[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 17, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5087-H5089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TARGETING RESOURCES TO COMMUNITIES IN NEED ACT OF 2022

  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1119, 
I call up the bill (H.R. 6531) to provide an increased allocation of 
funding under certain programs for assistance in areas of persistent 
poverty, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1119, an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules 
Committee Print 117-44, modified by the amendment printed in part A of 
House Report 117-325, is adopted and the bill, as amended, is 
considered read.
  The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

                               H.R. 6531

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Targeting Resources to 
     Communities in Need Act of 2022''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASING SHARE OF FEDERAL RESOURCES TO AREAS OF 
                   PERSISTENT POVERTY AND OTHER HIGH-POVERTY 
                   AREAS.

       (a) Increasing Share of Federal Resources.--
       (1) Guidance and measures to increase federal 
     investments.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with 
     Federal agencies, shall implement guidance to increase the 
     share of Federal investments targeted to--
       (A) areas of persistent poverty; and
       (B) other areas of high and persistent poverty that the 
     Director, in consultation with Federal agencies, determines 
     to be appropriate.
       (2) Guidance for agencies.--Not later than 120 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue 
     guidance to Federal agencies identifying--
       (A) the scope and type of programs subject to the guidance 
     and measures required by paragraph (1);
       (B) the share of Federal investments to be targeted to the 
     areas described under paragraph (1);
       (C) the manner in which Federal investments are to be 
     targeted to the areas described under paragraph (1); and
       (D) measures to track the Federal investments targeted to 
     the areas described under paragraph (1) over time.
       (3) Investment amount.--In developing the guidance and 
     measures under paragraph (1), the Director shall include a 
     minimum goal that Federal investments targeted to areas of 
     persistent poverty or other areas with high and persistent 
     poverty be in an amount that is greater than the amount that 
     is proportional to the population of such areas in the United 
     States relative to the population of the United States as a 
     whole.
       (4) Reports to congress.--The Director, in consultation 
     with Federal agencies, shall submit each fiscal year to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes--
       (A) a list of the programs, by agency, under which the 
     amount of Federal funds targeted to areas described under 
     paragraph (1) were increased in the previous fiscal year, in 
     accordance with such paragraph; and
       (B) for each program listed under subparagraph (A)--
       (i) the amount of funds that were targeted under the 
     program to an area of persistent poverty or other area with 
     high and persistent poverty during the previous fiscal year;
       (ii) the percent change from the fiscal year before the 
     previous fiscal year in the amount of funds that were 
     targeted under the program toward an area of persistent 
     poverty or other area with high and persistent poverty; and
       (iii) to the extent practicable, an assessment of the 
     economic impact of the program on the area, including data on 
     the categories of individuals impacted by the targeting of 
     funds to such areas under the program, disaggregated by 
     household income, race, gender, age, national origin, 
     disability status, and whether the individuals live in an 
     urban area, suburban area, or rural area.
       (b) Publication of List of Areas of Persistent Poverty.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Bureau of the Census shall publish 
     a list of all areas of persistent poverty.
       (2) Update.--The Bureau of the Census shall update annually 
     the list published under paragraph (1).
       (c) GAO Reports.--
       (1) Initial report.--Not later than two years after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
     United States shall provide to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress a report on the effectiveness of the measures 
     implemented under subsection (a), including an assessment 
     regarding the impact of increasing Federal investments spent 
     in areas of persistent poverty and other areas with high and 
     persistent poverty.
       (2) Subsequent reports.--Not later than 10 years after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
     United States shall provide at least two subsequent reports 
     (as described in paragraph (1)) to the appropriate committees 
     of Congress.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for fiscal year 2023, $5,000,000 for 
     salaries and expenses (including for entering contracts with 
     non-Federal persons) to carry out this Act.
       (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
     ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the 
     Budget, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation, and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
       (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on the 
     Budget, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee 
     on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Committee on 
     Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives; and
       (C) any other committee of Congress that has jurisdiction 
     over an agency with a role developing or implementing 
     measures under subsection (a).
       (2) Area of persistent poverty.--The term ``area of 
     persistent poverty'' means an area that is a high-poverty 
     census tract or a persistent poverty county.
       (3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
     the Office of Management and Budget.
       (4) High-poverty census tract.--The term ``high-poverty 
     census tract'' means a census tract that has a poverty rate 
     of not less than 20 percent in the most recent American 
     Community Survey 5-year data published by the Bureau of the 
     Census, and in the case of areas where no such data is 
     collected from the American Community Survey, such term 
     includes a census tract with a poverty rate of not less than 
     20 percent in the most recent decennial census of population 
     conducted by the Bureau.
       (5) Persistent poverty county.--The term ``persistent 
     poverty county'' means--
       (A) a county, parish, or other equivalent county division 
     (as determined by the Bureau of the Census) with a poverty 
     rate of not less than 20 percent in the Small Area Income and 
     Poverty Estimates by the Bureau of the Census in at least 25 
     of the last 30 years, including the most recent year for 
     which the estimates are available; or
       (B) for areas where Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates 
     are not available, a county, parish, or equivalent level of 
     geography, with a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent in 
     at least 25 of the last 30 years, including the most recent 
     year for which an estimate is available, as determined by the 
     Bureau of the Census.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for 
1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform or their respective 
designees.
  The gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown) and the gentleman from Kentucky 
(Mr. Comer) each will control 30 minutes.

[[Page H5088]]

  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6531.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6531, the 
Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act. H.R. 6531 is a 
bipartisan bill introduced by Majority Whip Clyburn and Representative 
Hal Rogers.
  According to the latest decennial Census statistics, 37 million 
people in our country live in poverty. H.R. 6531 takes an important and 
commonsense step to addressing persistent poverty in the United States.
  As we know, poverty is a very real issue and is experienced by 
Americans of all backgrounds in communities across the country.
  The bill before us would provide additional transparency about places 
that face persistent poverty and would direct increased investments to 
those areas.
  H.R. 6531 would require the Census Bureau to publish a list of all 
areas of persistent poverty, and the Office of Management and Budget 
would work with agencies to ensure that program investments get to the 
places that need them most.
  The bill also fosters accountability by requiring annual reports to 
Congress about qualifying program investments and their economic 
impacts.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting our 
fellow Americans through this bipartisan legislation, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 6531, directs the Office of Management and Budget 
to lead a government-wide effort to review the share of Federal funds 
addressing poverty across agencies. Specifically, OMB must issue 
guidance to Federal agencies to increase the share of Federal 
investments targeting to areas of high and persistent poverty.
  Additionally, the bill directs the Census Bureau to annually publish 
a list of all persistent poverty areas. The legislation intends to 
produce a consistent listing of areas of persistent poverty for 
agencies to use in determining funding allocations.
  The Federal Government currently spends an enormous amount of 
taxpayer funds on low-income populations. You may ask: Exactly how much 
taxpayer funds does the Government spend on low-income populations? 
Well, I can tell you from being a minority member of the House 
Oversight and Reform Committee that I can't get you that answer because 
the Democrats on the Oversight and Reform Committee have produced 
absolutely zero oversight during the entire Biden administration.
  Despite the excessive spending on that side of the aisle, Madam 
Speaker, we have had basically zero oversight of taxpayer funds on the 
House Oversight and Reform Committee.

                              {time}  2100

  That is important that such funding decisions appropriately balance 
the needs of rural communities across America that have been left 
behind and are experiencing prolonged struggles with poverty.
  Again, I want to remind my friends across the aisle that those of us 
on this side of the aisle believe that the best way to get out of 
poverty is to create an environment where people living in poverty have 
access to good-paying jobs.
  But the old model that is the government model that continues to be 
espoused by my friends on the other side of the aisle is more 
government programs to help those who currently reside in poverty.
  Madam Speaker, that is a summary of the bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New Mexico (Ms. Herrell).
  Ms. HERRELL. Madam Speaker, we have heard heartfelt discussions today 
about how Federal taxpayer dollars should be targeted toward poverty 
assistance. I am also concerned about Federal agencies' current ability 
to administer Federal programs efficiently and effectively.
  Under the pandemic, we witnessed an unprecedented reliance on 
telework across the Federal Government. This reliance on telework has 
been to the detriment of the Nation's taxpayers who rely on Federal 
agencies.
  These are our constituents who are struggling to face out-of-control 
spending, inflation, scarcity of goods, and other hardships, while 
Federal workers receive perk after perk from Democrats in Congress.
  My House colleagues are all aware of the problems their constituents 
have faced getting Federal agencies to process the necessary paperwork. 
There are numerous examples of backlogs at agencies like Social 
Security and the Internal Revenue Service.
  In my own district, energy producers are struggling to get permits to 
drill approved due, in part, to Bureau of Land Management field offices 
only having 25 percent of their staff in the office at one time.
  Even our veterans have been facing trouble accessing records of their 
service to receive the medical care and benefits they are entitled to.
  Let's be clear: Federal employees not being in the workplace has hurt 
the government's ability to achieve its mission. House Republicans have 
fought hard to find out just how much expanded telework has hurt 
agencies' ability to deliver to our constituents, and we have tried to 
get this information, but to no avail.
  Recently, the House Oversight Committee Ranking Member   James Comer 
wrote to the administration requesting information on Federal workforce 
return-to-work policies. Last year, my colleague, Jody Hice, the 
ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee's Government 
Operations Subcommittee, led oversight letters to the inspectors 
general of the largest agencies, requesting details on how telework has 
impacted agency missions. The committee has not received adequate 
responses to our inquiries.
  We will offer a solution to this problem as a motion to recommit. If 
we adopt the motion to recommit, we will instruct the Committee on 
Oversight and Reform to consider an amendment to require Federal 
agencies to immediately return to prepandemic levels of telework.
  The amendment would also require a governmentwide review of pandemic-
era teleworking policy.
  Finally, it would prevent the administration from locking in higher 
levels of telework until Congress receives detailed plans on how agency 
mission performance would be impacted.
  These needed reforms will be included in my bill, the Show Up Act, 
which I am introducing later this week.
  It is time to get the U.S. Government back to work for the American 
people.
  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the 
amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to 
recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I have pretty 
much summarized the bill in my opening statement, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 6531, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to support the 
Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act of 2022. I thank Whip 
Clyburn for leading this bill, and I am proud to be a cosponsor. I also 
want to thank Chair Maloney, and the Speaker for moving this 
legislation.
  As chair of the Majority Leader's Task Force on Poverty and 
Opportunity and an appropriator, I have worked with Whip Clyburn to 
uplift the 10-20-30 antipoverty formula in legislation.
  One hundred forty million people in America are poor or one 
healthcare crisis, job loss, or emergency away from economic 
desperation. We must prioritize their needs and demands.
  Our poverty crisis is the result of political choices. With the 
Targeting Resources to

[[Page H5089]]

Communities in Need Act of 2022, we can now choose to take action to 
increase the share of Federal investments targeted to areas of high and 
persistent poverty.
  I urge my colleagues to vote to pass the Targeting Resources to 
Communities in Need Act of 2022 to revive our moral and political 
commitments to strengthening pathways out of poverty.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The previous question is ordered on the 
bill.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.


                           Motion to Recommit

  Ms. HERRELL. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Herrell of New Mexico moves to recommit the bill H.R. 
     6531 to the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

  The material previously referred to by Ms. Herrell is as follows:
       Add at the end the following:

                     TITLE II--SHOW UP ACT OF 2022

     SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

       This title may be cited as the ``Stopping Home Office 
     Work's Unproductive Problems Act of 2022'' or the ``SHOW Up 
     Act of 2022''.

     SEC. 102. REINSTATEMENT OF PRE-PANDEMIC TELEWORK POLICIES, 
                   PRACTICES, AND LEVELS FOR EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

       Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this 
     title, each agency shall reinstate and apply the telework 
     policies, practices, and levels of the agency as in effect on 
     December 31, 2019, and may not expand any such policy, 
     practices, or levels until the date that an agency plan is 
     submitted to Congress with a certification by the Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management under section 103.

     SEC. 103. STUDY, PLAN, AND CERTIFICATION REGARDING EXECUTIVE 
                   AGENCY TELEWORK POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND LEVELS 
                   FOR EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
     enactment of this title, the head of each agency, in 
     consultation with the Director, shall submit to Congress--
       (1) a study on the impacts on the agency and its mission of 
     expanding telework by its employees during the SARS-CoV-2 
     pandemic that commenced in 2019, including an analysis of--
       (A) any adverse impacts of that expansion on the agency's 
     performance of its mission, including the performance of 
     customer service by the agency;
       (B) any costs to the agency during that expansion 
     attributable to--
       (i) owning, leasing, or maintaining under-utilized real 
     property; or
       (ii) paying higher rates of locality pay to teleworking 
     employees as a result of incorrectly classifying such 
     employees as teleworkers rather than remote workers;
       (C) any degree to which the agency failed during that 
     expansion to provide teleworking employees with secure 
     network capacity, communications tools, necessary and secure 
     access to appropriate agency data assets and Federal records, 
     and equipment sufficient to enable each such employee to be 
     fully productive;
       (D) any degree to which that expansion facilitated 
     dispersal of the agency workforce around the Nation; and
       (E) any other impacts of that expansion that the agency or 
     the Director considers appropriate;
       (2) any agency plan to expand telework policies, practices, 
     or levels beyond those in place as a result of section 102; 
     and
       (3) a certification by the Director that such plan will--
       (A) have a substantial positive effect on--
       (i) the performance of the agency's mission, including the 
     performance of customer service;
       (ii) increasing the level of dispersal of agency personnel 
     throughout the Nation; and
       (iii) the reversal of any adverse impact set forth pursuant 
     to paragraph (1)(D);
       (B) substantially lower the agency's costs of owning, 
     leasing, or maintaining real property;
       (C) substantially lower the agency's costs attributable to 
     paying locality pay to agency personnel working from 
     locations outside the pay locality of their position's 
     official worksite; and
       (D) ensure that teleworking employees will be provided with 
     secure network capacity, communications tools, necessary and 
     secure access to appropriate agency data assets and Federal 
     records, and equipment sufficient to enable each such 
     employee to be fully productive, without substantially 
     increasing the agency's overall costs for secure network 
     capacity, communications tools, and equipment.
       (b) Limitation.--
       (1) In general.--An agency may not implement the plan 
     submitted under subsection (a)(2) unless a certification by 
     the Director was issued under subsection (a)(3).
       (2) Subsequent plans.--In the event an initial agency plan 
     submitted under subsection (a)(2) fails to receive such 
     certification, the agency may submit to the Director 
     subsequent plans until such certification is received, and 
     submit such plan and certification to Congress.
       (c) Definitions.--In this title--
       (1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term 
     ``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States 
     Code;
       (2) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office 
     of Personnel Management;
       (3) the term ``locality pay'' means locality pay provided 
     for under section 5304 or 5304a of such title; and
       (4) the terms ``telework'' and ``teleworking'' have the 
     meaning given those terms in section 6501 of such title, and 
     include remote work.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX, the 
previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit.
  The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Ms. HERRELL. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings are postponed.

                          ____________________