Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with our colleague, Steve Scalise, and the others who were injured as a result of the horrific shooting yesterday morning. This makes us realize how vulnerable we all are and, in serving our country, we risk a lot of things from time to time.

The people who were injured, besides Congressman Scalise, the brave first responders who probably saved many more lives as a result, what can we say, other than thank you to the first responders all over this country who save us day in and day out.

The other young people, the staffer and lobbyist, everyone who was injured yesterday, my thoughts and prayers are with them as well.

Steve is a tough guy, and I know he is going to heal quickly, and I know he is going to get better and have a full recovery, so I just wanted to wish him a good Father's Day. Let the small pleasures of life come back to him because he deserves it.

I want him and his family to know that our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. We are all in the same family together, the congressional family. And it matters not what party you belong to, but the fact is we are all there to serve our constituents and help America.

So God bless America, God bless Steve Scalise and all the people who were injured. We are not going to stop until they are brought back home and mending and recovered 100 percent.

Mr. Speaker, I am unavoidably detained in my Congressional District. Had I been present to vote on H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, May is Asthma Awareness Month. As co-chair of the House Asthma and Allergy Caucus, I would like to talk about what we can do for our constituents living with asthma.

About 24 million Americans have asthma, and more than one-quarter are children. Asthma costs our health system more than $56 billion every year, along with billions lost in lost productivity.

In New York, where more than one and a half million live with asthma, we are all too familiar with these staggering costs which come on top of a heartbreaking human toll: about 3,600 Americans die every year because of asthma.

I have asked appropriators to fund the CDC's National Asthma Control Program which helps States monitor and treat asthma at $29 million. This program has brought down asthma-related costs by billions and literally saves lives.

Since the program's inception, deaths from asthma episodes have fallen nearly one-quarter. So this works. It is money well spent, and we can't afford not to have it.

In honor of Asthma Awareness Month, I implore my colleagues to support this program and bring Americans living with asthma much-needed relief.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Lee. We are all grateful to you for being so clear and so principled.

As I have often said, Congress must fulfill its constitutional obligation to consider an updated AUMF, and as my colleagues said, that stands for the Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Right now, the administration is still using the authorization we passed after September 11, 2001, in the legal justification to fight ISIS. That is deeply problematic.

The 2001 AUMF has none of the limits many of us are seeking. We are a Congress. We are not a rubber stamp to any President. We have a right to vote on issues such as war and peace.

U.S. leadership to defeat ISIS is critical, but this doesn't require a large-scale deployment of U.S. forces. With American leadership, we were able to prevent the wholesale slaughter of the Yazidi people.

Iraqi partners were able to maintain control of the Mosul Dam, which, if breached by ISIS, could have resulted in death and displacement of up to 2 million people and endangered American personnel in Iraq. With our support, local forces have taken back about 80 percent of the territory from ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

So another large-scale, open-ended commitment of American troops is certainly not the answer. The disastrous intervention in Iraq last decade set the stage for the rise of ISIS in the first place. The 2001 AUMF has no limits at all on U.S. ground troops.

As troop levels continue to rise in the fight against ISIS, we just cannot put our heads in the sand. We need to sit together as a deliberative body and make these important decisions, not give any President or any administration a blank check.

I am working on legislation to limit the authority Congress provided after September 11. We need to tailor this authority to the threat we face today. September 11 happened 16 years ago. We need new parameters to define our mission and our goals. I voted for that AUMF 16 years ago, but I never would have imagined that 16 years later it would still be there and give a blank check to any President who would use it anytime, anyplace, and to do anything. So we must fulfill our constitutional responsibility and consider what an appropriate authorization should include.

Using a 2001 authorization for a 2017 conflict sets a terrible constitutional precedent. Congress has a vital constitutional responsibility over America's war powers. This is one of the most important decisions we are charged with making. When we fail to live up to that responsibility, we weaken the balance of power that is the bedrock of our democracy. Considering an updated AUMF is not easy, but it is our job. We should do our job.

President Obama came to Congress well over a year ago with a proposed AUMF. Not many people cared for it, but it was a proposed AUMF. We could have changed it--it was a starting point--but we didn't do it. We threw it away because it just got too hard. That cannot happen again.

Congress has a responsibility to do its part here, and, unfortunately, we are not meeting that responsibility. We owe it to the American people and we owe it our men and women in uniform to do our job. Congressional inaction on an AUMF is inexcusable.

I want to say that it a separate issue from the recent strikes against Assad. Congress has made no authorization whatsoever for sustained military action against Assad. The 60-day clock started ticking when the President notified Congress of his missile strike.

The administration must come to Congress on that issue as well. There cannot be long-term military action against Assad without Congressional say-so.

Assad is a bad guy, and I think that he should be deposed, quite frankly. I think that any future for Syria cannot include Assad, who has murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people.

But whether the United States must involve itself in every single war and ground troops using an outdated authorization for the use of force just strikes me as being something that should not happen and will lead us down a path in the future where we can't get out of it.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). She has always stood up for her beliefs, whether they seem popular or unpopular when it happened. That is just the kind of people we want to serve in Congress: someone who speaks out and has been a consistent fighter.

I am proud to join with her tonight, and I hope that more colleagues on both sides of the aisle will understand that this is an important constitutional principle. It is not a matter of who is in power, who is the President, what party has the majority. As Americans and as legislators, we should all be very concerned about giving any President a blank check to go to war.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure. Let me start by thanking the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), my good friend and neighbor, the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.

I also want to thank Chairman Royce for his steadfast support in bringing this bill to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, it is so shocking and so heartbreaking to me that, in the year 2017, we wake up day after day to read about anti-Semitic vandalism and violence, anti-Semitic slurs on Munich buses, Russian so- called law makers pedaling anti-Semite conspiracy theories, horrific murders in a kosher market in Paris 2 years ago. Of course, Mr. Speaker, here in our own country, bomb threats to Jewish community centers, desecration of cemeteries. Actually, I can hardly believe it.

We know this ancient hatred has never been extinguished. It has always found some dark corner in which to fester until some new group on the fringe tries to pull it back into the mainstream. I fear we are seeing that sort of resurgence right now.

When we hear these toxic ideas emanating from major political parties and governing bodies in Europe, we know it is time for action. It needs to be stopped, and this bill will help.

This legislation builds on the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which established annual reporting on religious freedom worldwide, as well as the 2004 Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, which required the State Department to report every year on anti-Semitism around the world.

This measure calls for continued and enhanced reporting on anti- Semitic incidents in Europe. We want to focus on what has been a hotbed of anti-Semitism in recent years so that no active anti-Semitic hatred goes unnoticed.

This bill also expresses our view in Congress that it is in our country's interest to combat anti-Semitism here and abroad; that it is critical to ensure the safety of European Jewish communities; that multilateral organizations like the U.N. and OSCE have an important role to play in combating anti-Semitism; that we should continue to report anti-Semitic acts worldwide; and that our allies should follow our lead and document anti-Semitic acts when they take place so we can share our findings amongst ourselves.

We also call on the State Department to adopt the working definition of anti-Semitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, because words do matter when it comes to the way we talk about this challenge.

It is absolutely amazing that 70-some-odd years after World War II ended--and that decade culminated in

the murder of 6 million Jews in Europe in the Holocaust, men, women, and children--it is absolutely unbelievable that 70 years later you would see anti-Semitism in the same places in Europe rear its ugly head by stupid people who don't know what they are saying or doing. It is just amazing. You think there would be some kind of sensitivity about the Holocaust and about all the innocent people who were murdered for just the one reason that they were Jewish, and yet you see no-nothings, as far as I am concerned, popping up again with their anti-Semitic hatred. It is bad wherever it goes, but it is especially repugnant to have it in Europe, the site of the murder of 6 million Jewish people.

I am very grateful to Representative Lowey for her hard work on this bill. I am pleased to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), my good friend, my fellow New Yorker, the author of this bill, and the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.

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

Let me first say, I agree with all the eloquent statements made by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle pertaining to this bill.

I want to thank Mrs. Lowey, again, because it is a really important bill. It is really important that we don't sweep this under the rug. It is really important that we don't try to hide it or sugarcoat it. Whether it happens here, whether it happens in Europe, no matter where it happens, any form of anti-Semitism, any form of hatred of one group toward another needs to be roundly condemned and stopped. That is what we are trying to do here.

It hasn't even been a century since we heard this canary in the coal mine: political parties scapegoating Jews; insidious campaigns that question the humanity of Jewish populations or their legitimacy as members of certain societies; governments, popularly elected governments, saying that it was okay to hate.

We don't think it is okay to hate. That is why we are doing this. What we hear today is unnerving in light of that history.

Mr. Speaker, we know what happened when too few good people stood up and spoke out. We cannot allow that history to repeat. We must do whatever it takes to ensure that it doesn't.

This bill will help us address a part of this growing concern. It will shine a bright light on the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. It is just a piece of the puzzle, but it is a good start.

I am proud to stand with my colleagues today to support this measure. I urge all Members to do the same.

I thank the others on this side of the aisle and the other side of the aisle who have spoken on this, especially Chairman Royce.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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 strong support of this measure.

Let me start by thanking the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, from California. I am also especially grateful to another colleague from California, Norma Torres, a valuable member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for authoring this bipartisan resolution, and also for her leadership as the founding co-chair of the Central America Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, when a child from El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras arrives at our southern border, he or she didn't get there because it was an easy journey. It was because poverty, crime, or lack of opportunity at home left that child no option but to face that long, dangerous trek. No child anywhere should be forced to make that heartbreaking choice.

The best way to ensure that this doesn't happen is not to build a wall or isolate ourselves from our neighbors. It is to stop children from having to make that journey in the first place. It is by making long-term, strategic investments in a more secure and prosperous Central America.

Over the last 2 years, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have come together to do just that. We made a bold, new foreign assistance commitment to Central America that helps address the root causes of child migration from the region.

A big part of this effort is supporting those individuals who are working day in and day out to root out corruption in Central America: the attorneys general in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; the heads of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala; and the Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras.

These brave individuals put their lives on the line on a daily basis. This resolution that we are voting on signals that the United States agrees with them and has their backs.

To Guatemala's Attorney General Thelma Aldana, Honduran Attorney General Oscar Chinchilla, Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Melendez, CICIG Commissioner Ivan Velasquez, and MACCIH Chief of Mission Juan Jimenez: Today we come to the floor of the House of Representatives to say thank you and to proclaim that we stand with you and your institutions in the fight against corruption.

This measure sends a strong message that our Congress, which has the ultimate say over funding for Central America, stands with those who are committed to putting an end to corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

We may have a new President in the White House and a new Secretary of State at Foggy Bottom, but Congress continues to have the power of the purse; and Democrats and Republicans, alike, believe that continued international support for the attorneys general and CICIG and MACCIH is key to the continued success of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle.

In December, I led a letter to the attorneys general from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, along with Representative Ros- Lehtinen and several other members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, commending their efforts, pledging our ongoing support, and, most importantly, noting how crucial it is that they be able to carry out their work free from any interference from political leaders in their countries. With passage of H. Res. 145, the entire House of Representatives can and will send that same message.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres), the author of this resolution, a leader on Central American issues, and a valued member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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

Let me say that, as a father, I cannot imagine being faced with the choice of letting my children risk violence or death from criminal gangs or malnutrition, or taking a dangerous journey hundreds of miles on their own. No parent or child should ever be forced to make this choice. Unfortunately, far too many families in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras must do so on a daily basis.

The good news is that our Congress has decided to make a much-needed, long-term investment in Central America. At the core of these efforts is our commitment to support institutions and individuals that are rooting out corruption.

H. Res. 145 makes it clear that our continued investment in Central America will depend on support for anticorruption efforts from the Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Honduran Governments.

Let me finally note that I am heartened that the fight against corruption in the hemisphere is not just limited to Central America. From Brazil to Chile to the Caribbean, the citizens of the Americas have finally had enough and have vowed to put an end to corruption once and for all. The least that our Congress can do is support these valiant efforts.

I again thank Chairman Royce for working so well with me, putting our heads together over time, and passing good resolutions and legislation like this.

I again thank Congresswoman Torres for introducing this crucial resolution and for her hard work on it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful that the House is considering my bill today, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

I want to thank my friend, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, for joining as the lead Republican cosponsor of this measure. I am proud that we are bringing it up to the floor with 108 cosponsors, Members from both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, every week, more and more bad news pours in about the civil war in Syria. I am grateful to Chairman Royce for making the comments he just made because my heart has been bleeding for Syria, or crying out for Syria, for 4 or 5 years now, ever since, as Mr. Royce said, there were peaceful demonstrations and they were mowed down by the Assad regime.

The United States didn't do much. We sort of watched and retreated and perhaps were afraid that we would be bogged down in another war. But we should have, at that point, in my estimation, helped the free Syria Army, which begged us for help, not people, not troops, but help, and we didn't do it. We didn't give it to them.

We thought that Assad would fall on his own, ultimately, but he didn't, and we are bearing the price today. We are paying the price today. The people of Syria, unfortunately, are the ones paying the price. Millions of people have died and have been misplaced and just the horrors of war and the horrors of civilians. So my heart really bleeds for the Syrian people.

This week, it was the revelation of a crematorium, a furnace where the criminals who do Assad's bidding can pile the bodies and try to burn away the evidence of their atrocities.

Also this week, Russia announced that they will work with Iran, Iraq, and Assad to open a secure road from Baghdad to Damascus. What that really means, Mr. Speaker, is a road from Beirut to Tehran in Iran, a permanent Iranian foothold right in the Middle East, a permanent Iranian foothold right on Israel's border, a permanent Iranian foothold to do mischief and the usual nefarious things that the Iranian Government does.

This crisis has been burning out of control for six long years. I was an early vocal supporter, as I mentioned before, of arming the moderate Syrian opposition. I thought we should have done much more to help push Assad out of power and help the Syrian people chart the course for their country's future. When we didn't, I spoke out.

Since then, Assad has plowed ahead with his campaign of carnage. The few times he appeared to be taking on water, he was given a lifeline by his devoted enablers, Russia and Iran, through its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. Every time Assad seemed to be losing, he was given a lifeline and, as I just mentioned, by Hezbollah, also given a lifeline by the Russians who came in.

So while it was suspected in the highest annals of Washington that Assad wouldn't last more than a few months, no one would have imagined that 4 and 5 years later there would be Assad winning the war, again, with the help of Russia, Iran, and their terrorist proxy.

It is a disgrace, Mr. Speaker, and we need to act out. We need to help.

Today, we find ourselves no closer to a solution, and 4 months into the new administration, we have yet to hear a strategy for dealing with Syria. The Tomahawk missile strike last month was an appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack, although I believe the administration's policy shift, with respect to Assad, emboldened Assad to launch that attack, and a single missile strike is not a strategy.

We need a plan to stop the violence, push a political transition that sees the end of Assad's rule and helps the Syrian people recover and move forward. My bill, this bill, would be part of that strategy.

It is named, as Mr. Royce pointed out, for Caesar, a former Syrian Government photographer. Fed up with documenting the brutality of the Assad regime, he defected and escaped so he could show the world exactly what was happening to the regime's victims.

I will never forget the images he showed us when he came to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Those images are still seared in my brain and I will never forget them; the depth of brutality and indifference to human life.

We have named this bill after him because we want to send a message. If you are supporting this murder, if you are enabling the butcher in Damascus to continue waging that sort of violence against his own people, you are going to face consequences.

This bill would sanction anyone who provides material support for the Assad regime. We want to go after the actual hardware that keeps his war machine running, the planes and bombs that terrorize the Syrian people, and the spare parts and oil that keep everything running. If you do business with Assad, the blood of the Syrian people is on your hands and you are going to get caught up in these sanction. Yes, that means Iran and Russia.

If conditions on the ground change and negotiations were in sight, it might be useful to dial back these sanctions in order to help end the violence. So we have built in some degree of flexibility. The measures are tough, but we all want them to be a roadblock to peace.

This bill also seeks to provide some relief to the Syrian people who are now suffering terribly. It would improve oversight of assistance flowing into Syria and evaluate the feasibility of a no-fly zone.

We also need to think about what must happen after the violence has ended, about who must be held accountable. So this bill requires reporting on human rights violators, and would support efforts to gather evidence of crimes against humanity. This bill isn't a silver bullet. It isn't a strategy for resolving the crisis in Syria.

Congress can do a lot, though, when it comes to foreign policy. We can give an administration tools and resources, but it is up to the White House to lead on this issue. If the first step in a serious strategy is stopping the violence--and I think it is--this legislation can help dial up pressure on those driving the war.

So I continue to push ahead; Mr. Royce at my side, and I am grateful to my colleagues for their support. I am grateful to the Foreign Affairs Committee for moving this swiftly.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished Democratic whip, someone who I know, through our meetings, feels so strongly about this and feels as we do.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

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

Mr. Speaker, we have heard both sides simply agree. This is as bipartisan as you can get. It is as unanimous, hopefully, as you can get.

Six years into the Syrian civil war, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions more driven from their homes, we cannot waste time looking backward or just simply placing blame. We need to face the reality of this crisis today and do all we can to forge a new strategy to deal with it.

Three, four, five years ago, no one would have imagined that Assad would still be clinging to power over more and more deaths of his own people. We need to find a way to push for an end to the violence and bring about a political resolution that gets Assad out of power. By the way, that is going to be harder to do because the Russians and Ukrainians are really backing him.

Let's allow the Syrian people to start their long journey forward. This legislation will help us meet that challenge. It will impose a new cost on those who so far have aided the Assad regime with impunity. It will apply new pressure to the regime, which relies on the patronage of its enablers in Moscow. It will signal to the Syrian people that we share a vision of a future in which they make the decisions and Assad has no role.

The bill passed the House unanimously a year ago. I am hopeful we will soon pass it in a little while again overwhelmingly. I urge the other body to act on it without delay so we can get it to the President's desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill, and I include in the Record a statement of the American Hospital Association against the bill.

I just want to say this bill can have a very simple slogan: American people are going to pay more and get less. That is what this bill does.

Statement on the American Health Care Act

(By Rick Pollack, President and CEO, American Hospital Association,

April 27, 2017)

The latest version of the AHCA continues to put health

coverage in jeopardy for many Americans. Our top concern is

what this change could mean for older and sicker patients,

including those with preexisting conditions, such as cancer

patients and those with chronic conditions. For these

reasons, along with our previously stated concerns about the

AHCA, we cannot support the bill. However, we urge Congress

to continue to work with stakeholders on a solution that

provides meaningful coverage.

The amendment proposed this week would dramatically worsen

the bill. The changes included put consumer protections at

greater risk by allowing states to waive the essential health

benefit standards, which could leave patients without access

to critical health services and increase out-of-pocket

spending. This could allow plans to set premium prices based

on individual risk for some consumers, which could

significantly raise costs for those with pre-existing

conditions.

Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office has not yet

scored the amendment. However, CBO previously projected that

the AHCA would result in 24 million fewer people covered in

2026. It is unlikely this amendment would improve these

coverage estimates.

As the backbone of America's health safety-net, hospitals

and health systems must protect access to care for those who

need it and ensure that the most vulnerable patients are not

left behind. The AHCA continues to fall far short of that

goal.

Mr. Speaker, those who give their time and effort in service to their community have the ability to make a truly positive, lasting impact. For the Westchester Jewish Center, no one has made a greater impact than Randi Klaber, who this year is being honored at the organization's 66th Annual Spring Gala.

Randi Klaber joined Westchester Jewish Center in 1992 and is a longtime WJC Trustee and a past WJC Officer. As a two time Sisterhood President she helped revitalize this essential organization for the women in the community. Randi is involved in committees as varied as Musical Enrichment, Gala planning and the interior design of the building. She has been involved in several search committees and helps care for seniors in our community.

Randi is an Interior Designer and freelance graphic designer by trade. She's an oil painter and member of the Mamaroneck Artists' Guild. She brings her artistry skills to WJC as well. She has designed advertising materials and logos and a painting that hangs in the memorial chapel.

Randi has been instrumental in building WJC into a revered and vibrant center of our Jewish lives. Randi has played an important role in the lives of 500 member families who call WJC their second home.

There is no doubt that the entire Westchester Jewish Center community is better off thanks to the work and efforts of Randi. On this special occasion, I want to personally congratulate her on receiving this well- deserved recognition and thank her for all she has done in the community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a businessman, a humanitarian, an advocate for Irish American Causes, but most importantly, a dear friend. I have known Sean Mackin for many years and I cherish the friendship he and I have forged over that time. I am honored to be able to recognize his many accomplishments.

Born in Belfast, County Antrim, Sean joined the Irish republican movement at age 11. He was arrested and imprisoned several times by British security forces, starting at age 12, but was never found guilty. In 1978, Amnesty International cited Sean's cause as one of the five most serious cases of torture in Northern Ireland. Following his release from prison, he met and married Philomena Devine, and the two immigrated to New York in 1983. Shortly after relocating, Sean was detained at the behest of the British government. As a Member of Congress, I heard about Sean's case, and knew that if he were to be deported his life would be at grave risk. I decided to get involved on Sean's behalf, and we soon became fast friends. After our prolonged and hard fought legal battle, the Mackin family won a landmark decision. His wife and daughter became the first Irish women to be granted political asylum in the United States, and Sean's deportation order was denied as he would go on to become an American citizen. He has been very involved in the Irish peace process and has worked with elected officials in Washington D.C. promoting peace and justice in Northern Ireland.

Sean is also a cofounder and chairman of the New York Irish Center known for its outstanding services to the senior Irish generation and suicide prevention assistance for the Irish community. In 2014, Sean was honored by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform for his work on behalf of undocumented Irish.

Of course, Sean's true love is his family. He and Philomena have three children, Jenifer, Sean Og and Ciaran, and four grandchildren, Gavin, Tyan, Ella and Pierce. They all live in Eastchester, NY.

This year, Sean will serve as Grand Marshal for the EIASC's 13th Annual Eastchester St. Patrick's Day Parade. I cannot think of a more fitting Grand Marshal. Congratulations to my friend Sean Mackin on receiving this wonderful honor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two people who have left an indelible mark on the New Rochelle community, Adina and Lawrence Garbuz. This year, Young Israel of New Rochelle are honoring Adina and Lawrence for all they have done on behalf of the community, and you cannot find two individuals more deserving of the honor.

Whether to YINR, SAR or most importantly their family, Adina and Lawrence demonstrate by example what it means to help others. They moved to New Rochelle in 2002 and immediately became involved in the YINR community. In addition to currently serving on the YINR Executive Board as Treasurer, Adina has held multiple positions in all areas of our shul. Adina has served as Women's League President and Treasurer after being involved in the New Mother's committee as well as more than once spearheading the mishloach manot project. Her sound advice and perspective made her a perfect choice for the Board, and Executive Board.

Lawrence has also found his own way to connect to YINR, forging a strong friendship and learning partnership with Rabbi Fink as well as attending for many years daf yomi. He also assisted the Men's Club, helped organize the very successful Saturday night ping pong tournaments and for many years distributed mishloach manot in Brooklyn. He is also often called upon to handle sensitive matters for our members who are need of his professional expertise.

In addition to Adina and Lawrence's commitment to YINR, they are supporters of their alma mater Cardozo Law School, the Bronx Jewish Community Council, and the Joint Distribution Committee. But their strongest commitment is to their four children Ella, Liav, Jonah and Eva whom they raise with their strong values of giving to others and to one's community.

Adina and Lawrence have shown a tireless dedication to both YINR and the neighborhood. On this special occasion, I want to take the opportunity to thank them for that tireless effort, and congratulate them on receiving this most distinguished honor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and let me start by thanking our chairman on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce from California. His personal commitment to this important issue is reflected by his long track record and leadership in crafting the legislation before us today. We have had innumerable talks about North Korea and the threat through the years. Ed Royce has always been there at the forefront in this very important issue.

I am proud to be the lead Democratic cosponsor of the bill. We stand on the floor today speaking in a unified, bipartisan voice about the threat that North Korea and the Kim regime pose to the United States, to our friend and allies, and to peace and stability across the globe.

Already, Mr. Speaker, North Korea poses a potentially catastrophic danger to our closest allies in Northeast Asia: Japan and South Korea. With each passing day, the reclusive regime in Pyongyang continues to make progress on nuclear and ballistic missile technology that could reach American soil.

This isn't a laughing matter. This isn't a matter about something that might happen. This is a matter about something that will happen, unless we take steps to prevent it from happening.

American administrations of both parties have tried and failed to curb the dangerous behavior of the Kim regime. Before Kim, you had his father and his grandfather before him. There is plenty of blame to go around for how we got here, but rehashing past mistakes won't get us anywhere. Instead, the United States and other global powers need to focus on this challenge before it is too late.

However, I fear that the administration's inconsistency in recent weeks has thrown fuel to the fire. We have seen the White House blow hot and cold on the potential for talks with Pyongyang. We have seen careless rhetoric alienate South Korea, a critical ally whose partnership is essential in trying to contain North Korea.

One week we see saber rattling toward North Korea, including the false claim that an aircraft carrier battle group was headed toward the Korean Peninsula, and the next week, the President saying he would be ``honored'' to meet with ``smart cookie'' Kim Jong-un, the latest in a long list of totalitarian strongmen who seem to have won the President's admiration.

We are sending mixed signals, Mr. Speaker, and the world is taking notice. Inconsistency on national security matters is not a foreign policy strategy that will succeed. When America appears confused or unmoored, it emboldens our adversaries and gives our friends and allies pause. When we are talking about nuclear weapons, there is simply no margin for error.

Fortunately, in this Congress, our priorities are clear: work with China and our close partners in the region and dial up pressure on the Kim regime to return to the negotiating table.

Last year, under Chairman Royce's leadership, we passed a sanctions bill that President Obama signed into law.

Kim Jong-un is exceedingly crafty: his regime is becoming increasingly effective at invading international sanctions.

When we make sanctions tougher, they come up with new ways to get around them: phony bank accounts, fake companies overseas, shipments under foreign flags.

We need to go back to the well to close the loopholes that the regime exploits. That is what this measure does. It dials up sanctions on those who do business with the Kim regime, hopefully, making them think twice before providing cover to one of the most brutal human rights abusers in the world and the nuclear ambitions of the leader of that country.

If you buy certain materials like metals or minerals from North Korea, if you sell fuel that the North Korean military can use, if you have a role in maintaining overseas bank accounts or insuring the ships Pyongyang uses to evade the law, then you are going to get caught up in these new sanctions.

If you ignore the U.N.'s limits on important North Korean coal or iron, or try to buy cheap textiles or fishing rights from the government, or help the Kim regime conduct business online, you will be subject to additional scrutiny with this legislation.

With this bill, we will target those who use North Korean forced labor, a gross human rights abuse and a cash cow for the regime. We will consider limiting certain types of assistance to countries buying or selling American equipment to Pyongyang.

In light of the recent public assassination of Kim's half brother, and other nefarious activities, we require the State Department to take a hard look at whether North Korea should be put back on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

The Kim regime must be made to understand that we will not back down in our effort to cut off support for its dangerous activities. Every time they cut another corner, we will put up another roadblock. We will come after them again and again until they realize there is no option but to sit down and negotiate.

As we have seen, it won't be an easy process. Making real progress on complex global issues rarely is. Reckless threats and bombastic talk usually make matters worse, especially when you are dealing with an unpredictable and impulsive leader.

The stakes are very high. No one wants to see war on the Korean Peninsula, least of all the 25 million people in Seoul and the nearly 30,000 United States troops who are in Pyongyang's sights every single day.

We need to remain focused, with clarity of purpose, in order to get the results we all want. This bipartisan bill builds on our record in the House of grappling with this challenge. I am

glad to join with Chairman Royce in this effort. I fully support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), the ranking member of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, before I call on the next speaker, I want to talk to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson). When we went on that trip to North Korea, I am sure that he will remember that he took a clandestine picture of a big billboard that was in Pyongyang showing a North Korean soldier with a bayonet sticking through an American soldier's head. So the propaganda and the anti-American

rhetoric is ingrained, it is taught, and it was very disconcerting. I remember the gentleman sitting in the front of the bus very clandestinely taking that picture so no one would know. It was really a good thing to do. I want to thank the gentleman.

I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Keating), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), my friend, co-chair of the Korea Caucus, and a respected member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro), co-chair of the Japan Caucus, a very respected member of our Committee on Foreign Affairs, and a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining on both sides?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel), a very respected and hardworking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I want to close the way I opened. I want to again thank Chairman Royce for authoring this measure and for his hard work.

One of the things I have been most proud about as the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee is the collaborative work that the chairman and I have done together in passing so many bills with both our names. It is what the American people want us to do, and I think the Foreign Affairs Committee is a great example of how the American people want Congress to work together. This bill is exactly a product of that, of working together.

If we want to pressure the Kim regime and if we want to prevent a potentially devastating conflict in Northeast Asia, we cannot be impulsive. The risks are too high. We need a strong, focused, and consistent policy. We need

strong measures that cut off support for the Kim regime and careful diplomacy to bring the relevant players together. This bill represents an important part of such a policy.

So, again, as I said, I am glad we are advancing this measure with strong bipartisan support, and I hope the other body will take up this legislation soon.

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

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor two members of the community who have made some remarkable contributions to the Beth EI Synagogue Center, Donna and Abe Bartell.

After being introduced on a blind date in 1993, Donna and Abe married in 1995. Having lived in Rhode Island and Bayside, Queens, Donna and Abe settled in New Rochelle in 2001 with their two-year-old daughter Hannah.

That same year, their twin sons Stephen and Jesse were born. When choosing a synagogue, Donna gave Abe no choices. They would join a Conservative shul, and since they lived in New Rochelle, they were zoned to attend a New Rochelle synagogue. The obvious and only choice was Beth EI Synagogue Center. Beth EI quickly became the family's second home, a home which shared and celebrated Jesse's and Stephen's bris and the children's bnei mitzvahs. Hannah, Stephen, and Jesse all attended the Beth EI Nursery School, the amazing Day Camp, and, after spending Kindergarten through fifth grade at Schechter Westchester, they moved on to the Beth EI Religious School and became active in Beth El's USY chapter.

Donna has served on numerous committees at Beth EI. She has enjoyed working on youth activities and organizing meals when Beth EI hosts the USY Kinnus. Donna has served as co-chair of the Membership Committee and Couples Club. She has also been on the Nursery School Board.

Abe has served as a member of the Nursery School Board, Day Camp Board, Religious School Board, and Board of Trustees. He has been a member of numerous committees and chaired several, including the Nominating Committee, Catering and Kiddush Committee, and the Youth Services Committee. He has co-led many High Holiday Junior Congregation Services and Havurah Services as half of the now famous Dan & Abe Show.

This year, Beth EI is honoring Donna and Abe at their 63rd Annual Gala for all of their contributions to the Synagogue. They are most deserving of the recognition. Congratulations to Donna and Abe on receiving this wonderful honor.

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor two individuals who through their dedication and commitment have become synonymous with the Beth El Synagogue Center in Scarsdale, Tris and Sam Berger.

In 1994, Tris and Sam Berger moved to Scarsdale from New York City and immediately joined Beth El Synagogue Center. Their daughter Yael (Yali) was born in 1996 and their son Kenny arrived in 2000.

Tris, a San Diego native, became a bat mitzvah and was confirmed at Temple Beth Israel, the largest and oldest Reform Temple in San Diego. Sam was raised outside Philadelphia, where his parents were founding members of Temple Israel of Upper Darby and subsequently members of Temple Beth Sholom, in Elkins Park, PA. Both have had extremely successful careers at Price Waterhouse, among other institutions, and both have maintained an active community focused schedule outside of work. Tris has been involved in Beth El's Centennial Celebration Committees and co-chaired the Intergenerational Kallah. She was an area chair and divisional chair for UJA Scarsdale Woman's Philanthropy and currently chairs the Employment and Self Sufficiency Task Committee as part of the Caring Commission at UJA. She is also a member of the UJA Board of Directors. Sam has remained actively involved with the HR Committee, various search committees and on the Board of Trustees. He eventually became a Vice President and then Executive Vice President of Beth El. He assumed the position of President of 2014 and hasn't look back since. As President, Sam and his officers and other volunteers led the shul through the emotional retirement of our beloved rabbi of 43 years, Rabbi Melvin Sirner, to the exciting hiring of new senior rabbi, Rabbi David Schuck.

Tris and Sam have become part of the very fabric of Beth El and their contributions have been many. This year, Beth El is honoring Tris and Sam at their 63rd Annual Gala on March 19th. They could not have honored two more deserving individuals. Congratulations to Tris and Sam on this wonderful occasion.

Mr. Speaker, as Young Israel of New Rochelle in my district celebrates its 50th Anniversary at its current location, there could not be a more fitting couple to honor at the celebration than Bob and Ruth Lewis.

Ten years after its founding on Coligni Avenue in south New Rochelle, YINR moved to 1228 North Avenue in June 1967. One month later in July, 1967 Ruth and Bob joined that

small group of congregants and since their arrival, the Lewises have been a significant presence in our community. Early on, Ruth with Rita Steimmauer Schiller prepared Shabbos kiddush and Bob corralled Jewish passersby to complete the sparse Friday night and Shabbos morning minyanim. Ruth was the head and motivating force of the committee for the formation of our eruv. Bob was a YINR vice president and a member of the search committee that hired Rabbi Fink. The Lewises have hosted the Bonnie Crest Friday night minyan since 1987. ``Dr. Ruth'', an internist and renowned endocrinologist has consulted on many of the more complicated medical problems of our members. `Dr. Bob', an OB-GYN, has delivered a number of the YINR offspring.

Of all their accomplishments, the Lewises feel their greatest achievement has been their three daughters, Debbie, Adina, and Beth who have spent virtually their entire lives in New Rochelle and with their husbands have produced their remarkable eleven grandchildren. Debbie with her husband David Isaac, and Adina with her husband, Lawrence Garbuz, following their parents' example, have become valued, effective, respected members of our New Rochelle community. Beth and her husband, Yoel Greenbaum are highly thought of in their Teaneck community.

Bob and Ruth have been cornerstones of the YINR and New Rochelle community, and their commitment to their family, friends, and fellow congregants is inspiring. On this special occasion, I want to take the opportunity to thank Bob and Ruth for all that they have done, and congratulate them on this wonderful and well deserved honor.