[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2587-S2591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Moran):
S. 4246. A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to
establish a pilot program to provide grants related to advance air
mobility infrastructure, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the
Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act, which I introduced
today.
Next-generation propulsion aircraft, including electric vertical
takeoff and landing aircraft, are poised to revolutionize how people
and cargo move within and between cities, suburban, and rural areas.
These advanced air mobility technologies also present the potential to
transform how we link historically underserved communities and
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deploy a new type of transportation that does not require physical
roads or rails.
As localities, regions, and States consider how to integrate the
advent of these technologies and the opportunities to relieve traffic
congestion and improve mobility options, a modest Federal investment
can help communities ensure that cutting-edge, clean, quiet aviation
technologies can be best integrated into existing and future
transportation networks.
That is why I am proud to introduce this bill to help States and
localities keep pace with this growing sector. It would establish a
pilot program to help State, local, and Tribal governments to prepare
for anticipated advanced air mobility operations and ensure communities
can take advantage of the potential benefits of the safe integration of
these technologies in our Nation's airspace.
I want to thank Senator Moran for coleading this bill with me, and I
hope our colleagues will join us in support of this bill that will help
communities prepare for the development and deployment of advanced air
mobility technologies and related infrastructure.
______
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Brown):
S. 4247. A bill to amend the Public Works and Economic Development
Act of 1965 to establish university centers to encourage certain
economic development, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Environment and Public Works.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the
University Centers for Growth, Development, and Prosperity Act, which I
introduced today.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration created the University
Center Program to allow institutions of higher education and consortia
to establish and maintain university centers, with the understanding
that our higher education institutions play a critical role in our
Nation's economic growth.
University centers are Federal partnerships that leverage the assets
of higher learning institutions to strengthen regional economic growth
by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. They
encourage economic development in economically distressed regions,
which helps spur job growth, high-skilled regional talent pools, and
business expansion.
Despite EDA's important work, many communities across the country
have yet to benefit from the Agency's programs, including smaller
communities, communities of color, and rural areas experiencing higher
rates of poverty.
The current University Center Program is not specifically authorized
by Congress and is instead part of EDA's Technical Assistance Program.
That is why I am proud to introduce legislation that would codify and
expand the University Center Program, leverage more resources for
minority-serving institutions, and support a greater diversity of
innovation and entrepreneurship in their communities. California has
thriving institutions, including Chico State and Fresno State, that
will be able to scale their impact with new resources. By prioritizing
the establishment of new university centers at colleges and
universities that serve significant populations of underserved
students, we can strengthen regional economies and help close the
racial wealth gap.
Specifically, the bill establishes an EDA University Center Program
to help universities collaborate with economic development districts,
trade adjustment assistance centers, and other economic development
technical assistance and service providers to develop and implement
comprehensive economic development strategies and other economic
development planning at the local, regional, and State levels, with a
focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce development.
It also prioritizes the participation of minority-serving
institutions as part of the University Center Program. Minority-serving
institutions provide incredible opportunities for so many low-income
and first-generation students. I am proud that my State of California
is home to 174 Hispanic-serving institutions and 51 emerging Hispanic-
serving institutions the highest amount in the country.
As a Senator representing one of the most diverse States in the
country, I am proud to work with my colleagues to ensure that we work
to improve the equity of EDA programming and help increase the
participation of minority-serving institutions.
I want to thank Congressman Pete Aguilar for introducing this bill
with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this
effort.
______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell,
Mr. Carper, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Schatz, Mr.
Warnock, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr.
Whitehouse):
S. 4255. A bill to authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices
within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice,
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic
terrorist activity and require the Federal Government to take steps to
prevent domestic terrorism; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 4255
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 ``Domestic Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation;
(2) the term ``domestic terrorism'' has the meaning given
the term in section 2331 of title 18, United States Code;
(3) the term ``Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee''
means the committee within the Department of Justice tasked
with assessing and sharing information about ongoing domestic
terrorism threats;
(4) the term ``hate crime incident'' means an act described
in section 241, 245, 247, or 249 of title 18, United States
Code, or in section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3631);
(5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security; and
(6) the term ``uniformed services'' has the meaning given
the term in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code.
SEC. 3. OFFICES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) Authorization of Offices to Monitor, Analyze,
Investigate, and Prosecute Domestic Terrorism.--
(1) Domestic terrorism unit.--There is authorized a
Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of Intelligence and
Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security, which shall
be responsible for monitoring and analyzing domestic
terrorism activity.
(2) Domestic terrorism office.--There is authorized a
Domestic Terrorism Office in the Counterterrorism Section of
the National Security Division of the Department of Justice--
(A) which shall be responsible for investigating and
prosecuting incidents of domestic terrorism;
(B) which shall be headed by the Domestic Terrorism
Counsel; and
(C) which shall coordinate with the Civil Rights Division
on domestic terrorism matters that may also be hate crime
incidents.
(3) Domestic terrorism section of the fbi.--There is
authorized a Domestic Terrorism Section within the
Counterterrorism Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, which shall be responsible for investigating
domestic terrorism activity.
(4) Staffing.--The Secretary, the Attorney General, and the
Director shall each ensure that each office authorized under
this section in their respective agencies shall--
(A) have an adequate number of employees to perform the
required duties;
(B) have not less than one employee dedicated to ensuring
compliance with civil rights and civil liberties laws and
regulations; and
(C) require that all employees undergo annual anti-bias
training.
(5) Sunset.--The offices authorized under this subsection
shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the date
of enactment of this Act.
(b) Joint Report on Domestic Terrorism.--
(1) Biannual report required.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, and each 6 months
thereafter for the 10-year period beginning on the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security,
the Attorney General, and the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation shall submit a joint report authored by the
domestic terrorism offices authorized under paragraphs (1),
(2), and (3) of subsection (a) to--
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
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(B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on
Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) an assessment of the domestic terrorism threat posed by
White supremacists and neo-Nazis, including White supremacist
and neo-Nazi infiltration of Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies and the uniformed services; and
(B)(i) in the first report, an analysis of incidents or
attempted incidents of domestic terrorism that have occurred
in the United States since April 19, 1995, including any
White-supremacist-related incidents or attempted incidents;
and
(ii) in each subsequent report, an analysis of incidents or
attempted incidents of domestic terrorism that occurred in
the United States during the preceding 6 months, including
any White-supremacist-related incidents or attempted
incidents;
(C) a quantitative analysis of domestic terrorism for the
preceding 6 months, including--
(i) the number of--
(I) domestic terrorism related assessments initiated by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, including the number of
assessments from each classification and subcategory, with a
specific classification or subcategory for those related to
White supremacism;
(II) domestic terrorism-related preliminary investigations
initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including
the number of preliminary investigations from each
classification and subcategory, with a specific
classification or subcategory for those related to White
supremacism, and how many preliminary investigations resulted
from assessments;
(III) domestic terrorism-related full investigations
initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including
the number of full investigations from each classification
and subcategory, with a specific classification or
subcategory for those related to White supremacism, and how
many full investigations resulted from preliminary
investigations and assessments;
(IV) domestic terrorism-related incidents, including the
number of incidents from each classification and subcategory,
with a specific classification or subcategory for those
related to White supremacism, the number of deaths and
injuries resulting from each incident, and a detailed
explanation of each incident;
(V) Federal domestic terrorism-related arrests, including
the number of arrests from each classification and
subcategory, with a specific classification or subcategory
for those related to White supremacism, and a detailed
explanation of each arrest;
(VI) Federal domestic terrorism-related indictments,
including the number of indictments from each classification
and subcategory, with a specific classification or
subcategory for those related to White supremacism, and a
detailed explanation of each indictment;
(VII) Federal domestic terrorism-related prosecutions,
including the number of incidents from each classification
and subcategory, with a specific classification or
subcategory for those related to White supremacism, and a
detailed explanation of each prosecution;
(VIII) Federal domestic terrorism-related convictions,
including the number of convictions from each classification
and subcategory, with a specific classification or
subcategory for those related to White supremacism, and a
detailed explanation of each conviction; and
(IX) Federal domestic terrorism-related weapons recoveries,
including the number of each type of weapon and the number of
weapons from each classification and subcategory, with a
specific classification or subcategory for those related to
White supremacism; and
(ii) an explanation of each individual case that progressed
through more than 1 of the stages described under clause
(i)--
(I) including the specific classification or subcategory
for each case; and
(II) not including personally identifiable information not
otherwise releasable to the public; and
(D) certification that each of the assessments and
investigations described under subparagraph (C) are in
compliance with all applicable civil rights and civil
liberties laws and regulations.
(3) Hate crimes.--In compiling a joint report under this
subsection, the domestic terrorism offices authorized under
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall, in
consultation with the Civil Rights Division of the Department
of Justice and the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, review each Federal hate crime charge and
conviction during the preceding 6 months to determine whether
the incident also constitutes a domestic terrorism-related
incident.
(4) Classification and public release.--Each report
submitted under paragraph (1) shall be--
(A) unclassified, to the greatest extent possible, with a
classified annex only if necessary; and
(B) in the case of the unclassified portion of the report,
posted on the public websites of the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
(5) Nonduplication.--If two or more provisions of this
subsection or any other law impose requirements on an agency
to report or analyze information on domestic terrorism that
are substantially similar, the agency may produce one report
that complies with each such requirement as fully as
possible.
(c) Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee.--There is
authorized a Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which
shall meet on a regular basis, and not less regularly than 4
times each year, to coordinate with United States Attorneys
and other key public safety officials across the country to
promote information sharing and ensure an effective,
responsive, and organized joint effort to combat domestic
terrorism.
(d) Focus on Greatest Threats.--The domestic terrorism
offices authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of
subsection (a) shall focus their limited resources on the
most significant domestic terrorism threats, as determined by
the number of domestic terrorism-related incidents from each
category and subclassification in the joint report for the
preceding 6 months required under subsection (b).
SEC. 4. TRAINING TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) Required Training and Resources.--The Secretary, the
Attorney General, and the Director shall review the anti-
terrorism training and resource programs of their respective
agencies that are provided to Federal, State, local, and
Tribal law enforcement agencies, including the State and
Local Anti-Terrorism Program that is funded by the Bureau of
Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice, and ensure
that such programs include training and resources to assist
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in
understanding, detecting, deterring, and investigating acts
of domestic terrorism and White supremacist and neo-Nazi
infiltration of law enforcement and corrections agencies. The
Attorney General shall make training available to Department
prosecutors and to Assistant United States Attorneys on
countering and prosecuting domestic terrorism. The domestic-
terrorism training shall focus on the most significant
domestic terrorism threats, as determined by the quantitative
analysis in the joint report required under section 3(b).
(b) Requirement.--Any individual who provides domestic
terrorism training required under this section shall have--
(1) expertise in domestic terrorism; and
(2) relevant academic, law enforcement, or other community-
based experience in matters related to domestic terrorism.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act and twice each year thereafter, the
Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Director shall each
submit a biannual report to the committees of Congress
described in section 3(b)(1) on the domestic terrorism
training implemented by their respective agencies under this
section, which shall include copies of all training materials
used and the names and qualifications of the individuals who
provide the training.
(2) Classification and public release.--Each report
submitted under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) be unclassified, to the greatest extent possible, with
a classified annex only if necessary;
(B) in the case of the unclassified portion of each report,
be posted on the public website of the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation; and
(C) include the number of Federal incidents,
investigations, arrests, indictments, prosecutions, and
convictions with respect to a false report of domestic
terrorism or hate crime incident.
SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, the Director,
the Secretary, and the Secretary of Defense shall establish
an interagency task force to analyze and combat White
supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed
services and Federal law enforcement agencies.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
interagency task force is established under subsection (a),
the Attorney General, the Secretary, and the Secretary of
Defense shall submit a joint report on the findings of the
task force and the response of the Attorney General, the
Secretary, and the Secretary of Defense to such findings,
to--
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate;
(C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate;
(D) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
(E) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives;
(F) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives;
(G) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the
House of Representatives; and
(H) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Classification and public release.--The report
submitted under paragraph (1) shall be--
(A) submitted in unclassified form, to the greatest extent
possible, with a classified annex only if necessary; and
(B) in the case of the unclassified portion of the report,
posted on the public website of
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the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
SEC. 6. FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR ADDRESSING HATE CRIME INCIDENTS
WITH A NEXUS TO DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) Community Relations Service.--The Community Relations
Service of the Department of Justice, authorized under
section 1001(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.
2000g), may offer the support of the Service to communities
where the Department of Justice has brought charges in a hate
crime incident that has a nexus to domestic terrorism.
(b) Federal Bureau of Investigation.--Section 249 of title
18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(f) Federal Bureau of Investigation.--The Attorney
General, acting through the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, shall assign a special agent or hate crimes
liaison to each field office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to investigate hate crimes incidents with a
nexus to domestic terrorism (as such term is defined in
section 2 of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of
2022).''.
SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, may
be construed to authorize the infringement or violation of
any right protected under the First Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States or an applicable provision
of Federal law.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department
of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of
Defense such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
______
By Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hoeven,
Mr. Brown, Mr. Marshall, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Capito, Mr.
Bennet, Mr. Tillis, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Collins, Ms. Smith,
Mr. Grassley, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Warnock, Mr.
Cornyn, Mr. Casey, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Hassan, Ms.
Duckworth, and Mr. Kelly):
S. 4257. A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish
requirements for infant formula cost containment contracts, and for
other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and
Forestry.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I remember being a new mom and then a
new grandma, and all you want to do is hold your baby close and savor
every single moment. Instead, parents across the country right now are
in a panic--forced to search high and low to find baby formula, the
safe baby formula that they need, any safe baby formula.
Almost half of all of our babies born in the United States receive
their baby formula through a really important program called WIC--the
Women, Infants, and Children program--that we are so proud of, and it
is something that has made sure that safe baby formula and healthy food
is available for pregnant moms and for babies throughout the first
years of a baby's life. So, as all of this has happened now with this
emergency--and it is a huge emergency, a huge crisis--there are no
options here when children--you know, when babies need to eat. When
babies are born, they need safe baby formula.
This has been an ``all hands on deck'' moment for all of us. That is
why, as chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Committee--and I am so proud the Presiding Officer is a member of our
committee, is a very valued member of our committee--I am joined with
our ranking member, John Boozman, to introduce legislation today to
make sure that the USDA can be as flexible as possible in getting our
moms and dads and, most importantly, babies the critical baby formula
that they need right now.
We are doing this in conjunction with the House, which also has
bipartisan legislation. It is my understanding that they will be voting
on that soon, and I am hopeful that we can do the same thing. This
should be something that brings us all together as quickly as possible.
As an example, the reason we need the bill dealing with WIC--and
there is a lot and so much positive that comes from this program. But
right now, we make sure that there are safety standards, high-quality
safety standards, and that we negotiate, through a competitive process,
the best price for moms and babies, but we now need to have flexibility
so when a family--for instance, maybe, in Traverse City, MI, or in
Lansing or in Detroit--goes to a grocery store and there is only one
brand on the shelf and it is not the brand under the WIC contract, that
they can buy it. If that is the only thing available, they need to be
able to use their WIC support to be able to purchase that.
That is something that our USDA Secretary has jumped into gear to be
able to make that happen, but we have got to make sure that that can
continue, or we have got to make sure if a parent, again, goes to the
store and there are different sizes of formula cans or different
prescriptions that normally would not fit under the WIC contract, that
they can waive those because we have to be able to get whatever is safe
baby formula to families as quickly as possible.
These may sound like small things, but they are the difference right
now between whether or not our families on WIC are able to actually get
the formula that they need.
In order to make sure that that continues, we have introduced
legislation that will guarantee that the flexibilities the USDA needs
will continue beyond the public health pandemic flexibilities that they
are currently operating under. They have short-term flexibilities
because of the public health pandemic. We want to make sure this is
permanent and that whether it is a recall, a safety recall, a supply
chain breakdown--whatever it is--that, with all hands on deck, the USDA
has the capacity--the authority, the tools--to be able to move forward
and make sure that they can respond as quickly as possible.
We also want to guarantee that formula manufacturers that want to
compete for these WIC contracts have a plan in place to respond to any
kind of shortage so we don't have this situation happen again. There is
just no excuse, frankly, for what happened here.
I want to thank Secretary Vilsack and the USDA for moving quickly
once they were notified about the Abbott plant shutdown.
I am deeply concerned that they were not given a heads-up earlier.
The FDA was working for months, evidently--for a few months--with
Abbott around concerns as it related to the safety standards and so on
at the plant, and the USDA needed to know sooner so that they could
prepare sooner. They understand how serious this is, what an emergency
it is. So, when they found out, they went immediately into gear to make
sure that our moms and babies, if at all possible, in any way possible,
could get what they need. That has to be a top priority, not just for
the moms and babies on WIC; all moms, all parents, all babies need to
make sure that it is an ``all hands on deck'' and that we are moving as
fast as possible.
That is why I also want to thank President Biden and the FDA for
working with other baby formula manufacturers to increase supplies.
Supplies are going up. I am very anxious to see more manufacturers of
baby formula. I think we, as in every area, it seems, of our economy,
have too much consolidation--that is certainly true here--and we need
more competition, and we need more baby formula manufacturers competing
for our contracts. We need to have a contract that gives the best price
to WIC's moms and dads and babies, but we need to make sure that we
have as many large and small companies that are competing for that to
be able to make sure that we have the formula available and that we are
getting the very best price.
I also want to thank them for carefully and thoughtfully opening up
imports from the European Union. We certainly have other countries that
have the same very high safety standards that we do. We have got to
make sure that anything that comes in is of the very highest safety
standard.
We know that, right now, we have got to make sure that baby formula
is on the shelf. Children--babies--need this every day, not ``let's
wait a month or 2 months.'' This is like today that this needs to be
happening. Again, there needs to be a sense of urgency to do whatever
we can related to this issue and look at all aspects of it to make sure
that this does not happen again, if at all possible. This should not be
happening again.
Within our WIC bill, we are focused on what we can do to support the
USDA to have the maximum flexibilities to support moms and babies and
on what we can do to make sure the manufacturers are prepared if
something
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like this were to happen--some shortage--down the road. We need to make
sure that we are looking at every aspect of this and acting now, as
fast as possible, and then preparing for the future.
I want to thank, again, Senator Boozman and welcome all of our
Members on both sides of the aisle to join us in what, I hope, will be
legislation that moves very, very quickly.
The Access to Baby Formula Act is something that every single Member
of the U.S. Senate should be supporting so that we can move this
legislation out as quickly as possible, working with the House, and
getting this done.
____________________