Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. My bipartisan amendment with Congressman Fleischmann authorizes the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education to conduct a study on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce and STEM education.

This amendment would provide data on the number of STEM jobs currently available and anticipated expansion in the field, the number of STEM and computer science classes in public secondary schools, and policy solutions to expand access for individuals with barriers to employment, such as those from low income and minority communities, and those from rural communities. This data will be helpful for us to understand this rapidly expanding sector and to ensure the United States is able to remain a global leader in the technology industry.

This amendment builds off my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3602 the Computer Science for All Act that Rep. Fleischmann also co-leads with me which would create grants to increase access to computer science education for preK-12 students.

I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this bipartisan amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor and mourn former Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, My thoughts and sympathies are with his wife Deni, his children Stuart, David, Mark and Bob, and his family and friends. He was a truly remarkable, trailblazing individual who became one of the most prominent Asian American figures in our country. His legacy included many firsts, and his life was a source of inspiration, a testament to the American spirit of fighting for justice and equality.

I met Norm when I was working for the late, beloved Congressman Ron Dellums. Norm was very kind to me, taught me a lot, listened to my ideas, and was a close friend of Ron's. In many ways, he was a mentor to me. Later, when I became a member of Congress, he always sought me out to tell me how proud he was of me. Such support coming from this giant of a man, always humbled me. I always told him how much he influenced my life, and I was deeply grateful for his friendship.

His success did not come without sacrifice. When Secretary Mineta was ten years old, our government forcibly removed him and his family from their home in San Jose to a World War II Japanese American incarceration camp, the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming. Decades later, he led the passage of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, which granted reparations and a formal apology to Japanese Americans wrongfully incarcerated by our govenunent solely on the basis of race, due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's issuance of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942.

Having endured such blatant racism and discrimination against Japanese Americans, he understood the importance of fighting for people who never had a voice in our political process. Throughout his career, he was the first Asian American mayor of San Jose, the first Japanese American member of Congress from the lower 48 states, and the first Asian American Cabinet Member, serving as both the Secretary of Commerce for President Clinton and Secretary of Transportation for President Bush. In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his achievements.

During his time in Congress, Secretary Mineta co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and its sister organization, the Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies (APAICS), to advocate for issues concerning the AAPI community. It is because of his efforts that the Asian American and Pacific Islander community has a greater voice in this chamber. My prayers are with his family, friends, and the AAPI community. We have all lost an icon.

Madam Speaker, I urge the entire House to continue to honor Secretary Mineta's legacy through our commitment to justice and equality for all.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate one of my constituents, Reign Free, founder and CEO of Red Door Catering in Oakland.

Reign founded Red Door in 2006 as a socially conscious company, aiming to bring communities together over delicious food with a special clientele focused on minority-owned businesses and youth development- focused organizations.

It is worth noting that Red Door also has an annual grant budget of $10,000 to help nonprofit clients defray some of their catering costs.

In recent years, Red Door has become a fixture in my East Bay community, having catered events for former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris at their commercial kitchen in West Oakland.

In line with her commitment to advancing equity, Reign provides opportunities for other Black entrepreneurs via the Black Culinary Collective, through which Red Door shares a 5,000-square foot culinary space in West Oakland with 10 other Black food entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, as the pandemic raged on, Red Door partnered with several local organizations to feed those most deeply impacted by COVID-19. Altogether, this effort fed about 80,000 community members.

On behalf of California's 13th Congressional District, I thank Reign for working tirelessly to create a closer-knit, more equitable community.

Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Chairwoman Maloney for her tremendous leadership. Also, I just have to thank her for her encouragement for myself, Congresswoman Jayapal, and Congresswoman Bush to really step out and talk about something that I personally have never talked about ever because it was my own personal business.

As my mother told me, that is a decision that I made between her and myself, and now, it looks like that liberty could be taken away.

But even in the day--and this was way before Roe v. Wade, I had an abortion. The gentlewoman gave me a chance to talk about it, which is something I would not do because of what I just said. It was a private decision. But once these draconian laws started passing in the States, and once these trigger laws were put into place, and once I saw what was taking place, I was compelled to talk about it because once we tell these stories, what I learned was that there are so many people who have similar stories, men and women who came to me. People I have known for 30, 40 years came to me, whispered to me: I had the same experience. I was afraid to talk about it.

What I am finding now is that more people are beginning to share their experiences. I tell you one thing: In addition to the privacy issue, it was about stigma.

I was raised in a Catholic school, in the Catholic Church. Of course, this is a huge decision anyone has to make. Nobody wants to have to go through this trauma. But I did, and so many others have.

I thank the gentlewoman for giving us a chance because that helped me personally. Now, we have come to such a time as this to really help others and to really highlight why the end of Roe could poise us to see the abandonment of 50 years of precedent and the first time a constitutional right has ever been taken away. That is unbelievable. It would deny millions of Americans access to abortions.

We need to, however, reassure Americans tonight that Roe is still the law of the land. Abortion is still legal. But the threat of this draft opinion highlights why Congress preemptively should enshrine Roe into Federal law by abolishing the filibuster, yes, and by passing the Women's Health Protection Act. This really is about our personal liberty and our reproductive freedom. Nothing less, quite frankly, can be tolerated in a democracy.

There is a whole generation of people who do not know life before Roe. Again, going back to the day when I was in the 11th grade, I know a life before Roe.

My mother, fortunately, had a friend. I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, and we moved to California. She flew me to Texas because once I made that decision, her friend knew a clinic in Mexico.

Let me tell you, I was fortunate enough to survive the procedure, Chairwoman Maloney, but it is not lost on me that so many women who look like me were dying. Afterward, I thank God that I survived because I knew so many people haven't.

Abortion bans affect everyone, but their impacts fall the hardest on people of color, people working to make ends meet, young people, the LGBTQ community, people in rural communities, people who just don't have enough money to travel to go to another State.

Study after study has shown that denying people access to abortion has devastating and long-lasting implications for their lives. I reiterate: people with money will have access to abortions. We are here tonight because everyone, no matter where they live or how much money they make or their background or their race or their gender identity, everyone should be able to make their own decisions about their bodies, their lives, and their futures.

Finally, another part of this that is just outrageous is the fact that these decisions about our own healthcare could be criminalized. Can you imagine if that would happen? The thought of this is chilling. It is chilling.

Even though it is a terrifying moment, it is an urgent moment. The public supports Roe v. Wade. Now is the time to rise up--yes--to galvanize and to raise our voices about our constitutional rights that are about to be taken away if we don't do what we need to do.

Also, it is a slippery slope because, as I have been saying: If they come for me today, they are coming for you tomorrow. This is the beginning of the erosion of rights, such as voting rights, disability rights, LGBTQ rights, you just name it.

That is not going to happen because I have a lot of hope in the American people. This may be a time when we have to regroup and fight harder. That is exactly what we are doing. I want to applaud all of our organizations out there who have been so adamant and so vigilant and prepared for this day.

We couldn't be here tonight talking about what next if it weren't for them. I just have to take a moment to salute all of our grassroots groups who have been working day and night helping people, providing access, raising money, doing everything they can do to make sure that everyone who decides to have an abortion has access to safe and legal abortions.

I thank the chairwoman for holding this Special Order. This is a moment that we all have to speak truth, we have to tell the truth about what is at stake. Also, it gives us a chance to tell the truth about who we are. As Members of Congress, we are people who have been through many of the same

challenges that everyone has been through.

Madam Speaker, I rise today as we celebrate the retirement of Colonel Igwekala Edwin Njoku after 28 years of service with the United States Army and 27 years of federal civil service with the Department of Energy. Colonel Njoku's decades of leadership and commitment to excellence have helped to set the strategic direction of the federal government and ensure the security and prosperity of our country.

Originally from Nigeria, Col. Njoku arrived in the United States in 1971 on a student visa. He attended the University of Massachusetts where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Biology and a Masters Degree in Health Physics and Nuclear Science. He later attended the New York Institute of Technology where he earned a second Masters Degree in Industrial Hygiene and Environmental Engineering Technology.

Col. Njoku eventually moved from the East Coast to California where he worked for the state Department of Health Services as a Senior Health Physicist. Shortly after, he joined the California Army National Guard and later the U.S. Army Reserve. He served 28 years in the U.S. Army where he provided oversight on emergency response systems to the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction on the battlefield.

In addition to his consultant capacity, Col. Njoku gave on the ground support abroad. He spent a year deployed in Iraq as the Combined Joint Task Force-7 Radiation Protection and Laser Safety Officer. He also traveled to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to implement the 1994 Agreed Framework, which suspended North Korea's nuclear power program in exchange for U.S. energy aid. When he retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel, he was awarded the Legion of Merit for his work with the Joint Forces in Iraq, and his work on non-proliferation efforts in the Korean Peninsula.

On the civilian side, Col. Njoku served as a Certified Health Physicist with the National Nuclear Security Administration within the U.S. Department of Energy. During his 27 years of service, he ensured that radiological operations were implemented safely and improved federal oversight for various facilities and offices without expanding the oversight footprint.

Edwin Njoku's decades of service to the U.S. Army and the Department of Energy has truly had a global impact and has helped reinforce the security of our country and the world. I know that his impact and commitment to excellence will continue to reverberate in the years to come.

On a personal note, I've had the privilege of knowing Col. Njoku for more than 20 years and greatly admire his scientific brilliance and unwavering commitment to public service. I'm honored to have had his support over the years and wish him a wonderful and well-deserved retirement. One behalf of the 13th Congressional District of California, I commend Col. Igwekala Edwin Njoku for his tireless service and dedication.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this emergency supplemental to support Ukraine and to address the global impacts of Putin's brutal invasion and war. I thank Chairwoman DeLauro, our Speaker, and Chairman McGovern for moving this legislation so quickly.

Mr. Speaker, a little more than a week ago, I had the honor of visiting Eastern Europe to meet with Ukrainians and Poles and to learn about what was taking place firsthand. We met with civil society organizations funded by the United States that, in the midst of danger and violence, are supporting refugees, vulnerable people, and women and children.

I was deeply moved by their stories and their commitment, their resilience, and recognized very quickly what an emergency this is. So, I thank everyone again for bringing this bill to the floor right away. The Ukrainian people need our support to defend their territory, but we equally need to support their efforts to protect their people, their economy, their way of life, and, yes, their democracy.

As chair of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, I am very proud that we provided $18.9 billion in assistance for economic security and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine in this bill.

This bill will help sustain the Ukrainian Government's essential services, protect refugees and internally displaced persons, clear unexploded ordnance, and combat human trafficking. It funds getting our dedicated and courageous diplomats back to Kyiv so that they can continue working on behalf of the United States to protect the people and the dignity of Ukraine. I salute them, commend them, and thank them for their service.

Mr. Speaker, this bill contains precious resources to deal with the global food crisis that has been deepened by the Russian invasion. This is truly a defining moment in our history, Ukrainian history, Poland's history, and the world's history.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to respond to the remarkable strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people and stand by them. We need to stand by them--we must stand by them--by

supporting this supplemental appropriations bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my incredible constituents, Mrs. Daisy Murray, who will be celebrating her 104th birthday on Monday, April 11. Mrs. Murray has been a resident of San Leandro for more than 30 years and has made many wonderful contributions to our East Bay community.

Mrs. Daisy Murray was born in 1919 to a family that was only a few generations removed from slavery, as her grandmother was the daughter of an enslaved person. Mrs. Murray's parents faced racism and violence living in the South, and when they got married, they relocated to Ohio, where Ms. Daisy was born and raised.

I think it was in the mid-1970s, Mrs. Murray founded the Sojourner Truth Manor, the first affordable residency for adults and seniors in the country created by an African-American businesswoman.

I worked very hard on this when I was a student at Mills College, and I remember a woman we called Ms. Dorothy, worked with Mrs. Murray on this. It is still a thriving community, the affordable housing community. It is located in Oakland on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It still exists to this day, and it has housed generations of adults and seniors in need.

On behalf of the 13th Congressional District of California, I want to thank Mrs. Daisy Murray for her many good works and everything that she has done to enrich our East Bay community. I wish her a happy 104th birthday. Happy birthday, Mrs. Daisy Murray.

Madam Speaker, I am glad to be able to speak on behalf of H.R. 3807, which will deliver more funding to restaurants and small businesses, which really deserve their Representatives to speak up, stand up, and work for them because they desperately need our help. We must deliver on their behalf.

Madam Speaker, I thank Speaker Pelosi, Chairwoman Velazquez, and Congressman Blumenauer for their tremendous leadership in working so diligently in bringing this bill to the floor.

H.R. 3807 continues Democrats' effort to help our small businesses and restaurants recover from the economic costs of COVID-19. These small businesses are the economic and cultural lifeblood of our communities, so we established the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and other support programs, in the American Rescue Plan.

The ARP delivered billions of dollars to help people in businesses make it through this crisis. Almost 600 restaurants and bars in my district alone received more than $212 million to keep their doors open and to support their employees and families.

However, we know that this crisis is still not over, and we must deliver more assistance. We must pass this bill today, and I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the countless people--organizers and activists, jurists and justices, doctors and clinic staff--whose work and leadership continues to secure access to abortion services across the country. For generations, women have been at the forefront of the fight to secure reproductive health services, and their bravery and vision continues to inspire our work today. In the face of the most serious effort to turn back the clock on abortion access in decades, their work is more important today than ever.

Around the country, medical providers and clinic staff show up to work every day to ensure that people have the care they need. They routinely provide care in the face of unrelenting threats, violence, and harassment by anti-abortion extremists, showing up each day to ensure that people in our communities have access to care. These providers and clinic staff have been innovating and adapting to meet an unending series of challenges and hurdles. Each day, abortion care providers are working toward a world in which every person can shape their own futures and families.

I want to share some of their names here today--just some of the many women whose work is critical to making abortion accessible.

Dr. Kathryn Fay, MD/MSCI, is on the faculty in the Division of Complex Family Planning at Brigham and Women's hospital, an instructor at Harvard Medical School, and is an NIH-funded researcher focusing on reproductive coercion. She continues to provide a full spectrum of care, including labor and delivery services, medication and procedural abortions, contraceptive counseling, and routine gynecologic care.

Dr. Halley Crissman is an OB/GYN in Southeast Michigan who provides gender-affirming care, abortion care, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive care. Dr. Crissman advocates tirelessly for her patients-- for their access to safe, high quality medical care, and for their respect and bodily autonomy. She is the Director of Gender Affirming Care with Planned Parenthood of Michigan which is working to expand access to gender-affirming hormone care across the state of Michigan, while simultaneously working to protect and expand access to abortion care.

Dr. Katherine Farris has worked at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic for more than 13 years. She is a family physician who has provided abortion care throughout her career because she recognizes that without the ability to decide if or when to become a parent, no person has true freedom or autonomy to create the life they desire.

Dr Rathika Nimalendran works as an abortion provider at a health clinic in North Carolina. In a profile for Physicians for Reproductive Health, she wrote ``I have always been compelled to provide abortion care. I believe in a woman's right to choose what is best for her, and I provide abortions to help women who have made the choice to safely terminate a pregnancy.''

Joan Whitaker retired as the director of health services at ABCD (Action for Boston Community Development) in June 2020 after serving the Boston community for 33 years.

Dr. Adeola Oni-Orisan is a medical anthropologist and board-certified family physician specializing in reproductive healthcare. She provides abortion care in California and also travels to Georgia to provide abortions as interim-medical director of abortion services at Planned Parenthood Southeast. As a medical anthropologist, her work seeks to illuminate experiences of seeking and providing reproductive health care in Black birthwork communities in the bay area. She is also a leader in One Love Black Community, an organization which supports Black birthing people in San Francisco who are pregnant, postpartum, or postabortion.

Madam Speaker, abortion is essential, abortion providers are essential, and independent abortion clinics do essential work. Many also provide other life-saving services, including hormone therapy and gender-affirming care, prenatal and birthing care, STI and HIV testing and treatment, birth control and family planning, and sometimes even primary care. We celebrate each of these women today, together with doctors and nurses, clinic staff and administrators, across the country.

In addition to medical professionals and clinic staff, we also honor the women whose work as advocates, activists, and organizers is critical to ensuring that each person has access to the care they need. Women who have fought for the passage of laws that protect, rather than restrict, abortion access, have advocated for funding for reproductive health priorities; women who go into communities to coordinate and educate, and to connect people with the care and services they seek. Women who ensure we all know what our rights are, and who teach us to raise our voices to demand the protection of those rights.

I particularly want to pay tribute to the women who have been working on the ground in Texas, especially in the months since the enactment of S.B. 8. In the light of unprecedented restrictions and draconian new laws, organizers and activists in Texas have persisted, and their work is more critical now than ever.

I want to highlight one organizer today: Lucy Ceballos Felix. Lucy, originally from Matamoros, Tamaulipas; Mexico, is certified by the state of Texas as a Community Health Worker (CHW) and Community Health Worker Instructor (CHWI). Since 2012, Lucy has worked at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice as Associate Director of Field and Advocacy in Texas, meeting with groups of women and other from various cities in the four counties of the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christ, and Houston. Her work helps community groups learn how to discover and develop their leadership, mobilize their community, and take action on political issues that are harming their lives, families, and communities. In the light of recent Texas legislation, Lucy's work is needed now more than ever.

I could speak for hours about the women who paved the legal path that is now under threat from the Supreme Court and the women who, as legislators at both the state and national level, have fought for passage of bills that expand abortion access and refused to accept policies that put it farther out of reach. I want to close by paying tribute to just one--Rep. Shirley Chisholm.

Rep. Chisholm was a trailblazer in so many ways, and not the least of these was her support for reproductive rights and abortion access. In 1969 she was named honorary president of NARAL, in 1970 she supported legalization of abortion in her home state of New York, and in 1970 described abortion as an issue of economic and racial justice. In 1989, she was one of 16 Black women who published the first collective statement calling for equal access to abortion. Rep. Chisholm emphasized what continues to be true today: that although abortion restrictions and bans hurt everyone, their impacts fall most heavily on women of color, low-income women, and others who already face barriers to accessing health care. Rep. Chisholm understood that reproductive justice is critical to economic and racial justice, and I am proud to continue her work as co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus.

Madam Speaker, every day across the United States and around the world, women are protecting, upholding, and expanding abortion access. Generations of women--lawyers, organizers, providers, activists, volunteers--are responsible the rights and freedoms we currently enjoy, and the Pro-Choice Caucus is committed to building upon their legacy. Even in the face of unprecedented threats, we will continue to fight for a future where everyone, no matter where they live or how much money they make, has the freedom to make decisions, for themselves, about their bodies, their lives, and their futures.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3617, the MORE Act.

I thank Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, and Chairman Neal. And let me just thank Chairman Nadler for his persistence, his perseverance, and really hanging in there and bringing this to the floor, because he knows what the issues are, and he knows how important this is to repair the damage of the lives of so many people.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank Congressman Blumenauer, my partner on so many issues and, of course, our Speaker pro tempore, Mr. Perlmutter, who is in the Chair today, and everyone who has helped to bring this to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, my condolences today are with the family of our colleague, the late Representative Don Young, a champion on this issue. I honor his memory today as the founding member and co-chair of the Cannabis Caucus, who voted for the MORE Act the first time it came to the floor.

Also, let me thank our advocates for educating the public on this issue, which, of course, helped our Members of Congress learn more about the importance of this, that this is also a racial justice bill. It is the product of the work of so many for a long time.

Mr. Speaker, of course, I salute our staff, Amy, Julie, Samira, Gregory, Kayla--so many staff. As a former staff member, look, I know how this was done, so I thank our staff for really doing the heavy lifting on this.

Mr. Speaker, the MORE Act, yes, it includes my legislation, the Marijuana Justice Act, and the REFER Act, which is the first marijuana racial justice bill introduced in Congress many years ago. This bill would end Federal prohibition and decriminalize cannabis by removing it from the list of the Controlled Substances Act. That is what the MORE Act does.

Make no mistake, yes, it is a racial justice bill. According to the ACLU, Black Americans are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related crimes than White Americans, despite equal rates of use. These arrests can have a detrimental impact on a person's quality of life and can lead to difficulty finding employment.

Mr. Speaker, it is a multibillion-dollar industry also that brings tax revenue of billions to our States. Over 950 are people arrested daily for marijuana-related offenses. This is truly unjust. So we must end this failed policy of marijuana prohibition, which has led to the shattering of so many lives, primarily Black and Brown people. And yes, that is extremely important.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to repair the damage. It is time to provide equal justice for those who have been unduly incarcerated. Public opinion supports this.

In fact, over 50 years ago, the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, or the Shafer Commission, formally recommended to Congress this be done. We are doing it today.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the incredible contributions of one of my constituents, Matt Kreutz. He is the CEO of Firebrand Artisan Breads, which is a fixture in our East Bay community.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of Matt virtually joining me at President Biden's State of the Union address. Matt founded Firebrand in 2007 as a socially conscious organization focused on making opportunities available for the unhoused, formerly incarcerated people, and others who may be experiencing difficulties getting hired. In recent years, he expanded Firebrand into a business that employs 85 people at its cafe in uptown Oakland and at its production facility in Alameda. Firebrand has become a beating heart in my community.

As the pandemic raged on, Matt managed to keep Firebrand open by securing a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was made possible by the American Rescue Plan. Since receiving the PPP loan, Firebrand continued expanding operations and growing into a major source of employment for many.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the 13th Congressional District of California, we thank Matt for sharing his story and for enriching our community.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2116, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, commonly known as the CROWN Act. I would like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Nadler, and of course Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for bringing this bill to the floor.

Let me just first say, we all know--and you have heard the debate-- that this bill is going to take aim at prohibiting race-based hair discrimination. Let me tell the other side: I am an American, and this is very important to me and to millions of Americans. Yet, your arguments, you know they are outrageous, but they are not surprising.

Republicans, every step of the way, try to diminish the humanity of Black and Brown people, try to uphold white supremacy at every step of the way. Just listen to what you are saying in terms of arguing against this bill.

For decades, Black and Brown people have been penalized for wearing hairstyles, natural hairstyles deemed as messy, unruly, and unprofessional. We have seen students humiliated and unfairly disciplined because their braided hair extensions or locs were considered a violation of the dress code. And in the workplace, Black people with curly Afros, braids, twists or locs, or with no hair are often perceived as less professional than people with straightened hair, which negatively impacts their ability to be promoted or to get raises.

Yes, personally, I have always worn my hair however I chose. I have worn it straight; I have worn it braided; I have worn it spiked; I have worn it curly; I have worn it in a big natural; you name it. Everyone should be able to make those choices without fear of repercussion.

Hair discrimination is rooted in systemic racism and is a real barrier to advancement and empowerment for our communities. I have been fighting to end this discriminatory practice for years. In 2014, the women of the Congressional Black Caucus urged the Army to rescind Army Regulation 671, which prohibited many hairstyles worn by African- American women and other women of color, and I led an amendment in the fiscal year 2015 Defense appropriations bill to ban funding for this discriminatory rule.

Madam Speaker, I just want to remind you, we put this in the Defense appropriations bill to ban funding for this discriminatory rule. The military understood it.

Due to our advocacy, a few years later the U.S. Navy removed their discriminatory policy, allowing women, especially women of color, to wear their hair in dreadlocks, large buns, braids, and ponytails. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to take action here in Congress to break down these barriers. Everyone should be able to show up as their authentic selves and passing the CROWN Act is a major step in that direction. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this omnibus appropriations bill. I want to thank Chair DeLauro, my fellow cardinals, and the Speaker for seeing this critical process through. Providing funding for the operation of our federal government is among our most important Constitutional duties. This package provides critical funding for health care, housing and human needs. It also includes specific community project funding important to my community in the East Bay as well as communities across the country. These are crucial investments in a more humane, equitable and sustainable future. I urge all my colleagues to support it.

As Chair of the subcommittee on the State Department and Foreign Operations, I have worked to ensure that this bill includes the support that our diplomats and development professionals need to contribute to a better, safer world. The State and Foreign Operations division of this bill provides $56.1 billion, which is $595 million above 2021.

In addition, it includes $6.8 billion in assistance to respond to the humanitarian and economic crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Added to the resources in the base SFOPS bill, we will be better able to address the historic levels of global displacement and humanitarian need resulting from natural disasters, conflict, and the pandemic.

The bill includes $9.83 billion to support the health of families and communities around the world, a $634 million increase over last year. This includes $5.95 billion for PEPFAR to help them end the HIV pandemic by 2030, as well as increases for tuberculosis, global health security and maternal and child health.

I am very proud of the steps this bill takes to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the nation's diplomatic and development workforce. The bill includes $8 million for paid internships at the Department of State and robustly funds various workforce diversity initiatives at both the Department of State and USAID, including for the Pickering and Rangel Fellowships.

We also added new language about nondiscrimination in humanitarian operations stemming from disturbing reports of unfair treatment of people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

Unfortunately, a number of crucial investments and policy issues that I fought to include in this bill were not included in this final

agreement. We should be doing more to confront the climate crisis, to protect women's health and reproductive rights, and pay America's debts to international organizations. The need to overcome the filibuster in the other chamber blocked progress on these critical priorities in this bill. It's past time to end the filibuster and get on with the people's work. I will not stop fighting to meet these challenges and support the rights of Americans and all people to live in a more just, humane, and sustainable world.

There is no question that this omnibus represents an important step forward to invest in America. Once again, I thank Chair DeLauro and the Speaker for leading this effort to make the critical investments in this omnibus bill, and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the retirement of Ms. Regina Jackson, a phenomenal leader and constituent and a very good friend, after over 27 years of service as president and CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center.

Ms. Jackson's involvement with EOYDC began in 1984 when, as a graduate of the Coro Fellowship graduate program in public affairs, she was invited to serve on the board of directors. Ms. Jackson has made it her mission to invest in our children and has dedicated herself to this work.

A key part of her mission at EOYDC has been inspiring our youth to perform at high levels by providing a safe, nurturing environment where young people could grow and thrive.

In addition, her contributions to our community are magnificent. She is a global thought leader for youth development. The International Diplomacy Council has sought her expertise to counsel agencies across the world. Recently, with the support of my office and local East Bay organizations, Ms. Jackson led two delegations of students to China for a cross-cultural exchange.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the 13th Congressional District of California, I commend Ms. Jackson for her tireless service and dedication and wish her well in this new chapter of her life.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2116, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, commonly known as the CROWN Act. I am honored to co-lead this bill with Rep. Watson Coleman, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Omar and Rep. Moore, which will take direct aim at prohibiting race-based hair discrimination for African Americans and people of African descent.

Hair discrimination creates illogical barriers to advancement in the workplace or equal treatment in schools for people of African descent. For example, our sons and daughters are penalized in school for natural hair styles deemed as ``messy'' and ``unruly.'' We've seen students humiliated and unfairly disciplined because their braided hair extensions or locs have been judged as a violation of the dress code. In the workplace, a study found that women with curly afros, braids or twists, are often perceived as ``less professional'' than Black women with straightened hair. These perceptions have real impacts on their ability to be promoted or get raises.

I have been fighting to end this discriminatory practice for years. In 2014, the women of the Congressional Black Caucus urged the Army to rescind Army regulation 670-1, which prohibited many hairstyles worn by African American women and other women of color and I led an amendment included in the FY15 Defense Appropriations Bill to ban funding for this discriminatory rule. Due to our advocacy, a few years later the U.S. Navy removed their discriminatory policy allowing women, particularly women of color, to wear their hair in dreadlocks, large buns, braids, and ponytails.

This laid the groundwork for California to become the first state to ban discrimination against African Americans for wearing natural hairstyles at school or in the workplace with the passage of The Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural hair (CROWN) Act. We should be able to show up as our whole selves--and passing the CROWN Act is a major step in that direction.

We owe it to our children to take action here in Congress to break down these barriers, and make sure that they are able to build the future they deserve. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.