I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1564

To fund capital projects of State and local governments, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 24, 2001

Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.

FROST, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. SAWYER, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To fund capital projects of State and local governments,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rebuilding America’s

5 Infrastructure’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES DEFINITIONS.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:
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1 (1) Citizens chronically complain about the

2 state of America’s public capital—about dilapidated

3 school buildings, condemned highway bridges, con4 taminated water supplies, and other shortcomings of

5 the public infrastructure.

6 (2) In addition to inflicting inconvenience and

7 endangering health, the inadequacy of the public in8 frastructure adversely affects productivity and the

9 growth of the economy since public investment, pri10 vate investment, and productivity are intimately

11 linked.

12 (3) For more than 2 decades, the United States

13 Government has retreated from public investment.

14 (4) State and local governments, albeit to a

15 lesser extent, have also slowed public investments

16 and State and local taxpayers are frequently reluc17 tant to approve bond issues to finance public infra18 structure.

19 (5) In the early 1970s, nondefense public in20 vestment accounted for about 3.2 percent of gross

21 domestic product but it now accounts for only 2.5

22 percent.

23 (6) Widespread neglect of maintenance has con24 tributed substantially to the failure of the stock of
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1 public capital assets to keep pace with the Nation’s

2 needs.

3 (7) Net of depreciation, the real nondefense

4 public capital stock expanded in the past 2 decades

5 at a pace only half that set earlier in the post-World

6 War II period.

7 (8) Evidence of failures to maintain and im8 prove infrastructure is seen every day in such prob9 lems as unsafe bridges, urban decay, dilapidated and

10 over-crowded schools, and inadequate airports.

11 (9) The State departments of education col12 lected data that reveals at least $300,000,000,000

13 worth of unmet school infrastructure needs.

14 (10) This Act—

15 (A) is designed to help the Nation take a

16 significant step forward both in overcoming its

17 infrastructure deficit and in promoting the pro18 ductivity needed to meet the competitive chal19 lenges of the 21st century; and

20 (B) represents fiscally sound planning and,

21 in salient ways, advances sound fiscal and mon22 etary operations.

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol24 lows:
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1 (1) To provide up to $50,000,000,000 a year

2 on average for mortgage loans, at zero percent inter3 est, to State and local governments for capital in4 vestment in types of infrastructure projects specified

5 by Congress in a way that would not affect the con6 duct of a sound monetary policy based on price sta7 bility.

8 (2) To cut the overall cost of investment in in9 frastructure projects about in half, depending on

10 prevailing interest rates, for State and local tax11 payers.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

14 apply:

15 (1) BANK.—The term ‘‘Bank’’ means the Fed16 eral Bank for Infrastructure Modernization estab17 lished under section 4.

18 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the

19 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

20 (3) DEVELOPMENT.—The terms ‘‘development’’

21 and ‘‘develop’’ mean, with respect to an infrastruc22 ture facility, any—

23 (A) preconstruction planning, feasibility re24 view, permitting and design work, and other

25 preconstruction activities; and
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1 (B) construction, reconstruction, rehabili2 tation, replacement, or expansion.

3 (4) INDIAN RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Indian

4 reservation’’ has the same meaning as in section

5 4(10) of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, and

6 shall include land held by incorporated Native

7 groups, regional corporations, and village corpora8 tions, as defined in or established pursuant to the

9 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, public domain

10 Indian allotments, and former Indian reservations in

11 the State of Oklahoma.

12 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

13 means any Indian tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or

14 other organized group or community, including any

15 Alaska Native village or regional or village corpora16 tion, as defined in or established pursuant to the

17 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which is rec18 ognized as eligible for the special programs and serv19 ices provided by the United States to Indians be20 cause of their status as Indians.

21 (6) INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY.—The term

22 ‘‘infrastructure facility’’ means a road, highway,

23 bridge, tunnel, airport, mass transportation vehicle

24 or system, passenger or freight rail vehicle or sys25 tem, intermodal transportation facility, waterway,
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1 commercial port, drinking or waste water treatment

2 facility, solid waste disposal facility, pollution control

3 system, hazardous waste facility, federally des4 ignated national information highway facility, public

5 school, and any ancillary facility which forms a part

6 of any such facility or is reasonably related to such

7 facility, including a facility necessary to comply with

8 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

9 (7) REGIONAL OR MULTISTATE ORGANIZA10 TION.—The term ‘‘regional or multistate organiza11 tion’’ means an organization established by an inter12 state compact between 2 or more States which has

13 been approved by the Congress.

14 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

15 the Secretary of the Treasury.

16 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the

17 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American

18 Samoa, the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands,

19 the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands,

20 and any territory of the United States.

21 SEC. 4. FEDERAL BANK FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MOD22 ERNIZATION.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established

2 a corporation which shall be known as the Federal

3 Bank for Infrastructure Modernization.

4 (2) STATUS.—The Bank shall be—

5 (A) an instrumentality of the United

6 States Government; and

7 (B) under the general supervision and di8 rection of the Secretary of the Treasury.

9 (b) MANAGEMENT.—

10 (1) BOARD OF TRUSTEES.—The management

11 of the Bank shall be vested in the Board of Direc12 tors of the Federal Financing Bank.

13 (c) POWERS.—The Bank shall have the following

14 powers:

15 (1) To adopt, alter, and use a corporate seal.

16 (2) To issue nonvoting capital stock in accord17 ance with section 5.

18 (3) To enter into contracts and modify, or con19 sent to the modification of, any contract or agree20 ment to which the Bank is a party or in which the

21 Bank has an interest under this section.

22 (4) To appoint, by the board of directors, such

23 officers and employees as the board of directors de24 termines to be necessary to carry out the provisions

25 of this Act, to define their duties, fix their com-
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1 pensation, require bonds of them and fix the penalty

2 thereof, and to dismiss at pleasure such officers or

3 employees.

4 (5) To make advance, progress, or other pay5 ments.

6 (6) To acquire, hold, lease, mortgage, maintain,

7 or dispose of, at public or private sale, real and per8 sonal property, using any legally available private

9 sector methods, and otherwise exercise all the usual

10 incidents of ownership of property necessary and

11 convenient to the operations of the Bank.

12 (7) To sue and be sued in its corporate capacity

13 in any court of competent jurisdiction.

14 (8) To use the United States mails in the same

15 manner and under the same conditions as other de16 partments and agencies of the United States.

17 (9) To prescribe bylaws that shall be consistent

18 with law.

19 (10) To make loans in accordance with section

20 7, subject to the requirements of such section.

21 SEC. 5. CAPITALIZATION OF THE BANK.

22 (a) ISSUANCE AND SALE OF STOCK.—The Bank

23 may—

24 (1) issue nonvoting capital stock under section

25 4(c)(2) only at such times and in such amounts as—
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1 (A) the Secretary determines to be appro2 priate for the issuance of such stock; and

3 (B) the Board determines to be appro4 priate for the purchase of such stock; and

5 (2) sell such stock only to the Board or, at the

6 Board’s direction, a Federal reserve bank.

7 (b) PURCHASE OF CAPITAL STOCK BY FEDERAL RE8 SERVE BOARD.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 10-year period

10 beginning on the first day of the first fiscal year

11 that begins after the date of the enactment of this

12 Act, and subject to subsection (c) and the direction

13 of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Board

14 of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, acting

15 directly or through any Federal reserve bank, shall

16 invest in nonvoting capital stock of the Bank at such

17 times and in such amounts as the Board determines

18 to be appropriate under this section.

19 (2) AVERAGE ANNUAL INVESTMENT AMOUNT.—

20 The amount invested by the Board in the capital

21 stock of the Bank under this subsection shall aver22 age $50,000,000,000 a year over the 10-year period

23 of investment in the Bank described in paragraph

24 (1).
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1 (c) INTEGRATION OF STOCK PURCHASES INTO

2 OPEN-MARKET OPERATIONS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The investment of the Board

4 in stock of the Bank under this section shall be inte5 grated into the open-market operations of the Fed6 eral Open Market Committee under section 12B of

7 the Federal Reserve Act and the directions of the

8 Federal Open Market Committee to the Federal re9 serve banks with regard to open-market operations

10 shall take into account, and may include directions

11 with regard to, any such investment.

12 (2) TREATMENT OF STOCK.—Capital stock of

13 the Bank shall be treated as obligations of an agen14 cy of the United States for purposes of section

15 14(b)(2) of the Federal Reserve Act.

16 (d) USE OF CAPITAL.—The capital of the Bank may

17 be used only for making loans under section 7.

18 (e) RETIREMENT OF STOCK.—Nonvoting stock

19 issued under this section shall be repurchased and retired

20 from amount received from the repayment of loans under

21 section 7.

22 SEC. 6. BUDGET TREATMENT.

23 (a) NONAPPLICABILITY OF PROVISIONS APPLICABLE

24 TO RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURES OF REVENUE AND BOR25 ROWED FUNDS.—For purposes of title 31, United States
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1 Code, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con2 trol Act of 1974, the Balanced Budget and Emergency

3 Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Budget Enforcement Act

4 of 1990, or any other provision of law—

5 (1) amounts received by the Bank in connection

6 with the sale of stock pursuant to section 5 shall not

7 be treated as revenue when it is received or made

8 available to the Bank nor shall it be treated as rev9 enue by the Bank or by the Secretary of the Treas10 ury when the loans referred to in section 7 are re11 paid;

12 (2) the purchase or sale of stock pursuant to

13 section 5 and the interest-free loan program estab14 lished under section 7—

15 (A) shall not be treated as budget author16 ity, new budget authority, budgetary resources,

17 spending authority, new spending authority, en18 titlement authority, or credit authority;

19 (B) shall not be subject to apportionment

20 or sequestration other than in accordance with

21 the provisions of sections 4, 5, and 7; and

22 (C) shall not be taken into account in the

23 determination of the baseline for any fiscal

24 year; and
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1 (3) the disbursement of money paid by the

2 Board or received by the Bank in connection with

3 the purchase or sale of stock pursuant to section 5

4 shall not be treated as an outlay or a budget outlay.

5 (b) EXPENDITURE OF TAX REVENUE OR BORROWED

6 FUNDS NOT AUTHORIZED.—No provision of this Act shall

7 be construed as authorizing the expenditure of funds de8 rived from revenues imposed and collected by the United

9 States Government under any provision of law or from

10 amounts borrowed by the United States Government pur11 suant to chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, or

12 any other provision of law.

13 SEC. 7. ISSUANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE LOANS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bank may make loans to eli15 gible borrowers for the development of infrastructure fa16 cilities, if the Bank obtains such assurances as the Bank

17 determines to be appropriate from the borrower that—

18 (1) the funding of the project by the Bank was

19 approved by—

20 (A) a State certifying officer, in the case of

21 an infrastructure facility development project

22 proposed by a governmental unit within such

23 State;
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1 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, in the

2 case of a project proposed by an Indian tribe;

3 or

4 (C) the State certifying officer of each

5 State involved, in the case of an infrastructure

6 facility development project proposed by a re7 gional or multistate organization;

8 (2) the proceeds of such loan will be used solely

9 for the purpose of funding the development of any

10 infrastructure facility;

11 (3) the borrower will establish and maintain

12 over the life of the loan a sinking fund or other am13 ortizing mechanism that would ensure that the re14 payment of the principal of the loan will be made in

15 accordance with the repayment schedule contained in

16 the loan documents; and

17 (4) the Bank will have full access to such books

18 and records of the borrower as the Bank may, from

19 time to time, determine to be necessary to audit the

20 borrower’s compliance with the terms and conditions

21 of the loan.

22 (b) NO INTEREST.—Any loan made under this Act

23 shall bear no interest.

24 (c) LOAN REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) AGGREGATE ANNUAL LOAN AMOUNTS.—The

2 aggregate amount of loan commitments made by the

3 Bank in any year shall equal the amount of the in4 vestment by the Board in the capital stock of the

5 Bank in such year.

6 (2) INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOL INFRA7 STRUCTURE.—The Secretary shall set up lending

8 guidelines for loans under this section to ensure that

9 20 percent of the total amount of all loans made to

10 States, units of general local government, or Indian

11 reservations are dedicated to investment in public

12 school infrastructure and facilities or other public

13 educational facilities.

14 (d) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

16 an allocation formula, on the basis of the total popu17 lation of each State and Indian reservation, to deter18 mine the manner in which the total amount of loan

19 disbursements which may be made in any year shall

20 be allocated among the States and Indian tribes.

21 (2) REGIONAL OR MULTISTATE ORGANIZA22 TION.—In developing an allocation formula, the Sec23 retary shall provide for the allocation of loans to re24 gional or multistate organizations through appro25 priate adjustments of allocated amounts to the
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1 States which established any such regional or

2 multistate organization.

3 SEC. 8. BORROWER ELIGIBILITY.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and (c),

5 any State, any unit of general local government of a State,

6 any Indian tribe, and any regional or multistate organiza7 tion shall be eligible to borrow from the Bank under this

8 Act to fund the development of infrastructure facilities.

9 (b) STATE CERTIFYING OFFICER.—No loans may be

10 made to any State or any unit of general local government

11 of any State, or to any regional or multistate organization

12 to which such State is a party, unless the State has au13 thorized an officer of the State to—

14 (1) review all proposals by any officer or agency

15 of the State or any unit of general local government

16 to develop an infrastructure facility for which fund17 ing is sought from the Bank;

18 (2) select and approve the proposals which meet

19 the requirements of this Act for funding by the

20 Bank consistent with the allocation formula estab21 lished by the Secretary of the Treasury, including

22 requirements of the Bank with regard to—

23 (A) the establishment of sinking funds or

24 other amortizing mechanisms to ensure timely

25 repayment of any loan; and
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1 (B) the auditing of the books and records

2 of the recipient of the loan; and

3 (3) ensure that—

4 (A) all proposals are financially respon5 sible; and

6 (B) proposing parties have not previously

7 defaulted on any loan by the Bank under this

8 Act.

9 (c) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—No loans may

10 be made to any Indian tribe unless the Secretary of the

11 Interior undertakes to—

12 (1) review all proposals by any Indian tribe to

13 develop an infrastructure facility for which funding

14 is sought from the Bank; and

15 (2) select and approve the proposals which meet

16 the requirements of this Act for funding by the

17 Bank consistent with the allocation formula estab18 lished by the Secretary of the Treasury, including

19 requirements of the Bank with regard to—

20 (A) the establishment of sinking funds or

21 other amortizing mechanisms to ensure timely

22 repayment of any loan; and

23 (B) the auditing of the books and records

24 of the recipient of a loan.
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1 SEC. 9. MADE IN AMERICA.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Illegal steel dumping in domestic steel mar4 kets has eroded the market for domestic steel.

5 (2) The result of this erosion of the domestic

6 steel market has been the recent string of bank7 ruptcies and mill closings of steel companies.

8 (3) Thousands of steel workers have lost their

9 jobs as a result of the bankruptcies and mill clos10 ings.

11 (4) There are precedents for requirements that

12 domestic steel and iron products be used in cases

13 where Federal monies are involved in infrastructure

14 projects.

15 (b) BUY AMERICA.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—No loan may be issued for

17 any infrastructure facility development project un18 less the Bank receives assurances from the appro19 priate State certifying officer described in subsection

20 (a)(1) or the Secretary of the Interior, as the case

21 may be, that the project meets the requirements of

22 the Buy America Act.

23 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre24 scribe such regulations as the Secretary determines

25 appropriate to carry out this section.
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1 (3) IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS.—If any iron

2 or steel product is involved in any infrastructure fa3 cility development project, such product does not

4 meet the requirement of this section unless all man5 ufacturing processes involved in the production of

6 such product, including the application of any coat7 ing, have taken place within the United States.

8 SEC. 10. LABOR STANDARDS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—All laborers and mechanics em10 ployed by contractors or subcontractors in the perform11 ance of any contract and subcontract for the construction,

12 repair, renovation, or alteration, including painting and

13 decorating, of any infrastructure facility development

14 project that is financed in whole or in part by a loan under

15 this Act, shall be paid wages not less than those deter16 mined by the Secretary of labor in accordance with the

17 Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis18 Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. 276a—276a–5). The Secretary of

19 Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth in

20 Reorganization Plan of No. 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267)

21 and section 2 of the Act of June 1, 1934 (commonly

22 known as the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act) (40 U.S.C.

23 276c).

24 (b) VOLUNTARY PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible borrower, as de2 fined in section 8 of this Act, may require that every

3 contractor or subcontractor on a project assisted by

4 a loan under this Act agree, for that project only,

5 to negotiate or become a party to a project labor

6 agreement with 1 or more appropriate labor organi7 zations. The borrower has complete discretion

8 whether to include such a requirement—

9 (A) where a project labor agreement will

10 advance the procurement interest of the bor11 rower in cost, efficiency, and quality and in pro12 moting labor-management stability as well as

13 compliance with applicable legal requirements

14 governing safety and health, equal employment

15 opportunity, labor and employment standards,

16 and other matters; and

17 (B) where no laws applicable to the specific

18 construction project preclude the use of the pro19 posed project labor agreement.

20 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any project labor agree21 ment reached pursuant to this section—

22 (A) shall bind all contractors and sub23 contractors on the construction project through

24 the inclusion of appropriate clauses in all rel-
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1 evant solicitation provisions and contract docu2 ments;

3 (B) shall allow all contractors and sub4 contractors wishing to compete for contracts

5 and subcontracts on the project to do so, with6 out discrimination against contractors, sub7 contractors, or employees based on union or

8 nonunion status;

9 (C) shall contain guarantees against

10 strikes, lockouts, and similar work disruptions;

11 (D) shall set forth effective, prompt, and

12 mutually binding procedures for resolving labor

13 disputes arising during the project;

14 (E) shall provide other mechanisms for

15 labor-management cooperation on matters of

16 mutual interest and concern, including produc17 tivity, quality of work, safety, and health; and

18 (F) shall fully conform to all applicable

19 statutes and regulations.

20 (3) VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS.—No provision

21 of this section may be construed as—

22 (A) requiring a borrower to use a project

23 labor agreement on any project;
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1 (B) precluding use of a project labor

2 agreement in circumstances not covered under

3 this section; or

4 (C) requiring contractors to enter into a

5 project labor agreement with any particular

6 labor organization.

7 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of this

8 section may be construed as creating any right or benefit,

9 substantive or procedural, enforceable by a non-Federal

10 party against the United States, its departments, agencies

11 or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other

12 person, including the borrower.

13 SEC. 11. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

14 (a) MINIMUM PHASE-IN PERIOD.—Loans made

15 under section 7 shall be disbursed by the Bank imme16 diately or over the construction or development period of

17 the project as needed so as to accommodate more loan

18 requests. The payout in any given year shall be no less

19 than 20 percent of the total amount authorized.

20 (b) PERIOD TO MATURITY.—The period to maturity

21 of any loan made under section 7 shall not be less than

22 10 years nor more than 30 years, at the discretion of the

23 borrower, but may be paid earlier.

24 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.—The Bank shall impose

25 an administrative fee of not more than one-quarter of 1
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1 percent on each recipient of a loan, sufficient to cover ad2 ministrative costs incurred by the Bank, including over3 head, in administering such loan.

4 (d) COLLECTION OF PRINCIPAL AND FEES.—The

5 Bank shall enforce collection of any loan in which 2 or

6 more payments are due and payable. To that end, the

7 Bank shall be empowered to enter Federal district court

8 to seek an order to attach property of the borrower, up

9 to the amount necessary to end the delinquency. The cost

10 of collection shall be added to the balance of the loan. The

11 borrower shall continue to make semiannual payments of

12 the same amount until the entire balance, including fees,

13 is paid.

14 SEC. 12. ABOLISHMENT OF BANK.

15 (a) WINDING UP OPERATIONS.—The Bank shall

16 wind up the affairs of the Bank during the 6-month period

17 ending on the date the last outstanding loan issued by the

18 Bank under this Act is repaid.

19 (b) BANK ABOLISHED.—Effective at the end of the

20 30-day period beginning on the date described in sub21 section (a), the Bank is hereby abolished.

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