Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained in my district and missed the votes on Monday, April 15, 2013.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 103, H.R. 1162--GAO Improvement Act, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 104, H.R. 882-- The Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2013 and ``no'' on rollcall No. 105, H.R. 249--Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize this week, April 8-12, 2013, as Retirement Planning Week. This week is held during the national effort to observe Financial Literacy Month. This endeavor promotes the education and awareness of important financial issues and provides Americans with essential retirement planning information.

Comprehensive retirement planning is an important step that will lead Americans into a financially secure future. But, the process can be challenging for consumers which leads many Americans into retirement without an adequate financial plan. We must make this a national priority and convey to our constituents the value of retirement planning so that more Americans can appropriately prepare for and attain financial security during their retirement years.

Social Security and Medicare face long-term challenges. My constituents depend on Social Security and Medicare for their livelihood. It is important for everyone to think about long-term financial needs, plan for a secure retirement, and create a comprehensive retirement plan. It is vital to have a plan that will leave Americans better prepared and more confident in their financial future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support of the Equal Pay Day, April 9, 2013, which recognized the critical disparity between the working wages between men and women.

Women have come so far in our society and make up 50 percent of the workforce by contributing their skills and experiences that drive our economy, making it the most dynamic in the world. But, women are not worth their work according to their wages and the services they provide. On average, we still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. For a woman working full time, the current wage gap represents a loss of $430,000 over the course of her career.

There are many women in my district who are the sole providers for their family. They act as the mother and the father rearing their family and struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

One of our top priorities should be closing the wage gap. By doing so, the middle class will be stronger and struggling Americans will have the support they need. I am a proud sponsor of the Equal Pay Day Resolution and urge my colleagues to become a cosponsor.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to ask my colleagues to reject the budget put forth by Chairman Ryan and the Republican led Congress and support the FY 2014 Congressional Black Caucus Alternative Budget, the Congressional Progressive Caucus Alternative Budget, and Democratic Substitute Budget. These budgets will protect our families, put Americans back to work, restore fairness to our tax code, and make critical investments in education, transportation, innovation, research, and job creation.

The proposals submitted by the Republicans would undermine vital programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP. The Ryan budget cuts programs that assist low-income families, communities of color, young children, students, older people, individuals with disabilities, the unemployed, and the uninsured.

Specifically, the CBC Alternative Budget proposes a balanced plan that focuses on economic growth, invests in communities, and creates economic opportunity for all.

The CBC budget:

Cancels the sequester; creates a $500 billion jobs program to accelerate the Nation's economic recovery; provides $230 billion in investments for America's crumbling infrastructure; reduces the deficit by $2.8 trillion over the next 10 years; addresses the Medicare Doc Fix;. protects and enhances Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF; proposes the 10-20-30 plan which targets resources to the communities that need assistance the most; addresses health disparities through full funding for the Affordable Care Act and strong support for the National Institutes of Health.

Again, I ask my colleagues to vote against the Ryan Budget that does not balance the budget, and will harm our children, seniors, and the middle class, and to vote for resolutions that strike a sensible balance between revenue increases and spending cuts.

Mr. Speaker, the struggle for equality and justice through the Civil Rights Movement would not have attained its level of success without dedicated leaders such as Rosa Parks, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev Jesse Jackson Sr., and my colleague, Representative John Lewis who put their lives on the line to make it so

So here we are, nearly 50 years after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Supreme Court heard Shelby County v. Holder, the outcome of which holds the possibility of setting our nation back centuries.

Much of the debate regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has been focused on the plight of the south and relevance to the southern perspective as it should. We are all too aware of the blood that was shed to demand basic human, racial equality. However, I stand here today in solidarity with my colleagues to lend a voice and perspective to this debate of Section 5 covered areas outside of Southern States. When most people think of Brooklyn, New York, a progressive mentality comes to mind. However, Brooklyn is likewise a Section 5 covered jurisdiction and historically ``Brooklynites'' have encountered voter discrimination tactics that has resulted in Kings County being subjected to the requirements of Section 5's preclearance rules and provisions.

In 1921, New York State enacted an English-only literacy test that remained on the books through the 1960s. During this time, New York State experienced a ``Great Migration'' from the South, as well as, from Puerto Rico and other areas of Latino decent. Most of these migrants lived in communities such as Harlem in Manhattan, the South Bronx, and the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. At that time, New York State law included a literacy test which proved difficult, if not impossible for people with educational or language barriers. Coincidentally, there were three counties in New York City with low voter turnout in the 1968 elections, due in large part to the fact that these literacy tests could not be passed. This ultimately became the reason why jurisdictions for Section 5 preclearance were extended to specific counties in New York, in particular, Brooklyn, New York.

On May 10, 1967, a federal court ruled that the hodgepodge of gerrymandered congressional districts that snaked in and out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn were unconstitutional, in that they operated ``to minimize or cancel out the voting strength of racial or political elements of the voting population, violated the recently passed Voting Rights Act and deprived one of the nation's largest and densest African-American communities the right to adequate representation.

Andrew W. Cooper, a community activist, was the impetus for this historic change. A year after the Voting Rights Act became law he sued New York State officials in a case called Cooper v. Power. The ensuing legal battle led to the redrawing of the now historically famous 12th Congressional District of New York (the district was later reapportioned to parts of the 11th District and now 9th Congressional District).

The ruling set in motion a monumental shift in voting rights in New York and beyond, redefining political representation for people of color. It was built on the foundation of civil rights gains made in the south and helped push the agenda for Voting Rights nationwide.

As a woman of color, a witness to the re-election of our nation's first Black President, and the U.S. Representative for the Ninth Congressional District, which is a majority-minority district covered under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, I am deeply concerned by the potential ramifications of this case and the impact of its ruling on people of color and their right to vote.

Most recently a Brooklyn elected official wrote an editorial questioning the validity and significance of Brooklyn's classification as a Section 5 covered jurisdiction. Brooklyn NY has one of the largest concentrations of people of color in the nation. It is also worth noting that another elected official from Brooklyn appeared in ``Black face'', just this Sunday. These types of hostile inquiries and acts erode the fabric of American democracy and speak to the heart of why Section 5 preclearance is vital to the realization of justice and equality.

In many areas, racially polarized voting and the intent to disenfranchise Black voters demonstrate that the requirements of Section Five remain crucial to the basic function of our democracy.

The 9th Congressional district of New York, which I presently represent, was birthed in 1965 when Andrew Cooper brought suit under the Voting Rights Act against racial gerrymandering and in response to widespread and prolific discriminatory voting practices in Brooklyn. This suit gave birth to New York's 12th Congressional district and the election in 1968 of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress to whom I have the distinct honor and privilege of succeeding almost 40 years later.

Even in the years after the formation of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, people of color remain underrepresented at every level of elected offices.

These are just a few examples of why Section 5, and in particular its preclearance clauses, are essential to ensure that changes to voting rules and practices do not result in voter suppression, retrogression, and discrimination.

Without the existence of majority-minority districts, the voices of millions of Americans will be excluded from Capitol Hill; and their perspectives would not inform public debate. Without Section 5 covered districts, our democracy would exist in form, but not in fact.

When I was elected to Congress in 2006, and after Congress had just reauthorized the Voting Rights Act, I would never have thought that today we would be re-litigating issues that I believed were long since settled and resolved.

It took our nation over 200 years to obtain the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, now less than 50 years after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law are we truly to be believe that systemic racial discrimination and voter suppression has ended?, I think not!

These advancements in the struggle for equality, permitting All Americans to freely exercise their right to vote will take more than a lifetime to protect and preserve. Jurists of the Supreme Court, a word of advice- If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained in my district and missed the vote on Monday, February 25, 2013. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 47, H.R. 667--To redesignate the Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Western Aeronautical Test Range as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment with the budget sequester that seems almost certain to occur. These automatic budget cuts will become effective tomorrow, Friday, March 1, 2013 unless Congress acts immediately. Many of my Democratic colleagues have proposed serious alternatives to the cuts, which I fully support.

Since the start of the 113th Congress, House Republicans have failed to bring a single bill to the floor that would prevent the cuts. The sequester will harm every American, especially the constituents of my district.

Estimates from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities demonstrate that the Women, Infant and Children nutrition program will be unable to assist between 600,000 and 775,000 individuals. Low income families depend on food assistance programs. Too many children in my district come to school hungry, which leads to the inability to focus on their schoolwork.

Sequestration will also undermine federally-funded programs that provide low income, underinsured, and uninsured women access to breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic testing. The women in my community need these programs to receive proper treatment.

Layoffs and furloughs to the Social Security Administration will slow the processing of Social Security applications. Many of my constituents who are retired or have disabilities depend on Social Security. Americans have worked for their Social Security benefits, and have the right to expect service.

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I am concerned about cuts to airport security. This issue has enormous importance to me and my fellow New Yorkers, many of whom work in airport security at JFK and LaGuardia airports. The cuts present serious risks to the workers at these airports and to our national security. These men and women have dedicated their lives to serving this country to keep it safe. A reduction in security workers will increase complications in air travel and increase the possibility of danger to this nation and its people.

The sequester will also harm small businesses, by reducing support for loan programs administered by the Small Business Administration as well as government contracts, and training program for small businesses. I am extremely sensitive to the plight of small businesses, as a member of the Small Business Committee.

I urge my colleagues to prevent these cuts to important programs. Our constituents want us to compromise to prevent these drastic cuts. In the words of Mohandas Gandhi, ``The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.'' We swore an oath to defend, protect and serve this country. Americans are depending on us to make the right decision. We should not delay a vote. We need to come together, make a decision and protect the interests of the people we represent.

Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of the Senate passed bill, S. 47, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 also known as ``VAWA.''

This bipartisan bill expands the authority of the Federal Government, the States, law enforcement, and service providers to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assaults and stalking.

In 2012, the New York City Police Department responded to two hundred sixty three thousand two hundred seven (263,207) domestic violence incidents; this averages to over 720 incidents per day.

Yet, there are countless more people that are victims of domestic violence that did not call the police. Estimates range from one to three million victims per year, who have experienced violence by a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

These stats are more than numbers--they represent our sons and daughters; our mothers and fathers; our friends and neighbors.

Victims of all races, genders, sexual orientation and nationality are equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner.

The Senate bill includes provisions that that will allow every victim of domestic violence to receive protection. The bill specifically includes language that makes it clear that members of the LGBT community should be afforded protection under the reauthorized VAWA.

It also extends the protection of domestic violence laws to undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are often one of the most vulnerable populations due to their fear of deportation and due to the fact that they were denied access to many of the programs funded by

Mr. Speaker, Monday, November 26, 2012, is a great day for the residents of my town. New York City went 24 hours without a single person being injured or killed by gun violence. That day, the Brownsville section of Brooklyn within my district, which has experienced more shooting victims last year than any other part of the city, saw a most-needed reprieve from the violence it experiences on a daily basis.

Mr. Speaker, women and children are gunned down every day in urban communities across the country by illegal handgun violence. In fact, on average, more than 100,000 people in the United States are shot and killed with a gun annually. This is endemic in communities of color where illegal handgun violence has become a very serious public health issue. These numbers are unacceptable, especially in a State and city with some of the strictest gun laws in the Nation.

Lastly, gun violence is not an inevitable problem, yet it continues to plague our communities. We owe it to the people we represent and to future generations to act with urgency and conviction to put an end to this senseless pattern of gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to add my voice to the CBC and amplify the message of support for true and real comprehensive immigration reform. First, I would like to thank our newly elected colleagues, the gentleman from Brooklyn, New York, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and the gentleman from Las Vegas, Nevada, Mr. Steven Horsford, for hosting this evening's CBC hour.

Mr. Speaker, I commend President Obama for his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, and I reaffirm my commitment to working with his administration and our colleagues to make true reform a reality. Having said that, I want to challenge the President and all of our colleagues to expand upon the face and the voice of immigration, adding new dimensions to the unfolding debate.

When two major immigration speeches such as those that President Obama made in El Paso, Texas, in 2011, and last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, in Mr. Horsford's part of the country, omit the contributions of immigrants from the continent of Africa, it paints an incomplete picture of the idealized gorgeous mosaic or melting pot, if you will, that the United States of America represents. We must embrace the diversity of those who are impacted by reform and understand that this debate cannot solely rest on the shoulders of our Latino sisters and brothers.

The stigmatization of the Latino population as the target immigrant population has resulted in a skewed depiction of the true diversity of the immigrant population resident in our country. We have immigrants represented from almost every Nation around the world, and we must recognize all of those who are building communities and strengthening our Nation.

Since 2009, I've been working with my colleagues to diversify the voice and the face of the immigration debate. The burden of a broken system does not encumber one group of immigrants alone. There are approximately 3 million immigrants from the African diaspora in the United States, the vast majority of whom entered the country with legal documentation. The impact of immigrants of the African diaspora from the continent of Africa, the Caribbean region, and South and Central America has been massive in scale. As the representative of the Ninth Congressional District of New York, I am proud to serve a very significant Caribbean, South and Central American, and continental African immigrant community whose immigration experience is as diverse as the countries from which they've come. In fact, I represent one of the most diverse, immigrant-rich districts in the Nation, with people who have come from the Middle East, South Asia, Asia, Russia, the Eastern European nations. It's a virtual United Nations.

Many entered our shores with student visas, like my parents did, to pursue careers in medicine, science, education, and other professions. Many are proud business owners of law firms, restaurants, grocery stores, shipping companies, and hair braiding venues. There are those who come as asylum seekers, fleeing the tumult of war, famine, and genocide. No matter their reason for immigrating, they've come to the U.S. to be productive, taxpaying members of our civil society and to attain the American Dream.

Unfortunately, immigrants of the African diaspora, like so many other groups from around the world, are dealing with backlogged immigration processing; families being ripped apart; falling ``out of status'' because they have aged out of the legal immigration process; racial and status discrimination; unfair criminal aggravated felony laws that prohibit judicial review; deportation processes that violate civil and human rights; an insecure and prohibitive student visa program; limited access to work permits; and much, much more.

You see, many immigrants arrive on our shores during a time in their lives when they are the most productive. Any delay in processing these individuals, in bringing them to the fore, denies us the opportunity to access their talents, their skills, and their ability in the prime of their lives.

Additionally, African Americans, those descendants of the slave trade--whom I fondly call long-time stakeholders of this Nation--have been affected by the broken system as well. Working-class Americans of all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities are adversely affected with a broken immigration system. They are facing depressed wages due to unscrupulous and illegal corporate hiring practices. Urban communities aren't being adequately counted by the Census and other surveys, resulting in the reduction of adequate government services and Federal resources to meet the needs of the actual population in the communities and increasing the strain on current public services.

Urban communities are exposed to more crime, as the undocumented are more reluctant to report crimes; and African Americans are dealing with increased racial and status discrimination, as many are subjected to interrogations based on citizenship.

This is why, as a child of the Caribbean--second-generation American--and a sister of the African diaspora, I believe that it is my duty and that of the Congressional Black Caucus to ensure that the voices of immigrants of the African diaspora will be at the forefront, shoulder to shoulder with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Caucus of the Asian and Pacific Islanders; that the voices of the immigrants of the African diaspora will be heard. We will make sure that this debate is as diverse as the population it encompasses.

The effectiveness of the immigration reform debate will rely heavily on the diversity of its support. That is why I call upon my sisters and brothers within the African diaspora to join with the members of the CBC, myself and our colleagues, in making sure that our voices are heard and our needs are adequately addressed.

Mr. Speaker, the time is now to pass a comprehensive bill that includes streamlining the immigration process, humane enforcement strategies that address the needs of children and other vulnerable people, use alternatives to detention, create enforceable detention standards, safeguard our investments in our DREAM Act kids, and outline essential due process reforms.

Our national security is at stake. Our moral standing in the world depends upon it. And the American people--many of whom are first- and second-generation immigrants--have demanded it. If we turn our backs on those law-abiding contributors to our civil society that come to our shores only to embrace the American Dream, to labor in rebuilding our great Nation, to strengthen our economy, to serve honorably in our military, we turn our back on ourselves and our future. You don't have to believe me. Just ask the people of Japan, where population growth has been stagnant as a result of a prohibitive immigration policy.

It is time for people of good will to stand for those who fear or are unable to stand for themselves. Let us stand together for comprehensive immigration reform.

I thank the gentleman for the time.

And I want to urge all of my colleagues to support the Frelinghuysen amendment, which ensures a full $60.1 billion package will jump-start a recovery process for the families and small businesses of the affected four-State region.

I represent an area called Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn, New York, a quaint bungalow community. Operative word, bungalow. They were subgrade, and totally deluged during the event known as Superstorm Sandy. This is a working-class community of people, real solid Americans who have played by the rules all of their lives, and now their homes have been moved off of their foundations by the sheer force of this storm.

This amendment, this work that we do today, is why people have sent us here, to know that we've got their backs, that we are there, as their representatives, in time of need.

I want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, in particular, those from the affected region, for their advocacy on behalf of the people who have been victimized by Sandy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Fudge), for summoning us to be a part of this Special Order this evening. It is quite timely as we mark the 1-month anniversary of the slaughter of the innocents in Newtown, Connecticut, as we all reflect on the many challenges that we face within our own neighborhoods, our own communities, of longstanding reckless gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, just last week a 90-year-old woman by the name of Gloria Johnson, 90 years old, was shot twice as she walked to the laundromat in East New York, Brooklyn. She lived 90 years to be gunned down in Brooklyn, New York.

Two weeks ago, AK-47 shells were found in Queens, New York, at the scene of the murder of a 17-year-old child--AK-47. You find those types of shells in Iraq, in Afghanistan, not in Queens, New York. But there's a new reality that we are all facing, and that is assault weapons in an urban environment.

And this summer a young 13-year-old boy named Ronald Wallace III was shot in the back by a barrage of gunfire in the streets of Brownsville, Brooklyn, within my own district.

Although New York City has some of the strictest gun laws in the Nation, senseless crimes like these occur all too frequently in my district and across New York City and in other urban communities across the United States.

In 2012, the New York City Police Department reported 226 incidents of handgun violence in Brooklyn, New York, alone.

Illegal gun trafficking and gaping holes in Federal background check requirements are to blame for many of these incidents. Eighty-five percent of the guns used in crimes in New York City are first purchased in States like Virginia and Georgia that do not extend the background check to purchase limitation requirements for private sellers.

Mr. Speaker, I stand with my fellow lawmakers in Congress, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and with Governor Cuomo, in demanding Federal legislation that specifically addresses illegal trafficking of guns across State lines and the requirement of background checks in all gun purchase transactions.

To truly put an end to the random gun violence that plagues New York City and other urban areas, however, we must also address other policy areas that have profound effects on the level of gun violence that we see.

Yes, I agree that mental health and mental illness are important factors that have to be explored and addressed when trying to mitigate against gun violence; however, there's some additional factors that contribute to what has become tantamount to a public health crisis. One such factor is poor educational outcomes.

According to the American Economic Review, a 1-year increase in the average years of education completed reduces violent crime by nearly 30 percent. In fact, between 2000 and 2005, New York State increased its higher education expenditures by roughly 40 percent. During the same period, the State violent crime rate decreased by roughly 20 percent. These statistics are an indication that there is a direct correlation between investment in education and the reduction of violent crime, specifically gun crime.

It is my hope that any legislative measure brought to the floor for consideration also takes into account true and real investment in the inadequate or ineffectual educational systems across this Nation. By bolstering our educational institutions, we help set our children on a path to success instead of one that leads to violent crime, death, and incarceration.

Gun violence is not an inevitable part of life, yet it continues to plague our communities. We are not helpless in this endeavor. We owe it to our constituents, to our Nation, and to future generations to act with urgency and conviction to put an end to the senseless pattern of gun violence, not only in suburban America, but in every community across this Nation, urban America as well.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, I look forward to working with you in whatever capacity necessary to save another family from the hurt, the harm, and the trauma of the senseless acts of violence that take place in our communities across this Nation due to illegal handguns and gun trafficking.

With that, Madam Chair, I thank you for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, as we start the 113th Congress, I am honored to once again join my colleagues in serving the American people-- especially my constituents in the Ninth District of New York. We have an opportunity to look forward, to end the partisanship that has undermined efforts to secure our future as a nation.

I am disappointed to say that I can hardly imagine a worse end to a session of Congress than the one we have just witnessed. In our labored efforts to avoid a disastrous tumble over the ``fiscal cliff,'' we lost sight of a far less figurative disaster.

The families harmed by Hurricane Sandy--those people whose homes and businesses were threatened by the storm--have the right to demand action from this Congress. Yet, this Congress was unable to enact a proposal for relief, to provide the assistance people need to start the recovery. I call on my colleagues to support emergency supplemental appropriations for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Fixing the mistakes of yesterday, however, will be only part of the solution. We have a more important responsibility in this 113th Congress--to demonstrate to the American people that these failures were not examples of a serious problem within the Congress itself that prevents us from working with each other to fulfill our responsibilities.

We have opportunities in this session of Congress to work together, as Democrats and Republicans, but more importantly, as Americans, to resolve the issues that are important to people in every community in this nation. As the tragedy in Newtown demonstrated, we must enact gun control laws that prevent mass murder and re-institute the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We must end gun trafficking.

It is my hope that we address immigration reform, specifically the enactment of the DREAM Act. This act, which provides legal status and a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as minors, will benefit every person in our society. This act will allow millions of young Americans to participate in our economy, our system of higher education, and the society more generally.

Other legislation of importance that must be addressed immediately is the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the Farm Bill, postal reform, cybersecurity, and sequestration legislation.

Let us come together, in this 113th Congress, to fulfill our duties as representatives of the people of the United States. Let us establish the foundations of a prosperity shared by every family in this nation, security from the threat of natural disasters and acts of terrorism, and a political process of which the American people are proud.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask all of my colleagues to support H.R. 41, a bipartisan proposal to replenish the National Flood Insurance Fund which will increase its borrowing authority and allow the program to continue paying claims from those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Without the enactment of this bill, the NFlP might reach its ceiling and could no longer pay out claims. The families in my district and the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are suffering.

Even as I am excited that we are considering this bill today, I am disappointed that there were seventy days of inaction by Congress. Congress has a history of providing assistance to the American people in times of disaster and devastation--in this country, we help our neighbors.

Since 1989, Congress has approved $290 billion in disaster relief aid. Indeed, only two weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the Gulf Coast, Congress appropriated $62 billion in disaster aid. Those impacted by Superstorm Sandy have been waiting for more than two months, and cannot afford to wait any longer. The recovery depends on this emergency funding.

Again, I ask that all of my colleagues support the first portion of the Superstorm Sandy Disaster Relief package. Through enactment of this critical bill, many home and business owners flooded out by Superstorm Sandy will soon be able to get flood insurance payments.

I rise today to express my feelings of anger, frustration, and disbelief that the Republican leadership has failed to fulfill this promise on emergency supplemental disaster aid for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. Even though we were able to put our political differences aside to prevent an economic disaster, I am stunned and saddened that this compromise came at the expense of much- needed relief. Like my colleagues from the Northeast, I feel betrayed. There were 305,000 housing units destroyed and 265,000 businesses affected. I'm a proud native of Brooklyn, New York, and it pains me to see the travesties that have affected my hometown.

I'm in disbelief at the callousness with which this matter has been dispensed with. It is truly an embarrassment and a sad day that the House of Representatives has become a body so entangled in political one-upmanship that it is unable to come to the aid of Americans whose lives have suddenly been destroyed and turned upside down. This funding would have not only rebuilt the community's infrastructure but begun the healing process so sorely needed.

Mr. Speaker, we need your leadership today. Please bring this matter to the floor for a vote.