Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with the more than 10,000 United Auto Workers in my district as they negotiate a fair contract with the Nation's auto industry employers.

Let's remember, it was workers who built this country, and their high-quality union jobs gave people a pathway to the middle class, not just in Illinois but across this great Nation.

The current negotiations have implications not just for workers, but for the future of the auto industry and our economic competitiveness.

While companies report record profits and the CEOs take home tens of millions of dollars in compensation, the salary of the average autoworker has declined by 40 percent over the past 20 years. Our UAW neighbors are simply asking for their fair share.

To the UAW workers in central and northwestern Illinois and across the country, I have got your back.

Mr. Chair, our regional airports are vital for connecting Americans and strengthening local economies. I represent a district with four such airports, including the fastest growing air cargo airport in the Nation. I am thrilled that this year's FAA reauthorization provides resources for small and large airports alike.

Unfortunately, this bill is not perfect. It includes a shortsighted provision to raise the pilot retirement age. It also doesn't go far enough to support our aerospace workers.

This year, the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee heard from Collins Aerospace located in my hometown of Rockford, Illinois. They emphasized the importance of R&D funding right at home, but because of R&D disinvestment, many companies are looking to European countries for R&D opportunities.

When American companies go overseas to do their research, it means jobs and talent go away. Our best and brightest in Illinois are ready to bring humans to new heights. We in Congress must provide them with the flexibility and resources to succeed.

Mr. Chair, today, extremists have put our national security at risk with this partisan National Defense Authorization Act.

I was pleased to work across the aisle with Congressman LaHood to try to save the 182nd Airlift Wing in Peoria, Illinois. We should be focused on these bipartisan issues, not the extremists who have added amendments that have nothing to do with national defense and security, including the extreme restriction on abortion access, which threatens women servicemembers' ability to make their own healthcare decisions. We need a clean and bipartisan NDAA.

Mr. Speaker, I stand today in strong support of Social Security and the invaluable role that it plays in the lives of more than 2.2 million people in Illinois and over 150,000

of our neighbors and family members in the 17th Congressional District of Illinois.

Social Security benefits make up one-third of the income of our Nation's seniors, and benefits are the primary source of income for most seniors.

Social Security is not a handout. This is a program that working Americans have paid into for years with the promise that the Federal Government would stand by them and respect their hard work and their labor.

Too often over the past few months, we have heard threats from my colleagues across the aisle about cutting off these hard-earned benefits--first during the debt ceiling negotiations, and most recently, my colleagues in the Republican Study Committee recently put forth a budget that renews Republican attacks on Social Security benefits.

Their unserious proposal shows my colleagues care more about scoring political points and playing games with your future than governing responsibly and with your interests in mind. That we are having this conversation and considering these budgets shows how out of touch my colleagues across the aisle are with the struggles that real Americans face every single day.

Under their proposal, 9.7 million Illinoisans would see their retirement age increased, cutting their Social Security benefits and forcing them to work even longer for less.

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. Social Security is a sacred promise to our Nation's seniors. It is not a political football. I will oppose any proposal that cuts the earned benefits that provide essential financial stability to millions of Americans.

Our communities have worked for decades to earn these benefits, and it is unconscionable to turn around and take that away from people, especially as prices still remain high for consumers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can bring up legislation that protects, not undermines, Social Security.

Mr. Speaker, nearly 6,000 people participated in a telephone townhall of mine on Tuesday night. It allows me to understand what is most important to the people of my district today. One issue came up over and over.

Cheryl from Moline asked about access to food stamps and what will happen to Social Security payments if we default.

Stacy from West Peoria was worried about what a default would mean for middle-class families. ``We are the forgotten ones,'' she told me.

Gayle, a veteran from Morrison, told me that she hates that politicians are about to take away her VA healthcare, something she uses every day.

Celeste in Bloomington wonders what this means for mental health care.

These are real people in my district who are scared, and rightly so. We can either choose to pay our bills or we can put the lives of working families and seniors at risk.

Real people told me what the right answer is. It is not scoring political points, and it sure as hell isn't driving our country's economy off a cliff.

Mr. Speaker, I call on the Republicans to come back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2.

For years and years, politicians have kicked immigration reform down the road over and over and over again for future generations, they will have to address it. Unfortunately, the bill that we have today that we are considering just continues the trend.

Our border must be secure. Make no mistake, we have to do everything that we can to prevent harmful drugs like fentanyl from destroying the lives of our kids and our families.

We need real solutions. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to solve our border crisis, but the bill in front of us today would only make our border less secure.

The bill in front of us today does nothing to address the root causes of our system's backlog and only serves to gut our asylum ability, denying the protections to the people who need it the most.

Gutting the few remaining pathways to claim asylum and kicking Dreamers out of the only country that they have ever known, it just accelerates the chaos and extremism and, in the end, all it does is harm our neighbors and our communities.

Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I support smart, targeted investments in border security and providing law enforcement the resources that they need to end the flow of weapons and fentanyl into our country.

Speaker McCarthy just spoke about the dangerous people that were just caught this year, but I proposed an amendment that would have hired an additional 500 Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry to screen more people at the border.

Another amendment that I provided would allow $50 million to expand a task force to go after fentanyl distributors.

You know what? Speaker McCarthy and every Republican refused to consider these amendments in committee, ideas that have bipartisan support.

Listen, the story of America, it is a story of immigrants, opportunity, and hard work. We have to push back against legislation that sows division and chaos. Let's come together to create an immigration system that works, that protects our Dreamers, and treats migrants humanely, ensuring that our hometowns are safe from drugs and crime.

Mr. Speaker, every day I hear from parents who worry about their children's safety in school, from bullying to gun violence. Yet, instead of addressing the issues that are relevant today, we are debating a bill that takes away certain kids' ability to learn, like how to be a part of a team, how to build friendships, how to set goals, and how to work with one another. Every child in America should learn this.

It is hard to be a kid today. It is hard to go to school. It is hard to make friends. It is hard to fit in. We need to give kids the opportunity to be healthy and happy and to have joy.

This isn't about protecting sports. This is about every child setting their own goals, being a part of their team and overcoming challenges, and being, finally, proud of who they are and what they can achieve.

Mr. Speaker, stop the nonsense. Let's get back to work and solve the real problems, which is what the people back home sent us here to do.

Madam Chair, as Congress' only meteorologist, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 1, House Republicans' polluters over people act.

This bill does nothing to lower energy costs for working families. This bill does nothing to help our farm families dealing with the effects of extreme weather. This bill does nothing to support the domestic production of biofuels in central and northwestern Illinois.

In fact, instead of lowering costs for working communities across the Nation, the polluters over people act pads the pockets of Big Oil and Gas, guts environmental protections, and adds $2.4 billion to the deficit.

Earlier this week, I offered an amendment that would have prevented big corporations from selling natural gas overseas until we could ensure that it won't raise prices here at home. I am disappointed that Republicans put polluters over people and blocked my amendment from being considered today.

At home in Illinois, sustainability is not a partisan issue. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all want our communities to be clean and prosperous. I thought this would be a bipartisan goal in Congress, but it seems that my colleagues across the aisle are willing to let the Federal deficit balloon for Big Oil and corporate interests at the expense of our communities' futures.

Not only will this decision impact our daily lives; it impacts the lives of our children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren.

I stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on commonsense solutions that meet our Nation's energy needs while lowering energy costs for working families. American families deserve much more.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize a very special group from western Illinois, the Moline High School Boys Basketball Team.

The Maroons recently made history, bringing home the school's first- ever State Championship win.

Under Head Coach Sean Taylor, the Maroons demonstrated intense perseverance and skill, securing a 59-42 victory after an impressive 35-win season.

I know this group's hard work and determination are a source of pride for the entire Moline community and for the State of Illinois, and it is my honor to recognize them here on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

This was their first State Championship, and I have no doubt it will not be their last.

Go Maroons.

Madam Speaker, I have heard from so many working families across central and northwestern Illinois who feel like they are left behind.

Big corporations report record profits while workers struggle to make ends meet. Let's remember that it was the American worker who built this country, and it was the workers coming together to bargain collectively who built a strong middle class.

The PRO Act is the most significant update to workers' rights in 80 years, and it couldn't come soon enough.

When workers have the power to stand together and form a union, they get higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions.

I was proud to help introduce the PRO Act, and I urge Members of Congress to pass it so we can protect the right to organize, rebuild our middle class, and improve the lives of working families in Illinois and across our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday, we marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I remain outraged by the Supreme Court's decision to rip away the fundamental right to safe and legal abortion.

Already, States have implemented abortion bans, leaving women desperate to access reproductive healthcare. Thankfully, States like Illinois have access still available.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's extreme decision, I have heard from women all across central and northwestern Illinois, mothers and grandmothers, who are devastated that their daughters and granddaughters will grow up in a country with fewer rights than they had.

Mr. Speaker, I tell them that I will never stop fighting for a world where everyone has the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.

Uncle Sam has no place in a doctor's office.

Finally, to the women in my district and across this great Nation: I am with you. I will fight for your rights and your freedoms to be protected.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor to be here serving as Illinois' 17th Congressional District trusted neighbor in Congress.

I spent more than 20 years of my life as a broadcast meteorologist, making sure that people had the right information to make good decisions in times of dangerous weather.

Now I am here in Congress to serve my constituents as their trusted voice in government. I am focused on delivering results for my constituents, whether it is lowering food, energy, or prescription drug costs, increasing good-paying jobs in our communities, or protecting access to reproductive healthcare.

I promise to work with anyone on either side of the aisle, Democrat or Republican, on commonsense solutions that solve the problems central and northwestern Illinois families face every day.

I am ready to put partisan politics aside and get to work in the 118th Congress.