Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it gets more painful every single day. When you think about it, you have an AG in Indiana who has smeared a healthcare professional in that State who did exactly what she was supposed to do in providing an abortion to a 10-year-old. But he was going to bring charges against her.

We have a colleague on the other side of the aisle who is now putting down $20 bills as if we are going to race over there to get that $20 bill to answer his question.

I mean, what are we doing here? Have we lost it?

This bill simply codifies what is interpreted in the Constitution in the Fifth Amendment.

Now, we have a Justice, Kavanaugh, who was asked the question: May a State bar a resident of the State from traveling to another State? The answer is no. But, interestingly enough, the right to travel, those words, are not in the Fifth Amendment.

So, if we have an originalist Court, we do have to pass this bill, which has been introduced by Congresswomen Fletcher and Strickland and other Members, because women should be able to travel. Right now, we cannot even guarantee that to a woman who wants to get an abortion.

I have had an abortion. I have had miscarriages. I have had to live with a dead fetus in my body. I know what that experience is like. Not everyone over there does. I would say most Members over there don't.

But it is my personal right. It is every woman's personal right.

Madam Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of amendment No. 49 on the International Military Education and Training Program. IMET is, as we all know, a prestigious and competitive program that trains the next generation of senior leadership in our allies' militaries around the globe and enables us to maximize the competitive advantage our alliances and partnerships provide.

However, as of 2019, approximately only 8 percent of the IMET's participants were women. That percentage increase was only 2 points since 2015.

We can and must do better to ensure that we continue to provide this world-class training to our female military leaders around the world.

This amendment would simply require a gender analysis assessment of the program to better understand the impediments to increasing the number of female participants and address any specific needs the women in the program may have.

By signaling the importance of including more gender diversity in the program, we are encouraging our partners and allied militaries to invest more heavily in the recruitment, training, and promotion of women within their security forces.

We do know that this is not just important; it is smart. We know that our world is more peaceful and prosperous when women are involved in national security and defense decisionmaking processes.

I also want to point out that this will continue the work that was begun under former President Trump when he signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act during his administration. It received bipartisan support then. It is also supported by President Biden.

It will also improve military effectiveness of our security partners and, thereby, advance implementation of the National Defense Strategy.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I, too, share a position of working well with my colleague as the ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee. I just feel that he is not appreciating, with all due respect, what this amendment does.

We already say that women, peace, and security should be part of it. That was something that was signed by President Trump, and it was bipartisan then. It is something that has also been embraced by President Biden.

This is only looking at the fact that very few women in the military of our allies have been participating in this program. This program exists to provide military education and training to our allies, and we are talking about only 6 to 8 percent of them being women who are participating.

This is an analysis. That is all this amendment does is analyze whether or not we have promoted this properly to encourage our allies to have servicewomen in their countries participate.

We do know that when you have women in the military, it adds to our success. It does not degrade it.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Speaker, I say to my colleagues, this is a really important amendment. This deals with suicide and securing guns.

This program will be a pilot. It will be at five installations. It will be voluntary. It is bipartisan and bicameral.

Senator Dan Sullivan is my co-lead on the Senate side. It is already in the Senate NDAA. The NRA is satisfied with this amendment.

So what does it do?

This year, my subcommittee has spent over 100 hours on the issue of suicide in the military. I have personally spoken to parents and spouses of servicemembers who have died by suicide.

We have seen an extraordinary increase in suicide in our Active-Duty servicemembers, some 40 percent increase in the past 5 years, and we have hot spots in areas like Alaska and on the USS George Washington, where most recently seven sailors have died by suicide. In Alaska we have seen the suicide rate double in 2021.

Since then, I have traveled to Alaska with Senator Sullivan to visit soldiers in Anchorage and Fairbanks. We have heard from junior enlisted soldiers who feel isolated, stressed out, and disconnected, who must wait 2 to 3 months to see a behavioral health provider. The providers are overwhelmed by demand from suicidal servicemembers. It is a challenging problem.

Earlier in March, the subcommittee had a hearing, and one of the experts said that one of the best things we can do is deal with the issue that many persons who are contemplating suicide are making that decision impulsively. A few seconds makes a difference.

The experts are saying to us, if we have a simple process by which, voluntarily, servicemembers can request a gun safe or a firearm lock and have it paid for, that will save lives because ideations can come and go so quickly.

We must create a new norm, not through mandates, but by encouragement. This amendment would create a voluntary pilot program at five installations, as I already mentioned. Safe storage has bipartisan support from both Presidents Trump and Biden, and I would really request a resounding bipartisan vote for this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I have great admiration for the ranking member of the committee. A lot of things aren't DOD's responsibility, except for the fact that servicemembers are their responsibility, and we have an obligation to address this extraordinary rate of suicide in the military.

This is one modest step, as a pilot program, to determine whether or not it is effective. We have experts telling us it is, and we have a crisis of servicemembers who are taking their lives. There does not appear to be rhyme or reason to it but for the fact that they have suicidal ideations or because they can't see behavioral health experts, which we are trying to address through other elements of the NDAA. I feel very strongly that this is really a key.

Again, it is bipartisan, it is bicameral, and the NRA is fine with the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I think I have said enough, and I will close. I ask for a ``yes'' vote.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to make this short and hopefully sweet because I can't believe for a minute that we don't want to incentivize States to guarantee, at a minimum, the rights we have already established in the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act, which was passed in Congress unanimously in 2016.

This amendment is based on a bipartisan bill offered by myself and Congressman Kelly Armstrong and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and introduced by the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley.

When we actually enacted the Survivors' Bill of Rights, it guaranteed certain rights for sexual assault survivors. Unfortunately, those rights only applied to Federal cases. This amendment makes further progress by incentivizing States to follow suit.

What we are debating here is really quite common sense: The right to have a rape kit if you are raped, the right not to be charged for it, the right to be notified if the government intends to destroy a rape kit, the right to be notified of the rape kit's results, the right to have the rape kit preserved for the statute of limitations or 20 years, whichever is shorter, and the right to be informed of the status and location of a rape kit.

Across the country, survivors are shocked to learn that their rape kits have been thrown out or they can't find them.

Again, we have done this on a Federal level. Congress has recognized the rights that are good enough for victims of Federal crimes should also be good enough for those who become victims of State crimes.

Again, this is a simple amendment. It is bipartisan. It is incentivizing, not demanding or requiring.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This is really astonishing to me, as if servicemembers who are female, who are in States in which they do not have these benefits, should somehow be second-class citizens, I don't get.

We have a Parliamentarian who determines whether or not an amendment is germane to the NDAA. That has already taken place. So having this debate is irrelevant, because we have already established that it is germane.

I don't know about you, but I am not just legislating for the people of California. I am legislating for the entire country. That is my job.

If there is a sexual assault victim in a State where they don't have the resources to somehow provide the Survivors' Bill of Rights, we have already done this on a Federal level and we offer some incentive so they do it, I don't see how this is any different than the other programs we have that we continue to fund for local jurisdictions all across this country, whether it is the COPS program or anything else.

So I am flummoxed by this debate on the other side. It is not a laughing matter. It is very serious. I think sexual assault victims across this country would like to know that they have the same rights in States as those who are victims of Federal crimes when it comes to being able to access a rape kit, have it paid for, and being told what the results are. It is common sense.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it wasn't short nor sweet, but I am prepared to close and say this is pretty obvious. This does not take rocket science. All we are doing with this amendment, that is bipartisan and bicameral--maybe the gentleman should talk to Senator Grassley. We want to encourage States to do what we have done on the Federal level.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, everyone knows what a lemon car is, but we have a fleet of lemon ships. They are called littoral combat ship, except it is a misnomer because it is not survivable in combat.

Today, we are calling them the leaking, cracked ships, and let me tell you why. If the LCS was a car sold in America today, they would be deemed lemons, and the automakers would be sued into oblivion. But in the Federal Government it is big business as usual--$50 billion over the lifetime of the program. That is a lot of rotten lemons.

My concerns and warnings about the LCS go back a decade, along with the late Senator John McCain. It is costing taxpayers billions of dollars, yet has failed to produce a reliable ship. So I was stunned and outraged to see that the proposed 2023 defense appropriations bill only decommissions four LCS, when it should be nine, as President Biden and the Navy have proposed. The annual cost of five LCS ships could pay for eight childcare centers in the military, four barracks, or a $1,000 bonus for every enlisted E-3 and below.

The LCS program's legendary failures have made it the subject of two Government Accountability Office reports. Those reports found each LCS costing an astounding $59 million a year to operate. Or actually, not to operate because they are, more often than not, in dock because they aren't working. That is three-quarters of the cost of operating a destroyer, which has three times the crew and a much greater capability, such as antisubmarine warfare.

LCS is notoriously unreliable, plagued by breakdowns that have seen some ships spend more time in the repair yard than in deployment. On this chart, you will see the USS Little Rock, commissioned in 2017, lost power at sea in 2022. In March 2018, it was stranded in ice for 3 months on its maiden voyage.

Or how about the USS Milwaukee? Commissioned in November 2015. In December 2015, it broke down due to software malfunctions and was towed 40 miles.

Or how about the USS Freedom? Commissioned in 2008; in 2011, had a 6- inch crack in the hull; in 2013, immobilized during trial run; in February 2016, coupling cracked; in August of 2016, engine replacement needed.

What do we have going here? The GAO found that the LCS experienced engine failure in 10 of the 11 deployments reviewed. The aluminum hull of the Independence-class punctures easily. I mean, this is not funny. This is real money. And the combining gear for all Freedom-class ships must be replaced.

One major reason for the excessive cost of LCS? Contractors. Unlike other ships where sailors do the maintenance, LCS relies almost exclusively on contractors who own and control

the technical data needed to maintain and repair.

So what is this ship's mission and what does it contribute to national security? Nothing.

The Navy says it plans to use the LCS for partner engagement, as a replacement for obsolete minesweepers for long-range fire capability, and for counterdrug activities. But the LCS are not well-suited for minesweeping due to their lack of endurance, and their already years- late mine countermeasure package isn't even operational.

Our top priority in national defense strategy is China and Russia. We can't waste scarce funds on costly LCS when there are more capable platforms like destroyers, attack submarines, and the new Constellation-class frigate. Most importantly, the cost of sustaining LCS isn't just felt in lost dollars, but lost lives.

The Navy has a severe undermanning problem. Our surface fleet is 15 percent undermanned compared to required levels for safe operation. The average sailor is overworked and gets 6 hours or less of sleep per night. A recent GAO report on pierside maintenance found undermanning was so bad on some ships that half of the electrician slots were empty. On others, the crew members had to work 80 to 100 hours per week to prepare to deploy.

On these ships, the operational tempo is so high, several sailors have left due to behavioral health needs. At least one has died from suicide. This is unacceptable, especially in the wake of the deadly McCain and Fitzgerald collisions that killed 17 sailors 5 years ago. The key contributors? Undermanning and fatigue.

We can and must prevent this. Let's decommission all nine ships.

Madam Speaker, I believe I am the only Member of this House that is a victim of gun violence. My body is riddled with bullets. I have a divot in my leg that is the size of a football. I have skin grafts on all parts of my body. I live with that every single day.

A victim of gun violence is traumatized over and over again. I implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if we had a 737 that crashed every month for 12 months in this country, we would do something about it. And that is what is happening to children in this country.

Madam Speaker, 1,500 kids die of gun violence every single year. We have to do something about it. All we are saying is don't let them purchase an assault weapon until they are 21. We already say you can't purchase a handgun until you are 21. Dr. Guerrero this morning talked about decapitated heads.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues--I am leaving this institution-- to please do something.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable philanthropist and community leader, Helen Hilton Raiser. Through sheer will and determination she helped restore a wasteland into a major new public attraction in the City by the Bay: Francisco Park, a new 4.5 acre jewel at the corner of Hyde and Francisco Streets. Helen contributed in countless ways by fundraising, assisting in design and promoting her vision for this new park during its development.

In addition to Helen, credit goes to hundreds of neighbors and the leadership of the Francisco Park Conservancy, including board president Leslie Alspach and all of the original and successor board members. $27.5 million was raised by these leaders and Helen as they sought to tum a long-neglected area into a new destination in San Francisco.

For 80 years this site was a deserted reservoir hosting poison oak, raccoons, and an occasional coyote, but otherwise inhospitable to visitors. The reservoir was San Francisco's first, built in 1860 and it was crucial during the 1906 earthquake and fire. However, it was abandoned in 1940 after a newer facility was built a short distance away. This old reservoir remained an eyesore for decades, only to begin its renaissance after neighbors organized in 2011, and after the San Francisco Recreation and Parks department assumed formal responsibility for the location in 2014.

What makes Francisco Park so special is that numerous community meetings over many years led to a special place that will serve both residents and likely hundreds of thousands of visitors, annually. The park is adjacent to the Hyde Street cable car and visitors from around the globe will probably disembark and enjoy the inspirational views from this place of urban greenery. There is also a children's playground, a fenced dog run with artificial turf, and a community garden. A ``heart of San Francisco'' sculpture is on display, donated by Helen Hilton Raiser. It was created by the artist Laura Lineback. Early settlers and the harbor of what was then known as Yerba Buena were located nearby, so history is at the fingertips of visitors. Interpretive signage offers visitors important historical facts about the site, educational lessons about water conservation, a description of views from the location, and other features that make the park as much a classroom as it is recreational open space.

While I rise to highlight this park, Ms. Raiser and her neighbors, I also note Helen's long history of philanthropy and activism. She is well known as a leader at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and as a major benefactor, over decades, of community groups from the peninsula through San Francisco.

It was my good fortune to meet her decades ago as she led her campaign against handguns and gun violence. She personally led a 1982 effort on the California ballot to sharply reduce the number of handguns in California, and was a board member of Handgun Control, Inc. We became personal friends after that effort. Locally, she was a major volunteer with the Girl Scouts of America, the Volunteer Center of San Mateo County, at Mills-Peninsula Hospital, numerous school associations and she served on the Board of Directors of the Junior Statesman Foundation as well as the Family Service Agency of San Mateo County. She has been a major advocate for affordable housing through the nonprofit Human Investment Project. In recognition of her outstanding leadership, Helen Hilton Raiser was inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame in 1987.

Madam Speaker and members, we have known great adversity in these past years as a scourge of nature visited our streets and our homes. We watched as nations yielded to the pressure of the pestilence, and as national and personal economies crumbled under the weight of our times. At moments such as these, it is important to remember that the makers of history are not always those whose names are in the headlines. They are often neighborhood activists, intent upon improving our country one park, one block or one school at a time. Throughout her life, whether via art or philanthropy, in schools or hospitals, in the halls of Congress or the state capitol, Helen Hilton Raiser is one of those makers of history. Let me express my gratitude for her friendship and leadership. There is nothing truer to our purpose as a nation than civic virtue, and Helen Hilton Raiser is its embodiment.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sheila Canzian upon her retirement after 52 years of public service to the people of San Mateo. Sheila is the marathon runner of parks and recreation directors, having started as a summer playground leader and moved her way steadily upward over decades of service.

She grew up in San Mateo and was hired in 1970. About 79,000 residents were served by the parks of San Mateo at the time. Today, San Mateo has nearly 104,000 residents and the recreational amenities of the city have grown to meet the needs of this increased population. She manages over 35 parks, six community centers, the Marina Lagoon, Poplar Creek Golf Course, and numerous other amenities that make San Mateo a youthful and fun place to live on the peninsula. Sheila was instrumental in the development of the city's shoreline parks along the bayfront, the senior center, and the rebranding of Poplar Creek Golf Course.

While all parks in San Mateo have their own character, the crown jewel is the site of the old Kohl Mansion, affectionately known as Central Park. During the year, families enjoy the winter ice rink, modem and accessible playground equipment, and a stunning Japanese Garden that draws visitors from around the world. If you love Central Park, recognize that Sheila is the heart that allows Central Park to live. The rose garden and train are beloved and allow families to exercise together while enjoying amenities unusual in a city the size of San Mateo. The community recreation center has witnessed countless public events and is a gathering place for San Mateo's seniors. In dogged pursuit of keeping Central Park in fine fiddle, and even when city finances were strained, Sheila did a remarkable job of managing countless koi fish, hundreds of trees and numerous city managers. The koi and the trees were quick learners.

If 52 years of professional service do not prove the point, in 2021 Sheila was voted into the American Academy of Parks and Recreation Administration, a nationwide body dedicated to recognizing distinguished professionals. The California Parks and Recreation Society has inducted her into its Hall of Fame, and she once served as its President and Secretary. She serves on the board of the San Mateo Police Activities League, the San Mateo Parks Foundation, and on numerous community boards. As children are her professional focus, she also gives to the community as a board member of Peninsula Family Service and the Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation. She is a second- generation native of San Mateo and earned her BA from the University of San Francisco and an MPA from Notre Dame de Namur University.

No recitation of her love of community would be complete without mentioning her heartfelt support of the city's special relationship with the 101st Airborne Division and the sister city relationship San Mateo enjoys with Toyonaka, Japan. In recent years, my staff remembers attending a meeting where the city's little league team took at least 30 minutes to explain to the city council the special time that the young people of San Mateo had as they played against, and with, their youthful counterparts in Toyonaka. Organizers par excellence of this opportunity were Sheila Canzian and her colleagues at the San Mateo Parks and Recreation Department.

Along with City Clerk Patricia Olds and community member Linda Patterson, Sheila Canzian organizes all events that honor Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, of the 101st Airborne Division. The efforts of Sheila and hundreds of other San Mateo residents over the years since 1967 have boosted the morale of our troops and paid homage to their sacrifice for liberty on behalf of us all.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Sheila Canzian. If ever there was a case for pursuing a life of public service, I ask that we look at the public spaces nurtured by Sheila. The painter Claude Monet had his garden, and he built his life's work around its beauty. Sheila Canzian had a city, and her joyful work will be with us for generations yet to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the Jefferson Union High School District upon the occasion of its 100th anniversary. At inception, the district had one school,

Jefferson High, which also recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Today, the district encompasses five schools across two cities serving over 4,000 students. The district also offers an adult school program.

For the first thirty-six years, the district was composed of Jefferson High School but in 1958 Westmoor High opened in Daly City. As the City of Pacifica grew, Terra Nova opened its doors in 1961, followed the next year by Oceana. Serramonte opened in 1970 in Daly City and then closed in 1981, although many classes for the adult school continue at the site as do district administrative functions. Thornton High School, also in Daly City, opened in 1975.

There were schools serving students before the district existed. San Francisco provided the main high schools, but in 1922 local leaders realized that a nearer site was needed.

The school district officially commenced operations on June 2, 1922, and the first members of the school board were Matthew Grady, chairperson, Stella Jensen, clerk, Florence Stockton, Adolph Gehrenger, and Roderick McDonald. Mr. Neill O. Best was the head of the school and he had three colleagues, Gilda Belloni, Gladys Lukes, and Barto Molineaux. Over fifty students were in the entering class of the district's first school, and they had their choice of multiple subjects including mathematics, science, athletics/PE, Spanish, dramatics, commercial arithmetic, typing, bookkeeping, spelling, penmanship, civics, free hand drawing, music and vocational guidance.

Today's district offers classes spanning the range of traditional high school subjects such as English, math, science and social science, but also includes advanced placement instruction for those who want to earn college credits. Oceana offers a food and nutrition elective. Jefferson's website points students in the direction of the Skyline Promise Program, a pathway to free community college. At Terra Nova, students may take ceramics while at Westmoor ceramics and drawing are available. Bands, sports and other offerings keep students throughout the district engaged. The adult school offers classes in work training and technology, English, high school diploma and GED preparation, citizenship test preparation, and art.

Most importantly, the Jefferson Union High School District is dedicated to serving the individual needs of each student. A robust vocational support system exists and of course college preparation is available to all. The cost of living in our community is high, and rents force many parents to struggle. The district offers students additional services to assist with household stresses.

On the same day as the celebration of the district's 100th anniversary, the district will also cut the ribbon on a 122-unit apartment project that will offer employees rent at well below market rates. This should help to stabilize the district's employee base and strengthen education over the years. A similar strategy was enacted by the local community college district and has been decisive in reducing turnover. Taxpayers in the high school district voted to support bonds to provide funding for this outstanding project. It was a very wise choice. It will ease the financial pressure on teachers and employees and will allow them to live in the community in which they teach. It's not quite a return to the 1960's when housing was far less expensive and much more plentiful, but this apartment development is an example of public resources--scarce public land--put to significant and beneficial use for decades to come. Its success in this and other endeavors is due to its superb leadership. The Board of Trustees includes Ms. Rosie Tejada, President, Mr. Andrew Lie, Vice President, Ms. Kalimah Salahuddin, Clerk, Mr. Nick Occhipinti and Ms. Carla Ng- Garrett.

In closing, let me note that Jefferson Union High School District achieves the goals of Horace Mann and other early advocates for free, universal, public education. The district prepares young people for their lives as citizens in a democracy, and it equips them with skills to enter the modem economy. Whether in the trades or college, in our region or abroad, whether in service to the public or to the private sector, the graduates of Jefferson Union High School District have a golden opportunity to understand their current place in the world and to create their own path for a great future. On behalf of the community, I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to the Jefferson Union High School District. They are 100 years young, and ready to meet all challenges.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in honoring and congratulating the 7,500 members of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) for their legacy of excellence in the promotion of justice. BASF is rooted in the 12th and 14th Congressional Districts of California, which Speaker Pelosi and I are privileged to represent. BASF has worked tirelessly to make the law work for our communities.

BASF is the third oldest bar association in the United States and its members first met on April 27, 1872. Over the following 150 years, BASF has grown into an institution characterized by innovation, entrepreneurship, and progressive thinking. In times of social and economic turmoil in San Francisco and our nation, BASF pioneered paths that were copied by other local bar associations.

Working for greater judicial efficiency, BASF has been instrumental in improving the California Code, guiding the organization and rules of local and state courts, establishing a Code of Ethics, and helping identify competent and fair judges. Today, BASF is a highly respected voice for mediation and alternative dispute resolution, criminal justice reform, judicial independence, court funding, and equal access to justice.

BASF consistently fights for the American promise of justice for all. In the early 20th century, it was among the first bar associations to mobilize its members to support the Legal Aid Society. It then continued to create ways to help those touched by homelessness, immigration status, family turmoil, and economic challenges. Today, the Justice & Diversity Center of BASF advances fairness and equity by providing pro bona legal services to low-income and homeless residents, and all those in times of crisis.

BASF also consistently fights for equal access to legal services. In 1946, BASF pioneered a referral service that studied cultural, political and economic realities to better identify those most in need of access to our justice system. These efforts blossomed into its Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS). Today, LRIS educates people about their legal rights and offers access to affordable and competent legal consultation and representation.

Equal opportunity in the legal profession is another priority for BASF. The bar association pioneered methods of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the 1930s, BASF began a continuing legal education program that remains in strong demand as emerging areas of law demand expertise. BASF actively helped local firms and legal agencies with hiring, retention, and promotion of those attorneys new to their legal careers, women, people of color, those who identify as LGBTQ, and people of differing physical abilities. The bar of San Francisco strives to reflects the community it serves.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in commending the Bar Association of San Francisco for its remarkable 150-year history promoting the causes of judicial efficiency, legal education, diversifying and strengthening the bar, and supporting all those who seek justice.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember Andrew Cresci, a remarkable man who recently passed away at the age of 82. Andy did what only a few souls dream to accomplish: He housed people, offering them a chance at the American Dream.

My district is populated by homes immortalized by Pete Seeger and Malvina Reynolds in the song ``Little Boxes.'' Andy Cresci and his hearty employees built thousands of those ``little boxes'' on the hillsides of Daly City, along the streets of South San Francisco, and throughout Hercules. However, let's set the record straight: Pete Seeger and Malvina Reynolds were wrong. These homes were well built, beloved by their first owners, and are proudly owned by the current generation of homeowners.

The Standard Building Company/Sunstream Homes began in the 1920s and was a thriving company when Andy Cresci started as an architect in the 1960s. He eventually took over as CEO after the founders, Carl and Fred Gellert, retired. Sunstream built dreams. In the Serramonte neighborhood, in South San Francisco and Hercules, thousands of affordable homes ready-made for proud ownership were constructed. Andy Cresci required that homes be built to satisfy every customer. One former employee noted that while he was with the company--over decades--he and his team never set foot in a courtroom due to a customer complaint. They would often return after the warranty had expired to fix anything that was of concern. Every Sunstream home has a license plate-like piece of metal, typically in the garage, identifying its number in the long series of homes built by Sunstream. So, if you bought the 4,352nd Sunstream home, you knew that there were 4,351 satisfied customers who came before you.

We often hear today of companies that refuse to share their success with employees. Sunstream was different. Many employees made investments alongside management, even as little as $600, and received significant returns on their investments. Andy ran a prudent operation that delivered value to both customers and employees. In later years, as opportunities to purchase large tracts of land dwindled, he had a sharp eye for infill development opportunities and looked for surplus public lands.

He wasn't all about work. Andy loved golf and for many years he belonged to the ``Dew Sweepers,'' a group of fellow golfers who played courses very early in the morning, typically at Poplar Creek. The loser had to buy everyone else french fries. At home, his ``man cave'' included three TVs so that he could watch baseball, golf, and basketball, but especially the 49ers. He was a season ticket holder. He travelled widely, loved such disparate music as ABBA, Elvis Presley and Queen, and of course he enjoyed Italian classics.

Andy Cresci had a dry wit and a wet garden. A friend reports that he had five or six

varieties of tomatoes and harvested a bountiful crop each year.

Andy left his mark in many remarkable ways, but most notably through his personal and voluntary philanthropic efforts. He served on the Board of Directors of the Gellert Foundation. Over the decades, he and his fellow board members donated many millions of dollars, chiefly to education, but also to youth programs and seniors. We will probably never know how much he donated through his own charitable giving, but it is said to have been a significant sum. Always concerned about putting a roof over the head of someone or something, he designed and built birdhouses, made from wooden wine boxes, and he donated these birdhouses to charity where they sold at fundraisers. His philanthropy included the Fallen Heroes Memorial in the City of San Mateo, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the San Mateo Police Activities League.

Andy Cresci was the proud father of Lisa Christensen, the father-in- law of John Christensen, and the stepfather of Nicole Pobuta Aquino (Miguel), Kristen Pobuta Iwata (Nick), the grandfather of Nicolas and Anthony Christensen, and the step-grandfather of Carson Iwata. He was predeceased by his first wife Kathy Cresci and survived by my friend and the former Mayor of San Mateo, Maureen Freschet.

Madam Speaker, a long life leads to many accomplishments arising from opportunities. Most people seize opportunities that arrive by chance, but a few people also spend their lives creating opportunities. Andy Cresci was the latter. He was a doer and a dreamer. Without question, and for tens of thousands of customers, friends and family members, Andy Cresci made a difference for the better in our community. He was the personification of patriotism. May he rest in peace.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the San Mateo County Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau on the 50th anniversary of its founding. It was 50 years ago that the Space Shuttle program was officially launched. It was fitting that the convention and visitors bureau began at that same time because the hope was to boost hotel occupancy to stratospheric levels, and to entice conventions to the fairgrounds in the City of San Mateo. It worked.

As the local economy transitioned away from agriculture and towards high technology, the fairgrounds became the site of a national semiconductor convention--SEMICON--and since that time has hosted hundreds of business and nonprofit events. Hotel rooms available in San Mateo County have exploded, from 81 hotels and 5,972 rooms in the Convention and Visitors Bureau when it was first formed to 140 hotels and 15,794 rooms today.

The economic impact of our visitor-serving industries is enormous. Pre-pandemic, the sector generated $4.5 billion in visitor spending and well over $500 million in local tax revenue. It employed 45,000 people. The bureau doesn't claim credit for all of these jobs or the money spent but given the reach of its promotional efforts it certainly has an impact. For decades, the bureau represented its membership at national shows dedicated to explaining to convention organizers the benefits of coming to San Mateo County. Many conventions came and tens of thousands of tourists annually are typically greeted in their hotels and event locations by further promotional advertisements for local attractions.

The San Mateo County Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau has been an indispensable source of information for me during the pandemic. Under the leadership of its outstanding President and CEO, John Hutar, the organization arranged for owners and managers to explain the steps they were taking to keep their doors open, or to avoid going into foreclosure, during the emergency. I was proud to be able to vote for the Paycheck Protection Program, EIDL loans and restaurant

relief, all of which nourished this sector when the pandemic threatened to permanently destroy the industry in San Mateo County. For example, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund brought $214 million in relief to almost 500 San Mateo County restaurants. I held many meetings with bureau members and listened closely as they explained their concerns.

Madam Speaker, San Mateo County is the site of many amazing companies including those that discover new treatments for cancer or diabetes, program and design electric vehicles, arrange electronic payments for trillions of dollars in transactions annually, and that provide amazing medical care to our entire population. Key to our local quality of life are our visitor-serving hotel and restaurant providers. Not only do they serve visitors, but they provide fine service to residents, and jobs for tens of thousands. It is my honor to recognize those who help create jobs by shouting to the mountain tops the benefits of doing business in San Mateo County. It is a testament to their skill that today they are financially surviving and focusing on the next decades after the pandemic clears. I honor the men and women of the San Mateo County Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau and their board of directors for giving their all on behalf of us all during a time that has tried us all. Bravo.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to condemn Vladimir Putin for what he is doing to the children of Ukraine.

Listen to these stories.

Ukrainian mothers are putting the contact details of their relatives on the bodies of their children because they want to make sure that if the children survive and they don't, there will be some place for their children to go.

Emergency service workers are teaching children how to identify Russian explosives made to look like toys.

Thousands of children have been abducted in Ukraine and taken to Russia.

And Ukrainian children have witnessed the murder and torture of their parents, including severed limbs, slashed throats, rapes, and burning bodies.

I am proud to colead an appropriations request with Representatives Schiff, Kaptur, and Quigley to ensure at least $100 million for Eastern Europe's demining budget in FY23.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the College of San Mateo on its 100th Anniversary. The college, known to locals as CSM, is a shining star on the peninsula's hillside, set high above the City of San Mateo and serving as a gateway to jobs or additional higher education for tens of thousands each year. That includes me. I attended summer school one year on this beautiful campus.

The numbers prove the college's success. CSM offers 68 associate and transfer degree programs and an additional 81 professional and career certificates. Students at CSM regularly transfer to San Francisco State, San Jose State and the University of California. CSM has contracts guaranteeing transfer with these universities, and more.

The college started at a site in downtown San Mateo in 1922, the answer for a crisis in the affordability of higher education in America at that time. It seems like the same problem that we have today. For 100 years, it's been the go-to place for students who needed a high- quality education but couldn't afford Stanford, Yale, Harvard or even the University of California.

Since its birth, CSM has innovated. For example, in recent years it began an innovative program known as Middle College, accepting high school students who take college-level classes while in high school. We talk a great deal about equal opportunity for all. After graduating from high school, many students in this program matriculate to CSM or state colleges and the University of California having earned thousands of dollars of reduced-cost college credits while in high school. I view this program as one of the most important offered by CSM because through affordable access to higher education our local students come one step closer to avoiding student debt while earning a valuable college degree.

Even when students do not go to college during their high school years, the affordable classes at CSM are an enormous savings. A third of the college's students are even eligible for a waiver of all fees. As one former CSM student put it, ``Calculus is the same at the University of California as it is at CSM. It just costs thousands of dollars less.'' This young man transferred from CSM to the University of California, Santa Cruz and graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science. He estimated that he saved $60,000 and noted that he also had money in his college account--zero college debt--when he graduated from Santa Cruz. He enjoyed many of his CSM classes more than those at UC Santa Cruz and, at CSM, the professors even knew his name.

So who are the dreamers of our current day who go to CSM? The college sends a message that all are welcomed, and that it is committed to a campus culture that is antiracist and equity-advancing, where students and employees who are People of Color, Indiginous, LGBTQIA+, differently enabled, justice impacted, and undocumented are included, embraced and celebrated for who they are. I also would be remiss if I didn't mention that the CSM campus and adjacent land is the site of the district's affordable housing development for faculty and staff. Employee turnover has plummeted since this development was created, offering rents that are frequently 50 percent or less of market rate. Other school districts in our county now plan to copy this strategy, and thus CSM, in so many different ways, teaches our community how to succeed.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to note that Dr. Jill Biden is right. Community college is the key to a great future for many Americans. We should do more to reduce the costs of attending community colleges like CSM. They are not simply a community jewel on the hill. They are a vital tool to shape an American economy that offers hope and lifetime learning opportunities for every inquisitive student. Congratulations CSM. They are 100 years old, and still packing them in like they're a youthful major league star on the playing field. Well, in fact, they are.

Mr. Speaker, on the very last day of Women's History Month, I want to draw attention to the fact that there is an insidious form of gender discrimination that goes on in this country from cradle to grave. It is called the pink tax.

It costs more to be a woman. We have seen it happen over and over again, where retailers find it okay to jack up the prices for the same products just because they are being marketed to women.

A New York City Consumer Affairs study compared 800 products and found that they were 13 percent more for those that were virtually identical but provided for women. As I am going to show you today, we see the cost as much as 60 percent more for the same products being focused on women, but basically the same products.

We need to think no further than looking at haircuts, where a woman can't get a haircut for $26 like former Governor Scott Walker, who mocked one of our colleagues about the cost of her particular haircut.

Let's talk about retail sales. I had my office go online and do some online shopping. On Amazon, you can get this four-pack of Dove deodorant for women for $19.39, but the male version of this particular product is only $13.58 for a four-pack. That is a 60 percent cost differential, a 60 percent tax on women.

Here is a pack of probiotics from CVS for a woman. It costs $32.79. For a man, it costs $22.79. That is a 68 percent increase and a tax on women for the same product.

Then, we can move on to diapers. Believe it or not, diapers for girls cost more than diapers for boys. In fact, $37.79 for boys and $33.99 for girls.

Finally, my favorite is the teddy bears. If you go online and buy a pink teddy bear, you are going to pay a tax. It is $14.99. A blue teddy bear is only $12.30.

This is stupid. This is crazy. This is discrimination. It is time for us to deal with it, and there is a way to deal with it.

I have introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act, which I am hopeful will be heard in the Energy and Commerce Committee. I am hopeful that, once and for all, we can do something about the fact that women pay more for the same goods and the same services.

In California, we have a law that I had passed many years ago that focused on services. The Assembly Office of Research found that women pay $1,300 more per year for services. It shouldn't be based on gender; it should

be based on the amount of time it takes, whether it is a haircut or dry cleaning a shirt. We have seen over and over again that we pay more for the same service as well.

Colleagues, I hope that on this very last day of Women's History Month, we remember this for the rest of the year, that women pay more for the same goods and services, and that should be against the law.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support passage of S. 3294, legislation to obtain and place statues in the Capitol or Capitol grounds of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first two women to serve as associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. I would have voted in favor of this legislation; however, I was regretfully unable to be present on the floor because I was attending and asking questions at a hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I offer my congratulations to the family and friends of Justice O'Connor and Justice Ginsburg and my gratitude that these statues will provide inspiration to millions of Americans upon visiting their Capitol for decades to come.