Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, let's get it straight. This is one big bill, but it is a bill that steals Medicaid. It steals SNAP. It steals all the assistance for working people in order to give tax breaks to the billionaires in this country.

Those making less than $30,000 a year will pay $20 billion more in taxes over the 10-year period. If you make $50,000 a year, you have a 50/50 chance of seeing any kind of change in your taxes while the billionaire establishment gets a cut of $270,000.

This is the biggest transfer of wealth in our Nation's history. It is literally stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

They want to talk about how they went around the country to listen. Well, they didn't listen very hard because what the Republicans are doing is hurting average working people. They are not helping when it comes to housing. They are not helping when it comes to childcare. They are not helping.

When they do talk about housing, it is 20,000 units a year for 10 years. That is a drop in the bucket.

We need our Republican colleagues to actually do something besides the cheap talk and theatrics of going around the town but only listening to the billionaires at the end of the day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Maricela Luna, the first Mexican-American Latina to serve as Postmaster of Los Angeles since the city's postal establishment in 1850.

It is fitting that Maricela Luna's appointment coincides with the 250th Anniversary of USPS. As the 42nd Postmaster in Los Angeles, Marci's story is one of unwavering commitment in service to the local community. Luna is an exemplary public servant dedicated to operational and logistical excellence befitting of the United States Postal Service. Her dedication to innovation and inclusivity sets a high bar for all of us in public service, and a living example of the legacy USPS which has served Americans since it was established in 1775.

I am hopeful that Luna's groundbreaking appointment will serve as a catalyst to inspire to future-generations--especially in the Mexican-

American and Hispanic communities--towards a life of public service. May this appointment deepen public trust and strengthen the Postal Service for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Maricela Luna, 42nd Postmaster of Los Angeles.

Mr. Speaker, I was not recorded on roll call vote nos. 103 and 104 today. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on roll call vote nos. 103 and 104.

Mr. Speaker, I think Speaker Johnson doesn't get it.

First, what the Speaker is trying to do regarding this rule is to kill a process that has been in place for a very, very long time and really undermine the majority will of this body. The American people want us to work together. When we finally do work in a bipartisan way, the Speaker tries to use a procedural move to undo that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Dads Caucus in support of Representative Luna's and Representative Pettersen's proxy voting bill that will allow new parents to spend a limited time, 12 weeks, with a newborn child. That is all we are asking.

The reason is it is not just about those new parents, but it is also about making a Congress that is representative of the people in this country, men and women who are starting a family and who are taking care of a newborn child, those who are struggling to make ends meet, those who are struggling to figure out how to take care of this new person that is living among us and to make sure that they have a healthy start in life. That is what this is about.

Mr. Speaker, when we make this body more representative and make it easier for people to serve, all of a sudden, we will make decisions that are more representative of our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask for a rejection and a ``no'' vote on the rule because this is about a democracy that truly represents working men and women and their kids.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing me to speak tonight.

I didn't get to go to Congressman Grijalva's funeral last week because I had to be here for a committee hearing. If he was around, he would have wanted me to stay here and be at that hearing and give them hell. That is exactly what I did, and he would have been extremely proud of that.

I really wanted to talk about whom I meet when I was just out of graduate school. I was a legislative assistant for Hilda Solis. I was the lowest ranking staffer on her team, and I got the chance to meet Raul Grijalva when he was a Member of Congress and I was just a legislative assistant.

To the extent I walked into the office, I would kind of go wandering around the halls and go and say hello and try to go just to see whom I could become friends with. I met his chief of staff at that time. She said out of the blue: Why don't you come in and say hello to the Congressman?

They pulled me into the office. I was just a kid who had been here a few months. Raul sat with me and just had a conversation of who I was, why I was fighting for my community, and why did I want to be in this business.

That interaction really did sit with me for a number of years. That is because I didn't have a title. I was not anybody special, and I wasn't anybody in particular. I was a kid that wandered into his office and tried to get a meeting with him because I said: Why not?

He is a Member of Congress, but he comes from a similar background. His dad was a bracero, and my dad was a bracero. That means that they worked in the fields here in the United States. I think there were two or three sons of braceros who became Members of Congress, but it really shows who he is.

He is a guy who will treat you the same if you are the President or a Member of Congress or a staffer or to somebody who works in the fields. That says more about Raul Grijalva than I believe any piece of legislation he has ever passed.

When I got here, he remembered me as that kid who often was probably a little bit too arrogant and a little bit in a rush to move ahead but that he helped get accustomed to the House of Representatives.

I was really bummed and sad when we heard the news that he passed away, even though we kind of all had a feeling it was a long time coming. He was pretty sick. He was a guy whom I think a lot of us just loved as family. I think that is why we see so many people from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other caucus members who went to his funeral. It is because he was just a great guy, someone that we can have a glass of wine with, and somebody that we can just go and hang out with.

I ended up hiring one of his staffers to be one my first chiefs of staff, Bertha Guerrero. She loved him to death, and she said that his office was like a family.

Raul, you will be missed. I know you have done great things, but it is really the people who you touched over the years that will continue your legacy, especially your wife and your daughters.

Mr. Speaker, I was not recorded on roll call no. 77. Had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY'' on roll call vote no. 77.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in recognition of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens--the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, which for nearly one hundred years has advanced the civil, economic, and educational interests of Hispanic communities.

LULAC has been at the forefront of some of the most consequential battles for inclusion and recognition in our Nation's history, including the landmark case of Mendez v. Westminster.

When Sylvia Mendez was rejected from attending school because of her Mexican heritage, her parents, Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez, joined together with the Estrada, Guzman, Palomino, and Ramirez families to challenge the status quo. As the families sought to take action against segregation in their school system, LULAC helped bring their fight to court. Its steadfast commitment and financial support helped to elevate the case from a local lawsuit to front and center in the national conversation on civil rights.

Together, these families led the struggle against segregation in California's public schools which culminated in a historic win, and which paved the way for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision just seven years later.

I am deeply honored to accept an award from LULAC in recognition of the efforts I led to rename the Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse after Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez--the first Federal Courthouse to be named after a Latina. Usually, federal courthouses are named after judges, but history and the law are not just shaped by the judges that make the decisions. They are molded by the people who have the courage to challenge unjust laws. This recognition is a testament to the advocacy of all the parents, children, and advocates who challenged unjust laws and won. I congratulate LULAC on its continued action and advocacy which stands as an enduring commitment to championing civil rights and serving Hispanic communities across the country.

Mr. Speaker, Federal courthouses are usually named after judges, but history and the law are not just shaped by the judges who make the decisions. They are molded by the people who have the courage to challenge unjust laws.

In 1946, Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez joined with the Guzman, Palomino, Estrada, and Ramirez families to challenge segregation in California public schools and won, which led to California officially banning school segregation.

My bill was signed into law earlier this year to name the Los Angeles Federal courthouse in downtown L.A. in honor of Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez, the first Federal courthouse to be named after a Latina, which will stand as a monument to the bravery of these families and as a reminder that separate is never equal.

Mr. Speaker, I was not recorded on Roll Call No. 56. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 56.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican budget can be summed up in three simple words: defund, defraud, and deceive.

First, the Republicans want to defund social safety net programs working families rely on, like Medicaid, school meals, and food stamps.

In my district alone, 425,000 individuals depend on Medicaid for their healthcare. That includes kids and people with disabilities.

Second, Republicans want to defraud the American people by taking money from working families to hand out massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations who pay little to no taxes.

Finally, they are trying to deceive the American people by claiming that they are not cutting any programs, but we know at the end of the day that their budget will include cuts to Medicaid and programs that families depend on.

Republicans need to step up because this is not just a blue State or a Democratic issue. This will cut benefits, healthcare benefits, for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Americans across the country, including 171,000 in Arizona's Sixth District.

We need Republicans to step up and not be shameful and pass this budget.

Mr. Speaker, on February 12, 2025, I was not recorded on Roll Call Votes No. 40 and No. 41.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call Vote No. 40, and ``NAY'' on Roll Call Vote No. 41.

On February 13, 2025, I was not recorded on Roll Call Vote No. 42.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY'' on Roll Call Vote No. 42.

Mr. Speaker, on February 10, 2025, I was not recorded on Roll Call Votes No. 36 and No. 37. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call Votes No. 36 and No. 37.

Mr. Speaker, I was not recorded on roll call votes nos. 38 and 39. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on roll call votes nos. 38 and 39.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, on January 13, 2025, I was not recorded on Roll Call Votes No. 8 and No. 9. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call Votes No. 8 and No. 9.

Mr. Speaker, on December 5, 2024, I was not recorded on Roll Call Nos. 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490 and 491. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call Nos. 484, 485, 486, 487 and 488 and voted ``NAY'' on Roll Call Nos. 489, 490 and 491.