Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it has been an open secret for too long that Representative Steve King of Iowa has made his trade in saying and pushing fundamentally racist and unacceptable ideas. While I am glad that my colleagues on the other side are speaking out and have taken this important act of stripping Mr. King of his committees, let us be very clear that those of us who have served with Mr. King on the Judiciary Committee, those of us who are African American, Latino, immigrant, those of us who are Caucasian and steeped in our country's history of slavery and racism, we all know that the record of these kinds of comments is long.

In 2013, Mr. King said that, for every Dreamer who is a valedictorian, there are another 100 undocumented immigrants who have calves the size of cantaloupes because they are hauling 75 pounds of drugs across the border.

In 2017, he said that we couldn't restore civilization with ``somebody else's babies.'' Madam Speaker, how dare he. I was born in India. I am somebody else's baby, and I am a proud American.

Just last year, Mr. King met with a Nazi-linked party in Austria. He is a Member of Congress who continuously makes these comments that cause the deepest of harm to real people, physical harm in the form of hate crimes, and psychological harm.

Madam Speaker, all of us, whether African American, people of color, immigrants, we are not other categories of people. We are not somebody else. We are America, all of us.

The terrible truth is that racism and xenophobia escalates when racism and white supremacy are permitted here in

Congress and all the way up to the White House to be issues with both sides. There are no both sides when it comes to white supremacy.

So, Madam Speaker, I hope that this is just the start of a definitive partywide turn away from racism for all of us on both sides.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to say how pleased I am that Congress has reauthorized the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, or NEHRP.

I am grateful to Senator Feinstein, as well as my colleagues in the House--Representatives Rohrabacher, Knight, and Lamar Smith--for their leadership in bringing this forward. This has been an important issue to me since I was in the State senate, given my State's--Washington State's--geography and the serious threats that we face from earthquakes.

NEHRP reauthorization is the very first step to ensure that our States have the resources they need to prepare for earthquakes, States like mine that have been anticipating a catastrophic earthquake for many years.

As we have watched tragedies unfold around the world, it is clear that we have to do everything we can to build resilience so that when earthquakes inevitably strike, our communities are as prepared as they can be. This reauthorization will ensure that all of our communities are able to improve their building standards, have early warning systems, and have better monitoring for seismic activity.

I hope this bill will be one of many, and that we continue to build on this progress to ensure ample investment to build resilience, in particular for schools and hospitals. I look forward to working with my colleagues to push this forward in the next Congress.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for roll call vote 420 on Friday, November 16, 2018, I would have voted `no'

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize David Ayala- Zamora, who died on Wednesday, October 17, 2018. David's passing is a huge loss for the City of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region. As a union organizer and immigrant rights organizer, David was a true champion for justice.

David was born into a middle-class family in El Salvador. During the 1980s, David was one quarter away from graduating with a degree in electrical engineering when he decided to put his studies on hold to organize with teachers during El Salvador's civil war. He also worked for a government institute that managed pensions for public employees as the grievance secretary, often putting him in very challenging and dangerous situations.

David's visibility as a union leader and his calls to end the war eventually led to his arrest and torture by Salvadoran security forces. His early experiences being tortured shaped the core of his character and he brought that strength and resilience to everything he did. David described being tortured as ``The best experience in my life. Being tortured is like running a marathon. It taught me how committed I am in the struggle for justice. And it has fortified me in some ways, because you learn how much capacity you have in this body.''

Forced into exile in the United States where he eventually became a U.S. citizen, David returned to organizing work in his new home. He was driven to continue this work, saying that ``Those of us who were touched by people who gave everything for justice, we have to try to keep them alive and with us through the work we do.''

David's work continues to be felt across the Pacific Northwest region. He was one of the organizers who launched the day laborer organizing project that became Casa Latina, which continues to advocate for immigrant workers' rights. Many years later, he worked with me as the Organizing Director at OneAmerica, the organization that I founded and where I served as Executive Director for 11 years. David was a true partner to me, helping me to expand our organization across Washington State as we grew OneAmerica to be the state's largest immigrant rights organization. David was exceptional at seeing leadership qualities in ordinary people and helping them to develop that leadership to do extraordinary things. Thanks to his work, OneAmerica was able to strengthen power within underrepresented immigrant communities and win major policy victories from maintaining driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, to organizing for the creation of Washington State's first and only majority-minority congressional district, and pushing for a state Voting Rights Act.

David also worked for many years at SEIU in Portland and Seattle, organizing low-wage workers to bring justice to the workplace; as the Field Director at Working Washington where he organized airport workers at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to fight for fair wages and a safe workplace; and as the Organizing Director at Promise Arizona, organizing around voting rights, civic participation, and health care.

David is survived by his wife, Siovhan Sheridan Ayala, and his children, David Ayala-Lindeman, Margarita Anne Ayala-Sheridan, and Maura Ruth Ayala-Sheridan; his father, David Ayala-Dominguez; and five brothers and sisters, Ana Betty Ayala de Giron, Obed Edgardo Ayala- Zamora, Ruth Ayala-Zamora, Yani Ayala-Zamora, and Eliud Ulises Ayala- Zamora.

David was a trusted advisor and partner to me in fighting for immigrant and worker justice. His irrepressible laughter, his deep appreciation for life, and his hunger for justice has sustained and inspired so many across the Northwest and in El Salvador. A light has gone from our world, but David's legacy shines brightly with all those he touched and all the movements he helped build. His lasting impact on the region will endure for many years to come.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to proudly congratulate the Seattle Storm, winners of the 2018 WNBA title. To the players and coaches, thank you for the hard work, determination, grit and talent that propelled you to the end and made us all so proud of Seattle. To friends and families of the team, thank you for your support, encouragement and personal sacrifices.

Seattle Storm, your achievement reflects not only the hard work that goes into winning a national championship, but also your resilience and dedication to one another throughout the entirety of the season. Every day, I feel honored to represent women like you whose work shows a tremendous commitment to women's issues, young girls and your community--a testimony of your connection to the City of Seattle. It is no surprise that the majority of Seattle's championships belong to the Storm.

Your team embodies the values that we, in our city, hold so dearly. You are an incredible role model for girls and women everywhere. It is an honor both to serve women like you who take a stand and speak out for issues that are important, but also to be able to call the Storm my home team.

Again, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to you all, and I look forward to seeing everything that you accomplish in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of longtime Seattle resident, Mr. Robert Terry, who recently passed away at the age of 91. Mr. Terry became the first black man to teach in Seattle Public Schools in 1950, four years before the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision that banned states from segregating schools by race.

Raised by his grandmother, Ella Trice, Mr. Terry began his long life in education at Greenwood Elementary School in La Grande, Oregon. After graduating from high school, he served in the Navy in World War II. He then returned to live with his grandmother while attending the University of Oregon, earning a degree in Education from Eastern Oregon College in 1950. He later earned a master's degree in Student Personnel from Seattle University.

Mr. Terry built a long and distinguished career in the Seattle School District, as President of Seattle Central Community College and then Chancellor of the Seattle Community College System. He also gained deep respect in his Mount Baker neighborhood community, where he resided since 1962. A football fan and athlete himself, he mentored young players in his neighborhood as he drove them to practice--truly exemplifying what it means to be a dedicated educator in and outside the classroom.

I would like to commemorate Mr. Terry's lifetime of achievements, his decades of service to our community and his work to lift up young students long marginalized by inequities in education. My heart is with his loving family and friends. He will be long remembered and deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my congratulations to Diane Narasaki on her retirement after 23 years of service at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS). Throughout her career, Diane demonstrated her deep, personal commitment to civil rights and social justice by standing up for immigrants and refugees, defending diversity and encouraging civic engagement.

Diane was born in Seattle not long after the end of World War II. She was driven to a career in social justice in part because of the inhumane treatment of Japanese and Japanese Americans incarcerated during the war. She ultimately built ACRS into the globally-recognized powerhouse it is today, growing it from 14,000 members to over 35,000 and from 76 staff members to 270.

In one of her early acts at ACRS, Diane organized the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community to mount a response to 1996 federal welfare reform legislation, which barred legal immigrants from accessing certain federal safety net programs, including food stamps and medical assistance. Thanks to Diane's leadership and the tireless advocacy of communities across Washington, the state passed legislation to replace many of the public assistance programs for immigrants that were lost at the federal level.

Also, during her time at ACRS, Diane organized the API community to increase funding for employment training and naturalization services targeted to help low-income immigrants, refugees, and those with limited English proficiency to gain citizenship. With her leadership, ACRS obtained federal funding to develop integrated mental health services, which had an incredible impact on the lives and well-being of API people. Prior to joining ACRS, Diane also served as Executive Director of the Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office, co-founded the King County Asian Pacific Islander Coalition and was named by President Obama to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Her contributions to the API community are innumerable.

Diane has received numerous awards to recognize these contributions. The Seattle City Council proclaimed a ``Diane Narasaki Day'' in 2006. In 2009, Seattle Magazine declared her one of one of their ``most influential people of the year.'' She received a Puget Sound Business Journal Women of Influence Award, a Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Award, the ACLU of Washington's William O. Douglas Award and many, many more.

Still, what makes Diane so special is not these awards but her dedication to lifting up marginalized people in our community and across the country. Though she is moving on from ACRS, I have no doubt that she will continue to thread her passion and activism into everything she does. I commend Diane Narasaki and the incalculable impact of her life's work. I wish her a healthy and joyous retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of H.R. 6580, the Kerrie Orozco First Responders Family Support Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor for introducing this bill.

The bill, as is made clear by its title, is a tribute to Ms. Orozco, a police officer in Omaha, Nebraska.

On May 20, 2015, after 7 years of service in the Omaha Police Department, Kerrie was fatally shot in the line of duty while serving a felony arrest warrant.

She was survived by her husband, Hector Orozco, and her two stepchildren, Natalie and Santiago.

H.R. 6580 gives tribute to the sacrifice made by Kerrie and her family by recognizing the sacrifices made by all first responders who are killed in the line of duty as well as their surviving family members.

The bill honors their sacrifice by speeding up the citizenship process for the surviving immigrant's spouses, children, and parents of slain first responders.

Specifically, the bill would waive certain physical resident requirements for surviving immediate family members who are already on the road to becoming citizens.

Current law requires such individuals to reside in the United States as lawful permanent residents for 5 years before becoming eligible to apply for naturalization. This bill would waive that 5-year requirement and, thus, allow surviving family members to naturalize more quickly. It is modeled on the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act, which became law in 2008 after receiving unanimous support in both Houses of Congress. That bill provides similar benefits to the surviving immigrant family members of U.S. armed services members who were killed in action.

H.R. 6580 simply recognizes that domestic first responders also serve this country at great sacrifice both to themselves and their families. This bill is the least we can do to recognize their service and their sacrifice.

I congratulate Representative Bacon for introducing this bill and ensuring its vote on the floor. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Ranking Member Jerry Nadler for their support of this important piece of legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet bill, introduced by my colleague Jim McGovern, who has been working on this issue for such a long time as our ranking member on the Rules Committee and the co-chair of the Lantos Human Rights Commission. I would like to thank him for his hard work and dedication to this issue and on this bill.

The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act is about fairness, human rights, and careful U.S. diplomacy at its core. For too long, China has restricted access to Tibet, preventing U.S. diplomats and journalists from observing human rights abuses in Tibet and preventing Tibetan Americans from visiting their home country. This bill seeks to reset that table.

H.R. 1872 is premised on the idea that reciprocity forms the basis of diplomatic law and the practice of mutual exchanges between countries. This bill simply requires that, if Chinese officials, journalists, and other citizens are able to travel freely in the United States, it is only fair that their American counterparts are also able to do the same; and if Americans are not granted the same access to Tibet that the Chinese enjoy in the United States, then there should be consequences.

This is more than reasonable and long overdue. Tibet is so difficult to visit that a Washington Post journalist said in 2016, Tibet ``is harder to visit as a journalist than North Korea.''

Mr. Speaker, I had the great honor last year of traveling with our minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman McGovern to Dharamsala last year to visit with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. It was a deeply, deeply moving meeting with him, with the Tibetan Government in exile, and the 10,000-plus people who came to a public celebration event while we were there.

The world knows that His Holiness is a man of peace and tremendous integrity. He has laid out a 5-year roadmap for negotiations with China, and he is willing to work with China to find a way forward. For any peace plan to get a footing, we have to work closely with our global partners to push this issue at this time because, if His Holiness should die, and he will eventually do so, a period of greater instability is likely to ensure making the human rights issues and the possible solutions still more intractable. The timing of U.S. actions here is extremely important.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), my colleague, the sponsor of this bill, and a great fighter for human rights.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the actions called for in this bill are measured and calibrated, measured in that they follow the line of traditional diplomacy of taking careful steps without the dangers of over- escalation, but calibrated to achieve a real opening, to wisely use U.S. power to open up an opportunity for the two sides to take their next steps.

There are many Tibetan Americans throughout the United States whose family members still reside within Tibet, and they are watching this Chamber closely for signs that the United States is willing to help, willing to allow them to return to visit their families, and hoping fervently for a solution to the pain and suffering in Tibet and with the diaspora that has been experienced by generations.

This is the time for bold U.S. leadership, and I do believe that is what this bill offers tonight. Our timely consideration of this bill takes an important step forward in leveling the global playing field. This bill seeks to make simple policy changes to enforce reciprocity between our two countries, to make clear that China cannot bar our people from Tibet and continue to expect open access to our country. Allowing for the freedom of movement for people in both of our nations sets an important precedent going forward.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say that this has been an incredibly important bipartisan collaboration that we have had. I am very grateful to my colleague from Florida for her work on this, and I am also very grateful to Chairman Goodlatte and to Ranking Member Nadler for their work on this.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the minority leader, who has been a tireless champion on this issue for decades, has led many of us to meet with His Holiness, has worked with His Holiness to come here, and has been a champion for human rights around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I would just say that we are incredibly proud to be, hopefully, passing this legislation tonight with such bipartisan support and reminding the world that the United States stands for human rights. We stand for the human rights of Tibetans, and I thank my colleagues on the other side for their work on this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination and the sham hearings that are happening in the Senate today.

Even before President Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that the millions of pages in Judge Kavanaugh's White House records would reopen controversies dating back to George W. Bush's administration and delay consideration of his nomination. But instead of following regular order, rather than obtaining Judge Kavanaugh's full record and sharing it in a timely fashion with all the Senators, Senate Republicans simply changed the rules. This is unacceptable.

The nine Justices who sit on the Supreme Court make crucial decisions about justice in our country. At times, the Court's landmark decisions have shown the best of who we are and what our country stands for, the ideas that our public schools should not be segregated based on race, that women have a right to make their own decisions about their bodies, and that everybody has the right to marry the person they love.

In other cases, Supreme Court decisions have been stains on our Nation;

for instance, deciding that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens, upholding the cruel and unjust internment of Japanese Americans during World War I, maintaining segregation, and striking down key provisions protecting access to voting.

Make no mistake, Judge Kavanaugh poses a serious threat to the rights that we hold so dear. Take, for instance, the case of Jane Doe, the teenage girl who sought an abortion last year while being held in government custody in Texas.

Jane Doe did everything herself to secure that abortion. She got permission from a judge. She got her own transportation. And yet, the Federal Government physically blocked her from leaving the government- run shelter where she was detained.

So then the ACLU sued on her behalf, and her case eventually made it in front of Judge Kavanaugh. Although he recognized the time sensitivity, even clarifying that she would no longer be able to seek a legal abortion in Texas at 20 weeks, Judge Kavanaugh blocked Jane Doe's access to her legally allowable abortion when she was about 15 weeks pregnant. He gave the Trump administration 11 more days to find a sponsor, a process that he was aware takes months to complete. He told Jane Doe that, after those 11 days, she could ask a lower court again for an abortion. If at 17 weeks she was unsuccessful, then he told her that she could bring it up again to him for consideration, which would have been scheduled when she was, at that point, 18 or 19 weeks pregnant, if she were lucky. Court delays could have pushed it even further, seriously putting her at risk of being outside the window to obtain something that was her legal right.

But, fortunately, the full court overturned Judge Kavanaugh's decision a few days later, and Jane Doe was able to proceed in the course that she chose for her own body, a decision that Judge Kavanaugh vehemently opposed.

Fortunately for Jane Doe, Judge Kavanaugh's decision was not the crucial vote deciding her future. But if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, the rest of the country will not be so lucky.

There is broad consensus that Judge Kavanaugh would be a decisive vote to eliminate women's constitutionally protected right to abortion, a right, by the way, that is not partisan. Seventy-one percent of voters support that right.

In addition, Judge Kavanaugh's record shows that he could be the deciding vote to undermine access to healthcare for millions of Americans. He has written dissenting opinions in three cases that would have undermined the Affordable Care Act. In one of those dissenting opinions, Judge Kavanaugh argued that a President could choose not to enforce a law like the Affordable Care Act if he thought it was unconstitutional, even if a court had already ruled that it is constitutional.

Further, in a 2013 speech, Judge Kavanaugh said that it is ``a traditional exercise of power by Presidents'' to pick and choose which laws to enforce. At a time when we are hearing reports from the highest levels of our government that top aides to the President are literally hiding papers from him so that he cannot execute orders that they view as dangerous to our security and would result in geopolitical crises, what we need is a Justice who will serve as a check on the executive, as our Founders intended.

The Senate has a responsibility to the American people to fully vet Supreme Court nominees. The most basic function is for them to do the leg work of obtaining all records related to those nominees. I strongly urge my Senate colleagues to adjourn the Kavanaugh hearing, as Senator Blumenthal and my good colleagues proposed. A ``no'' vote is a vote for the people.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of my amendment, which simply adds to the requirements for student loan exit counseling in the underlying bill.

I would like to thank Congressman Guthrie and Congresswoman Bonamici for their leadership in crafting this bill and for their consideration of this amendment.

With my amendment, exit counseling would include an explicit warning about third-party, fraudulent companies that often call, email, text, send letters, and use aggressive advertising to reach students during the repayment process.

These so-called debt relief companies sometimes say they can help settle your Federal student loans, warn borrowers that forgiveness programs could end soon, and sometimes even pose as being affiliated with the U.S. Government.

These companies generally do not offer any relief at all and charge for services that are already provided for free by loan servicers. Often, these companies leave borrowers worse off, severely damage their credit scores, or make changes to loan repayment plans that they didn't authorize.

I think Republicans and Democrats both agree that these are scams, pure and simple. These same companies who once preyed on underwater mortgage holders have now moved on to lure student loan borrowers simply trying to pay off their debts, provide for themselves or their families, and live a better life. It is hard enough for borrowers to navigate the complicated maze of repayment options and obtain sound guidance from their servicer without scammers coming in to blow up the whole thing.

What is more, many of these companies have already had to pay massive settlements to our government for scamming consumers. The Federal Trade Commission and State attorneys general across the country, including from my home State of Washington, have brought cases against these scammers who have used deception and false promises of relief to take more than $95 million in illegal upfront fees from American consumers over the years.

In 2014, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against a company called Student Loan Processing.US for deceiving consumers about its fee structure and misrepresenting its affiliation. It led to the distribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars back to defrauded consumers.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to offer this critical consumer protection amendment that helps empower students to make sound financial decisions. I do recognize that enhancing financial literacy is just a small sliver of the legislation we need to chip away at our student debt crisis.

Right now, I know that we need to take that next step in the crisis with bold policy solutions to address that $1.4 trillion in student loan debt that is dragging down our economy. But at this moment, Madam Chair, I commend my colleagues for this practical step, and I urge support of my amendment.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Madam Chair, I wanted to again reiterate my thanks to both Congressman Guthrie and Congresswoman Bonamici, and urge support of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present for roll call vote 366 and 367 on Monday, July 23, 2018 I would have voted `aye' on both.

Mr. Speaker, this is what it takes to have a debate on the floor about family separation.

It is outrageous that my Republican colleagues are playing pure politics with a resolution that does absolutely nothing to address the most pressing crisis before us, which is the separation of 3,000 children from their parents. It is about putting kids in cages and parents in prison who are seeking asylum.

Mr. Speaker, in spite of court orders, this administration still has yet to reunite these children with their families, and I will tell you that these are parents who even have been denied the opportunity to speak to their kids for more than 10 minutes twice a week.

Mr. Speaker, this bill does nothing to prevent President Trump from again ordering enforcement agents to rip breastfeeding babies from their mothers' arms. This isn't just rhetoric. This happened numerous times under Trump's zero-tolerance, zero-humanity policy.

In one case, for instance, an asylum seeker from Honduras reported that Federal agents took her daughter from her while she was breastfeeding in a Texas detention center. When she resisted, as any mother would--because I am a mother, I can say that, from the bottom of my heart--this mother was handcuffed, handcuffed for wanting to feed her baby.

Stripping babies from the arms of their mothers is cruel and inhumane, and this body should be debating that policy, should be fixing that policy, instead of putting forward a ridiculous, do- nothing, political resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to put their attention on real issues, instead of continuing to play games with children's lives.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and the chair and ranking member of the Interior Subcommittee.

Mr. Chair, today I rise to highlight the importance of the EPA's Superfund Enforcement program. Around the country, communities are being put at risk by those who do not responsibly handle the waste that they actually create, and it can result in years of ongoing damage, which leads to health complications and environmental degradation.

The Superfund Enforcement program at the EPA was granted authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, to enforce environmental cleanup laws that bring habitats and communities back from the brink in places where pollutants have seeped into the ground.

One of the Superfund sites in my State is the Hanford site, which is a decommissioned nuclear production complex next to the Columbia River. It was established as part of the Manhattan Project in 1943, and it was the location of the first full-scale plutonium production reactor.

The site is massive, and its legacy not only includes its devastating role in World War II but also the environmental impacts in central Washington and beyond.

The EPA has referred to the Columbia River as the ``lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest,'' and they are right. And it is why it is so crucial that we at the Federal Government do everything we can to clean up Hanford.

Another Superfund site, this one in my district, is the Duwamish River, which was designated as a Superfund site in 2001. Over the course of many years, factory waste and household pollutants have run into the Duwamish, and the Duwamish air quality is the most toxic in our State.

Water pollutants have affected our local fish and they have threatened the food supply and the fishing culture, particularly of those non-English speakers, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and people of multiracial backgrounds who depend on the river as a way of life.

It has gotten so dangerous that the State and Federal Governments have actually issued a warning against the consumption of fish from the river. On average, community members in the Duwamish live an average of 8 years shorter than other King County residents.

The Superfund Enforcement program allows the Federal Government to assess locations like this from Washington State to Washington, D.C., and determine who is responsible for cleaning up these potentially devastating contaminants.

By the numbers, Mr. Chairman, the Superfund Enforcement program has not only been incredibly successful, it has actually saved taxpayers money and leveraged a lot of money for us.

According to the EPA, in fiscal year 2017, the agency reported that they reduced, treated, or eliminated 217 million in pollution. During that same time, 245 million pounds of hazardous waste was treated, minimized, or properly disposed of, and 416,000 people were protected by the enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Thanks to the Superfund Enforcement program, many of the bad actors who create the problems are actually responsible for cleaning them up, and we leverage a lot of the Federal Government's money. In fiscal year 2017, the amount committed by liable parties to clean up Superfund sites was $1.227 billion, which goes a long way toward ensuring that communities can be safe, healthy, and protected.

While the funding levels in the 2019 bill are not as low as the President's budget requested, I urge my colleagues to support continued funding in 2018 at the 2018 enacted level of $166 million or higher.

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee to ensure that this program is meaningfully supported, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

Mr. Chairman, may I ask how much time I have left.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's remarks, and I did mention that I appreciated that there was more allocated than the President's budget.

I think the magnitude of the problem that we are dealing with and the hundreds of thousands of lives that are at stake in terms of who depends on the waterways that go through these Superfund sites is why I am asking the chairman if he might consider restoring the original level, which is, of course, more than was allocated.

I do understand the challenges, but I think that these are historical harms that we are trying to correct and money that is leveraged substantially by the companies that create the waste, and it is because the Federal Government is putting money into these that we are able to do that.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this Keep Families Together Act.

Mr. Speaker, over the last month, our country has reeled from the cruelty at the border. And this week we waited apprehensively to see if the Trump administration would meet the court-ordered deadline to reunite at least the children under 5 who have been taken away from their parents, separated for months at a time.

The Trump administration did not meet that deadline. To date, only 57 children have been reunited with their families. Over 3,000 children were separated from their families, and all of this was a self-imposed tragic, tragic set of circumstances that came from Donald Trump's decision to institute a zero tolerance, zero humanity policy at the border for parents who were seeking asylum for their children.

Mr. Speaker, headlines every day are blaring about what is happening in the short term and the long term in terms of trauma caused to children--to children, Mr. Speaker. One headline said that some of the children who were 2 and 3 years old did not even recognize their parents after 4 months of being separated--children who were breastfeeding at their mother's breast, separated.

Mr. Speaker, the American Association of Pediatrics has said that the long-term trauma and consequences to these children is absolutely devastating. And let me be clear about what we are doing. The United States Government--and I say not in my name--the United States Government is separating children from their families, putting kids in cages, parents in prisons.

Why? To deter people who are coming to the United States to do what I, as a mother, and I believe any parent would do, to seek safety from violence, from persecution, from being killed, gang raped, all kinds of stories that I heard directly from the women and the men who fled and are being held in a Federal prison.

Mr. Speaker, the Keep Families Together Act is the only bill that would help prevent these horrors from occurring again and from happening now. It prohibits the separation of children from their parents; it limits criminal prosecutions for asylum seekers; and it requires the Department of Homeland Security to reunite children and their parents.

I have got to say, Mr. Speaker, I hear these things from people who I believe are deeply good people on both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that there is any Republican or Democrat that would want this kind of trauma to occur. But I ask my Republican colleagues to stand up for who we are as a country. Do not allow America to become this in the eyes of the world. Do not go back to your children tonight and tell them that you allowed for this to continue.