Lawmakers are preparing to consider amendments to H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act. You can see our vote alert for the underlying legislation, in which we urge opposition to the bill, here.
NTU is encouraging lawmakers to SUPPORT the following amendments to America COMPETES:
NTU supports the following amendment scheduled to receive a standalone vote:
- Amendment #179 from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA): This amendment would strike the prevailing wage provisions of the America COMPETES Act. Prevailing wage requirements raise costs for taxpayers, and lawmakers should remove them from this legislation.
While NTU does not take a position on all amendments in the third en bloc, we support the following amendments that would reduce the authorization levels in America COMPETES:
- Amendment #6 from Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Amendment #29 from Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and four cosponsors, Amendment #350 from Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Amendment #106 from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Amendment #121 from Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Amendment #185 from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Amendment #188 from August Pfluger (R-TX): Each of these amendments would remove $8 billion in authorizations from the America COMPETES Act by striking authorizations for the Green Climate Fund. Lawmakers should seek to either offset spending in the America COMPETES Act or reduce authorization levels such that the bill does not pave the way for additional deficit spending in the near future.
- Amendment #116 from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA): This amendment would remove National Apprenticeship Act language from the bill, reducing authorization levels in America COMPETES by about $3.9 billion.
- Amendment #181 from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA): This amendment would remove Division L from the bill, which would reduce authorization levels by $4 billion.
- Amendment #186 from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Amendment #244 from Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY): Each of these amendments would strike Sec. 30299C from the legislation, concerning climate resilient development in the Pacific Islands, and in so doing reduce authorization levels in the bill by $250 million.
NTU is encouraging lawmakers to OPPOSE the following amendments:
NTU opposes the following amendments scheduled to receive a standalone vote:
- Amendment #89 from Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) and five cosponsors: This amendment, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, includes $68.5 million in authorizations without any corresponding spending offsets.
- Amendment #171 from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Cori Bush (D-MO): This amendment would increase authorizations for the Green Climate Fund by $3 billion, without any corresponding spending offsets.
NTU opposes the following en blocs:
- En Bloc #1 from Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX): According to NTU’s research, at least 23 amendments in this en bloc create new spending authorizations without corresponding offsets. Based on our initial estimates, this en bloc alone could add around $60 billion to the America COMPETES Act’s authorization levels. This would turn an approximately $320 billion bill into a bill that nears $400 billion in authorization levels. The most concerning amendments include Amendment #84 from Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL; $30.5 billion in authorizations for restoration and modernization at national labs), Amendment #190 from Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI; $10 billion in authorizations for Shovel-Ready Restoration Grants), and Amendment #42 from Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL; $9.5 billion in authorizations for industrial technologies). While NTU does not take a position on each amendment in the en bloc, we are deeply concerned about the authorization levels across the en bloc as a whole. NTU will significantly weigh any roll call votes on this en bloc amendment in our annual Rating of Congress.
- En Bloc #2 from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR): While this en bloc, which consists of bipartisan amendments to the America COMPETES Act, contains far lower levels of new authorizations than the first en bloc, NTU still counted nine amendments with new authorizations totaling nearly $900 million.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Director of Federal Policy Andrew Lautz at alautz@ntu.org.