Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois, Representative Jackson, for bringing us together for a discussion and dialogue on what is an essential wrongdoing of late by this administration: denying the opportunity, the concept, of DEI.

Across our great country, we are witnessing an onslaught of dangerous policies, executive actions, hateful legislation, and vile rhetoric, all designed to strip away rights, sow fear, and erase hard-fought progress.

The Trump administration has engaged in a calculated and relentless assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion across the Federal Government and beyond.

These harmful policies would eradicate programs that address persistent inequalities in American life. They would worsen systemic disparities in access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity. They would restrict the right for Americans to exist as they are.

Our STEM education workforce has suffered because of sweeping cuts to DEI initiatives. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has made dramatic cuts to NSF programs, many aimed at broadening opportunity for underrepresented students in STEM education.

Of the 1,500 grants that NSF has canceled, nearly 90 percent had references to DEI.

One of those terminated grants was an NSF award at the University at Albany, which I represent in the 20th Congressional District of New York. Called Striving to Achieve Gender Equity in STEM, this program is essential. It aims to increase the number of women in STEM fields.

Just last month, the Department of Justice declared three Federal educational programs aimed at diversifying STEM as unconstitutional.

University at Albany has done great work with funding from the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation programming to develop inclusive teaching practices and increase participation by underrepresented students in STEM.

Terminating programs like this sends a clear signal by this administration of who is allowed to participate in science.

Upholding scientific integrity means protecting the independence of science and the civil rights of our scientific workforce.

Beyond attacks on our scientific education system, we have seen attacks on our historical institutions and museums in the name of anti- wokeness: from policing content at national parks and monuments, to removing artwork and displays referencing slavery, to attacking the independence of the Smithsonian and how stories are told.

This manipulation of history serves to consolidate political power by erasing marginalized voices and experiences and limiting whose humanity is considered valid.

DEI is not radical, wasteful, and certainly is not just an acronym or a policy. It means our histories, our stories, no matter how uncomfortable and challenging, continue to be shared. It means first- generation college students can join programs that connect them to research and open doors to new career paths.

Mr. Speaker, it is a commitment to removing barriers and expanding opportunity so that every person can succeed. It is a commitment we must continue to fight for, making certain that there is equity, inclusion, and diversity that brings the great diversity of this Nation into a celebratory moment, one that speaks to fairness and justice, to opportunity, to make certain that all people, no matter what their background, have a chance to succeed and share their talent with the American experience.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for bringing us together this evening. He is an awesome voice for fairness.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Health Center Week and celebrate the vital role Community Health Centers play in improving the health and well-being of millions of Americans. This week, we honor the dedicated health professionals, staff, and leaders who make these centers a trusted source of care for communities across the United States.

For nearly 60 years, Community Health Centers have been a cornerstone of our Nation's health care system, delivering high-quality, comprehensive care to 52 million patients across more than 17,000 communities. These centers are a critical part of New York's primary care safety net, serving more than 2.5 million patients across 900 sites. Nearly 60 percent of New York's Community Health Center patients are enrolled in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, or are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

These centers, which include our Capital Region's own Whitney Young Health Center and Hometown Health Centers, deliver integrated, whole- person care to patients and families who need it most. This includes primary and preventive care, behavioral health services, substance use disorder treatment, dental care, vision care, and other essential services. With more than $9.2 million in federal investments, these sites serve more than 36,983 patients, providing life-saving care that builds healthier communities throughout the Capital Region. I have been proud to help deliver federal support for these Community Health Centers, including funding to create a new dental clinic at Hometown Health Centers and establish a community-based dental residency program at Whitney Young Health Center. These investments ensure more Capital Region residents can access the care they need close to home.

As we recognize the vital role of Whitney Young Health Center and Hometown Health Centers, we celebrate their longstanding commitment to deliver equitable, accessible care to patients in our region and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and the legacy of Bishop McKinley B. Johnson, who passed away last week after seven decades of service to the Albany community as a faith leader and a powerful moral conscience.

As his family said last week, Bishop Johnson always believed that ``the work of the Gospel and the work of justice were never separate errands.''

Through every step of his long and transformative career, Bishop Johnson personified these powerful ideals of justice and faith.

From the pulpit of the Greater Saint Johns Church of God in Christ in Albany's South End, Bishop Johnson never hesitated to speak truth to power.

Time after time, he and his wife, Sue, advocated fiercely for their beloved community and stood at the forefront of decades of struggles for civil rights and equality.

While I join Bishop Johnson's many loved ones in mourning this tremendous loss for our community, I also know that his legacy will live on forever in the battles he fought, the changes he spurred, and the people he inspired.

May his memory continue to be a blessing.

Mr. Chair, Republican leadership has claimed that this proposal will address our Nation's most immediate priorities. That could not be further from the truth.

This budget gives this administration a blank check to continue their war of choice with Iran. It makes it harder for Americans to exercise their fundamental right to vote. Most importantly, it fails to meaningfully improve the lives of everyday Americans.

Those are certainly not the priorities my constituents have asked me to fight for. My constituents worry about their ability to go to their doctor, yet this budget doesn't have a dime for healthcare.

They worry about their ability to put food on the table, yet this budget will do nothing to lower the cost of groceries.

They worry about their utility costs and how much it might cost to fill up their car with gas, yet this budget makes no effort to lower energy costs and will keep gas costs high by continuing President Trump's senseless war with Iran.

They worry about Presidential overreach, yet there is nothing to rein in this lawless administration.

This budget does not have anything for the people of New York's 20th Congressional District, so I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this farce of a budget. Let's stop the pain. Let's stop the consequence. Let's go forward with progress. Defeat this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Kay Hagan Tick Act legislation that I am leading along with my colleagues, Representatives Chris Smith, Lloyd Doggett, and Tom Kean.

The Kay Hagan Tick Act would reauthorize key programs at the CDC that fund both research and support for local public health agencies to address tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease.

Tick-borne diseases are a large and growing problem in New York, with more than 18,000 cases of Lyme disease reported in New York State in 2024. Lyme can cause serious health consequences, and for some, long- term complications persist after treatment.

With a warming climate, tick populations and ranges are on the rise, leading to fears that tick-borne diseases will continue to increase in frequency in the years to come. Already, warning signs are blaring that 2026 could be the worst year for tick exposures since 2017, based on CDC tracking data.

In this backdrop, research investments and public health resources are more vital than ever. That is what the Kay Hagan Tick Act will deliver.

I am proud to have worked on this commonsense bipartisan bill, and I would urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the AADAPT Act, legislation I am proud to be co-leading along with my good friends and colleagues Representatives Troy Balderson, Nanette Barragan, and Darin LaHood.

Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that impacts nearly 427,000 individuals in New York State alone. I would imagine that everyone in this room has been impacted in some form by Alzheimer's at some point. It is, first and foremost, a human crisis, but it is also a Federal budget crisis.

That is why I have been proud to be a champion of Alzheimer's-related issues during my time in Congress and why I feel so strongly about advancing the AADAPT Act today.

The AADAPT Act represents an investment in our provider workforce as we enter a new era of dementia care, with emerging tools like blood- based biomarker tests making earlier, more accessible diagnosis possible and increasingly shifting diagnosis into primary care.

This legislation is designed to close the gaps in dementia training by ensuring providers are prepared to responsibly adopt and apply these innovations in everyday practice.

One proven way to address this issue is with the Project ECHO training model. In my district, in the capital regional of New York, health systems like St. Peter's Health Partners in Albany County are already using the ECHO model and working to improve dementia care.

Mr. Speaker, I am indeed proud to have worked on the AADAPT Act and urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation that addresses advancements in this field of dementia care.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Colorado for yielding.

I rise in strong support of the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act and applaud my colleagues, Representative Diana DeGette and Richard Hudson, for championing this critical piece of legislation.

The DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act will help ensure the NIH INCLUDE Project continues advancing research that improves health outcomes, expands scientific understanding, and enhances quality of life for individuals with Down syndrome and their families.

This legislation builds upon one of our Nation's most successful investments in Down syndrome research. Already, these investments have led to major breakthroughs in how Down syndrome interacts with other health conditions that have a high incidence in the community, such as immune system disorders, cancer, Alzheimer's, and more.

Every one of these breakthroughs carries the hope for a brighter tomorrow for individuals living with Down syndrome.

I would also like to recognize that this progress doesn't happen without sustained advocacy. In particular, I would like to highlight the role of the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award and its founder, Michelle Sie Whitten, for their tireless advocacy to make this happen today.

I again thank our co-leads, Representatives DeGette and Hudson, for their outstanding leadership. I look forward to supporting this measure on the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Takano for yielding and for bringing us together for this Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, this Pride Month we are at a pivotal moment, a moment that demands our attention, outrage, and, yes, action.

Across the country, we are witnessing a barrage of dangerous policies, executive actions, hateful legislation, and vile rhetoric, all designed to strip away rights, sow fear, and erase hard-fought progress.

This administration and its supporters have continued a calculated and relentless strategy to erase, stigmatize, and endanger LGBTQ+ people, especially trans youth.

Today, the Supreme Court issued an incredibly disappointing ruling, upholding discriminatory anti-transgender sports bans in West Virginia and Idaho.

This decision is dehumanizing and has nothing to do with fairness or safety in sports. Trans kids deserve to have access to the same opportunities as their peers. Trans kids deserve to feel like they belong. When recognition of existence is pulled back, people cannot love freely, and histories are erased, our country is worse off.

Kids trying to live safely and authentically are not a threat. Transgender servicemembers deserve to serve openly. Families seeking care and support are not political pawns. The providers committed to do no harm are not extremists.

I stand with the LGBTQ+ community in my district and across our great Nation. I will fight any actions that limit their right to live safely, freely, and fully as oneself.

Pride is more than a celebration. It is a declaration, a declaration of resilience and a reminder of the power of

community. Pride reminds us that joy itself is an act of resistance. Pride is about visibility, solidarity, and, yes, the unapologetic truth that LGBTQ+ people belong, belong everywhere, always.

This Pride Month and every day onward, we must recommit to standing against these attacks and ensuring that freedom, justice, and equal opportunity are guaranteed to all--to all people under the law.

Mr. Speaker, I have spent my career fighting to improve mental health care in our schools and communities.

I believe that every single child should grow up in an environment built around love, learning, and safety, which is why I am so disgusted by the actions of this administration that are terrorizing an entire generation of children. These are children who are seeing their friends and teachers taken by ICE, children who are being held at gunpoint by masked agents, children who are living in fear that their parents will be picked up by ICE, children who are being detained for months on end, and children who are being used as bait so ICE can detain their family members.

Those experiences do not fade easily. Our government is inflicting trauma on our kids. We should all be ashamed of these actions, yet instead of stopping ICE's reign of terror, Republicans are pushing legislation that provides this out-of-control agency with tens of billions more in funding, billions of taxpayer dollars to terrorize our children and our neighbors instead of supporting our schools, our hospitals, or our communities.

My choice is clear. I urge my colleagues to join me and reject this cruel bill. Our children and their families demand it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a man of unyielding faith, compassion, and love, Reverend O. Robert DeMartinis, known to New York's capital region as Father Bob. This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

Born in Amsterdam, New York, on November 11, 1956, to Filomena Sasso and the late Tullio DeMartinis, Father Bob, guided by the deep faith of his parents and service as an altar boy for Fathers Robert Baltch and Joseph Beck, sensed his calling at an early age.

He was ordained in Florida in 1986 and returned home to Amsterdam on Trinity Sunday to celebrate his first mass that year at St. Casimir's Church. He permanently returned to the Albany Catholic Diocese in 1990, serving at several parishes within the diocese.

It was in 2010 that Father Bob was welcomed for service in his hometown of Amsterdam to shepherd the congregation of St. Stanislaus. Today, as pastor of both St. Stanislaus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Churches, his devotion and spirit of service shine through every mass he offers and every religious assignment he assumes.

As we honor his four decades of faithful service, a hearty ``for many more years''; ``ad multos annos,'' Father Bob, is rendered.

I congratulate Father Bob on his many years of service.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I have concerns about how this bill is being considered today.

The Environment Subcommittee has not held a single hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard in the 119th session of Congress. CBO has said that this bill will have a significant impact on our budget. Yet, there has not been any legislative record, independent analysis, or technical assistance from EPA

that could help us better understand its consequences.

We know that this bill will affect USDA programs, the highway trust fund, and vehicle fuel economy to some extent. We also know that it will have consequences for the RFS RIN market. Reducing demand for RINs by not reallocating small refiners' gallons will affect RIN prices, and it seems likely that producers and retailers of advanced biofuels will be the ones who suffer the most.

Mr. Speaker, this might just be assumptions on my part, but that is all we have to go on because this bill failed to have any legislative process to help us best understand these complex issues. I hope our counterparts in the Senate will take the time to do a proper review of this proposal.

I also hope that EPA does not interpret this bill as having any sort of congressional intent that would lead to increasing the annual volumes of conventional biofuels beyond its historic 15 billion gallons per year.

Despite my serious concerns with this bill's process, I will acknowledge that administrations have been granting year-round E15 waivers for years. If that is going to continue to be the case, it simply makes sense to codify. I also acknowledge that the RFS' small refinery exemptions have been a source of uncertainty and litigation, and that process should be reformed.

While I have reluctantly supported this bill, it is such a huge missed opportunity. For one, it does nothing to recognize a significant and growing segment of the fuel pool, that being electricity. We should be providing certainty for e-RIN pathways. There is no good reason to keep electricity produced from qualified feedstocks out of the program. Frankly, that is not even enough.

As long as we continue to have a volumetric approach to our national fuel program, it will be filled with uncertainty, unnecessary litigation, and worse outcomes for both consumers and, yes, for our environment. We should embrace a performance-based clean fuel standard that rewards fuels of all types for their pollution reduction.

While this bill is a missed opportunity, I can at least recognize that E15 is about 30 cents per gallon cheaper, and we know that Americans are feeling a lot of pain at the pump due to President Trump and his disastrous, illegal war with Iran.

Today, the average gas price is $4.51 per gallon. Compare that to under $3 a gallon before the war started. The $200 billion that the administration has previously said was necessary for this war could have been better used to incentivize more than 26 million people to buy an American-made electric vehicle.

Instead, Republicans have repealed the tax credit that was allowing people to take back some control and end their dependence on volatile oil markets.

While I support this bill today, I hope that Republicans will get serious about what it is going to take to lower energy prices for Americans and enact a sensible, long-term fuels policy for our country.

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor the tremendous contributions of Andy Marsh as former CEO, and now Chairman of the Board of Plug Power. I have had the pleasure of working c]osely with Andy for many years, and I have had a front row seat watching Plug Power grow in Latham, New York and beyond under his leadership.

For decades, Andy's leadership has shaped the hydrogen industry, helping to usher in America's embrace of a clean hydrogen economy. I have long admired his deep appreciation for public policy and his recognition of the power of government to create economic opportunities and drive innovation. Andy understood early that building a hydrogen economy would need more than breakthrough technology--it would require advocacy, partnership, and a willingness to engage in the difficult work of shaping policy.

Andy championed the importance of hydrogen as a tool for decarbonization, energy security, domestic manufacturing, and job creation. His leadership was instrumental in some of the most significant policy achievements for clean hydrogen in our Nation's history, including the development of the Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit.

Thanks in large part to Andy's leadership, the United States has become a global leader in clean hydrogen development. Through strategic partnerships, expanded domestic manufacturing, and a steadfast commitment to American energy leadership, what was once seen as an emerging technology has become another tool to secure our Nation's clean energy future.

Andy has inspired colleagues, industry leaders, labor partners, and public servants alike with his belief that innovation and economic growth can--and must--go hand in hand. I congratulate Andy for his decades of contributions to our Nation's energy future and the lasting legacy he will continue to build as Chairman of the Board of Plug Power. I am confident that because of his leadership, clean hydrogen will play an important role in moving our Nation closer to a cleaner, more prosperous future.

Mr. Speaker, it is a bittersweet moment as I rise today to honor my deputy chief of staff and legislative director, Emily Duhovny Silverberg.

Born in the Bronx and raised in New Jersey, Emily joined my office in 2012 as an intern and will leave Capitol Hill this week after 14 years on our team.

As my adviser on mental health and addiction policy, she has worked tirelessly to increase Americans' access to behavioral health treatments. She has helped grow the bipartisan Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, which I co-chair, to more than 100 members. Among the more than 20 bills Emily has helped pass into law are the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment, or MAT Act, which dramatically expanded treatment for opioid use disorder, bills to reauthorize the national plan to address Alzheimer's, and to establish the first-ever national plan to end Parkinson's.

Emily is here in the gallery today with her family. I thank Emily for her many years of dedicated advocacy and public service.

Mr. Speaker, from her start as an intern, her curiosity led her to involve herself in many, many issue areas. She filled her heart with passion. She has made a difference, a difference for those that she may never ever meet. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I completely understand that many State and local governments are dealing with severe air pollution related to wildfires, but as we approach Earth Day, it is important for us to recognize that efforts like the Clean Air Act should be continued to be implemented to the fullest and even enhanced where necessary.

I will be crystal clear: The Clean Air Act already allows States to submit data for air pollution caused by exceptional events, preventing these emissions from penalizing them when determining compliance with air quality standards. Now, exceptional events are events that are typically uncommon and not easily within the State's control.

Air pollution due to wildfires, including prescribed burns for wildfire mitigation, can definitely count as exceptional.

In 2019, EPA issued guidance addressing how prescribed fires can satisfy the statutory definition of ``exceptional events.'' In 2024, EPA issued a number of other tools to assist States in meeting the regulatory requirements.

Mr. Speaker, it is true that this guidance does require States to take steps to allow prescribed burns to qualify as an exceptional event, including making certain that appropriate mitigation and monitoring measures are taken to reduce risks to people in a given area.

If Members of the majority stop to think about this for a moment, they would appreciate the need for such guidance. Not every man-made fire should be able to qualify automatically as an exceptional event.

EPA's requirements ensure that States are doing everything possible to follow best practices and limit health risks from prescribed fires that cause unsafe air quality. Yet, despite the bill's name, eliminating these safeguards for prescribed burns isn't the only change to the Clean Air Act included in this order of legislative change.

The FIRE Act allows and greatly expands what could be considered an exceptional event in the first place, including meteorological conditions that are commonly occurring, such as high-temperature days and drought, which tend to have worse air quality. We know that these types of days are becoming more common due to climate change, meaning that this bill would make it much easier for States to essentially write off air pollution on days with increasingly normalized conditions. It is just a poor sense of timing for this bill to arrive on the scene.

Exceptional events should be limited to things that are truly exceptional. It is critical that during high-temperature and low- precipitation times, days that are more likely to experience poor air quality, we are still seeking to protect people.

Exempting prescribed fire activities from air quality standards, not to mention the other commonly occurring conditions that would be considered exceptional under this bill, simply does not protect public health.

This bill is seeking to legislate a quick fix that papers over legitimate pollution-reduction issues. Instead, we should build upon the existing law and EPA's efforts to bring together partners from the Federal, State, and local levels to work together to reduce wildfire risks, including addressing climate change, while also mitigating risks to public health.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to oppose this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, when we debated this bill in committee, I was reminded of the environmental history of the Adirondack Mountains, which are located just to the north of my district in upstate New York. The Adirondacks are known for their beauty as well as the ecological damage they suffered from acid rain.

That acid rain was caused by polluting power plants in the Midwest, and that pollution didn't stop in upstate New York. It also harmed people and the environment in eastern Canada. The international pressure brought by the Canadian Government helped motivate the Bush administration and Congress to enact the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, which included a program to control sources of acid rain pollution.

In that case, American industries were the polluters, but it demonstrates how international cooperation in pursuit of our common environmental goals is, indeed, possible.

States and counties burdened by foreign pollution sources should be able to rely upon their Federal Government to address these issues through bilateral discussions with the polluting country. We should be able to have a bipartisan consensus in Congress that we would like our environmental and diplomatic efforts to prioritize these issues in our international relations.

Of course, it should be a national imperative that we collectively demand polluters in Mexico, China, or any other country that may be proven to be contributing to an area's nonattainment of a Clean Air Act standard, to do something to control their pollution.

I understand that States and counties may be frustrated by pollution sources from outside their jurisdiction, but the lungs of the people living and working in those areas don't care from whence that pollution originated. It affects their health all the same.

I don't think the answer can be to simply ignore the problem of Americans breathing unsafe levels of air pollution. States and local air agencies should continue to work with EPA to find ways to better protect people by also allowing for opportunities to prove when emissions originate from outside their borders.

Thankfully, that is already how the Clean Air Act works, making this bill unnecessary. Section 179B of the Clean Air Act currently gives States that opportunity to prove emissions came from an international source and provides regulatory relief when an area would have otherwise achieved the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

Instead, this bill allows States to completely ignore international pollution in their State implementation plans, and it provides free passes on pollution that comes from outside the area, from exceptional events, and from mobile-source pollution.

The bill blocks EPA's ability to impose sanctions on States that fail to make progress toward reducing air pollution, including States that are not even trying to improve air quality.

Mr. Speaker, I agree that we should be working to better protect our constituents from having to breathe pollution from foreign sources, but pretending that pollution doesn't exist simply cannot be the answer.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to oppose this bill.