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“DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO PROVIDE CONGRESS ADVANCE NOTICE OF CERTAIN ANNOUNCEMENTS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5697-H5698 on Sept. 20, 2016.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO PROVIDE CONGRESS ADVANCE
NOTICE OF CERTAIN ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5977) to direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide to the appropriate committees of Congress advance notice of certain announcements, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5977
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b) or as expressly provided in another provision of law, the Secretary of Transportation shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress notice of an announcement concerning a covered project at least 3 full business days before the announcement is made by the Department of Transportation.
(b) Emergency Program.--With respect to an allocation of funds under section 125 of title 23, United States Code, the Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate notice of the allocation--
(1) at least 3 full business days before the issuance of the allocation; or
(2) concurrently with the issuance of the allocation, if the allocation is made using the quick release process of the Department (or any successor process).
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(2) Covered project.--The term ``covered project'' means a project competitively selected by the Department of Transportation to receive a discretionary grant award, letter of intent, loan commitment, loan guarantee commitment, or line of credit commitment in an amount equal to or greater than $750,000.
(3) Department of transportation.--The term ``Department of Transportation'' includes the modal administrations of the Department of Transportation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 5977.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Congress authorizes funding for the Federal transportation programs, which, in turn, obviously provide the funding and credit assistance for transportation projects across the country. However, the authorizing committees don't consistently get advance notice from the Department of Transportation prior to its announcement of grant awards and credit assistance for projects.
What this bill does is real simple. It requires the Department to give the authorizing committees at least 3 days advanced notice prior to announcing grant awards and credit assistance for projects. It is going to improve transparency and enhance oversight of the Department by ensuring that Congress is properly notified of these announcements.
I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 5977.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 5977. This bill ensures that the members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and certain Senate committees, will receive at least 3 days advanced notice of discretionary grants and loans made by the Department of Transportation.
When Congress enacted the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), we included a Congressional notification requirement for surface transportation grants. Language to require notification was omitted inadvertently when Congress enacted the most recent surface transportation authorization act, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has not consistently received notice from DOT prior to the announcement of grant awards and credit assistance for transportation projects since the passage of the FAST Act.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the author of the FAST Act, the chairman of the Transportation Committee.
Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) for his help in developing H.R. 5977 and for his hard work on developing and passing the FAST Act, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which provides 5 years of funding for Federal transportation programs. These programs enable us to make much-needed investment in our transportation system.
H.R. 5977 will help ensure that Federal transportation funding is spent wisely, through proper and consistent notification from the Department of Transportation to Congress.
I thank my colleagues for their help in developing this important legislation, and I urge the support of H.R. 5977.
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to help me and support this legislation. It is a very important piece of legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5977.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HUELSKAMP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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