Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 1156.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic's start, Democrats have gone after the criminal fraud rings that stole from our pandemic unemployment insurance programs and empowered our partners across the Federal Government.

Today's Republican bill is so hypocritical. It completely ignores President Trump's illegal termination of the nonpartisan inspector general responsible for that very work. Before he was fired, it was Inspector General Larry Turner's leadership investigating UI fraud that resulted in over 2,000 individuals charged, 1,400 convictions, and more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars recovered.

In fact, it was IG Turner who had recommended that Congress extend the statute of limitations in the first place. It is outrageous that Republicans now want to act on the IG's recommendation but refuse to address the illegal firing of IG Turner and 18 other nonpartisan inspectors general across the Federal Government.

Further, Republicans refuse to even consider my and Congress Member DelBene's amendment, which would have extended the statute of limitations for 6 additional months and would have allowed for the full 10-year extension only if the President either reappoints IG Turner or appoints another Senate-confirmed individual for the role.

This would have been the responsible thing for Congress to do. Keep the door open for now on investigating and prosecuting this fraud while also ensuring we have a competent, Senate-confirmed inspector general leading the charge.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the Republican rip-off.

Budgets tell priorities, and as inflation goes up and Americans continue struggling to pay their rent, purchase groceries, and afford going to the doctor, Republicans stand united to sell out the working class by ripping away healthcare coverage and food from children to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

This is the unbelievable but real cruelty of their budget. Make devastating cuts to Medicaid for 135,000 mostly seniors and children in my district alone, slash SNAP benefits for thousands of hungry children and families, and end ACA premium tax cuts that currently save families over $6,000 annually, and for what? To give $5 trillion in handouts to those who need it the least, the ultrarich and big corporations.

Let's be clear: My Republican colleagues will declare that this resolution is necessary to extending the 2017 Trump tax scam to purportedly help the middle class. This is a lie. The majority of the tax cuts that they aim to extend will only benefit the rich, and the middle class will lose so many of the benefits they rely on.

In their 2017 Trump tax scam, Republicans slashed the corporate tax rate and watched 100 percent of those benefits flow to shareholders, billionaires, and high-paid executives. What did workers get? A big fat zero.

Even still, President Trump wants to cut the corporate tax rate by even more. What is more, Republicans' apparent concern for fiscal responsibility is nowhere to be found. Their budget will actually balloon our national debt in a reverse Robin Hood scheme that betrays the working Americans we all represent.

Mr. Chair, my constituents deserve better. All of our constituents deserve better.

I, once again, voice my opposition to the Republican rip-off that would do nothing to address the needs of the everyday American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 754, the Investing in Main Street Act of 2025, which would spur innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth in our small businesses nationwide.

Currently, banking rules allow financial institutions to invest up to 15 percent of their capital and surplus in SBICs. Small business investing rules cap these same investments far lower at just 5 percent of capital and surplus.

The Investing in Main Street Act of 2025 simply amends this outdated law to align these caps by allowing banks to invest a full 15 percent in SBICs. Raising this cap would dramatically increase the amount of investment capital available to our country's small businesses for whom even small investments can mean so much.

Already SBICs have helped marquee American companies like Costco, Apple, and Intel get off the ground, back when they were just starting out. SBICs fill a gap in the investment ecosystem and level the playing field for the smallest businesses which often face the highest barriers to securing investments from traditional private investors.

The nearly 319 certified SBICs in operation today have invested or committed over $38 billion in small businesses nationwide. In 2023 alone, SBICs provided $7.2 billion in funding to 1,142 small businesses and startups.

By raising the investment cap from 5 percent to 15 percent, we could potentially triple those numbers in the years to come and drive revitalization in communities across the country.

I thank Representatives Finstad, McIver, and Garbarino for their partnership in this legislation and Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for their strong support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill and for the Senate to expeditiously take it up so we can unlock more of the potential of American entrepreneurs.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 21 would rob families of the ability to make difficult, complicated medical decisions in some of the most heartbreaking circumstances imaginable. It is a mean-spirited solution in search of a problem.

Infanticide is already illegal in every State of the Union, and Congress unanimously affirmed this with a law in 2002, but this bill is not about saving lives. It is about spreading misinformation about abortion care to further anti-abortion talking points.

If the majority is interested in caring for newborns, I invite them to support Democrats' efforts to provide paid family leave to every new parent.

Republicans are welcome to join our efforts to expand the child tax credit to families struggling with paying the bills, and we would be thrilled to have bipartisan support in this Chamber to make childcare affordable everywhere.

Instead, House Republicans have brought up a bill designed to intimidate doctors and perpetuate disinformation about how abortion care really works.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered my bill, the Women's Health Protection Act, legislation that would create a Federal right to abortion care, free from medically unnecessary restrictions in all 50 States, in all ZIP Codes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for this motion to recommit.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and commemorate the life of Dr. Amarjit Singh Marwah, who passed away on January 7, 2025, at the age of 98, just weeks shy of his 99th birthday. Dr. Marwah was a philanthropist, activist, and beloved leader in the Sikh-American community.

Born in Lahore in 1926, Dr. Marwah came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship in 1950. He earned a Master of Science from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Dental Surgery at Howard University. At the time, he was the only foreign dentistry student at Howard. Dr. Marwah became the first dentist of Indian origin in America, establishing himself as a ``dentist to the stars'' in Malibu, California. His patients included Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, and Muhammad Ali.

In 1956, Dr. Marwah served as the Campaign Manager for Dalip Singh Saund when he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Marwah worked behind the scenes, out of public view, explaining: ``If I showed my turban, he wouldn't get one vote.'' Their history-making campaign was won by only 300 votes, making Dalip Singh Saund the first Sikh, Indian, and Asian American elected to the U.S. Congress. Dr. Marwah's work was instrumental in opening the doors for future Indian Americans and Asian Americans in public service.

As a philanthropist, Dr. Marwah was dedicated to supporting young people and his Sikh community. His work included establishing the first Sikh temple in the U.S. after India's Independence from the British, establishing a new state-of-art dentistry clinic at Howard University, and funding scholarships for over 100 Indian American students. He also founded KK Marwah Girls College in Faridkot, India, which was named in honor of his late wife, Kuljit K. Marwah whose contributions were equally significant.

Throughout his life, Dr. Marwah was recognized as a leader, activist, and beacon of cultural pride. The City of Los Angeles honored him by renaming an intersection on Hollywood Boulevard as Amarjit Singh Marwah Square. In describing his work, Dr. Marwah remained characteristically humble, stating it is ``a service to both my motherland and my adopted country.''

Dr. Marwah is survived by his children and a community that mourns his loss and celebrates his legacy of perseverance, selflessness, and civic engagement. May his memory inspire others to follow in his footsteps and lead a life of generosity and kindness.

Mr. Speaker, this week, I returned from my district in southern California, which has been completely devastated by the Eaton fire.

In Altadena and northern Pasadena, the fire took our neighbors' lives and destroyed the structures that provided stability to countless families' hopes, dreams, and memories. The fire has destroyed over 7,000 structures; left 20,000 people homeless; forced numerous health centers to close; and burned schools, businesses, and community institutions to the ground.

This is just one of six serious fires across Los Angeles, including the more than 23,000-acre Palisades fire. Places that served as safe havens for generations of Angelenos and where community was built across the San Gabriel Valley are now unrecognizable.

The Altadena Community Church, Altadena mosque, Pasadena Jewish Temple, Armenian school, mom-and-pop business centers, Eliot Arts Magnet School, and Altadena Country Club were all burned to the ground.

When Black Americans fled racial segregation in the Jim Crow South and came to Los Angeles, many made Altadena their home because there was no redlining there preventing them from owning homes. It has remained a hub of Black culture and civic life in Los Angeles. After being forced into incarceration in camps during World War II, many Japanese Americans came to Pasadena and built their lives back up.

Last week, thousands had to flee their homes at a moment's notice, frantically searching for pets and crying out to loved ones, many with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Thousands of people have lost their homes and a lifetime's worth of belongings and memories.

Tragically, first responders have found 16 people who lost their lives, and they expect that number to rise.

Anthony Mitchell, Sr., a dedicated father, died alongside his son while waiting for help. Just a week before the fires began, Anthony told his son that what he treasured most in life was not money or possessions but his family.

Victor Shaw died outside of his longtime family home with a garden hose in his hand. He did everything he could to save it.

Erliene Louise Kelly bought her home in Altadena with her late husband, Howard, in the late 1960s. Together, they raised two kids, watched their grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow, and celebrated holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries.

The Los Angeles wildfires are on track to become one of the most costly and devastating natural disasters in our country's history. Yet, scores of Republicans, led by President-elect Trump and Speaker Johnson, are threatening to place conditions on the State of California for disaster assistance to flow to these victims.

This is truly unprecedented. Never in our history has the Federal Government placed conditions on emergency disaster aid to our own citizens. I invite any Republican in Congress who is entertaining these demands to visit my district, see the devastation for yourself, and look the victims in the eye when you tell them they don't deserve help from their country because you disagree with certain policies passed by their State.

This is the United States of America. We help our citizens when they fall victim to a natural disaster, regardless of their political party or opinions. We do it without strings attached, like we did just in December, 4 weeks ago, for victims of Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

I look forward to working with the majority to secure critical disaster relief funding that is necessary for this vibrant, beautiful, unique region to recover and rebuild.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 33, the United States- Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act. I thank Ranking Member Neal and Chairman Smith for working on this significant legislation, which was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee unanimously last Congress.

I also thank Representative Suzan DelBene as well as Representatives Adrian Smith and Nicole Malliotakis for their partnership. Together, we introduced a resolution last Congress calling to advance legislation to address that barrier, the issue of double taxation on income earned in the United States and Taiwan.

Today, Americans who do business in Taiwan, and those from Taiwan who do business from America, must pay income tax in both places on the same earnings. That hurts businesses of all sizes, as well as individuals who spend time in each market.

For example, without a double-tax treaty, workers from the United States who are sent to Taiwan to train for

their jobs in a domestic chip facility can be taxed twice on the income they earn on that trip.

The U.S. has eliminated this problem through bilateral income tax treaties with more than 60 countries, but not with Taiwan. That is because of its unique political status which prevents us from negotiating a traditional tax treaty. As a result, among our top 10 trading partners, only Taiwan lacks a double-tax agreement.

We should forge an agreement both because Taiwan is a leading democracy in Asia and because their investment in the United States supports at least 188,000 American jobs, including many in my southern California district, which is home to one of the largest communities of people from Taiwan in the U.S.

In 2023, I met with some of them here in Washington, D.C., to discuss the barrier posed by this double taxation. They told me stories of facing huge tax bills after doing business in both markets and having to curtail their cross-border investment as a result.

The American Institute in Taiwan conducted a survey of Taiwanese companies with a presence here in the United States, and 79 percent of them reported that double taxation of income is a considerable factor that prevents them from investing more in the U.S.

There is a solution, which is the legislation before us today. Specifically, this bill reduces the withholding of taxes and lays the groundwork for the Treasury Department to finalize the details of a permanent arrangement, based on the model income tax treaty that we have with scores of other countries, to mitigate double taxation, prevent abuse, allow for dispute resolution, and exchange key tax information that will help revenue authorities in both jurisdictions.

This bill would ensure that our Nation can take full advantage of the historic investments that we have made under the Biden-Harris administration, like the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. Because of that law, new chip fabs are under construction in places like Ohio and operational and producing chips in Arizona, but these factories are enormously complicated and expensive. Even with the billions of dollars in investments from the Department of Commerce, the math simply might not pencil out for a project if the company will be subject to double taxation as soon as they turn a profit.

From major chip companies to small businesses in southern California and across the country, it is clear that mitigating double taxation between the U.S. and Taiwan is crucial. It will only become more important as Congress continues to work in a bipartisan manner to strengthen our economic relations with Taiwan.

Last Congress, we approved the first phase of the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade negotiated by USTR and TECRO, and I have expressed my support for going even further and negotiating a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan.

To unlock the benefits made possible by our strengthening partnership, we must ensure that businesses are not at a competitive disadvantage.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Min).

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

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

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

In closing, Taiwan is the only one of our top 10 trading partners with whom we do not have an income tax agreement, and we need to solve this problem by taking advantage of our robust and growing economic partnership. That is why the Ways and Means Committee favorably reported this bill in a unanimous bipartisan vote last Congress. I enthusiastically support this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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

Mr. Speaker, due to the Eaton Fire in my district, I was unable to cast my vote today on H.R. 23--Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 7.

Mr. Speaker, on February 13, 2024, I was unable to cast my vote on:

H. Res. 863--Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 43.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 9495, legislation that would grant dangerous new powers to allow the incoming administration to target its political enemies.

Crucially, it is already illegal for anyone, including nonprofit organizations, to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, and prosecutors are already empowered to indict and convict individuals of terrorism charges based on evidence of wrongdoing. This bill would create a new tool that allows the Secretary of the Treasury to mete out punishment for tax-exempt organizations based solely on accusations, even without evidence.

Keeping in mind the President-elect's long crusade of vengeance and grievance, along with his announced Cabinet nominations of his cronies and loyalists, many of my constituents have been contacting my office all week, and they and I are very uncomfortable with the creation of this new power.

There would be nothing to stop the incoming Trump administration from using this tool to cancel the tax-exempt status, and therefore, incapacitate any civil society or nonprofit organization with which the President disagrees. This could be an organization that provides legal support for immigrants facing mass deportations or clinics that provide lifesaving reproductive healthcare.

While the bill does lay out a process for organizations to appeal the accusations brought by the Secretary of the Treasury and retain their tax-exempt status, there is little consolation when the final determination lies within the same Secretary that made the accusations in the first place.

Unfortunately, these dangerous, nonsensical provisions have been attached to unrelated legislation that would accomplish the very, very worthy goal of providing relief to American hostages for unfair tax penalties they incur while wrongfully detained abroad.

The Senate has already passed this measure as a standalone bill unanimously. The House should follow suit by stripping the bill before us today of its controversial provisions to provide hostages and their families with the relief they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, in its current form, I will vote ``no,'' and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I was unable to cast my vote on H.R. 3012, the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act, as amended, and H.R. 8368, the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorization Act, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 474 and YEA on Roll Call No. 475.

Madam Speaker, this bill is yet another excuse by Republicans to undermine the Inflation Reduction Act even as it delivers historic benefits to millions of Americans.

This landmark legislation extended and expanded the 30D tax credit to support the adoption of clean vehicles. These credits are not only supporting our transition to a clean economy, they are creating American jobs, bolstering American manufacturing, and strengthening American supply chains.

This bill would undercut the Biden-Harris administration's work to implement these credits under the guise of cracking down on foreign adversaries, and, yet again, this bill includes a harmful provision that would target immigrants who came to the United States from an adversary country but who themselves have nothing to do with their governments of origin.

This is the latest Republican bill this week that follows the shameful playbook of fear-mongering and discrimination that will harm Chinese and Asian-American immigrant communities without doing anything to improve national security or decrease our reliance on foreign energy.

Consider that there are countless immigrants who come from countries like China to the United States to start a business. Sometimes those immigrants are fleeing persecution in their country of origin. However, under this bill, if a Chinese immigrant starts a business that produces components for electric vehicle batteries, then any claimed vehicle that uses components from their business would be categorically ineligible from benefiting from the tax credit.

That means every car manufacturer would be punished for working with this business even if it is located here in the U.S. and employing American workers with absolutely no connection to any foreign government or foreign government-controlled entity.

Because of the way this bill was poorly drafted, it is even possible that it could target immigrants who have become U.S. citizens. This is simply xenophobic and wrong.

I want to be clear: There are legitimate national and economic security concerns that the U.S. faces with these foreign governments. To make sure we are addressing these concerns, it is important to prevent foreign adversaries benefiting from our tax credit, but that is, in fact, exactly what the Inflation Reduction Act already does and what the Biden-Harris administration has been upholding in their implementation of this law.

What I do staunchly object to is any legislation that creates enormous, disproportionate barriers for any individual solely because of their country of origin. The supposedly innocuous restriction of certain rights in the name of economic or national security can be just the start of the wholesale violation of our communities' civil rights.

The bottom line is this bill will hurt our transition to clean vehicles.

Madam Speaker, I oppose this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

As chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to the deceptively named Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act. It brings back the shameful China Initiative, which is the new McCarthyism.

Rather than protecting America's innovation, this bill would hurt it with a Trump-era China Initiative, a program that assumed that researchers and scholars in America should be investigated if they had a nexus with China, such as being born there or having relatives from there. They targeted them and arrested them, but here is what you need to know: Most of the cases overwhelmingly failed to prosecute actual cases of economic espionage or trade secret theft. Nearly all cases had no connection to national security or espionage but rather paperwork mistakes. Many cases were dropped or withdrawn without explanation.

For so many researchers and professors, the damage was already done. By racially profiling innocent Asian-American scientists because of their ethnicity, the China Initiative ruined their reputations, finances, and lives. They were traumatized, arrested in front of their families, fired, and went into deep debt.

McCarthyism had deadly effects in the 1950s, and so does the China Initiative, harming our country's competitive edge by casting a chilling effect on our academic community. Let me be clear. While we all want to stop American secrets from being stolen, investigations should be based on evidence of criminal activity, not race and ethnicity.

This bill brings back the shameful mistakes of the China Initiative. It would stoke anti-Asian xenophobia, and it would hurt American innovation by contributing to the reverse brain drain of talent from the U.S. to the PRC from which only the CCP itself stands to benefit.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Madam Chair, as written, this partisan Energy and Water appropriations bill undermines the very programs and principles it purports to uphold. This bill will cut over 5 percent of nondefense spending compared to enacted levels, raising prices and making us less prepared to respond to the growing threat of the climate crisis and related natural disasters.

By slashing the Department of Energy's efficiency and renewable energy programs, Republicans will increase families' energy costs. By reducing the Department of Energy's loans programs by a whopping $8 billion, Republicans will be killing good-paying jobs, and our capacity to confront the climate crisis will be further hindered. By cutting the weatherization assistance program and prohibiting funding for the Department of Energy's Justice40 Initiative, low-income households will see higher home energy bills.

However, this bill goes beyond just harmful energy policies. House Republicans have made it their mission to insert divisive harmful riders in every single appropriations bill this year, and this one is no different. To name just a few, this bill contains provisions that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from renaming items commemorating the Confederacy and its glorification of enslavement, prohibit funding of executive orders aimed at advancing racial equity, and it would allow for firearms on public lands.

The Democratic motion to recommit will strike another provision in this bill that would allow discrimination against same-sex couples. At every turn, House Republicans are finding creative ways to entrench homophobia and other forms of discrimination in what should be bipartisan, good-faith funding bills. Rather than equip our country and our constituents with the tools needed to fight existential battles like climate change, House Republicans are committing to sending an anti-equality message that hate should win. House Democrats and I will not stand for this.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.

My amendment would strike the provisions in this bill that would allow for discrimination to same-sex couples, and that would ban the use of Pride flags at facilities.

Madam Chair, I include in the Record the text of the amendment.

Ms. Chu moves to recommit the bill H.R. 8997 to the

Committee on Appropriations with the following amendment:

Strike section 507.

Madam Chair, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, on July 9, 2024, I was unable to cast my vote on: H.R. 7637--Refrigerator Freedom Act. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 341.