Floor Statements

Thank you to my distinguished colleague from the Virgin Islands. It is an honor to be with you this evening, and thank you for your hard work and helping us to keep families healthy. Thank you also to CBC Chairman Richmond for organizing this important Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out for more than 975,000 residents of Illinois, including nearly 240,000 children that my Republican colleagues are plotting to strip of their health insurance.

This bill, the so-called American Health Care Act, ends the guarantee of quality, affordable, and accessible health care. This bill puts politics before people. But it isn't the politics that matters.

Mrs. Johnson affording her cancer treatment matters. A 5-year-old dying because her parents can't afford a transplant matters. Keeping our neighbors healthy no matter what street they live on or what their ZIP Code is will keep us all healthy.

So I must ask: What are my Republican colleagues thinking?

This bill was introduced at night, but the cover of darkness cannot hide the fact that this bill will kill tens of thousands of Americans every year. The dark of night cannot hide the reality that, because of this bad bill, more Americans will die of cancer, nor can it conceal the fact that millions of older Americans will be punished by the Republican's new ``age tax.''

Conversely, the Affordable Care Act protects older Americans from insurance companies who want to use their age as a reason to charge thousands and thousands more. While this bill from my Republican colleagues was written to empower insurance executives, the Affordable Care Act protects everyone. It includes unprecedented healthcare access safeguards for America's elderly, people living with disabilities, children, and young adults.

Meanwhile, the GOP's American Health Care Act reduces consumer protections. The American people will be left with more expensive healthcare coverage plans, and 24 million will lose their healthcare insurance completely, 14 million next year.

A disproportionate number of those losing insurance will come from African-American, Latino, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander communities. They will be women and children or older Americans, especially those living on the edge.

As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, I am working to close the gap in healthcare disparities that is plaguing these communities. This bill will make these disparities even worse.

And for the record, the ACA more than halved the uninsured rate in the African-American community and halved the national uninsured rate.

But the recent Congressional Budget Office report makes it clear that this will not continue in a positive way. In less than 10 years, 52 million Americans will be uninsured under the GPO's

plan. The majority of these will be our grandmothers, grandfathers, great-aunts, and great-uncles.

Under the Speaker's plan, my State, Illinois, will have to cut Medicare eligibility. More than 53,000 constituents will lose their health care just because of this provision. The GOP also plans to defund Planned Parenthood, a decision that means 60,000 residents of Illinois will go without lifesaving cancer and STI screenings.

The list of the not very good, very bad things from the Republican healthcare bill go on and on and on. It will make us sicker.

It also raises the national debt, and it kills at least 1.2 million American jobs. And it stops us from reaching what should be our ultimate goal: the ability of every American to live a long, healthy life.

Mr. Speaker, can we finally get serious and call this bill, your GOP healthcare bill, what it really is: the Trump don't care bill.

Well, the Congressional Black Caucus cares. The House Democrats--and hopefully some House Republicans--care, and they will care enough to do the right thing and will oppose this bill.

Besides the District of Columbia, we have been to South Carolina. We have been to a couple of places in Los Angeles as well as Oakland to deal with the issue of AIDS. Also, of course, in my town of Chicago, we have had healthcare seminars; and, actually, we have had big health fairs so we can make sure that people get back-to- school checks, mental health checks, and AIDS checks. We gave food to people that might be in food deserts.

So we really tried to be well-rounded and also tried to educate people. And going forward this week, we do plan to be on a call with ministers all across the United States so they know exactly what is going on and how they can help their constituents in this fight against this new healthcare bill.

Mr. Speaker, actually, of the top 10 diseases African Americans die from, African Americans die more from 8 out of the top 10.

So this new bill is not going to send us in a better direction, and we don't want to keep those statistics. We want to do better, and we were doing better, especially around the area of cancer. We want to keep going in the positive direction, not the negative direction.

So we don't want to see this bill passed, and we want to educate as many people as possible and encourage them to call their Congressperson and Senator.

Mr. Speaker, today, we recognize World Kidney Day and the impact of Chronic Kidney Disease, or CKD, across the globe. In the U.S., 26 million adults have kidney disease and 1-in-3 is at risk. We have to reverse this trend.

African Americans, in particular, suffer from kidney failure at more than three times the rate of Caucasians and constitute more than 32 percent of all patients receiving dialysis for kidney failure. A study says that Hispanics develop kidney failure at a rate of 2:1 compared to Whites. Improving care earlier to stop or slow progression of the disease, and improving access to kidney transplantation for those who do experience kidney failure, are successful tools in order to assist millions of Americans impacted by CKD.

Over 675,000 Americans have irreversible kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease, and need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. CKD shortens life expectancy by 5-11 years and more than 95,000 people died of kidney disease last year. Those with diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of kidney failure, aged 60 or older, or from minority populations are at the greatest risk.

In order to avoid an irreversible stage, there are two simple, quick, and inexpensive tests for chronic kidney disease. If caught early, diet, exercise, and medications can help slow or even reverse some of the damage caused by kidney disease, allowing patients a better life.

I had the opportunity to meet with kidney patients, including Leilah Sampson from Chicago, who is a volunteer with the National Kidney Foundation. When she was 19, Leilah was studying to be a nurse at the historic Tuskegee University when she discovered that she had kidney disease. It quickly progressed to kidney failure, and has since caused significant physical and mental health issues.

How many lives can be improved or saved by a simple set of tests that costs $80 to $140? More needs to be done in order to promote testing by physicians and reward them for identifying and managing this chronic disease. In addition, empowering patients through education can help allow them to make informed decisions about all available treatments, further improving their lives.

As Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, I am committed to working with Congress and stakeholders in the public health and research communities to promote strategies to fight kidney disease.

Mr. Speaker, last week I hosted a dozen of constituent events in my district. At every turn, families asked the same question: When will Congress investigate the President's involvement with Russia?

I have received many calls and e-mails about Russia for weeks. The American people are deeply and rightly concerned with this administration's involvement with the Putin regime. We know the President's hand-picked national security adviser was forced to resign over his communications with Russia. We know that if Moscow did indeed influence our free elections, we have a duty to stand up against those threats and not sweep them under the rug.

We do not support Putin's human rights record, his treatment of journalists, or his invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, where my grandmother was born.

So why is the people's House protecting Vladimir Putin? Why are we not standing up to President Trump and investigating his dealings with the Putin regime? What are we afraid of?

To my colleagues on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, what are you afraid we will find out if we investigate?

Mr. Speaker, when are we going to get answers for the American people?

Lastly, I welcome Chicago WVON's Matt McGill and Planned Parenthood's Donna Miller to tonight's joint session.

Mr. Speaker, in the wake of troubling events in the Trump White House, I have one simple question: Where is the hearing?

In less than a month, we have watched the credibility and security of our democracy endangered by a descent into scandal, distrust, and an authoritative environment. What are we going to do about it?

I serve as the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's IT subcommittee, yet I have heard nothing about a hearing to investigate Russia's cyber attacks on our elections. Where is the hearing?

Officials are hawking the First Daughter's private clothing line from the White House. Where is the hearing?

I sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and we have not had a discussion on Russia's potential blackmailing of our President or former NSA Director Flynn. Where is the hearing?

The President's tweets show an utter lack of respect for our free press and independent judicial system, hallmarks of our democracy. Where are the hearings?

Russia, election hacking, unconstitutional Muslim bans, gag orders on public servants, unfinished and unfiled ethics paperwork, politically motivated witch hunts against scientists and reporters, blackmail from a foreign government, and the list goes on and on. All of these deserve answers so, once again, I ask, where is the hearing?

The people of Illinois and the American people deserve to know. They deserve a hearing.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank a long-time staff member in my office, Dante Sawyer, who, after nearly 4 years of service to the families of the Second Congressional District, is moving on to new opportunities to work in the office of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

It will be a tall task replacing Dante in my office, but I am comforted and take pride in the fact that Dante will make a huge difference in a new capacity.

When I first came to Congress and was deciding who I wanted to represent me in the field; who I wanted to serve the families I care so much about; and who had the compassion, presence, and leadership abilities to make a difference back in Chicago, I knew that Dante was the difference maker that I needed.

Dante has a million dollar mind and an irreplaceable heart. He is the pulse of the people with a gift for public service.

It is no secret that the Chicagoland area has been rocked by gun violence and economically distressing circumstances. And there is much that needs to be done for the families of Chicago. It is sad that January of 2017 has started off with just as many shootings as January of 2016--and 2016 was the most violent year for Chicago with nearly 700 gun deaths last year.

But Dante holds the belief that I do, that nothing stops a bullet like an opportunity. And each year, he has been a lead staffer on my team in coordinating a youth job and resource expo in the Second Congressional District.

Through this work, Dante has helped me leave a mark in offering economic opportunity, mentorship, and job readiness training to thousands of Chicagoland youth, helping to ensure the success of the next generation.

He will be gone from my office, but his service continues. Congratulations, Dante, and continued success to his wonderful wife and his brilliant daughters, Jordan and Payton.

I am honored to have the privilege to have worked with you. And on behalf of the families of the Second Congressional District, thank you so much for a job well done.

Chicago Gun Violence

Mr. Speaker, last month, as I mentioned, Chicago suffered just as many gun shootings as the year before, and 2016 was a record-setting month itself.

I have come to the floor countless times to draw attention to this epidemic. Last week, President Trump threatened to send in the Feds in response to the carnage. It was very disheartening to hear and see on the news that my colleagues made jokes at their Republican retreat last week about this.

This morning, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. In that vein, I remind him of the Gospel of Matthew: violence begets violence; hate begets hate.

The proper response is not threat of more force, increased demonization, or further withering of police-community relations.

More cops on the beat alone is not the solution. It is mentorship, job training, and increased economic development.

Nothing stops a bullet like an opportunity. I keep an open invitation to President Trump to visit my district so he can learn this himself and speak to those in the trenches, and those victimized by gun violence, instead of just demonizing in 140 characters from the safety of the White House residence.

Reaffirm International Alliances

Our international alliances are vital to U.S. security. Allies like Australia have never failed to answer the U.S.'s call for help. For decades, Australia and the U.S. have cooperated on everything from military and intelligence to diplomacy and trade.

Yet, now, as we face increasing tensions in the Asia Pacific, President Trump seems determined to promote instability and uncertainty.

To assist with the rebalance to Asia, the United States has 2,500 marines stationed in Darwin. This forward posture allows the U.S. greater operational flexibility and military integration with Australia.

I encourage President Trump to coordinate more closely with the State Department so he can fully understand the delicate balance of international affairs.

Historical tensions between countries like Taiwan and China, and India and Pakistan require particular attention to historical precedents and agreements.

The U.S. will gain nothing by projecting uncertainty or hostility toward our allies. They have sent their sons and daughters off to war on our behalf and formed bonds on the battlefield that will never be forgotten.

I urge my colleagues to reaffirm our international alliances and reject efforts by the administration to undermine decades of peace and security.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record this article concerning the repeal of ACA.

[From the Washington Post]

Repealing the Affordable Care Act Will Kill More Than 43,000 People

Annually

(By David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler)

Now that President Trump is in the Oval Office, thousands

of American lives that were previously protected by

provisions of the Affordable Care Act are in danger. For more

than 30 years, we have studied how death rates are affected

by changes in health-care coverage, and we're convinced that

an ACA repeal could cause tens of thousands of deaths

annually.

The story is in the data: The biggest and most definitive

study of what happens to death rates when Medicaid coverage

is expanded, published in the New England Journal of

Medicine, found that for every 455 people who gained coverage

across several states, one life was saved per year. Applying

that figure to even a conservative estimate of 20 million

losing coverage in the event of an ACA repeal yields an

estimate of 43,956 deaths annually.

With Republicans' efforts to destroy the ACA now underway,

several commentators have expressed something akin to

cautious optimism about the effect of a potential repeal. The

Washington Post's Glenn Kessler awarded Sen. Bernie Sanders

(I-Vt.) four Pinocchios for claiming that 36,000 people a

year will die if the ACA is repealed; Brookings Institution

fellow Henry Aaron, meanwhile, predicted that Republicans

probably will salvage much of the ACA's gains, and

conservative writer Grover Norquist argued that the tax cuts

associated with repeal would be a massive boon for the middle

class.

But such optimism is overblown.

The first problem is that Republicans don't have a clear

replacement plan. Kessler, for instance, chides Sanders for

assuming that repeal would leave many millions uninsured,

because Kessler presumes that the Republicans would replace

the ACA with reforms that preserve coverage. But while repeal

seems highly likely (indeed, it's already underway using a

legislative vehicle that requires only 50 Senate votes),

replacement (which would require 60 votes) is much less

certain.

Moreover, even if a Republican replacement plan comes

together, it's likely to take a big backward step from the

gains made by the ACA, covering fewer people with much

skimpier plans.

Although Aaron has a rosy view of a likely Republican plan,

much of what they--notably House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-

Wis.) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), who is Trump's nominee to

head the Department of Health and Human Services, which will

be in charge of dismantling the ACA--have advocated in place

of the ACA would hollow out the coverage of many who were

unaffected by the law, harming them and probably raising

their death rates. Abolishing minimum coverage standards for

insurance policies would leave insurers and employers free to

cut coverage for preventive and reproduction-related care.

Allowing interstate insurance sales probably would cause a

race to the bottom, with skimpy plans that emanate from

lightly regulated states becoming the norm. Block granting

Medicaid would leave poor patients at the mercy of state

officials, many of whom have shown little concern for the

health of the poor. A Medicare voucher program (with the

value of the voucher tied to overall inflation rather than

more rapid medical inflation) would worsen the coverage of

millions of seniors, a problem that would be exacerbated by

the proposed ban on full coverage under Medicare supplement

policies. In other words, even if Republicans replace the

ACA, the plans they've put on the table would have

devastating consequences.

The frightening fact is that Sanders's estimate that about

36,000 people will die if the ACA is repealed is consistent

with well-respected studies. The Urban Institute's estimate,

for instance, predicts that 29.8 million (not just 20

million) will lose coverage if Republicans repeal the law

using the budget reconciliation process. And that's exactly

what they've already begun to do, with no replacement plan in

sight.

No one knows with any certainty what the Republicans will

do, or how many will die as a result. But Sanders's

suggestion that 36,000 would die is certainly well within the

ballpark of scientific consensus on the likely impact of

repeal of the ACA, and the notion of certain replacement--and

the hope that a GOP replacement would be a serviceable

remedy--are each far from certain, and looking worse every

day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to give voice to millions of Illinoisans who are outraged by President Trump and his disastrous first week in office. He has already managed to achieve a 50 percent disapproval rating. Here is a recap of his first week:

He closed the White House telephone line, has attacked the health of millions of families and started the process to repeal the ACA-- something that experts estimate will kill 43,000 Americans a year, has put politicians and politics between women and their ability to make their own healthcare choices.

His Cabinet is stocked with a foreclosure king, a billionaire lobbyist, and someone rejected from the Federal bench for racially charged rhetoric.

He capped off last week with the unconstitutional and un-American Muslim ban that makes us less safe. It was so awful that it achieved bipartisan condemnation. Even our allies are starting to retreat from us. More than a million U.K. citizens signed a petition to keep President Trump from visiting.

As we face new and emerging threats, can we afford to allow this administration to alienate us from long-held allies? Mr. Speaker, it is time to get serious about the Trump White House's policies.

I thank Congressman Veasey and Congresswoman Plaskett for holding tonight's CBC Special Order hour.

With so much going on in our Nation right now, it is important that all Americans take seriously our responsibility to be guardians of our democracy. We owe it to those who came before us and those who will be here long after us to keep this democracy and its values moving forward, and reject the rhetoric and policies that take us backwards.

I was reminded of this just a week ago when over 3 million Americans of all ages, races, and religions, marched for women's rights, justice, and equal rights. Three million, a powerful resistance to concerning policies that we are seeing come out of the White House.

Just last night I was with scores of activists and families at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, protesting President Trump's executive action barring refugees from entering the United States.

I wish that things hadn't come to this. It is a tragedy that these United States, the shining beacon of democracy around the world, the land that welcomes the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses has witnessed a President in his first week in office attempt to strip away our values as an inclusive democracy with an unconstitutional executive order and Muslim ban.

Our Constitution, our laws, our democracy is what we must hold dear as Americans. We must be wholly intolerant of those who seek to pervert our Constitution. We must not tread on our democratic values.

As part of tonight's conversation is protecting voter rights, I am reminded that the past Presidential election brought with it evidence of election hacking and cries of illegal voting.

For the first time in the history of this Nation, we are seeing a President who is intolerably obsessed with his failure to receive the popular vote.

Many of the families that I hear from find this obsession unbefitting of a student council president in Kankakee, where I represent, let alone the President of the United States.

Without evidence, President Trump continues to claim that 3 million illegal votes in California and New York cost him the popular vote. Three million people, the number by which Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. I hardly find that to be a coincidence.

Mr. Speaker, the election is over. The bunting and ribbons have been cleaned up. It is time to govern. A continued relitigation of the election based on unfounded and divisive claims of further fraud divides our Nation further.

``No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and controul of the Congress.''

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise on behalf of the many Illinois veterans that I represent and their families to draw attention to the high rate of veteran unemployment in America. After fighting for our Nation, far too many military heroes are being forced to fight for a job here at home.

Despite many veterans having the leadership skills and work ethic that businesses are looking for, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is 6.9 percent, far higher than the national average of 5.6 percent.

I am committed to reducing veteran unemployment and helping our heroes find quality work. Last week, I released an updated edition of my veterans resource guidebook to help our veterans get the benefits they have earned and employment resources to get them and their families back in the workforce, but we need to do more.

I urge my colleagues to work with me to pass a veterans job bill to put the half million unemployed veterans back to work.

Thank you, my friend from New Jersey. It is an honor to host with you this year. I am excited about the work ahead for the CBC in the 114th Congress. I also want to acknowledge the great job that Congressman Horsford and Congressman Jeffries did in hosting the Special Order hour in the 113th Congress. I also want to honor our past chair, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, for all of her great work.

Discussing 50 years from Selma, where we were, where we are, and where we are headed, I expect this to be very stimulating, frustrating, and rewarding all at the same time. It remains that we have a lot of work to do.

I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for her important remarks.

As we come to a close, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the Garden State--my good friend, Representative Donald Payne--for his tremendous leadership and for leading this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, in our hour of power, we have had the opportunity to speak directly to the American people. This is a privilege that I take seriously and a responsibility that the CBC cherishes.

Tonight, we strengthen our future by embracing our past. 2015 represents a critical junction in the advancement of our Nation. Fifty years after the Selma to Montgomery march there are strengthened civil rights and improved access to the ballot. Today, we find ourselves with equally important ground to cover in promoting civil rights, in reducing economic and health disparities, and in strengthening voter rights protection.

As a legislative body, we have made progress, but as Representatives and as men and women who love this country, our work continues. As we look back, we are comforted by the bridges we have crossed, by the trails we have blazed, and by the future ahead of us that we envision.

I want to thank the entire Congressional Black Caucus, especially my fellow coanchor, the gentleman from New Jersey, Congressman Payne.

Fifty years after Selma, the CBC remembers that it exists to promote the public welfare through legislation that meets the needs of millions of neglected citizens. It is that spirit that guides us and many others in Congress.

When we see millions of men, women, and children who need help moving forward, we march. When we see obstruction in our path to creating a more perfect Union, we respond.

Again, I thank my colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Seventy years ago, following the atrocities of the Holocaust--which left 6 million Jews, 1 million Roma, 250,000 mentally and physically disabled individuals, and 9,000 homosexuals brutally murdered simply because they were different--the world's democracies stood together and declared: ``Never again.''

These two simple and powerful words greet visitors to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a reminder that it is our collective responsibility to promote religious tolerance and stand up against persecution or totalitarianism in any form.

The recent attacks at a kosher market and at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the kidnapping of 276 Christian schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and beheading by the Islamic State of journalists and of 13 teenage boys last week for the simple act of watching a soccer game underscore the unfortunate and troubling reminder that we must remain vigilant and undeterred in our fight to protect the most human rights.

``Never again'' must be more than an aspirational statement; it must be fact.

Mr. Speaker, last night President Obama called on Congress to work together on behalf of the American people. It is a call I hear from my constituents in Illinois every day. So as we begin the 114th Congress, I rise on their behalf to urge my colleagues to rise above partisanship, to strengthen our economy and put even more Americans back to work.

Today, all signs point to our economy being the strongest it has been in nearly a decade. Businesses are flourishing. We have gained nearly 3 million new jobs. But there are still 8.7 million Americans living in the shadow of the economic crisis who are struggling with chronic unemployment. They deserve a Congress that is focused and united in putting them back to work.

Let's work to reduce the tax burden on the middle class, putting more money in their pockets and making it easier for them to afford their homes and to send their kids to school so that the American Dream is within everyone's reach. Americans want a Congress that can overcome partisan gridlock to put the people first.

I urge my colleagues to put politics aside, to find a middle ground to help our middle class and put more Americans on the path to opportunity and prosperity.

Article II, section 1:

``The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

``Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office or trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.''