Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to this administration's devastating cuts to FEMA's BRIC program, otherwise known as the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants.

Towns like Crisfield in Maryland, Baltimore, and dozens of communities across this Nation, rely on this funding to ward off the very real and very devastating effects of flooding.

Not only do these programs save lives, but it is also one of the best investments that this Federal Government can make in this country, matching State and local funding. These projects in the long-term save $6 for every $1 in upfront spending.

Yet, on this Earth Day, and just before we are about to enter hurricane season, instead of protecting our communities from sea level rise, the Trump administration ended this program.

When we talk about government cuts to environmental programs, I will caution that rising seas don't care who is in the White House. The water doesn't care how a small town that experiences 90 days of flooding or more a year voted in the last election. Flooding will continue to devastate communities, even if the President does not believe in climate change.

That is why I will continue to fight for the reinstatement of these funds for Crisfield, for Maryland, and for every community affected by flooding across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Mark Falkenhan, a Baltimore County volunteer firefighter and Secret Service agent who perished on the third floor of an apartment building in 2011.

I rise on behalf of Nathan Flynn, a Howard County firefighter who tragically died in the basement of a large house fire in 2018.

I rise on behalf of Frederick County firefighter Captain Josh Laird, who we lost in 2022 when he, too, fell through a floor and into a basement fire.

After each of these tragedies and tragedies just like them across this country, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, produced a report examining what went wrong and, crucially, how to prevent these tragedies from occurring moving forward. Those reports went on to save untold lives.

In Mark's case, the NIOSH report spurred a new emphasis on identifying and communicating the presence of a basement upon first arrival.

In Nathan's case, the NIOSH report exposed how outdated practices in building ventilation and fire flow management were killing firefighters across the country, ushering in nationwide changes in fire ground operations.

In Josh's case, the NIOSH report was instructive in identifying and operating over a basement fire.

Maryland's fire community, like so many in our country, is small and well-connected. Each fatality is felt widely and personally.

Following a tragedy, it can be difficult without the proper technical resources to make accurate and objective recommendations and changes, which is why the NIOSH investigations and reports are so crucial.

These NIOSH reports are critical for firefighting communities in Maryland and around our country because they save lives. When released, crews across this country gather around kitchen tables and read the reports together.

In Maryland, our firefighters have told me that in those moments and for the first time they were able to walk through an incident guided by photographs, construction drawings, timetables, graphs, and supporting scientific evidence and that recommendations from these reports can be revolutionary to how they fight fires and save lives.

NIOSH produces these reports through its Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, which was already significantly understaffed, with only five investigators investigating these incidents across the Nation. At this staffing level, it would take up to 4 years to thoroughly research and release a report after each line- of-duty death.

That was until 2 months ago.

Under the banner of government efficiency and the claim to reduce waste, DOGE has fired three of the five investigators, which means longer wait times for our first responders who deserve answers as to how their brothers and sisters died in the line of duty and, critically, what changes need to be made to prevent such a death moving forward.

Another victim of the reckless work of DOGE was the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, which tracked cancer cases and deaths of firefighters.

Cancer is now the leading cause of death for firefighters, and this database was critical to tracking health and safety improvements for firefighters and improving working conditions. In another sweeping effort to cut costs, DOGE eliminated the entire office. Now, this cancer registry is no longer maintained or updated.

When the President talks about DOGE and government efficiency, I am thinking about the firefighters whose lives he is putting in harm's way. We owe it to firefighters across this country who sacrifice so much to keep our families safe. At the very least, we can be there for them when they are exposed to cancer or lose members to line-of-duty deaths.

These jobs are difficult and inherently dangerous, but they do not need to be deadly.

These actions by the administration are cruel and unsafe. This is not what the American people wanted. This is not what they voted for.

Lost in this desperate mission to cut costs at all costs, we have forgotten the greater public good, the public good that government must maintain and deliver for our constituents, our obligations to one another, and, most importantly, our obligation to those who run into burning buildings and who keep our communities safe.

The Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program and the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer are the Federal Government at its best.

These civil servants who serve our first responders should not just be reinstated. Frankly, their offices should be doubled.

Perhaps these positions were eliminated as an oversight. Perhaps these hardworking, passionate civil servants were merely line items on a budget to some cost-cutter who didn't know any better.

That is why I rise today to give voice to these cuts, to put faces to these draconian measures, and to plead with my colleagues across the aisle and with the President himself to do what is right.

Restore these offices. Reinstate these civil servants. Protect and serve those who protect and serve us.

Mr. Speaker, Commander Janie L. Mines was the first African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980.

Commander Kristine Holderied, a Howard County native, was the first woman to graduate as valedictorian not only from the Naval Academy but from any service academy, in 1984.

Midshipman Kristen Dickmann, a Naval Academy freshman and volleyball player, tragically passed away at the age of 19 in 2008. Her memory is now honored every single year, for over the last decade, via a tournament in her honor.

Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, the Naval Academy's first African-American female brigade commander,

earned that honor not even 5 years ago, in 2020.

I share these names and stories because these are women and women of color who are an integral part of the rich history of the United States Naval Academy that I have the privilege of representing. It is not just the Naval Academy. They represent our military and, proudly, our Nation.

I want to be clear that this administration's unrelenting and reckless attack on the stories and the history of persistence, diversity, and opportunity only serves to set us back.

When faculty at our five world-class service academies are told to avoid divisive concepts like racism and sexism, that only threatens to erase the stories and experiences of these brave women who just wanted to serve our great Nation.

I strongly believe that we should have a Navy and Marine Corps that look like our country, where our midshipmen receive an education that teaches the accurate and full history of this Nation, where the stories of women and people of color aren't skipped over because they are inconvenient.

This is all critical to our national security and strong democratic principles that we embody abroad. It is for these women and the hundreds of thousands of women serving our Nation at home and abroad that I am here today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to S.J. Res. 11. As has been said, historic artifacts serve as evidence of ancient civilizations. They teach us about the development of science, trade, transportation, and culture.

So many of these artifacts are buried on the seafloor from shipwrecks and storms to indigenous artifacts. When that seabed is disturbed, these priceless pieces of history get damaged or destroyed. More importantly, they cost the company seeking to do this work more money when they disturb these artifacts and are faced with fines and cleanup like the Mica shipwreck, which was bisected by a pipeline in 2001.

It cost ExxonMobil $250,000 in fees to mitigate the damage it caused that could have been found from the beginning had there been a consistent survey, saving that company money.

This is not new. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has had guidelines on marine archeology since 1982, and since have been updated during administrations from both parties to create greater consistency and predictability for everyone involved.

These rules have stood for 40 years because they protect artifacts and protect the oil and gas companies from the liability of unknowingly destroying irreplaceable pieces of history.

Each update to the rules has served to codify industry practice, use the best available science, and ensure compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act.

Each update has provided oil and gas companies with more clarity and consistency. S.J. Res. 11 seeks not only to undo all of that work that has been done, but it will prohibit such a rule from ever being enacted in the future. Counter to some arguments, this rule is not financially burdensome.

BOEM reports the total annualized financial impact for the entire oil industry is less than $400,000 a year. For an industry with a reported pretax profit of $83.9 billion in 2024, this has a negligible impact.

The rule does not negatively impact America's energy dominance and independence. The U.S. is still the number one producer of oil and gas in the world and has been since 2009. We are producing more oil than any country ever.

In fact, we are exporting energy, which is what is really hurting American energy prices. This rule didn't even meet the threshold to require a Statement of Energy Effects report because it has such a negligible possibility of impacting energy supply, distribution, or use.

This rule actually promotes efficiency as has been stated. It provides consistency to businesses and protects oil and gas companies from that liability. Doing these surveys before drilling saves time and money in the long run.

It is much more damaging to a company's bottom line to stop operations suddenly when they find a shipwreck or artifacts.

Nobody gets everything they want in the public policy that we debate on this floor, but this final rule, at the beginning of the day, is a good policy that benefits every stakeholder involved, and banning this rule would set a dangerous precedent for solutions-oriented policymaking. It will roll back decades of bipartisan work that we have all done to preserve history.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to consider the cost of this action, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on S.J. Res. 11.

Mr. Speaker, as a proud gentlewoman from Maryland, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Frank Turner, a distinguished educator and public servant whom we lost earlier this year.

In 1990, Frank made history by becoming the first Black judge in Howard County, Maryland. Then in 1994, he became the first African American elected to the general assembly from Howard County where he served with distinction for 24 years.

After his time in the legislature, he served his community further as a trustee of Howard Community College.

Frank will forever be remembered for his generosity and kindness, his thoughtfulness and his skill, but above all, for his unwavering commitment to his community, Howard County, which stays with me and so many Marylanders.

He led a life of unparalleled service, and for that we will ever be grateful.

Mr. Speaker, I am personally keeping his family, his friends, and every life that he ever touched through his good works in my prayers.

Mr. Speaker, 44,000 civil servants--hardworking, qualified, passionate public servants--call Maryland's Third Congressional District home. In the last week, thousands have reached out to my office. They were concerned, anxious, and wondering if their government actually values the work they do on behalf of the American people.

It is clear that, through the fork-in-the-road email that 2.2 million Federal employees received in attempts to expand Schedule F, President Trump and Elon Musk are trying to remove civil servants from the civil service.

Instead, they want to fill our Federal workforce and put lifesaving services for the American people in the hands of unqualified political cronies in a modern-day spoils system.

The irony, of course, is that the civil service was created to avoid this situation. The Congress recognized that cronyism and corruption did not serve the American people, and Congress did something in 1883 to create a merit-based civil service system.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, as the proud daughter of two civil servants, and as a proud member of the Labor Caucus, I stand here appalled by this administration's changing of the rules on these workers.

Everyone in my district and every Federal worker in this Nation should know that House Democrats have their backs.