Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to lay out a few facts about the debt ceiling.

Raising the debt ceiling is about meeting obligations the government has already made and has nothing to do with new spending.

Since World War I, we have raised the debt ceiling under every single President--every single President.

So let's remember a few facts: The national debt under the Trump administration rose significantly by $8 trillion, a total of roughly 25 percent of the entire debt at the time he left office. That is one- quarter of the entire debt by President Trump.

Republicans voted three times--three times--to raise the debt limit under the Trump administration.

So where was the Republican outrage then?

President Biden has lowered the deficit by $1.7 trillion during the first 2 years of office and has a plan to reduce it even more.

Mr. Speaker, yet House Republicans used their very first bill to hand a giveaway to big corporations and billionaires that cheat on their taxes, adding an explosive $114 billion to the deficit, and still no plan to reduce debt. House Democrats put people over politics, solutions over rhetoric.

Mr. Speaker, House Democrats have always put people over politics, but House Republicans continue to prioritize their own power and pocketbooks instead of solving problems.

House Democrats have lowered kitchen table costs for Americans by lowering healthcare coverage prices, capping out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices.

Additionally, we have helped make clean energy more affordable to American families through rebates and tax credits.

Meanwhile, House Republicans continue threatening to raise taxes on families and cut Social Security and Medicare funding.

Our seniors are dependent on these vital programs.

These extreme MAGA Republicans are focused on political games at the risk of thousands of Americans' livelihoods.

I will always put people over politics today, tomorrow, and every day.

People over politics.

Mr. Speaker, we feel the pain of the people of East Palestine. We stand with them in demands for change in safety in the railroad industry.

It is not just what trains carry. It is their weight, it is their length, it is their mechanics, it is the number of people on the train, and it is about damage to the neighborhoods and the environment.

Mr. Speaker, my district has the most reported roads blocked by trains of any district in the Nation. This means that the trains disrupt a lot of activity in our neighborhoods, and we get many complaints about blocked crossings blocking kids getting to school, fire trucks and ambulances not being able to get to buildings and to homes, and just a lot of damage done to our neighborhoods.

So the trains are not just about the derailment of East Palestine, but it is also about the damage they do every day particularly, again, in my district that has so many railroads.

I know, Mr. Speaker, that you know about this.

What we will be doing today and the following weeks is to focus more on rail safety. I had the FRA administrator in the district last week, and I am pleased to say that today we will be filing a bill called Don't Block Our Communities Act to address some of these issues.

Madam Speaker, House Democrats are putting people over politics by lowering healthcare costs and creating better- paying jobs.

We are cutting costs for healthcare coverage, capping insulin at $35 for Medicare patients, and giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices. We expanded the Affordable Care Act program which will lower premiums for over 13 million Americans.

Just in my district alone, 62,000 seniors with Medicare will pay less for prescription drug coverage, and 29,000 people in my district will have access to affordable healthcare coverage due to lowered premiums under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Meanwhile, some extreme MAGA Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare.

House Democrats will always protect seniors from Medicare cuts or Social Security cuts because we put seniors over politics. In fact, House Democrats increased benefits by 8.7 percent last year to ensure a dignified retirement for Americans who worked hard for

these vital benefits. Let me repeat that: They worked hard for these vital benefits.

This increase helped more than 80,000 people in my district who are on Social Security. That is more than 10 percent of my constituents.

These are retired workers, disabled workers, widows, and children who need these critical funds to survive. They have earned them. They paid into them.

Social Security and Medicare are a lifeline for our seniors and especially those in my district. We will always defend these programs, and we will always put seniors over politics.

We will never cut Medicare. We will never cut Social Security. We will fight for our working families until the end.

Madam Speaker, House Democrats are creating good-paying jobs for all our American families. Democrats have created a record 12 million jobs since President Biden took office, and we aren't stopping there. Let me repeat that: 12 million, and we are not stopping there. That is almost as many jobs in 2 years as any President has created in a 4-year term.

House Republicans are trying to undermine all this through bad lies and made-up stuff suggesting that President Biden has hurt our economy. He has not.

Republicans want to raise the cost of everything 30 percent while giving the wealthiest Americans cuts on their taxes. This is outrageous and just plain wrong.

While extreme MAGA Republicans hand out tax breaks to the wealthy, Democrats are focused on lowering everyday Americans' costs.

We will continue to fight for working families.

I am not willing to use politics over people. I will always put people over politics and always, always people first.

Mr. Speaker, House Democrats are putting people over politics by lowering kitchen-table costs, creating better-paying jobs, cutting costs for healthcare coverage, and capping out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors.

However, extreme MAGA Republicans have an economic plan that would do just the opposite. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are set to advance a new 30 percent national sales tax. This will increase the average family's costs for groceries and essentials by hundreds of dollars each and every month.

Some MAGA Republicans say they want to cut Social Security and Medicare, and working families will lose their hard-earned benefits. They are putting special interests of the few over the working-class majority.

House Democrats will continue to fight for working families. We will always put people over politics and seniors over party, and we will always, always put people first.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Michael N. Mosteit.

Mike was a trailblazer in the labor movement, a dedicated public servant, and a loving family man.

As a member of IBEW Local 66 for over 50 years, he strived to ensure our workers had fair representation and proper wages.

I had the honor of standing shoulder to shoulder with Mike many times--defending workers, organizing, walking the picket line, winning, and sometimes trying and trying again.

The work was never about the money. It was about fighting for the quality of life and transformational difference a good job can do for a family.

That is what leadership is: wanting something better for others than you have for yourself. That was Mike Mosteit.

Our hearts go out to his loving wife, Carol, a wonderful educator in her own right, and their son, Joshua.

Rest in peace, Mike. We will keep up the fight until we meet again on another picket line. God bless.

Mr. Speaker, as we heard last night at the State of the Union Address, President Biden's first 2 years delivered a record-breaking number of new jobs. In total, 12 million new jobs were created for hardworking Americans. I repeat that: 12 million new jobs.

That is as many jobs in 2 years as any President has created in a 4- year term. America also has seen the lowest unemployment rate, at 3.4 percent, since 54 years ago.

The Biden administration fought hard to deliver big results for Medicare and other programs to help seniors and working families. Democrats were able to make changes that will help millions of Americans by lowering prescription drug prices for Medicare patients.

The following improvements have also taken place.

Insulin has been capped at $35 per month for Medicare patients. Mr. Speaker, that strikes home because we have a lot of diabetes in my own family.

Medicare can now negotiate the price of high-cost drugs, which further drops prices. We also provide additional free vaccines, including for shingles, pneumonia, and hepatitis, under the Medicare program.

On top of all this, we expanded the Affordable Care Act, which will lower premiums for 13 million Americans.

The President's economic agenda is generating investments across the country and revitalizing communities left behind.

We are giving families more breathing room and standing up for workers by banning noncompete agreements; rewarding work, not wealth; and fighting to ensure that everyone can earn a living wage.

For the next 2 years, Democrats will work together to fight for our hardworking families. The President knows that we must finish the job with affordable childcare, home care, sick leave, paid leave, and the child tax credit.

Mr. Speaker, we must put people over politics and solutions over rhetoric.

Mr. Speaker, once again, House Republicans are prioritizing extreme political stunts over problem-solving for the American people.

Speaker McCarthy's purely partisan move to strip Representative Omar from her committee is not only a political stunt but a blow to the integrity of our democratic institutions and solves no problem.

In modern American history, the punishment of stripping Members of Congress of their committee assignments has been reserved only for the most egregious wrongdoing, including threats to colleagues. Congresswoman Omar has neither threatened a colleague, nor has she committed any egregious wrongdoing.

If Republicans want to degrade the integrity of the House and its committees, it will be up to Democrats to stand up against these efforts. We will always stand for integrity in our House.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose the efforts today by the extreme MAGA Republicans in this political stunt that solves no problems.

Madam Speaker, extreme MAGA Republicans have an economic plan that will hurt working families. House Republicans are set to advance a new 30 percent national sales tax.

Let me repeat that: 30 percent national sales tax.

This will increase the average family's cost for groceries and everyday essentials by about $100 every single month.

On top of that, they want to cut Social Security, cut Medicare. Working families will lose their hard-earned benefits.

They are putting their special interests over the working class. They are putting special interests over people.

Rest assured, Madam Speaker, no matter what extreme MAGA Republicans do, House Democrats will continue to fight for working families. It is the middle class that makes our country strong. We will be there to put them over politics. We will be there to put people first.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the resilience of residents of Houston, Pasadena, and our neighbors in Deer Park and Baytown that were hit by the tornado earlier this week.

We were hit hard, and it devastated our area, but the people are resilient. The tornado left dozens of families displaced in my district with homes without roofs and surrounded by debris. Thankfully, there were no deaths or serious injuries, and our spirit is not broken.

In this time of recovery, it is important to remember that our communities always come together in time of need.

I thank all the first responders, the workers who helped restore our electricity, the people who picked up the debris, and those who were there immediately to help our neighbors. That is what we are all about, helping each other. We continue to rebuild our communities because we are strong together.

As long as I continue to represent Texas-29, I will ensure that our district is well prepared and has the best available resources and information for recovery.

We are Houston strong. We are Pasadena strong. We are Texas strong.

Madam Speaker, I rise to sound the alarm. Extreme MAGA Republicans have an economic plan that will hurt working families. For 2 years House Democrats have delivered for everyday Americans.

The economic progress that House Democrats and President Biden have led is simply remarkable. So let's talk about this significant growth Democrats have made possible by President Biden's economic plan.

We created 11 million jobs. Under Trump we lost 2.9 million jobs.

The unemployment rate is at 3.5 percent--one of the lowest rates in our history. Under Trump it was 6.3 percent.

We lowered healthcare costs for working families. Under Trump, 3 million more people lost their insurance.

We capped insulin at $35 for our seniors on Medicare.

We expanded Medicare and Social Security benefits.

This is progress, but this progress is threatened by extreme MAGA Republicans.

While most Americans are worried about post-COVID prices at the grocery store, the extreme MAGA Republicans in charge of the House GOP want to increase the average family's costs for groceries and everyday essentials by hundreds of dollars every month. That is right, Madam Speaker, raising it by hundreds a month.

They are doing this by championing a new 30 percent national sales tax. The House MAGA Republicans would jack up the prices on the products that we rely on. Imagine paying in my district 30 percent more when you go to HEB for your groceries.

This kind of blanket tax increase is failed economic policy that attacks the foundation of our economic growth and hurts working families.

My Republican friends all talk about responsible spending and balanced budgets. Families will not be able to balance their own budgets if the extreme MAGA wing gets its way.

Madam Speaker, we have already witnessed what this so-called leadership looks like. The very first bill the GOP put before the House will make it easier to hand tax breaks to the wealthy and well connected.

They are not just trying to make it easier for the ultrapowerful to pay even less in taxes. Sadly, extreme Republicans want to gut Social Security, eliminate Medicare, and reverse new lower drug prices House Democrats just fought hard to get for working families.

If they have their way, Social Security and Medicare as we know it will end. Working families will lose the benefits they have earned by paying into a system for decades.

In my home district, there are more than 80,000 people living on their Social Security income. That is more than 10 percent of my constituents. These are retired workers, disabled workers, widows, and children who need these critical funds to survive.

Let me repeat: They earned their benefits by paying into the system for many, many decades.

When extreme MAGA Republicans fight and say they don't want to raise the debt limit, I want everyone to know what that really means. It is not economic theory; it is political posturing.

They raised the debt limit every time Trump was in office, and in fact, Trump is responsible for 25 percent of our current debt.

When they say they are going to fight, it really is about hurting people. It would mean Social Security payments won't be sent, and people already living hand to mouth won't get the money they earned. This is totally unacceptable.

The full faith and credit of the United States means more than paying our government's bills on time. It means keeping groceries in the refrigerator and medicine in the cabinet for many people in my district.

House Democrats will continue to fight for working families. It is the middle class that makes our country strong.

We will always put people over politics. We will always put people first.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the school board members from the seven school districts in my district in recognition of School Board Member Appreciation Month.

I am incredibly grateful for the extremely devoted school board members across my district from Aldine, Houston, Galena Park, Channelview, Sheldon, Pasadena, and Humble ISDs.

These folks are doing incredible work on behalf of the people and are the most important public servants I can think of. They are shaping the next generation of leaders by ensuring our schools are places where students can learn, explore, and dream.

I know that keeping our schools running smoothly and safely comes with plenty of late nights and a lot of behind-the-scenes work. I am truly grateful for the work of all these school board members and their service to the next generation of leaders. I thank them for always putting children over politics, classrooms over bathrooms, books over bullets, and teaching over talking points.

Madam Speaker, I would have voted yea had I been present for Roll Call 524, Bill Number S. 3905 on December 14, 2022.

Madam Speaker, I rise to celebrate Galena Park Independent School District's very own North Shore High School football team for their second trip in a row to the Texas State Championship.

Located in my district, the North Shore Senior High School is home to a group of standout athletes and students, both academically and athletically.

Through their hard work and preservation, our local stars will now play against Duncanville High School for a chance to defend their State championship.

I am truly so proud of all their accomplishments both on and off the field. They embody Texas' spirit of excellence and go-get-'em spirit.

Stay focused and play strong, Mustangs, because all of Galena Park in the Houston region is rooting for you this Saturday.

Best wishes and God bless.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the 20 innocent little children and 6 brave teachers who were taken from their families 10 years ago today at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I truthfully can't even comprehend the immense pain that these families must have felt and continue to feel every day.

I never want another family to experience this type of loss. That is why we must remain committed to ending the gun violence epidemic that plagues our country.

Earlier this year, House Democrats passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden swiftly signed into law. It will save lives by funding violence prevention programs at schools, expanding background checks for those under 21 years of age, strengthening mental health resources, and so much more, but the fight is not over.

I promise to continue fighting until we are all saved from gun violence because we owe this to the victims of gun violence, their families, and their children.

We will always put children over the NRA. We will always put people over politics.