Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman McGovern, Congressman McGovern, for his leadership in this area and for setting up the Special Order on such an important topic.

As a political science professor and a student of the history of nuclear weaponry, and now a Member of Congress representing much of southern Nevada, I have learned a thing or two about our nuclear legacy. In fact, I wrote a book on Nevada's atomic heritage called ``Not In My Backyard.''

Nevada was the focal point of nuclear development during the Cold War. Over four decades, the Nevada Test Site, which is located just a hundred miles north of Las Vegas, hosted over 900 nuclear tests, more than any other place in the country.

Throughout the 1950s, the mushroom cloud continued to loom in the distance as people enjoyed what Las Vegas had to offer. It was almost like a tourist attraction.

These tests were conducted to better understand the power and impact of nuclear weapons, and the site played a major role in shaping national and international policies regarding nuclear testing and nonproliferation.

The radiation given off by more than 100 atmospheric tests, however, has had devastating impacts on those downwind. That includes workers at the test site, our atomic soldiers who did war games in the shadow of the detonations, and also sheepherders across the border in Utah.

The fallout caused cancer and premature deaths for thousands across the West and contaminated soil in the vicinity of the test site, resulting in a loss of biodiversity.

The 800 underground tests also resulted in radioactive contamination of groundwater, and that is still a problem today. Radioactivity levels in the water are declining over time, but elements such as plutonium and uranium are likely to pose a risk for thousands of years.

Fortunately, the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program and the National Nuclear Security Administration and its nuclear weapons laboratories have been able to certify that our nuclear stockpile remains safe, secure, and reliable without needing to resume explosive testing.

Mr. Speaker, in 2020, the Trump administration called for a resumption of nuclear testing in the breach of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. I helped lead the charge in the fiscal year 2021 NDAA process to ensure that explosive nuclear testing could not be resurrected in the United States because it would be right there in Nevada.

With a second Trump administration taking office in January, that same disastrous policy from 2020 is featured in Project 2025. That is the blueprint that we understand Trump will be following in his next 4 years.

On page 399, Project 2025 calls for the rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which will not only allow nuclear testing here at home but will give the green light to other nuclear powers around the world to do the same.

The result will put us on a collision course of catastrophic proportions with Russia and China. It will undermine the entire arms control regime, allow for the proliferation of these weapons to non- nuclear states, and will once again put the health of Nevadans in jeopardy.

Mr. Speaker, the United States has been a beacon of nonproliferation and responsible stewardship of nuclear stockpiles. Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, we helped newly reformed republics like Kazakhstan safely remove and decommission warheads and testing facilities while ushering in a new era of nuclear risk reduction by implementing the nonproliferation treaty, New START, and, of course, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Those in favor of resuming nuclear testing under the principle of peace through strength are merely contributing to additional nuclear risks and challenges to strategic stability.

Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. In a nuclear arms race, there are no winners, only losers. We must not provide foreign nations with a justification to openly conduct nuclear test explosions while imposing immense financial and health costs on our constituents.

The U.S. has been a leader on nuclear risk reduction, and we must continue to act responsibly in that regard. It is one of the most serious things that we face, and we must stand strong against it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Miracle Flights as they prepare to celebrate their 100-millionth mile flown on October 24th. Miracle Flights was founded in Clark County, Nevada, in 1985, and has remained dedicated to its mission of providing free flights to children and families in need of specialized medical care across the United States.

Their long-standing partnership with Southwest Airlines has been instrumental in facilitating these flights, providing essential support to families who would otherwise be unable to access the specialized medical care they require.

On Thursday, October 24. Miracle Flights will reach an extraordinary milestone of 100 million miles flown, symbolizing the organization's unwavering commitment to ensuring no distance is too great for children to receive life-saving treatment, regardless of their financial means.

The flight will benefit 8-year-old Luna D. of Las Vegas, who was diagnosed with an optic glioma tumor in May 2017. Luna travels to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, every three months for specialized oncology care, testing, and an MRI. Before boarding the flight, Luna and her family will get a big sendoff from the Miracle Flights team at Harry Reid International Airport.

This monumental achievement is not only a testament to Miracle Flights' enduring dedication to families in Clark County and Nevada's First Congressional District, but it also reflects its nationwide impact on reducing barriers to essential healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the 100th birthday of Sara Denton, a close friend and trailblazer in Nevada politics. Sara Pittard Denton was born on November 12, 1924, in Paducah, Kentucky.

In 1943, during her first year in college at Southern Illinois University, the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the forerunner to Military Intelligence, recruited her to work as a ``Code Girl'' in Washington, D.C. at the height of World War II. There she met Ralph Denton, a young U.S. Army lieutenant from Caliente, Nevada, who was attending law school under the patronage of U.S. Senator Pat McCarran. They married in 1949 and after Ralph's graduation, the newlyweds moved to Nevada where for 75 years Sara volunteered in numerous state and national political campaigns while also rearing their three children: renown author Sally, Dr. Scott Denton, and Judge Mark Denton.

Following her participation in U.S. Senator Howard Cannon's successful 1976 campaign, Sara was hired as his Administrative Assistant, her first and only paid position in Nevada politics.

In recent decades, Sara has been instrumental in other Nevada campaigns, including presidential candidates Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. In addition to her political work, Sara has been involved in numerous community and charitable organizations, including the 1964 founding of Boulder City's Art in the Park, the largest juried art festival in the Southwest with proceeds going towards the Boulder City Hospital Foundation.

The State of Nevada has benefitted tremendously from her work. She is greatly respected, highly admired, and deeply loved by so many. I join my fellow Nevadans in wishing her a Happy One-Hundredth Birthday.

Madam Speaker, you are so right that, since Saturday, multiple agencies from several States have been coordinating just south of Reno to fight the Davis fire.

Among those on the front line is the Silver State Interagency Hotshot Crew. Just as it sounds, the hotshot crew is a group of brave wildland firefighters who, day in and day out, put their lives on the line to fight and suppress wildfires.

Certainly, we know that climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, is what has been the key driver in increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires in the West, at least over the last two decades when fires have gotten more frequent, more intense, more expensive, and more difficult to put out.

That is true in Nevada, where we have been experiencing record extreme heat. We hit 120 degrees just last month. That is a record for Nevada, which is always hot but certainly not 120 degrees, and we have ongoing drought.

Now, these conditions have a significant impact on the surrounding environment, and as hotter temperatures increase, they dry out moisture from leaves and branches, and they provide kindling to fuel these more intense wildfires.

When many of these wildfires occur, we rely on a response from the Federal wildland firefighters, but they are paid, as you have heard, significantly less than their counterparts at State and local agencies.

It is obvious that we need to do more to remedy this situation so we cannot only retain the firefighters who are in the force but can also recruit more to their ranks.

That is why I am proud to join my colleague, Representative Neguse, on legislation to increase the base pay and retirement benefits for wildland firefighters, as well as provide greater access to mental health and wellness services as they put themselves on the line for us.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to these heroes, and the reforms that are in this legislation are the least that we can do in response and in return for their service and sacrifice.

I thank our Nevada hotshot crew, all the firefighting agencies at the Federal level who are working together to try to keep our community safe, and Representative Neguse for his leadership on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the 15th annual International Day Against Nuclear Tests on August 29, and to commend the Republic of Kazakhstan for its role in working collaboratively with the United States to pursue nuclear disarmament and our shared nonproliferation goals. In doing so, our two countries have preserved peace, stability, and a world free from the ever-present threat of nuclear conflict.

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it left behind 35,000 nuclear weapons at sites across the Eurasian landmass. With thousands of nuclear-armed ICBMs in places like Belarus and Ukraine, the newly- formed Republic of Kazakhstan inherited the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, which was also home of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. From Semipalatinsk's establishment in 1946 to its decommission in 1995, Soviet authorities carried out 468 nuclear tests at the test site. The total impact of these tests between 1949 and 1963 was 2,500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima. The toxic radioactive fallout these tests yielded caused irreparable damage to more than 1.3 million people in Kazakhstan and severe ecological harm to the area surrounding the test site.

In 1989, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, anti-nuclear war activists in Kazakhstan established the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement. This grassroots initiative supported by victims of Nevada's own nuclear legacy sought the closure of Semipalatinsk and the cessation of nuclear testing. Of the 18 planned detonations in 1989, 11 were stopped thanks to the group's committed advocacy and resilience. The Nevada- Semipalatinsk Movement underscores the bond and shared history between Nevadans and Kazakhs.

Despite any strategic advantage that retention of the Soviet Union's arsenal may have provided to Kazakhstan, its leadership understood the potential political, humanitarian, and environmental ramifications of its development. On August 29, 1991, Kazakhstan made the historic and noble decision to close the Semipalatinsk test site. In its place, the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan was established to assist in eliminating the infrastructure for the storage and use of nuclear weapons. It would also provide scientific and technical support for the peaceful use of atomic energy.

In 1992, Kazakhstan ratified the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) and a few years later, all of Kazakhstan's 104 ICBMs were safely removed and destroyed. The Kazakh government doubled-down on its commitment to global peace, security, and nonproliferation by becoming a party to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1993, a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1994, and a cosigner of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in 1996.

Meanwhile, in partnership with the United States, Kazakhstan removed 1,322 pounds of highly enriched uranium from the Ulba Metallurgical Plant under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. As part of this program, our two countries took monumental steps to remove residual materials and technologies related to weapons of mass destruction in Kazakhstan, signaling a major shift in the global security and political paradigm and building momentum that catalyzed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Thus, August 29th was selected to commend and recognize Kazakhstan's honorable decision to close the Semipalatinsk test site and renounce nuclear weapons.

With Cold War-style nuclear saber-rattling becoming the new norm, it is important, on this International Day Against Nuclear Tests, to highlight the successful steps taken by the United States and Kazakhstan to mitigate the dangers of nuclear weapons, institute global nonproliferation regimes, and adhere to international norms around nuclear testing.

Madam Chair, during Roll Call Vote No. 378 on H.R. 8997, I mistakenly recorded my vote as Aye when I should have voted No.

Amendment No. 64 Offered by Mr. Van Drew

Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of amendment No. 94 which would direct BLM to use additional resources on reversible fertility control methods during its wild horse and burro management program.

There are as many as 73,000 wild horses and burros roaming across the West, many of which are put in unnecessary danger due to BLM's use of helicopters to control horse populations. In fiscal year 2024 alone, BLM has planned to round up a staggering 21,000 wild horses. This is a costly and unsustainable plan. Just in the last 3 weeks, 47 horses have been killed during BLM helicopter roundups in Nevada and Wyoming.

There are, however, more humane ways to achieve BLM's goal of managing these herds. The use of reversible fertility control is a safe and inexpensive way to manage wild horse and burro populations. Although it is scientifically proven to decrease the number of animals living on the range, BLM spends less than 1 percent of its management budget on such methods.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to implore BLM to increase their spending on fertility control methods and save these icons of the American West.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this vital amendment to prohibit funds in the bill from being used to acquire, use, sell, or transfer cluster munitions, in an effort to avert more widespread harm to civilians in areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance.

Cluster bombs are not winning weapons but indiscriminate munitions that blanket large areas, contaminating land and inflicting disproportionate harm on civilians. Cluster munitions are shells that contain dozens of smaller bomblets that disperse into the air and scatter over areas the size of several football fields. Their lack of precision-targeting capabilities increases the risk of their falling into civilian areas and makes it very difficult to decontaminate those bombed areas.

The extreme threat to civilians, furthermore, that these weapons pose far outweighs any potential military benefit.

The ``2023 Cluster Munition Monitor'' report found there were at least 1,172 new cluster munition casualties globally in 2022. That is the highest annual number of casualties since at least 2010. In 2022, civilians accounted for approximately 95 percent of all cluster munitions casualties, and of that 95 percent, children accounted for over 70 percent of the civilian casualties.

Thousands of communities across Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe face lingering dangers from landmines and explosive remnants of war, dating back to World War II, the Vietnam war, and the Indochina wars, with many of the Pacific Island nations still contaminated with unexploded ordnance following World War II battles between Japan and Allied forces. Laos, the most heavily bombed country per capita in history, has suffered an estimated 50,000 civilian casualties from explosive remnants of war since 1964. Cambodia and Vietnam have seen over 64,000 and 105,000 casualties, respectively, since 1975.

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions has 112 party states and 12 signatories, including the majority of our NATO allies. The transfer of these weapons by the U.S. is contrary to the global norm against the use, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. There is a reason why the vast majority of the international community has banned these weapons, and it is time for the U.S. to do the same.

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

Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the ranking member of the subcommittee.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for pointing out the danger of these weapons, not just to the victims but also to our own troops.

As far as the dud rates go, the Department of Defense has indeed stated DPICMs have a low dud rate, 2.35 percent, as the Department has said. This figure, however, does not tell the whole story.

The DOD tests the dud rate by dropping bomblets on a concrete surface. Obviously, every little bomblet will detonate on concrete, but that is not representative of the environments where they are deployed. When cluster munitions are dropped in mud, snow, marshes, and certain soft terrain, that dud rate skyrockets upwards of 50 percent.

The DOD's announced dud rate figure cannot be taken at face value, and constructing an argument against this amendment solely based on that foundation is truly flawed.

I just point out, again, the damage that is done to humanity by these weapons, and the majority of those who are casualties are children.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from the floor and the roll call votes for the Motions to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 6543 and H.R. 2964. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 248, H.R. 6543, and YEA on Roll Call No. 249, H.R. 2964.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of the Radiation Exposure Compensation program, which is set to stop accepting new claims on June 10.

RECA is an essential program for those who are exposed to radiation connected to aboveground nuclear weapons tests conducted here in the United States from 1945 to 1962. Many of those tests took place in Nevada.

While these tests helped the United States keep the peace during the Cold War, they also caused long-term health problems for on-site participants, uranium miners and transporters, individuals, veterans, and all who lived downwind from the Nevada test site. RECA provides compensation to those individuals who have developed various kinds of cancer.

To date, the program has paid out $2.6 billion to over 40,000 individuals, including 2,500 Nevadans, but these residents are in every State and territory. It is imperative that we not let this program expire.

I urge the Speaker to bring forward legislation that extends RECA so that our government can compensate these Cold War warriors who sacrificed so much for our national security.

Madam Speaker, while tending to a family emergency, I was absent from the floor and the roll call votes for the Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 1269 and the Adoption of H. Res. 1269. Had I been present, I would have voted: NAY on Roll Call 235, Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 1269, and NAY on Roll Call 236, Adoption of H. Res. 1269.

Mr. Speaker, while tending to a family emergency, I was absent from the floor and the roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted:

NO on Roll Call No. 237 on agreeing to Amendment 8 to H.R. 8580,

NO on Roll Call No. 238 on agreeing to Amendment 10 to H.R. 8580,

NO on Roll Call No. 239 on agreeing to Amendment 16 to H.R. 8580,

AYE on Roll Call No. 240 on agreeing to Amendment 28 to H.R. 8580,

NO on Roll Call No. 241 on agreeing to Amendment 42 to H.R. 8580, and

NAY on Roll Call No. 242 on passage of H.R. 8282.

Mr. Speaker, while tending to a family emergency, I was absent from the floor and the roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 233, H. Res. 1215, and YEA on Roll Call No. 234, H.R. 6983.

personal explanation

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

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in support of this legislation which would prohibit all U.S. transit agencies from using Federal dollars on rail rolling stock from State-owned enterprises, or SOEs.

As of today, the U.S. doesn't have any domestic transit railcar manufacturers. Federal transit policies have been designed over the years to reflect that reality while still encouraging domestic manufacturing wherever possible.

While the U.S. remains, at least for now, dependent on global transit car manufacturers, we need to ensure fair competition among all manufacturers, including SOEs.

When one entity receives government support for artificially low bids, if that is left unchecked over time, other manufacturers will be driven out of business. This would make transit cars more expensive in the long run and leave systems across the country reliant upon just one manufacturer.

Congress recognized this concern after four U.S. transit agencies awarded rolling stock contracts to an SOE that submitted artificially low bids.

The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act first prohibited most U.S. transit agencies from using Federal transit funds to purchase rolling stock from SOEs. Transit car manufacturers that do not receive government subsidies, including manufacturers in South Korea, Japan, Spain, and other places, were not affected by this ban. Congress exempted the four transit agencies with the initial SOE contracts from the ban so as not to disrupt ongoing procurement.

The legislation that we are considering here today doesn't affect those initial contracts or any current options on those contracts, but it does prevent future contracts from being executed using Federal funds. The bill ensures that all U.S. transit agencies will operate under the same rules.

I would also note that nothing in this legislation impacts what transit agencies do with their local funding. It only affects funding from the Federal Government for transit railcars.

As transit agencies continue to receive the record funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it is critical we ensure the market for rolling stock is fair and competitive.

Ultimately, that will yield the best outcome for transit agencies and will help them provide more reliable and effective service for their riders.

Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to say I support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5754, which designates the Federal courthouse in Los Angeles, California, as the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse.

The Mendezes were activists whose efforts culminated in the 1946 Federal court case Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County. This helped to end segregation in California schools and helped pave the way for desegregation efforts nationwide.

Mrs. Mendez was born in Puerto Rico and moved with her family to California at the age of 12. She and her

family encountered discrimination and racism in California because of their Puerto Rican heritage. She married Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican immigrant who had become a naturalized U.S. citizen. They had several children and operated a successful agriculture business in southern California.

The Mendezes attempted to enroll their children in a local school but were rejected because of their Mexican names and appearance. In response, the Mendezes bravely organized and filed a lawsuit against the local school district to end the district's practice of segregating Mexican schoolchildren.

After they won the case in 1946 and won a subsequent appeal in 1947, the State of California took the further action of enacting a law officially desegregating California public schools, making it the first State in the country to do so.

The law was signed by then-Governor Earl Warren. Seven years later, Mr. Warren, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote the opinion in Brown v. Board of Education in which the Court ruled that segregation of any kind in public schools is unconstitutional.

If H.R. 5754 is enacted, the Los Angeles Federal courthouse would be the first courthouse in the Nation named after a Latina.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano), who we are going to miss terribly when she retires from her role in the leadership on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gomez), who is the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this historic legislation, I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I yield back the balance of my time.