Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as we in the San Joaquin Valley know, ``food grows where water flows.''

We also know the ravages of drought and are the first communities in California to experience drought's harmful effects.

For over 30 years, I have worked to strengthen water supply reliability for the San Joaquin Valley and throughout California.

While I was in the California Legislature, I authored the legislation to create the Kern County Water Bank, led 2 water bonds and helped to pass 2 others, providing more than $2 billion dollars to improve California's water system and provide for safe, reliable drinking water.

In Congress, I have secured approval of the Madera Irrigation District Water Bank, the San Luis Intertie, and the North Valley Regional Recycled Water Project, bringing hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of more secure water to the San Joaquin Valley.

I also worked on a bipartisan basis to pass the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the

Nation, or WIIN Act, which was signed into law in December of 2016 and increased pumping flexibility to move water throughout the state and provided over $355 million dollars for water infrastructure projects, including matching federal funds for new surface storage in California.

In all of my time working to improve the lives of the people of the Valley, rarely have I been presented with a project with such obvious potential as raising the spillway gates at New Exchequer Dam.

Water impounded behind New Exchequer Dam provides irrigation water for agriculture in Merced County, groundwater replenishment for several nearby communities, and environmental benefits for fisheries and wildlife refuges downstream of the dam.

Recently, Merced Irrigation District performed a detailed analysis of the hydrology of the watershed upstream of New Exchequer Dam and found that by raising the spillway gates 8 feet, Lake McClure could hold an additional 57,000 acre-feet without impeding the Merced River's Wild and Scenic River designation.

However, in order to move forward with raising the spillway gates, the flood control and operations manual for New Exchequer Dam must be updated, a responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Unfortunately, this manual is based on data that dates back to 1959, when New Exchequer Dam was being constructed.

Army Corps of Engineers policy requires that flood control manuals be updated to reflect new data and changes to a project.

In 2017, Merced Irrigation District wrote to the Army Corps requesting a revision of the flood control manual, which was last updated in 1981.

The Army Corps indicated that it could not update the manual at this time, citing budgetary constraints.

Merced Irrigation District proposed to pay for the public process to update the flood control manual to incorporate the new hydrologic data.

The Army Corps responded by saying that it didn't have the legal authority to accept funds for this purpose for a non-federal Section 7 project like New Exchequer, despite being able to do so for Corps facilities.

The Non-Federal Reservoir Operations Improvement Act would resolve this disparity by allowing the owners of non-federal reservoirs that are regulated by the Army Corps to contribute funds to update their flood control manuals.

It's a very commonsense, targeted change to law that will improve the water supply reliability in Merced County.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during Teacher Appreciation Week to honor America's teachers.

I still know the names of my first nine teachers at the Houghton- Kearney Elementary School in Fresno County because they all made a difference in my life: Ms. Waiye, Ms. Seely, Ms. Clark, Ms. Piper, Ms. Collins, Mr. Garfield, Mr. Weens, Ms. Collins again, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Jones, our principal.

Like so many teachers across our country, these educators dedicated their careers to helping generations of students learn and grow. Teachers today provide us with the tools we need to achieve our goals and to be successful because they understand dedicating their lives to this profession educates the future of America, our Nation. It creates the foundation that lies ahead that ultimately creates the opportunities that we as Americans pursue.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank the teachers in the San Joaquin Valley and across the Nation, throughout the United States, for all that they do. Those first nine teachers who taught me, they saw something in me and in thousands of students whom they have taught. You know what: they made a difference. They made a difference in thousands of lives, as teachers across the country do every day. So we should--it is fitting and appropriate--honor the teachers of our Nation.

Military Appreciation Month

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Military Appreciation Month. This is a time that we dedicate throughout the month of May honoring and celebrating those who have served our Nation, sacrificed; those of our military servicemembers, their families, both past and present, because families are a key part of those who have served our Nation. Their courage and their sacrifice, therefore, should never, ever be forgotten.

As a nation, on Memorial Day, later this month, we will honor and remember the men and women who have given their lives to serve our great Nation. Every year I join in the Memorial Day ceremonies across California's San Joaquin Valley. This year I will participate in the Memorial Day ceremony at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella. Hundreds will gather there with us. In Fresno, I will be speaking both at the Veterans Liberty Cemetery and the Avenue of Flags at Memorial Gardens.

But I believe most Members of Congress weekly--I certainly do--meet with veterans. We meet to listen and to hear their concerns, as well as men and women serving in Active Duty. Last week, when I was in the district, I visited the Veterans Administration clinic in the city of Merced to listen to veterans getting their healthcare, to their concerns, to their needs, to ensure that they get the care that they deserve.

And just yesterday, I spoke with a group of Valley veterans visiting Washington, D.C., through the Central Valley Honor Flight. We have these Honor Flights all across the country. It is the 16th Honor Flight in 7 years from the San Joaquin Valley. Twenty-two of them were World War II veterans, and they also served in Korea and in Vietnam.

It is appropriate to say ``thank you'' to them and to those men and women we see across the country in uniform. I always remember to say ``thank you.''

As President John F. Kennedy once said: ``As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.''

With these words in mind, I call on my colleagues and my fellow Americans to come together. America wants us to come together, not only during this month but throughout the year, and thank those servicemen and -women, the veterans, and their families; but also to do more than just utter words of gratitude, because we can do better. We must, and we should, work to ensure that our servicemembers, veterans, and military families receive the resources, the justice, and the benefits that they have earned.

These are our true American heroes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I join with Congressman Jeff Denham and Congressman Jimmy Panetta to celebrate a life well lived.

Rick Antle was truly an icon in not only California agriculture but American agriculture. He was a leader. Rick and Tonya always put their family first, and what a family it was. To be a part with them, with their children and with his father, Bob, I have fond, fond memories over the years of working together on public policy affecting California agriculture.

They farmed not just in the Salad Bowl but in the San Joaquin Valley. Their efforts to bring value added and innovation is legendary in terms of the incredible food products that we enjoy today at home. His efforts with employees set the gold standard, creating housing initiatives so that the 800 employees at Tanimura & Antle would have the kind of housing that farm workers deserve to have.

The list goes on and on and on, but I just wanted to join today and pay my respects to our friend Rick, and to his family. Tonya, we know this is a very difficult time for all of you, but we just want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. We thank you for all of the contributions you have made over the years. Rick was a leader in California agriculture. And I just personally want to say thank you for all the good advice you have given me over the years. We will miss Rick Antle.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the amendment being offered by Congressman Denham and me to H.R. 4, and I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Together, we have worked long and hard to reduce the duplicative environmental permitting requirements that contribute, as we all know, to delays in delivery of important transportation projects throughout the Nation and throughout California, as both Congressman Denham and I have experienced.

California remains at the forefront of finding innovative ways to streamline the transportation delivery project without compromising the natural environment and complying with environmental laws. As a matter of fact, we have a very big initiative that was passed last year to provide another $52 billion in construction projects over the next 10 years. So this is an important amendment.

In 2015, Congress passed the FAST Act, which implemented a pilot program to provide reciprocity for environmental permitting for States like California that have laws that provide equal or greater environmental protection. That is the case with California. That is why this amendment is so applicable and why it makes such good common sense.

This amendment would further streamline the delegation process, as the gentleman noted, reduce project delivery times and costs, lead to more projects being constructed at a faster rate, and improve our deteriorating infrastructure.

For all these good reasons, we ought to adopt this amendment. I urge my colleagues to concur.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding.

I rise today in support of this amendment offered by Mr. Denham, Mr. Cuellar, and myself. Trucking companies and truck drivers are the backbone of our Nation in terms of transportation, and certainly, much of the San Joaquin Valley that I represent.

Agricultural products, fruits, nuts, and vegetables that are put on American's dinner tables every night are grown in the San Joaquin Valley, and they provide an important part of our sustenance.

Many of these truckers have one or two trucks, and they are literally small-business people. Sadly, because of the recent court decisions that were noted by the author of this amendment, these companies that operate across State lines have been exposed to unfair litigation that have been costly, and I know of cases where major motor carriers have gone out of business because of this.

The amendment would clarify that when operating across State lines, meals and rest break requirements will be governed by Federal law, not a patchwork of conflicting State laws. That just makes good common sense. This is consistent with action taken by the Congress--as was noted--in 1994, to provide uniform rules across the country for safety purposes.

Some of my colleagues have claimed time in opposition saying this amendment would overturn protections like minimum wage and vacation. This amendment in no way impacts minimum wage or vacation, or those issues that have been raised in this fashion. It is simply not true.

This amendment, I believe, is prosafety, proworker, and proeconomy. The fact is, we have been dealing with this issue for a number of years, and it is time that we finally avoid the confusion and strengthen this measure out.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with the Armenian community to commemorate the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with my colleague, Congressman David Valadao. We both represent a large constituency of Armenians in the San Joaquin Valley.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Empire began to systematically deport and kill 1.5 million Armenians, sending them to their death. It was systematic, it was planned. But as history has shown, the Armenian people are stronger than any attack, even genocide; the first genocide in the 20th century, by the way.

Many Armenians settled in California's San Joaquin Valley, where I was raised, and now I have the honor to represent. I heard their stories of their losses with their families, but I also saw their determination, their joy, and their strength, and their contributions to our community and to our Nation.

The Armenian people show us that we must move forward, but we must never forget where we are from and who we are; therefore, the Congress and the President must, sooner than later, officially go on record recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Tonight, I stand with the Armenian people and commemorate their spirit. As we move forward, we must never forget.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise concerns about the farm bill that we will consider in the House Agriculture Committee tomorrow.

In any legislation, there are parts of it that you support and there are areas that are problematic and there are titles that you may oppose. That is part of legislation. Some of these areas, of course, are works in progress. That is part of legislation as well. The farm bill is no exception.

There are parts of this proposal that are a continuation of good things that we have done in previous farm bills that have worked. This version of the farm bill supports programs that are critical to specialty crops in the San Joaquin Valley and across California and the Nation. Specialty crops are special. They are fresh fruits and vegetables that serve as the foundation of a healthy diet. California grows half of the Nation's specialty crops.

This bill also provides support for research and risk management tools that are necessary. That includes continuous support for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a program that encourages farmers to be good stewards of our environment. It also has proposals that support programs that help our farmers, ranchers, and dairy producers expand to foreign markets so we can compete.

Further, it also includes research and development of organic farming that continues to be very, very important, and it encourages a comprehensive approach to ensuring the health and security of our livestock. But we could do more in all of these areas.

There are also parts of this farm bill that, for me, are problematic. As written, the dairy provisions create an uneven playing field that protects some, while leaving others exposed, sowing a regional divide within the dairy industry.

Instead, we should raise the threshold for catastrophic coverage under the dairy safety net so we can respond more quickly for all dairy producers when milk markets plummet. The California dairy industry has hit hard times in recent years.

Lastly, there are components of this farm bill that I strongly oppose, as do countless other organizations, people in the San Joaquin Valley and across the country. One of these proposals makes changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, that will devastate parts of the food program that are working well.

SNAP education and training programs are designed to help people and help recipients develop skills so ultimately they become self-reliant. I am a strong supporter of SNAP education and training programs. Although some of our SNAP education and training programs are yielding great results, we have a pilot project in Fresno County called the Fresno Bridge Academy that has expanded, and we now, as a result of the last farm bill, have 10 pilot projects around the country. In 2019, they are supposed to report back to the Congress to say what works and what doesn't work.

That is the way we should be doing this so that we can get people off of assistance, make them self-sufficient. We all agree that able-bodied people should be working. Yet, this farm bill makes enrollment in the SNAP education and training program mandatory, and in many cases, without giving them the necessary tools to get real jobs that exist.

We have been warned that such a strain on burgeoning programs may very well collapse, costing billions of dollars, and creating a new Federal bureaucracy. In addition, this proposal would systematically prevent people from getting food assistance that they badly need, including our disabled, our seniors, and our veterans. Twenty-five percent of my constituents are on SNAP and require food assistance.

This program is vital to the health of our communities, both in rural and urban areas in every State in the Nation. The farm bill is America's food bill. It is about our national security. It is very important. It should not serve some well and abandon others.

Although this proposal does include some good provisions, it fails to serve

important parts of our community, and it builds a bigger and more intense divide between regions and groups in our country. Our Nation's food policy should not be something that further divides us. This part of the House farm bill proposal, I think, is bad policy. It will not succeed legislatively, nor can it be successfully implemented.

The United States Senate is writing a bipartisan farm bill, and that is what we should be doing in the House. As a matter of fact, the farm bill, for over 40 years, has been one of the most bipartisan things that we do in Congress.

I call upon my colleagues to work together, in a bipartisan fashion, to negotiate these differences, one that serves the widest range of Americans so that we can produce enduring good public policy decisions that serve to protect the safety net for all Americans, promote American farmers, ranchers, and dairy people so that we can not only feed the Nation but compete in foreign markets.

We can do better. We should do better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make clear the dangers of a partisan farm bill that we are considering in the House Agriculture Committee this week.

Bipartisanship is not simply a buzzword. Bipartisanship is vital for policies to serve the widest range of Americans. Sadly, it is in short supply these days in our Capitol. The House Agriculture Committee has, for over 40 years, traditionally been a very bipartisan committee because our Nation's food supply affects everyone: rich and poor, farmers and consumers, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Our farm bill is America's food bill, and it needs to be about feeding all of us. I always say it is really a matter of our national security, yet the bill we are considering this week is, without question, a partisan farm bill.

We see this in how it fails to serve key parts of our Nation and abandons many of our food insecure. A partisan farm bill is bad policy, plain and simple. It will not succeed legislatively nor can it be implemented successfully.

I ask that we put aside these partisan differences, do as we have done traditionally, and work together to pass a bipartisan farm bill in the House and in the Senate that the President can sign.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this imperfect balanced budget amendment, and let me say why.

This week, the Congressional Budget Office released the annual Budget and Economic Outlook. It estimates that the trillion dollar annual deficits will return in only 2 years. This represents the largest deficit in 6 years, and is 84 percent of increased spending over last year.

Today, our national debt is over $21 trillion, and approximately, for each individual American, $174,000-plus per taxpayer. Outrageous. And that is simply the debt on the budget.

When accounting for off-budget debt, things like unfunded pension obligations, projected spending increases in the social safety net programs, baby boomers retirement from the workforce, and actual debt is actually much greater.

In order to make our budget sustainable, we must decrease deficits by $379 billion every year for the next 75 years. Sadly, we are not even coming close to this. In fact, we are going in the opposite direction.

History shows us that nations and empires usually fail when the cost of serving their debt exceeds the cost of

defending their borders. If we continue down this path, America could be spending more on the debt interest payments than we do on our national defense within 5 years.

However, as serious as this issue is to the future of our country and future generations, no one can possibly take this vote seriously, and let me tell you why. We are voting on a balanced budget amendment because my Republican friends passed, on a party-line vote, a deficit finance tax cut that will result in $2.2 trillion in additional borrowing over the next 10 years. Therefore, this is nothing more than a fig leaf, and it is the height of hypocrisy.

What we should be doing is voting on a balanced budget amendment that Stephanie Murphy has put forth that protects commitments our Nation has made to current generations by protecting social safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security from cuts. But we are not allowed that choice, and yet, we must get our fiscal house in order.

I am one of 38 Members that voted for the Simpson-Bowles Act. Talk about lack of profiles in courage.

Let me make an observation, after being here 14 years, and that is that the rhetoric that we see in this debate and that we have seen in past debates on our budget deficit does not comport to the hard realities of choices that we have to make. It is that simple.

After 14 years in Congress, it is my view that this will only happen when Republicans and Democrats come together to make hard choices to agree on long-term revenues that are in line with our expenditures. It is not a difficult concept to understand. We have got to think of hard- line revenues that are going to be in line with our expenditures. But we are not willing to do that.

So this balanced budget amendment, while not perfect, I am going to vote for it because I think it is a step to keep the debate going and, ultimately, hopefully, will allow us to sit down in a bipartisan fashion to make the hard decisions that Americans expect us to make. That is why we have been sent here.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join me in fostering further investment in our United States economy by one of our oldest allies, Portugal.

As a co-chair of the Congressional Portuguese Caucus, I am proud to join Congressmen Cicilline and Valadao in leading the AMIGOS Act, which will make Portuguese citizens eligible for E1 and E2 visas. These visas allow individuals to enter the United States to conduct substantial trade or invest a substantial amount of capital, which spurs investment in our economy and helps create jobs. That is, after all, what we do with our friends, with our allies.

In 2015 alone, between Portugal and the United States, there was $4.2 billion in trade. That created jobs here in the United States. It creates jobs in Portugal. It is good for both countries, and that is the way friends ought to work together.

There is precedent here. Congress granted eligibility for Israel in 2012 with the E1 and E2 visas, which allow for easier access for businesspeople who are engaged in these kinds of economic activities. What is more, Portugal was one of the first countries to recognize the United States after we declared our independence and won the Revolutionary War.

For many of us, if we remember our history, after World War II, to defend

Western democracies, Portugal, along with the United States, helped organize Western Europe to create NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that has been the bulwark of defense of Western ideals that are the foundation of our democracies.

For these reasons and more, I call upon my colleagues to join me in supporting a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation, the AMIGOS Act, which will further opportunities for business in America by creating more jobs and continue to enhance the relationship that has existed for over 200 years between the United States and Portugal.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about Russian interference in our elections.

In the last 18 months, the United States intelligence agencies and our allies abroad have decisively concluded that Russia interfered with our elections. We have sworn testimony from men and women with impeccable records, Democrats and Republicans alike. Their testimony overwhelmingly states that Russia interfered in our elections and that Russia has done so as well in other Western democracies for years.

Russia's goal with election interference is to destabilize Western democracies. Destabilizing our democracy will weaken our ability to defend ourselves against foreign adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran.

Democratic institutions and systems are the foundation of how we govern ourselves and defend our borders. When the integrity of democratic institutions is doubted, the power of our democracy is weakened.

Make no mistake: attacking the integrity of our democratic institutions is an attempt to weaken our Nation and our way of life. We must ensure that neither Russia nor any other foreign power interferes in our election process in the future.

The House of Representatives seems to have abdicated its official role in investigating Russian interference. It is my hope that the Senate will continue its investigation in a bipartisan manner. Thus, Special Counsel Robert Mueller must be allowed to continue his investigation, following the evidence wherever it leads, and write a comprehensive and complete report without intrusion or obstruction by political power plays.

This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is an American issue.

Mr. Speaker, as Members of Congress, our first responsibility is to protect our Nation. We take an oath of office every 2 years to defend and protect our Nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I call upon my colleagues, my fellow Americans, to join me in putting partisanship aside, putting our country first, and doing everything we can to prevent foreign interference in our elections in the future.

Tariffs and Trade

Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to speak about U.S. trade and the recently raised tariffs on steel and aluminum.

We all want to secure American jobs and increase the opportunity in the U.S. economy, but raising far-reaching tariffs will do just the opposite. The most likely effect of raising tariffs will be other countries adjusting their trade measures to protect their economies and their workers. This is known as a trade war, and no one wins in a trade war.

What's more, American agriculture is always the target of international reactionary and retaliatory trade behavior. California agriculture, which I am a strong advocate of and represent, feels the most intense direct pain from these tariffs. California farmers and ranchers earned roughly 44 percent of their total revenue from international trade in 2016.

But this pain will radiate across the country. Manufacturers, processors, merchants, and farmers will face negative impacts to their businesses as foreign markets close, which will cost both American jobs and profits.

Yes, we have an international trade imbalance that must be addressed, but raising these tariffs, I think, is the wrong strategy, plain and simple. This is why both Republicans and Democrats have publicly expressed grave concern with these recent actions.

The way to address these trade imbalances is to successfully renegotiate and modernize NAFTA and other trade agreements with our European allies. The President and Congress must work together on trade agreements; it is that simple.

Our best approach for successfully renegotiating trade agreements in a way that serves the entire Nation is by Republicans and Democrats coming together and putting in the hard work required for bipartisan negotiations, serious policymaking, and getting the job

done. That is what we are supposed to do.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present for roll call votes on March 15, 2018 as I had to return to California to attend a funeral.

Had I been present, I would have voted: ``YES'' on Roll Call Vote No. 109, ``YES'' on Roll Call Vote No. 110, ``YES'' on Roll Call Vote No. 111, ``YES'' on Roll Call Vote No. 112, ``NO'' on Roll Call Vote No. 113, and ``NO'' on Roll Call Vote No. 114.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for the support of the Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act.

This bipartisan legislation extends veterans' burial benefits to Hmong and Laotian-American veterans who fought in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam war. These brave men and women risked their lives fighting alongside American servicemen and -women as soldiers in the Special Guerilla Units, otherwise known as SGUs.

The SGUs were covertly trained by the CIA during the Vietnam war and then led into direct combat support for American forces, yet they have never been recognized for their service, which is why I introduced the legislation with Congressman Paul Cook, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran, who was a colonel in the United States Army and knows their story well.

There are only an estimated 5,000 Hmong veterans still alive today, with thousands of them in the San Joaquin Valley that I represent.

We extended this honor to Filipino soldiers years ago. I ask that we honor these courageous individuals with their choice of being laid to rest next to their brothers in arms. It is the right thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, the United States, as we know, is a nation of immigrants, past and present. For hundreds of years, people have come to our shores

in search of a better life for themselves and for their children.

Immigrants from across the world have made incredible contributions to our country. We know that as fact. From starting businesses to healing the sick, to harvesting our fields and putting food on America's dinner table, to ensuring safety and pursuing justice, immigrants have made America a great nation because of their contributions. Yet there have been times when our Nation has struggled to live up to our own ideals, and right now, I think, is one of those times.

This week, the President's deadline, March 5, 2 days past, to end the DACA program took effect, threatening hundreds of thousands of lives of Dreamers. Now, let us remember, this is because of President Trump's unilateral action last September to repeal DACA that we are in the position that we are in today.

Mr. Speaker, I am standing here with the Dreamers, with over 80 percent of Americans, and with many of my colleagues who believe we ought to fix this problem. I ask Speaker Ryan and I call upon this Chamber to vote now on the bipartisan, bicameral Dream Act.

This bill would provide permanent legislative protections for our Dreamers, immigrants who were brought to the United States' shores as children at the average age of 6 years. For them, America is the only country they have ever known. The Dream Act will provide these young people with legal status and, ultimately, a path to citizenship.

In my district, there are thousands of DACA recipients, thousands of Dreamers, currently, over 600 at the University of California, Merced, and more than that at my alma mater, Fresno State.

President Castro at Fresno State and I had a meeting with a group of Dreamers recently. Let me tell you about one student whom I met, who would be helped by the Dream Act, Rodolfo. What a story he had to tell, along with the other students.

Rodolfo came to the United States with his mother and siblings when he was 4 years old, at great risk. He is set to graduate from Fresno State with a degree in chemistry this year.

DACA gave him the ability to work through school and help his family. And after all, isn't that the immigrant way?

Just last week, Rodolfo got some great news. He learned that he was admitted to the University of California, San Francisco's School of Pharmacy, one of the best schools in the Nation. His dream as a Dreamer is to use his education and skills to give back to our communities by providing healthcare to underserved communities.

Rodolfo, we want Dreamers like you here in the United States. There are over 800,000 of you, all contributing and giving. Many of you serve in our armed services today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to bring the Dream Act to the floor for a vote. Support this legislation. They should not be held hostage for other agendas that are out there, and clearly this is the case.

This is common sense. I ask my colleagues to do the right thing. Let's bring the Dream Act to the floor as soon as we can.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the challenges that we face, not only in my constituency as it relates to California agriculture, but a host of other issues as well.

We are in the process of trying to reauthorize the farm bill, something we do every 4 years. It used to be--and we hope it will continue this year--one of the more bipartisan efforts we are engaged in.

I represent not only the heartland of the San Joaquin Valley, but third-generation farmer.

Last week--as I do every weekend when I go home--I was walking the rows of the almond trees on my ranch outside of Fresno, California. They are beautiful. They are in full bloom this time of year. There is not a time, though, in the year, in the San Joaquin Valley, where the incredible bounty of the 300 crops that we grow are not on display because they are always out there.

The blossoms in the spring grow into the almonds, walnuts, and pistachios until late summer. Tomatoes are harvested in August and September, followed by cotton in October and November. The dairymen and dairy processors work every day because those cows have to be milked every day year-round to produce the finest quality milk, cheese, and butter.

As I walked through my orchard, I remembered the countless stories and insights by my fellow California farmers, ranchers, dairymen and - women shared with me over the past year, and I think about my father, who farmed all of his life, and my grandfather.

In anticipation of the 2018 farm bill, I have held round tables and listening sessions, attended agriculture townhalls, and met with our farmers and farm workers, who, every day, work so hard to put those food products on America's dinner table.

I have done this to hear firsthand the concerns and priorities of our local producers, farm workers, and nutrition organizations regarding our Nation's food supply.

I have also had numerous meetings with key agriculture and trade officials, including Agriculture Secretary Perdue, who has been out to California a number of times.

And as we in Congress move together with farm bill negotiations, we must maintain strong support for the cultivation and production of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are the foundation of a healthy diet. California produces over half of the Nation's fruits and vegetables. It is truly amazing. Three hundred crops.

We must also make sure that we do not abandon our Nation's most vulnerable through inhumane cuts to the nutrition programs that provide a steady source of food to our Nation's food supply. We are talking about our safety net, we are talking about the SNAP program, and we are talking about Women, Infants, and Children. This has been part of the glue on a bipartisan basis that has kept Democrats and Republicans together in the reauthorization of the farm bill.

But we must have a safety net for those who are most unfortunate in our society. We should work to expand foreign markets for our products and to incentivize sound conservation practices and research. Research is very important to ensure the sustainability. Sustainability is critical--and continued growth of American agriculture.

We have the opportunity with the farm bill to address the crippling agriculture labor crisis afflicting our farms, and it must be addressed as we look at a broken immigration system that not only impacts our Dreamers--the DACA program--but a reliable supply of farm labor.

These are all among the issues that we must address to ensure that our Nation's food supply is reliable, because, guess what, it is a national security issue. People don't look at it that way. People go into the grocery store and they think: Well, what is the problem; grocery stores have all the food in the world. They go to the restaurants, and they have all the food that you need.

But the food doesn't go to the grocery store or to those restaurants without it being grown by America's men

and women who labor--less than 3 percent of the Nation's population--to produce the finest, highest quality, greatest yield, most nutritious food anywhere in the world, every night on America's dinner table.

That is why we must come together--Democrats and Republicans--to improve our Nation's food supply by passing a strong, bipartisan farm bill.

Fifth Anniversary of Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, otherwise known as VAWRA.

Protecting the Violence Against Women Act is one of our top priorities in the Victims' Rights Caucus, a bipartisan House caucus that Congressman Ted Poe and I organized some 10 years ago.

The law seeks to both prevent violence in our communities and provides services to survivors of violence, in part, by encouraging collaboration among local law enforcement, traditional personnel, and the private sector organizations, NGOs. In my district, these organizations collaborate, and they have been vital in helping survivors of violence.

We must have numerous organizations working tirelessly together to support the victims of crime. In my district, they include the Marjaree Mason Center, Central California Legal Services, Choice Women Empowerment, Centro La Familia, and Valley Crisis Center. This is critical to end violence not only in our valley, but in our Nation, and that is why we must come together to end this violence, to ensure that the survivors have access to services for essential recovery.

We cannot stop, and we must end this horrendous violence once and for all. That is why we must support the Violence Against Women Act.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for her leadership on this important issue.

Mr. Chair, as the co-chair of the Victims' Rights Caucus with my colleague Congressman Ted Poe, I am a proud cosponsor of this important legislation for victims in America who have suffered from these crimes.

A free and open internet, we all believe, is essential to economic growth, entrepreneurship, and enterprise in the 21st century, and America leads the way. This new technology age has reshaped our lives and allowed for greater access to learning, greater ability to shape our own futures as Americans, and with economic benefits we could not have imagined 15 years ago.

Sadly, there are some people who look at these freedoms and the openness of the internet and see ways to exploit, abuse, and prey on innocent children and teenagers in the name of profit. It is outrageous, and it is a crime. I am speaking of the scourge of sex trafficking, which has impacted the lives of too many young people in the San Joaquin Valley that I represent and throughout America.

Today, here in Congress, we look squarely at traffickers, pimps, and victimizers and say we must do a better job in protecting our citizens. As a result of this legislation, our laws will no longer be manipulated and used as a cover for their abuse. No longer will these people be able to hide behind the shield that the internet provides you when knowingly contributing to this horrible crime.

The Fresno Bee, a local daily newspaper in the San Joaquin Valley, recently ran a 6-week-long series about human trafficking in the Valley. The paper reported that nearly every 16-year-old girl in Fresno has been approached at one time or another by sex traffickers. Imagine that: nearly every 16-year-old girl in our county.

Police have seen sex trafficking victims from every high school in Fresno County and most of the junior high schools. It is horrible. This is a tragedy, and it cannot and should not be allowed to continue.

Today, we say it is time to make important changes. This legislation does that. It will help protect our children and provide them the ability to confront their abusers.

Mr. Chair, as I had said, it is time to make these important changes, and this bipartisan legislation does that. It protects our children, providing them the ability to confront their abusers, including those who knowingly promote and advertise these crimes.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman, and I am thankful for the bipartisan leadership in this effort.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record these excerpts from a series of articles entitled ``Slaves of the Sex Trade'' by Rory Appleton from the Fresno Bee: ``Don't kid yourself. Sex slaves are all around us--and you may know some of them'' (November 2, 2017), ``She was a hospital worker. He sold her for sex before, during and after her shifts'' (November 2, 2017), ``Police: 'Every 16-year-old girl in Fresno' has been targeted by sex trade recruiters'' (November 9, 2017), ``Once sold for sex, she now helps lead the fight against human trafficking'' (November 15, 2017), ``How do you rescue women forced to walk the streets at night? It's not easy'' (November 16, 2017), ``To break the cycle of children sold for sex, the legal system is trying something new'' (November 28, 2017), ``All of us must help beat the scourge of human trafficking. Here's what you can do'' (December 7, 2017). The full series can be found at http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/.

These seven articles demonstrate the impact of sex trafficking on our communities. I commend the Fresno Bee on their important reporting.

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 2, 2017]

Don't Kid Yourself. Sex Slaves Are All Around Us--and You May Know Some

of Them

(By Rory Appleton)

Rebecca Rodriguez-Brown still remembers the room where he

imprisoned her--the charming man she met and fell in love

with while still a teenager. She mapped it out with her hands

as she sat in a central Fresno office nearly 20 years later.

``They would have a little microwave there, and they would

have a little ice chest right there by the sink,'' she said.

``I still remember the color of the ice chest.''

Rodriguez-Brown isn't sure whether the room was in an

apartment or hotel. But she does remember that for seven

months she was kept in this room under guard and forced to

perform whatever sex act the strangers entering the room

asked for. The room was punishment for refusing to do the

same at her trafficker's home. Her captors brought her all of

her meals. If she defied them, she'd be beaten--sometimes

with her hands bound.

The Bee normally does not identify the victims of sexual

assault, however Rodriguez-Brown agreed to be named.

Her story is not uncommon in Fresno, or anywhere in the

world. It is one of cyclical abuse, habitual arrest and

unspeakable trauma. Women and children are bought and sold

every day in Fresno--online, in street corners, while at

school. They are raped, branded and beaten. They are taught

that they are the problem, not the people who force them into

this life--causing psychological scars that may never heal.

It is what many refer to as ``modern-day slavery.''

Full article is available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/ news/special-reports/human-trafficking/article182090031.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 2, 2017]

She Was a Hospital Worker. He Sold Her for Sex Before, During and After

Her Shifts

(By Rory Appleton)

At her lowest point, the days seemed to stretch on forever.

Eight hours a day as a hospital administrator, five hours--

sometimes more--as a prostitute.

He would wake her up at 4 a.m. to walk the streets. She

hated it--not that the house calls were much better. But when

she begged to stop, he would convince her the fault was hers.

Eventually, she would apologize and allow him to drop her off

before the sun was up.

``He wanted at least $300 before I went to work at the

hospital,'' she said.

So she would work the streets for three hours before

starting an eight-hour day scheduling appointments in the

nephrology unit of a San Diego hospital--a job she had

enjoyed before she met him. He eventually forced her to have

sex with men during her lunch break, in addition to before

and after work. On the weekends, he took her to neighboring

cities--a common tactic to avoid law enforcement or reach a

new clientele.

``If it were up to him, I would have never slept,'' she

said.

The mood-altering drug Xanax helped with the anxiety

stemming from the intense guilt she felt. She was ashamed to

talk to her friends and family--not that she could have if

she wanted to. He had her phone now, and he made sure she

never heard about her mother's attempts to contact her.

This woman, now 34, is one of thousands who are sex-

trafficked in California each year and one of hundreds of

victims now living in the central San Joaquin Valley.

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article182089821.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 9, 2017]

Police: `Every 16-Year-Old Girl in Fresno' Has Been Targeted by Sex

Trade Recruiters

(By Rory Appleton)

It was about 2 p.m. on a Tuesday when the 15-year-old girl

left her central Fresno hotel room. She climbed into a car

driven by a stranger, who would take her to another stranger

with whom she had agreed to have sex for money.

If it had been a few minutes later, the girl could have

easily blended in with children walking home from school. She

was not dressed provocatively; she wore a red Fresno State

sweatshirt and jeans. She was not wearing excessive makeup.

She carried a backpack.

Who knows how many times she had followed this pattern--

strange men and strange cars. Online advertisements showed

her in various states of undress.

That's how the vice unit of the Fresno Police Department

found her. Today, these strangers were both undercover

officers. Tonight, she will be safe.

``She said she hasn't eaten in five days,'' Sgt. Curt

Chastain said. ``No real family--an unreported runaway. She's

in the sex trade to survive.''

``She wants help,'' he continued. ``She wants to be in

school, but mom won't sign her up.''

One of Chastain's undercover detectives confirmed this is

not a rare occurrence.

``I've had (sex trafficking) victims from every high school

in Fresno County--and most junior high schools,'' the

detective said. The Fresno Bee is not identifying him due to

the sensitivity of his work. These traffickers, he added, use

a variety of tactics to lure children and young women into

``the life.''

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article183592286.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 15, 2017]

Once Sold for Sex, She Now Helps Lead the Fight Against Human

Trafficking

(By Rory Appleton)

Arien Pauls doesn't look like someone who's been through

hell.

She flashes an easy smile as she speaks. Her voice is soft,

but her words are deliberate and flow with eloquence. She has

a distinct rockabilly style, with one arm bearing a tattoo

modeled from Disney's ``The Little Mermaid'' and a hair clip

featuring two large pink roses.

Looking at her, it's hard to imagine that a man she loved

forced her into slavery. For four years, Pauls was sold for

sex on streets and in hotel rooms across the western half of

the United States. She was barred from contacting her friends

or family. She was arrested multiple times and treated like a

criminal--a stigma that even now, five years later, is

difficult to shake.

Her worst moments seem unimaginable.

Pauls' trafficker--a man she believed to be her boyfriend--

refused to take her to a hospital when one of the men he sold

her to raped her. When she became pregnant with her

trafficker's baby, he forced her into an illegal, late-term

abortion. When her reeling body began to produce breast milk

after the abortion, her trafficker saw it as a moneymaker:

Those with certain fetishes would pay extra now, he told her.

It took a daring late-night escape--her trafficker's SUV

roaring behind her getaway car on a Las Vegas street--to get

out of that life. But once she returned to Fresno, her arrest

record kept her from working in her chosen career, and she

has struggled with the mental scars inflicted during her past

life.

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article184943988.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 16, 2017]

How Do You Rescue Women Forced to Walk the Streets at Night? It's Not

Easy

(By Rory Appleton)

For decades, the women rescued from the hotel rooms and

apartments in Fresno where they had been raped, beaten and

forced to have sex with strangers for money had few

alternatives.

The first--and it was seldom optional--was jail. They could

also go to rehab, provided they had a drug problem. But more

often than not, they returned to the sex trade.

That is no longer the case.

In 2012, human trafficking became a crime in California,

carrying with it new language for dealing with the crime and

harsher penalties for traffickers. Local law enforcement

found success against traffickers by treating girls and women

in the sex trade as victims, not complicit criminals.

Over the past few years, a growing network of advocates has

added new avenues of help for the hundreds of women who are

trafficked. These groups have provided victims with shelter,

counseling and the tools to rebuild their lives.

Many who work with human trafficking victims consider the

practice to be modern-day slavery. If that's true, this

advocacy coalition is the underground railroad.

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article184943793.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Nov. 28, 2017]

To Break the Cycle of Children Sold for Sex, the Legal System is Trying

Something New

(By Rory Appleton)

Defense attorney Kristin Maxwell remembers when a client

came to her Fresno office shortly after being discharged from

a hospital.

The teenage girl had been beaten, raped and dumped in a

neighboring county. Police found her unconscious, lying naked

in an alley.

``There are some parts of the body that bruise easily, and

some that don't,'' said Maxwell, who's worked in the Fresno

County Public Defender's office for 11 years. ``Looking at

her, you knew she had been through it. She had been beaten

really badly.''

This case stands out for its brutality, Maxwell said. But

it was the sheer number of human trafficking cases crossing

her desk when she took control of the Public Defender's

juvenile office in 2015 that shocked her into action.

The legal community has partnered with advocacy groups, law

enforcement and the Fresno County Probation Department to

improve the criminal justice system in an effort to get

children out of the sex trade permanently. Their work will

soon bear fruit: On Jan. 19, Fresno County's juvenile court

will establish a courtroom dedicated solely to human

trafficking cases.

This new court--patterned after similar courts in

Sacramento, Los Angeles and other California counties--will

allow a judge with specialized training to work with the

various partner agencies to ensure children caught up in the

sex trade receive help that's customized for their needs.

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article186937063.html ____

[From the Fresno Bee, Dec. 7, 2017]

All of Us Must Help Beat the Scourge of Human Trafficking. Here's What

You Can Do

(By Rory Appleton)

Pimps have ensnared Fresno middle-school students who were

selling their bodies for extra spending money. Young women

have been tricked, blackmailed and forced into having sex

with strangers to support men they believed were their

boyfriends. People--especially children--with low self-

esteem, mental illness, unstable home lives or living in

poverty are the preferred targets of an industry operating in

the shadows.

Human trafficking is a complex issue. Police, advocacy

groups and the Fresno legal community have formed a unique

partnership to tackle the growing problem in new ways. But

what can the rest of Fresno do to fight human trafficking?

Talking to your children or younger family members about

the issue can educate them

and help keep them out of harm's way. Nonprofits that help

trafficking victims would welcome financial donations.

Residents can urge governments to allocate more resources to

those policing and prosecuting traffickers. And far larger

strides can be made to address a major underlying issue in

the sex trade: the people, mostly men, who buy sex.

Full article available at: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/ special-reports/human-trafficking/article188526804.html