Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, last week Hadi Partovi, co-founder of Code.org, testified in the Science Committee that by 2020 there will be 100,000 more computer science jobs in America than American students to fill them, and that women and minorities are underrepresented in these growing fields.

I have got 24,002 reasons to care about this: there are 24,000 open computing jobs in my State right now, and I have two little girls who will be entering into a workforce that will rely on skills in computing.

Right now, only 17 States accept computer science as a core math or science credit. That is why I support the Computer Science Education Act to fix this. According to an article in Education Week, in this last year in 11 States, not a single African American student took the AP computer science course; not a single Latino student in eight States, not a single female student in two States.

If we are going to compete and ensure all students can make it in America, we have got to close the participation gap and provide these opportunities in every State. We have got to step it up.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the devastating loss of unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans already and 1.9 million more at risk of losing benefits if Congress fails to act soon.

I have heard from constituents across my region who will be impacted by this, including a veteran who has been unemployed for 8 months. Losing benefits will make it harder for him to complete the training program that he is enrolled in with the hopes of finding a new job.

While our economy has made progress since the depths of recession, we still have too many people around this country struggling to find work. Congress needs to get focused on job creation, but withdrawing support to unemployed people as they seek work is no way to boost this economy.

In fact, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates that failing to extend

unemployment benefits will cost my State, Washington State, nearly 6,200 jobs. That is worth repeating. Doing nothing will cost us jobs. For the sake of middle class families who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, for the sake of the economic recovery, we need to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a long-time leader in Kitsap County and the Suquamish Tribe, Chairman Leonard Forsman. His service to the Suquamish Tribe and Greater Puget Sound Region of Washington State has positively impacted the environment and community.

Mr. Forsman has been nominated by the President to serve as a member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent agency that advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy.

Mr. Forsman has served on the Suquamish Tribal Council for over 20 years and has served as Tribal Chairman since 2005, where he has been an advocate for tribal education, cultural preservation, gaming policy, and habitat protection.

As Chairman, Mr. Forsman has supported preserving the cultural identity of the Suquamish Tribe. He remains committed to educating both his tribe and the larger community on their history, including usage of Suquamish names throughout the Puget Sound. He also travels as a puller on the Tribe's traditional canoe on the annual Tribal Canoe Journey, legging hundreds of miles on the Salish Sea. The Tribal Canoe Journey brings together many tribes from the Pacific Northwest to celebrate native art, culture, and history. Mr. Forsman's work has ensured that the history of the Suquamish Tribe will continue to be part of our region's shared heritage.

Whether it's his degrees in both Anthropology and Historical Preservation, his career as a research archaeologist, or his service as a member of the Washington State Historical Society Board since 2007, it's clear that Mr. Forsman's educational and professional background will bring a high degree of expertise to the Advisory Council.

As I close, I can say with confidence that Leonard Forsman's dedication to his tribe's history and cultural identity has enriched the Greater Puget Sound area. I am pleased to recognize that dedication today in the United States Congress.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to call on the House to pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support. It is a bill with a simple premise: that people should be hired, fired, and assessed based on their capabilities and job performance, not on prejudice. It would take the commonsense step of extending Federal employment nondiscrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

I spent a decade working in economic development, and the research by Richard Florida and others is pretty clear. One of the prime drivers of economic growth is tolerance, and yet, in 29 States, it is legal to fire an employee because of sexual orientation. The rights granted in my State shouldn't end at our borders.

Failure to act on this doesn't make economic sense; it doesn't make legislative sense; and it doesn't make moral sense.

But I am not here just as an economic developer. I am here as someone whose faith dictates that I love and respect all people and live by the Golden Rule, and I am here as a dad of two little girls. I want my daughters to grow up in a country where discrimination is a thing of the past, where folks can't be treated differently because of their gender or who they love. It is time to pass ENDA.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1742, the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013.

Our country enjoys unparalleled freedom because of the commitment and sacrifice of our troops. I believe that if you serve our country, we should have your back. That means ensuring that military families and veterans have access to the full level of benefits they have earned.

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable that the aid and assistance we provide to our heroes and their families, would end up diminishing housing benefits. Treating this allocation as part of the income calculation to determine HUD benefits could lead to an increase in homelessness. Why force our heroes to choose between the care they require and the shelter they need?

H.R. 1742 clarifies that the benefits earned by our military retirees shall remain used to the purposes provided--and that assistance for caring for the disabled shall not jeopardize the ability to get the housing and shelter they require.

Again I am proud to support the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013 and urge my colleagues to do the same. Let's continue our commitment to our veterans. Let us do what we can to honor their service and sacrifices. With more and more servicemen transitioning to veteran status, it's critical that we protect the benefits they have earned in service to their country.

Mr. Speaker, the reason dozens of my colleagues are here is to reopen government. Too often, what is lost in this discussion of this shutdown is the real hardship that is faced by the people we represent.

I heard from a woman this week who told me that she was attempting to find a job and move her family out of a shelter. She made the necessary appointments to fill out the paperwork for a housing voucher, set up a job interview, and was given an opportunity.

Let's talk about how this shutdown affected her. She can't be brought onto the job--no one can--because the job relies on a government contract that is on hold in this shutdown. She can't move into permanent and safe housing because her housing voucher can't be processed during this government shutdown.

There are others. I spoke with the leaders of the Emergency Food Network in Tacoma who said that, as this shutdown continues and as funding for Women, Infants, and Children nutrition programs deteriorate, they are struggling to even provide baby formula.

We need to reopen this government. It is harming our economy and it is straining the social fabric of our country.

Madam Speaker, I rise to talk about the importance of this resolution.

Prior to coming to Congress, I spent a decade working in economic development in Tacoma, Washington; and during that time, it was my job to go and meet with employers and find out how to keep jobs and try to grow jobs in our area.

One of the first meetings I had was with a company called Brown and Haley, a confectioner that has been producing the legendary and, if I might add, delicious Almond Roca since 1923. In discussing the economic challenges facing that company, the number one issue that they raised was the competitive disadvantage they faced from the high cost of sugar.

We are a northern border State. From where I grew up, on a clear day you could see Canada. For a region that is struggling to grow jobs and keep jobs, the threat of businesses in my district moving across the border isn't a theoretical policy conversation; it is a real threat.

The current program puts 600,000 American manufacturing jobs at risk in all 50 States. Since the 2008 farm bill, the U.S. cost of sugar has skyrocketed to almost two times the world price. That price increase is passed directly on to our confectioners, who have to make tough operating adjustments to sustain their business.

Our neighbors realize how expensive U.S. sugar is and how high the prices are; and in the case of Brown and Haley in my district, those north of the border have already explicitly approached and advertised the cheaper sugar prices across the border.

This current sugar program doesn't just affect large corporations. It impacts small family-owned businesses like Brown and Haley in Tacoma, Washington, that have been in our communities for generations. So I ask for support for this resolution to help American small businesses and American manufacturing jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. For the last few years, Federal workers have borne the brunt of Congress' failure to deal with its long-term budget issues: going 3 years without a cost-of-living adjustment; facing furloughs from sequestration; and, now, the uncertainty of further reductions in pay because of the shutdown. Enough is enough.

This shutdown is having a big impact not just on DOD workers and park workers and VA workers and others facing furloughs, but on our entire community, folks who won't be able to replace a car or make a home payment or go buy a new TV. That affects our economy. That's why I support this bill, and it's also why I am introducing legislation to provide backpay to workers to compensate them for sequestration-related furloughs as well.

We need to end this partisan bickering, end the gridlock, end the shutdown, and get Congress and government back to work.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the good gentleman from California for organizing this time.

Far and away the most common thing said to me over the last year has been: Dear God, why on Earth would you want to be in Congress, particularly when you have two little kids and Congress is such a mess?

I will tell you, at every occasion I have responded the same way: It is because I got two little kids and Congress is a mess. I actually care about what kind of country they grow up in. I think if people who think that this is okay and sit on the sidelines, we are never going to fix it.

I will tell you, it is strange to join an organization that, according to recent polling information, is held in lower regard than head lice. Having only been here for about 9 months, I have a pretty good sense of why.

When I got here, Congress was in the process of enacting this policy of sequestration across-the-board cuts, which have had dramatic impacts in my neck of the woods where you have seen workers furloughed, cuts to critical agencies and critical services. In Kitsap County, where I serve, they have ended mental health outreach to senior citizens because of sequestration.

We have seen impacts to our region's largest employer--the United States Navy. We have seen impact after impact. If that wasn't enough, we have gone beyond--we all remember the fiscal cliff. We are now at, like, the fiscal mountain range, where we go from self-imposed crisis to self-imposed crisis. First, it was sequestration, then it was a government shutdown, and coming up next is the possibility that our Nation defaults on its financial obligations.

Unfortunately, Congress is earning the low regard in which citizens currently hold it.

Let me talk a little bit about the shutdown and how it affects the folks that I represent. You have heard a lot about furloughs. I have got in my district 3,500 workers at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard who are now on furlough. Just outside of my district we have Joint Base Lewis- McChord--10,000 workers have been furloughed. The largest land base in my district is Olympic National Park, which is an extraordinary tourist destination which is now closed for business--103 workers at Olympic National Park out on furlough.

But it is actually not just the impact to the Federal workforce that should concern us; it is the impact to the private economy. Before I came here I spent my professional career working in economic development. I spent 10 years working in economic development in Tacoma, Washington.

I am concerned, for example, that you are seeing a delay in the issuance of Small Business Administration loans because of a government shutdown. I am concerned that this shutdown is at a cost to taxpayers of $150 million to $300 million a day. But primarily I am concerned that, as you have seen Congress govern from crisis to crisis, that we figured the one thing that more than anything businesses want from government.

In the 10 years I worked in economic development, the thing I heard more often from employers than anything else was that they looked to government for an environment of trust and predictability. I think Congress has completely messed that up.

I will tell you that I don't think it has to be like this. In fact, I came out of a reasonably functional State legislature. The last three bills we passed in the Washington State Senate before I left were a balanced budget, a debt reduction proposal and a jobs bill. Out of the 49 members of the Washington State Senate, the balanced budget passed with all but two votes; the debt reduction proposal passed with all but seven votes; and the jobs bill passed with all but one. It was largely because we worked together. We didn't define ``success'' as making the other side of the aisle look like a failure.

I think, frankly, given the challenges facing our country, that gig ought to be up. We should be leading by example. We ought to be working together. We should be solving problems together. I am certainly, as one of 435, trying to do that. It means, for example, when the government shuts down and when the people whom I represent are no longer drawing paychecks, I am not either. That's why I supported a bill that many of us supported that was known as No Budget, No Pay, which said: if Congress can't pass a budget, Members of Congress shouldn't get paid.

When I served in the legislature, I knocked on 52,000 doors. The biggest change in recent years was that people were home because they were out of

work. I talked to parents who were concerned that our community's largest export was going to be our kids, and the vast majority of people I talked to actually did not give a rip about whether we get more Democratic or more Republican or move more to the left or more to the right. They just want us to stop moving backwards and to start moving forward again. So, in the brief minute I have remaining, let me talk about what I think ``forward'' ought to look like.

``Forward'' ought to look like reopening the government. End this government shutdown now. It should mean taking action to make sure our Nation doesn't default on its financial obligations, which is an act that would ensure that costs go up for our small businesses, that costs go up for our families and that everyone's retirement goes down. It means working together to ensure that we actually pass a budget, and that's going to take Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate to work together to pass a budget.

We're all freshmen up here. When we went through freshman orientation, there was a presentation on how the budget process works. The way it works is that the House passes a budget, and the Senate passes a budget. Then it goes to conference. The House passes appropriations bills, and the Senate passes appropriations bills. Then they go to conference to compromise. After about 40 minutes of presenting that, they then said, Well, that hasn't happened, though, in years.

It ought to happen. We should get that back on track. We should get this country back on track. We also need to focus on the economy.

I spent a decade working in economic development. We had a sign up on the wall in our office that said: ``We are competing with everyone, everywhere, every day forever.'' If we think our competitor nations are participating in the frivolity that our government is currently participating in, we have another think coming. China in the last decade has doubled its number of higher education institutions. They have multiplied five-fold their number of students at colleges and universities on top of the 200,000 students who are studying abroad, primarily in fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

And what are we doing? Here we sit with a government shutdown, impeding our economic recovery, hurting our businesses in this Nation.

We can't afford this. We should stop this. We need to get people back to work, but, Madam Speaker, we need to get this Congress back to work, too. That's why all of us as freshman Members are here. We want to get this country moving forward again.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in Port Angeles--a town whose lifeblood was the timber industry. As the local economy suffered, I watched as my friends' parents lost their jobs. This experience motivated me to pursue a career in economic development to help communities and families get back on their feet.

I came to the House of Representatives to fight for hard-working families across our region. I know just how hard our communities have been hit by the changes in the timber industry. It is important to me that we get folks back to work and strengthen rural communities.

With that in mind, I'm supportive of finding ways to sustainably increase harvest levels and increase the health of our forests. In fact, I'm a Co-Chair of the Healthy Forests Caucus here in the House.

Unfortunately, I have serious concerns over certain aspects of H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act. This legislation would undermine core environmental laws, reduce opportunities for stakeholder input and pathways to consensus, and leave our region without a legitimate plan to help us adequately balance multiple forest uses.

The region I represent has some of the most pristine land and waters in our country. Protecting our resources while balancing the needs of resource-dependent communities and industries has been an issue my region has struggled with for decades.

Since taking office, I have been working closely with both sides of this issue. I am firmly convinced that we can protect forest health and get people back to work.

I do not believe bypassing the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act as laid out in H.R. 1526 is the only way--or even the best way-- to do this.

Setting harvest levels by legislative mandate rather than by sound science sets a dangerous precedent and could lead to the destruction of long and hard fought agreements throughout the country.

These decisions must be made with scientific analysis and stakeholder involvement. The approach H.R. 1526 takes does not encourage consensus around federal land management and does not promote a path to a mutually agreeable resolution. H.R. 1526 would only further root stakeholders in oppositional positions. We should pursue a path forward that will reduce lawsuits. I want to see more work for folks in the timber industry--not more work for lawyers.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the work the Committee Chair and Ranking Member have put into this bill, but must voice my opposition.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the need for a bipartisan solution to our Nation's immigration challenges.

This past Saturday, I spoke at a naturalization ceremony in Tacoma, Washington, where 72 men and women from all corners of the world took their oath of allegiance to our Nation. I saw the joy on the faces of these new American brothers and sisters, including several military members who risked their lives to protect our Nation before they themselves had the rights to citizenship. Personally, the day also marked the 65th anniversary, to the day, of my grandmother's and mother's immigration to the United States from Holland.

The occasion served to remind me that we are a stronger Nation because of our Nation's diversity and the experiences that people bring here. We are indeed a Nation of immigrants, but we're also a Nation of laws. It's time to modernize those laws in a way that allows us to further secure our borders and create a feasible solution for the 11 million undocumented people here in the United States.

Improving our legal immigration system will ensure American workers receive the benefits of competing on an equal ground. It will reduce exploitation and give undocumented workers and their families a path toward achieving opportunity.

I hope we can cross party lines and pass a meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Madam Speaker, as we all know, on September 30, the government will run out of funding. And I rise today to urge my colleagues here in Congress to stop the partisan bickering, to stop the games, and to work to avoid a government shutdown.

For folks back home on the Olympic Peninsula and around Puget Sound, a shutdown would have serious consequences. Troops at Joint Base Lewis- McChord and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard could go without pay. The Olympic National Park could close to tourists. Senior citizens could be delayed in receiving checks for Social Security. Veterans may go without the benefits and the care that they have earned.

Madam Speaker, I've spent the last 10 years working in economic development. The main thing that employers want from government is trust and predictability. And now, between sequestration and a potential government shutdown, Congress is on the cusp of fracturing both. What my constituents want is for us to get to work to solve our Nation's problems, not to make them worse. That's why we need to pass legislation as quickly as possible to avert this shutdown and then move forward on a bipartisan balanced budget that the American people deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition to the drastic cuts proposed to the supplemental nutrition program, better known as SNAP. The SNAP program helps millions of Americans in need, including 16 percent of the residents of my State, put food on the table, provide for their families, and get back on their feet.

This is a sad day because the House will soon vote to cut $40 billion--an enormous amount--from the SNAP program. But this isn't about government programs. It's not even about dollars. It's about 6 million Americans. It's about dismantling a highly effective program that my home State has used to get people back to work.

In these tough economic times we should be helping folks get back on their feet. We shouldn't be asking the least fortunate among us to shoulder the burden for a Congress that can't get its act together and pass a budget.

Martin Luther King, Jr., once said:

Why should there be hunger and deprivation in any land, in

any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the

scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic

necessities of life? There is no deficit in human resource.

The deficit is in human will.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Davis and Representative Gabbard for organizing this important time.

It's my honor to stand on the floor and recognize the heroic actions of two distinguished recipients of the Medal of Honor that I have the pleasure of representing, John Hawk and Bruce Crandall.

Sergeant Hawk was with the 90th Infantry Division and awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry while serving in France during World War II and particularly for his actions on August 20, 1944.

While manning a light machine gun, Sergeant Hawk successfully pushed back the infantry forces with his machine gun fire. When an artillery shell knocked out his gun and wounded his thigh, Sergeant Hawk secured a bazooka and pursued the remaining tanks, forcing them into a wooded section. While organizing two machine gun squads and facing intense enemy fire and with tanks in close proximity, Sergeant Hawk repeatedly climbed to an exposed knoll in order to direct fire until two of the tanks were knocked out and the third was driven off. Even while suffering a painful wound, Sergeant Hawk continued to direct fire until the enemy surrendered.

He showed that day, like many of our soldiers do, fearless initiative and heroic conduct.

Honoring Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Perry Crandall

That heroism was also displayed by Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Perry Crandall of the United States Army. Assigned to A Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Crandall was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam.

On November 14, 1965, then-Major Crandall led the first major division operation of air mobile troops into Landing Zone X-Ray, bringing ammunition and supplies and evacuating the wounded. Flying more than 14 hours in a single day in unarmed helicopters, Major Crandall and his team rescued more than 70 wounded soldiers. Under the most extreme fire, his brave decision to land under fire instilled in the other pilots the will to continue and ensured that the ground forces would be resupplied.

It's for his indomitable heroism I'm proud to honor and remember the actions of Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Crandall.

Let me just say in closing that our Nation is stronger for the service and sacrifices of these two distinguished Medal of Honor recipients, for all of the recipients of the Medal of Honor, and for all of those who serve our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the national service organization AmeriCorps on its twentieth anniversary. AmeriCorps has provided young Americans with the opportunity to meet critical needs in the communities in which they work.

AmeriCorps partners with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools, and faith-based organizations to support intensive community service work. AmeriCorps was first formed under President Clinton in 1993 as a part of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Since its inception, 800,000 people have taken the AmeriCorps oath, with about 80,000 now serving annually.

Mr. Speaker, AmeriCorps members are hard at work in my district and all across the country. They tutor students in junior and high schools. They work directly with families to help them overcome barriers to employment. They advocate for victims of domestic violence. They teach CPR classes. In short, AmeriCorps members are making a difference and are strengthening communities.

Not only do communities benefit from AmeriCorps--so do the participants. These young people are able to work side-by-side with local community partners on issues that are important to them. AmeriCorps functions as a framework for how individual citizens motivated to public service can come together and make a difference in a tangible way.

AmeriCorps has demonstrated remarkable successes over the last 20 years; I look forward to more accomplishments and more impact over the next 20 years. I am hopeful that a new task force created by President Obama earlier this year can help identify new ways that AmeriCorps can employ members' talent and ingenuity to further national priorities. As Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, ``Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.''

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by extending my gratitude for the hard work AmeriCorps members are doing by serving and making America even greater.