Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday night, the community that I represent in Glendale, Arizona, was rocked by yet another mass shooting in America.

As families and friends came together to eat, drink, and dance, they looked forward to celebrating Cinco de Mayo and spending time in their community. Instead, their worlds were shattered as someone with a gun fired into the crowd outside the restaurant, killing three people and injuring five more.

I cannot imagine the pain and sadness that their families and loved ones now feel, and I am sending them love and strength.

Every single person there will be forever impacted by the violence and trauma that mass shootings impose on communities.

For far too long, we have been forced to watch as gun violence devastates our communities, and we feel unsafe going to the movies or eating out at a restaurant.

One thing is clear. These acts of violence and the trauma they inflict on all of us are preventable. They are a policy choice. It is time for us to make a new choice.

Commonsense policy reforms to regulate guns and prevent mass shootings like this one in Glendale have broad, bipartisan support. It is beyond time we stand up and do something.

Mr. Speaker, a tragic incident occurred last night in my district outside the El Camaron Gigante restaurant in Glendale. A senseless act of violence took the lives of three people, injured five others, and shattered our community.

I am heartbroken to say that my district has once again been touched by gun violence as far, far too many have.

No one should be unsafe in this country eating in a restaurant or celebrating a holiday like Cinco de Mayo with friends and family.

Mr. Speaker, in memory of the innocent victims of this tragedy, their families, and the entire community, I would ask for everyone present in the Chamber to please rise for a moment of silence.

Mr. Speaker, last week, I traveled to El Salvador, along with three of my colleagues, to see firsthand the chaos unleashed by the Trump administration through its unconstitutional and illegal deportations of U.S. residents to third-party countries.

I represent a beautifully diverse district in which 64 languages are spoken and where families of immigrants like mine thrive. I have heard more about this issue from my constituents than any other during my time in Congress.

In El Salvador, we met with the U.S. Ambassador and demanded that the Trump administration facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in compliance with the 9-0, unanimous Supreme Court decision of the United States and the lower Federal court judges.

Mr. Abrego Garcia and many other wrongfully deported individuals were

sent to El Salvador with no due process and no legal recourse just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is outrageous and indefensible that the Trump administration continues to defy a Supreme Court ruling to return this man to his family. In fact, it is a full-blown constitutional crisis.

There are other people--including Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a makeup artist and legal asylum seeker, and Merwil Gutierrez, a teenager who was mistakenly picked up by immigration enforcement--languishing in El Salvador.

Now, the Trump administration is admitting to deporting a 2-year-old U.S. citizen with cancer. It is cruel, it is despicable, and it is totally illegal, no matter what Stephen Miller or Tom Homan may say.

These cases are not just about these specific people or children sent on planes to foreign prisons by the U.S. Government. Our entire system of justice hinges on the rights afforded to us by the Constitution, the rights of due process, access to legal representation, and the ability to be heard in a court of law.

It is a dark day for our democracy when the Federal Government snatches people off of the streets, flies them out of the country secretly in the dead of night, and sends them to a foreign prison to be detained indefinitely with no legal recourse or chance to prove their case.

Who is to say that it couldn't be you or me next? I will continue to speak out for due process and our constitutional rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in firm opposition to the Republican passage of the so-called SAVE Act, an act of legislative voter suppression that will make it much harder for most people to vote, the cornerstone of our democracy.

This bill, which just passed the Republican House, is designed to combat a nonexistent problem. Noncitizens are already not allowed to vote under Federal law. Instances of fraudulent, noncitizen voting are exceedingly rare. You are literally more likely to get struck by lightning than encounter noncitizen voting.

To address this made-up problem, Republicans have passed a draconian bill that would make it extremely difficult and costly for servicemembers, married women, and disadvantaged Americans to register to vote.

In most cases it requires a person to present their birth certificate matching a current ID. There are no exceptions for the 70 million American women who changed their married name.

This bill also mandates in-person visits to register to vote, disenfranchising potentially tens of thousands of deployed servicemembers, as well as Native Americans in rural areas like northern Arizona. This is a shocking act of voter suppression.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with deep shock, concern, and outrage at the carelessness of the Trump administration in disclosing highly sensitive operational military plans on a commercial chat platform that included a reporter.

Without a doubt, this reckless incompetence put our servicewomen and -men in danger.

Last week, I received a call from a constituent whose son is deployed abroad in the region. His son's mission was personally put at risk by the very same people charged with safeguarding our Armed Forces who put their lives on the line for us.

This Arizona father and his son sacrifice for our country, and we should all be ashamed that this is how their service is repaid.

The Trump administration officials who set up and participated in this Signal chat debacle should have taken responsibility for their egregious mistake and instantly offered their resignation for having violated the law, contravened common sense, and put American troops in harm's way.

Let me put it this way: Not only did the National Security Advisor set up an illegal, unsecured chat with the Secretary of Defense, the CIA Director, the Vice President, and others to discuss highly, highly sensitive and imminent attack plans, but they also bungled their way into adding a random person into the chat.

We should not be surprised in the slightest that the Trump administration treats our Nation's secrets this way. This is the same man, after all, who had our nuclear codes sitting in his bathroom in Mar-a-Lago. The way that the administration has handled this entire calamity has been equally as dangerous.

Secretary of Defense Hegseth straight-up lied. He said there was no classified information on the chat, that he didn't share attack plans, and that no troops were put in harm's way.

Then, there is our Director of National Intelligence, who is supposedly our Nation's most trusted, meticulous secretkeeper, who went before the Senate to mislead, evade, and perjure herself. What a truly disgraceful episode.

This is not a partisan issue. In fact, both the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a bipartisan manner, requested that the Pentagon investigate the use of the Signal app to share classified information.

We can all agree that no government employee, let alone a Cabinet member, should be sharing classified information in a Signal chat and be careless enough to add a reporter to it, as well. There should be a serious after action review to prevent this from ever happening again and one that considers the criminality involved.

Yet another Trump lackey, our Attorney General, who is officially supposed to be the people's lawyer, is ruling out a criminal investigation into this scheme altogether.

Mr. Speaker, these are the same people that spent the better part of a decade looking into Hillary's emails. They evidently do not care to even pretend to investigate how our Nation's most secret information is being shared.

The ramifications of this unmitigated disaster will be felt for years, even decades, to come. Why would any of our allies share sensitive information with us if the Secretary of Defense is just going to pop it into a group chat and share it with the editor in chief of a national publication?

In conjunction with all of the other actions the Trump administration has taken to dismiss or turn our backs on our allies, I am deeply concerned about how Signal-gate will make us much, much less safe in the long term. Our Nation deserves better. Our servicewomen and servicemen deserve better. We deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend today's votes. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 77, NAY on Roll Call No. 78, AYE on Roll Call No. 79, NO on Roll Call No. 80, NO on Roll Call No. 81, NO on Roll Call No. 82, and NAY on Roll Call No. 83.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of the Iranian-American community and all those who celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Alongside Congresswoman Lofgren, I am proud to introduce two pieces of legislation today, one which designates March as Iranian-American Heritage Month and the other to provide congressional recognition of Nowruz.

At the same time, I recognize the fear and pain in many communities about the Trump administration's war on immigrants and refugees. I was proud to lead a letter of over 30 Democrats to the President urging him to reconsider an immoral and harmful potential travel ban.

Each year, millions of people around the world join together in celebration of the Persian New Year. The roots lie in ancient, secular Persian traditions and an annual celebration of rebirth, renewal, and community.

I am proud to host perhaps the first Haft Seen table in the Halls of Congress outside of my office, and I thank the many individuals who helped put it together, especially Mitra Ghahramani and Parisa Bahadoran of Designs by Mitra.

This is such a meaningful time for me, as the daughter of Iranian immigrants, and I am honored to be celebrating our community in this special way.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my outrage and strong opposition to the inhumane treatment of migrants fleeing religious persecution.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration deported roughly 300 men, women, and children seeking refuge in the United States to Panama on U.S. military aircraft, locking them in hotel rooms without access to basic rights or counsel.

This includes asylum seekers from Iran, China, and other countries known to persecute religious minorities. They have since been deported to detention camps in a remote jungle and are being forced to live in degrading and dangerous conditions with little to no access to the outside world.

Among them is Artemis Ghasemzadeh, an Iranian woman who fled Iran after converting to Christianity, a crime punishable by death under the brutal Islamic regime.

Artemis converted to Christianity in secret through a network of underground churches and online classes in Iran. Last December, she set out for the United States in search of a new life. In a haunting image, she was photographed from inside her detention room in Panama with the words ``help us'' written on the window in her red lipstick.

Artemis is 1 of 10 Iranian Christians, including 3 children, who are detained in Panama. These people sought safety and refuge in the United States. Instead, they were rounded up, flown thousands of miles away, and imprisoned in detention camps in brutal conditions. They are afraid for their lives as they wait to be sent back to their home countries to face deadly consequences for their human right of religious freedom, what this country was founded on.

The United States should never be responsible for sending people to face persecution, especially those who have risked everything to seek refuge right here. These actions not only violate our moral responsibilities and our shared humanity, but they are in direct conflict with the values upon which our Nation was founded.

I am the proud daughter of immigrants from Iran. My parents came to the United States fleeing the brutal revolution that led to the current regime. This country welcomed them with open arms, allowed them to work hard and succeed, and in just one generation, they have witnessed their daughter make history as the first Iranian-American Democrat ever elected to Congress.

Asylum seekers come to this country to escape violence and persecution. Turning these people away is cruel, fundamentally un- American, and does nothing to fix our broken immigration system. That is why I plan to introduce legislation that would halt expedited removal for individuals fleeing countries noted for persecuting religious minorities. We can have secure borders and also have an immigration system based in empathy and humanity.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this administration to uphold our Nation's legacy as a beacon of hope and a defender of religious freedom, not a facilitator of suffering.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark Black History Month and recognize the contributions of Black-led organizations in Arizona's Third District doing the work on the ground to uplift their communities.

Today, I want to honor Project Roots. Project Roots is a nonprofit community garden founded by two incredible women, Dionne Washington and Bridget Pettis, who recognized an unmet need in their community and stepped up to address it.

Their goal is to empower community members to grow their own crops so that their neighbors have access to fresh produce while also providing food to anyone who needs it.

Project Roots is a pillar in our community and an inspiring example of what can be when we envision a future where every single person has reliable access to fresh, nutritious food.

This Black History Month and every month, I hope we can follow Dionne and Bridget's example by centering those with the most need and working together to build a more connected, healthy, and equitable community for all.

Madam Speaker, today, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 26. My constituents sent me to Congress to fight for them for clean water, clean air, job security, and lower prices. This legislation accomplishes absolutely none of those things.

H.R. 26 says that the President cannot issue a ban on fracking unless authorized by Congress.

It is obviously a little bit ridiculous that President Trump is not going to ban fracking. In fact, no President has ever banned fracking. What this bill is, is just an opportunity for some House Republicans to signal their support for their Big Oil allies and their billionaire friends.

The United States is already producing more oil than ever, more than any other country in history. Republicans' dirty drilling agenda will not make America any more energy dominant, and it won't drive prices down.

If we could drill our way out of the affordability crisis, then we would have already done so. The answer is not more oil. When we drill more and more, the only ones who benefit are those at the top, the CEOs, the multinational corporations, and the already rich billionaires who are profiting off of the American people.

In fact, several Federal Trade Commission complaints and class action lawsuits from last year say that Big Oil CEOs have been illegally colluding with each other and with some of our adversaries to keep prices high and profits up. Big Oil is already getting at least $15 billion in subsidies from the Federal Government.

What more could they possibly want? This dirty drilling agenda has never been about lowering costs. Less than 3 weeks in, this administration's true colors are already shining. After promising lower prices for everyday Americans, the President is threatening a trade war with our closest allies which will drive up the costs to produce everything from energy to cars to technology. The administration is threatening mass deportations of people who are part of the workforce and contributing to our economy, and the Republican-led Congress is plotting how to cut spending on healthcare and clean

energy in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 26.

Mr. Speaker, day after day, Donald Trump is abusing power, breaking the law, and tearing apart our Constitution.

Trump has handed over the government to Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire who does not care about the American people.

Trump has given Musk and his cronies extensive access to confidential, personal information across all Federal agencies, including the Treasury. The Treasury makes 1.5 billion payments a year to taxpayers, businesses, and seniors, everything from Social Security benefits to tax refunds, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Musk now has access to Americans' confidential tax refund information, which includes their names, Social Security numbers, and home addresses.

That is why I am headed to Treasury this evening to stand up for Arizonans' privacy and to stand up for our democracy.

As a member of the House Oversight Committee, we are calling out this breach of law, privacy, and national security on behalf of the American people.

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

I rise in support of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act.

September 11 remains a horrific, indelible moment etched in our Nation's history. We will forever strive to honor the innocent lives lost and reckon with the sacrifices of so many.

That is why House Democrats have stepped up time and time again to support the ongoing management needs of the national September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.

Located at Ground Zero, this site is the principal tribute of remembrance to honor the lives lost on this tragic day, as well as the lives lost in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It is a hallowed ground and deserves our support. Over the years, Congress has provided significant financial support to the nonprofit organization that operates it.

This bill continues that tradition by calling on Congress to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to provide a one-time grant for security, operation, and maintenance of the grounds.

I say ``calling on'' because one big caveat is that the bill does not actually create this grant program. Due to the Freedom Caucus' budget protocols, the bill instead clarifies at the end that the grant program shall not be authorized until subsequent legislation authorizes it and that, of course, it will not be funded until a third bill passes to appropriate the money.

Those are the fiscal gymnastics necessary to comply with Republican spending protocols. Yes, even the 9/11 Memorial gets only lip service and window dressing. To be crystal clear, this bill doesn't do anything at all.

Of course, even if Congress some day passes a bill to authorize the grant envisioned here and then passes a third bill to appropriate the money for this grant, we have seen in recent days that some Republicans believe that congressional appropriations are completely optional.

Republicans in the White House are illegally stopping vital funding that Congress has ordered to be spent, and their friends in Congress are defending them. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said last week that all the bills in his jurisdiction that Congress passes are actually not laws.

If we ever do create this grant, I hope no one in New York makes any enemies in this administration because apparently the administration thinks it can just ignore Congress and block the money.

Madam Speaker, I want to be clear that my criticisms are not aimed at the sponsor of this bill. He is doing everything he can to advocate for the museum under the unreasonable constraints of the Freedom Caucus and the administration. I commend his efforts.

Finally, I note that the 9/11 Museum has faced criticism from local community members since its opening for some of its content. We continue to encourage the museum's management to engage with stakeholders to ensure that the site is welcoming and representative for all. Perhaps it is something we can address in the multiple pieces of future legislation that will be necessary to actually make this grant a reality.

I wish we were here today to actually do something to support and improve the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, but unfortunately, that is not the case. On balance, this bill doesn't do any harm either. It attempts to bring attention to a very important effort. I will be voting for it, but I am disappointed that this is where things are.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of Representative Begich's H.R. 42, the Alaska Native Settlement Trust Eligibility Act.

Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971 to address land claims in the State of Alaska. Per an agreement, Alaska Native corporations were established, and the Federal Government transferred to them 44 million acres and $962.5 million in compensation funds.

However, when an individual receives a distribution from an Alaska Native settlement trust, part of this law requires that the Federal Government include that distribution when determining the person's eligibility for various governmental programs such as for housing and supplemental income and nutritional assistance.

H.R. 42 would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exclude from that calculation any such distributions provided to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives.

These are critical services that support the livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable Alaska Natives. Over the years, the failure to address this issue has often forced Alaska Natives to choose between receiving the settlement trust fund benefits they are entitled to or qualifying for need-based Federal benefits. H.R. 42 would solve this problem, which is great news.

I will remind my colleagues, though, that this bill of course, doesn't remove the risk that this administration will try to illegally freeze or pause anyone's Federal benefits. Moreover, this bill will be of small comfort if Republicans make good on their promises to cut need-based Federal programs to pay for their billionaire tax breaks. These aren't hypotheticals. The House Republican Study Committee's budget proposal last fall called for cutting SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by about 22 percent, for example.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, but I also urge them to oppose the lawlessness we have been seeing in the administration and to oppose cuts to programs that help the most vulnerable people in our communities. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Begich's H.R. 43, the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025.

Under current law, when an Alaska Native Village Corporation receives land pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, then the Village Corporation must convey certain lands to its municipal government. If none exists, then the law requires them to convey the land to the State of Alaska to be held in trust for when a municipality is established in the future.

The problem is that in many remote Alaska Native communities, it is unlikely that a municipal government will ever be formed, which means the land being held in trust won't ever be used for its intended purpose.

In fact, since the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, 101 Village Corporations have had lands held in trust by the State but only 8 of those villages have incorporated into a municipality, and none have done so since 1995.

This bill would remove the requirement that Alaska Native Village Corporations convey land in trust to the State of Alaska for the hypothetical establishment of Municipal Corporations, and it would allow the Village Corporations to have the State of Alaska reconvey such lands back to them.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, which will allow communities themselves to make decisions about how best to utilize their own lands. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act introduced by Representative Fleischmann of Tennessee.

This bill would place specified lands and easements in Monroe County, Tennessee, into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. These lands include the Sequoyah Museum, the Chota Memorial, the Tanasi Memorial, and land that supports these properties and the Tribe's cultural programs.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, one of three federally recognized Cherokee Tribes and the only federally recognized Tribe in North Carolina, has ancestral homelands spanning across seven Eastern States, including Tennessee.

In 1979, the construction of the Tellico Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, flooded large portions of the Tribe's ancestral lands along the Little Tennessee River, submerging sacred sites and archeological remains. Among the losses were the historic Overhill Cherokee towns, which served as the Cherokee capitals during the 1700s.

While the Eastern Band can never reclaim the land and sacred sites lost to flooding, other historically significant locations in the region remain in need of protection and preservation.

This bill would address this critical need by transferring approximately 76 acres of culturally significant lands from the TVA to the U.S. Government to be held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The bill would also establish two permanent easements over TVA property to be held in trust for the Tribe, facilitating the creation of recreational trails that will be between these important sites.

Passing this legislation would grant the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians greater control over their historic homelands, enabling them to preserve and honor their rich history and culture. It would represent an essential step toward safeguarding these culturally significant sites for future generations.

I do remind my colleagues, though, that these kinds of land arrangements don't happen by magic when we pass a bill like this one. Even if this bill becomes law, we will need actual staffing in the executive branch to carry it out. Unfortunately, in the past week, we have already seen basic government functions halted or put at risk from reckless orders to freeze spending, fire or place government workers on administrative leave, and more. These orders are, in many cases, unconstitutional and illegal.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, but I also urge them to join Democrats in calling for an end to the paralyzing chaos we have been seeing from the White House.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.