The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION” mentioning Richard J. Durbin was published in the Senate section on pages S3504-S3506 on May 26.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Casey, Mr. Warner, and Mr.
Rubio):
S. 1846. A bill to require a review and controls on the export of items with critical capabilities to enable human rights abuses; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print my bill for introduction in the Congressional Record. The bill's purpose is to require a review and controls on the export of items with critical capabilities to enable human rights abuses.
So ordered.
S. 1846
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Surveillance and free speech Protection Enhancement in Export controls for Censorship and Human rights Act of 2021'' or the ``SPEECH Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. REVIEW AND CONTROLS ON EXPORT OF ITEMS WITH CRITICAL
CAPABILITIES TO ENABLE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to use export controls to the extent necessary to further the protection of internationally recognized human rights.
(b) Review of Items With Critical Capabilities to Enable Human Rights Abuses.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, and the heads of other Federal agencies as appropriate, shall conduct a review of items subject to controls for crime control reasons pursuant to section 742.7 of the Export Administration Regulations.
(c) Controls.--In furtherance of the policy set forth in subsection (a), not later than 60 days after completing the review required by subsection (b), the Secretary, in coordination with the heads of other Federal agencies as appropriate, shall determine whether additional export controls are needed to protect human rights, including whether--
(1) controls for crime control reasons pursuant to section 742.7 of the Export Administration Regulations should be imposed on additional items, including items with critical capabilities to enable human rights abuses involving--
(A) censorship or social control;
(B) surveillance, interception, or restriction of communications;
(C) monitoring or restricting access to or use of the internet;
(D) identification of individuals through facial or voice recognition or biometric indicators; or
(E) DNA sequencing; or
(2) end-use and end-user controls should be imposed on the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of certain items with critical capabilities to enable human rights abuses that are subject to the Export Administration Regulations if the person seeking to export, reexport, or transfer the item has knowledge, or the Secretary determines and so informs that person, that the end-user or ultimate consignee will use the item to enable human rights abuses.
(d) Cooperation of Other Agencies.--Upon request from the Secretary, the head of a Federal agency shall provide full support and cooperation to the Secretary in carrying out this section.
(e) International Coordination on Controls to Protect Human Rights.--It shall be the policy of the United States to seek to secure the cooperation of other governments to impose export controls that are consistent, to the extent possible, with the controls imposed under this section.
(f) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1752(2)(A) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4811(2)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon;
(2) in clause (v), by striking the period and inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(vi) serious human rights abuses.''.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) End-user; knowledge; ultimate consignee.--The terms
``end-user'', ``knowledge'', and ``ultimate consignee'' have the meanings given those terms in section 772.1 of the Export Administration Regulations.
(2) Export; export administration regulations; in-country transfer; item; reexport.--The terms ``export'', ``Export Administration Regulations'', ``in-country transfer'',
``item'', and ``reexport'' have the meanings given those terms in section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce.
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By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. Young):
S. 1847. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a community college and career training grant program; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, amid high unemployment rates across the Country exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses continue to face challenges in hiring the skilled workers they need to grow and thrive. Simultaneously, individuals looking for work may not have the skills and support that they need to enter or renter--and remain--in the workforce. Unfortunately the pandemic has slowed the number of students attending some form of postsecondary education, but even prior to the pandemic the supply of middle-skilled workers, whose work requires more than a high school diploma but not a four-year degree, fell short of industry demand. It's important that States make strategic investments now to set students up for success in the constantly-evolving labor market, and the best training for high-wage, high-skill, or in-demand jobs is often offered by community colleges.
For many people seeking a job, attending a community college is the most affordable and accessible pathway to higher paying employment opportunities. In Virginia, we have 23 community colleges that serve an estimated 400,000 people across the state, providing them opportunities to earn an associate's degree, certifications or licensures in some of the most cutting-edge and in-demand fields in our workforce. The impact of community colleges nationwide is even greater, and our rapidly changing economy demands increased investment in the pathways these institutions provide to keep up with changing skill demands. The rapidly changing U.S. economy demands agile education and workforce development systems that can keep up with changing skill demands.
Today, I am proud to reintroduce the Assisting Community Colleges in Educating Skilled Students (ACCESS) to Careers Act with Senator Young. This bill builds on lessons learned from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant program
(TAACCCT), and provides grants to community colleges to partner with private and public sector entities to create innovative career pathways directly between two-year institutions and employers. The ACCESS to Careers Act also provides grants to states and community colleges to scale evidence-based strategies that will help prepare our students with the skills necessary to succeed in our in-demand industry sectors and occupations. These grants can be used to expand dual enrollment, work-based learning opportunities, apprenticeships, and other pathways to best meet the skill needs of students and employers in our evolving workforce. The bill also emphasizes the importance of student services to ensure that students have the support they need to complete their programs.
As our Country begins to recover from the widespread job losses we've seen over the last year, the success of our economy will depend on our ability to provide people with the resources they need to quickly enter or reenter the workforce. This legislation makes strategic investments in students to ensure they have access to programs that properly prepare them for good-paying, in-demand jobs as we continue to build back better. The ACCESS to Careers Act represents a necessary step to take the evidence-based innovations we've seen on the local level to scale in order to fill jobs in high-needs industries. I strongly encourage my colleagues in the Senate to consider this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.
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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr.
Menendez, Mr. Portman, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Young, Ms. Smith, and
Mr. Kaine):
S. 1860. A bill to amend the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act to provide for additional procedures for families with children under the age of 6, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1860
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING
PREVENTION ACT.
Section 302(a) of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4822(a)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) Additional procedures for families with children under the age of 6.--
``(A) Risk assessment.--
``(i) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the term `covered housing'--
``(I) means housing receiving Federal assistance described in paragraph (1) that was constructed prior to 1978; and
``(II) does not include--
``(aa) single-family housing covered by an application for mortgage insurance under the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
``(bb) multi-family housing that--
``(AA) is covered by an application for mortgage insurance under the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); and
``(BB) does not receive any other Federal housing assistance.
``(ii) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2021, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations that--
``(I) require the owner of covered housing in which a family with a child of less than 6 years of age will reside or is expected to reside to conduct an initial risk assessment for lead-based paint hazards--
``(aa) in the case of covered housing receiving tenant-based rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), not later than 15 days after the date on which the family and the owner submit a request for approval of a tenancy or lease renewal, whichever occurs first;
``(bb) in the case of covered housing receiving public housing assistance under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) or project-based rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), not later than 15 days after the date on which a physical condition inspection occurs; and
``(cc) in the case of covered housing not described in item
(aa) or (bb), not later than a date established by the Secretary;
``(II) provide that a visual assessment alone is not sufficient for purposes of complying with subclause (I);
``(III) require that, if lead-based paint hazards are identified by an initial risk assessment conducted under subclause (I), the owner of the covered housing shall--
``(aa) not later than 30 days after the date on which the initial risk assessment is conducted, control the lead-based paint hazards, including achieving clearance in accordance with regulations promulgated under section 402 or 404 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2682, 2684), as applicable; and
``(bb) provide notice to all residents in the covered housing affected by the initial risk assessment, and provide notice in the common areas of the covered housing, that lead-based paint hazards were identified and will be controlled within the 30-day period described in item (aa); and
``(IV) provide that there shall be no extension of the 30-day period described in subclause (III)(aa).
``(iii) Exceptions.--The regulations promulgated under clause (ii) shall provide an exception to the requirement under subclause (I) of such clause for covered housing--
``(I) if the owner of the covered housing submits to the Secretary documentation--
``(aa) that the owner conducted a risk assessment of the covered housing for lead-based paint hazards during the 12-month period preceding the date on which the family is expected to reside in the covered housing; and
``(bb) of any clearance examinations of lead-based paint hazard control work resulting from the risk assessment described in item (aa);
``(II) from which all lead-based paint has been identified and removed and clearance has been achieved in accordance with regulations promulgated under section 402 or 404 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2682, 2684), as applicable;
``(III) if--
``(aa) lead-based paint hazards are identified in the dwelling unit in the covered housing in which the family will reside or is expected to reside;
``(bb) the dwelling unit is unoccupied;
``(cc) the owner of the covered housing, without any further delay in occupancy or increase in rent, provides the family with another dwelling unit in the covered housing that has no lead-based paint hazards; and
``(dd) the common areas servicing the new dwelling unit have no lead-based paint hazards; and
``(IV) in accordance with any other standard or exception the Secretary deems appropriate based on health-based standards.
``(B) Relocation.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2021, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to provide that a family with a child of less than 6 years of age that occupies a dwelling unit in covered housing in which lead-based paint hazards were identified, but not controlled in accordance with regulations required under subparagraph (A)(ii), may relocate on an emergency basis and without placement on any waitlist, penalty (including rent payments to be made for that dwelling unit), or lapse in assistance to--
``(i) a dwelling unit that was constructed in 1978 or later; or
``(ii) another dwelling unit in covered housing that has no lead-based paint hazards.''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by section 2 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
______
By Mr. HAWLEY (for himself and Mr. Braun):
S. 1867. A bill to require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID-19, and for other purposes; considered and passed.
S. 1867
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Department of State released a fact sheet on January 15, 2021, about the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) which stated the following:
(A) ``The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.''.
(B) ``WIV researchers conducted experiments involving RaTG13, the bat coronavirus identified by the WIV in January 2020 as its closest sample to SARS-CoV-2.''.
(C) ``Despite the WIV presenting itself as a civilian institution, the United States has determined that the WIV has collaborated on publications and secret projects with China's military.''.
(2) Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, stated in March 2021 that, ``the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory'' and noted that, ``[i]t is not unusual for respiratory pathogens that are being worked on in a laboratory to infect the laboratory worker.''.
(3) Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged in March 2021 that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have originated in a laboratory and said this hypothesis ``requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts.''.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19) is critical for preventing a similar pandemic from occurring in the future;
(2) there is reason to believe the COVID-19 pandemic may have originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; and
(3) the Director of National Intelligence should declassify and make available to the public as much information as possible about the origin of COVID-19 so the United States and like-minded countries can--
(A) identify the origin of COVID-19 as expeditiously as possible, and
(B) use that information to take all appropriate measures to prevent a similar pandemic from occurring again.
SEC. 4. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO THE ORIGIN
OF COVID-19.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall--
(1) declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), including--
(A) activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology with or on behalf of the People's Liberation Army;
(B) coronavirus research or other related activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID-19; and
(C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including for any such researcher--
(i) the researcher's name;
(ii) the researcher's symptoms;
(iii) the date of the onset of the researcher's symptoms;
(iv) the researcher's role at the Wuhan Institute of Virology;
(v) whether the researcher was involved with or exposed to coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology;
(vi) whether the researcher visited a hospital while they were ill; and
(vii) a description of any other actions taken by the researcher that may suggest they were experiencing a serious illness at the time; and
(2) submit to Congress an unclassified report that contains--
(A) all of the information described under paragraph (1); and
(B) only such redactions as the Director determines necessary to protect sources and methods.
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