Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Vasquez for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 356, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, my bipartisan legislation with Representatives LaMalfa and Neguse in the House and Senators Crapo and Wyden in the Senate.

In central and southern Oregon, my district, the Federal Government owns over 3 million acres of forestland that pays no taxes to our local government. Generations of families built their lives and livelihood around Federal timber harvest, and counties relied on revenue shares from those sales to fund public services. When the timber industry collapsed, the revenue shares also disappeared.

Congress made a commitment to support rural communities and the critical infrastructure to make sure they did not get left behind. However, in the Republican budget bill, H.R. 1, the timber revenues from Federal lands to counties were eliminated, adding insult to injury.

The Secure Rural Schools program has been a lifeline for our rural communities. It supports basic public services like keeping roads paved, schools open, and emergency services running. Secure Rural Schools was meant to be a bridge and not the final answer for our rural communities.

Mr. Speaker, we still have a long way to go to deliver on the investments and job opportunities that rural America needs and deserves. I know it is one of my top priorities in Congress, along with many of my colleagues.

Letting this program expire and pulling the rug out from under our rural counties is simply not an option. We owe it to our rural communities and our timber-dependent counties to keep this commitment.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to call out the inhumane treatment of immigrants and people living on American soil.

Individuals are missing from work, children are skipping school, and people are too afraid to leave their own homes because Trump has ordered his administration to arrest immigrants at any cost.

This manufactured chaos has resulted in ICE vigilantes arresting U.S. citizens, even children. My own constituents have had to endure this horrific trauma across Oregon's Willamette Valley.

Last week, I visited the Tacoma, Washington, ICE detention facility to visit constituents and to conduct oversight. I wanted the opportunity to see for myself the facility, to understand what my constituents are being put through. I gave ICE their 7-day notice of my arrival, as they had requested, but I knew I would get a sanitized version of the privatized prison I would be shown. But the alternative would be to drive 3 hours, and then they would turn me away. The goal was to meet with my constituents and their attorney and get a tour of the facility.

When I asked about the detainees not being able to access medication, facility officials told me that detainees often lie about the lack of access to medical care. They claimed anyone could get access to the medical care that they need.

However, I know at least one of my constituents who was detained and was not able to access the heart medication he needed. He went 2 weeks without his lifesaving heart medicine.

Why would anybody lie about that, their heart medicine? He had no reason to lie. But he did get it 2 weeks later when he was sent down to Texas.

When I asked about the tuberculosis outbreak in the Alaska detention facility, ICE claimed the news reports got it wrong. I questioned if similar outbreaks happened in the Tacoma facility, and, again, was told flatout lies. The attorney I spoke to afterward told me, yes, there were outbreaks in the Tacoma facility.

When I asked about detainees not being able to access their attorneys, facility officials told me, oh, there are tablets that they can access and there are lots of rooms.

When I was supposed to meet with my constituents on that same day, I was refused access to my own constituents and so was their attorney.

Even with a full 7-day notice, the Tacoma ICE detention facility, the Department of Homeland Security, and the GEO Group couldn't get their story straight. They raised more questions than they could answer. The questions that they did answer were lies, half-truths, and misleading at best.

We should all be holding ICE, Homeland Security, and this administration accountable. It may start at our local or regional detention facilities, but it does not stop there.

We must hold Tom Homan, Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump accountable. They must tell me why a 17-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested, traumatized, and suffered shards of glass in his eye when an ICE vigilante smashed in his driver's side window and arrested him, detained him first, and asked questions later.

This is not justice. This is terror, but I have a voice. I have a voice for the people in my district. I have a voice for those who still believe that the United States is the land of opportunity, just as the Salinas family did in 1945.

I will continue to conduct oversight and publicize the horrific acts of ICE. They cannot continue to operate in the shadows. We must all continue to speak out and hold those who have raised their hands and pledged their oath to the Constitution accountable, but they are failing miserably today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the growing mental health care crisis in rural America.

Nearly one in five adults live with a mental illness, yet rural communities lack the providers, facilities, and resources to meet their needs. In my own district, an entire county has only one child and adolescent psychiatrist. For families seeking timely specialized care, that is not just an inconvenience. It is a barrier that can mean the difference between preventative help and a crisis.

Communities across the country face the same impossible math: too many needs and too few providers.

That is why I have introduced legislation to support clinicians who commit to practicing in rural areas and to expand telemental health services tailored to farmers, fishers, and foresters, the people who power our rural economies.

Access to quality care should not depend on your ZIP Code. I urge my colleagues to join me in ensuring rural Americans are no longer overlooked or underserved.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my friend and colleague, Congressman Garcia.

Over the past 3-plus years, I have had the pleasure of working with Chuy Garcia. I have known him to be a dedicated public servant committed to serving his community and his country. Day in and day out, he has shown up for his constituents and for the American people.

I contrast this with Speaker Johnson, who, for the last month and a half, kept the House out of session, stopped this body from working on behalf of the people who sent us here, and manufactured a healthcare crisis.

We just ended the Republicans' government shutdown, and this is our first order of business? We need to get back to work to address the issues impacting the American people. We should be united in addressing the Republicans' looming healthcare crisis and the rising cost of living.

This debate does nothing to lower costs for people in Oregon or across this country. This is a debate that should be held by Congressman Garcia's constituents, not by Members of Congress who do not represent them.

We have more important work to do than to express displeasure at a Member of Congress who has spent his entire life serving the people of Illinois and people across this country.

Now, please, let's get back to the real work on behalf of the American people. I urge my colleagues to reject this reprimand.

Mr. Speaker, September is National Suicide Prevention Month. That is why I rise today to highlight the urgent need to support the mental well-being of our rural communities.

The suicide rates among farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers stand at nearly 44 deaths per 100,000 people, which is significantly higher than the national average.

Despite this crisis, my Republican colleagues recently passed their big, ugly bill, which guts Medicaid. Medicaid provides access to the care many in our rural communities need. Because of these cruel cuts, Oregonians will lose out on lifesaving mental and behavioral health care, and the mental health crisis will only get worse.

As a founding member of the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, I know that our rural neighbors often travel long distances to access care.

I have a bill, the Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act, that would expand access to remote mental health and substance use services in rural America, specifically for individuals working in the farming, fishing, and forestry industries.

Mr. Speaker, it is time we come together to pass legislation that will address our Nation's growing mental health crisis and provide farmers and people in rural communities the care they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to call out the Trump administration for their arrest and unconstitutional treatment of my constituent.

Last week, my constituent was working as a wildland firefighter to combat the Bear Gulch fire when CBP stopped his crew and arrested him.

He was brought to the United States when he was just 4 years old. The United States is the only home he knows.

For the past 3 years, he has bravely served as a wildland firefighter, putting his life on the line to protect us.

Arresting a firefighter who is actively fighting a wildfire does not make our community safer. For roughly 48 hours after his arrest, the Trump administration violated my constituent's constitutional rights. Despite requesting a phone call and his attorney, he was denied.

Let me be clear. Immigrants deserve to be treated with dignity. The Constitution deserves to be followed. Communities deserve safety from wildfires. First responders deserve to do their jobs unimpeded. Anything less is a slap in the face to the values we share as Americans.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the city of Beaverton and Mayor Lacey Beaty for being selected as 1 of 50 finalists in the 2025 Bloomberg Mayors Challenge.

Selected from over 630 global applicants, Beaverton's bold initiative reimagines housing through community-led, intergenerational models that put homeownership within reach for more Oregonians.

Imagine a walkable neighborhood with vibrant shops, restaurants, and community-led events for all residents, a neighborhood that sets up families with the resources and support they need to own a home, a neighborhood where sustainability and accessibility are priorities.

This is Beaverton's dream, and they are making it a reality. At a time when too many families are priced out, this idea addresses unnecessary barriers, high costs, zoning limits, and a lack of housing options through a new and innovative plan to create more starter housing.

I congratulate Mayor Beaty and the entire city of Beaverton for this remarkable achievement and for showing the world what is possible.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to amend the rule to make in order the amendment at the desk that protects against any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

Mr. Speaker, with this bill, my Republican colleagues are betraying the American people.

In the dark of morning, they are trying to ram through legislation that will raise costs, strip away healthcare, take food off the tables of working families, and increase energy costs for all Americans, all to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.

Cuts to Medicaid will shutter rural hospitals, nursing homes, and health centers, leaving families with higher costs and nowhere to turn for care.

As millions of families right now are struggling to put food on the table, this bill cuts funding for nutrition assistance, forcing children, veterans, and seniors to go hungry.

This bill raises costs on everything, from energy bills to prescription medications.

This bill is a grave mistake. If it passes, my Republican colleagues may pay for it at the ballot box, but countless Americans will pay for it with their lives.

I urge my colleagues to have the moral courage to oppose this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the LGBTQ community to celebrate Pride Month, and to call out President Trump's reckless decision to shut down the 988 specialized LGBTQ youth hotline. This is a devastating decision that will affect people in every corner of our country.

I will put this into perspective: In 2024, 12 percent of LGBTQ youth attempted suicide, while nearly 40 percent seriously considered it. In comparison, the national average for students contemplating suicide is 20 percent, which is still far too large.

Additionally, many of these young people are left without critical support from caring adults, leaving them nowhere to turn when a crisis happens. We cannot deny the fact that this hotline is a vital service.

Mental health is not a partisan issue, and our children should not be used as pawns in the President's purely political game. As the co-chair of the bipartisan Mental Health Caucus, I am committed to expanding access to specialty mental health care by training qualified professionals to provide culturally relevant care and ensuring that high-quality, affordable services are available to all who need them.

Mr. Speaker, I will not remain silent in the face of President Trump's targeted attacks, and I will continue to fight for the LGBTQ communities.

Madam Speaker, I rise to sound the alarm about the Trump administration's reported plans to fire nearly 7,000 workers in the U.S. Forest Service.

These illegal firings could have devastating consequences for Oregon.

Wildfire season is just around the corner, and there is concern that the Forest Service won't actually have enough staff and resources to fight these deadly blazes, putting countless Oregonians at risk.

Fewer workers also means fewer people to care for our public lands and less money coming into our local economies. It means taxpayer dollars, which go to recruit and train these highly skilled individuals, will lose out on their investment.

That is why my colleagues and I sent a letter to Secretary Rollins and President Trump, demanding the reinstatement of all Forest Service personnel who have been illegally fired. Luckily, our letter resulted in some workers being reinstated, but the threat of more terminations remains.

Our public servants deserve better. The American people deserve better.

Madam Speaker, I won't be silent as the administration continues to wreak havoc on our country, on our forest, and on our people. With or without my Republican colleagues, I will continue to fight for our vulnerable communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize West Salem High School for its commitment to inclusivity in sports.

The Titans recently earned two national awards for their inclusive basketball program. In addition to being named a Unified Champion School by the Special Olympics, West was also added to ESPN's Honor Roll, a distinction awarded to only one school in every State per year.

Their unique program includes combined gym classes where students with disabilities are paired with other students who can help guide them through activities, as well as special equipment and necessary modifications, like shorter hoops for athletes using wheelchairs.

I am so proud of the students and faculty at West for their dedication to ensuring that every one of their peers can participate and make friends through sports, regardless of their abilities.

Again, congratulations on these incredible and well-deserved achievements. Keep up the good work, and go Titans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the inspirational work of the LEAP Youth Alliance in my district.

LEAP stands for leadership, education, advocacy, and prevention. This coalition of teens works to educate their friends and peers about how to lead healthy, happy, and substance-free lives. Today's teens confront higher rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges than previous generations, leading some to use e-cigarettes, alcohol, and other harmful substances in order to cope.

It is a disturbing trend, and we must work together, using every tool in our toolbox to reverse it. As a leader in the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, I am working to find solutions and pass legislation that will break the stigma and make healthcare more affordable and accessible for our youth, but I cannot do it alone.

That is why I was honored to meet with members of LEAP in my D.C. office where I learned more about how they lead by example and encourage their peers to take control of their lives and health. I am so proud of these young changemakers who truly make a difference in our community.

They will keep up the good work, and I look forward to partnering with them to raise awareness and connect teens with the mental health care and resources they need to thrive.

Mr. Speaker, this Sunday, sports fans across the country will gather to watch the Super Bowl.

This great American tradition usually involves watch parties, endless commercials, and lots of chips and guac. These days, sports betting is also a key part of the big game.

It is easier than ever to gamble on sports. Americans will wager about $1.4 billion on this year's Super Bowl alone. At the same time, about 7 million Americans suffer from a gambling addiction.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a little gambling myself from time to time, but I also know the pain that comes with addiction. Unlike drugs and alcohol, there is currently no Federal funding devoted to addressing problem gambling.

It is time to get off the bench. That is why I am reintroducing the Gambling Addiction, Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act, a bill that would devote existing Federal funds to the study, prevention, and treatment of gambling addictions.

This legislation will help get more people into treatment and on the road to recovery. I am committed to building bipartisan consensus on this issue, so no matter who you root for this weekend, I hope you will join me to support the GRIT Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to President Trump's unlawful attempt to end birthright citizenship.

The 14th Amendment clearly states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. This law has been the law of the land for over 150 years, and it is core to our identity as a nation. Any attempt to change that through executive order is both unconstitutional and un-American.

As the daughter of an immigrant, I know the vast majority of immigrants work hard, pay taxes, own businesses, and contribute so much to our country's success.

I also agree that we need to secure our borders and fix our broken immigration system, but we can't accomplish any of that by relying on fear tactics and failed, inhumane policies from the past.

Instead, President Trump must work with Congress on serious bipartisan solutions that will actually make our communities safer and more affordable for everyone.

I am happy to work with the new administration to achieve that goal. However, if the President continues to pursue dangerous and harmful policies, I am prepared to defend the rights of my constituents.

Oregon sent me here to fight for them, and that is exactly what I intend to do.