Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate one of my district's own, Margaret Tate, who celebrated her 90th birthday this year.

Ms. Margaret Tate was born on February 11, 1933, in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was one of 13 children. She moved to Los Angeles at 8 years of age and went on to graduate from Centennial High School in Compton.

She married William Tate in 1953 and shared 36 wonderful years with him before his passing. After raising four children, she went on to work as the manager of her family business for 30 years.

Margaret's vitality is credited to her constant prayer and steadfast commitment to God, church, family, and community.

She is well known for her love of family and is a strong and faithful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

As she celebrates 90 years, Ms. Margaret maintains an active role in ministries at St. Anselm Catholic Church back home in our district, the 37th, where she has been a member for 55 years. She also participated in programming at the Inglewood Senior Center.

I hope you will join me in wishing Margaret Tate a happy 90th birthday and a year full of happiness, health, and love.

Marking the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the work of James Samuel Harris III, aka Jimmy Jam, and Terry Steven Lewis.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. When I introduced my resolution honoring this golden milestone earlier this summer, I was humbled to have Jimmy Jam's support of this effort.

For over 40 years, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have made a career out of giving a voice to the Black experience through music. They have worked with famous Black artists like Janet Jackson, Lionel Richie, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Mariah Carey, among many others.

Together, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote 41 top 10 hits in the United States. Last year, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.

I commend Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on their lifelong career in the music industry and will continue to support Black musicians through my work in Congress.

Celebrating the Renaissance Tour

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the triumph of Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour, and the only reason I am saying this this week is because I experienced the Renaissance.

Decked in silver from head to toe, Beyonce's Renaissance tour lays bare the experience of Black womanhood and tells us to leave our insecurities at the door. We are crazy in love with the restorative power of music.

The Renaissance tour has already grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, becoming Beyonce's highest grossing tour yet.

This summer was dominated by female artists. Both Beyonce and Taylor Swift sold out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where hundreds of thousands of my constituents celebrated with them and where Swifties and the BeyHive showed their power.

The Renaissance and Eras tours are stimulating economies across this country, keeping businesses open, and keeping hearts healthy-- everything this Congress is not doing. Even more than that, these concerts create safe spaces for women and the LGBTQ community.

We must continue to support the arts through our work in Congress, not by shutting down the government, but by ensuring that future generations of female artists can share their gifts with the world.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Meeks and Chairman McCaul for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1684. This timely piece of legislation, which I cosponsored, calls attention to the unprecedented humanitarian and security crisis unfolding just miles from our shores in Haiti.

Despite reports that sexual violence, kidnappings, displacement, and indiscriminate killings have swept the country, the international community has in many ways left Haitians to fend for themselves again, as usual.

The last thing we should do is write off Haiti's struggles as hopeless and insurmountable. The Haitian people have a long history of resilience and grit in the face of relentless man-made and natural disasters. After all, this is a

country born out of the fight for dignity and human rights against colonialism, systemic racism, and slavery.

Haitians are a people who have confronted every unthinkable obstacle that has come their way, and they have persevered against the odds.

We must continue to support the Haitian people with concerted international action and intentional policies like this bill.

I am glad that this bill takes a strong step in holding accountable the economic and political elites who are perpetuating and benefiting from the country's chronic insecurity.

I know there are Members on both sides of the aisle who are deeply invested in Haiti's future and represent Haitian constituents. I worked with some of them to introduce a resolution calling for a redoubling of diplomatic efforts to help achieve a solution to the current impasse.

There is more we can do, and there is more we must do in a strong bipartisan way.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues not to turn a blind eye to Haiti, not to forget the Haitian people, and to support this important legislation. Haiti is our neighbor. Haiti deserves more.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the University of Southern California (USC) Women's Beach Volleyball National Championship win. Last month's victory marked the team's third straight championship and sixth overall national title, as well as the 135th national championship for the University of Southern California. In addition, it is the 27th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) win for a USC women's athletics team.

On behalf of the 37th Congressional District, I want to extend an enthusiastic congratulations to Harper Hallgren, Delaney Karl, Jenna Johnson, Mabyn Thomas, Olivia Bakos, Madison White, Colby Bennett, Tatiana Rusich, Sterling Fischer, Bailey Showalter, Ava Gallien, Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope, Megan Kraft, Delaynie Maple, Audrey Norse, Klaire VanDeusen, Caitlin Cummings, Gabby Walker, Madison Shields, and Nicole Nourse on their impressive triumph. Kudos for all their hard work.

I would also like to congratulate Coach Dain Blanton, Assistant Coaches Gustavo Rocha and Emily Hansen, and Director of Operations Claire Kieffer-Wright, who all played a vital role in leading these young women to victory. Coach Blanton has accomplished the near impossible by leading his team to back-to-back-to-back wins as head coach and has enjoyed prior victories as assistant coach. Coach Blanton, Assistant Coaches Rocha and Hansen, and Director Kieffer- Wright's dedication to drawing out the best in their players and serving as encouraging voices has no doubt helped the team on their path to victory.

Athletics are a celebration of the human spirit. Playing a sport at the Division 1 collegiate level is no small feat, but playing at that level and being the best requires hustle and determination. They push themselves to their limits and train hard with their teammates day after day. This team has shown us the power of unity in achieving high arching goals; their spirit of camaraderie has allowed them to overcome obstacles and emerge victorious, supporting each other along the way. Their shared goal and commitment to one another powered them through the long season and delivered them to triumph.

This month, we will celebrate the 51st anniversary of Title IX. Decades ago, women wouldn't have had the opportunity to be part of a collegiate level, championship-winning team. The USC Women's Beach Volleyball team has inspired countless young girls to pursue their dreams fearlessly and are a testament to the progress that has been made in athletics.

The Women of Troy secured their sixth beach volleyball national title while battling their crosstown rivals, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins. The neck-and-neck May 7th championship match all came down to the last set with senior twin sisters Audrey and Nicole Nourse on the court. After going back and forth in the tight set with the Bruins, the Nourse sisters led their team to a 15-11 win to claim victory in the match and the 2023 NCAA championship.

I want to offer special recognition to the graduating students on the team. Seniors Harper Hallgren, Audrey Nourse, and Nicole Nourse and graduate students Jenna Johnson, Madison Shields, and Ashlyn Rasnick- Pope should be proud of their leadership of the team over the past few years and their incredible back-to-back-to-back wins. We will all miss watching them play, and we will never forget the indelible mark they have made.

As a USC alumna, I was excited to meet the Women of Troy and congratulate them on their National Championship title. I could not be prouder to share an alma mater with these remarkable women. Fight On, Trojans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlewoman from Florida for holding this Special Order hour. I give my deep appreciation to the Congressional Black Caucus for always using this time for us to talk about timely and relevant issues.

Last week, the gasp heard around the world came after a colleague from the other side of the aisle was talking about the National Defense Authorization Act, about the military, about veterans, and decided to call Black people colored people, something you haven't heard in decades.

I thought to myself, we are beyond this. Haven't we gotten beyond this? Well, I guess we have not.

The response was, the person misspoke, so I am going to pause after saying that because I still don't understand how that could be.

It is not an ignorant slip of the tongue. You do not misspeak. If you are going to say that, that is because it is front of mind. It is because that is how you see Black people. It is probably because that is what you have called Black people.

What is also interesting is that they are not here in the Chamber to hear this, to reflect on that kind of ignorance.

I know we are in a period of time where we want to be aggressive, hyper-aggressive, we want to push the envelope, we want to stoke fires, but I am here to tell you that we are not going to take the bait.

Black people are not going to be used as bait in these culture wars, and we are also not going to stand by and let you demoralize us, dehumanize us.

What is important to note is that the majority of the people who are in these Chambers every single day, helping us do this work, keeping us safe, running this floor, are Black. How shameful is it, while they are making sure that we are doing the people's business, to then be called that; men and women who could be our grandmothers, our parents, who fought in the civil rights movement to make sure that democracy was here in these Chambers for all of us.

It is fear and cowardice and ignorance that would allow those words to come out of your mouth.

It is important that you know Black people are not going anywhere. We are here. We are in these Chambers. We are in these committees. We are in your districts. We are your constituents.

Show some respect. Show some respect. In my community people like to say, you need to put some respect on my name. I didn't think that we were going to have to say that in these Chambers, but I see we do.

This is why we should not be banning books. This is why reading is so fundamental. This is why history is important because if we remove ourselves far enough from it, we start to make the same mistakes over again, and no one wants that to happen.

We are celebrating this year the March on Washington. We are fighting against forces that want to keep us from voting, that want to take away our votes, our voice, our children, our presence, our futures. That is a lot.

So on top of that, don't be disrespectful and call us out of our name. Colored is for crayons, not to name a person, not to name a race. Let's not get it twisted.

Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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

Madam Chair, I oppose this broad reactionary and irresponsible amendment because it would harm U.S. interests and undermine scientific progress for the American people and the world.

There is no question that the PRC poses real challenges to the United States and that it is engaged in technological and economic competition with us. We know that the PRC is engaged in harmful research to boost its military, that it engages in technology and IP theft. These are challenges worth tackling, and the Biden administration and Congress have taken steps to protect ourselves against these activities in effective and responsible ways.

This amendment, however, goes entirely too far. When a careful and scalpel-like approach is needed to ensure we are not contributing to China's military or providing China with advanced and sensitive technology and know-how, this amendment uses a guillotine to cut off support for any form of research collaboration between the United States and China.

As drafted, this amendment would prevent any U.S. funding of, contracting with, or partnership with any individual or entity connected to the PRC government. Let's be clear about what that would mean. This would prohibit collaboration with all the major public universities in China, endangering academic collaboration and research partnerships between U.S. and Chinese institutions.

We should be worried about AI and supercomputing. This amendment would cut off collaboration on completely harmless and often very beneficial social science research on things such as poverty reduction and economic development.

This amendment would make it harder for American academics and researchers to partner with the Chinese people, many of them who may not have any love for the CCP and would benefit from talking directly to and working with an American and learning about the freedoms and values that Americans enjoy.

More critically, this amendment would cut off collaboration on medical research that could literally save lives of Americans and people around the world. Let me give you one example. Right now doctors and researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York are collaborating with the Chinese Thoracic Oncology Group to conduct shared clinical trials in hospitals in the United States and China to develop modern cancer drugs. We need to make sure this research collaboration happens in a safe and secure way, but why would we prohibit it? Why would we not want to work together to find a cure for cancer?

Ultimately, we cannot and must not follow the Chinese Communist Party's example and close ourselves off to the world and the Chinese people. That is what they do. That is not what America does.

Madam Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

Madam Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?

Madam Chair, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from San Diego, California (Ms. Jacobs).

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

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

As we consider this amendment today, Ukrainians are suffering greatly as Russia's brutal war against their sovereignty continues unabated. Seventy-eight percent of Ukrainians have had either a family member or a friend die because of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Cities have been decimated, families have been broken, and lives have been lost.

But the Zelenskyy government stands, the fight for democracy is alive, and Ukrainian willpower is and has been unflappable, and Putin's so-called ``special military operation'' has become one of the biggest strategic catastrophes in Russian history as we stand today. Russian generals are disappearing, and the Wagner group was marching on Moscow, not Kyiv, just a few weeks ago.

The United States' security assistance has been absolutely essential for the Ukrainian Army's heroic stand against the invaders of their homeland. We cannot and must not pull back now. The cost of this war on the Ukrainian people has been immense, but their bravery has been even more monumental.

I urge all Members to oppose this amendment, and I am confident that it

will, in fact, be opposed in a strong bipartisan vote.

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

Mr. Chairman, I request an Advil, and I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Chair, do I have any more time remaining?

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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

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

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is consistent with certain members of the Republican Party's continued opposition to aiding Ukraine.

Our security assistance to Ukraine over the past year plus has been crucial to Ukrainian efforts to counter Russia's illegal, immoral, and reprehensible invasion of another sovereign nation.

If Vladimir Putin and our foreign adversaries can invade other countries without any response from the United States or our allies around the globe, then every country in the world becomes less safe.

The United States is not fighting a war in Ukraine. We are giving Ukrainians the weapons they need to fight the war for themselves and defend their country from totalitarian invaders.

We must support our friends who are standing on the front lines of the fight for freedom in this world. I oppose this amendment forcefully, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Smith).

Madam Chair, in Ukraine, since day one of this war, attacks have been aimed at civilian structures, hospitals, energy infrastructure, and urban centers. In the battlefield, Russia has brutally murdered prisoners of war as their Wagnerites occupied Ukraine's towns and territory.

Allied military sources say that Russia has landmined Ukrainian territory at an unprecedented rate, making it one of the largest minefields in the world. These minefields in war zones and in agricultural areas will likely cause civilian death and require billions of dollars to safely remove in the coming years. The World Bank estimated the cost to be at $37.6 billion.

Ukraine is paying for their freedom with their lives as we speak, but the mental, emotional, familial, and social scars will be there for generations to come. Ukrainian citizens are living through a nightmare because of their push toward democracy during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

This amendment prohibits a feasibility study on centers for treatment of traumatic brain injuries to improve the lives of individuals affected by traumatic brain injury experienced in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression and to improve the lives of the family members of such an individual.

Honestly, we should be funding centers across the world because that is a better expression of democracy than what is often exhibited.

This amendment is callous, and America and our partners' support of Ukraine's fight for freedom is better than that.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment. I could support it but for the limitation clause, which is meant to cut support for Ukraine. Like all of these amendments, this is meant to undermine our support for Ukraine. I simply oppose it and urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Chair, sometimes the devil is in the reading. The amendment sounds good, but at the end of the day, it cuts support.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, which would eliminate the important extension of lend-lease authority for Ukraine included in the underlying bill.

As Ukraine continues its counteroffensive against Russia's brutal, unprovoked war of aggression, we must continue doing everything we can with our allies and partners in support; not just for the future of Ukraine and its people, but for democracies and free people across the world opposing brutal autocrats like Putin.

The lend-lease authority this bill extends is one of the many tools the administration has at its disposal to support Ukraine in its courageous efforts with critical weapons and defense capabilities.

This authority is one which has bipartisan support, not just in committee by virtue of the extension being included in the bill, but by way of bicameral, bipartisan passage in strong support roughly 10 months ago. It was a Republican bill led by Senator John Cornyn, S. 3522, which provided for lend-lease authority for Ukraine that passed by an overwhelming bipartisan margin, 417-10 in favor, including nearly 200 Republicans.

I call on Members to recognize the importance of ensuring Ukraine has the tools and capabilities it needs to defend itself, defeat Russia, and preserve its independence and sovereignty.

Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bacon).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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

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

I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. This ties the administration's hands in how it can best support the people of Afghanistan living under Taliban rule. It prohibits the use of any funds authorized via this bill to be used, even tangentially, to aid in our support of the millions of Afghan women and girls suffering under Taliban rule or to those Afghans living in poverty and in need of humanitarian relief.

The administration already jumps through many hoops to ensure that aid is not moving through Taliban hands. This amendment also removes the President's ability to issue waivers or licenses to allow for humanitarian need. This amendment counters our own interests to prevent humanitarian crises, to assist with detained Americans, and to continue our ongoing work to relocate all those Afghan allies who worked alongside the United States over the course of our 20-year war in Afghanistan.

The amendment strives to be tough on the Taliban without any regard for the Afghan people, which will just embolden the Taliban and create further discord and distrust between the United States and Afghanistan.

The amendment is a red herring. The bogeyman word in this amendment is the Taliban. What this amendment does is ties the hands of the administration by requiring sanction mitigation to go through Congress. That is the job for the administration. With the dysfunction of this Congress, you should not even ask us to put toilet paper in the bathroom. This amendment would make that humanitarian aid illegal and people would die.

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

Mr. Chair, the text is not in the Constitution; it is in the bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

Mr. Chair, the last election proved that the majority of the people did trust the President. They voted for him.

I just restate that we don't send money to the Taliban. We send money to USAID and charitable organizations. They use the money to help the people directly.

This amendment would make that work, that very important critical, diplomatic, strategic work illegal, and then people would die. They would die with that red blood.

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

Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

Mr. Chairman, I want to say how important it is to read bills and to read amendments. Once again, this amendment removes the President's ability to issue waivers or licenses to allow for humanitarian need.

This amendment counters our own interests to prevent humanitarian crises, to assist with detained Americans, and to continue our ongoing work to relocate all of those Afghan allies who worked alongside the United States over the course of our 20-year war in Afghanistan. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for hosting this important topic.

I rise today to call out the corruption and the hypocrisy of this Supreme Court. The affirmative action ruling is a total sham.

Justice Clarence Thomas is good at accepting gifts. One gift he received was the gift of going to Yale Law School, thanks to affirmative action. He said: ``God only knows where I would be today'' if it were not for affirmative action.

Yet, in this last ruling, he opined that affirmative action was bad for African Americans because if they got into these institutions, they would be unable to thrive.

Elite institutions remain the gateways into government, into big industry, into C-suites. Eight of the nine sitting Justices on this court either attended Yale or Harvard Law School. In fact, three of the Justices on this bench are beneficiaries of affirmative action and have stated it.

Allowing themselves to get into college because of affirmative action, they got on to the bench because of affirmative action. Both Democrat and Republican Presidents considered race when selecting them as nominees for the Supreme Court, appropriately so.

It is about representation. It is about diversity. It is about making sure that all voices are seen and heard. Affirmative action is more than just about admissions. It is also about economic progress. But this ruling has cut generations of students from this critical benefit.

The Court is facing a legitimacy crisis. The Supreme Court is out of step with reality.

In States that have actually banned affirmative action, schools in those States have seen a 20 percent reduction in Black applicants and in Black students. Talk to an admissions counselor. Heck, talk to a biologist, and they will tell you that homogenous environments do not thrive. They do not survive.

In an orchestra, you need all kinds of musicians playing all kinds of instruments in order to make music.

In movies, you need all kinds of characters to tell a story.

On college campuses, you need a diverse campus, of all kinds of students, to stimulate growth, research, economic development, innovation and survival.

This ruling goes beyond admissions. It is about the hiring of faculty. It is about how companies recruit, hire, and retain, and it is about procurement.

This ruling is divisive. It is hypocritical, and it is out of step with the American people, just like the Supreme Court.

You know what this ruling does? This ruling says to Black students, this ruling says to Black children like yours and like mine, that this Supreme Court doesn't see you and that this Supreme Court doesn't care about you.

But to our students, to our children, to our students and our children who are Black, I am here to tell you on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus that we see you. We hear you. We are fighting for you, unlike this Supreme Court. We are not going to stop fighting, nor will we stop telling the truth about the history of this country, about this Supreme Court, about this ruling, and about what is ahead.

Color blind is an aspirational state of mind, but it is not yet reality. So let's live in reality and talk about what our students are facing and the hypocrisy that is coming out of this Supreme Court.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today nearly 1 year after Roe v. Wade was overturned to condemn the continued sanctioned assault on women.

In the year since this decision, more women have been prosecuted for their pregnancy outcomes and more laws have been introduced to further criminalize us than ever before.

Is it okay to arrest a woman for having a stillbirth? Is it a crime to assist a pregnant child of rape or incest to get an abortion? Is it reasonable to classify abortion as a homicide? No, but that is where we are now.

A woman can now be prosecuted for the death of her unborn child. It is almost a capital offense to be born a woman. Given the likelihood that your female child may be raped, have a complicated pregnancy, or just need an abortion, would you want her to be treated like a criminal? No.

Mr. Speaker, women's bodies have suffered endless surveillance and control for long enough. It is time that we stand up and talk about this, and it must end now.

Mr. Chair, when I first heard of the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, I thought it was a joke. It turns out the joke is on me because here I am on the floor debating this.

Of course, I planned to speak on this bill last week, but Republicans imploded in their dysfunction and prevented Congress from working.

American families want answers to the high prices they see in the grocery stores. They want answers to why their children are being shot and killed in their places of worship and at graduations. They want answers to why Republicans are targeting their LGBTQ family members and loved ones.

Republicans are responding to these pressing issues by talking about what stove you can own.

For a party that touts freedom, there seems to be some confusion about what that word actually means because some people might want the freedom to purchase an energy-efficient stove that actually helps the environment.

Let's get into it. This legislation would prohibit the Department of Energy from moving forward with a congressionally mandated efficiency standard, a standard, by the way, that would help people with their energy bills, and a Department of Energy, by the way, that doesn't have the authority to ban your gas stoves.

If this is the Republican messaging bill, then what is the message? That Republicans can't govern? That they are not in tune with the American people? That they don't care about the real issues?

I would give them some credit if Republicans talked about the issues of the day, like the fact that the frontrunner for the Republican Party already found liable of sexual assault was arraigned today on 37 counts of Federal criminal charges, including violating the Espionage Act, which is reserved for enemies of the state. A stove is not an enemy of the state. Or if they talked about the fact that we had more mass shootings than days in the year, and we just passed a bill to make handguns more dangerous.

Do you want to keep people safe? Then regulate guns, not stoves. Convict criminals, not cooktops, because stoves are not killing people. Stoves are not accelerating homelessness. Stoves are not exacerbating crime. We

could be talking about any number of pressing issues of substantive things to legislate, but stoves?

I actually told folks in my district that Republicans care more about how you cook your cupcakes than how to keep your children alive.

If this is an example of Republican messaging, then we have a real problem.

I will say it again: The American people want us to focus on issues like immigration, climate change, gun violence, the right to have an abortion, the questionable ethics of SCOTUS Justices, the need to regain competitive status with global allies, bringing home U.S. hostages, rebuilding our infrastructure, getting people out of poverty, feeding children, protecting caregivers who take care of our children and our elderly, protecting firefighters from toxic chemicals, and fighting against gender violence at home and abroad.

These are real issues where America can lead, not how you cook with your stove.

Mr. Chair, I will say it again: I have seen it all, and I am here to tell you Republicans: The emperor has no clothes.

We should be talking about the pressing issues of the day. China is not coming after us because of our stoves.

Mr. Chair, I ask for a ``no'' vote on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight June as Caribbean American Heritage Month. This month allows us to celebrate the diversity and influence of the Caribbean diaspora.

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, we must ensure the prosperity of the Caribbean.

Just recently, I co-led a bipartisan resolution with Representatives Lawler, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Salazar to redouble our diplomatic efforts with Haiti. This resolution also expresses support in achieving Haitian-centered solutions that restore the island's political infrastructure and address the basic needs of its people. We cannot ignore the plight of our neighbors who are just mere miles from our shore.

Caribbean Americans have helped define the American story. Many of them serve here with me in Congress, and many more have had important roles throughout our country's history.

As a Representative of Los Angeles, I am fortunate to live in a culturally vibrant city where Caribbean Angelenos influence the food, music, and art of the city.

This month is about celebration of culture and community and reminds us to look beyond the European patriarchal lens that dominates our society. The U.S. is a country of immigrants, something the Governor of Florida could stand to remember.

Gun Violence Prevention Month

Mr. Speaker, June is Gun Violence Prevention Month. June is Gun Violence Prevention Month. June is Gun Violence Prevention Month. So why, in this full body, are we not talking about the gun violence epidemic that has taken hold of this country?

Why is the Republican Party punting on this issue and continuing to blame gun violence solely on mental health and ignorantly say that the answer to gun violence is more guns?

The parents of the children killed by mass shootings, the survivors of these mass shootings don't want or deserve to continue to hear that. They deserve acknowledgment, honesty and, most of all, they deserve action.

They deserve a Republican Party that cares as much about this issue as they do stove tops which, when you think about it, is incredibly painful and disrespectful.

Republicans seem to want to talk about everything except gun violence, everything except gun violence, everything except gun violence, and that silence, that silence on this issue is tantamount to blaming the victims. That failure to act is equivalent to disregarding these victims' lives and dismissing their deaths.

Mr. Speaker, June is Gun Violence Prevention Month. June is Gun Violence Prevention Month, so let's act like it.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the queen of rock and roll, the incomparable Tina Turner.

She passed away yesterday at 83 years of age after a career so bold and sparkling, we are unlikely to see another star so bright.

What did love have to do with it? Everything.

Tina Turner loved and owned her own story. She unveiled the trauma of domestic violence and turned it into a strength felt by women across the

world. She was a true ambassador of the Buddhist practice, showed female artists how to take ownership of their brand, and she used music to speak and captivate us.

She was a constituent of the 37th District, having lived in View Park, the heart of my district. Her passing is a true loss to the global community.

In this moment, she would probably say to Republicans: Don't hide this weekend. Stay and do your job. The American people deserve more from you. They work hard and don't deserve to be blamed, lied to, and defaulted on by a dysfunctional Republican Party who can't get its act together. Lead, don't bleed the American people.

No, wait, I said that.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn Republicans' attack on education. They want to ban teachers, books, and the opportunity to learn history, and now, they want to ban relief for students.

This resolution would block President Biden's debt forgiveness plan, forcing everyone who took advantage of the pause in payments to pay interest on every payment missed.

In addition, this plan would hit our valuable public servants the hardest--those who took advantage of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, like nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, and childcare providers.

If you want some real truth, Mr. Speaker, let's not get it twisted. PPP was not a grant, yet some of my Republican colleagues literally received millions in PPP loans. I don't see anyone rushing to pay those back. Talk about unfair; the American people are paying those bills that they didn't incur.

No, Republicans don't want to forgive anyone or anything except themselves, and the American people deserve forgiveness.

This legislation will harm low- and middle-income families, including 20.6 million of Republicans' own constituents, but they won't say that.

American people, if you don't know, now you know.

Let's enact legislation that encourages affordable education and economic mobility so that the American people can learn and earn.

Republicans, please get out of your and my constituents' way.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for a ``no'' vote on this.

Madam Chair, I rise today to strongly oppose the Republicans' HALT Fentanyl Act. Republicans want to ban American history so that they can repeat the bad parts.

Did we learn nothing from the war on drugs?

I guess not. Real talk was a huge failure. Back then we enacted ineffective and punitive laws that only worked to expand mass incarceration, mostly of Black and Brown folks.

This legislation will enact ineffective and punitive drug laws that only work to expand mass incarceration.

Who will suffer?

Mostly Black and Brown folks. The data shows that all races are facing challenges with fentanyl.

This legislation would put us on a dangerous path toward unjust and disproportionate mandatory minimums for the possession of all fentanyl- related substances.

News flash: Research is still needed on possible and legal pharmacological use of these substances. Fentanyl is still being prescribed legally and used in controlled settings by medical doctors. That is right. Republicans don't like science.

In its current form, this bill allows for no flexibility, and won't address the root issue. This bill is shortsighted because some of these substances could still be key to developing treatment for fentanyl overdoses.

Instead of learning about how we can save people from fentanyl, we want to criminalize all of the fentanyl-related substances.

Madam Chair, 97 percent of the illicit fentanyl seized at the border is seized at legal ports of entry. The majority of those convicted are U.S. citizens. The draconian mandatory minimums proposed under this plan don't address these issues.

In fact, this bill doesn't do anything smart. It doesn't address the humanitarian crisis we are facing at our southern border. It doesn't address the epidemic of substance abuse, and it certainly won't improve our public safety.

The majority of people who are dying from fentanyl are dying because they are taking it illegally. They are buying and searching for illicit drugs. It is not about prosecution. It is about drug use. The issue is substance abuse. That is what we should be addressing.

If you are going to propose some legislation, make it make sense. Make it address root issues and focus on the causes rather than continuing to scapegoat the same people that you have scapegoated for years and years to no end.

Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud how the Inflation Reduction Act is delivering for our country and California's 37th Congressional District.

I am proud of the work that California has already done to be a leader in renewable energy. With key investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, our country can benefit from a clean energy market that puts our workers first and brings the United States into the 21st century.

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has already created $242 billion in new investments with $5.45 billion announced in my State alone for clean energy and manufacturing projects.

It has already created 142,000 new jobs across 41 States: red, blue, and purple. The IRA is projected to create 9 million new, good-paying jobs for Americans over the next decade, but that is not all it will do.

It will help us achieve our climate goals, boost clean technology manufacturing, make EVs more accessible and affordable, ensure families breathe clean air and drink clean water, and make gains toward environmental justice for historically forgotten communities.

What does this look like for my community?

It is funding for air quality monitoring grants in historically disadvantaged communities, clean schoolbuses for our children, and low- emission public transportation in Los Angeles.

After years of insufficient Federal action to address our climate crisis, Democrats came together to enact this historic law, and we cannot go back.

Unfortunately, Republicans prefer to help their corporate polluter friends roll back environmental safeguards and are currently working to use our economy as a bargaining chip to erase major clean energy provisions in the IRA through debt limit discussions.

If the Speaker and his ultra-MAGA colleagues got their way, they would inflict dire consequences on our efforts to stop the worst of climate change from happening.

They would end renewable energy credits for wind and solar, limit rooftop solar growth in homes and businesses, stop the expansion of electric vehicle sales and EV charging stations, repeal funding for low-income communities that was intended to address pollution, and repeal the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.

These are investments in clean energy that have largely benefited Republican districts, even though they won't admit it, and Republican actions today will take away the wealth and economic opportunity from everyday American households.

This law is our strongest chance to create a safer, healthier Nation for our

children and families and regain credibility with allies around the world.

We cannot allow Republicans to take us back to a time where fossil fuels and toxic policy decisions hold hostage our health and economy. Congress must pass a clean debt limit increase now.

Recognizing May as National Foster Care Month

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize May as National Foster Care Month. Nearly 500,000 children fall under the care of our foster system.

As overseers of their welfare, Congress has a sacred duty to support these children and those who work tirelessly on their behalf to ensure that they have safe and loving homes.

Our child welfare system is in desperate need of reform. We must have supportive policies that fairly compensate social workers and invest in the needs of our children.

Supporting the growth and development of a child and giving them safe shelter are incredibly important tasks that have fallen by the wayside.

Foster youth are feeling the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the disparities they face in education, healthcare, and employment.

This is why I joined my colleagues in the Caucus on Foster Youth to introduce a resolution to recognize the month of May as National Foster Care Month.

I will continue to raise awareness around our foster care system and the work of selfless social workers and advocates.

If we want to talk about adoption and providing for our children, we must take a real and lasting look at the problems we are facing and come together to work on solutions.