Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today, I am voting to approve legislation to cover massive costs incurred by the self-described ``King of Debt'' for wasteful tax expenditures that we, Democrats, strongly opposed.

While his other claim to be ``a stable genius'' never had an ounce of credibility, Trump has indeed earned the undisputed title, ``King of Debt.''

Republicans have a ``dine and dash'' strategy--run up a tab for a massive feast for the wealthiest one percent, and then dodge the bill to cover it. It is surely a new low.

More than $2 trillion for a massive tax scam. Multinational corporations in America today, thanks to their shenanigans, now pay an effective tax rate of less than 8 percent, with 55 corporations paying absolutely nothing on $40 billion in combined profits. That is the equity that they added to our Tax Code as working families around this country paid their fair share.

Even more public debt was incurred as we rightly responded to help Americans recover from Trump's pandemic incompetence. After ignoring COVID and sound medical advice from his own scientific advisors, then refusing the most basic public health measures, his failed mismanagement has been devastating to our country, both in lives and in dollars--hundreds of thousands of American lives. They are marked out on the Mall today with white flags all around the Washington Monument, and they have taken a toll on one American family after another.

Last year, it was bleach; this year, it is horse dewormer. You could not make this stuff up.

While there is no limit to the duplicity of those that are politically enraptured by the Trump personality cult--those with so little commitment to American democracy that they refuse to recognize the result of the last national election and continue promoting the big lie, there is a statutory limit that this Congress faces for our national debt.

Today, it must be raised in recognition of all the damage that Trump and his delusional cohorts have wreaked on our country. Putting ``America First'' or ``Making It Great'' surely includes not driving it off a cliff into a self-inflicted, politically-motivated financial disaster.

Madam Speaker, ``Let Freedom Ring'' has been replaced by Texas Republicans with ``Let vigilantes hunt.''

Neighbors spying on neighbor. Offering $10,000 bounties on a driver, a physician, anyone who offered counsel. So invasive that an Arkansas convict has now sued a San Antonio physician. Mandatory motherhood, even in cases of rape and incest, with Republicans targeting only those survivors who are seeking healthcare.

Protect the fundamental right of choice. Reject this narrow-minded, unconstitutional, Republican power-hungry, vigilante injustice. Join us next Saturday at the Women's March for Freedom at the State Capitol in Austin.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Hydrocephalus Awareness Month. Every September patients, caregivers, and their families come together throughout our Nation in support of the more than 1,000,000 people of all ages living with hydrocephalus in the United States.

As co-chair of the Congressional Pediatric and Adult Hydrocephalus Caucus, I believe Congress has an important role to play in both raising awareness of this condition, as well as in crafting policies that result in better treatments and potentially a cure. I urge my colleagues to join the caucus to learn more about this devastating condition. In addition, I urge you to join Representative Chris Smith and I in showing your support for this community by cosponsoring our resolution, H. Res. 20, which supports the goals and ideals of National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.

Anyone can develop hydrocephalus, an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain, at any time. From children to veterans, the breathtaking prevalence of this condition is reflected in my own district. For example, the physicians and staff at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio perform the brain surgeries necessary to treat many of the one in 770 babies across the country who develop hydrocephalus per year. Nationwide, these cases alone cost the U.S. health care system $2 billion per year.

Veterans and active military personnel, such as those stationed at Joint Base San Antonio, are also disproportionally affected. Since 2000, more than 370,000 U.S. service members have sustained a traumatic brain injury, and it is estimated that 14 percent of those individuals with severe TBI--over 50,000 service members--could develop hydrocephalus as a result.

I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Hydrocephalus Awareness Month and, more importantly, their constituents, by joining the Congressional Pediatric and Hydrocephalus Caucus and cosponsoring H. Res. 20.

Madam Speaker, one of the most important honors we have as Members of Congress is to nominate candidates from a competitive pool of young men and women who want to attend our Nation's elite military academies. Among the first I nominated was Michael Files, a James Bowie High School graduate from Austin, Texas, who sought admission to the United States Naval Academy. A nomination doesn't guarantee admission or success, but Commander Files enjoyed both.

It brings me great satisfaction to know that Commander Files has gone on to do so much on behalf of our Nation, in and out of the uniform, His service in the U.S. Navy, which led him all over world, such as Guam and Japan, earned him several awards such as the 2011 Navy Times Sailor of the Year, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal and many others.

In addition to serving in the Armed Forces, Commander Files served his fellow neighbors as a Commissioner for the City of Alexandria Human Rights Commission. During his tenure from 2009 to 2011, Commander Files held public hearings related to housing discrimination and age discrimination in Employment--highlighting his dedication to civil rights. In recent years, Commander Files has led the Navy Talent Acquisition Group in San Antonio where his team recruits high-quality candidates from Texas who are interested in joining the U.S. Navy.

Outside of his uniform, Commander Files is actively involved in the community, volunteering with organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and the NAACP. Commander Files' exemplary service to America and his local community is emblematic of what makes America a great Nation.

I wish Commander Files the very best as he and his family celebrate his well-deserved retirement.

Mr. Speaker, since they make such important decisions concerning mobility, social and economic opportunity, metropolitan planning organizations across the country have boards that should be fully representative of all those who are served within their jurisdiction. And while some MPOs do just that, my amendment No. 25, which was a part of en bloc No. 1, addresses those that do not by ensuring that MPO board membership is equal, equitable, and proportional to the population.

I would like to engage in a colloquy with the chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for supporting this amendment and trust that you share that objective.

If, for example, as happened down in Texas, an MPO arbitrarily provides that a new MPO voting representative gets added any time a new city comes along and surpasses a population of 50,000, but is not providing a voting representative for every 50,000 residents in longstanding urban areas, would you agree that that does not constitute representation which is equal, proportional, or equitable, and that with the adoption of this amendment a change must be made to ensure equal representation?

I thank you very much for accepting the amendment. I think it will be helpful to us here.

Much of my concern about this issue arose from the fact that in our area, my hometown of Austin, an effort was made to require in transportation planning that we measure greenhouse gas emissions and that we consider that. It was rejected, and it is not representative of the feelings of people in the central Texas area.

I appreciate not only your endorsing amendment No. 25, which can bring about important changes, but also incorporating in the base bill the Green Transportation Act which we worked on with your staff to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are measured, evaluated, and considered in transportation planning.

Mr. Speaker, 55 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson overcame sustained Republican opposition to enact Medicare. It has been a literal lifeline for millions. Those who suffered without healthcare before Medicare now have access to a family physician and hospital care when they need it.

Former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, in this very room, plotted to let Medicare wither on the vine. Millions of Americans would have withered had he been successful. Yet, generations of Republicans have sought to privatize it, cut it, or weaken it. Surely, some of the strongest evidence of the success of Medicare, through all of these times, is the claim by today's Republicans that after so many failed attempts to weaken Medicare, they are here, quite amazingly, claiming to be its new protectors.

Of course, this comes following their understandable desperation to justify their inexplicable efforts to deny the relief that was offered by the American Rescue Plan: the survivor benefits; the unemployment; the small business and rental assistance so vitally needed; the support for getting our students back in school, the funding to keep State and local employees doing their jobs. Republicans have resisted that rescue plan with the same fervor that they resisted Medicare in the first place. So determined are these folks to oppose anything that President Biden advances, they have come out here and claimed that the rescue plan means Medicare cuts, which certainly it does not.

Most of Medicare falls within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, which I chair. We do need to strengthen Medicare. The latest financial report suggests that additional revenues will be needed to sustain Medicare beginning in 2026. Some of the changes that are needed are largely accounting adjustments, and others will require additional revenue.

Mr. Speaker, what our colleagues should be doing is coming together to work with us to ensure the permanent security of Medicare.

Medicare works, but after 55 years, it needs some updates. It has not provided adequate protection against pharmaceutical price gouging; it does not cover most of dental, hearing, and vision care; and, of course, too many Americans are just too young to benefit from Medicare.

I believe we need to be working together to make Medicare better and more widely available to more Americans, because health security is American security.

Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of those who teach, who heal, who protect, who study; for those whose entrepreneurial talent advances our economy--for all of our Dreamers. They have so much to contribute and they are American in every way except on paper.

For so many long years, they have been burdened with uncertainty because of the anti-immigrant hysteria whipped up by these Republican fanatics. In San Antonio, San Marcos, and Austin I have met with them personally; Dreamers in Texas, where releasing their full potential, through approval of this bill, would have such benefit to all of us.

Today let's move forward to reject the Republican nightmare and achieve the dream so that these deserving young people may truly share in the entire American Dream. This bill must only be the beginning.

Madam Speaker, a movement led by the Texas Council on Family Violence, and so many other advocates, first won passage of the Violence Against Women Act and brought the National Domestic Violence Hotline to Austin, which has now offered 5 million lifesaving responses. This act brought much-needed funding and hope to women across America who led coalitions.

Yet, the scourge of violence has continued. In San Antonio, a Collaborative led by Judges Monique Diaz and Peter Sakai has supplemented incredible Family Services led by Marta Peleaz and Patricia Castillo's PEACE initiative. I have joined them for two town halls to listen, learn, and respond.

In Austin, Kelly White and Julia Spann continue the Safe Alliance, as Maria Johnson expands the Hays-Caldwell Center. But too many violent beatings have turned into killings. Because this reauthorization would close ``the boyfriend loophole,'' denying a gun to an abusive partner, the NRA and its Congressional Republican allies have been blocking renewal.

Today, we call on them to choose life, to recommit to VAWA, and foster a society where every person is treated with dignity.

Mr. Speaker, rescue and relief for those awaiting lifesaving vaccines, for struggling small businesses, indebted families about to lose their home, for impoverished children, and for those who are eager to get their children back in school, survival checks are coming.

And the same Republicans who delayed relief for 7 long months last year seem determined to block this lifeline this year. Texas families tell me they cannot wait for more of your Republican gamesmanship. Our mayors and county judges across Texas, they have been the ones who stood alone, shouldering the burden of leadership, after multiple Trump failures and outrageous Abbott interference. They need help in providing for our communities. That is the relief we will provide.

Let's preserve the promise of life and liberty for those whose future has been dimmed by hardship. Republicans will not again deny the relief that we are delivering today.

Mr. Speaker, this bill simply requires that the background check for a purchase that occurs within a gun shop applies outside a gun shop. That doesn't take away anyone's right, but it does protect us from convicted criminals, fugitives, and family abusers who are prevented from evading the law to buy a weapon of war online or at a gun show. Texas Gun Sense knows the gap in safety makes no sense.

Unfortunately, NRA has come to stand for ``No Republican Action.'' They offer us only moments of silence for mass murder, but they always come up short with one very important type of ammunition--courage. Students in March for Our Lives have that courage. Moms Demand Action are steadfast in demanding meaningful action.

As these gun lobbies continue to oppose reasonable action, we must speak up for gun safety. We must listen to the victims of violence before their number is increased by another El Paso shooting, another school shooting, or another concert interrupted by gunfire.

We must act now to save lives.

Madam Speaker, death and destruction at this Capitol from recent Trump-instigated violence shows the result of insufficient policing. The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and in my area, Mike Ramos and Javier Ambler, and too many more, from misconduct, show the result of insufficient justice. As the name of this bill, ``Justice in Policing,'' indicates this bill is not about removing the police; it is about removing the injustice. It seeks accountability.

It seeks equal justice under the law by our law enforcers, particularly for people of color, who have too often been victimized by systemic racism. Instead of working with us to make it better and secure our communities and more justice for all, many of today's Republican opponents are only spouting the poisonous slogans of Trumpism. Because Black and Brown lives do matter, let's approve this bill to achieve greater justice for all in an America that is safer for all.

Madam Speaker, this bill restores guardrails to our democracy that almost went off the rails as Republicans pledged their loyalty to the cult of Donald Trump. Republicans have long found success creatively suppressing the votes, restrictive voter ID laws, limiting voter hours, locations, and extreme gerrymandering.

Having repressed votes for so long, it is hardly a surprise that their reaction to those voters who manage to overcome the many obstacles placed in their way is now turned to throwing out and repressing the vote and ignoring the will of the majority.

Fearing voters, fearing accountability, in their opposition to this bill and in legislative efforts across the country in some 43 States, the Republican solution to losing power in the last election is to reduce the number of voters in the next election.

Truth for them is not a matter of the facts. It is whatever Trump declares. Fraud is their description of any election that they lose.

Today's bill favors turning out the votes, not throwing them out. Let's protect American democracy which worships, above all, the voice of the people expressed through free and fair elections; not bowing before the golden idol of one who has betrayed our country.

``Reconciliation'' defines not only this budget process, but, to most Americans, it simply means that you come together to overcome prior differences. President Biden has made clear his desire to reconcile, to come together. We welcome Republican proposals, but we steadfastly reject Republican delay. Too many Americans are struggling to let these filibustering Republican Senators repeat what happened last year. You remember, Mr. Speaker. We waited, we waited, and we waited more than seven months, and, finally, they yielded at the edge of Christmas and gave us too little, too late.

After so much dithering, today represents an opportunity for Republicans to reconcile. They need to reconcile with the truth. They need to reconcile with the facts--not phony ``alternative facts,'' but reality; to come together, with us, for American families who never received those 100 million vaccines that President Trump told us would be here last year, to reconcile with the reality of anxious Americans today who are out there calling, standing in lines, and trying anxiously to get some protection from this pandemic that wasn't provided last year.

When the Senate is permitted to become a graveyard for important legislation for American families, too many Americans are sent prematurely to the graveyard.

Could anyone have imagined here a year ago that Trump Republicans who refused to prepare and respond to this pandemic--remember when they claimed that the virus would simply just disappear like a miracle?

Could anyone have imagined that now as a result of their approach, almost half a million Americans are dead and more to come from their vanishing virus?

As that virus has evolved to become more transmittable, cannot our colleagues evolve to hear the need for vaccine, for food, and to not having people sleep under bridges?

Let's reconcile, let's make amends, and let's deliver relief now.

Mr. Speaker, for years Donald Trump has honored thugs worldwide who suppress democracy. For months, with a daily diet of lies, he has made clear his refusal to accept any election in which he was not the winner.

After failing completely in his repeated attempts to intimidate both Republican election officials into committing fraud and Republican- appointed judges into ignoring our Constitution, he made a desperate attempt last week to block the final election count and prevent the peaceful transition of power essential to democracy. Trump basically attempted to overthrow the government, to violently overthrow the first branch of government, this Congress.

Like his deadly reaction to the pandemic, he totally bungled the deadly attack. Both his frenzied riotous mob and his congressional enablers were defeated. America, we did ``stop the steal.'' We stopped Donald Trump from stealing our democracy and imposing himself as a tyrant.

Today, we not only demand accountability for his gross misconduct, but more importantly, we declare to the next Trump-like aspiring tyrant, not in America, we love our democracy too much. Our Capitol is scarred, but our democracy survives. Violating his sworn duty to protect and defend our Constitution by seeking to violently overthrow the government by inciting violence, lighting the flames of a deadly insurrection. If this is not impeachable, nothing is.

Mr. Speaker, ``Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated, and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in our military? Really?''

``They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own, brought in by parents at young age.''

Those were the words of a President Trump tweet on September 14, 2017, but, unfortunately, Donald Trump is a man of his last tweet. Later, when a bipartisan group of Senators went to meet with the President and present a viable bipartisan plan, he flew into a racist rant and refused to act.

Only because of Federal court orders, consistently rejecting the Trump administration arguments, do our Dreamers have any protection today.

I have visited personally with these young people: a nurse, a teacher, a county prosecutor, a key person in a small business, many students. They are contributing to our communities, and America is stronger for their presence. They are Americans in every sense except for the documents that allow them to fully participate.

Mr. Speaker, if protection for our Dreamers is terminated, all of us will lose.

A coalition of Texas businesses has estimated that Texas, alone, will lose $6 billion in economic activity every year.

Mr. Speaker, let's provide our Dreamers the certainty of a clear path to citizenship. Let's recognize them as the full-fledged Americans they certainly are.