subsection (c)
when a multifamily housing project with a section 8 contract
or contract for similar project-based assistance--
(1) receives a Uniform Physical Condition Standards (UPCS)
score of 60 or less; or
(2) fails to certify in writing to the Secretary within 3
days that all Exigent Health and Safety deficiencies
identified by the inspector at the project have been
corrected.
Such requirements shall apply to insured and noninsured
projects with assistance attached to the units under section
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f),
but do not apply to such units assisted under section
8(o)(13) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) or to public housing units
assisted with capital or operating funds under section 9 of
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g).
(c)(1) Within 15 days of the issuance of the REAC
inspection, the Secretary must provide the owner with a
Notice of Default with a specified timetable, determined by
the Secretary, for correcting all deficiencies. The Secretary
must also provide a copy of the Notice of Default to the
tenants, the local government, any mortgagees, and any
contract administrator. If the owner's appeal results in a
UPCS score of 60 or above, the Secretary may withdraw the
Notice of Default.
(2) At the end of the time period for correcting all
deficiencies specified in the Notice of Default, if the owner
fails to fully correct such deficiencies, the Secretary may--
(A) require immediate replacement of project management
with a management agent approved by the Secretary;
(B) impose civil money penalties, which shall be used
solely for the purpose of supporting safe and sanitary
conditions at applicable properties, as designated by the
Secretary, with priority given to the tenants of the property
affected by the penalty;
(C) abate the section 8 contract, including partial
abatement, as determined by the Secretary, until all
deficiencies have been corrected;
(D) pursue transfer of the project to an owner, approved by
the Secretary under established procedures, which will be
obligated to promptly make all required repairs and to accept
renewal of the assistance contract as long as such renewal is
offered;
(E) transfer the existing section 8 contract to another
project or projects and owner or owners;
(F) pursue exclusionary sanctions, including suspensions or
debarments from Federal programs;
(G) seek judicial appointment of a receiver to manage the
property and cure all project deficiencies or seek a judicial
order of specific performance requiring the owner to cure all
project deficiencies;
(H) work with the owner, lender, or other related party to
stabilize the property in an attempt to preserve the property
through compliance, transfer of ownership, or an infusion of
capital provided by a third-party that requires time to
effectuate; or
(I) take any other regulatory or contractual remedies
available as deemed necessary and appropriate by the
Secretary.
(d) The Secretary shall also take appropriate steps to
ensure that project-based contracts remain in effect, subject
to the exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist
relocation of tenants for major threats to health and safety
after written notice to the affected tenants. To the extent
the Secretary determines, in consultation with the tenants
and the local government, that the property is not feasible
for continued rental assistance payments under such section 8
or other programs, based on consideration of--
(1) the costs of rehabilitating and operating the property
and all available Federal, State, and local resources,
including rent adjustments under section 524 of the
Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of
1997 (``MAHRAA''); and
(2) environmental conditions that cannot be remedied in a
cost-effective fashion, the Secretary may contract for
project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or
owners of other existing housing properties, or provide other
rental assistance.
(e) The Secretary shall report quarterly on all properties
covered by this section that are assessed through the Real
Estate Assessment Center and have UPCS physical inspection
scores of less than 60 or have received an unsatisfactory
management and occupancy review within the past 36 months.
The report shall include--
(1) the enforcement actions being taken to address such
conditions, including imposition of civil money penalties and
termination of subsidies, and identify properties that have
such conditions multiple times;
(2) actions that the Department of Housing and Urban
Development is taking to protect tenants of such identified
properties; and
(3) any administrative or legislative recommendations to
further improve the living conditions at properties covered
under a housing assistance payment contract.
This report shall be due to the Senate and House Committees
on Appropriations no later than 30 days after the enactment
of this Act, and on the first business day of each Federal
fiscal year quarter thereafter while this section remains in
effect.
Sec. 222. None of the funds made available by this Act, or
any other Act, for purposes authorized under section 8 (only
with respect to the tenant-based rental assistance program)
and section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437 et seq.), may be used by any public housing
agency for any amount of salary, including bonuses, for the
chief executive officer of which, or any other official or
employee of which, that exceeds the annual rate of basic pay
payable for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule
at any time during any public housing agency fiscal year
2019.
Sec. 223. None of the funds in this Act provided to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development may be used to
make a grant award unless the Secretary notifies the House
and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 3 full
business days before any project, State, locality, housing
authority, tribe, nonprofit organization, or other entity
selected to receive a grant award is announced by the
Department or its offices.
Sec. 224. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to require or enforce the Physical Needs Assessment
(PNA).
Sec. 225. None of the funds made available in this Act
shall be used by the Federal Housing Administration, the
Government National Mortgage Administration, or the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to insure,
securitize, or establish a Federal guarantee of any mortgage
or mortgage backed security that refinances or otherwise
replaces a mortgage that has been subject to eminent domain
condemnation or seizure, by a State, municipality, or any
other political subdivision of a State.
Sec. 226. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to terminate the status of a unit of general local
government as a metropolitan city (as defined in section 102
of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5302)) with respect to grants under section 106 of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 5306).
Sec. 227. Amounts made available under this Act which are
either appropriated, allocated, advanced on a reimbursable
basis, or transferred to the Office of Policy Development and
Research in the Department of Housing and Urban Development
and functions thereof, for research, evaluation, or
statistical purposes, and which are unexpended at the time of
completion of a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement,
may be deobligated and shall immediately become available and
may be reobligated in that fiscal year or the subsequent
fiscal year for the research, evaluation, or statistical
purposes for which the amounts are made available to that
Office subject to reprogramming requirements in section 405
of this Act.
Sec. 228. None of the funds provided in this Act or any
other act may be used for awards, including performance,
special act, or spot, for any employee of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development who has been subject to
administrative discipline in fiscal years 2018 or 2019,
including suspension from work.
Sec. 229. Funds made available in this title under the
heading ``Homeless Assistance
[[Page H418]]
Grants'' may be used by the Secretary to participate in
Performance Partnership Pilots authorized under section 526
of division H of Public Law 113-76, section 524 of division G
of Public Law 113-235, section 525 of division H of Public
Law 114-113, and such authorities as are enacted for
Performance Partnership Pilots in an appropriations Act for
fiscal year 2019: Provided, That such participation shall be
limited to no more than 10 continuums of care and housing
activities to improve outcomes for disconnected youth.
Sec. 230. With respect to grant amounts awarded under the
heading ``Homeless Assistance Grants'' for fiscal years 2015,
2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 for the continuum of care (CoC)
program as authorized under subtitle C of title IV of the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, costs paid by program
income of grant recipients may count toward meeting the
recipient's matching requirements, provided the costs are
eligible CoC costs that supplement the recipient's CoC
program.
Sec. 231. (a) From amounts made available under this title
under the heading ``Homeless Assistance Grants'', the
Secretary may award 1-year transition grants to recipients of
funds for activities under subtitle C of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) to
transition from one Continuum of Care program component to
another.
(b) No more than 50 percent of each transition grant may be
used for costs of eligible activities of the program
component originally funded.
(c) Transition grants made under this section are eligible
for renewal in subsequent fiscal years for the eligible
activities of the new program component.
(d) In order to be eligible to receive a transition grant,
the funding recipient must have the consent of the Continuum
of Care and meet standards determined by the Secretary.
Sec. 232. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to
direct a grantee to undertake specific changes to existing
zoning laws as part of carrying out the final rule entitled
``Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing'' (80 Fed. Reg. 42272
(July 16, 2015)) or the notice entitled ``Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool'' (79 Fed. Reg. 57949
(September 26, 2014)).
Sec. 233. Section 218(g) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12748(g)) shall not apply
with respect to the right of a jurisdiction to draw funds
from its HOME Investment Trust Fund that otherwise expired or
would expire in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 or 2021 under
that section.
Sec. 234. The Promise Zone designations and Promise Zone
Designation Agreements entered into pursuant to such
designations, made by the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development in prior fiscal years, shall remain in effect in
accordance with the terms and conditions of such agreements.
Sec. 235. The Secretary shall initiate a comprehensive
review of existing public housing and tenant-based rental
assistance regulations and related notices and other guidance
documents to identify opportunities to streamline the
administration of such programs while also ensuring
compliance with Federal financial and internal control
requirements. The Secretary shall establish a regulatory
advisory committee, composed of program and research experts
from the Department, a fair representation of public housing
agencies, and independent subject matter experts in housing
policy, property management, and Federal grant management,
which shall advise the Secretary with respect to specific
policy proposals to reduce administrative burden. The
Secretary, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall
submit a report on the results of such regulatory review to
the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations no later
than one year after the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 236. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used to establish and apply a ranking factor in the
selection and award of any funds made available and requiring
competitive selection under this Act, including preference or
bonus points or other incentives for participation in or
coordination with EnVision Centers.
Sec. 237. (a) The Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall continue to engage in efforts authorized by
the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013
(Public Law 113-4; 127 Stat. 54) to ensure that survivors of
domestic violence and sexual assault are not unlawfully
evicted or denied housing by certain landlords based on their
experience as survivors.
(b) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts described in
subsection (a).
Sec. 238. None of the funds made available under this Act
may be used to provide housing assistance benefits for an
individual who is convicted of--
(1) aggravated sexual abuse under section 2241 of title 18,
United States Code;
(2) murder under section 1111 of title 18, United States
Code; or
(3) any other Federal or State offense involving--
(A) severe forms of trafficking in persons or sex
trafficking, as those terms are defined in paragraphs (9) and
(10), respectively, of section 103 of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102); or
(B) child pornography, as defined in section 2256 of title
18, United States Code.
This title may be cited as the ``Department of Housing and
Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2019''.
TITLE III
RELATED AGENCIES
Access Board
salaries and expenses
For expenses necessary for the Access Board, as authorized
by section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,
$8,400,000: Provided, That, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, there may be credited to this appropriation
funds received for publications and training expenses.
Federal Maritime Commission
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the Federal Maritime Commission
as authorized by section 201(d) of the Merchant Marine Act,
1936, as amended (46 U.S.C. 307), including services as
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; hire of passenger motor vehicles
as authorized by 31 U.S.C. 1343(b); and uniforms or
allowances therefore, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902,
$27,490,000: Provided, That not to exceed $2,000 shall be
available for official reception and representation expenses.
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Office of Inspector General
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General
for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to carry out
the provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as
amended, $23,274,000: Provided, That the Inspector General
shall have all necessary authority, in carrying out the
duties specified in the Inspector General Act, as amended (5
U.S.C. App. 3), to investigate allegations of fraud,
including false statements to the government (18 U.S.C.
1001), by any person or entity that is subject to regulation
by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation: Provided
further, That the Inspector General may enter into contracts
and other arrangements for audits, studies, analyses, and
other services with public agencies and with private persons,
subject to the applicable laws and regulations that govern
the obtaining of such services within the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation: Provided further, That the Inspector
General may select, appoint, and employ such officers and
employees as may be necessary for carrying out the functions,
powers, and duties of the Office of Inspector General,
subject to the applicable laws and regulations that govern
such selections, appointments, and employment within the
Corporation: Provided further, That concurrent with the
President's budget request for fiscal year 2020, the
Inspector General shall submit to the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations a budget request for fiscal year
2020 in similar format and substance to those submitted by
executive agencies of the Federal Government: Provided
further, That not later than 240 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall update the
report entitled ``Effects of Amtrak's Poor On-Time
Performance'', numbered CR-2008-047, and dated March 28,
2008, and make the updated report publicly available.
National Transportation Safety Board
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the National Transportation
Safety Board, including hire of passenger motor vehicles and
aircraft; services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at
rates for individuals not to exceed the per diem rate
equivalent to the rate for a GS-15; uniforms, or allowances
therefor, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901-5902),
$110,400,000, of which not to exceed $2,000 may be used for
official reception and representation expenses. The amounts
made available to the National Transportation Safety Board in
this Act include amounts necessary to make lease payments on
an obligation incurred in fiscal year 2001 for a capital
lease.
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
payment to the neighborhood reinvestment corporation
For payment to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
for use in neighborhood reinvestment activities, as
authorized by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act
(42 U.S.C. 8101-8107), $145,000,000, of which $5,000,000
shall be for a multi-family rental housing program:
Provided, That an additional $2,000,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2023, shall be for the promotion and
development of shared equity housing models.
Surface Transportation Board
salaries and expenses
For necessary expenses of the Surface Transportation Board,
including services authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, $37,100,000:
Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision of law,
not to exceed $1,250,000 from fees established by the
Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board shall be
credited to this appropriation as offsetting collections and
used for necessary and authorized expenses under this
heading: Provided further, That the sum herein appropriated
from the general fund shall be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar
basis as such offsetting collections are received during
fiscal year 2019, to result in a final appropriation from the
general fund estimated at no more than $35,850,000.
[[Page H419]]
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
operating expenses
For necessary expenses (including payment of salaries,
authorized travel, hire of passenger motor vehicles, the
rental of conference rooms, and the employment of experts and
consultants under section 3109 of title 5, United States
Code) of the United States Interagency Council on
Homelessness in carrying out the functions pursuant to title
II of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended,
$3,600,000: Provided, That the first proviso in Public Law
115-141 under the heading ``United States Interagency Council
on Homelessness--Operating Expenses'' is amended by striking
``2020'' and inserting ``2021''.
TITLE IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS ACT
Sec. 401. None of the funds in this Act shall be used for
the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses
of, or otherwise compensate, non-Federal parties intervening
in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.
Sec. 402. None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall
remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal
year, nor may any be transferred to other appropriations,
unless expressly so provided herein.
Sec. 403. The expenditure of any appropriation under this
Act for any consulting service through a procurement contract
pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code,
shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures
are a matter of public record and available for public
inspection, except where otherwise provided under existing
law, or under existing Executive order issued pursuant to
existing law.
Sec. 404. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be obligated or expended for any employee training that--
(1) does not meet identified needs for knowledge, skills,
and abilities bearing directly upon the performance of
official duties;
(2) contains elements likely to induce high levels of
emotional response or psychological stress in some
participants;
(3) does not require prior employee notification of the
content and methods to be used in the training and written
end of course evaluation;
(4) contains any methods or content associated with
religious or quasi-religious belief systems or ``new age''
belief systems as defined in Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission Notice N-915.022, dated September 2, 1988; or
(5) is offensive to, or designed to change, participants'
personal values or lifestyle outside the workplace.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit, restrict, or
otherwise preclude an agency from conducting training bearing
directly upon the performance of official duties.
Sec. 405. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, none
of the funds provided in this Act, provided by previous
appropriations Acts to the agencies or entities funded in
this Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure
in fiscal year 2019, or provided from any accounts in the
Treasury derived by the collection of fees and available to
the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for
obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds
that--
(1) creates a new program;
(2) eliminates a program, project, or activity;
(3) increases funds or personnel for any program, project,
or activity for which funds have been denied or restricted by
the Congress;
(4) proposes to use funds directed for a specific activity
by either the House or Senate Committees on Appropriations
for a different purpose;
(5) augments existing programs, projects, or activities in
excess of $5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less;
(6) reduces existing programs, projects, or activities by
$5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less; or
(7) creates, reorganizes, or restructures a branch,
division, office, bureau, board, commission, agency,
administration, or department different from the budget
justifications submitted to the Committees on Appropriations
or the tables in the explanatory statement described in
section 421 of this Act, whichever is more detailed, unless
prior approval is received from the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations: Provided, That not later than
60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each agency
funded by this Act shall submit a report to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives to establish the baseline for application of
reprogramming and transfer authorities for the current fiscal
year: Provided further, That the report shall include--
(A) a table for each appropriation with a separate column
to display the prior year enacted level, the President's
budget request, adjustments made by Congress, adjustments due
to enacted rescissions, if appropriate, and the fiscal year
enacted level;
(B) a delineation in the table for each appropriation and
its respective prior year enacted level by object class and
program, project, and activity as detailed in the budget
appendix for the respective appropriation; and
(C) an identification of items of special congressional
interest.
Sec. 406. Except as otherwise specifically provided by
law, not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances
remaining available at the end of fiscal year 2019 from
appropriations made available for salaries and expenses for
fiscal year 2019 in this Act, shall remain available through
September 30, 2020, for each such account for the purposes
authorized: Provided, That a request shall be submitted to
the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations for
approval prior to the expenditure of such funds: Provided
further, That these requests shall be made in compliance with
reprogramming guidelines under section 405 of this Act.
Sec. 407. No funds in this Act may be used to support any
Federal, State, or local projects that seek to use the power
of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for
a public use: Provided, That for purposes of this section,
public use shall not be construed to include economic
development that primarily benefits private entities:
Provided further, That any use of funds for mass transit,
railroad, airport, seaport or highway projects, as well as
utility projects which benefit or serve the general public
(including energy-related, communication-related, water-
related and wastewater-related infrastructure), other
structures designated for use by the general public or which
have other common-carrier or public-utility functions that
serve the general public and are subject to regulation and
oversight by the government, and projects for the removal of
an immediate threat to public health and safety or
brownfields as defined in the Small Business Liability Relief
and Brownfields Revitalization Act (Public Law 107-118) shall
be considered a public use for purposes of eminent domain.
Sec. 408. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality
of the United States Government, except pursuant to a
transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act
or any other appropriations Act.
Sec. 409. No part of any appropriation contained in this
Act shall be available to pay the salary for any person
filling a position, other than a temporary position, formerly
held by an employee who has left to enter the Armed Forces of
the United States and has satisfactorily completed his or her
period of active military or naval service, and has within 90
days after his or her release from such service or from
hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of
not more than 1 year, made application for restoration to his
or her former position and has been certified by the Office
of Personnel Management as still qualified to perform the
duties of his or her former position and has not been
restored thereto.
Sec. 410. No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may
be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in
expending the assistance the entity will comply with sections
2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301-8305,
popularly known as the ``Buy American Act'').
Sec. 411. No funds appropriated or otherwise made
available under this Act shall be made available to any
person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy
American Act (41 U.S.C. 8301-8305).
Sec. 412. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for first-class airline accommodations in
contravention of sections 301-10.122 and 301-10.123 of title
41, Code of Federal Regulations.
Sec. 413. (a) None of the funds made available by this Act
may be used to approve a new foreign air carrier permit under
sections 41301 through 41305 of title 49, United States Code,
or exemption application under section 40109 of that title of
an air carrier already holding an air operators certificate
issued by a country that is party to the U.S.-E.U.-Iceland-
Norway Air Transport Agreement where such approval would
contravene United States law or Article 17 bis of the U.S.-
E.U.-Iceland-Norway Air Transport Agreement.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit, restrict or
otherwise preclude the Secretary of Transportation from
granting a foreign air carrier permit or an exemption to such
an air carrier where such authorization is consistent with
the U.S.-E.U.-Iceland-Norway Air Transport Agreement and
United States law.
Sec. 414. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more
than 50 employees of a single agency or department of the
United States Government, who are stationed in the United
States, at any single international conference unless the
relevant Secretary reports to the House and Senate Committees
on Appropriations at least 5 days in advance that such
attendance is important to the national interest: Provided,
That for purposes of this section the term ``international
conference'' shall mean a conference occurring outside of the
United States attended by representatives of the United
States Government and of foreign governments, international
organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.
Sec. 415. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available under this Act may be used by the Surface
Transportation Board to charge or collect any filing fee for
rate or practice complaints filed with the Board in an amount
in excess of the amount authorized for district court civil
suit filing fees under section 1914 of title 28, United
States Code.
Sec. 416. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used by the Department of Transportation, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, or any other
[[Page H420]]
Federal agency to lease or purchase new light duty vehicles
for any executive fleet, or for an agency's fleet inventory,
except in accordance with Presidential Memorandum--Federal
Fleet Performance, dated May 24, 2011.
Sec. 417. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to maintain or establish a computer network
unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and
exchanging of pornography.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall limit the use of funds
necessary for any Federal, State, tribal, or local law
enforcement agency or any other entity carrying out criminal
investigations, prosecution, or adjudication activities.
Sec. 418. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used to deny an Inspector General funded under this
Act timely access to any records, documents, or other
materials available to the department or agency over which
that Inspector General has responsibilities under the
Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), or to prevent
or impede that Inspector General's access to such records,
documents, or other materials, under any provision of law,
except a provision of law that expressly refers to the
Inspector General and expressly limits the Inspector
General's right of access.
(b) A department or agency covered by this section shall
provide its Inspector General with access to all such
records, documents, and other materials in a timely manner.
(c) Each Inspector General shall ensure compliance with
statutory limitations on disclosure relevant to the
information provided by the establishment over which that
Inspector General has responsibilities under the Inspector
General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).
(d) Each Inspector General covered by this section shall
report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate within 5 calendar days any
failures to comply with this requirement.
Sec. 419. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used to pay award or incentive
fees for contractors whose performance has been judged to be
below satisfactory, behind schedule, over budget, or has
failed to meet the basic requirements of a contract, unless
the Agency determines that any such deviations are due to
unforeseeable events, government-driven scope changes, or are
not significant within the overall scope of the project and/
or program unless such awards or incentive fees are
consistent with 16.401(e)(2) of the FAR.
Sec. 420. (a) Section 420 (a) None of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may
be used to acquire telecommunications equipment produced by
Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation or a high-impact
or moderate-impact information system, as defined for
security categorization in the National Institute of
Standards and Technology's (NIST) Federal Information
Processing Standard Publication 199, ``Standards for Security
Categorization of Federal Information and Information
Systems'' unless the agency has--
(1) reviewed the supply chain risk for the information
systems against criteria developed by NIST to inform
acquisition decisions for high-impact and moderate-impact
information systems within the Federal Government;
(2) reviewed the supply chain risk from the presumptive
awardee against available and relevant threat information
provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other
appropriate agencies; and
(3) in consultation with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation or other appropriate Federal entity, conducted
an assessment of any risk of cyber-espionage or sabotage
associated with the acquisition of such system, including any
risk associated with such system being produced,
manufactured, or assembled by one or more entities identified
by the United States Government as posing a cyber threat,
including but not limited to, those that may be owned,
directed, or subsidized by the People's Republic of China,
the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, or the Russian Federation.
(b) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available under this Act may be used to acquire a high-impact
or moderate impact information system reviewed and assessed
under subsection (a) unless the head of the assessing entity
described in subsection (a) has--
(1) developed, in consultation with NIST and supply chain
risk management experts, a mitigation strategy for any
identified risks;
(2) determined, in consultation with NIST and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, that the acquisition of such system
is in the vital national security interest of the United
States; and
(3) reported that determination to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
in a manner that identifies the system intended for
acquisition and a detailed description of the mitigation
strategies identified in (1), provided that such report may
include a classified annex as necessary.
Sec. 421. The explanatory statement regarding division D
of H.R. 21, printed in the Congressional Record on January 3,
2019, and submitted by the Chair of the Committee on
Appropriations, shall have the same effect with respect to
allocation of funds and implementation of this Act as if it
were a joint explanatory statement of a committee of
conference.
Sec. 422. (a) Employees furloughed as a result of any lapse
in appropriations beginning on or about December 22, 2018 and
ending on the date of enactment of this Act shall be
compensated at their standard rate of compensation, for the
period of such lapse in appropriations, as soon as
practicable after such lapse in appropriations ends.
(b) For purposes of this section, ``employees'' means any
Federal employees whose salaries and expenses are provided in
this Act.
(c) All obligations incurred in anticipation of the
appropriations made and authority granted by this Act for the
purposes of maintaining the essential level of activity to
protect life and property and bringing about orderly
termination of Government functions, and for purposes as
otherwise authorized by law, are hereby ratified and approved
if otherwise in accord with the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 423. (a) If a State (or another Federal grantee) used
State funds (or the grantee's non-Federal funds) to continue
carrying out a Federal program or furloughed State employees
(or the grantee's employees) whose compensation is advanced
or reimbursed in whole or in part by the Federal Government--
(1) such furloughed employees shall be compensated at their
standard rate of compensation for such period;
(2) the State (or such other grantee) shall be reimbursed
for expenses that would have been paid by the Federal
Government during such period had appropriations been
available, including the cost of compensating such furloughed
employees, together with interest thereon calculated under
section 6503(d) of title 31, United States Code; and
(3) the State (or such other grantee) may use funds
available to the State (or the grantee) under such Federal
program to reimburse such State (or the grantee), together
with interest thereon calculated under section 6503(d) of
title 31, United States Code.
(b) For purposes of this section, the term ``State'' and
the term ``grantee,'' including United States territories and
possessions, shall have the meaning given such terms under
the applicable Federal program under subsection (a). In
addition, ``to continue carrying out a Federal program''
means the continued performance by a State or other Federal
grantee, during the period of a lapse in appropriations, of a
Federal program that the State or such other grantee had been
carrying out prior to the period of the lapse in
appropriations.
(c) The authority under this section applies with respect
to any period in fiscal year 2019 (not limited to periods
beginning or ending after the date of the enactment of this
Act) during which there occurs a lapse in appropriations with
respect to any department or agency of the Federal Government
receiving funding in this Act which, but for such lapse in
appropriations, would have paid, or made reimbursement
relating to, any of the expenses referred to in this section
with respect to the program involved. Payments and
reimbursements under this authority shall be made only to the
extent and in amounts provided in advance in appropriations
Acts.
This Act may be cited as the ``Transportation, Housing and
Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2019''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees.
The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price) and the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 267, legislation to reopen and
responsibly fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and
Urban Development.
The bill before us is bipartisan and invests in critical national
priorities. It passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a
unanimous vote, and it was adopted by the full Senate on a 92-6 vote.
It provides $71.4 billion in discretionary funding, which is $23.3
billion above the President's budget request and $1.1 billion above the
FY 2018 enacted level.
This legislation is critical for the success of America's families,
communities, and businesses. In addition to
[[Page H421]]
maintaining existing infrastructure, it will allocate $17 billion for
new transportation and housing projects in both rural and urban areas.
Like last year, it includes several billion dollars of funding above
authorized levels for the FAST Act to accelerate improvements in our
aviation system, to expand transit and rail networks, to replace aging
highways and bridge infrastructure, and to repair our affordable
housing stock.
It also builds on the progress we have made since enactment of the
2018 bipartisan budget agreement to ensure that vulnerable
populations--including low-income families, seniors, veterans, and the
disabled--have access to reliable transportation and safe housing.
It would provide robust funding for flexible grant programs,
especially HOME and Community Development Block Grants, that allow
towns and cities across the country, large and small, to leverage both
public and private capital to address their most pressing community
needs.
Just as important, this legislation would finally reopen these
departments. It would allow more than 20,000 furloughed employees at
DOT and over 7,000 furloughed employees at HUD to receive back pay and
to return to their mission, which is serving the American people.
The Trump shutdown, Mr. Speaker, has dragged on for more than 2
weeks, shuttering vital government services and creating chaos and
uncertainty for families, businesses, and communities in each of our
districts.
For example, grants to help States and communities pay for upgrades
to transit, rail, and aviation facilities are being put on hold.
State departments of transportation are beginning to delay new
construction projects.
The National Transportation Safety Board has ceased major accident
investigations.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is no longer
investigating or reviewing information about major vehicle
manufacturing defects, which, in fact, puts lives at risk.
New hiring and training for air traffic controllers has ground to a
halt, exacerbating an ongoing staffing shortage. FAA equipment
maintenance is curtailed, and pilot certifications are suspended.
Disaster relief funding for States hit by disasters last year--
funding that has already been appropriated--remains unallocated because
staff at HUD remain furloughed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Speaker, we discovered just this weekend that HUD
officials failed to renew more than 1,000 landlord contracts for the
Project-Based Section 8 housing program before they expired at the end
of the year, exposing tens of thousands of tenants to possible
eviction.
Mr. Speaker, these problems can only get worse as the shutdown goes
on. Hundreds more of these contracts are up for renewal in the coming
months.
H.R. 267 would put an end to the madness, ensuring that vital
transportation and housing infrastructure is funded for the remainder
of the 2019 fiscal year.
This legislation reflects the best of bipartisan collaboration, and
it excludes problematic policy riders from both sides of the aisle.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan,
commonsense legislation to reopen the government without further delay,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. My objections are
numerous. Again, there are a lot of reasons why I am objecting to this
bill in this form today.
One of the things that I think is important to note, because I have
heard throughout the debate in all these bills how passing these bills
will reopen the Federal Government: Mr. Speaker, I heard that last week
on the floor of this House, on the same appropriations bills.
I want to mention that again. Last week, on this floor, Members came
up and said, if those bills pass the House, the Federal Government
would reopen.
Mr. Speaker, those bills passed the House. They didn't reopen the
Federal Government, just like these bills, which are identical to the
bills that were passed last week--identical--unfortunately, also will
not reopen the government.
Now, I have other objections as well, Mr. Speaker. This bill is,
frankly, absurd because it takes a Senate product, ignoring all--all--
of the House Members' priorities. It is jamming it through this body
without a single opportunity to amend or improve or change this bill in
any way.
Not one House Member has had one priority put in this bill because
there are no amendments allowed in this process.
Again, this ploy will not work. The Senate has no plans of taking up
this legislation. And, again, this is deja vu all over again.
I heard folks last week talk about, if the House passed those bills
last week, like we are hearing now, the government would reopen. Mr.
Speaker, those statements were not true last week, and they are not
true this week, unfortunately.
Now, not only did the bills last week not reopen the government. In
fact, everyone on this House floor knows that this bill passing,
unfortunately, will not reopen the Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, all
the members of the press up there know that passing this bill,
unfortunately, will not reopen the government.
Heck, anybody who has been paying any attention knows that this is a
sham; that, just like last week, those bills passing didn't reopen the
government, and unfortunately, passing this bill, or these
appropriations bills, in this manner will not reopen the government
either.
{time} 1400
So by introducing these Senate bills without any changes to reflect
the priorities of this body and without any opportunity for amendments,
we are engaging in a sad, sad charade.
I want to take some time, opportunity to discuss the real-world
consequences of this stunt. Again, our majority is asking us, all of us
here in this Chamber, to reject all of the hard work and all of the
priorities of every House Member, Republican or Democrat.
Mr. Speaker, in our House bill, I am proud that we decided to make a
historic investment, for example, in ports: port infrastructure, the
ports, seaports, including larger seaports that are critical to our
country's commerce. In the House bill, we provided $250 million for
this program.
Well, the Senate didn't make this investment. They didn't think that
that was as high of a priority. They missed that opportunity to build
infrastructure that we need to create jobs and increase our ability to
export American goods made by Americans.
We also placed a higher priority on roads and on bridges than the
Senate did and with an emphasis on funds that go directly and
immediately to the States and the territories through the highway
formula program. The Senate didn't have that priority.
The Senate provides far less for this purpose, Mr. Speaker. Let me
tell you what that number is, far less: $1.4 billion less for that
direct spending in infrastructure, bridges, and roads that goes
straight to the States.
The Senate, instead, put a high priority on administrative accounts
and programs with, frankly, higher overhead. This bill means less
funding for your State Department of Transportations and fewer jobs
rebuilding the highways and the bridges around our country.
Mr. Speaker, we also included a provision that provided regulatory
relief to, for example, sugar and beet haulers in Idaho and in Oregon.
This narrow provision--and this is a bipartisan provision--simply made
truck length requirements uniform between those two States--common
sense.
Again, this provision has support on both sides of the aisle, and it
will help truckers and farmers in those States. But, you see, the
Democratic proposal before you does not include even that commonsense
provision, commonsense bipartisan provision.
Mr. Speaker, we also included a provision in the House bill that
allows for small increases in the allowable weight for trucks that run
on electric batteries, an innovation to help the environment. This is
another commonsense, bipartisan provision that this bill does not have,
and it was not included in the Senate mark.
This bill eliminates House and Senate report language--I want to
repeat,
[[Page H422]]
both House and Senate report language.
Now, what does that mean? That every single item we put in the report
for Members, at the request of Members from both parties, is gone, is
irrelevant in this bill.
You see, the direction that we provide in our reports every year
helps hold the bureaucracy accountable and ensure that our constituents
have a voice in their government. Mr. Speaker, that language is gone.
For example, we put directives in our report that require that the
FAA take specific action, specific action to address airport noise,
airport noise in our communities. Now, this is specifically important--
I should say especially important--to our Democratic colleagues in the
subcommittee and the committee on this floor, and we accommodated all
of their requests on this issue with new stringent requirements on the
FAA, Mr. Speaker. This bill makes those requirements null and void.
So let me now turn to housing programs. When we looked at the HUD
budget, we made sure, in the House, in the House bill, the House mark--
and, by the way, this is done in a bipartisan way. We made sure that we
scrubbed the administrative and overhead accounts and, instead, put
funds towards programs that serve our neediest, our neediest citizens.
This bill, unfortunately, falls far short on our charge to do the best
that we can with the revenue, the taxpayer money.
And, again, to make sure that the bureaucracy is held accountable,
this bill falls short. Let me give you a few examples.
In our bill last year, we included $50 million in new funding for a
program that we call mobility vouchers. These vouchers are targeted at
families with children, to enable them to move to neighborhoods with
greater economic opportunity, and this initiative has strong bipartisan
support from the authorizers and strong support from the advocates for
the poor. The Senate bill does not include any funds, zero funds, for
this program.
The House also included significantly more funding for new vouchers
for people with disabilities. This program helps families across the
country that struggle to take care of severely disabled relatives, and
it also serves, by the way, so many veterans with disabilities. We
provided $390 million for this program.
For tens of thousands of new vouchers, this bill before us, frankly,
falls short there as well, by $236 million, and adds no new vouchers.
You see, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that every year, when I was
chairman, I also worked to ensure that there was adequate funding for
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, or HOPWA. This program has
a record of saving lives, reducing disease transmissions, and
protecting communities. I am so proud of that. We provided $393 million
in our bill to ensure that there was no reduction, no cut to housing
services for this vulnerable population.
The Senate, unfortunately, again, falls severely short, $375 million.
This will result in 1,700 people losing their housing, which will put
communities at risk.
This, by the way, is a severe hit, particularly for cities likes
Miami, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and many others. This is an
area the Senate was counting on the House to fix, to fix their low
funding levels. But, you see, Mr. Speaker, we don't have the
opportunity because of this stunt that we are witnessing here today.
Finally, we included $150 million for Choice Neighborhoods, which is
a program that provides much-needed neighborhood rehabilitation--
revitalization grants, I should say. This has such strong bipartisan
support in the House. The Senate did not prioritize it as much as we
did, and they only provided $100 million.
So I look forward to advancing a bill that protects this, all of
these issues, and other important priorities for our House Members. I
look forward to working to do that.
But before I close, Mr. Speaker, I want to take a minute to thank
somebody who has become a personal friend, Chairman Price. I will tell
you, it has been an honor, Mr. Speaker, to work beside him for the past
4 years developing bills that truly meet the needs of our people, of
our country, of our communities. These past 2 years, I think, have been
particularly energizing as we worked on T-HUD bills that made
substantial new investments in our Nation's infrastructure.
Chairman Price and I have always been able to work together to find
common ground, to find solutions, and that is the spirit of cooperation
and good will that will get us, I am sure, to a breakthrough to end
this impasse and to reopen the government once again. So, again, I do
not have anybody in this Chamber that I am more pleased to work with
than the chairman of this subcommittee.
Now, today, on this bill, mark my words, Mr. Speaker, mark my words,
the passage of these bills in this form will not open the Federal
Government. Everyone in here knows that; just like last year, last
week, we knew that they would not open the government, and we heard on
this floor that they would.
This bill, unfortunately, will not reopen the government. It falls
short on our priorities. It does not include any of the House
priorities; so, therefore, I respectfully would urge a ``no'' vote.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mario
Diaz-Balart, our ranking member and former chairman of this
subcommittee, for those kind words--a sentiment that I share totally.
And we, I am sure, are going to be able to continue this cooperative
relationship in this new Congress, and I look forward to that.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs.
Lowey), our full committee chairwoman.
Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, the Trump shutdown is now in its 20th day.
More than 800,000 Federal employees are going without pay, many while
they are still working, and the American people are being denied vital
services all because of President Trump's demands for a wasteful border
wall.
The bill before us today would reopen the Department of
Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other
critical agencies like the National Transportation Safety Board and
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Frankly, it is outrageous that safety-critical personnel who are
ensuring our trains operate and air traffic runs smoothly cannot count
on a paycheck. They and the thousands of furloughed Federal employees
cannot afford this kind of financial uncertainty and missed paychecks.
The Trump shutdown has also had dangerous housing implications for
many hardworking families. For example, HUD's project-based Section 8
housing assistance program, which covers tens of thousands of low-
income renters, is in trouble. Payments have been made for tenants this
month, but due to staff furloughs, HUD contracts with landlords that
expired since the shutdown began have not been renewed. This could lead
to evictions of senior citizens and the disabled, displacing the most
vulnerable among us.
House Democrats want to open the government, but the President and
the Senate Republicans continue to obstruct instead of working with us
to get the people's work done.
The solution to this crisis is simple: Pass the bills where we can
agree, and extend funding for Homeland Security for a month to allow
time for negotiation on border security and immigration policy.
I do hope that my colleagues across the Capitol come to their senses
and stop this ridiculous Trump shutdown.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume
to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger), a titanium Texan, the
ranking member of the full committee.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 267.
Unfortunately, moving this bill across the floor will not resolve the
partial government shutdown, as the President has said he will not sign
this bill into law.
It is the job and responsibility of the Congress to appropriate
funds. We must come together to find a solution that will reopen the
government and fund border security. We need a compromise that
represents the will of both Chambers and the American people.
By considering the Senate-passed version of the appropriations bills,
we are eliminating House Members' involvement in the process. When it
[[Page H423]]
comes to Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related
agencies, H.R. 267 places a lower priority on creating jobs and
expanding opportunity.
For example, this bill provides $1.4 billion less for highway funding
to the States and territories. That is less money to address our
Nation's crumbling roads and bridges.
When it comes to the Federal Aviation Administration, this bill
provides $250 million less to modernize our air traffic control system.
The bill also reduces programs for the most vulnerable among us. It
provides millions less for a voucher program that enables families with
children to move to neighborhoods with greater economic opportunity and
virtually eliminates funds that House Republicans provided for
impoverished citizens living with disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, Republicans stand ready and willing to negotiate with
our friends on the other side of the aisle on legislation that includes
priorities of both Houses and both Chambers. That is how the
legislative body and our system of government is designed to work.
I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) for his efforts
today and over the last several months to ensure that the House's voice
is heard in this debate.
{time} 1415
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley), a member of our subcommittee and
the chairman-designate of the Financial Services and General Government
Subcommittee.
Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, let's not complicate things. There is
nothing in the transportation bill or the housing budget that has
anything to do with the border wall.
Instead, these agencies keep us safe when we fly and keep the planes,
trains, and buses running on time. They keep Americans housed and warm
on frigid January days like today in Chicago. They provide the support
necessary to invest in our communities and ensure that our citizens can
get to work and school, and can rebuild after natural disasters.
Shuttering the Departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban
Development over an unrelated fight about a wall on the southern border
is the height of administrative malpractice and the reason I am proud
to support this bill to reopen these vital agencies immediately.
This shutdown is endangering the well-being of the American public.
For example, at air traffic control facilities all over the country,
including Chicago Center, one of the busiest control centers in the
Nation, staff ID badges, which are needed to get into the control rooms
and operate equipment, expire during the month of January. Ordinarily,
this wouldn't be a problem, but the person in charge of issuing new ID
badges for the 58 controllers at Chicago Center is furloughed, leaving
the people responsible for ensuring that our air system runs safely and
effectively in limbo and possibly preventing them from monitoring the
skies as they should.
Worse yet, the Trump administration is unconscionably forcing these
air traffic controllers, along with TSA agents and other crucial
officials who are instrumental to the safety of the American public, to
work long hours without pay, and treating them as pawns in a political
chess match. It is dangerous; it is not right; and the people expect
more of their government.
This President likes to tout himself as a builder and speaks
frequently about infrastructure investment. Yet, he is singlehandedly
standing in the way of any progress on addressing our Nation's
infrastructure needs by shutting down the very agencies charged with
addressing them. It seems, once again, he is all bluster and no
substance.
I support this bill to reopen HUD and DOT, to get Federal employees
back to work, and to support the millions of Americans who rely on the
important work these agencies do. I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Idaho (Mr. Simpson), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy
and Water Development and Related Agencies.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I have always found this debate
interesting, but we know what this is all about. This is all about the
negotiations on border security.
What I found interesting is to listen to everybody talk about the
President not being willing to negotiate, not being willing to
compromise. Yet, he has offered many of the things that the Democrats
say that they want in any border security bill.
A negotiation ends when both parties can say they got something that
they want. Yet, the Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate
continue to say ``no'' to anything the President wants. He wants a
border wall for a part of border security, and they continue to say
``no.'' That is no kind of negotiation, and we know that is what has
led us here today.
Every one of us wants government reopened, but we know the games that
are being played here. I will tell you, the problem with what is on the
floor today is that we are bringing up the Senate bills that completely
ignore the priorities of House Republicans and House Democrats in the
appropriations process.
Most of these bills have been conferenced. Why bring up just the
Senate bill and not the conference report that was done that recognizes
both Senate and House priorities?
Let me give you one example. The House T-HUD bill carried a
bipartisan provision that raises the length limit for specific vehicles
used to transport sugar beets, and only on specific routes used to ship
sugar beets between Oregon and Idaho for processing. It is a provision
that is supported by the Oregon Department of Transportation, the U.S.
Department of Transportation, and the State of Idaho. It is very
limited--only sugar beets on non-interstate highways--and everybody
agrees with it.
Mr. Speaker, I have a letter here from two Senators, one from Idaho
and one from Oregon, who support this provision, and I will include it
in the Record.
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, September 11, 2018.
Hon. Richard Shelby,
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Susan Collins,
Chairwoman, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development,
and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Washington, DC.
Hon. Patrick Leahy,
Vice Chair, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Washington,
DC.
Hon. Jack Reed,
Ranking Member, Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Shelby, Ranking Member Leahy, Subcommittee
Chairwoman Collins, and Ranking Subcommittee Chairman Reed:
We are writing to support a provision in H.R 6072, reported
by the House Appropriations Committee, which would increase
the allowable length of uniquely configured trucks hauling
sugar beets by 14'; 8", but only on less than 55 miles of
specifically identified, on non-Interstate roads in rural
Malheur County, Oregon.
These trucks use limited non-Interstate routes as they
drive from Oregon sugar beet receiving stations to Idaho beet
processing facilities. In Idaho, trucks hauling sugar beets
have been safely using this configuration since 2003.
Extending this to Oregon sugar beet growers across the border
means 1,830 fewer truck trips on our roads.
This provision has bi-partisan support. The four
undersigned, representing Oregon and Idaho, introduced this
provision as an amendment when the THUD bill was considered
by the Senate, although it was not voted upon.
The proposed language has been extensively reviewed by
technical experts at the Federal Highways Administration as
well as the Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier
Division as well, both of which assisted with its drafting.
We encourage you to help Oregon sugar beet farmers and
their families by including the narrow provision for trucks
hauling Oregon sugar beets on defined Malheur County routes
in the final legislation.
Sincerely,
Ron Wyden, United States Senator;
James E. Risch, United States Senator;
Mike Crapo, United States Senator;
Jeffrey A. Merkley, United States Senator.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, this provision is noncontroversial. It is
in the House bill. Guess what? It is not in the Senate bill. That
means, if you adopt the Senate bill, you have dropped out this
provision and you have dropped out many other provisions that are a
priority for both House Republicans and House Democrats.
Why would we turn over everything to the Senate and their priorities?
[[Page H424]]
You all know how this works. When we write a bill, we emphasize House
priorities and we downplay Senate priorities. They do the same thing on
their side, emphasizing Senate priorities and downplaying House
priorities. Then we go to conference, and we work it out and find a
compromise. But we are not doing that with this bill.
I will tell you, if you bring up the conferenced bills, the bills
that have been conferenced last year between the House and the Senate,
you will have my support. I will vote for them, but not for a bill that
just emphasizes the Senate priorities and ignores the work of the House
and the House Appropriations Committee.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the chairman of the Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, why are we here today? We are here today
because the President is down on the border and he wants to build,
along part of the border, a wall, a Maginot Line, if you would have it.
The French thought that they could keep the Germans out by building a
fortified wall and fortifications along part of their border. The
Germans went around it.
Well, if the drugs were coming over the border illegally, they would
go around it. But that is not where they are coming. They are coming
through the ports of entry, where we don't have enough personnel, who,
by the way, aren't getting paid today, and where we don't have the
technology we need to find the humans and the drugs that are being
smuggled through in tractor trailers and other vehicles across the
border.
If you want to invest in border security, that is a place to invest
in border security.
Now, the President promised us a grand infrastructure plan. Little
did we know it was going to be a partial wall along the Mexican border
that he felt so strongly about that he would shut down the government.
We have the busiest, most complex aviation system in the world. It is
the safest in the world. Today, 14,000 air traffic controllers are
working without pay. They all got checks today--I just got a copy of
one--for $0. So they are still processing their checks, but the check
is for $0.
Then we have 3,300 aviation inspectors who are furloughed. They are
not essential. We are allowing the airline industry and all the
aircraft maintenance facilities and everything else to self-regulate.
No one is looking over their shoulder. ``Oh, don't worry about it. No
problems.'' Right.
Then, of course, there are a few other issues that this bill would
deal with. We have a $100 billion backlog to bring existing transit,
which is inadequate for today's needs, up to a state of good repair.
This is delaying dealing with that problem more and more into the
future.
We have 56,000 bridges on the national highway system that need
substantial repair or replacement. Well, guess what? That is not going
forward today either.
Last year, we wasted 3.1 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel
idling in traffic. A lot of concern about climate change--well, on this
side of the aisle, not on that side of the aisle. They don't believe in
it. I don't know, maybe the gentleman from Florida does; they are kind
of going underwater.
But we aren't giving people the options they need to get out of their
cars, to be more efficient with transit.
Wastewater, the Federal Government used to partner with communities
to deal with wastewater. We are not doing that anymore.
So are we going to rebuild America? Are we going to deliver on the
President's promise of something other than a stupid, wasteful,
ineffective wall?
How about shutting down the government because Congress won't provide
the funding we need to rebuild our infrastructure? That would be,
perhaps, a better cause for this President.
I urge Members to vote for this, reopen the government, fund
transportation and infrastructure, and fund our air traffic controllers
who are keeping us safe.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Rutherford), a former sheriff and my dear friend.
Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this bill.
Rather than focusing energy on reaching a compromise with the Senate
and the President to reopen the government and get those Federal
workers their paychecks, my colleagues across the aisle are spending
time bringing bills to the floor that have absolutely no chance of
passing and becoming law. The bill is a waste of everyone's time and a
waste of countless hours of hard work by Members and staff on both
sides of the aisle.
Last Congress, my colleagues and I on the Appropriations Committee
worked hard for many months in a bipartisan and bicameral way to pass a
Transportation and Housing and Urban Development funding bill on time.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, we passed that bill in the House in July of last
year.
Then, in December, when we were looking at a looming shutdown, my
colleagues and I in the House passed a funding package that would have
kept the government open and provided an additional $5 billion for
border security and $9 billion for initial disaster assistance to
American citizens in those communities devastated by hurricanes and
fires.
Instead, here we are, bringing to the floor a bill that ignores the
bipartisan work of my House colleagues.
This bill today provides less funding for our ports, highways, and
air traffic control. It provides less housing for people with
disabilities, our veterans, and those living with HIV and AIDS. Also,
it doesn't include the oversight and accountability provisions that
were added by the House. On top of all that, the President has already
said he will not sign the bill into law.
As we waste the House's time, and, quite frankly, the people's time,
on this bill, 800,000 Federal workers are suffering. All our Nation's
transportation systems are becoming less efficient. Many functions of
our air, rail, maritime, and highway transportation are being held up
by furloughs and understaffing. Those essential personnel who are
required to show up, they go unpaid for their work. This is unjust and
immoral.
Mr. Speaker, I implore the Speaker of the House and my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle to put aside these partisan tactics and
bring to the floor bills we have already worked on through regular
order and with bipartisan agreement.
It is very simple. If the Speaker is truly serious about opening the
government and getting people back to work, bring a bill to the floor
that the Senate can pass and the President will sign into law.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the chairman of the Judiciary
Committee.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation because it is
past time to move beyond the political game of chicken and reopen these
critical government agencies.
This Republican-passed Senate bill is not perfect. While it maintains
current funding for the HOPWA program, it does not include the full
$393 million that I led many of my colleagues in requesting last
Congress. The House fiscal year 2019 bill reflected that funding level,
and I deeply appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle in achieving that goal.
But I support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it
for one simple reason: We must get these programs funded and operating
again. People are suffering. They are working without pay or furloughed
with no idea if they will ever get back to work. They are watching
critical services and benefits slowly disappear, and it will only get
worse as this absurd and unnecessary shutdown drags on.
The House will pass this bill today, and I call on my Republican
colleagues here and in the Senate to get people back to work, to get
our government open again, and to put aside this political game of
blackmail by the President in which he says the government will remain
shut if we don't give him his $5 billion downpayment on a $25 billion
wall. That is a judgment for Congress, not to be subject to blackmail
by the President holding the American people hostage.
I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and let's get our
government open again.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
[[Page H425]]
Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo), who, by the way, is not on the T-HUD
Subcommittee but who has been an amazing asset to the full committee,
but, in particular, to the T-HUD Subcommittee.
{time} 1430
Mr. PALAZZO. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, there are a host of things wrong with bringing this bill
to the floor. By bringing forth the Senate version of this bill, it
completely ignores all of the work this committee has done over the
past year, ignoring Members' priorities as well as testimonies, both of
which serve as the basis of the House version of the T-HUD bill. I will
name a few examples.
The Choice Neighborhoods program receives $50 million less in the
Senate bill before us today. The Choice Neighborhoods initiative works
to address the problems of growing poverty in high-poverty
neighborhoods. It provides flexible resources for local leaders to help
transform their distressed neighborhoods into mixed-income, successful
neighborhoods.
Also notably missing from the Senate bill is a very important family
mobility demonstration project. Low-income families and voucher holders
are often concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods with limited
education, transportation, and employment opportunities. The
demonstration project absent from the Senate bill utilizes the voucher
platform to target families with children and enable them to move to
neighborhoods with greater economic opportunities.
There are also several provisions in the House report that are
missing from the Senate version.
As a former deputy director for a public housing authority in
Mississippi, I can tell you that these commonsense provisions would
vastly improve the lives of not only our dedicated PHA employees, but
also the lives of their tenants at a time when PHAs are stretched thin
and do not have the operating or the capital funds necessary to meet
HUD's ever growing list of demands.
As it relates to operating funds, HUD's current method for
calculating formula income and utility expenses for PHAs in no way
reflects the reality that many experience locally, particularly for
PHAs that serve large elderly and disabled populations. The House
language directs HUD to submit a report outlining alternatives for
operating fund calculations so that PHAs already strapped for cash do
not continue to lose money because of a one-size-fits-all approach.
Lastly, for years now, the T-HUD package has contained a provision
prohibiting funds for HUD's physical needs assessment, an onerous and
costly requirement that increases administrative burdens on PHAs and,
as time has shown, has no operational benefit for local housing
programs.
These may seem trivial to some, but these are vitally important to
the people they affect.
Mr. Speaker, these are not Republican priorities; these are
bipartisan priorities. We owe it to the Members of this body who worked
hard on these provisions and many others to consider these bills
properly and through the conference process. Bringing the Senate
version of this bill to the floor ignores the will of this House and
all the hard work Members from both sides of the aisle have put into
the process.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the legislation.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), a member of our
subcommittee.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
North Carolina for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I have to agree with my colleagues today. This is not
the bill that the House approved or that has everything that we have
worked on our subcommittee to get into law to help fund those programs
that are so vital to families at home and across this country, but we
are here today trying to get the Senate to accept ``yes'' for an
answer, because what is critical is that we reopen government.
President Trump is holding 800,000 Federal employees hostage, and
that ripples out to millions of Americans who rely on government not
just for a paycheck, but for those critical services, whether they are
border security or TSA agents, the FBI, food programs, or vital housing
and transportation services.
Specifically, the Federal Housing Administration has stopped
processing loans and mortgage approvals, putting families trying to buy
a new home or refinance an FHA-insured mortgage into financial limbo.
I heard a story of one woman who is battling cancer. She has not been
able to earn an income, and refinancing her home was the key way that
she could continue to have this battle and get the treatments that she
needs and give her family the money to survive and meet their basic
needs. With the closing of FHA, she is unable to get those documents
and be able to refinance her house.
This shutdown is also threatening to destabilize more than 4 million
households that depend on HUD's rental assistance programs.
The phones are ringing off the hook in my office in D.C. and back
home in Massachusetts. We heard just this week from a retired Federal
employee from Natick who called because she lives in affordable housing
and is required to prove her income to renew her lease.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kildee). The time of the gentlewoman has
expired.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30
seconds to the gentlewoman.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, she cannot obtain the
statement from OPM regarding her pension right now because they are
closed. This jeopardizes her living situation.
We must reopen government and then resolve our differences about how
we address border security. Passage of this bill is a critical first
step.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, if I might inquire how much time I have
left.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 7 minutes
remaining. The gentleman from North Carolina has 14\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, having no more speakers, I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill), a new Member of the House.
Ms. SHERRILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 267, and I urge
my colleagues to come together to reopen a vital part of our government
and to support this straightforward, bipartisan bill. It is a
downpayment on reducing our nationwide, dangerous infrastructure
problems.
It provides $650 million for Amtrak's Northeast corridor, the most
heavily used passenger rail line in the Nation; $2.8 billion for the
Federal Railroad Administration; and $800 million in new transit
infrastructure grants. This is the least we can do to begin to get our
government open and Americans back to work.
Congress is 4 months behind on paying our transportation bills. We
cannot move forward on our larger infrastructure investment needs, like
Gateway, without this first step. Gateway is the most vital
infrastructure project in our Nation.
The century-old Hudson River rail tunnel connects 200,000 commuters
every day from New Jersey to New York. Amtrak uses it to connect 20
train routes across the country. This tunnel is the Achilles heel of
the Northeast rail corridor and was severely damaged during Superstorm
Sandy. A collapse of the tunnel could injure thousands and cost our
economy an estimated $100 million a day. But just as important to my
constituents, every delay, every deferred decision on Gateway means a
hardworking parent not making it home to see his or her family.
The proposal for Gateway was submitted to the DOT over a year ago.
Secretary Chao needs to put the funds already approved by Congress to
work. New transit trains and tunnels are exactly the type of
infrastructure projects our country needs to build a strong future.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the subcommittee chair for being so focused on
America's transportation priorities and for allowing the voice of the
people of the 11th District of New Jersey to be heard today.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H426]]
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn), another new Member of
the House, who, as she will tell us, has a special reason, given her
district, to understand the impact of this shutdown.
Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman-
designate Price for recognizing me so that I can express my support for
this legislation and discuss my grave concern about how the government
shutdown is affecting my congressional district and the Nation.
Simply put, this shutdown is an issue of national security and
safety. Many of the approximately 16,000 Federal Government employees
and contractors who live in my district are adversely affected by the
government's closure.
Specifically, the FAA's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center is one of
the 10 largest employers in Oklahoma, with more than 5,000 employees
and contractors, and up to 2,000 students who attend the air traffic
controller and aviation training school.
The Monroney Center is not only important to Oklahoma City, but it is
a critical piece of our Nation's infrastructure, which supports more
than 45,000 air traffic control centers worldwide.
Today, more than 1,000 employees have been furloughed and another 600
are working without pay. Additionally, all of the air traffic
controller and aviation students have been sent home.
To put this in context, the Monroney Center is the only one of its
kind in the entire United States, but today the doors are shuttered and
all training has ceased. The longer the shutdown continues, the longer
it will take for training to resume.
To make matters worse, the Monroney Center still hasn't recovered
from the 2013 sequester, and currently the FAA is at a 30-year air
traffic controller staffing low.
Yesterday, I met with an air traffic controller from Oklahoma who
expressed his concerns about the immense stress and strain for
controllers that the choked-off pipeline is causing. This is both an
economic and domestic national security issue, and I am very concerned
that the government shutdown may affect the safety and security of our
Nation's air travelers.
My constituents sent me to Washington to work hard on their behalf,
and I am proud to have voted for several measures to reopen the
government since I was sworn in last week.
It is time to get the government back on track. It is time we use
common sense, roll up our sleeves, and do the job that we were sent
here to do.
There is a time and a place to debate border security, which is a
complex problem that I firmly believe must be addressed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15
seconds to the gentlewoman.
Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, however, we should never
risk the air safety and security of this country. The health and future
of the Nation's aeronautical infrastructure should not be a pawn in a
political game.
Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation to fund the Department of
Transportation, and I urge my colleagues to join me.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Hill), another of our new Members.
Ms. HILL of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North
Carolina for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I am speaking with you today because it is past time to
reopen critical functions of our government.
Aerospace and aviation are the backbone of my district. I just came
from speaking with aviation professionals who are employed by the FAA,
as well as pilots and other impacted organizations. It has never been
more clear to me that this is a crisis of both safety and national
security.
Air traffic controllers are given the huge task of ensuring that
millions of passengers a day fly safely. Thousands of support
professionals are furloughed or not working. They include specialists
who provide tactical, strategic, and administrative support, and this
puts Americans across the country in danger.
I have spoken to air traffic controllers in my district who are
picking up second jobs in order to pay their bills and feed their kids.
Just yesterday, Christy, a veteran and mother of two, came all the
way to D.C. from California to let me know the hardships that this
shutdown has put her family through.
We can't afford these men and women to be operating at anything less
than 100 percent. We need to pass this bill today and get our civil
servants, our veterans back to work and protect all American citizens.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers
and I am prepared to close.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to first again commend the chairman. This is an
individual who I know always works in good faith, and I look forward to
working with him again.
But, Mr. Speaker, I think it is very clear that we say what we are
doing here today. This bill that already passed last week will not
reopen government.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what potentially
could have reopened government. You see, I went to the Rules Committee
on Tuesday with an amendment, Mr. Speaker. The amendment was very
simple. It has very strong bipartisan support. I think it could have
been a way to reopen the government.
It basically was the Dream Act, to legalize all the Dreamers, that
has been cosponsored by every Democrat in this body last Congress,
along with also legalizing all the folks who are here under the TPS
program, and it then had the funding for border security, issues that
should not be partisan and controversial, issues that the Members
across the aisle and the leadership--let me talk about the leadership
across the aisle--said that they support.
{time} 1445
I will never forget the Speaker of the House spent almost 8 hours on
this floor saying that she wanted to fight for the Dreamers. Yet, there
was a vote on Tuesday, Mr. Speaker, in the committee that she controls,
the Rules Committee, on a party-line vote, the bill that would have,
yes, funded border security--but would have legalized past the DREAM
Act, and legalized those under TPS--was voted down on a party-line
vote.
Mr. Speaker, you want to know if there is good faith to reopen this
government. That showed it right there. No, this bill will not reopen
the Federal Government, unfortunately. Like last week, this same bill
that passed didn't reopen it. Real efforts to reopen it, like that one
that I mentioned, voted down four amendments, voted down a party-line
vote.
It is time to get real about reopening the government. It is time to
get real about passing a real T-HUD bill. Let's get back to the
people's business. This is not a way to do it. This is a sham.
Again, I am grateful to the chairman because I know he is working in
good faith, but this effort is not in good faith, so we must vote it
down to get back to doing the real business of the people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance
of my time.
Mr. Speaker, we have got to end this Trump shutdown. It is self-
inflicted, costly, damaging, and dangerous. It is up to Congress to end
it.
Speaker after speaker on the Republican side this afternoon have
looked somewhat wistfully at the bills that passed the House
Appropriations Committee in the prior Congress. They longed for the
chance to consider funding bills that reflect compromise between the
House and the Senate, the equivalent of conference agreements, that we
negotiated last year.
Do we prefer those bills, Mr. Speaker? Of course, we do. But we
missed our opportunity to pass those bills in September and we missed
it again in December, when Republicans controlled all the levers of
government.
Now the new Democratic majority is forced to clean up this mess in
the middle of the Trump shutdown. This bill
[[Page H427]]
would reopen DOT and HUD, and it would provide billions in critical
transportation and housing investments for our communities, families,
and businesses.
This bill, and others on the floor this week, is the best way to make
it as easy as possible for the Senate to say yes. That is what this is
all about, Mr. Speaker: the Senate to say yes and end this shutdown.
They have already said yes to these bills.
I remind my colleagues and the Senate leadership of another
interesting fact, this bill, and other bills, can become law, even if
the President were to withhold his signature.
If you vote against this bill, you are enabling the irresponsible
behavior of the President and you are telling the American people that
you are willing to hold our government hostage for a boondoggle border
wall.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and end
the Trump shutdown.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the
FY19 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act. This bill protects American families from
being kicked out into the street in the dead of winter, ensures the
safety of our skies, and quite literally, keeps our country moving.
This bill pays our hardworking air traffic controllers and reopens
our air traffic training facilities. It allows our highway safety
agencies to get back to work, including the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, which investigates automotive defects and
formulates automotive safety standards.
This bill ensures the National Transportation Safety Board can
continue its investigations into deadly road, rail, marine, and
aviation accidents, as well as its issuance of safety recommendations
that drive policy changes that save thousands of lives.
This bill also reopens HUD, ensuring families aren't evicted due to
this unnecessary shutdown. It enables FHA loans to be processed for
prospective homebuyers across the nation, and it protects renters who
rely on HUD inspectors to ensure safe and sanitary housing.
Finally, it allows the FAA to resume its issuance of aviator and
engineer certifications, as well as its development and testing of next
generation safety technologies.
Without these vital functions, our economy will be dragged to a halt,
and American families will be left in the cold. I will be voting yes on
this bill, and I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will do
the same.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my
colleagues to support this appropriations bill, which would fund the
Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
Air travel is fast becoming one of the most disturbing points of
contention in this shutdown fracas.
The world's largest pilots' union recently warned in a letter to the
Trump administration that air safety could be threatened by the
shutdown.
About 10,000 FAA air traffic controllers have been deemed essential
and asked to perform a vital public safety function without pay.
These men and women are dedicated, hardworking professionals. But
this situation is unfair and untenable.
Soon, many of these vital air safety workers will begin to face
financial hardship. We cannot reasonably expect them to work without
pay.
On top of this, the FAA has fewer safety inspectors on the job than
are needed to ensure that our air traffic control system is operating
maximally.
On the ground, state transportation projects are being halted because
the federal government often pays up to 90 percent of road projects.
With the Department of Transportation shuttered, road projects
nationwide are stalling as federal payments to states are delayed.
Americans who rely on the Department of Housing and Urban Development
may face hardship, too. Due to the shutdown, HUD has stopped conducting
inspections at assisted housing units.
Residents of these housing units depend on these inspections to
ensure proper upkeep of their homes. They are important for ensuring
the maintenance of sanitation and safety.
Even more alarming, more than 1,000 contracts for government-funded
housing properties for low-income renters have expired because HUD is
shut down.
Because funding has lapsed, thousands of low-income renters may face
eviction.
I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, because the integrity of
our airspace and transportation systems depend on it. And so do
thousands of Americans who depend on HUD for housing.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 267, the
``Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019,'' which funds the Department
of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development
and ensure that people living in housing supported by HUD are not
evicted as a result of the government shutdown proudly engineered by
the President of the United States.
I am pleased to co-sponsor and support this bill because it is the
right thing to do.
Because of the Trump Shutdown, some of the most important activities
funded in the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies have ground to a halt.
In addition to concerns over possible evictions and severe slowdowns
with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, the shutdown has also
led to other serious impacts.
For example, the health and safety of renters have been put at risk
because HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center is not conducting
inspections in assisted housing units which are critical to ensure
decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
Because of the shutdown, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration has suspended data analysis and investigations into
motor vehicle manufacturing defects which means that recalls of
automotive defects will not occur.
The FAA training academy in Oklahoma City is closed, slowing the
training of new air traffic controllers, despite shortages of qualified
staff nationwide.
Additionally, the issuance of FAA airmen certificates that are
required for the crew of international carriers that transit through
the U.S. has been suspended--the issuance of airmen certificates which
are mandatory for becoming a student, private, or commercial pilot;
flight engineer, navigator, or attendant; or other aviation-related
professions.
These are among the many reasons I strongly support H.R. 267, which
is virtually identical to legislation that has already passed the
Senate on a 92-6 vote.
This legislation will reopen the Departments of Transportation and
Housing and Urban Development and stop some the worst impacts of the
Trump Shutdown on families, businesses, and communities.
The bill provides $71.4 billion in discretionary funding, $23.3
billion above the President's budget request and $1.1 billion above the
FY2018 enacted level.
The total includes more than $17 billion in funding for new
infrastructure projects, in addition to $49 billion for infrastructure
from dedicated fuel and aviation taxes.
And the bill rejects the President's deep cuts to Public and Indian
Housing and Community Planning and Development.
The bill also rejects President Trump's proposed elimination of the
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Investment
Partnerships Program, and the Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
Mr. Speaker, it is well that we take stock of the human toll caused
by the Trump Shutdown, which is now entering its third week.
420,000 federal employees are working without pay.
Frontline federal employees, including law enforcement and public
safety personnel, have been working without pay since December 22,
including 14,000 FBI agents, 54,000 Customs and Border Protection
agents, 6,000 Forest Service firefighters.
400,000 Federal Employees have been furloughed.
In addition to the federal employees working without pay, hardworking
federal employees at agencies like the Department of Transportation,
the Department of Commerce, and NASA have been furloughed without pay,
plunging them and their families into uncertainty.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has stopped processing loans
and mortgage approvals, putting families trying to buy a new home or
refinance an FHA-insured mortgage into financial limbo.
IRS Customer Service Halted, Tax Return Processing Jeopardized.
Walk-in taxpayer assistance centers and all taxpayer customer
service, which serves approximately 2.5 million citizens monthly, is
unavailable during the shutdown.
Electronic and paper tax returns submitted by taxpayers will not be
processed, leading to backlogs that will potentially delay tax refunds.
The Food and Drug Administration cannot accept any regulatory
submissions and cannot support many routine regulatory and compliance
activities.
This includes some medical product, animal drug, and most food-
related activities.
The FDA also cannot conduct routine establishment inspections, which
could prevent the finding and correction of violations, especially for
food safety.
A shutdown beyond January would cause the Food and Nutrition Service
to reduce benefits by about 40 percent to almost 40 million
[[Page H428]]
individuals and families across the country who are dependent on the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Small Business Administration has completely halted its role in
the federal contracting process, interfering with projects government
wide.
The SBA has also stopped approving loan assistance and guarantee
applications from commercial banks and small businesses, blocking
access to federally-assisted loans for many small businesses.
Businesses across the country have lost access to the Department of
Homeland Security's E-Verify program, which is intended to allow
business owners to comply with federal law and determine the
immigration status of employees they hire.
Most services provided by the Federal Trade Commission are suspended
under the shutdown, including the National Do Not Call Registry (for
consumers and telemarketers), consumer complaint systems, and identity
theft reporting--as well as law enforcement access to FTC's consumer
complaints.
In addition, the FTC has suspended most investigations and litigation
under the shutdown.
The Department of Justice's civil litigation efforts against bad
actors have stopped, and payments to crime victims have been put on
hold.
Training for Department of Justice employees, even for those still
working despite the shutdown, is canceled.
Department of Justice programs to train state and local law
enforcement officers and officials have also been canceled.
All services for visitors to National Park Service sites--such as
visitors' centers, interpretative programs, and restrooms--have been
suspended.
Many Parks are overflowing with uncollected garbage, while curtailed
law enforcement staffing is putting visitors' safety at risk.
In addition, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of
Art have closed.
The Environmental Protection Agency has halted inspections at
drinking water systems, hazardous waste management and chemical
facilities.
The men and women who have been furloughed because of this
manufactured crisis are not responsible for the Trump Shutdown.
The dedicated men and women of the federal civilian workforce, like
those who serve in the Armed Forces, have not spent their professional
lives fomenting ethnic hatred and xenophobia, or imagining a national
security crisis on the southern border.
Instead, these loyal and committed public servants are motivated by
their paramount interest in serving the American public without fear or
favor and, for the last four days, without any guarantee that they
would be compensated for their labor.
And yet, they gladly and willingly serve, some risking their lives to
keep us safe.
Others stand watch monitoring weather systems and providing
information necessary to protect the public from hurricanes and
tornadoes and wildfires or conducting research to find cures for
disease or that will yield technological innovations or help us mark
and measure the far reaches of space.
Others work to secure the borders and homeland, ensure the safety of
our food and water, serve our seniors and children, provide training
and support for those looking for work, and protecting our environment
and keeping watch over our treasures--our national parks and monuments,
including this magnificent Capitol where the people have sent us to
their business.
Mr. Speaker, the men and women of the federal workforce do the
people's business. They serve everyone equally. They do not single out
some persons to serve and ignore others. They do not cherry-pick.
We should follow their example. And the best way to do that is for
the House and Senate to pass this and the remaining appropriations
bills by veto-proof margins and send them to President for signature
and to vote to override should the President unwisely elect to veto the
bill.
I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 267.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank Chairman
Price for his leadership on this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the FY 2019 Transportation
and Housing Appropriations Bill, which provides more than $71 billion
to partially re-open the government.
Families living in housing supported by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) deserve to know they will have a roof over
their heads.
This bill will ensure that struggling families are not evicted from
their homes because of the Trump Administration's incompetence and
cruelty.
There was a report this week that thousands of families could be
evicted because HUD officials forgot about Section 8 contracts that
expired last month.
Let me reiterate: families could become homeless--in the middle of
winter--because these Trump officials couldn't keep track of this
program.
Mr. Speaker, this is just downright unacceptable. And it's hurting
people across the country.
Im my home district, renovations on an affordable housing project
have been put on hold because of this shutdown.
There is an affordable housing crisis in this country, Mr. Speaker. A
delay in projects like this will mean fewer people have a place to rest
their heads at night.
These families deserve better.
Mr. Speaker, the Trump shutdown is hurting real families and it's
hurting our economy.
Let's pass this bill to reopen the government, and make sure families
can stay in their homes.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McEachin). All time for debate has
expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 28, the previous question is ordered on
the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the
desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Yes, in its current form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Diaz-Balart moves to recommit the bill, H.R. 267, to
the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report
the same back to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
Page 93, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $71,000,000)''.
Page 102, line 8, after the dollar amount, insert
``(increased by $71,000,000)''.
Page 144, line 15, after each dollar amount, insert
``(reduced by $71,000,000)''.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent to dispense with the reading.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his motion.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, this motion to recommit restores a
House priority that had overwhelming support when we put together the
FY 2019 T-HUD bill during the last Congress.
As I mentioned in my opening statement, our House bill last year
placed a high priority on increasing housing opportunities for people
living with disabilities. We heard from members of humanitarian groups,
nonprofits, and religious organizations, frankly, just from our
communities, on the importance of ensuring that the disabled have
humane housing options.
Our bill, therefore, last year included $390 million for this
program, to provide over 20,000 additional housing vouchers for people
with disabilities. These vouchers help some of the neediest among us
live, frankly, with dignity.
The program provides a critical lifeline to families who struggle to
care for the severely disabled. And it prevents, frankly, worst-case
scenarios where severely disabled individuals would otherwise face
homelessness.
Mr. Speaker, this motion is a reasonable, partial restoration of
funding for this program. This modest motion partially restores the
disability voucher cuts that my colleagues are offering today, and,
instead, provides an additional $71 million for this valuable program.
The motion would provide 7,200 vouchers, and would correct a
significant blemish in the Senate-originated bill that is before us
today.
Every single dollar of this funding goes directly to serve those in
need. This is an account without bureaucratic overhead. Every single
dollar goes to serve those who need it. It is a program with, again, a
strong record of accountability and of performance.
Not one dollar of this program goes to the Federal bureaucracy. These
funds directly serve the disabled and their families, often, Mr.
Speaker, through faith-based and community-
[[Page H429]]
based organizations. This program also serves a large number of
veterans, some of whom, Mr. Speaker, became disabled in service to our
country.
This motion is offset by a reduction to HUD's Information Technology
Fund, leaving the account at a very reasonable level of $209 million.
Again, this is a manageable level for HUD IT, and it is a modest
adjustment to bring dignity, relief, and help to individuals and
families with disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the motion, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the
motion to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, responsibility for funding
the Federal Government is as basic as it gets. It is one of the most
important duties of Congress. The previous majority failed to do the
basic task of keeping the lights on. Here on day 5 of the 116th
Congress, we Democrats and leadership are determined to reopen Federal
agencies shuttered by the Trump shutdown.
This legislation, which has already gotten bipartisan support--
virtually unanimous support in the Senate--will ensure that the Federal
Government is open and working for the American people.
The agencies funded in this bill have been shuttered for 20 days.
More than 20,000 air traffic controllers have been on the job, ensuring
the safety of the Nation's skies, without pay. They have been doing
their jobs without the usual complement of safety professionals who
support the operation of the airspace.
Yet, when payday comes for these controllers--and thousands of other
Federal workers--they will see nothing. Instead of their pay, they will
get a blank check. They will not get compensated for the work they have
done.
HUD is scrambling to renew contracts and ensure that thousands of
tenants aren't evicted. The uncertainty over Federal grants has caused
State departments of transportation to delay issuing contracts just
before the construction season, and the list goes on and on.
Mr. Speaker, we must end this madness. This bill, in its current
form, represents the quickest and easiest way to do this, making it as
easy as possible for the Senate to say ``yes,'' because they have
already said ``yes'' to these bills.
This is why we are taking this approach. I ask my colleagues to
support us in that so that here, on day 20 of the Trump shutdown, we
can bring this to a close. We are on the verge of having the longest
government shutdown in American history. We need to pass this bill
without further delay.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this motion to recommit,
vote ``no'' on the motion to recommit, and ``yes'' on the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________