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05Economic Report of the President: Message From the President of the United States (H. Doc. No. 119-2)
06After Recess
07After Recess
08Adjournment
1 member spoke
Daily Digest
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced
45 public bills, H.R. 331-375; and 10 resolutions, H.J. Res. 17-18; H. Con. Res. 3; and H. Res. 31-37, were introduced.
Pages H109-11
Reports Filed
There were no reports filed today. Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he appointed Representative Bost to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.
Page H95
Recess
The House recessed at 12:21 p.m. and reconvened at 2 p.m.
Page H97
Presidential Message
Received a message from the President transmitting the Economic Report of the President together with the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers--referred to the Joint Economic Committee and ordered to be printed (H. Doc. 119-2).
Pages H98-99
Recess
The House recessed at 2:17 p.m. and reconvened at 4:30 p.m.
Page H99
Suspensions
The House agreed to suspend the rules and pass the following measures: Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation: H.R. 189, to amend title 40, United States Code, to eliminate the leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
Pages H104-05
Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure
H.R. 192, to amend title 49, United States Code, to require Amtrak to include information on base pay and bonus compensation of certain Amtrak executives, by a \2/3\ yea-and-nay vote of 407 yeas with none voting ``nay'', Roll No. 8; and
Pages H99-H100, H106-07
Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination
H.R. 152, to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments, by a \2/3\ yea-and-nay vote of 405 yeas to 5 nays, Roll No. 9.
Pages H100-01, H107-08
Recess
The House recessed at 5:16 p.m. and reconvened at 6:30 p.m.
Page H106
Suspensions: Proceedings Postponed
The House debated the following measures under suspension of the rules. Further proceedings were postponed: Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability: H.R. 153, to provide for an online repository for certain reporting requirements for recipients of Federal disaster assistance;
Pages H101-03
Promoting Opportunities to Widen Electrical Resilience
H.R. 164, to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize Federal agencies to provide certain essential assistance for hazard mitigation for electric utilities; and
Pages H103-04
Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency
H.R. 144, to provide that the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 does not apply to certain reports required to be submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Pages H105-06
Committee Elections
The House agreed to H. Res. 31, electing Members to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives.
Page H108
Quorum Calls: Votes
Two yea-and-nay votes developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H106-07, H107-08. Adjournment: The House met at 12 noon and adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Every speech and line is the Congressional Record's own text, read from GovInfo. Speakers are matched to members by GPO's own metadata. Referandom places each turn on the Clerk's video by matching its words: 67 of 119 spoken turns were found. Turns without a time are still listed; they just can't seek.
Morning-Hour Debate
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of January 3, 2025, the Chair will now recognize Members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning-hour debate.
The Chair will alternate recognition between the parties, with time equally allocated between the parties and each Member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to 5 minutes, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, today, January 13 in Washington, we are in a little bit of a hiatus waiting for a new administration and a new Congress to begin the process of bringing forward new policy proposals and a budget.
In the meantime, in the last 13 days, we have seen, I think, groundbreaking, exciting developments for the people of this country as a result of legislation that was passed in 2022 and 2023 and implemented by the Biden administration.
The first is the PACT Act. In 2022, after 5 years of hard-fought advocacy by veterans' groups all across the country, this measure opened the door for veterans of the Vietnam war era and also the Middle East era, who suffered horrible cancers, heart disease, and life- threatening conditions, to make sure that they could connect to the VA healthcare system to get the help they need.
Basically, what it did in 2022 was allow veterans who served in those parts of the world in those conflicts who suffered from 23 different illnesses--we are talking about cancers, heart disease, and life- threatening illnesses--to be able to avoid the gymnastics of having to prove to the VA where they were on such and such a date and how they were exposed to a burn pit or to Agent Orange.
As a result of that, we have seen over 1.4 million veterans nationwide have their PACT Act claims approved and over 384,000 Vietnam, Gulf war, and post-9/11 veterans get newly enrolled in the healthcare system. Six million toxic exposure tests were done as a result of this law.
Last week, on January 8, Secretary McDonough of the VA announced that another five illnesses are going to be added to the presumptive eligibility structure of the PACT Act claim system. Again, we are talking about very serious illnesses in terms of additional cancers and myelomas which today don't get the benefit of that fast-track process of getting their claims approved and getting the help that they need.
This is making a big difference in my district, the Second Congressional District of Connecticut, which is home to the oldest submarine base in our Nation's history, with about 9,000 sailors and many retirees serving in the area there. Over 4,025 veterans in the district have filed PACT Act claims. That is more than double the rest of the congressional districts in the State of Connecticut.
This has made a meaningful difference in the lives of people who wore the uniform of this country and, because of their service, incurred service-connected injuries that for many years had long been denied health coverage.
I congratulate Secretary McDonough as he leaves his post for the swift implementation of the 2022 law.
Mr. Speaker, on January 1, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap is going to be initiated for seniors on the Medicare part D program.
Fifty-three million seniors across the country use part D and because of the copayment structure, many of them pay in excess of $2,000 out of pocket.
Starting on January 1, because of the Inflation Reduction Act and the prescription drug reforms that took place as a result of that, there will be a hard cap that no one will have to pay more than $2,000 during a calendar year for prescription drug coverage for people who suffer from chronic illnesses, such as MS and other cancers.
This is a life-changing transformation in terms of both their healthcare coverage and delivery but also their financial circumstance, which for many years, despite part D being enacted back in 2002, they were incurring costs far in excess of $2,000. The numbers are in the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people who are going to benefit because of that new cap.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Secretary Becerra for the swift implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which unfortunately was a very tough
This is real change that means something in real life for people. Hopefully, with this new Congress, we are going to follow up with this. We can extend that prescription drug benefit by passing the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act, which would extend these Medicare cost controls for prescription drugs to working-age families, to people's employment-based plans.
Why not? Why should they have to pay more than their fellow Americans for healthcare and people all across the globe? Let's pass that law. Let's help the Americans in this country in this next Congress.
Mr. Speaker, even as his time in office is coming to an end, President Biden and his administration are still forcing out-of-touch mandates on the American people.
To confront President Biden's Green New Deal agenda, I am proud to reintroduce the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, which passed this House in a bipartisan manner in the last Congress. This legislation would ensure that California is unable to move forward with a ban on the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles.
This dramatic change would alter the way that vehicles across our Nation are sold at a time when our electric grid is not prepared to meet the demands of a fully electric fleet. It is time to put a stop to the Biden administration's far-left agenda. It is time to allow American drivers to be able to choose the vehicle that they want to drive.
Mr. Speaker, the election in this past November was a loud and clear signal from the American public that they want a secure border and safe streets. That is why my Republican colleagues and I are quickly moving legislation to secure our border and ensure that violent criminals are removed from our communities.
The Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act would make any sexual offense committed by illegal immigrants a deportable offense and would ensure that they are banned from these United States. This commonsense legislation is just one step toward creating safer streets and communities for Pennsylvania families and for all Americans.
Mr. Speaker, as President Trump prepares to begin his second term in office, the Biden administration is trying to limit his ability to ensure that our Nation is energy dominant once again, this time by banning drilling from certain Federal lands.
Like President Trump, I know that energy independence moves us away from relying on foreign actors for our energy resources while also helping our allies remove their dependence on adversarial nations, as well.
As vice chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration to unleash our Nation's energy production. Together, we as Americans can lower prices at the pump and protect our national energy security.
Mr. Speaker, I will start by welcoming all of our new Members to the 119th Congress and to this esteemed Chamber. I look forward to finding a way that we can work together to better our country.
I am introducing myself as one of the proud co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. I am here to tell you that protecting our kids is not a partisan issue.
I am inviting you to join us in protecting our most valuable asset in this country, our future workforce, our children.
In any given year, there are 390,000 children and youth who experience foster care in the United States. Foster care impacts every congressional district across the country, regardless of whether it is red or blue or urban or rural.
Our Members come from all over the country and have vastly different backgrounds and experiences. However, we all share one thing in common, and that is the commitment to finding solutions that aim to improve the lives of children in care.
Last Congress, we made great strides in child welfare policy by working across the aisle to deliver real results for children and families. In July last year, the Supporting America's Children and Families Act passed unanimously through the Ways and Means Committee. In September, it passed this House by a vote of 405-10.
This bill provided the first major increase in child welfare funding in almost 20 years and reauthorized title IV-B funding for another 5 years. It also included provisions to prevent States from separating families solely on the basis of poverty; strengthen the Indian Child Welfare Act; recover overdue child support by intercepting Federal tax funds; expand evidence-based services to prevent abuse and neglect; and support foster youth transitioning out of care, among other important provisions.
I am so proud to say that the Supporting America's Children and Families Act was signed into law by President Biden on January 4, 2025.
This feat was made possible by bipartisan efforts from members of the Ways and Means Committee and the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. This bill is proof that we have one theme uniting us regardless of party: Our children and youth deserve loving, stable, and safe homes.
As a member of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, your fresh ideas and new perspectives will help address the ever-changing challenges that foster youth in our country face. You will hear directly from advocates, child welfare professionals, and even children and families with lived experience on how we as policymakers can better the foster care system.
The caucus' largest event is shadow day where our members spend the day with a former foster youth. This allows us to learn about issues facing children involved in the child welfare system directly from people with lived experience. Our goal is to turn their feedback into action.
If you care about the well-being of our most vulnerable children and families, like I know all of you do, please join us as a member of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. We will be having our welcome back event on Tuesday, February 11, from 10 a.m. to noon, and it is open to Members and staff willing to learn about issues related to foster youth. I hope to see you there.
Mr. Speaker, well, it is everywhere. You can't avoid it in the news, and it shouldn't be avoided. It is so horrible. The fires we have now in southern California are devastating so much there, so much value, so much loss, and up to 24 lives lost now. It is an incredibly unnecessary happening that has been raging in L.A. It happens every year with the Santa Ana winds.
Up in the northern California area that I represent, we have had that devastation already many times: The town of Paradise, town of Greenville, town of Canyondam, and others were completely obliterated.
Our Governor Gavin Newsom has been up there to see those fires, especially the Paradise one when President Trump came to Paradise and visited to see the devastation. At the time, President Trump asked him and others: What are you doing to clear the land in
Then people made fun of that word, ``rake,'' which is actually a technical term for some of the equipment used in forestry to make sure areas can be a little more fire safe by thinning trees, removing brush, and removing dead material on that.
The question is, as Governor Newsom goes out on site and waves his arms and tells us it is someone else's fault, then what has he learned in the last 6 years? More importantly, what has he applied since he had this photo op in Paradise as the new Governor of California? It looks like not much, not much action.
Certain promises were made to be aggressive on land management in California and certain claims were made, but the actual numbers are one-fifth of the amount claimed that had been treated, the work that had been done in California.
We have seen time after time more and more fires: the Camp fire in Paradise listed here, 85 lives lost, 90 percent of the homes; the Carr fire near Redding; the Zogg fire on the other side of Redding; the Park fire last year, 400,000 acres from Chico all the way up to Mount Lassen; the Dixie fire, 1 million acres. This is all northern California. Now southern California is getting international coverage, and rightfully so.
What are we going to do? What is Newsom going to do? Well, he wants to blame it on climate change. Time and time again, we are hearing about climate change and we are hearing about carbon dioxide. Here is the same chart I show off and on on this floor: Carbon dioxide represents 0.04 percent of the atmosphere. It has barely changed. Look at the rest of the chart, what isn't CO2. They want to just make it a climate change story.
What are we doing to make things more fire resilient in southern California?
This is the Santa Ynez Reservoir just up the hill from Pacific Palisades. The portion on the right here is what it looks like more or less when it is full. Here is what it looks like presently. It is empty. It has been empty since last February. They have been fooling around for nearly a year supposedly repairing the cover over the thing. It holds 117 million gallons of water.
They report to us that there are three one-million gallon tanks that ran out, the third one by 3 a.m. on the night of the fire above Pacific Palisades. What would another 117, approximately 40 times the storage of those three tanks, have been able to do for them had it been available, had the maintenance been done?
Well, the Governor is going to start an investigation on it now, kind of like when he starts an investigation on high gas prices due to policies he does that drive up the cost of fuel, make fuel and the refineries not available, and quit drilling for fuel in California, which we have so much abundance of near that Bakersfield area, et cetera.
What are we doing here? Why is this reservoir empty? Why has it been empty for nearly a year to make a little repair in the cover that may have been able to be done by reservoir staff? It is incompetence at all levels here.
What do we have going on? Is there enough water supply? He says, well, we have plenty of water.
Presently, this is Shasta Dam in northern California, and it is dumping water right now. It is dumping water out. It still has a million acre-feet of space left, but it is dumping water because they want to have room at the top to conserve for more weather. Okay. I guess I understand that.
However, what are they doing with that water down below? Newsom's plans have stopped the delta pumps from running at full capacity to fill other water systems around the State, such as San Luis Reservoir, which is about 70 percent full right now and doesn't have a storage problem for flood, as well as making sure the aqueducts are filling all the other reservoirs such as the one we just looked at, Santa Ynez. They could fill that in a short amount of time. The amount of water that runs out wasted, running through the delta in an hour, would fill that Santa Ynez Reservoir. It would take a long time locally because they have to rely on either wells or coming from some other water source we haven't quite ascertained yet because it is hard to find information.
Is Governor Newsom going to help or is he going to be a detriment and just go on camera and blame everybody else and blame the President? We need real work done to make fire conditions much safer in California and the West.
Mr. Speaker, President Trump's 2017 tax package created section 199A, a 20 percent small business deduction to help small businesses and family farms like those in my district. In fact, three out of four small business employers in this country have benefited from this tax provision.
Unfortunately, this deduction is one of many set to expire this year. The National Federation of Independent Business has circulated a petition, which has over 100,000 signatures, urging Congress to make this vital tax deduction permanent and stop a massive tax hike on our small businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to listen to our local businessowners and join me in supporting making the 199A deduction permanent.
Mr. Speaker, the fall of the dictator Assad of Damascus is equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall, liberating central and eastern Europe, now leading to liberating the Middle East and North Africa.
It is known that war criminal Putin and the regime in Tehran have lost a murderous puppet. War criminal Putin is trying to evacuate his bases. The Iranian regime is pivoting to support the Houthis in Yemen to attack American shipping. The terrorist regimes in Moscow and Iran are more vulnerable than ever.
President Donald Trump wants to achieve peace through strength, working with our allies, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, we know that he will be restoring the Abraham Accords, which will bring security for Israel and stability for the people of Syria and Lebanon, including the legitimate Governments of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
In conclusion, God bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues. Open borders for dictators put all Americans at risk of more 9/11 attacks imminent, as warned by the FBI. Donald Trump will reinstitute existing laws to protect American families with peace through strength.
Mr. Speaker, House Republicans leaked their plans for how they are going to cut taxes for their rich friends at the expense of regular working people. News flash: It is awful, awful, awful.
A recent analysis of the Trump tax plan found that it would, on average, cut taxes for the richest 5 percent of Americans and raise taxes on everyone else, the 95 percent of the population who do not hang out at Mar-a-Lago.
To pay for this sick and twisted plan that screws over regular people, they want to totally gut the Federal programs that help regular people. They want to cut the SNAP benefits by hundreds of billions of dollars, slashing the food budgets of millions of Americans by nearly a third. They want to rip healthcare away from people and block access to economic security programs for hardworking American families.
That is the Republican playbook: Attack regular people and shower corporations and the ultrarich with tax breaks and hope that it trickles down.
Let's reject this disgusting plan and invest in our anti-poverty safety net. Let's support our middle class and let's end hunger now.
Mr. Speaker, I am showing you what a managed forest looks like here and an unmanaged forest looks like here.
In my district in northern California and much of the West, forests burn millions of acres year after year, such as a million-acre fire in my district a couple years ago, 600,000 acre, and on and on it goes. It occurs because the lands are not managed, not allowed to be managed by environmental lawsuits and such.
Governor Newsom, the Governor of California, promised after 6 years in office, when he came to my district in Paradise, to do more. He said: We have done all this acreage. We have done all this work. He actually overstated the figure by five times.
Here we have now the situation in southern California where this brush is catching on fire. In the high winds, it is just a tinderbox that blows into the neighborhoods and burns down Pacific Palisades and all the others affected like that.
They have suspended their brush program there, so Gavin Newsom can't point and say we have done all this great stuff here and blame everybody else like he does, waving his arms around. Instead, they have not done the work, and they have put people in danger, as well as the issue with water in California flowing out to the Pacific instead of being stored to help keep their storage facilities full so they can fight fires. It is mismanagement.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the floor of Congress to speak out against the ban on TikTok that will take place in 6 days, on January 19. I call on President Biden and President-elect Trump to put a pause on this ban so 170 million Americans don't lose their free speech. Millions of Americans' livelihoods will be ended if this ban takes place.
We need to be for free speech. We can protect Americans' data, we can protect us from foreign interference on algorithms, but we should not ban TikTok. I call on others to join me in standing up for free speech and opposing this TikTok ban.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 192) to amend title 49, United States Code, to require Amtrak to include information on base pay and bonus compensation of certain Amtrak executives, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 192.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 192 was introduced by Representative Rouzer, and I am very proud to be a cosponsor on this bill. The bill is intended to ensure that annual bonuses awarded to Amtrak's top executives are made public at the beginning of every calendar year.
Amtrak relies heavily on government subsidies, and during more than 50 years of existence, it has never made a profit. Nonetheless, Amtrak executives have been awarded generous six-figure bonuses despite financial losses and service issues.
The disclosure of such huge payouts rightfully outrages the public and members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This bill is a
I very much appreciate the gentleman from North Carolina Representative Rouzer's work on this legislation, and I would urge adoption by the House.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of the Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure Act. This bill would require Amtrak to post the executive leadership team compensation annually on the Amtrak website.
Congress already requires the Nation's intercity passenger railroad to submit this information to Congress. This bill would increase transparency of the information to the public and require it to be posted online as well, as Amtrak has now done for the last 2 years.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, the Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure Act, which increases accountability and transparency at Amtrak by requiring public disclosure of taxpayer- funded bonuses given to its top executives.
Amtrak was created 55 years ago by Congress as a for-profit entity to relieve our Nation's vital freight railroads of their obligation under law to provide what had proved to be an unprofitable intercity passenger rail service.
Since then, Amtrak has done no better. They have failed to ever make a profit and struggle to provide adequate service.
Even with the post-pandemic improvements in ridership, staggering financial losses remain. In 2023, Amtrak lost more than $1.7 billion despite collecting $11 billion in taxpayer subsidies and almost $22 billion in advanced funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Amtrak's delays and customer service failures were front and center the day after Christmas just a month ago when the Northeast Corridor train didn't board any passengers at Washington's Union Station. Mr. Speaker, 100 customers were stranded during the busiest travel time of the year when operations should be the most efficient.
Amtrak is also hampered with project delays. Delayed projects lead to cost overruns and significant revenue losses. For example, its new Acela II train service for the Northeast Corridor is more than 3 years behind schedule with no firm date on when it will enter service. This delay has led to a $140 million loss in revenue according to a 2023 OIG report. Relying on government bailouts to make up for losses must end.
Despite this track record, no pun intended, the Amtrak board of directors awarded the company's 15 executives more than $9 million in bonuses during the last 2 years. Congress, Amtrak employees, and the public were shocked and outraged, and rightly so, to discover such generous and questionable awards paid largely by taxpayers.
The Transportation Workers Union, which represents 1,500 Amtrak service workers, said that these bonuses are an affront to every Amtrak worker and American taxpayers, which is why the TWU endorsed this bill during the previous Congress when it last passed the House.
While Amtrak has taken steps to be more transparent about their executives' bonuses, they only did so after a hearing before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Congressional oversight and influence should not be necessary for this information to be made public, but unfortunately, it is. It is why this bill has been brought to the floor today, to require Amtrak to publish its annual executive bonus awards on its website, providing passengers, employees, and taxpayers with transparency regarding how their tax dollars are being spent.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Graves, Representatives Frederica Wilson, Troy Nehls, and David Rouzer for working together to bring this very important legislation forward to increase transparency for the American people. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. It is a good bill. It should pass.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 192 provides the necessary transparency for Amtrak. This legislation passed the House last Congress under suspension of the rules by voice vote, and I look forward to it passing again today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 192.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 152) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 152.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 152, the Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act, is a commonsense bill that is going to streamline and consolidate the collection of information following a disaster.
While the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the lead Federal agency on disasters, there are often many Federal agencies involved in disaster response and recovery.
I have experienced firsthand just how frustrating it can be when these Federal agencies fail to work together following a natural disaster.
That is why I am proud to support H.R. 152, which would address this concern by amending the FEMA-led working group created in the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018.
Specifically, the working group is going to develop a plan to make the collection of information from disaster survivors less burdensome, duplicative, and time consuming. This working group is also going to coordinate with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to identify ways to reduce duplication and streamline the Federal damage assessment process.
I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell) for his leadership on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 152, the Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act.
This legislation amends the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to help Federal agencies streamline and consolidate information collection and preliminary damage assessments following disasters.
After a major disaster, there is no time to wait for bureaucracy. However, Federal recovery assistance following disasters is currently hampered by inefficient information collection and assessments conducted by multiple agencies.
This bill will remove information collection barriers that currently impede disaster aid. It creates a working group to identify duplicative assessments and propose their elimination.
Further, it would streamline Federal disaster recovery efforts by concluding that a single agency is sufficient to conduct damage assessments to account for the needs of disaster victims.
The Federal Government can and should be doing this smarter.
Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of disaster assistance.
Unfortunately, none of us are strangers to the effects of natural disasters, and we have all had these problems in our hometowns.
Right now we are seeing how these events threaten lives, damage property, and strain local, State, and Federal resources.
In the aftermath, millions of Americans are left seeking help to rebuild their lives and their communities.
However, when seeking necessary Federal relief, applying for disaster assistance can be a frustrating and confusing process. This leads to delays, frustration, and even disqualification from receiving the aid.
This is where my bill comes in. H.R. 152 works to eliminate inefficiencies and expedite the application process by ensuring only one information submission is needed.
Survivors are already facing difficult circumstances, and the application process should not add to their stress.
H.R. 152 represents a crucial step forward toward achieving a more effective disaster recovery system that prioritizes the needs of Americans and ensures they receive the help in a timely manner. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, as stewards of taxpayer dollars, we need to ensure that we are spending our money as efficiently as possible.
Government should work. As we have seen in fires in Oregon, hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida, and currently the horrific fires in Los Angeles, when people suffer from a natural disaster, it is imperative that they get the help that they need. They have lost everything, and the last thing we should be doing is dragging them through duplicative bureaucracy.
That is why this bill is so important. This bipartisan bill passed the House on suspension in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses. This bill will help disaster survivors by taking a step toward streamlining the Federal Government's fragmented approach to disaster assistance.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and, hopefully, the Senate will move it through. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 152 is a good government bill that will help improve disaster recovery efforts. It has previously passed the House in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 152.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 153) to provide for an online repository for certain reporting requirements for recipients of Federal disaster assistance, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 153.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 153, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act, will increase transparency for post-disaster Federal assistance. H.R. 153 will do this by requiring agencies that provide Federal disaster assistance to update a central website quarterly with information on their disaster assistance programs. That way, the American taxpayer can see exactly where their hard-earned dollars are going.
H.R. 153 passed the House in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses, and I urge continued support for this commonsense legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell) for his leadership on this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 153. This bill would create a new online system for tracking Federal disaster projects and assistance.
People should know how and where their disaster funds are being spent without wading through reams of government paperwork. The legislation simplifies the data collection process for Federal disaster recovery projects. To increase transparency, this bill would also create a page on USAspending.gov where anyone can track agency disaster recovery activities and the amount of assistance expended by the agency on a quarterly basis.
Federal agencies need to be accountable to the victims of disasters and to the taxpayers who funded these agencies' really important work. We also need to allow Federal disaster victims peace of mind when they are at their most vulnerable.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me and support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on my bill, H.R. 153, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act, which aims to improve transparency in the Federal disaster assistance process.
When disaster strikes, the priority is to save lives and to help communities recover. However, in doing so, one of the biggest challenges in the aftermath of a disaster is ensuring that aid is distributed fairly and timely to those who need it most.
Transparency builds trust in government. Without clear information, communities may feel left in the dark about how aid is being allocated. This is where the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act comes in.
This bill requires FEMA to publicly share key information about the damage caused by disasters and how assistance is being distributed. It ensures the public can track recovery efforts in real time and understand how resources are being allocated. This helps communities, local governments, and organizations involved in recovery make more informed decisions.
The bill also mandates that FEMA provide detailed, easy-to-access data, such as the extent of the damage, the areas affected, and the estimated cost of recovery.
Ultimately, this bill holds FEMA and the government accountable to the American people. By strengthening trust, H.R. 153 is a vital step toward building a more transparent, responsive disaster recovery system.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, the House passed this bipartisan bill on suspension in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses. I look forward to the Senate taking up this bill, given how important it is with the massive natural disasters that we are seeing. I certainly hope that we in Congress fund the IT infrastructure so that we can get this done and get this done quickly.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I hope we can continue to show support for this commonsense accountability measure. It is going to help improve transparency for Federal disaster spending.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 153.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 164) to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize Federal agencies to provide certain essential assistance for hazard mitigation for electric utilities, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 164.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, following a natural disaster, electric utilities work tirelessly to restore power to their customers. However, because of FEMA's problematic interpretation of section 403 of the Stafford Act, once power is restored, even with temporary measures, electric utilities are deemed ineligible for reimbursement for permanent work and mitigation efforts.
As a result, electric utilities are treated differently from all other critical infrastructure, even though building mitigation into our power systems reduces the costs of future disasters.
H.R. 164 is going to address this by clarifying that electric utilities may build in mitigation measures that provide essential assistance and that it does not disqualify electric utilities from permanent work eligibility later in the disaster recovery process.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 164, my legislation with Representative Ezell. This bill empowers publicly owned electric utilities to implement hazard mitigation improvements during disaster recovery.
When disasters strike, they leave a trail of destruction, including damaged energy infrastructure that needs to be immediately repaired to restore power. At the same time, this can present an opportunity to improve the resilience of power infrastructure to reduce the risk of outages or fires in the future.
I have spoken with many FEMA employees, and they feel like they have their hands tied because of rules that are in place that prevent them from being able to fund investments in resilience and infrastructure.
As we are seeing more extreme weather because of climate change, we need to step up and spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently and better. That means that we have to change this law because the current law prevents FEMA from reimbursing utilities for hazard mitigation as they make temporary disaster repairs. This leads to wasted opportunities, more frequent power outages, and higher costs passed on to ratepayers.
Commonsense solutions, like H.R. 164, are more critical than ever to keep energy costs low for American families. This bill maximizes FEMA's resources and helps communities protect critical infrastructure, leading to lower costs for utilities and families in the wake of future disasters. More importantly, it allows us to use taxpayer dollars to invest in resiliency as we are seeing more extreme weather coming at us every single day.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of H.R. 164, the POWER Act, which would allow public electric utilities to implement cost-effective hazard mitigation activities as part of power restoration.
Public power utilities are essential in ensuring our communities have access to reliable and resilient electricity, especially in the aftermath of major disasters. Current law says that if States and localities get cost reimbursements from FEMA for certain disaster recovery activities, like restoring power, then that could make them ineligible for future hazard mitigation funds. Our communities should not have to make either-or decisions when it comes to restoring critical infrastructure in the wake of natural disasters.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to co-lead this bill alongside Representative Hoyle, and I encourage my colleagues to support its passage.
Mr. Speaker, the costs of recovering from increasingly frequent severe weather events often raise the price of Americans' electric bills. This bill would help public power make their systems more resilient at the time of repair, increasing efficiency and cutting overall costs.
I can't think of a more important set of bills to be passing at this time as the first bills coming up on suspension. These bills invest in our infrastructure and help FEMA be more transparent and utilize taxpayer dollars more efficiently.
Again, I thank my colleague, Representative Ezell, for prioritizing and moving this bill forward.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, this legislation is going to provide a whole lot of needed clarity to ensure that electric utilities are not penalized
This legislation passed the Chamber under suspension of the rules by voice vote last December, and I look forward to the House approving it again.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 164.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 189) to amend title 40, United States Code, to eliminate the leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 189.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission violated Federal law by signing a lease for 1.4 million square feet that cost taxpayers over $566 million.
Investigations conducted by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as SEC's inspector general, found that the SEC had exceeded its authority with this lease. Investigations also found that the SEC had a history of mismanaging its leasing authority.
Recent actions taken by the SEC seem to indicate that the agency has not learned from the past. This is why I urge support of H.R. 189, which would revoke the SEC's leasing authority for general office space and bring them in line with current leasing practices through the General Services Administration.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 189, the Securities and Exchange Commission Real Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act.
This bill revokes the independent real estate leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Congress granted the SEC independent leasing authority in 1990, which means the SEC does not use the GSA, the General Services Administration, for its real estate needs, as many government agencies do.
While some Federal agencies have used their independent real estate leasing authority successfully, since securing their own authority, the SEC has wasted time and taxpayer dollars with failed procurements.
For example, in 2010, after the SEC leased 900,000 square feet of space in the Constitution Center building in Washington, D.C., the SEC's own inspector general found that the SEC had overestimated the amount of space needed, attempted to eliminate competition among building owners, and violated the Antideficiency Act.
After this incident, the SEC pledged to Congress that the agency would use the GSA to handle its real estate procurements, but the SEC has yet to follow through on that pledge and has since canceled procurements, had lawsuits, and wasted taxpayer dollars.
Congresswoman Norton introduced an identical bill during the 118th Congress. That bill, H.R. 388, passed both the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the House of Representatives on voice votes. Unfortunately, H.R. 388 was not even considered by the Senate.
It is time for Congress to return the SEC's leasing authority to the GSA, the Federal Government's civilian real estate arm.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, which the House passed in the 117th and 118th Congresses. I thank Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen for bringing this bill to the floor again.
This bill would revoke the independent real estate leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission and direct the Government Accountability Office to update its 2016 report on independent real estate leasing authority in the Federal Government.
While a number of Federal agencies have independent real estate leasing authority, the SEC has a history of egregious real estate leasing practices. In 2005, the SEC disclosed that it had underbudgeted costs of approximately $48 million for the construction of its headquarters near Union Station.
In 2007, after moving into its headquarters, the SEC shuffled its employees to different office space at a cost of over $3 million without any cost-benefit analysis or justifiable explanation.
In 2010, the SEC conducted a deeply flawed analysis to justify the need to lease 900,000 square feet and to commit over $500 million over 10 years, overestimating its space needs by over 300 percent.
In addition, the SEC failed to provide complete and accurate information and
In August 2016, the General Services Administration and the SEC entered into an occupancy agreement to authorize GSA to secure a new 15-year lease. In December 2016, GSA, with the approval of the SEC, submitted a prospectus to Congress for approximately 1.3 million square feet, which Congress approved in 2018.
In 2019, GSA had received final bids, resolved all protests, and even selected a final bidder. A month later, the SEC canceled the occupancy agreement, citing concerns about the value of the purchase option, which the SEC refused to document to Congress.
The SEC effectively vetoed the entire 3-year procurement process despite not having the authority or funding to exercise the purchase option without GSA's involvement.
Finally, after much back and forth between the two agencies, GSA entered into a lease for a new SEC headquarters in September 2021, which GSA terminated in October 2024.
While the SEC has said it will continue to have GSA do its leasing in the future, the SEC's history of egregious leasing conduct, squandering hundreds of millions of dollars, makes this bill necessary.
The SEC's conduct risks undermining the reputation of GSA and the Federal Government among developers and building owners who participate in Federal lease procurements. The threat of uncertainty ultimately drives up the cost of all GSA real estate procurements.
It is time for Congress to return the SEC's leasing authority to GSA, the Federal Government's civilian real estate arm. As the SEC has demonstrated over three decades, it is incredibly inefficient, wasteful, and redundant to have the SEC do real estate procurements when GSA exists for that very reason.
Like other Federal agencies, the SEC will continue to have input into GSA's real estate decisionmaking process, but GSA would have the ultimate authority.
Mr. Speaker, since securing its own real estate leasing authority, the SEC has wasted time and money with failed procurements. It is past time for the SEC to cede that authority back to the GSA.
My colleague, Congresswoman Holmes Norton, has explained this very thoroughly and clearly.
Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 189, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Mr. Speaker, by ensuring that the SEC continues to use GSA for its space needs, H.R. 189 is going to help reduce costs and protect taxpayers against wasteful spending.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for her work on this bill. The legislation was agreed to in the House last Congress under suspension of the rules, so I look forward to seeing that happen again.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 189.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 144) to provide that the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 does not apply to certain reports required to be submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 144.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 144, the Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act.
This legislation simply reinstates an annual reporting requirement for the Tennessee Valley Authority to disclose to Congress the salaries for upper-level management.
I thank Representatives Cohen and Burchett for their bipartisan work on this legislation, which passed this Chamber in March of last year under suspension of the rules by a voice vote.
This bill continues years of work to make the TVA more transparent for its customers and the communities that it serves.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for H.R. 144, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman's remarks, and the gentleman is certainly an embodiment of the virtue of waivers.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 144, bipartisan legislation to promote additional transparency over the salary structure of the Tennessee Valley Authority, otherwise known as the TVA.
As was said, the bill passed the House last Congress on suspension by a voice vote.
The TVA is the Nation's largest government-owned wholesale power producer, supplying power to 10 million people across the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.
This legislation corrects a change that was enacted in 1995 that removed the requirement for TVA to disclose the management structure and salaries of its executives. Today, TVA has approximately 13,000 employees, and the median salary is $160,000. They have, in essence, 6,500 Congresspeople on salary doing TVA's work. That is absurd.
The head of the TVA, whose salary has been reported, makes $10 million a year. Mr. Lyash is a fine fellow. He is really a nice guy, and he does a good job. He was working for a Canadian firm before he got hired to run TVA, where he was making $2 million or $2.5 million. I don't know if he is four times better than he was in the state of Canada, but he is making that.
The executives, whose salaries they have to disclose, are making $2 million to $6 million each annually.
The public should know about these salaries, what they are getting, and the salaries that are spent at TVA.
Last Congress, a fair compromise was reached between our legitimate congressional oversight responsibilities
This bill would help ensure that Congress has the ability to provide effective oversight of the TVA and its management and executives.
My prime cosponsor is Tim Burchett. Representative Burchett has been a friend of mine since we served in the Tennessee General Assembly together, and we raised the speed limit to 70. It had been put down to 60. It didn't hurt that Mr. Sundquist had kind of a heavy foot and helped us with that.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett) for his cosponsorship. I urge passage of H.R. 144, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), my very good friend from Memphis, Tennessee, the home of Al Green.
We had a lot of good times in the State senate. We brought some famous people to the floor, such as our dear friend Steve Cropper, who is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Some of his guitars are in the Smithsonian. There were many others, Isaac Hayes.
Steve and I actually sang the theme from ``Shaft'' on the senate floor. I am sure somebody will dig for that, and hopefully, that has been erased from history.
We brought Isaac Hayes. I almost forgot about Isaac. We had a great relationship with those folks.
People often ask me why I am friends with Congressman Cohen. He is probably my oldest friend up here, truth be known. He is correct that we did sponsor a bill to raise the speed limit. I think I asked for 85, knowing we would take 70, in the house.
In the week prior to that, I had actually brought Peyton Manning to the house floor, and I think I could have probably passed communism and gotten 100 miles an hour if I wanted to that week because that was the most popular I had ever been in the legislature.
Truth be known, the reason I am such good friends with Steve Cohen is I lost my daddy years ago, and my dad was my hero. He really was. He and my mama were exceptional people.
Steve was the first person to call my mama and offer his condolences. I always remembered we were at the graveyard working and trying to get the site at the veterans cemetery, and I remember mama said: Oh, Steve, you shouldn't have called. This is costing you money.
I will never forget that. That was my sweet mama. She loved Steve. She prayed for Steve. I don't know if it did any good, Mr. Speaker. I know it doesn't have anything to do about the bill, but I just think America needs to know about these things.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the TVA Salary Transparency Act.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is an American public power company providing electricity to over 10 million people in Tennessee and six surrounding States. TVA employs over 10,000 people, some of whom make millions of dollars per year. That is millions, Mr. Speaker, and this is in Tennessee.
Tennesseans deserve to know how TVA operates and compensates their executives, especially when TVA covers a region that is 65,000 square miles and the compensation is to the tune of millions of dollars.
There is no such thing as too much transparency, and I hope our friends in the media cover this. The TVA Salary Transparency Act requires TVA to report to Congress on the salaries of employees making more than $123,000 annually or the highest pay rate available for Federal employees. Specifically, TVA must report on those employees' names, salaries, and job responsibilities.
I have continuously advocated for greater transparency from TVA in other areas as a State legislator, as mayor, and now as a Congressman. Passing this bill is a step in the right direction.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank Representative Cohen for his work on this bill, and I ask my colleagues to support this bill. It will provide transparency to the millions of folks who rely on the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Mr. Speaker, I will say that the bill has been well explained. It is an important and a good bill. All that Representative Burchett said about his father, Dean Burchett, a rich Tennessean, and Mrs. Burchett is true. They were wonderful people.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 144 is a commonsense bill. It is going to increase transparency at the TVA, and it is going to ensure that the Transportation Committee conducts appropriate oversight over the agency's actions.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 144.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 192) to amend title 49, United States Code, to require Amtrak to include information on base pay and bonus compensation of certain Amtrak executives, and for other purposes, on which the yeas and nays were ordered.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 407, nays 0, not voting 27, as follows:
Mrs. BEATTY changed her vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 152) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments, and for other purposes, on which the yeas and nays were ordered.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill.
This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 405, nays 5, not voting 24, as follows:
So (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Mr. Speaker, due to the devastating wildfire affecting my district and Southern California, I was not present for today's vote. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 8, H.R. 192 The Amtrak Executive Bonus Disclosure Act, and YEA on Roll Call No. 9, H.R. 152 The Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. Sara ``Mandy'' Reece on her appointment to dean of the School of Pharmacy at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine known as PCOM.
Dr. Reece has been a part of the Georgia PCOM community since 2010, having served as the interim dean, vice chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and director of Interprofessional Education.
Before joining the PCOM community, Dr. Reece served as a pharmacy director and diabetes educator at District 2 Public Health in Gainesville, Georgia.
Dr. Reece's appointment as dean is only one of her many accomplishments, among being named the PCOM School of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year for Pharmacy Practice in 2019 and Faculty Preceptor of the Year in 2022 and 2023.
In Dr. Reece's new role as the dean, she will continue to advance the great mission of PCOM School of Pharmacy throughout the State of Georgia.
Mr. Speaker, I sincerely congratulate Dr. Reece on her accomplishments and share the excitement with the Georgia PCOM community.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor President Jimmy Carter and the legacy he leaves behind as the former President from my State of Georgia.
President Carter was the small-town son of a farmer and a nurse. He carried with him humble sensibilities, strong values, and a commitment to faith that reinforced his servant leadership first in the Navy and then in the highest office in the land. His work before and after his Presidency reminds us all that our capacity for impact is independent of the title that we wear or the place that we call home.
President Carter cared deeply about peace and prosperity across our world, and his commitment to God's people is one that those of us from Georgia remember as we, ourselves, represent and serve our home State.
Though he has departed this world, we know that his legacy will live on not only through the work of the Carter Center but through those of us inspired by his life and leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I hold the Carter family and all who know President Carter in my heart during this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the accomplishments of Elk County Catholic High School basketball coach, Aaron Straub.
For 45 years, Coach Aaron Straub has led the Elk County Catholic High School basketball teams, beginning as the girls' head coach before taking over the boys' program in 1983.
Earlier this year, Coach Straub made history after celebrating his thousandth career win.
Few basketball fans have witnessed this moment in Pennsylvania, as Straub is believed to be just the third scholastic basketball head coach in State history to achieve this accomplishment. It was only fitting to reach this milestone in the gymnasium that bears his name.
That feat is not just about winning basketball games. Coach Straub has helped countless young men and women develop over nearly half a century, helping to ensure their athletic, academic, and personal success.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Coach Straub on this thousandth career win and wish him and the Crusaders good luck for the rest of their season.
Mr. Speaker, as the Biden administration entered its final days in office, I was honored to participate in a joyous White House ceremony where the President signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law.
After a gnawing 40-year struggle, Congress finally righted the wrongs that harmed many public employees. These include teachers, mail carriers, firefighters, police officers, librarians, postal workers, locomotive engineers, school cooks, nutrition personnel, and so many more.
Finally, the Social Security Fairness Act eliminates the harmful Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. These reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for more than 2.8 million Americans and over 270,000 Ohioans who have served our communities.
In a time of severe partisanship, 327 House Members and 76 Senators voted for this bipartisan legislation.
This is a great example of working to find the big middle to benefit the American people, millions of them who worked and earned their way forward.
Mr. Speaker, every single Ohioan and American should now enjoy their benefits.
Mr. Speaker, after an incredible 46.5 years of working at the local McDonald's in Williamston, North Carolina, Flora Speller, affectionately known as Ms. Flo, is hanging up her uniform and retiring.
She started work on June 29, 1978, at 18 years old. At that time, a Big Mac was 90 cents, and since, she has become a beloved fixture in the community.
Nearly half a century, she has not just served meals; she has built strong community relationships with her customers and coworkers. She loves her customers, and they love her.
Ms. Flo described McDonald's as her second home. When asked, she plans to travel more, however, she is contemplating returning to work part time. Where? At McDonald's.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Ms. Flo on her retirement and thank her for the 46.5 amazing years.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor North Carolina's speaker of the house, Destin Hall. Last week, I had the privilege of passing the gavel to him, and I have full faith and confidence that he will ensure that our statehouse will continue to serve the people of North Carolina with integrity, purpose, and dedication.
As a mentor and a colleague, I have watched Destin grow into an exceptional leader who listens, collaborates, and fights tirelessly for the people of North Carolina. His commitment to his constituents and his vision for a stronger, more prosperous State make him uniquely suited to this role.
At this critical time, as we work to rebuild western North Carolina, address inflation, and strengthen our communities, I know Speaker Hall will guide the North Carolina State House with wisdom and resolve. It has been an honor to work alongside him, and I look forward to the positive impact he will make as speaker of the statehouse.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 7 o'clock and 15 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.
