PPP Extension Act of 2021

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following morning business tomorrow, Thursday, March 25, all postcloture time on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 11, H.R. 1799, the PPP Extension Act, be considered expired and the motion to proceed be agreed to; that the only amendments in order be the following: Kennedy, No. 1401; Rubio, No. 1405; further, that it be in order for Senator Paul or his designee to raise a Budget Act point of order; finally, that at 11 a.m. tomorrow, the Senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed and on the motion to waive, if made; that if the motion to waive is agreed to, the bill be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill as amended, if amended, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage, all with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I thank my friend Senator Bennet for those remarks, for honoring the memories of those we have lost and commanding us to action.

I remember getting a phone call from Michael Bennet that Friday morning as Senator Blumenthal and I were sitting at a firehouse in Sandy Hook, CT,

learning what had happened just around the corner at a schoolhouse.

I remember getting advice from Michael Bennet about what you do as an elected official in the midst of this tragedy because he had already been through it once before. Colorado had already been through it more than once before.

I think about this macabre club that an increasing number of Members of the Senate and House belong to in which we have this memory bank of what to do when a mass shooting happens in your district or your State--a set of capacities that no Member of the House or Senate, no Governor ever had to think about or ever consider possessing decades ago. Now, we call each other when these things happen to impart advice as to how to be helpful to communities that are grieving.

I am thankful to have friends like Senator Bennet, who can be with others at moments like this, but I hate the fact that he knows all too well what communities go through when something happens like happened earlier this week in Boulder.

We thought about what to do to try to move this country and our colleagues to action after another spate of mass shootings. This is a really old chart that I brought down to the floor for years. These numbers are out of date, unfortunately, because, well, in 2019, we were losing 100 people a day from gun violence. That is not the number from 2020 or 2021. We have seen a dramatic increase in gun violence.

While in 2020 we didn't see the mass shootings that we have been accustomed to in years prior, we are now seeing them once again pop up on our TV screens in 2021. But the lack of mass shootings masked the reality, which was a dramatic increase in the number of people who were felled by guns over the course of last year. We thought about what we could do to try to make more real for our colleagues the scope of this epidemic, and we thought of maybe something simple, you know, to make people understand that these aren't really numbers. The numbers are just a way to explain in aggregate who these people are, because each one of them is an individual. Each one of them led a life. Each one of them had people who loved them. Each one of them loved people. So many of them, you can just see by these snapshots, were young. They had full lives ahead of them, businesses to start, and families to begin. None of that happened for them because they were shot, often at the beginning or the peak of their early life.

So tonight I am hopeful that I will be joined by a number of my colleagues to do something simple, just to read into the Record, the permanent Congressional Record, the names of those who have died just in 2021. Every single day, there are over 100 people dying right now. I don't think America has ever seen this rate of gun violence, with the exception of wartime, in our history.

While we won't have time to tell you the story of all these people, as Michael did about those whom we lost in Boulder, at least we can make sure that forever their name and a link to their story is in the Congressional Record.

Senator Bennet already talked about Lynn Murray and Suzanne Fountain, Teri Leiker, Kevin Mahoney, Tralona Bartkowiak, Rikki Olds, Neven Stanisic, Denny Stong, Jody Waters, and Eric Talley. Those are the victims from Colorado. I am sorry if I didn't get the pronunciations perfectly. But we also lost, over the course of the first 3 months of this year Patrice Lynette Jones in Indiana; Kelvin Darnell from Illinois; Kevon Dickerson from Kentucky; Leah Brooke Hines from Ohio; Linda McMurry in Tennessee; Michael Uttley in Missouri; Jarrea Gardner in Pennsylvania; Robert Randall Turner III from Maryland; Maddox Jones in Georgia; Joseph Jackson in Florida.

On Monday, the same day as the shooting, in Boulder, Alessia Mesquita, 28 years old, was shot and killed in New Haven, CT, with her 1-year-old daughter sitting in the back seat of her car. She and her boyfriend were arguing in the car when he shot her to death. According to her mother, Alessia had been trying to leave her boyfriend.

Alessia is described as a devoted mother who loved her children with all of her heart. Many of her friends really relied on her for advice and guidance. They said she would give the shirt off her back to help a friend.

Her mom said:

My heart has been shattered, and I don't think I'm ever

going to be right again.

She was the second of eight children. She had two children of her own, and her mother will now raise her two grandchildren.

Nobody heard about Alessia Mesquita being shot with her daughter in the back seat in New Haven, CT, on Monday. Her life isn't less valuable than any of those who were killed in mass shootings. But this country's attention to the pandemic of gun violence, the epidemic of gun violence, seems to surface only when there is a mass shooting.

Benjamin Bagley was shot last week in Bridgeport, CT. He was 22 years old. He was remembered by friends and family as somebody who always kept a smile on the faces of people who loved him. He was a doting father. He was a loving son and brother and always made people smile.

His friends wrote:

He was taken from us far before his light was fully able to

shine its brightest.

He was one of six siblings, two brothers and four sisters. He had two children and one on the way. He was born and raised in Bridgeport. He was involved in his church.

His mom Michelle Brown said:

I had to kiss my son lying in a hospital bed dead. I don't

wish this on nobody, not even my worst enemy.

This wasn't the first time Benjamin had been shot. He had been previously wounded in a shooting in 2016, but he had recovered.

Kevin Jang was 26 years old. About a month and a half ago, in early February, he was killed by gun violence. He had moved to New Haven just 2 years ago to pursue a master's degree at the Yale School of the Environment. He was a west coast native. He had gotten engaged 1 week before his death. He had earned a degree. He was an Army veteran. He was a present Army National Guard member.

He was shot outside his fiance's apartment. His fiance said:

Kevin was . . . a gift from God. He was a true and

righteous man after God's own heart. Life is so precious and

short. My only hope is that he is with his Heavenly Father

now in perfect peace.

``An extraordinary young man,'' said Yale University's president.

I mean, I have a stack of names, 20, 25 per page. We don't have enough time tonight to read into the Record the number of victims of gun violence in 2021 alone--alone. There is Adam Todd Saeed from South Carolina; Andrew Wesley from Ohio; Antonio Rowban Thompson from South Carolina; Artrell Conner, Louisiana; Beau Michael Wasmer, West Virginia; Brittany Wagoner-Moore in Ohio; Byron ``B'' Donnell Ross in Texas; Carolyn Ann Stephenson, North Carolina; Christian Parra, New Jersey; Christopher Bess, Illinois; David Caballero, California; David Prince, Illinois; Dean Wagstaff, Washington; Devin Dawkins, Missouri; Dolores Reyes, California; Eric Thompson, Tennessee; Glorida Dean Eddington Lewis, Ohio; Harold Edward Dennison, West Virginia; Javontae Hendricks, Illinois; Jeffrey Gillespie, Mississippi; Justin Bartley Williams, Texas; Keldrick Love, Louisiana; Kiron Golden, Alabama; Lesean Long, Illinois; Malcolm Fitts, Illinois; Marcel Tramon Pimpton, Texas; Mario Vines, Oklahoma; Melissa Marie Nease, Florida; Nestor Gregorio, Texas; Pedro Arturo Delgado Tagle, Texas; Rene Hernandez, Texas; Robert ``Trey'' Scott III, Indiana; Ryan Abraham Whiteis-Saks, Minnesota; Satnam Singh, Utah; Shamso Gedi-Abdi, Minnesota; Teresa Ratliff, Ohio; Thomas ``TJ'' Carr, Ohio; Timothy Alfred Nelson, Texas; Timothy Dugar Ohio; Tony Nichols, Missouri; Tre'Veon D. Buckner; Victor Zuniga; Xavier Crosby; Adam David-Lawrence Arrambide; Bobby King; Brandon Chunko; Carol Tinsley; Cecilia Apolo; Christian Joseph Jones; Christopher Benton McLeod; Cory McHaffie; Curtis Lee Upshaw; DeAndre Carter; Dominicko Howell; Donnell Hoskin; Grayson Babbs; Jamie Bull. It is two pages. I have 20 more here. My colleagues will hopefully join me on the floor tonight to read some of these names into the Record.

This is as astonishing as it is heartbreaking. This country allows for this to happen, allows these individuals to effectively be nameless and to be anonymous. Tonight we are reading into the Record only the names of individuals

who died in this year, and the year isn't even 90 days old. How is it that we pay attention during the mass shootings but just sleep through the days in which all of these people are stolen from us through an epidemic that is preventable?

This doesn't happen anywhere else in the high-income world. No other nation permits this level of gun violence. Don't tell me it is the price of admission to America. Don't tell me it is not preventable. Don't tell me it is inevitable. It only happens here. It only happens here, and it is really hard to comprehend the impact this has on people.

I was in an elementary school in Baltimore, MD, about 2 years ago. I had gone there to see an afterschool program that I had heard was very successful. The school had started about an hour late that day because of a weather delay, and so when I was inside the school, at about 10 o'clock, kids were still just arriving.

I went upstairs to join the young lady who ran this program, and we were about a half an hour into our conversation when buzzers started going off, and the lights flickered, and the intercom system lit up with somebody from the central office repeating over and over again: Code green, code green, code green.

I didn't know what a code green was. The person I was meeting with, who was just running this afterschool program, didn't know what code green was.

Luckily, the front office called up and told us that ``code green'' means there has been an active shooting somewhere in and around the school and that everybody needs to turn the lights off, lock the doors, and shut the blinds. So that is what we did.

It was 10:30 in the morning. After about 20 minutes, code green ended, lights turned back on, and we continued our discussion. I was shaken.

This is a school I had never set foot in. I had only been there about 20 minutes, and there was an active shooting within a handful of blocks. So I wanted to know what happened. I stayed in touch with personnel at the school. I read the Baltimore papers over the course of the next few days to find out what had happened, and here is what I found out. A young man by the name of Corey Dodd, who lived just down the street from the school, had told his wife--I believe her name is Marissa, if I remember correctly--that he would drop their twins off at Matthew Henson Elementary School that morning. They had two other kids. She was busy with them. He said: I will drop the kids off this morning.

So he drove the kids to Matthew Henson Elementary School, the twin girls, and brought them into the building. I could have been in that lobby with him that morning as I was coming in and he was leaving. He got into his car. He drove a few blocks home, and in between his car and the door, he was shot dead--10 o'clock in the morning.

His little girl, the youngest, always waited for him at the door when he was arriving. Well, he never showed up to that door because he died that day. And his two little twin girls in that school at the same time that I was there, who might have been giggling as they took a break from instruction and the lights went off, and they got to chat with their friends, didn't know that they were never going to see their father again.

Think about it, how the lives of those children change when their dad vanishes from the Earth just like that. Think about how the lives of all the children in that school change when they have to contemplate the fact that their dads might not be home when they arrive next week or the week after, if it could happen to Mr. Dodd. Think about how the entire neighborhood goes through trauma after trauma when that happens so routinely in a place like Baltimore.

You can't understand the scope of this epidemic by just reading off these names. Adam Todd Saeed died. Jason Wilson died. Jath Burns died. Johnjairo Brito died. Johnnie Clark died. Jonathan Joseph died. Jose Medero died. Joseph Carney died. Justin Locklear died. Justin Marshall died of gun violence. So did Kristen Slack and Latarous Harris and Lieutenant Justin Bedwell.

They all died of gunshot wounds just in 2021, but they simply represent the surface. You scratch just a bit, and you will find their kids and their moms and their dads and their neighbors who are going through trauma right now because of their deaths.

Research tells us that often there are 20 people who experience definable trauma when someone close to them dies. And so even the names that we read into the record tonight don't accurately represent the scope of this trauma. Those kids' lives will never ever be the same in Sandtown, the neighborhood of Baltimore in which this elementary school sits, neither will be the lives of those kids who go to that school.

And maybe what was so inexplicable to me was that I had to work really hard to find out anything about that young man. It was barely a story the next day that he had died bringing his daughters to school and then returning home. Had there been six more people shot, maybe it would have made the papers. Maybe America would have paid attention.

But think of it this way: What if that same story played out not in Baltimore, MD, with an African-American father and African-American girls, what if that story played out in Westport, CT, with a White father and two twin, blond-haired, White girls? Do we care less because Corey was African American? You better believe it. You better believe that headline news would have been running stories about an affluent, White, suburban father dropping his kids off at an affluent, White, suburban school and being shot before he entered his suburban home.

We don't care about individual loss of life like we care about the victims of mass shootings. That is a tragedy. We also don't care about the loss of Black life. We don't care about the people of color who die in the same way that we care when White people die in this country. That is just the truth.

So, tonight, my colleagues and I are going to come to the floor--and I hope some will join me. I thank Senator Blumenthal for being here to start us off--to read into the Record the names of individuals who have been lost to gun violence in 2021 as a way to make sure we recognize who they were and the lives that they led, but also as a last-gasp effort to try to convince our colleagues to do something.

Tonight isn't really going to be the night to go deep into policy. Senator Bennet talked about what we know we need to do. We can have that debate at another time. Tonight is a night to just recognize the scope of this epidemic, how many people are being lost, how many lives are being impacted in mass shootings and in individual acts of violence, in homicides and suicides and domestic violence incidences. And maybe, maybe by pounding into people's brains the human toll of this tragedy in mass shootings and in other forms, we can inch this body a little bit closer to doing the right thing.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank my friend Senator Cortez Masto for that powerful testimony, for sharing some of these stories talking about the impact on families in Las Vegas and throughout her State, and to talk about what this means from a parent's perspective, to think that her own family had to wonder whether their loved one was going to come back from that shooting that dominated the news, to think about how many lives were changed.

Senator Blumenthal made a really important observation earlier and that was that the numbers we are using here, 39,000 people dying a year, and the names that we are reading into the Record, these are the names of the individuals who have died, but what we know is there are hundreds of thousands of others who have survived gunshot wounds. The trauma is different, but it is still serious and acute.

When a loved one is shot, obviously, that comes with a moral disruption to the family that is hard to calculate. Often that injury has lifelong consequences. The individual is bound to a wheelchair, losing the use of legs and arms. These are serious consequences that affect the rest of your life.

While today we are reading into the Record the names of those who have died, this stack represents, I think, just a fraction of those who have died in 2021. It could be four times as high if we had talked about those who have been injured in episodes of gun violence.

Other colleagues are going to join us here tonight on the floor. While they do, let me just read into the Record a handful of additional names: Carlesa Taylor; Cleveland Sanders; Cortney Smith, Missouri; Corporal Martinus Mitchum from Louisiana; Daniel Bonham from Georgia; Darrell Merriwether from Iowa; Devon Lon Remmel from Minnesota; Diontaye Petty from Kentucky; Gregory Marchand from Missouri; Gwendolyn McMillan from Georgia; Irvinn Villalba from New Mexico; Jakob Lee Haines from Pennsylvania; Jonatan Jose Martinez, Pennsylvania; Julian Castro, Illinois; Julie Lee Karvelis, Mississippi; Keith Hawkins, Arkansas; Lee Patrick David, West Virginia; Manyari Smith, Illinois; Mario Turner, Illinois; Marquise Jones, Louisiana; Nazeer Defares, California; Nicolette Sheridan Law, Pennsylvania; Officer Dominic Jared Winum, Virginia; Peter Vanvallis, Montana; Qualil Terrion Young, Texas; Raymond William Nieman, Kansas; Reginald Copning, Louisiana; Reginald James, California; Robert Bigger, Illinois.

I am sure some cynical viewer tonight may listen to a name they recognize on this list and say: Oh, well, wait a second. I know that guy. He had a criminal record. That individual was involved with some bad people.

There is never a justification for a gun homicide. No matter whether the individuals on these lists were perfect angels or individuals who had made mistakes, none of them deserved to die in an episode of vigilante or random justice. So to answer a hypothetical question, I haven't vetted the names that I am reading because not a single person on this list deserved to go in the way that they did.

I remember talking to a woman who has become a friend in Hartford, CT. She lost her son just about a month before Sandy Hook. She remembers when Sandy Hook happened that she latched onto the number of children who were killed. Twenty kids were killed that day in Sandy Hook. I asked Senator Bennet were there survivors from the shooting in the supermarket in Boulder, and he said he had to check, and I will check as well, but he wasn't sure that there were individuals who were seriously injured. If that is the case, there are parallels to Sandy Hook.

The weapons that are being used in these crimes are so lethal, so powerful that, increasingly, it is hard to survive wounds when a bullet enters your body at the speed that bullets are traveling when they come from an AR-15 or AR-15-style weapon as was used in Sandy Hook.

In Sandy Hook, 20 kids were shot. All 20 of them died. The number 20 wa meaningful to my friend because her son was 20 years old when he was killed on October 20 of 2012, the year of Sandy Hook. He was killed by a 20-year-old, and he was the 20th victim of gun violence that year in Hartford, CT.

She told this story about what her life was like after her son was killed, after Shane was killed. She said that first she just didn't want to leave the house ever. She didn't want to see anybody. She would always walk down the street to the corner bodega to pick up groceries. I think it was only a block or so away. She came to driving there so there was no chance that she would have to meet people she knew along the way. Her life became fundamentally different. Her life ended, as she described it, in so many ways when her only son disappeared from the Earth.

She talked about this strange habit that came to dominate some of her evenings. She would get up in the middle of the night and she would get in her car and she would drive to the site where Shane was shot. Shane was shot about two blocks from my house where I live in Hartford, CT. I drive by the site of Shane's shooting almost every day when I am going back to our home. She would drive to that site. She would stop her car, and she would turn on her high beams as if she were waiting for Shane to show up, as if she were waiting for him to come back. She knew he never was, but this became a habit.

It just speaks to this immense, incalculable trauma that families go through when they lose a loved one, a trauma that you can't truly understand.

In Sandy Hook, one mother adopted another curious but understandable habit in the years after Sandy Hook. She would, during an afternoon on a Saturday or a Sunday, convince herself that her son who had been killed in Sandy Hook was at a friend's house. She would sort of create this fantasy, this fiction in her mind. She would find it a little bit easier to go about cleaning up the house or doing laundry or playing with her other children if, in her mind, she could pretend just for a half hour or an hour that her son was safe at a friend's house. She was successful in contorting her mind to give her that space for that short period of time. It is what she needed to do.

It is something that you never ever want to have to contemplate, creating these fictions in your minds to allow you to survive just for an hour at a time, shining bright lights on an empty space near downtown Hartford, thinking maybe that your son will show up. These are contortions of action and thinking that nobody should have to deal with.

Roshawn Tate from California; Shana Lynn Williams from North Carolina; Stanley Taylor from Missouri; Ty'Reece Thomas from Mississippi; Tyrone Brown from Ohio; Tyrone Gregory from Ohio; Anthony Collins from Georgia; Anthony Milian from Indiana; Antoine Jamil Johnson from Missouri; Brad Rumfield from Texas; Brittany Dawn Scruggs from Texas; Bryan Fundora, Kentucky; Carlesa Taylor, Michigan; Curtis Smith, Oregon; Dae'Vion Pullum, Indiana; Detraio Deshawn Whorton, Alabama; Enelrae Collier Rubenstahl, North Carolina; James Delgiorno, Florida; Jessica Morehouse, Missouri; Jordan Reen, New York; Joseph Marwan Brown, Michigan; Jovanne Hollman, California; Kevin Neal, Georgia; Kimberly Marcum, Ohio; Lentavius Cortez Hall, Louisiana; Leonne Kellam, Delaware; Lovelle Laramore, New Jersey; Luis Rafael Lopez, Arizona; Michael Vines, Michigan.

I apologize if I am mispronouncing some of these names. I am seeing many of them for the first time. But it is important for us to read these names into the Record so that at least they live in that space because the numbers aren't moving our colleagues to action.

So far this year, just 2021, there have been 9,649 gun-related deaths. These include homicides and murders, accidental shootings, and suicides. Some people take issue with the fact that when we talk about the gun violence epidemic, that we are including suicides in these numbers. There have been thousands of suicides in the United States this year, but it is important that we talk about these deaths together.

Again, this evening is not going to be a time to go deep into the question of policy change, but when you do start to explore interventions and causes, you will find that many of the same causes for homicides cause suicides as well.

For instance, there is a very clear correlation between poverty and gun homicide. There is a very clear correlation between poverty and your risk of suicide. There is a clear correlation between the ease of access to a firearm and homicide as there is to suicide. In States that have universal background checks, there are generally lower rates of homicide and there are generally lower rates of suicide as well. We talk about suicides together.

People are paying attention today to this epidemic because of what has happened in Atlanta and what has happened in Colorado. I understand why we pay more attention to mass shootings. There is something unique and frightening about large-scale, indiscriminate slaughter.

But mass shootings are just not those incidences where 10 people die; there are mass shootings where 3 or 4 people are shot. That is still a significant crime. So far, this year, there have been 104 of those. There have been 104 mass shootings this year. You didn't know that, right? You thought there was just Atlanta and Boulder. No, not true. There have been 104 mass shootings.

I believe most times mass shootings are defined as when four or more people are shot at the same time, not necessarily killed but shot. There have been 104 mass shootings this year and 191 deaths and injuries of children aged 11 and younger. Think about that. In this year alone, almost 200 kids, aged 11 and younger, have been killed and 128 deaths and injuries of teenagers, aged 12 to 17.

In May 2020--think about this--there were 61 mass shootings. Now, in May 2020, we were emotionally focused on the pandemic, and we were focused on trying to get people well. The country was not talking about gun violence in the way it normally would if there were 61 mass shooting in 1 month. That is the highest monthly total ever tallied by the Gun Violence Archive, which is a nonprofit research group where a lot of our data and names come from. They began tracking data in 2013. Since they have been tracking the data, May 2020 was the highest number of mass shootings, but you didn't hear about it because most of those mass shootings were of 4 or 5 or 6 people, not of 20 or 30 or 40, and, honestly, many of those mass shootings were likely people of color, which don't get as much attention either.

Mushab Mohamud Ali, Minnesota; Rasaan Mack, Illinois; RoCoby Rodgers, Missouri; Roxann Martinez, Colorado; Samuel Lee Pollard, Mississippi; Steve Alphonso, North Carolina; Terrance Armour, Michigan; Timothy Swope, Illinois; Windy Lee Higgins, Florida; Xzavior Frost, Oklahoma; Anne-Marie Winters Wilson, Georgia; Audrey Isham, Indiana; Cameron Watkins, Virginia.

I am not even close to the 9,649 gun-related deaths in 2021 alone.

I am glad to be joined on the floor by my colleague Senator Klobuchar, to whom I will yield in a moment. I want to thank her for being a real steadfast partner in these efforts and, in particular, on focusing, as she has, on the crime of domestic violence.

Senator Klobuchar, earlier this evening, I was describing a murder in New Haven, CT, that happened on the same day as Colorado's, in which a young woman was sitting in a car with her boyfriend and with her 1- year-old in the backseat. They were in an argument, and she was trying to leave him, and she shot him while in the car with the child in the backseat. I was talking about how little attention that got in Connecticut, never mind in the country, in how we pay attention to these mass shootings--and for good reason--and how every one of these individuals has a story attached to them. She was someone her friends relied on for counsel and for moral support, and it is how that death initiates so many other traumas.

I was honored to be able to read her name into the Record tonight. She is one of many who will now find their names in the Congressional Record so that, at the very least, the Record of our proceedings will remember her life and think about what could have been had we not been so cavalier with her life and her safety through our inaction.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, Marcia Reitman Currie from New York; Mitchell Wright, Jr., from Missouri; Nicholas Tarpley from Pennsylvania; Reuben Lewis III from California; Rhyce Wingate-Bey, Maryland; Robert Crochiere, Massachusetts; Samuel Lamont Smith- Williams, Tennessee; Spencer Wilcox, Oregon; Anthony Castillo, New York--we didn't come close to finishing this list tonight. We didn't make a dent in the list of those names of the people who have died from gun violence in 2021 alone, a year in which almost 10,000 people have died in less than 3 months in suicides and homicides and accidental shootings.

It is a choice. None of this is inevitable. Almost all of it is preventable. It only happens here in the United States of America because other countries make different choices.

Congress goes the next 2 weeks on a district work period. We wanted to come to the floor tonight to make clear that we are not going to forget those who have died through the inaction of this body, their national leaders; that we are going to renew our commitment to be better and to change and to begin that process in the wake of the shootings in Boulder and Atlanta by making sure that everybody hears the names of those who have died.

I yield to Senator Blumenthal to wrap up for the evening.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Chairwoman and all of the very important people on the Appropriations Committee for their work on this bill.

I ask the question, what side do you want to be on? Do you want to be on the side that provides our hardworking military pay raises for the troops, to be able to get money away from a misdirected war?

Do you want to be on the side that provides for working families?

Do you want to be on the side that stops those who can't pay for daycare to have that?

Do you want to be on the side of those who say, ``I am a Federal employee, and I have been shut out of my job''?

What side do you want to be on? I want to be on the side of negotiating an omnibus that works for the American people. I want my Republican friends to know that we have tried to negotiate, but we are adults and we are not going to let this government shut down.

What we are going to do is recognize these are dangerous times. We know that there is now an omicron variant. We are not going to play the antivaxxer game, we are not going to say that it is about vaccine mandates because we know that most of the Federal Government has been vaccinated; but what we are going to do is extend this resolution to keep the government open because the side that Democrats are on is the side of the American people and our government workers who go out and work every day and the families who go out and work every day.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. A shutdown would induce furloughs that could hit 62 percent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, right in the middle of COVID-19.

In addition, families would be desperate as well.

I want you to understand that veterans would suffer. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I went to the veterans hospital. I can tell you, it is not empty. Veterans are there every day, and when they are there, they are getting services. Do you want to be part of a government shutdown where veterans hospitals are closed and veterans are standing outside with their hand asking what is happening?

I want to be on the side of those who understand the value of working for the American families and doing what Democrats have done, passing bills, passing laws that serve the American people.

Vote for the CR and vote for the omnibus so that we can get the job done. I thank the gentlewoman for her courtesies.

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in support of H.R. 6119, the ``Further Extending Government Funding Act,'' which provides funding to continue the operations of the federal government through February 18, 2022, and avoids a wasteful and irresponsible shutdown, and also the underlying bill.

House Democrats passed government funding bills to create good paying jobs, support the hard-working middle class, and protect our national security; Senate Democrats have also released all their appropriations bills.

Without an omnibus, there will be a shortfall that will cause veterans not to receive their benefits in full.

For our national security, we need an omnibus to support defense readiness and modernization, sustain good-paying American jobs, secure our cyber infrastructure, and strengthen American leadership abroad.

Without an omnibus, a pay raise for troops will not be funded while funds will be misdirected to a war we are no longer fighting.

With a new deadline of February 18, we need Republicans to offer constructive proposals to address the critical issues facing the country by funding the federal government's important work for the American people.

Madam Speaker, I need not remind my colleagues that we are at a critical point in the fight against this pandemic--less than 24 hours ago, it was reported that the first case of the Omicron variant was confirmed in the United States.

Our response in the following days and weeks will be crucial.

Yet some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in the House and the Senate have indicated that they intend to block the passage of this stopgap spending bill in order to trigger a shutdown of the Federal government unless a bill is passed that undoes President Biden's initiatives to vaccinate and test employees at large companies.

Simply put, this is irresponsible and dangerous at a time when we have a new threat on our soil in the form of the Omicron variant.

A government shutdown would induce furloughs that could hit 62 percent of employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

It would be nothing other than reckless to hamstring the agency at the center of America's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at this time--we need all hands on deck.

In September, Congress voted on a bipartisan basis to extend government funding through December 3 to allow time for bicameral, bipartisan negotiations to complete omnibus government funding legislation.

Since then, House and Senate Republicans have refused to negotiate with Democrats on government funding.

In fact, while House and Senate Democrats have put forward their proposals, Republicans have not presented an offer of their own.

Therefore, the Appropriations Committee introduced H.R. 6119, the Further Extending Government Funding Act, which continues government funding at current levels through February 18.

It makes minimal changes to address the most urgent of needs during the period of the Continuing Resolution.

Although this bill is necessary, working families, small businesses, veterans, and our military need the certainty that comes with passing an omnibus as opposed to short-term funding patches.

Republicans must join us for bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to resolve our differences and keep government working for the people.

For our communities, we need an omnibus to create jobs by supporting small businesses, bolster our public health infrastructure to prevent future pandemics and medical research to save lives, strengthen public schools with a focus on those serving students with the highest need, protect our air and water through environmental protection and enforcement efforts, combat the opioid epidemic on the ground in our communities, and support core services such as food safety and consumer product inspections.

Without an omnibus, investments in all these areas will be denied.

For our veterans, we need an omnibus to provide sufficient funding for veterans' benefits, reduce backlogs for veterans and their families seeking assistance, and meet the needs of the VA's health care system.

Throughout the 117th Congress, House Democrats have worked to deliver results for the American people, passing legislation to address each pillar of the ``For The People'' agenda: lower health care costs, higher wages by rebuilding America, and cleaning up corruption and strengthening our Democracy.

And under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the House has passed hundreds of bills, including legislation to crush the COVID-19 pandemic, build our economy back better, lower health care and prescription drug prices, raise wages, advance economic and retirement security, end gun violence, act on the climate crisis, protect Dreamers, and strengthen voting rights.

For example, in this Congress the House has passed and sent to the President the following legislation that has been signed into law:

H.R. 1799, Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act:

This legislation extended the Paycheck Protection Program application deadline for two months through May 31, 2021 to help struggling businesses keep workers employed during COVID-19.

H.R. 1276, SAVE LIVES Act:

This law ensured that more veterans, their families, and caregivers got access to COVID-19 vaccines in a timely manner.

S. 937, COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act:

This law addresses the dramatic increase in hate crimes targeting the AAPI community since the start of the pandemic. This law designates a point person at the Department of Justice to review hate crimes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, bolsters state and local governments to improve their reporting of hate crimes and ensures that hate crime information is more accessible to Asian-American communities.

S. 475, Juneteenth National Independence Day Act:

This law established the first federal holiday in 38 years to formally recognize Juneteenth National Independence Day and commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

House Democrats have also worked to advance critical pieces of legislation, which await action in the Senate:

H.R. 1, For The People Act:

This comprehensive legislation would promote government transparency, strengthen access to the ballot box and make it easier for Americans to exercise their right to vote, secure election infrastructure, and curb the influence of dark money in politics.

H.R. 5, Equality Act:

The Equality Act would codify consistent anti-discrimination legal protections for LGBTQ Americans by amending several existing civil rights laws to include explicit non-discrimination protections in key areas of life.

H.R. 6, Dream and Promise Act:

The Dream and Promise Act would protect Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status holders from deportation and provide an opportunity to obtain permanent legal status that would enable these groups to work legally within the United States and continue to contribute to their local communities and economy.

H.R. 7, Paycheck Fairness Act:

This bill would strengthen labor protections around equal pay by prohibiting the use of salary history to set compensation, provide more transparent options for joining class-action lawsuits challenging systemic discrimination, and require employers to show that gender pay gaps are job-related and consistent with business need.

H.R. 8, Bipartisan Background Checks Act and H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act:

These bills would modernize federal laws around gun sales. The former would close current loopholes that allow buyers to purchase guns without a background check in certain venues, while the latter would prevent gun sales from going through before background checks are completed.

H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act:

This bill, which House Democrats also passed in the 116th Congress 30 days after the murder of George Floyd, will address racial bias in policing, ensure accountability for police brutality and misconduct, and work to change the culture of law enforcement to promote better relationships with the communities they serve.

H.R. 842, Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act:

This bill aims to strengthen labor protections for union workers through overriding Republican-led ``right to work'' laws, promoting free and fair union elections, and holding companies that attempt to restrict union activity accountable.

H.J. Res. 17, Removing the Deadline for Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment:

This resolution would remove the deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment in order to enshrine women's equality in the Constitution.

H.R. 1620, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act:

This long-overdue legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act passed the House with bipartisan support. It would reauthorize funding to vital grant programs that help prevent sexual assault, domestic violence, and improve access to resources for victims and survivors.

H.R. 3237, the Emergency Security Supplemental to Respond to 1/6 Appropriations Act:

This bill provides $1.9 billion in funding to secure the U.S. Capitol Complex and ensure the brave men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police have the resources they need to do

their jobs. The legislation responds to the direct costs incurred by the National Guard and DC police on January 6, provides funding to improve the security of windows and doors in the Capitol complex, and secures funds to improve Capitol Police training and equipment.

H.R. 3005, Legislation to #RemoveHate from the Capitol Building:

This bill would remove statues of those who perpetuated and supported slavery and segregation in this country, along with statues or busts of those who served voluntarily in the Confederate States of America, from public display in the U.S. Capitol.

H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act:

This bipartisan bill would stabilize the agriculture industry's labor supply by reforming the H-2A guest worker program and creating a pathway to citizenship for agricultural workers, many of whom worked through the pandemic.

H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act:

This bill would admit Washington, DC as the 51st state in the Union and end the injustice in denying nearly 700,000 citizens the right to be represented fully in Congress. It would also end the unjust practice of treating District of Columbia residents differently when allocating government resources or relief.

H.R. 3985, ALLIES Act:

This bill would increase the visa cap and expedite the visa process for Afghan allies who worked alongside American military personnel, diplomats, development professionals, and partner forces, to help ensure they make it safely out of harm's way.

H.R. 803, Protecting America's Wildness and Public Lands Act:

This comprehensive bill would conserve and protect natural landscapes across America, designating over 1.5 million acres of public land as protected wilderness and withdrawing significant amount of public land from drilling and mining activities to promote a healthier environment.

H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act:

This bipartisan bill would improve the safety of Americans' drinking water by requiring the EPA to set a drinking water standard, prevent the future release of PFAS chemicals into our bodies of water, and start the process of cleaning up affected communities.

H.R. 256, Repeal of the 2002 AUMF Against Iraq:

This bill, which passed with bipartisan support, would repeal the 2002 Authorization of Military Force Against Iraq.

H.R. 1230, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act:

The bipartisan Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act restores protections for older workers that were weakened in a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that made it harder for older workers to prove age based discrimination in the workplace.

H.R. 2662, the Inspectors-General Independence and Empowerment Act:

This bill seeks to promote government transparency and accountability by ensuring the independence of federal inspectors-general, allowing government watchdogs to act freely without fear of political pressure or threats. It would also protect whistleblowers from threats of retaliation by making it a violation of House rules for Members to reveal their identities.

In addition, three Congressional Review Act resolutions have been signed into law, overturning dangerous rules put in place by the Trump Administration:

S.J. Res 13, a CRA overturning an EEOC rule to address discrimination in the workplace;

S.J. Res. 14, a CRA addressing dangerous methane emissions; and

S.J. Res. 15, a CRA to protect against predatory lenders.

These along with many, many others are among the bills awaiting Senate action.

Madam Speaker, let me briefly list several of the programs vital to Americans that are protected or extended by H.R. 6119. The bill:

Provides waiver language for certain intelligence programs as well as agencies that operate under the State Department Basic Authorities Act and Foreign Relations Authorization Act;

Allows the Food and Nutrition Service to spend at a higher rate during the period covered by the legislation to provide supplemental USDA foods to low-income seniors (age 60 and over) and to some low- income women, infants and children up to age six.

Allows a higher spending rate for the White House to support continuing COVID-19 operations.

Allows the Small Business Administration flexibility to spend at the rate necessary to accommodate potential demand increases for commitments for business loans through the 7(a) and 504 business loans, for the Secondary Market Guarantee Program, and for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Allows District of Columbia voucher schools an additional year to be accredited and therefore remain in the program. The accrediting process requires in-school visits, which are not happening during the coronavirus.

Allows the District of Columbia to spend FY 2021 funds received from local tax revenues and other non-Federal sources in the amount and for the programs and activities provided in DC's FY 2021 Budget Act.

Extends the term of certain bankruptcy judgeships.

Allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to access the entire DRF appropriation for fiscal year 2021 under the continuing resolution as necessary to respond to declared disasters.

Continues the authorization for the NFIP.

Extends funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Child Care Entitlement to States program during the period of the continuing resolution. The extension will allow HHS to make first-quarter payments to States.

Extends the availability of funding for multiyear research grants supported by the National Institutes of Health that were interrupted in fiscal year 2020 by COVID-19 and would have expired at the end of the fiscal year.

Madam Speaker, our colleagues across the aisle have in both chambers have been obstructive, dilatory, petulantly uncooperative throughout the first session of the 117th Congress.

Nowhere was this more apparent than the refusal of the majority of J Republican members in the House voted 175-35 against H.R. 3233, legislation modeled after the 9/11 Commission establishing a National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act.

Madam Speaker, American families do not get to choose which bills to pay and which ones to ignore; neither can the United States Congress without putting the nation into default for the first time in its history.

Long ago, in 1789, Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first and greatest Treasury Secretary, understood that the path to American prosperity and greatness lay in its creditworthiness which provided the affordable access to capital needed to fund internal improvements and economic growth.

The nation's creditworthiness was one of its most important national assets and according to Hamilton: ``the proper funding of the present debt, will render it a national blessing.''

But to maintain this blessing, or to ``render public credit immortal,'' Hamilton understood that it was necessary that: ``the creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment.''

In other words, to retain and enjoy the prosperity that flows from good credit, it is necessary for a nation to pay its bills.

To preserve the sanctity of the full faith and credit of the United States, protect American jobs and businesses of all sizes, and ensure the continued growth of the economy, I strongly support the provision in the bill before extending the public debt limit to December 16, 2021.

Madam Speaker, I would also like to discuss an important topic that is closely related to this bill and that this House must address very soon--raising the debt ceiling.

Preserving the full faith and credit of the United States by raising to the debt limit to ensure that America pays the bills for past expenditures when they come due is not a partisan exercise but an act of patriotism, a recognition and embrace of the solemn obligation to preserve the unrivaled advantages that flow from the ability provided in the Article I, Section 8, clause 2 of the Constitution to ``borrow money on the credit of the United States.''

Long ago, in 1789, Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first and greatest Treasury Secretary, understood that the path to American prosperity and greatness lay in its creditworthiness which provided the affordable access to capital needed to fund internal improvements and economic growth.

It is because of the existence and wise use of the Borrowing Power that the nation was able to expand its reaches, resources, and riches by financing the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of Alaska from Russia, to fund the investments to end the Great Depression, to finance the mobilization of resources needed in World War II to defeat fascism and save freedom in the nation and the world, to revive the economy after the catastrophic Great Recession of 2008, and most recently, to protect the public health and safety and restore the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is why the ability to borrow money on the credit of the United States to finance its growth and protect its people and interests is essential to the national security and led Hamilton to proclaim that ``the proper funding of the present debt, will render it a national blessing.''

But to maintain this blessing, or to ``render public credit immortal,'' Hamilton understood that it was necessary that: ``the creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment.''

In other words, to retain and enjoy the prosperity that flows from good credit, it is necessary for a nation to pay its bills.

The United States has never defaulted on the payment of any debt incurred, and because of the size and strength of its economic and unmatched creditworthiness, is able to borrow on the lowest and most favorable terms of any nation or entity in the history of the world.

So secure and reliable is a bond issues by the Department of Treasury that the Unites States is the preferred haven for investments of foreign governments, corporations, and sovereign wealth funds.

The interest rate charged the federal government of the United States is the base for which every rate, from the prime rate charged the richest corporation to rates charged small business on purchases to the mortgages rates and students loans taken out by consumers.

If you raise the cost of borrowing for the government of the United States, you set off a chain reaction of increased interest rates for every other borrower in the United States and around the world.

This is why leading public finance experts and agencies, like Moody's Chief Economist Mark Zandi, have said it would be ``cataclysmic'' for the United States to default on its loan obligations.

Republicans know the debt ceiling needs to be raised; in 2019 during the Trump Administration, the Republican Senate Majority Leader marshalled Senate Republicans to vote to raise the debt ceiling, saying: ``We raised the debt ceiling because America can't default[,] that would be a disaster.''

Madam Speaker, this debate over extending the debt limit is not about restraining future spending, it is about paying the bills piled up already under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

The question of raising the national debt limit does not depend on how one feels about the Build Back Better agenda, as wildly popular as it is among all Americans, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans included.

It is instead about preserving the singular asset of the United States, its enviable and unrivaled creditworthiness, to finance future investments beneficial to the national interest, like the provision of free college for two years, or $2 billion investment to reduce violence in communities approved by the Committee on the Judiciary, or investments to preserve and strengthen Medicaid expansion programs, or extend broadband to underserved rural and urban areas, an action that will be as life-changing as the rural electrification program was in the 1930s.

Madam Speaker, if our friends across the aisle really want to shrink the deficit, reduce the national debt, practice fiscal responsibility, and bring about sustained economic growth and prosperity, there is a much better, easier, and more certain way to achieve these goals than by tampering with the U.S. Constitution.

The easier and better way is for the American people to keep a Democrat in the White House and place Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

In the 1990s under the leadership of President Clinton the budget was balanced for four consecutive years, the national debt was paid down, the national debt, 23 million new jobs were created, and projected surpluses exceeded $5 trillion.

Under President Obama the financial crisis and economic meltdown inherited from his Republican predecessor was ended, the annual deficit was reduced by 67 percent, the auto industry was saved from collapse, and 15 million jobs were created.

In contrast, under every Republican administration since President Reagan the size of the deficit bequeathed to his successor was substantially larger than the deficit he inherited, a major economic recession occurred, and economic growth was lower than it was at the beginning of his administration.

To preserve the sanctity of the full faith and credit of the United States, protect American jobs and businesses of all sizes, and ensure the continued growth of the economy, raised.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the continuing resolution, which extends government funding at current levels until we pass a full appropriations package for the next fiscal year.

It is my strong hope that this short-term extension will be the last one and that my colleagues across the aisle will acknowledge our solemn duty to exercise the power of the purse.

A continuing resolution that lasts a full year does not serve the American people. As the chair of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, I can attest that the investments in the House interior bill would benefit all of our constituents, for those of us on both sides of the aisle.

The bill makes long-overdue investments to protect human health, to fight the climate emergency, and to meet our trust obligations to Tribal nations. It provides critical resources to rebuild the Federal workforce so that these agencies can meet their missions and better serve the public.

Failing to complete a full-year bill means no additional investments in the EPA to research and develop standards for harmful pollutants like PFAS, no further investments in domestic renewable energy, and insufficient resources for the healthcare of nearly 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Regardless of whether we pass a full-year bill, we can be certain that millions of Americans will be exposed to pollution, that healthcare costs will rise, and that our window for mitigating climate change will shrink.

To ignore these threats is not in the Nation's best interest, nor any of ours. We were sent to Congress to improve the lives and livelihoods of our constituents.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, but I encourage my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to finish the bill.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research.

The Ad Hoc Group

for Medical Research,

November 15, 2021.

Hon. Rosa DeLauro,

Chair, Committee on Appropriations,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. Kay Granger,

Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. Patrick Leahy,

Chair, Committee on Appropriations,

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Hon. Richard Shelby,

Vice Chair, Committee on Appropriations,

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro, Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member

Granger, and Vice Chairman Shelby: Thank you for your past

leadership in championing sustained, real growth in medical

research funding. As Congress begins to draft a final fiscal

year (FY) 2022 spending package, the 314 undersigned members

of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research urge you to invest

robustly in agencies and programs to improve the nation's

health and well-being, including base funding for the

National Institutes of Health (NIH), as a key national

priority and to finalize the appropriations process as

expeditiously as possible. The Ad Hoc Group for Medical

Research is a coalition of patient and voluntary health

groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and

research organizations, and industry, dedicated to enhancing

the federal investment in biomedical, behavioral, social, and

population-based research supported by the NIH.

We greatly appreciate that both the House-passed (H.R.

4502) and Senate draft Labor-HHS-Education spending bills

include strong increases for the NIH base in FY 2022, which

would provide greater hope and opportunity for every patient

awaiting a cure, every researcher working toward the next

breakthrough, and every aspiring scientist considering a

career in the lab. To maximize the potential of medical

research to make rapid progress toward these goals, we urge

you to provide at least $46.4 billion for NIH's base, as

included in the House-passed bill. Continuing the momentum of

the prior six years of bipartisan support for meaningful

funding growth in the NIH's existing institutes and centers

is key to ensuring that the nation can continue to accelerate

the development of life-changing cures, pioneering treatments

and diagnostics, and innovative preventive strategies.

Additionally, we appreciate that both bills ensure that the

new investment for the proposed Advanced Research Projects

Agency for Health (ARPA-H) supplements, rather than

supplants, the NIH's base. While complementary, NIH and ARPA-

H have distinct and important missions. As such, investment

in ARPA-H must not come at the expense of the NIH base.

Instead, to fully realize the benefits of the envisioned new

entity while simultaneously allowing NIH to keep pace with

discovery, an FY 2022 appropriation of at least $46.4 billion

for NIH's base budget is needed. Prioritizing strong

investments for foundational research discoveries funded by

the NIH will be critical to the success of the visionary new

research initiative, particularly as it builds its

operational capacity in its inaugural year and beyond.

Likewise, avoiding further delays in finalizing funding

determinations will enable both ARPA-Hand NIH's planned and

existing programs to be maximally efficient and strategic in

their work in FY 2022.

To that end, our organizations strongly support an approach

to the final FY 2022 spending package that avoids additional

CRs past December. Aside from the budget implications, CRs

create inefficiencies and add uncertainty to a system that is

already

under stress with the continued reverberations of the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly urge you to work swiftly in

securing bipartisan, bicameral agreement on topline

discretionary spending allocations and to ensure any final

budget agreement reflects a strong commitment to the nation's

health.

Once again, we commend you for continuing to recognize the

incomparable value of the federal investment in the NIH, and

we look forward to working with you to secure $46.4 billion

for the agency's base in FY 2022, in addition to funding you

provide for ARPA-H.

Sincerely,

314 Signatories as of November 15, 2021

Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health,

Academic Pediatric Association, Academy for Eating Disorders,

Academy for Professionalism in Health Care, Academy for

Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, ACT for NIH,

AdventHealth, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Alliance

for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), Alliance for Aging

Research, ALS Association, Alzheimer's Association and

Alzheimer's Impact Movement, Alzheimer's Foundation of

America, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP),

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, American

Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Academy

of Neurology, American Academy of Pediatrics, American

Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Association

for Anatomy, American Association for Cancer Research,

American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial

Research, American Association for the Advancement of

Science, American Association for the Study of Liver

Diseases, American Association of Chairs of Departments of

Psychiatry, American Association of Colleges of Nursing,

American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine,

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American

Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training,

American Association of Immunologists, American Association

of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of

Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine, American

Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Association

of Veterinary Medical Colleges, American Brain Coalition,

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American

College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM), American

College of Cardiology.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,

American College of Physicians, American College of

Radiology, American College of Surgeons, American Council on

Education, American Gastroenterological Association American

Geriatrics Society, American Headache Society, American

Institute for Cancer Research, American Institute for Medical

& Biomedical Engineering, American Institute of Ultrasound in

Medicine, American Liver Foundation, American Lung

Association, American Massage Therapy Association, American

Pediatric Society, American Physiological Society, American

Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association,

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,

American Society for Investigative Pathology.

American Society for Microbiology, American Society for

Nutrition, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental

Therapeutics, American Society for Reproductive Medicine

(ASRM), American Society for Virology, American Society of

Anesthesiologists, American Society of Hematology, American

Society of Human Genetics, American Society of Nephrology,

American Society of Neuroradiology, American Society of

Pediatric Nephrology, American Society of Radiologic

Technologists, American Surgical Association, American

Thoracic Society, American Urogynecologic Society, American

Urological Association, Anxiety and Depression Association of

America, Associated Medical Schools of New York.

Association for Anatomy, Cell Biology and Neurobiology

Chairs (AACBNC), Association for Clinical and Translational

Science, Association for Clinical Oncology, Association for

Prevention Teaching and Research, Association for

Psychological Science, Association for Research in Vision and

Ophthalmology (ARVO), Association of Academic Health Centers

(AAHC), Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries,

Association of Academic Physiatrists.

Association of American Cancer Institutes, Association of

American Medical Colleges, Association of American

Universities, Association of Bioethics Program Directors,

Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology,

Association of Independent Research Institutes, Association

of Medical and Graduate Departments of Biochemistry (AMGDB),

Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs,

Association of Minority Health Professions Schools,

Association of Pathology Chairs, Association of Population

Centers, Association of Psychologists in Academic Health

Centers, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities,

Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO),

Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health,

Association of University Professors of Neurology,

Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology,

Association of University Radiologists, Atrium Health, Autism

Speaks.

AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition), Barnes-Jewish

Hospital, Bassett Healthcare Network, Biophysical Society,

BJC HealthCare, Boston Medical Center, Boston University,

Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Brown

University, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Case Western

Reserve University, CDH International, Cedars-Sinai, Child

Neurology Foundation, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta,

Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia, Children's Mercy Kansas City,

Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, ChristianaCare.

Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Clinical Research

Forum, Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science,

Coalition for the Life Sciences, College on Problems of Drug

Dependence, Columbia University, COMBINEDBrain, Conference of

Boston Teaching Hospitals, Congress of Neurological Surgeons,

Consortium of Social Science Associations, Cooley's Anemia

Foundation, Coriell Institute for Medical Research, Cornell

University, Council of University Directors of Clinical

Psychology, Council on Social Work Education, Crohn's &

Colitis Foundation, CURE Epilepsy, Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dartmouth-Hitchcock

Health.

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Digestive Disease

National Coalition, Dravet Syndrome Foundation, Drexel

University, Duke Health, Duke University, Dystonia Medical

Research Foundation, East Carolina University, ECAN

Esophageal Cancer Action Network, Emory University, Endocrine

Society, Epilepsy Foundation, Federation of American

Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Federation of

Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Fight

Colorectal Cancer, Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, Fox

Chase Cancer Center, Friends of the National Institute on

Drug Abuse, GBSICIDP Foundation International, Global Health

Technologies Coalition.

Global Liver Institute, Harvard University, HealthyWomen,

Henry Ford Health System, HIV Medicine Association, Hope For

Stomach Cancer, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,

Indiana University, Indiana University Health, Infectious

Diseases Society of America, Initiative to End Alzheimer's

Disease Board of Visitors, International Foundation for

Gastrointestinal Disorders, International Society for Stem

Cell Research (ISSCR), Interstitial Cystitis Association,

JDRF, Jeffrey Modell Foundation, John & Amy Mewhiney Cancer

Foundation, Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, Joslin

Diabetes Center, KidneyCAN.

Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Lewy

Body Dementia Association, LGS Foundation, Lupus Foundation

of America, Lymphatic Education & Research Network, Magee-

Womens Research Institute and Foundation, March of Dimes,

Mass General Brigham, Medical College of Wisconsin, Medical

Image Perception Society, Medical Library Association,

Memorial Sloan Kettering, MemorialCare Health System,

Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, METAvivor,

Michelson Center for Public Policy, Michelson Medical

Research Foundation, Michigan State University, Moffitt

Cancer Center, National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research.

National Alopecia Areata Foundation, National Association

for Biomedical Research, National Eczema Association,

National Fragile X Foundation, National Kidney Foundation,

National Pancreas Foundation, NephCure Kidney International,

New York Medical College, New York University, North American

Vascular Biology Organization, Northeastern University,

Nutrition & Medical Foods Coalition, NYU Langone Health,

Oakland University, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation,

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Patient Services, Inc.,

Pediatric Policy Council, Penn State University, Personalized

Medicine Coalition.

Population Association of America, Project Sleep, Prostate

Cancer Foundation, Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, Pulmonary

Hypertension Association, Radiological Society of North

America (RSNA), Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Association,

Research!America, RESOLVE: The National Infertility

Association, Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation, Rosalind

Franklin University of Medicine and Science, RTI

International, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute,

Scleroderma Foundation, Sjogren's Foundation, Sleep Research

Society, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM),

Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Society for

Neuroscience, Society for Pediatric Radiology, Society for

Pediatric Research, Society for Reproductive Endocrinology

and Infertility, Society for Reproductive Investigation,

Society for Women's Health Research, Society of Academic

Associations of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine

(SAAAPM), Society of Behavioral Medicine, Society of General

Internal Medicine, Society of Gynecologic Oncology, Society

of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Society of

Skeletal Radiology, Society of Surgical Chairs, Society of

Toxicology (SOT), Society of University Surgeons, St. Louis

Children's Hospital, Stanford University, Stony Brook

University, Syngap1 Foundation.

Temple University, Texas A&M Health, The American College

of Rheumatology, The American Society for Transplantation and

Cellular Therapy, The Gerontological Society of America, The

Jackson Laboratory, The Maya's Wings Foundation, The Michael

J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, The Ohio State

University Wexner Medical Center, The State University of New

York,

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The

University of North Carolina System, The University of Texas,

Southwestern Medical Center, Triage Cancer, TSC Alliance,

Tulane University School of Medicine, UC San Diego, UCLA, UNC

Health and UNC School of Medicine, University of Arkansas for

Medical Sciences.

University of California, Irvine, University of Chicago

Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, University of

Colorado System, University of Connecticut, University of

Hawai'i System, University of Illinois College of Medicine,

University of Iowa, University of Maryland, Baltimore,

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, University

of Michigan, University of Nebraska Medical Center,

University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh,

University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, University of

Rochester, University of South Carolina, University of

Southern California, University of Washington, US Hereditary

Angioedema Association (HAEA).

USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, UVA Health,

Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center,

Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington State

University, Washington University in St. Louis, West Virginia

University, Yale University.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 829, I call up the bill (H.R. 6119) making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise

and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, before I go any further, I would first like to take a moment to mourn the loss of Congresswoman Carrie Meek. She was an extraordinary force in the Congress and a pioneer who was never deterred by any challenge that came her way. I like to say that though she was unassuming and soft-spoken, she carried a big stick. That is evident in her enduring legacy today. I had the honor of serving together with Congresswoman Meek on the Appropriations Committee years ago, and I feel immensely privileged to have worked with her to help expand opportunity for all Americans. We all mourn her loss.

Madam Speaker, I will be frank. Instead of being here today discussing another continuing resolution, I wish that we were here to present a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations agreement. Continuing resolutions are not the way to govern. They are a short-term patch that leaves the American people behind. But we are here today because my colleagues across the aisle have refused time and time again to begin negotiations or even offer a proposal of their own for government funding that delivers for the American people.

House and Senate Democrats have put forward their proposals, but Republicans have not presented an offer of their own. There is not one piece of paper describing what Republicans want. It has been 30 days since I brought together a bipartisan, bicameral four-corners meeting on November 2, and to date we have not heard one word from them--not one word.

But now my Republican counterparts want more time--something that they have had since we came to this floor to pass the last funding extension 62 days ago, which means we now have no choice but to pursue a short-term extension. Make no mistake, Madam Speaker, a vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut the government down.

The legislation before us, the Further Extending Government Funding Act, continues government funding at current levels through February 18. It makes minimal changes to address the most urgent of needs during the period of the continuing resolution and provides $7 billion to continue supporting Afghanistan evacuees after the end of 20 years of war.

While I wish the February 18 end date were earlier--and I pursued earlier dates--I believe this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement that addresses the needs of the American people.

Let me be clear, working families, small businesses, veterans, and our military need the certainty that comes with passing omnibus funding legislation instead of short-term funding patches. Republicans must join us for bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to resolve our differences and keep government working for us all.

For our communities, we need an omnibus to create and sustain good- paying jobs, support small businesses, prevent future pandemics, and advance lifesaving medical research. We need an omnibus to strengthen public schools, protect our air and water, combat the opioid epidemic, and support core services such as food safety and consumer product inspections. Without an omnibus, investments in all these areas will be denied.

For our veterans, we need an omnibus to provide sufficient funding for veterans' benefits, reduce backlogs for veterans and their families, and meet the needs of the VA's healthcare system. Without an omnibus there will be a shortfall that will cause veterans not to receive their benefits in full.

For our national security, we need an omnibus to support defense readiness and modernization, secure our cyber infrastructure, and strengthen American leadership abroad. Without an omnibus, a pay raise for troops will not be funded while funds will be misdirected to a war we are no longer fighting.

As I said before, I wanted to be here today passing a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations agreement. Sadly, we are not. But as Republicans take the next 2\1/2\ months, Democrats remain ready, willing, and able to move this process forward. We are ready to go, but we need willing partners to put the American people first.

With a new deadline of February 18, it is long past time for our Republican colleagues to offer constructive proposals to address the critical issues facing the country by funding the Federal Government's important work. As the American people put their faith and trust in us, they deserve no less.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), who is the chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies.

Madam Speaker, once again, the Republicans refuse to come to the table to negotiate, thereby jeopardizing benefits for our veterans and our national security. We can move if they come to the table.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

Madam Speaker, antiscience fearmongering about vaccines is wrong. Fears about government requirements for vaccines are flat-out silly. And the Republicans are prepared to shut down the government based on this. Incredible.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), the chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

Madam Speaker, once again, it has been the Republicans' refusal to come to the table to negotiate that has stopped the process and forced us to do a short-term stopgap measure. We shouldn't be doing it, but Republicans need to come to the table.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio.

Madam Speaker, if the Republicans wanted to do something about our defense and our security in the military, they would move to work with us to pass the defense appropriations bill and the omnibus.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the chair of the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Florida.

Madam Speaker, I want to remind my colleague on the other side of the aisle that a continuing resolution is a cut to defense. If you come to the table, we will discuss it, then we can move forward on the defense of this Nation.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree), the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

Madam Speaker, I just want to remind the gentleman that antiscience fearmongering about vaccines is wrong. Science is on our side, and history is on our side. Vaccines work.

I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).

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

Let me just say to you that we have heard from a number of advocacy groups urging the Congress to move on taking up a full-year omnibus. Let me just tell you the groups that have written to us.

We are looking at the National Defense Industrial Association: On behalf of thousands of companies represented by the National Defense Industrial Association, we write to request the expedited completion of the defense appropriation bill.

We talk about the Association of American Universities: Urge you to reach a bipartisan agreement to complete the FY22 appropriations process before the end of the year.

The Aerospace Industries Association: Our essential partners are urging us to avoid a further CR beyond December 3, wanting us to come to the table in order to be able to have a full-year appropriations bill.

The Coalition for Health Funding, the same message to all of us: Relying on continuing resolutions would be a grave, missed opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans. A full-year appropriations bill.

The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research telling us the very, very same thing: To maximize the potential of medical research, we need to move forward with a full-year bill.

The veterans organizations saying the same thing: Do not shortchange veterans and their benefits by holding back on a full-year appropriations bill.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record statements in support of the bill from a broad coalition of groups urging negotiations now, as well as letters from veterans' organizations and America's leading research universities.

Broad Coalition of Groups Urging Negotiations Now

A broad coalition of groups have joined Chair DeLauro and

Democratic Appropriators urging negotiations and agreement on

fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills. These organizations

include:

Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research

Our organizations strongly support an approach to the final

FY 2022 spending package that avoids additional CRs past

December. Aside from the budget implications, CRs create

inefficiencies and add uncertainty to a system that is

already under stress with the continued reverberations of the

ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly urge you to work

swiftly in securing bipartisan, bicameral agreement on

topline discretionary spending allocations and to ensure any

final budget agreement reflects a strong commitment to the

nation's health.

Aerospace Industries Association

The United States aerospace and defense industries are an

essential partner with the federal government in an array of

efforts vital to our economy and our national security. Each

fall, that partnership is tested when those programs are

slowed down or deferred by the use of multiple continuing

resolutions (CR) to keep the government running . . . If

Congress fails to once again enact full-year appropriations

bills, or continues running the government into 2022 under

continuing resolutions, it will send the wrong signal to the

government's partners, like those in our industry. We count

on stable, reliable and adequate funding to support

the critical capabilities that we provide for all Americans.

American Association for Cancer Research

As the nation continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,

cancer has not stopped, and remains the second leading cause

of death in the United States. To better prevent, detect, and

treat cancers, Congress must act swiftly to increase

investments in cancer research and prevention. A full-year

continuing resolution or funding lapse would threaten our

nation's research enterprise and stall medical breakthroughs

that could benefit the lives of millions of patients with

cancer and survivors. The AACR urges congressional

negotiators to come to the table and agree to Fiscal Year

2022 allocations that would support robust and sustained

funding for cancer research and prevention.

Association of American Universities

Higher education, research, and innovation play integral

roles in our nation's competitiveness, security, health, and

ability to combat and overcome the pandemic. Our nation

cannot afford continued inaction on FY22 appropriations. In

the absence of final appropriations, federal agencies

postpone research award decisions and prepare for potential

lapses in funding. Continuing resolutions (CRs) slow the pace

of scientific innovation and create funding uncertainty for

researchers and students. It is vital that Congress complete

appropriations this year and avoid serial stop-gap measures

and a yearlong CR.

Coalition on Human Needs

The nation's recovery depends on strengthening a host of

domestic programs that have been allowed to shrink for years,

not just to get to where they had been before, but to respond

to needs far greater because of the pandemic and its global

economic dislocations. A long-term continuing resolution

would be a severe failure to address these needs. We strongly

urge you to enact omnibus appropriations legislation

including all twelve bills as soon as possible.

Joint Coalition of the Campaign to Invest in American's Workforce, the

Coalition for Health Funding, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the

Committee for Education Funding

The bill passed by the House this summer and the bill

proposed by the Senate Appropriations Committee this fall

provide vital increased funding for the programs and services

that have a profound impact on health and well-being, child

development, educational and skills attainment, employment,

and productivity. Failing to enact the FY 2022 bill and

relying on continuing resolutions (CRs) would be a grave

missed opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans.

National Defense Industrial Association

We cannot stress enough the importance of the defense

appropriations bill to our national security and to a healthy

defense industrial base. The limbo caused under CRs wastes

precious time and money our nation cannot recover. Delayed

new starts and initiatives place a strain on companies and

their workforce, particularly as they recalibrate operations

to a post-pandemic normal. Our nation's competitors face no

similar challenges putting us at a competitive disadvantage,

particularly with emerging technologies, and place our supply

chains at increasing risk, something we cannot afford after

the nearly two years of pandemic impacts.

Veterans Service Organizations, including the American Legion and the

Veterans of Foreign Wars

A full-year continuing resolution could result in an

estimated $7 billion shortfall in funding for mandatory

compensation and pension benefits, in large part due to an

increased number of benefit claims resulting from

congressional approval of new diseases related to Agent

Orange exposure for Vietnam veterans . . . we call on you to

reject consideration of a full-year continuing resolution

that would reduce veterans' funding below what has already

been approved in an overwhelming bipartisan vote.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader of the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. President, I am honored to follow my colleagues Senators Murphy and Bennet, two fellow champions of this cause.

Again, again, we have stood here so many times to advocate for measures that very simply would make Americans safe.

And I don't accept that it will be our last gasp. I don't accept that we will ever go away, that we will ever abandon this cause, no matter how long and how hard it is.

Senator Murphy and I were in Sandy Hook the afternoon of that massacre. We went through an excruciatingly heartbreaking, gut- wrenching, stunning experience, but nothing compared to the children who were taken out of the school. Nothing compared to the teachers who shepherded them. Nothing compared to anyone who lived through it or the emergency responders who had to see the scene of carnage that day and, of course, nothing approaching the trauma of parents and loved ones.

So our club, as he called it, is one that pales in significance to the club of survivors and victims. It is more than the names we read tonight. It is the children who take cover when that code is rung. It is the teachers who suffer the apprehension of wondering whether that day will be the one when there is a shooter. It is the parents of all children who send their kids to school and wonder whether, at the end of the day, they will see them again. At some level, maybe not all, maybe not

always, not every day, but that fear in the gut, that powerfully important apprehension is there for many.

When I was in elementary school, the fear was of nuclear annihilation. And the drills we did were to dive beneath our desks, as though somehow those desks could be protected in the midst of a nuclear attack. Absurd as it seems looking back, every one of us, during those years, wondered would that be the day. And on the days before the Cuban missile crisis, it became more real than ever.

And for that generation, it was the fear For this generation, gun violence is the fear that lurks constantly in the heart, in the back of the mind, and always a presence.

The names that we are going to read tonight are a very partial list of the injuries because we are reading the ones who died, but many others were injured severely and horrifically: bones shattered, flesh torn, futures changed forever, and, of course, the emotional trauma of living through it. But we have to read these names because it is part of our responsibility to make them real and to remind ourselves, as much as anyone, that this issue is a matter of life and death in the way that few others that we debate in this Chamber evoke.

At the beginning of the Judiciary Committee hearing the other day, just this week, we had a moment of silence. But we cannot be silent. Yes, we will offer thoughts and prayers, but we cannot be silent, and we must do more than speak. We must act--honor with action.

We cannot let these brave, wonderful souls go gently into this good night. We must rage, rage against the dying of the life. And that is what we are doing by reading these names, reminding ourselves that we cannot accept these deaths as a normal. Even with the pandemic receding, we hope, the epidemic of gun violence continues.

A gun, a firearm, especially an assault weapon, makes fatal and irreversible some of the most serious problems. Whether it is domestic violence, suicide, or simply a profoundly disturbed young man walking into a grocery store, or a racist and misogynist man going into a spa, the involvement of guns and firearms makes those incidents deadly.

The names that I will read will be of all ethnicities and religions and backgrounds and races because firearms can be an equal opportunity killer. But Senator Murphy is right that communities of color suffer disproportionately. And in Atlanta, who can doubt that a hate crime turned deadly, potentially, because of that gun.

Dominick Boston, Brad Keel, Ildiko Papp, James Ray Huddleston, Glenda Swain Toms, Kayla Marie Keatts, Ethan Delicat, Paula Marie Booth, Raymond Robinson, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Hyun Jung Grant, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Xiaojie Tan, Young Ae Yue, Paul Andre Michels.

Last week, eight lives were taken by gun violence, and they should be remembered and their lives counted.

Delaina Ashley Yaun was a 33-year-old newlywed and mother of two, including a daughter she gave birth to this summer. She put her family above all else and cared for family members and friends who needed help or a place to stay during tough times.

Her manager said:

Her heart was so big. She loved people.

He describes how she would feed diners at the restaurant where she worked who were homeless and bring them home to offer them showers and clean clothes.

One friend described Delaina as ``a light. She just made everybody happy. She loves to smile and joke and hang out with her kids and make sure they always had fun. She was a happy person.''

Hyun Jung Grant was 51 years old. She worked as a schoolteacher in South Korea before immigrating to the United States. She was a hard- working and loving single mother of two, who loved karaoke, dancing, and electronic music, and made the world's best kimchi stew.

One of her sons, Randy, wrote:

She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to

providing for my brother and I. It is only my brother and I

in the United States. . . . She was one of my best friends

and the strongest influence on who we are today.

Daoyou Feng was 44 years old. What we know about her from her friends is that she was sweet and kind. That is how she was described by her coworkers as well.

Soon Chung Park was an active 74-year-old mother and mother-in-law. She lived in Atlanta. She moved there several years ago to be closer to friends. And she was well on her way to living past 100. Because of the pandemic, she missed chances to visit her family in the Northeast but was planning to move back this summer to be closer to relatives and friends.

Her son-in-law described that Soon ``just liked to work. It wasn't for the money. She just wanted a little bit of work for her life.''

Suncha Kim, 69 years old. She was married for more than 50 years, and she was a fighter and a rock for her two children and three grandchildren. She was a hard worker and enjoyed line dancing.

Suncha came to the United States around 1980. She spoke little English and worked two to three jobs, putting her children first and always seeking to help others. She volunteered by cooking and fundraising. One of her grandchildren wrote:

My grandmother was an angel. . . . As an immigrant, all my

grandmother ever wanted in life was to grow old with my

grandfather and watch her children and grandchildren live the

life she never got to live.

Xiaojie Tan, killed that day, before her 50th birthday. She was a dedicated wife, mother, friend. She was devoted to her job and dedicated to her fellow employees. Her husband said:

She donated and gave money to her employees and treated

them so well. She was always celebrating their birthdays,

doing good things for them.

She was curious, hard-working, and caring, always filled with joy. She worked long hours, every day, to give her family a better life. Her daughter said that Xiao was her best friend and that ``[s]he did everything for me and the family. She provided everything.''

Yong Ae Yue, 63 years old. She was an amazing mother of two sons and loved to cook Korean food. She came to the United States in the 1970s, and after being laid off during the pandemic, she was excited to be back at work. She enjoyed visiting friends, watching movies and soap operas, and reading. She always loved to read and have her dog at her side.

Paul Andre Michels. He was a 54-year-old Army veteran, one of nine children, and he had been married for more than 20 years. He loved to fish and collect rare coins. He treated everyone like he was their uncle and did what he could to help others.

One friend said of Paul that ``[h]e would give you the shirt off his back.''

His younger brother, John, said:

He'd loan you money if you needed it sometimes. You never

went away from his place hungry.

My home State of Connecticut is not immune to gun violence. Sandy Hook is the best known of the tragedies, but there are others--many, many, many others--all around the State, in big cities, in small towns, in rural areas, suburban.

Nobody is immune. Nobody is protected against gun violence so long as the pipeline, the iron pipeline, even with Connecticut's strong laws, draws guns across State borders.

Here are some of the names and stories of people whose lives have been taken in Connecticut:

Jaqhawn Walters was killed on September 19, 2020, in Hartford. He was 24 years old. His mother Trician writes:

There was an altercation with someone inside a store. The

fight was broken up, but the other young man still shot him

and then stood over him a second time and shot him again.

Jaqhawn was a college graduate. He was known as a big

basketball player for Albertus Magnus. He played overseas for

two seasons before COVID hit.

My son saw a lot of gun violence growing up in the city,

and he became victim to it even though he tried his best to

beat all odds with a bachelor's degree in communications.

He even played in Argentina as a professional basketball

player, mentored kids through basketball. He got a

proclamation for his work at the Parker Memorial Center and

the Village, where he worked with troubled kids.

Jaqhawn's coach at Albertus Magnus described him as ``the type of kid that got along with everyone. His likability crossed every age generation. When I ran camp, 8-year-old kids, instantly, he was the guy. They'd all gravitate toward him. Same thing with our team.

They loved him. Opponents loved him. I've gotten a lot of texts, and I got one from a Northeast coach who said, `He had that thing where he'd drop 30 [points] on you, and every opponent not only respected him but genuinely liked him.' ''

Another coach said:

Jaqhawn was very, very rooted in the Hartford community,

and he loved his town. So he was always going to be one of

those people that came back and gave as much as he was able.

Another coach said:

He had such an impact. The guy had so much more to give.

That is the story of every one of these victims: so much more to give; so much more to give back, whether to Hartford or sons and daughters or parents.

Ethan Song was killed in Guilford on January 31, 2018, 12 days after his 15th birthday, with an unsecured firearm in his neighbor's house. He lived a life filled with laughter, adventure, and passion. He lived with adoring family members Kristin and Michael Song.

Ethan loved to ski and hike and play spikeball too. He helped his mom Kristin in finding homes for abandoned puppies. Ethan loved food. He and his dad Mike ventured to find the best lobster roll in New England. They sampled 15 locations.

He loved lacrosse, and he was good at it, making the all-star team one season. He was always interested in his family's history. He tried to learn all that he could about his grandmother's experience as a Holocaust survivor and went so far as to divert a family trip to the UK to see the Anne Frank house in the Netherlands.

Ethan was also fascinated by his grandfather's experience as a decorated intelligence officer in the Korean war.

I am always so inspired by Kristin and Michael Song and Ethan's sister, their strength and courage, their joy in life, and their unquenchable loyalty and love for Ethan. I have stood on the green in Guilford announcing my introduction of Ethan's Law, a safe storage law that they have championed with grace and dignity and power beyond words.

And let's say it out loud: This gun violence is every parent's worst nightmare, every parent's worst fear--going to school, going to a neighbor's house, going to a grocery store--wrong place at the wrong time: a neighbor's house where a firearm was unsafely stored, watching the emergency response team pull to that neighbor's house and knowing something is terribly, terribly wrong. Every parent's worst nightmare.

And Lori Jackson's parents know very graphically about that nightmare because their daughter, Lori Jackson, of Oxford, CT, came to their house seeking refuge from an estranged husband. And that night, while her infant children slept, Lori Jackson was gunned down by that husband, who was under a protective order which should have barred his having a firearm, but at that point Connecticut law applied only to permanent protective orders.

She was killed by that man even though he was under a protective order. She was 32 years old. She was a loving daughter and a mother of twins. And her mother also was severely injured.

And her parents, with that same grace and dignity and strength and courage, have championed protection for domestic violence victims and survivors.

She had so much to give--like Ethan, like so many others.

And we remember Noah, Charlotte, Jack, Olivia, Dylan, Catherine, Avielle, Jessica, James, Josephine, Caroline, Benjamin, Chase, Ana, Grace, Emilie, Madeleine, Allison, Daniel, and Jesse--20 beautiful, innocent children taken at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown more than 8 years ago.

We remember them for bringing bursts of light and laughter into the lives of their family and friends, for bringing love into the lives of all who knew them, and for their joy and boundless energy. Only 6 years old, but they had so much to give, and their lives cut short at Sandy Hook that day.

And we remember the heroism of those brave, courageous educators that December morning: Victoria, Lauren, Anne Marie, Rachel, Mary, and Dawn. We remember their courage, some of them physically shielding students with their own bodies, running unhesitatingly toward danger, barricading classrooms, drawing on all their reserves of calm and professionalism to protect and shield the children in their care.

We read these names, I feel, almost as a form of prayer. We cannot save any of these victims, but we know we can save others. And that is our work.

As John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural speech, ``here on earth God's work must truly be our own.'' Thank you.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Casey for his very powerful remarks and all of my colleagues for coming to the floor tonight in this event that Senator Murphy and I are helping to lead.

Now I recognize Senator Van Hollen of Maryland, a great friend and colleague who knows a lot about this topic.

Mr. President, there is no last word tonight. There is no final saying here. There are no final names. Nora Beller, Tito Roman, Aaliyah Eubanks, Dominick Boston, Brad Keel, James Ray Huddelston--we could be here a long time. But the tragedy is there will be more names, 100 more, at this time tomorrow night.

And every one of these names is a future cut short. Every one of them is a life that could have given so much, bringing more light and joy, pride, grace, dignity.

My colleagues have come to the floor with great eloquence. I want to thank them. But the most eloquent part tonight is the names. And we should take inspiration from the courage of their families, the strength of the survivors, advocates, and activists who are forming a political movement that is creating ripples turning into waves that will overcome. They will overcome the intransigence and cowardice of colleagues who fail to heed the American public, and they will be held accountable.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.