Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I care deeply about the people who I represent. Working families in Oregon are doing everything right, and still they are falling behind.

Instead of making life more affordable, this administration has cost the average American household an additional $3,800 since last year. What are Republicans doing about it? Not a single thing.

That is why I fought to subpoena Oracle executives over a $27 billion VA contract yesterday. Corporate greed should never come before veterans and our taxpayers. We kept the government funded, but where are the votes to lower rent, grocery bills, healthcare costs, or gas prices?

Republicans are focused on giving tax breaks to billionaires and lining their pockets, all while lying to the American people about what is going on.

Mr. Speaker, I grew up as a working-class kid. I had the shot at the American Dream because the government chose to invest in families like mine. My opportunity should be there for every child across this country.

The Federal Government should put the American people first and not billionaires and corporations. A better future is possible if we fight for it.

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that I came to Congress to do just that. Stay loud.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate Kathie Eastman Tell, who is retiring after a cumulative twenty years of service in the United States House of Representatives.

Her public service stretched from the sandy beaches of Hawaii's 1st Congressional District to the rugged coast of Oregon's 4th Congressional District, to the vibrant urban core of Portland in Oregon's 3rd Congressional District.

Always strategic, efficient, and effective, Kathie served in almost every role of a House office operation, in both the D.C. and district offices. The handful of positions she never occupied were by her choice--much to the quiet dismay of offices that would have trusted her with all of them.

In 1993, she began as a Legislative Correspondent for Representative Neil Abercrombie. She then joined Representative Peter DeFazio in 1998 as a Senior Legislative Assistant, where she was especially active on issues related to transportation and infrastructure investments--a dedication that carried her onward as DeFazio's Legislative Director, and later his District Director. That same commitment to keeping our communities moving continued in Representative Earl Blumenauer's office, where she served as Press Secretary until 2006. Kathie then prioritized raising her two young children, McKenzie and Ben, in Portland, Oregon, with her spouse Jason Tell. Never far from the Oregon delegation and public policy, she took on part-time roles and projects during this time. She returned to Blumenauer's office in 2019, as a favorite Caseworker among constituents and prized Scheduler to the Member. Oregon was lucky to have DeFazio and Blumenauer invested in transportation and infrastructure. They were luckier to have Kathie embrace this legislative portfolio. Most recently, in the office of Representative Maxine Dexter, Kathie efficiently helped build a brand- new district office from the ground up as the Operations Director.

Much can be said about Kathie's intellect and work ethic, but not enough can be said about her infectious sense of humor. One colleague recounted that while he learned many things from Kathie, most of them should not go in the Congressional Record.

A child of Berkeley, California, who dedicated her career to the people of Hawaii and Oregon, it is fitting Kathie will retire to Southwest Washington, claiming her final Pacific Rim state, in a life spent leaving every person and place she touched wiser, with a bit more grit, and better than she found them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a historic milestone in Portland's cultural history: the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood Theatre, an iconic movie house situated in Northeast Portland.

The Hollywood Theatre has been a significant asset in Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. As a nonprofit modern-historic theater

and film center, it attracts visitors to the Hollywood District, supports nearby small businesses, and serves as a hub for independent film, education, and community programming.

This unmistakable landmark on Sandy Boulevard, defined by its ornate Spanish Colonial Revival exterior, has persevered through a century of evolution in the film industry. First opened as a 1,500-seat silent movie palace in 1926, the venue would welcome ``talkies'' within a couple of years and then the ultra-widescreen Cinerama format by the early 1960s. Today, it is the only movie house in Oregon to regularly screen films in 70mm.

The theater has also broadened its reach within the past decade, now operating Movie Madness, a local video store and film history museum, as well as the Hollywood Theatre Airport Microcinema in Concourse C at PDX, which showcases short films by regional filmmakers.

I congratulate them on a century of entertainment and community engagement, and many more to come.

Mr. Speaker, the American people need to know that their government is intentionally suffocating the nation of Cuba. There is no other way to describe what is happening.

Earlier this month, I traveled to Cuba with a congressional delegation to see firsthand how U.S. policy is affecting this country that is just 90 miles off our shore.

This is a country that is known for its joy and for its culture. It is a country that has had a glimpse of prosperity and promise during the Obama administration when relations were normalized and decades of sanctions lifted, only to have Trump reinstate the blockade in 2017.

Normalized relations led to an explosion of opportunity for small businesses, international investment, and cultural exchange. Hope was contagious.

Today, much of that hope has disappeared.

Ultimately, it comes down to fuel. Immediately after coming back into office in January of 2025, Trump decisively cut off the ability for any fuel to get into their country--fuel the country depends on to run its electrical power plants, vehicles, and generators.

Cuba is not a nation that can produce its own, so without imported fuel, there is no electricity. This has reverberations across every aspect of Cuban life.

Families cannot go to the grocery store as they always have done and keep their groceries in a fridge or a freezer because they do not have reliable electricity. Meat, milk, and medicine spoil with the power outages that plague the nation. Basic services have broken down. Daily life is a constant struggle.

Cuba's public health system and its medical training programs are the envy of much of the world. Their healthcare system is filled with highly qualified, well-trained physicians, and yet the hospital I toured in Havana was nearly empty.

Physicians have no patients because they have no transportation, no buses to get there. They have tens of thousands of people waiting for surgeries because supplies are insufficient and only a fraction of their operating rooms are running.

I saw three CT scanners, their only scanners in this hospital, all broken down, an MRI machine also not working, and a handful of working ultrasounds, because parts cannot be imported.

I sat face-to-face with these doctors and understood the deep pain that they are feeling, having the skills and the will to care for people but being denied the opportunity for political reasons.

The difference is here in the U.S. we have never had the political will to ensure that every American has access to healthcare.

As a physician, I do not know what it is like to care for every patient that comes in my door without worrying whether they can afford it. In Cuba, they have spent decades fulfilling their promise to make healthcare a human right. Every person has access to healthcare for free. Can you imagine?

They made it a reality. We should be aspiring to that commitment to human health, not punishing an entire population for it.

Congress must not continue standing by while our own government intentionally inflicts hardship on an entire nation.

The Cuban people deserve dignity, safety, and self-determination. It is

past time for the United States to choose engagement over isolation and humanity over cruelty.

I am calling on every Member of this Congress to cosponsor Representative McGovern's legislation to end the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and move this nation toward normalized relations.

As Trump continues to act erratically abroad, Congress must send a clear and unified message: There will be no military action against Cuba.

It is time to stand up for the people of Cuba. This is about basic human decency. Congress cannot look to this administration to find that.

From Havana to Portland, we will stand up, and that means ending this cruel blockade now. I will use every tool at my disposal to make this happen, and I am asking every one of my colleagues to join me.

Mr. Speaker, due to an emergency department visit, I missed votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 238, H.R. 139; YEA on Roll Call No. 239, motion to recommit H.R. 1181; and NAY on Roll Call 240, H.R. 1181.

Mr. Speaker, the decision to have a child is one of the most personal decisions a human can make.

As a physician, I have sat with patients during some of the hardest moments of their lives. I know these deeply personal medical decisions should be guided by science, evidence, and the trusted relationship between a physician and their patient, not by politicians or judges, and not by radical politicians and judges obsessed with policing women's bodies.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, more than 20 States have banned or restricted access to abortion, leaving millions of women with no legal right to make decisions about their own bodies. That is a moral failure.

Abortion is not a privilege; it is essential healthcare. Every individual in this country should have bodily autonomy--no exceptions and no excuses.

In Oregon, the right to abortion is protected, and I won't stop fighting for every woman, every young girl, and every person in this country to have full control of their own body.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the lives lost in a horrific, senseless act of violence that took place in Sandy, Oregon, on May 31, 2026.

This is an ongoing investigation. More information will continue to come out in the days and weeks to come, but what we do know is that the Sandy Police Department responded to a domestic violence call that escalated into a deadly shooting that claimed the lives of 37-year-old Jenna Mary Overson, 70-year-old Mary Beth Overson, and 16-year-old Kobyn McClure, and left the entire community fearing for their lives and sheltering in place.

This horrific tragedy has left family, friends, and our entire community grieving from an unimaginable loss and shaken from, once again, senseless violence.

What has stayed with me this week, as our community has begun to process this tragedy, is Kobyn McClure's courage, which deserves to be known far beyond Sandy.

Kobyn was a kind, respectful, and compassionate young man who stepped forward to protect young children in the face of unimaginable fear and danger. Loved ones and community members have shared that his actions during this tragedy helped save the lives of children caught in the middle of this violence.

Though only 16 years old, Kobyn demonstrated a level of bravery and selflessness that many aspire to throughout their entire lives. His actions reflected the very best of our shared values: courage, sacrifice, and a commitment to protecting others, a commitment that Congress would be well to follow.

Kobyn's family, friends, classmates, and neighbors remember him as a young man with a bright future, generous spirit, and heart for others. His legacy will endure through the lives touched and the example he has set for us all.

Jenna Mary Overson was a devoted mother remembered by her friends for her generosity, kindness, and unwavering commitment to her children and loved ones. Her loss leaves an immeasurable, unimaginable void in the lives of those who knew her.

Mary Beth Overson was a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, whose family and community now mourn a loss that cannot be measured.

Amid this tragedy, we are reminded of the extraordinary dedication of our law enforcement officers and first responders. Members of the Sandy Police Department, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, medical personnel, and assisting agencies responded swiftly to a dangerous and evolving situation. One Sandy police officer, Sergeant Garrett Thornton, was seriously wounded multiple times by gunshots while responding to protect others and confront the threat.

We are grateful for the bravery and professionalism demonstrated by every officer, deputy, firefighter, paramedic, and emergency responder who put themselves in harm's way to protect the people of Sandy.

The Sandy community has shown remarkable strength in the days since. Neighbors have come together to grieve, heal, and stand beside one another. Sandy is showing us and the whole country what it looks like to hold together through the unthinkable.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the memory of Jenna Mary Overson, Mary Beth Overson, and Kobyn McClure by recognizing Kobyn's extraordinary heroism, thanking the first responders who put themselves in harm's way, and keeping the entire Sandy community in our hearts as they continue to heal.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jackson for convening this Special Order hour and for humbling me with such a kind introduction, but mostly for the gentleman's leadership and his steadfast commitment to protecting the Voting Rights Act.

When I was completing my medical residency in Colorado in the early 2000s, I distinctly remember standing in line for hours to vote with two small children in tow at the single polling location available to me. It was hours with toddlers in the glory of Colorado's most unpredictable weather.

That experience was a world away from voting in my home State of Oregon where, since 1996, our State has proudly chosen to vote entirely by mail. It is safe and secure. You can't hack paper. It is harder to intimidate a voter in their own home, and turnout is higher. In fact, in 2023, Oregon had the single highest voter turnout in the Nation.

That is how representative democracy is supposed to work. People should be able to easily exercise their voices and to use their power.

For generations, the Voting Rights Act helped move us closer to that promise. It stood as one of the most successful civil rights laws in our Nation's history, borne from those who marched, bled, and died for the right to have a say in their government.

Today, that promise is under assault. Over the last decade, a series decisions handed down by a radical Supreme Court has steadily weakened voting protections. Most recently, Trump's hand-picked Supreme Court Justices gutted section 2 of the Voting Right Act which allowed voters to challenge racially discriminatory maps.

This has unleashed a wave of racist gerrymandering across the South designed to dilute Black voting power, erase hard-won gains of the civil rights movement, and rig the political system for Republicans to stay in power.

In Alabama, the far-right Republican State legislature is now moving forward with a congressional map that all but erases one of two majority Black districts.

This is a map that judges in Alabama rejected, but that Trump's handpicked, radical Supreme Court is letting move forward.

It is a betrayal, and that betrayal and assault is why last month I traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, with Members of Congress from the Northeast to the West to stand in solidarity and to say: We are not going back.

Standing there, I felt the weight of history. The people, including the gentleman's father, courageously led this Nation in the fight against segregation and Jim Crow. They will not stand alone now.

We will fight back, and we have the playbook in front of us. This fight is

won in courtrooms and at kitchen tables, at the ballot box and marching in the streets.

Our role here in Congress is clear: to serve as a check on a judiciary that is straying from its constitutional role and weakening the protections that ensure free and fair elections for all Americans. That is why I support term limits for Supreme Court Justices, a binding and enforceable code of ethics for the Court, and to ensure no court and no State legislature can ever again undermine the sacred right to vote.

Congress must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore Federal protections against racial discrimination in voting. The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. Oregonians sent me here to protect it, and I will keep fighting to do just that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the outstanding students of the Constitution Team at Grant High School in Portland, Oregon, for their remarkable achievement in earning third place at the national civics competition--We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution.

This accomplishment demonstrates both scholarly achievement and a serious commitment to civic engagement and public service. At a time when our democracy depends upon informed and engaged citizens, these students have demonstrated the very best of what civic education can inspire.

Competing against some of the top students from across the Nation, the Grant High School team showcased extraordinary dedication, critical thinking, and teamwork. Their success is a testament to countless hours spent studying constitutional principles, preparing testimony, and engaging thoughtfully with the institutions and ideals that shape our country.

I also want to recognize and thank their teacher and coach, Angela DiPasquale, whose leadership, mentorship, and commitment to civic education helped guide these students to national recognition. Educators like Ms. DiPasquale play a vital role in strengthening our democracy by empowering young people to understand their rights, responsibilities, and ability to create meaningful change in their communities.

It is my honor to include in the Record the names of the students representing Grant High School:

Wren Abbruzzese, Eli Anderson, June Baeck, Elianna Beckham,

Silas Blum, Ella Burgess, Sophie Durocher, Maggie Evans, Nico

Garcia, Gwyn Gerber, Caspian Green, Sabina Halperin, Morgan

Holloway, Rain Hoogen, Nora Isles, Marie Lambert, Margot

Kalmanson, Ema Doyle, Henry Wines, Cora Landford-Crick, Ariel

Manning, Augustus Martin, Keller Mazzetta, Kate McFarland,

Evan Mettler, Cate Moore, Diego Moreno, Tess Nestel, Eli

Peterson, Bena Rodecap, Ada Siemens, Brandon Solano-Miranda,

Orion Souders, Jacob Snider, Hope Stanley, and Issy Winston.

Their hard work, intellectual curiosity, and dedication to democratic values serve as an inspiration to students and communities across our Nation.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Grant High School Constitution Team on this extraordinary accomplishment and in wishing them continued success in all their future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I stood in Montgomery, Alabama, on ground that has absorbed the blood, tears, and sweat of people fighting for equal rights and felt the full weight of this moment.

Around me were civil rights activists, elected leaders, and organizers on the front lines fighting against racist redistricting and gerrymandering, a fight the Supreme Court has made harder and more urgent.

From the Northeast to the West Coast, Members of Congress showed up in solidarity and to say: We are not going back.

The people of Montgomery courageously led this Nation in the fight against segregation and Jim Crow. They will not stand alone now.

We will fight back, and we have the playbook in front of us.

This fight is won in courtrooms, at kitchen tables, at the ballot box, and in the streets. It is won by people who refuse to be quiet. That is what Montgomery has taught us, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Get loud. Stay loud. Do not stop.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the far too short life and legacy of Cayle Tern, a community leader, a fierce advocate for immigrant and refugee families, and a beloved son of east county and of Oregon.

Cayle came to Portland as a young child, an Iu Mien refugee from Laos, whose family spent years in a refugee camp before finding safety here.

That story became the foundation of his life's work: ensuring that other immigrant and refugee families had what his family did not, a voice in the decisions of their lives.

He brought that purpose to everything he touched. As civic engagement manager at APANO, he fought tirelessly for Asian-Pacific-American communities across Oregon. He served as president of the Iu-Mien Association of Oregon, board chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Community Coalition of Oregon, a member of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization Governance Board, and a board member of the Reynolds School District.

He helped build a school in Laos and was instrumental in founding MINTeD, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Southeast Asian youth. His commitment was steadfast, and it was genuine.

In the final chapter of his work, as ICE escalated its targeting of Laotian and Southeast Asian community members across Oregon, Cayle immersed himself in the effort to protect his neighbors.

I had the honor, just a few weeks ago, to work with Cayle, PIRC, the city of Portland, and many others to elevate the work we all need to be doing to protect our Laotian and Hmong immigrants in our community from ICE cruelty and lawlessness. He wanted his people to be informed, protected, and seen. That was Cayle.

He had a gift for bringing people together through friendship, through laughter, through shared meals and through the simple, powerful act of showing up. He made people feel welcomed and valued, and he understood that community is built through relationship as much as it is through policy.

To his wife, May, his children, and his family: Oregon grieves with you. We stand in firm support of you as you navigate this really treacherous and hard time.

Mr. Speaker, Cayle gave so much to so many, and his legacy lives on in every person he inspired to show up, to organize, and to lead with heart. His legacy calls us forward.

high gas prices

Mr. Speaker, inflation just jumped to its highest level in 3 years. Gas prices are at a 4-year high, with Oregonians paying an average of $5.35 a gallon. Working families are struggling. They are choosing between filling up their tank and putting food on the table. They are watching their costs go up while their paychecks stay the same.

This is the reality at home, and bringing relief to our communities must be our priority, yet the administration and Republicans are refusing to center the American people. Instead, they are allowing a reckless and unnecessary war in the Middle East to continue, driving up global oil prices, alienating our allies, and creating instability in energy markets and the world's economy.

Just yesterday, the Senate, once again, blocked legislation to stop this war. Today, the House has an opportunity to act. We will vote on a war powers resolution. At a time when Americans are asking us for relief, we should not be prolonging a war that makes their lives more expensive and less stable.

I refuse to stop talking about how hard people are working just to get by.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to prioritize caring for working families and to demand an end to the war in Iran.

Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished ranking member for yielding.

Madam Speaker, at a time when too many Americans are struggling to afford groceries, Congress should be working together to help feed working families.

We could be expanding access to food and vegetables, and investing in Food Is Medicine programs that keep people healthy and out of the hospital.

Instead, we are considering a betrayal of a farm bill that cuts food assistance for millions and fails our farmers. Let me be clear: Hunger is a health issue. Hunger is a policy choice.

I spent 20 years caring for the sickest patients in my community, and I know how food insecurity results in illness. I saw patients who delayed care to be able to put food on the table, only to end up in the hospital even sicker. I cared for people who couldn't afford the healthy food to manage their hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease.

This bill makes impossible choices harder. We need a farm bill that helps farmers feed Americans and helps families afford that food. This bill does neither.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the rule and, instead, work to advance solutions that actually help families.

Mr. Speaker, all morning, my team has been sorting through more than 60 privacy release forms I received from people imprisoned at Dilley.

I spent most of my oversight visit Saturday hearing from people who, by any measure of fairness or common sense, should not be locked up. They were green card holders, asylum seekers, people with some level of legal protection, people without criminal records, and children who have been there for months in a direct violation of Federal law.

I went room to room, helping people in detention fill out privacy releases so their Members of Congress could advocate for them because the system, as it stands, is not delivering justice reliably without intervention. That should outrage all of us.

Families should not have to rely on a chance encounter with a Member of Congress to access basic due process. I am angry because this cruelty is intentional.

We must demand justice: an immigration system that follows the rule of law, a system that doesn't imprison children, a system that keeps families together, a system that guarantees access to due justice abiding by the law.

That is what I will keep fighting for.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the FIRE Act, a bill that undermines the protections that keeps our air safe to breathe.

In 1970, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the Clean Air Act and put public health at the center of our national policymaking. That was a promise to the American people, and it is a promise we cannot forget. That law has delivered cleaner air and longer lives, but our work is not finished.

More than 100 million Americans live in counties with unhealthy levels of pollution. Our children, our seniors, low-income communities, and communities of color continue to carry the heaviest burden. The public has been clear with us. Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe everyone should be held to the standards set by the Clean Air Act.

The question before us is simple: Why would we disregard the commonsense policy that protects the very communities we are here to serve?

The FIRE Act undermines a centerpiece of the Clean Air Act: the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program. Right now, there are narrow exceptions to the rules that set limits on how polluted our air can be. Republicans want to blow those exceptions wide open, so even routine conditions like hot weather or drought could be used as an excuse to ignore pollution limits.

I represent Oregon, where wildfires are a constant and defining challenge. We manage wildfires and conduct prescribed burns every year to protect our forests and communities. I have spoken directly with the people doing that work, and this is not a bill they want.

They have asked for clarity and precision. This bill offers neither. Instead, it creates a vague, sweeping policy that risks turning ``exceptional'' into ``routine.''

As a physician and lung doctor, I know exactly what that means. It means more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, more strokes, and more cancer diagnoses.

We know better than this, and it is not why my constituents sent me here. They sent me here to fight for clean air, for healthy communities, and for a future where public health is not compromised.

For these reasons, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill. My amendment would ensure this bill does not take effect until EPA and CASAC certify that it will not increase health harms or the cost of treating them.

I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record immediately prior to the vote on the motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for 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, I thank my colleague from New Jersey for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong and vehement opposition to these bills, specifically the FENCES Act, that gut the Clean Air Act's core public health protections.

Before the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, pollution choked American cities. It blanketed entire communities in a toxic haze so thick that residents were reported to believe they were under chemical attack.

In Los Angeles, people had smog-burned eyes and seared lungs. In my hometown of Portland, an industrial hub, smokestacks filled the skies with black plumes. Children walked to school clutching handkerchiefs over their faces. Drivers crashed on the highway because they couldn't see more than a few feet ahead. Families were scared. They were sick, and they were desperate for change.

That is the reality my Republican colleagues are now trying to drag us back to. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards are one of the most important tools we have to protect health. They set limits on dangerous pollution and ensure communities know when the air they breathe is unsafe. These bills would undermine those standards, allowing States to sidestep them and leave the public in the dark about real health risks.

As a lung doctor, I know exactly what that means. It means more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, more strokes, more cancer diagnoses, and more children in the ER.

We have seen this play out time and time again, and today, I cannot help but wonder when are we going to learn our lesson.

In places like Cancer Alley, families wake up every day knowing the air they breathe is making them sick. Communities are living with higher rates of cancer, respiratory illness, and premature death--real people, real families bearing the cost of decisions made right here.

It is not just one place. Across the country, in communities living near the major sources of pollution, we see the same pattern. When standards are weakened and accountability disappears, people pay with their health.

This is not what the people of Oregon sent me here to do. They sent me here to fight for healthy communities, for clean air, for safe water, and a better future for our children.

I will not sit silently while this body rolls back lifesaving protections that have put polluters on watch. I urge my colleagues to reject these bills. Our children are watching. History is watching, and the air we breathe is on the line.