Floor Statements

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, I rise today to draw attention to an important issue that I hope we can begin to address.

Research is at the core of our ever-changing agriculture industry, including in my district. Our farms rely on research from land grant universities like Washington State University to build resilience in the face of a changing climate, to manage pests and diseases, and to respond to drought stresses. As the number one USDA research and expenditures university in the country, Washington State University's work helps farmers in my district expand new varieties of economic powerhouse crops like pears, cherries, wine grapes, apples, potatoes, and hops.

Prior to the recent farm bill signed into law last December, the USDA could exempt nonprofit and land grant universities like Washington State University from a requirement that Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant recipients match the Federal Government dollar for dollar. It is really important to note that this waiver authority for matching requirements is available to every other ag research program in the farm bill except specialty crop research.

During consideration of the recently passed farm bill, a Senate- originated provision that dropped the exemption was included. This will have devastating impacts on agriculture in my district and around the country.

Washington is the second most agriculturally diverse State in the Nation, growing everything from potatoes to peppermint, apples to azaleas, and wine grapes to barley and wheat. Washington State University partners with the USDA to make the State of Washington one of the largest and most successful agriculture enterprises in the world.

From the beginning, Washington farmers, WSU, Washington State Department of Agriculture, and the USDA have joined forces to improve the productivity, efficiency, and safety of products coming from our State's fields and pastures.

For example, in 2018, WSU received more than $5 million in funding to research pests threatening grapes, onions, garlic, and other specialty crops. This important research, which supports our State's diverse agricultural economy, would be jeopardized under the matching requirement authorized last year.

This bipartisan amendment would underscore congressional support for vital public research like the work at Washington State University. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, in summary, I would like to encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. It will fund research throughout the country and end a process that is unfair to specialty crop farmers.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

My amendment would support farmers and ranchers who employ agricultural practices that help us meet the goals and ambitions of the Paris Agreement.

In order to combat climate change, we are all going to have to work together. Ours is a country that has already banded together to take on the greatest challenges of our times, and this is no exception. This is a time for the United States to not just partner, but to lead the world in protecting this planet for our children and future generations.

Now, farmers and ranchers are on the front line of the climate crisis, and they are stepping up. Droughts, fires,

and floods are threatening their safety and their livelihoods. My time on the Agriculture Committee and time spent with growers in my district have shown me that farmers are deeply invested in addressing our climate and are eager to be part of the solution.

Farmers are already expanding no-till practices, rotating crops, and planting cover crops to sequester carbon, fix nitrogen and other soil nutrients, and reduce erosion. With that healthier soil packed with organic matter, they are decreasing their reliance on fossil fuel-based fertilizers, increasing yields, saving water, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We must recognize and celebrate the contributions of our farmers who engage in sustainable ag practices. My amendment would support this agricultural ingenuity and creativity and prevent this administration from standing in the way of farmers and ranchers who are fighting climate change.

The climate crisis is an urgent matter, and there isn't one silver bullet. Let's recognize that the solution will require something from all of us and support our farmers who can make a tremendous dent in CO2 emissions.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

Mr. Chairman, I would just like to reiterate that it is so important that we all step up.

When I hear my colleagues talking about jobs, needing to do other things, waiting, this is too advanced. It is frustrating to see that 2 years passed and we saw absolutely no legislation to protect our climate. Kicking the can down the road further just puts our future in peril, along with the future of our children.

So I would ask for that step of faith that we will protect jobs. I am happy to say that H.R. 9 specifically notes that, in addressing our changing climate, this will create jobs, clean energy jobs, and you can rest assured that our economy will flourish with addressing our climate.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to recognize Petty Officer Second Class Margaret Nicol of the United States Coast Guard.

A fellow resident of Sammamish, Washington, Maggie grew up in a large boating community in Florida. She found out all too well at the early age of 8 that the Coast Guard is an elite group of individuals whom we can always count on when she had to be rescued by them. Driven by a desire to give back, she enlisted in the Coast Guard Reserves during high school.

After attending college, she completed 2 years of Active-Duty service in Iraq, responded to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and went on to pursue registered nursing.

After relocating to the Seattle area in 2017, she rapidly qualified well ahead of deadlines to earn her response boat-small coxswain and boarding team member qualifications. To support her colleagues, she amassed over 130 hours helping to train and qualify crew members, significantly increasing Station Seattle's Reserve mobilization readiness.

But Petty Officer Nicol's commitment to our country does not stop at the armed services. She is a business owner of FLWA Holdings, providing affordable housing for those in need in Washington and Florida. She volunteers at Food Lifeline, serves local schools in the community, and engages with the Diveheart Foundation for disabled children, adults, and veterans.

Among her accolades, Petty Officer Nicol has earned the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, and, most recently, the high honor of being named the 2018 Coast Guard Enlisted Person of the Year. She epitomizes the Coast Guard's core values of honor, respect, and devotion to duty. Most importantly, she leads by example, champions a humanitarian spirit, and has devoted her life to serving others.

Thank you, Maggie. Washington State and the Coast Guard would not be the same without you.

Tahoma High School, State Champions

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Tahoma High School, State champions.

Congratulations to the students of Tahoma High School from Washington State's Maple Valley on their 10th consecutive statewide victory and 23rd victory in the last 25 years in the Center for Civic Education's We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution annual tournament.

These smart and ambitious students from the Eighth District will represent Washington State in the 32nd annual We the People finals later this month right here in D.C., where they will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the Constitution to distinguished panels of scholars, lawyers, and leaders from across the Nation. They will no doubt uphold the standards of excellence for which Tahoma High School is known and champion the values inscribed in our founding documents.

I would especially like to recognize Gretchen Wulfing, Tahoma High School's dedicated teacher and coach for civic education. She has coached the Tahoma High School team for 11 years, was honored as one of Washington's Civic Educators of 2016, and received Washington's Civic Educator of the Year distinction in 2011. We are grateful for her dedication to our schools and to our next generation of leaders.

Congratulations to Gretchen and the hardworking students from Tahoma High School for being true warriors of the Constitution. You are exemplars of young people leading the way in the 21st century. Good luck. Washington could not be more proud of you.

We Are a Nation of Immigrants

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague, Mr. Green of Texas.

We are a nation of immigrants. It is our responsibility to welcome refugees

and to not close our doors to those seeking asylum. We are a good country at heart. We should not separate children from parents. We are better than that.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to offer this amendment to the Violence Against Women Act along with my colleagues, Representatives Lauren Underwood and also Representative Donna Shalala.

This amendment would help increase the number of healthcare professionals who are able to assist children exposed to violence and also ensures that trauma and behavioral healthcare specialists are included in efforts to address domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and childhood exposure to violence.

The long-term effects of childhood exposure to adverse experiences, which include domestic and sexual violence that go unaddressed, are chilling. Children exposed to violence, when they become adults, are more likely to have addictive behaviors, to drop out of school, and to be violent themselves.

The effects of these adverse experiences can be mitigated through counseling and other intervention services, which is why my amendment would require funding authorized under this section to be used to increase the number of social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, trauma specialists, and others who are trained in counseling children exposed to violence.

As a pediatrician, I know firsthand that if we treat adverse childhood experiences early, we can mitigate the costly long-term effects that occur later in life.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood).

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to two law enforcement officers in my district.

Police Officer Benito Chavez was injured in the line of duty protecting our community in a senseless act of violence after a car chase last week. He has only been with the Kittitas Police Department for 8 months, so he has many years of service ahead of him. I am happy to know that he is home with his family and his wife, and I thank him for his service, wish him a speedy recovery, and hope that he will be back on the job soon.

On a much sadder note, I, Kittitas County, and the whole Eighth District mourn the loss of a hero, Deputy Sheriff Ryan Thompson who lost his life in the line of duty on March 19. It is heartbreaking that Deputy Sheriff Thompson leaves behind his wife and three children. I send my deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his colleagues who have been hit hard by this tragedy. We will be forever grateful for his service to our community and to our State.

We all owe such a debt of gratitude to Officer Chavez, Deputy Sheriff Thompson, and all law enforcement professionals who put themselves at risk every day to keep our community safe.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Grijalva for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I am excited to have the opportunity to speak on this bill, and I strongly encourage all of my colleagues to support this important lands package.

Now, there is one section, the same as Dan Newhouse's, that is particularly near and dear to my heart and critical for my district and for the State of Washington. It is the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan that you just heard about.

This forward-thinking legislation will ensure water security for our farmers, rivers, salmon, and communities for the foreseeable future. It allows Tribes to make important infrastructure improvements, protects local salmon habitat, and, therefore, is also instrumental in saving our dwindling Puget Sound orcas.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud my Republican colleague, Mr. Newhouse, and also our Senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and so many people who worked hard on this plan to make it come true, for the effort they have put in over so many years to see this legislation through.

The Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan is a model for the rest of the country on how to address water scarcity in a changing climate. Partners with very divergent interests all came together with a common goal of protecting Washington's environment and wildlife and ensuring our communities are resilient in the face of a changing climate.

This agreement will help Washington State for years to come.

Madam Speaker, today is different because today I would like to honor my father, Joel Schrier, who celebrates his 80th birthday this weekend.

He grew up in the Bronx in a one-bedroom apartment with his parents and his three siblings, including his twin sister, Gloria, who will also celebrate this weekend.

He went on to study physics and work as an aerospace engineer, marry my mom, Joan, in 1964, and be a phenomenal father to my brother, Marc, and me. He was engaged and involved in our upbringing at a time when most fathers weren't. He taught me to bike and skate, showed me how to make the best French toast from Friday night challah, and inspired me to study physics. When I was diagnosed with diabetes, he helped me with shots and checking my blood sugar levels. Weekends were always for family. And for that, mom, Marc, and I are deeply grateful.

Of course, it is the values that he and mom instilled in me that really led me to run for Congress. A strong sense of justice and fairness, and an ethic that if something is wrong in the world, you do something about it: to be an upstander and not a bystander.

So, Dad, thank you, and happy birthday. We love you.

Madam Speaker, yesterday marked 1 full month of this unnecessary government shutdown, and 800,000 Federal employees are set to miss their second paycheck later this week.

The shutdown is not only affecting those workers, but we are seeing ripple effects of agencies being closed or staff being downsized. Food banks are seeing massive increases, some almost twelvefold, in demand from Federal employees, but also people who rely on help like Section 8 housing checks or SNAP benefits.

Here is some of what I am hearing. I heard from a constituent who is a career employee at the FAA that ``it is frustrating that thousands of hardworking Federal employees have become innocent pawns in the current Washington standoff between Congress and the President over funding for border security. As an integral part of the Nation's air traffic control system, my focus has always been and will always be on safety.''

He goes on: ``My dedicated colleagues and I at the FAA work tirelessly in furtherance of the agency's mission of providing the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world, despite some of us now doing so without pay.''

I have also heard from a woman whose husband is a Federal agent at the FDA. ``My question,'' she says, ``is how are we going to make ends meet without a paycheck from my husband this Friday? We adopted our sweet son a year and a half ago, draining our savings account to do so. We currently do

not have savings to fall back on during this time.

``How are we supposed to pay our rent, our bills, keep food on the table for our family, or pay for an emergency should it arise? I do have a full-time job that will at least bring us some income during this shutdown, and I am sure we are luckier than most Federal-employed families, but I can assure you that our family is in true panic mode.

``We have been doing everything in our power to ensure our family would be able to purchase a home this summer. How do we explain to creditors that we don't have the money to pay them right now without it affecting our credit?''

I have also heard from a constituent who is a furloughed Federal worker who is ``forced to come to work every day without pay due to the partial government shutdown.

``Every day that goes by, the stress and anxiety about not having a paycheck and having to support my family, all the while having to incur the costs of going to work every day, mounts. To top this all off, as an `excepted,' or an `exempt,' employee, under current Federal law, I am not allowed to apply for nor can I receive unemployment compensation.''

I have also heard from a local business owner who contracts with Federal entities. He says: ``My work has ground to a halt. I won't be compensated for any downtime, and I will have to reduce my workforce. We don't need a wall; we don't need to waste money; and we don't need symbolic racism. We need an open government that manages land, services, travel, and commerce. Please apply pressure to get the government open and our district's Federal employees, contractors, and private-sector partners back to work.''

I have heard from a constituent who served 40 years in the Coast Guard, under many different administrations, who said: ``Worst of all, it is negatively impacting the most junior members of our workforce. These are the people you will meet if you ever take your family out boating on Puget Sound or the navigable waters of this country and experience some form of distress. As a retiree, I will not be paid at the end of this month, a statement I once believed I would never have to say.''

I have heard from a social worker whose client left a domestic violence situation and recently received a letter about discontinuation of Section 8 housing benefits: ``This family, without this support, will be homeless once again, let alone the emotional strain that this is causing. Please do what you can,'' she says, ``to prevent the stress on our most vulnerable.''

The shutdown must end now. Federal employees and their families should not be held hostage for a wasteful and ineffective wall. People who rely on assistance from the Federal Government are now caught in the fray.

The House now has voted nine times to reopen the government with bipartisan bills that have similar language to what the Republican Senate passed in December, and we will introduce similar legislation today, giving Republicans in the Senate yet another opportunity to open the government.

I will not support reopening the government in exchange for the President's wall. This hostage-taking strategy must not be a successful one, or we will see it again.

The wall, as he defines it, is a monument to racism and xenophobia, an environmental disaster, and a huge waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Let's be clear that what Mr. Trump offered as a ``compromise'' on Saturday doesn't even undo the damage he alone has caused. That is no compromise; that is lip service.

Get the government open, and then we can have an informed, evidence- based discussion about the best way to protect our borders without holding the American people hostage.

Madam Speaker, I want to applaud my colleagues, especially Mr. Engel and Mr. McCaul, for sending a strong message with a vote on H.R. 221, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism Act.

Jewish people enjoy freedom, acceptance, and assimilation in this country like we never have before. Sadly, in recent years, there has been a disturbing uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric and acts both in the U.S. and Europe.

In the context of rising intolerance, hatred, and xenophobia in our country, we are witnessing emboldened normalization of anti-Semitic language and behavior. This includes anti-Semitic propaganda targeting many of us new Members of Congress. The tragic shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was the deadliest attack on Jews in our Nation's history.

Bigotry is not unique to the Jewish community. What is, however, is that we don't have anyone monitoring and responding to the uptick in anti-Semitic acts and rhetoric.

This bill elevates the State Department's top position to that of Ambassador, reporting directly to the Secretary of State. The stature of this position sends the strong message that we are committed to combating anti-Semitism here and abroad.

As a Jewish woman, anti-Semitism is personal for me, but we need to understand this in the context of the larger issues of intolerance and White nationalism that are gaining traction in our country right now.

No minority is safe when any minority is targeted. We should all be on high alert when Muslims, Blacks, Latinos, and immigrants are cast as ``the other,'' scapegoated, and dehumanized. We cannot sit idly by while people are targeted for how they dress, how they look, or how they choose to worship.

I ask my counterparts in the Senate to pass this bipartisan bill. Let's show the world that America takes this issue seriously and that hate has no place here.

Mr. Speaker, on roll call vote 29, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on HR 221, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to deliver my first floor speech today speaking about an issue that is deeply personal to me, to the patients that I care for as a pediatrician, and to thousands of my constituents in Washington's Eighth District.

As you know, the lawful nature of the Affordable Care Act has been challenged, and if the decision stands, 17 million Americans will lose their health insurance. This includes many of my patients, children, and people with preexisting conditions.

Having seen families struggle to pay ever higher insurance premiums and deductibles every year, I understand that we need improvements in our system. The answer is to shore up the ACA, not dismantle it. And as the lone woman doctor in Congress and as a patient with type 1 diabetes, I look forward to leading that conversation.

The first step is to preserve the protections that we have now, and that is why I am so pleased that the House will take steps to intervene in this court case.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to consider the fates of their constituents who might not have access to medical care without the Affordable Care Act and to support this intervention. Millions of Americans and thousands in my district are counting on us.