Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor and memory of the Honorable Judge James Ortega Perez who was from Santa Ana, California in my district. He was the first Latino judge appointed in Orange County.

As a child, in July of 1932, his family moved to Santa Ana, California where his father pursued new employment opportunities after working as a blacksmith in the copper mines. Judge Perez attended Santa Ana High School and was working in the tomato fields in Southern California when he was drafted. He proudly served in the U.S. Army Air Corp from 1944 to 1946 as a Technical Sergeant.

Upon returning home from WWII, he enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1951. In 1955, he earned a J.D. at University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. Judge James Perez achieved many firsts for the Latino community and his honorary work in the legal field paved the way for Latino representation in Orange County. After passing the bar exam, he was the first Latino attorney in Orange County.

In December 1966, Governor Pat Brown appointed him to be a judge of the Orange County Municipal Court. Nine years later, in December of 1975, Governor Jerry Brown elevated him to the Orange County Superior Court. He held his title as Superior Court judge for 11 years and retired in 1987. In 1994, he was asked to come back to fill in on a part-time basis.

Afterwards, he went on to become the first Latino judge to serve on the Orange County Municipal Court and the first Latino judge to serve on the Orange County Superior Court. Two of his sons, Honorable Judge Michael Perez and Honorable Judge Joe T. Perez, are current Orange County Superior Court judges.

Therefore, to honor his service to our nation, I am introducing legislation to name the facility of the United States Postal Service located on 615 North Bush Street in Santa Ana, California as the Judge James Perez Post Office.

I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring the memory of Judge James Perez by supporting my legislation to name a Post Office facility in Santa Ana, California so that his devotion to his country and the legal community may be remembered.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Humberto Luna.

Describing Humberto Luna is talking about perseverance, dedication, passion, optimism, simplicity and good humor, same that has always characterized him throughout his brilliant career not only as a radio host, but also as an actor and television host.

This talented Zacatecano, from a very young age, showed great concerns about the Radio. He graduated from La National School of Voice Talents of Mexico, obtaining their Certificate of Aptitude granted by the Secretary of Public Education through the General Directorate of Audiovisual Education as Announcer, Chronicler and News Commentator in accordance with articles 84, 85 and 86 of the Federal Law on Radio and

Madam Speaker, today I rise to remind my colleagues of the contributions that immigrants have made to our country.

I want to direct your attention to the poster next to me. This is Corporal Jose Angel Garibay; he is a Dreamer who lived in my district and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Jose Angel Garibay was the first serviceman from Orange County to be killed in action in Iraq. Jose Angel Garibay was a Dreamer who made the ultimate sacrifice for America.

Madam Speaker, if I can call your attention to a second poster. This is Gregoria, a farmworker who has risked her life during the worldwide pandemic to feed our country. Even during droughts and fire season in California, these farmworkers still went to work to make sure that our country was fed, and America was kept healthy. Gregoria has been living and working in my district for 28 years. She is a mother and breadwinner.

People like these two individuals, Gregoria and Jose Angel Garibay, have

earned the right to American citizenship. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue to fight for a pathway to citizenship for millions of individuals like Gregoria and Jose.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great community leader and a good friend, Manny Ontiveros.

As an Anaheim native and friend, Manny has devoted over 30 years of his life to serving the community, first as a trustee of the North Orange County Community College District and then as a Federal probation officer for almost 30 years. He was also a member of the Anaheim Parks and Recreation Commission and the Anaheim Independencia board of directors.

Today, Manny is looking to retire from his Federal job as a Federal probation officer. I congratulate him and his family. Job great done. Career great done.

Madam Speaker, I am honored that he calls me his friend, and everybody in the community is honored to have Manny Ontiveros serving us well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor American Legion Post 132 of Orange, California, an inspiring organization dedicated to supporting veterans, national security, Americanism, and our community and its young people.

For more than ten decades, American Legion Post 132 has helped veterans adjust to life after service. It has served as a second home for some, helped others find jobs, and offered many the chance to forge lifelong friendships.

Post 132 was organized in 1919, the same year the American Legion was chartered by Congress as a patriotic veterans organization. Post 132 then received its temporary charter December 17, 1919 and its official charter October 1, 1920, making it one of the earliest

American Legion posts in California and the second oldest in Orange County.

The newly formed Post 132 met for nearly a decade in the Orange City Hall basement until the Legion Hall was dedicated June 3, 1928. For several years, the Legion shared the facility with the Orange Armory of the National Guard, which used the basement for firing practice. The basement now houses a unique Military Museum that displays items from the American Civil War to present day.

Not only is Post 132 one of the oldest American Legion posts in the country, it is one of the most active. Post 132 Legionnaires keep a full calendar of fundraising events for veteran causes, programs for holidays like Flag Day and Veterans Day, and outreach activities to local schools and community groups to talk about the importance of honoring those who fought for our country.

In support of developing future leaders, Post 132 sends high school students to the annual Boys State and Girls State summer leadership and citizenship program. In addition, Post 132 sponsors local Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops.

Post 132 is a combination of four ``families'' that includes its veteran Legionnaires, an Auxiliary Unit that is part of the largest women's patriotic service organization in the world, a Sons of the American Legion unit made up of descendants of parents or grandparents who served in the military, and a Riders Chapter, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who participate in parades and other events that raise funds and foster camaraderie.

The American Legion Post 132 family has, in all aspects, provided extensive service to our veterans and has fostered patriotism and good citizenship, especially for our youth.

More than 500 veterans from throughout Orange County belong to Post 132. Throughout its long history, its members past and present have fought in every war and major military conflict since World War I.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the more than 100 years of outstanding service to our community by American Legion Post 132, and the service of the hundreds of veterans who are members of this patriotic organization.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to remember October 11th the day that Alex Odeh was assassinated 36 years ago. This somber anniversary is a stark reminder that his killers have still not yet been brought to justice. In fact, not a single suspect has been named. The pipe bomb that killed Mr. Odeh as he opened the door to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's Santa Ana office that morning took his life and left a wife without a husband, three daughters without a father.

Alex Odeh was a Palestinian-American activist and civil rights icon who served as the West Coast regional director for the ADC. He worked to erode pervasive stereotypes against Arabs in the media and stood for the human rights of all. The lack of progress in the investigation into his death is, at the very least, disturbing. For 36 years, the Department of Justice and FBI have been ignoring what they themselves deemed an act of domestic terrorism. Just a year after Mr. Odeh 's assassination, Rev. Jesse Jackson stood up and criticized the FBI's investigation, and that criticism has only become more prophetic.

In 2013, 28 years after the bombing that took Alex Odeh's life, Ben Jealous, then the President of the NAACP, wrote an op-ed in which he compared Mr. Odeh to the civil rights icon Medgar Evers, highlighting ``each man's commitment to building bridges beyond his community''. He wrote that Mr. Odeh's ``life and work shared strong parallels with Medgar Evers, as did his untimely and tragic death. Unlike Medgar Evers, however, the name Alex Odeh remains unrecognizable for too many Americans, and his murder remains unresolved.''

Today, I am introducing a resolution to remember the life and work of Alex Odeh and to call for justice to be served. I ask my colleagues to join me in my call.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Smith for all his hard work on the NDAA. I fully support this measure.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of en bloc 1 which includes my two amendments, amendment No. 29 that creates an Afghan refugee special envoy position and amendment No. 117 that requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that all women veterans receive quality healthcare in a safe and dignified manner and on a timely basis.

The Afghan refugee position assures that our allies who fought alongside American soldiers for 20 years receive the support that they need to resettle in the United States and are integrated into our great Nation.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support amendments en bloc 1 and to support my amendments, No. 29 and No. 117.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the SAFE Banking Act as an amendment to the NDAA. More than half--let me repeat, more than half of the U.S. population lives in a State jurisdiction where cannabis is legal. Veterans prefer cannabis to opioids to treat their invisible wounds that they bring back from the battlefield.

Cannabis customers and businesses are law-abiding citizens and entities, yet they have to pay their employees, their bills, and their Federal taxes with cash. It just does not make sense.

As my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have pointed out, we need to get rid of that gray black market, bring this cash business into the banking system.

Again, I rise in strong support of this commonsense measure.

Madam Speaker, this year's census result shows that the United States population is more ethnically diverse than before. There are many taxpayers whose first language is not English.

Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and French are among the most spoken languages in the United States. People benefit tremendously from having different options to access their government and receive information that may impact their lives. This is why it is imperative that the White House and federal agencies continue to be accessible to all taxpayers.

Therefore, I am reintroducing the White House Accountability for Diversity Act. It is vital for all Americans to be able to follow issues that affect their lives. This legislation will allow for content to be translated into Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, French, and any other language deemed necessary by the Office of Management and Budget. This will ensure that all taxpayers have the option of accessing up-to-date information in their preferred language.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Today across the Nation, States are eliminating same-day voter registration, reducing voting times, and limiting the availability of polling places. These changes essentially make it harder for our friends and neighbors to vote.

This bill is a simple bill. It ensures that all legally cast ballots are counted. It ensures that the voices of Americans are louder than those of special interests.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Mr. Speaker, I also rise in strong support of this measure, and I also have the veterans very near and dear to my heart.

Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago, I started my quest to help veterans deal with those invisible wounds that they bring back from the battlefield, PTSD and other mental issues that they bring back with them and carry with them on a day-to-day basis.

As the chair of the California Committee on Veteran Affairs, I held hearings. I kept getting veterans saying: We prefer cannabis to opioid medication. We want the VA to give us cannabis. We don't want opioids.

I soon discovered that there was no medical research anywhere to determine what cannabis was good for and what it was not good for.

Today, as a Member of Congress, I have attempted to pass legislation year after year mandating that the VA do research, conduct research into the medical benefits of cannabis, and we scored zero.

This amendment is simple. It is about saying let's do medical research into the benefits of cannabis and other drugs that our veterans are taking that they say are good for them. Let's not take away from our veterans the ability to have the medications they prefer.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this measure. Let's do it for our veterans. Let's do it for their welfare. Let's do it for scientific research.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the Santa Ana High School debate team, and their coach, Sal Tinajero. They won the National High School Division Speech Championship. They took first place, and they won the School of Excellence Award.

More than 1400 schools across the country competed at the National Speech and Debate Association. This is the largest speech and debate tournament in the Nation, and Santa Ana High School took first place.

This is a huge honor. It shows that hard work and dedication pays off. I thank our national award-winning coach, Sal Tinajero, as well, for his dedication to the students. Coach Tinajero started the debate program at Santa Ana High School a few years ago, and those students have become tremendous debaters.

Coach Sal has shown the Nation that Santa Ana is, again, home of champions. Santa Ana students, we are proud of you. We are tremendously excited that you, again, have shown us what you are made of. Coach Sal, muchas gracias.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I stand with the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom.

Today, I ask that the Cuban Government respect basic human rights, basic religious freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and the freedom to be heard.

Today, I ask that the Cuban Government listen to the plight of the Cuban people.

Deteriorating living conditions, rising healthcare concerns, COVID- 19, all of these factors have left the Cuban people hungry, vulnerable, and very angry.

That is why, after decades of repression, thousands of brave men and women, especially young people, have taken to the streets of Cuba, marching to be heard, demanding that the Cuban Government respond to their pleas for help.

Instead, the Cuban Government has responded by halting internet access and beating and arresting Cuban citizens that are calling for freedom.

In Havana alone, the Cuban Government has attacked protesters and arrested more than 100 young people.

If the Government of Cuba wants to normalize relations with the United States, the first thing the Cuban Government has to do is to respect human rights and religious freedoms.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to remember the life of Santa Ana Police Officer Ramses Aguinaga, who was tragically taken from his family by cancer. Ramses was a leader in the community where he grew up. He was a smart and caring person who always made an effort to understand each and every individual in his community.

In high school, he played football for Mater Dei High School where he was a key player in making sure that Mater Dei won the Southern Section Division championship.

In college, Ramses became interested in criminal justice and spent 16 years as a police officer. But his greatest accomplishment was the birth of his son, Mateus Aguinaga, and Ramses loved this child, loved him to death.

Ramses passed away in peace. His family mourns him and will never forget how he brightened the lives of so many of his friends and neighbors where he grew up. He was a loving father, a thoughtful son, a caring brother, and a role model for our community.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduced the Removing Federal Barriers to Offering of Mobile Wagers on Indian Lands Act. Tribal government gaming is the primary source of revenue for hundreds of tribal nations throughout this country who otherwise would not have the basic resources to provide for the health, safety and general welfare of their citizens and others who live on tribal lands. This economic development activity has been key to tribal economies since the United States Supreme Court first affirmed the inherent sovereign right of tribal governments to conduct gaming on their lands in 1987. A year later, in 1988, Congress enacted restrictions on tribal government gaming through the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. This law affirmed the right of tribal governments to conduct gaming on their lands but tried to balance the equities between tribal and state governments when tribes are conducting Las Vegas style gaming.

Not every tribal nation is able to conduct gaming, but for those who are located in viable gaming markets, it has proven to be one of their more successful economic ventures. Many tribal nations have become economic engines in their regions, employing thousands of people and investing tens of millions of dollars into the regional economies on an annual basis.

However, the gaming industry is quickly evolving and more and more states are legalizing some form of gaming activity that primarily utilizes the internet. Sophisticated, well-financed digital companies that did not exist even ten years ago are changing the gaming industry before our eyes. Online sports betting seems to be the popular choice this year for many state legislatures.

As tribal governments begin to prepare to move their gaming activities into the online world, there have been some questions about whether such gaming activities would continue to be primarily governed by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The federal law governing tribal gaming was enacted in 1988, prior to the internet being readily available, and the law does not expressly address the internet. As you can imagine, setting up these new gaming systems involves significant financial investments. Tribal governments should not be required to make these investments without having clarity and comfort of what laws will apply to them. For that reason, I am introducing this bill to clarify the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and make clear what the congressional drafters would have done in 1988 had the internet been around at time. This bill would clarify that for purposes of tribal government gaming, the location of the wager occurs at the location of the server, unless a state and Indian tribe otherwise agree. Making this clarification will keep intact the current system of tribal gaming and eliminate any frivolous litigation. Tribal government gaming has been around for more than 30 years and this bill merely clarifies how that system of gaming should evolve into the internet.

This bill does not authorize any type of internet gaming; that is within the authority of each state to do. All this bill does is clarifies the location of where the wager takes place for purposes of tribal government gaming. It clarifies that internet gaming will be conducted by tribal governments under the same framework that they currently conduct gaming in their physical casinos.

As someone who has long lived in a state with more than 110 federally recognized tribal nations, I have seen firsthand how tribal government gaming has benefitted the tribal nations, their citizens, the surrounding communities and the state government. This bill is merely intended to provide some clarity and comfort as tribal gaming moves into the next frontier of the internet. As the United States Supreme Court confirmed in 1987, tribal governments retained the inherent sovereign right to conduct gaming on their lands. Congress needs to provide the clarification in my bill to ensure that tribal gaming is not relegated to the same fate as Blockbuster, but can move forward and thrive like Netflix in the era of the internet.