Garret Graves

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy), the author of this legislation.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2892, also known as the WARN Act, directs GAO to conduct a study on the effectiveness of local, State, and Federal emergency alerting systems in disseminating timely and relevant information during weather-related emergencies. By examining these alerting systems, we can better understand how to improve communication and public safety during emergencies. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy) for his work on this critical piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 2892.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2892) to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the effectiveness of local alerting systems, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. 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. 2672.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, the Disaster Contract Improvement Act will help improve the debris removal process following disasters and help to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of hurricanes and other disasters, I have personally witnessed absolutely obscene rates and extraordinary timeframes for debris removal in the aftermath of disasters, watching as multiple layers of profiting from 1 cubic yard of debris material that is removed. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee favorably reported the House companion to this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of S. 310 so we can get this important legislation signed into law, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 310, the Disaster Contract Improvement Act, aims to help improve the disaster contracting process by directing the Administrator of FEMA to establish a working group to examine the debris removal process. The working group will include representatives from FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service, officials from State, Tribal, and local governments, and subject matter experts. The legislation also directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the debris removal advance contracting process. I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota) for his work on the House companion bill to help reduce waste, fraud, and abuse within the post-disaster services area. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 310) to establish an advisory group to encourage and foster collaborative efforts among individuals and entities engaged in disaster recovery relating to debris removal, and for other purposes.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on S. 310.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, S. 50 will help protect important habitat and water resources in Florida. This noncontroversial legislation has the support of the Florida congressional delegation, the State of Florida, the community, and local stakeholders. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. S. 50 would add the Pensacola and Perdido Bays, located in northeastern Florida, to the list of estuaries given priority consideration under the EPA's National Estuary Program. The National Estuary Program was created by Congress in 1987. It aims to protect and restore estuaries of national significance across the United States. S. 50 was introduced by our Senate colleagues, Senators Rubio and Scott, earlier this Congress. The Senate passed S. 50 with a voice vote in March, and I encourage support for this legislation today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. 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 S. 50.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 50) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to give priority consideration to selecting Pensacola and Perdido Bays as an estuary of national significance, and for other purposes.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

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

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, Federal agencies need to be held accountable for the security decisions they make at Federal office buildings. This bill will help achieve that. By creating safer, more secure workplaces, we can ensure Federal workers can easily return to work in person. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee favorably reported the House companion. I urge support of S. 3613, so this legislation can be signed into law and we can improve the safety of our Federal workers. Mr. Speaker, I want to make note, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell), a longtime law enforcement officer, was key in pushing the House bill and fully supports this. Again, I urge adoption, and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3613) to require Facility Security Committees to respond to security recommendations issued by the Federal Protective Service relating to facility security, and for other purposes.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 3613, the Improving Federal Building Security Act of 2024, will strengthen security of Federal buildings by ensuring agencies are held accountable for the security decisions they make. Specifically, the legislation would require Federal agencies to respond to security recommendations of the Federal Protective Service and provide a justification for recommendations that are not implemented. Given the ongoing security challenges identified by the Government Accountability Office at a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing in July, this bill will improve security for those who work in or visit Federal buildings across the Nation. I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell) for his work on the House companion to this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. 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 S. 3613.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, this bill is really important. The Water Resources Development Act authorizes all the activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Speaker, something that is really key here is that under this chairman we have been able to keep this bill on a 2-year cycle. I thank all of the Republican and Democratic members for keeping this on cycle. That is important because this is about resiliency of our communities. It is about the economy and economic engines that our ports cause. It is about the ecological restoration of places like coastal Louisiana. These are absolutely critical missions. This bill includes a number of priorities in our congressional district, one of the most active Corps of Engineer districts in the Nation, including connecting the Upper Barataria project to the Morganza-to-the-Gulf project, ensuring that credit for Morganza-to-the- Gulf goes all the way back to the 1980s when this project started, rather than penalizing the non-Federal sponsor for the Corps of Engineers' slow action. This project ensures that credit that has developed can actually be utilized on projects or on deferred payment agreements. It ensures that the Larose to Golden Meadow levee system in Lafourche Parish gets back on track to be entering the Federal system. It creates a new parish- wide flood protection system for Livingston Parish, something we have been working on for a while now. It helps to ensure that the acquisition of land--something called nonstandard estates--that, Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear, this is the third time we have legislated on this because the Corps of Engineers keeps trashing the interpretation. Bayou Sorrel lock is progressing; expediting that really important project, as well. There are a number of huge wins in here. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Ryans for all their work and working with us on this. One of them was much more helpful than the other one, Mr. Speaker. I am just kidding. I thank Ryan Seiger and Ryan Hambleton for their help in the legislation. I also thank Jack and Cathy, the staff directors, but, most importantly, thanks to the Ranking Member Larsen, Chairman Graves, and Chairman Rouzer. It has been fantastic serving with my great, great friend, Ranking Member Napolitano. I really wish her the greatest, along with her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and her great-great-grandchildren. She has extraordinary generations. I thank her very much for her service.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 479. Stated against:

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 466.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 466.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, all of these groups are supporting this bill and urging a ``no'' vote on the other bill, H.R. 5342.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, this bill has been amazing. I will say it again. At one point it has been the most cosponsored bill in Congress, 330 cosponsors. This bill has a majority of the majority. There is one Social Security fix bill that has a majority of the majority as cosponsors. There is one bill that has the Speaker of the House as a cosponsor that fixes this. There is one bill that has the majority leader of the House as a cosponsor that fixes this. There is one bill that will truly solve this problem after 40 years of stealing from police officers, from teachers, from firefighters, and others, and it is H.R. 82. Now, Mr. Speaker, at home a lot of people are probably confused, and, quite frankly, a lot of Members of Congress are probably confused. Why are there two different bills that we are voting on today? I will be very clear: One bill, H.R. 82, actually fixes the problem. I appreciate the efforts of my friend from Texas working to try to solve this. The bill doesn't do it. Let me just give you one little story, one little anecdote, to make it clear. Today, Mr. Speaker, if you have a police officer killed in the line of duty, that widow, that spouse, gets zero in spousal benefits in Social Security. If we pass the other bill that was introduced that was suddenly thrown up and put on the agenda, if we pass that legislation, that spouse will continue to get nothing. The widow of a police officer killed in the line of duty, the spousal benefits will still be zero. According to all of the groups that are out there supporting this legislation that are identified on this poster here, the other bill, H.R. 5342, would actually benefit 1 million and result in cuts to 14 million retirees. Let me say it another way. You vote ``yes'' on H.R. 5342, you are voting to cut Social Security benefits. If you want to go home and explain that, have at it. There is one bill that solves the problem. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congresswoman Spanberger, for being a great partner. I thank Logan De La Barre-Hays, Shaun, Ben, Mark, and Maggie Ayrea, and the staff folks for being so helpful. While the chairman and I were unable to get to an agreement, a consensus on this, I thank Chairman Smith for his tireless efforts to fix this. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to say it one more time. There is one bill--one bill--that has the support of police officers, teachers, firefighters, and all the other retirees. I urge support for H.R. 82. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from the Federal-Postal Coalition, the Fraternal Order of Police, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, NARFE, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the American Federation of Government Employees. Federal-Postal Coalition, November 12, 2024. Dear Representative: As Chair of the Federal-Postal Coalition, an organization of over thirty labor unions and management associations representing the interests of current and retired federal and postal employees, I urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, when it is brought up on suspension. As you are aware, the Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). These policies from the 1970s unfairly target the earned Social Security benefits of our nation's public servants, including a substantial portion of our country's federal retirees. GPO and WEP reduce the hard-earned retirement benefits from public sector employees at the federal, state and local levels whose work is not covered by Social Security. GPO targets and reduces spousal and survival Social Security benefits, which disproportionately impacts widows and widowers. Currently, widow's benefits are reduced by $2 for every $3 earned if the widow is eligible for a pension based on a public sector job that was not covered by Social Security. WEP can result in a monthly Social Security benefit as much as $512 1ess than under the regular benefit formula, drastically reducing the amount of fixed income for a retiree to live on. Repeal of these provisions is long overdue. Social Security is a critical source of income for our nation's retirees, but we have allowed needless discrimination against retired public servants for far too long. These individuals paid Social Security taxes in connection with covered work (e.g., in the private sector), earning their Social Security benefits. Yet because they chose careers in public service and earned a pension through that service, their earned Social Security benefits are significantly reduced--or even eliminated. These penalties discourage public service and hamper the retirement security of those with long careers benefiting this nation. Now it is time for the House to take action to address these longstanding inequities and vote yes on H.R. 82. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Katie Maddocks, Federal-Postal Coalition Chair.

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I listened to this debate and heard so many things that are simply misunderstandings or maybe just intentionally telling things that aren't true. When I was growing up, my mom used to ask me: ``Is it going to take an act of Congress for you to clean your room?'' She would say it all the time. ``Is it going to take an act of Congress for you to clean your room?'' I didn't know what she meant because I thought my room was pretty clean. What she meant is: Is it going to take the Earth, wind, stars, and mountains all moving in order for you to act? Mr. Speaker, this has been 40 years of treating people differently, discriminating against a certain set of workers. These are police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other public servants. Mr. Speaker, I worked side by side with these folks. They are not people who are overpaid. They are not people who are underworked. Think about the crime issue, the defund the police issue, the safety of our communities. Police officers are integral to our State. They are integral to our Nation. We need to treat them fairly, respectfully. That means not treating them differently and discriminating against them and their benefits. Teachers are the ones who train the next generation. Firefighters-- who are you going to call when your house is on fire? These are the very people whose benefits we are cutting. Mr. Speaker, I have heard people sit here and say the solvency of this Social Security trust fund is going to move forward 6 months with this bill. Mr. Speaker, the solvency has been delayed years because you have stolen from these people. Do you not understand math? This number right here--the Congressional Budget Office, $195 billion--do you know what that number is? That is the number that you are going to be stealing from these same public servants over the next 10 years if you don't fix this. Mr. Speaker, we can sit here and talk about all of these numbers and math. Here is the reality. Probably somewhere between $600 billion and $700 billion in Social Security benefits from police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other public servants has been stolen. If we don't pass this, the Congressional Budget Office says we are going to steal another $995 billion. An interesting nugget that was in the Congressional Budget Office's evaluation is they also said if we actually pass this law, we are going to save money on social welfare programs because we are going to lift people out of poverty. They will no longer be dependent upon our social welfare programs. Mr. Speaker, we can't keep doing this. I heard people talking about penalizing people and taxes and all of that stuff. Let me tell you what is happening. There is a group of people right now that effectively is paying a higher tax than anyone else. That is what is happening. It is the reason why the Social Security trust fund is going to remain solvent for years longer. It is unfair. It is unjust. Mr. Speaker, I am going to say it again. This is a community of people who cannot afford this. This is a community of people who are some of the hardest working folks in our community, and they have been stolen from for 40 years. Mr. Speaker, very simply, here is the scenario. Let's say that Chairman Smith and I were both security guards. We were paid the same amount of money over the same period of time. After 20 years, I say that I am out. I go back and help raise a family. Chairman Smith goes on to become a sheriff's deputy. He does it for 10 years. When we retire on the same exact date, my Social Security benefits may be $1,500 to $1,800 more. Why? We paid the same amount for same period of time into the Social Security trust fund. Mr. Speaker, look, there are folks who have tried to throw up other legislation and say that these other alternatives are the right way to go. There is one bill in this Congress that has a majority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats. I don't know the number right now. I know that, recently, it was the most cosponsored bill in all of Congress. With over 12,000 bills introduced, it was the most cosponsored bill. Mr. Speaker, do you know what? We didn't go through the regular committee process. I do want to thank Chairman Smith for working with us. Do you know what we did? We had a hearing in Louisiana. We had a hearing in Washington, D.C. We negotiated for months, trying to get there. We couldn't. Mr. Speaker, there is one package that has the support of the majority of Republicans and the majority of Democrats that will fix this once and for all. How in the world are we trying to beat up on the bill that is the most cosponsored bill in Congress? My friend, Mr. Larson, was talking about the divisiveness, the polarization. My gosh, we have finally come together on something. Mr. Speaker, let's pass this bill. Let's show America that we can do what is right and what is just. Let's make sure this bill gets through the Senate and to the President's desk and that it doesn't take another 40 years to do what is right.