Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 267, the ``Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019,'' which funds the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development and ensure that people living in housing supported by HUD are not evicted as a result of the government shutdown proudly engineered by the President of the United States.

I am pleased to co-sponsor and support this bill because it is the right thing to do.

Because of the Trump Shutdown, some of the most important activities funded in the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies have ground to a halt.

In addition to concerns over possible evictions and severe slowdowns with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, the shutdown has also led to other serious impacts.

For example, the health and safety of renters have been put at risk because HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center is not conducting inspections in assisted housing units which are critical to ensure decent, safe, and sanitary housing.

Because of the shutdown, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has suspended data analysis and investigations into motor vehicle manufacturing defects which means that recalls of automotive defects will not occur.

The FAA training academy in Oklahoma City is closed, slowing the training of new air traffic controllers, despite shortages of qualified staff nationwide.

Additionally, the issuance of FAA airmen certificates that are required for the crew of international carriers that transit through the U.S. has been suspended--the issuance of airmen certificates which are mandatory for becoming a student, private, or commercial pilot; flight engineer, navigator, or attendant; or other aviation-related professions.

These are among the many reasons I strongly support H.R. 267, which is virtually identical to legislation that has already passed the Senate on a 92-6 vote.

This legislation will reopen the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development and stop some the worst impacts of the Trump Shutdown on families, businesses, and communities.

The bill provides $71.4 billion in discretionary funding, $23.3 billion above the President's budget request and $1.1 billion above the FY2018 enacted level.

The total includes more than $17 billion in funding for new infrastructure projects, in addition to $49 billion for infrastructure from dedicated fuel and aviation taxes.

And the bill rejects the President's deep cuts to Public and Indian Housing and Community Planning and Development.

The bill also rejects President Trump's proposed elimination of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and the Choice Neighborhood Initiative.

Mr. Speaker, it is well that we take stock of the human toll caused by the Trump Shutdown, which is now entering its third week.

420,000 federal employees are working without pay.

Frontline federal employees, including law enforcement and public safety personnel, have been working without pay since December 22, including 14,000 FBI agents, 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents, 6,000 Forest Service firefighters.

400,000 Federal Employees have been furloughed.

In addition to the federal employees working without pay, hardworking federal employees at agencies like the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, and NASA have been furloughed without pay, plunging them and their families into uncertainty.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has stopped processing loans and mortgage approvals, putting families trying to buy a new home or refinance an FHA-insured mortgage into financial limbo.

IRS Customer Service Halted, Tax Return Processing Jeopardized.

Walk-in taxpayer assistance centers and all taxpayer customer service, which serves approximately 2.5 million citizens monthly, is unavailable during the shutdown.

Electronic and paper tax returns submitted by taxpayers will not be processed, leading to backlogs that will potentially delay tax refunds.

The Food and Drug Administration cannot accept any regulatory submissions and cannot support many routine regulatory and compliance activities.

This includes some medical product, animal drug, and most food- related activities.

The FDA also cannot conduct routine establishment inspections, which could prevent the finding and correction of violations, especially for food safety.

A shutdown beyond January would cause the Food and Nutrition Service to reduce benefits by about 40 percent to almost 40 million

individuals and families across the country who are dependent on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The Small Business Administration has completely halted its role in the federal contracting process, interfering with projects government wide.

The SBA has also stopped approving loan assistance and guarantee applications from commercial banks and small businesses, blocking access to federally-assisted loans for many small businesses.

Businesses across the country have lost access to the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program, which is intended to allow business owners to comply with federal law and determine the immigration status of employees they hire.

Most services provided by the Federal Trade Commission are suspended under the shutdown, including the National Do Not Call Registry (for consumers and telemarketers), consumer complaint systems, and identity theft reporting--as well as law enforcement access to FTC's consumer complaints.

In addition, the FTC has suspended most investigations and litigation under the shutdown.

The Department of Justice's civil litigation efforts against bad actors have stopped, and payments to crime victims have been put on hold.

Training for Department of Justice employees, even for those still working despite the shutdown, is canceled.

Department of Justice programs to train state and local law enforcement officers and officials have also been canceled.

All services for visitors to National Park Service sites--such as visitors' centers, interpretative programs, and restrooms--have been suspended.

Many Parks are overflowing with uncollected garbage, while curtailed law enforcement staffing is putting visitors' safety at risk.

In addition, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art have closed.

The Environmental Protection Agency has halted inspections at drinking water systems, hazardous waste management and chemical facilities.

The men and women who have been furloughed because of this manufactured crisis are not responsible for the Trump Shutdown.

The dedicated men and women of the federal civilian workforce, like those who serve in the Armed Forces, have not spent their professional lives fomenting ethnic hatred and xenophobia, or imagining a national security crisis on the southern border.

Instead, these loyal and committed public servants are motivated by their paramount interest in serving the American public without fear or favor and, for the last four days, without any guarantee that they would be compensated for their labor.

And yet, they gladly and willingly serve, some risking their lives to keep us safe.

Others stand watch monitoring weather systems and providing information necessary to protect the public from hurricanes and tornadoes and wildfires or conducting research to find cures for disease or that will yield technological innovations or help us mark and measure the far reaches of space.

Others work to secure the borders and homeland, ensure the safety of our food and water, serve our seniors and children, provide training and support for those looking for work, and protecting our environment and keeping watch over our treasures--our national parks and monuments, including this magnificent Capitol where the people have sent us to their business.

Mr. Speaker, the men and women of the federal workforce do the people's business. They serve everyone equally. They do not single out some persons to serve and ignore others. They do not cherry-pick.

We should follow their example. And the best way to do that is for the House and Senate to pass this and the remaining appropriations bills by veto-proof margins and send them to President for signature and to vote to override should the President unwisely elect to veto the bill.

I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 267.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 115 the ``Protecting Diplomats from Surveillance Through Consumer Devices Act,'' which directs the State Department to establish a policy on location-tracking consumer devices at U.S. diplomatic and consular facilities around the world and requires employees to be briefed on the policies and procedures during routine security briefings.

H.R. 115 also requires the Secretary of State to coordinate with heads of any other agencies whose employees are deployed to or stationed at U.S. facilities in formulating this policy.

I support this legislation because, among other things, with the enactment of this act, the Secretary of State shall establish a policy on the use of location-tracking devices, including GPS-enabled devices, at United States facilities, both at home and abroad.

This act clarifies that U.S. employees will be kept updated and notified about the use of location-tracking consumer devices both on and off the premises of U.S. diplomatic and consular facilities.

The State Department is the critical go between when dealing with international affairs and foreign policy issues, and this act will expand their duties by protecting the privacy rights of Diplomats and resident employees in this new age of technology.

Location-tracking information can be stored within a device or transmitted to an outside server, both storing the data, and giving real time location of said device.

Mr. Speaker, in this day and age, most smart phone users have location-tracking apps open on their device at all times; an estimated 90 percent of smart phone owners in 2015 use location-based services, and have them on a all times.

For example, weather apps, which an estimated 65 percent of adults share their location with and check daily, require the users' location to provide accurate weather information.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 115 and upholding the importance of the privacy of our employees in consular and diplomatic facilities, and ensuring that all persons involved are aware and educated about the upholding policies.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 133, the ``United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act'' that promotes economic partnership and cooperation between the United States and Mexico.

The ``United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act'' strategy predominantly focuses on academic, business and medical exchanges.

The United States and Mexico have benefitted from a bilateral, mutually beneficial partnership focused on advancing the economic interests of both countries.

In March 2011, the United States launched the ``100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative'', which increased educational exchanges between the United States and other countries in the Western Hemisphere region.

The 100,000 United States students are studying in other countries in the Western Hemisphere region and 100,000 non-United States students from the region are studying in the United States per year by 2020.

The ``United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act'' would expand the educational and professional exchange programs with Mexico, including through the framework of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative.

In the 18th Congressional District of Texas, the Houston Independent School District is educating nearly 3,500 immigrant students in their first year in American school systems.

The state's largest district of Texas has more than 11,000 immigrant students who have been in America for three years or less.

Rene Sanchez, the principal of Cesar E. Chavez High School located in the 18th district and the son of Mexican immigrants made statements to incoming high schoolers.

``Many of you were not in Houston last year, were not in the United States, yet we're holding you to the same standards as students . . . living in the United States all their lives,'' said Rene Sanchez.

High school students like Sophia Martinez, an 18-year-old senior from Mexico have been in Houston for nearly two years and speak near- fluently but stumble over the essay section.

For these students and reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 133.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 192, the ``Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership Act,'' which will help to establish an interagency program to assist countries in North and West Africa to improve immediate and long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes.

This bill launched in 2005, is a partnership to cooperate with countries in the Sahel and Maghreb regions of Africa on their immediate and longterm capabilities to address and prevent the spread of violent extremism.

Extremist movements, such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko Haram, the Islamic State of West Africa, and other affiliated groups, have killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, displaced populations, destabilized local and national governments, and

caused mass human suffering in the affected communities.

As Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are being driven out of the Middle East, Africa is becoming the new battleground for their terror attacks.

According to the Environmental System Research Institute, in the last four years, terrorist attacks have killed 31,600 people in 4,455 attacks in Africa.

Boko Haram alone caused more than 8,000 fatalities across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Boko Haram have taken control of the former commercial town of Baga near the border with Chad, which caused the displacement of hundreds of people.

Armed groups and violent Islamist terrorist organizations exploit vulnerable and marginalized communities suffering from poverty, lack of economic opportunity (particularly among youth populations), and weak governance.

Youth populations are more likely to join an expanding terrorist network in West and Central Africa, which make the region more likely to be hit by a severe violent attack.

Al-Qaeda and ISIS recruited in Tunisia 6,500 youth volunteers.

On Oct. 4, 2017, militants affiliated with ISIS ambushed a team of U.S. troops in Niger, killing four soldiers and wounding two.

On October 6, 2017, a terrorist attack killed more than 300 people, injured nearly 400 and leveled an entire block in Mogadishu, Somalia.

That is why it is important that we vote today to implement the following recommendations from the report:

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in North and West Africa to improve immediate and long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes.

This is in the national security interest of the United States to combat the spread of radical Islamist extremism and build partner countries' capacity to combat these threats in Africa.

H.R. 192 follows the recommendation from the report and ensures that the U. S,Congress can assist its partner countries to:

Address critical security, political, economic, and humanitarian challenges in these regions of Africa, a coordinated, interagency approach is needed to appropriately allocate resources, share responsibility, de-conflict programs, and maximize the effectiveness of United States defense, diplomatic, and development capabilities.

H.R. 192 is a step in the right direction because it will help to establish an interagency program to assist countries in the Sahel and Maghreb regions of Africa on their immediate and long-term capabilities to address and prevent the spread of violent extremism.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 221, the ``Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act.''

H.R. 221 amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to allow the monitoring and combatting of Anti-Semitism globally.

H.R. 221 requires that the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism be a presidentially-appointed and Senate confirmed position.

This position holds the rank of Ambassador and will report directly to the Secretary of State.

H.R. 221 requires the President nominate a Special Envoy no later than 90 days after the bill's enactment and no more than 120 days after the position becomes vacant.

Since the passing of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, Congress has found that in many foreign countries acts of anti-Semitism have been frequent, threats to Jewish communities and their institutions have proliferated, and in some countries these attacks have increased in frequency, scope, violence, and lethality.

The Kantor Center, a research department at Tel Aviv University focused on the interdisciplinary research of European Jewry from the end of World War II to the present day, recorded 327 worldwide major incidents of violence, vandalism, and desecration in 2017.

This number, 327, does not represent all incidents, only the major incidents--arson, weapon and weaponless attacks, serious threats, vandalism, and desecration.

Targets of these attacks include people, synagogues, community centers and schools, cemeteries and memorial sites, and private property.

There has also been an increase in harassment and abuse, both in person and digitally.

Anti-Semitic attacks are human rights violations and they need to be treated that way.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 221 which establishes a Special Envoy that will serve, not only as the primary advisor to the Government, but will also coordinate efforts relating to monitoring and combating anti-Semitism showing the United States' commitment to human rights worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, to the White House: Sign the bill and open up the government.

Today, the President is in my home State, impossible for him to see the entire border on the southern border and to realize that work has been done for almost two decades on barriers, and that is why only 12 known or alleged terrorists have crossed that border as compared to the unfenced northern border, which was where the 2000 terrorists coming across the border as the century turned occurred.

Tomorrow, there will be faithful Federal employees who will not get their money, many in Texas: 9,000 Treasury employees are stationed in Texas, 5,700 Homeland Security; the airports in my district, with 51,000 screeners, may miss their first paychecks; and Johnson Space Center--hardworking Americans.

This is no time for one's ego or one's preference of what type of barrier. It is a time for those of us who care about border security, Democrats who give billions of dollars, including $1.3 billion that we gave in this budget and $1.6 billion.

Open the government and pay these people their checks.

I look forward to meeting with Federal employees. Call my office. We want to give you as much help as we can.

Open the government. That is what should be done.

Mr. Speaker, because this President insists on an immoral and ineffective border wall, he has shut down the government and said he would be proud to do it.

This is a presidential temper tantrum.

The President clearly does not realize what he asking, and the impact this has on Americans throughout the nation.

In my homestate, I know that the consequences are real--mortgages and rent are not paid, car payments are not being made, spring tuition checks are not being paid, supplemental nutrition assistance.

Texas has 35,694 employees in agencies without appropriations.

With its vast size, Texas accounts for at least a few thousand workers in nearly every major federal agency.

Nearly 9,000 Treasury Department employees are stationed there, along with about 5,700 Homeland Security employees and 4,300 in the Department of Transportation.

Smaller agencies with particularly high concentrations of Texas-based employees include NASA and the Small Business Administration.

The impact to the city of Houston is not insignificant.

Houston is the nation's fourth largest city, and the shutdown is affecting us acutely.

To get to and from my district, I am proud to fly through George Bush international airport, in Houston.

I am proud to say that this airport is in my district, and these brave Americans who are on the front lines of protecting America, are working without pay.

TSA agents are considered essential employees and must report to work even though they aren't getting paid during the shutdown.

Screening areas at Bush and Hobby have not been impacted, but it's a different story in Dallas and New York.

At DFW, there has reportedly been a 200% to 300% increase in TSA agents calling out sick since the shutdown began.

Travelers waited in nearly hour-long security lines at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Monday.

The TSA worries lines may get even longer if more screeners call out sick.

Tomorrow could be a tipping point when 51,000 screeners may miss their first paychecks.

TSA agents are considered essential employees and must report to work even though they aren't getting paid during the shutdown.

Houston is also home to one of the greatest aeronautical institutions all the world--the Johnson Space Center.

There are more than 16,000 NASA employees still out of work as the federal government shutdown.

The partial government shutdown impacts 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal workers nationwide, including 16,700 NASA employees, which accounts for 96 percent of the workforce.

Although most of NASA's employees will be furloughed, those responsible for keeping people and property safe are exempted from the shutdown.

For example, International Space Station operations will continue: about 200 of the 3,055 federal employees at Johnson Space Center in Houston will continue working primarily to keep the three astronauts aboard the space station alive.

But that is only the beginning of the problem.

Houston citizens are unable to seek temporary private sector work because such jobs require permission, and the people who process those requests have been furloughed.

Federally funded housing programs are in jeopardy as the shutdown stretches on.

For example, rural home loans financed by the USDA are not an option.

Texans who were affected by Hurricane Harvey are still waiting for federal aid, and the shutdown won't make it any easier to get that aid.

Harris County is putting a hold on Harvey recovery projects that relied in part on federal money.

The Treasury Department's loss of funding means some Texas wineries and breweries can't get federal approval of labels allowing their products to be sold across state lines.

Federal employees are required to work throughout the shutdown without pay, like corrections officers and Border Patrol agents.

Agencies such as the national parks, NASA and some IRS employees have been sent home or furloughed in Houston, Texas.

There are any number of cascading effects--Local restaurants are feeling the impact as well; federal employees who frequent nearby eateries for meals are no longer eating out.

Federal courts are grinding to a halt and national parks are shuttered.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the distinguished Congresswoman from California, for her leadership and her amazing journey here to the United States House of Representatives. It is clearly because of life stories like hers that we will be more effective in representing all of the American people, so I thank her for leading the Congressional Progressive Caucus this evening and really speaking to our colleagues and, yes, the American people.

I know that the number 20 has many meanings. For 3-year-olds and 4- year-olds and 5-year-olds, you give them 20 pennies for their piggy bank and you can see their sparkling eyes, just really happy.

You can count down 20 days till your vacation. It is reasonable. You can get ready, get new clothes and new suitcases.

You may be able to count down if you are suffering from an illness and the doctor says that in 20 days things will be looking up.

But in this instance, I am standing alongside of this sign, ``20 Days,'' because it represents pain and frustration. It certainly represents a sadness that is truly unnecessary, for we will approach the longest shutdown of the Federal Government, the longest abuse of power that the United States of America has ever seen.

Just a few weeks ago, we saw the President of the United States indicate that he will take ownership of a shutdown. I think it is important to take note of the fact that this is a policy dispute, a simple policy dispute that is not catastrophic.

In the meantime, we have dangerous conditions in the Nation's parks, national historic sites, and we have a shut door for the Nation's schoolchildren at our museums.

Individuals who are seeking mortgages, first-time buyers, young couples, retirees, have been stopped in their tracks.

Those brave men and women, including firefighters under the Department of the Interior who fought those terrible fires in California, will not be paid tomorrow.

My colleagues and friends in Texas, as a border State resident, will not be paid tomorrow: border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, the brave men and women that I visited with working in the Nation's airports and in my airport, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.

Mortgages and rent not paid, car payments not being paid, spring tuition checks not being paid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance not being paid. So much is riding on the fact that these individuals are working without pay because of, simply, a temper tantrum.

Now, I want information. I was down at the border just a couple of weeks ago. I go all the time. I served on the Border Security Committee on Homeland Security. I helped write a bipartisan Homeland Security border security bill.

When the Border Patrol was a small agency, we poured millions of dollars, post-9/11, to build up their personnel, give them laptops, night goggles, jeeps. I went to the border at night, in the dark of night. I saw their work. I know what they need. I know that they have their views.

Many have said: I don't care what kind of barrier it is; a concrete wall will not work, but we need a combination of things.

And so what the Commander-in-Chief will see at the border that will warrant the shutting down of government, the make-believe national crisis, I hope--and I wanted him to visit the patrol stations, the Border Patrol stations where hopeless families and children are there, some suffering, as little Felipe was, because the conditions are not there for welcoming women and children seeking asylum through the normal legal process, of which some would be granted and some will be directed to go home. That is the American way.

But yet 35,694 employees are not getting a paycheck in Texas because of this tragic condition.

So I say to the commonsense people, the Democratic majority that voted on legislation that could have simply gone to the other body, been placed on the calendar for the Senate, voted on, and

sent to the desk of the President of the United States, I would say: Mr. President, sign the bill and open the government.

Policy changes are not warranted for a shutdown. Fifty-one thousand TSA agents missing their paychecks is not defendable, and the 800,000 total employees, 16,000 NASA employees who were furloughed, and the impact on the fourth largest city in the Nation, rural home loans financed by the USDA, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Hurricane Harvey Federal aid.

I heard the pain of a Member whose Pacific Island, which he represents as a Delegate, has just suffered a massive typhoon. We need disaster aid for them.

The good news is that the Democratic leadership is doing our job. We are on the floor every day passing the bill to open the government--let me say it again--to open the government.

Mr. Speaker, let me conclude on these two points:

I always believe that it is important to be truthful in one's statement. Any of us in public service should give the best evidence of the truth that we can.

Those of us who have served in the last 2 to 3 to 4 or 5 years have seen the pain of our constituents and the pain of Members of Congress who come from districts where the enormity of the opioid crisis has taken whole families. We know that there are 100-plus people dying every day from opioid abuse.

For those of us who come from inner-city communities, that was yesteryear's crack and cocaine that didn't get the attention that we are getting now. But I am not selfish. I am glad, as a nation, we recognize the literal destroying of a human being and family.

So we have invested money in treatment. We have looked at the criminal justice system, and we will look even more to not penalize those who are addicted. We are trying to eliminate access to meth and some of the most poisonous drugs, now kush, and many others.

But it is shameful to use the pain of these families and to create a false narrative that I put up a wall and I will heal Johnny Smith way up in New England from his opioid disease.

Drugs, we have a war that we must finish, fight and finish. We must get people off of drugs. We must cure them. We must treat them as if they are sick.

But I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, no wall is going to stop the epidemic. We must engage in diplomacy and the frustration and the poverty in South and Central America.

By the way, I have introduced a bill that says if we have a wall, concrete wall, then, as was promised by this administration, Mexico should pay for it.

But we must engage with the South and Central American countries, and any drugs that want to get into this country, you can be assured they will be coming in underground, in tunnels, well-lit tunnels, well-known pathways and legal points of entry.

How do I know? I have been at the border when a bust has been made and seen the car open and the most unique places where millions of dollars of drugs were hidden.

Thank you to the canine team that is so effective.

None of this was spoken about. The narrative was not true. The White House is not presenting to the American people what really is a national emergency. Opioid is, but the way it must be dealt with is increased access to healthcare and not the continued undermining of the Affordable Care Act.

So, finally, we have heard the President call and scream that he will declare a national emergency.

I think it is important, as it is for the Members of this great body, this great Nation, to know that we have a Constitution where Article I is the Congress and Article II is the Executive, and nowhere in those two articles does it say that the Congress has to be told what to do by the administration--nowhere. An independent body must stand for what the American people need. So there are statutes that govern the emergency declaration.

I will give it to you straight: There are two statutes that require either that there be a declaration of war--I have not heard that--or else a proper formal declaration of national emergency. They don't dictate exactly what the conditions are. It is all about process and transparency.

If, for example, the President would want to declare this a national emergency, he would have to frame it, and he would have to determine what that means. Do we want to use the Armed Forces? What kind of national emergency is it?

And do you realize that national emergency means taking money from so many vital programs? Just like the $5.7 billion wall that, for some reason, the supporters or people listening to this narrative of the wall, they must think that we have a hidden treasure somewhere that we will just go in and dig down in the pot and get $5.7 billion.

You take $5.7 billion, and you will take it out of the United States military. You will take it out of the Coast Guard. You will take it out of education. You will take it out of healthcare. You will take it out of the environment. You will take it out of international diplomacy. You will take it out of those suffering from HIV/AIDS. You will take it out of the starving people around the world. That is where the money will come from.

So I hope that there will be a pathway where this body of Congress works to send the bills to the President's desk. I hope that we don't go 2 or 3 more days past this day tomorrow, when no checks will come to thousands of Americans, and get this government open.

If the President thinks he can declare a national emergency and that is the only narrative he wants to use, we will do our job. He will do his job, but we should have, as our number one job, to open this government now and to provide the good, hardworking Americans who serve us in the Federal Government and those who are impacted by them to be able to get a check, to be able to do the things that this great Nation has allowed them to do; for we stumble, we do not realize that, in the Declaration of Independence, it indicated that we were all created equal, with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I take that to heart, what this country stands for, and we have got to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I was just on the floor, but I could not leave the floor without reminding us that our constituents have names.

So I wanted Edith to know how concerned I am about her, and to say that when I spoke about the 20 days and the 20 pennies, all of that is, if you will, things that are static, but a human being who has to deal with life's ups and downs is real.

Edith Banda--recently returned from a reservist deployment in the Middle East--is among thousands of people in the Houston area feeling the impact of the government shutdown.

Edith has not worked her Federal job in downtown Houston, which is where my congressional office is, since the shutdown 17 days ago.

Making matters worse, she and dozens of others in Houston are unable to seek private sector work, because such jobs require permission, and the people who process these requests have been furloughed; just like some are trying to get unemployment, and some of the documentation they need are with people who are furloughed.

Edith has been selling her personal possessions to make ends meet, but she said another couple of weeks of no work would be crushing.

Now, I know our Speaker has indicated that we are working very hard here to get access to credit through credit unions and no-interest loans. We have letters that they can send.

I want to personally say that my office is open. 713-655-0050 is my local office. My staff, get ready, in case we can be of help to you down in Houston to be able to see what we can do about your circumstances.

Finally, I just want to say that Carol has been a Federal employee for over 25 years. She is waiting to find out when she will be allowed to return to work. She has been furloughed.

After reflecting on her two daughters enrolled in college and her fears of no longer being able to help them with their education expenses, she wrote about how the Trump shutdown was hurting her. And like many employees, she has a mortgage, credit card payments, Federal student loans, and she is trying to be a mother.

And I would just say this as I close, that she has got to deal with late fees, interest rate hikes and damage to her credit score, and so she is one of those individuals.

I just want to say that the metaphor, the narrative, again, of so many people having gates to their homes, and to use that when these people are pouring out their life savings, they are pouring their heart out, they are in distress, I have a very diverse district, and I can assure you I can travel around and see very few gated communities of all economic levels. And they love their family. They have a door, but they are moving around the community.

This is a great Nation. That is a poor example, that we have gated communities because we love the people that are in or not, because we don't like the people who are out.

It is because you have a dislike for the people who are out. That must be your lack of understanding of all of our humanity, because for those of us at Homeland Security who have been to the northern border as well, there is not one fence there and not one person that wants a fence. And we know what happened in 2000 when a person came across to do harm to the United States.

We can find a better solution. Let's stop using the narrative, because I think many Americans live in circumstances where they see their neighbors, they interact with their neighbors, and they don't have locked gates and walls. Some do. That is their choice. But that is not the definition of who we are.

So I want to say to Edith and to Carol and others, Democrats are here working as hard as we can. Congresswoman Porter is working as hard as she can. And we will be back on the floor again tomorrow.

I am just hoping that the Senate, the other body, can take up our bills. Once they do that, it is very clear that they can go right to the President. If it sits for 10 days, it is law.

I feel that if it is vetoed, I really feel that the good people of this House and Senate will override it and get these people back where they need to be.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding so I could tell Edith and Carol's story.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to join my colleagues in discussing the Trump Shutdown and its devastating impact on the financial security of federal families and contractors.

As the Trump Shutdown enters its third week, the effects of President Trump and Republicans' reckless decision to shutter the government over a wasteful and unnecessary border wall are obvious.

Frontline federal employees, including law enforcement and public safety personnel, have been working without pay since December 22.

This includes around 14,000 FBI agents, 54,000 Customs and Border Protection agents, 47,000 Transportation Security Officers and 6,000 Forest Service firefighters.

TSA employees received their last paycheck on December 28, giving them money that would typically last through the next pay period but which will now have to stretch much further.

The shutdown has already forced some employees to look for new jobs or take on extra work, and the pressure is immense for employees and families with no other source of income.

This also includes 3,200 Secret Service agents who risk their lives every single day to protect President Trump and his family.

In addition to the federal employees working without pay, hardworking federal employees at agencies like the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and NASA have been furloughed without pay, plunging them and their families into uncertainty.

These are real American families that are being put through an unwarranted and unnecessary shutdown and are suffering because of it.

With many federal employees being furloughed, and those deemed essential being expected to work without pay American families are now stuck wondering how they are going to get by without an income, especially since things like rent, groceries, and general day-to-day living costs still need to be paid whether the government is fully functional or not.

The Trump Shutdown will end when the President comes to his senses.

Not only are Americans struggling to pay for their day-to-day expenses but veterans and military families are suffering as well.

If the shutdown lasts for more than two or three weeks, the Department of Veterans Affairs has said that it may not have enough money to pay disability claims and pension payments.

That could affect approximately 3.6 million veterans.

For military families, although their pay has continued, the military is suffering in other areas.

For example, changes of station for military personnel will be delayed, medical offerings could be scaled back, and facility and weapons maintenance could be suspended.

Additionally, military commissaries (base grocery stores) have shut down and military families are being forced to shop elsewhere.

According to the Defense Commissary Agency, military families generally save more than 30 percent on average at the commissaries.

Shopping off the base can be pricey, especially for military families living in cities with a high cost of living.

Edith Banda who recently returned from a reservist deployment in the Middle East is among thousands of people in the Houston area feeling the impact of the government shutdown.

Edith has not worked her federal job in downtown Houston since the shutdown 17 days ago.

Making matters worse, she and dozens of others in Houston are unable to seek temporary private sector work because such jobs require permission, and the people who process those requests have been furloughed.

Edith has begun selling her personal possessions to make ends meet, but she said another couple of weeks of no work would be crushing.

There are so many other issues that we could tackle with the money Trump wants to spend on the wall.

With an increase of $265 million the Department of Justice could hire 2,000 new police officers and make steps towards making many communities a safer place.

With increase of $99 million the Office of National Drug Control Policy could support community-level efforts to address substance abuse programs in nearly 730 additional communities.

Economic Development Administration with an increase of $200 million could create or preserve 31,000 jobs for our hardworking Americans.

Small Business Administration grants with an additional $20 million could support dozens more Women's Business and Veterans Outreach Centers providing business training, counseling and outreach to 47,000 additional US veterans and women.

These are the changes that American citizens deserve.

Mr. Speaker, it is critical that the President ends this government shutdown and end the unwarranted suffering of American families across the nation.

Carol with the Bureau of Land Management wrote to me sharing her frustrations and anxiety over the Trump Shutdown.

Carol has been a federal employee for over 25 years. She is waiting to find out when she will be allowed to return to work. Carol is one of 800,000 federal government employees living with constant worry and angst. Hearing that President Trump is willing to keep her and many others furloughed for years has her questioning her career choice.

After reflecting on her two daughters enrolled in college and her fears of no longer being able to help them with their education expenses did she write about how Trump's Shutdown will hurt her.

She, like many other federal employees, has a mortgage, has credit card payments, has federal student loans. The places where she would look for assistance are closed, leaving her to attempt to navigate and negotiate late fees, interest rate hikes, and damage to her credit score that inevitable missed payments will create.

Carol is just one of the 800,000 federal government employees who will not be receiving a paycheck tomorrow.

The President should be ashamed.

Prior to Trump's election the nation heard about his history of refusing to pay contractors for work they had completed. The United States Federal Government does not and will not conduct business in this way. The United State Government pays its workers.

Madam Speaker, on Monday, January 8, 2019, I was unavoidably detained attending to representational duties in my congressional district and was not present for Roll Call Votes 13, 14, and 15. Had I been present I would have voted as follows:

On Roll Call 13, I would have voted AYE on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 269, Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019.

On Roll Call 14, I would have voted AYE on Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 4406, H.R. 251, Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act.

On Roll Call 15, I would have voted AYE on Motion to Approve the Journal.

Mr. Speaker, in 2010, after a century of trying, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and our nation's 44th President, Barack Obama, the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land.

Before the Affordable Care Act, untold millions of Americans lived with the reality that they did not have access to Affordable Care Act.

Before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, 17.1 percent of Americans lacked health insurance; today nearly nine of ten (89.1 percent) are insured, which is the highest rate since Gallup began tracking insurance coverage in 2008.

Because of the Affordable Healthcare Act: insurance companies are banned from discriminating against anyone, including 17 million children, with a preexisting condition, or charging higher rates based on gender or health status; 6.6 million young-adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents' health insurance plans; 100 million Americans no longer have annual or life-time limits on healthcare coverage; 6.3 million seniors in the ``donut hole'' have saved $6.1 billion on their prescription drugs; 3.2 million seniors now get free annual wellness visits under Medicare, and 360,000 Small Businesses are using the Health Care Tax Credit to help them provide health insurance to their workers; Pregnancy is no longer a pre-existing condition and women can no longer be charged a higher rate just because they are women.

This bill was fiercely debated for over a year. It passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010.

The bill did many things--it improved access to quality care; made care more affordable, and improved the quality of the law.

It also advanced several pillars that will undoubtedly advance healthcare in America.

For example, the Affordable Care Act:

Lowers the uninsured rate. Gallup recently estimated that the uninsured rate in Texas in 2015 was 22.3 percent, down from 27.0 percent in 2013. In 2017, the number was at 16 percent.

Prohibits coverage denials and reduced benefits, protecting as many as 10,694,840 Texans who have some type of pre-existing health condition, including 1,632,475 children.

Eliminates lifetime and annual limits on insurance coverage and establishes annual limits on out-of-pocket spending on essential health benefits, benefiting 7,536,000 people in Texas, including 2,771,000 women and 2,094,000 children.

Allows states to expand Medicaid to all non-eligible adults with incomes under 133 percent of the federal poverty level. If Texas expands Medicaid, an additional 1,107,000 uninsured people would gain coverage.

Establishes a system of state and federal Health Insurance Exchanges, or Marketplaces, to make it easier for individuals and small-business employees to purchase health plans at affordable prices. During the open enrollment period for 2016 coverage, 1,306,208 people in Texas selected a plan through the Marketplace, including approximately 626,980 new consumers and 378,800 young adults. In Texas, 78 percent of Marketplace consumers could have selected a plan for $100 per month or less after tax credits for 2016 coverage.

Created a temporary high-risk pool program to cover uninsured people with pre-existing conditions prior to 2014 reforms, which helped 10,336 people in Texas.

And, the ACA creates health plan disclosure requirements and simple, standardized summaries so 12,620,500 people in Texas can better understand coverage information and compare benefits.

With respect to the affordability of care, the ACA made marked improvements in this sphere, too. For example, the ACA:

Creates a tax credit that, during the most recent open enrollment period, has helped 1,093,573 Marketplace enrollees in Texas who otherwise might not be able to afford it sign up for health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Requires health insurers to provide consumers with rebates if the amount they spend on health benefits and quality of care, as opposed to advertising and marketing, is too low. Last year, 96,024 consumers in Texas received $14,119,897 in rebates. Since this requirement was put in place in 2011 more than $2.4 billion in total refunds have been paid to consumers nationwide through 2014.

Eliminates out-of-pocket costs for preventive services like immunizations, certain cancer screenings, contraception, reproductive counseling, obesity screening, and behavioral assessments for children. This coverage is guaranteed for 10,278,005 people in Texas, including 4,029,215 women.

Eliminates out-of-pocket costs for 2,556,874 Medicare beneficiaries in Texas for preventive services like cancer screenings, bone-mass measurements, annual physicals, and smoking cessation.

Phases out the ``donut hole'' coverage gap for 346,750 Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries in Texas, who have saved an average of $1,057 per beneficiary.

Creates Accountable Care Organizations consisting of doctors and other health-care providers who come together to provide coordinated, high-quality care at lower costs to 564,161 Medicare beneficiaries in Texas.

Phases out overpayments through the Medicare Advantage system, while requiring Medicare Advantage plans to spend at least 85 percent of Medicare revenue on patient care. Since 2009, Medicare Advantage enrollment has grown by 704,407 to 1,230,523 in Texas while premiums have dropped by 10 percent nationwide.

And, the ACA also improved quality of care, too. For example, the

Mr. Speaker, breaking news to the American people: all the other body has to do, the Senate, is to take the bills passed by the Democratic majority in the House and the government will open in minutes, simply with the signature of the President of the United States and the opportunity to work on the kind of barrier that is appropriate for the border, a State of which I come from, Texas, a border State, and have deep knowledge about which borders work and which don't. Then the government could open--breaking news.

It is shameful for my Republican colleagues to come to the floor of the House and not acknowledge that the simple problem is with the White House.

We are not interested in not talking about border security. Democrats have been working on border security for decades and have been successful in the funding to provide barriers that are there now, that I just saw in the last week, myself, at the border, as I have done on many occasions, and simply acknowledging that we helped build up the Border Patrol agency. We as Democrats have built up Customs and Border Protection.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that, when you take $5.7 billion out of the budget, you are not writing a paper check. What it means is that you will cut into Border Patrol agents; you will cut into Customs and Border Protection; you will cut into dollars for education; and you will cut into dollars for healthcare.

How shameful, again, it is for the President to use the opioid crisis that we have been working on well for many, many years. Does he understand that most drugs come through a tunnel and, as well, through legal points of entry? They are not coming across with families--women and children.

Does he understand, when he asks for $5.7 billion, that we need $78 billion to deal with the opioid crisis throughout America, where 115 people die every day? That is money that could be used for providing treatment, providing reverse drugs, and providing access to hospitals and medical care.

We should not be distorting facts to alter the thinking of the American people on untruths. We simply need to say, yes, barriers are appropriate where they can be placed. But this administration is wrong. It pains my heart as a senior member on the Homeland Security Committee to acknowledge that he is holding the American people hostage.

Let me say to all the Federal workers: We thank you.

On my way back to Washington, I stopped to talk to TSA, transportation security agents. They are on the front lines of securing this Nation.

Thank you.

They are on the front lines, along with air traffic controllers. Aviation is still one of the greatest targets for terrorism.

What does this President do? He blocks them from getting paid this very Friday.

Open the government now.

To the other body: Put our bills on the floor of the Senate. Vote and send it to the White House.

I dare the White House to reject the pain of the American people and refuse to open this government so that mothers can have childcare, so that TSA agents can be able to pay their mortgage, so that agricultural workers can continue doing rural development and food stamps, which are going to end in a couple of weeks.

We can't fool around like this anymore. All this chitter-chatter on the other side is nothing but chitter-chatter saying nothing, absolutely nothing.

Open the government, to the White House, and open it now.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 269, the ``Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019.''

H.R. 269 reauthorizes and strengthens emergency preparedness and response programs and efforts Health and Human Services (HHS) and modernizes the regulatory framework at the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and provide the FDA with stable funding to do so through a new user fee program.

H.R. 269 strengthens HHS's emergency preparedness and response by improving benchmarks and standards, addressing military and civilian partnerships for trauma readiness, and clarifying state liability law for volunteer health care professionals.

Additionally, H.R. 269 calls for reporting on the national blood supply and public health preparedness and response capabilities and capacities of hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other health care facilities.

H.R. 269 also allows for the regulation of certain nonprescription drugs that are marketed without an approved drug application, addresses the misbranding of OTC drugs, and calls for an annual update to Congress on the conditions under which certain OTC cough and cold drugs are generally recognized as safe and effective for children.

H.R. 269 grants authority to assess and use OTC monograph fees as a source of stable funding to the FDA for its use to modernize the regulatory framework.

This legislation will benefit all communities by strengthening and assessing the emergency response workforce, improving the preparedness and response of health system infrastructure, taking into consideration at-risk individuals and children, providing guidance for participation in exercises and drills, and create national advisory committees on disasters.

In 2014, Dallas, Texas was faced with an Ebola virus outbreak, one of the world's most deadly viruses.

Howard Duncan was visiting family in Dallas when he became the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

In addition to Duncan, two nurses who provided care to him also became infected.

Zika made its first appearance in Texas in 2015.

In 2016 Texas had 315 cases of Zika, and in 2017, 55 cases were confirmed.

2017 brought a high severity flu season along with Hurricane Harvey.

80,000 people died of the flu during the 2017 through 2018 season and over 30,000 people, or 9 percent of the population, were hospitalized.

The severity of the 2017-2018 flu season was in part due to the flu vaccine, unfortunately, only being effective against only 30 percent of the viruses circulating.

Also in 2017, the 18th District of Texas and the Gulf Coast saw the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

The economic cost of Hurricane Harvey was $125 billion, tying it with Hurricane Katrina as the most costly storm in U.S. history.

More importantly, 107 people lost their lives due to Hurricane Harvey.

Then there is the ongoing shortage of medical supplies, specifically saline solution.

Since 2014 there has been an ongoing shortage of saline, and when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the country's largest supplier was damaged causing an even larger shortage.

The saline shortage coupled with a severe flu season in 2017-2018 has some worried that the demand will quickly outpace the supply.

H.R. 269 will help address these and other local, state, and national emergencies.

Not only does H.R. 269 address HHS emergency preparedness, but it also allows the FDA to better do its job to keep Americans safe.

In 2018, the FDA issued at least 1,412 warning letters regarding the misbranding of products under its jurisdiction.

An alarming number of these letters regard OTC drugs and supplements.

H.R. 269 provides the FDA a stable funding source so that it may continue its regulation of

certain nonprescription drugs that are marketed without an approved drug application and address the misbranding of OTC drugs.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 269.

Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in support of H.R. 251, the ``Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act,'' which will extend by two years the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program (CFATS) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and for other purposes.

I thank Chairman Bernie Thompson of the House Homeland Security Committee for his leadership in introducing this important bill to improve chemical facility security.

The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards CFATS program is the first in the nation to focus specifically on security at high-risk chemical facilities.

Through this regulatory program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with facilities to ensure they have security measures in place to reduce the risk associated with certain hazardous chemicals, and prevent them from being exploited in terrorist attack.

These facilities must submit their chemical holdings to DHS via a process known as a Top Screen, which in turn is used by DHS to determine if the facilities is considered high risk and must develop a security plan.

The Department of Homeland Security reported more than 90,000 Top- Screen submissions from more than 40,000 unique facilities, of this number, CFATS program currently cover 3,355 facilities.

Today, Texas is the national leader in petroleum refining and chemical products production.

Texas alone produces 5.1 million barrels of crude oil per day, which accounted 29 percent of total U.S. refining capacity.

According to the Businessintexas.com, more than 3,700 energy-related establishments are located within the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Houston area contributes 40 percent of the national petrochemical capacity.

The great benefits of the chemical industry provide to our nation a significant economic strength that cannot be underestimated.

Unfortunately, this great reward does not come without risks.

In 2013, a deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas killed 15 people, injured over 200 people and wiped out hundreds of homes.

On November 15, 2014, a leak of nearly 24,000 pounds of toxic chemical killed four workers at the E. I. DuPont de Nemours insecticide plant in La Porte, Texas.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused a chemical plant explosion.

That is why it is important that we vote today to implement the following recommendations from the report:

1. Extend by two years the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program of the Department Homeland Security and other purposes.

2. Continue outreach in support to the DHS effort to identify chemical facility that are high risks, which will expand availability of CFATS compliance assistance materials and engage stakeholder to raise awareness of CFATS requirement and make improve the safety.

Because the mission of DHS is to ensure that our homeland is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards, effective communication within the organization is crucial.

Since its founding, the Department of Homeland Security has overcome many challenges as an organization but much more progress must be made regarding Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program.

Although not a panacea, H.R. 251 is a step in the right direction because it will help improve DHS' overall functions so that it can more effectively protect our people.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 226, the ``Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management,'' which amends the Small Business Act.

This act would require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to provide in its business goal report information as to how many small businesses are participating in the ``best in class'' vehicles so Congress can ascertain the effectiveness of such contracting vehicles for small firms.

H.R. 226 amends ``the Small Business Act to include best in class designations in the annual report on small business goals prepared by the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.''

The report is to include among other things, the number of small business concerns awarded contracts and the dollar amount of such contracts awarded within each such designation to qualified HUBZone small business concerns, small business concerns owned and controlled by women, small business concerns owned and controlled by service- disabled veterans, and small business concerns owned and controlled by social and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Mr. Speaker, 99.9 percent of women-owned businesses are small businesses, whereas the majority of male- and female-owned employer businesses have fewer than five employees, more male-owned small businesses employ five or more employees.

Of the 30 million small businesses nationwide, 8 million are owned by minorities.

Between 2007 and 2012 minority owned small businesses increased in volume by around 38 percent.

Small businesses ``are the engines of job creation in the United States.''

Small businesses contribute to growth and vitality in many important areas of economic and socioeconomic development.

Small businesses create jobs and job opportunities, spark innovation, and provide opportunities for women and minorities to achieve financial success and independence.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 226.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 227, which amends the Small Business Act to specify what credit is given for certain subcontractors and to provide a dispute process for non-payment to subcontractors.

Mr. Speaker, it is of the utmost importance that we pass this legislation to ensure subcontractors receive the credit and payment for performance that they have earned.

Between 2010 and 2016, Texas' population grew at the second-greatest rate in the country, accompanied by increased demand for residential, retail and commercial space.

With this increased demand came an increase in small businesses and the need for subcontractors across the state.

This fact alone explains why H.R. 227 is so important not only to small businesses throughout the country but specifically the small businesses and subcontractors in Texas that deserve compensation for their performance in a timely manner.

The Houston Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association (ASA- HC) is a collective voice for a diverse membership that was created in order to ensure quality, safety and ethics in construction trades.

ASA-HC advocates for legislative reform and provides educational opportunities for the subcontracting community.

Since ASA-HC's founding in 1966, more than 2,500 member companies throughout the United States, and more than 160 members in Houston benefit from the advocacy ASA offers to its members.

These hard-working Americans deserve nothing less than our maximal support for this bill.

Not only do these Americans deserve our support for H.R. 227, they deserve our maximum efforts to end the government shutdown.

Thousands of subcontractors whose pay comes from federal contracts have little hope of recouping the pay they lost when the government is not operating.

Julie Burr, a single mom from Kansas City, struggles to support her family during this shutdown.

She has been out of work and cannot receive pay for the two weeks prior to the shutdown because there is no one to process her time sheet.

She has taken extra shifts in her side job as a seasonal employee at Barnes and Noble, but it only makes up 25 percent of what her normal pay would be and she has had to ask for an extension on her rent payment, which was due on the first of the month.

Ethan James, a 21 year old minimum-wage contractor can only realistically miss three to four days of work before his standard of living is compromised.

He now risks missing his rent payment because he is not receiving the checks he depends on to sustain himself.

These hardworking Americans deserve more, we cannot afford to drag our feet on such an important issue.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 227 and standing true to our nation's commitment to supporting and protecting small businesses and subcontractors.

I include in the Record a new article entitled ``During Shutdown, Janitors, Security Guards and other Federal Contractors receive no back pay.''

[From ABC News, January 2, 2019]

During Shutdown, Janitors, Security Guards, and Other Federal

Contractors Receive No Back Pay

(By Stephanie Ebbs and Anne Flaherty)

While hundreds of thousands of federal workers will have to

wait for back pay after the government shutdown ends,

thousands more whose pay comes from federal contracts have

little hope of recouping the pay they lose when the

government isn't operating. Some contractors are turning to

other means to make up for the lost income, like taking extra

shifts at a second job.

Julie Burr, an administrative assistant for the Department

of Transportation in Kansas City, said she doesn't expect any

compensation for the time she's been out of work during the

shutdown and that she can't even get paid for the two weeks

before it started because there's no one to process her time

sheet.

``I'm just trying to take one day at a time honestly,''

Burr said in a phone interview. ``I keep turning on the news

and think maybe today's the day something will happen.''

She said she's taken extra shifts in her side job as a

seasonal employee at Barnes and Noble but it only makes up 25

percent of what her normal pay would be and she's had to ask

for an extension on her rent payment, which was due on the

first of the month.

Burr even set up a GoFundMe page to try and help with some

of the expenses and is concerned that even if she can set up

a payment plan it could hurt her credit score.

``I'm a single mom . . . we aren't a two income family or

anything. It's just me, and I'm kind of trying to make things

meet and if it comes to the point of selling items in the

house I'll do that,'' she said.

During previous government shutdowns, Congress has passed

resolutions approving back pay for most federal workers. But

contract workers like custodians and security officers, whose

hourly wages are funded by private companies, don't get paid

unless they work.

According to 32BJ SEIU, that means sudden unemployment with

no end in sight for the 370 Smithsonian security officers in

Washington D.C. protecting the popular museums--which house

everything from Judy Garland's ruby red slippers from ``The

Wizard of Oz'' to Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis

airplane--as well as the 50 security officers who work for

Smithsonian museums in New York.

32BJ SEIU is a large property service workers' union that

estimates some 2,000 of its members are facing potential

paycheck disruptions as a result of the shutdown, including

some 70 custodians at the Agriculture Department alone.

Most of those workers aren't eligible for back pay because

they are paid by private companies with government contracts

instead of being government employees.

It's a particularly ironic twist for federal workers caught

in the showdown between President Donald Trump and

congressional Democrats over funding for a border wall.

The union said that almost of all of its members are

African-American or Latino and many don't support Trump's

efforts to build a border wall.

``A true focus on America would mean support for the

hardworking men and women who keep our government safe, clean

and running every day while supporting their own families and

communities across the country,'' said Jaime Contreras, a

32BJ SEIU vice president, in a statement.

``I wish everybody would just sit down and come to a

compromise,'' she said.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 128 the ``Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act,'' which clarifies the duties of the SBA's Office of Advocacy.

I support this legislation because, among other things, it mandates the SBA Office of Advocacy to examine small business issues in international economies and authorizes the Office to represent small businesses interests before international entities and foreign governments dealing with regulatory and trade initiatives that affect small businesses.

The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy is an independent voice for small

business within the federal government that advocates on the behalf of this vital sector of the U.S. economy.

H.R. 128 clarifies and amends the duties of the Office of Advocacy to better serve the concerns of small businesses before Congress, the Federal Government and the international economy.

Small businesses are a critical component of the United States economy and the 8 million minority owned businesses reflect the diversity of our economy and our country.

Small businesses make up 44 percent of the U.S. wages and salaries paid annually to employees which helps stimulate and drive the rest of the U.S. economy.

SBA reported in 2018 that 99.9 percent of businesses within the United States are classified as Small Businesses, encompassing almost 50 percent of all employees with the United States.

In Texas, 98.6 percent of firms with employees were small businesses in 2012 and 93 percent of goods exported internationally were by small businesses.

By including the international economy within the interests of the SBA Office of Advocacy, small businesses will be able to compete effectively with international entities and expand to their full potential.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 128 and upholding the importance of small businesses within our own economy and our presence internationally.