Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, on roll call vote 55, I was not present because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY.''

Madam Speaker, on roll call votes 52, 53, and 54, I was not present because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA,'' ``YEA,'' and ``YEA'' respectively.

Madam Speaker, this week I met with south Floridians to talk about the impact of the cruel Trump shutdown, so many sad stories.

I learned about a TSA agent who just came back from maternity leave who had to send her baby to her mother in Massachusetts because she didn't have the money for daycare or Pampers.

The air traffic controllers told me that their stress level is so high now, it is a danger to all of us. And I heard from the service providers of victims of domestic violence who are worried that their shelters are about to close.

Now, Democrats, we support smart border security, not an ineffective, wasteful wall. But, listen, we can debate that at another time.

Right now, we have to open our government so that we can get back to the business for the people.

Madam Speaker, I stand with millions of Americans who say it is time to end this irresponsible and cruel Trump shutdown.

In Florida, where our borders are surrounded by water, we rely on men and women like Coast Guard Petty Officer Seth to keep us safe. Now, like 800,000 other government workers, our Coast Guard is not getting paid, and that leaves Officer Seth and his wife, Beth, and their two sons at home worried about money for food, for diapers, for paying their mortgage, for getting their gas.

Now, lawmakers, we can debate about what is needed for a secure border, but innocent people who show up to work every day to serve the public should not be held hostage by the political whim of a President.

Madam Speaker, on roll call vote 16, I was not present because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 17, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 18, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 19, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 20, had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY.''

On roll call vote 21, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 22, had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY.''

On roll call vote 23, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 24, had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY.''

On roll call vote 25, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 26, had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY.''

On roll call vote 27, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 28, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

On roll call vote 29, had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA.''

Madam Speaker, on roll call votes 13, 14 and 15, I was not present because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on all three.

Mr. Speaker, today we recognize the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, a campaign to raise awareness and spur action to end violence against women and girls.

Over the past year, with the explosion of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, women around the world have come forward with their own harrowing stories of sexual violence--an abuse of power that often causes emotional and physical distress and harms their ability to care for their family. One in three women worldwide will experience gender- based violence in their lifetimes, ranging from sexual violence and human trafficking to harmful practices like child marriage. The statistics are staggering--nearly 39,000 girls under 18 are married each day and over 200 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation.

Gender-based violence continues to hold women back from reaching their full potential. In 2012, the United States government released the Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, marking ending violence against women and girls as top diplomatic and foreign assistance priorities. On the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, let's reinforce our commitment to ensuring the safety of women and girls and recommit to women's empowerment worldwide.

Remember this: when women and girls succeed, their nations succeed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to wish all people celebrating Taiwan's National Day, a Happy Double Ten Day.

The United States and Taiwan are united in common interests and commitment to freedom and democracy. The Taiwanese people share our values of human rights, adherence to the rule of law, and freedom of speech. Taiwan is a shining example of democracy, exemplified by multiple peaceful transfers of power following free elections.

In addition to our close cultural and political partnership, the United States and Taiwan also share a booming economic partnership. Bilateral trade between our countries surpassed $86 billion in 2017, making Taiwan the United States' 11th largest trading partner. Taiwan is also a partner with the United States in our resolute efforts to combat global terrorism. For example, its contribution to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS will assist refugees as they return to their homes and begin rebuilding their communities.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recommitting ourselves to the U.S.- Taiwan relationship, and in wishing Taiwan a Happy Double Ten Day.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to work with Mr. Engel, Mr. Royce, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. And Mr. Poe, it has been a great pleasure and honor to work with you in a bipartisan manner on our Foreign Affairs Committee.

I am very proudly standing here, of course, in support of this United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, which recognizes Israel's right to defend itself and writes into law the continued cooperation between our two countries.

Defending Israel is in our national security interest, as is ensuring our great friend and ally is safe. It is more important than ever, as mentioned by my colleagues here today.

When you look at the region, there is reason to be worried: Hamas in Gaza, rebuilding its rocket arsenal and calling for Israel's destruction; Iran now threatening to dramatically increase its enrichment of uranium while constructing military bases in Syria; ISIS wreaking havoc in Sinai; and Hezbollah pointing 150,000 missiles at Israel.

So we must continue strengthening Israel's defenses, and this important bill codifies the memorandum of understanding with Israel signed by the Obama administration, the largest U.S. military assistance package ever.

The measure also expands U.S.-Israel cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including authorizing USAID to partner with Israel to aid low-income countries; by leveraging Israeli innovations in the water, food, security, energy, and global health sectors.

In an increasingly polarized Washington, Israel can never be a partisan issue. That is why I am so glad this is not a partisan issue. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed in its current form.

Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, my motion will make this bill much better. It is going to delay this legislation from going into effect until we clean up one of the messes caused by the Republican tax scam, the big giveaway to the richest few in this country at the expense of most Americans.

Now, listen to this. The 2018 Medicare trustee report predicts that the Medicare trust fund will be depleted in 2026--3 years earlier than predicted in last year's report.

Now, Mr. Speaker, why is this? Not a big surprise. The $2.3 trillion Republican tax cut for the benefit of corporations and billionaires has shortchanged the longevity of the fund that pays for the healthcare of 58 million seniors. It is called Medicare, a program that celebrates its 53rd year anniversary this month, a system that seniors have spent a lifetime paying into.

Just ask Eve in my hometown of West Palm Beach who relies on skilled nursing care, like the 1.8 million Eves in this country; or Irving in Delray, who had his prostate removed. Like Irving, 6.6 Americans rely on Medicare to pay for their hospital visits every year.

Medicare helps to keep our grandmothers and grandfathers healthy and repair them when they are sick. It allows men and women who raised families and built their country to retire in dignity without paying every last dollar for their needed well-care visit, their blood pressure medicine, or their hip replacement.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to do the right thing for the folks whom we love and who love us, take the time to fix this legislation, and put the money back into the Medicare trust fund, that was cruelly-- I say cruelly--stolen by the Republican tax scam, the giveaway to the richest 1 percent and the big corporate interests.

Let's keep Medicaid alive and well. Please support this motion to recommit.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Justin Hersh and Anushka Scudder, Palm Beach County's Do the Write Thing Ambassadors for 2018.

The Do the Write Thing challenge invites middle school students to submit essays and stories about their personal experiences with violence, bullying, and racism in school or throughout their community. These brave students share their stories to educate others about the need for more compassion and understanding in the world.

Justin and Anushka visited my office in Washington, D.C. last week and I heard their compelling stories. I commend them for their passion for making Palm Beach County a safer place for all students and hope that more will follow their stellar examples.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, keeping peace in the world, reducing terrorism, creating safe environments where countries can be self-reliant and people can be prosperous is not just about more guns and bombs.

Addressing the root causes of global upheaval is an important task. It is an important task of USAID that calls itself the world's premier development agency, which leads me to thank Mr. Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their bipartisan leadership and for the other cosponsors of this legislation for this very important bill that we call the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act, which recognizes that when girls and women of the world are free from violence, educated, and have access to tools for economic success, their communities are more safe, more economically vibrant, and more peaceful.

This is, of course, when women exert greater influence over household finances, economic outcomes for their families improve. The childhood survival rates go up, food security, and educational attainment increases for their children. Women actually place a greater emphasis on household savings, which improves a family's financial resiliency.

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to comprehend the hardships and obstacles that women face globally. I think of a girl like Fatim, born in Mali. At just 8 months old, she was subjected to genital mutilation. By age 12, her father sold her for marriage to a man she had never met. She is among the one in three girls worldwide who will suffer gender-based violence.

I think of Nasha, a young Nigerian, desperate for an education, who walks miles, fearful of sexual violence or kidnapping just to get to class. She doesn't want to become one of the 130 million girls worldwide who are out of school; or Kamila, a woman in Pakistan who dreams of starting her own business and being able to care for her family, but discriminatory laws prevent her from owning property or accessing credit.

She is among the 1 billion women in the world excluded from the formal financial system. Given all of the roadblocks, it is not surprising that women and girls are the majority of the world's poor.

Here is the thing: Many of these cruel and unfair practices make the world poorer, too, as we have heard from my colleagues. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, a leading international private sector think tank, if we change this equation and we advance women's equality, we could add trillions to the global GDP in just years.

We are recognizing today that there is an undeniable link between women's economic success and global prosperity and peacefulness and security.

Now, this bill has several components. It makes it USAID policy to do the following: to reduce gender gaps in economic opportunity; to strive to eliminate gender-based violence; to support women's property rights; and to increase the capability of women and girls to determine their own future.

Next, the bill requires that 50 percent of USAID's resources for small- and medium-sized enterprises be targeted to reach enterprises owned, managed, and controlled by women. It codifies USAID's practice of shaping policy and activities through a gender analysis.

As important, to ensure that our development assistance is reaching women, this legislation mandates that USAID track and measure improvements in women's economic empowerment, including employment, access to financial services, enterprise development, earnings and control over income, and property and land rights.

Finally, this legislation also expands the scope of development assistance from microenterprises to small-and medium-sized enterprises to reflect changes in the field.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining me in support of this critical bill. Again, it is not about bombs, military, and guns. Remember this: when women succeed, when girls succeed, their nations succeed.

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

Mr. Chair, research shows that when women have a seat at the table, the prospect that peace negotiations will succeed rises significantly.

The Women, Peace, and Security Act enacted into law last year requires the Department of Defense to leverage the unique roles women bring to the table in peace building, conflict resolution, and military operations.

This amendment would build on this law by allocating additional funding for full-time gender advisers, training foreign security forces on how to include women in their security efforts, and research on women's contributions to security at the National Defense University.

Mr. Chair, according to Womankind World, which is a global women's rights organization, women and girls suffer disproportionately during violent conflict. Sexual violence is often used as an instrument of war. Although men and boys also may be abused, it is this way that women and girls are primarily targeted. For example, during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war, an estimated 250,000 women experienced sexual violence.

The destabilizing effect of conflict on families and communities can mean other forms of violence increasing in intensity, including domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. Refugee women and girls are especially vulnerable.

Although they are disproportionately affected by conflict, women seem to be sidelined from formal conflict resolution and peace processes, meaning that postconflict recovery and reconciliation programs often overlook women's specific needs.

Over the last two decades, women accounted for just 9 percent of negotiators at peace tables. Out of 585 peace agreements from 1990 to 2010, only 92 contained any reference to women.

Despite that, women play an essential role in building peace in local communities. However, of course, women face multiple barriers. Even so, evidence shows that formal peace agreements that include women's perspectives are most likely to last.

Mr. Chair, we have an opportunity to make women's voices heard and to make the world a safer place. I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I stand here today, not only as a Member of Congress but as a mother, to say that I am outraged, I am heartbroken, and I am embarrassed by the barbaric activity of our government on our borders.

The Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy is cruelly ripping children from the arms of their mothers and their fathers at our borders. They are separating them for indefinite periods of time, often in unspeakable, unbearable facilities.

We have seen a lot of ruthless actions from the Trump administration, but this is as bad as it gets. I call it government-inflicted child abuse. I stand here committed, with like-minded citizens, millions of Americans across the country, condemning these actions and committed to keeping parents and children together when they come to the United States of America.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the committee for including language that will authorize the Department of Defense to include the role of women in their research on the National Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism.

Mr. Chairman, we are learning every day that women are active agents deterring or engaging in violent extremist movements.

A 2017 report by the organization Futures Without Violence found that several contemporary organizations, for example, the Islamic State and Boko Haram, capitalize on women's efforts and demonstrate keen awareness of the strategic and tactical potential of female extremists.

And while many, many more women are victims of terrorism, some are serving as supportive wives and mothers to the next generation of extremists; others are acting as propagandists, fundraisers, and suicide bombers.

The apparent proliferation of female actors in extremist groups, often underestimated, calls for strategies that effectively counter their participation in violent extremism.