Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Rev. Jason Coker and Rev. Jenell Coker as my December 2025 Co-Constituents of the Month.

Rev. Jason and Rev. Jenell Coker are being recognized for their extraordinary leadership, vision, and longstanding commitment to community transformation. Together, they have grown The Oceanside Sanctuary into a thriving, historic congregation that serves as a hub for inclusive, justice-centered ministry in North County San Diego.

Their work extends far beyond the church walls through ecumenical and interfaith collaboration, nonprofit leadership, education, and community organizing, and is grounded in a fully LGBTQ-affirming faith that prioritizes dignity, equity, and belonging. Through decades of service, the Cokers have demonstrated how thoughtful, courageous leadership can strengthen institutions, empower communities, and create lasting positive change.

They are immensely deserving of this recognition and our district is better off because of their work.

Mr. Speaker, my flight was delayed on Monday, December 15, 2025, and I missed votes that evening. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 335, and YEA on Roll Call No. 336.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Richard C. Parsons, who passed away on May 16, 2025, in San Clemente, California. In his memory, I would like to pay tribute and reflect on the life he led and the impact he had on our Nation and the community in California's 49th District.

Richard was born in New York City on August 3, 1934, and was the son of Armenian immigrants.

He attended Columbia University before earning his degree from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. During his time at Principia College, Richard met his wife Nancy, whom he was married to for 66 years.

After attending Principia College, Richard enlisted in the Army. He served with honor at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. After his time serving our nation, Richard settled in Southern California where he led a successful career, retiring as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Arrowhead Water.

Richard was an incredible leader and an inspiration to many. I am grateful for his service to our country.

Richard is survived by his children, grandchildren, and extended family. They were his greatest pride. Richard was a dedicated family man who cared deeply for everyone around him. Richard leaves behind a legacy defined by love and service.

I am proud to have the opportunity to recognize the legacy of Richard C. Parsons.

Mr. Speaker, my flight was delayed on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, and I missed the first vote that evening. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 146.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the big, ugly bill, which even Elon Musk has called a ``disgusting abomination.''

The big, ugly bill undermines the programs millions of Americans rely on to survive, like healthcare and food assistance. Perhaps less discussed is that it will increase your energy bills.

Right now, 80 million Americans are struggling to pay their electricity bills, and according to a recent report in The New York Times, this bill will make it worse.

The big, ugly bill ends tax credits to promote clean energy and will increase household energy costs by up to $415 a year.

On top of that, ending the tax credits will lead to thousands of job losses nationwide, in red States and blue States. This comes as demand for electricity is surging, driving up costs even more.

Everyone in this body talks a good game about lowering costs; but when the time came to actually do something about costs, my House colleagues voted to put Big Oil CEOs over the American people.

I urge my friends in the Senate to fix this mess and actually lower energy prices for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 146.

Mr. Speaker, when I first started running for Congress a number of years ago, my wife and I sold all of our individual stocks, and I made a commitment that if I were elected, I wouldn't trade individual stocks while in office because being a Representative isn't just a title; it is a responsibility that we all have, and that responsibility is to serve the people and not our own financial interests.

Let's face it: Too many Americans have lost faith in government. They wonder whether their elected officials are truly working for them. We can't allow that doubt to grow. We have the power to help fix it.

That is why I have long supported legislation to ban Members of Congress from trading individual stocks, and I am encouraged that we are working together in a bipartisan way to get this done.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Magaziner, Representative Roy, and others who have been working together for some time on this. We have a lot of momentum. Today, as was said, Speaker Johnson said that he supports a stock trading ban. Leader Jeffries supports a stock trading ban. President Trump has said that he would sign a stock trading ban into the law.

Again, this is not a partisan issue. Poll after poll shows overwhelming support. Approximately 80 percent of Americans want Congress to pass a ban on Members stock trading. They want to know that their Representatives are here to serve the public, not to profit from their positions.

Recent events have only made this more urgent. Last month, markets moved sharply after the reversal of tariffs that had been threatened. Just hours before that announcement, there were posts on social media. I don't need to recount all of that now, and we don't know exactly who had advance notice of that decision or whether anybody acted on it, but that is exactly the problem.

Americans should never ever have to wonder if public officials are using any sort of inside knowledge to enrich themselves. That is why we need to act now. We need a law that says, clearly and without exception, if you serve in Congress, you cannot trade individual stocks. No more gray areas. No more questions; just clear rules that restore trust and put the public interest first. We have the support. We have the momentum, and we have a responsibility to get this done.

Speaker Johnson, please work with us. Allow a vote on a stock trading ban. Let's begin the long process to restore confidence in this body. The time to act is now.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak for my constituents, Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez.

Thirty-five years ago, they came to the United States from Colombia in search of a better life. They tried to file for asylum but received bad legal advice from a now-disbarred attorney.

Nelson and Gladys Gonzalez raised three daughters in Laguna Niguel, California, worked hard, paid taxes, and never got so much as a traffic ticket.

For decades, they checked in with ICE voluntarily and were allowed to stay in the country, but this past February, while at their ICE appointment, they were detained, separated, and deported.

Why was a family with no criminal history, no gang affiliation, three children, and a new grandchild a priority for deportation? We should be using our resources to remove dangerous individuals, not those contributing positively to our society and to our economy, not people like Nelson and Gladys Gonzalez.

I am all for a secure border, but what we are seeing today is not the America that I know.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support California's right to clean air. Growing up in southern California in the 1980s, smog alerts were a regular part of life. A lap around the track at school and your chest would burn. We can't go back to those days.

When President Richard Nixon signed the Federal Clean Air Act in 1970, California, under Governor Ronald Reagan, was given a waiver, letting us set stricter air pollution rules than the Federal Government.

Over the years, Republican and Democratic leaders alike, from Governors Reagan to Jerry Brown to Arnold Schwarzenegger, stood together to protect California's right to clean up our air. Now House Republicans are trying to strip away California's ability to set our own air pollution standards. So much for State's rights.

After all the progress we have made, they want to turn back the clock and do the bidding of the big polluters.

Clean air is not a partisan issue. It is a public health issue, and I will never stop fighting to protect it.

Mr. Speaker, in January, a largely unknown midlevel career employee at the Social Security Administration, Leland Dudek, was caught sharing unauthorized data with Elon Musk's team at DOGE. Senior officials were so alarmed they put him on leave and launched an investigation. He may have violated privacy and tax laws.

Here is the stuff you can't make up. President Trump just promoted him to be the Acting Commissioner of Social Security.

DOGE, which I think stands for destruction of government by Elon, is reportedly demanding plans to gut the Social Security Administration, firing up to 50 percent of workers and closing field offices across the country, potentially including one in my district.

This isn't about efficiency. It is a back-door attack on Social Security itself. If they succeed, tens of millions of Americans will face delays, disruptions, and denials of benefits they have earned.

This is nothing more than an attempt to dismantle Social Security from the inside. We cannot allow it. We need answers. We need oversight. We need to stop this now.

Mr. Speaker, it has been another week of the attempted great billionaire takeover of our Federal Government, being led by DOGE, which actually stands for destruction of government by Elon.

They have shut down the agency protecting Americans from fraud and predatory lending. They are gutting funding for medical research. They are targeting at-risk and special education programs, all without a single vote from Congress.

Where do we go from here?

I know some Republicans support these objectives. I get it, but this is not the way. Congress must act. The Constitution requires it.

Our Founders were clear, but too many in this body are looking the other way, fearing political backlash. Our system of government only works if we all do our jobs. This isn't about left or right.

To my friends across the aisle, I ask: Would they want a future Democratic President to act without guardrails, to act without any checks or balances? The situation they are allowing is dangerous. The choices we make now will shape our Nation for generations. They should do better.

Mr. Speaker, in a few short weeks, President Trump has unleashed the beginnings a constitutional crisis. He is gutting the Federal Government and trying to usurp Congress' congressional authority of the power of the purse.

President Trump is flouting the law, and he has deputized unelected billionaire in chief Elon Musk, who is accountable to no one. They are dismantling Federal agencies and are attempting to freeze Federal funds already allocated by Congress.

Elon Musk, and apparently many of my colleagues, may not know this, but let me be clear: Only Congress, the elected Representatives of the American people, can authorize programs or appropriate funds. Everything that is happening is leading to one thing: the great billionaire takeover of our government to line the pockets of the very few.

This is not normal. This is not efficiency, and we cannot let this happen. My grandfather didn't fight in World War II against fascism to see our country overrun by autocracy. I will honor his legacy every day by fighting to defend our Constitution.

I implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same. America is worth the fight.

Mr. Speaker, some House Republicans are threatening to withhold disaster aid to California unless certain unknown conditions are met. There is even talk about attaching disaster aid to an increase in the debt ceiling.

Mr. Speaker, this could be your State. Never in our Nation's history has the Federal Government placed such politically driven conditions on disaster aid to its own citizens. We can have good-faith debates about water policy and infrastructure deficiencies, and we should, but that is not what this is about.

This is a bad-faith effort to use California as a punching bag. This is about the promotion of half-truths, conspiracy theories, and outright lies, not to mention it is a way out for House Republicans.

They can't raise the debt ceiling on their own, so they want to tie that to disaster aid. It is unconscionable.

Mr. Speaker, I say to my Republican friends that it is unacceptable and downright shameful to use the suffering of Californians in need, or anyone in need, to solve your internal political disputes. Please stop playing games. Let's get the disaster aid to the people who need it, and let's do it now.

Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor to recognize community advocate and Del Mar resident Bonnie Grossman as my October 2023 Constituent of the Month.

Bonnie is a fierce champion for children facing abuse and neglect. As a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), she advocates for foster care youth in court, school. medical settings, and more to ensure their needs are met. Over the past seven years she has supported numerous foster children, including her current case youth who was 15 years old when he first met Grossman at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

I am thankful for Bonnie's work and the work of CASA leaders who dedicate themselves to uplifting and protecting our most vulnerable communities. She is an incredible example of a compassionate and hard- working public servant, and I'm proud to honor Bonnie Grossman as my October 2023 Constituent of the Month.

Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor to recognize public servant and Vista resident Jeffrey Olsen as my December 2023 Constituent of the Month.

Mr. Olsen is a generous local hero, helping over 57,000 people in his 35 years of service to the San Diego region. He largely uses his own money to buy the goods he donates, filling his shed with toys and clothes throughout the year. This past February, he also donated tens of thousands of dollars' worth of sports memorabilia to help military families and veterans.

During the holiday season, I am honored to recognize leaders, like Jeffrey, whose selfless dedication to giving back to others is truly admirable. He is a compassionate and inspiring member of our community, and I'm proud to honor Jeffrey Olsen as my December 2023 Constituent of the Month.