Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to bring awareness to the Trump Administration's nefarious voter suppression campaign. On June 28, a letter from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity asked states to hand over personal information of voters ranging from Social Security numbers to party affiliation.

As I have stated before, these so called ``election integrity'' efforts are a sham, and a ``solution'' that is in search of a problem. The Administration's ridiculously inaccurate claim that the President lost the popular vote due to millions of undocumented immigrants illegally voting is just another false and misleading statement. There are no facts that back up the Trump Administration's claims. Unfortunately, these false claims are now being used as a justification to illegally collect voter information and suppress Americans' sacred right to vote.

Fortunately, these voter suppression efforts by the Trump Administration have received bipartisan opposition. When asked if he would release his constituents' private information, the Secretary of State from Mississippi, Mr. Delbert Hosemann, said that ``they can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from''. The Secretary of State from my home state of Alabama, Mr. John Merrill, has also refused to turn over private information. The opposition to this commission is so strong that 44 states have refused to turn over this private information.

If the Trump Administration were truly concerned about the integrity of our elections, he would join Congress in condemning Russia for interfering in our election and work with our intelligence community to prevent future election-related cyber threats.

This year, I introduced an amendment to the 2017 Intelligence Authorization Act that provides our lawmakers, election officials, campaigns, and the public with additional information and resources to defend our democracy against emerging cyber threats. Our intelligence community warns that if we do not act on this issue, our democracy will again fall victim to Russian cyber-threats. The cybersecurity of our elections shouldn't be a partisan issue, and I was proud to see the House Intelligence Committee take a step forward together by passing my amendment.

We have come too far to allow for voting barriers to be resurrected, or to allow our electoral process to be hijacked by a foreign entity. We have no choice but to move forward and unite to ensure that every citizen of the United States has the opportunity to vote. I call on all of my colleagues to condemn the malicious Election Integrity Commission created by this administration, and support my bill, H.R. 2978--The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 to restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing to discuss the Social Security Administration's Annual Trustee Report. This report is a strong reminder that Congress must act to address the Social Security Trust Fund shortfall to ensure the stability of Social Security for generations to come. The longer Congress delays dealing with this impending crisis, the fewer options we will have to address the shortfall.

Social Security is an essential program that prevents elderly Americans from falling into poverty once they reach retirement age or are disabled. Currently, Social Security covers 61 million seniors, and 171 million Americans pay into the system. The Trust Fund is divided into two divisions: Old-Age and Survivors insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI). These funds cover the 41.2 million retired workers, the 8.8 million disabled workers, and their families.

The long term viability of Social Security is undoubtedly under threat. The Baby Boomers are beginning to retire which is putting significant pressure on the fund. Since Social Security collects fewer revenues than it previously did, it will be forced to draw from the 2.8 trillion dollars in asset reserve. The Social Security Administration Trustee's report estimates that reserves are in danger of depletion by 2034. We cannot let this happen. A reduction in benefits for our seniors would be devastating for many of my constituent, who depend on Social Security payments as their only income in retirement. If benefits decrease, seniors who have paid into the system could be forced to choose between paying for their groceries, their utility bills, or their essential medication.

There are common-sense steps that Congress can take to stabilize the program and insure it's presence for the next century. The Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Congressman John Larson, has introduced H.R. 1902--the Social Security 2100 Act. I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 1902, which would simultaneously increase benefits for current and future seniors, reduce payroll taxes for middle class and working class Americans, and secure the solvency of the program until 2100. This is accomplished by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share by raising the payroll tax cap on incomes above $127,000. There are reasonable solutions that both Democrats and Republicans should be able to support.

Congress cannot afford to abandon our seniors. We must address the Social Security shortfall now. Therefore, I call an Speaker Ryan to bring H.R. 1902 to the floor for a vote.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2810, the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. As a Member of Congress, one of my most sacred duties is to help promote and ensure the safety and security of our nation. We are truly grateful and indebted to the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom and democracy. This legislation takes great strides towards ensuring that our military is equipped with the most advanced, state of the art technology and military capabilities to defend and protect our nation from ongoing and emerging threats across the world. The FY 2018 NDAA bill authorizes $630 billion for base budget requirements as well as $64.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations. Additionally, this legislation contains several provisions that would equip, supply, and train our troops; provide resources for them and their families; and set national security policy for threats at home and abroad. I am particularly pleased to see that this bill prioritizes the readiness of U.S. Cyber Command, cyber mission forces, and cyber warfare tools and capabilities, including initiatives to strengthen the cyber workforce and strengthens congressional oversight of these capabilities.

While I am supportive of the funding allocated to these critically important defense programs, I continue to have strong concerns about Congress' inability to make difficult funding decisions as it relates to our national security priorities. The hard reality is that the overall top line discretionary budget authority in this bill will likely prove to be fiscally unworkable at the end of the legislative and budget process. Ultimately, I am deeply concerned that many of these initiatives will potentially be funded at the expense of vital domestic spending programs. While robust funding of our national security is paramount, it is equally as important that we continue to provide essential funding for domestic programs that help educate our children, ensure every American has access to quality and affordable healthcare, and repair our deteriorating infrastructure. We cannot have a safe and secure country if our people lack the resources necessary to be financially and socially secure. Funding for vitally important programs that help millions of Americans across the country prosper should not be an either or proposition.

I urge my colleagues to support the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018

Mr. Speaker, America is a global leader in health care innovation and discovery. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we've made great progress in making sure more Americans have access to health insurance in recent years. We must recognize that much work remains to ensure all Americans have practical access to health services. Financial and structural barriers continue to exist for countless Americans, particularly those in rural and under resourced communities where distance to a hospital is long and the concentration of health professionals is sparse.

Health care access presents a problem for people in rural areas where distance is a taxing obstacle. People in suburban and urban settings, while they may live closer to a doctor or hospital, can still have trouble with transportation. Often, households share one vehicle between many family members if they own one at all. Low-income neighborhoods are often subject to unreliable public transportation. Birmingham is the only city in my district with a public transportation system but it faces many challenges that the city is trying to rectify. For the disabled, obese, or chronically ill, the lack of reliable transportation options lead to missed appointments and overall lower health outcomes.

Patients miss doctor's appointments simply because they do not have transportation to get there. Without transportation access, patients may wait for a medical emergency just to be able to see a doctor. In rural parts of Alabama, the problem is worse among minorities. Throughout the nation, 55 percent of African American and 60 percent of Hispanic survey respondents reported that transportation was a major barrier to medical treatment, compared to 38 percent of white respondents.

Eligibility requirements vary, but each state has a ``non-emergency medical transport'' benefit for people with Medicaid. It covers a certain number of rides for medical care per month. Some states contract with local companies to provide rides for citizens who otherwise would have no way to receive regular medical attention. These are just some of the benefits millions of beneficiaries will have no access to if Trumpcare becomes law.

The Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and reforms to the individual insurance market has helped to lower the uninsured rate for African Americans. Between 2013 and 2016, the uninsured rate for African Americans declined from 18.9 percent to 11.7 percent. However, African Americans still have higher uninsured rates than whites (7.5 percent) and Asian Americans (6.3 percent). Repealing the ACA and cutting Medicaid programs reverses the progress America has made to make healthcare more accessible and affordable in recent years.

One's access to quality health care should not depend on where they live, what their race is, or how much money they have. This country should uphold the values it claims to have and ensure that healthcare is not a preferential benefit, but a human right for every citizen.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition of President Trump's proposed budget for the fiscal year 2018, specifically those within K-12 education.

The President's budget proposal aims to cut education spending by 13.5 percent. $9.2 billion dollars would be stripped from the federal education budget which would limit programs such as Title I, which provides targeted financial assistance to schools with high percentages of low-income students.

The President's budget is narrowly focused on 10 percent of students enrolled in private and charter schools, while neglecting the 90 percent enrolled in public schools. My job as a Member of Congress is to vote and be a voice for the constituents in my home state of Alabama. This budget will implement, and promote unproven programs such as charter schools and vouchers which will only benefit 10 percent of the student population and threaten public schools in my district.

This budget proposal will not only extract money from the public- school system, but will divert $1.4 billion dollars from already struggling public schools to unaccountable charter schools. Due to the lack of transparency within the charter schools and voucher system, it would appear as though school choice is a program that allows people to contribute to a charitable act to improve student's education. However, research has shown that the ``private'' schools that students would be sent to are often not accredited and the children's performance does not improve in these settings.

Alabama has some of the lowest property taxes in the country and doesn't target any state and local funding to schools with a high need. For schools in low-income, rural districts like mine these disinvestments result in a heavy reliance on federal education dollars. President Trump's plan not only redirects money to private schools, but will also allow states more flexibility to control how local educational dollars are spent. This could be fatal for public schools across rural Alabama.

The legacy I want to leave as Representative of the 7th Congressional District is to equip young people with the tools needed to succeed in the workforce. This is the chief reason I am concerned about the impact of the disinvestments in public schools and students proposed in President Trump's budget.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 325.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1135, to reauthorize the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation program.

I am so grateful to Congressman Clyburn for his leadership over the years to strengthen and protect the Historic Preservation program on behalf of our Nation's HBCUs. He has been a tireless advocate on behalf of historic preservation of HBCUs, and I am honored today to join him in this effort. Mr. Clyburn has worked tirelessly during his time in Congress to preserve and protect our Nation's historic treasures and the legacies of those who came before us.

Many of us have HBCUs in our district. They represent a steep history of student activism in the civil rights movement. Many of the buildings, sites, and historic records that exist on these campuses have existed for over a century and a half. In 1998, as a matter of fact, the GAO found that there were 712 historic buildings and sites on HBCU campuses. If we do not do more to protect and preserve the vestiges that remain, we will surely lose this important history.

Tuskegee University is one university in my home State of Alabama, where Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and the Tuskegee Airmen all made their place in our Nation's history.

Stillman College; Selma University; Concordia College; Miles College;

Talladega College; Alabama A&M University; and Alabama State University, where my mother and father graduated, are Historically Black Colleges in the State of Alabama.

At Talladega College, these funds were used to restore Foster Hall, which was erected for girls and teachers in 1869, and is the oldest dorm on that campus. This program has helped so many HBCUs in my State. The buildings were nearly destroyed 5 years ago, but the funds from the historic program were used to restore the buildings on Talladega's campus.

When I think about my own district, the Seventh Congressional District of Alabama, at Miles College in Birmingham, students were leaders in the civil rights movement and led a selective buying campaign at local department stores and major retailers in 1963.

Congress has recognized that we have a responsibility to be stewards of these great national resources since we first enacted grants to HBCUs for historic preservation in 1996. The program was then expanded in 2003, thanks to Mr. Clyburn and others. Historical buildings and sites at more than 60 HBCUs have benefited.

If we continue making investments in this program, we can meet the dire historic preservation and restoration needs that remain at these threatened sites. We must not only know our history, but we must also protect our history.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to continue this important work by voting for this bill today to reauthorize the HBCU Historic Preservation program through 2024.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of a critical piece of legislation, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. I am proud to sponsor this legislation and to be joined by my colleagues, Representatives Judy Chu, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and John Lewis.

In March of 2015, I, alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and George Bush, both Republican and Democrat Members of Congress, and thousands of people from across the world marched over Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ``Bloody Sunday''. We honored great Americans like Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was brutally murdered for attempting to vote, Ms.

Amelia Boynton Robinson and our fellow Congressman John Lewis, who were both bludgeoned for marching for their right to vote. Their sacrifices and courage paved the path for Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with overwhelming bipartisan support.

As we reach the fourth anniversary of Shelby v. Holder, the landmark case that overturned and gutted a vital part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it is clear that Americans' right to vote is under attack now more than ever. While people of color are no longer subject to irrational literacy tests, arbitrary grandfather clauses, or high poll taxes, the reversal of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act once again subjugates minorities to voter discrimination tactics. This section provided preclearance measures for states where voter discrimination has occurred. Section 4(b) required any changes of voting laws to first be cleared by the court in the determined states. Since Shelby v. Holder nullified this crucial part of the Voting Rights Act, 10 states have passed laws requiring photo identification to vote, and several more states now require government issued identification in order to cast a ballot. These identification laws have been proven to negatively affect minority and low-income voters disproportionately time and time again.

Moreover, instead of working to enhance the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and working to protect the voting rights of all Americans, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable time and resources creating a commission to investigate the groundless claim that millions of people voted illegally in the last election. The creation of this commission demonstrates a clear disregard for the millions of disenfranchised minorities across America.

My legislation, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, will effectively create a new coverage formula and provide updated preclearance procedures for states that have had 15 or more voting violations within the past 25 years. With the addition of this new formula, 13 states including Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, 9 of which have already passed discriminatory voter identification laws, would be subject to federal oversight. The Voting Rights Advancement Act presents a clear solution to the problem of voter discrimination and helps ensure Americans of all races and socioeconomic statuses are able to exercise their constitutionally protected right to vote.

Just as in 1965, we remain at a pivotal crossroads--the choice to give every American equal access to the ballot or to continue marginalizing and disenfranchising minorities and low-income communities. I urge my colleagues to take action and support the Voting Rights Advancement Act and not to let the bipartisan effort of previous Congresses be in vain. Congress must pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act and restore the right to vote to every American citizen.

Mr. Speaker, our country is in the midst of a drug overdose epidemic that's devastating families and communities nationwide. Each day, 144 people die from drug overdose. Opioids kill more people than car accidents, and heroin kills more than all gun- related homicides.

Recently, President Trump stated the opioid crisis ``is a crippling problem throughout the United States'' and vowed to ``expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted.'' After promising the American people that he would take action to alleviate this suffering, he endorsed a GOP health reform bill that would decimate mental health and substance abuse treatment for those most in need.

Now, we all know about TrumpCare. We know the House version of the bill would cut more than $800 billion to Medicaid, cause 23 million Americans to lose their health insurance, and disproportionately hurt the same low- and middle-class voters in rural areas who helped elect him in order to give a massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. And the Senate version, released today, is expected to have largely similar effects.

Today, I want to focus on one particularly harsh way TrumpCare harms Americans and their families: It severely reduces access to critical mental health and substance abuse services for victims of this public health crisis, especially the 62 million Americans living in rural areas.

Folks living in rural areas, including many of my constituents in Alabama, are older and sicker than the average American and have higher rates of premature death, which is largely driven by drug overdoses. More than one third of Alabamians live in rural areas and report poor mental health. What's worse, for every 11,000 of my constituents living in Wilcox County, there is only one mental health provider. Wilcox County is only one example of the mental health provider shortage in rural America.

While the ACA didn't solve all of these problems, it made real progress towards increasing access to affordable and high-quality mental health and substance abuse services. It ensured that all individual and employer health plans covered therapist appointments, hospital visits, and medications. It banned lifetime and annual limits on the amount that health insurance companies would pay for critical mental health and substance abuse services. It capped out-of-pocket costs for these services, and finally, it ensured that no one would be discriminated against because they had pre-existing mental health or substance abuse conditions. Together, these reforms gave Americans suffering from this drug epidemic hope for lasting recovery.

TrumpCare, rather than building on the successes of the ACA and strengthening treatment for the 22 million Americans suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders, wipe out access to life- saving health services for the families that need it most. The House version of the bill would allow states to eliminate requirements that health plans cover mental health and substance abuse services, and it would allow insurance companies to inflate prices for Americans who suffer from pre-existing conditions in certain states. As a result, the independent Congressional Budget Office has projected that individuals with a mental health or substance abuse history could be charged ``thousands'' more under TrumpCare than under the ACA. In addition to affecting the 175,000 Alabamians who purchased health insurance on the ACA marketplace, these cost hikes could extend to 1.6 million Alabamians with employer-sponsored health insurance.

Republican ``solutions'' to these problems are drastically underfunded, partly in an effort to reduce the total cost of TrumpCare in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest executives and heirs in our country. As a demonstration of my Republican colleagues' priorities, they vetoed an introduced TrumpCare amendment that would mandate coverage for mental health and substance abuse services.

To put it simply, more people will die from drug overdose if TrumpCare is passed. Instead of helping the rural voters who helped President Trump get into office, he betrayed them by supporting legislation that wipes out life-saving mental health and substance abuse treatments in order to cut taxes for Americans like him. TrumpCare will lead to more families torn apart by addiction, more out- of-home placements for children whose parents are suffering from this epidemic, and a larger burden on child welfare and foster care systems already at capacity.

We have made real progress in combatting the opioid crisis in recent years, but our fight is not over. Regardless of partisan affiliation, we must ensure affordable and comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services for all Americans. Those who do not will have to answer to the grief-stricken families whose loved ones fall victim to this drug overdose epidemic.

Mr. Speaker, on June 8th, I joined my colleague Rep. Lloyd Smucker, in introducing H.R. 2866--the Reducing Barriers for Relative Foster Parents Act. This bipartisan bill encourages states to update their licensing requirements for foster parents in order to ensure that relatives have the ability to become foster parents.

Under current law, states have tremendous flexibility to set their own rules and guidelines for licensing foster homes. Unfortunately, many states have outdated regulations that make it difficult for family members to become foster parents. For example, some states fail to notify family members when relative children enter the foster care system. In other states, children can be removed from a family member's home and thrown into the foster care system if the relative adult does not have a separate bedroom for the child.

H.R. 2866 would require that the Department of Health and Human Services create model licensing requirements. States then must either adopt the HHS requirements, or provide an explanation for why the licensing requirements are not ideal for the state. My home state of Alabama has updated, family-friendly licensing standards, so compliance with HHS's standards will be simple. However, families residing in states with antiquated standards would face fewer barriers when trying to become a foster parent.

Many studies prove how beneficial placement with family members can be for foster children. According to Generations United, children in the care of family members experience higher stability, permanency, and positive mental health outcomes. Furthermore, allowing children to stay with their family members gives children the opportunity to maintain strong connections to their community.

I was very pleased that my bill was unanimously supported in the Ways and Means Committee, and I look forward to its passage through the House this evening.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Davis for yielding.

I want to give a big thanks to my friend and colleague, Representative Karen Bass of California. She is a true champion for our foster youth. I was happy to participate in her Foster Youth Shadow Day last month, which gave me the opportunity to meet with a constituent of mine that directly benefits from the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. I strongly urge all of my colleagues to host a foster child next year.

I also want to voice my strong support for Representative Bass' bill, H.R. 2847, the Improving Services for Older Youth in Foster Care Act. The current Chafee Foster Care Independence Program plays an important role in our larger foster care system, and the services it provides should be extended to cover older youth up to the age of 23.

I was able to hear firsthand from my foster youth shadow, Khadejah Moore, about the struggles that foster youth face when they age out of the system. These young adults are thrown into the real world with little to no support system. It is an incredibly frightening time for these young youth. But if we can extend the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program and also allow youth more time to use education vouchers, they have a better chance of having the opportunity to graduate college and successfully enter the workforce.

This is an important, commonsense bill, and I want to thank both Representative Bass and Representative Faso for introducing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2847.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Davis for yielding me the time.

At this time, I would like to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).

As we have discussed, H.R. 2866 requires HHS to identify reputable model licensing standards so that States can determine whether their current requirements are in accord.

Is it your expectation that the National Association for Regulatory Administration's Model Family Foster Home Licensing Standards would be the kind of standards envisioned by the bill?

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for that response.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Davis for yielding me the time.

H.R. 2866, the Reducing Unnecessary Barriers for Relative Foster Parents Act, is a commonsense piece of legislation that has strong bipartisan support right here in the House. I want to especially thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker) who is joining me in introducing this bill. I want to

thank him for his leadership on foster care and foster youth and again say thank you for looking for what is in the best interests of the most vulnerable children in our society.

H.R. 2866 has been supported by not only bipartisan support here in the House but has the support of many foster care advocacy groups, including Generations United, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Mr. Speaker, we need to do everything in our power to make the foster care system family friendly, and H.R. 2866 takes an important step in that direction. By motivating States to update the foster care licensing regulations, we can reduce red tape and make it easier for family members to become foster parents.

Research conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, academics, and advocacy groups all show that children experience better outcomes when they are in the care of family members compared to children in nonrelative care.

When kids are placed with a relative like a grandparent, they experience fewer school changes, are less likely to reenter the foster care system, and are more likely to be adopted. Moreover, data shows that foster youth experience better behavioral and mental health outcomes, are more likely to report that they ``feel loved,'' and are more likely to stay connected with their communities.

I want to again thank Representative Smucker from Pennsylvania for his leadership and sponsorship of this bill with me, as well as my Democrat and Republican colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee for unanimously supporting this legislation.

I am encouraged to see that this body values our foster youth, and I hope we can continue to keep up the spirit of bipartisanship.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation.

Mr. Speaker, today, on behalf of the men and women who have served our country, I want to apologize that the majority excluded our Nation's Veterans when they voted for Trumpcare.

Make no mistake, Trumpcare, would disallow any veteran eligible for government healthcare from receiving a tax credit even if the veteran has an individual health plan. The majority had an opportunity to fix this but they chose to exclude Veterans so they could pass their bill through reconciliation. Veterans lost in the Majority's procedural gimmicks. Today, they are trying to fix this mess but it simply isn't enough. The underlying bill, Trumpcare, would only make health coverage less accessible and affordable for Veterans.

Political expediency should never be used as an excuse to use Veterans as an afterthought.

As others have mentioned, this bill is like adding new tires to a car you're sending to the junkyard. This bill does nothing to improve the inadequate tax credits under Trumpcare for all Americans, nothing to eliminate the age-tax in Trumpcare causing older Veterans to pay more, and nothing to protect Veterans when their state opts to waive essential health benefits or reinstate lifetime caps.

The majority of House Republicans voted for Trumpcare, which caps and guts Medicaid by $800 billion. Trump proposes another $600 billion from Medicaid in his budget.

Almost 2 million veterans and 660,000 veterans spouses rely on Medicaid for their health services. In my home state of Alabama, around 28,000 veterans are enrolled in Medicaid. According to a study by the Urban Institute, the rate of uninsured veterans fell by 42 percent between 2013 and 2015.

States that expanded Medicaid saw a 34 percent increase in the number of Medicaid-enrolled veterans, whereas states that declined the expansion saw a 3 percent increase. In Alabama, percent about 13,000 uninsured Veterans would have qualified for health coverage had the state expanded. The President and the majority aim to cut Medicaid in all states, and therefore cap coverage and benefits to hundreds of thousands of Veterans across this country. Recalcitrance didn't work for Alabama and it will not work in the rest of the country.

Now is the time to build on the progress the ACA made for our Veterans, not roll it back by dismantling coverage and access for millions of Veterans. Veterans deserve better than stale lip service.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in opposition to President Trump's misguided decision to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement, which was negotiated and signed by President Obama, was a strong step in the right direction to combat climate change. The deal developed goals to reduce carbon pollution by increasing energy efficiency and investing in energy research and development.

Joining Syria and Nicaragua, the United States is now one of three countries not participating in this groundbreaking pact of 195 nations. With this decision, President Trump has chosen to relinquish America's position as a leader in global environmental policy and thus, forfeits the United States from technological advancements and solar jobs that would drive our global economic growth. To retreat from the world stage gives other countries, such as China and Russia, the opportunity to gain universal influence.

Moreover, President Trump's decision to break America's promise on energy commitment with no plan in place to reduce our carbon footprint jeopardizes our progress toward a more sustainable energy future. Because of the lack of leadership in the White House, citizens across our nation must rely on city and state officials to lead their communities in an effort to combat climate change.

More than 200 mayors from around the United States have joined the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda to adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement as well as strengthen local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I am proud to say that Birmingham Mayor William Bell has joined this initiative.

Our constituents deserve a responsible energy strategy that meets our obligation to protect the environment for future generations. This strategy should also include a proposed plan to eradicate environmental injustice, an issue that affects many Americans today, including citizens of my district.

For example, Perry County is a largely African American community in Alabama where coal ash from around the country is dumped. Time and time again, we see that communities of color, as well as the poor, are burdened with the negative health outcomes that stem from exposure to pollution and industrial waste.

America deserves a President that will work to establish an energy policy that will position the United States as an energy independent country that also leads the world toward a sustainable future.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to an outstanding public high school in my district--the A.H. Parker High School Thundering Herd in Birmingham, AL. Parker High School has been at the cornerstone of education in the Birmingham community for nearly 117 years, preparing students for future leadership and life.

During the school year of 1899, a few Negro citizens of Birmingham called a historical mass meeting to draw up a petition in which they would request the Board of Education establish a tax supported school for blacks. Dr. W. R. Pettiford, president of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank, a black-owned financial institution, and Mrs. B. H. Hudson, a cashier of that bank, were the leading supporters of the effort.

The school officially opened as a high school for African-American children in the fall of 1900 with a freshman class of 19 students and one teacher. Arthur Harold Parker was appointed by the board to serve as the first principal. In 1939, Parker retired and the school was subsequently renamed in his honor.

The school's first graduation was held June 3, 1904, at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, which is now part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. Fifteen students received diplomas at the ceremony.

In September 1910, the school moved to a temporary location--the Lane Auditorium--and began offering skills for women such as sewing, knitting, and child care. By that time the enrollment was about 100 students. Construction of a permanent facility began in 1923, and by 1929, the school had an industrial building, a library, and a gymnasium. By 1937, the school had an enrollment of over 2,700.

The school continued to grow steadily to 3,761 students in 1946. Due to the large number, the school became known as the ``Largest High School for Negroes in the World.''

In 2004, acclaimed journalist Michele Norris, host of All Things Considered with National Public Radio, chronicled Parker's story in ``Parker High: Integration's Unfulfilled Promise,'' a look at the paradoxical effect integration had on all-black schools such as Parker. For Norris, the story is personal as her father and five uncles all attended Parker.

Parker's current principal, Darrell Hudson, assumed leadership of the school in 2013. Principal Hudson is a veteran educator of the Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, public school systems, who truly believes all students can learn through hard work, determination, and the right educational environment. He is a graduate of Alabama State University and Auburn University of Montgomery.

Principal Hudson is a faithful member of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, and an active member with the Alabama State University National Alumni Association, as well as Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Principal Hudson was also recently appointed to the Board of Directors for his Alma mater, Alabama State University.

Notable graduates of Parker include, among others, jazz music legends Sun Ra and Erskine Hawkins; Nell Carter, Tony award-winning actress; Oscar Adams, Jr., the first African American Alabama Supreme Court Justice; Arthur Shores, noted civil rights attorney; Alma Johnson Powell, wife of former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Eric Bledsoe, star NBA player with the Phoenix Suns; and the current Mayor of Birmingham, William A. Bell.

On behalf of the 7th Congressional District, the State of Alabama, and this nation, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this

outstanding educational institution and its 117-year commitment to public education.