Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I will vote against this expulsion Resolution as a matter of House precedent and Constitutional due process. To be clear, I find Representative George Santos' behavior to be disgraceful, and the fact-patterns in the federal indictment against him are serious and worthy of him resigning his seat. Yet, to date, Rep. Santos has not been criminally convicted of the offenses cited in the Resolution. The modern House has voted to expel two Members only when they were convicted of a felony in a court of law. At this moment, the status of the case does not support expulsion under House precedent or due process.

Additionally, I served as Chair of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (now named the House Ethics Committee) from 2009 to 2011, and I respect the internal House process. This process has the authority to recommend expulsion of a Member after an appropriate bipartisan investigation. Rep. Santos has not yet been found guilty of offenses in the ethics probe. The Ethics Committee has stated it will release its investigatory conclusions and recommendations in two weeks.

Once either the court or official committee processes conclude, I am prepared, based on known facts, to vote to expel the Congressman.

Mr. Speaker, while I agree with the sense of the Resolution that the terrorist organization Hamas must be denied finances, I align myself with an earlier version of this legislation that included language providing a humanitarian exemption for the provision of agricultural products, food, medicine, medical devices, and other similar products to the civilians living in Gaza under Hamas' rule. I will vote No because the Resolution, as offered on the House Floor, is inadequate to support the grave humanitarian needs of the civilian population in Gaza.

Mr. Speaker, while I strongly oppose a nuclear Iran, I will vote against this Resolution because it states that U.S. policy is ``to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' That language allows for an open-ended war authorization, using all means necessary, which I deem inappropriate. I believe that America's military commitments must be tied to clearly defined strategies, and vague war authorizations have, unfortunately, been used as justifications for unwarranted military actions in recent history. I will vote against this Resolution, the majority of which I agree with, because I do not want to see foreign policy mistakes mirrored.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the accomplishments of Mr. Victor Garza. He is a longtime community advocate and Latino leader in San Jose, CA.

Victor Garza was born in Eagle Pass, Texas, and moved to California in 1960. He enlisted in the United States Navy and when he left the Navy, he realized there were limited services for veterans in the community. He observed that Latinos were struggling to gain a political voice and recognized that two key areas that needed to be addressed were educational attainment of Latinos and increasing their political participation and increasing services to people in need throughout the community. He was active in one of the most important veterans' groups in the nation, the American GI Forum.

Victor became the first Manager of the Santa Clara County Office of Veterans Services. He has received numerous commendations and awards for his long history of political activism and community involvement including proclamations from the U.S. Congress, State Legislature, County of Santa Clara. and the City of San Jose. He was awarded ``Outstanding Young Man of America'' by the U.S. Jaycees, recognized by the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission for outstanding service and dedication to the community, and was an Olympic Cross Country Torch Relay Participant in 1996. The Victor Garza Community Center in Austin, Texas bears his name, as does the Victor Garza Educational Center at Evergreen Valley College.

He founded the La Raza Roundtable in 1988, Santa Clara County's largest coalition of Latino and Mexican American organizations, and spent the last 4 decades fighting for his community. In 1998, Victor was invited by the White House to participate in President Clinton's Initiative on Race and Poverty.

Victor has been a strong voice for equitable education, social and health services, immigration issues, employment and promotional issues that impact the Latino workforce, as well as veterans affairs. He is truly the best our community has to offer, and it has been my privilege to work alongside him and I am proud to call him my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the accomplishments of Mr. Reymundo Espinoza upon his retirement. He has worked to provide healthcare for those in need for 48 years throughout California and Arizona.

Mr. Espinoza was raised in the small desert town of Coachella, California, where farming was the predominant industry. Upon graduation from Coachella Valley High School, he attended Stanford University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He received his Master of Public Health degree, specializing in Hospital Administration, from UC Berkeley in 1975.

Since 1987, he has served as CEO of the Gardner Family Health Centers. For 37 years, his vision for health equity and his commitment to access for the most vulnerable and underserved in our community have yielded impressive results:

Growing Gardner from a single clinic to thirteen sites (including two mobile units).

Increasing patients served from 8,000 to nearly 45,000 while providing high quality comprehensive medical and behavioral healthcare including prevention and education, early intervention, treatment, and advocacy services.

Participating in the Healthy Kids Initiative to ensure all children who are part of low-income households in our community could have access to a health coverage program.

Being a Founder, Chairperson and Board Member of Community Health Partnership health centers, a consortium of community clinics that advocate for and create healthcare access to low-income populations in Santa Clara County.

Co-Founding the California Primary Care Association to advocate for and create healthcare access to low-income populations in California.

During the Pandemic, Gardner Family Health Centers held the first community large-scale COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinic in Santa Clara County. From April 2020 to June 2021, approximately 12,000 individuals were tested, and 26,000 COVID-19 vaccinations were provided.

He has received many awards and recognition for his leadership in healthcare. For example, in 2023 he was awarded the Silver Medal Jefferson Award for expanding quality affordable healthcare so the South Bay's underserved can live healthier lives. In 2023 he received the Latinx Business Leadership Award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

His vision and legacy remain an inspiration and guiding light in these challenging but hopeful times. His expertise, good judgment, skillful leadership, and compassion have made him an outstanding member of our community. I consider him a valued colleague and friend and I join the community of Silicon Valley in honoring him and wishing him well in retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote NO on H.R. 1338, the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act.

This bill seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of FCC's spectrum licensing, a goal I support. However, the bill, as written, would go well beyond FCC's expertise and mission to regulate spectrum by also seeking to regulate space safety and orbital debris. That is deeply concerning and it is the reason I am in opposition to H.R. 1338.

As Ranking Member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I recognize the importance of maintaining the long-term sustainability of the space environment. U.S. citizens depend on assets in space to support our national security, give us accurate weather forecasts, enable communications services, and so much more. It is essential that we get space safety right.

The space community, including the National Space Council, is coalescing around the Department of Commerce as the lead agency with responsibility for space situational awareness, orbital debris monitoring, and related critical space safety activities.

Setting up a fragmented licensing or certification regime--as I believe this bill, as written, would do--is in no one's interest. It would create confusion and could even harm U.S. economic competitiveness and global leadership in space. For decades, the U.S. has taken a whole-of-government approach to orbital debris, and has actively coordinated on approaches with other nations. This bill would allow the FCC to act on its own in regulating orbital debris mitigation, an approach that would likely confuse and ultimately undermine, rather than strengthen, efforts to reduce and mitigate the risk of orbital debris.

The Chairman of the Science Committee and I are completely aligned in our concerns around this bill. I am committed to continuing the Science Committee's work, on a bipartisan basis, to address the serious threat of orbital debris to the future sustainability of the space environment comprehensively and holistically.

I urge Members to vote NO on H.R. 1338.

Mr. Speaker, I voted in favor of H.R. 3935, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act to reauthorize and improve important aviation programs in order to move the measure forward to the Senate. While there was much good in the bill, I opposed provisions in the underlying bill calling for continued use of leaded aviation fuel. I was pleased to work with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on securing improvements to this language in the manager's amendment, which we believe will protect my constituents from exposure to leaded fuel used by small aircraft. The Senate should further improve these provisions on continued use of leaded avgas before the bill comes back to the House for negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, I could go point by point and prove that the resolution is false, but time is short. I will just say: Adam tells the truth.

He told the truth when we were managers on the first impeachment that resulted in a bipartisan vote for conviction.

He told the truth when we served on the January 6 Committee and found that the ex-President was the leader of a plot to overturn the Constitution and the electoral vote.

Why is this before us today?

The truth hurts, doesn't it?

I think it is before us today because the ex-President has recently been charged with dozens of felonies.

I am a former chair of the Ethics Committee. This resolution is a departure from what has been the norm in the Congress in terms of censure. Not only does this resolution disgrace the MAGA Republicans who advanced it, but it also disgraces this institution.

Madam Speaker, the Speaker has sent Congress home with default looming. Only Congress can raise the debt ceiling; and if we don't, we fail.

However, the Republicans are trying to get their radical cuts, holding our economy hostage. These are cuts they can't get on the merits, like eliminating farm disaster relief, cuts to veterans' benefits, laying off firefighters and air traffic controllers, interrupting cancer research, stopping payments to nursing homes.

Instead, they threaten default, which could cause a worldwide economic recession, cuts to regular Americans, millions of jobs lost.

We would lose our preeminent spot in the world economy. China and Russia would win.

Forty percent of all U.S. accumulated debt since 1789 happened during the Trump years.

Yes, we can get our fiscal house in order, but not the way these radicals have proposed. We need to do our job and end this self-imposed threat of chaos.

Mr. Speaker, there is lots wrong with this bill, as has been mentioned by others, turning children back to their smugglers at the border and the like, but I will focus on the issue of those fleeing communist oppression.

For years, we had bipartisan agreement. We welcomed those who flee communist oppression. Today is Vietnam Human Rights Day and it reminds us that we welcomed a million refugees fleeing communism in Vietnam. We welcomed Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro. We welcomed Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who fled communist oppression.

This bill would upend that tradition. It would turn away people who are fleeing oppression from communist and totalitarian persecution.

Now, there was a time when both sides of the aisle opposed communism and welcomed people who were fleeing communist oppression. What happened to you?

I stand on the side of political dissidents who believe in freedom and who are fleeing communist oppression.

There is one more thing. This bill would cripple American agriculture. I realize there was a fig leaf added about an assessment on ag. We all know that will.

The bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which this House passed twice, had E-Verify in the bill, but only with the reforms for ag. I believe our laws ought to be enforced, but we need laws that can work, and that is what our bipartisan farm workforce bill did. This bill doesn't do that.

An estimated half of farm workers in America are undocumented. Kick them out of the fields, and farmers are going to hurt big time. The cost of food will skyrocket. This is a very poor idea.

I will just say this: All of us want to have an orderly system. The disorder is obvious at the border, but this bill is mean, and it won't fix it.

We have a variety of proposals to reform the immigration laws. We are still working on the outline from the 1965 act. It is a small wonder that it doesn't work very well for America in 2023.

I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to work with us together to craft measures in immigration and immigration enforcement that will actually work for the United States. This bill doesn't do that.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in enthusiastic support of H.R. 1715, the Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act. Introduced by Representatives Deborah Ross and Max Miller, this good bipartisan legislation significantly advances the weather forecasting and climate modeling missions of the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, otherwise known as NOAA, by authorizing collaborative research partnerships between the agencies.

Climate change is fueling extreme weather events, which poses significant threats to life and causes massive property damage across the United States. My home State of California has experienced billion- dollar extreme weather events and disasters. No State in our Nation is untouched by the damaging physical and emotional impacts of windstorms, flooding, and other disasters.

Deadly storms across the South and Midwest and entire communities being washed away in Alaska are only a few of the many challenges that extreme weather events and climate change pose. In my own district in California, we have seen flooding in Monterey County, in Pajaro, in Watsonville, in San Benito County, and great devastation and suffering. Supporting a robust Federal weather and climate research enterprise is invaluable to the safety and well-being of the Nation.

This bill is a necessary push forward for our weather and climate modeling capabilities, as it lets NOAA utilize DOE's high-performing computing capabilities and expertise. It also would improve the scientific computing infrastructure between both agencies, a critical need that NOAA has repeatedly expressed as being a roadblock to more timely and accurate weather forecasts.

An important aspect of the research which this bill would support is that it would improve NOAA's ability to accurately forecast weather and climate events by improving the utilization of preexisting data streams. This increases the bang for the buck for every taxpayer dollar spent on acquiring data while also improving our Nation's resilience to weather and climate disasters.

Madam Speaker, I thank again the sponsors of this legislation. I strongly urge all Members of the House to support this timely and important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Ross), an enormously talented member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman

from Michigan (Ms. Stevens), a valued member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Madam Speaker, I am grateful to Representative Ross for the expertise and diligence and hard work that she puts in on the Science Committee. Her knowledge is invaluable, but there is something else. In this body, we know there is sometimes acrimony and fighting. She is someone, along with Mr. Miller, who wants to get things done, who put aside that kind of dissension and work together for the betterment of our country. I am grateful to both of them.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1734, the TRANQ Research Act, a bill that I was proud to cosponsor, but I need to thank especially our colleagues, Representatives Yadira Caraveo and Mike Collins, for leading this legislation, as well as Chairman Frank Lucas for his support.

Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, have taken a terrible toll on communities all across the country, including in my own district. Fentanyl is now involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any other cause of death.

As if the opioid epidemic wasn't bad enough already, our communities now have to deal with various chemicals being added to these drugs that ``enhance'' their effects and make them harder to detect.

One chemical that criminals have started to use is a common animal tranquilizer called xylazine. When added to fentanyl, this animal tranquilizer can have terrible side effects, including horrible wounds at the injection site.

These additives are also consequential to our first responders and to law enforcement as they deal with these drugs on the street. Drug mixtures usually contain a very small amount of synthetic opioids, which makes it difficult to detect and hard to identify new variants. Even small amounts of some drugs can be dangerous for law enforcement and public health officials to handle.

This bill would address these challenges by leveraging NIST's unique research capabilities to help develop technologies to quickly characterize and safely handle street drugs.

For decades, NIST, the Nation's measurement laboratory, has helped to provide safe and effective drug detection techniques and handling practices. NIST also collects and analyzes drug samples in circulation to help health authorities, as well as law enforcement, better respond to this crisis. This bill would codify, as well as enhance, those ongoing efforts.

This is a fantastic example of how we can activate the unique expertise in our government laboratories to benefit communities across the country. We can use science to make law enforcement and first responders safer and help fight this drug epidemic.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. Caraveo) and recognize her leadership on this matter.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens), a valued member of our committee.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close and yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, this is another example of how the Science Committee can successfully follow our history of bipartisan work for the well- being of our country--two freshmen coming together for something that is important.

Madam Speaker, I also will mention that Representative Caraveo is not just Representative Caraveo. She is Dr. Caraveo. She comes with significant expertise to this body and especially to the Science Committee. We are grateful to her constituents for sending her to us.

She, like Mr. Collins, has only been here several months, but she has already shown leadership, a focus on law enforcement and health, and a real willingness to work on a bipartisan basis to solve problems that face our country.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representatives Collins and Caraveo for their hard work, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, while I will vote in favor of this resolution and support the advancement of the Abraham Accords and normalization of relations with Israel, I am disappointed that the resolution does not mention the longstanding U.S. policy of supporting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as past U.S.- Israel relationship anniversary resolutions have. I continue to strongly support a sustainable two-state solution, with a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a demilitarized, democratic Palestinian state living peacefully side-by-side. This resolution's omission of this policy is concerning given the current far-right Israeli governing coalition under Prime Minister Netanyahu, which has seriously undermined the prospects for a two-state solution.

Further, as hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting in opposition of an anti-democratic judicial overhaul, it's important for U.S. policymakers to recognize that a negotiated two-state solution requires a robust democracy in Israel. America must insist that Israel not only remains committed to the two-state solution but committed to democracy in Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for organizing this Special Order. Honoring Jenn Wickre is really a privilege.

I know Jenn from the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and I know her as an organized and capable person. Today, even more than speaking for myself, I am here to speak for the Democratic staff of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who know her even better than I do. Many of them have worked with Jenn closely for many years. They really appreciate her and her excellence as a congressional staffer serving this institution and our Nation and how valued she is as a colleague on both sides of the aisle and how respected she is in the greater science and technology stakeholder community.

Prior to coming to the Hill, Jenn had not worked on science policy, but she has a keen intellect, and she understands and cares deeply about the issues that come before our committee. She has become such an expert on these issues that most people just assume that Jenn came from a lifelong science background.

Staff on both sides have benefited from her institutional knowledge, her thoughtfulness, and her perspective. The mutual trust and respect she shared with Democratic staff has allowed them to find common ground on almost every topic that came before them.

It also even enabled them to tag team in difficult negotiations with the Senate and external stakeholders, especially during the CHIPS Act. Jenn's sharp sense of humor also helped ease the tension in these long and acrimonious negotiations with the other body.

Jenn played an essential role in the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill we celebrate as being a once-in-a-generation accomplishment, and she did that while going through treatment for her cancer. That is just remarkable.

Staff on the Democratic side count Jenn as more than just a colleague. She is their friend, and they are praying for her and pulling for her at this moment.

I believe that their friendship speaks further to the special person that she is. Jenn is the best of what our Nation should expect from people dedicating their careers to the work of this institution.

I am honored to lend my voice to the celebration of her career today and to be the voice of the Democratic staff who love her so much and who are praying for her recovery.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for allowing me to participate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and thank, upon her retirement, Sandra Soto who served for 22 years as Chief of Staff in my San Jose District Office.

During these years our country faced many challenges. From Y2K, 9/11, the Great Recession, January 6th, droughts, floods, earthquakes . . . you name it, Sandra provided steady, practical leadership for my staff and in service to my constituents.

Sandra provided important mentorship for many young staffers who, with her important guidance, went on to important professional careers both inside and outside of government.

Her dedication was particularly admirable when it came to the needs of children, seniors and veterans and members of our community who lacked opportunity.

Sandra Soto is both wise and kind. If there was an elderly vet who just needed to be heard, she was always ready with a fresh cup of coffee and a sympathetic ear.

She is a fierce advocate for those who have been mistreated, overlooked, or let down. As federal agencies in Region IX can attest, Sandra--and, under her leadership our District Office staff--got results when a bureaucratic snafu damaged a constituent.

Because of these qualities Sandra is beloved by my District Office staff, by my constituents and by the staff of other Bay Area elected officials. Since her retirement I have heard from many how they admire Sandra and miss her.

I admire Sandra as well. She was not only a valued employee, but also a friend to all . . . including me.

I wish Sandra and her wonderful family well during her well-deserved retirement. I look forward to continuing to see her around the community we both call home.