Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast votes on January 12, 2024, due to both a family matter and the need to attend a memorial service for a member of my staff who recently died.

Had I been present for Roll Call votes, I would have voted Aye on:

Roll Call No. 9, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, H.R. 839-- China Exchange Rate Transparency Act of 2023, as amended.

Had I been present for Roll Call votes, I would have voted No on:

Roll Call No. 10, On Passage of H.J. Res. 98--A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to a ``Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status.''

I strongly oppose the Republican effort to repeal the National Labor Relations Board Joint Employer standard. This rule protects millions of workers in subcontracted work, helping them bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer conditions. The joint-employer doctrine ensures that companies cannot evade their responsibilities to negotiate with workers. Workers are the backbone of American success, and these workers deserve fair opportunities to collectively-bargain for good wages and safe working conditions. The final rule applies joint employer's bargaining obligations only to terms and conditions under a business's control. I oppose this Republican effort to nullify or weaken the final rule that protects workers.

Mr. Speaker, I have been told that service is the rent that we pay for living in a free and democratic society.

Such has been the life and the legacy of Ms. Phyllis Smith, regional commissioner of Social Security for Region 5, who is retiring after 45 years of service with the agency.

Commissioner Smith has worked with thousands of individual clients, and her supervisory and leadership roles have placed her in positions to positively impact the lives of thousands of others.

Commissioner Smith started work for Social Security in 1978 as a title 16 claims representative in the Chicago East Field Office. She stated that her initial plan was to work with SSA until she could decide what her long-term work plans were. She stated and has written that, ``When I saw firsthand the impact of SSA on people's lives, the fact that we are the country's financial safety net, and my hardworking, dedicated, compassionate coworkers, I was hooked,'' and she was. As a matter of fact, she moved through the ranks to become the regional commissioner.

If you can imagine working 45 years for one agency, you come in contact with many clients, and she also had a great impact on improving and enhancing the quality of life for thousands of individuals.

Commissioner, you have done exceptionally well. You have done your job--more than your job. You have given unselfishly of yourself for the benefit of others.

I commend you for your outstanding career, and as you leave, I ask that you take with you an Irish prayer. It says: May the sun shine warmly upon your face. May the wind always be at your back. And until we meet again, may the good Lord hold you in the hollow of his hands.

Congratulations. It is time. You have done well.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise to pay tribute and honor the activities of the great First Lady, the first that I ever had the opportunity to know, and that is First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who was funeralized earlier today.

As a young activist, as we organized and tried to organize community health centers and community mental health centers, along with us was First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who was often at the meetings. Sometimes, she wouldn't say anything. She would take notes.

Not only did we have a friend in the White House in President Carter, but we also had a great friend and advocate in the person of First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

May she rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity to recognize the humanitarian efforts of Albanian Commandant-General Kadri Cakrani.

On Saturday, November 11, 2023, the Albanian and Southeastern European Studies Program at DePaul University will host an event entitled, The Cakrani Family of Albania: Repairing the Fabric of History, that will honor the work of General Cakrani in protecting Jews during the Holocaust and advancing Democracy in Albania. Illinois is the home of many relatives of General Cakrani, including my constituents Elizabeth Cakrani Vrato, Evan Metaj, and Abigail Vrato-- his granddaughter, great-great-grandson, and great-granddaughter, respectively.

During the German occupation of Albania, Commandant-General Cakrani led the protection of over 600 Jewish refugees and residents in the Berat region from Nazi capture during the Holocaust. At risk of death, General Cakrani lied to Nazi officials about the whereabouts of Jews hiding in Albania and guided efforts to shelter Jews in safe hiding locations, including his own home. His courage and leadership contributed to Albania being the only European country that ended World War II with more Jewish residents than at the start of the war. Further, General Cakrani sheltered three American Army nurses and secretly returned them to Allies after their plane crashed in Albania.

In 1951, General Cakrani moved to the United States after President Harry Truman granted him political asylum. He worked with the U.S. Intelligence to try to bring Democracy to Albania for the remainder of his life. The lives and safety of families and individuals depended on General Cakrani's silence about his efforts during his lifetime. The DePaul event is a step to recognize his humanitarian work during and after the war.

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum, the United States Holocaust Museum, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Jerusalem Post, and the Israel Hayom have all recognized General

Cakrani's service and bravery. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently issued an executive proclamation recognizing November 11, 2023, as Kadri Cakrani Day in Illinois.

I wish to add my voice to those recognizing the service and bravery of Commandant-General Kadri Cakrani in the protection of Jews during the Holocaust and his work to promote Democracy in Albania. I wish his family well as they honor his work this week at the DePaul event on Kadri Cakrani Day in Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity to recognize the humanitarian efforts of Albanian Commandant General Kadri Cakrani.

On Saturday, November 11, 2023, the Albanian and Southeastern European Studies Program at DePaul University will host an event entitled, The Cakrani Family of Albania: Repairing the Fabric of History, that will honor the work of General Cakrani in protecting Jews during the Holocaust and advancing Democracy in Albania. Illinois is the home of many relatives of General Cakrani, including my constituents Elizabeth Cakrani Vrato, Evan Metaj, and Abigail Vrato-- his granddaughter, great-great grandson, and great-great granddaughter, respectively.

During the German occupation of Albania, Commandant-General Cakrani led the protection of over 600 Jewish refugees and residents in the Berat region from Nazi capture during the Holocaust. At risk of death, General Cakrani lied to Nazi officials about the whereabouts of Jews hiding in Albania and guided efforts to shelter Jews in safe hiding locations, including his own home. His courage and leadership contributed to Albania being the only European country that ended World War II with more Jewish residents than at the start of the war. Further, General Cakrani sheltered three American Army nurses and secretly returned them to Allies after their plane crashed in Albania.

In 1951, General Cakrani moved to the United States after President Harry Truman granted him political asylum. He worked with the U.S. Intelligence to try to bring Democracy to Albania for the remainder of his life. The lives and safety of families and individuals depended on General Cakrani's silence about his efforts during his lifetime. The DePaul event is a step to recognize his humanitarian work during and after the war.

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum, the United States Holocaust Museum, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Jerusalem Post, and the Israel Hayom have all recognized General Cakrani's service and bravery. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently issued an executive proclamation recognizing November 11, 2023, as Kadri Cakrani Day in Illinois.

I wish to add my voice to those recognizing the service and bravery of Commandant-General Kadri Cakrani in the protection of Jews during the Holocaust and his work to promote Democracy in Albania. I wish his family well as they honor his work this week at the DePaul event on Kadri Cakrani Day in Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the exceptional service of Mrs. Penny Hartsfield White, 4th Episcopal District Supervisor of the Women's Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The 4th Episcopal District is headquartered in the 7th Congressional District of Illinois.

Penny is a native of Tallahassee, Florida, and the fifth of nine siblings, six girls and three boys. Her father, the late Richard Allen Hartsfield, Sr., was the Assistant County Agent, and her mother, the late Mrs. Mamie S. Hartsfield, was an elementary educator and a staff member of Florida A. & M. University. Penny, along with her family, grew up in Fountain Chapel A.M.E. Church in Tallahassee where she participated in the Youth Choir and the YPD'ers (Young People and Children's Division).

Mr. Speaker Pro Tempore, today, I wish to pay my deepest respects to Dr. Iris Shannon--a nurse, educator and administrator. I met and got to know Iris Shannon in the late 1960s when I began to work in healthcare, first at the Dr. Martin King Health Center, the Westside Health Planning Organization and Mile Square Health Center.

I knew Iris as a competent, involved nurse, as Director of Nursing at Mile Square, as Director of Nursing at Rush Medical Center and as a Nursing Professor at Rush Medical School. The late 1960s and early 1970s were very serious health interest years and health activity due to the civil rights activity, changes in health law and the leadership of Democrats in government. These changes in health took place at all levels of government and Iris was what I call an activist.

There were meetings about health all over the place and practically all of the time. Iris was often present at many of these meetings, sharing her knowledge, her expertise and her wisdom. Iris worked with nurse groups, administrative groups, community groups, women

groups, black power group and the list goes on.

If it was about health and health care needs, Iris was there. Iris was an organizer, a joiner, a promoter, a practitioner, a scholar, a teacher, a mentor and a role model, not loud, but a leader who became President of the American Public Health Association.

Iris made her mark during what I call ``movement time'', a period when Black Americans were greatly moving out of the shadows of society. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Shannon was not loud, but she was proud and as black as the ace of spades, if you know what I mean.

Iris possessed Black pride, expressed Black principles, stood up for Black people and exuded Black excellence. Iris was a caring and wonderful nurse, a great scholar, teacher and administrator, a visionary leader and an amazing friend.

I am so glad to have known and worked with her. Dr. Iris Shannon was a role model to so many and will be missed by the multitudes, but her legacy of service shall endure.

Mr. Speaker, today I wish to pay my deepest respect in tribute to a wonderful woman of God, Dr. Rose Marie McCoy, who passed from this earthly realm to her heavenly home on September 13, 2023.

A wife, mother, grandmother, pastor, caregiver, community role model, missionary and counselor, Dr. Rose Marie was born on September 24, 1951, in Robbins, Illinois to parents Samuel Sr. and Jennie Eliza Merle Evans. Having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in the Spring of 1976, Rose Marie dedicated her life in service and selfless devotion to others throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.

Rose Marie met and married the love of her life Dr. William McCoy, over 57 years ago. Together they shared a love that withstood the test of time and created a strong family that will carry on their unique legacy. Rose Marie was steadfast in her commitment to the Lord, living each day as a living sacrifice that I am certain was holy and acceptable unto God, as her reasonable service.

You may be asking how I know Dr. Rose Marie McCoy so well and in response, I'd say that I've known her and her husband Chief Apostle Dr. William McCoy for decades upon decades. I have worked alongside Drs. Rose and William McCoy throughout Chicago's southside in an effort to improve the lives of our neighbors, friends, children, and other vulnerable populations in our community.

Dr. Rose Marie McCoy's enthusiasm for life and her dedication to others also showed in her work on behalf of the Brothers Keeper Outreach Church, which she co-founded with her husband. Additionally, Rose Marie was instrumental in development of the Brothers Keeper Community Resource Center and the International Pentecostal Assembly Ecumenical Faith and Community Action Network.

Collectively, Rose Marie's efforts and dedication to faith-based community social services has helped change the lives of countless individuals for the better. In fact, I would posit that perhaps all of our lives have been made better off simply by our interaction and association with pastor, Dr. Rose Marie McCoy along life's journey. To know Rose Marie, was to know genuine love, faith and service. May this beautiful soul rest with the Lord in peace.

To her family, including her husband Chief Apostle Dr. William McCoy and her children Victoria McCoy-Salter, Vanessa McCoy-Pulphus, Debracia McCoy Jones, Major Lee McCoy, and Otis McCoy, all of whom she leaves to carry on her works and love, I extend my sincerest condolences on your loved one's transition. I am truly grateful to Dr. Rose Marie McCoy, Pastor Emeritus for her tremendous contributions to so many in Chicago, Illinois, and our Nation. May God bless her, her family, and all of us.

Mr. Speaker, on July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill into law that would guarantee all Americans access to quality medical care. Since that day, Medicaid and Medicare have evolved to better meet Americans' needs. These essential programs provide affordable healthcare to well over 100 million Americans, including our aging and most medically-vulnerable populations.

Today, 18 percent of Illinoisians are enrolled in Medicare, and nearly 25 percent of Illinoisans are enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid is especially significant for mothers' and children in Illinois and in my Congressional District. Medicaid finances 38.9 percent of all births and insures 36.9 percent of children in Illinois. In my District, 24 percent of families and 30 percent of all children under 18 live below the poverty line. Thus, these programs serve an integral role in ensuring that my constituents receive medical care regardless of financial status.

Although we have made great strides in bringing healthcare to our citizens young and old, disparities still remain. It is shameful that the most vulnerable often have the most difficult time obtaining excellent care, with recent studies indicating that individuals who are dually-eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare suffer from the highest rates of disparities in quality of care. In Chicago, residents in the Loop have a life expectancy of 85 years, on par with the longest living people in the world. However, in the Garfield Park neighborhood, just 7 stops away on the CTA Blue Line, life expectancy plummets to under 69 years. To put that figure into perspective, the average American life expectancy has not been below 69 years since 1950. It pains me to know that, in my own district, a mere 7-stops correlates to a 16-year difference in the length of one's life This statistic demonstrates that much work remains to ensure equal access to high-caliber health care.

Further, I am proud that, during my time in Congress, I helped enact the Affordable Care Act as well as multiple improvements to Medicare and Medicaid, including the recently-enacted policies to help make prescription medications more affordable. Americans pay up to four times more for medications than patients in other countries, and more than one third of Americans cite unaffordability as the reason they do not fill their prescriptions. The Inflation Reduction Act already helps millions of Americans by capping out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month and removes cost sharing on the most essential vaccines, including the shingles vaccine for seniors. When the $2,000 out-of- pocket cost cap takes effect in 2025, nearly 600,000 Illinoisians will save an average of $432.71 per year on medications. By

2030, the Inflation Reduction Act will allow the federal government to negotiate prices for 80 of the most crucial medications on the market. The true cost of the price gouging schemes by Big Pharma is American lives, and I am proud that my colleagues and I have successfully strengthened the ability of Medicaid and Medicare to provide affordable medication to Americans.

Healthcare is a right. As we celebrate the 58th anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare, I recognize the critical rolls that these laws play in and reassert my dedication to ensuring the right of all Americans to affordable, quality healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, today, I wish to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. This core civil rights law prohibits discrimination against Americans with disabilities by requiring public and private institutions to provide equal access to goods, services, and opportunities, such as employment, public transportation, and telecommunication.

Today, 1-in-4 U.S. adults has a disability that substantially impacts life. The law provides a framework to make the United States fully- accessible to tens of millions of Americans, whether in workplaces, housing, schools, transit, or businesses. I applaud the successes that the disability advocates have secured over the past decades. We know the passage of the ADA law was the beginning and not the end. According the Federal Transit Administration, 99 percent of all busses are ADA- accessible, in contrast to just 65 percent prior to the ADA. However, we still have metros, trains, and planes that are not accessible. A 2020 GAO report found that two-thirds of school districts had facilities with barriers that could limit access for people with disabilities. We also know that advocates have waged and continue to wage the legal battles to improve access to buildings and transportation that should have occurred 33 years ago.

Although disability advocates have secured important accomplishments over the past decades, much more is needed to achieve an equitable society for Americans with disabilities. Americans with disabilities face an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent compared to 3.7 percent for their peers without disabilities. According to a new analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families: only 36 percent of

women with disabilities are employed compared to 70 percent of nondisabled women; only 31 percent of employed women with disabilities are economically secure; and American Indian/Alaska Native and Black women with disabilities are the least likely to be employed. These gaps reveal unacceptable disparities in employment opportunities. Furthermore, Americans with disabilities face barriers to receiving quality health care, such as service providers with inadequate training on how to properly treat patients with disabilities and medical facilities that have yet to make appropriate accommodations. Affordable housing, businesses, airplanes, bathrooms, and playgrounds still are not uniformly accessible. This restricted access reduces quality of life and presents obstacles that none of us should tolerate.

I am proud that I helped improve health care for those with disabilities during my tenure in Congress, including provisions in the Affordable Care Act that I championed to encourage community-based services for individuals with disabilities. We must continue to work to make choice for receiving care in one's community mandatory, not just optional. People should have the freedom to choose where they live and receive care. I am proud that I also have helped strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA marketplace health insurance to improve healthcare for Americans, including people with disabilities. For example, a recent study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Creedon, Zuvekas, Hill, Ali, McClellan, & Day, December 2022, Health Services Review, Volume 57, Issue S2) found that adults with disabilities who were newly-eligible for Medicaid experienced significant increases in health coverage, receipt of primary care services, and lower out-of-pocket costs from the federal expansion of Medicaid via the Affordable Care Act. Further, the Inflation Reduction Act expanded premium tax credits and reduced drug prices to further lower healthcare costs.

I am proud that so many organizations and advocates in Illinois actively fight to protect Americans with disabilities. For example, Access Living is a Chicago-based, advocacy nonprofit that has worked for over 4 decades to increase accessibility to transportation, housing, and education. The Legal Council for Health Justice uses legal services to dismantle barriers to healthcare and to help individuals access services and benefits. Equip for Equality serves as a federally- mandated legal advocate and watchdog. The Arc of Illinois advocates for people with disabilities to so that Illinoisans can fully participate in their communities, providing education and advocacy services. Chicago ADAPT promotes disability and civil rights, be in through housing accessibility, workforce accessibility and equity, or promoting community-based care. And, the City of Chicago's HomeMod program removes barriers to housing by working with home remodeling companies to provide home accessibility modifications.

Every American deserves equal opportunity. The Americans with Disabilities Act stands as testament to the determination and unrelenting will of thousands of activists, advocates, and policymakers. As we celebrate its anniversary, I renew my commitment to fight to realize the fundamental right of every American to an accessible America.

Mr. Speaker, fifty-eight years ago, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became a staple in the fight to expand democracy to all Americans. Unfortunately, much of the ground gained from the law has since eroded. After the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder that stripped essential oversight provisions from the Voting Rights Act, a tidal wave of anti-democratic practices washed over our country to systematically disenfranchise Black and brown voters, harkening back to the Jim Crow south.

Over the past decade, Republicans have implemented restrictive changes to voting practices to intentionally exclude groups of voters. These tactics include reducing the number of polling locations to leave out locations where Democratic voters live, placing limitations on early voting and mail-in voting, implementing strict voter-id laws, gerrymandering voting-districts, enabling armed individuals to intimidate voters and election officials, purging voters from voter rolls, and declaring election fraud when Democratic candidates win. Furthermore, Republicans and right-wing media figures have spread incendiary lies about the U.S. election integrity, leading to far-right extremists storming the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

The idea of democracy is sacred. Democracy promotes self-governance. Democracy promotes settling our differences non-violently and the peaceful transition of power. Democracy promotes tolerance and inclusion. We stand at an unprecedented point in American history where the very existence of our democracy hangs in the balance. We must prevent extreme political actors from implementing anti-democratic voting practices.

I am proud of the work Illinois has done to protect voting rights. For example, all Cook County polling locations offer same-day voter registration on election day. Additionally, Illinois has open-access to mail-in-voting. These provisions make it easier to vote, not harder. These provisions support greater democratic participation, not less. However, these provisions do not go far enough. Congress must protect, defend, and expand democracy at the federal level.

Two years ago, the House passed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, a bill that would require states to receive federal preclearance before implementing changes to voting practices if they have demonstrated a history of voting rights abuses over the past 25 years. The bill would restore the oversights stripped from the Voting Rights Act by Shelby County v. Holder. Congress must enact the Voting Rights Advancement Act and bills like it if we are to ensure the survival of American democracy.

Recent Supreme Court decisions on reproductive rights and affirmative action demonstrate that the struggle for equality has not ended for many groups in this country. We cannot grow complacent with the political victories secured thus far. We must defend the rights for which we have fought so hard, and we must remain steadfast in our march toward a true democracy where all citizens have the opportunity to participate equally.

As we celebrate the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, I know that democracy will persevere as the foundation of America because we will ensure that it does.

Mr. Speaker, a gun violence epidemic plagues the United States of America. Although the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act advanced important reforms to address gun violence--including enhanced background checks, prohibitions on gun trafficking and straw purchases, funding to support Extreme Risk Protection Orders and community-based violence intervention, and one billion dollars to support mental health--the federal government must take additional action to protect our young people and communities from gun violence.

State and local laws can only do so much to curb gun violence. Illinois and the City of Chicago can implement strict gun regulations, but if states like Indiana and Wisconsin keep weak restrictions in place, then practically anyone can cross those state borders and acquire a gun. We must limit the number of guns that exist in our country. We must ban assault weapons and enact strong background checks with no loopholes. We must repeal immunity for firearm manufacturers so individuals can bring civil actions to hold these companies responsible for their role in the gun violence epidemic. We must pass my bill--the Ammunition Identification Act--that would provide law enforcement with the tools to trace ammunition back to its purchaser.

Also, we must invest in community-based programs that successfully decrease gun violence. UCAN operates one of these innovative community- based programs on the westside of Chicago in areas with high unemployment and poverty rates. The Violence Intervention and Prevention program intervenes with victims and perpetrators after gun violence to help address trauma and limit violent responses, leading to a 30 percent reduction in shootings where this program was implemented. Another program is Chicago CRED, or Create Real Economic Destiny, that believes that those involved in gun violence are not the problem, but the future solution. When participants join CRED, they receive counseling, life coaching, education, and a pathway to employment. A study by Northwestern University found that--although around 85 percent of CRED participants reported a familial history with gangs, many had a criminal record, and some reported being gunshot victims--CRED alumni were less likely to be victims of gun violence because they left vulnerable situations and entered stable lifestyles after receiving the care they needed.

However, we cannot successfully prevent gun violence without revenue. That is why I champion the Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act that would create guaranteed, annual funding for gun violence prevention via a 0.5 percent increase in federal gun and ammunition excise taxes. This bill would evenly divide the estimated $20 to 36 million of annual revenue to fund gun violence research, hate crime data collection and prevention, forensic examiner training to improve gun crime clearance rates, and community-based violence intervention and prevention programs. As Fredrick Douglass once said, ``People might not get all they work for in this world, but they certainly must work for all they get.'' If we truly want to make progress in preventing gun violence in this country, then we must work for it and invest in it.

We also must remember that preventing gun violence is broader than simply gun-focused programs. People turn to gun violence when they lack economic security, food security, housing security, and educational opportunity. Under the Obama Administration, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education had a goal of reducing gun violence at its source by creating a national tool to examine equity and educational opportunities across the country. This tool demonstrated that inequities from the start of an individual's life deeply affect their outcomes and that the school-to-prison pipeline in high-in-crime areas coincides with the quality of education. If we continue to neglect our citizens and allow disparities in opportunity and security, we will not successfully end gun violence.

As my mother told me, an ounce of prevention is worth so much more than a pound of cure. I cannot stress enough how important it is to enact effective gun legislation on the federal level. Gun violence is a public health crisis. As such, the federal government must act to protect its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is one of the oldest and most influential African-American denominations in the United States. The roots of the AME Church can be traced back to the late 18th century during a time of intense racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. The institution of slavery was deeply entrenched, and African Americans faced severe restrictions in practicing their faith within predominantly white churches.

In 1787, Richard Allen, a former slave and preacher, along with other black Methodist worshippers, formed the Free African Society in Philadelphia. The society aimed to provide spiritual support, education, and assistance to African Americans in the city.

The AME Church convenes regular conferences and conventions at various levels within its organizational structure, of which the Biennial is one. The Biennial Meeting of the Connectional Lay Organization is done every two years. The Lay Organization of the AME Church is commissioned to teach, train, and empower its members for lay ministry, global leadership, and service following the tenets of Jesus Christ.

Located in the 7th Congressional District of Illinois, the 4th Episcopal District Connectional Lay Organization of the AME Church will host two conventions in Chicago from June 25-30, 2023: the 81st Annual Connectional Lay Organization Meeting, and the 38th Connectional Lay Biennial Convention. Their theme is: ``Living A Global Witness Ministry that Transforms, Transcends and Liberates''.

I salute the work of the Connectional Lay Organization under the leadership of: Bishop Stafford J.N. Wicker, Commission Chair and newly- elected Council of Bishops President; Bishop John Franklin White, Host Bishop; Mrs. Penny H. White, Episcopal Supervisor; Matikane Abe Makiti, President of the Connectional Lay Organization of the AME Church; Mrs. Patricia Wright, Connectional Director of Lay Activities; Ms. Jameshia Williams, Connectional Young Adult Representative; Mr. Jerry Turner, Jr., 4th District Episcopal President; Mr. Michael A. Cousin, Jr., 4th District Episcopal Director of Lay Activities; and Mr. Terrence Sanford, 4th District Episcopal Young Adult Representative.

I welcome the participants of the Biennial Meeting of the 4th Episcopal District Connectional Lay Organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church to the 7th Congressional District of Illinois, and I wish them much success.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with the Asian-American Community of Metropolitan Chicago in welcoming Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to the United States of America to address a Joint Session of Congress on June 22, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to welcome and pay tribute to Apostle Prophet Rev. Dr. Paulson Raj Sangala to the United States of America and pay tribute to him for being pastor of the largest church in Asia with 300,000 members.

Dr. Paulson Raj Sangala was born into a Christian family on March 7, 1973, in Bheemaram Village, Hanamkonda District, Telangana State, India. His father was a mason and his mother was an attendant at a government school. His younger brother is a pharmacist and acupuncture doctor. His grandfather was wealthy and once owned a great deal of land and other businesses, but lost it all due to an alcohol addiction.

Rev. Paulson Raj Sangala states that, at the age of 10, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and his spiritual life began to thrive. He states that, in 1989, his father died, and everything fell on him because he was the oldest son. Later in 1989, he became ill and collapsed in school and was finally unable to walk. Rev. Dr. Paulson Raj describes in a biography how he began to pray and prayed until he heard a voice saying, ``Get up''. He says he got up and has never looked back since.

He states that fasting and praying is a continuous part of his spiritual practice. And, although he started his church with virtually nothing, his church organization now consists of over one thousand pastors, prayer services every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (four worship services), and whole-night services every second Tuesday of the month. Thirty-five thousand people attend these prayer services, and all prayer services are telecasted.

Rev. Dr. Paulson Raj Sangala states that their organization has a Bible college, five hundred churches in different cities, thirty prominent pastors, and thirty sisters who are in ministry. Warangal, a city in Telangana, is now in the record book as being the city in India with the largest church facility as of May 4th, with a structure that seats 40,000 people at one time.

I congratulate Apostle Prophet Rev. Dr. Paulson Raj Sangala for his spiritual leadership and success. May the blessings of the Lord continue to be upon him.