Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding. It is worth reiterating just how effective the Clean Air Act has been at protecting our public health.

In the past 50-plus years, the Clean Air Act has proven time and time again that environmental protections and economic growth can, indeed, go hand in hand.

Between 1970 and 2022, major air pollutants dropped by 78 percent, while the U.S. gross domestic product nearly quadrupled. However, despite this progress, there is still much more work to do to ensure that all Americans can breathe healthy air.

More than 156 million Americans are living in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, and that air pollution is associated with over 100,000 premature deaths in the United States each and every year. I find it disheartening that the majority continues to advance bills that would make the Clean Air Act less effective at protecting people from dangerous pollution.

The RED Tape Act is the latest Republican effort to claim that the rules are too burdensome on industry. This bill amends section 309 of the Clean Air Act to eliminate the requirement for EPA to review and provide written comments on major Federal construction projects and actions in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

This could allow major Federal projects and actions to be approved without proper consideration of their impacts on air quality and public health.

The bill also removes the ability for the public to be informed of potential public health concerns stemming from these projects.

I really do not think Americans are opposed to the Federal Government considering the potential health, economic, and environmental impacts of major decisions before they are made. Yet, this bill would limit that consideration while making it harder for the public to understand the consequences of major projects.

I know some Members will claim this review is duplicative of NEPA, but many of these same Members are also pushing parallel efforts to gut NEPA, claiming that NEPA isn't necessary because our underlying environmental laws will sufficiently protect public health and the environment.

You can have it both ways. You cannot end both parts of a supposedly duplicative process unless the goal of this effort is to severely limit environmental reviews of projects entirely. That is not about cutting red tape. That is about ending decades-old public health protections so that industry doesn't need to worry about how pollution mitigation might cut into their profits.

The bottom line is that the EPA is our Nation's foremost expert at assessing projects' impacts on air quality and is responsible for protecting the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. I cannot support efforts to undermine EPA's expertise and eliminate the agency's efforts to carry out reasonable environmental reviews, and so I encourage my colleagues to join me in opposing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank Congresswoman Dexter for being such a strong and bold voice for justice and fairness in this House. She is such a great, welcome addition to the Caucus and to the House, and we appreciate her work.

We are convening this effort because of the urgent discussion that is necessary to bring very strong, laser-sharp focus to this issue.

The Trump administration has repeatedly shown that it is willing to use any method in its brutal and inhumane immigration agenda. That includes detaining kids like 5-year-old Liam Ramos on his way home from school in January in Minnesota or ending longstanding guidance that banned immigration enforcement activities at sensitive locations like our hospitals, courthouses, or schools. It includes putting a former ICE official in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, or ORR, the agency responsible for unaccompanied children.

It is no surprise, then, that this administration is treating unaccompanied children like criminals. Often, these children arriving in the United States without a parent or guardian are fleeing persecution, violence, and trafficking.

Congress expressly authorized the ORR to care for unaccompanied children with a separate charge from immigration enforcement. However, tragically, over the past year, the ORR and ICE have become one and the same, and it is traumatizing our children.

Unaccompanied children are now being held by ORR for an average of over 200 days. Let me repeat that. Kids who are alone who have fled all that they have ever known are being held by our government for over half a year of their life. They thought they were coming to America for a better life.

In many instances, these facilities are failing to provide basic care to these children. Yet, they continue to hold these kids even when they have a family member who is ready to care for them outside of ORR custody.

Take Diego. His father was approved to care for him after he arrived unaccompanied in 2024, but he was re-detained in November of 2025 and held for 4 months because of a new DNA requirement by ORR.

To make matters worse, ORR is now sharing data and information on potential sponsors with ICE, so many parents and family members who want to care for these children are frightened to provide any information that could lead to their arrest or their detention. On several occasions, ICE has used these kids as a lure, a lure to detain family members.

Carlos, a father with temporary protected status, was detained during a December 2025 appointment with ICE in New Mexico that he thought was a regular step in his effort to reunify with his 14- and 16-year-old children who had been held in ORR custody for almost a year.

While Carlos was released on a judge's order, his children are still in ORR custody. His son is now 15 and regularly has panic attacks. His daughter is afraid that she will wait for her father forever. That is despicable. These draconian tactics are creating lasting trauma for these kids and their families, and we are already seeing the effects.

No child should have to worry about whether they will be used as bait by the government. No child should sit in detention for months on end. No child should face additional trauma here in our United States.

This issue is deeply personal for me. As a once-New York State legislator, one of my proudest accomplishments was passing Timothy's Law, which enacted mental health care parity across the State of New York. The law was named after a young constituent of mine, Timothy O'Clair, who, after suffering with mental illness and not receiving the care that he needed, took his own life at 12 years of age.

We must take the mental health of children seriously. They are not pawns. They are not bait. They are not criminals. They are children who deserve care. Stop traumatizing children. Stop the cruel immigration enforcement against our kids.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to cohost this Special Order with Congresswoman Dexter. Again, I thank the gentlewoman for her caring voice.

Obviously, listening to these horrific stories that are impacting our children in this Nation is very difficult to absorb.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement has increased its coordination with ICE. That partnership is very troublesome. It bothers me to think of what can happen. ORR is sharing data on prospective guardians for unaccompanied children with ICE, and then ICE is increasingly using these children as lures to detain family members.

Our children should not be used as pawns. This, as a civilized nation, has an image cast to the entire world. A civilized nation nurtures its children. A civilized nation respects its children. A civilized nation loves its children. Where is our moral compass here?

Beyond the impact on these children and families, beyond the hurt and the physical and mental damage, there is an image cast to the entire world. This uncivilized behavior is a scar on our history. It is one that indicates that unaccompanied children are now waiting an average of more than 200 days in ORR detention, despite the many, many family members who are ready and able to care for them.

That is more than double the highest average seen during the first Trump administration of some 93 days and, yes, more than six times as long as the 30-day average seen under the Biden administration.

The Office of Inspector General found that the longer that children remain in ORR custody, the more likely they are to exhibit mental health or behavioral issues.

Think about that. We are inflicting damage on children, innocent children escaping harm in their native land, perhaps, or asking just to live their version of the American Dream. Longer stays in ORR detention are leading to more instances of self-harm and suicidal ideation.

We can, and we must, do better.

Mr. Speaker, it is so important that these stories are shared this afternoon with the American public because they challenge us. They inspire us to respond, to reach out to our Representatives, and to speak to this government about the way that it is conducting itself in regard to children. They are not pawns. They should not be impacted so severely and have lifetime damage.

We are a better people than that. We are a better nation than that. We are proud as a country and should maintain that sense of pride by doing right, by doing just, and by doing fair by all children, our children.

With that, I see we have been joined by another colleague.

Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the opportunity for all of us to share our thoughts here this afternoon.

I am reminded that ICE has been re-detaining children who were previously approved to stay with family members. It seems as though cruel has to be the additive to all of these actions. It is not enough to take that first step and then re-detain and then sponsors are being asked to provide additional information, including fingerprints and

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. Critical minerals are essential building blocks for a clean energy economy and many other technologies central to our everyday lives. I do not dispute that, but how we source and process these materials matters just as much as how quickly we deploy them.

We must pursue critical minerals in a way that is responsible and in a way that is sustainable. Demand for these

minerals is growing rapidly. Yet, global supply chains remain highly concentrated and often linked to serious human rights abuses and environmental harms.

This should push us toward thoughtful policies that strengthen domestic supply chains and not reckless ones that endanger our environment and communities like H.R. 4090.

One underutilized source of critical minerals is recycling. By recovering and reusing already mined resources, we are tapping into a new domestic supply. While recycling alone will not meet all of our projected demand, it can significantly reduce pressure on primary extraction if we invest now. This bill completely ignores the role of recycling to strengthen our supply chains.

Another way to strengthen these supply chains is through enhanced transparency. Last Congress, I introduced the bipartisan Critical Materials TRACE Act to improve supply chain visibility. Transparency can help drive responsible sourcing and innovation and reduce environmental, labor, and human rights abuses, ultimately making our supply chains more secure.

These are areas where bipartisan agreement is indeed possible, but H.R. 4090 is not that answer. This bill would make it easier to sell off public lands to polluting mining companies and weaken key protections that safeguard our drinking water and protect communities.

We can meet our critical mineral needs without sacrificing public lands, environmental laws, or, yes, public health. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus for convening this very important discussion this evening.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has pursued immigration

enforcement actions, actions that are deplorable, inhumane, and, indeed, deadly.

Last month, in my district in New York's Capital Region, a family of five, including an 8-month-old who was reportedly a U.S. citizen, was detained and deported after ICE entered their apartment without-- without--a judicial warrant, a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

In December, our Afghan community was repeatedly targeted, including ICE arresting a father and son after they exited a mosque following morning prayer. People who fled the Taliban, fearing for their lives and their families' lives, are now wondering if they will be picked up next by ICE.

This is not who we are as a nation. We are supposed to uphold the values of freedom, the values of democracy, and the American Dream. Instead, the very people who came here in pursuit of that dream are afraid to attend school, go to their jobs, go to church, and even leave their homes for fear of being hunted down, detained, and deported.

Nowhere have the effects of ICE's operations been clearer than in Minneapolis. The murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both U.S. citizens and both shot multiple times by U.S. agents, were senseless and horrifying. Two people who should be in the arms of their families today have instead been killed in the streets.

In their brutal and deadly campaign, ICE has lost all public trust and credibility. This agency as it exists and operates cannot continue. ICE must be abolished.

Mr. Speaker, I was participating in an Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 51.

Mr. Speaker, in just 1 short year, our constituents have already begun to suffer the consequences of the Trump administration's agenda to undo lifesaving environmental protections.

The latest rollback is expected to target key parts of the EPA's 2015 and 2024 coal ash rules. Coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion by power

plants, contains hazardous heavy metals that if left unregulated can pollute our land and our water.

The effects of these toxins on the human body include increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Certainly protections, like monitoring ground water and lining legacy coal ash ponds to prevent contamination, are common sense, but these requirements are at risk of being weakened. Delaying coal ash cleanup puts public health in danger.

Make no mistake who those rollbacks are for: Polluters who would rather poison ground water than pay a little bit more to protect the public. We should be accelerating cleanup, not creating loopholes that allow toxic waste to sit leaking and unregulated for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in speaking out against this attack on the rules protecting us from coal ash.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and congratulate Abigail Ross Hopper, who is retiring from her role as president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

For nearly a decade, Abby has led efforts to develop, to enact, and defend policies to support solar energy and energy storage.

During this time, the solar industry has been massively successful. Costs have come down dramatically. Some 250 gigawatts of installed solar capacity nationwide now exist. That is enough to power 45 million homes, making solar an important and rapidly growing part of our electricity mix.

As of 2024, the industry employed 280,000 Americans across thousands of companies including a recent boom in domestic manufacturing jobs. One of the greatest developments over the past few years has been the huge growth in American-made solar panels and components.

Thanks to policies championed by Abby and SEIA, the United States has become the third largest solar module manufacturer in the world. While I am saddened by Abby's departure, I am confident that because of her leadership, the solar industry is well-positioned to continue playing a leading role in delivering the affordable, reliable, and pollution-free electricity that Americans are indeed counting on.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman yielding and thank both Congresswoman Luz Rivas of California and Congresswoman Emily Randall of Washington State for hosting us with this Special Order hour. I know with them being two freshmen Congresswomen, and I know at least one other freshman Congresswoman that will be joining in the discussion, that it just reflects the tremendous amount of talent and passion to make a difference in this freshman class. We are so blessed to have them in the Caucus. It is so important to witness the efforts that the two congresswomen hosting us have made in regard to accessibility and affordability. It is most appreciated.

After months of pushing, Democrats succeeded in forcing a vote to extend ACA subsidies that offer lifesaving healthcare benefits to millions of families. That extension passed the House just hours ago, but the fight isn't over to secure these benefits and meaningfully lower costs for Americans. The Senate must act at once to restore these benefits and ease the burden of rising costs for people like Mekhiya, one of my constituents from New York's 20th Congressional District.

Mekhiya was born and raised in Schenectady, New York. She recently turned 26 and was bumped off of her parents' health insurance plan. She made the smart and responsible choice to switch to an ACA plan. Because Republicans let vital ACA subsidies lapse last year, she no longer knows how she will afford coverage. This is at a time when she and her wife are thinking about starting a family together.

So often I hear the reaction from those on the right saying: Just get a job. Well, Mekhiya already works at a job, in fact two jobs; one for her local school district and one as a manager at McDonald's. All told, between both jobs, she works some 16 hours a day. Neither position offers affordable or comprehensive enough healthcare, so an ACA plan is her only real option.

In this, the richest country in the world, the richest country in the history of the world, this is simply unacceptable. No one should be spending nearly all of their waking hours working multiple jobs and still unable to afford basic healthcare coverage for themselves and their family members. Yet this is the painful reality for millions of Americans.

Faced with this impossible scenario, Mekhiya said that she may try to work even more hours to make ends meet, but there are simply not enough hours in the day to work much more than she already does.

We have the chance here in Congress to ease the immense burden being carried by Mekhiya and the tens of millions more seeing a spike in healthcare premiums. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do right by families and act without delay to lower healthcare and help working family people breathe a little easier.

Make no mistake, the fight to lower costs is far from over. We have got to put our foot on the gas when it comes to driving down those healthcare costs and making life much more affordable for the American people.

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill is the latest in a long line of cruel and calculated Republican actions to erase and endanger LGBTQ+ people, especially trans youth, by using fear as a political weapon.

Let's be clear. Kids trying to live authentically are not a threat. Families seeking care are not political pawns, and the providers committed to their oath to do no harm are no extremists.

Every major U.S. medical group agrees that healthcare for trans youth is safe, effective, and necessary.

This care can reduce anxiety, reduce depression and suicide risk, and help young people thrive. If any other treatment lowered suicidal ideation at the same rate, we would call it a miracle. The ability is that we have an opportunity here to help our kids live as their true and healthy selves, and that is a miracle.

Yet instead of us celebrating or expanding access to lifesaving care, we are debating the bill that would prevent families from getting their children the care that they need. It is, frankly, embarrassing. Politicians should not be telling parents how to raise their own children.

Mr. Speaker, I will fight bills like this with everything I have because equality and dignity and justice are not up for debate.

I stand with the trans community in New York-20 and beyond, and I urge my colleagues to reject this bill.

Mr. Speaker, as a result, 4 million people will lose their insurance. Everyone else on an ACA plan will pay more for worse coverage, while billionaires sit comfortably and enjoy their tax breaks from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Remember in the summer and fall, when Republicans told us that this wasn't the right time to negotiate these subsidies over the shutdown, they said: Don't worry. That doesn't expire until later in the year. We are working on a plan.

Later is here. What does this Republican plan do to extend the ACA subsidies? It does nothing. It does absolutely nothing. This is unacceptable and downright cruel. While I am disappointed that Republicans refuse to extend this lifeline, I am not surprised. They had no intention of voting on extending ACA subsidies.

In fact, I heard that Republican leadership told my fellow New York Republicans that they needed to find a way to pay for the ACA subsidy extension if they wanted to even have a vote on it.

Playing under the Republicans' new rules, shouldn't this be free, or does that math only apply for their billionaire buddies and their tax breaks?

Mr. Speaker, I urge every Member who cares about their constituents having affordable healthcare to oppose this plan and sign Leader Jeffries' petition. Do it for the people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the so-called Power Plant Reliability Act. At a time of rapidly rising energy costs, this is yet another bill that Republicans are trying to stick our constituents with.

This legislation would force old, expensive power plants to stay online for up to 5 years after their scheduled retirement date. There are already existing tools in the Federal Power Act to ensure that an electricity generator shutting down will not lead to a reliability issue.

Sometimes there are legitimate reasons to have these facilities stay online for a short time period while another project can be completed. Yet even with these more limited existing authorities, we have witnessed troubling examples of how these types of must-run orders can be abused.

For example, the Trump administration has issued numerous 90-day orders that would force the continued operation of a coal-fired power plant in Michigan. There was a reason it was shutting down. It was simply too expensive to continue to run, especially compared to alternatives.

The power plant's owner and the regional grid operator, MISO, do not feel

there is any reliability need for this plant to continue running. Yet still President Trump has compelled it to continue to operate, and the people of Michigan and other States covered by MISO are footing the bill. It has been estimated that these people have paid more than $80 million from May 23 through September 30 due to this action.

We wonder why everyone has seen their utility bills skyrocket under President Trump. It is thoughtless decisions like this one that prioritize subsidizing the coal industry instead of actually addressing legitimate reliability and affordability issues facing our electricity system.

Mr. Speaker, they paid $80 million in a matter of a few months. Imagine if that power plant was forced to run not for 90-day increments but for 5 years, as proposed by this bill.

At the end of the day, we, as Members of Congress, have an important decision to make: Are we going to protect our constituents from rising energy bills, or are we going to protect coal companies that desperately need someone to keep buying and burning their product, even when it is no longer needed? Our constituents simply cannot afford another giveaway to coal companies at the expense of their wallets.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members who care about energy reliability and, yes, affordability, the keyword these days, to come together on solutions that will actually improve the lives of our constituents, not just declaring fake emergencies as a pretense to extract more money from people who simply cannot afford it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Clara Lee Phillips, a cherished member of the Albany community and a woman whose dedication and service strengthen the very heart of New York's 20th Congressional District.

Born in Langsdale, Mississippi, Clara made Albany her home in 1964 and devoted 36 years of faithful service to Albany Medical Center.

Even after retirement, she continued giving back, volunteering, cooking, and supporting the youth of the South End with unwavering dedication.

Miss Clara, as she was affectionately known, was the founder of Mississippi Day in Albany, a celebration now in its 13th year. What began as her way of sharing a piece of home grew into a cherished community tradition, uniting neighbors through food, music, culture, and, yes, storytelling.

On behalf of the 20th Congressional District, I extend our deepest condolences to Miss Clara's family, her church community, and the countless friends and neighbors whose lives she touched. Her legacy of service, unity, and love will endure in Albany for years to come.

We honor her today with gratitude and commit to carrying forward that great spirit that she brought to our district every single day.

We thank Miss Clara.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the exceptional service of Mayor Kathy Sheehan as she prepares to retire at the end of this year after three impactful terms leading the city of Albany.

Since taking office as Albany's 75th and first female mayor, Mayor Sheehan has been a tireless advocate for equity, opportunity, and responsive government, giving every neighborhood and every resident a chance to shape the city's future.

Mayor Sheehan's steadfast leadership has ensured that key Federal and local investments were put to work effectively, lifting up families, strengthening local businesses, improving transportation, and preserving the vibrancy and character that make Albany such a special place.

It has been one of the greatest honors of my service in Congress to support her passionate efforts to build a stronger, fairer, and, yes, more resilient city.

On behalf of the entire 20th Congressional District, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Mayor Sheehan on a well-earned retirement. While she may be stepping away from city hall, I know her leadership, her principles, and her example will continue to guide and inspire Albany for many years to come.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, our waterways and our waters are precious resources, and we need to advance policies that protect that precious resource and certainly need policies that enable us to be resourceful in the use of this commodity.

In my youth, growing up in my home and hometown of Amsterdam, New York, if you wanted to know what color the Mohawk Carpet Mills were dying their carpets that day, all you had to do was look at the flow of the Chuctanunda Creek as it emptied into the Mohawk River.

With the passage of the Clean Water Act, Congress took historic action to protect public health and improve the quality of drinking water across our great country.

Our rivers, our brooks, and our streams are the center of our communities, and we have come so far to protect and strengthen these resources for the generations that will follow.

Instead of strengthening our waterways, this bill that we are debating today on the House floor is a wholesale attack on what is left of the Clean Water Act. It is a one-two punch that would allow more forever chemicals and harmful pollutants to be discharged into our waterways with little regulation, while diluting the ability for States and Tribes to take action to protect their communities.

I continue to believe that there is a genuine interest in Congress on both sides of the aisle to advance durable, bipartisan solutions to meet our Nation's energy demands, to create good jobs, and to safeguard our communities and environment.

Mr. Chair, I encourage my Republican colleagues to focus on real solutions instead of giveaways to polluters. This special interest crowd that is getting different treatment to pollute and not respect our resources has got to stop.

Mr. Chair, I urge Members to please oppose this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew, who was recently selected for the revered Templeton Prize by the John Templeton Foundation. The Foundation recognizes pioneers of scientific and spiritual insight for their contributions to human well-being and spiritual prosperity. Previous award recipients include Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. On behalf of New York's 20th Congressional District, I congratulate His All Holiness Bartholomew on receiving this great honor.

He is the spiritual leader, and the Primus inter Pares--First among Equals--of Orthodox Christianity worldwide, a Church of 300 million people. Named as one of the world's most influential people by Time Magazine, His All Holiness is an exemplary leader who seeks to build bridges across different religions. He works tirelessly to bring together Christians, Jews, and Muslims for the purpose of advancing greater cooperation and mutual understanding. An advocate for peace, His All Holiness has called for an end to the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia.

He is known worldwide as the ``Green Patriarch'' as he makes conscious efforts to support clean air legislation. I feel grateful that His

All Holiness uses his authority to raise environmental awareness, and I'm proud to stand beside him to create sustainable future together. On behalf of my constituents and my colleagues here in Washington, I thank His All Holiness for his bravery, guidance, and testimony. I hope that his visit will bring us together in the spirit of service and encourage us to live with humility, fairness, and compassion.