Peter DeFazio

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. This is a needed adjustment in the cap, very long overdue. It will expedite assistance to individuals, but it also will free up FEMA staff for more meaningful chores and work on ongoing and future disasters, mitigation, recovery, et cetera. It has tremendous merit, and I urge that all of my colleagues support this legislation. It will pass by voice vote, and then someone on that side will jump up and call for a recorded vote because that is why they think they are supposed to be here. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5706, the Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act. The number one goal in the transportation of people, whether it is across town or across an ocean, must be safety. No matter how much progress we have made in increasing the safety of our transportation system, we must always strive to do better. But as we have seen over the course of the last several years, much more work remains to be done. And unfortunately, the pandemic has only served to exacerbate the problem. For instance, there were more than 5,700 reports of air rage incidents on U.S. airlines in 2021 compared to a typical year of 100 to 150 cases. Many of these incidents included sexual assault and harassment. In fact, last August, a passenger was arrested for punching a Frontier Airlines flight attendant and groping two others on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami. On another flight from New York to San Francisco last year, a plane was diverted when a passenger engaged in erratic behavior, including sexually harassing another passenger. The risk of an unwelcome and even threatening environment has never been more real for both passengers and transportation workers alike. This risk existed long before the pandemic. According to a 2018 study, 68 percent of flight attendants on U.S. airlines say they experienced sexual harassment, and 18 percent experienced some type of physical sexual abuse from passengers during their careers; 68 percent sexual harassment, 18 percent physical sexual abuse. Moreover, this type of misconduct is not just limited to aviation. For example, sexual assault is by far the most frequently reported crime on cruise ships, with 101 incidents reported in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic shut down much of the industry's operations. While we don't have a comprehensive set of data for public transit, a March 2020 survey of students at San Jose State University found that 63 percent of respondents had experienced some form of harassment while using transit. In recent years, there may be no other industry this issue has plagued more than transportation network companies. In 2019, Uber released its first-ever report documenting sexual assaults among users of its ride sharing app. The company documented over 6,000 reports of sexual assault incidents in a 2-year span. That is an average of almost 10 sexual assaults in an Uber per day. Just last October, Lyft released its first-ever report documenting 4,158 sexual assault incidents over a span of 3 years. These results highlight the need for the Federal Government to do much more to root out the scourge of sexual assault in our transportation system. But we can't effectively respond to these incidents until we fully understand the scope of the problem. Unfortunately, there is no Federal clearinghouse for transportation-related sexual assault and harassment incidents. The data that the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation collect on sexual assault and harassment in transportation are largely of incidents that were directly reported to them, not from transportation providers. This information gap leaves lawmakers, policymakers, and transportation providers themselves unaware of areas where laws and policies should be improved. That is why the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed my bill, H.R. 5706, the Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act. This bill will require transportation providers to establish formal policies addressing sexual assault and harassment; direct employees to receive specific training for not just how to handle sexual assault or harassment incidents, but also how to recognize and respond to potential human trafficking activities; and direct the Department of Transportation to establish the first-ever Federal clearinghouse for transportation-related sexual assaults and harassment data to allow us and the traveling public to fully understand the scope of this problem. We can no longer allow sexual violence and abuse to persist on our roads, our waters, or in our skies. We must ensure our transportation system is safe for those who work in it and those who wish to use it. This bill, which will allow us to finally track, respond to, and ultimately prevent sexual assault and harassment within all areas of our transportation system, brings us one step closer to attaining that goal. I want to acknowledge and express my appreciation for the many supporters of this bill. In particular, the bill has been strongly endorsed by the Air Line Pilots Association, American Association for Justice, Association of Flight Attendants, Association of Professional Flight Attendants, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Rights4Girls, Survivors for Solutions, Transportation Communications Union, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, and Transport Workers Union of America. I would also like to thank my Republican colleagues for their help in strengthening this bill by expanding its requirements to State-regulated for-profit vehicles. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time. Commitiee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, March 18, 2022. Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman DeFazio: This letter is to advise you that the Committee on the Judiciary has now had an opportunity to review the provisions in H.R. 5706, the ``Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act,'' that fall within our Rule X jurisdiction. I appreciate your consulting with us on those provisions. The Judiciary Committee has no objection to your including them in the bill for consideration on the House floor, and to expedite that consideration is willing to forgo action on H.R. 5706, with the understanding that we do not thereby waive any future jurisdictional claim over those provisions or their subject matters. In the event a House-Senate conference on this or similar legislation is convened, the Judiciary Committee reserves the right to request an appropriate number of conferees to address any concerns with these or similar provisions that may arise in conference. Please place this letter into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank you for the cooperative spirit in which you have worked regarding this matter and others between our committees. Sincerely, Jerrold Nadler, Chairman.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5706) to protect transportation personnel and passengers from sexual assault and harassment, and for other purposes.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam 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. 5706.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Hopefully, we can move it out of the House unanimously and get the Senate to act in the near future. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 400) to designate the headquarters building of the Department of Transportation located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, in Washington, DC, as the ``William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building'', as amended.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam 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 S. 400, as amended.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 400, as amended, a bill to name the headquarters building of the Department of Transportation located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, in Washington, D.C. as the William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Y. Mineta Federal Building. The text we are considering today represents an agreement reached with the Senate and reconciles the differences between S. 400 and my bill, H.R. 4679, which passed the House last November. This compromise language pays tribute to two American patriots, William T. Coleman, Jr. and Norman Yishio Mineta. William T. Coleman, Jr. led a life of extraordinary achievement. He attended a segregated elementary school, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, and was accepted into Harvard School of Law. He left in 1943 to enlist in the Army Air Forces, trained with the Tuskegee Airmen, after which he returned to Harvard Law School and graduated first in his class. He was the first African-American clerk on the Supreme Court. He also worked with Thurgood Marshall on the legal team preparing the briefs in Brown v. Board of Education, served as president and chairman of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and argued 19 cases before the Supreme Court. Mr. Coleman was the second African American to serve in a White House Cabinet, after being appointed Transportation Secretary by President Gerald R. Ford in March 1975. Norman Y. Mineta also has an extraordinary life story. He, along with his family, suffered the grave injustice of being forcibly relocated and interned during World War II, but he was not bitter toward his government. Instead, he spent his career serving his country by participating in and improving government. For almost 30 years, Norm represented San Jose, California, on the city council, then as mayor, and from 1975 to 1995 as a Member of Congress. He served on the Committee on Public Works and Transportation during his entire time in Congress. He chaired the Subcommittee on Aviation, the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, and he chaired the full committee for one full term. Norm's skills and accomplishments were widely recognized. He was President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce and President George W. Bush's Secretary of Transportation, where he was the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history. Following the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Secretary Mineta guided the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency with more than 65,000 employees, the largest mobilization of a new Federal agency since World War II. For their contributions to this institution, to our government, and to the field of transportation, Secretary William T. Coleman, Jr. and Secretary Mineta deserve this recognition. I strongly support this legislation and urge my colleagues to join me. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close. I have already spoken strongly for this bill, for the Department of Transportation building to be named in honor of William T. Coleman and Norm Mineta. I just want to add a personal note. I served with Norm Mineta for 8 years, and he was a great chairman and mentor. Between him and Jim Oberstar, I owe them a lot for my success in Congress and for the leadership in this committee, so I am really pleased that we can do this today. I would expect it will pass the House unanimously, but there are inane people on the other side of the aisle who insist on voting on everything for no apparent reason, so I expect we will end up with a recorded vote, but I expect that will be unanimous. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of House Concurrent Resolution 74, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call up and speak in support of my bill, H.R. 6865, the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022. This bipartisan legislation will authorize funding for the United States Coast Guard for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 and address a number of important issues concerning the maritime industry. I would like to take a moment to express my deepest sympathies to Congressman Don Young's wife, Anne, the rest of the family, and the people of Alaska. Don was larger than life. He was the dean of the House. He was affable, cantankerous, and sometimes funny. You know, I have stories like the Speaker mentioned today about Don and the buck knife in his pocket, but I won't go into those now. But, anyway, we developed a good friendship. I feel fortunate that I had time to develop that relationship with him, serving together on both the House Committee on Natural Resources for 26 years and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for 36 years. His service as Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had an extraordinary impact. It was capped by the passage of SAFETEA-LU, a surface transportation reauthorization that was named for his beloved late wife. It was a strong bipartisan bill that provided much-needed investment infrastructure across the country, including my home State of Oregon. Don believed in bipartisanship. We didn't always agree, but we would often find a way to compromise, come together for the good of the country, and he always, always stayed true to his values and the people of Alaska. Given Alaska's vast coastlines, the Coast Guard plays a particularly important role in the State, and Congressman Young was always there to support the United States Coast Guard. That is why I am particularly happy to include several provisions important to the Congressman that will have a dramatic impact on the State of Alaska and this bill. At a committee markup earlier this month, Don said, I have voted on 20 Coast Guard authorization bills in my career. I have served on the Coast Guard subcommittee for 46 years. This is a good bill. It is really needed. And it is really needed. And naming it for Don Young is incredibly appropriate. I would like to thank my ranking member, Sam Graves, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Gibbs for their work. I particularly want to thank the chair of the subcommittee, Congressman Carbajal, for this very important and overdue additional investment in the Coast Guard and addressing a number of other issues relating to the maritime industry. This is evidence that bipartisanship can still live in Washington, D.C. today. It not only authorizes the Coast Guard but also reauthorizes the Federal Maritime Commission which is the center of the supply chain congestion that has plagued this country and the world for over a year. It incorporates the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021 which will begin to address several unfair shipping practices that have contributed to inflation across every sector of the American economy. This legislation gives the Federal Maritime Commission the authority to protect exporters, importers, and consumers from unfair practices by expanding their oversight and enforcement capabilities. The largest three shipping companies in the world made more money in the last year than they made over the last decade. It is not warranted. They are essentially running a cartel, and it is time that we took action. The Federal Maritime Commission, under this administration, is finally waking up, and they are going to take action against these cartels and the price gouging that is going on on our consumers. It further amends title 46 to ensure shipping capacity once contracts are signed, increases penalties for retaliation against shippers, and encourages reciprocal trade. H.R. 6865 increases the Federal Maritime Commission's annual operating budget by 10 percent over 2021. It will give them the additional resources they need to provide effective oversight and ensure that all foreign carriers abide by fair shipping practices which they are not doing today. For the Coast Guard, this bill provides more than $12 billion for fiscal year 2022, $13 billion for fiscal year 2023. These authorized funding levels support servicemembers, fund new asset acquisitions, and improve the Coast Guard's crumbling shoreside infrastructure. I am particularly pleased with the improved vessel safety measures included in the legislation, and H.R. 6865 takes a leap forward in small passenger vessel safety by mandating commonsense requirements for passenger amphibious vessels and others. Chairman Carbajal recently held a hearing on a horrible tragedy in his district which this will also have an impact in preventing in the future. Moreover, H.R. 6865 offers meaningful reforms to a culture of sexual abuse within the maritime industry. I am proud to have worked with Members from both sides of the aisle to determine what changes are necessary to begin to address the toxic culture in the industry and create a safe work environment for all mariners. H.R. 6865 includes language from my other bill, the Safer Seas Act, which will give the Coast Guard more leverage to investigate and remove predators who sexually harass and assault. It also includes important safety measures such as surveillance, master key control systems, and extends the statute of limitations for cases of sexual assault and harassment. This groundbreaking legislation is just one step towards bringing justice for victims and getting predators out of the industry. In closing, let me thank once again my Ranking Member Sam Graves, Ranking Member Gibbs, and of course, Chair Carbajal for all their extraordinary work on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the chair of the subcommittee, Congressman Carbajal.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi), a senior member of the committee.

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

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6865) to authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6865, as amended.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss), a member of the committee.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Keating).

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, certainly, I would assure both this gentleman and Representative Auchincloss that I will be happy to work with the two of them as the legislation goes to the Senate. I want to move toward employing qualified American mariners and to have the people who work on these ships meet the same requirements as American mariners. Flags of convenience have destroyed the U.S. maritime industry. We are going to rebuild it, and we are going to rebuild it with American crews and ships. Dominion Resources is currently building an insertion ship. I certainly do not want to impede projects in the near term, Vineyard Wind and others that are immediately pending, and we will work to ensure there are no disruptions as we move toward a cleaner energy future. I would be happy to work with the two gentlemen and others who are concerned. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the call of the Private Calendar be dispensed with on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 and Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

Mr. DeFAZIO

Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, on Monday, March 28, 2022, I was unavoidably detained and missed the day's votes. Had I been present, I would have voted: Yea on Roll Call Vote 83, H.R. 1621--To amend section 3661 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the consideration of acquitted conduct at sentencing; and Yea on Roll Call Vote 84, S. 3294--To obtain and direct the placement in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds of a statue to honor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Sandra Day O'Connor and a statue to honor Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg.