[House Report 110-70]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     110-70

======================================================================
 
   TO DESIGNATE THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMHOUSE BUILDING LOCATED AT 31 
  GONZALEZ CLEMENTE AVENUE IN MAYAGUEZ, PUERTO RICO, AS THE ``RAFAEL 
          MARTINEZ NADAL UNITED STATES CUSTOMHOUSE BUILDING''

                                _______
                                

   March 26, 2007.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Oberstar, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1019]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 1019) to designate the United 
States customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente 
Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as the ``Rafael Martinez Nadal 
United States Customhouse Building'', having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend 
that the bill do pass.

                       PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

    H.R. 1019 designates the United States Customhouse Building 
located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto 
Rico, as the ``Rafael Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse 
Building''.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Although Don Rafael Martinez Nadal was born in the city of 
Mayaguez on April 22, 1877, he resided and passed away in 
Guaynabo. After his parents passed away when he was a child, 
Martinez Nadal went to live with relatives in the mountainous 
town of Maricao, where he began his early school work. He 
received his college degree in Philosophy and Letters in the 
Provincial Institute of Secondary Education in San Juan. At the 
age of 16, he went to Barcelona, Spain, to study law. A short 
time after beginning his legal coursework, he moved to Paris in 
search of additional coursework. He returned to Barcelona and 
opened several businesses, which were not successful.
    On August 13, 1904, he returned to Mayaguez and began 
studying agriculture, particularly coffee growing. 
Simultaneously, he began his first successful attempts in the 
media and politics with the Puerto Rican Republican Party. In 
1908, he founded the political newspaper El Combate. In 1912, 
he obtained his law degree, and became one of the most 
prominent men of the Puerto Rican political arena. He was 
considered one of the most famous criminal lawyers of the time. 
The song ``The Court Shook, the public prosecutor shook; the 
judges shook when Martinez Nadal rose'' is still sung in Puerto 
Rico when evoking his illustrious name.
    In 1914, he was elected as a member of the Chamber of 
Delegates for the city of Ponce by the Puerto Rican Republican 
Party. In 1920 he was chosen by the same party to serve in the 
Senate and was reelected in the next five general elections. 
When the alliance of the Union of Puerto Rico Party and the 
Puerto Rican Republican Party formed in 1924, Martinez Nadal 
left the Republican Party and initiated a political movement 
called the Pure Republican Party, which registered officially 
as the Historical Constitutional Party. Later he founded the 
Republican Union, working to advance the ideal of statehood for 
Puerto Rico. In coalition with the Socialist Party, the 
Republican Union triumphed in the general elections of 1932 and 
1936. In both terms, Martinez Nadal presided over the Senate. 
He died on July 6, 1941.
    His literary and journalistic papers are compiled in the 
book Tempraneras. He also published the novels La hoguera and 
Cuando el amor muere.
    In honor of Rafael Martinez Nadal's outstanding 
contributions to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and his 
exemplary professional writing career, it is both fitting and 
proper to designate the U.S. customhouse building located at 31 
Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as the 
``Rafael Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse Building''.

                       SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Designation

    Section 1 designates the U.S. customhouse building located 
at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as the 
``Rafael Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse Building''.

Section 2. References

    Section 2 declares that any reference in law, map, 
regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 
States to the United States customhouse building referred to in 
section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Rafael 
Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse Building''.

            LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On March 1, 2007, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session and ordered the bill 
reported favorably to the House by voice vote.

                              RECORD VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the House of Representatives 
requires each committee report to include the total number of 
votes cast for and against on each record vote on a motion to 
report and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, 
and the names of those members voting for and against. There 
were no recorded votes taken in connection with ordering H.R. 
1019 reported. A motion to order H.R. 1019 reported favorably 
to the House was agreed to by voice vote with a quorum present.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(I) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

                          COST OF LEGISLATION

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the 
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is 
included in this report.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(2) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee 
references the report of the Congressional Budget Office 
included in the report.
    2. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goals and objective of this legislation are to 
designate the United States customhouse building located at 31 
Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as the 
``Rafael Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse Building''.
    3. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the 
Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1019 
from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, March 5, 2007.
Hon. James L. Oberstar,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed the following bills as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 1, 
2007:
           H.R. 753, a bill to redesignate the federal 
        building located at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, 
        Tennessee, as the ``Clifford Davis and Odell Horton 
        Federal Building'';
           H.R. 1045, a bill to designate the federal 
        building located at 210 Walnut Street in Des Moines, 
        Iowa, as the ``Neal Smith Federal Building'';
           H.R. 1019, a bill to designate the United 
        States customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez 
        Clemente Avenue in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, as the 
        ``Rafael Martinez Nadal United States Customhouse 
        Building'';
           H.R. 735, a bill to designate the federal 
        building under construction at 799 First Avenue in New 
        York, New York, as the ``Ronald H. Brown United States 
        Mission to the United Nations Building''; and
           H.R. 1138, a bill to designate the federal 
        building and United States courthouse located at 306 
        East Main Street in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as 
        the ``J. Herbert W. Small Federal Building and United 
        States Courthouse.''
    CBO estimates that enactment of these bills would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget and would not affect 
direct spending or revenues. These bills contain no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments. If you wish further 
details on this estimate, we will be pleased to provide them. 
The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                           Peter R. Orszag,
                                                          Director.

                     COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XXI

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, H.R. 1019 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause (3)(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, committee reports on a bill or 
joint resolution of a public character shall include a 
statement citing the specific powers granted to the Congress in 
the Constitution to enact the measure. The Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure finds that Congress has the 
authority to enact this measure pursuant to its powers granted 
under article I, section 8 of the Constitution.

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (Public Law 104-4).

                        PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint 
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the 
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, 
or tribal law. The Committee states that H.R. 1019 does not 
preempt any state, local, or tribal law.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this 
legislation.

                APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 1019 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  
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