Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of the America COMPETES Act. This legislation incorporates two bills that my office introduced: The Supply Chain Security and Resilience Act and the Regional Innovation Act.

At a time when the need to finally secure our supply chains and rebuild a Made in America economy could not be clearer, my provisions of the bill from the Supply Chain Security and Resilience Act will put us on the path to doing just that.

By creating a new office within the Commerce Department to promote U.S. leadership of critical industries and supply chains that are essential to our national and economic security, we will join businesses and government in common, national effort.

The Regional Innovation Act would establish a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub program at the Department of Commerce to support regional economic development and innovation hubs nationwide. We can ensure that workers and businesses from all corners of our country, not just the coasts, benefit from investment.

My community, Pennsylvania's Greater Lehigh Valley, is full of workers and businesses who have the vision, the talent, and the grit to reach global economic heights. They deserve the exposure to get their products to market. Our country has extraordinary promise. Let's pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Allentown Police Detective and Community Liaison Officer James Stanko, a man who dedicated his life's work to bridging the divide between police officers and the community they serve.

Officer Stanko died on Monday, a huge loss for our community, but his legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched.

Officer Stanko wasn't known for sitting idly at a desk. His passions lay out in the community where he was known for mentoring our kids, whether it was through coaching basketball, talking at schools, or offering life lessons at the children's clinic.

As someone who worked closely with him put it, ``Our kids called him family.'' He was a calming, yet dependable force that everyone, especially our youth, could turn to for guidance and support.

Officer Stanko never stopped trying to achieve his ultimate goal of connecting the police department to the people that it serves.

Working as an Allentown police officer for 13 years, Stanko never wavered in his values of honesty, integrity, and, most notably, respect for others. I was inspired by his sincere love for public service, as well as his passion for our community that he was proud to call home. He will be deeply missed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act, which will finally provide resources and support to our healthcare heroes who face burnout and mental health crisis as a result of their experiences with COVID- 19.

America owes an incredible debt of gratitude to these professionals who work to keep us safe and healthy. Doctors die by suicide at twice the rate of the general population. The trauma of their experience during COVID--and before--while treating patients is something we must address head on.

Dr. Lorna Breen was the emergency room director at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was a hero who embodied the spirit of service in our time of national crisis. She died by suicide in April 2020 at the peak of the COVID crisis in New York after contracting COVID herself, quarantining, and then returning to work.

Her father said, ``She was truly in the trenches of the frontline. She tried to do her job and it killed her. Make sure she is praised as a hero. She was a casualty of this pandemic as much as anyone else who died.''

I am honored in her memory to lead this bill to prevent burnout among the health professionals answering the call of duty. I thank my seven co-leads, Raja Krishnamoorthi, David McKinley, Judy Chu, Fred Upton, Haley Stevens, Morgan Griffith, and John Katko, and to note that the strong bipartisan support that this bill enjoys is confirmation that Congress can still come together to tackle big problems.

I thank Jennifer and Corey Feist, Dr. Breen's sister and brother-in- law, who have championed this bill from the beginning to ensure that Lorna's legacy is codified here in the halls of Congress. But most of all, I thank every last doctor, nurse, EMT, custodial staffer, food service worker, and especially our emergency room doctors who put themselves into harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. Our work to secure for you the support you need is far from over.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a local hero from my district in the Greater Lehigh Valley who served at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked 80 years ago today.

Dick Schimmel was 19 when, on the morning of December 7, 1941, he was roused from sleep by fellow servicemembers with the sound of explosions striking the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Mr. Schimmel is a lifelong resident of Allentown, and a consummate American hero who joined the Army in August of 1940, serving as a radar specialist as part of the 580th Signal Aircraft Warning Company, before returning to Pennsylvania, where he sold appliances for Sears for 34 years.

Today is a solemn day as we reflect on the legacy of a day that President Roosevelt wisely said would ``live in infamy.'' We lost 2,335 servicemembers that day and an additional 68 civilians, not to mention countless more with injuries, both visible and invisible.

As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, I want to thank Mr. Schimmel for his heroism in Pearl Harbor 80 years ago.

Madam Speaker, as Maya Angelou said, ``When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.''

Despite Paul Gosar's history of dangerous rhetoric, and despite his conduct showing him to be a dangerous extremist, he is still here in Congress. Now he has depicted himself killing one of our colleagues and the President of the United States.

Never doubt that leaders' calls for violence can lead to actual violence. We have seen it throughout the world, and we have seen it right here on January 6.

Nor should the actions of his taxpayer-paid staff in creating and disseminating this vile video be ignored. They are grown adults, and they have cultivated a hostile work environment for the subject of this disgusting video and for her staff.

Paul Gosar has glorified violence against a duly elected official who came here to serve her district. She, nor any of us, sign up for this kind of abuse. Our families should not have to live with the fear that we will be the subject of violent attacks.

Paul Gosar has shown who he is. Believe him. Censure him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 760 and in solidarity with the Cubans who, have over the past months, turned out in large numbers to engage in peaceful demonstrations for a better future.

They did so with the full knowledge that they were braving an authoritarian regime that criminalizes dissent.

According to Amnesty International's Americas director: ``In response to the protests of 11 July, the Cuban authorities have applied the same machinery of control that they have used to target alternative thinkers for decades, but now amped up to a scale we haven't seen in almost 20 years, and with new tactics, including the use of internet interruptions and online censorship to control and cover up the grave human rights violations they have committed.''

These are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives. Above all, they are human beings who are entitled to fundamental rights denied to them for far too long.

As the House of Representatives takes this vote, let us stand with every prisoner of conscience and dissident facing persecution in Cuba and in every corner of the world.

Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard on a transformative bill that will make a difference in so many people's lives, the Build Back Better Act. And yet, the Democrats who are behind this bill, who have worked on it so hard, have been under a barrage of attack and criticism for being in disarray, for being unable to get it done.

But let me say this: This is how it should be done. We are talking about historic unprecedented investments in our climate, in universal pre-K, in drug pricing, in housing policy. Why would anyone think that that is a bill that should come together quickly?

This is the legislative process. We craft. We read. We edit. We make changes. We read it again--all for the good of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, we will get this done and it will be a solid, well- thought-out, beautiful piece of legislation. It will make a real difference in people's lives. Keep the faith.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021, and, quite honestly, it is just mind-boggling to me that anybody could find anything to criticize about this bill.

Since it was signed into law four decades ago, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act has remained the main source of Federal funding for the domestic violence shelters in which so many of the most vulnerable people in our society find safety.

Despite the progress that we have made in this country in acknowledging the scourge of domestic violence, Congress has not provided the necessary resources to keep pace with this crisis. This bill would reauthorize programs that have not been fully funded in more than a decade, since 2010--programs that are a literal lifeline for all those who are facing domestic violence across the country.

Domestic violence affects millions of Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control, around one in five homicide victims across our Nation are killed by an intimate partner, and approximately one in every five women and one in every seven men in the United States will experience major physical violence from an intimate partner at some point in their lives.

Madam Speaker, we must pass this critical legislation.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. It is an honor to be part of the Special Order hour, it is an honor to be called feisty, and it is an honor to follow my good friends and colleagues, Representative Frankel and Representative Schakowsky as they talked about different aspects of the care economy. Representative Frankel was focused on childcare. She, of course, has grandchildren and is very focused on the care that they are receiving.

Madam Speaker, I want to tell a personal story, because it is something that I, frankly, having had this experience, this issue of the care economy might not resonate as much with me as it does.

In 2014, my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was an incredibly independent woman, had always had a career until she retired, lived alone, gardened, took care of her home, and was, in all respects, somebody that, quite frankly, my sister and I thought was going to live to be 100. She was 82 at the time. Everything changed on a dime.

She was diagnosed with brain cancer in the summer of 2014. We, her daughters, were told that she had a pretty short time left to live. And it was a shock, nothing that we could in any way have planned for or anticipated or made prior arrangements. But we knew that it was incredibly important that we bring her to one of our homes for the remaining weeks or months that she had to live. So she was transported to my home where we had home hospice care for her.

I worked full-time as a lawyer at the time. My sister worked full- time. Obviously, our first concern was our mother, but both of us also had careers and bills that had to be paid, that we had worked for for so many years. And so what ended up happening was that we engaged home healthcare workers to help us take care of our mother. It was only because of those tireless home care workers that were with her at her bedside during the night so that I could sleep, providing essential care, and it was only because of them that my family and I could rest somewhat easier knowing that mom had the help and the resources that she needed around her.

I can tell you, quite honestly, that we would not have made it through those months had we not had the benefit of home healthcare workers. And I have to tell you, again firsthand, watching a parent or a loved one suffer is hard enough, but those workers--and they were all women, I might add--who came into our home, made it just a little bit easier for me and for my sister and the rest of our family, knowing that she had a team of hardworking caregivers by her side through her sickness.

We know that home care workers have been on the front lines this past year. We have heard a lot about it. Quite honestly, until the pandemic, I don't know that we ever really heard much about home care workers, but they cared for our most vulnerable population. They put themselves and their families at risk. They did this while earning near poverty wages.

We know that home care workers are three times as likely to be living at or near the poverty line, with many of them struggling to afford their own healthcare while they provide essential services to the elderly and disabled Americans.

One home healthcare worker in my district who cares for a young man who is disabled told me that she has not taken a single day of vacation time in more than 10 years. She is a young woman, but she has been working for a long time. She hasn't taken a single day off. This kind of thing is completely unacceptable.

I stand with them in their call for a long-overdue raise, improved worker benefits, and the opportunity to organize and collectively bargain.

None of us are able to anticipate when we are going to need this kind of care for somebody in our family. It happens, as it always does, when you least expect it.

This is the smart thing to do. We have the opportunity now at a pivotal time. By the way, as our Nation grows older, the need for this critical workforce is only going to grow.

The commonsense investments that we are talking about as being part of the Build Back Better Act are absolutely commonsense investments that will create jobs but will also provide the necessary support both in terms of healthcare support and emotional support for families that our aging population is going to require.

For too long, this population of workers has been underpaid and undervalued, and that has to end with the Build Back Better Act.

Madam Speaker, that is what we experienced. She was hospitalized for a full month before we brought her home for hospice care, during which she underwent all kinds of, frankly, unnecessary interventions that the facility was required to do. She was in daily physical therapy, which was almost ludicrous for a woman who had just weeks left to live. Yes, the cost factor to Medicare is significant as well.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4981) to amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, to modify certain deadlines relating to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4981.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4981, a bill to modify certain deadlines relating to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking.

I want to thank my colleague and friend, Mr. Trone from Maryland, for authoring this bipartisan bill. Mr. Trone has been an invaluable voice in Congress for combating our country's opioid crisis. Far too many families in my community, Pennsylvania's greater Lehigh Valley, have endured indescribable heartbreak and loss as a result of this crisis.

When I first started serving in Congress back in 2018, I made a solemn commitment that I would do everything within my power to end the devastation of the opioid crisis once and for all. I am dedicated to keeping that promise.

Earlier this year, I was proud to see Mr. Trone elected as Democratic co-chairman of the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking. Mr. Trone, working alongside his co-chair, Senator Tom Cotton, in a bipartisan manner is developing a strategic approach to combat the flow of synthetic opioids into the United States.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control released data indicating that the surge in overdose deaths from 2018 to 2019 was the greatest year-over-year increase. Tragically, far too many Americans have witnessed the horrific effects of this opioid crisis.

Just as we must also take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry--which has done a great deal to lead us to this point domestically when it comes to the opioid crisis writ large--most of the fentanyl consumed in the United States is manufactured outside of the country, so it is crucial that we engage closely with our international partners to address this scourge. The Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking aims to do just that.

Synthetic drugs, unlike plant-based drugs such as cocaine or heroin, are not limited by climate-growing restrictions. Any country can produce synthetic drugs, and according to a January 2020 Drug Enforcement Administration report, this may lead to a rapidly diversifying list of synthetic drug-producing countries and suppliers.

With such an imposing task ahead of us, strong, bipartisan cooperation is critical. We must work together to do what is right and find a solution that can help save countless American lives.

This bill will amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to extend the amount of time granted to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking. The commission was originally slated to start in 2020 but could not get underway until March of this year. It is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to get this right.

I thank Mr. Trone again for being a strong champion for bipartisan collaboration in the fight against opioid abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Trone), the author of this bill and a champion in combating the opioid crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

According to the National Institutes of Health, in 2018, 128 people died each day from opioid overdoses. We must not lose sight of the devastating toll these drugs are taking on our country. We need to tackle the opioid crisis from every angle. I am hopeful that passing this bill will take us one step closer to ending this epidemic.

I again thank Mr. Trone for authoring this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4981, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4250) to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide for rewards for the arrest or conviction of certain foreign nationals who have committed genocide or war crimes, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4250.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 4250, the War Crimes Rewards Expansion Act, authored by Representative Foxx.

The bill broadens the State Department rewards program for individuals or whistleblowers who come forward with and provide information on genocide or war crimes. It clarifies that the rewards can also be provided for prosecutions that fall under domestic law, including American law or the law of another nation, in addition to international law.

We have seen, time and again, that whistleblower programs are the most effective type of compliance mechanism, and the State Department rewards program itself is a proven tool for bringing the perpetrators of atrocities to justice.

The United States must continue to demonstrate that we are steadfast in our commitment to holding war criminals accountable and that the mechanisms we have in place to bring about their arrest are flexible and robust.

This bill is straightforward. By expanding the scope of what rewards can be paid for information, we will incentivize more individuals to come forward and gain more information with which to find and prosecute these criminals.

This legislation has passed the House in previous Congresses, and we hope

this bill can make it across the finish line this time around.

This is an important measure. I support it, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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

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

Mrs. KIM of CALIFORNIA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), the author of the bill.

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

Mrs. KIM of CALIFORNIA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Department of State's rewards program serves an important purpose by turning the tables on dangerous foreign terrorists and human rights violators so they face the justice they so rightly deserve.

I want to thank Dr. Foxx for her work on this bill and Chairman Meeks for bringing this bill to the floor and giving us the opportunity to clarify this important authority.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, the War Crimes Rewards Expansion Act would broaden the State Department's rewards program by clarifying that rewards can also be provided for prosecutions that fall under domestic law, whether it be American law or the law of another nation. This would further incentivize individuals to come forward with valuable information, leading to the arrest and prosecution of some of the worst perpetrators of human rights abuses and war crimes.

I thank Representative Foxx for authoring this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1228) to advance a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Libya and support the people of Libya, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1228, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Libya Stabilization Act, H.R. 1228, sponsored by Congressman Ted Deutch and Congressman Joe Wilson, chairman and ranking member respectively, of the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This important legislation responds to years of instability and violence created by the conflict in Libya, which has laid the groundwork for the proliferation and growth of violent extremist groups. As various powers converge on Libya to expand their influence in the country and across North Africa, the lives of the Libyan people are at stake. Far, far too many have seen their fundamental rights and dignity trampled as a result of the chaos unleashed on the country over the past decade.

The neocolonialist mindset that treats countries as pawns on a geopolitical chess board must end. No country has the right to unleash violence and chaos on another or to seize resources that belong to the Libyan people. This bill is not yet another attempt to infringe on the sovereignty of the Libyan people; rather, it is an effort to protect that sovereignty.

Today, though a nascent ceasefire facilitated by the U.N. has held and Libya continues on its path to building democratic institutions and constitutional reforms, violence and impunity for past and current human rights violations continue. Dangerous militia groups remain prevalent throughout the country.

The bill addresses such threats by sanctioning outside actors who fuel the growth of the conflict or are perpetrators of human rights abuses.

The bill also directs additional U.S. support to humanitarian relief and assistance efforts to help strengthen democratic governance, build a better, peaceful future for Libya, and ensure the security of the U.S. and our allies.

Such assistance and important measures are even more important as Libya faces a critical moment for its transitional path with presidential and parliamentary elections approaching this December.

Libya cannot be allowed to continue to spiral into lawlessness. A vacuum of leadership in Libya gives way to further extremism, which poses threats to the United States and our allies and partners.

I thank Mr. Deutch and Mr. Wilson for their work on this measure, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

House of Representatives,

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC, September 27, 2021.

Hon. Maxine Waters,

Committee on Financial Services,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairwoman Waters: I am writing to you concerning H.R.

1228, Libya Stabilization Act. I appreciate your willingness

to work cooperatively on this legislation.

I acknowledge that provisions of the bill fall within the

jurisdiction of the Committee on Financial Services under

House Rule X, and that your Committee will forgo action on

H.R. 1228 to expedite floor consideration. I further

acknowledge that the inaction of your Committee with respect

to the bill does not waive any future jurisdictional claim

over the matters contained in the bill that fall within your

jurisdiction. I also acknowledge that your Committee will be

appropriately consulted and involved as this or similar

legislation moves forward, and will support the appointment

of Committee on Financial Services conferees during any

House-Senate conference convened on this legislation.

Lastly, I will ensure that our exchange of letters is

included in the Congressional Record during floor

consideration of the bill. Thank you again for your

cooperation regarding the legislation. I look forward to

continuing to work with you as the measure moves through the

legislative process.

Sincerely,

Gregory W. Meeks,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch), the author of this bill and chairman of the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

It is vital that Libya's path toward rebuilding democratic institutions, after years of conflict, is not upended by those who seek to fuel violence and instability.

H.R. 1228 sanctions outside actors responsible for human rights abuses and creating conflict as well as directing additional United States' assistance efforts to strengthen Libya's democratic governance.

I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) for this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4686) to promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4686, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4686, Cambodia Democracy Act of 2021, introduced by Representative Steve Chabot, ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation.

The situation in Cambodia has been alarming for several years now. We have witnessed the widespread suppression of democracy and human rights in the country, as the Cambodian Government places severe limits on fundamental freedoms of the press, speech, and association.

In 2017 the president of the opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, CNRP, Kem Sokha, was arrested and indefinitely imprisoned on spurious and politically-motivated charges. Kem's arrest was followed by a government decision to dissolve the opposition party on fictitious claims that it was colluding with the United States Government to overthrow the Cambodian Government. The unprecedented move crippled the only viable opposition ahead of nationwide elections.

The ruling Cambodian People's Party, under the leadership of Hun Sen, continues to erode Cambodia's democracy by ordering the arrest and harassment of hundreds of CNRP leaders, civil society leaders, prodemocracy activists, and government critics.

We must demonstrate our support to the Cambodian people as they fight against the growing authoritarianism in their country and struggle for the restoration of democracy and respect for human rights.

With the passage of this legislation, the House sends a strong, bipartisan message raising the costs on Cambodian officials who continue to suppress freedoms and undermine democracy of Cambodia.

Congress must take concrete steps to hold the Cambodian Government accountable for its backsliding of democracy and human rights and steer the country back on the path towards free and fair elections.

This is an important measure. I support it, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC, September 27, 2021.

Hon. Jerrold Nadler,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Nadler: I am writing to you concerning H.R.

4686, the Cambodia Democracy Act. I appreciate your

willingness to work cooperatively on this legislation.

I acknowledge that provisions of the bill fall within the

jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary under House

Rule X, and that your Committee will forgo action on H.R.

4686 to expedite floor consideration. I further acknowledge

that the inaction of your Committee with respect to the bill

does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the

matters contained in the bill that fall within your

jurisdiction. I also acknowledge that your Committee will be

appropriately consulted and involved as this or similar

legislation moves forward, and will support the appointment

of Committee on the Judiciary conferees during any House-

Senate conference convened on this legislation.

Lastly, I will ensure that our exchange of letters is

included in the Congressional Record during floor

consideration of the bill. Thank you again for your

cooperation regarding the legislation. I look forward to

continuing to work with you as the measure moves through the

legislative process.

Sincerely,

Gregory W. Meeks,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no speakers, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

For many years now, Cambodians have struggled under an increasingly authoritarian and undemocratic regime. H.R. 4686, introduced by my colleague Representative Steve Chabot, would direct the President to impose sanctions on Cambodian officials who are responsible for acts that undermine democracy in Cambodia.

This bill sends a strong and unequivocal message that the United States stands firmly with the Cambodian people in their struggle for democracy and human rights. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I was in a HFAC Briefing--no notification of vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 284.

Mr. Speaker, for far too long, the pharmaceutical industry has dictated who in America has access to the medicines they need for their health and well-being and who doesn't, leaving millions of Americans in districts like mine to make impossible choices about their healthcare.

Already this year, drug companies have hiked the prices of 1,100 prescription drugs, more than 90 percent of which were above the rate of inflation. The largest single price hike for a prescription drug this month was nearly 16 percent, while inflation has risen slightly more than 2 percent.

Big Pharma's bottom line should never be more important than the health of my constituents in the Seventh District of Pennsylvania or the American people at large.

That is why I recently organized a letter signed by 14 of my colleagues, asking our leaders to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and include that language in the budget reconciliation bill currently being negotiated.

Here is the truth: Giving Medicare the power to negotiate would lower the cost of prescription drugs for hardworking families so that everyone has access to the medicines they need. It would also result in nearly half a trillion dollars in savings for taxpayers, money that we can invest in making healthcare more affordable for even more people.