Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is with a great deal of pride, admiration, and joy that I rise to extend congratulations to Ms. Amber Jefferson Pearson upon her advancement to the highest civilian rank in the U.S. federal government. On June 20, 2023, Ms. Amber Jefferson Pearson was sworn in as Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Executive Director, Information Security Policy and Strategy, within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ms. Amber Jefferson Pearson is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norvell Jefferson, Jr. Mr. Norvell Jefferson, Jr., is the son of Mr. Norvell Jefferson, Sr., and Mrs. Nancy B. Jefferson. Mr. Norvell was an outstanding plumber in our community; his son, Norvell, Jr., is a retired Superintendent of Streets and Sanitation for the City of Chicago.

Ms. Pearson's grandmother, Nancy B. Jefferson, was Executive Director of the Midwest Community Council for many years and was an influential leader in the area where we lived. Mrs. Jefferson was an intimate advisor to Mayor Harold Washington. A post office is named in her honor, and many people in the area affectionately called her the Mother Theresa of the Westside. Ms. Pearson's family are icons of our community.

I congratulate Ms. Amber Pearson on her achievements. We are all proud of her and her accomplishments.

I am sure that Mr. Norvell and Mrs. Nancy are looking down with a gleam in their eyes, and her father Norvell is riding around in his little antique sports car talking about her accomplishments and keeping watch over the community. We love and respect her.

Madam Speaker, beginning tomorrow there will be thousands and thousands of events, commemorations, and activities all over America celebrating Juneteenth, which will be June 19. There will be many of those in the district that I represent, at Malcolm X College and also at the JLM Center.

I look forward to participating with many of my constituents as we remember and recall but project the future,

and that is what Juneteenth means. We look back to go forward.

Happy Juneteenth to all of the constituents in my district and throughout America.

Mr. Speaker, I hereby remove my name as cosponsor of H.R. 901.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and pay tribute to an outstanding citizen of the United States, and I am pleased to add that she is a member of my family, the Glass family.

Before my mother married my father, her maiden name was Glass. The lady that we celebrate today and acknowledge as she celebrates her 100th birthday is Mrs. Vernetta Jordan Glass.

I am pleased to wish her a happy birthday and to wish all of my Glass relatives well as we celebrate a family reunion in Detroit, Michigan.

Vernetta Jordan Glass was born on May 27, 1923, in the historic town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi.

Mound Bayou traces its origin to the 1820s to a White planter, Joseph Davis, the older brother of Jefferson Davis, who was President of the Confederate States, which left the Union and formed the Confederacy, which led to the Civil War.

After the war, Joseph Davis sold his land to a former slave, Benjamin Montgomery, and it was Isaiah T. Montgomery who led the founding of Mound Bayou in 1887.

Vernetta was born on May 27, 1923, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, and grew up in this all-Black town. She went to school and church, participated in community activities, and was taught values by her parents that have guided her life to this day.

She married Winston L. Glass, and she and her late husband migrated from Mississippi to Detroit, Michigan, in 1947, where they created for themselves very productive lives and raised seven highly educated and accomplished children.

After retiring from her nursing career, Vernetta increased her volunteer activities at her church, the community center, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, senior citizens centers, and other community places of interest.

Understanding the value of electoral politics and the civil rights movement, for many years, Vernetta worked as a judge of elections.

She is grandmother to more than 50 grandchildren and great- grandchildren and enjoys visits from friends and family. She also loves music and gardening and is a superb Scrabble player.

As she reaches the ripe age of 100, I am pleased to wish this dynamic lady, who has accomplished so much, a happy birthday. By the way, I am extraordinarily pleased that she is my cousin.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose this legislation that will harm 43 million student loan borrowers who need debt relief so that the Republicans can spend trillions of dollars in just a few weeks on tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent.

Over 100,000 borrowers in my congressional district alone and over 1.5 million Illinoisans will lose and be affected if the relief is denied. The maliciousness of this legislation is appalling. The bill would ban relief for 43 million borrowers and also drawback relief that millions of borrowers already receive.

This heartless bill would force public servants like firefighters, teachers, social service providers, legal aid attorneys, and nonprofit workers to make additional payments. The callousness of this bill is heightened because the Republicans are bragging that they will spend trillions of dollars in just a few weeks to give trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy 1 percent while inflicting economic harm on Americans struggling with student loan debt. I reject this bill.

Mr. Speaker, solar energy is one form of electricity generation that is growing in the United States, yet we do not have the economy of scale in manufacturing solar systems to meet supply and demand for industry and consumers.

Solar energy accounted for 3.9 percent of total electricity generation in 2021 compared to 0.7 percent in 2014.

Currently, domestic solar production is sold out for the next 2 to 3 years. In order to continue to address China's unfair trading practices and allow America's solar industry to grow, President Biden's proclamation 10414 declared an emergency with respect to U.S. electricity generation capacity by implementing a final rule that permits the importation of select cells or modules without the payment of antidumping and countervailing duty temporary for 24 months.

I urge my colleagues to stand with our President, who has shown such great wisdom and leadership. Vote ``no'' on H.J. Res. 39.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and pay tribute to an outstanding citizen of the U.S. and, I might indicate, is a member of my family, the Glass Family. Before my mother married my father, her maiden name was Glass. The lady that we celebrate today as she celebrates her 100th birthday is Mrs. Vernetta Jordan Glass. I am proud to wish her a happy birthday and to wish all of my Glass relatives well.

Vernetta Jordan Glass was born on May 27, 1923, in the historic town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Of course, Mound Bayou traces its origin to the 1820s to a white planter, Joseph Davis, the older brother of Jefferson Davis who was President of the Confederate States who left the Union and formed the Confederacy which led to the Civil War. After the war, Joseph Davis sold his land to a former slave, Benjamin Montgomery, and it was Isiah T. Montgomery who led the foundation of Mound Bayou in 1887.

Vernetta was born on May 27, 1923, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, and grew up in this all-Black town. She went to school, church, and was taught values by her parents that have guided her life to this day. She married Winston L. Glass, and she and her late husband migrated from Mississippi to Detroit, Michigan, in 1947, where they created for themselves very productive lives and raised seven highly-educated and accomplished children.

After retiring from her nursing career, Vernetta increased her volunteer activities at her church, the community center, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, and senior citizen centers. Understanding the value of electoral politics and the Civil Rights Movement, for many years Vernetta worked elections as a judge.

She is grandmother to more than 50 grand and great grandchildren and enjoys visits from friends and family. She also loves music and gardening and is a superb scrabble player.

As she reaches the ripe age of 100, I am pleased to wish this dynamic lady who has accomplished so much a happy birthday, and, by the way, I am pleased to know that she is my cousin.

Mr. Speaker, today, I recognize and celebrate 58 years of quality Head Start programming. I am grateful for Head Start and its dedicated staff that go above-and-beyond to meet the needs of children and families in Chicago and across the nation.

Since its establishment in 1965, Head Start has provided comprehensive early childhood education to over 35 million American children and families. Head Start was specifically designed to help break the cycle of poverty for low-income families by delivering targeted services to meet the emotional, social, nutritional, physical, and mental health of program participants. Having started out as a volunteer-based, eight-week, summer, bridge program back in the 1960's, Head Start now serves as the primary means by which pre-school children living in poverty receive school readiness support and services. Further, Head Start has assisted lower-income families, pregnant woman, infants, arid toddlers through the introduction of the Early Head Start Program since 1995.

Presently, Head Start programs reach over one million children and their families each year. Head Start serves urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the United States as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories. In each Head Start site, the overarching goal remains the same--to support the positive growth and development of children from birth to age 5 through services that promote early learning, healthy choices, and family well-being. Head Start programs help America succeed by helping our most vulnerable citizens succeed in school and in life.

In my own Congressional District and hometown of Chicago, countless families have benefited greatly from Head Start and Early Head Start. I am grateful that Head Start serves almost 29,000 children and their families in Illinois. Over the past year, Head Start and its dedicated staff have helped over 17,000 children in my state keep up-to-date on health screenings, over 10,000 children receive preventative dental care, and over 20,000 families receive support services. In fact, Head Start employees in Illinois performed over 260,000 home visits over the past year. I personally know how valuable these home visits are; early in my career, I was responsible for training Head Start and other early childhood educators on how best to conduct home visits in inner-city Chicago.

There are dozens of amazing Head Start and Early Head Start sites in Chicago. The following community-based organizations are examples of those grantees that provide top-notch services in our local communities: Ada S. McKinley Community Services; Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Chicago Commons Association; the City of Chicago; Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago, Inc.; Henry Booth House; and Start Early.

Famed singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye once stated that ``our children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.'' Head Start is doing just that by making a valued investment in our children and therefore our future. I applaud President Biden for signing the Executive Order on Childcare on April 18, 2023, that will marshal additional federal funds and support for Head Start caregivers and childcare, in general.

I hope my colleagues will join me today in recognizing and celebrating 58 years of Head Start. Going forward, I commit to continuing to work to find additional ways, resources, and means to support this vital, early childhood education and school readiness program that serves millions of hard-working American families and our youngest citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast votes on May 15, 2023, due to a delay with my flight. If I were present for Roll Call votes, I would have voted Aye for the following votes:

Roll Call No. 213, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, H.R. 3089--NDO Fairness Act; and

Roll Call No. 214, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, as Amended, H. Res. 363--Expressing support for recognizing ``National Police Week''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to families living with immunoglobulin A nephropathy, also known as lgA nephropathy (lgAN), or Berger's disease, a rare kidney disease that affects approximately 150,000 people in the United States. Earlier this month, my home state of Illinois issued a proclamation signed by the governor proclaiming May 14th as lgA Nephropathy Awareness Day.

lgA nephropathy occurs when lgA, a protein made by the immune system, builds up in the kidneys, causing inflammation that damages kidney tissue, negatively impacting the normal filtering mechanisms of the kidneys. Currently there is no cure for lgAN and 20 percent to 40 percent of lgAN patients will develop end-stage renal disease and need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. However, help for these patients is on the way.

In September 2020, several bipartisan Members of Congress, including the Kidney Caucus, the Rare Disease Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and patient advocacy organizations like NephCure Kidney International as well as 40 other stakeholders participated in the first ever Rare Kidney Disease Policy Roundtable to identify policy recommendations to advance ideas to treat rare kidney disease.

At the American Society of Nephrology's October 2020 Kidney Week, the roundtable released its recommendations in a paper titled, ``We Deserve Better: Revolutionizing Rare Kidney Disease,'' which outlined essential policy recommendations to catalyze and marshal developments in the rare kidney disease space. It was a seminal document for people living with lgA nephropathy and Focal Segmental Glomerular Sclerosis (FSGS) rare kidney diseases that particularly affect Asian Americans and African Americans respectively. The paper had five key policy findings: 1) increased rare kidney disease awareness is essential and should be part of our national strategy to reduce kidney failure, 2) significant reductions in time to diagnosis for rare kidney disease patients would yield dramatic improvements in health outcomes, 3) identifying and meeting the needs of communities of color living with rare kidney disease is a necessity, 4) healthcare providers, including nephrologists, need ore education on treating and serving patients with rare kidney disease and 5) access to specialists nd patient advocates will help preserve kidney function. People in Illinois living with lgAN or FSGS know how important it is to address all these critical areas.

For decades, there was only a single FDA-approved treatment for lgA nephropathy. However, in the last decade, a more efficient regulatory path has paved the way for the development of pioneering therapies, ushering in a new era of innovation in rare kidney diseases, resulting in over 30 clinical trials currently underway with some therapies already approved and many showing promising results. In an August 2022 article, STAT, a health-oriented website published by Boston Globe Media, quoted an lgAN researcher characterizing this moment as ``a golden age of lgA nephropathy.'' Clearly, the research and development in this space is encouraging and the future for lgA nephropathy patients is bright.

Mr. Speaker, I hope everyone will take a moment to recognize lgAN Awareness Day on May 14th, and I want to acknowledge the families in my district and throughout Illinois who are living with lgAN and other rare kidney diseases, and to let them know that help is on the way.

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

Democrats strongly agree that those who took advantage of the COVID crisis to commit fraud must be held accountable. Indeed, Democrats put $2 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act to fight fraud, and every House Republican voted against these investments to prevent fraud and hold criminals accountable.

These Democratic anti-fraud dollars helped the Department of Labor create an important cross-checking system to catch fraudsters who apply for unemployment in one State while receiving income in another, a practice for which a Republican House Member reportedly was indicted earlier this week.

Republicans are playing a dangerous game by cutting ongoing successful work by the Federal Government to fight fraud and leaving States to pick up the pieces.

The Department of Labor expressed deep concern about how H.R. 1163 will ``throttle essential, ongoing efforts to strengthen and protect the UI program.''

Instead of punishing organized crime, the Republican H.R. 1163 guts Federal funding to fight fraud, weakens State unemployment systems, privatizes American public service jobs, and sends cruel surprise bills to innocent workers who were unemployed during the pandemic.

We enacted bipartisan pandemic unemployment benefits that kept an estimated 5 million people a year from falling into poverty.

This assistance meant revenue and customers for businesses and helps spur our economic recovery. Unfortunately, when disaster struck, State unemployment systems were not prepared. Mistakes were made and thousands of workers were overpaid.

Again, we worked in bipartisan fashion to encourage States to waive overpayments to protect unemployed workers. Now, Republicans want to force States to claw back accidental overpayments from workers up to 10 years later.

When my GOP colleagues incorrectly assert that the bill limits the claw back of overpayments to fraud, they are only referring to a very narrow limit on the ability of States to keep portions of recovered fraud payments.

My Democratic colleagues and I offered many amendments to invest in antifraud efforts, protect workers, and strengthen State unemployment systems. The Republicans rejected every amendment.

Instead, the GOP careens ahead with H.R. 1163 that the CBO estimates is a net cut in Federal investment in fighting unemployment fraud and strengthening unemployment systems.

That is why so many organizations oppose H.R. 1163, including the AFL-CIO; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; the Communications Workers of America; the National Employment Law Project; and the Service Employees International Union.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 90 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider), my home State.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Sykes).

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

Mr. Speaker, Democrats strongly agree that those who took advantage of the COVID crisis to commit fraud must be held accountable. That is why Democrats put $2 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act to fight fraud. Every House Republican voted against it.

According to the Department of Labor's trust fund, only 16 States met the required solvency standard for unemployment systems. Instead of punishing organized crime and instead of addressing the fragility of State unemployment systems, the Republican H.R. 1163 guts Federal funding to fight fraud, weakens State unemployment systems, privatizes American public service jobs, and claws back overpayments for workers who were unemployed during the pandemic and received overpayments through no fault of their own.

Mr. Speaker, I am shocked that the Republican leadership is advancing this bill that guts Federal investment in stopping unemployment fraud the same week when one of its own is indicted for such crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill that punishes America's families while stunting accountability for actual crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, a government should help its people; it should make life easier and improve well-being. 1 reject the Republican Default on America Act that seeks to exact $4.8 trillion in harm from children, the elderly, veterans, workers, small businesses, families, and our economy. This bill is one of the most cruel that has come before the House in the 25 years that I've served here. This Republican Default on America would help tax cheats and oil companies while devastating our Nation to appease Republican extremists.

In Illinois, the House Republicans extreme demands would: put 562,000 people at risk of losing Medicaid; threaten food insecurity for 54,000 people aged 50-55; eliminate preschool and child care for almost 11,000 children; make college more expensive for at least 229,500 students; deny student loan debt relief to 679,000 borrowers; harm 960,000 k-12 students with draconian education cuts; cut $10 million in mental health funding for students; and increase housing costs for over 28,000 people. In my Congressional District alone, it would kill about 7,500 jobs, put health benefits at risk for 264,000 people, jeopardize Social Security payments for 73,000 families, and threaten the retirement savings of almost 78,000 people near retirement.

The harm from the Republican Default on America would affect the entire Nation.

It would deny over 40 million borrowers much-needed student loan debt relief, take away the opportunity to go to college for 80,000 youth, and make college more expensive for 6.6 million Pell grant recipients.

It would cut over 2 million rural and underserved families from health care services.

It would increase hunger for over one million seniors and strip nutrition assistance from millions of people, including 1.2 million women, infants and children.

It would pull 200,000 children from Head Start and 100,000 children from childcare, making it harder for parents to work and hurting our economy.

It would evict over 430,000 families from Section 8 housing and yank rental assistance from an additional 640,000 families, an unprecedented loss of affordable housing for older adults, persons with disabilities, families with children, and veterans.

It would make it more costly to run small businesses and result in 125,000 fewer entrepreneurs having free business counseling and leave 295,000 out from the Entrepreneurial Development program.

It would cut 780,000 jobs in our economy according to Moody's Analytics while likely resulting in 100,000 fewer workers in registered apprenticeships and shipping domestic manufacturing jobs overseas.

It would threaten veterans' health and benefits by removing 87,000 jobs across the Veterans Health and Benefit Administration.

It would endanger our safety by cutting $8 billion from the Department of Justice programs that support federal, state; and local law enforcement and first responders.

It would increase energy costs for working families and harm our climate, including by cutting the provision that I helped enact to bring the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy to low- income communities.

It would devastate research in our country that helps us compete globally and improve our health and well-being via 5,000 fewer NIH grants and $4 billion in cuts from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy's Office of Science.

The Default on America Act is anti-children, anti-seniors, anti- veterans, anti-small-business, antihealth-care, anti-labor, and anti- education. Quite frankly, it is anti-American. I vehemently oppose this cruel bill that threatens the strength of our Nation and the well-being of our citizens. I urge my colleagues to reject it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon for his leadership and for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, solar energy is one form of electricity generation that is growing in the United States. Yet, we do not have the economy of scale in manufacturing solar systems to meet supply and demand for industry and consumers.

Solar energy accounts for 3.9 percent of total electricity generation in 2021 compared to 0.7 percent in 2014. Currently, domestic solar production is sold out for the next 2 to 3 years.

In order to continue to address China's unfair trading practices and allow America's solar industry to grow, President Biden's Presidential Proclamation 10414 declared an emergency with respect to U.S. electricity generation capacity by implementing a final rule that permits the importation of select sales on modules without the payment of antidumping and countervailing duty temporary for 24 months.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, brinkmanship is no way to run a government. The default on America act is one of the worst bills I have had the opportunity to vote on. It is antichildren, antiseniors, antiveterans, antimiddle America, antismall business, antihealthcare, antiworkers.

As a matter of fact, it is anti-American because all that it does is cut, cut, cut. When all that you do is cut, cut, and cut, all that you get is blood, blood, blood. The blood of the American people will be on the hands of those who held the knife. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast votes on February 27, February 28, and March 1. Had I been present for the following roll call votes, I would have voter Aye for the following votes:

Roll Call No. 120, February 27, 2023: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, H. Res. 132--Responding to the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria on February 6, 2023.

Roll Call No. 121, February 27, 2023: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 538--Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act.

Roll Call No. 125, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Bost of Illinois Amendment No. 1.

Roll Call No. 126, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Boebert of Colorado Amendment No. 3.

Roll Call No. 127, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Jackson Lee of Texas Amendment No. 6.

Roll Call No. 128, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Jackson Lee of Texas Amendment No. 7; and

Roll Call No. 129, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Lee of Nevada Amendment No. 9. I would have voted Nay for the following votes:

Roll Call No. 122, February 28, 2023: On Ordering the Previous Question H. Res. 166--Providing for consideration of (H.R. 347) Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act; (H.J. Res. 30) congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, U.S.C., of the rule submitted by the Dept. of Labor relating to Prudence & Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments & Exercising Shareholder Rights;

Roll Call No. 123, February 28, 2023: On Agreeing to the Resolution H. Res. l66--Providing for consideration of (H.R. 347) Reduce

Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act; (H.J. Res. 30) congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, U.S.C., of the rule submitted by the Dept. of Labor relating to Prudence & Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments & Exercising Shareholder Rights;

Roll Call No. 124, February 28, 2023: On Passage H.J. Res. 30-- Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to ``Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising;

Roll Call No. 130, March 1, 2023: On Agreeing to the Amendment of H.R. 347--Roy of Texas Amendment No. 14; and

Roll Call No. 131, March 1, 2023: On Passage H.R. 347--Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act.