Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, last year I attended a rally where the father of a gunshot victim spoke, and he talked about all the things that he and other people around this country are doing to end senseless gun violence.

Then he turned to the crowd and asked: But what is Congress doing? And tens of thousands of Americans, as if they had rehearsed it hundreds of times, all said in unison: ``Nothing.''

But what is Congress doing? Nothing.

Standing in that crowd was not a proud moment for me, because he is right.

Mr. Speaker, 37 Americans have died from gun violence in my district alone in the past 5 years. Gun violence is now the second leading killer of young people Nationwide, trailing only car accidents.

For too long, Congress has done exactly what the crowd said: nothing.

This week, we are putting forth legislation to enhance background checks, but this alone isn't enough. Thoughts and prayers won't cut it. Only action saves lives. This is just a start.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to note that 2018 marks The MITRE Corporation's 60th anniversary. MITRE is a not-for-profit company that operates seven federally-funded research and development centers. Its 8,700 employees work in the public interest, free from commercial conflicts of interest, at two primary locations in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia, and at other sites around the world. MITRE's principal sponsors include the Department of Defense; the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the Department of the Treasury and the IRS; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the Federal Aviation Administration; the Department of Homeland Security, and the federal courts.

The company's staff works on some of the most challenging technical problems facing our nation, performing analysis, planning and concept development; R&D; engineering; and systems acquisition work. Since its earliest work to develop the nation's first air defense system, MITRE has generated countless innovations to address emerging threats, improve healthcare, defend cyberspace, secure our borders, ensure aviation safety, protect financial integrity, support our veterans, and more.

I congratulate MITRE's employees for their vital work over six decades to solve problems for a safer world, and wish them continued success in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, due to personal reasons, I was unable to vote on Wednesday, December 19, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 436; YEA on Roll Call No. 437; YEA on Roll Call No. 438; YEA on Roll Call No. 439; YEA on Roll Call No. 440; YEA on Roll Call No. 441; YEA on Roll Call No. 442; YEA on Roll Call No. 443; YEA on Roll Call No. 444; and YEA on Roll Call No. 445.

Mr. Speaker, due to personal reasons, I was not able to vote on Friday, September 28th. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 413; NAY on Roll Call No. 414; and YEA on Roll Call No. 415.

Mr. Speaker, due to personal reasons, I was unable to vote yesterday, July 12, 2018. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on Roll Call No. 322; ``nay'' on Roll Call No. 323; ``yea'' on Roll Call No. 324; ``nay'' on Roll Call No. 325; and ``yea'' on Roll Call No. 326.

Mr. Speaker, America is keeping kids in cages. America is keeping kids in cages.

Many people across our country have risen to say that this is not who we are. It doesn't represent our values, our ideals, or our Constitution.

But the sad reality is that today, this is who we are. You are an American. I am an American. It is fellow Americans who are ripping toddlers from their mothers and fathers and guarding them in steel cages.

And in truth, we have done this before. We herded American Indians into reservations. We turned our backs on Jews fleeing for their lives from the Holocaust. We ripped children from their parents when we sold them as slaves.

But we all thought we had learned our lessons, moved past those hateful times. We have been on a march to grow into a country with the courage to live up to our values and serve as a beacon of hope for the world, not repeat the darkest parts of our history.

The families in these detention centers aren't fleeing to the U.S. to take our jobs, they are running for their lives. They are fleeing a world of racism, ransom, murder, where their sons are being forced into violent gangs, and their daughters are being stolen on their way to school and prostituted as sex slaves.

A nation that fails to learn the lessons of history, that fails to live up to its core values, that can't abide by the rights enshrined in its own Constitution, is not strong, Mr. Speaker, it is weak.

Today, we are stealing kids from their parents and we are weak.

And although it is this administration's policy that is directly responsible for this disgusting practice, we are all guilty as fellow Americans so long as it goes on.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are our core values. Let's live up to them today.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment to the Water Resources Development Act, which will increase funding for the Army Corps of Engineers' storm and hurricane restoration and impact minimization program.

As communities across the country come together to rebuild in the wake of unprecedented storms, this program funds vital coastal resiliency projects across the Nation. I emphasize ``resiliency'' because part of what this program does is save money by making cost- effective investments now that will prevent that money from having to be spent on costly recovery efforts in the future.

Over the past year, severe storms and hurricanes have devastated communities throughout our country, costing us billions of dollars in recovery efforts. We know that severe weather patterns are occurring at a more frequent rate, and with the 2018 hurricane season fast approaching, the cities and towns along our coasts need more resources to minimize the impacts of flooding, storm surges, and coastal erosion.

What we don't need are more outdated government projects that are wasting taxpayer dollars. And by cutting these, we fund the increases to this program. That makes this amendment fully offset and budget neutral.

Cities and towns in my district and throughout the country are undergoing studies to assess the feasibility of implementing beach erosion and control projects under the storm and hurricane restoration and impact minimization program today. By raising the cap on this program's authorization, we can ensure that the vital resources provided by the Army Corps are available to more districts throughout the country.

There are States across the Nation that have already benefited from this program, from Alabama to Louisiana, from Alaska to Florida, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and Indiana. All of these States, in addition to my home State of Massachusetts, have benefited from this innovative program.

I am proud to have bipartisan support, and I think we need to come together to support this commonsense solution that will empower us to protect our coastal communities by leveraging private sector innovation to enhance coastal ecosystems, promote recreation, and save taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I would just like to thank the chairman for his help in supporting this amendment, and ushering it through the process. I think it is a good amendment, and I am proud to have bipartisan support for it.

Mr. Chair, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano).

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

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent in the House Chamber for votes on Wednesday, Februrary 7th. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 61; YEA on Roll Call No. 62; and YEA on Roll Call No. 63.

Mr. Speaker, 26: that is how many people were gunned down in a Texas church. Fifty-nine: that is how many were murdered at a concert in Las Vegas. And 489: that is how many law-abiding Americans were injured in that same attack.

Mr. Speaker, it has been weeks after those shootings, and we haven't taken a single action in the United States Congress to stop the gun violence epidemic plaguing America.

Instead, Republican leadership is pushing a bill with blood money from the NRA that will create a race to the bottom where States with the weakest concealed carry requirements will rewrite the laws for everyone else.

Meanwhile, we all know there are bipartisan bills that will reduce gun deaths, including my bill to ban bump stocks. Those bills have been denied a vote.

Mr. Speaker, we have lived through too many massacres. At this rate, I guarantee we will live through more. Let's stop this nonsense and work together on commonsense solutions the majority of Americans want.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the National Defense Authorization Act. I must say that I am so proud to be a member of a committee so known for its bipartisanship. I am particularly proud to serve on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee with my colleague, Vicky Hartzler, from Missouri.

I am concerned that this administration is failing to confront the threats our country faces, like Russia, so I am encouraged that this bill includes a package of measures to deter Russia, including U.S. training and support for our European allies; a plan for additional sanctions on Russia linked to treaty violations; as well as a requirement for the administration to develop a strategy to counter Russia over the long term.

The bill also forces the same type of accountability that I have been pushing for on Syria policy for a long time, requiring the President to submit a comprehensive Syria strategy, including diplomatic, military, and humanitarian assistance initiatives.

Too often, big bills like this forget the troops on the ground, but this bill raises military pay by 2.5 percent and takes action on specific concerns raised to me and my team by requiring a study on improving opioid prescription practices as well as additional mental healthcare for those transitioning out of Active Duty.

The bill includes a provision I supported for our critical allies in the fight against terror. The Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program affords Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives--not only for their country, but for ours--the ability to resettle in the U.S. due to threats that they and their families face on a daily basis because they work with U.S. troops.

Here at home, our military families selflessly support our men and women in harm's way and provide the backbone so important to military communities across our country. That is why I led an effort to include a requirement for the DOD to examine a new Military Family Service Corps to support volunteer efforts surrounding spousal career support, career transition assistance, community integration for military families, support for liaison programs with schools, as well as families with children of special needs. By building on these efforts, we can ensure our servicemembers and their families are supported to the fullest extent possible.

Despite the important provisions included in this bill, it does come at a time when we as a Congress have forced the Department of Defense to operate under yet another continuing resolution in the absence of a full-year budget; and we are authorizing an unprecedented $692 billion in defense spending, blowing past the budget cap set by the Budget Control Act, by over $80 billion.

All the while, Republicans are pushing one of the most aggressive tax cut packages in history, set to cost our country at least $1.7 trillion. Simply put, Republicans don't know how to balance a checkbook. Ultimately, it is our servicemembers and their families who will pay the price.

As Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in 2010 and again in 2016:

Our Nation's long-term debt is the single greatest threat

to our national security. We ought to balance the budget

because it is the right thing to do for the troops.

Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I rise today as a member of the Budget Committee to express my strong opposition to this budget resolution, which, if passed, would leave countless working families behind, and not to mention would, in fact, raise the Federal debt by at least $3 trillion over the first decade and by at least $6.6 trillion by the end of the second 10 years.

This proposed budget is an atrocious representation of our values. As more Americans find it harder and harder to get by, this budget guts what people need to be most successful. It takes away dollars from education; it takes away dollars from the programs we rely on for retirement, for switching between jobs, for healthcare.

We should be focused on funding the things that will enable the workforce to prepare for the 21st century, not gutting programs that will leave them falling further behind.

Rather than funding luxury travel for the Trump administration, let's invest in quality education, job skills training, and properly fund the State Department and foreign aid programs that Secretary of Defense Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dunford have said are critical to our national security.

This budget puts working families, our economy, and our national security at risk.

Passage of this budget would also pave the way for Republican tax reform, if you want to call it that, which would favor big businesses that destroy our small towns.

It shouldn't be easier for a company to get a tax break on buying another robot than training their employees to gain skills for the modern economy. We need a tax plan to incentivize companies to invest in their workers instead of engaging in a race to the bottom where workers are viewed as a burden rather than an asset.

We need a budget that will foster economic growth for all of our people, and we need to make taxes more simple and fair for working families, not give handouts to the rich.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this proposed budget so that we can go back to the table--or, actually, to go to the table for the first time as Democrats and Republicans, and have a conversation about funding the resources that will actually move our economy and country forward into the 21st century and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from Wisconsin and Arizona. It is an honor to stand here as fellow marines in support of this bill today.

Today is a big day. It is a milestone in a journey that we started over a year ago. We are taking a major legislative step in the direction of creating a memorial honoring those who have served on Active Duty during the global war on terrorism.

For many, like my colleagues, this bill is personal. None of us will forget where we were on September 11, 2001, and we all continue to live with the aftermath of that tragic day in American history.

It is important to note that the tragic events of 9/11 and the war on terror to follow did not leave us isolated and afraid as a nation. Rather, in true American fashion, they inspired an entire generation to come together and serve.

So many young men and women selflessly answered the call to serve their country in the wake of that tragedy, and I would like to share just one story with you about someone from my district who would be on this memorial.

Captain Jennifer Harris lived in the town of Swampscott. She was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and, sadly, became the first Massachusetts woman killed in the Iraq war.

Jennifer was the epitome of leadership and sacrifice. On flying missions, she had the call sign ``The Dove.'' She would often be called to evacuate our wounded soldiers and marines from the battlefield.

Captain Harris' final mission was to transport blood supplies. She willingly volunteered for it even though she was only just days away from returning home. In fact, she was initially told:

No. You are too close to leaving. Don't go.

But she said:

I want to fly one more time.

Her superiors reluctantly agreed. Captain Harris died on February 7, along with six other crew members after insurgents shot down her helicopter.

In her twenties, with a bright future ahead of her, Captain Harris was on her third tour of duty in Iraq.

I can't help but think today of my grandfather, a World War II veteran. He never got to see the WWII Memorial in his lifetime. He was never afforded the opportunity to have some place to take his family to reflect on his time in the service or remember his colleagues who did not have the opportunity to come home.

Let's not let that history repeat itself. The men and women who have given their all in the war on terror should be afforded a place on the National Mall where their loved ones can pay respects and honor their sacrifice.

Passage of this bill is an important first step in seeing this memorial built in our lifetime.

Let's get this done for Captain Jennifer Harris and the thousands of others like her who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman and the ranking member for including this amendment in the en

bloc package, because I remain concerned about the lack of a clear plan or strategy in Syria.

As the Syrian opposition supported by U.S. and coalition forces fight to liberate Raqqa from ISIS control, we are confronted with the complex and critical question of what comes next. Freeing Syrians from the brutality of ISIS is but one part of a complex, grinding civil war that began with the Assad regime's heinous violence against civilians and has endured for over 6 years, with over 400,000 Syrians killed, 6 billion Syrians displaced within Syria, and over 4.5 million forced to flee as refugees.

We now have over 500 U.S. troops deployed to Syria to advise and assist Syrian opposition forces. However, we have yet to have a clear, comprehensive political strategy that describes what the end goals are for U.S. involvement and how we hope to achieve those goals.

This amendment requires just that, and follows a similar effort I led with General and Representative John Bacon on Iraq that received bipartisan support in the Armed Services Committee last year.

This amendment requires a comprehensive political and military strategy for U.S. policy in Syria to be submitted by the Departments of Defense and State to Congress and the American people within 90 days of enactment.

We owe it to our troops, those young men and women whom we ask to risk their lives in Syria today, to tell them what their job is, what it entails, what the end goal is, and why it is worth the risks that they take every single day.

Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to honor a constituent, a friend, and a beloved member of our community, Henri Termeer. Henri was a resident of my hometown in Massachusetts and the retired CEO of Genzyme, the biotech firm credited with launching the Boston biotech revolution that now leads the globe.

Henri has been described as the epitome of a renaissance man, and he embodied the nexus of business, culture, and civic responsibility. He also left a lasting imprint on those he loved. His 16-year-old daughter, Adriana, referred to him as the giving tree because of the seemingly endless energy he devoted to the causes he believed in and the lives he touched.

At dinner the night he passed away, Henri said to his guests: We are getting older and running out of runway here. We need new leaders now.

Mr. Speaker, we would all do well to aspire to be the kind of thoughtful, passionate, and impactful leader Henri was. He saved countless lives, yet he was known for his modesty. Henri was one of the kindest men I have ever known, and we will miss him.

Mr. Speaker, there is only one reason this bill is on the floor today: the President cares more about cutting a deal than keeping his promises.

He promised we would lower costs. That turned out to be a lie. He promised we would expand coverage. That turned out to be a lie. He promised we would protect millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. That, too, was a lie.

Back in Massachusetts at the Agawam Diner, I met a veteran named Clif, who told me when I was on my way to Washington for the first time to go to Washington as an American--not as a Democrat or a Republican, but as an American.

To my Republican colleagues, heed Clif's advice today. Don't vote as a Republican. Vote as an American. Don't throw away your credibility to give a legislative victory to a President who will never stick his neck out for anyone other than himself. For what? To betray the people who trusted them?

I urge my Republican colleagues to put country before party. Vote ``no'' on this ridiculous bill.