Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as we begin Women's History Month, I rise to recognize a true leader from southern Arizona, Deanna Lewis.

In 1984, Deanna became the first woman and the first Black woman to serve in the Tucson Fire Department. In a profession where few women had previously worked, she stepped forward anyway, not to make history but to protect and care for her community.

Over a 20-year career in the fire departments of both Tucson and Tubac, Deanna demonstrated strength, integrity, and a deep commitment to southern Arizona families. Because of her, more women now see themselves in uniform, in leadership, and in public service.

This Women's History Month, we honor Deanna Lewis for her trailblazing leadership and recommit ourselves to building a future where every young woman, whether she dreams of fighting fires or serving in the Halls of Congress, knows there is a place for her.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary educator from Arizona's Seventh Congressional District and Tucson Unified School District, Mrs. Monique Peralta, and to celebrate a true full-circle story of public education.

Mrs. Peralta is proudly Tucson Unified grown. She attended Vesey Elementary School and Morgan Maxwell and graduated from Cholla High School. Today, she teaches in the same community that raised her.

For 25 years, she has walked into her classroom determined to make every student feel seen and to make sure they learn and they believe in themselves.

Her students, including all of my three children, know her as someone who cares deeply and inspires lifelong learning.

Her colleagues know her as a mentor, and her community knows she never forgot where she came from.

Mrs. Peralta reminds us that public schools build futures and that great teachers change lives.

On behalf of Arizona's Seventh Congressional District, we thank Mrs. Peralta for 25 years of dedication, compassion, and service. We are proud of her, and we are so grateful for her.

``We love you very much, Mrs. Peralta''; ``Te quiermos muchos, Sra. Peralta.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Amy Emerick Clerkin who has served as a dedicated staffer in the House of Representatives for 20 years.

I have known Amy for many years. She worked for my father, the late Congressman Raul M. Grijalva, for two decades, including 16 years as his chief of staff. Throughout this time, she served as a trusted leader with the heart of a true public servant.

She has navigated the late-night votes, the procedural labyrinths, and the political systems that change in a moment's notice. And she has done it with a steady purpose that never makes the headlines but keeps the whole thing standing. She fought for wins both big and small, weathered the chaos, and held on to her sense of mission. Politics can be chaotic, but she is a calm, steady, and thoughtful leader.

In addition to leading my father's congressional office, Amy served as an advisor to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where she spearheaded efforts to raise the Caucus's national profile, and build its power and influence within Congress.

Amy connected with people across roles, perspectives, and ideologies to make Congress a better institution. She approaches everyone with respect and a genuine interest in finding common ground. Colleagues and stakeholders readily engage with her because they trust her judgment and integrity. She has thoughtfully guided other congressional staff as they navigate the contours of policymaking.

Throughout her time on Capitol Hill, Amy dedicated herself to an office and the policies that seek to provide opportunities, resources and basic equity to communities in need. She never took the easy road or wavered in this dedication.

Amy's capabilities helped my father achieve a lasting impact for Arizona. We are thankful for her service to this great institution and for her 20 years of service to the people of Arizona.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary southern Arizonan, Rose Taulton, recently named Volunteer of the Year by Southern Arizona Volunteer Management Association.

Rose is truly the heart of volunteerism in Tucson. In 2025 alone, she logged more than 1,000 hours of service, positively impacting over 5,000 people across our community.

There are few people I see more often at community events than Rose. Whether it is helping organize the annual Tucson Juneteenth Festival or volunteering at a neighborhood food bank, she is always there, quietly, consistently, and with joy.

From mentoring youth and distributing books to supporting families facing food insecurity, Rose shows up, not for recognition but because she believes in the power of community.

Southern Arizona is stronger because of people like Rose. Her determination, compassion, and service embody the very best of us.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Rose for everything she does for Tucson. We are grateful beyond words. I congratulate her on her new grandbaby.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Huffman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose H.R. 4090. This bill hands the mining industry the power to gut its own regulations. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to expedite and approve any mine that the administration deems a priority, and it tells the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to identify any public lands that should be a priority for mining, without any public input or Tribal consultation.

In the eyes of this administration mineral dominance means mining above all else--above protection of our public lands, above the people who will live with toxic pollution, and above the local communities' interests.

My home State of Arizona is all too familiar with the harms left behind from an unregulated mining industry. Over a century of mining left polluted waters, poisoned land, and generations of families feeling the health impacts, including my own. Tribal nations had their lands stolen and sacred sites desecrated by the mining industry.

Some may argue that the mining industry is different now and that our regulations are in need of change. I agree that we are in need of modernization, but H.R. 4090 is a move in the wrong direction.

We need only look at the notorious track records of mining companies abroad to see what disaster will look like in the United States.

BHP, one of the world's largest foreign mining companies and one of the co-owners of the proposed Resolution Copper mine in Arizona, was responsible for the disastrous collapse of a Brazilian tailings dam that killed 19 people and spilled tons of toxic waste into a major river in 2015. This disaster has been called Brazil's worst environmental disaster.

Rio Tinto, the other co-owner of Resolution Copper, blew up a 46,000- year-old sacred aboriginal site in Australia in 2020.

Now, just upstream from Phoenix, Arizona, BHP and Rio Tinto are pushing to destroy Oak Flat, a sacred site for multiple Apache Tribes that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to build the Resolution Copper mine. This is a mine that would create one of the largest toxic tailings dams and ponds in the world.

Does that sound like an industry ready to responsibly regulate itself?

Through the Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining Act, I seek to reverse the giveaway of publicly owned land and the natural resources beneath it to this foreign mining conglomerate. It is clear that we have to reaffirm that decisions about mining on public lands must respect Tribal nations, local communities, and public health. Tribes and local communities most impacted by mining deserve more say, not less, in the future of their lands and waters.

This bill is about making it easier for foreign entities to extract and take away America's resources and leave the pollution to forever scar the land. We must fight back. We must listen, and we must be the advocates and fighters that we were sent here to be. We must protect our public lands for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I urge strong opposition to H.R. 4090.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 55.

Mr. Speaker, today, while Kristi Noem staged yet another photo op, this time in Nogales, Arizona, families across this country are still grieving people who should be alive.

Let's be clear: Border communities are not war zones. Border towns, like Nogales, which I represent in Congress, are vibrant, binational communities where families live, work, and thrive.

Instead of listening to local leaders, this administration keeps choosing militarization, fear mongering, and political theater, and it is costing people their lives.

On January 7, an ICE agent murdered Renee Good, an unarmed U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis. Two weeks later, just miles away, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Federal agents. In both cases, the administration lied about what happened, smeared the victims, and blocked independent investigations. These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a growing pattern.

For border communities, this violence is not new. In 2012, 16-year- old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was shot and killed by Border Patrol through a border fence while he was walking home on the Mexico side of the border in Nogales, Sonora. He was unarmed. He was a child.

For far too long, communities like mine have been told to accept this as the cost of enforcement. That is why, yesterday, I voted against continued funding for DHS. I will not rubberstamp an agency that enables violence, racial profiling, and terror in our neighborhoods.

ICE has already been handed $75 billion through the Republican's big, ugly bill, money that was ripped away from SNAP, Medicaid, and working families. That money is being used to militarize our cities, not keep people safe.

This is a moral infliction point. We can choose dignity, accountability, and real solutions, or we can keep funding abuse, pretending its policy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Stansbury for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, national parks hold a sacred mandate. They are not just places of extraordinary beauty. They are places of truth. Their purpose is to preserve and interpret the full breadth of the American experience: the good, the bad, the inspiring, and the painful.

Erasing history doesn't make it disappear. It makes us more likely to repeat it. History shows us in this country and around the world that when governments begin scrubbing uncomfortable truths from public spaces, they are often moving toward something darker and more dangerous.

People don't visit our national parks to not only marvel at the mountains or coastlines. They come to understand who we are. They come to confront the complex tapestry of our past: our triumphs, our failures, and the lessons that bind them together.

That is why the recent removal of the interpretive materials titled ``Life Under Slavery,'' ``The Dirty Business of Slavery,'' and signage addressing climate change should alarm every American.

These changes don't make us more patriotic. They make us more ignorant. Let's be clear: These materials were not factually incorrect. They weren't misleading. They weren't partisan. They were accurate reflections of our history and our present. They are histories that make some people uncomfortable, but discomfort is not a justification for censorship.

If we allow history to be erased in our national parks, places meant to endure beyond political cycles, we normalize the idea that facts are optional and truth is negotiable.

That is not just an attack on historians or park rangers. It is an attack on democracy itself, and the timing could not be more ironic.

As we approach America's 250th birthday, our national parks should be a place of reflection, learning, and honest celebration. Instead, we are fighting simply to ensure that these public lands continue to represent the full dimension of the American experience.

National parks are not propaganda tools. They are not instruments of partisan comfort. They exist to preserve and interpret the full American story, not just the parts that make some politicians feel at ease.

That is why the work of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks is so critical. This nonpartisan organization is made up of more than 4,800 current, former, and retired National Park Service professionals, people who have devoted over 50,000 years of combined service to caring for our most valuable, natural, and cultural resources. These are experts. These are the stewards of our shared history.

We owe it to them and to future generations to protect the integrity of our national parks because a nation confident in its values does not hide from its history; it learns from it. It tells the truth, even when the truth is hard.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Rivas for organizing today's Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, across Arizona, families are being squeezed from every direction. Groceries cost more. Rent and housing costs keep climbing. People can't afford their healthcare.

According to the Joint Economic Committee, Arizona families paid an estimated $1,569 more in 2025 due to inflation during Trump's first year back in office.

Yet, after running on lower prices, Trump now calls this affordability crisis a hoax. Just last week, he said plainly: ``I don't want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up. . . .''

That tells us exactly whom he is fighting for: Wall Street speculators and billionaires, not our families living on Main Streets and in our barrios. He is not even trying to hide it anymore.

Meanwhile, utility bills are surging; electric bills are up 13 percent; and residential gas prices are up nearly 60 percent. This administration canceled clean energy projects that could have powered 13 million homes, destroying 165,000 jobs in the process.

Behind every statistic is a family that is now experiencing hardship due to these reckless and painful policies. I recently toured the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, where I heard directly from staff and volunteers about what these policies mean on the ground. Food banks are now being forced to serve more people with fewer resources because of the Republicans' so-called big, ugly bill.

Across Arizona, they are serving about 700,000 people every single month, a 30-percent increase in demand for services while dealing with a 50-percent cut in funding for some of our most vulnerable populations, including seniors, veterans, differently abled, families, and children.

That strain is only growing as this Republican law slashes SNAP, one of the most effective anti-hunger programs we have. Under the big, ugly law, up to 73,000 Arizonans could lose some or all of their benefits due to red tape and funding changes.

These cuts don't eliminate hunger. They push families to food banks that are already stretched thin. The burden falls hardest on women and caregivers, especially women of color who are overrepresented in low- wage and unstable jobs.

Let's be clear: This is an affordability crisis Republicans are perpetuating. Rising costs, shrinking safety nets, and tax breaks for billionaires are all at the expense of working families.

House Democrats are focused on driving down costs and making life more affordable. That is because affordability isn't a slogan. It is about whether families can live with dignity and peace of mind. That is what we should be fighting for.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Subramanyam) for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the single greatest force that continues to distort our democracy: the role of money in our politics.

Mr. Speaker, 16 years ago today, the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and billionaire spending in our elections, drowning out the voices of working people. The decision overturned longstanding precedent rooted on independent political spending by corporations and billionaires.

The conservative majority embraced the idea that spending money on elections equals speech and that corporations are entitled to the same speech rights as people, giving carte blanche to corporations and billionaires to spend unlimited money.

When money is allowed to dominate, it blocks progress on everything else. Private prison and immigrant detention contractors spend millions to influence elections and policy, all while people die in their facilities. Mr. Speaker, three people have died in just the last 6 weeks at a privately run tent camp in El Paso.

Fossil fuel and mining companies pour enormous sums into elections to block climate action while communities like mine in Arizona face record heat, drought, and wildfires and continue to deal with the devastating impact to our water, land, and environment.

The gun lobby spends millions to stop lifesaving reforms while my friend Congresswoman Gabby Giffords continues to fight for commonsense gun laws so that tragedies like that mass shooting in Tucson never happen again.

Nowhere is this corruption more visible than in the White House, where policy decisions are increasingly shaped by the interests of wealthy donors and corporate insiders. Literally, it feels like there is a sign in front of the White House saying: Justice for sale.

We should be clear that Congress doesn't have to wait to act. We can ban Members of Congress from holding and trading stock. We can pass transparency laws like the DISCLOSE Act. Ultimately, we need to pass a constitutional amendment reversing Citizens United. This is a choice between democracy that serves donors or one that serves people. The choice couldn't be clearer.

Mr. Speaker, 16 years after Citizens United, we need to shift the power back to everyday Americans and away from those who can write the biggest checks.

It is past time that we reverse course on Citizens United. It is time to act and end Citizens United.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Hayes for her leadership and advocacy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in defense of one of the most important civil rights laws Congress has ever passed, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and to oppose the dangerous and unlawful efforts to dismantle the Department of Education.

IDEA is not a suggestion. It is not discretionary. It is the law of the land, and for more than four decades, it has represented a bipartisan commitment that children with disabilities have the right to a free, appropriate public education, one that meets their individual needs and recognizes their full potential.

Before IDEA, millions of children with disabilities were excluded from classrooms, denied services, or told they did not belong in public school at all. IDEA changed that. It affirmed that a disability does not diminish a child's worth and that access to education is a civil right, not a privilege reserved for a few.

Today, more than 7 million students across the country rely on IDEA for individualized education plans, services, and due process protections. These are real students whose ability to learn, communicate, and thrive depends on fulfilling the promises made in Federal law.

Those promises are enforced, overseen, and protected by the Department of Education.

The Department plays an essential role in ensuring that IDEA is implemented fairly and consistently across all States. It provides guidance, oversight, enforcement, and accountability. Without it, IDEA becomes words on paper with no meaningful guarantee.

Let us be clear. People cannot claim to support students with disabilities while dismantling the very agency responsible for protecting their rights. Efforts to hollow out or get rid of the Department of Education without congressional authorization are not only reckless, they are illegal. Congress created IDEA. Congress assigned its enforcement. Attempting to undermine that structure violates the law and the Constitution's separation of powers.

Without Federal oversight, enforcement of IDEA will vary widely from State to State. A child's access to services will depend on their ZIP Code. Families will face confusion, delays, and costly legal battles just to secure what the law already guarantees their children. States and school districts will be left without clear guidance or support, increasing litigation, and diverting resources away from classrooms. Families, especially those without financial or legal resources, will pay the highest price.

The measure of our commitment to public education is how the students who need us the most are treated, and today, those students are watching.

I urge my colleagues to reject the efforts to weaken IDEA or dismantle the Department of Education. Congress has a legal obligation, a moral responsibility, and a constitutional duty to protect students with disabilities and ensure they receive the education they deserve.

I will continue to stand with students, families, educators, and advocates, and I call on this body to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Rivas and Randall for leading on this very urgent healthcare issue.

Millions of Americans who depend on the Affordable Care Act are selecting their plans right now, and what they are seeing are healthcare options that they cannot afford due to Republicans' refusal to extend premium assistance.

I am here today speaking on behalf of my constituents in southern Arizona and those throughout the Nation. I am here for the parents that are going through their monthly budget trying to figure out what they can give up just to be able to pay for these premiums. I am speaking for those who have the horrible feeling in the pit of their stomachs because they know the risk of being uninsured, being one hospital visit away from bankruptcy.

My Republican colleagues and, certainly, Donald Trump might not understand this, but health insurance is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

The facts are clear. Republicans paid for their trillion-dollar tax giveaway for the wealthy by cutting healthcare, plain and simple.

Over 10 million people will lose their Medicaid, and now millions more could lose their health coverage because they can't afford their premiums.

Mr. Speaker, 22 million people, including 400,000 Arizonans with marketplace coverage, are already seeing their healthcare premiums skyrocket. These cuts mean the closure of rural hospitals in Arizona, job losses in our healthcare sector, higher healthcare costs for those with private insurance, and the overall stress to an already stretched thin healthcare system.

The State of Arizona has estimated the impact of Medicaid cuts alone to be $34 billion over the next 10 years.

For every $1 billion tax cut there is an estimated loss of 36,000 jobs across multiple industries. While the economic impacts will be devastating throughout the State, the most immediate impact will be on those going without needed healthcare.

Already a community health center in my district is feeling the impact of the healthcare cuts. In 2025, they saw significant cuts in their Ryan White part B funding.

Due to these cuts, some positions had to be eliminated and workflows realigned, including the loss of medical case management and treatment adherence support.

The impacts are real. For instance, a 29-year-old woman was diagnosed with HIV during her pregnancy. She is a mom of two young kids, 7 and 1 years old. She has struggled with mental illness, depression, and cognitive delay. Because she lacks daily adherence support for her lifesaving Valley fever medication, she has been hospitalized three times due to sepsis related to the condition.

Another 18-year-old with HIV who works as a landscaper has not been able to get back on his medication due to the loss of insurance. His employer does not provide insurance, and he makes too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Now the health center team is trying to get support from pharmaceutical companies for this individual.

These are the types of stories of real people that simply want to live their lives. Illness and disease do not discriminate, neither should Congress. Americans have had enough of cutting programs that Americans need for basic survival, enough of the attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, enough Republicans' skyrocketing costs.

It is up to Donald Trump and the Republican Party to decide if they will join Democrats to restore these tax credits or whether they will keep making life unaffordable for hardworking Americans. I urge the Senate to act immediately and take up the premium extension bill passed by the House.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a member of the Grijalva team who has served this great institution since 2003.

Glenn Miller was a trusted source of wisdom, institutional knowledge, and a sounding board to my father, Congressman Raul Grijalva.

Throughout his more than two decades of public service in Washington, Glenn brought a mix that is hard to find: brutal honesty and unrelenting compassion.

His frank insight was instrumental for the House Natural Resources Committee, including flagship efforts such as the Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act and the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni- Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

During complex negotiations, Glenn was the reason that every voice was heard. His leadership produced enduring reforms that will impact generations and continue to inspire Federal policies that promise a cleaner, fairer future where every community enjoys clean air, clean water, open space, and economic opportunity.

I thank Glenn for standing by my dad's side for 37 years and for all he has done for me and my entire family. We love Glenn.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I will state that nobody should ever be denied basic healthcare, period. No one is better off when people are forced to receive healthcare in emergency rooms or receive a later stage diagnosis because of lack of preventive care and seeing a doctor on a regular basis.

Over 22 million people, including 400,000 Arizonans, with marketplace coverage are seeing their premiums skyrocket.

I cannot state this any clearer: People cannot afford to pay more for their healthcare and shouldn't be forced to. Allowing premiums to skyrocket, enacting a backdoor abortion ban, and allowing plans to not cover things like maternity care and preexisting conditions is not a solution. It is abandonment.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of his second term, Donald Trump has directed an enforcement machine that is not only cruel but unconstitutional, targeting longtime residents, law-abiding visa holders, U.S. citizens, and even veterans who have fought for this country.

In border communities like the one I represent in Arizona's Seventh Congressional District, we see the impact of these abuses every single day. We have seen Border Patrol waiting outside of hospitals, literally arresting women after they have given birth--no due process, no regard for human rights.

Last week, we saw a disturbing example near the ranching community of Arivaca. Humanitarian volunteers with No More Deaths reported that Border Patrol agents forced their way into their desert aid station known as Byrd Camp, without a warrant and arrested three migrants who were resting inside a trailer. Volunteers told agents they could not enter without a warrant. Agents left, then returned claiming that they were in hot pursuit, even though there was no chase, no threat, and no legal justification that would allow entering a protected structure.

This camp has existed for decades to keep people from dying in the desert. More than 4,400 men, women, and children have died crossing the border in Arizona since 2000. The camp has been raided before, but previously with a warrant. What happened on November 23 was different. It was lawless, intentional, and part of a broader pattern of unchecked enforcement that treats border communities as if the Constitution does not apply.

Let me say this clearly. The Fourth Amendment does not disappear in southern Arizona. Due process does not disappear because someone is a migrant. And humanitarian aid is not a crime.