Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues, Congressman George Miller, Congressman Mike Thompson, and Congressman Eric Swalwell to honor the United Association (UA2 Local Union 342, which is celebrating its 100 anniversary. For 100 years, UA Local 342 has trained and represented qualified journeymen and apprentices in the trades of plumbing, pipefitting and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigerating (HVACR) across Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in Northern California.

Chartered on May 1, 1914, UA Local 342 started with just over 21 members, working tirelessly in support of the rights of workers in the pipe trades industries. Today, they represent over 3,200 members. Over the years, Local 342 has been essential in leading various projects and ongoing maintenance of regional infrastructure including at four refineries, two chemical plants, and ten cogeneration plants in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. In addition, their work has positively impacted major hospitals in the area, including Sutter Hospital, Highland Hospital, and Kaiser Hospital in both Oakland and San Leandro.

United Association Local 342 promotes a high standard of excellence, focusing on worker safety and providing rigorous training for each union member. The apprenticeship program has been recognized at the national level for its quality training. Many apprentices have competed and won in state, regional and national level competitions.

Moreover, UA Local 342 is dedicated to supporting and giving back to their community. Among the many donations to local high schools and community colleges, Local 342 members also participate in local food drives at Alameda and Contra Costa County Food Banks. In addition, members of Local 342 have volunteered their services to improve Shepherd's Gate, a safe haven for abused women, by installing plumbing in their facility.

We commend the United Association Local 342 for leading the charge in the fight for worker's rights. In addition, we applaud the men and women of Local 342 for their dedication to preparing and training their membership for the advancements in technology and the challenges of today's expanding and diverse industry.

On behalf of the residents of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, we congratulate the

United Association Local 342 on this important milestone and thank you for the invaluable service you provide to our community. We wish you all the best as you forge ahead toward another 100 years of protecting the rights of workers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Dr. Helen J.H. Stephens. Known throughout the Bay Area and the Nation as a great gospel singer, community leader and as a dedicated mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Dr. Stephens has left an indelible mark on our community. With her passing on May 3, 2014, we look to the outstanding quality of her life's work and the inspiring role she played in many lives through gospel music and as a spiritual leader.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Helen Stephens began performing at a young age. While attending Booker T. Washington High School, Dr. Stephens played the piano for weekly assembly programs, sang in the school choir, performed in operettas and was active in the school band. After she obtained a music degree from Dillard University, she married Arnold E. Stephens in 1950, and then moved to Oakland, California three years later.

Once in California, Dr. Stephens quickly began organizing many successful vocal groups, including the ``Stephens Singers'' in 1965 and ``The Voices of Christ'' in 1969. ``The Voices of Christ'' began with 23 members and quickly grew to 92 within a year. The choir has recorded eight albums and has received numerous awards. ``The Voices of Christ'' was inducted into the Bay Area Gospel Academy Awards Hall of Fame.

Among Dr. Helen Stephens' many accomplishments, she was an active community leader and organizer. She founded the Northern California Chapter of the Gospel Workshop of America and was the chapter representative. In addition. she taught at several colleges, including the College of Marin in Kentfield and at Dominican College, and she introduced and incorporated gospel music into the curriculum for California State University, East Bay.

Dr. Helen Stephens has left a lasting imprint on our society and communities of faith. In 1992, Dr. Stephens was appointed to the National Board of Directors of the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, she served on the Marin Arts Council in Marin County, serving two one-year terms. For her extraordinary work, Dr. Stephens was recognized with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music Ministry from the Belle Grove Theological Seminary in 2004.

Today, California's 13th Congressional District salutes and honors an outstanding individual and gospel leader, Dr. Helen J.H. Stephens. Her dedication and efforts have helped to spread the inspiration of gospel music and have impacted so many lives throughout the nation. I join all of Helen's loved ones in celebrating her incredible life. She will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule.

First, the underlying National Defense Authorization Act continues wasteful spending at the Pentagon and won't allow, as Congressman Polis said, a full debate on the longest war in American history.

This bill continues the overseas contingency operations slush fund, and it is a slush fund at a time when the administration still hasn't decided on how much the Afghanistan war is going to cost or how many troops will be there.

Yet the Republican leadership of this House has failed to allow the American people to have a say in the future of America's longest war, while maybe, quite frankly, some of these amendments probably would pass.

Finally, we would be reflecting the views of the majority of the American people.

For many years, we have known that there is simply no military solution in Afghanistan, and our constituents are sick and tired of war. This bill simply ignores 82 percent of the Americans who oppose the war and 74 percent favoring all U.S. troops out by 2014.

I want to just read the authorization that we are talking about today. The Authorization for Use of Military Force was passed sorrowfully. Let me tell you, after the horrific events of 9/11--some were not here during that period--it was passed September 14, and we had probably about maybe 1 hour of debate, maybe 1 hour of debate.

That resolution said--which is what we are talking about today, which is what we are insisting on a debate on--it said:

That the President is authorized to use all necessary and

appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or

persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or

aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11,

2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to

prevent any future acts of international terrorism against

the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.

We are 13 years into this war without end.

So, Mr. Speaker, I authored H.R. 4608. I had an amendment to come here on this bill that would really get us back to the drawing board so that we could have this full debate to determine whether or not this resolution, the one of 9/14/2001, should still hold. Minimally, we should have a full debate on this.

I am really pleased though to see that the administration finally agreed to release a secret drones memo. That is a good thing. That is happening I think today. But we need to have a debate on this resolution, and we need to have it today.

I want to thank the chairman and ranking member for including such an important amendment from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congresswoman Wilson, and myself. I want to thank Congresswoman Jackson Lee for her relentless effort--her relentless effort--to make sure that we put the United States on record expressing very strong support for the people of Nigeria, especially the parents and families of the girls abducted by Boko Haram, and also in condemning these despicable--mind you, despicable--crimes against humanity in the strongest way.

Since 2013, more than 4,400 men, women and children have been slaughtered by Boko Haram, and we join with the international community in saying bring our girls back.

Earlier this month, Congresswomen Jackson Lee and Wilson, along with Congressman Honda, I, and 150 Members--bipartisan, both sides of the aisle--wrote a letter calling for the United States to work with the U.N., the African Union, and the Government of Nigeria to find these girls and bring the perpetrators to justice.

This amendment would give Congress a clear understanding of the nature and extent of the crimes committed by this terrorist organization and help us bring an end to Boko Haram's reign of terror.

Let me conclude by saying that the girls should be able to pursue their education and live free from the threats of slavery, kidnapping, and violence. This resolution, in no uncertain terms, says enough is enough.

So thank you, Congresswoman Jackson Lee and Congresswoman Wilson, for making sure that, once again, we come together in a bipartisan way to insist that this terrorist organization is brought to justice and insist that we do everything we can do to bring our girls home.

Madam Chair, let me thank Congressman Schiff for offering this amendment.

As this body knows, I have been offering an amendment to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force for many, many years. Congressman Schiff, this is such an important--a very important amendment, which is critical to stopping this endless war.

Unfortunately, the Rules Committee refused to allow my bipartisan amendment, taken from my bill, the War Authorization Review and Determination Act, to even be considered.

For those who were not here on that sorrowful day, just 3 days after 9/11, let me just read from that short sentence--one sentence, mind you--that

passed the House with just 1 hour of debate, with 420 ayes and one no.

The President is authorized to use all necessary and

appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or

persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or

aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11,

2001.

I voted against this resolution. Of course, it was the most difficult vote of my career, but I knew then what I know now. It was too broad, and it is open-ended.

Unfortunately, the Republican leadership has allowed a mere--what is it--10 minutes now to debate this serious and dangerous authorization.

Supporting this amendment would be an important step to ensuring that the President does not have a blank check to conduct endless war.

Congress must exercise its constitutional authority.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak out against the refusal to extend a critical lifeline for the unemployed. On December 28, the Republicans' failure to extend Emergency Unemployment Compensation left 1.3 million jobless Americans out in the cold. Since then, more than 332,000 Californians have lost their benefits, including over 8,000 people in Alameda County, where my district is located.

And I would like to remind my colleagues across the aisle that the long-term unemployment rate is still at 35.3 percent, the highest it has been since World War II.

This Tea Party-controlled Congress has decided to turn their backs on these unemployed workers when their need is greatest. These workers paid into unemployment so that, in their time of need, it would be there.

This failure to act has already cost our economy nearly $5 billion. This failure to act is mean-spirited, it is economically foolish, and it is morally wrong. Republicans won't support investments in job creation, infrastructure, or workforce training. They gut the safety net in the Ryan budget and won't extend unemployment benefits. My goodness, what in the world are people going to do? This is not the American way.

I urge us to take up this unemployment compensation bill; and let's pass it, and pass it right away.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank first of all my ranking member for yielding and for your leadership on so many issues, including this tragic issue that we are dealing with today, and also to Chairman Royce for continuing to ensure that these issues and these resolutions and bills continue to be bipartisan.

Also, I just have to thank my colleague Congresswoman Frederica Wilson for your steady and tremendous and clear and passionate leadership. This is such an important issue that yourself, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, and others continue to bring to the forefront, and I just have to say once again thank you for this.

This resolution puts the United States Congress on record expressing strong support for the people of Nigeria, especially the parents and families of the girls abducted by Boko Haram.

We join the international community in calling for the immediate and safe return of these innocent girls. The world is shouting, and we have seen this and heard this over and over again, ``Bring back our girls.''

These girls were pursuing their education. These are crimes against humanity and cannot be tolerated.

Nigeria, in partnership with the international community, must do everything it can to protect all children and men and women against such violent attacks. Since 2013, more than 4,400 men, women, and children have been slaughtered by Boko Haram. These are terrorists who have gotten away with murder. Enough is enough. We must do everything we can to bring our girls home and to bring an end to Boko Haram's reign of terror.

I want to commend and thank our administration for once again being on the right side of history. I think in this resolution, Congresswoman Wilson encourages and supports what has taken place now within our own executive branch, but we must do more. I believe both sides of the aisle have come together to support your legislation to say let's do more, let's bring our girls back, and let's bring this reign of terror by Boko Haram to an end.

Thank you very much.

Let me thank you, Congressman Horsford, for that very gracious introduction and also for your continued leadership on so many fronts, especially in organizing the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order, along with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. I really want to thank you for making sure that the theme this evening of this Special Order, the 60th anniversary of Brown v. The Board of Education, did not go unremarked. You are both really doing a fantastic job representing and working hard on behalf of your constituents.

I also have to say that Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, our fearless Congressional Black Caucus chair, really serves as an excellent steward of the conscience of the Congress.

Let me just say I was just a child, Congressman Horsford, in El Paso, Texas, when the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. The Board of Education on May 17, 1954. Schools were segregated when I started school. So that was in the not-so-distant past. I remember it very well.

My good friend, Congressman Beto O'Rourke, so ably represents El Paso today. I have to tell you that the results and the impact of the Supreme Court's decision striking down the separate but equal doctrine is visible throughout the city.

I am proud to say also that in 1955, El Paso became the first city in the State of Texas to integrate its public schools. My mother, Mildred Parish Massey, was one of the seven African American students to boldly integrate the University of Texas at El Paso.

In 1957, El Paso elected Raymond Telles the first Mexican American mayor of a major United States city. On June 7, 1962, the El Paso city council, under the leadership of Alderman Bert Williams, passed the first city ordinance of any major city in the former Confederacy outlawing segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants, and theaters. These were public places that were previously barred to African Americans and, in some cases in El Paso earlier, to Mexican Americans.

This history has been recounted by Congressman O'Rourke during Black History Month. I thank him for that because I just have to say I lived this, my family lived this, my friends lived this, just as so many millions of people throughout our country lived this shameful time in our history.

This is just a bit of my personal background. We know that, despite the landmark decision, it would take decades in many cities and States for that first mandate of the Supreme Court to be carried out. But because of Brown, we have the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1986.

Of course, we have come a long way since the 1950s and 1960s, but the fact remains that the fight to end inequality in public education continues. The end of the legal doctrine, argued then by the brilliant, great Thurgood Marshall, who was the attorney and later Supreme Court Justice, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, did not necessarily mean the end of racial segregation by neighborhood and community, resulting in schools that continued to see stark segregation by race and income. In fact, many schools have reversed the desegregation gains of the 1970s and 1980s, while many other schools remain as segregated as they ever were.

As a new UCLA report mentioned last week, which I have to cite, Congressman Horsford, called, ``Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long Retreat and an Uncertain Future,'' Black and Latino students tend to be in schools with a substantial majority of poor children, while White and Asian students typically attend middle class schools. My home State of California, along with New York and Illinois, is among the top three worst States for isolating Black students. Latino students are the most segregated in California.

And now, with the attacks on affirmative action in States, including my own State, unfortunately, including Proposition 209 many years ago, in the State of California many minority students are being systematically shut out of public higher education.

But let's be clear: even in schools that are well integrated, minority students often are treated differently.

As the results from the Civil Rights Data Collection survey showed, which was recently released by the Department of Education and supported by the CBC, despite making up only 18 percent of enrollees, African American students represented 42 percent of preschool students suspended once.

Can you believe that? Forty-two percent of preschool students suspended once. These are 4- and 5-year-olds. And nearly half of the students suspended more than once.

African American girls were suspended at rates 12 percent higher than girls of any other race or ethnicity. Black boys were suspended at higher rates--20 percent--than girls or boys of any other race or ethnicity.

These are kids who are 4 and 5 years old. This is simply unacceptable.

As chair of the CBC's Taskforce on Poverty and the Economy, and the Democratic whip's Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality, and Opportunity, we as task force members recognize that equal access to a quality public school education is key to lifting children out of poverty. And true equality could not be achieved if systematic institutional barriers to opportunity are allowed to persist.

It was the Thurgood Marshalls of the world, the Medgar Everses, the Rosa Parkses, the Fannie Lou Hamers, the Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, the Malcolm X's, and all those unsung heroes and sheroes in our communities at the local level that ensured that this Nation would live up to its own promise and the guarantee that was laid out in Brown.

And so on the 60th anniversary of this tremendous Supreme Court victory, I hope that Members of this body recognize that while legal segregation is ended--yes, the laws of the land will not allow it--de facto segregation and institutional and structural racism is alive and well. Our public policy agenda must take that fact into account.

We must complete the unfinished business of Brown v. The Board of Education by supporting legislation, public policies, and funding priorities that bring true equality and equity in education to all children.

Thank you again, Congressman Horsford, for allowing us to talk this evening on this historic and momentous 60-year anniversary of Brown v. The Board of Education.

I want to reemphasize this very recent statistic on this 60th anniversary.

Despite making up only 18 percent of enrollees, African American students represented 42 percent of preschool students who are suspended. These are 4- and 5-year-olds.

Just remember that as we debate public policy in this body.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Carol Winograd for her extraordinary career and to join J Street in recognizing her for the 2014 Tzedek v'Shalom Award for her lifelong dedication to tikkun olam, which means, ``repairing the world.'' Dr. Winograd is an emerita professor of Medicine and Human Biology at Stanford University and currently serves as a member on the J Street Executive Board.

Born in New Jersey, Dr. Winograd received her Bachelor of Arts with honors in French at Wellesley College, and she attended Harvard University for graduate school, studying biomedical studies. She later received her Medical Degree cum laude from Boston University Medical School and attended the University of California, San Francisco, for her Internal Medicine and Family Medicine residencies.

Throughout Dr. Winograd's esteemed career, she has focused her research on identifying predictors of decline in frail, hospitalized patients, and improving their function, especially mobility. Her professional interests include geriatric assessment, Alzheimer's disease, mobility, health policy, women's issues, and a comprehensive health and social approach to aging.

Dr. Carol Winograd's steadfast commitment to geriatrics research is evident in her many professional roles on the subject. She advises students and teaches courses on women and aging, mobility, and geriatrics. She was also an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco, and then served as Clinical Director of the Geriatric Research and Education Center at Stanford. Dr. Winograd served on the editorial board of numerous scientific journals and other boards. She is also a member of the steering committee of the Women Donors Network's Middle East Peace Circle.

Throughout her career, Dr. Carol Winograd has received numerous accolades for her outstanding achievements, including the 1973 Roche Award for Scholarship and Character, the Malamud Prize for Excellence in Psychiatry and General Medicine, and was a finalist for Alwin C. Rambar Award for Excellence in Patient Care.

In addition to Dr. Winograd's many contributions to her field, she co-authored the book, Treatments for the Alzheimer Patient: The Long Haul, as well as peer-reviewed more than 40 articles on functional impairment in hospitalized elders, mobility and geriatric assessment. She is also active in using art for healing, and has exhibited her paintings in numerous art shows.

In 2012, Dr. Winograd co-led J Street's first Women's Congressional Delegation to Israel. I also co-led this educational trip with Dr. Winograd, and this was truly an amazing trip due to Carol's brilliance and experience. One year later, Dr. Winograd co-founded J Street's Women's Leadership Forum to increase women participation and greater inclusion of

Israeli and Palestinian women in peace negotiations.

On a personal note, I always feel a lot of love, joy and optimism when in the presence of Carol. Her energy and her spirit inspires me to continue to fight the good fight. I am honored and humbled by Carol's friendship and proud to call her my friend.

On behalf of the residents of California's 13th Congressional District, Dr. Carol Winograd, I salute you for your lifetime of service to the community, the nation and to the world. I commend Dr. Carol Winograd's dedication to promoting social justice causes and wellness efforts. I congratulate and thank you, for you have touched many lives in profound ways throughout your career. We wish you and your family continued prosperity and happiness.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Henry Ramsey, Jr., former Alameda County judge, member of the Berkeley City Council and dean of Howard University's law school. Known throughout the Bay Area and the nation for his dedication to civil rights and justice, Mr. Ramsey has left an indelible mark on our national discourse. With his passing on March 14, 2014, we look to the outstanding quality of his life's work and the inspiring role he played in the fight for social justice.

Henry Ramsey, Jr., moved to California to pursue an undergraduate degree, becoming one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the University of California, Riverside in 1960. After receiving his law degree a few years later from the University of California, Berkeley, Mr. Ramsey started his career at the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office. Once again, he broke racial barriers being among the first African American prosecutors hired in the office.

Throughout the 1970s, Henry Ramsey, Jr. was a member of the faculty at Boalt Hall. During this time, he also served on the Berkeley City Council, working to ensure the growth and innovation for the City of Berkeley. Later, Mr. Ramsey was appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court bench before serving as dean of Howard University's School of Law from 1990 to 1996.

Throughout Mr. Ramsey's career, he was acutely aware of the role the judicial system played in the fight for equality and justice. He represented those who could not obtain representation, including members of the Black Panthers. Mr. Ramsey was committed to helping others, especially youth and seniors, and to giving back to his community.

Mr. Ramsey was keenly committed to education, ethics reform and the rule of law, serving as chairperson of the Law School Admission Council's bar passage student committee and the American Bar Association (ABA) section of legal education and admissions to the bar. He also served as a member on the ABA Commission on Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct as well as on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Throughout his prolific career, Henry Ramsey, Jr. received various accolades for his outstanding achievements. Mr. Ramsey was honored with Boalt Hall School of Law's Citation Award, the highest honor recognizing a distinguished graduate. In 2000, he was the recipient of the Robert J. Kutak Award for promoting understanding between legal education and the active practice of law.

I met Henry in the early 1970's. I knew immediately that he was a force to be reckoned with and recognized that he understood that ``power concedes nothing without demand.'' Yet even with his brilliance and bold work for racial and economic justice, he had a gentle and kind spirit, counseling my dear beloved friend, the late Beth Meador, and me on Black political empowerment and why we must get and stay involved in politics. Judge Ramsey's spirit and legacy will continue to soar and inspire young people as he inspired me and Beth to fight the good fight.

Today, California's 13th Congressional District salutes and honors an outstanding individual, Henry Ramsey, Jr. As a distinguished Alameda County resident, Mr. Ramsey's efforts and devotion to social equality have truly paved the way for minorities and impacted so many lives throughout the nation. I join all of Henry's loved ones in celebrating his incredible life. He will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and not present for rollcall votes 178 and 179. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes'' on both.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Oakland Youth Orchestra (OYO). Since its debut in the 1963-64 season, OYO has a history of commissioning, premiering and recording the works of great American composers. The youth orchestra performs a wide range of challenging pieces, showcasing their work and talent during several concerts each season.

Since the establishment of the Oakland Youth Orchestra in 1963, its Artistic Directors and leaders have inspired and motivated generations of students with the highest degree of commitment and professionalism. In the past 50 years, 0Y0 has strived to promote the importance of arts education and to allow access to the arts for all youth.

Today, the Oakland Youth Orchestra consists of 88 talented young musicians, representing 46 different schools from more than 30 cities in the Bay Area. Ranging from ages 12 to 22 years old, these artists have the opportunity to learn from, and be coached by, professional orchestral musicians. The youth orchestra students have the opportunity to travel to different regions of the world, performing in Europe, the Middle East, Central and South America, Asia, the Caribbean Islands and Australia.

Moreover, the Oakland Youth Orchestra has received numerous accolades for its talented performances. For its service to contemporary music, the orchestra has received the Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music award from the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) five times in the course of the last four decades.

As the educational arm of the Oakland Symphony, OYO is committed to serving the community and supporting arts throughout the Bay Area. OYO is a member of Arts First Oakland, ASCAP, Association of California Symphony Orchestras, Bay Area Black United Fund and the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. In addition, OYO has participated in the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival of Hope Concert, raising over $100,000 to benefit homeless and underserved youth.

I commend the Oakland Youth Orchestra for providing our youth with a pathway towards growth and achievement. Music is essential to student development and to our sense of identity, community and pride.

On behalf of residents of California's 13th Congressional District, I extend my congratulations on this important milestone and thank all of the many people who have contributed to the success of the Oakland Youth Orchestra. I wish OYO continued success in the years to come.

Mr. Chair, let me first thank our ranking member for his tireless leadership on behalf of our veterans and as our ranking member on the MilCon Subcommittee.

I also want to thank our chairman for working with us once again to include language in this bill that would require the VA to provide detailed reporting on the unacceptable claims backlog and its efforts to eliminate it.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier and myself, for example, have been working with our veterans in the Bay area. Some of the stories and some of the cases that we have uncovered, discovered, and worked on are heartbreaking. I know Members throughout the country have many veterans whose benefits should have been provided and executed many, many years ago.

In order to reduce the veterans' benefit claims backlog, this bill fully funds the President's budget request of $173 million for the Veterans Benefits Management System and provides an additional $20 million to the Veterans Benefits Administration for records and staffing needs.

As the daughter of a veteran and the Representative of thousands of veterans in my district, I am deeply troubled to hear that young men and women who serve our country must wait an average of 255 days while the VA processes their claims. This wait is inexcusable and unacceptable. We have heard some of the tragic, tragic stories that have arisen out of this.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, let me just say I am very pleased that the House is moving quickly and in regular order to consider the Military Construction and VA Appropriations bill. It is my hope that this will continue as we move forward in the appropriations process with all of our subcommittees.

As a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, it is my hope that our subcommittee, which is the largest share of funding outside of the Pentagon, will receive a proportionate and adequate increase in our total allocation.

Our subcommittee supports programs that impact nearly every household, every community, and every congressional district, and so we owe it to our constituents to have a full, open, and robust debate as the process moves forward.

Thank you to our chair and ranking member on behalf of all of the veterans in my district. I will support this bill. It is a step forward in our appropriations process.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) as it celebrates 50 years of advancing policies and education on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health. Founded in 1964, SIECUS is dedicated to ensuring the sexual health and well-being of our nation's youth and people of all ages.

With the month of April dedicated to STD Awareness, April 10th recognized as National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and the month of May dedicated to Teen Pregnancy Prevention, we acknowledge the continued need for health and sexual education for our nation's young people. I commend SIECUS for its tireless work and commitment to ensuring social justice and sexual rights for all people over the course of the past five decades.

While teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have declined to historic lows, the United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among comparable countries and pregnancy rate disparities--whether by race or geography--among young people persist. Additionally, young people are bearing the burden of new HIV incidence and other sexuality transmitted infections.

Through teacher training, policymaker education, parent and health care provider resources, and national and state partnerships, SIECUS has strived to advance comprehensive sexual education across the country to help address these alarming facts and equip young people with the information and resources they need to lead healthy lives.

Through the vision and leadership put forward by SIECUS, there have been renewed efforts to invest in effective evidence-informed, medically accurate, age-appropriate, and inclusive sexual health education over the past four years.

In my congressional district alone, efforts to support the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) has allowed the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) to effectively collect and report vital student health data and

deliver exemplary sexual health education with an emphasis on HIV and STD prevention. Furthermore, adolescent access to key sexual health services has increased along with the establishment of a safe and supportive environment for both students and staff.

Moreover, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, an initiative that SIECUS also seeks to strengthen and support, has greatly impacted the Alameda County Public Health Department. Currently, Alameda County provides evidence-based HIV, STD, and teen pregnancy prevention to more than 1,500 young people in eighteen OUSD Middle Schools.

Therefore, on behalf of California's 13th Congressional District, I want to extend my congratulations to SIECUS on this important milestone. I wish them continued success in advancing comprehensive sexual education and the health of all people.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank the ranking member for yielding and for your tireless leadership of our committee. I rise in very strong support of the Democratic alternative to the disastrous Republican budget. Our Democratic alternative closes tax loopholes and makes smart investments in policies and programs that create jobs, cuts poverty and grows the economy for all.

The Democratic alternative raises the minimum wage to $10.10 which lifts nearly 1 million Americans out of poverty. It also expands the earned income tax credit, and for the millions of Americans still struggling to find a job, it extends the lifeline of unemployment compensation which House Republicans have refused to consider. Nearly 3 million people are living on the edge because Republicans refuse to extend emergency unemployment compensation.

Our alternative protects Medicare, eliminates the sequester, and includes, as our ranking member said, comprehensive immigration reform which lowers our deficit by $900 billion.

Finally, I appreciate some of my Republican colleagues have shown an interest in cutting poverty in our country. However, we have starkly different opinions of how we achieve that goal.

I thank the ranking member.

As I was saying, we must attack poverty, not the poor, as evidenced through the draconian cuts to the safety net in the Ryan budget. Gutting SNAP is not a path out of poverty.

The American people deserve a fighting chance to enter the middle class. They deserve better than the Ryan budget. Let me tell you, the better budget for our country is the Democratic alternative, which provides pathways out of poverty, creates jobs, protects the safety net, and grows the economy for all.

First, let me thank Congresswoman Moore for your very bold leadership on the Budget Committee, and also for leading us today in this debate.

And too, of course, Congressman Bobby Scott, the chair of our Congressional Black Caucus. Just want to thank you all for bringing forth really what is a very pro-American budget.

I rise in strong support of the Congressional Black Caucus budget. I just have to say, Chairman Ryan and I, we constantly talk about how to lift people out of poverty. I have to say that his poverty report, and I just have to respond to what he said because we know that the War on Poverty and the programs and the safety net, they have worked. They have saved millions and millions of people from falling into the ranks of the poor, and have lifted people out of poverty.

If we raised the minimum wage right now, these single moms that you talk about, who rely on food stamps and Medicaid because they can't get a decent living wage, yeah, they would be very happy. And I think the country would be a lot better, if, in fact, we raised the minimum wage, which, of course, the Congressional Black Caucus budget promotes and allows for and invests in in terms of job creation and in terms of ensuring that the safety net is preserved.

Instead of ending subsidies for Big Oil, tax breaks for corporate jets, tax breaks for companies that site offshore, the Republican budget cuts at least $125 million from SNAP.

In stark contrast, the CBC budget provides $388 billion to eradicate poverty in America, restoring cuts to SNAP, extending unemployment insurance, and targeting resources to those most in need.

Our budget also addresses health disparities and protects and strengthens Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, restoring the cuts the Ryan budget would make.

This budget provides $230 billion to revitalize our Nation's infrastructure and creates a $500 billion jobs program to our initiatives in our budget to accelerate the Nation's economic recovery, including $7 billion in a summer jobs program.

A budget is a moral document. It reflects who we are as a country. The CBC's budget reflects the best of American values.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on this balanced, pro-growth, pro-jobs budget.

Finally, it ends the overseas contingency account. This perpetual spending on war needs to end. Nation-building at home must begin.

I want to thank our cochairs, Congressmen Grijalva and Ellison, for their very hard work on this budget, which is a better-off budget. As former cochair of the Progressive Caucus, I rise in proud support of this budget because each year this budget continues to get better and better.

As a member of the Budget and the Appropriations Committees, I was really, once again, appalled by the devastating cuts that the Ryan Republican budget makes to the safety net.

The number one priority of our budget is fixing the jobs crisis, and that is exactly what the CPC budget would do. The Progressive Caucus budget asks the wealthiest 1 percent--Big Oil and huge corporations--to pay a little more, just a little more, so that we can afford to invest in the American people and create over 8 million jobs over the next 3 years alone. The CPC budget replaces the disastrous sequester by supporting critical spending in education, infrastructure, and rejecting benefit cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

While the Republican budget continues to keep the American Dream out of reach for all Americans, it would increase spending for the already- bloated Pentagon budget.

Chairman Ryan's report on poverty refuses to acknowledge the fact that Head Start and all of the Great Society initiatives have kept millions out of poverty. They have worked. Raising the minimum wage for single mothers provides a pathway out of poverty. Mr. Ryan's report does not acknowledge the facts. Taxpayers, for example, subsidize corporations to the tune of over $200 billion just to keep people in the ranks of the working poor.

The CPC budget eliminates the Overseas Contingency Operations slush fund and supports a modern military able to face real, 21st-century threats. Once again, we provide economic growth and jobs in our budget, and we require the Pentagon--the largest single Federal agency with the highest waste, fraud, and abuse--to pass an audit and to pass it now.

I just want to conclude by saying that we simply can't continue to write a blank check for spending on war if we are really going to have any chance of getting our fiscal house in order. We can't do this to America's struggling families and the working poor. That is what the American people deserve. With our budget, the Better Off Budget, our country will be better off.