Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs will have been the cruel law of the land for 1 year.

In that short time, 14 States enacted near-total abortion bans, and others are trying to do the same.

Wasn't that the goal?

This is not about being pro-life or being for States' rights. The goal is a nationwide ban on abortion. The goal is control over women and girls. The goal is cruelty.

Healthcare providers, the medical experts actually in the rooms with patients who know them by name, have said many times, and it bears repeating, abortion care is healthcare.

Yet, one in three women and over one-fifth of the American public is now living without abortion access.

Mr. Speaker, 68 percent of OB/GYNs say the management of pregnancy- related medical emergencies is now worse, and 70 percent say Dobbs has widened the racial maternal healthcare gap.

Dobbs puts the physical and mental well-being of millions at risk.

Judges and legislators are grossly unqualified to make personal medical decisions for millions of women.

I have three daughters-in-law and three granddaughters. I will not rest until their full rights, until the rights of all women and girls in this country, are restored.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 521 because this is not a serious resolution.

This is political theater by the author, who clearly was not here, to distract from Donald Trump's history of transgressions and now indictments. It is also an attempt to punish Congressman Adam Schiff for effectively holding Trump to account.

Congressman Schiff protected us from fascism at home and abroad. First, on the so-called perfect call, Donald Trump withheld a meeting and crucial weapons from President Zelenskyy to protect Ukraine from Russia unless they gave him dirt on now-President Joe Biden.

Mr. Schiff stepped up as chairman of the Intelligence Committee and eventually as lead manager to defend against executive corruption.

Then, when the former President lost the 2020 election and summoned his supporters to storm this very Capitol, Mr. Schiff stood up again on the January 6th Committee to expose the former President's grotesque role.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know why my colleagues are so intimidated here, but I think it reveals their weakness.

They are intimidated by a bully, and this censure attempt reveals they are also intimidated by a patriot and the truth. Lucky us to serve with Adam Schiff.

Madam Speaker, each year I am lucky to work with smart, dedicated students in my district through our student advisory panel. I am amazed and motivated by their passion, civic engagement, and thoughtfulness. They give me hope.

Throughout this month, our communities smile, as some of these young leaders graduate from high school.

To celebrate this milestone, I congratulate each of my graduates by name:

Will Bond, Sreekara Dandibhotla, Emma Eby, Mark Ellison, Michael Gribbin, Frances Holcomb, Chloe Jeon, Elisabeth Kokorin, Phoebe Lee, Aditi Mangal, Noah Pletcher, Jayleen Santana, Caden Schaeffer, Charlie Sywulak-Herry, and Gabriella Thomas.

In addition, our task force would not be possible without the care and organization of teachers Alan Malachowski and Jenn Statler of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. I thank them both.

I wish each of our students the brightest future. I thank them for being leaders in our community, and I know they will continue to be leaders wherever life takes them.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 288, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, SOPRA.

If passed, Federal agencies would have a harder time protecting Americans from threats to our health, safety, and our well-being at a time when we need our agencies with their expertise and resources to be their most effective.

In just one of the most egregious examples, this bill would make it easier for weapons to fall into the hands of the wrong people, endangering countless American lives.

For example, it would make it harder for the Attorney General to implement regulations to improve our National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Madam Speaker, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill to our committee, the Committee on the Judiciary, and to amend this bill to ensure that the AG's rules and regulations around the background check system remains unaffected.

The system is used nationally for determining someone's ability to possess a firearm. Its effectiveness is crucial to the safety and security of our communities, communities that are already struggling and reeling with far too many guns in the wrong hands.

While Republicans and Democrats are debating on how to address the gun violence epidemic in this country, 97 percent of Americans have made up their mind. They are angry, and they know we need effective background check systems.

As part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bill that was signed into law just 1 year ago, we enhanced our background check system. We cannot afford to go backwards in any way, and this bill would do just that.

Ignoring the fact that in this country we suffer the scourge of 48,000 people a year dying of gun violence, more than 60 percent of those deaths are suicide; 8 children a day die in this country of gun violence.

I can't believe I must say this. Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for America's children. Shame on us.

Keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people is good for American communities, will save lives, will save our children's lives. We have to save more people.

SOPRA, this bill, is a dangerous bill. Thus, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of this amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, in the past year, you might have noticed a difference while doing your taxes.

If you called IRS with a question, you waited on the phone for maybe 5 minutes instead of 30 or more from years past.

If you got your tax refund in a reasonable amount of time, there is a difference. If you are one of the Americans who attempted to evade taxes and ended up paying your fair share, you can thank the Inflation Reduction Act for that.

This historic legislation has enabled the IRS to be better funded, better staffed, and better at getting hard-earned money back to the people.

My constituents have noticed. When we legislated $80 billion over the next decade to modernize IRS, Republicans

set out spreading disinformation and fear: agents coming out to get you.

They were wrong. They knew that was not the case, but they wanted to demonize IRS anyway. Instead, what happened? We saw improvements.

In one of the most immediate results from a bill I have ever seen, wait times are down to 4 minutes across the country. Tax returns are arriving without months-long delays.

In my own office, we had more than 250 cases open at any one time, trying to help constituents. Now that number is below 60.

Again, Republicans launched an attack on IRS funding during their manufactured debt ceiling crisis of the last few weeks.

Thankfully, their success against IRS was limited. They were able to claw back only a small portion of that funding that we set forward.

Still, their opposition is incomprehensible. Republicans say they don't like government, that government doesn't work. President Biden and congressional Democrats reveal that when we fund government properly, it does work.

I thank the IRS team for their hard work on behalf of my constituents and Americans all across this country.

A Scourge in America

Mr. Speaker, every year in this country, 43,000 people, 44,000 people--in one year, as high as 49,000 people-- die of gun violence.

Every single day, we lose people in this country to gun violence. Mr. Speaker, 54 percent of that horrific number is gun violence suicide.

This week the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force held a hearing, and we had six, eight, nine folks testifying before us: folks who had survived mass shootings; folks whose family members lost their lives due to gun violence and suicide; and folks who had accidental shootings take place in their communities that harmed and took the lives of others.

When we asked for a committee room in this Capitol in order to host that testimony and to learn something more about it, guess what happened?

It was Monday, a fly-in day, when these committee rooms are not busy. There was no room in the House for that committee to be hosted, so we had to go to the Senate.

Committee chair after committee chair of the Republican Party, the majority party, denied us access to a committee room to simply hear the testimony of those who know something sad and tragic all too well about gun violence.

We had the benefit of the Senate giving us a small committee room where we were stuffed in: advocates, victims, researchers, professors, and others.

That should tell you all you need to know, America, about the shame of gun violence in our country and why we are so hampered in dealing with it.

Gun violence death is preventable. It is an extraordinary scourge here in America. Yet, we are blocked by Republican majority leadership who won't even give us a room to be heard.

Mr. Speaker, let me just start by saying thank you to our leader for his moral clarity and leadership for all of us.

As Memorial Day weekend approaches and we remember those who gave so much, the last full measure of devotion, Republicans are adjourning the House and scurrying out of town, leaving behind the mess of their own making, walking out on paying our bills, turning their backs on gun violence crises, walking away from a broken immigration system.

Democrats are ready to work. It is clear Republicans are not.

Empty promises and messaging bills for the purpose of getting on FOX News or Newsmax is not real work. The real work is legislating solutions for America's families.

We need leaders, not someone afraid of his own caucus, not folks who punch out in the middle of an unfinished workweek, but leaders willing to serve the American people, not a corrupted base.

That is what I signed up for when I ran for office.

I challenge the Republican majority: Be public servants.

When Republicans adjourn, I am not going home. No, I am heading to the border with many of my colleagues right here in this Chamber to see how we can best develop a more humane, secure border. Democrats are not walking away from the hard issues.

Republicans, come on back and do your job.

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor to lift local heroes while on the House floor and to celebrate the dedication and service of our educators. Today, I get to do both.

Mr. Alex Frangoulis of the Goddard School in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, in my district was honored with the Goddard School's Teacher of the Year Award. With more than 3,200 applications, Mr. Frangoulis--or Mr. Alex as he is known to his students--shone as their national winner.

Education is one of the most powerful gifts that we can give to our younger generations, helping them to forge their own paths with the knowledge, skills, and empathy they learn throughout their schooling.

We as lawmakers have an obligation to ensure that all young students have access to the kind of high-quality early education that Mr. Frangoulis exemplifies. We have an obligation to fight for equitable funding of our schools, all of our schools, and we have an obligation to fight for universal pre-K. We know the difference that makes in a child's life and trajectory.

We have an obligation to support our teachers in every single school district.

Think of the difference a teacher in your life once made. Probably that teacher helped get you here.

We must all do everything we can to ensure every child can receive a quality education from the very beginning regardless of household income, an education that inspires them, and a foundation that helps them grow, just as Mr. Frangoulis achieves in his classroom every day.

Congratulations to Goddard School, and congratulations to Mr. Alex. He is a shining star example in my district.

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, families across the country, including my own, celebrated Mother's Day. Many of us honor the extraordinary women in our

lives with a call, brunch, or flowers. These are all lovely gestures.

If you ask a mom what she wants for Mother's Day, there is a good chance she will say peace of mind. A call doesn't give a mother time off from work to recover from childbirth and bond with her newborn. Brunch won't provide mental or physical healthcare. Flowers won't babysit or teach our children the alphabet.

This Chamber must do more for moms. What they need are:

Paid family leave to close the gender wage gap;

Access to basic women's healthcare;

Closing the coverage gap and eradicating bias from medicine to save the lives of women, especially Black women;

Quality, affordable childcare;

Universal pre-K to give our generation a strong educational foundation; and

Peace of mind that their child will not be blown away by gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, mothers are telling us what they need. I hope by next Mother's Day we listen.

Mr. Speaker, it should not be partisan or political to pay our bills because raising the debt ceiling is simply honoring our word, our commitments. In fact, the Constitution demands that the validity of the public debt shall not be questioned.

Congress has a duty, an obligation, embedded in the very framework of our being to raise the debt limit so the world knows that America will never default.

Republicans want to skip out on this bill because they don't like how Congress spent it. We spent it helping the poor, helping veterans, helping seniors. Skipping out is not an option.

Since 1960, Congress has renegotiated our debt ceiling 78 times. Under President Trump, and without any fanfare, we raised the debt ceiling three times. Now, under President Biden, House Republicans are playing arsonist with the financial well-being of all Americans and threatening to cut SNAP, create roadblocks for Medicaid, and jeopardize funding for veterans.

Mr. Speaker, real leaders would not do this. Mr. Speaker, we should end the madness.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor exhausted and fearful--fearful for women who watch every month as their rights are stripped away, fearful for my daughters-in-law, my granddaughters and yours as we deal with the fallout of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, removing decades of freedom, privacy, and dignity.

After the Dobbs decision, we warned that other freedoms would follow. Now, a Texas Federal judge is openly undermining the FDA; a Federal judge, not a doctor. Control and cruelty is the point, and they are only getting started. Today, it is an abortion drug. Tomorrow, it is IUDs or hormonal implants, then birth control medications. All of these things, which are used to prevent pregnancy or end one, are lifesaving medical tools that can treat a

variety of painful, devastating conditions, including miscarriages.

Judges have no right to overrule the personal and professional choices of women and their doctors. Politicians have no right to take options and freedoms away.

I trust FDA's 23-year approval. Mostly, Mr. Speaker, I trust medical professionals, and I trust women.

Madam Speaker, as President Biden recently said: The genius of Israel and America's democracy is they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, and on an independent judiciary.

Israel's checks and balances, its independent judiciary, faced an attack from its own, Prime Minister Netanyahu. He tried to implement so-called reforms that would turn Israel's courts into nothing more than an enforcement tool for his policies.

By undermining the independent judiciary and disregarding the rule of law, sadly, Israel's own Prime Minister threatens the very foundation on which Israel's democracy depends.

Israel must remain a democracy that protects and lifts all of its citizens, Israeli and Palestinian. We all want to see a safe and successful Israel. To be pro-Israel means always to be pro-democracy.

I celebrate the estimated more than 600,000 Israeli protesters who knew they needed to stand up for their Nation, for their democracy, who took to the streets against the blatant disregard for institutions, checks and balances, and an independent judiciary. I applaud their bravery that made it clear they will not tolerate the undercutting of their judicial system, compromising their military readiness, and moving their country in the direction of authoritarianism.

For its future, its safety, and security, for those who love her, Israelis and Palestinians alike, Israel must not abandon that genius of democracy, just as America cannot.

High Hopes for the Phillies

Madam Speaker, spring has sprung, and opening day is on the horizon. Spring is meant for new beginnings.

What a run our Phillies had last season. This year, Phillies fans come to this season with, as the great Harry Kalas sings to us after every home win, ``High Hopes'' for our Fightin' Phils.

Madam Speaker, we have high hopes for Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Kyle Schwarber, and our world-class players being led to glory by our manager, Philly Rob; and high hopes for the return of Bryce Harper and the recovery of Rhys Hoskins from his devastating ACL injury. We wish him a full recovery.

In my hometown of Glenside, we have high hopes for our two Glenside boys, Mike and Sammy Siani. Mike was called up to the majors last season with the Cincinnati Reds, and Sammy is well on his way.

Good luck to the Glenside Siani men, and watch out for the Fightin' Phils this season. Let's play ball.

Covenant School Shooting

Madam Speaker, here we are again, talking about another school shooting.

When will enough be enough in this country?

How is it that we allow our schoolchildren to go to school each day with the uncertainty of their own safety?

How do we allow parents to drop children off and not be able sometimes to pick them up at the end of the school day?

At Covenant School on Monday, in Nashville, three 9-year-old babies were slaughtered and three of their teachers, or adults, were taken, as well.

It is a shameful number. We now in this country have had 15 mass shootings at schools. When will enough be enough?

I hear an appalling silence from the majority party in this House--an appalling silence. Call for the safety of every one of our citizens. Call for the safety of every one of our children as they go to school, that they can come home safely and not be terrorized by what is going on.

Here we are the greatest Nation on the planet, and we can't keep our children safe. Let's close the background check loophole. Let's keep guns out of the hands of violent people. Let's get weapons of war out of the hands of civilians, off our streets, and out of our schools. We are failing our children and our grandchildren--this greatest Nation on the planet.

Please stop the appalling silence. Partner with us to end gun violence in this country and to end this shameful nightmare.

Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1, the polluters over people act.

Environmental protection and smart regulation, alongside responsible businesses and every single one of us, will save our planet for the next generation, for my four grandchildren, and for your grandchildren.

When my granddaughter, Aubrey, was only 5 years old, she attended an issues conference with a national candidate who asked Aubrey what she cared about. Aubrey responded, ``Trash on the playground. How do we fix that?'' a simple yet important question.

One of our most basic jobs is to protect our natural resources, protect this global playground, and regulate companies to ensure that they are not able to abuse and pollute our planet.

The deregulation that H.R. 1 allows will pollute our planet and harm health. This legislation guts critical investments in climate change, balloons the deficit, and rolls back key environmental standards, all while failing to address energy costs for Pennsylvania's families.

They are trying to do this at the same time we are seeing some consequences of deregulation right in Pennsylvania, leading to environmental disasters that could poison American families, like the derailment of the train and environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, affecting, of course, Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh suburbs, and, most recently, the pollution of water in Philadelphia.

It seems we need more regulation, not less.

Madam Chair, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle either forget or simply do not know that it was a Republican President, Richard Nixon, who, in 1970, proposed the Environmental Protection Agency, and it began operation that same year.

In the early 1970s, Pennsylvania passed a brilliant constitutional amendment, article I, section 27, which says Pennsylvanians are guaranteed the right to clean air and clean water and to the protection of our natural aesthetics for generations to come. This beautiful amendment is a reminder to all of us that we should not pass H.R. 1.

Madam Speaker, too often, the speeches we make on the floor of this Chamber emphasize our differences and divisions, but this morning I want to highlight and praise an act of bipartisanship, the creation of the Fentanyl Prevention Caucus.

Some of you know my family's story and how lucky we are that our son was not a victim to fentanyl overdose or drug poisoning, but many families have not been so lucky. Too many.

From 2021 to 2022, more than 107,000 people died of overdoses or fentanyl poisoning. Sixty-seven percent involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Whether we focus on the flow of chemicals from China, the trafficking of drugs over our border or through airports or ports of entry, we must come together to stop this poisoning that is killing our loved ones.

This Congress needs to educate and legislate our way out of this tragedy. I believe this bipartisan caucus can do just that.

I thank my fellow co-chairs, Representatives Neguse, Issa, and Calvert, for their leadership. Bipartisan work will save lives.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you proud-- proud of Pennsylvania; proud of my Democratic colleagues in the Pennsylvania House; proud of the thousands of volunteers who helped deliver a statehouse majority last November in Pennsylvania, a house majority that on this last day of Black History Month is celebrating history--or should I say her-story--Pennsylvania made today.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate and celebrate Representative Joanna McClinton, my colleague, my friend, and, as of today, speaker of the Pennsylvania House, the first woman, the first African-American woman, to be called Madam Speaker.

Speaker McClinton follows in the footsteps of men like Leroy Irvis, the first African-American speaker of the Pennsylvania House, and African-American trailblazers like Barbara Jordan and Karen Bass.

What a crucial time in our State's history, our Nation's history, to have Speaker McClinton lead us, a time when we can fairly fund our education, rebuild roads, and combat gun violence and the opioid epidemic while protecting the planet for our children and children to come.

Joanna, a mother, a minister, a former public defender, now our speaker, what a way to end Black History Month. Congratulations to the Pennsylvania House. Congratulations, and Godspeed, Speaker McClinton.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Keating for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important resolution responding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Turkiye and Syria as a result of the devastating earthquakes on February 6 and the many, many aftershocks.

The death toll from this tragedy is approaching 50,000 men, women, and children. Thousands more are injured, hundreds of thousands of buildings are destroyed, and millions of survivors have been displaced from their homes--many now residing in temporary shelters with inadequate food, heat, water, and medical care.

I commend the gentleman making this resolution. I commend the Biden administration for its swift response to this crisis. Through USAID and the State Department, the United States Government quickly mobilized search-and-rescue teams, allocated $185 million in humanitarian assistance, and continues to deliver vital relief supplies to first responders.

Rebuilding from this disaster will not be easy, and the road ahead is long. We call upon the governments in this area to support the people, to support their recovery, and to support their rebuilding.

This resolution is a symbol of our commitment to ensuring we continue to deliver assistance to those so gravely impacted by this tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Wilson, and I thank Congressman Keating for his leadership in this important resolution.

God bless the people of Turkiye and Syria.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.