Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on December 12, 2018, I missed Roll Call Vote 434. As I argued on the floor during debate on the rule for the bill, had I been present, I would have voted YES on the farm bill conference report

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding, and I commend my colleagues of the farm bill conference committee in both the House and the Senate for strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and rejecting harmful cuts and onerous hurdles that would have made efforts of struggling families working to escape poverty more difficult.

This conference agreement very specifically protects SNAP's categorical eligibility. What a victory we have won by not throwing 235,000 children, including 23,000 in my home State of Wisconsin, off school lunch, as the House bill proposed.

It rejected language to impose a lifetime ban on SNAP assistance for individuals reentering the community from incarceration. It rejected harsh work requirements and extremely limited time restrictions proposed in the House bill, which would have left millions of Americans hungry and vulnerable.

And as a true compromise, Mr. Speaker, nobody got everything they wanted. For example, we still must work to strengthen access for seniors and people with disabilities who face difficulties participating in SNAP. That is a fight that we are going to continue to fight in the next Congress.

But for the meantime, let's not have the perfect be the enemy of the good, and let's celebrate that we won't be taking food off the table for millions this holiday season.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 434.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Trudy Lee Caldwell. She was a veteran, social justice activist, devoted daughter and sister. Trudy was born on September 19, 1967, and passed away at the age of 51 on November 7, 2018.

She was born in Madden, Mississippi, raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from James Madison High School. She enlisted in the United States Army in 1985 after graduating from high school. At the end of her initial enlistment, Trudy attended and graduated from Fayetteville State University (FSU) cum laude. While in attendance at FSU she served as both Student Government Association Present and student representative on the University's Board of Trustees, became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Program and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps.

Trudy Caldwell's assignments during her military service spanned the globe and only accentuated her worldwide perspective in approaching issues. She was selected for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Office of the Secretary of Defense Internship Program. This internship Program led to assignments with the Joint Staff and the Army's Congressional Liaison Office. It was my pleasure to first meet Trudy while she was assigned to the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Army's Congressional Liaison Office in 2004. Under the auspices of the JCS, Office of the Secretary of Defense Internship Program, Trudy completed her Master's Degree from Georgetown University's highly venerated McCourt School of Public Policy. She also served a work placement in my congressional office as part of her graduate studies concentrating on Veteran's Issues; Trudy was a valuable asset bringing her knowledge and years of military service to assist the staff and constituents of the 4th Congressional District.

Major Caldwell lived life to the fullest and I was pleased to celebrate her 50th birthday with her and other friends two years ago in Milwaukee. Trudy achieved one of her goals to establish the Myrick Woodley Leadership Institute. The Institute mission is to inspire and empower youth in the greater Milwaukee area to develop to pursue STEM careers in nontraditional sectors. Youth would be exposed to opportunities at home in Washington, DC. The youth would become informed and engaged world citizens and leaders while carrying out her vision greater exposure and growth for youth. Major Caldwell retired from active duty in 2009 after an accumulated service of 20 years. After retirement, she continued her public service as a Department the Army Civilians and worked for the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army in procurement where she worked until her transition.

She leaves behind many friends, admirers and family members to mourn her passing including: her mother Eliza B. Myrick; sisters Hope Myrick and Charlotte Woodley, a niece and nephew. Major Trudy Lee Caldwell made a positive impact on Milwaukee Wisconsin and the world. I am proud to call Trudy my friend. Mr. Speaker, for these reasons I rise to pay tribute to a woman whose legacy will continue to benefit the Fourth Congressional District for years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the House's action last Friday to pass legislation (H.R. 6014) to reauthorize the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, FVPSA, a bill that was introduced with bipartisan support by Rep. Glenn Thompson, myself, and Reps. Elise Stefanik and Lisa Blunt Rochester. I am pleased that the House, on a bipartisan basis, was able to reach agreement and expedite passage of this key law. I again want to thank Rep. Thompson, Rep. Stefanik, and Rep. Blunt Rochester for joining with me and their hard work in getting us to this moment.

FVPSA, originally enacted in 1984, is at the heart of our nation's response to domestic violence, ensuring that local domestic violence shelters and programs are able to keep their lights on and doors open to serve more than 1.3 million victims and their children every year.

FVPSA funds nearly hundreds of community-based programs. These programs provide emergency shelter, counseling, legal assistance, crisis intervention, and domestic and dating violence prevention education. FVPSA also provides funding for tribal governments to deliver essential services to survivors and supports the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which is often the first call made by survivors. H.R. 6014 would simply extend the current programs at current funding levels through FY 2023.

It's critical to remember that the most dangerous moment for women experiencing intimate partner violence is that point in time when they decide to do something about their situation, and that is the point in which there has just got to be a resource there. That is what the programs and funding through FVPSA helps to provide.

Mr. Speaker, recent high-profile cases have brought a national focus on domestic violence, but such violence isn't limited to Hollywood. The #MeToo movement has given all survivors a renewed courage to come forward for help. I cannot underscore enough that it is critical that Congress act to ensure that the resources and supports are in place to help them when they do. Passing FVPSA is a good step forward.

In that vein, I hope my colleagues will take the next step and bring VAWA reauthorization legislation (H.R. 6545), introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and myself and over 170 of our colleagues, that would strengthen and improve those critical programs, to the floor as quickly as possible. No more needless delay.

I applaud colleagues on both sides for their work to help move this commonsense and noncontroversial bill out of the House last Friday. While we can't end every single act of violence, we must help create the space and the opportunity for these victims to be able to come forward and to leave these situations.

I hope that the Senate will act expeditiously to send this bill to the President's desk for signature into law.

Mr. Speaker, hallelujah. Let the Republican majority tell it. The American people are just going to be so thrilled with tax scam 2.0 where we permanently lock in obscene tax advantages for corporations and the wealthy, where we lock in inequality, where we directly threaten Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Now, Mr. Speaker, the American people are just going to be bereft of this economic security and retirement security, but they are going to spontaneously break out in a Depression-era George Gershwin opera, like I did on the stage of North Division High School:

I got plenty o' nuttin',

And nuttin's plenty for me.

I got no car, got no misery.

Meanwhile, the folks with plenty of plenty are getting 80 percent of this tax cut, increasing the debt by another $3 trillion in just 3 years' time.

Mr. Speaker, no singing, no dancing, no tax scam. My constituents want our country's wealth back.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the renowned Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum. On November 3, 2018, the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum will celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Much of the success of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum can be attributed to its founder and Director, Clayborn Benson III. He worked as a photojournalist for 39 years at WTMJ-TV News. When Benson was an adult student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1987, he produced a documentary, ``Black Communities,'' for a film class. The three-part film follows a grandfather as he shares stories with a young girl about black history in the United States, Wisconsin and Milwaukee. The project reignited Benson's love of history. In producing the documentary Benson discovered that the records and documents concerning the history and roots of African American people in Wisconsin were widely scattered and poorly preserved. Benson felt the stories had to be told.

The Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum, located on the corners of North 27 and West Center Streets, opened its doors and its heart to the community, city and state in 1987 and remains at this location. In 1988, the Museum became an affiliated member of The State Historical Society. The building, constructed in 1898, was the Engine No. 2 Fire Station. It was converted into the Center Street Library in 1928.

Mr. Benson founded the Society/Museum to instill cultural pride and self-worth based on the premise that a people who know their history will grow to love and appreciate themselves more. The mission of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum is to document and preserve the historical heritage of African descent in Wisconsin. The Museum exhibits, collects and disseminates materials depicting this heritage. The Society/Museum serves as a resource center for all people interested in Wisconsin's rich African American heritage and encourages and promotes family, community and cultural activities. He not only teaches at the museum, but also at schools. Further, he encourages people to write down their own stories, so they can be passed down for generations. Mr. Benson really loves history and states that history fits his spirit and understands this is what he was supposed to do in this lifetime.

The Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum is a true Wisconsin treasure. The Society/Museum through its many exhibits has shown despite the limitations often placed upon them, African Americans were pioneers, leaders and great contributors to the growth of this nation and to the settlement of Wisconsin. They were men and women who made enormous impacts, strived for freedom, and were leaders in our community.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum hails from the 4th Congressional District and I am pleased to give praise to Clayborn Benson III on their 30th anniversary. I wish them many more years of success.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to join me on a bipartisan basis as cosponsors of the Scarlett's Sunshine on Sudden Unexpected Death Act. This bill is intended to help us to better understand why infants die between birth and age 4 so that we can take preventive action that is effective.

Mr. Speaker, I have had the unfortunate experience of walking into the home of parents who are grieving, and that grief doesn't just begin when their infant dies but goes on for a lifetime, wondering: Was it my fault? Could I have done something? Am I a bad parent?

They never get the answers.

Do you realize, Mr. Speaker, that currently we have absolutely no national guidelines for death scene investigations to follow when responding to an infant death? This means that different States and different municipalities all over the country collect inconsistent and, often, incomplete data on these unexplained sudden deaths.

If we can't even collect good and consistent data, how can we expect to reverse this trend or even to prevent it?

I am ashamed to say, Mr. Speaker, that the infant mortality rate in the United States is 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is really unacceptable. When you disaggregate these numbers for Native American babies and Black and White babies, we find that Black babies die at a rate three times the national average.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that really means that over 23,000 infants have died of sudden infant death syndrome. In 2015, about 3,700 infants died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Think about that: 23,000 deaths and parents who spend a lifetime in grief wondering why.

This is a public health crisis when you consider that, in developed countries, we are number 19 for preventing these kinds of deaths.

My bill not only provides resources to invest in the CDC and the Health Resources and Services Administration to train first responders to improve death scene investigations, to do child death reviews, and to promote safe sleep practices, but it also provides educational opportunities for parents as well.

Mr. Speaker, these deaths are preventable, and we need to do everything in our power to give parents the knowledge and tools they need to achieve healthy outcomes and educate them on safe methods for handling their children.

I encourage my colleagues to imagine how many babies' lives we can save by simply investing in the right programs to prevent their deaths. Please join me in cosponsoring this bill and supporting its swift enactment into law.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Andrew Cocroft, U.S. Army veteran who passed away on September 12, 2018. He was born to Willie Tilmon Cocroft and Louise Cocroft (Gee) on November 16, 1946, in Conway, Mississippi. The Cocroft family settled in Milwaukee in 1947.

Robert received his formal education in the Milwaukee Public School system and was a fellow graduate of North Division High School in 1965. In 1966, while attending the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on a football scholarship he was drafted into the U.S. Army but opted to attend Officer Candidate School to become an infantry officer. He was a Vietnam-era veteran who served overseas duty in the Republic of Korea. He joined the 84th Division of the Army Reserve in Wisconsin and climbed the chain of command until earning the rank of Brigadier General. At the conclusion of his military career, he was the Assistant Division Commander of Operations for the 98th Division having commanded at the company, battalion and brigade levels over his 40 years of active and reserve military service. He officially retired in 2006.

At the time of his passing, he had served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Center for Veterans Issues, Ltd. (CVI) for over 14 years. In addition to advocating for the needs of veterans, CVI services include housing for low-income, homeless, minority and women veterans including their families. CVI is distinguished as the largest private provider of transitional housing and permanent supportive housing for veterans in Wisconsin.

Robert served as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs from 1994 to 2002. He had the overall responsibility for the Department's day-to-day operations, which included administration and management of 900 full-time employees, departmental administrative services, as well as, coordination and direction of strategic planning and program development.

Robert was the immediate past National Commander of the National Association of Black Veterans (NABVETS) which was established in 1973, through the combined efforts of Robert Cocroft, Willie Sims, and Thomas Wynn (deceased) to advocate on behalf of its members. NABVETS currently has chapters in 80 cities throughout the United States and is certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a claims representative for veterans.

He was a life-long learner and continued his training/education while working and going to school full-time to earn a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business Management, Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Officer Candidate School, U.S. Army Paratrooper Airborne School, and the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, P A.

Robert leaves behind his beloved wife of 49 years, Jacqueline D. Cocroft to mourn his passing. Additionally he leaves a strong legacy of leadership for his children, Dianna Killins (Cocroft), Robert H. Cocroft and his adopted daughter Annette (Michael) Miller, Grandsons-- Devin Tyree Cocroft, Isiah H. Cocroft, Robert T. Cocroft, Jonavan M. Cocroft, Michael A. Killins, Malik A. Killins, Mekhi A. Killins. Granddaughters--Arianna I. Cocroft, First Lieutenant Michelle A. Killins, USAR. Great-grandchildren--McKayla A. Killins and Morgan A. Killins and a host of other family and friends.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Andrew Cocroft was a true servant leader, as demonstrated by his commitment to veteran affairs, as well as, serving on numerous boards and committees both locally and nationally. Robert was my friend and a Milwaukee and Wisconsin treasure. I valued his service to the 4th Congressional District, including his service as Co-Chair of the 4th Congressional District Academy Advisory Committee, his commitment to building safe transitional housing for veterans in the district, and his advocacy on behalf of low-income minority and female veterans. I urge my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to join me in a salute to late Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Andrew Cocroft.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Phil Neuenfeldt who is retiring as President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO after 8 years of service in the role. Phil began his career on the shop floor in the manufacturing sector, as an active member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. He held various positions of leadership in his local union, including Chair of the bargaining committee where he fought for fair contracts and improved health and safety conditions for fellow workers.

Prior to his election as President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Phil served as both the Secretary-Treasurer and Legislative Director there. As Legislative Director, Phil Neuenfeldt worked tirelessly to strengthen the Wisconsin labor movement. He advanced a working family agenda which included: expanded ability for workers to organize, protected prevailing wage, defended the Family and Medical Leave Act, promoted teaching labor education in schools, pushed for fair tax codes and closing of corporate loopholes, fought against the privatization of public service jobs and promoted the creation and retention of manufacturing jobs. Phil as President was a central member in the broad coalition that was created to fight back against egregious attacks on labor in 2011 and 2012, and served as a spark that reignited our labor

movement in Wisconsin, the nation and around the world.

Phil has been a proponent of developing strategies to upgrade worker skills and address changes in technology and the economy including initiatives such as the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership and Worker Centered Learning initiatives that are now national models for training and job creation. He knew the labor movement must continuously evolve in order to stay relevant in today's fast-changing workforce environment. Further, Phil's vision for the labor movement extends beyond current union members and he continually took on projects that not only expanded the sphere of solidarity but improved the lives of all working families. He knows that a key to long-term prosperity and a viable middle-class is a dynamic public and manufacturing sector which is why Phil sought to bridge gaps between labor and the community by advancing economic development projects that benefited both union workers, as well as, the community at large.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to call Phil Neuenfeldt my friend, he is a veteran and a father with deep roots in this community. I am pleased to recognize his strong fidelity to both the labor movement and its mission. I have known Phil for over two decades beginning while he served as Legislative Director and was always a welcomed visitor to my State Senate office. He willingly shared with me and my staff, both then and now, his knowledge and valuable insights about labor and many other issues.

The citizens of the Fourth Congressional District, the State of Wisconsin and the nation have benefited tremendously from his service because he has fought for the AFL-CIO mission: to raise wages, improve workplace safety, protect worker freedom to collectively bargain and for strong contracts that build strong communities to mobilize union members and community partners to advocate for social and economic justice and strive daily to vanquish oppression and make our communities better for all people--regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin. I am honored for these reasons to pay tribute to Mr. Phil Neuenfeldt.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the House is going to take up and, hopefully, pass legislation that I have introduced to honor a Wisconsin hero and one of my she-roes, Vel R. Phillips. The bill would designate a post office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in her honor.

Vel was the first of so many things: the first African American and the first woman to become an alderman in the city of Milwaukee; the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School; the first African American judge in Milwaukee County; the first and only African American to win election statewide in Wisconsin.

But her life and contributions cannot simply be summed up by merely adding up her many firsts. Such an approach gives short shrift of her local and national impact. For you see, Mr. Speaker, she was a soldier for social justice in the national movement for desegregation in housing in the open housing movement.

I first met Vel when I was 16 years old, and she was the judge in an oratorical contest. That encounter has made a lifelong impact on me.

Vel passed away earlier this year in her 90s, but her legacy of love, service, and commitment lives on.

Mr. Speaker, I missed Roll Call votes 386 and 387. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on the Previous Question in order to allow the House to take up and debate the Child Care for Working Families Act. I would have voted NO on the closed rule for debate on

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Thompson, and, indeed, it is my pleasure to join him in cosponsoring the reauthorization of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I am so very, very pleased that this is a piece of bipartisan legislation introduced by Glenn Thompson, Elise Stefanik, and Lisa Blunt Rochester.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we have found the need to stick together in a bipartisan manner because violence against women and children, unfortunately, is not a partisan issue. It is not an issue that is relegated to one race of people and to one economic class. It is pervasive, and it is a detriment to our entire American community.

But fortunately, Mr. Speaker, since 1984, Congress has passed the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act as the primary Federal funding source to support emergency shelters and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their families. We have updated it based on best practices that we have seen, and the monies are available to community-driven solutions and a network of programs and services dedicated to responding to domestic violence across the country.

This reauthorization would follow current authorization levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2023. FVPSA, is, of course, at the heart of the Nation's response to domestic violence, ensuring, Mr. Speaker, that these shelters and programs are able to keep their lights on and their doors open to serve more than 1.3 million victims of domestic violence and their children every year.

Again, it serves nearly 1,600 community-based programs through State- formula grants.

Not only do they serve shelters, the hotline, and crisis intervention, but they also provide legal assistance and police services as well. It is a multistate strategy, and we are very proud of its effectiveness.

In fact, the National Institute of Justice funded a multistate study, and it shows conclusively that the Nation's domestic violence programs address not only the most urgent safety needs of victims to protect themselves and their children, but it also asserts that, if this funding did not exist, the consequences for the victims would be dire, including homelessness; serious losses, as in mothers losing custody of their children; and continued abuse.

As Mr. Thompson has pointed out, the abuse is not simply confined to physical abuse, but the emotional abuse and economic abuse as well, and even, sadly, death of some of these women.

Each year, the National Network to End Domestic Violence releases a report called ``Domestic Violence Counts: A 24-hour National Census of Domestic Violence Services.'' Sadly, it reports that in just 1 day last year, 2017, 72,245 victims of domestic violence were happily receiving services.

But you know what, Mr. Speaker? Another 11,441 requests for services were left unmet because of the lack of funding and resources.

So we do a pretty good job with this program, but there are always, always, always a dearth of resources.

I appreciate Mr. Thompson providing me with the time, and I have examples, if time will allow, for me to just share some of the stories, just to give some face, Mr. Thompson, to some of the people who are served by the local shelters, programs, coalition, funding for Tribal governments to provide essential services to survivors.

In the State of Washington, we have Inez, who was 14 years old and the only survivor of a fire that killed her entire family. She was taken in by relatives, only to be raped by her uncle at age 15, as so- called ``payment for her care.''

She gave birth to a son, Manuel, who was never allowed to call her ``Mother.'' At 16, she met Tomas, thinking this would be an escape for her and Manuel. He promised her a life of love and security but, in reality, that security meant a locked closet where she and Manuel were routinely starved and sexually assaulted. When her second son, Miguel, was born, Inez decided that she just had to get a way before she and her two sons were further victimized.

Inez learned of the domestic violence hotline from women she had worked with in the orchards, and a coworker called and helped Inez and her children go to a local YWCA shelter. She lived there for 2 years to get back on her feet while she gained her U visa and rebuilt her life. Inez now has her green card and a home of her own, and her boys are thriving in school and preschool.

You know, there are many, many stories that I can go on with. I just want to say that the #MeToo movement has given all of these survivors a renewed hope and courage to come forward to tell their stories.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Thompson so much for his time, for his stewardship over this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to stand with these survivors by cosponsoring H.R. 6014, the FVPSA Reauthorization Act, and to push for the passage of this bipartisan legislation in this 115th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, if I just might add, Mr. Thompson, it is because of us. I mean, as legislators, we get a bum rap sometimes. We don't know Inez necessarily, but it is because of us and this funding that there is someone on the other end of that telephone who can answer the call. It is because of the work and this authorization that there is a place for Inez to go.

This did not always exist before 1984. And while we can't end every single act of violence, we do deserve the credit for creating the space and the opportunity for these victims to be able to come

forward and, when they gain the courage, to leave these domestically violent situations.

The most dangerous moment for any of these women is that point in time when they decide to do something about their situation, and that is the point in which there has just got to be a resource there.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my thoughts on H.R. 184, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017. I recognize concerns regarding the implications of an excise tax on medical devices for the consumer. However, this bill is a clear effort by the House Majority to continue taking a sledgehammer to the Affordable Care Act and pander to corporate interests.

H.R. 184 is neither good policy nor good messaging. Americans need thoughtful legislation that will improve upon the Affordable Care Act, lower healthcare costs and insurance premiums, expand access to care, and improve the quality of care they receive. Instead, the House Majority brought H.R. 184 to the Floor, without providing for the cost of eliminating the tax, increasing the deficit by $20 billion dollars over 10 years, all to benefit major corporations. As we've seen them do before after the passage of their Tax Scam, Republicans would then cynically use the rising deficits as an excuse to target Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Therefore, I do not believe it is prudent to repeal this tax, especially without a plan to offset the cost.

I encourage the Majority to make an earnest effort to improve the state of our healthcare systems. I'd gladly join them in working to produce legislation that strengthens the Affordable Care Act by protecting preexisting conditions, expanding access to critical health services, increasing insurance coverage enrollment, decreasing costs and premiums, and improving the quality of treatment all Americans receive. H.R. 184 accomplishes none of these.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent and missed rollcall Votes 373 and 374 earlier today. I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall Vote 373, extending the authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program, and ``yes'' on rollcall 374.