Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, Representative Gosar's behavior is alarming, unacceptable, and should never, ever be tolerated.

The official communication accounts of a Member of the United States Congress should never in any way show or encourage violence against a colleague or threaten the President of the United States.

On January 6, we personally experienced the consequences of allowing this kind of viciousness and vulgarity. Put simply, violent images in our politics encourages violence against any of us. No one, especially women and women of color, should fear coming to do the work they were elected to do for the people.

We must encourage our women to lead, not silence them by tolerating threats like Congressman Gosar's. As Members of Congress, we must set an example for the entire country instead of encouraging violence against others. It is our moral imperative to be collegial to one another. It is our responsibility to hold ourselves accountable. And it is our obligation to protect the integrity and honor of the United States Congress.

Madam Speaker, children are watching. The world is watching. We must do better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 3992, the Protecting Older Job Applicants Act of 2021.

I want to start by thanking my Republican co-lead on this bill, the dean of the House, Congressman Don Young of Alaska. I also want to thank Chairman Bobby Scott, my Democratic co-lead, for his tireless leadership to protect all workers, but especially older workers and older jobseekers.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will fix a loophole in current law that fails to protect older job applicants during the hiring process.

Despite what many people assume, older job applicants are not protected under the current Age Discrimination in Employment Act protections, commonly called ADEA.

Mr. Speaker, my bill seeks to fix this. This bill would allow older job applicants to bring claims for disparate impact discrimination hiring against employers.

While that may sound like legal technicalities and legal mumbo-jumbo to some people watching back home, Mr. Speaker, disparate impact claims are very, very important. They are important because some hiring practices might seem age-neutral on their face, but they actually impact job applicants that are older disproportionately.

The bill would clarify the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to give job applicants the right to bring these claims forward. Three- fourths of workers age 45 and older blame age discrimination for their lack of confidence in finding a new job.

But it is not just simple statistics. It is about real people and real stories.

It is like one of my neighbors, an engineer who can't find meaningful work after losing his job. He is about 60, but he is always told he is too experienced and overqualified. But he says it is all about his age.

It is about Rebecca in California, who is age 75, forced to provide her birth

date on a web-based job application where the year of her birth isn't even an option on a drop-down menu for the birth year. So she can't even apply, because the options don't include the year of her birth.

It is like Carolyn in Tennessee, age 52. She was let go from her job in March of last year. She has filed 65 job applications but gotten zero interviews. She has a BS in business finance and an MA in educational administration. She says people half her age are getting those jobs instead. She was told she needed more recent, relevant experience.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article sharing Carolyn's story entitled ``Older job seekers find experience, education may not be enough in pandemic.''

[From NewsChannel5 Nashville, Jan. 12, 2021]

Older Job Seekers Find Experience, Education May Not Be Enough in

Pandemic

(By Levi Ismail)

Nashville, Tenn. (WTVF).--Older workers are having trouble

making it back into the workforce and studies show it's part

of a trend we haven't seen in nearly 50 years.

In the first six months of the pandemic, older workers (55

and older) were 17 percent more likely to become unemployed

than their slightly younger peers.

Carolyn McKeown is 52 years old, but says she hasn't had

much luck finding a job in the nearly one year it's been

since she was let go back in March 2020. She first reached

out to us in September and since then, she's filed 65

applications with zero interviews. It's just finding the

right time and the right place,'' McKeown said.

McKeown has a Bachelor's degree in business and finance, as

well as a Master's degree in educational administration. For

decades she's worked in HR, insurance, and mortgage lending,

which she thought could be a valuable experience to any

prospective employer.

When jobs continued to turn her down, she began surveying

anyone who made the time to listen. McKeown asked how these

people half her age were getting jobs and many of them

explained that it was simply an option right out of school.

``I feel as though we're being scrutinized more heavily and

told that we need recent relevant experience, as though we've

never worked before,'' McKeown said:

The US Census Bureau found that for the first time in

nearly 50 years, jobseekers (55 and older) are facing higher

rates of unemployment than those a few years younger. They

also found that older workers stayed unemployed longer.

Tennessee Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development explains how

it works.

``This program right here can help a senior make themselves

more marketable or maybe upgrade an existing skill or teach

them an entirely new skill,'' Cannon said.

Cannon explains that these may not all be full-time jobs,

but they are jobs capable of helping someone earn an income

at a time where the money is tight.

McKeown is at the point where she's barely managing to pay

her bills. She's tapped out her savings and can no longer

afford health insurance. Not unlike the many other older

workers who now can't imagine the idea of voluntary

retirement.

That said, she's not looking for anything part-time or

without benefits. She acknowledges that some of her

qualifiers may keep her from getting certain jobs, but

McKeown says she knows her worth. Under a much different

time, her credentials could have landed her a high-paying job

with benefits. She's not expecting the same pay as before,

but McKeown says she should be afforded similar opportunities

she knows are out there.

For McKeown, she knows some employers think it's too

expensive to train an older worker in this more virtual

workforce. She says she's learning every day how to keep up,

so this stigma that older workers are somehow less capable is

the only thing outdated.

``How do they determine what the job applicant is lacking.

A job gap doesn't mean you lack the skills. It just means

you're lacking time,'' McKeown said.

What is the rebound?

As Middle Tennessee works to rebound from the impact of the

Coronavirus, we want to help. Whether it's getting back to

work, making ends meet during this uncertain time, or

managing the pressure, we're committed to finding solution.

In addition, we want to tell your stories of hope,

inspiration, and creativity as Middle Tennessee starts to

rebound.

Mr. Speaker, another story. Diana, age 53, was forced to take early retirement after her company downsized. She wasn't ready to quit working, but she hasn't found a job.

The loaded question in the application, she says, is always: When did you graduate from high school? This question tells her age. Because of that, she has gotten no interviews.

These folks are not alone. I want to read some comments from other jobseekers in their 50s about their experience job hunting:

``No jobs for older people.''

``Jobs for seniors 60 plus who still want to work are not so plentiful in rural communities.''

``Age discrimination is alive and well in the job market.''

``No one hires old people.''

``I am 63 with no job . . . still trying to find work.''

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article entitled: ``I'm not dead: Inside the struggle of finding work after 50 in North Texas.''

[From the Dallas Business Journal, Feb. 11, 2019]

`I'm Not Dead': Inside the Struggle of Finding Work After 50 in North

Texas

(By Jason Wheeler)

The good news first: Diana Hinton's dog Maxwell has been on

a lot of walks lately. The bad news: She's had time for that.

Hinton's employer of almost three decades downsized, and

she had to take early retirement long before she was ready.

A recent data analysis by Pro Publica and the Urban

Institute found that early retirements are often not as

voluntary as they sound. The analysis also found that

shockingly high percentages of workers over 50 are forced out

of their jobs before they can reach retirement age.

On one of those frequent walks with Maxwell, Diana Hinton

told us she and her dog thought their outings would be for a

limited time only.

``I think the first few weeks he was looking at me like

aren't you going somewhere?'' Hinton said.

Those few weeks became a few years.

When we talked to her in September 2018, Diana was busy

going about her usual routine of filling out applications

online and sending out resumes. Often, she found herself

paining over that dreaded question on the application form.

``Here we go . . . `when did you graduate high school?'

Which I hate because I know they start adding in their

heads--she's gotta be in her 50s,'' Hinton said.

She was 53 at the time. When we talked to her, we had just

begun a series of reports on the middle class called ``Stuck

in the Middle.''

On social media, we heard from so many people in the 50-

plus age group talking about the difficulty of finding

employment. A sampling of the messages:

``. . . No jobs for older people.''

``Jobs for seniors 60+ who still want to work are not so

plentiful in the rural communities.''

``Age discrimination is alive and well in the job market.''

``No one hires old people.''

``I am 63 with no job . . . still trying to find work . .

.''

Many respondents also bolstered another of the findings

made by Pro Publica and the Urban Institute--that being

derailed so close to retirement age is devastating to

retirement plans. A sampling of the messages about how long

people will have to work:

``I'm still working at 78.''

``. . . gonna die working.''

``Looks like I'm working full time until dead, and leaving

nothing behind.''

``Foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr . . .''

``Till the end.''

``We don't even talk about retirement age anymore,'' said

Claire Turner, deputy director of the Elder Financial Safety

Center at The Senior Source. ``People are wanting to work as

long as they can. So they get the question in the interview

where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself

working.''

The Senior Source specifically helps people 50 and over to

search for jobs. They offer free resume workshops, conduct

mock job interviews, and teach software and social media

classes, among other things.

Each year, the center helps as many as 2,000 older workers,

and Turner said, unequivocally, ``There is age

discrimination. It is true. The average duration of

unemployment nationwide is 22.7 weeks, but for older adults,

it is 32 weeks.''

``I think seniors bring a lot to the table,'' said 64-year-

old Michael Dade, who took classes at The Senior Source after

he had to take early retirement from an accounting job at an

oil company that downsized. ``I felt like I had to be twice

as good as some young person.''

Dade cautioned others in his age group who still have jobs

to stay hungry.

``I have seen people who basically put it in cruise control

at (age) 55,'' Dade said. ``No one has paid enough dues to

have a guaranteed job now. Any day you go to work you have to

think it could be your last day and plan that way.''

Dade now drives the van and coordinates volunteers at The

Senior Source. He advised younger people to pay attention to

the plight of older workers who lose, or are forced out of,

their jobs. He warned those younger workers that they, too,

will be older workers someday. He also said the older worker

being forced out of a job could be their parents.

Dade suggested that younger people reduce their debt load,

save as much as they can, maximize contributions to their

retirement plans, and learn as many marketable skills as

possible. That's something he took advantage of in his former

job.

``I tried to make myself learn as much as I could,'' Dade

said.

Hinton also told us she took every training her former

company offered, and she advises others to do the same,

because it beats paying for those classes on your own

someday.

Pro Tip: Claire Turner said it's not enough to simply

acquire knowledge and skills--you have to be able to

communicate those assets to potential employers, while still

sounding humble. For instance, if you have always been a

dependable worker, you would say something like, ``Past

employers say my attendance is perfect . . . you want to say

people `say' I am good at this. That's always a great way to

deliver that message,'' Turner said.

A bright spot: Turner said she is seeing evidence that the

tight job market created by a low unemployment rate is

helping older workers who are unemployed.

``Employers are very open to older workers that they may

not have been before,'' Turner said.

We checked back with Hinton four months after our first

visit. She has seen no sign of that new openness to older

workers. Hinton's situation had become more desperate.

A few temporary gigs had come and gone, but she had yet to

land a permanent job, despite decades of customer service

experience, much of it in management.

The lack of employment was impacting most aspects of her

life:

Housing: ``Of course, the house, we don't want to lose it.

It may get to that point--not maybe soon--but maybe in the

next six (months) to a year.''

Health: ``I have medication I can't afford so I don't take

it.''

Retirement funds (which have depleted some): ``I don't even

want to check my Fidelity account.''

We asked her how many jobs she has applied for since she

lost permanent employment two years ago.

``Oh my God!'' she said. ``I would say . . . over 250. I

got out of that . . . maybe 10 interviews.''

That lines up with a 2017 study done by the Federal Reserve

Bank of San Francisco, in which researchers sent out tens of

thousands of fictitious applications from different aged

artificial applicants who had similar backgrounds. They found

that younger workers were significantly more likely to get a

call back from prospective employers than older workers were.

``I'm articulate,'' she said. ``I have an energy. I'm not

dead. Whatever the curse is . . . whatever it is it needs to

go away.''

Worried that her expansive resume might make her look

overqualified (and over age), she shortened it from four

pages to two.

Pro Tip: Claire Turner at The Senior Source said, ``When I

was looking, I had 25 resumes. Every single word was true,

but I had three different careers. We see all the time people

walk in with a resume that is very impressive, with all these

years of experience. They present that for a customer service

position and there is no correlation. The employer doesn't

even understand why you applied. So it is a matter of

tailoring your resume. It is definitely honest and factual;

it is just showing things that are relevant. The industry

standard is that people only show the last ten years.''

As we wrapped up our second visit with Hinton, she was

still filling out applications. But she had also just

received another rejection email.

``It says, `Dear Diana, thanks for your interest in our

customer service position. Unfortunately you have not been

selected to continue in our process for this position.' ''

Her dog, Maxwell, rests at her feet.

``Maybe he is my calm,'' Hinton said. ``He's calming me.''

Hinton wonders if she will ever leave him again to go back

to work.

``I am pretty strong, but I am almost sliding down, and I

have to keep telling myself, `Come on, Diana, you can do

this.' I didn't think it was going to be this hard.''

Mr. Speaker, this bill will help people trying to recover from this pandemic, including people who lost their job in the middle of their career who now fear they will never work again because of discriminatory hiring practices.

This is not about trial lawyers. It is not anything about what some of my colleagues across the aisle have talked about. It is just a simple clarification bill. It clarifies that job protections for older Americans begin at the time of the application.

I want to thank the AARP, the National Council on Aging, the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the White House for supporting efforts and this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the letters of endorsement for this bill from the AARP and the National Council on Aging that I just mentioned.

Mr. Speaker, together we can and will protect older workers during the hiring phase of employment with this bill. Everyone deserves a shot at the American Dream, regardless of their age. This is common sense. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bipartisan bill, protecting our older workers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Pappas and Newman amendment. This amendment from my colleagues just enhances this bill.

As a former administrative law judge for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Houston region, I can tell you personally that the type of information that would be gathered by the EEOC on the number of job applicants impacted by age discrimination on the job and all the issues that they have related to their applications would be very helpful.

It would not only be helpful to the administrative law judges at the EEOC; it would be helpful for judges that would finally hear the cases in court if they go to court. It would be helpful for research. It would be helpful for advocacy groups. This information would be vital, again, to help us in Congress to seek better ways to improve and work best on prevention and combating and addressing age discrimination in the hiring process.

Mr. Speaker, there is some discussion on the other side of the aisle that this is a remedy for a problem that doesn't exist. Let me tell you, if you talk to advocacy groups, discrimination is alive and well.

We need this legislation. We need this amendment. I urge adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, let me say again for the third time that, in fact, the committee did have a hearing on this subject. On March 18, 2021, the Subcommittees on Civil Rights and Human Services and Workforce Protections held a hearing titled ``Fighting for Fairness: Examining Legislation to Confront Workplace Discrimination.''

At that hearing, Laurie McCann, a senior attorney at AARP Foundation, testified about the erosion of protections for older workers in judicial decisions under the ADA, including specific mention in her testimony of the Seventh Circuit's Kleber decision and its harmful impact on older applicants.

Mr. Speaker, this amendment prevents the legislation from going into effect unless the GAO finds that there have been negative impacts. This is simply a delay tactic with no end date in sight.

The reason we are here today is precisely because we do have a problem due to the circuit court decisions which cut off access to the courts for job applicants seeking relief under the ADEA.

The Supreme Court has denied cert to review this matter.

We have heard from AARP, one of the Nation's preeminent authorities on age discrimination, which has advised Congress that these court decisions in the 7th and 11th Circuits are not only at odds with the intent of the ADEA, but that the courthouse doors have been unfairly slammed shut to deserving individuals seeking relief.

Testimony before the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services earlier this year noted that barring older applicants from seeking relief for disparate impact discrimination is a problem, and that without clarifying the ADEA, similar plaintiffs will not be able to seek justice under the law.

For example, in the 7th Circuit case, Kleber v. CareFusion Corporation, Mr. Kleber, a 58-year-old attorney with considerable corporate law experience applied for an in-house counsel position.

The position required applicants to have no more than 7 years of relevant legal experience, which effectively means that it freezes out job applicants that were over age 40. Again, on its face it may look neutral, but if you say, ``no one with more than 7 years' experience,'' that cuts out a lot of people.

Despite his significant prior experience in corporate law, Kleber was denied the opportunity to even interview for the job, since the experience limit was effectively a proxy for age.

The 7th Circuit held that because Mr. Kleber was an outside job applicant rather than an employee seeking a new position from within the company, he was barred from bringing a disparate impact claim. This turns the entire purpose of the ADEA on its head, which is to remedy age discrimination for both jobseekers and employees. Furthermore, we know generalized age discrimination is not isolated.

In 2017, researchers for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco sent 40,000 resumes of applicants of all ages to 13,000 job openings across 12 cities. They found that older workers received substantially fewer callbacks from employers for job interviews and showed particular harm for older women applicants.

We do not need another study to tell us what we already know. Older job applicants are subjected to age discrimination when seeking employment and that an effective remedy is needed when that conduct lacks justification.

Madam Speaker, finally, this amendment would indefinitely delay implementation of this bill because there is no deadline for GAO to conduct a study and report back to Congress.

Would we even see the results of this study and when? Again, this is simply a delay tactic. We already have all the evidence we need to know that it is timely for Congress to act and to pass this legislation to protect our older job applicants.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment and ``yes'' on the underlying bill.

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

Madam Speaker, Build Back Better. Three simple words, yet these words mean so much to my constituents and many Americans across the country.

Building back better means that 96 percent of children in my district benefit from a permanent and expanded child tax credit. Yes, you heard right: 96 percent of the children in my district.

Recently, Secretary Yellen told us that the child tax credit has already reduced poverty in our country by 25 percent, just with the first three checks. Imagine what continuation of this important program will do.

This is huge for American families who are struggling to put food on the table, with Latino and Black families suffering the most. The child tax credit would help the parents of almost 8.8 million children nationwide who are going hungry during this pandemic.

Madam Speaker, now is the moment. It is time to do better for our children.

The Build Back Better agenda will bring universal pre-K to our kids and end childcare deserts, an issue that affects children and families in my district and across America. Without pre-K or childcare, parents are forced to choose between their family or their job.

In fact, just a few months ago, I visited a childcare facility that struggled to keep up with the demand due to the lack of childcare infrastructure in Houston. We need to invest in this critical infrastructure for children, for working parents, and for care workers.

Madam Speaker, care workers are essential. They care for our loved ones every day and keep this country running. We need to build back better with investments for our care workers so that their families can have better futures. We need to build back better for the almost one in two adults over 65 in Texas with multiple chronic medical conditions.

Altogether, the Build Back Better agenda will make sure that millions of people in this country and in my home State of Texas gain affordable healthcare coverage. I represent a district that struggles to get vital coverage because the Republican-controlled State government has refused to accept the Federal dollars to expand Medicaid. This is how we build back better for the people who need critical care.

Families deserve that. They also deserve to unlock the American Dream through affordable housing so they can live with dignity. We need investments in first-generation home buyers and affordable housing, housing vouchers, and more infrastructure so that families can say ``mi casa es su casa.''

The Build Back Better agenda will do just that, but we must work hard. We must work hard to also provide a pathway to citizenship for the hundreds and thousands of Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers. They have been contributing to our economy, keeping this country running, and making it prosper.

The Build Back Better agenda will deliver on the American Dream promise and the values on which this Nation of immigrants was founded. It would fulfill the ``give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.''

The Build Back Better agenda is an American agenda fulfilling this promise. The Build Back Better agenda is by and for the American people that will allow our country, our families, and our women to heal from this horrible pandemic and build back better with wealthy people and corporations paying their fair share.

This is why we are here in Congress, fighting for the people, fighting for our children, and building a better future so our mothers can rejoin the workforce, so our seniors can get care that will allow them to live with dignity, so our children can get the care they need without having to worry about poverty or going to school hungry, so our families can say ``mi casa es su casa'' and live with dignity in their own homes.

This is how we build back better for all. Our country doesn't leave anyone behind, so this is how we honor the 329.5 million Americans: building back better for everyone. This is how we honor every single one of them.

Madam Speaker, our time is now. We must get this done. So let's go and build back better now.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and wish a happy retirement to Kathy Caldwell, CEO of Legacy Community Health Centers.

Our Houston community thanks Kathy for her hard work and for her remarkable leadership at Legacy and in our community at large.

Under her leadership, Legacy has expanded exponentially.

What started as a small neighborhood clinic has become a large organization employing thousands of Texans serving Houston diligently.

Our community will miss her.

We are certainly inspired by her work and thank her for what Legacy will continue to do for Houston.

This work has been particularly important for low-income communities and communities of color, including Latinos, which have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We wish her the best on her next steps.

I congratulate her on her retirement and God bless.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that further proceedings on the vote by the yeas and nays on the question of adoption of a motion that the House suspend the rules offered on the legislative day of July 26, 2021, or September 29, 2021, may continue to be postponed through the legislative day of October 22, 2021.

Madam Speaker, Congress must protect women's constitutional freedom to decide over their bodies. After the cruel Texas--my home State--abortion ban, I visited the local Planned Parenthood and heard horrific stories of women already resorting to self-help, including finding an abortion tea on the internet.

We cannot go back to the dark ages of using dangerous wire hangers for self-help and other things that will actually hurt and potentially kill women. We cannot continue to go back. We must move forward and protect our rights.

Madam Speaker, I urge passage of the Women's Health Protection Act.

Madam Speaker, women's freedom to choose their reproductive care is under attack by politicians who want to control their decisions.

A woman's freedom to make a decision on this very private, personal matter should be respected and should be left to her alone together with her family and her doctor and guided by her faith.

Politicians and government should have no control. Yet 3 weeks ago, my home State of Texas passed one of the strictest abortion bills in the country which on its face is unconstitutional.

Politicians in Texas are trying to control women's freedom to choose and the progress that we have made in the last 50 years. It also allows anyone--anyone--in the country to file a lawsuit against a provider, family, friend, clergy, Uber driver, Lyft driver, and anyone who assists a woman seeking an abortion. If successful, the plaintiffs get $10,000.

In fact, just last week two individuals, not even from Texas, filed lawsuits against a doctor from San Antonio who publicly acknowledged that he had performed an abortion outside the legal limits of this Texas law. One of the plaintiffs even admitted that his reason for filing this suit was the $10,000 bounty. He needed the money.

This is outrageous and must be stopped. Texas already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

Before this law entered into effect, my home State already required women to get mandatory sonograms, and we also have a 24-hour waiting period. Now this law makes existing restrictions even worse.

Texas has almost 7 million women aged 15 to 49 out of a total of 75 million in this age group in the entire country. So we make up now one in ten of the U.S. women of reproductive age. All these women all over Texas now have no choices. Now, effectively, Roe v. Wade is meaningless.

Madam Speaker, women's freedom to choose what to do with their bodies is hanging by a thread, and Congress can't sit idle.

Last week, I visited Planned Parenthood's headquarters in my district and heard horrific stories about how this draconian law is affecting women in my region.

On September 1, the day that Texas law took effect, one Texas woman learned she was about 5 weeks pregnant--and still within the new legal limits in the Texas law to obtain an abortion in Texas. But at the same visit she also learned that she had COVID-19. By the time she would finish her quarantine period it would be too late to get an abortion in Texas and she would then have to go out of State for care.

On September 2, Planned Parenthood providers saw a patient for an ultrasound that showed she was under 6 weeks and still within the new legal limits of the Texas law. When she came back the next day after the State mandated 24-hour waiting period, the second sonogram showed she had passed the new legal limit. Overnight she lost access to an abortion in Texas.

Here is another story. A few days after the Texas law took effect, a woman walked into the Planned Parenthood's health center after trying to self-manage an abortion. Having no money or resources, she had turned to the internet where she found some abortion tea. She took it, and it didn't work. The ultrasound showed she was past the new legal limit, and doctors in Texas couldn't help her. She too was now forced to seek care out of State or to continue with her pregnancy.

Then, Madam Speaker, I am sure you heard about tropical storm Nicholas. The storm made landfall during some patients' State mandated 24-hour waiting period. They were hunkered down. They couldn't get to the clinic, and the clinic was closed. They lost their right to an abortion during that time period.

Another case I heard of was from a 44-year-old patient, already a parent, who didn't think she could have any more children but learned that she was pregnant at 7 weeks, just past the legal limits of the new Texas law. This patient was never planning to stay with her current partner and now, due to this pregnancy, feels pressured to remain in that relationship.

Madam Speaker, these cases are heartbreaking, and I am sure we will hear more and worse because women's lives are at risk. And although I am encouraged to know the Justice Department is acting on this, Congress needs to act, and this is why we must pass H.R. 3755.

Madam Speaker, I rise to call attention to the importance of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Every American should have equal access to the ballot box. Our democracy is stronger when everyone can participate. This should not be controversial or politicized, it is about ensuring a very basic right of every American.

Sadly, in my home State of Texas, the GOP has been trying again and again and again to strip our right to vote. After three attempts to pass a dangerous anti-voting bill, the Texas GOP has made it absolutely clear that they do not really want communities of color, seniors, and Latinos to vote.

The original Voting Rights Act was designed to stop this very kind of behavior. Voter suppression was wrong then and it is wrong now.

Madam Speaker, I call upon my colleagues to vote for H.R. 4 so that we can strengthen our democracy and build on the Voting Rights Act. This bill will ensure that everyone has an equal right to vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4 and its efforts to protect access to the ballot box and advance justice and democracy for all, including Latinos, which represent 77 percent of my district.

We are all equal under the law and should be treated equally at the ballot box. Recent attempts by the GOP-led legislatures in States like my home State of Texas, demonstrate how urgent it is to protect our democracy. These attempts could disenfranchise nearly 8 in every 10 of my constituents.

Our country has one of the strongest democracies in the world, and it is simply un-American to disenfranchise voters. I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 4, which would maintain elections free, fair, and accessible to all eligible voters. Let's make our democracy stronger.

Si se puede. Yes, we can.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an urgent problem threatening Texas seniors' availability to vote.

One in every three States in our country have passed voting restriction laws this year. This is alarming.

New voting restrictions can threaten seniors, like my constituent, Earlene Sullivan, who turned 102 years old recently. Earlene is a beloved member of our community and served our county as a presiding judge. She oversaw elections and has voted all her life.

Today, Earlene votes by mail with the help of her daughter, Catherine. But the GOP's false claims on ballot harvesting have already caused a rift in her family.

Proposed voting restrictions in Texas, such as stricter driver's license and Social Security verification requirements, could threaten Earlene's and millions of seniors' ability to vote by mail.

Madam Speaker, this is unacceptable. Congress must pass voting rights for all Americans by passing H.R. 1 and H.R. 4.

Madam Speaker, my amendment increases the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management account by $50 million and decreases it by the same amount.

I want to thank the bipartisan group of cosponsors, including Representative McCaul, Representative Jackson Lee, Representative Burgess, Representative Fletcher, Representative Cuellar, Representative Crenshaw, and Representative Brady.

I offered this amendment because we must prioritize Carbon Utilization Program activities that are consistent with our existing energy statute.

In and around my district in Houston, the energy capital of the world, important carbon capture research is taking place. Carbon capture utilization seeks to improve our community's air quality and maintain and provide jobs for workers, many in my district.

Therefore, my amendment just clarifies that carbon capture utilization research, along with other carbon capture projects specified in the committee report, are also recognized and prioritized in this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the child tax credit's checks arriving to families in my district and across the country.

It has been 200 days of this Congress and 200 days of House Democrats delivering for the people.

Last week, thanks to the American Rescue Plan, child tax credit monthly payments began arriving to roughly 39 million households and covering almost 90 percent of children nationwide.

In my district the child tax credit will benefit almost 95 percent of our children.

In Texas, the families of nearly six million children got their checks totaling $1.5 billion in aid.

Unfortunately, about 46,600 children in the Houston area still have not received a check.

The good news is this: Nonfilers can still apply on the IRS portal. Caregivers just need their Social Security number or their ITIN number. And it is very important to remember that these benefits will not affect SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, or any other public assistance program.

Madam Speaker, I am hopeful and sincerely believe that we can build back better, and our children's future can be assured.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3985, the ALLIES Act of 2021.

First, I thank the chairman for bringing this bill forward, and I thank my friend, Mr. Crow, for sponsoring this bill.

Recently, I met with Combined Arms, a local organization that works with veterans and SIV recipients in Houston. They shared their harrowing stories of the sacrifices they and their families have made and of their fear that they have of being put to death.

They also shared with me the times that they have been waiting to receive their SIVs. In some cases, they have waited for 10 years. This is unacceptable.

I call on my colleagues to support this legislation so we can protect our allies and reform the system, but also to support the immediate evacuation of our allies in Afghanistan to U.S. soil, where we can ensure their safety.

We can't wait any longer. We need to act now. We need to evacuate all 18,000 allies with pending SIV applications and their immediate families who are in danger.

Mr. Speaker, I met with a young man who is now safely in Houston, but sadly, his father has already been murdered by the Taliban. At least 300, I am told, have already been murdered, just like his father, by the Taliban. The more we delay, the more we put families at risk.

Mr. Speaker, we need to support this bill. We need to support an immediate evacuation. And we need to make sure that our friends who stood with us, that we now stand with them.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Lolita Guerrero's 80th Birthday.

Lolita is a beloved friend and member of our community, my district, and my staff. She is a longtime Houston community leader, trailblazer in Latino women rights, and activist. I am proud to have Lolita on my staff because not only is she a leader in the Latino movement, but she truly knows our community, our issues, what moves us, and how to help.

Her service and dedication to our community is incomparable. She is always there to lend a helping hand to my community's Latinos and seniors. She truly cares. She is an inspiring role model for many young Latinas. Ms. Guerrero has advanced the Latino community through her work with LULAC, where she was elected the first woman to serve as the Texas state director.

I am grateful for the years I have shared with Lolita, always working, and committed to our community. I wish her many more years of happiness and achievements.

Thank you for your commitment and service, Lolita. (Gracias por tu entrega y servicio, Lolita.) We are very fortunate to have you in our lives. (Que afortunados somos de tenerte en nuestras vidas.) Happy birthday. (eFeliz cumpleanos!)

Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the crisis caused by the lack of childcare in my district and across the country. Access to affordable childcare is critical for working families across the country and in my district.

We all have heard of places without grocery stores referred to as food deserts. Well, half of American families live in areas lacking childcare facilities. They are living in childcare deserts.

The situation is even worse in Latino communities, as 78 percent live in childcare deserts.

As you can see on this chart by my side, this is my district. The orange and the dark colors represent areas that have no access to childcare. Eighty-two percent of the children in my district have no access to childcare. This is a childcare desert. This impacts disproportionately communities of color. This is unacceptable.

As a Nation, we must invest in childcare. High-quality childcare improves outcomes for children, parents, and neighborhoods. We must act and we must act now.