Eleanor Norton

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4358) to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit to Congress a report on preliminary damage assessment and to establish damage assessment teams in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. 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. 4358, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4358, as amended, the Preliminary Damage Assessment Improvement Act of 2020, introduced by Mr. Katko from New York. H.R. 4358, as amended, would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to produce a report examining the preliminary damage assessment, or PDA, process and establish a more consistent training regime for FEMA personnel to effectively support these assessments at State, local, Tribal, and territorial units of government. FEMA uses PDA findings in the wake of a disaster to determine the extent of damage and the subsequent unmet needs of individuals, businesses, and the public sector in the affected community. This bill would ensure greater consistency for PDAs across FEMA's 10 regions by creating a training program with a goal of ensuring that data collected and reviewed is done in a more consistent manner. As communities across the country experience more extreme weather events, timely and consistent PDAs have never been more important to the recovery process of disaster-declared areas. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and ask my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2914) to make available necessary disaster assistance for families affected by major disasters, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. 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. 2914, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4611) to modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in certain circumstances, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters). This is his legislation.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8326) to amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to require eligible recipients of certain grants to develop a comprehensive economic development strategy that directly or indirectly increases the accessibility of affordable, quality child care, and for other purposes.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 5919, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5919, the National Children's Museum Act. This is a bill that I wrote and am grateful that the House is considering it today. I thank Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for their support of this bill. This bipartisan bill would require the General Services Administration to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Children's Museum, a congressionally designated museum, to allow the museum to remain in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, as it is called, a federally owned building in the Nation's Capital, without charge for the duration of its existing lease. There is precedent for Congress' requiring the General Services Administration to enter into a cooperative agreement for the use of a Federal building in the District of Columbia by a private museum without charge. The National Building Museum operates under such an agreement. This bill would allow the National Children's Museum--the Nation's first combination children's museum and science center--to remain centrally located in the Nation's Capital for the benefit of the millions who visit and live in the city and the national capital region. Originally named the Capital Children's Museum, the National Children's Museum was a staple in the District for decades. The institution opened in 1974 in a former convent on H Street Northeast. In 2003, Congress recognized the immense value of having a children's museum in D.C. and officially designated the museum as the National Children's Museum. Now the museum is bringing new and innovative science, technology, engineering, arts, and math--or STEAM--exhibits to the Nation's Capital, building on more than 30 years of educating D.C. children and families. Importantly, this bill would relieve concerns about the ability of the museum to survive the coronavirus pandemic. When the museum reopened in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center this year, it immediately attracted many visitors from throughout the national capital region and the Nation but was forced by the pandemic to close 18 days later. At this time, the museum remains temporarily closed until further notice. Still, the museum has continued to offer valuable STEAM resources to our children as they navigate these new challenging learning circumstances, including over 75 at-home experiment and project video programs, monthly podcasts, virtual field trips, and a Climate Action Heroes Digital Exhibit, among other resources. When the museum does open, capacity will be restricted by at least 70 percent under social distancing guidelines. Due to the anticipated reduction in capacity, the museum is estimating operating revenues will amount to only 30 percent of the original goal for next year. Once returned to full capacity, the museum expects to serve half a million visitors a year, filling the STEAM content void in our Nation's Capital and throughout the country. Despite the many benefits it brings to the Nation's Capital, the museum is an outlier. It is the only congressionally designated museum expected to pay rent in a Federal building. This bill will allow the museum to remain in its current Federal location and allow staff to focus on bringing 21st century STEAM learning techniques to the Nation's Capital. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1869, the Secure Federal Leases from Espionage and Suspicious Entanglement Act, or the Secure Federal LEASEs Act, introduced by Senator Peters from Michigan. In 2017, the Government Accountability Office published a report that found that several Federal agencies were unknowingly leasing office space in foreign-owned properties, some of which were used for high- security purposes. While the General Services Administration subsequently implemented some policies to improve this lack of awareness, more needs to be done. S. 1869, the Secure Federal LEASEs Act, requires agencies to verify the identity of a property's immediate or highest level owners if the space will be used for high-security purposes. It does this by requiring a property's owner to identify and disclose whether they are a foreign person or entity, or if they are financed by foreign persons or entities, before the Federal agency enters into a new or amended lease agreement. The bill also requires GSA and other agencies to include provisions in future leases for high-security spaces that will require owners to agree to having limited access, except where allowed by the tenant agency. To tackle the issue of foreign beneficial owners, this bill also directs GSA to develop a governmentwide system that will enable Federal property managers to collect individual information about each beneficial owner of a property--including name, address, and some government-issued identification--within 2 years of passage. This would allow for the identification and disclosure of foreign ownership that might otherwise elude detection under GSA's current system. GSA has made some positive changes in response to the 2017 GAO report on this issue, but this legislation ensures that their best-practice policies are followed uniformly by all agencies, particularly those with independent leasing authority, and improved going forward. While a lessor may be approved by the Federal Government, it may not be appropriate for an agency to lease a high-security space from the lessor. This legislation will require agencies to evaluate the risks of doing so. By developing a new, more rigorous beneficial owner identification system, the Federal Government can be more vigilant in ensuring that foreign governments do not have access to our most sensitive leased properties. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON

Ms. NORTON. 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. 5953, as amended.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5953, the Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act, introduced by Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Graves from Missouri, Representative Huffman, Representative Thompson, Representative LaMalfa from California, and Congresswoman Plaskett from the U.S. Virgin Islands. This legislation is designed to ensure disaster survivors are not revictimized by recoupment--or clawbacks--of Federal disaster assistance they have received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Unfortunately, FEMA has repeatedly instructed disaster survivors to register for individual assistance for which they were ultimately not eligible or granted qualified survivors more assistance than they qualified for. However, once FEMA identifies its error, it forces these survivors into a bureaucratic nightmare to appeal the debt that they now owe as a result of FEMA's error. I am not surprised this still goes on, but I am disappointed that, given the technology and data we have at our fingertips, we have not been able to improve this system for survivors, more so given how small a piece of the Federal disaster recovery apparatus this is. H.R. 5953 would waive survivors' debt owed to the Federal Government in instances where FEMA erroneously distributed assistance. This bill would also provide a similar waiver to disaster survivors who may be involved in legal action against a party deemed responsible for a disaster event. While this scenario is less common, it is currently playing out in California and jeopardizing disaster relief for tens of thousands of families displaced by unprecedented wildfires of the last few years. Survivors have already been traumatized by a disaster. The Federal Government should not force them to endure a convoluted process to correct FEMA's mistake or decision to pursue legal action years after the event against a liable party. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and ask my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.