Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I came to Congress to help people, not to hurt people, and this shutdown is hurting innocent Americans.

This past Sunday, I flew back home because Congress was not in session. We were not voting on Sunday, so I took a flight home to California to meet with my constituents in my congressional district.

I held a town hall. I held it at Dublin City Hall. Dublin City Hall is where I served as a city council member. Dublin is also home to many Federal employers. In my congressional district, we have 4,000 Federal employees, plus a number of government contractors who work at Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. I also held it there because, for 2 years as a city council member, I worked in that chamber day in and day out to make sure that we provided a balanced budget. We provided a 2-year budget.

It is so frustrating for me here in the Congress that we provide budgets that are only 45 or 60 days at a time, and across America our city councils are thinking big and thinking forward and balancing their budgets while taking measured investments in the future.

So we gathered the community of California's 15th Congressional District at Dublin City Hall, and we had over 150 people attend. The room was filled with fear and anxiety. Federal workers were in the room, worried about what this was going to mean for the personal incomes, for their families, for their household bills. Even though Federal workers in my district have been furloughed, their bills have not been furloughed. The home lenders are still calling, asking where the mortgages are. Their auto loans are still going to be due. Their credit card statements will still arrive. If they have kids in college, they're still going to have to pay tuition.

The Federal employees told me about the stress that they're living under either by not being able to work or, even worse, by being told that they have to work, but they're not going to receive their paychecks right now. In fact, we were reminded in this very Chamber just last week how stressful that can be, when the Capitol Hill Police, who stand guard here at democracy's door, who protect the people's House, rushed to aid the Members of Congress and the employees who work in this building as an erratic driver drove into a barricaded area just outside the Capitol grounds. Those Capitol Hill police are working to protect us, but they're doing so without pay.

So I heard stories just like that in my congressional district from the employees in our district, who are very scared about what's going to happen next. We learned that this is affecting people who work not just inside government, but also outside government.

Inside government, we have employees at Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, the NASA facility in Dublin. We also have a women's Federal prison.

Outside government, we have government contract employees--about 6,500

of them--at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and about 1,500 of them at Sandia National Laboratories.

They told us, if the government shutdown continues, they may be furloughed within the next 10 days.

Most strikingly, the Republicans who attended expressed their concern, as we have heard in this Chamber, about the Affordable Care Act. I understand that, but not a single Republican who attended told me or told our other constituents that they believe their concerns over the Affordable Care Act were worth prolonging this government shutdown.

There are also concerns about, well, why don't we just get some of the government up and running like some of the bills that we passed last week but that the Senate won't take up? I told my constituents I will not support any bill that pits any constituency against each other. We saw bills that pitted veterans against seniors, sick children against the poor. It is time to get the government up and running for everybody. Veterans who attended our town hall agreed. They served this country to make sure that the government works for everybody, not just for the veterans who served it.

I am inspired by, and I told my constituents that I have hope in, a freshman group that continues to gather a couple times each week and that was here during the shutdown crisis, called the United Solutions Caucus. It has about 15 Members on the Republican side and 15 on the Democratic side. They are freshman Members of Congress who are meeting and talking about what we can do to work together.

Finally, to my colleagues across the aisle, I ask you this respectfully: Did you come to Congress to help people or did you come to Congress to hurt people? If you came here to help, just like I did, then I think you know what to do next. Turn on the lights of the government that runs the greatest democracy in the world, and let's get America working again.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Safeway Inc., headquartered in Pleasanton, California, for receiving the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) organization.

The Employer Support Freedom Award recognizes employers who show a commitment to hiring and supporting service members from the National Guard and Reserve. Safeway was one of only 15 employers to receive this prestigious award, chosen from over 2,900 nominations.

More than ten years ago, Safeway was one of the first companies to extend full benefits and cover the pay differential for Reserve and National Guard employees called to active duty.

Additionally, in 2012, Safeway launched its Retail Military Recruiting project, which seeks to hire veterans from a variety of backgrounds. In 2012, Safeway hired 1,500 veterans, and it plans to hire another 1,500 veterans in 2013. Also, Safeway has instituted a special program to hire junior military officers and non-commissioned officers for managerial positions in the company.

As a nation we must pledge that when our troops return home we leave no service member behind. Safeway has shown our troops and veterans more than words of appreciation; it has provided meaningful support to our brave service members.

I applaud Safeway's continued service to our National Guard, Reserves, and veterans through these hiring and benefits programs. Congratulations again to Safeway for achieving this great honor.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Julienne Sauer, of San Ramon, California. Fourteen-year-old Julienne recently was awarded second place in the science category of the Broadcom MASTERS 2013 National Science Fair.

The Broadcom MASTERS National Science Fair challenges sixth, seventh, and eighth grade scientists to explore STEM experiments and projects. Julienne was selected as one of thirty finalists from thousands of nominees by a panel of distinguished scientists and engineers.

Julienne's project was titled Quantum Locking: The Future of Frictionless Motion. She tested two different types of superconductors to explore which produced a magnetic field that would support the most weight. Scientists today are using this type of research to determine how to use frictionless motion to propel high speed rail and other projects. It is important that young scientists like Julienne have opportunities to pursue their passions.

I applaud Julienne's success. Her achievement, especially at such a young age, is remarkable. She is an inspiration and should serve as a role model for other young students looking to pursue a STEM education around the country. I offer Julienne my heartfelt congratulations, and I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, it is a dark day today in America and the lights of the greatest government of the greatest democracy in the world are out. The only person who can turn those lights back on, the only person who controls the switch is Speaker John Boehner, not the Tea Party.

Turn that switch on, Mr. Speaker. Turn it on for the Federal worker at Camp Parks in Dublin, California, who is seeking unemployment benefits and asking to extend the mortgage on his house. Turn it on for the children who are awaiting clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health. Turn it on for our veterans, whose claims will be delayed. Turn on the lights, Mr. Speaker, for the hungry women and children who will be affected by delayed WIC funding. Turn on the lights for our Capitol Hill Police, who stand guard at the people's House without pay.

Mr. Speaker, you can turn back on the lights of the government that runs the greatest democracy in the world. Just give us a vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Jensen Ranch Elementary School from Castro Valley, California, in my congressional district, which was recently named as a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools for overall academic excellence or improved performance.

Two representatives from Jensen Ranch have been invited to travel to Washington, D.C., in November for the

recognition ceremony, where they will receive a National Blue Ribbon School plaque and flag to proudly display at their school. Jensen Ranch is just one of 15 California schools recognized with this prestigious award.

Led by Principal Melodie Stibich, Jensen Ranch has been actively working to integrate new technology into the classroom and has implemented early intervention programs for students who are struggling to read and write. Jensen Ranch's commitment to providing a top-notch education program will help its students learn, grow, and thrive in our communities.

Congratulations again to the teachers, administrators, parents, and students that helped Jensen Ranch achieve this well-deserved award.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this radical, right-wing effort to walk our economy off of a cliff and cause a government shutdown.

I invite my colleagues on the other side to wake up from this radical, ideological wet dream and come back to reality.

It's time for us to come to the negotiating table. It's time for us to talk about what we can do to avoid a government shutdown.

It takes health care coverage away from millions of people by blocking funding for ObamaCare.

This is the 42nd attempt to do so, and there is absolutely, as we all know, zero chance of it happening. It makes sure that we pay China first before we pay people in this country should the right wing continue to demand defunding ObamaCare at all costs and force a first- ever U.S. failure to pay its own bills.

We all know how this should end. There is a way to fund the government which would pass this Chamber with votes from both sides of the aisle. I can only hope that the Republican leadership will eventually listen to the pleas from Americans in my district and in the whole country and pursue this bipartisan effort.

Until then, I urge all Members to oppose this bill.

Mr. Speaker, with this House at this moment considering such important issues for the American people, there is no better person I know than Bishop Jerry Macklin to deliver this afternoon's opening prayer. Bishop Macklin's words are inspiring. His call for national unity and wisdom during these trying times is appropriate.

Bishop Macklin knows a thing or two about trying times. He founded the Glad Tidings Church in Hayward, California, in 1978. With a big heart of compassion and a deep devotion to the Lord, Bishop Macklin turned a neighborhood overrun by drugs and crime into a community of faith. Today, Glad Tidings Church has over 1,500 members. Under Bishop Macklin's leadership, the church is not just a place to worship but a center point for care for the community, providing food, affordable housing, and health care to the most in need among us.

Just 2 weeks ago, Bishop Macklin opened his church's doors to host an Affordable Care Act forum to help educate my constituents. As the regional Health and Human Services director was explaining to the attendees where they could sign up, I saw firsthand Bishop Macklin's commitment to serve the community. He leaned over to me and said, Eric, our church needs to be at the center of signing people up. And by the time the regional director had finished addressing the attendees, Bishop Macklin had already texted and emailed about a dozen people to make sure that happened.

Thank you, Bishop Macklin, for asking God to watch over this House and for your work to watch over our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Sirous Sadaghiani, a wonderful 9-year-old boy from Dublin in my congressional district who lost his courageous battle with brain cancer this past weekend.

When he was diagnosed 1 year ago, he was given just 6 months to live. But although Sirous had been fighting for his life during the past year, he never gave up and never let his illness get in the way of his curiosity or his kindness for others. I had the privilege of meeting Sirous and his family. He was a smart, passionate boy who lit up a room.

I was so proud to see the entire Dublin community rally behind Sirous and his family with a meal train and fundraisers during this difficult time in their lives.

This month is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and I am committed to continuing the fight for funding for cancer research so no family has to ever experience losing a child to cancer.

Despite his short life, Sirous' story will continue to inspire others. My condolences go out to his entire family--his dad, Reza; mom, Marlene; twin sister, Sima; and brother, Zachary, who were always by Sirous' side as he fought for his life.

We miss you, Sirous.

Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to rise today on the House Floor and recognize the great work of the Hindu American Foundation, which is having its annual Northern California Awareness and Gala Dinner near my congressional district one week from Saturday.

There are over 2 million Hindus in the United States, and the Hindu American Foundation works to educate people about their religious faith and protect the free exercise of it around the Nation and across our globe.

I'm proud to stand as a Member of Congress with the Hindu American Foundation on issues that are important to me and its members. For example, I worked to get the FBI to collect data on anti-Hindu hate crimes, including sending two letters to ask it to do so. Thanks to this advocacy and the Hindus across the Nation, we've achieved this goal.

I've also cosponsored H.R. 717, the Reuniting Families Act, to enable people in the United States to be reunited with family members abroad; cosponsored House Resolution 47, which calls on the Postal Service to adopt a commemorative Diwali holiday; and I also joined the India Caucus.

Saturday's dinner will give the Hindu American Foundation members and supporters a great chance to talk about what we've done together and what the future may bring.

I also look forward to attending the gala and hearing from my colleague here in the House, Tulsi Gabbard, from Hawaii, who is the first Hindu ever elected to this body and is, rightfully, being honored by the Hindu American Foundation. I'm sure she'll have a unique and insightful perspective for this occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to recognize Dr. Emily Ruffo, administrator of the Hayward Police Department's Youth and Family Services Bureau, who has been named the California School Resource Officer Association's Law Enforcement Administrator of the Year. She'll be honored with this award today at the School Safety Conference in Anaheim.

She's been helping kids and families for years, joining the Hayward Youth and Family Services Bureau in 2011. Just this year, Dr. Ruffo was promoted to be administrator of the bureau, and her work has been a great help to Hayward and the entire 15th Congressional District.

The bureau Dr. Ruffo leads offers services to youth such as counseling to help keep kids out of trouble. For kids who have violated the law, it offers an alternative to juvenile justice to get them back on the right track. As a former prosecutor in the Alameda County District Attorney's office, I've worked closely with the Hayward Police Department and know how important this program is.

Dr. Ruffo is rightly being recognized for her commitment and care for the children and families of the East Bay. It's people like her willing to dedicate their careers to helping those at risk who are helping to provide us with a brighter future.

On behalf of the people of Hayward and the entire 15th Congressional District, I want to thank Dr. Ruffo for her service, congratulate her on her award, and wish her continued success.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, happening this weekend at Pleasanton Valley Middle School.

Cancer is expected to strike about 1.7 million Americans this year. As of January 2012, over 13.7 million people with a history of cancer were alive in this country. Sadly, about 580,000 will pass away from the disease in 2013.

While we are doing a lot better than we used to in terms of diagnosis and treatment, these numbers show the fight against cancer is far from over. That is why this weekend's Relay for Life is such a terrific event.

Participants work as part of relay teams and run or walk around the school track; someone from the team is always on the field, for the entire two-day event, reminding us that cancer never sleeps either.

The relay provides an opportunity to applaud those fighting cancer, honor people we have lost to the disease, recognize caregivers, and raise badly needed funds.

Relays like this occur worldwide, and over four billion dollars has been raised since the first one in May 1985. The dedication and fundraising efforts of participants play a critical role in helping reach our goal of a future without cancer.

Cancer is an issue that affects everyone. Through Relay for Life, communities around the world unite through the knowledge that they are working to help save and prolong lives.

Events like this show the best of the East Bay--a willingness to come together in common cause for a larger purpose. I want to thank the event organizers and group supporters: Florine Johnston, Pam Sanchez, Miriam Drummond, Stephanie DaVille, Nilo Bartolome, Larry Coy, Haddy Coy, Kaitlin Gallagher, Sue Schepers, Kimberly Haynes, Janis Wills, Lisa Lundquist, Randy Brown, Lisa Brown, John Swager, Julie Ochiro, the American Cancer Society, Valley Medical Oncology Consultants, and the Rotary Club of Pleasanton North.

I wish everyone the best of luck with the relay, and I am proud to join them in their battle against cancer.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, Saint Anne Catholic Parish in Union City is celebrating its 40th anniversary festival.

Saint Anne was founded in 1860 as a mission in the old Alvarado District before the city of Union City even existed. The current parish was established in 1973 and has been serving the surrounding community ever since.

Today, Saint Anne is one of the largest parishes in my congressional district, with over 5,000 parishioners, led by my friend, Father Geoffrey Baraan. With Father Geoffrey's guidance, Saint Anne helps serve the ethnically and culturally diverse community of Union City, and it helps ensure that the church lives up to its core mission, to ``lead with compassion.''

Through its parishioners, youth ministry, and hardworking staff, Saint Anne continues to help the homeless and the hungry of its community. This annual festival serves as a celebration and a reminder of the hard work and selfless service that went into building Saint Anne's. The funds raised during the festival will help the church continue to serve with collaboration, fellowship, and stewardship.

I wish Saint Anne all the best and hope they have a great 40th anniversary festival.

Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to my constituents who are concerned about the viability of Social Security. They want big ideas and long-term solutions. Instead, there are solutions right now and proposals to switch to a chained CPI formula to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries to save money. This would reduce benefits and only extend Social Security solvency for 2 years.

I do not support the use of chained CPI. It reduces the amount of Social Security checks, but not the rising cost of health care, water bills, or other fixed costs that seniors continue to face.

The importance of Social Security is evident in the lives of millions of beneficiaries, including my own father and grandmother. It's an earned benefit that these hardworking Americans have paid into their entire lives. That's why I have signed on to House Concurrent Resolution 34 to express my clear opposition to this misguided reduction in benefits.

But I don't stand here just to knock down ideas. Instead of reducing benefits through chained CPI, I believe we should raise the cap on payroll contributions. Currently, Social Security taxes are only collected on the first $113,000 of earnings. By raising the cap, we can extend Social Security solvency without cutting benefits.

I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing chained CPI.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from California, Congressman Cardenas, for leading on this issue and for bringing together the freshman class on an issue that is important not just in California but across the country--the question about comprehensive immigration reform and whether it means jobs.

We know that it's the right thing to do to welcome the 11 million undocumented immigrants into our country and to put them on a pathway to citizenship. We also know that it's good for our economy, and I am happy to be here today to talk about this. Everyone agrees right now that our immigration system is broken. It must be reformed, not in a piecemeal manner, but comprehensively to meet the needs of the 21st century.

I represent a very diverse area, which includes the cities of Hayward, Union City, Fremont, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo, California, among other cities. In those cities are some of the 11 million undocumented individuals. These are hardworking folks who come here for the same reason that our ancestors came--to make life better for themselves, their families, and their children. We should welcome that. We should embrace that they are choosing to come here to America rather than to go to other countries. It's a very good thing.

Tragically, right now, these undocumented workers are in the shadows, putting them at risk for exploitation

and allowing for the unscrupulous employer to drive down wages for everyone. It's time to bring them into the open, to provide them legalized status, and to allow them to earn citizenship.

We also need to reform our legal immigration process. For example, we need to stop forcing people who come here and study in America--in our classrooms and in our colleges--and become skilled workers in the U.S. to leave the country just when they want to stay and contribute. Not only is making these changes the morally right thing to do; but as my colleagues have been saying and will say tonight, it adds up for our economy.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analyzed the bipartisan Senate bill and found it would increase our GDP by 5.4 percent in 2033, or $1.4 trillion. It's not just the CBO. A paper published in 2012 by the Cato Institute found that comprehensive immigration reform would raise wages, increase consumption, create jobs, and generate additional revenue. It calculated a smaller benefit than did the CBO, but it's at least $1.5 trillion in extra GDP over 10 years.

Comprehensive immigration reform is not only the morally right thing to do; it's the economically correct thing to do to get America's economy moving again, and I am honored to stand with my colleagues today to push for this needed reform.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, it has been an honor to be in this Chamber and listen to the debate that's going on.

My colleagues on the other side, their bill seeks to reduce the role that the Environmental Protection Agency would play. I hear words and phrases like ``an unelected body that makes decisions in the night for no one to see or hear.'' But, Mr. Chairman, it is not an unelected body. We have elections in our country, and we had a Presidential election; and elections have consequences. The EPA is an arm of the administration, an arm of a President who was elected with a commanding victory this past November. And to hear that this is an unelected body and work being done in the dead of night for no one else to know about is just not the case.

I urge my colleagues on the other side--I was a prosecutor. We would have a trial. I would pick a jury. We would put on evidence. I would give a closing argument. The jury would deliberate, and then we would all accept the verdict. We had the same thing for over a year. We had Presidential debate after debate, TV ads that we were all tired of. Now we have a President who was reelected and an agency that the President is charged with administrating. And it really does disturb me, Mr. Chairman, to think that these agencies shouldn't have any teeth or enforcement to protect our children and the future.

But I also rise today to express my concern about the impact that this Energy and Water appropriations bill will have on the important work that our national laboratories are doing. We depend on our national laboratories for the basic scientific research that keeps our country safe and keeps us on the cutting edge of technology.

Our national labs are home to some of the greatest minds in the country, and we all benefit greatly when we allow these great researchers the freedom to do what they were trained to do and to explore the scientific questions that they are passionate about.

I am fortunate that I am able to represent Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, which are NNSA laboratories and work on maintaining our nuclear stockpile, but also are participating in research that will provide an all-of-the-above energy solution for our future.

Right now, however, this bill reduces what the laboratories call laboratory directed research and development. Laboratory directed research and development, LDRD, allows the scientists at the laboratory to work on their own experiments in addition to the work that they do at the lab. Now, in the private sector, Google really was the first company to innovate with this, they call it 20 percent time. One day out of the week an employee at Google would be able to work 20 percent of the work, 1 day, on their own projects for Google. Some of the programs that we all use, like Gmail or Picasa or Google documents came from Google's 20 percent time.

Well, the laboratory, their 20 percent time is actually, today, 8 percent time. It's LDRD. This is a way to recruit top talent and retain its scientists with a promise of being able to do publishable work in addition to their classified work. But this bill foolishly cuts LDRD time from 8 percent to 4.5 percent. This will result in less independent science research. It will hurt the ability of our classified labs to recruit and retain top talent and will surely deprive the Nation of scientific discoveries.

Additionally, I am concerned about the cuts to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility, also known as NIF. Over the long term, NIF is a fundamental part of providing our Nation with energy security. It also, in light of international treaties that prevent us from conducting nuclear tests below or above ground, allows us to use laser science to test and maintain our stockpile while also participating in nonproliferation programs, which makes our stockpile leaner and meaner.

America should be a leader in the area of fusion research. Russia, China, and France have accelerated investments in their efforts to compete in inertial confinement fusion, but they remain behind this premier U.S. endeavor. Ceasing support for NIF would be ceding to those countries or others American leadership in what could be the energy industry of the future. Considering our national security threats and limited domestic energy sources, this is no time to be cutting its capabilities.

Unfortunately, jobs at NIF have already been cut and the capacity has been curtailed because of reductions in fiscal year 2013 and the sequester. The funding levels in this bill would make the situation much worse.

We must ensure that the United States does not fall behind our competitors and continues to build upon the investments already begun. It is crucial that NIF gets the funding it needs to continue this crucial work.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to carefully consider the damage that these cuts would do at our national laboratories and consider the value of preserving our country's leadership and our role in maintaining our nuclear stockpile and investments in the future of our country through laboratory directed research and development.

I yield back the balance of my time.