Jackie Robinson Ballpark National Commemorative Site Act

Kevin F. McCumber, Clerk of the House, reported and found truly enrolled bills of the House of the following titles, which were thereupon signed by the Speaker pro tempore, Mr. McHenry, on Friday, December 20, 2024:

H.R. 663. An act to amend the Indian Child Protection and

Family Violence Prevention Act.

H.R. 1607. An act to clarify jurisdiction with respect to

certain Bureau of Reclamation pumped storage development, and

for other purposes.

H.R. 1727. An act to amend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Development Act to extend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

National Historical Park Commission.

H.R. 2468. An act to require the Secretary of the Interior

to convey to the State of Utah certain Federal land under the

administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management

within the boundaries of Camp Williams, Utah, and for other

purposes.

H.R. 3324. An act to extend the authority to collect

Shasta-Trinity Marina fees through fiscal year 2029.

H.R. 4094. An act to amend the Central Utah Project

Completion Act to authorize expenditures for the conduct of

certain water conservation measures in the Great Salt Lake

basin, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4385. An act to extend authorization of the

Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991.

H.R. 4467. An act to direct the Under Secretary for

Management of the Department of Homeland Security to assess

contracts for covered services performed by contractor

personnel along the United States land border with Mexico,

and for other purposes.

H.R. 5646. An act to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965

to require institutions of higher education to disclose

hazing incidents, and for other purposes.

H.R. 5770. An act to reauthorize certain United States

Geological Survey water data enhancement programs.

H.R. 6826. An act to designate the visitor and education

center at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

as the Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center.

H.R. 6843. An act to expand the boundaries of the

Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to include Lafourche

Parish, Louisiana.

H.R. 7177. An act to amend title 28, United States Code, to

consolidate certain divisions in the Northern District of

Alabama.

H.R. 7213. An act to amend the Public Health Service Act to

enhance and reauthorize activities and programs relating to

autism spectrum disorder, and for other purposes.

H.R. 7332. An Act to require the Secretary of the Interior

and the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain Federal

land to the State of Utah for inclusion in certain State

parks, and for other purposes.

H.R. 7524. An act to amend title 40, United States Code, to

require the submission of reports on certain information

technology services funds to Congress before expenditures may

be made, and for other purposes.

H.R. 8219. An act to require the Secretary of the Interior

to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility

of designating certain land as the Lahaina National Heritage

Area, and for other purposes.

H.R. 8413. An act to provide for the conveyance of certain

Federal land at Swanson Reservoir and Hugh Butler Reservoir

in the State of Nebraska, and for other purposes.

H.R. 8663. An act to require the Science and Technology

Directorate in the Department of Homeland Security to develop

greater capacity to detect and identify illicit substances in

very low concentrations.

H.R. 9566. An act to require governmentwide source code

sharing, and for other purposes.

Kevin F. McCumber, Clerk of the House, further reported and found truly an enrolled bill of the House of the following title, which was thereupon signed by the Speaker on Saturday, December 21, 2024:

H.R. 10545. An act making further continuing appropriations

for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other

purposes.

Kevin F. McCumber, Clerk of the House, further reported and found truly enrolled bills of the House of the following titles, which were thereupon signed by the Speaker pro tempore, Mr. McHENRY:

H.R. 82. An act to amend title II of the Social Security

Act to repeal the Government pension offset and windfall

elimination provisions.

H.R. 670. An act to direct the Secretary of Health and

Human Services to establish a website to promote awareness of

available resources for individuals with disabilities, and

for other purposes.

H.R. 1318. An act to authorize the location of a monument

on the National Mall to commemorate and honor the women's

suffrage movement and the passage of the 19th Amendment to

the Constitution, and for other purposes.

H.R. 1555. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 2300 Sylvan Avenue in

Modesto, California, as the ``Corporal Michael D. Anderson

Jr. Post Office Building''.

H.R. 1823. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 207 East Fort Dade Avenue in

Brooksville, Florida, as the ``Specialist Justin Dean Coleman

Memorial Post Office Building''.

H.R. 2997. An act to direct the Secretary of the Interior

to convey to Mesa County, Colorado, certain Federal land in

Colorado, and for other purposes.

H.R. 3354. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 220 North Hatcher Avenue in

Purcellville, Virginia, as the ``Secretary of State Madeleine

Albright Post Office Building''.

H.R. 3391. An act to extend the Gabriella Miller Kids First

Pediatric Research Program at the National Institutes of

Health, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4136. An act to name the Department of Veterans

Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Plano, Texas, as

the ``U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial VA Clinic''.

H.R. 4955. An act to name the community-based outpatient

clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Monroeville,

Pennsylvania, as the ``Henry Parham VA Clinic''.

H.R. 4984. An act to direct the Secretary of the Interior

to transfer administrative jurisdiction over the Robert F.

Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus to the District of Columbia

so that the District may use the Campus for purposes

including residential and commercial development, and for

other purposes.

H.R. 5103. An act to require the Director of the Office of

Management and Budget to approve or deny spend plans within a

certain amount of time, and for other purposes.

H.R. 5443. An act to establish a policy regarding appraisal

and valuation services for real property for a transaction

over which the Secretary of the Interior has jurisdiction,

and for other purposes.

H.R. 5867. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 109 Live Oaks Boulevard in

Casselberry, Florida, as the ``Colonel Joseph William

Kittinger II Post Office Building''.

H.R. 5887. An act to amend chapter 3 of title 5, United

States Code, to improve Government service delivery, and

build related capacity for the Federal Government, and for

other purposes.

H.R. 6062. An act to restore the ability of the people of

American Samoa to approve amendments to the territorial

constitution based on majority rule in a democratic act of

self-determination, as authorized pursuant to an Act of

Congress delegating administration of Federal territorial law

in the territory to the President, and to the Secretary of

the Interior under Executive Order 10264, dated June 29,

1951, under which the Constitution of American Samoa was

approved and may be amended without requirement for further

congressional action, subject to the authority of Congress

under the Territorial Clause in article IV, section 3, clause

2 of the United States Constitution.

H.R. 6116. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 14280 South Military Trail

in Delray Beach, Florida, as the ``Benjamin Berell Ferencz

Post Office Building''.

H.R. 6162. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 379 North Oates Street in

Dothan, Alabama, as the ``LaBruce `Bruce' Tidwell Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 6188. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 420 Highway 17 North in

Surfside Beach, South Carolina, as the ``Nancy Yount Childs

Post Office Building''.

H.R. 6244. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 1535 East Los Ebanos

Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas, as the ``1st Lieutenant

Andres Zermeno Post Office Building''.

H.R. 6395. An act to amend the Energy Act of 2020 to

require the Secretary of the Interior to include the

Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultations

regarding designations of critical minerals, elements,

substances, and materials.

H.R. 6492. An act to improve recreation opportunities on,

and facilitate greater access to, Federal public land, and

for other purposes.

H.R. 6633. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 9355 113th Street in

Seminole, Florida, as the ``Army SSG Ryan Christian Knauss

Memorial Post Office Building''.

H.R. 6750. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 501 Mercer Street Southwest

in Wilson, North Carolina, as the ``Milton F. Fitch, Sr. Post

Office Building''.

H.R. 6810. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 518 North Ridgewood Drive in

Sebring, Florida, as the ``U.S. Army Air Corps Major Thomas

B. McGuire Post Office Building''.

H.R. 6852. An act to designate Holcombe Rucker Park, in

Harlem, New York, as a National Commemorative Site, and for

other purposes.

H.R. 6983. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 15 South Valdosta Road in

Lakeland, Georgia, as the ``Nell Patten Roquemore Post

Office''.

H.R. 7158. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 201 East Battles Road in

Santa Maria, California, as the ``Larry Lavagnino Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 7180. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 80 1st Street in Kingsland,

Arkansas, as the Kingsland `Johnny Cash' Post Office''.

H.R. 7365. To provide PreCheck to certain severely injured

or disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

H.R. 7385. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 29 Franklin Street in

Petersburg, Virginia, as the ``John Mercer Langston Post

Office Building''.

H.R. 74l7. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 135 West Spring Street in

Titusville, Pennsylvania, as the ``Edwin L. Drake Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 7507. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 203 East 6th Street in

Lexington, Nebraska, as the ``William E. and Elsie L. Barrett

Post Office Building''.

H.R. 7508. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 1285 Emancipation Highway in

Fredericksburg, Virginia, as the ``Gladys P. Todd Post

Office''.

H.R. 7606. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 1087 Route 47 South in Rio

Grande, New Jersey, as the ``Carlton H. Hand Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 7607. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at Block 1025, Lots 18 & 19,

Northeast Corner of US Route 9 South and Main Street in the

Township of Middle County of Cape May, New Jersey, as the

``George Henry White Post Office Building''.

H.R. 7893. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 306 Pickens Street in

Marion, Alabama, as the ``Albert Turner, Sr. Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 7938. An act to amend the Klamath Basin Water Supply

Enhancement Act of 2000 to provide the Secretary of the

Interior with certain authorities with respect to projects

affecting the Klamath Basin watershed, and for other

purposes.

H.R. 8012. An act to establish the Jackie Robinson Ballpark

National Commemorative Site in the State of Florida, and for

other purposes.

H.R. 8057. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 9317 Bolsa Avenue in

Westminster, California, as the ``Little Saigon Vietnam War

Veterans Memorial Post Office''.

H.R. 8641. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 401 Main Street in Brawley,

California, as the ``Walter Francis Ulloa Memorial Post

Office Building''.

H.R. 8666. An act to amend title 28, United States Code, to

authorize holding court for the Central Division of Utah in

Moab and Monticello.

H.R. 8667. An act to rename the community-based outpatient

clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Cadillac,

Michigan, as the ``Duane E. Dewey VA Clinic''.

H.R. 8717. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 20 West Main Street in

SantaQuin, Utah, as the ``SGT Bill Hooser Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 8841. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 114 Center Street East in

Roseau, Minnesota, as the ``Floyd B. Olson Post Office''.

H.R. 8868. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located 609 Portsmouth Avenue in

Greenland, New Hampshire, as the ``Chief Michael Maloney Post

Office Building''.

H.R. 8909. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 82-6110 Mamalahoa Highway in

Captain Cook, Hawaii, as the ``Army 1st Lt. John Kuulei

Kauhaihao Post Office Building''.

H.R. 8919. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 151 Highway 74 South in

Peachtree City, Georgia, as the ``SFC Shawn McCloskey Post

Office''.

H.R. 8976. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 20 West White Street in

Millstadt, Illinois, as the ``Corporal Matthew A. Wyatt Post

Office''.

H.R. 9076. An act to reauthorize child welfare programs

under part B of title IV of the Social Security Act and

strengthen the State and tribal child support enforcement

program under part D of such title, and for other purposes.

H.R. 9124. An act to name the Department of Veterans

Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Auburn,

California, as the ``Louis A. Conter VA Clinic''.

H.R. 9285. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 39l3 Leland Avenue Northwest

in Comstock Park, Michigan, as the ``Captain Miguel Justin

Nava Post Office''.

H.R. 9322. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 675 Wolf Ledges Parkway in

Akron, Ohio, as the ``Judge James R. Williams Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 9421. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 108 North Main Street in

Bucoda, Washington, as the ``Mayor Rob Gordon Post Office''.

H.R. 9487. An act to amend the Legislative Reorganization

Act of 1970 to authorize the Legislative Counsel of the House

of Representatives to designate more than one of the

attorneys of the Office of the Legislative Counsel as a

Deputy Legislative Counsel, and for other purposes.

H.R. 9544. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 340 South Loudon Avenue in

Baltimore, Maryland, as the ``United States Representative

Elijah E. Cummings Post Office Building''.

H.R. 9549. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 125 South 1st Avenue in

Hillsboro, Oregon, as the ``Elizabeth Furse Post Office

Building''.

H.R. 9580. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 2777 Brentwood Road in

Raleigh, North Carolina, as the ``Millie Dunn Veasey Post

Office''.

H.R. 9592. An act to amend title 44, United States Code, to

modernize the Federal Register, and for other purposes.

H.R. 9600. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 119 Main Street in Plains,

Georgia, as the ``Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Post Office''.

H.R. 9775. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 119 North Anderson Street in

Elwood, Indiana, as the ``Officer Noah Jacob Shahnavaz Post

Office Building''.

H.R. 10065. An act to designate the facility of the United

States Postal Service located at 802 North Tancahua Street in

Corpus Christi, Texas, as the ``Captain Robert E. `Bob'

Batterson Post Office''.

Mr. President, I just wanted to get up and explain why I will be voting against the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act a little bit later tonight. I am going to try to keep the volume down and maybe the frustration down a little bit more tonight than I did yesterday, but I thought it was important to again explain why sometimes the tough vote is the right vote.

To kind of lay the groundwork, I am from North Carolina. I am up for reelection in November of 2026. I have heard some people walk up and down the hallway and say that they really oppose the bill, but they are up for reelection in 2028 or are up for reelection in 2030, and they are worried about the politics of it. I never worry about the politics when I am convinced in my heart of hearts it is the right decision, and let me explain why.

The Social Security Fairness Act is trying to address what I think is an inequity and a problem. Unfortunately, it is doing it in a way that is at the expense of $200 billion out of the Social Security trust fund, without a dime offsetting it.

Now, some of my fiscal conservative colleagues have said: Well, no, it is not really depleting it because it is the Social Security trust fund. So it is not adding to our debt.

What they are forgetting is that when the Social Security trust fund becomes insolvent, the fairies don't come back and replenish the Social Security trust fund. We don't have trust fund fairies. What we have is a debt that is already over $33 trillion that we are going to be expected to write another check out of, and we are headed toward a debt crisis.

This bill, by everyone's agreement--even those who are going to vote for it tonight--pulls forward its insolvency. The consensus right now is that it is going to occur 9 years from now. This pulls it forward by 6 months.

So I have to vote against this bill and not because I don't ultimately want to fix an injustice for a very small percentage of people who deserve a few hundred dollars more a month, but the way we have gone about it, it is going to be costly, and it is being done at a time when we are not plussing the accounts back up.

I feel like, in my vote-casting, I am likely to be on the losing side. I understand that. None of these amendments are going to pass because, if they do, the bill fails, and we know that. So, for anybody who is pulling for one amendment or another, let me just show you how I can tell the future: Not a single one will pass. This bill will be voted out this evening, and it will be sent to the President's desk. Once the President signs it, he will have guaranteed that the Social Security trust fund will become insolvent 6 months sooner. Think about it this way: 8\1/2\ years from now versus 9 years from now. It is going to pull $200 billion out, causing that to occur.

It is actually going to provide some benefit that I don't believe the beneficiaries deserve. It is really confusing that handful or that segment of the people who will get the benefit and is casting them into a group that, I think, arguably, maybe doesn't deserve the benefit. Anyone who should, we can take care of, but it is not $200 billion. But that is what happens when you don't have a single committee hearing on a bill. That is what happens when it comes from the House through something called a discharge petition. Bypassing all the processes, it comes to the Senate, and we never even have a hearing.

We are going to have a vote later today for a $200 billion raiding of the Social Security trust fund that is going to bring insolvency forward from 9 years to 8\1/2\ years, and not a single vote or a single hearing has been held in a single committee on Capitol Hill.

Now, folks, if you can't agree on the finances, if you can't agree on the fairness, can we all agree on the process for something as weighty as this? We should have given it the justice it deserves and held a hearing on it.

For that reason, I am going to vote against it, and then I will be standing there, reminding my colleagues ``I told you so'' when I am also trying to help them fix the problem they are about to vote on to create.

Mr. President, if you have ever had kids, you know how important it can be to encourage their education. But with many competing priorities, you sometimes need to use creative strategies to inspire success.

That is something that Holcombe Rucker did. Rucker was a Black World War II veteran and teacher in the 1940s in Harlem. He started a small outdoor basketball team for Black youth and encouraged his players to maintain good grades and decorum. Some say he is the father of outdoor organized basketball for youth and helped give thousands of kids better pathways to higher learning.

Holcombe Rucker grew up a poor parentless kid from 141st Street. He served in the Army during World War II before earning his bachelor's degree from City College. He then taught English at a Harlem junior high school, while also serving as a recreation director for both the St. Phillip's Church Community Center and the city parks department.

When Rucker formed his youth basketball tournament in the late 1940s, however, he didn't get much support from city recreational leaders. So he often paid out of his own shallow pockets to provide refreshments and T-shirts and other essentials for players. Rucker would even share his lunch with his students, often coming home to his wife with an empty stomach.

Rucker believed education and supervised recreation could make an enormous difference in the lives of his students. It is no surprise then why many of his players saw him as a father figure and credited him with helping to set them on a better path.

As Rucker's summer tournaments grew in popularity, parks department officials finally moved them to a more desirable location. That would ultimately become the Holcombe Rucker Park. The court attracted the city's most talented young basketball players, including future professional basketball stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Julius ``Dr. J'' Erving.

I want to thank Congressman Espaillat for championing this bill, and I am proud to lead the effort in the Senate to designate this park, which is located on 155th Street, on the banks of the Harlem River, as the ``Holcombe Rucker Park National Commemorative Site.''

This bill would allow for an educational exhibit, a plaque or another marker to be installed that would help memorialize the legacy of Mr. Rucker for generations to come.

I want to thank Senator Rubio for his assistance.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6852 and the Senate proceed to an en bloc consideration of the following bills: H.R. 8012, which was received from the House and is at the desk; and H.R. 6852.

I ask unanimous consent that the bills be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. Speaker, I am excited to rise today in support of this bill, H.R. 8012, the bipartisan, bicameral Jackie Robinson Ballpark National Commemorative Site Act to honor the location where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and played his first game.

This bill would designate Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach as a National Commemorative Site and add the ballpark to the African American Civil Rights Network.

Additionally, this bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study to give the site the designation of a national historic landmark.

H.R. 8012 honors the location where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier when he played his first professional game with the Montreal Royals on March 17, 1946, in Daytona Beach, at the then-named Daytona City Island Ballpark.

This is the first time in modern baseball that a Black player and a White player played on the same team. Incidentally, it is just down the street from the HBCU Bethune-Cookman. Its founder, Mary McLeod Bethune represents Florida just down the hallway here in Statuary Hall.

Jackie Robinson then led the Montreal Royals to a minor league championship the same season, and the next year, he was promoted to the Dodgers making modern Major League Baseball history.

In his book, Mr. Speaker, ``My Own Story,'' Jackie Robinson reflected on the importance of this game, stating that: I knew, of course, that everyone was not pulling for me to make good, but I was sure now that the whole world wasn't lined up against me, and when I went to sleep, the applause was still ringing in my ears.

Since that day, Daytona Beach's ballpark has been a historic landmark and a reminder of Jackie Robinson's impact, of the civil rights movement, and of the integration of modern professional baseball.

Its preservation and recognition are even more important and more crucial now following the demolition of Ebbets Field, home to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1960, which again, was the first Major League Baseball team to sign Robinson, but now that that stadium is destroyed, we must preserve and honor Jackie Robinson's legacy.

I thank Chairman Westerman for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, so that we can pass it into law and protect and commemorate the Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona for all future Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8012) to establish the Jackie Robinson Ballpark National Commemorative Site in the State of Florida, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 on H.R. 8012, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Representative Waltz' bill, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark National Commemorative Site Act.

By designating the Jackie Robinson Ballpark as a National Commemorative Site, this bill recognizes the ballpark's important role in advancing civil rights and ending racially segregated sports in 20th century America.

In 1946, Jackie Robinson played in the first racially integrated spring training game at what is now named the Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida.

At the time, Jim Crow laws prevented integrated baseball throughout the South. A year later, Robinson would make his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers where he broke the MLB's color barrier and became the first African American to play in a modern-era MLB game.

Robinson would eventually finish his career as a six-time all-star while amassing over 1500 hits and maintaining a .311 batting average. Throughout his career, Robinson demonstrated courage and excellence on and off the field, opening the door of opportunity for generations of athletes who succeeded him.

By designating the ballpark a National Commemorative Site, this bill recognizes the facility's historic role in advancing civil rights without adding to the Federal estate or using taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Waltz), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I, again, commend Representative Waltz for his efforts in leading this important bill. This is a straightforward way of recognizing a historic venue that played a critical role in the fight for equality for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.