Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 9, the Voting Rights Act, as passed by the Judiciary Committee, and in strong opposition to any amendments which would attack Americans' right to vote.

The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. The Voting Rights Act has advanced the rights of all Americans. Latinos and other minority voters have greater voice today because of the Voting Rights Act.

In 2004, a record number of 7.5 million Latinos cast a ballot for President, compared to 2 million in 1976.

We must continue protecting the rights, including section 203, which provides tax-paying U.S. citizens with limited English proficiency with needed language assistance. Section 203 ensures that all citizens have a right to cast an informed ballot and integrates non-English- proficient citizens into a system of democracy. It protects voters from discrimination and ensures a fair and equal voting process for all voters.

I urge all of my colleagues to support the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, as passed by the Judiciary Committee, and I oppose any amendments.

Buenos dias to our audience.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues in this body to stop blocking comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrants are our neighbors, our friends, our caretakers and fellow worshippers. They contribute more than $10 billion to our economy each year, and more than 35,000 immigrants are actively defending our Nation as members of the Armed Forces.

More than 200 Medals of Honor have been given to immigrant servicemembers for their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One hundred one non-U.S. citizens, like my constituent, Francisco Martinez Flores, died in military action September 11, 2001. He was a green card soldier.

Just yesterday our Nation's top general, Marine General Peter Pace, defended immigrants, saying the first Marine he lost in combat in Vietnam was an immigrant soldier. And he said that he continues to be on active duty because he says he still owes those who served with him in Vietnam, regardless of their status.

Immigrants, their families and families across the country deserve more than sham hearings and enforcement-only policies. Let's ask for a comprehensive immigration reform that takes care of all of our soldiers and all people defending our rights here in America.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to congratulate the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association in honor of their 50th anniversary. I am proud to recognize the invaluable contributions and charity of the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association on this historic occasion.

For over 50 years the mission of this small organization has been to ``prevent homelessness and maintain stability by providing the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter for families and individuals in times of crisis.'' And for 50 years the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association has not faltered in upholding their noble and honorable mission. The impact they have had on thousands of lives is immeasurable. By implementing the American spirit of humble and compassionate charity, the South EI Monte Resources Association has come to embody the best of the American people.

The association began their mission by providing second-hand clothing to children in unfortunate circumstances. Through the years they have expanded their services to include the provision of emergency food, clothing, home furnishings, sheets, blankets, medical supplies, and medical equipment to members of the community. Yet the work of the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association is not limited to these services; it extends beyond material assistance to provide moral support and guidance.

Today, in the face of poverty, homelessness, suffering, and insurmountable circumstances, we have hope because of groups like the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association. Without the support and assistance of such organizations, our many impoverished children, seniors, and community members would be left out in the cold with no hope in sight. Today we recognize the priceless services that charitable organizations provide to our society and I congratulate the South EI Monte Emergency Resources Association for 50 years of being a model compassionate organization.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Elvira ``Vera'' M. Durazo of EI Monte, California, a dedicated and compassionate woman known as the ``Grandmother'' of Mexican cuisine in the greater EI Monte area, who passed away on June 24, 2006.

Vera opened the first Mexican food restaurant and tortilla factory in EI Monte known as ``Durazo's'', bringing a taste of Mexico to the San Gabriel Valley. After many successful years at Durazo's, Vera turned her focus to contributing to the community as a volunteer. For more than three decades, Vera assisted the sight impaired and homebound elderly. She also organized the Convalescent Patient Project, which now gives more than 150 patients birthday and Christmas gifts in the EI Monte area per year, and volunteered at health fairs and clinics, the monthly mini-mart at the Hack Crippen Senior Center, and Meals on Wheels.

Vera was particularly committed to the elderly in the local Latino community and founded the Club Hispano Americano. Club Hispano Americano is the largest Hispanic philanthropic organization for the elderly in the San Gabriel Valley.

Vera is survived by one son Edward Durazo, two daughters Rebecca Ramirez and Evelyn Prudhomme, eight grandchildren, thirteen great- grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren. She will be dearly missed by her family, friends, and the community.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in opposition to the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement.

The U.S. government, as you know, is prepared to open our market and risk our workers' jobs for a country which fails to respect workers and human rights. Oman not only bans unions, but it has been reported by our own State Department to have human trafficking and forced labor abuses.

The wage gap between men and women in Oman is one of the widest in the world, with women earning less than 22 percent of their male counterparts. Oman even bans night work and hard labor for women unless the sultan states otherwise. Yet the free trade agreement does not require Oman to protect women workers' rights and does not even require Oman to bring its domestic anti-discrimination laws into line with our international standards.

Oman will face no consequences if it chose to allow employers to violate existing maternity leave provisions or the ban on pregnancy based dismissals or continue to permit job discrimination based on sex.

We need a fair trade agreement, one that will help prevent the exporting of our workers' jobs. Let us turn down the Oman Free Trade Agreement.

Madam Speaker, the economic climate created by years of failed Republican policies is tough for many Americans to swallow. Millions of full-time workers in the Nation who are making the Federal minimum wage, $5.15, find that every other cost-of-living expense has gone up, from prescription drugs to housing to just about everything, food on our table.

The minimum wage has not increased for 10 years. The millions of Americans who would benefit from that increase know that it is impossible to make ends meet at the current salary that has not been raised since 1997. For example, we are struggling with the rising costs of oil and other expenses.

Madam Speaker, everyone in the country who works full time to support their family deserves to earn a livable wage.

Today, Democrats will demand a vote in this House to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. It is only fair. We hope that House Republicans, who have been more than willing to shower giant tax breaks to their wealthy friends, will finally realize that no American working full time deserves to live in poverty.

We hope that you will join with us today to increase the minimum wage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5573, the Health Centers Renewal Act of 2006.

H.R. 5573 reauthorizes the Community Health Center program, guaranteeing a funding source for critical providers in communities like mine.

Community health centers leverage what little they have to ensure working families, the uninsured, and our Nation's children have access to critical medical care.

More than 40 million people in our country lack health care coverage today, including one in three in the San Gabriel Valley and in East Los Angeles. Eighty-three percent of the uninsured are from working families, and 14 million of those families are Latinos.

Community health centers are a fundamental component to our safety net, often providing vital care in a culturally competent and linguistically appropriate manner for all families, and often being the only source of care.

In my own district, community health centers bear the brunt of responsibility for treating the uninsured. After 70 years of serving much of my congressional district in the city of Azusa, our health center there was forced to be closed. There was not sufficient funding to keep it open. I knew one in three people in my district without health insurance would suffer without access to this care.

Through the support of the city of Azusa, Los Angeles County and many other community organizations, the clinic in Azusa was opened. Now it is there because we were able to secure section 330 designation. Now they can open their doors and serve the thousand or so patients that come through their doors every month. It is exciting to tour that clinic and see the kind of assistance that mothers are receiving in terms of prenatal care, to see that the elderly are having someone help them manage their diabetes, and to see that young children are getting their immunizations. Those things are vitally important to our community.

There is another community clinic that has been in my district for over 30 years, and what is wonderful about this particular clinic is that it also serves surrounding congressional districts. Mr. Dreier's constituents receive services from the East Valley Clinic, as do Mrs. Napolitano's constituents. We worked there to help leverage support and fund services to serve all of our residents and constituents.

I am proud to say this is a wonderful bill to be able to express our strong support, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Imagine if you had not received a pay increase since 1997. The price of goods and services you rely on like gasoline and prescription drugs have gone up dramatically over the last few years. But one thing that hasn't has been the minimum wage. It has almost been 10 years that we haven't raised the minimum wage, and the reality is that 7 million Americans will not receive a minimum-wage pay increase. And most of those individuals happen to be single head of households, women, with kids, children.

Democrats want to take America in a different direction. We want to expand opportunities to millions of Americans that feel they have been left behind by the Bush economy that has favored the wealthiest few above the middle class. One of the ways we want to expand opportunity is by giving minimum-wage workers a pay raise for the first time in a decade.

Last week, Democrats passed an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. Democrats were joined by several Republicans in passing this commonsense amendment. We need to have support to bring this up and vote on it. Let's give those 7 million people an increase in the minimum wage.

Mr. Speaker, the supplemental appropriations legislation passed by the House will spend nearly $95 billion of taxpayer money yet will not help our veterans, will not secure peace in Iraq, and will not make our homeland safer and better for working families.

The Bush administration continues to underfund the health care services for veterans and sent our troops to war without a plan to secure the peace. When our servicemen and women return home they are returning to a system that cannot care for them or provide the benefits they so greatly sacrificed for and deserve. And the hurricane season began again on June 1 but this Nation is no closer to be prepared for a hurricane under this administration than it was the day before Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma struck land. This bill will not resolve these issues.

Instead of passing the biggest supplemental ever passed by Congress, Congress should take real steps to help protect our country and ensure our veterans and their families receive the care they need. We should pass the GI bill of rights for the 21st century to ensure affordable and accessible health care, education benefits and job training. We need to take seriously the impact of the war on veterans and their families and pass legislation I have introduced to ensure access to needed mental health counseling. We should develop a real plan to bring our troops home safely and secure the peace.

I strongly support our troops, our veterans and their families and will continue to fight to ensure they receive the well-deserved support of their country. I will continue to fight to improve the quality of life for working families. And I will continue to make sure America is a safer place.

Mr. Speaker, next week the House will have its first vote to increase the minimum wage in over 10 years. This is good news for the more than 7 million hardworking Americans who today only make $5.15 an hour. It could also be good news for millions of middle class workers who could see their hourly wage increase as a result of the higher minimum wage.

Despite repeated efforts by the House Democrats to expand economic opportunity for millions of Americans over the last 9 years, the House Republican leadership has refused to allow the floor vote on increasing the minimum wage. Next week they have no choice, however. Thanks to action in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, the committee voted to gradually increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25.

The American people should not be surprised that the out-of-touch House Republican leadership is also voicing strong opposition to the wage hike and vows to kill it next week. This would be shameful, and millions of Americans will be affected. They need to have a living wage.

I look forward to the vote next week and hope that the House will finally take action in a new direction to expand economic opportunity for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our troops and in opposition to the President's stay the course in Iraq.

The war in Iraq was under taken with too few troops, not enough of the right equipment, and no plan for peace. Without a plan to secure the peace, 2,500 servicemen and women have been killed, including 10 in my district: Private First Class Jose Casanova, Jr., age 23; Lance Corporal Manuel Ceniceros, age 23; Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez Flores, age 21; Lance Corporal Benjamin Gonzalez, age 23; Corporal Jorge Gonzalez, age 20; Sergeant Atanacio Haromarin, age 27; Specialist Leroy Harris-Kelly III, age 20; Corporal Stephen Johnson, age 24; Corporal Rudy Salas, age 20; Marine Corporal Carlos Arellano, age 22.

I have celebrated their sacrifices and mourned their passing with their families: with their parents, with their spouses, and with their children.

Eighteen thousand four hundred and ninety servicemen and women have been injured during the war in Iraq, 8,501 so badly they will be permanently damaged from their injuries. I have visited with many of them at the Walter Reed Hospital.

And even with more veterans returning from Iraq, President Bush refuses to provide adequate funding for their health care. At a time when more than 17 percent of the troops returning from Iraq suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, this is the wrong course of action.

No one can question the commitment of our troops, especially our green card soldiers like Lance Corporal Francisco Martinez Flores, who was granted posthumous citizenship but could not realize the beauty of our citizenship because he was not granted that before he died.

Since 9/11, 25,000 servicemembers have become U.S. citizens. Despite the commitment and sacrifices of thousands of green card soldiers and their families, many in this House are not willing to provide them with support because they lack documentation.

Mr. Speaker, amid the doubt and anger I have expressed about the war, I have never ever questioned the commitment of our troops to this Nation. They deserve a real plan to secure the peace so that they can be redeployed, and I wholeheartedly support the Murtha plan.

American taxpayers, Members, deserve accountability for the $17 billion in no-bid contracts for Halliburton and real measures to protect the homeland and our port security. The Bush administration has failed to fulfill its responsibilities to our troops, veterans, and all Americans. This resolution fails them.

It is a sad day when this resolution is the only thing that can be offered for our servicemen and women. Francisco Martinez Flores did not die in vain. He deserves the very best. The American people deserve a real debate.

Bring our troops home and no permanent bases in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express concern about the sharp rise in hate crimes and racial intolerance, and to urge acceptance in our Nation.

A recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center stated that there were 803 hate groups in the USA last year. This is up from 762 in 2004 and is a 33 percent increase since 2000. The center's report stated the national debate that has focused on immigration has been ``the single most important factor'' in spurring activity among hate groups and has given them ``an issue with real resonance.''

Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully throughout the Nation to give a voice for immigrants in this country. Half a million in Los Angeles, 300,000 people in Chicago, 40,000 in Washington, DC, and 20,000 in Milwaukee and Phoenix marched to defend the hopes and dreams of immigrant families. Nearly 40,000 students across Southern California, including students at several schools in my district, marched for the rights of immigrants.

Those who marched did so peacefully. I encourage everyone to remember the great history of change driven by nonviolent action, which is such a vibrant part of our Nation's fabric. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I urge that such expression be done in a peaceful and nonthreatening manner.

Mr. Speaker, graduation season is in full swing, and all across the country eager college students are walking across the stage and entering into the workforce. While many wonderful experiences no doubt lie before them, one factor will quickly dampen their spirits, the reality that they are now saddled with unmanageable debt they accrued while obtaining their college degree.

The debt will grow even more daunting if they miss an important deadline that is fast approaching. That is why I came to the floor today, Mr. Speaker, to encourage all college graduates and their parents who are carrying debt to consolidate their Federal college loans before July 1. If they do not, interest rates will rise by 7 percent for students and 7.8 percent for their parents. Consolidating this month will allow them to lock in a low rate of 4.75 percent, drastically reducing the overall amount they will have to pay.

Mr. Speaker, the Republicans refuse to join us in making college affordable for many, many young people. In fact, they actually made college more expensive for American students when they passed a $12 billion in higher education cut earlier this year.

I urge strong support for our students and parents.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be withdrawn as a cosponsor of H.R. 2048, the Motor Vehicles Owners' Right to Repair Act.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express concern about the sharp rise in hate crimes and racial intolerance, and to urge acceptance in our Nation.

A recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center stated that there were 803 hate groups in the USA last year. This is up from 762 in 2004 and is a 33 percent increase since 2000. The Center's report stated the national debate that has focused on immigration has been ``the single most important factor'' in spurring activity among hate groups and has given them ``an issue with real resonance.''

Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully throughout the Nation to give a voice for immigrants in this country. Half a million in Los Angeles, 300,000 people in Chicago, 40,000 in Washington, DC, and 20,000 in Milwaukee and Phoenix marched to defend the hopes and dreams of immigrant families. Nearly 40,000 students across Southern California, including students at several schools in my district, marched for the rights of immigrants.

Those who marched did so peacefully. I encourage everyone to remember the great history of change driven by nonviolent action, which is such a vibrant part of our Nation's fabric. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I urge that such expression be done in a peaceful and non-threatening manner.