Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, our Founding Fathers had a pretty clear principle when it came to corruption. Thomas Jefferson, a fellow Virginian, warned of the fate of our country if corruption prevailed. He said: ``The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold on us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered.''

There are wolves in our government and in governments all around the world. Look at Russia, where the wolf, Vladimir Putin, has become the richest person in the country and maybe the world. It is a country where if you speak out against him, you will pay the price. If you make a lot of money, he better get half.

We see what a democracy can become. It will cease to be a democracy. The people will cease to govern, and those in power will enrich themselves.

We cannot let that happen in our country, but we are trending in the wrong direction today. The U.S. recently received the lowest ever Corruption Perceptions Index score in recent history.

For all the things this administration has done, we cannot turn a blind eye to the corruption it has endorsed.

Let's start with the profiting off of the Presidency. From the time President Trump got elected, he has used the office to actively profit from Amazon deals, branded Bibles, shoes, and digital trading cards. Then there are the meme coins, which are a perfect way for Russia, the CCP, and anyone else with an interest in influencing U.S. policy to conveniently pad the President's personal pockets. It sends a message to our adversaries that America is for sale.

How can we ever trust that decisions are being made in the best interests of the American people and not as a financial quid pro quo?

Then there is DOGE. The first thing it did was fire the very people in charge of rooting out corruption and protecting whistleblowers. Why? They would never have signed off on the administration's actions.

It doesn't stop with the administration. They have green-lighted corruption abroad by getting rid of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law to prevent bribery of foreign officials. Companies will now have to put corruption experts on their payrolls, and they will pass along those costs to consumers.

Then there is the normalization of corruption by pardoning corrupt politicians across the political spectrum.

Mayor Eric Adams was in a bind, facing indictment on charges of corruption, conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery, but President Trump directed prosecutors to drop the charges. Conveniently, Mayor Adams is now steering his city's policies at the whims of this administration.

When Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted for essentially selling a U.S. Senate seat, asked for a pardon for his corruption, he got it. Blagojevich even had a name for a corrupt Democrat bailed out by an administration, a ``Trumpocrat.''

These actions are hurting the American people. They steal from the American people. They erode our trust, raise costs on working families, and steer us into bad policy.

Thomas Jefferson also liked to say that when ``a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its

lost principles. Every other correction is either useless or a new evil.''

We have the power to remedy this. With decisions like Citizens United and the actions of this administration, it is not going to be easy, but my constituents and the American people have the power to stand up and make their voices heard. They should keep speaking out and sharing stories.

Do not let this be normal. Together, we must remove corruption and restore its lost principles.

Mr. Speaker, I recently met with a group of advocates for children with complex medical needs and disabilities. They all shared stories of their kids with special needs or that they were simply allies.

Their vision is that all children with these complex needs should have the medical care, education, and support they need to thrive. However, this vision will never be achieved by slashing the coverage of children on Medicaid or firing NIH scientists who are responsible for developing treatments and cures for rare diseases.

The plan to severely cut Medicaid and gut NIH funding is a serious threat to the health and stability of so many families across the country like the ones I met with last week. I will continue to fight with these kids for the care that they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, this week's address to Congress was one of the longest addresses to Congress ever, yet there was no real plan or blueprint for how we are actually going to lower costs.

We heard a lot about Greenland and golden tickets and something about Mars, but we didn't actually hear about lowering costs because the actions of this administration will actually raise costs for every American.

If you cut Medicaid, for instance, not only will you cut off care for millions, it will raise the healthcare premiums of every American, not just the ones on Medicaid. Health costs will go up.

If you fire half the people who administer Social Security and undermine it for our seniors, costs will go up. If you continue the brain drain in our government and fire Federal workers who protect consumers or do critical safety or health research, you will make us less safe and costs will go up.

Mr. Speaker, this administration's policies will directly lead to costs going up for all families. Americans deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Kansas (Ms. Davids) for yielding.

On January 29, our community in northern Virginia was shattered.

Mr. Speaker, 67 lives were taken from us far too soon when American Eagle Flight 5342 and Army flight call sign PAT 25 collided. Many of those on Flight 5342 called Virginia's 10th District home, and they leave behind countless family members, friends, and loved ones in our community.

I am especially heartbroken for the children who were on the plane. Some of them were former Loudoun County Public Schools students and members of our local figure skating community at the Ashburn Ice House and Ion International Training Center, places where I have taken my own daughters figure skating in the past.

To the servicemembers who lost their lives on PAT 25, we thank them for their service to our Nation.

To the first responders who rushed to the scene and worked in frigid and dangerous conditions to save anyone they could, including Fairfax and Prince William Counties' first responders, we are so grateful.

To the professionals at the NTSB who are investigating this tragedy to ensure we learn from it and to prevent others like it, they have our appreciation and full support in their work.

Finally, to my constituents, we will do anything and everything we can to make sure a tragedy like this doesn't happen again.

Mr. Speaker, it will take a long time to come to terms with this loss, but I know that our community is resilient. It has warmed my heart to see how it came together for us in the aftermath of such an awful tragedy. I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, last week, the first speaker in line at my townhall was Susan Perri.

My colleagues wouldn't know it at first, but Susan has difficulty speaking. Within the last 6 months, she had a 7-centimeter tumor removed from her adrenal gland, but Susan is refusing to stay quiet.

She made sure to be the first in line to share her story and how the Republican budget cuts to Medicaid and research will impact her, her family, and the American people. I could hear her loud and clear.

That is why I am honored that Susan will be my guest at the President's joint address because we should all hear her voice, too.

Susan is a retired special education teacher from Fauquier County. Her husband is a retired Postal Service employee of 44 years, worried about his retirement benefits getting cut. Her son has cystic fibrosis, and her son has benefited from cutting-edge NIH research and lifesaving medication approved by the Federal Government.

As this administration is cutting the very science that saves lives, Susan's fight gives me hope that we can all make our voices heard and fight for change.

Don't underestimate Susan, and don't underestimate the American people.

Mr. Speaker, there is new reporting that the Social Security Administration has been told to cut its workforce in half.

Unfortunately, I heard from a constituent who works there who was just put on a 30-day leave with no promise to keep their job.

This agency helps keep 364,000 of Virginia's seniors out of poverty, supports over 181,000 disabled Virginians, and upholds the American promise that if you spend your life paying into a system, the next generation will have your back.

This agency is already understaffed, only reaching 20 percent of their hiring goals.

So why would DOGE do this?

They want to gut Social Security.

My constituents sent me here to protect their benefits.

It is clear to me that my colleagues across the aisle and this DOGE program will never stand up against this administration.

The Democrats will.

As the President and DOGE delay payments, disrupt services, and deny these hard-earned benefits, I will push back and protect Social Security.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to share the story of a Federal worker, an FAA scientist, who DOGE and the administration fired. This person's job was to create and maintain flight maps that air traffic controllers and pilots could use to navigate airspace. Without these maps, ``pilots would quite literally be flying blind.''

Yet the Trump administration says they didn't fire anyone at FAA working in critical safety positions. However, it is pretty obvious that the scientists who make the maps pilots use to fly are critical to aviation safety.

Moreover, aviation safety has become a big issue lately, with recent close calls and crashes, including one in my home State of Virginia.

Mr. Speaker, how do we expect Americans to feel safe if we are firing the very scientists who keep us safe?

These cuts aren't going to save much money. These dollars are a drop in the bucket, but they will cost lives.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we honor February as Black History Month.

I think of the students at Waterford's Second Street School in my district, a one-room schoolhouse established 2 years after the end of the Civil War where kids studied under segregation.

I think of Barbara Rose Johns, a civil rights icon from Virginia. Barbara's high school was dilapidated and overcrowded. At just 16, she led her classmates in a walkout, inspiring the Virginia NAACP to sue for integration. The walkout sparked one of five cases reviewed by the Supreme Court in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that Barbara Johns will soon have a statue just steps from this Chamber, alongside George Washington, representing the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As a country, we have come a long way since Barbara Rose Johns' high school was integrated, but we can't let our country slide back.

We will continue to fight and honor the work and legacies of Barbara Johns and all who fought for a more perfect Union.

Mr. Speaker, I am genuinely alarmed by the budget that we may be voting on this week.

There is a lot not to like, but every American should be paying attention to the cuts being proposed to Medicaid and SNAP benefits. These cuts will hurt millions of Americans and create irreversible damage to our communities.

Mr. Speaker, it will hurt my community, where tens of thousands of people benefit from these programs, but this is going to impact every community across every district and across Virginia and across the country. Is it because the richest country in the world can't feed hungry kids or can't get people the care they need?

No. It is because this budget takes that money and it gives it to the very richest corporations at the expense of small businesses and working families. The unintended consequences of these cuts will hurt every American, even if they are not on Medicaid or SNAP, and force more middle-class families to live paycheck to paycheck while giving the ultrarich a tax break.

Mr. Speaker, let's talk about a bipartisan budget that doesn't hurt Americans and is not a giveaway to companies who don't need it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise because many people want to paint Federal workers and contractors as unskilled bureaucrats who waste taxpayer dollars. However, the reality is the opposite. I know this because Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of our country's Federal workers and contractors, and I have heard from many of them.

These Federal workers actually save taxpayers money, and they keep all Americans safe and healthy, despite all the regulations imposed on them by Congress. That is the bureaucracy. In almost all cases, they bring critical skills or expertise that are hard to replace.

One GSA employees says firings in her department, which is focused on threats to America's crops, could cost us hundreds of millions of dollars down the road.

One contractor who supports anti-terrorism efforts overseas was fired despite his track record of success countering extremism.

These firings even threaten border security. A contractor who vets refugees has to lay off 100 security experts because of the cuts.

No one will want to serve our government if Federal workers and contractors are treated this way. The attacks on Federal civil servants will cost taxpayers money and make all Americans less safe and less healthy.

Mr. Speaker, family separation is devastating and traumatic for any community, but that is especially true for the 70,000 Korean Americans in Virginia and the millions across the country.

The Korean war led to the displacement and separation of countless families, and many remained separated for decades.

These second- and third-generation Korean Americans were raised on the heartbreaking stories of family members cruelly divided. Now, in the twilight of their lives, they seek to reconnect.

That is why I have introduced the bipartisan Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act with my colleague Congresswoman Young Kim. This bill creates a registry to help accelerate the progress for Korean Americans who wish to reunite with lost loved ones.

Since 1985, there have been 21 family reunions for citizens of South and North Korea organized by their governments, bringing together 4,000 families.

The Korean families here in the U.S. deserve to have that opportunity. Congress must work across the aisle to bring families together, not tear them apart. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Glenn R. Blanchette. Originally from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Mr. Blanchette joined the U.S. Army after graduating from the University of Rhode Island. After more than 20 years of honorable service, he retired as a Major in 2007 and began his next career with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As the Regional Administrator for the National Capital Region, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, he has been at the forefront of emergency responses for multiple category four and five hurricanes and catastrophic earthquakes, both in the United States and internationally, for almost two decades.

Not only was Mr. Blanchett a leader during natural disasters, but he displayed untiring dedication to the U.S. Congress for five Presidential Inaugurations, fifteen Lying in State and Lying in Honor ceremonies, more than fifty Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies, eighteen State Of The Union Addresses, twenty-three Joint Meetings of Congress, concerts, protests, and countless impromptu requests directly supporting the Office of Attending Physician to the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

No matter whether it was early morning or late evening, a weekend or a holiday, rainy or bitterly cold, Mr. Blanchett orchestrated and supervised the delivery of tents, generators, equipment, and supplies for the treatment of heat injuries, traumatic injuries, Advance Cardiac Life Support responses, and patient evacuations, in direct support of the U.S. Congress.

Regardless of world events, Mr. Blanchette's ``What do you need?'' and ``We are here for you'' attitude made the impossible, possible. He assembled teams of hundreds of elite medical professionals from all over the country to support tens of thousands of guests, dignitaries, security forces, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Associate Justices and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Vice President and President of the United States, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives during National Special Security Events in the U.S. Capitol.

Today I would like to honor Mr. Blanchette and thank him for his decades of service to our country both in the U.S. Army and with the Department of Health and Human Services, and I wish him well in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise because we are at the crossroads of a constitutional crisis.

While I represent and fight for tens of thousands of Federal workers and contractors in my district, this affects every single American.

There is a Treasury takeover. Every man, woman, and child's most personal information is in the hands of people who have no real vetting or formal role in our government. They have control of the Federal Government's payment systems. They can now decide which programs, projects, and contractors get funded. That is unconstitutional.

Federal agencies authorized by Congress are being cut without any input from Congress. That is unconstitutional.

All Federal spending was frozen with little warning to Americans. That is unconstitutional.

The Federal workforce is being intimidated and decimated before our eyes, which is illegal.

We are damaging our country in a way that could take years, if not decades, to recover.

Cutting USAID undermines our standing in the world and keeps us less safe. Cutting funding for agencies and nonprofits that feed kids or run essential services will make us less healthy and less secure. Firing Federal workers and contractors will lead to a brain drain in our government and hurt every single function of our government.

This is not rightsizing or downsizing of government. This is dumb- sizing of government. How do I know this? I know these Federal workers and contractors personally. I see them at the grocery store, farmers market, and school drop-off. They take an oath to our country to keep our government running and, most importantly, keep us safe. They often take lower salaries out of a sense of duty to their Federal citizens.

They don't care who is President. Why? Federal food safety should not stop because of who is President. Disaster relief should not stop because of who is President. Veterans' benefits should not stop because of who is President.

Federal workers make America work. They make America great.

At a townhall last night in my district, these Federal workers shared their stories. Their stories were frightening and should alarm all Americans. We had one constituent who is a nuclear scientist. We can't get rid of a nuclear scientist and expect to replace that expertise ever again.

This is a constitutional crisis. What are we going to do about it? That is what the people want to know.

There must be real oversight and accountability for this administration, especially when there are dangerous incursions into Congress' powers and independence as a legislative branch. We must introduce legislation, hold hearings, speak out, and do everything possible to make sure that this stops.

I am introducing legislation to protect Federal workers, prevent unnecessary agency relocations, and stop unconstitutional actions that undermine our democracy and the separation of powers.

If citizens are listening at home, they should know that their voice matters. When people spoke up about the Federal freeze, they backed down. Our constituents should speak out, use their voice, and push back because the time for action is now. Join me.