Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Henry Stern, a resident of Cold Spring, New York, for his 95th birthday on October 15, 2022. Henry was born in 1927 and spent his first eleven years growing up in Augsburg, Germany. Facing Nazi persecution of the Jewish people, Henry and his family escaped to England in 1939, just one week before war was officially declared. Henry and his family were aided financially by an uncle living in the United States, where they later immigrated.

Henry is dedicated to spreading awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust and preserving the memories of his family. He participated in a project called Lifelines, directed by the Jewish Museum Augsburg Swabia, which chronicles the experiences of Holocaust survivors and their loved ones. Henry's experiences, and those of his family, formed the subject of the sixth volume of Lifelines. Henry later travelled to Augsburg to educate people about the Holocaust, including through a museum exhibit, a theater performance, and four days of workshops at local high schools.

On May 4, 2014, Henry presented a talk at Marina Gallery in Cold Spring about his experiences during the Holocaust and his work with the Lifelines project to record them for posterity. Henry ended his talk with a poem his brother wrote in memory of their cousins, Margo and Trude, who perished on a transport to Poland during the Holocaust. The talk was organized by the Philipstown Reform Synagogue, of which Henry is a member, and was presented in honor of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which occurred a few days earlier, from sundown April 27 to sundown April 28.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor to recognize Henry Stern for his selfless contributions to our shared village of Cold Spring, to his hometown community in Augsburg, and to our world. I ask that you join me in thanking him for his important work and wishing him a happy 95th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, the Republicans want to talk about anything but marriage equality today. It is almost like they don't have any good arguments to make on marriage equality.

Mr. Speaker, my husband, Randy, and I have been together for 30 years. We have raised three remarkable kids from diapers to college diplomas. During all those years, during all that time together, we have only been legally married since 2014. We had a 22-year engagement before an 8-year marriage.

When I was elected as a Member of Congress in 2012, my husband, Randy, couldn't have health insurance through this body. His spouse ID said companion on it, and we had to fight to get him one of these security pins we all wear.

But through hard work and a historic coalition, through great allies and partnerships, love won. On the day the Supreme Court decided we had equality rights for marriage in this country, a bunch of us stood in front of the Court and sang the national anthem because it is a beautiful thing when your country catches up to you.

Today, we are going to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act to decide and to make clear whether or not we will go back.

Mr. Speaker, whether or not every American, despite their race or their sexuality, has the freedom to marry the person they love; it is a simple choice, and I know where I stand. Every Member of Congress will get to stand and be counted today, and you can choose between equality or discrimination.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for all of his work.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, to support my bill, the Highlands Conservation Reauthorization Act, which would extend the Highlands Conservation Program for an additional 7 years, through 2029.

If you have hiked through any of the public lands in the Hudson Valley, chances are you have enjoyed the experience and benefited from the land conserved and protected by the Highlands Conservation Program. Even if you have looked upon the extraordinary works of art in the Hudson River School of painting, the most famous American school of painting, you will see these lands in the Hudson Highlands and wonder, as we who are lucky enough to live there do, at their beauty.

For nearly two decades, the Highlands Conservation Act has been a critical resource for the protection of these lands throughout a 5,500- square-mile area of the Highlands region covering New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

It includes many of our great State parks in my district, including Harriman State Park, Bear Mountain State Park, Schunemunk Mountain State Park, Storm King State Park, Hudson Highlands State Park, and Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park, to name a few.

The bill funds vital projects to safeguard our water supplies, conserve our forests, protect wildlife, expand outdoor public recreation opportunities, and save agricultural resources.

Over the past 18 years, the Highlands Conservation Act has delivered on its promise. It facilitated the permanent protection of nearly 13,000 acres of land, land that contributes to clean drinking water, protection of wildlife, expansion of recreation opportunities, and, of course, the sustainable economic growth that we all want.

Since 2007, New York has received over $14 million through the Highlands Conservation Act, funding that supported 18 specific projects conserving 4,000 acres throughout my district in the Hudson Valley.

For example, in 2015, the act helped incorporate over 230 acres of land into the Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park in Putnam County, right down the street from where I live. I spend a lot of time there. It is absolutely beautiful.

In 2016, funds from the Highlands Conservation Act helped conserve nearly 700 acres of land linking the western

Hudson Highlands to Schunemunk Mountain State Park in Orange County, and so much more.

It is also responsible for the addition of 1,200 acres that make up the Fishkill Ridge portion of the Hudson Highlands State Park.

More than 25 million Americans live within just an hour's drive of the Highlands region. By passing this bill today, we can ensure that the Highlands are protected and remain a beautiful natural resource for them and for our entire country for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, the Highlands Conservation Program has been an extremely effective program not just for my district but for the entire region and our country. The entire conservation community should congratulate itself today.

I want to mention a few local people: Mark Zakutansky with the Appalachian Mountain Club; Ned Sullivan and Andy Bicking with Scenic Hudson; Katrina Shindledecker and Michelle Smith with the Hudson Highlands Land Trust; and Tim Abbott with the Housatonic Valley Association. I thank them all for their extraordinary work.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from New York for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on my bill, H.R. 767. It honors the life of the late Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman. It enshrines his storied career in public service at the Fulton Street Post Office in Middletown, New York. Ben Gilman was a true statesman and a tireless representative to the people of the Hudson Valley.

Mr. Speaker, when I was first elected, I was told I should try to be like Ben, to try to fill the shoes of this giant and

carry on his great tradition of public service and delivering results.

Ben was nothing less than an American patriot. He was born in Poughkeepsie in 1922. He served in the Army Air Corps in World War II. He flew 35 combat missions over Japan and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he graduated from the Wharton School and from New York Law School. He went on to be an assistant New York attorney general in the 1950s, a lawyer in private practice, and then found a calling in public service as a New York assemblyman from 1966 to 1972, and, of course, became my community's representative in Congress for the next 30 years after that.

He was often called ``Gentle Ben'' because of his remarkable humility. And because he elevated constituent service to an art form, Ben was beloved throughout my district, never missing a pancake breakfast with farmers or firefighters. But as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he was known on the world stage and deeply respected by allies and adversaries alike.

He was called a moderate then, but that just meant he rose above the fray and political parties and did the right thing, always putting his people first. Above all, of course, he was a father and a husband, and he loved his family. We pray for his widow, Georgia, even as we honor his public career in this House.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a distinguished veteran, a congressional ambassador, larger-than-life figure, and fellow New Yorker, I urge my colleagues to support and pass H.R. 767 to immortalize Ben Gilman's legacy at the Fulton Street Post Office in his home of Middletown, New York.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment number 131 to En Bloc 5 of H.R. 4502.

My amendment to the Financial Services and General Government division addresses the lack of transparency for applicants and recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG), and other critical SBA programs.

These SBA loans saved thousands of jobs and stopped businesses from shuttering their doors throughout this crippling pandemic.

But all too often, I hear from my constituents that they have been left in the dark as they try to access and apply for these programs.

Currently, the loan application process does not allow constituents to view the status of their application.

Especially in such a challenging year, the last thing small business owners need is confusion and uncertainty.

My office was able to step in and help hundreds of constituents access their cash, but the lack of transparency and access to real-time updates on their status from the SBA slowed the process down.

This amendment will help cut through red tape and get folks the money they need to keep their doors open and their employees on payroll.

As we look ahead and work toward continuing our economic recovery, it's time to bring the SBA into the 21st Century.

We created these SBA programs to support Americans in their greatest time of need. This amendment will continue to respond to the direct needs of small businesses in the Hudson Valley and in every district across the Nation.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment number 224, to En Bloc 5 of H.R. 4502.

This appropriations bill is a historic and groundbreaking effort to address the urgent need for serious investments in working families, people serving in our Armed Forces, urban and rural development, our healthcare, transportation systems and beyond.

My amendment seeks to build on the good work of this Committee by investing critical dollars to assist in the abatement and removal of environmental hazards from homes that are set to be renovated.

Beneficiaries include organizations like the local Habitat for Humanities in my district, which has a `sweat equity' component that requires new homeowners to assist in the desperately needed renovations for these homes.

In today's competitive housing market, low-income buyers are left with little options to reach the American dream of owning a home.

That is why these funds and this amendment are so important. They would provide critical assistance to organizations working to increase homeownership among low-income families and ensure that volunteer-based homeownership programs are able to make a lasting impact on their communities.

Most importantly, they would ensure that homes are safe to be renovated. My ask is simple: let's provide the necessary resources to outstanding organizations that already do great work in so many districts across the country.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I was thinking about my kids as I walked onto the floor today, and I have just one question to those who today, with their votes, would seek to perpetuate legal discrimination against millions of American families, including mine.

Why are they afraid to just say what they really believe? Why hide behind the ridiculous, embarrassing, easily debunked arguments, falsehoods, fearmongering about locker rooms and women's sports and religious practices that will never be harmed? Why not just say what they really mean?

I tell you what, Madam Speaker, I will say it for them. Their real argument, the only honest argument, is that they believe LGBT people are morally inferior and that firing us should be permitted. They argue the longstanding protections we already provide in the civil rights laws for religious practice for some reason aren't good enough. Here they demand more capacity to hate on gay people than they would ever claim as a religious right to discriminate on the basis of race.

Would any opponent of this bill argue that their religion gives them the right to deny an African-American couple service at a restaurant? That is exactly the argument made on this floor 60 years ago when others, making so-called faith-based arguments, sought to defeat the civil rights laws in the first place.

The true argument is that their beliefs demand existing discrimination against LGBT people be allowed. That is their true argument. That is pro-discrimination.

Our argument is that discrimination is wrong and that it should not be permitted, and that the exercise of religion here can be protected just as we do in every other civil rights context--no more, no less.

It is no wonder, but it is sad, that they deny the truth of their position here. These same Members spread the incendiary lie that the election was stolen and play footsie with dangerous conspiracy groups who attacked this building. They tell us mask-wearing infringes on their rights despite a public health emergency.

They deny school shootings are real or that a plane hit the Pentagon. Let history record the vote today. One side votes for love.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer support for this bill, which includes my legislation, the Gregg Wenzel Clandestine Heroes Parity Act.

Mr. Chairman, my bill honors an unsung son of the Hudson Valley, CIA Officer Gregg Wenzel, who died in Ethiopia on July 9, 2003. He was only 33 years old.

Gregg was inspired to join the Clandestine Service after September 11 and dedicated his life to making the United States stronger in our fight against terrorism. That is what CIA officers do; they put their lives on the line for our freedoms. But because of the nature of their work, they rarely get the recognition they deserve.

This bill simply ensures that the families of fallen CIA officers receive the death benefits their loved ones earned laying down their lives in service of our Nation.

Gregg was born in the Bronx and graduated from Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County, New York. He went on to earn degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton and then the University of Miami School of Law.

After joining the CIA, he was assigned his first overseas tour as an operations officer in the Horn of Africa. The assignment was challenging, but Gregg was known for his grit and good spirit.

After his death, Gregg was awarded the CIA's Intelligence Commendation Medal and the Exceptional Service Medallion. You can find his star, number 81, on the CIA Memorial Wall in Langley. And we even honored his service in 2015 by renaming the Monroe, New York, post office the Gregg David Wenzel Memorial Post Office, which is the first such honor ever to be bestowed on a CIA officer.

But even with these distinctions, Gregg's family was never able to access the death benefits he had earned in life. A loophole currently blocks benefits for all CIA officers who don't have dependents or who are not killed by a known act of terrorism. My bill simply changes that and rights this wrong.

I am so thankful to Gregg's parents, Gladys and Mitch Wenzel, for never giving up on this fight. This bill is an opportunity for us, as a grateful nation, to honor Gregg and his family and to honor all of our fallen CIA officers and the families they have left behind.

Mr. Chairman, I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of serving as the chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, and yesterday, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary celebrated 80 years of service to the United States.

Since June 23, 1939, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary has contributed to the safety and security of our citizens, ports, waterways, and coastal regions by providing crucial support to our hardworking Active-Duty Coast Guard workforce.

As the uniformed auxiliary service of the Coast Guard, these women and men provide Public Safety Boating Education training, conduct safety patrols, and provide important mission support functions that are essential to the continued success of Coast Guard operations.

Each year, Coast Guard Auxiliary provides nearly 4 million hours operating 1,800 vessels, 160 aircraft, and 1,400 radio facilities helping to maintain a keen awareness of our expansive maritime domain.

In 2018 alone, the Coast Guard Auxiliary conducted 542,000 vessel safety checks and marine dealer visits, delivered over 120,000 hours of boating safety instruction, logged nearly 15 million hours of support, saved over 600 lives, assisted over 17,000 boaters in distress, and prevented the loss of more than $94 million in property.

So today I ask my colleagues to recognize the great Americans who have served and those who continue to serve the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for their selfless service to our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a young hero we lost last week who died in a tragic accident at the United States Military Academy at West Point, located in my district in New York's Hudson Valley.

The cadet's name was Christopher J. Morgan, but most folks called him C.J. He was a member of the class of 2020. He was just 22 years old.

Chris was a talented cadet. He was majoring in law and legal studies and was a standout wrestler. Above all, he was dedicated to this country and to protecting our freedoms.

The loss of a young cadet is heartbreaking, and this accident is devastating to our community. This tragedy is another painful reminder of the sacrifices our military servicemembers and their families make for us and on our behalf.

My heart goes out to Chris' family, to his fellow cadets, some of whom were also injured in the accident, and I ask today that all join me in praying for these cadets and the soldiers injured last week in the accident. The Army family is impacted and the entire West Point community.

I also want to thank New York's first responders, medics, emergency personnel, and State troopers for their quick action after the accident last week.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise today on the anniversary of a day 3 years ago when we were mourning a terrible loss because of a gun massacre in Florida that affected my community in particular.

I rise to offer an amendment to the Department of Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Act that will set aside $5 million of funding for gun violence research in our schools. This bill rightfully includes $25 million for gun violence research funding at the Centers for Disease Control. This funding is critical when 100 Americans die every day because of gun violence.

Ninety-four schools across our country had shooting incidents last year. That is the largest number of school shootings in a single year since 1970.

The other side has held gun violence research hostage for more than two decades by refusing to appropriate dedicated funds for gun violence research--just research. Now that we are finally able to look into this public health crisis, we need to address it head-on.

As a Representative and as a dad who sends his kids to public school every day and whose worst nightmare is that someone will use a gun to hurt them or their friends, I am asking that we take action to stop school shootings now. The lives and safety of our kids are at risk, all of our kids, and we have almost no data on what is happening.

This funding will treat gun violence in our schools just like we treat any other public health crisis and finally give the CDC the funding it desperately needs to help us find answers on how to address these ongoing acts of violence.

As we know, quality data can lead to breakthrough solutions. Investing in research on car accidents and the risk of smoking has led to policies that have saved countless lives. We can finally free and empower researchers to study the unique impacts and causes of gun violence in schools, examine the data, and formulate solutions that will save lives, children's lives.

I urge support of my amendment.

Madam Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) for her remarks.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the Equality Act. I will not repeat the many eloquent things my colleagues have said about the importance of the proposed legislation, though I will thank the gentleman from New York and from Rhode Island for their leadership and others. Nor will I refute the many foolish and false things said on the other side.

This is landmark and essential civil rights protection for those who now don't have it. It is no more, it is no less than others enjoy. It respects the First Amendment and the exercise of religion in exactly the same way as we do now for every other civil rights context. It puts the law on the side of those who continue to face invidious discrimination based not on their character, but on who they are.

Many others have said this better than I will, but, Madam Speaker, I do want to speak to one group of my colleagues: those who know this is a good bill and, yet today, will vote no. To those colleagues, I ask you to consider the score.

In this Chamber, we are all familiar with scores. A score is what some powerful group usually threatens us with when they fear we will vote for something because we believe it is the right thing to do. It often works that way. We believe a vote is right, but don't vote that way, they say, or we will score it against you. That is how Washington scores.

But, history scores differently. Conscience has its own rules. Decency sees something beyond such agendas. History records the good. Conscience aligns with what is right. Decency endures the unfair attacks and protects what truly matters.

This is a good and simple bill of extraordinary historical importance. It sits high above our daily considerations. Each of us in our careers will be lucky if we come to this floor on a single day when history is made, on a day when, by our vote, we can count ourselves among those who have cared for and who have nurtured the original promise embedded in our founding documents.

Others have done much more than we will do today or any day: on the battlefield, or in Seneca Falls, or on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, or simply in their daily dignified decisions to love their neighbors as themselves.

Madam Speaker, I know my colleagues are good and decent people. Let conscience guide us to the right, and, please, support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the West Point Association of Graduates.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the cadets, faculty, Active Duty soldiers, and the many alumni of the United States military academy at West Point in New York's Hudson Valley. In fact, I live right across the river, and I hear the cannon every morning and every night. It is a wonderful way to wake up and go to bed.

Just take a few steps on the grounds at West Point and it will be clear to you that West Point is much more than a school. It is a community of devotion made up of the best and brightest of our Nation's past, our Nation's present, and our Nation's future.

Think of the legends and heroes who have graduated from West Point. Such a pantheon clearly deserves more than a run-of-the-mill alumni association. Accordingly, the West Point Association of Graduates has fulfilled that need. It goes above and beyond, and it deserves the recognition we are giving it tonight.

I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), a member of the association himself, for leading this Special Order to honor the organization for the services and fellowship opportunities it provides to graduates of all ages.

Our country's premier military academy has produced generations of leaders in all fields, including 2 U.S. Presidents, 18 astronauts, 19 Rhodes scholars, 76 Medal of Honor winners, and countless numbers of the Fortune 500 CEO's list, Cabinet secretaries, Governors, Senators, and, for those who didn't do very well, Members of Congress.

These men and women are connected by ``The Long Grey Line,'' the affectionate reference to the unique ties that bind all graduates. They are linked by their commitment to living and, at times, even dying in service of the motto ``Duty, Honor, Country.''

But they are also connected through the tireless work of an exemplary alumni association. For 150 years, the West Point Association of Graduates has fostered these connections by allowing generations of graduates to grip hands with one another.

In some ways, the association is like other alumni associations, but like all things West Point, it is much more. The association provides mentorship and fellowship for younger alums, but often these alums are also returning veterans who need a hand when they come back.

It supports local chapters across the country and around the world. But for a group as far-flung as West Point grads, these connections give graduates a sense of community when they are far from home.

It also helps graduates who have been hurt by hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and other natural disasters.

And it even offers a professional memorial services coordinator to help grieving families navigate the funeral process at West Point when that difficult time arrives.

These are the kind of people who make up The Long Grey Line in the West Point Association of Graduates. They are fiercely committed to our country and to each other.

During times of division, West Point graduates still rally around their shared values and experiences to build bridges and remind all of us what it is to be an American.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the West Point Association of Graduates for 150 years of connecting distinguished alumni and providing a helping hand to folks in need. I thank them for their service, and here is to another 150 years.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a young man from my district in New York's Hudson Valley who passed away last week while serving his country.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Michael Kozloski, originally from Mahopac, New York, was only 35 years old.

Michael died as a result of injuries sustained during a crane accident while serving in Alaska.

Mike leaves behind his wife of 13 years, Brie, and four young children.

He dedicated his entire adult life, 17 years, to protecting our country as a member of the Coast Guard.

We all owe Mike and his family an enormous debt of gratitude for his service and for making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.

I spoke to Mike's wife earlier today, and she told me that the community of Homer, Alaska, has rallied to her side, even as a dozen family members have flown in.

At a time when we ask so much of our Coast Guard families, how fitting to be reminded that as Americans, we still rally to our heroes and their families at these difficult times.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of us to join in prayer for Michael and his family.

We will be closely monitoring the ongoing investigation in this incident and offering our assistance as needed.

Our hearts go out to Michael's family, his friends at Mahopac, and the entire Coast Guard community. We thank them for their service. We remember Michael for his sacrifice, and we pledge that he will not be forgotten.

Madam Speaker, at a time of dysfunction and rancor, it is useful to remember a time when America led the world because of the heroism of everyday Americans. I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Sergeant Joseph Farina of New Windsor, New York.

Joe was a regular guy who ran a bowling alley in Newburgh, New York. He was a 20-year-old and a member of the National Guard when America was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That very night, Joseph volunteered for service.

During war, he was deployed to the Philippines and New Guinea, where his service earned him four battle stars, numerous other medals, and two Presidential citations.

Joseph passed away at his home last month at the age of 97. Next to him was his wife of 76 years, Elizabeth, whom he had married in Brisbane, Australia, at the height of the war in 1942. Joseph would actually work in Australia for many years and pioneer the sport of bowlin there.

But his legacy is far broader than that, not only to his country during his service in World War II, but also to the veterans community in the Hudson Valley and across America.

He was active in many veterans organizations, the Catholic War Veterans, and he helped to cofound the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor, New York. The Hall of Honor is dedicated to collecting and sharing the stories of Purple Heart recipients. No comprehensive list of Purple Heart recipients exists, and the hall acts as an important archive and monument to their service.

Joseph, like so many in his generation, knew what it meant to serve others. Like so many in his generation, he worked in his community and was a person dedicated to something bigger than himself. What a powerful lesson for all of us to recall today. He was a model American citizen, and he will be missed.