[House Report 115-427]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { Rept. 115-427
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { Part 1
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21ST CENTURY RESPECT ACT
_______
November 28, 2017.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on 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 Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 995) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and
the Secretary of the Interior to amend regulations for racial
appropriateness, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended
do pass.
The amendments are as follows
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``21st Century Respect Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS REQUIRED.
(a) Secretary of Agriculture.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
amend section 1901.202 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, for
purposes of--
(1) replacing the reference to the term ``Negro or Black''
with ``Black or African American'';
(2) replacing the reference to the term ``Spanish Surname''
with ``Hispanic''; and
(3) replacing the reference to the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American or Pacific Islander''.
(b) Secretary of the Interior.--The Secretary of the Interior shall
amend section 906.2 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, for
purposes of--
(1) replacing the references to the term ``Negro'' with
``Black or African American'';
(2) replacing the definition of ``Negro'' with the definition
of ``Black or African American'' as ``a person having origins
in any of the Black racial groups of Africa'';
(3) replacing the references to the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American or Pacific Islander''; and
(4) replacing the references to the terms ``Eskimo'' and
``Aleut'' with ``Alaska Native''.
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments required by this Act, shall be
construed to affect Federal law, except with respect to the use of
terms by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the
Interior, respectively, to the regulations affected by this Act.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior to modernize terms in certain
regulations.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 995, as ordered reported, is to direct
the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior
to modernize terms in certain regulations.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 995 would require the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior to amend certain sections of the Code
of Federal Regulations for racial appropriateness.
Today the United States is 241 years old. In that time, the
country has seen an immense amount of change and growth. Over
the course of history, laws and policies have been updated to
reflect this growth. However, some decades-old statutes and
regulations contain antiquated terms. Enacted in 2016, Public
Law 114-157 modernized antiquated 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) for
racial appropriateness. H.R. 995 would make similar changes to
terms found in certain regulations of the Department of
Agriculture and the Department of the Interior.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS, AS ORDERED REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the short title for the bill, the
21st Century Respect Act.
Section 2. Amendments to regulations
Subsection(a) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to amend
section 1901.202 of title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
These regulations implement Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Executive
Order 11246, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 as
they relate to the Farmers Home Administration. Specifically,
the Secretary is directed to: (1) replace references to the
term ``Negro or Black'' with ``Black or African American''; (2)
replace the references to the term ``Spanish Surname'' with
``Hispanic''; and (3) replace the references to the term
``Oriental'' with ``Asian American or Pacific Islander''.
Subsection (b) directs the Secretary of the Interior to amend
section 906.2 of title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
These regulations govern affirmative action procedures for the
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation under Public Law
92-578. Specifically, the Secretary is directed to: (1) replace
the references to the term ``Negro'' with ``Black or African
American''; (2) replace the definition of ``Negro'' with the
definition of ``Black or African American'' as ``a person
having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa'';
(3) replace the references to the term ``Oriental'' with
``Asian American or Pacific Islander''; and (4) replace the
references to the terms ``Eskimo'' and ``Aleut'' with ``Alaska
Native''.
Section 3. Rule of construction
This section clarifies that nothing in this Act or the
amendments required by the Act shall be construed to affect
Federal law except in the use of certain terms in the
regulations affected by the Act.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 995 was introduced on February 9, 2017, by Congressman
Hakeem S. Jefferies (D-NY). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources and additionally to the
Committee on Agriculture. Within the Committee on Natural
Resources, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Indian,
Insular and Alaska Native Affairs. On November 7, 2017, the
Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman
Don Young (R-AK) offered an amendment designated #1; it was
adopted by unanimous consent. Congressman Don Young (R-AK)
offered an amendment designated #2; it was also adopted by
unanimous consent. No further amendments were offered and the
bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House
of Representatives by unanimous consent on November 8, 2017.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 21, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 995, the 21st
Century Respect Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 995--21st Century Respect Act
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 2028.
H.R. 995 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill, as ordered reported, is to direct the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to
modernize terms in certain regulations.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. Section 2 of the bill directs the
Secretary of Agriculture to amend section 1901.202 of title 7,
Code of Federal Regulations, to update certain terms. Section 2
also directs the Secretary of the Interior to amend section
906.2 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, to update
certain terms.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing
law.
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