Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 30th anniversary of Falcons Landing, which has served as a home for veterans and families in our community.

Located in Potomac Falls, Falcons Landing was founded with a simple but important mission: to provide a strong community, quality care, and dignity for those who spent their lives in service to others.

Over the last three decades that mission has never changed, and today, hundreds of residents call Falcons Landing home. Every day, the staff and caregivers at Falcons Landing continue that tradition of service through the care and support they provide to residents and families.

What makes Falcons Landing so special is not just the campus itself, which is beautiful, but the sense of community, respect, and purpose that exists there every single day. Communities like Falcons Landing remind us of the importance of taking care of our veterans and their families.

Congratulations to Falcons Landing on this milestone. I hear that they are tuning in live today, so hello to everyone at Falcons Landing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the staff, caregivers, and leadership for their 30 years of service to Loudoun County and our veterans community.

Recognizing May as PSP and CBD Awareness Month

Mr. Speaker, more than 30,000 patients and their families live with progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration, PSP and CBD.

Patients with PSP and CBD may lose the ability to control their speech, balance, coordination, and eye movements. Quality of life can deteriorate quickly, and most people who suffer from PSP and CBD will become dependent on care in just 3 to 4 years. These neurodegenerative diseases are as common as ALS, but most people have never heard of them.

They received more attention recently when my predecessor, Jennifer Wexton, was diagnosed with PSP herself and worked tirelessly in this body to spread awareness about the condition.

However, PSP and CBD still don't get the same type of recognition or funding for research, and there are currently no cures.

That is why I am introducing a resolution to designate May as PSP and CBD awareness month. We must dedicate more resources to finding treatments and cures for these neurodegenerative diseases, and we must also recognize the courage and the struggles of those who have PSP and CBD and build awareness and understanding of the impact on their lives and their families' lives.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing May as PSP and CBD awareness month by cosponsoring this resolution.

USCIS Faces Largest Backlog in History

Mr. Speaker, I have heard directly from several constituents that their green cards and USCIS applications have been put on hold, creating major disruptions for families across the country.

This means no work authorizations being issued, jobs lost, college admissions denied, and families kept apart, not to mention the impact on our economy.

USCIS has already faced the largest backlog in history with over 11.5 million cases pending, but USCIS adjudications are now being placed on hold.

Why is that? Because a new policy requires USCIS officers to resubmit fingerprint information for most pending cases dated before April 27.

This creates delays across the agency, and there was no warning of this change to applicants. No leeway or flexibility was given to those affected, and we have received no explanation of how the resubmission process is actually going to improve public safety.

That is why I am leading a letter to USCIS with Representative Krishnamoorthi demanding answers and accountability over these adjudication holds.

USCIS needs the resources to efficiently process applications, not additional delays and security theater.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1352, which designates the General George C. Marshall House on Dodona Manor in Leesburg as an affiliated area of the National Park System.

Many of us know the incredible legacy of General George Marshall, who was Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Chief of Staff of the Army. He was the only general, and

still is the only general, to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize. You also may know the famous Marshall Plan, Mr. Speaker.

What you may not know is the incredible work of the George C. Marshall International Center, which operates there in Dodona Manor, and the George C. Marshall House is a part of their mission.

The center looks after the property and hosts thousands of visitors every year from around the world. They also have a regular speakers series on the property and lots of programming for children.

They do a lot of amazing work in our community, and the property is a testament not just to the legacy of George C. Marshall, but to how he gave back to the community.

This official National Park System designation would be a big deal not just for the manor and not just for the center, but for our entire community. It helps preserve the property for generations and allows the center to expand their programs, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1352. When it passes, you are all invited to the center as well, Mr. Speaker, and we will have a big party there.

Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call Vote No. 169 on H.R. 6260, I mistakenly recorded my vote as AYE when I should have voted NO.

Mr. Speaker, this Military Appreciation Month, we honor those who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces and those who continue to wear it today.

We celebrate veterans and their families who carry the burden of war with them and the American servicemembers currently standing watch in dangerous and uncertain places around the world. Every day, they choose duty to their country over comfort.

I was proud to begin this Military Appreciation Month at the Top of Virginia Honor Flight sendoff, standing by the veterans whose service helped shape our Nation's history and preserve the freedoms that we enjoy today.

As we honor those who serve and have served our country this month, we also need to ensure that our veterans receive the care that they deserve. This includes mental health support for those who carry the invisible wounds of war.

That is why I was proud to announce the Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemembers Fairness Act to extend PACT Act benefits to those who returned to work in the Pentagon following the 9/11 attacks before it was safe.

That is why I have spoken out about cuts to the VA and threats to veterans' disability benefits. That is why I am pushing for legislation to ensure surviving spouses have the resources they need.

Military Appreciation Month is about more than just celebrating service. It is also about honoring those that still serve today, supporting veterans who sacrificed so much for this country, and making sure America keeps its promises to the people willing to risk everything to defend it.

Uyghur Forced Labor

Mr. Speaker, for years, the People's Republic of China has carried out and operated a vast network of forced labor against ethnic minorities.

More than 1 million Uyghurs, in particular, have been detained since 2017. Most have been forced to work in labor camps.

More must be done to combat this practice of forced labor. The Uyghur community in my district has told me terrible stories of family and friends in China being forced to work long, strenuous hours or face brutal punishment or torture in detention camps.

Unfortunately, many U.S. companies purchase products produced by these forced labor camps. Many Americans don't understand that our phones, clothes, and daily products could all have parts made from that forced labor without us even knowing.

That is why I am joining Representative Moran and Representative Carson in introducing the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act.

The bill is straightforward. It requires companies to review and disclose whether any of their products have been produced with Uyghur forced labor. The American people deserve to know if what they buy is a result of forced labor, and this legislation is a step towards stopping those terrible practices.

As President Trump heads to China this week to meet with President Xi Jinping, he must take this opportunity to highlight human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities during this trip.

Let's put an end to forced labor and pass this bill.

Recognizing National Police Week

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize National Police Week.

We celebrate it by honoring the brave law enforcement officers who serve our communities across the country and the great work that organizations do to support them. That includes Federal law enforcement, like the U.S. Capitol Police who keep the entire Capitol Hill complex safe.

I especially thank the law enforcement personnel in my community, including all of our men and women who serve in our town and county sheriff's offices and police departments all across northern Virginia and Shenandoah.

We are also grateful for airport, metro, university, and State law enforcement officials who help protect our community in so many ways.

This is also a time to honor law enforcement that we have lost, officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, like Ashley Guindon, a Prince William County officer who was shot and killed on her first day 10 years ago.

Every year, an average of 57 police officers are killed by suspects. Far too many, at least 184 public safety officers, die by suicide each year.

As we honor and remember servicemembers we have lost, let's continue to support our commitment to law enforcement officials and their families. It takes all of us to keep them safe too.

I thank all of law enforcement out there.

Mr. Speaker, places of worship and nonprofit centers have always been sanctuaries of hope, spirituality, and community in our country, but violence and hate continue to be on the rise. Places of worship are increasingly becoming targets.

Between 2021 and 2023, attacks on churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques increased by nearly 100 percent. Overall, hate crimes in the U.S. are up more than 80 percent since 2015, and 2025 was ranked as the fifth highest year for hate crimes in the FBI's 34-year history of tracking this data.

We need to do more, and that is why I am calling on my colleagues to continue to support nonprofit security grants and other hate prevention programs. We need to help nonprofit organizations, especially houses of worship and religious community centers, enhance physical security against terrorist attacks and threats to them.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to call out the rise we are seeing in hateful rhetoric. It has no place in our communities, and it certainly has no place in the Halls of Congress.

Let's fund this effort. Let's continue to support and protect our places of worship.

Stop the Move

Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is critical to keeping our food safe and protecting us from foodborne illnesses. This administration is trying to undermine this office and our country's ability to prevent foodborne illness.

Just last week, the USDA announced that it is moving its food safety headquarters from D.C. to another part of the country. Now, 200 food safety experts will have to choose between uprooting their lives or staying in their jobs.

We have seen this before. The last time the administration moved a USDA office across the country, it was two research-focused offices, and moving them was a complete disaster for the work of those offices. They lost over a third of their full-time staff, particularly the most experienced people, and they saw steep declines in agency productivity. It completely disrupted the grants and research that they do.

This administration claims that the food safety office continues operating without interruption during this move, but we know from experience that is just not true. In every other case, the people who resigned were the people who had the most experience, the people we needed the most.

Mr. Speaker, the American people can't afford to have an inexperienced, understaffed, and unproductive food safety office, so the USDA needs to stop this move and stop jeopardizing our Nation's food safety.

TSA Agent Cuts

Mr. Speaker, we have been hearing for weeks now about how the DHS shutdown needs to end because TSA workers need to get paid, and I agree.

TSA workers have now been working with sporadic pay for 10 weeks. They may even get furloughed again until we decide to end this shutdown by putting the Senate Bill on the floor.

I want to draw your attention to the President's budget. While the President and his administration talk about the importance of TSA workers and keeping lines short at the airport, the President's own budget suggests cutting almost 10,000 TSA agents.

This is all part of a larger plan to get rid of the TSA altogether. For those keeping score at home like me, this is chapter 5 of Project 2025.

Cutting these TSA jobs would mean a lot of things, like worse quality service, cuts to employee pay and benefits, customer dissatisfaction, and a higher risk of errors at places like our airports, where there is no room for error.

Mr. Speaker, I could keep going. The next time the President or any administration official talks about how we need to end this shutdown to support TSA workers, just look at the President's budget.

Protecting Data Centers

Mr. Speaker, data centers hold critical information we use every day and keep the internet running.

Whether it is AI, blockchain, or any other innovations in technology, data centers are going to be a key part of this.

Because data centers are so critical, they are becoming targets during wars. Look at the Russian-Ukrainian war. Russia is attacking Ukrainian data centers. Iran has struck commercial data centers in the UAE and has said that data centers are military targets now.

My district is home to hundreds of data centers, and families, schools, parks, and places of worship are all close to data centers in my district. People living around these data centers shouldn't have to worry about being a target anymore.

That is why I am introducing the Data Infrastructure Risk Reduction Act. This bill would direct the Department of Homeland Security to develop a strategy to protect data centers and the communities around them from being targeted during attacks.

The government needs to do everything possible to protect these communities because Americans deserve to know that if a data center is going to be built next to them, we will protect that community, and they won't be a target at that point.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor and pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, we need to stop this administration from trying to collect private medical data on Federal employees and their families.

Recently OPM, the Office of Personnel Management, started asking Federal workers and their family members for their detailed monthly health records.

This isn't just trends or summaries. This is things like prescriptions and claims, so all this data has personally identifiable information that paints a clear picture of a person's private life and health.

Why do they want to do this? Well, we are not really sure. One story from OPM is that this is to help provide competitive, quality, affordable health plans. But OPM already has health claims data warehouses, and they haven't really explained how this would actually help with finding a competitive plan. They certainly haven't cited legal authority for why they are entitled to every Federal worker's detailed health information.

We are being asked right now to trust that this will all be secure, but they haven't really outlined how they will keep this information safe, and OPM has a really poor track record. This is the agency that leaked 21 million records in one of the largest Federal data breaches in recent history.

Last year, there were credible reports that DOGE personnel were granting sweeping access to sensitive OPM systems and data.

A Federal judge has temporarily blocked this policy of collecting Federal worker health data because it likely violates the Privacy Act, but we need to permanently stop this policy from moving forward.

Instead of going after Federal workers' personal information, I would ask the OPM to instead focus on processing the backlog of retirement claims, which has surpassed 55,000 cases. In any case, I hope my colleagues will join me in opposing what OPM is doing here.

Forest Service Reorganization

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the planned reorganization of the Forest Service, which will mean the relocation or closure of dozens of Forest Service offices.

The Forest Service is an agency many of us don't think about, but it does so much important work that impacts our lives every day. They protect national forests, wildlife diversity, and watersheds. They lead the fight against forest fire and promote fire prevention. They research forest health and manage 193 million acres of land.

We already know that these relocations and closures of Forest Service offices will be a disaster, because the first Trump administration relocated

just three offices, which resulted in the largest loss of productivity and staffing in recent history for that agency. That is just three offices. Imagine moving the entire headquarters, which is 260 employees. Those folks, some of whom are my constituents, would have to choose between their jobs or uprooting their lives and their families.

The administration also wants to close 57 of 77 Forest Service research facilities. This will slow down or end research on wildfire prevention, logging techniques, endangered species research, and climate change response. I could keep going.

This is irresponsible, given the record temperatures we are seeing every year and the once-in-a-lifetime droughts and floods that are happening every few years.

This can't be about reducing waste, fraud, and abuse, or streamlining government, because the move itself would be incredibly costly, and the natural disasters that result from them will be far more costly than maintaining these offices.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this administration to stop these disastrous relocations of the Forest Service.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6310, as well, introduced by my colleague, Mr. Raskin.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his remarks. I encourage my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of Mr. Ramsey by naming the post office in Olney, Maryland, after him, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 1431, introduced by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) to name the post office in Spring Lake, New Jersey, after Mr. James Howard.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Madam Speaker, in closing, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) for his comments, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1706, and I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kennedy).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from New York, and I hope the body will join me in passing this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3393 as well to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service at 12208 North 19th Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona, as the Officer Zane T. Coolidge Post Office.

Zane Coolidge served in the Phoenix Police Department for 5 years. He was tragically shot while on duty protecting his community.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of Officer Coolidge and support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4635, introduced by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown).

I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio, and I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring the life of Ms. Minter in supporting this bill.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 4707 to honor the life of Martin L. Graber by naming the post office in Fort Madison, Iowa, after him.

Madam Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5058, to designate the facility of the U.S. Post Office located at 46164 Westlake Drive in Sterling, Virginia, as the Firefighter Trevor Brown Post Office Building.

I introduced this legislation to honor the life of Firefighter Trevor Brown, a volunteer firefighter at Sterling Volunteer Fire Company who lost his life in the line of duty while responding to an emergency gas leak call in 2024.

This was an incident that shook our community in Loudoun County because Firefighter Brown was beloved in our community and left a lasting impact on all who knew him. He was a great husband, a father of three, and he coached youth soccer and baseball. The kids absolutely loved him. Whether it was teaching kids about teamwork or volunteering for late-night shifts at the firehouse, Firefighter Brown always found a way to give back to the community.

It is my hope that renaming this post office to honor Firefighter Brown will keep his memory alive, inspire others, and remind us of his incredible courage, honor and sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all of our first responders. I thank Firefighter Brown's family and all of his friends who rallied around his family after his tragic death.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5773, introduced by my colleague from Illinois, Representative Krishnamoorthi, and I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for his remarks, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6020, introduced by my colleague from Illinois, and I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood) for her comments. I encourage my colleagues to support her bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.