Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, America is and must remain a country that welcomes refugees, and we must welcome refugees of all religions.

President Trump has our country under a Muslim ban that makes us less safe and less American. Less safe because we already have in place since World War II a process for vetting refugees who come to this country, an intense process that takes 18 to 24 months before anyone can get here.

Less safe because it makes us less of a team player on an international stage that requires cooperation among our allies and those in the Middle East who are helping us fight terrorism. If we are not taking on refugees, as our allies, like Jordan and Germany and others who are in the thick of this fight, we will not be seen as a team player and we will not be able to count on them for cooperation.

Less safe because it motivates and inspires an enemy who is determined to dispel a message that the United States is not welcome to Muslims.

It makes us less American because refugees have helped America as much as America has helped refugees. We have seen this in the wisdom of Albert Einstein, the patriotism of Secretary Madeleine Albright.

I have seen this in my own congressional office with my chief of staff, Ricky Le, who came to our country at age 4, on a raft, fleeing Vietnam, and was welcomed into this country, where he was given an opportunity to be the first in his family to go to college, started working on Capitol Hill as an intern, and serves as the chief of staff in my office today.

I have seen this spirit of the refugee in Mohammad Usafi, who was my guest at the State of the Union just 2 years ago. Mohammad served our country as an interpreter in Afghanistan. He lost his father, who was kidnapped and killed by the Taliban for his service. His little brother was kidnapped, and he gave his life savings to save his brother's life.

We brought Mohammad over to the United States. But today, if Mohammad was on his way to the United States, under this Muslim ban, he would be detained in an airport.

But what is American?

American is standing up and welcoming people in need. Being American means going to an airport, as I saw thousands do when I went to SFO airport in San Francisco this weekend. I saw the lawyers on our staff working to provide casework to anyone who was detained. I saw the spirit of generosity across our country at airports and town squares.

Being an American means supporting Congresswoman Lofgren's SOLVE Act, the Statue of Liberty Values Act, that will fix and end this Muslim ban.

Being an American is what Sally Yates did last night when she stood up against an illegal order and she was fired. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates was not the person who deserved to be fired yesterday.

To stop this Muslim ban, we must unite in this country; unite and make sure that we are safe and welcoming to those in need; unite to say we will not target people for persecution based on religion; unite to live out, indeed, what we are taught in the Bible.

In Luke 10:25, a student asked Jesus: ``What must I do to inherit eternal life?''

Jesus says: ``Love the Lord with all of your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.''

The student asks: ``Who is my neighbor?''

And Jesus tells him the story of a traveler from Jerusalem headed to Jericho who was attacked, robbed, and beaten along his journey, and stripped of all of his clothes. He encounters a priest, who walks to the other side of the road when he sees the traveler.

He encounters a Levite, who also, like the priest, walks to the other side of the road when he sees this beaten, weary traveler. But then he comes across a Samaritan. The Samaritan took pity on the traveler, bandaged his wounds, and took him and paid for him to stay at an inn.

Jesus asked the student: ``Which of these men was a neighbor?''

The student said: ``The one who showed mercy.''

Jesus said to the student: ``Go and do likewise.''

To my colleagues in this House, Republicans and Democrats, and Americans across this great land, refugees are our neighbors. They are the weary travelers. How will we receive them? The American spirit is to be like the Samaritan. We must go and do likewise.

Madam Speaker, I stand with women and men across our country in opposition to H.R. 7, the latest effort from Republican leaders to take the opportunity for women to make choices about their own healthcare decisions.

This weekend, my colleagues and I marched arm in arm with our constituents in women's marches across the country. I heard these Americans, and if you were listening, you would have heard them say, ``my body, my choice''; ``her body, her choice.'' This bill ignores the voices of women and male feminists in the United States.

Particularly disturbing, H.R. 7 prevents small businesses that use ACA tax credits from using them to pay for comprehensive health coverage for their employees that includes abortion services. Passage of this bill means the government, whom my colleagues claim is too big, will dramatically expand its role in a woman's healthcare decision.

As we have seen time and time again, restrictions like these disproportionately affect low-income women, younger women, and women of color. All women deserve the ability to make their own healthcare decisions without government interference. It is her body. It is her choice.

I urge my colleagues to recognize the intrusive, unfair, and unequal consequences of H.R. 7.

Mr. Speaker, regarding the question considered Tuesday 10, 2017, on passage of H.R. 79, the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups Act or HALOs Act (Roll Call Number 31), I am recorded as voting ``no.'' I intended to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and allow an amendment to be put forward on H.R. 356, the Protecting Our Democracy Act.

A public report was released on Friday by the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA, and it was chilling. It declared that Russia attacked our democracy in the past Presidential election. It said that the attack came from the Russian services themselves. It was ordered by Vladimir Putin and, most concerning, that Russia had a preferred candidate and that they sought to denigrate Secretary Clinton along the way.

Going forward, this is not about relitigating the past. Donald Trump will be the next President. This is about preserving the integrity of our democracy and saying that our dialogue, our democracy, these fights between our parties, they belong to us.

The report also said that Russia intends to do this again. We know that Russia has done this before across the globe to our allies. They are doing it right now to other countries as they seek to move forward in their democracies. Now other foreign adversaries of ours will look at what Russia did, if we do nothing, and see an opportunity to strike us again.

So we have an opportunity, as Republicans and Democrats, to come together and say that the victims may have been the Democratic Party in this past election and, if history has its way, in the next election it may be a different party.

The constant will always remain this: both parties will unite to say, We believe that this democracy, which has been fought and sacrificed for, is worth defending. To do that, we should have an independent, bipartisan, appointed commission to look at how this was able to occur, why our democracy was so vulnerable, and, most importantly, make recommendations to the public to ensure that this never happens again.

We should do this so, first, we can devote ourselves fully--with an independent commission, you have full-time members and full-time staffs--to understanding what happened.

Second, we should do this to depoliticize what has occurred. The incoming President has continuously undermined the findings of our 17 intelligence agencies that Russia was responsible. We should depoliticize this by taking this out of Congress and having an independent commission, once and for all, sign off on who was responsible and, again, make recommendations to protect us going forward.

We should also declassify, to the extent possible, the evidence behind the findings.

Finally, once this commission is formed and once congressional investigations also take place, the American people have to come together. We have to come together because we can never again let an outside meddler influence our elections. So we have every single House Democrat cosponsoring this legislation.

This legislation should not be partisan at all. When you talk to Republicans and you talk to Democrats in our districts and you talk to Independents, they all express a concern about what Russia did. So what we can do in this House is say: We are united. We are united to get to the bottom of what happened.

So I invite my Republican colleagues to join us in the search for what happened. Join us in this responsibility to do everything we can to tell our constituents that, in the next election, we won't let it happen again. Defeat the previous question and support H.R. 356, the Protecting Our Democracy Act.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present for votes taken on Thursday, February 12, and Friday, February 13, because I was traveling with the President and participating in a forum on cybersecurity. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Roll Call Vote Number 77 (Previous Question Motion on H. Res. 101): No

Roll Call Vote Number 78 (Passage of H. Res. 101): No

Roll Call Vote Number 79 (Motion to Recommit H.R. 644, the America Gives More Act of 2015): Yes

Roll Call Vote Number 80 (Passage of H.R. 644, the America Gives More Act of 2015): Yes

Roll Call Vote Number 81 (Motion to Recommit H.R. 636, the America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015): Yes

Roll Call Vote Number 82 (Passage of H.R. 636, the America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015): No

Roll Call Vote Number 83 (Approving of the Journal): Yes

Mr. Speaker, this week, the President put forward his budget. Now, this House has an opportunity to put forward one of our own that reflects the values of those we represent.

We have a choice. We can embrace and support the President's budget that lifts all Americans up, or we can pass another House Republican budget that keeps Americans down.

In California's East Bay, access to child care is going down while costs go up. Access to education has been reduced while costs go up for those who are lucky enough to get in. Paychecks are going down while everyday costs around us are going up.

With this budget, we can address and fix these problems for the families we represent. We can expand access to child care and cut taxes for families paying child care. We can pass and expand access to community colleges with tuition-free community colleges. We can see paycheck progress by making investments in transportation and infrastructure.

We have a choice. Pass the House Republican budget which will keep families down, or we can lift America up and provide more opportunity for everyone with this President's budget.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor four former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers who were inducted into the Laboratory's Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame on January 20, 2015.

The group of former LLNL researchers, who represent the second class of inductees into the Laboratory's Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame, were honored for developing technologies during or after their laboratory careers that created major economic impacts and spawned important new companies.

This year's inductees are Martin Casado, Bill Colston, Fred Milanovich, and David Tuckerman. Between them, these inductees initially started three different companies--an Internet security company, a biomedical company that advanced personalized medicine and a microchip firm.

Computer scientist Martin Casado revolutionized the information technology world when he developed software-defined networking (SDN). Casado is currently continuing efforts to upgrade computer networking security, not only for the computer industry, but for banking, retail, health care and homeland security.

Bill Colston and Fred Milanovich left LLNL to found QuantaLife Inc. based in Pleasanton which is in my district. In collaboration with Milanovich and other experts, Colston developed QuantaLife's hallmark product, an anti-bioterrorism technology that was converted into medical applications.

David Tuckerman co-founded nCHIP Inc., a technology company that developed enhanced microchips and multi-chip module systems. Tuckerman then went on to found Tuckerman & Associates Inc.--an independent technical consultancy firm that helps venture capitalists and industrial clients advance their ideas into reality.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me celebrating these entrepreneurs and honoring Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for supporting their employees' entrepreneurial ambitions.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to mark January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Millions of people are subjected to sex trafficking or forced labor every year.

Each January we take time to recognize the continuing scourge of human trafficking, but it is never easy to accept or believe that this horrible practice still continues in the 21st Century.

And this is not a problem only in far off foreign lands--it is happening right here, in our own country. We know this in the East Bay, which I represent, in which there is a significant problem with human trafficking and sex exploitation.

That is why we are so fortunate to have Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley fighting back hard against these traffickers and standing up for victims.

Earlier this month Nancy announced her office's latest public relations campaign to help raise awareness about the tragedy of sex trafficking and make sure victims know how they can obtain help. She even has a special division within her office, called the Human Exploitation and Trafficking (H.E.A.T.) Unit, to fight trafficking.

I want to thank Nancy and everyone in the H.E.A.T. Unit for the work they do to help and protect the women and children of the East Bay. It is this kind of diligence and dedication that will hopefully, one day, bring an end to human trafficking and sexual exploitation once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley on being named by the Lions Club of Livermore as the ``2015 Alameda County Outstanding Citizen Of The Year.'' I look forward to speaking in honor of Nancy this Saturday when she receives her award.

I was privileged to work under Nancy for seven years as an Alameda County prosecutor. She is well deserving of this distinguished honor.

Nancy was born, grew up, went to college, and graduated from law school in the Bay Area. She rose through the ranks of the Alameda County District Attorney's Office after joining in 1984, becoming Chief Assistant District Attorney and then elected as the first female District Attorney in 2011.

Nancy is a stellar, tough, but fair prosecutor, putting countless dangerous criminals behind bars to help protect the Bay Area. In particular, she is nationally known for her work on issues surrounding violence against women, child abuse, domestic violence, and exploitation. She is also a tireless advocate on behalf of victims and their families.

Her work has been truly innovative. For example, Nancy created the Heat Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) unit, the first such division in the country dedicated to stopping child sex trafficking and punishing perpetrators. She also established the Alameda County Family Justice Center, a model way to achieve justice for and provide services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and human trafficking all under one roof.

In addition to enforcing the law, Nancy has fought to change it for the better and improve public policy. One of her recent efforts is to achieve an end to the unconscionable rape kit backlog, both nationally and in Alameda County.

Nancy has been recognized by many for her achievements. She was awarded the House Victims' Rights Caucus 2014 Lois Haight Award of Excellence and Innovation and was a 2004 inductee in the Alameda County Women's Hall of Fame, just to name a few of her honors.

I want to applaud Nancy for her latest award. The East Bay is truly fortunate to have her standing up for victims on our behalf.

Mr. Speaker, as the President noted in his State of the Union address last evening, we should be proud of the progress we have made since the Great Recession. But there is too much to do still on growth, especially on the issue of paycheck progress.

For most Americans, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, here is our reality: costs all around us are

going up, and wages are staying flat. That is a right angle that is taking American families in the wrong direction.

For paycheck progress we must invest in infrastructure, reform our Tax Code so that it is fairer for all Americans, and, finally, ensure equal pay for equal work.

Mr. Speaker, instead of addressing these issues, many House Republicans are calling for giveaways to special interests, rolling back critical women's health protections, and holding Homeland Security funding hostage to win political points. Let's be real. In the nineties it was: It is the economy, stupid. You ask any American family today: It is my paycheck, stupid.

If we focus on one thing this Congress, let's make sure that it is the paycheck of working-class Americans. The American people deserve better than what is being served up. Let's work together on paycheck progress, not partisanship.

Mr. Speaker, today we mourn with the people of Paris. Americans stand with Paris and attacks on innocent people everywhere across the world.

Terrorists are escalating their attacks on innocent people across the world as we speak. Americans here at home are rightfully concerned, and to protect them, they look to us, their lawmakers.

Our greatest responsibility, above everything else we ever do, prescribed to us in the Constitution, is to keep people safe in their homes and in their country.

As security measures go up in our country to keep us safe, unfortunately, House GOP leaders are proposing to shut the Department of Homeland Security down. We cannot play politics with our national security.

I urge my House GOP colleagues to stand up for security and not shut down the government. Let's put the safety of the American people first and put petty politics aside. Now is the time that we stand strong for the security of everyone.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who will be retiring in January after over 45 years of service.

Bill is an Oakland native and longtime resident of Hayward, California, in the 15th Congressional District. He served as California State treasurer for the past 8 years, and prior to that he served as California's attorney general, which I appreciated as a former prosecutor, especially the work he did on behalf of sexual assault victims. He also served 25 years in the State legislature and 4 years as Senate pro tem. He is known as a strong policymaker and a well- respected leader.

As treasurer, he served under two Governors and effectively managed California's budget through the recession. He kept the economy growing through tough economic times, while maintaining key investments and expanding California's 529 college savings program and expanding investments in renewable energy.

His leadership will be missed, but he leaves an incredible legacy for others to follow. Again, I want to thank Bill Lockyer for his remarkable career of public service and wish him; his wife, Nadia; and their children the best as he moves on to his next step in public service.

Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honor to pay tribute to two legislators, two lions of the United States Congress whom I am honored to have had the privilege to serve with for 2 years.

Henry, it is often said that there is nothing more important than one's health, and no one has done more to improve the health of Americans than the gentleman from California, Henry Waxman. He provided better health care for the elderly and poor through improved Medicare and Medicaid programs, offered Federal help to those with HIV and AIDS, and vastly expanded the use of less expensive generic drugs, on and on and on.

Henry also worked to advance public health by improving the environment in which we live. This included pushing for legislation to protect the quality of our air, water, and food.

Now, George, my neighbor, just to the north, I will never forget the first day I met George. It was in our caucus meeting. He came up to me and he said, ``How old are you?'' I told him I was 31 years old. He said he was about the same age, just a little bit younger, when he was elected. He gave me one piece of advice. He said, ``You are not elected in this town until you are reelected. You go home every single weekend and you represent your constituents.'' I saw George every single weekend flying home on that plane, and I never felt sorry for myself because I know that George went home for the past 40 years every single weekend.

He has also stood up and advocated for working families. I am fortunate that, besides what he has done for advocating to increase the minimum wage, he came out to my district and talked to our local brothers and sisters in labor about how he can teach me to work with them and listen to them and advocate for them. He stood up for children to make sure that poor kids across our district, across northern California, have access to education and a better chance to expand upon that freedom to dream.

But I think one of the greatest things about George is not just the legacy and the legislation that he is leaving, but also the Members that he has mentored. When you look at the bills George has passed into law, it inspires you to be a part of a place that can do good and can do better.

But, perhaps, my favorite memory of George is coming down onto the House floor as George has given an impassioned floor speech. George tends, as you know, to go just a little bit over time, but when he starts to go over time he starts to raise his voice and he starts to bang and bang and bang on that podium as he is standing up for working families and children in our country, and the poor Speaker tries to gavel him down. But never, never, never has anyone been able to gavel down George Miller and what he has stood up for in this Congress.

Long live your memory, George, long live your legacy, and may you continue to inspire all of us to do better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Doug Horner on the occasion of his departure from elected office in my district.

Mr. Horner was first appointed to the Livermore City Council in July of 2007 and succeeded to a second term in 2009. During his time in office, he was twice appointed to serve one year terms as Vice Mayor. He has also represented Livermore on a variety of intergovernmental agencies, including the League of California Cities East Bay Division, the Tri-Valley Transportation Council, the Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department Joint Powers Authority, and the Intergovernmental Committee with the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District and the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District.

Prior to serving on the City Council, Mr. Horner was an active member of the Livermore Community, having served on the Livermore Planning Commission, the Design Review Committee, and the City's General Plan Review Committee.

Mr. Horner's commitment to open space and the viticulture industry has helped maintain the character and quality of life of Livermore, maintaining the best of aspects of his community for future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Horner for his many years of service to the community and wishing him the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Anu Natarajan, an exemplary public servant from my district.

Anu began her career almost 20 years ago as a member of the City of Fremont's planning staff. She was appointed to the Fremont Planning Commission, with which she served for two years before her appointment to the City Council at the end of 2004.

During her time as an elected official, she helped guide the development of Fremont as it transformed itself into an extension of Silicon Valley and oversaw dramatic growth in the high technology and manufacturing sectors of Fremont's economy.

Just as importantly, throughout her tenure she has advocated for a community-based planning process to create well-designed, sustainable, and livable communities to further economic growth.

Anu also has served important roles for a variety of community and economic development organizations, including the MidPen Housing Corporation and the American Leadership Forum. As a board member of StopWaste.org, she helped establish our country's first countywide ban on single use plastic bags. She also has served for more than a decade as a Commissioner of the Housing Authority of Alameda County.

Anu's passion for community building has left an indelible mark on the City of Fremont and her tireless public service sets an example for us all.

Anu's tenure on the Fremont City Council ended this month, but she will not soon be forgotten. I want to offer her my thanks for her years of public service and to congratulate her on a job well done.