Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support H.R. 2672, the Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act, as amended. I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, Congressman Barr of Kentucky, for your leadership on this bill.

As the chairman of the Congressional Rural Housing Caucus, I have dealt with the varying definitions of rural for many years. Given that the definitions promulgated by the USDA are problematic on many counts, I was very concerned when I learned that the CFPB originally used them as a guide for their rule.

The original rule by the CFPB would exclude Hidalgo County in my 15th Congressional District in deep south Texas. Hidalgo County includes some urban areas, but much of it is also rural.

It is home to the most colonias in the Nation. Colonias often lack basic infrastructure, such as indoor plumbing and electricity. They are rural by definition. We need to ensure that community banks and credit unions are not prevented from investing in such rural communities.

The CFPB's new mortgage rules discourage risky mortgage lending practices that sparked the financial crisis. However, community banks and credit unions did not cause the crisis and have legitimate reasons for flexibility when it comes to serving rural America.

Rural community bankers know their customers by name; often, they are the only option for credit within hundreds of miles. They understand the unique financial needs of their community and how best to serve the farmers, to serve the ranchers and small businesses that rely on them.

I appreciate that the CFPB has heard our concerns and has responded by offering a short exemption. I believe the petition process enacted by this legislation will only strengthen the CFPB's final rule.

This is an important opportunity given that rural is not easily defined and looks different by region. It makes good sense for the CFPB to follow the USDA's lead and for communities to be able to petition their rural status.

I thank Congressman Barr for his outstanding work on this bill and for including the changes that I proposed. Defining rural on a county- level basis is too arbitrary, given the large size of counties in Texas and other Western States. I do not believe the bill undermines the CFPB's commitment to consumer protection, and I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 2672.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in recognizing and celebrating ``Dia de los Ninos,'' or ``Day of the Children.''

On April 30, many countries around the globe, especially in the Western Hemisphere, dedicate this special day to the children.

Whereas, the National Latino Children's Institute, serving as a voice for children, has worked with cities throughout the United States to declare April 30, 2014, to be Dia de los Ninos: Celebrating Young Americans, a day to bring together Latinos and other communities in the United States to celebrate and uplift children, I urge all Americans to nurture and invest in all children and support them in leading healthy and prosperous lives.

In honor of Dia de los Ninos, I encourage all Americans to instill creativity, ingenuity, and a love of learning in all children and to support Federal investments that expand access to a high quality education for all, from cradle to career.

In honor of Dia de los Ninos, I urge President Obama and House and Senate leadership to pass commonsense immigration reform and take bold steps to protect immigrant children and keep families together.

For Latinos, passing humane immigration reform and reuniting children and parents who have been separated by our Nation's broken immigration system is of the utmost importance. Family reunification and providing much-needed relief to millions of immigrant children, youth, and families is critical to the health and well-being of Latino families and to our Nation's future.

In honor of Dia de los Ninos, I call on our Nation's parents to become more involved in the education of our children. As the primary teachers of family values and culture, I urge parents to encourage their children to go to college and to contribute to our Nation and to their respective communities.

Above all, I ask parents to preserve and pass on their rich language and cultural traditions to future generations.

We in south Texas recognize the rich cultural traditions that exist along the U.S.-Mexico border region, and we are proud that many of our children speak at least two languages. We are determined to increase educational attainment at every level.

In the United States, many Latino families continue the tradition of honoring their children on Dia de los Ninos. Today, I wish to share this custom with my colleagues in both the House and the Senate and with all Americans.

Given the significance of Dia de los Ninos in the Western Hemisphere, I urge Congress to honor the gifts of Latino and immigrant children to society by designating April 30 as Dia de los Ninos: Celebrating Young Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, Hotel Company of the 26th Marine regiment. It is with great honor that we commemorate these brave marines who risked their lives for our Nation.

On May 29, 1967, at the end of Operation Hickory and the beginning of Operation Prairie IV, the 1st Squad, under the command of Sergeant Thomas Gonzalez, recovered a spent Russian SA-2 missile inside the demilitarized zone of South Vietnam on a reconnaissance control. The command-and-control mechanism of the missile was then transported to Washington, D.C., for analysis. The intelligence derived gave the U.S. a military advantage, changing the strategy and saving many, many lives.

Today, I want to read the names of all these brave marines: U.S. Marine Thomas Gonzalez; Anthony Astuccio; Mike McCombes; Richard Light; Thomas Lehner; Ronald Blaine; Gerald Eggers; Albino Martinez; Lloyd Parker, Jr.; Charles Melton; Hector L.R. Rodriguez; and one U.S. Navy corpsman, Mel Overmeyer.

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 86, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Stated against:

Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 79, 80, and 81, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. DeSantis

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 58, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 59, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 615, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Yvonne ``Bonnie'' Gonzalez, an extraordinary public servant who has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of south Texas residents.

As CEO of Workforce Solutions, she has played a vitally important role in leading transformational change in the Rio Grande Valley and in the workforce industry. In fact, due to her exemplary leadership, Workforce Solutions has become one of the highest performing workforce boards in Texas.

Prior to joining Workforce Solutions as their CEO, Ms. Gonzalez served as founding president and CEO of the RGV Empowerment Zone Corporation. Under her direction, the Empowerment Zone took a $40 million Federal investment and leveraged an additional $416 million in local, State, national, and private sector investment into the Empowerment Zone communities.

As a devoted public servant, Ms. Gonzalez has inspired others to strive for excellence and to put the needs of our community first. Today I congratulate Ms. Bonnie Gonzalez on her new venture as president of the Knapp Community Care Foundation and thank her for the many years of public service to south Texas residents.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59, to open the government and go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the government shutdown and its detrimental impact on Federal programs like Head Start and Impact Aid for school districts.

Instead of punishing our youngest learners through this government shutdown, our Nation needs a responsible, forward-looking fiscal policy that repairs the damage done by sequestration and the government shutdown and that allows programs like Head Start to provide the highest quality early learning opportunities to our most vulnerable children. A piecemeal approach to funding Head Start is not a real solution to this government shutdown.

This GOP majority has slashed funding for education, including Impact Aid. Impact Aid school districts have been harder hit than any other school districts as they struggle to provide quality education for the children of active military and Native American students. Due to the GOP sequester, many of these school districts have been reduced to 4- day school weeks.

This is a reckless and irresponsible way to govern. Our Nation's children and families deserve more, not less.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan bill, H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. Today is the fifth day of the government shutdown; 87 percent of Americans expressed in a political poll unhappiness with the direction of Washington with this shutdown. Federal employees are dedicated public servants who are just trying to do their jobs, support their families, and contribute to the economy. They did not ask to be furloughed, and they had no time to plan financially for this crisis brought on by the stubbornness of the Republican Party. It seems to me that by supporting this bill, we are not trying to give them a paid vacation. If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would bring a clean CR to the floor, they could all be back to work on Monday. These families are victims of the dysfunction of this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 512 on H.J. Res. 70--On the Motion to Table the Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 513 on passage of H.J. Res. 70, Making continuing appropriations for National Park Service operations, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for fiscal year 2014, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 514 on passage of H.J. Res. 73, Making continuing appropriations for the National Institutes of Health for fiscal year 2014, I am not recorded because I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no''.

Mr. Speaker, I am shocked at the blatant disregard for our Nation's poor displayed on this floor today. This bill before us cuts over forty billion from nutrition assistance programs, stripping away desperately needed food assistance benefits from over four million Americans, including up to 170,000 of our veterans. In addition, over two hundred thousand hungry children would be kicked off the school lunch program as a result of this Republican bill. That is an absolute disgrace. Who would agree to send all of those children to school hungry? Who would want to literally take food out of the mouths of our children?

As a father I cannot even imagine doing such a thing to one child much less hundreds of thousands. For decades I have been involved in helping create a better environment for our students in schools. How can we expect our Nation to move forward when our students are literally starving while trying to better themselves while learning on empty stomachs?

If this bill becomes law it will be devastating. I plead with my Republican colleagues. Do not be so cruel to our most vulnerable citizens, to our children, and to our veterans. Vote down this bill.

Mr. Speaker, America expects Members of Congress to exemplify what is great about our country. They expect us to represent virtues of tolerance, respect, and intelligence. Generalizations about children, about entire races of people are intolerant, disrespectful, and not very intelligent. Our country expects better from us. Recent comments made by one colleague across the aisle are far below those expectations.

Forget for a moment that the DREAM Act is the right thing to do and will help grow our economy. Forget that most DREAMers are the best and the brightest of our country, and that passing the DREAM Act will increase DREAMers' earnings by an aggregate of 19 percent, totaling $148 billion in wages by 2030, triggering more spending on goods and services throughout our economy and generating $181 billion in increased economic growth by 2030, creating millions of jobs for Americans. Forget that providing a strong incentive for DREAMers to further their education will add 223,000 college diplomas to the workforce and open doors to better paying jobs. Forget all that, and remember that these are children and young adults. These are human beings. They deserve better than the derogatory statements of my Republican colleague. The American people deserve better.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5, a bill which denies America's children access to high-quality education and a chance to lead successful and prosperous lives.

Mr. Chairman, I chose not to offer any amendments today because I believe this Republican bill is beyond repair and would exacerbate existing inequities in public education, causing irreparable harm to disadvantaged students. H.R. 5 slashes education by over $1 billion next year by locking in the sequester funding levels at a time when our Nation's schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Now more than ever our Nation's public schools need increased Federal funding to prepare all students for college careers and to equip them with a well-rounded education. To make matters worse, the Republican bill removes the Maintenance of Effort requirement in current law that ensures that States maintain education funding.

Simply put, this is no time to gut critical education funding for America's children. This Republican bill abandons the Federal Government's historic commitment to educating disadvantaged populations. H.R. 5 block grants vital programs targeted for English language learners; migrant children; neglected and delinquent youth; and Indian education; and allows States and districts to siphon away these Federal funds and use them for other purposes.

This Republican bill has no expectation that all students graduate from high school and are prepared for college and careers. More to the point, H.R. 5 does not require States to set college- and career-ready standards and eliminates performance targets for all students.

I am concerned that this Republican bill walks away from English language learners by removing measurable performance targets for content mastery and second language acquisition. Furthermore, it is failing to require native language assessments for English language learners.

In a globally competitive world, all students must be equipped with the skills they need to succeed in school and life. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in opposition to H.R. 5.