Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained due to local and state elections in my district, and I regret missing the votes on the Amendments to H.R. 4820, and the motion to table H. Res. 845 Transportation, HUD, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024. Had I been present, I would have voted Yea on Roll Call No. 608; Nay on Roll Call No. 609; Yea on Roll Call No. 610; Nay on Roll Call No. 611; and Nay on Roll Call No. 612.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Virginia Beach lifeguards on a successful summer season and to thank them for keeping our beaches in Hampton Roads safe.

Lifeguards are an essential part of any community, but back home in Virginia's Second District, the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service has protected our oceanfront since 1930. Their mission of promoting beach safety protects not only the citizens of Virginia Beach but the millions of visitors we have each year.

Lifeguarding is one of the top choices for people searching for summer jobs, including my two sons. While it is a rewarding job, it is also a challenging one that demands personal responsibility.

Beaches and oceans are dynamic natural environments. Crowd conditions, currents, waves, sharks, and other weather conditions can rapidly change, putting swimmers in grave danger.

The average number of people saved each summer is between 400 to 600, but during this year's summer season, which extended from May 13 to September 17, the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service performed more than 800 rescues on the beaches they patrol.

On behalf of a grateful community, I thank our lifeguards for the level of skill they bring to this job and what they do for Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads. Congratulations to the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service on a successful summer season.

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:

Fifth Anniversary of Pittsburgh Massacre

The utterly unsettling 83-minute attack on Shabbat morning.

Oct. 27. 2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

resulting in the death of 11 worshiping Jews, has been

described as the worst antisemitic crime committed on

American soil. The name ``Tree of Life'' connotes the holy

Torah whose lessons. including the Ten Commandments, aim to

preserve the divine gift of precious human life, proclaiming

that freedom and responsibility are inseparable twins.

A 2020 book, ``Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh

Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy'' (University of

Pittsburgh Press), offers the traditional Jewish response,

asserting life's primacy facing death and loss. The moving

volume of insightful reflections by a wide array of

Pittsburgh writers connects to their own lives' experiences.

It is a thoughtful and fitting account honoring the memory

of the slain who are rightfully placed in the context of the

long historical chain of Jewish martyrdom, culminating in the

Holocaust and beyond, with the appellation of ``Kedoshei

Pittsburgh'' (Pittsburgh's Martyrs).

The book's co-editor Beth Kissileff is married to one of

the attack's survivors, Rabbi Jonathan Perlman of New Light

Congregation. Kissileff, who has taught at the universities

of Pittsburgh and Minnesota, raises, ``Can one heal after gun

violence? Can any of us feel safe again? Did antisemitism

really not ever go away?'' The above interrelated issues are

complex and beclouded by sectarian politics. Yet, we are not

free from tackling them while advocating for remedies helping

to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Co-editor Eric Lidji is director of Pittsburgh's Rauh

Jewish History Program & Archives at the Sen. John Heinz

History Center. He oversees preserving the massacre's

documentation. ``In due time, with persistence, I can know

just the tiniest bit more . . . so that others can someday

make meaning from it all.'' However, what ``meaning'' can be

derived from such a calamitous occurrence? Recording aids

sacred remembrance and provides a therapeutic dimension.

David M. Shribman who wrote the book's Forward is the

former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His

team won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for covering the carnage.

His then-newspaper printed in Hebrew the four letters of the

memorial Kaddish prayer. Dor Hadash congregation was inspired

to conduct a ``Refugee Shabbat,'' for the gunman's ire was at

the refugees and immigrants assisted by HIAS (Hebrew

Immigrant Aid Society), who sought entry into the United

States. ``Just as the Holocaust survivors once warned my

generation, those of us who saw what happened at Tree of Life

must tell those who come next.'' The challenge is to retain

the bond of remembrance and the attack's lessons over time's

natural and forced forgetfulness.

Dr. Laura Zittrain Eisenberg teaches modern Middle East

history at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a third-

generation family member at Tree of Life. Eisenberg shares

the constructive response, ``organizing blood drives . . .

community service activities at libraries, food pantries, and

service organizations . . . under the slogan `Remember.

Repair. Together.' '' Can this spirit of both altruism and

practicality, turning pain into promise, be sustained over

time? The life-changing Pittsburgh ``pogrom'' reflects Jewish

vulnerability in ``Golden America.'' Only Tree of Life

remains in the building to be redesigned by famed architect

Daniel Libeskind, son of Holocaust survivors, who designed

the World Trade Center Memorial site following the Sept. 11,

2001, attacks. The

remodeled building will memorialize the Pittsburgh tragedy

and serve as the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Rabbi Dr.

Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia

Beach. He is son of Polish Holocaust survivors.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following message I shared on October 11 at a meeting of Jewish leaders with Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia at the offices of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater in Virginia Beach.

Thank you Governor Youngkin for your initiatives to fight

the precipitous rise of anti-Semitism in these United States

and around the world. Your very timely visit with us so

shortly after the October 7 terrorist Hamas vicious attacks

on Israel's innocent civilians near the Gaza border is deeply

appreciated along with ordering the lowering of the flag

throughout the Commonwealth. We turn to our shared one God of

life's blessings who always brings us together to be one

caring family, gratefully united and gloriously diverse, ever

harkening onto the divine commandments of loving-kindness.

At this painfully trying time of excruciating anguish and

an over-whelming sense of violation by heartless enemies of

humanity and civilized society, evoking terrifying images of

the Holocaust deeply seared within us and to which I can

personally testify as son of Polish survivors who lost

hundreds of murdered relatives, and one who spent his early

childhood in Europe's transit and DP Camps, later growing up

in Haifa, Israel and serving in the IDF in the 1960s.

Just as we did not allow ultimate victory to Nazism rooted

in historical anti-Semitism, so we shall defeat, whatever the

cost, those who now shamefully delight in the barbaric

slaughter of Jewish babies and their shocked parents, mowing

down hundreds of youth celebrating peace at a music festival

along with rape and torture; dragging to cruel captivity the

young as well as frail Holocaust survivors who had found

refuge in the world's only sovereign Jewish state and the

Middle-East's only democracy. We shall never abandon our

beloved Israeli sisters and brothers heroically fighting for

the very survival of their ancestral homeland which they have

already honored with remarkable accomplishments benefiting

all humanity.

We are uplifted and reassured at this fateful hour of

existential threat to Israel's very well-being by the

incomparable Israeli-American alliance of shared values and

interests that, no doubt, makes a critical difference for the

defense of the entire free world. The Ford and Eisenhower

strike groups whose homeport is Hampton Roads are truly a

source of swelling pride. The recent historic strides toward

lasting Middle East peace with the major inclusion at last of

Saudi Arabia, likely pushed Iran and its proxies--the enemies

of peace who glorify death and dying while the West

sanctifies life and living--to this inhuman cowardice massive

assault on a holy Jewish day--50 years and a day since the

other traumatic surprise of the Yom Kippur War--with total

disregard for basic human norms.

They will be held accountable. Perhaps it was also a failed

attempt of divergence from the Ukraine tragedy. Restoring

Israel's damaged deterrence is a must priority. The internal

Israeli bitter divisions around misguided Judicial Reform

were perceived to reflect a weakened society, though Israel

unites in a national security emergency, but a heavy price is

nonetheless exacted by an enemy tragically neglecting and

sacrificing its own Palestinian people.

Oh God sustain our sacred resolve to face evil and subdue

it with Shalom's eternal blessings that we shall not

compromise over, of healing, hope and harmony. Rabbi Dr.

Israel Zoberman is founder and spiritual leader of Temple Lev

Tikvah in Virginia Beach.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand up for the men and women serving in America's armed forces. I am working day in and day out to prevent a government shutdown in just over 48 hours. If Congress can't reach deal on government funding before Saturday night, those serving in our military will not receive their paychecks.

I will not allow the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our country to go without pay.

That is why I introduced the Pay Our Troops Act, which would ensure our troops, including the Coast Guard, will be paid on time no matter what. As we continue working to avoid a government shutdown, my bipartisan legislation would give our troops the financial reassurance they deserve.

Our servicemembers shouldn't suffer because of Washington dysfunction, especially not at a time when inflation and interest rates continue to hurt our military families.

I am a Navy veteran, a Navy spouse, and a Navy mom. I know first hand that far too many of our service families live paycheck to paycheck. In fact, one in three families have less than $3,000 in savings. For the sake of those families and all of our military families, I am committed to getting our economy back on track by cutting wasteful spending. I am also committed to ensuring our servicemembers get a paycheck, no matter what is happening here in Washington.

Mr. Speaker, if there is anything that can unite us, it should be taking care of our troops. I believe that we can make commonsense spending cuts, while still responsibly funding our government and maintaining our national security. While we continue working to prevent a government shutdown, I urge my colleagues to join me in providing financial certainty to our military families by supporting our Pay Our Troops Act.

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:

I have returned from the torn Land of Israel where I grew

up, following a visit throughout July of a shaking, even

shocking experience. Israel is undergoing a trauma whose

lasting impact is impossible to predict. However, the current

internal crisis threatening Israeli democracy, the Middle

East's sole one, is due to the most extreme coalition

government in Israel's history attempting to alter its

Western liberal orientation by disabling the Supreme Court's

standing as an independent Judiciary. Consequently, the

unprecedented mass demonstrations for months in opposition to

the proposed radical agenda which I watched in disbelief and

participated in, have reflected a powerful popular response

determined to preserve Israel as both the Jewish and

democratic state envisioned by its founders. Already

adversely affected are the Israeli economy, military, public

health, the woman's status, education, Pride community and

society at large, while Israel's enemies, Iran and its

proxies, become further emboldened. The special relationship

between Israel and the United States is at risk as well as

the essential bond between Israel and American Jewry.

With heartfelt, even prophetic pathos and deep grasp of the

multi-layered Israeli scene since its inception and prior,

veteran Israeli author Ari Shavit offers us a concise

manifesto for urgent action with the goal of ``Saving

Israel,'' his recent book's alarming title (Saving Israel.

Rishon LeZion: Miskal--Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed

Books. 2023). He begins with a statement of both profound

gratitude and grave concern, ``the State of Israel is a

miracle. No other nation did what we have: To build anew a

national home following two thousand years. No progressive

democracy succeeded to flourish as we have, following a Shoah

and living under a volcano. Despite all the troubles,

problems, weaknesses, difficulties and blemishes--The Zionist

dream has been realized. The people of Israel live, and the

state of Israel lives. Our sons and daughters have in our

ancestral land what our grandfathers and grandmothers did

not: Sovereignty, freedom, prosperity, pride and progress.

Being a technological, economic, military and political

super-power, Israel of the 21st century is a strong country

capable of shaping its own fate and march toward a brilliant

future. But the deep 2023 crisis threatens the Israeli

miracle and erasing our astonishing successes, leaving us

homeless.''

Shavit does not mince words. On the one hand, heaps praise

upon Israel's successes though Israel is not a global, as the

author claims, but a regional superpower. In light of trying

beginnings and facing monumental challenges that were likely

to doom the fragile creation: Attacks from a collection of

superior military establishments while absorbing penniless

immigrants from west and east three times larger in size,

into a war zone with meager resources. On the other hand, he

bemoans the Jewish people's destructive tendencies that

brought down Jewish sovereignty and led into long exile and

ultimately a consuming Holocaust. ``And the Jewish people has

multi-talents though sorrowfully it lacks the talent to be a

people. It tends toward extremism, internal strife and self-

destruction . . . Israel needs to be both powerful and

ethical, both national and liberal, both Jewish and

democratic. Only a combination of resoluteness and openness

will guarantee that not weakness nor zealousness will bring

us again to the pit's cusp.''

The author is convinced that the goal is within reach

though the hour is late and the Israelis with all their

complexities and tribal tendencies ought not further delay.

He thus concludes, ``The good and silent great Israeli

majority will not remain still. The democratic Jews will not

let a wondrous national and human enterprise to go down. For

all of us have a stake in this special place. And we all know

that there wouldn't be a Fourth Commonwealth. The Third

Commonwealth is the Jewish people's last opportunity. With

determination, love and faith we'll defend Israel and rebuild

the house.''

Rabbi Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple of Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach.

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:

Mr. Speaker, as a geriatric nurse practitioner, I have had the privilege of taking care of our Greatest Generation in various long-term care facilities, including many patients with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Currently, more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. This disease denies millions of families the opportunity to cherish memories and robs people of their ability to remember their family members and loved ones.

Until 6 days ago, all FDA-approved Alzheimer's drugs merely targeted the symptoms of the disease, never its progression. Thankfully, last Wednesday,

the FDA issued a long-awaited approval of Leqembi, the first-of-its- kind drug that changes the underlying course of early Alzheimer's disease.

This drug, which has shown promising results of slowing the progression of Alzheimer's by more than 25 percent over 18 months, will be fully available to Medicare patients, but providers will have to enter patients into a registry to collect information, and many families will still have to pay a significant out-of-pocket copay.

It is imperative that CMS continues to find ways to lift these barriers to this life-changing treatment and that CMS also changes its policy to allow for more than one PET scan, which has the ability to detect the amyloid plaque that causes Alzheimer's disease.

By having more treatment options available, patients can maintain their independence longer, get more precious time with their families, and have renewed hope for the future.

I will continue to work across the aisle in Congress and with the FDA and CMS to ensure all Alzheimer's patients have equitable and affordable access to innovative drugs such as this.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained due to a personal family matter, and I regret missing votes. I would have proudly voted in favor of the Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Act.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 272, and YEA on Roll Call No. 273.

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:

The war in Ukraine hits close to home. I was a refugee the

first four years of my life following my birth in Kazakhstan

(USSR) in 1945, and my late father was a Russian soldier

defending Leningrad and Moscow. My 102-year-old Israeli mom

who died recently in Israel was a Ukrainian Holocaust

survivor. My wife and I travelled in Ukraine with its vast

Jewish past in 1991, where we lost so many family members

during the Holocaust, including at Babi Yar. It is hard to

fathom that the historic and beautiful landscape with a

population yearning to be Western is being obliterated before

our eyes.

These searing events--an invasion of Ukraine by Russian

forces who obey the absolute authority of Russian President

Vladimir Putin--are beyond shocking. Who would have imagined

that once more, following WWII and the Holocaust, we would

witness an eruption of such magnitude in the heart of Europe,

with the evil design to seize a newly democratic nation of 40

million people in an ill-begotten scheme to restore the

collapsed Soviet Union and/or revive the preceding Russian

Imperial Empire? What is the impetus behind Putin's plot to

charge forward with uncontrolled rage and reckless impunity

despite a dire outcome for all?

Perhaps it is a case of over-confidence that he could

literally get away with mass murder with little opposition

from a world community, acceding to his past mischief in

Chechnya, Georgia, Syria (Remember Aleppo!), Crimea and

Donbas. He's gambled that his saber rattling with a nuclear

arsenal would result in finger pointing while avoiding

detrimental consequences to his megalomaniacal dream of

reordering the world order through disorder with total

disregard for human life and immense suffering for millions

of young and old, who are now homeless refugees. He, whose

family was personally impacted by the inhumane siege of

Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in WWII, shows no mercy for a vast

civilian population with close cultural and fraternal bonds

that already had experienced Adolf Hitler's similar approach.

Putin shows uncontrolled impulses of divine grandeur and sick

grandiosity. The global community hopefully apprehensively

watches, with the notable exception of the

Russians who are deprived of the truth, fed by their

government's fake news.

Let us contemplate that Hitler could have been stopped

early on if democratic nations had the common sense and

necessary guts to confront him early. Jewish leaders appealed

to Franklin D. Roosevelt, their sainted New Deal president,

only to be turned away dismissively and misleadingly with

false promises that all would be well, but first Nazi Germany

had to be defeated. By the time the United States got

involved it was too late for 6 million Jews--two-thirds of

European Jewry and one-third of the total Jewish people,

including a million and a half children, along with millions

of others. Delayed response to fateful danger by democracies

that tend to be slow and uncertain in decision-making and

extra cautious about bloodletting of their own and others,

turns ever costly with a commensurate rising price. It is

humanity's tragic pitfall that dictators possess the nerve

and verve to launch unprovoked attacks even as democracies

become impotent at critical crossroads rather than calling

for determined and quick action to avert monumental

destruction.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who ironically and

instructively happens to be Jewish and lost relatives in the

Holocaust, is pleading for his country's independent

existence and survival through more aid and we should fully

assist him. To claim that the United States and NATO members

have limitations in doing so because the victim does not

belong to NATO is immoral and short-sighted. I suggest that

Ukraine's defeat would serve to hasten another colossal

disaster for Europe and the democratic world, with Putin

further emboldened to continue violating others more

vulnerable than Ukraine, whose resistance to the onslaught is

an exemplary response we can all be inspired by. Zelenskyy

has emerged, despite being laughed at given his comedian's

background, as a world statesman with Winston Churchill's

heroic aura. The Jewish War Veterans of the United States

designated Zelenskyy as Honorary Patron. The International

Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Let

justice prevail with our indispensable help!

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah

in Virginia Beach.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained due to a personal family matter, and I regret missing the vote on the HALT Fentanyl Act today. I would have proudly voted in favor of this legislation, and I remain committed to fighting the fentanyl epidemic. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 237.

Personal Explanation

Mr. Speaker, over the past 2 years, our Hampton Roads and Navy communities have been devastated by multiple sailor suicides, in particular aboard the USS George Washington and at

Mr. Speaker, over the past 2 years, our Hampton Roads and Navy communities have been devastated by multiple sailor suicides, in particular aboard the USS George Washington and at

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of National Police Week. I am proud to stand with Virginia's police officers, not just during National Police Week but each and every day.

Our brave men and women in blue selflessly confront danger to protect us and our families, and I firmly believe it is only right to recognize all they do to keep our communities safe.

Unfortunately, as Americans face a rise in violent crime across the Nation, law enforcement officers have faced significant challenges and grave threats that have jeopardized the safety of those sworn to protect our communities.

These challenges range from increased violence against officers, efforts to defund police departments, lagging technology, recruitment and retention issues, and rising mental health concerns.

Last year, 246 law enforcement officers were tragically killed in the line of duty. This year, there have already been 41 officers killed in the line of duty serving their communities.

We must do more to support brave men and women of our Nation's law enforcement who serve our communities with courage, dedication, and strength. This week, I was proud to vote for several bills that showed them that we have their backs just like they have ours.

Whether it is through legislation or simple actions, we must prioritize appreciation of the men and women in blue who put themselves in harm's way to protect their communities.

The people of Virginia's Second District do an excellent job of showing our support for our men and women in law enforcement. This week, members of my team attended the annual National Police Week ceremony at the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The ceremony and memorial serve as a solemn reminder of what our police officers put on the line every day when they wake up and go to work to protect our community.

Mr. Speaker, please join me and the people of Virginia's Second District in recognizing the brave men and women of our law enforcement community for putting their lives on the line to keep us safe.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Princess Anne High School girls' basketball team on winning the Class Five Virginia State Championship. Last year, the Princess Anne Cavaliers came up just short of the same title, pausing their impressive eight season winning streak. But that loss clearly only motivated the Cavaliers, as they went on to boast an impressive 26-1 season this past March to win the State Championship.

In an exciting back and forth game, the Cavaliers would go on to defeat L.C. Bird High School 53 to 45. Led by Zakiya Stephenson, who scored a remarkable 24 points, and of course a strong defense, these girls showed that with hard work and an incredible team, anything is truly possible.

As a female athlete myself, I want each of the young women to know that Virginia's 2nd District is extremely proud of their accomplishment and applauds them on their well-earned victory. Again, congratulations to the 2023 Princess Anne High School girls' basketball team on winning the 13th state championship in their school's history.