Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to amend the rule to make in order the amendment at the desk that protects against any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to Republicans' big, ugly bill because of my constituents like Lisa whose son was diagnosed with a life-altering disease that left him unable to work by mid-age. Medicaid enables Lisa to be his full-time caregiver and ensures that he has the care he needs.

Unfortunately, for Lisa and her son, Republicans don't care. They made it very clear over the past 6 months who they are fighting for. It is not for the most vulnerable like Lisa and her son, who may be 2 of the 17 million Americans kicked off their healthcare thanks to this bill. Instead, Republicans are fighting for billionaires like Donald Trump and the top 0.1 percent who will get an average tax cut of $309,000 per year, while those earning less than $50,000 get 68 cents a day.

To my Republican colleagues, there is still time to join Democrats in preventing this despicable bill from becoming law.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this extremely partisan resolution that seeks to legitimize President Trump's baseless attacks on Los Angeles and our elected leaders, including Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.

This administration's mass ICE raids by masked agents who will not identify themselves have trampled on our rights and left our community shaken but not defeated.

The President manufactured a crisis in Los Angeles and then blamed our constituents for it. He induced ICE to terrorize our community, detaining hundreds of hardworking residents at places like Home Depot and car washes, including U.S. citizens like Job Garcia, a doctoral student in my district at Claremont Graduate University. He was manhandled, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed.

For this, the President called in the National Guard and Marines?

This resolution only gives credence to Trump's dangerous rhetoric. Instead, we should be considering the resolution introduced by California's Democratic delegation, which condemns anyone engaged in violation of the law, violence, or vandalism. Most importantly, it stands up for our constitutional rights to due process and free expression and shows our appreciation to local law enforcement for upholding public safety.

Rather than feed into the President's cruelty, we are standing up for the communities we were elected to represent.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Mel McMullen of California on the occasion of his 100th birthday and in recognition of his extraordinary service during the Second World War.

Born in Los Angeles on June 5, 1925, Mr. McMullen answered his country's call to service at the age of 17, Joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. By 1944, he was serving in the China-Burma-India Theater as a nose turret gunner and assistant engineer aboard a B-24J bomber named The Dragon Lady, as part of General Claire Chennault's famed 14th Air Force, the ``Flying Tigers.'' The legacy of the Flying Tigers is truly inspiring because it was made up of young men like Mr. McMullen who left their jobs to volunteer alongside the Chinese in defense of China, even before the U.S. officially entered the war against Japan. Despite not being an official part of the U.S. military, they were willing to risk their lives in the pursuit of peace. The Flying Tigers' achievements were truly extraordinary--operating with only a few dozen planes and a few hundred soldiers, they managed to bring down hundreds of Imperial Japanese aircraft, a testament to their bravery and skill.

McMullen was assigned to the 425th Squadron of the 308th Bomb Group, flying long and dangerous missions across eastern China against Japanese forces. His squadron endured perilous flights over mountainous terrain, unescorted bombing runs under heavy anti-aircraft fire, and grueling conditions that tested their endurance and courage Mr. McMullen survived over 200 hours of aerial combat, a feat for which he was awarded both the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After the Flying Tigers were disbanded, Mr. McMullen continued serving in World War II by flying hazardous fuel transport missions over ``The Hump'' from India to China, a route so treacherous it was known as ``The Aluminum Trail'' for the wreckage of downed aircraft. This was a vital air transport lifeline for the Allies and Mr. McMullen's service reflects not only immense bravery but a profound commitment to his fellow airmen and to the mission of liberating Asia from imperial oppression.

Beyond the battlefield, Mr. McMullen's life has remained a testament to leadership, service, and community. He served as National Commander of the China-Burma-India Veterans Association and as President of the Inland Empire Chapter of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society. He built a 43-year career in the title insurance industry and has been a devoted husband to his wife Jennifer for over 77 years. Together, they raised a family in Los Angeles and now enjoy the love of their grandchildren and a community they continue to serve.

Mr. Speaker, Mel McMullen embodies the best of the American spirit: courage in the face of war, resilience in peacetime, and a life of meaning rooted in family and service. On behalf of a grateful Nation, I offer my congratulations on his 100th birthday and thank him for his tremendous sacrifices in defense of our freedoms. May his story continue to inspire future generations to serve with honor, humility, and purpose.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 2987, the CEASE Act, because it has the potential to harm our Nation's most underserved small businesses.

This bill would cap the number of Small Business Lending Company, or SBLC, licenses that the SBA can issue at its current level of 16 licenses. These licenses enable lenders to make loans of up to $5 million to small businesses that we know often struggle to secure financing from traditional banks.

If Republicans wanted to find a solution to bipartisan concerns about SBA's capacity to oversee an increased number of licenses, Democrats would have been happy to work together on this. Unfortunately, this bill fails to address our serious concerns about how it could devastate opportunities for capital access for the small businesses that need SBA's help the most.

Specifically, this bill is completely silent about how this cap on licenses would impact Community Advantage SBLCs. We know that one of small businesses' greatest challenges is obtaining access to financial capital. For over a decade now, the Community Advantage program has been helping close this funding gap for underserved businesses who face this challenge disproportionately like rural, veteran, and low-income small business owners.

I will never forget visiting one of these businesses in Santa Monica, California. It was a salad-based restaurant owned by two young Hispanic men who had this dream of expanding their restaurant, but they were turned away by every traditional bank due to a lack of assets and credit history. Finally, they were able to get a $250,000 Community Advantage loan, and now they have six of these restaurants.

It was a relatively modest sum, but $250,000 was what it took to make these small business owners successful, and that is why I have long believed in the Community Advantage program. However, it was operating only as a pilot program, and that is why I sponsored a bill to make it permanent. This bipartisan bill has passed out of the House, but the Senate did not take it up.

Great relief, however, came in 2023 when the SBA established by rule the Community Advantage SBLC program

to provide long-term assurance for the program and lenders. Since then, there has been great progress: 143 lenders have registered as Community Advantage SBLCs. In 2024 alone, these lenders have already issued 1,100 loans totaling $196 million to the most underserved small businesses with an average loan size of $160,000.

Congress needs to build on these efforts by providing statutory permanency for Community Advantage, but the bill before us today goes in the opposite direction, potentially threatening the future of Community Advantage SBLCs because it makes no mention of how these licenses would be impacted by the statutory cap.

Congress must ensure that our most underserved small businesses have the resources they need to not just survive but to grow. That is why I will reintroduce the Community Advantage Loan Program Act, which will give permanent authorization to this program.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support our Nation's veteran, rural, and low-income entrepreneurs by voting ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, as chair emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise to honor Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a celebration of the rich history, immense contributions, and vibrant cultures of our community.

I am proud to represent California's 28th District and the San Gabriel Valley, home to the fourth largest AANHPI population in the country.

AANHPIs are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide. With 23.5 million people and over 70 different ethnicities and hundreds of languages, we are also one of the most diverse groups in the Nation.

America has always been made stronger by the contributions of our communities whose histories and cultures are deeply woven into the fabric of our Nation.

This month and every month, we must highlight how AANHPI history truly is American history.

I wish everyone a happy AANHPI heritage month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Republicans' unbelievably ugly bill. This bill is worse than we thought.

By ripping Medicaid and food assistance away from many millions of vulnerable Americans while slashing taxes for the ultrawealthy, the nonpartisan CBO found that it would make the poorest 10 percent poorer while making the richest 10 percent richer.

This bill would also increase the debt so much that it will trigger cuts to Medicare benefits by almost $500 billion.

To my Republican colleagues: Think of my constituent, Maria. Maria needs Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to care for her daughter who resides in a nursing home, uses a feeding tube to eat, and can't recognize her mother.

Maria asked: If Medicaid is cut, where would my daughter go?

Tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of Maria's daughter getting the care she needs to survive is despicable.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the GOP tax scam, which would gut the programs that families rely on, like Medicaid and SNAP, just to give trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy.

In my district, more than 208,000 people rely on Medicaid, and 75,000 people rely on SNAP. They include women like Nancy from Pasadena, California.

Nancy has stage V kidney failure. She relies on Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security to keep a roof over her head, food on her table, and continue her treatment. She is scared to death about losing these.

Nancy asked me to tell my Republican colleagues that one day, they or their loved one might need the resources that they are fighting so hard to slash.

Do not take food literally out of the mouths of babies just so Elon Musk can buy another yacht. Nancy deserves better. All of our constituents deserve better, and House Democrats are here to fight back against this cruelty.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 881. This bill would block Department of Homeland Security funding from colleges and universities with a Confucius Institute, which is known to have CCP ties, but it expands the prohibition to any institution that has a relationship with a Chinese entity of concern.

What is a Chinese entity of concern? Because a bill defines such entities so broadly, that list could potentially include every single college in China.

Because this is a new definition that is not shared with any other Federal agency, universities would be required to independently verify that their Chinese counterpart institutions do not meet this broad definition just to cooperate on activities as simple as study abroad programs. The University of California has said they do not have an intelligence agency within their structure that can do this.

This is a completely unreasonable expectation of universities, and that is because the real goal of the legislation is to completely sever academic relations with institutions in China.

Ending study abroad programs, student exchanges, and every research agreement will do nothing to make America safer. In fact, the only improvement that this bill makes over the version that Republicans advanced last year is giving the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to grant waivers. That means universities are expected to ask for a waiver from the same administration that is continually threatening their Federal funding and their tax-exempt status.

This is a harmful bill that would only serve to weaken America and give the Trump administration yet another weapon to attack the American institutions that they deem are insufficiently loyal to President Trump.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, on May 5, 2025, I was unable to cast my vote on H.R. 530--ACES Act. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call Vote No. 115.

Mr. Speaker, this administration has thrown out the Constitution and asserted that the President has king-like power to arrest anybody in this country and deport them, even to a foreign prison for life, with no due process.

Days ago, we learned they deported a 4-year-old child with stage IV cancer and a 2-year-old American citizen.

We know that they are now going after Southeast Asian refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. They came here due to the U.S. depending on them as allies during the Vietnam war.

This was the case with Chanthon Bun, who fled to the U.S. with his family to escape the Cambodian genocide. Like many refugees, Bun found himself in an impoverished community and struggled to acclimate. He later fell in with the wrong crowd and made a mistake as a teenager. Bun has since served his time, and once granted parole, he has become a leader in his community.

In Trump's eyes, Bun's rehabilitation doesn't matter. Trump is now detaining and deporting Southeast Asian refugees who have had pauses on their deportation orders for decades and are deeply tied to their communities. Mr. Speaker, 15,000 of these refugees have deportation orders and are now being deported as they do the right thing and report for their ICE check-ins.

We will not stand for it. I will soon be reintroducing the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act, which would prevent the administration from deporting these refugees to countries where they have often never lived and ensure that those who have already been deported can return home to the U.S.

If the Trump administration can disappear immigrants to other countries without due process or deport refugees to places they have no memories of, we are all in danger.

Mr. Speaker, I once again rise in opposition to the Republican rip-off.

Let's be crystal clear about what Senate Republicans did to this budget resolution. They made a terrible bill that rips off middle-class Americans even worse.

They are telling you that two plus two equals zero in this budget resolution to obfuscate the truth. It will explode our national debt. It will make the Trump tax scam permanent. It will make devastating and inhumane cuts to lifesaving services for working Americans to fund tax giveaways to the ultrarich.

Instead of standing up for their constituents, Republicans bend the knee to their wannabe emperor and his court of jesters and lackeys in the White House.

This budget resolution tells us exactly who the Republicans are working for and who they want to help, and it is not the American people.

Mr. Speaker, it is a betrayal, and I won't stand for it.

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act. I thank Representative David Kustoff for his partnership on this bipartisan bill, which was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee unanimously last month.

Each year, States like California declare State-level emergencies for disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, floods, or earthquakes. Under current law, disaster victims can only receive Federal filing relief if and when the President of the United States declares a Federal disaster.

While President Biden immediately declared a Federal disaster for the Los Angeles fires that devastated my district in January, that was unusually fast. Often, those declarations can take days or even weeks, which was the case in 2020 after wildfires, including the Bobcat fire in the San Gabriel Mountains, ravaged my State. That means if disaster strikes during filing season, taxpayers run the risk of missing Federal filing deadlines through no fault of their own.

Additionally, there may be serious natural disasters that affect taxpayers' ability to file but don't ever get declared as a Federal disaster. That is because such a declaration is subject to a very specific process under the Stafford Act. If a disaster does not exceed a State's capacity to respond without the help of FEMA, the President can't declare a Federal disaster, even if taxpayers impacted need filing relief.

Our bill solves this problem by giving Treasury and the IRS authority to postpone Federal filing deadlines in response to a request by a Governor who has declared a State-level disaster, and it would double the minimum duration of these filing extensions from 60 to 120 days.

I also urge my colleagues to work with me to support the victims of January's Los Angeles fires, including the Eaton fire in my district, by passing a supplemental disaster appropriations package with no strings attached.

The Eaton fire took 17 of my constituents' lives, burned 9,500 structures, and left 20,000 people in my district homeless. While FEMA has been there since the start, we will need more help from Congress.

Wildfires, like all natural disasters, know no political parties, and never in our country's history has Congress placed policy conditions on aid for disaster victims.

I look forward to passing this legislation and then continuing our work to support survivors with a supplemental disaster aid package.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan bill is a commonsense proposal to ease one of the many burdens that face survivors after a natural disaster so that they can focus on recovering and rebuilding.

I once again thank Representative Kustoff for his partnership, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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

Mr. Speaker, as this year's Women's History Month comes to a close, there is no better way to honor the prolific and powerful contributions of women in this country than to finally authorize the creation of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum on The National Mall.

As one of the original cosponsors of this bipartisan bill, I feel strongly that this museum must become a reality.

The National Mall here in Washington, D.C., tells the profound story of our country, but that story is woefully incomplete without a dedicated space to commemorate how women have shaped our Nation every single day since before the founding. From Abigail Adams' request to ``remember the ladies,'' to the suffrage rights movement, to Nancy Pelosi's historic speakership, women have been trailblazers and have made history.

That is why I am proud to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass our bill, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act, to make sure that the Women's History Museum gets its rightful spot on The National Mall. We are also working to make sure that the National Museum of the American Latino, which also enjoys bipartisan support, gets its spot, too.

So much progress has already been made to find the right location, raise funds, and garner broad bipartisan support for this museum. The momentum is here, and the time is now to finally make the story of our Nation more complete by ensuring that the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum secures its place in our Nation's Capital.

Mr. Chairman, as chair emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to the DETERRENT Act.

For now, the American university research system is the envy of the world, but the DETERRENT Act would burden our higher education institutions and Federal agencies with massive amounts of reporting of a gift of any value from foreign countries and will cast a chilling effect disproportionately on the Asian-American academic community.

From the incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II to the racial profiling of Chinese-American scientists under Trump's failed first term China Initiative, countless Asian Americans have had their lives destroyed because our government falsely accused them of being spies.

Already, 72 percent of Asian-American academic researchers report feeling unsafe. By publicizing the private, personal information of certain faculty and staff on databases, this bill would make the problem worse, making them much easier targets for xenophobic attacks.

Safeguarding national security can be done through commonsense reforms Democrats have offered that don't come at the expense of U.S. scientific innovation, global collaboration, and the Asian-American community. As if we needed another reason to oppose this bill, it would create enormous new responsibilities for the Department of Education at the same time that Trump is attempting to illegally dismantle that very Department.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''