Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, as the designee of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes), I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, the legislation before us today, the For the People Act of 2019, represents a major step forward toward improving government transparency and accountability, expanding voting rights, and draining the corrosive influence of money in our politics.

These are the very issues I hear about over and over again as I travel across my district in mid-Michigan, and these are the issues that my constituents sent me to Washington to address.

Simply put, people in Michigan and across the country know in their bones that the current system isn't working and want a return to honesty and decency in our politics. Passing H.R. 1 is a huge step forward in increasing confidence in our system.

Mr. Chair, my amendment today would add important provisions to close a loophole in our current campaign finance laws that allows foreign governments and foreign nationals to influence American elections through campaign ads. Right now, a foreign entity can legally buy an ad through social media that supports or attacks a candidate. Right now, a foreign entity can legally purchase an ad that focuses on an issue of legislative importance.

My amendment would close this loophole by implementing new requirements to ensure that foreign governments don't influence our elections.

The amendment specifically would prohibit a foreign entity from buying a campaign ad, on digital media or on TV, that supports or attacks a candidate or an ad that focuses on an issue that is meant to divide us rather than unite us.

Mr. Chair, I am a former CIA officer, a former Pentagon official. I have spent my life preventing homeland attacks and preserving the democratic system that we all love. I am introducing this amendment because the attempts by Russia to interfere in the 2016 elections targeted vulnerable voters and took advantage of the lack of disclosure in our laws. During the 2016 election in my home State of Michigan, we were specifically targeted and witnessed disturbing evidence of Russian interference in our elections.

It is important to remember what we are talking about. These ads, which I have a bunch printed out over here, purposely divide us. They sow discord. They target ethnic groups. And they generally attempt to influence American elections.

Some may say that these ads were a relatively small number of the ads in our elections and that it is a relatively meager investment. As defenders of American interests and our national security, we must ensure that our laws do not allow this to happen at any level.

I urge my colleagues to do the right thing: Support preservation of the American democracy. Reject foreign influence in our elections.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to my colleague from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. Chair, I look forward to working across the aisle on this important amendment. I think it is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue. I look forward to talking with my Republican colleagues about how we can break this thing off and turn it into law.

I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the spirit of the gentleman from Illinois and look forward to working with everyone.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 840, the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act.

As a former national security official, as the wife of a retired Army officer, and a stepmom to a new Army lieutenant, I strongly support H.R. 840, the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act, and any legislation that helps our veterans access and use VA healthcare that they have earned and to which they are entitled.

My amendment would take a simple but important step toward better serving military families and veterans. Specifically, it would authorize the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs to consult with the Secretary of Defense in implementing this legislation.

The need for better DOD-VA coordination on every front is not new. From education to job training and healthcare, Congress has taken many steps to encourage, to prod, to require, and, in some cases, to demand that DOD and the VA work together and better coordinate the services they provide to military families and veterans.

And as I can tell you from very personal experience, you do not have to spend much time with veterans in my district to know the stories of faulty connections, gaps in communication, and mismatched systems that confound our ability to serve military families and veterans evenly.

I am standing here today because I believe we should take every opportunity to encourage the kind of coordination that eases these connections. Childcare is an area in which DOD and the VA can and should collaborate more closely, especially as the two departments work to better coordinate the provision of healthcare benefits to millions of retirees and their families.

The Veterans' Access to Child Care Act would add valuable childcare services to VA patients to help them keep vital medical appointments that they might otherwise have missed in the absence of childcare options.

Simultaneously, the Department of Defense has been working to expand childcare options for military families, addressing an urgent need for services that don't just care for families, but contribute to military readiness.

Both of these efforts are vitally important, which means that the Department of Defense and VA should look for any opportunity to work together and expand childcare options for the families they serve. What's more, thousands of military members on Active Duty and in the Reserve component are married to veterans. Thousands of dual military families today will eventually become military and veteran families tomorrow, and my stepdaughter is married to a military officer, so this one is particularly personal.

This is just another reason that coordination between the Department of Defense and VA childcare programs can help us better serve these populations.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to push for stronger coordination between the VA and the Department of Defense.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the bill that I introduced called the Shutdown to End All Shutdowns, or SEAS, Act, along with 21 of my fellow freshmen.

This bill will stop the use of government shutdowns as a tool in political debate and ensure that our Federal workers are never again held hostage when Congress and the President's office cannot agree.

Under this act, if a deal cannot be reached, Members of the House, the Senate, the Executive Office of the President, and his political appointees will have their pay suspended and their travel from D.C. curtailed.

To my fellow Michiganders: This bill was because of you. You asked me why the average TSA workers, Customs and Border Patrol employees, FAA employees, and FDA employees were punished

because of something they had nothing to do with. And I heard you.

To my fellow Members of Congress who may be reticent to support a bill that penalizes ourselves: This is a moment of leadership. This is a moment to acknowledge that we may not have started this shutdown, but it is our responsibility to prevent them from happening in the future.

Madam Speaker, I implore my colleagues to do the right thing and support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to put a human face on the detrimental impact this government shutdown has on real people, many who are our most vulnerable, especially our children who deserve for us to lead with compassion.

Our families depend on the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD. Right now, Madam Speaker, landlords are being asked to spare families from eviction because HUD funding expired and they are desperately trying to find reserve funds to help our residents. This is not right.

In Wayne County, Michigan, there are low-income families, elderly and disabled residents, and over 450 housing units whose contracts have expired with another 150 expiring this month. Make no question, they cannot fly to Mar-a-Lago to stay warm in the middle of winter.

The shutdown has caused HUD to halt health and safety inspections, putting our most vulnerable citizens yet again in harm's way. These folks will suffer due to Trump's shutdown.

Madam Speaker, the President gets to sleep soundly while he plays political and partisan games and the lives of Americans are put in harm's way. I uplift my neighbors and ask that they know that people here do care about them.