Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. House Of Representatives 20240712

Authorizing highway, bridge, aviation, and waterway projects. Members are working on 170 amendments. They plan to complete work on those amendments around midday today. That will be followed by a vote on final passage of the package. Live coverage now here on cspan. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Chaplain conroy let us pray. Loving god, thank you for giving day. Other we ask your continued protection empowerment of those who tend to the sick and those who medical solutions to this dangerous pandemic. The work of the house these last few days to votes. Wo upport for the department of agriculture. During these times Food Production and delivery and the many e been among challenges facing our nation. Whatever the particulars of this may it proceed through the legislative process ultimately help the benefit of all americans. We ask, also, your continued protection and empowerment of hose who live heroic lives during this time. Give them strength and their service. May all that is done this day be honor and eater glory, amen. The speaker pro tempore to section 4a of House Resolution 967, the journal of days proceedings is approved. The pledge of allegiance will be ed by the gentlewoman from delaware, ms. Blunt rochester. Rochester i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it tands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The speaker pro tempore the to 15 ill entertain up requests for oneminute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise . Mr. Cicilline mr. Speaker, i to addressus consent the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to honor a rhode island legend, the late former newport paul gaines sr. Torment ofonting the racial inequality and collectively working to repair the soul of america, paul gaines will be remembered as a trail lazer in the trailblazer in the fight for equal justice under law. Black mayor, he was a mentor, change maker who endeavor in every while leading with humility and integrity. When he died last thursday at 88, he left behind an enormous legacy. Activist, he built a remorial for a continental regiment thats best remembered for recruiting black soldiers to serve during the revolutionary war. In the recent years, he to ensuring work equality of opportunity, regardless of ones race, who hey are or where they came from. I offer my deepest sympathies to years, jo eva, and to the entire gaines family. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . To ask unanimous consent address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you. Vaca eaker, born in la ounty, texas, archer is a native to that Congressional District of texas. His 100th birthday. Thats not the only thing remarkable about arthur. 22, 1942, he pledged his service to the 88th division, 149th h, antry regimen, company otherwise known as the blue evils, to fight in world war ii. Arthurs service took him across the world. To morocco, rome. Joyful d a brief and reunion with his brother, hubert. Unnotice. E did not go his courageous fight earned him stars. Ronze general george c. Marshall once stated his first division, wildcats. Ght like mr. Cloud after his service, he stateside to haletsville, texas, and met his they raised ther six children. Arthurs service to others never ceased. Is life is marked with strength. Andre known their devotion kindheartedness. Happy birthday, arthur. God bless. You. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the entleman from oregon seek recognition . Mr. Blumenauer seek permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Blumenauer mr. Speaker, night after night, young people in portland, joined by thousands neighbors, gather to demand justice that black lives matter. Thousands are caught in the legacy of Richard Nixons that l war on drugs targeted young and especially lack people for selective enforcement. Too many are in jail or prison trivial olent, often offenses. Today, over 2 3 of americans and republicans of hink that cannabis should be legal. Lets pass the moore act with any of barbara lees marijuana justice provisions, already pproved by the justice committee. Stop discriminatory selective enforcement. Protect to finally young black americans from the discriminatory, enforcement on the war on drugs. Time to finally legalize marijuana. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The hat purpose does gentleman from south dakota seek recognition . Mr. Johnson i ask for unanimous onsent to address the body for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. R. Johnson on july 3, 1776, john adams expressed his belief that the signing of the declaration of independence be commemorated with pomp nd parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bon fires illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, forward for e forev forevermore. I think well check most of in southes this july 3 dakota and the beautiful black hills as President Trump is over to watch fireworks the incredible mount rushmore. Now, i know there is a lot of unrest in this country. Plenty ofday, theres political unrest in this chamber. Ut july 4 is a time for us to come together and secelebrate wt binds us together life, iberty, the pursuit of happiness. With that in mind and to honor a day that unites us as americans, speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on versight and government reform be discharged from further consideration of h. Res. 1036, i furthermore ask for its immediate consideration by the house. The speaker pro tempore under guidelines consistently issued by successive speakers, as recorded in section 956 of the rules and manual, the chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it by the cleared bipartisan floor and committee leaderships. Mr. Johnson well, i understand ruling. Kers but nevertheless, i want to wish the United States of america a birthday. And i yield back. Thank you, sir. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The hat purpose does gentlewoman from delaware seek recognition . Ms. Blunt rochester mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Lunt rochester speaker, i rise today in support moving forward act. This infrastructure bill invests roads, bridges, transit systems, schools, housing, clean so much more. And importantly, it will create oodpaying jobs, repair critical infrastructure, address the Climate Crisis, and create communities. Safer i am proud that this bill includes key provisions that i in congress, including repairing our Natural Gas Pipelines to prevent methane investing in our public buildings to make them more and y efficient, incentivizing our nations ports to reduce harmful emissions. Investments are a down payment on our nations future us they will indeed help move america forward. I urge my colleagues to join me n supporting the passage of h. R. 2. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The hat purpose does gentleman from washington seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous forent to address the house one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. You, mr. Use thank speaker. I rise to celebrate the united tatesmexicoCanada Agreement going into effect today and to ecognize the Important Role this critical trade agreement plays for my district in central washington. Washington state exports to canada and mexico billion. 11. 1 now due to the challenges of the economy, the r usmca is more vital than ever, freer markets, fairer trade, more Economic Opportunity in washington. Modernized trade agreement will promote the potential for in the sinesses to aid combroet and recover growth and recovery of our states provide nd it will expansion of equitable trade opportunities for many of central washingtons farmers and ranchers. The implementation of the usmca for the a crucial time american economy. I am proud to have supported this trade agreement on behalf people in central washington, particularly knowing that my will benefit at a time when they need it most. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Back. D the speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the entleman from new york seek recognition . Seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Higgins mr. Speaker, this afternoon the house will vote to approve a 1. 5 trillion transportation and infrastructure bill. American nationBuilding Program will be the largest in american history. Administration of 1930 spent nearly 700 todays dollars. This Building Program will more han double that investment, creating millions of jobs in the construction trades, jobs in the materials industry, and jobs in the engineering and Design Industries as well. For the am is good Economic Growth at a time when our nation is desperate for growth. For every dollar invested in investment re, that returns 1. 80, or an 80 return on investment to the united economy. The president and both Political Parties have promised a robust investment. Re now is the time to reconcile that rhetoric with action. Of this bill and yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the wisconsin seek recognition . Id like to request one minute. The peaker pro tempore gentleman is recognized for one minute. Every we heard several morning about the covid epidemic and like a lot of every day i like to get up and see whether were moving in the right direction or not. Mr. Grothman i was sad to see this morning i checked the my d meter website, because constituents tell me thats the one to check, and i was sad to when they is morning gave the number of deaths they day on tuesday, isted 764 americans who passed away. However, the worldometer goes day. D down by the its very low on sunday and higher on gets wednesday and thursday. However, i noticed the 764 tuesday, yesterday, was the lowest on a tuesday since march 23. Mondays are always very low. We had 366 deaths on monday. Since s also the lowest march. I hope that where he continue continue to have the progress as we work work the umber of people who died this horrible disease down every day. But i have a feeling a lot of misled. S are being so just pointing out the way going. Tatistics are thank you very much. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the pennsylvania om rise . Thank you, mr. Speaker. To speak in the speaker pro tempore does the gentlewoman seek seek rigs gentlewoman seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ofi rise to speak in support the free press in america and i cant believe that i have to say this. Free press but our is under attack. Physical attack. As americans have taken to the demand change in the wake of George Floyds murder, eve seen our First Amendment trampled as hundreds of journalists have been arrested and assaulted by Law Enforcement officers. In the past few weeks, members of the press have been detained, at, one reporter lost an eye when she was rubber bullets, and the most infamous example was the attack on peaceful outside thegathered white house. A free press is one of the most fundamental and cherished values country predating our constitution. It stems from 1735 when john enger was arrested and charged with sedition for a corrupt person. A free press is one of the most ways we hold our government accountable. On the eve of our nations birthday, i invite my colleagues sides of the aisle to join me in sponsoring House Resolution 999, which condemns press and the e detention of journalists and reaffirms the value of a free democracy. R i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . I can unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. A day that the farmers of pennsylvanias 119 Congressional District have been looking forward to is finally here. Today marks the day the United Statesmexico, Canada Agreement goes into effect. Mr. Smucker over a year ago i stood here in the chamber and said one thing can i tell you bout the farmers of the 11th district is hope is yet to come. Im very proud to represent pennsylvanias 119 Congressional District. The number one district for Agricultural Production in pennsylvania. Usmca is a win for farmers with a number of provisions included in that live my farmers in my district a level Playing Field and open new markets as well. These reforms were critical for the district which, by the way number 2 producer of eggs in the nation and also a top dairy produce. Roducer. I ensure that usmca is a win not overwhelm for farmers but manufacturers and employees in my district as well. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, thank you. I want to raise my voice in support h. R. 2 the moving forward act. I want to congratulate chairman defazio. Hes been working on this for a long time. Mr. Cartwright this is the infrastructure bill that we have een waiting for. Hes father followed what my father advised me do. If you do something, do it right. This is a wonderful bill. This is something that will repair crumbling roads and bridges in this country. Expand transit and commuter rail. Repair and rebuild schools. Make childcare facilities safer. Deliver broadband to the entire country. Reclaim abandoned mines. Save Affordable Housing units. Provide access to Safe Drinking Water and good sewer systems. Put more energy into the grid. This is something that this entire nation needs. Its time for us to come together and fulfill this promise to the American People to rebuild and reinvest in our american infrastructure is the moving forward act, h. R. 2. Lets all vote yes on that bill. I yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Mr. Thompson request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we continue to see appalling nursing home negligence nationwide, including my home state of pennsylvania. Last week my fellow Pennsylvania Republican members and i joined the select subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis to send a letter to state attorney general josh shapiro, demanding an explanation for governor wolfs deadly decision to readmit covid19 positive patient residents back into nursing homes. According to the most recent data, pennsylvania has suffered 4,539 nursing home deaths related to covid19. Thats more than 68 of the states total covid19 deaths and more than 3 of the states entire nursing home population. The families who lost loved ones as a result of this reckless policy deserve answers. They deserve an explanation and closure. Prior to my being elected to congress, i spent many years as a licensed nursing home administrator. Specializing in longterm care. I have been horrified to see this avoidable crisis unfold. In closing, id like to thank our frontline employees in nursing homes. They work so hard to protect the residents. My sincerest condolences to the families who are grieving. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . I seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Ing mcnerney mr. Speaker, in response to the attacks on september 11, my son joined the military and i am now the proud father of a u. S. Air force veteran. I know firsthand the anxiety felt by loved ones whose family members are called on to fight for our nation overseas. As the father of a former soldier i am disgusted by the allegations that russia placed a bounty on our troops. And as american citizen, im outraged that the commander in chief of our military forces has seemingly abandoned his responsibilities. The president has an obligation to investigate these accusations and to protect the lives of american soldiers. Once again all we are hearing from this white house is denial and deflection. We deserve no know the truth. When was the president informed . And what action has he teaken to protect the lives of our troops . Americans should settle for nothing less. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield can back. For what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition . To address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise this morning to honor and recognize mr. Jack thompson from montgomery, alabama. He passed away on sunday, june 21, 2020, after a full life of 88 years. He was born in culvert county, now the fourth Congressional District in 1932 and remained reas dent of his state of alabama for his entire life. After graduating from high school, he married his sweetheart, ruth, at the age of 20, and jack and ruth were married for 67 years and raised four wonderful children. For 31 years jack worked for Auburn University extension service. After retiring, he went on a farm in athens, alabama, and served as assistant commissioner of arkansas alongside my fatherinlaw who was commissioner from the state of alabama. Mr. Aderholt jack himself thereafter was elected commissioner for 40 years for the state of alabama. Jack is now survived by his four children, david, keith, susan, and janice. His sister, anne. He has 11 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Jack will be greatly missed by all his family and friends and l of us that knew jack thompson. However jacks legacy will live well into the future. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mrs. Bustos i rise today in support of the moving forward act. I represent a district where 85 of the towns are 5,000 people or fewer. 60 of the towns are 1,000 people or fewer. Earlier this year i reached out to every mayor and city administrator and county administrator and village president , 151 leaders representing towns and counties in the 7,000 care square miles in the Congressional District i serve. I listened to their needs. The moving forward act reflects many of their priorities. Now, the administration has said this package is biased against rural america. To which i say what . The president has failed to bring forward any plan that prioritizes rural america. This bill strengthens matter systems t provides 250 million in our rural roads and communities. Rebuilding our rural schools and prioritizing buying american in all that we build. Today for the district i represent and for all Rural Communities ill be proud to cast my vote in favor of this important legislation. With that i yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Lamalfa thank you, mr. Speaker. Wildfire season has begun. Especially in california. 2020 so far 3,100 fires have started. Twice as many as the same period of 2019. Ongoing drought is part of the problem and we will be on the way to surpassing 2019 for the entire season as indeed we do have a head start. We shouldnt leave our fire preparedness plans completely to our firefighters having to do it after the fact. We need to get ahead of the curve. There is Real Solutions to getting fires under control in the west. Big part is forest mismanagement, especially on federal lands. There is 100 million dead trees in california. When cuppled with the years of drought, risk of turning our forests into tinderboxes is higher than ever. My bill, the clear zones act, clearing lines, electrical atrisk zones act, would reduce the bureaucracy and timelines to actually get the work done after permitting within 60 days, increase the buffer zone along power lines so there is less danger and more ability to fight fire at a smaller level. Mismanaged forests lead to more fire without better practices well see more and more of the west go up in smoke. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of h. R. 2, the moving forward act. Legislation to repair and rebuild our nations crumbling infrastructure. I am pleased to see this bill make significant Capital Investments in our roads, schools, broadband expansion programs, and much more. I also want to note that outdated infrastructure disproportionately affects rural and tribal communities which too often lack access to quality electricity, water, and sanitation systems. To that end i was pleased to see two bills i have sponsored included in the package. Mr. Ohalleran first the tribal power act which ensures tribal communities access Affordable Energy sources by increasing funding for the department of energys Indian Energy education planning and management assistance programs. Second, my bill for the planning, construction, and renovation of water, wastewater, and sanitation facilities across all of Indian Country. These much needed updates to our infrastructure have been on congress back burner for decades. Putting the health, safety, and growth of our communities at risk. I look forward to voting in favor of this important bill and ask that you also do that. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . To address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to honor the life and service of u. S. Marine sergeant, wolfgang k. Wittinger. On june 16, days before he was set to graduate from the u. S. Army airborne school, he was tragically killed in training accident. He was 28 years old. Sergeant who went by kyle or wolf back home was a graduate of Kenston High School and local sports legend in geauga county. He joined the marines in 2015 and immediately excelled. In roughly four years he earned the coveted Marine Special operator insignia and rose to the rank of sergeant. His continues tructors said he possessed determination and a deep sense of integrity and uncongress herbal spirit. They called him a natural leader. Someone who always looked out for his team. I had the opportunity to speak with kyles father this past week and expressed my profound condolences to him. As a parent, i can only imagine how difficult this time is for him, mrs. Henry, and their families. Mr. Speaker, please join me in a moment of silence to honor sergeant wolfgang and his loved ones in the wake of their tragic loss. The speaker pro tempore the house will observe a moment of silence. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts seek recognition . Ms. Clark mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Clark the moving forward act recognizes that childcare is infrastructure. Central to rebuilding our economy, stabilizing our work force, and educating our children. Childcare is a public good. Supporting more than 99 billion a year in economic activity. But we have not treated it as such. 96 of childcare professionals are women. And 40 are women of color. And they are chronically underpaid. Costs for families are high, creating barriers, especially for women from entering and staying in the work force. The pandemic has pushed this vital sector to its breaking point. And we cannot afford to let it fail. This bill creates a Grant Program to renovate and modify childcare facilities, helping them to reopen safely. It invests in providers and in our nations children. Childcare is the foundation for building an inclusive economy and now is the time to invest in our future. I urge a yes vote on this legislation. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Sunday mr. Speaker, is the weekly day of christian sabbath. I must confess that last sunday my sabbath was not very pius. I toyed with one pious. I toyed with one of the seven deadly sins. The sin of gluttony. After i wept to church i drove on interstate 69 to beasely, texas. And thats where i cracked. But it wasnt my fault. Of tim urely the fault ho was chief of the volunteer fire department. Started 00 a. M. , they serving huge chicken fried plate plate. A plates. Buy five alone. Chief was not easley mayor kenneth reed joined this attack, succumbed great cause for the heroes at the beasley volunteer fire department. Close by asked me to saying, yall come next year, did. L be glad you i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition . Mr. Cohen thank you, mr. Speaker. I request one minute to address and to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Suspend. Eman will the chair will ask members to bserve the proper orders of decorum in the chamber. The gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. R. Cohen thank you, mr. Speaker. On saturday, we will celebrate he Independence Day of our country. In our chamber, we have photographs of lafayette and washington. In the preamble to the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are they are ual, that endowed by their creator with certain inan lienable rights and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those words were not complete ecause africanamericans were not considered men and they were not given unalienable rights, and the pursuit of happ happiness. Were still pursuing that. We did it with the george floyd were doing it in other ways with opportunities or africanamericans and as we said in the in our founding country, that were becoming a more Perfect Union and we continue to do that today it that all men and omen have certain inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Hopefully well remember that on the reasond remember we cut ourselves off from king george was we wanted to be a laws and notule of a nation of a rule of man. Hat was worth people signing a declaration, putting their lives at risk and founding the United States of america. Yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without the gentleman is recognized for one minute. I rise today to call ttention to the National Coin shortage occurring as a result of covid19. I brought this issue to center two weeks ago during a hearing with Federal Reserve chairman jerome powell, and starting to feel the effects back in tennessee. Flyer from a w a business in tennessee pleading ith its customers to use exact change due to the coin shortage. I, along with fellow members, chairman a letter to powell asking for additional for nce and best practices business, but we can all play a role, an important part to shortage and to help americans who need to make every penny count. My two cents, but i urge my fellow americans to contribute their two cents by putting their spare into circulation. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 1c, further consideration of h. R. 2 will now resume. The clerk will report the title. The clerk Union Calendar number a bill to authorize funds for federalaid highways, Highway Safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purpos purposes. The speaker pro tempore it is consider er to amendment en bloc cysting in house report 116438. For what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition . Mr. Defazio mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 5 of the offer esolution 1028, i an amendment en bloc. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment en bloc. The clerk en bloc number 4 consisting of amendments number 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 1, 22, 23, 24, nd 27 printed in part e of house report 116438 offered by oregon. Zio of the speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentleman from oregon, mr. Defazio, and the gentleman from missouri each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio i thank the chair. Rise in support of this en bloc amendment which provides consideration of 27 amendments members on both side of the aisle. The amendments contained in this amend various parts of energy and supports policy in the base bill. Some of these amendments include designation of a route through exas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, georgia as a future interstate 14 and designation of a route through texas and new exico as a future interstate 27. Directing a study on the effectiveness of suicide barriers and physical structures other than bridges, clarifying that replacement of functionally bsolete warning devices are eligible under the railroad rade prosing, demand data, modeling directed by the bill must include analysis of the evel of accuracy of existing modeling tools, granting puerto rico the authority to begin drivers mmercial licenses as all states have the do. Ority to allowing certain Surface Transportation Program funds to e used on local roads, including farm to market roads in rural areas. Here is a strong emphasis in this bill on rural areas. Aking grant Funds Available to states who ban any onnavigational viewing of cell phones while driving, requiring the secretary of transportation within two years of enactment to a Motor Vehicle safety standard for newly manufactured ommercial Motor Vehicles to be equipped with a universal electronic vehicle identifier to the vehicle for the purposes of roadside inspections enforcement, requiring states to data on traffic stops as part of the racial profiling Program Grant to include the the mode of Transportation Associated with the stop. These are just a few. To hearing rd further discussion on these amendments from the various sponsors. Hank you my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for offering these amendments to improve the moving forward act. Of the doption amendment. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. You, mr. S thank speaker. Id yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. In opposition to en bloc e. In this 1 amendments bill, in this bloc that were 27 idering, it contains individual amendments carefully selected and grouped by the aisle. Ide of the with absolutely no input whatsoever from republicans. Nfortunately, this is par for the course for the way the ajority has managed its my way or the highway bill. The 27 amendments were picked so the majority can falsely claim bill included bipartisan provisions when in reality this bill is still more than a partisan wish list. Is nice er, if a car and putting a cup holder wont make me buy it. We should at least have adequate time or an adequate amount of time to consider debate each of individually. Ts because frankly, theres a number of amendments in here that i do support. Process has not been open. It should be open. Instead been dealt a poor hand by a stacked dealt. It would be an understatement to disappointed by how the majority is rushing this bill which spends 1. 5 trillion of taxpayers money through a sham legislative process. Ith that id reserve the balance. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Defazio i would point out that all of these amendments are bipartisan, and two of them are republican. So the gentleman may have eneral objections to the bill for other reasons as we yesterday, the emphase emphasees on emphasis on Climate Change and other rovisions of the bill for Safe Drinking Water, substantial ncrease in waste water and all that. But this en bloc should be virtually noncontroversial. I would yield two from s to the gentleman new york, tom suozzi. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is minutes. D for two mr. Suozzi mr. Speaker, i rise in support of the moving forward act. Expertly led by chairman transformative 1. 5 trillion infrastructure investment, the largest in our nations history, would not only rebuild americas decaying infrastructure, not only postcoronavirus economy, not only create solid middleclass jobs, hopefully them union jobs, but will make the most significant investment in protecting our generation. In a investments here will combat Climate Change, improve shorelines, our improve Water Quality for Many American communities, and much, much more. Bill also includes a provision of mine which incentivizes homeowners in my district and throughout the upgrade their antiquated septic systems by wrongheaded i. R. S. That has improvement grants they receive from local such as suffolk district. My this is not a high profile provision. This will dramatically improve ur environment by reducing the devastating impacts of nitrogen pollution. Over the past 25 years, as a executive, county and now a member of this body, ive seen firsthand how reducing revitalize helped the long island sound, our national park. The can happen up and down coast of america. Investments like these are critical pieces in a we must sive approach take to preserve and take to help our environment. Encourage my colleagues to support the bill. Thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Oregon leman from reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time id minutes to the gentlelady from puerto rico, ms. Colon. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for minutes. Miss gonzalezcolon thank you. Id tliek to id like to talk amendment 12. It is my bipartisan bill, making eligible location for the Reclamation Water smart as well as its these programs provide federal funding for Water Conservation projects. That improve se flexibility to increase the resiliencies to droughts. Currently, puerto rico is the these rritory where grants are not available. Waterel water reliable is essential, particularly as we confront covid19, and were asking people to wash their and, yet, in puerto rico, e are announcing a rationing measure, impacting over 140,000 customers. 59 ofnately, as much as water produced by puerto rico Sewer Authority is lost through a deficient distribution system. This situation is further complicated by our vulnerability to droughts. The u. S. Drought, monitoring 77 of puerto rico is currently under abnormally dry conditions. Approximately 59 of the island is experiencing a moderate drought. While 26 is facing a severe drought. The governor of puerto rico has already announced a water rationing measures impacting more than 100,000 customers. Given this reality, congress should ensure puerto rico just as alaska and hawaii and the rest of the u. S. Territories is eligible for water smart and drought resiliency project grants. My second amendment, amendment 13, allows puerto rico to issue commercial drivers license or c. D. L. And makes the island eligible to receive commercial drivers license improvement Program Grants. Requirement of c. D. L. Promotes increased knowledge and safety f those operating a commercial truck. As well as a well established standard. This amendment provides puerto rico to a fiveyear great speed we come to c. D. L. In compliance and provides immediate eligibility for grants to expedite this process. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio at this point i would recognize the honorable Suzanne Bonamici from oregon for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Bonamici i rise today in support of the en bloc amendment and moving forward act. In the last few months more than 47 Million People in this country filed for unemployment. They need our support. The moving forward act will help address our nations deteriorating infrastructure and will help us transition to a Clean Energy Economy while creating high quality, goodpaying jobs. My amendment will make meaningful investments in our work force through rengsterd apprenticeships and paid john the job Training Programs to fill those jobs. Last year i worked with congressman mitchell, senator kaine, and senator portman to introduce the u. S. Infrastructure by leveraging fore nand for builds for builds act. To increase diverse in the transportation infrastructure and energy sectors. My amendment includes language from this bill to provide to individuals who have historically faced barriers to employment, especially women and people of color, with the support services and training they need to succeed an find better paying jobs with preemployment service, and continuing employment services. I thank chairman defazio and chairman scott for their support and leadership. I urge my colleagues to support not only the en bloc amendment but the underlying bill as well. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time i yield three minutes to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Grothman. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Grothman thank you, mr. Speaker. For allowing me to testify on the amendment. This amendment which mirrors bipartisan bill h. R. 380 is straightforward. It requires the federal decisionmakers, the department of the interior to krt threat of Invasive Species when install fishways. We all know that over time the number of dams in this country have decreased as the number of dams has increased to benefit is a lot of times fish are able to swim up stream, spawn more, improve the Overall Health of our rivers. However, there are times where there are some fish that are not so good. Thats when we have Invasive Species. I have a big problem with that on the most significant river in the state of wisconsin, the Wisconsin River. There is a dam there and they are they were talking about putting up a fishway, which on the face of it sounds nice. The problem is below the dam we have asian carp. Large fish, not native to wisconsin, would be devastating to the local fish if he this were ever able to work their way over the dam. They would not only pollute the Wisconsin River but the lakes which feed into the Wisconsin River, all over northern wisconsin, do also be polluted. And its even possible that because there are areas that are dicey, they could work their way into the great lakes and all the ay up to st. Lawrence river. So i appreciate the fact that we have considered this amendment. I hope its adopted as part of the en bloc. And thank you for giving me this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio at this point i would recognize the honorable Debbie Dingell from michigan for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. Mrs. Dingell thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from oregon for yielding. I had my lesson. I rise in strong support of this en bloc which includes an important bipartisan natural infrastructure amendment that adds h. R. 3742, the recovering americas wildlife act, to h. R. 2. When we talk about infrastructure, natural infrastructure, Habitat Restoration, and resilience projects must be part of the conversation. Such investments not only create jobs, up to 33 created perfect Million Dollars of investment, but they make communities safer. They grow our Outdoor Recreation economy, and help recover atrisk wildlife populations. This amendment will enable states, territories, and tribes to complete proactive, collaborative, on the ground Habitat Restoration and the natural Infrastructure Projects that will recover more than 12,000 wildlife, fish, and plant species of the greatest conservation need. This amendment is modeled after legislation that has more than 180 bipartisan cosponsors and it passed out of the Natural Resources committee with a majority of both republicans and democrats. I want to thank my colleagues, representative fortenberry, and raskin for coleading this amendment, as well as everybody who helped get us to this today, including Speaker Pelosi, leader hoyer, whip clyburn, my dear friend, the chairman leading all of this, chairman mcgovern, chairman grijalva, Natural Resource committee staff, and the entire coalition. I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc and to support this bill. The country needs it. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time i would yield three minutes to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. Fortenberry. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Fortenberry thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me thank Ranking Member graves for the time and chairman defazio for leadership on the bill. Mr. Chairman the recovering americas wildlife act i believe is the single most exciting policy development in the conservation space in decades. As an amendment to todays bill, we are doing three things here. We are protecting ecosystems. We are enhancing community, and we are supporting recreation. I want to also add my thanks to representative Debbie Dingell who has been a tremendous leader in this particular effort, as well as jamie raskin, congressman from maryland, for joining us. Mr. Chairman, most americans dont know that the federal government requires that states do Wildlife Management plans. This amendment funds that federal mandate in a more Creative Fashion by connecting resource extraction with prudent Resource Recovery to help states improve their plans and create a continuity of habitat for multiuse opportunities within communities. Thats why we had such a Diverse Group of persons supporting this bill. Hunters and anglers and birders and hikers and other wildlife enthusiasts, as well as those who are involved in the burgeoning field of ecotourism. Mr. Chairman, heres another benefit. While something when something goes wrong, of course we tend to act. And in this regard we act through a very important law called the endangered species act. But this amendment puts preventive measures in place moving upstream from the emergency enactment of the ep dangered species act, moving us from regulation and litigation to collaboration and conservation, which saves huge amounts of government resources, societal resources, and also enhances our environmental security. While there are some structural difficulties with the overall bill from my perspective, nonetheless this provision is a winner. I yield back the time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio at this point i recognize the honorable Henry Cuellar from texas. The speaker pro tempore for how long . Mr. Defazio two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Cuellar thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank chairman defazio and his staff for working very hard to put this bill together that would add 1. 5 billion to the trillion dollars that will be added for our highways and infrastructure that we need. So thank you so much. Im pleased to offer this bipartisan amendment in order to designate the i27 ports to plains corridor as a future interstate that hearts in laredo, the largest inland port in the country. I want to thank joey arrington, brian babbitt, lizzie fletcher, and ben lujan for alt work that they have done to get to this part. This designation will make texas and new mexico eligible for increased federal funding to complete the i27 highway expansion project. Creating commeck growth, jobs, trade, opportunities across those two states. The i27 expansion will literally grow the texas g. D. P. 178 7. 2 billion and create construct 178,000 construction jobs. It would also add 17,000 longterm Employment Opportunities in the few i27 corridor. New i27 corridor. It would also make laredo as the only port of entry that will a i35, i69, i27 as corridor also. So with that i urge my colleagues in the house to pass this bipartisan amendment that will help improve trade in south texas, texas, and across new mexico. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Grave i reserve at this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. , in afazio at this point at this point i would recognize the hon yorble garcia, a member of the committee, for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Garcia thank you, mr. Speaker and chairman defazio. I rise in support of this en bloc amendment which includes a bipartisan amendment that i filed with representative gallagher of wisconsin. Our amendment combats old practices like the performance metric now known as level of service that provides faster, wider roads with more lanes rather than a holistic analysis that takes into account increased traffic, induced demand, or alternatives like bike and transit access. Our improvement improves the existing travel demand study included in h. R. 2 to examine ways we can prevent new projects from inadvertently increasing traffic, volume, time, or congestion. All of which are bad for drivers and bad for the environment. We can and must take smarter investment by using current data and best practices. Thats what this bipartisan amendment is all about. It is endorsed by the transportation for america, the Natural Resources defense council, environmental law and policy center, and the league of conservation voters. I urge adoption of this en bloc and yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. I continue to reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. At this point i would recognize the honorable Brad Schneider for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Schneider thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of h. R. 2, the moving forward act. At home we have seen firsthand the effects of our nations aging and overburdened infrastructure, and crumbling roads, inadequate Public Transit, and more frequent floods. But todays package is not simply about rebuilding our roads, bridges, and rail. Though it does all that. The moving forward act is about making smart, transformative investments in our future. Investing in rebuilding School Infrastructure to help them safely reopen. Expanding Internet Access to underserved communities to close the digital divide. And creating millions of goodpaying jobs in the process, lifting up entire communities. I am particularly proud this legislation has been designed with addressing the Climate Crisis as a top priority. We see it in rising lake levels, a record level in lake michigan. In stronger storms and longer hurricane seasons. Nd longer fire seasons and disrupted growing seasons. We have to act now. We have to reduce emissions. Resiliency. Uild and to that end, i am proud that this act includes two clean i previously ons introduced to promote electric ehicle charging stations and incentivize waste to heat power projects. The comprehensive package is legislation that will ensure our nations infrastructure is built to nsure our success in the 21st century. I urge my colleagues to join us in support of this important legislation. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the yields back. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. R. Graves i reserve at this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Momentarily, i will at this point i recognize the honorable Jan Schakowsky from illinois for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. Rise in owsky i strong support of the en bloc also rise to i thank chairman defazio for cars act in hot the base bill. Ways thatfar too many parents can lose their children cant control. There are diseases that take of our kids that were just not equipped today to stop. We have a duty to do everything that we can to ensure dont lose a child it. We can prevent 53 children died of heat stroke year. S last 53 children. Cases, parents, good parents accidentally leave their cars. En in in other cases, kids crawl into car and then somehow cant get out again. Alone cannot solve the problem. Attentive parents can become distracted and child in tly leave a the car. Ive talked to those parents. Experience, as you can imagine, one you never over. A simple sensor, an alert system that would notify parents that left a child in their lives. Save its really past time for us to crucial legislation. The heat of the summer is really just beginning. To it. Et o i want to thank you, mr. Defazio, again, for including this bill, and i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves i reserve, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Point i io at this would recognize the honorable cohen from tennessee for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee is minutes. D for two mr. Cohen thank you, mr. Speaker. H. R. E in strong support of 2, that chairman defazio has helped craft, and the en bloc is on discussion now. Memphis. Ation is memphis is blessed to be on the banks of the greatest river in country, the mississippi, and fortunate to have fred smith orn there, which brought the greatest air Cargo Company in the world to memphis, federal express. Employer. Number one this bill will help airports, investments in airports and fedex. Jobs, helping and helping memphis. It will invest in harbors. The fifth largest Inland Harbor in the country with dredging. Thats important for the port of memphis. We have five class one railroads and there are investments there produces jobs and moves goods and services. Weve got two interstate systems that need improvement. This bill will put money into create d bridges and those jobs. It will further put money into very and, which is important to reach into the inner cities and give people, ity for Young Americans in particular, to get access to the internet and all information that they need to have a good education and a on. Livelihood later this bill includes several that i had, including a d. U. I. Law thats part of this en bloc amendment that will see to it that a study on why d. U. I. Convictions arent shared by states so that people who have ultiple d. U. I. s will be punished accordingly and save innocent potential victims from d. U. I. Age of a accident. It happened in mississippi, a memphis girl was killed by a multiple offender but nobody multiple were a offender because convictions were not submitted to a central base. Complete porates the streets act and parts thereof hat keeps our planning more in keeping for the 21st century for pedestrians and bicyclers and in rs who use our roads alternative ways. So this is an excel ept bill. Im proud excellent bill. To support it. Its good for memphis. Its good for america. Defazio. Hairman theres no important bill more than this. And i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the back. Man yields the gentleman from oerregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Reserve, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from missouri. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio at this point, i honorable nize the kim schrier from Washington State for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from washington is for two minutes. Ms. Schrier thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a severe toll on our and has resulted in the permanent loss of countless jobs nd highlighted the need for Broadband Access for workers and students. Moving forward act is so critical right now. Bold infrastructure package that will put america back to work, create new jobs, access, and and invest in schools and Tomorrows Energy infrastructure. Im proud to have included two important wins for washington in this package. My bill to defend the legacy and rails program will prioritize culvert repairs and repairing habitat in washingtons forests. My amendment to washingtons ensure mr. Defazio i know. I said doctor. At this point i would recognize dr. Raul ruiz from california for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Ruiz thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this en loc amendment, which includes my bill turned into an amendment to authorize the construction of to the Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center in my district. The desert sage youth illiamness center is the only Indian Health Service Youth Treatment Center if the entire in the entire state of california. He only way to get to the facility, however, is by traversing a dirt road that washes n the heat and out in the rain. The Indian Health service was enabled to secure the pafb the access road. Road. E the access my amendment would pave the youth road to give tribal safe and secure passage to this thelity so they can receive treatment and individual counseling in a culturally appropriate way so they need to their full potential. I thank the chairman for his support of my amendment to infrastructure of the Indian Health Service Facility in my district and for 2, the moving. Forward act. Thank you. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the back. Man yields the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves mr. Speaker, i reserve. To the speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon. At this point i recognize the honorable aiyana resley from massachusetts, two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. S. Pressley i thank you, mr. Chair. I rise in support of h. R. 2 and that i my colleagues for their legislation. Our nations transportation and infrastructure policies plays a ritical role in building healthy and safe communities. For far too long they have many inequities. My amendment would examine how our transportation policies have and targeted our most vulnerable. Ts critical we understand how infrastructure is criminalizing black and brown communities. Specifically we have seen of fair nforcement evasion policies and the discriminatory placement of and others in our lowest income communities. Mr. Chair, this is a moment of reckoning. A multiracial, Multigenerational Movement that or the last month has been affirming black lives matter, demanding an end to racist ystems and policies that disproportionately criminalizes our black and brown neighbors. Mandate to do something about this. Our transportation policies is exception. I ask my colleagues to support this. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the back. Woman yields the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri. Reserve, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Defazio i have no further peakers on my side and i am prepared to close if the gentleman from missouri is ready close. The speaker pro tempore is the gentleman prepared to close . Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself such consume. May the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Graves i rise in opposition en bloc amendment. Im frankly embarrassed by the process. Im willing to bet that everyone who sits on the trngs and infrastructure transportation and Infrastructure Committee is roud of its track record of working across the aisle to get things done. Thats a proven track record for success. For getting bills signed into law. This ats not how committee has operated during the process of this particular piece of legislation. If you choose to operate and legislation in this manner, nothing ing to get accomplished. Youre not going to get any bill signed into law. And thats the only thing youre going to get out of this process r the only thing youre going to get out of this process is going to be a press release and thats it. Process and m getting this bill with a few amendments that republicans it a t doesnt make bipartisan process or a bipartisan product. When the majoritys ready to aisle on s the responsible legislation, we can stand, we will continue to stand at the ready them. K with i cant vote for this en bloc for ge, and i cannot vote the underlying bill. With that, id yield back the time. E of my the speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Defazio i yield myself such. Ime as i may consume ell, in response to that, ill revisit a little bit of yesterdays debate. President trump ran on the issue of infrastructure. Resident trump met with us a year ago march, and we started needed 1 trillion to 1. 3 trillion for infrastructure. Went to 1. 9 trillion and then he ended up with 2 trillion. On what sed and agreed would be in an infrastructure bill. Bridges, highways, ransit, waste water, Drinking Water, rail, and broadband. This those are part of package. The total package is less than the president requested a year ago march. Trillion. This is close to 1. 5 trillion. Aree components of the bill about 1 trillion. So that will be very close to wanted. The other components have become covid. Ry because of its become clear that, you i was talking to the chairman of education and labor, 50 of the schools in america do not have hvac systems that can handle covid. 50 . Are of these schools pretty darn decrepit. So were investing a bunch of educate our ly kids. I got to tell, my hometown, great ield, oregon, place. People have a great public spirit. E have voted to bond ourselves several times for new schools. E have a fabulous new middle school. Absolutely incredible. It has a very big trades department, because not all kids are going on the high school track. Our ed trades to implement infrastructure bills. So, you know, we need to help. A emember i went to ostworld war ii, brand new elementary school. That school is still sitting there, and a lot of these skills not suitable are for children at this pandemic time. T also includes money for housing. You know, we have a housing crisis in most of america. Certainly on the coast, though this administration cares nothing for people who live on the coast. But even in the middle of the country theres a housing crisis. You know, this bill begins to deal with that. Also begins to deal with our absolutely decrepit Public Housing. Thats federal Public Housing. Much of which is 50, 60 years ole when the federal government did things like this. And it needs rehabilitation. Weve aed a couple of elements to this bill that werent discussed with the president but they became necessary because of covid and also the Postal Service. More essential today than ever. Trump hates it because jeff besos has amazon and he thinks amazon is affecting the Postal Service. Actually no, Postal Service makes a bunch of money delivering amazon packages but its difficult to penetrate. So he wants to destroy the Postal Service, which will actually disproportionately affect the people who voted for him. In red states and particularly rural areas. Their getting their prescriptions and other things delivered by the usps now. Rain, shine, night, day, covid, or not. The Postal Service is doing it, doing it in 35yearold delivery vehicles. Theyre decrepit and incredibly expensive to maintain. This would help them buy a new fleet an help them get through this crisis. There are some other things in this that were not in a traditional infrastructure bill. As far as the portion of the bill that comes from our committee, the president had seven infrastructure books and we were promised numerous times that they were imminently going to propose a bill. The only bill they ever proposed would have shifted the entire burden to the states and said oh, the private sector would take care of the rest of it. There wasnt even a republican im aware of who supported that stupid proposal. Now theyre on the cusp again, 2 trillion coming soon. Were trying to help them deliver. We hear president s dont propose these things. Were here on the anniversary of j. F. K. Putting transit into transportation. Were here the day after the anniversary of a republican president , dwight david sizen hour, signing the National Defense highway act and funding it with a trust fund which hasnt been supplemented since 1993 because the republicans have been in charge most of that time and they wont raise the user fee. And their alternative bill, by the way, doesnt raise the user fee so theyre about 20 billion out of whack with a bill that only increases highways by 10 , zeros out any increase in transit, does nothing for rail. So yes, this is a different product. But this amendment, and i misspoke earlier, eight of the amendments in this package are fully republican amendments. The others are bipartisan amendments. You can raise concerns about the overall process, the overall bill but this part is solid and should be approved by a large majority in the house. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. All time for debate has expired. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the amendment en bloc offered by the gentleman from oregon, mr. Defazio. The question is on the amendment en bloc. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The amendment en bloc is agreed to. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The speaker pro tempore it is now in order to consider amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part f of house report 116148. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, as designee of the chair of the committee on transportation and infrastructure and pursuant to h. Res. 1028, i offer the amendments en bloc consisting of the amendments printed in part f 438. Use report 116 the speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment en bloc. The clerk en bloc number five consisting of amendments nulled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 3, 14, 15, 16, 25. 0, 21, 22, 23, 24, and printed in part f of house report 116438, offered by ms. Waters of california. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentlewoman from california, ms. Waters, and the gentleman from louisiana, mr. Graves each will control 15 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Waters i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Waters mr. Speaker, moving forward, the moving forward act is lock overdue and comes on the heels of a devastating pandemic that has killed more than 125,000 americans. And shut down much of our economy. The moving forward act will repair our nations dilapidated roads, bridges and Public Transit systems. It will rebuild our Drinking Water infrastructure. Upgrade our schools an hospitals. And improve our Affordable Housing infrastructure. The moving forward act will also create millions of jobs and help our economy to recover. This en bloc amendment makes several improvements to h. R. 2 including the addition of new language that would support the infrastructure of historically black colleges and universities, support longterm affordability of manufactured housing community, remove lead in public house, permanently authorize the u. S. Interagency council on homelessness, and make postal offices more accessible for persons with disabilities. These are positive efforts to more comprehensively address the infrastructure needs of this country and i commend each of the members offering an amendment included in this en bloc. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from louisiana. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Graves i rise in opposition to this en bloc amendment. I want to put things in perspective, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i mentioned on the floor yesterday that there were approximately 390 amendments filed on this bill. 90 amendments filed. There are approximately 148 democrat amendments and there were 22 republican amendments that were accepted and allowed to be voted on but because of this distorted process those are only are only being allowed seven votes. Mr. Speaker, in block b there were 45 democrat amendments. In block c there were 34 democrat amendments. In black d there were 28 democrat amendments. And in this block f, there are 25 democrat amendments. Zero, zero republican amendments in any of those blocks. The amendments in this block, theyre another grab bag of the majoritys priorities. Many of which take a very generous view of what actually infrastructure is. This bill is supposed to be infrastructured legislation. The block includes everything from airconditioning postal vehicles to studying sink holes to unworkable vehicle mandates that have zero consideration for actual taxpayer funds. It mandates the acquisition of certain types of vehicles without looking at any type of Economic Analysis on the use of taxpayer funds. It continues to ignore the need for reasonable Bipartisan Solutions and to address our biggest infrastrubblingture needs and rather than looking forward at solutions, the amendment tries to eliminate longstanding, bipartisan agreements that have addressed our infrastructure needs and instead put this left leaning vision in place. It doesnt have to be this way. It didnt have to be this way. We could have come together and written an infrastructure bill that would have easily cleared this chamber. Mr. Speaker, i want to remind u, going back, going back to t21, when our distinguished chairman was around, the vote coming out of this house was 337 yes votes. 337. To 80 no votes. Safetealu, our distinguished chairman emeritus led that effort. The vote out of the house was 417 4179. 417 yes to nine no votes. Map 21, 293 aye vote, 127 noes. I want to make note that our chairman, chairman defazio voted yes. He was in the minority but voted yes. And of course the fast act. Once again when republicans were in charge a big four agreement, republicans and democrats had to come together. The vote was 372 ayes. To 54 nays. Right now just to demonstrate that this is doable, right now, republicans and democrats are working together in this very committee on the Water Resources Development Act including both resilience and climate provisions in those negotiations. Mr. Speaker, this is a failure of leadership and its incredibly disappointing to watch this continue to happen when we have such urgent needs in this country. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from iowa, a distinguished member of the Financial Services committee, ms. Axne. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. Mrs. Axne thank you, mr. Speaker, thank you, chairwoman waters and chairman defazio. Manufactured housing can be a critical tool to provide Affordable Housing and a pathway to Home Ownership but in iowa that option has been abused by outside investors who have bought up mobile home parks and promptly raised rents to iowans by as much as 70 . Thats simply unconscionable. We must protect residents in these communities and preserve these homes as Affordable Housing. My amendment does exactly that it provides grants of up to 1 million for the good actors in space who willing more the community for the benefit of the residents for the longterm. We all know that America Needs more Affordable Housing an we need to do what we can to keep that now. Not lose it to predatory landlords who are solely looking out for their bottom line. I urge the adoption of my amendment and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentlewoman from california reserves. This gentleman from louisiana. Mr. Graves i yield five minutes e gentleman from ohio, from ohio. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. I rise in opposition to this en bloc amendment. Theres a lot of bipartisan support for an infrastructure bill so its a shame that today were considering a political messaging bill thats dead on arrival in the senate. Part of the reason this legislation will fail is that its a wish list for progressive priorities, many of which are outside the scope of what americans consider to be addressing real and immediate Transportation Needs and the bill was drafted without any bipartisan input. As the Ranking Member on the Housing Insurance subcommittee, i believe that housing and infrastructure are important enough to merit their own ebate. While there are good ideas in this amendment, there are also bad ones. The underlying bills spend about 100 billion on housing programs, done without any debate in the house, on the house floor, other than this 15minute debate. And in fact we havent done much debate in the Financial Services committee. Housing needs deserve their own debate. They deserve their own time. The majority would be wise to do hard work and bring truly bipartisan housing specific bills to the floor. Instead theyve chosen to package housing priorities with transportation priorities. Which are both important, but it makes it less likely that either one of these will ultimately become law and be addressed. Very quickly ill speak to one amendment that in particular i think merits more discussion than it will receive today and it would eliminate the fair cloth amendment, an amendment that passed during the clinton era that capped the number of housing projects. Bill clinton signed that into law. And i think it is really telling that were going to undo it without any real edebate. That was passed in 1998. That was a consensus changed moved away from Public Housing units after decades of examples, including the infamous craberry green homes in chicago, showing the idea that oncentrating lowincome americans in inner cities did not reduce poverty and it did crime. E even more so, it was another democrat president , barack created an innovative and highly successful rental assistance demonstration project. A hearing in the Financial Services subcommittee on housing and insurance on this housing and year on a lot of people from the Public Housing sector talked about how the rental assistance demonstration project was at to ing private capital Public Housing units. New nverts them into modern, privately owned, rojectbased section 8 properties. Hanks to rad and other modernizations, cities like San Francisco and atlanta no longer have any units of Public Housing and theyve experienced turnarounds in crime rates and poverty levels. Raised 12. 6 billion to private market housing. Nd it rehad a bibilitated troud properties, creating Better Outcomes for the residents. Achieved as been without congress providing billions of dollars in funding. Its been private money that has funded the r. A. D. Program. Instead of looking to r. A. D. And modernizations for our housing infrastructure, this bill instead focuses on going a time of failed ousing policies at the very moment when, frankly, we need to century g at 21st infrastructure. It just doesnt make sense that majority can he justify doing it would be to 25 an idea like this with en bloc democratic amendments 2,300page bill. That just doesnt make sense. We should have a separate debate housing policy. I believe theres a lot of things we can come together on. R. A. D. Program was started under secretary donovan, president obama. It was a Democratic Program been very, very successful, and its been lauded democrats and republicans alike. I dont think we should be unrelated icy policy in a 2,300page bill with this. Bloc amendment like wish we had taken a different road. I, unfortunately, have to oppose en bloc amendment. But i am hopeful that we can together and have a focused debate about the future of policy. Housing i believe we can come together s republicans and democrats to find a solution. I yield the time back to the gentleman. The speaker pro tempore the expired. s time has the gentleman from louisiana reserves. The gentlewoman from california. Much. Ters thank you very im surprised the gentleman who serves on the Financial Services has not been a part of all of the housing debates we had. All the information on housing, however. I yield two minutes to the illinois the gentleman from illinois, a distinguished member of the inancial services committee, mr. Garcia. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Garcia thank you, mr. Speaker. To chair waters for helping advance this amendment. I rise in support of this en bloc which includes an amendment that i filed with congresswoman ressley of massachusetts, amendment 343, directs the housing and urban development to our nations s in public and federally assisted to ing and provide grants remove them. Frankly, its a scandal that we ave to bring this legislation to the house floor in 2020, but we do. Pipes than more lead any other city in the u. S. In my an 350,000 homes city have lead Service Lines. Problem is nationwide. According to the national 90,000 law project, over children nationwide in the program hoice voucher have lead poisoning while 340,000 living in federally subsidized housing are at risk. Are children. By now the danger of lead wellknown. S a 2015 study determined chicago children in chicago with lead in their blood were more than 32 likely to standardized tests by the third grade. And we must remember, removing pipes is a Racial Justice issue. Some of the oldest municipalities strapped for cash. Jurisdictions require Property Owners to pay for the replacement of lead pipes on own property, and the burden falls heavily on working brown lack and communities like mine. After decades of disinvestment, housing ns Public Authority simply dont have the resources to get rid of lead enough. St its past time for congress to act to keep families in this and healthy in their homes. Infrastructure and i believe this amendment is an important part of h. R. 2. To thank congresswoman pressley for joining me in offering this amendment as well supporting organizations, including the National Resource nationalouncil and the housing trust. I urge adoption of this en bloc, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. California man from reserves. The gentleman from louisiana. Reserves. Eman the gentlewoman from california. S. Waters i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from minnesota, a distinguished member on the education and ms. Omar. Ittee, the speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized for one minute. Omar thank you to the distinguished chairwoman. Support er, i rise in of an amendment i authored to strengthen the broadband 2. Vision of h. R. We often discuss the dangers of he digital divide, and i am proud of the investment we are making today to help close that divide. Most issues of its effectsquality, run deeper for communities of color, immigrants, and lowincome families. It is very important for us impact that the federal broadband investments on socially disadvanced communities. That we can assure federal resources are being invested country orughout the if these programs are inadvertently widening the and wealth connectivity gap. Will ope my colleagues join me in this important effort. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the yields back. The gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from louisiana. Mr. Graves mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. Speaker, once again, 25 were being given 30 minutes to debate 25 amendments. Approved a quarter of a billion dollars in two minutes. These arent our funds. Taxpayer funds. This bill had, i believe, it was 1,300, 1,400 pages of bill. Irdropped in the added to it. Now were just going to appropriate trillions of dollars taxpayer funds without adequate consideration. Once again, mr. Speaker, i urge en bloc and this yield back reserve excuse me. The speaker pro tempore the reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield one minute to the gentleman from a distinguished member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. Ruiz. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is minute. Ed for one mr. Ruiz thank you. I rise in support of the en bloc amendment and urge support for amendments that are included. My First Amendment would take jacinto and an band of a area for the indians to fill fulfill the for the indians and bureau of land management. His would allow the tribe to better manage their ancestral numerous h contains significant cultural sites, trails, and other elements of their history. Y second history, the tribal internet advancement act, would expand Broadband Access in Indian Country by adding tribal as a try or the priority for broadband expansion universal. C. C. s service fund. Last year the f. C. C. Issued a report in response to my bill, Broadband Development deployment act, which showed that tribal nations the rest of the population in Broadband Access. This lack of access to broadband barrier to cant economic advancement, education, now evident telemedicine during a pandemic and wellbeing. O i urge support for my amendment and h. R. 2, the moving forward act, in order to close indian tal divide in country. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. He gentlewoman from california reserves. Louisiana. Man from the gentleman from louisiana reserves. The gentlewoman from california. S. Waters i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, a distinguished ember of the appropriations committee, mrs. Torres. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. Torres thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Hile the moving forward act is not perfect, im glad the bill ncludes my amendment, the american infrastructure opportunity bonds act. This amendment would take of times when interest ates are below the rate of inflation. Making borrowing essentially free. The amendment would direct the to issue government bon bonds, in effect, borrowing at rates. Ow interest the amendment then directs the proceeds to the highway trust to support infrastructure investment, creating jobs. This amendment is a smart investment. Taking advantage of unique to fund rates infrastructure in a responsible way during severe recessions. Amendment will provide crucial support for necessary helpingucture projects, both those who build and those ho rely on roads and public transportation. I urge its adoption and yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the back. Ewoman yields the gentlewoman from california reserves. The gentleman from louisiana. Mr. Graves reserves. The speaker pro tempore the continues to reserve. Ms. Waters may i inquire as to has any he gentleman more speakers . Mr. Graves im prepared to close. S. Waters i reserve the right to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california reserves. He gentleman from louisiana is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Once again want to highlight what just happened. Went and effectively approved an amendment that would billion in 0 grant excuse me in bonds to be issued. Approved thetively ransfer of 2500 acres of taxpayer property without the consideration of the Natural Resources committee, the jurisdiction. This is like monopoly money with. Sitting here playing but the reality is, these are taxpayer funds. Thighs arent our moneys. Arent our se moneys. These are funds of the taxpayers. This bill has not been through to ensure process hat were actually legitimately that were legitimately addressing the importance, the integrity of funds. R ill say it again. Ating back decades, mr. Speaker, decades, we have had ipartisan legislation related to infrastructure. Bipartisan. Back in late 1990s, 4179. Safetealu, map21. Again, our distinguished chairman voted for it. 372 aye votes. These were all house versions. Mr. Speaker. S, not the conference report. And to see right now what were doing. 148. Ieve, the number, 148 democrat amendments compared believe, its 22 republican amendments. Is not this representation. Farce. Tire process is a were about to approve billions it 30 ars by giving minutes of consideration. Thats not what we were sent here to do. Fatally flawed. Amendments distill effectively allowing up to seven votes. Leadership. Ilure in i urge rejection of this en bloc, and i urge rejection of the underlying bill. Back. D the speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume i yield myself the balance of the time. Id like to thank chairman defazio for all of his moving forward act the moving forward act, and i especially thank him for housing is infrastructure legislation in bill. Mportant y colleague from ohio has expressed concerns that our committee has not sufficiently housing provisions in this bill, but let me remind we held a hearing on is the same ich text of the Housing Division in this bill. That hearing was held in april of 2019. We also had markups on this legislation in february of this year. I dont know where he was when all of this was taking place but we certainly had sufficient hearings and markup on this bill. It is clear that democrats are committed to investing in and improving our nations infrastructure including our Affordable Housing infrastructure. Republicans continue to insist that these investments are irresponsible. But i contend that it would be irresponsible not to make these investments. When we have children living in housing that exposes them to lead poisoning, homes in flood zones that are not built to code, were setting ourselves up for much higher costs down the road. We must make the responsible choice and pass h. R. 2. You know, mr. Speaker, members, this is such a significant piece of legislation. Legislation that speaks to the repair of the infrastructure of this country. Bridges that are in disrepair and have been deemed to be dangerous. They may all apart and some have. We have Water Systems in this country, Everybody Knows about flint but there are a lot more flynns in this nation with old pipe, pipes with lead. Children exposed to water that could cause them brain damage for the rest of their lives. We have roads and highways that are in great disrepair. And so the president of the United States wants to spend 2 trillion and im pleased about that. I dont know what my colleague on the opposite tide of the aisle is so upset about. Hes talking about the republicans didnt get enough, they didnt get enough amendments. Well, it is not our fault if ey dont know how to craft amendments that are appropriate and should be in this bill because our rules Committee Democrats have been very fair in the way that they have dealt with this. I dont know what he is so upset about that they didnt get into this bill. No, this bill does not include investment in building a wall. If thats what theyre interested in. Were not about building any walls to keep out immigrants from mexico or any place else, if thats what theyre interested in. Thats what this bill is not all about. This bill is about making sure that our citizens get the support from their government that they deserve, to make sure that their communities are safer, that our schools are safer, that our Drinking Water is safer. This is about making sure that we put the resources into this country that so desperately need it and much of what has been neglected for far too long. Im proud of this bill and what its going to do for all of our citizens in this country, north, south, east, and west and im proud that the leadership of the Democratic Party in this government has taken this as a number one priority and were presenting a total piece of legislation that addresses concerns that all of our members have said they have had. So again, im proud of the work that mr. Defazio has done and im proud of all of the amendments that have been included in this bill, and im pleased that i have the opportunity today to stand here on these en bloc amendments and participate in one of the most important pieces of legislation this house could ever have presented. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. All time for debate on the amendment en bloc has expired. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the amendment en bloc offered by the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Waters. The question is on the amendment en bloc. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The amendment en bloc is agreed to. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. The speaker pro tempore s if tow it is now in order to consider amendment en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part g of house report 116438. For what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition . The clerk will dez igneat the amendment en bloc. The clerk en bloc number 6 consisting of amendments numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, printed in part g of house report 11643 , offered by mr. Graves of missouri. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentleman from missouri, mr. Graves and the gentleman from oregon, mr. Defazio, each will control 15 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. Though i support this amendment i want to again note my continued disappointment in this overall overall process. More than once ive fought the majoritys onesided Committee Markup of h. R. 2 but at least we were given time to consider 165 republican amendment those 112 were ultimately rejected mostly through en bloc. Now the majority wants to further stifle consideration of minority amendments by giving us a scant eight republican amendments out of nearly 400 filed. We werent even given the courtesy to choose. In 2015, if everyone remembers, for those who werent here, when he house considered the last surface transportation law, the fast act, there were more than democratled amendments, remember republicans were in the majority, there were more democratled amendments agreed to than republicanled agreements made in order for todays debate. Of course the fast act was a bill that was developed at that time by both the majority and the minority which is a stark difference from the majoritys bill that were discussing today. In fact, i remember the big four agreement. If the chairman of both the subcommittee and the full committee and the Ranking Member to have of both the subcommittee and full committee if one of us didnt agrea on a provision, then it wasnt included. It was as simple as that. Today could have been a great day for all of us and we could be approving a bill that all of us could be proud of. Instead were left with a bill and process that shreds one of the only bipartisan issues left in congress, just shreds it to pieces. I can answer the gentlelady whoing mored the last section of the bill, the Financial Services section, she said, i dont understand why everybody is so disappointed in this. Because its a failure, mr. Speaker. Its an absolute failure is what this bill is. Its not going anywhere. Absolutely not going anywhere. I continue to oppose this partisan process but i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and with that, i reserve the balance. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio i rise to claim time in opposition. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Defazio i yield myself such time as i may consume. Mr. Chairman, i rise in opposition to this en bloc amendment which allows for consideration of eight amendments. The amendments in this en bloc amend various provisions of the bill. Ill speak to a few that fall within jurisdiction of the t i committee. The gentleman from illinois, mr. Bost, would bar the use of eminent to domain only for pedestrian and bicycle projects. By the way, the still supports Eminent Domain for pipeline project, a very disruptive one in my district, here on the east coast and maybe even where he lives. He isnt dealing with that kind of Eminent Domain. In the dealing with highway Eminent Domain. Not dealing with transit Eminent Domain. He just doesnt like alternate modes. Well, we, you know, these would only take place under the uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property acquisition act which provides strong protection to landowners to ensure that any involuntary Land Acquisitions are fair, striking the right balance as landowner and consumers. Generally this has been used on rail to trail projects or bike projects. When theres one reluctant land owner who thinks that the you know, nasty people will be riding their bikes by the fringe of their property. And in my in my largest city, eugene, it took several years to get one landowner to finally allow a circular bike path to transit around the river. One landowner held it up for three years. Because of concerns about the kind of people that would be riding bikes, ultimately a large fence was erecked there with barriers and all that to keep those people out and the path was done. But it shouldnt have taken three years. And that all could have been set earlier under the uniform he relocation act. We are reemphasizing transportation alternatives. They were pretty much done away with during the fast act and map 21. Cycle, pedestrian, scooters and other modes now. Which have proved viable in the time of corona when people are reluctant to get into taxicabs or ubers or whatever if they dont have their own single occupancy vehicle. We can realize a lot more safe commuting, weve also had a disturbing increase in pedestrian and cycling deaths. This bill will help with that. There are also two amendments by the gentleman from West Virginia that preempt state authority to protect waters within that state. I understand, youre from West Virginia, mountain top mine regular mufle, dumping in the streams, all that great, wouldnt want to protect the waters, the water is doing just fine underneath all that toxic mining waste. We just have a little poisoning incident right near the State Capitol where people couldnt use the water for quite a while but hey, states should not be able to protect their Drinking Water or their recreational waters or any waters within that state. And then a wonderful one that would deem, deem meaning no process necessary, the permits for dredge and fill activity. No oversight. And that would of course overturn the precedent set by the clean water act since 1987. But hes providing backup support to trump who is pretty much decimating the clean water act with his dirty water rule. Mr. Lamalfa says that he wants to make it harder to get a Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Fund grant. Well, hes upset about california high speed rail. Unfortunately, he would make it virtually impossible for the texas high speed rail which by the way is a private project and i believe supported by many republicans in this house from texas. He would make it impossible for them to get a loan if his amendment should pass. But hey, he doesnt like the cal high speed rail so tough luck to the people from texas and elsewhere who want high speed rail. And you know, right now, a lot of the riff money remains unused so were trying to help expedite that in this bill. He would make it, again, nearly impossible and harder. And then mr. Crawford would take away the 50 set aside for large projects over 100 million in consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Grant Program. Outside outside my jurisdiction mr. Hice would strike the 25 billion for United States Postal Service. I mentioned this earlier, trump hates the Postal Service because he thinks that they are subsidizing amazon. Actually amazon is subsidizing the post office, but, hey, we dont deal with facts downtown here very much anymore. He doesnt. And it would also strike the money that they could use to buy a new fleet of vehicles. They should keep driving around in those crappy 35yearold vehicles which require massive amounts of maintenance and are polluting. I would also oppose that amendment even though its not in my jurisdiction. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri. Mr. Graves mr. Speaker, could i inquire how much time . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri has 12 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Graves mr. Speaker, both sides. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon has 9 1 2 minutes. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. At this time id like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. Hice. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Highs thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank mr. Hice you, mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to the postal provisions in h. R. 2 and have offered an amendment to strike them from the bill. As Ranking Member of the subcommittee on Government Operations of the Oversight Committee, i was very much disappointed that we were not consulted on these provisions. And my colleagues from the Oversight Committee and i have been closely following the Financial Health of the Postal Service and we receive, in fact weekly updates on mail volume revenue and cash on hand. And the numbers are very clear. What we have received the 25 billion postal bailout provided in h. R. 2 is just simply premature. We dont need to go there at this point. A few weeks ago i asked the postmaster general to revise the initial estimates for the direct impact on the pandemic which included this 25 billion for modernization. And the reality is that over the last several months the revenue trends no longer support the Postal Service multibillion dollar bailout request. This is because theres much better numbers in performance thats been driven by package volume. Let me give you some examples. During the first 11 weeks of the pandemic, the Postal Service earned, earned 330 million more in revenue than this same time last year. The Postal Service also improved its amount of cash on hand by at least 600 million. And as of june 4 they had 13. 2 billion in cash. In addition, while negotiations with the Treasury Department are still ongoing, the Postal Service has yet to even tap into the 10 billion in lending that was authorized by congress in the cares act. A longterm plan to turn the Postal Service around is also being developed. My colleagues from the Oversight Committee and i have called for a 10year Business Plan to improve the Postal Services business model. And given the start of the new postmaster generals term, we are hopeful that an updated plan that outlines specific reforms to put the Postal Service on Firm Financial footing is going to happen. But absent revised estimates and a Business Plan, it is unclear what the true needs of the Postal Service are. And i would just say that the usps watts designed to be selfsufficient. A selfsufficient entity. And the only way of dealing with that issue is by longterm legislative reform. Not a bailout. Thats the only way to do t we cannot continue throwing taxpayer money away and particularly adding Green New Deals. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I again thank the chair and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio at this point i would recognize the honorable carolyn maloney, the chair of the Oversight Committee with jurisdiction over the post office, for two minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york is recognized. Mrs. Maloney i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his extraordinary leadership on h. R. 2. I thank my colleague on the other side of the aisle, but i am urging a no vote on his amendment. We are in the midst of a National Emergency caused by the coronavirus and it is having a dire effect on the Postal Service. Despite better than expected revenues in recent months, the Postal Service is still at risk of running out of money. It could be forced to cease operations if it does not receive Financial Assistance from the federal government soon. This amendment would eliminate that critical funding that the post office needs. Throughout the pandemic the Postal Service has continued to deliver lifesaving medications and vital supplies, especially to rural america. If the Postal Service ceases to exist, rural americans will suffer the most because it is the only Delivery Company that serves them. If any issue should be bipartisan it is this one because the post office affects every american and is critical to many of us. The Postal Service helps bind us together and delivers to every address in the nation no matter how remote. But the dedicated staff that braves the coronavirus pandemic every day cannot continue to do their job without Reliable Transportation or funding. We must fulfill our constitutional duty and act now to save the Postal Service. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to oppose this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, madam speaker. At this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. Graves. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized. Many the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. Mr. Graves im offended, madam speaker. Madam speaker, i want to thank my friend from missouri for yielding time. I have expressed much frustration about the fact that so few republican amendments have been allowed to even be debated. Yet this is the one en bloc amendment, this is block g, and there are eight republican amendments, eight. Eight republican amendments where we actually get to debate. Of course they are all wrapped in. Our amendment is number 349. As i mentioned before nearly 380, 390 amendments on this bill. Our amendment amends page 1,968. Im sure everyone here has read. What this does is it very simply says that in order for this new, brand new urban park Grant Program that has not been through the Natural Resources committee of jurisdiction, that if youre going to take money from one area and give it to this urbanized Grant Program, urbanized park Grant Program that you need to at least make sure that the area where the revenues are coming from, which happens to be the area that i represent, that it is sustainable that the ecologically sustainable and community is sustainable, and, and that it would be a better investment for taxpayers to invest it in the urban parks than it would be to ensure the ecological and Community Resilience or sustainability of these regions. Thats it. Very simple amendment. I would love to have anybody come explain to me why they are going to vote no because we are going to see this amendment voted down in just a few minutes. I would love for anybody, and i would be happy to yield time, madam speaker, i would be happy to have anybody to explain to me why they are opposed to this amendment and what they are going to explain to people the next time we have a hurricane and these communities are decimated. Thats what id love to hear. I yield the remaining time to my friends on the other side of the aisle to explain the opposition to the amendment. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. At this point i would recognize the honorable allissa slot skin for one minute and 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. Police slotkin i rise in support of the moving forward act as a critical invest nour nations infrastructure. No matter where you stand politically the state of our crumbling infrastructure is something all people and michiganders agree on the disastrous breaching of two major dams in my state last month is all you need to know. Its a cautionary tale for everyone. We are in the need of generational investment in our infrastructure and this bill includes many of the priorities i fought for our district, including major money for high speed broad bapped, for all americans. Significant funds for upgrades to our schools. And a 40 billion for clean water investment projects, including pfas treatment. Im pleased the house adopted two of my amendments which protect michigans most precious gifts which is our waters and our water. One of my amendments which is directly related to an issue called lime five, a pipeline in our beautiful great lakes, it will require federal agency the federal Agency Responsible for Pipeline Safety to share information related to pipeline leaks, damage, or disruption with relevant state and local government. This is enormously relevant given the recent disruption of the n bridges pipeline under the streets of mack gnaw. The people of michigan deserve to be mcin gnaw. The people need michigan deserve to know. I urge my colleagues to support on both sides of the aisle. Thanks very much. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, madam speaker. Madam speaker, at this time i yield three minutes to the Ranking Member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. Brady. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Braid cri thank you, madam speaker. Mr. Brady thank you, madam speaker. I first want to thank the Ranking Member for his insistence that both parties Work Together to develop and Fund Infrastructure priorities in america. This is the way it ought to work. This issues never been partisan in the past. Mr. Graves has made the point, hell come to the table and Work Together. Hes exactly right. And i support his efforts. I rise today to support representative la mall a if as amendment to strike certain credit risk premium provisions in the underlying bill. The amendment protects federal taxpayers all across america. Make sure they are not Stuck Holding the bag when a specific rail road defaults on its loans. The author of the original provision readily admits that this is an earmark for Texas Central railroad in texas. This is a private company that had claimed for years they would fund this privately and it would be a state railroad, but they have reneged on that. They are now considering one of these loans to build a highspeed rail between houston and dallas. But Texas Centrals train is so risky and financial situation so poor they say they cant even pay the risk premium up front. For this reason they have requested legislators change the federal law in order to help the company qualify for a loan they would never receive under standard rules. This is a huge red flag if i have ever seen one. Thats why i feel its important for legislators of both parties to support representative lamalfas amendment, to ensure we dont lose important taxpayer protections for these r. I. F. Loans and allow for prolonged c. R. P. Payment schedule. Heres the situation. Texas Central Railroad is privately funded in a state railroad. Has always promised to texas that this project, quote, does not need, does not want, will not ask for government grants for construction or public money to sux dies this. Yet its now clear that promise which was used to gain support from citizens in communities across texas was misleading. In april, Texas Central announced they would renege on their original promise. They would now seek federal stimulus money. There is a reason they are doing that. The projects costs have tripled from its original estimates to 30 billion. These ballooning projections are especially concerning considering the project also faces other significant hurdles. Like of financial feasibility. They have no power for imnen domain, thank goodness, although they are coming to washington for the power to seize peoples lands without their consent. There are potential safety and Flooding Issues and near uniform opposition from local and state officials along the rural route of this. Texas centrals 2340u asking now asking House Democrats in the house to include a change in the Green New Deal legislation to make it easier to renege on these loans. We should not condone this. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Brady we are in a covid crisis, those dollars should be used for health care not a boondoggle. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio at this time i would yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland, dwight evan. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. R. Evan i rise, i rise in strong support of h. R. 2, the moving forward act. Our nations Public Schools are in desperate need of repair. School facilities across the country. I come from the city of philadelphia where on average, Public School buildings are more than 70 years old. I am proud to say that House Resolution 158, the rehabilitation of the Historical School act which i am sponsor of is in this. It allows a tax cut to be used for rehabilitation of Public School buildings. President trump used the historical tax cut to transform an old Public School Building Post Office into a hotel. I believe that should be made available to fix our schools. Our children all deserve an equal shot at the future regardless of their zip code. So i stand proudly supporting h. R. 2 because i commend the leadership of my chairman here who is demonstrating we need to work this all together. Again, thank you very much and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, madam speaker. Can i inquire as to the time left on both sides. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri has 4 1 2 minutes remaining. The gentleman from oregon has 5 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Graves i dont have any other speakers, i reserve the balance of the speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio i thank the speaker. I would just take this time to hank a few folks for this epic legislation, transformative 21st century transportation bill. And of course things from other committees that would explain during the debate. Helena, my chief counsel on incredibled transit, k, huck meyer, jarrett jackie schmidt, chris bell, andrea, katherine ambrose, ellis moisin sayed, madie, michael, yay mi and many more on other subcommittees. Ill return to kathy for a moment, i do this sometimes, it embarrasses her. We used to have a program here the page program. A lot of pages went went on to become members of congress or come back to work in government service. Kathy was my first congressional page, obviously a few year ago. Shes from lebanon, oregon. She came back later and worked for me when we did the safetealu bill a number of years ago as my designated person when i chaired the highway subcommittee. I mean when i was Ranking Member of the highway subcommittee. She worked for al gore, she worked downtown. Had a very awe and at a very auspicious and appropriate time she came back to be my chief of staff on the committee and has done absolutely incredible work. Hopefully i wont have to be disturbing her at all hours of the day and night and on weekends too much in the near future and the same to many of my other staff who ive been bothering a lot as we work through this process and other legislation in these very difficult times. So thank yous to everyone who helped, thanks to those from other committees who contributed so much to the bill and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. Whoa, wait, theres a second age. Second mistake in two minutes. The republican side, paul, jack, im sure sam will do this but ill do it anyway. Cory cook, michael, a dozen committee, i said all the other committees, oh, opposite leg counsel, they have been troopers in putting all this together. And ren, robert, and Congressional Research service, Christopher Davis sat in on our epic 24 hour markup and provided invaluable advice when we threatened to fall into the parliamentary black hole a couple of time bus he kept us out of it. And then the floor staff and of course the office of the parliamentarian for their work as we determined jurisdictions and appropriateness of amendments. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon yields. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Graves thank you, madam speaker. Id like to lend my support for the gentlemans thank yous for the staff. We all know that staff works very, very hard on these pieces of legislation and they put in a tremendous amount of time and effort regardless of which side that they happen to be on. Madam speaker, i want to continue to note how much of a missed opportunity that this is. This was. I support this amendment but unfortunately it doesnt fix the overall bill. For to it make too much of a difference. The sad thing is we know we could have come together and written an infrastructure bill that would easily gain bipartisan support which it needs to become law. In two week, the t i Committee Plans to mark up the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act and i hope and i hope and expect that it will pass. It is bipartisan at this point. Because its a bill that both sides continue to develop together. Weve worked together on it. That bipartisan process stands in stark contrast to the process that has been used today. The Water Resources bill absolutely has a chance to become law. Ereas the this 1. 5 trillion wish list wont go anywhere after today. I congratulate my republican colleagues for their work on these particular amendments and i would urge members to support this amendment and with that i yield back the balance of my time. 13r0eu7 the gentleman from missouri yields. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the amendment en bloc offered by the gentleman from missouri, mr. Graves. The question is on the amendment en bloc. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The noes have it. The amendment en bloc is not agreed to. Mr. Graves madam speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. It is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part h of house report 116438. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from North Carolina seek recognition . Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. I have an amendment at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 1 printed in part h of house report 116438, offered by ms. Foxx of North Carolina. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentlewoman from North Carolina, ms. Foxx, and a member opposed, each will control 15 minutes. This chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina. Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. Madam speaker, i rise today in support of my amendment to h. R. 2. This amendment will modernize our Infrastructure Spending to yield more investments in Infrastructure Projects, more jobs for frontline workers, and equitable spending for communities across our nation. Im always hesitant about measures brought before this chamber that are partisan, which is what h. R. 2 is. Im disappointed that democrats decided to turn the infrastructure bill into a partisan exercise by spending over 1 trillion while failing to address this longstanding problem and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year. Instead of recognizing and addressing ongoing issues with the Highway Trust Funds inevitable insolvency, this bill relies on deficit spending and adds to the taxpayers growing burden at a time when many families are struggling with the uncertainty created by the covid19 crisis. Instead of building the infrastructure americans need this bill gives priority to rail lines and urban hubs. Even as americans across the country begin to flee these high cost areas. Instead of building a bipartisan consensus to streamline the project review process, this bill binds the hands of states and localities and burdens the American Public with unworkable mandates. Madam speaker, at a time when numerous other bills that have been brought to the floor carry a 1 trillion price tag, without offsetting costs, we must look for ways to rein in out of control spending. My amendment would injeck a modicum of Fiscal Research into this 1. 5 trillion bill by reversing a federal contracting policy that was designed to protect the protect established union work at the expense of wouldbe competitors, taxpayers and our nations investment in infrastructure. My amendment will allow us to continue to Fund Important highway projects by making commonsense reforms to lower the cost of infrastructure contracts funded by the american taxpayer. The davisbacon act requires federal contractors and subcontractors to pay the local prevailing wage for Construction Projects on which the federal government is a party. It sounds innocent. But the devil is always in the details. The prevailing wage is severely dictated not by Market Forces but by the domination of Union Bargaining power. By using this metric, congress is effectively pricing out any wouldbe competition for contracts and shielding entrenched interests from competition. And whats the result of davisbacon, which was adopted before federal minimum wage standards existed . According to a report from the joint economic committee, davisbacon determined wages tend to inflate labor costs an average of 22 above market rate. Additionally, research from Suffolk University found that davisbacon requirements cost u. S. Taxpayers an additional 8. 6 billion annually and add 9. 9 and add 9. 9 to construction costs. The Congressional Budget Office found that removing this burdensome mandate would free up 13 billion over 10 years. Perhaps thats why the Government Accountability office advocated for its repeal over 40 years ago. I know congress is often derelict in its duty but thats simply inexcusable. These inflated costs mean bloated Government Spending and less bang for the taxpayers buck. Beyond requiring tax payers to overpay for Construction Projects, davisbacon requirements force businesses working on federal highway projects to comply with burdensome paperwork and reporting regulations which further inflate costs and slow project completion. The premise of this bill is that it invests in america. If thats the goal, then we must address this outdated stumbling block to our nations progress. Davisbacon concentrates wealth by government fiat instead of growing our economy. It artificially limits the number of Construction Projects in which we engage. And finally, it limits the number of jobs created. Madam speaker, our economy needs expansion, not constraint. Federal spending needs efficiency, not bloated profit making. People need jobs, not barriers to entry to employment. If we want investment, support my amendment and inject our Infrastructure Projects with a healthy dose of the 21st century. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from North Carolina reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition . Mr. Defazio i yield myself five minutes. The speaker pro tempore does the gentleman claim time in opposition. Mr. Defaws yoke i claim time in opposition. Lets just say i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for 15 minutes. Mr. Defazio im not quite certain what the gentlelady is objecting to. Now i realize her state has a 7. 25 an hour minimum wage. Great. Work 40 hours a week, live in abject poverty. Ok. The wakes for davisbacon projects in her state arent much better. These arent living wages. They arent family wages. They arent wages where you can go home to your family, not have to hold a second job, raise your kids, clothe them, send them to school. Give them a good education. Maybe help them pay for post secondary education. No, shes complaining about carpenters under davisbacon in her state they earn 25,000 a ear upped davisbacon. Under davisbacon. Wow, wow, 25,000 bucks a year. Thats outrageous. If they worked for the state minimum wage we could get that down to less than 20,000 a year. Thats great. What kind of car pepter are you going to get for that wage . I dont think youll find any living in your state. Iron workers . They get a bit more. Kind of up there in the heights and all that. They get up to almost 28,000 a year. 28,000 a year for an ironworker . Amazing. Oh, and then Truck Drivers. We arent concerned with the heavy Truck Drivers who work on construction. They get 13. 50 an hour. She is alarmed, alarmed at these outrageous wages being paid to these people and how it is impinging upon projects in her state. Why, they could get lots of meme to do that for 7. 25 an hour. Of course they wouldnt have any skills, but what the heck. What we found first off these arent union negotiated. These are they are done i by locale. Yes, these wages would be much higher in other areas. Apparently her state has apparently you can buy a house for 15,000 or 20,000 or something down there or rent a ce apartment for 400, 300 a month. You can live op those wages. Other places its not so inexpensive. What we are trying to prevent is history. Lowbid contractors who come often in from out of state provide shoddy worksmanship. Yeah, it was cheaper. Its cheaper. If you want a crappy job, hire someone who is the lowbid contractor. Who has unskilled people working for thefment we are setting for them. We are setting a standard here and the studies show that the most in any region around the country, these are done in very discreet regions. There are quite a number of regions in her state. I was using the averages. Some are even lower. Some higher. The average under the most under a dispassionate analysis by the e. P. I. Would be it could raise wages by as much as 10 . Wages are one quarter of the job cost. One quarter. 10 of one quarter would mean you would have 2. 5 to the job so people could have a decent living wage, decent benefits and raise a family. Maybe even own a home, car. Wow. Of course, they couldnt take transit to work if the republicans were successful in their version of this bill. We found higher productivity that comes from this. This is a fight we have had many, many times on this floor. And im afraid there will be a number of republicans who oppose her amendment. I certainly will be asking for recorded vote. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized. Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. The gentleman, i think maligns the state of North Carolina and i didnt think id have to really stand here and defend what a wonderful state North Carolina is, but i think its the fourth largest growing state in the country. People are coming there in droves. Its considered one of the best states in the country for workers. The minimum wage may be 7. 25, but i think we know only about 2 of the people in this country making the minimum wage and they are entry level people. I think we are talking more about an average wage of about 20 an hour. For people in North Carolina. Thats a straw dog that hes bringing up. We have a wonderful state and people are flocking there. The quality of life is great. And ill put our quality of life in North Carolina against quality of life in oregon or anywhere else in the country. As a great place to live. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the the gentlewoman from North Carolina reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio i yield myself such time as i may consume. I certainly did not mean to have her interpret im disparaging the state. Its beautiful state. I visited there. You have some fabulous breweries based there. One from colorado, and one from stran because you have clean water. If one of these other amendments earlier is adopted you wont have clean water the breweries might go away. Thats ok. Thats just the republican philosophical talking point. She said the average wage is 20 an hour then i dont know what shes concerned about. I have two pages of davisbacon prevailing wages in North Carolina. And i only see one of about 50 entries that is 20. 92 an hour. So it doesnt seem theres much purpose to her amendment. With that i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, the chair of the democratic caucus. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield. The gentleman from new york is recognized. I thank the distinguished chair of the transportation and Infrastructure Committee for yielding and for his tremendous leadership as it relates to the moving forward act. Mr. Jeffries House Democrats throughout the 116th congress have been working on lowering Health Care Costs and bigger paychecks, leading with an emphasis on fixing our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, Mass Transportation system, Public Schools, Public Housing, and all other aspects of infrastructure. I oppose this amendment because davisbacon protections are central to the effort to deliver a living wage to everyday americans. Here in this country when you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family. But that basic contract has been broken. Its broken because of the globalization of our economy. Its broken because of the outsourcing of goodpaying american jobs. Its broken because of poorly negotiated trade deals. Its broken because of the rise of the automation. And its broken because of the decline in unionization. The central question that we face in the aftermath of the Great Recession and how in the midst of another dramatic economic decline, is will we be able to preserve the Great American middle class . And all those who aspire to be part of it. At is what davisbacon prevailing wage protections are all about. And we on this side of the aisle stand with those everyday americans. Stand with those hardworking americans. Yes, stand with those unionized americans. Who are pursuing the american dream, and we should be facilitating that not undermining it here in the United States congress. Vote no against this amendment. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized. Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. Davisbacon stifles competition and discourages small and minority businesses. Minorityowned businesses. Small Business Owners often do not have the Financial Resources to bid on or win davisbacon contracts. These Restrictions Mean less infrastructure and fewer jobs in america. But more jobs and higher pay only for Union Members concentrating wealth in the hands of the few while Many Americans are out of work. Thats something our colleagues seem to be opposed to in every other situation. Suspending this mandate would make each public construction dollar go at least 10 further. This would create more bridges and buildings at the same cost to taxpayers. It would also employ hundreds of thousands of more construction workers. Repealing these restrictions would allow the government to build more infrastructure and create 155,000 more construct related construction related jobs at the same cost to taxpayers. With that, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio i inquire as to the time left on either side. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon has 8 1 3 minutes. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 7 1 2 minutes. Mr. Defazio i would just yield myself 30 seconds. I stand corrected. There are three categories out of 50 that get more than 20 an hour. Blaster, do you want a blaster who earns 7. At that an hour . That might not be too good. A crane, oop, they earn 21. 25 an hour in North Carolina. And a slip form machine laying concrete. So theres three categories that eastern could have their wages reduced. All these people could have their wages reduced because many are 14, 15, 16, 12 an hour even and under her amendment those protections go away. We can have a rush to the bottom and shes somehow implying minority contractors want to pay people less or cant afford to pay people. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Defazio very strong disadvantaged Business Enterprise provisions in this bill. With that i yield the speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from iowa is recognized. Mr. Defazio four minutes to the gentlelady from iowa. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from iowa is recognized. Thank you, madam speaker. I am proud to stand here today as a congresswoman from iowas first Congressional District. Even more proud to stand here retired a daughter of a Union Pipe Fitter welder. I brought something with me today of my dads. Can you see it right here. Its a sweatshirt that he welded in. You can see right here its got these tine yesy holes from the sparks of his welding torch. I tchept sweatshirt with me when i was in the statehouse in iowa for four years. To remind me every single day of who i was fighting for and also to give me hope when the republicans in iowa went after Workers Compensation and collective bargaining in my state. Ms. Finkenauer making it harder for folks just like my dad. And today i see Congressional Republicans doing the same thing. Pushing an amendment to gut davisbacon prevailing wage protections that will make life harder for working families like the one that i grew up in. And you see, i brought this with me today not because i need a reminder of who i am or where i come from, but clearly my colleagues across the aisle in this body today needs a reminder of the working men and women who have sacrificed day in and day out to provide good lives for their families who dont complain when they get burned from the sparks of a welding torch. Who dont complain when they have to wring out sweat out of their belt at the end of a hard days work, which i have seen my father do more times than id like to count. You see, what theyve done right now with this amendment and the proposals that they have shown us this year, are going after, again, the families like the one that i grew up in. What they have done with bills like this is try to amendments like this is to try to drive down wages and take away opportunities. This amendment is outrageous. Without davisbacon how many more workers busting their tails every day will see their paychecks go down and not up . How many more kids like me are going to go weeks without seeing their father or their mother . How many more families will be forced to leave their hometowns just to make ends meet . Republicans are trying to cut off access to health care right now. In the middle of a pandemic. And now they are trying to eliminate fair wage protection in the middle of an economic crisis. This is outrageous and quite frankly it is disrespectful. Working families are already struggling to get by. Unless have lost their jobs. And millions more are worried about their job security. And now in the middle of this crisis we are going to take wage protections . Again, this isnt just outrageous, its disrespectful and quite frankly its heartless. Please join me in defeating this amendment. Voting no and actually showing working men and women across the country who really have their back. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from iowa yields back. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized. Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. Under the nearly 500 billion surface transportation reauthorization piece of h. R. 2, the highway trust fund, h. T. F. , which pays for federal highway and transit programs, will require a 145 billion general fund bailout to cover the cost of the majoritys irresponsible spending decisions. Insped of trying to find a responsible way to pay for this huge increase in surface transportation funding and address the h. T. F. s longterm solvency issues, the bill simply files more debt on to future generations. Infrastructure is vital to our economy and the flow of commerce, but its reckless to push such a massive bill that relies so heavily on more deficit spending. Adds billions of dollars to programs without providing any reforms to reduce costs associated with the Infrastructure Project approval process. In addition, these partisan changes to our federal transportation programs focus more on Climate Change and less on building Infrastructure Projects, creating more uncertainty for transportation orkers and businesses. Rather than kicking the can down the road and burdening future generations with the spending habits of today we need to recognize and address inefficiencies that have lingered far too long. By repealing the davisbacon act for transportation projects we can stretch taxpayer dollars further while updating, improving and advancing the development of our nations critical infrastructure. With that, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio id like to inquire one last time whats available on either side. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon has 4 and a quarter minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has six minutes remaining. Mr. Defazio i yield to the gentleman, the honorable donald norcross, one and a half minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Norcross thank you. Thank you, chairman, for your leadership. Ofjust heard from a daughter a welder. I spent years as an electrician. We heard a stast tick statistic the other day, 40 of those who make 40,000 or less are out of work because of the pandemic. Here we are in the most deliberative body in the world where a member is saying i want to represent my people by cutting their pay. Unbelievable that were hearing this. That we must modernize the system. Just because its old doesnt make it no good. I think many of us can understand that. Save billions of dollars. Lets think about why they want to do it. So they can take that billion dollar save from workers out in the field who are making pennies an hour and give to the billionaires like they did two years ago. So lets understand this. You come before us to say, i want to hurt my constituents. I want to pay them less. Unbelievable that somebody has the guts here on the house floor to say, i want to screw my constituents. By paying them less. No health benefits. Time after time. Unbelievable. This was almost 100 years ago. Senator davis, congressman bacon, signed by a republican president. I guess thats back when republicans had a conscience. Because what were seeing now is an absolute farce. Lets save money so we can build more roads. Why dont you go back an give two bucks an hour so they cant even live. Well use them as pavement. Thats what i hear. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey yields back. The gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized. You xx madam speaker, know, the attacks on this amendment are truly uncalled for. No republican is calling for people to be paid 2 an hour. Or to be abused. Nobody. No. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have they have a right to their opinion but not to making up things, not putting words in our mouths. Thats just uncalled for. Im not going to really dignify those comments by trying to respond to them except to say that were getting sick and tired of people telling others what we think. Lets just talk about what we do. What this bill does is waste hardworking taxpayer dollars. And thats what were trying to protect. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from North Carolina reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defazio i yield myself 10 seconds. The gentlelady says save taxpayer dollars. What she wants to do is reduce the pife skilled workers in america. Thats not saving theyre taxpayers, by the way. I would yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. Rose. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rose thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to this amendment and quite frankly im dumbfounded. Youre aware that this conversation is in public so i wont put words in your mouth but i will use your own words. You say today you dont want to consolidate wealth amongst the few, what do you think your tax scam did . This is about workers. You said youre worried about deficit spending. Hallelujah, suddenly youre worried about it. You werent worried about deficit spending when it came to endless wars. You were worried about deficit spending when it came to tax scam. This conversation is in public. You dont get to go back to districts and say youre on the side of workers. Whose side are you on . Theres one thing this amendment will do. It will boost corporate profits, it will put money in the hands of billionaires and it will rip off workers. So today out in public, you reveal yourself to be the hypocrites that you are. Were going to make sure that people remember this. Thank you, i yield back. Ms. Foxx i ask that the gentlemans words be taken down. Madam speaker, i ask for the gentlemans words to be taken down. I am not a hypocrite. Mr. Rose with all due respect, you are. Ms. Foxx madam speaker, i ask that the gentlemans words be taken down. The speaker pro tempore the entleman will suspend. The clerk will report the words. The speaker pro tempore the entleman will suspend. Does the gentleman request to withdraw your remarks . Mr. Rose id like to amend my remarks to say to my colleagues across the aisle theyre especially hypocritical. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Rose i did not mean any disrespect if i caused that. The speaker pro tempore does the gentleman ask unanimous consent to withdraw his words . Mr. Rose yes, of course. The speaker pro tempore is here an objection . Ms. Foxx they i may i hear the gentleman say what he said again. Someone was distracting me, madam speaker. Im not im only asking the speaker pro tempore will the gentleman from new york please please repeat his remarks. Mr. Rose im sorry i offended anybody. I will withdraw. Thank you again. Ms. Foxx as i understand it, the gentleman is withdrawing his remarks and asking for unanimous consent. That his remarks be withdrawn. Is that correct . The speaker pro tempore thats the understanding, yes. Thats correct. Ms. Foxx no objection. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the words are withdrawn. The gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Ms. Foxx madam speaker, ill reserve at this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Defaws yoke the gentlelady has the right to close, ill yield the balance of the time to my esteemed colleague, mr. Kildee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon has the right to close. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Kildee thank you, madam speaker. I thank my friend the gentleman from oregon for yielding but especially for leading us to this moment where we have the opportunity to do Something Big and meaningful that will put millions of americans back to work in a meaningful way and stimulate this economy and also position us to lead in the 21st century. I will say this, however. Weve been through this before. Ive been here eight years. Every year, somebody from the other side comes down to this floor to offer this same amendment to take away an important protection that is actually quite simple. It just simply says, people who work for a living ought to be paid a fair wage. A wage that is consistent with the prevailing wages in the community so that people dont have to work full time and live in poverty at as tens of millions of americans do right now. Its pretty straightforward. Thankfully, even when the democrats were not in the majority, there were enough thoughtful republicans on the other side that would join with us to protect workers. But i do find it, and i know this is an issue thats very difficult for many of our members to take, it is an emotional subject. Because its the same Republican Leadership that pushed through a tax bill that granted huge economic benefits to a very small number of people at the very top that now want to pull the rug from under working families. This cant stand and it wont. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from North Carolina is recognized. Ms. Foxx thank you, madam speaker. Madam speaker, the jobs bill and tax cut bill which republicans alone passed in 2017 cut taxes for low income americans. Again, my colleagues are welcome to their opinions but theyre not welcome to make up facts. And thats what happened. The top 1 of the people in this country paid more in taxes, pay more in taxes, as a result of that bill. Madam speaker, i grew up extremely poor. In a house with no electricity and no Running Water my father had to work away from home in the north. I group i grew up in North Carolina. He was forced to be a member of a union. And he hated it. He hated it because he had to Pay Union Dues that supported policies he didnt support. He was forced to take breaks. He was forced to slow down jobs. What he wanted to do was do his job and do it well. And not come under the heavy hand of union bosses. I learned a long time ago that negative aspects of Union Membership. From my father. But were not here today to talk about personal issues. Were here to talk about the future of this country. I also am the lead republican on the education and Labor Committee and i fought all my life to help people gain the skills they need to get good jobs and better their lives. And im proud of what ive done over the years and i will continue to do those things and focus on helping individuals become masters of their own lives and not be the subjects of anyone, not the unions, in the the government, not anyone, but preserve their own freedom. Were here today to consider a massive progressive wish list. The majoritys made attempts to have made no atempt to fay no attempts to pay for any of the program increases or offset added to this bill which puts the American People in debt. In the surface transportation provisions, 2 out of every 5 is tied up in Green New Deal goals. Lets be clear. Also, this bill has no chance of becoming law. With so Many Americans already out of work because of pandemic, this costly shift in our transportation programs creates more uncertainty and does nothing to address longstanding infishcies. Rather than pushing partisan wish lists that would heap enormous amounts of debt on future generations, eff we instead need to find Commonsense Solutions to modernize our Infrastructure Spending so we can get the most from every dollar invetsed, thats what republicans want to do. We are not hypocrites. We believe, again, in freedom. We believe in what founded this country, the values that founded this country. And we are about to celebrate Independence Day. Thats what we should be focused on. How do we do everything we can to celebrate independence and preserve that for the American People . One of the ways we do that is by not incuring more debt on their behalf. I ask my colleagues to join me in taking a step toward fiscal restraint by overturning this antiquated law from a bygone era. At this critical juncture in our nations history, we need to maximize our commitment to job creation, wise investment, equitable spending, and solutions to our unending deficitment support my amendment to get the Real Investment in our nations infrastructure that our citizens deserve. With that, madam speaker, i yield the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from North Carolina yields. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina,s ms. Foxx. The question is on the amendment. So many as are in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The noes have it. He amendment is not agreed to. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, from the proceedings on this uestion are postponed. For what purpose does it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in art h of house report 116438. For what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition . Mr. Courtney thank you, madam speaker. The clerk has an amendment at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 2 printed in part h of house report number 116438, offered by mr. Courtney of connecticut. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Courtney, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut. Mr. Courtney thank you, madam speaker. I claim my time. And claim it for as long as i can. Madam speaker, in 2013 the connecticut General Assembly passed a law which was enacted that tried to modify and did modify at least at the state level the truck weight limits for Agricultural Producers which, again, sort of caught in a built of a geographic box given the fact its 80,000 limit in connecticut, 127,000 in massachusetts for interstate, and 143,000 in the state of new york. This is a very densely concentrated part of the country and almost all of their feed, almost all of their fuel, equipment, comes in from out of state. When you have trucks that carry 120,000 going down the mass pike and enter connecticut, you are suddenly having a very disruptive expensive proposition in terms of actually needing more trucks or having to have the products off loaded. Thats why the General Assembly passed this statute. They thought they fixed it. As we know here in fact federal law has to be modified to make it effective. That was the purpose of this amendment. I have the support of the governor and all the relevant agencies in washington. Truck weights are complicated. We know that. And i think we have really learned a lot in terms of this process. And again i will be making a motion which i think will bring this event to a conclusion. Before i do, i want to yield a couple minutes to a great advocate for farms in the state of connecticut, a member of the house agriculture committee, again someone who has been very involved in terms of trying to help on this issue, and with i again yield to miss miss hayes from connecticuts fifth district. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from connecticut. Miss hayes thank you, madam speaker. Congressman courtny. Connecticut farmers are in dire need of this amendment. Connecticuts agriculture industry encompasses everything from greenhouses to dairy farms. The greenhouse and nursery industry are the largest agriculture production sector in the state and they account for 4. 7 billion in connecticuts economy. These are family farms not large corporate farms. When they have to pay more to transport products due to unfair truck weight limits, there is a meaningful impact on their ability to stay afloat. For this reason the Connecticut Legislature passed a law in 2013 to allow for the increase in truck weights within the state. However, this changed as my colleague, mr. Courtney says, requires a federal fix to truly take effect. Putting federal policy in line with state policy would be a life line for my local farmers. We are not talking about a hypothetical benefit. We are talking about real tangible benefits. This amendment would achieve parity with neighboring states where weight limits are much higher. As you heard, in connecticut you can only carry up to 80,000 pounds. Unlike our neighbors, massachusetts who is up to 127,000 pounds and new york which is up to 143,000 pounds. In order to do business with those states, it requires multiple inefficient trips. This amendment is not just about fairness. Its about doing what makes sense for most of connecticuts agricultural sector. This would be a vital life line for the industry that is the backbone of my states economy. And they are already struggling. I urge my colleagues to at least recognize the importance of this amendment and thank my friend, mr. Courtney, for his partnership in this effort. With that i yield back to mr. Courtney. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from connecticut is recognized. Mr. Courtney again i think the gentleman described very well the situation thats there. We obviously as i said learned a lot in this process in terms of maybe trying to get more reassurance about the precision of the definition of what is agricultural products. As well as making sure that the regulations in connecticut are beefed up so the maximum level of truck safety would be incorporated into any such change. As i said it needs more work. I want to thank mr. Defazio for at least listening to us and mr. Mcgovern for making this amendment in order. Mr. Graves again for the work that he does on the transportation and Infrastructure Committee. As a friend of mine once said when he was redistricted out of a seat in the hartford, Connecticut Legislature, dont send me flowers because im coming back. Dont send us flowers because we want to bring this issue sometime in the future to congress to help great people who work every day, get up early and doing wonderful things in terms of Food Production, agricultural products. I ask unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment. The speaker pro tempore is there objection . Without objection, the amendment is withdrawn. The speaker pro tempore amendment number 3 printed in part h of 11 438. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition . Ms. Talib madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 3 printed in part h of house report number 116438, offered by ms. Talib of michigan. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 1028, the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. Talib, and a member opposed, each will will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from michigan. Ms. Talib thank you, madam chair. First, i want to thank Speaker Pelosi and leader higher for their leadership in bringing this important bill to the floor. Id also like to thank chairman pallone for working with me on this amendment and chairpersons defazio, waters, scott, and others for their leadership. And my colleagues, representatives dan kildee, slotkin, cicilline, and moore for their cosponsorship of this amendment. I rise today in support of my amendment. Because everyone deserves clean water. Because water is a human right. I rise today because in the richest country in the world no family or child should live with poisoned water. My amendment authorizes 4. 5 billion annually, totaling 22. 5 billion over the next five years to replace dangerous lead water pipes throughout our nation. This amendment also prioritizes lead pipe replacement projects serving disadvantaged communities, communities of color, lowincome communities, and Environmental Justice communities like mine in the michigan 13th district. Our residents in michigan surrounded by the largest bodies of fresh water in the world should not be forced to live off bottled water sold by them, by corporations like nestle who make billions while paying almost nothing to bottle our water and harm our ecosystems of the contaminated water has been a fact of life for too many communities, especially black and brown communities like detroit, flint, baltimore, chicago, and more. My amendment will require that lead Service Lines must be fully replaced and removed. No partial lead Service Line Replacements would be funded. Our residents observed so much more than half measures. We owe them their human right to drink clean water. The amendment, madam chair, would change lives for over nine million homes across the country. Currently at risk of facing the harm of lead exposure. The time for Environmental Justice is now and this amendment is a crucial step toward finally achieving that. To my colleagues, i urge you to vote yes on this amendment. I urge you to tell every single individual, family and child and community in this country that they have a right to clean, safe water. Thank you. And i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition . Thank you, madam speaker. I reserve the balance i rise in opposition to the amendment and reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. The gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from vefpblgt ms. Talib thank you. I yield to my good colleague and fellow activist on water and human rights, the gentleman from michigan, congressman dan kildee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Kildee thank you, madam speaker. Thank you to my friend and colleague, congresswoman talib, for her leadership and for bringing this amendment to the floor. Im proud to join her in it. As many of you know i represent my hometown of flint, michigan. Flint is the community that really brought National Attention to this issue of lead in Drinking Water. 15,000 children impacted in flint, michigan, because of lead leeching into their Drinking Water. Those lead Service Lines were the source of that contamination. There is no safe level of lead in Drinking Water. Right now we have a rule that allows for a certain level of lead, many communities exceed it. But there is no safe level of lead in Drinking Water. We need to do everything we can to eliminate it. This is a big step forward in dealing with it. Let me just remind my friends. Yes, of course, this sort of Initiative Comes with a price tag. But if you really want to know the price of this issue, come to flint and youll see the price of failure. The price of lead exposure. Its not just measured in the half a billion dollars that its cost to remediate a problem that could have solved if this program had been in place before. But the cost is measured in the effect that that lead exposure has on developing small brains and the effect of the trajectory of the lives of those kids forever. Forever. Youre not going to get a c. B. O. Score that measures the quality of life and the trajectory of the life of a child whose brain has been affected by exposure to lead. We have a chance to do something about this. We have a chance to prevent the next flint, michigan. My people at home are tough. And they have been through a lot. And they dont want flint to be an anomaly. It should be an example to the rest of the country. This is an important amendment that will make even better this bill that i support that invests in the future of our country. I thank my colleague, congresswoman talib, for her outstanding leadership on this. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentlewoman from michigan is recognized. Ms. Talib thank you, madam chair. Im prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman from illinois is recognized. Mr. Shimkus i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The the gentlewoman from michigan has the right to close. Ms. Talib i urge my colleagues to really understand the human impact of not having clean water around our country. This would help 11,000 communities across our nation. And i urge my colleagues to support this. And vote yes. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields. The gentleman from illinois is recognized. Mr. Shimkus i was here yesterday evening to debate the amendments under energy and commerce amendments. This was another one. Although the intent is well, its a terrible amendment, because it didnt go through regular order. The committee of jurisdiction didnt get a chance to understand it and debate it. My constituents get tired of process arguments and a lot of members get tired of that, but we have at least we used to have some very powerful committees in this institution and members who develop subject matter expertise through the years of hearings and focused detailed markups but when we move through bills of regular rder to avoid unintended consequences above bad Public Policy and this amendment is an another example. I appreciate the sentiments behind the sponsors including the amendment places emphasis on communities, the way this amendment is drafted, leaves me with questions about how it operates and wont result in the claims of its sponsors. The amendment authorizes a brand new comprehensive lead program, which is not welldefined on top of the existing rent Reduction Program, which is defined. Im sure my colleagues dont even know we have a lead Reduction Program right now under current law. We know the existing lead Reduction Program contains education and lead Service Lines replacements. All we know about this is it pays to remove lead Service Lines. This is less than comprehensive. This amendment authorizes 4. 5 billion for both programs. Does this need 4. 44 billion to go to the new undefined comprehensive program and 60 to the existing lead defined program. Are they supposed to be treated equally. On the question of funding, the amount of funding requested is 300 than the entire amount of federal funding for major Drinking Water program. About half of the e. P. A. s entire annual budget. The lead Reduction Program which was authorized at 60 million is now just starting to award funds. Since the comprehensive program is a separate program, we can expect this program to take longer to get going. But pushing the funding out the door might be as pierational rather than realistic and it would be a shame to communities who need it most. S. Wabes any requirement on top this amendment waives any requirement for any person to pay for replacement of lead Service Lines whereas the program we have now waives the the funding. The new comprehensive program will pick up the check for them. Thats not very progressive. Come pping the wealthy for these replacements is a harsh consequence for u. S. Taxpayers. Flint was a failure at all levels and it happened because of money and politics. The city of flint wanted off of detroit water because they felt they were being gouged. The city council had a transition that wasnt based on chemistry. Nd eep was aware of the high lead level readings. The biggest problem, no one told the public. Flint suffered because of that and People Living in the most neglected areas of flint suffered the most. While this amendment guarantees Priority Funding for cities and low income folks, this amendment does not mandate these household get their lead Service Lines replaced first or target the worst contamination. The citygreement doesnt have to replace the most dangerous lead Service Lines. This is an example we shouldnt stick Safe Drinking Water amendments on a transportation bill. It creates poor Public Policy like this amendment and i ask for a no vote. Chairman defazio said i have no idea what these amendments mean because i have no jurisdiction on this process. So with that, madam speaker, thank you for the time. Vote no on this poorly drafted amendment. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from michigan. The question is on the amendment. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. He amendment is agreed to. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. Pursuant to clause 1c of rule 119 further consideration of h. R. 2 is postponed. Pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares the house washington journal continues. Host congresswoman congressman and dr. Larry buschon. We want to start with the concerns that you brought up at yesterdays hearing on Mental Health during the coronavirus pandemic regarding the lack of Mental Health Services Available for College Students right now. Now that they have been sent home from campus. Can you talk about the scope of that problem . Host i have had 3 guest i have had three kids i go through college and i know what has happened on campuses in recent years. Theres more kids that come into college that need oncampus counseling than i think the American Public understands for a variety of reasons. There are kids with Substance Abuse issues, longstanding Mental Health issues, things like depression and other issues. Oncampus services have become really prominent across the country. I spoke with the president of the university and my district in southwest indiana and he brought up this issue, when everybody is at home and they have students in all 50 states and a number of countries, how do we continue with counseling . There are challenges based on state lines and practices of health care with reimbursement, liability, and ongoing counseling. This is a issue that was brought to me by a University President d