Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rushed down to the floor because I just read a headline that said that the Republicans are not headed to negotiations today. In fact, all of the Republicans have quit here on a Thursday morning and have left town.

Meanwhile, back home in Tampa, I know that one of my neighbors is expecting their Social Security check at the end of next week, and that is at risk.

I have another neighbor in St. Petersburg on a fixed income watching their retirement savings, expecting machinations in the market and worrying about the ability to pay rent.

Republicans have left Americans wondering: Why do you want to inflict job losses?

Why do you want to risk a recession?

Meanwhile, Democrats are here because we want to avoid those kinds of things. We want to avoid job losses, avoid falling into a recession, avoid harm to veterans, avoid harm to our neighbors, higher costs, harm to our small business owners.

Enough of this manufactured MAGA crisis. We have to put people over politics for a change and stop this careening from one crisis to another, with chaos inflicted by the GOP.

Put people over politics. Get back to work. Let's fix this for the people we represent.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding the time and for his steadfastness in standing up for the public health of all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican's bill, S.J. Res. 11. What my Republican colleagues are trying to do here is roll back a very important Environmental Protection Act rule that was developed to tackle air pollution across America under the Clean Air Act, air pollution specifically that comes from heavy-duty trucks and buses.

For over 50 years, the Clean Air Act has served us well. It is one of our bedrock environmental laws that improves the air that we breathe. It tackles polluting plants and vehicles through using the latest science and technology to constantly evolve and improve.

Oftentimes, the EPA works with industry, as they did here with the trucking industry, to ensure that there is a balance, that we are improving the air we breathe and still maintaining jobs and economic growth over time.

What the Clean Air Act has brought us over the past 50 years has been consistent improvement in the air that we breathe. In fact, there have been dramatic improvements. When we are talking about cleaner air, we are talking about healthier communities and healthier families.

Think about your friends and family members with asthma or heart disease or some kind of lung infection. That is why it is so important to make sure that EPA is constantly evolving in the science and technology we are using in cleaning up our air.

It is important to tackle the problem of heavy-duty trucks and buses. Why? They constitute about 6 percent of the vehicles on the road, but 59 percent of smog-producing elements: that means nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter. The last time that EPA updated their rule relating to heavy-duty trucks and buses was 20 years ago.

Science and technology have evolved. The trucking industry has evolved. We can continue to make progress for American families. Even with the progress that we have made, one in three Americans live in counties with unhealthy air pollution. Back home in the Tampa Bay area, I can think of many communities along the interstate highways and along our industrial centers where there is a lot of traffic, especially from heavy-duty trucks and buses that are really weighing on the air quality in those neighborhoods.

This is a way, thankfully, for EPA to continue its mission to clean up the air under the Clean Air Act and make sure they are doing it in a scientifically sound manner. They are always working with industry on ways to improve and to protect public health. For all those reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this Republican resolution. Allow the Environmental Protection Agency to cut pollution, improve our health, and save lives. Let's put people over politics and make sure we are doing all we can do to improve the health and lives of our American neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the world's leading post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, on its 50th anniversary. DTCC is a trusted employer in the Tampa Bay area and across the globe. An accomplishment that few firms ever achieve, this is a truly significant milestone not just for DTCC, but the industry as a whole.

Originally founded in 1973 as The Depository Trust Company (DTC), this firm was established to address a multitude of issues which had been plaguing the global financial services throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this time, Wall Street dealt with countless amounts of paper every day--so much so that at one point, the U.S. markets actually stopped trading one day a week so that firms could catch up on their paperwork. This led to systems being slow, inefficient and dated, and runners having to carry paper checks and physical securities between firms.

To address this paperwork crisis, Congress charged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with the task of investigating and addressing the underlying causes of the issue. The laws and solutions that resulted from this action have profoundly shaped the clearance and settlement process we use today and ultimately led to the creation of DTC as an industry utility. A true pioneer in the industry, DTC streamlined back-office operations, introduced a computerized book entry accounting system and used technology to eliminate reliance on paper stock certificates. Through its creation of the first electronic security, DTC effectively launched the modern financial services marketplace.

DTCC has had incredible growth since its foundation in 1973. Operating across 21 global locations, DTCC automates, centralizes and standardizes the processing of financial transactions. In addition to DTC, the firm has two subsidiaries, The National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) and The Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. Designated as Systemically Important Financial Market Utilities (SIFMU) by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), these three clearing agency subsidiaries play a critical role in protecting the safety and stability of the global financial system.

DTCC's accomplishments include introducing multi-lateral netting, which significantly streamlined settlement and reduced risk; automating clearing and settling trades in U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in the world's largest fixed income market; delivering greater efficiency, cost savings and risk mitigation to institutional trading and investors; and improving the data reporting landscape for the DTC derivatives business.

I commend and am particularly grateful to DTCC for the critical role it has played in providing stability and certainty for the global financial markets in times of crisis, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the 2008 Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of these systemic shocks, DTCC ensured that the markets continued to operate seamlessly.

Over the past 50 years, DTCC has earned its reputation as a trusted steward by driving innovation, embracing technology and creating new products and services to protecting the safety and stability of the financial markets. Today, the firm continues to drive positive change by leading large-scale, industry-wide initiatives to strengthen market structure.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my neighbors in Tampa Bay and the citizens of Florida, I congratulate The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation on this remarkable achievement that is its 50th anniversary and wish it many more years of success in protecting the investing public.

Mr. Speaker, I am not recorded for Roll Call No. 174, Roll Call No. 175, Roll Call No. 176, Roll Call No. 177, Roll Call No. 178, Roll Call No. 179, Roll Call No. 180, Roll Call No. 181, Roll Call No. 182, on Thursday, March 30, 2023.

I have been a proponent of protecting our climate since I have been in Congress. As the former chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, I have championed investing in a clean energy economy of the future, protecting the climate, and the future of all American people.

I unequivocally oppose the corporate giveaway of H.R. 1 the Polluters over People Act. Last Congress, Democrats took decisive action to fight the climate crisis, protect the pocketbooks of the American people, and a healthy environment for all. H.R. 1 is an irresponsible giveaway to polluters at the expense of our neighbors back home and deserves a no vote.

However, due to a death in my family, I was unable to be present for votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 174; YEA on Roll Call No. 175; YEA on Roll Call No. 176; YEA on Roll Call No. 177; NAY on Roll Call No. 178; NAY on Roll Call No. 179; NAY on Roll Call No. 180; YEA on Roll Call No. 181; and NAY on Roll Call No. 182.

Madam Chair, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for his leadership and yielding the time.

Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the polluters over people act, and I rushed here to the floor with some good news: This bill is not going anywhere.

President Biden has already said that he intends to veto it, but it is not even going to make it out of the U.S. Senate. I thought President Biden spoke very well in his statement on his veto message.

He said, we are ``making unprecedented progress in protecting America's energy security and reducing energy costs for Americans--in their homes and at the pump. H.R. 1 would do just the opposite, replacing pro-consumer policies with a thinly veiled license to pollute. It would raise costs for American families by repealing household energy rebates and rolling back historic investments to increase access to cost-lowering clean energy technologies. Instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits--already at record levels--and undercut our public health and environment.'' It will take us backwards.

In fact, a number of America's leading health organizations, like the American Lung Association, the Children's Environmental Health Network, and others wrote to Congress to say they oppose H.R. 1 and its attempt to weaken the Clean Air Act to allow additional polluting energy sources. They say, ``Years of scientific research has clearly established that pollution is a threat to human health at every stage of life--from inside the womb to adulthood.''

Burning fossil fuels not only contributes to a warming climate, but higher levels of dangerous--and deadly--pollution.

The good news is, this bill is not going anywhere.

There is more good news for American families and all of us who care about the moral obligation we have to our kids to provide a livable planet.

Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency said it has been the jump in renewables, not frack gas--it has been the jump in renewables that has helped blunt a feared runaway in carbon emissions. In the end, they say, global energy-related emissions are still on an unsustainable growth trajectory, but--and this is thanks to the outstanding wealth of renewable energy, electric vehicles, heat pumps, energy efficient technologies--that we still have a fighting chance.

This was followed by more good news yesterday out of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. For the first time in 2022 renewable energy in America surpassed coal burning in America, and it is now outpacing nuclear energy, as well.

Who is driving this?

I thought this was very interesting.

The States that are producing the most renewable energy resources: In solar, California, Texas, North Carolina; in wind, again it is Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.

Why is this happening?

Because renewable energy is the cheapest energy.

With the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act, we are about to lower energy bills substantially for our neighbors back home.

Since we have adopted the IRA, the infrastructure law, we have also seen $200 billion of private sector investments in the manufacturing sector in America, in clean energy, electric vehicles, batteries, and other manufacturing processes.

There is good news here. As we debate this bill, and the polluters over people act goes nowhere, we continue to lower energy costs for our families back home, lift American workers, and provide for healthier, safer communities. We have an opportunity here to go farther and faster. That is what is inspirational today, not the backwards policies of the past.

Vote ``no'' on the polluters over people act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McGovern for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, our neighbors back home send us here to Washington to stand up for them and to stand up to the powerful special interests that have all too much influence here in the halls of Washington. They expect us to work to lower costs and for good-paying jobs and safe and healthy communities.

That is why this Republican polluters over people act is so dangerous. It does the opposite of what we should be doing here. This bill would reward the price gouging of the big oil and gas companies. This bill would roll back our bedrock environmental protections for clean air, clean water, and lower-cost clean energy.

Mr. McGovern, I think it is important that you know that in the Energy and Commerce Committee last week, at the very last minute, with no hearing and very little debate, they included a provision that would roll back an important piece of the Inflation Reduction Act that puts money back into people's pockets back home for energy efficiency rebates and discounts to help lower energy bills. They do this at a time when Exxon made record profits last year, $56 billion, and Chevron $36 billion.

Fossil fuels were the main driver of inflation, yet you want to give another massive giveaway to oil and gas companies and take away simple energy rebates for homeowners?

They are doing it at a time when it looks as if this bill would increase the deficit by half a billion dollars. This is an irresponsible giveaway to polluters at the expense of our neighbors back home. It deserves a big ``no'' vote. Let's think about the people we represent for a change.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with immense gratitude for Bishop Preston D.H. Leonard, who inspires us all through his lifetime of public service deeply rooted in his faith. For more than 60 years, he has served as pastor at Christ Gospel Church of St. Petersburg. Bishop Leonard is the only living pastor in the church's history and has the longest tenure of any pastor in the St. Petersburg area. He serves as the Presiding Bishop of Christ Kingdom International Fellowship and the International Bishop of the Christ Gospel Churches of Jamaica Apostolic, Haiti, and Ghana, Africa.

Bishop Leonard was born in the town of Lloyd, located in North Florida to Titus and Vannie (Walker) and he is the sixth of seven children. His commitment to his faith started early--at age 10 he became a member of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Monticello, Florida.

Bishop Leonard was baptized in 1954 and ordained later that year. Also in 1954, Bishop Leonard married the love of his life, the former Virginia Mosley. Together they share their seven children, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Bishop Leonard and his family moved to St. Petersburg in 1957 and since then, he has been fiercely committed to his service to both God and our community across Tampa Bay through a broad range of experiences. For more than 40 years, he hosted a radio ministry broadcasted by The New 1590 WRXB, a longtime voice in the St. Petersburg African American community. He is a past president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) and previously served on the Bi-Racial Advisory Committee of the Pinellas County School Board, the State Screening for Regulatory Committee, Ombudsmen Committee of the State Nursing Home, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, and the Area Agency of Aging. In 1997, he was recognized as Minister of the Year. Today, Bishop Leonard serves as a charter member of the St. Petersburg Community Alliance as well as on the Board of Directors of the IMA Human Services and the St. Petersburg Interfaith Alliance.

Bishop Leonard received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from International University. Before this he attended Florida A&M University, Jack Hyles Pastoral School, and Clyde Narramore Counseling School. He was also a member of the U.S. Navy CORPS in Bainbridge, Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Tampa Bay community, I am honored to recognize Bishop Preston D.H. Leonard for his lifelong dedication to service above self as well as his contribution to Tampa Bay's own African American history. Through his commitment to and celebration of his faith and his service to the community, Bishop Leonard is a representation of the best that Florida has to offer and his living legacy serves as an example to all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a great educator and leader in the Tampa Bay community, Dr. Davina Arleen Jones.

Dr. Jones is one of six children, born and raised in the Tampa Bay area. Her mother worked for the county library as a book processor and her father was a city bus operator while also serving as a full-time pastor. Dr. Jones' parents instilled in her and her siblings the importance of commitment, leadership, and the spiritual faith--values she holds close to this day. At the early age of 13, a young Davina Jones gave her first public speech at a Church of God in Christ (COGIC) youth convention.

When she was a young student. Dr. Jones was enrolled in Exceptional Student Education (ESE) in Hillsborough County Public Schools due to the many challenges in her life, but the challenges would only reveal her drive for education and excellence. Through hard work and perseverance, Dr. Jones went on to graduate from Bethune-Cookman University with a bachelor's degree in speech communication. She later went on to receive her master's degree in interpersonal communications and her doctorate in communication studies from Bowling Green State University. These significant accomplishments led Dr. Jones to author ``From ESE to PHD: Discovering your hidden potential.'' She is also the author of ``Choices: What singles ought to know and what married people wished they had learned.''

Dr. Jones served as a frontline partner as Florida and our Nation prepared to receive and embrace the historic Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune statue in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in 2022. Dr. Bethune's statue replaced the statue of a Confederate general that stood since the Jim Crow era and Dr. Jones advocated for Dr. Bethune as a far superior representative of the values and diversity of the Sunshine State. Dr. Jones continues to lift her community as a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a former president of the Mary McLeod Bethune National Alumni Association Hillsborough Chapter, a former president of the Bethune Cookman National Association Hillsborough Chapter, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Dr. Jones also actively collaborates with the African American Task Force for Hillsborough County Public Schools leadership.

Dr. Jones also continues to provide faith-based community leadership throughout the City of Tampa. She is the Assistant Spiritual Leader of Today's Church Tampa Bay and former lead pastor and teacher of the Greater Love Spiritual Center. In 2015. Dr. Jones moved on her desire to educate and inspire passion to our younger generation when she founded GREAT Camp, a comprehensive program for teens and preteens that offers guidance and development in a variety of topics and skills such as civics development, health & wellness, and financial literacy. Considering all her education, hard work and accomplishments, Dr. Jones stated that her greatest achievement in life was becoming aware of the power of love, the love for oneself and the love for others through God.

Throughout the years, Dr. Jones has instructed public speech communication courses across the State of Florida. Using her expertise and experience, she has provided higher education level instruction to aspiring journalists, marketers and educators within our communities. Dr. Jones served as an assistant professor teaching speech communication at her alma mater Bethune-Cookman in 2001; she became a professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville and she is currently provost and special assistant to the president for equity, diversity and inclusion at Pasco-Hernando State College in Wesley Chapel. She continues her work among Pasco-Hernando State College leadership ensuring that all students receive the education they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Tampa Bay community, this Black History Month, I am proud to recognize the courage, leadership, and spirit of excellence of Dr. Davina Arleen Jones and her many examples of service she provides our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise during Black History Month to honor the life of an extraordinary leader, educator and pillar of the St. Petersburg community, Mr. Mordecai Walker.

Mr. Walker was born in Citrus Park in rural Hillsborough County on July 4, 1924, to Charlie and Pearl Walker. He attended segregated schools in Hillsborough County--Citrus Park School for colored children, Booker T. Washington Junior High and Middleton High School, where he graduated in 1943. Mr. Walker started his college education at Bethune-Cookman University where he had the distinct honor of shaking the hand of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. However, as the war continued in Europe and the south Pacific, Mr. Walker was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served overseas in New Guinea.

After attaining the rank of Sergeant and completing his enlistment in 1946, Mr. Walker returned to higher education at Tennessee State University (TSU) where he completed his bachelor's degree in agriculture and then he went on to earn his master's degree in agriculture from Florida A & M University. As a student at TSU, Mr. Walker was an essay winner for writing ``America's Most Popular Athlete''--writing that Joe Louis was more popular than Jackie Robinson. For winning the essay, he was given an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to see Joe Louis fight. During that trip Mr. Walker remembers going to an integrated New York City theater to see Gone with the Wind.

While at TSU, Mr. Walker competed on the track team with Olympian Mickey Patterson and Ed Temple, who later became an Olympic coach. In 1950, he was initiated into the Rho Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Mr. Walker would go on to become one of the original seven founders of the Eta Rho graduate chapter in St. Petersburg, FL in 1962, where he also served as the Chapter Basileus from 1991 through 1993. After more than 70 years of service, Mr. Walker remains active in the local chapter and is still committed to Omega's four cardinal principals of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift.

After graduating from TSU, Mr. Walker returned to Tampa to teach at Simmons Elementary School in Plant City and later Middleton High School in Tampa, where he was a driving force in establishing the agriculture program. Mr. Walker was pivotal in creating a curriculum and funding sources to bring the program to fruition. After his short stint in Hillsborough County, he relocated to Pinellas County, where he spent more than 30 years teaching, advancing and developing agricultural programs. Mr. Walker was inducted into TSU's Agriculture Hall of Fame for his more than 30 years of service to advancing the field of agriculture in education. In 2019, he was also inducted into the City of St. Petersburg Senior Hall of Fame for his services of volunteering to help the quality of life for residents of St. Petersburg.

Mr. Walker is known for overcoming adversity. Coming of age in an era of segregation, Mr. Walker acted with dignity and grace. showing respect to everyone around him even when he was not afforded that same respect. During the Civil Rights movement, he was active in the Ambassador's Club, which was a civic club that worked to address the ongoing fight for civil rights. as well as celebrating the community's achievements during this time.

Mr. Walker is the oldest living member of the Historic Gas Plant Community, which was the second African American neighborhood formed in St. Petersburg. This historic community thrived from business, entertainment, and education. It was the place for working class African Americans. Unfortunately, many families were eventually uprooted during the expansion of Interstate-275 during the 1970's.

Mr. Speaker, today I join with the entire community of St. Petersburg in honoring Mr. Mordecai Walker for his long commitment to education, bettering the lives of all those around him and as a living legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during Black History Month to celebrate a change agent and one of Tampa Bay's most accomplished businesswomen, Ms. Bridgette Heller. Ms. Heller was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Fla. She attended segregated schools through elementary school, but credits success during her formative years to being raised by a village of love that had very high standards for her. She achieved a higher education at Northwestern University, earning a bachelor's degree, then master's from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Ms. Heller continues to contribute to her alma mater serving on the University's Board of Trustees and mentoring the next generation of business leaders.

After graduating from Northwestern University, Ms. Heller spent more than 35 years serving in leadership positions in numerous Fortune 100 companies and private equity-owned enterprises, such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Danone and Kraft Foods, where she worked for more than 18 years. While serving as executive vice president of Merck and president of its consumer care division, she led an organization of approximately 2,400 employees and helped the company expand across the globe. In honor of all her many accomplishments in the business world, Ms. Heller was named one of The 50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business by Black Enterprise Magazine, a Women to Watch by Advertising Age, and Healthcare Businesswomen's Association Women of the Year. She also founded her own consulting firm and has served as a corporate director for numerous companies.

Ms. Heller is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, and has traveled the world to reinforce infant and maternal health, inclusive C-suite for women, and sustainable communities. She is a co- founder and CEO of the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation (SPPF), named in honor of her mother. Under her leadership, the SPPF established the MASTR kids program, initially focused on helping to minimize the summer learning loss students experience in between terms. The program achieved remarkable results--80 percent of the students enrolled avoided the summer slide, and three quarters experienced gains in their math and reading proficiencies.

Ms. Heller also continues to give back to her community by helping the youth of south St. Petersburg bridge the achievement and literacy gaps. Her work has allowed countless students to advance their education in STEM fields and improve both their math and reading aptitude. She has worked tirelessly to achieve her long-term goal of improving the educational experience and outcomes--raising high school and college graduation rates, which will lead to better economic opportunities, and a more prosperous St. Petersburg.

Ms. Heller serves on the board of The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, working to provide equity and prosperity to her community, treating not just the symptoms of inequality, but creating a community built to benefit all. By providing both project funding and training sessions, she gives those in her community the tools to improve their lives and fuel innovation.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Tampa Bay community, I am honored to recognize the outstanding accomplishments, leadership and service of Ms. Bridgette Heller, who stands as a shining example of the tremendous impact of hard work, nurturing others and service to the community to encourage others to reach their highest potential.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today during Black History Month with immense gratitude for the life of service of veteran and retired educator, Dr. John L. Smith, Jr. Because of Dr. Smith's long- standing commitment and dedication to education and leadership, higher learning institutions throughout the United States are advancing diversity and inclusion at the highest levels. He charted a course through music, the arts and education that serves as an inspiration for future generations.

Dr. Smith was born in Bastrop, LA. on Sept. 14, 1938. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged after four years of service. Dr. Smith earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Lincoln University and then his master's degree in music education from Indiana University. Dr. Smith also went on to earn his doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with post-graduate study at Harvard University. Dr. Smith is married to Dr. Juel Shannon Smith and they share seven children, nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren together.

Dr. Smith's memoir titled Mentors Matter: One Black Man's Journey to Success highlights the role many of his mentors played in nurturing and inspiring his interest in classical music and the sousaphone. His life's path was so outside the norm, it is inspiring to learn how each of his mentors, Black and white, kept him on track until he reached goals that few other Black men of his time had achieved.

Dr. Smith is a nationally recognized and accomplished musician. For more than 60 years, he has dedicated his time to playing the tuba. In 1962, he was named the first African American principal tubist for a professional American symphony orchestra. Dr. Smith was the first African American to receive a full-time appointment with the Oklahoma City Symphony. In 1966, Dr. Smith was appointed as Chairman of the Music Department at Langston University and modified the curriculum to be more African American centered. Also, during his tenure there, he produced a summer Black Arts Festival.

Dr. Smith's talent and commitment to students did not go unrecognized. In 1972, he was appointed as the first Tuba professor at the University of South Florida. His work to create an inclusive environment for Black students was tremendous and includes serving as founder and president of the Committee on Black Affairs, increasing Black faculty and administrators, and creating a Black student support group. Dr. Smith's leadership in these roles led to the establishment of the Institute on Black Life and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. campus plaza.

In 1988, Dr. Smith advanced to the position of Dean of USF's College of Fine Arts, becoming USF's first Black academic dean. From 1988 through 1998, Dr. Smith raised $120 million for three endowed Chairs, including an African Art Chair; increased student and faculty diversity; held weekly lunch and counseling sessions for minority students; and endowed scholarships and programs for students. Also, while serving as Dean, Dr. Smith was the first African American to be elected president of the international Council of Fine Arts Deans and he served as chairman of the Florida Higher Education Arts Network.

In 1999, he became the 12th president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., a top-tier historically Black liberal arts institution. During his tenure as president, Fisk University advanced from 11th to eighth rank in the U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review, garnering the university greater national visibility. While in Nashville, Dr. Smith was appointed by the Mayor to the Task Force on Affordable Housing and Community Access Television Committee while also serving in the NAACP.

Dr. Smith is the recipient of many honorable civic, social, and educational honors such as the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Award and Outstanding Young Men of America. Dr. Smith's other accomplishments include expansion of international exchange and study abroad programs at USF as well as arts outreach programs to the University Area Community, Boys and Girls Clubs and West Tampa Elementary. Dr. Smith is also a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Tampa Bay community, I am proud to recognize Dr. John L. Smith, Jr., for his lifetime commitment to servant leadership, creative spirit, diversity and inclusion in education, and uplifting our entire community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Celeste Gibbons-Peoples for her nearly four decades of public service to the Tampa Bay community. Her influence in our community follows a tradition of excellence pioneered by her late father. Walter Lee ``Dirk'' Gibbons, who was a well-known Negro League Baseball player locally and nationally. She has committed her life to telling the stories of Black pioneers and celebrating the rich Black history of the Tampa area.

Born in the basement of a clinic in Ybor City and raised in East Tampa, Ms. Gibbons-Peoples attended Hillsborough High School and Hillsborough Community College where she started to foster her appreciation for Black history and its importance in life-long education. Her passion for this cause led her to become an active member of the City of Tampa's Black History Committee, Inc. for more than 30 years and served as its president 2014 through 2022. The Committee has awarded more than $250,000 to high school seniors to further their education through college. university or vocational school.

Ms. Gibbons-Peoples came to City of Tampa government in 1985 and is currently its certified senior procurement analyst. Her hard work has not gone unnoticed by her colleagues and peers--in 2017, she was named Buyer of the Year by the National Institute of Government Purchasing for Tampa Bay.

Ms. Gibbons-Peoples continues to be a role model in our community. In 2010, she obtained her Certified Professional Public Buyer's (CPPB) certification and is also a Florida Certified Contract Manager (FCCM). Her love for her profession drives her position as president of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. Through this organization, she helps provide educational opportunities for current and striving Purchasing Procurement professionals.

Volunteer work also plays an integral part in Ms. Gibbons-Peoples's impact on the Tampa Bay community. Her contributions include United Way Suncoast, Great American Teach-In, Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa Martin Luther King. Jr. Committee. Inc., Ladies Auxiliary for the Woods and Wanton Tampa Chapter for Buffalo Soldiers, and the Community Charter Schools of Excellence. As a coach for the Boys and Girls Club and Police Athletic League, Ms. Gibbons-Peoples has helped children realize their true potential. In addition, she serves as president of the Usher Ministry No. 2 at Springhill Missionary Baptist Church.

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in admiration and respect for Ms. Celeste Gibbons-Peoples who is the embodiment of altruism and forms an integral part of Tampa's own Black history.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true Tampa Bay historian who has served this community with great distinction for many decades. Mr. Charles ``Fred'' Hearns is one of the foremost historians of Tampa Bay and Florida history. And, since 2021, he has served as the first Curator of Black History for the Tampa Bay History Center (TBHC).

Mr. Hearns was born in the Bronx, NY and grew up in East Tampa, Florida, graduating in 1966 from Middleton High School, the first high school for African Americans in Hillsborough County. He later went on to further his education at the University of South Florida earning a bachelor's degree in english/journalism and a master's degree in Africana studies. Mr. Hearns also holds a master's degree in human services from Springfield College (Distinguished Graduate Award). He is the father of four adult children, sons Charles F. (Ricky) Hearns Jr. and Marcel Charles Fred Hearns, and daughters Cassanda Franklin and Charaneka Johnson. He also has five grandchildren.

He began his career as a journalist working for the Florida Sentinel Bulletin, St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune, Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and then in the Office of Public Contacts for Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. In 1975, Mr. Hearns began a 32-year career with the City of Tampa and became its human rights director in 1992. He retired as director of the Department of Community Affairs in 2007.

During his tenure with the City of Tampa, Mr. Hearns worked on several major projects including leading the charge as president of the Middleton High School Alumni Association to reestablish his alma mater where a Pavilion now stands in his honor. He also worked as a consultant for the revitalization of the Perry Harvey, Sr. Park project and was a founding member of several civic organizations in the city such as the 78th Street Improvement Association, the Ada T. Payne Friends of the Urban Libraries and the Robert W. Saunders Library Foundation, Inc. Mr. Hearns also worked as a consultant for the ENCORE housing project in Tampa. He served on the Friends of the Riverwalk and on the Florida Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 2014. he was awarded the Robert Saunders Award for Community Service.

Mr. Hearns continues to lift the Tampa Bay community through his church, Allen Temple AME, and his fraternity, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. where he was initiated into the Pi Iota Chapter in 1977. Mr. Hearns served in numerous roles for the fraternity including as chair of the Just Gents program, which mentors young African American male students from Ernest Everett Just Elementary School.

Mr. Hearns has a deep love for this community and is constantly fighting to ensure everyone understands that Black History is everyone's history. Sparked by his mentorship with Robert Saunders and the publication of Mr. Saunders' book, Bridging the Gap, Mr. Hearns started to have a deep interest in local history. In 2005, he started his own tourism business, Fred Hearns Tours, LLC, which included both bus and walking tours of Tampa's African American history. The next year, he wrote an autobiographical book titled, Getting it Done: Rebuilding Black America Brick By Brick. Mr. Hearns is the president emeritus of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a grateful Tampa Bay community, during this Black History Month, we salute and honor Mr. Charles ``Fred'' Hearns for ensuring that history is written truthfully, fully and with a persistent shining a light on the struggles, contributions and success stories of our local unsung Black neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 497, which would actually endanger the lives of frontline healthcare workers, patients, and their families.

We have been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic now for nearly 3 years. Sadly, we have lost over 1 million Americans to this horrendous coronavirus.

Thankfully, we have turned the corner, in large part by making safe, effective, and rigorously tested vaccinations available to all Americans. These lifesaving vaccines help save lives. They help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and severe illness, as well.

Perhaps nowhere is vaccination more important than for our healthcare heroes who care for our neighbors every day. Vaccination is a vital tool to protect them and to help end the pandemic.

Don't take it from me. Listen to the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians who support the vaccination for healthcare workers.

They say that halting vaccination for healthcare professionals would severely and irreparably harm patients and undermine the patient-public interest.

They say the science is clear: No arguments against the need for vaccination are medically valid. Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic. No other measure has been shown to reduce hospitalizations, severe disease, and death to the degree that vaccination does. We must continue to let science lead the way.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues not to confuse Americans, or worse, endanger their lives. Vote ``no'' on this reckless bill.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 21.

The Republican bill would cause higher gas prices. It would hamstring the ability of the President to respond to a crisis. It also would open up areas to drilling and pollution that should be off-limits, and it would exacerbate climate pollution and the costly related impacts ripping through America.

After Putin invaded Ukraine and American consumers were grappling with higher gas prices, President Biden was right to release oil from the strategic reserve to cushion the economic blow to American families. It was a commonsense strategy that helped lower gas prices for Americans. Now, Republicans want to tie the hands of the President to act when necessary.

There are too many contingencies in the world--war, supply chain issues, natural disasters--to irrationally tie the hands of the Commander in Chief to use the strategic reserve when needed.

This bill also opens up areas to drilling and pollution that should be off-limits, like the coast of Florida. It could wreck our economy, our beautiful coastal waters and beaches, and areas that the Department of Defense needs for military training. Plus, it is completely unnecessary.

The oil and gas industry already controls large portions of public lands and waters. They aren't using it. They are sitting on approximately 9,000 approved but unused permits for drilling.

Finally, this is dangerous and costly and will exacerbate the climate crisis. The top scientists say we have a rapidly closing window to reduce climate pollution and avoid the worst impacts, but Republicans have abdicated their responsibility to keep these costs in check for everyday Americans.

True energy security and independence will come through clean energy, efficiency, and innovation. Twenty percent of electricity net generation in the U.S. right now comes from renewable sources. With the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, we are on track now to lower costs, to create good-paying jobs, and to build safer, healthier, more resilient communities across the country.

This bill is an outrageous handout to polluters that will cost families and weaken energy security for America. In this Republican House, I guess Big Oil and the wealthy, powerful special interests win while everyday Americans will pay more.

I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 21 unnecessarily opens large swaths of public lands and waters to oil and gas drilling, including the coast of Florida. This would really jeopardize Florida's fragile offshore waters, our beautiful beaches. Clean water, clean air, clean beaches are central to our way of life, and are the cornerstone of our economy.

For many years, the State of Florida has enjoyed a moratorium on drilling because leaders at the national level recognized that Florida beaches and our offshore waters were a national resource.

That moratorium expired last year, unfortunately. So now with H.R. 21, Florida is at risk again. My amendment would reinstitute that moratorium. In fact, it would permanently ban drilling off of the coast of Florida.

This has enjoyed bipartisan support here in the Congress and back home. How do Floridians feel about drilling off of our beaches?

Well, we passed a constitutional amendment in 2018 that passed by almost 70 percent of the vote in the State of Florida. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, everyone values our way of life.

Why?

Because we are also keenly aware of how dirty it is, how risky it is. The impacts of oil drilling off our coast really came home to roost in 2010 after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil blowout severely affected the Gulf Coast marine ecosystems.

Do you all remember that disaster, watching it day after day, month after month, after oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico?

At that time we were pretty fortunate on the West Coast of Florida, we didn't have oil that washed up on the beaches, but we were just coming out of the Great Recession. It was a hammer down on small business owners at that time. People were not coming to the Sunshine State. It caused enormous environmental impacts. I remember so well, holding in my arms and looking into the eyes of these small, mom and pop owners of motels and hotels and beach businesses, they were just devastated.

We cannot put our economic and environment at risk again. It was a wake-up call.

The eastern Gulf of Mexico also is an important military testing range. The Department of Defense has said they oppose oil drilling off the coast of Florida along the west coast because they do so many military training exercises.

There are so many reasons that we need to act to protect our way of life, our environment, and our economy. It is what we sing about when we sing about protecting the Gulf Stream waters. This land is your land, this land is my land. They are not to be pillaged by the greed of the Big Oil companies.

We are poised to make important progress on the health of our oceans and our economy. We are about to unleash the clean energy economy to create jobs, to lower costs for families, to build safer, healthier, and more resilient communities. We do not need to put our economy and our way of life at risk.

So for all those reasons, I hope that all of the colleagues can join together to support the Castor amendment and permanently ban oil drilling off of the beautiful coastline of the State of Florida.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.