Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, politics is the art of what is possible, what is achievable--not the measure of our differences.

We come to this Chamber--we should--to seek common ground, to solve problems, to address challenges. That is what I have done over the course of the last 4 years: work with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to improve quality of life in our country, in our communities, and to show the American public that this institution is capable of responding to its concerns and its aspirations.

In Congress, progress is measured in small units, the way our Founding Fathers intended.

On climate and the environment, we broke the ice, bringing Republicans and Democrats together in the Climate Solutions Caucus, the first meaningful bipartisan dialogue and collaboration effort on this subject in a generation. We also filed landmark legislation that would make massive investments in American infrastructure while reducing carbon emissions and creating clean energy jobs.

Climate change and transportation infrastructure--twin challenges threatening the future of my home, Miami-Dade County. The Market Choice Act would make it more likely that our children and grandchildren can live out their years in our paradise, an area marked and blessed with countless natural treasures.

On immigration, we forced the House to process and debate comprehensive reform for the first time in nearly a decade. While for many, using this subject and the many victims of a broken immigration system for political gain is the preference, ours was a solution that would secure the border, reform our asylum laws to prevent abuse, keep families together, and secure a future for 2 million American Dreamers--the young immigrants who went to school with our own children and today are contributing to our economy and to our communities.

While the forces of obstruction and cowardice prevailed, this institution grew from the debate, and dividends will be reaped in the future, I have no doubt. This issue is also a special one for Miami- Dade and south Florida. It is personal for us. We are a community of immigrants. We believe immigration should be legal and orderly, and we know immigrants made America great and will continue making it greater still.

Guns--another issue that deeply divides our country. We proposed solutions modeled after what was achieved in Florida in the wake of the tragic massacre at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It is possible to protect gun rights for law-abiding citizens while keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of those who seek to harm others or themselves. We are reforming our criminal justice system in order to truly give people a second chance.

We secured funding for Everglades restoration, for water quality improvements in the Florida Keys, for important infrastructure projects in south Florida. We honored our troops by guaranteeing them the resources they need and granting them the raises they have earned. We also invested in American children, making it easier for immigrant students to learn English and protecting the accountability framework that put all students at the center of the public education system. And we delivered historic tax relief for Florida workers and families while making American businesses more competitive.

In our hemisphere, I have advocated for the oppressed people of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and encouraged the administration to forge strong relationships with leaders committed to human rights, the rule of law, and economic growth and prosperity in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, and others.

In the Middle East, I have worked to support and bolster the critical U.S.-Israel alliance while holding the terrorist mullah regime in Iran accountable for its countless transgressions. And further east, I have advocated for closer relations with important allies like Japan and Taiwan in the face of China's growing hostility.

Most importantly, every day I have put my south Florida community and the country above any partisan or personal interest. My goal has always been to serve with sincerity and decency, to call it honest no matter who might get upset. And even if political consequences would follow, to focus on ideas instead of petty politics, to speak in truth instead of talking points, to be both direct and decorous.

While I have learned much from this institution, it never changed me. I have served to the fullest every day, and I now begin a new chapter in my life overflowing with gratitude for this wonderful opportunity to serve, for the many colleagues I have come to know, for my team, for my family, my God, and for the community that trusted this child of political refugees with the privilege of representing it here in the Congress of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois, who indeed is a wonderful friend. Sometimes his jokes aren't as good, but his advice has been very good here since I started running for the House for the first time in 2013.

The people of southern Illinois are blessed to be represented by Mr. Davis. He is a wonderful family man. He is a great friend, and even though I am moving on, I am very happy to know that people like Rodney Davis will remain a part of this institution working for his community and for our wonderful country.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello), another wonderful friend. We have shared many great experiences together. We have worked hard on the issues that are important to our communities, to our districts.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Costello, for his kind words, and I also want to commend him for his great service to our country. The people of Philadelphia's suburbs have been blessed to have been represented over the last 4 years by a thoughtful, honest, decent man, someone whom I worked with very closely on issues like the environment, like immigration, the difficult issues, the controversial issues, the issues where legislators are required to take risks if they are going to have a positive impact.

My final message is just extreme gratitude to this wonderful institution, to my community for this privilege, this opportunity. To my parents, Teresita and Carlos Curbelo, when they arrived in this country with nothing except the desire to be free and to work and contribute, I don't think they could have ever imagined that their son would be able to serve in this fine institution. Only in this wonderful country can we tell stories like that. Only in this wonderful country do these miracles happen.

I also want to thank my wife and my two daughters--Cecilia, my wife, and Sylvie and Carolina, my daughters--because public service is difficult, especially on young families, and my wife and my daughters have sacrificed a lot. Of course, we have done it with the support of our family, my in-laws, my parents, my friends, and everyone.

Again, to all my colleagues, I wish you the best. I will be rooting for you. Please continue trying to help strengthen this country, continue trying to do the right thing every day and serve with a servant's heart.

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

Mr. Speaker, Saturday marks the end of Immigrant Heritage Month, an annual tradition dedicated to celebrating the contributions immigrants have made to communities all across the country.

Our Nation was founded by immigrants. The very existence of our entire democracy, of this institution, is the result of compromise and consensus by the descendants of immigrants, and today our Nation continues to owe a great debt of gratitude to the contributions of more recent arrivals who are an essential part of daily life, our economy, and our society.

I had hoped we would be able to close out this celebration with the news that, for the first time in a long time, Congress had come together to fix our broken, inefficient, unfair immigration system. Instead, a bipartisan majority decided to double down on the status quo: a porous border, uncertainty for the victims of a broken immigration system, and continued division between Americans over the issue of immigration.

Despite this setback, I am hopeful that, working with any colleague that is willing to do so in this House, I and other Members can find a solution to this broken immigration system and, in doing so, help heal our country's politics.

Mr. Speaker, I am relatively new to this body, but I have been following politics in this country for quite some time. For many years, I have been hearing Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, but more so on this side, promising the country that we would secure the border, that we would disrupt the drug traffickers who are poisoning our people, and that we would disrupt the human traffickers who abuse and rape small children and others as they take them across the desert.

This is the opportunity to fulfill the promise of securing our country's border, because this country, just like any other country in the world, has the right and the responsibility to secure its border and enforce its immigration laws.

For a long time, I have also been hearing people talk about Dreamers, the victims of a broken immigration system, young immigrants brought to our country as children, who grew up here, went to school with our own children, pledge allegiance to the same flag, and today are contributing to this great country. A lot of people in this Chamber, on both sides, more so on the other side of the aisle, have been promising a solution for Dreamers for 17 years, with nothing to show for it.

This is our opportunity to make sure these young immigrants are treated fairly and guaranteed a future in America with a bridge onto the legal immigration system. We take the exact criteria that the Obama administration laid out in the DACA program. That is in this legislation.

This bill will also help us end family separation, which I think there is a great deal of bipartisanship for in this Chamber. Our country should have the ability to enforce its laws and to keep families together, which is exactly what the Obama administration was attempting to do until the courts got in the way. We can fix that here.

And lastly, we need to modernize our immigration system. We are a nation of immigrants. I am the child of immigrants, and I am so proud of it. But our immigration laws are outdated. Our immigration system has to be modernized so that it is better aligned with our economy so that immigrants who come to this country have the best opportunity to grow, to prosper, and to contribute.

The alternative is the status quo. A vote against this legislation is the status quo.

What is the status quo? A porous, wall-less border; uncertainty for Dreamers; young people who could lose their status within months; families separated at the border; and an outdated immigration system that dishonors every American.

So this is our chance to come together. Is this legislation perfect? Every Member of this House could find an excuse to vote against this bill. But that is the problem with immigration, that nothing has ever been good enough. When nothing is good enough, you get nothing. And that is not fair to the American people.

That is why I sat at the table, and I have been at the table for weeks, not just with Republicans, with Democrats, good colleagues like Mr. Polis. We sat long hours trying to reach a compromise, and it is always elusive. Let's change that now.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, the reason I am here is because I made a commitment to my constituents, and, really, to the country, that I wanted to improve our country's immigration system.

If you look at the reality of what is happening today, it is really sad. We have a chaotic situation at the border. We have drug traffickers active at the border, bringing in their drugs, poisoning the American people.

We have human traffickers, which are exploiting some of the most vulnerable people in the world, profiting off of them.

Some of these children that get brought over by coyotes get abused, molested, raped.

This is what is happening at our southwest border, and it has to change.

The underlying bill invests in border security, and most Americans-- an overwhelming majority--want to see the situation at the border improve. And an overwhelming majority believes that the United States of America, like every country in the world, has the right and the duty to enforce its laws and to protect its borders.

I am also here, Mr. Speaker, because I made a commitment to some of the victims of our broken immigration system.

There are a lot of young immigrants in our country who were brought over as children. Some of them have no memory of their countries of origin. They are the victims of a broken immigration system. Some of these young

people--I know their stories because I know them well--when they are 14 or 15, they discover that they are undocumented, after years of having sat in classrooms with our own kids, pledging allegiance to our own flag, and loving this country just as much as we do.

And that is why this bill contains a solution that is fair to these young immigrants.

If we don't pass this bill, these young immigrants, the Dreamers, the DACA recipients, could lose all of their protections in a matter of months.

Now, we don't have to get into why or how that happened. We know that there are some court challenges out there, but that is the reality. That is what we are dealing with today.

In addition to that, we have all spoken out against this tragedy of children being separated at the border and the difficult position that the current and the previous administration were in of having to choose between enforcing our immigration laws and separating families.

Yes, the Obama administration planned and started detaining families together until a court told them that they could not, and now we have a true tragedy on our hands. This bill would also help solve that issue.

In addition to that, we modernize our immigration laws by making sure that our economy's needs are met.

Now, the alternative is to vote ``no'' and to double down on the status quo: a failed broken immigration system that has created so many victims over the years, from the small children who get abused by the human traffickers, to the young immigrants in our country who discovered one day that they were undocumented, to drug trafficking at the border that is poisoning so many people in our country.

A vote against this bill is a vote for that status quo. And I don't think anyone in this Chamber supports the status quo on immigration.

Mr. Speaker, I know this bill isn't perfect. This isn't the bill I would have drafted. My bill is the Recognizing America's Children Act. That is the bill that I drafted and that I would prefer. But there are 435 of us in this Chamber, and sometimes we have to meet somewhere, meet into the middle, compromise.

And let's not let this time be like it always is on immigration where everyone says: Unless I can get 100 percent of what I want, no one is going to get anything. And that might be easy for us to say here in this Chamber, but that isn't something easy for people to hear. For the American people, for young immigrants brought to our country, for the DACA population, that isn't easy for them to hear.

They want to hear that we are going to find a way to get to yes, and that although our solution might not be perfect, it will leave us at a place better than the one we are in today.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I respectfully ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strongly consider supporting this legislation that will leave our country much better off than it is today.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5775) to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require Medicare Advantage plans and part D prescription drug plans to include information on the risks associated with opioids, coverage of certain nonopioid treatments used to treat pain, and on the safe disposal of prescription drugs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5775, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I stand today in strong support of H.R. 5775, the Providing Reliable Options for Patients and Educational Resources Act, or the PROPER Act.

This is a bipartisan bill centered on increasing educational resources for Medicare beneficiaries and improving pain-related questions contained in patient satisfaction surveys.

H.R. 5775, introduced by my colleagues Erik Paulsen, Ron Kind, Brian Fitzpatrick, Bruce Poliquin, and Conor Lamb, contain several bills to combat the opioid crisis, including H.R. 5686, the Medicare CHOICE Act; H.R. 5714, the Education for Disposal of Unused Opioids Act; and H.R. 5719, the Reduce Overprescribing Opioids in Treatment, or ROOT Act.

Unfortunately, my home State of Florida has seen a dramatic increase in opioid-related overdose deaths in the past several years. Every year, thousands of Floridians become addicted and lose their lives to opioid addiction.

Effective alternatives to opioids, such as physical therapy and medical devices exist, and in most instances are covered by Medicare.

However, many seniors and providers simply aren't aware of the coverage options. Education is a key tool for seniors to make informed decisions about their healthcare.

For this reason, the Ways and Means Committee sprang into action and passed H.R. 5775 unanimously. This bill contains provisions authored by my colleagues Erik Paulsen and Ron Kind to inform seniors about alternative nonaddictive pain management therapies covered by Medicare.

This bill also includes a provision led by my colleagues Diane Black, Joe Crowley, Richard Hudson, and Raul Ruiz to educate seniors on safe disposal of unused controlled substances.

Lastly, this bill includes another provision led by Diane Black and Tom O'Halleran requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to remove all pain-related questions contained in Medicare's hospital patient surveys unless the individual experiencing the pain is also informed about the risks associated with the use of opioids and given information on nonopioid alternatives for the treatment of pain.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for their strong bipartisan work. This bill will make a difference in addressing the opioid epidemic that continues to devastate many Americans and their families.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC, June 8, 2018.

Hon. Greg Walden,

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Walden: I write to you regarding several

opioid bills the Committee on Ways and Means ordered

favorably reported to address the opioid epidemic. The

following bills were also referred to the Committee on Energy

and Commerce.

I ask that the Committee on Energy and Commerce waive

formal consideration of the following bills so that they may

proceed expeditiously to the House Floor:

H.R. 5774, Combatting Opioid Abuse for Care in Hospitals

(COACH) Act;

H.R. 5775, Providing Reliable Options for Patients and

Educations Resources (PROPER) Act;

H.R. 5776, Medicare and Opioid Safe Treatment (MOST) Act;

H.R. 5773, Preventing Addition for Susceptible Seniors

(PASS) Act;

H.R. 5676, Stop Excessive Narcotics in our Retirement

(SENIOR) Communities Protection Act; and

H.R. 5723, Expanding Oversight of Opioid Prescribing and

Payment Act.

I acknowledge that by waiving formal consideration of the

bills, the Committee on Energy and Commerce is in no way

waiving its jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in

those provisions of the bills that fall within your Rule X

jurisdiction. I would support your effort to seek appointment

of an appropriate number of conferees on any House-Senate

conference involving this legislation.

I will include a copy of our letters in the Congressional

Record during consideration of this legislation on the House

floor.

Sincerely,

Kevin Brady,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, the PROPER Act will bring much needed education to our seniors.

This bill was brought through the committee process in a bipartisan fashion, and now on the floor I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of H.R. 5775, the PROPER Act.

This is another example of how Republicans and Democrats can come together, can work together, to help struggling families in our country, and in this case seniors, who should be aware of all the different options that are available to them for pain treatment and should certainly be aware of the many risks associated with opioid use.

Madam Speaker, I am grateful to all my colleagues and to committee staff for all their work on this legislation, and I strongly encourage everyone to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am here this evening to emphasize the importance of reforming our Nation's policies concerning cannabis. This issue has grown to be increasingly bipartisan over the years, yet some in this administration have largely ignored the rising public support for legal, State-regulated cannabis.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz), a distinguished colleague from the panhandle.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership, his honesty, and his sincerity on this issue, and I am proud to say that I have cosponsored this legislation.

Now I will yield to one of the original cosponsors of Mr. Gaetz's legislation and one of the great leaders in this institution on this issue for many years, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), who has been educating colleagues and the American public on

cannabis. Tonight, I am pleased to be joined by him here on the floor and to yield to him.

Mr. Speaker, I truly admire and appreciate my colleague. He is a man of principle, but he is also someone who is always at the table trying to find common ground, trying to see how this institution can work better, how we can all work together for commonsense solutions, for what, in this case, so many Americans are asking of this institution: to allow each State to come up with its own laws, its own regulations for this industry.

So I thank my colleague very much for spending a little time with us here this evening and also for all of his work over many years, because, as he said, many in this institution are coming around on both sides of the aisle. But it is Mr. Blumenauer who, for a long time, led these efforts, and it was always an issue of consensus, the way it is today. So thank you very much to my distinguished colleague.

Mr. Speaker, nine States and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and medical marijuana is legal in an additional 29 States, including my home State of Florida. Over 70 percent of Florida voters supported legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the 2016 elections, including 80.3 percent and 68.3 percent in the two counties I represent, Monroe and Miami-Dade, respectively.

As a matter of fact, the President was in Monroe County Thursday, and many people greeted him in the streets. Many of those were supporters, considering 80 percent support in that district of this issue.

On Friday of last week, a report published by the Florida Department of Health indicated the State's medical marijuana patient registry has risen to 100,576 people, a dramatic increase from the 23,350 patients registered in June of 2017. This milestone also happens to coincide with the opening of Miami Beach's first medical marijuana dispensary, Surterra Wellness.

Despite overwhelming support from the public and medical community, however, legitimate businesses such as Surterra face financial and legal uncertainty because of a witch hunt opened up by Attorney General Sessions last year. To make matters worse, he is now hamstringing scientific research to analyze the medical applications of cannabis.

I, along with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, have taken a multipronged approach to improving our country's irresponsible and ill-advised laws on cannabis. Congressman Blumenauer and I are addressing the industry's significantly disproportionate tax burden through the Small Business Tax Equity Act, legislation which provides tax parity to marijuana businesses operating in compliance with State law.

I am also working with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Garrett) to urge the Department of Justice to order the Drug Enforcement Administration to immediately approve additional registrations for the bulk manufacture of cannabis for exclusively federally-approved research purposes.

Compliant manufacturers are attempting to provide State and Federal Governments and medical professionals with fact-based research on cannabis' effects, both adverse and therapeutic, but their applications to do so aren't being assessed. It is difficult for me to comprehend the logic behind blocking scientific research to analyze the medical applications of cannabis because I believe it is critical for policymakers to possess objective data on the effectiveness of cannabis as an alternative treatment for anxiety, depression, pain, psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, opioid addiction, and epilepsy. We owe it to American patients to open up the field of research on this.

Now, the only logical explanation I can think of is that the Attorney General knows the facts of this field of research won't support his policies or the witch hunt he and his Department have been conducting on legal State-regulated operators across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses claimed nearly 68,000 lives throughout the United States in 2017 alone, with over 45,000 of those as a result of opioids, legal drugs.

An aptly timed article was published this morning by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta in which he details the results of his investigation into the benefits of cannabis over the course of a 5- year study.

Though admittedly skeptical at first, after dedicating countless hours with both patients and scientists scattered throughout the globe, Dr. Gupta began to view the plant in a different light: as a source for healing instead of a gateway for substance abuse.

At the conclusion of Dr. Gupta's in-depth examination, he came to the deduction that ``not only can cannabis work for a variety of conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and pain; sometimes, it is the only thing that works.'' Referenced in this article is an analysis conducted by researchers from the RAND Corporation, and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which showed an approximated 20 percent decline in opioid overdose deaths between 1999 and 2010 in States with legalized medical marijuana and functioning dispensaries.

Mr. Speaker, this analysis is similar to countless others I have heard that prove cannabis can quell both the disease of addiction and the pains associated with it. Now, some may view this investigation and others as if they are anecdotal, and to them I say, ``Let's find out.'' Let's stop hamstringing Federal research of the issue and let's let the facts speak for themselves.

As I have said before in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker, the best ally that illegal operators like drug cartels and drug traffickers--who do not pay taxes, who target children, who have no safety standards for their products--the best ally they have are the policies that the Attorney General has embraced. Because by continuing to hamstring Federal research, over tax, and stoke uncertainty, legally operating businesses that are State regulated, that pay taxes, that are helping patients who are suffering, can no longer compete. And when these businesses can no longer compete, people turn to the black market.

So inadvertently, I hope, the Attorney General is actually doing a great favor to the criminals operating outside the law by punishing law-abiding Americans trying to control the substance and make it safer.

So I am here today to, once again, call upon this administration to not just allow, but encourage, meaningful reform on our Nation's cannabis policies. On this issue, we have an opportunity to reinforce the 10th Amendment and ensure the Federal Government does not overstep its boundaries and supersede the will of the States. On this issue, we have an opportunity to afford businesses selling legal products the chance to contribute to our economy and create jobs, while simultaneously crippling the criminal enterprises empowered by and prospering under the Attorney General's policies. And perhaps most importantly, we have an opportunity to change--and possibly even save-- the lives of Americans suffering from opioid addiction and other diseases and conditions.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of colleagues in this Chamber who say people should be able to buy whatever health insurance or get whatever kind of health coverage they want, and the government should interfere as little as possible, and I agree. But on this issue, there seems to be a hypocrisy, and many colleagues want to impose a Federal view or a Federal perspective on States, on the people of States like Florida, who have already decided explicitly and clearly and overwhelmingly.

So I thank my colleagues who joined me here tonight, and I truly look forward to the day where this institution can legislate in a way that respects the people of Florida, respects the people of Oregon, respects the people of Colorado, and American citizens in 36 States in the union, who have spoken loud and clear.

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

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 140, and YEA on Roll Call No. 141.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2901) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent Volunteer Income Tax Assistance matching grant program, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2901, currently under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2901, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Permanence Act, that I am grateful to see brought before the House today.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is a matching grant program administered by the IRS where the Federal Government partners with the local community to provide free professional tax preparation services to individuals with an annual income of less than $54,000 and for those with a limited proficiency in English.

Today, April 17, is tax day, the deadline for filing returns. As Americans all across the country work to complete their returns, we are reminded of the dangers associated with tax return preparer fraud. Filing your return can be confusing, and unscrupulous preparers seek to take advantage of this confusion for their own profit.

They bring in business by promising larger refunds, refunds they are able to obtain by claiming inflated expenses, false deductions, or unreliable credits on their clients' returns. Some fraudulent preparers even siphon off refunds to their own accounts. However, when the IRS detects the false return, it is the taxpayer, and not the return preparer, who is then liable for any additional taxes and/or penalties.

Unfortunately, it is low-income and underserved populations, such as those with limited English, who are the primary targets of fraudulent preparers. It is a threat that my district in south Florida is all too familiar with.

Thankfully, the VITA program allows taxpayers to fill out and submit their returns accurately without the fear of being scammed--all free of charge. The VITA preparers are IRS certified, and at 94 percent, have among the highest accuracy rates of all preparers.

This program has enjoyed strong support in the past, regardless of administration or the party in the majority. H.R. 2901 would permanently authorize the VITA grant program while ensuring that VITA preparers continue to maintain their high-accuracy rates.

I want to thank Representative Danny Davis for partnering with me on this legislation. I am appreciative of the work and leadership Chairman Brady and Subcommittee Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins, as well as the staff of the Oversight Subcommittee and the other House Committees on Ways and Means staff for their efforts on this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, this will help some of the most vulnerable people in our country, people who want to comply with the Tax Code. It will make sure that individuals who are eligible for certain benefits under the Tax Code are able to obtain them.

In short, this will improve quality of life for lower- and middle- income people in our country, especially in my south Florida district.

I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2901, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Permanence Act, and support the VITA program, which helps our constituents file their taxes confidently and accurately.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, having no other speakers, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I want to first thank my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K. Davis), for his hard work on this bill. Dr. Davis is someone who has committed his career to Americans who are struggling the most, and he is willing to work with anyone in this Congress who wants to help our communities get ahead, especially those who are struggling and who most need our help. It has been a true honor to collaborate with him on this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I want to remind my colleagues once again what the VITA program is all about.

Every tax filing season, unscrupulous preparers try to take advantage of underserved populations by filing fraudulent returns on their behalf.

The taxpayer and not the preparer is then liable for the fraudulent return. This happens way too often, Madam Speaker, in south Florida and throughout the country.

The VITA program goes a long way to mitigate the threat preparer fraud poses to vulnerable communities by providing free tax preparation services administered by IRS-certified preparers.

Taxpayers who just want to comply with the Tax Code should not have to fear additional taxes or penalties because of a fraudulently repaired return. The VITA program gives these taxpayers a place to go where they can rest assured their tax returns will be filed accurately and at no cost.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense program and vote to permanently reauthorize the VITA grant program.

I want to thank, Madam Speaker, so many volunteers at the United Way, at branches in South Dade, who every tax season help hundreds and hundreds of lower and middle-income Americans get through this difficult process.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 830, I call up the bill (H.R. 5192) to authorize the Commissioner of Social Security to provide confirmation of fraud protection data to certain permitted entities, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5192, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5192, the Protecting Children from Identity Theft Act, and I am grateful that it is being brought before the House today.

This bill aims to combat synthetic identity fraud by directing the Social Security Administration to accept electronic signatures when financial institutions want to verify their customers' information.

Synthetic identity fraud accounts for 80 percent of all credit card fraud losses today. It has been reported that a record $355 million in outstanding credit card balances was owed by people who it suspects didn't exist in 2017, up more than eightfold from 2012.

The Government Accountability Office describes this type of fraud as involving the creation of a fictitious identity using a combination of real data, like a Social Security number or date of birth, from multiple individuals, along with fabricated information.

H.R. 5192 is an important step in reducing fraud, while also ensuring that the Social Security Administration is able to continue providing important services and benefits.

The SSA Commissioner is not allowed to begin development of the new verification system until the Commissioner determines that at least 50 percent of the program's startup costs have been covered by users. After initial development, users of the verification system are obligated to pay for the ongoing costs associated with this new workload by way of advances, reimbursements, user fees, or other recoveries, as determined by the Commissioner.

My south Florida district is far too familiar with fraudulent activity affecting the community, and sadly, children and immigrants are particularly vulnerable to these schemes. Over 1 million children have their identity stolen annually, and they are 50 times more likely than adults to be victims of identity theft.

I am proud to partner with Representatives Sinema, Hultgren, and Marchant on this important effort. I would also like to thank Chairman Brady and subcommittee Chairman Johnson for their leadership and hard work, as well as the staff of the Social Security Subcommittee and the rest of the House Committee on Ways and Means staff who have worked on this legislation.

I encourage all my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 5192, the Protecting Children from Identity Theft Act, to help modernize identity protections for our children.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), the distinguished chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank my colleague, Ms. Sinema. It is a pleasure to work with her and to team up, in a bipartisan manner, to fight fraud and to help the most vulnerable, in this case, the children. I am very grateful to her, for all her work on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of my colleague, Mr. Davis, and I agree with him. This is certainly something to celebrate. The American people oftentimes see us arguing. It is less often that they see us collaborating, working together to advance policies that will improve quality of life in our country.

That is why I want to again urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 5192, the Protecting Children from Identity Theft Act. We need to do everything we can to safeguard our communities from these fraud schemes. This problem has worsened significantly over the past few years and is leaving families with debt they did not accrue and a weaker credit history.

H.R. 5192 will help root out synthetic identity fraud through modernized verification of customer information, and I hope my colleagues will join me in voting to help protect individuals across the country from this illegal activity.

Once again, Mr. Speaker, my appreciation to Chairman Brady, to Ranking Member Neal, to Mr. Davis, to Mr. Hultgren, to Ms. Sinema, and to everyone who has been a part of making this happen, so that, after we pass this legislation, children in our country won't have to worry about having their identities stolen at such a young age.

This kind of fraud can really ruin people's lives, and today, we are working together, as one united House, Republicans and Democrats, to fight fraud and to protect children, some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 89.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Commander Christopher A. Weech of the United States Navy. Commander Weech has made a career of defending our nation's freedom on the high seas for the past 34 years. Commander Weech was born and attended school in Key West, Florida, the southernmost point of Florida's 26th District and the United States. CDR Weech's military service has taken him far and wide. He has crossed the Equator four times and was initiated into the Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of Shellbacks on 9 October 1990. His commitment and dedication to serving our nation have earned Commander Weech the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (5 Gold Stars) and the Navy Achievement Medal (1 Gold Star). CDR Weech's final assignment was as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Training and Exercises on the staff of Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet.

Now, after 34 years of service Commander Weech has decided to retire from the Navy. His leadership will certainly be missed, but we look forward to Commander Weech becoming an active part of the community as a civilian.

His wife Jennifer and two daughters Jenna and Britain have a lot to be proud of. I am honored to recognize individuals such as CDR Weech who have given so much in service to our nation.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 95.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day was an incomprehensible act of violence.

I visited the school on Friday, an experience that was both moving and sobering. I walked through the horrifying events that took place there, and I witnessed the outpouring of love and support from so many who have deposited flowers, candles, and left beautiful messages in memory of the victims.

Upon reflecting on that visit and after meeting with the brave student and teacher survivors Sunday in south Florida and yesterday here in Washington, I believe the best way for elected officials to honor the fallen and their families is by taking meaningful action to prevent these tragedies in the future.

That means working to make sure law enforcement agencies have the resources to assess threats and intervene before it is too late. It means investing in mental health, reevaluating school security with measures like the bipartisan STOP School Violence Act, and securing stronger regulations on guns.

Mr. Speaker, the voices and engagement of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas survivors calling for change to our gun safety laws will be decisive. We, as a society, must work together to address loopholes and vulnerabilities in existing law while still protecting Americans' Second Amendment rights.

From strengthening the NICS system to banning bump stocks and preventing those with links to terrorist organizations from acquiring firearms, to raising the age for the purchase of long guns to 21, with exceptions for those in our military and law enforcement, there are commonsense solutions that will not prevent every tragedy but can certainly prevent some and mitigate others.

It won't be easy, but we must make progress on all these fronts. As as a father and a husband, I will not accept that, in the greatest country in the world, the loss of innocent life becomes commonplace.

I am calling on congressional leaders in both Chambers and in both parties to work together and allow Congress to craft, consider, and debate legislation that protects the Second Amendment rights of law- abiding citizens while making all Americans safer. We have to do better, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to working with all my colleagues to honor the 17 innocent lives lost in Parkland.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Reichert and Ranking Member Pascrell for their important work on this legislation.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 4979, to provide a 3-year renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences. The GSP program provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for selected goods from 121 developing countries.

As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I have always been an advocate of policies that allow businesses and consumers to acquire products of their choice at the best possible price. The GSP program gives our businesses and consumers that choice by promoting economic growth in developing countries while creating jobs here at home.

In 2017, U.S. importers enjoyed nearly $865 million in savings on import duties under the GSP program. During the same year, my home State of Florida had $1.2 billion of imports covered by the program and a total savings of $59 million on import duties. Mr. Speaker, that is about a 40 percent increase in savings from 2016.

I want to share the story of Mr. Bruce Price, a small-business owner in my district who would benefit from renewing the GSP program. He recently told my office he expects savings in the range of $25,000 to $45,000 per year if the program is renewed. For Mr. Price, those savings go a long way and make a major difference in determining his business decisions.

I commend the work the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade has done to reinforce our commitment to free and fair trade partnerships around the world. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4979 to help Mr. Price and other small-business owners hire more workers all across our country.

Mr. Speaker, Army Private First Class Johnny Little is a former resident of my district who had been killed in action at the very young age of 19 near Cologne, Germany, while fighting Nazis during World War II. Once Private First Class Little's remains were brought to south Florida, three years after being killed, he was regrettably buried without the recognition of his service that should have marked his grave all these years.

When I became aware of his case last year, I felt it was important this mistake be corrected quickly. My staff immediately opened a case and located

Little's service records. After working with members of his family, my office was able to put in a request to the Department of Veterans Affairs to secure the appropriate marker for his grave. Unfortunately, due to the damage from Hurricane Irma, the cemetery was damaged and the installation of his headstone had to be put on hold.

Thanks largely in part to the work of volunteers who cleaned up and led the recovery after the storm, I am pleased to share that First Class John William Little will finally be receiving the recognition he deserves as his family and members of the community come together with the Homestead Air Force Base Honor Guard to place a proper headstone on his grave later today.

Little was part of what we call the Greatest Generation, and the name is rightly deserved. At a time when human dignity and basic freedoms were under attack, he and millions like him put their lives on hold to ensure our way of life would be protected for generations to come. The basic freedoms we value, the way of life we enjoy, and even the continued existence of our government institutions are because of the sacrifices made by men and women like Private First Class Little.

I am proud of my staff's hard work to secure this recognition for one of our fallen heroes and humbled that we were able to play a role in honoring his memory and sacrifice. I am disappointed I won't be there to honor him in person today, but I look forward to visiting his grave to pay my respects soon.

VITA United Way

Mr. Speaker, last year Congress passed historic tax reform repairing our Nation's broken Tax Code. The positive effects of this new law are beginning to be felt across the country as businesses of all sizes reward their workers with bonuses and higher wages, all while hiring more people to fill new positions.

Millions of Americans across the income spectrum will start seeing more money in their paychecks as soon as this month. However, with the growth of wages and bonuses being realized, reprehensible individuals looking to commit fraud and take advantage of countless hardworking Americans as they file their taxes will see this as a prime opportunity to ply unsuspecting victims. Sadly, fraudulent tax preparation is a problem we know all too well in south Florida.

Fortunately, free tax filing assistance is available for those who need it. The IRS offers the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, known as VITA, to provide free tax preparation services from volunteer tax professionals in local communities.

Mr. Speaker, for low-income families with an annual income of less than $54,000, the elderly, and those struggling with English, VITA services are an opportunity to make the most of the recent tax relief legislation and ensure they are getting as much in their tax return as possible.

Sixty percent of residents in my district qualify for this assistance in preparing their taxes, which is why I have made fighting to protect and strengthen the VITA program one of my top priorities since being appointed to the Ways and Means Committee last year.

Together with my Democratic colleague Representative Danny Davis, I introduced a bipartisan bill that would permanently authorize the IRS to fund this free tax preparation service. It also ensures that VITA grant recipients, who already have accuracy rates of 94 percent, including tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, maintain strong records of accuracy that will save taxpayers money.

My legislation is an important step toward ensuring the IRS is serving taxpayers and not the other way around. I am proud it has strong bipartisan support.

In my district, United Way of Miami-Dade and United Way of Monroe work hard to connect lower-income taxpayers or those with limited English skills with reliable, legitimate tax preparation assistance-- entirely for free through the IRS VITA program. I was honored to invite United Way of Miami-Dade to Washington last year to share the work they do to help so many in our community fully utilize this free resource.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to visit United Way in South Dade this afternoon as planned, but I look forward to rescheduling to bring attention to their work soon.

I want to ensure as many constituents as possible are aware these services are available to protect their hard-earned paychecks, especially in a period of historic tax relief, and I encourage anyone looking for more information to reach out to my office for assistance.