Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the robust provisions passed in the House were significantly reduced in the Senate, the people of the Virgin Islands are benefiting in many ways from the Affordable Care Act.

As an example, a physician related to me that the insured 21- to 25- year-olds and the preventive care without copay kept her practice afloat, and the insurance rebate and tax credits for small businesses enabled her to provide insurance for her employees without requiring contributions from them.

In addition, seniors and people with disabilities saved an average of $647 on medicines. Health centers in my district were able to expand space and services; children with sickle cell, asthma, and diabetes could be insured; every newborn will get an important home visit; and the new Medicaid dollars will enable us to provide coverage for up to half of our now uninsured.

We still have work to do to ensure full access in the Virgin Islands and the Nation, but the Affordable Care Act has already made a positive difference in the lives of many of our constituents. The ACA is helping Americans in all of the States and territories, and we will continue to build on its successes, not yield to Republican opportunism and obstructionism.

I thank my colleague for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise today in strong support of H.R. 3177, the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act of 2013.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of PEPFAR, a program that has literally saved lives in Africa and other hard-hit nations around the globe. Thanks to PEPFAR, more than 5 million people have received HIV/

Mr. Speaker, Republicans just can't take ``yes'' for an answer.

The President addressed the unintended consequences caused more by insurance companies than the Affordable Care Act, a law that has benefited millions of people all across our country in Republican and Democratic districts.

No one is happy about the problems with the Web site, but I have been on some other Web sites recently that have been around a lot longer and run

into glitches that did not allow me to complete an activity either. Jeff Zients and CMS are reporting progress every day; and even though they expect to have it substantially fixed by the end of the month, anyone who knows about technology or wants to be honest about what we are going through will know that the work of improving that Web site will be pretty much a constant process.

Democrats worked to implement laws passed by Republicans that fell short of what we felt was needed. They need to stop all the repeals that they know are going nowhere and focus on jobs, the economy, and legislation that they have let languish that would speed up our sluggish economy. They and their cohorts need to stop urging young people and others not to sign up for health insurance, as is being reported.

The American people need to have the security of access to reliable, affordable health care. The Affordable Care Act begins to give that to us. They want the benefits of the ACA and for us to work together to uphold the laws of the land--not just some, but all of them.

Mr. Speaker, while Republicans are trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act, the American people are embracing it-- and have been for the past 3 years. Even my district, which is rightly upset over not being included in the exchanges like other Americans, has benefited.

Let me tell you a story I heard from one of our doctors.

According to one doctor, the preventive care without copays and 26- year-olds being able to stay on their parents' insurance has helped keep her practice afloat. The up-to-35 percent tax credit for small businesses and the rebate from insurance companies that didn't meet their medical loss ratio allowed her to relieve her employees of their portion of the health insurance premiums. This, and many other ways, is how the Affordable Care Act is working in my community.

Like a few other places in the law, fixes may be needed, like for the territories. The President and Democrats will address them, but in a rational manner.

So I am calling on my Republican colleagues to end the hostage-taking of this Congress, of our Federal employees, of our economy, and the good faith and credit of our Nation. Don't fight us. Join us. Support the Affordable Care Act--a good law that is expanding access to affordable health care for all of us. When some of us benefit, all of us benefit.

Let's vote on a clean CR, open up our government, and lift the debt ceiling today.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican mantra of the day is that the President won't negotiate. Give me and the American people a break.

The President sat down with Republicans many times, and I think he tried harder and longer than he should have to reach bipartisan agreements. The cuts they produced hurt my and many other communities.

A popular definition of ``insanity'' is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

The Biden task force, the Simpson-Bowles, and the Domenici-Rivlin Commissions were bipartisan and produced nothing. I recall the Speaker walking out on one of the talks.

In the temporary CRs, Budget Control Act and lifting the debt ceiling in the last Congress, Democrats compromised on important programs, and, frankly, there's no place left to cut.

As the President said yesterday, ``I don't know why Democrats right now would agree to a format that takes off the table all the things they care about and is confined only to the things the Republicans care about.''

To go to the table with a gun to our heads in a decidedly one-sided negotiation would really be insanity.

We need to, as Chaplain Black prayed last week, ``stop the madness'' and restore sanity in this House. Mr. Speaker, you can do that today by bringing a clean CR for a vote and lifting the debt ceiling so that the United States can pay its debts.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is out. Republican leaders and their big donors have been planning this shutdown for over 2 years. Why? They claim it's because of ObamaCare, but it's now clear to everyone that it is plainly and simply about Obama.

He won re-election, and they still can't deal with it, so they're willing to hurt their own constituents and the entire country just to try to keep our President from doing the job he was overwhelmingly elected to do.

The American people should be outraged and demand that this shutdown end now and that Congress lift the debt ceiling, pay our bills, and protect the good faith and credit of our Nation.

The good news is that even some Republicans are sick and tired of these childish, destructive tactics. They, like us Democrats, want to put our Federal workers back to work, to make sure they and those depending on Social Security will be paid, that all veterans

receive the services we owe them, that vulnerable women and children can get the care they need, and that our Nation will continue to remain strong.

So the American people must demand that Speaker Boehner bring the clean CR to the floor for a vote today. If he doesn't, then they must insist that their Representatives stand up for this country and our fellow Americans by stepping up and signing a discharge petition to end the madness.

Mr. Speaker, Tuesday was a bittersweet day. It was an unfortunate day because of the government shutdown, but it was a good day because of the millions of Americans who live in the States and Washington D.C., who finally had the opportunity to leave the ranks of the uninsured when they logged in or called the toll-free number and enrolled in affordable quality health care coverage through the health insurance marketplaces.

However, October 1 was bittersweet for other reasons for me, and I rise today as a Congresswoman from the United States Virgin Islands because on October 1 my constituents, who are also Americans, were largely left out in the cold on this key part of the law.

As a member of the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce, I was at the table and an active participant in the drafting, negotiation, and

amending of the Affordable Care Act, and I am proud that I was. But it was and remains sadly clear that one of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the other territories' biggest public health and health care challenges when it comes to Federal policies is benign neglect. Despite our efforts, still too many people, well intentioned, just don't acknowledge that, for example, across nearly every health indicator, from HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease and obesity prevalence, to rates of uninsurance and health care provider shortages, the U.S. Virgin Islands often are worse off than the national average.

So I, working in close collaboration with leadership and my territorial colleagues, the Black, Hispanic, Asian and Progressive Caucuses, worked tirelessly to ensure that the more than 4 million Americans who live in U.S. territories, as well as our collective health care systems, would enjoy the positive benefits of health care reform.

The great news is that we were in very large part successful. Today, Virgin Islanders and other persons in the territories are included in the consumer protections that make it illegal for a health plan to deny health coverage because of a preexisting disease or to rescind or deny coverage when someone gets sick and to impose lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits.

Today, U.S. Virgin Islanders can keep their children on their health plans until the child is 26 years of age. Because of The Affordable Care Act, today seniors in the U.S. Virgin Islands receive free annual wellness visits and free preventive care. They receive Medicare prescription drug rebate checks and meaningful help covering the cost of their prescription drugs. In the U.S. Virgin Islands because of the Affordable Care Act, our community health centers and community health workers are strengthened and better equipped to serve as medical homes.

But the devil is in the details. You see, the sad reality is that just because U.S. Virgin Islanders are included in the law and eligible for these great benefits does not mean that the law has been implemented in a manner that allows them all benefits or to fully experience the positive impact the Affordable Care Act was intended to have on every American.

The law gave the Governor in the U.S. Virgin Islands a choice between two options, and all the territories: one, to establish a health insurance exchange, either separately or in partnership with a State that was also setting up a State-based exchange; or, two, to use the funds that would have gone towards the exchange to expand our Medicaid program.

The Governor, based on advice of a task force and consultants, opted for option number two. And so amid all of the information that is being promulgated about the opening up of enrollment for the exchanges, wonderful news for many Americans, my constituents and those in the other territories feel very much left out and unfairly treated. To add insult to injury, there are no individual policies being written and the industry is blaming it, I think unfairly and not rightly, on the Affordable Care Act.

It is important to remember that because of the Affordable Care Act there is a very significant increase, though in the hundreds of millions of dollars, in funding for the Medicaid program and the Governor can establish a local poverty level that could significantly increase Medicaid eligibility. The robust increase in funding for Medicaid can allow for thousands of Virgin Islanders to be newly eligible for meaningful health insurance coverage under that program. Unfortunately, although the House passed a provision that would have changed the match, it did not make it through the Senate, so the match is set so high that it is difficult for us and the other territories to fully utilize the increased funding.

As a physician who practiced for more than 20 years before coming to Congress, I know what happens to someone's health and wellness, as well as personal finances, when they do not have health insurance coverage. It is catastrophic. That is why I requested meetings with Secretary Sebelius to explore how and whether the moneys that could have been used to establish a health insurance exchange can instead be used for making health care reform a reality for those who are uninsured but make too much to qualify for Medicaid.

So there is a small but distinct window of opportunity to work with the Secretary and our Governor to think outside the box, to identify meaningful and thoughtful solutions to the unique health care challenges facing the Americans in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some will require legislation, and I ask for the support of my colleagues on that; but also please let us pass a clean CR to keep our government open and provide services to Americans wherever we live in this great country.

Yesterday I spoke about the damage to the St. John economy because the national park is closed. Like everyone's district-- Republican and Democrat--the damage is growing exponentially with every day this continues. By not putting a clean CR to a vote, the House leadership is preventing pregnant women and babies from getting important nutritional support.

The gentleman who called me on a radio program on Tuesday can't get help from us with USDA loans because USDA offices are closed. Our work with SBA offices, to help our small businesses, are on hold. And the town halls with GSA on Federal contracting with local businesses will be put off.

My community is already in economic distress, and this shutdown is making it worse. I'm proud to have one of the best National Guard units in the country. I'm a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and avid supporter of NIH. But the bills that are being passed here only pretend to help these entities while imposing damaging cuts.

The ACA is law. Get over it. Let's stop this divide and conquer piecemeal approach. Let's vote on a clean measure to reopen the offices of the Federal Government to ensure Federal workers can pay their bills. And let's make sure the Federal Government will pay its debt too.

Mr. Speaker, lawmakers should be the first to uphold and respect the laws of our land, and the Affordable Care Act is a very important law for over 30 million people in every one of our districts, for our entire country.

There are almost 700 Federal employees in my small district. Traveling yesterday, it was hard to see the CBP and TSA folks working as usual, not knowing if and when they'll be paid.

My employees, like all congressional employees, are under the same cloud and the stress that comes with it.

Complaints began early about our Virgin Islands park closures. This not only affects NPS employees, but all of our small businesses, from wedding planners to shop and concession owners to taxi drivers, the entire St. John economy. And despite our ``Open Beach'' laws, the beaches in the park are closed to Virgin Islanders.

In my district, already reeling from the shutdown of our largest private employer, the highest energy costs in the country, and reduced government revenues, this shutdown, if it continues any longer, can be the final nail in our economic coffin.

The negative impact of this shutdown will only hurt more people and hurt our national economy, if it continues.

The President and Democrats are willing to negotiate, but we, and the American people, say not like this. No fake, piecemeal fixes. We must have a clean CR now and get our entire government back to work.

Mr. Speaker, in just 6 days, the health exchanges will be open for enrollment and many people will have access to quality, affordable health care for the very first time.

The Congressional Black Caucus just completed 8 town halls across the country to fully and accurately inform our communities about the exchanges and Medicaid expansion and when and how to enroll and who their navigators and their certified enrollment assisters are. Everywhere we went, we found people hungry for the information we shared, including how the law had already helped thousands of people in their area: the young people who stayed on their parents' insurance, the many Medicare beneficiaries who were able to get preventive services and wellness visits without a copay, and the many people who got significant rebates from their insurance companies and how much each Medicare beneficiary saved in prescription drug costs. They were very angry about the misinformation that continues to be spread about the Affordable Care Act.

We Democrats are proud of the work we did with President Obama to create

this law and to make wellness a possibility for many who, for far too long, had been left out of the health care system. October 1 signals a brand new day for them and for our country, and we should celebrate it and do everything we can to make sure everyone in our districts enjoys these benefits.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the birthday of Pastor Claudia Terencia Nesbitt Walker who turned 70

years old on September 2, 2013. Pastor Walker was born and raised on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to the late Mary Matilda Henry and Austin Nesbitt. In honor of Pastor Walker's 70th birthday, I acknowledge her many contributions to the island of St. Croix. Pastor Walker is a lifelong business woman, culture bearer and community religious leader.

As a young female entrepreneur, she opened and managed several businesses in Frederiksted, St. Croix including the Palm Gardens and West Haven restaurants and the Frederiksted Bookkeeping and Secretarial Services. Prior to opening her own business, she worked as an Office Manager for the largest woman-owned business on St. Croix--Abramson Enterprises.

Pastor Walker is one of the Virgin Islands foremost culture bearers having co-founded the St. Croix Heritage Dancers, Inc. in 1981 where she served as the quadrille dance group's first Treasurer. Pastor Walker was also Treasurer for the St. Croix Festival Committee for many years. A gifted alto, Pastor Walker was a leading member of the Frederiksted Moravian Church Choir.

Pastor Walker is a prominent member of the religious community on St. Croix. An ordained minister and Christian education teacher, she was a congregation member of the Holy Ghost Deliverance Ministries where she was ordained in 1990. She was also ordained into the Ministerial Fellowship of the World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio. Pastor Walker is the Founder and Pastor of the Gospel Tent Ministries and an associate member of the International Third World Leaders Association. She has served as the Territorial Representative for Morris Cerullo World Evangelism and their Global Satellite Network. Pastor Walker was Treasurer for the St. Croix Ministerial Association and also served as President for the Frederiksted Moravian Church Women's Fellowship. She is the author of the acclaimed study manual entitled Forgiven and Forgiving: Your Doorway to Freedom.

Claudia Walker was a prominent Virgin Islands public servant. She was office manager for several Virgin Islands Senators including Senator Cleone Creque Maynard, Senator Douglas Canton, Senator Edgar Isles, Senator Luz James and Senator Alicia Hansen. Pastor Walker also served the Virgin Islands government for many years as Business Manager at the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.

She lovingly raised a family of three children, and has four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Pastor Walker on this milestone. I thank her for her many contributions to the island of St. Croix and the U.S. Virgin Islands and I join her friends and family in celebration as we pay tribute to her on her 70th birthday. Pastor Claudia Walker is the very best St. Croix and the U.S. Virgin Islands has to offer, and I wish her good health and continued happiness.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the draconian cuts in the SNAP program being proposed by H.R. 3102. This bill would cut $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and deny many vulnerable people the opportunity to feed themselves and their families. SNAP has already been reduced to dangerous levels and if this bill becomes law, 3.8 million people will no longer be able to receive this help by 2014. This is in addition to the drop in benefits that will occur when the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expire at the end of October. This bill unnecessarily targets state and territorial governments struggling with high unemployment and ex-offenders trying to turn their lives around.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is based on misconceptions about the SNAP Program. These

misconceptions have led some of my colleagues to believe that SNAP is out of control, or that it needs reasonable work requirements or that there are loopholes that allow people who don't need it, to get it.

This is far from the truth. SNAP is not out of control, it is now being used by the many households that slid from the middle class into poverty during the Great Recession. The number of eligible households have increased and the urgent caseload has been expanded. In my district, the U.S. Virgin Islands there are over 9,000 households who receive this vital assistance monthly. Twenty-one million participate across the country. We cannot and should not leave these people behind. This bill also wants to take SNAP assistance away from those who get LIHEAP assistance, and for my district, which has some of the highest energy costs in the country, it would be catastrophic for those families who are already struggling to keep the lights on.

There are already work requirements for childless unemployed adults who can only receive SNAP for three months every three years unless they are working 20 hours per week or more. This bill wants to remove the ability of Governors to waiver these requirements when their states and territories have high unemployment. I can tell you as the representative of a territory whose unemployment has skyrocketed due to a plant closure, through no fault of the workers who are left behind and must now utilize food stamps even though they prefer to work, this would be catastrophic and leave many people without resources.

Loopholes can and should be addressed, but not at the expense of those who are vulnerable, like children who need the free school meals, that are sometimes their only real meal of the day. I took the food stamp challenge, and believe me, it is barebones, no luxuries there, only sustenance for those who need it most.

Mr. Speaker, Hungry people in America did not create the Great Recession or the financial downturn or the wars that have drained our treasury. They should not have to pay with hunger or a lack of a life line.

I urge my colleagues to oppose these cuts to this vital food program.

Thank you for yielding.

And it's my pleasure to join the CBC for another Special Order, and thank you for bringing this issue of race in America before the American public tonight, because racism in America is so pervasive in so many aspects of our lives. Its impact, of course, was most recently and painfully felt in the killing of young Trayvon Martin, as we've spoken about this evening, and of course the insensitivity, the slow, the poor, and the racially influenced response of the justice system to his death.

Our prayers, our thoughts, and our support are with his parents and loved ones, and all of our families who face the same fears for their children.

But I want to speak just briefly about how race in America affects health care of African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color. According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, despite the existence of civil rights legislation, equal treatment and equal access are not a reality for racial-ethnic minorities and women in the current climate of the health care industry. Many barriers limit both the quality of care and utilization for these groups, including discrimination.

Just in the last National Health Care Disparities Report of 2012, it reported that Blacks received worse care than Whites, and Hispanics received worse care than non-Hispanic Whites for about 40 percent of quality measures. American Indians and Alaskan Natives, worse care than Whites for one-third of quality measures. Asians received worse care than Whites for about one-quarter of quality measures. And it goes on and on and on.

But just to be very brief, I want to just show you one example of how racism affects health care of African Americans and Latinos. Because I think this is a stark example of how it happened.

This is an emergency mortality rate. It's a study done by a doctor not too far from here. You can see that whether they're insured or uninsured, African Americans and Latinos arriving at an emergency room with the exact same injuries are more likely to die. In fact, when compared with an uninsured White patient, Black patients with equivalent injuries but without insurance had a 78 percent higher risk of dying; uninsured Hispanics, a 130 percent higher risk of dying. So even if Trayvon Martin had lived, you wonder what would have happened if he had arrived at the emergency room.

And so I just wanted to add the impact of racism in American, which continues to this day, and how it affects the health care and the lives of African Americans and Latinos. The Affordable Care Act, as we talk about where do we go from here, has begun to change this by providing coverage and access to care.

We really have to find ways to change the heart of America. And we can't do that by legislation. We thank the CBC for all of its efforts, like the efforts that will take place in Chicago and across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks on behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands in strong opposition to this farm bill. It hurts children and families in our country.

Mr. Speaker, we were all shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden and untimely passing of former Congressman William ``Bill'' Gray, a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus who represented Philadelphia in the House of Representatives for many years in stellar fashion.

William Gray was a trailblazer for African Americans and other minorities in Congress, an inspirational pastor, a persuasive advocate for education of minorities and the poor and for causes where often others feared to tread. He was a steadfast friend to countless of us and the epitome of a servant-leader.

My first recollection of meeting him personally was poolside at the then St. John Virgin Grande Hotel with his and my long time friends Orville and Julie Kean. He had a home in St. John at the time.

We talked late into the night and he often referred to me as a St. Croix Nationalist many times after that. I was also always proud of his calling me his Congresswoman, even after he sold the St. John home. And it was just days before he was suddenly taken from us that in the Members Dining room he remarked that he would be visiting our Islands in the near future. Sadly that will not happen.

Although we did not serve together, I consider that it was a privilege to be able to work with him on many of the issues he championed as only he could--from the United Negro College Fund, to his work on telecommunications advances or on relations with the foreign governments he represented. Whenever he called we responded because he was always there to support us when needed. We never even had to ask.

We will miss exuberant presence and his booming raspy voice, but not just the sound. What the CBC, I, our Nation and the world will truly miss is the strong unrelenting voice that he was for a better country and world and for opportunity, equality and justice for all. We have lost a great public servant.

To his son Justin who was always with him, his wife Andrea and the other children, his church family and the people of Philadelphia who loved him dearly on behalf of my family, staff and the people of the Virgin Islands I extend my condolences. We are a better place that he lived. May he rest in peace.