Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of the Torres amendment, No. 658, which recognizes the lifesaving work performed by our Nation's 911 call takers and dispatchers.

Mr. Chairman, all of the emergency activities in my own district--the police, the fire, the emergency responders--strongly support this amendment, and so I want to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle simply stating these professionals save lives. And more than giving 911 call takers and dispatchers the recognition they deserve, it would make the standard occupational classification system more accurate and, therefore, more useful as a statistical resource.

I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the brilliant coach of the United States Women's National Team, Jill Ellis.

On Sunday, on a soccer pitch in Lyon, France, our U.S. team clinched their fourth FIFA World Cup victory, two of which have been won under the leadership of Coach Jill Ellis.

I know that our former colleagues who passed title IX in 1972 are smiling. That year, only 700 girls in the United States played soccer at a high school level. This year, over 400,000 played at a high school level, a 55,000 percent increase.

Coach Ellis lives in my district with her family. She is my friend.

We join our entire country in honoring her extraordinary recruiting, her analytical skills, and the sophisticated winning system she developed. As one writer put it, her team ``could do different things and win in different ways.''

Jill Ellis is one of the greatest coaches in soccer history. She is the very definition of world class.

I am proud to join my colleagues in honoring her and the entire United States Women's National Team today.

Madam Chairwoman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairwoman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chairwoman, the Department of Defense Tuition Assistance program provides financial assistance to servicemembers for voluntary off-duty education programs in support of professional and personal development.

Tuition assistance is available for courses that are offered in the classroom or by distance learning and are part of an approved academic degree or certification program.

These courses must be offered by schools that are recognized by the United States Department of Education, and they must abide by all rules governing the higher education sector.

Because of a loophole that exists in Federal law, known as the GI Bill loophole, however, many for-profit colleges target veterans and servicemembers with aggressive and deceptive recruiting tactics in order to collect as much GI Bill and DOD revenue as possible.

In fact, research has demonstrated that the for-profit college sector is the only sector in higher education that increases tuition when additional Federal student aid becomes available. As one for-profit college president turned whistleblower told veterans' organizations and Federal officials last summer:

We cleaned up all our materials, but behind closed doors,

our recruiters will do anything and say anything to get their

hands on GI benefits and DOD Tuition Assistance funds.

This is simply unacceptable. Through the selfless sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, we as citizens receive freedom, a freedom that many people in this world envy. We owe an immense debt of gratitude to those who serve and must not allow anyone to abuse their benefits.

Madam Chair, this amendment is simple, and it will ensure that veterans, Active Duty servicemembers, and their families are not taken advantage of by anyone in the predatory for-profit college sector. This amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to publish on its website the distribution of DOD Tuition Assistance funds at institutions of higher education and conduct an audit for any for-profit institution that fails to meet the financial responsibility standards set in the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Madam Chair, a for-profit college has, by definition, a fiduciary duty to its shareholders to maximize profits. Success is determined by the amount of tuition revenue brought in and the profits made, not by the quality of education provided to its students.

We speak about the good and bad actors in the for-profit college sector, and this amendment seeks to tell us just that. I know that my good friends on the other side of the aisle have always supported our veterans. I know they deeply care about fiscally responsible policies and transparency.

Supporting our veterans and Active Duty servicemembers has historically drawn large, bipartisan support. It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to put forth an accountability system that distinguishes bad actors from good actors and looks out for the American taxpayer and protects our military community.

Madam Chair, this is personal for me. Every generation of my family has served in our country's military, and all have used their educational benefits. I know the value of a good education. I have seen it firsthand in my four decades as an educator and as a college president. Our veterans deserve better than policies that allow bad actors in our education system to take advantage of their service and their sacrifice.

I want to thank my colleagues who have worked with me on this issue and my good friend, Congresswoman Katie Porter, for cosponsoring this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment and stand on the side of our servicemembers.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, the DOD has already taken steps before to ensure Tuition Assistance funds are being spent properly when those institutions have been identified.

My amendment allows the Secretary to broadly apply much-needed oversight to a sector that continues to defraud servicemembers and siphons off billions of dollars from the Federal Government.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in recognition of Wilbur Bell on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Mr. Bell's business, Bell's Short Stop.

Opened in 1969, Bell's Short Stop has grown into a community staple. Thanks to Mr. Bell's business savvy and dedication to the tight-knit West Perrine community, Bell's Short Stop has expanded to include Flavas, a soul food staple that attracts not only locals but also Florida politicians and visiting NFL players. Mr. Bell's businesses have played an integral role in the lives of the families of West Perrine, bringing supplies and services as well as community spirit to the neighborhood.

Mr. Bell is also a local celebrity, West Perrine's first elected official as former Chair of the Miami-Dade County Community Council. Prior to this position, he studied at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and served in Vietnam, for which he received a Vietnam Service Medal. He is also a licensed real estate broker and member of Midtown Realty's Millionaire Club.

Mr Bell's business has become a family affair. Three of his children worked at Bell's Short Stop, and one son currently runs Flavas. But more than that, Mr. Bell treats his customers as though they are family.

I am truly inspired by Wilbur Bell's passion for giving back to the West Perrine community, his dedication to his business and to his

family, and his ability to transform a store into a local landmark. South Florida is richer and fuller thanks to his work.

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

Mr. Chair, last week The Washington Post reported that the administration is canceling English classes, recreational programs, and legal aid for unaccompanied minors in migrant shelters.

The largest of these shelters, the Homestead detention facility, is in my district's backyard. The children housed at the Homestead facility are between the ages of 13 and 17. Despite their youth, they have already faced unfathomable hardship, including poverty and violence in their home countries and the journey they have made to ours.

But because of our anti-immigrant, antichild policies, their hardship doesn't end at our border. These children are taken to detention facilities like the one at Homestead, which currently houses 2,350 kids.

I have seen the prison-like conditions in which they are kept. In fact, if they were in our Federal prisons, they would be better treated.

In our Federal prisons murderers have 30-minute meals, but at these facilities for children, the kids have only 15 minutes to eat their meals.

Federal prisoners are entitled to 300 minutes of phone calls per month, while these children have only 80 minutes a month to call their families.

They are closely monitored, unable to leave the compound, kept in military camp-like rooms with up to 150 kids per room. We do not have a Federal prison in this country which houses 150 persons in one room. They are barred from even hugging their friends or siblings. Some of these kids have been forcefully separated from their parents without explanation.

And what is more, the Homestead facility is for profit. We are letting a private company make money off of these children's tears.

Now, without classes, recreational programs, or even legal aid, these kids are on their own in every way imaginable. This is utterly un- American. The canceling of classes, programs, and legal aid for these kids is only the latest step in this administration's anti-immigrant agenda.

We have a moral obligation to treat these children like we would treat our own, and that means providing them with the support they need during and after their detention.

I have introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill, H.R. 2740, that will increase funding for legal services, child advocates, and post-release services by $10 million. These are basic services that the administration is legally obligated to provide to unaccompanied children who are detained in these shelters. Our laws require us to do so.

Our budget must be smart; it must be careful; and it must be compassionate. We have a chance to show that there is no excuse for the mistreatment of our most vulnerable children. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to this appropriations bill. These children are our collective responsibility, and they deserve better.

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

Announcement by the Acting Chair

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters).

Mr. Chair, let me just remind everyone that these children are our collective responsibility. They deserve better, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to this appropriations bill.

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

Madam Speaker, today as we mark Gun Violence Awareness Month, we wear orange to remember the victims of gun violence.

We remember Parkland. We remember Pulse and Charleston and Pittsburgh. We remember Virginia Beach. We remember the children of Liberty City and Sandy Hook.

We wear orange to remember. We wear orange to remind ourselves that we must not give up until children can go to school, worshippers can go to church, and employees can go to work free from the fear of gun violence.

We will not give up until universal background checks are in law and until the weapons of war are banned from our streets.

Madam Speaker, we will not give up until this epidemic is over.

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 415 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, on Monday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 415, providing for consideration of H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, under a closed rule self- executing a manager's amendment. The rule provides 2 hours of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill in this rule, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. I rise as the granddaughter of immigrants.

This is a historic day in which we begin to shape immigration policy that reflects American values. H.R. 6 offers a path to lawful permanent residence status for Dreamers, TPS holders, and DED beneficiaries. These are our neighbors, our friends, our schoolmates, our workers, and our family. They make our communities stronger and fuller. They are Americans in every way except under the law. We intend to correct that omission today.

These immigrants are longtime residents of our country with deep roots in the communities where they reside. For many of them, the United States is the only country they have ever called home. It is cruel and un-American that we have left members of our communities to suffer uncertainty in this way.

With this bill, we keep families together and ensure that these women, men, and children can continue contributing to the communities we share. In my district, Florida's 27th, there are 11,400 residents who are eligible for protection under H.R. 6. Approximately 8,200 are Dreamers, and 3,400 are TPS or DED holders.

As I have long said, in my south Florida community, it doesn't matter the color of your skin, the language you speak, whom you hold hands with, your religion, or your country of origin. You are a Miamian if you call our city home. Today, the House of Representatives will make clear that you have every right to call yourselves Americans, too.

Madam Speaker, I proudly support this historic step forward towards a more just America. Let's pass this rule and H.R. 6.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), the distinguished chair of the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 2 minutes.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I wish to remind them what the President said after terminating DACA and ending TPS for hundreds of thousands of immigrants: ``It is now time for Congress to act.'' And today, we are acting.

We are in the midst of the longest probationary period for citizenship and

permanent status in American history. But today, we are finally providing real solutions for Dreamers, TPS recipients, and DED beneficiaries.

We are providing solutions for people like Maria Moreno, who came to the United States as a child and is a constituent of mine. She is now a 22-year-old anthropology student at Florida International University and currently working at HistoryMiami Museum.

She has spent her life focused on her education. Now, as she pursues her career as an anthropologist, she continues to find ways to make changes within her community. She is a tutor for local kids, empowering them to find joy in learning.

To say that Maria is not worthy of permanent legal status is cruel and unjust. She is just as American as you and I.

And Maria is just one of millions of Dreamers who cherishes the American Dream. They work hard and believe in a country that has been shamefully slow in recognizing their worth.

Despite all the hardship we have put them through, like the newcomers before them, they still believe in our country's commitment to opportunity and fairness.

Today, the Dreamers, Madam Speaker, are one step closer to getting their dream. Today, the Dreamers, Madam Speaker, are one House closer to getting their dream.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize my dear friend, Eduardo Padron, on the occasion of his retirement as President of Miami-Dade College and his brilliant service to the South Florida community.

Dr. Padron has spent his career giving back to the community that welcomed him when he arrived from Cuba as a child. In the 50 years he has spent at Miami-Dade College, as a student, professor, and President, he has fundamentally transformed the school into an internationally recognized institution of higher education. Under his leadership, Miami-Dade College has become a true center of community for South Florida. The college has educated thousands of students in South Florida and sent them on to successful careers and lives.

Dr. Padron has received numerous accolades for his work as an educator. He was included in TIME magazine's list of top ten college presidents in 2009, named Floridian of the Year by Florida Trend in 2010, and honored as one of the eight most influential college presidents in the U.S. by The Washington Post in 2011. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his leadership on access and inclusion in higher education.

We have all witnessed Dr. Padron's extraordinary dedication to the people of South Florida. I'm grateful to know him as a leader in education and as a friend, and I wish him all the best in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o'clock and 28 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4, 2019, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2157) making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment.

Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of my friend, Alina Hudak, Deputy Mayor of Miami-Dade County, and her 35 years of public service to the greater Miami community.

Alina began her career in the Miami-Dade County government as a management trainee in 1984. In 1993, she became the first Hispanic woman appointed to the position of Assistant County Manager. In 1996, she was tapped for the position of Director of the General Services Administration. In 1998, she rejoined the County Manager's Office, and she took over the post of County Manager in 2011. She currently serves as Deputy Mayor of Miami-Dade County as well as Director of the Solid Waste Management Department.

Alina has worked with nearly every department of Miami-Dade's extensive administration, and she possesses an unrivaled knowledge of the County. Throughout her career, she has overseen an impressive portfolio of departments, including the nationally recognized Police and Fire Rescue, Animal Services, Elections, Transit, Public Works, the Citizen's Independent Transportation Trust, and the Public Health Trust. She spearheaded the County's Haitian Relief Efforted, the United Way campaign, the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, and has acted as liaison for numerous county tournaments and events.

Alina continues to give to the Miami-Dade community. She is an active alumna of the University of Miami, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a master's degree in Public Administration. She is also deeply involved in the American Society for Public Administration and the International Women's Forum.

We have all witnessed Alina's extraordinary skill and dedication to Miami-Dade County. She has served with grace and heart, and I look forward to seeing the impact she will continue to make on our community for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life of one of the greatest public servants of any age, the indomitable Alice Rivlin, who died of cancer last week.

An intellectual giant with Midwestern sensibilities, she had a resume that would never be matched: Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation at HEW, founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, president of the American Economic Association, and Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve.

In between her government service, she sat on a high perch at the Brookings Institution, producing rigorous, centrist, and insightful books and articles on a wide range of Federal policies.

In her spare time, she was credited with saving D.C. from bankruptcy. She never forgot her responsibility to her adopted hometown.

Alice was deeply respected and beloved by her peers and politicians of both parties. She was one of the first recipients of a MacArthur Foundation genius award, a tribute to her skill in building one of the most important public institutions of our lifetime, the CBO.

Her sustained contributions to public policy analysis have fundamentally shaped our thinking about the impact of public programs and the budget.

She also constantly reminded us that when we refuse to use evidence in making policy decisions, we do so at our country's peril.

Alice Rivlin was my dear friend. I met her here in D.C. as a newly minted Ph.D. She was already famous for her classic book, ``Systematic Thinking for Social Action.''

She was funny, warm, generous, and welcoming. She wanted all of us newcomers to love her adopted city as much as she did.

When I returned to Washington to join the Clinton Cabinet, Alice, along with her friend Meg Greenfield, the powerhouse editorial page editor of the Post, and Post publisher Katherine Graham, formed the Smart Women's Club. They invited me to join them in hilarious dinners with interesting guests, a high point in my career.

One of my fondest memories of Alice took place on a day in the 1980s when I was still in New York. She called me and asked if I could take a month off to go to Kashmir to trek in the Himalayas. What an adventure, the beginning of decades of trekking in some of the most interesting places on Earth with friends and her patient husband, Sid Winter, himself a world-class economist.

You learn a lot about people when you share a narrow ledge in a rainstorm on some of the highest mountains in the world. Alice was tenacious, brave, cheerful, and the kindest and nicest person I have ever known.

She was a legend, renowned for mentoring younger colleagues and helping people of all walks of life with their challenges.

Hers was more than a life well lived. She was a patriot who loved her country and her city, and she served both with extraordinary skill and passion.

Mr. Speaker, in Florida and many other States, LGBTQ Americans are still at risk of being fired, evicted, and denied services because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

LGBTQ people confront discrimination throughout their entire lives, from harassment that youth face at school to the bias that older, same- sex couples experience when they are denied housing in retirement communities.

In the gallery today is Christian Bales, an openly gay and gender- nonconforming student who was barred from delivering his valedictorian speech at his high school on account of his sexuality. Two nights ago, Christian was honored with the 2019 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for Education.

Today, we will take a crucial step in standing up for people like Christian by passing H.R. 5.

Mr. Speaker, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the uprising at Stonewall and the birth of the modern LGBTQ movement. There is no better way to honor the decades-long struggle for dignity and equality for LGBTQ people than for our elected leaders in Congress to pass this legislation.

I am proud to support H.R. 5.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment expresses the sense of Congress that the secretary should not do anything that prohibits State insurance commissioners from allowing for so-called silver loading.

Let me walk you through how we got to this point. Because while silver loading has worked to keep costs on the exchange lower for folks who get subsidies, it has only been used because the President was actively trying to kill the Affordable Care Act.

In 2017, the President decided to stop reimbursing health insurance companies for what are called cost-sharing reductions, or CSRs.

CSRs are payments that health insurance companies are required to make to help low- and moderate-income people afford healthcare.

Under the Affordable Care Act, the health insurance companies must help people that have more affordable, and, possibly, no co-pays or deductibles.

The Federal Government was supposed to reimburse insurance providers for making these payments; however, in October of 2017, the administration stopped making these payments.

This was a deliberate attempt to make health insurance on the exchange unaffordable, and undermine, weaken, and attack the Affordable Care Act.

In response to this, States let health insurance plans do what is now called silver loading. State insurance regulators, in a desperate and creative attempt to stabilize the insurance marketplaces, allowed insurance companies to bill the unpaid CSR costs into their silver plans on the exchange. This was a very creative attempt to stabilize the insurance market.

This wasn't the solution that anyone wanted, but it is a solution that has worked and has created some stability and predictability in the insurance market in the face of an administration that seeks chaos.

Because the tax credits are benchmarked to the silver plan, silver loading has meant that most who receive subsidies did not see an increase in their health insurance premiums.

In fact, new data shows that 2.6 million healthcare.gov consumers are now paying lower premiums as a result of silver loading.

States that allowed for silver loading as a way to cope with the manufactured chaos that the administration tried to inflict on the market, actually saw an increase in enrollment in the exchanges.

Mr. Chairman, the administration must stop trying to sabotage the Affordable Care Act.

My amendment expresses that it is the sense of Congress that the secretary of Health and Human Services shall not do anything to prohibit the use of silver loading, a program designed by the States to stabilize the health insurance marketplace.

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

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

Mr. Chair, this amendment expresses a sense of Congress that the Secretary of Health and Human Services should not do anything that prohibits State insurance commissioners from allowing for so-called silver loading.

Let me walk you through how we got to this point because, while silver loading has worked to keep costs on the exchanges lower for people who get subsidies, it has only been used because the administration was actively trying to kill the Affordable Care Act.

In 2017, the administration decided to stop reimbursing health insurance companies for what are called cost-sharing reductions, CSRs. CSRs are payments that health insurance companies are required to make to help low- and moderate-income people afford healthcare.

Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance companies must help people have more affordable and, possibly, no copays or deductibles. The Federal Government was supposed to reimburse insurance providers for making these payments. However, in October of 2017, the administration stopped making these payments. This was a deliberate attempt to make health insurance on the exchange unaffordable and to undermine, weaken, and attack the Affordable Care Act.

In response to this, the States, bipartisan States, including my own, let insurance plans do what is now called ``silver loading.''

State insurance regulators, in a desperate and a very creative attempt to stabilize the insurance markets, allowed insurance companies to build the unpaid CSR costs into their silver plans on the exchange.

This was not the solution anyone wanted, but it is a solution that has worked and has created some stability and predictability in the insurance markets in the face of an administration that seeks chaos.

Because the tax credits are benchmarked to the silver plans, silver loading has meant that most who receive subsidies did not see an increase in their health insurance premiums. In fact, new data shows that 2.6 million exchange consumers are now paying lower premiums as a result of silver loading.

States that allowed for silver loading as a way to cope with the manufactured chaos that the administration tried to inflict on the market actually saw an increase in enrollment in the exchange.

The administration has to stop trying to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. My amendment expresses that it is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of HHS shall not do anything to prohibit the use of silver loading to stabilize the health insurance marketplaces.

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

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