Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, Minnesota is known for our winters. Most think we endure them, but the truth is, we celebrate them. From ice fishing to pond hockey to skiing, we love our snow and ice.

That is why I rise today to honor the 23 Minnesotans representing Team USA at this year's winter games.

Despite a population of under 6 million people, Minnesota sent more athletes to the Olympics than 49 of our 50 States and 61 of the 91 nations at the Olympics.

Five of those athletes hail from the district I represent, Minnesota's Frozen Third, including Jake Brown, Brock Faber, Dani Cameranesi, Grace Zumwinkle, and Kelly Pannek.

This is the first winter games in history to rely on almost 100 percent artificial snow, and if climate change continues to accelerate, few cities in the world will have enough snow to host future Winter Olympic Games.

Countless jobs in my district rely on snow and winter, like those at Strata Systems, which helped design the sleds for our luge team, and Polaris, the iconic snowmobile maker. We need to keep the North cold all around the world, and I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help us do so.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 2 years, image that, since the beginning of the pandemic. Two years marked by hardship that none of us had ever known and hope we never know again. As the world continues to adapt to the challenge, it is my belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, as we continue to push toward that optimism, we are reminded every single day that the pandemic is not over. It is not over for us; it is not over for the nurses and doctors who tend to our sick; it is not over for our frontline workers, for teachers, for police, for families, for anyone.

I am here today to speak for a group of Americans who are too often ignored in our pandemic discourse, our Nation's entrepreneurs and small business owners, the bedrock of our economy, particularly those who work in public-facing enterprises, like restaurant owners, gym owners, hospitality owners in the live-events industry. Those whose livelihoods depend on public gathering in person, whether it is to break bread, to work up a sweat, or to enjoy booths that you might see in the Minnesota State Fair, as my friend and colleague, Angie Craig, would agree is America's finest.

In 2020 and early last year, both parties worked together to pass pandemic aid to help keep the lights on at those businesses. It was an aid that was effective in saving countless jobs, and while not perfect, of course, it did save our country from economic disaster. Unfortunately, for those public-facing industries, that aid has not been enough, not with the rise of the delta variant and then omicron, and potentially future variants that we might face in the future.

Last week, I held a roundtable in Minnesota to hear from entrepreneurs representing those industries in my district. Some had a quarter million dollars in debt, others had lost a quarter million dollars in revenue. Some had taken out government-subsidized emergency loans from the programs

that we in Congress created, but others were left out entirely. They told me that between the pandemic and the supply chain and inflation costs that the pandemic has wrought, that those old relief programs are simply not enough. They need help, and they need it now. It is our job and it is not done yet.

The cost of congressional inaction is real. Small business owners across America are dipping into their personal savings and taking on significant debt. In Minnesota alone, almost 60 percent of restaurants have taken on debt during the pandemic, with an average of over half a million dollars per restaurant. Even in the best of times it is a tough industry, but particularly difficult right now.

We all know what will happen if we don't pass relief soon: many of those restaurants will close and many of their staff will be unemployed. Too many small business owners are simply running out of hope.

That is where we come in. I am encouraged by comments made by the President and lawmakers in both parties that there is an appetite to solve the problem and provide relief. In fact, I secured a commitment from Speaker Pelosi not long ago that a targeted relief package would get a vote on the House floor, which is an important step. We are not at the finish line, my friends, and I implore that we, together, work on such a package.

Small businesses like restaurants, hospitality, gyms, and live events companies, they make up the social, cultural, and the economic fabric of our communities and our entire country. We must fight to ensure that they can keep their doors open.

Mr. Speaker, we must meet the challenge of the moment with urgency and refill the RRF and include hard-hit industries in a future relief package. We must get the job done so that others can keep theirs.

Madam Speaker, I love freedom. I love George Washington. I keep this book on my desk, ``George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour.'' I encourage every colleague in this body--every one of us--to keep this on your desk and refer to it.

I have heard everything talked about today--inflation, Afghanistan, schools--except the issue we are here for: a censure of a Member of Congress who issued a despicable video showing the killing of a fellow Member of Congress.

Worst of all, most despicable of all, the object of the censure said it was to attract a new generation. Think about that: to attract a new generation of Americans.

We have to do better, my friends. Come on.

To my friend from Virginia who said, if Democrats had done this, what would we do? Rest assured, my friends, every one of you, we would do the same thing because I will never ever allow a fellow Member of Congress to threaten or distribute a video showing the killing of one of us, let alone another American.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Navy Fireman First Class Neal Kenneth Todd, who served aboard the USS Oklahoma, and we lost on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor.

A Minnesota native, born in the city of Akeley on November 5, 1919, Neal enlisted in the Navy just days before his 21st birthday in the fall of 1940, making him one of eight children of Irena Staffenhagen to serve in the armed forces. Each one of the children would return home safely, except for Neal, her fourth born.

Neal was assigned to the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu where he served alongside his brother, Fireman First Class, Wesley Roland Todd. America was not yet at war, but on December 7, 1941, Neal would be among the first Americans to make the ultimate sacrifice in the largest conflict humanity has ever known. His brother barely survived the attack.

What makes his sacrifice even more crucial to recognize today is the time and effort it took to get here. On the day of the attack at Pearl Harbor, Neal and other sailors like him were considered missing for decades and presumed to be casualties. Over 400 crewmembers died on the USS Oklahoma alone. At the time, the U.S. military lacked the technological capacity to identify these individuals and return them home.

Until March 1942, when months later, Neal's mother was formally notified that he was missing in action and had likely perished, but his family was not offered the closure of a proper burial. Families like Neal's have been left in the dark for years, knowing that surely their brothers and sons would not be able to share another smile or embrace with them, but still wishing they could give one last goodbye.

Thanks to recent efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency started in 2015, along with the assistance of family members of the lost, DNA recognition and retrieval of remains from Pearl Harbor is finally possible. Neal Todd's identity was confirmed in February of this year, and this July, dozens of

members of his family welcomed him home to Minnesota along with a traditional water salute on the airstrip of Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Neal Todd was finally returned to his hometown of Akeley, Minnesota, 80 years after his death for a funeral service before being buried in his final resting place next to his mother and father.

I hope my fellow Members of Congress can join me in honoring Navy Fireman First Class Neal K. Todd and commend the efforts by the DOD and families like Neal's in bringing our honorable lost back home to rest. I thank them.

Mr. Speaker, due to attendance at a Foreign Affairs classified briefing, I missed rollcall No. 284. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 284.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment, which affirms President Biden's budget request of $2 million for the purposes of supporting the planning for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan.

My amendment sheds light on a win-win situation for both our country and my home State of Minnesota.

When I took my oath of office 2\1/2\ years ago, my team and I set out on an ambitious goal to visit every city and town in Minnesota's Third District within the first 6 months of my service to listen and learn from the local leaders who know our community best because I believe representation begins with listening.

In the city of Bloomington, home of the famous Mall of America, we learned that city leaders were determined to bring the eyes of the world to Minnesota by bidding for host city of the 2027 World Expo, and there is good news. I am proud to share with you that Bloomington was selected as the United States' designee to compete on the world stage for hosting rights.

Bloomington, the Twin Cities metro area, the State of Minnesota, and the United States will benefit from showcasing American innovation on the world stage. With the funds highlighted in this amendment, we will ensure that Bloomington has the financial support it needs to put the full strength of American ingenuity on display.

I want to take a moment to thank the city of Bloomington, Global Minnesota, and the entire Minnesota delegation for supporting efforts like these. This is how democracy should work, Democrats and Republicans in Congress working together with constituents and government agencies to craft legislation to benefit localities and our entire country.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with the Biden administration, just as we did with the Trump administration, to bring the World Expo home to Minnesota.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Michigan and all my friends for this Special Order hour.

Paul, you might not know this, but you are an important mentor of mine, one of the most important mentors I have had in my brief career in this Chamber. You represent the very most precious and sometimes rare of attributes in the U.S. Congress, and that is principle.

You are a man of principle at a time when our country needs that and you more than ever. You are a man of great intelligence and success and decency and empathy and honesty and integrity.

I remember my first conversation with Paul, we were speaking about higher education. And it was that conversation that reminded me that we can learn so much more from people of different perspectives than we do from those who are cut from the same cloth.

And when Paul made the difficult but very principled decision to become an Independent at the end of his career here in Congress, he wrote a letter to the House Clerk to announce the change in affiliation, and the last line of the letter read: ``While admittedly symbolic, we all know that symbols matter. We all know that symbols matter.''

And when you retired from Congress, Paul, you said: ``I can't begin to express to you how difficult it is to say something like `I am done' because I have never been done before.''

And let me tell you, my friend, you are not done yet, and we sure as heck are not done with you. We love you, Paul, and America joins me in sending our love to you and yours as well.

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding and for organizing this important Special Order hour.

As a Gold Star son who lost his father in the Vietnam War, I empathize with and salute the honorable men and women who don a uniform and risk their lives and too often lose their lives protecting our country and our communities, oftentimes without the appreciation or support that they need and that they deserve.

So I rise today to express gratitude to the over 11,000 police officers who serve and protect the residents of my home State of Minnesota, an overwhelming majority of whom are compassionate and principled public servants.

I am proud of the law enforcement agencies that serve Hennepin and Carver counties in Minnesota's Third District, innovative and well-led police departments committed to building cultures and communities in which everyone, and I repeat everyone, feels safe.

People like Dawanna Witt, whose remarkable life story of perseverance embodies the very best of our law enforcement community. Ms. Witt grew up surrounded by alcoholism and drug addiction, was subject to sexual abuse, had her first baby at age 15, and lived with her newborn in a homeless shelter.

But she finished high school with honors, then received her bachelor's degree and then her master's. And today she is known as Major Witt, a grandmother of two, supervisor of 500 employees at the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and a rising star in Minnesota law enforcement.

Major Witt will be the first to tell you that we do need police reform, that systemic racism does exist, and that racial profiling is a real thing. She will also tell you that we need to do more to protect officers' safety.

So, today I invite my colleagues and our entire country to join me in celebrating Major Witt and the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement professionals just like her who have committed their entire professional lives to helping America become a more safe, equitable, just, and perfect union.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the retirement of Stewart Gregg, Senior Securities Counsel at the Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America following a legal career of almost 35 years including the last 20 with Allianz.

Allianz Life, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, is one of the largest writers of annuities in the United States. Mr. Gregg is currently the company's leading attorney regarding variable insurance products and has in the past led the General Counsel's team for all of the firm's securities business, focusing on the development of annuity products which offer lifetime protection for individuals and couples who seek to ensure that they can both enjoy their retirement years, and leave something to their heirs upon their passing.

Stewart has achieved recognition as a leading expert on U.S. federal securities laws and has represented Allianz Life as a witness before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and individual state insurance departments across the country. His knowledge and passion to do that which is right for Allianz Life's clients and to protect their needs deserves praise as does the education that he provided to regulators on complicated issues, which greatly helped them successfully understand and regulate annuities.

A graduate of the University of Iowa, Mr. Gregg received his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Dakota and his Masters of Law in Corporate, Finance, and Securities from New York University. Early in his career he spent two years working at the General Counsel's office of the Securities and Exchange Commission where he provided legal counsel on more than 170 enforcement cases.

Stewart and his wife, Kristine, live in Minneapolis and have two adult children, Chamberlin and Ada. He is an avid gardener and household chef who is also a wine connoisseur and coin collector. Stewart is also doing his part to support the newspaper industry as he reads at least three papers a day and is an expert on any range of subjects that emanate from his prodigious memory.

Stewart's friends and colleagues say that his kindness comes across in all aspects of his life, especially in mentoring younger attorneys and other professionals within the Allianz Life family.

I ask that the Congress praise Stewart Gregg for his professional and personal contributions and for his previous government service. Both he and Kristine enjoy traveling and I hope that the next chapter of his life brings with it good health and happiness that would make more adventures possible.

Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the service of my friend and colleague, Rep. Jamie Raskin, in the face of tragedy and tremendously difficult circumstances, by offering a column written by one of my constituents, Kurtis Meyer.

[From the St. Ansgar Enterprise Journal]

(By Kurtis Meyer)

Until recently, I hadn't paid much attention to Congressman

Jamie Raskin from Maryland. I had seen him a few times on TV

news programs, but the House of Representatives generally

rewards seniority instead of ability. Since Congressman

Raskin was first elected in 2016, he was lacking in the

category that often earns Washington status and power.

Several months ago, in late 2020, Congressman Raskin's

world was altered suddenly and dramatically. His son, Tommy,

a second-year law student at Harvard, one of three Raskin

children, took his life, succumbing to depression. His burial

was on January 5th.

We all know what happened in Washington the next day,

January 6th, when Congressman Raskin, his daughter and his

son-in-law were in the Capitol, awaiting the historic moment

when Electoral College results would be read. After literally

fearing for their lives, in the aftermath of what--the

uprising? the insurrection?--Speaker Pelosi asked Jamie

Raskin to serve as the House's lead impeachment manager, a

process rooted in the events of January 6.

I track closely on politics. It's has been an animating

force in my life for four decades. While political campaigns

are too long, too expensive, and too contentious, I engage in

these battles, advocating on behalf of candidates I hope will

serve our community, our state, and our nation with

integrity. Today, however, I seek not to shed light on a

political race, but rather to shine light on the human race,

specifically, the strength, courage, and resilience of

Congressman Jamie Raskin.

Last New Year's Eve, he gained membership in a club no one

ever hopes to join: those who experience the loss of a child.

This tragedy grew out of perhaps the least understood cause

of death, soul-crushing depression. I didn't know 25-year old

Tommy Raskin but have read tributes to him by those who did,

including his family. Here's an excerpt from their capture of

this young man's life:

Tommy entered the world like a blue-eyed cherub, a little

angel (and) grew up as a strikingly beautiful curly-haired

madcap boy beaming with laughter and charm, making mischief,

kicking the soccer ball in the goal, acting out scenes from

`To Kill A Mockingbird' with his little sister . . . teaching

other children the names of all the Justices on the Supreme

Court, hugging strangers on the street, teaching our dogs

foreign languages, running up and down the aisle on airplanes

giving people high fives.

He hated cliques and social snobbery and never had a

negative word for anyone but tyrants and despots, and opposed

all malicious gossip, stopping all such gossipers with a

trademark Tommy line--`forgive me, but it's hard to be a

human.'

Tommy had a perfect heart, a perfect soul, a riotously

outrageous and relentless sense of humor, and a dazzling

radiant mind. He began to be tortured later in his 20s by a

blindingly painful and merciless disease called depression

that became unbearable for him, despite very fine doctors and

a loving family. In a brief note to his parents: `Please

forgive me. My illness won today. Please look after each

other, the animals, and the global poor for me. All my love,

Tommy.'

I struggle to fathom the devastation caused by a child's

death. I have watched, from both near and far, as others have

faced this horrific challenge and am in awe of those who

endure with grace and determination. Earlier this month,

during a remarkably difficult time in our country's history,

Congressman Raskin and his colleagues advanced the case for

impeachment with dignity and reason. With the shadow of death

still all too fresh, Jamie Raskin was a model of character in

service to our nation.

As the Congressman is fond of saying, ``Change is made by

people who show up.'' Under the most difficult circumstances

imaginable, Jamie Raskin showed up. I know of no better

example of an elected official responding to duty, of placing

service before self. In doing so, Congressman Raskin cast a

bright ray of hope . . . that despite myriad challenges, our

great country can continue as a beacon of enlightened

democracy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of myFICO.com.

Two decades ago, on March 19, 2001, FICO, a pioneer in the development of credit scoring, launched an online website, myFICO.com, recognizing the need for greater transparency and education in the consumer credit empowerment space. my FICO.com quickly became a go-to destination for consumers accessing their credit reports, FICO Scores and FICO Score explanation. More importantly, the site became a resource for any consumer to receive free educational information and tools that help individuals better understand what actions impact their overall credit health.

Over this time, the site developed myFICO Forums, a robust crowd source community, which has become a valuable free resource for consumers to get unfettered credit-related information from their peers. The site now contains a popular blog as well as a series of credit education videos.

Understanding credit scores and developing financial literacy is not an easy pursuit. For 20 years, myFICO has been assisting millions of people become educated consumers and gain access to credit to enhance their lives.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating myFICO's twenty years of contributions to our constituents and communities.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment and the underlying bill.

No one--and I mean no one--should be forced to stay in an abusive relationship because they fear deportation. Under current law, if a woman travels to the United States of America with someone on a temporary visa and that relationship turns abusive, they are trapped.

My amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act would create a pilot program for victims of domestic abuse to apply for independent immigration status. It is that simple, and it is that important.

Mr. Speaker, Congress should be making it easier for Americans to vote, not harder. That is why I am pleased to support H.R. 1, especially in the face of reprehensible efforts all around the country to disenfranchise legal American voters.

I also believe that when a State changes its election procedures, they have a responsibility to ensure that voters are informed of those changes. That is why I wrote an amendment to H.R. 1 called the Voter NOTICE Act, which simply requires States to form public outreach to ensure that voters are proactively made aware of their voting rights.

As we are too well aware, Mr. Speaker, bad actors are all too eager to exploit uncertainty and spread disinformation to mislead Americans and divert the will of the people. The antidote is truth, and the Voter NOTICE Act will deliver it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 772, to designate the post office in Wayzata, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Minnetonka as the Jim Ramstad Post Office.

Congressman Ramstad spent 10 years representing the 45th District in the Minnesota Legislature and 18 years representing Minnesota's Third District in this Chamber. As the current Representative for Minnesota's Third, I am humbled to have followed in the footsteps of such a gentleman, public servant, and statesman.

Throughout his life in public service and throughout his entire life, Jim led with principle, with compassion, and with grace. His battle with and recovery from alcoholism gave voice to millions of Americans facing the very same challenge and illuminated every aspect of his life and his service.

From the statehouse to this House, Jim embodied the spirit of honesty, resilience, transparency, and accountability. He was a noted consensus seeker and a champion of bipartisan policies to reduce discrimination against those suffering from mental health challenges and addiction. His signature legislation, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Treatment Act, was enacted in 2008 just before his retirement from Congress.

Congressman Ramstad will go on to continue his service as a fellow at Harvard University, and as adviser to Minnesota's Hazelden treatment center. He lived the final 39 years of his life in sobriety.

Congressman Ramstad passed away on November 5, 2020, after a battle with Parkinson's disease.

Naming a post office in Wayzata is a small gesture to commemorate the passing of a giant of Minnesota politics. But as former Minnesota State Senator and Jim's former district director, Paul Anderson, told me: ``Jim loved Wayzata, and Wayzata always loved Jim back.''

So I send my love to Jim's wife, Kathryn, and to all of his family and friends and colleagues who continue to mourn his loss.

May his memory be for a blessing. May his spirit and legacy of bipartisanship--and I note that Jim was a Republican and I am a Democrat--inspire this Congress. May his name grace the post office in the town he loved and the town that loved him back for generations to come.