Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the select committee on China and to support this select committee on China.

These past two Congresses I have had the privilege of being the chairman on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I have worked very closely with my ranking member, Steve Chabot--a good friend whom we are going to miss--but I also served as ranking member when Mr. Chabot was chairman on that committee.

We learned a lot on how we should approach China. We have looked at supply chains. We have traveled to the region. We have talked to our partners in southeast Asia and ASEAN. We have understood the vulnerabilities.

Our subcommittee had the first hearing on the novel coronavirus back in February of 2020 when we didn't have a name on it. So we understand the importance, as a doctor, of understanding the origins of COVID, where it came and how we can best prevent the next pandemic.

None of those questions are ones that we should be looking at and bickering about as Democratic or Republican questions. Those are questions that just make a lot of sense to our security, our economic strength, and where we go from here.

So I applaud the Speaker's comments on wanting this to be an American strategy, not a Democratic or Republican strategy.

If we look at our own history, what served us well in the Cold War is we had an American strategy. It didn't change every 2 years. It didn't change with the new Presidential administration. We acted on it, we laid it out there, we executed it, and we won the Cold War without going to war. That is what the challenge is that faces us today. I wish China had gone a different direction. I wish they had opened up.

I applaud the work that Mr. McGovern does on human rights and addressing the Uyghur genocide. Speaker Emerita Pelosi has been a champion on looking at the human rights abuses and the tragedy that is taking place in Tibet. Those are all issues that we should come together on, not just the United States of America, but with our allies and friends because they have the same concerns.

I don't want to say we are in a new cold war, but we are in a real challenge right now. So I support the select committee. Let's make it nonpartisan, and let's work together to create an American strategy.

Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank my colleague from the great State of Washington, Ms. DelBene, as well as my good friend from Pennsylvania, Mr. Kelly, as well as my fellow doctor, Dr. Bucshon.

This was how legislative processes should work. You identify a challenge, you work on it, you work on it in a bipartisan way. But you put the American patient first because that is what this it about at the end of the day. How do we give efficient, quality care to America's patients, and, in this case, America's seniors.

I have been practicing medicine going back to 1995. And yeah, I have used a fax machine back in 1995. This is about coming into the 21st century, modernizing the practice of medicine.

It is also about letting us do what we went to medical school for, what we did residency for. After 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, anywhere from 3 to 7 years and longer of residency training, doctors want to be doctors. They want to take care of their patients.

Yes, there is a role for prior authorization in limited cases. There is also a role to go back and retrospectively look at how care is being delivered. But what is happening today is a travesty. It wasn't the intention of prior authorization. It is a prior authorization process gone awry. And let me give you some examples.

When I talk to my former colleagues, the folks I went to medical school with, they spend up to 40 percent of their time on paperwork, on administrative burden, on doing things that don't enhance clinical care or enhance their ability to take care of patients.

We heard Dr. Murphy talk about the delays in care. That adds costs, that adds time, and in some cases, it occasionally will potentially kill a patient. That isn't what this is about.

This is about providing America's seniors efficient care, reducing the burden, and allowing doctors to do what we went to medical school for, take care of patients.

Let's bring this into the 21st century, and let's start to put the patient central in American healthcare. And that is how we are going to actually lower costs of care, deliver better outcomes, and improve satisfaction.

We see a lot of doctors leaving the practice of medicine because of that administrative burden, the hassle factor. That doesn't improve care. That actually makes care worse.

So let's move into the 21st century. Let's deliver that care, and let's move forward.

This is a shining example of how Congress should work. If you think about it, 320-plus Members of Congress, in a bipartisan way, of the House, support this legislation. All of the doctors in Congress support this legislation. You have got Senate support of this legislation. Over 500 groups of my colleagues support this legislation. It is about good medicine. It is about taking care of the patients.

I also want to recognize my prior senior healthcare legislative assistant, Colleen Nguyen, who worked incredibly hard on this, as well as my current healthcare legislative assistant, Harsh Patel. As Congresswoman DelBene pointed out, it is the staff that makes us look good.

Everybody should vote for this, and we should pass it unanimously.

Madam Speaker, I missed the following votes because I was traveling as part of the official Presidential Delegation to the Inauguration of the President of the Republic of Korea.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 168, NAY on Roll Call No. 169, NAY on Roll Call No. 170, NAY on Roll Call No. 171, YEA on Roll Call No. 172, YEA on Roll Call No. 173, YEA on Roll Call No. 174, YEA on Roll Call No. 175, YEA on Roll Call No. 176, and YEA on Roll Call No. 177.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Amodei (Balderson)

Blumenauer (Beyer)

Bourdeaux (Wexton)

Bowman (Escobar)

Brooks (Moore (AL))

Brownley (Kuster)

Bustos (Kuster)

Cardenas (Soto)

Carter (LA) (Jeffries)

Castro (TX) (Garcia (TX))

Cawthorn (Nehls)

Cherfilus-McCormick (Jeffries)

Cleaver (Neguse)

Connolly (Beyer)

Cuellar (Garcia (TX))

Curtis (Owens)

Delgado (Neguse)

DeSaulnier (Beyer)

Doyle, Michael F. (Pallone)

Evans (Jeffries)

Fallon (Nehls)

Gaetz (Boebert)

Garamendi (Beyer)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Kelly (IL) (Blunt Rochester)

Kirkpatrick (Pallone)

Lamb (Pallone)

Langevin (Lynch)

Lawson (FL) (Soto)

Lowenthal (Beyer)

Mfume (Blunt Rochester)

Moore (WI) (Beyer)

Ocasio-Cortez (Escobar)

Porter (Wexton)

Price (NC) (Ross)

Rodgers (WA) (Joyce (PA))

Scott, David (Jeffries)

Sires (Pallone)

Spartz (Miller-Meeks)

Stauber (Bacon)

Stewart (Owens)

Strickland (Takano)

Suozzi (Beyer)

Tiffany (Fitzgerald)

Torres (NY) (Neguse)

Walorski (Wagner)

Waters (Garcia (TX))

Watson Coleman (Pallone)

Wilson (FL) (Neguse)

Wilson (SC) (Timmons)

Madam Speaker, I missed the following votes because I was traveling as part of the official Presidential Delegation to the Inauguration of the President of the Republic of Korea.

Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 142, YEA on Roll Call No. 143, and YEA on Roll Call No. 144.

In addition, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 145 (Passage of H.R. 7691). As the world's leading democracy, the United States has the solemn duty to demonstrate strong humanitarian principles, democratic values, and good governance. I strongly support the nearly $40 billion in emergency funding provided by H.R. 7691 to support the Ukrainian people in defending their sovereignty and the right to choose their own future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today during Women's History Month to recognize the contributions and achievements of Mayor Bobbie Singh- Allen of Elk Grove, California.

Mayor Singh-Allen has been a great friend and partner in public service for years, when we began working together when she joined the Elk Grove School Board. She has been an exemplary citizen of Elk Grove, a city I have had the honor of representing throughout my time in Congress. She has lived in Elk Grove for over 30 years and been a strong leader in strengthening our public schools.

She was appointed to the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees in 2012 and went on to serve as Board President for 2 years. Her work involved maintaining strong financial reserves, supporting robust career and technical education programs, increasing graduation rates, creating a more inclusive curriculum, and enhancing visual and performing arts,

Mayor Singh-Allen is also an accomplished attorney, a graduate of Lincoln Law School of Sacramento, and represented the private sector for over twenty years. She has worked with associations representing the hospitality industry, special educators, and affordable housing issues.

Her election made her the first directly-elected Sikh-American woman mayor in the country, Mayor Singh-Allen is not only a dedicated servant of Elk Grove and Sacramento County, but she is also a wonderful wife and mother. In 2015, she was selected as ``Woman of the Year'' for California State Assembly District 9 and was recognized for her achievements in front of the California State Legislature. I am honored to call her a friend and ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing her today in front of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a looming crisis that we see in Eastern Europe.

Last week, as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I had a chance to accompany some of my colleagues on a bipartisan delegation to both Brussels and Ukraine.

What I saw when we were in Ukraine, as we met with their senior leaders and President Zelensky, was a country that has resolve. They reminded us that they have been at war with Russia for the last 8 years since Russia invaded Crimea and occupied the Donbas territories. So, this is a country that has been fighting Russia. They are prepared to defend themselves.

When I went out on the streets with my colleagues and talked to ordinary Ukrainian citizens, there is a resolve. They have no intention of living under Soviet rule. They have tasted freedom.

It is important for us as the United States of America to stand with this young democracy. We are the oldest democracy in the world. When I have been asked by the media why the United States should be concerned about what is happening in Eastern Europe, it is because we value the freedoms that we enjoy; we value the liberty; and we value the ability of individual citizens to choose their own path forward. That is what this is about.

When we went to Brussels, we had a chance to meet with our NATO allies, with other members of the European Union. Think about what we accomplished working with those countries in the 75-plus years post- World War II. We created peace on the European Continent after two world wars. We created thriving democracies. We created prosperity. That is what is at risk.

Think about what Mr. Putin wants to do. He wants to reestablish the Soviet Union. He is an autocrat. That is what is at risk in the 21st century.

It is not a given that democracy will win the 21st century. We have to fight for democracy. We have to fight for those liberties. We have to fight for those individuals to choose their path forward.

That is why this is important. That is why it is important for us to stand with the people of Ukraine. That is why it is important for us, along with our European allies and our NATO allies, to stand together and speak with one voice and tell Mr. Putin we are not going back to the Soviet era; we are going forward to a peaceful, prosperous 21st century for all people.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Regional Water Authority and congratulate them on their 20th anniversary.

A reliable water supply is critical to the Sacramento region as it allows our families to thrive and our businesses to grow. The Regional Water Authority (RWA) was formed in 2001 with a focus on addressing the reliability, quality, affordability, and availability of our region's water supply. RWA is made of up cities, water and irrigation districts, mutual water companies, investor-owned water utilities and community services districts.

Over its 20 years of work, RWA has played a critical role in supporting effective management of our region's water resources. From facilitating implementation of our region's conjunctive use program to reduce diversions from the American River during dry water years to preparing the American River Basin Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, RWA has served the Sacramento region well. Its work will continue to be critical as we face a changing climate and work towards a resilient water supply to support our vibrant economy.

I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking the Regional Water Authority for their 20 years of work on behalf of the greater Sacramento region, and I look forward to working with them over the next 20 years.

Mr. Speaker, I missed one vote on Thursday, July 29, 2021. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on rollcall No. 253.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to present for the vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass Amache National Historic Site, Act, H.R. 2497 as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall no. 253.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Aderholt (Moolenaar)

Aguilar (Leger Fernandez)

Auchincloss (Moulton)

Barragan (Beyer)

Carson (Butterfield)

Carter (TX) (Nehls)

DeSaulnier (Thompson (CA))

Fallon (Jackson)

Fulcher (Meuser)

Gaetz (Gosar)

Grijalva (Stanton)

Green (TN)

(Reschenthaler)

Greene (GA) (Gosar)

Hagedorn

(Reschenthaler)

Horsford (Jeffries)

Katko (Malliotakis)

Kelly (PA) (Keller)

Kirkpatrick (Stanton)

Kuster (Clark (MA))

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Levin (MI) (Raskin)

Maloney, Carolyn (Velazquez)

McEachin (Wexton)

Meng (Jeffries)

Nadler (Jeffries)

Napolitano (Correa)

Payne (Pallone)

Porter (Wexton)

Pressley (Hayes)

Rush (Underwood)

Scott, David (GA) (Cartwright)

Steube (Timmons)

Vela (Correa)

Watson Coleman (Pallone)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 100th birthday of Gertrude Jackson. Born on May 2nd, 1921, Mrs. Jackson grew up in Prichard, Alabama and left her hometown to pursue a nursing degree at Saint Mary's Nursing School in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated and became a registered nurse in 1944 and moved to settle in Sacramento, California. Mrs. Jackson also served in the U.S. Army in WWII as Second Lieutenant Gertrude Clarke. After she moved to Sacramento and finished her time in the Army, she met her late husband and was married the following year on May 15th. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson spent a wonderful 70 years together.

Mrs. Jackson is a very accomplished woman, and her children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren all look up to her. As she began her career in nursing in 1944, she was the second African-American registered nurse in Sacramento, working at Sutter Memorial Hospital. This achievement helped pave the way for women of color in the health care sector, and our community is grateful for her service.

Although her 100th birthday was earlier this year, we continue to celebrate this milestone as she reunites with her family for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mrs. Jackson celebrated her birthday at Elk Grove Regional Park last weekend, and we wish her well this year. I ask that my colleagues join me in wishing a happy birthday to Mrs. Jackson and a profound thank you for her work in our community.

Madam Speaker, today we will be considering the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Act, or the HERO Act.

This has been an unprecedented time of stress and pressure on our first responders: firefighters, police officers, and our frontline healthcare workers. This is a no-nonsense bill that will provide necessary resources to understand first responder suicide and pressure, but also to provide grants to provide peer-to-peer conversation and proactive reaching out to these first responders who are our heroes.

So, again, I urge all my colleagues to pass this bill unanimously. It has passed previously. It will make a difference, and it will help save lives and help treat these heroes as they have taken care of us.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the life of Irene B. West. Mrs. West was born on July 3, 1932 in Crowley, Louisiana and she graduated Valedictorian of her high school class. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee where she met her late husband. Mrs. West received her Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Sacramento (CSUS) and obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco.

Mrs. West, whose older sisters were teachers, was hired as the first black teacher in Elk Grove, CA in 1962. With virtually no representation in the area, she showcased true dedication to her career in education during the era of the Civil Rights movement. During her 27 years in service of the Elk Grove Community, she taught at James McKee and Florin Elementary schools and then served as principal at John Reith and Cosumnes River Elementary schools.

As a mother of four, Mrs. West was not only dedicated to her students and their education but raised talented and devoted children while working full time. In fact, The Sacramento Observer named her Mother of the Year in 1963. All her children excelled in their chosen fields of study, and two followed in her footsteps teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Sunday school. We know she would be proud of their future endeavors as her children continue her legacy.

Because of her impact as a mother, educator, a wife and a pillar to society, Mrs. West has left a lasting legacy for the city of Elk Grove and will continue to inspire young women of color for generations to come.

I want to extend my condolences to the West family, and to everyone Mrs. West positively affected throughout her lifetime. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life of Irene B. West for her work in our community and her impact on our educational system.

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of this budget resolution, and I speak as a doctor. This virus doesn't know whether you are Democrat or Republican. This virus doesn't know the color of your skin, the religion that you worship towards.

I commend the Biden administration for wanting to go big and wanting to go fast, because we have to get ahead of the virus, defeat the virus. But then we have to do the efforts to vaccinate the population that are out, to address the food insecurity that we see all across this country.

Madam Speaker, I am particularly pleased that this package will have funding in it, as we put it together to address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, particularly in hard-hit communities of color--Black and Brown communities. We have to get into those communities, work with community health centers, work with folks in those communities to make sure they get vaccinated. And I am pleased that we have been working with the Biden administration to get this done.

Madam Speaker, I fully support going big and fully support this budget resolution.

Mr. Speaker, just over a week ago, we all took the oath of office, all of us, Democrats and Republicans, and part of that oath was to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

It is quite clear what happened last Wednesday: a domestic attack on our government, a domestic attack on this body. Republicans have already acknowledged who instigated the attack. The lead instigator was the President of the United States.

Now it is our solemn duty to uphold that oath, to defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. There is nothing more solemn than what we have to do.

If my colleagues don't want to invoke the 25th Amendment--that is one mechanism--we will give you an opportunity tomorrow to impeach the President. That is our duty. That is what we have to do. Let's uphold our oath.

Mr. Speaker, this Wednesday, June 26, marks the 1-year anniversary of the Supreme Court upholding President Trump's travel ban which suspended the issuance of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to applicants from five Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen; plus Venezuela and North Korea.

In upholding the travel ban, the court indicated that by including North Korea and Venezuela, the administration was not targeting only Muslim countries. In addition, the administration was creating a mechanism by which foreign nationals from those banned countries could be issued a waiver to enter the United States if: one, the applicant did not represent a security threat with their entry; or, two, if denying entry would cause undue hardship.

One year later, we can evaluate whether the Trump administration has honored the court ruling.

Mr. Speaker, from my experience with my constituents in Sacramento County, the resounding answer is ``no.'' In my district, a young girl named Omnia, who was born in Libya to an American mother and a Libyan father, was separated from her family for 2 years because of the travel ban.

Her mother, an American citizen, took Omnia, who was then 2 years old, to the immigrant visa interview at the Embassy in Tunis, where the interview was only minutes long with no questions. Instead, the consular officer said the Embassy had all of the documents and everything was in order, but they could not issue the visa for the 2- year-old. The consular officer told the mother, who was 7 months pregnant at the time, to go back to the U.S. and have her baby, and then come back when the travel ban was over.

The consular office did not reference the undue hardship exception which was stipulated in the visa waiver process. I don't believe this 2-year-old was a security risk and separating a 2-year-old from their mother clearly causes undue hardship, so I am not sure what that process was.

There is also the disturbing case last year of a Yemeni mother who fought to obtain a visa waiver to travel to California to see her terminally ill son. It was only after widespread media coverage that she was finally granted a visa waiver to visit the United States to see her son just days before he passed away.

This story takes place over and over again in districts all across this country. Thus, I have serious concerns about the waiver process, how it is being implemented unevenly and with little guidance, and that waivers granted are not leading to the issuance of visas for cleared individuals.

My concern is further heightened due to the cases of constituents in my district and across the country who are being negatively impacted by confusing and uneven processes.

Now, in my role as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I am aiming to shed light on how the visa waiver process is being implemented. We have asked--and the

State Department has not provided information to us that we have requested--about how to gain a waiver, what is the process, and what is the yes/no here.

I think I know why. It is because there isn't one, as countless examples and stories have shown.

We have got to continue to shine a spotlight on the millions of Americans whose lives have been thrown into chaos due to the President's reckless and ill thought-through process. I, as an American, am going to continue to fight on their behalf.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 2740.

My amendment is simple. It would direct the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, to explore using its funds to explore peer-to-peer mental health programs for first responders.

Our first responders--our police officers, our EMS, our firefighters--are at particular risk for suicide. Studies have found they have some of the highest rates of suicide. This is a difficult thing to discuss, but we need to address it.

These are men and women who are exposed to trauma every day, things that a normal human being is not going to see. Every day, firefighters, police officers, and EMS are responding to calls for help. It is time we heard their call. That is why I am glad the Labor-HHS appropriations report requires SAMHSA to examine PTSD among first responders.

I want to thank my colleagues, Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Soto, for working to include this language in the bill.

One tool to address post-traumatic stress is peer-to-peer programs where our first responders can turn to a trusted friend and talk to them about what they are struggling with.

I have introduced the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome, or HERO, Act to authorize HHS to do just that. We need to explore this tool so that we can help our police, our EMS, our firefighters just as they help us.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

I yield the balance of my time to my colleague from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.