Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, for the fourth time since 2010, the city of El Paso is honored to be named an All-America City for our resiliency, response to tragedy, and vaccination efforts against COVID-19 this year.

The National Civic League awards the All-America City award to communities where residents, organizations, and government work together to address challenges and improve quality of life. When President Biden announced his goal to vaccinate 70 percent of our Nation, El Paso not only met the goal a month early, but we have surpassed it and currently lead the country by 10 percent.

The All-America City award reaffirms our resiliency and outstanding civic accomplishments in the face of the tragic August 3 domestic terror attack and the devastating COVID-19 pandemic as well as our continued goodwill toward migrants seeking refuge at our Nation's front door.

El Pasoans are no strangers to challenges, and our strength is tested over and over. Each time we grow stronger because we are and always will be El Paso Strong.

It is an honor to represent this extraordinary community here today, and I congratulate the city of El Paso.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 246th birthday of the founding of the United States Army.

The U.S. Army was founded on June 14, 1775 in Philadelphia at the height of the Revolutionary War. The Army is the eldest branch of the U.S. military and answers at a moment's notice when the country needs it most--from the Revolutionary War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and most recently the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we honor the legacy of the brave men

and women who served and are currently serving to protect our country and preserve our way of life.

Answering the call to duty is not an easy one, but it is one that is worth it. 90,000 soldiers and their family members call the El Paso Area home through Fort Bliss presence in our community. Fort Bliss is vital to the Army's readiness because it trains and mobilizes soldiers to perform global operations in support of our national military strategy. I, and the rest of the El Paso community, are appreciative of the Army and Fort Bliss' service to our country and are grateful for each soldier and their family's sacrifices, service, and leadership.

On this day, I recognize the Army's 246th birthday.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 10th anniversary of the 1st Armored Division's arrival to El Paso, TX.

Nicknamed the Old Ironsides, the 1st Armored Division was founded in 1940 at Fort Knox. They have valiantly protected our nation in the toughest battles--World War II, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Persian Gulf War, and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Old Ironsides have called many places home, including Fort Hood and West Germany. On May 13, 2011, they found their home at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Over the last 10 years, America's future military leaders are being trained at Fort Bliss and about 30,000 Iron Soldiers continue to exercise mission commands of the Army. The 1st Armored division and their families have become integral members of our community--their presence at Fort Bliss supports our local economy and creates a richer and more diverse culture.

I, and the rest of the El Paso community, are appreciative of the 1st Armored Division's service to our country and are grateful for each of the Old Iron Soldiers for their sacrifices, service, and leadership. The El Paso, Texas community is proud to call the First Armored Division the home of America's tank force.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on my colleagues to support H.R. 2208, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Act.

On March 26 of this year, I introduced this important bipartisan bill with my colleague, Representative Tony Gonzales from the Texas 23rd Congressional District, to ensure that Native American Tribes are covered by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Specifically, this bipartisan bill aims to correct a problem of exclusion that has been affecting only two Tribes in the entire United States--the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribes of Texas--since 1987, when Congress passed the Restoration Act and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The passage of these 1987 laws inadvertently created uncertainty about which law these Tribes were covered under and what gaming activities they were allowed to offer on their reservations.

Passed in this Chamber during the 116th Congress, this bill offers a commonsense solution that will ensure that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes are covered by the Indiana Gaming Regulatory Act, which would provide these Native American communities with a critical economic lifeline and an opportunity to recover from the harmful inequity that they have faced.

Simply put, this bill would provide fairness for these two Tribes, like the only other federally recognized Tribe in our State, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas.

I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting our Native American Tribes' sovereignty and ensuring that they have the ability to engage in the same way other Tribes are able to.

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted everyone, but the economic and health crisis has been devastating to our Tribes, and this bill offers an opportunity for them to safely rebuild their economies. The reason our Tribes have suffered so disproportionately is because of long-term disinvestment and generational lack of adequate access to healthcare and economic assistance.

Communities around the country are eager to repair their economies following the impact of COVID-19, and our Tribes are no different. But they need the clarity this bill would provide so that they can better control their economic future.

The parity this bill would create for these Tribes would also create long overdue opportunities for them to succeed by supporting job creation and their ability to generate revenue that would fund new housing, educational programs, and medical facilities for their people and the surrounding communities, among so many other things.

Now, more than ever, more must be done to protect other Native American Tribes, their families, businesses, and their economic prosperity.

By passing this bill, Congress would finally grant the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes the rights, opportunities, and stability they have long been denied.

Therefore, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important piece of legislation, and I am grateful to the leaders in the committee for their support.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to talk about our Dreamers, the precious resource we have in our country. But, of course, unfortunately, what we are hearing is as much fear-mongering as possible from our Republican colleagues about immigrants.

My name was mentioned, and the minority leader chose to come into my safe and secure community earlier this week to use my community as a prop, so I need to respond.

In 2019, Mr. Speaker, I led codels to El Paso and brought nearly 20 percent of Congress to my community. I invited everyone. I stood in the well and invited Republicans, Democrats, everyone. Only Democrats took me up on my offer to see the entire picture. Not just law enforcement, but to meet with advocates, attorneys, everyone who makes up the system of immigration on the border. Not a single Republican attended.

Last session, we, as a Congress, passed a number of bills, including supplemental bills, to address what was happening on the border and to address immigration. No Republicans supported our effort.

Last week, when I learned the minority leader was coming into my community, I sent him a letter, invited him to meet with everyone who was available to help give him the full picture. He refused.

Their strategy is the same strategy they have employed with COVID: Do nothing.

We will finally address this. I rise to support our Dreamers and H.R. 6.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Dreamers across the country. These are young people who have lived in the United States for the majority of their lives; they already call the United States home and are citizens in all but name.

The Dream and Promise Act creates a path to citizenship for those who were brought to the United States as children. They're people who have lived their entire lives as members of our communities and just want the opportunity to become citizens of the country where they grew up, go to school, and work. Which makes our communities safer and stronger.

This bill provides strict guidance for earning citizenship and recipients are required to meet the standards and specifications of the program in order to maintain their status.

When a parent makes the harrowing decision to take their child and leave their home behind, it's so that their child might have a better life. Like a lot of our grandparents and great-grandparents, they're coming to the United States for the opportunity to live the American Dream.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

I will be very clear, Madam Speaker. Farmworkers do back-breaking work under the scorching sun or unbearable cold to make sure that all of us have food on our table. Whether they are sick, feeling well, whether they have family members who are not feeling well, they go to work to make sure we have what we need, even, and almost especially, during the era of COVID.

It is incredible that anyone would stand in the way of having these incredible people finally have a pathway to legalization.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act is a piece of legislation that is long overdue. I have one thing to say to those who would oppose legislation for this population, even though they benefit from the labor of this population: ``they don't have shame,'' ``no tienen verguenza.''

Madam Speaker, since being signed into law, the Violence Against Women Act has become a crucial part of legislation to aid victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. VAWA provides lifesaving programs to help survivors navigate domestic violence and abuse situations.

Madam Speaker, in my district, I heard from innumerable counselors, activists, advocates, and attorneys about the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on families, but especially families who have to experience domestic violence. Being locked in a situation with your abuser, with your attacker, was incredibly dangerous, and there has been terrible trauma inflicted.

We need to pass VAWA now. There is no reason not to support people who are victims of domestic violence. This is an enormous step forward.

I am grateful to the leaders who brought this forward, and I rise in support.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Bruce Beach, the recently retired Director of Bands at Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas.

For 25 years, Mr. Beach taught music education to thousands of students. It is no easy feat to teach 20 students, let alone 200. However, Mr. Beach is much more than an educator. Many of his students have pursued their musical and non-musical aspirations because of his support and guidance. His students learned important life skills like teamwork, responsibility, and dedication.

In 2015, Mr. Beach served as President of the Texas Bandmasters Association. He represented El Paso and oversaw the annual convention that showcased new music and teaching methods for fellow bandmasters. In addition to teaching, he also found time to participate in the El Paso Wind Symphony where he played principal trombone.

Congratulations to Mr. Beach on all his achievements. I thank him for his commitment to education and the arts.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

On January 6, terrorists attacked the United States of America. It was an attempted coup and an insurrection. But what I hope Americans understand is that it was a terrorist attack against our country.

Those who came and participated must be found and prosecuted. Those who aided and abetted must be found and prosecuted. And the man who incited it, President Donald J. Trump, our greatest national security threat, must be impeached, held accountable, and never be allowed to hold office again.

Mr. Chairman, I am proud to have helped craft this year's National Defense Authorization Act. This fiscal year 2020 bill incorporates ideas from both sides of the aisle to deliver essential support and a pay raise to our deserving men and women in uniform.

Our bill authorizes $733 billion to provide for a smart and robust national defense, enhances housing and financial support for military families, and addresses operational and budgetary threats posed by climate change.

I was pleased to share with my Armed Services Committee colleagues the innovative work happening in districts like mine which are home to some of the military's core training installations. This includes Fort Bliss' leadership on net-zero energy and ongoing partnership with the VA that improves soldiers' medical expertise, while also serving our local veterans.

I was proud to support our vibrant El Paso community by advancing a community infrastructure support program and ensuring promising technologies like additive manufacturing, and the unique contributions of our small businesses that always have a place in building our national defense.

Finally, our bill enhances diversity and inclusion efforts in our armed services, improves oversight and accountability of DOD support to DHS and, yes, blocks the President from robbing finite military resources for a wall that our military never requested.

This is a bill we can all be proud of. I look forward to casting my vote in support.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for his leadership, and I urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Madam Speaker, the last thing I would want to see is a repeat of the other night when my colleagues on the other side of the aisle laughed and jeered as I described the situation at the border and what is happening to the children in our custody.

Madam Speaker, the minority leader earlier asked why are we here again--one word, ``oversight''--``oversight.''

We have seen, as Members of Congress, too often, our desire to provide oversight, which is a fundamental responsibility, a fundamental duty of ours, we have seen it thwarted and we have seen it obstructed.

There is no one in this Chamber right now who feels more of a sense of urgency than the Representative from Texas 16, El Paso, where we have had a front row to the atrocities occurring at the hands of this government.

And I will tell you, part of the challenge for many of us who have worked with goodwill and charity has been witnessing the fact that Congress has not been able to provide fundamental guardrails for the treatment of these kids.

What is the main difference between the Senate bill and the House bill? Ours is far more humane. Ours ensures that money will not be diverted for things that have turned a challenge into a crisis.

A few examples include ripping children from the arms of their parents or sending vulnerable populations back into Mexico. In fact, Madam Speaker, in my district, one of the individuals sent back to Mexico under this administration's policy was kidnapped and raped. We have also seen people legally blocked at our ports of entry, sent to more treacherous crossings. That is why Oscar and Valeria died.

So oversight is why our bill is the better bill.

Mr. Speaker, today I ask that we observe a moment of silence for the migrants who have died as they have tried to reach the shores of the America that they dream of.

The photograph that all of us saw this week should tear all of us up, for those of us who are parents, to see a toddler with her little arms wrapped around the neck of her father.

There is nothing that we wouldn't do for our children, nothing, to give them a better life.

Oscar and Valeria represent tens of thousands of migrants who have died as they have tried to build a better life for themselves, only to find that they are demonized and locked out of the promise that those of us who are natural born citizens are so fortunate to enjoy.

In their name, let us never forget their sacrifice and the sacrifice that so many parents make for the most vulnerable among us.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I oppose this motion to recommit because, as written, this motion to recommit would mean that Congress would have absolutely no say over how this money would be used, and we know full well that, without restraint, this administration uses funding for cruelty and chaos.

Madam Speaker, I invite my colleagues to focus on the issues at hand: children, sleeping on concrete floors; children, some as young as 8 years old, caring for infants; a toddler, 22 months old, soiled and without a diaper; an outbreak of lice and the flu. This is not a description of a developing nation. This is happening today, on our watch, in the United States of America, to children. It is happening in El Paso, Texas, on the border, our new Ellis Island.

There is no doubt, Madam Speaker, that the increasing number of families have presented a challenge at our front door. There is no doubt that the most vulnerable among us, especially those children in U.S. custody, are suffering in misery. But there is also no doubt that draconian hard-line policies, focused on detention only, have turned this challenge into a crisis.

We must do something, and we must do something now. And today, we can. Today, we can vote on a border supplemental that allows processing facilities to buy things like food, water, and blankets. It boosts funding for legal assistance for migrants. It funds the necessary work of stabilizing Central America in an effort to address the root cause of migration. It gives Congress the tools for more oversight over facilities like those in Clint, Texas, which have shocked the Nation. It helps ease the burden on overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and Customs officers, who will be one step closer to getting back to the job that they were trained to do. It reimburses communities and nonprofits that have shouldered the burden for too long. And it provides badly needed funding to HHS: money to get those children out of those facilities and into more humane care.

I can assure you, gentlemen, this is not a laughing matter for this side of the House.

And thanks to appropriators who know how concerned we are about these hard-line policies that turn a challenge into a crisis. They have placed guardrails in this bill, unlike this motion to recommit, in order to prohibit funding from going to any activity not prescribed by Congress, like conducting immigration raids that terrorize our communities.

Will this appropriations bill solve every problem or address every concern? Of course, it won't.

Do we have much work to do? Of course, we do. And many of us have pieces of legislation and reform that we would love for you to join us in working on.

But today, this vote is not about solving every single problem, nor can it be.

Vote ``no'' on this motion to recommit and vote ``yes'' on the supplemental.

Mr. Chair, I thank Congressman Crow for yielding and for his great work on this amendment.

Mr. Chair, the Census aims to count each person living in the United States every 10 years. It is important that we get this count right because the information helps determine a vast array of decisions, from the number of congressional seats to the allocation of Federal dollars.

For example, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, my home State of Texas stands to gain three congressional seats. These gains will go a long way for Texans and help bring much-needed funds to every community in the State, but we must ensure an accurate count.

With the administration's push to include a citizenship question on the upcoming Census and scare Latino communities like mine into not participating, this amendment underscores the fact that no personally identifiable information can be shared.

This amendment will give all residents, regardless of their immigration status, the confidence they need to answer the survey questions freely and to know that their data will be kept safe and secure.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

On April 6, 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled the zero-tolerance prosecution policy, a memo directing U.S. Attorneys along the southwest border to prosecute all improper entry cases impacting thousands of migrants since its implementation.

My amendment would end this policy and restore prosecutorial discretion at the Department of Justice. This amendment is necessary because zero-tolerance is the center of the administration's cruel family separation policy.

Under zero-tolerance, when an asylum-seeking family crosses the border between a port of entry, parents are placed in DOJ custody while they await their prosecution date. The child is then deemed unaccompanied and placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. At least 3,000 families that we know of have been separated. Some children were literally ripped from their parents' arms.

At the height of the family separation crisis last summer, the President signed an executive order entitled: ``Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation.'' That was on June 20, 2018, exactly 1 year ago today. However, this executive order does not end zero-tolerance. Instead, the executive order favored family detention-- possibly indefinitely--over release.

I have seen the consequences of family separation firsthand in my community. Before zero-tolerance was implemented, the administration used El Paso as a testing ground for these horrific family separations in the fall of 2017. During this pilot program, 281 families were separated. The American Association of Pediatrics tells us that separating children from their parents

is highly damaging and can cause long-term health consequences from toxic stress.

These children are suffering emotionally and physically as a result of this government. We must put an end to this cruelty and work on reuniting all of those who remain separated.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).

Mr. Chair, I have no further speakers. I would just urge all of my colleagues to come to my community to see for themselves the impact of this horrific policy.

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

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague and also Congresswoman Speier for their leadership on this critical issue.

Madam Chair, I am so disappointed that in 2019 this amendment is even necessary. Our military is strong and capable because of our dedicated servicemembers, including nearly 15,000 transgender troops.

This year, the Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the President's policy, and Active-Duty transgender servicemembers testified before the House for the first time. Each one was an incredibly capable, experienced, and decorated leader.

The DOD's exhaustive review found no valid reason to ban these patriotic

Americans who meet the same criteria as their peers.

For 3 years, our military has operated under a de facto inclusive policy where thousands could serve openly with, to quote General Millie, ``precisely zero unit cohesion problems.''

Eighteen militaries already have inclusive policies without incidents or impact to readiness, and the facts reveal this policy for what it is: discrimination.

I urge my colleagues to support Ms. Speier's amendment.