[House Report 118-7]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                            ( Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session   }                                            { 118-7

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

 
 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 140) TO AMEND TITLE 5, 
 UNITED STATES CODE, TO PROHIBIT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FROM ADVOCATING FOR 
  CENSORSHIP OF VIEWPOINTS IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITY, AND FOR OTHER 
  PURPOSES; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE JOINT RESOLUTION (H.J. 
  RES. 27) PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF 
TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF 
      THE ARMY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THE 
  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY RELATING TO ``REVISED DEFINITION OF 
`WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES'''; AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE 
   BILL (S. 619) TO REQUIRE THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE TO 
  DECLASSIFY INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ORIGIN OF COVID-19, AND FOR 
                             OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

   March 7, 2023.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

               Mr. Massie, from the Committee on Rules, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 199]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 199, by a record vote of 9 to 3, report the 
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution 
be adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 140, the 
Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act, under a 
structured rule. The resolution waives all points of order 
against consideration of the bill. The resolution provides one 
hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the 
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight 
and Accountability or their respective designees. The 
resolution makes in order as original text for the purpose of 
amendment an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting 
of the text of Rules Committee Print 118-1 and provides that it 
shall be considered as read. The resolution waives all points 
of order against the amendment in the nature of a substitute to 
H.R. 140. The resolution further makes in order only those 
amendments printed in this report. Each such amendment may be 
offered only in the order printed in this report, may be 
offered only by a Member designated in this report, shall be 
considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified 
in this report equally divided and controlled by the proponent 
and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall 
not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the 
House or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order 
against the amendments are waived. The resolution provides one 
motion to recommit. The resolution further provides for 
consideration of H.J. Res. 27, providing for congressional 
disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of 
the rule submitted by the Department of the Army, Corps of 
Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental 
Protection Agency relating to ``Revised Definition of `Waters 
of the United States''', under a closed rule. The resolution 
waives all points of order against consideration of the joint 
resolution. The resolution provides one hour of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure or their respective designees. The resolution 
provides that the joint resolution shall be considered as read. 
The resolution waives all points of order against provisions in 
the joint resolution. The resolution provides one motion to 
recommit. The resolution further provides for consideration of 
S. 619, the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, under a closed rule. 
The resolution waives all points of order against consideration 
of the bill. The resolution provides one hour of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence or their respective designees. The resolution 
provides that the bill shall be considered as read. The 
resolution waives all points of order against provisions in the 
bill. Section 4 of the resolution provides that section 7 of 
the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546) shall not apply to a 
concurrent resolution introduced during the first session of 
the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress pursuant to section 5 of 
the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544) with respect to 
Syria. Section 5 provides that if a veto message is laid before 
the House on House Joint Resolution 30, then after the message 
is read and the objections of the President are spread at large 
upon the Journal, further consideration of the veto message and 
the joint resolution shall be postponed until the legislative 
day of March 23, 2023; and on that legislative day, the House 
shall proceed to the constitutional question of reconsideration 
and dispose of such question without intervening motion.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    The waiver of all points of order against consideration of 
H.R. 140 includes a waiver of clause 3(e) of rule XIII, which 
requires the inclusion of a comparative print for a bill or 
joint resolution proposing to repeal or amend a statute.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 140, the 
Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waiver is 
prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendments printed in this report, the Committee is not 
aware of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in 
nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of H.J. Res. 27, the Committee is not aware of 
any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
provisions in H.J. Res. 27, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
consideration of S. 619, the Committee is not aware of any 
points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
provisions in S. 619, the Committee is not aware of any points 
of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 17

    Motion by Mr. McGovern to amend the rule to make in order 
amendment #33 to H.R. 140, offered by Representative Escobar, 
which would ensure that the bill will not prevent any federal 
employee from alerting or working with a private entity to 
remove manifestos and/or livestream videos of mass shooters as 
well as those of domestic and international terrorists from 
platforms. Defeated: 3-9

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler...............................          Nay   Ms. Scanlon.......................          Yea
Mrs. Fischbach..................................          Nay   Mr. Neguse........................  ............
Mr. Massie......................................          Nay   Ms. Leger Fernandez...............          Yea
Mr. Norman......................................          Nay
Mr. Roy.........................................          Nay
Mrs. Houchin....................................          Nay
Mr. Langworthy..................................          Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman..............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 18

    Motion by Mr. McGovern to amend the rule to make in order 
amendment #46 to H.R. 140, offered by Representative McGovern, 
which would ensure that nothing in this act will prohibit a 
federal employee from advocating against the banning of books 
(specifically, books on topics such as communities of color, 
the history of slavery and/or racism in the United States, and 
books with LGBTQI+ characters). Defeated: 3-9

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler...............................          Nay   Ms. Scanlon.......................          Yea
Mrs. Fischbach..................................          Nay   Mr. Neguse........................  ............
Mr. Massie......................................          Nay   Ms. Leger Fernandez...............          Yea
Mr. Norman......................................          Nay
Mr. Roy.........................................          Nay
Mrs. Houchin....................................          Nay
Mr. Langworthy..................................          Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman..............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 19

    Motion by Ms. Scanlon to amend the rule to make in order 
amendment #30 to H.R. 140, offered by Representative Schiff, 
which would create additional exceptions for employees engaging 
in lawful actions within their official capacity for the 
purpose of exercising legitimate law enforcement functions 
regarding activities to combat terrorism, incitement of 
violence, and acts of insurrection. Acts of terrorism include 
acts of domestic terrorism motivated by all forms of bigotry, 
including anti-AAPI hate, homophobia and transphobia, 
antisemitism, and white nationalism. Defeated: 3-9

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler...............................          Nay   Ms. Scanlon.......................          Yea
Mrs. Fischbach..................................          Nay   Mr. Neguse........................  ............
Mr. Massie......................................          Nay   Ms. Leger Fernandez...............          Yea
Mr. Norman......................................          Nay
Mr. Roy.........................................          Nay
Mrs. Houchin....................................          Nay
Mr. Langworthy..................................          Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman..............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 20

    Motion by Ms. Leger Fernandez to amend the rule to make in 
order amendment #35 to H.R. 140, offered by Representative 
Raskin, which would add an exception for federal employee 
action to prevent insurrectionary attacks on the U.S. Capitol 
and associated threats to Members of Congress, congressional 
staff, U.S. Capitol Police Officers, and other employees. 
Defeated: 3-9

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Nay   Mr. McGovern......................          Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler...............................          Nay   Ms. Scanlon.......................          Yea
Mrs. Fischbach..................................          Nay   Mr. Neguse........................  ............
Mr. Massie......................................          Nay   Ms. Leger Fernandez...............          Yea
Mr. Norman......................................          Nay
Mr. Roy.........................................          Nay
Mrs. Houchin....................................          Nay
Mr. Langworthy..................................          Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman..............................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 21

    Motion by Mr. Massie to report the rule. Adopted: 9-3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess.....................................          Yea   Mr. McGovern......................          Nay
Mr. Reschenthaler...............................          Yea   Ms. Scanlon.......................          Nay
Mrs. Fischbach..................................          Yea   Mr. Neguse........................  ............
Mr. Massie......................................          Yea   Ms. Leger Fernandez...............          Nay
Mr. Norman......................................          Yea
Mr. Roy.........................................          Yea
Mrs. Houchin....................................          Yea
Mr. Langworthy..................................          Yea
Mr. Cole, Chairman..............................          Yea
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

          SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 140 MADE IN ORDER

    1. Clyde (GA): Requires the Attorney General to submit an 
annual report to Congress evaluating the compliance of the 
Federal Government with the Protecting Free Speech from 
Government Interference Act. This amendment provides 
transparency and insight into any potential violations of the 
Act by government agencies or employees, and sunsets after 10 
years. (10 minutes)
    2. Comer (KY): Makes technical edits and adds a conforming 
clarification for the authorities of the Office of the Special 
Counsel to ensure that the Act's monetary civil penalties under 
new section 7382(c)(2) can be fully enforced. (10 minutes)
    3. Bishop (NC): Ensures that law enforcement can only take 
action against unlawful speech. (10 minutes)
    4. Foxx (NC): Ensures that federal employees entering into 
collective bargaining agreements using taxpayer funded time 
(Section 7131) are prohibited from engaging in censorship of 
private entities. (10 minutes)
    5. Good (VA), Brecheen (OK): Clarifies enforcement of 
obscene matters not protected by the First Amendment. (10 
minutes)
    6. Jackson Lee (TX): Strikes section 2(e). (10 minutes)
    7. Ogles (TN): Revises the disciplinary action consisting 
of removal, reduction in grade, debarment from federal 
employment for a period not to exceed 10 years, suspension, or 
reprimand. (10 minutes)
    8. Ogles (TN): Revises the civil penalty for senior 
government officials to be $50,000. (10 minutes)
    9. Rose (TN): Requires mandatory annual training on the 
requirements of the underlying bill. (10 minutes)
    10. Rose (TN): Adds a findings section that states that 
inspectors general should not less than annually for the next 
seven years publicly report the number of complaints and tips 
received, the number of investigations opened, and statistics 
on how investigations were managed and their disposition by 
that inspector general related to compliance with the 
underlying bill and the amendments made by the underlying bill. 
(10 minutes)

              TEXT OF AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 140 MADE IN ORDER

1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Clyde of Georgia or His 
                   Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 6, after line 16, insert the following and redesignate 
accordingly:
  ``(e) Report.--
          ``(1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this section, and annually 
        thereafter, the Attorney General, in consultation with 
        the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the 
        Office of Special Counsel, shall submit to the 
        committees of Congress described in subsection 
        (b)(2)(B) a report evaluating the compliance by the 
        Federal Government with this section, including a 
        description of any action by the head of an agency or 
        department in the executive branch to--
                  ``(A) consult with any third parties about 
                censorship by employees in the executive 
                branch; or
                  ``(B) engage in any activity prohibited under 
                this section.
          ``(2) Sunset.--This subsection shall terminate on the 
        date that is 10 years after the date of the enactment 
        of this subsection.''
                              ----------                              


 2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Comer of Kentucky or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 3, line 8, strike ``and'' and insert ``or''.
  Page 3, line 9, strike ``safeguarding, or preventing,'' and 
insert ``safeguard, or prevent''.
  Page 3, line 10, insert a comma after ``of''.
  Page 6, line 14, strike the semicolon and insert a period.
  Page 6, strike lines 15 and 16 and insert the following:
  ``(d) Enforcement.--
          ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2) and subsection (c)(2), this section shall be 
        enforced in the same manner as subchapter III of this 
        chapter.
          ``(2) Application.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, including section 1215(b), the 
        Special Counsel may, in lieu of sending a report to the 
        President under section 1215(b), seek civil monetary 
        penalties under subsection (c)(2) pursuant to section 
        1215(a). This paragraph shall not be construed to limit 
        or otherwise affect the President's authority to 
        enforce any disciplinary action against an employee 
        described under subsection (c)(2).''.
                              ----------                              


    3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Bishop of North 
           Carolina or His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 2, beginning on line 25, strike paragraph (1) and insert 
the following:
          ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section shall be 
        construed to prohibit an employee from engaging in 
        lawful actions against unlawful speech within the 
        official authority of such employee for the purpose of 
        exercising legitimate law enforcement functions.''.
  Page 3, line 15, after ``function'', insert ``under paragraph 
(1)''.
  Page 3, line 16, strike ``lawful'' and insert ``unlawful''.
  Page 3, line 17, strike ``but'' and all that follows through 
line 24 and insert the following: ``and consistent with 
subparagraph (D), the head of the agency that employs the 
employee shall submit, to the Office of Special Counsel and the 
chair and ranking member of the committees of Congress 
described under subparagraph (B), a report that includes--''.
  Page 5, after line 19, insert the following:
                  ``(D) Reporting requirements for certain 
                actions.--
                          ``(i) Any censorship action relating 
                        to combating child pornography and 
                        exploitation, human trafficking, or the 
                        illegal transporting of or transacting 
                        in controlled substances shall be 
                        exempt from the reporting requirement 
                        under this paragraph.
                          ``(ii) With respect to any censorship 
                        action related to safeguarding, or 
                        preventing the unlawful dissemination 
                        of, properly classified national 
                        security information, subparagraph (A) 
                        shall be applied by substituting `Not 
                        later than 72 hours after' for `Not 
                        later than 72 hours before'.''.
  Page 5, line 6, before ``and the'', insert ``the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence,''.
  Page 5, line 11, before ``and'', insert ``Select Committee on 
Intelligence,''.
  Page 7, line 14, strike ``and''.
  Page 7, beginning on line 16, strike ``Constitution.''.'' and 
insert ``Constitution; and''.
  Page 7, after line 17, insert the following:
          ``(5) the term `unlawful speech' means speech not 
        protected by the First Amendment of the 
        Constitution.''.
                              ----------                              


4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Foxx of North Carolina 
               or Her Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 2, line 19, strike ``; or'' and insert ``;''.
  Page 2, line 22, strike the period and insert ``; or''.
  Page 2, after line 22, insert the following:
                  ``(F) while the employee is engaged in 
                activities for which official time is 
                authorized under section 7131 of this title.''
                              ----------                              


5. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Good of Virginia or His 
                   Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 8, line 10, insert ``(including any action to enforce a 
Federal law or regulation addressing obscene matters)'' after 
``regulation''.
                              ----------                              


6. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Jackson Lee of Texas or 
                 Her Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Strike section 2(e).
                              ----------                              


 7. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Ogles of Tennessee or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 6, line 2, strike ``5'' and insert ``10''.
                              ----------                              


 8. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Ogles of Tennessee or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 6, line 9, strike ``$10,000'' and insert ``$50,000''.
                              ----------                              


 9. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Rose of Tennessee or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 6, after line 16, insert the following (and redesignate 
subsequent subsections):
  ``(e) Annual Training.--Not less than annually, the head of 
each employing agency shall provide mandatory training on this 
section and the requirements of this section to each agency 
employee.''.
                              ----------                              


 10. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Rose of Tennessee or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Add at the end the following new section:

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

  The Congress finds that inspectors general should not less 
than annually for the next seven years publicly report the 
number of complaints and tips received, the number of 
investigations opened, and statistics on how investigations 
were managed and their disposition by that inspector general 
related to compliance with this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act.