Floor Statements

It has now been 857 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis.

The nightmare of joblessness is destroying the American Dream.

When I was graduating from college, my American Dream was owning a home and starting a family, while, for the class of 2013, the American Dream means just having a job--any job--to make ends meet. By eliminating public sector jobs during a time of high unemployment, the sequester is killing the American Dream. It's up to us to cancel the sequester and ensure that America is again a land of opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, let's bring H.R. 900, the Cancel the Sequester Act, to the floor for a vote to end this shame. Our mantra should be jobs, jobs, jobs.

Mr. Speaker, while today's action to stop FAA furloughs will reduce delays, 149 of the nation's contract control towers are still at risk of closure on June 15th. These towers are not only essential for passengers: they're essential for flight training, public safety, and small business.

South Florida's North Perry Airport, which I represent in Congress, is one of the key pilot training facilities in the Southeast and an important backstop for the region's international airports. Without further action, this airport may be forced to close this summer.

I rise today to affirm that the intent of the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 grants Secretary LaHood the authority to use unobligated balances of the Airport Improvement Program account to prevent the closure of the 149 contract air traffic control towers, including North Perry Airport. I call on Secretary LaHood to exercise this option to save these essential facilities.

Now, it's up to Congress to pass a comprehensive bill to stop the sequester.

Mr. Speaker, it's now been 843 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis.

At the current rate of job growth, we will not get to pre-recession unemployment levels until after 2020. This means another decade of people losing their health care, losing their homes, and losing their dignity.

Where is the outrage?

Congress is delaying America's recovery and making their plight worse by pursuing destructive policies like the sequester instead of productive policies like the President's American Jobs Act.

The American Jobs Act deserves a vote.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are looking to you to address the only deficit that matters right now: our jobs deficit. It's time for a vote on a serious jobs bill.

Our mantra here in Congress should be: jobs, jobs, jobs.

Mr. Speaker, it has now been 830 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. I have news for my colleagues: unemployment is our true deficit.

By getting Americans trained and back to work, we can increase our tax base and stop our borrowing. By reducing unemployment, we can stop our national epidemic of foreclosures. Regardless of the assistance you receive, you cannot keep your home if you do not have a job. My State is the Nation's foreclosure State, and my hometown, Miami, is the foreclosure capital.

Mr. Speaker, unemployment is destroying families and depressing property values. It is devastating our people and dragging down our recovery. Our mantra in this Congress should be: Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise to honor the Florida Highwaymen, a group of twenty-six landscape artists who have been called ``The Last Great American Art Movement of the 20th century.''

Against tremendous odds and severe racial discrimination, these African American artists were able to define themselves as artistic innovators, producing more than 200,000 celebrated paintings.

The works of the Florida Highwaymen are unique. They developed their own individual techniques and captured waterscapes, backcountry marshes, and inlets before residential and industrial development. Their work--which is now proudly displayed in the Florida Capitol and the United States Senate--marks the beginning of Florida's contemporary art tradition and the ``Indian River School'' art movement.

Painting in the era of Jim Crow, the Highwaymen could not sell their paintings through traditional channels. Galleries and art festivals would not accept their works. The Highwaymen were forced to sell their artwork along roadsides in towns and cities throughout the eastern coastal roads of Florida. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the Highwaymen pressed forward, offering their works at bargain prices to the public. Until recently, countless Americans appreciated their artistry without knowing their identities.

The twenty-six members of the original Highwaymen are still alive. These men and women have earned their place in history. On Saturday, March 30, 2013, in the City of Pembroke Pines at the South West Focal Point Community Center their unique depictions of artwork will be displayed for the community to appreciate and view.

It is with heartfelt appreciation that I recognize their legacy. Please join me in honoring the Florida Highwaymen for their contributions to the world of art.

Mr. Speaker, it's now been 829 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. Mr. Speaker, I'm devastated by this because the American people are devastated.

Unemployment is depriving people of health care, higher education, and even food and shelter. Does this sound like a civilized Nation?

Mr. Speaker, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. a failing grade for infrastructure. We have no shortage of shovel-ready public projects that can put people to work, but this Congress is unwilling to act.

Mr. Speaker, our mantra should be: jobs, jobs, jobs.

I head back to my district tomorrow to face the thousands of people who sent me here to help them find jobs--800 days ago.

Mr. Speaker, what do I say to them? They know the real deficit is jobs. Do I say that the Republicans in Congress don't get it and that they don't understand that people are suffering and struggling and starving and looking for work? Millions of people are out of work, and this body seeks to fire millions more.

Wake up, America. It's time to bring the President's American Jobs Act to the floor for a vote. It deserves a vote.

Mr. Speaker, our mantra should be ``jobs, jobs, jobs--and more jobs.''

Mr. Speaker, it's now been 807 days since I arrived in Congress to address jobs, and the Republican leadership has still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. More than 12 million American families do not have the luxury of waiting on this issue. They are devastated. There are five students in my

district who graduated from Harvard in 2011, and they're still looking for work. Think of the lost talent.

It's time for Congress to understand that unemployment is an urgent national crisis. It results in lost tax revenue, higher government expenditures, and unbearable levels of human suffering.

Mr. Speaker, our real deficit is unemployment. Let's eliminate this true deficit by bringing the President's American Jobs Act to the floor for a vote. It deserves a vote.

Mr. Speaker, our mantra should be: jobs, jobs, jobs.

Madam Speaker, it's now been 803 days since I arrived in Congress and the Republican leadership has still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. My question is simple: Why then are we here?

In poll after poll, election after election, unemployment ranks as our constituents' number one priority. And for good reason. Unemployment deprives people of their basic dignity, their health care, their homes, and their self worth. High levels of unemployment deprive the government of the tax revenue needed to overcome our fiscal challenge. President Obama has proposed the comprehensive American Jobs Act to get people trained, get people working, and get people contributing to the tax base.

Madam Speaker, it's time to bring this bill to the floor. Our mantra should be simple: jobs, jobs, jobs. People are suffering. People are hurting for jobs, jobs, jobs.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ryan's budget would cause millions of people to lose access to health care and tens of millions more to lose their jobs.

My question is simple: Why?

I've been here 802 days, and we have not considered a serious jobs bill yet. There are approximately 12 million people unemployed. It's unemployment, not debt, that's at an emergency level. When people lose their jobs, they lose their dignity; they lose their health care and eventually lose their homes.

Shame, shame, shame.

There is only one responsible way to reduce the deficit--get everyone trained, get everyone working, and get everyone contributing to the tax base. People are hurting. People are suffering. They want opportunities. Mr. Speaker, our mantra should be ``jobs, jobs, jobs.''

Mr. Speaker, it's been 786 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. Congress has instead been consumed by a single-minded focus on the Federal budget deficit. Well, I have news for my colleagues: our real deficit is unemployment.

Unemployment is not only the moral crisis of our time--leaving families homeless and dreams destroyed--but also an underlying cause of our Federal Government's increased levels of borrowing. Massive job losses following the 2008 financial crisis left us with fewer tax receipts and more people requiring benefits. There's ultimately only one responsible way to reduce the Federal deficit: get everyone trained, get everyone retrained, get everyone working, and get everyone contributing to the tax base. Jobs, jobs, jobs should be our mantra.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 35, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Schrader

Mr. Speaker, ``gender-based violence''--a phrase the world has coined to speak internationally about violence, abuse, rape, assault, and disrespect of women. Women like our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, friends, and most especially our children.

Gender-based violence permeates the world, generally in far away countries, far from the civilized democratic world that we communicate with and befriend.

To the women of this Congress and the women of the world, take a moment to imagine trying to survive without a response from the police, without the ability to press charges and being able to actually see your assailant day after day if you are a victim of gender-based violence. Contemplate life without access to medical care to address your physical, mental, and emotional trauma. Imagine having nowhere to hide.

This scenario sounds like 100 years ago in a world far from our country, but in reality it is just a two-hour flight away from my congressional district of Miami, Florida. It actually describes gender- based violence in Haiti. But through smart policy and the strength and courage of Haitian women, it's a reality that's within our power to change.

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti brought a striking increase in incidents of gender-based violence. Nearly half of the victims are girls under 18, and many cases involve the use of weapons, gang rape, and death threats for seeking help from authorities. These threats, coupled with the lack of police presence and equipment, hurts the integrity of Haiti's legal system and denies women and girls their basic dignity.

The National Penitentiary was destroyed in the earthquake, freeing countless violent prisoners who now roam the streets. Through the determination and grace of the Haitian people and smart assistance from the Obama administration and international NGOs, some change is coming to Haiti. Most of the rubble has been removed, more than a million Haitians have moved out of tent camps, jobs have been created, schools have been built, yet core challenges, including gender-based violence, remain severe.

Today, I am introducing a resolution calling attention to the plight of Haitian women and children and calling for action on their behalf. With its Strategy to Prevent Gender-Based Violence, the Obama administration is on the right track. Congress and the administration must ensure robust funding for these initiatives, including the U.S. Agency of International Development's Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, to meet the continuing need.

For me, this issue is personal. I have seen the tent cities firsthand. I have spoken to the women. I have counseled the victims and witnessed the scars of indignation and pain. I feel the anguish in my bones, but I also feel the hope.

Let's work together to ensure that no woman in Haiti, no woman in this hemisphere or in this world, has to bear the indignity of sexual violence.

Today is New Year's Eve. While we debate going over the fiscal cliff at midnight, there are people somewhere in America planning to shoot their guns in celebration at midnight. Put down those guns. Millions of people have died or been injured due to this dangerous celebratory custom. Put down those guns.

If I were in my district of Miami today, I would be participating in a press conference that we started 10 years ago, calling an end to this deadly custom. As a result, celebratory gunfire has largely disappeared from our county. It is a result of repeated demands and media events over and over again. Now people get it. Remember, what goes up must come down. Bullets are no exception. Instead, hug your kids. Light a candle. Resolve to sell your gun in the next community gun buy-back initiative. Say a prayer for

all of the precious children who have lost their lives to gun violence in our Nation, especially those babies we lost most recently in Connecticut.

Put down those guns. Don't even think about it. Because one bullet-- just one bullet--will kill the party. Please, America, put down those guns.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor our veterans.

There are no words that can express the gratitude that the American people owe all of the men and women who choose to serve the United States of America in the armed services. We are all humbled by the sacrifice they make--knowingly putting themselves in harm's way while also leaving loved ones behind. This commitment is the mark of America's finest citizens and those who answer to a higher calling. Allow me to honor, from the Air Force:

Willie H. Duckworth, William Frank Kornegay, Lexxie Neloms, Jr., Henry David Cunningham. Jr., David A. Bell, Jimmie L. Brown, Ronald E. Green, Charles K. Bronson, Clarles Flower, Charles Ronnye Johnson, Sr., Rolland James, Elizabeth Meyers, George Morris, Lee Miller Brown, Sr., Louis Sparks II, Benjamin R. Wilson, Roland James, Alfred Gordon, Louis Tyler, Christopher Flynn, Clyde Hilton, Loyd Harrison, Fred Rosenkoff Derek Joy, Otis Kitchen, Carolyn Crowell, Andrea Naomi Johnson, Robert A. Sewell, George Albert Stewart, Elizabeth Myers, Antonio White, Skip Williams, Rodney X. Chain, Stafford Nairn, Willard Shepard, Darryl Jones, Ryan Ayer;

Finally, it is not our tanks, weapons or machinery that make the United States Armed Forces the best military in the world. It is our young men and women who serve professionally with honor and distinction. If not for these exemplary citizens, freedom and the American way of life would not be safe and secure. For these sacrifices, we respect and should commend their service everyday of the year. Congress has designated, November 11th 2012 as the official day showing our gratitude.

Please join me in honoring these American heroes for their bravery and sacrifice in defense of this great nation.