Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Anamaria Labao Cabato, an outstanding arts and culture advocate and community member in the 51st Congressional District.

Ms. Cabato is being honored for her long-time commitment to advancing multicultural arts through various programs and initiatives. She is the Executive Director of PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company and has been involved with the organization since its inception 52 years ago in 1970. PASACAT is comprised of dancers, instrumentalists, and ``harana'' singers. As many as thirty performances are given yearly to various educational, cultural, religious, and social organizations in the region.

Ms. Cabato serves as a board member of the San Diego Area Dance Alliance, was a founding partner of VOCAL, (Voices of Community at All Levels) and is a member of the City of San Diego Cultural Diversity Committee.

Most recently, Ms. Cabato was the co-chair of the new Filipinos of South Bay Exhibit (FOSBE) at the Chula Vista Library, which shares stories of Filipinos of the South Bay in San Diego County.

Ms. Cabato is being honored as the 51st District Constituent of the Month in October 2022, during Filipino American History Month. She is recognized for her work preserving and promoting Asian Pacific culture through the arts and contributing to the overall cultural vitality of the 51st Congressional District. She has vast experience as an arts administrator and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from San Diego State University.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Christina Paquian, outstanding blood donor and community volunteer in the 51st Congressional District.

Ms. Paquian has made tremendous efforts to help meet regional blood needs and save lives around the region. She has been donating blood for more than 10 years, and recently reached a milestone of donating a total of four gallons.

As a Guardian Circle Member of the San Diego Blood Bank, Ms. Paquian donates within 8 weeks from the day she is eligible to donate. She donates whole blood, platelets, double red blood cells, and plasma. During the pandemic, she was able to donate Convalescent Plasma, which includes Covid-19 antibodies.

Ms. Paquian continues to donate blood to various organizations in San Diego County and was honored as the 51st District Constituent of the Month in January 2022 during National Blood Donor Month, for her selfless commitment and her positive impact to others.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the late San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Detective Jamie R. Huntley-Park.

A San Diego native, Detective Huntley-Park grew up in the La Jolla area, where she excelled as a hockey player, going on to play at Elmira College (EC) in New York. At EC, Detective Huntley-Park was a four-year letter winner on the women's ice hockey team. She helped the EC Soaring Eagles win two Eastern College Athletic Conference West titles and reach the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Tournament three times, including a runner-up finish as a senior in the 2009 national championship game.

Detective Huntley-Park was honored as a member of the All-ECAC West Second Team after scoring a career-high 40 points (19g-21a) in her senior season. She also spent two seasons as an outfielder on the softball team. As a sophomore in 2007, Detective Huntley-Park started 18 games and recorded nine hits, 14 runs, and a team-high eight stolen bases. Additionally, Detective Huntley-Park earned a master's degree in Criminal Justice.

In 2012, Detective Huntley-Park enrolled as a recruit in the San Diego Police Academy. It was there where she would meet her future husband, and fellow recruit, SDPD Detective Ryan Park. They married in February of 2016 and were both promoted to homicide detectives on the same day two years later. Detective Huntley-Park went on to work in the SDPD Southern Division, her husband, Detective Park, in the SDPD Homicide Unit.

Amongst her peers, Detective Huntley-Park was tremendously respected. Her rapid ascent to a homicide detective in the department's Southern Division was a testament to her ability as an officer as well as her desire to serve the public. She gracefully and diligently upheld this promise to her community until her End of Watch on June 4, 2021.

Detective Huntley-Park also gave back to her community through the sport she loved, coaching and refereeing girl's hockey during her free time. She was a referee for USA Hockey, the International Ice Hockey Federation, and the National Women's Hockey League. She was a role model for many girls and young women in Southern California, she coached several age groups in the San Diego Angels and Jr. Gulls programs. Detective Huntley-Park also made history as part of the first-ever all-female officiating crew for the 2021 National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) season.

As an official, Detective Huntley-Park had worked for the NWHL since its inaugural season in 2015. She also gained significant experience in big games on the international stage. She officiated three International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championships in 2015, 2016, and 2019, and, before her passing, bad been assigned to work the 2021 championship tournament in August. Detective Huntley-Park was a giving community member who will be remembered for her selflessness and positive character.

Sadly, both Detective Jamie R. Huntley-Park, and her husband Detective Ryan Park, were killed when their department vehicle was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver. Detective Huntley-Park is survived by her parents, Edward and Cherisse. Detective Park is survived by his mother, Lana; brother, Justin; and father, Richard.

On behalf of the residents of California's 51st Congressional District, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of Detective Jamie Huntley-Park. Furthermore, I would like to formally extend my sincere gratitude to Detective Huntley-Park for her unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of service to her community throughout her nearly decade-long career with the San Diego Police Department. She is greatly missed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Maria Eugenia Osuna of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), San Diego Region. Mrs. Osuna served as the Outreach Coordinator for this organization for ten years. She is currently retired and is a resident of the Castle Park community in the City of Chula Vista, CA.

Mrs. Osuna has been recognized for her long years of service with NAMI, during which she founded and organized various support group programs throughout San Diego County to help minority parents who have children with mental illness.

Before for her professional career with NAMI, Mrs. Osuna served as a volunteer for the organization, because her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at the age of 17. Both her father and brother were diagnosed with mental illnesses, and both committed suicide. Mrs. Osuna did not want her son to suffer the same fate.

After realizing that resources for minority families with mental illness were limited, Mrs. Osuna took NAMI's 12-week program to learn more about her son's illness, and she began to assist other minority families with similar situations. Through her time and commitment, Mrs. Osuna was formally offered a position with NAMI.

Mrs. Osuna created and organized support groups for Latinx parents who have children with a mental illness. Her support group programs were the first in San Diego County to be held in Spanish. Mrs. Osuna's goal has always been to provide education, support, and advocacy to minority families, as well as to dispel misconceptions and stereotypes on mental illness.

Mrs. Osuna is to be honored as the 51st District Constituent of the Month, particularly during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, for her outstanding commitment to supporting minority families with education and advocacy on mental health awareness, as well as all her service and efforts that have helped those in need build a brighter future.

Madam Speaker, thousands of young people brought to the U.S. at a young age fought for and have benefited from DACA. This gave recipients and their families a little peace and resulted in economic gains for our country, but the program falls short of a pathway to citizenship.

DACA was a significant achievement for many immigrants, but it is by no means a substitute for fixing our broken immigration system.

Since its inception, DACA has been under attack by far-right politicians. The reality is that DACA has gone back and forth in the courts, leaving DACA recipients and DACA-eligible youth in a state of limbo. This continued legal threat leaves the lives of DACA recipients, DACA-eligible youth, and their families in uncertainty and dread.

Congress introduced and passed H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act, more than a year ago, but it is stuck in the Senate. We must end the filibuster and pass a real solution for the millions of people who call the U.S. home.

Madam Speaker, I rise on International Women's Day to honor the life of Ms. Dorothy L.W. Smith, a dedicated educator and San Diego community leader who passed at the age of 82 on February 16th. Ms. Smith was a native of Capleville, Tennessee. She attended the Historically Black College, Philander Smith College, and later received her Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California.

In 1969 Ms. Smith and her husband Carl moved to California where she began her career as a teacher. After moving to California, she taught at Long Beach City College, Grossmont Community College, and later San Diego City College, where she was a professor for 24 years. While teaching at San Diego City College she designed various courses, including one entitled ``Black Women in Literature and the Media.'' This course has now been taught in the San Diego Community College District for more than 45 years. She also lectured at San Diego State University, where she taught courses in teacher education, rhetoric, and writing. She also lectured at San Diego State University where she taught courses in teacher education, rhetoric, and writing.

In 1981, she was elected to serve on the board of the San Diego Unified School District, becoming the first African American woman to be elected to the board. She served on the school board for eight years and twice was the President of the board. In March of 2019, she was recognized and elected to the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in the Trailblazer category. Today, we celebrate her life and her commitment as an educator and mentor to future teachers.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Aurora Soriano Cudal-Rivera of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), San Diego and Imperial Region. Mrs. Cudal-Rivera has served this organization and many others as a community organizer and social justice advocate for the last several decades.

Mrs. Cudal-Rivera has been recognized for her long years of service as an inductee to the San Diego County Women's Hall of Fame in 2013 and California Legislature Woman of the Year in both 1999 and 2016.

During her professional career in the Philippines, Mrs. Cudal-Rivera served in public health education in both government and non-government institutions for 40 years. She was the first woman from Asia to receive a UNESCO Fellowship on ``Problems Related to the Use of Drugs,'' which granted her a four-month travel to Denmark, Netherlands, France and Switzerland. She has volunteered for the United Methodist Church, and was elected as the World Secretary of the World Federation of Methodist Women at the International Assembly of Methodist Women in 1991.

Mrs. Cudal-Rivera came to retire in Chula Vista, California in 1992. Now an octogenarian, she is still active with NaFFAA, Council of Philippine American Associations of San Diego County, San Diego Executive Lions Club, Filipino American Women's Club, Committee on Social Responsibility of the Community Congregational Church of Chula Vista, and the Congregational Tower Resident's Association, an independent living facility where she currently resides.

Mrs. Cudal-Rivera is to be honored for all her service to the community, her church, and her mentorship to the younger generation-- making a positive and long-lasting difference.

Madam Speaker, we rise today--my colleague, Congressman Peters, and myself--in honor of Father Joe Carroll, our San Diego's Mother Teresa.

Father Joe was born in the Bronx, New York, on April 12, 1941, and had seven brothers and sisters. He moved to California in his twenties, where he completed his studies at the University of San Diego and was ordained as a priest in 1974. He was assigned to St. Rita Catholic Church with a concurrent assignment to work with St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic organization known for helping the poor, especially the poorest of the poor.

From 1982 to 2011, Father Joe led St. Vincent de Paul, growing the organization to 500 employees and a budget of $40 million. In 2015, the organization was renamed ``Father Joe's Village'' in his honor.

On July 10, 2021, just a few months after his 80th birthday, Father Joe passed. Father Joe Carroll was a heroic man who helped his community with the entirety of his heart and soul. He helped the poor, the hungry, and especially the homeless, and he had a gift for bringing all people together in his mission to serve.

Father Joe was loved by many and influenced so many of us. His accomplishments and contributions to the community were profound.

He will be sorely missed. Many of us expect that one day he will be named a saint in the Catholic Church.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act. I particularly thank Chairwoman Waters for her support of the environmental, social, and governance metrics. Her efforts have been heroic, and I appreciate it very, very much.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about investors, we are not only talking about large, wealthy institutions. We are talking about teachers. We are talking about people who are working hard for their money. We are also talking about nonprofessional investors who have found in the stock market a way to build their savings toward, for example, homeownership, college tuition, and retirement. When we are talking about investors, we are also talking about pension funds that hold many hardworking Americans' retirement savings.

When a company engages in practices that put its business at risk, it also risks the funds these investors have entrusted with it.

That is why the SEC requires public companies to disclose material information, meaning information that a reasonable investor needs in order to make a voting decision or decide whether to continue investing in that company. Mandated and standard disclosures of environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, metrics would provide improved insight into long-term business performance and areas of potential future risks.

These metrics are material to investors and central to their protection. Together, I and my colleagues have worked to write legislation that would ensure such protection. My bill--the first in the package--requires the SEC to mandate standard ESG disclosures.

My colleagues' bills require reporting on specific ESG metrics that investors have been advocating for over many years. I applaud Representatives Foster, Velazquez, Casten, and Axne for their legislation.

Additionally, I thank Chair Gensler for his advocacy that investors' voices are central to materiality.

I have to say, climate change is real, and we have to take it seriously. It is not a Member of this House or the other House taking a snowball, throwing it, and saying: See, there is no climate change.

Climate change is real. Look at what happened in Texas this summer. They were begging for energy because they were not prepared because of climate change. They were melting snow in their bathtubs so they could flush their toilets.

If you take a look at what is happening out in the West today: drought, the unfortunate reality that we face the risk of catastrophic fires.

All of this is climate change, and it is about time that we take this very, very seriously as a country.

Some companies already do this. They already disclose the ESG metrics. That is why it is important to have an equal playing field where all companies disclose.

Again, I thank Chairwoman Waters for her heroic efforts here. I also thank my colleagues.

I urge my colleagues on the other side: Take climate change for real. Accept that it is happening. It is real, and it is catastrophic. And we must take it seriously.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support my good friend, Representative Hill's, SAVE Act, H.R. 3146. As my good friend from Arkansas said, I am proud to be the lead cosponsor of this bill. The tailored focus on this bill on the supply chain portion of the Defense Production Act will help us in future preparedness for public health emergencies.

Among other things, it requires a detailed plan from the President to secure the medical material supply chain. Additionally, it amends the DPA, the Defense Production Act, to include medical materials among critical materials for which the supply chain must be secured.

As my good friend knows, we need to be prepared not only for this pandemic, unfortunately, for other medical emergencies that may come. We have heard that we may be entering an era of pandemics and we must be prepared.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Arkansas for his leadership, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill's passage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the COVID-19 Emergency Medical Supplies Enhancement Act, H.R. 3125, because I agree with my good friend from Arkansas that we don't want to get caught at low tide with no bathing suit. In fact, that is a very bad idea.

The administration has been extremely effective in using the Defense Production Act to help produce vaccines and PPE. Following these efforts, cases and deaths have declined significantly. My bipartisan bill will support the current use of DPA and facilitate its use in the future to save lives.

This bill amends the DPA to explicitly include public health emergency preparedness as a core activity for national defense, as was mentioned by my good friend from Arkansas.

It also provides guidance to create an outreach representative who would act as the point person for Federal and private engagement to increase production of medically necessary materials.

It also requires the administration to provide a much-needed report clearly conveying the Federal contracts awarded under the DPA authorities.

Finally, it requires additional reporting on the percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses.

I urge the administration to disaggregate data on small businesses awarded the DPA contracts. We need to clearly see the number of contracts going to individuals from underserved communities, including communities of color, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

I am proud to have introduced this bill with my good friend from Arkansas, Representative Hill; and also my colleagues as cosponsors, Representatives Taylor, Ryan, and Gonzalez-Colon. In a bipartisan manner, we have recognized the importance of public health emergency preparedness, including PPE and vaccine production.

(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)

I also want to say that too many people in our Latino communities have died due to this virus. So, please, now that the vaccine is available, protect yourselves and protect our community--get vaccinated today.

Tambien quiero decir que demasiadas personas de nuestras comunidades Latinas han muerto por este virus. Entonces, por favor, ya que la vacuna esta disponible, protejanse y protejan a nuestra comunidad-- vayanse a vacunar hoy.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 131.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a resolution promoting COVID-19 vaccine equity among communities of color.

Communities of color continue to be disproportionately impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, highlighting longstanding health, social, and economic inequities.

The resolution calls for the prioritization of areas with a high Social Vulnerability Index, SVI, for COVID-19 vaccination efforts and working with trusted community partners to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate strategies, among other efforts.

The resolution is going to be introduced during this month of April, during the National Minority Health Month to promote the health and well-being of racial and ethnic minority communities and to underscore the need for these communities to get vaccinated.

Vaccinate, vacunen. It is very important that they get vaccinated, es muy importante que se vacunen.

Madam Speaker, vaccinate yourself. It is very important.

I am so proud to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise today, along with Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, to honor Dr. Willie Blair. A Vietnam Combat veteran, former congressional staffer, and leader of the Black American Political Association of California-San Diego Chapter (BAPAC).

Dr. Blair was born in 1951 in Knoxville, Tennessee and was one of eight children.

He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Maryville College in 1973, attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Officer.

Dr. Blair served as a Naval Officer for eight years, including a tour of duty in Vietnam as a small boat leader, where he participated in the evacuation of Saigon and Cambodia in May of 1975.

After being honorably discharged in 1981, Dr. Blair moved to San Diego and earned a Master of Business Administration degree and a subsequent Doctorate in Humanities and Arts from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Dr. Blair was a special assistant to former Congressman Bob Filner, focusing on veterans' issues, including veteran homelessness, retiring in 2013.

As a San Diego community leader, Dr. Blair left a legacy of social justice and equity.

From 2008 to 2017, he served as board chairman for BAPAC, an organization that strives to ensure the Black community in San

Diego County remains a relevant economic, social, and political force in Southern California.

Dr. Blair strongly believed in the mission of BAPAC: to work for the maximum effective representations of Black people in the political, economic, and educational systems of San Diego County and find solutions to issues related to jobs, education, and healthcare.

In 2017, he was elected as BAPAC's President where he continued his work in civil and human rights and used his stature to promote quality leadership in the community.

Dr. Blair devoted his life to bridging the achievement gap for ethnic and minority groups and elevate the positive educational outcomes of disenfranchised communities.

Dr. Blair devoted his life to mentoring leaders in the black community ensuring status within the Democratic party and in other institutions and he was passionate about reaching common ground among Latinos, Asians, and other ethnic and minority groups.

Dr. Blair is survived by his daughter, U.S. Airforce Officer Deborah Smith, siblings Janet, Trece and Roger, and several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, to honor San Diego leader Dr. Willie Blair.

As a San Diego community leader, Dr. Blair left a legacy for those demanding social justice and equity. He served his country as a Vietnam combat veteran; a former congressional staffer; and locally as a leader of Black American Political Association of California-San Diego chapter, or BAPAC.

From 2008 to 2017, Dr. Blair served as board chairman for BAPAC, an organization that strives to ensure the Black community in San Diego County remains a relevant economic, social force in southern California.

In 2017, he was elected as BAPAC's president, where he continued his work in civil and human rights and used his stature to promote quality leadership in the community.

Dr. Blair is survived by his daughter, U.S. Air Force officer Deborah Smith; his siblings Janet, Trece, and Roger; and several nieces.

We are very lucky to have a leader like Dr. Blair, who paved the way for future changemakers. All of us who knew Dr. Blair loved him and respected him dearly. We are saddened by his passing.