Floor Statements

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act--a modest, common-sense solution to the problem of pay inequity.

Equal pay for equal work is not only a core value of mine and others--it's the law. Full implementation of that principle, however, remains elusive.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, which was first introduced in 1997 and passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support in 2009, is a serious initiative to realize the noble goal of true equality.

Among its provisions, this legislation would:

Encourage businesses to rely on information about the market value of a position, industry standards, the duties of the job, and their

budgets in order to set salaries, by prohibiting reliance on the prior salary history of prospective employees.

Allow workers to share their personal salary information free from retaliation, with commonsense exceptions for FIR professionals.

Improve research on the gender pay gap by instructing Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct studies and review available research and data to provide information on how to identify, correct, and eliminate illegal wage disparities.

Assist the DOL in uncovering wage discrimination by requiring the collection of wage data from federal contractors, and direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to conduct a survey of available wage information and create a system of wage data collection.

Support small businesses with technical assistance by providing support to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices.

Momentum has continued to build, with more than 260 diverse organizations signing a letter in support of the bill, including the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, which represents business associations and groups across the country, and the Main Street Alliance, a national network of small business owners.

Madam Chair, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families, if the disparity in median annual earnings for women and men working full-time, year-round were closed, women would have over $10,000 more in earnings each year. For millennial women, closing this gender wage gap could add up to more than $1,000,000 in lost income over a career.

This not only impacts these women immensely, but also directly impacts those with families. Over 62 percent of two-parent, married households with children, have both parents employed, which means these families would add $10,000 more to their family's total earnings per year.

Madam Chair, this bill makes good economic sense. Companies are recognizing the benefits and the power of women's increased economic participation, and some have already enacted policies similar to those outlined in the Paycheck Fairness Act. Companies like Staples and Amazon have ended inquiries into job applicants' salary histories to avoid importing prior pay discrimination into their wage setting process. These moves are directly aligned with the Paycheck Fairness Act's provision banning reliance on salary history in determining future pay, so that prior pay discrimination doesn't follow workers from job to job.

We have also seen a movement, spearheaded by investors, to motivate companies to disclose their pay data. After a gender pay shareholder proposal from the investment management firm Arjuna Capital, Citigroup publicly released the results of its pay equity review in 2018 covering a third of its global workforce, and another, more comprehensive review, in 2019. This data release went even further than the Paycheck Fairness Act's provisions, which would only require that companies give this summary information to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), not the public.

According to a 2017 report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the poverty rate for all working women would be cut in half if women were paid the same as men. The same study indicates the U.S. economy would have produced an additional $512.6 billion in income if women had received equal pay for equal work. With 64 percent of mothers being the primary, sole, or co-breadwinners of their families, equal pay for women means America's families are better off.

Ensuring women have equal pay would have a significant positive impact on our families and our economy and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the true story of Adam Pietras, a Boy Scout from my home town of Hamilton, N.J. in the Fourth Congressional District.

Adam's remarkable courage--without any concern for his own personal safety--and his immediate and decisive response action literally helped save the life of his sister.

This Saturday, March 16, 2019, Adam will be honored at a Court of Honor by his fellow scouts of Boy Scout Troop 87, members from the Veterans of Foreign War who host Troop 87, friends, and family. We will be proud and humble to present him with a U.S. flag, flown over the U.S. Capitol in his honor.

Madam Speaker, Adam was only 10, when he acted without regard to his own safety as he fought off a loose Bullmastiff dog that was charging to attack his younger sister, Rachel, then age 7, in the family's backyard in 2015. Though Adam sustained severe injuries from the powerful dog, his actions enabled his sister to escape and his brother, Tyler, to run for help. Truly, Adam and Tyler's teamwork to protect their little sister prevented what could have been a tragedy. Adam was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital--Hamilton. He lost a lot of blood and needed 200 stitches and months to recover.

Adam's exceptional actions went largely unreported in the news and were not well known outside his immediate family and community. That changed when he was a guest of the Sunshine Foundation Mercer County Chapter's 2018 Operation Dreamlift that takes children to Disney World. Trentonian reporter L.A. Parker happened to be on that flight, met Adam and heard Adam's story. In a column detailing the dog attack and Adam's actions, L.A. Parker--my fellow Trenton State College alumnus, quoted Adam as saying ``Yes, I was afraid really afraid. But I had to save my sister.''

Adam is a student at Reynolds Middle School in Hamilton, N.J. I've had the pleasure to meet Adam's father, Peter Pietras, who with his wife, Lisa Pitoniak-Pietras, and family and friends, are immensely proud of Adam. Adam, whose outstanding love for his sister shows he puts other people first, has a bright future.

Adam was honored by Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede with a proclamation as an example of a model citizen, and by the Boy Scouts of America with its highest national award for lifesaving and meritorious action, the Honor Medal With Crossed Palms. Given only for outstanding and unusual acts that demonstrate unusual heroism, skill, or bravery and reflect Scouting ideals, the medal is only presented to Scouts who have ``demonstrated unusual heroism and extraordinary skill or resourcefulness in saving or attempting to save life at extreme risk to self.'' That sounds like Adam to me.

Today it is my honor to make Adam's heroism and extraordinary act a permanent part of the Congressional Record.

In an age of fictional movie action heroes and comic book superheroes, this Saturday a real-life action hero will be the star. If Adam were in the military our nation would be looking to bestow one of its highest medals for his valor. Well done, Adam, well done.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Zeldin for his leadership, not just tonight, but it has been ongoing and very effective. I thank Carolyn Maloney for her prime sponsorship of this important legislation.

I am very proud to be a Never Forget the Heroes cosponsor, along with another very strong group of bipartisan Members who will not let this opportunity to enact this legislation pass. We will get this done.

Madam Speaker, everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing. I was actually chairing a Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing when a group of cowards hijacked four airliners in order to perpetrate the worst act of terrorism in American history.

Nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives that day, including 700 from my State. Who can forget the courageous first responders running up the stairs of the burning buildings with total disregard for their own safety, saving others at the expense of their own lives.

No one remembers the shock, horror, and numbing sorrow of this day, however, more than the families and the close friends of the victims. I have worked with and befriended many family members of 9/11 victims, and I can state unequivocally that there would not have been a 9/11 Commission and other historic policy initiatives without their extraordinary tenacity, commitment, and courage. That includes what was known as the four Jersey girls, widows who simply would not take ``no'' for an answer. They were a driving force behind the establishment of that very important historic commission.

I got to know a lot of the others. I actually hired a school principal who lost her husband, Alan, in 9/11, and I am reminded every time I am in the district office, and other days as well, what she has lost and how painful and how sorrowful that was on that day.

For more than 17 years, the families and the friends of those who died have had to endure their loss and a broken heart. Now we know the carnage, the consequences, the ongoing loss of life, and the health crisis attributable to 9/11 are even worse than anyone could have imagined. New cases of 9/11-caused conditions are being diagnosed by the doctors at the World Trade Center Health Program every day, with close to 12,000 cases of 9/11-caused cancers diagnosed so far, including 600 cases with breast cancer, 2,400 with prostate cancer, 600 with thyroid cancer, 500 with lung cancer, and 500 with kidney cancer.

There have also been other kinds of catastrophic consequences, with people who are suffering from PTSD, some 9,000 so far and counting.

Congress enacted the World Trade Health Center Program Fund and September 11th Victim Compensation Fund to provide health services for responders at the three crash sites, and others in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site for health conditions related to toxic exposures from the attacks.

There are over 6,800 New Jerseyans receiving healthcare services from the World Trade Center Health Program, 1,200 of whom are from my district, constituents of mine.

Just last month--and this was shocking, frankly--the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund special master announced that, due to a lack of funding, the Justice Department will have to cut awards on pending cases by 50 percent and any new claims that are filed by 70 percent.

These cuts will devastate the first responders, our firemen, police, and emergency personnel. They will also represent a gross injustice for survivors and their families who spent countless hours and days in search of their loved ones.

I remember going to the site a couple of days after. I went with Tony Principi, who was then the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unfortunately, there was a sense, a falsely conveyed sense, that maybe you didn't have to wear the mask, so many of those guys and those ladies on the ground were breathing in a toxic mix of chemicals that now have manifested into very serious disease.

This is an important bill. It is bipartisan, and again, I thank the gentleman (Mr. Zeldin) for bringing us all together tonight, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle; Congresswoman Maloney for her leadership; and of course, all the others who are cosponsors of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I do urge the Speaker, respectfully, and the majority leader to bring the bill up quickly.

Mr. Chair, when I voted for the Brady Law in 1993--which took effect on February 28, 1994--it was to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous persons including felons and abusers.

Twenty-five years later--and 300 million background checks that have blocked 3 million purchases to dangerous individuals--few if any today seriously suggest that the Brady law should be repealed.

I support the Second Amendment. Universal background checks prescribed in H.R. 8 are an attempt to ensure that firearms are procured, owned and used by responsible, law abiding citizens.

According to the Brady Campaign, about 1 in 5 guns now sold in America are done so without a background check. That's a significant loophole.

According to the CDC, there was a record 39,773 deaths from firearms in 2017--higher than in any other year--23,854 were self-inflicted and 14,542 were homicides.

To mitigate gun violence in America, H.R. 8 expands Brady background checks to transactions by private sellers not currently covered by the law.

Multiple school shootings have led to robust, comprehensive action at every level to make classrooms safer. I have visited many schools in my district--and I have found that while the threat is being taken seriously, no one policy, program or initiative can ensure the level of protection our students need and deserve.

Mr. Chair, no constitutional right is absolute including the Second Amendment. The First Amendment's freedom of speech, for example, has reasonable limits including the promulgation of slander and libel law.

To preserve public order, we accept reasonable restrictions on the freedom to assemble. Even freedom of religion isn't without some modest boundaries.

In like manner, universal background checks don't erode Second Amendment rights but do help ensure much needed protection from gun violence for everyone.

Mr. Speaker, what an expression of love, compassion, and faith we just heard, the child who was thought to be impossible; and what a tribute to parents and a mother who just love so unconditionally.

Mr. Speaker, in 2012, two bioethicists, Dr. Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva, published an outrageous paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics justifying the deliberate, premeditated murder of newborn babies during the first hours, days, and even weeks after birth. The ethicists said:

When circumstances occur after birth that would have

justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should

be permissible.

In other words, the same conditions that would justify the killing of a baby in utero justifies the killing of that baby even when she is born.

These two individuals made it clear that because the child does not have dreams about the future at birth, that that somehow is a disqualifier to personhood.

The infanticide that they proposed, Mr. Speaker, is here. After-birth abortion is here.

A couple weeks ago, New York Governor Cuomo signed into law a bill to allow abortion until birth and even removes penalties for infanticide. Other States, including Virginia, Rhode Island, and New Mexico, have similar anti-child statutes under consideration.

The violent assault on children, Mr. Speaker, must end. Not only have 61 million unborn babies been killed since 1973 by either dismemberment--when a child is torn apart, arms, legs, and torso, literally dismembered--or by chemical poisoning, a death toll that equates with the entire population of Italy, the pro-choice crowd now is legislating to extend the violence after birth.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot look away when a child's fundamental human rights are being violated with such lethal actions. Pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act now. Mr. Speaker, give us that chance to vote on this.

Madam Speaker, tomorrow, tens of thousands of Americans will rally in favor of life, because we have a moral duty to defend the weakest and most vulnerable. I will have a little more to say later on in the Special Order. But it is my distinct privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), a great leader and a compassionate leader as well.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her very eloquent remarks.

I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Marshall).

Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Marshall very much for his comments and, again, for his leadership. I am so glad to have him here.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), a member of the Appropriations Committee from Nebraska One who has been outspoken for the entirety of his career in defense of human life, as well as religious freedom.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Fortenberry for those very eloquent comments. To our colleagues and to those watching this at home, I think he really has touched a chord.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).

Madam Speaker, Mr. Chabot is the prime author of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, a hideous method of abortion where the baby is half born and then is snuffed out when his or her brains are literally drawn from the baby's brain area. I thank the gentleman for authoring that legislation.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Weber very much for his very strong comments.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman), my good friend and colleague.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Bergman for being here on the Special Order. We are so proud to have him on the Pro-Life Caucus. I thank him for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), from Ohio's Eighth Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Madam Speaker, I will just say a couple of words, and then I will yield to my good friend, Dr. Harris.

Madam Speaker, doctors today routinely diagnose and treat a myriad of conditions, illnesses, and diseases suffered by society's littlest patients--unborn babies--significantly enhancing their health and chances to survive and to thrive. Comprehensive maternal and prenatal care is critical and ensures that both mother and baby are as healthy as possible during pregnancy and childbirth and in the weeks that follow.

Yet, tragically, in the United States, we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. While unborn children are killed at an unconscionable rate, nearly 2,500 children's lives are destroyed each and every day, about 906,000 in 2018 and more than 62 million dead babies since 1973. That shocking loss of children's lives equates with the entire population of England, more than 62 million kids who have been lost.

This stunning loss of children's lives has occurred during a time when science has made it absolutely clear that birth is an important event in the life of a child. It is an event. It is not the beginning of life; it is an event. And the miracle of life before birth is nothing short of breathtaking.

The first baby pictures today, proudly shared and displayed, are, most often, ultrasound photos, showing the baby alive and growing in the womb. They are not of newborns--them, too, later. But the first shot that we get to see of our kids and grandkids are while they are still in utero.

The humanity of these children is beyond doubt, yet the pro-abortion movement, like some kind of modern-day flat Earth society, continues to cling to outdated, indefensible arguments cloaked in euphemism.

Even the seemingly benign word ``choice'' withers under scrutiny. Choice to do what? Dismember a baby, starve a child to death like RU486 does, and then forcibly expel her or him from the womb?

In order to facilitate the baby's extermination, the pro-abortionists aggressively deny, and they profoundly disrespect, the unborn child. They loudly mock and belittle those who defend a child's right to life.

Anybody in the pro-life movement knows what that mocking is like. Frankly, that harsh criticism causes us to work even harder and, hopefully, more effectively to try to protect these weakest and most vulnerable among us.

Someday, I truly believe Americans will look back at America's abortion culture, which has, again, killed, to date, about 62 million babies, and wonder how such a seemingly compassionate and enlightened society could have had that blind spot that could not see the innate goodness and value, pricelessness, of that unborn child.

As Steve Chabot said earlier today, we know that the women are the co-victims. I and my wife and those of us in the pro-life movement do work with postabortive women. We love them. We care for them.

Just yesterday, I met with two more women who are postabortive and talked about the agony that they quietly dealt with for so long. There are now many ministries that try to try to reach out to them to say: We want you to have a better life, a life of reconciliation and hope. You do not have to suffer alone. There are people who care for you.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Harris) the cochairman of the Pro-Life Caucus.

Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Harris for his extraordinarily eloquent remarks.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McCaul for yielding and for his very strong support of this legislation. And Eliot Engel, the new chairman, I thank him as well. I thank Brad Schneider for being the original Democratic cosponsor.

This is a bipartisan bill. In the last Congress, we had 86 cosponsors. Even in this Congress, we already have gotten up to 80 cosponsors. It shows that we can reach across the aisle and fight this pernicious evil called anti-Semitism.

In 2004, Mr. Speaker, I authored the provisions of law that created and required this position and the office it leads at the State Department. H.R. 221 upgrades and strengthens the position to better anticipate, prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats against Jewish communities worldwide.

H.R. 221 elevates the Special Envoy to the rank of Ambassador, reporting directly to the Secretary of State. This would enable sufficient seniority and access inside the U.S. Government and when engaging foreign governments.

The bill requires the President to nominate a candidate no later than 90 days--and all the Presidents from Bush to Obama, and now, sadly, under President Trump, have been very late in coming forward with that nominee. There was a nominee for the Special Envoy, but because of illness or a health crisis, that person was not named. But we--all of us--have asked the President to name that person and to do so immediately.

This bill requires, as I said, to do it no later than 90 days after the bill becomes law and no later than 120 days thereafter whenever that position is empty.

H.R. 221 prohibits double-hatting of the Special Envoy with duties irrelevant to combating anti-Semitism. The legislation also mandates the Special Envoy to be the primary adviser to the U.S. Government on monitoring and combating anti-Semitism.

Far too often, Mr. Speaker, over the decades, the U.S. Government has put combating anti-Semitism, human trafficking, and religious freedom violations in the back seat of our foreign policy. That is why Congress has created offices and positions to ensure the United States was focused on fighting these evils.

Over the past decades, there has been an unprecedented rise in anti- Semitic acts and rhetoric all over the world: Jews harassed, assaulted, and even murdered; synagogues attacked; graves and cemeteries desecrated; anti-Semitic slurs; plus targeting the State of Israel itself with the three Ds--demonization, double-standard, and delegitimization, as my good friend, the great Soviet Jewish refusenik and religious prisoner Natan Sharansky named them. The so-called BDS movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel is one of the most pernicious examples of what Sharansky called the new anti- Semitism.

Anti-Semitic hatred is hardwired into the ideology of violent Islamist

and White supremacist groups, but the evil goes beyond those perpetrators.

Politicians, entertainers, and public intellectuals across the philosophical spectrum have exhibited anti-Semitism. Strong American leadership, therefore, is essential to battle this bigotry.

Combating anti-Semitism, as I said earlier, has always been a bipartisan effort. This bill did pass the last Congress 393-2. The text before us in the legislation is identical. I hope we have very strong support for it and the Senate, hopefully, will take it up, consider it, pass it, and get it to the President.

Mr. Speaker, as prime author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), it is an honor to present the new Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act.

This bipartisan bill--and I thank Karen Bass for her cosponsorship and strong support--is a comprehensive, reauthorization and expansion of key elements of the TVPA and related policies.

In the fight to end modern day slavery, my new bill honors the extraordinary legacy of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived.

Born a slave in 1818--we celebrated the 200th anniversary of his birth this year--Frederick Douglass escaped slavery when he was 20 and dedicated his entire life to abolishing slavery and after emancipation, to ending Jim Crow laws, all the while struggling for full equality. A gifted orator, author, editor, statesman (and Republican), he died in 1895.

The Frederick Douglass bill before us today authorizes over $430 million over 4 years to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and beef up prosecution of those involved in this nefarious trade both at home and abroad. It provides:

$18 million over three years to the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State to fund the International Megan's Law

$78 million over four years to the Department of Health and Human Services

$20 million over four years to the Department of Labor

$315 million over four years to the Department of State

Additional funding to train airport personnel, flight attendants, and pilots to recognize and report to law enforcement potential trafficking victims in transit

Specifically, the new bill significantly expands our efforts to combat trafficking by:

Ensuring vulnerable children, throughout the United States, are educated to avoid traffickers;

Encouraging job training for trafficking survivors, especially those who were exploited in sex trafficking as children;

Preferring in government travel contracts airlines and hotels that have in place anti-trafficking training and reporting policies for their employees;

Keeping goods made by child trafficking victims out of the United States by ensuring funding for and enhancing Department of Labor reports on slave-made goods;

Encouraging enforcement of the Tariff Act of 1930's prohibition on the importation of goods made with forced labor;

Helping survivors get back on their feet by treating civil damages they win from their traffickers the same as criminal restitution;

Designating one prosecutor in each of the Department of Justice's focus districts to investigate and prosecute labor trafficking cases;

Preventing abuse of domestic servants in embassies and diplomatic homes in the United States;

Encouraging credible and effective use of the trafficking tier ranking system by the U.S. Department of State in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report; and

Strengthening implementation of all U.S. laws and regulations in place to prevent U.S. government purchases from putting money in the hands of traffickers and encouraging accountability for U.S. government contractors involved in human trafficking;

Empowering trafficking survivors to be more involved in the development of human trafficking policy; and

Integrating the fight against human trafficking into U.S. foreign assistance more fully.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, the House passed H. Res. 1091, offered by my friend from Ohio, Steve Chabot. I support this resolution and commend my colleague for his leadership on a pressing issue of concern. If democracy dies in darkness as the Washington Post masthead daily reads, surely the release of the Reuters journalists will bring a little light back to Burma. But only a little light unfortunately.

We all believed that Nobel Peace Prize laurate Aung San Sui Kyi would govern differently from past Burmese leaders. Unfortunately, she has not. The democratic icon has become an extremely disappointing politician. On her watch one of the world's largest ethnic cleansings has occurred--the forced and violent removal of Rohingya from Burma. The blood of Rohingya is on her hands. Over half a million Rohingya were removed and untold numbers killed by a military that long planned for this operation.

I commend the Administration for using Global Magnitsky sanctions to target Burmese military leaders and units. But with atrocities continuing against the Rohingya and other Burmese minorities, more clearly needs to be done. Expanding sanctions against companies and cronies linked to the military leadership is a potential game changer in any punitive approach to this issue. And the U.S. should be urging the EU and other nations to do the same.

I understand the arguments made by those who urge caution, fearing that too much pressure on Aung San Sui Kyi will lead to a military coup, with the full backing of Beijing no doubt. But at what price, silence? Thousands of deaths? Half a million people forcibly removed? Condoning crimes against humanity and genocide? We cannot be bystanders to genocide. As with the mass detention of Uyghur Muslims in China or the genocide experienced by Christians and Yazidis at the hands of ISIS, U.S. leadership is needed to create a global response to this crisis. I again commend the gentleman from Ohio for this resolution. Preventing and addressing genocide and mass atrocities are a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States.

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

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

I urge my colleagues to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democracy and Accountability Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their very strong support of this legislation and for their strong statements today.

I think this is, again, another example of bipartisan legislation and the House uniting over a very egregious situation that is occurring in the DRC.

I would point out to my colleagues that I have visited the DRC myself, been to Kinshasa, the capital, raised a number of human rights issues when I was there.

But I also traveled to Goma, where there was terrible acts of bloodshed committed by both the government troops. As well as those that were combating the government, and even terrible acts by the peacekeepers, the U.N. peacekeepers, some years ago, where they were complicit in human trafficking, particularly of little children.

In my subcommittee, I chaired four hearings on this horrible practice of the peacekeepers themselves causing such violence against kids. There is now a much better situation, but it is still awful, and, again, we are now facing another serious crisis.

I would also point out to my colleagues that Karen Bass and I had a trip planned to Kinshasa for August 24 and 25. We made part of that trip where we went to Ethiopia, but we were denied visas. We could not get visas to go to the DRC. We wanted to raise issues with Kabila, himself, with regards to the election and human rights abuse. We were denied that by not getting a visa.

This bill could not be more timely. Indeed, there is an urgent need to focus attention on the DRC, a strategically located, resource-rich country, which has been misgoverned for much of its history and again is in crisis today.

The wonderful people of the DRC deserve better, far better than they have gotten from the Kabila regime. Next month, just before Christmas, the country is scheduled to vote to replace Joseph Kabila, who has retained power in defiance of constitutional term limits for some 2 years beyond his mandate.

Right now, there is talk of further postponement of the election, which would accord with Kabila's desire to postpone a transfer of power for as long as possible. If such a delay occurs, it would be attributable to the obstacles placed by the Kabila government to holding a free and fair election.

This bill before us today shows congressional resolve that there be accountability and codifies three executive orders by three Presidents: President Bush, President Obama, and President Trump.

It points out that there needs to be significant progress towards holding free and fair elections or else they will not be lifted, and it does so for 7 years. We are talking about respecting fundamental freedoms of the press, expression, and assembly, as described in the December 2016 Saint Sylvestre agreement and in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2348.

It also points out that there needs to be, in the legislation, a free and fair Presidential election in accordance with the constitution of the DRC and that a democratically elected President has been sworn in and taken office.

It also supports the humanitarian and accountability efforts of civil society groups pushing back against civil strife and political repression. In particular, it acknowledges the role of the faith community and the Catholic Church, which educates and heals the Congolese people through its schools and hospitals, while upholding the need for the rule of law and respect for constitutional principles in the DRC.

Indeed, the Congolese Conference of Catholic Bishops, known as CENCO, has played a singular role in promoting restoration of democracy and respect for fundamental civil and political rights, including brokering the December 2016 Saint Sylvestre agreement.

Mr. Speaker, this is a critical time for the DRC. We have an emerging Ebola crisis in the eastern part of the country. I note that, over the weekend, our Embassy in Kinshasa was forced to close due to ``credible and specific'' terror threats. The Embassy will remain closed at least until tomorrow because of those threats and perhaps even beyond that date. We are hurtling towards a political inflection point within the next month, which will either mark a turn towards proper constitutional governance or a downward spiral towards growing chaos and bloodshed.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his comments and for his strong support.

Mr. Speaker, this is a true bipartisan bill. Our fingers are crossed for the people of the DRC. They deserve a free and fair election. Whoever emerges as the winner hopefully will take them on a new course.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 390) to provide emergency relief for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Iraq and Syria, for accountability for perpetrators of these crimes, and for other purposes.

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

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

I rise today to urge strong support for H.R. 390, the bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act.

I want to begin by offering my special thanks to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for his strong and sustained support for the victims of genocide, for

this bill, and for the work of his amazing staff, especially Luke Murry, who has done yeoman's work on making sure that this moves forward; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his chief of staff, Sharon Soderstrom, for their work; as well as our friends on the Senate side.

I especially want to thank Ed Royce, our chairman, and Ranking Member Eliot Engel for their wonderful support for this bill, and for all the Members.

I want to thank Anna Eshoo, who has been tenacious in her support for genocide-targeted communities in Iraq and Syria, and Matt McMurray, her chief of staff, who has also been a great friend to work with on this legislation.

My thanks to Mary Noonan, my chief of staff; Piero Tozzi, my staff director for the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee; Nathaniel Hurd at the U.S. Helsinki Commission, who has been lead staffer on the bill; David Trimble, senior fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute; and so many others who have been a part of this effort to get this across the finish line.

Mr. Speaker, in September of 2013, I chaired my first of 10 congressional hearings focused in whole or in part on Christians, Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities targeted by ISIS for genocide and other atrocity crimes, frustrated and deeply disappointed that the previous administration was failing to direct aid to these survivors and to support criminal investigations into the perpetrators. Three years later, on September 8, 2016, I introduced H.R. 5961.

It was clear then, as it is now, that local overstretched, underfunded groups on the ground were being forced to fill a huge gap, like the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, supported by the Knights of Columbus under the extraordinary leadership of Carl Anderson and by Aid to the Church in Need. To date, the Knights of Columbus has contributed $20 million and Aid to the Church in Need has contributed more than $60 million to the response for these people who are the survivors of genocide. Without this support from private charities, Mr. Speaker, many people, especially children, would have died or have been afflicted with serious disease or disability.

Where was the United States? Nowhere to be found.

Just before Christmas of 2016, I led a delegation to Erbil at the invitation of the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, who was heroically leading the effort to sustain more than 70,000 Christians who had fled ISIS, as well as some Yazidis and Muslims.

There I met with genocide survivors, almost all of whom told me that they had family members who were murdered, tortured, beaten, and raped by ISIS. Their stories were tragic beyond words and heartbreaking beyond words, but members of my delegation and I were in awe of their deep and abiding faith in God, their resiliency, and their courage. They simply would not quit. They would move on and try to live a life and try to thrive.

We visited a camp of 6,000 internally displaced persons, managed by the archdiocese, that the U.S. Government had not even visited until just before our trip in 2016, even though it was only 10 minutes away from the consulate. I was told I shouldn't go because it was too dangerous. I asked, ``Was there a specific threat?'' and there wasn't.

When we got there, we were met by about 250 to 300 children, all about fourth or fifth graders or thereabouts, singing Christmas carols, and I felt, ``Boy, that is a real threatening situation.'' It was foolish in the extreme.

They needed our help. They were not getting enough food. They were not getting enough medicine, and their shelter was very meager, to say the least.

On January 10, 2017, I introduced H.R. 390, a stronger version of the previous bill. The House unanimously passed it--again, totally bipartisan--on June 6. On October 11, the Senate passed it with a slightly amended version, which is why it is here before the House today for reconsideration.

H.R. 390 authorizes the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Secretary of State to direct humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery assistance to these communities to enable them to survive and someday thrive in Iraq and Syria.

It also authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator to fund entities conducting criminal investigations into ISIS perpetrators who committed atrocity crimes in Iraq. The evidence these entities collect and preserve will be used to apprehend, prosecute, and convict perpetrators in a range of court settings.

We have learned from the courts in Rwanda, in Sierra Leone, as well as the court in Yugoslavia, you have to capture this information. You have to get the testimonies from survivors and eyewitnesses to effectuate effective prosecutions.

The surviving religious and ethnic communities have begun to receive some targeted aid from the United States under the leadership of Vice President Pence, USAID Administrator Green, and Secretary Pompeo. The governments of Hungary and Poland, as well, have stepped up to provide assistance to those in need.

However, we have to move quickly on this bill and on implementation on this. As Archbishop Warda, the head of Chaldean Catholic Church there, told me today: ``Christians in Iraq are still at the brink of extinction. H.R. 390 is vital to our survival. If it becomes law, implementation must be full and fast. Otherwise, the help it provides will be too late for us.''

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairwoman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee who currently chairs the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. I thank, again, Eliot Engel, Chairman Royce, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is the former chairwoman of the committee. I thank her for her very kind remarks. She has been a leader on human rights herself all over the world, especially with regard to Iran and some of the legislation she has gotten enacted into law. I thank her for that extraordinary leadership.

Again, this is an example of us pulling together and helping a group of people, survivors of ISIS genocide, who are in desperate need of assistance. We are now past the emergency level in most cases.

When we originally introduced the bill, I named it ``the emergency.'' We didn't get it passed fast enough, but there is so much more that remains to be done when it comes to recovery and sustainability of these precious lives that have been so wounded by ISIS through mass murder and genocide, which has been recognized by both the Obama administration and the Trump administration.

So this is an idea whose time has come, and my hope is that it will be implemented faithfully and aggressively from the moment it is signed.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this bill, and Eliot Engel and Barbara Lee. We were there when George W. Bush signed this legislation. We were sitting next to each other.

This has made an enormous difference in the lives of so many people. I call on our colleagues to support the PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018, which authorizes funding for each of the next 5 years for comprehensive programs designed to prevent or provide treatment for people suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and/or TB throughout the world.

Because of the vision of George W. Bush--and here in the House, it was Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos as chairman and ranking member--since 2003, PEPFAR has saved an estimated 16 million lives. Today, 13 countries are on track to control their HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2020.

When the President signed it, he said, and I quote in part: ``HIV/ AIDS is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. . . . Across Africa, this disease is filling graveyards and creating orphans and leaving millions in a desperate fight for their own lives.''

He went on to say: ``In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to act, and we are acting.''

Today, according to the U.S. Department of State, PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in all of history. Before PEPFAR, only some 50,000 people in Africa had access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment. That number has since increased to approximately 14 million people receiving treatment for HIV and AIDS. Thanks to antiretrovirals, some 2.2 million babies have been born HIV- free to HIV-positive moms.

Since the start of PEPFAR, new HIV infections have declined between 41 percent to 76 percent, depending on the country, and, again, more than 16 million people have been saved. Yet the need for this legislation continues to be absolutely compelling because so much more needs to be done.

The Trump administration's 2018 PEPFAR report to Congress sounds the alarm, noting that, according to UNAIDS, nearly 37 million people are living with HIV globally; however, only 20.9 million are getting treatment.

They point out that we must continue to act decisively and strategically with our resources and bring other donors in high HIV- burdened countries to the table. Otherwise, we all risk an epidemic that rebounds beyond the global community's capacity to respond.

The time to act is now. Every week, 32,000 people are infected with HIV globally. Of all the new HIV infections in adolescents in the region, nearly 75 percent are among females, and they are up to 14 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than young men.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this lifesaving legislation, and again, I thank my colleagues. I thank the Speaker and Kevin McCarthy for bringing this legislation to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge House passage of my bill--H.R. 6651--the PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018, which authorizes funding for each of the next five years for comprehensive programs designed to prevent or provide treatment for people suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria or TB throughout the world. (Current funding is approximately $6 billion per year).

Because of the vision of President George W. Bush and here in the House the leadership of the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Henry Hyde joined by Ranking Member Tom Lantos, since 2003 the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR has saved an estimated 16 million lives, and 13 countries today are on track to control their HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2020.

When President Bush signed the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act into law in 2003--Barbara Lee and I were actually sitting together at the ceremony--President Bush said:

``HIV/AIDS is one of the great medical challenges of our time . . . Across Africa, this disease is filling graveyards and creating orphans and leaving millions in a desperate fight for their own lives. They will not fight alone . . . The legislation I sign today launches an emergency effort that will provide $15 billion over the next five years to fight AIDS abroad . . . In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to act, and we are acting . . .''

Today, according to the U.S. Department of State, ``PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history. Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested over $80 billion dollars in bilateral HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programs.''

Before PEPFAR, only some 50,000 people in Africa had access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment. That number has since increased to approximately 14 million people receiving treatment for HIV and AIDS. Thanks to antiretrovirals, some 2.2 million babies have been born HIV- free to HIV positive mothers. Since the start of PEPFAR new HIV infections have declined between 41-76%. And again, more than 16 million lives have been saved.

Yet, the need for this legislation is absolutely compelling, because there is much more to be done. The Trump Administration's 2018 PEPFAR Report to Congress sounds the alarm noting that:

``according to UNAIDS, nearly 37 million people are living with HIV globally; however, the number of those on treatment is currently 20.9 million. While treatment access has increased

by more than 160 percent since 2010, there is still much more to do to ensure everyone is virally suppressed, especially children and individuals under age 35. Constant evaluation of program implementation, epidemic data, and partner performance is essential to continue to accelerate our impact. We must continue to act decisively and strategically with our resources and to bring other donors and high-HIV-burden countries to the table; otherwise, we all risk an epidemic that rebounds beyond the global community's capacity to respond. The time to act is now. Every week, 32,000 people are infected with HIV globally, including 6,900 young women and 3,000 children, and 19,000 people die of AIDS-related illnesses. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are especially affected. Of all the new HIV infections in adolescents in the region, nearly 75 percent are among females; they are up to 14 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than young men.''

I introduced H.R. 6651 joined by a group of bipartisan original cosponsors to ensure the continuation of this extraordinarily effective lifesaving initiative--and the time to act is now.

This PEPFAR extension includes an amendment to extend programs aimed at supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children--an initiative that assists over six million individuals--with support from multiple organizations, including Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. I would like to thank my Democratic colleague, and original cosponsor, Barbara Lee for her outstanding commitment to this issue.

I also wish to commend the leadership shown by Chairman Ed Royce, Ranking Member Engel, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen--Ileana, we will miss you-- and my colleague on the Africa subcommittee, Ranking Member Karen Bass.

I would also like to thank the staff who worked on this extension, coordinating with advocacy groups and helping bring this bill to the floor--Luke Murray from the Leader's office, Joan Condon and Catherine Rowland from the House Foreign Affairs Committee majority and minority, Diala Jadallah and Janette Yarwood from Representative Lee's and Representative Bass's office, and Piero Tozzi from my subcommittee. I also want to thank the many advocacy groups who weighed in with support and work tirelessly day-in-and-out to bring relief to those afflicted by HIV/AIDS and their family members.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1055, offered by my good friend and colleague, Dan Donovan. This is an important piece of legislation. It underscores the unfinished business towards Liberia.

Liberia is one of our best friends and allies, historically to the present day, for very many reasons, including the fact that freed men and women and former slaves from this country went back and helped to make Liberia what it is today.

Unfortunately, they have had people like Charles Taylor, a despotic leader who killed and maimed and enabled gross rape. He, personally, has been held to account by the Court for Sierra Leone.

We all know that David Crane, chief prosecutor, who has testified before my subcommittee on several occasions, did a wonderful job in bringing large numbers of people to justice. Charles Taylor, for example, got 50 years. I will never forget that infamous photo of Taylor looking down at the floor, never thinking that he would get a 50-year jail term for his crimes.

But there are many others who never got prosecuted. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made serious recommendations that have not been implemented, including establishment of a criminal tribunal for Liberia.

The time has come. Dan Donovan's bill puts the House clearly on record in saying we think this needs to be done, and it needs to be done now. I thank him for his leadership. On the subcommittee, he has been a great voice of reason and strength, as well as for human rights, particularly for those in Liberia. Last September, he chaired one of our hearings on Liberia, and I thought he did a masterful job, and I want to thank him for that leadership.

Mr. Speaker, this is an important bipartisan bill. I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, October 10, 2018 marks the 107th National Day of the Republic of China, or ``Double Ten Day,'' as it is known in Chinese. On this auspicious day we not only have an opportunity to reflect on the bond between the American and Taiwanese people--our shared democratic values and historical partnership--but also look forward to strengthened ties of friendship and collaboration.

Founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen on October 10, 1911, the Republic of China stands as a beacon of freedom and democracy on the island of Taiwan, and as a positive counterexample to mainland China which, under Xi Jinping, has turned to greater repression and contempt for human rights.

Let us not forget that the Republic of China, which had to endure many challenges and social upheavals during its tenure of rule in mainland China from 1911 to 1949, was the first allied country to be attacked in World War II. Our two countries locked arms and resisted the Imperial Japanese Army, with the first American aviators volunteering with Major General Claire Chennault and the fabled Flying Tigers to resist the Japanese from the air in 1941. Eventually, Japan and the Axis powers were defeated decisively, and the Republic of China became one of the founding members of the United Nations and attained a seat on the Security Council.

Despite some hesitant steps on our part, we again stood together against the Communists led by Mao Zedong, both before and after the Republic established itself on Taiwan, from where it offered support to our forces resisting Communist tyranny on the Korean peninsula. In the ensuing decades, the Republic of China on Taiwan emerged from authoritarian rule to become the first authentically democratic nation in Chinese history.

Taiwan has since become a beacon of hope and optimism in the Asia- Pacific region. Its people enjoy all basic freedoms, including freedom of the press, assembly, and religion. Through the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, the American people have strengthened our bond with the people of Taiwan. Recent Congressional endeavors, such as the Taiwan Travel Act--which I proudly cosponsored--undoubtedly will lead to further cooperation and friendship.

It is perhaps because of Taiwan's democratic culture that China feels so threatened by it. Mainland China has launched a multi-dimensional campaign against Taiwan that includes many aggressive and provocative actions, such as the dispatching of warships, bombers, and fighter jets to encircle the island, as well as conducting live-fire military exercises near Taiwan's waters. Furthermore, in the diplomatic arena, China has worked assiduously to cut off Taiwan's diplomatic partners and block Taiwan from participating in international organizations. Taiwan has a comparative advantage in areas such as global health, and it is a travesty that for no other reason than to assuage China, Taiwan is prohibited from participating in critical fora such as the World Health Assembly. Now more than ever, Taiwan needs our support.

Mr. Speaker, the moral and geopolitical case for Taiwan is strong and consistent with the Administration's commitment to build a free and open Indo-Pacific. Taiwan is a model of democracy, prosperity, rights protections, and the rule of law. Citizens of the Republic of China on Taiwan should know on its 107th anniversary that that the American people, and the Congress, stand with them.