Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I extend my sincere thanks to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) for their leadership on the floor today and for the long- standing diligence and civility that they bring to each and every debate. It is not lost on me at all.

I also thank the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Federal Lands, Representative Grijalva; Representative Tom Tiffany; and Federal Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Neguse. They have my sincerest appreciation. It has been a bit of a struggle to get to this point, but we found a way to get here in a bipartisan manner, and I am deeply, deeply appreciative.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6826, legislation to designate the visitor and education center at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine as the Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center.

The Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is a unit of the National Park Service, and it resides in the heart of my congressional district in Baltimore. As many Members may know, Fort McHenry was, as was mentioned earlier, the site of the historic Battle of Baltimore, the conflict between British and American forces which came to a head in the War of 1812.

During the clash, American forces beat back British sea and land invasions off of the busy port city of Baltimore and permanently neutralized the commander of the invading British forces.

The resistance of Baltimore's Fort McHenry during bombardment by the Royal Navy inspired the poem ``Defence of Fort M'Henry,'' which later became the lyrics to ``The Star-Spangled Banner,'' our national anthem.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people from across America visit the fort to engage in outdoor recreation and to learn more about one of the most defining moments of our Nation's history.

The late Senator Paul Sarbanes, who served in this body for 6 years before eventually being elected to the Senate, was a champion of Fort McHenry from the beginning, and he firmly believed that the site would always be critical to understanding and appreciating our national heritage and our national identity.

Throughout his career, Senator Sarbanes worked tirelessly to facilitate public enjoyment and a real understanding of the historic events and the people who are still connected to that site.

Senator Sarbanes was and remained a true American patriot. He secured millions of dollars in Federal funds to enable critical repairs of the fort's deteriorating seawall, its masonry, and its foundations, and it stands as it does today and looks as it does today so much because of his tireless efforts.

Likewise, he worked to introduce numerous bipartisan bills that eventually established the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail as the 26th such trail in America. The trail covers Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the State of Maryland.

Telling the stories of the events, people, and the places that led to the birth of the national anthem is one of the things that he took a great deal of pride in. Of course, he worked to build the visitor center, which we are discussing today, at that historic fort.

As we know, Congress may authorize placement of a commemorative work, such as the naming of a center, in cases where there is compelling justification for the recognition that would permanently express the noteworthy and national relevance between both the person and the site.

Having served here in this body with some of you--and I know I served with him many years ago--and having served with John Dingell, the distinguished ranking member's husband, Paul worked very, very hard not just to lift up the idea of saving and preserving the fort but why it was important to do it together as Democrats and Republicans.

I particularly thank his son, John Sarbanes, who has served with us now

for almost 18 years, who will be leaving this body in a few weeks, for the opportunity to be able to champion and to run with this legislation as an honor to his father and certainly as an honor to him.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that passing H.R. 6826 undoubtedly would be a fitting tribute to Senator Sarbanes' memory and an appropriate acknowledgement of his connection to and advocacy for the site, the State, and the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this legislation for a selfless American who gave everything he had and could to the Nation that he so loved.

Mr. Speaker, due to longstanding obligations in my Congressional District, I was unable to make three votes yesterday.

Had I been present, I would have voted: NAY on Roll Call No. 458 for H.R. 9495; NAY on Roll Call No. 457 for H.R. 5342; and YEA on Roll Call No. 456 for H.R. 82.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a Maryland leader who is a visionary when it comes to policymaking and the epitome of Black excellence. Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins is a commanding trailblazer in our state who is currently serving as the Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

Delegate Wilkins was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to the United States at just five years old. She was raised in neighboring Delaware and attended the University of Delaware before concluding her studies with a master's degree from American University.

Chair Wilkins has always been steadfast in her lifelong mission of enacting policy change that makes a substantial difference in people's lives. Before she ever held public office, Wilkins began her professional career as an intern at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She would impressively develop within the organization from her position as an intern all the way to her current full-time role as the Director of State and Local Government Affairs working fiercely in the realms of immigration reform, education equity, and civil rights legislation.

Wilkins' first steps into the political arena were through her positions on the board of the Montgomery County Association of Black Democrats and the Montgomery County Young Democrats. In 2014, she was elected to the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee.

Then, in 2016, she was appointed to fill the vacant state delegate seat in the Maryland House of Delegates 20th District--becoming the first African American woman to assume this position. From the moment she took office, Delegate Wilkins has been a passionate and powerful voice in the House of Delegates on behalf of all of her constituents in Montgomery County, Maryland. She is respected by so many of her peers for being unapologetic in her fight for what is right.

Delegate Wilkins masterfully embraces the spirit of legislating and swiftly transforms her legislative ideas into law. As the Vice Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, she has used her standing within the legislature boldly to lead the passage of election policy and expanding voter access--including the passage of Maryland's permanent mail-in ballot list, voting access for incarcerated individuals, and expansion of early voting sites.

Her other legislative pursuits have encompassed other consequential policy areas including the passage of legislation pertaining to racial profiling and justice reform, maternal health, and increasing educational outcomes for all students. Wilkins' monumental record in the House of Delegates resulted in her being elected Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland in 2022.

Without question, Chair Wilkins displays steadfast resoluteness with the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland as she paves the path forward for Maryland's diverse communities at the helm of the nation's largest state Black Caucus. Her tenure as the Caucus Chair has been forward thinking, dedicated, and triumphant fighting every day to improve the quality of life for Marylanders everywhere.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pen these words to commend Chair Jheanelle Wilkins for her pride, determination, and spirit. I am eager and enthusiastic for her future, and Maryland's future, with Chair Wilkins at the forefront of our historic State House.

Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida for yielding. I know there are a lot of people who have a lot to say about someone whom we cared about and loved, and so I do appreciate this opportunity. I thank her and the honorable gentleman from the State of Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is the chair of the caucus, for convening this Special Order tonight.

It is a Special Order for a lawyer and a legislator, a woman who saw things that were not and found it in her heart to find a way to make those things come into existence. I extend my condolences to her husband, Elwyn, to her two adult children, to other members of the Jackson Lee family, and to the people of Houston who knew her, embraced her, loved her, and kept her.

I first heard of Sheila Jackson Lee before she ever got here. In fact, I was a Member of the House then, and she came in with a big class. I think she got here in `95, and she won the election in 1994. I think Jim Clyburn was a part of that class, Bobby Scott, and Maxine Waters, a number of people

who came in the door bigger than life, and there was Sheila who was also bigger than life.

They taught us along the way things that were sometimes not so obvious about fighting for what you believe in. She was a member of the Houston City Council before she got here, and they didn't know what to do with her because she would not stop fighting for the things that she believed in. Madam Speaker, one of which was gun control and gun safety long before it became something popular for people to talk about and to advocate.

It was in that Houston City Council that Sheila passed their first- ever gun safety ordinance, putting the onus on parents to keep guns away from children in the house, to keep them locked, or to not have them there altogether. Some people thought it was an overreach, but nobody knows to this day how many lives may have been saved and how many children could have been injured that were not. It was many years later that that same council and many of the people of Houston thanked her for what she had done.

Before Sheila got here, Craig Washington was the elected Member of that district, and in his first term, Sheila challenged him for the congressional seat.

She said: I need your support.

I said: Sheila, Craig just supported me to be chair of the Black Caucus 2 years ago. I can't turn my back on him.

She said: Well, don't turn your back, turn your front. Just stay out of it.

I said: Okay, I am going to stay out of it.

Everybody said she couldn't do it, you can't beat Craig Washington, and we all now know how that story concluded.

When she came here and took the oath of office, I, like so many others, gave her a great big hug because I knew not just the Congressional Black Caucus but the Congress in general was going to be made better because of her indefatigable spirit.

Sheila is a woman who never rested. You could walk the Halls here at midnight and see her hanging out at a Rules Committee meeting trying to make sure she can get an amendment or trying to make sure she can find a way to make a difference.

I remember that first year of 1995 when she got here. She went up to Charlie Rangel and said: I want to know everything you knew about Barbara Jordan.

Charlie said: Well, you did know Barbara, right?

She said: Yes. I loved her and admired her, but you know what I don't know because you served with her, so tell me all about the way she was here and how she made a real difference.

Then, she came over to me afterward and said: And I want you to stay here because I want you to tell me all about Mickey Leland. You served with him. You and Mickey were buddies, and you sat with him the night before he left to take that flight that he never came back from. I want to know what you talked about and what is going to happen now that he is gone and I am here. How do I find a way, like with Barbara Jordan, to make a real difference in this House?

Her spirit was irrepressible. She had a personality that was all her own.

The word was that witnesses coming before the Judiciary Committee didn't want to come before the Judiciary Committee if they were wrong because they knew, as a trained lawyer, she would find a way to pick them apart. She did so over and over again. She did it not for herself but to have the truth come out and to make sure that the testimony was something that people could build on and learn from. She worked so hard.

I am looking at this white bouquet of flowers, and I almost picked it up and walked it over to that aisle, on the edge where, every year, every President that came down that aisle had to shake the hand, say hello to, and pay some homage to Sheila Jackson Lee.

We loved her. We still love her, and we will always love her. She was a worker who made all of us around her work harder, and we are all so much better because of the fact that she served here.

Madam Speaker, our dear friend, Don Payne, Jr., passed away a couple of months ago, and many of us went to Newark for the funeral. It was a tough loss, just like this is. I had served with his dad, so it was especially tough for me because his dad and I were buddies.

I point now to Congressman Jackson of Illinois, who I said to that day: Thank you so much for taking care of Sheila.

She could barely get up to Newark with us, but she cared so much about paying tribute and honor to someone she worked with and cared about that she found a way, barely walking, to get on that plane to go to that funeral and to come back.

I commended Congressman Jackson for taking the time to do all that he could to make her trip better and to keep her safe from all that could have gone on, not so much on the trip but in terms of her health because we all knew that she was declining. We didn't know what was going on.

I thank Jonathan for that. My thanks to all the members of the caucus who are here, all of whom have stories about Sheila and our love for her.

Madam Speaker, I can say because I feel her spirit will remain in this place for a long, longtime to come. Every time somebody says Juneteenth, they are going to say Sheila Jackson Lee, or reparations, Sheila Jackson Lee.

She would run behind us: Have you signed on to H.R. 40 yet?

We would say yes. She would say: Go get me two others.

Again, I thank my colleague so much for yielding. My thanks to all from the caucus who are here, and I thank Congresswoman Lee for reminding us of some stories that we had long since forgotten.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Roger Williams and Ranking Member Nydia Velazquez for their cooperation in getting this piece of legislation to the floor.

This amendment represents, in many respects, the sort of amendments that are bipartisan that have come about under their leadership, first in this Congress and then in the previous Congress when their roles had been reversed. It is a good process to have, and I honestly hope that other committees can follow the example here.

The U.S. Federal Government, in case people don't know, is the largest customer in the entire world. The government spends more than $690 billion every year on products and on services and is required by law to have those services meet the application, meet the solicitation, and then be considered properly. The government requires also by law that it gives equal consideration to businesses where applicable.

Once an agency has evaluated and assessed their needs, acquisition personnel will post a solicitation on the Federal Government's System for Award Management. It is also commonly known as SAM.gov.

That posting then is used to document and to track the eligibility of an individual or an entity to be able to receive Federal funds.

Now, winning a contract can secure for a small business tens of thousands of dollars for their products or their services where applicable, which also results, obviously, in huge financial gains, but the problem here is that this is not a simple feat.

Successfully securing a government contract requires fortitude and tenacity over and over again, day in and day out, as small businesses will need to do in order to be able to take advantage of that solicitation.

Now, not only can it take a long time for a small business to win their first government contract, but it also requires a significant amount of financial resources. They have to be invested in the process.

Some businesses in this country spend on average $80,000 to $130,000 just to be able to earn their first contract. They have to get the right consultants. They have to put together the right teams. They need the right expertise that goes above and beyond what their capabilities are, and it is work, work, work.

Additionally, it can take small business owners up to 2 years to start making a return on that same investment, making the need for an adequate cash flow absolutely essential. You have to be able to ride that tide, as many small businesses will tell you, and cash flow is a huge part of that.

Now, despite the prospective awardees' heavy lift, and it is a heavy lift, agencies on their own, unilaterally, without reason, can cancel the solicitation without ever disclosing why, leaving the small businessperson or the small minority business left on their own to recoup the money that they have put in and also being unable to bid right away on something else.

It leaves entrepreneurs in the dark. It causes them to be depleted of their resources and absent of any guidance on a path moving forward. The government doesn't say we have taken your solicitation, here is what you have to do. They just say we have canceled the solicitation, and then the small business entity has to figure out what they do next after that large investment.

Small business owners, in my opinion, deserve better allies in the Federal Government. That is why the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford) and I have put together in a bipartisan way the Transparency and Predictability in Small Business Opportunities Act. We think it is a remedy for a very serious problem.

The act requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to issue regulations that would provide for the disclosure of additional information when a small business solicitation is canceled.

In other words, if you are going to make a unilateral decision, you have to at least tell the small businesses who have invested money in trying to provide for that why you did it. We have a good SBA Administrator. I think that she just needs the right kind of language in a bill and the authority to be able to do just that.

The bill would also require the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to help small businesses seek additional opportunities if a solicitation that they bid on is arbitrarily and unilaterally canceled.

It is my hope and the hope of the gentleman from Missouri as well that we are able to provide them with the

opportunities they need to be able to continue to grow and develop their businesses and the opportunity to be successful rather than to be in a punitive situation where we offer bait and then snatch it back after businesses are, in fact, vested on a course of winning a contract.

Small businesses, needless to say, really have been the driving force in our economy, and I know that Mr. Williams and Ms. Velazquez will agree. After all the hard work these small businesses do, they deserve the courtesy of disclosure from the Federal Government and its contracting agencies.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of this.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to announce my introduction of the Baltimore BRIDGE Relief Act. I thank the entire Maryland delegation for their united and unanimous cosponsorship of this bill.

As most know, on March 26, early in the morning, our Nation experienced a terrible tragedy when a large cargo ship collided into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading to the tragic loss of six lives and contributing to a major disruption of the Nation's supply chain.

With so much at stake, we must have a successful response to this American disaster. This bill is a step toward accomplishing everything we said we would do: 100 percent of the way, plain and simple.

We have a long path ahead of us, and I, along with my colleagues from every corner of America, remain committed to doing what we need to do to move us along the path of recovery and toward rebuilding this bridge.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of this body to join me in voting to pass the Baltimore BRIDGE Relief Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking the gentlewoman from Texas for her opening remarks of this Special Order hour dedicated to make sure that we underscore the sense of tragedy, the sense of loss, and the sense of damage that has occurred as a result of the bridge collapse in Baltimore. I thank her again for sitting in and standing in. Your remarks were very well received. We appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today shortly to welcome other Members again who will be coming over to be a part of this Special Order. I want to call everyone's attention to the fact that somewhere around 1:30 a.m. on March 26, the Dali, a large 985-foot cargo ship weighing 95,000 tons when empty, collided, as we all know now, tragically with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The Dali's collision with the Key Bridge caused its fatal collapse into the Patapsco River and has forced the Port of Baltimore to suspend vessel traffic until further notice. All of the shipping lanes, with the exception of the ones that the Coast Guard was just recently able to open, have been closed, and we don't expect that to change until sometime around the end of May, if we are fortunate.

Aside from that, I think it is always important to recognize that it was not the collapse of the bridge alone that troubled us, but it is also the loss of human life. Our hearts continue to go out to the families who lost their loved ones on that bridge on that fateful evening.

This unimaginable disaster claimed the lives, as we know now, of six men: Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, Miguel Luna, Dorlian Castillo Cabrera, Jose Mynor Lopez, and Carlos Hernandez.

Those stories and those lives have yet to be fully understood or told, but those men, most of whom had been in this country 16 or 17 years, working in most instances two jobs, married with children and raising families, paying taxes, and doing what a lot of people would not want to do at 1:30 in the morning that high up on a bridge, filling potholes.

We, in the State of Maryland, continue to mourn them, as do people all over the country, and we know that they were, indeed, as I said, husbands, somebody's father, somebody's brother. Their passing serves as a solemn reminder to cherish our own lives and the lives of those that we really deeply care about. These men gave their heart, they gave their sweat, and ultimately gave their souls.

They leave behind six grieving families and loved ones that will never see them again. So those families can never get enough of our condolences and our prayers and our sympathies. I thank the largest Latino and immigrant organization in the Mid-Atlantic, CASA de Maryland, its Executive Director Gustavo Torres, and all of those who worked so hard to support those grieving families the day of the collapse and every day since then, both financially and emotionally. I ask that we continue to lift them in prayer in a time of great tragedy that all Americans, regardless of where they are, to some extent feel, understand, and grieve for.

I would be remiss if I did not thank President Joe Biden, who called the Governor and myself and other members of the delegation that morning to express his profound regret and his unflinching and unwavering support, to find a way to make things whole again, to rebuild that bridge, and to allow those shipping lanes of commerce to be open.

President Biden, since the beginning of this, has not wavered in his support of replacing that bridge, and not just for the sake of replacing a bridge, and to open, as I said before, the channels of commerce, but to also find a way to give hope to all of the many people who are affected, the thousands of longshoremen, thousands of dock workers that do odd jobs, all of those in the communities of Turner Station and Dundalk, Maryland, who are right at the mouth of the bridge, as well as all those small businesses and businessowners, the truck drivers and others--everyone affected when all commerce came to a halt.

I thank President Biden. We have appreciated the simple eloquence of his example in this tragedy. We pledge to work with him and with the appropriate members of the Appropriations Committee here in the Congress.

In addition to the President, I thank Secretary Buttigieg, who also reached out early that morning as the sun rose and who was one of the first boots on the ground by noon.

Secretary Buttigieg was initially responsible in making sure that the cleanup funds, the initial dollars, got appropriated and let right away. They were sent and are being used now in cleanup of the massive amount of debris, which I am going to talk about, which is almost unthinkable when you consider a bridge of that size.

Administrator Guzman and the SBA, we thank you and we thank all those SBA officials who came over and who started working with small businesses who are severely impacted by this, as was the case with Acting Secretary Su of the Department of Labor.

Now, one of the things that we believe is very important, and I think it is important to mention right now, is that the United States Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers immediately stood up a command team on the scene, immediately began working with Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, who, by the way, has done an excellent job in marshaling all of the State's resources. That command team, made up of the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the State police, the FBI, and so many others that were involved from the start of this, really has made a difference in terms of the progress that has been made thus far.

The Maryland Department of the Environment and the Transportation Authority also were very much a part of what took place.

Mr. Speaker, this unified command, as I indicated, were some of the first boots on the ground, and they have responded to these crises day in and day out with diligence and with precision. Their work around the clock, 24/7, does not go unnoticed by our city, our State, or our Nation. We owe much dedication to those servicemen and servicewomen who, even at this hour as I speak, are still very much involved, as they had been in trying to find a way to open those channels.

There are 51 divers in the water right now, going through the wreckage and trying to assess the danger in very dangerous, dark, and murky circumstances.

We still have three individuals who have not yet been recovered, and so the work of those divers is particularly important so that these families might be able to bring closure to all that is going on.

I mentioned Governor Wes Moore. I want to speak more about him and his team and the members of the Maryland delegation who have worked in lockstep with one another to get us to this point.

My thanks to both Senators in the other body, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen; the entire House delegation, Congressman Hoyer, Congressman Ruppersberger Congressman Raskin, who you will hear from in just a minute, Congressman Sarbanes, Congressman Andy Harris, Congressman Trone, Congressman Glenn Ivey, and myself.

I would like, if I might, before I talk more about the State's effort and what we are really dealing with when we think about this collapse, it is more than just concrete and bricks and steel falling into the ocean. It has disrupted supply chains across this Nation that we hope to reopen and reestablish.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), my fellow Marylander, and the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin) whose district is miles from where this happened but who has been with us every step of the way.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his interest, his work, and his dedication to this mission that is before all of us, to rebuild this bridge and open the lanes of commerce once again so that our Nation's economy is not affected in ways that would cause us unwanted and unnecessary harm.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi),

the Speaker Emerita of the United States House of Representatives. She is a native of Baltimore, the daughter of a mayor and the daughter of a congressperson, but a daughter of the city.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Speaker Emerita both for her leadership in the greater San Francisco area and also for her love for the city of Baltimore. Both cities are very, very fortunate to have her. I can only say thanks to Speaker Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, for his leadership on this, and for his steadfastness as we all try to work together to move beyond this American disaster and to create in its place a new bridge, new lanes of commerce, and new opportunities economically for people who relied so much on that port and, by the way, on every port in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words, and I thank him also for his service to this body for almost two decades. We wish him well as he goes forward. One thing we are all sure about is that his heart remains in Baltimore.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to another gentleman from the State of Maryland (Mr. Harris), who is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a Member whose entire district is the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the entire coastline. He has always worked diligently on behalf of issues affecting the bay.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his comments and to underscore what I said earlier and what was said by several other people, that this disaster is not a partisan disaster. It affects all of us in this country regardless of our political label. I commend the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Harris) for his steadfastness on this.

I am going to take a few minutes to talk about several other Members on both sides of the aisle who have, through their example, demonstrated the best way to go about dealing with a disaster like that, and that is to do it in lockstep together.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the other gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). He is the former majority leader, and he is, for those who don't know, the dean of the Maryland delegation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland, the former majority leader of the United States House of Representatives, for his comments, his friendship, and also for the effort he has put forward as a part of what we call Team Maryland, again, a bipartisan effort to correct this tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I want to do a couple of things here. Number one, I thank Speaker Johnson for the conversation that we had shortly after this bridge collapsed and for his full understanding of the impact on the Nation and why this is so very important that we, again, allow commerce to flow through that port.

I thank Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, and Hakeem Jeffries, our minority leader, for their understanding on this issue, particularly Leader Jeffries, who went above and beyond a commitment personally to try to get this thing done and to make sure that we did it together.

I would be remiss if I did not thank Tom Cole, the new chair of the Appropriations Committee, who spoke with me just 2 days after this happened and who understands completely the economic impact that this poses for our Nation as well as to Members on both sides of the aisle as we try to find a way to make sure that we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, let me be redundant and underscore the fact that this is one of the Nation's top ports. It is the largest estuary that it sits over, meaning the Chesapeake Bay and the Patapsco River, but the port itself is a significant contributor to our economy, and it is the number one port in terms of roll-on and roll-off of new automobiles. It is a great exporter of titanium, sugar, coal, and a number of other imports, as well as exports.

I will also say it has been a pleasure working with our Governor; Mayor Brandon Scott of Baltimore; County Executive Johnnie O of Baltimore County; Bill Ferguson, the president of the senate in Maryland; and Adrienne Jones, the speaker of the house, who have pushed through emergency legislation to help us to assist all of the dock workers and small businesses that are affected and helping us to move toward some sort of resolution of this issue.

I began my remarks by saying that we must not ever forget the human souls, the lives lost that day. Again, as we think about this well into the future, I hope that all of us remember that this was a bridge, but this was more than just a bridge. It became a graveyard also.

So because of the suffering that these families have endured, I would ask everyone all over the Nation to join us in understanding that this is not a partisan issue, that we must find a way together to get through this, that we must protect our Nation's supply chains and all of the risk that it poses for consumers in our society, and we can do it together.

There will be a process to determine the funding mechanisms and the funding ratios. That will all be a part of some of what the Appropriations Committee will do, I am sure, but more than anything else, this becomes a milestone. I hope that we look at it as a problem that occurred that was solved by the work, potential, and input of everybody who cared, no matter where, in fact, they were or are.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) and the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), as well as the cosponsor of this bill, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean) for their work on this measure.

I rise today in full support, obviously, of this bill, which requires the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration to submit a quarterly report on the fraud that has occurred and is being uncovered in the small business pandemic relief programs. We do want our money back, and this is about the first step in doing that.

On June 27 of this year, the SBA's Office of the Inspector General issued a white paper that the Small Business Administration disbursed more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic relief aid in the form of loans and in the form of grants. It was all done through the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Small Business Administration also issued another report. It was titled: ``Protecting the Integrity of the Pandemic Relief Programs.''

In that report, they estimated that $36 billion of the $1.2 trillion in small business pandemic relief money was obtained fraudulently. The criminals and the fraudsters had a payday on the American public.

That level of fraud, highly significant in these programs, is absolutely astonishing. It also absolutely reflects the

years-long repercussion of the 2020 decision that the ranking member spoke about earlier to loosen the antifraud protections in an effort to fast-track pandemic relief. Well, I hope we are learning from our mistakes.

It is clear that we have to do all that we can to return all of the money stolen from the Federal Government and bring the fraudsters and the criminals to justice.

This bill, which I am proud to co-lead with my colleague from Florida (Mr. Bean), ensures consistent reporting, regular reporting on progress toward the goal by requiring the Inspector General of the SBA, who has come before our committee on a number of occasions, to issue a report to Congress every 3 months, every 90 days, which includes the total dollar amount of small business pandemic relief funds that were made and the number and the type of fraud in both the new fraud cases and the suspected fraud cases, as well as the number of fraud cases that have been resolved to date at the conclusion of that 90-day period. We wanted to make sure we were regular in finding the money and reporting the money.

Again, I thank Ranking Member Velazquez, Chair Williams, and my colleague, Mr. Bean, for their work on this measure. We do want our money back, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, my thanks to Chairman Williams and to the ranking member, Ms. Velazquez of New York for their leadership. She and I were having a conversation reminding ourselves that 84 percent of all of the loosening of the guardrails that created the problems occurred while the previous administration was in office. It is important for the facts to be noted in that regard. It is not in an effort to cast aspersions, but it is in an effort to make sure we tell the truth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today like the gentleman from Texas and the gentlewoman from New York in support of H.R. 5427 which prohibits, as you have heard, individuals convicted of defrauding small business pandemic relief programs from receiving future non-disaster financial aid assistance from the administration.

It sounds like it is common sense to me. If you put your hand in the cookie jar and you steal the cookies, why should you be rewarded later for that?

To this day, our Nation has to reckon with the fact that the consequences of that decision in 2020 to fast-track the allocation of the pandemic relief funds by weakening and removing the internal controls really caused the problems. It was a recipe for disaster.

Are we even astonished that something like this would happen?

This is why so many of us argued against this in 2020.

While many of these antifraud controls are being reinstituted by the Small Business Administration, fraud in these programs has run rampant. We let the horse out of the barn and are wasting time looking at it instead of trying to find a way to get it back in. So that is what this measure does in many respects.

As the ranking member of the Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations, I have been, like many of my colleagues on the committee, incredibly concerned by the misuse and the abuse of pandemic relief funds.

Why?

It is a very simple answer: These funds could have been used to protect jobs. They could have been used to lift small businesses out of financial distress as they should have, and they could have created a circular flow of income in so many communities, urban and rural, throughout this country.

Instead, they lined the pockets of thieves and fraudsters. So that is why I am pleased to be the Democratic co-lead on this along with Mr. Williams.

This bill amends section 16 of the SBA Act to prohibit, as we said before, anyone convicted of crimes related to financial misconduct or making false statements with respect to small business pandemic relief moneys from not being able to receive nondisaster financial assistance in the future. It is kind of common sense. It really is.

So this bill ensures that those who knowingly and willfully stole Federal funds are not given a similar opportunity in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the ranking member, Ms. Velazquez of New York; the chair, Mr. Williams of Texas; Mr. Bean of Florida; and others on both sides of the aisle for working to make sure that this bill has the support it needs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues later today to be able to stand up and to vote for it.

Mr. Speaker, on September 12, 2023, I did not arrive in Washington in time for the vote on H.R. 1567--ACRES Act, as amended, and H.R. 3324--To extend the authority to collect Shasta-Trinity Marina fees through fiscal year 2029. I missed both votes because I was in attendance and speaking at the funeral for Lawrence Lacks, Sr., the last living child of the late Henrietta Lacks, the mother of the medically famous HeLa cell, and a former neighbor of mine in my youth. Had I been in D.C., my vote would have been YEA on H.R. 1567, Roll Call No. 386, and YEA on H.R. 3324, Roll Call No. 387.

Madam Speaker, I say to the ladies and gentlemen all over the country: Welcome to the United States Congress.

Only today, while we are facing a debt crisis, all of the Republicans have left to go out of town. They have gotten into their cars and their limos, and they are catching planes to go home while we are teetering on the brink of disaster.

What kind of leadership is that, Kevin McCarthy?

We have heard the list. We know what the cuts are going to affect. They are going to affect law enforcement, veterans' affairs, food assistance, education, 401(k) retirement plans, pension plans, and cuts to Social Security payments.

How can you leave town and not be here to deal with this?

All we need are five Republicans to sign this discharge petition, and it goes away. It is over with.

Everybody else has left. So what you see here today are Members of the Democratic Party making an American argument that we have a responsibility to pay our debts.

They are gone. ``Beam me up, Scotty.'' There is no intelligent life on that side of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a native of Baltimore City who has committed himself to exceptional military service, which has led him to be the 21st Black Submarine Commanding Officer in the history of the United States Navy. Commander Vance Scott will take on the distinguished task of leading the USS Nebraska through war and peace. His story of dedicated service is rooted in Maryland's 7th Congressional District and emphasizes, as Commander Scott puts it, ``that your present circumstances do not dictate your future potential.''

Commander Scott's journey began in Baltimore, where he was raised by his grandparents, William and Delores Swinton, who taught him the critical lessons of respecting authority and treating everyone with respect. As a product of the Baltimore City Public School System, he attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute where he was a member of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Here he discovered military service as a way to give back to the community and contribute to something larger than himself.

After graduating from high school, Commander Scott attended the Naval Academy, upon nomination from my dear friend, the late Congressman Elijah Cummings. Commander Scott recalls that this was a particularly demanding time for him, but it was the support and guidance of his Naval Academy sponsor parents, Colonel Warren and Harriet Kiilehua, who helped to sustain him through this phase of his maturation.

Commander Scott graduated from the Naval Academy in 2004, but his academic journey did not stop there as he eventually went on to receive master's degrees from the University of Maryland, U.S. Naval War College, and Old Dominion University. Additionally, he has had several supplementary educational experiences that have prepared him for his next assignment, including studying naval nuclear power, participating in submarine officer basic and advanced courses, and joining the Naval Academy's Leadership Education and Development Program.

After his time at the Naval Academy, his first major assignment was in the Naval Academy's Electrical Engineering Department. He was subsequently assigned to the Naval Academy as an adjunct professor and company officer, leaving him responsible for leading and mentoring over one hundred midshipmen through student development. These experiences pushed him out of his comfort zone and prepared him to lead projects and sailors in various settings.

Commander Scott has had several sea tours and duty assignments that have further prepared him to command USS Nebraska. His sea tours have included serving on USS Albany, USS West Virginia, and USS Henry M. Jackson. His shore duties include serving as Force Strategic Weapons Officers and Force Strategic Operations Officers. Additionally, he has served on the Commander Submarine Force Pacific staff as a tactical and strategic department head, where he had the opportunity to work with and learn from senior-level officers. Included in the list of officer mentors to Commander Scott are the first seven Black Commanding Officers within the first one hundred years of the submarine force, known as the ``Centennial Seven.'' Finally, he completed a tour on the Hill in the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs and manager of the undersea and strategic programs portfolio,

In July 2020, Commander Scott was selected as a Submarine Commanding Officer. He was humbled by the honor and found it overwhelming at times. He soon will be leading our finest; it is not lost on him the special place in Navy history he is taking on as only the 21st Black Commanding Officer of a U.S. submarine.

Mr. Speaker, Commander Scott's life is a testament to overcoming the odds and using all of life's experiences as opportunities to grow, serve, and give back to the communities that have given to you. He is an inspiration to us all, and I wish him the very best as he continues to represent Baltimore well aboard the USS Nebraska.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Mr. Raskin, for yielding this time.

A couple quick things. H.R. 139 is an overly broad proposal that stretches across the entirety of the Federal Government workplace to say that each and every telework policy, practice, and procedure implemented in response to the global health crisis must end immediately in 30 days because a majority of the House of Representatives says so.

Well, let's remember that in the word ``telework,'' the last four letters are w-o-r-k. People who telework are working. They are working day in and day out. And they have been working through the crisis, working to get us back to where we need to be.

The bill says that the rest of America must then take time to study the majority of our edict today to see if it made sense in the first place.

Now, if that is not a classic case of putting the cart before the horse or the tail wagging the dog, I don't know. I do know that this is not how a deliberative body, particularly this Chamber, should operate. We should at least have a hearing on this, bring in the proper agencies, review this in a real sort of way, and then figure out what we do. To act this way creates a real problem. The solution, I think, is looking for a problem, and this is not the place it ought to be.

We have not talked with OPM. We have not talked with Federal agencies. We have really not talked with the IRS. We just condemn them. You have to remember, the 5,000 IRS agents we were trying to put in place on this side of the aisle were to augment what they were doing. The IRS has been slow in terms of responding. This was an effort to speed that up.

Mr. Speaker, the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky's First District, Mr. Comer, and I, I think, want to get to one thing, and that is the idea of greater productivity, but I would ask that we think about another way to try to do this.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a Department of Defense Inspector General report dated March 30, 2021. The full report can be found at: https://www.dodig.mil/reports.html/Article/2557812/ evaluation-of-access-to-department-of-defense-information-technology- and-commun/.

[March 30, 2021]

Results in Brief--Evaluation of Access to Department of Defense

Information Technology and Communications During the Coronavirus

Disease-2019 Pandemic

Objective

The objective of this evaluation was to determine the

extent to which DoD Components provided access to DoD

information technology and communications during the

coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.

Background

In May 2006, the President issued the National Strategy for

Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan that requires Federal

agencies to develop plans to maintain information technology

and communications systems to continue operations during a

pandemic. In response, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Homeland Defense and Global Security (ASD[HD&GS]) issued the

DoD Implementation Plan for Pandemic Influenza (DoD

Implementation Plan) in August 2006 to ensure the continuity

of essential functions in the event of a pandemic. The DoD

Implementation Plan states that during a pandemic, special

consideration must be given to social distancing in the

workplace through teleworking. DoD Components' pandemic plans

should include the use of laptops, high-speed

telecommunications links, and other systems that enable

personnel to perform essential functions while teleworking.

The plans should also include the requirement to test

telework procedures, the impact of Government-wide mandated

telework on internal networks, and backup plans for

communications infrastructure.

Apart from DoD pandemic planning, the DoD Telework Policy

states that telework will be actively promoted and

implemented throughout the DoD in support of emergency

preparedness. The policy recognizes that during a pandemic,

essential and non-essential personnel and Service members may

be asked to telework; therefore, periodic telework exercises

are required to ensure its effectiveness in continuing

operations and an efficient transition to telework in the

event of a pandemic.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DoD Components began

transitioning to maximum telework in mid-March 2020. On March

18, 2020, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense issued a

memorandum stating that DoD Components could execute their

pandemic plans, or portions of their plans, at any time to

ensure the ability to perform their essential functions.

To determine the extent to which DoD Components provided

access to DoD information technology and communications

during maximum telework in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,

we administered a 43-question survey to a sample of DoD

military and civilian personnel. In August 2020, we invited

269,282 DoD military and civilian personnel to respond to our

survey to share their teleworking experiences from March 15

through August 26, 2020. We received a total of 56,057

responses, comprising 7,323 military and 48,734 civilian

personnel, for a 20.8 percent overall response rate. We also

conducted interviews with officials from the DoD Office of

the Chief Information Officer, the DoD COVID-19 Telework

Readiness Task Force, and the Offices of the Chief

Information Officer for 10 DoD Components to obtain their

perspectives on the infrastructure established to support the

increased number of teleworking personnel.

Finding

According to the 54,665 respondents who reported their

telework status, the DoD transitioned 88.2 percent of

respondents to full- or part-time telework from March 15,

2020 through August 26, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the 11.8 percent of respondents who continued to work on

site, the most common reasons provided by survey respondents

for not teleworking were that their work could not be

performed while teleworking, or they were not eligible to

telework. Of those who teleworked, survey

respondents reported problems accessing DoD Component

networks, voice and video teleconference applications, and

identified shortfalls in Government-furnished equipment

available to DoD personnel when their Components first

transitioned to maximum telework in mid-March 2020.

However, the problems cited in survey responses lessened

over time as the DoD increased its network availability

and capacity, added voice and video conferencing

applications, and purchased and distributed computer and

communications equipment.

Based on the results of the survey and interviews with DoD

officials, the DoD's initial challenges occurred because some

DoD Components had not fully tested whether their information

systems could support Government-wide mandated telework and

had not conducted telework exercises with their personnel

before March 2020 as required by the DoD Implementation Plan

and the DoD Telework Policy. Therefore, some DoD Components

were unprepared for the network and communications

limitations, as well as equipment and application shortfalls,

uncovered by the transition to maximum telework. While the

Marine Corps, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), Defense

Information Systems Agency (DISA), and the Defense Logistics

Agency (DLA) were able to immediately transition to maximum

telework, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Contract

Management Agency (DCMA), Defense Finance Accounting Service

(DFAS), and Defense Health Agency (DHA) faced challenges

during the transition.

The ability of DoD personnel to perform essential and non-

essential tasks while on maximum telework depends on DoD

Components' ability to provide enough network capacity,

communication tools, and equipment to enable the DoD's

essential and non-essential personnel to stay mission-ready

and productive while in a telework status. Some teleworking

personnel reported that they found their own alternative

solutions including the use of unauthorized video

conferencing applications and personal laptops, printers, and

cell phones to complete their work because some DoD

Components were unprepared for maximum telework. However,

using unauthorized applications or sharing DoD information

over improperly secured devices, even temporarily, increases

the risk of exposing sensitive departmental information that

could impact national security and DoD missions.

Overall, DoD Components and the majority of survey

respondents expressed positive maximum telework experiences.

Specifically, 88.1 percent of survey respondents stated that

their productivity level remained the same or increased

during maximum telework, regardless of their Component's

initial telework challenges. Many survey respondents reported

a desire to telework regularly in the future (37,146

responses) and expressed appreciation for commuting less

often (27,711 responses), better work-life balance (25,508

responses), and more flexible work hours (22,461 responses).

recommendations

We recommend that the ASD(HD&GS) revise the DoD

Implementation Plan for Pandemic Influenza to update planning

assumptions with the use of telework for essential and non-

essential personnel, align the DoD Implementation Plan with

the DoD Telework Policy, and require DoD Components to update

their plans to include revised assumptions regarding telework

for personnel and the resources required to support the

teleworking workforce.

We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

(USD[P]), in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense

for Personnel and Readiness, establish management oversight

procedures to verify that DoD Components have performed the

testing, training, and exercise requirements of the DoD

Implementation Plan and the DoD Telework Policy. The

oversight procedures should assess the ability of DoD

Components to support Government-wide mandated telework,

including the results of tests of network and

communications systems and telework exercises with

personnel.

management comments and our response

The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (DUSD[P]),

responding for the USD(P) and the ASD(HD&GS) did not respond

to the recommendation to require DoD Components to update

their Pandemic Plans to include revised assumptions regarding

telework for personnel and the resources required to support

the teleworking workforce. Therefore, the recommendation is

unresolved. We request that the ASD(HD&GS) provide comments

on the final report.

The DUSD(P) did not agree or disagree with the other two

recommendations in the report. However, the DUSD(P) stated

that the ASD(HD&GS) would work with the Joint Staff and the

U.S. Northern Command to include the use of telework for

essential and non-essential personnel in the Functional

Campaign Plan--Pandemics and Infectious Diseases, which will

replace the DoD Implementation Plan for Pandemic Influenza,

and align the plan with the DoD Telework Policy. In addition,

the DUSD(P) stated that the ASD(HD&GS) would also work with

the Joint Staff to include the use of telework for essential

and non-essential personnel in the Global Integration

Framework--Pandemics and Infectious Diseases.

Furthermore, the DUSD(P) stated that her office would

support and advocate for oversight procedures to verify that

DoD Components performed the testing, training, and exercise

requirements of the Global Integration Framework--Pandemics

and Infectious Diseases, the Functional Campaign Plan--

Pandemics and Infectious Diseases, the DoD Telework Policy,

and the Pandemic Plans. Therefore, the recommendations are

resolved, but will remain open until the ASD(HD&GS) updates

the Functional Campaign Plan--Pandemics and Infectious

Diseases and the Global Integration Framework--Pandemics and

Infectious Diseases to include the use of telework for

essential and non-essential personnel and USD(P) provides

oversight procedures for verifying that DoD Components

performed the required testing, training, and exercises.

Mr. Speaker, based on 56,000 respondents to its survey, 88 percent of the Department of Defense respondents found telework accommodations increased their overall productivity. This is not my imagination. This is how thousands and thousands of them responded in the survey.

A similar 2021 survey conducted by the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 Federal employees all across the country, found that 62 percent of them surveyed thought significantly that their productivity had been increased while teleworking based on what their previous levels were.

So Federal workers are performing for the American people and have been under the most difficult circumstances even before we got to COVID. I know that because I, like many of you, had a chance to speak to so many of them.

As the chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, this particular issue is welcomed before the subcommittee. I will convene hearings next week so that we can figure out where we are in a bipartisan way and move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I would make one point. Federal workers are not here in Washington, D.C., alone. That is the misnomer. Federal workers are in everybody's district in this entire Congress. They are looking to us to try to find a way to help them, not to punish them in 30 days. We are not going to save money on gas. We are not going to save money on energy. We are just going to go back to where we are.

Mr. Speaker, I would strongly urge that this measure be defeated.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize an extraordinary artist who has mastered the talent and skill of expression. Ms. Greta Chapin McGill translates her emotions and experiences as an African American woman flawlessly to canvas, and all who have had the pleasure to view her work are left in awe of its beauty.

Ms. Chapin McGill grew up in Washington, DC, and associates her time riding the bus around the city with blossoming a feeling of independence within herself that has run parallel during her brave journey as an artist. During this time, Greta's father took her to Constitution Hall, where he asked her to close her eyes, and ''see'' the music. The ability for art to pull us out of reality, and encapsulate us in harmony with emotion and surrealness, is what surrounded Greta as she ``saw'' the music herself. Greta's own art is a reflection of this experience, unlocking every emotion and story she can elicit from canvas and color.

Inspired by her father's encouragement that anything is possible if you believe in it, Greta began to fully pursue art. She studied painting and art history at Howard University and The Corcoran School of Fine Art, and her exceptional ability has since taken her across the globe to exhibits in Italy, France, and Switzerland. Greta has allowed her craft to take the lead in her life, as she believes one's own art is a living, breathing canvas that evolves over time through one's experiences and perspectives gained.

Madam Speaker, this is really about people over politics today, and I am glad that people all over the country are watching and listening to this debate.

It is not about the wealthy, the well-connected, and the well-off. It is about people who believe, like many of us, that we have gone too far without lowering the cost of medicine for everyday people by reducing and capping costs where they are--the $35 cap on insulin--and finding a way to close the real gap that exists in terms of affordable care and extension of the subsidies and making sure that we are really tackling the climate crisis by providing the things that will allow consumers and homeowners to do what they need to find a way to take advantage of the tax subsidies.

Most of all, it says to everyone else that this is completely paid for. This is not a tax bill. It is paid for. It is paid for by making sure that the wealthiest and corporations that really get out of paying taxes don't get out of paying taxes anymore.

It is not about the wealthy, the well-connected, and the well-off. It is about people all over this country, in Baltimore and elsewhere, who want and need this legislation.