Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 6-month extension for Haitian temporary protected status recipients living in the United States, and for whom I believe our country should offer permanent residency. Temporary protected status, also known as TPS, offers forms of relief from removal under changing living conditions.

In 2010, Haiti was struck by the worst earthquake in the past 200 years, killing more than 160,000 people and displacing close to 1.5 million.

The United States played an intricate role in bringing some of the Haitians to the United States, providing them with a safe haven, because that is what we do.

Booker Washington captured well the importance of assisting people in need when he said: ``The highest test of the civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate.'' With this in mind, America should move the temporary protected status to permanent residency.

Return of the Haitian natives would only continue to set back the progress Haiti has made. The country of Haiti continues to feel the ramifications of the 2010 earthquake. Tens of thousands of people sleep in the streets or under plastic sheets in makeshift camps. The conditions that Haitians endure in the country has led to the spread of disease, which has become a major concern. The cholera epidemic has affected nearly 800,000 Haitians, killing over 9,000. Cholera is primarily found in countries with inadequate access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. In short, the quality of living in Haiti has created a need for a better life.

The economic disparity, extreme poverty, and underdevelopment of Haiti continues to loom. Though it is an island nation with rich culture, Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Among the 9 million people who reside in Haiti, over half live in extreme poverty, some even living on less than a dollar a day. While in the United States, people continue to contribute to our economy,

our diversity, and to our ever-evolving culture. This embodies the epitome of a mutualistic relationship.

The people of Haiti and the United States have had a long and complex relationship dating back to pre-slavery days. Our cultures and our respective economic histories and destinies are deeply intertwined.

I greatly urge my colleagues to support the permanent extension of Haitians being protected from mass deportation. For 7 years, these Haitians have greatly benefited the American communities of which they have been a part. To pull them away from these communities at such a pivotal point in both the United States' and Haiti's history would equate to nothing short of gross negligence. Let us not neglect the principle of which our Nation was founded upon and continue to assume the role of our predecessors. Help those who are less fortunate.

Mr. Speaker, I have been fortunate to have known many outstanding people during my lifetime, but never have I known a more outstanding, more passionate, more consistent, more reliable or more giving of herself than Ms. Ruth Life, whom I met in the 1960s. I met Ms. Life during the time when community activism was at a seriously high level.

Ms. Life, like many of our generation, were actively engaged in efforts to make life better for the people who lived in the communities where we lived and worked. Many of the workshops, forums, training sessions and meetings which I attended, Ms. Life would be present and participating. We were working in District 10 where Mr. Joseph Rosen was Superintendent of schools and Mrs. Ida Mae (MA) Fletcher was the leading school activist. As time went on, I left the teaching profession but continued to run into Ms. Life at meetings and church activities. When it came to teaching, none were better, as an Assistant Principal she was creative, encouraging and imaginative. When you walked into the Roswell B. Mason Elementary School, you knew that teachers were teaching and students were learning.

Thirty-eight years is a long time to teach and educate, but a lifetime of service to humanity through church, the Peoples Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ and the Peoples Community Development Association of Chicago Inc. and other organizations.

I can almost hear the Master speaking to her, well done my good and faithful servant. You have done exceptionally well here on earth, come on up. I welcome you into the bosom of Abraham where you can rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the Affordable Healthcare Act is the best thing that has happened to healthcare in the U.S. since the mid 1960's when Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid. More than twenty million people in our country have health insurance coverage now who never had it before.

In Illinois, 36 percent of children receive coverage through Medicaid with approximately 3.1 million people covered overall.

There are 649,000 Illinoisans enrolled under the Affordable Care Act, this bill AHCA would repeal and replace the ACA.

Implementation of the AHCA will lead to a loss of coverage for 24 million people nationwide.

Overall 44,296 Illinoisans covered under the ACA and 252,612 covered under Medicaid expansion will be in danger of curtailed coverage.

Healthcare professionals and activists have worked hard over the past fifty years to improve healthcare access and delivery and it would be a shame to have us go backwards.

Passage of the AHCA would probably cause real estate taxes in Cook County to go up in order to keep Stroger Hospital and its other health services adequately funded to meet the health needs of the medically indigent in Cook County.

Practically every professional healthcare group in America is opposed to the AHCA.

It will spell disaster for residents of Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I know that Congressman Rush has extolled the virtues of Father Clements sufficiently, and I certainly won't need 45 or 46 additional minutes to do that; but I can tell you that Father George Clements is an exemplary, extraordinary, unordinary man, a priest of the highest order, but a man who adopted four sons, and he has just been tributed not only here, but certainly back in our hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

The thing about his four sons that he adopted, being a single priest, that was not the easiest thing in the world to do. But all four of them have become outstanding individuals everyplace they have been throughout America.

Father Clements not only saved my colleague at a time of great peril, at a time of great need, which demonstrated tremendous courage, but down through the years, he has continued to provide creative leadership and great initiatives, especially as related to children and the needs that they had--One Church-One Child, One Church-One Family, one church helping individuals who were in need of help.

Mr. Speaker, I join with Congressman Rush in paying tribute to this outstanding humanitarian, Father George Clements.

Tribute to Ms. Ruth Life, Educator, Friend, and Community Activist

Mr. Speaker, I also come to the floor to give tribute to a lady, Ms. Ruth Life, an educator, friend, and community activist.

I have been fortunate, Mr. Speaker, to have known many outstanding individuals during my lifetime, but never have I known anyone more outstanding, more passionate, more consistent, more reliable, or more giving of herself than Ms. Ruth Life, whom I met in the 1960s.

I met Ms. Life during the time when community activism was at a serious, high level, especially in the city of Chicago, Illinois, where I come from. Ms. Life, like many of our generation, was involved, actively engaged in efforts to make life for people who lived in the communities where we lived and worked better.

Both of us worked for the Chicago Public Schools system at that time. We were working in District 10, where Mr. Joseph Rosen was superintendent of schools and Ms. Ida Mae ``Ma'' Fletcher, as we called her, was the leading school activist.

As time went on, I left the teaching profession but continued to run into Ms. Life at meetings and church activities. When it came to teaching, there were none better.

As she became the assistant principal at the Roswell B. Mason Elementary School, she was creative, encouraging, and imaginative. When you walked into Roswell B. Mason Elementary School, you knew that teachers were teaching and students were learning.

Thirty-eight years is a long time to teach and educate, but Ms. Life spent a lifetime of service to humanity, especially through her church, the People's Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ, where Michael Eaddy is the pastor and visionary. Their church has just recently developed a $13 million housing project through their community development association, of which Ms. Life was secretary.

As she passes away and moves to another level of being, I can almost hear the Master speaking to her, saying: ``Well done, my good, and faithful servant. You have done exceptionally well here on Earth. Now I invite you to come on up to the bosom of Abraham, where you can rest in peace and spend eternity.''

Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to have had this opportunity to exemplify the life of this outstanding woman, Ms. Ruth life.

Mr. Speaker, I am here to recognize the month of April as National Minority Health Month. The Affordable Care Act is a transformative piece of legislation that has helped millions of uninsured people to acquire affordable health insurance who otherwise would not have access to quality patient-centered care. This legislation was not just relegated to help the poor and the needy but also the 177 million employer sponsored insured employees with additional health benefits that never existed before the Affordable Care Act. For instance, ACA prohibited insurance companies from discriminating individuals with pre-existing conditions, and imposing lifetime cost caps on patients. Under ACA, parents can keep their children on their insurance plan up to the age of 26. Also, insurance companies are required to spend 80 percent of all premium dollars toward direct medical expenses and 20 percent toward insurance companies' administrative costs. Otherwise, they must reimburse the customer some of their money back. Currently, ACA has allowed more than 20 million U.S. residents to have health insurance coverage, which has improved the racial and ethnic disparities among minority population.

The purpose of the Affordable Care Act consisted of five basic goals:

1. Expand health insurance coverage for nearly 50 million uninsured people in the United States, which consist of 44 percent Whites, 32 percent Latinos, 16 percent African Americans, 6 percent Asians, 2 percent Native Americans and 0.4 percent Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders.

2. Reduce health care costs by establishing marketplaces called exchanges where federal and state-based marketplaces will have a single process to determine whether someone is eligible for tax credits to reduce the cost of premiums, in the form of cost sharing, Medicaid, or Children's Health Insurance Program. ACA requires a minimum standard of essential health benefits to include ambulatory patient services, prescription drugs, emergency services, rehabilitative and facilitative services, hospitalization, laboratory services, maternity and newborn care, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, mental health and substance use disorder services (including behavioral health treatment), and pediatric services (including oral and vision care). Whereas before, ACA's essential benefits did not exist, thus leaving the prospective patients without quality access to care.

3. Reduce health care fraud and abuse

4. Improve health care quality through several initiatives: (1) a national quality strategy; increased reliance on value-based purchasing; expansion of meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs); better care coordination; development of quality measures for Medicaid and Medicare; and measures of quality in the marketplace.

5. Improve population health that includes reducing racial and ethnic disparities among the minority population. One aspect of the ACA helping people of color to reduce disparities is by requiring health plans to cover certain preventative services such as blood pressure and cholesterol screening, mammograms and Pap smears, and vaccinations, with no cost-sharing. The ACA increased funding for community health centers, which provide quality primary and comprehensive services to underserved communities. They served approximately 25 million people in rural and urban centers where more than half of the patients were members of various ethnic and minority groups.

We need more doctors and allied health professionals to assist a healthcare system that for decades was not adequately addressing health disparities among millions of racial and ethnic minority Americans. Many of our minorities are disproportionately more likely to suffer deleterious health disparities just because they are low-income wage earners, poorer in health and suffer worse health outcomes, and are more likely to die prematurely and often from preventable causes compared to their White counterparts. Some of the examples of these health disparities include the following:

The infant mortality rate for African Americans and American Indian/ Alaska Natives are more than two times higher than that for whites;

African Americans with heart disease are three times more likely to be operated on by ``high risk'' surgeons than their White counterparts with heart disease;

Hispanic/Latina women have the highest incidence rate for cancers of the cervix; 1.6 times higher than that for white women, with a cervical cancer death rate that is 1.4 times higher than for white women;

Puerto Ricans have an asthma prevalence rate over 2.2 times higher than non-Hispanic whites and over 1.8 times higher than non-Hispanic blacks;

Together, African Americans and Hispanics account for 28 percent of the total U.S. population, yet account for 62 percent of all new HIV infections;

American Indian/Alaska Natives have diabetes rates that are nearly 3 times higher than the overall rate; and

Of the more than one million people infected with chronic Hepatitis B in the United States, half are Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

In addition to the unacceptable costs of human suffering and premature death, there are significant economic repercussions of allowing health disparities to persist. A 2010 study from the Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that the total costs of health disparities were $1.24 trillion over a three-year period. This same report found that eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities would have reduced direct medical care expenditures by $229.4 billion over the same three-year period.

Many analysts over the past several years have reported that investments through the Affordable Care Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have helped double the number of clinicians in the National Health Service Corps by providing scholarships and loan repayments to medical students and primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals as incentives for them to practice in underserved communities. The ACA helped bridge some of the gap in workforce diversity to include dentists and other primary oral health care providers.

Increasing the proportion of African-American dentists is critical because studies show that they are more likely to serve in underserved communities than their white cohort. In 2010, underrepresented minority (URM) Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino of any race, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander- students composed 13 percent of the overall applicant pool for dental school programs. For the 639 URM applicants who enrolled in 2010, the enrollment rate increased only by 1 percent since 2009. A statistic that shows that progress is needed. Dental schools today are graduating 300 Black dentists out of 5,000 each year. Today, 5 percent of dentists are African-American. Black dentists treat nearly 62

percent of Black patients; White dentists only treat 10.5 percent; Hispanics treat 9.8 percent; and Asian dentists only treat 11.5 percent Black patients. The Affordable Care Act helps ensure that dental visits and oral and dental health care become a routine part of everyone's health care regimen.

Mr. Speaker, April is National Minority Health Month, and I have pledged to use every opportunity that I can to promote awareness, greater understanding, and direction toward solutions to some of our health needs and problems.

I have with me today a statement from one of the staff members in my district office who describes what it is like to live with sarcoidosis.

She begins her statement by saying:

Hello. My name is Shonna Latrice Smith, and I have

sarcoidosis. Living with sarcoidosis has been a tough battle

for me, not knowing what other parts of my organs could be

affected by this terrible disease.

I began having symptoms of experiencing hoarseness for

months at a time, swollen lymph nodes, loss of weight, loss

of breath, severe joint pain with deformity in my fingers. My

face and arms showed noticeable skin lesions with severe

swelling. I experience most mornings chronic dry coughs that

feel like my chest would burst open.

After a series of blood tests, X-rays, pulmonary testing,

and skin biopsies, test results indicated sarcoidosis, I

began to have anxiety attacks. Because I had no clue where,

when, and how I contacted this disease, I didn't know if it

would affect the longevity of my life. I began with small

doses of prednisone orally to treat inflammation and

swelling, including steroid injections to my face, arms, and

fingers to reduce swelling.

My battle with sarcoidosis has affected my getting up,

walking with struggling not to lose my balance due to my

joints being stiff and sore. Doctors begin treating me for

rheumatoid arthritis with a medication called methotrexate, a

chemotherapy agent and immune system suppressant to treat

autoimmune diseases and rheumatoid arthritis.

After taking methotrexate for about a year, doctors saw no

change in the swelling of my hands and face, so I began

taking a new medication called Plaquenil also used to treat

rheumatoid arthritis, skin diseases, and autoimmune diseases.

I am currently taking prednisone to continue to treat severe

swelling for my face and hands.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Smith for sharing this information and this experience with us. Therefore, I urge that we continue to support research so that we may find more effective treatment and a cure for sarcoidosis and other disease entities.

It is my position that health is wealth. We can have all of the other attributes of life, but if we have chronic disease that has not been cured or for which we are not sure of a cure for, then that takes away from the quality of life for the individuals with those experiences. Therefore, I reiterate that research could be the answer.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this draconian, Dracula-inspired health bill. It is not really a health bill at all. As a matter of fact, it is a tax cut for the wealthiest individuals in our country. This bill will decimate all of the public health gains that professional health personnel and activists have fought for the last 50 years.

This bill will take out the opportunity for those low- and moderate- income individuals who fall between the gap created by Medicaid and nothing. They are the least of those in our society. And when you take away health care for that group of individuals, history will not regard you well.

I believe that the best way to measure the effectiveness of a society is by how well it treats its young, how well it treats its old, and how well it treats those who have difficulty caring for themselves.

I will vote ``no.'' I urge us all to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) on the opening of their new state of the art facility, the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, opening on March 25, 2017.

RIC has been named the ``No. 1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America'' by U.S. News & World Report for 26 consecutive years. Their new facility will be the first research hospital in which clinicians, scientists, innovators, and technologists work together in the same space, surrounding patients, discovering new approaches and, applying research in real time.

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab will significantly expand RIC's overall footprint of 1.2 million square feet, of which 800,000 are dedicated to clinical research. Their inpatient capacity will grow by 40 percent increasing their total beds to 242. The facility growth will include outpatient and research space along with expanding to five translational Ability Labs. RIC's applied research and therapeutic space will integrate patients in the process of discovery and innovation, providing the highest quality medical care and state-of-the art equipment for patients with Brain; Spinal Cord; Nerve, Muscles & Bone; Cancer; and Pediatric conditions.

RIC's dedication to providing the best rehabilitation care in the world and conducting cutting edge research in my Congressional District is resulting in medical discoveries and innovations that benefit patients all over the world. For that, Mr. Speaker, I applaud RIC and congratulate them as they open the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank you for giving me the opportunity to once again express my opposition to the repeal-and-replace healthcare bill before us.

You know, it is my position that health care ought to be a right and not a privilege, especially in a country where we have the skill, the knowledge, and the technology to provide it.

Medicare and Medicaid opened up new opportunities for health care for seniors and large numbers of low-income, poor people in this country in the mid-1960s. As a matter of fact, before Medicaid and Medicare, some of them had never ever been able to acquire any professional medical help. As a matter of fact, they lived off remedies and concoctions and things that they had learned how to put together.

Now we come along with some help--Medicare, Medicaid--and the next big move was the Affordable Care Act, which was a long time coming, but it helped us move to the point where more than 20 million people were able to get health insurance who had never had it before, whose only outlet was to go to the emergency room of public hospitals and oftentimes sit sometimes for 2 or 3 days before they got service, before they got attention.

Now, here we come with something talking about repealing it, taking it away. How could we possibly want to go backwards, back to where millions of people are wondering every day whether or not they are going to be able to go to the doctor and get serviced if they are sick?

And so I say to my colleagues, especially those who have never had the experience of knowing hundreds of people with no care like I have, let's say: No, no, no. Forward ever, backwards never.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to take a moment to pay tribute to Bill Hunter, the father of one of my long-time staff. I did not have the privilege of knowing Bill personally. However, I know how deeply he was loved and how greatly he is missed. I offer my condolences to his family as they both mourn his loss and celebrate his life after his home-going on January 17th of this year.

Known to many as Hunter, Bill was raised in West Texas and embodied many classic American traits--independent, driven, and fiercely loyal. His childhood was not easy, and it engendered in him his lifelong drive to work hard, fight for the underdog, and aid those in need. Bill lost his father when he was only 5, causing him to grow up early to help his mother pay the bills, whether as a paperboy, grocery clerk, or telegram courier. He recalled how it was cold in West Texas and his family couldn't make the gas payment. So, at only 7, he biked a paper route around 5 in the morning and then wore his cold, wet shoes the remainder of the day at school just to do his part. Bill put himself through college at Texas Tech and law school at Southern Methodist University. Key accomplishments for a boy from Monahans, Texas.

Bill lived, loved, and practiced law for over 50 years. Legal adversaries and allies agree that Bill was a brilliant attorney and a formidable opponent who earned the respect of his peers for his innovative legal arguments and his vigorous advocacy for his clients. Bill was tough as nails but soft as a kitten. He could aggressively fight a bully in court or quietly teach Sunday school or speak in silly voices to show his pets how much he cared for them. Bill deeply enjoyed providing high-caliber legal assistance to those who couldn't afford it. However, he didn't announce his efforts to help others. Rather, his family and friends learned of his extensive pro bono work when community members would share how much Bill had helped, be it the staff of his favorite restaurant or the workers at his retirement village.

Dallas was Bill's true home. He was President of the Dallas School Board, a member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, a part-owner of the ABA basketball team the Dallas Chaparrals, a frequenter of Dallas' wonderful museums, and an avid Cowboys fan. He loved God and his family. He was very proud of his children and delighted in watching his grandchildren and step-grandchildren grow.

Bill leaves behind many who loved him: his wife, Pati, her 5 children and 5 grandchildren; his three children--Sam, Chris, and Jill, and his 9 grandchildren; and hundreds of attorneys, judge and friends who know that Dallas and the legal community lost an important member.

Although I did not know Bill personally, I know how much his family and community miss him. I imagine that his family can take comfort in knowing that Bill can still enjoy many of his favorite past times in heaven--engaging in some healthy arguments with St. Peter, listening to country music, whistling some tunes to pass the time, working challenging crossword puzzles, laughing at clever comic strips, or, most importantly, watching his beloved Cowboys.

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

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

Workers collecting unemployment benefits earned their benefits by working hard. Workers only receive benefits if they are out of work through no fault of their own and are actively searching for new jobs.

There are considerable challenges facing our unemployment system. More than half of the State trust funds, including that in my home State, are insolvent and could only pay earned benefits for a short period of time if a recession hits. Only about one in four unemployed workers currently receives unemployment insurance benefits. Some States have cut benefits, increasing the chance that workers will exhaust benefits before finding jobs. H.J. Res. 42 does not address these challenges.

There are also real problems with drug use in this country and a severe shortage of treatment options for those who need them. H.J. Res. 42 does not address these problems either.

Instead, we are considering a policy that slanders unemployed workers by assuming that they are drug users; that ignores all research showing that drug use is not higher among unemployed workers than in the general population; and that violates the constitutional protection against illegal search and seizure, a protection that courts have clearly said exists regardless of whether one receives public benefits.

The statutory provision that has required this regulation was appropriately limited to a very narrow group of workers, those for whom finding suitable work required a drug test.

Counter to some GOP arguments, this resolution is not about helping those with drug problems get treatment. It is about cutting benefits. States with drug-testing provisions do not pay for expensive treatment services for those who test positive. Moreover, workers cannot receive benefits while in treatment because they are not actively seeking work. Thus, they lose their earned unemployment benefits.

Congress should be helping communities suffering from high unemployment, addressing persistent long-term unemployment, aiding workers in upgrading their skills to get good jobs. Congress should be strengthening our unemployment insurance system to make sure it is ready to respond in the next recession.

We should not encourage States to waste resources on an unconstitutionally-based drug testing requirements for struggling unemployed workers who claim benefits.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), former chairman of this committee and, certainly, a former ranking member on this side.

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), a tireless protector of the rights of individuals.

I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) who had an office next to mine for many years. I know she has tremendous commitment, energy, and fortitude.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, as I prepare to close, let me just, first of all, thank the more than 40 organizations who have sent letters in opposition to this legislation, especially the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African American Ministers in Action, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and many others. They have sent letters because they have a will to help, not a will to hurt. They have a will to assist. They know that the individuals we are talking about have lost their jobs, their opportunity to work, and their connection, in many instances, with humanity.

I would urge that we do everything in our power to help them find their way back and not hurt them. Therefore, I would urge all of my colleagues to oppose this legislation and vote ``no.''

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Dr. Robert M. Woods.

Dr. Robert Mathew Woods, Evangelist, age 86, passed away on February 8, 2017. Born on June 2, 1930 in Gallatin, Tennessee, Dr. Woods was the only son born to James Herkless (Herk) and Susie Woods. He had four sisters, Amanda, Mymie, Lottie, and Elsie, (all deceased). At the age of eleven, he enrolled in the Nashville Christian Institute (NCI), in Nashville, Tennessee. The late Bro. Marshall Keeble was president at the time. Dr. Woods preached his first sermon at age eleven and soon started to travel with Bro. Keeble as one of his ``Boy Preachers''.

In 1949, he graduated from NCI and moved back to Gallatin, where he became the minister of his home congregation. In 1952, he married Anna Holiday and moved to the Chicago area. Dr. Woods served as minister of Monroe Street Church of Christ from September, 1952 until he retired on December 31, 1997, at which time he was ordained as Minister Emeritus.

After the death of his first wife, Anna, Dr. Woods married the former Sara Marie Taylor. Dr. Woods was instrumental in implementing numerous programs during his tenure at Monroe Street Church of Christ. Among them are: a Summer Day Camp, an Intensive Teacher Training Program, an active Jail Ministry in the Cook County Jail where numerous inmates have been baptized in the Church, a Tutoring Program, Adopt-A-Child Program, and an Evangelism Outreach Program. He actively participated with the Block Club and the Midwest Community Council.

He has conducted Gospel Meetings in many cities in the United States, as well as Bermuda and Nassau. He was often called upon to speak at multi-cultural functions to share views about the uniqueness of fellowship between blacks and whites. He often speaks on National, Southwestern, and Regional Lectureships. He served as a member of the Advisory Board for both the Midwest Lectureship and the Midwest Youth Conference. He has been a Trustee for Southwestern Christian College for over fifty years. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Southwestern Christian College in 1992.

After retiring, Dr. Woods and his wife, Sara Marie moved to Villa Rica, Georgia. There they continued their work for the Lord's Church; actively serving as Minister at the Hayes-Glass Church of Christ in Breman, Georgia.

He is survived by his wife, Sara Marie; Daughters, Sue and Sheri; Son, Stephen; Grandchildren, Ericka, Kilian and Janiah; Great- Grandchildren, Kilian, Erick and Baron, and numerous other family & friends.

Dr. Woods was often soft spoken and his messages carried great weight. It was nothing uncommon for two of our community's most endeared and beloved citizens to repeat or say what Pastor Brother Woods had told them or preached about; my barber for about thirty years, Lawyer Stevens and Ms. Nancy Jefferson, Executive of the Midwest Community Council, whom we called our community's Mother Theresa.

Both of them were two of Brother Woods' star pupils and ardent parishioners and I am sure they would want people to know this.

May he rest in peace and in love.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) for yielding.

I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 57 and 58 that undermine equity in public education.

Until I moved to Chicago when I was 19, I attended segregated schools because our States failed to follow Federal laws and the Federal Government demonstrated weak enforcement. The Civil Rights Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act advanced equal educational opportunity for African-American students and other students who faced discrimination and barriers in education, making this country stronger and better.

During Black History Month, the GOP will advance a bill to undermine the educational civil rights of African-American students. The scope of this joint resolution of disapproval clearly reflects the discrimination and the intent. It doesn't target a narrow regulation. It encompasses each of the critical civil rights elements of ESSA--data collection and reporting to ensure transparency about whether schools are educating vulnerable students comparably to other students, and accountability to ensure that schools take action to improve and receive support in meeting the needs of all students. To do so leaves States confused and Federal protections for disadvantaged students hollow.

H.J. Res. 57 is an extreme, calculated effort to promote discrimination, removing any transparency and accountability related to educational civil rights.

African-American students do not yet have equal educational opportunity. Black students are suspended and expelled three times the rate that their White peers are, only about two-thirds of Black students graduate high school on time compared to 86 percent of White students, and one in three Black men who start as a full-time student at a university graduate with a bachelor's degree within 6 years.

Students with disabilities, English language learners, low-income students, Latino students, and Native-American students also do not yet enjoy equal educational opportunity. This resolution will erase this data and allow schools that continue these disparities to continue performing poorly in perpetuity.

Out of respect for our country's history of educational discrimination against vulnerable students, out of respect for Black History Month, and out of respect for the American value of equal opportunity, I ask my colleagues to reject this discriminatory resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose this bill that uses dangerous procedure to advance dangerous policy to erode our important firearms background check system and undermine public safety.

In response to the tragic mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Improvement Amendment Act was passed by Congress unanimously and signed into law by President Bush because everyone agreed that we need federal and State agencies to submit relevant information to maintain an accurate, effective system.

This bill directly undermines public safety by permanently blocking a federal agency from submitting records to this critical safeguard system.

I know the high cost of gun violence on families and communities. I know that policy makers have an obligation to address public safety carefully and responsibly. Reasonable people can disagree about whether the rule by the Social Security Administration struck the right balance between the threshold and process reporting to the background system. While opponents have raised some concerns about whether there is sufficient due process in this rule, the solution is not to block the rule entirely. Rather, the solution is to fix it.

Therefore, I oppose this CRA because it would permanently prohibit the Social Security Administration from ever reporting individuals to this critical safety system, which is an extreme, dangerous, irresponsible, and irreversible action that threatens the safety of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to acknowledge Mrs. Olivia S. Jackson on her 88th birthday, which was December 13, 2016. Mrs. Jackson celebrated her birthday on January 7th in Chicago with her family and friends.

I am hopeful that she has many birthdays to come and wish her all the fun and joy in celebrating throughout the year.