[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 176 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1083-D1087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 27 public bills, H.R. 6040-
6066; and 5 resolutions, H. Res. 810-814, were introduced. 
                                                         Pages H5103-05
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages H5107-08
Reports Filed: Reports were filed today as follows:
  H.R. 3369, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Communications and Information to conduct a study and hold public 
meetings with respect to artificial intelligence systems, and for other 
purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-244);
  H.R. 3309, to amend the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act 
of 2012 to establish a uniform fee schedule applicable to the 
processing of forms for the consideration of applications for the 
placement of communications facilities on certain buildings and

[[Page D1084]]

other property owned by the Federal Government, and for other purposes 
(H. Rept. 118-245, Part 1);
  H.R. 3838, to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to 
reauthorize Federal support of States in their work to save and sustain 
the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum 
period, to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes for 
pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths, to identify 
solutions to improve health care quality and health outcomes for 
mothers, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-246);
  H.R. 3821, to reauthorize the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2018 
(H. Rept. 118-247);
  H.R. 3343, to require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Communications and Information to submit to Congress a plan for the 
Assistant Secretary to track the acceptance, processing, and disposal 
of certain Form 299s, and for other purposes (H. Rept. 118-248);
  H.R. 4510, to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, to update the mission and functions of the 
agency, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-249);
  H.R. 1105, to amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 
to reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, and for 
other purposes (H. Rept. 118-250);
  H.R. 3581, to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the 
family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to 
include services related to mental health and neurological disorders, 
and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-251);
  H.R. 4259, to amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
to require notification with respect to individualized education 
program teams, and for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-
252);
  H.J. Res. 88, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 
of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department 
of Education relating to ``Improving Income Driven Repayment for the 
William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family 
Education Loan (FFEL) Program'' (H. Rept. 118-253);
  H.R. 4957, to apply the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform 
Act of 1998 to a vacancy in the office of the Secretary of Labor, and 
for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-254); and
  H.R. 5349, to develop and disseminate a civic education curriculum 
and oral history resources regarding certain political ideologies, and 
for other purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 118-255).    
Page H5103
Guest Chaplain: The prayer was offered by the Guest Chaplain, Reverend 
Jeremy Leganski, Immaculate Conception Church, Elmhurst, IL. 
                                                             Page H5047
Call of the House: Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XX, Representative Bost 
moved a call of the House. Accordingly, Members were counted and the 
Chair announced that 429 Members being counted, a quorum was present, 
Roll No. 526.                                            
  Pages H5047-48
Election of Speaker: The House resumed proceedings from Tuesday, 
October 17th, Wednesday, October 18th, and Friday, October 20th. The 
House conducted an additional vote to elect a Speaker, from which a 
majority was ascertained, and a Speaker was elected. During the final 
vote for Speaker, the Honorable Mike Johnson (LA) received 220 votes 
and the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries received 209 votes, Roll No. 527. The 
Honorable Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected Speaker of the House of 
Representatives. On Tuesday, October 17th, the Chair appointed 
Representatives Steil, Morelle, Loudermilk, and Sewell to act as 
Tellers.                                                 
  Pages H5048-49
Escort Committee: The Chair appointed the following committee to escort 
the Speaker-elect to the Chair: Representatives Scalise, Emmer, 
Stefanik, Hudson, Palmer, McClain, McCarthy, Donalds, Hern, Bergman, 
Rodgers, Arrington, Fallon, Molinaro, Cammack, Jeffries, Clark (MA), 
Aguilar, Lieu, DelBene, Clyburn, Neguse, Escobar, Underwood, Wasserman 
Schultz, Lee, Kildee, Jacobs, Crockett; and the members of the 
Louisiana delegation: Representatives Graves, Higgins, Letlow, and 
Carter.                                                  
  Pages H5049-50
Administration of the Oath of Office to the Speaker: The Dean of the 
House, the Honorable Hal Rogers, administered the oath of office to the 
Speaker.                                                     
  Page H5052
Notify the Senate of the Election of the Speaker: The House agreed to 
H. Res. 810, to inform the Senate of the election of the Speaker. 
                                                             Page H5053
Notify the President of the Election of the Speaker: The House agreed 
to H. Res. 811, authorizing the Clerk to inform the President of the 
election of the Speaker.                                     
  Page H5053
Policies of the Chair: The Chair announced that the Speaker's announced 
policies with respect to particular aspects of the legislative process 
placed in the Record on January 9, 2023, will continue in effect for 
the remainder of the 118th Congress.                         
  Page H5053

[[Page D1085]]

Speaker Pro Tempore: The Chair announced that the Speaker delivered to 
the Clerk a letter dated October 25, 2023, listing Members in the order 
in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore under clause 8(b)(3) of 
rule 1.                                                      
  Page H5053
Succession of the Speaker of the House: Read a letter from the Speaker 
wherein he designated Representative Scalise to exercise authority 
regarding any assembly, reassembly, or reconvening.          
  Page H5053
Speaker Pro Tempore Designations: Read a letter from the Speaker 
wherein he appointed Representative McHenry, Representative Smith (NE), 
Representative Harris, Representative Reschenthaler, Representative 
Wittman, Representative Cline, Representative Hudson, and 
Representative Joyce (PA) to act as Speaker pro tempore to sign 
enrolled bills and joint resolutions through the remainder of the One 
Hundred Eighteenth Congress.                                 
  Page H5053
Recess: The House recessed at 2:49 p.m. and reconvened at 3:31 p.m. 
                                                             Page H5053
Suspensions: The House agreed to suspend the rules and pass the 
following measure: Standing with Israel as it defends itself against 
the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists: H. Res. 771, 
standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war 
launched by Hamas and other terrorists, by a \2/3\ yea-and-nay vote of 
412 yeas to 10 nays with six answering ``present'', Roll No. 528. 
                                                         Pages H5053-64
Extension of Time: Agreed by unanimous consent that debate on H. Res. 
771 be extended by 10 minutes on each side.                  
  Page H5054
Committee Resignation: Read a letter from Representative Johnson (LA) 
wherein he resigned from the Committee on Armed Services.    
  Page H5064
Committee Resignation: Read a letter from Representative Johnson (LA) 
wherein he resigned from the Committee on the Judiciary and the House 
Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal 
Government.                                                  
  Page H5064
  Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2024: The House considered H.R. 4394, making appropriations for energy 
and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2024. Consideration is expected to resume tomorrow, 
October 26th.                                                
  Page H5066
  Pursuant to the Rule, the amendment printed in part A of H. Rept. 
118-242 shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the 
Committee of the Whole.                                  
Pages H5071-83
Agreed to:
  Fleischmann amendment en bloc No. 1 consisting of the following 
amendments printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242: Lawler (No. 1) that 
increases and decreases funding for the Army Corps of Engineers by $1 
million with the intent to direct the Secretary to ensure that the New 
York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study 
(HATS) complies with the Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA) of 
2020 and 2022; Molinaro (No. 2) that increase/decrease amendment to 
highlight the importance of shoreline and flood management along the 
Hudson River; Graves (LA) (No. 4) that increases and decreases the Army 
Corps-Civil Works Construction budget by $1.746 billion to direct the 
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to prioritize the 
completion of overbudget projects originally ``fully funded'' by the 
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018; Molinaro (No. 5) that increase/decrease 
amendment to highlight the importance of shoreline and flood management 
along the Susquehanna River; Phillips (No. 6) that increases and 
decreases funding for the Army Corps of Engineers Operation and 
Maintenance account by $3 million to provide funding for the 
implementation of Section 11207 of the FY 2023 NDAA regarding the 
establishment of an Aqua Alert notification system pilot program; 
Moylan (No. 7) that includes Typhoons on same basis as Hurricanes; 
Lawler (No. 8) that increases and decreases funding for Flood Control 
and Coastal Emergencies with the intent to direct the Secretary to 
implement disaster response to assist the communities impacted by 
recent flooding in New York as soon as possible; Moylan (No. 9) that 
increases funding for flood control and coastal emergencies with 
offsets; Boebert (No. 10) that transfers $1 million from Departmental 
Administration Account to the Upper Colorado River Basin Development 
Fund for Colorado River Dam Fund to increase water storage; Boebert 
(No. 11) that transfers funds from Departmental Administration Account 
to the Colorado River Storage Project to help combat drought in the 
West; Fallon (No. 17) that increases and decreases funding for the 
Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and 
Emergency Response by $5,000,000 to prioritize critical infrastructure 
programs such as CyTRICS and Consequence-driven Cyber-informed 
Engineering (CCE); Walberg (No. 18) that increases and decreases 
funding for the Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy 
Security, and Emergency Response with the intent to direct the Director 
to prioritize the testing, analysis, certification, and integration 
applicability of commercially available non-certificate and non-public

[[Page D1086]]

key infrastructure based advanced cyber security software to secure the 
Electrical Power Grid from internal and external unauthorized access 
and attacks; Peltola (No. 21) that increases and decreases by $3 
million the Department of Energy Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan 
Guarantee Program to provide loan guarantees in support of the Alaska 
Natural Gas Pipeline; Jackson (No. 23) that brings funding for the HE 
Synthesis, Formulation, and Production facility at the Pantex Plant 
into accordance with the House-passed NDA; and Lawler (No. 33) that 
increases and decreases funding for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
with the intent to direct the Commissioner to ensure coordination with 
federal, state, local, and public stakeholders to explore alternatives 
to disposing of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River from 
Indian Point Energy Center;                                  
Page H5083
  Neguse amendment (No. 13 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that 
increases the Water and Related Resources Account by $500,000, to be 
directed to the Endangered Species Recovery Implementation Program 
(Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins);                  
Page H5085
  Cammack amendment (No. 34 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that 
prohibits funds from being used to finalize any rule or regulation that 
has resulted in or is likely to result in an annual effect on the 
economy of $100 million or more; and                         
Page H5083
  Fallon amendment (No. 35 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that 
prohibits any funding to be used to finalize, implement, or enforce the 
proposed rule titled, ``Energy Conservation Program: Energy 
Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces.''              
Page H5083
Proceedings Postponed:
  Perry (No. 3 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce the funding for Army Corps of Engineers--Civil; Investigations 
by $715,000 for the purpose of eliminating funding for the Delaware 
River Basin Commission;                                      
Page H5084
  Neguse (No. 12 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
increase the Water and Related Resources Account by $1 million to be 
directed to the Colorado River Compliance Activities account, 
specifically for the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Endangered Fish 
Recovery programs;                                       
Pages H5085-86
  Westerman (No. 14 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks 
to reduce funding for the Bureau of Reclamation Policy and 
Administration to Fiscal Year 2022 levels consistent with the Limit, 
Save, Grow Act;                                          
Pages H5086-87
  Griffith (No. 15 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
increase funds for the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management program 
within the Department of Energy by $600 million and reduces funds for 
the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program by $1.1 billion; 
                                                         Pages H5087-88
  Roy (No. 16 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
eliminate funding for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 
Energy;                                                  
Pages H5088-89
  Perry (No. 19 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
strike funding for Clean Energy Demonstrations;          
Pages H5089-90
  Norman (No. 20 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
eliminate funding ($470,000,000) for Advanced Research Projects 
Agency--Energy;                                          
Pages H5090-92
  Perry (No. 25 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce the funding level in this bill for the Appalachian Regional 
Commission to FY19 levels;                               
Pages H5092-93
  Perry (No. 26 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce the funding level for the Delta Regional Commission to the FY19 
level;                                                   
Pages H5093-94
  Perry (No. 27 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce funding for the Denali Commission to FY19 levels;     
Page H5094
  Perry (No. 28 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
eliminate funding for the Denali Commission ($17 million); 
                                                         Pages H5094-95
  Perry (No. 29 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission to FY19 
levels;                                                      
Page H5095
  Perry (No. 30 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
reduce funding for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission to FY19 
level;                                                   
Pages H5095-96
  Perry (No. 31 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
cut funding for the Southwest Border Regional Commission in half; and 
                                                         Pages H5096-97
  Perry (No. 32 printed in part B of H. Rept. 118-242) that seeks to 
cut the funding for the Great Lakes Authority in half.        
Page 5097
  H. Res. 756, the rule providing for consideration of the bills (H.R. 
4394) and (H.R. 4364) was agreed to on Tuesday, October 3rd.
Meeting Hour: Agreed by unanimous consent that when the House adjourns 
today, it adjourn to meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, October 26th. 
                                                             Page H5100
Presidential Messages: Read a message from the President wherein he 
notified Congress that the national emergency declared with respect to 
significant narcotics traffickers centered in Columbia is to continue 
in effect beyond October 21, 2023--referred to

[[Page D1087]]

the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered printed (H. Doc. 118-70). 
                                                             Page H5065
  Read a message from the President wherein he notified Congress that 
the national emergency declared with respect to the situation in or in 
relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo is to continue in 
effect beyond October 27, 2023--referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs and ordered printed (H. Doc. 118-71).                
Page H5065
Senate Referrals: S. 2854 was held at the desk. S. 2231 was held at the 
desk. S.J. Res. 32 was held at the desk.                     
  Page H5064
Senate Messages: Messages received from the Senate by the Clerk and 
subsequently presented to the House today appear on pages H5064.
Quorum Calls--Votes: One yea-and-nay vote and one quorum call, Roll No. 
527, developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages 
H5049.
Adjournment: The House met at 12 p.m. and adjourned at 8:49 p.m.