Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, once again I am standing here today while House Republican leadership has failed to do the bare minimum.

Where are they?

The Republican side of this Chamber is vacant while House Democrats have remained at the ready to do their jobs and pay America's bills.

It is fiscally responsible to pay our bills. Doing so would protect my friends, neighbors, and constituents in west Michigan from disastrous consequences.

Defaulting would kill nearly 8,000 jobs in my district alone, jeopardize Social Security payments for nearly 90,000 families, and mean financial chaos on an unprecedented scale, hurting working families across the country.

House Republicans' solution?

Cut nearly 30,000 law enforcement jobs. The party that says that they back the blue wants to take their jobs away.

This is a false choice. There is a bill sitting right here that needs just five more Republicans. We invite them to sign it.

We can and must act now. It is Congress' job to get this done.

Mr. Speaker, today, I am on the House floor to talk about a condition that impacts the lives of so many Americans: tuberous sclerosis complex, or TSC.

I am honored to speak on behalf of the Cardona family, who shared their child's story with me, and thousands of other families across America who love a child with TSC.

TSC is a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on vital organs, prompting seizures and developmental issues and often delaying children's progress in school.

Despite its profound impact on American families, TSC often goes unrecognized.

Research into diseases like TSC benefits countless individuals and families battling different conditions. It leads to scientific breakthroughs and discoveries to help cure a wide range of diseases, making better care and quality of life a reality for so many.

Today, I invite my colleagues to rally behind rare disease research for conditions like TSC.

Mr. Speaker, this May, students from across west Michigan and the Nation will graduate from high school and college. I am honored to recognize one of these outstanding and incredibly bright graduates who hails from Michigan's Third Congressional District today.

Elle Bennett from Ada, Michigan, will graduate first in her class from the United States Military Academy at West Point later this month. After graduating, she will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.

While at West Point, Elle majored in environmental science and researched wastewater resilience, even having the opportunity to publish and present on her findings. Drawing on her passions, she served as an energy and environment officer at West Point, where she led initiatives to increase recycling and pressed the institution to choose greener options.

On behalf of our West Michigan community, including Elle's proud parents, Bill and Amy, as well as her siblings, Kes and RaVell, I congratulate her on her impressive accomplishments as she graduates from West Point.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of the bipartisan Protecting Sibling Relationships in Foster Care Act.

Several students from my district have written in to ask me to support this essential piece of legislation. Frankly, they have a really good point.

We know that CPS investigations and removals are traumatizing for children. When we keep kids together in foster care, we protect them from adverse experiences, provide them with continuity, and help expedite the delivery of services to them at a critical time.

Currently, it is estimated that 53 to 80 percent of these children are separated from one or more of their siblings while in care. This can't continue.

There are overwhelming psychological, academic, operational, and humanitarian reasons for supporting this legislation. This bill would increase the placement of siblings together in foster care and encourage the development of programs designed specifically for sibling groups.

It is pragmatic, bipartisan, and, most importantly, good for our kids.

Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to do right by our children and support this legislation as well.

Mr. Speaker, as west Michigan's Congresswoman, it is my top priority to support the next generation. That means regularly engaging with kids and students across the district.

Since I took office, I have heard from so many young people, having them write to me about the need to protect endangered species. In direct response to their concerns, I chose to cosponsor the bipartisan Manatee Protection Act.

Manatees are wonderfully intelligent mammals. They can be over 10 feet long and hold their breath underwater for nearly 20 minutes.

We are at risk of losing these wonderful creatures forever. There are only 6,500 West Indian manatees left in the waters off the coast of Florida.

This piece of legislation will give the West Indian manatees the protection status they deserve and ensure they do not go extinct forever. It is time to take action.

I thank the students for sharing their passion for animals and their love of our world. I heard them, and I am responding to them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Korean Connection, a nonprofit organization in Michigan's Third Congressional District working to build awareness and appreciation for Korean culture and community in West Michigan.

This year, on the 10th anniversary of their founding, Korean Connection is commemorating the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement between South and North Korea which ended the Korean War.

During the Korean War, hundreds of thousands of South Korean civilians perished, along with troops from South Korea, the United States, and the United Nations who gave their lives to keep South Korea free from a communist takeover. I'm proud to stand with Korean Connection as they honor the sacrifices made for freedom and democracy--values we all hold dear.

While this year holds particular significance for this historical moment and our values, it's also important for me to recognize just some of the ways our shared lives are enhanced when we celebrate Korean cultural heritage: Korean Connection organizes Korean language classes, cooking classes, and annual celebrations. My hometown of Grand Rapids recently recognized Gangnam-gu as a Sister City, and we're proud to share art and music across the world, as well as partner in business and medicine.

Because of the work of Korean Connection, my district has enhanced respect for cross cultural connection, business ties, and the diversity that enriches us all. On this historic day, we remember those who sacrificed everything to defend freedom and democracy. We hold space for the experiences of those with Korean heritage in West Michigan, and we commit ourselves to the good work of building a welcoming community for all.

Mr. Speaker, this week I am introducing bipartisan emergency legislation to correct the devastating issue of child labor in west Michigan and across the country.

In west Michigan, we believe in protecting kids. When big companies and corporations go against that goal, we take the necessary steps to hold them accountable. I have heard from my constituents, and I am responding.

Here is what my bill, the Justice For Exploited Children Act, will do and why it is important. Right now, the maximum fine per violation of child labor laws is around $15,000, and there is no minimum. No minimum.

If you think that is an embarrassingly low price to pay for exploiting a child, you are right. That is because these are the fines that have been on the books since this law was first introduced almost 100 years ago, and they have not been raised.

These meager penalties, effectively pennies for big corporations, allow guilty parties to evade meaningful consequences, and as a result, continue these shameful practices. It is unacceptable. This legislation makes clear that exploiting kids cannot be the cost of doing business.

Mr. Chair, permitting reform, we all want it. There is a simple solution. Separate the question.

But why not? We need to ask why not.

Because this bill includes massive handouts to big corporations and incentivizes them to leak methane into the atmosphere.

Let's just look at the bill's name: LECA. They are telling it like it is, folks, and we should be listening.

There is a choice being made here by House Republicans, Mr. Chair. They are not doing this to make our system more efficient or to lower costs for the American people, quite the opposite.

This bill repeals $4.5 billion in home electrification, a program that the Department of Energy estimates could save Americans thousands of dollars annually.

If we were focused on lowering costs for American families, this is what we would be focused on.

I talk to west Michiganders every single day about what they want and what they need.

We want to protect the Great Lakes. We want to lower our energy costs, and that means investing in conservation efforts and putting smart regulations in place that support the longevity of the Great Lakes economy. That means ensuring a future for the next generation of west Michiganders.

The Big Oil giveaway act does none of that. It greatly expands companies' ability to exploit public land.

Michigan-3 is home to a large portion of the Grand River watershed and miles of beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. I support protecting our most beautiful protected areas, not stripping them for parts.

What House Republicans are doing is this: Holding an antiquated permitting system hostage to extract benefits for Big Oil corporations.

If they want to come to the table in good faith on serious bipartisan efforts to streamline the permitting process and lower energy costs for American families, I will be the first in line.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a west Michigan leader, advocate, former colleague, and friend. Taken from us too soon, she will go down in history as a trailblazing young woman.

Eva Alvarez was the daughter of migrant farmworkers, one of seven children who worked her way through college and her master's degree. She was the Public Policy Coordinator for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

I had the joy of working with Eva to help support hardworking migrant farmworkers throughout Michigan, and together we partnered to shine a light on injustice, uplift those often pushed aside in society, and make our community a little more just, fair, and humane.

In addition to her work on policy, she co-founded Empowering Latina Leaders and Advocates for Success, ELLAS, the first professional network in Southwest Michigan for Latina women. In all she did, Eva was bringing others up around her. She often reminded us ``we did not get here alone, help pave the way for others.''

With a smile that could light up a room, an infectious laugh, and a quick-witted sense of humor, Eva pressed on through difficult work. She carried a vision of communities and systems that treat every individual with dignity and respect, regardless of who they were, where they came from, their skin color, or the language that they spoke.

Every day, she worked to bring Michigan a little bit closer to that vision, practicing welcome everywhere she went. Her work will leave a legacy of justice and compassion; her friendship memories of joy and light. I continue my work to make west Michigan a better place because of her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the House floor to bring attention to the horrific conditions of migrant child labor happening right here in the United States of America and to urge my colleagues to stand with me and bring solutions to this appalling state of affairs. I represent west Michigan where many of these migrant children reside.

As an attorney who has spent my entire career fighting to make our immigration laws more just, more fair, more humane, and as a mother, I will not stand by as this tragedy continues. These are my constituents, these are my kids, and I will protect them with everything I have.

This weekend, The New York Times published a stunning expose shining a light on the scores of migrant children currently working on our farms, our factories, and at some of the most dangerous sites in our country. These children, some as young as 12, are working marathon shifts, often with dangerous machinery to package our foods, sew our clothes, and build our homes. The industries that employ them turn a blind eye to these children's suffering, and often seek out and willingly participate in this despicable practice.

In case I did not make myself clear, Mr. Speaker, these are children.

Stories of kids dropping out of school, collapsing from exhaustion, and even losing limbs to machinery are the things that one might expect to find in a Charles Dickens or Upton Sinclair novel, but not an account of everyday life in America in 2023; surely not here, in the land of the free, where child labor protections have been on the books for nearly a century; not in the country that holds itself up as the paragon of democracy, guaranteeing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.

And yet right here, Mr. Speaker, we are exploiting minors from other countries, children in an already vulnerable situation, to do dangerous work for low pay that often results in life-changing injuries. Those allowing these practices to continue should be ashamed of themselves.

The company at the center of this article, Hearthside Foods, which packages the breakfast cereals and snacks many of us have in our cupboards right now, proudly proclaims that 25 percent of their employees have been with the company for over a decade. I wonder if they have similar statistics they could share with us about how many of their employees were even alive a decade ago.

Many of us in this room are parents. I have two young children of my own, the same age as some of these kids in these stories. My heart aches for these children. As a mother myself, rest assured, I am approaching this problem with the urgency and ferocity that it deserves. I wouldn't walk away from my own children in these factories, and I sure as hell am not going to walk away from someone else's children.

As soon as I read this story, I immediately picked up the phone and started demanding answers and action. I called the White House, HHS, and DOL. This is a multilevel, multisystem failure that created the shadows where these children can be exploited, and we need a multilevel, multisystem approach to fix it.

I have called on the administration to create an interagency task force to ensure--ensure that this kind of child exploitation cannot happen in the United States. We, as a Congress, must also act. That means, first and foremost, holding the companies accountable with every tool at our disposable. It also means conducting oversight of the agencies responsible for enforcing these laws and ensuring they have the resources to protect the kids. What could possibly be a higher priority?

At the heart of this matter, though, is that we need long-term solutions. We need comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the root cause of this problem. I know most of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that reform is long overdue.

We need reform that addresses the border security, provides sufficient pathways for individuals to come to the United States of America, and addresses the root cause of migration.

A safe and effective immigration system is essential for the United States to lead in a 21st century economy. It is a critical national security component, essential for protecting human rights, and fundamental to our identity as a land of prosperity and opportunity.

I have worked on all aspects of immigration from enforcement to advocacy and across party lines. I believe we can have an immigration system that keeps our country safe and honors human dignity because I have done it. I have worked on it, and I know I have colleagues in both parties who agree with me. I have already spoken with many of you who have expressed the same ideas.

I know that my colleagues across the aisle care as deeply about children as I do. I know that as they have stood with righteous indignation to fight for the sanctity of life, I believe now they also have the courage and moral fortitude to stand and protect children from life-threatening harm and exploitive work.

Let's come together and get this done.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of our kids. It is so important that we come together alongside the next generation of Americans and give them the resources they need to succeed in a 21st century economy.

There are so many issues facing our youth today. Between the mental health crisis, rising costs of education, and childhood hunger, our children are dealing with issues that can and must be addressed by Federal lawmakers.

Mental illness is on the rise among the next generation of Americans. We are witnessing an unprecedented increase in depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide.

We are in the middle of a crisis. Mental health concerns are American parents' top concerns for their children, and the pandemic just exacerbated already troubling trends.

Working families matter. Our kids matter. There is so much opportunity to come together across partisan divides and address these critical issues.

This week, I have been meeting with school board members and college officials from my district. They are ready to partner with us to improve the lives of our students.

I am here for the next generation of west Michiganders. We owe it to our kids to address these critical issues through commonsense solutions that work for them.

Mr. Speaker, I am on the House floor today to talk about an element that sustains us all--water.

My home State of Michigan is surrounded by four out of the five Great Lakes--our Nation's largest freshwater reserve. The Great Lakes region is home to 51 million jobs and has a GDP of $6 trillion. It is an economic powerhouse.

Yet, despite the abundance of freshwater surrounding us, many of our constituents do not have access to reliable and safe drinking water. PFAS and lead contamination continue to be an issue for many West Michiganders. The Great Lakes are home to one of our Nation's most incredible landmarks but are under dire threat from climate change.

We must protect our freshwater supply nationally and internationally. The Great Lakes contain 90 percent of the United States' freshwater supply and 20 percent of the global supply. We have to work with urgency to protect this precious resource.

The importance of water nationwide cannot be understated. It is an environmental matter, an economic matter, and a matter of national security.

This week, I am launching my work on the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water and the Environment where I will work to protect this vital resource, and I invite my colleagues to join me.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to address an issue which every American cares about: gas prices.

When gas prices were high last summer, the administration took action by releasing millions of barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower the cost for consumers.

The Treasury Department has estimated that the administration's use of the SPR cut prices for American consumers by as much as 40 cents per gallon, saving the average driver hundreds of dollars per year.

This use of the SPR not only helps insulate Americans from foreign adversaries' price manipulations; it puts money back in the pockets of working families and is a top concern among young people.

By introducing H.R. 21, a bill inhibiting the administration's flexibility to use the SPR, Republicans are showing once again that they care more about their friends in the oil industry than hardworking Americans.

My amendment will address this issue by allowing the Department of Energy to release oil from the SPR if the Department thinks that a delay in doing so would lead to an increase in gas prices.

This commonsense amendment gives the Department the flexibility it needs to help lower the price at the pump. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Offered By: Mr. Scholten

Amendment No. 60: Page 2, line 11, after ``(d)'' insert

``or if the Secretary determines that a situation exists in

which a delay in executing a drawdown of petroleum products

in the Reserve in order to comply with this paragraph will

increase gas prices''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to champion the American economy and to voice my support for American workers and businesses.

I have just returned from a busy district work period back in west Michigan, where I saw firsthand the need for a champion on economic revitalization.

The district I represent has long been known for manufacturing and industry. Many global companies started right in west Michigan out of garages and storefronts, driven by their local communities and supported by their representatives in government, but we all see firsthand the difficult economic times that are taking their toll on our communities and across the United States. Just last year, my district alone lost dozens of small businesses.

This is unacceptable, and it is why I am committed to moving the American economy forward in Congress. It is so important that we, both Republicans and Democrats, support American industry and our economy. It is not only the right thing to do; it is what our constituents expect us to do.

We have so much in common here, and I believe that both parties can come together and support American ingenuity and innovation. Let's get to work.