Floor Statements

Madam Chair, I am pleased to rise to join our distinguished Republican leader, Mr. McCarthy, to honor the dedicated, distinguished service of an outstanding public servant, United States Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa.

Madam Chair, throughout 34 years in law enforcement, Police Chief Verderosa has proven himself as a leader of the highest patriotism and professionalism and has proudly carried forth the Capitol Police's nearly two-century history of storied service.

Chief Verderosa has held seemingly every consequential job in the Capitol Police, from the fields of emergency response, to dignitary protection, to the highest ranks of leadership.

Through it all, he has distinguished himself for his strong, steady leadership, particularly during some of the most challenging times for the Capitol Police force and the Congress.

That outstanding leadership was on display after the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, 2 years ago next month. Chief Verderosa responded to that attack with courage, vision, and grace, bringing help and healing to those affected and to our entire congressional community.

In every day of his tenure, he has led with those same qualities, navigating everything from mass protests, to the more than 11 million annual visitors to the Capitol Grounds, to multiple Lying in State and Lying in Honor ceremonies.

Chief Verderosa has earned the respect of all: the rank-and-file officers of the Capitol Police, Members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, and the American people.

On a personal note, as someone who benefits from the protection of the Capitol Police every day and everywhere I go, I want to express my gratitude to Chief Verderosa for his hard work and commitment to the safety of all Members.

In his retirement statement, Chief Verderosa said: ``The mission of the department is simple. We protect the legislative process.''

Chief Verderosa, thank you for your relentless dedication to protecting the legislative process and this legislative body, ensuring that the people's House can do the people's work. We are profoundly grateful. We wish you well in your well-earned retirement.

Madam Chair, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), who is the Republican leader of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am so proud that the gentleman is in the Chair, as well as others who will preside in the course of this historic debate today, Angie Craig being one of them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee for giving us this opportunity today to expand freedom in America.

I commend Congressman Cicilline for his extraordinary leadership, his courage, and his persistence in introducing this legislation that is so important to our country, and doing so with the support of the Congressional Black Caucus. To see him standing there with the rest of us, honored to join Congressman John Lewis on the day of announcement a while back, a year and a half, 2 years ago, and now in the majority for us to have the privilege to bring this legislation to the floor, I thank Congressman Cicilline for being a champion of equality in our country.

Again, I salute the Congressional Black Caucus, John Lewis, and so many others, including Mr. Cleaver, who will speak later today.

It is a deeply powerful moment to be on this floor to talk about this important legislation. What I would like to do is take the opportunity in the time that I will use to salute the countless activists, advocates, outside organizers, and mobilizers who have courageously demanded the full fairness and justice that are the rights of all Americans.

On this floor, many of us, including Mr. Hoyer, we all go way back when we sparred for funding for HIV and AIDS. We were successful not only because of our inside maneuvering but because of the outside mobilization.

We were successful in passing fully inclusive hate crime legislation. Barney Frank led the way for us inside, but the outside groups were mobilizing, mobilizing, mobilizing.

Under the leadership of President Barack Obama--and we salute him for it--we were able in the Congress in the majority to pass the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, to put that into the dustbin of history. It was successful because of the activism of our outside groups and advocates.

Then, of course, the horrible Defense of Marriage Act, I don't know what marriages they were defending, but the

Defense of Marriage Act that was proposed by some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Supreme Court gave us that answer about justice in our country.

Then there was the ending of the hateful ban on transgender military service.

For this Congress, this has been the scene where we have fought the fight on legislation, fought the fight to present the case in the court of public opinion and to bolster the case in the Supreme Court.

On this monumental day, my thoughts are with Phyllis Lyon and the late Del Martin, who shared their lives together for decades. They were mentors for civic engagement to many of us in San Francisco for decades. Some of that civic engagement related to LGBTQ rights. They were an inspiration, as I say, to many of us.

People say to me, ``It is easy for you to be for some of these things because you are from San Francisco. People are so tolerant there.'' I say, ``Tolerant? That is a condescending word to me. This is not about tolerance. This is about respect of the LGBTQ community. This is about taking pride.''

That is what we do today. For Phyllis and Del and other older LGBTQ couples, LGBTQ workers striving to provide for their families, for the young people, the LGBTQ youth, this is a transformative moment.

Fifty years after LGBTQ Americans took to the streets outside of New York's Stonewall Inn to fight against harassment and hate, we take pride in the progress we have forged together.

Our Founders, in their great wisdom, wrote in our beautiful preamble of the blessings of liberty, which were to be the birthright of all Americans.

To bring our Nation closer to the founding promise of liberty and justice for all, we today pass the Equality Act and finally fully end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. LGBTQ people deserve full civil rights protection in the workforce and in every place, in education, housing, credit, jury duty service, and public accommodations. No one should be forced to lose his or her job, their home, or to live in fear because of who they are and whom they love.

This is personal. It is not just about policy. It is about people. Earlier this year I received a letter from a trans woman living in San Francisco who has faced threats, stalking, and harassment because of who she is.

She says in her communication:

The fear is very much there. All I want to do is live my

life like anyone else. Please keep seeing me.

Today and for all days, we say to all of our friends: We see you, we support you, and we stand with you with pride.

We look forward to a swift, strong, successful, and, hopefully, strongly bipartisan bill today for equality. This is not just an act of Congress that we are taking for the LGBTQ progress to the community. This is progress for America.

Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of a giant of humanitarianism and a leader of conscience, who made lasting, life-saving contributions to the cause of eradicating violent conflict and eliminating human suffering: Dr. David Alan Hamburg.

Trained as a physician and psychiatrist, Dr. Hamburg led a career of incredible scope and immense impact, beginning with sweeping contributions made to the field of medicine from distinguished posts at hospitals, universities, research laboratories, and scientific and public policy organizations. ``Ounce of prevention, ton of cure'' was his favorite motto, and would guide him through all his work, from disease prevention to conflict resolution.

Dr. Hamburg followed his pioneering scholarship on disease prevention with studies of human behavior, specializing in the evolution of human violence. As a recognized authority on the study of aggression, stress and conflict, he revolutionized the worlds' conception of civil conflict and warfare, led by his deep faith in the need to ``mobilize human ingenuity'' for peace. Much of his game-changing research was conducted alongside his beloved wife, the trailblazing and renowned Dr. Beatrix Hamburg.

At the helm of the prestigious Carnegie Corporation for fifteen years, Dr. Hamburg would use his belief in the power of prevention to create prosperity, as he launched initiatives for the advancement of civilization of a startling scale, from early childhood education to youth health to conflict resolution. He was a powerful and early force for the study of terrorism, violence and genocide, warning that for too long, scholars had treated these global priorities as ``almost a nonsubject.''

His leadership was critical in conflict prevention and mitigation efforts, including through initiatives such as the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, co-chaired with former Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, which studied ethnic and regional conflicts in Africa and the Balkans, and which was cited as one of the United Nation's ``major reference points'' for peace efforts by Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon.

He was a respected voice among our colleagues in the Congress on nuclear nonproliferation, which is a pillar of America's national security. His work to develop and pass the vital Nunn-Lugar. Amendment has helped keep America and our allies strong and safe. I had the privilege of learning from Dr. Hamburg when we served on the Board of the Leakey Foundation for the Study of Human Origins. Once again he would demonstrate his leadership when he courageously obtained the release of the Stanford students who were kidnapped while doing primate research at Gombe National Park, Tanzania.

Dr. Hamburg often said that he ``grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust,'' and was motivated in his work by his grandfather's experience fleeing anti-Semitic pogroms in Latvia and later bringing an estimated 50 relatives to America to escape the Nazi regime. This ``firsthand knowledge [on] how brutal people could be'' would be a powerful beacon for him, as he sought to bring resolution, cooperation and healing to the world. His enduring contributions to turn that painful legacy into a more peaceful future for others will be a lasting blessing for all.

May it be a comfort to Dr. Hamburg's children, Eric and Margaret, his three grandchildren, David, Rachel and Evan, and all their loved ones that David has been reunited with the love of his life, Betty. May it also be a comfort that so many grieve with them and pray for them during this sad time.

Mr. Chair, congratulations. What a joy to see the gentleman in the chair. I thank Chairman Pallone for his extraordinary leadership as chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, chair of the Health Subcommittee. I thank them so much for all their hard work to bring us to this series of bills today, in addition to the bills of last week.

I commend our colleague who just spoke, Ann Kuster, for her important legislation to preserve the benefit of preexisting conditions not being a barrier to access to care and insurance, and also to Lisa Blunt Rochester for her leadership on the legislation before us today to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Mr. Chairman and colleagues, on Sunday we marked Mother's Day, a special tribute to our mothers and also a somber reminder of the days when being a mother--when being a woman--was a preexisting medical condition. As a mother of five, I can speak from some experience as to what an obstacle that could be to access to insurance.

Last week, we took action to block the administration's cynical efforts to drag our country back to the dark days of discrimination in healthcare coverage by passing the Protecting Americans With Preexisting Conditions Act.

Again, I salute Congresswoman Kuster for her leadership on this, and also our chairman.

This is not a fight about legislation that we are gathered about here today. This is about a fight for our lives, the lives of many people affected.

I want to take the opportunity to salute a hero, a hero who testified last week on healthcare at the Rules Committee, Mr. Ady Barkan.

Ady Barkan is a hero to us. He is a man who suffers from ALS, but, in speaking out for better healthcare, with courage, he testified before the committee 2 weeks ago.

Ady said: I was healthy a year ago. I was running on the beach. I am 33 years old. I have an 18-month-old son, Carl. And, out of nowhere, I was diagnosed with ALS, which, as you know, has a life expectancy of 3 to 4 years. No treatment, no cure.

Like so many others, Rachael--that is his wife--and I have had to fight with our insurers, which has issued outrageous denials instead of covering the benefits we paid for.

We have so little time left together, yet our system forces us to waste it dealing with bills and bureaucracy.

That is why I am here today urging you to build a more rational, fair, efficient, and effective system.

That was Ady testifying 2 weeks ago.

Since then, Ady lost his grandmother, Dina Abramov, and our sympathy goes out to him. Our congratulations to her for having such a magnificent and courageous grandson.

But Ady has been here so many times with our Little Lobbyists who have preexisting conditions, with many of the communities that represent people with diagnoses that need prescription drugs and cannot afford them.

So, in the coming weeks and months, Democrats will continue our action to strengthen health protections for people like Ady, the Little Lobbyists, and others, because this is life or death. It certainly is quality of life.

And now, our Democratic House, today, is proud to pass the Strengthening Healthcare and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, with Congresswoman Blunt Rochester.

With this legislation, we are further reducing the price of prescription drugs by promoting competition with generics and reversing the Republican sabotage that we have seen.

Mr. Chair, when we passed the Affordable Care Act, it was absolutely necessary that we do so. Even if everyone in our country approved and loved their insurer and was happy with their healthcare--which was not the case, but even if they did--it was essential that we pass the Affordable Care Act because we could not sustain the costs of healthcare in our country at the time: the cost to an individual; to a family; to a small business; to corporate America, who was paying a big part of the bill; and to the public sector, was a tremendous burden.

With the Affordable Care Act, we were able to lower the rate of increase of healthcare costs in our country.

But one sector, one segment of the healthcare arena that we did not conquer was the cost of prescription drugs, which continues to contribute to the increase of healthcare costs in our country.

That is the main reason healthcare costs rise: the cost of prescription drugs.

So, I salute the chairman and the committee and Anna Eshoo, chair of the subcommittee, and our distinguished chairman of the full committee for his legislation today which helps to lower the cost of prescription drugs to people, to individuals, to families, to everyone who has a part in funding the good health of the American people.

This is really essential. And it is a fight. And it is a fight, but we are taking it one piece at a time.

The reason it had to be combined with other bills is so that it could be paid for. Our Republicans salute the first part of the bill where we encourage competition among generics and this, that, and the other, but want to walk away from the part of the bill that is essential for paying for the legislation.

So, we want to be very, very responsible in all of this.

One of our colleagues on the floor earlier said that this bill was going to go die in hell or someplace. I don't know where. Actually, the distinguished--well, not so in this case, but the Republican leader of the Senate has said that he is the grim reaper and all these bills will die, designating the Senate a graveyard for legislation that would help the good health of the American people, lower costs for them, improve their lives. But he talked about everything that we passed here.

I have some news for the distinguished leader in the Senate, the Republican leader, Mr. McConnell. The support for this legislation, these bills, is alive and well among the American people, and he will be hearing from them, because this legislation, these bills, are a matter of life and death and, certainly, quality of life for America's working families.

So we will never limit the aspirations and meeting the needs of the American people to what might be legislatively acceptable in the mind of a person in the United States Senate, but we will recognize our responsibility to not only pass the boldest common denominator, but to do so in a way that honors what President Lincoln told us: Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, you can pass almost anything; without it, practically nothing.

But, in order for the public sentiment to weigh in, the public has to know. And passing legislation of this kind is a strong message. And our advocates, whether it is the Little Lobbyists; whether it is those who are affected by so many aspects that the Republican leadership is out to sabotage, that the Trump administration is out to sabotage, whether in the Congress or in the courts--well, we will take it to the court, as we are in the Supreme Court.

We will fight them in the Supreme Court, but we will also fight them in the court of public opinion. This is very, very important to, not only the health, but also the financial well-being of America's working families.

So, I salute the chairman for this legislation, and I urge everyone to vote for it. And I know that there is bipartisan support for some parts of the bill. I hope that will apply to all of it so that it really can work.

Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank her for the constructive amendment and for her exceptional leadership as a leading Member of an outstanding freshman class.

I also thank Congressman Pallone, chairman of the full committee, for giving us the opportunity to bring to the floor historic legislation that will make a tremendous difference in the lives of the American people.

Today, with the Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act, Democrats are honoring their promises to the American people.

Madam Chair, our Democratic majority ran on the promise to protect American families' quality, affordable healthcare.

We have now voted three times to oppose the GOP healthcare lawsuit, but every time, with every vote, House Republicans reveal their inconsistency and complicity with the administration's assault on people with preexisting conditions and every American's healthcare.

It was interesting to listen to the distinguished ranking member of the committee express his views when the fact is that, 2 years ago, House Republicans voted to gut protections for people with preexisting conditions and take away millions of families' healthcare, and they then threw a party to celebrate.

They went down to the White House and celebrated: We have taken away the preexisting conditions benefit.

The American people resoundingly rejected the Republicans' attack on their healthcare and their financial security, yet the GOP is plowing full steam ahead with their monstrous campaign to sabotage the Affordable Care Act and take away healthcare.

Just last week, the administration doubled down on its demands that the courts throw out every protection and benefit provided by the Affordable Care Act.

Again, over and over, we have had bills on the floor to invite the Republicans to join us in rejecting that Republican attack. Overwhelmingly, they have rejected that.

Today, again, we can celebrate that we are protecting Americans with preexisting conditions and honoring that promise we made to the American people, as I said.

The bill reverses a dangerous part of the Trump administration's reckless sabotage campaign, blocking cynical guidance to States. Here is what they do: dismantle protections for people with preexisting conditions and push families into junk plans that discriminate against people with preexisting conditions and do not cover essential benefits.

In fact, you are paying for nothing.

The Trump guidance puts lives on the line, not only sabotaging the healthcare law but the health of millions of Americans who rely on it.

Nearly 30 national groups representing people with preexisting conditions have spoken out, including the American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Lung Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Susan G. Komen, and many more.

They write, ``This dangerous action could take us back to the days when people with preexisting conditions were openly discriminated against and blatantly denied access to lifesaving care.''

These organizations, I want Ranking Member Walden to hear because he seemed to have been distracted, all these organizations for cancer, diabetes, heart, lung, mental health, all of that, they write, ``This dangerous action could take us back to the days when people with preexisting conditions were openly discriminated against and blatantly denied access to lifesaving care.''

We thank all the groups and families--including the sick little children, the Little Lobbyists--for their courage to speak out and show that this is a fight not just about legislation but about lives. Nothing is more eloquent than the stories that they tell, and many have told their stories here.

They had 10,000 events around the country to stop the Republicans' sabotage on healthcare, much of it from people with preexisting conditions, especially children born with preexisting conditions.

This bill that we have today is just the beginning. In the coming weeks, House Democrats will bring forth more bold legislation to reduce the price of prescription drugs, to empower States to build better exchanges, and to block junk plans and reverse the GOP's enrollment sabotage.

Senator McConnell said that he is the grim reaper. He wears that as a badge of honor.

He is the grim reaper. He is going to kill any House legislation for the people, saying that he will bury our bills in the Senate graveyard, effectively. That is really not a very hopeful political agenda, the grim reaper.

I have news for him. Legislation to protect the preexisting condition benefit and many of the other pieces of this agenda are alive and well among the American people, and they will make their voices heard.

The American people want action, and the special interest GOP Senate needs to stop standing in their way, Leader McConnell.

I urge a strong vote for this legislation for the people.

I commend the gentlewoman for her very important amendment. She said being a mom was a preexisting condition. As the mother of five, it is 6 years to the day when I talked to the insurance company about my bad back.

They said: Why would we even insure you? You are a poor risk, having had children.

I said: That is funny you say that. I thought it was a show of strength on my part to have five children. Are you calling that something that would be a barrier to my getting insurance?

I want to emphasize, as we approach Mother's Day, how important this particular amendment is to help moms and their families.

Madam Chair, I urge a ``yes'' vote on Congresswoman Porter's important Mother's Day amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I commend him for his leadership.

This issue of infrastructure resiliency is so important. We are now discussing doing major infrastructure legislation to rebuild America in a way that is making it safer, by promoting commerce and improving the quality of life by decreasing the amount of time people have to spend in their cars. By increasing broadband and all of the things that enable people, whether it is healthcare, education, or commerce, the infrastructure is so central to that.

When we talk about infrastructure, we have to talk about resiliency; and when we talk about climate change, we have to talk about infrastructure. So this is a very important amendment, and I rise to support it.

I thank the gentleman for sharing his New Jersey experience in terms of the need for resiliency in this very wise amendment.

I also want to rise in support of H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. I commend Chairwoman Kathy Castor who is the chair of our House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and also the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Engel, for his leadership on this important issue which is under the jurisdiction of his committee. They bring vision, they bring values, and they bring the voices of Members and the American people to make a difference.

We thank our freshman Members, in particular, who have carried the priorities of their communities to Congress to demand climate action now. And I think it is very appropriate that the gentleman in the chair is on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and has been a leader in the private sector, now in the public sector, on this important issue as we go forward.

It is time, Mr. Chairman, to end denial about this and start listening to the facts. This is about science, science, science. An overwhelming number, 86 percent, of Americans know that this is a crisis. They know that human behavior has an impact on it, and they want us to act.

We all have stories from our communities.

One of my constituents wrote:

My daughter has developed asthma. It wrenches me to see her

used as a canary in a coal mine. We are literally choking on

the denial and inaction.

Another writes:

Green jobs are guaranteed local jobs and will put people to

work. Survival is now poised to become a viable economic

sector.

Let me just say that this is about jobs, jobs, jobs. It is very important for our country to be preeminent in the world on the green technologies, and this legislation is in recognition of that. It is about public health, about clean air and clean water, the air our children breathe and the water they drink, and it is about environmental justice in that regard as well that all children will be able to live in a safe, clean environment in which they can thrive.

It is about our national security. Over and over again the national security experts, the generals and the admirals, have come to us and said that this is a global security issue, because of what impact the climate change crisis is doing to the use of water and access to food and how natural disasters affect migration and also how that can lead to initiation of hostilities among people. It is a national security issue in terms of how we use our resources for our national security as well.

It is a moral issue. If you believe, as I and some in the evangelical community do, that this planet is God's creation and we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of it, then you would be sure to be a good steward and sign up for climate action now.

But even if you don't share that religious belief, we all know that we have a moral responsibility to the next generation to pass this planet on in a better way than we found it in a very responsible way.

So it is we must take action. The bill demands action now, by keeping us in the only international agreement dedicated to ending the climate crisis and demanding a plan of action from the administration, and Mr. Kim has put forth that plan to recognize infrastructure resiliency as the administration comes forward.

We are sending a signal to the world that the U.S. is in denial about the overwhelming science about climate, but this bill is a step in the right direction.

I am very proud of the work the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and other committees of jurisdiction are doing. But it is a task for every committee of the Congress to look at the jurisdiction of the committee and to see how, in terms of jobs, public health, national security, and, again, our moral responsibility to our children and future generations--it is everybody's responsibility in the Congress. It is a Congress-wide responsibility.

I do thank the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis for the focus that it is placing on all of this. We will be able to accommodate so many entrepreneurial ideas, new thinking on the subject, being current on the data and on the science. So we have a tremendous generational opportunity and responsibility.

I thank all who are involved in this for their extraordinary leadership. Anyone who cares about our planet and our children's future is deeply in debt to those who have taken the lead on this.

Under President Bush's leadership when he was President and we had our select committee then, we passed the biggest energy bill in history. While everyone was not in agreement on the climate crisis, we all agreed that we had to take action. President Bush signed the bill in a big ceremony, and it was the equivalent of taking tens of millions of cars off the road in how we raised the emissions standards. It was important, and that legislation was the basis for many of the executive actions that President Obama was able to take under the authority of that legislation.

So that was very important, and it was bipartisan. Hopefully, we can be bipartisan as we go forward for the next big steps that we have to take.

Technology has come a long way since then. Science informs us better. Current events have made it very clear: we have an imperative to have climate action now.

Again, Mr. Chairman, I urge our colleagues to vote for Mr. Kim's amendment to H.R. 9.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with great sadness to mark the passing of a leader of exceptional courage and firm principles, our colleague and dear friend, Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher.

The presence of so many members from our California delegation is a beautiful tribute to her beautiful life. Thank you all for being here.

Ellen's passing is a great official loss to the people of California and to the Nation and a deep personal loss for all of us who are blessed to call her friend.

Our hearts break for her daughter, Katherine. Personally, it was a joy for many of us to see her expect Katherine. Katherine came. Katherine is growing up. She took such delight in being Katherine's mother.

Ellen was an extraordinary force for progress who made a difference. Her smart, strategic leadership strengthened our democratic institutions and kept America safe, and her relentless commitment to nuclear nonproliferation beautifully honored the oath we take to support and defend the Constitution and protect the American people.

Ellen was a pioneer who made history when she became the youngest ever and one of the very earliest women members of the New York Stock Exchange, where she was a powerful voice for technology, science, and innovation.

Ellen's friendship was a gift, and her legacy was one of outstanding leadership marked by deep patriotism and tireless commitment to progress.

May it be a comfort to Ellen's beloved daughter, Katherine, and her many, many loved ones that so many share their loss and pray for them at this sad time.

Mr. Speaker, I now ask that Members and guests in the gallery rise to observe a moment of silence.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a beautiful life. Ruth Passen was a pioneer of community journalism, a champion for social justice and a strong voice for our American values of equality, fairness and progress. Her passing is a great official loss for our San Francisco community and a deep personal loss for all who were blessed to call her friend.

Ruth Passen was a San Franciscan through and through. Born and raised in the city of Saint Francis, she dedicated herself to being an ``instrument of peace'' and spent a lifetime sowing love, hope, light and joy in our community and around the world.

Ruth made a difference in so many ways. Together with her dear friend, the late, legendary Enola Maxwell, Ruth helped build the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, known as the Nabe, into a transformative beacon of hope, healing and help for so many in our community. Understanding the unifying power of the arts, Ruth was also an inspired, effective force in bringing her beloved jazz and theater to the Nabe and our wider Bay Area community.

Ruth earned the deep respect of all as an innovator and a leader of local journalism. In 1970, she made history as she launched the Potrero View, which has become San Francisco's longest running community newspaper, as well as one of its most respected. Ruth's visionary leadership over four decades has brought local news and community services to countless families in our City, and has helped set the standard for editorial integrity in the field.

All San Franciscans can take great pride in the progress that Ruth advanced for equality, fairness and freedom around the world. She worked tirelessly to bring peace and justice to communities in need, first through the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom during the 1960s and 70s, and then through her work with the people of El Salvador in the 1980s.

She brought that same persistence and dedication to progress to the labor movement, where along with her late respected and remarkable husband Joe, she was a fearless voice for the rights of working men and women throughout the West Coast, on the waterfront, in the farms and in all workplaces. Through their involvement in Young Democrats, Ruth and Joe also helped bring more progressive voices to Washington, ensuring that the People's House would serve the American people.

San Francisco and America have been blessed by the life and leadership of Ruth Passen. May it be a comfort to her son Marc, daughter-in-law Dianne, granddaughters Natalie and Teresa, and all her loved ones that Ruth and her beloved Joe have been reunited. May it also be a comfort that so many mourn with and pray for them during this sad time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the incredible life of a dear friend, Ernest ``Chuck'' Ayala. Chuck Ayala was a visionary leader and entrepreneur who dedicated his life to serving the people of San Francisco and our nation. His passing on April 22, 2019 at the age of 94 is a profound official loss for the countless San Franciscans whose lives he touched and a deep personal loss for his many loving friends and family.

Chuck Ayala was a life-long San Franciscan whose deep faith compelled him to honor the words of our patron saint, Saint Francis who said, ``Preach the gospel, sometimes use words.'' Whether serving in the Army during World War II, directing the Catholic Youth Organization's Youth Services or mentoring countless at-risk young people to put them on the path toward a brighter future, Chuck lived his faith through action and always looked for ways of giving back to the community he loved.

In 1973, Chuck was inspired by his mother's immigrant experience to create the Centro Latino de San Francisco, a senior center dedicated to feeding our city's seniors and providing the resources they need to thrive. For over 46 years, Centro Latino has helped countless underserved and underrepresented seniors receive a hot meal and find a sense of community.

Since Chuck started Centro Latino, it has become a full-service community center for over 2,500 low-income multi-ethnic seniors and families. The center's education initiatives have helped new immigrants learn English, apply for vital services and fulfill their American Dreams by becoming citizens. In short, Centro Latino has done nothing less than give thousands of San Franciscans a sense of dignity and worth.

From city hall to the White House, Chuck never failed to make his voice heard. It was an honor to nominate Chuck to the White House Conference on Aging to ensure that our nation's leaders were listening to the grassroots activists who are on the ground caring for our seniors and their families.

For Chuck and the love of his life, his late wife, Bernice, their greatest source of joy was family. Over their 56 years together, Chuck and Bernice raised a beautiful family and created a legacy of service and advocacy that will continue to improve the lives of San Franciscans and all Americans for generations to come.

May it be a comfort to Chuck's daughter, Darlene, sons, Mike and Joe, grandchildren and the entire Ayala family that Chuck and his beloved Bernice have been reunited. May it also be a comfort that so many mourn with and pray for them during this sad time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding, Mr. Chairman, and I commend him for his extraordinary leadership on this very important subject. To young people in our country and to every person in our country from sea to shining sea and to the future of our country, I join my colleagues in defense of the free and open internet which is a pillar of our democracy. I am pleased to follow Mr. Doyle and his leadership; Mr. Pallone, the chairman of the committee; Ms. Eshoo, a godmother of net neutrality in an earlier time; Mr. Butterfield, for his wonderful statement; and I know we will be hearing from Congresswoman Matsui and other Members, and I am honored to join all of them.

Again, I salute Chairman Mike Doyle for his leadership of the Save the Internet Act and for his persistent, dissatisfied leadership to protect net neutrality. I also commend our former colleague in the House, Senator Markey, for his leadership now in the Senate.

Let us salute the millions of Americans who have marched, mobilized, and made their voices heard in this fight, the 4 million Americans who wrote to the FCC--that would be the Federal Communications Commission-- to support the 215 Obama-era net neutrality protections; the 10 million Americans who weighed in again this time to oppose the 2017 Trump decision to destroy those protections; the 600,000 Americans who tuned in to watch a livestream of the full committee markup on this legislation, and, Mr. Chairman, it is now 4.8 million and a growing number who have watched the committee proceedings on the House floor today.

That is so much enthusiasm in our country, that is the growing extent of the interest. That is unheard of for the work that we do here.

Net neutrality is a bipartisan priority for the American people. As Chairman Doyle said, a full 86 percent of Americans oppose the Trump assault on net neutrality, including 82 percent of Republicans outside.

Young people, in particular, get it. This is about their jobs and their futures. With the Save the Internet Act, Democrats are honoring the will of the American people. We are restoring protections so that we can stop unjust discriminatory practices by ISPs--that would be internet service providers--that try to throttle consumers' browsing speed, block their internet access, and increase their costs--throttle their speed, block their access, and increase their cost.

It would give entrepreneurs and small businesses a level playing field on which to compete and ensure American innovation can continue to be the envy of the world.

This legislation also brings the power of the internet to every corner of the country from rural America to cities, as Mr. Butterfield pointed out, because it provides the legal basis for the Connect America Fund.

We must close the urban-rural digital divide, although we have challenges in urban areas as well as in rural areas, but in rural areas this is a must do. It will make all the difference in the world guaranteeing better and cheaper internet for everyone, so we can create jobs and unlock the economic potential of every person in every community.

This debate is not just about legislation. It is about the quality of people's lives. More than 30,000 San Franciscans in my own district have written my own office about the impact of net neutrality in their lives.

They know that American businesses are at risk.

One writes:

As a small business owner, I depend on free and unfettered

communication with my customers and vendors. My business and

personal lifestyle are in jeopardy.

They know that America's innovation is at risk.

As a young student writes:

Without net neutrality, we lose our last medium of allowing

small and upcoming companies to thrive.

They know that our spirit of entrepreneurialism is at risk. As another constituent writes:

The internet is a place where anyone, rich or poor, can

make a living, become successful, and make themselves known.

They know that our very democracy is at risk because as one constituent writes:

A world without net neutrality undermines a central

priority for a democratic society--the necessity of all

citizens to inform themselves and each other.

Those are some of the communications from my constituents.

I will just tell you about a family discussion I had. I was visiting my brother in Baltimore, Maryland, Thomas D'Alesandro, and we were sitting around the table with his children and grandchildren. We were talking about one thing and another that was going on in the country.

I said to his grandson: What do you think about all of this?

We were talking about national security, et cetera.

He said: My friends and I care about one thing, net neutrality.

That was so exciting to hear, and here we are delivering for young people.

Supporting this bill means supporting our democracy and showing that our voices--the voices of the public--are heard, that their will is respected, and that the internet remains free and open to all. We call on our Republican colleagues to join us to support our democracy by restoring net neutrality.

I hope we have a good, strong bipartisan vote as a tribute to Chairman Doyle.

Mr. Chairman, I urge an ``aye'' vote.

Madam Chairwoman, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership in presenting the important amendment to the Violence Against Women Act. I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee for his leadership in bringing this VAWA reauthorization to the floor. I commend Karen Bass, the author of the legislation, the chair of the subcommittee of jurisdiction, and I want to recognize and acknowledge the work of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee over the years in terms of ending violence against women.

Again, we take an oath to protect the American people. Nearly 25 years ago, Congress honored that oath when we enacted the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act. It united our communities and our country in a fight against domestic violence in America.

Today, we honor that oath once more by passing strong, bipartisan, long-term VAWA reauthorization that will save lives.

Again, I want to salute Karen Bass, a champion for women's safety and security as chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, and the many champions of VAWA in the Congress who have made today possible. Again, I acknowledge Congresswoman Jackson Lee.

We thank all of the survivors, victims, and advocates who have shown the generosity of spirit to tell their stories. Nothing is more eloquent or effective than the stories which show that this is not a legislative fight or an issues fight. It is a personal fight about America's families.

I commend Congresswoman Torres Small for this important amendment that recognizes and ensures that all provisions of the bill comply with current immigration law. This isn't a bill about immigration, but I wanted to make that assertion, and I thank the gentlewoman, Congresswoman Torres Small for this amendment.

We are pleased that the bill is bipartisan. There should be nothing partisan or political about ending the scourge of domestic violence and sexual assault, which one in three women faces today.

Madam Chairwoman, with this bill, we are reinforcing what we did 25 years ago, and what we did in 2013. We are making it stronger with the legislation

today, with lifesaving updates that reflect the voices of victims and survivors and the input of experts.

With this bill, we are empowering law enforcement and making new investments in prevention. We are improving lifesaving services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We are supporting survivors with protections against discrimination in the workplace and supporting their financial security.

We are closing dangerous loopholes in our laws that right now allow those who have been convicted of stalking or dating violence to obtain firearms. These are commonsense reforms that will save lives and that no one should object to.

We are strengthening protections for Native American women because every woman everywhere has the right to live free from abuse. We thank the Indian Country and the Native American women for their input on this. And aren't we blessed now to have for the first time in American history, two Native American women serving in the Congress of the United States: Congresswoman Sharice Davids from Kansas, and Congresswoman Deb Haaland from New Mexico, and they have already made their presence felt.

This bill has historically been bipartisan. We urge all Members to join us in a strong bipartisan vote for this bill, which honors our oath, upholds our values, and saves lives. Again, I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Madam Speaker, together, Leader McCarthy and I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Kimberly Hamm, who is departing the House to become a Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Hamm has served with great integrity and effectiveness in the House's Office of General Counsel for more than four years, as an Assistant and an Associate General Counsel. During her tenure, Ms. Hamm played a critical role in safeguarding the legal interests of the House of Representatives, its Members, Officers and employees, particularly in connection with federal court litigation involving issues of the highest institutional importance.

Specifically, Ms. Hamm provided invaluable legal counsel and representation to many of the Committees of the House, greatly assisting them in fulfilling their constitutionally-authorized oversight roles, protecting confidential committee communications with the Executive Branch from disclosure, and defending the House's oversight and investigative prerogatives when challenged in litigation.

In addition, Ms. Hamm provided frequent and vital legal advice to the institutional offices of the House, assisting with the development and implementation of numerous internal procedures, improving mechanisms for executing legal requirements and defending long-standing institutional norms, including the right of the House to open each legislative day with a prayer.

Ms. Hamm's work on behalf of the House has been of the highest caliber and I am confident that the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission will benefit from her exceptional policy knowledge and legal counsel. On behalf of the entire House community, Leader McCarthy and I thank Ms. Hamm for her dedicated service, and wish for her the very best in all her future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and thank him for the leadership role he played in making America healthier in the original passage of the Affordable Care Act and protecting it from the constant sabotage that the Republicans in the Congress and in the White

House have exacted on the Affordable Care Act.

I want to pay special tribute to the outside groups, the patient advocacy groups, the Little Lobbyists, the children, so many people who spoke and told their stories at 10,000 events across the country to oppose the Republicans' constant assault on the Affordable Care Act for the first 2 years of the Trump administration, a time when the President had the White House, the House, and the Senate and could very well have passed legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, as they said they would do.

They didn't replace it because they don't believe in a government role. Much about the Affordable Care Act has to do with Medicare and how we prolonged the life of Medicare and adjusted funding so that we could reduce the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors.

The Republican approach to Medicare is that it should wither on the vine, that there is no place in a free society, in a free economy, for Medicare.

Let's understand this. This is not just about the issue or the legislation of the Affordable Care Act. This is about a value system in our country, about understanding that healthcare is a right for all Americans, not just a privilege.

Yes, they could get preexisting conditions coverage--with rates that go right through the ceiling and are a gift to the insurance industry, but not to make care affordable and accessible to all.

So, here we are, in an unusual situation where the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, and it is the responsibility of the Justice Department and the administration to defend the law of the land in court, and what are they doing? Just the opposite. Why? Because they don't believe in governance.

That is why they are happy to shut down government for any reason. They don't believe in governance. They don't believe in a public role in the well-being of the American people. They don't believe in the Affordable Care Act.

What they are trying to do is strike down every last provision of the ACA: protection for preexisting conditions, which I will come back to; bans of lifetime and annual limits; the Medicaid expansion; Medicare solvency going out for many more years; savings for seniors on prescription drug costs; and the vital premium assistance that makes healthcare coverage affordable for millions of families. It all would be ended if the President and the Republicans in Congress get their way. I hope it is not all Republicans in Congress, because I hope that some of them will care enough about their constituents and meeting their needs.

On the subject of preexisting conditions, how many times during campaigns did they say, ``Oh, we are for preexisting conditions,'' having voted it down over and over and over again?

The misrepresentations were almost embarrassing. Let's look the other way, so we don't embarrass them any further. It is almost a joke, but it is not funny if you have a preexisting condition.

What was interesting about the Affordable Care Act is it wasn't just about expanding coverage to 20 million more people. That, in itself, would be a justification. It was about the more than 150 million families who had better coverage, on a trajectory of lower cost, better benefits, no preexisting condition barrier, no lifetime limits, no annual limits, and the rest. And if your child is up to 26 years old, your child could be on your policy.

Actually, the issue of subsidizing those so that everyone could participate and it would be affordable, can we do more there? We certainly can, and we certainly will.

I want to tell this story. As I said, the outside groups were so instrumental in saving us from the Republican sabotage of the Affordable Care Act and of the good health of the American people. The outside groups held, as I said, 10,000 events around the country, telling stories. Nothing conveys more information and more understanding than people telling their own stories.

The statistics are interesting. They are staggering. But the stories are powerful, and they make a difference.

I am going to tell the story that I have told before. It is about America's families paying the price and America's children paying the price for this Republican sabotage of the Affordable Care Act.

The story I would like to tell is about Zoe Madison Lihn. Zoe was born with a congenital heart defect in May 2010. She faced the first of her three heart surgeries at just 15 hours old.

By 6 months old, Zoe was halfway through the lifetime limit that her insurer had placed on her case. She faced a grim future, not just using up her lifetime limit by preschool--her lifetime limit was used up, but her preexisting condition had not gone away--but carrying the preexisting condition that would require attention and care for the rest of her life.

Under the ACA, Zoe is protected. She will celebrate her 9th birthday next month.

But the Republicans want to take all that away, not only from Zoe but from their own constituents.

Our Democratic House majority will not let that stand. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said: ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane because it often results in physical death.''

Our colleagues are used to our colleague, Whip Clyburn, telling that story, which I think he heard Dr. King say.

On day one of this Congress, freshman Member from Texas Congressman Colin Allred led the way. House Democrats voted to throw the full legal weight of the House against the Texas lawsuit to destroy the ACA.

We salute Congressman Allred for his outstanding leadership to protect America's families' health and to reach out to the Republicans to join him in doing so. But more than 190 Republicans voted to be fully complicit in that attempt to overthrow the ACA and tear away those health protections.

Now, with this resolution led again by Congressman Allred, we call on our Republican colleagues to go on the record once more. Either they will vote for protecting their constituents' healthcare, or they will vote for taking it away. With this vote, we will see their values and their intentions.

House Democrats will always fight to protect families' affordable and quality healthcare. We don't see it as an issue or legislation. We see it as a value--a value. It is not just about healthcare. It is about the good health of America, a source of our strength.

After we pass this resolution, we will continue to advance our transformative legislation to reverse the GOP healthcare sabotage. We will lower healthcare costs and strengthen protections for people with preexisting medical conditions.

By the way, under the Affordable Care Act, being a woman is no longer a preexisting medical condition. As a mother of five, I can attest to that being a preexisting condition.

Democrats are for the people: lowering healthcare costs by reducing the costs of prescription drugs, preserving the preexisting condition benefit, increasing wages by building the infrastructure in a green way, and cleaning up government. Lower healthcare costs, bigger paychecks, cleaner government.

Once we can reduce the role of dark, special-interest money in Washington, D.C., people will have confidence that it is possible that their voices will be heard more strongly than the voices of those who stand in the way of progress.

Three months ago from tomorrow, the Members of this institution, Democrats and Republicans, took a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States, after the beautiful preamble of our Nation's purpose, is Article I, the legislative branch. The legislative branch's responsibilities are spelled out in the text of the Constitution.

This body, the first branch of government, voted to protect the health and well-being of the American people. It is the law of the land. It is the responsibility of the executive branch to protect the law of the land.

They have departed from that and, therefore, departed from our oath to the Constitution to protect and defend.

If they have a better idea, we haven't seen it. On top of that, the President has said we won't see it until 2021, after the 2020 elections.

That is just not good enough, Mr. President. The needs of the American people will not stop right now because you have stopped believing in them. The needs of the American people go on, and we will continue this fight. We will fight in the Congress; we will fight in the courts; and we will fight in the court of public opinion.

I hope that we can have some Republican support from the other side of the aisle to vote to protect America's families and their healthcare and, therefore, strengthen America.

Madam Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding time and, really, for his leadership on this very important issue as to who we are as a nation, how we honor our oath to protect and defend the American people, and, in doing so, recognizing the contribution of all who want

to serve our country. I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith) for his leadership.

I also acknowledge the leadership of our colleague Joe Kennedy, sponsor of this legislation, for his relentless leadership and his forming and chairmanship of the Transgender Caucus that has been so important in making clear, in our policy, that we respect the dignity and worth of every person.

Mr. Speaker, the men and women who step forward to serve in the U.S. military are patriots, all of them, people of great strength and courage whose sacrifice keeps us safe. We owe those heroes our must humbled gratitude and our most steadfast support, and I want to thank our trans friends for their service, their courage, their patriotism in serving our country.

Instead of honoring their service, the President continues to insist on his cruel transgender servicemember ban. This is an act of cruelty.

Let us all salute, again, Congressman Joe Kennedy, a champion for equality, fairness, and dignity in this Congress, for his firm, moral leadership on this resolution to oppose the President's bigoted ban.

The resolution that our distinguished chairman, Mr. Smith, and our colleague, Joe Kennedy, are putting forth is bipartisan because protecting transgender servicemembers is a matter of patriotism and it transcends politics.

The President's ban, as I said, is cruel and arbitrary, a decision designed to humiliate the transgender Americans who are risking and giving their lives for the United States of America.

There is no moral justification for this ban, which violates every value of our American democracy and betrays our fundamental belief in fairness, dignity, and respect.

There is no medical justification for this ban, which the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association all oppose.

And there is no military justification for this ban which would undermine our military readiness and make America less strong and safe, and that is according to our own military.

After the President first unleashed his ban, 56 retired generals and flag officers issued a statement asserting that the ban ``would cause significant disruptions, deprive the military of mission-critical talent, and compromise the integrity of transgender troops who would be forced to live a lie, as well as non-transgender peers who are forced to choose between reporting their comrades or disobeying policy. As a result,'' they go on to say, ``the proposed ban would degrade readiness even more than the failed Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.''

Other military leaders have spoken out to denounce this ban: Former Joint Chief of Staff, Mike Mullen; Army Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley; Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, Karl Schultz; Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jon Richardson; Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller.

Yet the President has chosen to ignore the expertise of these military leaders, making clear that prejudice, not patriotism, drives his decisions.

The President's ban, again, is cruel. No one with the strength and bravery to serve in the U.S. military should be turned away because of who they are.

The House will continue to fight this discriminatory action, which has no place in our country. We will never allow hate and prejudice to dictate our national security. I hope we have a resounding ``yes'' vote to reject the President's ban today.

Again, I thank the distinguished chairman, Mr. Smith, and our colleague Joe Kennedy for his leadership and courage.

Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him also for his extraordinary leadership in matters that relate to the education of the American people, employment preparedness, fairness in our workforce, and, of course, today.

Madam Chair, I thank the chairman for giving us this opportunity on this day of the House of Representatives. This is a day that God has made. Let us rejoice and be glad. And let us make the most of it in a very joyous way. It is a day of celebration.

Madam Chair, the gentleman, Bobby Scott, has been a supporter of this initiative for a long time, and I thank him for making today possible.

And it happens on a day when we are honored to have, in the Speaker's chair, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a champion to end discrimination in every way in our country, including discrimination in the paycheck.

Madam Chair, today I rise in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act. It reaffirms our Nation's sacred promise that equal pay deserves equal work.

I do so in saluting Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Madam Chair, the guardian angel of this legislation and the godmother of so many initiatives in this House to support progress for America's working families.

The ability to balance work, to balance work and home is a challenge that many families face, men and women alike, but Rosa DeLauro has been a constant champion for America's working families.

While we are talking today about equality in the paycheck, she has also been a champion for paid sick leave and affordable childcare. The list goes on and on. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlewoman--guardian angel, godmother--for making today possible.

I am very excited about this. It is historic. It should happen at a time when we have over 100 women serving in the House of Representatives, and it should happen in the same Congress that we will also observe the 100th anniversary of the passing of the amendment to have women have the right to vote.

It is all very historic. It is all about progress, and that progress on this bill began in this Congress 2 months ago. House Democrats stood with Lilly Ledbetter on the 10th anniversary of President Obama signing the Lilly Ledbetter Act, exactly 10 years ago, signing that Fair Pay bill into law.

It was a magnificent achievement, it, too, being led by George Miller, the chair of the committee Mr. Scott now chairs. Rosa DeLauro, of course, played a hand in that.

The gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) then introduced the equal pay bill, and then we passed it in the House. It didn't pass the Senate--60 votes needed in the Senate--but she has persisted, and we are fortunate for that.

We are grateful to her and to Lilly Ledbetter and the groups, so many outside groups that have worked so hard to mobilize and make this difference--some of them include the American Association of University Women, the National Women's Law Center, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Organization for Women, National Committee for Pay Equity, MomsRising, UltraViolet, Center for Law and Social Policy, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, League of Women Voters, U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, the list goes on and on, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Psychological Association, and many more--because that outside mobilization will be important in passing this legislation and turning it into law, into an improvement in the lives of America's working families.

Now we are proud to pass this bill before Equal Pay Day, which is on April 2, next week--April Pay Day, which symbolizes when a woman's wages catch up to a man's earnings from the previous year. In other words, the first 3 months of the year, most women are working for free compared to what a man will make in the overall year.

So April 2 is that day. By then, we will have already been celebrating for a few days.

We pass this legislation during Women's History Month as we serve with a woman Speaker of the House and with more than 100 women in the same Congress, as I said before, marking 100 years since women won the right to vote.

So this is about respect. It is about respect, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, respect for women and the work that they do. And if they do equal work, why wouldn't they get equal pay?

Would you, my colleague, like to get less than your colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle?

Would you, any of my colleagues on this side of the aisle, like to work for less than our male counterparts?

Well, why should women and the rest of the workforce then be subjected to that discrimination?

Paycheck fairness is about respect. It is about justice for women, finally closing the wage gap that robs women of more than $400,000 over the course of their working lives. And for women of color, it is even a bigger difference.

And this not only has an impact on their pay, it has an impact on their pensions and on their retirement. So this is very, very important.

This legislation advances progress for families because it is about equal pay for women. It is about how that equality of paycheck affects their families, ensuring that women can earn the wages they have earned so they can pay for their family's everyday needs, such as rent, groceries, childcare, healthcare--the list goes on.

Two-thirds of moms are either the primary breadwinners or co- breadwinners in their households in our country. This legislation strengthens America, unleashing the full power of women in our economy and upholding the value of fairness.

Do you believe in fairness in our democracy?

When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963, he celebrated equal pay as a ``structure basic to democracy''--equal pay, a structure basic to democracy--enlarging the issue to our great democracy.

We are proud to take this step to fully and finally secure the paycheck fairness that is fundamental to our democracy because it will implement the Equal Pay Act, make it enforceable.

Yet, securing paycheck fairness is only the first step that House Democrats will take. We will continue to unlock the full economic power of women in our workplace with paid sick leave, led by Congresswoman DeLauro, affordable childcare, led by Congresswoman DeLauro, as well as a fair wage because we know that, in our economy and in our country, when women succeed, America succeeds.

I, therefore, urge a bipartisan vote for this legislation for women to succeed and to have equality in our society as they have equality in their paychecks.