Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, ``I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world.''

If it wasn't clear, I am a 4-H'er.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting with 4-H student ambassadors from across California. They shared how the 4-H program has empowered them, from building water filters from reusable materials to developing public speaking and organizational skills.

4-H doesn't discriminate between urban, suburban, and rural communities. I am here today representing Orange County because of my experiences from this 4-H program.

As Congress begins consideration of the farm bill, let's continue to invest in our Nation's young people with robust funding for the 4-H program because our future leaders might be 4-H'ers themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to defend freedom.

On May 17, International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, we must reaffirm that all Americans, no matter who they love, where they are, or how they identify, deserve to live their lives free from discrimination and hate.

Since the start of 2023, State legislatures across the country have proposed over 400 anti-LGBTQI+ laws, including right here in the House. That is a record high, and it is unacceptable.

When extremist politicians target Americans' freedom of expression, the safety of transgender students, and access to healthcare, we cannot remain silent.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, I am working to root out hate and discrimination in all its forms.

Californians know that our State's diversity is its strength. We in Congress owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to our communities to create a future in which every American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, can live their lives to the fullest.

Celebrating 30th Anniversary of Orange Coast College's Puente Program

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Orange Coast College's Puente program.

California is home to the largest Latino population in the country, but too many barriers keep Latino students from getting college degrees and the keys to their future.

To level the playing field, the Puente program helps California's underserved students transfer into a 4-year college that helps unlock more opportunities.

In the Puente program, students work with counselors to refine study skills, develop action plans, and explore career options. They also sharpen their writing in college-level courses and meet with mentors to learn about life after graduation.

For the thousands who are the first in their families to go to college, the Puente program is a game changer.

I am honored to celebrate this incredible milestone, the 30th anniversary, and to share the work that the Puente program does for our students and communities in Orange County.

Renewing Focus on Mental Health

Mr. Speaker, health goes beyond physical health. It includes mental health, too. During Mental Health Awareness Month, I am renewing my push to get Americans compassionate and effective care.

Mental illness can be far-reaching. Just as people of all ages, races, and genders get colds and take medicine, they can also become sick and need treatment for their mental health.

I am reintroducing several bills to deliver help.

The Mental Health Justice Act would send healthcare professionals to respond to mental health emergencies in lieu of police.

The Student Mental Health Rights Act would better protect college students.

The Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act would crack down on Big Insurance for failing to cover mental health adequately.

I am proud to represent a community that understands the importance of mental health. I applaud innovative organizations, like Be Well OC, that meet people in our community, reduce barriers and stigma, and help people get behavioral care.

I will continue to be a partner in their efforts during Mental Health Awareness Month and year-round.

Justices Failing to Live Up to Ethical Standards

Mr. Speaker, Americans' confidence in the Supreme Court is at a record low. That is no surprise when Justices hide that billionaires take them on luxurious yachts and private jet trips, buy land from them, and pay their dependents' private boarding school tuition.

Our Justices are failing to live up to the ethical standards we expect from the highest court in our land. The problem is not that the Supreme Court is just conservative. The problem is that it is corrupt.

We have 870 Federal judges across this country, and a basic code of ethical conduct is enforced against all of them, except nine, our Supreme Court Justices.

To restore confidence in the Court, we must root out conflicts of interest, strengthen judicial transparency, and, finally, establish a code of ethics.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: If we cherish our institutions, we must reform and strengthen them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor my constituent and proud Californian, Dorothy Levin. Dorothy is celebrating her 100th birthday, and I am thrilled to join her friends and family in commemorating this remarkable milestone.

Dorothy was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 12, 1923, and moved to southern California with her family in 1952.

In 1958, while raising her three young children, Dorothy decided to attend law school. She graduated and passed the California Bar exam but was unable to find a job in a male-dominated field, so she opened her own firm, where she practiced until her retirement in 1994.

Dorothy's unwavering dedication, tenacity, and courage have helped pave the way for generations of women in the legal profession.

I wish Dorothy a happy 100th birthday. I am so thankful for her trailblazing work, and I am proud to honor her today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the University High School's Science Bowl team.

Recently, University High School competed in the National Science Bowl's regional competition, hosted annually at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab. Over 100 students from southern California took part in this intense, ``Jeopardy!''-style tournament. It is a marathon, not a sprint, but these students were ready to run it.

The team spent months mastering the curriculum, which included everything from natural sciences to advanced mathematics, and their hard work paid off. Against 19 of the brightest teams, University High School prevailed.

This is now the school's fifth victory at the regional Science Bowl in the past 6 years. I am honored to celebrate these students' achievement and cheer them on as they head to nationals.

Keep making Orange County proud.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak up for keeping Americans safe at work. On April 28, Workers Memorial Day, we remember all those workers who lost their lives or became disabled on the job.

In 2021, one worker died every 101 minutes from an occupational injury.

Congress must take steps so all Americans can go to work without needlessly endangering themselves. Fifty-two years ago, we took a leap forward when the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect.

The labor movement fought tirelessly to make it happen, but their work continues today, and so must ours. We need OSHA to expand protections to all industries and all workplace hazards.

One person who doesn't return home from work is one too many. I join my friends in labor in fighting for every single worker to have a safe job.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present to cast votes today. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 193 and ``yea'' on rollcall 194.

Madam Speaker, I was unable to be present to cast votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on rollcall 183 and yea on rollcall 184.

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

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

Madam Speaker, back in 2017, I took a public stand against Wall Street and its efforts to roll back the financial regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. I opposed S. 2155, a deregulatory bill that ultimately passed into law.

Then, in 2017 and 2018, I was running for Congress for the first time in a politically divided district. Standing against Wall Street wasn't a safe position to take. In fact, that is why too many Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike ended up supporting S. 2155. It was seen as safer to be pro-business.

Every real capitalist knows there is nothing pro-business about a bank failure. That is why, in 2010, Congress passed strong regulations to keep our economy stable, our banks viable, and our businesses growing. Just 8 years later, in 2018, Washington, D.C., reversed course and passed S. 2155 at Wall Street's behest.

How did we get from this deregulation to the recent Silicon Valley Bank failure, the biggest bank failure in over a decade?

In short, S. 2155 made it lawful for Silicon Valley Bank to leave itself vulnerable when depositors wanted their money back faster than the bank could pay it out.

When you walk into a bank, Madam Speaker, and you deposit $100, the bank takes most of that $100 and invests it. They buy securities and bonds. They don't just have your $100 sitting around. However, the bank is supposed to hang on to a big enough portion of that deposit so that if you want your money back, they can give it to you. It is straightforward when a couple of people come in and want their money, but sometimes a lot of people want all of their money all at once.

Why wasn't Silicon Valley Bank prepared for that scenario?

The bank's recent failure is a deregulation problem. Title IV of S. 2155 raised the asset threshold at which a bank is considered and regulated as a systemically important bank. What we saw in Silicon Valley Bank and other similarly sized banks is a result of Congress' own actions in 2018 when they were removed from these enhanced liquidity requirement stress testing and other safety and soundness rules.

Because of these lax regulations, when push came to shove, Silicon Valley Bank hadn't kept enough liquid assets to pay out the dollars being drawn out. If Dodd-Frank were still applied to banks of that size, then Silicon Valley Bank wouldn't have been able to put its own profits over the stability of our banking system and our economy.

Let's not give banks that choice again. When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, Senator Elizabeth Warren and I partnered on legislation to restore the regulations that were directly implemented as a result of lessons learned during the 2008 financial crisis, not on the politics of the moment or the political power of the bank lobby.

Our new bill, the Secure Viable Banking Act, the SVB Act, would repeal title IV of S. 2155. It would restore Dodd-Frank regulations as they are applied to banks the same size as Silicon Valley Bank.

Banking failures are bad. We should all be able to come together and agree that systemically significant banks need regulations to limit the risks of failure and to reduce the harmful consequences when a bank does fail.

Let's agree to let Silicon Valley Bank be our last hard lesson. Let's not swing regulations back and forth with the political tides and whims of lobbyists. Let's, instead, keep rules in place that deliver a well- regulated, stable, and growing economy.

My SVB Act would do that.

Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support the bill that creates a banking system that works for all of us, not just one that boosts banks' bottom lines.

Mr. Speaker, corporate profiteers have no place in Medicare, but some private insurers don't give patients a choice.

The Biden administration has taken important steps to change the direct contracting model, which stripped seniors of traditional Medicare and moved them to private coverage--without their consent.

Its successor program, ACO REACH, still invites private actors to exploit Medicare to boost their bottom lines. For-profit insurers can pocket taxpayer dollars that they don't spend on their patients. Too many have long histories of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Now, the administration is expanding ACO REACH, including doubling its coverage of underserved communities. As a result, millions on Medicare may soon face higher costs, smaller provider networks, and worse care.

Strong guardrails are needed now, and I urge my colleagues to stand up for patients and get corporate greed out of Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, our country needs energy to flourish. Democrats know that means authorizing energy projects.

The law requires corporations to engage with communities, follow our bedrock environmental principles, and ultimately advance projects that offer greater benefits than costs.

Whether it is oil, natural gas, solar, or wind, the standard is the same. We shouldn't move forward until we know that the project delivers for consumers, taxpayers, and communities.

Unfortunately, H.R. 1 would eliminate that determination and instead put corporate interests like Big Oil in charge of what energy projects get authorized.

H.R. 1, the polluters over people act, gives billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to big oil and gas.

It would let fossil fuel companies hoard thousands of unused leases, require the authorization of drilling on federally protected lands, give unilateral authority to corporations to create their own environmental impact statements, and force taxpayers to pay to clean up hazardous mining waste.

Congress should be doing the right thing by looking at reforms that protect taxpayers when approving energy projects.

That is why I offered an amendment that would require oil, gas, and coal companies to put up a bond that actually covers the cost of cleaning up their messes from drilling and mining.

That way, American taxpayers aren't on the hook to foot the billions of dollars needed to find and plug abandoned wells.

Unfortunately, protecting the taxpayer from cleaning up big energy's messes from drilling and mining is too controversial for my colleagues across

the aisle, and my amendment was not put on the floor for a vote.

We can still come together in a bipartisan manner. We can and should enact permitting reform that protects American taxpayers.

That is why I am submitting an amendment for the Record that requires the Secretaries of Energy and the Interior to certify that this bill would lower costs for American consumers and ban oil and gas exploration on protected public lands.

These changes protect us all from footing the cost of big energy's record-high profits.

To my colleagues across the aisle: You have an opportunity to prove to your constituents back home that you are putting them over polluters.

Will you stand up for consumers and taxpayers to lower costs, or will you do the bidding of big energy?

This amendment puts that question to each of us.

Are we for the people or for polluters?

With this vote, you will show your allegiance.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the text of this amendment.

Ms. Porter of California moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1

to the Committee on Natural Resources with instructions to

report the same back to the House forthwith with the

following amendment:

At the end of the bill, add the following:

Mr. Speaker, across the country, too many Americans are competing for too few homes. Building material shortages push up development costs, slow construction, and leave families scrambling.

Cities, States, and industry cannot alone overcome these staggering obstacles. They need Federal cooperation, and Washington is failing to be a good partner.

Last Congress, we had a real shot at getting this done. I backed a bipartisan proposal to give States more tax credits to build affordable homes. It would have modernized bond financing requirements to fund more housing with less debt.

These actions could have helped build more than 300,000 homes in California. We would lower costs for families, bring new jobs to our communities, and grow our entire economy.

Americans are struggling because of the housing crisis, a crisis of cost and supply. Californians have a message for Washington: We need help with housing.

Mr. Speaker, schools aren't battle zones, but Iranian students are caught in the crossfire.

In recent months, a chain of chemical attacks have hit Iran's schools. Although the motive is unclear, girls and young women have been the clear target. Hundreds of schoolgirls have been poisoned, and an 11-year-old was killed.

As a mother, I share the anger and frustration of every parent too fearful to send their kids to class.

Iranians deserve answers and accountability, but their government remains silent. The regime cares more about covering up these attacks than stopping them. Iranian authorities have falsified medical reports and spread disinformation. They have even intimidated parents of victims to keep their stories from the press.

I stand with these parents demanding a full investigation and a quick end to these attacks. The United States must stand with them and every Iranian demanding a future free of violence.

Madam Speaker, our economy thrives on competition and freedom. No employer should be able to block their workers from taking a better job, but that is what noncompete contracts do. They strip Americans' freedom to work at the job that is best for them.

As a result, workers are losing out on nearly $300 billion in wages every year. Companies stop incentivizing workers to stay because they don't need to. They are stuck.

Noncompetes also drag down the entire economy, hurting even those of us who aren't covered by them. Everyone is harmed when wages are suppressed, innovation is stifled, and competition is prevented.

I am thrilled that the Federal Trade Commission is ending this toxic practice. Banning noncompetes will promote the ideals our country was founded on--open markets, economic mobility, and the right to control one's own life.

Madam Speaker, I commend this effort to make our capitalist economy more fair, free, and prosperous.

Standing Up for Rental Market Fairness and Affordability

Madam Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm on the housing crisis crushing millions of Americans.

Skyrocketing rents across the country are pummeling families and squeezing them out of their homes. Let's face it, the rental market is broken and riddled with unfair practices.

Unreasonable background checks, crooked screening algorithms, and anticompetitive information sharing are just some of the many obstacles locking renters out from obtaining safe and affordable housing.

I am grateful that the Biden administration announced new actions to increase fairness in the rental market, protect tenants, and make housing more affordable. Rooting out predatory tactics and developing strong guardrails will help prevent future egregious increases in rent.

As California's watchdog during the last foreclosure crisis, I know it takes fight to keep families in their homes. I urge leaders across government to stand up for renters.

Keeping AAPI Communities Safe

Madam Speaker, I rise to address how our government can address the issues facing our AAPI communities.

Supporting Asian and Pacific Islander Americans requires recognizing the diversity within those communities. Inadequate data limit our ability to serve all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Federal data on AAPI people fail to capture differences across ethnic backgrounds. Grouping all AAPI people into one supercategory erases important distinctions in cultural traditions and lived experiences.

Blunt data instruments cannot produce targeted policy solutions to

the dangers AAPI communities face, like hate crimes.

In California, anti-AAPI hate crimes are up 177 percent, but some communities experience these threats more acutely. For example, a recent survey found that Vietnamese communities are 38 percent more likely to worry about hate crimes than other AAPI communities.

I am leading efforts to fund community-based solutions to anti-AAPI hate crimes, but making these tools even more effective requires data that identify at-risk groups. Official data must guide our efforts to keep our AAPI neighbors safe.

Mr. Speaker, for roughly two decades, Western States have endured extreme drought conditions. This hurts our economy, endangers life, and increases costs for Californians.

To avoid importing costly water from distant watersheds, we have to continue to make bold investments to make California more drought resilient.

Last year, I brought Secretary Deb Haaland to Orange County to announce a $12.2 million grant for the Irvine Ranch Water District's Syphon Reservoir Project. This will expand recycled water storage capacity by 1.6 billion gallons.

The recent storms proved just how effective these reservoirs are. Irvine Lake has collected over a billion gallons of water so far in January; enough water to serve 11,000 households for a year.

I applaud these investments that make full use of water supplies, and I will continue pushing to increase our resiliency and lower costs for families.