The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Steil) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Morelle)
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.

                             General Leave

  Mr. STEIL. 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 the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 8738, the FEC Administrative
Improvements Act.
  I thank my friends, Ranking Member Morelle and the chair of our
Subcommittee on Elections, Representative Lee from Florida, for their
leadership on this legislation.
  Our campaign finance system wasn't designed for the digital age. That
extends to the statutes governing the work of the Federal Elections
Commission.
  This bill implements several recommendations from the FEC to
modernize their administrative operations and reduce outdated
administrative burdens.
  The bill expands the electronic filing requirements to electioneering
communications reports and allows political committees to make
disbursements by methods other than checks.
  Madam Speaker, the work of the FEC is important to our Federal
election system. This bill improves their efficiency and modernizes our
campaign finance system for the digital age.
  I urge immediate passage of the legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.

                              {time}  1720

  Mr. MORELLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I agree again with my colleague and friend Chairman
Steil, this is a meaningful, bipartisan bill to ensure that the public
receives important information about election-relevant communications.
  I was happy to cointroduce this bill with several members of the
Committee on House Administration, both Republican and Democratic. I
thank Chairman Steil for his leadership and Congresswoman Lee and
Congresswoman Sewell for their work on this.
  As people may know, Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Sewell, in
particular, work hard on election administration issues as the leaders
of the committee's Elections Subcommittee. As it becomes harder to find
common ground in Congress, I commend my cosponsors for their work on
this and other issues important to the work at hand.
  The bill we are considering today, the FEC Administrative
Improvements Act, would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
to require campaign committees to file their electioneering
communications with the Federal Elections Commission in electronic
format as opposed to on paper.
  As the FEC has informed Congress: ``Compared to data from paper
reports, data from electronically filed reports is received, processed,
and disseminated more easily and efficiently, resulting in the better
use of resources.'' I couldn't agree more.
  In contrast, paper filings take days to be available to provide
critical information for the public, so modernizing our campaign
disclosure functions is a commonsense reform for those of us who live
in the 21st century, and we are grateful we have an opportunity to do
that.
  However, there are substantive reasons to make this change as well.
The Supreme Court has long recognized that disclosure requirements are
vitally important: Disclosure provides the electorate with information
as to where political campaign money comes from and how it is spent.
  American voters are best equipped to choose leaders when they have
the most fulsome, up-to-date information at hand. The FEC
Administrative Improvements Act would also tackle another bipartisan
legislative recommendation from the FEC, allowing committees to make
disbursement in ways other than by check.
  The Committee on House Administration--and I think I speak for
colleagues on both sides--cares deeply about modernization. Modernizing
Congress has, in recent years, driven thoughtful and bipartisan work by
committee members to improve the function of this institution.
  Our interest in modernization extends to the FEC, so H.R. 8738 will
bring the FEC into the modern era and aid every American voter as they
exercise their fundamental rights.
  Given the bipartisan agreement on the bill, I hope we can move it
rapidly from the floor to the Senate and then to the President's desk
for signature.
  Again, I thank my colleague Chairman Steil for his courtesies and
leadership on this.
  Madam Speaker, very simply, I thank the chairman and my colleagues. I
look forward to what I hope is a unanimous or near-unanimous vote in
the House on this important legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the ranking member,
Mr. Morelle, for his work on this legislation. There is a lot of work
to be done to update our campaign finance laws for the digital age, and
this is an important piece of legislation. I encourage all my
colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 8738. I yield back the balance of
my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 8738.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

   WEATHERIZING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE NORTH AND TERRORISM EMERGENCY
                         READINESS ACT OF 2025

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the
unfinished business is the vote on the motion to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 3106) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security
to conduct a collective response to a terrorism exercise that includes
the management of cascading effects on critical infrastructure during
times of extreme cold weather, and for other purposes, on which the
yeas and nays were ordered.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Garbarino) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 400,
nays 7, not voting 23, as follows: