December 8, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H6935 intent of H.R. 2617 has been fully accom- the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National De- COMMUNICATION FROM THE plished through the NDAA as last year’s FY20 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. CLERK OF THE HOUSE NDAA required DoD to input any OEH haz- This bill contains many important provisions The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- ards exposure into servicemembers’ records that should become law, but unfortunately fore the House the following commu- while deployed so it is tracked throughout their those laudable policies are outweighed by the nication from the Clerk of the House of career and into veteran status. staggering cost and I cannot support the bill Representatives: Overall, I am proud of the Readiness Sub- as a whole. OFFICE OF THE CLERK, committee’s contribution to this year’s bill and I am grateful for the Conferees’ work to in- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, would like to thank the Readiness staff, Brian clude language increasing treatment and ben- Washington, DC, December 8, 2020. Garrett, Jeanine Womble, Melanie Harris, Jay efits for veterans by expanding the types of Hon. NANCY PELOSI, Vallario, John Muller, Dave Sienicki, and Sean diseases that are presumed connected with The Speaker, House of Representatives, Falvey, and my personal staff, Betsy Thomp- exposure to Agent Orange. I also strongly Washington, DC. son, Marcus Jones, and Danusia Hubah, for support the pay increase for our troops, the DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: Pursuant to the their tireless work. Marcus and Danusia will be removal of names and symbols associated permission granted in Clause 2(h) of Rule II departing the Hill after next week, and I would of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representa- with the racist legacy of the Confederacy, and tives, the Clerk received the following mes- like to personally thank them for their hard the bolstering of paid parental leave policies sage from the Secretary of the Senate on De- work and sharing their expertise with us this across the federal government. I commend cember 8, 2020, at 11:44 a.m.: past year. Both Marcus and Danusia have Chairman SMITH for his ongoing work to ad- That the Senate agreed to Relative to the been invaluable members of my staff and we vance legislation that improves the military’s death of the Honorable Roger William Jep- will miss them dearly. prevention of sexual assault and support for sen, former United States Senator for the This bill helps advance our military’s near- survivors, takes encouraging steps to address State of Iowa S. Res. 795. term readiness goals and drives the Depart- climate change, and prevents the misuse of That the Senate passed with an amend- ment to plan for and take action against long- ment H.R. 1503. taxpayer money on a wasteful border wall. In That the Senate passed without amend- term threats. The conference report also au- response to authoritarian tactics by federal ment H.R. 4761. thorizes funding that will strengthen DOD and agents in Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere, That the Senate passed with amendments the country’s ability to respond to potential the Chairman and House Conferees also H.R. 5273. COVID–19 resurgence and other infectious achieved bipartisan support for a policy I With best wishes, I am diseases in the future. With that, I urge my championed requiring that any federal forces Sincerely, colleagues to support the FY21 NDAA. responding to a protest or civil disturbance by CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, section clearly identifiable. Clerk. 6308 enhances U.S. law enforcement’s ability I cannot ignore, however, the unprece- f to access international bank records to help dented amount of military spending that this ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER better ensure financial crimes are investigated. legislation would authorize. Amid a national PRO TEMPORE I am supportive of this new and necessary crisis precipitated by a global pandemic, voting The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. provision. This new authority allows the De- to allow billions of dollars to be spent on MCCOLLUM). Pursuant to clause 8 of partments of Treasury and Justice to issue weapons is unjustifiable when our commu- subpoenas requiring production of records re- rule XX, the Chair will postpone fur- nities desperately need food and housing se- ther proceedings today on motions to lating to accounts held by banks outside of the curity, access to childcare, affordable health United States. This new authority would create suspend the rules on which the yeas care, and small business support. We must and nays are ordered. a secondary mechanism for seeking discovery not accept the notion that annual increases in from foreign banks separate from the Mutual The House will resume proceedings defense spending are somehow inevitable and on postponed questions at a later time. Legal Assistance Treaties (‘‘MLATs’’) or other can be rationalized as modest when adding multilateral or bilateral agreements the United just one percent costs billions of dollars that f States currently maintains with many foreign should instead be invested domestically in WATER RESOURCES governments for this purpose. As the Depart- schools or infrastructure. DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2020 ments of Justice and Treasury implement Sec- I do not take this vote lightly and my com- Mr. DEFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I tion 6308, I encourage them only to use this mitment to providing for our servicemembers move to suspend the rules and pass the new authority where a foreign bank operates remains steadfast. It is a complex and chal- bill (S. 1811) to make technical correc- in a jurisdiction as to which no MLAT or other lenging task to responsibly fund our national tions to the America’s Water Infra- information-sharing agreement exists or where defense, but I am confident that we can main- structure Act of 2018, and for other pur- the relevant foreign government has not satis- tain adequate security while reining in the im- poses, as amended. fied its obligations under an MLAT or other in- mense and ever-increasing sums that end- The Clerk read the title of the bill. formation-sharing agreement. lessly pour into the military-industrial complex. The text of the bill is as follows: Many foreign countries restrict banks oper- I look forward to continued engagement with S. 1811 ating in their jurisdictions from sharing their my colleagues as we address these difficult Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- customers’ financial or personally identifiable issues. information (‘‘PII’). As a result, subpoenas resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, issued under section 6308 may place foreign b 1400 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. banks in the difficult position of either violating (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as home country law or being in contempt for fail- The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired. the ‘‘Water Resources Development Act of ure to comply with a subpoena issued by the 2020’’. United States government. As a result, I be- Pursuant to the order of the House of (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con- lieve it is appropriate for the Departments of Thursday, December 3, 2020, the pre- tents for this Act is as follows: Justice and Treasury to take into consideration vious question is ordered. Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. conflict of laws situations to achieve the pur- The question is on the adoption of Sec. 2. Secretary defined. poses of Section 6308 while also maintaining the conference report. TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS a respect for home country requirements. The question was taken; and the Sec. 101. Budgetary treatment expansion Finally, I encourage the Departments of Speaker pro tempore announced that and adjustment for the Harbor Treasury and Justice to issue regulations es- the ayes appeared to have it. Maintenance Trust Fund. tablishing appropriate protocols to ensure that Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Sec. 102. Authorization of appropriations for the authority granted under section 6308 does Speaker, on that I demand the yeas navigation. not supersede or supplant existing MLATs or and nays. Sec. 103. Annual report to Congress on the other multilateral or bilateral agreements be- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Harbor Maintenance Trust ant to section 3 of House Resolution Fund. tween the United States and the relevant for- Sec. 104. Additional measures at donor ports eign government that are available for obtain- 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. and energy transfer ports. ing records from a foreign bank. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, fur- Sec. 105. Construction of water resources de- Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in oppo- ther proceedings on this question are velopment projects by non-Fed- sition to the Conference Report for H.R. 6395, postponed. eral interests.

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