[Senate Report 115-300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 513
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-300
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21ST CENTURY RESPECT ACT
_______
July 12, 2018.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 995]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (H.R. 995) to direct the Secretary of
Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to modernize
terms in certain regulations, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with amendments and an amendment to
the title and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
AMENDMENTS
The amendments are as follows:
On page 2, strike lines 14 through 16 and insert the
following:
(b) Administrator of General Services.--The Administrator
of General Services shall amend section 906.2 of title 36, Code
of Federal Regulations, for purposes of--
On page 2, lines 20 and 21, strike ``a person'' and insert
``an individual''.
On page 3, line 7, strike ``Secretary of the Interior'' and
insert ``Administrator of General Services''.
Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to direct the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of General
Services to modernize terms in certain regulations.''
PURPOSE
The purpose of H.R. 995 is to direct the Secretary of
Agriculture and the Administrator of General Services to
modernize terms in certain regulations.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
H.R. 995 directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Administrator of General Services to amend certain sections of
the Code of Federal Regulations.
Some decades-old statutes and regulations contain terms
that are now considered inappropriate or even offensive. Public
Law 114-157 removed inappropriate ethnic terms related to
minorities found in the Office of Minority Economic Impact of
the Department of Energy (42 U.S.C. 7141) and section 106 of
the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act
of 1976 (Minority Business Enterprises, 42 U.S.C. 6705).
H.R. 995 would make similar changes to terms found in
certain regulations of the Department of Agriculture and the
General Services Administration, in order to update the
terminology to reflect modern day language.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 995 was introduced in the House of Representatives by
Rep. Jeffries on February 9, 2017, and referred to the
Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture. The Natural
Resources Committee favorably reported H.R. 995, as amended (H.
Rept. 115-427, Part I), on November 28, 2017, and the
Agriculture Committee discharged H.R. 995 on the same day. On
November 28, 2017, H.R. 995 passed the House of Representatives
by voice vote.
The Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and
Mining conducted a hearing on H.R. 995 on February 7, 2018.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on May 17, 2018, and ordered H.R. 995
favorably reported as amended.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on May 17, 2018, by majority voice vote
of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 995,
if amended as described herein.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
During its consideration of H.R. 995, the Committee adopted
an amendment to task the Administrator of General Services,
instead of the Secretary of the Interior, with amending the
regulations of the former Pennsylvania Avenue Development
Corporation. The amendment is needed to reflect the fact that
Congress vested responsibility for amending the Pennsylvania
Avenue Development Corporation regulations in the
Administrator, rather than the Secretary, when it terminated
the Corporation in 1996 (Public Law 104-99). In addition, the
Committee adopted an amendment to strike the term `a person'
and replace with an `individual' in the definition of the term
`Black or African American' in the Corporation's regulation in
order to conform to the usage in the other definitions of
minority groups in the regulation.
The Committee also adopted an amendment to the title to
reflect the amendments to the text of the bill adopted by the
Committee.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides the short title.
Section 2. Amendments to regulations required
Subsection (a) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to
amend the regulations of the Farmers Home Administration (now
USDA Rural Development) relating to nondiscrimination by
recipients of financial assistance, which are codified in
section 1901.202 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR
1901.202), to update terminology used to describe the racial
background or place of origin of certain individuals.
Subsection (b) directs the Administrator of General
Services to amend the regulations of the Pennsylvania Avenue
Development Corporation defining terms relating to minority
groups, as codified in section 906.2 of title 36, Code of
Federal Regulations (36 CFR 906.2), to update terminology used
to describe the racial background or place of origin of certain
individuals.
Section 3. Rule of construction
Section 3 clarifies that nothing in this Act shall be
construed to affect Federal law, except with respect to the use
of terms by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator
of General Services, respectively, to the regulations affected
by this Act.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 995 would amend the Code of Federal Regulations to
modernize terms that refer to certain minority and ethnic
groups. CBO estimates that implementing the proposed changes
would not significantly affect federal spending.
H.R. 995 would not affect direct spending or revenues;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 995 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 995 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On November 21, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act, as ordered reported by
the House Committee on Natural Resources on November 8, 2017.
The two versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO's
estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Direct for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out H.R. 995. The bill is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of H.R. 995 as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
H.R. 995, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the Department of Agriculture at
the February 7, 2018, hearing on H.R. 995 follows:
Statement of Glenn Casamassa Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest
System U.S. Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture
Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Wyden, members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the
views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding
H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act. I am Glenn Casamassa,
Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System (NFS),
USDA Forest Service.
H.R. 995 affects USDA's Rural Development agency. It would,
in part, direct the Secretary of Agriculture to amend section
1901.202 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations to change the
terminology used to describe the racial background or place of
origin of people in regulations concerning USDA programs for
financing and insuring loans for properties in rural areas
managed by USDA's Rural Development agency.
USDA supports H.R. 995. USDA strives to ensure that each
and every employee and customer feels valued and respected and
that everyone enjoys a positive experience whether working for
or with USDA. These changes align with this effort, and our
first strategic goal, to ``ensure USDA programs are delivered
efficiently, effectively, and with integrity and a focus on
customer service''.
We defer to Department of Interior for their views on
pertinent sections of H.R. 995.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on this
bill.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the H.R. 995 as ordered
reported.
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