Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, yes, there is now uncertainty about the definition of joint employer. This uncertainty has the potential to undermine the franchise model, which has given so many Americans the opportunity to own a business and create millions of jobs.

But this bill goes too far in narrowing the joint employer definition and also applying it to the Fair Labor Standards Act. We need to ensure that workers are treated fairly and companies are held accountable, but I am afraid this bill could weaken that.

While I will be voting against this bill, it is important to recognize that there is a real issue here. We need to find a compromise. So no matter how we vote today, I urge my colleagues to listen to the concerns of businessowners in their districts because their success is critical to our long-term job growth.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus to speak on the issue of climate change. The caucus is a bipartisan group of members committed to implementing economically viable options to reduce climate risk.

The caucus has a ``Noah's Ark'' membership rule. Members can only join in pairs, one from each party. Under the leadership of co-chairs Mr. Curbelo and Mr. Deutch, the caucus is helping to break the partisan gridlock on this issue and show that promoting climate solutions can be truly bipartisan.

The formation and rapid growth of the Climate Solutions Caucus represents a recognition of both the challenges and opportunities and has demonstrated that there is bipartisan will to take action.

In recognition of the fact that 60 Members of Congress have come together to fight climate change in a bipartisan fashion, I organized this time for my colleagues to join me on the floor to let the American people know what we, as their elected leaders, are doing to address climate change.

We know, from scientific evidence, that our climate is changing. The global average temperature has increased by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 100 years. Sea levels are rising, the ocean is becoming more acidic, precipitation patterns are changing, and heat waves are becoming more frequent and longer in duration.

Each of these changes produces a cascade of effects that impact our lives and livelihoods, including flooding, changes in crop yields, power shortages, declines in fisheries, and increases in cardiovascular disease.

Recent events in our own country, such as devastating hurricanes in the Southeast and wildfires in the West have brought this issue to the forefront of everyone's minds. Now climate

change can't be directly blamed for all these problems, but the evidence strongly suggests that it contributes to each of them, and there are things that we can do to limit its effects.

Climate change also has a significant impact on public health. A groundbreaking study published just this week in a medical journal, The Lancet, unequivocally showed that climate change is a serious public health threat. The study involved 24 institutions from around the world and included staggering statistics, such as the fact that air pollution caused 1.9 million premature deaths in Asia in 2015, and that the range of common disease-transmitting mosquitoes increased 9.5 percent since 1950.

We know that high temperatures exasperate health problems and that burning fossil fuels creates pollution that causes cardiovascular disease. The National Academies estimate that air pollution causes around $120 billion per year in health-related damages, including healthcare costs, missed days of work and school, and premature death.

We also know that changing climate has altered the range, in some cases accelerated the spread of vector-borne diseases likes Zika and the West Nile virus. Responsibly transitioning to a clean energy economy will not only reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, but it will also reduce air pollution and help all Americans breathe easier.

What I want to talk about for a few minutes, before I turn to some of my colleagues, is a very common misperception about the relationship between implementing climate solutions and growing jobs.

Some people think that this is a zero-sum game. That is, they think if you have more of one, you get less of the other. But that is simply not true.

Implementing climate solutions can grow jobs, especially new high- paying jobs. The U.S. needs to take advantage of these economic opportunities. Regardless of what we do here in the U.S., the rest of the world has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement, as have many cities, States, and companies here at home.

To achieve that goal, significant technological development and innovation will be needed, as well as infrastructure, markets, and distribution channels to get that technology to the people and places that need it.

The national economies that produce this clean energy technology will benefit greatly. The U.S. still leads the world in technology and innovation. Countries around the world try to recreate the innovation ethos that exists in Silicon Valley and in other places across our Nation.

The United States also has the workers who are needed to build these innovations. So we have what it takes, and if we seize the opportunity to invest in clean and climate-resilient technologies, then our economy and the American people will benefit as the world adapts to climate change and America grows good-paying jobs all across our Nation.

But if we let this opportunity pass us by, then profits and jobs will instead flow to foreign countries that develop the technologies the world needs, and American cities and States will be forced to buy foreign products as they upgrade to climate-resilient infrastructure.

That is why I will soon be introducing a bill called Challenges and Prizes for Climate Act. This bill will establish five or more prize challenges overseen by the Department of Energy to harness the ingenuity of the research community in the private sector to solve big, complex climate problems.

Challenges have been used in the past by a wide range of organizations, including the XPRIZE, who used the challenge to jump- start the commercial space transportation industry. This industry is now flourishing.

I was just recently at SpaceX in California and saw their impressive manufacturing facility they have there. The U.S. is now relying on SpaceX in order to bring supplies up to the International Space Station and their plans to soon be flying astronauts. This commercial space transportation industry began with those who reached to try to meet this challenge and get the XPRIZE.

The Federal Trade Commission also used the prize challenge to help bring a robocall blocking service to the market, something that we can all very much appreciate. That is why I am going this direction.

My bill will create challenges that fall under five themes: carbon capture and reuse, energy efficiency, energy storage, climate adaptation and resiliency, and data analytics for better climate predictions.

Using authority from the America COMPETES Act, the Department of Energy will convene working groups from across agencies, universities, nonprofits and the private sector to help plan the challenges, and even to contribute to the prizes.

The goal of the challenge is not just to reward the winner of the best solution, but also to bring visibility to the range of innovations competing for the prize and to help society envision the future. This bill will help us see what our clean energy future will look like, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin hearing from the bipartisan group of climate leaders who have joined me here on the floor this evening.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), my Republican colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Fitzpatrick for his leadership and jumping in, in his firm term here in the House leadership, on coming to solutions on climate change.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney), my colleague who I have been working with for a number of years here in the House, a very dedicated Member, especially when it comes to issues of science and climate change.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McNerney for all the work that he does on this issue and many other issues here in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to go back to the other side of the aisle. I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Faso).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Faso for his work, understanding that we are only going to make progress on this through bipartisan action. I am very happy to join working with him on the Climate Solutions Caucus to bring that action forward.

Mr. Speaker, my next speaker is a woman who I work with on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, who has done some fantastic work on that committee, especially when it comes to the issue of climate change and dealing with climate change.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Bonamici for speaking tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman who really deserves a tremendous amount of credit for all of us being here tonight. He is the co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Deutch for his leadership of the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for all of his work on this and other issues.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Carbajal), my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Carbajal for his work. That was a great lead-in to our next speaker. We just had, a couple of speakers ago, the Democratic co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus. Our next speaker is the Republican co-chair. I give him a lot of credit and I thank him for the work that he has done in putting this caucus together.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Curbelo for his leadership and for pointing out some of the victories that we already have had here on this House floor, the Climate Solutions Caucus. That is just the beginning. There will be plenty more to come as we grow this caucus and do the work that we are here to do.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta), a freshman Member who is already making a big splash here getting a lot done in Washington, working especially on a bipartisan basis on a lot of these issues, getting some good things done.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I just want to thank all my colleagues for their leadership on this issue. The time to take action on climate is now. We can't leave this problem to future generations to solve for us. As we heard this evening, there is no shortage of good ideas for how to do so.

I want to close by reading the mission statement of the Climate Solutions Caucus, which reminds us of the many reasons why our bipartisan group has come together to take action:

``The members of the Climate Solutions Caucus acknowledge the fact that, if left unaddressed, the consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely affect the health of all Americans and the strength of our economy, consequently imposing substantial costs on both State and Federal budgets.

``By seeking to reduce climate risk, we will, in turn, ensure the protection of our economy, infrastructure, and public safety, all while attaining energy independence from the world's most volatile regions. Therefore, it is our goal to take a market-based approach to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in order to leave a better planet and stronger economy for future generations.''

Mr. Speaker, this is something that all Americans can endorse and support. It is a better world and a better country.

So I thank, again, all my colleagues for joining me here tonight, and for their work, all of the 60 members--30 Democrats, 30 Republicans-- for their work on the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of National Chemistry Week.

As co-chair of the Congressional Chemistry Caucus, along with my friend Congressman Moolenaar, I am pleased to take this opportunity to draw attention to the chemical sciences. This year marks the 30th anniversary of National Chemistry Week, an initiative of the American Chemical Society that highlights the contributions that chemistry makes to science, education, and the economy. The theme of this year's Chemistry Week is ``Chemistry Rocks,'' celebrating geochemistry, which is the study of the chemical makeup of rocks, gems, and minerals. Geochemists do the underlying science that drives our oil, gas, and mining industries, and they are active in diverse fields such as water quality, public health, space science, and materials research.

I want to recognize the nation's chemists for their service to the country and their critical role in the economy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Chicago's Maruszyna Kolo No. 35, a lodge of the Polish Highlanders Alliance of

North America, which celebrates its 40th anniversary on October 21, 2017.

As a member of the Polish Highlanders Alliance, the lodge aims to organize Polish Highlanders in the Chicago area into a cohesive family. In addition to providing a meeting place for Highlanders across the Chicago area, the lodge cultivates Polish Highlander arts, customs, and traditions. The members also provide material assistance to the church and two schools in the village of Maruszyna in Poland.

The lodge, located at 4808 S. Archer Avenue, is an important pillar of the community on the Southwest Side of Chicago. Polish Highlanders come from all across the region for celebrations at Maruszyna Kolo. On the first weekend of August every year, the lodge hosts a picnic on the same day that the village of Maruszyna hosts a fair celebrating its annual parish holiday. The picnic is attended by over 400 guests annually. The lodge also hosts a celebration during the second week of January where members share Christmas wafers and mark the end of Christmas celebrations by wishing one another well for the New Year.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing all that Maruszyna Kolo No. 35 does to bring together Polish Highlanders in the Chicago area and to support Poland. The lodge's dedication to community is admirable and I wish them the best as they continue their traditions and service for generations to come. One hundred years (Sto lat)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Rhine VFW Post No. 2729, which will celebrate 85 years of service to veterans and the community at the end of this month.

On October 29, 1932, a group of 21 World War I veterans led by Leo Spychalski, Frank Chalupa, Joseph Sagan, and John Kwasny founded Rhine VFW Post No. 2729. Following World War II the post's membership grew to over 100 members, which led them to their current home at 5858 West Archer Avenue in Chicago.

Over the years, members of the Rhine Post have served the local community with just as much honor and dedication as when they served the nation in the Armed Forces. The Post has long been a cornerstone of the Southwest Side of Chicago. They have organized everything from an annual Memorial Day Parade to distributing American flags to local schools. Additionally, the Post has trained rifle and drill teams, organized visits to veterans in local hospitals, and engaged in area school programs such as the Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program.

Members of the Rhine Post continue to take pride in helping those in need through community service. The Post is an active partner of the VFW National Home for Children which houses the children and spouses of deployed military members at no cost.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the honorable military and community service of the members of Rhine VFW Post No. 2729. Their sacrifices for our community and our nation are a shining example of the American values that we should all embrace.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2105, the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act of 2017, a bipartisan effort to help small businesses implement the NIST Cybersecurity Framework for Critical Infrastructure.

I thank Mr. Webster for his work on the bill and all of my colleagues on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee for their support of the bill.

I would also like to thank Senator Schatz and my colleagues in the Senate for working to pass the companion version over there, which I hope that we can follow suit on here today.

The NIST cybersecurity framework provides valuable guidance on cybersecurity best practices for organizations of all sizes, but small businesses often don't have the time or resources to figure out how to adapt it to their needs and implement it. This bill directs NIST to create clear guidelines, tools, and best practices specifically for small businesses so that they can protect their networked resources.

Most small businesses do not have significant IT departments. Some do not even have any dedicated information security personnel. Thus, they may be more at risk of cyber attack than large enterprises.

According to data released last month, 53 percent of American businesses of all sizes suffered a cyber attack in the past year. Of those, 72 percent spent more than $5,000 to investigate and recover. A 2016 report found that 42 percent of businesses suffered a cyber attack of some kind.

Incidents like these do not only hurt individual small-business owners, employees, and customers, they hurt American competitiveness.

In my district in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, there is a fourth-generation family manufacturing business that has suffered multiple sophisticated phishing attacks. The few times they have fallen victim to these attacks, the costs have been significant. The owners have told me that they would welcome guidance on affordable, off-the- shelf resources to strengthen their cyber defenses and let them get back to focusing on their business.

This is a story repeated across the country. That is why we must act, and we must pass this bill for our small businesses. The guidelines created under this bill, like the NIST framework, will be voluntary, so we won't be adding to the regulatory burden on small businesses. Instead, we will be offering them an opportunity to secure their networks so that they can compete on a level playing field.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), the ranking member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, we all have come down here and talked about the importance of small business. We know how important small businesses are to our country, the real engine of our economic growth.

We also know that, in most small businesses today, they don't have the capabilities to have an IT department or the expertise that they need to protect themselves from the continual cyber attacks, the theft of data that we hear about. But those attacks and that theft of data does not only happen for large companies; it is also a threat to small businesses. Therefore, we need to do all that we can to make sure that they are capable of protecting themselves so that our small businesses can continue to thrive and be the economic engine that they are.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. We get something good done for our small businesses. I urge them to support this, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairmen Chabot and Smith and Ranking Members Velazquez and Johnson for their leadership on this bill.

The SBIR and STTR programs have helped countless innovative small businesses grow jobs through American ingenuity. This bill will make these programs work even better by providing small businesses with additional tools for bringing innovations to market. Better SBIR and STTR programs mean more successful small businesses and more jobs.

I especially want to thank my colleagues for supporting inclusion of two provisions that I put forward in committee.

First, the bill increases the amount of money that grant recipients are allowed to spend on business and technical services, like market research, intellectual property protection; or participation in entrepreneurial training programs, like the highly successful Innovation Corps program. This helps small businesses, especially startups, use their funds where they know they are needed most, for technical assistance, creative approaches to problem solving, and other types of guidance needed in today's complex marketplaces.

Second, this bill expands the highly successful Phase 0 Proof of Concept Partnership pilot program, which I helped create at the National Institutes of Health in a previous SBIR reauthorization. This highly successful program provides the earliest funding for researchers exploring the possibility of turning their research into a viable medical product.

After just 2 years in operation, the three hubs created by the NIH program have filed 30 patent applications, negotiated 14 technology licenses, formed 7 companies, and have 70 promising technologies in the pipeline.

This bill extends the Phase 0 program for another 5 years at NIH and expands it to the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy. In doing so, we will be giving a needed boost to more researchers who are budding entrepreneurs who will create the jobs of tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, our small businesses deserve support as they drive America's economic growth. This bill will give innovators and entrepreneurs additional tools to drive this growth that we so desperately need. So I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor St. Symphorosa Parish, an exemplary Roman Catholic Parish on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Illinois, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary.

Founded in 1927, St. Symphorosa Parish has remained a steadfast beacon to our local community. Father J. Leo Sharp established this parish as a place of worship to serve the religious and social needs of the people of the Clearing neighborhood. To this day, the parish continues to espouse the same welcoming spirit as it has from the outset.

In the 90 years since Father Sharp presided over the first Mass at St. Symphorosa, succeeding generations have come to worship at this parish. The church, located at 6135 South Austin, has arduously carried out its mission in faith and in service to its community. All worshippers at the parish have come together and worked towards the fulfillment of their faith and the betterment of their community.

The hard work that the parish undertakes has not gone unnoticed by the local community. St. Symphorosa runs a special ministry for children and young adults with developmental disabilities, hosts local Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops and operates a chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to give back to those in need.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing St. Symphorosa Parish and congratulate them as they celebrate their 90th anniversary. May St. Symphorosa continue their great work in the community, while inspiring others through their mission and faith.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce as it celebrates 70 years of service to the community.

Founded in 1947, the Oak Lawn Chamber started as a small group of local business owners. Since then, it has grown to more than 350 members who work tirelessly to promote the local business community in Oak Lawn, Illinois. The Chamber is successful because leaders like current Executive Director Julie Miller and President Adam Woodworth strive to fulfill the mission of advancing the business community ``with constant integrity, fairness, and cooperation to promote and improve the economic atmosphere, business climate, and image of Oak Lawn.''

The Chamber takes great pride in being an active member of the community and its members show their commitment to the organization and its role in the area at a variety of programs throughout the year. Events such as health fairs, small business clinics, and business showcases facilitate invaluable relationships between businesses and their local clientele.

Additionally, the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce offers valuable marketing and communications resources to help promote and inform small businesses. Specifically, their legislative committee aims to keep members informed about proposals from all levels of government that could impact them.

Through its dedication to the interests of local business owners, the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce has contributed immensely to the hospitable business climate of Oak Lawn and the surrounding area. I sincerely offer the Chamber' s many dedicated members my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.

Among those most dedicated to advancing the mission of the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce, is the following list of past presidents.

1947--James Sweeney, 1949--Charles McKay, 1950--Matt Smilde, 1951-- Elmer Buell, 1953--Warren Schlieske, 1955--Roland Beckley, 1956--Milt Betterman, 1957--Al Schintz, 1958--Stephen Kizaric, 1959--William Cairnes, 1960--Stanley Dawson, 1961--Donald Talac, 1963--Erwin Fueren, 1964--Dr. J. Salus, 1965--Percy Cump, 1966--John Spicer, 1968--Lou Kole, 1969--Ron Frank, 1970--Matt Lamb, 1972--Vincent Barcelona.

1973--Le Roy Corradino, 1974--Frank Bablak, 1975--Merrill Stenbon, 1976--Davis Boyd, 1977--Milt Andersen, 1978--Betty Gallo, 1979--Lou Mirabelli, 1980--Barbara Kozlarek, 1981--Sal Crivellone, 1982--Vina O'Malley, 1983--Robert Gaul, 1984--Linda McFarland, 1985--James Buschbach, 1986--Marie Napolillo, 1987--Paul Paskvan, 1988--Tom Gavin III, 1989--Marianthe Karson, 1990--Robert Kuenster, 1991--George Freitag, 1992--Dorthea Grieco.

1993--Shirley Mis, 1994--Brian Anderson, 1995--Klem Brzuskiewicz, 1996--Joann Buschbach, 1997--James Brady, 1998--Laura Shallow, 1999-- Chris Augle, 2000--Doris Marks, 2001--Chuck Dinolfo, 2002--Patricia Nienhaus, 2003--Dave Kobak, 2004--Anne Marie Casey, 2005--Jack Baker, 2006--Leo Gutchewsky, 2007--Kevin Mathers/Jackie Truty, 2008--Jackie Truty, 2009--Glen Kato, 2010--Rita Olsen, 2011--Christy Hernandez, 2012--Karen Boll, 2013--Jeff Reichl, 2014--Michelle Williams, 2015-- Jennifer Villifan, 2016--Larry Lehman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor all of the parishioners and clergy--past and present--of St. Michael Parish in Orland Park, Illinois, as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of their parish.

Established shortly after the end of the Civil War, St. Michael Parish began with a simple wooden church, twenty feet long and thirty feet wide. The first Mass was held on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel on September 29, 1867. After World War II, the parish began construction of a grade school which opened in September, 1949, to better serve the growing parish. As growth continued a new church needed to be built and was dedicated in 1969, followed by a Parish Activities Center in 1981.

What has remained constant through all of the changes is the commitment of St. Michael's parishioners to be a gathering of Catholic people believing in God's love, manifested by His Son Jesus, and working to fulfill His mission on earth. I have experienced the daily manifestation of this commitment during my visits to St. Michael Parish, whether for worship or to visit the school. St. Michael School is an exemplary Catholic elementary school that has won a National Blue Ribbon Award and emphasizes academics, moral values, and discipline. The spirit of the school really shined through during my visit for Catholic Schools Week.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to recognize Father Paul Burak and all the parishioners of St. Michael, and congratulate them on the 150th anniversary of their parish. May their community continue to thrive and grow in God's love.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of an amendment I've offered to provide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) an additional $9 million. The purpose of this amendment is to enable the agency to focus on connected and automated vehicles by expanding its workforce to validate the safety of these transformative vehicles, defining new testing protocols as the technology advances, and to better collaborate with industry, and state and local governments to conduct adequate oversight of their deployment on our roads.

Connected and automated vehicles are a rapidly emerging technology with the potential to improve safety and mobility, decrease congestion, and increase the overall efficiency of our nation's transportation network. But along with this progress comes a number of pressing policy challenges. The federal government can, and must, play a role in maximizing the societal benefits of these technologies.

In a time when the technology that enables automated vehicles is rapidly advancing, I firmly believe that we must continue to promote U.S. leadership in this industry, with the goal of full deployment of automated vehicles on our roads and highways. Policies that balance consumer protection while facilitating innovation will ultimately benefit our manufacturing and transportation industries and their workers.

As Co-Chair of the Unmanned Systems Caucus, I have been holding periodic roundtables around the country on connected and autonomous transportation policy for the past two years. I have listened to experts from O.E.M.s, tier 1 suppliers, infoimation technology companies, transportation planners, and tech start-ups.

Part of this interest is from my background as an engineer, and my work as the Ranking Member of the House Science Committee's Research Subcommittee. Last Congress, I introduced the Future TRIP Act to promote automated vehicle research. Key provisions of that bill passed into law in the FAST Act.

NHTSA has done an admirable job of working with the industry in developing policy guidance while allowing enough flexibility to promote innovation for an industry that is constantly evolving. It is exactly this kind of consensus-based incremental change that will

their safety on the road. NHTSA needs the ability to review and process vehicle exemptions, conduct testing, and review safety standards.

Earlier today, we passed H.R. 3388, the SELF DRIVE Act, which expanded NHTSA's authorities in this area. That bill is an important step toward defining the federal government's role in regulating automated vehicles. The bill supports the testing and deployment of automated vehicles through the waiver process, preempts a patchwork of differing state and local regulations to provide certainty to industry and vehicle operators, and ensures consumer confidence by improving safety standards.

My amendment provides the initial financial resources needed to carry out the directives authorized in the SELF DRIVE Act, and subsequently appropriates the resources to give NHTSA the ability to examine these ongoing challenges.

I appreciate the support of Chairman Diaz-Balart, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I first thank the gentleman for yielding and for his amendment.

We all know that ozone is a hazardous air pollutant that contributes to health problems such as asthma attacks, heart disease, and birth defects--problems being made worse by climate change.

More than 40 percent of Americans, almost 130 million people, live in counties that receive an F grade for air quality from the American Lung Association. This includes my district that I represent in Illinois, as well as Washington, D.C.

This amendment would remove a needless delay in the implementation of an ozone rule designed to protect public health. The rule in question involves a modest lowering of the ozone limit from 75 to 70 parts per billion, a small change that would yield large health benefits, including preventing 230,000 asthma attacks in children and 188,000 missed school and workdays each year. This decision to lower the ozone limit was the result of a rigorous multiyear process carried out by expert scientists.

So I want to urge my colleagues to stand up for the health of our constituents and support this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3388, the SELF DRIVE Act. Connected and automated vehicles are a rapidly evolving technology that are novel today, but will be a reality tomorrow. This legislation will provide the auto industry, consumers, and policymakers with the certainty they need to advance automated vehicle technology. Automated vehicles have the potential to increase safety, improve mobility, and decrease congestion while improving the efficiency of our transportation network.

As the co-chairman of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus and an engineer, I have for the past three years been convening automated vehicle stakeholders to discuss the policy issues related to the development and deployment of these new technologies. In addition, I authored the Future TRIP Act during the 114th Congress. Key provisions of that bill, including the establishment of a regional transportation center to study automated vehicles were passed into law in the FAST Act. It is imperative that we maintain the United States' manufacturing.

I commend my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee for their bipartisan work on this important legislation. The SELF DRIVE Act includes language will promote industry growth by preventing a potentially stifling patchwork of differing local regulations. By asserting the authority of the federal government to regulate these vehicles and corresponding safety standards, the Committee has struck the right balance by allowing states to retain their traditional roles in driver licensing, insurance, and vehicle registration in a way that does not impede innovation. In addition, I am pleased that the bill enables the Department of Transportation to review the vehicle systems through the Safety Assessment Letter process.

Automated vehicles are highly complex, and present a number of equally complex policy considerations. While this bill is a significant step forward in defining the federal government's role in this emerging technology, I believe there is more work to be done with respect to ensuring that NHTSA has appropriate resources to carry out the federal role in oversight and regulation, and to ensuring the privacy of consumers' data. Data sharing between government and industry holds the possibility of improving safety operations and performance, but must be a collaborative partnership, and must protect consumers' personally identifiable data.

For that reason, I have an amendment that has been made in order to the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill, that we will consider later today. The amendment will provide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with an additional $9 million for the Salaries and Expenses account. These funds will enable the agency to expand its workforce, define new testing protocols as the technology emerges, and better partner with industry and state and local governments to conduct adequate oversight.

In addition, I continue to have concerns about the collection, use, and privacy of consumers' data. A recent report issued at the direction of myself and my colleague, Congresswoman Comstock, the Government Accountability Office found while nearly all of the major auto manufacturers now offer vehicles with connected technologies, NHTSA has not clearly defined its roles and responsibilities as they relate to the privacy of vehicle data, making it difficult for NHTSA to coordinate with other federal agencies to effectively oversee these emerging technologies.

We still have important issues to consider, including insurance, cyber-security, and data sharing. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with my colleagues to examine this evolving industry, and defining the federal government's role in promoting industry while protecting the public. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment that will provide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with $9 million in order to facilitate their critical work on self-driving cars.

Earlier today, the House passed the SELF DRIVE Act, which expanded NHTSA's authorities in this area. This amendment I am offering supplies the initial financial resources needed to carry out the directives of that bill. This includes validating the safety of self-driving cars; defining new testing protocols as the technology advances; and partnering with industry, along with State and local governments, to conduct oversight of these new vehicles.

NHTSA will play a key role in fostering adoption of this technology that promises so much: expanded mobility, much safer roads, decreased energy usage and emissions, and less congestion.

I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

I thank the chairman for supporting it.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Village Manager Patrick Higgins who is retiring after 40 years of service to the Western Springs community.

Pat Higgins began his career in Western Springs as an intern during his time at Northern Illinois University, where he received both a Master of Arts and Doctorate in Public Administration. Over the years he worked his way through various administrative positions and was named village manager in 2000. His 17 years in this top position make him the longest-serving manager in village history.

Pat Higgins has also been active as an educator and has served on numerous public service committees in Chicagoland. Since 2011, he has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at Northwestern University. He has served as president of the Chicago Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration and is the current chair of the Cook/DuPage Smart Transportation Corridors Committee and the West Central Municipal Conference's Transportation Committee. Higgins was the recipient of the 2008 and 2015 Northern Illinois University Outstanding Alumnus Award in Public Administration.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with Pat both in my role as a Representative and also as a resident of Western Springs. I have always admired his long dedication to the village and the region, as well as his passion for teaching. He is very thoughtful and knowledgeable person who has given a great deal as a public servant. His leadership has been a major asset to the community. I am pleased to congratulate Pat, and his wife Karron, on his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Western Springs Village Manager Patrick Higgins for his public service. He is well deserving of praise for the energy he has dedicated to improving the community. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.