Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the North Crowley Panthers football team on their 6A Division 1 State championship in the Texas UIL.

The Panthers completed their perfect season with a sound defeat of a venerable Westlake Austin team in the title game 50-21, behind performances from senior receiver Quentin Gibson and senior quarterback Chris Jimerson, Jr.

Head Coach Ray Gates emblazoned the 817 area code on the helmets and turned this team into an instant contender, going 42-2 since he took over 3 years ago. This is the first time in 76 years that a State champion in Fort Worth received the highest division high school football championship, and that was my alma mater of Arlington Heights High School.

Our entire community could not be prouder of these young men for their achievement this season. I hope North Crowley keeps the momentum going and can bring home another State championship to Funky Town Fort Worth. Go, Panthers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a remarkable woman, Daisy Ella Price Kahn, who made significant contributions to her community and to the field of education.

Daisy was born in Marshall, Texas, to the late Memphis and Daisy Bell Price, and she

was the middle of five children. A proud graduate of Wiley College with a degree in Social Studies and English, Daisy went on to teach and inspire countless students in the Fort Worth Independent School District. She earned her Master's in Education Counseling from Texas Woman's University and dedicated her career to supporting students, ultimately retiring as the Lead Counselor at Trimble Tech High School in 2001.

Her impact, however, did not end there. Daisy returned to the district as a part-time and substitute counselor, where she continued to mentor and guide students until 2008.

Beyond her work in education, Daisy was an active member of several civic and social organizations. She was deeply involved in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where she held numerous leadership roles and performed with the AKA DFW Metroplex Choir. Daisy was also a dedicated member of the Fort Worth Wiley College Alumni Club, the Perennial Cultural Club, Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and the Negro Business and Professional Women's Club, among others.

Her service to the community extended to her church, historic Greater St. James Baptist Church, where she served as a soloist, Sunday School Teacher, and chair of the Historical Preservation Committee Funds. Daisy leaves behind a loving family, including her three daughters, Denise, Dr. Daphne Kahn-Wiley, and Danielle Kahn, as well as her grandson, Ian Wiley. Her legacy of service, compassion, and commitment to her community will forever be remembered.

It is my honor to recognize the life of Daisy Ella Price Kahn--a woman who touched so many lives through her work, her faith, and her unwavering dedication to others. Her contributions will continue to inspire future generations.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and admiration that I use today to celebrate a significant milestone in the history of our community--the 95th anniversary of Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Our Mother of Mercy is the only African American Catholic church in Tarrant County and the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese, making it a unique and invaluable institution in our region. Founded in January of 1929 by Father Narcissus Denis of the Josephite Fathers, the church began humbly, holding Mass in a house-turned-rectory and later in a converted drug store. Over the years, it has grown into a thriving parish and community center that continues to serve the diverse needs of its congregation.

Throughout its rich history, Our Mother of Mercy has been a steadfast pillar of faith in our community. It has produced leaders across various fields--elected officials, business leaders, community advocates, and television personalities--who have made substantial contributions both locally and nationally.

The church's commitment to service has also been exemplified by initiatives like the establishment of St. Veronica's Mission in the Lake Como area, which served the community for over 25 years.

Today, as it continues to be a cornerstone of our district, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church remains dedicated to faith, unity, and outreach. Its ongoing legacy enriches the lives of all who are fortunate to be part of this vibrant community.

On behalf of the 33rd Congressional District of Texas, I extend my warmest congratulations to the parishioners, clergy, and leaders of Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church as they celebrate this incredible milestone. Their unwavering dedication to faith and service is an inspiration to us all. Let this recognition stand as a tribute to the church's ongoing legacy and its continued positive impact on Fort Worth and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a remarkable woman, someone whose contributions to our community and to the lives of so many are truly unparalleled. On November 19, 2024, Ms. Margie Major celebrated a milestone 100th birthday, and it is my honor to recognize her incredible life.

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Margie's roots run deep in this city. She grew up in the historic Southside before her family moved to the Como neighborhood, which became an iconic African American Community. There, her parents founded Holloway Grocery Store, where Margie worked alongside her mother and sister, learning the values of hard work and service early on.

Margie's educational journey began at the historic I.M. Terrell High School, where she graduated at just 15 years old. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Hampton Institute--now Hampton University--at 19 and later completed a Master of Arts in Dance at Columbia University. After returning home to Fort Worth, she spent decades as an educator, first teaching at her alma mater, I.M. Terrell, and later at Southwest High School, shaping the lives of countless young people.

Margie didn't stop there. She went on to become a guidance counselor at Paschal High School, serving the community for an astounding 46 years. Her commitment to education didn't end with her retirement. She has been deeply involved in organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., serving as President of the Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter, and the Jubilee Theatre, where she held leadership positions.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Margie has been a tireless community advocate, a founding member of St. Simon Episcopal Church, and a charter member of both Ft. Worth Chapter Charms, Inc. and the Perennial Cultural Club. Her impact is felt across Fort Worth, and her legacy will undoubtedly endure for generations to come.

Today, we honor Margie Major for her 100 years of grace, leadership, and service. Happy birthday to Margie. Her life is an inspiration to us all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and to pay tribute to the late Paul Reyes, a boxing legend from Fort Worth, Texas.

Paul was not only a legend in the ring, but he was also a man of humility and great faith.

If my colleagues followed boxing in the 1980s and 1990s, they will remember Donald ``The Cobra'' Curry and Paulie Ayala, who were world champions. They were students of Paul Reyes.

Paul's gym was more than just a place to go train for boxing. His gym was a place to keep kids off of the streets and give them a different direction to go in. Again, he trained some of

the most amazing boxers in the country and really put Fort Worth, Texas, on the map for this sport.

He was a beloved member of the community. He is going to be missed, and I want everyone to know what an important legend and icon this man was. He truly changed Fort Worth and made the lives of so many young people better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the decades of service the Honorable Franklin D. Moss and Christene Chadwick Moss have devoted to our Fort Worth community.

Mr. and Mrs. Moss have dedicated their lives to making our community a better place, particularly within the Stop Six neighborhood. Mr. Moss has served as a city councilmember, realtor, historian, and board member for various non-profit organizations. His civic contributions include his tenure on the Fort Worth City Council from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2013, as well as his role as President of the Texas Association of Black City Council Members.

Mrs. Moss has also made significant contributions through her work as an educator, nurse, and advocate for the aging and disabled. She made history as the first Black female Board President of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Her educational background includes an associates degree from Tarrant County Junior College, a license in long-term care administration from El Centro College, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Psychology from Texas Wesleyan College, and a master's in Hospital Administration from Texas Woman's University. Mrs. Moss has served and led on many Tarrant County, State and National Boards. The couple's unwavering commitment to education paired with their strong focus on giving back to the community has made a lasting impact on many people, particularly their three children: Edmond L. Moss, an accountant; Kimberlyn C. Simpson Moss, a retired nurse and veteran; and Franklin D. Moss Jr., CEO of Franklin & Anthony Tailor/ Clothier.

I am pleased to recognize the enduring contributions of Franklin and Christene Moss's to the Fort Worth community and beyond. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the upcoming 100th birthday of Judge Clifford Davis, who is a legend in Fort Worth.

Judge Davis graduated from high school in Arkansas and applied in 1945 to go to the law school at the University of Arkansas, and he was accepted. When they found out he was Black, they did not let him attend law school, so he graduated from Howard University in 1949.

Judge Davis would go on to move to Fort Worth and married the love of his life, Ethel, and raised his two daughters there.

The thing that he did that was legendary was that he integrated the Mansfield Independent School District. Judge Davis received threats. They hung an effigy of his image up in the school that stayed there for an entire year.

He received so much hate mail and threatening mail, but he went on to have a distinguished career. He helped desegregate the Fort Worth Independent School District and has had a successful law practice for a long time.

He just retired a couple of years ago. He is truly a legend who deserves all the honor that he is going to receive at his birthday next month.

Madam Speaker, I thank Judge Clifford Davis for all that he has done over the years to make the north Texas community better, for the risks he and his family took to help make this country better. We congratulate him on his 100th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a good friend of mine who was a U.S. Army veteran, in the Vietnam war, and a union leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Thomas F. Carlin. We called him Tom Carlin.

Tom was a great guy who sacrificed and worked so hard for the working men and women of the DFW area.

In addition to serving in Vietnam, Tom worked for American Airlines for 40 years, and he held various leadership positions throughout his union career, including vice president of the Texas AFL-CIO for nearly 35 years.

Later in life, Tom battled the effects of Parkinson's disease, which he picked up when he was in Vietnam as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange, which so many of our veterans have suffered from, from the 1960s during the Vietnam war.

Because of his work in labor, Tom was also honored with induction into both the Texas AFL-CIO and the Texas Labor Management Hall of Fame.

Tom has just been a great guy, a great friend, and a great supporter. I have known him and his wife, Peggy, very well.

Tom was so proud of his son, who is a pilot for Delta Airlines, Tommy. Tommy has been with Delta for a while now. I have never met Tommy in person, but because Tom was so proud of him and talked about his only child, I felt like I have known Tommy forever.

That is the kind of family that Tom and Peggy put together, just great people who not only cared about their own family but their union family, veterans, and all north Texans. That is what Tom worked hard for, creating a better way of life for everybody.

Mr. Speaker, I give my condolences to the Carlin family, all of his union brothers and sisters, and everybody in north Texas because people will miss Tom Carlin and his big Irish smile and friendliness that he always brought to the table.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the accomplishments of Ms. Margie Lee Page Jones, as she has reached her 100th birthday.

Ms. Jones was born to Myrtle and Lovy Page on September 16, 1924 in Lee County, Texas. She soon became a big sister to her brother Alton Page. Their childhood was shaped by simple pleasures, including riding donkeys and spending time with their horse named `Oh Baby.' Ms. Jones also developed a love for music throughout her childhood with the song `Rattlesnake Daddy' playing on their wind-up Victrola phonograph.

She attended the Doaks Springs School, where she was mentored by Principal C.L. Salsbury and teacher Ms. Corrett Moore. Soon after, she furthered her studies at C.J. Walker Beauty College. It was in Dallas, Texas that she met and married the love of her life, Mr. Joseph Jones. Together, they had four children--Myrtle Denise, Larry Joe, Elissa (Lisa) Lynn, and Michael Lee.

Their marriage continued until Mr. Jones passed away in 2001. Margie's family grew to include six grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren, reflecting her role as a devoted mother and grandmother. Throughout her life,

Ms. Jones has been a devout Christian and has played an active role in her church. Her involvement with the Jordan Missionary Baptist Church began in the late 1960s, where she has been an active member for over 56 years. In 2015, she was honored as one of the Church Mothers, recognizing her longstanding commitment to her community.

As we mark her 100th birthday, we celebrate Margie's contributions to her family and community. Happy 100th birthday to Ms. Jones.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Larry Lavelle Christian--a hero in our Tarrant County community and beyond.

Larry Lavelle Christian grew up in Jones, Louisiana. As an adult, Mr. Christian ultimately moved to North Texas. As a professional truck driver, he drove through the entire county. ``Country boy,'' as he was known in his childhood, was a steadfast figure of reliability in the trucking community, always trying to be helpful and uplift his fellow truckers.

Following the death of his wife, Mr. Christian leaned on his faith and felt called to retire. Upon his retirement and in one of the darkest moments of his life, Larry wanted to help others. Each week, Mr. Christian collected food donations and delivered them to underserved neighborhoods.

Mr. Christian's dedication to the fight against food insecurity illustrates his character and commitment to our community. Mr. Christian's leadership and dedication has made a true difference in the state of Texas. He has been recognized by the Midwest Food Bank Texas, a nonprofit focused on combating hunger. In collaboration, they launched a major effort to obtain and distribute food to those in need. Their combined work led to $673,000 worth of food being provided to families, children, and seniors throughout Texas. I am pleased to honor Mr. Larry Lavelle Christian today.

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

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today to oppose the consideration of H.R. 1398, the Protect America's Innovation and Economic Security from the CCP Act.

This bill aims to combat Chinese espionage, protect intellectual property and trade secrets, and monitor threats to U.S. infrastructure posed by China.

While these are very important goals--I don't want anyone to be mistaken--the program this bill lays out closely mirrors a Trump administration program called the China Initiative, which targeted academics at American institutions for crimes allegedly related to economic espionage.

Despite the initiative's goal of combating that espionage, no one was convicted or even charged with spying in any China Initiative case.

However, what the program did do was stoke a lot of fear in the Asian-American communities and contributed to a rise in anti-Asian hate, something that I think that all of us, regardless of party, should be against.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.

My amendment would be composed of H.R. 3130, the Protecting Election Administration from Interference Act which I co-led with my good friend Colin Allred, also from north Texas.

What this bill would do is strengthen our democracy by establishing greater safeguards against potential election subversion efforts, something that unfortunately became very real, as most of us recall, in January 2021.

It would ensure that elections and vote counting are performed fairly, transparently, and without partisan influence.

The bill expands crucial protections for election administrators engaged in vote counting, canvassing, and election certification. It also allows a framework for punishment for people who seek to intimidate, threaten, or coerce election workers.

Mr. Chair, the bill also expands protections for election administrators, again, that are engaged in vote counting, canvassing, and election certification. It allows for a framework of punishment for people that seek to intimidate these workers.

The bill also recognizes missing pieces from existing law in terms of protections for digital election records. In an increasingly technological world that we all live in, we must keep our laws up to date with the times.

Mr. Chair, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit, and I include in the Record the text of the amendment.

Mr. Veasey moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1398 to the

Committee on the Judiciary with instructions to report the

same back to the House forthwith, with the following

amendment:

Strike the text and insert the following:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday two basketball legends were lost. One of those basketball legends was from Fort Worth, Texas, better known as the ``Mayor of Stop Six,'' and that was Coach Robert Hughes.

Coach Robert Hughes was the winningest boys high school basketball

coach in the country. There are only four coaches with over 1,000 wins, and Coach Hughes is one of those with 1,333 wins, making him the winningest coach of all time for boys.

He grew up in Oklahoma, played basketball at Texas Southern, and was drafted by the Boston Celtics. An injury landed him in the Fort Worth Independent School District where he coached during the time of segregation for I.M. Terrell.

After segregation ended, Coach Hughes moved to Dunbar High School where he put on quite a show. There were no accidents with Coach Hughes. All of his kids followed the rules. They were well disciplined. They followed through with pinpoint execution. Coach Hughes didn't play any games in his coaching of these young men. He would have his coat unbuttoned, and if someone came down and took a shot that he knew wasn't right, Coach Hughes would put his hands on his hips, look down at the bench and point, and have another person come in.

It was just amazing that decade after decade, Coach Hughes produced so many outstanding players, so many State championships, and was a role model for so many of these young men and a father figure for many of these young men. You should see the comments on Facebook about Coach Hughes.

Coach Hughes and Coach Rambo, as you see there to his right, are both gone now. However, the memories of what Coach Hughes has done for the city of Fort Worth, what he has done for basketball in Texas in a school known for Friday night lights, this man literally was the show, and we will miss Coach Hughes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Fort Worth's own Lake Como community for winning the celebrated Neighborhood of the Year award.

This is a neighborhood that I know well because this is the neighborhood that my family was raised in.

This recognition is given out by the nonprofit Neighborhoods USA, an organization that awards neighborhoods and communities that love where they live.

The Lake Como community is an amazing community that has been a part of Fort Worth for decades and decades now, a community with attorneys, with retired teachers, with servicepeople, a variety of different professions that really make this west Fort Worth community amazing.

We do an annual Fourth of July parade that is attended by thousands. Sometimes, you would be sitting on your porch, like I would sit on my grandmother's porch, and somebody may come by on horseback in the middle of one of the Nation's largest cities. That is the type of community it is.

It is a community with dozens of churches and other civic organizations that make them worthy of this award.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Lake Como on getting this award because it is well deserved.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Mrs. Ann Dougherty Kraus--a pillar of our Dallas community.

Mrs. Kraus's journey is one of remarkable achievements and selflessness. She graduated second in her class from Western Kentucky University. She subsequently moved to Japan in 1952 to care for American soldiers injured in the Korean War. She later married William Kraus in France in 1956.

A Dallas resident from 1959 until 2024, Mrs. Kraus was a giant in our community. She raised her four children here, along with her community service as a member of the Dallas County Medical Alliance, Medical Center Board, and President of the Parent's Club at the St. Mark's School of Texas. She was also a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Dallas, Texas.

My heart goes out to all who knew and loved Ann, especially her sister, Margie Joy, her children, Greg, Peter, Sharon, and Stephen, her six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. May her memory be a source of comfort and strength.