Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as chair of the subcommittee that helped write today's INVEST in America Act, I want to emphasize that this bill breaks with previous Transportation and Infrastructure bills generally passed every 4 or 5 years. Until today, we have simply updated the bill first passed during the Eisenhower administration.

However, today's bill, for example, for the first time tackles climate change in recognition that transportation leads as a source of greenhouse gas emissions. The need to reduce burning fossil fuels is a priority in this

bill to move us more quickly to zero emissions.

I am particularly focused on transportation infrastructure alternatives, like those here in my district, the District of Columbia, particularly transit, especially Amtrak, and establishing a pilot project for reduced transit fares for low-income riders.

Perhaps most important, this bill fundamentally reverses course by actively discouraging expansion of roads for the first time. This limitation is in recognition of climate change. Instead of incentivizing more miles of roads for cars, this bill encourages safer roads for walking, biking, and scooters. Today's bill repairs existing roads with climate-resilient materials rather than building new roads.

The INVEST in America Act changes course altogether in the interest of 21st century transportation realities from climate change to rapidly emerging alternatives to cars as forms of travel and mobility.

The 54 percent increase in funding for this bill is in keeping with the road to change course on transportation and infrastructure.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Clemency Home Rule Act, which would give the District of Columbia exclusive authority, like the states and territories have, to grant clemency to offenders prosecuted under its local laws.

While District law appears to give the mayor authority to grant clemency (D.C. Code 1-301. 76), it has been the opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the president, and not the mayor, has the authority to grant clemency for most offenses prosecuted under D.C. law, particularly felonies prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for D.C. in the D.C. Superior Court. Under current practice, clemency petitions for D.C. convictions, like federal convictions, are submitted to DOJ for the president's consideration.

Whether or not DOJ's view is correct, my bill would remove all doubt that the District, and not the president, has the authority to issue clemency for local offenses. The District, like the states and territories, should have full control of its local criminal justice system, the most basic responsibility of local government. Since the D.C. Council has the authority to enact local laws, District officials are in the best position to grant clemency for local law convictions. My bill would provide clemency authority to the District and would give D.C. the discretion to establish its own clemency system.

This bill is an important step in establishing further autonomy for the District. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Non-Discrimination Home Rule Act of 2021, which would end the unique applicability of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to the District of Columbia. My bill would protect the District's right to self-govemment, ensuring the District is treated the same as states, and defend LGBTQ and reproductive rights in D.C.

RFRA, which provides more protection for religious exercise than the First Amendment requires, applies to the federal government, the D.C. government and the territorial governments, but not to state governments. As RFRA does not apply to the states, under the principles of home rule, it should likewise not apply to the District.

While RFRA was designed to be a shield to protect religious freedom, it is being used, as evidenced by the Supreme Court's 2014 Hobby Lobby decision, as a sword to discriminate against the LGBTQ community and women. Members of Congress have used RFRA as a justification for trying--but failing--to overturn D.C. anti-discrimination laws. House Republicans have repeatedly tried since 2015 to nullify or block the District's Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act (RHNDA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and their families based on reproductive health decisions, claiming, in part, that it violates RFRA. However, it appears that no one has challenged RHNDA's legality under RFRA in court.

My bill ensures that District residents are treated the same as residents of the states under RFRA. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Georgetown Waterfront Enslaved Voyages Memorial Act. This bill would authorize the establishment of a memorial on federal land in the District of Columbia commemorating the enslaved individuals who disembarked at the Georgetown waterfront after forced migration to the United States by way of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The commemorative work, to be established by the Georgetown African American Historic Landmark Project and Tour, would honor the enslaved individuals' presence, celebrate their contributions to history, recognize their resilience and fortitude and acknowledge their deeds and feats.

This week, we recognize Juneteenth (June 19), which marks the arrival of the news of emancipation to enslaved African Americans in Confederate-controlled Texas--two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued--the final end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth celebrates the culmination of the long struggle for freedom from bondage in the United States. This monumental event prompts us to reflect on the past and look to the future.

For four centuries, enslavers packed 12.5 million captive Africans into their ships to sell as chattel in the Americas. The vestiges of this history are everywhere yet scarcely marked, including here in the District. The Georgetown waterfront had an extensive and long-neglected history of involvement in the slave trade. Due to its location at the northernmost navigable point on the Potomac River, North Potomac, as it was then known, the Georgetown waterfront was a busy commercial port that operated as a mid-Atlantic trading center of enslaved people.

The first Africans were brought as slaves through the Georgetown port in 1732. Though records are incomplete, scholars have determined that between that year and 1761, seven ships carrying an estimated 1,475 enslaved people arrived there. Those who survived the traumatic ``Middle Passage'' voyage were marched through tunnels that led from the C&O Canal, through the sewage system, to a slave auction block on M Street, now Georgetown's main commercial thoroughfare.

Commodities to be sold for profit, these people were assigned no more value in America than that paid for them by enslavers. Slavery and the slave trade remained for generations an integral part of the United States. While the entire contribution of enslaved African Americans in the District and region cannot be determined, we know with certainty that white citizens and the federal government both relied heavily on enslaved labor to build the Nation's capital.

We must not hide from this history. The enslaved individuals, known and unknown, who disembarked at the Georgetown waterfront after forced migration, rest at the core of our Nation's shared history. The atrocities of the system of chattel slavery shed light on our Nation's central struggle between slavery and freedom--a freedom under which some could be owned, beaten, separated from their families, and denied any rights. This bill provides for the creation of a powerful marker of truth-telling and remembrance. Let us honor the personhood of these individuals, who were repeatedly assumed to have none, so that they will never be forgotten.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, today's bill making Juneteenth, when the last slaves got word that slavery had ended, a federal holiday has unique meaning for the District of Columbia because the slaves here were the first, not the last, to be freed. The reason, of course, is that the District was and is a federally controlled jurisdiction. The District celebrates the emancipation of slaves here on April 16 every year.

Juneteenth should remind Congress that it's time for the first to be freed to finally become equal to other Americans. The House understands that with its passage of the D.C. statehood bill. So does the Senate, with a hearing on our D.C. statehood bill scheduled for next Tuesday, June 22.

With the President, the House, and the Senate all believing that the residents of their Nation's capital should in every way be equal to other Americans, we rejoice this Juneteenth knowing that we are close to adding the 51st star to the flag.

Madam Speaker, the D.C. statehood bill will receive a hearing in the Senate, and I expect the date to be announced today. I appreciate that our D.C. statehood bill has already passed the House, and I thank the House.

Our hearings and House passage have alerted Americans that the residents of their own Nation's Capital do not have the same rights as other Americans. As a result, a detailed poll now shows that 54 percent of the American people support D.C. statehood for the District of Columbia.

As Americans who pay the highest Federal taxes per capita in the United States, D.C. residents say it is about time--indeed, well past time--for Congress to grant statehood to the residents of the District of Columbia.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 610) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 610, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I will include in the Record a letter from Chairman John Yarmuth of the House Committee on Budget agreeing to waive consideration of H.R. 610, as amended, as well as Chair DeFazio's response to Mr. Yarmuth expressing appreciation for his willingness to work cooperatively on this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in support of H.R. 610.

Midpeninsula Regional

Open Space District,

Los Altos, CA, June 10, 2021.

Re H.R. 610--San Francisco Bay Restoration Act--SUPPORT.

Hon. Jackie Speier,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Speier: On behalf of the Board of

Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

(Midpen), I write to express our support for your

legislation, H.R. 610, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act.

Comprised of over 65,000 acres of acquired and protected open

space on the San Francisco Peninsula, Midpen is one of the

largest regional open space districts in California. Our

braided mission is to acquire and preserve in perpetuity open

space and agricultural land of regional significance, to

protect and restore the natural environment, to preserve

rural character and encourage viable agricultural use of land

resources, and to provide opportunities for ecologically

sensitive public enjoyment and education.

As you know, the legislation would prioritize funding for

the San Francisco Bay, a vital resource to our District, the

regional community, and the entire state of California. The

$250 million authorized in the bill would provide critical

federal investment to restoring the Bay's wetlands and

estuaries, assist in the recovery of endangered species, and

help to alleviate the impacts of climate change. We greatly

appreciate the legislation's establishment of this federal

partnership to improve the Bay Area and protect our coastal

community and economy.

For these reasons, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space

District greatly supports the San Francisco Bay Restoration

Act (H.R. 610). Thank you for your leadership and continued

work on improving the Bay Area. If you have any questions or

would like to further discuss our support, please do not

hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Ana M. Ruiz,

General Manager.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 610. This legislation would create a stand-alone program for the San Francisco Bay within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in essence elevating restoration efforts of a water body that has been part of the national estuary program since 1993.

This legislation responds to an August 2018 Government Accountability Office report that found a centralized program would improve the existing efforts to restore and protect the San Francisco Bay.

This legislation would authorize $25 million annually for fiscal year 2022 through 2026, with a cap on Federal funding for eligible projects and a cap on administrative expenses. H.R. 610 is supported by the delegation representing the bay and surrounding area, including our committee colleagues Jared Huffman, Mark DeSaulnier, and John Garamendi.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 610, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure,

Washington, DC, June 2, 2021.

Hon. John Yarmuth:

Chair, Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Yarmuth: Thank you for your letter regarding H.R

610, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act. I appreciate your

decision to waive formal consideration of the bill.

I agree that the Committee on the Budget has valid

jurisdictional claims to certain provisions in this important

legislation, and I further agree that by forgoing formal

consideration of the bill, the Committee on the Budget is not

waiving any jurisdiction over any relevant subject matter.

Additionally, if requested I will support the appointment of

conferees from the Committee on the Budget should a House-

Senate conference be convened on this legislation. Finally,

this exchange of letters will be included in the

Congressional Record when the bill is considered on the

floor.

Thank you again, and I look forward to continuing to work

collaboratively with the Committee on the Budget on this

important issue.

Sincerely,

Peter A. DeFazio,

Chair.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1703) to amend title 40, United States Code, to require the Administrator of General Services to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Children's Museum to provide the National Children's Museum rental space without charge in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1703, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1703, the National Children's Museum Act, which I have sponsored. Last Congress, the House passed this bill by voice vote.

This bipartisan, bicameral bill, which I introduced with Republican Rodney Davis of Illinois and which has been introduced in the Senate by Democrat Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Republican Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia would require the General Services Administration to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Children's Museum, a congressionally designated museum, to allow the museum to remain in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, a Federally owned building in the Nation's capital without charge for the duration of its existing lease.

The National Building Museum operates under such an agreement. The National Children's Museum is the only congressionally designated museum required to pay rent in a Federal building.

Originally named the Capital Children's Museum, the museum was a staple in D.C. for decades. The museum opened in 1974 in a former convent on H Street Northeast. In 2003, Congress recognized the immense value of having a children's museum in the Nation's capital and officially designated the museum as the National Children's Museum.

After being closed for several years, the museum reopened last year in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in downtown D.C. where it immediately attracted visitors from throughout the Nation's capital and the entire Nation. However, only 18 days later, the coronavirus pandemic forced the museum to close its physical space.

Still, the museum continued to offer valuable online resources to our children as they navigated new, challenging learning circumstances, including over 75 at-home experiment and project video programs and monthly podcasts. The museum has served teachers in 45 States and the District through its virtual field trips since the pandemic began. However, due to revenue losses during the pandemic and other costs, the museum has said it will close permanently without enactment of this bill.

This bill would allow the National Children's Museum to continue to benefit the millions who visit and live in the Nation's capital and the national capital region.

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

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the remarks of my good friend, Mr. Davis, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, like my friend, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 587) to modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in certain circumstances, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 587.

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

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the city of San Diego in support of H.R. 587.

The City of San Diego,

San Diego, CA, June 14, 2021.

Hon. Scott Peters,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Peters: On behalf of the City of San

Diego, I am writing to you in support of the Ocean Pollution

Reduction Act II (OPRA II) H.R. 587.

OPRA II is the product of a decades-long regional

collaboration and will deploy advanced technology to purify

recycled water. Additionally, this legislation is critical to

implementing the comprehensive Pure Water San Diego program,

which will provide a reliable, sustainable source of drinking

water while simultaneously reducing treated discharge to the

ocean by nearly 50 percent. This bill delivers certainty and

provides a more streamlined process to comply with

regulations, provided the City meets stringent water

recycling milestones.

Under OPRA II, the City of San Diego must demonstrate that

its Pure Water program is able to produce 83 million gallons

of water a day, nearly one-half of the City's water supply

demand by 2036. Over the same period, the program is expected

to reduce treated discharge from the Point Loma Wastewater

Treatment Plant, which will be continuously monitored and

subjected to ongoing research efforts by academic, local,

state, and national entities.

The City of San Diego is grateful for your leadership on

this important legislative effort.

Sincerely,

Todd Gloria,

Mayor,

City of San Diego.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 587. The legislation, introduced by Representative Scott Peters, clarifies that the city of San Diego, California, can utilize the standard Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit process to continue operation of the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant with alternative standards.

The legislation, which provides regulatory accountability and consistency to the city, has the support of surrounding localities, local public works departments and water districts, as well as local nongovernmental and environmental organizations.

Currently, the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant applies for and receives a waiver under the Clean Water Act to discharge wastewater with less than full secondary treatment, the baseline requirement of the Clean Water Act. The facility qualifies for the waiver by meeting certain criteria and must renew its application every 5 years.

As part of a long-term effort, the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant is working to reduce its discharges to coastal waters. This effort involves water recycling and will redirect a portion of the facility's discharge. However, the facility's discharges to coastal waters will never be eliminated.

To be clear, this legislation is not a waiver of all the requirements of the Clean Water Act, and the facility will need to comply with the other requirements of the act.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 587, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters).

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1144) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance for programs and activities to protect the water quality of the Puget Sound, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1144, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1144. The bill establishes a new regional program within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address water pollution concerns in the Puget Sound and authorizes $50 million annually for fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

The Puget Sound has seen significant degradation of water quality and habitat as a result of human development. This legislation builds on the successes Puget Sound has seen while part of the National Estuary Program and incorporates the recommendations of a July 2018 report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office on the Federal and State efforts to restore the Sound.

This legislation is vitally important to ensure long-term health of a watershed that helps provide food, water, and other ecosystem services for 4.5 million people and contributes to the State's economy.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1144, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Strickland).

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

Madam Speaker, the Puget Sound watershed has long provided food, clean water, and other ecosystem benefits for 4.5 million people and a wide variety of species as well. The region is essential to the State's economy. Human development and other actions have degraded the water quality and habitat of the Sound, including that of critical species like salmon and orca whales.

The Puget Sound was deemed an Estuary of National Significance in 1988, and in 2018, GAO determined that further investment and a program with clear leadership and coordination of objectives is crucial to achieving the long-term restoration and protection goals of this diverse and dynamic ecosystem.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2008) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize certain programs relating to nonpoint source management, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2008.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2008. H.R. 2008 is a bipartisan bill to reauthorize appropriations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Nonpoint Source Management grants program. I would like to thank my colleagues, Ms. Craig from Minnesota and Mr. Mast from Florida, for introducing this bill.

Nonpoint sources of water pollution come from many diffuse sources, including runoff from farms, managed forests, and urban areas. This runoff can carry pollutants, such as fertilizers and sediment from fields and lawns, toxins from abandoned mines, and oils and heavy metals from roads into lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. Nationally, some 55 percent of assessed rivers and streams currently do not meet State water quality standards.

The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. In 1987, the Clean Water Act was amended to add section 319 to create a non-regulatory program through which EPA administers annual grants to help States develop and implement their own programs for managing nonpoint sources of water pollution.

Under EPA's 319 program, States retain the primary role for addressing nonpoint source water pollution, which they do largely through voluntary means and financial incentives. However, according to the General Accounting Office, the extent of the available incentives has declined in recent years, as grants to States under the section 319 program have declined by more than 30 percent from a high of about $240 million annually in fiscal year 2004.

The section 319 program was initially authorized at $70 million annually in fiscal year 1988, and its authorization level steadily increased to $130 million in fiscal year 1991, the last year of authorization for this program.

Since that time, the section 319 program has continued to receive funds through the annual appropriation for EPA. In fiscal year 2021, the section 319 program received a Federal appropriation of $177 million, and the President's fiscal year 2022 budget request proposes an increase in funding for the program to $180 million.

H.R. 2008 would authorize $200 million annually for the section 319 program through 2026. This would be a modest increase of the current appropriated level for this popular program, but less than the historic peak appropriation for this program in the early 2000s.

Again, I thank Ms. Craig and Mr. Mast for leading this bipartisan bill. This legislation passed out of committee with bipartisan support and is a good bill for a valuable program.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1921) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1921.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1921. This legislation reauthorizes the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program for 5 years at $20 million annually and provides for regular reporting on the progress of the program.

Some 2.1 million people live in the area surrounding Lake Pontchartrain, which is threatened by pollution related to urban and agricultural runoff, sewage overflows, and nonpoint source pollution. The Basin Restoration Program helps address these environmental challenges in a nonregulatory fashion and has made some progress. With continued funding and reauthorization, the program can continue implementing projects related to restoration.

During a Water Resources Subcommittee hearing last Congress, some implementation issues related to this program were identified. Ranking Member Graves and Chair DeFazio requested that the U.S. Government Accountability Office study the program implementation; however, those issues should not prevent us from acting on this bill today.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1921, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 539) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to covered assistance provided to an individual or household, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 539.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 539, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Graves from Missouri and Representatives Carbajal, Garamendi, Huffman, Thompson, and LaMalfa of California.

This legislation is designed to ensure disaster survivors are not revictimized by recoupment--or clawbacks--of Federal disaster assistance they have received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Unfortunately, FEMA has repeatedly instructed disaster survivors to register for individual assistance for which they were ultimately not eligible, or granted qualified survivors more assistance than they should have received.

However, once FEMA identifies an error, it forces these survivors into a bureaucratic nightmare to appeal the debt that they now owe as a result of the agency's error. I am not surprised that this still goes on, but I am disappointed that--given the technology and data we have at our fingertips--we have not been able to improve this system for survivors, especially considering that this program is just a small piece of the Federal disaster recovery apparatus.

H.R. 539 would waive survivors' debt owed to the Federal Government in instances where FEMA erroneously distributed assistance. This bill would also provide a similar waiver to disaster survivors who may be involved in a legal action against a party deemed responsible for a disaster event. While this scenario is less common, it played out in California last year and jeopardized disaster relief for tens of thousands of families displaced by the unprecedented wildfires of the last few years.

Survivors have already been traumatized by a disaster--the Federal Government should not force them to endure a convoluted process to correct FEMA's mistakes or decision to pursue legal action years after an event against a liable party.

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

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 468) to amend title 49, United States Code, to permit the use of incentive payments to expedite certain federally financed airport development projects.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 468.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 468, the Expedited Delivery of Airport Infrastructure Act of 2021. Introduced by the committee's ranking member, Sam Graves, the bill incentivizes the early completion of airport projects funded by the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program.

As the global pandemic begins to subside and the number of vaccinated Americans has steadily grown, the number of passengers traveling by air has dramatically increased. In fact, last month, the Transportation Security Administration recorded the highest number of daily passengers screened at U.S. airports since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing airports to find ways to keep up with the growing passenger demand.

This legislation will help address this need by allowing airports to use their Airport Improvement Program funding to offer incentive payments to contractors for early completion of airport development projects.

Importantly, H.R. 468 includes conditions that ensure projects completed early do not have a negative impact on airport safety, efficiency, or capacity.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2016) 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.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2016.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 2016, the Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act, introduced by Representatives Gonzalez-Colon and Peters. This legislation amends the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to help Federal agencies streamline and consolidate information collection and preliminary damage assessments following disasters.

When a major disaster occurs, Americans don't have time to wait for bureaucracy. Today, however, too many barriers stand between emergency response and Americans in crisis due to disaster.

Federal recovery assistance following major 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 in 2021.

It is 2021, and we can and should be doing this smarter. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.