Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman of the committee and I also thank the designee for yielding me this time.

I am pleased to introduce two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that deal with PFAS contamination issues.

The first amendment, amendment 125, provides an additional $5 million for the nationwide Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry PFAS health study, authorizing a total of $15 million for this critical research.

We know that PFAS chemicals are linked to devastating health consequences and are present in 99 percent of Americans, but many questions remain unanswered. This study will help get the answers our constituents deserve and the solutions we need.

I thank Representatives Kildee, Fitzpatrick, Upton, Pappas, Boyle, Rouda, and others for cosponsoring this amendment.

The second amendment, Amendment No. 126, phases out the Department of Defense's use of AFFF firefighting foam by 2025, reducing PFAS contamination and protecting our communities.

The amendment also substantially limits the Department of Defense's ability to use waivers from 6 years to 1 year. Currently, the Department of Defense can use waivers that allow the use of AFFF firefighting foam up to 2035, almost a decade longer than this phaseout provision would allow.

I thank, again, Representatives Kildee and Pappas for supporting this amendment.

I also thank Chairman Smith and his extraordinary staff for working with me on these critically important issues.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Nadler, Chairwoman Bass, and my colleague and friend from Pennsylvania for their efforts in moving this important legislation forward.

Every day our law enforcement professionals don their uniforms, show up for work, and take on the extraordinary responsibility of keeping us safe. It is work that, too often, goes unnoticed or underappreciated, a kind of quiet heroism. But that work can also exact a very heavy toll.

The Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis, STOIC, Act responds to the growing emergency in the law enforcement community. Studies show that law enforcement officers face a wide range of stressors, including responding to violent crime, managing crisis situations, and, as 77 percent of officers report, dealing with insufficient departmental support for their mission.

This stress has serious consequences. Studies indicate that 1 in 4 officers report stress-based physical health problems, and 1 in 14 meet the criteria for PTSD. Think of that: just showing up for this important work places our law enforcement professionals at increased risk for a wide range of health problems.

Suicide among our law enforcement community is rising at a troubling rate, as well. The CDC reported in 2016 that the suicide rate in this community is 50 percent higher than the national average. In recent years, the number of law enforcement who have died by suicide has even surpassed the number of officers killed in the line of duty.

According to Blue H.E.L.P., we lost 142 officers to suicide in 2016. Last year, that number jumped to 167 compared to 144 who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty.

Officers in crisis need our support. The STOIC Act, both the Senate and the House version, will reform and expand existing grant programs to better address mental health, establish suicide prevention programs, and offer aid to officers' families.

Our law enforcement officers are true public servants, and honoring their service means providing them with the support they deserve.

I thank my colleague, fellow Pennsylvanian, Congressman Reschenthaler, for speaking in one voice across the aisle and across chambers. I thank him for his passion and his leadership on this bipartisan bill. It has been a pleasure to work with him and his team on an issue we both care deeply about. I look forward to our continued efforts, and I urge all Members to support the STOIC Act.

Madam Speaker, there is a Gospel reading I like: Matthew 25: ``For I was hungry and You gave me food, I was thirsty and You gave me drink, a stranger and You welcomed me, naked and You clothed me, ill and You cared for me, in prison and You visited me.''

That spirit of welcoming and compassion is a part of what defines us as Americans. In fact, we have enshrined it in our legal code, including laws requiring safe and sanitary conditions for migrant children. Yet right now, children are imprisoned in appalling and unconscionable conditions.

These children have not been welcomed in the spirit of Matthew. Instead, they are in cages, in prison without adequate food, clean clothing, clean diapers, toothbrushes, access to showers, and a comfortable place to lay their head.

``Whatever you did unto the least of these, you did unto me.''

Madam Speaker, we will be judged as a nation, as a government, and a people for our failure to look out for the least of these. May this imprisonment end.

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

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

This amendment would increase the amount of funds dedicated to financial and technical assistance for the people with disabilities through community development financial institutions, or CDFIs.

People with disabilities and their families face a range of financial challenges that often go unappreciated. In particular, they encounter barriers, accessing traditional financial services, accumulating wealth, and obtaining financing to buy a home, pay for an education, start a business, or buy an accessible vehicle.

Just this morning, I met with my friend and constituent Peter and his family. Peter has a disability and has all kinds of important aspirations for himself.

People with disabilities also face obstacles participating in the workforce. On average, they earn less than those without disabilities. At the same time, people with disabilities face higher debt-to-income ratios and greater expenses, and they are more likely to be unbanked or underbanked.

The institutions that serve people with disabilities face similar challenges, including barriers to the capital they need to build and renovate affordable housing, community facilities, and work spaces. The consequences are direct and dire.

According to the National Disability Institute, roughly one in three Americans with a disability lives in poverty, more than twice the average rate. And because many people with disabilities depend on government benefits, they are often unable to save or accumulate assets.

This situation should trouble us all.

Thankfully, we have institutions that are well positioned to address these challenges. CDFIs serve low-income populations, including people with disabilities by providing access to affordable financial products and services. CDFIs are certified by the Department of the Treasury, and they have an impressive record of success.

Increasing the amount of funds dedicated to financial and technical assistance for people with disabilities that CDFIs can be awarded would enable them to more effectively address housing, transportation, education, and the rest. Crucially, that includes low-interest loans that enable individuals with disabilities to meet their own specific needs.

To be specific, the need for this funding is great. According to the National Disability Coalition, 33 CDFIs requested more than $15 million in the inaugural round of applications, that is for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. In that 2-year round, more than $5 million was awarded. My amendment would increase the total funds dedicated to these awards to $6 million, annually, up from the current $3 million.

We know these programs work. In my home State of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation has helped 310 Pennsylvanians with disabilities purchase assistive technology, including hearing aids, tablets, vehicles, roll-in showers, and much more.

Through access to capital, individuals with disabilities are able to make purchases that concretely change their lives. For many, CDFIs are the only way to obtain a loan, a loan that will

allow them to live their life the way they choose. That is why we should be striving for a more inclusive financial system that helps everyone flourish, one that works for the benefit of all.

In closing, I ask for this important, small increase that will make big differences in the lives of not only people in my State, but across the country.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago, 49 innocent souls were gunned down at Orlando's Pulse nightclub. In my brief moment here with you, I lift up their first names and their lives.

Edward, Stanley, Ramon, Christopher, Eric, Peter, Luis, Amanda, Jason, Cory, Shane, Kimberly, Eddie, Darryl, Deonka, Anthony, Jean, Luis, Oscar, Enrique, Javier, Jerald, Luis, Tevin, Alejandro, Franky, Martin, Mercedes, Xavier, Gilberto, Simon, Miguel, Joel, Juan, Luis, Juan, Jonathan, Jean, Rodolfo, Brenda, Yilmary, Angel, Frank, Paul, Leroy, Antonio, Christopher, Akyra, and Geraldo.

To Senator McConnell and the other leaders, take up legislation that will save lives.

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

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

Mr. Chair, public service is a high calling, and we should do everything we can to encourage our best and our brightest, really all, to pursue it. For me, the opportunity to serve in Congress is a privilege and the honor of a lifetime, and I know my fellow Members feel the same.

Unfortunately, for too many young people, public service isn't always a realistic option. Nowhere is that surer than our broken criminal justice system. There is no question that if we are going to fix the problems that trouble our criminal justice system, we need prosecutors and public defenders of the highest caliber.

Right now, students graduate law school with between $84,000 and $122,000 in debt, while jobs in prosecutor's or defender's offices pay just $56- to $58,000 a year. As a result, students who are eager to contribute their talents to work for justice to defend the rights of the vulnerable simply can't afford to. Well, we can't afford to lose them.

The John R. Justice Act was designed to fix this problem by providing student loan repayment of $10,000 a year for law students who make a minimum 3-year commitment to public service. In theory, students can earn up to $60,000 in total loan repayments, making public service a far more realistic option.

In reality, however, Congress has failed to properly fund the program. While the program is authorized up to $25 million a year, actual appropriations have fallen dramatically short and now sit at just under $2 million.

Here are the consequences: In my home State of Pennsylvania, the Commission on Crime and Delinquency was able to fund only 38 of the 167 applicants received since 2015. That is less than 25 percent. For those individuals who were fortunate enough to receive any funding at all, the grant amounts totaled only $4,100.

That is better than nothing, but for most students it is not enough to help them pay down their debt and devote themselves to public service.

It is time to act. This amendment doubles the funds provided under the John R. Justice Act, thereby delivering an immediate, substantial impact. This will mean concrete help for many more students who are eager to work on behalf of the public and build a better, smarter, more compassionate criminal justice system.

It also sends a signal that we in Congress aren't satisfied with mere rhetoric and that we will do what it takes to give every student a chance to serve their communities and their country.

Mr. Chair, in closing, I am very pleased to put this forward in hopes that we draw more talent not just in my home State but across this country to public service in prosecutor's and public defender's offices around the Nation.

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

Madam Speaker, I am delighted to welcome to this Chamber my

close friend, Rabbi Larry Sernovitz, whom we have just heard offer us a beautiful, wise prayer.

I first met Rabbi Sernovitz in Abington, in my home district, where he served Temple-Beth Am. When I was first elected to public office as a township commissioner, it was Larry, it was the rabbi, who offered a powerful benediction that evening on the importance of education, social justice, humility, and courage. Larry has been a close friend and counselor ever since.

Through Larry's rabbinical work, he has lifted his devotion to community, faith, and family. Larry lives the creed, ``Love the stranger.''

As a founder of Nafshenu in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he seeks to create a community that places people and their hopes and their dreams first.

Most importantly, Larry is a dedicated husband to Rebecca and a loving, steady dad to Sam, Daniella, and Eden, who join him today.

It brings me great joy to welcome my good friend Rabbi Larry Sernovitz and thank him for his wise prayer.

Madam Speaker, Mr. LaQuita Brown, Ryan Keith Cox, Tara Welch Gallagher, Mary Louise Gayle, Alexander Mikhail Gusev, Joshua O. Hardy, Michelle ``Missy'' Langer, Richard H. Nettleton, Katherine A. Nixon, Christopher Kelly Rapp, Robert Williams, Herbert Snelling--these are the victims of Friday's mass shooting in Virginia Beach.

That phrase, ``Friday's mass shooting,'' should sound bizarre, but it doesn't. This year is averaging more than one mass shooting per day in our country.

How long would it take to read all of the victim's names?

How long would it take to process the grief, to wrap our hearts around the scale of this tragedy?

And how long will it take for our leaders to act?

This year, the House passed legislation to require universal background checks and to close the Charleston loophole, but these measures have gone to the graveyard of bills that the Senate has created.

Each of these reforms will save lives; none of them threatens our Second Amendment rights.

I will close with the words of John Donne: Do not ask ``for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.''

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of House Resolution 354, and I ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, there are hard votes and there are easy votes. The hard votes involve competing values and difficult tradeoffs; the easy ones give us a chance to express our core American values loudly and clearly.

H.R. 5 is the right vote, and I thank Representative Cicilline for his hard work and his heart in bringing this piece of justice to us.

In most States, same-sex couples can be denied service in restaurants, fired from jobs, and evicted from homes with no legal recourse. In other words, they can be mistreated or discriminated against, and their government won't stand up for them.

H.R. 5 will end that. This bipartisan legislation will ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing, employment, credit, public accommodations, and so much more. It says that we don't care who you love, but we do care that you are treated with decency and respect.

This legislation takes us the next step in a long American tradition of expanding civil rights and protections. It affirms that, in this country, there is no ``us'' and ``them,'' it is just us.

This is a historic day. I am proud to be a part of it. Let's cast aside old prejudices and cast a vote for justice and equality.

Mr. Speaker, one rainy afternoon during my campaign last year, I was out knocking on doors. I met a man and asked what he cared about. He paused as the rain poured down around us, and he uttered a single word, ``Decency.''

Mr. Speaker, over the last several years, we have watched as our democracy sinks to new and disturbing lows. We have seen national leaders dispense with civility and compassion and replace them with cruelty. We have witnessed a debasement of our traditions and a devaluation of goodwill.

But decency, that quiet virtue, has not disappeared. If anything, we have mourned its absence because we know that decency is essential for any democracy worth wanting. Decency is that basic commitment to treat each other charitably, to try understanding each other, and to value our common humanity more than our differences.

This is National Decency Day. Let us reaffirm that commitment to one another. Decency should be a starting point of all of our conversations. It should carry us through disagreements, even when things get contentious. It should guide us through the shoals of our biggest challenges, today and every day.

Madam Speaker, this week, the Congressional PFAS Task Force, including Representatives Kildee, Tonko, and Fitzpatrick, joined me in my district to address clean water and to address PFAS water contamination. I thank them for joining me. We visited Naval Air Station Joint Base Willow Grove.

Like hundreds of other military installations across the country, Willow Grove used firefighting foam with PFAS chemicals for decades. Today, polluted water continues to flow off this base and into our region's water table.

PFAS is associated with serious health risks, including cancer and impaired immune system performance. The manufacturers, EPA, and DOD have known about some of the dangers for a long time. By the early 2000s, it was clear that PFAS was contaminating drinking water, yet PFAS remains in use, and EPA still has not established a maximum contaminant level.

This week, I introduced H.R. 2600, the Toxic PFAS Control Act. This bill phases out PFAS by banning the manufacturing and processing of these chemicals and will require EPA to regulate its disposal.

I thank Chairman Tonko for his commitment to this issue to live up to our obligation to provide clean drinking water to our families and communities.

Madam Speaker, climate change is already exacting a dramatic toll: extreme weather, unprecedented migration, and untold suffering.

Meanwhile, the administration denies basic science, and President Trump wants to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement.

But the American people--and the world--reject this approach. As Pope Francis has written: ``We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.''

When everyone from the Pope to the Pentagon warns us that we are in a crisis, it is clearly time to act.

This week we consider H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. This legislation will keep us in the Paris Agreement, along with more than 180 other countries; require the President to develop real emissions plans; and recommit the United States to global climate leadership.

My eldest son and daughter are expecting a child, and I have a 7- year-old granddaughter. I want them to know clean air and pure water.

I also want them to understand that we did everything we could to protect this wondrous planet for them and for generations to come.

I thank Representative Castor for her leadership, and I urge Members to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, over the last 100 days, this Congress has tackled many of America's central challenges. That starts, of course, with cleaning up our election system itself, and our vote on H.R. 1 is a giant step in the right direction.

We have also tackled America's gun violence epidemic by requiring universal background checks and closing the Charleston loophole.

We have passed H.R. 7, to ensure that equal work means equal pay; and we have passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, expanding protections for young victims, survivors, those in shelters, and LGBTQ people as well. On all of these, we await the Senate's vote.

Now we are advancing more of the public's priorities: H.R. 4, to restore and protect America's voting rights; H.R. 5, to protect LGBTQ Americans' rights; and H.R. 6, to defend Dreamers and TPS recipients.

In addition, we are holding hearings on climate change, infrastructure, and lowering prescription drug costs.

Finally, we are fulfilling our obligation of oversight, defending our constitutional and democratic norms.

Since January, we have worked to stand up for our fellow citizens and build a more decent, humane, and caring society.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

I rise to offer this amendment to H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.

My amendment allows for cross-agency coordination to collaborate on the prevention of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and for the agencies to share best practices for victims.

This will allow for greater efficiency and transparency, and most importantly, it will allow for the sharing of best practices and information that could help survivors of domestic violence.

With every reauthorization of VAWA since 1994, we have enhanced its protections, preserved its accomplishments, and removed its shortcomings, including adding protections for the elderly and the disabled, expanding sexual assault and stalking provisions, and fighting housing discrimination.

These reauthorizations of VAWA have allowed us to come together to work collaboratively to combat domestic violence. Similarly, my amendment asks the agencies to work cohesively together and coordinate to accomplish a common goal: to protect survivors and their families, and to end violence against women.

As we know, domestic violence plagues all communities across this country and all the districts that we represent. In my home State of Pennsylvania, the problem is no different. In the last 10 years, more than 1,600 people have died as a result of domestic violence, including people of all demographics. Domestic violence has affected the lives of thousands of Pennsylvanians. Sadly, just in 2017, two of my constituents in Montgomery County lost their lives to domestic violence.

That is why it is so imperative that we reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, because we know, since its inception, the rate of violence has decreased by a remarkable 63 percent.

We have the opportunity to come together once again and pass this bipartisan VAWA reauthorization with new and better provisions, including expanding protections for young victims, survivors without shelters, and LGBTQ people; preventing intimate partner homicides by prohibiting those convicted of dating violence from possessing firearms; and protecting the Office on Violence Against Women to ensure survivors of domestic violence have access to the much-needed resources they deserve.

I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up against domestic violence, support this amendment, and vote to reauthorize this vital piece of legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild).

Madam Chair, I thank the author of this important bill, Representative Bass, and I thank the tireless advocates who have worked to bring us to this important day.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to please support this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.