Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, hardworking North Carolinians pay into Social Security year after year with the promise that they will be able to retire with comfort and dignity.

In my district, over 158,000 retirees and families rely on Social Security, yet House Republicans' extreme budget plans to raise the retirement age to force Americans to work longer for less. That means cutting Social Security benefits for three out of every four people in my district.

While extremist Republicans are pushing to cut Americans' hard-earned benefits, we Democrats are fighting to protect and strengthen Social Security.

That is why I am a proud cosponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act, legislation to enhance Social Security benefits for the first time in 50 years and ensure the program's solvency for years to come.

Social Security is a sacred promise that Congress must keep, and I will always fight to ensure hardworking North Carolinians' benefits are protected.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the late Corporal Matthew A. Wyatt.

After graduating from high school in June 2001, Corporal Wyatt made the courageous decision to serve his country. He joined the Marine Corps, where he was based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before deploying to Iraq.

On December 3, 2004, Corporal Wyatt gave his life to stop an enemy attack on his base. He was only 21 years old.

Corporal Wyatt bravely acted without hesitation to save the lives of his fellow servicemembers. I know the impact the loss of a loved one can have on a bereaved family, the Gold Star family that continues to mourn the loss of their fallen hero: his father, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Alan Wyatt; his mother, Verlene; and his entire family and their proud three-generation history of military service.

Corporal Wyatt's stepmother, Lauren, works in my district office, helping ensure that veterans and military families in my district get the care they need. In her work, she honors Corporal Wyatt's service and sacrifice for our country.

To pay tribute to Corporal Wyatt's sacrifice, I am proud to cosponsor Representative Bost's legislation to rename the United States post office in his hometown of Millstadt, Illinois, in Corporal Wyatt's honor.

I thank Representative Bost for his efforts and for the beautiful remarks he made about Matt on the House floor this morning.

While no act of gratitude will ever be enough to fill the void left by Corporal Wyatt's absence, I hope this small but meaningful gesture will comfort his loved ones and remind them that his sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his hard work and friendship.

Mr. Speaker, for far too long, millions of veterans exposed to toxins like burn pits and contaminated water did not receive the care and benefits they earned. That is why, in the last Congress, House Democrats took action to correct this injustice.

I was proud to help pass the PACT Act, historic legislation to deliver long-overdue benefits and healthcare to 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxins while serving our country.

The PACT Act expanded eligibility for healthcare at the VA, including expanded coverage for illnesses related to Agent Orange. For veterans' families who lost their loved ones, the law may provide monthly stipends and access to life insurance, among other benefits.

Now, 2 years after President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, it is helping veterans and their families across the country. The VA has received over 1.4 million PACT Act claims, including over 4,700 claims from veterans in my home district, North Carolina's Sixth District.

Our country has an obligation to care for those who bravely serve our Nation. With the PACT Act, Democrats and the Biden administration are delivering on that promise. I was proud to help pass this deeply important legislation and support the thousands of veterans in my district who are now able to get the care they need.

Mr. Speaker, I will always work to honor the sacrifices America's veterans have made and to ensure they are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Mr. Chair, I was unable to be recorded on Roll Call No. 327. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on Roll Call No. 327.

Amendment No. 164 Offered by Ms. Tenney

Madam Speaker, today I rise to celebrate Pride Month, a time to recognize the diversity, resilience, and joy of the LGBTQ community.

Pride is a celebration, but it didn't begin that way. In June 1969, Pride began with a protest as patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back against a police raid targeting their community.

Fifty years later, our country has made significant progress toward equality, but there is much more work to be done. Last year alone, over 510 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in State legislatures.

As a member of the Equality Caucus, I am standing up to these attacks. This Pride Month, I am continuing to advocate for the Equality Act to secure comprehensive protections for LGBTQ+ people nationwide.

To the LGBTQ+ community in North Carolina and across the country, happy Pride. I see you and am honored to stand along your side in the fight for full equality.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Representative Lucy McBath, for her courage and her persistence in taking a mother's unbearable pain following the loss of her son, Jordan, and turning that pain into a relentless effort to do everything possible to pass bills that will chip away at this terrible problem.

Thankfully, 2 years ago, under President Biden's leadership, we helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was historic legislation to address gun violence and keep weapons out of dangerous hands. It was a strong step forward, but we can, and we must do much, much more.

Right now, guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Our Surgeon General just declared the gun violence in this country a public health crisis. We all know he is right because, every day, more than 100 Americans lose their lives to gun violence.

As an active member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I have talked with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. I have presented the majority with a list of ten things we could consider doing together and asked Republican Members which of these things would my colleagues be willing to work with us on?

One of my colleagues from North Carolina said to me: We don't have a gun problem. We have a mental health problem.

Well, there are mental health problems in countries all over the world, but they do not have the same level of gun violence that we have because guns are not as widely available.

In my own community, when I meet with local police officers, community leaders, parents, mental health professionals, and educators, they all tell me the same thing. We have got to do

more to stop this devastating scourge of gun violence. This is killing our children and our parents. It is robbing people of their loved ones and leaving families of victims devastated, with a grief and a gaping loss that can never be repaired.

In my district, North Carolina's Sixth Congressional District, we lost one of our best, most dedicated law enforcement officers to gun violence in the past year. Sergeant Dale Nix, a real hero who devoted his life to helping victims of domestic violence. Our whole community continues to mourn his loss.

As an active member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I urge my colleagues to work with us on things that the vast majority of Americans agree on: Universal background checks, safe storage laws, community and violence intervention programs. We are ready to work with the majority. Please work with us to do the right thing for our children and our future.

Mr. Speaker, last week, I traveled with my colleagues to Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the battle that turned the tide of World War II and led to the defeat of the Nazis.

I met 100-year-old Air Force Tech Sergeant Chuck Richardson from my State of North Carolina, who flew 35 combat missions including on D- Day. He was a real hero.

We saw rows and rows of white crosses and Stars of David marking the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in that terrible battle.

We were reminded of the fragility of democracy and the dangers of tyrants who disregard the rule of law.

Today, democracies around the world are under attack and authoritarian regimes are rising.

D-Day proved that brave Americans working together could save the free world.

We must put partisan divides aside and, once again, provide the leadership the world so desperately needs.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my cousin, Representative Raskin, for yielding me time.

We have wasted another legislative week on ludicrous messaging bills to defend the liberty of laundry and freedom for the fridge. Today, they are pushing a bill to upend our Nation's process for collecting Census data.

Let's be clear. The so-called Equal Representation Act does nothing to live up to its name. In fact, their bill would result in the opposite. It will reduce participation in the Census, which our government relies on for a host of data to inform our decisionmaking.

What is more, this bill will violate our Constitution, which states that all persons be counted in the Census. Instead of wasting time on deeply unserious messaging bills, Congress should be focused on what really matters to the American people, particularly reproductive freedoms.

Right now, across the country, women are suffering from extreme abortion bans that are endangering their health and limiting their ability to make private medical decisions. Women in America are worried about

their reproductive freedoms and deeply concerned about what extremist politicians will attack next. We know that radical judges and politicians are not stopping with abortion bans. They are now attacking fertility treatments and attempting to restrict birth control methods like plan B and IUDs.

If far-right extremists really cared about women, they would want to make the full range of birth control readily available, not restrict access to it.

This Sunday is Mother's Day. How about giving moms and potential moms the gift they really want: the right to decide whether, when, and with whom to have children. Instead of flowers, let's guarantee the right to use the full range of FDA-approved birth control.

In honor of Mother's Day and 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 text of H.R. 7190 and replace it with my Right to Contraception Act, a bill to protect the right to access all forms of FDA-approved birth control and protect women's reproductive health from political interference.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record the text of this amendment immediately prior to the motion to recommit.

For full text, please see H.R. 4121.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the 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, extreme Republican politicians continue to attack women's reproductive freedoms. First, they overturned Roe, demolishing abortion rights for millions of Americans across the country, including in my home State of North Carolina.

Now, they are attacking fertility treatments, like IVF, and they are even coming after birth control. In fact, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly called for the reconsideration of Griswold v. Connecticut, the case that first established the right to contraception. Just last year, 195 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the right to use birth control.

I will not stand by and watch extremist politicians strip away women's rights. That is why I reintroduced the Right to Contraception Act, to safeguard the right to access all FDA-approved birth control from political attacks.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting my Right to Contraception Act and stand up for women's health and freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8034, the long-overdue aid to our democratic ally Israel.

Israel is fighting an existential battle against Iran and its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. I have seen with my own eyes the gruesome devastation

wrought by Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack, and I worry every day about the hostages who are still being held by Hamas.

Last Saturday, Iran unleashed an unprecedented attack on Israel with 300 drones and missiles. If only one ballistic missile had hit its target, there would have been a devastating loss of life, loss of Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

I ask my colleagues to remember that a ``no'' vote would deny much- needed humanitarian aid and much-needed funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to help high-risk religious institutions in our country.

The world is watching to see if we will stand with our allies, with Israel and Ukraine, in their time of need.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the winners of the fourth annual Sixth District Congressional Art Competition.

This week, I honored the winners at a reception where we displayed not only the winning artwork, but every submission, which included pieces from Guilford, Rockingham, Caswell, and Forsyth County Schools.

I was amazed by the remarkable artistic talent of these young people from across the Triad.

First, I will recognize the honorable mentions: A piece titled ``Claire'' by Anya and ``Falling Man'' by Violet, both students from Weaver Academy.

Third place was shared by two pieces: ``Fish Light'' by C. Hayden from Penn Griffin School for the Arts in High Point, and ``Smile'' by Quincy from Weaver Academy.

In second place was ``The Beauty of Bodie Island'' by Cate from Northwest Guilford High School.

And claiming the top honor of first place is ``Spectrum'' by Kayden from Weaver Academy.

I am truly proud to represent such talented young students, and I look forward to seeing all their future artistic achievements.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend Representative Schneider for bringing us together to push for the release of the hostages.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 6 months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to carry out gruesome attacks, raping, mutilating, slaughtering civilians, and taking innocent people hostage. Here we are 6 months later and 130 hostages remain captive in Gaza.

I recently returned from a congressional delegation trip to Israel. I saw firsthand the savage and diabolical nature of the October 7 attack.

I visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the communities that was burned and pillaged. I saw the devastating destruction that resulted when Hamas went house to house killing people by throwing grenades in their homes, spraying them with bullets, and setting their homes on fire while young people were hiding inside. The deliberate cruelty was shocking, gut-wrenching, and unforgettable.

Kibbutz Kfar Aza is where Aviva and Keith Siegel were taken by Hamas. Keith Siegel is an American citizen from my home State of North Carolina. For 6 months, Keith has been held hostage by these terrorists. I think about Keith and all the hostages every single day.

Aviva spent 51 days in captivity and thankfully she was released in November. Since her release, she has spoken out about the horrifying sexual abuse and violence she saw Hamas use on the hostages. It is hard to imagine what the women still being held captive today must be experiencing.

It is hard to anticipate the condition they will be in when they are finally returned. For the young women who are being raped and tortured, I am deeply worried that they will be pregnant as a result of their rapes in captivity.

During my visit to Israel, I met with Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, the chair of Israel's Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Families. She is working tirelessly to gather testimony and the evidence of the sexual abuse of women and families. She says the job of viewing and archiving the evidence is particularly tough on her staff.

So are the death threats they get from people who don't want to see the evidence of those horrific crimes collected for the world to see.

The accounts of sexual violence she shared can only be described as evil, carried out to inflict maximum physical, emotional, and psychological pain on women and girls.

We cannot allow the world to ignore what has happened and we cannot allow the world to forget the hostages. The world cannot be allowed to ignore the truth that Hamas has the power to end the war they started by releasing the remaining hostages.

Time and time again, Hamas has refused cease-fire deals and refused to release the hostages. It is shocking that the world is not protesting Hamas, calling out Hamas for starting this war and continuing it, hiding behind women and children, and prolonging the suffering of two peoples.

Let me be clear: Hamas must release the hostages and stop all the suffering they have caused and are continuing to cause.

Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my dear friend, Representative Schneider, for his leadership and for organizing this time together for us to continue our call for every single hostage to be brought home.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out the hypocrisy of Republicans who claim they want to support our democratic allies but won't put words to action.

The Speaker is leading a delegation to Normandy to commemorate the defeat of a destructive, brutal dictator by the United States and its Allies in World War II, yet he refuses to bring forward the Senate emergency aid bill that would help our democratic ally Ukraine defeat one of today's most brutal dictators, Vladimir Putin.

That very same Senate bill would also provide much-needed support to our democratic ally Israel as it continues its battle against the terrorist group Hamas, which savagely attacked Israel on October 7 and continues to hold more than 100 hostages, including Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my good friends on the other side of the aisle: Will Republicans stand up to the far-right extremists and call for the Speaker to bring the Senate aid bill to the floor?

In the name of defending freedom and democracy, I urge my colleagues to do what the majority knows is right for our country and the future of the free world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the inclusion of Community Project Funding in the bipartisan appropriations package that Congress will vote on this week.

The appropriations process known as Community Project Funding is what I consider to be good government working for the people. It is a process that takes our Federal tax dollars and puts them directly back into our communities.

Since serving in Congress, it has been my mission to bring Federal dollars home to my constituency. The Community Project Funding process has allowed me to do that successfully.

Over the past 2 years, I secured a total of $44 million for 25 projects in the Sixth District of North Carolina.

That funding supported projects like one-on-one tutoring in public schools, first responder system upgrades, the building of greenways, childcare expansion, small business incubators, and much more.

For this fiscal year, I submitted 15 projects for consideration. I am very excited to announce that I secured funding for all 15 projects--a total of $15 million for the Sixth District.

I am proud to say that every corner of the Sixth District is included with initiatives in Guilford, Forsyth, Caswell, and Rockingham Counties.

These investments will boost economic development, improve public safety, create workforce training programs, support local farmers, complete infrastructure programs, and improve affordable housing options.

I will take a moment to highlight just a few of the initiatives that will be receiving funding once this package is signed into law.

Guilford County schools will receive $850,000 for a workforce development program to prepare workers for advanced manufacturing jobs related to electric vehicles.

Advanced manufacturing training is particularly important in my community where we have a Toyota electric vehicle battery plant and other electric vehicle manufacturers bringing good-paying jobs to the area.

This program will help local students build the necessary skills to take on these jobs after high school graduation.

Rockingham Community College will receive Federal funding to create an advanced manufacturing training facility on campus.

In Gibsonville, the fire department will receive funding to purchase a new laddered fire truck.

The city of Winston-Salem will be able to expand their Behavioral Evaluation and Response Team, a rapid response program for mental health and substance abuse 911 calls.

These projects are prime examples of how government can work directly for the American people.

I thank our Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and ranking member Rosa DeLauro for fighting to make sure these Community Funding Projects are included in the appropriations package.

I am looking forward to voting for the appropriations package this week, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in the House and the Senate, to join me in voting for this package to get it quickly to President Biden's desk.