[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 99 (Thursday, June 13, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H4640-H4649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 431 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, 
H.R. 2740.
  Will the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher) kindly resume the 
chair.

                              {time}  1017


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 2740) making appropriations for the Departments of 
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes, 
with Mrs. Fletcher (Acting Chair) in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The Acting CHAIR. When the Committee of the Whole rose earlier today, 
pursuant to House Resolution 436, further proceedings on amendment No. 
2 printed in part B of House Report 116-111 offered by the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) had been postponed.


                 Amendment No. 78 Offered by Mrs. Lesko

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 78 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Mrs. LESKO. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 593, line 22, strike ``That'' and all that follows 
     through ``Provided further,'' on page 594, line 2.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman 
from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Arizona.
  Mrs. LESKO. Madam Chair, my amendment would strike the requirement 
that at least $750 million of Global Health Programs shall be made 
available for so-called family planning, a funding stream that can 
support domestically-based, nongovernment organizations that support 
the global abortion industry.
  Regard for human life has never been higher. Polling statistics 
indicate that Americans are as likely to identify as pro-life as they 
are pro-choice.
  A Marist Poll shows that 75 percent of Americans would limit abortion 
to the first 3 months of pregnancy.
  Further, Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion in the U.S., 
54 percent to 39 percent.
  Madam Chair, 75 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund 
abortions in foreign countries. That is 75 percent.
  Our policies reflect these views through the Hyde amendment, which 
has protected Federal tax dollars from funding abortions in the United 
States for the last four decades, and the Helms amendment, passed in 
1973, to protect tax dollars from being spent on abortions through U.S. 
foreign assistance.
  Most recently, President Trump has committed to Congress and to the 
American people that he will veto any legislation that encourages the 
destruction of innocent human life at any stage.
  Our President has also courageously reinstated the Protecting Life in 
Global Health Assistance policy, which prohibits foreign nongovernment 
organizations from performing and promoting abortion as long as they 
are receiving U.S. tax dollars.
  However, domestic nongovernment organizations are still using Federal 
tax dollars to perform and promote abortion abroad.
  In the State and Foreign Operations appropriations language, we use 
the word ``family planning'' and ``reproductive health'' to disguise 
giving grant recipients license to permeate foreign countries with 
abortion.
  Promoting abortion in poor, developing nations undermines our 
purposes in providing lifesaving assistance and, I believe, disrespects 
the cultures and, sometimes, the policies of those nations.
  It encourages the idea that having fewer children reduces poverty and 
economic instability instead of promoting real solutions to those 
problems, like more human rights and liberties and helping women be 
self-employed.
  Stopping domestic nongovernment organizations from using American tax 
dollars for abortions is consistent with our other policies, like the 
Hyde and Helms amendments, and the PLGHA that limits government funding 
for abortions, and is consistent with the views of 75 percent of 
Americans.
  These policies save lives. In the case of my amendment, thousands of 
children all over the world can be saved.
  To be clear, my amendment does not eliminate, nor does it reduce, 
funding. My amendment aims to ensure that, instead of investing funds 
in promoting and performing abortions abroad, the valuable dollars that 
fund our global health programs are vested in reducing maternal and 
infant mortality, treating birth complications and enabling access to 
safe blood, nutrition, and antibiotics.
  These dollars should be used to provide quality obstetric care and 
true humanitarian assistance to those in need.

[[Page H4641]]

  My amendment ensures that our Nation's policies align with the views 
of the vast majority of the American people. We must not allow this 
onslaught on children to continue being promoted in foreign nations, 
and especially not with our tax dollars.
  Children are a source of hope, prosperity, and development. They must 
be treated as such from the very beginning of their lives, here and 
everywhere.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
  The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Pascrell). The gentlewoman from New York is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I am shocked that my colleague would propose 
an amendment that would strike all funding for bilateral family 
planning.
  These services prevent unintended pregnancies, maternal deaths, and 
abortions; reduce rates of infant and child mortality; empower women to 
stay in school and join the workforce; create stronger and healthier 
families; and improve economies.
  Aren't these bipartisan policy outcomes that both sides of the aisle 
should be supporting?
  Family planning does exactly what it says: It helps women plan when 
to have a family.
  But, as we sit here today, more than 200 million women around the 
world still lack access to modern contraceptives.
  If we want to build the self-reliance of countries, one of the most 
cost-effective measures is to increase access to the family planning 
services that women so desperately seek. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues 
to oppose this amendment.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a 
member of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 
Subcommittee.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Chair, I thank Madam Chair for her 
leadership and for yielding time.
  I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which would strike the 
provision in the bill that increases funding for international family 
planning and reproductive health programs.
  Women around the world deserve access to the full range of 
reproductive healthcare, and the Fiscal Year 2020 State and Foreign 
Operations bill will help to ensure that.
  USAID provides vitally needed family planning funds to overseas 
health centers. Evidence has shown that USAID family planning programs 
have had important, real-world effects on the health of women and 
families worldwide, resulting in fewer unintended births, abortions, 
and miscarriages.

  Funding for our international family planning programs has also 
helped reduce maternal and infant deaths, a goal that has strong 
bipartisan support.
  Mr. Chair, I have been around the world, to Africa and to other 
countries and continents, and have talked with families in villages, 
women and their spouses with maybe five, six, seven children.
  I have visited these villages with Republicans. And their first 
request to us is to help them with family planning. They know that it 
is so important in terms of planning the births of their children and 
in terms of just the stability of the family and the empowerment of 
women that family planning services be available.
  Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to 
oppose the amendment.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, cutting funds to bilateral family planning 
programs is simply bad foreign policy. It undermines U.S. Agency for 
International Development objectives and hurts millions of women and 
girls.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Arizona 
will be postponed.

                              {time}  1030


              Amendment No. 79 Offered by Ms. Jackson Lee

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 79 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 405, line 6, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000) (reduced by $1,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me thank the gentlewoman from New 
York (Mrs. Lowey) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for 
their great leadership. But let me thank the gentlewoman from New York 
again for her overall leadership as chair of the Appropriations 
Committee, and her ranking member as well.
  These are the tools of female genital mutilation. Around the world, 
there are young girls and women who are facing this kind of brutal 
attack. My amendment, which makes a good bill even better, provides $1 
million more to help combat the draconian practice of female genital 
mutilation, cutting, FGM/C, abroad.
  Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve 
partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other 
injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical purposes.
  This practice is rooted in gender inequality and is often linked to 
other elements of gender-based violence and discrimination, such as 
child marriage, recognized internationally as a violation of the human 
rights of women and girls.
  Unfortunately, this means an estimated 200 million girls and women 
alive today have been victims already of FGM/C, female genital 
mutilation, with girls 14 and younger representing 44 million of those 
who have been cut.
  For example, around the world, at least five girls are mutilated, 
cut. More than 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk.
  The impacts of this on the physical health of women and girls can 
include bleeding, infection, obstetric fistula, complications during 
childbirth, and death.
  I ask my colleagues to think about their children, their girls.
  According to UNICEF, FGM/C is reported to occur in all parts of the 
world, but is most prevalent in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and 
Asia.
  So I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I wish to thank Chairman McGovern and Ranking Member Cole of the 
Rules Committee for making this Jackson Lee Amendment in order.
  I thank Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Rogers for their hard 
work in bringing Division D, the State, Foreign Operations, and Related 
Programs portion of this omnibus appropriations legislative package, to 
the floor.
  I thank them all for this opportunity to explain the Jackson Lee 
Amendment, which makes a good bill even better by providing $1 million 
more to help combat the draconian practice of Female Genital 
Mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) abroad.
  I have been a dedicated champion against this practice for a long 
while, even working with former Congressman Joe Crowley of New York to 
introduce legislation targeted at supporting the elimination of this 
ludicrous practice of mutilating young women.
  Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) comprises all procedures 
that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, 
or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
  This practice is rooted in gender inequality and is often linked to 
other elements of gender-based violence and discrimination, such as 
child marriage and recognized internationally as a violation of the 
human rights of women and girls.
  Unfortunately, this means an estimated 200 million girls and women 
alive today have been victims of FGM/C, with girls 14 and younger 
representing 44 million of those who have been cut.

[[Page H4642]]

  For example, consider that:
  1. Around the world, at least five girls are mutilated/cut every 
hour.
  2. More than 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of FGM/C 
annually.
  3. The impacts of FGM/C on the physical health of women and girls can 
include bleeding, infection, obstetric fistula, complications during 
childbirth and death.
  Other significant barriers to combatting the practice of FGM/C 
include the high concentration in specific regions associated with 
several cultural traditions, that is not tied to any one religion.
  According to UNICEF, FGM/C is reported to occur in all parts of the 
world, but is most prevalent in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and 
Asia.
  Due to the commonality of this practice many migrants to the U.S. 
bring the practice of FGM/C with them, increasing the importance of 
combatting FGM/C abroad.
  The United Nations adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals 
for 2030 that includes a target to eliminate FGM/C and recognizing the 
abandonment of this harmful practice can be achieved because of a 
comprehensive movement that involves all public and private 
stakeholders in society.
  With these provisions in place and my amendment increasing the 
funding for foreign assistance we can ensure Female Genital Mutilation/
Cutting (FGM/C), an internationally recognized violation of the human 
rights of girls and women comes to an end.
  Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report in 2016 
estimating that 513,000 women and girls in the United States were at 
risk or may have been subjected to FGM/C.
  The presence of FGM/C in the United States brings a sobering truth to 
light, that we still have much work to do here at home to stop our 
young women and girls from suffering at the hands of this archaic and 
utterly unnecessary practice.
  I am reminded of the story of Hadiatu Jalloh, a 7-year-old from 
Sierra Leone, who with her mother fled to Houston to seek a life saving 
operation to rectify complications from the practice of FGM/C from 
which she suffered for more than a year.
  Due to complications from the FGM procedure, little Hadiatu could not 
stop bleeding, she then underwent two additional non-medical procedures 
to repair the damage she suffered.
  However, the bleeding continued and after the second procedure to 
stop the bleeding, Hadiatu could not properly urinate and suffered 
terrible pain.
  In her desperate quest for help, Hadiatu's mother Umu took her 
daughter across the border to Sierra Leone, but still could not find a 
doctor to treat Hadiatu.
  Dr. Hardwick-Smith a world-renowned board certified OBGYN--along with 
a team led by Houston pediatric urologist Dr. Eric Jones--solved 
Hadiatu's problem by removing scar tissue during the successful 
surgery.
  Stories such like this remind me of the importance of this work, and 
how can we cannot afford to ignore any instance of FGM/C.
  And that is why earlier we celebrated the International Day of Zero 
Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a multinational effort to 
bring this practice to an end.
  That is why my amendment reprograms funding that will be used by the 
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for elimination of 
FGM/C.
  It also directs the U.S. Department of State to emphasize the need to 
raise awareness among communities at the grassroots level, through 
diplomatic and multilateral engagement and within humanitarian settings 
to address the practice of FGM/C.
  In short, the Jackson Lee Amendment increases funding to protect 
young women and girls from mutilation at the most intimate level.
  The amount of funds dedicated to these programs reflects the 
commitment by the international community to the goals of protecting 
women and girls and truly addressing this problem.
  The harmful practice of female genital mutilation undermines the 
human rights of women and girls by damaging their health, limiting 
their economic opportunities and girls' access to education, and 
increases the likelihood of early and forced marriage.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment increases funding to expedite the complete 
and total elimination of FGM/C.
  I urge support for the Jackson Lee Amendment.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I am 
not opposed to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentlewoman from New York is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, while this amendment does not have a budgetary 
effect, I would like to thank my colleague for raising such an 
important issue for millions of women around the world.
  For more than 200 million women, female genital mutilation can mean 
health problems that haunt them for the rest of their lives. The quest 
for gender equality will not be complete until women are no longer 
subjected to these practices.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I am reminded of the story of Hadiatu 
Jalloh, a 7-year-old from Sierra Leone who, with her mother, fled to 
Houston to seek a lifesaving operation to rectify complications from 
the practice of female genital mutilation, from which she suffered for 
more than a year.
  This story reads: ``The Woman's Hospital of Texas Saves an African 
Girl's Life. Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith and Dr. Eric Jones Provide 
Lifesaving Care to 7-year-old Affected by Female Genital Mutilation,'' 
only one of 200 million girls.
  This amendment will focus and provide an extra focus and extra 
resources to have us be reminded to help these young women, girls, 
across and around the world. Let us give them a lifesaving hand up.
  I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment, lifesaving, 
so that more girls do not have to get this singular help from a 
singular hospital, but they can be helped at home because this 
dastardly act will be stopped.
  Mr. Chair, I include a statement in the Record from USAID, and I ask 
for support of my amendment.

                [From the Department of State and USAID]

  The U.S. Government Working Together for the Abandonment of Female 
                       Genital Mutilation/Cutting

       Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a traditional 
     practice that ranges from nicking to total removal of the 
     external female genitalia. UNICEF estimates that at least 120 
     million girls and women have experienced FGM/C in the 29 
     countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is 
     concentrated. Given present trends, as many as 30 million 
     girls under the age of 15 may still be at risk. However, the 
     data show that FGM/C is becoming less prevalent overall, and 
     the younger generation is less vulnerable to the practice. 
     Though no religion mandates the procedure, FGM/C is practiced 
     across cultures, religions and continents. It is practiced in 
     sub-Saharan Africa, northern Iraq, Malaysia and Indonesia, 
     and new evidence is showing prevalence in other Middle 
     Eastern countries, including Yemen, Iran, Syria, Oman and 
     Saudi Arabia, and parts of South Asia. The practice also can 
     be found in Europe, the United States, Australia and other 
     countries in the West where immigrants bring their cultural 
     traditions with them.
       The reasons given for conducting FGM/C, which is generally 
     carried out between infancy and the teen years, encompass 
     beliefs about health, hygiene, women's sexuality, rites of 
     passage to adulthood and community initiation rites. Research 
     has shown that all forms of the practice harm women's health, 
     causing serious pain, trauma and frequently severe physical 
     complications, such as bleeding, infections or even death. 
     Long-term complications may include recurrent infections, 
     infertility, (1) and difficult or dangerous childbirth that 
     can result in the death of the mother and infant. (2)
       The U.S. Government has supported FGM/C abandonment efforts 
     since the early 1990s, considering the practice not only a 
     public health concern but also a human rights issue that 
     violates a woman's right to bodily integrity. In September 
     2000, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 
     officially incorporated elimination of FGM/C into its 
     development agenda, issuing an official policy and strategy 
     that underscored FGM/C was a serious health and human rights 
     issue. The U.S. Department of State emphasizes the need to 
     raise awareness among communities at the grassroots level, 
     through diplomatic and multilateral engagement and within 
     humanitarian settings to address the practice of FGM/C.
       In August 2012, the United States released its first-ever 
     Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence 
     Globally, along with an accompanying Presidential Executive 
     Order directing its implementation. The strategy marshals the 
     United States' capacity and expertise to establish a 
     coordinated, government-wide approach to preventing and 
     responding to gender-based violence (GBV) and includes 
     harmful traditional practices such as FGM/C.
       The United States also pursues regional, national and local 
     coordination among international donors, governments and 
     community leaders. U.S. Government agencies are actively 
     engaged with internationally based working groups to address 
     FGM/C, including the Donors Working Group (DWG) on FGM/C,(3) 
     which is composed of key international governmental and 
     intergovernmental organizations and foundations committed to 
     supporting the abandonment of the practice. USAID was a co-
     founder of the DWG and is

[[Page H4643]]

     dedicated to expanding and strengthening partnerships and 
     increasing resources for abandonment of this harmful 
     traditional practice. The group has collaboratively issued a 
     Platform for Action that summarizes the collective 
     programmatic approach that focuses on the community approach 
     to social change.


                        U.S. Government Efforts

       The State Department's Secretary's Office of Global Women's 
     Issues (S/GWI) funded community-based approaches involving 
     men, boys and all members of society in public awareness and 
     education campaigns. The campaigns emphasized the detrimental 
     consequences of FGM/C on the physical and mental health of 
     girls, their families and the overall community in order to 
     promote long-lasting solutions. S/GWI also worked with the 
     Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) to 
     strengthen the reporting of this issue in the Annual Country 
     Reports on Human Rights Practices. In addition to describing 
     whether FGM/C occurred and the type and category of FGM/C 
     most common, we are seeking information on international and 
     governmental efforts being taken to prevent and address FGM/C 
     (especially through educational programs, but also by means 
     of shelters, hotlines and police training).
       The Office of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) 
     largely supports efforts in humanitarian settings and among 
     refugees with programs designed to prevent and respond to 
     GBV, which includes FGM/C. These organizations rely on U.S. 
     Government assistance to provide humanitarian assistance to 
     refugees, survivors of conflict, internally displaced persons 
     and stateless persons worldwide. This encompasses a wide 
     variety of assistance, including the provision of protection, 
     shelter, health care, water and sanitation, as well as the 
     prevention of and assistance to survivors of GBV and FGM/C. 
     PRM also supports targeted activities to prevent FGM/C in 
     Somali and Sudanese refugee populations.
       USAID supports implementing partners, both from Washington 
     and at the country level, to provide communitybased programs 
     in key countries where the practice is prevalent. The 
     Agency's projects have supported targeted programs in Burkina 
     Faso, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali and 
     Nigeria, among others that consider cultural sensitivities 
     and are integrated with health, economic, social or democracy 
     and governance programs. USAID programs are community based, 
     involving community and religious leaders as well as women's 
     groups, men and youth to advance the quality and 
     effectiveness of abandonment efforts and to improve 
     conditions that will lead to FGM/C abandonment.


                          Projects In-Country

       Egypt--S/GWI supported a project working in the community 
     of Al Darb Al Ahmar in Cairo called Creating Attitudes 
     Favorable to the Elimination of the Practice of FGM/C. 
     Through the dissemination of appropriate and relevant 
     information, coupled with education initiatives and public 
     awareness campaigns, S/GWI supported the Aga Khan Foundation 
     to address and prevent violence against women and girls, 
     including FGM/C, in select Cairo communities. Additionally, 
     the project provided training and capacity building in victim 
     advocacy and mental health for health care providers, 
     community leaders and volunteers.
       In 2008, the USAID mission in Egypt incorporated FGM/C into 
     an existing community-level health program, reinforced by 
     select national-level messaging and educational messaging. 
     The program furthered Egypt's ongoing efforts to bring about 
     abandonment of FGM/C, as it involved training staff at both 
     the Ministry of Health and nongovernmental organizations 
     (NGOs) to broaden the reach and coordinate with the 
     government's National Council of Childhood and Motherhood to 
     create a coherent national strategy.
       Sudan--The Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and 
     South Sudan is funding a program in West Nile State to 
     strengthen the capacity of community leaders and local 
     organizations to effectively and sustainably address FGM/C. 
     The project mobilizes children, women and men in the 
     community to support collective declarations of abandonment 
     of FGM/C. Through intensive trainings, community leaders draw 
     upon preexisting social structures to engage with the wider 
     community and build community ownership to end FGM/C 
     sustainably.
       Iraq--In coordination with the DRL, S/GWI is funding a 
     multidimensional program in northern Iraq composed of 
     integrated victim services and a successful educational 
     campaign for village residents and political and religious 
     leaders, leading to the first-of-its-kind declarations of 
     villages being ``Female Genital Mutilation Free.''
       Kenya--PRM provides resources to NGO partners to promote 
     awareness and prevention of FGM/C through community-based 
     institutions and civil society, including men's groups, youth 
     groups, women's groups and religious leaders. Other projects 
     promote social and economic empowerment of women and girls to 
     reduce the risk of exposure to GBV, including FGM/C, while 
     educating participants on the impact of harmful traditional 
     practices, including FGM/C.
       USAID conducted studies to better understand the practice 
     of FGM/C among the Somalis in northeastern Kenya to inform 
     the design and implementation of interventions and to clarify 
     the correct Islamic understanding of FGM/C. The research 
     provided crucial evidence that FGM/C is neither a religious 
     practice nor one sanctioned by Islam, which clearly 
     stipulates provisions for the protection of basic human 
     rights, upholds the sanctity of the human body and prohibits 
     any practice that violates these rights or causes harm to the 
     body without justification. The conclusions called on 
     religious scholars to collaborate with medical doctors to 
     make verdicts based on scientific facts and to work with 
     their communities to help delink FGM/C from Islam.
       USAID is supporting the launch of the Kenya Centre of 
     Excellence for FGM/C, which will be based at Nairobi 
     University, to create a pan-African center for learning and 
     developing innovative research approaches. The center will 
     also train leaders and champions for working toward the 
     abandonment of FGM/C and welcomes support from the 
     international community and others to join in this effort.
       Ethiopia--In northern Ethiopia, the U.S. Government 
     supports an FGM/C awareness-raising program for women and 
     girls living in Shimelba and My'Ayni refugee camps. Specific 
     efforts include coffee discussions with girls, women, boys 
     and men on GBV-related topics and services and a Girls' 
     Wellness Week, which promotes adolescent girls' health 
     through a coming-of-age ceremony without FGM/C.
       USAID supported collaboration with the Ministry of Health 
     and the National Committee on Traditional Practices to 
     educate communities on the harmful effects of FGM/C. The 
     program helped women and community leaders to understand the 
     motives of ``FGM/C demanders,'' respond to their concerns and 
     provide them with information on the negative impact of the 
     practice. More than 2,250 people participated in FGM/C 
     abandonment activities; a national Anti-FGM/C Women's Leaders 
     Team was established, and a member of that team drafted a law 
     against FGM/C that the Ethiopian parliament passed in July 
     2004.
       Mali--USAID helped the Ministry of Health develop and pilot 
     a national training curriculum for primary medical providers 
     to increase their capacity to identify, treat or refer FGM/C 
     complications and educate and counsel clients and community 
     members on the negative aspects of the practice. A network of 
     trained providers was created consisting of extension workers 
     from NGOs and community and religious leaders. As a result of 
     their work, the percentage of men and women who said they 
     were in favor of abandoning FGM/C increased from 15 to 62 
     percent, and the percentage who intended to have FGM/C 
     performed on their daughters decreased from 81 to 33 percent.
       Senegal--USAID has supported The Grandmother's Project 
     (GMP), which incorporates FGM/C into a broader girls' and 
     women's health and family planning program to bring about 
     positive changes in community traditions. The approach 
     involves grandmothers and elderly women, a once marginalized 
     group, in social change. The project encourages learning and 
     communal decision-making through open discussions about 
     problems confronting the community. The aim for GMP is to 
     have community members identify their problems and reach 
     consensus on possible solutions that best suit their needs, 
     leading to long-term and lasting change.
       West Africa--USAID has supported Tostan, a participatory 
     education program that works village by village to 
     incorporate democracy, problem solving, basic mathematics, 
     literacy and essential health education, including 
     information about FGM/C, into the learning experiences that 
     ultimately empower the entire community. As a result of this 
     multidimensional approach, thousands of villages in West 
     Africa have publicly abandoned FGM/C and other harmful 
     traditional practices upon completion of the Tostan program.
       n the United States, in 2012, at the first-ever Zero 
     Tolerance Day event that was held at the U.S. Department of 
     State, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke 
     passionately about creating conditions for ending FGM/C, so 
     all girls can realize their full potential. At that event, 
     organized by USAID and the State Department, a spark was lit 
     among the communities that have worked tirelessly for years 
     toward the abandonment of FGM/C. The event became a catalyst 
     for raising government and donor awareness and was repeated 
     in 2013 when it was hosted by former Ambassador-at-Large for 
     Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer. Ambassador Verveer led 
     a panel discussion that included Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador 
     of the African Union to the United States; Dr. Nawal Nour, a 
     Sudanese-American from Brigham and Women's Hospital in 
     Boston; Bacary Tamba from Tostan, an NGO in Senegal; and 
     Jessie Hexpoor from Hivos, an NGO based in the Netherlands. 
     They each have made, and are continuing to make, 
     extraordinary contributions toward putting an end to FGM/C, 
     and the Ambassador noted, ``are a testament to why community-
     driven, holistic approach is essential to achieving 
     sustainable progress.'' The event brought together activists 
     from the NGO community, diplomatic corps and policymakers in 
     the U.S. Government to address ways various stakeholders can 
     work together toward zero tolerance for FGM/C. The event also 
     attracted 1,648 online participants from 30 countries in an 
     interactive virtual discussion.
       USAID has commissioned a desk review of interventions, 
     evaluations and reports published since 2000 on ending FGM/C. 
     Based on

[[Page H4644]]

     this review, as well as key informant interviews with 
     experts, USAID is drafting a report called Ending Female 
     Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Lessons from Ten Years of 
     Progress. The report will review lessons learned, promising 
     approaches and recommendations for the future. By looking 
     back, policymakers and advocates will be better able to move 
     forward decisively to create societies that allow women and 
     girls around the world to achieve their full potential.
       Our vision of the way forward has been sharpened by all the 
     work that went on before this decade.
       First, the centrality of ``social norms''--what communities 
     believe and how they act and expect the members of that 
     community to act--must be addressed.
       Second, a wide range of actors play pivotal roles in the 
     abandonment of FGM/C: men; women; grandmothers; boys; girls; 
     and community, health, religious and political leaders.
       Third, and perhaps most important, the focus must be on 
     holistic, integrated, multisectoral approaches that bring 
     together the advocacy, policy-level work and community-level 
     transformation of social norms.
  Ms. JACKSON Lee. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas will 
be postponed.


              Amendment No. 80 Offered by Ms. Jackson Lee

  The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Richmond). It is now in order to consider 
amendment No. 80 printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 599, line 23, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $1,000,000) (reduced by $1,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, this is a very important amendment in the 
cycle of life, protecting endangered species, which give the joy of 
life and understanding to the world, to the coexistence of humans and 
these wonderful species that have given us so much knowledge.
  My amendment makes a good bill better by providing a $1 million focus 
to combat the transportation of the remains of endangered species, to 
bring down the desire to go after these endangered species.
  So many of us remember, a few years ago, the brutal killing of Cecil 
the lion. At that time, I introduced and sought the support of my 
colleagues as original cosponsors of my legislation, Cecil the Lion 
Endangered and Threatened Species Act of 2015. This bill sought to 
strengthen partner countries' capacity in countering wildlife 
trafficking and designating major wildlife countries for protection.
  The amendment now is offered in the same spirit: to prohibit the 
taking and transportation of any endangered and threatened species as a 
trophy to the United States.
  Currently, the Endangered Species Act does not protect the majority 
of wildlife animals killed. At this point, we can choose to make wise 
decisions that will sustain the global population, or we can ignore the 
warning signs.
  Climate change is not the only threat facing our world. There is also 
massive extinction of microscopic organisms to more complex insects and 
animals. More than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on 
Earth are extinct.
  So I ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment.
  Mr. Chair, I wish to thank Chairman McGovern and Ranking Member Cole 
of the Rules Committee for making this Jackson Lee Amendment in order.
  I thank Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Rogers for their hard 
work in bringing Division D, the State, Foreign Operations, and Related 
Programs portion of this omnibus appropriations legislative package, to 
the floor.
  I thank them all for this opportunity to explain the Jackson Lee 
Amendment, which makes a good bill even better by providing $1 million 
combat the transportation of the remains of endangered species.
  A few years ago, in light of the brutal killing of Cecil the Lion, I 
introduced and sought the support of my colleagues as original co-
sponsors of my legislation entitled, Cecil the Lion Endangered and 
Threatened Species Act of 2015.
  That bill sought to strengthen partner countries' capacity in 
countering wildlife trafficking and designating major wildlife 
countries for protection.
  This Jackson Lee Amendment is offered in the same spirit--to prohibit 
the taking and transportation of any endangered or threatened species 
as a trophy into the United States.
  This amendment provides $1 million to focus efforts on poaching of 
endangered species on protected preserves.
  Hunting endangered species that are on protected preserves should 
come with an element of greater risk to those who engage in this 
practice.
  The amendment provides additional resources to ensure better 
coordination and monitoring of incidents like the killing of Cecil the 
Lion, with a goal of holding people accountable.
  Currently, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) does not protect the 
clear majority of wild animals killed and imported.
  Because of this loophole, tens of thousands of wild animals are 
killed every year by trophy hunters and transported into the United 
States.
  The conservation of endangered and threatened species is critically 
important to the sustainability of our biodiversity, ecosystem and the 
beauty of wildlife as we know it.
  Biodiversity and ecosystem balance are essential to sustaining life 
as we know it on planet earth.
  The rate that species are disappearing globally can easily be 
compared to other mass extension events in our earth's history.
  Human life requires a health global biodiversity and ecosystem.
  At this point we can choose to make wise decisions that will sustain 
the global population or we can ignore the warning signs.
  Climate change is not the only threat facing our world--it is also 
massive extinction from microscopic organisms to more complex insects 
and animals.
  More than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth 
are extinct.
  As new species evolve to fit ever changing ecological niches, older 
species fade away.
  But the rate of extinction is far from constant or natural.
  At least a handful of times in the last 500 million years, 50 to more 
than 90 percent of all species on Earth have disappeared in a 
geological blink of the eye.
  Another threat to endangered species are terrorist organizations that 
pose a threat to our environment and natural wildlife, utilizing the 
funds from their illicit activity of wildlife poaching to fund their 
terroristic activities.
  Vulnerable species are at the mercy of transnational terrorists 
groups whose actions place these natural inhabitants of the earth in 
danger of extinction.
  For example, the population of African elephants has decreased from 
1.3 million to 400,000, with 22,000 poached in 2012.
  Only 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, and these tigers remain in 
danger of being poached for their skins, bones and body parts.
  This supports the efforts of the State Department under the 
Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program to dismantle the wildlife 
trafficking syndicates in the global south from Africa to Asia.
  I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting this amendment that in 
a significant way makes a difference for the safety and security of 
endangered species.
  The food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe relies 
upon biodiversity and balance in ecosystems.
  Scientist warn that our planet is now during its sixth mass 
extinction of plants and animals.
  Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural 
``background'' rate of about one to five species per year.
  Scientists estimate we're now losing species at up to 1,000 times the 
background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day.
  It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent 
of all species possibly heading toward extinction by the year 2050.
  I ask my colleagues to support this Jackson Lee Amendment.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I am 
not opposed.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentlewoman from New York is 
recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H4645]]

  There was no objection.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, while this amendment does not have a budgetary 
effect, I thank my colleague for raising such an important issue.
  I was pleased to be able to increase the resources available in this 
bill by $10 million, for a total of $100.6 million to combat wildlife 
trafficking and poaching.
  Wildlife trafficking generates more than $8 billion, annually. I am 
optimistic that a comprehensive and appropriately resourced approach to 
address the drivers of trafficking will help us turn the corner.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for her support 
of my original amendment on female genital mutilation, and I thank her 
for her support of this amendment.
  I just offer to my colleagues a list of the vulnerable endangered 
species: Giant panda, giant tortoise, giant white shark, greater one-
horned rhino, hippopotamus, leatherback turtle, loggerhead turtle, 
marine iguana, olive ridley turtle, polar bear, savanna elephant, snow 
leopard, sea turtle--all of these, among many others. The jaguar is now 
threatened. The white rhino is threatened.
  I include in the Record the endangered species list I mentioned:

                           Species Directory

       Common name, Scientific name, Conservation status:
       Dugong, Dugong dugon, Vulnerable.
       Forest Elephant, Vulnerable.
       Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Vulnerable.
       Giant Tortoise, Vulnerable.
       Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, Vulnerable.
       Greater One-Horned Rhino, Rhinoceros unicornis, Vulnerable.
       Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, Vulnerable.
       Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, Vulnerable.
       Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta, Vulnerable.
       Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Vulnerable.
       Olive Ridley Turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea, Vulnerable.
       Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus, Vulnerable.
       Savanna Elephant, Loxodonta africana africana, Vulnerable.
       Sea Turtle, Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae families, 
     Vulnerable.
       Snow Leopard, Panthera uncia, Vulnerable.
       Southern rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome, 
     Vulnerable.
       Albacore Tuna, Thunnus alalunga, Near Threatened.
       Beluga, Delphinapeterus leucas, Near Threatened.
       Greater Sage-Grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, Near 
     Threatened.
       Jaguar, Panthera onca, Near Threatened.
       Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus, Near Threatened.
       Narwhal, Monodon monoceros, Near Threatened.
       Plains Bison, Bison bison bison, Near Threatened.
       White Rhino, Ceratotherium simum, Near Threatened.
       Yellowfin Tuna, Thunnus albacares, Near Threatened.
       Arctic Fox, Vulpes lagopus, Least Concern.
       Arctic Wolf, Canis lupus arctos, Least Concern.
       Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus, Least Concern.
       Brown Bear, ursus arctos, Least Concern.
       Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncates, Least 
     Concern.
       Gray Whale, Eschrichtius robustus, Least Concern.
       Macaw, Ara ararauna, Least Concern.
       Amur Leopard, Panthera pardus orientalis, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Black Rhino, Diceros bicornis, Critically Endangered.
       Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, Critically Endangered.
       Cross River Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla diehli, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla beringei graueri, 
     Critically Endangered.
       Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Javan Rhino, Rhinoceros sondaicus, Critically Endangered.
       Malayan Tiger, Panthera tigris jacksoni, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Orangutan, Pongo abelii, Pongo pygmaeus, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, Critically Endangered.
       South China Tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Sumatran Elephant, Elephas maximus sumatranus, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Sumatran Orangutan, Pongo abelii, Critically Endangered.
       Sumatran Rhino, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Sumatran Tiger, Panthera tigris sumatrae, Critically 
     Endangered.
       Vaquita, Phocoena sinus, Critically Endangered.
       Western Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla, 
     Critically Endangered.
       Yangtze Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis ssp. 
     asiaeorientalis, Critically Endangered.
       African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, Endangered.
       Amur Tiger, Panthera tigris tigris, Endangered.
       Asian Elephant, Elephas maximus indicus, Endangered.
       Bengal Tiger, Panthera tigris tigris, Endangered.
       Black-footed Ferret, Mustela nigripes, Endangered.
       Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus, Endangered.
       Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus Thynnus, Endangered.
       Bonobo, Pan paniscus, Endangered.
       Borneo Pygmy Elephant, Elephas maximus borneensis, 
     Endangered.
       Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, Endangered.
       Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus, Endangered.
       Galapagos Penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus, Endangered.
       Ganges River Dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, 
     Endangered.
       Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, Endangered.
       Hector's Dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori, Endangered.
       Humphead Wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus, Endangered.
       Indian Elephant, Elephas maximus indicus, Endangered.
       Indochinese Tiger, Panthera tigris corbetti, Endangered.
       Indus River Dolphin, Platanista minor, Endangered.
       Irrawaddy Dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris, Endangered.
       Mountain Gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei, Endangered.
       North Atlantic Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis, 
     Endangered.
       Red Panda, Ailurus fulgens, Endangered.
       Sea Lions, Zalophus wollebaeki, Endangered.
       Sei Whale, Balaenoptera borealis, Endangered.
       Sri Lankan Elephant, Elephas maximus maximus, Endangered.
       Tiger, Panthera tigris, Endangered.
       Whale, Balaenoptera, Balaena, Eschricthtius, and Eubalaen, 
     Endangered.
       Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, Endangered.
       African Elephant, Loxodonta africana, Vulnerable.
       Bigeye Tuna, Thunnus obesus, Vulnerable.
       Black Spider Monkey, Ateles paniscus, Vulnerable.

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I believe we can do better, and I would ask my 
colleagues to do better by supporting the Jackson Lee amendment.
  For example, the population of African elephants has decreased from 
1.3 million to 400,000, with 22,000 poached in 2012. Working with my 
amendment, working with this legislation, we can have a greater focus 
on ensuring the protection of endangered species.
  Mr. Chair, I ask support for the Jackson Lee amendment, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas will 
be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 81 Offered by Mr. Gosar

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 81 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise as the designee of the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer), and I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:
       At the end of division D (before the short title), insert 
     the following:
       Sec. _.  None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available to any Federal department or agency by this Act may 
     be used to make assessed or voluntary contributions on behalf 
     of the United States to or for the Intergovernmental Panel on 
     Climate Change, the United Nations Framework Convention on 
     Climate Change, or the Green Climate Fund.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer Congressman Luetkemeyer's

[[Page H4646]]

amendment to ensure the United Nations climate change organizations are 
no longer used as an international slush fund for ineffective climate 
change research and projects.
  Unfortunately, many of the United Nations climate change 
organizations operate with little oversight or accountability, while 
being financed, in part, by the American taxpayer.
  Unelected bureaucrats and foreign leaders across the globe should not 
have greater control over U.S. policy than our citizens and elected 
officials, especially when we are paying for it.
  The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or 
IPCC, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or 
UNFCC, and the Green Climate Fund, GCF, have been surrounded in 
controversy since their inception.
  The IPCC, which is broadly represented as the top authority on 
climate matters, was under fire when emails were publicly released from 
a university in England that showed that leading global scientists--
that 95 percent, they are always quoting--intentionally manipulated 
climate data and suppressed legitimate arguments in peer-reviewed 
journals.
  Further, while the IPCC supposedly issues assessments based upon so-
called independent surveys of published research, some of the most 
influential conclusions summarized in its report have neither been 
based upon truly independent research nor properly vetted through 
accepted peer-reviewed processes.
  The United Nations Green Climate Fund, which, unfortunately, received 
$1 billion in taxpayer funding thanks to the Obama administration, has 
not approved a new project since 2017, causing the executive director 
of the fund to resign.
  According to the Green Climate Fund former co-chair, 30 percent--yes, 
30 percent--of the funds pledged are never going to materialize.
  Despite its stated goal of supporting developing countries to pursue 
renewable energy sources, the Green Climate Fund's pledges that do 
materialize are going to wealthy nations with little to no effect on 
emissions.
  Let me give a couple of examples.
  One project to install a solar plant in Kazakhstan directly benefited 
Chinese construction companies instead of investing in Kazakhstan's 
companies. Directly investing in one of our economic rivals, China, is 
definitely the best use of taxpayer funds.
  Worse yet, the fund proposed a $9.8 million investment in the wealthy 
kingdom of Bahrain's oil sector. How is this pursuing renewables in 
developing countries?
  Many former and current members of the United Nations climate change 
organizations acknowledge they have made little to no progress and 
don't see the organization being successful in the future.

                              {time}  1045

  This amendment is not about climate change, but about the proper 
stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
  Our constituents should not have to foot the bill for organizations 
that have no track record of success and have a proven history of 
funding corruption and bad science to advance a radical climate change 
agenda.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chair, most of us, even my friends across the aisle, agree that 
climate change is a real global threat. Our military also believes 
this.
  Prohibiting United States contributions to the multilaterals that 
combat climate change is a shortsighted, harmful policy that does not 
prepare our country to face this threat.
  I cannot emphasize enough that climate change is exacerbating the 
root causes of conflict. We will see an increasing demand on our 
humanitarian and other resources if we don't address it now.
  We cannot afford to stand idly by while others address climate 
change, nor will we simply avoid its impact. We already feel its 
effects. This is precisely why we should not be alienating multilateral 
partners who want to join us in the fight.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Rogers).
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. Chair, as Members may recall, during the climate negotiations 
leading up to the Paris conference, participants called for a Green 
Climate Fund that would collect $100 billion a year by 2020. Although 
Congress has yet to appropriate a single dollar specifically allocated 
for the Green Climate Fund, the U.S. contributed over $800 million 
under the Obama administration through the Economic Support Fund.
  However, a July 2018 report by Transparency International concluded 
that funding allocated from the Green Climate Fund was extremely 
vulnerable to fraud, embezzlement, and rigged bidding since corruption 
risk of processes in infrastructure-related procurement is extremely 
high.
  Mr. Chair, I urge Members to support the amendment, and I thank the 
gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, in times of crisis, we seek to join forces 
with multilateral partners to help mitigate and recover from damage, 
and our approach to combating climate change should be no different.
  Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, once again, throwing money into the wind 
when it has no accountability is foolhardy. We have seen these over and 
over. Good process builds good policy is good politics.
  We want to see outcomes, and what we are not seeing from this is 
outcomes.
  Mr. Chair, I ask everybody to join in.
  This isn't about climate change. This is about accountability. We 
need to see results, not just throwing money to the wind.
  Mr. Chair, I ask everybody to vote for this amendment, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will 
be postponed.


                Amendment No. 82 Offered by Mr. Grijalva

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 82 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 393, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(reduced by $4,000,000)''.
       Page 393, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $4,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will direct $4 million 
within the International Boundary and Water Commission to clarify the 
responsibility for the maintenance of the International Outfall 
Interceptor, the IOI. This is in addition to, and separate from, the 
funding that currently exists for the long-overdue repairs of the IOI.
  I think it is important to put some historical context into this 
amendment.
  The amendment seeks to clarify responsibility, the responsibility of 
the community, the city of Nogales and the county of Santa Cruz, that 
make up the two major jurisdictions in that area most affected by the 
need for this amendment. It is an infrastructure issue; it is an 
interceptor.
  In 1944, the United States and Mexico entered into an agreement in 
which waste treatment was going to occur in the United States for 
Nogales, Sonora in Mexico.

[[Page H4647]]

  As time went by, since 1944, we now find that the waste coming from 
Mexico, 92 percent of the effort that the wastewater facility has to 
undertake is in Santa Cruz County and in Nogales.
  I mention that because of how we have to transport the waste from 
Nogales, Mexico, to the United States for treatment under the treaty 
that Mexico and the U.S. signed is 8.5 miles of pipes are needed to 
transport this waste.
  Over the last decades, and the people of those communities can attest 
to this, there is almost daily occurrences and seasonal occurrences 
during the rainy season of damage to this pipeline.
  The infrastructure is as old as the treaty. The infrastructure and 
pipes are in dire need of repair. It has been identified by people 
through the State and Federal Government as an urgency, a public health 
risk. When there is discharge of waste into the drainage areas, into 
the streams, into the river, it creates an extraordinary public health 
risk for the people of Santa Cruz and Nogales, Arizona.
  In 2017, the Governor of Arizona set to commence the disaster 
declaration process for the State of Arizona to secure Federal 
assistance to remedy and prevent raw sewage exposure to these Arizona 
residents.
  My amendment seeks to clarify that very important issue of 
responsibility.
  This is a treaty, an international treaty, sanctioned by the State 
Department that was established in 1944 that deals with an 
infrastructure that is falling apart and exposes issues of security for 
the area, it is on the border. There are issues of public health, and 
issues of liability for the county of Santa Cruz and the city of 
Nogales, a fiscal responsibility that they cannot undertake and a 
responsibility to repair that they cannot undertake.
  Because it is a treaty and it needs to be treated as a responsibility 
of the Federal Government, my amendment seeks to address that issue.
  This ongoing international issue that impacts the safety and the 
well-being of these communities across southern Arizona has been 
addressed in the past. Senators and Members of Congress on both sides 
of the aisle of the Arizona delegation have collaborated to remedy the 
situation.
  Mr. Chair, I would like at this point to thank Senator McSally for 
bringing the companion legislation in the Senate. I also want to thank 
the chair of the committee and her staff for their work on the bill.
  Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this amendment. I 
would urge my colleagues to support it, and we can finally begin to 
find a solution to the public health threat to the residents of the 
area, to security issues underlying the whole tunnel system and pipe 
system in Nogales, and establish the responsibility and accountability 
for transporting this waste from Mexico to be treated in the United 
States that was established by treaty, placing it squarely where the 
responsibility belongs, and that is with the Federal Government in the 
enactment of this treaty.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the 
amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.
  The Acting CHAIR. Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, we have no objection to this 
amendment.
  The amendment deals with issues under the jurisdiction of the United 
States International Boundary and Water Commission, which is one of 
several such commissions funded under this act.
  The IBWC's mission is to provide binational solutions to issues that 
arise during the application of United States-Mexico treaties regarding 
the boundary demarcation, national ownership of waters, sanitation, 
water quality, and flood control in the entire region, in the border 
region.
  This amendment addresses a long-running problem involving a pipeline, 
the International Outfall Interceptor, it is called, that transports 
sewage from both sides of the border to the Nogales International 
Wastewater Treatment Plant. That plant is co-owned by the IBWC and the 
city of Nogales.
  Mr. Chairman, we can all understand the desire to enjoy clean, safe 
water, and we have no objection to this amendment.
  Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chair, I want to applaud the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Grijalva), but I also want to highlight that there is a further issue 
that we need to address.
  Not only is there a pipeline problem, but there is a floodplain 
problem that needs to have some jurisdiction and some changes and 
involvement.

  We have become the victims in regard to when floods run. We see our 
infrastructure on this side of that international border being 
destroyed.
  Mr. Chair, this is a golden opportunity to highlight an opportunity 
that is a joint venture between the two countries that we can actually 
see some camaraderie to actually facilitate change.
  Mr. Chair, I applaud the gentleman for bringing this up, and I look 
forward to seeing us remedy this continuing problem.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the chairwoman 
of the full committee.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Chair, while this amendment does not have a budgetary effect, I 
would like to thank the gentleman for raising such an important issue.
  The International Outfall Interceptor pipeline is long overdue for 
repair. When wastewater leaks from the pipeline, it poses a severe 
public health risk and a threat to southern Arizona's regional economy 
and drinking water.
  Mr. Chair, I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will 
be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 83 Offered by Mr. Gosar

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 83 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       At the end of division D (before the short title), insert 
     the following:
       Sec. __.  None of the funds made available by this Act may 
     be used for the United Nations Framework Convention on 
     Climate Change.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, my amendment is straightforward. It would prevent any 
funds in this bill from being used for the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change.
  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is 
responsible for some of the worst multinational agreements we have 
signed onto.
  These agreements are technically implausible and have unrealistic 
emission goals in order to appease environmental extremists. This 
includes the flawed Paris Agreement, for example.
  Americans for Tax Reform estimates the Paris Agreement will cost the 
U.S. an estimated 6.5 million jobs by 2040 and reduce our GDP by over 
$2.5 trillion.

                              {time}  1100

  NERA Consulting estimates those numbers are even higher and that the

[[Page H4648]]

Paris Agreement will cost the U.S. an estimated 31.6 million jobs by 
2040 and reduce the GDP by over $3 trillion.
  In June of 2017, President Trump announced he will withdraw the 
United States from the Paris Agreement, stating: ``The Paris Climate 
Accord is the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement 
that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other 
countries, leaving American workers. . . . and taxpayers to absorb the 
cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and 
vastly diminished economic production.''
  The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change has also become a 
mechanism for executive overreach. For example, when President Obama 
signed us up in the Paris Agreement, he did not consult Congress in any 
way. This was a direct assault on Congress' constitutional duty to 
approve any treaty signed on to by the United States.
  Fortunately, there is an alternative. Mr. Chairman, the best way to 
improve our environment and ensure our economic prosperity is to allow 
energy innovations in this country, not by sending millions of dollars 
to some transnational organization.
  We have new innovations being implemented in our energy sector as we 
speak, every day. From carbon sequestration coal plants in Texas, to 
the shale revolution in the Midwest, to solar facilities in my home 
State of Arizona, locally driven solutions are creating thousands of 
jobs and benefiting our environment.
  It is a simple concept. The people who depend upon our energy 
resources to provide security for their families and communities 
understand those resources best. States and municipalities are best 
suited to deal with local issues than are the distant out-of-touch 
Washington and U.N. bureaucrats.
  The facts are clear: The U.S. has had one of the largest absolute 
decreases in carbon emissions of any country in the world. From 2005 to 
2017, the U.S. cut 862 million tons of carbon, a 14 percent decline. 
Over the same period, global emissions increased by 26 percent. China 
increased its emissions by 4 billion tons, and India increased its 
carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 billion tons, a 70 percent increase.
  America's energy renaissance is the backbone of our economy. It is a 
story of freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. The story of the United 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a much different one, 
one that is characterized by a one-size-fits-all policy that gives 
special preferences to some of the world's worst polluters, like China 
and India.
  This isn't a partisan issue. This is about doing what is right for 
America and protecting freedom and opportunity for our children and 
grandchildren. I urge all Members on both sides of the aisle to support 
my amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change brings together 
critical multilateral partners so the United States does not have to 
combat climate change alone. By supporting the UNFCCC, we are signaling 
to the world that we are committed and serious about combating this 
threat.
  The United States has been a party to the UNFCCC since 1992. As 
chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, I will never support 
efforts that jeopardize our treaty-based obligations, and I urge my 
colleagues to oppose this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, once again, we hear the same lame excuse 
over and over again, that doing the same thing over and over, we are 
going to get a different result. Well, that doesn't work anymore.
  Trust is a series of promises kept. Why don't we set by example? And 
that is exactly what we are proposing here.
  The United States, by our technology, by our innovation, has shown 
the way in regards to combating climate change. That is exactly the way 
that we ought to handle it, not by some failed multinational 
bureaucracy that uses the United States as a slush fund.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, the United States must remain committed to 
our global partners because climate change just cannot be fought alone.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, once again, doing the same thing over and 
over again and expecting a different result is insanity. Once again, we 
have seen the ineptness of the United Nations in regard to this. We 
have seen the misuse of money to developed nations like China and 
India, and we allow them to continue to pollute when we set the 
example.
  I like the idea of setting the example for everybody else to follow. 
We are the innovators. We are the leaders. We ought to establish that. 
I ask everybody to vote for this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona will 
be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 84 Offered by Ms. Speier

  The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 84 
printed in part B of House Report 116-109.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Page 414, line 11, after the dollar amount, insert 
     ``(increased by $40,000,000) (reduced by $40,000,000)''.

  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 431, the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Speier) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, I rise with great enthusiasm this morning 
to support an amendment that would designate $40 million from the 
assistance for Europe and Eurasia fund to Armenian democracy 
assistance. This amendment is cosponsored by the other Democratic 
chairs of the Caucus on Armenian Issues here in Congress.
  In the last year, Armenia has undergone a breathtaking transformation 
from a stagnant autocracy to a very vibrant democracy. The images of 
Armenia's Velvet Revolution bring a smile to my face every time I think 
of it, having people dancing in the streets, having a blockade, but a 
blockade of small toys by children in the town square.
  The amazing part of all of this is that this democracy occurred with 
not one drop of blood being shed. So it is very important, at this 
point in time, that we do everything in our power to support this new 
democracy.
  Since the revolution, Armenia has held fair and free democratic 
elections that swept Nikol Pashinyan to power. Recently, his government 
signed an agreement with the United States providing up to $60 million, 
over 2 to 3 years, to promote economic growth and good governance in 
Armenia.
  Although these efforts are welcome, they are not enough. Armenia has 
a rare and potentially fleeting window of opportunity to consolidate 
and build upon its democratic gains. Fundamental changes to its 
constitution, electoral code, and governance institutions cannot be 
achieved by repackaging existing aid under a new header.
  Armenia has earned a clear signal that the United States supports its 
democratic transformation and resources will be brought to them to 
carry out that transformation. This amendment would provide $40 million 
in 1 year to supercharge Armenia's democratic progress. Armenia would 
continue to lead the process, but the U.S. expertise and assistance 
would serve as a true catalyst.
  This particular fund is filled with over $700 million. We are already 
giving $250 million to Ukraine, over $50

[[Page H4649]]

million to Moldova, and $83 million to Georgia; so a $40 million 
commitment to a country that, on its own, has delivered democracy is a 
small gift. I urge that we support that.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the 
amendment.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. SPEIER. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, while this amendment does not have a 
budgetary effect, I would like to thank my friend for raising such an 
important issue.
  The progress made in Armenia's transition to democracy and the Velvet 
Revolution is a refreshing development at a time when so many other 
countries are headed in the opposite direction. This account funds 
critical programs to counter Russian aggression and influence in Europe 
and Eurasia and support to key partners like Ukraine and Georgia. I am 
prepared to work to provide the necessary resources to encourage 
continued progress in Armenia, and I am willing to accept the 
amendment.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman and leader of our 
Appropriations Committee for her support, and I am grateful beyond 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, the funding directed in this 
amendment is a significant increase above current levels. It could 
result in funds being cut from important partners in Europe facing 
Russian aggression. For this reason, I urge my colleagues to oppose 
this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).
  The question was taken; and the Acting Chair announced that the ayes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further 
proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from California 
will be postponed.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Speier).
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from New York for 
yielding.
  I rise to engage in a colloquy with the chairwoman of the State-
Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. I rise today to discuss 
the immense value to the American taxpayer and Congress provided by the 
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
  Since 2002, the U.S. Government has spent over $126 billion--that is 
a b--building the Afghan security forces, promoting good governance, 
and conducting development assistance. Created in the 2008 National 
Defense Authorization Act, the SIGAR, as we refer to it, has helped to 
oversee the effectiveness of these programs and guarded against waste, 
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
  The SIGAR has alerted Congress to programs stymied by corruption, 
flawed leadership, and poor design, while also providing implementing 
agencies with lessons learned that have improved their efforts. I 
believe that SIGAR provides immense value to the American public and 
that their efforts should continue so long as the United States 
continues to allocate significant sums of money to the Afghan 
reconstruction.
  I want to ask the chairwoman to clarify that no language in the 
bill's House report should be construed as creating an end date for the 
SIGAR.
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend for bringing this issue to 
our attention.
  The committee takes seriously oversight of taxpayer dollars. I concur 
with the gentlewoman's remarks. The SIGAR continues to serve American 
taxpayers by reporting on instances of waste, fraud, and abuse in 
Afghanistan.
  The language included in the House report was not intended to suggest 
that the committee expects or is directing SIGAR to cease operations by 
September 30, 2021. Rather, the requirement in the House report is for 
SIGAR to provide a plan on its future state considering the 
administration's proposing drawdown in Afghanistan.
  We must protect American taxpayer funds from waste, fraud, and abuse. 
I look forward to working with SIGAR on effectively achieving this 
important mission as the U.S. engagement with Afghanistan continues to 
evolve.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The Acting CHAIR. The Committee will rise informally.
  The Speaker pro tempore (Ms. Speier) assumed the chair.

                          ____________________