Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the nation's community supervision professionals and the many vital roles they play in their work with justice-involved adults and juveniles. They identify opportunities and services to help individuals contribute to society, while, at the same time, holding them accountable for their actions.

In honor of Pretrial, Probation and Parole Supervision Week 2022, we salute all of those who have chosen this important career. In the District of Columbia, we especially thank the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia and the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia and their employees for their work. Their work reflects the theme of Pretrial, Probation and Parole Supervision Week 2022, ``Restoring Trust, Creating Hope.''

As was the case last year, community supervision professionals have once again demonstrated great courage and resolve in continuing their work during the coronavirus pandemic. They have found innovative ways to remain connected with the people they supervise and to continue guiding them in the interest of public safety.

Community supervision agencies are valuable partners of government agencies, non-profits, neighborhood-based groups, and all who strive to make our nation safer and stronger. We extend our gratitude to them and recognize their many achievements as we proclaim July 17-23, 2022, as Pretrial, Probation and Parole Supervision Week 2022.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Train Noise and Vibrations Reduction Act, which would direct the Secretary of Transportation to submit a report to Congress containing recommendations on how to reduce train noise and vibrations near homes, as well as estimates of the costs and benefits of each recommendation. Such recommendations would include modifications to trains, tracks and maintenance procedures, speed limits for trains, mitigation measures between tracks and homes, the distance between tracks and homes, limitations on the number of trains and the number of cars on trains, limitations on hours of operations, building insulation and modifications to soil conditions. The report would be due to Congress no later than one year after the enactment of the bill.

The Noise Control Act of 1972 created the Office of Noise Abatement and Control within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), granting EPA authority and oversight over broad noise control regulations. However, years of defunding left this office without any resources to conduct enforcement, forcing EPA to phase out the office in 1982. I hear from District of Columbia residents frequently about the negative impact of train noise and vibrations on their lives. The noise and vibrations can harm health and quality of life, and can even harm the structural integrity of homes. Congress and the executive branch must do more to reduce the harm nationwide.

As a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and as the chair of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, I have been committed to reducing transportation noise pollution. I have convened community meetings with the Federal Railroad Administration, the D.C. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to examine how to reduce train noise and vibrations. A report on reducing train noise and vibrations can help us identify viable, long-term solutions for communities.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Courts and Public Defender Service Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments Act. This bill, which passed the House in the 114th Congress, would make a small but important change to the authorities of the District of Columbia Courts (D.C. Courts) and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), giving them the same authority federal agencies and federal courts already have to offer voluntary separation incentive payments, or buyouts, to their employees.

Congress has provided this authority to the D.C. Courts and PDS on an annual basis in the last several appropriations bills. However, my bill is necessary to make this authority permanent. This authority would allow the D.C. Courts and PDS to respond to future administrative and budgetary needs, and would provide the flexibility to extend buyout offers to their employees.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has opined that voluntary separation incentive payments may be made only where statutorily authorized. Federal agencies and federal courts already have permanent statutory authority to offer buyouts, and there is no reason why the D.C. Courts and PDS, which are both federally funded entities, should not have the same permanent authority to manage their workforce as budget conditions and needs change.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle.

This District of Columbia tradition takes place during the first full week of summer each year and brings together tens of thousands D.C. area families and visitors to the nation's capital in the spirit of unity, community and celebration.

After two years of virtual events, the Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle returned to Pennsylvania Avenue on June 25, 2022, featuring the Giant National BBQ Championship, the National Pork BBQ Championship, the Smokin' with Smithfield Rib Contest, the Perdue Sizzlin' Chicken Contest, the Turkey Smoke BBQ Cooking Contest, the Nation's Best BBQ Sauce Contest and, for the first time, the Beyond Meat Plant-Based Barbecue Championship.

The Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle has raised millions of dollars for D.C. charities and USO-Metro over the past 30 years and donated food to food banks.

This event draws some of D.C.'s and the nation's best barbecue talent, and the participants represent D.C. wherever state barbecue cooking championship winners are welcomed.

Madam Speaker, again, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing the aims and goals of the Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Postal Police Authority Clarifying Act, which would clarify that United States Postal Police Officers (PPOs) have authority to protect mail, postal property and postal employees both on and off United States Postal Service (USPS) real property. PPOs had been performing their duties both on and off USPS real property, but USPS has recently informed them that their statutory police powers are limited to USPS real property.

Under federal law, Postal Inspectors are authorized ``to investigate criminal matters related to the Postal Service and the mails . . .,'' while PPOs are authorized to protect the ``property owned or occupied by the Postal Service or under the charge and control of the Postal Service, and persons on that property, including duty in areas outside the property to the extent necessary to protect the property and persons on the property.'' USPS has recently informed PPOs that property consists only of USPS real property, so PPO police powers are limited to USPS real property. This narrow interpretation of the statute severely limits the ability of PPOs to protect mail and postal staff.

There has been an increase in mail theft nationally, including through the theft of stolen universal keys, formally referred to as ``arrow keys.'' A constituent recently contacted my office after checks they put in a blue collection box were stolen. Thieves changed the payees and dollar amounts on the checks, and tens of thousands of dollars were stolen from my constituent's account. This is just one example of the increased mail theft occurring now, and is ample evidence of the need for legislation to clarify the authority of PPOs to fully protect mail and postal employees.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Local Task Forces on 21st Century Policing Act, which would assist localities in carrying out the recommendations of the federal Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, both of which have detailed the need to strengthen relations between local communities and local law enforcement. The bill would provide grants to local governments to create local task forces on 21st century policing to bring police, representatives of the community and public officials together to identify best policing practices for local police and other ways to strengthen relations between the community and police departments. No new funds are needed. Existing funds from the Department of Justice would support local governments establishing the task forces by listing these task forces as an acceptable use of Byrne Justice Assistance Grants. Given the continuing controversy surrounding police shootings of unarmed African American men, with no solutions in sight, this bill is timelier every day.

The task forces, modeled after the federal Task Force on 21st Century Policing, would allow local communities to identify the best ways to create an effective partnership between local law enforcement and the communities they serve, while reducing crime, increasing trust and combating racial profiling. The task forces could create a partnership to implement practical policing practices acceptable to all concerned.

The creation of task forces could be an important step toward easing the tensions between local law enforcement and many communities. In addition, the task forces could serve to engage local law enforcement and local stakeholders in a transparent public problem-solving process instead of the current situation that encourages parties to choose sides.

I ask my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the package of gun violence prevention bills we are considering today.

Gun violence is at unseen epidemic levels in this country. We need to combat the source of the epidemic: easy access to guns.

I will address, however, the impact of the lack of statehood for the residents of the District of Columbia on their ability to pass and maintain their own commonsense gun violence prevention laws.

If Republicans take the majority in the next Congress, they could eliminate D.C.'s gun violence prevention laws, which they have repeatedly tried to do, including its ban on assault weapons and high- capacity magazines and its universal background checks.

At least seven current Republican Members of Congress have introduced such bills. I have defeated each effort in Congress to overturn D.C. gun violence prevention laws, and I vow to do so again, but the ultimate remedy for congressional interference in local D.C. matters, of course, is D.C. statehood.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating the 25th anniversary of Prime Timers of the National Capital Area.

Prime Timers of the National Capital Area was founded on December 17, 1996, as a chapter of Prime Timers Worldwide, an international non- profit organization that celebrates all human diversity and whose vision is to ``Bring together mature gay and bisexual men for friendship, social activities, support and personal growth.''

The mission of Prime Timers of the National Capital Area is to provide opportunities for older gay and bisexual men to come together in a safe and supportive environment regardless of race, nationality, sexual orientation, physical ability, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation. The chapter promotes healthy aging through supportive relationships and personal enrichment through service to others.

Madam Speaker, again, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Prime Timers of the National Capital Area for its 25 years of dedicated service, which has advanced the welfare not only of the LGBTQ community in the District of Columbia, but of the entire population of the District of Columbia.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Veterans Legal Support Act of 2022, which would allow the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide support to law school clinical programs that provide pro bono legal and support services to veterans, including assistance with disability claims and appeals and foreclosures. There are already at least 22 law schools that have clinics devoted to veterans' legal needs, including the

William & Mary Law School Veterans Benefits Clinic, which serves as a national model for this idea and was the first recipient of a ``best practice'' certification from the VA. There are many other law schools, such as the University of the District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law, that are interested in starting their own VA-certified clinics. More needs to be done to sustain and increase the number of these programs.

I was a tenured professor of law and continued to teach a seminar after being elected to Congress. I saw the expert assistance that clinical programs provide their clients.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, a concrete measure that would assist our veterans, who put their lives on the line for this country.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Electronic

Transmittal of Legislation Act, which would permit the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia to transmit legislation to Congress in the form of the Chairman's choosing, including in electronic form. This bill would modernize the method D.C. legislation is transmitted to Congress. I introduced a similar version of this bill earlier this year.

The D.C. Home Rule Act (HRA) requires the Chairman to transmit legislation to Congress for a review period before the legislation may take effect. The legislation takes effect after a review period, unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during the review period. While the HRA is silent on the method of transmittal, House and Senate precedent require that the legislation be physically transmitted to Congress. Physical transmittal imposes costs in terms of time on the Council, the House and Senate Parliamentarians, the Speaker, the President of the Senate, the House clerk, the Senate Secretary, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The Council engages in a 12-step process to comply with the physical transmittal requirement:

Step 1: Write individualized cover letters.

Step 2: The Chairman physically signs the cover letters.

Step 3: Arrange a time to get the cover letters from the Chairman.

Step 4: Print two copies of the bill and two copies of the committee report to deliver to the Speaker and to the President of the Senate.

Step 5: Arrange a time for delivery to the Speaker's office.

Step 6: Arrange a time for delivery to the President of the Senate's office.

Step 7: Arrange for two D.C. employees to drive to the Capitol. (Two staffers are required because parking restrictions require a driver and a delivery person.)

Step 8: Drive to the Capitol.

Step 9: Deliver the documents to the Speaker's office and get a signed receipt.

Step 10: Deliver the documents to the President of the Senate's office and get a signed receipt.

Step 11: Assign the congressional review period based on the receipts.

Step 12: File the receipts.

The aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol highlighted the burdens of physical transmittal. After temporary fencing was installed around the Capitol, D.C. employees could not enter the Capitol, delaying transmittal until D.C. employees and congressional staff developed a workaround. D.C. employees and congressional staff met outside the fencing so the D.C. employees could physically transmit the legislation.

Today, when we live in the era of e-mail, there is no reason to continue to require an increasingly ancient process, when these documents could be transmitted electronically instead, saving a tremendous amount of time and effort.

I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Ensuring Child Health Coverage Compensation in Divorce Act of 2022. This bill would require that when a court directs a non-custodial parent (including a stepparent) to provide health insurance for a child, the other parent can get reimbursed directly from the insurer for any out-of-pocket medical expenses for the child incurred by such parent, regardless of the source of insurance.

In a divorce, one parent is typically court-ordered to provide health insurance for the child to prevent the child from being uninsured. However, the other parent may pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses for the child that are reimbursable by the insurer. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, group health insurers are required to directly reimburse a parent who pays for reimbursable out- of-pocket medical expenses when the other parent has been court-ordered to provide health insurance for the child. However, other health insurers are not required to directly reimburse the other parent.

This bill would provide the same requirements for all health insurers to ensure that the parent who pays for the out-of-pocket medical expenses is reimbursed.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, today I introduce a bill that would direct the Secretary of Transportation to submit a report to Congress containing recommendations on how to reduce helicopter noise in the District of Columbia. Such recommendations would include altitude, number of flights, flight paths, time of day of flights, types of aircraft, operating procedures and pilot training. The Secretary would be required to consult with any federal agencies or departments that fly helicopters in D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department, any medical helicopter operators that routinely fly in D.C. and any other operator that routinely flies a helicopter in D.C. The report would be due to Congress no later than 180 days after the enactment of the bill.

Even though D.C. has the most restricted airspace in the country, I hear from D.C. residents almost daily about the negative impact of helicopter noise on their lives. The noise can harm health and quality of life, and helicopters can even harm the structural integrity of homes. While I recognize the need for helicopters in D.C., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Congress must do more to mitigate the harm to D.C. residents.

In 2019, I led members of the National Capital Region (NCR) in requesting that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study helicopter noise in the NCR. Last year, GAO issued its report. GAO found that there had been nearly 90,000 helicopter flights in the NCR from 2017 to 2019. GAO recommended that the FAA develop a mechanism to exchange helicopter noise information with operators in the NCR. The FAA indicated that it would implement such a mechanism. In March 2021, I introduced the Washington, DC Area Helicopter Noise Information Exchange Act of 2021, which would require the FAA to implement such a mechanism. In April 2022, I introduced the Reducing Helicopter Noise in the District of Columbia Act, which would require all helicopters in D.C. to fly at the maximum altitude permitted by the FAA in D.C., with limited exceptions.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill that would name the post office at 400 Southern Avenue SE in the District of Columbia as the ``District of Columbia Servicemembers and Veterans Post Office.''

While it is important that our country honor all servicemembers and veterans, our country owes a special debt of gratitude to D.C. servicemembers and veterans, who serve or have served their country without voting representation in Congress or full local self- government. It is remarkable that they serve a country that denies them basic democratic rights--rights they have often been sent overseas to defend.

D.C. residents have served in every war since the Revolutionary War. There are approximately 30,000 veterans who live in D.C., and almost 200,000 D.C. residents have served in the military since World War I. This bill is one way to recognize their service and sacrifice. Six hundred thirty-five D.C. residents were casualties of World War I, a casualty figure greater than that of three different States during that war. Three thousand five hundred seventy-five D.C. residents were casualties of World War II, a casualty figure greater than that of four different States during that war. Five hundred forty-seven D.C. residents were casualties of the Korean war, a casualty figure greater than that of eight different States during that war. Two hundred forty- three D.C. residents were casualties of the Vietnam war, a casualty figure greater than that of 10 different States during that war.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating Department of Public Works Employee Appreciation Day by recognizing the District of Columbia Department of Public Works.

The D.C. Department of Public Works provides a number of services, including trash and recycling collection, snow removal, parking enforcement, fleet management and supporting events and demonstrations.

The D.C. Department of Public Works is home to a workforce of 1,500 employees. Many of these employees are D.C. residents, and their hard work and services contribute to the upkeep, maintenance, productivity and growth of D.C. Today, D.C. residents are joining together to show our appreciation for our D.C. Department of Public Works employees.

Madam Speaker, again, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in celebrating Department of Public Works Employee Appreciation Day by thanking the D.C. Department of Public Works for its tireless work.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Ensuring Full Participation in the Census Act of 2022, which would prohibit the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) from including questions on the decennial census about citizenship, nationality or immigration status.

This bill is essential because, prior to the 2020 census, the Department of Justice wrote to the Bureau requesting that it ``reinstate on the 2020 [c]ensus questionnaire a question regarding citizenship.'' From 1970-2000, this question was sent to only approximately 16 percent of the population during any decennial census through the so-called ``long-form.'' However, the long-form system was dropped from the census and replaced with the current American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is sent to approximately 3 million people annually on a rotational basis, and allows the Bureau to get the necessary information on citizenship. Asking questions about citizenship status to every person through the decennial census has not been done in almost 70 years because it would discourage people, largely minorities, who are already undercounted in the census, from participating in the census. The ACS was created to make the decennial census simpler for people to complete, which facilitates higher and more accurate participation rates and preserving privacy.

Fortunately, after a protracted legal and political process, the citizenship question was not included on the 2020 census. However, this legislation is necessary to ensure it cannot be asked on a future census. The representative sampling provided by the ACS is more than sufficient to determine citizenship statistics in the U.S. We must ensure that all individuals are counted in the decennial census, thereby providing accurate allocation of federal funds and representation in Congress, and not reduce participation by asking a question that is already asked elsewhere.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.