Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have known Judy Seal for many years and have respected, appreciated and admired her leadership on education issues in my district.

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of her father William ``Bill'' Blois Seal--a native Long Beach son who bravely served his country in war and later served his community as an educator for more than four decades.

Bill was born at Seaside Hospital in 1924, attended schools in Long Beach and graduated from Wilson High School.

Enlisting in the Army in 1942, Bill's youthful hobby of pigeon ing led him to service as a Pigeoneer in the U.S. Army. Homing pigeons and their handlers served in all fronts of the war, often times providing communications when other means were not available or too unsecure.

Bill was in the fourth wave to land at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion and wound up spending his 20th birthday just days later in a foxhole on the Allied beachhead. He later served through the push across France and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of the war.

Selected for officer training, Bill's tour in Europe was cut short as he was sent back to the States. The war ended before Bill could be redeployed and he returned to Long Beach to continue his interrupted education.

He entered Long Beach City College, and then moved on to the University of Southern California where he earned both undergraduate and Master's degrees in education.

During this time, Bill married his high school sweetheart, Betty. They would remain married until her passing in 2011. They would go on to have three children: son Christopher and daughters Judy and Nancy.

As a young educator, Bill joined the Long Beach Unified School District, becoming part of the original faculty at both Stanford Junior High and Millikan High schools. His career eventually took him to back to Long Beach City College, where he had begun his higher education and where his own father had worked as a Dean.

At the end of his 43-year career in education, Bill had become a beloved figure in Long Beach, both for his educational work and for his work on behalf of Vietnam War veterans and the Cambodian community.

Bill passed away on March 15, 2013 at Long Beach Community Hospital in the arms of his beloved daughter, Judy.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to recognize the contributions that women have made to our society throughout history. As this month marks both Women's History Month and the American

Red Cross Month, I want to take this opportunity to celebrate the lasting contribution of one woman, the founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton.

Clara Barton was a true leader, a woman of poise and purpose. During the Civil War, Ms. Barton found common ground by helping everybody in the wake of disaster. She provided medical supplies to the injured, food assistance to the hungry, compassion for all.

Since its founding in 1881, the Red Cross has been a reliable lifeline for Americans and the citizens of our world. Clara Barton passed away in 1912 at the age of 90, but her legacy lives on. It should serve as a reminder to women and to men that the business of helping others is a business worthwhile.

To the women in my district and throughout the country, thank you for your confidence, thank you for your leadership, thank you for your compassion that has helped us move forward.

Mr. Speaker, Congressman Ryan's current budget proposal is a harsh austerity program that seeks to reduce the deficit on the backs of our Nation's most vulnerable while only benefiting the special interests and the Nation's ultrawealthy.

Under this plan, more than 30 million Americans now covered by the Affordable Care Act, including more than 70,000 residents of my district, would be at risk of losing their coverage.

Medicare as we know would cease to exist for more than 5 million future seniors, and over 3.5 million seniors today would lose Medicare preventative care coverage.

This plan also jeopardizes our Nation's economic recovery. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the plan will cost more than 2 million jobs in the next year, reduce the GDP by 1.7 percent, and literally stall the economy through 2017. This is neither the balanced nor rational approach that we need.

I want to work with my colleagues here in the Congress to pass a budget that creates jobs, grows the economy, strengthens the middle class, and responsibly reduces the deficit.

Sadly, this is not that plan.

Madam Speaker, I stand here today to urge my colleagues to bring the Senate-version of the Violence Against Women Act--a bill that would provide critical services to all victims of domestic abuse--to the House floor.

We are faced with two versions of this bill--a GOP House bill that waters down protections and a Senate bill that provides equal protections.

As for the altered House version, which clearly rejects the equal protections outlined in the Senate version . . . it is unfair, unjust, and unacceptable.

The House substitute removes all references to ``gender identity'' and ``sexual orientation,'' despite clear evidence revealing that domestic and sexual violence affects LGBT victims at equal or greater levels than the rest of the population.

Rather than give tribes the authority they need to protect Indian women, the House substitute limits tribes to charging an abuser with misdemeanors punishable by no more than one year in prison, even if the abuser has committed rape, a vicious assault, or another serious violent crime.

Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill jeopardizes domestic abuse survivors by including a provision that would allow immigration judges to use unreliable evidence to deport persons who have been convicted of domestic violence charges.

I urge the rejection of the GOP House bill and the reauthorization of the Senate version of VAWA. The Senate version will make sure our LGBT brothers and sisters receive appropriate care when they are victimized; it will assure that immigrants, striving proudly toward citizenship, will not have to hide behind their abusers in fear of deportation; and, we can make sure that the three out of five American Indian women who will experience domestic violence in their lifetime can have the peace of mind to know that their abusers will not be given a way out of prosecution.

Equal protection should never be open to political gamesmanship. Equal protection is simply the right thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, unless we do something, Friday will be a day that none of us want to see but that very few of us seem to have the courage or conviction to prevent.

Today, we stand here with two options: devastating, meat-cleaver cuts or political courage.

Last week in my district I met with the leadership of the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. California military cuts of almost $70 million would put this base at risk.

Who are we talking about? These are our first responders, our firefighters, our citizen soldiers. These are the people that will be affected by sequestration.

If we must choose between cuts or political courage, I choose political courage. We must come together to do what is right.

I ask for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that eliminates sequestration. I support Congressman Van Hollen's bill, H.R. 699, and I ask unanimous consent to bring this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here today to urge my colleagues to bring the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, a bill that would provide critical services to all victims of domestic abuse, to the House floor. My friends, my colleagues, my constituents, it is time to reauthorize.

I want to applaud all the Senate Democrats, all the female Senators, and the vast majority of Republican Senate Members who believe that VAWA is good for the safety of all women, regardless of their sexual orientation, their ethnicity, or tribal heritage.

As for the altered House version, which clearly rejects the equal protections outlined in the Senate version, it is unfair, unjust, and unacceptable.

I have a few questions for my colleagues in the House who altered this bipartisan Senate VAWA bill:

Why do our LGBT, Native American, and immigrant brothers and sisters not deserve the same protections?

Why are they exceptions in your eyes?

And why must they continually be denied the same freedoms and liberties that we all enjoy under our Constitution?

By reauthorizing the Senate version of VAWA:

We can make sure our LGBT brothers and sisters receive appropriate care when they are victimized;

We can make sure that immigrants, who so desperately want to be a part of this great Nation, will not have to hide behind their abusers in fear of deportation;

And, we can make sure that the three out of five American Indian women who will experience domestic violence in their lifetime can have the peace of mind to know that their abusers will not be given a way out of prosecution.

My colleagues, this is not politics and this certainly is not a game. This is simply the right thing to do.

I want to thank the gentlelady from California for calling us and bringing us together to discuss this very important issue.

I stand here and join my colleagues as we put forth responsible solutions to reduce gun violence in our communities and throughout our country. It was my honor to introduce from my district Peggy McCrum, the chapter leader of the Long Beach Area Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, at yesterday's conference hosted by the Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Three decades ago, her brother, Robert Kelly, was shot and killed by a complete stranger as he walked to his car, unaware that any peril awaited him. Peggy's brother, Robert; the victims of tragedies that occurred in Newtown and Aurora's mass shooting; and the thousands of Americans whose lives are ended each year by gun violence should serve as a reminder to all of us about the fragility of human life and our ability as Members of Congress to enact commonsense legislation necessary to prevent such horrific tragedies from continuing to devastate innocent Americans.

I stand here today in total support of a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, similar to the gun laws that we have in California. These instruments of mass destruction have no place in our society outside of the military. And I thank my colleagues on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, especially Congressman Thompson and Congresswoman Pelosi, for leading the charge on this effort.

The tragedy of gun violence will not be solved just by banning assault weapons and ammunition alone. We must strengthen our current background check system as well as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. We must increase access to mental health services, we must increase the student-to-counselor ratio in our schools, and we must lift the research ban on the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. All of these commonsense proposals are crucial to achieving the meaningful reforms that will save countless lives.

As a community psychologist, I understand that early identification and treatment of mental illness is the key to preventing potentially harmful acts. That being said, I am proud to cosponsor Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Student Support Act, as well as Congresswoman Grace Napolitano's Mental Health in Schools Act. Both of these bills will address the growing mental health needs of our Nation's 95,000 students.

I do not believe in taking away any American's Second Amendment rights. Just as you cannot yell ``fire'' in a movie theater, I believe you cannot own and use weapons that are capable of killing 20 school children in a matter of seconds.

To conclude, I think we all must continue to listen to those who have been injured by gun violence, to survivors, to law enforcement, and even to those who speak out against gun law reforms. We will not be able to reach common ground on this issue unless we keep an open mind to all of the voices in America.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from California for calling us together to discuss this important issue.

I stand here today to join my colleagues as we put forth responsible solutions to reduce gun violence in our communities and throughout our country.

It was my honor to introduce from my district Peggy McCrum, the Chapter Leader of Long Beach Area Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence at yesterday's press conference hosted by the Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Three decades ago, her brother Robert Kelly was shot and killed by a complete stranger as he was walking to his parked car--unaware of the perils that awaited him.

It can be all too easy to see Robert as a statistic on a crime map, but he--like all victims of senseless violence--was much, much more. He was a son . . . a brother . . . and a loved one. He was 28 years old; a graduate of Cal State Long Beach who was excited about starting his career at an accounting software firm. That future . . . his future . . . ended all too soon at the hands of a criminal with a gun. To date, the killer has not been found.

None of us are statistics. We are all living, breathing caring people with real lives and hopes and dreams, and we all deserve the freedom to feel safe from gun violence, be it in our schools, our movie theaters, or our streets.

Peggy's brother Robert, the victims of tragedies like the Newtown and Aurora mass shootings, and the thousands of Americans whose lives are ended each year by gun violence, will never be forgotten; they should serve as a reminder to us of the fragility of human life and our ability as members of Congress to enact commonsense legislation necessary to prevent such horrific tragedies from continuing to devastate innocent Americans.

These children, their parents, and all of the families who have been affected by the senseless acts of violence that left our country shocked and in disbelief are counting on us to do something--anything to ensure that they have the freedom to feel safe in their schools and communities.

I stand here today in open support of a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, similar to the gun laws we have in California. These instruments of mass destruction have no place in our society outside of the military, and I thank all of my colleagues on the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, especially Congressman Thompson and Congresswoman Pelosi, for leading the charge on this effort.

The tragedy of gun violence will not be solved by banning assault weapons and ammunition alone. We must strengthen our current background check system, as well as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) system; we must increase access to mental health services; we must increase the student-to-counselor ratio in our children's schools; and we must lift the research ban on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All of these commonsense proposals are crucial to achieving meaningful reforms that will save countless lives.

As a Community Psychologist, I understand that the early identification and treatment of mental illnesses is the key to preventing potentially harmful acts. That being said, I am proud to cosponsor Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Student Support Act and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano's Mental Health in Schools Act. Both of these bills would address the growing mental health needs in our nation's 95,000 public schools.

The American people want action, and they are demanding a plan. My colleagues, I stand

here wanting and demanding a plan. As the President said in his State of the Union address, these victims deserve a vote.

However, I do not, I repeat, I do not believe in taking away any American's Second Amendment right. Just as you cannot yell ``fire'' in a movie theatre, I believe you cannot own weapons capable of killing 20 school children in a matter of seconds. The United States Supreme Court ruling on Heller v. DC clearly stated that there are, indeed, limitations to the Second Amendment, and I stand with that ruling. Heller v. DC was not meant to strip gun owners of the rights, it was meant to instill a greater sense of responsibility that comes with owning a gun.

I am in favor of protecting an individual's right to own a gun; I also want to help create a more accountable gun culture--one that upholds Americans' constitutional right to bear arms, and keeps us safe from harm. The constitutional right to own a gun and the God-given human right to feel safe from gun violence is not mutually exclusive.

I want to conclude by saying that we must all continue to listen to the victims, the survivors, and even those who speak out against gun law reforms; we will not be able to reach common ground on this issue unless we keep an open mind to all of the voices of the American people.

Thank you.

Article I, section 4:

``The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing Senators.''