Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5473. This bill, introduced by Representatives Edwards and Norcross, would provide FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with greater flexibility when incentivizing the use of hazard-resistant building codes in its predisaster mitigation programs.

Current law directs FEMA to only consider the latest edition of building codes when implementing predisaster mitigation programs. This legislation will allow FEMA to consider the latest two editions of codes. The additional flexibility will help States and communities that are struggling to adapt to frequent changes in building codes.

Thanks to an amendment offered by Ranking Member Titus and adopted at markup, this bill now includes a pilot program within FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program called BRIC--not to be confused with Brazil, Russia, India, and China--making it possible to fund individual home retrofits for the purpose of disaster resilience.

The severity of disasters has skyrocketed in recent years, putting homeowners at serious risk. Implementing recommended mitigation measures could make the difference between a family losing their home and life savings or being able to stay safe and continue their daily routines post-disaster.

This pilot program will ensure financial barriers do not stand in the way of making homes safer, so no family is left behind. Homeowners might leverage this pilot to make the roof less flammable and more resilient to wildfires and remove overhanging branches to reduce the risk of damage from severe storms or build a tornado-safe room.

These measures may also come with the added benefit of reduced insurance premiums. Having a home is very important in America, so it is critical that we support ways to lower premiums and make homes more insurable as disaster risk and insurance costs are ballooning.

The House passed the language in this bipartisan bill on suspension in the 117th Congress. I look forward to passing this measure today to improve implementation of predisaster mitigation programs and make homes more resilient to disaster.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join with the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) and me as we support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to ping-pong this back and forth. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am standing in lieu of the ranking member Mr. Larsen, who can't be here, and he asked me to do this as I am the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Aviation, which this bill came out of.

I was here earlier today on a veterans' bill, and I mentioned that people sometimes don't think we work together, but military and veterans' issues are a place where Democrats and Republicans come together. We also come together on transportation issues generally, and this time we most assuredly did. There was an overwhelmingly large majority passing this bill on the floor, and it was because of the work of Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

This is a good bill. It protects the flying public. It takes care of consumers who have been left in the breach either on the tarmac or left for hours with the plane not leaving or getting in late, giving them the right to get refunds, compensation, water, all those other things they would like to have. It takes care of trying to see that our air traffic controllers have a larger group of people to choose from, opening it up to minorities who have not really been encouraged and/or permitted so much into the air traffic control system.

We need more and more air traffic controllers, so this bill encourages more people to get involved in that because when we have a lack of air traffic controllers, we have got potential safety problems. We have had 9, 10, or 11--I don't know exactly how many--near- collisions because the air traffic controllers had too much work, some of them were doing other things, and they just don't have enough folks. For safety, we need to get this passed, as well as for consumers.

There are many other improvements detailed in the bill, but I am not going to go through these eight wonderful pages that my staffer has drawn up for me to read. I will just say it is a good bill. The Senate should get their work done and join with us in improving the public's safety in the air and their rights as consumers. The bill includes improvements in airport construction and also gives people with disabilities many more opportunities, too.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage everybody to vote ``aye'' and pass this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in response to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), my friend, who wished us all merry Christmas, I wish him merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah.

Today is the Hanukkah party at the White House, and the Speaker has yet to limit votes so that the Members who attend can attend and not miss votes. We had votes moved on Christmas, and they should be moved on Hanukkah, too. I know the Speaker is very concerned about the Bible, and in the Bible, Moses said, let my people go. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I will yield back the balance of my time and not ask Mr. Graves who won the Heisman Trophy because he knows well-- the LSU quarterback.

New and persistent challenges facing the U.S. aviation system make clear that the status quo is unsustainable. We must extend the FAA's current authorization and recommit to passing a long-term, comprehensive reauthorization to avoid repeating this scenario. I support H.R. 6503 fully, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I don't do a lot of these, but when Congressman Bishop asked me to come to be recognized and talk about Rosalynn Carter, I had no choice but to say yes. She was a marvelous woman, a marvelous human being, and a great First Lady. She was the epitome of what a spouse should be, what a mother should be, and what a grandmother should be. She did live nearly a perfect life, from what we know. She was a giving person and a caring person.

Rosalynn was very devoted to her religion, and there was not any hypocrisy about her. She lived her life and took actions as the Bible would have taught her to do. She cared about others, and she gave her life to others.

The last time I saw Rosalynn was in Memphis when she was there with her husband, I guess about 4 or 5 years ago, maybe a little more. They were there for Habitat for Humanity, and they both got out in blue jeans with their hammers and nails, building houses. She was with Jimmy in all those things. She wanted to help people and give people a better opportunity.

I have visited The Carter Center, and that is a great tribute to their years in the White House and what they did to try to make a better world, which we all should and they did. I had great regard for her.

Last night, I was at the White House for the Christmas party, and it was a marvelous event. Dr. Biden has done a great job in decorating the White House in the way that it should be for people who see the beauty and the wonder of Christmas.

One of the portraits I saw when I walked in was of Rosalynn Carter. It was in the hallway when you walk in, and I had to stop to look at it on the way going in and on the way coming out and made a point to go over and look at the name of the artist who painted the portrait. It looked exactly like this, but that is what Rosalynn Carter looked like. I thought she was just the perfect expression of love and simplicity, and she belonged there. She belonged there so much.

I appreciate what she gave to our country and Jimmy Carter, too. I can mention Jimmy Carter. I did once have an opportunity on a flight from Atlanta to D.C.--a Delta flight, of course--to have Jimmy Carter on my flight. He got up and walked through. He shook hands with me, and I thought: ``Wow, that is pretty cool. The President is shaking hands with me.'' Then I turned around and noticed he shook hands with every single person on the airplane because he wanted everybody to have the opportunity to know they had shaken hands with a President of the United States.

That is the way the Carters were. They wanted to share. They wanted to recognize individuals and give them what they had received in life, which are certain moments that they will never forget and will hold dear.

I thank Rosalynn Carter for her life. I thank her for the service, which I watched just about all of, and the wonderful expressions by her children and grandchildren, and the rendition of ``Imagine'' by Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, which I think she would have appreciated. I thank her for her life and for what she gave America.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Sanford Bishop for inviting me to participate today.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, will be the beginning of the weekend of the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis is a city that has much to be proud of, but one of our most prideful things is we are home to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It cures cancers, tries to cure the ones that they haven't yet, and gives children with cancer opportunities to be treated free of charge.

This week, there will be a St. Jude marathon through Memphis; a big race with thousands and thousands of runners who are there to raise money for St. Jude and to bring attention to what St. Jude does for the children of the world.

I praise St. Jude, and I am appreciative that they are in Memphis. I encourage everybody to support them and to contribute.

I am not supposed to say that but I did.

Mr. Speaker, I just watched the 47-minute film provided by the Israeli Government for our Members to watch the horrors of Hamas and what they did on October 7. Everyone who saw that should never forget it and should give notice to the world of the barbarity and the horrific attack on the Israeli people.

The House has much to do. We need to keep this government open. We need to support Israel in defending their citizens and in their efforts to protect their democracy and their nation. We need to protect Ukraine, as well.

Ukraine and Israel are two democratic friends of ours. They have been savagely attacked. They need our help, and we need to help them with arms and weapons.

Act now.

Never forget.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Keith Cole, the executive director of the Wolf River Conservancy, who will be retiring December 15 after helping build fourteen miles of an eventual 26-mile corridor of trails

protecting the once-foul Wolf River that runs through the heart of Memphis before emptying into the Mississippi River. Keith, who took on the director's role twelve years ago, brought a business perspective and organizational and fundraising abilities to a loose confederation of conservationists organized in 1985 to oppose a gravel mine near the river. During his time as executive director of the Wolf River Conservancy, he helped raise $62 million to preserve land that is the watershed that produces the region's drinking water aquifer while earning the accreditation of the Land Trust Alliance and doubling the conservancy's staff. An ambassador to the private donor community, he also lobbied state legislators and others in Nashville, securing a $10 million grant from the state of Tennessee. A native of Hayti, Missouri, Keith retired in 2009 after selling his business as a Blockbuster Video franchise owner in Knoxville, Little Rock and Jackson, Mississippi. He soon took up the challenge of righting the Conservancy, which was an organization mired in debt and uncertain of its mission. By the time he enters retirement for the second time, the Conservancy will have protected 20,000 acres of land in Shelby and Fayette counties in Tennessee and Benton and Marshall counties in Mississippi. As a practical matter, that means there is no development or sources of pollution that can flow into the Wolf River's 522,000-acre watershed. The improved water quality now attracts recreational boaters and sportsmen and has stimulated the tourist economy. In September, I was pleased to announce that the Department of Interior's Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant of $1,308,567 to the Conservancy to protect 1,536 acres of wetlands and adjacent uplands along the Wolf River and its tributaries. The grant is expected to be matched by $2,095,142 in funding from partners including the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the City of Memphis, Shelby County, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and private landowners. I congratulate Keith on a job well done and join all in our community in thanking him for the environmental victories he and the Conservancy have achieved, benefits to our city and region that will be felt for decades and decades, if not a century or more. Job well done.

Mr. Speaker, on October 29, 2023, the Republic of Turkiye celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding, and I congratulate the People of Turkiye and Turkish Americans on this 100th commemoration.

As a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkiye Relations and Turkish Americans and the only Member of Congress of Turkish descent, I recognize the vast reforms that were undertaken by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his vision for a reformed, modernized, and democratic Turkish Republic. Today, Turkish Americans represent a vital thread of the American fabric, and with rich culture and history, they serve as the best ambassadors for strong relations between our two countries.

I take pride in the contributions and cultural richness brought by Turkish-Americans to the United States. Our heritage is a tapestry woven into the diverse fabric of this nation, and we remain committed to fostering understanding and collaboration between Turkiye and the United States.

I congratulate the Turkish people and Turkish Americans on this centennial milestone and look forward to strengthening U.S. Turkiye relations.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember one of my best friend and a trusted advisor, Saul Belz, a civic leader in Memphis and the Mid-South and a fine lawyer. He was a member of the firm Glankler Brown, for more than 22 years but was also a partner at Waring Cox, and a partner and associate at Burch, Porter and Johnson. Saul passed on Wednesday. Whenever I needed help, I knew I'd better call Saul. In his more than 40 years as a lawyer in Memphis, he had a reputation for handling complex litigation and was recognized one of the country's best. A highly respected attorney, he was low key and humble. He advocated for civil rights and economic opportunity for African Americans. He advised me on judicial recommendations for Western District of Tennessee and gave his highest recommendation for Andre Mathis' appointment to the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Saul was a sports fan of all Memphis teams and of Vanderbilt teams, and major fan of music, including all things related to Jim Dickinson. He served as a director of the Tennessee Justice Center, director of the Center for Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, director of the Memphis Bar Association, chairman of the Memphis Area Legal Services Fundraising Campaign, on the Supreme Court of Tennessee's Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, and as a director of the Memphis Zoological Society. He received the Pillars of Excellence Award from the University of Memphis Law Alumni Association and he was a Fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers. Saul graduated from the University of Texas in 1964 and received his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1967. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife Betsy, and children Jennifer Belz, Heather Belz, Margaret Flanagan, and Hallie Flanagan, his extended family and his many friends. He lived a good life and will be missed.

Mr. Chair, firstly, I would like to go ahead and extend to all the leadership that produced this bill my thanks: Chairman Sam Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and Subcommittee Chair Garret Graves, our self-professed passenger.

This is an outstanding, bipartisan bill. It is what the American public wants, what it needs, and we need to pass this.

If the House Committee on Transportation was a microcosm of Congress, we would have the highest ratings Congress has ever seen. We worked together on this bill.

As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Aviation, I appreciate the opportunity to work with this leadership team and the whole committee and the staff to produce this bipartisan bill, which we hope we can pass by the September deadline.

The legislation is vital in the continuity of the U.S. aviation industry. It helps ensure aviation safety, infrastructure, and workforce development programs remain top priorities at such a critical juncture.

Our Nation is bound together by aviation, business and passenger, as well. This legislation addresses several key priorities of mine: improving airport infrastructure investments; enhancing aviation safety; protecting consumers, especially those with disabilities; addressing environmental resiliency; ensuring the safe operation and integration of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility aircraft; and improving the development of the U.S. aviation workforce, especially in minority communities.

I am especially pleased to see several of my amendments included herein. There is language to assist airports that faced financial adversity due to reclassification from small to medium hubs, including the Memphis International Airport.

There are provisions from the Safe Aviation Flight Enhancement Act that was introduced with my friend from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett) to address flight data recovery for aircraft used in extended overwater operations and cockpit voice recorders.

There is language developed with Senator Blumenthal directing the FAA to complete its rulemaking on a minimum seat size, as mandated by our SEAT Act from the 2018 FAA reauthorization law.

There is language developed with Senator Lujan regarding aircraft cabin temperature standards.

There are provisions from the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin Act that was introduced with Senator Duckworth to improve Federal evacuation standards.

The Mobility Aids on Board Improve Lives and Empower All Act that I introduced with Representative Stauber and Senators Duckworth and Thune would improve air travel for passengers with disabilities, notably passengers who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids.

The Prioritizing Accountability and Accessibility for Aviation Consumers Act that I introduced with Representative Fitzpatrick and Senators Duckworth and Fischer is on disabilities, as well.

As you can see, I work with folks from both sides of the aisle and both Houses. That is what we needed to do, and that is why this bill is good and why it is going to pass.

Mr. Chair, the bill also addresses consumer concerns relating to reimbursements when there are significant

delays or canceled flights, family seating, and airport infrastructure resiliency as well as airline operational resiliency plans.

All of the above are steps in the right direction to not only protect and accommodate passengers with equity in mind but also to ensure the longevity of the U.S. aviation industry.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment filed by Mr. Issa.

Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment which would require the FAA to make an independent assessment of each notice to air mission, or NOTAM, request from a non-Federal entity.

Many NOTAMs are simply for general awareness, a temporary crane has been erected in controlled airspace, or a runway at an airport with no traffic control tower being repaved.

Some NOTAMs increase airspace awareness for pilots in the area alerting them about drone operations or balloon flights--some of them from China.

Some of them result in actual flight restrictions, like over sports stadiums during NFL and MLB games or when a concert is going on.

Sometimes FAA requires an operator or an airport to file a NOTAM prior operation in order to provide safety information for other airspace users. These are submitted through a special controlled access system.

NOTAMs are issued for all kinds of reasons. As we all know from the NOTAM system outage earlier this year, there are many of them, which can be a blessing, and it can be a curse.

For example, French Valley Airport, which is a small county-owned public use general aviation airport in Riverside County, California, currently has 80 active NOTAMs within a 10-mile radius. There are tens of thousands of big, medium, and small airports and heliports all over the country--consider the magnitude of bureaucracy this amendment creates.

Requiring the FAA to independently verify every single NOTAM would bring an already cumbersome system to a complete standstill.

NOTAMs keep pilots safe. This amendment would create an enormously burdensome process to get NOTAMs issued.

Finally, this amendment will very likely conflict with recommendations from the NOTAM working group created by the NOTAM Improvement Act that this Congress passed 2 months ago.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Chair, I would just reiterate the fact that this will add additional burdens to the FAA. They would have to independently verify every single NOTAM. The FAA is already overburdened with work, and

they need more and more folks there to make our civil aeronautics system work properly.

The amendment would conflict with recommendations just passed a few months ago by the NOTAM working group for improvement of that act, and that was passed just 2 months ago. So I have to cite those same reasons for opposing the amendment.

Mr. Chair, I continue to oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Issa is a worthy adversary, but it is still 40-love.

Mr. Chair, I ask everybody to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chair, this amendment would add animal feeding operations and meat and food processing facilities to a growing list of sites over which the FAA will restrict drone flights.

These restrictions that currently exist are intended to be used for facilities where overhead drone activity would present a potential public safety and security concern--critical infrastructures like energy and oil facilities and State prisons.

There is no practical reason why animal agriculture facilities should qualify for this kind of restriction, particularly when having that restriction might endanger energy and oil facilities. These facilities do not involve sensitive or potentially hazardous operations as energy and oil facilities and State prisons do.

These restrictions already exist to ensure the safety of such facilities, facility workers, and the public.

The designation is not intended to be used to inhibit First Amendment rights, protect intellectual property, or help facilities avoid accountability.

Allowing such exceptions is a slippery slope in restricting First Amendment rights as the national airspace is public space.

This would delay FAA rulemaking to create these public safety restrictions by several months or years, sacrificing public safety to shield meat processing facilities and possibly endangering time that could better be spent with energy and oil facilities and State prisons.

I urge Members to side with public safety, energy and oil facilities, and

State prisons and vote ``no'' on this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I will close in reciting the previous argument that this is not about protecting public safety and that First Amendment rights would be violated.

I looked back to see my crowd here, to see how we would win this voice vote, and it looks very daunting. I feel a little bit like Davy Crockett at the Alamo. Nevertheless, I continue to voice my opposition, and I ask my colleagues who are here to vote ``no.''

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to this amendment offered by Representative Kean, not as an individual from District 9 but as the ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee being given certain responsibilities for that position.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a spike in the number of

mass flight cancellations and significant delay events. Some of these events were not completely attributable to the airlines.

The acceleration of the number of worker retirements during the height of the pandemic affected every industry's workforce, and many of the airlines were understandably not prepared for the massive increase in air travel demand as the effects of the pandemic started to dissipate.

This led to the rise in significant delays and cancellations that have affected passengers over the last several years.

This also underscores the importance of the Department of Transportation accurately reporting the on-time performance of flight delays and cancellations so consumers will have a full and accurate picture of what to expect when traveling.

Unfortunately, this amendment would restrict airline service quality performance reporting by removing a host of critical reporting elements.

For example, the amendment would remove airlines' requirements to report delays due to vendor computer outages, including cybersecurity attacks. I know I would like that to continue to be reported, and I assume most of my colleagues would, as well.

This amendment would also remove airlines' requirements to report delays due to crew availability related to hours flown, rest periods, and on-duty times not caused by a carrier. This is something Federal regulators need to understand in order to make effective policy.

Further, this amendment will move airlines' requirements to report delays due to an unscheduled engineering or safety inspection. Again, I want to know when this happens because this is potentially critical information to inform an airline safety management system and can help the FAA understand whether the safety management system is working effectively.

The amendment would also remove the reporting of public health issues so airlines wouldn't need to report delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other pandemics in the future.

That kind of data helps both Congress and the public health officials take measured and appropriate action to potentially help airlines in times of financial need.

Accurate and comprehensive data is critical to helping this Congress and the Department of Transportation make good policy and take appropriate action.

It helps us to take informed steps to improve the passenger experience, identify root causes for trends and delays, hold airlines accountable for what is in their control, and target fixes elsewhere for things outside of the airlines' control. This amendment would significantly reduce the granularity of data collected.

While I am happy to work with Representative Kean to determine a fair and reasonable way to report airline statistics regarding significant delays and cancellations, I have to oppose this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I reiterate my opposition. I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, which directs the FAA to issue an interim final rule to allow restricted category aircraft to be used to transport firefighters to and from wildfire sites and other conforming changes.

While I support the intent of helping firefighters, this amendment is not the way to do it. In fact, if we are talking about firefighters, a firefighter lost his life in Memphis today fighting a fire. Several were injured, and we hope they will recover quickly. It is a difficult profession.

Restricted category aircraft are certified by the FAA for only very specific types of missions. Many of them are aircraft specifically built for military operations.

This amendment would create a shortcut for manufacturers interested in selling aircraft. However, the aircraft are not certified to the safety standards needed to carry passengers. This is an attempt by one manufacturer to create a domestic market for its aircraft without going through the FAA safety certification process. That is just not cricket.

Furthermore, interim final rules are only issued in situations where a regulatory process or requirement is clearly and directly creating a safety or security hazard.

There are multiple paths for this aircraft to be put to good use in helping firefighters, and manufacturers should follow those processes.

Congress should not be writing safety loopholes for companies to sell aircraft that potentially put our Nation's firefighters at risk. I stand with our firefighters.

Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, let me put my colleague's mind at rest. I don't intend to call for a roll call. I will oppose the amendment, but I do not intend to call for a roll call.

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

Mr. Chair, reform, not repeal is what we should be looking for. Essential Air Service is a critical transportation lifeline for many rural communities. It was put in place to guarantee small communities maintain a minimum level of air service.

The most important State is Alaska, where the majority of surface transportation is not passable year-round. Alaskans rely heavily on air travel to stay connected. This would be an economic disaster for the State. There are currently approximately 60 communities in Alaska alone, and another 110 in the lower 48, that depend on service through

Mr. Chair, I respectfully claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, this would require the FAA to submit a report on flight records for the Secretary of Transportation for the previous years. Obviously, as the gentlewoman indicated, it is about Secretary Buttigieg who, I think, has done an outstanding job as our Secretary.

This amendment provides no benefit to the FAA. They already know where he has been going, and it would be a waste of the administration's limited time and resources.

In fact, there is no reason to think that his flights haven't been for reasons that benefit the United States and the Department of Transportation.

Now, if the amendment was something about Senators leaving their States during emergency climate events and going to Acapulco, or to wherever it was in Mexico, I could agree to it, maybe. But that is not what it is about.

There is no basis as to why this report should be needed. There are many pressing issues the FAA should dedicate its attention toward in this reauthorization, and the gentlewoman's amendment would detract from those efforts.

To that end, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment which has no basis in fact concerning anything Secretary Buttigieg may have done in any way improper.

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

Mr. Chairman, it was Cancun I was trying to think of. So if the amendment dealt with Cancun when Texas was having a climate emergency, that is a different situation, and people might need to know about that.

But Secretary Buttigieg, there is no reason to think he has done anything wrong whatsoever, so there is no basis behind this amendment, no fact basis. It is just conjuring up something, and that is why I continue to oppose the amendment.

I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment because it would be a waste of FAA time, and it is certainly something that is intended to sully the name of our distinguished Secretary of Transportation who has done an outstanding job.

I think the time that the airlines were closed down was because of the modems. It didn't have anything to do with the Secretary of Transportation, or even the FAA.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition.

Mr. Chairman, I would say that this amendment which prohibits funds from this Act being used to hire any diversity, equity, and inclusion officials or conduct DEI training is unnecessary, inappropriate, and failing our system.

It is interesting that it follows the amendment that would look into and suggest that Secretary Buttigieg has done something wrong.

As our Nation works toward long-term economic recovery, it is critical the educational and career opportunities in the aerospace industry be available and accessible to all Americans. It doesn't say that people who aren't the most qualified would get hired. DEI just says people would get opportunities which they may not have had in the past, and there might be systems in place that do not allow people who are diverse, who need to be included, inclusive, and gives them an opportunity and equitably get the job just because of their appearance. It means that they don't get discriminated against.

The U.S. aerospace industry is taking initial steps to diversify its workforce through the creation of flight training academies, apprenticeships, and other career pathway programs, but more can be done.

The underlying bill robustly invests in the FAA's aviation workforce development programs to support the education and recruitment of aviation jobs, including for communities underrepresented in the aviation industry.

I represent the Ninth Congressional District in Tennessee, which is a minority-majority district. A lot of minorities are not in aviation jobs. They can perform those jobs and do great jobs, they just haven't been given the opportunity over the years, and they need to have opportunities to see that this is a place that they can look to to be a pilot and to earn a good living and to have a good job. DEI programs would help.

This amendment ties the hands of the FAA and its outgoing educational, recruiting, and retention plans by prohibiting the hiring of a DEI officer or conducting DEI training, regardless of whether the FAA believes that this will result in the best possible results for the aviation workforce.

Again, I oppose this amendment. I urge a ``no'' vote, and hope that all Americans can have an opportunity to get good-paying jobs.

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

Mr. Chair, I would just continue to urge a ``no'' vote. You don't have to be woke. You just don't have to be asleep.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember a devoted public servant and dear friend, former Tennessee State Senator Roy Herron, who died on Saturday after injuries sustained in a jet ski accident at the age of 69.

Roy was a multi-faceted man of the people--a lawyer and Methodist minister, who served in the state House and Senate for 26 years and was the Democratic nominee for the 8th Congressional District in 2010. He also wrote three books about the role of faith in politics and a fourth book about Tennessee political humor, co-authored with his friend Cotton Ivy.

A gifted politician, Roy was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1986 to fill the seat vacated when Ned McWherter became governor. He served in the House in the 95th through 99th Tennessee General Assemblies and in the Senate in the 100th through 107th, where he served as floor leader and then chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. He was my Senate colleague from 1997 until I left the state Senate and came to Congress in 2007. He also chaired the Select Committee on Children and Youth, the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee, and the Joint Tenncare Oversight Committee. He was a member of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Government Operations Committee, the Joint Committee on Charitable Gaming, and the Joint Select Committee on Education.

I was hopeful that we would be colleagues in Washington when he declared his candidacy for Congress in 2009 after John Tanner announced his retirement. Roy campaigned throughout the 8th District in his old red Ford pickup. Despite receiving the endorsement of every major Tennessee newspaper, he lost the general election to Stephen Fincher, a cotton farmer who refused to debate him, as Tennessee took a hard right turn. In 2011, he was seriously injured in a bicycling accident while training for an Iron Man competition. He later served as chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party from 2013 to 2015.

Roy graduated at the top of his class at the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1975 and was chosen as a Rotary Scholar and spent a year studying religion at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Returning to Tennessee, he received both a master's degree in Divinity and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1980.

Besides his accomplishments and dedication to public service, Roy will be remembered as a truly nice guy. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife Nancy and his sons John, Rick and Ben, and his many friends and supporters. His was a life well lived, and he will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Nadler for the time.

I served the first 3\1/2\ years of my legal career in the police department. I had a badge and a gun. I know policemen as well, if not better, than almost anybody in this body.

I tried to give them a gun yesterday because there was a bill on the floor to let them take their revolvers with them when they retired in good standing, but the Republicans had it amended to where they could also take automatic weapons and didn't have to be in good standing. We can't do things purely for the police.

In this situation, I offered an amendment to advocate the positions of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and other police organizations to say that we should have limits on weapons on the streets, on armor-piercing bullets, and on assault weapons.

Police don't want those on the streets against them. Yet, it wasn't allowed to be heard. It was offered twice again by Mr. Cicilline. It wasn't allowed to be heard.

Just like when children are killed, when people are killed in clubs, when people are killed in churches, when people are killed in Las Vegas on the streets, this is thoughts and prayers because the NRA and the concern of people having guns and bullets comes before police and their protection.

This is thoughts and prayers, and it is police memorial week lite.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, I had the honor of going to Kyiv, Ukraine, with the chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Joe Wilson. I am the ranking member.

Our commission is responsible for the security and cooperation of governments in Europe. The sovereign country of Ukraine is threatened in every part of the Helsinki Accords which created our organization. All violations were committed by Russia, which is a member of the group but not a participating member in terms of following its precepts.

The Ukrainian people are courageous and show great valor. They have defeated the Russians in every military aspect that exists except for airpower. The Russians have the sky.

Our allies and our country must do all we can to get Ukraine sufficient additional weapons to protect the skies, to protect their soldiers, to protect democracy, to protect freedom, and to protect the rule of law in that country and in the rest of Europe because Putin will not stop at Ukraine.

``Slava Ukraini.'' ``Glory to Ukraine.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recall Margot Stern Strom, a pioneer in Holocaust history teaching and a powerful advocate of anti- bigotry education. Ms. Strom passed on March 27 at her home in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1975, as a seventh- and eighth-grade language arts teacher in Brookline, she and a colleague, Bill Parsons, attended a lecture on the Holocaust and realized how little they knew about it, and how little was being taught to adolescents. They founded Facing History and Ourselves which has developed curriculum on the Nazi atrocities before and during World War II. It has also taught about Jim Crow racial discrimination and Ku Klux Klan violence in the United States, the Armenian Genocide, apartheid, and other forms of bigotry and antisemitism, including more recent tutorials on the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh and the George Floyd murder in Minnesota. Facing History has reached tens of thousands of students and teachers over the years. The daughter of parents who operated a furniture store in my hometown of Memphis, Ms. Strom graduated from the University of Illinois--Champaign-Urbana in 1964 and eventually moved to Massachusetts to teach. She retired as executive director of Facing History in 2014. I extend my condolences to her daughter, Rachel, her son, Adam, her extended family, and her many inspired colleagues, supporters and friends.

Madam Speaker, I am the only Democrat Congressperson from Tennessee, so in some ways I represent the entire State on issues of concern to Democrats and people of progress.

Tennessee and New York, unfortunately, have been shameful in their conduct recently in the way they relate to government and in the lack of the way they relate to meaningful gun reform to protect our citizens from mass shootings.

In Tennessee there was the Tennessee Three. Three legislators who went to

the well to protest the fact that after a murder, a terrorist act killing six citizens at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, there was no response from the supermajority Republicans in the general assembly, nor at the time from the Republican Governor.

They went to the well, while the galleries were full of people protesting the lax gun reform laws or gun laws in Tennessee, to protest and say, we should have some gun laws to protect our children and to protect people all over our country who are victims of mass shootings.

They expelled two of the members and tried to expel three for simply raising an issue that otherwise would not be raised by a supermajority and that was favored by a majority of the people in Tennessee by far-- red flag laws.

No more weapons of war should be sold, the weapons that people used to do mass shootings at Covenant Presbyterian Church; in Louisville, at the bank; and almost everywhere where there are mass shootings in this country.

That was shameful for the Tennessee General Assembly to try to expel three and to expel two, and not to take up gun reform.

Governor Lee later took up gun reform and said he was for red flag laws, but a red flag law was proposed this week, and it didn't even get a motion or a second.

In New York, the House Judiciary Committee adjourned to New York, a recess there, to have a hearing yesterday allegedly concerning a State official, the DA, Mr. Bragg, and his record that they call pro-crime and anti-victim.

What they really went to New York to do was to act as Donald Trump's public relations firm and defense firm, something the United States Congress is not empowered to do for any individual. They are not empowered to go into another jurisdiction where federalization laws say that the States have their own prosecutors, and the Federal Government is not supposed to go in and ask for information that they can then give to the defense, and attack Mr. Bragg.

The facts were well-pointed out that New York is a safe city, and safer than most of the major cities in Mr. Jordan's State of Ohio. They attacked Mr. Bragg and said he was supported by George Soros.

What does that have in common with Tennessee?

The people they went after were minorities.

Mr. Bragg, the first African-American-elected DA in the borough of Manhattan and in Tennessee the two youngest members of the general assembly who happened to be African American, a minority group by far in Tennessee and the Tennessee General Assembly.

They accused Mr. Bragg of being supported by George Soros, which he was. We know that is a trope for anti-Semitism. They go after a minority religion, a minority DA, and try to appeal to their base and try to help Donald Trump. That is shameful, as well.

Shame on the Judiciary Committee of this House. Shame on the General Assembly of Tennessee.

Do your job. Protect your citizens. Pass meaningful laws to restrict weapons of war and impose red flag laws, so we can stop people from committing crimes--mass murders in this country, which have become too commonplace. Let's uplift our political dialogue to where we don't attack minorities to get away with obfuscating our real purpose, which is supporting Donald Trump, who committed two of the worst crimes in this country: one, trying to steal the 2020 election and telling people it was a steal, fraudulently, and getting campaign contributions; and, two, in 2016--if Mr. Bragg is right--covering up payments to a porn star to win the 2016 election illegally.

Madam Speaker, the worst crime in New York was 9/11. Then there was the Central Park Five. Five Black youths who were alleged and convicted of killing a jogger in Central Park. This was back, I think, in the 20th century.

Mr. Trump took out full-page newspaper ads in three papers and said all of those five should get the death penalty. They got sentences, they didn't get the death penalty. Later they were exonerated, and it was shown that somebody else committed the crimes--but not after they spent 41 years in prison, an average of 8 years a piece, and not after the State had to pay $41 million for their time in prison.

Did Donald Trump apologize?

No, he doesn't apologize. Shameful.