Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my frustration and outrage with the Trump administration's reckless cuts to our Forest Service.

The workforce that takes care of our forests, harvests timber, and makes them resilient to wildfires is treasured in my State of Washington and, I would say, in the entire Western United States. Cuts to this workforce endanger my constituents, endanger millions of Americans, and put our forests at high risk of catastrophic wildfires.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Whitesides).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo some of those comments because I am also in the West, in Washington State, and we are seeing the risk of catastrophic wildfires increasing every year.

Because all of this is being done under the guise of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, let me be clear that we all want our tax dollars to be spent wisely.

Let me also be clear that the people in the Eighth District of Washington State think it is a super wise investment to invest in our Forest Service that will thin the forest, prevent catastrophic wildfires, and then fight catastrophic wildfires when they occur.

I would say, and my constituents would also say because we all choke on smoke every summer, that this is not a time to cut the Forest Service. In fact, it is a time to hire up at the Forest Service because we need them more than ever right now.

We need them for fighting fires as I discussed, for maintaining our forests, but also for supporting recreation, maintaining roads and trails, and producing timber that we all need for affordable housing, and for water restoration, watershed restoration, and more.

We have heard from the administration that firefighters were exempt from the cuts, but here is the thing: About 75 percent of the people who were cut had firefighting training. In fact, they may have had different titles, but they had something called red cards, which meant they were ready, firefighting trained, and they leapt into action whenever wildland firefighters needed their help to work side by side with them. They are really indispensable employees.

I also want to say that the people who we are losing, many of them have had years of experience. They choose to work for the Forest Service, for the Federal Government, because of their passion for taking care of our public lands. They are talented. They are critical. They are experienced. They

choose to do this, frankly, for lower salaries simply because they want to serve. These are civil servants.

We are losing these really talented and critical staff through layoffs. Now, with the uncertainty, we are seeing early retirements. Frankly, given the disrespect and uncertainty, and now the impossible workload, can you imagine taking on all of the workload of your colleagues? Why would they stay? This is a very tough time to work for the Federal Government, especially in these dangerous jobs.

I am so fortunate to represent Washington's Eighth Congressional District. We have some of the most stunning nature in the country. In fact, we have the North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and two national forests stretching over 2 million acres. That is a fifth of the national forest, approximately 10 million acres in Washington State.

The U.S. Forest Service manages these public lands. We also have agreements and rely on relationships between Federal, State, and Tribal organizations and governments to manage our public land. When you cut Federal staffing, it really has ripple effects and leaves State, Tribal, and local governments lacking.

I want to express gratitude to U.S. Forest Service staff because they are also keeping our cherished public lands accessible for outdoor recreation.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you have ever been to Washington State. If you have, you will know that outdoor recreation is our pride and joy and is what sustains us. Those beautiful springs and summers, that is what sustains us when we have the rainy fall and winter.

We have already seen some of these outdoor trail accesses closed. In fact, there is one called the Denny Creek Trailhead that has experienced closures due to these staffing shortages, and that is only going to be worse as we head into outdoor recreation season.

Again, I have mentioned already the role that the Forest Service plays in wildfire mitigation; that is, thinning the forest, doing prescribed burns, doing the work that will prevent catastrophic wildfires.

In my district, Fire Chief David Walker says the Forest Service is the primary firefighting force for something called the Lake Wenatchee area. It is a favorite vacation spot for Washington families.

When you gut the Forest Service's fire response operation, that means you are taking away public safety. You are taking away safety from the people who are camping in the Lake Wenatchee area.

Mitigating risk in our forest has become ever more important with the increasing intensity of wildfires and the longer and longer wildfire season throughout the West.

In our State, we used to see wildfires mostly in the dry part of the State, east of the Cascade Mountains. Now, we see it in the entire State.

We have seen devastating fires in recent years. In fact, six of the highest risk fire sheds in the entire country are in my district.

Now is the time to strengthen our wildfire mitigation efforts, not kneecap the agency that is responsible for maintaining forest health. Firing support staff involved in wildfire response or mitigation does just as much harm as firing those that we think of as being on the front lines. They work together.

I also want to mention, imagine if you were a firefighter depending on that support staff to tell you when the weather conditions change, when the winds are shifting, because that matters for your own survival as you are fighting these fires. The support staff is every bit as important.

We are anticipating there to be further staffing cuts right before wildfire season kicks into gear, and these reduction-in-force plans are being made with little forethought and no agency engagement. We are seeing the arbitrary firing of probationary employees in every agency and then struggling to rehire them because they have cut HR.

This administration is not getting the message that every carpenter in my district knows: Measure twice, cut once. Figure out where it makes sense to make cuts before making those cuts. This is not efficiency. This is actually the opposite.

There are many roles that the Forest Service plays in research. They research how to fight pestilence that weakens our trees. They research which varieties of trees will survive best in fire. They also do research into which of these fire-prone areas is the most at risk so that they can treat those areas first.

I want to emphasize how important these Forest Service employees are to our district, the entire West, and, frankly, the entire country.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk a little bit in a moment about our Forest Service employees, some that I have spoken with since they were let go. First, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson) to speak about Forest Service cuts.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you something about the town of Roslyn in my district. It is a small town, completely surrounded by forest, and this forest is at high risk for catastrophic wildfire. In fact, it was incredibly important to the residents of the town not only to firewise their own homes but to treat the forest around the city to protect it.

I actually got to go out with nonprofits and Forest Service employees, use that drip torch myself and participate in prescribed fires in order to work to make sure that this area would not go up in flames and threaten the entire city. It is this sort of work that some of the employees in my district who were fired were doing. They were protecting homes and protecting lives. Then, after years in the Service, they were let go.

I even have constituents, a husband and wife who both worked for the U.S. Forest Service. They were both let go. They both did that work and trail maintenance. They also protected people during snow season in snow parks. These are year-round, family-sustaining jobs, and these are people without whom we all suffer.

There is another worker from my district who was fired who was actually working on harvesting timber. That timber is then sold and actually makes money for the Federal Government, but those workers were let go.

I mean, that is not efficiency. It is definitely not saving taxpayer money. It is really beyond foolish, and it is emblematic of what this administration and Elon Musk have been doing. This is not government efficiency. It actually hampers the ability for the Forest Service to be efficient and to fulfill its mission.

Taking a hatchet to these Federal agencies across the board, labeling probationary employees as if they are in

trouble for some reason, when really it just means they have been there devoting themselves to civil service for less than a year, only causes harm and disparages them. That is why I was so proud to lead a letter with my Washington colleagues calling for Forest Service terminations to be rescinded and for the administration to halt any further cuts.

This has disproportionately hit Washington State. I will continue fighting for the employees in my district, for the people in my district, for Washington State to protect our forests, to fight these cuts, and to protect the U.S. Forest Service employees who have dedicated their lives to public service.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Min).

Mr. Speaker, we have all talked about thinning forests, making them more resilient. We talked about the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

We passed a big infrastructure bill a couple years ago, and part of that was not just protecting roads and bridges. It was also protecting our natural infrastructure because of its connection with our urban areas and the wildland-urban interface and more. That involved more management of our forests, more thinning of our forests. It required more hiring up of Forest Service staff, which really emphasizes the point my colleagues have made about how this is doing the exact opposite.

I wanted to connect a couple other dots for you, just to really bring home this point. President Trump promised all along the campaign trail that he was going to bring down costs for the American people. These are costs at the grocery store, costs everywhere really.

We could talk about tariffs, but what I really want to focus on, which is a big issue in my district and my State, is the cost of housing. Young people today cannot afford to buy a house. That means they are going to struggle to build their nest egg for retirement.

One of the ways to bring down the cost of housing is to use that 8- inch diameter or smaller timber that the Forest Service brings out of those national forests, mill those, turn it into cross-laminated timber, mass produce walls, roofs, and the building materials you need to build houses quickly and cheaply.

You can do rezoning, permitting for land to use for housing, and then you can build houses quickly, starter houses, houses to just help young people get their piece of America, their safeguard for their retirement.

However, this is doing the opposite. If we are not bringing the wood out of our forests, like the Forest Service employee I just told you about who lost her job, then we don't have that cross-laminated timber.

What is happening now, we are going to rely on Canada for timber at, what, a 25 percent surcharge because of these tariffs? This is doing the opposite. It is not bringing costs down for American families. It is driving costs up to the tune of close to $4,000 per family across this country. This is damaging. Then you add on what is happening in the Forest Service, and it just drives up the cost of housing.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I first just extend my gratitude to the people who step up to serve our country, who work for the U.S. Forest Service, who protect our forests, protect our homes, protect us from choking on smoke all summer long, and now stretching into other seasons. I emphasize that it is important to use tax dollars wisely and to have an efficient government, but sometimes that means hiring up instead of firing. Certainly, indiscriminate firing is crazy, wrongheaded, and reckless. I once again object to these indiscriminate cuts, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 6 o'clock and 41 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at noon.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of millions of people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, I rise to express outrage and bewilderment at the senseless workforce cuts by Elon Musk and President Trump to Bonneville Power Administration, an agency that is not even funded by taxpayer dollars but by our utility bills.

Bonneville system operators keep the lights on. They match supply to demand, whether in a heat wave or a cold snap. They maintain the majority of our transmission lines so when we have a wind storm like our recent ones, their linemen go out and fix those lines in the worst weather. These specialized employees, frankly, are irreplaceable.

The decision by Elon Musk and by the President to fire nearly 20 percent of Bonneville workers in the name of efficiency and saving taxpayer dollars is not just wrongheaded. It is reckless and outrageous. It will make power less reliable and more expensive for our four States. In other words, it is all downside, no upside.

We have now seen weeks of taking a chain saw to our Federal programs and damage to our grid, national forests, national security, and, frankly, personal security. It is time for Congress to take our power back and protect our constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to correct the record. At the end of the 118th Congress, we erroneously added Ms. Underwood as an original cosponsor to H.R. 10438. I would like the record to formally recognize that Congresswoman Underwood of Illinois is not an original cosponsor of H.R. 10438 from the 118th Congress.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 670, the Think Differently Database Act. This legislation would require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a website to provide people with disabilities information about the different ways that they could be eligible for Medicaid, as well as the services and supports that they can access through each State's Medicaid program and whether there is a wait list to access the home- and community-based services that they often need.

Medicaid is really a lifeline for people with disabilities who are less likely to have access to other sources of coverage, and even when they do have employer-sponsored coverage or Medicare, that coverage typically does not cover the services they need, including home- and community-based services.

Unfortunately, it is often difficult for people with disabilities and their families and caretakers to access the information they need about whether they are eligible for Medicaid in the State in which they live, whether there are wait lists for the services they need, and how to apply for Medicaid.

This bill seeks to overcome some of those barriers by making information available to people with disabilities and their families and caretakers in a single, national resource.

I thank Representatives Sherrill and Molinaro for their leadership on this legislation and encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 670.

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

Mr. Speaker, I don't have any further speakers on my side, but I just want to express my appreciation to my colleague Representative Molinaro for sharing that personal account of how this matters for his family, and that just expands to so many other families in this country who really deserve to be able to access all of the services they need.

That is why I would reiterate that I very much support the Think Differently Database Act and encourage my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this very important bill that will help so many families, people with disabilities across this country, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1351, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act. This legislation, sponsored by Representatives Khanna and Carter in the House, would direct the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on youth residential treatment programs.

These programs offer a variety of services to adolescents, teens, and young adults with emotional, mental health, or substance use disorder needs.

Residential treatment can play a pivotal role in helping young people navigate serious behavioral and emotional challenges, but too often these programs only harm these children, subjecting them to abuse and neglect.

Young people deserve to be safe and properly cared for and to receive treatment in the least restrictive environment that meets their needs.

Youth residential treatment programs need proper oversight to ensure that young people are protected against abuse and neglect. This legislation would provide greater transparency around the prevalence of abuse in youth residential treatment programs, as well as recommendations to improve the implementation of best practices regarding the health and the safety of young people in these systems.

In carrying out the study, this legislation would require the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to consult with a wide range of stakeholders. This would include health professionals, individuals who have lived in youth residential programs, parents, child abuse experts, program administrators, and State and Federal agencies, among others.

I hope my colleagues will join me in this effort to strengthen accountability and transparency in youth residential treatment programs.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on S. 1351, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Khanna), to whom I am so grateful for sponsoring this legislation with Mr. Carter.

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

As a pediatrician, I reiterate my support for S. 1351, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act.

This is so important, as we have already heard through these stories, and we want to make sure that when our adolescents and young adults are sent off for care, they receive the best care and not abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to submit extraneous material into the Record.

Madam Speaker, I just want to say that I am really honored to be here today to talk about wildfires and our firefighters, how noble they are, how much support they need, and how grateful we are to them. That is why we are devoting this hour to the topic of wildfires.

Let me just start by thanking our brave firefighters and first responders for the work they do to keep us safe in all sorts of emergencies.

The last few years in Washington State and, frankly, the whole West of the United States have shown that as climate change accelerates making for hotter days and weakened trees in overcrowded forests, so does the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

All across the West, we are seeing wildfires that have grown in intensity and frequency, and our State has some of the highest risk of what we call firesheds in the entire country.

We have all felt the impact of wildfires through the damage they have caused in our communities, the smoke in the air that we all breathe and choke on every summer, and for some of us, our homes. This is especially true in places like Stehekin and Lake Chelan where the Pioneer fire just burnt for months in my district, threatening an entire community and causing evacuations. I am so grateful to the firefighters on the ground in Lake Chelan who worked tirelessly and put themselves at risk to stop the spread of that devastating fire wherever they could and to protect the residents who needed to be evacuated.

Because wildfires are an ever-increasing threat, I worked in Congress with Members of both parties to address this issue. I will talk about a couple of examples.

In Congress I am proud to have recently introduced the National Prescribed Fire Act. I introduced this bipartisan, bicameral bill along with Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon and David Valadao from California. This legislation would invest in hazardous fuels management, including prescribed fire, which is an effective, underutilized method of forest management that helps to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and choking on smoke in the summer.

More specifically, this bill would authorize $300 million in total for the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to plan, prepare, and conduct prescribed burns on Federal, State, and private lands.

It would require the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to increase the number of acres treated each year with prescribed fire.

It would establish a $10 million collaborative program based on the successful collaborative forest landscape restoration program to implement prescribed burns on county, State, and private land at high risk of burning in a wildfire.

This bill would also establish a workforce development program at the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to develop, train, and hire prescribed fire practitioners, because not all firefighters do this. It would establish employment programs for Tribes, for veterans, for women, and for those formerly incarcerated.

It would also require State air quality agencies to use current and often more relaxed, as in our State of Washington, Federal laws and regulations to allow larger prescribed burns and give States a bit more flexibility in the winter months when there is low risk of catastrophic fire to conduct these prescribed burns that reduce the risk of choking on smoke all summer.

It would also prescribe direction for setting clear standards for prescribed fire practitioner liability and studying the merits of a claims fund to aid with cross-jurisdictional wildfire efforts.

I have also worked on some other legislation that goes hand in hand with this.

One is the Forest Data Modernization Act.

This bill simply lets us know data about our forests and which ones are at the highest risk for catastrophic fire. I have also voted for landmark legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which incorporated many elements of the previously discussed National Prescribed Fire Act, like historic investments to remove underbrush and use prescribed fire to reduce these risks of catastrophic wildfire.

As an achievement in my own district, just last year the Kittitas County Conservation District received $10 million through these infrastructure funds.

Investments like this in firesheds like those in my district make tangible differences and allow communities throughout the Eighth District to be better prepared for wildfires.

However, I have to say that even with these steps, wildfires are a reality now and in the future that we are going to have to grapple with. I also want to note that in addition to doing prevention, we have a shortage of these first responders, both career and volunteer firefighters, right now. They are our heroes, and we need to take care of them the way that they take care of us.

That is why I voted for several bills to increase firefighter pay and benefits to make firefighting a year-round job and to get grants to local fire departments so that they can hire and retain new firefighters.

Wildfires aren't just an issue east of the Cascades in Washington State anymore, a notoriously wet State west of the Cascades, we are seeing these fires in the wet part of our State, including in Olympic National Forest which is a rain forest.

So I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to push forward meaningful legislation that will keep the Eighth District and the entire Western United States safe.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.

Carbajal). He is from one of our Western States. Santa Barbara has suffered some dramatic wildfires, as well.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury) to speak about the Southwest of our country where they also have suffered devastating fires.

Madam Speaker, I am so glad that my colleague, Representative Stansbury, mentioned the aftereffects of these wildfires. We all think about smoke and about forests, but we don't think about what happens when the rain comes and the mudslides that follow that cause so much destruction, as well.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stanton).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres), another Western State. We have a theme here.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. I am so sorry to hear that she lost her own home in a wildfire, and I thank her for pointing out firewise and things that people can do to at least mitigate their own risk, although these fires are out of control.

Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Nevada (Ms. Titus), another State with record hot temperatures.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for sharing her experiences, and I hope those fires are extinguished soon.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), one of my colleagues who has been an incredible partner when it comes to managing our forests, protecting them from catastrophic wildfire, to really thinking forward about how we use prescribed fire. I believe that is because Colorado and Washington State face very similar risks.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Neguse. I cannot overstate what an excellent partner the gentleman has been to work with and to fight for managing our forests and for our firefighters.

Madam Speaker, we feel that appreciation for our first responders in our hearts, but that is just not enough. We need to find that in our appropriations as well. As my colleague, Mr. Neguse, just pointed out, the pay isn't high enough. These are high-risk jobs.

We have turned them into year-round jobs for forest management. That is helpful. We have gotten pensions and Federal benefits. That is helpful. Yet think about what they do. Think about what their families go through. Think about housing. How are they supposed to find housing when they don't know where the next fire is going to be and when they don't have a salary to support themselves.

There is a way to combine all of these efforts of higher pay, more recognition, and better benefits. Frankly, we should have a path to allow firefighters to buy into Medicare early, and I have cosponsored this. We can't expect people to fight fires until they are 65 years old. It just doesn't make sense. Just like we did for veterans, we also need to have some presumption that illnesses later in life likely came from inhalation of smoke.

I also mention that there is a real need to sort of complete the cycle. It is one thing to pull underbrush out, to bring small-diameter trees out of our forests in order to protect the forests, but then there are all kinds of uses for those. We need more small-diameter mills. We need guarantees from the Forest Service that those small- diameter, 8 inches or less, trees will go and be processed.

We can create cross-laminated timber that is strong enough that we could build housing and build it more affordably with materials grown right here at home. There is a cycle there.

We can use it for biochar. All of these Western States, they are dry, too. Biochar will hold moisture in the ground and can help complete this cycle. I have a business in my district that creates something called wood straw. It works better than regular hay or straw in stabilizing a hillside because it kind of sticks into that mud and allows seeds to germinate more quickly. We can use these products and complete that cycle and make it pencil out financially.

I also give a nod to a community in my district, the community of Roslyn. Roslyn, a small town, absolutely adorable, sits surrounded by forest. It is one road in, one road out. That is it.

This community is really just waiting for a disaster to happen, but they didn't just sit back and wait. They put in for community project funding and got a good chunk of Federal dollars so that they could manage the forests surrounding their town. That means that there could be a catastrophic wildfire, but it would slow or, hopefully, stop by the time it got near the town.

The community got so involved and excited about this, the forest management, that they each took it upon themselves to firewise their homes, and this has become part of the culture, and it is what we need to do throughout the West to protect our forests and to protect our communities.

I don't believe I have any speakers left, and so I just emphasize that gratitude to our firefighters and my commitment to continuing to work for healthier forests, for the wood products industry, for good environmental stewardship, and for protecting the West and the entire planet from escalating and accelerating climate change.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague, Representative Leger Fernandez, for her commitment to ensuring women's access to abortion care, no matter where they are in this country. This is because extreme Republicans are doubling down on their out-of- touch--and I will repeat--extreme attacks on women as they march toward a national abortion ban.

Make no mistake. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court deprived millions of women the freedom to make one of the most personal and important decisions of their lives.

As a physician, in fact, a pediatrician, I understand that reproductive healthcare, including abortion, is part of women's healthcare.

There is simply no place for politics in the exam room. This is a personal decision between a woman and her doctor. It is not a government decision, and government should not be meddling in healthcare. This is a slippery slope, as we are already seeing.

When there is a claim by my colleagues, by my Republican colleagues, that life begins at conception, the moment a sperm touches an egg, boy, that is a slippery slope.

We have already seen what that has done to IVF care. Parents who desperately want children are unable to have families now in Alabama because of this ruling. This is interfering with even more aspects of women's healthcare.

Next is contraception. Again, make no mistake. As one of two pro- choice woman doctors in Congress, you can count on me to do everything I can to protect women's access to safe abortion.

Mr. Speaker, this is why the Women's Healthcare Protection Act, which will keep government out of this most personal and important medical decision, is so critical to pass.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Oso landslide. On that tragic day, 43 people lost their lives when an entire hillside collapsed, smothering the town and burying it in mud.

Washington State was forever changed. Among the victims were veterans, a nurse, and even elementary school students. They were parents, grandparents, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and children, all beloved members of their tight-knit community along State Route 530, and we remember them today.

As we mark 10 years since this tragedy--and it feels as if it was yesterday--I would like to extend my condolences to the friends and family members of those victims. While we can't change the past, we can honor those who passed away by working toward a safer future.

As the Representative of this community, I have worked to increase funding for emergency communications and services and supported the National Landslide Preparedness Act, all of which help ensure that we understand what conditions make such a landslide more likely and are ready if such a disaster strikes again.

People of Oso and the surrounding communities along SR 530 are in my heart today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 3391, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0.

This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Representatives Wexton and Cole, plays a crucial role in providing essential support for pediatric cancer and disease research.

This bill is named in honor of Gabriella Miller, a Virginia resident who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at the age of 10. Gabriella was an inspirational activist who tirelessly advocated for research into childhood diseases like cancer until her passing in October 2013.

Her strong voice and bravery turned tragedy into the original Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act, which was signed into law in 2014. This research program at the National Institutes of Health has made progress toward understanding childhood cancer and disease.

The original law established a 10-year pediatric research initiative fund and authorized funding for childhood disease research. The law has also led to the founding of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center, a comprehensive data resource for research and patient communities meant to advance discoveries.

Despite this progress, cancer is the top disease-related cause of death for children and teens in the United States. It is estimated that over 9,500 American children under age 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Wexton, for her leadership

on this legislation, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' to make a significant impact in the fight against pediatric cancer.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I simply would encourage all my colleagues to vote for this important bill to help cancer research, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).

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

Mr. Speaker, the United States faces a significant crisis with one of the highest maternal mortality and morbidity rates among developed nations.

According to the most recent data, in 2021, more than 1,200 women died as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, continuing an upward trend over nearly 20 years.

Racial disparities in maternal outcomes continue with Black and indigenous women dying at three times the rate of White women.

Additionally, rural areas experience higher rates of maternal mortality compared to urban areas, and yet, experts and research using the Maternal Mortality Review Committee data indicates that at least 80 percent of maternal mortalities are preventable.

H.R. 3838, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023, is bipartisan legislation to reauthorize support for State-based Maternal Mortality Review Committees until 2028. These committees play a critical role in reviewing pregnancy-related deaths to identify causes and make recommendations for the prevention of future mortalities in their State. The legislation also requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, to work with HRSA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, to share best practices to prevent maternal mortality with hospitals and healthcare providers.

Enacting this legislation will provide the needed ongoing support of Maternal Mortality Review Committees, ultimately enhancing the safety of women throughout their pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum experiences while reducing racial disparities and outcomes.

The legislation is supported by over 85 organizations across the healthcare spectrum. I am pleased that it is before us today, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).

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

I am so pleased this bill is before us today. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this very important bill that will save lives.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3821, the Firefighter Cancer Registry Reauthorization Act of 2023, sponsored by Representative Pascrell from New Jersey.

H.R. 3821 reauthorizes funding for the critical research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, to monitor and study the relationship between career-long exposure to dangerous fumes and toxins and the incidence of cancer in firefighters from 2024 to 2028.

Created in 2018, the National Firefighter Registry was established to address knowledge gaps and improve nationwide data collection capabilities and monitoring of cancer incidence from a large and diverse population of firefighters.

Studies have shown that firefighters may have a greater risk of some types of cancer due to their exposure to smoke, toxins, and hazardous chemicals. The registry's work is a collaboration amongst epidemiologists, public health experts, clinicians, and firefighters. Thousands of firefighters have enrolled, making it the most extensive initiative ever undertaken in our country to comprehend and mitigate cancer risks among firefighters.

This bill is supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, among others.

I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

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

Let me emphasize, Mr. Speaker, how important it is that we look out for our heroes, our firefighters, as well as they look out for us.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this very important bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 498, the 9-8-8 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act, sponsored by my colleagues, Representatives Cardenas and Obernolte.

On July 16, 2022, the 988 lifeline became available to all landline and cell phone users to access a network of over 200 local- and State- funded crisis centers. The suicide and crisis lifeline is there for anyone who is struggling with anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation.

Since its launch, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation,

the 988 lifeline has received almost 5 million contacts. Nearly 1 million are from the Veterans Crisis Line, a designated part of 988. The others have consisted of 2.6 million calls, almost three-quarters of a million chats, and more than 600,000 texts.

In December 2022, the 988 lifeline experienced a cybersecurity breach, which resulted in a daylong outage across the country. This lifeline is imperative to suicide prevention and utilized by constituents in every one of our districts.

The legislation on the floor today would require better coordination and reporting on potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the 988 lifeline with the goal of preventing future cyberattacks and disruption of services. The bill would require coordination between the lifeline and the chief information security officer at the Department of Health and Human Services to prevent cybersecurity attacks. The suicide hotline's regional and local network administrators would also be required to notify the government of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents. Finally, the Government Accountability Office would be required to conduct a study evaluating cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities in the 988 lifeline system.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the State of California (Mr. Cardenas) to discuss this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have visited the 988 center in my area and seen the dedication of the providers, and we need to make sure that we protect this lifeline from cybersecurity risks.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3836, the Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act, sponsored by Representative Crenshaw from Texas and myself.

As a primary care physician and a Congresswoman, I am excited to see the Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act come to the floor today.

Allowing Medicaid to utilize the direct primary care model is a huge shift in the way that Medicaid patients and doctors interact for the better. Direct primary care is structurally different than traditional care models, because it is not designed around fee-for-service billing, but, rather, focused entirely on providing patients the best care possible.

This is made possible by having Medicaid pay an affordable monthly fee that, in turn, allows doctors with a set number of patients the time and flexibility to provide the best possible care and the ability to schedule appointments that are the right length in order to provide all of the support those patients need for optimal health.

Some appointments might take 90 minutes. Some might take 10. In the direct primary care model, doctors have a number of patients, or a patient panel, that they are responsible for caring for, and a smaller patient population means more time spent on things like education, preventative care measures, and being able to talk through and address critical topics like nutrition, exercise, stress, and social determinants of health that can't always be thoroughly addressed during a typical time-limited primary care appointment.

In turn, this means better patient understanding of and involvement in their own healthcare, fewer visits to the emergency room, and ideally better outcomes. Other trials of direct primary care have shown exactly those outcomes.

Dr. Garrison Bliss is a pioneer in this effort, starting up the first direct primary care practice in Washington State in 1997. His last year in practice was 2020, the year we were met with COVID. He had just 450 patients with the average patient in their midsixties. Their age put them at an increased risk for COVID morbidity and mortality, and patients in this age group generally require more care or just a smaller-sized panel.

Not a single one of his patients died from COVID during that first year, when we still didn't have vaccinations or treatments and we were still learning about the disease. He credits this to the fact that he could reach them, and they could reach him readily and have conversations about their care and talk with them about their COVID concerns.

He could send out newsletters directly with pertinent information. If his patients had a question about whether or not to go to the emergency room, he was available to give advice by being there for his patients. Consulting with him prevented ER visits with no compromise in care.

This model of care deserves to have more pilots around the country, hopefully with similar results, better outcomes, lower costs, tighter relationships between doctor and patient, and improved patient and physician satisfaction.

If these benefits are consistently achieved, then all people, no matter their level of income or insurance, deserve the option of a direct primary care model, including Medicaid.

I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3836.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, whatever we can do to expand affordable care, improve healthcare, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and bring down costs is a win for our constituents. That is why I am excited to sponsor this bill, the Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act, that allows the use of direct primary care.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3843, the Action for Dental Health Act, sponsored by Representatives Kelly and Simpson.

Access to oral healthcare is critical to ensuring a person's overall health and well-being. Too often, however, oral healthcare is overlooked. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in both children and adults in the United States. In fact, more than one in four adults have untreated cavities, and nearly half of American adults show signs of gum disease.

Clearly, we need to do more to expand access to oral healthcare, including strengthening the oral healthcare workforce.

The Action for Dental Health Act will reauthorize State oral health workforce improvement programs. These programs seek to enhance dental workforce planning and development through the support of innovative programs that meet the individual needs of each funded State.

I hope my colleagues will join me in this effort to strengthen and expand access to oral healthcare. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3843, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).

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

Mr. Speaker, I speak now as a pediatrician. In addition to limiting children's consumption of sweet drinks and frequent snacking on carbohydrates, to providing fluoride for all of our patients, we absolutely need to expand the oral healthcare workforce to provide dental care for our patients.

I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3843, and I yield back the balance of my time.