Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember a great American hero, Mr. Ralph Rodriguez, Jr., who passed away this month at the age of 100. Mr. Rodriguez bravely served our country in World War II and survived years of inhumane treatment as a prisoner of war.

Born to Mexican immigrants, Mr. Rodriguez was sent to train in the Philippines prior the United States' entrance into the war, but was ambushed by Japanese forces on December 8, 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After months of intense fighting, Mr. Rodriguez and his fellow servicemen were ordered to surrender. They were then forced to

walk more than 60 miles to Camp O'Donnell in what became known as the Bataan Death March.

For almost three years, despite facing malnutrition, torture, and forced labor, Mr. Rodriguez did his best to provide medical care to his fellow soldiers without the use of proper supplies. He also kept handwritten records of his fellow prisoners, many of whom succumbed to a range of ailments. He was finally liberated and returned to New Mexico in January 1945.

After returning home, Mr. Rodriguez worked for a variety of lumber businesses in the Albuquerque area. Additionally, he served in leadership roles at the Bataan Veterans Organization and the American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization. He also met his wife, Elizabeth, and had three children, Mona Lisa, Ralph III, and Charles.

Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of Mr. Ralph Rodriguez, Jr., and honor Mr. Rodriguez for his valiant service to our country.

Mr. Speaker, this is opioids week, yet we are not considering any bill that would rein in the pharmaceutical companies, whose greed caused and perpetuated the epidemic.

Many of these companies have used unethical and illegal practices to generate record-setting profits. They have bribed doctors, lied to patients about the effects of opioids, and ignored millions of illegally trafficked pills. Meanwhile, the costs of the epidemic fall on States, cities, counties, hospitals, courts, and local communities that do not have the resources to keep up.

I have introduced legislation that would make pharmaceutical companies part of the solution by imposing a small 1-cent fee on opioid production. The estimated $2 billion in revenue raised could be used to fund a variety of prevention, treatment, and research programs that would save countless lives.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to finally hold these companies accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic and make them give back to the communities and families that have been destroyed.

Madam Speaker, I thank my incredible colleague from California, Congressman Aguilar. This is a really personal issue to so many Members not only in this Chamber, but in our neighboring Chamber, the U.S. Senate: the notion that, after more than 6 months of bipartisan, bicameral efforts, this body cannot hold an effort to have just a debate in an environment where we clearly have the will of the entire body focused on the will of our constituents in this Nation to find a permanent solution for Dreamers, who, as my colleague so artfully stated, have no other country than this one as their own and the fact that that effort will not be undertaken because the leadership of this House refuses to do its job by allowing us the opportunity to debate bills and to share ideas and to move forward on pieces of legislation that truly make a difference in the lives of our constituents and the lives of Americans in every single community.

It is days like this I really appreciate that I have colleagues who keep their hope and their faith, and they have got my commitment to do the same.

But the nicest thing I can say is that it is really unfortunate that we find ourselves here at nearly 9:30 p.m. because we don't have the courage of Members to stay the course and do what is right, particularly now in an environment where instead of moving forward on the issues where more of us agree than not, in fact, we are seeing even more draconian, anti-American, probably, unconstitutional efforts at preventing asylum and refuge to others around the world, which is our constitutional basis in this country. And this was an opportunity to not only begin to deal with these issues, but to do what is right for these young people.

For those folks who are watching us tonight in this situation, I want to highlight who they are again.

In New Mexico, and, in fact, in my district, which is Albuquerque, New Mexico, the teacher of the year is a Dreamer. In a country where 20,000 educators are Dreamers, in a State where 5,000 young men and women are doctors, engineers, lawyers, educators, nurses, entrepreneurs, long-term care caregivers, providing the very supportive work for which this country has a serious shortage, because they are so committed to their communities and their families that they are taking on the challenges that too many of us are unwilling to do, yet this body, this Chamber refusing to allow the majority to take an action that would provide those young people with a protected, positive, productive future, the same thing that they have done for our communities, all of our communities, I find incredibly disheartening tonight.

But I, too, want to add my voice that I will continue to fight and work to find whatever pathways for a solution make the most sense in a body that makes no sense, particularly now.

I thank my colleague and my Republican colleagues who had the courage to work to force the debate when leadership refused to provide that avenue, who had the courage to force the debate when leadership did not hold their commitments to meet with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including myself, who failed to hold meetings so that we could work on ideas and strategies before getting to this point, who failed to provide any meaningful legislative idea, effort, text, any legislative solutions or strategy.

I want to thank Members like my colleague from California, and, actually, I assume that my colleague from California will yield to our colleague from Texas.

There are so many Members of this body who worked so incredibly hard to do, finally, the work that we were elected to do. I certainly want to give them my gratitude and my commitment that I will continue to do everything in my power to force this Chamber to do the job that we were all elected to do.

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

Mr. Chairman, 99.9 percent of New Mexico is under drought conditions, including over 60 percent of the State which is suffering from extreme drought or worse. It is so dry that more than half the State is at significant risk for dangerous and destructive wildfires, and long stretches of the Rio Grande riverbed are already dry as a bone.

As I speak, there are wildfires raging across the state, including a massive fire in Ute Park, which is threatening multiple communities and hundreds of buildings.

On top of that, last winter's mountain snowpack was the second lowest on record, creating significant issues for New Mexico's agricultural industry. Farmers are leaving fields unplanted and ranchers are downsizing their herds. Many farmers and ranchers, including families who have worked their land for generations, are worried that they will not have the water to grow their crops or the hay to feed their livestock in the months and years ahead.

Extreme drought is the new normal in large parts of the American Southwest and we have to develop innovative technologies and management practices to both preserve the water resources we have and increase access to previously unusable water.

My amendment intends to prioritize $15 million for the Bureau of Reclamation's water research and development programs. It is critical that we make new investments to develop innovative methods to recycle, reuse, and purify water for agricultural, environmental, residential, and industrial uses.

This funding also supports the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility located in Alamogordo, New Mexico, that develops more cost-effective and efficient ways to desalinate and purify water. This cutting-edge facility brings together researchers from a range of Federal agencies, universities, private companies, and State and local governments to work collaboratively on sustainability using billions of previously untapped brackish groundwater in New Mexico.

Mr. Chairman, if we don't develop innovative water management strategies to do more with less, we won't have the water we need to plant our fields, feed our livestock, or grow New Mexico's economy.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a talented group of students from the Albuquerque High School STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Team, which placed third overall and was the top placing United States team at the 2018 RoboRAVE International Entrepreneurial Challenge.

This impressive team, made up of Asael Diaz, Mary Cherino, and Dante Van Orten, created a robotic dog intended for fun and companionship. They also created a logo, brochure, and 30-second commercial video in order to present their invention to judges and competition attendees.

This competition represents an outstanding opportunity for students to gain valuable exposure to STEM disciplines, and I am so pleased that high schoolers from Albuquerque were able to participate and perform so well. I am hopeful that New Mexico will continue to be a leader in STEM fields and that our students will continue to apply their skills through outlets like this competition.

I would also like to recognize the team's sponsor, science teacher Valerie Kovach, as well as educational assistant Jean Hart, for the sacrifices they made in order to provide the team with valuable supervision and guidance.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the students and staff from the Albuquerque High School STEAM Team on their impressive performance at the 2018 RoboRAVE International Entrepreneurial Challenge. I wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I missed three votes on 6/5/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 231; YEA on Roll Call No. 232; and YEA on Roll Call No. 233.

Mr. Speaker, I missed three votes on June 6, 2018.

Had I been present, I would have voted: ``Nay'' on rollcall No. 234, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 235, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 236.

Mr. Speaker, I missed three votes on 5/21/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 207; YEA on Roll Call No. 208; and YEA on Roll Call No. 209.

Mr. Chairman, New Mexico is home to the Kirtland Air Force Research Laboratory that develops groundbreaking technologies that support our men and women in the Armed Forces.

These technologies often have a range of commercial applications that can re-energize domestic manufacturing, create high-paying jobs, and increase economic development in our State, which has the second highest unemployment rate in the Nation.

High-speed internet servers, GPS, electric vehicles, and even microwave ovens are just a few of the examples of transformational technologies that were originally developed by the Federal Government.

My amendments would help facilitate the commercialization of innovative DOD-developed technologies by investing in the scientists, engineers, and mathematicians serving in our military laboratories.

By providing laboratory personnel with business education, entrepreneurial sabbaticals, and new opportunities to partner with universities and businesses, we can make cutting-edge technologies more widely available to American businesses and consumers, grow our economy, and ensure that the United States leads the world in innovation.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendments.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a vote on 4/10/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 130; YEA on Roll Call No. 131; and YEA on Roll Call No. 132.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a vote on 4/16/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 140 and YEA on Roll Call No. 141.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a vote on 5/16/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 184.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a vote on 5/8/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 169 and NAY on Roll Call No. 170.

Mr. Speaker, I missed a vote on 5/7/2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 167 and YEA on Roll Call No. 168.

Mr. Speaker, I missed three votes on May 15, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 181; YEA on Roll Call No. 182; and YEA on Roll Call No. 183.