Jose E. Serrano

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in strong support of this bill, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.

Mr. Chair, I want to start by congratulating my good friend and colleague, Chairman Mike Quigley, for his leadership in bringing our tenth appropriations bill to the House floor. Speaking from experience, I know this is no easy task, and I am sure that the relationship between he and Mr. Graves will have a final product that we can all vote for.

I am proud that the work that has been accomplished here takes care of so many issues. This bill provides $24.95 billion to assist elderly and low-income taxpayers; support our entrepreneurs and grow our small businesses; ensure the products of our store shelves are safe for children and families; protect our economy by policing Wall Street; protect and strengthen the integrity of our election systems; and provide a 3.1 percent pay raise for Federal employees; and, once again, empower the District of Columbia to handle its own local affairs.

The administration has proposed to eliminate the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, risking the public-private investments that are generating economic growth in places like my district in the South Bronx. In response, Congress is investing $300 million for this invaluable program, an increase of $50 million over fiscal year 2019.

This bill also provides $600 million in Election Assistance Commission security grants to help State election officials improve the security and integrity of our elections. Our election systems remain vulnerable, and additional investments like this can give voters the peace of mind that, when they cast their ballot, their vote will count and be counted correctly. As we approach elections this fall in several States across the country and the Presidential election next year, we must be ready to combat any attempts to disrupt our democratic institutions.

The Small Business Administration will receive nearly $1 billion to continue providing technical assistance and other services our Nation's businessmen need to help get their business ideas off the ground.

Out of the total amount, $150 million will go to the Small Business Development Centers Program, $35 million will help provide Microloan technical assistance, and $30 million will go toward supporting and investing in women-owned businesses through the Women's Business Centers. These investments will help create jobs.

Last but not least, this bill once again restores home rule to the District of Columbia. I cannot think of anything more insulting than telling any city across our country how they can spend their locally raised funds or requiring congressional approval to implement laws their duly elected government officials enact. The intrusive policy riders the bill removes will ensure D.C. can govern itself without congressional meddling and address the challenges it faces in serving its residents.

This is now our 10th bill on the floor. Our Appropriations Committee is doing the work of the people, and I congratulate, once again, Mr. Quigley for his work. I stand ready to vote for this with great enthusiasm.

Madam Speaker, we are now in the midst of a humanitarian crisis at the border created by the policies of the Trump administration.

Like many of my colleagues, I have been shocked by the conditions at our border stations and the lack of basic services and necessities available to migrant families and especially to minors.

This crisis has been aggravated by the anti-immigration policies of this

President. He has once against created a disaster that undermines our Nation's standing in the world and our basic American values.

No one should doubt why we are here today, but the question for me is not who is at fault but, rather, how do we as a body, how do we as a party, respond? We have a responsibility to these children now. We have an obligation to these families now. They cannot wait.

That is what this bill does. It provides the resources to alleviate the crisis and ensures that we have the money to provide migrants, especially minors, with the shelter, food, medicine, and legal services that they need.

The funding in this bill is not a blank check, however. The legislation includes numerous conditions to ensure this money is used for its intended purposes, to make sure that individuals are receiving the care and services they need, and to prevent the administration from creating further chaos and harm.

This bill takes the right steps to address the crisis and to stop what the administration is doing. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. If we cry out against the crisis, then we have a responsibility to provide the funds to alleviate it. The bill does just that, and I urge my colleagues' support.

Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of Chairwoman Lowey, and I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster).

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Amendment No. 65 Offered by Mr. Crow

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in strong support of this amendment.

The Commerce Department has not answered basic questions related to the purpose behind its sharing agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.

Although I am not suggesting the Census Bureau will use the information for something other than statistical purposes, I think it is important to remind the Department we are mindful of how individuals' information will be handled.

Ensuring the public trust in the Census is vital to getting an accurate count, and this amendment helps in that goal.

Mr. Chair, I rise in very strong support of the gentlewoman's amendment.

The zero-tolerance experiment has been a tragic mistake. It has swamped U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Marshals, and district courts with low level nonviolent cases previously handled by DHS and, if necessary, immigration courts. It has also separated thousands of families and traumatized children and parents. Children may remain with parents in DHS custody, but they cannot follow them into jail, even for such misdemeanor charges.

DOJ should focus on criminal gangs, human trafficking, and smuggling, most of which passes through, not between, the ports of entry.

The zero-tolerance policy restricts seasoned prosecutors from pursuing serious crime and distorts priorities by requiring an unbalanced and inflexible approach. It is clearly not improving things at the border.

Mr. Chair, I urge the House to adopt this very important amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I recognize what my friends from Maine are attempting to do to help an important industry in their State, but I must oppose them in favor of supporting the critically endangered Atlantic right whale.

The decision support tool that this amendment would block is used by States to determine how they can ensure they are taking steps to protect these whales. Preventing its use would, therefore, remove the ability of the States to make their own determination.

Consequently, NOAA would be forced to set a national standard. Additionally, given the way it is drafted, this amendment would block NOAA's conservation work on right whales, not just in the Atlantic, but also in the Pacific.

Other agencies that rely on this tool include the Coast Guard and Navy, who rely on it to ensure that they are in compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

As I said earlier, I understand my friend's concern, and I would support funding to help develop new and more whale-friendly fishing gear and other mitigation options. I cannot, however, support an amendment that removes a scientific tool to make informed natural resource management decisions. It would only further endanger these majestic animals.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of my colleague from the Bronx's amendment.

Opioids are a serious threat to the health and well-being of our communities, and we must do everything we can to combat this epidemic.

Within the Department of Justice grant programs, the bill provides $501 million in funding, an increase of $33 million for grants to combat the crisis. This funding includes drug and veterans courts, residential treatment, and for the first time, a grant program for Law Enforcement Assistance Diversion, or LEAD, which seeks to get individuals into treatment and out of the criminal justice system.

The addition of this amendment further strengthens a bill that increases grants for treatment and prevention.

Mr. Chair, I support the amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Chair, I rise to support the amendment. My colleague sends an important message by calling attention to the misuse and overuse of solitary confinement in Federal correction and detention.

In 2016, the National Institute of Justice issued a detailed study of the use of restrictive housing in U.S. detention. In addition, the Office of Inspector General in 2017 reported on the use of restrictive housing for mentally ill persons in the custody of BOP and included 15 recommendations to improve how BOP treats such inmates.

While solitary confinement represents a small percentage of restrictive housing, it is particularly concerning because of evidence that its use can be harmful and even counterproductive to correctional objectives.

Mr. Chair, I encourage the Department to take note of the concerns expressed here, and I ask that the amendment be adopted.

Mr. Chair, I rise to support the amendment.

When, in March, the Justice Department broke with the principle that its core mission should be to defend, not sabotage, the law of the land, it went too far.

The White House is entitled to push its own policy position on healthcare--it has made no secret of its hostility to the Affordable Care Act, despite never offering an alternative of any kind--but it cannot pick and choose which laws to support.

My friends across the aisle criticized the Obama administration for its use of prosecutorial discretion. In this case, the Department is not just neglecting to defend the law, it is using appropriated funds to directly attack it.

This amendment will, hopefully, stop that, and that is why I strongly support it.