Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of the Financial Services Committee for her leadership and support on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2989, the Financial Transparency Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill I introduced with Financial Services Committee Ranking Member McHenry.

The Financial Transparency Act would require our Nation's financial regulators to adopt a set of data collection and dispersion standards for the information they collect under current law, including the adoption of electronic forms to replace paper-based forms.

All data would be made available in an open-source format that is electronically searchable, downloadable in bulk, and without license restrictions.

Under the bill, Treasury is tasked with establishing common data standards that would allow the standardization and sharing of data across our financial regulators and the public at large. Such data standards would include a common legal entity identifier that would give Treasury an increased ability to provide effective oversight across our financial markets.

The legal entity identifier is used throughout our financial markets and regulations today, and this bill would encourage agencies to continue moving in that direction.

Each financial regulator is then tasked with adopting standards for the data reported to each agency. The regulators maintain the ability to tailor its regulations as needed to fit the unique needs of each entity and have the ability to scale any regulatory requirements in order to reduce regulatory burdens on smaller entities.

I also want to be clear that this is not imposing new regulatory burdens on market participants. This is modernizing and making more transparent the data that is already reported to our regulators and that the regulators publish today.

The bill also contains important protections to ensure confidential business

and supervisory information remains protected.

The end result of this bill will be more transparent and open data sources and data that is readily comparable across businesses and sectors.

This is a win-win for regulators, for investors, for the public, for accuracy, and for industry.

For regulators, they will more easily be able to analyze and search the data its regulated entities are reporting. This will improve efficiency and overall government operations.

For investors, open-data publications will allow for easy searchability and comparability of companies and sectors, empowering investors to act on up-to-date information.

Industries will be able to automatically report required information using software in the format required by their regulators.

Mr. Speaker, the Financial Transparency Act builds on past congressional efforts to make data more accessible, useful, and more accurate.

This has clear benefits for our regulators, investors, and market participants and would improve the ability of our regulators to monitor financial stability and therefore the safety and soundness of our financial markets.

Before I close, I want to take a moment to thank Ranking Member McHenry and his staff for their work and coordination on this important effort. I also want to thank Chairwoman Waters and her staff for working with me on advancing this bill.

This was truly a bipartisan effort, and we would not be here without everyone working in the same direction.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting the Financial Transparency Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his incredible leadership in this body.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3110, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, a bipartisan bill I authored with Representative Herrera Beutler. Our bill has also been introduced in the Senate by Senators Merkley and Murkowski.

When I first came to Congress, working mothers would come to me, often in tears, and advocate for a place to safely pump breast milk. Often, they were fired, ridiculed, forbidden, or forced to pump milk in bathrooms.

Since those years, I have worked for on-site lactation rooms, here in government and really everywhere in our country.

In 1998, I passed a provision allowing State WIC agencies to purchase breast pumps for new mothers, making it easier for low-income moms to choose breastfeeding.

In 1999, Congress passed my bill to guarantee the right to breastfeed on Federal property.

Most recently, Senator Merkley and I passed the Break Time for Nursing Mothers as part of the Affordable Care Act. This act provides employees with critical protections to provide break time for nursing mothers and a private place to pump milk.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act we are considering today builds on the Break Time Act by protecting the nearly 9 million employees who were not originally included in these protections. Those covered by the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act now include teachers, nurses, farmworkers, and software engineers, to name a few.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would also ensure that nursing mothers have remedies if their employers fire them or violate these breastfeeding protections. In addition, if an employee is fired for taking a break, the PUMP Act ensures that workers can seek reinstatement.

It also extends breastfeeding protections for 2 years, in line with recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Over 150 organizations have endorsed this important legislation. I include in the Record letters of support from some of those organizations, including the Center for WorkLife Law, and MomsRising, to name a few.

Written Statement of the Center for WorkLife Law Before the United

States House of Representatives--September 24, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Members of

the U.S. House of Representatives: The Center for WorkLife

Law submits this letter to the U.S. House of Representatives

in full support of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections

(PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110).

The Center for WorkLife Law is a research and advocacy

organization that seeks to advance gender, racial, and class

equity in employment and education. We collaborate with

employees, employers, attorneys, and government officials to

identify practical and legal solutions to work-family issues.

WorkLife Law's 2019 report Exposed: Discrimination Against

Breastfeeding Workers found that shortcomings of the existing

Break Time for Nursing Mothers law have caused lactating

employees to face significant obstacles at work. Even with

the current law's protections, breastfeeding employees

leaking milk have been denied permission to take pumping

breaks; they have been fired just for asking; and refused

privacy, forcing them to pump milk with their breasts exposed

to coworkers, clients, and the public in physically unsafe

conditions. Employees who do not receive the break time and

private space they need can face serious health consequences,

including illness and painful infections, diminished milk

supply, and weaning earlier than doctors recommend. Many

employees also suffer economic losses when they are fired or

forced to resign following a request for lactation

accommodations.

The PUMP Act would correct key shortcomings of existing law

that undermine the economic security and health of women and

their families.

Closing the Coverage Gap that Excludes Millions of Workers

Nearly 9 million women of childbearing age are currently

excluded from the protections of the Break Time for Nursing

Mothers Law, meaning they have no clear federal right to

receive break time and private space to pump milk during the

workday. This exclusion was unintentional at the time the law

was enacted. The resulting coverage gap is considerable and

impacts employees in a wide range of occupations, including

many of those working in the top two pink-collar occupations:

nursing and teaching. The PUMP Act would correct this

senseless exclusion to bring all workers whose employers are

covered by the FLSA under the law's protection.

Providing Appropriate Remedies to Encourage Compliance

Even when clear violations occur, the Break Time for

Nursing Mothers provision cannot be counted on to deliver

appropriate remedies in a court of law. Because employers

cannot be held accountable for intentional legal violations,

noncompliance has been widespread. As one judge expressed in

the case of an EMT who was fired simply for asking that she

be given break time and space: ``While the Court is

sympathetic to Plaintiff's argument that this renders [the

Nursing Mothers law] ineffective, there is no support from

the case law or DOL [Department of Labor]'' to provide a

remedy. Another federal judge observed: ``An employer faced

with a request to allow an employee to take breaks to

breastfeed may simply fire the employee rather than attempt

to accommodate the request for breaks. And indeed, the Center

for WorkLife Law has heard from too many workers whose

employers have done exactly that.

The PUMP Act would correct this absurdity and encourage

employers to follow the law by making remedies that are

already available in other employment law contexts equally

available to breastfeeding workers.

However, the PUMP Act is not expected to lead to a

significant increase in lawsuits. A recent analysis by the

Center for WorkLife Law found that while enforceable laws

increase breastfeeding rates, they do not cause a meaningful

increase in litigation rates. The study reviewed all cases

filed in each state with enforceable lactation break time and

space laws (similar to the PUMP Act) through 2020 and found:

Litigation rates for violations of the state laws were

extremely low. Over the combined forty-seven years that the

four jurisdictions' break time and space laws have been in

effect, there were only six (6) cases total.

The annual likeihood a private employer will be sued under

a break time and space law is essentially zero (0.0002

percent). A business owner is over 25 times more likely to be

struck by lightning in their lifetime.

Notably, the state laws WorkLife Law studied do not include

the additional employer protection found in the PUMP Act that

gives businesses 10 days to correct space violations before

any lawsuit can be filed, a provision that will further

decrease the number of lawsuits that would be filed should

the PUMP Act pass.

The PUMP Act is a balanced approach that meets the needs of

breastfeeding employees while also serving employers who make

reasonable attempts to follow the law. When employers have

clear standards to meet, and appropriate consequences if they

don't, employers have shown that they are able to provide the

break time and space that working mothers need. Complying

with break time and space requirements is simple, and

creative solutions exist in all industries. As described by

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, employers

that support breastfeeding with affordable solutions realize

cost savings from increased loyalty and retention, reduced

sick time, and decreased health care and insurance costs.

Our organization urges all members of Congress to vote in

support because the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would ensure

that all breastfeeding women have the full protection of the

law and ability to meet their basic needs while away from

their nursing babies during the workday. It is a simple

solution that promotes maternal and child health, as well as

the economic security of women and families.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Liz Morris,

Center for WorkLife Law,

UC Hastings College of the Law.

As these organizations have demonstrated, without these protections, nursing mothers face serious health consequences, including the risk of painful illness and the inability to continue to breastfeed.

Studies have shown the health benefits for breastfed infants. It is really important and can prevent other diseases.

These basic protections would ensure that working moms who want to breastfeed can continue to do so and prevent nursing mothers from being singled out, ridiculed, or fired.

This bill is an important step for work-family balance. We say we support families. Today is a vote for families, work-family balance, and mothers and infants.

Madam Speaker, I urge a strong ``yes'' bipartisan vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise strongly in support of the amendment offered by Representative Deborah Ross from North Carolina, and I thank her for her leadership in North Carolina and here in Congress for working mothers, for infants, for families. We need more work-family balance. We need more support for working mothers.

We now know with COVID that many families are not going back to work; they are reassessing their values. When you have a child and you want to breastfeed, and there is no accommodation, there really is no way you can go back to work, so this is pro-business, pro-worker, and pro- family.

Her amendment directs the U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO, to conduct a study on how employers are complying with the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act. Even the best legislation must be monitored.

I am excited about the opportunity to ensure that employers are protecting the rights of nursing mothers. It is pro-family when you protect our mothers and our children.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her leadership on this important bill.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support the amendment offered by Representative Strickland from Washington. It is sensitive, important, and strengthens the bill. It directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study on racial disparities in breastfeeding and submit recommendations to Congress that address those disparities.

As a member of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, we are studying disparities in this caucus on healthcare and the challenges that some women face.

Breastfeeding contains many health benefits for children and for their mothers and should be accessible to all women no matter what their race, and we should study any disparity and try to strengthen access and availability.

This is an excellent amendment, and I support the gentlewoman for her work and sensitivity.

Mr. Speaker, we have a choice. We can work to save our planet and become a global leader in green technology, or we can allow our planet to become uninhabitable. We must choose to protect our planet, the only home we have.

Transitioning to electric vehicles will dramatically reduce carbon emissions and will create a cleaner world for our children. That is why my committee approved billions of dollars to transition the Postal Service and GSA fleets to electric vehicles and provide the necessary charging infrastructure across the country in the postal offices.

This will fund more than 300,000 electric vehicles. That is more electric vehicles than were sold across the entire country last year.

I urge my colleagues to support the Build Back Better plan, which includes funding for electric vehicles that will greatly help our environment.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1508) to require a guidance clarity statement

on certain agency guidance, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

H.R. 1508 would require Federal agencies to include a guidance clarity statement on the first page of guidance documents.

I thank Representative Luetkemeyer and Ranking Member Comer for working with us to perfect this bill.

Federal rules, regulations, and guidance are complex, even at the best of times.

For most Americans who do not spend hours per day reading through the Federal Register, guidance documents can be very confusing.

This simple, good government bill will help clarify for the public that agency guidance is intended to help guide the implementation of Federal regulations, not to act as additional legally binding rules.

This is a bipartisan bill in both the House and the Senate, which passed a Senate companion out of committee by voice vote.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1170) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 League in Irvine, California, as the ``Tuskegee Airman Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Friend Memorial Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

I am pleased to join my colleagues in support of H.R. 1170 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service at 1 League in Irvine, California, as the ``Tuskegee Airman Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Friend Memorial Post Office Building''.

Before passing away in June of 2019, Lieutenant Colonel Friend was one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen who took to the skies during World War II as the first African American military aviators.

The roughly 1,000 Tuskegee Airmen flew 15,000 combat sorties, destroyed 260 enemy aircrafts, and received 150 decorations of the Flying Cross and Legion of Merit, fighting the Nazi Luftwaffe while simultaneously striking a blow against racism back home.

Lieutenant Colonel Friend flew fighter aircrafts for nearly 2 years during the war. During Lieutenant Colonel Friend's 142 combat missions, he destroyed critical Nazi and Axis power military assets, helping move the U.S. and ally forces towards victory during the war.

In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Friend served in strategic roles as an operations officer for the 301st Squadron and was the final operations officer of the 332nd Fighter Group. Lieutenant Colonel Friend also served honorably in Korea and Vietnam.

Lieutenant Colonel Friend was the recipient of multiple military awards for service, including the: Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Unit Citation, Bronze Star with Flying Cross, three Distinguished Service Medals, and an Air Medal. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Friend and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007.

Following the war, Lieutenant Colonel Friend studied astrophysics at the Air Force Institute of Technology and business at the University of California in Los Angeles. After retiring from the Air Force in 1971, he worked as a consultant on the development of missile systems and space-station components near his home in Irvine, California.

Naming a post office for Tuskegee Airman Lieutenant Colonel Friend is entirely appropriate given his distinguished, extraordinary contributions to his State and country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter), the distinguished chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Natural Resources.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1170. I thank Representative Porter for her strong support in helping to pass this important bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3210) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1905 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado, as the ``Officer Eric H. Talley Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include materials on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3210 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1905 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado, as the ``Officer Eric H. Talley Post Office Building''.

Officer Talley joined the Boulder Police Department in 2010 and served the community for 11 years before being tragically shot and killed at a Boulder King Soopers grocery store on March 22, 2021, at the age of 51.

Officer Talley was the first officer to arrive at the scene and was one of ten individuals who were killed that day. He gave his life protecting others and his sacrifice and intervention undoubtedly saved lives during that horrible tragedy.

Officer Talley was recently posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the Boulder Police Department, the department's highest honor, for his heroic actions and sacrifice.

He was born in Houston, Texas, graduated high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and earned a master's degree in computer science from Ball State University in Indiana.

Before joining the Boulder Police Department, Officer Talley worked in information technology, but at the age of 40 he felt a higher calling to switch career paths and join law enforcement after the tragic death of a friend.

In 2013, while serving as a police officer, he made local news when he waded into a drainage ditch to rescue a mother duck and her ducklings that were trapped in the ditch. Officer Talley was one of the first officers to join the Boulder Police Department's drone team in 2017 where he worked with new technologies to find ways to improve public safety and keep police officers safe.

His colleagues, friends, and family describe Officer Talley as a man who worked as hard as he could to make a difference in the lives of others every single day. He exemplified selflessness in life and in his final act.

A beloved husband and father of seven, Officer Talley was known for his kindness, compassion, and love for his family. He enjoyed board games, fly fishing, golfing, and had a black belt in karate.

Naming a post office for Officer Eric Talley is an appropriate way to honor his distinguished career and contributions to his State and country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, because of time constraints and scheduling problems, the gentleman from New York has a bill coming up but he must get to a vote and other things, so he has asked to speak now.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), distinguished chair of the Congressional LGBTQ plus Equality Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3210, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 767) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Fulton Street in Middletown, New York, as the ``Benjamin A. Gilman Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 767, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 40 Fulton Street in Middletown, New York, as the Benjamin A. Gilman Post Office Building.

Benjamin Arthur Gilman was a distinguished public servant with decades of service to both the State of New York and the United States at large. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 6, 2022. He graduated from Middletown High School in Middletown, New York, in 1941. He received a B.S. from the Wharton School of Business and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946.

From 1942 to 1945, he served in the United States Army Air Corps. After his time in military service, he received a law degree from New York Law School in 1950. From 1953 to 1955, he served as an assistant attorney general to the New York State attorney general. He then served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1966 to 1972.

In 1972, he was elected to serve as a Member of Congress, serving for three decades before retiring in 2003. During his time in this House, he was chair of the Committee on International Relations. Congressman Gilman died on December 17, 2016, in New York State.

Given his decades of service to our Nation, it is only fitting that he be remembered by renaming this post office in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 767, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3419) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 66 Meserole Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, as the ``Joseph R. Lentol Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3419, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 66 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, as the Joseph R. Lentol Post Office.

Assembly Member Joseph R. Lentol represented the 50th Assembly District, comprised of the neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, and parts of Clinton Hill, for 48 years.

After graduating from law school and passing the New York State bar, Joe began his government career as an assistant district attorney in the Kings County district attorney's homicide division. In 1973, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, representing north Brooklyn.

Joe was the third member of his family to serve in the New York State Assembly, as his father and grandfather had also been elected to the assembly. During decades in public service, Joe was a recognized champion of fair labor practices, criminal justice reform, and environmental protection.

Because of his knowledge, experience, and negotiation skills, Joe was appointed to serve on various commissions, committees, and panels. He chaired the Committee on Criminal and Civil Codes, the New York City Community Action Board, the assembly Public Protection Budget Committee, the assembly Committee on Public Employees, the assembly Administrative Regulations Commission to create the State's open meetings laws, and the Committee on Governmental Employees, which oversees the State's pension and employee benefits, presiding over the State's divestiture of its pension fund's investments in South Africa as well as a multitude of bills strengthening organized labor. Additionally, he chaired the assembly's Committee on Governmental Operations, monitoring and overseeing the operations of State agencies and departments.

For more than 20 years, as chair of the influential Codes Committee, which has jurisdiction over criminal justice, Joe was an advocate for and led efforts to modernize the State's criminal justice system.

Recognized for his leadership in correcting a system that unfairly penalized youth, people of color, and the economically disadvantaged, Joe was largely responsible for getting important legislation enacted into law by working with six Governors, his Democratic colleagues, and, often, members of the Republican majority in the State senate.

Joe championed the reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, which mandated harsh sentences for possession and sale of drugs and disproportionately targeted people of color.

In addition, Joe fought to raise the age in criminal law when a child must be treated as an adult in the criminal justice system and for other major criminal justice reforms that overhauled the State's criminal discovery and bail laws and that guaranteed speedy trials.

Joe was also a member of the Governor's Commission on Sentencing Reform, the New York State Temporary Commission on Voting Machine Equipment, and the New York State Court of Appeals Justice Task Force, and the New York State Comptrollers Investment Advisory Board.

Currently, Joe serves on the board of the New York State Public Defender Association. Naming a post office for Representative Joseph R. Lentol is entirely appropriate given his distinguished political career and contributions to New York State and our country.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3419, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1444) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 132 North Loudoun Street, Suite 1 in Winchester, Virginia, as the ``Patsy Cline Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1444, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 132 North Loudoun Street, Suite 1, in Winchester, Virginia, as the Patsy Cline Post Office.

Patsy Cline was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1932 during the Great Depression. She began singing and performing at events and local venues in the Winchester area at a young age and landed her first recording contract in 1954. Her first hit, ``Walkin' After Midnight,'' debuted in 1957 and rose to number two on the country music charts.

In 1958, Cline moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and was the first solo female singer to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Over the next few years, Cline recorded several more hit songs, including ``I Fall to Pieces'' and ``Crazy,'' and appeared on American Bandstand and The Johnny Cash Show.

She was acclaimed for her bold, emotional, and haunting singing voice, which drove many of her songs to the top of the country and pop charts and influenced generations of future artists, from Reba McEntire to Cyndi Lauper.

Tragically, Cline was killed in a plane crash in Tennessee in 1963 at the age of 30. She was buried in Shenandoah Memorial Park outside of Winchester, where a bell tower was built in her memory.

In 1973, she became the first female solo artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Cline's childhood home in Winchester was designated as a historic place in 2011 and has drawn visitors from around the world.

Naming a post office for Patsy Cline is a way we can honor her substantial artistic and cultural contributions to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the distinguished gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Wexton), who is the cochair of the Congressional Agritourism Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1444. I will not be singing, but I love her music, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3175) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 135 Main Street in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the ``Robert S. McKeithen Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3175 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 135 Main Street in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the Robert S. McKeithen Post Office Building.

Robert McKeithen was born on March 22, 1961, and graduated college from the University of Mississippi. After college he served in the U.S. Air Force with distinction, earning the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Force Achievement Medal.

After his service in the Air Force, he joined the Biloxi, Mississippi Police Department where he served 24 years. He was one of 13 officers to earn the Medal of Valor for rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Unfortunately, his life was cut short when he was shot and killed on Sunday, May 5, 2019.

Officer McKeithen was a dedicated servant of his country and community and a dedicated husband and father to four children.

Mr. Speaker, naming this post office in his honor is a fitting way to remember this dedicated officer. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Kansas has no further speakers I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3175, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2044) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main Street in Herington, Kansas, as the ``Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2044 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 17 East Main Street in Herington, Kansas, as the Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building.

Captain Kapaun was born in the rural farming community of Pilsen, Kansas, on April 20, 1915.

He first studied classics and philosophy at Conception College in Missouri, and then attended Kenrick Theological Seminary in St. Louis. In 1940 he was ordained a Catholic priest and appointed an auxiliary chaplain in the U.S. Army in 1943.

During his time in the Army Chaplain Corps, he served American troops in the Burma and India theaters until the end of World War II. In 1948 he reenlisted in the Army Chaplain Corps and was mobilized in support of the Korean conflict in 1950. He was taken captive by Chinese forces on November 2, 1950, during the Battle of Unsan, after repeatedly coming under fire to rescue wounded soldiers.

During his captivity, he rejected multiple opportunities for escape, instead remaining a POW providing physical and spiritual support to other POWs. On May 23, 1951, Chaplain Kapaun died of illness and maltreatment.

In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Chaplain Kapaun to be a Servant of God, the first step on the path towards canonization in the Catholic Church.

In 2013, President Obama posthumously awarded Chaplain Kapaun the Medal of Honor for his service to our Nation.

Naming a post office for Chaplain Kapaun is one more way we can ensure that his deeds are not forgotten. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Kansas has no further speakers, then I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 2044, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 960) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3493 Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the ``John H. Leahr and Herbert M. Heilbrun Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 960, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3493 Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the John H. Leahr and Herbert M. Heilbrun Post Office.

World War II veterans John H. Leahr and Herbert M. Heilbrun served as pilots in the Army Air Corps. Mr. Leahr served as a Mustang pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, and Mr. Heilbrun served as a B-17 bomber pilot.

Throughout World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were tasked with escorting American bomber groups flying over enemy territory. Mr. Heilbrun's group was one of the few who sustained no losses, due to the heroic efforts of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Fifty years after the war, Herb Heilbrun met John Leahr when he attended an annual meeting of the Tuskegee Airmen to express his gratitude for their protection and service to his group during the war. At that meeting, they learned that they had flown some of the same missions in Europe and that they shared numerous other traits as well.

Mr. Leahr and Mr. Heilbrun dedicated their later years to promoting interracial understanding and unity. They were honored for their book, ``Black and White Airmen: Their True History,'' by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. Their work chronicles their history, friendship, and efforts to bring others together to overcome racial differences.

Mr. Leahr passed away on March 27, 2015, at the age of 94. And Mr. Heilbrun passed away at age 100 on December 18, 2020.

Renaming a post office for both of these men jointly is a fitting remembrance of their work to create unity and understanding. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Kansas has no further speakers, then I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 960, and I want to compliment my colleague and friend, Mr. Wenstrup, on his bill. It is a very inspiring story. I intend to read their book, and I urge a ``yes'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the contributions of Henry Thacker ``Harry'' Burleigh of the great state of New York. The newly christened Harry T. Burleigh Place in Gramercy Park celebrates a man who dedicated his life to enhancing lives through music singing, composing and social justice. This well- deserving recognition honors the indelible impact Mr. Burleigh, known widely as the Father of Spiritual Music, left on New York and communities around the world.

Born in 1866 and growing up in Erie, Pennsylvania as a young African- American baritone singer, Harry Burleigh traveled to New York City and applied to the National Conservatory of Music to study with well-known Director and composer, Antonin Dvorak. His exceptional talent was recognized, and a scholarship awarded to Mr. Burleigh in 1892 enabled him to gain experience editing recordings and developing his classical spirituals. One of these was ``Deep River'' a spiritual composition from 1917 which is recognized all over the world to this day.

Tragically, Mr. Burleigh's life was spent under the heinous abuses of Jim Crow, and the systemic discrimination of ``separate but equal'' endemic to it. Yet in the face of these challenges to his rights and liberties, Mr. Burleigh always led with his talents and tireless work ethic, earning him many glowing accomplishments throughout his life. In 1894, Mr. Burleigh auditioned at St. George's Episcopal Church at 4 Rutherford Place in Manhattan, which still stands proudly today within my district and holds concerts celebrating Burleigh's compositions annually. Church member J.P. Morgan insisted that St. George's hire Mr. Burleigh, and so became the church's Choral Director. He would continue to introduce and play his classical spiritual music there for 52 years. Concurrently he integrated Temple Emanu-El, now Congregation Emanu-El, for a quarter of a century. In 1895, Mr. Burleigh made it a point to personally test the strength of newly passed civil rights laws in New York by asking for service at 25 establishments.

From 1908 onward, he sang for King Edward VII in London, performed on Mayor La Guardia's weekly radio show Talk to the People, and composed over 200 pieces encompassing the classical spiritual music genre. The renowned Dvorak' Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) credits the incorporation and soulfulness of Burleigh's spiritual works. Mr. Burleigh was also a distinguished chartered member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) bestowed with great public honors. He received the 1917 N.A.A.C.P. Spingarn Achievement Medal, and honorary Doctorate of Music from Howard University and Atlanta University in 1920. In addition, Mr. Burleigh mentored Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes and Enrico Caruso who would go on to make their own exciting contributions to our nation's musical story.

Mr. Burleigh's legacy of social justice lives on through The Harry T. Burleigh Society. Formed in 2017, the society continues Burleigh's important legacy of disrupting boundaries and challenging social norms to address issues of our time. The Center for Peace, Equity & Justice at Friends Seminary School in New York City, coordinated an education/ postcard campaign that was sent to Community Board Six in Manhattan, further highlighting his importance in American social justice to our beloved city.

The co-naming on September 12, 2021 at the South East comer of 16th Street and Third Avenue, Harry T. Burleigh Place, stands now as a testament to his important work as a baritone soloist, choral director, music arranger, editor, mentor, and a New York Community leader.

Harry Burleigh contributed so much to New York and the world, adding his sonorous and unique brand of spiritual signing to our ever-growing chorus of American culture. I am pleased to add my own voice to that chorus today in recognition and remembrance of this great man.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my friend, Jessica Neuwirth, for her longstanding commitment to women's rights and her work against human trafficking around the world.

As one of America's preeminent lawyers and activists on women's rights and a graduate of Harvard Law School, Jessica has worked extensively in the international women's rights movement with the United Nations, in international criminal courts, and within the larger global women's movement. She served as Special Advisor on Sexual Violence to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, drafting the sections on sexual violence of the historic Akayesu judgement in 1998, which defined rape for the first time in international law and found sexual violence to constitute a form of genocide.

Jessica continued her important work in the international sphere, helping to organize a global Afghan Women's Summit just three months after 9/11 in December 2001, and a Beijing +10 campaign on laws which discriminate against women, resulting in the creation by the Human Rights Council of a UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and Practice. She played a key role in the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, as well as the international Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, adopted by the United Nations in 2000. Jessica has also served as Special Advisor on Sexual Violence to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, where she continued to highlight the gruesome use of rape as a weapon in armed conflicts around the world. Today, as the Rita E. Hauser Director of the Human Rights Program at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, Jessica serves as an incubator for the Global Reparations Fund for Victims of Sexual Violence launched last year at the United Nations.

It is therefore no surprise that Jessica was honored this past week with the insignia of Knight of the French Legion of Honour. This is the highest award that a citizen or noncitizen of France can receive, and speaks volumes about the strong devotion, and enduring drive for justice that has characterized Jessica for her entire life.

She can now add the Legion of Honour to the host of other accolades bestowed upon her over the years, including the National Organization for Women's Susan B. Anthony Award (1997), the Visionary Ending Violence Award from the Harvard Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (2005), the New York County Lawyer's Association Edith I. Spivack Award (2009), and the Civic Spirit Award from the Women's City Club (2016), among a plethora of others throughout her storied career.

I am so pleased that our long-time ally has recognized Jessica for her critical contributions to anti-trafficking and women's rights around the world, and I am proud to be able to do the same today.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Kathleen M. McGettigan on the occasion of her retirement after 30 years of federal service at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Ms. McGettigan has dutifully performed in every role she has held at OPM, including as Chief Financial Officer, three separate Deputy Associate Director roles, and multiple appointments as Acting Director of the Agency. Ms. McGettigan holds the distinct honor of being OPM's longest serving Acting Director.

Ms. McGettigan consistently elevated OPM's work and mission throughout her career. She held herself to the highest standards and inspired those around her to do the same. Kathleen M. McGettigan's long and distinguished career exemplifies the very best of public service: dedication to country and commitment to serving the American people.

I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Ms. McGettigan for her three decades of exemplary service.