Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, my vote did not register when I used my voting card. I have reported the malfunctioning card to the Clerk's office. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 268.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I have taken three oaths in my lifetime. The first oath I took was in 1984, as a police officer, when I was sworn in at the Orlando Police Department. The second oath I took when I was sworn in as the chief of police. And the third when I became a Member of the 115th Congress.

Although different positions, each oath stated that I would protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Mr. Speaker, I want you to know that I have taken each oath very seriously.

I know former FBI Director James Comey understood the enormity of the oath he took to uphold the Constitution to seek the truth, regardless of outside influences or political circumstances. His loyalty is to the United States Constitution.

The American people should have faith that no one--that includes the President, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Deputy U.S. Attorney General--should be able to interfere with the proper functioning of the FBI or its work with local and State law enforcement agencies. It is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that all our law enforcement and intelligence agencies are able to fulfill their mission: to protect and defend the United States and enforce criminal laws as appropriate.

I filed an amendment with the Rules Committee that would prohibit the removal of the FBI Director, except for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.

Mr. Speaker, this amendment would insulate the FBI's mission from political influences and agendas. Unfortunately, it appears that the Republican leadership doesn't think that this is a good idea, or simply does not want to have this debate.

The rule reported from the Rules Committee prevents me from offering this important amendment.

Mr. Speaker, if the FBI Director is abiding by the oath he took, then he should not be removed.

Mr. Speaker, during National Police Week, it is important we continue to remember the brave men and women who were killed while protecting us.

Last year, 145 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty. One of these officers, Lesley Zerebny, 27 years old, was an officer with the Palm Springs Police Department. She was responding to a domestic disturbance call when she was gunned down. She was killed just days after returning from maternity leave and left behind a 4- month-old daughter.

Her fellow officer, Jose Gilbert Vega, was also murdered in the shooting. A devoted father, Vega was just days away from retiring.

Of the officers killed last year, 10 were State troopers. One of them was Trooper Timothy Pratt of the New York State Police. Trooper Pratt was struck by a car as he was on the side of the road assisting a stopped vehicle. Pratt had 30 years on the job.

Our law enforcement officers don't know what they will encounter when they respond to any call. We applaud them for the bravery and courage they display in the face of danger. Mr. Speaker, let us not forget their sacrifices.

Mr. Speaker, one of my greatest honors was serving as a police officer in Orlando for 27 years. My husband is a sheriff in Orange County, and he has been serving for 35 years in law enforcement. But today I am here to talk about how we can better take care of our law enforcement officers as they continue to take care of us.

Our law enforcement officers are called to some of the most horrific situations and run into harm's way to protect us and our families every day. Almost a year ago, officers responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting, known now as the site of the deadliest mass shooting in our Nation's history: 49 persons lost their lives that night and more were severely injured.

Imagine the scene as the officers responded. One officer said one thing he will never forget is hearing the sound of the cellphones ringing as loved ones called the victims, but, of course, the victims could not answer.

During the most dangerous and most tragic of circumstances, our law enforcement officers may appear superhuman, but they are only human, and responding to scenes like this--or any other horrific scene--no one can really prepare for that. It is just one example of what our officers face.

I believe we have a responsibility to our first responders. That is why I am very proud to cosponsor H.R. 2228, the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act of 2017, with my good friend Susan Brooks from Indiana. The bill would direct the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, as you have heard, to share best practices that can help law enforcement officers in tragic situations.

I am so proud to share this legislation with my good friend and urge other colleagues within Congress to join us to make this vision a reality. Mr. Speaker, we must do everything we can to protect the men and women who keep our cities, our towns, and our communities safe.

Again, I thank the sheriff so much for his service, and I thank the gentleman for helping us to honor the men and women who are so deserving of this honor.

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 54th anniversary of Peace Officers Memorial Day, so I rise tonight to pay tribute to the law enforcement officers from Florida who were killed in the line of duty last year.

Today we remember them and honor them for their service and dedication: Deputy Sheriff Eric James Oliver from the Nassau County Sheriff's Office; Major Jorge Sanchez from the Miami Police Department; Deputy Sheriff Michael Scott Williams from the Taylor County Sheriff's Office; Sergeant Jorge Ramos from the Florida Department of Corrections; Deputy Sheriff John Robert Kotfila, Jr., of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office; Police Officer Henry Malcolm McAleenan, Jr., of the Miami-Dade Police Department; and, as you have already heard tonight, Special Agent J. Scott McGuire of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

Mr. Speaker, we remember these brave men and pray for their families and the countless others who have mourned their loss.

Mr. Speaker, the President made big promises on the campaign trail to drain the swamp. He promised that his Washington would look different. Well, it does look different, but not in the way he promised.

Instead of ethics reform, his administration rolled back ethics provisions that prevented officials from serving in Federal agencies that they lobbied in the last 2 years.

He promised to tackle campaign finance, saying that he wouldn't accept campaign donations from special interest groups. Instead, he has invited the special interests into his Cabinet, appointing them into the highest position.

He promised he would ask Congress to pass campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyists from raising money in American politics. Instead, it turns out that some of his closest confidants and former campaign advisers have made millions lobbying foreign governments.

He promised he would release his own tax returns, but has not. The American people have no way of knowing how he or his family businesses stand to benefit from these tax cuts.

Mr. Speaker, this is not draining the swamp. Everyone is accountable, especially those in the highest levels of our government.

Mr. Speaker, please stop me if you have heard this one before and know how it ends. My colleagues on the other side are once again trying to sell the American people a broken alternative to something that is working pretty much as it was intended to.

The FCC privacy rule just says that customers must opt in before internet

companies can sell their web browsing history, and that those companies must make reasonable efforts to protect customers' sensitive information. These are not unreasonable requirements.

The internet is our gateway to the world. Whether we connect through our mobile phone or our home computer, we pay companies for access. If those companies want to sell information about what we do on the internet, they should have to get our permission first. It is the right thing to do.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on the other side to simply do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, I also rise tonight to talk about America First, the proposed budget of the 45th President of the United States, President Donald Trump.

It has been said that a budget of a local, State, Federal Government, corporation, nonprofit organization, small business, even a personal budget, really defines one's priorities, one's values, one's vision for the future. The proposed budget gives us a look into one's vision, our President's, for the future of America.

When I think about a vision for the future of America, I personally think of a vision that exceeds our wildest expectations. This is a vision where every boy and girl, regardless of the color of their skin, their gender, their religion, sexual orientation, where they live or how much money their parents have in the bank, has an opportunity to succeed, particularly in this country that we say is the greatest country in the world, and I do believe it to be so.

There is a famous Scripture that says: Because of a lack of a vision, the people perish.

I ask the question tonight: What is the vision for America under this budget?

My colleague has so eloquently laid out that education truly is the key. It starts in education for higher learning. But what about secondary education, where every child should have an opportunity to receive quality education?

We know that the budget proposed in America First cuts very necessary important programs that particularly hit the State of Florida, for example, the Teacher Quality Partnership, and Impact Aid support payments for Federal property, and international education programs. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers supports before- and after- school programs where children are able to receive tutoring, learn about the arts and music, and receive a meal during those programs.

Florida would be particularly hurt. Those programs are designed particularly for children that come from at-risk and poverty-stricken areas.

In those before-school and after-school programs, there is a focus on reading and math. And those programs often offer literary services to families of children that participate in those programs.

So back to the gentleman from Texas' question about what do we have to lose? In Florida, the overall graduation rate is 80 percent. But for African Americans, the graduation rate is about 72 percent, and lower for African-American boys. I can tell you, it is the lowest group.

We can't afford to pull more resources from the Department of Education--a proposed budget cut of 13.5 percent, in the double digits--resources that have been dedicated to lifting up all children, but particularly children of color and children from low-income neighborhoods. In President Trump's budget, that 13.5 percent is about $9.2 billion from education.

What is being cut?

Not only the programs that I named, but about 20 other programs: $3.7 billion in grants for teacher training to make sure that children not only receive the best education that money can buy, but also have the best, most qualified, most prepared, most trained teachers. Programs aimed at helping to ensure vulnerable children in low-income neighborhoods are able to succeed. They, too, really deserve a fair shot.

These Federal programs were created to ensure that every child, no matter who they are, has access to education.

This budget cut completely eliminates Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. The name alone says it all, opportunity grants, grants that could offer need-based aid to around 1.6 million low-income undergraduates every year.

What do we have to lose?

Mr. Speaker, I spent 27 years in law enforcement, and I realized early in my career that we cannot arrest our way out of the challenges that we face, that we have to address some of the social ills that cause decay in communities in the first place if we are going to make those communities better.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson commissioned a group to look at crime in America. I would like to share just a short paragraph of their report. It says:

``Every effort must be made to strengthen the family, now often shattered by the grinding pressures of urban slums.

``Slum schools must be given enough resources to make them as good as schools elsewhere and to enable them to compensate for the various handicaps suffered by the slum child--to rescue him from his environment.''

Mr. Speaker, I want you to know that we are still trying to rescue children that that particular child represents from their at-risk environments. If we are going to put America first, it starts with putting the American people first.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), Mr. Richmond, and all of the distinguished members of the Congressional Black Caucus for leading this very important and critical conversation and discussion this evening.

President Trump said it couldn't get any worse for the African- American community. He asked the question: What did we have to lose by supporting him?

Well, it is even clearer now that we have everything to lose, starting with health care.

Marian Wright Edelman said: ``The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child, but it is whether we can afford not to.''

Health care, we all know, is one of the most important investments we

can make in our children. Nearly 12 million African Americans are insured through Medicaid. In Florida, 41 percent of children, in my home State of Florida are covered through Medicaid.

This GOP healthcare plan guts Medicaid, cutting funding by $880 billion over the next 10 years. It also eliminates Medicaid expansion, which covers 1.5 million African Americans.

So what do we have to lose?

Families, children, will lose their health care. For those who do not lose health care, they will be forced to pay higher premiums. That, for some families, could mean the difference between a doctor's visit and food on the table.

Since the ACA was signed into law 7 years ago this Thursday, our community has seen its insured rate increase to the highest number in recent history. For a community that has long faced increased barriers to healthcare access and delayed doctor visits because of the cost, the ACA has meant the difference between life and death.

There is no question, we can make the Affordable Care Act more affordable for all Americans, but this bill doesn't do that.

So what do we have to lose?

President Trump, and to my GOP colleagues, I tell you the stakes could not be higher. Progress will be lost--progress that took many years to make, progress could be lost--by repealing the ACA.

The most vulnerable of people, the people we really should be taking care of in a country that we say is the greatest country in the world-- I do believe that to be true--people that we should be taking care of, including our children, will be hurt the hardest.

Florida has the Nation's highest enrollment number in the ACA, at 1.67 million sign-ups for 2017. But not only does repeal hurt children, but, in my home State of Florida, it also hurts millions of seniors.

A recent analysis from AARP shows that Florida will be ``Ground Zero'' for the Republicans' health plan's effects. They found that nearly a half a million Floridians between the ages of 50 and 64 would face higher premiums under the GOP plan, more than any other State; the people affected the most, low-income seniors.

So here is what is at risk in Florida's 10th Congressional District. The district's uninsured rate has gone from 22 percent to 15 percent since the ACA was implemented. 343,000 individuals in the district who now have health insurance that covers preventative services like cancer screenings and flu shots, without any copays, coinsurance or deductibles, stand to lose this access if the Republican Congress eliminates the ACA provisions requiring health insurance to cover important preventative services without cost-sharing.

392,000 individuals in the district with employer-sponsored health insurance are at risk of losing important consumer protections. 64,000 individuals in the district who have purchased high-quality marketplace coverage now stand to lose their coverage if the Republican Congress dismantles the marketplaces.

Over 60,000 individuals in the district who received financial assistance to purchase marketplace coverage in 2016 are now at risk of coverage becoming unaffordable if the Republican Congress eliminates the premium tax credits.

So what do we have to lose?

The evidence could not be clearer.

Mr. Speaker, my father, James LeRoy Butler, worked as a janitor. He had a fifth grade education, and now his youngest child is a Member of the 115th Congress. My father worked hard, and his word was his bond.

On January 15, 2017, President Trump promised insurance for everyone. He also promised Americans would have much lower deductibles. On January 22, 2017, President Trump's administration promised no one would lose healthcare coverage. But after only a glimpse of his plan, we now know these promises are not true, like so many other things that the White House has said.

The people who need coverage the most, the people depending on the President the most, the middle class, working families, and the working poor will be left behind under this plan. In my district alone in Florida, over 66,400 people stand to lose healthcare coverage.

To my Republican colleagues, I ask: How long will we endure empty promises and made-up stories coming out of the White House? How long? I call on the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, delivered in 1965, when he marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and he asked this question: ``How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.''

How long? Mexico will pay for the wall. I will release my tax returns. Discriminatory travel bans. Hidden ties with our enemy Russia. How long? Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please hold President Trump accountable and do what you know in your hearts is right. Demand answers and allow the facts to lead you to justice. How long?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that is of critical importance to every person in this room, every father, mother, every family in our Nation. That issue is our national security.

While the resignation of General Flynn was appropriate, it has led to more questions than answers. One of the most important, who directed General Flynn to do what he did?

In my 27 years as a law enforcement officer, I have conducted both internal and criminal investigations at the highest level of law enforcement. I understand the importance of seeking the truth through such investigations.

In a time of confusion and uncertainty, the American people deserve answers and transparency. That can only come through a thorough, bipartisan, independent investigation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues to join me in calling for a thorough investigation. I know they understand the gravity of this issue and believe it is our duty to work together to keep our Nation safe.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we bring up H.R. 724, which would rescind President Trump's refugee ban on individuals like Amir Haji-Akbari, a computational statistical physicist from Iran who was just offered an assistant professor job at Yale University.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand against the plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

I believe my job as a Member of Congress is to work every day to improve the quality of life for all Americans. If my colleagues and I are going to do our job, access to affordable, quality health care is the very foundation of that.

We know for a fact that the Affordable Care Act is working. Repealing it would put millions at risk of losing access to health care in a country that I know is the greatest. I ask today: Which family should not have access to quality health care?

Repealing the ACA would also have a crippling effect on our economy. Jobs will be lost. My State, Florida, is one that will be hit the hardest. Almost 181,000 Floridians would be at risk of losing their jobs almost immediately if the ACA were to be repealed.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to think long and hard about the people and work to strengthen and not repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

I am opposed to the bill in its current form.

Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, throughout my 27 years of law enforcement experience, I protected and served my community, and I stand here today to protect the most vulnerable of seniors in central Florida, and seniors all around this Nation.

We have a responsibility to see that seniors are not put in a position where they will have to choose between buying food or buying their medication, which was the case before the Affordable Care Act. We must resist all efforts to reopen the Medicare part D prescription drug coverage doughnut hole. This doughnut hole required seniors to pay full price for their prescription drugs after they reach their catastrophic threshold.

Research found, because of this doughnut hole, seniors would put their health at risk because they could not afford to pay the prescriptions, which ultimately lead to higher healthcare costs. Because of the Affordable Care Act, this doughnut hole is being completely phased out of the Medicare part D prescription drug program by the year 2020.

Since the ACA passed in 2010, closing the doughnut hole has saved our seniors more than $23.5 billion on their prescription drugs. We know this is working. Florida seniors enrolled in the program are now saving an average of $987 a year because of closing the loophole.

We know what $987 means to the average senior on Medicare. We also know that if these coverage gap discounts disappeared, part D enrollees would have to pay $3,725 for the time period they are in the doughnut hole. This $3,725 represents nearly 15 percent of a Medicare enrollee's income.

With too many Floridians and seniors across the Nation struggling to make ends meet, I strongly believe that Congress can do more to make sure we do not go backwards and reopen this doughnut hole. No one should ever have to choose between food or medicine.

I urge my colleagues to consider the livelihood and dignity of our most vulnerable seniors and vote for my amendment to protect access to affordable prescription drugs for older Americans.

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

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the lives of Master Sergeant Debra Clayton of the Orlando Police Department and Deputy Norm Lewis of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

As the former Orlando police chief, I had the honor of knowing both Sergeant Clayton and Deputy Lewis. Sergeant Clayton was violently murdered while responding to a call this morning. Deputy Lewis was killed while responding to a scene during the search for the suspect. As we recognize Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, we mourn the deaths of these two public servants.

Sergeant Clayton was a fine officer, wife, and mother. She was 42 years young, and had just celebrated her first anniversary with her husband.

Deputy Lewis was deeply admired by all of his colleagues. He loved helping people, and it showed in his work. He was just 35.

Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask all Members to join me in observing a moment of silence to honor and remember these heroes during this difficult time.