Providing for Consideration of H.R. Ig Independence and Empowerment Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Replacement of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Investing in A New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act; Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 504 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 504

Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 2662) to amend the Inspector General Act of 1978, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Reform now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform or their respective designees; (2) the further amendments described in section 2 of this resolution; (3) the amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution; and (4) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 2. After debate pursuant to the first section of this resolution, each further amendment printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules not earlier considered as part of amendments en bloc pursuant to section 3 of this resolution shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, may be withdrawn by the proponent at any time before the question is put thereon, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.

Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time after debate pursuant to the first section of this resolution for the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform or her designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of further amendments printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform or their respective designees, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.

Sec. 4. All points of order against the further amendments printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules or amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived.

Sec. 5. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 3005) to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library and to remove certain statues from areas of the United States Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in the United States Capitol, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 6. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 3684) to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 117-8, modified by Rules Committee Print 117- 9 and the amendment printed in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) 90 minutes of debate, with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure or their respective designees and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees; (2) any further amendments and amendments en bloc provided by subsequent order of the House; and (3) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 7. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the resolution (H. Res. 503) Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The resolution shall be considered as read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution and preamble to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules or their respective designees.

Sec. 8. (a) At any time through the legislative day of Thursday, July 1, 2021, the Speaker may entertain motions offered by the Majority Leader or a designee that the House suspend the rules as though under clause 1 of rule XV with respect to multiple measures described in subsection (b), and the Chair shall put the question on any such motion without debate or intervening motion.

(b) A measure referred to in subsection (a) includes any measure that was the object of a motion to suspend the rules on the legislative day of June 28, 2021, or June 29, 2021, in the form as so offered, on which the yeas and nays were ordered and further proceedings postponed pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX.

(c) Upon the offering of a motion pursuant to subsection (a) concerning multiple measures, the ordering of the yeas and nays on postponed motions to suspend the rules with respect to such measures is vacated to the end that all such motions are considered as withdrawn.

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 504, providing for consideration of H.R. 2662, the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, makes in order six amendments, provides for en bloc authority, and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 3005 under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule further provides for consideration of H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act. The rule provides 90 minutes of general debate with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. It combines the Rules Committee prints for the surface transportation and clean water provisions of the bill, self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman DeFazio, and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule additionally provides for consideration of H. Res. 503, Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules.

Finally, the rule provides the majority leader or his designee the ability to en bloc requested rollcall votes on suspension bills considered on June 28 or 29, and this authority lasts through July 1.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to consider a rule for four measures that address some of the most fundamental issues upon which Congress may act as we continually strive to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for all of us and our descendants.

In passing these three bills and in creating a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. House of Representatives is putting forward real solutions to repair our physical infrastructure, protect our systems of accountability, acknowledge our relationship with the past, and establish a shared understanding and plan to address the deep wounds inflicted upon this building, those who serve and protect here, our government, and our democratic Republic by the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the Members and committees that worked on the bills we consider here today, in particular, the Herculean efforts by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Oversight and Reform Committee, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Majority Whip Clyburn, and Majority Leader Hoyer for their leadership to remove symbols of hate from the Capitol Building.

Mr. Speaker, no one can deny that our Nation's infrastructure is in a shameful state of disrepair. For decades, we have heard a lot of talk about infrastructure while efforts to build and maintain the networks and systems on which we all rely have been grossly underfunded. Whether it be roads and bridges or ports and rail lines, year after year, we fail to muster the political will to properly fund infrastructure, and the consequences are increasingly dire.

My district, Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District, is home to Philadelphia's airport, port, rail yard, and, as a key part of the Northeast Corridor, dozens of miles of interstate highways and passenger rail lines, as well as regional commuter and light rail lines that link Philadelphia and its suburbs.

True to its position, PA-05 sits as a transportation keystone to a vast interstate and international economic network. The problems facing my district's transportation infrastructure are not that different from those of other regions. Our infrastructure is aging and, in some cases, beyond usable lifespan. It is heavily used, and State and local authorities don't have enough money to meet maintenance needs, much less to make investments in modernization, expansion, or other improvements. Anyone who travels our roadways knows that axle-bending, tire-rattling potholes are the norm.

Nationwide, the situation is no better: aging and inadequate electrical grids, shamefully deficient water infrastructure, 47,000 structurally deficient bridges. You can go to any congressional district and find a litany of projects in desperate need of funding.

We have heard lip service about infrastructure week for so long that it has become a sick national joke. We must act now.

While the U.S. has sat on its hands, our allies and adversaries around the world have forged ahead with advancements in transportation networks, from high-speed rail that puts ours to shame to building up broadband and 5G networks.

China spends 8 percent of its GDP on infrastructure. Our European partners spend 5 percent of their GDP on infrastructure. Here in the United States, we spend a meager 2.4 percent.

We are falling behind the rest of the world and, in doing so, failing to promote the general welfare of our citizens.

That is why I am proud to support this rule to pass the INVEST in America Act. This bill will provide over $715 billion over the next 5 years to repair and improve our Nation's infrastructure. It will create good-paying jobs and lay the foundation for robust economic growth in the 21st century.

It will make record investments in roads, transit, and rails, allowing State departments of transportation to address maintenance backlogs and make forward-thinking investments in road safety, climate mitigation and resiliency, and low-income and underserved communities in our cities, suburbs, and rural areas.

It will help build out our Nation's EV infrastructure and help Americans shift to the next generation of clean energy vehicles. It will assist transit agencies in expanding service areas and adopting zero-emission vehicles, and it gives States funding to help prepare for the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

This package also includes over $160 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Right now in the United States, there are millions of Americans who don't have access to clean drinking water or who aren't connected to a wastewater network. There is no excuse for that. The water provisions include much-needed funding to fully replace lead pipes throughout the country and strengthen water standards so the EPA can better address PFAS contamination.

These issues are vitally important to my district and others in southeastern Pennsylvania and across the country. I commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for crafting this comprehensive water infrastructure package.

Lastly, I want to state my strong support for the Member designated projects included in the INVEST in America Act. I thank Chairman DeFazio for giving my colleagues and I, on both sides of the aisle, the opportunity to secure dedicated funding for important local projects in our districts and for instituting strong safeguards in this funding to prevent fraud and abuse.

The Member designated projects process allowed us to work with our State and local transit agencies and local governments to highlight high-impact transportation projects in need of funding.

I am proud that $20 million for seven great projects in my district have been included in this bill, including redesign of dangerous rail crossings and upgrades to commuter stations, and perhaps most significantly, this bill includes a project I submitted with my Pennsylvania colleague (Mr. Evans), to redesign Cobbs Creek Parkway, one of the most dangerous corridors in our region and the site of hundreds of crashes and multiple fatalities year after year. The redesign will make Cobbs Creek Parkway safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

Voting against this bill to invest in America is voting against jobs; it is voting against economic growth; it is voting against safety; and it is voting against making sure people have clean drinking water. Now is the time to tackle these issues, and so I urge all my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, also included in this bill is the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, a bill from the House Oversight and Reform Committee to overhaul and reform the legal powers and protections of our inspectors general.

Inspectors general are a vital part of our Federal institutions, ensuring that taxpayers and officials have an independent source of oversight and information to ensure government employees, from the interns to the President, are following the law and properly administering their duties.

For our government to function and be free of waste and corruption, to protect against fraud and impropriety, we need inspectors general who are empowered to act and who are protected from arbitrary, capricious, or personal attacks. But we saw, over the past 4 years, that there were critical flaws in the law that govern our inspector general programs. We saw that it was possible for an administration to undermine the independence of the inspectors general through unprecedented firings and denial of access to information.

A little over a year ago, the former President fired five Cabinet inspectors general over 6 weeks, with the announcements often coming on Friday nights when the Nation's attention was elsewhere.

The inspector general for Health and Human Services was fired for reporting accurately on the Nation's dire shortage of lifesaving PPE during the beginning of the pandemic. The State Department inspector general was fired for investigating then-Secretary Pompeo's use of government staff to run personal errands. And the Department of Transportation inspector general was fired for investigating suspicious grant awards to Kentucky, the State represented by the former Secretary's husband and the then-Senate majority leader. In other words, these inspectors general were fired for doing their jobs.

The IG Independence and Empowerment Act will enact needed reforms to protect IGs from political firings, give them increased powers and resources to investigate waste and corruption, and increase accountability and transparency for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. I strongly support the IG Independence and Empowerment Act and call on my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, the last bill in today's rule is long overdue. The bill would replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall and would remove the statues of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederate States of America from display in the Capitol.

In Philadelphia, we have a street named after Chief Justice Taney and we have a Little League World Series Champion baseball team named after that street.

In 2020, following conversations about race and inclusiveness in America, the Taney Dragons Little League team decided to rename itself the Philadelphia Dragons saying that they cannot ignore the very real feelings that the name ``Taney'' engenders among members of our community, and that the new name will be inclusive, nondivisive, and also speak to our league's geography.

I say we follow the lead of our children on this issue. If they can do it, so can we. As we seek to form that more perfect Union and secure the blessings of liberty for all, we cannot accept the presence in this Capitol Building of Confederate icons, including the bust of the author of the Dred Scott decision or those who fought to protect slavery and wage war against the United States. Symbols of the Confederacy deserve to be in textbooks and museums, not venerated in the Capitol.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this rule provides for the creation of a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol Building where we stand. I am, and I think most of the public is, disappointed that the Senate failed to join in the establishment of a bipartisan commission to establish once and for all the facts about what happened on that day.

We had a bipartisan bill. Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Katko of Homeland Security, through good-faith negotiations, were able to craft bipartisan legislation to create a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. Our Republican colleagues got everything they wanted in that bill, and yet, their leadership withdrew its support at the last moment and couldn't take yes for an answer.

Since our colleagues refused to approve a bipartisan commission, the House must move ahead with an investigation of the January 6 events and a select committee is our final avenue. We must investigate the causes and events that led to that attack. It is my sincere hope that the committee can dive into the facts and produce a cohesive narrative around January 6 and the events that preceded it and make recommendations that will prevent such horrors from ever being repeated again.

The January 6 attack on our Capitol was a crime, a crime against our government and a crime against the men and women who serve here, whether it was elected officials, congressional staff, or law enforcement. Period. It was an ugly, violent crime and crimes need to be investigated. Thousands participated and over 800 illegally entered the building.

Roughly 500 so far have been criminally charged by law enforcement. Some have pled guilty. But the fact-finding is not yet done. We need to know how organized they were and what their level of coordination was.

Despite the claims of some in this Chamber, we now know that many of these rioters were armed, which means that every single one of us and all of our staffs were in very real danger. Some of the rioters came to abduct the Vice President and the Speaker of the House and put them on trial. Some planned to take this building over and hold it until January 20 in an attempt to stave off President Biden's inauguration. Some just wanted to destroy things, and they did.

That, too, the intention of the rioters, needs to be probed. Some think Donald Trump incited this riot; some think he did not. New and wild claims have surfaced about who instigated the violence. Let's investigate that, too. Let's investigate everything connected to this horrible event honestly, unflinchingly, objectively, and without passion or prejudice, but let us not leave this crime unexamined.

If we are to come together as a Nation to unite behind our shared constitutional values, to ensure domestic tranquility and secure the blessings of democracy and liberty, we must do so from a shared understanding of reality.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that every member of this Chamber can find it in themselves to vote for this rule when it is considered on the floor. Our country cannot afford to wait longer on infrastructure. If we continue with business as usual, our infrastructure deficit will continue to grow. Our roads and bridges will continue to deteriorate, and our national economy will be less vibrant and competitive as a result.

We need to pass the INVEST in America Act. Full stop. We also need to pass the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, and we need to remove racist icons from the Capitol. These repairs and reforms cannot wait, and so I hope that Congress can find the political will to expeditiously pass the bills considered under the rule today.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is really straightforward. It increases money for surface transportation. It focuses on hard infrastructure. We need to fix the basics and then we can improve and expand them. This bill does include money specifically directed to our rural areas, and the crack about urban yuppies is kind of crazy.

We know that in Pennsylvania, which both the gentleman and I represent, we know that we have businesses in western Pennsylvania that are losing money because of the state of our roadways. If you build a turbine in western Pennsylvania, in order to get it to the port in eastern Pennsylvania right now, those companies have to take an 800- mile detour because our roadways cannot support that turbine. So it is impacting their businesses.

It is increasing energy costs. It is wasting time. But these kinds of things affect businesses across our entire Commonwealth and across our entire country. So these are much-needed, overdue by decades, bipartisan neglect. This bill addresses some of those issues.

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman from Pennsylvania have further speakers?
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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman have additional speakers?

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I think I have one more speaker.

I am finding the argument a little bit hard to follow for my colleagues across the aisle because, as I understand it, it was a bad thing to shut down businesses in the U.S. to protect people when there was a virus rampant here. But we have to shut down the border because there is a virus rampant here. It is just a little hard to follow the logic sometimes.

If the gentleman is prepared to close, then I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the lively debate today. I understand that there are some who have concerns with the rule and its underlying legislation, but these bills are vitally important to our country, and I am confident they would greatly benefit all of us.

We should be able to support robust infrastructure spending that meets our Nation's current needs. We should all support a vigorous corps of inspectors general who can weed out fraud, waste, and corruption in the Federal Government. We should all support removing symbols of hate from the Capitol. These should be easy bills for us all to get behind.

Lastly, I strongly support the creation of a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection and debunk the absurd theories and falsehoods that have infected our collective understanding of that day. While some of our colleagues may continue their denial, those of us in this Chamber who are committed to transparency and accountability and the well-being of the Nation can no longer afford to be held back by the sensitivities of those who put their fealty to the former President over their duty or obligation to the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for the rule and the previous question.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 504

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 9 Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 471) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from lessening the stringency of, and to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from ceasing or lessening implementation of, the COVID-19 border health provisions through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 10. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 471.
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