H.Res. 725

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I congratulate her on her extraordinary leadership as the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. She has been a champion for America's working families, protecting consumers, protecting the taxpayer, and doing so in a very balanced way, sensitive to the needs of all parties concerned. I am so proud of her leadership and her service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bad bill for hardworking Americans that is on the floor today. The cynically named Mortgage Choice Act provides anything but choice. Instead, it raises costs on consumers who have few alternatives. This is yet another attempt to stack the deck even further against working families.

Mr. Speaker, this debate is another waste of time. Every day, courageous, patriotic DREAMers lose their status, and, every day, the American dream slips further out of reach. As Members of Congress, we have a moral responsibility to act now to protect DREAMers, who are the pride of our Nation and are American in every way but on paper.

I use this occasion as opposing this bill to speak further about social justice in America. The American people want Congress to pass a Dream Act:

Eighty-four percent of Americans support a path to citizenship for

DREAMers or permanent status; 88 percent of Independents back the path of citizenship or permanent status; and 70 percent of Republicans back either citizenship or permanent status.

The three Bs--business; badges, our law enforcement community; and Bibles--are imploring Congress to pass a Dream Act.

Earlier this month, I stood with evangelical leaders to call on the Speaker to bring the Dream Act to a vote for the sake of family fairness and respect for the spark of divinity within every person.

There is nothing partisan or political about protecting DREAMers. If a Dream Act were brought to the floor, it would pass immediately with strong, bipartisan support. I commend my Republican colleagues for their courage in speaking out on this, yet our DREAMers hang in limbo with a cruel cloud of fear and uncertainty above them.

The Republican moral cowardice must end. Members of Congress are trustees of the people and of our Nation.

Why are we here if not to protect the patriotic young people who are determined to contribute and to strengthen America?

So I am going to go on as long as my leadership minute allows.

I would like to speak to the Bible in Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan.

On one occasion, an expert of the law stood up to test

Jesus.

``Teacher,'' he asked, ``what must I do to inherit eternal

life?''

``What is written in the law,'' Jesus replied, ``How do you

read it?''

The lawyer answered: ``Love the Lord, your God, with all

your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with

all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.''

Jesus responded: ``You have answered correctly. Do this and

you will live.''

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus: ``And

who is my neighbor?''

In reply, Jesus said: ``A man going down from Jerusalem to

Jericho. When he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him

of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half

dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and

when he saw the man, he passed on to the other side of the

road. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw

him, passed on to the other side. But a Samaritan, as he

traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he

took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds,

pouring oil and wine. And then he put the man on his own

donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next

day, he took out two Denarii and gave them to the innkeeper.

Look after him, and when I return, I will reimburse you for

any extra expense you may have. Which of these three do you

think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of

robbers?''

The expert of the law replied: ``The man who had mercy on

him.''

Jesus told him: ``Go and do likewise.''

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one that has been used over and over again to welcome strangers. Samaritans were not friends to the person that the Samaritan saved, but he was a man of justice.

We all know how proud we are of America, as a land of opportunity and the land of the American Dream, which, for decades and centuries, really, has attracted people to our shores, to make the future better for their families. In doing so, they subscribe to the vows of our Founders. ``A new order of the ages,'' it says, on the great seal of the United States, a new order, ``Novus Ordo Seclorum.'' That meant that it was predicated on the idea that every generation would take responsibility to make the future better for the next.

It became known as the American Dream and people flocked to our shores, bringing their determination, their optimism, their hope, and their courage, to make the future better for their families. In doing so, as I said, they subscribed to the values of our Founders to make the future better. That is why our country would be a new order for the ages.

How proud we are to have the Statue of Liberty welcoming people to our shores. In the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the statue, it says:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows worldwide welcome; her mild eyes command. . . .

Words that are music to the ears of everyone who loves freedom.

``Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!'' cries she

With silent lips. ``Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!''

With those words, America has been a beacon to the world, and how proud it has made us. America is great, some say, because America is good; and this manifestation of our goodness is one that is historic.

In responding to the call of our Statue of Liberty--who must, by now, have tears in her eyes, having heard some of the debate on immigration--I want to read about some of the DREAMers, who came to our shores, maybe through land or by sea.

I want to talk about Luis Galvan. Luis came to the United States when he was 5 years old and grew up in poverty. Today, he is an agriculture ambassador at College of the Sequoias and is working to help students improve their grades. Following the repeal of DACA, Luis constantly worries about his ability to continue working in order to afford his education. He is one of four siblings also attending college, who are also DACA recipients.

Jacqueline Romo's DACA expires this month. Jacqueline was raised in the city of Chicago. She is an undocumented American aspiring to earn a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Her education is her priority ever since she was in elementary school. Throughout high school, she had serious doubts about her future, due to her status, but it never stopped her from pursuing higher education. Jacqueline went on to community college, working a part-time job and earning a few scholarships that eventually added up to affordable tuition. Her mother, a single mother, would not be able to contribute to Jacqueline's education after high school, so it was Jacqueline's choice and responsibility to work her way financially through college. Thanks to scholarships like the Illinois Dream Fund, TheDream.US, and other community scholarships, Jacqueline was lucky to follow through higher education, something that most of her undocumented peers would not have the chance to do. Jacqueline's dreams are the same dreams of other undocumented Americans to persevere in this great country.

Hector Rivera Suarez is a DACA recipient from Greensboro, North Carolina. He has been a DACA recipient for the past 6 years. This came to an end on January 21. He is currently on track to graduate in May, with a degree in philosophy and education. As a student body president and honor scholar at Guilford College, it is part of his curriculum to serve in the local community. He has served as an afterschool tutor at a local community center that services predominantly the Latino community, as well as assisting in classrooms at a newcomer school. His plan after graduation is to enroll in Teach for America, since it is his only opportunity to be a teacher while being a DACA recipient. Once DACA was rescinded in September, these plans had to be delayed. Without DACA, he will not have the opportunity to keep serving the community in greater ways.

Hector's DACA expires 5 days before the Teach For America January deadline; this is why he needs there to be a resolution as soon as possible so he can move forward with his plans of mentoring the future leaders of America.

Mr. Speaker, I bring this up because, as you know, the discussions and negotiations on the caps bill, the budget bill, are making progress and, perhaps, soon to be coming to an end. And on that score, I would say so far as what I know of it, the budget caps agreement, which will be announced today, includes many Democratic priorities, actually bipartisan priorities.

But with the disaster recovery package and dollar-for-dollar increases in the defense and nondefense budget, Democrats have secured hundreds of billions of dollars to invest in communities across America. There will be billions in funding to fight opioids, to strengthen our veterans and the NIH, to build job-creating rural infrastructure and broadband, and to fund access

to child care and quality higher education. That is something that has been negotiated with our input between Leader Mitch McConnell and Leader Chuck Schumer.

But Mitch McConnell also made a commitment to his Members that he would bring up a dream bill to the floor of the Senate in an appointed time. So why can't we have some kind of a commitment on this side of the aisle that enabled the discussion to take place on a values-based place?

Here, we asked the Speaker would he bring up the Hurd-Aguilar bill, which is bipartisan, would win if brought to the House, has a sufficient number of Republican cosponsors, thank them for their courage to be public, but others who have said they would vote for it, and we would like a commitment from the Speaker to bring it and any other bills that he believes should be considered on the floor as well.

We could do it under a ``Queen of the Hill'' where the bill with the most votes becomes the most prevailing bill to either support what the Senate has done or to reconcile what the Senate has done.

That is a simple request. That is a simple request that the House Democrats and, in a bipartisan way, others have joined in asking the Speaker to bring a bill to the floor to give us that commitment.

Why should we, in the House, be treated in such a humiliating way, when the Republican Senate leader has given that opportunity, in a bipartisan way, to his membership?

What is wrong? There is something wrong with this picture. That is why, this morning, when we took a measure of our caucus on support for the package--well, we have to see all the particulars of it yet, but there are good things in it--that it does nothing to even advance, even with a commitment, without having passed the legislation first, to advance bipartisan legislation to protect DREAMers in this House.

Without that commitment from Speaker Ryan, comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support, nor does it have the support of a large number of members of our caucus.

So then I go on to some other--I always am reminded in all of these debates about our commitment to faith. In God We Trust, it says there right over the Speaker's chair.

The Gospel of Matthew has been an inspiration to many of us on both sides of the aisle in terms of what our values are and how we make choices. And when, in the Gospel of Matthew, he writes: ``When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.''

Then Christ goes on to say:

``For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.

``Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?' ''

And the Lord says, when you see us--what did you see, a stranger and invite him in or need clothing and clothing you, he's asking the Lord. And when did you see sick and in prison, and did I visit you?

``The King will reply, `Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' ''

That is always important. Everybody knows that, the least of my brethren speech.

However, the King does go on: ``Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

``They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

``He will reply, `Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' ''

It is not only positive of what you did, you did for me; it is what you did not do. When I was a stranger, you did not help.

Then it will go into eternal punishment. The righteous will go into eternal life.

So anyway, more stories about our DREAMers and why they honor the vows of our Founders, why they deserve our support. We are just talking about this discrete group of people, how they command the support of the American people.

Itzel Verduzco Rojas is from Ponca City, Oklahoma. Itzel is working as a medical assistant for a pediatric dermatologist and in school full time trying to pursue a career in nursing. In addition to her job and school, Itzel volunteers with CASA, City Rescue Mission, and Rebuilding Together Oklahoma City to address issues of poverty and homelessness in her city.

With DACA, Itzel was able to apply for a driver's license and work legally. However, because her renewal application was caught up in postal delays, Itzel has not yet received her renewal, and her current DACA expired on January 20. Because of this, she will now have to take a semester off from school, and she is facing severe disruption in her life and the ability to support herself.

This is really important to note because the people--some of the people in the White House have been saying nobody is being deported. Well, we will see about that. But they are saying these people are protected.

They are not protected. And you heard the characterization that the President's Chief of Staff made about some of these people, about being lazy or whatever it was.

I think, in our discussions on the economy, in a separate context, we have seen how few Americans would be able to rise to the occasion immediately if they had a $500 unsuspected bill that had come their way; whether the water heater broke or whatever it is, it would be challenging, it would be disruptive to their lives. It would be hard for them to have an expendable, immediately expendable, $500. But that is what it takes to sign up to what the President--the sign up that was required by the President after his September announcement.

So it is not about being lazy. Or yes, it is probably about fear, too. Mr. Kelly, General Kelly, mentions that. But it is about not understanding the situation of fear and of contribution, the beautiful contribution that people make, that the DREAMers make to our country.

Itzel came to the U.S. legally at age 7. She came legally and attempted to adjust her status along with family. She aged out of eligibility when she turned 21. She was able to apply for DACA during her senior year of high school, which opened the doors for her.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dalia Medina immigrated to the United States at age 11 from Mexico. She is a licensed mental health therapist providing much-needed service to at-risk youth and families in New Mexico.

Dalia is working toward an independent license to open her private practice to continue aiding families in her State. She recently obtained a master's degree in clinical social work and previously earned a bachelor's degree in criminology and psychology.

All of these people are making such a wonderful contribution to our society because they have courage, they have values, and they have purpose in their life. These stories were given to me by our colleagues as they have taken up the cause of many of these DREAMers. But it is not enough.

We have no right to talk about DREAMers and to tell their stories and take pride in their actions unless we are willing to take action to support them, and we have that opportunity today by asking the Speaker of the House to give us a vote.

What are you afraid of? Give us a vote. Let the House work its will. Senator McConnell, Mitch McConnell, is enabling the Senate to work its will.

Why should the House of Representatives be constrained, especially on such a values-based issue as who we are as a nation and recognizing our biblical responsibility to each other?

Nicole Robles from Houston, Texas, she was born in Mexico. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was 6 months old, and she faces deportation. In less than 100 days, her DACA will expire. I am anxious--Well, this is now much less than 100 days.

She says: ``I'm anxious because I am graduating high school in a few months and I want to start college in August of next year. How will I do that without my DACA?''

She says: ``There are so many barriers to higher education when you're undocumented. With a Dream Act, undocumented students will have a sense''--the Dream Act gives them a documented sense--``of security and opportunity''--to go to school--``to get a job, to care for their families, to continue their studies in college or university.''

``I want that security and opportunity. We deserve that.'' She deserves that.

``And we need Congress by the end of the year so that we, more people, don't reach their expiration dates.''

Now, let me say that we have talked mostly about education, people working in education and social activities to help other people do their best. But many of our DREAMers have served in our military with great courage and great patriotism to the only country that they know.

Again, using my leader's minute, I want to make sure that the Record is clear about what this debate is about. It is about honoring our own commitment to the Statue of Liberty, to the Founding Fathers, in terms of making this a land where one generation would take responsibility to make the future better for the next.

And that brings to mind another person from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Yuridia Loera. She said:

``Growing up, I was reminded of my immigration status every day by my mother. Twenty years later, I realized she did this to prepare our family for the imminent day that our family would face a deportation. And that day could be today because my DACA has expired.

``DACA is what allowed me to pass through immigration checkpoints safely. I am also a survivor of sexual assault--with DACA, I was able to approach the police to report the person who assaulted me. Trump's cruel decision to terminate DACA has put border residents and survivors of assault in jeopardy. This is not how a country should treat immigrant youth and our families.''

I just want you to know why we are making this plea. This is a human plea to the Speaker, a prayerful human plea to the Speaker.

It is almost 40 hours. This morning, when I first met with my colleagues in our meeting at 8, it was exactly 40 hours until midnight tomorrow.

Forty is a number fraught with meaning in our religious lives. Forty years, in the Old Testament, 40 years of Moses and the Jews and Aaron in the desert; 40 days that Christ was in the desert himself; 40 days is the length of time of Lent; and, therefore, 40 hours is a Catholic devotion that many of us grew up with.

We have that same 40 hours, from 8 this morning until tomorrow night at midnight, to be prayerful--to be prayerful--to show our purpose, and to show why we are asking the Speaker for this vote.

I have great admiration for the work that is done in a bipartisan way, on the budget, the bill; of course, it is not everything we want, but there are many good things in it, and I just can't explain to the DREAMers or to my colleagues why we should be second-class Members of Congress in this House without a commitment from the Speaker that Mitch McConnell gave to the Senators, that there would be a vote on the floor to let Congress work its will.

Are you afraid that the DREAMer bill will pass, the work of Mr. Hurd and Mr. Aguilar working with other Members to shape a bill that would recognize concerns that the President has and others have to put a bipartisan bill there that should attract the support of the President?

Instead, we are hearing words that are hard to process from the White House but, nonetheless, recognizing that we have to go down this path together. We all believe that, as the Bible tells us, there is a spark of divinity in every person and that we must respect that spark of divinity.

Tomorrow will be the prayer breakfast, and that is a solemn occasion in Washington, D.C., and we are always thinking in terms of Christ. When Christ became man, his assuming humanity brought his divinity to us so that we participate in his divinity, every one of us.

We have to remember that not only does it exist in every person that we encounter, but it exists in us. It exists in the President of the United States and his staff and all of the people who elected him. That is a beautiful thing about it all.

But that spark of divinity in each of us has to relate to other people and treat them with respect. How would we judge other countries if they said: ``We have several hundred thousand people who came here as children, and now we are sending them back where they came from?'' We would make a judgment about those countries that that was outside the circle of civilized human behavior. And yet--and yet--we have something to do about that right now.

I want to talk to you about Juan Carlos Navarro from Oregon. He said: ``I immigrated to the United States when I was 3 years old with my parents because I needed medical treatment for my cerebral palsy. I went through six surgeries and 12 years of physical therapy and walked for the first time when I was 15 years old.

``Growing up, I did well in school, but I felt stuck because I didn't know how to go to college. With the help of my counselor, I was able to apply for private scholarships and attend a community college in Salem. I'm now at Western Oregon University, where I was inspired to start my own group for undocumented young people like me. I'm now getting my master's there, and I'm part of the college Student Services Administration Program, with the dream of one day making higher education accessible to low-income and undocumented students.

``Without DACA, I no longer have access to health insurance through an employer. I suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. This is why I have visited my Members of Congress to urge them to pass the Dream Act, because my life and my health is on the line.''

Patricia Ulloa was born in El Salvador. Patricia said: ``I have a mixed status family--my parents have TPS, I have one U.S. citizen brother, and my two sisters and I have DACA. We need the Dream Act now because one of my sister's DACA expires on March 6, 2018, and pretty soon the rest of my sisters and I could lose our protections too. Our parents are already losing their TPS protections because Trump terminated the program.

``I want the government to recognize us as part of society and know that this is our home and we contribute to our communities even without papers. My family wants to be able to stay together and feel safe to drive, work, and travel.''

Here she says--I want to repeat this--``we contribute to our communities even without papers.''

As an Italian American who grew up at a time when I did not feel any prejudice or bias--or if I did, I thought it was the other person's problem. We Italian Americans always think there are only two kinds of people: those who are Italian American and those who want to be.

But in my father's generation and my grandfather's generation and my great-grandmother's generation, it was a different story, and there was a term. It was called ``wop,'' and people used that as a derogatory term to Italian Americans.

Do you know what wop means, Mr. Speaker? Wop means without papers. Without papers. That is what these people were called, without papers. And that is all that these kids are, without papers. In every other way, strong participants in our society, in our community, and in our country.

And so again, just give us a chance to have a vote, Mr. Speaker. Another day will come when we can talk about comprehensive immigration reform. We

can talk about this, that, and the other thing, but right now, the Hurd-Aguilar bill, whatever is being put together in the Senate, recognizes our responsibility to protect our borders, recognizes the value of immigration to our country: hopes, dreams, aspirations, making America more American every newcomer who comes. I truly believe that, the constant reinvigoration of America.

Saba Nefes from Texas was born in Mexico, and Saba writes: ``We still don't know a lot about cancer. We still don't know about genetic diseases. My research at Texas Tech goes right into the heart of that. It uses pure mathematics to look at why all these genetic diseases exist and how they exist so someday we can come up with cures for them. We're far from that point, but this is the challenge I work on.

``In addition to conducting research at Texas Tech, I've taught undergraduate students as a teaching assistant. This past semester, I got to teach anatomy, and one of my students was blind and had a service dog. It was a blessing, a great experience to teach her anatomy, something that she got to touch and feel to learn. It taught me a lot of patience. It taught me what it's like to work alongside my American students and peers. I'm just as much a part of their lives as they are of mine.

``If DACA is repealed, I would be out of a job immediately, and I won't be able to teach my students. I won't be able to continue conducting the research that I am conducting right now. This research could help scientists understand diseases like cancer and lead down a path toward a cure. Without DACA, I can't continue this critical work.''

Now, I want to just say this. I think there is a lack of understanding, and we should have made it clear on the other side of the aisle and with the White House about what the President's action in September did.

The President, maybe in good spirit, thought that by giving us a March 5 deadline, he was giving a 6-month reprieve to DREAMers; but what, in fact, he was doing was making matters worse for them. It was most unfortunate. Most unfortunate because, again, while they may have maintained the status of DREAMer, they did not have the protections of the DACA executive order that President Obama put forth.

Perhaps it would have been better if President Trump had said: ``I am giving Congress 6 months to pass a bill, but I am not changing the status quo that protects the DREAMers.''

Just on that point, President Obama, when he protected the DREAMers and their parents, what he did was significant, but it was not as significant as what President Reagan did in the 1980s. President Obama acted because Congress would not act. He took action.

President Reagan acted after Congress did act, the Immigration Act of 1986. President Reagan said, interesting: But you did not go far enough. So he instituted, by executive order, Family Fairness. And then Family Fairness was continued under President George Herbert Walker Bush, two great Presidents for immigration in our country.

What they did with their executive orders, which stood the test of court cases, protected a higher percentage of people than what President Obama did--two Republican Presidents, two great champions on immigration. Even after Congress acted, they said: You didn't go far enough.

President Obama had to act because Congress would not act.

Then we come forward with President Clinton following in that tradition. President George W. Bush, great President on immigration, he couldn't convince his own party to pass comprehensive immigration reform. But his statements, his values-based policy on immigrants is something, to this day--and his current statements are so beautiful and inspirational about treating people with dignity and valuing their worth as we talk about immigration.

And then, of course, President Obama, doing what he did in terms of executive orders, protecting people in the tradition of Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush, with the common values of George W. Bush and President Clinton.

So now we have the first Republican President in modern times--the first President, really--who is anti-immigrant, and that is just such a change from his own party, and it makes it hard to see where we can have shared values.

Certainly one piece of that debate which would require a fuller stipulation of fact, hearings, et cetera, to see what the best path forward is is important for us to do. But for now, because of the action that the President took, it necessitates us taking action here, as the President anticipated by putting a March 5 deadline on it. We would like to do it sooner.

This is a vehicle leaving the station. And if the Republicans need our support for this legislation, which has many good features--and I commend the negotiators on it and was a part of that--unless we can get the same commitment that Mitch McConnell gave the bipartisan group of legislators who asked for it in the Senate, we would like that same response to our bipartisan group.

I want to talk about Jaime Rangel: ``To me, Georgia is my home. I am proud to be from the South, and I love to give back to my community.

``I tell everybody I'm a Latino that grew up eating tortillas and grits at the same time, and north Georgia is home. And for somebody to say, `Hey, you can't get some instate tuition' in a place that I consider my State was really--it was really heartbreaking. I felt out of place.

``Right now, I feel optimistic because I believe the greater part of the country understands that you can't deport 750,000 individuals. These are individuals who give back to their community, who are involved in their churches, who have Ph.D.'s, who have been creating jobs and who just want to make this country a better place.

``When President Obama announced DACA, to me, it was a life-changing experience. I felt that I finally was given a decent chance to be somebody in this country, to contribute to my State, to contribute to my community, to get a job, and just give back and be somebody in the greatest country on Earth.''

That is the patriotism of our DREAMers.

``So when DACA was introduced, it opened the doors to many things, even doors I didn't think were imaginable to open.

``My name is Jaime Rangel. I was born in Mexico, but I came to this country when I was only 3 months old.''

As the President said, he loves the DREAMers. He loves the DREAMers. He loves to call it DACA. Subscribe to that. He loves the DREAMers. And these people came to this country not of their own volition, through no fault of their own. I, myself, thank their parents for bringing them here because they are a blessing to America, but, from their standpoint, through no fault of their own.

Why can't we be fair and give them a break?

Javier Noris in New York City came from Mexico: ``I invest in the next generation of biomedical tech solutions.

``When I was working at a convenience store, I always had big aspirations, even though I wasn't sure how they would come to fruition. But the moment DACA was passed, it really put everything in perspective, and I really made a conscious effort to focus on my career. So I ended up pursuing a career as a software engineer.

``I went to school at Cal State University, Northridge. I studied economics and biotechnology. After working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, I ended up moving to Brooklyn, New York. I now work in venture capital, running a small venture fund that invests in early- stage life science and frontier technology startups.

``As a CEO of an investment fund, DACA being repealed does not only affect me. A DACA repeal could affect the startups with which I work and my ability to invest in them and their ability to continue to grow and employ hundreds of workers across the country.

``My name is Javier. I'm a DACA recipient and I'm from Mexico City. I came to the United States when I was 5 years old.''

He did not come alone. He did not. He was brought here by his parents.

So many of our DREAMers here are called DREAMers because they have big dreams. And they are entrepreneurs; they are teachers; they are

researchers in science; they are in our military. They are making such a fabulous contribution to the future of our country.

It is not just about them. This DACA repeal that we are making is about us: Who are we as a country? How do we honor the vows of our founders, the Statue of Liberty and her appeal to the world that has made America such a beacon of hope?

The list goes on and on about many, many DACA recipients, and I intend to read them all.

But in addition to that, I want to go back to the Bible because I could have brought the Bible here and just read the Bible and said: If we are people of faith, in God we trust, as we contend to be, we must act upon our faith, and act upon our values.

People always ask me: Where is hope? Where should we find hope?

Hope is sitting there where it always has been, right between faith and charity. People have hope because they believe. They believe in God. They have faith in our country and themselves and their families; and they have faith in the goodness, the charity of others that people, when given the chance, will do the right thing, and then, hopefully, that will be returned to them when they need hope and can have faith in the goodness of others.

I want to tell you about Maria Praeli. She is from Connecticut. She said: ``I didn't let anything keep me from advancing academically. Unfortunately, when high school ended, I couldn't attend the university of my dreams. I was getting all these acceptance letters, but I couldn't go to any of these schools because I didn't have a Social Security number''--this is my point; you can't get a Social Security number--``and, therefore, I wasn't eligible for financial aid. I couldn't pursue the dreams that I had been hoping to. But I did not let my undocumented status hold me back from continuing to advance academically.

``I enrolled at Gateway Community College, where I worked very hard as a student government association president and graduated with 3.8 GPA to then be able to attend Quinnipiac University. I graduated magna cum laude and earned my bachelor's degree in May of 2016.

``It's surreal to wake up every day and be reminded that even though I have been living in America for the past 18 years, in a few months, all my honors and education might end up not mattering anymore because I won't be able to contribute to the country which I have called home for so long.

``My name is Maria. I was born in Ica, Peru, and moved to the United States when I was 5 years old.''

There is documentation after documentation of how young these children were when they came to the United States all because their parents wanted to make the future better for them.

Andrea Seabra writes: ``My dad was a fighter pilot in the Peruvian Air Force, so I grew up with a lot of military influence. When I was in high school, I joined New Jersey ROTC, which was the junior ROTC, and I was there for 3\1/2\ years.

``It gave me that taste of maybe what my dad might have lived when he was in the military. I lost him when I was only 6 years old, so I never really got to know that part of him. I always thought in the back of my head, when I graduate, I want to join the military. When I was in my junior year, I realized that I couldn't enroll in the military because I was undocumented.

``I was sitting with a recruiter at my school, an Air Force recruiter, and he asked me about it. He's like, `What's your social?' So when I told him, `Well, I don't have one--' '' meaning Social Security number--``he is like, `What about your passport?' I'm like, `Well, I have a Peruvian passport.' And he's like, `No, you have to either be a U.S. resident or a U.S. citizen to be able to join.'

``That's the first time I ever experienced that big wall of being undocumented, like a big stop sign saying, no, you can't pursue this passion of yours.

``I didn't live a normal life until I got DACA. Thanks to DACA, I was able to pursue my career after graduating cum laude from Saint Leo University, in marketing. With DACA, I was able to build my professional network, help people, influence people, and do all these things for myself and my family and my community. If that's going to be taken away, everything that I've accomplished, that I've worked on, that I've helped people with will just fall apart. It will shake the foundation of who I am today as a person, as a professional, even as a friend, as a daughter, everything.

``My name is Andrea. I was born in Lima, Peru. I was brought here by my mom when I was 11 years old.''

She had lost her dad when she was 6. But this idea of military service, many, when they got the DACA status protection, have served honorably in the military. We are very proud of them, as we are proud of all of our men and women in the military.

And I emphasize the story of hard work that these DREAMers have because they are very consistent with American workers. American people are so resourceful. They are so wonderful. They so care about their families and their communities. So this is not to say that DACA recipients are different. It is to say they are just like us.

We are very proud of the American people, the productivity of our workforce, the faith of our families, the civic mindedness and the generosity of spirit, and, really, of resources of the American people.

My telling these stories is not to separate the DACA recipients from them, but to show how similar they are and how assimilated they are into our community. It is mutually beneficial.

Jose Manuel Santoyo, from Texas, said: ``My education was so that I could contribute to society.

``My last year at Southern Methodist University, I began working on an engaged learning fellowship. Because of that, I was selected to be the commencement speaker for my graduation and represent almost 600 other students who would be graduating that day. In my speech, I thanked the faculty and staff at my university. I had teachers who I've looked up to my whole life, who provided amazing educational opportunities regardless of the papers I had or didn't have.

``I want to be able to work and I want to work in public service. In order to do that, I would need to have DACA. I would need to have work authorization in this country. I feel like that's what my education was for. My education wasn't for me. My education was so I could contribute to society. My education was so that I could give back to the community that has given me so much, to the country that has given me so much.

``This year I hope that our Congress and our President work to fund a permanent solution to provide us DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship, to give us an opportunity to use our education, to use everything that we've learned in order to give back, in order to contribute, in order to provide for ourselves and our families and our communities.''

What Manuel said is that he looked up to his teachers. He learned from others in our country. That also demonstrates the beautiful commitment of the American people to teach, to shed light to younger people, newcomers to our country, to make a valuable contribution.

So in saluting, as I say, the DREAMers, we are saluting the opportunity they were given by the American people to make their contribution. Hopefully, Congress will live up to the values of the American people who overwhelmingly support the DREAMers, and see this as a separate issue not just about the DREAMers, but about who we are as a country.

Cesar Vargas was born in Mexico. He holds a law degree and wants to became a military lawyer. Aside from advocating for legislation to allow DREAMers to serve in the military, he has been advocating for immigration reform through a political group he launched last year called Dream Action Coalition. The group is known for challenging lawmakers on their stance on immigration and highlighting the political power of voters. In his case, Latino voters.

Kelly--just Kelly--is from Dover, New Jersey. Kelly is a student working toward becoming a medical assistant. She will be done with courses in January. However, without a DACA work permit, she won't be able to complete an internship required to complete her training and get certified. Her driver's license also expires in February.

Understand this: you can't have a Social Security card, a passport, a driver's license. You cannot function as a person in our society without having your status protected by the Dream Act. So when people tell you it is all protected, it isn't. Listen to the stories.

So I was talking about Kelly. Kelly is a student working to becoming a medical assistant. She will be done in January. However, without DACA, she won't be able to complete her training or get her driver's license, as I mentioned. Kelly--just Kelly--has lived in New Jersey since she was 5 years old. She says DACA has ``given me the chance to drive, have a work permit, buy a car, get car insurance--things that obviously benefit the country as well. It's helped me to not be stuck, not to have to depend on others. . . .''

Kelly's DACA renewal application was rejected because she forgot to fill in a date of expiration. When she received notice of the error, she fixed it and sent the application back immediately, but, by then, the arbitrary October deadline had passed.

This is another reason why we need to clear this up.

Crystal--just Crystal--is a single, working mom of 5 U.S. citizen children. She was born in the Bahamas and arrived in the U.S. at 6 years old. Crystal had her fifth child only 3 weeks ago, and while recovering, she had been on unpaid leave from a retail job, where she has worked for nearly 6 years. Now that her work authorization has expired, she will not be able to return to work, and her ability to provide for her kids will be impeded.

What?

Carlos from the Bronx. Carlos lives in the Bronx and is the only undocumented member of his family. The whole family pulls together to care for Carlos' younger sister who has severe cerebral palsy and cannot walk. Carlos' employer, a fabrication company, desperately wants to keep Carlos as an employee. His DACA and work authorization expired February 18, 2017. It expired already.

So the list goes on and on.

Carlos sent his DACA renewal application on September 18, 2017, 2 weeks after the President's announcement. But it was not received until December 11--he sent it on September 18. It was received on October 11. In the rejection letter, he was notified that he failed to fill in his DACA expiration date on one of the forms. The relevant information was included in the cover letter and in other parts of the packet. Carlos arrived in the U.S. when he was 2 years old. New York is the only place he can call home. The expiration date was in the package, but in one of the forms it was not added. So he lost his protections.

I have to mention Kelly, who is a constituent of Rodney Frelinghuysen. Crystal, who was here from the Bahamas, is a constituent of Ted Deutch. Carlos is from the Bronx and is a constituent of Joe Crowley.

Saul is from San Francisco and is a constituent of Jackie Speier. Saul aspires to be a teacher, Mr. Speaker. DACA has allowed him to work in the field he is passionate about: education.

He was able to get a driver's license. Saul submitted a DACA renewal application September 30, well in time, via USPS express delivery. He received notification of an error, which he fixed and resubmitted. However, his application was rejected as untimely.

Agustin is from Brooklyn. Agustin's DACA will expire in January-- already--within days of his 21st birthday. DACA allowed Agustin to go to college to study criminal justice. He works and goes to school. When his DACA expires--which it has--he won't have the means to pay his bills and the cost of school.

What are we doing?

It is like without papers, WOP. And now people who are striving to have their papers are outlawed on a technicality. Really? Aren't we supposed to be enabling people to make their contribution instead of hurting them with the process?

It is, again, important to note, and for our viewers to note that what people are asking for is nothing special. It is asking them to honor what was there. When DACA recipients were told to sign up, they submitted considerable information about their lives. They effectively outed their parents with the commitment that there would be protection for them.

We have heard many good bipartisan proposals to protect the DREAMers, to give consideration to parents so that they would not be deported because they brought a child into the country. Some of these parents have citizen children now who are also making a contribution to our society.

So it is because people understand that that September 5 announcement by the President was very disruptive. Let's hope that it was not intentional. I don't think that it was. I have no reason to think that it was. But it did cause problems that perhaps were unforeseen. The system did not even allow for a correction in a form in a timely fashion because of dependence on when it was received to be judged a protection for those students.

So, in fact, over 110 DREAMers a day lose their protection. It is over--approaching 20,000 already who are losing their protections. And it will be more by the time of March 5, which is the deadline. And if we are going to reach a March 5 deadline, or any deadline, we have to get on a timetable to do so.

One timetable we have is the opportunity today to have a commitment from the Speaker not to be afraid of DREAMers. Thank God for them. They contribute. We are a nation of DREAMers. That is why they fit so comfortably in our society and contribute to it so beautifully.

I will tell you about Mayron, Rick Larsen's constituent from Washington State. Mayron, originally from Honduras, has lived in the U.S. since he was 11 years old and knows no other country as home. He has overcome lots of obstacles to be who he is today, a successful entrepreneur who owns three businesses. He submitted his DACA renewal application before the deadline. It arrived on October 2, 2017. He accidentally submitted the processing fee for $465 instead of $495. That is what it takes. $495 is a lot of money. His entire case was sent back for that reason.

With his rejection, he received a green document stating: You are invited to resubmit your application package after you have corrected the reasons for rejection. Place this letter on top of your application package.

Mayron affixed the processing fee and resubmitted his application with the green document on top of his application package. On October 31, he received the entire package in the mail with a rejection notice dated October 24 that stated that USCIS is no longer accepting DACA applications.

Mayron has been a DACA applicant for the last 3 years and is heartbroken by the DHS' actions in rejecting the renewal of his DACA.

Gregory Meeks' constituent, Brittany, writes that she was born in Trinidad and Tobago and arrived in the U.S. at 3 years old and grew up in New York. She has no close family in Trinidad and Tobago, and all of her immediate and most of her extended family who are citizens and residents live near her in New York.

Brittany is a full-time caretaker for a family in Brooklyn with two 14-month-old sons, one of whom has special needs and requires physical therapy. Although the child's special needs were not known when she was hired, Brittany has risen to the occasion with grace, calm, and competence according to the family. We are devastated by the thought she may not be able to continue to work in this country, and, no, we won't find another caregiver who is as reliable, nurturing, and unshakeable as Brittany.

Brittany submitted her renewal application September 21, but it was sent back to her on October 5 because she forgot to sign her name in one place. She sent it back immediately but was rejected as untimely.

Hugo in Houston, Texas. Hugo is a 34-year-old father who lives in Houston, Texas. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 6 years old and has lived in Houston ever since. He completed K-12 in Houston and now works at a photo framing shop near downtown. After Trump was elected, Hugo worried about reapplying, so he waited. Hugo found out from one text message from a friend on September 6 that he needed to reapply before October 5 or risk losing his DACA. He decided to quickly put together his application as his DACA was set to expire September 9, 2017.

Hurricane Harvey had just hit the Houston area. While Hugo's home was

not destroyed, the entire city of Houston was shut down, including many businesses. Hugo's work was one of them. He didn't have the time or money to pay an attorney. He had to borrow half the money for the application fee because he couldn't get $495 together in such a short period of time.

Hugo was unable to get his DACA renewal application mailed until October 4, which is still before the deadline. USCIS received Hugo's application on October 6. On November 1, Hugo received a letter from USCIS denying his renewal. Now, you know if they got his application on October 6, they knew it was mailed before October 5, or in time on October 5, but they turned him down.

The point I want to make here is these are technicalities that people have been turned down on. Could we all live up to the standard that has been set to sign in every place with the date and the this and the that even though the information is contained in the package, even though hurricanes intervened in the mail service or the opportunity to put the package together, no mitigation, no consideration for that? That is really unfortunate because the American people are the losers in all of that.

Fernanda writes that she arrived in the U.S. at age 2 wearing a pink parka and matching pants, clutching on to her mom. She carried a single bag and abandoned her family in search of a better life beside her father in the U.S. Her dad was already in Alabama, and they were wanting to be by his side.

In the year before his decision to leave Mexico, he had been assaulted five times and already had his wedding band stolen twice. Since arriving to the States, they have been able to start four businesses and create jobs. They purchased two cars and put Fernanda through college. They also have helped their U.S.-born son reach his goals of being a professional soccer player and is on the Olympic Development Program team for the southeast region.

Sheila Jackson Lee is with us in the Chamber. Sheila's story is that one of these young people living with uncertainty is Cesar Espinoza, a DREAMer from Houston who came to America from Mexico at the age of 6. Cesar adapted quickly to his Texas home and became a standout student excelling in programs for the gifted and talented throughout his primary and secondary education.

Faced daily with the constant threat of deportation, Cesar and his family were forced to have an emergency plan in place in the event one of his family members were detained by the immigration services. Espinoza graduated from DeBakey High School near the top of his class and was accepted at some of America's most prestigious universities, including Yale. But his undocumented status prevented him from obtaining financial assistance, nearly shattering his college ambitions. He could have given up on his pursuit of a degree, but instead he chose to make a difference.

I know there are other young people who are just like me, said Cesar. They need someone to fight for them and try to make a way. That is when he founded FIEL, an immigrants' rights organization based in Houston.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee writes about her constituent, Emily. Emily is a resident of Alameda, California. She came to the U.S. when she was 9 years old with her family from South Korea in the year 2000. She currently works in community health work in a federally qualified health center in Oakland, California, serving the underserved API community. Emily graduated from UC Berkeley in 2014 and has been working as a community health worker ever since. She is also taking a class after work to prepare to apply to graduate school.

Emily says DACA has changed her life and the lives of her family members. She was able to finally contribute to her family's living expenses upon graduation and will continue to pursue her dreams.

Emily is grateful for the protection she received under DACA. But she is also deeply concerned about her mother and friends who don't have the same opportunity to come out of the shadows.

Emily said, ``When my rights as a `deserving American' are justified by the idea that it was `no fault of my own,' it automatically criminalizes my mother, whose love, sacrifice, and resilience made it possible for me and my siblings to be where we are today. I am forever thankful for her courage and the sacrifice she made to give us a better life.''

Emily's story is a reminder that we must protect DREAMers, but we must never give up the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. It is past time for Congress to pass the clean Dream Act.

Jose Castillo wrote:

``My name is Jose Castillo, and I am 22 years old. When I was 4 years old''--can you imagine how precious--``my parents took my little sister and me and packed up everything they owned. We got on a plane and headed to the United States to escape a country in its early stages of turmoil. My parents gave up everything they had to provide us with a sliver of a chance, one they knew we wouldn't have in Venezuela.

``They made it a point to raise us well while shielding us from racism and their fears of deportation.

``Eventually, we came to understand just how many doors were closed to us. Disheartened and frightened for our future, we prayed for something, anything. DACA was that something. DACA has given me hope and a real chance, but, more importantly, it has given me a voice. I can proudly tell my story to anyone who is willing to listen, a story about a family who is determined and persistent in their pursuit of an American life.

``DACA's removal would rip that away from us. Ending DACA will hurt more than 800,000 people, people not just with dreams and aspirations, but people that want to be seen, understood, and welcomed. They are your friends and your neighbors, your schoolteachers. . . .''

Now, this is so important: ``They are your friends and your neighbors, your schoolteachers and your doctors, and they need you to come to their side and help. Call Congress, have an open conversation, relay facts and fight for my family and the hundreds of thousands like us.''

This goes on and on. It just seems like it is such an easy solution. There are plenty of challenges that we have that are complex, comprehensive immigration reform, issues that relate to how we prepare our country for jobs for the 21st century, how we prepare our workers and our education system and the rest. But in all of that, we have to be strong as a country. To be strong as a country, we have to be true to our values. To be true to our values is to respect the aspirations of people who are our future. Our young people are our future, and these DREAMers are part of that. They have enriched our community, and they have been enriched by our community, by the goodness of the American people, and by the greatness of our country.

So our plea to the Speaker is not one just for the DREAMers. Our plea to the Speaker is for us, for ourselves, again, to honor the vows of our Founders, our patriarch, George Washington, and others who followed him to make our country great, but also to make it a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.

Claudia came to the United States when she was 5. She said: `` . . . my family brought me to a country I would call home. I had to learn a new language, new culture, a new way of life. I was brought here by hardworking, loving parents who only wanted what was best for my future, running away from poverty and leaving family behind in the hope of a better life.

``DACA allowed me to have a chance at a better tomorrow. I am now a medical assistant and a third-year student at the University of Utah. Taking away DACA would remove the privileges that I hold dearly. I am not an `illegal alien,' nor am I a criminal or a rapist. I am a human; I am 1 of the 800,000 DREAMers who thrive for a better future. America is my home. I didn't choose to be undocumented, but I do decide to keep fighting for what is right and keep moving forward, undocumented and unafraid. I am a DREAMer, and I am here to stay.''

Did I tell you about Juan Escalante? ``With much foresight to the oncoming political evidence, my parents fled Venezuela in 2000, with my two brothers and me in tow, for the United States. In 2006, we learned that an immigration attorney had mishandled our immigration case, which meant that,

after 6 years of legal fees and paying taxes, we were no longer on the path towards U.S. citizenship.

``By the time President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, program in 2012, I had graduated from Florida State University with a political science degree. I fought and lost two legislative fights in support of the Dream Act, helped enact a law in Florida that would provide in-state tuition for undocumented students across the State, and helped organize thousands of DREAMers from all across the country.

``Since 2013, DACA has protected my brothers and me from deportation. With DACA, I was able to return to FSU for a master's degree in public administration and get a job in immigration advocacy, as the digital campaigns manager for America's Voice. I am a Tallahassee resident.''

Mayra came to the United States at age 6. She said: ``I have now lived in the United States for 21 years. Currently, I work full time as a special education paraprofessional. I am also a college student. I'm working on my third college degree.''

How many of us can make that claim?

``In May of 2018, I will be graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in elementary education and special education. A challenge I have had to overcome is accepting situations that are out of my control and knowing that having strength and fortitude will lead me to prevail in the end.

``I first went to college to become a nurse. In 2011, my junior year of college, I graduated with honors with an associate's degree in nursing. Unfortunately, I was unable to get licensed due to my immigration status. It was upsetting and embarrassing. I was embarrassed because I would see former peers working as actual nurses, and I wasn't. And not because I was incapable, but merely because I was never even given the opportunity to take the NCLEX and get licensed.

``In 2012, I finished my senior year in college and graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in general studies. Over the years, the State I reside in has changed State legislation to allow DACA recipients to receive driver's licenses, professional licenses, and certifications.''

That is a beautiful thing, but we want that for the whole country. There are just certain things, the contributions of DREAMers to our society, the work they do every day with the American people of which they consider themselves to be a part, the benefits they have received from working and knowing people in our country, themselves benefiting from the greatness of the American people, the reciprocity they have given back and honoring the American Dream, working hard with a work ethic, an ethic of faith, family, and community, and a work ethic, usually typical of an immigration community as many of us who are families from the immigration community, which are all of us unless we happen to be very blessed to be born a Native American in our country. How beautiful some of the Native American families in our country have been to our newcomers to our country.

Our country should all be that welcoming, and I think our country is. That is why the numbers are in the eighties and nineties, in terms of support for DREAMers, and even in the seventies among Republicans for a path to citizenship.

Carlos Emilio Diaz writes: ``I am 19 years old, and I was born in Guerrero, Mexico. I moved to Houston when I was a year old''--a year old--``and was raised there my entire life. I am currently a student at UT Austin. My biggest dream is to provide my parents with everything they need without them having to work. They have sacrificed so much and continue to do so. I feel that's the least I could do. DACA gives me that opportunity, and without it, my dream has become uncertain.''

One of the things that I think many families in transition, that is to say, the upward mobility of education in our country and the length of time that families have been here, is the story of their respect for their parents, to see opportunities that they have, that DREAMers in this case have, but just take any people in our country. That one generation has tremendous opportunity because of the sacrifice of their parents and grandparents.

One of the attitudes that I have heard from people is, while they are enjoying and are grateful for everything that they have and the opportunity they have to give back to society, they have a certain sadness that their parents didn't have that same opportunity for education, to reach their personal aspirations. Their aspiration was to make the future better for their children. They certainly were successful at that. But, still, among some young people, you hear: ``I wish my parents could have had this opportunity.''

How many people have ever said: ``If only my mother would have had this opportunity''? That is in every generation, practically, because opportunities for women have changed so much.

But, in any case, I have a neighbor in East Palo Alto in the heart of Silicon Valley, Rocio, who writes:

``I grew up in East Palo Alto in the heart of Silicon Valley before and after the dot-com bubble. Despite living in a tough neighborhood of violence''--you maybe don't know that, but East Palo Alto is, in the heart of all this wealth, success, and entrepreneurship, a place that needs more of our attention.

``Despite living in a tough neighborhood of violence, I watched ``Star Trek Voyager,'' ``Friends,'' read Dr. Seuss, and memorized musicals from ``Funny Girl'' to ``The Wizard of Oz.'' On the weekends, I helped my dad clean office buildings. He hid me in the trash cart to sneak me into work. I picked up the trash and refilled the trash can with bags at every room. Today, I am in one of those conference rooms whiteboarding with engineers and product managers to solve the toughest problems in Big Data.''

Imagine being sneaked in in a trash barrel, helping to clean those offices, and now being the leader in the room, whiteboarding with engineers and product managers, solving the toughest problems in Big Data.

``Anyone who thinks East Palo Alto is a precious community doesn't live there anymore. During the worst days of gang violence, I had to become street smart and know that, as an immigrant and only child in a house of 17 people, I wasn't in a position to fight back. My strategy was always to keep a low profile and be on the lookout for trouble.

``The community of EPA put me in touch with amazing people through Eastside. Eastside is a private''--when I say ``EPA,'' in this case, it is East Palo Alto.

``The community of East Palo Alto put me in touch with amazing people through Eastside. Eastside is a private school in EPA that helps underrepresented and first-generation students get into college. A couple sponsored me from 6th through 12th grade.

``Every day, I met volunteers and teachers from the surrounding towns and Stanford University. Through a reading program, I met Christina, or Chris, as I like to call her, who, for the past 15 years has been a mentor and a friend. She helped me become a better reader and eventually edit a manuscript for a book. The education and support that I received at Eastside allowed me to be successful and stay safe.

``It sounds crazy, but I couldn't get a cell phone. If something happened to me while my parents worked the night shift as janitors, I couldn't call 911. I didn't have a credit history, which requires a Social Security number. That's when I started becoming aware of my status as an undocumented student. A Stanford med school student, Julie, helped me out. Although the phone was under her name, I paid her in cash for part of my bill every month.''

So, again, you see, without it--no status, no credit, no Social Security number, no driver's license--it is debilitating and doubly worrisome because so many of these people are making such a valuable contribution to our society, learning from the American people, and giving back.

Maneri: ``I'm 18 years old and from Los Angeles. I just graduated high school and will be attending UCLA to study political science in the fall. Being an undocumented student has been tough. Coming to this country at 6 years old completely changed my life. Learning English and doing well in school was a battle since everyone in my family only spoke Spanish and had

no more than an elementary school education.

``However, being a DREAMer has also shaped who I am, what I stand for, and has inspired me to dream big. After graduation, I hope to go to law school and become an immigration lawyer to help others in my situation and give back to my community. I dream that one day your immigration status doesn't define your path in life or hold you back from reaching your goals but, instead, encourages and embraces diversity.''

Again, so many stories of so many DREAMers. I just want to see if we have some more from our colleagues in terms of the ones that they have submitted. We have received all of these from our colleagues. Some of them identified as being from them or not, but all of them, again, proud, proud of these young people who not only are DREAMers, but inspire the rest of us to dream.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your courtesy. I am not finished yet. I thank you for your courtesy in the interim and just want to say I am taking this time because I think we have an opportunity now that is almost matchless. We are at a moment when we can all come together to do something really good for the country, take an action that has bipartisan support.

We have no right, as I said earlier, any of us, to associate ourselves with the aspirations of the DREAMers unless we are able to and willing and courageous enough to take action on their behalf. So, while some of us have been, more or less, receptive to receiving DREAMers, learning from them, being inspired by them, some have not been as exposed to these DREAMers and their stories as others. I think, if you had been--and I am not saying you reject it; I am just saying maybe it is geography or whatever--you would be as insistent as many of us are that we live up to who we are as a country, and this people's House listens to the voices of the American people who overwhelmingly support our DREAMers.

Again, I don't know when we would have another opportunity that matches today for us to just get a simple commitment from the Speaker of the House that he will give us a vote. There is no guarantee. We will have the debate. People will weigh in. They will make their voices heard. Congress, again, will work its will. But do not diminish this House of Representatives, this people's House, to a place where we don't have the right to express our views on a subject so important to our country that has such general support in the public and, yet, the Speaker of the House is saying we don't matter here, we, Members of the House, don't count in this consideration because maybe we just don't have the courage to do what we need to do.

I believe we do. I believe many people on the Republican side of the aisle have demonstrated even greater courage than some of us on this side. It is easy for me. But it is also hard for me because we really, again, are in a position to do something, and we feel helpless--that is what the hard part is--helpless if our Speaker will not, Speaker of the whole House, give this dignity to this House of Representatives to be able to take the vote on a subject of broad debate in the country, but we can't debate a bill on the floor of the House.

The Senate has received that dignity, has received that commitment from Mitch McConnell, from Leader McConnell on the Republican side, but, nonetheless, the Senate side, responding to bipartisan support, bringing a bill to the floor with, again, no guarantee, the debate, we will see what path that legislation takes.

But why a gag rule in the House of Representatives? Why a gag rule? And that is why I am voicing some of the concerns today, largely through the voices and the stories of our DREAMers. We want to be sure that the public record of the Congress of the United States forevermore will reflect the stories of their great contribution to America in the hopes that those stories will move the Speaker of the House to give us a vote, to elevate this House of Representatives to its rightful place instead of diminishing us by saying the Senate may talk about these subjects that the American people care so much about, not so fast in the House of Representatives.

So that is why I am using my leadership minute to make sure that the Record will show the magnificent contributions of the DREAMers in our country, the courage it took for their parents to bring them here.

And again, Members are sending in their stories from Dallas, Texas, from Arizona State. Let me read this one:

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. Stretching out my hand to

greet her. She reiterated my name, Mr. Luis Roberto Usera,

class salutatorian.

Isn't that great? Making the salutary address.

Clear as the day, breaking wind upon my face, silencing my

voice as I spoke out in a crowd of thousands. This is our

day, ladies and gentlemen, the class of 2012. The last 18

years of our lives, everything we have accomplished,

everything we have been through has led us to today.

Reading these words aloud encouraged that I had made a

difference, that my work ethic finally paid off. This is

meant to be an honor. Here I was, 4.8 grade point average,

4.8 grade point average, all honors classes. Ran student

government and some of the most successful blood drives my

school ever has seen and no way to do anything with it. I

looked, watching people's reaction, their faces toward mine,

waiting for me to continue. And so I did.

An echo was heard around the amphitheater rapidly

dispersing my voice to everyone in the back, to myself. I

spoke into the enchanted crowd, amused at my priestlike

voice.

And here, 4 years later, we have to face that same feeling,

the bittersweet combination of nostalgia and excitement that

comes when you turn off one road in your life and onto

another. The speech would have been great if I had believed a

word I was saying. The speech might have rung true to someone

else, but the advice that was inadvertently coming out of my

mouth meant nothing to myself.

I could no longer follow my own advice. Governing laws did

not allow undocumented immigrants to go to college right out

of high school. My too thin of a boy who ignorantly thought

he would go to college transformed to that of a cashier

tending lines in the local supermarket. In retrospect, those

feelings were before DACA was announced.

I still remember the many chills that went through my body

when President Obama announced the initiative. Then, still

worried that it might be too good to be true, I stuck with it

and applied, making a huge difference in my life. I could

continue my education, work legally, and live peacefully in a

world surrounded by fear.

Through DACA, I could achieve the by then impossible

college education. DACA allowed me to come out of the shadows

and show the true potential I have without fear. DACA

demonstrated to me that people cared, that people wanted to

help and understand the situation.

I recently received TheDream.US scholarship that bestowed

upon me the gift of education, for which I will be ever

grateful. I am currently an undergraduate student studying

biochemistry at Arizona State University.

A great school, by the way.

I arrived in the United States when I was 5. I grew up

American. I grew up speaking English. I grew up to call the

United States home. This is my home. This is my country. I am

here to stay. Luis Roberto Usera Brisano.

Sofia de la Varga, an EMT student:

I was 5 years old when my mother told me where we were

going to on vacation. At the time, I was excited for this

vacation because our dog had passed away and was buried right

outside my bedroom window. I wasn't too happy about that when

it came to getting a night's rest. I went ahead and I

gathered my teddy bear and book bag, which pretty much summed

up all my belongings as a child.

When I was 15, I realized our vacation was more than a

permanent move from a dangerous country. My mother gave up

her entire family for us. She left her brothers and her

mother to risk her life for us.

Today, I feel worthless. Since I came to America, I have

felt nothing but useless and not belonging. I grew up

here. I work, study, breathe, and want to live forever

here. Yet never in my life have I been given a chance to

become a citizen, because I was not born here.

For the longest, I have been sick and tired of living in a

place that I am not wanted. For so long, this place I call

home refuses to call me theirs. When people ask me where I am

from, I say ``America.'' America. My soul and heart are from

here. If I were to move back, I know for a fact I would not

like it. I wouldn't have a car, internet, friends, security.

And getting killed is a possibility every day. However, if

the choice were mine and no one in my family existed, I would

leave in a heartbeat because at least I would belong.

I wanted to leave many times. My mom, the most wonderful

soul on the planet, convinced me otherwise. She fled because,

since the day I was born, they said they were trying to rob,

kidnap, and even kill her.

When I first heard President Obama's speech on DACA years

ago, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. DACA granted

me everything to live a normal life and, for once, belong. It

was temporary, but I felt real. I graduated high school at

the top percent in my class. I was first in my family, and I

was blessed to start college and earned a scholarship that

paid for my first 2 years.

This December I will be finishing up my EMT school. In the

future, I hope to complete 2 more years of paramedic and

attain an associate in emergency services.

I have a brother that drowned when I was younger. In my

home country, you can forget that police and an ambulance

will arrive or even bother to come if you call. My only hope

is to save as many lives as I can or die risking my life for

another person.

I know DACA can be taken away. I won't be able to drive to

my college or work to pay off my college tuition. My

scholarship will be terminated, I will be deported and

eventually left with nothing to live for. I pray for an

opportunity to stop feeling like that. There isn't room for

me here.

You see, it is amazing the effect on public policy and people's lives. That is why I want the Record to show, again, that everyone, forevermore in the history of the United States of America, will know that these DREAMers are part of that history and that their stories will be there to make judgments about us as to how we have responded to their greatness.

Nayelli Valdemar says: ``I am an AP scholar. I am a distinguished high school graduate. I am a cum laude student. I am a leader. I am a recipient of scholarships in merit and circumstance. I am also an illegal immigrant.

``Well, allow me to rephrase. I am an illegal immigrant until the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an executive action where President Obama gave me the opportunity to live as a resident here in the United States. DACA has opened many doors for DREAMers such as myself. Honestly, it has made the path to success miles more tangible. Inspiring me to be the best I can, even when the odds plotted against me, DACA was, and is, there to give a helping hand. Regarding my academic record, neither am I writing to boast about my accomplishment nor to ask for pity in the right situation, I am here to thank anyone and everyone who made DACA not only possible, but DREAMers' dreams come true. I'm writing to give thanks for the faith the creators of DACA gave me when the compassion of the world seemed to turn a blind eye my way. With this letter, I only hope to help the new Presidential administration understand why DACA is a vital part of every DREAMer's life.

``As a poverty-stricken female immigrant, I have moved mountains to get to where I am today, but this never would have been possible without the assistance of DACA. Playing an important role in my life, DACA is a pinnacle to the rights I cherish every day. Because of DACA, I have been able to get a job to assist my family. It was not easy working 30-plus-hour shifts, only to be welcomed by house chores and schoolwork, especially since I graduated from a magnet school, the Science Academy of South Texas, a school notorious for its workload. . . .

``My hopes lie in that the generosity of this Nation continues to allow all DREAMers a fighting chance for our future, our hopes, and our aspirations to become more than just DREAMers.

``Please, please, let it be known that all DREAMers appreciate the assistance this Nation has given us through DACA. Futures have been opened for DREAMers who were once on uncertain roads, thanks to the help of DACA. I hope this Nation does not give up on us. I hope this Nation continues to believe in its DREAMers. I hope this Nation continues to see why DACA is necessary. After all, this Nation is all that most DREAMers have. Our lives are under the weight of this country's mercy. Although, as much as we work, as much as we learn, as much as we pray, all we can truly do is hope and dream for a hopeful tomorrow, a brighter road ahead, a chance to dream again. Nayelli Valdemar.''

Nayelli, in this statement, talks about praying. That is why I am so glad I mentioned at the beginning the three Bs: the Bibles, the badges, and the business community. They are so supportive of giving relief to the DREAMers.

Let's talk about the Bibles. I talked about the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the dignity and worth of every person's spark of divinity, that God, Christ coming down, bringing his divinity to humanity enabled us, our humanity, to participate in his divinity, and that is that spark that we all have, every single one of us. So we have to respect it in others but be responsible for it in ourselves, and that is the challenge that we have.

``Hope,'' sitting there between ``faith'' and ``charity,'' the goodness of others--we all have hope that when we have needs, we believe, we have faith that others will be there for us, and that is what America is about.

America is great because America is good. I say it over and over again. This fabulous, greatest country in the history of the world, think about it, our Founders, how courageous they were. They decided to declare war on the greatest naval power, then, in the world, the British Navy, the British military. They declared, in the Declaration of Independence, their grievances against the king, but they also stated their aspirations about people being created equal.

No country had been founded on that principle before, and our inalienable rights under God, just remarkable, bestowed on them by Our Creator. This is a remarkable people. And then they fought the war, they won the war, they established our founding documents.

My daughter wrote a movie on it--well, she didn't write because it was written by our Founders, but she produced a movie on words that made America--our Declaration, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights. And thank God they had the brilliance to make our Constitution amendable. And it being amendable, it became this incredible document with the Bill of Rights, and then others that we take an oath to protect and defend.

At the same time as they did that, they created the great seal of the United States of America. I referenced it earlier. It is on the dollar bill.

You see that triangle with the eye?

It used to scare me when I was little.

What is that? A pyramid with an eye?

But under it, it says: ``Novus Ordo Seclorum.''

Catholics know that ``seclorum, seclorum, seclorum'' means ``forever and ever and ever.'' But in this, it is ``new order for the ages.''

They had so much confidence in what they had established and what they were doing that was so new and fresh to the world. They became a beacon to the world. But in doing this new order for the ages, they had confidence and optimism that this would last forever because it was predicated on the idea that every generation would take responsibility and make the future better for the next.

I said it earlier: The American Dream. People flocked to our shores bringing their aspirations, hopes, determination, and courage to make the future better for their families. And in adopting them, their traits were like American traits, characteristics of optimism, hope, courage, and making the future better. And all these newcomers to our shores, they made America more American with their commitment to a better future for their families, and that continues to this day.

And these young people now are called DREAMers. Their parents had a dream for them to bring them to our country, but they completely adapted to our way of always being dreamers about a better future in our country. They learned from the American people. They taught the American people. It is a beautiful relationship.

And now we have an opportunity to show our greatness as a country, to honor the values of our Founders, the courage they had to find a path, a solution, a result, so that we can put this aside and address other issues that relate to immigration, which are a bigger picture, more complicated, take more time, require more public debate.

Why can't we just do this?

This is discrete. Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, the chair of the Hispanic Caucus, said this so beautifully when we testified before the Rules Committee on immigration, on the Dream Act. She said: Think of this bill like CHIP. CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, is about the children. It is not a bill that talks about universal healthcare, the whole healthcare system of our country. It is about the children. We have the immigration issue similar to being a big comprehensive issue, but then we have this little piece that is for the children.

I think it was the perfect analogy. CHIP is healthcare for the children. It doesn't address the whole healthcare system, changes that people may want to make or improve or change. It is

about the children. It is an easy path for us to go down, recognizing that it is not a substitute for what we need to do to address immigration reform in our country, but a first step, not a step instead of.

And it is a confidence-building step that we can find common ground in, in a bipartisan way, and we must, if it is going to be sustainable, just as the bill was in 1986 that President Reagan improved upon with his family fairness initiatives.

So that is why let's just think of it as about the children. We should always be thinking about the children. They are the future. They own the future. They are it. And when children come to Washington, D.C., and they visit and see how we honor our Founders, George Washington, Lincoln--later to save the Union, Lincoln--but earlier, Thomas Jefferson, et cetera, and walk these Halls and see tributes to people who went before, we say: In most cases, this is about respecting contributions these people made to our country, especially our big monuments on The Mall, and most recently, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., there.

We honor them, we learn from them, we value them. But what we do here is values-based on how they taught us. But it is about the future, and this is about how we can go into the future making distinctions, discerning. Discerning, having the ability to say there is some things we can get done, let's do them; other things take more time. Let's build confidence, build bridges in what we do, again, always trying to do it with bipartisanship, with transparency so people know what the debate is and what is in the bill, and that brings unity to our country. I think that is very possible.

I am very proud to read these statements into the Record, and I will continue to do so. But during the night, when I was thinking and praying so hard about our DREAMers, I thought maybe we should just pray all day on the floor of Congress. Maybe I should bring my rosary blessed by the Pope, blessed by His Holiness Pope Francis, or the one before that, Benedict.

I had the honor and privilege of receiving rosaries blessed by several Popes in my lifetime, but I always remember Pope Benedict. When he came, he spoke so beautifully. He spoke so beautifully. His first encyclical is called, ``God is love.'' In it, he quotes St. Augustine, who, 17 centuries ago, said: ``Any government that is not formed to promote justice is just a bunch of thieves.''

That is what St. Augustine said 17 centuries ago. He, Benedict, His Holiness, goes on to say: Sometimes it is hard to define what justice is, but in doing so, we must beware of the dazzling blindness of power and special interest.

That is what he said. But this doesn't have any of that. This has social justice, it has camaraderie, it has good spirit. It is based on faith, hope, and charity. Pope Francis, when he came, spoke so beautifully, as he always does, about respecting immigrants. He is living in a much more complicated world of immigrants coming into Europe, but, again, respecting the dignity and worth of every person.

And he came here in this Chamber and spoke about a few subjects. As you recall, one of them was poverty and how we respect the dignity and worth of people that Christ mentioned so many times in the Bible. As we know, poor people are mentioned in the Bible hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times because of how important our responsibility is to them.

But he also talked about immigration. He talked about immigration in a very important way. And as I get his statement, I will instead read from Gloria Rinconi, a medical assistant from Dallas, Texas.

She said: ``I am a girl who you graduated next to, the girl who you talked to daily, the girl who has finally decided to step away from the shadows and into the light for you to see her.

``See me as for who I am, not for someone who told you I would be.

``I immigrated to the United States when I was a year old with my parents. My parents had taken the decision to immigrate to USA due to being in a country that offered no future for their family. Even though both my parents ran a successful business and my mom had a college education, the violence and underemployment was no future for us. The first place we called home was a small apartment in Dallas, Texas, who we shared with another family. We lived in Texas for a year and moved to Statesville, North Carolina. We then moved to the outskirts of the little town in some rundown trailer homes.

``We had nothing. My parents slept on the floor while I made a makeshift bed out of a piece of cardboard and a blanket. After months of saving up money, my dad finally had enough to rent an apartment near downtown Statesville. After 9 years, we moved again to Texas. Growing up, my parents never hid the fact that I was undocumented from me. They always told me, `Just because you were not born here, does not mean you are any less. You are loved by many, regardless of what you might hear on TV.' ''

``Those words became my rock when I was in high school. When I was a freshman, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. For months she struggled trying to find treatment at an affordable rate. Doctors would turn her down simply because of her illegal status, even though she offered to negotiate a payment plan. She was dying, and no one seemed to care. Her only sin was to be an undocumented woman with stage 4 cancer. She eventually found treatment, but I had seen firsthand how dehumanizing people can be towards the undocumented. During this time, DACA was put into place and it officially opened the door for me. . . .

``DACA gave me wings, the wings I hoped for all my life when I was in school. I participated in national pageants placing as a national achievement finalist. I graduated high school with a medical assistant certification and became a recipient of TheDream.US scholarship, which helped me pursue my higher education. DACA has also given me a chance to give back to other DREAMers by being an intern at My Undocumented Life blog.''

``U.S. DACA recipients are not here to harm the U.S. The U.S. is our home and will always be our home. We are part of the fabric that makes the American flag. For that, I am willing to come out of the shadows so you can see me.''

Again, this American Dream of making the future better is recurring in all of these stories, and in all of these stories there has been success. Again, though, it is not just about the DREAMers. It is about who we are.

Luis Roberto. I talked about Luis already. I gave his speech. We had his speech from his graduating class.

Luz Divina writes: ``I came to the U.S. from . . . Mexico when I was 2 months old. I didn't know I was undocumented until sophomore year of high school when I realized I couldn't get a driver's permit, apply for jobs, or go to college programs like all my friends were doing. I felt depressed and oppressed for years until I finally applied for DACA when Obama implemented his executive order. I finally had a chance at the real world. I started a collective in high school named `The Luzdivina Collective' that helped DREAMers in my high school and victims of social injustice in my community. I am currently trying to get into education--either ethnic studies or art, maybe both. The announcement of DACA ending has put me back into a state of depression, but I'm trying my hardest to overcome this with the help of my friends and family. My dream is to be an educator, activist, and writer, to inspire DREAMers like myself who are currently or have been in a state of depression due to their legal status.''

We have to remember how strong the DREAMers are but how fragile some of their existence is when they have no certainty as to what the next steps will be for them. Again, this is all about family, about parents who had the courage to bring their children at an early age to America. This happened 100 years ago.

Do you think all of the people who came here all came documented? Maybe we should all look up our ancestry and just find out what the facts are about that. We assume so, but do we really know?

And there are many people--as I said earlier, Italians were called wops, without papers. That was a derogatory term. It is disgusting for me to say it, being an Italian American and so proud of my heritage. As I said earlier, we

grew up thinking that the world was divided among two people in America: those who were Italian American and those who wanted to be Italian American. Certainly, it feels that way in Little Italy in Baltimore, where I grew up, and in San Francisco, whom I have the honor to represent.

But, in any event, we all take pride in our heritage, and that is the best--best--qualification for recognizing the pride that other people take in their heritage. I say this to the Italian Americans all the time: Because I am so proud to be an Italian American, I understand full well why people from Mexico or Puerto Rico or Africa or wherever they are from take pride in who they are, their dignity, the authenticity of their heritage, and who they are.

And in America, that beauty, the beauty is in the mix. It certainly is in my district. But in some communities, the contributions of immigrants are not as recent as in others. But in every community, it has made a difference, constantly reinvigorating America.

And so when His Holiness Pope Francis came to speak here in the Congress, as a Catholic Italian American--that is the essence of my being--it was really a thrilling day. It was for all of us, regardless of our background or our faith. I was particularly thrilled to hear what he said about immigration.

But you recall, he talked about Martin Luther King and the march from Selma to Montgomery. He talked about people living in poverty, and he talked about a number of subjects, but I will just speak to what he said about immigration. The Pope solemnly said: ``In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom. We, the people of this continent''--because, as you know, His Holiness is the first Pope from the Western Hemisphere.

``We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants''--Italian, by the way.

``I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants. Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us were not always respected. For those people and their nations, from the heart of American democracy, I wish to reaffirm my highest esteem and appreciation. Those first contacts were often turbulent and violent, but it is difficult to judge the past by the criteria of the present. Nonetheless, when the stranger in our midst appeals to us, we must not repeat the sins and errors of the past. We must resolve now to live as nobly and as justly as possible, as we educate new generations not to turn their back on our `neighbors' and everything around us. Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility in order to adopt one of reciprocal subsidiarity, in a constant effort to do our best. I am confident we can do this.''

How beautiful. And then he goes on to talk about immigration in the rest of the world. And then he says:

``We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to disregard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.''

I will submit his whole statement for the Record because it goes on in such a beautiful, beautiful way. It also talks about climate in there, Laudato Si, which is his first encyclical about God's creation, this planet, and our responsibilities to be good stewards of it.

I am talking about His Holiness. Getting to the Bible is part of it. We talked about the Bible earlier. I thought maybe we could say a Rosary on the floor of the House, not just five decades, the full Rosary, all of the mysteries of the Rosary, that is 15 decades of the Rosary. But, nonetheless, I think these people telling their stories are very prayerful, and so I will use the time to put their stories on the Record.

But let me just say how proud I am of the statements made by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, their courage in fighting for immigrants across our country, from our cardinals, our bishops, et cetera, from their esteemed platforms, whether it is the DREAMers or TPS or comprehensive immigration reform. But right now, today, we are talking about the DREAMers.

The evangelicals in our country, Reverend Sam Rodriguez' statements, have been so spectacular about, again, the spark of divinity that exists in every person that must be respected, strong supporters of President Trump also believing that it is possible for all of us to have enough goodness in our hearts to get this job done, go past any obstacles that may be there.

Again, the Southern Baptist Convention, their leadership, all across the spectrum, of course, the Jewish community, across the full spectrum of faith-based organizations, all speaking out and rallying as people rallied when we first saw the Muslim ban.

The people of faith are people of faith. They believe, and they believe that we have obligations to each other. They have spoken out in a very courageous way.

In terms of the badges, I told you some stories about DREAMers who have come forth to help with law enforcement. By and large, we have had strong support from the law enforcement community about support for the DREAMers.

And the business community, oh, my, they have been spectacular in terms of raising the profile, treating their employees who are DREAMers with respect, advocating for them.

And this Congress of the United States, they seem to have a strong voice on some issues. I wish they would be listened to as attentively on issues of social justice here. But they do have access.

And one of the things I want to praise them for is I think that the 90 percent, 80 percent, 70 percent ratings, depending on if it is citizenship or what, but the high numbers across the board for DREAMers would not have been possible without people hearing from the bishops, from law enforcement, and from the business community making this a very high-profile issue about how their companies have benefited from the DREAMers and how they truly believe.

This is not an issue that is going to go away. It is a value. It is not an issue. It may be a subject for legislation, but this is an American value that is deeply felt across the board. And I am determined that the stories of at least some of these DREAMers--I can't do 800,000, although I am willing to take the time. That might lose impact after awhile, after some of these great stories.

Listen to Maneri: ``I'm 18 years old and from Los Angeles. I just graduated high school and will be attending UCLA to study political science in the fall. Being an undocumented student has been tough. Coming to this country at 6 years old completely changed my life. Learning English and doing well in school was a battle since everyone in my finally only spoke Spanish. . . . Being a DREAMer also shaped who I am, what I stand for. . . . After graduation, I hope to go to law school. . . . ''

I already told you this story, but it bears repeating.

``I dream that one day, your immigration status doesn't define your path. . . . ''

Alonso: ``Growing up undocumented in Utah truly shaped me into the person I am today. My experiences growing up in the margins of society inform the work I do and the work I seek to continue doing in this life. I am passionate about working with undocumented students and families and strive to share all of my knowledge and experiences with the undocumented community as well the community as a whole.

``I was born in Peru and emigrated to the United States when I was 11. I arrived in Utah with my brother to unite with our mother, who had come to the U.S. a year before our arrival. Six months after arriving in the U.S. with a tourist visa, my visa expired. . . . ''

So he came into the country with legal status. And this is something I think that is really important. Not everybody who is undocumented came here in an undocumented fashion. Some of the documentation is expired and, in the case of DACA, just a question of when the mail hit and what day it was received by the government.

``I was 12 and a hardworking student, earning good grades working toward a future that would allow me to repay my mom for all of her sacrifices. As a high school student, I enrolled in honors and AP courses, which challenged

me and furthered my plans of earning a higher education.

``I graduated from high school with a diploma of merit and went to the University of Utah, where I would major in sociology and be mentored by incredible individuals. Most pointedly, Matt Bradley Ph.D., rest in peace 2012; Caitlyn Cahill, Ph.D.; and David Quijada Cerecer, Ph.D. My mentors showed me that my work, insight, and contributions as an undocumented student are important. . . . ''

Now, imagine, this child came in documented but became undocumented when the visa expired.

``. . . and I truly owe them for showing me that I matter for being who I am.

``In 2013, I graduated from the University of Utah with an honors bachelor of science in sociology, and in 2016 with a master's in education . . . with an emphasis on higher education administration. I am currently the Dreamer Program Coordinator for the University of Utah, which is the first center for DREAMers in the State of Utah.''

God bless you, Utah.

``In the future, I would like to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology with a focus on immigration and labor studies.''

This is important because, once again, as has been consistent in these themes, the DREAMers are grateful for the mentoring they have received from people in our country, some of whom shared their heritage, most of whom did not. That is the beautiful thing about the DREAMers: they know that they have a dream, but somebody else had a plan for their own dream that inspired the DREAMers to have their plan.

When Yuri Hernandez was only 3 years old, her family brought her to the United States from Mexico. Yuri grew up in the town of Coos Bay in Oregon. In high school, she was an honor roll student who was very active in her community. Yuri went on to attend the University of Portland, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work.

Yuri is now a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She is planning to graduate with a master's in social work in the fall of 2017. In her spare time, she tutors and mentors high school students. Yuri dreams of becoming a social worker and giving back to her community.

Rey Pineda was brought to America when he was 2 years old. The first in his family to attend college and a devout Catholic, Rey is now a priest in the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, Georgia. If DACA is eliminated, Father Rey will lose his legal status and could be deported back to Mexico, a tragedy for Father Rey and his congregation.

After the most divisive election in recent memory, Father Rey and other DACA recipients have a key role to play in healing the differences that divide us.

Oscar Cornejo, Jr., was brought to Park City, Utah, when he was 5 years old. He was an excellent student throughout his childhood and now attends Dartmouth. If DACA is eliminated, Oscar will lose his legal status and could be deported back to Mexico, a country he hasn't lived in since he was 5 years old.

Will America be stronger if we deport Oscar? Will America be stronger if we deport Oscar, or if he stays here and achieves his dream of becoming an educator? The answer is clear. DACA works.

Lisette Diaz was just 6 years old when her family brought her to the U.S. from Chile. Growing up in Long Island, Lisette excelled in school and was involved in her community. She went on to attend Harvard, where she received numerous awards and participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. Lisette recently graduated Harvard with honors.

Lisette and other DREAMers have so much to contribute to our country, but Donald Trump and other Republicans have made their agenda clear. They want to shut down DACA and DAPA and deport hundreds of thousands of DREAMers and American children.

That is Lisette's view. I hope that we have a better understanding of where the President may be on this. We don't want Lisette to be deported back to Chile, a country where she hasn't lived since she was 6 years old.

When Cynthia Sanchez was just 7 years old, her family came to the United States from Mexico. Cynthia grew up in Denver, Colorado, and was an excellent student. She went on to attend the University of Denver, where she received numerous awards and scholarships and was an active volunteer.

In 2010, Cynthia graduated from college with a degree in cognitive neuroscience, which is a double major in psychology and biology, as well as a minor in chemistry.

In 2013, she applied for DACA and was approved that summer. By September, Cynthia was working at Northwestern University in Chicago doing clinical research in the Department of Medicine's Division of Cardiology. Her research focuses on improving treatment for patients who suffer from heart disease.

Cynthia said: ``DACA has meant a new realm of opportunities for me, it has opened new doors for me, and it has allowed me to once again see my dream as a reality. I truly believe that if those opposed to DACA or the Dream Act had a chance to sit and chat with undocumented students, their opinions might change. They would see capable, smart, hardworking individuals who are Americans in every sense of the word, love this country, and want to contribute to its prosperity. After all, this is our home.''

That is really very beautiful. I do believe that the more our colleagues know the DREAMers, the better it will be for our country.

Vasthy Lamadrid came to the United States from Mexico when she was only 5 years old. Despite her family's modest means, Vasthy felt safe and excelled in school. Math was her best subject, and she had nearly perfect scores on standardized tests.

In middle school, Vasthy discovered the love of engineering. She excelled academically and was active in her community.

Vasthy has gone on to attend Arizona State University, again, I mention, a great school. Because of her immigration status, she does not qualify for any government assistance and has to pay out-of-state tuition, despite having lived in Arizona for most of her life.

To help pay for her education, Vasthy decided to crowdfund her college education. Vasthy shared her story online, and this brought in enough contributions to pay for her tuition. She is currently in her second year of college. In her first semester, she made the dean's list with a 3.79 GPA in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Thanks to DACA, Vasthy is able to work to support herself and volunteer in her community. As a result of her volunteer work, Vasthy has decided that she wants to become a science teacher.

Okay. So I have been going through some of these rather quickly in order to get as many of them in the Record as possible. But I do want to change my pace a little bit because some of these stories are so emotion-filled, and I can place the statement in the Record, but I want to deliver the stories.

I am trying to be respectful of other people's time, but I am also trying to be respectful of the challenge that we face and the need for us to find a solution which is clear in sight for our DREAMers.

Fernando's family came to the United States when he was 9 years old. In high school, Fernando was an AP Scholar and received the International Baccalaureate Diploma and the achievement award in foreign language for French.

Fernando continued to excel academically at Santa Clara University, where he graduated cum laude with a double major in biology and french. Now a third-year doctoral student at UC San Francisco--the ultimate, fabulous place, right--Fernando--it is very hard to get in--works at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he is working hard to provide new insights into many diseases and disorders. Again, giving back.

Denisse Rojas--in 1990, Denisse tells her story that when she was an infant, her parents carried her across the Southwest border with the hope of giving her and her siblings a better life. Just think of this family, so courageous. Denisse's family settled in Fremont, California.

Denisse said, in her words: ``In grade school, I recall feeling different from my peers; my skin color was darker, my English was stilted, I was poor, and I was undocumented.''

In 2012, when President Obama established DACA, Denisse's life changed. As a DACA recipient, Denisse's dreams finally seemed within reach. She was able to apply to medical schools that before would have turned her away because of her immigration status. This meant that she could focus on pursuing a career in medicine and no longer fear the possibility of losing the only home she had ever known.

Denisse said: ``I have pledged allegiance to this Nation's values since my first day of school; I consider the United States my home. Furthermore, serving others has instilled in me the notion that everyone deserves the opportunity for prosperity. I thus aim to dedicate my life to serving others as a physician and continuing to be a voice for immigrants.''

Reading Denisse's story about her being concerned in grade school, ``I recall feeling different from my peers; my skin color was darker, my English was stilted,'' I am reminded of my own grandson. He is Irish, English, whatever, whatever, and Italian American. He is a mix, but he looks more like the other side of the family, shall we say.

When he had his sixth birthday, he had a very close friend whose name is Antonio. He is from Guatemala, and he has beautiful tan skin, beautiful brown eyes, and the rest. This was such a proud day for me because when my grandson blew out the candles on his cake, I said: ``Did you make a wish? And he said: ``Yes, I made a wish.'' We said: ``What is your wish.'' He said: ``I wish I had brown skin and brown eyes like Antonio.'' It was so beautiful, so beautiful.

The beauty is in the mix. The face of the future for our country is all-American, and that has many versions.

Kok-Leong Seow: ``None of my friends from my hometown know. My parents raised me to be gritty, never to complain or take handouts. I didn't want to have a victim mentality or be known for being undocumented. But I realized that sharing my story would be therapeutic, raise awareness, and help other underprivileged people.

``I came to America when I was 6 years old. My parents grew up poor and risked so much to move us here with hopes of giving us a better life. My dad is a waiter at a small restaurant, which is enough to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. We pay taxes, abide by all laws, and don't live on welfare.

``As for me, I can't legally work, drive, fly, or have health insurance. I've missed out on numerous opportunities because of my situation. Fortunately, I was able to pursue college.

``Fast forward 4 years, I have graduated magna cum laude in computer engineering from Wichita State University. I was at the top of my class, number one in my major, wrote two first-author papers, won research awards, and have a patent pending.

``Consequently, I was accepted into graduate school at Columbia University. However, due to my status, I'm unable to obtain a stipend to continue my education. Receiving DACA would grant me the opportunity to acquire the funding I need, provide for my family, and master my craft to realize my full potential. But due to election results, applying for DACA is simply not a favorable option anymore.

``Without DACA, many live in daily fear of deportation. I've had friends whose families were torn apart.''

This is Kok-Leong Seow.

``These are genuine, everyday struggles, and it's easy to dismiss it because it's not happening to your family. To truly empathize, you need to dig deep and allow yourself to feel our pain and our anxiety.''

This is a very important message, for us to dig deep and experience their pain and anxiety.

``Many non-Native Americans seem to forget that they, too, have immigration in their blood. Just like everyone else, we simply want an opportunity to contribute to the only home that we know. Ironically, I've enjoyed the adversity. I feel alive under pressure. I am unfazed and undocumented. I'm not going anywhere.''

He is not leaving.

Gladys Klamka, Phillispburg, New Jersey. ``Patience and heartache is how I would describe my past. I was 2 when my family made the most important decision for us. Moving to the U.S. meant a second chance for me. If we had stayed in Mexico, my folks would have made a decision to give me up for adoption. We settled in NJ for economic relief.

``Unfortunately, at the age of 4, my innocence was stolen from me. I was sexually molested by a 16-year-old boy, but my parents didn't report it, they didn't understand the law, for fear of deportation. Both of my parents worked full time to keep a roof over our heads. I wasn't able to go off to college financially or drive or travel. I got used to doors slamming in my face,'' Gladys writes.

``I was about 14 when my parents explained to me about our status. Confused about my future, I decided to push harder. I finished school, worked full time, and contributed back to the community.

``I received a taxpayer ID issued by the IRS in 1997. I always thought it was funny that the government will take our money but not let us work legally in this country.

``I applied for DACA in 2012. I still remember the day I opened my approval letter. My father said: `Now I don't have to worry about you.'

``I now own my own home, car, and I work in the healthcare system. After election day, I wondered if this dream would soon end. It's been a hard reality check that privileges could be taken away. I only hope for other young DREAMers and undocumented children like myself to make the leap to push that shut door open, to know a dream of wanting more is not impossible.''

This is one of the DREAMers I met at the State of the Union. Perhaps you remember, America is her name. She was the guest of David Price from North Carolina, and she spoke at our press event with the DREAMers.

America immigrated to the U.S. when she was 2 years old and has lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, for 22 years. Thanks to DACA, she was able to earn bachelor's and master's degrees. She now teaches English as a second language at Sanderson High School in Raleigh. She was just so lovely. We thank David Price for introducing her to us.

Another guest at that same press conference, as some of you may recall, was the guest of Senator Kamala Harris. Denea Joseph is her name. Denea is a DACA recipient who came to America from Belize when she was 7 years old without her mother, father, or siblings. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she advocated for the creation of an immigration attorney position and worked to increase financial aid for undocumented youth across the UC system. I wish you could have heard her personally tell her story with such intellect and such passion.

She goes on here to say: As a Young People For fellow, Denea addressed undocumented youths' educational access and retention. Her story was featured in the LA Magazine's historic immigration issue, and is currently on display as part of the Undocumented Stories Exhibit at downtown UCLA Labor Center. She is a communications coordinator for UndocuBlack Network--UndocuBlack is a resource to us. Many of the DREAMers are Black--where she advocates for the representation of UndocuBlack immigrants within the mainstream immigrant narrative. She aspires to be a human rights attorney, advocating for the rights of the most marginalized around the globe.

I mentioned here that her story is featured in LA Magazine's historic immigration issue and is on display at the downtown UCLA Labor Center, and now it will be part of the Congressional Record.

Miriam Ochoa-Garibay said: ``I'm 18 years old and I'm a DACA student currently enrolled at the University of California, Riverside. I came here from a Mexican background. I was born in the Mexican state of Michoacan, but I've been living in the United States since I was 2. I went to preschool, kinder, elementary, intermediate school, and high school in the State of California. I always loved school. I remember being a little girl and getting home from school, and the first thing I did was start my homework. I remember that, as early as elementary school,

there was this test called GATE. It was supposed to be the smart kids' test, and every year I passed it. I remember being an honors student. My parents were very persistent on me getting good grades because that meant a better future. It wasn't until I was in high school where I realized that maybe it was going to take more than just good grades to go to college. I became really aware that I was undocumented. I became fearful that I was not going to have a `better future' because I was undocumented. I knew that, financially, my parents weren't going to be able to pay for college. So when DACA came into place, it was a huge relief. There was finally a program that accepted me, an undocumented student. DACA means everything to me. Not only do I have financial aid for my college tuition, but I was granted the opportunity to work legally''--to work legally. How lovely--``to find a job and be able to make money for my needs. DACA became a reassuring force to many students like myself, whose only desire is to be given an education in order to become a successful factor of this society. I am proud to be Mexican, but I'm also proud to be part of America's great educational system. DACA has given me the opportunity to dream of my own white picket fence one day.''

This is interesting to me because, as an Italian American myself, I always reference, which is so obvious when people are proud of their heritage, especially newer immigrants, to see the pride that they take in their heritage and the fierce patriotism they have for America. That was what we saw in our community when I was growing up: fiercely patriotic Americans, while very proud of their heritage. And that is who people are. That is their authentic self: patriotic Americans proud of their heritage. We want to make this, as was said in this, to be legal.

Ana Sanchez is from Elgin, Texas. I don't know if they say Elgin in Texas. Ana says: ``Like any other beneficiary of DACA, I, for once, have been given the opportunity to pursue my dreams by attaining higher education and a job. I am Ana Sanchez, an 18-year-old undocumented student who was brought to this country when I was only 2 years old. Due to living conditions in my home country, my parents decided to immigrate to the United States to offer me and my sister a much better education and a better future. Growing up, I was aware that I had been born in Mexico, however, I did not know the effects of being undocumented until high school came about. Now that I am older, I realize who I am in the eyes of the government, and it saddens me to know that people believe these misconceptions of us. I mean, ever since we arrived to Texas, my dad has risked his health and life by working under dangerous conditions just to earn enough money to provide food and shelter for my family. When it was announced that DACA would be available for people like me, my family did not think twice. We all knew it was an advantage and a precious opportunity the country had given us. Finally, we were given the chance to prove that we are part of this country's future and success.

``Because of DACA, I am able to say that I am a part-time student and part-time staff for an afterschool program. I am two steps closer to becoming a businesswoman and a teacher, and that gives me hope. Sadly, however, the new administration has posed threats that will make my hope and my dreams unreachable. If the permit is taken away, our hard work will become worthless. I want to give back to this country, so I yearn Congress to give me that chance.''

Many of the stories that I have been reading so far have been, but not all, about people in our own hemisphere. But it is important to note that many undocumenteds are from the Asian-Pacific region. Many are from Africa or from the Caribbean. That is our hemisphere, but not in terms of Latin America, but in terms of the Caribbean. So some are even from other places that are not necessarily ethnically diverse.

Here is one story about Ha Eun Lee. Today I want to tell you about Ha Eun Lee. When Ha Eun was 6 years old, her family came to the United States from South Korea. She grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Here is what Ha Eun says about her childhood in the United States of America: ``I was fortunate enough to grow up learning that diversity is encouraged and differences are not just tolerated but welcomed.''

Ha Eun was a good student and committed to public service. In high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society, received the Principal's Academic Achievement Award, and was an Oakland Activities Association Scholar Athlete. She was a member of the track and field team for all 4 years of high school.

Ha Eun is now a senior at the University of Michigan, majoring in English. She volunteers with the Red Cross and is the co-president of an organization called The Supply. The Supply raises money to help students in Nairobi, Kenya, to attain an education.

She is from South Korea, an all-American girl, now a co-president of an organization that raises money to help students in Nairobi, Kenya, to attain an education.

As co-president, Ha Eun has expanded the organization's efforts to include volunteering locally with Detroit charities.

Ha Eun was also a policy and programs intern for the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Center. As Ha Eun completes her last year of college, she dreams of becoming a lawyer to defend civil rights.

Ha Eun wrote me a letter, and she said: ``Although I'm legally labeled as an `alien' in this country I call home, I believe I am American. And I believe this not solely because I live, study, work, and contribute in this country, but because I believe in the core values all Americans shares as a nation: liberty, justice, and prosperity.''

Ha Eun and other DREAMers have so much to contribute to our country. But without DACA or the Dream Act, they will be deported back to countries where they haven't lived in since they were children.

Will America be a stronger country if we deport people like Ha Eun?

The answer is clear. That is a question that has arisen throughout. We asked it earlier.

Will America be a stronger country if we deport--fill in the blank with the name?

But I love what Ha Eun has said: ``And I believe this not solely because I live, study, work, and contribute in this country, but because I believe in the core values all Americans share as a nation: liberty, justice, and prosperity.''

Tomas Evangelista is a DACA recipient from Auburn, California. At the age of 2, he came to the United States from Mexico with his mother in search of a better life. Unfortunately, after a year of being together in the United States, his mother passed away from cancer.

Can you imagine?

His grandparents took him in and he grew up in northern California, where he ran cross country and track at Pacer High School.

These all-American kids, it is just a beautiful story.

Following his high school career, Tomas received an associate of arts in social science, and, in 2014, he completed his bachelor's of arts degree. Today, he works for the nonprofit organization Latino Leadership Council. He also intends to attend Lincoln Law School in Sacramento, California, in spring of 2018.

Tomas cofounded California Dreamers with fellow DACA recipient Doris Romero. They seek to change the negative narratives surrounding immigration with facts. They want to change the narrative with facts, the truth, through sharing personal stories. The ultimate goal is to encourage immigration reform and to establish a pathway to citizenship.

Vanessa Rodriguez story: ``My name is Vanessa Rodriguez, and they all call me Undocumented Dreamer. Undocumented because I was born south of the United States border, and Dreamer because that was the inherent last name that my parents gave me when they risked their souls to give me a better future.''

They called her Dreamer--called her Dreamer as her last name.

Vanessa continues to say: ``I have lived in Texas for 12 years, and for 12 years I have known no other home. My father works in construction and my mother works as a housemaid. Their hard work and humble occupations have given my family a chance to do more and dream higher; a chance that

made me the salutatorian of my class and a recipient of the State of Texas Student Hero Award. However, their work only granted me a chance to dream, not a chance to accomplish. Only the government could grant me that. So, for years, I lived under the notion of fear and uncertainty. DREAMers like me kept their dreams and secured them in a box called `limitations.' It was until the arrival of DACA that things changed for us. DACA enabled us to pursue and achieve more. For me, it meant an opportunity at pursuing hiring education, obtaining a job, and acquiring something called temporary security. One year of this security from deportation was what made the beginning of my dream a success. I was free from fear of deportation that enabled me to gain competence in my abilities.''

People sharing their stories in such a clear way, and, in many cases, a very well-written way.

Vanessa continues to say: ``A few weeks ago I finished my first semester at the University of Texas at Austin''--which is a very hard school to get into, by the way--``and although I was a full-time student with two part-time jobs, I still managed to obtain an outstanding GPA. DACA has made all these accomplishments possible and it has been the difference between simply existing and living a dream.

``As the time approaches for the new administration to come in, the fear is starting to become more evident. The uncertainty and anxiety is real.

``My question to Congress is: When will you unchain my dreams? When my only hope is taken away alongside DACA? Or will you fight to protect students like me from deportation?''

It is not even a fight. It is a simple decision. It is a simple decision. It has been made easy by separating it from the more complicated and controversial aspects of comprehensive immigration reform, which we must address. It is about the children. It is about the children.

Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola's story goes like this. ``I will always remember the day DACA was announced. It was June 15, 2012, and I was camping for a retreat with students, friends, and colleagues from the Mestizo Arts & Activism Collective, a youth participatory action research collective in Salt Lake City, Utah. At approximately 10 a.m., the group took a break from the agenda, which I used to go back to the tent to check on my phone. When I turned my phone back on, I was taken aback by the number of text messages, missed calls, and voicemails I was receiving. Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.

`` `The Dream Act has passed!' shouted a close friend of mine, a fellow DREAMer, in a voicemail. I was excited, yet confused by her words, knowing at the time no Dream Act bill was being debated in the U.S. Congress or Senate. However, as confused as I was, I was too adrenalized at the possibility that a quiet Dream Act boxcar bill had made its way into becoming a law.

``After returning her call, we shared our feelings of excitement and confusion regarding the matter at hand. Then she informed me President Barack Obama would be making an announcement at any moment. As soon as I hung up, I read through a few more text messages, called my mom, and ran outside the tent to inform the MAA family about the news.''

Can you just imagine the excitement? They were out camping.

Alonso continues to say: ``Within a few minutes, all MAA participants crammed ourselves into two cars in Little Cottonwood Canyon, where we tuned into the radio eager to listen to President Obama announce the program which we all have come to know as consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA.''

``My story is one of hundreds of thousands of DACA stories across the United States. We all have different backgrounds, first and last names, interests, journeys, and goals; however, we all have at least one thing in common: we are all American DREAMers. Since DACA, I have earned an honors B.S. in sociology and M.Ed. in educational leadership and policy from the University of Utah. I am an active community member and have most recently been honored to serve as the Dream Program Coordinator at the University of Utah, where I seek to support undocumented students, with and without DACA, to access, persist, and achieve a higher education in the country we all call home.''

The way they write these stories and the excitement and the anxiety that they convey is really something that the printed word may not convey. But I hope at least the Record will show the cumulative effect of all of these stories. I wish you could see them.

A person who has seen more of them than anyone honors us with his presence in the Chamber. We all get emotional on this subject, but no one has put more brainpower and passion into this subject than the distinguished Senator from Illinois.

He has served in this body for a long time, so we know of his leadership and his values. But for all the years he has served in public life before Congress and since, and in the House and now as a leader in the Senate, the DREAMers have been a priority for half of his service in public life.

He first introduced the DREAM Act in 2001 into the Senate. It was introduced over on our side by Lucille Roybal-Allard around the same time. She is the mother, the godmother of the DREAM Act that has been advanced.

In 2010, we were able to pass the DREAM Act in the House under the leadership of Mr. Durbin, Senator Durbin. It received a majority of the votes in the United States Senate but did not reach the 60 threshold, and so the discussion goes on. As you know, shortly thereafter, a couple of years later, President Obama issued the DACA executive order.

None of this success would have been possible without the leadership, persistence, optimism, and the courage of Senator Durbin. He has heard all of these stories, so many of these stories firsthand for nearly two decades. I congratulate him.

And as I have said earlier, our call today is for our Speaker to give the same opportunity to House Members to vote on a DREAMers bill, just as they were able to achieve in the Senate.

Senator McConnell, the Senate leader, has been working with a bipartisan group of which he has always been a part--it has always been about bipartisanship--pledged to bring to the Senate floor a vehicle that the Senate will act upon, no guarantees. The Senate will work its will. What dignity that brings to the United States Senate, what commitment to the purpose of America that is there.

We feel like second-class Members of Congress over here when it is not within our realm to discuss something that is being discussed across the country, in the Senate of the United States, at the White House. But here, we can't have the opportunity to officially discuss legislation that is on the floor.

That is why I am taking this time, my congressional leadership 1- minute, to read into the Record these inspiring stories. Again, it brings tears to my eyes. Excuse me for being emotional about it, but when I think of the contribution that Senator Durbin has made to this, the stories he has heard, the stories he has told--I have seen him receive with great respect and honor across the country getting so many awards from people who see him as a person who understands their anxiety and concern but, as important as that, their possibilities and their contribution to America.

That is why, as I said earlier, Senator Durbin should think of this as the CHIP versus healthcare; as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, has described in front of the Rules Committee, think of this as CHIP versus healthcare, children versus comprehensive immigration reform.

This is one clear opportunity where we can come together not as a substitute for comprehensive, but as a step, confidence building, trust building, in a bipartisan way, with transparency and in a unifying way for our country.

So I thank the gentleman, Senator Durbin.

Because of the leader minute, I am not able to yield; otherwise, I would have nearly 200 people seeking recognition on the floor to tell the stories of their DREAMers. I have told some of them, but our colleagues are so committed and unified on this subject, and their constituents are.

But even if a colleague on the other side of the aisle would say, ``Will the gentlewoman yield?'' the rules do not

allow me to yield, so I am keeping the time.

As said earlier before the gentleman came, I thought about saying the Rosary on the floor to pray for our leadership to act with a heart full of love, both here and at the White House, on this subject. I said not just 5 decades, all 15 decades, including the Glorious Mysteries. They were the sad ones in the middle: the Agony in the Garden, the Crowning with Thorns, Scourging at the Pillar, the Crucifixion. Then it takes us to the Glorious Mysteries. But all of it is prayerful. I believe in prayer.

And so many of our, as I call it, Bible constituency--not the National Catholic Conference of Bishops but the evangelical community-- has been so spectacular in supporting immigrants to our country and, especially in this case, of DACA.

This is the statement of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops:

``The president and vice president, along with the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops''--in this case, meaning the president of the organization--``along with the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have issued a statement denouncing the administration's termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program after 6 months.

``The following statement from the USCCB''--that is, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops--``President Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, along with USCCB Vice President Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, chairman, Committee on Migration; and Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, chairman of the Subcommittee on Pastoral Care, Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers says the `cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible.'

``Over 780,000 youth received protection from the DACA program since its inception by the Department of Homeland Security in 2012. DACA provided no legal status or government benefits but did provide recipients with temporary employment authorization to work in the United States and a reprieve from deportation.''

A quote by the Bishops: `` `The cancellation of the DACA program is reprehensible. It causes unnecessary fear for DACA youth and their families. These youth entered the United States as minors and often know America as their only home. The Catholic Church has long watched with pride and admiration as DACA youth live out their daily lives with hope and a determination to flourish and contribute to society: continuing to work and provide for their families, continuing to serve in the military, and continuing to receive an education. Now, after months of anxiety and fear about their futures, these brave young people face deportation. This decision is unacceptable and does not reflect who we are as Americans.' ''

The bishops go on to say: `` `The Church has recognized and proclaimed the need to welcome young people: ``Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the One who sent me''--Mark 9:37.' ''

That is so beautiful because what they are saying is, when you reject these newcomers, you are rejecting who sent them, and who sent them but our Lord.

Today, our Nation has done the opposite of how Scripture calls us to respond. It has stepped back from the progress that we need to make as a country.

``Today's actions represent a heartbreaking moment in our history that shows the absence of mercy and goodwill and a shortsighted vision of the future. DACA youth are woven into the fabric of our society and our Church, and are, by every social and human measure, American youth.

``We strongly urge Congress to act and immediately resume work toward a legislative solution. We pledge our support to work on finding an expeditious means of protection for DACA youth.''

The bishops go on to say: ``As people of faith, we say to DACA youth, regardless of your immigration status, you are children of God and welcome in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church supports you and will advocate for you.''

That is such a beautiful statement.

As I noted earlier, tomorrow is the National Prayer Breakfast, and many people who will be gathered there are among those who have been so supportive of our DREAMers. We thank them for their leadership and their courage. I mentioned some earlier. I don't know if these people will be there tomorrow, but certainly members of their church. As I mentioned, Dr. Sam Rodriguez, Reverend Sam Rodriguez has spoken out as a leader in the evangelical community.

So, hopefully, tomorrow, as they pray and come together, they will be speaking about what we see from the pulpit, from the bishops, from the evangelical community. If you believe that we are all God's creation, as I do, as people of faith do--and I do believe faith is a gift that everyone doesn't have.

So you may not have that same perspective, but if you do believe--and I believe that everyone gathered there tomorrow will believe--and many people across our country subscribe to ``In God We Trust,'' then you must subscribe to what the Bible tells us. To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship; to ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us, dishonor the God who made us, reflected in the Gospel of Matthew that I referenced earlier.

So when we are thinking about this subject, we also have to recognize the diversity in our DREAMer population.

In 2002, Luke was 11 years old. His family brought him to the United States from South Korea.

The Senator has left us, but Senator Durbin inspires us. He is such a great leader on this subject because it is from the heart and the right thing to do, but with great intellect, to have a vision and a dream, but an intellect with a plan to get the job done.

There is a clear path. It exists in the Senate. We don't know why that door is shut to us in the House. We call upon the Speaker to open the same door in the House, through discussion, that is in the Senate.

I want to commend, once again, Senator Durbin for his extraordinary leadership. DREAMers know him.

In 2002, when Luke was 11 years old, his family brought him to New York State from South Korea. Luke grew up in Palisades Park, New Jersey. Here is what Luke said about growing up in Palisades Park:

``It didn't take long for me to adjust and assimilate because my elementary school offered bilingual classes in Korean and English. This is the kind of America I have known and experienced--not just mundanely accepting diversity, but going above and beyond to serve the unique needs of a diverse community.''

From an early age, Luke had a passion for science. He was accepted into a math and sciences magnet high school called Bergen County Academies, which was ranked by Newsweek as one of the top five public high schools in the country. At Bergen County Academies, Luke won several awards at regional science fairs. He also volunteered as an emergency medical technician in the local ambulance corps.

In 2013, Luke graduated--are you ready?--summa cum laude with a bachelor's of science in chemistry and received an award for the highest grade point average of any chemistry major.

This brilliant young man is currently a Ph.D. graduate in chemistry at the University of Chicago. He also works as a researcher at the university. In his spare time--in his spare time, how does he have spare time--but in his spare time, he also works as a researcher. He volunteers for the Chicago Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, an organization that provides services to disadvantaged members of the community. Good for you, Luke.

Consider this: without legal status, Luke's talents would have been squandered. But now, thanks to DACA, when we had DACA, Luke was on the road toward making his childhood passion into a promising career as a scientist.

Luke has written: ``DACA did much more than shielding me from deportation and changing my immediate circumstances; it gave me a new faith and brought out a new me to reject fear and continue worthwhile pursuits. DACA has been tremendously empowering. Wherever I find myself in the future, I hope to mentor, encourage, and ultimately empower others.''

Luke and other DREAMers have so much to contribute to our country.

Do we need more talented scientists like Luke Hwang in America? Of course we do. Will America be stronger if we deport Luke Hwang or if he stays here to contribute his talents to America's future? The answer should be obvious. I thank Luke.

Her parents brought her to the United States from the Philippines when she was 5 years old. Mithi grew up in California. She was an excellent student who dreamed of becoming a doctor. In high school, Mithi was on the principal's honor roll and was an AP scholar. She received the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and is a Governor's Scholar Award recipient. Mithi was admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the Nation's top universities. Congresswoman Waters would attest to that. UCLA is one of the Nation's top universities. We all are proud of the UC system.

At UCLA, Mithi volunteers as a research assistant in lab studies of infants at high risk of developing autism. That was her field. She also volunteers as a crisis counselor for UCLA Peer Helpline advising students who are victims of rape, child abuse, and substance abuse. Mithi eventually became a trainer for new counselors.

Mithi also volunteers as a mentor and tutor for at-risk middle school children in Los Angeles. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in psychology. But her options were limited, Mr. Speaker, because of her immigration status. She was unable to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

Then, in 2012, President Obama established the DACA program, and Mithi's world changed. Mithi began working as a research assistant at the UCLA School of Medicine, and she applied to attend medical school.

During her spare time, Mithi continues to volunteer with the Autism Research Lab where she started her research career 7 years ago. She also serves as a peer mentor to 10 undergraduate students at UCLA.

Mithi wrote to Congress these words: ``Please, please listen to our stories. This is my home, and the only country I know. DACA gives us greater opportunities to give back to the country we love.''

Listen to that sentence again, Mr. Speaker. Mithi wrote: ``DACA gives us greater opportunities to give back to the country we love.''

That is what the DREAMers are about. Their dream is to give back to America. They have benefited from our country. They want to give back; and the courage, optimism, and fortitude that they have is really a blessing.

Mithi and other DREAMers like her have so much to contribute. Will America be stronger if we deport Mithi and others like her? Will we be a better country if we tear apart American families? Of course not.

This is going to be a hard name for me to pronounce. It is Jirayut New Latthivongskorn. His parents brought Jirayut to the United States from Thailand when he was 9 years old. New--we will call him New. New grew up in San Francisco. New said: ``I forced myself to read mystery novels, dictionary in hand, in order to expand my vocabulary, one word at a time. I mispronounced words, even in the face of ridicule, until I mastered the English language.''

New became an excellent student and dreamed about becoming a doctor. Throughout high school, New worked 30 hours a week at his family's Thai restaurant. Here is what he said about the experience: ``I spent most of my time at the restaurant working as a waiter, cashier, and chef, scrubbing toilets, washing dishes, and mopping floors. It taught me to have faith, work hard, and persevere.''

New's hard work paid off. He graduated as a salutatorian of his high school class with a 4.3 grade point average. New was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley, one of the top schools in California--in the Nation. He won a scholarship that would have covered most of his tuition, but he was unable to accept it because of his immigration status.

Despite the setback, New persevered. In May, 2012, he graduated with honors with a 3.7 grade point average with a major in molecular and cellular biology.

Just 1 month after he graduated, President Obama established the DACA program. As a result of DACA, New was able to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. That fall, New began medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, a very difficult school to get into. During his spare time, he volunteers at the homeless clinic that is run by the students of the University of California, San Francisco. In his spare time.

New has cofounded Pre-Health Dreamers, a national network of more than 400 DREAMers who are pursuing careers in healthcare. New and other DREAMers like him have so much to contribute to our country. Will America be a stronger country if we deport New and others like him? Will we be a better country if we tear apart American families? Of course not. We all agree on that.

Aaima Sayed was brought to the United States from Pakistan when she was only 3 years old. She grew up in Chicago like a typical American kid. Aaima says: ``I have no memories but those of living in the United States. I am an American in every way, except on paper.''

Aaima was an outstanding student. She graduated in the top 10 percent of her high school class where she was secretary of the Spanish club-- mind you, she is from Pakistan. She was secretary of the Spanish club, secretary of the math team, and a member of the National Honor Society of High School Scholars. Aaima's dream was to become a physician.

Here is how she explains it: ``It completely breaks my heart to see thousands of children die of treatable diseases due to inadequate basic healthcare facilities, and I want to have the skills and ability to change that.''

In January 2012, Aaima graduated from Rutgers University magna cum laude, Mr. Speaker, with a major in psychology. She was on the dean's list six times and has a grade point average of 3.75 out of 4. She was a research assistant at Rutgers Department of Psychology and an intern with the local cardiology practice. Aaima took the medical college admission test, the MCAT, and scored in the 90th percentile--better than 90 percent of those who took the test.

Shortly after she graduated, President Obama announced the DACA program. Because of DACA, Aaima is now a medical student at Loyola University pursuing her dream of becoming a physician. After she graduates, she will work in a medically underserved area of Illinois.

Here is what Aaima said about the DACA impact on her: ``I went from feeling hopeless and full of uncertainty regarding my future to feeling confident and optimistic that I will one day get the opportunity to help my community and people in other poverty-stricken areas.''

But if the House Republicans have their way, Aaima won't be able to attend medical school and become a doctor. Instead, she will be deported back to Pakistan, a country she hasn't lived in since she was a toddler.

I wouldn't attribute it to the Republicans. I think that plenty of Republicans are on board to help our DREAMers. That is what I am hopeful about, just that we need to be given the chance to have a respectful vote on all sides of the issue which we have bipartisan Democrats' strong support, but strong Republican support as well.

Give us a vote, Mr. Speaker. Give us a chance. Treat this House with the dignity it deserves so that we can represent the people and the wishes of our country.

Will America be stronger if we deport Aaima? Of course not.

Today, I want to tell you about our Al Okere. Al was born in Nigeria. In 1990, Al's father was killed by the Nigerian police after he wrote a newspaper column criticizing the Nigerian Government. The killing of Al's father was documented in the State Department's annual Human Rights Reports. In 1995, Al's mother fled Nigeria and brought him to the United States. He was only 5 years old at the time.

Al's mother applied for asylum, but her application was denied, and she was deported in 2005, when Al was 15. Now, mind you, her husband had been assassinated for articles that he had written criticizing the Nigerian Government, a well-founded fear of persecution or danger in Nigeria, yet her application was denied in 2005. Al was 15.

Al graduated from Rogers High School near Tacoma, Washington. He attended Central Washington University where he was an honors student with a 3.5 grade point average. He was an active volunteer in his community.

Here is what Al said about his goals for the future, and I quote Al very proudly: ``I have been in accelerated academic programs most of my educational life and hope to be a medical doctor some day to contribute to the well-being of my fellow humans. I hope to continue to emulate and walk in the great academic shoes of my late father, who earned a Ph.D. degree from a university in Paris, France. My family and community support has been enormous, and it gives me the zeal to work hard in my studies, to be able to lend a hand to others in need, and to realize a bright future!''

Al grew up in this country. We have already invested in Al, who has received his entire education from kindergarten to college in the United States. He has great potential to contribute to our society. He does not remember anything about Nigeria and cannot speak any of Nigeria's native languages.

Here is what Al said about the possibility of being deported: ``I do not remember anything about my mother's country of Nigeria. I cannot even speak the language. Every experience I have had in life that I can remember have been in the United States of America. Everyone I know and care about are all here, except for my mother, who was sadly removed and remains in hiding in fear of her life.''

Would America be stronger if Al Okere were deported? Of course not. Al is not an isolated example. There are literally thousands of others, hundreds of thousands of others like him around the country. I thank Al for being so generous in sharing his story.

I want to tell you about Novi Roy. Novi Roy grew up in the State of Illinois. Novi was brought to the United States from India as a child. He attended Evanston Township High School. This is a story that Senator Durbin provided.

He attended Evanston Township High School where he graduated with a 3.9 grade point average. During high school, Novi began volunteering at a soup kitchen in Rogers Park in Chicago, which he continues to do today.

Novi went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. Novi graduated from the University of Illinois with two master's degrees, one in business and one in human resources. Novi's dream is to be able to provide affordable healthcare to the less fortunate.

Here is what he said in the letter he wrote to Dick Durbin: ``I love America for all its opportunities, and, like any other aspiring student, I want a chance to realize the American Dream. I owe the State of Illinois, its taxpayers, and America a huge debt of gratitude for the level of education I have attained thus far. I'm confident that my education will serve me well enough to make a difference in people's lives. There is nothing I would like more than to give back to the community that has been so good to me.''

Novi grew up in this country. We have already invested in Novi, and he has obtained a first-class education in Illinois. He has great potential to contribute to our society. Will America be a stronger nation if Novi is deported? Of course not. He has overcome the odds to achieve great success. He would make America a strong country.

Again, Novi's story comes to us when he came from India as a child. There is a large number of Asian-Pacific American Dreamers.

Yaniv Steltzer was brought to the United States by his parents from Israel when he was just 3 years old, a DREAMer from Israel. He grew up in this country like any other American child. In 2010, he graduated from Richard Stockton College in New Jersey with a bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism management.

In college, he was the chair of the Jewish Student Union/Hillel Club and was an active volunteer with several other student groups.

Yaniv's dream is to open a restaurant. He wrote a letter, which said:

I fell in love with cooking in high school when I took a

home-economics class, and I knew this is what I wanted to do

for the rest of my life. I would love to give back to America

by opening my own restaurant, creating jobs, contributing to

the economy, and becoming a citizen in the country I love.

Unfortunately, under our immigration laws, Yaniv cannot become a citizen. His father was born in the United States. But Yaniv was born in Israel, so he is not an American citizen. Yaniv's father applied for Yaniv to become a citizen, but because the process took so long, Yaniv is no longer eligible.

Under our immigration laws, once Yaniv turned 21, his father could not petition for Yaniv to become a citizen.

So, Yaniv, who has lived his whole life in this country since he was 3, since his father is an American citizen, he is an undocumented immigrant. The only solution for him is the Dream Act.

Here is what Yaniv said about his situation:

America is the only country I know. I grew up here, all my

family and friends are here, and everything I know is

America. The Dream Act is important to me and also to many

others like me who are in the same situation. We have the

resources to help this country greatly, but don't have that

piece of paper that allows us to do this. I have high hope

and optimism that Congress will do the right and humane

thing, put all political issues aside, and pass the Dream

Act.

Yaniv is right.

I ask my colleagues: Would America be better off if we deported Yaniv?

The answer is very obvious.

Eighteen years go, in 1992, Minhaz Khan's parents brought him to the United States from Bangladesh. Minhaz was only 4 years old at the time, and has overcome great obstacles to complete his education. In 2009, he graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience.

Here is what he said about his dreams for the future:

``My dream is to make several contributions to science, and become a physician's assistant as a career, and eventually a teacher as well. I have great aspirations, but I do not dream of big houses or tons of cars. I want normality, stability, and liberty.''

Today, Minhaz lives in Palo Alto, California, with his wife, who is an American citizen. Minhaz spoke about what it would mean for him if the Dream Act were to become law. Here is what he said:

``Imagine the countless numbers of individuals ready to contribute to our society as law-abiding, successful individuals who live life with a sense of strength and morality. Abraham Lincoln once said, `I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice,' and this is more true now than ever. I have a great amount of hope, optimism, and belief in this country and that one day we will see the Dream Act enacted into law.''

This is his statement, Minhaz Khan, from Bangladesh.

Another child brought here from India, as was an earlier DREAMer, Mandeep Chahal. Mandeep was brought to the United States from India 14 years ago, when she was only 6 years old. A beautiful little child.

Mandeep has been an academic all-star. She was an honors pre-med student at the University of California, Davis, where she majored in neurology, physiology, and behavior.

Mandeep is also dedicated to public service. In high school, she helped to found One Dollar for Life, a national poverty relief organization. She was voted the member of her class ``Most likely to Save the World. Imagine, most likely to save the world. At her college, Mandeep is the co-president of STAND, an anti-genocide group.

Mandeep has so much to offer to our country. She wrote: ``I . . . consider the United States my only home. My family, friends, and future are in the United States, which is where I belong. My dream is to become a pediatrician so I can treat the most helpless and innocent among us. I hope to serve families in low-income communities who otherwise are unable to afford medical care. I wish to remain in the United States so that I can continue to make a positive difference and give back to the community that has given me so much.''

How beautiful. You see the recurring theme of the DREAMers: wanting to give back to America, appreciative of the opportunities they have received here--the mentoring, the friendship, the love; wanting to give back.

Dominique Nkata and Tapiwa Nkata. There are two.

Tapiwa's and Dominique's parents, John and Joan Nkata, brought their family to the United States from the African county of Malawi in 1990. At the time, Tapiwa was 4 and Dominique was only 11 months old.

The Nkatas came here legally. They had work permits. John, an ordained Christian minister, worked as a hospice counselor. Joan, his wife--their mother--worked as an accountant.

The Nkatas filed papers to stay here permanently. For years, their case was stuck in immigration court. Finally, in 2009, John and Joan Nkata were granted legal permanent residence. But by that time, Tapiwa and Dominique were adults and unable to obtain legal status through their parents. That happens at 21.

Here is what Dominique said about being deported to Malawi: ``The looming fear of having everything I know, including part of my family, here in the United States, while I am removed to the other side of the world, is crippling.''

Tapiwa said: ``I can't imagine my life in Africa. I am an American. I know this culture and speak this language. I pledge allegiance to this flag.''

It would be wrong to send these women back to Malawi, a country they don't even remember. Remember, one of them was 11 months old when she came.

In 2007, Tapiwa graduated summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in finance. She then worked at an accounting firm. She dreams of becoming a certified public accountant.

Tapiwa explained what America means to her: ``Quite simply, when you say `The American Dream' all around the world, they know what you are talking about. People who have never been to our shores, eaten our food, or even spoken our language have heard of a prosperous nation that, above all else, grants freedom and rights to all people.''

Dominique graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in chemistry and pre-medicine. Remember, her sister graduated summa cum laude with a degree in finance. Dominique graduated with a degree in chemistry and pre-medicine and began working at University Hospital and the Jewish Hospital in the research department as a clinical studies assistant.

Dominique planned to apply to medical school. She said: ``I dream of being a doctor and of giving back to a country that has given so much to me.''

Would America be better off if we deported Tapiwa and Dominique back to Malawi?

Of course not. The Dream Act gives them a chance.

Let me introduce you to another DREAMer, Monji Dolon.

Monji's parents brought him to the United States from Bangladesh in 1991. He was 5 years old. As he grew up in his new home, he immersed himself in the study of computers and technology.

Monji wrote: ``For as long as I can remember, I have had an intense passion for technology. In middle school, that passion led to spending many nights constructing remote-controlled model airplanes and Van de Graaff generators. In high school, I fell in love with computers and the internet, spending my senior year creating an online newspaper for my school.''

Monji did not know about his immigration status until he was applying for college. He asked his parents what to say about his status on his college applications. That is when Monji learned that he was undocumented.

In 2008, Monji graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an outstanding school. Very soon, Monji began to be courted by the technology industry. He was even offered a job as the lead engineer for a startup in Silicon Valley.

Monji's prospects would be limited because of his immigration status.

The Dream Act would give Monji a chance to pursue his dream and contribute his talent to the country he calls home.

Here is what he has to say: ``I've turned down several great jobs from reputable companies because of my status. The Dream Act would let me take my passion for technology to the next level by allowing me to move to Silicon Valley and pursue my dream as an internet entrepreneur.''

So, we have someone like Monji, with his talents, his entrepreneurship, his passion, and his intellect. What a resource to our country.

I keep asking the question: Would America be better off if we deported Monji back to Bangladesh, a country he left when he was 5 years old?

Of course not.

Herta Llusho was brought to the United States from Albania when she was 11. She and her mother settled in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

Herta and her mother came to the United States legally. Shortly before arriving in America, Herta's mother filed an application to stay in the United States.

Herta quickly learned English and became an academic star. She graduated from Grosse Pointe High School with a 4.05 grade point average. In high school, she was a member of the varsity track team, won an Advanced Placement Scholar Award, and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Herta then attended the University of Detroit Mercy, where she was an honor student and studied to be an electrical engineer. She had a grade point average of 3.98 and completed two internships at engineering companies.

She is from Albania, I remind you.

Herta has been very involved with her community, volunteering at homeless shelters, tutoring programs, and her church.

Listen to what one of her friends said about her: ``I am humbled by Herta's willingness and desire to serve. I have had the privilege of going to the same church at which she faithfully serves. She spends hours tutoring kids and volunteering with the junior high Sunday school class. It is a joy to watch so many children run up to her at church because of the love they receive when they are with her.''

Would it be a good use of taxpayer dollars to deport Herta?

Of course not.

Again, there is so much discussion in the United States about the need for more young people to study what is known as STEM--science, technology, engineering, and math. Of course, we add the arts in there:

Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Are we going to be able to have Special Orders for our colleagues at the end of the session?

Okay. I didn't know if a decision had been made about that yet.

Then I will continue to read.

Amy Kele. This is from Representative Jayapal, a leader on the immigration issues, as you probably all know, an immigrant herself to our country, and now a Member of Congress. I am so proud of her.

Amy Kele and her family moved from Fiji to settle in

Everett, Washington, staying on their father's student visa.

Things change when Amy's parents left the U.S. to attend a

wedding in Fiji.

``They were only planning to stay for 2 weeks, but then my

mom's visa got denied,'' said Amy, the oldest of four

children. Amy is now 19, but the last time she saw her

parents was when she was just 11 years old.

How sad.

When Amy's parents left for Fiji, Amy's grandmother came

from California to babysit. When they weren't able to reenter

the country, she picked up her life and moved to Everett to

care for her grandchildren. ``She's the heart of this whole

family. She's kept us together this whole time. I don't know

where we'd be right now, maybe back in Fiji or in a foster

home. I'm really thankful for her in our lives,'' said Kele.

Though Amy's grandmother has been living in the U.S. for

almost 20 years, she is also undocumented. ``Because she's

also undocumented, she can't get benefits like Social

Security and things like that. It kind of breaks my heart

whenever I think about it.''

With the exception of Amy's younger sister, who was born in

the United States, the Kele children have all enrolled in

Well, that is what we asked earlier, and we had made that overture but never did get an answer back.

We have been joined by Congresswoman Judy Chu who, as I mentioned earlier, is the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a leader fighting for family fairness and the issue of family unification in any of our immigration discussions; Congresswoman Nita Lowey, our ranking member on appropriations and really central to all the discussion this is about, about the appropriations bill that will come back from the Senate.

It will come back from the Senate with a promise from their leader, Mitch McConnell, that we would--that they, in the Senate, would have a vote on a DREAMers bill to be debated, and the chips will fall where they may. We are simply asking the Speaker for the same opportunity.

So I thank Mrs. Lowey for her leadership. Congresswoman Roybal- Allard, as I mentioned earlier, was the original--I called her the godmother--of the DREAM Act. She had the original bill, and then she joined with Senator Durbin in advancing it in 2001.

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, part of our communications group on this

and other subjects, I thank Hakeem Jeffries from New York.

Congressman Gonzalez from Texas who knows firsthand the border, the challenges that we face; Congressman Joe Kennedy from Massachusetts, again, a strong supporter, mentioned again in his response to the President.

I mentioned Adam Schiff earlier about his being involved in our discussions and our earlier meetings today on the subject; and Congresswoman Hanabusa from Hawaii, of course, very involved in this issue, as you would suspect.

So I thank so many of our colleagues for joining here on the floor. I don't know if they have--I have so many more, but I didn't know if they had any. These are from my colleagues. This is my stack, but these are from my colleagues; so I will go to those.

From Congresswoman Lowey, this is a letter from a DREAMer to Congresswoman Nita Lowey. ``I want to thank you for your support of DACA. I know you are doing all you can to fight heartless legislation and initiatives that would deport a potential 800,000 young people. I am 28 years old, and I am one of the DREAMers, having come to America from El Salvador when I was 15 years old.

``I attended school in Ramapo, New York, and now make my home with my wife in Pearl River. Life in El Salvador, where I was born, was dangerous and brutal, which is why my father moved us to America in 2005.''

And this is a story we have heard over and over.

``I am grateful every day for all the opportunities presented to me here. I currently work as a technology specialist at Apple and feel it is so important to continue achieving, setting goals, and giving back to my community.''

``It would break my heart to lose my home and life here in New York.

``The prognosis on DACA seems to be changing daily, adding to growing uncertainty. My status expires in November.

``What will my future be?

``I am reaching out to you to ask if I could meet with you at one of your local offices to discuss DACA.

``My employer has offered support and legal assistance. . . .''

That is from Hugo Alexander Acosta Mazariego.

And as I said earlier, our business community has been superlative in all of this.

Representative Torres sent a story from Leydy Rangel: ``My name is Leydy Rangel, and I have lived in the United States since I was 8. I am now 22. In June, I graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, where I earned a degree in journalism. I have always known I am undocumented because I remember the first day of elementary school and how kids pointed out my brown skin so much.''

I told you my story about that before.

Leydy says: ``I know that my parents moving to the States was extremely horrifying and leaving everything behind was difficult, but it makes me feel better knowing that my future here was brighter than the one I could've ever had in Mexico.

``Regardless of not having enough food on the table, not having help on my homework, not having any resources to help me apply to college, I managed and got accepted to college and moved hours away from home with the purpose of bettering myself and my family.''

This is really the American Dream story over and over again.

She references when DACA was created, she had stability, if only temporarily, in America, the only country she knows. By repealing DACA, her hopes and aspirations were forced into another place.

Leydy says: ``I do not have any clear memories of Mexico, and I do not know anyone in Mexico. My entire life is in the United States. Here is where I have made my life for myself, and taking that away from me is inhumane. This Nation is the only one that I aspire to contribute to and the only one I belong to.''

Graciela Nunez is a 22-year-old student, a Washington graduate, who works at a humanitarian law firm. She is a driven person with a desire to give back, and she has big ambitions for the future. She is also a DREAMer and DACA recipient who was born in Venezuela.

When Graciela was 7 years old, her parents moved. They told her that her family was going to the U.S. to visit Disney World on a short vacation. Only as she got off the plane did she realize that she was not going back to Venezuela. They were fleeing the Chavez regime, and they were in the United States to stay.

This is the only country Graciela knows. She, like 1.8 million other DREAMers in this country, has built her life here. She is as American as it gets. A piece of paper could not negate her participation in all of the things that make this country great. Graciela feels little connection to Venezuela. She doesn't know how many Presidents that country has had. She is unfamiliar with the geography, but she has got a 5 in AP U.S. history and she can talk about the documents that built this Nation with more detail than any of us.

In Graciela's words, she has been living under constant heightened stress because of the fate of DACA. And we know what that program is about.

Graciela says DACA has let people know that undocumented youth have potential. It gives them upward social mobility and a way out. It allows DREAMers to do exactly what their name implies: to dream for a better life and to not let paper limit potential.

Jimmy Panetta has sent us a story from Katherine from Salinas. I mentioned Jimmy earlier and his work in trying to find a bipartisan solution.

Katherine says: ``I'm very grateful for all the things this country has done for me, but I think it's not their turn to see what I have done for them, to see everything that I've accomplished: the awards, the high GPAs, and all the amazing people that are DACA recipients. The process you have to go through and the strictness to obtain DACA is so hard. If you have just a little detail on your record, that's it, you're out.

``We're some of America's best. And I want to know why they are taking this away from us.

``Why don't you want us here? Don't you want people with degrees? Don't you want people with cool internships and cool jobs? Why don't you want me here?

``Our parents are original DREAMers, and we're here trying to accomplish their dreams. Please be able to see that for yourselves.''

So this is that same thing about parents.

Mr. Hoyer has a story from Ivy Teng Lei, a Chinese American DACA recipient raised in Manhattan's Chinatown. She is the youngest of three and became the second to graduate college in her family from Baruch College. Today, she continues to devote her free time to empowering underserved communities. She chairs the Professional Leadership Council on Asian American Federation, hosts seminars and workshops on professional and cultural engagement activities. She is now an independent consultant for small business, nonprofits, and immigrant organizations. She just devotes so much of her free time to empowering underserved communities.

Ivy Teng Lei's story is just what this country needs. I thank Mr. Hoyer for referring her to us. She is a Chinese American.

Jung Bin Cho's family emigrated to the United States in 2001 from South Korea. They decided to leave to attain the American Dream for their children. He enrolled in first grade in Virginia, and, in 2016, proudly graduated from Virginia Tech.

Jung Cho says: ``The U.S. is the only home I know. Because of DACA, I worked and could save money to help pay for college. Where I live in Northern Virginia, you need a car to get anywhere. Because of DACA, I can drive, giving my family rides or to study.''

Anyway, these are all just very personal stories about the struggles, the obstacles, but the optimism, the determination, and the hope that all of these people have. Isn't that what America is about? America is about optimism and hope.

This one is from Representative Esty about Carolina Bortolleto. She had other testimony earlier. Elizabeth Esty from Connecticut has been a champion on this issue, and she sends this other testimony.

Carolina says: ``I was born in Brazil and moved to the U.S. with my family

and my twin sister when I was 9 years old. I came to Connecticut. I knew I was undocumented, and so I'd face a tougher path to college, but I made the decision to keep fighting.

``I was able to graduate in top 5 percent of my class and got a scholarship to Western Connecticut State University, where I graduated in 2010 with a degree in biology. In 2010, I cofounded a local organization working for the rights of undocumented students in Connecticut.

``I was able to buy my first car and obtain a driver's license. At the end of 2014, I suffered a severe medical emergency and spent 8 months in the hospital. But due to DACA, I was able to get a job that offered health insurance with the national organization United We Dream.''

Here we are again with United We Dream.

Carolina says: ``Now my DACA expires on March 2019, and, with it, I will lose my health insurance that I need to live.''

Again, these stories go on and on. I think, really, the point is that these young people have accomplished things that I think many of us would not have been able to accomplish. Perhaps some. I give everyone credit for obstacles they have overcome. But if you have all of the obstacles of economic disadvantage, plus being undocumented, uncertainty in your family, and all the emotional unrest that that causes, and to see them in the National Honor Society, the top 1 percent, the top 10 percent, the top 5 percent of their classes, giving back, volunteering over and over again in their communities, these are the best of the best. They are so fabulous.

Again, their parents were so courageous. They had a dream for their children, and some of these children are now reflecting that they are living their parents' dream for them. And that is what America has always been about.

Mr. Speaker, I have plenty more stories to tell. Some of them submitted by our colleagues, but I know that there is supposed to be a vote sometime soon.

Is that correct? Or can we just go on?

Mr. Speaker, may I ask what the order of things is here? Do I have just time to go on and on? Or is there a vote being called? Or what?

Aldo Solano was at the State of the Union address. He was the guest of Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Aldo moved from Mexico when he was 6. He grew up in one of the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation's affordable housing communities in Woodburn, Oregon. At 15, he started volunteering at FHDC's afterschool program and later interned for its Funds Development Department, creating his pathway to a career in community development and a passion for social equity.

After graduating from Woodburn High School, Aldo became a DACA recipient. He has extensive experience with electoral and community- based organizing in areas of farmworkers' rights, immigrants' rights, youth employment, and education.

Aldo currently serves as the policy director for the Oregon Latino Health Coalition, where he is part of a team that helped pass State legislation that extends health coverage to undocumented children in Oregon.

God bless you for that, Aldo.

We have been joined by Congressman Eric Swalwell from California, and we thank him for his leadership on this very important issue working with the Future Forum, visiting with DREAMers all over the country.

Also, Keith Ellison joined us, who I referenced earlier his testimony from his constituent in Minnesota as well.

Mr. Hoyer has another testimony from Chirayu Patel, an Indian American who arrived here when he was 11 years old. For 23 years he has lived here. He was from Gujarat.

Isn't that where the Prime Minister is from in India?

Chirayu has spent years and thousands of dollars to resolve our status. He says: ``However, due to incorrect filing by a notary that took advantage of my father's lack of knowledge about U.S. immigration process, our current lawyer has said that there is simply no way for us to get right with the law unless there is a change in law by the Congress.''

Again, I won't read the whole statement, but Chirayu says: ``Over the years, our family has built a life here and given back to the only country we know as home. My parents have paid income taxes, property taxes, and even business taxes. I was also the first person in my family to graduate from college. The introduction of DACA in 2012 was a consequential day for me.

``The President's decision to rescind the DACA program was a punch in the gut, and I felt the floor disappear under my feet.''

Chirayu says:

After 23 years, my life may be destroyed overnight. I

continue to raise awareness on this issue by sharing our

stories and asking our families, friends, and neighbors to

continue pushing Congress. In return, we hope that Congress

can deliver.

I thank Mr. Hoyer for submitting that.

Mr. Swalwell's testimony is from Jose from Hayward, California. He came to the United States as a child from Mexico. He has only pledged allegiance to the United States of America. He is headed to college soon and wants to be a police officer in the only country he has called home.

Thank you, Mr. Swalwell, for bringing that to our attention.

Valentina Garcia Gonzalez was only 6 years old when her family brought her to the United States from Uruguay. She grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. She was a bright child and learned English after a few months of college. Valentina says: ``After that, I became my parents' right hand. Everything and anything that involved speaking to the outside world meant I was in the front translating and representing my parents. It was a lot of responsibility for a young undocumented kid.''

In addition to this responsibility, Valentina was an excellent student. She received the President's Education Award twice, once from President Bush and once from President Obama. In high school, she was an honors graduate in advanced placement, a leader in student government, a member of the Beta Club.

Somehow Valentina found time to be the president of the school's environmental group and manager of the varsity basketball team.

They have so many hours in a day, these DREAMers. She was a very accomplished student, but Georgia State law bans undocumenteds from attending the State's top public universities. As a result, Valentina applied and was accepted to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Congratulations, Valentina.

She is now a sophomore there. To help pay her tuition, she works as a projectionist at a theater, as an undocumented student. She still finds time to volunteer and mentor children.

In her letter, she wrote: ``I am beyond grateful because, by receiving DACA, the U.S. has given me an opportunity to give back to this country that has given me so much. This is my country. I have worked hard to prove myself worthy in the eyes of my American counterparts, and knowing that I am in a weird limbo in regards to my legal status doesn't make me sleep any easier. My name is registered with the government, so I might be deported if they decide to end

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4771, the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act of 2018. This bill is another Republican-led measure to roll back appropriately tailored policies to regulate the financial services sector that ignores the hard-learned lessons of the catastrophic 2008 financial crisis.

We have seen this same flawed approach in H.R. 10, which I called the ``Wrong Choice Act,'' last year, and we are seeing it again in the Senate as it considers advancing Senator Crapo's Wall Street giveaway, which includes a provision identical to the bill that we are considering today, along with several other harmful provisions.

The Federal Reserve's Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement was first issued in 1980 to enable the transfer of ownership of small community banks by allowing small, noncomplex bank holding companies to operate with higher levels of debt than would normally be permitted.

The original policy statement established a threshold of bank holding companies with less than $150 million in assets, but this level was increased to $500 million in 2006.

The policy statement allows certain small bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies to hold more debt at the holding company level than would otherwise be allowed by capital requirements if the debt is used to finance up to 75 percent of an acquisition of another bank. Put another way, the policy statement is important because it allows small institutions like community banks and minority- owned insured depository institutions to access additional debt so they can continue serving their communities without compromising bank safety and soundness.

Thus, it is important that the threshold level be carefully calibrated so it cannot be abused by speculative investors. If the threshold is raised too high, it will encourage more mergers and acquisitions, riskier banking activities, and reduced banking services and credit availability to rural, low-income, minority, and underserved communities.

In 2014, Democrats worked with Republicans to examine this threshold and reached a reasonable compromise to raise the threshold to $1 billion. This change was implemented only after closely consulting with regulators to determine the appropriate threshold level to help community banks grow without making them targets for mergers and acquisitions.

The $1 billion threshold is sensible and reasonable in light of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's exhaustive study several years ago on the definition of ``community bank.'' While the FDIC factors in other considerations, their definition of a community bank includes a dollar threshold of banks with less than $1 billion in assets.

According to 2016 data from the Federal Reserve, 87 percent of all bank holding companies are covered by the current $1 billion threshold. This means that a large majority of the industry currently benefits from the adjusted 2014 threshold increase in the policy statement, including all truly small community banks.

Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that the bipartisan compromise reached in 2014 included other important safeguards, such as excluding any bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies with less than $1 billion that are engaged in significant nonbanking activities. It also gives the Federal Reserve the ability to exclude any bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies from the policy statement, regardless of size, if it concludes that the exclusion is warranted for supervisory purposes.

But my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have not hesitated to try and push the threshold higher. Last Congress, just a little more than a year after a bipartisan compromise to increase the threshold, Republicans pushed through the House another bill, H.R. 3791, that would have significantly increased the threshold from $1 billion to $5 billion. That bill faced a veto threat from the Obama administration, as it should have, and it went nowhere in the Senate.

Last year, Chairman Hensarling included a provision in H.R. 10, the ``Wrong Choice Act,'' to drastically raise the $1 billion threshold to $10 billion. Because the Senate now appears set to move a bill that raises the threshold, but to nowhere near that level, we now find ourselves back on the floor of the House today considering a new bill to triple the threshold from $1 billion to $3 billion.

While it is a slightly less drastic increase than the one in the bill Republicans pushed through the House last Congress, tripling the policy statement threshold to $3 billion so soon since the last threshold increase is still unwise. There simply has not been sufficient time to see what effect doubling the policy statement threshold from $500 million to $1 billion really means for community banks.

Congress should at least examine the data and understand the effects of the last change before making another one. We should not ignore the concerns raised by experts that this approach will allow small banks to take on more debt than they otherwise need and may actually promote mergers and acquisitions so that we have fewer community banks, not more.

While Republicans push bills like H.R. 4771 in the name of helping community banks, this is yet another proposal that would likely result in fewer, not more, community banks.

Even the Treasury Department under this President, President Trump, only recommended raising the threshold to $2 billion. So they are $1 billion even beyond what the President supports. That was in a report issued last year.

As I mentioned, H.R. 4771 is one of the many harmful provisions in Senator Crapo's financial deregulatory bill that is advanced in the Senate. Senator Crapo's bill also includes many other harmful rollbacks that would fundamentally weaken our framework. It would roll back certain stress testing requirements for megabanks like Wells Fargo and would exempt or weaken enhanced standards for many of the large banks in the country.

The Senate bill also would gut rules for foreign banks like Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

It would also eliminate a requirement that many banks collect and publicly report critical Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA, data. HMDA data is used for many important policy purposes, including to identify mortgage lending discrimination against many Latinos, African Americans, and other minority groups.

I could go on and on, but the list is longer than the time that we have allotted. The bottom line is I strongly urge my colleagues to reject H.R. 4771 and the other efforts by congressional Republicans and this administration to deregulate Wall Street and the banking industry and roll back the clock to a time not long ago when we had weak

oversight and few safeguards that protect consumers, investors, and taxpayers.

You can see what is happening. At one point, the opposite side of the aisle said: ``Let's jump to $5 billion.'' And then, Mr. Hensarling said: ``No, let's jump to $10 billion.'' This is done without any thought or consideration for what they are doing and the risks that they are placing on these little banks to be bought up and the mergers to take place.

You can see there is no real thought, no real review, no real consideration given when you say: ``Let's go from $1 billion to $3 billion to $5 billion to $10 billion, whatever we can get.'' We are saying: ``No, that is wrong. Don't do that. Don't do that to these community banks.''

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what the other side wants. They want $5 billion at one point, they want $10 billion at one point, and now they want $3 billion. They just throw it up against the wall and hope something sticks, and we are saying: Don't put these community banks at risk.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), the vice ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for us to understand the support that community banks have gotten from this side of the aisle.

I know that my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle, oftentimes, advance the argument that they are the only ones who care about community banks and that we don't understand community banks. And, oftentimes, they have arguments that basically would have one conclude that we don't really advance the cause of community banks.

I would just like to remind my colleagues in this Congress of the work that we have done in support of community banks. We have supported, and successfully supported, less frequent exams for well- rated community banks with less than $1 billion. The exam cycle is now 18 months instead of 12 months for these strong small banks.

We took into consideration the concerns of community banks about the examiners coming too often, disturbing the banks, oftentimes, tying up the personnel in the bank. So we agreed to not have them come in every 12 months and to extend that so that 18 months will give some relief to the community banks so that they don't have to deal with the auditors in such a way that disturbs the bank.

We also moved successfully to eliminate an annual privacy notice for community banks and credit unions whose policies have not changed and the consumer has already notified. Well, we did that. We eliminated these annual privacy notices for the community banks and for credit unions who have not changed their policies, and there is no need to have to continue to insist that they have these annual privacy notices.

Well, we went further with less stringent SEC registration rules for small thrifts, providing parity with other banks; and access to credit for privately insured credit unions, allowing them to join the Federal Home Loan Banks program; improving mortgage licensing for community banks and credit unions by allowing regulator access to the nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry, while maintaining confidentiality protections.

I just cite this because it is so important to understand what we have done on this side of the aisle to ensure that our community banks are strong, that they are there for our communities, that they provide the loans, that they

assist in developing our communities. What we don't understand oftentimes is why our friends on the opposite side of the aisle, in the name of community banks, will come with proposals that hurt community banks.

We have pointed out that our friends on the opposite side of the aisle have gone so far as to try and get everyone to believe that we should increase this amount of debt that they could carry up to $10 billion. That is totally irresponsible, totally. And even when they attempted to go to $5 billion, totally irresponsible, down to $3 billion, because I guess they just say: Well, we have to try to get some more opportunities for small banks to carry this debt.

Well, they don't answer the question about what happens when these small community banks are burdened with debt that they cannot take care of, that they cannot pay. They don't talk about the fact that that is going to cause the community bank to close. And they certainly don't talk about putting them in a position where they will be brought up.

So I would simply say for those of us who have proven our support for community banks and who continue to engage with community banks about what we can do to ensure their strength, to ensure that they are there to provide the loans in the neighborhoods and in the communities that they serve, I think we have identified ourselves and we have defined ourselves. We would simply ask those who are listening to this debate to continue to know and understand what is happening between these different sides of the aisle, to look at what we have done, and to understand how we have been helpful in our support for community banks.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to remind my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle that the community banks with $1 billion to $5 billion in assets already have sufficient access to capital markets and, as a group, are exhibiting help and resilience.

Raising a threshold to exempt banks with over $1 billion from important minimum leverage and capital requirements will do little more than encourage banks to take on debt--as I have reminded you time and time again today--endangering their soundness and potentially depriving their customers of much-needed banking services should the bank fail.

Setting the consolidated assets threshold at $1 billion was a bipartisan decision that struck a balance between allowing small banks to access capital to better serve their customers and ensuring their safety and soundness. Raising the threshold would be an unnecessary and risky change.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Okay. So we have heard it again. We hate Dodd-Frank. We hate Dodd- Frank. We hate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We don't believe that Dodd-Frank should have created the reforms that they did.

Just forget about the fact that there was a subprime meltdown in 2008, that this country went into a recession, almost a depression. Throw all of that out of the window. Forget about what was happening when the big banks failed and we bailed them all out. Forget about reforms.

Oh, how much we hate Dodd-Frank. We just blame Dodd-Frank for everything.

Please. I think that, as credible legislators, we are beyond the point of wrapping up everything that we don't like and accusing Dodd- Frank reforms for causing problems to everything and everybody, including the community banks. The fact of the matter is, if we want to strengthen, preserve, and make sure community banks are available to our communities, we won't take on public policy that would put them at risk with having more debt than they can take care of, and we won't put them at risk of being bought up and these mergers taking place.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time and I am prepared to close, so I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats support targeted, measured relief for our community financial institutions. We recognize that these smaller banks and credit unions intimately know their communities and how best to serve them. But we also know that changes to the rules that are designed to ensure that community banks are safe and sound can have unintended consequences.

While community banks did not cause the 2008 financial crisis, they were at the center of another crisis just two decades before. When I came to the Financial Services Committee, thousands of savings and loan holding companies were failing and causing serious harm to the communities they were supposed to serve. This was due, in part, to the fact that lawmakers thought it was wise to weaken safeguards on these savings and loan holding companies, allowing them to take on more leverage and offer riskier products. I fear that Congress will again pass legislation today that will ultimately cause harm to both the very community banks we want to help and the hardworking Americans that rely on them.

And now, Republicans are trying to raise the threshold as high as possible. In the chairman's ``Wrong Choice Act,'' he would raise the threshold tenfold, to $10 billion. At the end of last Congress, Republicans sought to raise it to $5 billion. A few months ago, the Trump administration recommended raising it to $2 billion, and now, a little less than 3 years after we reached a bipartisan compromise, we are inexplicably considering legislation to raise it to $3 billion.

I tried to tell you just a few moments ago, they don't know. They are just throwing it up against the wall: whatever we can get. Next they will be asking for $20 billion. No, you have moved away from $10 billion; you have moved away from $5 billion; now you are at $3 billion. Your President wants $2 billion. We say, leave it as it is.

Mr. Speaker, if you are listening to this and feeling dizzy, it is understandable. None of these levels are backed by the same careful consideration Congress gave to the threshold 2 years ago, and I am afraid it is exactly the kind of legislating that set the groundwork for the savings and loan crisis and left thousands of communities without access to banking services.

When I came on, Members of Congress were fleeing the old Banking Committee. They wanted to get out of there because they had been responsible for public policy that had put the S&L business at risk, and now that was all failing. They were fleeing it, and they were punishing people, all the new Members coming on, and making them go on this committee because they knew that they had nobody else to serve on it.

So I have been there. I have seen it. I have experienced it. I am a part of Dodd-Frank reforms. I served on the conference committee. I worked with Dodd. I worked with Frank. I know what we should be doing.

Before I close, I would like to remind my colleagues that this bill and many of the other one-off financial services bills Republicans are pushing should really be viewed as setting the table for the dangerous deregulatory package making it through the Senate. That package, which our committee has not even considered to thoroughly understand the interactions of all the rollbacks it contains, weakens oversight of Wall Street and the Nation's largest banks under the guise of community bank relief.

H.R. 4771 is one of the many provisions in the Senate bill that, when taken together, will risk further bailouts and harm homeownership in America. Every time this House passes another provision of that bigger bill, we make it more likely that critical safeguards and protections will be eviscerated at the expense of our Nation's homeowners and consumers.

I urge all Members to soundly reject H.R. 4771 today and to reject the larger Senate legislation if it comes to the House. I comfortably say, despite the fact that my friends on the opposite side of the aisle are trying to frame this in a certain way, they really don't know what they are doing. Reject this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1153, the so-called Mortgage Choice Act of 2017.

Unfortunately, this bill is yet another attempt to undermine the strong consumer protections Democrats established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, taking us back to the days of the subprime bubble.

While some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have forgotten those days, I haven't. I remember how predatory lenders targeted unsuspecting home buyers by hiding fees and obscuring loan costs, tricking them into exploding mortgages and locking them into loans that they really couldn't afford.

Millions of home buyers were steered into high-cost, subprime loans even

when they qualified for prime mortgages, and lenders didn't even bother to verify whether or not borrowers had the ability to repay their mortgages. They weren't required to do that, so they didn't. The end result was rampant fraud on a massive scale to millions of foreclosures and a tremendous loss of generational wealth, particularly for Black homeowners. Some of my constituents are still struggling and trying to recover from the financial devastation that occurred during this financial crisis.

The last thing Congress should do is to open the door to a return to these fraudulent and harmful policies, yet that is exactly what H.R. 1153 would do. This bill seems like a technical fix to allow affiliated title insurance and settlement services firms to be excluded from the qualified mortgage rule's 3 percent cap on upfront points and fees paid by borrowers. But make no mistake, there is nothing technical about this. In fact, this bill would allow title insurance companies to jack up prices on borrowers and allow lenders to receive what would otherwise be illegal kickbacks.

Under this bill, lenders, including repeat offender megabanks, like Wells Fargo, would have new opportunities to reap huge financial profits at their customers' expense by steering them into costly title insurance policies that have no cap on fees whatsoever.

Prior to the enactment of Dodd-Frank, lenders were able to earn tremendous profits through lucrative kickbacks paid by their affiliates. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA, prohibits giving a fee kickback or thing of value in exchange for a referral of business related to a real estate settlement service. But this kickback prohibition does not apply to affiliated companies of lenders, like a title insurance firm. To avail themselves of this kickback loophole, some lenders have bought or created businesses to enable them to profit directly from the relationship.

So Dodd-Frank established the responsible underwriting practice of requiring lenders to verify a borrower's ability to repay when they originate a loan. Dodd-Frank also enabled lenders to obtain some legal protections when making residential mortgages if those loans are considered a qualified mortgage or QM.

To be considered QM, a loan must have terms and conditions that are understandable to borrowers and not contain predatory features considered to be unfair or deceptive. QM loans, for example, can't be interest-only loans, longer than 30 years, or have balloon payments. Specific to the bill we are considering today, the amount of upfront points and fees on QM loans cannot exceed 3 percent of the total amount of the loan.

In short, QM loans are supposed to be low risk, prudently underwritten, and free from the type of features associated with those predatory mortgages that trapped borrowers in loans they couldn't afford and that led to the financial crisis.

The points and fees cap included under the QM definition includes, among other things, real estate-related fees paid to affiliates of the lender for services, such as property appraisals, settlement services, and title insurance. Fees paid to affiliates of the lender pose greater risks to borrowers since lenders cannot steer borrowers directly to their affiliates without open competition, and higher prices charged by affiliates directly benefit the lenders.

Affiliate title insurance is especially problematic. The title insurance industry is notoriously opaque. Due to a lack of competition and readily available information on terms and pricing, consumers do not shop around for title insurance as they might for other products and services. Megabanks, like Wells Fargo, have used title insurance to take advantage of consumers through illegal kickbacks schemes.

The Consumer Bureau took an enforcement action in 2015 against Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, ordering those megabanks to pay more than $24 million in civil penalties and more than $11 million to consumers harmed by their kickback schemes with Genuine Title, a now defunct title company.

At the time, Director Cordray said: ``These banks allowed their loan officers to focus on their own illegal financial gain rather than on treating consumers fairly. Our action today to address these practices should serve as a warning for all those in the mortgage market.''

Madam Speaker, these kickback schemes continue despite Congress' efforts to shut them down, and would likely increase if H.R. 1153 is enacted. Because H.R. 1153 would remove fees that are charged by a lender's affiliate title insurance company from the QM fee cap, the bill directly encourages lenders to, once again, steer borrowers to their affiliates so they can extract even more money from them.

Now, supporters of the bill argue that, because individual States provide adequate regulation over the title insurance industry, it is unnecessary, they say, to have additional safeguards related to affiliated title companies and the fees they charge. However, research from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners shows that State laws do not, by themselves, offer robust protection to consumers with title insurance. More than half of all States don't even collect data from title agents. Some States have ``no particular standard'' for determining whether title insurance rates are adequate, and even a couple, like Illinois and Arkansas, do not regulate title insurance rates at all.

Congress should be strengthening prohibitions on kickbacks, not weakening them. We should enable borrowers to get the best price, terms, and conditions on mortgage loans instead of creating more ways for these megabanks, like Wells Fargo, to gouge American consumers.

When Congress considered this same measure last term, the Obama administration issued a veto threat, stating that the bill ``risked eroding consumer protections and returning the mortgage market to the days of careless lending focused on short-term profits.''

Madam Speaker, buying a home is likely the largest purchase most consumers will ever make. For this reason alone, Congress should absolutely reject proposals like H.R. 1153 that would permit residential mortgage lenders to take advantage of borrowers trying to achieve the American Dream.

Finally, a long list of groups, including civil rights groups, such as the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as well as consumer groups at the National, State, and local level, like Americans for Financial Reform, National Consumer Law Center, and the Center for Responsible Lending, all oppose this so-called Mortgage Choice Act.

So for all of these reasons, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in opposing H.R. 1153.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the chairman.

He said that RESPA prohibits kickbacks. While RESPA prohibits paying kickbacks to third-party title agencies, the law does not prohibit payments to affiliated title firms. This incentivizes a title agency to be affiliated so it can gain the payment option without violating RESPA, including affiliated title insurance fees in the QM defines points and fees caps, provides important market pressure to control costs for consumers, and supports access to credits.

By the way, when we talk about RESPA, we are talking about the real estate settlement procedures that define all of this.

So let's be clear again that, while RESPA prohibits paying kickbacks to third-party title agents, the law does not prohibit payments to affiliated title firms.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, for the life of me, I cannot understand why my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle would be in support of anything that would cause a home buyer to have to pay more money in fees when they are taking out a mortgage.

On a $400,000 mortgage, you are talking about you want to go beyond a $12,000 cap, which is 3 percent? Why would you want to do that to a homeowner?

What we are saying is, under QM and what we worked so hard to establish, was to put a cap on all of these fees so that the homeowners, the home buyers, would not be paying more than 3 percent of that mortgage.

We think that is fair.

Now you want to open up the flood gates so that these title companies can increase the amount of that they are charging and go beyond the 3 percent.

How much higher do you want it to go? Do you want them to be able to go up to 4 percent or 5 percent with these homeowners who are paying downpayments and who are trying to get into homes? Why is it you want to expand beyond a 3 percent cap on the average hardworking home buyer in this country?

I don't get it. I don't understand it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I don't think I heard my colleague correctly when he said that this bill had something to do with encouraging first-time home buyers. It has nothing to do with encouraging first-time home buyers.

As a matter of fact, if we proceed with this bill that is before us today that they are supporting, it will discourage first-time home buyers and home buyers in general because what they are doing is they are increasing the possibility for more points and fees that have to be paid when we have a cap now at 3 percent, which any reasonable person would know makes good sense.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

My friends on the opposite side of the aisle just dislike qualified mortgage. They dislike QM. And a lot of the arguments that you have heard had nothing to do, really, with this bill, itself, but more with the fact that they have always wanted to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who has the responsibility of implementing

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Try as they may, they cannot explain to anyone why it is they want to open up the opportunity for these affiliated companies to charge more on these title loans.

As a matter of fact, again, I am going to keep reminding everyone who is listening that, under Dodd-Frank, under the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under the qualified mortgage rule, all of the work that was done after this country found itself in a position of where we were in a recession, almost a depression because of what we had allowed to happen in this country from some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the world, we discovered that there were all kind of exotic loans, all kind of different kinds of loans that were put together to entice consumers and home buyers to take out these mortgages.

We heard about all of them: no-documentation loans where they didn't even know where the consumer, the homeowner was going to get their money from; they did not vet them, they did not know their employment history, and on and on and on.

So the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is absolutely carrying out the work of what Dodd-Frank was intended to do, and that is to reform all of this and to make sure that consumers are treated fairly, to make sure that consumers are not ripped off, to make sure that consumers don't have a whole list of these fees and points before they can even get their downpayments, incredibly, and have to pay over 3 percent and more in these points and fees as they are trying to access a mortgage.

This is all about keeping the cap on the 3 percent for all of those points and fees. If you do what this bill is intended to do, you are saying that you are opening up the opportunity for these points and fees to be increased because of these affiliated companies that want to take the cap off. I don't know how better to explain that.

My friends on the opposite side of the aisle would charge consumers more with this bill. We on this side of the aisle are opposed with that. We are saying that it is not fair to consumers. What you need to do is let Dodd-Frank reforms work so that we can protect our consumers and not have them gouged and increase the amount of money they have to pay in these points and fees.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Democratic leader.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Allow me to just say that we continue on this most important legislation, H.R. 1153, and we have had the opportunity to yield time to Leader Pelosi, and while she certainly came in to oppose this bill that we have before us, having yielded 1 minute to the leader is the most profound 1 minute probably in the history of this institution, that 1 minute that ended up 8 hours where Leader Pelosi talked about the plight of DACA and the DREAMers.

And I am very proud that in yielding that 1 minute we had the opportunity to listen to Leader Pelosi deal with an issue and demand that we have an opportunity to have a real debate and a real discussion in the people's House.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that we had that opportunity, and now let me just say, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, American consumers are under attack by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress every day. We learn about either another effort to weaken guardrails, protecting consumers from predatory actors, or another Trump appointee refusing to hold bad actors accountable.

Trump supporters at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission have basically stopped enforcing our Nation's consumer and security laws.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, there is a lot of excitement here because of what took place in the last 8 hours, so I don't feel interrupted at all. I just feel very, very pleased that we had the opportunity to have that speech by our leader.

However, I will just continue. Let me just get to the fact that, again, Mick Mulvaney, whom Trump unlawfully appointed as Acting Director of the Consumer Bureau, is gutting the Consumer Bureau's Office of Fair Lending Equal Opportunity limiting the Consumer Bureau's ability to stop bad actors from discriminating against communities of color.

News reports also suggest that Mulvaney has slowed down the Consumer Bureau's investigation of Wells Fargo, the ultimate example of a recidivist megabank. Wells Fargo has publicly admitted to ripping off millions of Americans with fraudulent checking accounts, credit cards, forced-placed auto insurance, and much, much more.

But the Trump administration has a partner in its efforts to undermine consumer protections. House Republicans have been in lockstep with the President when it comes to rolling back consumer protections. Take the Consumer Bureau's rule on forced arbitration: Wall Street lobbied hard against this rule, and instead of putting consumers first, House Republicans passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal a rule that would have helped consumers who have been wronged by the big banks to join together to hold them accountable.

But that is just one example of how House Republicans have tried to undermine consumer laws. For years now, they have tried to cut the funding of the Consumer Bureau or to change its structure, and having failed in those attempts, they now have their inside man, Mick Mulvaney, who is working to destroy the Bureau from within. We shouldn't be surprised since the chairman of the Financial Services Committee has said he wants to ``financially terminate'' the Consumer Bureau.

The bill before us today should be viewed as one part of this long line of attempts by my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle to undermine the fundamental consumer protection. Home buyers should not be gouged or swindled just because they want to own a home. H.R. 1153 would legitimize predatory kickbacks through affiliated firms. Megabanks, including bad actors like Wells Fargo, and other lenders would be incentivized to steer their borrowers into more costly products simply because they can.

H.R. 1153 is a bad bill that will only line the pockets of Wall Street with the hard-earned savings of Main Street. But don't just take my word for it. Civil rights groups and consumer advocates all agree that this is bad for America.

So, despite all of the excitement that we have had here on the floor today with Leader Pelosi and the message that she brought to this Congress, I want all of our Members to simply reject President Trump's and House Republicans' attack on consumers. Vote ``no'' on H.R. 1153 and support Leader Pelosi in calling for a debate in this House on the issue dealing with DACA and the DREAMers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 725, I call up the bill (H.R. 4771) to raise the consolidated assets threshold under the small bank holding company policy statement, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in very strong support of H.R. 4771, the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act of 2018. It is a bipartisan bill which passed our committee with a strong bipartisan vote of 41-14.

Mr. Speaker, this exact same provision came out of the Senate Banking Committee also with a very strong bipartisan vote of 16-7.

First, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love) who is a very hardworking member of the Financial Services Committee. I want to thank her for introducing this legislation and helping lead our congressional efforts to provide regulatory relief to our Nation's community banks. She is a great asset to our committee and widely respected.

The Federal Reserve Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement is a regulation that allows certain bank holding companies that have less than $1 billion in assets to hold more debt at the holding company level than would otherwise be permitted by current capital requirements. They do this as long as they meet a number of ongoing requirements and restrictions.

H.R. 4771 would raise that threshold for qualifying institutions from $1 billion to $3 billion, thus allowing more community banks to raise more capital by the issuance of debt. By increasing this threshold, H.R. 4771 provides much needed relief for bank holding companies from overly burdensome capital and leverage requirements that were truly intended, Mr. Speaker, for the largest and most complex global financial institutions.

It is a reoccurring problem, Mr. Speaker. Again, over and over, the regulatory burden on our community financial institutions is causing us to lose one approximately every other day in America. These are rules that have made it, again, more difficult for small banks to raise capital. And while the bank holding companies will no longer have to abide by these rules under this bill, again, there are plenty of safeguards that continue to be in place to protect the safety and soundness of the institution and its customers. But these institutions present no threat to the safety and soundness of our financial system.

First and foremost, the Federal Reserve retains the right to impose capital standards on a holding company if they determine it is needed. In other words, this is a ``may'' bill and not a ``shall'' bill. The $3 billion threshold remains totally within the discretion of the Federal Reserve. It is permissive.

Next, capital rules and regulations will continue to apply to the subsidiary banks of the holding company level. Again, let me repeat, the capital rules and regulations continue to apply to subsidiary banks.

All institutions must continue to meet certain qualitative requirements, including those pertaining to non-banking activities, off-balance-sheet activities, and publicly registered debt and equity. These requirements ensure that the higher leverage the policy statement allows does not pose any undue burden on subsidiary depository institutions.

So the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act will indeed make it easier for small, hometown community banks to raise capital. And as they raise more capital, they can turn it into more Main Street jobs, more economic growth, and more home ownership opportunities for our constituents.

In fact, passing this bill will immediately benefit community banks all across America. Not the big banks, not Wall Street banks, as I have no doubt the ranking member will say in her remarks, but again, it will be community banks that will benefit.

If you don't believe me, ask them. Ask the Independent Community Bankers of America and its 5,700 community bank members.

As a matter of fact, the passage of this bill, Mrs. Love's bill, has been an important, longstanding goal of the Independent Community Bankers of America because they have been suffering and suffocated by an avalanche of red tape with massive increases in regulatory burdens, which has caused consolidation with much, much larger competitors. Because of increased regulation and compliance costs, again, many of them have found it difficult to access and raise capital. This is the capital that is needed to capitalize our small businesses.

Small businesses are struggling for access to credit, and the incredible regulatory burden placed on home buyers has simply complicated the buying process.

These higher costs are being felt at the same time that paychecks are only now beginning to grow for working families thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Just don't take my word for it, Mr. Speaker. Let's listen to just one community banker who happens to be from West Virginia. They wrote in and said:

What no one in a position of power seems to realize is that

many customers in our

country prefer to deal with a smaller, hometown institution,

with people they know and trust. If a customer has a question

about their loan or their deposit, they simply pick up the

phone and call or drop by. If we don't know the answer, we

find out and let them know as soon as possible. But it

appears that Congress and the administration are attempting

to get rid of smaller institutions, so there are a lot fewer

institutions to deal with, and those are the large ones who

are too big to fail.

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what happened under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Continuing:

Please just try to remember that small financial

institutions and small businesses are the heart of America.

The American Dream is to work hard, learn, and make a good

life for yourself and your family. In the meantime, it

includes working in your community or neighborhood to help

others out. Even as a small institution as ours, we sponsor

Little League Baseball teams, soccer teams, the county junior

fair, and many other activities. We realize if we don't

support local small businesses, they soon won't be here.

Those words could have been written by almost any community financial institution in America, Mr. Speaker, and they ring so true. In order to keep our small communities alive, we have to keep their small businesses alive and we must keep their small banks alive.

So, again, it is so important that we enact H.R. 4771 and that we reduce this red tape on our community financial institutions.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Utah for introducing the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Utah.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to say that, as the ranking member appears to be vexed at where the $3 billion number came from, it is the product of bipartisan compromise, something I invite her to engage in more often, and this particular bill is supported by almost half the Democrats on the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer), the chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds just to say that I am shocked that anybody would come here and say that they want to support community banks and they supported Dodd-Frank--the very reason these community banks are being gobbled up. The whole idea of this legislation is to allow them to come together and protect themselves and not be gobbled up by the big banks they vilify in the first place.

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to simply use a term popularized on the other side of the aisle. These are crumbs, deregulatory crumbs, offered by the ranking member when, in fact, she and others on the other side of the aisle have their handprints all over Dodd-Frank, which 90 percent of community bankers will tell you is the number one reason they are going out of business, which is why we have to enact this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus), the vice chairman of our Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Ross), vice chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds just to request of the ranking member, on her time, if she will begin to name the community banks that were responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, ostensibly, that was supposed to be answered by Dodd-Frank. She will have some time to think about that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin).

I yield the gentleman from New York an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), a hardworking member of the Financial Services Committee.

I yield the gentleman from Ohio an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, our community financial institutions play a vital role in our local communities, particularly in rural areas like the Fifth District of Texas, our east Texas counties, and yet they are being crushed, crushed by the sheer weight, volume, complexity, and expense of regulation brought about by Dodd-Frank.

I hear so much from the ranking member about how much her side of the aisle cares about community banks, but their words are belied by their actions in supporting Dodd-Frank, supposedly meant for Wall Street, but it is hurting Main Street.

We have a bill before us today, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4771, that will give a little bit of ability for community banks to protect themselves from the onslaught of this regulatory burden. The whole idea, again, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that community banks can at least gather and merge amongst themselves so they are not gobbled up by the big banks that are vilified by the other side of the aisle in the first place.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this is actually--you wouldn't know it from the ranking member--a bipartisan proposal, supported by almost half--half-- of the Democrats on the Financial Services Committee. And again, there is great bipartisan work on our committee. Almost three-quarters of our bills are bipartisan; it is just few of them that are supported by our ranking member.

Let's do one small thing today. Let's have the House do one small thing today, Mr. Speaker, that will help them survive a day more so that they can lend money to a hardworking family to buy that first home, so that they can lend money to somebody to realize their American Dream of perhaps starting their own small business. After having to get that paycheck at the local factory for so many years, now they can finally go out and start their own small business. Maybe it is a matter of sending the first kid to college.

But all of this, all of this disappears. These hopes and dreams disappear with our community banks who are still failing, unfortunately, at the rate of one approximately every other day. This is unacceptable. This is totally unacceptable.

So we have one deregulatory measure here--one--to help our community banks survive. And we hear from so many of them, Mr. Speaker.

Here is one from Indiana that says:

Regulations have significantly reduced our ability to make

judgment calls on credit decisions. When I first came to

First Savings Bank, I had a number of people tell me that the

First Savings Bank gave them their first loan, probably when

they didn't deserve it. Today, they are business and civic

leaders. And I guess we made the right call then. However,

today we cannot make that call. Washington has made that

call, and the answer is no.

One reason, one voice of one banker telling us why we need the bill from the gentlewoman from Utah.

Here is another from a banker in Texas, who said:

When I started banking, the community bank business model

was built around bankers helping their communities to thrive.

Today, customers are confused when they have to sign so many

papers to open a deposit account or borrow money. I can only

think of one explanation, and that is our government thinks

our customers are too stupid to come into the bank and

negotiate a private transaction with their banker, the

community banker that they go to church with, the community

banker whose kids go to school with the customers' kids, and

the community banker whose wife is in the local charity with

the wives of the banker's customers' wives.

Here is another one from Nevada:

I have been a banker for over 30 years, and I have never

been more discouraged than I am now. Good bankers are fleeing

the industry. The days of making a commonsense decision for

the benefit of a customer are gone. For me, retirement can't

come soon enough.

I have got binders and binders full of these testimonies, Mr. Speaker. As the local community banks leave, so leave the credit opportunities of so many low-and moderate-income Americans. It has got to stop.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the House to enact H.R. 4771. Let's stop the carnage, let's encourage community bank living, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 725 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying legislation. This rule makes in order two bills reported favorably by the Committee on Financial Services and one bill reported favorably by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. I just want to take a moment at the beginning to point out that there are no amendments made in order by this rule because there were no amendments offered to any of these bills.

Both of the Financial Services bills were the subject of hearings in the committee last year. Both bills were reported out of committee with bipartisan support of 75 percent or more of the committee members.

The Energy and Commerce bill was reported favorably by the committee with a large bipartisan vote of 39-14.

The rule also provides us with the necessary tools to ensure that we can bring government funding measures to the floor quickly to prevent a government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, we have three bills before us today. Each of these bills deals with one underlying problem: Washington overregulation. That is it. These are not bills protecting Americans from some foreign hostile force. These are bills protecting Americans from the overreach of their own government.

It is a sad time in which we find ourselves when we must dedicate legislative effort to undoing the harmful effects of the American government on the American people.

Mr. Speaker, in 2013, the CFPB issued its rule commonly referred to as the qualified mortgage rule, or the QM rule. The QM rule requires creditors to make a good faith effort to determine a customer's ability to repay a loan if the loan is secured by a home. However, the rule creates a legal safe harbor from liability under the rule for qualified mortgages.

One aspect of a qualified mortgage is that it cannot have total points and fees exceeding 3 percent of the total loan amount if the loan amount is at least $100,000. However, some fees may be excluded from the points and fees cap if they are reasonable and the lender or any affiliate of the lender receives no compensation from the service.

This all sounds well and good. We certainly don't want predatory lending institutions referring business to themselves just to pad their bottom line at the expense of unsuspecting borrowers.

But this is a great example of how massive, one-size-fits-all Washington regulation often ends up hurting Americans. The result of the points and fees cap within the QM rule has been to place low- and moderate-income borrowers in a position where they end up spending more money to secure a loan.

Mr. Speaker, my home State of Colorado has been experiencing explosive population growth over the past decade and longer. Between 2009 and 2016, we added a net increase of more than 600,000 people. But home prices also increased significantly over that time, more than 57 percent.

In 2016, according to The Denver Post, we had the lowest growth we have experienced in many years at only a 30,000-person net increase. In part, the slowing growth rate has to do with rising housing costs. This is why it is vitally important that many first-time homeowners and others have access to affordable loans. Government regulation should not be a part of driving up housing costs.

Why does this happen? Why does a Federal regulation result in hurting the very people it is intended to help?

It is simple: Washington regulators cannot take into account the unique circumstances of each individual American. This is a crucial difference between the common sense of Americans across this land and the self-importance of some here in D.C.

Many in D.C. believe firmly that the Federal Government is able to protect every American from every bad experience. They express enormous faith in so-called experts who believe they can effectively govern from afar the lives of Americans.

I reject this notion. I reject the belief that a class of enlightened experts and bureaucrats in Washington can better run the lives of individuals. That philosophy deprives Americans of the freedom to make their own choices. When Washington's power expands, individual liberty retreats. So we have to have bills like the ones before us today.

The Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill required the CFPB to issue the QM rule. The QM rule was supposed to help low- to moderate-income borrowers save money, but, instead, the QM rule created a situation where low- and moderate-income borrowers cannot take advantage of discounted services offered by their lender.

The rule forces these borrowers to secure these services from third parties which almost always charge more than the lenders would charge for the same services. The negative impact of this rule is so abundantly clear that half of the committee's Democrats voted with all of the Republicans in support of fixing this provision of Dodd-Frank.

Passing this bill will not magically cause housing in Colorado to become more affordable, but it will eliminate an unnecessary regulation that needlessly drives up borrowing costs.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations, the second Financial Services bill that we have before us today protects the ability of small banks to issue debt and raise capital.

The Federal Reserve generally discourages bank holding companies from using debt to finance acquisitions, particularly the purchasing of banks. However, the Federal Reserve carved out certain small bank holding companies.

In order to be considered a small bank holding company, these companies had an asset cap of $150 million. By 2015, the cap had been increased to $1 billion. The bill before us today increases the cap to $3 billion.

As we have heard last night during testimony at the Rules Committee, there is no science or data behind the level of the cap. Think about that for a second. The government has established a cap that has a negative impact on our community banks, and the cap has no basis in anything, not science, not data, not historical financial patterns, nothing. The cap is simply a whim of Washington.

Mr. Speaker, this is absurd. It is time we allow our community banks to have an avenue to continue being locally owned and based in our communities rather than being bought out by Wall Street.

Today we have two Financial Services bills before us that reduce regulations and allow Coloradans and all Americans greater freedom in the choice of banking services. I urge support of these two bills.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out to my friend from Florida that we were both here on the floor as the House of Representatives passed all 12 appropriations bills in early September.

As we look across to the other side of the Capitol, not much work has been done on those appropriations bills since they left the House and traveled to the Senate.

The answer to the continuing problem that we have with continuing resolutions is to find Members of the Senate who are willing to work as hard as the House has and pass appropriations bills and fund the government.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening right now, and I hope we do pass a continuing resolution, I hope we do fund the military, and I hope we give some more stability to this government.

But the finger pointing in this case I don't think is warranted in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to turn now to the final bill made in order under this rule, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act.

Mr. Speaker, in 2016, I had the privilege to visit with one of my constituents, Lamont Muchmore. Lamont owns a Papa John's pizza franchise and invited me to come to his restaurant. He even taught me how to throw, or how to toss--maybe throw, maybe toss--a pizza. It was a great experience. I got to meet members of his team and hear about their professional goals. I am happy to say that the American Dream is alive within the hearts of the people of Colorado.

However, my visit with Lamont was not without concern. You see, recently, Washington had decided to push a hugely disruptive regulation on our food service industry.

In the interest of ensuring Americans had information on their food choices, Washington crafted a one-size-fits-all mandate that every menu item be labeled with its nutritional content.

As someone who has become extremely aware of the quality of foods that I consume, I certainly understand the do-good intentions behind this kind of regulation. But the impact on businesses like Lamont's has been substantial. In fact, some businesses have no realistic way of complying with the rules.

Further, the law that put these regulations in place, ObamaCare, placed criminal penalties on those who fail to comply. How ridiculous is that? If you mislabel or fail to properly label the calorie count on a menu item, you could be fined and go to jail.

The bill before us today rectifies some of the harm done by this rule. The bill allows multiple avenues for businesses such as Lamont's pizza restaurant to comply with menu labeling requirements in the most cost-effective manner possible.

While I don't believe the Federal Government needs to require the calorie count of a food item on a menu in Colorado, this bill offers a compromise. Americans will still have access to nutrition information about the food they are purchasing, while businesses will be able to provide a variety of prepared and local foods without fear of major penalties if one serving happens to be slightly different in its calorie count than the last serving.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to visit with Coloradans who are working hard to build their businesses, provide for their families and community, and employ people, only to be met with the constant headwind that our Federal Government blows in their faces through its Washington-knows-best regulatory schemes. Washington should get out of the way and let Americans do what we do best: cultivate our resources for the good of our family and neighbors.

I think often of Coloradans like Lamont. It is men and women like him all across this great land that are doing the important work. I am committed to ensuring that this Federal Government stops jeopardizing their hard-won success, and that Washington's so-called experts give honor where it is due: to the hardworking American people.

I thank Lamont for taking the time out of his day to visit with me. This bill answers the needs of his team, and I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

He does.

I don't believe he owns more than 20.

I will pass that information on to Lamont, although I disagree with your reading.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Washington is out of step with the vast majority of the American people. It is true that we often do work here that moves our country forward, that protects this great land, but it is also true that there is a competing worldview in this City which seeks to rule over the American people.

In Colorado, we have experienced the negative effects of overreach by the Federal Government.

How is it that regulators living 1,700 miles away from us believe they can create rules that take into account our needs and that respect our way of life?

It is just not possible.

Washington is good at stamping out large Federal programs. The problem is that it usually stamps out individual liberty in the process. This City must stop telling the people of Colorado how to live every detail of their lives. Washington's so-called experts must stop burying Colorado businessmen and -women under piles of rules.

If we truly free our people to grow and pursue their hopes and dreams, we will experience a renaissance of growth unmatched in our history. This Congress has done good work in rolling back the strong arm of the Federal Government, but there is more work to do.

These bills before us continue what should be a never-ending pursuit of giving back to the people their personal liberty which has been confiscated by overreaching Federal Government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hensarling and Chairman Walden for their work on these bills. I thank Chairman Sessions for bringing these bills to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bills and the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.