Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I once again rise in opposition to the Senate version of the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017.

The third time is not the charm. The House version of this bill was defeated when it was brought up under suspension and a week later it was forced through on a party line vote.

This bill is dangerous. It will put the most vulnerable patients' lives at risk by using products that have not been tested for efficacy. It also takes unprecedented steps to undermine the role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the authorization of investigational use, or right-to-try drugs. It's worse than the House version and FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb expressed his concerns about this bill during a Health Subcommittee hearing in October, 2017.

This bill once again does not address the true barrier to investigational use drugs--the manufacturer. It does not compel manufacturers to provide investigational use products to patients or physicians. The manufacturer often is justified in not providing investigational use drugs to patients due to production and manufacturing limitations, or because the manufacturer determines that a patient is not an appropriate candidate for their drug. Nothing in this bill corrects the barriers of the current system or makes it more feasible for manufacturers to

provide investigational use drugs to patients or physicians. It simply creates a new system without the any oversight or approval of the FDA that plays an important role in authorizing the use of right-to-try- products.

Patients trust that the products they receive will not cause more harm than good and that they offer some promise of relief and hope. This bill creates an alternative pathway for the most vulnerable patients in our country to access drugs that have not been approved for safety or efficacy outside the FDA's existing protocols.

In this bill the definition of patient is so broad that it allows for a large patient population to access unapproved products, putting a greater number of patients at risk of harm of using products that have not been tested for efficacy.

This bill allows any physician to come up with their own informed consent form which does not have to meet legal standards. Our sickest patients should not have to worry about what they're signing when they're desperate to access a treatment they hope can save their lives.

As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I regret that my Committee was not given the opportunity to improve this bill. We did not consider this bill under regular order where my concerns and those of others could have been addressed and the legislation could have been strengthened.

This legislation should be rejected for the risks it poses to patient safety, the false hope it gives patients, and the poor process it underwent.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deepest gratitude to Christopher Dawes for his extraordinary leadership as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and to congratulate him on his well-earned retirement.

Christopher Dawes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University and an MBA from the McLaren School of Business at the University of San Francisco. While his first job was delivering newspapers at the age of 12, Chris has had a long and distinguished career in hospital management and held senior management positions at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center and Stanford Hospital. He joined the Packard team in 1991 and was named its President and CEO in 1999.

Chris Dawes is a nationally recognized leader having served as Board Chair of the Children's Health Corporation of America (CHCA), a national purchasing organization for medical supplies for children's hospitals. He was Chair of the Board of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), a public policy organization, and he was deeply involved in the development of national policies for America's children as Chair of NACHRI during the development of the Affordable Care Act. It was his vision to consolidate CHCA and NACHRI into one organization, persuading his colleagues of the benefit of consolidation, which is now the Children's Hospital Association based in Washington, D.C.

During Chris's tenure Packard has been consistently ranked as one of the nation's best Children's Hospitals by U.S. News and World Report. Under his leadership, excellent nationally ranked clinical services were created and investments were made in the Children's Health Research Initiative. A network known as the Packard Children's Health Alliance was built to provide 60 Bay Area locations with access to the care the Hospital provides, and a new, $1.2 billion, 521,000 square foot main building, a multi-year undertaking, was completed. Chris was an engaged executive who led the Hospital through a transition to the lean management approach known as the Toyota Production System, and he imparted his values of serving all who need care, regardless of ability to pay, to everyone who served with him.

Mr. Speaker, I am exceedingly proud to have worked closely with Chris Dawes from my first day in Congress to his retirement, spanning over 25 years. He has led with distinction, purpose and integrity, and transformed Lucile Packard Children's Hospital into the gold standard of care for children in our country. For all this and more, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring this good and great man, and wishing him and his wife Beth every blessing in his retirement. We are a better, stronger country because of Chris Dawes's unparalleled leadership.

Mr. Chairman, first, I want to acknowledge the hard work that my colleagues Congresswoman Speier and Congressman Panetta have done, along with myself, to address airplane noise in our Bay Area congressional districts.

I am pleased to support Mr. Panetta's amendment to H.R. 4, which requires the FAA to consider alternative metrics to the current average day-night sound level standard, including actual noise sampling. This will ensure that the FAA has an accurate measure of the noise in communities surrounding airports and allow them to take steps to mitigate it.

Since the FAA implemented NextGen in 2015, my Silicon Valley district constituents have been consistently subjected to a higher volume of noise complaints impacting their lives daily. I have never experienced anything like this in 25 years of representation. It is unprecedented. There is a 1,000 percent increase in noise complaints.

So this amendment is an important first step, and it is a first step in alleviating the constant noise, consistent noise over our congressional districts, and I am committed to working with the FAA and the many engaged, really, hundreds and hundreds of engaged constituents in my district until this issue is resolved.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my good friend, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule, and I want to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to defeat the previous question so the House can vote on my bipartisan--I want to emphasize that, bipartisan--legislation entitled, the ``Presidential Tax Transparency Act.'' This bill codifies the longstanding bipartisan tradition of Presidents and Presidential nominees disclosing their tax return information to the American people.

Now, as was said previously, yesterday was tax day, and it is an important reminder that, as millions of Americans fulfill their duty to file their income tax returns, the President of the United States of America still refuses to release his tax returns to the American people.

I think holding the highest office in the land demands transparency, yet the President refuses to honor what promotes trust with the American people.

And as I said, both Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates, going back to Richard Nixon, all voluntarily put their tax returns out to the American people. Why? To establish trust that they were transparent and that the American people could see whether there were any potential conflicts of interest and many other things, because tax returns are highly instructive. As I said, that has gone on for decades.

I wrote this legislation because, in 2016--and I wrote it in 2016-- there were two candidates, one from each party, who refused to put out their tax returns, and I did not think that that was honoring the American people. Now, by refusing to make his tax returns public, the President implies he is hiding important information from the American people.

So what this legislation does--and, again, I want to reiterate, it is bipartisan--it places into law disclosure by requiring the current President and all Presidential nominees of both parties to release their tax returns because, again, in a democracy, truth and transparency should be the gold standard. Presidents and Presidential candidates should be held to the highest standard of transparency to ensure that the interests of the American people are met.

Now, tax returns contain vital information: whether the candidate has actually paid taxes, what they own, how much they have borrowed, who they have borrowed from, whether they have made charitable donations, and what tax loopholes have they taken advantage of and exactly what they are, if they have. They are also highly instructive as to any conflicts of interest.

The current President has 564 financial positions in companies located in the United States and around the world, according to the Federal Election Commission, making him more susceptible to conflicts of interest than any President in our history. Only a full release of his tax returns will provide the public with clear information as to his potential conflicts of interest and his potential entanglements with foreign governments and foreign businesses.

This legislation, again, is bipartisan because transparency and good governance are not partisan issues.

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent poll, 67 percent of Americans believe the President should release his tax returns just as all of his predecessors since Richard Nixon have done.

During the campaign, the President even promised he would do so before falsely claiming that he couldn't release his tax returns because of an audit. There is no such thing.

Yesterday's editorial board of the Washington Post wrote: ``The President is setting a precedent--that Presidents can promise one thing, do another, and end up dismissing essential

standards of disclosure. Congress should not accept this erosion of good-government practice.''

So, Mr. Speaker, I couldn't agree more. And, again, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Your constituents will reward you for this because this is about transparency, about our democracy, about transparency being the gold standard.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our beloved John Lewis for yielding time to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5444, the Taxpayer First Act. This is bipartisan legislation, and it was unanimously reported out by the Committee on Ways and Means on April 13. It includes a number of important provisions that will modernize, as the Members have been saying, and improve how the IRS administers the Federal Tax Code.

The legislation also makes permanent a popular IRS program that has helped prepare 50 million free returns and e-filings over the last 15 years, saving taxpayers more than $1.5 billion--yes, with a B--in tax compliance costs. That program is the Free File Program. It is an effective partnership between the IRS and the tax preparation community that provides free individual tax preparation and e-filing services to taxpayers with incomes in the bottom 70 percent.

I have been a strong supporter of stand-alone legislation on this issue over several Congresses, and I am really pleased to see that it is included in H.R. 5444.

The Free File Program is also a product of the decentralized system of private taxpayers that we have in place for the American public to file their taxes each year. Consumers have a choice when it comes to whom they choose to prepare their taxes, and choice is a product of competition and the primary ingredient for innovation.

Some have argued that this should be a centralized system, requiring all taxpayers to file their tax returns using one system housed under one roof. But just yesterday, we saw the IRS electronic filing system and e-services crash, and they remained out of service for most of the day. I think taxpayers are better served when they have a decentralized tax ecosystem that can continue to run smoothly in the face of large and unexpected shocks to the system.

We live every day with the increasing threat of data breaches and cyber attacks that threaten the financial stability of more and more Americans, and it is even a greater argument against housing our tax infrastructure under one roof. Imagine the target this could create for the world's most dangerous cybercriminals.

So I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation, because I think it is an excellent example of what both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, can do when we work together for the good of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on H.R. 5444.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague and dear friend, Paul Tonko, for organizing this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, to all of Congresswoman Slaughter's staff that is here, we pay tribute to them. She loved them, and she would talk about each one of them. I don't know which one is which, but she thought that we all knew which one was which. She had all the stories straight. She was so proud of them.

There is so much to be said about Louise. She was a great mother. She was a fabulous wife to Bob. She was a microbiologist. She was a great grandmother. She represented a district in western New York with a Kentucky accent. I don't think that will ever happen again.

She had a beautiful singing voice. I don't know how many Members know that. When our country was attacked and the Congress went out in front of the Capitol, it was Congresswoman Slaughter who started singing ``God Bless America,'' and everyone joined in on that.

She was not only proud to represent the home of the feminists, those revolutionaries, she was one herself, and she was damn proud of it. She wasn't an apologist for any of it. She was proud of it because she understood that that was what was going to move America forward.

She loved this House. She had a home on the Hill, and she had a home in her district, but she loved this House. She used to stand right here. This is where she did her work.

Mr. Speaker, don't cross Louise. Don't ever cross Louise. She was a lady, but I will tell you something, you would feel the wrath of Louise Slaughter if you went the other way on her.

The way I will always remember Louise is that she knew how to love. She knew how to love well. She had a fierceness about her in taking care of her constituents. They belonged to her, and she belonged to them. As the leader recalled, the tribute they paid to her at her memorial I think was second to none.

So, Louise, my friend, no one is ever going to fill your shoes around here, but we stand taller because we knew you.

She showed us the right way to be a friend, the best way to represent people, and how to fight tough and fight hard for the right things.

I loved Louise's accent. When you would see her on the floor, she would say: Anna, have I told you this week that I just love you?

When she spoke, it was as if her words were just a security blanket around you. You knew that she meant it. It was tender, it was loving, and you knew that you had one of the best partners you could ever have in any undertaking.

I think that Louise is very happy in heaven. I have no doubt that she is chairing the big Rules Committee in the sky. I have no doubt that when she got to the gate, there was absolutely no discussion whatsoever as to whether she was going to take a high place in heaven because of everything that she did on Earth.

So, Louise, be happy there. You earned it.

We miss her here, but we know that her spirit is with us, it always will be, and that we will love her across eternity.

There was a poet that wrote these beautiful words: So she

passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for her on the

other side.

God rest you, Louise.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of an exemplary American woman and a lifelong friend, Suzanne DeLone Lussier. Born on October 5, 1945 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Suzanne died surrounded by her family on February 17, 2018, at her home in Atherton, California, after a valiant three and a half year battle with ovarian cancer.

Suzanne was educated in Massachusetts at the Academy of the Assumption in Wellesley and LaSalle Junior College in Newton. She worked in retail, advertising and residential real estate. She married Dick Lussier in 1963, and traveled extensively with him to Asia, Europe, Latin America, and many other countries to spend time with their son Kyle and his family. She loved family vacations in Hawaii and New England, and spent countless happy times in Carmel, California with family, friends and on the golf course.

Suzanne adored her children and actively participated in her sons' schools and sports. She was a devoted grandmother and a famously kind and fun-loving woman. She entertained, golfed, skied, and played tennis, and her artistic skills were evident in her flower arranging, interior and landscape design, and painting.

Suzanne gave generously of her time and considerable talents in service to many non-profit organizations, including Beyond War, the Mid-Peninsula Hospice Foundation, the Menlo Benefit Committee, the Junior League of Palo Alto, and Saint Peter's School in San Francisco.

I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our sincere condolences to Suzanne's beloved husband of 54 years, Dick Lussier; to her sons Mark and Kyle and their spouses Angela and Monika; her grandchildren Max, Taylor, Kieran, Reagan and Arden; and her siblings Betsy Balas, Helen DeLone, Donna DeLone and Dalip Khalsa.

I am blessed to have had Suzanne as my loyal and loving friend for 47 years. She was beautiful in every way, and her values, her deep faith, and her integrity drew so many to her.

Mr. Speaker, our community was bettered by Suzanne DeLone Lussier and our country was strengthened by her. She will be missed deeply by every person fortunate to have known her and by those privileged, as I was, to call her friend.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Valley Women's Club (VWC) of the San Lorenzo Valley (SLV), California, as it celebrates 40 years of community service. The VWC was founded in 1978 by a small group of women whose goal was to promote clean water, recycling, and responsible environmental practices. They saw the need for an organization devoted to improving the quality of life in their community and they had a commitment to ensure that future generations would inherit blessings, not burdens.

The VWC is an organization known for empowering people and its membership has

grown significantly since it was founded. While the VWC expanded and men joined their ranks, its name has never changed because it was the inspiration of women and their mobilization that launched the organization. Now a 501-c-3 non-profit, the VWC has made countless contributions in numerous ways. One example is its creation of the Redemption and Recycling Centers in Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek, and Felton, which were created to protect the SLV watershed and Monterey Bay by reclaiming materials that would otherwise enter the waste stream. Through its Environmental Committee, the VWC monitors timber harvest proposals and development plans, and creates environmental safety and health information programs for all residents of the SLV. The Education Committee provides scholarships to SLV High School students going on to Cabrillo College, and distributes Ready-for School-Kinderbags for all incoming kindergarten students.

The VWC also established the SLV Habitat Restoration Program to remove damaging invasive plant species which allow native species to re-establish and flourish. Through the Habitat Restoration Program, the VWC continues to educate, inspire, and train AmeriCorps teams in environmental habitat restoration, community cooperation, and leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in expressing our collective gratitude to the Valley Women's Club for its remarkable contributions which have bettered the community of the San Lorenzo Valley and strengthened our country, and congratulate them on forty years of extraordinary progress.

Mr. Speaker, I was not present during roll call vote numbers 115 and 116 on March 19, 2018, because of a death in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted: on roll call vote no. 115 I would have voted YES, and on roll call vote no. 116 I would have voted

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record a tribute to Master William Miller who has written a book entitled, Biography of Congressman George Miller. In his book, William outlines the life and work of his grandfather, The Honorable George Miller.

William's detailed account of his grandfather's early life paints a vivid picture of his time as a firefighter and a pear-picker, and moves on to discuss Congressman Miller's work, including some of his greatest legislative accomplishments.

I thank William for his detailed research and hard work to write this book for all to learn from, enjoy, and be inspired by one of the most consequential legislators of our time.

Biography of Congressman George Miller

(By William Miller)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the special leadership of Mirah Horowitz, the Founder and Executive Director of Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, and include in the Record an article entitled, Southwest and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue Fly Plane to Puerto Rico to Save 62 Pets and Donate 14,400 lbs. of Supplies that was published by People Magazine. This article outlines the rescue mission embarked on by Southwest Airlines and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue.

It was the extraordinary leadership of Mirah Horowitz that this rescue effort was launched and coordinated with Southwest Airlines. I'm exceedingly proud of my constituent for her professionalism, dedication and compassion. Mirah has built an organization that is highly respected, and it is her determination that led to the nationally recognized rescue of animals in Puerto Rico, bringing them to their new homes in the United States.

I salute Mirah and all the volunteers involved in this historic effort. In this unique undertaking, they demonstrated the very best of America.

[From People Magazine]

Southwest and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue Fly Plane to Puerto Rico to Save

62 Pets and Donate 14,400 lbs. of Supplies

(By Kelli Bender)

On Saturday Jan. 20, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and Southwest

Airlines drastically changed the lives of 62 Puerto Rican

animals, flying the homeless, furry passengers up the East

Coast to a new life.

It was a trip long in the making, powered by dozens of

brilliant, compassionate animal lovers, who asked for nothing

in return except the chance to change an animal's life.

Southwest Airlines has a history of helping those in need,

especially after natural disasters. So when Washington D.C.-

based Lucky Dog Animal Rescue approached the company about

flying out homeless pets stranded in Puerto Rico following

the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Southwest responded

immediately.

``We had a goal to do something for each of the hurricanes.

The situation in San Juan was a little different because our

employees and their families were affected, and with the

electricity being out, we couldn't focus on the animals right

away,'' Lisa Tiller, Southwest's Senior Communications

Manager told PEOPLE.

But just because they couldn't fly pets out, didn't mean

Southwest wasn't bringing help in. The airline routinely

shipped planes loaded with supplies to the island, much of

which is still without running water and electricity. Many of

the runs included pet essentials to help rescuers in Puerto

Rico look after animals.

In January, three months after the hurricane hit, things

were finally in a place where Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and

Southwest could put their plan into action.

For the mutt-filled mission, Southwest took one of its

planes out of service and staffed it with some of its finest

employees, all of whom chose to donate their time to this

effort.

The plane's cargo hold and overhead bins were filled with

supplies Puerto Rico's humans and animals needed before

taking off from Baltimore-Washington International airport at

5 a.m. on Saturday.

``The morning started off with Lucky Dog getting Starbucks

for everyone,'' Lucky Dog Animal Rescue's founder and

Executive Director Mirah Horowitz said of the day, which

began at 3:45 a.m. ``The pilots brought doughnuts. My parents

brought doughnuts. We had a lot of doughnuts on that flight,

a lot of sugar.''

After three hours and 45 minutes in the air, the volunteers

landed in San Juan and began unloading the 14,400 lbs. of

much-needed supplies they brought with them.

``Everyone was just so nice and helpful. The minute we

landed, Lucky Dog volunteers were unloading, Southwest

volunteers were unloading, the cargo staff on the ground was

unloading,'' Horowitz recalled. ``Everyone jumped in to help.

It was truly amazing how wonderful everyone meshed for two

groups that had never met before.''

Next it was time to handle the precious cargo. Sixteen cats

and 46 dogs looking for forever homes were carefully loaded

into carriers off the tarmac and prepared for their flight to

a new life.

``Everyone was jubilant. I was shocked! For as long of a

day as it was, and as early as it started, people were just

in the best moods the whole time,'' Horowitz said.

The furry passengers were a mix of pets from different

circumstances. Some were living in foster homes before the

storm hit, others were abandoned by their previous owners

once Hurricane Maria touched down. But it was the rescuers of

PR Animals who were caring for these pets before Lucky Dog

Animal Rescue and Southwest arrived. And it was these

rescuers who were there on the ground to greet the volunteers

and say their goodbyes.

``It was very emotional; the rescuers putting their dogs in

the crates and saying goodbye to them, because these are

animals they have been caring for through very difficult and

traumatic times--whether they were caring for them before

Maria and weathered the storm with these people, which were a

few of the dogs, or whether they were rescued in the

immediate aftermath,'' Horowitz added.

While the rescuers had to say goodbye to the animals they

sacrificed so much for, they didn't leave empty-handed. All

of the PR Animal rescuers present left in vehicles packed

with donated supplies. Important items like batteries,

bottled water, towels and tarps were given to the rescuers,

more than half of whom are still living without running water

and electricity.

``It wasn't about taking the pets off the island, it was

about giving hope and physical help to people and reminding

them that we haven't forgotten them,'' Horowitz said of the

trip's mission. Once the pets were packed up, they were

loaded on to the plane with their carriers securely strapped

into the seats.

You might think a plane packed with 62 pets in the cabin

would be a bit of a circus, but there were only a few howls

upon landing.

``Amazingly during the flight, the hum and vibration kind

of put them all to sleep,'' Horowitz said.

With carriers of kittens and puppies aboard, not everyone

stayed in their crate during the trip. Horowitz admitted that

the volunteers and flight attendants couldn't resist getting

some quality puppy-holding and kitten-cuddling time in during

the trip back.

``It was great,'' the Lucky Dog Animals Rescue founder said

of the ride back to BWI. Even the pilots got a chance to hold

the pups.

Back on the mainland, the dogs and cats were loaded into

transport vans and driven to Dogma Dog Bakery in Virginia,

where a crowd was waiting to welcome the animals, including

several new pet parents.

Nine dogs and two cats were adopted right off the transport

vans by animal lovers who had falling in love with the pets'

pictures online.

An adoption event the following day found homes for 10 more

of the Puerto Rican natives. By the end of the weekend, 21 of

the 62 pets were with their forever families. The rest spent

some time in foster homes before being moved to local

rescues, including Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, where they will

surely find their own pet parents soon.

It was a trip that made sense to Southwest, whose logo is a

large heart--even if it meant giving up time and money.

``We've always been an airline that has lead with heart,''

Tiller said of her company. ``It's hard to find a spare

aircraft with more than 3,500 flights a day. To be able to

get our top leadership to donate time and plane fuel to save

animals is touching. It's when our employees shine the most

are, when people donating time. Everyone is almost in tears

because they are so touched to be a part of this.''

And for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, this trip was another

small but important step to finding loving homes for all the

needy animals of the world.

The non-profit plans to continue helping the pets of Puerto

Rico and is working to send more animals to the mainland

through the pressurized cargo holds of United Airlines

planes, because caring for animals is a way to help everyone.

``When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to

lose sight of our humanity,'' Horowitz said of what the trip

meant to her. ``We can't forget the pets.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4986, the RAY BAUM'S Act, the first FCC reauthorization in 28 years, named for our dear friend, the late Ray Baum.

This bill is the product of many long hours of hard work to achieve a bipartisan, bicameral compromise. While no bill is perfect, this legislation contains many solid policy advancements for digital communications in the 21st century.

I'm especially glad to see two bills I've championed for many years included in this package, `Dig Once' which I first introduced in 2009, and the RESPONSE Act, which I first introduced in 2010. Broadband is essential for every community in our country to function today, just as the physical roads and bridges we travel on are. For nearly a decade, I've been pushing for a `Dig Once' policy, a commonsense proposal to ensure broadband conduit is included in the buildout of roads and highways when they're being built and where there's a demonstrated need for broadband access, rather than tearing up roads later. Dig Once will enable states to make it easier for broadband providers to enter new and underserved markets by laying the broadband conduit during construction.

H.R. 4986 also includes the RESPONSE Act that ensures that multi-line telephones commonly found in office buildings and hotels are equipped with location accuracy technologies. This is essential for responders to locate a 911 caller in a large building as quickly as possible because lives are literally on the line and every second counts. This provision will help save lives.

I'm disappointed that the FCC Collaboration Act was excluded from the final version of H.R. 4986. This is another bipartisan, commonsense proposal that I have consistently introduced since 2009. It passed out of the Communications and Technology subcommittee, the full Energy and Commerce committee, and previously passed the full House, all with bipartisan support. All of the former Democratic and Republican FCC members have supported this policy one hundred percent. It's unfortunate that despite such broad support, this provision was stripped from the final bill despite our work in Committee.

I also want to express my concerns about some parts of the bill which consolidate the FCC's reporting on issues like price hikes, competition, and program diversity, and the scaling back of provisions on critical unlicensed spectrum. I worry that we'll regret weakening these public interest policies. Nonetheless, I support H.R. 4986 as a set of largely positive developments for consumers, policymakers, and many other stakeholders in the communications marketplace. I want to thank Chairman Walden for his hard work on this, and urge my colleagues to vote YES on H.R. 4986, the RAY BAUM'S Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Barbara Marshman on her extraordinary thirty year career at the San Jose Mercury News. After working at small community papers in the Philadelphia area, and serving as a Knight Fellow at Stanford in 1987, she joined the staff of the Mercury News and rose to become its Editorial Page Editor, a post she excelled in for the past ten years. Her departure has been called a great loss, and she has been praised as compassionate. and one of the most respected journalists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Barbara Marshman advocated for Net Neutrality and urged understanding of the global economy. She reported with wisdom, wit and a sure eye for hyperbole on many issues, including housing, political campaigns, open space, historic preservation, and extending BART to San Jose. She wrote about the ``Year of the Woman'' and advocated for the ``Era of Women.'' She lauded the #MeToo movement and noted social media's part in making this movement so powerful. She wrote poignantly that ``When women have a fail' share of the power, and the support to stand up to it, the world will be better for everyone. Our sons as well as our daughters.''

Barbara Marshman will not go quietly into retirement. She will continue to live in San Jose and will lend her voice in different ways to the causes and concerns in our community. Whatever pulpit she chooses, we can be sure that hers will be a strong, effective and eloquent voice for what is right and sensible.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Barbara Marshman and her extraordinary career that enlightened so many. Her unique voice has bettered our community and strengthened our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to pay tribute to a great man, Ray Baum.

Ray Baum was the staff director of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He came to Washington, D.C., to take on the senior policy role at the committee with the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

Ray was a gentleman who was scholarly in terms of his understanding of the issues. He served in the Oregon State House of Representatives and as chairman on the Public Utilities Commission in the State of Oregon. His deep and broad knowledge is something that we all benefited from. I think the House and our country has lost a true patriot.

Ray was a man of great faith. He had two great loves in his life: Kristine, his wife; their 6 children and 10 grandchildren. He was only 62 years old. He also loved public service and his country. He gave great service to his country.

I feel very blessed to have served with him at the committee and to have formed a friendship that will last with me all the days of my life.

God bless you, Ray. Thank you for the example and the role model that you have been to so many of us. May you rest in peace. We will always remember you with love, respect, and always with affection.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our terrific ranking member for yielding time to me and for his leadership and that of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

Kari's Law addresses a very serious problem and it has been outlined by Members on both sides of the aisle, and I support the bill.

But it is very important for those who are listening into this discussion this morning that when anyone dials 911 from a hotel, from a large building of several stories, from office buildings, from our office buildings where our offices are--10 floors, 20 floors, 30 floors--seconds really matter and they can make the difference between life or death. You should not have to dial 9 or some other prefix to get help.

We already know that that is what happened in this tragic situation where the 9-year-old daughter was witnessing the actual murder taking place by her father, the estranged husband of Kari. That woman lost her life.

So what is missing in this legislation is accuracy for multiline telephone systems. Once your call reaches the 911 call center, whomever answers that call needs to know exactly where you are to dispatch first responders. Now, if you are in a single-family home, it is easy. But if you are in any one of these buildings, hotels, or office buildings, the first responders have to go floor by floor. That takes a long time. We know because we walk from floor to floor just to get over to the Capitol. It takes us 7 or 8 minutes to get from Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol.

So if you call 911 again from the 10th floor of a 30-story office building, it takes first responders a long time to get there.

Oftentimes, during an emergency, individuals who have called in, they don't really know exactly where they are, or they are so panicked that they are blinded by what is going on that they can't express that to the dispatcher. That is why location technology is really important.

I offered an amendment when this bill was taken up at the Energy and Commerce Committee to include location technology. That was rejected by the majority, but they promised that they would work with me in order to bring that about.

Despite a lot of reaching out, et cetera, it didn't happen. I am once again offering legislation to establish that there will be location technology applied to multiline telephone systems. I think it is essential, and I don't know anyone who would disagree with that. It just didn't happen. It is not in this bill. But I think that it is important to highlight, as we celebrate the work that has been done, the important step that this takes, that there is a hole in it.

So as has been said by other Members, we are approaching the 50th anniversary next week of the first 911 call ever made in our country. I would like to urge my colleagues to work with me to build on the important progress that this bill represents, Kari's Law, to ensure that all multiline telephone systems provide a caller's location when they dial 911 so that the full breadth and depth of an emergency system actually reaches them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our ranking member for yielding time to me.