Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at noon on Monday next for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. Speaker, nestled along the southern shore of the Toms River, in Ocean County, New Jersey, just near the mouth of the beautiful Barnegat Bay, is the Borough of Pine Beach.

This picturesque Jersey town boasts of a warm and robust community where residents cherish American values, dependable, friendly neighbors and a storied history with a limitless future, full of promise.

On March 25, 2025, Pine Beach will mark its 100th anniversary of its founding with celebrations, dedications, contests and great fanfare.

Dubbed ``The Pearl of the Toms River,'' the Borough's beginnings are rooted in the work and vision of two retail merchants from Philadelphia, Robert M. Horter and George Kelly, who launched a small summer colony along the coast of New Jersey by acquiring land in 1908 under the name of the Pine Beach Improvement Company. To fulfill their dream of a home away from home--at no better place than the remarkable Jersey coastal area--they borrowed many street names from the Philadelphia area that soon saw construction workers raise sturdy attractive summer and retirement homes. By 1910, 109 deeds were recorded and 22 homes built, with groundbreakings for new homes continuing each year.

As this small desirable community began to grow, local leaders looked towards establishing a stand-alone borough. On March 25, 1925, a majority of electors residing in the Pine Beach area voted to incorporate the borough of Pine Beach in the County of Ocean. Residents of the newly minted Borough of Pine Beach voted on April 21, 1925, for their first Mayor, Council, Assessor, and Collector.

We are grateful to the members of the Pine Beach Preservation Society Historical Committee, who led the research and preservation work that has helped secure and share the history of the Borough's founding. President George Roksvaag and Vice President Justine Saxton, are credited with pouring through Borough and Berkeley Township archives, as well as documents of the Ocean County Historical Society and the New Jersey State Library. The Committee's efforts culminated in its strong recommendation that the current Mayor and Council celebrate and adopt the date of March 25, 1925, as the Borough's official Founders Day.

And celebrate they will. The official kick-off begins on Monday, March 24, 2025, with Mayor Lawrence Cuneo, and the Borough's Council Members James Keesling, Lori McGee, Raymond Newman, Richard Polhemus, James Saxton, and Barry Wieck at a town hall ceremony where they will proclaim the official date of Pine Beach Founders Day.

Day-long ceremonies will follow on Tuesday, March 25, led by the Pine Beach Preservation Society's Events Committee at Borough Hall. Additionally, delightful artwork depicting scenes of Pine Beach life composed by local artists will be on display at the nearby Pine Beach Elementary School, home to the Pine Beach ``Panthers'' and its 400 students.

To cap off the day, Borough celebrations continue with a Pine Beach Founder's Day Reception at the Pine Beach Yacht Club. Older than the Borough itself, the Yacht Club has been a true ``anchor'' of the community since 1916, hosting social and civic activities like dinners, dances, skits, fairs, auctions, moonlight cruises, and teas. Its Junior Sailing Program helps train, shape and prepare New Jersey's next generation of sailors. The evening will include a presentation by Gretchen Coyle, a writer and member of the New Jersey Maritime Museum who has written about Pine Beach.

A landmark in the midst of Pine Beach's history is the Pine Beach Volunteer Fire Company No. 1. The original members--including Howard Hutchinson, LeRoy Hutchinson and Charles Creamer, Jr.--answered the first calls nearly 100 years ago and today's Company President, John Kubilewicz, Chief David McKay and all the dedicated Executive Officers Line Officers carry the same first responder attributes of courage, selflessness dedication to their community. Fire Company No. 1 is known for also hosting great community events and it too will celebrate its 100th anniversary on December 11, 2025.

The heart of the community, Mr. Speaker, may be its historic chapel, a ``summer church'' built in 1910 by the Reverend August Pohlman, who is believed to have built the first summer home in Pine Beach in 1909. Then a pastor of the Temple Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, he became the first pastor of the chapel. Initially used by both Protestants and Catholics and even doubling as a schoolhouse for a time, it was put to year-round use in 1932 with a resident pastor. Today, Pine Beach Chapel continues its inspiring worship traditions with Sunday services, Bible studies and other faith activities.

When recapping Pine Beach landmarks, we must also highlight the original home of the Admiral Farragut Academy, named after the Civil War naval hero who famously declared in battle ``Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!'' For six decades, between 1933 and 1994, the school operated as one of only two Naval Honor Schools in tha Nation. Future Navy aviator and astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. once attended the school. The history of the academy lives on today at its southern campus in St. Petersburg, Fla.

It's been a remarkable, impressive 100 years for Pine Beach. Today, the Borough has more than 900 households and more than 2,100 people, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau figures. As the congressman for Pine Beach, it is my pleasure to congratulate the entire community and join you in celebrating this important milestone. You are truly blessed to call Pine Beach your hometown, an amazing place to visit, live, and raise a family.

Mr. Speaker, today marks a sad and brutal anniversary: the violent crushing in 1959 by the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army of a patriotic movement that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Tibetans and the fleeing into exile of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

The world saw the true nature of the Communist regime and was horrified.

In the ensuing decades since then, I am afraid there has been a dulling of the moral clarity we once possessed. Today, businesses, universities and politicians seek to partner with the People's Republic of China, lulled by the thought of lucre or enhanced prestige.

The nature of the Chinese Communist regime has not changed, however, nor has its goals. In 1959 the evil intent toward the great people of Tibet was manifested for all to see. Today, however, the genocidal repression is more subtle.

We see a slow-motion erasure of Tibetan culture, of children being taken from their parents and placed into colonial boarding schools where they are cut off from their language and culture. We see Tibetan women being forcibly sterilized, their children aborted.

Genocide does not require gas chambers or killing fields; per the Genocide Convention of 1948, its attributes include the ``imposing [of] measures intended to prevent births within the group,'' and ``forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.''

This is what is happening. Today.

So strongly do I feel about this, that when I was named chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China last Congress, the very first hearing I convened was on ``Preserving Tibet: Combating Cultural Erasure, Forced Assimilation and Transnational Repression.''

Yet the CCP continues to wage a campaign of repression targeting the right of Tibetans to educate their children. As noted, they are placed in colonial boarding schools, while across the Tibetan plateau the CCP shutters independent schools, many associated with monastic institutions. Young monks in particular are being forced to leave their religious training and enroll in state-run schools.

Schools that have been shut down in the last year include one attached to Kirti Monastery in Sichuan, and the Ragya Gangjong Sherig Norbulmg school in Qinghai. These school closures cut off a vital way for Tibetans to transmit their religious, linguistic, and cultural heritage, and should be viewed as a key part of the larger Sinicization project in Tibet.

There is an information blockade on Tibet, particularly the Tibet Autonomous Region. Thus, we could not obtain information about the January 2025 earthquake in Dingrim, and were left in the dark about how widespread damage was, how many people died or were injured, and what is the status of relief work.

Indeed, just this past first week of March, Chinese officials indicated that the number of affected people was more than twice what was previously reported.

Authorities have reportedly detained dozens of Tibetans for spreading ``false information'' about the earthquake. Meanwhile a Tibetan Buddhist monastery librarian was sentenced to 3 years in prison for ``inciting separatism'' because he was in contact with people outside Tibet and shared books that had been published abroad.

PRC officials are continuing the recent change in official terminology regarding Tibet, now referring in English to anything related to the Tibet Autonomous Region as ``Xizang,'' the Mandarin word for Tibet. Organizations around the world that interact with the PRC government, for example museums, are pressured to accept this change.

Atshog (Atsok) Monastery in Qinghai was demolished last summer, and by fall the site was submerged under a new dam's filling reservoir, destroying stupa and murals that couldn't be relocated, and forcing the resettlement of the monastery's resident monks.

Of course, as geographic location is an important religious factor for Tibetan Buddhism, with local deities are often identified with geographic features like mountains or rivers, simply moving a monastery can never make up for what is lost.

Thus, if we are going to preserve Tibet, we in Congress need to continue to hear their voice. We cannot only pay attention on anniversaries such as March 10, but rather we must resolve to raise the cause of Tibet on a day-to-day basis.

The first step, however, is not forgetting. That is why we are here today.

Let's continue to work together to preserve Tibet and one day, we hope, we will see a free and independent Tibet.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding, and I thank Ann Wagner for her tremendous leadership and courage in authoring this important bill.

Madam Speaker, in a Florida abortion clinic, Sycloria Williams delivered a perfectly healthy, live baby girl at 23 weeks.

The clinic owner took the baby, who was gasping for air, cut her umbilical cord, threw her into a biohazard bag, and put the bag into the trash like so much garbage.

Heartbroken, Ms. Williams later had a funeral for her baby girl she named Shanice.

Madam Speaker, why are these live births so little known? We are talking about, in most cases, perfectly healthy babies who are killed but they survive.

The Philadelphia Inquirer did a cover story years ago called ``The Dreaded Complication.'' In it, the abortionists were complaining that so many children were surviving late-term abortions and they didn't know what to do. The partial-birth abortion ban, where the baby's brains are sucked out--we did the ban, but the actual procedure--was, in part, in response to that. They wanted to ensure that the baby was dead.

In that article, Dr. Willard Cates, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's abortion surveillance unit, said: Live births are little known because organized medicine, from fear of public clamor and legal action, treats them more as an embarrassment to be hushed up than a problem to be solved. It is like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit. What is there to gain? The tendency is not to report because there are only negative incentives.

Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, one of the few who got caught, was convicted of murder for killing so many children and women in his abortion clinic in Philadelphia. The grand jury described it this way: Gosnell had a simple solution for unwanted babies: He delivered them. He killed them. He didn't call it that. He called it ensuring fetal demise. The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that snipping.

These children are not junk. They cannot be treated as so much garbage. This legislation tries to say we need to protect them once they are born after the abortion.

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act seeks to end or at least mitigate this egregious child abuse by requiring that a healthcare provider must--and this is from the bill--exercise the same degree of professional care, skill, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious healthcare practitioner would render to any other child born alive.

Why can't we have that standard to try to save that child? The bill empowers the women upon whom the abortions are performed to obtain appropriate relief through civil action. We passed a bill like this when Steve Chabot was the prime sponsor years ago, but the enforcement has been almost nil if not none.

This is humane, pro-child, pro-human rights legislation, and I hope my colleagues on the other side realize these children have great value and should not be treated like junk.

Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, this year's March for Life is an engraved invitation to each and every one of us to seriously recommit and rededicate ourselves to the defense of the weakest and most vulnerable.

To recommit with love and compassion to tangibly assist women-- especially through the extraordinary work of pregnancy care centers--in order to protect their precious babies and their own lives from the violence and cruelty of abortion.

Pregnancy care centers are under siege by Planned Parenthood--also known as Child Abuse Inc.--an organization that has killed more than 10 million babies in its clinics.

This year we recommit to exposing abortion methods to a society that has chosen to be blind to the realities of brutally dismembering helpless babies with sharp knife-like curettes or poisoning babies with pills that literally starve them to death and often result in their bodies being flushed down a toilet.

We are a people of indomitable hope--we absolutely refuse to entertain discouragement or defeat.

We thank President Trump for defeating not one but two extremist pro- abortion candidates--Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris--and for his amazing defense of unborn children.

Abortion-President Joe Biden is gone--but his morbid legacy of packing the judiciary with litmus tested abortion activists, using executive orders to kill more babies and integrating the nefarious abortion agenda into countless benign and necessary programs like veterans' health and global health must be immediately reversed.

President Trump has done more to protect the innocent than any other president in history--and now, thank God, he's back.

Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade--achieved by the three Supreme Court justices President Trump appointed--half the states have enacted laws to protect unborn children, saving over 200,000 children over two years.

On Monday, President Trump issued a powerful executive order designed to defund the outrageously pro-abortion World Health Organization (WHO), and another--the expected reinstatement of the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance to reverse Biden's hijacking of global health funding, which shamelessly promoted abortion on demand around the world including in President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Last week, the most recent revelation was that PEPFAR broke U.S. law to pay for abortions in Africa--a tip of the iceberg of the Biden- Harris anti-child activism at home and abroad. The 2025 Marist poll has found that 73 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars for abortions in other countries.

Other pro-life executive orders are expected soon.

Special thanks to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the Republican leadership in the House and Senate for their ongoing courageous legislative initiatives, including legislation to save babies born alive during the grisly abortion process.

The Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act under consideration in both the House and Senate seeks to end or at least mitigate this egregious child abuse by requiring that a health care provider must ``exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age'' or be fined and/or face up to five years in prison.

The bill makes clear that no mother of a child born alive can ever be prosecuted.

It also empowers the woman upon whom the abortion is performed to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action.

This is humane, pro-child, human rights legislation.

Why is there opposition? Dr. Willard Cates, MD, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Abortion Surveillance Unit, explained years ago: ``(Live births) are little known because organized medicine, from fear of public clamor and legal action, treats them more as an embarrassment to be hushed up than a problem to be solved. It's like turning yourself in to the IRS for an audit . . . What is there to gain? The tendency is not to report because there are only negative incentives.'' Cates was quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer in ``Abortion: The Dreaded Complication.''

Bottom line: pro-lifers are a people of persevering faith in God willing to bear any burden and endure any attack. We know that the cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever and that each day, despite setbacks, many unborn children and their mothers have been and are being protected. We have hope. We have just begun.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to reiterate my strong support for normalizing our tax treatment of Taiwan and for legislation which passed this House last week on January 15, 2025, H.R. 33, the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act, introduced by my good friend and colleague Jason Smith of Missouri.

As this legislation notes, Taiwan's international status is ``unique,'' and for far too long this bastion of democracy, constitutionalism and freedom on the front line facing Communist China has been disadvantaged by its irregular juridical status.

It makes no sense to penalize Taiwanese investors while privileging investors from Communist China, especially when Taiwanese companies such as TSMC and Global Wafers are investing money so we can securely manufacture microchips and silicon wafers in the United States.

This is not simply a fairness issue, but also a national security issue. Agents from Communist China are buying farmland near strategically-sensitive locations, and coopting our universities into becoming research arms of the People's Liberation Army. Meanwhile, Taiwan is investing tens of billions of dollars to build semiconductor factories in America at our invitation so we can help insulate ourselves from mainland Chinese pressure. The U.S. should be disincentivizing investment from Communist China while encouraging investment from democratic Taiwan--not the other way around--and this legislation goes a long way to balancing the scales.

I also note that our American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan strongly supports this legislation. This legislation will also strengthen bilateral investments between the United States and Taiwan.

I thank Mr. Smith (of Missouri) and Speaker Johnson for making this legislation a priority so early this Congress. I call on the Senate to swiftly pass this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to underscore my strong support of H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, and highlight the immediate need to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its dangerous abuse of power and for the United States to repudiate these actions.

The ICC's outrageous issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Gallant is a grotesquely bad decision by a court that is corrupted by blatant antisemitism.

Israel's right to defend itself from this brutal invasion is absolute. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in the past that he would never allow a second holocaust--nor should we.

Antisemitism is at the root of Hamas violence against Israel and every Jewish man woman, and child, and is explicitly expressed in Hamas' 1988 Charter which demands the absolute destruction of the state of Israel and proclaims: ``Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.''

In its 2017 charter, Hamas reiterates its goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth: ``There is no alternative to a fully sovereign Palestinian State on the entire national Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital.''

Mr. Speaker, the ICC's actions support Hamas' explicitly antisemitic and genocidal campaign of terror against Israel, and Congress must respond in the most forceful way possible.

The ICC is a rogue actor on the world stage, and the United States must have a more effective long-term approach for how to respond to it.

Their latest action is a further manifestation of the same antisemitism that is rampant at the United Nations and related international organizations. Last Congress alone, I chaired four congressional hearings on how they are absolutely infiltrated by antisemitic personnel who on a daily basis go after Israel with such cruelty.

Israel needs the ability to defend itself--and they need friends and partners who will stand beside them.

It is long-past time the United States held international organizations accountable for their antisemitism and their corruption. Furthermore, it is incumbent upon the United States to use its full voice to support Israel and ensure international organizations and venues are not used to promote antisemitism and the persecution of the Jewish people, and encourage our allies to do the same.

I thank Congressman Roy for introducing this legislation, underscoring this House's resolve to stand by an ally.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 23.

Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity today to highlight the deep, widespread and heartfelt appreciation shared by many across Ocean County, New Jersey for their extraordinary County Clerk, Scott Colabella, who will retire at the end of this month after a lifetime of outstanding public service to our New Jersey communities.

Scott is a great American patriot. His story of commitment, dedication and outstanding work on behalf of New Jersey citizens--and his leadership in securing foolproof, reliable elections--belongs in our Nation's congressional record, the official written history of this country since the Continental Congress.

I first met Scott in the early days of my campaigns and congressional service. In fact, Scott was among one of my first congressional interns in my freshman term in the 97th Congress in 1981. Serving in my Washington, D.C. office, Scott proved to be an outstanding worker, assisting me in the delivery of top-notch constituent service and legislative analysis.

After working on Capitol Hill and graduating from Rider University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, Scott began a career of public service rewarded with promotions, achievements and advancement over the course of the next several decades.

His first stop was an eight-year stretch serving in Governor Tom Kean's Constituent Service Office and the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles. Thereafter, for many years, Scott served as the Executive Director of the Ocean County Republican Organization and ultimately, he became the Deputy County Clerk, of Ocean County in January 2004.

As Deputy Clerk, Scott proved his muscle and helped build a program based on a deep understanding of New Jersey election law and its equitable, just application. As such, the people of Ocean County recognized his talents and resoundingly elected him to serve as County Clerk in 2010.

Since 2010, Scott was elected by wide margins three consecutive times--a public affirmation and reward for his steady and exemplary service as a State Constitutional Officer.

When he took the helm as County Clerk, the office had a reputation as a well-run organization, but Scott still worked to find new ways to expand its reach and make it even better. Under his watch, the office processed millions of vote-by-mail applications and ballots and millions more sample ballots. Scott also directed the processing of countless trade names, passports, notary public oaths and veterans' cards.

During his tenure, Scott successfully launched the Property Alert Service to empower the public to monitor any changes made to their property records. He modernized election software to enable the public to monitor election results in real time on the Clerk's website, and he upgraded the electronic e-records system to attain paperless recording of over 70 percent of all mortgages and land deeds and other documents.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott met and stayed ahead of the extreme challenges facing county clerks across the state--and he helped lead the way. When voters in 2020 were required under state law to use only vote-by-mail ballots, for the first time ever, he met the task, secured the trust of the voters and achieved a successful election process.

A longtime resident of the Borough of Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island, Ocean County, New Jersey, Scott is moving on to the next chapter of his life.

He will be greatly missed by me and thousands of my fellow Ocean County residents, who have taken great confidence and comfort in knowing Scott Colabella was at the helm, securing free and fair elections in Ocean County.

We thank Scott for his unparallelled public service. May God bless my friend, and bring him added success and great luck in the years ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding and for his leadership and that of my colleague on the other side of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, it all started in September 1997, 27 years ago, with Brick Township, New Jersey, parents Bobbie and Billy Gallagher and their indomitable commitment to help their two children, Austin and Alanna, and everyone else with autism.

We met several times and continue to plan and strategize to this day. We invited the CDC to Brick, New Jersey, only to realize that Federal autism programs were woefully inadequate. Frankly, they were nonexistent.

They spend $287,000 per year on autism. That is it, a straight line for 5 years. It was a nothing burger, and they did nothing really of substance. So I introduced the Autism Statistics, Surveillance, Research, and Epidemiology Act, the ASSURE Act, in 1998 and again in 1999. In the second one, we had 199, almost one-half of the House of Representatives, as cosponsors. That would have established three to five autism centers of excellence, authorized serious prevalence studies, and established an autism advisory committee, which we now call IACC.

I am deeply grateful that the ASSURE Act was incorporated in large part by Chairman Mike Bilirakis as title I of the Children's Health Act of 2000.

Mr. Speaker, in 2016, Bobbie Gallagher, now a board-certified behavior analyst, wrote an amazing book called ``A Brick Wall: How a Boy with No Words Spoke to the World.''

In it she points out, and it is just an amazing book, that all parents of children with autism face many, many hardships: frequent tears, agony, as well as physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion.

Doctors had told the Gallaghers not to worry about telltale early warning signs of autism. One doctor was so uninformed that he said that their daughter, Alanna, just needed a good swift kick in the ass.

She recounts, however, the big moments that she treasures deep within her heart, like when 11-year-old Austin called her ``Mommy'' for the first time. It was slow and deliberate, ``Mommy,'' and she said it was beautiful. When he asked for a cookie, they celebrated in the Gallagher household.

It is a primer for everyone, and I would hope that others would read it. She said in the book that she realized why she is on this Earth: ``I am here to fight for children with autism,'' and fight she and her husband, Billy, have, like so many other brave and remarkable parents who deeply love their children.

They are parents like Scott Badesch, who is on my staff. Scott was the president of Autism Society for 10 years. Deeply, he and his wife love their son, Evan. They love their whole family. He is 37, and they have benefited from his leadership. We have benefited here in the Congress from Scott's leadership.

Also, Mr. Speaker, the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act, or simply the Autism CARES Act of 2024, is a comprehensive reauthorization and strengthening of America's whole-of-government autism spectrum disorder initiative.

As the prime author of the Autism CARES Act of 2024 and previous iterations of the law in 2011, 2014, and again in 2019, let me send special thanks to cosponsor Henry Cuellar for his leadership and partnership, and to Brett Guthrie, who is the chairman of the Health Subcommittee and incoming full committee chairman, for faithfully shepherding this legislation through the committee.

I thank my fellow New Jerseyan, Frank Pallone. Above all, I thank and show the deepest respect and gratitude to Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is a tenacious, effective, and brilliant advocate for the autism community. I thank Steve Scalise for making sure we are here today with the bill. I also thank Susan Collins and Ben Ray Lujan for their important work over on the Senate side.

I thank committee staff, including Molly Brimmer, Kristin Fritsch, and Caitlin Wilson, among others, for their help, which was totally invaluable; and John McDonough, Mary Noonan, and, of course, Scott Badesch on my staff for their work on this bill.

The bill, as we know, provides, as has already been mentioned by my colleagues, critical research goals focused on responsive and effective interventions for the estimated 6.8 million individuals with autism, 27 percent of whom--that is 1.8 million--are profoundly autistic.

According to the CDC, 1 in 36 children in the U.S., including 1 in 35 in my home State of New Jersey, are on the autism spectrum.

The bill authorizes more than $1.59 billion over 5 years for programs at the NIH, CDC, and HRSA, Health Resources and Services Administration. It directs the NIH to include the scope of research issues encountered by individuals and caregivers.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief and close and put the rest of it in the Record.

Autism Speaks says that the Autism CARES Act is the single most important driver of autism research, training, and data collection programs at NIH, HRSA, and CDC.

Mr. Speaker, we are joined here by Chris Banks, the CEO of Autism Society. They say it is a pivotable law for individuals with autism and their families to live fully, and it is crucial to understand the immense impact this law has on the daily lives of the autism community.

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities is also very, very supportive, and Profound Autism Alliance has pushed hard for this bill and its enhanced focus on individuals with profound autism, which they define as people who require lifetime, 24/7 care.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and the President, we hope, will sign it.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7213: Directs the NIH to include in the scope of research issues encountered by individuals and caregivers as they age, mental health concerns, issues related to aging, as well as co- occurring conditions and needs for supports and services, such as care necessary for physical safety and the prevention of self-injurious behavior.

Increases the number of NIH Centers of Excellence to seven and ensures research reflects the entire population of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and is designed to address the full range of needs faced by individuals, including to ensure the physical safety and to promote the well being of all Americans with autism.

Includes, for the first time, a professional bypass budget to provide the autism community with a comprehensive budget highlighting priority research areas and resources needed to advance quality of life improvements for all individuals with autism.

Promotes the adoption of assistive communication technologies to improve communications outcomes for those with communication assistance needs.

My bill also helps adults with autism who were and are today often misdiagnosed, underdiagnosed and overlooked.

Language throughout the bill continues to emphasize that causes, diagnosis, detection, prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorder must be throughout the lifespan of a person. To this end, Congress has included the study of gerontology--the study of aging, including the physical, mental, and social changes that occur as people age, as an NIH research priority.

H.R. 7213 continues to emphasize the need for early detection and intervention--including the use of advanced technologies in early detection--to provide the highest quality of life possible for those with autism.

The earlier a child can be identified as having ASD, the earlier they can access interventions and services.

Researchers have developed technologies to identify signs of autism in children as young as eighteen months--this is an incredible development and there is more research being done now to determine if autism can be identified even earlier. However, the median age of diagnosis in the United States is not until after 4 years of age, and diagnosis often occurs even later among those without intellectual disabilities or delays in social communication.

The delivery of services and interventions must keep up with a younger patient population, and services and interventions for autistic individuals must continue to improve across their lifespans.

Examples of services and interventions research include approaches to address conditions that affect the quality of life for individuals on the autism spectrum, such as behavior that puts individuals with significant support needs or their caregivers at risk (e.g., self- injurious, elopement, aggression, etc.), or mental health concerns (anxiety, depression, suicidality). The Autism CARES Act emphasizes the need to improve the quality of life for individuals with the full range of needs across the lifespan. Continued research by NIH to study how to improve interventions and the delivery of services is crucial.

H.R. 7213 calls for a report on youth aging out of school-aged services since the pandemic, and recommendations to improve mental health outcomes and address related disparities in mental health care for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, including prevention, care coordination, and community-based services.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to underscore my strong support of H. Res. 837 introduced by Mr. Moylan, our colleague from Guam, on Reaffirming Ties Between the United States and the Philippines. It is both timely and critical, as we see the People's Liberation Army Navy and the Chinese

Coast Guard intrude on Philippines territorial waters and engage in increasingly belligerent and lawless behavior.

My one quibble with the Resolution is the continued use of the term ``South China Sea'' to refer to that term for the sea west of the Philippines. Why not ``West Philippines Sea,'' an important semantic change that rejects the PRC's claims on Philippines territory and reinforces the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea arbitral panel ruling that the PRC's maritime territorial claims have no basis?

Indeed, even the term in Chinese makes no explicit reference to China. It is simply ``South Sea.''

We have seen repeated aggression by PLA naval and coast guard vessels in the West Philippines Sea. We routinely see Filipino fishing boats harassed and surrounded by a flotilla of navy and coast guard vessels.

There was also an incident this past summer where a Chinese coast guard vessel engaged in a piratical ramming attack against Filipino vessels. Eight Filipino sailors were injured, including one who lost his thumb.

The PLA Navy is playing a dangerous escalation game. A war was once fought over a sailor's severed ear--1739's War of Jenkins' Ear. Will a war now be fought over a severed thumb?

Not if we are resolute. There is a quotation attributed to Lenin: ``You probe with bayonets: if you find mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw.''

This describes the strategy of the PLA Navy. Probing with bayonets. Unfortunately, up until now, they have only encountered mush. Steely resolution is what is needed to deter war.

It is my hope that the incoming Trump Administration show resolve which sadly has been lacking, including conducting naval exercises in conjunction with our Philippines treaty ally in the West Philippines Sea, and sending ships to escort the Filipino navy in resupplying Filipino sailors and Marines who are staffing an outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal--something that was bravely done just this past week by our stalwart ally.

I thank Representative Moylan for his resolution, underscoring this House's resolve to stand by an ally.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Michael McCaul, our chairman, for very quickly bringing this important resolution to the floor along with the great support of Gregory Meeks, the ranking member.

I especially thank Kathy Manning for authoring this extraordinarily timely resolution condemning the despicable rise of anti-Semitism around the world and calling on our international organizations and countries to embrace the global guidelines for countering anti- Semitism.

Kathy has done a wonderful job. It has been a privilege to serve with her as co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti- Semitism. This resolution says it all. I thank her for doing it and doing it so well.

I want to make a few points. One, the spiritual cancer of anti- Semitism is metastasizing, not only in our country, but in many countries as well, at a rate that is both shocking and sickening. The evidence of it is everywhere, including in our college campuses and university campuses--and just not Harvard and NYU. In my own State at Rutgers University, I was there when people were camping out, and I was accosted verbally by some people. The hatred was just pouring out of their lips and their eyes. The hatred for Jews is unconscionable.

Of course, one of the most recent horrors, as was pointed out, was the Amsterdam pogrom earlier this month, the horrific mob assault on Israeli soccer fans.

It was repulsive on at least two levels. First, the brutal evil of the attackers themselves, but also the so-called respectable opinion- makers who just said: Oh, they shifted the blame. This is all about anti-immigrant sentiment or prejudice and even Israel.

Natan Sharansky is one of the greatest human rights individuals who has ever lived. I had him testify at two hearings. I tried to visit him and actually was in Perm Camp 35 in the 1980s where the Soviet Union had housed him. Frank Wolf and I went there.

When he got out, he came and testified, and he said: You know, if you don't chronicle the hatred--and that is included in these global guidelines--you can't combat it. It must be defined very clearly, especially by law enforcement, so it is not just brushed off as hooliganism or other kinds of things. You need to define it, and to do so with specificity.

He also talked about the three Ds that we are seeing manifesting vis- a-vis Israel every day of the week, and that is demonization, double standard, delegitimization, those three Ds. He talked about that and said that is a cover for anti-Semitism. Disagree with Knesset all you want or with Netanyahu, but once you lower yourselves into those--we see it at the U.N. every day.

I chaired four hearings this Congress alone, more than three dozen over the years, combating anti-Semitism about how the U.N. is rife-- including the U.N. Human Rights Council--with anti-Semitism. It is just unbelievable how bad it is.

UNRWA is filled, overflowing with Hamas sympathizers and Hamas activists who teach children each day of the week to hate Jews and to kill. Just read the Hamas charter. It says: If you see a Jew behind a rock, kill him or her. That is what is being funded by the U.S. Government and funded--not right this minute--but it has been funded in the recent past. We should never do it again.

Let me also say that the guidelines--and I encourage every Member to read them--are very simple. They parallel the OSCE Conference that was held in 2002 and then the Berlin Conference in 2004. The idea of the conference came out of a hearing I chaired in 2002. I recommended it, and the OSCE took it up. The Bush administration took it up, and that conference had the Berlin Declaration in 2004. Rabbi Baker from the AJC did a masterful job--and a few others, but especially him--in wordsmithing a tremendous action plan. Of course, these global guidelines certainly parallel that--and as mentioned, certainly Ambassador Lipstadt.

Just for the record, I authored that legislation. We got it passed here in a bipartisan way, and it took months, years for the U.S. Senate to take it up. They finally did and the Ambassador at Large of the Special Envoy, Ambassador Lipstadt, is doing a magnificent job.

Silence is not an option. We know it. In the fight against anti- Semitism we need government at all levels to denounce, chronicle, and prosecute where these thoughts matriculate into evil deeds.

We know that if you just stand by idly, you are enabling. You need to call it out. This is a very fine resolution, and I thank Ms. Manning for authoring it. It calls out this anti-Semitism and says stop it.

Mr. Speaker, when Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Matt and Deidre Gordon of New Jersey were in the final stage of adopting Bogdan and Galena, an orphaned brother and sister from Ukraine.

The Gordons had been vetted and approved as adoptive parents by both the United States and Ukrainian Governments. They had a strong bond and relationship, they had a deep love, and they have a deep love for those two children and had spent precious time with them at their home in New Jersey, including regular contact and two long home stays totaling 5 months.

In March of 2022, however, during the first weeks of the Russian invasion, the Gordons had an appointment in Kyiv to be officially matched with the kids. It was at that point, however, that the Ukrainian Government temporarily suspended intercountry adoptions.

Arguably, the Government of Ukraine had reasons to suspend some adoptions, because of the fog of war and the difficulty in doing the requisite due diligence to safely and effectively process new adoption requests, but the Gordon case wasn't new. Matt and Deidre and many other Americans, hundreds of Americans, were nearing the end of the process when it all grounded to a halt leaving, in this case, these two children, and hundreds of other children, stranded.

Because of their deep love for their children, the Gordons have continued to visit Bogdan and Galena, who are in an institutional setting in Poland.

Let me just say, I did contact and wrote letters to President Zelenskyy, and this one goes back to July, asking for a remedy and to resolve this. We didn't even get an answer.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record my letter to President Zelenskyy.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

July 28, 2023.

His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy,

President of Ukraine, Via: Oksana Markarova, Ambassador,

Washington, DC.

Your Excellency: I write to urge you to review and modify

your government's decision to suspend intercountry adoptions

from Ukraine, particularly in cases in which the adoptive

Ukrainian children have already participated in American

homestays approved and facilitated by Ukrainian officials

before the suspension of the adoption process on March 13,

2022.

Throughout my tenure in the U.S. Congress, I have focused

much of my work on promoting human rights, freedom and

democracy around the world, including supporting democratic

reform in Ukraine since 1991. Similarly, I have led numerous

efforts to secure the rights and dignity of children across

the world who, due to their age and vulnerabilities, are

often tragically neglected and abused.

As the author of landmark legislation on issues pertaining

to children--including the Trafficking Victims Protection

Act, the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction

Prevention and Return Act and the International Megan's Law

to Prevent Child Exploitation, as well as proposals that

increased federal tax incentives to help overcome the upfront

costs of adoption--I am acutely aware of the complexity of

issues facing children internationally and the need for

government oversight of intercountry adoption to fully ensure

the ``best interest of the child'' throughout the process.

Notwithstanding your government's reasons for initially

suspending intercountry adoptions in 2022, I now urge that

Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy (MSP) revise that

decision with a view to resuming intercountry adoptions in

cases where our mutual concerns to protect and benefit

children can be substantially addressed.

Principal examples of this include cases in which, first,

the American adoptive parents have already had their dossiers

vetted and approved by the Ukrainian government, and, second,

the Ukrainian children have been determined to be adoptable

by the Ukrainian government, and, third, the Ukrainian

children have already participated in homestays with the

American families--such cases are few and were at or very

near the end stage of the process on February 24, 2022. In

such situations, Ukrainian children have come to know and

feel themselves as part of American families. I urge your

government to seek solutions in these cases that recognize

the deep bonds that have grown between the children and

parents and, consistent with Ukrainian law and regulations,

permit adoptions to be finalized.

One family that finds itself in this situation is that of

Matt and Deidre Gordon of New Jersey, and a boy and a girl--

natural siblings--of Ukraine. After the Ukrainian government

approved the Gordons' adoption dossiers in December 2021,

their previously scheduled final appointment with MSP

officials was cancelled in the wake of the invasion. The

children, whom the Gordon parents have already come to know,

now endure the agony of war while awaiting the day when they

can reunite. Any immediate assistance you could provide in

this urgent matter will be greatly appreciated. Having worked

with the family, please know I stand ready to provide

additional information or assist in any way you deem

appropriate.

Intercountry adoption is a profoundly beneficial way to

help children in need of parents and families that are eager

and able to open their hearts and homes to benefit children.

I sincerely thank you for your strength and courage in

defending your country in the face of Russia's brutal

onslaught and urge you to help unite American families and

Ukrainian children in new family environments that will

enhance the love and lives of both parents and children.

Sincerely,

Christopher H. Smith,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, there are hundreds of other children and U.S. families in the same or similar situations, as I have indicated.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 915, which respectfully urges the Government of Ukraine to review and modify its decision to suspend adoption by foreign nationals for adoptive parents like the Gordons and their children.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution makes specific recommendations, which I will put in the Record, including cases in which adoptive U.S. parents have already completed, as I mentioned, the requirements under the Ukrainian domestic law for the adoption of Ukrainian children and in which the adoptability of these children has already been confirmed and also which the adoptive U.S. parents have already had their dossiers vetted and approved by the Ukrainian Government.

We ask them to please not delay any longer. Those kids want a loving home, and there is one awaiting them as we speak.

Second, there are also cases in which Ukrainian children have already participated in hosting programs facilitated by the Government of Ukraine and placed with individuals within the U.S. before suspension of adoption by foreign nationals.

Mr. Speaker, those kids have suffered much, certainly being in that kind of isolation. Orphanages are there, but it is so much better to be in a loving home. We have got a remedy sitting right at our fingertips. I am calling on the Ukrainian Government and President Zelenskyy, especially, to do so.

Let me also say, the Ukrainian Government resumed domestic adoptions and did that in June of 2022. There is an apparatus, there is a capability and a capacity to do this job.

I thank Matt and Deidre Gordon from New Jersey for bringing the needs of these Ukrainian children to my attention.

For his extraordinary leadership and compassion, I thank former State Senator Ray Lesniak for first suggesting that the House pass this resolution.

Special thanks to my good friend and colleague Donald Norcross, who helped us craft this resolution and has been there every step of the way as the lead Democrat cosponsor. I thank Donald so much for his leadership on this important issue.

I also thank Mark Milosch, the Republican staff director of the Lantos Commission. Previous to that, when I chaired the Helsinki Commission, he was my chief of staff there, as well. He is very, very capable and really understands the European theater and the politics, and he helped us draft this, as well. I also thank Trent Bunker.

This resolution deserves the full support of this body, and I urge its adoption.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to imagine a Congress without my good friend and longtime colleague Kay Granger--an effective and accomplished lawmaker who has diligently represented the people of Texas since 1997, when she was elected as the first Republican congresswoman from the Lone Star State.

An incredibly strong, well-informed and tenacious leader, Kay has worked tirelessly over the years to make our government more transparent and accountable while helping those in need.

Having worked closely with her over the years, I know her deep personal commitment and unwavering resolve to protect unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion.

During her remarkable 25 years of service on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, she has fought relentlessly to preserve critical protections for the weakest and most vulnerable, including the Hyde Amendment--which has saved more than 2.5 million lives.

She has also strongly supported the Smith Amendment, which I first authored in 1984, to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding abortions for federal employees and their dependents, and her work on foreign aid has helped protect so many unborn babies and women in need around the globe.

As the first Republican Chairwoman on the House Appropriations Committee, Kay also led our efforts in the House on many other important matters. She worked hard to cut wasteful spending, promote fiscal responsibility, and ensure hard-earned American taxpayer dollars are spent more efficiently and effectively.

At every turn, Kay has been steadfast in her support of our courageous service members, veterans, and their families and absolutely dedicated to boosting our national security, especially while she served as Chairwoman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

She has worked tirelessly to hold public officials to account, including those at the U.S. State Department in the aftermath of the horrific attack on our diplomatic compound in Benghazi that tragically left four Americans dead.

Kay's unyielding commitment to improve the lives of her constituents and Americans across the country has truly made a difference. We will always cherish our time with her in Congress and the incredible lasting impact she has had on all of us who have known and worked with her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize October as National Spina Bifida Month, and to raise awareness and pay tribute to the more than 166,000 Americans living with Spina Bifida--the most common permanently disabling birth defect compatible with life. It is imperative we highlight the critical challenges to improved quality of life we must address to ensure each and every American can achieve their full potential.

The federal government has an obligation to advance research into devastating diseases and disabilities to help find cures and therapies and to identify preventative strategies. Equally important is federal support for programs and initiatives that help patients and their families as they struggle to live with these conditions, such as Spina Bifida.

Literally translated as ``split spine.'' Spina Bifida is a condition that occurs when a baby's neural tube fails to develop or close properly. Typically occurring within the first 28 days of pregnancy while the neural tube is forming, Spina Bifida often develops before a woman even knows she is pregnant.

Sponsored by the Spina Bifida Association (SBA), National Spina Bifida Awareness Month is a time to highlight the needs of the community and recognize the importance of the work done year-round to advance research, programs, and policies aimed at meeting those needs.

As co-chair of the Congressional Spina Bifida Caucus, I've had the honor to work alongside SBA to advance Spina Bifida awareness, research, and public health efforts in Congress. Founded in 1973, SBA is the Nation's only organization solely dedicated to advocating for and assisting those living with and affected by this debilitating birth defect.

Through its nearly 60 chapters in more than 125 communities, SBA brings expectant parents together with those who have a child with Spina Bifida. This interaction helps to answer questions and concerns, but most importantly it lends much needed support, solidarity, inspiration, and hope.

Mr. Speaker, Spina Bifida is a birth defect that can happen to anyone. Every day, an average of eight babies are affected by Spina Bifida and approximately 3,000 pregnancies are affected by this birth defect each year.

We do not know the exact cause of this condition, but research has found that if a woman takes 400 mcg of folic acid every day before she becomes pregnant, she reduces her risk of having a baby with Spina Bifida or another neural tube defect by as much as 70 percent.

No two cases of Spina Bifida are ever the same and so this birth defect is commonly referred to as the ``snowflake condition.'' Children born with Spina Bifida typically undergo dozens of surgeries before they reach the age of 18. And during their lifetime, someone with Spina Bifida will face at least $1 million in medical expenses, including multiple surgeries, and most can expect to spend much of their lives in a wheelchair or walking with braces.

Despite these challenges--and thanks to advances in research and medicine, along with policies supportive of children with disabilities--nearly two-thirds of Americans currently living with Spina Bifida have made it to adulthood. And while these strides are certainly worth celebrating, people with Spina Bifida--particularly adults--continue to face a crisis of care that could be largely prevented with the right resources and policies.

For instance, while we have a coordinated system of care designed to treat children with Spina Bifida in the U.S., there is no equivalent for adults. The result is that adults face a ``care cliff'' and enter a very fractured medical system where they are unable to find physicians willing or even knowledgeable enough to provide treatment, as Spina Bifida is still largely taught in medical schools as a pediatric condition and education has failed to keep pace with the rapid rise in the adult Spina Bifida population.

Thousands of adults are left with few options other than to seek care in the emergency room or continue to see their pediatric care team until insurance will no longer cover their care because of their age. And to make matters worse, many of these adults rely on Medicaid as their insurance provider, so even if they have the means to travel to an adult specialist, if they are located in another state--as is often the case--their coverage is denied. Across the country, there are more than 100 pediatric clinics devoted to caring for children with Spina Bifida. There are only 20 whose focus is on adults.

Constituents in my district are fortunate to be in proximity to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, home to the Spina Bifida Program, which offers comprehensive and expert care from diagnosis through adulthood. We offer great thanks to the medical professionals and researchers who endeavor to improve the quality of life for individuals living with Spina Bifida and their families.

At the federal level, we can and should make dramatic improvements in the ability of adults with Spina Bifida to access quality care by increasing the funding of the CDC's National Spina Bifida Program--the only federal program tasked with improving the care and outcomes for people living with Spina Bifida.

In 2008, the Federal Spina Bifida Program created a National Spina Bifida Patient Registry to collect the scientific data needed to evaluate existing medical services for Spina Bifida patients, and to provide clinicians, researchers, patients, and families a window into what care models are effective and what treatments are not making a measurable difference.

Building on this in 2014, the Spina Bifida Program funded the development of a Spina Bifida Collaborative Care Network to identify and to disseminate best practices for the care of people with Spina Bifida at all ages.

However, with only $7.5 million in annual funding--and this amount has been stagnant--there are only 11,000 patients in the national registry, limiting the ability of medical professionals to glean knowledge that would advance research in areas critical to improving quality of life. Even modest increases to this funding would make an enormous difference.

Additionally, we should urge NIH to work collaboratively across their many divisions to better understand Spina Bifida. As Spina Bifida can affect every organ and every system in the human body, a collaborative effort undertaken by NIH could result in research that would lead to better care for both this generation and future generations of Spina Bifida patients.

We are so fortunate today that our country is benefiting from the talent and contributions of the first generation of adults living with Spina Bifida. Today, I honor and celebrate all of them, along with their care partners, and also remember those we have lost to this condition. And I urge my colleagues to not only increase funding for the National Spina Bifida Program, but to work together so that these Americans receive the care and treatment all of us want for our families and loved ones.

I invite my colleagues to join me in this mission and join me in the Spina Bifida Caucus to broaden our efforts and advance the goal of a better future for people living with Spina Bifida.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 40th Anniversary of the Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, N.J., located in the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey.

On July 4, 1984, the medical center opened its doors as Brick Hospital, part of the Northern Ocean Hospital System. Its roots go back even farther, due to its ties to Point Pleasant Hospital, which opened in 1918 with four rooms in the home of Dr. Frank Denniston. Point Pleasant Hospital became part of the North Ocean Hospital System in the 1980s, growing to 120 acute care beds by 1984 and serving patients with 200 physicians and 400 staff. Point Pleasant Hospital had 17,000 emergency room visits and 3,600 admissions.

Today the hospital boasts 317 licensed beds, another 40 rehabilitation beds, nearly 800 physicians and 2,600 staff, plus over 120 residents and fellows. Admissions have risen to over 12,500 per year, while emergency department visits have now topped 85,700 in the past year, including visits to its Ocean Care Center in Point Pleasant Beach.

The hospital takes pride in its pursuit of excellence in nursing care, as seen via its distinction as a Magnet-credentialed facility, enjoying numerous recognitions for quality care in areas such as joint replacement, stroke, colon cancer surgeries. The hospital leadership has worked hard to offer advanced care, including heart and vascular services, orthopedics and advanced surgical procedures with cutting- edge robotic technology and both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation.

The hospital's pursuit to deliver the best care possible was rewarded in 2021 with a prestigious ``University'' designation, which acknowledges exceptional teaching programs in the contributions to delivering high quality care.

Ocean University Medical Center acute care service is enhanced by its Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, which helps to meet the hospital's goal to provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation right on campus. That convenience aims at helping people regain their independence and reach their highest possible degree of functionality as quickly as possible following illness or injury.

The accolades over those 40 years are too numerous to mention, but I recognize just a few of the latest the hospital has achieved: U.S. News & World Report 2024-25 recognition as a High Performing hospital in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, hip replacement, knee replacement, leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma, and lung cancer surgery; The ``A'' Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade in the Spring 2023 Hospital Safety Grade report; The American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2023 Platinum Performance Award-National Cardiovascular Data Registry for Chest Pain-MI; 2022 certification by the ACC for HeartCARE designation; The Healthgrades' 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award, placing it among the top 5 percent of all short-term acute care hospitals reporting patient safety; Recognition by the American Heart Association in its 2023 Get With The Guidelines awards program, earning Gold Plus Achievement Awards in the categories of: Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite; Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll; and Target: Heart Failure, and; Recognition by Practice Greenhealth in 2023 as a Top 25 Hospital in the nation for Environmental Excellence.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that the future of Ocean University Medical Center looks bright. The hospital is now a member of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network, with 18 hospitals and more than 36,000 team members, 7,000 physicians and 500 patient care locations.

With the recent completion of the $19.5 million Dr. Robert H. and Mary Ellen Harris Heart and Vascular Center, Ocean University Medical Center now boasts one of the Garden State's most advanced centers for heart and vascular diagnosis and treatment.

Additionally, the hospital hosts a variety of local classes and programs to help people quit smoking, manage diabetes, treat stroke and brain injuries, identify heart attack risks and prevention methods, lower risk of falls, take advantage of health screenings or with other quality of life matters.

These programs complement the many health care services and accolades I just cited, and together they combine to help the hospital deliver on its mission of providing quality healthcare, and simultaneously developing students, residents, fellows, faculty and an overall health care environment that strives for the highest possible quality of healthcare for all patients.

Their approach is unique because it utilizes the best components of different, evidence-based teaching methods, and structures curriculum specifically to give students what they need to excel in today's modern, technically demanding clinical settings.

Mr. Speaker, you, I and many of our colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives host the annual Congressional Art Competition for high schools in congressional districts across America.

It is with pride that I note Ocean University Medical Center hosted my annual Congressional High School Art Competition in 2023. In 2025, the hospital will once again host art students, their teachers and parents. The 2023 month-long exhibition was so warmly welcomed by staff, patients and visitors that I am eager for the show to open in the Spring of 2025.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, October 5, 2024, the leaders and staff at Ocean University Medical Center will officially celebrate four decades of delivering health care to the Brick, Point Pleasant and surrounding communities . . . truly a noteworthy accomplishment in which they should take great pride.

I congratulate President and Chief Hospital Executive Frank Citara, the Board of Trustees, the Foundation, the entire medical staff and all employees of the Ocean University Medical Center family on reaching this milestone.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3764, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2024.

This is a simple, clean, 3-sentence bill that reauthorizes the Commission, popularly known as USCIRF, for 2025 and 2026. It does so by amending the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 in the authorization of appropriations merely by updating the years of authorization and expiration. This has become the tradition: clean, simple, 2-year reauthorizations, and we should stick to this.

It's vital that we reauthorize USCIRF because it is the linchpin of the entire program Congress created to promote religious freedom through the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF's high- quality reporting and high-profile commissioners influence the State Department's work on religious freedom, making it more honest and effective.

USCIRF is tasked with defending the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad, reviewing reports of religious freedom violations and making policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the congressional leadership of both political parties. In May, Speaker Johnson appointed our former colleague the Honorable Vicky Hartzler to the Commission, and none of you will be surprised to hear that she's been a very active and engaged commissioner.

It was my very good friend Chairman Frank Wolf, who, in 1998, with great legislative skill, commitment and driving passion, pushed a supportive Congress but highly reluctant White House into enacting a singularly important human rights law--the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). Frank Wolf's law made the protection and promotion of religious freedom a serious priority in U.S. foreign policy by creating an Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom, by establishing the Office of International Religious Freedom at the Department of State--which among other duties, compiles the International Religious Freedom Reports on every country in the world--and by crafting the independent-minded U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the subject of today's reauthorization.

Importantly, Frank Wolf's landmark law also created a system for naming and taking action against Countries of Particular Concern, or CPCs. History has shown that when the U.S. elevates religious freedom and that priority is conveyed to Countries of Particular Concern, conditions often change for the better, prisoners of conscience gain their freedom and progress is made in the free or at least freer exercise of religious liberty.

As the author of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, which updated Frank's legislation in 2016, I follow the implementation of this law very closely. Since its founding, the International Religious Freedom Commission has issued 25 annual reports and recommended that 25 countries be designated CPCs--17 of them have ultimately been designated by the State Department. The IRFC acts as a true watchdog, recommending with incisive commentary that more countries be designated as Countries of Particular Concern than the State Department regularly designates. This demonstrates that USCIRF is a genuinely outside force, a constructive influence on the State Department. Convincing the State Department to heed the recommendations of USCIRF can be a process that takes years, and some administrations are more difficult to convince than others.

In this respect the Biden administration has been one of the worst. Nigeria is the most egregious case of all. USCIRF has recommended CPC status--after all, almost 5,000 Christians were killed there for their faith last year, with rampant government complicity. This is no- brainer--but not for the Biden-Harris Administration, which attributes this modern martyrdom to climate change and tribal conflict. This is egregious. Over 90 percent of Christians killed for their faith last year, in the entire world, were killed in Nigeria. USCIRF, however, calls it like it is and pulls no punches.

Mr. Speaker, USCIRF in recent years has been more effective than at any point in its history. Its recent chairs and commissioners have raised the profile and credibility of the Commission. I can say today that the U.S.

Commission on International Religious Freedom is the U.S. government's strongest and most respected voice for victims of religious persecution worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, USCIRF's mission is to monitor religious freedom violations globally and make policy recommendation to the U.S. government--that's a big mission, and it's always commanded bipartisan support. S. 3764 and its House companion, H.R. 7025, which has identical language and was introduced by myself and my good friend Rep. Eshoo, has together an equal number of Republican and Democrat co- sponsors. I believe Speaker Johnson's most recent appointments to the Commission, our former colleague Vicky-Hartzler and Maureen Ferguson, will help keep it on course. Congress will continue to do its part.

USCIRF is important to millions of our constituents of all faiths. I urge my colleagues to support S. 3764 and reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.