[House Report 116-322] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] 116th Congress } { Report HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session } { 116-322 ====================================================================== PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 4) TO AMEND THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 TO REVISE THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHICH STATES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS ARE SUBJECT TO SECTION 4 OF THE ACT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE RESOLUTION (H. RES. 326) EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REGARDING UNITED STATES EFFORTS TO RESOLVE THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT THROUGH A NEGOTIATED TWO-STATE SOLUTION _______ December 4, 2019.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed _______ Mr. Raskin, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following R E P O R T [To accompany H. Res. 741] The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration House Resolution 741, by a record vote of 8 to 4, report the same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution be adopted. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, under a closed rule. The resolution provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The resolution waives all points of order against consideration of the bill. The resolution provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in part A of this report, shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. The resolution waives all points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended. The resolution provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Section 2 of the resolution provides for consideration of H. Res. 326, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a negotiated two-state solution, under a closed rule. The resolution provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The resolution waives all points of order against consideration of the resolution. The resolution provides that the amendments to the resolution and the preamble recommended by the Committee on Foreign Affairs now printed in the resolution, modified by the amendments printed in part B of this report, shall be considered as adopted and the resolution, as amended, shall be considered as read. EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS The waiver of all points of order against consideration of H.R. 4 includes waivers of the following:Clause 3(d) of rule XIII, which requires the inclusion of a committee cost estimate in a committee report. Clause 12(a)(1) of rule XXI, which prohibits consideration of a bill unless there is a searchable electronic comparative print that shows how the bill proposes to change current law. Clause 12(b) of rule XXI, which prohibits consideration of a bill unless there is a searchable electronic comparative print that shows how the text of the bill as proposed to be considered differs from the text of the bill as reported. Although the resolution waives all points of order against provisions in H.R. 4, the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature. Although the resolution waives all points of order against consideration of H. Res. 326, the Committee is not aware of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic in nature. COMMITTEE VOTES The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion to report, together with the names of those voting for and against, are printed below: Rules Committee record vote No. 214 Motion by Mr. Cole to report an open rule for H.R. 4 and H. Res. 326. Defeated: 4-8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Hastings.................................... Nay Mr. Cole.......................... Yea Mrs. Torres..................................... Nay Mr. Woodall....................... Yea Mr. Perlmutter.................................. Nay Mr. Burgess....................... Yea Mr. Raskin...................................... Nay Mrs. Lesko........................ Yea Ms. Scanlon..................................... Nay Mr. Morelle..................................... Nay Ms. Shalala..................................... Nay Mr. DeSaulnier.................................. Nay Mr. McGovern, Chairman.......................... ............ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules Committee record vote No. 215 Motion by Mr. Burgess to provide for the consideration of H.R. 336, Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East Act of 2019, under an open rule and make the necessary changes in the rule. Defeated: 4-8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Hastings.................................... Nay Mr. Cole.......................... Yea Mrs. Torres..................................... Nay Mr. Woodall....................... Yea Mr. Perlmutter.................................. Nay Mr. Burgess....................... Yea Mr. Raskin...................................... Nay Mrs. Lesko........................ Yea Ms. Scanlon..................................... Nay Mr. Morelle..................................... Nay Ms. Shalala..................................... Nay Mr. DeSaulnier.................................. Nay Mr. McGovern, Chairman.......................... ............ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules Committee record vote No. 216 Motion by Mr. Raskin to report the rule. Adopted: 8-4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Hastings.................................... Yea Mr. Cole.......................... Nay Mrs. Torres..................................... Yea Mr. Woodall....................... Nay Mr. Perlmutter.................................. Yea Mr. Burgess....................... Nay Mr. Raskin...................................... Yea Mrs. Lesko........................ Nay Ms. Scanlon..................................... Yea Mr. Morelle..................................... Yea Ms. Shalala..................................... Yea Mr. DeSaulnier.................................. Yea Mr. McGovern, Chairman.......................... ............ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 4 IN PART A CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED 1. Nadler (NY): Amends the legislation to 1) expand the known practices provision to include changes that reduce the days or hours of in-person voting on Sundays during an early voting period and 2) add an additional covered known practice to include new procedures for voter purges where a jurisdiction includes racial or language minority populations above a certain percent threshold. SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS TO H. RES. 326 IN PART B CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED 1. Engel (NY): Adds a sense of Congress reaffirming the United States' ironclad commitment to providing assistance to Israel under the 2016 United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as well as a sense of Congress that it is in the United States' interest to continue promoting the security, stability, and humanitarian well-being of the Palestinians by resuming the provision of foreign assistance. 2. Engel (NY): Includes in the preamble a reaffirmation that the 2016 United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding is in the national interests of both countries as well as support for assistance to the Palestinians. PART A--TEXT OF AMENDMENT TO H.R. 4 CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED Page 18, line 10, strike ``locations.'' and insert ``locations, or reduce voting opportunities.''. Page 18, beginning on line 12, strike ``voting locations--'' and insert ``voting locations, or reduces days or hours of in person voting on any Sunday during a period occurring prior to the date of an election during which voters may cast ballots in such election--''. Page 18, after line 21, insert the following: ``(7) New list maintenance process.--Any change to the maintenance of voter registration lists that adds a new basis for removal from the list of active registered voters or that puts in place a new process for removing a name from the list of active registered voters-- ``(A) in the case of a political subdivision imposing such change if-- ``(i) 2 or more racial groups or language minority groups each represent 20 percent or more of the voting-age population of the political subdivision; or ``(ii) a single language minority group represents 20 percent or more of the voting-age population on Indian lands located in whole or in part in the political subdivision; or ``(B) in the case of a State imposing such change, if 2 or more racial groups or language minority groups each represent 20 percent or more of the voting-age population of-- ``(i) the State; or ``(ii) a political subdivision in the State, except that the requirements under subsections (a) and (c) shall apply only with respect to each such political subdivision. PART B--TEXT OF AMENDMENTS TO H. RES. 326 CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED TEXT OF THE AMENDMENT TO THE RESOLUTION CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED Page 7, after line 6, insert the following: (3) it is in the enduring United States' national interest to continue to stand by its ironclad commitments under the 2016 United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding, which seeks to help Israel defend itself against a wide range of threats; Page 7, line 7, strike ``(3)'' and insert ``(4)''. Page 7, line 16, strike ``and''. Page 7, after line 16, insert the following: (5) it is in the United States' interest to continue promoting the security, stability, and humanitarian well-being of Palestinians and their neighbors by resuming the provision of foreign assistance pursuant to United States law; and Page 7, line 17, strike ``(4)'' and insert ``(6)''. TEXT OF THE AMENDMENT TO THE PREAMBLE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED In the second clause of the preamble, add at the end before the semicolon the following: ``, including by finalizing in 2016 under the Obama Administration, a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding, reaffirming the United States' commitment to annual military assistance and cooperative missile defense programs, which is in the national interests of both countries''. Insert after third clause of the preamble the following: Whereas the United States, under Presidents of both parties, has provided bilateral and multilateral foreign assistance to promote the security, stability, and the humanitarian well-being of Palestinians; [all]