Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, 9 years ago, the House passed the Affordable Care Act to ensure that tens of millions of Americans had health insurance.

Thanks to the ACA, over a million Floridians were able to get healthcare coverage.

In these past 9 years, Republicans have consistently tried to repeal and sabotage the Affordable Care Act. As a result, families in Florida are often unable to afford their healthcare.

Today, the President tried once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If the President gets his way, more than 1.6 million Floridians would lose their coverage, and insurance companies could charge even more, resulting in higher costs for American families. Women could be charged more than men for the same services, and people living with preexisting conditions could lose coverage.

Floridians cannot afford these attacks on their healthcare. I implore the Senate to pass the bills that we have already sent them to protect healthcare for all Americans.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule.

Right now, there are thousands of children detained in temporary facilities, facilities like the ones in Homestead, which is right in the middle of my district. We have no answers. We have no idea of when these kids are going to be released. It is an overcrowded facility, with kids who are sleeping in warehouse areas on bunk beds, of more than 144 kids.

They are living in prison-like conditions. Many have been there for months. These kids should not be detained without their freedom and their rights. What we are asking from the Senate are reasonable requests for the safety and for the well-being of thousands of children.

We have to pass these provisions put forth by the House. We must put in writing that no child can be held and detained in a temporary facility like Homestead for more than 90 days.

Madam Speaker, many of the children have families living right here in the United States that they could be reunited with. But those who are running the facilities have no incentive for reuniting them.

The Senate bill does not have a timeline. The Senate bill is inadequate. We must pass the House-amended bill.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment, which would set aside a further $5 million for the Minority AIDS Initiative Fund.

HIV/AIDS remains a major problem in this country, with approximately 1.1 million people currently living with the disease, 130,000 of whom reside in the State of Florida, and over 26,000 in Miami-Dade alone. It is estimated that there are 40,000 new diagnoses every year, with racial and ethnic minorities making up three of four new cases.

Despite advances in medicine and research and progress combating this issue nationwide, in Miami, this trend is going in the wrong direction. The rate of new diagnoses in the Miami area is three times the national average, the highest rate of anywhere in the country.

It is critical that we devote the necessary resources to curb the spread of this disease and provide care for those living with HIV/AIDS. The Minority AIDS Initiative Fund plays a crucial role in addressing key health disparities by bringing Federal, State, and community organizations together to test innovative solutions and address emerging needs in communities impacted by this epidemic.

My amendment will help support further efforts to improve access to HIV prevention and care services for racial and ethnic minorities. In its current capacity, the program supports more than 33 projects and 130 community partners across the country. This increase in funding would not only expand on the successful initiatives, but

also support new ventures addressing the spread of HIV/AIDS in underserved populations.

For example, in my home district, the organization Prevention305 is helping combat this epidemic by increasing awareness of and access to PrEP medication, a key tool that greatly reduces the spread of HIV.

It is critical that we continue to provide for such innovative initiatives that help prevent the spread of this disease and provide quality care for those infected by HIV/AIDS.

I ask my colleagues today to join me in the fight to end this epidemic once and for all and provide the relief to those living with or impacted by this disease.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of the bill (H.R. 2695) to rename the Success Dam in Tulare County, California, as the Richard L. Schafer Dam, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019.

Almost half of the people in my district were born in a country other than the United States, including myself. I did not have the great privilege of being born into this incredible Nation. But my story is not unique. My story, and every immigrant's story, is the American story. It is who we are as a country.

Dreamers, DED holders, TPS, and DACA recipients, are Americans in every single way but on paper; and it is time that we change that.

Protecting these Americans is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes economic sense.

In my district alone, Dream and Promise households contribute over $53 million in Federal taxes and have a spending power of over $271 million. These Americans are our friends, our neighbors, and our coworkers. They are teachers, doctors, farmers. They represent our Nation's commitment to hard work.

To every Dreamer, DED holder, TPS and DACA recipient with us here and across the country, I want you to know, we see you. We hear you. Your fight is our fight.

Today, we will pass the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 and give all these Americans the protections that they deserve.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6.

Madam Speaker, I'm proud to represent a community, Key West, where our motto is ``One Human Family.''

We welcome over 450 thousand LGBTQ tourists each year who feel appreciated in our home.

Protecting every American from discrimination is not only a fundamental value of our country, it's essential for the health of our economy.

For the first time in American history, we passed legislation that would add protections for a community that has been ignored for too long.

The Equality Act ensures that no one can lose their job or home because of whom they love or who they are.

It finally includes protections for our LGBTQ community that are inherent in the Constitution for all Americans.

This is the United States of America.

Equality Matters.

After all, we are all one human family.

Mr. Speaker, today we mark 1 year since former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly led the Trump administration in implementing the cruel policy of separating families at the border and criminalizing refugees and asylum seekers.

After John Kelly left the administration, he joined the board of Caliburn days before HHS awarded Caliburn a $341 million no-bid contract to keep detaining migrant children in Homestead, Florida. In doing so, this administration is compounding cruelty with corruption.

While the zero-tolerance family separation policy may have ended, it has caused chaos and irreparable harm to our community. We can and we must do better.

We have to reform our broken immigration system and recognize that seeking asylum is legal. We must reunify families, and treat migrants searching for a better life in our country with the dignity that they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I have spent the last 2 weeks in my district listening to constituents and healthcare providers share stories about how our broken healthcare system is hurting south Florida.

One thing is clear: high prescription drugs prices are hurting families in my community and across America, which is why this week in the Judiciary Committee we are voting on a bipartisan bill to lower prescription drug prices.

I am all for supporting research and innovation, but we cannot allow the pharmaceutical industry to delay and block more affordable, generic medicines because it may hurt their profits. Lowering drug prices for all Americans should be a bipartisan issue, and this is just one more step in making our country healthier and helping Americans keep more of their paycheck.

Let's help hardworking families get ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell Lucia Huete Suarez' story. Lucia, an immigrant from Nicaragua, lives in Kendall. Ten years ago, she was healthy, working at a job she enjoyed, living a normal life.

Her life changed when she was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. She was heartbroken when she had to stop working due to her illness. Now, she pays high copays for monthly lab work and procedures even with insurance.

Every time Trump threatens to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rip away protections for preexisting conditions, it is Lucia and 300,000 others living in my district whose lives are on the line.

I was proud to stand with colleagues to introduce legislation to protect Lucia and every other Floridian, every American living in fear of Trump's attacks on healthcare.

I stand in opposition to Trump's heartless attacks and reiterate that we must all support the Protecting Pre-existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to share Lottie Garcia's story from The Hammocks, Miami.

After 29 radiation treatments and six sessions of chemotherapy, Lottie has beaten cancer. But, sadly, on a day that should be filled with joy and happiness, she felt deflated and petrified.

Why?

Even though Lottie is now living cancer free, she, like more than 300,000 people in my community, has a preexisting condition. Every day, she and her husband, Richard, battle insurance companies for her care. She hears, every single day, President Trump and the Republican Party's nonstop attacks on the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Last week, Democrats took a stand. We introduced legislation that would prevent the administration from approving short-term health plans that are not required to comply with any of the Affordable Care Act's consumer protections. These are known as junk plans.

I stand here to reaffirm my commitment that I will fight to protect Lottie and every single Floridian who is living today with a preexisting condition.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rooney).

Nicolas Maduro is an illegitimate president. As a result of his brutal dictatorship, the Venezuelan people are suffering in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere.

Without basic food and medicine, people are starving and dying. As many as 3.4 million Venezuelans have left the country and migrated to neighboring countries, which are having immense difficulty absorbing such high volumes of migrants.

My bill would help alleviate the pain of the Venezuelan people by providing humanitarian assistance in accordance with established international humanitarian principles to those within the country and in the region. It gives Congress the authority to provide as much funding as is necessary to address the crisis in both 2020 and 2021, with no less than $150 million for each year.

It also requires the State Department and USAID to show the American people the most effective way to coordinate with nongovernmental and international organizations operating throughout the region, and the bill also requires the administration to submit a report to Congress assessing the impact of U.S. humanitarian assistance.

Maduro has proven that he is willing to let his own people suffer and die rather than accept international aid. It is not enough to provide USAID with the funds for this aid. The administration must show that they are strategically trying everything they can to get the aid to the Venezuelan people inside the country, not just leaving it at the border. That is what this bill will achieve.

Finally, the bill expresses Congress' strong condemnation of all violent actions by the Maduro regime and Venezuela's security forces to block and divert humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, DACA recipients are our neighbors. They are entrepreneurs, college graduates, educators, and healthcare providers.

DACA recipients are helping our country lead in science, technology, and medicine. Jorge Cortes is one those DACA recipients.

Jorge came to the United States from Colombia when he was a teenager. Despite his undocumented status, Jorge worked hard. He contributed to his community and eventually graduated from Florida International University.

After graduating, he quickly established himself as an entrepreneur in Miami's technology and social innovation sector, eventually employing upwards of 15 people. For his entrepreneurship and leadership, Jorge was awarded the keys to both Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami.

A path to citizenship for DACA and TPS recipients like Jorge, would add $1.2 billion, annually, to Florida's economy.

In our discussions about DACA, immigration reform, and the economy, it is easy to forget that DACA recipients are also people. DACA isn't just the right thing to do for our economy, it is the moral thing to do. It is time that our immigration system treats all of them as people, too.

Mr. Speaker, today is a very difficult day for south Florida and for my community. One year ago, we lost 17 innocent lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland.

The pain of the family and friends of those we lost does not go away. I know. I lost my father to gun violence.

Shortly after the tragedy at Parkland, I met with the parents of the students who lost their lives. All you want to do is find a way to take away their pain, but you can't. You can listen to them, share their story, hold their hand, but you can't take away their pain.

When I spoke with parents like Regina Talabert, Romania Duque, Manny, Patricia, and other concerned Floridians, I made a promise that I would not stop until we changed our country's gun laws.

I want to be able to continue to look at those parents, those students, and all of those who have lost a loved one to gun violence and tell them that I will do everything that I can to prevent another tragedy from happening.

We cannot wait for another mass shooting, so I want to say that I am so proud of my colleagues that we passed H.R. 8 yesterday on the floor. We can work together to prevent another Parkland.

Madam Speaker, Daniel Garcia-Barbon has been an air traffic controller for 10 years at Miami International Airport. It has been his life's dream to help passengers travel our skies. But last Friday Daniel was one of thousands of Floridians who received a pay stub in the amount of zero. He was forced to cancel his 4-year-old's birthday, and he is unsure how much longer he can afford to support his family.

Our government is failing our public servants.

I would like to ask this President and the Republican Party if they understand the value of the work that Daniel and thousands of other Floridians do to keep us safe.

We Floridians have weathered many storms, including this shutdown, but we always come together. Just this weekend, I witnessed kindness from an owner of a creole restaurant in the airport who was offering lunches to Federal employees.

This shutdown must end. It is preposterous to punish thousands of Americans for political gain. The Senate has a constitutional duty, and it must rein in this reckless President.

Madam Speaker, today, once again, I stand here before you to implore the Senate to reopen the government.