Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 6 o'clock and 22 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Friday, February 3, 2017, at 9 a.m.

Madam Speaker, for hours at Sea-Tac International Airport on Saturday, I worked with colleagues from the Port of Seattle, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the ACLU, and our Governor to get people who were being held to be released because of President Trump's Muslim ban.

In the utter chaos, I found a gentleman who had come from Somalia to be reunited with his wife. He had all of his legal papers; but, instead, he was blindly turned away without any due process. We were able to get two other individuals released--one from Yemen and one from Sudan--after a brutal and determined effort to literally stop the plane that they had been boarded onto in order for them to be deported.

This wasn't just in Seattle, Madam Speaker. This happened at airports across the Nation. Our office has been contacted by dozens of people who are absolutely terrified. These are students, legal permanent residents, and businesspeople who do not know anymore what their place in this country is. Simply put, this is un-American and unconstitutional.

I, myself, immigrated when I was 16 years old, and it took me 19 years to become a citizen. I am intimately familiar with the barriers that people face in our immigration system, and I hope that all of the Members of this Chamber will welcome immigrants the way we always have.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that this House bring up H.R. 724, which would rescind President Trump's refugee ban on children, like 16- year-old Afghani boy Sardar Hussein, who lost his family in a car bomb and now hopes after nearly 2 years of ordeal to get on his flight to America.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. This weekend, millions of women made it clear that they demand respect.

Instead, for their efforts, they have received a trip to 1984 where, once again, a paternalistic White House signed executive orders infringing on a woman's right to choose.

H.R. 7, the bill we are considering here today, is the next notch in the Republican belt that will take away our control over our own bodies.

I have years of experience working in family planning, and I can tell you that this bill takes away our ability to plan our families properly and to make decisions about our own bodies, a decision that should be left to a woman and her physician.

Make no mistake, this isn't a healthcare issue. It is part of an extreme rightwing political agenda that puts women's rights on the chopping block.

H.R. 7 tells millions of women that their voices don't matter and their rights don't count. Passing this bill will create even more barriers for women, including women of color, trying to access quality health care.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided and heavy-handed bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of immigrants across our country.

As an immigrant myself, I understand the sacrifices and hardships that immigrants experience. My parents sacrificed their very small life savings to send me to the United States at the age of 16 by myself to pursue college. That is why I stayed in my district last Friday to host an immigration roundtable with directly impacted constituents.

Like many of us, Mr. Speaker, they have heard reports that this new administration intends to deport millions of people across our country rather than working towards a comprehensive reform of our immigration system, similar to the one that was passed in the other Chamber with 68 bipartisan votes, unfortunately, never brought to the floor of this Chamber.

I heard from children, Mr. Speaker, afraid to go to school out of fear that their parents will be taken away while they are at school. I heard from people whose lives are still in limbo because they have no idea what is going to happen next.

But despite their fear, they still are ready to stand together and fight for their futures, and their courage and resilience is truly inspiring. We owe it to them to fight alongside them.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this budget resolution. It begins the gutting of the Affordable Care Act, stripping health care for millions of working families across the Nation, including over three-quarters of a million in my home State of Washington.

Here is the bottom line: This repeal will put into chaos small businesses, hospitals, and community health centers. I have one of those in Seattle called the International Community Health Services, which provides culturally appropriate health services to anyone in need. Recently, an elderly woman at ICHS shared her fears about the ACA repeal. She and her husband, a heart attack survivor who went through bypass surgery, rely on Medicare and Medicaid for affordable health services. They have an annual joint income, Mr. Chairman, of $14,000, and they would be unable to afford quality care if the ACA repeal happens and, let's be clear, with absolutely no better plan to replace it.

Mr. Chairman, the budget resolution is a moral document. It does translate our values into commitments, and it should tell the world what the United States stands for. Looking at this budget resolution, I cannot help but conclude that our moral compass will be broken if we pass this resolution. I urge my colleagues to oppose this immoral budget resolution.

Mr. Speaker, the immoral effort to take away health care from millions of working families across the country has begun.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, thousands of families in my home State of Washington have been able to get quality health care, and now the Republican majority is set to strip away that healthcare coverage from those struggling to make ends meet.

If they succeed, three quarters of a million Washingtonians will lose their health care; 55,000 young people in our State will be kicked off their parents' healthcare plans; being a woman, once again, becomes a preexisting condition where women would again have to pay out of pocket for basic, preventive screenings and birth control; nearly 4 million Washingtonians, covered by their employers, would see their costs increase and coverage decline; and 50,000 Washingtonians who gained health care through Medicaid expansion will lose it.

Mr. Speaker, health care is a fundamental right and not a privilege. Instead of rolling back the progress we have made, we should be strengthening and expanding health care to cover all who live in our Nation.

Mr. President, I object to the certificate from the State of Georgia on the grounds that the electoral votes were not--

Mr. President, even as people waited hours in Georgia--

Mr. President, the objection is signed by a Member of the House, but not yet by a Member of the Senate.

``. . . and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.''