Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about a very important issue to my constituents in Missouri's Fifth Congressional District and, frankly, millions of farmers and ranchers all across this great country.

Recently, President Donald Trump announced his intention to place a $50 billion--that is billion with a ``B''--in tariffs against Chinese goods, claiming that China has been taking advantage of the United States for too long. I wish that someone in the White House, someone on the staff had cautioned the President on the negative impact his launching of a trade war would have on this country. This unvetted decision has and will continue to cause significant harm to many of my constituents and to rural Americans throughout the heartland.

Following President Trump's announcement of his intended tariffs, predictively, the Chinese responded with $50 billion in proposed tariffs of their own. These tariffs, which would be as high as 25 percent, would target 128 American products such as pork, beef, cotton, soybeans, corn, specific types of vehicles, and airplanes.

First, I want to talk about soybeans. Last year, the United States exported $14 billion worth of soybeans to China. In Missouri, my home State, soybeans are the number one cash crop, contributing $7.7 billion in total output and supporting more than 20,000 jobs in our State.

One out of every three rows of soybeans grown in Missouri goes to China, and one in every four rows grown in the United States goes to China. The day the Chinese announcement was made, soybean futures on the stock market were down almost $0.40 a bushel. This was only after the tariffs were announced. Can you imagine the kind of losses soybean farmers would face if they were actually implemented?

Now, how about pork? Over the past 10 years, the United States has been, on average, the top exporter of pork in the world. Last year alone, nearly $6.5 billion in pork was exported from the United States with $1 billion of that being exported to China. Pork exports help to support about 550,000 jobs.

Midwest States like Missouri dominate hog production and exports. Missouri is ranked seventh, and our next-door neighbor, Kansas, is ranked tenth.

The Chinese have announced that they will also target U.S. corn, which will negatively impact the corn-based ethanol plant in my district, Mid-Missouri Energy. The plant is located in a little town, Malta Bend, and probably to some people that is not important, but it is a major economic stabilizer in that town and the entire area.

Economic losses to that plant or even closure of the plant would have rippling effects throughout the surrounding area.

Now, I know Mr. President is a real estate man, so he might not understand how business works on a farm, but these people work on razor-thin margins. In any given year, a bad crop, lack of demand, or Mother Nature's wrath can cause an economic downturn that leaves them struggling. American farmers have enough unknown variables they have to deal with. These reckless threats of tariffs on one of our biggest trading partners do not need to be added to that list.

If this so-called war continues, we can expect Boeing plants, such as the one in St. Louis, Missouri, down the street from us in Kansas City, to hit China, and then China may back away from ordering some 7,000 planes that would strengthen and inject over $1 trillion into our State's economy.

The President is correct, the Chinese do steal U.S. intellectual property and, yes, there is a trade imbalance in this relationship. Nevertheless, even with only one class in economics, I understand clearly that trade wars are not good. No one wins.

President Trump promised to negotiate new and improved trade deals, but his negotiating skills are falling far short and our farmers and ranchers will pay the price. I encourage President Trump to reconsider his shortsighted approach to trade and to offer him my help in finding other solutions to address our problems with China.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of our own. On Friday, March 30, 2018, Mr. Geoffrey (Geoff) Jolley will bid farewell as my District Director and General Counsel, having overseen my District operations since my first day, on January 3, 2005, as a Member of Congress in these hallowed halls. For more than 13 years, Geoff has dedicated his life to serving our community. He has quietly juggled two careers in public service, working for the people of Missouri's Fifth Congressional District and as a Kansas City Firefighter/EMT.

Geoff is a Kansas City native and lifelong resident. After graduating high school, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics with a minor in African-American Studies from Emory University in Atlanta. He then earned his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 2002.

Prior to serving nearly six months in 2004 as the Campaign Coordinator on my inaugural campaign, Geoff worked for my predecessor, Congresswoman Karen McCarthy. Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Geoff joined a volunteer fire department and a FEMA urban search and rescue team while still enrolled in law school. After graduation, he spent six months as a Lieutenant with the Antarctic Fire Department at McMurdo Station, Antarctica before returning to Missouri and ultimately joining the Kansas City Fire Department.

Over the years, Geoff has helped me build my district offices from the ground up, from our beginnings at the Federal Courthouse in Kansas City to the openings of my satellite offices in Independence and Higginsville. It was not unusual to see my District Director working on the floor in his suit, wiring and configuring computers in the Kansas City Office, physically laying the hardwood floor in my Independence Office, or hanging photos he had taken around the District in the Higginsville Office.

From working with me to establish the foundation in my office to implementing my vision for district projects, Geoff has served as a sounding board for many of my creative projects, providing legal, practical, and political insight. Once we identified a path forward, he spearheaded many of my major district successes. He has maintained an expansive portfolio over the years, including speaking on my behalf at Chamber and community meetings, overseeing our monthly finances and assisting with personnel matters, helping coordinate constituent services and town halls, and addressing issues impacting residents of the Fifth District, such as the federal budget and appropriations, transportation and infrastructure, energy and the environment, among others.

Having been Mayor of Kansas City during devastating floods, one of my early priorities included protecting the lives and livelihoods of constituents living in flood-prone areas. Geoff worked quietly with the Army Corps of Engineers and stakeholders along Turkey Creek, Brush Creek, and the Blue River by attending stakeholder meetings and advocating for federal resources for these flood control efforts. He also worked with the City of Kansas City, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Justice on the City's ever-challenging Overflow Control Plan, by successfully pushing for the inclusion of green infrastructure and an extended implementation period. At the time, Kansas City was granted the longest implementation period of any municipality in the country, and more recently, we have been working to extend it even further to bring needed financial relief to our taxpayers.

Geoff led the staff in planning, developing and implementing a multi- pronged effort that included both public and private organizations and entities in order to maximize the use of 2008 Economic Stimulus Act and 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) resources in the District for the good of our entire community. This inclusive effort yielded grants, partnerships and alliances that brought needed resources and opportunities for job creation, economic development, public transportation, housing improvements, utility and infrastructure projects, health and social programs, as well as educational and veterans programs that will have enduring positive impacts on the recipients.

Perhaps the largest and most ambitious of those efforts included the Green Impact Zone (GIZMO). GIZMO consisted of 150 blocks in Kansas City's urban core where Geoff supervised our effort to bring various stakeholders, including neighborhoods, the Mid-America Regional Council, the City of Kansas City, State of Missouri, and dozens of corporations, non-profits, developers, and other entities together to concentrate efforts in a targeted fashion to weatherize homes, install a smart electrical grid, demolish vacant properties, rehab abandoned buildings, and create job opportunities for residents in the area. We accomplished this by helping to bring over $160 Million in ARRA and other federal funds to the area. The Green Impact Zone aimed at transforming an oft-ignored part of our community into one of the environmentally greenest pieces of urban geography in the world. GIZMO was regularly highlighted nationally as a model for regional collaboration in the sustainable community efforts.

Among the ARRA grants received for GIZMO included a $50 Million TIGER grant, a $48 Million SmartGrid grant, and a $20 Million EECBG grant. Geoff coordinated dozens of meetings with stakeholders and staff to help craft grants that would be impactful and then ensured strong fiscal management, accountability, and oversight during the implementation stages. The TIGER grant helped bring much-needed curbs and sidewalks to neighborhoods in the urban core, provided funding for a new Troost Bridge and pedestrian crossing at Brush Creek, improved streetscaping and corridor installations along transit routes, and more. Geoff's staff work and collaboration with Kansas City Power & Light aided in the development and federal funding of KCP&L's SmartGrid Innovation Park. SmartGrid put the Kansas City area in front of the line when it came to the energy efficiency revolution. The park features a 1 MW storage battery, a solar array, and educational kiosks to illustrate how power is delivered to the customers.

In 2012, Geoff also played an integral role in helping to bring ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system, to our region. I had initially viewed the success of this program in Washington, DC and was determined to institute a pilot project in Kansas City. Geoff worked with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and U.S. Department of Transportation to use existing federal funding to install ShotSpotter technology along the Troost BRT route. In its first couple years, it helped reduce gunfire by 26 percent in the areas where the technology was installed. The Kansas City Police Department continues to fund this technology today to support their proactive policing strategies and deployments, in their ongoing commitment to improve the safety, security and quality of life for our residents.

Over two decades ago, I fought for the revitalization of Liberty Memorial, an historic and majestic monument built nearly a century ago by Kansas Citians and dedicated to all our nation's veterans of World War I. It stands as a constant reminder of our veterans' sacrifice, but also as a tribute to peace and liberty. During my service in Congress, my respect and commitment for our veterans has remained a priority and Geoff has worked on numerous efforts to raise awareness of World War I. In 2006, he joined me at the opening of the WWI Museum, built below Liberty Memorial, and worked closely with me and our Washington staff to help get the entire site officially designated as the National WWI Museum and Memorial. Geoff has served as my representative to the Board of Trustees for the National WWI Museum and Memorial and became an integral part of Board, helping to secure legislation and funding from the State and serving on the Host Committee for their annual Night at the Tower.

For the past twelve years, Geoff led our staff as we worked with a bi-partisan, bi-cameral delegation, including Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill, along with my colleagues, Congressmen Ted Poe, Doug Lamborn, Sam Graves, and Kevin Yoder to create the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission. Geoff has served as my liaison at dozens of meetings and events alongside the Commission. As April 6, 2017 marked the Centennial of the United States' entry into World War I, Geoff was asked to serve on the WWI Commission's Management team to help coordinate our nation's official ceremony, a major international gathering in Kansas City to commemorate this historic moment. On that day, thousands of people came to the National World War I Museum and Memorial to pay respect and to give honor to those who fought to keep our world safe. Geoff worked directly with the Centennial Commission to ensure the celebration would go off without a hitch. Over 250 foreign dignitaries were in attendance from nearly 30 countries. In addition to working with WWI Commissioners, Museum and Commission staff, event planners, dozens of representatives of federal, state, and local agencies, including those from the Defense Department, State Department, and National Archives, among others, he volunteered as the staff lead on committees, including the security and aviation committees. Geoff's service on the latter committee resulted in him being asked to officially welcome the French Air Force's premiere demonstration team, Patrouille de France, to Kansas City's Downtown Airport upon their arrival for the event. Even after such a successful event on April 6th, Geoff has continued to work diligently to promote additional funding, educational outreach and national programming for this worthy cause.

These are but a sampling of the many projects, events, and initiatives that Geoff has worked on during his tenure in my office. However, as my colleagues in this Chamber know, we are regularly pulled in many directions as we try to represent the nearly 750,000 constituents in our Districts. Oftentimes, it is our staff, serving behind the scenes, helping to ensure those constituents and stakeholders get prompt attention as they maneuver through the bureaucratic hurdles that regrettably get in the way. There is not a member of this esteemed body who wouldn't be proud to have Geoff Jolley on their team, and his service has certainly been a blessing for me. On a personal note, nine years ago, I had the pleasure of officiating the wedding of Geoff and his wife, Kimberly, and know him to be a loving husband and a devoted father of two beautiful young girls, Sophia and Maggie. I will miss the girls' cheerfulness, playfulness, and relentless energy, on display every time they stopped by the office or community events.

Mr. Speaker, Geoff is a loyal, caring, and compassionate individual whose selflessness, empathy, and unflappable personality will be sorely missed. As he transitions into other areas of public service, I encourage my colleagues to join me in recognizing his lifetime of dedication to our community and country and wishing him continued success. The people of Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, including me, are better off because of Geoffrey Jolley.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4545.

Today we are considering yet another measure that would weaken our system of financial regulation and bog down regulators in their important work. It would ultimately take us right back to some of the problems that led to the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The bill puts financial institutions' profits before the protection of consumers and the best interests of the American public.

I rise, Madam Speaker, to say to Members of both sides of the aisle that we must remember the past as we create policies. I was here during that entire period, and it created a very, very heavy darkness over this entire country.

In the years preceding the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve failed to write rules stopping predatory, risky mortgage loans. The OCC and OTS preempted State regulators from reining in mortgage abuses. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other regulators failed to stem excesses at large companies and did not downgrade troubled companies until it was too late. Legislation such as H.R. 4545 sets the stage to return us to an ineffective regulatory system.

Republicans have made it a habit to falsely claim that their legislation is designed to benefit small community banks and credit unions. There are some things that could be changed to improve Dodd- Frank and to provide responsible relief for small community institutions, which I believe we all recognize did not cause the financial crisis.

I have said in our committee and I will say openly in any other place, including on the floor here, that there are some things we can repair in Dodd-Frank. But what this bill would do is give all regulated financial institutions an additional way to appeal and, thereby, postpone material supervisory determinations of their prudential regulator and of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In other words, messy megabanks and other big financial firms could appeal and delay adverse determinations such as a downgrade of a bank's credit rating for capital asset quality management, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to the market risk. It would also enable them to appeal significant deficiencies of their anti-money laundering programs, findings related to the violations of various rules, or a downgrade of their Community Reinvestment Act ratings.

Let's think about this for just a minute. Some banks would be allowed, under this bill, to appeal the OCC's historic and well- deserved double downgrade of its CR rating. Under this bill, Wells Fargo, for example, would be allowed to unleash its army of lawyers to not only fight against the rating, but to tie the OCC up in proceedings. We all know that when the banks who spend millions on legal teams each year deploy those resources, they deploy them to win; and if they win, then American consumers lose.

But let's focus on CRA. CRA was intended to ensure that institutions were making loans and providing services in the lower-income and moderate-income neighborhoods in which they were located to address the problems of redlining.

As highlighted in the recent report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, redlining is not just some relic of the past. Sadly, painfully, and embarrassingly, redlining appears to be still very much an ongoing, troubling problem that continues to harm many minority mortgage loan borrowers in cities all across the United States of America.

This bill will make redlining worse, and that will happen because, instead of improving their ratings and trying to end discriminatory lending practices, bank executives will simply challenge these rates and bully their own regulators into submission.

Now, this may be unintentional, as I would presume to believe, but this bill ignores the fact that prudential regulators and the Consumer Bureau each already have an agency ombudsman and an intra-agency formal review and appeals process. What's more, messy megabanks already have existing avenues to bring a court challenge to any form of regulatory enforcement act.

Thus, what this bill would actually do is create unprecedented barriers to the effective, prudential, and consumer protection supervision of the messy megabanks. It will give messy megabanks and predatory lenders, including payday lenders, an additional way to resist corrective actions to avoid violations of law or safety and soundness risk. As a result, the bill would allow these financial institutions to bog down agencies with frivolous appeals.

In a letter opposing H.R. 4545, the National Consumer Law Center wrote that the effective bill ``would be most pronounced at the largest banks who could appeal dozens or hundreds of material findings from every examination creating enormous roadblocks to supervision. The bank supervision process has been the first line of regulatory defense against threats to bank safety and soundness for a century or more. H.R. 4545 creates unprecedented roadblocks to the effectiveness of bank supervisory determinations and could be devastating to effective regulatory oversight in areas ranging from basic prudential oversight to key consumer protections that make our financial markets fairer.''

In addition, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that H.R. 4545 would increase the deficit by hundreds of millions of dollars--by hundreds of millions of dollars. It would increase by hundreds of millions of dollars. Hundreds of millions of dollars it would increase. Millions of dollars would be increased because banks would be more likely to fail and need government assistance.

In sum, H.R. 4545 would weaken our Nation's system of financial regulation, and, in so doing, it would recklessly set the stage for a return to the captive, hamstrung regulatory system that existed in the years before the 2008 financial crisis that enabled the risky profit- fueled activities of large, complex, messy megabanks and other titans on Wall Street to go unchecked. I therefore urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 4545.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, the inimitable chair of our committee is absolutely right: there are Democrats. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation. But it proves what I was trying to say earlier, and that is that I and many other people believe that we need to make some changes to Dodd- Frank. This is just not one of them.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine Waters), and I ask unanimous consent that control she may control that time.

Mr. Speaker, I regrettably missed votes on Tuesday March 6, 2018. I had intended to vote ``yes'' on Roll Call vote 94, and ``no'' on vote 95.

Mr. Speaker, I regrettably missed votes on Monday February 26 and Tuesday February 27, 2018. I had intended to vote ``yes'' on Roll Call vote 81, ``yes'' on vote 82, ``no'' on vote 83, ``no'' on vote 84, ``no'' on vote 85, ``no'' on vote 86, ``no'' on vote 87, ``yes'' on vote 88, ``no'' on vote 89, ``yes'' on vote 90, and ``yes'' on vote 91.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remind my colleagues and the American public about what is happening to families around this country and why this Congress must enact comprehensive immigration reform as quickly as possible.

Syed Jamal is the father of three, a husband, and a chemistry professor from Bangladesh who has lived in the United States for 30 years. He had overstayed his visa but had been checking in periodically with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, as he was told to do. But on January 24, as he was getting ready to take his kids to school, ICE officers pulled up, put him in handcuffs, and arrested him.

As was talked about this morning on most of the stations, they threatened his children that they too would be arrested if they tried to hug him good-bye. He was detained for several weeks without the ability to contact his family.

Despite his lawyers', the community's, and my efforts, he was set to be deported yesterday. He was on his way to Bangladesh, where he probably would have been killed, when an emergency appeal was successful. He was released in Hawaii but is still in limbo.

I will be working across party lines with Representative Jenkins to see a pathway to citizenship for Mr. Jamal and his wife. I am calling on ICE to bring Mr. Jamal home to be with his family while the court decides his case. Over 96,000 people have signed a petition to stop his deportation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding. He has pulled us together. Those of us who have been able to work with him over the years, as I have--13 years on the committee--we appreciate the gentleman's work from Georgia's 13th District.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues have already very eloquently reminded you of the significance, the history, and the benefits of unions. I want to talk to you about the power of unions, the power to effect change in the workforce.

Next month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Janus v. AFSCME. This will decide whether workers can receive all the benefits of a union contract without contributing any funding in return. We call them fair share fees.

Unions work because the workers pay their fair share, and they all benefit from what is negotiated. Each worker chooses whether or not to join a union, but the union is still required by law to represent and negotiate on behalf of all of the workers. Some people want to see an end to that, which is why this case is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. A negative decision could reverse a 40-year unanimous precedent supporting State's rights.

Now, I want to say that I believe in the power of unions. It allows employees a voice when some of them feel that they have been silenced. When they can't speak and ask for increased wages or a safe working environment for fear of retaliation, the unions speak. The unions are their voices and they demand fair and reasonable working conditions.

We saw that power in 1970 during the Postal Workers' strike. Workers had had enough. And as the gentleman from Georgia mentioned earlier, we saw that power during the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike. Workers were willing to sacrifice their lives.

The Reverend James Lawson, a good friend of mine, was a United Methodist pastor in Memphis at the time. He made a phone call to a man he had met about 10 years earlier. Jim Lawson had just gotten out of prison for refusing to go to Korea. Jim Lawson met Martin Luther King after he got out of prison. They both ended up in India, studying under Gandhi.

Jim Lawson realized that Martin Luther King had started this organization with four others called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, so he called him and said: ``Would you come to Memphis? We need you to help with this sanitation workers' strike.''

It is little known that when Dr. King tried to get the SCLC board to vote to come to Memphis, they were not in support. Dr. King struggled around a couple of days by himself, and then let everybody know on the board he was going to go by himself. That, of course, changed everybody else's minds and they joined him in Memphis.

We all know what happened to Martin Luther King, Jr., when he went to Memphis. He was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He sacrificed his life for workers, the people who built this country.

I owe my ``middle classness'' to my maternal and my paternal grandfathers. Both of them worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and became members of a union and earned enough money to buy a house.

In my little town where I was born, Waxahachie, Texas, an African American owning his own home, not a shanty?

So it inspired his three boys, one of which was my father, to raise his four kids in a middle class way. We all went off to college. We owe that not only to the ingenuity of my grandfather and my parents, but also to the unions.

So I will support unions as long as I can. Long after I am out of Congress, I intend to support unions because they have power to change lives. I am an example.

Mr. Speaker, let me, first of all, state the obvious. I am rising to support H.R. 4258, the Family Self-Sufficiency Act.

I would like to thank Chairman Duffy for the spirit of bipartisanship that he has demonstrated on this and on other legislation as well; and Mr. Himes, the gentleman from Connecticut, who is managing this piece of legislation. It is also appropriate to thank the chair and the ranking member of the committee for giving their support to this piece of legislation.

H.R. 4258 would make important updates to the Department of Housing and Urban Development Family Self-Sufficiency program, the FSS program, which is a voluntary program that encourages residents who use housing vouchers or who live in public housing to connect with program coordinators to create self-sufficiency plans, obtain educational resources, and pursue work opportunities.

This program also creates an interest-bearing escrow account for participants that can be accessed upon graduation from the program. Money from this account can be used for job-related expenses or as savings for a home.

I deviate from my written comments to say that there are a number of great stories like Tanya's that Mr. Duffy shared. As a 5-year resident of public housing when I was growing up, during that time my father was working on three jobs trying to save money for a house and to buy what became his first car. Our first car was an Oldsmobile Rocket 88--Rocket 88 I want emphasize--and it was the pride of our family and our community, frankly, when that happened. But it would have been infinitely easier if there had been some kind of escrow account that my father could have moved money into to save so that when he found that lot and the house that he lives in today, that would have been money right there available for him to pay down on it or pay it off. It seems like a lot of money then, but the lot was $5,000, and the money that he could have saved over that period of time could have been so significant. We managed to do it anyway.

This program would help countless numbers of people who want to take advantage of the help that the Federal Government can give them with housing but at the same time work and strive toward independence. That is what I think the great value of this program is.

I don't want to repeat what has already been said, so I want to just give you a list of the organizations supporting this legislation: the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Preservation of Affordable Housing, the National Leased Housing Association, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Compass Working Capital, National Association of Housing Redevelopment Officials, Housing Partnership Network, the National Housing Trust, and Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future.

A similar version of this bill was introduced by Senator Reed and Senator Blunt from my home State of Missouri over in the Senate, and I am encouraged by this bipartisanship and the bicameral process.

I am also hopeful that we can continue to work, as Mr. Himes said, on further improvements of housing resources all across the country, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 50th Anniversary of Primitivo ``Tivo'' Garcia's ultimate sacrifice for another. Primitivo's selfless act of valor and history are well known in Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which I proudly represent. In 1943, Primitivo Garcia Loya was born in Chihuhua, Mexico to Antonio Garcia Garcia and Gregoria Loya Lerma. At the age of twenty-two, Primitivo migrated to the United States with his family in search of the American Dream.

Primitivo was like many other immigrants who come to the United States; he wanted to

work hard, have a family, pursue his passions and buy a home for his mother. He understood that in America, hard work could yield all of those things and began his career as a shipping clerk. He had hoped this job would allow him to marry his fiance and earn enough money to make a down payment on a home for his mother. Between he and his brother's pay, they soon put a down payment on a house for their mother, but Primitivo wanted to earn his citizenship before marrying his bride-to-be.

There was nothing more that Primitivo wanted than to become an American Citizen, so he and his brother enrolled in English classes at Westport High School to meet the necessary qualifications for citizenship. It was in this class that Primitivo and his brother, Alfredo, would meet someone who would change their life forever, Mrs. Margaret Kindermann (now Margaret Kelso).

Fifty years ago, on November 15, 1967, Primitivo Garcia, and his brother Alfredo Garcia walked out of their night English class and heard a scream. They both realized that a woman was being accosted outside of their school and as Mrs. Kindermann recalled, Primitivo and Alfredo were not ``going to let this happen.'' That night, both Garcia brothers would save their English teacher, Mrs. Kindermann, from impending doom. After rushing to their teacher's aide, the Garcia brothers immediately fought off the attackers, but one of the attackers drew a gun and shot Primitivo.

As Mrs. Kindermann recalls, she feared for her life and the life of her 5-month-old, unborn child. Primitivo's and Alfredo's bravery saved two lives that night, but tragically, Primitivo succumbed to his wounds three days later.

Primitivo Garcia would become the first local, Hispanic hero in Kansas City because of his benevolent act of sacrifice for his teacher and her unborn child. Former Missouri Governor Warren Hearnes declared Primitivo an honorary citizen of the state as well as declared December 1st to be Primitivo Garcia Day in Kansas City. Parks would later be named in honor of Primitivo's story, memorials dedicated to his legacy, but in 1992, Joe Arce, a local television reporter, did a two-part feature story that continued Primitivo's story.

It was this story that sparked community support within the Historic Westside neighborhood to urge the Kansas City, MO School Board to name their newly constructed West Magnet School as the Primitivo Garcia World Language School. A year after Mr. Arce's story, the school was named in Primitivo's honor.

It is through the actions of Alfredo and the sacrifice of his brother, Primitivo, that should remind us of our country's legacy of immigrant sacrifice in pursuit of the American Dream. Primitivo simply stood up for what he knew to be right, helping the helpless in their time of need. Primitivo's spirit and legacy will live on through our community's eternal willingness to commemorate this valiant act and I am honored to share his story with you today.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in expressing our heartfelt appreciation to Primitivo Garcia's family. I urge my colleagues to please join me in conveying our gratitude to his family and community for sharing this great man with us, and to allow us to honor his legacy. He is, and will forever be, an inspiration to current and future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2874, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act.

When the Financial Services Committee began the process to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, I was very hopeful that we could work across the aisle in a bipartisan manner. Unfortunately, the bill we see here today is not reflective of that approach.

Though a number of changes have, in fact, been made to H.R. 2874 since leaving committee, the new provisions still fail to incorporate many of our priorities for reauthorization or address our concerns with the NFIP.

Most significantly, Mr. Speaker, in H.R. 2874 is the fact that it will increase cost for policyholders. The bill raises costs on pre-FIRM structures from 5 percent to 6.5 percent.

Additionally, the bill will require a $40 surcharge on primary residences and seeks to increase the reserve fund by charging policyholders an additional 1 percent every year.

The bill also changes the fee to policyholders who opt to pay their policy monthly. Many of our constituents who live in flood-prone areas are not wealthy. These are hardworking Americans who rely on the NFIP to help offset costs and protect their homes from disastrous flooding.

Instead of working to find ways to truly address affordability within the NFIP, the bill proposes to set up a voluntary State affordability program. This proposal then fails to provide States with the administrative costs to set up a program, a cost that may be far too burdensome for many already-struggling States.

Even worse, the program would offset discounts for eligible policyholders by charging policyholders who are not able to take advantage of the affordability program--yet again increasing costs for homeowners.

Importantly, H.R. 2874 makes no effort to address the debt. Though the NFIP had been self-sustaining for many years, extreme unexpected damage following Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy left the NFIP with over $20 billion in debt. Though some of the debt was, in fact, recently forgiven, the NFIP needed to borrow more from the Treasury following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

The NFIP pays over $400 million a year in interest, money that could go towards making improvements in the program or helping enhance affordability. We need to wipe the slate clean and give the NFIP a fresh start.

H.R. 2874 fails to provide additional funding for flood maps, maps that, in many jurisdictions, are desperately needed if we are going to have updated maps. This bill also lacks funding for new mapping technology that could help improve the accuracy of the flood maps.

In conclusion, the short-term reauthorization of the NFIP expires early next month. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill and support a long-term NFIP strategy that promotes affordability, stability for stakeholders, and necessary funding for mapping and mitigation.

Mr. Speaker, I regrettably missed votes on Thursday, September 14, 2017. I had intended to vote ``yes'' on rollcall vote 516, ``no'' on vote 517, ``no'' on vote 518, ``no'' on vote 519, ``yes'' on vote 520, ``yes'' on vote 521, ``yes'' on vote 522, ``yes'' on vote 523, ``no'' on vote 524, ``no'' on vote 525, ``yes'' on vote 526, ``yes'' on vote 527, ``no'' on vote 528, and ``yes'' on vote 529

Mr. Speaker, I regrettably missed votes on July 12 through 14, 2017. I regrettably had to attend and preside over the funeral of a good friend and civic leader in Kansas City.

Had I been present I would have voted as follows on H.R. 23:

``Yes'' on rollcall 351 On Motion to Recommit with Instructions: Gaining Responsibility on Water Act

``No'' on rollcall 352 On Passage: Gaining Responsibility on Water Act

``No'' on rollcall 353 Motion to Adjourn

``No'' on rollcall 354 On ordering the Previous Question

``No'' on rollcall 355 On Agreeing to the Resolution H. Res. 440

For H.R. 2810 Had I been present I would have voted as follows:

``No'' on rollcall 356 Conaway Amendment 2

``No'' on rollcall 357 Polis, Lee Amendment

``Yes'' on rollcall 358 Jayapal/Pocan Amendment 5

``Yes'' on rollcall 359 Nadler Amendment 6

``Yes'' on rollcall 360 Blumenauer Amendment 8

``Yes'' on rollcall 361 Aguilar Amendment 10

``No'' on rollcall 362 Rogers (AL) Amendment 88

``Yes'' on rollcall 363 Garamendi Amendment 12

``Yes'' on rollcall 364 Blumenauer Amendment 13

``No'' on rollcall 365 McClintock Amendment 14

``Yes'' on rollcall 366 Garamendi/Hunter amendment 1

``No'' on rollcall 367 Buck amendment 3

``No'' on rollcall 368 Buck/Perry amendment 4

``No'' on rollcall 369 Hartzler amendment 10

``No'' on rollcall 370 Gosar amendment 5

``Yes'' on rollcall 371 Rooney, Murphy amendment 6

``No'' on rollcall 372 Franks Amendment 13

``No'' on rollcall 373 Lamborn Amendment 15

``No'' on rollcall 374 Frankel, Byrne Amendment 17

``No'' on rollcall 375 Hunter, Wilson Amendment 18

``Yes'' on rollcall 376 McGovern, Emmer Amendment 43

``Yes'' on rollcall 377 Motion to Recommit H.R. 2810

``Yes'' on rollcall 378 Final Passage of H.R. 2810

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true and selfless public servant whose life was tragically taken before his time. Mr. Jeffery Sanders, a lifelong Mayview, Missouri resident and Mayview firefighter was killed in the line of duty on Monday, June 19, 2017, following an on scene accident while wrapping up another call alongside a state highway. I will be praying throughout the coming days for his family, friends, and our community during this difficult time, as well as for Mr. Jacob Hayward, a fellow Mayview firefighter seriously injured in the same heartbreaking accident.

Jeff was well known in the close-knit community of two hundred residents, having been a farmer in Mayview all of his life. He and his wife, Connie, raised two wonderful children who continue to live in Lafayette County in Missouri's Fifth Congressional District. Although he was most proud of being a good husband, father, and grandfather, for more than thirty years, Mr. Sanders dedicated much of his time to the Mayview Fire Protection District. He could always be counted on to make a fire call and help someone in need.

In all of his activities, Mr. Sanders demonstrated his dedication and commitment to the greater good of others. He was actively involved with the Mayview Lions Club, the Mayview area 4H, the Antique Tractor Club, and the Odessa FFA Advisory Board. Along with his work as a volunteer firefighter with the Mayview Fire Protection District, he also spent time serving on the Mayview Special Road District.

While it is impossible for mere words to capture the essence of a person's life, for these reasons and many more, it is my privilege to honor and celebrate the life of Mr. Jeffery Sanders. Mr. Speaker, please join me and our colleagues in expressing our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to Connie, all of the Sanders family, the members of the Mayview Fire Protection District, and the community of Mayview for their loss. We join together to honor his professionalism and sacrifice and express our appreciation for his endless commitment to serving the residents of Mayview and the State of Missouri. He was an unparalleled role model to his family, peers and the entire Lafayette County community and we are better because of his life with us.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes this well feels like the well of sorrow, and such is the case today.

I rise to honor a true and selfless public servant whose life was tragically taken before his time. Mr. Jeffery Sanders, a lifelong resident of Mayview, Missouri, and a firefighter, was killed in the line of duty on Monday, June 19, 2017. I have decided that I will be praying through the weekend and next week for his family.

Mr. Jacob Hayward was a man who gave a great deal to his community. He was seriously injured also in the same heartbreaking accident.

Jeff was well known in the close-knit community of 200 residents, having been a farmer in Mayview all of his life. He and his wife, Connie, raised two wonderful children, who continue to live in Lafayette County in Missouri's Fifth Congressional District.

Mr. Sanders dedicated much of his time to Mayview and its Fire Protection District. He could always be counted on to make a fire call and help someone in need.

In all of his activities, Mr. Sanders demonstrated dedication and commitment to the greater good of others. He was actively involved in the Mayview Lions Club, the Mayview Area 4-H Club, the Antique Tractor Club, and the Odessa FFA Advisory Board, along with his work as a volunteer firefighter with the Mayview Fire Protection District. He also spent time serving on the Mayview Special Road District.

Mr. Speaker, this family has given a great deal, and we owe a great deal to them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the life of Ruby Arnold. While it is widely known that Horace Peterson was the visionary and sole founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America (BAMA), it is little known who saved the institution from vanishing, years later.

Years after Peterson's accidental death, the BAMA experienced internal tumult that unfortunately played out in the Kansas City media. The unflattering press resulted in funding shortfalls and eventually, the exodus from Vine Street, sometimes referred to as ``The Firehouse.''

As BAMA began to fade in part because it did not have an adequate home, or sufficient funding, nor the extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia, some longtime supporters began to search for funding and a new location.

During the spring of 1998, Ruby Arnold, a BAMA diehard board member, began a personal crusade to secure a new home for the organization she held dear. One Monday morning, during a heavy spring rain, Ruby Arnold appeared at the desk on the 29th floor of City Hall. The security guard asked if she had an appointment with anyone in particular. ``I don't have an appointment but I have come to see Mayor Emanuel Cleaver,'' she said. ``I'm sorry but the Mayor is not in,'' Cheryl Richards, an assistant to the Mayor stepped in and stated. She told Ms. Arnold that on Monday mornings, the Mayor attended the Mayors Corp of Progress meeting, a support group of Kansas City business leaders. ``Thank you, I'll wait. It's raining pretty hard, anyway.'' And wait she did. Several hours later, the Mayor and his security walked off the 29th floor elevators where he was greeted by one Ruby Arnold. ``Mayor Cleaver, I need your help to locate a home for the Black Archives. We don't have any money but we need a place large enough to grow.'' The Mayor said, ``Well, I don't know for sure what I can do. You know that the Black Archives was supposed to be in the main museum building on 18th Street but Horace wanted something different that we could not do legally.'' ``All I know is that we need a home for the Archives, and you are the Mayor. I don't know anyone else to ask,'' Ms. Arnold replied, slowly and sadly.

A week later, Ruby showed up at the Mayor's office but because she didn't have an appointment, she waited for almost two hours to see the Mayor. Again, when she was taken to see the Mayor, she made an appeal for help. The Mayor had no solution to share with her so he said that he would continue to work on it. She looked him straight in the eye and said, ``Mayor, I know you can do this.''

On the following Saturday, the Mayor held an event for city leaders from Columbus, Ohio on 18th and Vine in the Gem Theater. Ms. Ruby Arnold was there among the elected officials. ``Have you found a place for the Black Archives?'' she asked the Mayor as he sat on the stage answering questions about the 18th and Vine development. ``Well, not yet,'' he replied, ``but I do have an idea. Can we talk later?'' She nodded and said ``Mayor, I know you can do this.''

On Monday morning, as the Mayor expected, Ms. Arnold arrived without an appointment. The Mayor had told the staff to show her in if she appeared at the front desk. This time, the Mayor was anxious to get her into the office to present what he called an intriguing proposal. When she took a seat in his office, the Mayor smiled, and said, ``Good news! I have been in conversation with Terry Dobson, the director of the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department about the old Parade Park maintenance building at 1722 E. 17th Terrace.'' ``Can we get it?'' asked Ruby. The Mayor replied, ``I think so, but we've got to make sure that the tons of horse manure underground does not present a threat since methane gas is a bi-product of manure.'' Ms. Arnold seemed pleased and the Mayor was relieved. ``Thank you, thank you. I told you that you could do it,'' Ruby said as she moved towards the door. The Mayor told her she didn't need to thank him, and with his tongue strangely planted in his cheek, the Mayor added, just stop driving him crazy.

Ruby Arnold died before the opening of the new Archives in the summer of 2010, but former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, then U.S. Representative from Missouri's Fifth District, said, ``This location for the Black Archives was not secured by wishing or hoping, but by the merciful harassment I received from one determined Ruby Arnold. May God bless her remarkable spirit.''