Congressional Record—House H5239
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September 9, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5239 by the response times of emergency vehicles country. It would simply provide reas- basis. Let’s pass H.R. 5424. Vote down deployed to— surance to our constituents that when the motion to recommit. Vote for the ‘‘(I) rural areas; and they call 911, their lives won’t be put at bipartisan bill. ‘‘(II) urban areas; risk because their local fire or ambu- I yield back the balance of my time. ‘‘(ii) if a required response time is estab- lished by a contract for emergency services lance service wants to turn a profit. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without between the emergency services company This motion to recommit would re- objection, the previous question is or- and a unit of local government or by an ordi- quire private equity firms to report the dered on the motion to recommit. nance of a unit of local government, the per- change in response time of emergency There was no objection. centage of response times of emergency vehi- vehicles since the private fund ac- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The cles deployed by the emergency services quired a controlling interest in the question is on the motion to recommit. company to that unit of local government emergency services company. Addi- The question was taken; and the that do not meet such requirement; and tionally, the report will require data Speaker pro tempore announced that ‘‘(iii) if the response times failed to meet on the percent of emergency response the noes appeared to have it. the required response time described under times that violate contracts entered clause (ii), a description of the impact of Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, on that I such failure on the value of the emergency into by local governments and emer- demand the yeas and nays. services company to the private fund. gency services companies and include The yeas and nays were ordered. ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this an explanation as to why response The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- paragraph: times did not meet requirements set ant to clause 8 of rule XX and the order ‘‘(i) EMERGENCY SERVICES COMPANY.—The out in such contracts. of the House of today, further pro- term ‘emergency services company’ means a At a time when local jurisdictions ceedings on this question will be post- company that provides ambulance, fire- are struggling to make ends meet and poned. fighter, or other emergency services in re- the demands on emergency services are sponse to 9–1–1 calls. only growing, there is certainly a role f ‘‘(ii) EMERGENCY VEHICLE.—The term for private equity firms to play in ‘emergency vehicle’ means an ambulance, RECESS making sure our constituents have the fire engine, or other vehicle deployed in re- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- services they need and expect. But if a sponse to a 9–1–1 call.’’. ant to clause 12(a) of rule I, the Chair (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 270 days private equity firm decides to invest in declares the House in recess subject to after the date of the enactment of this sec- an emergency service company, they tion, the Commission shall issue regulations also take on the responsibility to pro- the call of the Chair. to carry out paragraph (12) of section 204(b) vide those services to the best of their Accordingly (at 10 o’clock and 36 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as capacity. minutes a.m.), the House stood in re- added by subsection (a). As a former 911 dispatcher, I know cess. Mrs. TORRES (during the reading). that when it comes to getting emer- f Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent gency personnel to those in need, every b 1105 to dispense with the reading. second matters. There is no margin of The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there error, and under absolutely no cir- AFTER RECESS objection to the request of the gentle- cumstances should profit come before woman from California? The recess having expired, the House saving lives. was called to order by the Speaker pro There was no objection. I urge my colleagues to support this The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen- tempore (Mr. CARTER of Georgia) at 11 motion. o’clock and 5 minutes a.m. tlewoman from California is recognized I yield back the balance of my time. for 5 minutes. Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I f Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, this is a withdraw my reservation of a point of final amendment to the bill, which will JUSTICE AGAINST SPONSORS OF order. TERRORISM ACT not kill the bill or send it back to com- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The res- mittee. If adopted, the bill will imme- ervation of a point of order is with- Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I diately proceed to final passage, as drawn. move to suspend the rules and pass the amended. Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I bill (S. 2040) to deter terrorism, provide Mr. Speaker, a June 26 New York claim the time in opposition. justice for victims, and for other pur- Times article revealed some of the The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen- poses. troubling consequences of private eq- tleman from Texas is recognized for 5 The Clerk read the title of the bill. uity firms taking over local emergency minutes. The text of the bill is as follows: services. Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I S. 2040 According to the article, since the am just curious where this amendment Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- 2008 financial crisis, private equity was during the bipartisan process to resentatives of the United States of America in firms are investing in growing numbers bring H.R. 5424 to the floor. I am curi- Congress assembled, in emergency services companies, ous where it was in our committee de- SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. sometimes with disastrous results. The liberations. I am curious why it was This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice piece found cases where emergency re- never presented to the Rules Com- Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act’’. sponse times were so slow, personnel mittee and we are just seeing it now. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. even had time for a cigarette break be- Again, H.R. 5424, the Investment Ad- (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the fol- fore arriving to the scene. visers Modernization Act, is a bipar- lowing: Some emergency services companies tisan piece of legislation to make sure (1) International terrorism is a serious and also reported mismanagement, specifi- our small businesses, entrepreneurs, deadly problem that threatens the vital in- cally, that their parent companies are and innovators can access capital. It terests of the United States. not able to pay their salaries or re- (2) International terrorism affects the passed the committee 49–12. More than interstate and foreign commerce of the stock ambulances with critical medical half of the Democrats supported it. United States by harming international supplies. Now we have a motion to recommit trade and market stability, and limiting My amendment will make sure that that moves it in the complete opposite international travel by United States citi- there is accountability and trans- direction—one more disclosure, dis- zens as well as foreign visitors to the United parency when private equity firms in- claimer, more job-killing regulations States. vest in emergency services. My amend- to be put upon those who are trying to (3) Some foreign terrorist organizations, ment will not prohibit private equity fund our small businesses, to try to acting through affiliated groups or individ- funds from investing in these services help the working poor better them- uals, raise significant funds outside of the or place any restrictions on how they United States for conduct directed and tar- selves, to try to help improve the pay- geted at the United States. choose to invest, nor will it deny the checks and the well-being of middle-in- (4) It is necessary to recognize the sub- fact that private equity has and can come America. stantive causes of action for aiding and abet- play an important role in investing in It is time to reject the motion to re- ting and conspiracy liability under chapter companies in communities across our commit. Let’s work on a bipartisan 113B of title 18, United States Code. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Sep 09, 2016 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 4636 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09SE7.004 H09SEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H5240 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 9, 2016 (5) The decision of the United States Court (1) The table of sections for chapter 97 of a provision or amendment to any person or of Appeals for the District of Columbia in title 28, United States Code, is amended by circumstance, is held to be invalid, the re- Halberstam v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. inserting after the item relating to section mainder of this Act and the amendments 1983), which has been widely recognized as 1605A the following: made by this Act, and the application of the the leading case regarding Federal civil aid- ‘‘1605B. Responsibility of foreign states for provisions and amendments to any other per- ing and abetting and conspiracy liability, in- international terrorism against son not similarly situated or to other cir- cluding by the Supreme Court of the United the United States.’’. cumstances, shall not be affected by the States, provides the proper legal framework (2) Subsection 1605(g)(1)(A) of title 28, holding. for how such liability should function in the United States Code, is amended by inserting SEC.