Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my colleague, Congressman Mike Thompson, in recognition of the Santa Rosa Junior College's centennial anniversary. Serving more than 1.7 million students since opening its doors, this public institution has grown from seven women's vision for a local junior college into a nationally and internationally recognized leader in removing barriers to higher education.

Founded in 1918, the Santa Rosa Junior College was conceived of by members of the Federated Home and School Association of Santa Rosa, an organization of prominent women from across the City of Santa Rosa who came together around the idea of bringing higher education to their community.

Starting with an inaugural class of 19 students, the college had eight faculty members and was located in the basement of Santa Rosa's primary high school. Within the first seven years of operation, Santa Rosa Junior College went through great adversity: briefly closing due to a severe city-wide influenza outbreak, losing its basement location due to a fire, and operating nomadically out of several temporary spaces for four years. But out of this early turmoil came remarkable growth and resilience.

By 1927, the college attained the stability it needed to succeed and grow. Operating out of a permanent campus on over 40 acres of land, the college was able to begin extending its roots throughout the community, becoming the inaugural member of the newly created Santa Rosa Junior College District.

Today, Santa Rosa Junior College has grown significantly in scholastic capability and quality. Now spanning a combined total of more than 500 acres, the college district operates two campuses, a public safety training center, and a nationally ranked farm laboratory, among other facilities. The college now employs over 3,000 faculty and staff to instruct the more than 28,000 students who enroll each semester. With these sizable gains in students, facilities, and staff, the district has also expanded to serving 15 major high school campuses and 1,600 square miles, making it one of the largest college districts in the nation.

Santa Rosa Junior College, one hundred years old, offers exceptional academic, career technical, athletic and performing arts programs that have consistently garnered state, national and worldwide attention. Mr. Speaker, after a century of steady scholastic achievement and operational stability, the continuing success of Santa Rosa Junior College has led to immeasurable social and economic improvements for not only the North Bay community but the nation. It is therefore appropriate that we stand together in recognition of this momentous occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Gary Mizono, a doctor who has

played an important role in shaping the health and well-being of his community for nearly 30 years.

Gary Mizono's life has been intrinsically tied to Northern California. The second generation of his family to be born in San Francisco, Dr. Mizono completed both his medical residencies there, after finishing his medical degree at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. Upon completing his medical training, Dr. Mizono decided to stay in San Francisco and built a successful private practice with other respected doctors. After seven years, Dr. Mizono joined San Rafael's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in 1992, where he has been ever since.

Gary Mizono provided much needed leadership, expertise, and energy to Kaiser's Northern California operations. The medical center, located in Mann County, California, had only been established 16 years prior to his hiring. In that time, the community's growing need for primary and specialty medical care led Kaiser to establish satellite facilities throughout the County of Mann and the neighboring County of Sonoma. These facilities ultimately expanded Kaiser's overall patient network in the region to the over 100,000 members that have access to medical services today.

Gary Mizono began his career at the medical center as a Head and Neck Surgeon. After only three years he was promoted to the position of Chief of Head and Neck Surgery, and five years after that he earned the added role of Assistant Physician-in-Chief. By 2007, Dr. Mizono took on a much larger administrative role as the Physician-in-Chief for the medical center, and a much larger leadership role as a Long-Term Director on the Permanente Medical Group Board of Directors. These positions greatly expanded both his direct impact on Mann County as a doctor, and his indirect impact on the broader Northern California medical community. In these roles, Dr. Mizono oversaw the coordination of innovative medical practices through the collaboration of over 9,000 Physicians and Nurse Practitioners, serving a combined population of over 3.8 million members.

Mr. Speaker, Gary Mizono has not only directly served his community as a doctor, but he has also helped shape the health and well-being of the broader Northern California Community through his administrative and leadership roles. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Gary Mizono on the occasion of his retirement

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ed Schulze of Novato, California, for his exceptional commitment to public service and civic engagement. For nearly 45 years, Mr. Schulze has dedicated himself to effecting positive change in his community, serving in numerous leadership positions and volunteering countless hours.

Novato commemorates their city's founding with a celebration that, among other things, honors one resident as the city's Citizen of the Year. This honoree is nominated by members of the community, and is selected by a citizen committee who look for individuals that have made significant contributions to the City of Novato. Ed Schulze has been selected this year, on the 58th anniversary of the city's founding, in recognition of nearly a half-century of civic engagement on behalf of his community.

Ed Schulze moved to Novato with his wife Marilyn in 1973. First getting involved with his homeowner's association, Mr. Schulze would end up working on a wide array of local issues surrounding public safety, the environment, education, and the integrity of the city's leadership pipeline.

Never seeking public office himself, Mr. Schulze would instead serve on numerous boards and commissions including the county's Parole Board, Major Crimes Task Force Oversite Committee, Operational Area Disaster and Citizen Corps Council, and the Marin County Grand Jury. Through these roles, Mr. Schulze was able to improve the public's relationship with local government agencies and fight for issues such as pesticide reduction in western Marin County.

Ed Schulze's impact on the City of Novato can be measured not only through the issues he has worked on, or meetings he has attended, but also through the people whose lives he has touched over the years. As a dedicated family man and consummate public advocate, he has inspired generations of community leaders since moving to Novato nearly a half- century ago.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Ed Schulze for his many years of selfless volunteerism and leadership across the City of Novato and the County of Marin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for S. 117, the Alex Diekmann Peak Designation Act. Although I didn't work with Alex Diekmann personally, I am very familiar with the work that the Trust for Public Land has done across the West, and I have been told of all of Alex's individual achievements in protecting important wildlife corridors, fly-fishing streams, and ecosystems across Montana and the Northern Rockies. He spent the better part of two decades making the American West better, protecting landscapes within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and securing places for our children's children to enjoy. This legislation is a fitting memorial to Alex Diekmann's life and legacy, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, January 11, 2018, I was unavoidably detained for rollcall vote 14. Had I been present for rollcall vote 14, I would have voted ``YEA''.

Mr. Speaker, character assassination is Donald Trump's favorite trick when people make him look bad. This month, Trump and his allies have been desperately smearing the authors of the infamous dossier, which exposes disturbing facts about Trump's Russia connections. By attacking Chris Steele and Fusion GPS, they are trying to divert attention from the damning content of the dossier and also to impugn the FBI for launching its investigation.

Here is the problem: the dossier didn't start the FBI investigation. It was a Trump policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, boasting to an Australian diplomat that Russia had stolen emails to interfere in our election. That was 2 months before those stolen emails were put online, and that smacks of collusion.

Thankfully, our Australian allies shared this information with the FBI and the investigation began. The dossier came along and corroborated what the FBI had already heard.

There is another problem with this smear campaign: It wasn't just the FBI that took the dossier seriously. Senator John McCain deemed it credible enough to turn it over to the FBI.

This is a serious document, corroborated by a host of other evidence, and the truth is coming out, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, June 9, 2016, was the date of the infamous Trump Tower meeting with at least five Russians with Kremlin ties. That date is about the only constant in a tangled web of lies we have heard from Team Trump.

When Donald Trump, Jr., was first asked about this meeting, he said it was just about adoption, not a campaign issue. But he changed his tune when the New York Times revealed emails showing it was all about the campaign; in fact, an offer to get damning information on Hillary Clinton as ``part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump. . . .''

Now, Donald Trump, Jr.'s, response to this illegal offer says it all: ``. . . if it is what you say, I love it. . . . ''

We may never know how much collusion was set in motion at this meeting, but we do know two things:

First, Team Trump has repeatedly misled us, concealing it from security clearance forms, issuing a false statement dictated by President Trump himself.

Second, the Russians did go on to produce a massive cache of stolen emails and helped the Trump campaign in other ways.

These are damning facts, Mr. Speaker, and there are many more to come. We need to find out what else they lied about and what else they are hiding.

Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump claims he has ``nothing to do with Russia,'' but we have seen damning revelations: secret meetings, business and financial entanglements, and elaborate attempts to conceal information.

In any other era, these would be bombshells, but our nonstop media cycle, fueled by Trump's constant infusions of drama, make it hard to connect the dots. It is not that we lack evidence of Trump-Russia ties, it is that there is so much, it makes your head spin.

So today, I am beginning a ``moment of truth'' series of speeches to point out facts that show an administration that is compromised and that not only colluded with Russia, but has obstructed justice to keep us from knowing the truth.

One of many smoking guns is from 2015, when Trump's associate, Felix Sater, was seeking financing from a Russian bank facing American sanctions to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. This email from Sater to Trump's personal attorney speaks for itself: ``I'll get Putin on this program, and we'll get Donald elected.''

There is a lot more to come.

Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues who control the House, the Senate, and the White House are on the verge of another government shutdown. They have brought us to the brink, and now they are asking for more time to get their work done.

Why do they need more time? We have seen this coming. We have already granted one extension. But instead of working with Democrats to avoid a shutdown, they have been rushing through a tax scam. They have been obsessed with this reverse Robin Hood scheme to take money from the middle class and give it to corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent.

Meanwhile, we need to keep the VA open for business. We need to restore the Children's Health Insurance Program and community health centers. We need to provide safety for DACA recipients who are living in fear. We need to provide wildfire victims in California and the victims of the disastrous hurricanes who are waiting for emergency disaster funding the support they need to rebuild their lives.

Each of these priorities has bipartisan support. But instead of working together on these bipartisan solutions, a unified Republican government has been focused solely on further rigging the system to benefit special interests and billionaires.

No more extensions. Let's work to keep the government open and to address the real priorities of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of David Weinsoff for his 12 years of dedicated service as a member and Mayor of the Fairfax Town Council.

After graduating from University of New York at Binghamton with a bachelor's degree in History, Mr. Weinsoff pursued a Juris Doctor at the University of Bridgeport School of Law (now Quinnipiac College School of Law). Mr. Weinsoff has since built a distinguished legal career prosecuting citizen suits under the federal Clean Water Act, the California Coastal Act, and local government laws representing the government and nonprofit agencies.

In the mid-nineties Mr. Weinsoff relocated from San Francisco to Fairfax, California, with his wife and young child. In addition to building his private practice, Mr. Weinsoff deepened his commitment to public service and the environment through volunteer roles on the Town of Fairfax Planning Commission, Marin Municipal Water District's Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee, and as a founding member of the Fairfax Open Space Committee, among others. And, after retiring from seven years on the Marin Conversation League Board, he continued to support the organization as its legal counsel.

Mr. Weinsoff was elected to Fairfax Town Council in 2005. Over the course of his 12-year tenure, he would serve two terms as mayor and vice mayor, as well as on a wide array of community boards and organizations, including the Marin County Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board, the Ross Valley Fire Department Board, and the Measure ``A'' Committee. Known for his active leadership, the strength of his convictions and his commitment to public service, David's enduring contributions to Fairfax and to Marin County will be felt for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, David Weinsoff's service has left many lasting and positive impacts on his community, and I am certain he will continue his public service in a variety of ways in the days ahead. It is therefore fitting and appropriate that we honor him on the occasion of his final town council meeting, and extend to him our appreciation for his past--and future--civic engagement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Byrd Lochtie of Humboldt County, who is honored by the Northern California Association of Nonprofits with the 2017 Nonprofit Leader Achievement Award, a recognition she richly deserves.

Byrd Lochtie has served as a nonprofit consultant, trainer, coach and mentor in Humboldt County since 1984. Shortly after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Cornell University in 1960, Byrd became involved with the Sierra Cascade Girl Scout Council where she served as a volunteer, volunteer leader, and trainer of leaders. She continues to volunteer with the Girl Scout Council

to this day. These decades of nonprofit volunteerism provided Byrd with valuable experience in youth leadership, team building, and developing effective educational and training programs. She has also furthered her nonprofit education through various training and courses over the years, and she earned a lifetime credential from California Community Colleges.

As an independent nonprofit consultant, Byrd Lochtie specializes in helping community leaders understand and be more effective in their roles, including working together to develop strategies to advance their missions. She has been a key partner and trainer for the Northern California Association of Nonprofits fostering learning, mentoring, relationship building, and excellence in leadership through monthly board leadership roundtables and introduction to board service workshops for many years.

Byrd remains highly engaged with a variety of local organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Humboldt County, Children's Authors Festival, the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, United Way, Girl Scouts, Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees, the Eureka and Arcata Community Recycling Centers, and more.

Mr. Speaker, Byrd Lochtie's commitment to bettering her community through civic engagement and empowering leadership in others is commendable and worthy of recognition. I urge my colleagues to join me in extending our congratulations to her.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican tax scam picks clear winners and losers, yet our colleagues are rushing it through Congress faster than President Trump can retweet British racists.

Let's be clear: the winners in this tax scam are the country's wealthiest, including Donald Trump, his family, and his billionaire cronies in his Cabinet. Meanwhile, students, middle class families, homeowners, and seniors across this country are the losers. They are left holding the bag.

Californians get an especially raw deal because my Republican colleagues want to impose an unfair double tax on the State and local taxes that we pay.

There is more bad news for Californians. Homeowners will be hit by a new cap on mortgage interest deductions, students will have to start paying taxes on student loan interest, graduate students will lose tax- free tuition waivers, and biotech companies who focus on ultra rare diseases will see their tax credit disappear.

The Republican tax bill is unbelievably bad and historically unpopular, for good reason, but it is not too late for my Republican colleagues to stop it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Thomas (Tom) McInerney for his 8 years of dedicated service as a member and Mayor of the San Anselmo Town Council.

Graduating from UC Berkeley in 1986, Tom went to work for Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign as a field director a year later. By 1989, Mr. McInerney went back to school to get his law degree from the University of Santa Clara, but this did not dull his passion for political action. In fact, the same year he graduated from law school, Mr. McInerney became a campaign organizer for the Clinton-Gore Campaign.

Following his early political work and education, Mr. McInerney became a partner at the law firm of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner in 1992. By 1998, he moved to San Anselmo with his family and in 2008, Mr. McInerney transitioned professionally to a shareholder at the San Francisco office of the Ogletree Deakens law firm, all while maintaining his involvement in politics and government.

Mr. McInerney was elected to the San Anselmo Town Council in 2009. Over the course of his eight-year tenure, he would serve as the city's mayor for two years and on a wide array of community boards and organizations, including the Marin County Flood Control District 9. Advisory Board, the San Anselmo School Advisory Board, the Central Marin Police Council, and many others. Known for his active leadership, the strength of his convictions, his commitment to public service, as well as his good sense of humor, Tom's enduring contributions to the town and Marin County will be felt for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, Tom McInerney's service has left many lasting and positive impacts on his community, and I am certain he will continue his community service in a variety of ways in the days ahead. It is therefore fitting and appropriate that we honor him on the occasion of his final town council meeting, and extend to him our appreciation for his past--and future--civic engagement.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, November 13, 2017, I was unavoidably detained. As a result, I was absent for Roll Call votes 623 through 625.

Had I been present for Roll Call vote 623, on agreeing to H. Res. 599, I would have voted yes; on Roll Call vote 624, on suspension of the rules and passage of H.R. 3071, I would have voted yes; and on Roll Call vote 625, on approving the journal, I would have voted yes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Dr. George Francis Lee, a healer with a heart of gold, who passed away on September 26, 2017.

Dr. Lee was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 1, 1941. He was the oldest of five children and spent the majority of his youth in upstate New York where he met his future wife, Katherine Temple. They were married on August 24, 1963.

After graduating from Albany Medical College of Union University in 1968, Dr. Lee and his family moved to California in 1969 where he completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco. Throughout his career he was recognized for his exceptional bedside manner as well as his compassionate and trusted nature as a physician. His work in medicine not only improved the lives of women and children in San Francisco, but throughout California and the United States.

In 1977, Dr. Lee and his family built their home, the Old Chatham Ranch in Yorkville, California. As a resident of Mendocino County, George was active in the community, helping establish the Mendocino Wine Growers, Inc. and serving on numerous committees, including the Anderson Valley School Board and the Anderson Valley Health Center.

Dr. George Francis Lee has led a life dedicated to healing and helping people everywhere. He is survived by his wife Katherine, and his children Barbara, Kelly, and Douglas. Please join me in recognizing Dr. Lee's life of service.