Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize a historic milestone in Defiance, Ohio in our District. Today, citizens are gathering to celebrate the Bicentennial Anniversary of the City of Defiance. Events throughout the day will focus on ``Remembering our history, Honoring our present, and Envisioning our future.''

On April 28, 2023, after being surveyed by Captain James Riley, the plat for the Village of Defiance was recorded in Wood County, Ohio by Horatio G. Phillips. He purchased thirty acres of land in the Village of Defiance at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers, gateway to the Great Lakes. Thus, Defiance was born and is the County Seat of Defiance County.

The history notes that ``Benjamin Leavell would join with Phillips to market the property. It was divided into 150 lots. Their 1823 newspaper ad stated the streets are wide, with alleys for the convenience of the lots, which are of handsome size. It also stated the proprietors have laid off lots for religious societies, schools, and a courthouse. The location of the 1794 Fort Defiance was set aside as a public park.''

Residents named the community after Fort Defiance, once a western- most outpost in the Ohio country in early America. Constructed by General Anthony Wayne before 1794's Battle of Fallen Timbers, Fort Defiance was also an important defense in Ohio from invasion by British soldiers during the War of 1812.

Growth continued following ``speculation of the construction of the Miami & Erie and Wabash & Erie Canals and their route as they connected to Lake Erie. Ultimately the canals would join together 10\1/2\ miles southwest of Defiance at a location named Junction. The canals used the same channel through Defiance. The Wabash & Erie connecting Fort Wayne, Indiana and west to Toledo, Ohio, was completed in 1843 and the Miami & Eire canal, connecting Cincinnati to Toledo, was completed in 1845.'' The canals' completion fueled much of the growth in western Ohio lands, including Defiance.

It is reported that the legendary Johnny Appleseed owned a nursery on the north bank of the Maumee river with Defiance as his primary headquarters during the early 19th century. Steeped in its history and that of Northwest Ohio, Defiance honors its past through monuments, markers and sculptures of those on whose shoulders the community stands while at the same time emboldened by the spirit of those long-ago ancestors.

Defiance weathered the ups and downs of American life through the centuries and remains a vibrant community today. A focus on education brings with it Defiance College and an excellent public library. Businesses flourish on Main Street and throughout the city. Defiance surely lives up to its motto as ``A great place to live'' through its intergenerational, enterprising spirit and sacrifices of citizens who have built the patriotic, enduring character of Defiance.

All over Northwest Ohio we join with the residents of this community, remembering 200 years of history while looking forward to a bright future. We pay tribute to the pioneers who founded the city, honor the citizens who built it up in the ensuing years, and pledge our efforts toward a flourishing future.

Mr. Speaker, dangerous budget shenanigans by House Republicans play with fire that can blunt economic growth and cruelly hurt countless Ohioans.

Speaker McCarthy's roulette creates economic instability that can yield disastrous consequences for students, families, seniors, veterans, and public safety across our Buckeye State.

His plan would endanger public safety and impact public health by shutting down five air traffic control towers in our State, cutting 330 safety inspections in rail, and denying 2,000 Ohioans admission to opioid treatment.

His plan would raise costs for working families and students by eliminating 12,300 preschool and childcare slots in Ohio, stripping food assistance from nearly half a million Ohioans, making college tuition expensive for 200,000 Ohioans, and raising housing costs for 23,000 Ohioans. How about that for a start?

The McCarthy plan is reckless and inches us closer to default. In sum, the McCarthy plan would thwart economic progress and should be shelved for a commonsense, bipartisan solution that serves all of America. Let's put people before politics.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the irresponsible brinksmanship being played by House Republicans with the debt ceiling.

Let me point out that inflation happens when too much money chases too few goods. In order to stem inflation, America needs to be producing more goods right here at home, not importing more and more of everything and subjecting our markets to supply chain choke holds from offshore producers and shippers that drive the prices up.

What America makes and grows makes and grows America. Supporting products made in America makes and grows a real middle class. Why champion more windfalls for Wall Street and powerful financial titans that finance outsourcing our jobs going to penny wage havens? We should reshore what Americans use, eat, and drive and reduce inflation.

Speaker McCarthy ought to stand up for America, stand with the American people on Main Street, not with the outsourcers and scions of finance on Wall Street who outsource our jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify my position on H.R. 1093, the bill requiring State to submit a report to Congress on the impact of export controls on implementing the AUKUS partnership.

I voted NAY on Roll Call No. 144 when I intended to vote YEA.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Return to Prudent Banking Act to restore prudent banking and confidence to our Nation's banking system.

This bill would reinstate essential provisions of legislation born from the ashes of the Great Depression: The Glass-Steagall Act, also known as the Banking Act of 1933.

Carelessly, in 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, and you can see the growing concentration of banks just in this country. Three banks control a third of the money in this country. What has really been happening is, the repeal of that act opened the floodgates for speculation, for speculators on Wall Street and other places to empty out the worth of Americans' life savings.

By 2008, investment firms had gambled it all away in their version of the Wall Street casino. Their greed cost hardworking Americans their homes, their savings, their jobs. Speculation plunged our Nation into a deep recession.

Now, here we go again watching bank runs--SVB over in California, Signature over on the East Coast in New York--bank runs, failures, massive buyouts, cryptocurrency schemes, and rampant speculation and high-risk Chinese tech companies.

Wake up, America. Let's restore prudent banking. Let's pass the Glass-Steagall Act.

Mr. Speaker, we need to corral the raging bulls who cloak their unbridled speculation under the cover of prudent banking.

Mr. Speaker, in my home State of Ohio, the largest nuclear scandal in American history has been perpetuated on our public.

Ohio's only nuclear power is generated in northern Ohio, along Lake Erie by plants owned by Energy Harbor, previously known as FirstEnergy. For decades, FirstEnergy's customers have unknowingly paid for the outfall of this criminal company's nuclear malfeasance, careless management, and costly outages, and now criminality.

When a hole in the nuclear reactor head at Davis-Besse proved to be the size of a pineapple, jaws dropped too late here in Washington at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Where were they?

When a switch failure triggered by FirstEnergy shut off power for 3 days across the entire Midwest; Northeast; and Ontario, Canada, costing our economy $10 billion and nine lost lives, those in the commercial nuclear power world should have understood there was a big problem at FirstEnergy.

Where were they?

Neither the private sector nor the Federal Government did their jobs.

Nuclear power production requires excellence and vigilance. No excuses. No passing the buck.

FirstEnergy's business plan started to fail due to its huge repair costs resulting from its own mistakes. As the company sank into debt, rather than aspiring to excellence, it resorted to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering. Thus, the largest commercial nuclear crimes in U.S. history are being litigated in Federal court in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Convictions for accepting FirstEnergy bribes have been levied against Ohio's former house Republican Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair, Matt Borges. They led a criminal scheme in which FirstEnergy bribed them with $61 million in dark money. Householder used it for personal expenses, reelecting himself, and a slate of willing Republican and Democratic legislators, to bend the law to serve FirstEnergy's financial interests.

Once in office, Householder led his handpicked politicians in a legislative bailout of FirstEnergy, foisting $1 billion plus in corporate nuclear energy and coal losses on Ohio's ratepayers. Never did Householder or his associates express any concern about FirstEnergy's nuclear mishaps, its awesome nuclear responsibility, and what really was required to restore operational excellence.

If FirstEnergy's plan had exploded and fried everything in its radius in northern Ohio, including my house, Mr. Householder would not have been affected. He lives too far south, as do most coconspirators to the bribery scheme. Even prevailing winds generally don't blow in their direction, but an explosion would have completely polluted Lake Erie.

FirstEnergy itself avoided fraud and criminal indictments by admitting its corporate guilt. Of course, nuclear malfeasance is not on trial, but it should be. Thus far, the court has ordered FirstEnergy to pay a historic $230 million settlement, the largest public fine in Ohio's history, although there were no fines for bigger crimes against the public interest by multiple nuclear endangerments.

FirstEnergy's management made huge blunders in nuclear operation. Were it not for the skilled union laborers who three times put their lives at risk for our region, a nuclear catastrophe along Lake Erie was indeed possible. At least three major nuclear incidents have occurred during my lifetime: 1985, 2002, 2003.

Davis-Besse plant records document the second and third as the worst nuclear incidents since Three Mile Island.

The ongoing criminal litigation ignores these massive nuclear close calls. Each major nuclear blunder translated into real threats to lives, safety, and health.

At what point does our Nation say no to a pattern of persistent commercial plant nuclear negligence and abysmal nuclear management?

The time is now as our region tries to pick up the pieces and rebuild advanced nuclear--but not by past standards.

The starting point to get effective safety monitoring in these two Ohio facilities begins by requesting the Federal Government's Government Accountability Office to perform thorough and independent nuclear safety audits of its aging nuclear facilities.

The next step is to require the Nuclear Navy, with independent experts, to complete a thorough engineering analysis of the plant's remaining physical infrastructure.

Next, specific individuals who were responsible for criminal activity at FirstEnergy must be identified and barred for life from working or contracting with the U.S. commercial nuclear industry, and we must also identify legal means to restore to ratepayers compensation for their losses.

As Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the Nuclear Navy, said: ``Success teaches us nothing; only failure teaches.''

Let Ohio learn and let America learn, and let's do it right.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to highlight advancing healthcare at both the Federal and State levels to meet

the healthcare needs of people living in the northwest quadrant of Ohio, including the mentally ill.

Our Federal-State joint efforts in combined funding of over $35 million awarded to Toledo's academic medical center at the University of Toledo through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have allowed UTMC to upgrade critical trauma care from trauma III to trauma II.

In addition, Congress appropriated over $81 million in 2022 and 2023 to Ohio through the Substance Abuse and Treatment Block Grant.

This morning, I had the privilege of welcoming Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to Toledo, as we toured the University of Toledo Medical Center and the State's Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital. Governor DeWine is the first Governor to visit the State facility in the 21st century.

This important visit shows that Ohioans are continuing to make progress to strengthen critical medical assets for the region in a bipartisan fashion at every level.

Our medically underserved region must continue to champion medical advancements on every level. Onward Northwest Ohio, a community that cares for all people.

Mr. Speaker, access to affordable, nutritious food is essential to leading a long and healthy life. Every day, more and more Americans are buying food locally at farmers' markets for their daily needs. ``Local'' matters. Supporting local farmers means local food security, lower prices, and fresh local products for people who reside near them.

As food prices have risen, families and seniors have shouldered a heavier burden when shopping at the grocery store. That is why the Senior Farmer's Market Nutrition Program, and the Women, Infant, and Children Farmers' Market Program are so critical.

For more than 20 years, these programs have connected families and seniors with affordable, locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey, and food produced by neighboring farmers--benefiting everyone in a remarkable partnership.

Recognizing the vital role farmers' markets and roadside stands play in big cities and small towns all across our nation, today I am reintroducing the ``Farmers Market and Food Bank Local Revitalization Act'' which strengthens and directly brings together local farmers and the people in their communities.

Remember, what America makes and grows, makes and grows America.

Mr. Speaker, when I entered the House of Representatives, I was 1 of just 24 women serving in Congress. Today, there are 154 women in Congress, out of 540 Members of the House and Senate. What progress our country has made in recognizing and embracing the equal role of women in all aspects of our society.

This Women's History Month, we have the opportunity to celebrate the success and sacrifices of those who have committed themselves to uplifting women, families, and our society.

Meanwhile, let's also rededicate ourselves to continuing to fight for the advancement and security of our mothers, wives, sisters, grandmothers, godmothers, and daughters.

It is more imperative than ever for us to carry forward the legacy of those who came before us and to do our part to pave the way for future generations. Let us embrace a world where there is no limit to what women can be and what we can achieve together.

Mr. Speaker, in the past five months, we have seen three major Norfolk Southern train derailments in Ohio, including one that occurred in my district, and another which traveled right through the heart of my district in northwest Ohio before it burst into flames in East Palestine.

It's been more than a month since that Norfolk Southern train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. Twenty of the 38 railcars that derailed were carrying dangerous chemicals; now hundreds of Ohio and Pennsylvania families are rightfully frightened that their water is contaminated. Since then, another train derailed 28 railcars in Springfield, Ohio. Thankfully no hazardous contaminants spilled.

These accidents follow a dangerous 21-car Norfolk Southern derailment last October in Sandusky--in my district. There, paraffin wax spilled onto the street and washed into and clogged the town's sewer system. For nearly five months the vital main artery into Sandusky remained impassable, and Norfolk Southern has not cleaned it up.

In northern Ohio, rail is the spine of our economy. To compete in a global economy and avoid expensive supply chain delays, industrial and agricultural America should think big about modern rail. Improving rail safety, giving people more transportation options, and expanding access to national and global markets are critical to our nation's future.

But that sort of thinking is not happening. Indeed, we're not even getting rail safety right, and that should be the floor, not the ceiling. Norfolk Southern repairs lag at many main arteries, including the one between Toledo and Sandusky.

There's no reason for this other than pure greed. Over the past four years, Norfolk Southern has reaped more than $31 billion in profits. You would think it would invest even a relatively small part of that enormous profit to protect its workers, its host communities, and the general public so that such disasters would not happen. But you'd be wrong.

The derailments in Sandusky and in East Palestine were not isolated events. In 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration reported more than 1,000 instances of trains derailing. Since last October's Sandusky crash, I've tried to reach Norfolk Southern's CEO. I want to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure law that Congress passed last summer. My colleagues and I want to hear his ideas for rail improvements across America's northern corridor from Pittsburgh through East Palestine, Sandusky, Toledo, and west to Illinois.

Members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, representing this congested corridor are eager to address aging rail infrastructure, increased traffic, and easement separation of freight and passenger service. Yet Norfolk Southern 's leadership won't even return our calls.

The stakes are too high for more delay. America's northern rail corridor is a critical access point for goods from Canada, our largest trading partner; it's equally critical for getting goods to and from our ports, which enable America to ship goods all over the world--and helped rejuvenate our auto and steel industry.

With the bipartisan infrastructure law funds, it's time to bring together rail workers, railroad executives, regional transit authorities, and state and federal agencies to discuss how to use this money. How do we ensure higher safety levels? What's the right mix of passenger and freight rail? Should we use smart cars with electric track or focus on traditional heavy rail? Should we elevate our trains or run them on the ground? These are just a few questions that need answers.

We need to connect to Detroit and Canada. We need to connect Detroit and Toledo to the deep-water ports along the Atlantic that allow for year-round container shipments. Providing our landlocked region steady access to deep-water ports would be a game-changer for America's industrial corridor. Addressing the very real health and safety issues for the impacted workers, residents, and communities in and around Sandusky and East Palestine is the immediate priority.

We must also look to the future and come together to protect workers and deliver transformative and safe commercial and passenger rail solutions. The tools are at our disposal. The money is there. And the time is now. Let's do what we in the industrial Midwest do best: let's get to work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight major challenges plaguing our banking and financial sector to the detriment of everyday Americans. Specifically, I refer to banking deregulation, lax oversight, and major consolidation.

Albert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, the most recent financial market tremors follow the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York. These events remind us that our economy is still digging out of the 2008 massive market collapse.

The key question is: Do U.S. banking laws still allow too much speculative financial activity and excessive risk-taking?

Just three trillion-dollar megabanks now control one-third of U.S. banking assets. This chart tells the story. That is too much power by too few.

The financial crash of 2008 was a harsh reminder that, throughout U.S. history, speculators have squeezed through every regulatory keyhole to bring their much higher-risk, reckless, speculative ventures inside the confines of what should be prudent banking.

Regulators must provide firm separation between speculation and prudent banking. Regulators must provide firm separation. Do they hear me?

SVB was investing in speculative Chinese tech startups. How about that? Signature was intertwined with Swiss Bank's operations and cryptocurrency. Well, both banks collapsed.

History has taught us that speculation, derivatives, and venture capital are not normal banking activities. They are much higher risk, and their complexity and uncertainty can threaten the assets of other depositors like me and my constituents who choose not to highly leverage their assets. We should protect American depositors from rampant speculation.

The Biden administration is working to stem the bleeding. Management of both failed banks was shown the door, and the Federal Reserve, for the moment, put in place programs for banks or credit unions to meet their depositors' withdrawal requests.

After these collapses of SVB and Signature, both high-risk mega coastal banks, I might add, where all of our major financial problems have started over my term of service, which is long, we are all enduring a truly troubling trend of massive bank consolidation that has been happening since the 1980s.

The pandemic pushed even more consolidation into overdrive. Another 9 percent of all branch locations in the U.S. closed between 2017 and 2021, a loss of 7,500 more brick-and-mortar locations in places where the American people live and work.

The empty buildings pockmark every community across our country. The branch closure rate doubled again during the pandemic, and more than 4,000 more branches have closed since March 2020.

People, pay attention. The money is walking away from your community to the very institutions that are causing the problem.

The rate doubled for bank closures from 99 per month during the 10 years prior to the pandemic to now 201 closings per month. The big fish are eating the smaller fish.

Those of us who have fought against the megabank culture that squashes prudent banking need look no further than the severe diminishment of market share held by local and regional banks over the last 40 years.

Step one is to reinstate Glass-Steagall's separation of prudent banking and speculation. The second is to develop a decoupled financial system that strengthens regional banks to manage an increasing share of local housing finance and commercial loans.

Soon, I will reintroduce in this Congress the Return to Prudent Banking Act, and I invite all of my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to join me. This bill would put America back on a path to fixing reckless speculation inside our banking and financial sector. As a result, no single company could be both an investment and a commercial bank.

This structure worked for decades. It proved to be a sound way of creating local economic growth and limiting the systemic risks posed by hiding reckless speculation and venture capital inside our financial institutions.

They have a right to exist but put them elsewhere in the system. Depositors' safety, not speculation, must be our objective.

We must strengthen regional and community banks. In the wake of SVB and Signature Bank, the time is now. Congress must implement real reforms to protect depositors and the American economy.

Congress must demonstrate we stand with the American people and their communities, not just for the coastal scions of massive wealth who use the safety of our deposits for their reckless, speculative gambles. Prudent banking should be rewarded, not reckless behavior.

Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 144 on H.R. 1093, I mistakenly recorded my vote as ``no'' when I should have voted ``yes''.

Madam Speaker, domestic manufacturing has always been a foundation stone of American prosperity and innovation. That remains true today.

I hail from America's industrial heartland, the Great Lakes and Midwest. Our people know firsthand how essential manufacturing is for the long-term health and growth of our country.

What America makes and grows, makes and grows America.

When manufacturing is at the forefront, working-class families and communities succeed. Together, invention and production lift up economic growth and build a middle class. That is why I am proud to reintroduce the Bipartisan Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Policy Act of 2023.

This legislation will create an Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation to elevate at the highest levels manufacturing policy.

This office will ensure that voices from the manufacturing sector, small business, and labor unions are heard.

It is time for the Federal Government to put American manufacturing and workers first.

This bipartisan legislation does exactly that.

Mr. Speaker, today, I am honoring and celebrating Jolene Molitoris for all her years of dedicated service to improving rail service and safety in Ohio, and across our country, and around the globe. It is important for me to honor Jolene, who I have known for well over 30 years, dating back to her days with the Ohio Rail Transportation Authority.

As a city planner, I know the importance of transportation and mobility for my constituents

and all Ohioans. The importance of passenger rail and freight rail cannot be overstated, and I was always happy to work with Jolene on projects that helped Toledo and all of northern Ohio. We bonded over our passion for our shared Polish-American heritage, our commitment to working families, and our deep desire to get projects accomplished that made a difference in the lives of Ohioans.

One fond memory of Jolene comes to mind, in particular. It was cold and we were working to renovate Toledo's Amtrak station, and to do so required we had to take down a mammoth old dairy building. It was huge. So I called Jolene and I asked her if she'd ever taken down a building? And of course, her answer was no.

Well, Jolene came to Toledo, rolled up her sleeves, and helped to demolish that building with a giant crane and wrecking ball so we could get the job done. It was an unforgettable experience and something I remember, to this day. If you want someone in your corner to help roll up their sleeves and get the job done, Jolene Molitoris is the woman to call.

Jolene also went on to shatter many glass ceilings over her storied career. In 1993, President Clinton nominated her to serve as Federal Railroad Administrator, and she became the first woman ever to head that agency. Jolene went on to become the longest serving FRA Administrator in our Nation's history. In 1995, Jolene was recognized by WTS as Woman of the Year, one of many honors and awards bestowed upon her. In 2009, Governor Ted Strickland appointed her as the first woman to lead the Ohio Department of Transportation, and she went on to chair the Ohio Rail Development Commission.

While rail in Ohio is top of mind for so many in our region and across the nation, after derailments in recent months, it is important to know that there are great minds like Jolene that have long been committed to improving rail safety for America's communities. I want to congratulate Jolene on this special recognition, and I'm honored to be able to share my memories with Jolene during this International Women's History Month of our time working together to move America forward.

Warmest congratulations to Jolene. Job well done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the recently named Best Coastal Small Town in America, Sandusky, Ohio. Now, Sandusky is the home of Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast. We invite you to come. This town is the pride of Ohio's Ninth Congressional District, and this recognition is a true accomplishment.

Clubhouse No. 3 SportSocial, a local sports bar, erupted into cheers last Friday when dozens of residents at a watch party heard the results come in. Their enthusiasm is emblematic of small towns across America where people will gather as a community to celebrate achievements, both big and small. While this is a big accomplishment for a small Ohio town, it truly represents the best of America.

Sandusky derives its name from the Seneca Native American Tribe and translates into ``cold water,'' but the residents of this town are some of the warmest, kindest people you will ever meet.

I encourage people from across America to visit Sandusky, come to enjoy our hospitality, and enjoy the astounding beauty of Lake Erie's freshwater south coast and the warmest coast in the entire freshwater Great Lakes.