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[Senate Report 115-300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      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.

                          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.

                      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 imposing 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.

                                  [all]
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