Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark National Week of Conversation.

Right now, we as Americans are no longer expressing our disagreements in a respectable way.

Need proof? Turn on the TV or check your Facebook and Twitter feed.

It's gotten so bad that 75 percent of Americans--across the political spectrum--say the way we interact with each other has reached a ``crisis level.''

Madam Speaker, we need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable--and that begins here in Congress.

That is why Congressman Steve Stivers and I launched the Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus last year.

We are on a mission to ``Revive Civility'' and visiting schools, civic organizations, and businesses in Central Ohio and D.C. to spread the message.

I invite all my Democratic and Republican colleagues to join us in this effort.

Become a member of Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus and take time this National Week of Conversation to ``Listen First.''

Our families, friends, constituents, and fellow Americans are counting on us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor National Deaf History Month, celebrated March 13 through April 15 each year.

What started as a very small observation at a Washington, D.C., library has grown to a 32-day-long celebration recognizing the countless contributions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans and honoring deaf culture.

I was so pleased when one of my constituents, Dawn Watts, an advocate for the deaf community, approached me with an idea of introducing a resolution recognizing Deaf History Month in Congress for the very first time.

I want to thank Dawn, as well as the National Association of the Deaf and the American Library Association, for their insight and support for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Americans to take time this month to learn more about deaf Americans who helped shape our country, and I am honored to be able to have introduced this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the tremendous work by several Ohioans and to reflect on what the power of education has on our young people today, as reflected by the boards.

It has been said: ``A quality education has the power to transform societies in a single generation, provide children with the protection they need from the hazards of poverty, labor exploitation, and disease, and give them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to reach their full potential.''

I met with Columbus City Schools Board of Education members W. Shawna Gibbs, Michael Cole, and Gahanna-Jefferson Public School Board President Beryl Brown Piccolantonio. These three dedicated educators and advocates, along with a whole host of others from across the Third Congressional District, are working day and night to ensure every child has the knowledge, skills, and confidence to reach their full potential.

Across my whole district, whether that be Worthington, East Columbus, Reynoldsburg, to Groveport Madison, and everywhere in between, people respect the power of education.

Another Ohioan committed to making this goal a reality for more students is Jamie Spero. For over a decade, Jamie has been with Sandusky City Schools, where she currently teaches ninth grade English.

Her hard work and unique ability to connect with students and people has made all the difference. Under her tutelage, students have achieved an 85 percent passage rate on the State aptitude test, and in the process, achieved the highest value-added score in the English department 2 years in a row.

Mr. Speaker, we need more people like Jamie, Shawna, Michael, and Beryl.

Or as Jamie recently said to me:

We need more educators to let students know daily that they

can achieve anything they can put their minds to no matter

their race, abilities, or anything negative they have been

told.

Yes, America's next generation of leaders are today's students, and many will go on to be great teachers, doctors, first responders, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, you name it, and, yes, even Members of Congress.

So I was particularly honored to find out that two of my youngest constituents were inspired by me.

Recently, Catharine dressed up as me for Worthington Evening Street Elementary's Black History Month living wax museum.

Similarly, Jamia, a student at A-Plus Children's Academy Community School, did a presentation on my decades-long service to central Ohio.

As part of their projects, Catharine and Jamia highlighted my career. I am flattered, but I want them to know, and every other young person, that being the first is great, but we need to have a second and third, because each of us has the responsibility to mentor the next generation.

For example, last month, students from Grace Christian School in Blacklick, including a student, 5 years old in kindergarten, were studying Martin Luther King's ``I Have a Dream'' speech, and 5-year-old Leah said:

We learned what happened to people like Ruby Bridges and

Rosa Parks just wasn't right. We should treat everyone

fairly.

So I stand here today on the shoulders of heroes and sheroes who have inspired Americans of all backgrounds for decades, even centuries, to still do that: treat people fairly.

Mr. Speaker, whether it is the KIPP School, Bexley High School, Ohio Media School, Columbus Africentric, or Columbus School for Girls, King famously said: ``The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.''

Thanks to all the hardworking teachers, educators, parents, mentors past and present, students in central Ohio and far beyond are embracing the power of education and its positive effect on the lives of so many in our classrooms.

Let us salute these students and teachers for a job well done.

Mr. Speaker, I come today to the floor to salute women, living legends, women who are focused and determined and hopeful and empowered--not just one, but a roll call from my district:

Karen Morrison, Ohio Health; Trudy Bartley, The Ohio State University; Stephanie Hightower, the Urban League; Kathy Espy, Mount Carmel; Yvette McGee Brown, Jones Day law firm; the Women's Fund; the YWCA, with Christie Angel; Go Red for Women; Delta Sigma Theta; The Links, Incorporated; the Matriarch; Barbara Benham, Huntington Bank; Dawn Tyler Lee, the mayor's office; Emilia Sykes, Ohio House Democratic leader;

Our judges, African American women elected to the courts: Jaiza Page, Laurel Beatty Blunt, Monica Hawkins, Kimberly Browne, Terri Jamison. And the list goes on and on: Jennifer Brunner, judge; and, yes, the Ohio Supreme Court, Melody Stewart.

Today I stand here and I say thank you to Jo Ann Davidson, the first female Speaker in Ohio; Colleen Marshall, reporting it every day on the news; and so many more.

Today I join women on this floor because we salute women. Women make a difference. But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we know when women succeed, America succeeds.

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honor for me to rise today during Black History Month to pay tribute to Mr. Clarence Lumpkin, or as many people called him, the Mayor of Linden, in my Congressional District. He passed away on January 28.

For almost 30 years, I had the opportunity and honor to work with him. He was a dedicated community leader who fought relentlessly for affordable housing and healthcare as well as meaningful employment, not to mention a mentor to those countless individuals and leaders in our community.

He leaves a legacy of true service, and his funeral procession told the story. The procession traveled past places he had a hand in creating or saving, like the library on Cleveland Avenue, the Columbus Fire Station 18, St. Stephen's Community House, and Linden-McKinley STEM Academy.

So although we mourn his passing, we can find comfort in the fact that his life, his legacy, and his work will live on for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife of 72 years, Willa, his three children, six grandchildren, friends, and the entire Linden neighborhood.

Madam Speaker, I am here today for the people. We want an agreement to continue to keep the government open and working for the people.

We are just 8 days from once again having the possibility of having 800,000 workers, Federal employees--air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents, Secret Service personnel, and many, many more--being furloughed or forced to work without pay. That is not for the people.

We saw how the 35-day-long government shutdown affected our constituents, our communities. We heard all the stories about the shutdown. We heard stories of cancer patients being forced to choose between treatment or paying their rent. We heard the stories of families, for the first time ever, being forced to turn to food banks and soup kitchens to eat. And the list goes on and on.

Madam Speaker, what we did here was, during the State of the Union Address, President Trump spoke about how we must ``reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retaliation.'' He needs to heed those words and live up to his promise: `` . . . bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America's future.''

He can take an important step in that direction by letting the conference continue working to keep the government open for the people.

Democrats and Republican leaderships indicate a long-term funding agreement is just within reach. It is so imperative that the conferees be allowed to put pen to paper before rushing to judgment or to fire off another tweet labeling their efforts as a waste of time, as the President has done time and time again. That is why the President would be well served to put down his phone, to stop tweeting, and to leave the negotiations to Congress.

Members on both sides of the aisle agree that another government shutdown would be disastrous for the economy, for the people, and unnecessarily harm tens of millions of Americans in the process.

The President, on Tuesday, said he was ready and willing to turn a new leaf. Madam Speaker, let's turn that new leaf. Let's keep the government open.

Madam Speaker, House Democrats are committed more than ever to keeping the government open and funding and finding commonsense solutions to the issues affecting my constituents and all Americans.

Madam Speaker, it is simple: Democrats are for the people.

Madam Speaker, I rise today on the 20th day of the Trump shutdown, and I can only shake my head and ask why.

Why are 400,000 public servants being denied the opportunity to do their jobs?

Why are 420,000 more working without pay, many of them who put themselves in harm's way?

Why are 1.6 million Ohioans at risk of losing their SNAP benefits?

Why are first-time home buyers being kept from their new homes?

There is only one answer to those questions: Because Trump insists on wasting $5 billion of the people's tax dollars on a vanity wall, a wall that will do little to address illegal immigration.

Democrats are for the people. Democrats want to protect our borders and reopen our government and put government workers back to work.

I urge the Senate to take up the bills that the House has passed and put our government back to work. Let's end this ridiculous shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority for receiving a nearly $500,000 federal grant for housing vouchers under HUD's Family Unification Program.

These funds will help young people from Central Ohio who are at-risk of homelessness obtain affordable housing.

Last year, I was proud to spearhead the bipartisan effort calling on my colleagues to include $20 million for the Family Unification Program in the transportation and housing appropriations bill, which was ultimately included in the government funding bill Congress passed earlier this year.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have fought for the housing needs of our Nation's most vulnerable populations, especially those transitioning from foster-care into adulthood and I am pleased to see federal funds designated to end youth homelessness being put to use in the Third Congressional District of Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this Veterans' Day week to express my gratitude to those who served our country and those who continue to serve.

Throughout our history, we have asked our brave men and women in uniform to do extraordinary things all over the world.

In return, we made a promise to provide them the best benefits, education, and health care possible.

One of the most important parts of my job is to make sure that veterans in my district get the benefits they've earned.

I've heard about the months-long delays veterans face in obtaining GI Bill benefits, and I am committed to working with my colleagues to fix the situation.

That's because our nation's leaders must honor our veterans, rain or shine.

I am happy that we will be joined in the next Congress by a new generation of veterans, including a record number of women veterans.

I look forward to working with them to fulfill the promise of Veterans' Day this week and all year long.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to observe Malnutrition Awareness Week which was September 24 through 28, 2018.

Access to proper nutrition is critical for all Americans, especially our seniors. Every 60 seconds, ten hospitalized patients with malnutrition go undiagnosed, and many of these patients are older adults. The malnutrition awareness outreach effort is a step in the right direction to defeat this problem that plagues vulnerable populations.

Malnutrition Awareness Week is a multi-organizational, multi-pronged effort created by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition to: educate healthcare professionals to identify and treat malnutrition earlier; educate consumers and patients about the need to discuss their nutrition status with healthcare professionals; and increase awareness of nutrition's role in patient recovery.

The Malnutrition Awareness Week campaign also highlights the need to focus on common-sense solutions that can close the care gap, thereby helping to reduce premature morbidity and mortality as well as hospitalizations, re-admissions and other variables that may increase the cost of care. We can begin by measuring the scope of the problem and by adding metrics for older adult malnutrition to national dietary guidelines. I believe increasing awareness will help our nation educate families and help seniors live healthier lives for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, Americans want a government ``For The People.''

They want Congress and a president that listens, speaks, and works for them.

My Democratic colleagues and I are focused on precisely that here in Washington and back home.

To list just a few highlights from the past few weeks for me:

Fighting to keep Central Ohio families together, including members of our vibrant Mauritanian, Somali, Latin American, and Central American communities;

Families like those of Edith Espinal, who has been forced to take sanctuary. in Columbus Mennonite Church or face deportation.

In the nearly 365 days that have passed since Edith took refuge, my staff and I have been working diligently to try to help reunite Edith and her family.

We have met Edith's family, her advocates, legal representation and will do so again in the coming days, as well as with other stakeholders.

I have spoken directly with Edith.

My District staff just last month met with another group of Edith's advocates, and we contacted USCIS and ICE officials requesting assistance.

Our efforts continue to keep her from being deported.

Her story and the countless like it are a direct result of our broken immigration system that no wall will ever fix.

In addition to standing up for Central Ohio families, I also hosted a Community Conversation with hundreds of my constituents at St. Stephens Community House--in conjunction with their 100th year of service.

Held a Healthcare Listening Session and Roundtable with hospital executives and local stakeholders on the future of healthcare;

As well as my Money, Wealth and Disparities Issues Forum during the 48th Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference.

Walked in the National African-American Male Wellness Walk in Columbus, packed care packages with the USO for military families, and spoke at the Welcome Ohio event to recognize our newest neighbors.

Toured several Central Ohio businesses, including the new AmeriSource Bergen Lockborne facility, Core Molding Technologies, the Ohio Media School, Heidelberg Distributing, and Home Depot, to name a few.

Visited first time homeowner, 75 years young Mrs. Joyce Mayne and the amazing people at Homeport, who helped Mrs. Mayne and many other Central Ohioans realize the American Dream of homeownership.

Met with the AFL-CIO, Moms2B, the Ohio Credit Union League, YWCA Columbus, Ohio Dominican University President Robert Gervasi, the Ohio Automotive Dealers Association, and countless other constituents and community leaders.

Last but not least, I continue to emphasize the importance of civility and the need to tone down the heated rhetoric, to treat each other with respect and dignity, and to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.

It certainly has been a hectic month and a half, but I look forward to continuing to listen, speak, and work ``For The People'' who entrusted me to be their voice in Congress.

Central Ohioans and Americans are clamoring for better jobs, better wages, better opportunities, and a better future.

That is why Congressional Democrats are working tirelessly--whether that be in the Halls of Congress and in neighborhoods all across America, like the East Side of Columbus to Franklinton, and Westerville to Groveport--to:

increase take home pay;

prepare American workers for the jobs of tomorrow;

lower prescription drug prices and healthcare costs;

clean up the Culture of Corruption, and make Washington work better for ALL Americans.

These coming weeks are critical, and I urge all Americans to make sure to vote.

I also must chide Republican Leadership for leaving much work left undone in this Congress that impacts hardworking families, including equal pay for equal work, comprehensive immigration reform, the FARM Bill, flood insurance reauthorization, and fully draining the swamp by getting dark money out of politics.

Our work certainly will continue through the November elections and into the 116th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I stand with Democrats for the people.

Republicans want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, risking healthcare for 24 million newly enrolled Americans and 129 million with preexisting conditions. I stand with the people.

That is why I held a healthcare roundtable listening session where 53 healthcare administrators attended, talking about strengthening the ACA, improving the delivery and access to healthcare, and addressing social detriments.

Making homeownership a reality for Americans, I stand with the people. Democrats on the Financial Services Committee want to expand affordable housing and provide more homeownership opportunities to people like Mrs. Joyce Mayne, who, at 75 years of age a few weeks ago, purchased her first home on her birthday. Happy birthday, Mrs. Mayne. It was with the help of a nonprofit, Homeport, and the low-income housing tax credit.

We are working to fix our broken immigration system. Right now, Mr. Speaker, families in my district are being ripped apart, like Edith Espinal and members of the Mauritanian, Somali, Latin American, and Central

American communities. In the nearly 365 days, Edith has been in sanctuary, my staff and I have met with her family, legal representatives, advocates, and community stakeholders.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 5059, the State Insurance Regulation Preservation Act. H.R. 5059 is a bipartisan piece of legislation that seeks to ensure that Federal regulation over the insurance industry is not unnecessarily duplicative or overly burdensome.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Mr. Rothfus, for working on this bill with me, as well as the chairman of our committee, Congressman Hensarling, and Ranking Member Waters for understanding the issue we are trying to solve and lending their support.

This bill came a long way from when it was introduced earlier this year, and it reflects input from members of the Financial Services Committee, industry stakeholders, and Federal regulators. This bill simply seeks to right-size regulation placed on insurance savings and loan holding companies compared to the risk they pose to financial stability.

Insurance savings and loan holding companies are insurance companies that own their own bank. In most instances, these types of banks represent a small percentage of their insurance parent company's overall bottom line, but due to the ownership by the company, they are subject to Federal regulation by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

When we held a legislative hearing on this bill in March, one of the witnesses testified that, while their insurance company's bank assets made up only 0.2 percent of the company's total assets, the regulation by the Federal Reserve consumed 25 percent of the company's compliance costs, ultimately forcing the company to close their bank.

This is but one example, Mr. Speaker, of the uneven regulation these companies are facing. This costly and out-of-sync duplicative regulation of these insurance savings and loan holding companies is not working as effectively as it should, and this bill seeks to harmonize some of these duplications.

There is no reason why a smaller insurance company, like Ohio-based Westfield Insurance, should face more regulation than some of the largest insurance companies in the country due to the fact that they simply own a small bank, or why a company like Nationwide Insurance, a company based in my district, the Third Congressional District of Ohio, which has $236 billion in assets and a $7 billion bank, should be treated by the Federal Reserve like a $243 billion bank holding company.

This is not fair. The regulation of the business of insurance is different from the regulation of banks, and the Federal Reserve's supervisory framework must reflect, I believe, this important difference.

The Federal Reserve has historically never regulated insurance until recently, within the past 10 years, Mr. Speaker, when Congress transferred the regulatory authority over these companies to the Feds. By contrast, our State insurance regulators have regulated this country's insurance system for nearly 150 years.

While the Federal Reserve has said that they are looking to tailor some of their regulations, there is little evidence to support those assertions, and time is simply running out. Since we transferred this authority to the Federal Reserve in 2010, nearly two-thirds of existing insurance savings and loan holding companies have closed their banks.

We need better coordination and cooperation between our State insurance regulators and Federal regulators to ensure our insurance regulatory regime is not unnecessarily duplicative or overly burdensome.

This bill will seek to accomplish both of these things. Talk about a win-win, Mr. Speaker. I believe this is it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would simply like to say, again, thank you to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and I want to thank all the members who helped us get this bill to this point and reiterate that this bill does not--does not--remove insurance savings and loan companies from Federal regulation.

Insurance savings and loan holding companies will still be regulated by several Federal Government agencies, including the Federal Reserve. This bill simply seeks to require the Federal Reserve to tailor their bank-centric regulations to the business of insurance and to coordinate supervision and examination of these companies with their State counterparts to avoid unnecessary, duplicative, and overly burdensome regulation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this bipartisan package brought to the floor today under the leadership of Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters.

It is not every day the American people get to see bipartisanship in action, so it is important for Members today to highlight it when it does occur because it really should be the rule of the people's House, not the exception.

Technology and finance evolves by the hour in today's world, and this bipartisan package will update our laws to better adapt to that reality while also encouraging the American entrepreneur to innovate and solve the problems of tomorrow.

As a businesswoman, I understand that this package will help create the businesses of tomorrow and at the same time enhance transparency in today's public markets while simultaneously combating the scourge of human trafficking.

I am proud to have worked with my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Mr. Royce, to include language in this bill that requires the administration to more closely examine and create solutions for Congress to consider how human traffickers use emerging technologies and virtual currencies to launder money through the global banking system in hope of slowing the fastest growing crime in the world.

My home State of Ohio ranks fourth in the country for human trafficking cases according to our State Attorney General's office.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our ranking member again for allowing me the opportunity to push my bill. Working together is the only way we can end this inhumane practice.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed.

Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I want to echo all the concerns that my colleagues have expressed with the underlying bill here today. This bill would add unnecessary obstacles to inhibit the ability of the Federal Government to protect the health, the safety, and the security of the American people.

I understand that Democrats and Republicans have traditionally disagreed on the values of those protections, even though the public overwhelmingly supports them, whether it is keeping our air and our water clean, guarding workers against exploitation, or so many other things. But I would hope that one area where we can agree on is that this Congress, this government, should do everything possible to protect the safety of our children and those most vulnerable without adding unnecessary burdens like those mandated in this bill.

Let me connect the dots for the public to know. As it stands, Mr. Speaker, this bill would just add more hoops for Federal agencies to jump through and, actually, would make them less responsive to addressing problems like sexual assault and domestic violence.

The amendment contained in this motion would fix this problem by exempting from the bill's additional requirements any agency action that is meant to, and I want to be real clear:

One, protect students and children from someone who has been convicted of a sexual offense against a minor. We have far too many cases before us.

Two, prevent domestic violence against a family member or an intimate partner. Mr. Speaker, I have counseled far too many women who have been abused.

Three, prevent rape or sexual assault.

Four, require criminal backgrounds checks for school or other employees.

Since the last time this Chamber considered this bill, we have seen a reckoning in this country when it comes to sexual assault, with the rise of the Me Too movement, millions of women, or a half million women right here in Washington, D.C., on our Capitol Grounds marching. This issue is in the forefront of national discussion, and for good reasons, Mr. Speaker.

No aspect of our society, including this very Congress, has been immune.

As the dialog on this issue continues, we should not hamstring Federal efforts to address what is so clearly a systemic problem in this country.

This amendment would also cover the issue of human trafficking. I am very proud of my bipartisan work that I have done on trafficking, and some of my most stalwart partners on this issue come from the other side of the aisle. I would hope that they, too, would recognize that we need the ability to institute the strongest possible protections.

Earlier this year, Mr. Speaker, the House overwhelmingly passed a new law that has had an immediate impact on stemming online trafficking. As successful as the law has been, traffickers continue to adapt and find ways to exploit our children and the most at risk. This bill will make it harder for Federal agencies to respond to these new realities.

There is no cost-benefit analysis that can properly weigh the importance of protecting children who have been trafficked, who have been sexually assaulted or abused. There is no congressionally mandated report or stakeholder consultation that could reach any conclusion other than we should do everything possible to prevent domestic violence.

On behalf of all of those who have been victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, or for those who we can prevent from becoming victims, I urge, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues today to support this amendment.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.