[House Report 114-772]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                     {      114-772

======================================================================



 
      R.E. THOMASON FEDERAL BUILDING AND UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

                                _______
                                

 September 20, 2016.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5873]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 5873) to designate the Federal 
building and United States courthouse located at 511 East San 
Antonio Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as the ``R.E. Thomason 
Federal Building and United States Courthouse'', having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment 
and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose of Legislation...........................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Legislative History and Consideration............................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     3
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     4
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     4
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     4
Federal Mandate Statement........................................     4
Preemption Clarification.........................................     4
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     4
Applicability of Legislative Branch..............................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis of Legislation.......................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     5

                         PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION

    H.R. 5873 designates the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, 
Texas, as the ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United 
States Courthouse''.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 5873 designates the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, 
Texas, as the ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United 
States Courthouse''.
    The Honorable Robert Ewing Thomason served as a judge on 
the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas from 
1947 until his death in 1973. He was nominated to the bench by 
President Harry S. Truman. Prior to his appointment, he served 
as a United States Representative from the state of Texas from 
1931 to 1947. Prior to that, he was Mayor of El Paso, Texas. 
Judge Thomason also served as a Texas state representative from 
1917 to 1921 and as Speaker from 1920 to 1921.
    Earlier in his career, he was in the private practice of 
law and served as District Attorney for Cooke County, Texas.
    He received his bachelor's degree from Southwestern 
University and his law degree from the University of Texas 
School of Law.

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were held on H.R. 5873.

                 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND CONSIDERATION

    On July 14, 2016, Representative Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) 
introduced H.R. 5873, a bill to designate the Federal building 
and United States courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio 
Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as the ``R.E. Thomason Federal 
Building and United States Courthouse''.
    On September 14, 2016 the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session. The Committee ordered the 
bill reported favorably to the House by voice vote with a 
quorum present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules 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 record votes taken in connection 
with consideration of H.R. 5873.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    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.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    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. 5873 from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 16, 2016.
Hon. Bill Shuster,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed the following bills ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on September 14, 
2016:
           H.R. 5011, a bill to designate the Federal 
        building and United States courthouse located at 300 
        Fannin Street in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the ``Tom 
        Stagg United States Courthouse''; and
           H.R. 5873, a bill to designate the Federal 
        building and United States courthouse located at 511 
        East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as the 
        ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United States 
        Courthouse.''
    CBO estimates that enacting the bills would have no 
significant effect on the federal budget and would not affect 
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures do not apply.
    CBO also estimates that enacting the bills would not 
increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of 
the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    The 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,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                          Director.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goal and objective of this legislation is to 
designate the Federal building and United States courthouse 
located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, Texas, as 
the ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United States 
Courthouse''.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee is required to include a list 
of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. No 
provision in the bill includes an earmark, limited tax benefit, 
or limited tariff benefit under clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of 
rule XXI.

                    DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to section 3(g) of H. Res. 5, 114th Cong. (2015), 
the Committee finds that no provision of H.R. 5873 establishes 
or reauthorizes a program of the federal government known to be 
duplicative of another federal program, a program that was 
included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-
139, or a program related to a program identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

    Pursuant to section 3(i) of H. Res. 5, 114th Cong. (2015), 
the Committee finds that enacting H.R. 5873 does not direct the 
completion of a specific rule making within the meaning of 
section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

                       FEDERAL MANDATE 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. 5873 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 OF 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).

         SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION, AS AMENDED

Section 1. Designation

    Section 1 designates the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 511 East San Antonio Avenue in El Paso, 
Texas, as the ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United 
States Courthouse''.

Section 2. References

    Section 2 deems any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
Federal building referred to in subsection (a) as a reference 
to the ``R.E. Thomason Federal Building and United States 
Courthouse''.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 5873 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  [all]