59–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–70 

TO DESIGNATE THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMHOUSE BUILDING LOCATED 

AT 31 GONZALEZ CLEMENTE AVENUE IN MAYAGU ̈ EZ, PUERTO RICO, AS 

THE ‘‘RAFAEL MARTI ́NEZ NADAL UNITED STATES CUSTOMHOUSE 

BUILDING’’ 

MARCH 26, 2007.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. OBERSTAR, from the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1019] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 

was referred the bill (H.R. 1019) to designate the United States 

customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in 

Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, as the ‘‘Rafael Martı ́nez Nadal United 

States Customhouse Building’’, having considered the same, report 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 

do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

H.R. 1019 designates the United States Customhouse Building 

located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, 

as the ‘‘Rafael Martı ́nez Nadal United States Customhouse Building’’. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Although Don Rafael Martı ́nez Nadal was born in the city of 

Mayagu ̈ ez on April 22, 1877, he resided and passed away in 

Guaynabo. After his parents passed away when he was a child, 

Martı ́nez Nadal went to live with relatives in the mountainous 

town of Maricao, where he began his early school work. He received 

his college degree in Philosophy and Letters in the Provincial Institute of Secondary Education in San Juan. At the age of 16, he went 

to Barcelona, Spain, to study law. A short time after beginning his 

legal coursework, he moved to Paris in search of additional 

coursework. He returned to Barcelona and opened several businesses, which were not successful. 


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On August 13, 1904, he returned to Mayagu ̈ ez and began studying agriculture, particularly coffee growing. Simultaneously, he 

began his first successful attempts in the media and politics with 

the Puerto Rican Republican Party. In 1908, he founded the political newspaper El Combate. In 1912, he obtained his law degree, 

and became one of the most prominent men of the Puerto Rican political arena. He was considered one of the most famous criminal 

lawyers of the time. The song ‘‘The Court Shook, the public prosecutor shook; the judges shook when Mart ́ınez Nadal rose’’ is still 

sung in Puerto Rico when evoking his illustrious name. 

In 1914, he was elected as a member of the Chamber of Delegates for the city of Ponce by the Puerto Rican Republican Party. 

In 1920 he was chosen by the same party to serve in the Senate 

and was reelected in the next five general elections. When the alliance of the Union of Puerto Rico Party and the Puerto Rican Republican Party formed in 1924, Mart ́ınez Nadal left the Republican 

Party and initiated a political movement called the Pure Republican Party, which registered officially as the Historical Constitutional Party. Later he founded the Republican Union, working to 

advance the ideal of statehood for Puerto Rico. In coalition with the 

Socialist Party, the Republican Union triumphed in the general 

elections of 1932 and 1936. In both terms, Mart ́ınez Nadal presided 

over the Senate. He died on July 6, 1941. 

His literary and journalistic papers are compiled in the book 

Tempraneras. He also published the novels La hoguera and 

Cuando el amor muere. 

In honor of Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal’s outstanding contributions to 

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and his exemplary professional 

writing career, it is both fitting and proper to designate the U.S. 

customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in 

Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, as the ‘‘Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal United 

States Customhouse Building’’. 

SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Designation 

Section 1 designates the U.S. customhouse building located at 31 

Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, as the 

‘‘Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal United States Customhouse Building’’. 

Section 2. References 

Section 2 declares that any reference in law, map, regulation, 

document, paper, or other record of the United States to the United 

States customhouse building referred to in section 1 shall be 

deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal United 

States Customhouse Building’’. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

On March 1, 2007, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure met in open session and ordered the bill reported favorably to the House by voice vote. 

RECORD VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the House of Representatives requires 

each committee report to include the total number of votes cast for 


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and against on each record vote on a motion to report and on any 

amendment offered to the measure or matter, and the names of 

those members voting for and against. There were no recorded 

votes taken in connection with ordering H.R. 1019 reported. A motion to order H.R. 1019 reported favorably to the House was agreed 

to by voice vote with a quorum present. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(I) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee’s oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in this report. 

COST OF LEGISLATION

Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 has been timely 

submitted prior to the filing of the report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is included in this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and 308(a) of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee references the 

report of the Congressional Budget Office included in the report. 

2. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the performance goals 

and objective of this legislation are to designate the United States 

customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in 

Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, as the ‘‘Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal United 

States Customhouse Building’’. 

3. With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the 

enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1019 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, March 5, 2007. 

Hon. JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has reviewed the following bills as ordered reported by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on March 1, 2007: 

• H.R. 753, a bill to redesignate the federal building located 

at 167 North Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee, as the 

‘‘Clifford Davis and Odell Horton Federal Building’’; 

• H.R. 1045, a bill to designate the federal building located 

at 210 Walnut Street in Des Moines, Iowa, as the ‘‘Neal Smith 

Federal Building’’; • H.R. 1019, a bill to designate the United States customhouse building located at 31 Gonzalez Clemente Avenue in 


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Mayagu ̈ ez, Puerto Rico, as the ‘‘Rafael Mart ́ınez Nadal United 

States Customhouse Building’’; 

• H.R. 735, a bill to designate the federal building under 

construction at 799 First Avenue in New York, New York, as 

the ‘‘Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building’’; and 

• H.R. 1138, a bill to designate the federal building and 

United States courthouse located at 306 East Main Street in 

Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as the ‘‘J. Herbert W. Small 

Federal Building and United States Courthouse.’’

CBO estimates that enactment of these bills would have no significant impact on the federal budget and would not affect direct 

spending or revenues. These bills contain no intergovernmental or 

private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 

pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 

Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG, 

Director. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XXI

Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 

Representatives, H.R. 1019 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 

clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 

Representatives. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause (3)(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, committee reports on a bill or joint resolution 

of a public character shall include a statement citing the specific 

powers granted to the Congress in the Constitution to enact the 

measure. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

finds that Congress has the authority to enact this measure pursuant to its powers granted under article I, section 8 of the Constitution. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 

pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(Public Law 104–4). 

PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the 

report of any Committee on a bill or joint resolution to include a 

statement on the extent to which the bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, or tribal law. The Committee states 

that H.R. 1019 does not preempt any state, local, or tribal law. 


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ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this legislation. 

APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the 

terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or 

accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 104–1). 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

H.R. 1019 makes no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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