Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6219) to require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a program to identify, evaluate, acquire, and disseminate commercial Earth remote sensing data and imagery in order to satisfy the scientific, operational, and educational requirements of the Administration, 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. 6219, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of the ASCEND Act, led by my colleague, Mr. Kean of New Jersey.

The ASCEND Act creates a permanent commercial satellite data acquisition program within NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

As the global space sector rapidly evolves, it is critical for NASA to have access to the very best tools and research our Nation has to offer, ensuring its continued leadership as the world's premier space agency.

This bill supports those efforts by enabling NASA to procure remote sensing data from commercial providers under the new acquisition program. By taking this step, researchers will have access to cutting- edge datasets and imagery obtained from the commercial space sector. These resources will play a significant role in advancing research and development in vital areas, such as precision agriculture and natural disaster monitoring.

By utilizing industry data, our NASA researchers can obtain valuable insights that enhance their already innovative work. The more knowledge we acquire, the better we can lead in this field.

The bill also requires the NASA Administrator to submit an annual report to Congress on the uses and impact of commercial data products and licensing agreements. This information will be valuable for us as we monitor and support the program's efforts.

As we look forward to the future, maintaining our leadership in the space sector will depend on various factors, including our collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors. Allowing NASA to expand its commercial data procurement program through the ASCEND Act will only help achieve the agency's current and long-term goals.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Kean and Representative Bonamici for working together to get this bill to the floor today. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean), to speak on his bill.

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

Again, I thank Representatives Kean and Bonamici for their bipartisan efforts.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7630) to require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 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. 7630, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here in support of the ANCHOR Act sponsored by my friend, Mr. Mike Garcia of California.

The ANCHOR Act establishes the crucial need for better cybersecurity in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. This fleet of 18 vessels operates in the oceans, the Great Lakes, and the polar regions where they conduct crucial research on our marine environments.

They are studying ecosystems and food webs, offshore energy resources, and how we can better forecast and respond to hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

Much of what we know about the ocean, from the wave dynamics to the deepest trenches, is thanks to research done aboard one of these vessels.

They operate a wide range of specialized equipment, including deep- towing cameras, state-of-the-art acoustic sensors, and sea floor mapping systems. They do this all over the globe, often sailing to remote locations far from land.

This creates a unique challenge because the fleet needs secure and reliable communications and data transmissions, whether they are just off the coast of California or in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

That means that each individual vessel needs a specialized infrastructure that protects their scientific equipment and ensures the security of their data, both on board and in transmission.

They need this level of security, but they don't have it. This bill will change that. The ANCHOR Act directs the National Science Foundation to submit a plan for much-needed upgrades to our Academic Research Fleet to improve cybersecurity and modernize telecom equipment.

We are directing the NSF to take into account the types of research done on each vessel, where they operate, their specialized equipment, and the necessary bandwidth for communication.

This plan is necessary to protect the taxpayer-funded research that is being performed by our Academic Research Fleet.

My fellow Representatives have often heard me talk about the threat to our research and intellectual property from the Chinese Communist Party.

We have taken strong steps to protect research done at our Federal agencies and in partnership with academic institutions. Now we must take the next step and secure the research being done off our coasts.

I appreciate Representative Mike Garcia's work on this issue and his commitment to strengthen our research enterprise and give it the protection it deserves.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia), to speak on his bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Mike Garcia, Congresswoman Stevens, and Congresswoman Lofgren, my colleague from California and the ranking member. This is a good piece of legislation. Let's vote for it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7073) to improve public-private partnerships and increase Federal research, development, and demonstration related to the evolution of next generation pipeline systems, 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 in the Record on the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7073, the Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act, which I am proud to cosponsor.

The United States pipeline network consists of nearly 2.8 million miles of pipeline, enough to wrap around the world at the equator more than 112 times.

Yet, 50 percent of the Nation's pipeline system is more than 60 years old, and the Department of Energy estimates that as many as 96,000 miles of new pipeline will be needed to handle carbon dioxide capture from power plants and directly from the air.

As the Representative of Cushing, Oklahoma, the pipeline crossroads of the world, I see firsthand the importance of pipeline infrastructure, not just for our energy security but for economic growth in America. This is infrastructure that must be maintained now and well into the future.

A new and modern emphasis on science collaboration, as well as increased industry involvement and public-private demonstration projects, will be required to meet our future energy demands and ensure the continued safety and efficient use of our pipelines.

Not only do pipelines carry the oil and natural gas that currently fuel our economy, but they are also critical in transporting the next generation of fuels like hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane.

H.R. 7073 enables that by invigorating Federal research focused on improving pipeline safety and technology.

The bill establishes a demonstration initiative to advance research undertaken by DOE and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. It will also help lab-scale, basic research overcome the ``valley of death'' through commercial development.

It also establishes a national pipeline modernization center as a central location for industry and stakeholders to collaborate with Federal agencies on pipeline research and development and enable new cost-effective products and procedures.

Simply put, 7073 is necessary for the continued growth of the American energy industry. It will strengthen pipeline infrastructure networks that will be essential to achieving our shared energy, economic, security, and environmental goals.

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

House of Representatives,

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,

Washington, DC, September 19, 2024.

Hon. Frank D. Lucas,

Chairman, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Lucas: I write to you concerning H.R. 7073,

the Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act.

The bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Science,

Space, and Technology. Specifically, provisions of H.R. 7073

fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure.

I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this

legislation before the House of Representatives in an

expeditious manner, and accordingly, the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure will forgo action on the

bill. However, this is conditional on our mutual

understanding that doing so will not prejudice the Committee

on Transportation and Infrastructure with respect to the

appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional

claim over the subject matter contained within the bill or

similar legislation that falls under the Committee on

Transportation and Infrastructure's Rule X jurisdiction.

Further, should a conference on the bill be necessary, I

appreciate your agreement to support my request to have the

Committee represented on the conference committee.

Finally, I would ask that a copy of this letter and your

response acknowledging our jurisdictional interest in the

bill be included in the Committee Report and Congressional

Record during consideration of H.R. 7073 on the House floor.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber) to speak on his bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close once the gentlewoman from California closes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my Science Committee colleagues, Mr. Weber and Ms. Caraveo, for leading this bipartisan effort. I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7685) to strengthen and enhance the competitiveness of American industry through the research and development of advanced technologies to improve the efficiency of cement, concrete, and asphalt production, 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. 7685, the bill now under consideration.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 7685, the Innovative Mitigation Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies, or the IMPACT Act.

Today, much of the world is reliant on cement and concrete produced in China, which has the world's largest cement industry. It should go without saying that it is deeply troubling to be at the whims of the Chinese Communist Party when it comes to materials that are critical to our national defense and economic security.

Besides that, this dependence comes with severe negative environmental impacts. China's greenhouse gas emissions exceed all of the developed nations in the world combined. In fact, U.S. industrial manufacturing is nearly 28 percent cleaner than our competitors, including China.

If we want a cleaner, healthier environment on top of global security, U.S. leadership in this industry is an absolute must. The IMPACT Act ensures that leadership in the cement, concrete, and asphalt industry. It will increase the competitiveness of the United States while also achieving significant reductions in emissions from manufacturing processes.

Specifically, this bill supports the research and development of innovative technologies, primarily at the Department of Energy. It builds off of the cross-cutting Industrial Emissions Reduction Technology Development Program established by the Energy Act of 2020 and provides specific direction for the development of advanced tools, technologies, and methods related to cement, concrete, and asphalt production.

Concrete is the second most widely used material in the world only behind water. The demand isn't going to decrease anytime soon, so it is essential we direct the best scientific resources of the Federal Government to help manufacturers meet our environmental goals without reducing the concrete supply that keeps our economy growing.

The IMPACT Act positions our country to rise to that challenge and become a resource for the entire globe.

I thank my Science Committee colleagues, Mr. Miller and Mrs. Foushee, for cosponsoring this bill and working in a bipartisan fashion. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller) to speak on his bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests, and I simply note this is a good bill. Let's vote for it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1735) to coordinate Federal research and development efforts focused on modernizing mathematics in STEM education through mathematical and statistical modeling, including data-driven and computational thinking, problem, project, and performance-based learning and assessment, interdisciplinary exploration, and career connections, 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. 1735, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 1735, the Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act, sponsored by my colleagues Representatives Houlahan and Baird.

Anyone who pays attention to the economy knows the importance of STEM education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that our need for STEM jobs will increase by nearly 11 percent by 2032.

To fill those jobs and ensure that we have a highly productive workforce, we need to focus on STEM education in our schools. We need to be sure that we are providing a useful STEM education.

We know that many STEM jobs require data-driven decisionmaking, but we are not providing a grounding in that skill in our schools. To this end, H.R. 1735 modernizes our mathematics curriculum by providing competitive grants to support education in mathematical and statistical modeling.

As someone trained in agricultural economics, I understand the value of conducting mathematical and statistical analysis. A solid grounding in these fields helps us predict crop yields, identify the effects of temperatures and water levels, and model commodity markets. Those are just examples from a single industry.

The skills are crucial to a wide variety of professions and help inform computational and data-driven thinking. Statistical analysis underpins everything, from developing artificial intelligence to improving advanced manufacturing.

This bill would allow us to better teach these critical skills through R&D into new curricula and teaching methods. It would also direct the National Academies to conduct a study that will identify best practices for mathematical and statistical modeling education.

I thank Representatives Houlahan and Baird for their work on this issue over the past several years. This is smart legislation that supports our students and our economy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass it today, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird) to speak on his bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

I encourage my colleagues to vote for this awesome bill worked on in a very productive fashion by our colleagues.

I would note, Mr. Speaker, we have had a very productive session in the 118th Congress. I thought under the previous committee leadership the two previous sessions it would be hard to beat, but we have accomplished a lot, and we have laid the groundwork for whatever remains of the 118th to tie up a whole bunch of loose ends. That is a testament to the gentlewoman and her staff, and I think to my staff and my colleagues on my side of the room.

The issues we work on, as the gentlewoman and I have discussed many times, are not just today and tomorrow. It is 50 years, it is 150 years, it is 500 years from now, the net effect.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1430, I call up the bill (H.R. 9456) to amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 with respect to foreign investments in United States agriculture, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

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 the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 9456, the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024. This important legislation would codify a new set of policies that were enacted under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. H.R. 9456 would make those measures permanent.

I would like to begin by thanking the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse) for offering this legislation.

The bill is straightforward. It adds the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, CFIUS, for any transactions related to the purchase of agricultural land, agricultural biotechnology, or any other transactions related to the U.S. agricultural industry.

The bill also provides a mechanism for USDA to notify CFIUS of particularly sensitive agricultural transactions. Then, the interagency process must determine whether a review is appropriate. This legislation guarantees that the Secretary of Agriculture will have a seat at the table.

Agriculture Secretary Perdue under the Trump administration and Secretary Vilsack under this administration both agree that having a permanent member of CFIUS is necessary. In fact, during the House Committee on Agriculture hearing earlier this Congress, Secretary Vilsack discussed the implications of a permanent placement of the USDA Secretary on CFIUS, saying: ``Being a permanent member would allow us . . . to educate the other members of CFIUS about what to look for and what to be sensitive to when it comes to agriculture and agricultural production.''

I agree with the Secretary. USDA has the unique expertise that can benefit the other CFIUS members. That is why this bill is so important.

This bill is the combination of two pieces of legislation that received unanimous recorded votes as part of a Financial Services Committee markup last fall.

My legislation, the inclusion of the Agriculture Secretary as a CFIUS member, and my colleague from Missouri, Blaine Luetkemeyer's legislation, the USDA referral system, both enjoyed unanimous bipartisan support. In addition, slightly modified versions of these measures were enacted in the FY24 appropriations in March. I was pleased to see the policies become the law of the land.

H.R. 9456 would permanently authorize them rather than rely on the annual appropriations process.

The bill focuses the government's limited resources on foreign adversaries: the People's Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. It is not about closing off the United States from the rest of the world.

For decades, Congress and the executive branch have upheld our country's commitment to an open investment climate. Foreign investment in the United States creates millions of jobs while boosting U.S. exports and expanding R&D budgets.

This legislation is consistent with our core American values and consistent with the unanimous bipartisan legislation passed in the Financial Services Committee.

Since the 1970s, USDA has been responsible for the collection of foreign ownership in U.S. agricultural land. This piece of legislation, as with the bipartisan committee-passed version and the provision currently in law as appropriations language, empowers USDA to flag foreign persons and entities for CFIUS to consider.

To object to this legislation is to object to current law, existing practices, and bipartisan consensus.

CFIUS' mandate remains clear. It must stay focused on national security issues, whether in agriculture or any other sector.

I am hopeful this bill will soon find its way to the President's desk so that the growing cooperation between CFIUS and USDA can continue, allowing CFIUS to take advantage of the subject matter expertise housed at the Department of Agriculture. Food and agricultural security is a critical component of our national security, and this legislation recognizes that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse), who not only understands the security issues because of his involvement as a United States Congressman for the State of Washington, but he is also a farmer from the State of Washington. He understands the impact these issues have on farms and ranches across the country.

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

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

H.R. 9456 is comprised of two bills that were both marked up and unanimously reported from the Financial Services Committee. The administration did not send any technical assistance when both bills were marked up in

the committee a full year ago. They did not send TA until 2 days before this bill went to Rules. The edits were very technical in nature and open to interpretation.

I repeat again: Both of the underlying bills were marked up and unanimously reported from the committee in September of 2023. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle voted for the language in committee, and the Treasury gave no responses at the time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Nebraska (Mr. Flood).

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

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

The Agriculture Foreign Investments Disclosure Act of 1978 already requires that all foreign persons and legal entities acquiring or transferring an interest in U.S. agricultural property submit a report to USDA containing the information on the transaction of the parties involved. That is present law.

CFIUS can already use this data when considering potential national security risks in determining whether a transaction is covered by its jurisdiction.

This bill does not change that jurisdiction. What this bill does is formally establish a referral system between USDA's current monitoring of land purchases and CFIUS in order to target our adversaries and avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

The bill singles out purchases involving the People's Republic of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. It is the governments of these nonfree societies that are our threats, and it is their manipulation of their people that are the threats we try to address.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self).

Madam Speaker, before I yield to my colleague from Michigan, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this is a process that combines two good pieces of legislation. This is a process that takes what we successfully did in appropriations, which means an annual process of renewal, and it makes it permanent law.

This is an acknowledgement that Congress recognizes the importance of making this statute permanent, not just a part of annual funding language. It is hard for me to imagine why we wouldn't support this. It is just difficult to imagine.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Moolenaar).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird), one of my fellow farmers, who understands these issues from the tractor seat and the field.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. Speaker, before I yield to the gentlewoman from Iowa, I will simply note that like all legislative processes with the signature of the President on this piece of legislation, it will supersede the appropriated law. It will be straightforward.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Hinson)

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

Mr. Speaker, I would note, as I conclude with my comments and yield back also, there have been many occasions when the good lady, the ranking member of the full committee, and I have battled over issues, and there have been occasions when we have been in the same trenches, fighting in the same direction on policy. I would say that she is always a very worthwhile adversary and just a pretty viciously effective ally on those rare occasions, but today, we disagree. We disagree.

I believe Americans have long recognized that a resilient food supply is essential to national security, which is why the rise of foreign investments in our Nation's farmlands deserves increased scrutiny.

We have seen our geopolitical adversaries, China in particular, are eager to exploit vulnerabilities in critical supply chains. Investment from China poses a unique risk to the American economy, and the Chinese Communist Party exercises immense control and influence over Chinese- owned companies operating abroad.

This bill recognizes that a national security framework that excludes agriculture is incomplete.

In my own State of Oklahoma, foreign land ownership has been against the law for decades and decades, but my State officials tell me that with the web of LLCs and trusts and a variety of other legal mechanisms, they have a difficult time in enforcing that.

This piece of legislation today is one of many pieces of the puzzle to bring this to a focus. If you care about the security of this great Nation and if you care about building on actions that we have taken in this Congress before, then I urge you to vote for this bill. Make permanent law what is now an annual appropriation-type process. I think it is the right thing to do.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7686) to amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to clarify the definition of foreign country for purposes of malign foreign talent recruitment restriction, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 7686, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here today to support H.R. 7686, which helps strengthen our research security.

Research theft is one of the single greatest threats to our competitiveness as a nation. It takes our hard-won innovation and puts it to work for our adversaries, hurting our economy and our national security.

This is no idle threat either.

The Chinese Communist Party has made it clear that they intend to surpass us as the global leader in science and technology, and they have no qualms about using intellectual property theft, forced technology acquisition, and other illicit means to do so.

The CCP uses our intellectual property to advance their own research and keep them at the leading edge of new technologies. After acquiring our research, they use subsidies and regulations that benefit Chinese companies, making it difficult for U.S. companies to compete globally.

According to some estimates, this is costing our economy between $200 billion and $600 billion a year. The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has been proactive in our response to this threat and has passed multiple bills to protect American research.

When we passed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, we included a number of provisions to halt the theft of U.S. innovation. We prohibited Federal funding for any school that hosts Confucius Institutes, which are designed to spread CCP propaganda to students and researchers. We gave universities better tools to protect sensitive research from cyber theft. We created a dedicated office on research security at the National Science Foundation to help detect and combat foreign influence and theft.

We banned participation in malign foreign talent programs. These programs recruit researchers and provide funding, travel, and other benefits in exchange for access to research and intellectual property. We prohibited all Federal agency personnel and any researcher receiving Federal funding from participating in these talent programs.

As the government, labs, and universities began to implement this prohibition, it became clear that our definition of malign foreign talent programs needed to be updated. H.R. 7686 provides a clear, comprehensive definition that ensures that we are covering efforts by foreign countries of concern like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. This clarification will make it easier for universities and Federal research agencies to identify and address threats to our taxpayer- funded research.

I thank Representative Garcia for his work on this important bill. Research theft is a broad threat that is difficult to extinguish, and it is challenging to protect our research while still maintaining helpful international scientific collaboration.

I appreciate Representative Garcia's efforts to walk that line and improve our tools to stop research theft. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia) to speak on his bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, as you have heard today, H.R. 7686 is smart policy that will protect taxpayer-funded research from being stolen and misused by our adversaries. We want to give our scientific agencies and universities every tool they need to protect critical research. This bill does that and helps us better implement the CHIPS and Science Act.

I thank Representative Garcia for his work on this issue, and I urge all of my colleagues to pass this important piece of legislation.

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

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman McHenry and Whip Emmer for being leaders on digital asset policy and specifically for this legislation preventing a Federal Reserve bank from offering central bank digital currency to an individual.

As advances in technology drive changes in the payments landscape, it is the responsibility of Congress to foster innovations while protecting consumers. Today, a Federal Reserve note, physical currency, is the only kind of central bank money available to the public, but a CBDC would be a new form of money, a digital dollar, which raises significant financial stability, privacy, and consumer protection concerns.

This legislation clarifies that the Fed cannot offer direct products or services, or maintain accounts on behalf of an individual, and specifies the congressional authorities needed for the Fed to set up a

Mr. Chair, the United States has no meaningful Federal regulation of the digital asset markets. The attempts by regulators to apply existing laws are arbitrary and unclear.

The fact is, the status quo does not work. Without a clear Federal framework, we fail to provide adequate consumer protections and forfeit our international competitiveness. This hurts U.S. consumers, investors, and the entire economy.

This is why this bill is so important. The legislation establishes a market structure framework that accounts for the unique characteristics of digital assets, adhering to the core principles of the Commodity Exchange Act.

U.S. consumers are actively participating in the digital asset market, and we should ensure they are protected from fraud and scams. This bill does that.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman McHenry and Chairman Thompson for

all of their work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Senate amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill.

As chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I have worked with my colleagues for over a year on this bill, and I am proud of the agreement that we have come to with our Senate counterparts.

I give a special thanks to Ranking Member Lofgren for working with me throughout this process.

The research and development title of the bill provides a comprehensive safety framework and the integration of emerging technologies into air travel. By preserving and protecting the House's provisions of this bill, we have ensured that this is the most robust research and development title we have seen in an FAA bill.

This bill includes essential support for the Air Traffic Control Academy located at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City. The center is named after former Oklahoma U.S. Senator Mike Monroney, who wrote the Federal Aviation Act that created the FAA. Senator Monroney's legacy is realized every day through the more than 6,000 employees at the Center that serve the FAA's mission of training, research, and operations for the flying public.

The Air Traffic Control Academy at the Center is responsible for the first few months of training for all air traffic controllers. Centralized training at the academy ensures that operating in the national airspace is seamless from one end of the country to the other.

I am proud to represent and support the interests of this institution, which gives us the safest flying in the world.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bipartisan CRA to overturn the SEC's Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.

SAB 121 has removed a bank's ability to offer custodial services for digital assets and has prevented banks from exploring the use of distributed ledger technologies.

The SEC issued SAB 121 unilaterally, outside the rulemaking process, and without the consultation of the banking regulators.

This policy is not for the SEC to decide, and certainly not for the SEC to

dictate through a broad interpretation of accounting practices.

The cost of and the availability of capital is dependent on the U.S. banking system's ability to adapt to new technologies and to compete in offering innovative products and services. SAB 121 has put up barriers to that essential responsibility.

This CRA is an important correction to the SEC's misstep. I thank Congressman Flood and Congressman Nickel for leading this effort.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4866) to direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a program to improve fire weather and fire environment forecasting, detection, and local collaboration, 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. 4866, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4866, the Fire Weather Development Act of 2024, offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia), my friend and colleague on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the forecasting and detection of fire weather as well as increase collaboration with State and local partners to predict and fight fires.

Just over a month ago, the largest wildfire in U.S. history burned over a million acres in the Texas Panhandle and parts of my district in western Oklahoma.

The Smokehouse Creek fire, as it is now known, was the result of extremely dry and windy conditions that saw a half million acres burn within 24 hours of the fire's start.

With two fatalities, along with hundreds of homes and thousands of cattle lost, the effects of this fire will be felt in this region of our country for many years.

If it wasn't for a shift in wind direction at just the right time, my property would have been a part of that destruction.

At home, I had to take the precaution of moving cattle into fields that were less likely to burn, if the fire kept coming our way.

Looking back on this event today, there is one good thing we can take from it: We know with certainty that the National Weather Service has the tools and capability for fire weather forecasting and prediction that can protect lives and property.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center began mentioning the potential for fire weather conditions in their extended forecast 6 days before the Smokehouse Creek fire started.

In my case, I closely monitored this weather outlook and made critical decisions based on the weather data, models, and forecasts that were available.

While two lives were lost, and that is two too many, it is likely there would have been more, if not for the work of the National Weather Service.

With an increased innovative focus provided by direction from Congress and the necessary resources, NOAA and the NWS can expand these capabilities and ensure every region of our country is prepared for the extreme weather events of the future.

Every citizen can and should have the most accurate tools readily available, just like I did. The bill we are considering today, the Fire Weather Development Act, is a critical step in that direction.

H.R. 4866 directs NOAA to develop and improve accurate fire weather and fire environment forecasts and warnings.

It places an emphasis on developing and using novel technologies such as advanced weather, advanced satellite detection paired with AI modeling systems, or active sensors for potential deployment on unmanned aircraft systems.

These technologies will improve wildfire behavior models, mapping efforts, and the monitoring of fire fuel and active fires, while also eliminating the risk of sending firefighters and operators into potential danger.

The Fire Weather Development Act also recognizes the critical need for Federal collaboration by establishing an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Wildfires.

With all the relevant bodies working together, this committee will coordinate the development of accurate and timely wildfire forecasting, detection, monitoring, and delivery of products or services that best assist State and local emergency officials.

Lastly, this bill establishes an independent National Advisory Council on Wildfires to ensure that local officials, communities, and people who are directly affected by wildfires have a seat at the table and can provide input on what tools or services are most needed.

I thank Representative Mike Garcia for introducing this bill along with his cosponsors, Representatives Caraveo and Kim.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join us in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia) to speak on this bill.

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

Over the last 5 years, the average annual cost of Federal firefighting suppression has been $2.8 billion. While forest and land management can help prevent wildfires, long- and short-term weather observations, or modeling, play a critical role in limiting their spread and damage.

The Fire Weather Development Act takes immediate action to address this by increasing NOAA and the National Weather Service's activities to best protect lives and property at risk of wildfires.

I again thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia) for working tirelessly to get this bill across the finish line and increasing the lifesaving services available to his constituents.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1069) to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require reporting regarding clean energy demonstration projects, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extemporaneous material on H.R. 1069, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1069, the Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act of 2023 offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey). This commonsense legislation will provide Congress with the necessary tools to conduct thorough oversight on the Department of Energy's growing number of demonstration projects.

Specifically, H.R. 1069 requires the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on all demonstration projects administered by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. As part of this report, the Secretary must include all contracts, milestones, schedules, and funding profiles, including cost-share agreements.

DOE established OCED to carry out the technology demonstration projects that were authorized in the Energy Act of 2020 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This includes projects with bipartisan support such as the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations.

Historically, DOE's applied energy offices have administered these programs, creating a natural pipeline from the lab to the field. With the creation of OCED, DOE put these activities in a new and untested office, separating expertise and adding a new layer of bureaucracy. At the same time, the infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $27 billion to OCED to fund these projects.

This organizational change and influx of money should concern every lawmaker given previous instances of DOE's mismanagement of demonstration projects. Already, OCED has been slow to award recipients and struggled to identify unique capabilities not covered by the applied energy offices.

Currently, Congress lacks the necessary safeguards and the ability to conduct rigorous oversight over OCED and its demonstration projects. For example, when the Science Committee tried to get more information on DOE waiving the cost-share requirement for a multimillion-dollar project, DOE had no requirement to document or justify their decision.

H.R. 1069 requires DOE to submit semiannual reports which include all contracts, agreements, and funding breakdowns, and enables Congress to have the tools to protect taxpayers' dollars, hold OCED accountable, and ensure a truly competitive selection process based on merits.

I am proud to cosponsor this bill, along with Ranking Member Lofgren, and I extend my appreciation to Representative Carey for continuing his leadership on this issue despite no longer sitting on the Science Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close once the gentlewoman from Michigan does.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, one of our most important responsibilities in Congress is to serve as the steward of taxpayers' dollars. I take that job very seriously.

I want to see DOE and all of our Federal research agencies succeed in developing next-generation technologies. At the same time, we need to be conscious of the body and keep a watchful eye on the progress of these projects well before their costs balloon into multibillions of dollars.

H.R. 1069 allows us to do exactly that. It increases transparency between DOE and Congress, enabling both sides to have beneficial information and insight into the successes of Federal demonstration projects.

Once again, I thank Mr. Carey for leading this bill along with his co-sponsors, Representatives Williams, Davids, and Donalds.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4755) to support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4755, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4755, the Privacy Enhancing Technology Research Act, offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean). The bill supports research activities to advance innovative technologies to safeguard individuals' privacy.

As Americans have moved more and more of their lives online, it has resulted in a greater amount of digital consumer data and personal information being generated than ever before. This personal information has long been a target of cybercriminals, and the threat has only worsened over time. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 1 million reports of identity theft. This problem is exacerbated by the failure of some companies to properly safeguard consumer data.

This data is a valuable asset. When safely utilized, it can do a great deal to spur our economy and support innovations like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Our task is to ensure this resource doesn't fall into the hands of bad actors, putting Americans' private information at risk.

Privacy enhancing technologies, PETs, may be part of the solution. PETs utilize cryptography and statistics to minimize the amount of personally identifiable information while ensuring the datasets are still usable. However, more research is needed to understand PETs' applicability and to encourage further development and adoption.

This bill requires the National Science Foundation to support fundamental research into PETs, the mathematics that underlie them, and the additional technologies that promote data minimization standards.

The legislation also directs NIST to work with stakeholders to develop voluntary consensus standards for incorporating these technologies into Federal and commercial applications. Similar legislation passed the House last Congress, which is a testament to the value of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Representatives Stevens and Kean for their leadership on this issue. I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleagues from Michigan and New Jersey on an outstanding piece of legislation, and I urge the body to adopt it.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4824) to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Energy to carry out terrestrial carbon sequestration research and development activities, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4824, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4824, the Carbon Sequestration Collaboration Act.

Mr. Speaker, this commonsense legislation increases the coordination among Federal research entities that are focused on the topic of carbon sequestration.

Specifically, this bill improves the capacity to sequester carbon through land use activities by authorizing a coordinated research effort across the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture.

To date, most Federal research has been focused on large-scale carbon sequestration in geologic formations. That entails finding a specific spot deep in the Earth to trap carbon generated by large sources, like multiple power plants that supply an entire region.

This leaves a significant knowledge gap related to carbon storage potential at small-scale and everyday sites, like soils, rangelands, biochar, mine tailings, and forests. The USDA has already started to explore programs for farmers, ranchers, and landowners to generate carbon credits by adopting practices to reduce emissions or sequester carbon on their land.

Yet, I will be the first to admit that USDA is by no means an expert on quantifying amounts of carbon sequestered or tracking how it behaves over time. Therefore, we need to ensure that we have scientific support to develop tools that are needed to quantify, track, and verify carbon sequestration changes over time, especially in the short term.

By combining DOE expertise in fundamental research and carbon storage, DOI capacities in geologic mapping, and USDA knowledge in plant and crop interactions, we can rapidly develop the research to mature technologies and ensure scientific transparency.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced a similar bill in the last Congress to address these activities. I am very pleased with my colleague from Indiana (Mr. Baird), who has worked so hard on championing this issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird) to speak on his bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4824 is a practical bill that lets Federal agencies collaborate on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I would note that before my father's family lived in Oklahoma, we lived in Indiana. I would also note to my colleague on the other side of the aisle that before they lived in Indiana, they lived in Pennsylvania.

Nonetheless, this is an important piece of legislation, and we need to pass this.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to adopt it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.