[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D738-D742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 26 public bills, H.R. 3429-
3454; 1 private bill, H.R. 3455; and 3 resolutions, H. Res. 457-459 
were introduced.                                         
  Pages H5074-76
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages H5076-78
Reports Filed: Reports were filed today as follows:
  Resolution recommending that the House of Representatives find 
William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States, and Wilbur L. 
Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, in Contempt of Congress for Refusal 
to Comply with Subpoenas Duly Issued by the Committee on Oversight and 
Reform (H. Rept. 116-125); and
  H. Res. 460, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2722) to 
protect elections for public office by providing financial support and 
enhanced security for the infrastructure used to carry out such 
elections, and for other purposes; waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) 
of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions 
reported from the Committee on Rules; and providing for consideration 
of the bill (H.R. 3351) making appropriations for financial services 
and general government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 
and for other purposes (H. Rept. 116-126).                   
Page H5074
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein she appointed 
Representative DeSaulnier to act as Speaker pro tempore for today. 
                                                             Page H5041

[[Page D739]]

Recess: The House recessed at 12:20 p.m. and reconvened at 2 p.m. 
                                                             Page H5043
Recess: The House recessed at 2:07 p.m. and reconvened at 3 p.m. 
                                                             Page H5044
Suspensions: The House agreed to suspend the rules and pass the 
following measures:
  Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act: H.R. 2109, to 
amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs, in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods 
or services, to give a preference to offerors that employ veterans; and
                                                         Pages H5045-46
  Amending title 38, United States Code, to reduce the credit hour 
requirement for the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship program of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs: H.R. 2196, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to reduce the credit hour requirement for the Edith Nourse 
Rogers STEM Scholarship program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
                                                         Pages H5046-47
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2020: The House considered of H.R. 3055, making appropriations for the 
Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for 
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020. Consideration is expected to 
resume tomorrow, June 25th.                    
  Pages H5047-68, H5069-71
Agreed to:
  Price en bloc amendment No. 7 consisting of the following amendments 
printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119: DeSaulnier (No. 230) that 
increases and decreases funding for the Research and Technology account 
at the Department of Transportation by $2 million to support a study on 
the impacts climate change has already had and will continue to have on 
all modes of transportation; Norton (No. 236) that increases and 
decreases by $1 the FAA Operations budget with the intent to urge the 
FAA to prioritize efforts to combat airplane and helicopter noise; 
Waters (No. 238) that transfers $5 million from the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development administrative and support offices 
account to the Homeless Assistance Grants program for technical 
assistance to improve system responses to youth homelessness and 
improve data collection on youth homelessness; Jackson Lee (No. 242) 
that increases and decreases the National Infrastructure Investments 
account by $10,000,000 to support urban bicycle and pedestrian safety 
programs; Langevin (No. 245) that provides $800,000 for the Access 
Board to study in-cabin wheelchair restraint systems as described in 
the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018; Foster (No. 250) that adds and 
removes $1 from capital investments in surface transportation 
infrastructure to highlight the disparity between State apportionments; 
Keating (No. 252) that increases and decreases by $5,000,000 funding to 
support the design of projects to replace federally owned bridge 
infrastructure that is designated as an evacuation route; Sewell (AL) 
(No. 254) that adds and removes $1 from the Office of the Secretary of 
Transportation to instruct the Department to prioritize funding and 
resources for the modernization and expansion of non-emergency medical 
transportation programs; the Secretary should submit to Congress an 
analysis on how the Department can better address transportation 
barriers, which is a critical social determinant of health; Bera (No. 
256) that increases funding for DoT Low or No Emission Vehicle Program 
by $2 million offset by a cut to the Office of the Secretary; Adams 
(No. 260) that transfers $2 million from the Department of 
Transportation, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and 
Technology, to the Federal Aviation Administration's Facilities and 
Equipment account (Terminal Programs) for the purpose increasing 
availability of funds for replacing Terminal Air Traffic Control 
Facilities; Adams (No. 261) that increases funding for senior housing 
by $1 million through the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the 
Elderly program; Adams (No. 262) that increases funding by $2 million 
for the tenant-based rental assistance program; Sean Patrick Maloney 
(NY) (No. 264) that decreases and then increases funding for 
Transportation Planning, Research, and Development by $1 million for 
the purposes of encouraging the Department of Transportation to 
research implementing connected vehicle and autonomous vehicle 
technologies at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings; Plaskett (No. 266) that 
provides for inclusion of the insular territories of the United States 
within the meaning of the term ``areas of persistent poverty''; Jayapal 
(No. 269) that removes and replaces $2 million from the Airport and 
Airway Trust Fund to support the Airport Noise And Environmental 
Streamlining subtitle of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018; Jayapal 
(No. 270) that transfers $1 million from the Office of the Secretary of 
Transportation to the Office of the Inspector General to support the 
FAA safety certification process audit; Blunt Rochester (No. 271) that 
increases and decreases by $1,000,000 to the Homeless Grants Account 
under Housing and Urban Development title which funds HUD's continuum 
of care for the purpose of expressing concern over consideration of 
transitional family housing grants under competitive grant assessments, 
especially regarding populations with special needs such as survivors 
of violence and those with substance use disorders; HUD should

[[Page D740]]

submit a study on the impact of awarding transitional family housing 
grants via competitive assessments and the effectiveness of these 
programs versus alternative programs in achieving long-term housing 
stability; Carbajal (No. 272) that increases and decreases the DoT 
office of Research and Technology account by $500,000 for the Secretary 
of Transportation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 
and Medicine to conduct a study on effective ways to measure the 
resilience of transportation systems and services to withstand natural 
disasters, natural hazards, and other potential disruptions; Levin (CA) 
(No. 275) that increases and decreases by $1,5000,000 to support 
funding to study alternative methods for calculating Fair Market Rents 
in rental markets with rapidly rising rents; Omar (No. 276) that 
increases funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 
Manufactured Housing Program by $500,000, in order to protect the 
quality, safety and affordability of manufactured homes and to make 
homeownership more accessible; Schrier (No. 277) that increases and 
decreases funding to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
by $1,000,000 to support state efforts aimed at reducing distracted 
driving, properly securing vehicle loads, and other highways safety 
programs; Escobar (No. 278) that increases and decreases funding for 
the Small Community Air Service Development Program by $5 million to 
help small airports compete for air service; Escobar (No. 279) that 
increases and decreases funding for Better Utilizing Investments to 
Leverage Development (BUILD) planning grants by $5 million to be 
allocated to low-income communities; Porter (No. 280) that increases 
funding within the Highway Infrastructure Program for the construction 
of electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling stations by 
$10,000,000; Phillips (No. 281) that increases and decreases funding 
supporting capital investment grants by $1,000,000; these funds are 
used to invest in critical transit projects; Malinowski (No. 283) that 
codifies Congress's intent that the Department of Transportation follow 
the law when determining a projects eligibility for Capital Investment 
Grants; Malinowski (No. 285) that increases and decreases funding for 
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) by 
$1,000,000 to enhance PHMSA's Community Liaison Services' ability to 
respond to pipeline-related inquiries from community members; 
Malinowski (No. 286) that increases funding for the Department of 
Transportation's Office of the Inspector General by $1,000,000; 
decreases funding for the Office of the Secretary by $1,000,000; Craig 
(No. 287) that strikes and restore funding to address the concerns of 
communities affected by aircraft noise to urge the FAA to respond fully 
and completely to the requirements in the FAA Reauthorization Act 
pertaining to noise reduction; and Finkenauer (No. 290) that increases 
funding for the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance 
Bureau (Build America Bureau) to ensure rural communities can get 
technical assistance when seeking federal transportation infrastructure 
financing opportunities;                                 
Pages H5049-52
   Price en bloc amendment No. 8 consisting of the following amendments 
printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119: Meadows (No. 239) that increases 
and decreases funding for the Department of Transportation to study 
economic authority certification to facilitate the operation of U.S.-
based unmanned aircraft manufacturers and operators who receive venture 
capital and who carry cargo within U.S. airspace; Doggett (No. 240) 
that increases funding for aviation safety activities at FAA by $7.5 
million in order to ensure the implementation of second-class medical 
certificates for commercial balloon operators; it offsets this increase 
by reducing finance and management activities at the FAA by $7.5 
million; Jackson Lee (No. 243) that increases and decreases by 
$2,000,000 funds for the Office of Inspector General account to 
investigate the Department's delay in releasing over $5 billion in 
Hurricane Harvey Disaster Community Block Grant funds; Graves (LA) (No. 
246) that prohibits funding from being used to issue rules or guidance 
in contravention of Sec. 1210 of the FAA Reauthorization Act or Sec. 
312 of the Stafford Act with regards to duplication of benefits; 
Lipinski (No. 247) that removes and adds $1,000,000 from the 
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) program 
for the purpose of instructing the Federal Railroad Administration to 
include preventive maintenance as an eligible capital expense for 
grants awarded to projects deploying Positive Train Control (PTC); Bost 
(No. 249) that prohibits the use of funds in contravention of Executive 
Order 13858 ``Strengthening Buy-American Preferences for Infrastructure 
Projects'' issued on January 31, 2019; Burchett (No. 255) that 
transfers $12,000,000 from the Department of Transportation's Office of 
the Secretary to the Highway Trust Fund; Spano (No. 257) that increases 
funding for the commercial space transportation activities account by 
$8 million to the fiscal year 2019 authorized level; reduces funding by 
$8 million for the finance and management activities account; Takano 
(No. 259) that prohibits the National Railroad Passenger Corporation 
from using funding under this Act in contravention of the Worker 
Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act; Kuster (NH) (No. 
263) that increases

[[Page D741]]

funding for the HUD--Veterans Affairs and Supportive Housing program, 
which provides rental assistance and wrap around support services to 
help homeless veterans transition into permanent housing, by 
$2,000,000; Rice (NY) (No. 265) that increases and decreases funding to 
the Airport and Airway Trust Fund by $1 million in order to support the 
research and development of aircraft technologies that reduce aviation 
noise; and Garcia (No. 274) that increases and decreases funding for 
technical assistance and training for front line bus and rail transit 
workers by $1 million;                                   
Pages H5052-53
  Heck amendment (No. 241 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
provides additional funding for the Indian Community Development Block 
Grant Program;                                           
Pages H5058-59
  Bost amendment (No. 248 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
seeks to ensure that United States Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) continue to work with the HUD Office of Inspector 
General (OIG) to incorporate findings and recommendations of certain 
OIG investigations related to the Alexander County Public Housing 
Authority;                                                   
Page H5060
  Vargas amendment (No. 258 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
prohibits any funds from being used to bar or limit DACA recipients 
from receiving mortgage loans backed by FHA, solely on the basis of 
their status as DACA recipients;                         
Pages H5061-62
  Krishnamoorthi amendment (No. 267 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-
119) that forbids funds from being used in violation of section 
2635.702 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations;            
Page H5064
  Wexton amendment (No. 273 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
removes and adds $7,000,000 for the purpose of instructing the Federal 
Aviation Administration to continue the Remote Tower Pilot Program; 
                                                             Page H5065
  Garcia amendment (No. 282 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
increases the existing set aside of $15M for planning, preparation, or 
design of transit, transit-oriented development, and multimodal 
projects funds to $20 million;                           
Pages H5065-66
  Malinowski amendment (No. 284 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that increases funding for the Low or No Emission Grant Program by $6 
million to promote state emission responsibility; reduces funding for 
Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Grants by $6 million; 
                                                         Pages H5066-67
  Pressley amendment (No. 288 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that provides a $5 million increase to the Family Self Sufficiency 
Program and reduces funds from the Office of the Secretary at HUD; 
                                                             Page H5067
  Pressley amendment (No. 289 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that increases and decreases by $1,000,000 funding for the National 
Infrastructure Investments (BUILD grants); and           
Pages H5067-68
  DeFazio amendment (No. 233 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that prohibits authorizing the transportation of liquefied natural gas 
by rail tank car and prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from 
using funds to authorize transportation of liquefied natural gas by 
rail tank car by issuance of a special permit or approval (by a 
recorded vote of 221 ayes to 195 noes, Roll No. 399). 
                                                  Pages H5053-55, H5069
Rejected:
  Woodall amendment (No. 229 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that sought to strike section 193;                       
Pages H5047-49
  Duncan amendment (No. 234 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
sought to strike section 236 which prohibits funds from being used to 
implement, administer, or enforce the HUD ``Equal Access in Accordance 
With an Individuals Gender Identity in Community Planning and 
Development Programs'' rule (by a recorded vote of 180 ayes to 236 
noes, Roll No. 400);                           
Pages H5055-56, H5069-70
  Duncan amendment (No. 235 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
sought to strike section 237 which prohibits the HUD notice 
``Appropriate Placement for Transgender Persons in Single-Sex Emergency 
Shelters and Other Facilities'' from having the force and effect of law 
(by a recorded vote of 181 ayes to 236 noes, Roll No. 401); and 
                                               Pages H5056-57, H5070-71
  Grothman amendment (No. 244 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that sought to reduce funds made available to division E by 4.6 percent 
(by a recorded vote of 145 ayes to 273 noes, Roll No. 402). 
                                                  Pages H5059-60, H5071
Proceedings Postponed:
  Banks amendment (No. 251 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) that 
seeks to reduce amounts made available in Division E, other than 
amounts made available to the Department of Defense, by 14 percent; and
                                                         Pages H5060-61
  Jayapal amendment (No. 268 printed in part B of H. Rept. 116-119) 
that seeks to reallocate $1,000,000 to fund transitional housing and 
homelessness services.                                   
Pages H5064-65
  H. Res. 445, the rule providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 
3055) and relating to consideration of the bill (H.R. 2740) was agreed 
to Wednesday, June 19th.
Recess: The House recessed at 5:55 p.m. and reconvened at 6:32 p.m. 
                                                             Page H5068

[[Page D742]]

Recess: The House recessed at 7:35 p.m. and reconvened at 11:51 p.m. 
                                                             Page H5073
Presidential Message: Read a message from the President wherein he 
notified Congress that he had issued an Executive Order with respect to 
Iran that takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency 
declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995--referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed (H. Doc. 116-
45).                                                         
  Page H5047
Senate Message: Message received from the Senate by the Clerk and 
subsequently presented to the House today appears on page H5045.
Quorum Calls--Votes: Four recorded votes developed during the 
proceedings of today and appear on pages H5069, H5069-70, H5070-71, and 
H5071. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: The House met at 12 noon and adjourned at 11:53 p.m.