Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3435, the Local Public Health and Safety Protection Act.

Across this Nation, we are faced with an ugly, obscene, inescapable truth: gun violence is a public health emergency.

My bill would, for the first time via Federal legislation, prohibit any State that wants to compete for grant funding from the Department of Justice from restricting the ability of a local government to enact tougher gun laws. My hope is that we can finally give local governments the freedom to protect innocent citizens and first responders while making our neighborhoods safer, regardless of what their State legislature thinks.

I urge my colleagues to cosponsor and support this vital public safety legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of the bill (S. 1749) to clarify seasoning requirements for certain refinanced mortgage loans, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American poet who, as a child, fell in love with words and turned that love of words into a life's work.

On Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12, 2019, my dear friend, Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore passed into ancestry. She was 79. Her passing gave Mother's Day ``a new meaning,'' one daughter said in a local media report. A Celebration of Life and Homegoing Service was held on Friday, May 17 at Christ Church Cathedral, in St. Louis, Mo., where many came and paid loving homage to her life and her works. The visitation and service included numerous speakers, musicians, dancers, family, friends and fellow poets.

To her dear daughters--Hope Lindsay of Silver Springs, Md., Jacie Price of St. Louis and Lyah LeFlore-ltuen of St. Louis--the depths of my sadness at her loss moves me beyond the ties of friendship. She was like family. I pray for heavenly grace for her family: her daughters, a niece Karen Bohr and four grandchildren--Noelle Lindsay-Stewart, Jullian Price-Baez, Jordan Lindsay and Bella Grace Ituen--and all who loved and honored her.

Shirley has been interwoven into the fabric of St. Louis, Mo., this nation and the world. She has shared her love of poetry, writing and many talents with the rest of us, and we are better off because of her.

On November 9, 2018, Shirley LeFlore was named St. Louis' second Poet Laureate. She was the first African-American and woman so honored. The event was held in St. Louis City Hall, with Ms. LeFlore surrounded by family, friends and admirers.

At the time Poet Michael Castro, St. Louis' first Poet Laureate called the honor ``the capstone'' of a long career; a career The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that spanned some 50 years of ``performing, mentoring and teaching.'' As her story was told and retold, one discovers that not only did she find poetry in everything, she lived a poetic life.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the City Hall event and on November 17, published a story about her appointment. Reporter Jane Henderson noted Ms. Leflore's' life journey and how she was led by the power of words to international fame. ``As a girl,'' Henderson wrote, ``she listened to women in her mother's beauty shop as they told stories. She listened in as strangers gossiped on streetcars, when churchgoers talked and when female relatives chatted at the kitchen table. Young Shirley would make up plays about some of the people she'd overheard and started writing in grade school. As an adult, she turned talk into an art, becoming a pioneer in spoken-word poetry in St. Louis.''

At City Hall, President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed presented the honor to Ms. LeFlore. And Castro, who has known Ms. LeFlore since the 1970s, called her an ``iconic

and loved figure.'' He told the Post-Dispatch: ``Her performances were very memorable. She had a strong presence and charisma. She read her poems kind of with a jazz beat. Her poems were not like anyone else's, full of rich imagery.''

Madam Speaker, that career includes more than 50 years of performing, mentoring and teaching. Some call her a ``wordsmith'' and others call her a ``word warrior,'' noted Alderman Terry Kennedy, a longtime friend. He read part of her poem ``Rivers of Women'' noting that her writing cause people to ``think differently.''

Born, Shirley Bradley Price in 1940 in St. Louis, Ms. LeFlore graduated from Sumner High School and attended Lincoln University before graduating from then Webster College and later from Washington University with a degree in psychology. Among her many achievements, she is founder of the Creative Arts and Expressions Lab, was an original member of the Black Artists Group (co-founded with her late husband, jazz musician Floyd LeFlore) and another underground activists poetry organization called Harmony.

An artist-in-residence at University City public schools, she taught at several colleges including Lindenwood University, Webster University, Harris-Stowe State University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. As an assistant dean of students at Webster she inspired students such as ``Black-ish'' actress Jenifer Lewis, who credits LeFlore with having ``saved my life,'' the Post-Dispatch reported.

Though getting on in age, ``She's always had an intergenerational perspective,'' said her daughter, Lyah LeFlore-Ituen, in the news article. ``She wants to inspire young poets.''

``The fire is still there,'' and as poet laureate, LeFlore can be an inspiration to young people, her daughter added.

A TV producer and writer, her daughter directed ``Rivers of Women'' for the Missouri History Museum. She called her mother a ``living legend'' and is working on a documentary about her. Also, she helped compile her mother's 2013 book, ``Brassbones & Rainbows.''

Among the greats she performed with include saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpeter David Jackson and singer Fontella Bass. People flocked to hear her read at St. Louis' Duffs restaurant as part of the River Styx artist series. Her mentors and influences include poet Margaret Walker, writer Gwendolyn Brooks, poet Sonia Sanchez, playwright and poet Ntozake Shange and author James Baldwin.

In New York she performed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and at Weill Hall, a part of Carnegie Hall. And her works have been presented as plays, including ``Deliverance,'' a production centered on HIV/AIDS.

Poet Amina Baraka has called Ms. LeFlore a ``literary griot, writing and telling stories, creating lyrics we can sing and dance to.'' Other honors include: the Warrior Poet Award, a board member for Word in Motion, featured in another documentary ``Word Warriors III'' and other anthologies.

Her activism of the 1960s led her to March on Washington and to join the Poor People's Campaign. Politics became a part of her poetry. But it was the voices heard in her youth that set the stage for the rest of her life and career.

Last fall Poet Laureate LeFlore was featured in The St. Louis American newspaper, and later reproduced by St. Louis Public Radio. The article noted she toured the world, playing venues both large and small, from Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis to ``quaint . . . tiny . . . churches'' or a ``hole in the wall'' nightclub or lounge.''

``Some of the places I've gone, you wouldn't want anybody to know you went there to read poetry,'' Leflore said. ``But if people asked me, I would go.'' ``If you're serious about what you do, keep doing it, keep studying it, keep mastering it and let it live inside you.'' And ``Listen--especially when you first start out. You need to listen.'' It was her listening--her eavesdropping on her mother's beauty salon clients--that caught her ear and helped shaped her poetry in the years to come.

``They thought I was sitting around playing jacks, but I would be listening,'' to the way they talked, what they said, LeFlore told the American. Later, she would go home and write in her black and white composition book, noting that often the way they said things was more striking than what they said. Over time she would note that black people have a ``special way with language--in every part of the world-- but especially in St. Louis.''

Of her funeral on May 17, 2019, the American reported the near- capacity homegoing service for ``Saint Shirley'' at Christ Church Cathedral ``stretched nearly four hours.'' Accolades and memories were offered from speakers from far and near, among them poets, actors, writers and politicians. Actor and writer Kevin Powell called her a ``supernatural word warrior'' created from ``black girl magic.''

Poet Laureate of East St. Louis Eugene Redmond said LeFlore ranked among the great jazz poets for her ability to turn musical form and history into ``the cross-fertilization'' of literary musical forms and techniques, he said. ``She eloped with language and stayed married to music all her days.''

And while people of faith offered words of tribute, LeFlore's own poems, spoken by the living meant LeFlore ``essentially eulogized herself,'' the American's Kenya Vaughn wrote.

Daughter Hope Price-Lindsay said she grew up wanting a mother more like television's ``Leave it to Beaver's'' June Cleaver but instead got Ms. LeFlore, an Afrocentric artist who remained true to her craft, whether life served her ``caviar and champagne'' or ``bone soup.'' We learned that LeFlore inherited her poetry from her mother, who inherited it from her mother, who inherited from her mother.

Retired 18th Ward Alderman Terry Kennedy spoke again at her funeral, having grown up with Ms. LeFlore and calling her ``a mighty spirit amongst us'' who was ``small in stature, big at heart.'' He comforted guests with Ms. LeFlore's own words from her poem, ``Breathprints.''

``Light a candle for me,'' he recited. ``Say a prayer. Whisper me into the wind. Lay a love wreath on the altar of your heart and remember my good days amongst you. Weep if you must. It's good to unburden your tears, but make brief your grief.

``Let the joy of my laughter comfort you,'' Kennedy continued in her words. ``My spirit will be the music above your head, my love like the wind beneath your wings to lift you in your weary years so that you may see the sunrise. All is well with my soul.''

Madam Speaker, today I give to Congress and the people of America, a glimpse into the life and times of a world-renown and respected poet from St. Louis, Missouri, and her vision for seeing, touching, feeling the world around us--St. Louis Poet Laureate Shirley LeFlore.

I urge members of Congress to join me in honoring the life and career of St. Louis Poet Laureate Ms. Shirley LeFlore and her art of language and her expression in words, of our life and times. May she rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution recognizing women and minorities in housing, acknowledging their efforts in the face of historical discrimination, and promoting diversity and inclusion in business.

Although the U.S. has become more demographically diverse, the financial services industry, especially at leadership levels, remains mostly White and male.

President Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, 1 week after the assassination of Dr. King. The Fair Housing Act was a monumental step forward for the civil rights movement and pivotal to establishing equal opportunity in housing for all Americans.

Home ownership has proven to be one of the most consistent paths to obtaining wealth in America and narrowing the wealth gap. Closing the racial wealth gap will be an essential path towards countering historic discrimination and predatory lending.

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairwoman for yielding, and I rise today to enthusiastically support the Consumers First Act, a bill that returns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to its intended role as a nonpartisan consumer watchdog that elevates the interests of American taxpayers above those of special interests.

The Bureau was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act following the financial crisis to ensure that Americans have a regulator working solely on their behalf in order to protect them from predatory and abusive actors. Under Director Richard Cordray's leadership, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau helped over 30 million consumers who were harmed and addressed over 1.2 million complaints about financial institutions.

As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance, I am pleased to see that this critical legislation restores the supervisory and enforcement powers of the Bureau's office tasked wit combating discriminatory lending practices, which have been responsible for causing the racial wealth gap to continue to grow, especially after the financial crisis of 2008.

This is a commonsense bill that, again, puts the American consumer first and ensures that, in the regular course of business and commerce, people are not forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as we mark National Minority Health Month, and I urge my colleagues to stand with one voice as we demand universal healthcare coverage for every American, not as a privilege, but as a human right.

Your healthcare should not depend on your ZIP Code. But for far too many Americans, healthcare disparities mean higher rates of chronic illness, less access to quality care, and shorter life spans.

In the U.S. in 2019, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans still suffer from much higher rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, infant mortality, low birth weight, HIV, and

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from the District of Columbia for her generosity in time and consideration, as well as my colleague and friend from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows), who supports the legislation also.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019.

As was mentioned, I introduced this bill in previous Congresses, and it most recently passed the House by voice vote in 2017, without opposition.

This legislation fits well with the theme of Sunshine Week, as the House joins together to address the need for more transparency in our government.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act, or FACA, as it is known, was originally enacted in 1972, as was mentioned, to ensure that the advisory groups that provide counsel to the executive branch operate with transparency.

Advisory committees provide the government with recommendations on a wide range of issues of importance to the American public. For example, advisory committees to the Department of Health and Human Services provide advice about critical issues such as human trafficking. The National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the U.S. makes recommendations on Federal programs, such as best practices to provide housing for children and youth who are victims of trafficking. The individuals on that committee are trusted to have experience relevant to the issues facing these children and share their reports with child welfare agencies that provide direct services around the country.

The bill we are considering today would strengthen FACA to make Federal advisory committees more transparent and make agencies more accountable in how they select and use their committees.

Under current law, agencies are able to avoid the requirements of FACA by conducting advisory committee business through subcommittees, as Ms. Norton mentioned.

This bill makes it clear that FACA applies to subcommittees as well as their parent committees. The bill also clarifies that a committee set up by a contractor is subject to FACA if it is formed under the direction of the President or its agency.

Under FACA, agencies will be required to disclose how advisory committee members are selected; whether they have financial conflicts of interest; if they are appointed to provide their own expertise; and who they work for, if they are representing a specific interest.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I hope that the Senate will take it up quickly and send it to the President.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the newly installed Clerk of the U.S. House, Cheryl Lynn Johnson.

She is the 36th American to be elected to this critical position. The Clerk, as we know, serves as the legislative official in the House, a position that goes back to the first Clerk and to the first Congress in 1789. As was mentioned, she comes to us from the Smithsonian Institution where she served as the Director of Government Relations.

Among her many achievements, as was mentioned, Cheryl helped to make the National Museum of African American History and Culture a brilliant reality.

But this is not her first tour of duty on Capitol Hill. In fact, she previously spent almost two decades in service to this institution, and as was mentioned, her first position was serving on the

committee staff of my father, former Congressman Bill Clay.

She spent 10 years as the chief education and investigative counsel for the Committee on Education and the Workforce where she advanced reforms in elementary and secondary education, juvenile justice, child nutrition, labor issues, and employment and nutrition programs for seniors.

Prior to that, she served as staff director and counsel for the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials and then Subcommittee on the Post Office and Civil Service.

Ms. Johnson is a distinguished graduate of Howard University Law School and the University of Iowa. She is married to Clarence and has a son, Bradford.

I go back with Cheryl as a friend for 40 years. Our families are close. Growing up around this institution that we all love, I was fortunate to be in the company of and witness the examples set by many great public servants--Members and staff--who devoted themselves to representing their constituents in the true spirit of public service.

Cheryl Johnson exemplifies the highest standards of public service, honor, and integrity that will elevate the 116th Congress. I am pleased to welcome her as our new Clerk, and I am prouder still to call her my good friend. She will be an enormous resource for Members and staff, and I am proud to welcome her home.

Welcome back, Cheryl. Congratulations.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 79) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Government shutdowns are detrimental to the Nation and should not occur, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 79.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am relieved and grateful that the longest government shutdown in our Nation's history has ended. I am sure that many people share these same feelings, including my colleagues. The American people, and especially, the 800,000 Federal employees who were furloughed or forced to work without pay for 35 days, have to be relieved.

I hope that the one positive thing to come out of this experience is universal recognition that government shutdowns are almost always pointless exercises that are harmful to our country and our constituents.

The Federal Government should be open for business and not closed. That is why I strongly support H. Res. 79, the measure before us today.

Even though the recent shutdown affected only part of the Federal Government, its impact was deeply felt throughout the country. The Departments of Homeland Security, State, Treasury, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture, the EPA, and NASA, were shuttered.

Operations at these agencies essentially came to a screeching halt:

Phone calls went unanswered as Federal workers were furloughed;

Safety inspections of industrial sites, factories, and power plants, were halted because EPA inspectors were sent home;

Food inspections at the FDA ceased;

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Service were furloughed.

Law enforcement officers at the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, and Customs and Border Protection were the lucky ones. They got to work without pay. These dedicated men and women, many of whom make only $60,000 a year, missed more than a month's pay.

Just like other middle-class families, Federal employees have bills to pay also: food, mortgages, rent, medical bills, student loans, and car payments. And like so many other Americans, many live paycheck to paycheck.

It is simply cruel to inflict such financial hardship and unnecessary stress on workers who just want to do their jobs serving the American people.

The greatest irony of the last shutdown is that immigration enforcement and border protection suffered as a result, despite the President's fixation on a wall, a brilliant 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.

The shutdown closed the immigration courts, contributing to an already

significant backlog of cases and delays in deportation.

The harm ripples through our economy, touching everyone from Federal employees to Federal contractors, to private sector businesses, and, most importantly, to every American who relies upon the vital services Federal workers provide.

The CBO estimated that the economic cost of the shutdown is $11 billion--that is $11 billion--almost twice the cost of the funding the President seeks for his wall.

We must learn from this recent shutdown. We must not let it happen again in a few short weeks. We can and must do better and work together to prevent any future shutdowns, which I am certain my friends and colleagues from North Carolina and Ohio want to do. I am sure they will have a short response to opening statements and will probably join in with us.

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

Mr. Speaker, Missouri, like it is spelled.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure my friends on the other side will agree it does no one good, it does this country no good, when we shut down government.

I don't know about you, but my friend from North Carolina, I believe he goes through airports sometimes. I will say this: Over the last 5 weeks, it was quite difficult for me to look in the eyes of my constituents who happen to be TSA agents and tell them: ``I am sorry, but you are going to miss a payday,'' or, ``You are going to miss another payday.''

We are better than that. We are better than that as a Congress, as an institution, and as a government.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Wexton), the sponsor of this legislation and my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

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

Mr. Speaker, let me thank all of the body for engaging in this debate and for the minority leader bringing forth those names. But let me say that H. Res. 79 is not about the undocumented, nor is it a political stunt. It is not messaging for some political purpose. This resolution is about compassion and respect for fellow Americans who happen to be Federal workers who deserve to stay on the job and deserve to get a paycheck, and for the work and the service that they give to the rest of the country.

My friends on the other side know better. They know better, that shutdowns are harmful to our economy as well as our national security. They know that. The Federal Government should always be open for business, and Federal employees should not be held as hostages.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a favorable vote on the passage of H. Res. 79, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government, the greatest Nation on Earth, should never shut down. Never. It is outrageous, it is totally unnecessary, and it must end immediately.

Today, 800,000 Federal workers who go to work every day to serve this Nation and the American people won't get

paid, not because they did a bad job, but because of a temper tantrum from a President whose first allegiance is not to the national interest, but to protecting his fragile ego, and keeping his racist campaign promise to build a wall that no one with an ounce of common sense wants.

The U.S. House has passed legislation to open the government, pay our employees and contractors, and get on with the people's business. It is up to Leader McConnell and the President to do their jobs and end this ridiculous Trump shutdown.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2652 and its House companion sponsored by my friend, Representative Cedric Richmond, which awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Stephen Michael Gleason, whose tireless work for people living with ALS should be honored.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond), the sponsor of the House version of this bill.

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

I have no football team in St. Louis, but we do have the Kansas City Chiefs, who are doing pretty well.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge Members to vote for this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House is taking up S. 2765, a bill that shows once again that Democrats support investment, job creation, and the development of wealth in rural areas.

The bill is simple. It extends the exemption from registration in the Dodd-Frank Act to certain advisers to small private funds known as Rural Business Investment Companies, which are regulated by the USDA and are required to provide significant financing to rural area small businesses.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Lee for teeing that up, our good friend Congresswoman Barbara Lee who succeeded my friend Ron Dellums. Ron was a giant, and I truly admired him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in honored memory of a great American who served with distinction in this House for 27 years, the late gentleman from California, former Congressman Ron Dellums.

Like my father, former Congressman Bill Clay, Congressman Dellums will forever be revered as one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and he was also a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Ron was a legendary figure. Whatever task he took on, he excelled in it. I first met Congressman Dellums when I was a very young man in college and I was assigned to this Chamber as an assistant door keeper. My door was what is known as the west door, and I had to know Ron.

I remember two instances where one time Ron Dellums portrayed the iconic figure of Frederick Douglass in a play, and I was so impressed with that.

He was also a member of the congressional baseball team and played first base.

Whatever he did, he did it well.

Our families became close, and when I came back to this body as a Member, our professional relationship continued. When I first met him, I was immediately impressed, not just with his powerful intellect, but with his fearless advocacy to end the war in Vietnam, protect the right to vote, speak truth to power in defense of our most vulnerable citizens, and his unyielding demand that America must be a beacon for human rights around the world.

During his first run for Congress in 1970, former Vice President Spiro Agnew branded Ron Dellums as a ``dangerous radical'' for his vigorous opposition to the Vietnam war. In response to that, Ron Dellums said, ``If it's radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam war; if it's radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression; if it's radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I'm proud to be called a radical.''

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand on the shoulders of Ronald Dellums as we continue the unfinished struggle to make America live up to all that we promise as a great nation, and I hope all Members will join me as we send our deepest condolences to the family and give thanks for his courageous leadership.

Mr. Chairman, let me thank my colleague from Virginia for yielding as well as for his leadership on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to once again strongly oppose H.R. 50. I consider it a misguided bill that will cost American consumers, potentially, millions more in tax dollars, while making it easier for bad actors and certain industries to continue their abusive practices as they attempt to stonewall appropriate regulation.

Make no mistake: H.R. 50 is a frontal assault on the Nation's health, safety, and environmental protections, and it would erect new barriers to give selected industries a built-in advantage to evade or eliminate vital rules that protect the American people.

For instance, this bill would require agencies to consult with private sector entities ``as early as possible, before issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking, continue through the final rule stage, and be integrated explicitly into the rulemaking process.''

Now, I agree that Federal agencies should consult with regulated industries regarding proposed rules, but they should not receive an insider, prewired advantage in the regulating and rulemaking process over other stakeholders.

H.R. 50 would also expand judicial review under UMRA and would allow a court to review the inadequacy or failure of an agency to prepare a written statement under UMRA. UMRA currently prohibits courts from using the law to stay, invalidate, or otherwise affect an agency rule. H.R. 50 would eliminate this prohibition.

I thought the majority strongly opposed judicial activism, but perhaps that only applies to protecting the President.

We don't have to choose between protecting the health, welfare, and safety of Americans and promoting economic growth, job creation, and innovation. We can do both. H.R. 50 advances neither of these worthy goals, and that is why I urge my colleagues to reject this deeply flawed act that will stack the deck against the American consumer.

Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Representative Maxine Waters, for calling us together to honor someone whom I consider to be a great American.

I rise today to honor this great public servant, a trailblazer in this House, the longest serving female Member in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, my great friend, the gentlewoman from Ohio, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.

Congresswoman Kaptur is more than just a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. She is a mentor to many of us, including me.

The Congresswoman rose from a humble, hardworking family in Toledo to become a champion for jobs with justice, women in the workplace, children's healthcare, and strengthening Social Security and Medicare.

She also is one of the most respected voices for human rights and freedom around the world, especially for Ukraine as it faces military aggression and constant threats from the Russian Federation.

Congresswoman Kaptur also shares my absolute commitment to protecting wilderness areas, our national shorelines and forests, and standing strong against those special interests who would sacrifice clean air and safe water for short-term profit.

Finally, Congresswoman Kaptur shares my lifelong interest in history and helping Americans understand that we all stand on the shoulders of the brave men and women who came before us. That is why she was one of the earliest advocates for the World War II Memorial, a long overdue tribute to the Greatest Generation who defended freedom at its moment of greatest peril and saved the world.

Congresswoman Kaptur continues to stand tall for seniors, veterans, working families, and the core values of the people of Ohio. Her hard work is greatly respected on both sides of the aisle, and I am truly blessed to call her my good friend.

There is one story I would like to relate on a personal note, and we discussed it today at her reception earlier. During my college days, I was a full-time worker in this body. I was a member of the staff of the Office of the Doorkeeper. My door was the west door on the Republican side because Tip O'Neill did not want me to congregate with my dad who was a Member of this body. Our job was to memorize the picture book of every Member, especially the incoming freshmen. In the winter of 1982, I had to memorize her picture to know who she was to be able to identify her. Back in those days, life was simpler because we were the security for this floor. So that is how I first met Marcy Kaptur. I will always call her my friend.

Congresswoman, congratulations on reaching this historic milestone in service to your constituents and our country. God bless you.