[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.
____________________