Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I agree with points that are being made on both sides. The fundamental point of our side is undeniably true, which is that our healthcare system is broken and costs continue to spiral out of control.

However, it is also true that suddenly withdrawing premium support from 22 million Americans is going to force those folks into a terrible dilemma: either paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more, so they face hard trade-offs for their families, losing their insurance altogether in a way that will impact the employer-based market of 150 million Americans, or working less in order to remain eligible in a way that will reduce their discretionary income as well as be bad for our economy as a whole.

We need a solution to this, but this bill is obviously not a solution. Everyone knows that. It is a political exercise that has been engineered by the minority leader at the expense of pursuing an actual solution.

Now, once again, it is falling on the Senate to do the real policymaking, but I am heartened that they seem to be close to a deal that roughly mirrors the compromise bipartisan bill that I have offered with the gentleman from California (Mr. Liccardo) that does a temporary extension with reforms and cost controls to provide runway, so then we can begin the real hard work of fixing our healthcare system in this country.

Mr. Speaker, today, the Governor of my State, Gavin Newsom, gave his state of the State address in which he declared that California leads the Nation. Now, the Governor isn't wrong. As the residents of our State know all too well, California does lead the Nation.

California leads the Nation in fraud. California leads the Nation in unemployment. California leads the Nation in homelessness. California leads the Nation in poverty. California leads the Nation in illiteracy. California leads the Nation in gas prices. California leads the Nation in electricity prices. California leads the Nation in housing prices. California leads the Nation in debt and deficits. Just this week, we learned that for the sixth straight year, California leads the Nation in outbound U-Haul rentals. The greatest State in the country has become the most popular State to leave.

That, Mr. Speaker, is the true state of our State during this Governor's tenure.

Mr. Speaker, Doug LaMalfa was my neighbor. Our districts bordered one another. This was true during my time in the State legislature as well.

The region of our State that he represented is an area where people often feel like their voices are not heard in the corridors of power, in places like Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Doug LaMalfa made it his mission to make sure that their voices were heard. He used every opportunity he had to make sure their voices were heard, but he didn't just speak for the communities that he represented. He advocated, and he used every policy tool available to see that their values were reflected in policy here. He was a leader in our delegation and in the whole Chamber on issues like water, forest management, and agriculture, and that leadership, of course, culminated in his chairmanship of the Western Caucus, the second largest caucus in the entire House of Representatives.

I know we are all still so shocked and in grief over his loss, but Doug LaMalfa's legacy in the North State will be felt for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, the California State auditor, the nonpartisan official auditor for the State, has just released a report that updates its assessment of the State's high-risk agencies.

The contents of this report are truly stunning--not really that stunning, actually, for those of us who have experienced the California State government at work. Even given our very low expectations, what the auditor has just reported is truly troubling.

This comes, by the way, as our State's Governor, Gavin Newsom, has recently boasted that California is the original DOGE. Newsom held out California government as a model of efficient, responsive, and accountable government.

Let's juxtapose that very notable statement, very surprising statement, with the clear-eyed fact findings of the State auditor. In this new report, which is issued annually, the auditor identifies high- risk State agencies. What does that mean? It means they pose a substantial risk of serious detriment to the State or its residents. To be considered high risk, an agency must not only exhibit serious waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement but must also have failed to take adequate corrective action.

In this new report, the auditor has identified eight separate California agencies as high risk. Four of those eight have joined the club, this dubious distinction, during the Newsom administration, including the newly added Department of Social Services this year.

Among the findings as to why these various agencies are considered high risk are that massive payment errors in our CalFresh program could now cost the State $2.5 billion in Federal funds.

With Medi-Cal eligibility, ongoing problems in determining who is eligible, continuing to make payments to people who don't meet the income threshold, or who have left the State entirely, is also putting billions of dollars at risk.

Continued fraud and overpayment with our unemployment insurance benefits continue to cost the State billions of dollars. This is after the massive $32 billion fraud in unemployment benefits during the COVID years.

Incredibly, the State has missed six straight deadlines for its annual comprehensive financial report, which puts in jeopardy our credit rating, as well as Federal funding.

The auditor's report documents IT projects that languish for months, for years, as antiquated systems beleaguer our bureaucracy, this despite Silicon Valley being a stone's throw away.

You have State entities that continue to fall short of minimum standards for information security and cybersecurity, putting our State, data, and privacy at risk.

Alarmingly, it is more than just cybersecurity. It is also the security of our physical infrastructure. For instance, the auditor finds that there are 49 dams that pose an extremely high hazard to life and property, and it is getting worse. In just the last 2 years, the number of dams rated either poor or unsatisfactory has increased by 73 percent.

The quality of government service is also unacceptably low. With the EDD, for example, not only do we have continuing, ongoing massive fraud and overpayments, but the folks who actually deserve to get paid benefits have a heck of a time getting the benefits they are entitled to.

The auditor found that, on average, the typical claimant has to call the EDD two to five times per week just to get assistance. The EDD has consistently failed to meet Federal benchmarks for timely payments to those who are actually deserving of benefits, whereas those who are committing fraud against the system seem to have no trouble getting their hands on as much money as they would like.

There are other examples in this report that just truly boggle the mind. For example, the aforementioned EDD during the COVID-19 years decided to order thousands of mobile devices, 7,224 to be exact--this is cell phones, hotspots--so that employees who aren't going into work can continue to do their jobs. These mobile devices, even after they were no longer being used because the pandemic was over, the State continued to pay for them, for thousands of them. They continued to pay service fees, costing the State millions upon millions of dollars.

Another illustrative example comes from CARB, the California Air Resources Board, that is responsible in many ways for the very high gas prices that the citizens of California have to pay. The report found that there was one particular CARB employee who was paid $171,446 in salary on an annual basis, so a pretty decent salary they are getting paid. Here is the problem: It was for nearly 15 months after the employee had stopped working that they continued to get paid.

On top of all of this, the auditor found rampant nepotism at the Department of General Services and Caltrans when it came to hiring. They would hire their family members. They would hire their friends for these State jobs. They would even find instances where managers gave the candidates the questions, interview questions, in advance in order to help them get the job.

Now, all of this is in addition to the very well-known examples of just mind-boggling fraud and waste that exist in the California government.

We, of course, have the high-speed rail, now estimated to cost $128 billion, which is several times more than initially anticipated, where after nearly 20 years we still haven't seen any track laid.

We have homelessness where there was another State audit that found that the State spent $24 billion, lost track of the money, couldn't tell us where it went, and couldn't tell us if it did any good. Meanwhile, the homeless population in California increased substantially to the point to where half of the unsheltered homeless in this country reside in California.

More recently, we had the 911 system, where taxpayers were charged on their phone bills for years. $650 million was spent to build out a new 911 system, and then the State had to scrap the whole project because the technology doesn't work.

Mr. Speaker, this is absolutely unacceptable. Californians sacrifice so much, paying the highest taxes in the country, and yet our citizens also get the least in return.

I will continue to call for accountability for the agencies and, more importantly, the political leaders in California who refuse to reform our State government in a manner that more appropriately and effectively serves our citizens.

I will also continue to use every tool we have here at the Federal level to insist upon the State giving our taxpayers a higher return on their investment. I will make sure that everyone is aware that when the Governor says the California government is a model of efficiency and responsiveness, nothing could be further from the truth.

Recognizing Folsom High School Football Team

Mr. Speaker, they have done it again. I rise today to recognize an extraordinary achievement by the Folsom High School Bulldogs football team, who captured their sixth California State championship with a very impressive 42-28 victory over Cathedral Catholic.

This championship run was defined by resilience, preparation, and leadership, none more evident than in the performance of junior quarterback Brody Rudnicki, who stepped into the spotlight and delivered a truly remarkable performance.

Brody accounted for six total touchdowns, throwing for two scores and rushing for four more while compiling 117 passing yards and 186 rushing yards.

This title marks the second State championship in the last 3 years under the leadership of Head Coach Paul Doherty, whose commitment to excellence has continued to elevate the Folsom football program as one of the premier high school programs in the entire State of California.

The Bulldogs' championship capped off an outstanding 14-1 season, highlighted by a 12-game winning streak that showcased consistency, teamwork, and competitive excellence throughout the year.

Equally impressive is the program's success in preparing student athletes for the future. Seven senior players have committed to continue their football careers at the next level, earning opportunities at some of the Nation's most well-respected institutions and programs, including the United States Military Academy at West Point, Dartmouth College, Brigham Young University, the University of Southern California, Stanford University, the University of Nevada, and Oregon State University. These commitments reflect not only athletic talent but also academic achievement and character.

I had the chance to visit with the team a couple years ago when they won the State championship. When I was in the State legislature, because they won championships back then too, I actually had the chance to recognize the team during a session where they were there in attendance and the coaches were on the floor with us. The team was up in the gallery. That was a lot of fun.

I am sorry they can't be here in the U.S. House, though they are certainly welcome to visit anytime. At the very least, I look forward to seeing all of the players and hardworking coaches in person very soon and extending my congratulations, because this team means so much to the city of Folsom and to our entire community.

Congratulations, once again, to the State champions Folsom High School Bulldogs.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will be voting for this measure today because the policy is good, but let's be realistic. It is extremely modest, and it has no chance of becoming law because it was hastily thrown together without, apparently, any bipartisan input, when bipartisan support is necessary to pass any measure like this.

However, worst of all, the bill does not address the immediate urgent problem in front of us, which is that 22 million people are about to pay a lot more for health insurance. These are independent contractors, freelancers, gig workers, and Uber drivers. It is small business owners and their employees, and retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare who are going to pay thousands of dollars more in many cases. Some people won't be able to afford health insurance at all.

What are we supposed to tell these folks? ``Oh, don't worry, it is Obama's fault.'' Or, ``Oh, no, don't worry, we did a show vote on this Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act.'' Is that going to be any consolation?

Now, I have been extremely critical of the House Speaker for refusing to put any measure to extend these tax credits on the floor, and I think that criticism right now is more well deserved than ever.

We have in the past seen measures come to the floor that divided the Republican Conference but that were able to pass with bipartisan support on continuing resolutions or on foreign aid bills. There is no reason that cannot be done here, and let the House work its will. That, after all, is the best expression of the will of the people.

What about the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries? He has had every opportunity to endorse a compromise measure that has a temporary extension with reforms. There are three bills that have numerous bipartisan coauthors, but instead of supporting any of those, he has directed his Members to only support an uncompromising measure that has zero bipartisan cosponsors. That has already been rejected by the Senate and so has no chance of becoming law.

This whole issue encapsulates what is wrong with this institution, where party leaders focus most of their time and energy on trying to blame problems on the other side rather than trying to solve those problems, but it is not too late for action now. I am calling on the Speaker or the minority leader or both to get a bill to the floor. That is what this institution needs. It is what America needs.

Mr. Speaker, it is frankly crazy that for 20 million kids who rely on free and reduced lunch, they are banned from drinking whole milk as a matter of Federal law. Whatever basis in science or public health might have ever backed this up has long since been debunked. I am glad that we are finally correcting this error today.

Why should kids have access to whole milk at school? Well, at least three reasons. Number one is nutrition. The latest science shows that whole milk actually is probably better for you nutritionally than other kinds of milk because it is less processed. As for saturated fats, science shows that the body processes dairy fats differently than other kinds of fats.

The second reason is satiation. Whole milk is simply more filling. For a program that is designed to make sure kids don't go hungry, that might be a relevant consideration. Moreover, when kids are not full from their lunch, then they might be more inclined to grab things that are a lot less healthy.

The third is taste. A lot of kids simply hate the taste of skim milk. I don't blame them. I hate it, too. I love the taste of whole milk.

What is particularly crazy is that while schools can't serve whole milk, they are allowed to serve sugary strawberry and chocolate milks, which are a lot worse for kids.

This may not seem like the paramount issue facing the Republic at this moment, but I will say that it touches upon two important issues. The first is health in this country. One of the biggest drivers of healthcare costs and of poor public health outcomes is obesity that begins in childhood that has continued to rise, the rates have, since this ban on whole milk went into effect and now constitutes over 20 percent.

The second issue is trust in government. Our public health establishment has given a lot of very bad advice in the past; for example, downplaying the risk of sugar. Even more than that, when kids are seeing the government do stupid and arbitrary things like tell them they can't have whole milk, I am not sure how we are supposed to foster the trust in government on which democracy depends.

This is a good bill. I hope we pass it overwhelmingly today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make a statement

about efficiency in government because there was a statement from the Governor of my State that many of us found quite surprising where he recently said that long before there was DOGE, California was already streamlining government to be more efficient, responsive, and accountable. Apparently, California being a model of efficiency, in the Governor's view.

This came as a surprise to many of us because, in the course of just 5 years during Governor Newsom's tenure, the State budget increased by $124 billion. That is over a 50 percent increase in spending without really any measurable improvement in government performance when you look at California ranking first in the Nation in homelessness, poverty, unemployment, having some of the worst roads, and some of the worst achievement gaps in our schools.

I will highlight just a few examples that I think are particularly revealing when it comes to the low quality of government service that citizens of California are receiving and also, to some extent, the lessons that we can draw from here at the Federal level where I think continuing to improve the quality of government service, giving taxpayers a higher return on their tax dollars remains a vital imperative.

Remember, the Governor said that California is a model of efficiency. His exact words: ``California is already streamlining government to be more efficient, responsive, and accountable.''

Apparently, this includes a $128 billion bullet train that still shows no signs of coming into existence. Now, that is the estimated total cost. The amount that has already been spent is somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 billion, $17 billion, but we are now 18 years into this thing and not a single bit of track has been laid despite all of this massive spending. The New York Times has estimated that the project isn't even on track to be finished this century.

Another example is that the State auditor in California found that the State spent $24 billion to combat homelessness and completely lost track of the money. They couldn't say where it went. They couldn't say what impact it had on outcomes. There were no metrics.

During the time that this spending occurred, homelessness in California absolutely skyrocketed to the extent that the State has about half of the total unsheltered homeless in the entire country.

The State also squandered $32 billion at a minimum on unemployment fraud. What is going on in Minnesota is small potatoes compared to what we witnessed in California during the COVID years where the State failed to take basic fraud protection measures that other States had taken, and as a result, fraudsters were easily able to purloin the State Treasury and use those billions to fund further criminal activities.

Now, I say that there are lessons for the Federal Government because during the last administration, the labor secretary in California most responsible for that entire fiasco was actually nominated to be the Secretary of Labor here in Washington, D.C., although never confirmed by the Senate, so to some extent the lesson was learned.

We have recent reports just in the last couple weeks that this $650 million 911 system that the State has been charging Californians on their phone bill for, for several years now, is being scraped entirely because the technology doesn't work. They spent $650 million building this so-called next generation 911 system--and our system does very much need to be updated--but because the State couldn't manage to get the technology right, it is all going to waste. Those funds will never be recovered and our 911 system remains antiquated as a result. Bear in mind, Sacramento is a stone's throw from Silicon Valley where the technology that is required here is fairly rudimentary in terms of what is needed.

I would just mention one final example which is the California State Capitol itself. Our Governor has had a lot to say about certain renovations going on at the White House, yet the California State legislature approved several years ago a $1.2 billion renovation of the State capitol itself.

I voted against that measure, by the way, but now the cost of that seems to have ballooned and we don't know even by how much because the State is refusing to say. Despite the persistent efforts of local journalists to get an answer and other legislators as to how much this project is costing our taxpayers, they won't even say how much. However, we have gotten some hints of some of the measures that the project leaders have taken such as shipping stones to Italy in order to be treated and refined. It does not seem that this particular project is exactly a model of efficiency either.

Mr. Speaker, I bring these examples up to highlight the need for reform in my home State, to reorient the way our government works toward a paradigm of citizen service, because we see corruption and incompetence and special interests and a whole host of other agendas that stand in the way of the use of tax dollars to actually serve our citizens. Indeed, California is the exact opposite of a model of efficiency as we sacrifice the most and get the least in return.

I will continue to do everything I can to change that paradigm in California as well as to find ways to learn from it and to reorient our Federal Government toward a model of citizen service and efficiency, as well.

Legislation to Stop Insider Trading

Mr. Speaker, this week, I signed a discharge petition to stop insider trading, to ban stock trading by Members of Congress. I have been a cosponsor of this measure offered by my colleague from Florida, Anna Paulina Luna. We have gotten a number of bipartisan cosponsors for it, yet the bill has not moved. It has not been brought to the floor by House leadership.

I have signed this discharge petition, which is a legislative mechanism by which the Members of the House can bring a bill directly to the floor without the blessing of leadership. I have not been particularly inclined to sign these petitions in my first couple of years here in the House, but I have come to the view that they have become more necessary given the House's somewhat diminished role in recent months in terms of actually driving policy forward.

I have also signed a couple of other petitions related to the healthcare reforms that we are seeking to advance. I was particularly concerned when I heard the Speaker himself suggest that he might try to stop discharge petitions from happening altogether, which would be a terrible idea. It would mean that the House is no longer truly a majoritarian institution.

Affirming the value of discharge petitions and bringing to the floor a bill to ban trading by Members of Congress are both important steps toward restoring trust in this institution. Let's face it, Congress is not held in particularly high esteem by the American public right now. I have seen recent polls showing that Congress' approval rating is around 15 percent. In many ways, that reputation is well deserved.

This is a simple measure that we can take that would at least restore a little bit of trust and be a step in the direction of good government. I am hoping that it will continue to get the requisite signatures, short of leadership agreeing to bring it to the floor, and then we can get it passed and signed into law.

Advocating to End Redistricting War

Mr. Speaker, I rise again today to advocate for an end to the redistricting war that has been cascading across the country.

I have introduced legislation that would say we should not have mid- decade redistricting. It should not be done in any State. I opposed what happened in Texas to re-gerrymander that State in the middle of the decade, and I opposed what happened in California. I opposed the efforts that are afoot as well in other States, and I applaud the decision by the Indiana State Senate to not move forward with a mid- decade gerrymander in a fairly overwhelming vote yesterday.

The fact is that gerrymandering is an affront to representative government and democracy. What we are seeing right now runs against the desires of Members of this body on both sides of the aisle and certainly runs contrary to what is in the interest of the country.

I have called upon the leadership in the House for months to bring this bill

to the floor or to otherwise reach an armistice in this redistricting war. I believe it was a failure of leadership, frankly, on both sides, to allow this to happen.

As I warned months ago, the whole thing is basically turning out to be a wash. If you look at the various election forecasters, they say, yes, you are probably not going to see either side really gain much.

All of this effort, all of this money, all of this political capital spent redrawing maps, upending the districts of dozens of our Members on both sides of the aisle, and to what end? Nothing good is coming from it.

Maybe if the Speaker--and I cannot let the minority leader off the hook either because he has been actively involved in these efforts--had been more focused on, let's say, healthcare policy than trying to redraw district maps, we wouldn't be in a position where we are now 3 weeks away from Americans seeing a massive increase in healthcare costs.

I am again calling for my bill to ban mid-decade redistricting to be brought to the floor for a vote. I am also working on legislation to end gerrymandering in this country, once and for all, by ensuring each State has an independent commission, much like the one that we had in California until recently. I think if we can take that step to end gerrymandering, to have fair maps across the country, then it will restore power where it belongs, and that is to the voters themselves.

Need for Higher-Performing Schools

Mr. Speaker, as chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, which covers K-12 education, I like to have the opportunity to go and visit high-performing schools, to see the lessons that we could learn.

This morning, I had the chance to visit a KIPP school, the Knowledge is Power Program here in Washington, D.C. There are 20 KIPP schools in D.C. There are many, many more all across the country, including many in California.

This is a truly high-performing charter school network that tends to enroll students who are below the poverty level, that operates in underserved communities, and that has outstanding results by any measure--by student test scores, by graduation rates, by the number of students who go to college.

They really have just been knocking it out of the park for years, much like Success Academy, which operates in New York City. I had the chance to visit one of their campuses a couple of months ago. If they were considered their own school district, they would literally be the highest performing district in the State of New York.

These examples of success are, unfortunately, not the norm when it comes to public education in America today and, in particular, in my State of California. The latest Nation's Report Card showed that student achievement is at an all-time low in this country. We have not bounced back to even where we were prior to the COVID years. We continue to fall behind our peer nations in terms of the level of achievement for our students.

In California, in particular, we have seen, over the course of the last several years, almost $40 billion more that is now spent on an annual basis on education. What do we have to show for it? UC San Diego, which is a pretty high-ranking school, recently came out and said that their incoming students are not prepared to do basic math, even the most basic math. They have now had to put one out of every eight students into remedial math courses. They have had to expand the remedial courses they offer to make them even more remedial.

That is the result of a State like California that has done everything possible to quash high-performing charter schools, like the ones I just mentioned, Success Academy and KIPP, and instead support and prop up a failing education model: the idea that you are assigned to one school in your ZIP Code, whether it is good or bad, whether it teaches students to read and do math or not.

In the subcommittee that I have the honor to chair, we have been focusing on both the problems and potential solutions for public education in America. I think there is a great deal to learn from schools like KIPP and Success Academy, which set high expectations for students, teach literacy and numeracy the way that it is supposed to be taught, have high levels and expectations for their teachers and help prepare them as they need to be prepared when it comes to professional development, and focus like a laser on student achievement, engaging parents, and everything that comes with giving students access to a quality education.

Schools like these show that every child in this country can indeed succeed, and we need to make it a matter of great urgency to make sure that every child in America has that opportunity.

Assuring Timely Representation in the House

Mr. Speaker, I will be introducing in the House the Right to Representation Act, a measure that has become necessary in order to assure that districts in this country are not denied representation here in the House.

We recently had a period of time in which a newly elected Member of the House from Arizona was not seated as a Member for week after week for what I believe was a record period of time. This was despite the fact that she had won her election, the election had been certified, and the district was going without representation until she was seated.

The House of Representatives was not here during that time, which was itself a big problem. The House canceled its sessions for 6 weeks on end while the government was shut down. Nevertheless, this Member, Mrs. Grijalva from Arizona, could have been sworn in during what is called a pro forma session.

I think that this is simply wrong. I think it is wrong she had to wait over a month, I believe, after she should have been sworn in to actually have the opportunity to begin representing her constituents.

I don't want to see anything like this happen again, regardless of which party controls the House and regardless of which party the Member who is waiting to be sworn in represents.

My bill is very simple. It would simply say that after an individual has prevailed in a special election, then they have the right to be sworn in on the next legislative day, whether that is a pro forma session or a regular session.

I think this is a commonsense measure and will ensure that what we just saw with the Representative from Arizona doesn't happen in this Chamber again.

Congratulating Chief Brian Estes

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Chief Brian Estes of the CAL FIRE Nevada Yuba Placer Unit and the Placer County Fire Department. He is retiring at the end of this year after an exceptional career of over 35 years in the fire service.

In 1991, Chief Estes graduated at the top of his class from the Butte Fire Academy, launching him into a long and successful career. He began working as a firefighter at a station in San Diego County.

Mr. Speaker, 4 years later, he joined the CAL FIRE helicopter crew in Tuolumne County, where he stayed for another 4 years. During this timeframe, he held various leadership positions, such as CWN manager and military helicopter manager. He coordinated with the California National Guard as a military liaison officer.

In 1988, Brian Estes was promoted to fire apparatus engineer and was assigned to the Amador/El Dorado Unit. Brian climbed the ladder and was promoted through the ranks, becoming captain in 2000 and being promoted to battalion chief in 2005.

In the coming years, Chief Estes responded to some of California's most challenging fires, joining deployments and leading 14 Type I incidents across California as Type I incident commander.

Brian Estes continued to be promoted, and he served as assistant chief of operations, deputy chief of operations, and then, finally, as unit chief for the Nevada Yuba Placer Unit and fire chief of the Placer County Fire Department.

He had the honor of leading over 450 personnel and overseeing a budget of

over $100 million across 1.7 million acres of State Responsibility Area.

As Placer County Fire Chief, Chief Estes oversaw municipal services across 1,000 square miles and served over 70,000 residents, protecting $80 billion in assets.

In these capacities, he has been an outstanding force in protecting the quality of life in our region by leading the front line of defense against the all-too-common California wildfires.

Chief Estes is widely respected for his exceptional leadership skills and unwavering commitment to collaboration. Under his guidance, his units operate with greater strength, efficiency, and purpose, reflecting his ability to maximize their potential and bring out the best in those he leads.

A lifelong public servant, Chief Estes is truly a pillar of our community. He is defined by his consistent and active engagement and his deep dedication to those he serves, going above and beyond the regular call of duty.

It has really been a privilege to work alongside Chief Estes throughout my time in office. It is an honor to represent someone held in such high esteem by his friends, family, colleagues, and community.

Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives and California's Third Congressional District, I wish Chief Estes a happy retirement and thank him for his many years of service.

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

Mr. Speaker, I feel compelled to call attention to an outrageous action that has just been undertaken by the State of California to deprive many, many young people in my district of athletic opportunities.

Truckee Unified School District, which is in my district, competes when it comes to athletics in a neighboring school district in Nevada. What is the reason for that?

Well, for sports like soccer, these are winter sports in California, but they are quite hard to play in the winter in this part of the State because there is a lot of snow. They are spring sports in Nevada. So in order to allow young people to play soccer and other sports, they compete in Nevada.

However, the State of California has just ordered Truckee Unified to compete in California, no longer giving them that option. Why? It is because Nevada doesn't have the same policy of allowing biological males to compete in women's sports.

Regardless of what you think of that particular policy, it is something that only affects a few students, and now the State of California is depriving all of these student-athletes of the opportunity to play their sport as well as subjecting them to onerous new travel arrangements.

I am urging the State of California to reverse this outrageous action.

Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act, I am very glad and relieved this day has finally come.

Mr. Speaker, seven of the counties in my district rely on this program to assure every child has access to a quality education and to provide important public services.

Throughout the period in which this fund has lapsed, I have met with many of the leaders in these schools who have talked about the tradeoffs they have had to make. I met with the students who have seen opportunities taken from them, extracurriculars and other programs that have been limited because of this lapse in funding.

I thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle here today and in the committees of jurisdiction for their tireless efforts in overcoming the inertia of this institution and getting this bill to the floor for a vote today.

I look forward to it passing in a resounding bipartisan way and in a way that I hope will assure that, going forward, we don't allow for this sort of lapse to happen again where for 1\1/2\ years these schools and counties were going without these vitally needed payments.

This is a measure that has broad bipartisan support. It is a very popular program. It is an important program. There is no reason that Congress should fail to pass its reauthorization in a timely manner.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to this passing on the floor today. We need to make sure that in the future we don't keep our schools and our students in limbo.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1069, the Promoting Responsible Oversight To Eliminate Communist Teachings for Our Kids Act, in order to protect our kids and to protect our country.

The Chinese Communist Party is responsible for severe human rights abuses and the suppression of fundamental freedoms, with a long and well-documented history of censorship, oppression, and disregard for human rights.

However, it is equally well understood that the CCP aggressively pushes its propaganda worldwide to reshape global narratives in its favor. That effort has extended into virtually every facet of American society, including, unfortunately, American classrooms.

Findings from the State Department have revealed that CCP-funded so- called Confucius classrooms have operated in over 500 K-12 schools across the United States.

Now, these programs are not about education. They are about influence. The CCP does not act with charitable intent. These programs exist because the CCP expects something in return: control over curriculum and influence over young minds.

It is unacceptable that American school districts have entered into financial arrangements with entities tied to the CCP, an adversary of the United States and a regime with one of the worst human rights records in the world.

The simple premise of this legislation is that no Federal tax dollars

should support schools that partner with the Chinese Communist Party. The PROTECT Our Kids Act puts that principle into law by ensuring that Federal education funds are not available to schools that collaborate with, receive funding from, or otherwise engage in agreements with the Government of the People's Republic of China. This includes partnerships with Confucius classrooms, language programs funded by the CCP, and instructional materials or personnel tied to the Chinese Government.

American education should teach American values, not communist propaganda.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and take a firm stand against foreign influence in our children's education.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate JB Harris, JT Chevallier, and the entire team at ECO-CLEAN Solutions for reaching a record-breaking milestone late last year: 1 million square feet of Lake Tahoe shoreline cleaned by the team's beach-cleaning robot, BEBOT.

JB and JT, two longtime friends from Las Vegas, were drawn to the Sierra Nevada by the beauty and lifestyle of the mountains. As their connection to the area and the great outdoors deepened, JB and JT witnessed the toll of increased tourism on their natural surroundings.

With the motivation to give back to the home that had given them so much, ECO-CLEAN was created to respond to the need for environmental responsibility and sustainability.

With the annual number of visitors to Lake Tahoe growing to 15 million people, Tahoe's beaches experienced a surge in waste, particularly during peak travel seasons. JB and JT recognized the problem and set out to find innovative and low-impact solutions to this growing concern.

In their search, the team discovered BEBOT, the first battery- and solar-powered beach-cleaning robot on the West Coast. Through funding provided by the North Tahoe Community Alliance, the team was able to successfully deploy BEBOT to the shores of Lake Tahoe, maximizing beach cleanup efforts through advanced technology and in partnership with local volunteers.

Through this innovative solution, ECO-CLEAN Solutions and their beach-cleaning BEBOT have cleaned more than 1 million square miles of shoreline, picking up over 38,000 pieces of litter that may have become pollution in Lake Tahoe.

In comparison to visible litter items collected by volunteers, BEBOTs detect and remove up to 10 times the number of items hidden under the surface of the sand.

They also partner and collaborate with several local organizations, one of

which includes the Desert Research Institute, which analyzes the litter taken from the lake to better understand pollutants and proactively address their source.

It is an honor to represent exemplary businesses such as ECO-CLEAN Solutions in the United States House of Representatives. They exemplify how American innovation can serve as a solution to the issues that are facing our communities and the Nation at large.

Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am honored to recognize JB, JT, and ECO-CLEAN Solutions for reaching this significant milestone and for their ongoing dedication to protecting the beauty of Lake Tahoe's shorelines for generations to come.

Recognizing South Tahoe Public Utility District on 75th Anniversary

Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize and commemorate the 75-year anniversary of the South Tahoe Public Utility District, a trusted steward of environmental protection and sustainable water management in the Tahoe community.

The South Tahoe Public Utility District was formed in the 1950s to protect the ecosystem of the Lake Tahoe Basin while furnishing customers with reliable water and wastewater treatment services. Since then, they have grown into a nationally recognized utility that exemplifies innovation, resilience, and exceptionalism in public service.

The district supplies quality drinking water and provides reliable wastewater collection, treatment, and export services to over 14,000 residents and 660 commercial and government sites. Their services play a significant role in the function of the region and have improved the quality of life and experiences for residents, businesses, and visitors.

Over the span of more than seven decades, the South Tahoe Public Utility District has achieved a wide diversity of accomplishments, including building the world's first advanced wastewater treatment plant, bringing high-quality Tahoe tap to the community, earning national recognition as the Environmental Protection Agency's Wastewater Treatment Plant of the Year, and becoming a 100 percent recycled wastewater operation, just to name a few.

These successes reflect the district's deep commitment to protecting Lake Tahoe's environment, ensuring the sustainability of its water resources, and fostering community engagement.

Throughout its history, the South Tahoe Public Utility District has faced and overcome many unique challenges. During droughts, wildfires, and even a global pandemic, the district did not falter in its mission. In moments of crisis, such as the Angora, Tamarack, and Caldor fires, the district's personnel displayed courage and determination, standing shoulder to shoulder with firefighters under hazardous conditions and evacuation orders to continuously maintain water flow and wastewater treatment.

For three-quarters of a century, the South Tahoe Public Utility District has established a legacy of efficiency, professionalism, and excellence. I have no doubt that that legacy will only continue to grow in the years to come.

It has been a privilege to work alongside the South Tahoe Public Utility District throughout my tenure as Tahoe's Representative in Congress. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives and California's Third Congressional District, I am proud to celebrate this milestone and to commend the South Tahoe Public Utility District for their 75 years of unwavering dedication to the region and to the protection of a national treasure that is Lake Tahoe.

Restoration of Healthcare Tax Credits

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge prompt action on a matter that could make life a lot more difficult for millions and millions of people in this country, and that is the expiration of tax credits that could lead to a massive increase in healthcare costs.

We are talking about 22 million Americans who will be directly affected, some of them seeing thousands and thousands of dollars in increases in their healthcare costs. That is something that a lot of these folks simply cannot afford.

Mr. Speaker, that is the reality of what will happen if Congress does nothing and if Congress fails to act. Since that is not acceptable to me--and I know it is not acceptable to a lot of Members on both sides of the aisle--I have introduced bipartisan legislation with Sam Liccardo called the Fix It Act, which will stop this cliff from occurring and will spare these Americans this massive increase in healthcare costs.

Here is what it does: It extends these tax credits for a temporary period of time, for 2 years. That will give us the runway that we need to work on a broader solution to the healthcare affordability crisis in America without forcing millions of Americans to pay the price in the meantime.

Mr. Speaker, importantly, our bill not only provides this temporary extension, but it also includes reforms that pay for themselves. In other words, the savings that we get through our reforms are actually greater than the cost of the extension itself. This is according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which analyzed several proposals that are out there and found that the bill that Sam Liccardo and I have introduced is the only one that actually does not increase the deficit and, indeed, actually achieves savings for taxpayers.

We do this with sensible cost controls, income caps, to make sure that the tax credits go to those who truly need it. You will still be eligible as long as you are a family of four with an income level up to $192,000.

It also includes strong antifraud measures that will save billions of dollars from the fraud that we know is far too pervasive in this program. It enacts reforms to a program called Medicare Advantage that are supported by the AARP because we have seen that insurers have been overcharging in this program to the tune of tens of billions of dollars over the course of a decade.

Mr. Speaker, all of those elements not only actually make it so that we are not increasing the deficit or having to raise taxes or increase spending with this extension, but they also make the extension inherently temporary in the sense that, if you have a pay-for, like we do, then any extension will need another pay-for that will entail additional tradeoffs. That is an accountability measure to make sure that this doesn't become just a never-ending series of extensions but truly is temporary.

Mr. Speaker, there are a growing number of Members in both parties-- we just had a press conference--who understand what is at stake here. It is not just, by the way, for 22 million Americans who will be directly impacted by utilizing the individual market and benefit from these tax credits, but if you see millions of people who ultimately choose not to get insurance and drop out of the market, that is going to cascade to the employer-provided market, as well. People are going to see increased costs there, as well.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about affordability, which is so important to so many people in this country right now, there is perhaps no single policy issue that will have a higher impact on affordability in this country than doing something about this issue right now.

For my colleagues on the Republican side, I simply point out this: When Members look at the 22 million Americans who will be most directly impacted, a lot of these folks are people who Republicans have been fighting for, for a long time. For example, independent contractors, freelancers, gig workers, and Uber drivers. They have been under attack from the likes of Gavin Newsom and the corrupt political class in Sacramento, who have targeted them and made it very difficult for them to practice their professions.

The Biden administration actually brought in Newsom's labor secretary, Julie Su, to try to do the same thing, targeting independent contractors on a national level. They are the folks who will perhaps suffer the most if these tax credits expire because they rely on that individual market, and they don't really have any other option. They will be forced to pay thousands and thousands of dollars more when their income is already uncertain.

We simply can't let that happen to them or small businesses. Small business owners' employees who rely on the individual market, this will absolutely be devastating to many of them if they are forced to shoulder this cost.

Early retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare, millions of them rely on these tax credits.

That is why I believe that doing nothing is not an option, and I have made no secret of the fact that I think the House of Representatives has been missing in action in a lot of ways in recent months.

The House was literally not here for a period of almost 2 months. The Speaker inexplicably canceled session for 6 consecutive weeks. The House has not been in the driver's seat when it comes to many important policy issues facing the country. The House has even chosen to cede some of its own legislative authority on certain issues. This is extremely troubling to me. I have been encouraging a change of course.

Mr. Speaker, this issue right now, which is a matter of urgency and needs to be dealt with before the end of the year, is an opportunity for the House to change course, to reclaim its legislative authority, to actually drive policy in the right way, and to become the people's House again by actually serving the American people in a way that will make a profound difference in the lives of many of them throughout the country.

Calling for Accountability

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present some truly bewildering and completely unacceptable news out of my State, the State of California. I have been very critical of government performance in our State, with giving taxpayers the services that they are paying for. This latest example makes that point very clearly.

For the last 6 or so years, Californians have been paying an extra fee on their phone service. This was due to legislation enacted by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor. All of these fees were collected for the purpose of creating a next-generation 911 system, which, honestly, is something we need. The system is quite outdated, antiquated, and not up to the task of serving the many different kinds of emergencies that we get in California.

For the last 6 years, these extra fees paid for by California taxpayers, which are in addition to the State budget itself going up over 50 percent during that time period, were used to build out this new 911 system. The State spent $450 million building out this 911 system.

Just last week, it was announced that after spending all of this money, the State is scrapping the entire project because the technology does not work. It is absolutely beyond belief. The $450 million that Californians have been paying on their phone bill was absolutely, completely squandered, wasted by the State, which not only wasted all that money, but has now left Californians with an inadequate 911 system because they need to start over from square A.

This, Mr. Speaker, is an example of how the failures in Sacramento that have degraded the quality of life for people throughout our State are not a matter of Democrat versus Republican, but simply a matter of competence, of basic government performance, and of serving the people of our State as opposed to serving other agendas.

I hope that this latest debacle will be a wake-up call to demand the sort of accountability that our taxpayers are entitled to in California, and for the way the government in Sacramento is run to be completely revisited, to be reoriented in a way that is based on performance, that is based on competence, that draws upon the best practices of the private sector, and that ultimately is geared toward citizen service rather than the other interests and agendas that too often prevail at our capital.

Calling for Education Reforms

Mr. Speaker, for years, I have been warning about the declining education outcomes that exist across our country, but in particular, in my State of California. We just received a jarring reminder of just how bleak things have gotten.

UC San Diego, which is a rather selective school in California, has recently announced that a large share of its students can no longer even do basic math. The school announced that the number of students who require remedial courses has gone from 1 out of every 100 to 1 out of every 8.

This truly jarring state of affairs comes in spite of a massive increase in education funding in California. Indeed, since Governor Newsom came into office, the overall education budget has increased by almost $40 billion. Yet, what is the outcome of that? We have students at a fairly selective university who can't do basic math, and, by the way, the State also has the highest illiteracy rate in the entire country.

I have advocated for reforms to our education system in California that would actually close achievement gaps and serve students. As chair of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee here in the House of Representatives, I have advocated for those reforms not just for our State, but on the national level, as well.

We have seen that when States and districts take a data-based approach to instruction, they can get tremendous results for students. We see examples like KIPP or Success Academy. These are charter networks that have vastly outperformed other public schools, despite serving students who are well below the poverty level in many cases.

If Success Academy were its own district, it would rank at the very top of the rankings in student performance in the State of New York, which is one of the reasons I am sponsoring the High-Quality Charter Schools Act that would make more opportunities like that available throughout the country.

We have also held hearings in my subcommittee on teaching literacy appropriately, which California is finally moving in that direction, teaching math appropriately, getting back to basics, utilizing education technology in the right way, without having students be exposed to excessive screen time. We have looked at school choice programs, including, most importantly, expanding charter schools. We have looked at the foundational importance of parental rights.

In California, unfortunately, we have an education system that is not about the kids. That is why we have among the highest achievement gaps in the country. That is why we have these jarring statistics that we are getting out of UC San Diego. That is why California had the longest school shutdown in the entire country during COVID-19.

I would hope that these latest numbers will serve as a wake-up call to enact the sort of education reforms that have worked well in other States because we are failing our students right now, and we are imperiling our State and, increasingly, our country's future.

California by the Numbers

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that affordability and the cost of living are increasingly salient issues for many people in this country.

It is becoming harder for many people to get by, and there are many reasons for that. I have proposed, and in fact passed, legislation in a number of areas related to the cost of energy and the cost of healthcare to start to address those problems.

I was caught somewhat by surprise to hear the Governor of my own State of California commenting on this issue and even saying that no State matches California's success, that ``the numbers speak for themselves.''

I thought I would go through what some of those numbers are when it comes to the lack of affordability in the State of California. I think it offers insight into the steps that we could take nationally to make life more affordable for folks not only in California, but across the country.

The basic gist of it is to do exactly the opposite of what California has done. Newsom says the numbers speak for themselves. Here are the numbers:

California has the highest gas prices in the entire country, number one out of all 50 States. It is not even close. You can drive a few miles from here in Maryland, which is another blue State, by the way, and you will get gas for $1.50, $2 cheaper at least. You can go to Hawaii, which is an island State after all, and you will get gas for 20 cents cheaper than you do in California.

The cost of electricity: California is number one in the country. The New York Times recently published a map showing how much electricity rates have increased over the last several years, which tracks the time that Gavin Newsom became Governor. California saw by far the biggest increase

in electricity costs of any State in the country.

Water bills: California ranks first, or close to it, of any State in the country for how much we pay for water.

The cost of housing: California is number one in the country for the median cost of a home--actually, number one in the continental United States. Hawaii is a little more expensive there.

Taxes: California is number one, has the highest income tax rate of any State in the country, as well as the highest gas tax rate of any State in the country.

Government spending and debt are so much higher in California, and that relates to affordability as well because, of course, it means that we have to get more money in taxes and fees. It also means that the infrastructure that supports businesses is inadequate, which raises their cost of living, which results in higher costs to consumers, not to mention California being the worst business environment of any State in the country.

It has repeatedly been rated as having the worst litigation environment as well, which means that those costs are passed onto consumers, too.

Insurance: When it comes to fire insurance in many parts of our State, you pay more than you pay just about anywhere in the country because of the catastrophic fires that have done so much damage and because of the way the insurance issue itself has been mismanaged.

What is the lesson here?

Well, number one: The lesson is, California needs to change its own policies.

Number two: We can learn from California's failures as we enact reforms at the Federal level to improve the quality of life and affordability for folks throughout the country.

Gas: When it comes to gas prices, it is no mystery what has happened. California's taxes and regulations and insistence on special fuel blends have caused costs to go up inordinately. This, by the way, doesn't even factor in that we have two refineries that are about to close. Fortunately, we just passed legislation here in Congress to partially address this issue of the refineries. There is one study from USC that says that by the end of next year, Californians could pay $8 for gas.

Electricity: California has passed all kinds of regulations that no other State has, at least not to the extent that restrict the supply of energy in our State. By the way, it is done ostensibly in the name of the environment, but California's policies have been incredibly damaging to the environment, as well.

In just 1 year, for example, the catastrophic wildfires that our State had erased all of the emissions reductions from the prior 16 years. In fact, it erased them two times over because of our State's very poor policies when it comes to forest management, which goes to the insurance issue, as well.

That is why I am very proud to sponsor the Fix Our Forests Act, which allows for more effective forest management which will stop catastrophic wildfires and will make it so we don't have to keep raising the price of insurance. That has passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, and it is time for the Senate to pass it, as well.

Housing: When it comes to the cost of housing, we have seen how California has piled on fee after fee after fee so that a project costs tens of thousands of dollars before you even break ground. Even worse, we have seen how California has allowed frivolous lawsuits to delay projects for years and for decades. That all gets baked into the price of the home, and that is why I am sponsoring a number of measures here to try to make housing more affordable.

Of course, the tax issues speak for themselves.

We have a lot we need to do to continue to make life more affordable for Americans. We have seen some progress in certain areas when it comes to the price of gas across the country, when it comes to the supply of energy, and some other issues.

Unfortunately, people in my State are bearing the brunt of it. I would, again, encourage the leaders of our legislature and the Governor to chart a different course, to start actually working for the people of California.

This is why, by the way, we have the highest real poverty rate in the entire country. It is because the cost of living is so high and the economic opportunity is so low. We actually have the highest unemployment rate in California, as well. As the Governor would say, the numbers speak for themselves.

I encourage us here not only for those of us in California to encourage a change in action on the part of our State's own leadership but for Congress itself to follow the anti-Newsom playbook in making sure that we don't see costs across the entire country rise to the level they have in California.

Safety of Autonomous Vehicles

Mr. Speaker, I will share some data that has recently been published on the safety of autonomous vehicles and self- driving cars, which have been widely deployed in a number of cities across the country.

In California, Waymo has been operating for years now in San Francisco and in Los Angeles, and now their footprint is actually about to expand to the wine country and even into the Sacramento area. They may even be coming to Washington, D.C., soon.

Tesla has a self-driving feature available on its cars as well and they have been publishing some very encouraging data. What the data shows, very clearly, is that even at the current state of the art that is going to continue to improve, autonomous vehicles are overwhelmingly safer than human-operated vehicles by a factor of about 10 when it comes to the risk of injury or death.

When you think about that, that means that being in an autonomous vehicle, in a self-driving car, is a much more effective safety intervention than wearing a seat belt, which, of course, you should continue to wear a seat belt as well.

There was an article in The New York Times a couple of days ago from a doctor who actually likened this to a clinical trial, where you actually have to stop the trial because the drug performed so well and it becomes unethical to continue to give people the placebo and not give them access to the drug.

We have 40,000 people who die in this country every year on our roads. Many, many others suffer serious life-changing injuries. Every American pretty much has been affected in some way, knows someone who has been involved in an accident, and we now have the technology within our reach to drastically reduce that number, to save tens of thousands of lives every year just in this country and to spare tens of thousands of people devastating injuries.

I do believe it is a political policy and a moral imperative to use whatever levers we have here to remove barriers to expanding access to this technology.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with the administration as well as folks on both sides of the aisle to do that because we really do have an opportunity here to do an immense amount of good.

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

Mr. Speaker, this last month, Nevada County, indeed the entire State of California, lost one of its finest, its truly great citizens.

Eduardo Agullo Garcia was born in Barcelona, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. He was the second child and only son of Jose and Esperanza. His favorite memory as a child was playing marbles in the streets, although he frequently returned home with an empty bag.

His life was forever changed when he applied and was accepted into the American Field Service program and became an exchange student in 1955. He sailed across the Atlantic with fellow students. They spent the time discussing American customs and culture.

It was on this ship that he was advised to avoid asking out girls who wore a pin because the pin indicated that they had been pinned by a boy and were not available to date. He traveled across the United States on his way to Millbrae, California, where he was hosted for the school year by the mayor of Millbrae, Webb Witmer.

When he arrived at the San Francisco airport, he was greeted by American AFS students including Nancy Campbell. While he was intrigued by Nancy,

he would not ask her out because he saw a pin. He didn't realize until the end of the school year at Capuchino High School in San Bruno that she wore a pin because she was a member of Job's Daughters, an international organization. It was not the type of pin that he thought.

When he discovered that she was not actually seeing someone, he immediately asked her out. After Eddie graduated from Capuchino High School, he returned to Spain to complete his compulsory military service. After the military, he went to work for a chemical company in Spain. He and Nancy continued their relationship via letters and visits.

As Nancy neared completion of her degree at University of California, Berkeley, he asked her to marry him. They were married in California in 1961 and moved to Barcelona for several years. Their daughter was born in 1963, and 8 months later they moved back to northern California.

Eddie was importing and selling sporting rifles and ammunition but turned to wholesale decorative accessories. He started his company, Garcia Imports, out of the garage of their house in Millbrae. It soon grew to a small warehouse in San Bruno and then a bigger warehouse in San Mateo and then in Redwood City and finally in Hayward.

He traveled extensively for business, both overseas and the United States. He achieved one of his greatest goals by becoming a citizen of the United States in 1973.

After over 40 years in the home furnishings industry, working side by side with both his wife, Nancy, and his daughter, Barbara, he and Nancy retired in 2008.

In 2009, they moved to Grass Valley. They were not entirely sure what they wanted to do in retirement, but they met some wonderful friends and soon became very involved with the Tea Party, the State of Jefferson, and the Nevada County Republican Party. It was a full-time passion for both Nancy and Eddie.

Eddie joined the Nevada County Fairgrounds Foundation in 2011 as a director. In 2015, Eddie and Nancy, as well as their daughter, Barbara, and son-in-law, Larry McDonald, were named the Family of the Year by the Nevada County Fair's board of directors. The board chose the Garcia-McDonald family for their volunteer efforts, their vision for the foundation's station, and their ongoing support of the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

After nearly 60 years of marriage, Nancy passed in 2020, which was, of course, such a great loss for Eddie. However, he stayed busy in the last several years supporting political campaigns, keeping an eye on local politics, and working to improve his adopted country.

He was very passionate about the candidates he supported and has traveled with friends to support those candidates wherever he could. He continued to pursue his passions right up until he passed peacefully and quickly on October 9, 2025.

Eddie, we miss you, my friend, but your legacy will be felt by our community forever.

End the Redistricting War

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to, again, call for an end to the terrible redistricting war that is cascading across the country with the domino effect going from one State to the next. States are throwing out their entire congressional map and upending representation in their State. It is something that is deeply unpopular with Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and it is deeply unpopular with the American people.

Gerrymandering is bad enough, but throwing out the maps specifically to gerrymander in the middle of the decade is even worse. At this point in time, we have seen Texas and California both adopt gerrymandered maps, although both States now find their new maps being challenged in Federal Court, which adds yet another element of uncertainty for Representatives and constituents alike.

However, it has gone far beyond California and Texas. We are now seeing States either already or in the process of starting to adopt new maps in States like Missouri and potentially Indiana, Kansas, and Florida, perhaps, as well as Virginia, Illinois, or Maryland, and several others. It seems that hardly any State will be spared. Many have said they wanted to but simply don't have time this year, so they are waiting to do it until the next cycle.

It has gotten completely out of hand. It has gotten to the point where we could get into this world of rolling redistricting where district lines are never settled for more than a couple of years and where the connection between voters and Representatives is continually being severed.

I have called time and again for an end to this redistricting war or an armistice. The fact of the matter is that there is still an opportunity to do that, but it is a very narrow window of opportunity that exists.

My bill, H.R. 4889, would bar mid-decade redistricting in every State in the country. This makes sense as an act of Congress under our Article I Elections Clause authority. But it makes sense, in particular, because redistricting itself is a creature, it is a creation of the Constitution, of the Federal Government, which says that it has to be done every 10 years. It is only a new phenomenon, a fairly recent phenomenon, where States are deciding to do it more frequently than that.

So we can, as a House, pass this measure. I believe if it were brought to the floor it would pass overwhelmingly to stop this madness in every State in the country.

The reason I say it is a narrow window is because the filing deadline in Texas is coming up on December 8, and, realistically, nothing that we do here would affect the map in that State after that point in time. So that is really, effectively, a deadline for a national solution to this problem. Even if, by the way, that deadline were to pass and Texas or California would not be affected, I still think we should move forward to spare these other States from having to deal with the adverse consequences.

I begin today calling on the Speaker of the House to bring this bill to the floor for a vote so we could end this madness. We could stop mid-decade gerrymandering, we could go back to the way it is supposed to be where we redraw our district lines once every 10 years, and we could focus all of the time, energy, and resources being put into this fight--which, by the way, it seems is not going to help one party or the other to any significant degree, it is probably going to be more or less a wash, but we can get back to focusing on the issues that actually matter to the American people.

California's Culture of Corruption

Mr. Speaker, last week, Governor Gavin Newsom's chief of staff was indicted for 23 felony counts in a Federal corruption investigation. This is his former chief of staff. She left the office at the end of last year.

The charges include conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice, subscribing to false tax returns, and making false statements to the FBI. The main conduct being alleged involves theft of campaign funds totaling $225,000, tax fraud, as well as fraud surrounding a PPE loan.

The indictment lists a number of co-conspirators, including the former chief of staff for California's attorney general, including a high-powered lobbyist, including another well-known consultant, as well as a number of other un-named co-conspirators. In other words, these are the people running our State government in California. These are the people who control our politics in California.

Now, I have spoken about a culture of corruption that exists in Sacramento, and this latest series of events has cast that culture of corruption in stark relief. Indeed, the former chief of staff or communications director for both Jerry Brown and, I think, Dianne Feinstein used those very words in the aftermath of this indictment to describe the area that he had worked for many, many years, a culture of corruption. He referred to Governor Newsom's chief of staff who has now been indicted as a ``Mafia boss.''

So I think it is important for people to take note of what has transpired because it does cast a light on the corruption that is endemic to politics in Sacramento.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this is really the core issue when you look at

why California has declined as a State, why our quality of life has declined as a State, why we pay the highest gas taxes yet drive over the deepest potholes, why we spend tens of billions of dollars on a high-speed train and yet absolutely nothing gets built, and why we spend more and more and more money on education every year yet we have the highest illiteracy rate in the State.

The fundamental issue is not Democrat versus Republican even. It is the people of our State versus this entrenched and corrupt political class.

So I do believe that in order to get our State back on track, we need to reform the way politics and government are done in California. I believe we are actually on our way to starting to do that, not only with examples of people being held accountable as of this indictment, but also with The Coalition for Common Sense that you see forming across California, Mr. Speaker. This is the same coalition, for example, that came together last year to defeat our political establishment and pass Proposition 36 to make crime illegal again in California by an overwhelming margin, 68 percent of the vote, in that election.

So I do believe that there is a coalition of people who care about California, who want to reform our State, and who want to restore sanity and good government and common sense. Hopefully, this latest truly troubling and horrifying example will help to speed that process along in a very healthy way.

Expanding Refineries in California

Mr. Speaker, today, I voted for and the House passed the REFINER Act.

This is an important piece of legislation that is designed to identify obstacles to expanding refining capacity in the United States, and it is designed to promote energy independence.

Before we go through exactly what the bill does, I wanted to make clear why this is so important for those of us in California. California is seeing the closure of two of its refineries, Phillips 66 and Valero, which represent a significant chunk of our State's overall refining capacity.

Now, we already pay the highest gas prices of any State in the country. We also have electricity prices that have gone up by 34 percent over the last several years, The New York Times just reported, far more than any other State. We pay the highest gas prices out of all 50 States, substantially more than the national average, higher even than Hawaii, which is an island State.

The causes of that are well understood, and it is those very causes that are now causing these refineries to close in a way that is going to make the problem even worse by further constraining supply.

The reason, of course, the cause, is the taxes, the regulations, the particular fuel blend that is required, and the continually changing environmental mandates that cause the cost of doing business to continually grow and that require these refineries to continually update their equipment in a way that makes doing business just no longer viable.

All of these things together led researchers at USC to determine that, by the end of next year, Californians could be paying an average of $8 a gallon for gasoline.

The bill we passed today here in Congress, in the House of Representatives, will help with this because, in addition to the data collection that it requires and the aspects of it that seek to support an agenda designed to promote energy independence through getting rid of needless regulations, it also is looking at State actions that are contributing to our decline in refining capacity.

California, I am sure, will be the State where the most such actions are identified. I am looking forward to the results of this and then being able to act to use whatever leverage we have here at the Federal level to try to spare Californians from the continually rising cost of gasoline and to restore a little dose of common sense to our State's energy policy.

State of California's Economy

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office revealed that the State has an $18 billion deficit--an $18 billion deficit. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office noted that this is the fourth straight year that the State has had budget problems, even though revenue has been increasing.

The LAO, the Legislative Analyst's Office, also noted in their report on the State budget that the State's economy is not in good shape. Indeed, job growth this year has amounted to zero, nothing. There has literally been no job growth in the State of California.

In addition, consumers in California are increasingly pessimistic about our State's economy, so these problems have all been building and building and have, in particular, accelerated during the governorship of Gavin Newsom.

In his first year as Governor, our State budget was $208 billion. Now, the budget is $322 billion. It has increased by more than 50 percent. Can Californians say they are getting 50 percent more for their tax dollars? Of course not.

The problems in our State have continued to grow. We continue to lead the Nation in homelessness, unemployment, taxes, regulations, and poverty.

I would hope that this latest report from the Legislative Analyst's Office will be a wake-up call for the politicians in Sacramento that we need to start doing things differently. We need to have less of a tax and regulatory burden. We need to support small businesses and workers. We need to get the budget under control, so we don't continue to spend more and more as we get less and less.

Proposition 50

Mr. Speaker, this is the first opportunity I have had to address the House since the passage of Prop 50 in California to re-gerrymander our State and to return us to the era of political gerrymandering.

Of course, I was against the proposition because I am against gerrymandering everywhere. I am against it in California. I am against it in Texas. I am against it in every State, Republican or Democrat.

My district, the currently drawn Third Congressional District, did indeed vote against Prop 50, and if it had its way, it would remain one contiguous district.

Unfortunately, this was not decided on a district-by-district basis, so it must be acknowledged that the people of California have spoken. Even though there is an ongoing Federal challenge to the new map, I am proceeding under the assumption that the new map will govern the elections in 2026.

I did want to point to one particular provision in Prop 50 that I actually support. Indeed, I think a good part of the reason why it passed is because they actually put this provision, this sentence, right there in the description that people saw on the ballot when they voted, which is the proposition that established a State policy of supporting independent redistricting nationwide. While it, on the one hand, brings back gerrymandering in California, on the other hand, it calls upon Congress to establish independent redistricting commissions in every State in the country.

I am going to answer that call to action from the voters of our State. I am currently working on legislation to do precisely what the initiative calls for, to establish independent redistricting in every State in the country. It will be modeled on the independent redistricting commission that Prop 50 just pushed aside in California.

If we can get this passed here in Congress and signed into law, then by the time of the next Census in 2030, when States are actually supposed to be redrawing district lines, the horrible scourge of gerrymandering, this scourge on our democracy, will finally be put to an end in the United States of America.

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

Mr. Speaker, this who-wants-to-be-a- millionaire provision created by U.S. Senators for themselves, and themselves alone, is outrageous. I will, of course, be voting to repeal it today.

We also need to ask how this was allowed to happen, and I have to tell you, it doesn't help that the House wasn't even here. For 6 straight weeks, House leadership decided to cancel our sessions, every oversight hearing, every markup of legislation, everything. Why? To this day, there has been no coherent rationale offered.

Throughout this time, I warned that this was not only holding back our own legislative priorities but was also making the House irrelevant in any deal to reopen the government. Of course, that is what ended up happening. The Senate never passed our CR. They negotiated their own deal. After 50 days away, the House was brought back for one fly-by vote to ratify what the Senate had come up with as our only opportunity to reopen the government.

The Senate was so thoroughly convinced of the House's irrelevance that they thought that they could literally insert a self-enrichment scheme into the legislation and get away with it. By the way, they still might get away with it because while we are passing a bill to repeal it today, that still has to pass the Senate.

We need to pass this in the House today. We need to insist that this provision be included in a must-pass bill going forward so that it cannot actually be utilized. More than that, we need to start reasserting ourselves as a House, reclaiming our authority under Article I and giving the American people the representation they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I have consistently called for the maximum possible level of transparency when it comes to the heinous crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. That is why I have consistently said that I am inclined to vote for this bill, and it is why I will be doing so today.

The victims deserve the truth. They deserve justice. They deserve closure.

For months, they have had to wake up every day to see the name of their tormentor on the front page of every newspaper, on every TV channel, as has the broader American public.

This issue has been so politicized by so many people in so many ways, which is deeply unfortunate when we are talking about matters of the highest sensitivity and untold suffering.

It is my hope that the passage of this resolution today, together with the work of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will lead to the expeditious release of all pertinent material so that we can move on.

Let's get accountability. Let's get answers. Let's get this over with.

Mr. Speaker, this is the moment to bring the senseless redistricting war to an end.

Today, a Federal District Court tossed out the gerrymandered map in Texas with an appeal headed straight to the Supreme Court. California's gerrymandered map is facing a similar legal challenge. We don't know how these cases will turn out, so there is uncertainty at this moment whether the whole redistricting war is going to end as a wash or with a modest advantage for one party or the other.

Now, it really shouldn't matter. I am against gerrymandering wherever it occurs no matter which party stands to benefit, but this present uncertainty has created a window of opportunity for a bipartisan agreement to bring this madness to an end.

Mr. Speaker, I have introduced H.R. 4889 to ban mid-decade redistricting in every State in the country. I am calling on House leadership to do the right thing and bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Not only is it supported widely by Members in this body but a poll showed that the American people support this proposal by a 3 to 1 margin. Let's pass this legislation and restore a dose of sanity to politics in this country.