Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today during National Police Week to honor law enforcement officers across Arizona and the Nation.

As a former investigator and officer, I know what the brave men and women and their families go through every day to protect their communities.

This week brings back the memories of the friends and partners I have served alongside during my time on the force. We remember the officers who have been killed in the line of duty, many of them friends of mine, including DPS Officer Tyler Edenhofer and Jesus Cordova.

We will never forget their service to our State and our country.

Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues this week in thanking the men and women who serve our communities, protect our families, and allow us to continue to be a free society.

Madam Speaker, on May 8, 2019, I was present and voted for two bills on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. I voted in favor of H.R. 1520, the Purple Book Continuity Act. However, my vote did not register on Roll Call 188. I voted to advance the legislation out of the Energy and Commerce Committee and supported its passage on the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support of the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan.

In Arizona and across the Southwest, communities have struggled through a 19-year-long drought. During my time in the State legislature, I spent years working with Republicans and Democrats alike to create Arizona's first conservation, drought, and statewide water management plans. It cannot be understated how hard Arizona has worked to implement a drought program that ensures our State continues to have access to the Colorado River and other instate water sources.

I am pleased to see the resulting plan was passed earlier this year. Now it is our turn. This legislation will complete the process by directing the Secretary of the Interior to enter into agreements with each of the seven Colorado River Basin States and it will ensure that water conservation efforts can begin quickly.

The sooner we get these agreements signed, the sooner we can address the water issues across the region.

I applaud the great work being done here in Washington and in the seven States impacted by this drought contingency plan to put forward innovative solutions to protect our precious water assets.

It is important to remember that we are not done. We must continue these conversations and work together to manage our rivers in ways that allow cities to grow, ensure farmers and ranchers are successful, and keep our obligations to Native American Tribes and Nations.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

Since it was first enacted in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has saved countless lives and supported millions of domestic violence and assault victims and survivors by funding critical programs.

In February 2019, the Violence Against Women Act expired. This is unacceptable. It is imperative that we fully reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. A stopgap Violence Against Women Act does not address critical issues within the legislation and would seriously impact the lifesaving programs needed across Indian Country.

Domestic violence affects every community in America. Tribal communities, though, face it at an alarmingly high rate. According to Federal data, at least 55 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced physical violence at an intimate partner's hands.

We are here to make visible the unacceptable and glaring disparities that women and families across Indian Country face when it comes to violence, assault, and abuse. We are here to demand action because there are things we can and should do to help survivors.

In 2013, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act created special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction. This was critical to holding perpetrators accountable on Indian Country, but it didn't go far enough. The special jurisdiction limits Tribes to prosecuting only crimes committed against intimate partners, not kids or police officers.

As a former law enforcement officer and homicide detective, I can tell you that responding to these types of calls was extremely and is extremely dangerous for police officers. Within the past 3 years alone, the Navajo Nation has lost three officers responding to domestic violence calls. We must honor their sacrifice with action.

Further, these gaps in jurisdiction put children who are victims or witnesses to violence in harm's way. It affects families dramatically. It affects our communities. It affects our country.

This reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act includes my legislation, the Native Youth and Tribal Officer Protection Act. This lifesaving provision would fix these jurisdictional gaps and expand current law regarding special jurisdiction. It would allow Tribes to prosecute and convict non-Indian offenders who harm children and law enforcement officers responding to domestic violence cases, as any town outside Indian Country can already do.

Few things have shaped my life more than the 13 years I served as a police officer. My first call as an officer involved domestic violence. I still remember it and other domestic violence and sexual assault cases. There are too many to remember. Our society has to change if we are to make life and our families successful.

We must protect children and other survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I join my colleagues in demanding a full reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation and urge all my colleagues to support its passage. It is long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep concerns over the proposed budget cuts made in the President's budget and the skyrocketing deficits that will leave our children and grandchildren with trillions more in debt.

While it is imperative that we rein in wasteful government spending and get our national debt under control, we cannot do so at the expense of the men and women living in rural and Tribal communities and our seniors.

This budget proposal slashes trillions from healthcare programs that millions of seniors, working families, and veterans rely on every day. Additionally, it would cut infrastructure programs and funding for critical projects in rural America and hurt farming families.

This is not how we are going to curb spending and get our fiscal house in order. We need to act now to pass a bipartisan budget that addresses the debt crisis and invests in the future of our Nation.

Madam Chair, as I travel throughout my district, I hear Arizona's concerns about the integrity of our elections, our elected leaders, and those who serve them in the highest positions of our government.

At a time when millions of Americans feel uncertain about the state of our democracy, Congress must act.

I am proud to support H.R. 1, which will strengthen our democracy and close ethics loopholes.

I want to thank the chairwoman and the ranking member for agreeing to adopt my three amendments to the underlying bill. These amendments, which include my Taxpayers DIME Act and my Protecting Defense Dollars Act, will do right by our taxpayers by increasing transparency and accountability when it comes to travel, including on government and military aircraft.

These amendments will crack down on bureaucrats abusing ethics rules in place of lavish travel on private jets, first-class flights, and more. Several of these amendments have previously received bipartisan support.

Regardless of party, those who serve the American public must be held to the highest ethical standards. Our ability to hold government officials accountable to taxpayers is a hallmark of our democracy, and we must work to uphold that right.

Again, I thank my colleagues for including my commonsense amendments in this package.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Navajo code talker Alfred Newman, who passed away this week.

Mr. Newman was one of the last surviving members of the Navajo code talkers, a group of brave Navajo marines who used their native language to create unbreakable codes that were used in the Pacific during World War II.

He served our Nation with honor, from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. He was recently honored with other code talkers at a White House ceremony and was awarded the Congressional Silver Medal for his service in 2001.

Mr. Speaker, Alfred Newman was a hero. He and his fellow code talkers saved the lives of countless troops with their unbreakable codes, and they deserve our respect and honor every day.

My prayers are with Alfred's family and loved ones and the entire Navajo Nation as they mourn the passing of this hero and celebrate his life.

Honoring Milton Bluehouse, Sr.

Mr. Speaker, I was saddened to hear of the passing of former Navajo Nation President Milton Bluehouse, Sr.

Raised in a traditional Navajo lifestyle, President Bluehouse graduated from Ganado Mission School and served in the United States Army for 3 years.

Throughout his life, he represented the interests of his community on the

Tribal Council before serving as president for a short time.

He had many ambitious plans to assist at-risk youth, create good- paying jobs, and expand programs to improve safety in Tribal communities.

President Bluehouse will always be remembered for his commitment to the Navajo people and for ensuring the Federal Government upheld its obligations to the Tribe.

My prayers are with his family and loved ones and the entire Navajo Nation as they mourn his passing and celebrate his life.

It Is Time to Open Up Government

Mr. Speaker, it is time to open up government. We can no longer think that we are not having an impact on our economy. We can no longer think that the safety of Americans who fly in our skies or eat the food in America is not at risk. We can no longer imagine that the millions of families who are being impacted are not suffering.

It is time. This is the greatest Nation on Earth. It is the only one in my entire lifetime that I have seen that has closed down government. Our counties don't do it; our States don't do it; our cities don't do it. But the greatest Nation on Earth can find a way to close down government?

This should never, ever happen in our country. We should never put our citizens through this. We have the money to pay the staff. We have to find ways to get out of this problem and never let it happen again.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a crisis that is gripping our Nation. This crisis is impacting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women, such as Border Patrol agents, TSA agents, national park rangers, janitors, machinists, and many more.

The crisis I am referring to, Mr. Speaker, is the reckless government shutdown that now has gone into its third week.

We are the greatest country in the world. This should never, ever happen in this country. It has left Americans without paychecks, forcing many of them to seek donations from family, friends, and strangers just to make ends meet.

In Arizona, my constituents have reached out to share their stories. One Federal prison employee told my office that she planned to take out a loan on their retirement in order to pay for groceries, bills, and health insurance. Another, a scientist based in Arizona and working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wrote to me just yesterday to tell me that she would have to take up dog walking, Uber driving, and other part-time jobs just to cover the cost of her rent.

Neither of these Arizonans know what they will do if their paychecks continue to be held hostage for political games.

Mr. Speaker, the American people don't deserve this. It goes beyond the furloughed government workers. Small business owners and Arizona farmers and ranchers, already hit hard by uncertainty in their global trade partnerships, are being hurt by this.

There is agreement in this body and in the Senate on bipartisan spending measures that open up our government and provide increased funding for SMART, 21st century border security technology that has been proven effective.

The administration has conjured up this crisis and devastated the lives of countless Americans in the process, and it must end.

Mr. Speaker, these political games are hurting Arizona and our country.

Honoring Sheriff Kelly ``KC'' Clark

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank and honor Sheriff Kelly ``KC'' Clark as he retires from three decades of service to Navajo County and the State of Arizona. From his first post as a patrol deputy in Winslow in 1989 to sheriff of Navajo County, KC has always dedicated his career to ensuring victims receive justice.

Throughout his life, KC has served Arizona as the president of the Arizona Narcotic Officers Association and three terms as president of the Arizona County Attorney/Sheriff's Association. Additionally, KC is a graduate of the FBI Academy 220th Session and the Drug Unit Commanders Academy. He was named Sheriff of the Year by the WETIP Foundation. On top of all of this, Sheriff Clark served on the Northern Regional Advisory Committee for Homeland Security and is a commissioner on the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to call KC a friend. His service to our great State is an inspiration to all public servants. I wish him and his wife, Brenda, the very best as he retires from the police force, and I know his commitment to serve in his community will not end.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, college affordability and the student loan crisis affect every community across our Nation. The decisions that young people are forced to make in order to get a degree-- decisions involving tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars--can affect the rest of their lives.

Over 44 million Americans have a total of $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. In Arizona, borrowers owe an average of just under $24,000, annually, in student loan debt.

That is why I am pleased that the underlying bill before us today takes an important step towards making sure students and borrowers have more tools and information about their options, including income-driven repayment plans. Income-driven repayment plans like PAYE, REPAYE, and IBR have increased in enrollment in recent years and can offer borrowers more predictability and manageability on their student loan payments.

A lot of borrowers don't know about all the income-driven repayment options they are eligible for, making it harder to figure out which one might be the best fit. My commonsense amendment helps to fix that by simply requiring the annual counseling mandated by the underlying bill to disclose the anticipated monthly payment to a borrower for any income-driven repayment plan they are eligible for.

Increasing awareness about all income-driven repayment options and what a borrower could expect to pay under each program they are eligible for will help equip them and their families with more resources to make important decisions.

My amendment, like the underlying bill, is an important step forward to support our hardworking students and workers in our communities at a time when many are still struggling. We have an obligation to increase transparency to borrowers and ensure they have the tools to thrive.

I want to thank Congressman Bera for his support of this amendment, as well as Congresswoman Foxx and Ranking Member Scott for their work on this bipartisan bill before us today.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Bera).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 2850 and to urge passage of this amendment to the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 resolved the Tribe's water claims against the Federal and State governments, as well as other parties and States. This act also authorized the White Mountain Rural Water System all while being budget neutral.

This bill is simply a straightforward, technical amendment which is necessary to clarify that authorization authority exists for the Tribe to use the settlement fund for water-related economic development projects. The Tribe needs this clarification in order to complete the construction of its rural water system, which is long overdue and a critical project for the community.

I thank Senator Flake, whose staff has worked closely with me and my office on this issue for the past year and a half. I also thank the chairman and ranking member for supporting this bill.

Given the importance of the water system and the implementation of the settlement legislation to the White Mountain Apache Tribe, I urge the swift passage of this bill and look forward to working together with all affected stakeholders on its implementation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support and urge passage of my legislation, H.R. 4032, the Gila River Indian Community Federal Rights-of-Way, Easements and Boundary Clarification Act.

I was proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation along with colleagues Congressmen Biggs, Gallego, and Gosar.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, Tribal Nations were here prior to the formation of the United States. However, throughout history, many Federal laws were enacted that diminished land holdings and, as a result, reservation boundaries were often incorrectly adjusted.

The Federal Government often lacked the mechanisms to effectively keep track of the various rights-of-way that existed on Tribal lands. These challenges remain today and can be serious barriers to Tribal land use efforts for housing, economic development, and cultural purposes.

That is why I introduced my bill, which simply finalizes the settlement of longstanding issues related to the Federal Government's management of Tribal trust assets on the Gila River Indian Community.

The legislation provides for surveys of all the Federal rights-of-way on the reservation and establishes a map of those rights-of-way to aid the community in planning land use, including building homes, rebuilding schools, locating businesses, and ensuring access to cultural sites.

H.R. 4032 also clarifies the northwest boundary of the reservation, which will avoid a title dispute with the city of Phoenix. In exchange for giving up lands that are currently within the reservation boundary, the community will be able to purchase 3,400 acres of culturally relevant lands from the Bureau of Land Management and have those lands taken into trust.

H.R. 4032 is important to the Gila River Indian community, to local landowners, and nearby communities.

I would like to thank my colleagues across the aisle for supporting this legislation, as well as the chairman and ranking member. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and the administration to ensure this settlement is fully implemented.

On behalf of our Arizona communities, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, necessary legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, Arizona's First Congressional District is home to the largest population of Native Americans and Indian lands in the Nation.

Many of the Tribal governments that I represent face a public safety crisis. Nearly every Tribal community I visit is caught in the justice facility backlog, and it is having a serious impact on their ability to protect and serve their communities.

The backlog in unmet need for Tribal justice facilities has grown significantly since fiscal year 2014, when the Department of Justice unilaterally stopped new and replacement construction of Tribal justice buildings. All the while, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has kept condemning these types of buildings. This negligent lack of Federal coordination between agencies has resulted in communities being forced to go without essential infrastructure.

Tribal justice officials dedicate and risk their lives to provide basic law and order in Native American communities. However, as a former police officer, I can tell you, no justice system can function without a safe and secure facility to house these officers.

The San Carlos Apache Tribe's justice system is a devastating example of the backlog for justice facilities in Indian Country.

The BIA condemned the San Carlos Police and Courts Building known as BIA Building 86 in 2009. The Tribal police officers and courts worked for 6 additional years in a condemned building, until the Bureau of Indian Affairs provided them with temporary trailers, which had been intended to be used as classrooms and temporary housing in 2015.

Here we are, 3 years later, and this temporary fix is failing the San Carlos police and courts, as well as the entire community. The San Carlos Police Chief works in an office with cracks in the wall where he can see outside. The generator doesn't provide air conditioning to the police patrol or court sessions of trailers, and that is in Arizona. Water service is intermittent. There is not enough space for evidence storage. The floors can't securely support storage safes that include cash, drugs, and other evidence. I can go on and on.

It is clear that it is past time to provide the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and Tribes across the country, a permanent facility to safely house their police and courts.

I commend Appropriations for providing $18 million for replacement of new public safety and justice construction.

My amendment demonstrates the reality that the need is greater. It suggests a funding level of $36 million divided between replacement and new construction. This would help provide for the needs of communities like San Carlos, who have had their police and court facilities condemned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Every law enforcement officer at the local, State, Tribal, and Federal levels risk their lives to protect and serve their community. If we can't give them the basic tools to do their jobs, our communities risk safety and justice for victims. We must do better.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment on behalf of these brave law enforcement officials, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I just want to thank the chair and the ranking member for all their commitment to Indian Country and for their support of this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, across Indian Country, access to safe and clean drinking water is a major issue that we are obligated to address.

In the northwest corner of my district, the Hopi Tribe has a water system with over three times the Federal maximum standard for safe drinking water for arsenic. Let me repeat that: three times the amount of arsenic than the maximum standard considered safe.

Members of the Tribe have no choice but to use this unsafe water. This is beyond unacceptable in any community in America, but it is a fact of life for Tribes across the Nation.

No matter where you are born, no child or family in America should have to risk their health because they can't access clean water.

This basic lack of water infrastructure has limited many Tribes' ability to unleash their economic potential in rural communities across the country.

The Hopi Tribe has limited financial resources. In fact, it has an 80 percent unemployment rate. Our country's unemployment rate is 4 percent. It also has a mine that is potentially going to close that supplies 80 percent of its general funds.

They have not sat idly waiting for the Federal Government to fix the problem it created. The Tribe has launched the Hopi Arsenic Mitigation Project to directly address this challenge.

Through the project, the Tribe has identified arsenic-free wells and mapped the pipeline route that will deliver arsenic-free water to villages and towns across the reservation. All the Tribe needs to complete the project is construction funding.

Unfortunately, funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Construction account has not been adequate enough to fund projects across country like Hopi's. That is why I am offering a commonsense amendment to increase BIA's construction funding by $10 million.

Increasing this funding for construction of water infrastructure will enable the BIA to assist communities in building water systems that will deliver clean drinking water to schools and homes, some for the first time.

This amendment is not only a wise investment for Tribal communities as they seek to develop their economies and attract investment, but it is also a moral imperative.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to increase access to clean water for tribal communities across the country.

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

Mr. Chair, I understand that this bill increases the BIA Construction funding levels from last year, but I must remind the gentleman that this program is still woefully underfunded considering the tremendous needs across the West and in rural communities.

Although I believe this amendment's offset is reasonable considering the basic immediate and dire needs of tribes across the country, I appreciate the gentleman's comments and I hope he will commit to working with me on a bipartisan basis going forward on this amendment to ensure our communities have meaningful access funding for clean water.

I clearly understand the impacts potentially to the Bureau, but I also understand that when you have 80 percent unemployment and the risk of losing 80 percent of your general fund, that there is no other alternative than to look for money here, and I would appreciate consideration in the future.

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

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation was established to compensate and build homes for those Navajo and Hopi impacted by the Federal Government's mandated changes of the reservation boundaries, which resulted in families being forced to move away from their homes.

My amendment opposes efforts in the underlying bill to prematurely close the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation. The bill significantly cuts this office while preparing for its premature closure. I strongly oppose these cuts.

The agency has not completed its mission, and families continue to wait for the benefits they were promised. Closing the agency without providing the benefits to the affected families entitled to them would be a violation of our trust responsibility.

Once the agency's mission is complete, it is essential that the remaining land management responsibilities are passed to capable and responsible agencies that will work with stakeholders to ensure that the trust responsibility is taken seriously.

For this to occur, a comprehensive plan must be developed, and the plan must include meaningful input from both the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, and a thorough audit of the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation.

I have concerns that preliminary discussions that have the Office of the Special Trustee assuming land management are premature, as the Office of the Special Trustee has no experience with land management or building housing.

While the details of the closure plan are worked out, it makes sense to continue funding the agency, so it can finish its mission and an orderly and agreeable closure plan can be developed.

The families impacted by relocation have suffered enough, and we have a responsibility to ensure that we solve the problem in an orderly way, not simply shift the responsibility.

My amendment simply shifts the funds that were provided to the Office of the Special Trustee, to assume land management responsibilities, back to the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation where it can be used to build homes and review appeals until the agency mission is complete or a comprehensive closure plan is developed with significant Tribal input.

I thank the chairman and ranking member for their interest in this important issue, and I look forward to continuing to work with them toward a resolution that keeps the promises made and is inclusive of all impacted parties.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I have personally gone around this process for a long time now, both before I came to Congress and during my tenure in Congress.

We have hundreds of families who still are in an appeals process. We have homes throughout both reservations that are simply in a deteriorated state. This is not spending more money. It is shifting money from one agency to another to allow us to continue to make sure that the needs of this relocation project are met.

The time limit of 5 years was extended time and time again because of the technical nature of this process and the difficulty in our mandated process to make this a whole system that worked. It hasn't worked. It needs to be worked on, but not until we have a comprehensive plan. There is no comprehensive plan. There is just an idea and a concept, but no comprehensive plan.

I will be glad to work with anybody on a comprehensive plan, but the idea that we just walk away from this right now without an agency that really knows what it is doing makes no sense at all.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, I just want to point out the Navajo and the Hopi have indicated precisely what

they want to do. They need the time to be able to recognize that there is a comprehensive plan for their future and the families that are impacted. It is not in place.

Mr. Chair, I request that my amendment be accepted, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Randy Wilson, the managing editor of the Arizona Daily Sun, who passed away unexpectedly last week.

Randy's love for his job was evident, and he was a shining example of journalistic integrity and fairness. His life went far beyond producing a fine newspaper that serves thousands of Arizonans. He was also fully committed to giving back to his community.

In addition to leading the annual New Year's Day Polar Plunge and the Flagstaff Four on the Fourth race, he was active in his church, explored northern Arizona's trails and parks, and played a major role in the Daily Sun's citizen and organization of the year initiatives.

Randy's legacy will live on, thanks to his enduring commitment to his community, his State, and his paper. My heart goes out to his wife, Lindsay; his daughter, Caroline; his fellow journalists; and his loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge Mr. Scott Lindbloom of Show Low, Arizona. Scott dedicates a significant part of his life to improving the lives of people like himself who have an intellectual or developmental disability. This week, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities is honoring Scott for his work to empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I would like to offer my congratulations to him.

I met Scott at the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council booth at ``Show Low Days'' in June 2017. We spoke about Scott's work to advocate for critical legislation to meet the needs of people with developmental disabilities in my district. Scott believes, as I do, that every person, regardless of ability, should be able to participate fully in their community.

Our initial meeting helped kickstart the Disability Advisory Council in my district, the aim of which is gathering information from my constituents about whether federal programs and proposed legislation meets the needs of rural Northern Arizona residents with disabilities. The group now meets quarterly in the Arizona White Mountains.

In addition to his participation in the Disability Advisory Council, Scott also volunteers at the Show Low Chamber of Commerce, where he has helped to create internships for

high school students with developmental disabilities so that they can gain workplace skills and experience.

I wholeheartedly congratulate Scott for receiving the Champion of Equal Opportunity Start Your Journey award and thank him for his work to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Recognizing Early Childhood Trauma Related to Substance Abuse Act.

I thank the gentleman from Virginia for teaming up with me to protect and help the most vulnerable victims of the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities across America and our children.

As a former police officer, I know what the impacts of addiction and overdoses can do to young family members. The trauma is real, and the effects can be lifelong for many innocent kids. We know from research that this type of trauma can affect school performance, behavior, and the likelihood of substance abuse years later.

Nobody is more deserving of our attention and our resources than these kids. It is why I was proud to introduce the Recognizing Early Childhood Trauma Related to Substance Abuse Act with my colleague. This bipartisan bill will help address and reduce childhood trauma caused by the abuse of illegal substances by parents and guardians.

The rising abuse of opioids and other illegal drugs is not only devastating communities across this great Nation; it is jeopardizing the futures of millions of young children who are living through untold traumatic experiences. This commonsense bipartisan legislation will support early childhood professionals, give them the tools they need to identify trauma, and support kids with age-appropriate resources.

In rural America, skyrocketing overdose rates have had a tremendous impact on every aspect of our communities, including our schools and our early-childhood institutions. In Arizona, opioid and heroin overdose rates have risen sharply since 2012.

It is past time for action to bring resources into our neighborhoods and tackle these issues. Kids affected by substance abuse disorder need our attention now to ensure every single one of them has the bright future they deserve. I am glad Congress agrees and is working across the aisle to take this important step forward.

I thank the chairman and ranking member for their support on this bill, and I look forward to its passage and implementation at this urgent time for families across America and the Nation.