Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the National Certified Dietary Managers (CDM), Certified Food Protection Professionals (CFPP) Day, which this year fell on November 28, 2024. This day is meant to honor the contributions these professionals have made in the food service management profession and the lives they have impacted through their service in America's healthcare industry.

I would also like to recognize the Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals (ANFP) for their efforts to designate November 28, National CDM, CFPP Day. Over 90 percent of the ANFP's more than 13,000 members work in healthcare and a majority of those are in long-term care facilities. As a geriatric nurse practitioner, I have seen firsthand the way in which CDMs and CFPPs positively affect health outcomes for members of our greatest generation.

They play an essential role in America's healthcare industry, and as such are responsible for managing nutrition and food service operations. They are trained and qualified to administer menus, food purchasing and preparation, and to apply nutrition principles, among many other essential tasks. The CDM, CFPP credential is also the basis for the ANFP Youth Apprenticeship Program, which was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2022.

This year it was especially fitting that the National CDM, CFPP Day fell on Thanksgiving, as CDMs and CFPPs work 365 days a year to serve their patients. It is an honor to celebrate these dedicated professionals who work tirelessly, even over the holidays, away from their friends and families and loved ones.

I am proud to honor their significant impacts to healthcare and celebrate the National Certified Dietary Managers, Certified Food Protection Professionals Day of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of my colleague and friend, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton of Virginia's Tenth District.

I first met Congresswoman Wexton not here in the Halls of Congress, but when I was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2019. I remember the day that she first came and visited us on the floor and how she went around the room, and shook hands with every member, all 40 of us that day.

While our time in the Virginia General Assembly did not overlap, her legacy of serving her constituents lived on in the chamber. When I entered Congress, I was elected as the second of three Jennifers to be elected to the 118th Congress from Virginia.

I have enjoyed serving alongside these other two Jens as a member of the bipartisan Jennifer caucus. Like so many in Virginia and across the country, I was saddened by the announcement of Congresswoman Wexton's diagnosis in September of 2023.

While she announced that she would not be running for reelection in 2024, she fought against the odds to fulfill her commitment to her constituents and serve for the remainder of the 118th Congress.

She also became an advocate for her disease process and a loud voice, she brought awareness to so many of us here in the House of Representatives.

Members of Congress will oftentimes stand here on the House floor and talk of the sacrifices they make to serve their districts, but Mr. Speaker, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who has sacrificed more for her constituents than Congresswoman Wexton has over the past year and a half.

Rather than leave Congress to spend time with her family and friends in northern Virginia, she has remained here working every day.

Even when her physical voice left her, she got very creative, and with the help of technology, has continued to be a strong advocate for the residents of Virginia's 10th District with distinction.

The impact she left in Richmond and will leave in Washington is truly impressive and will be remembered by the citizens of Virginia for years to come.

I thank my friend for her eagerness to continue serving against all odds and for her years of selfless sacrifice to our Commonwealth and to the United States of America.

She will be missed by our entire Virginia congressional delegation, and I know that the Commonwealth of Virginia will be thinking of her and will be supporting her in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.

Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line for our country, and they should be compensated accordingly.

As a former Navy helicopter pilot, a Navy spouse, and now a Navy mom, I am laser focused on addressing obstacles faced by our servicemembers. I was proud to serve on the House Armed Services Committee Quality of Life Panel, where we addressed issues for our servicemembers, including increases to military pay, housing, healthcare, childcare, and spousal support.

Pay is one of the many quality of life improvements needed across the board for our servicemembers. That is why I fought hard to include a pay raise for our junior enlisted servicemembers in the final text. The 14.5 percent pay increase for E-1 through E-4s will ensure military salaries can remain competitive with the private sector.

At a time when our world grows more dangerous every day, America needs to prioritize our warfighters and ensure that we can maintain a ready, capable, and lethal fighting force. It is imperative that our military men and women earn a salary befitting of the service they provide to our country.

Today's legislation is exactly what we need to deter our adversaries, improve the quality of life for our servicemembers, and revitalize our defense industrial base. I am confident that passing the NDAA will be a significant win for the young men and women in the military and their families, our national security, and our entire country.

I am always proud to advocate in Congress for our servicemembers and their quality of life.

Mr. Speaker, I will close by saying, as my colleague did: Go Navy, and beat Army.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a poem submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his views:

The Sacred Lights of Chanukah

The fragile yet formidable Chanukah candles

We tenderly lit, daringly defy the suffocating

Darkness around us and in us,

Soothing and softening, we pray, all who

Their magic of evoked memories of elation

And trepidation with oil--dripping levivot

(Potato pancakes) for expectant levavot

(Hearts) while partaking of sustaining sweet

Sufganiyot (donuts) to counteract the bitterness

Of previous and following defeats,

Celebrating a temporary victory before the

Hasmonians' intra-feuds hastened the demise

Of short-lived Jewish sovereignty with warning

Lessons for the contemporary scene of mounting

Extremism and spreading strife,

With hostages in death-filled Gaza darkness

Still-second Chanukah's Festival of Lights

In captivity, how tragically ironic!--desperately

Yearning for liberating light lagging too long

Behind and may not come, and for too many

Their wondrous light already snuffed out by

Those adoring the dark with the candle of each

Unique life burning down before its time and

Forever lost is that consecrated inner oil,

Though only we, today's brave Maccabees,

Possess the priestly power to extinguish

The miracle of the bright Chanukia (menorah)

Embedded deep within us.

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is the founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach. Kazakhstan's only born rabbi, he is the son of Polish Holocaust Survivors and spent his early childhood in transit and DP Camps in Austria and Germany. He grew up in Haifa, Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a co-chair of the Assisting Caregivers Today, or ACT, Caucus, to recognize National Family Caregivers Month.

Every November, we bring awareness to the people who dedicate their time, money, and efforts to care for their loved ones. There are roughly 48 million family caregivers in the United States who give around-the-clock care for their family members.

On average, caregivers across the country provide nearly $600 billion in unpaid labor annually. In addition to providing these essential services unpaid, more than three in four family

caregivers spend their own hard-earned money to take care of their loved ones.

These sacrifices often go unrecognized, so it is important that we, as Members of Congress, do what we can to recognize their commitment and ensure they have the resources they need.

As the only geriatric nurse-practitioner in Congress, I have seen firsthand the challenges they face and the vital services they provide. I am proud to advocate for caregivers and policies that would make their already difficult situation easier to navigate.

Today and every day, we thank those who dedicate their lives to caring for their parents, children, spouses, and other loved ones.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

This bipartisan legislation contains consequential reforms that will significantly improve the lives of veterans and their families across the country.

I'm very proud that my bill, the Caregiver Outreach and Program Enhancement Act, is included in this package.

Known as the COPE Act, my bill would authorize the VA to award grants to organizations that provide mental health resources to those who care for our nation's veterans.

Caregivers play a critical role in the lives of older Americans-- especially our veterans--and as the only geriatric nurse practitioner in Congress, I know being a caregiver comes with immense emotional challenges.

By ensuring veteran caregivers can properly take care of their mental health, the COPE Act will improve the lives of our nation's heroes and solidify the support system they need to age with dignity.

In addition to the COPE Act, this package also includes the VA Medical Center Security Report Act of 2023, which I introduced to increase veterans' safety and support police officers at VA Medical Centers amid an uptick in violent crime.

Madam Speaker, I am the granddaughter of a veteran, the daughter of a veteran, the wife of a veteran, the mother of future veterans, and I served 10 years in the U.S. Navy myself.

I'm blessed to represent one of the largest veteran populations in the U.S. in Hampton Roads.

Improving the lives of our nation's heroes is, and always will be, one of my top priorities in Congress . . . and the legislation before us on the House Floor today helps Congress do just that.

I'd like to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle-- Representatives Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Pappas--who joined me in originally introducing the COPE Act.

I'd also like to thank Chairman Bost for his commitment to our veterans and for spearheading the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

I'm confident with the passage of this impactful legislation, we will move closer to fulfilling our promise to provide for America's veteran population and those who care for them.

I urge all my colleagues on both sides to support the Elizabeth Dole Act.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a poem submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and is a reflection of his views:

october 7

October 7

First anniversary for an old-new pogrom

With Holocaust dimensions

In a land deserving Shalom's program

While pursued by ghastly ghosts

It seeks to overcome

Under the blazing sun that rarely forgives

But dares not forget,

Watching over challenged tender

Saplings of renewed faith restored

To a promising ancient home,

Fledglings of hope sans the

Threatening clouds raining

Death for too long,

To remove fences obstructing

The view of hands touching hands,

Hearts joining hearts,

Buried dreams in the

Sands of time and trouble,

To yet resurface to quench

The thirst of the conflicted

Children of Yitzchak and Yishmael

Who will learn to drink from

The same to- be- recovered well

That once brought life to

Now a deserted tent.

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is the founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach. Kazakhstan's only born rabbi, he is the son of Polish Holocaust Survivors and spent his early childhood in transit and DP Camps in Austria and Germany. He grew up in Haifa, Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of my bill, the Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm Act, nicknamed the BEACH Act, after the important role it will play in protecting our Nation's shorelines.

The BEACH Act would allow us to carry on the mission of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act.

Signed into law by President Reagan in 1982, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act bans most Federal tax dollars for development on storm- prone, ecologically sensitive coastal areas, helps conserve wildlife habitat, and maintains natural buffers against storms and flooding for coastal communities.

Importantly, this commonsense law does not prohibit or regulate development by State and local governments or by private landowners. It simply removes the Federal taxpayer from funding coastal development in sensitive areas, which is a conservative, market-based approach to conservation.

For 40 years, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act has not only protected millions of acres of beaches and wetlands along the East and Gulf Coasts, but it has also prevented billions of dollars in property damage from natural disasters like hurricanes and undoubtedly saved lives.

Virginia is home to over 7,000 miles of shoreline, a large majority of which falls within the Second District, which I am proud to represent here in Congress. These coastal areas play a crucial role in the Commonwealth's cultural identity and economic success.

In April 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified nearly 100,000 new acres in Virginia to include in the Coastal Barrier Resources System.

Keeping the maps in this system up to date is essential to reflect changes in barrier configurations, such as the ones off the coast of the Eastern Shore of Virginia; to identify new sensitive areas for inclusion; and to ensure the most effective conservation of our shoreline.

I introduced the BEACH Act to approve these updated maps so we can make our coastal communities more resilient while maintaining fiscal responsibility and critical environmental protections.

We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to take care of the world we live in. Responsible conservation policies like the BEACH Act are an important step in the right direction to accomplishing that goal.

Mr. Speaker, I hope those on both sides of the aisle recognize the need for the BEACH Act, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8108, the Medicaid State Plan Requirement for Determining Residency of Military Families, that I introduced earlier this year to ensure servicemembers can maintain critical healthcare coverage and medical services for their children no matter where their service takes them.

Americans with disabilities often need long-term care services to help them with everyday activities, such as eating, walking, medical equipment management, and more. TRICARE does not cover long-term care services, leaving military families with children in need of those services to apply for Medicaid. However, Medicaid is operated State by State, which puts individuals and their families at risk of losing services when they leave their State.

This particularly impacts our military families, who frequently transfer locations as part of their commitment to serving our country. As a Navy spouse, mom of four, and a veteran who served for nearly 10 years myself, I know how hard these relocations can be for military families.

Those who serve our country shouldn't have to worry about whether their children will be able to access critical healthcare services when they get to their next duty station.

That is why I introduced the Medicaid State Plan Requirement for Determining Residency of Military Families.

My bipartisan bill would guarantee dependents of Active-Duty servicemembers can continue to receive long-term care services through a State-administered Medicaid plan should their family be stationed in another State.

Our men and women in uniform already sacrifice so much for our country. Their children should never have to forego critical care because of their selfless decision to serve.

I thank Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for joining me in this important effort, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2228, the Building Chips in America

Act, the Senate version of bipartisan legislation I introduced last year to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States.

Last year, 120 Members of Congress signed a letter to House and Senate leadership urging its inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act.

Semiconductors go in everything from cell phones to innovative technologies that support American energy, powerful new AI tools, key weapons systems keeping Americans safe at home and abroad, and the list goes on. Despite this, the U.S. is home to only 10 percent of global semiconductor production.

Thankfully, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act authorized nearly $40 billion in grant funding to reshore this critical manufacturing capability for which we have historically relied almost entirely on China.

This monumental investment in our domestic industry has spurred companies up and down the semiconductor supply chain to start bringing new manufacturing projects to our shores.

However, existing requirements by the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, threaten to delay semiconductor projects already underway and discourage future investment in domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

A recent study from Georgetown University found the United States builds semiconductor fabs at a slower rate than the rest of the world.

To put it simply, we cannot allow Federal bureaucracy to hold up critical CHIPS Act projects while the Chinese Communist Party spends billions of dollars to become the world's leading producer of advanced semiconductors.

One of the greatest national security threats we face today is China's choke hold on our defense industrial base. We must be able to produce these components critical to our economy and national security here on American soil.

Last week, I had the privilege of visiting Silicon Valley with the House Armed Services Committee. We did a field hearing there, and we heard time and time again the importance of expediting the process for building semiconductor chips here domestically. This was an ask from that defense industry in the Silicon Valley.

The Building Chips in America Act would address this issue by clarifying how NEPA applies to projects that receive funding from the CHIPS Act.

This bipartisan bill would ensure these projects can move forward in a timely fashion while still obtaining all necessary permits and requiring projects to undergo necessary environmental reviews at the State and local level.

This approach streamlines our domestic semiconductor manufacturing without changing the environmental requirements and standards these projects need to meet.

Mr. Speaker, I represent coastal southeast Virginia, which is one of the heaviest military congressional districts in the country. We know how to be good stewards of the environment without sacrificing our economy or our national security.

If we want to ensure American economic and national security in today's dangerous world, we must reduce our dangerous reliance on Chinese supply chains and increase our domestic production of these critical technologies.

Our military men and women need secure, reliable electronics to carry out their missions safely. Relying on adversarial nations that directly seek to undermine our national security is not an option.

I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation and allow our country to restore chip manufacturing on American soil, which we can do while maintaining our basic environmental laws. We cannot afford to lose this race with China.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record remarks submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his views:

On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Palestinian award-winning author and lawyer, Raja Shehadeh

is co-founder in 1979 of Al-Haq, the Palestinian human rights

organization. The Observer loaded him, ``Palestine's greatest

prose writer'' and the New York Times Book Review heaps

praises as well, ``in his moral clarity and bearing of the

heart is self-questioning and assistance on focusing on the

experience of the individual within the storms of nationalist

myth and hubris, Shehadeh recalls writers such as Ghassan

Kanafani and Primo Levi.''

In his latest book with a challenging title, What Does

Israel Fear From Palestine? New York: Other Press. 2024,

Shehadeh, clearly a Palestinian patriot who was born in 1951

in the West Bank town of Ramallah, offers us a concise packed

yet imbalanced perspective on the long and agonizing

Palestinian-Israeli conflict that the October 7, 2023,

Hamas's vile attack with terrifying Holocaust dimensions, has

brought into sharp view with months of fighting and much

suffering to both sides. The detail-oriented writer and

activist is anchored in the Palestinian saga of loss and

grievances going back to the pivotal 1948 victorious Israeli

War of Independence which the Palestinians painfully regard

as their Nakba (Catastrophe).

Touching are the author's reminiscences of growing up in

Ramallah with his grandma who was a refugee from Jaffa, ever

missing her old home and inculcating in her young grandson an

attachment to the family's past. ``For a long time, I was

hostage to the memories, perceptions and attitudes of others

that I could not abandon. My sense of place was not my own.''

However, following the 1967 War when he was able to visit

Jaffa, his family's roots gained a realistic sense of

belonging. The close physical proximity was a primary factor.

Shehadeh blames the British for the turn of events

culminating in the 1948 Arab defeat and the Palestinian

debacle, pointing at the 1917 Balfour Declaration as the root

cause, stating that the 1922 to 1948 British Mandate was

dedicated to fulfilling the earlier declared British

commitment toward the Jewish people. I believe that

historians would beg to differ, regarding a gradual British

shift in the Arabs' favor and manifested in severe limits on

Jewish refugees before and after WWII and the Holocaust.

Intense Jewish military pressure was created as the British

Empire was disintegrating. The author claims that ``what

happened in Palestine was the utter dissolution of a

nation,'' notwithstanding the acknowledged fact that no such

``nation'' historically existed yet the Israeli Jewish

narrative supported by the Bible claims past millennial

Jewish life and creativity which is cavalierly dismissed by

the author, ``Israel treated the Bible as a historical

document and used it to back up the claim that the land had

belonged to the Jews from time immemorial, having been

promised to them by the Almighty.''

He bemoans the fate of the Palestinian Arabs, about

160,000, who remained in Israel and were ``forced'' to

celebrate Israel Independence Day. Admittedly, they were

caught in a bind but there is no evidence that they were

coerced to celebrate Israel's national festivals. After all

they have enjoyed the benefits of becoming Israeli citizens

and significant progress of integration was accomplished

though challenges remain in a complex scenario with serious

security issues. There is evidence of growing Palestinization

of Arab Israelis while polls reflect no desire on their part

to trade their Israeli citizenship for an Arab one. There is

no mention by the author of the 750,000 Jewish refugees in

1948 from Arab lands who left under duress, subject to

pogroms and losing their belongings following centuries of

discrimination.

It is hard for Shehadeh to come to grips with Israel's

success to establish a modern Jewish national identity,

defined by him as ``Zionist colonization,'' with the

revitalized Hebrew language bestowing Hebrew names on the

rebuilt landscape that had carried Arab ones. He points at, a

non-starter, proposal of his late father, Aziz Shehadeh,

following the 1967 War, to use the 1947 Partition

Resolution--then denied by the Arabs--for a Palestinian

state. Abba Eban, Israel's legendary foreign minister,

insightfully coined that the Palestinians ``never missed an

opportunity to miss an opportunity.'' Indeed, the

controversial Jewish State Law of July 19, 2018, caused

understandable consternation among Israeli Arabs, exacerbated

by the dropping of Arabic as an official language. Sadly, I

share with the author, only 3% of Israeli Jews are literate

in Arabic. That is part of an important discussion concerning

Israel's better integration into the surrounding Arab Middle

East while there are those Israelis who prefer a Western

orientation. I suggest that both approaches ought be pursued

tandem.

The book's Part Two is dedicated to the Gaza War, 2023-4,

triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas's massacres which the

author thankfully condemns though seemingly impressed with

the military aspects of catching Israel by surprise as Egypt

did in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the breaking through the

failed billion plus costly barrier, along with the heavy

Israeli fatalities, casualties and captives. ``The brutality

of Hamas's attack and the civilian death toll certainly cast

a shadow on their military success.

Whereas an occupied population has the right under the

international law to resist, they have no right to commit war

crimes. Still, this time the Palestinians did not fit into

the role of victims. To the Israelis it seemed like

aggressors who were challenging Israel's very existence.''

The astute Shehadeh is surely aware that Gaza was returned

to the Palestinians in 2005 by then Prime Minister Sharon,

followed by Hamas's forceful occupation and the cruel

toppling of the Palestinian Authority there with no elections

since the 2006 Hamas's ``victory''. He regards the Israeli

response to the October 7 Nazi-like Hamas's massacres

excessive, expecting public Israeli criticism as back in 1982

with the horrific Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon. The

author though surely knows that the Christian Phalangists had

a decisive hand at that time. Somehow, there is no reference

also to Iran's leading role in directing its radical proxies,

Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis and others, to prevent the near

peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia with the successful

foundation of the Abraham Accords. Also, the author's

comparison of Israel to the once South African apartheid

state is misleading.

I wholeheartedly concur with Shehadeh's following

assessment, ``Young Israelis felt secure enough that they

planned a rave night on the border with Gaza. But when Hamas

broke through Israel's vulnerability and insecurity were

exposed. Israelis were traumatized because they realized they

couldn't go on with their life in the same way, making the

same assumptions about the reality of the state and its

security. Unless, that is, they defeated the aggressor.'' I

also share the author's own response to his book's title,

``The very high human and material cost of the war in Gaza

proves that what Israel fears from Palestine is Palestine's

very existence.'' Surely a Hamas controlled Palestinian state

is not accepted by Israel for obvious reasons.

I do appreciate Shehadeh's optimism concerning the future,

``And yet, looking back at the history of the region it is

only after great upheavals that hopeful consequences

follow.'' However, the central question and challenge remain,

whether two separate and contradictory narratives can be

reconciled for the future sake of both peoples.

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is the founder of Temple Lev

Tikvah in Virginia Beach. Kazakhstan's only born rabbi, he is

the son of Polish Holocaust Survivors and spent his early

childhood in transit and DP Camps in Austria and Germany. He

grew up Haifa, Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Smithfield High School Boys' Soccer team on winning the Class 4 Region A Championship.

As their Congresswoman, I am proud of these young athletes and their recent achievement. Located in Smithfield, Virginia, the Smithfield High School Packers were able to bring the Class 4 Region A Championship back home to their fellow students, faculty, families, and friends through their hard work and dedication to their team. The Smithfield Boys' Soccer team won the game two to zero and advanced to the state tournament.

As a former athlete myself, I want each of these young men to know Virginia's 2nd District is extremely proud of their accomplishment and applauds them on their well-earned victory. Again, congratulations to the Smithfield High School Boys' Soccer team on winning the Class 4 Region A Championship.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record remarks submitted at the request of a Virginia Beach constituent, Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman of Temple Lev Tikvah, and are a reflection of his views:

``Prolific author, Salman Rushdie, with translations to

more than forty languages and winner of multiple prestigious

literary prizes, including the 2023 PEN Centenary Courage

Award, rewards us with his latest publication, Knife

(Meditations After An Attempted Murder). New York: Random

House. 2024. He made news around the world when attacked at

the Chautauqua Institution, in upstate New York, on August

12, 2022, by a would-be assassin who acted upon the Fatwa of

a death sentence issued by Ayatollah Khomeini 33\1/2\ years

earlier.

The Ayatollah responded to Rushdie's book, The Satanic

Verses, which he deemed blasphemous against Islam. Poignantly

and ironically, Rushdie was to address that fateful day on

creating safe spaces in America for foreign writers in a

project, ``City of asylum Pittsburg,'' initiated by Henry

Reese and his wife Diane Samuels. The author's attacker was

24 years old and described by Rushdie as ``the A.'',

referring derogatorily by the author to the vile attack, thus

revealing his profound disgust for the attacker's both act

and personality. Interestingly the author had a premonition

in the form of a dream of being attacked two nights before

the shaking event.

Rushdie's overwhelming hurting, physically and

psychologically, of the 27 seconds brutal knifing is captured

in his inimitable

style, ``He had reached his target, after all; his blade was

entering his target's body, over and over again, and he had

every reason to think he had succeeded in his endeavor and

was standing on the stage of history . . . But then he was

dragged off me and pinned down. His twenty-seven seconds of

fame were over. He was nobody again.'' Obviously, the

author's anger at his attacker who had sought to serve his

God at the cost of his victim's life, is tangible. He did

suffer from PTSD manifested still in weekly nightmares, and

credits writing this book to his literary agent, Andrew

Wylie's urging, though reluctant and thinking that his time

as an author was over, while expecting the publication of his

twenty-first book, Victory City.

We are all better off for Rushdie's positive decision at a

trying crossword. Losing one eye and enduring six weeks in

two hospitals, he however retained his biting humor, ``Don't

worry I'm the champion of draining fluids.'' Celebrating his

``return to the world,'' he likened his joyful leaving the

hospital to becoming a US citizen in New York in 2016, though

this time surrounded by tight security. Ever pondering the

meaning of the knife, the tool through which he was expected

to die, the meticulous author offers profound reflections on

his own artistic knife that is no less consequential without

cutting into human flesh, ``language, too was a knife. It

could cut open the world and reveal its meaning, its inner

workings, Its secrets, its truths. It could cut through from

one reality to another. It could call bullshit, open people's

eyes, create beauty. Language was my knife.''

Indeed, the author's heroic speaking truth to power before

and after the ghastly attack that almost cost his life

dedicated to the best in humanity, posits him with our

revered teachers and sages uplifting humanity by pointing at

its shortcomings. Rushdie reminds me of my late great friend,

Eli Wiesel, winner of the Noble Peace Prize. Surely Rushdie

too has earned it and/or the Nobel Literature Prize, for his

immense contribution toward a sane world. Speaking on May 13,

2022, in the United Nations on behalf of PEN America on the

writers' potential contribution in a troubled world facing

the Ukraine war, Rushdie did not mince words, harshly

criticizing Putin while praising Zelenskyy.

He also expressed grave concern on the role of white

supremacy in turning America back and backwards, the deadly

attack at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, yet aiming

sharp barbs at his own birthplace India for its religious

Hindu-Muslim wars threatening democracy. Regarding himself as

non-religious, his deep concern is with religion's proclivity

for violence and its need to remain in the private sphere.

Reflecting on the September 11 Twin Towers attack, ``An

aircraft could be a knife, too.'' He gratefully recalls

deceased Egyptian author and Nobel Literature Laureate,

Naguib Mahfouz, who opposed the Fatwa against Rushdie,

prompting an Islamist terrorist to attack him on October 14,

1994, but he survived. This remarkable book's contribution--

testimonial by a great author and humanitarian is both a

warning and a celebration.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the Kellam High School Softball Team on winning the Class 5 Region A Championship.

As their Congresswoman, I am proud of these young athletes and their recent achievement.

Located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the Kellam High School Knights were able to bring the Class 5 Region A Championship back home to their fellow students, faculty, families, and friends through their hard work and dedication to their team. The Kellam High School Softball Team fought their way to victory, defeating their opponents in a close game ending in a three to two win, and defending their regional championship from last season, defeated their opponents in overtime, finishing the game eight to seven.

As a former athlete myself, I want each of these young women to know Virginia's 2nd District is extremely proud of their accomplishment and applauds them on their well-earned victory. Again, congratulations to the Kellam High School Softball Team on the Class 5 Region A Championship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate the First Colonial Women's Tennis Team on winning the Class 5 Region A Championship.

As their Congresswoman, I am proud of these young athletes and their recent achievement.

Located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the First Colonial Patriots were able to bring the Class

5 Region A Championship back home to their fellow students, faculty, families, and friends through their hard work and dedication to their team. The First Colonial Women's Tennis Team fought their way to victory after five hours of play. Coach Diane Deaton continued to encourage her team, even when the odds were not in their favor, and led the team to a five to four victory.

As a former athlete myself, I want each of these young women to know Virginia's 2nd District is extremely proud of their accomplishment and applauds them on their well-earned victory. Again, congratulations to the First Colonial Women's Tennis Team on their Class 5 Region A Championship win.