Sharice Davids

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Ad Astra Advocacy Center on its one-year anniversary. Since opening in 2025, Ad Astra Advocacy has provided coordinated care and assistance for children and adults with disabilities who have experienced abuse or neglect. I am honored to recognize this critical work in the district. Franklin and Miami County, Kansas, now have a resource to ensure no child will face abuse alone.

Over the past year, dedicated professionals provided a safe and supportive environment for over 80 children, their families, and other survivors of trauma. Ad Astra Advocacy works diligently to bring local stakeholders, law enforcement, advocates, and mental health professionals to not only children who have experienced abuse but their families as well. Through coordinated care, these families are supported through every step of the healing journey. Their dedication to the safety of our community is most admirable.

Led by Executive Director Skylor Yeager, Ad Astra Advocacy is working to fill in the gaps for rural families seeking critical care during a vulnerable time. That is why I nominated the Ad Astra Advocacy Center for the 2026 Angels in Adoption Honoree award. I am proud to represent such an important organization, and I am eager to see what they do next. I applaud this important milestone and wish Skylor and her team many more years of success.

As we celebrate the first anniversary of the Ad Astra Advocacy Center, please join me in recognizing and honoring the remarkable achievements of this organization. Together, we can build a safer and brighter future for the children of Kansas' 3rd District.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, starting a small business is never easy. Whether it is a family opening a restaurant, a contractor trying to grow their company, or an entrepreneur launching a new product, success takes hard work, access to capital, and the right support.

For many Native entrepreneurs, the barriers can be even higher. A good idea shouldn't have a smaller chance of succeeding simply because it is in Indian Country.

Too often, Native businessowners face challenges that make it harder to get their businesses off the ground--from limited access to financing and investment, to unreliable broadband service, to the long distances many businesses must travel to reach customers, suppliers, and markets.

That means great business ideas that could create jobs and strengthen a community might be less likely to get the support and access to those necessary needs to succeed.

It is not just a loss for Tribal communities. This can be a loss for our entire economy. Native-owned businesses

employ more than 300,000 people across the entire country. They create jobs. They drive economic growth, and they help build stronger communities. They deserve the same opportunities to succeed as other small business owners in America.

That is why I introduced the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act. This bipartisan bill strengthens the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Native American Affairs by establishing it in law and ensuring that Native entrepreneurs have a permanent advocate within the SBA, no matter who controls the White House.

The bill creates an assistant administrator to lead the office, to coordinate resources, and to help make sure that Tribal entrepreneurs can access the lending programs, the business counseling, and the contracting opportunities that already exist within the SBA.

Just as importantly, it creates accountability by requiring regular reports to Congress about how these efforts are working in Indian Country. This is a practical and bipartisan step that is going to help entrepreneurs start businesses, create jobs, and contribute to their local economies.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Jake Ellzey, Kelly Morrison, and Eli Crane for partnering with me on this legislation. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill and to support the entrepreneurs, workers, and communities that it is going to benefit.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the Johnson County Community College Cavaliers baseball team, which just won the Division 1 Junior College World Series national championship game for the first time in program history. As a JCCC alum, it is my pleasure to congratulate the team on this incredible accomplishment.

This well-deserved victory marked the finale of an already-historic season. The Cavaliers ended with a 67-3 record, which included a 41- game winning streak. As if that is not impressive enough, the team hit 219 home runs--a college baseball record across every level.

This past JCCC Cavaliers baseball season represents all the great ways we benefit from sports--instilling pride in our community, inspiring young people to set high goals, and offering new opportunities. In fact, the team expects more than 20 players to sign with Division I programs for next season.

Once again, I congratulate the JCCC Cavaliers baseball team and, on behalf of the Johnson County community and beyond, I thank them for such an exciting season. Go Cavaliers.