Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of The Estee Lauder Companies' critical Breast Cancer Campaign. I am proud to join my colleagues in Congress and individuals around the world in recognizing those fighting breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer for women in the United States, with an estimated 280,000 women, as well as thousands of men, diagnosed with the disease each year according to the National Cancer Institute. With so many people around the world at risk for breast cancer, it is crucial to raise awareness so that the disease can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

Through its Breast Cancer Campaign, The Estee Lauder Companies have made great progress towards this goal. Whether it is in funding lifesaving research, improving healthcare access for disadvantaged people, supporting patients and their families through difficult diagnoses, or raising the public's awareness with the pink ribbon, the campaign is closer to realizing a world without breast cancer.

However, despite the significant progress over the past thirty years, we cannot rest until we are rid of breast cancer. That is why I am proud to support the ongoing work done by the Estee Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Campaign. Please join me in recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month to further spread awareness of this disease and sustain those affected by it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Shetal Shah, MD, FAAP, for his advocacy on the behalf of New York's children and for his many years serving as a resource to my office.

A noted pediatrician, neonatologist, and researcher, Dr. Shah has tirelessly fought to protect the well-being of children. He has promoted increased funding for childhood vaccinations and children's hospitals and improving the Medicaid and CHIP programs to ensure children always have access to the care they need. He is a voice for his fellow doctors, and his efforts will help guarantee that medical school graduates continue to pursue careers in pediatrics and pediatric subspecialties in underserved communities.

Dr. Shah has also played a critical role in promoting public health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by hand-delivering protective equipment to doctors across Long Island. His determination provided children in our communities with the critical care they needed.

In New York, and across the country, we are incredibly fortunate to have people like Dr. Shah, whose work ensures that our children grow into healthy adults. I would like to commend Dr. Shah for his commitment to public health and to the children of New York's Fourth Congressional District.

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment, which will ensure the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are able to comply with statutory requirements to report to Congress on the domestic terror threat.

In response to the ongoing threat of domestic violent extremism, Section 5602 of the fiscal year 2020 NDAA, which passed this House in 2019 and was signed into law by President Trump, mandated that the DHS and the FBI issue an annual report to Congress with a strategic intelligence assessment of domestic terrorism in the United States.

This report is required to include information on domestic extremist incidents, investigations, and prosecutions, as well as an assessment of how law enforcement intelligence, personnel, and resources are deployed to meet the domestic terror threat.

This is essential information for Congress as we continue our work to understand and counter domestic terror and the threat it poses to our democracy and the rule of law.

Unfortunately, the DHS and the FBI have struggled to comply with this mandate in a timely and sufficient manner. The first Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism report was 10 months late, and it included incomplete and insufficient information that failed to meet the content requirements laid out in the law.

A second annual report has not yet been released, though it is well past its due date.

My amendment is very simple. It gives the DHS and the FBI the opportunity to report to Congress on what processes or resources they need to comply with this reporting requirement. If they need more resources, better data, or anything else, we, in Congress, can give it to them. But these reports are too important to our work for us not to receive them in a timely and complete manner.

I urge support for this commonsense amendment to ensure that we give our agencies the tools they need to give us the best intelligence and information.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am ready to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

As was the case where my colleague offered this same idea during our committee markup, this amendment attempts to bring implementation of H.R. 903 to an abrupt halt if Congress fails to enact a Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill before the end of the fiscal year.

Plainly stated, this amendment would put in place an unrealistic condition for implementation of this act that funds be appropriated to carry out this act by the end of the fiscal year or else Transportation Security officers lose their rights.

Republicans already forced TSOs to work without pay for weeks on end

when they shut down the government a few years ago. Under this amendment, if Republicans shut down the government again, TSOs would not just struggle to put food on the table; they would lose basic workplace rights, too. This is nothing more than a poison pill.

Congress should, as we all know, pass funding bills on time, but we have not passed full annual appropriations before the start of the fiscal year in 14 years. That is on us. It shouldn't be on TSO officers.

It is preposterous that finalizing fiscal year 2023 appropriations even 1 or 2 days late could cause workers to lose their collective bargaining rights, access to the Merit System Protection Board, and other protections.

Considering that we have bipartisan support for this bill in the House, including from 14 of my Republican colleagues, I am hopeful that after we enact this bill into law, we can work together to secure the necessary funding to fully implement it. If we encounter delays, we can work together to readjust timelines. We don't just throw in the towel on delivering fair and appropriate compensation benefits and protections to the TSA workforce, as this amendment would require.

The beleaguered frontline screener workforce should not be punished because Congress cannot do its job in a timely way.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, this amendment represents a new frontier in legislative dysfunction. It hinges the rights of TSOs on Congress' ability to pass a completely different bill.

This is not serious legislating. It is a bad faith gimmick and unworthy of support. There is no justification for making the rights of the TSA workforce contingent on the broken annual appropriations process.

This amendment sends the message to the TSA workforce that their fundamental rights have an expiration date.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment, just as my colleagues and I did when it was brought up in the committee.

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

Madam Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. Had I been present, I would have voted:

YEA on Roll Call No. 409; YEA on Roll Call No. 426; YEA on Roll Call No. 427; YEA on Roll Call No. 428; YEA on Roll Call No. 429; YEA on Roll Call No. 430; YEA on Roll Call No. 431; YEA on Roll Call No. 432; YEA on Roll Call No. 433; YEA on Roll Call No. 434; and YEA on Roll Call No. 435.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the CAROL Act, which I am proud to co-lead with my friend, Representative Andy Barr, which will fund critical breakthroughs in our understanding of valvular heart disease.

Millions of Americans live with some form of valvular heart disease, and most of them go their entire lives without a serious issue or incident. But over 25,000 people die in this country from this condition every single year.

Last year, Andy's wife, Carol, tragically passed away from a heart valve condition called mitral valve prolapse.

The CAROL Act will honor Carol's life by creating a new grant program administered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to fund valvular heart disease research.

Our hope is that this research will improve our knowledge of this poorly understood condition and one day produce a cure that will prevent other families from having to endure the same tragedy that befell the Barr family. I cannot think of a more beautiful tribute to Carol's life than that.

Andy, I commend you and your family for your incredible strength and for turning your grief into action. It was my honor to join you on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Pallone, Chairwoman Eshoo, Ranking Member Rodgers, and Ranking Member Guthrie for bringing this critical bill to the floor. I urge all members to support it today.

Madam Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 348.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H. Con. Res. 44, the Fiscal State of the Nation resolution.

This resolution would require the Comptroller General of the United States to present an annual report on the fiscal health of the federal government to a joint hearing of the House and Senate Budget Committees, open to ALL members of Congress.

This nonpartisan presentation will offer an objective analysis of the nation's finances and allow Congress to demonstrate to the public that we are serious about improving our fiscal decision-making.

As we finalize historic investments to rebuild our infrastructure and help families and small businesses recover from this pandemic, it is more important than ever that we act as responsible stewards of the American people's tax dollars.

Every lawmaker, citizen, and media outlet should be able to reference a single, unbiased source when discussing the current and future fiscal health of our country. And the Fiscal State of the Nation would provide that valuable information with transparency and accuracy.

I'm incredibly proud this bipartisan resolution has garnered over 100 cosponsors, almost evenly split between Democratic and Republican members.

I'd like to thank my friend, Representative Andy Barr from Kentucky, for co-leading this legislation with me, and I urge its swift passage on the Floor today.

Madam Speaker, the extreme abortion ban in Texas makes it clear: We need a Federal law that protects the right to abortion.

The Texas ban is not the first to attempt to eliminate abortion access across this country, and it will not be the last.

Every year the attacks on reproductive health get worse, and we know these attacks are not about the sanctity of life. If they were, Republicans would be wearing masks, they would be promoting the vaccine, and they would be championing our childcare policies that have lifted millions of children out of poverty. We know what the true agenda is: It is about controlling women and taking away their God- given right to make decisions about their own body.

As the Supreme Court prepares to consider a case that will directly challenge Roe v. Wade, Congress needs to take action.

Now is the time to pass the Women's Health Protection Act and protect abortion access for every single person across this country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the fiscal year 2022 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill, which provides critical foreign assistance funding.

Specifically, I want to highlight that the bill fully funds the $3.3 billion in security assistance to our ally Israel, without conditions or restrictions, preserving Israel's fundamental right to self-defense.

House passage of this bill would demonstrate America's unwavering commitment to Israel, and to achieving true peace and stability throughout the region. There should be no reason for anyone in this esteemed body to oppose it.

I stand here today to urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support Israel, the world's only Jewish state. I thank Chairwoman DeLauro, Chairwoman Lee, and the entire House Appropriations Committee for their work on this vital funding bill, and I ask the House to bring this bill up for a vote as soon as possible. Madam Speaker, I, again, urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I can't believe I am about to say this, but I think what I am hearing

from the majority of my friends on the other side of the aisle, with the exception of my good friend Mr. Upton, is that they just want a little more toxic chemicals in your water.

That simply cannot be true.

In my district on Long Island, we have long struggled with PFAS water contamination, and many communities have already incurred substantial remediation costs.

That is why I am pleased that the PFAS Action Act includes my provision to reimburse these local communities for their past expenses. Communities that could not wait for Federal action and redirected their resources to address this health threat should not be punished for doing the right thing.

This is a situation that the Federal Government has failed to address for decades. We have the opportunity to do it now.

I want to thank my good friends, Representatives Dingell and Upton, and the chairman of the committee for bringing this commonsense bill to the floor. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation, H.R. 1850, the Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act.

This bipartisan bill would permanently authorize the New York City- based National Urban Security Technology Laboratory, which has been commonly referred to as NUSTL.

NUSTL's mission is to develop and test new tools for our first responders to utilize in response to terrorist attacks, natural disasters, accidents, and other large-scale events.

There is no other lab in the country doing this critical counterterrorism and emergency response work, and it is more important now than ever before.

From the rise in domestic extremism to stronger and more frequent storms as a result of climate change, the threats facing our Nation are pressing. We must make sure our first responders are best equipped to handle any potential emergency, and providing support for NUSTL will help us accomplish that goal.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman Garbarino, my colleague on Long Island, for co-leading this legislation with me, and I would also like to thank Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Katko for their help in getting it on the floor.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2668, the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act.

This legislation would restore a key authority of the Federal Trade Commission, which allows it to return money to consumers who have been defrauded by scammers. The FTC has used this authority to protect consumers for the past 40-plus years. It is often senior citizens, veterans, and other vulnerable members of society who tend to be victims of scams, that benefit most from the FTC's ability to return money.

But as a result of the Supreme Court's decision, defrauded consumers are no longer being protected. Instead, they are being left out in the cold at one of the worst possible times.

Around 327,000 people have filed a fraud complaint linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to FTC data. And those victims have lost a combined $488 million. Scammers are taking advantage of the public health crisis and the Court's decision is hampering the FTC's efforts to combat this fraud.

That is why it is critical that we pass H.R. 2668 to restore the FTC's authority to seek equitable relief by amending section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide the FTC with express authority to obtain both injunctive and monetary equitable relief.

I thank my colleague on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Representative Cardenas, for introducing this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan bill, the VA Police Improvement and Accountability Act, H.R. 2429. This bill takes important steps to strengthen oversight and accountability for VA police and law enforcement operations.

A number of shortcomings with VA's law enforcement operations were identified in a hearing held by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs last Congress. Inadequate policing procedures and a lack of true oversight for the Department's police force were two of the pressing issues raised at the hearing.

Challenges with management and oversight of VA police were also revealed in subsequent reports issued by the VA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. These challenges include insufficient officer staffing, inappropriate conduct, and other concerning issues at VA facilities across the country.

On Long Island, I have worked with one of my constituents who was horribly mistreated by the Northport VA police. Our veterans deserve much better from an agency that is always supposed to be on their side.

My bill aims to address these pressing issues with the VA police by requiring the VA police to implement the use of body cameras, improve data collection and reporting on police incidents at VA facilities, and enact other important measures to strengthen oversight and transparency for VA's police program.

Madam Speaker, I thank my Republican co-lead, Representative Radewagen, for joining me on this bill. I also thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost for helping to bring H.R. 2429 to the floor today.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation to help us better serve and protect our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3233, the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act.

This cannot be said enough. January 6 was an act of domestic terrorism. An armed mob of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol intending to murder the Speaker, the Vice President, and Members of Congress.

We cannot let our friends on the other side of the aisle whitewash the events of that day. We cannot let them gaslight the American people by calling January 6 an ordinary tourist visit.

The 9/11-style commission we are proposing in this bill will issue a full report on the facts and provide recommendations to prevent future attacks.

Mr. Speaker, I truly appreciate Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Katko for negotiating this bill in good faith.

I thank my friend, Ranking Member Katko, for actually recognizing the events of January 6 and working to find a bipartisan path forward, despite the opposition in his own party. That is a true act of courage and being a true American.