Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Engel for yielding, and I congratulate Representative Castor for her great leadership on this issue.

Mr. Chairman, I feel it is odd listening to the very same argument that we can't go forward with this because there is nothing to hold China or India to account because there are no requirements, and, at the same time, the very same document puts a huge burden on America by putting enforced requirements on us. It doesn't make any sense.

Mr. Chairman, for decades, the scientific community has understood the need to fundamentally transition everything about how we live, work, and move about this planet to protect life on Earth as we know it. We have known this for decades. And yet, knowing how destructive climate change is to our health, our safety, and our national security, President Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and neglect, not just the fundamental responsibility to protect Americans, but an enormous economic opportunity.

I feel like I am listening to arguments from lobbyists from the horse and carriage industry against railroads, or for the buggy whip industry against paving roads because cars are such a threat.

President Trump made a huge mistake by backing away from the commitment we made in Paris. We are here today to correct that mistake and to steer our country back in the right direction.

We have a chance to propel economic growth with investments in zero net-energy buildings, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, expanded solar, wind, geothermal, solar thermal, and more. We can lead the world in creating good-paying, sustainable jobs.

There is no way that we can move fast enough or comprehensively enough to address climate change, but this is about more than that. This is about unleashing American innovation, creating American jobs, and restoring American leadership on the world stage.

We must pass this bill and we must do it now, both for the sake of the climate, for our kids, and for our economy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the retirement of Brigadier General John ``Odie'' Slocum. Gen. Slocum currently serves as the 127th Wing Commander, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. He has announced his plans to retire in May, closing another chapter in his 35-year military career. General Slocum has continued the long tradition of excellence at Selfridge ANGB, a Macomb County icon since it opened in 1917, through his style of precise but humble leadership. I recently had the honor of visiting Selfridge ANGB, where I saw firsthand the esteem in which Gen. Slocum is held by the men and women with whom he serves.

As commander, Gen. Slocum's priority has always been the members of the 127th Wing. He worked tirelessly to keep them prepared and safe as they engaged in important missions on behalf of The United States across the world. His mandate as the top official at Selfridge also extends beyond the Air National Guard, as Selfridge ANGB hosts members from more than 20 tenant units from all branches of the military, the Coast Guard, and Border Patrol.

During his tenure, Selfridge received numerous awards including both the Carl A. Spaatz Award and the Air Force Meritorious Unit Award. These two awards emblemize the dedication and capability of the 127th Wing under Gen. Slocum, though he would give all praise to those serving under him.

Outside of the gates of Selfridge, Gen. Slocum has built a reputation as a community leader and strong advocate for Macomb County. Through his leadership, county partners including government and business delivered an impassioned campaign to bring the F-35 Lightning to Selfridge. This campaign will be the gold standard for all future attempts to rally the community around a cause.

As a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, I also thank Gen. Slocum for his support of the STARBASE program. STARBASE provides elementary grade students aviation themed math and science education and is located on base. Without a strong Selfridge, there would be no STARBASE.

In closing, as Gen. Slocum ends his command at Selfridge, I encourage my colleagues to join me in thanking him for his dedicated service to the United States and to the people of Michigan. Gen. Slocum has stated that he is looking to stay and continue to work for all of us in Macomb County, for which I am grateful. I look forward to supporting him in his next endeavor.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Stevens, and it is so great to go after Congresswoman Wild.

The first thing I want to say is what a great time I am having with you all, how much I am learning from you, how much fun we are having working on things together.

Congresswoman Wild and I are particularly concerned that any new replacement for NAFTA really protects the working people of our country, really protects our environment, and does not subject people to outrageously high prices for prescription drugs.

As I look about me and see the other Members here, I see others whom I am working with on different things, and I think that is the great thing about this new freshman class. I am really so proud to be a part of this freshman class of the 116th Congress, and I feel like we have really had an outstanding first 100 days fighting for the people.

Right out of the gate, we are delivering on our promises to pass bold, transformative legislation and conduct essential oversight that the Constitution demands of us.

Voting on final passage of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, was certainly one of my proudest days.

My Transparency and Corporate Political Spending Act is in the final version of the bill, and it will increase transparency for big corporations that dump dark money into our elections.

My amendment to Whip Clyburn's gun violence prevention bill to close the Charleston loophole will require the Government Accountability Office to report on gun violence prevention methods so that we have the best information available while crafting policy. I think it is so important that we bring back research to this public health crisis of gun violence.

Just last week, so many colleagues joined me in calling on the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt the cruel and unjust detention and deportation of Iraqi nationals, many of whom are Chaldean Christians and other religious minorities.

My district, the Ninth District of Michigan, has the most Iraqi nationals of any district in the country, out of 435. But I think, Congresswoman Stevens, 9 out of the 10 districts with the most Iraqi nationals, those Representatives join me--I think, 23 altogether--in calling on our government to respect the rights of these people to just have their day in court.

I came to Congress on a mission to raise the standard of living for working people, and the Democratic majority has delivered on that promise in several ways already, from passing legislation to reduce the cost of healthcare to passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, to guaranteeing women get equal pay for equal work.

I commend my colleagues in the majority and the leadership of our Caucus for their hard work, fearlessness, and dedication that has gotten us this far, and we have only just begun.

I yield back to my sister Michigander, the gentlewoman from Rochester Hills, Ms. Stevens.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this, and I really want to thank Representative Ro Khanna for his continued, steadfast efforts to end this situation.

So, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution and finally end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

If we fail to act today, if we let one more opportunity to end these horrors pass us by, we are telling the world we are okay with another day in which innocent civilians are killed; another day that nearly 20 million people go without basic healthcare, and even more in need of emergency food aid; another day that a child must battle illnesses that could easily have been prevented, if not for this crisis happening on our watch.

We have an opportunity, as Members of this body, Republicans and Democrats, to tackle the difficult problems and have the debates that others have ignored for too long. This is one of those problems. And this is one of those moments that makes me optimistic that the tide is finally turning.

I want to thank the chairman for making this a top priority. It is long past time for Congress to reassert its role, our role, in foreign policy and exercise our Constitutional duty.

Seeing the level of suffering in Yemen, we cannot wait one more day to do it. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, last week in Federal court, President Trump radically expanded his war on American's healthcare, asking the court not only to strike down protections for people with preexisting conditions, but to eliminate every last protection and benefit provided by the ACA.

I am a two-time cancer survivor. Two of my four kids have lived with Crohn's disease for 14 years. There is no way to spin this. Without the protections of the Affordable Care Act, my family would be in big trouble.

If America's healthcare system was a reality TV show, under this President's mean-spirited, every-person-for-himself approach, I guess my family would get voted off the island because, with the hand God dealt us, we simply cost too much.

This week, the people's House will vote to make clear that we don't believe in that vision of America, and we will not stand idly by while Mr. Trump does everything he can to take away the protections and the benefits that American families like mine depend on.

Madam Speaker, I implore my Republican colleagues to stand with us and improve the ACA for the American people.

Madam Chair, as vice chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, I am so proud that our committee made it a top priority this year to bring the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor, and I congratulate Chairman Scott for his leadership.

This is an issue where the evidence could not be clearer. In Michigan's Ninth District, which I represent, for example, women's median annual wage is more than $10,000 lower than men's. I don't care how many jobs are created or how many women are working, we need to do something to, at long last, make women's pay equal to men's.

If we allow this gap to persist, we are not just telling women they aren't worth as much as men. We are doing real damage to entire families and to our economy. Failure to tackle the pay gap isn't just discriminatory; it is shockingly shortsighted.

The Paycheck Fairness Act will finally align our treatment of gender discrimination with other established antidiscrimination policies. This is an opportunity to realize equal pay for equal work that we simply cannot afford to miss.

I regret that my good friends across the aisle did not introduce a single bill to strengthen the Equal Pay Act across the 20 years they held the gavel in this Chamber. I hope they will join us today to lift up America's women and families to full equality at long last.

Finally, I include in the Record a strong letter of support for H.R. 7 from the AFL-CIO.

Madam Chair, while I believe belonging to a union is the surest way to guarantee equal pay on the job, the Paycheck Fairness Act will provide effective new tools to close the wage gap.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Oakland Literacy Council.

Since the Oakland Literacy Council was formed in 1984, volunteers have helped thousands of adult learners improve their literacy skills with the simple method of one neighbor helping another.

The dedicated and trained volunteers of the Oakland Literacy Council provide free basic literacy and English language instruction to adults who live in Oakland County, Michigan.

For 35 years, the efforts of the Oakland Literacy Council have helped residents, students, and workers improve their English language skills so that they may communicate with their child's teacher, enhance their skills for a GED or to become a citizen of the United States, and improve their reading to receive promotions at work.

I commend the tireless work of the Oakland Literacy Council as it continues to improve the lives of Oakland County residents and strengthen the fabric of our southeastern Michigan community.

Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to amendment No. 32, which represents an unfortunate attempt to protect the influence of dark corporate money in politics.

I am so proud of the package of bills included in H.R. 1, because I believe that the work we are doing here will transform our democracy.

One of the bills included in H.R. 1 is my Transparency in Corporate Political Spending Act, which will reverse a law that prevents the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, from requiring corporations to disclose political spending to their shareholders.

The only reason that the law my measure will reverse is even on the books is that for years, conservatives in Congress have misused the appropriations process to enact anti-transparency measures, contrary to our most fundamental democratic values.

This amendment would keep that anti-transparency law in place.

I cannot for the life of me understand why my colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem so keen on helping corporations keep their political spending a secret. How is that good for our democracy?

Indeed, Justice Scalia, in another case after Citizens United, wrote: ``Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed.''

The situation could not be simpler. Americans deserve to know which corporate interests are donating money to influence our elected officials.

Corporations should play by the same rules as Michiganders in my district in Macomb and Oakland Counties and that the rest of Americans play by and disclose their political contributions because secret corporate spending poses a threat to our democracy and to investor confidence.

Since the disastrous decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case allowed corporations to make unlimited political contributions, investors and citizens concerned about the future of American democracy have looked to the SEC to require corporate disclosure of political spending. We need to untie the hands of the SEC so that it can move forward with finalizing a crucial rule requiring corporations simply to disclose their political spending.

Requiring public corporations to be honest with their shareholders, customers, and the public about the political donations they make is essential to taking our democracy back from the hands of special interests.

This is why I rise in vehement opposition to this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to oppose it as well.

Madam Chair, I reserve the remainder of my time.

Madam Chairwoman, how much time do I have remaining?

Madam Chairwoman, I am glad to hear that some corporations are good citizens. However, we cannot leave our basic functioning of our democracy to the whims of individuals.

Some corporations protected the safety of their workers before we had the OSHA laws. Some corporations didn't use child labor before we had our child labor laws. We need fundamental rules to make sure there is sunshine in this area.

Now, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes), my friend.

Madam Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 1, the For the People Act.

This historic package of democracy and anticorruption reforms will put power back in the hands of the people and restore the American people's faith that government works for the public interest, not the special interests.

I am pleased that my bill, the Transparency in Corporate Political Spending Act, is included in H.R. 1. I am also proud today to present an amendment to prohibit violators of our Federal election campaign laws from serving on critically important redistricting commissions in the States.

Our democracy has been under attack from foreign interference, gerrymandering, hidden corporate money, and voter suppression. Today, the time has come to reform our system and restore faith in our political process.

I believe we have a duty to transform our democracy from a spectator sport into a true dialogue in which we all participate to debate the issues, defend our interests, and demand our rights.

By passing H.R. 1, we will move one step closer to that transformation by breaking the grip of special interests and ensuring that the American people come first in our democracy.

Among its many important provisions, this historic democracy reform package includes my Transparency in Corporate Political Spending Act, which will eliminate the policy rider that lets corporations keep their unlimited political spending secret.

In addition, I look forward to this Chamber's consideration of my amendment to H.R. 1. This amendment would protect our democracy by prohibiting campaign finance law violators and their immediate family members from serving on redistricting commissions.

Congress needs to ensure that we set out commonsense minimum criteria for people who will serve on redistricting commissions in States across the country. My amendment will ensure that redistricting commissions nationwide are free of individuals and immediate relatives of individuals who have knowingly and willfully committed a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

In November 2018, the people of Michigan overwhelmingly passed Voters Not Politicians, a ballot initiative that sets up a nonpartisan redistricting commission to create State legislative and congressional districts after the 2020 census. About seven or eight States have already done this, and more are considering it.

If we are going to transform our democracy, we need to do it right. I could not be more proud to vote to end the dominance of big money in our political system, to guarantee free and fair elections that are open to all, and to ensure public officials work for the public interest.

I would like to thank Congressman Sarbanes and the members of the Democracy Reform Task Force for their unrelenting efforts to reclaim our democracy as one for and by the people.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the For the People Act and to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I deeply appreciate the gentleman from Illinois' kind remarks. I will absolutely give my dad his regards. I will call him tonight and tell him, seriously, that the gentleman said that.

I really appreciate the incredible honor and opportunity to be here working with the gentleman to do the people's business.

I really hope we will get a chance to work together on any number of bills to perfect and expand our democracy.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairwoman, I am proud to cosponsor the Enhanced Background Checks Act, H.R. 1112, and I am also proud today to present an amendment that will make sure we can track and learn from the good that this bill will accomplish once it becomes law.

In 2017, 39,773 Americans died from gun violence. This is a public health epidemic.

Under current law, if a background check is not completed within 3 business days, a federally licensed firearm dealer may move forward with a firearms transfer or sale.

The devastating reality is that many horrific acts of gun violence, including the massacre of the Emanuel Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which ended nine lives and left several people wounded, could have been avoided.

Today, we will vote to close the loophole that allowed for that tragedy by closing what has become known as the Charleston loophole. The Enhanced Background Checks Act will provide the background check system with additional time to make a final determination on a potential firearm purchaser before a licensed dealer can transfer a gun.

We have an obligation to the American people and to the victims of the shooter at the AME church to pass the bill before us today, and I am proud to be part of this effort to protect our communities from gun violence.

My amendment to H.R. 1112 will require the Government Accountability Office to submit a report to Congress 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years following the implementation of this law. These reports will analyze the extent to which the changes made by this law will prevent firearms from being transferred to prohibited persons.

I am proud that this amendment has broad support from all stakeholders that have been involved in making this bill a reality.

We must strive for effective, evidence-based policies that promote public health and protect our communities. My amendment will cost us nothing, but it will help build the evidence base around the effectiveness of good gun violence prevention policies like this one.

This amendment is all the more important, given the regrettable lack of Federal funding for gun violence research. My amendment will finally help us demonstrate with data that gun violence prevention measures like the one before us today will prevent firearms from ending up in the hands of people who should not have them.

I came to Washington because the people of southern Macomb and southeastern Oakland Counties sent me here on a mission, and that mission includes protecting our communities from senseless gun violence.

I stand today in solidarity with the courageous people of Michigan's Ninth Congressional District's Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action.

We have a responsibility as Members of Congress and as human beings not just to talk about the horrors of gun violence, but to do everything in our powers to end it. Today, we will take the critically necessary step to do just that.

I would like to thank Congressman Jim Clyburn, Peter King, and Joe Cunningham for their leadership to ensure that we close the Charleston loophole. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1112 and support this amendment.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, as we recognize Black History Month, I rise to celebrate the life and contributions of a remarkable Detroit community activist.

While I was at the Macomb County Celebration of Black Excellence last Saturday, the Michigan activist community received news of the loss of Mama Lila Cabbil.

A close friend of Rosa Parks for 30 years, Ms. Cabbil was a national leader in the fight against racism and a powerful Detroit activist, particularly in the struggle for clean and accessible water.

At Rosa Parks' funeral service in 2005, Ms. Cabbil invoked Matthew 7:16: ``You shall know them by their fruits.'' When I read those words today, I think of Mama Lila's commitment to Michigan's Black community and to all communities that have suffered the theft of their voting rights and the unjust loss of their homes and their water.

During Black History Month, it is my honor to highlight Mama Lila's contribution to Detroit and our region and the example she sets for all of us as a passionate servant leader.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Engel for his incredible leadership on this issue.

Mr. Chair, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Congressman Khanna's resolution.

The Saudi-led war in Yemen has led to a staggering crisis, and it is happening on our watch. This bombing campaign would not be happening without the active involvement of the United States military with the Saudis.

More than 75 percent of Yemen's population needs humanitarian assistance. Yemen has one of the highest maternal death rates in the region. Its health infrastructure has crumbled, and tens of thousands of pregnant women are at risk of serious complications. The list goes on and on.

It is long past time to bring U.S. involvement in this calamity to an end.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank Congressman Khanna for his leadership and Chairman Engel for making this a top priority.

We have a responsibility not just as Members of Congress, but as human beings not just to talk about these horrors, but to do everything in our power to end them.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding the additional time.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I say to the gentleman from St. Joseph, in this Special Order, we are a little different from Michigan. I say to the gentleman from St. Joseph, if Kildee went to the dark side, Levin will come over to the Energy and Commerce Committee. So I appreciate that. We will get that all lined up, so we can take care of that right here.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I am ready to diversify things in Michigan again.

I really want to pick up where the gentleman left off, because I don't want to talk about John's unbelievable legislative record. I want to talk about two families, the Levin family and the Dingell family, and really about what the Dingell family has meant to my family for almost 80 years.

My dad has been interviewed about this, and my Uncle Carl. But my dad has not revealed the beginning of his relationship with the Dingells, and that is about John's dad, John Dingell, Sr.

My father, Sander Levin's first political memory, aside from listening to fireside chats all around the living room radio coming from President Roosevelt, is of campaigning for John Dingell, Sr., in his knickers. My dad would have been maybe 10 years old, so this is going back to the late 1930s or the early 1940s.

In 1946, I think, John Dingell, Sr., recommended to President Harry Truman that he appoint a lawyer named Theodore Levin to the Eastern District of Michigan to be a Federal judge, and Harry Truman did that. I was looking at the Record, and with all the time things take these days, the President nominated Uncle Ted on July 3, and he was sitting on July 27 of either 1946 or 1947. Things happened at a different speed in those days.

Theodore Levin served for many years, and he was the chief judge of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Earlier than that, before he was chief judge, I think, John Dingell's son, John D. Dingell, Jr., clerked for Judge Levin. It made a profound impact on the chairman. He told me about this all the time.

Imagine getting to go see this very senior Member of Congress to find out about your own great uncle. What was he like? Mr. Dingell loved Uncle Ted.

Then many years later, John Dingell--I don't even know how this happens--he did whatever you do to name the Federal courthouse in Detroit after my great uncle. He did not tell Congressman Sander Levin and he did not tell Senator Carl Levin about this at all until it was a done deal. He didn't want any sense, I guess, of conflict of interest or whatever. He was doing this for his own sake. This was his mentor. So if you go to downtown Detroit, the courthouse is named after Theodore Levin.

Over the years, my dad served here for 36 years. All 36 years, his beloved senior colleague was John Dingell. My dad rose to be the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Mr. Dingell was the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. They worked together on so many things, things that people from other States wouldn't know about, like cleaning up the Rouge River, a symbol of industrialism that now is a much cleaner river, a really clean river, and working to save the auto industry, of course.

Imagine what it meant to my dad to be the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee when we passed the Affordable Care Act, and getting to work with his legendary and beloved senior colleague from Michigan who had introduced universal healthcare in this country every Congress since he entered in 1955, to get to work together to advance the ball, not achieving universal healthcare, but achieving so much through the Affordable Care Act.

I don't know how to say good-bye to Mr. Dingell. Like Mr. Kildee, he scared the heck out of me. He was gruff. He was big. But for the sparkle in his eye, I am not sure I would have even approached him.

He was always willing to sit down, no matter how big and powerful he was. He was always willing to listen. The advice he gave was unfailingly honest and direct. A lot of times, you couldn't repeat exactly the advice, all of the words in the advice he gave, but it was really special to me.

I am not sure I am willing to say good-bye to Mr. D. I will just say Godspeed to someone who, to me, will always be the dean of the House and represent what this body is supposed to be: down to Earth and sophisticated at the same time, highly principled, and expert at making the sausage.

This is the people's House, and John Dingell was the people's Representative.

Madam Speaker, while the longest government shutdown in our country's history finally ended over the weekend, its effects continue to plague working families.

For 35 days the President held hostage the paychecks, financial security, and health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of Federal workers, including 5,200 from Michigan.

The President's stunt did nothing to advance real border security discussions and resulted in a colossal waste of time and resources. He cost the American economy $11 billion; ironically, nearly twice as much as he wanted for an ineffective border wall.

As the President threatens another shutdown, I rise today to demand that he never again use this cruel tactic, and to, instead, come to the table, the negotiating table in good faith.

Democrats support effective border security solutions, and we are here to talk so long as working families are not used as pawns in the political process.

Madam Speaker, while Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act went down in flames, their Texas v. United States lawsuit seeks to subvert the will of the American people and take our healthcare away.

In December, a judge ruled in favor of Republicans, issuing a decision that would strike down the entire ACA. If that ruling stands, every American will lose vital protections, like those for people with preexisting conditions.

I have cosponsored Congressman Colin Allred's H. Res. 14, which authorizes the House to intervene in this case and defend the law of the land, because my family and I, like so many others, are no strangers to the costs of preexisting conditions.

Madam Speaker, I am a two-time cancer survivor. Two of my four kids have Crohn's disease, and they have been living with it for 14 years. Bills upward of $10,000 are not unusual in my household.

Despite all this, I consider us lucky. Why? Because, thanks to the ACA, my sons and I cannot be turned away or charged more because of our medical histories. All of that will change if Republicans and President Trump got their way.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas, Congressman Allred, for introducing this important resolution.