Farewell To Congress
Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my constituents, colleagues, and friends for the wonderful 4 years I have spent serving in the people's House. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve Orange and Los Angeles Counties in Congress. From…
Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my constituents, colleagues, and friends for the wonderful 4 years I have spent serving in the people's House. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve Orange and Los Angeles Counties in Congress.
From helping my constituents to passing life-changing legislation, the work we have done has truly mattered.
Only in America can a first-generation immigrant who speaks English as a third language rise to become a Member of this body.
When my parents fled communist North Korea for freedom in South Korea, they never would have imagined that their daughter would be standing here today.
On behalf of my beautiful, diverse district, my team and I have accomplished a great deal. We have delivered significant funding to improve our Orange County beaches through sand replenishment. We have also provided important infrastructure investments to our communities. We have expanded healthcare access by expanding telehealth coverage. We have led the fight for lower taxes.
Legislation I have sponsored on its way to becoming law includes legislation to expand language access in telehealth for non-English speakers and expand mental health support for youth in foster care.
I have been a strong advocate for defending human rights across the globe and taking on the communist regimes who abuse them.
These accomplishments are not mine alone. I want to give a heartfelt thank you to the members of leadership, committee chairs, and my colleagues who helped pave the way, and, of course, my wonderful staff.
Speakers Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson have ably led this body and supported me every step of the way. The same is true of Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, and Elise Stefanik. My friend Cathy McMorris Rodgers has also been a great mentor to me and helped me along the way. My colleagues in the California delegation have likewise joined me in supporting causes important to our State.
I have been also blessed to serve on great committees. On the Ways and Means Committee, we have promoted an economy that benefits all Americans. Under the leadership of chairman Jason Smith, Congress will reauthorize the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with improvements that benefit American workers and job creators.
We have also done great work on the Education and the Workforce Committee to promote quality education for all students. This includes fighting the rise of anti-Semitism on campuses, a fight that Chairwoman Virginia Foxx has strongly championed. Dr. Foxx has been a partner for me in helping reduce Communist China's influence in education through my DETERRENT Act.
As we have talked about so much on the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP is truly America's number one adversary.
I have passed legislation to ban our military from using seaports reliant on Chinese technology. I have also worked to strengthen Taiwan's military readiness through the TAIWAN Security Act.
Congress must keep their eye on the CCP and build on this progress.
For now, I will be heading back to my home in sunny California. While my time in Congress is ending, I will always look for ways to serve the country that I love. I will always treasure the friendships I have made both in Washington and Southern California. Like all journeys, this one is ending for a new one to begin.