[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4442-S4443]
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. Boozman):
  S. 2779. A bill to amend the Public Works and Economic Development 
Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish an Office 
of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Office of 
Disaster Recovery and Resilience Act. This legislation would better 
equip and formalize the Economic Development Administration's role in 
post-disaster economic recovery.

[[Page S4443]]

  EDA has a long history of supporting disaster recovery and resilience 
efforts and is uniquely positioned to coordinate Federal support due to 
its network of partners in impacted communities. EDA's role in disaster 
recovery is to facilitate the timely and effective delivery of Federal 
economic development assistance to support near- and long-term 
community economic recovery planning and project implementation, 
redevelopment, and resilience.
  This bill would establish a dedicated Office of Disaster Recovery and 
Resilience at EDA to coordinate the Agency's post-disaster economic 
recovery activities, create a disaster team for the deployment of 
individuals to carry out such activities after a disaster or emergency 
declaration, and require 100 Percent Federal cost share for major 
disaster recovery projects.
  EDA currently serves as the coordinating Agency for the Economic 
Recovery Support Function, ERSF, under the Federal Government's 
National Disaster Recovery Framework, NDRF. In this capacity, EDA 
provides leadership, coordination, and oversight for primary and 
support Agencies for the provision of grants, loans, training, and 
other forms of assistance to support economic recovery efforts in 
disaster-impacted communities and regions.
  Congress has relied on the Agency to implement economic recovery 
activities since the 1990s, providing a total of $3.2 billion in 
supplemental funding for EDA's disaster relief and economic resiliency 
efforts for natural disasters--most recently in calendar years 2017, 
2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. The Agency also received billion in 
additional funding tor COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts.
  Yet, EDA's role in disaster assistance has never been formalized. 
Having a dedicated bureau or office to direct and implement the 
economic recovery support function activities of the Agency could 
expedite deployment of resources and improve service delivery to 
communities by retaining institutional knowledge that can translate 
between communities, preserving leadership at the Agency, and deploying 
staff and funds more rapidly.
  I thank Senator Boozman for introducing this important legislation 
with me in the Senate. I hope all of our colleagues will join us in 
supporting this bill for the long-term economic strength and resilience 
of our communities.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Booker, Mr. Lee, 
        Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Lummis, Ms. 
        Baldwin, and Mr. Brown):
  S. 2788. A bill to amend section 3661 of title 18, United States 
Code, to prohibit the consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam 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. 2788

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


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S4443, September 13, 2023, first column, the following 
appears: S. 2788. A bill to amend section 3661 of title 18, United 
States Code, to prohibit the consideration of acquitted conduct at 
sentencing; to the Committee on the Judiciary. S. 2788 Be it 
enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: S. 2788. A bill to 
amend section 3661 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 
the consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. DURBIN. Madam 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. 2788 Be it enacted by 
the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled,


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibiting Punishment of 
     Acquitted Conduct Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. ACQUITTED CONDUCT AT SENTENCING.

       (a) Use of Information for Sentencing.--
       (1) Amendment.--Section 3661 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting ``, except that a court of the 
     United States shall not consider, except for purposes of 
     mitigating a sentence, acquitted conduct under this section'' 
     before the period at the end.
       (2) Applicability.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
     shall apply only to a judgment entered on or after the date 
     of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Definitions.--Section 3673 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``As'' and inserting the following:
       ``(a) As''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) As used in this chapter, the term `acquitted conduct' 
     means--
       ``(1) an act--
       ``(A) for which a person was criminally charged and 
     adjudicated not guilty after trial in a Federal, State, or 
     Tribal court; or
       ``(B) in the case of a juvenile, that was charged and for 
     which the juvenile was found not responsible after a juvenile 
     adjudication hearing; or
       ``(2) any act underlying a criminal charge or juvenile 
     information dismissed--
       ``(A) in a Federal court upon a motion for acquittal under 
     rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; or
       ``(B) in a State or Tribal court upon a motion for 
     acquittal or an analogous motion under the applicable State 
     or Tribal rule of criminal procedure.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Blumenthal, and 
        Mr. Booker):
  S. 2794. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to make 
fraudulent dealings in firearms and ammunition unlawful, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I rise today to address a continuing 
concern: the online sale of firearms using deceptive and misleading 
means. It simply continues to be too easy for individuals to evade 
existing restrictions and buy firearms through online platforms. This 
behavior endangers us all.
  Companies like Facebook have taken important steps by banning the 
sale of firearms on their websites. However, despite these efforts, the 
online sale of firearms continues to persist as a significant problem. 
Disturbingly, between April and June 2020 alone, Facebook had to remove 
a staggering 1.3 million pieces of content related to firearms from its 
platform.
  One of the primary challenges we face is that sellers are employing 
new tactics to circumvent online sales restrictions for firearms. They 
resort to posting listings for firearms under deceptive names such as 
``stickers'' to evade detection.
  I am proud to once again introduce legislation that addresses this 
issue head-on. My Stopping the Fraudulent Sales of Firearms Act aims to 
establish a Federal crime for the sale of firearms online through 
fraudulent representations. Specifically, it targets the deceptive 
marketing of firearms as seemingly innocuous items like ``stickers.'' 
These practices undermine the safety and security of our communities 
and must be met with swift and robust consequences. I thank my 
colleagues Senators Booker, Blumenthal, and Menendez for joining me in 
this effort.
  We must act decisively to address the persistent problem of 
uncontrolled online firearms sales and ensure that our laws keep pace 
with evolving practices. By passing this legislation, we can 
demonstrate our commitment to protecting the public and preventing 
firearms from falling into the wrong hands. I urge my colleagues to 
support this bill and join me in safeguarding our communities from the 
dangers posed by deceptive online firearm sales.

                          ____________________