79–010 

Calendar No. 513 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–300 

21ST CENTURY RESPECT ACT 

JULY 12, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 995] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (H.R. 995) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 

and the Secretary of the Interior to modernize terms in certain regulations, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 

with amendments and an amendment to the title and recommends 

that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

AMENDMENTS

The amendments are as follows: 

On page 2, strike lines 14 through 16 and insert the following: 

(b) ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of General Services shall amend section 906.2 of 

title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, for purposes of— 

On page 2, lines 20 and 21, strike ‘‘a person’’ and insert ‘‘an individual’’. 

On page 3, line 7, strike ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’ and insert 

‘‘Administrator of General Services’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to direct the Secretary of 

Agriculture and the Administrator of General Services to modernize terms in certain regulations.’’ 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.R. 995 is to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 

and the Administrator of General Services to modernize terms in 

certain regulations. 


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BACKGROUND AND NEED

H.R. 995 directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of General Services to amend certain sections of the Code of 

Federal Regulations. 

Some decades-old statutes and regulations contain terms that are 

now considered inappropriate or even offensive. Public Law 114– 

157 removed inappropriate ethnic terms related to minorities found 

in the Office of Minority Economic Impact of the Department of Energy (42 U.S.C. 7141) and section 106 of the Local Public Works 

Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 (Minority Business Enterprises, 42 U.S.C. 6705). 

H.R. 995 would make similar changes to terms found in certain 

regulations of the Department of Agriculture and the General Services Administration, in order to update the terminology to reflect 

modern day language. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 995 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. 

Jeffries on February 9, 2017, and referred to the Committees on 

Natural Resources and Agriculture. The Natural Resources Committee favorably reported H.R. 995, as amended (H. Rept. 115–427, 

Part I), on November 28, 2017, and the Agriculture Committee discharged H.R. 995 on the same day. On November 28, 2017, H.R. 

995 passed the House of Representatives by voice vote. 

The Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining 

conducted a hearing on H.R. 995 on February 7, 2018. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on May 17, 2018, and ordered H.R. 995 favorably 

reported as amended. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on May 17, 2018, by majority voice vote of 

a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 995, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

During its consideration of H.R. 995, the Committee adopted an 

amendment to task the Administrator of General Services, instead 

of the Secretary of the Interior, with amending the regulations of 

the former Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation. The 

amendment is needed to reflect the fact that Congress vested responsibility for amending the Pennsylvania Avenue Development 

Corporation regulations in the Administrator, rather than the Secretary, when it terminated the Corporation in 1996 (Public Law 

104–99). In addition, the Committee adopted an amendment to 

strike the term ‘a person’ and replace with an ‘individual’ in the 

definition of the term ‘Black or African American’ in the Corporation’s regulation in order to conform to the usage in the other definitions of minority groups in the regulation. 

The Committee also adopted an amendment to the title to reflect 

the amendments to the text of the bill adopted by the Committee. 


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SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 provides the short title. 

Section 2. Amendments to regulations required 

Subsection (a) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to amend the 

regulations of the Farmers Home Administration (now USDA 

Rural Development) relating to nondiscrimination by recipients of 

financial assistance, which are codified in section 1901.202 of title 

7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR 1901.202), to update terminology used to describe the racial background or place of origin of 

certain individuals. 

Subsection (b) directs the Administrator of General Services to 

amend the regulations of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development 

Corporation defining terms relating to minority groups, as codified 

in section 906.2 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR 

906.2), to update terminology used to describe the racial background or place of origin of certain individuals. 

Section 3. Rule of construction 

Section 3 clarifies that nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

affect Federal law, except with respect to the use of terms by the 

Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of General Services, 

respectively, to the regulations affected by this Act. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 995 would amend the Code of Federal Regulations to modernize terms that refer to certain minority and ethnic groups. CBO 

estimates that implementing the proposed changes would not significantly affect federal spending. 

H.R. 995 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, 

pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 995 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2029. 

H.R. 995 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

On November 21, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

995, the 21st Century Respect Act, as ordered reported by the 

House Committee on Natural Resources on November 8, 2017. The 

two versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO’s estimates of 

their budgetary effects are the same. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Direct for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

H.R. 995. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Jul 16, 2018 Jkt 079010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR300.XXX SR300

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posing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 995 as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

H.R. 995, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 

benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of Agriculture at the 

February 7, 2018, hearing on H.R. 995 follows: 

STATEMENT OF GLENN CASAMASSA ASSOCIATE DEPUTY

CHIEF, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM U.S. FOREST SERVICE, 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Chairman Lee, Ranking Member Wyden, members of the 

Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present 

the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

regarding H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act. I am 

Glenn Casamassa, Associate Deputy Chief for the National 

Forest System (NFS), USDA Forest Service. 

H.R. 995 affects USDA’s Rural Development agency. It 

would, in part, direct the Secretary of Agriculture to 

amend section 1901.202 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations to change the terminology used to describe the racial 

background or place of origin of people in regulations concerning USDA programs for financing and insuring loans 

for properties in rural areas managed by USDA’s Rural 

Development agency. 

USDA supports H.R. 995. USDA strives to ensure that 

each and every employee and customer feels valued and 

respected and that everyone enjoys a positive experience 

whether working for or with USDA. These changes align 

with this effort, and our first strategic goal, to ‘‘ensure 

USDA programs are delivered efficiently, effectively, and 

with integrity and a focus on customer service’’. 

We defer to Department of Interior for their views on 

pertinent sections of H.R. 995. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on this 

bill. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the H.R. 995 as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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