The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers room, washington, d. C. , november 17, 2022. I hereby appoint the honorable ann m. Kuster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the order of the house of january 10, 2022, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties. With time equally allocated between parties and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes. But in no event shall debate continue beyond 11 50 a. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock, for five minutes. Mr. Mcclintock madam speaker, the announcement of mike garcias election makes it official. The American People have entrusted republicans with the house majority. They do so at a time of unprecedented fiscal peril for our country. 40year high inflation, economic recession, and an approaching debt crisis, all driven by the most reckless spending in our nations history. And history is screaming this warning at us, nations that bankrupt themselves arent around very long. Republicans must reclaim the mantle of fiscal integrity and fiscal responsibility. And we should start by renouncing the tawdry, corrupt, and irresponsible practice of congressional earmarks in which individual congressmen direct spending to pet projects in their districts or grants to favored supporters bypassing meritdriven competition. I propose to the House Republican conference a bidding to get rid of congressional earmarks. Earmark supporters argue that the power of the purse rests with congress. Therefore, its elected members and not unelected bureaucrats should make these decisions. No, not exactly. Representatives are supposed to be biased towards their districts. Thats why congress is designed to act collectively. Ever since magna carta its been a settled principle of Good Governance that the power to appropriate funds should be separated from the power to spend them. This is at the heart of the constitutional separation of powers. Congress appropriates funds but cannot spend them and the president spends funds but cannot appropriate them. This is the single most important protection we have against political corruption and pork barrel spending. Earmarks undermine this principle and its no coincidence that most of the congressional scanndals over th years have involved earmarks. A local company produces a product the pentagon neither needs nor wants. So what to do . Well, it simply ingrashiates itself with the local congressman and tell the pentagon what they need. They reward them at election time. And it repeats. Companies rise or fall on their merits. If theres such a thing as a good earmark the price to be paid is bad. Just the last omnibus spending bill in march included nearly 5,000 congressional earmarks totaling 9 billion for some of the most egreeningous examples of waste in the federal budget. Swine management in arkansas. A National AtomicTesting Museum in las vegas. A sheep experiment stationed in idaho. Now, members can and should advocate for their districts and make the case for projects they deem worthy of the money that congress has appropriated. The problem with earmarks is blurring these two rules and having members both advocate and decide. Now, many say they dont trust this president and his deputies to administer these funds appropriately and evenhandedly and i agree. But if you dont trust the president to administer the funds that we appropriate, then dont give him the money. Period. We hear that earmarks assure that local governments get a fair break. No, what they actually do is turn the federal budget into a grab bag for local pork spending by the most powerful members in congress. And they undermine the central tenet of federalism that local projects should be financed by local communities and federal spending reserved for the nations general welfare. When a local government proposes an earmark, whats it saying . Its saying the project is so low on its priority list it doesnt dare spend its own taxpayers money but is perfectly happy to have taxpayers in other communities foot the bill. The result is a long list of dubious projects that rob st. Petersburg to pay st. Paul for projects that st. Petersburg doesnt benefit from and st. Paul doesnt deem worthy enough to spend its own money on. Finally, its said that earmarks can grease legislation by buying off the votes of individual members. Add a few local projects for that member and suddenly a bill he would never vote for on its merits becomes a local and imperative overwriting his sound judgment. But explain to me how is that a good thing . Our new majority needs to make a dramatic, concrete and credible statement that business as usual in washington is over. Is there a more powerful statement we can make than swear off this wasteful and corrupting practice of congressional earmarking . I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. Soto, for five minutes. Mr. Soto america, we have liftoff. And a surge of fire, thunder, and smoke, artemis 1 lit the Early Morning sky and was launched into the cosmos. At nine Million Pounds of thrust, artemis 1 is the most powerful rocket ever launched from the earth. I was honored to see this historic flight firsthand early yesterday morning, and now after 50 years, america takes its first major step towards going back to the moon. And we are bringing our Many International partners with us, including the e. U. , japan, canada, and other allies. In central florida, we locals beam with pride that artemis launched from the storied 39b pad from cape canaveral. This First Mission was a long time in the making. The orion spacecraft began being developed during the cost Lakes Program from 2005 to 2010. In 2017, i was proud to vote formally to establish the artemis program. Over the next five years, america got to work, including every state. Many central floridians helped build or assemble the orion capsule, the space launch system, the crawler transporter, and other components. During that fiveyear period, nasa and spacex kept busy on another project, launching the crew dragon spacecraft. And on may 30, 2020, i saw firsthand astronauts bob and doug launch in the spacecraft endeavor and dock at the International Space station. This was the first crude launch from american soil in nine years. Since then weve seen multiple spacex and blue origin crewed flights, traveling lowearth orbit to and from i. S. S. Is normal in florida. Nasa turned its efforts towards deep Space Exploration once again. As the most powerful rocket to ever fly from the earth, we knew the first artemis launch would never be easy. It turned out after two scrub launches, third time was a charm. As i stand here this morning, the orion spacecraft just had its next burn to set it on a course for a lunar flyby. The closest approach to the moon will be on november 21, before entering a distant retrograde orbit around the moon on november 25. It will roughly travel 1. 3 million miles, farther than any other crewed designed spacecraft thats ever traveled. And its a test flight, of course. So well push orions capabilities to the maximum to ensure its safe for future astronauts. And then, orion will return to the earth at about 25 1 2 days. After that, nasa will conduct extensive evaluations of the returning orion capsule. From there the future crewed lunar space flight will happen. And artemis 3 in 2025 will have the first woman and next man land on the moon. And in 2027, artemis 4 will dock with the lunar gateway space station and begin a permanent presence on the moon. We will seek to discover water, learn from the harsh lunar environment and advance new technologies. By the 2030s, these experiments and innovations will help us prepare to go to mars and beyond. For today, let us take a moment to appreciate and thank the tremendous accomplishments of administrator bill nelson and the amazing people at nasa. Yesterday was a critical milestone in our countrys space history. This is the first major step for america to go back to the moon and then onto mars and beyond. Madam speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for five minutes. Mr. Thompson thank you, madam chair. Madam chair, i rise today to recognize the service of jason marie of Northern Cambria, pennsylvania. Mr. Marie had his pass and review for the United States navy, an important step in passing basic training and becoming a sailor. To his family and those who know him well, jason is an driven and dedicated person. When he graduated from Northern Cambria high school this spring, he knew military service was his best avenue for his life. Coming from a family where his mother is a retired is retired from the army and his grandfather served in the marine corps, jason naturally felt the call to serve after high school. Prior to serving in the United States navy, jason was an active member of his community and served on the Northern Cambria volunteer recreation board. Were thankful both as a community and as a nation for jason marie and for all those who are serving in our military. Congratulations on becoming a sailor in the United States navy, jason. Madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate amy shields of the allegany hardwood ut Lakes Network on being named to the top 100 forest list. Pennsylvanias allegany Plateau Region alone produces 80 of the cherry hardwood supply of the entire world. This is a critical ingredients for producing furniture and home goods for customers at home and abroad. This industry is fortunate to have their interests represented by amy shields who is the current executive director of ahug and the voice of the Timber Industry in pennsylvania. Ms. Shields is a longterm veteran of the Timber Industry. Because of her efforts, loggers, saw mills, and hardwood manufacturers can continue to provide the highest quality Forest Products to the world. Congratulations, amy, on this great accomplishment. Madam speaker, i rise today to congratulate the pennsylvania 4h Dairy Judging Team on their top honors at the 100th national 4h dairy judging contest at the world dairy expo. In october, the Pennsylvania Team traveled to madison, wisconsin, to compete in the contest. It was made up of four members with elle curtis of Warren County representing the pennsylvania 15th congressional district. Elle placed fourth overall. As a Team Pennsylvania was first for overall placing for jerseys. They ranked second in brown swiss and gurnsys. Fifth for holsteins. As a result of their victory, the team has qualified to represent the United States this summer at the International Dairy judging contest in glasgow, scotland. Congratulations to he willy elle and the entire pennsylvania 4h judging team. Madam speaker, i rise to congratulate the Indiana County conservation district on their 75th anniversary celebration. Since 1947, the Indiana County conservation district, or iccd, has been protecting the Natural Resources of Indiana County and working to improve quality of life for current and future generations. The iccd and its dedicated employees and volunteers whose education, technical assistance, and partnerships with local businesses to work towards a pros pus and sustainable prosperous and sustainable future. They work with Environmental Education and wildlife manage. Justice. All these efforts have helped to teach the importance of conservation to residents of all ages in Indiana County. The iccd formally celebrated their 75th anniversary on october 7 with an open house at their headquarters in indiana, pennsylvania. Madam speaker, please join me in congratulating the Indiana County conservation district on 75 years of protecting the environment and ensuring that Indiana County continues to be a great place to live. Thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from virginia, ms. Wexton, for five minutes. Ms. Wexton madam speaker, i rise today in hop nor of transgender awareness week. Each and every day our transgender friends and neighbors fight to make their voices heard, fight for human rights and to live free of attacks. The spirit and fight deserves to be celebrated this week an every week. We stand with the transcommunity and join their fight to live openly without fear of discrimination. Sunday marks transgender day of remembrance as we honor the at least 32 transgender or gender nonconforming people who have been killed this year. As cochair of the lgbtq Transgender Equality task force i will never stop working oshine the light on the injustices this community faces. To my friends in the transcommunity, i want to let you know you are seen, you are heard and you have allies here in congress. Thank and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Crawford, for five minutes. Mr. Crawford thank you, madam speaker. Today im here to talk about reopening the very building in which we stand. The United States capitol. Its been 2 1 2 years since Speaker Pelosi closed the peoples house and told americans it was part of our united effort to stop covid19. Over the last year weve seen a sharp decline in hospitalizations and deaths from covid. In fact just two months ago, President Biden even declared the pandemic was over. Yet certain protoroles main from the height of the pandemic. Today when constituents come to visit my office, they need to be personally escorted around by staff. They have to be a small group. They cant go to the house gallery to watch votes take place. And my staff is only allowed to give a tour once a week. But the speak if the speaker is really trying to prevent the spread of covid why is she forcing people to gather around Security Check points. This is the peoples house yet we continue to deny access to the people. The very people who elected us to serve them. The very people whose taxes fund our operations. Because of these regulations i have had to turn several of my constituents away. Not only do these regulations make it difficult to welcome every group into my office but it affects the function of all house offices. I was multiple visitors a day. Each time they come in, i have to send one of my tasers to find that visitor in a crowd of people, wait in long security line, and then escort them through the house office buildings. Its inefficient and takes staff away from the valuable work they should be doing on behalf of people of arkansas. To top it all off none of this makes sense. Why do one of my staffers need to escort someone who has been cleared by security into the building . And how does this protect against covid19 . Whats so dangerous about allowing visit dwhroars ability to watch their government function . How can we claim to be transparent government when we prohibit access to elected officials . Its far past time to truly open up the capitol to the people and restore its operation to prepandemic times. We cannot afford to keep distance between the American People and their elected representatives. These regulations prevent constituents from freely visiting their representatives, hinders productivity in our office, and none of it makes us safer. The people are an important part of the legislative process. In fact theyre the reason for it. Madam speaker, they should be welcomed here. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. Barragan, for five minutes. Ms. Barragan madam speaker, it was an honor to join Speaker Pelosi with the congressional delegation to egypt, to the United Nations annual Climate Crisis, cop27. Our bottom line message to world leaders, america is allin to fight the Climate Crisis. We stand with our Global Partners to reduce emissions, go green, and meet our goals under the paris climate agreement. Shipping emissions is one of the largest emitters of Greenhouse Gases in the world. Congress has acted with the inflation reduction act. Record climate investments. Are included in the i. A. R. To accelerate our transition to the clean energy future. That includes a 3 billion investment for my bill, the Climate Smart ports act, to reduce emissions from ports across the country. As someone who represents the port of los angeles, i know firsthand the work we must do to go zero emissions and commit with other couldnt trois reduce shipping emissions to the green shipping challenge. To get there at the speed and scale necessary its critical that congress invest in zero admissions is shipping technologies and provide the e. P. A. With the resources to regulate emissions from ships. Working together we can exceed our 2030 emissions reduction target and make collective action to save our planet. Madam speaker, i rise today in recognition of national alzheimers disease awareness month. During this month we honor the millions of americans living with alzheimers. Including my mom. Along with the selfless family members and caregivers. The nearly six Million People with alzheimers are our sisters, our brothers, our parents, our grandparents, and nabs. And our fellow americans. This epidemic will only continue to grow. In the next 30 years, the number of americans with alzheimers is expected to reach nearly 14 million. Fortunately, we are at an Inflection Point in scientific progress. Where lifechanging treatments may become available. But they also need to be affordable and we need to continue to invest in research. Thats why im introducing a bill this month to improve access to new, innovative alzheimers treatments that become available. I will continue to work with c. M. S. To ensure all drugs receive fair and accurate conversation for medicare coverage. Our fight against this heartbreaking disease is nowhere near done. Madam speaker, i rise today in recognition of National Family caregivers month. Today more than one in five americans provide care to someone with health or functional needs. Caregivers are the back bone of our families and communities. They are our coworkers, siblings, parent, grandparents and neighbors. Their sacrifices are essential and immeasurable work. But their contributions are often overlook and undervalued. Care giving requires time, money, resources, patience. And can take a toll on a caregivers physical and mental health. As a caregiver for my own mom i want every family care giver to know that you are not alone. That we are in this with you. Your effort do not go unnoticed. You deserve to feel and to be celebrated. We must do more to ensure that you have the support that you need. You have a champion in congress who will fight for higher wages and Better Benefits for you and that we must continue to invest in programs like ihhs and the wpcs, so that our elders can stay home. And have the dignity to be in their home in their later years and be taken care of. Thank you again to all the caregivers out there for everything you do. Madam speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york, ms. Tenney, for five minutes. Ms. Tenney thank you, madam speaker. I rise today to honor my dear friend, Staff Sergeant lewis smith, affectionately known as slugger and also very affectionately known as the mayor of Washington Mills who recently passed away at the age of 99. Lou was born in washington mill, new york, in 1922 and graduated from sequoia Valley Central School in 1940. After the tear able tongs pearl harbor he immediately signed up to fight for the country in the air force at the time known as the 13th army corps Bombardment Group for the south pacific. A member of the greatest generation, lou has honorably served our runt any world war ii, completing 50 combat missions with the 13th Army Air CorpsBombardment Group esm he wrote a wonderful book chronicling his experience in the war which i highly recommend to everyone interested in finding out what it was like to be an average member of the air force, enlisting and learning and growing and sacrificing. After the war, lou came home to Washington Mills and married the love of his life, jane. On may 5, 1945, after moving to denver to complete lous military service. The couple moved back to Washington Mills where they would live together for 76 years until janes passing in 2021. Upon moving back to Washington Mills, lou worked as a welder for utica structural steel before taking over his fatherinlaws service stations with his two sons. Later hed take on two force the hart town and hartford Highway Police departments as well as being a mechanic he served as a member of the wellville fire company incorporated, serving since 1950 and as the leader of the American Legion post. He was a wonderful person, a dear friend and a Tremendous Community servant. I want to thank him and his family for their friendship and for the lifetime of service and commitment to our community by the entire family. He was truly a special gem in our community, like no other person, probably my greatest inspiration other than my own father, lou was a person of great integrity, great honesty, wonderful, sage advice to everyone he met. And also one of the kindest people and one of the most care, giving peeping ive met in my life. I thank him and his family and his wonderful wife jane for all the wonderful times and great experiences i had and their support of our community and all of those people who serve in the fire service, police service, served our nation in uniform, he was truly, truly embodied our greatest generation and hes sorely missed by our community. Madam speaker, i rise today to honor Edward Bradley of chadwicks, new york who passed away earlier this week. He was a lifelongres. Tent o resident of the utica area and dead chaletted his life to serving our community and his family. He worked for several companies in the area, including James Donovan roofing and another company where he worked for years. He was also one of our state senator sphrs our region. He was also a 50year member they have fire company where he served as president and slevment also served as member of the united county fire police, the state director of the new York State Fire Police association, and was honored by the whroilvail fire company with a prestigious ironman award. He was also a member of the Utica Elks Lodge and was honored for the 100 heroes of mohawk valley, recognizing his tremendous and honorable dedicated service to our community. Edward, thank you for your lifetime of service and may your memory continue to be a blessing to all of us in the new generations of people that come before us. We will never forget your commitment to our region and your family remains in our thoughts and prayers. Your department is in great hands, they learned from the truly the best. With that, madam speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, ms. Scanlon, for five minutes. Ms. Scanlon thank you, madam speaker. I rise today during National Survivors of homicide victims awareness month. A time when the pain and grief of loss should be honored with action, read the words and the plea of a heart broken mother in pennsylvania 5 constituent Molly Covington who lost her son sam to gun violence a year ago on november 28, 2021. By all account, sam collingtop was a remarkable young man who left an outsized impact on our community. His mother, molly, share herd story with me earlier this fall when i met with her and her colleagues at delaware countys moms demand action a chapter. I was moved by her advocacy in the face of unimaginable loss and grief and im sharing her words with her permission now. My name is molly collington. Im sam collingtons brokenhearted mother. Sam was the best son any mother could ever ask for. He was kind, smart, reliable and without a doubt one of the funniest people to ever walk the earth. Sam was murdered on november 28, 2021. The day began with sam loading up his fathers car with clean laundry, some leftover turkey, and supplies to carry him through the rest of the semester. He was returning to his apartment at Temple University after the thanksgiving weekend. He planned to drop the items off at his apartment, then return home to watch hbo with me, sleep in his own bed, and then take the train back to School Monday morning. That did not happen. Because on his street, near his apartment, was career criminal with an illegal gun waiting to steal the car of the next person that drove down the street. The next person was my eagle scout son, sam. Sam was shot four times and died less than 30 minutes later at temple hospital. Sam was so knowledgeable about our country and he knew every single president and could talk for hours about politics. So it was no surprise when he told his father and i that he wanted to study Political Science at Temple University after high school. His fervor for politics started young. He served as president during his junior and senior year. He never missed an opportunity to take it into account. He wanted to study law school for constitutional law. He campaigns for local politicians and interned at city hall where he worked for elections. He was responsible for getting hundreds of people to get registered to vote. He was a poll watcher. He road with fellow temple students on a school bus to north and South Carolina to campaign for his favorite politician, bernie sanders. Sam truly believed in the not me, us mantra which is why he was so outspoken in politics. Sam had a larger than life personality. As one of his professor pointed out, ieveryone knew sam. He became known as polysci sam. To lose a child is a pain for any parent. To lose a child like sam knowing he was destined for Something Big is absolutely soul crushing. How his father, sister, and i are Still Standing seems impossible to believe. He made us better people just by knowing him. Were destroyed without him, his cheerfulness, his wit and his intelligence. One of the hardest parts is knowing my sons murder was preventable. Our children should be able to go to school safely. We should not have to worry about making sure they know where the closest exits are at the movie theaters, supermarkets, concerts, and churches. I implore our elected officials to do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands. We must do better. We have to do better. We are failing our children. They say time heals all wounds but i can tell you without any doubt whatsoever not this one. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Rose. Mr. Rose madam speaker, there is no denying that the crisis at our southern border was caused by President Biden and his administrations open border policies. Since President Biden took office, more than 3. 8 million Illegal Immigrants have been apprehended at our southern border. Meanwhile, the commissioner of customs and Border Protection was falling asleep during meetings while this crisis continued on his watch. This is exactly why around two weeks ago i joined 15 of my fellow House Republicans, led by congr congr congressman hice, on calling on c. B. P. Administrator to resign. Fortunately he did and now our National Security are better off. Already, before republicans even officially take the majority, we are holding the Biden Administration accountable. And i promise that come january 3 when the new congress is sworn in, you can expect more accountability where that came from. Madam speaker, the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed what most tennesseans already knew. President bidens plan to give a handout to millions of College Educated americans will be paid for with even more deficit spending than has been anticipated. Around 400 billion in deficit spending, to be expect. This is just shocking, and the president thinks its acceptable and legal to spend this kind of money without congressional approval. But it is neither. We hear 10,000 per borrower thrown around a lot, but c. B. O. Says 24 Million People would receive 20,000 in Debt Forgiveness under the plan. Thats basically a 2022 Hyundai Elantra or a kia soul or a nissan sent are a. I sentra. I ask my democratic colleagues, how are you ok giving away the equivalent of a new car and asking those without student debt to foot the bill . Asking tennessee plumbers to foot the bill for harvardeducated lawyers. Asking americas bluecollar workers to give a subsidy to some of the best educated people and bestpaid people in this country. This Administration Must reverse course on this wrongheaded regressive policy. Thank you, madam speaker. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Garcia, for five minutes. Ms. Garcia thank you, madam speaker. I rise to recognize the need for us to prohibit the physical restraining of Young Children as a form of discipline in schools. Shockingly, shockingly, in the 2017 to 2018 school year, nearly 71,000 Elementary Schoolaged children were physically restrained. Even worse, 80 of the restrained children were kids with disabilities, some younger than 5 years old. Even though they only make up 13 of the student population. In texas, 91 of all reported restraints are experienced by children with disabilities. And regrettably, children who are latino and black are at much higher risk of being restrained. Since 2020, nearly 20 fatalities, 20 fatalities have occurred because of poor restraining techniques and childrens bodies simply being too small to endure this form of discipline. This is simply heartbreaking and its totally unacceptable. And it doesnt appear to be slowing down. Just this month, mischa baker, a mother of a child from a Houston Independent School district got a letter that her 4yearold son in an elementary it was in an Elementary School and told he had been restrained at school. Ms. Baker learned two days after the incident that this restraining had been unjustified and that the teacher was on administrative leave. This is a very deeply troubling case. Fortunately, her son was not physically hurt. But think of the scars emotional a lot that he emotionally that he must endure. This is totally unacceptable. Many times children are hurt, like a 10yearold student from a Charter School in waco, texas, who sadly, sadly was restrained to the point that he actually had a broken arm in four places. A broken arm because he was restrained last month. The child had a learning disability. Madam speaker, put yourself in the shoes of these families. One minute youre hugging your child, saying goodbye, theyre off to school. The next, you get a call that your child has been restrained. Put in handcuffs or a zip tie as a form of discipline. This is flat wrong. Its inhumane, and it must stop. Madam speaker, today i will be introducing my resolution called no kids in cuffs resolution to ensure local and state governments to prohibit this practice. Young children who are restrained are more likely to experience shortterm and longterm problems in sleep, learning, relationships, and trust. In fact, being restrained is so traumatic that it can even impede a childs development. Many go on to struggle with suicidal thoughts and are forced to live with posttraumatic anxiety. All this on top of the physical pain that they may experience. And while the children must clearly be the first we protect, sometimes teachers, administrators, and officers are also at risk of developing trauma from just simply witnessing a child being restrained to the degree that their little arm is broken in four places. Its hard to endure. Its hard to witness. And this trauma must end. Lets make sure no other child must endure what no party should endure what ms. Baker and thousands of other families must go through. Lets begin the conversation of prohibiting the physical restraining of children. Lets put children over restraints. Lets put books over cuffs. Thats why im introducing today, madam speaker, the no kids in cuffs resolution, and i ask all my colleagues to help me. We must end in practice. Children should focus on their books and their learning, not on cuffs and trauma. Thank you, madam speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, m mr. Mchenry, for five minutes. Mr. Mchenry well, thank you, madam speaker. Madam speaker, today i come to the floor to honor a member of my team whos devoted the past 18 years to serving the constituents of North Carolinas 10th congressional district. Serving it with integrity and honor, especially for veterans and service members. Its my true honor today to pay tribute to my friend and my lead veterans and military caseworker joanna who is retiring at the end of the year. Joanna has been with me since the beginning of my service here in the house. The beginning of 2005. And since day one, anyone who encountered joanna instantly knew her passion for our veterans. We had veterans line up just to go sit down and talk to joanna and have a conversation with her because of her warm spirit and what a wonderful person she is and everyone understood that very quickly. And the numbers tell that story about her passion for our veterans. During her service, joanna has handled just shy of 6,000 veterans cases and 362 active duty military cases. Shes helped 107 veterans get medals. She helped get the v. A. Outpatient clinic in hickory. And forest city, North Carolina. And was a key resource to veteran Service Officers during her service. One said of joanna, joe rannas joannas commitment to serving veterans in our community is exemplary. Ill miss her greatly. The congressman as well as the people of Rutherford County and the great state of North Carolina have been blessed with the service of joanna. Joanna, ayoull be missed and youll be missed by so many. Not just the veterans but your coworkers who love you dearly. And not just your coworkers but me. And being able to work with you and to call you a friend and to learn from you has meant a great deal to me. And to my wife, julia as well and my kids. So we want to thank you for your service. I want to thank you for your loving spirit, the strength of your faith. And it seems just like yesterday that you and i and your husband, freddy, sat down for lunch in the fall of 2003 to talk about politics. And i learned a lot during that first election to congress from you, joanna. I want to say thank you for your service. Thank you for your friendship. Y where he know you wont be a stranger. Thanks so much. We love you. And i yield back, madam speaker. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from minnesota, ms. Omar, for five minutes. Ms. Omar madam speaker, i want to start out by thanking my community for reelecting me to serve minnesotas fifth congressional district. Our state continues to have the highest voter turnout in the nation. Its one of the easiest states to vote in and should be a model for states across the country. In my district, we increased our voter share by 10 from 2020 and we got more votes than any other house candidate in minnesota. Beyond that, minnesotans voted to flip the minnesota senate, creating a democratic trifecta for the first time in nearly a decade. We also voted for incredible new leaders throughout our state that have many firsts behind their names. Bobby joe champion will be the first black president of the minnesota senate. Hussein will be the first africanborn somali woman genz person elected to the senate. And claire and erin will be among the first black women elected to the minnesota senate. Samantha will be the first japaneseamerican member of the minnesota house. Lee will be the first transmember of the minnesota house and Mary Moriarty will be the first openly gay woman to be elected to be the hen pin county attorney the Hennepin County attorney. We know none of these candidates ran to be first. They ran to make a difference for their communities. When i was first elected to the minnesota house, i was the first and only somali american legislator. Now therell be 11 somalyamerican legislators across the country. It is often said you cant be what you cant see. Im incredibly proud that we, along with so many others, have been an able to inspire countless people to run for office. So now many more people will finally see themselves reflected in various places and positions of power. I also want to take a moment to honor two of my mentors, representative jim daphne and senator Patricia Torres wray who are retiring from the Minnesota State house and nat. Thank you for representing our communities so well over the years. I cant wait to see the work you continue to do to make sure our state thrives. As we get ready to welcome in new leaders throughout our state, this is our time to deliver meaningful changes for minnesotans. Now is the time to deliver affordable child care, Lower Health Care costs, invest in k12 and higher education, combat the Climate Crisis and legalize marijuana. Minnesota nice is leading with compassion and getting things done. Lets get to work. Thank you. Madam speaker, i rise today to talk about the situation in burma. It has been my honor this year to be a member of the International Parliamentary inquiry on myanmar. Our group of lawmakers representing africa, asia, europe, north america, released our final report earlier this month which i will submit as an extension of my remarks. The tragedy of the military coup is immense but the but their mawvment for democracy is deeply inspiring. The United States must recognize the National Unity government as the legitimate government of burma and never give legit macy to coup leader. But we should also be clary that the National Unity government must include rohingya representation to be legitimat. The International Community has not done nearly enough to support the democratic aspirations of the burmese people. We must lead by example while we still have time. Thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lee, for five minutes. Ms. Lee thank you, madam speaker. When the Supreme Court voted toover turn roe vs. Wade, i was totally outraged. We knew that that day was coming and as horrific as it was and is, we were ready. But i was not alone in that outrage. Madam speaker, over the past few weeks, the American People took their outrage and they turned it into action. From kentucky to california, red states to blue, our constituents made their voices heard and their message is clear. Americans trust people, not politicians, to make their own decisions about their health and their lives, including about abortions. Americans will use their vote to strike down a tax on reproductive rights time and time again and yes, support reproductive freedom. Now madam speaker, its time to turn our constituents demands into congressional action. And yes, to my republican colleagues, who tried to claim their extremism and public opinion, we saw that the American People, the majority of American People, are not buying it. Im determined to ensure that their voices are heard. To fight for all of our rights to make our own decisions over our bodies. And i wont stop and none of my colleagues here will stop until the right to abortion is available and to keep politicians from interfering in our personal decisions about our bodies. Were going to keep fighting that this is available to everyone regardless of race, zip code or income. Its our bodies, and its our choices. Madam speaker, i rise today in support of house amendment s. 3902, the fire act. I am proud to support this bill and thank my good friends and fellow californians senator padilla and congresswoman lofgren for their leadership and chairman defazio and the speaker for bringing it to the floor. Communities across the world are feeling the impact of climate change, fueling wildfires and harming fragile ecosystems and communities. I was privileged to be in eyipt last week for cop 27 and it was very apparent and clear and the voices were heard that we have got to address these Critical Issues with regard to the Climate Crisis now. And i have directly witnessed the devastating effects of wildfires on homes and livelihoods in my community which is what i im proud to support this bill an urge my colleagues to vote yes with me. Current wildfires are growing larger and hotter, requiring urgent and robust action from the federal government. The fire act allows fema to predeploy assets during high risk times, improves roe Relocation Assistance for Public Infrastructure affected by fires and ensures equity of assistance for tribal communities and governments. I urge my colleagues to support this amended bill and thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee, for five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Veasey, for five minutes. Mr. Veasey madam speaker, i rise today to honor the life of officer brendan tsai. A brave member of the Grand PrairiePolice Department who died in the line of duty this past week. He bravely protected the people of north texas and the city of Grand Prairie since january of this year, after five years with the los angeles Police Department. The Grand PrairiePolice Department described him as a loving friend, a trusted colleague, anout standing officer whose passion provided service to the public. I join the entire north Texas Community and all of his brothers and sisters in blue and all of the metroplex departments in keeping officer tsais family, friends and all his colleagues at the city of Grand Prairie in our thoughts and prayers during this time. I thank you, madam speaker and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the speaker very much. I rise this morning to of how important it is to engage in dialogue. Were hearing across america that americans are frightened about the discussion about differences. This land was first held by the indigenous people, native americans. Every other group came to america. Whether or not youre of european heritage, hispanic heritage, asian pacific, Southeast Asian or whether youre african heritage. As a descendant of enslaved africans, we are the only group that came as slaves to this country and held in bondage for over 200 years. Now youve not seen africanamericans refuse their patriotism. Refuse to serve. We have served in every war. Since the revolutionary war. Youve never seen africanamericans not shed or refuse to shed blood for the freedom of this country, or to wear the uniform. Youve not seen us shy away from serving as firefighters and law enforcement, teachers, businesspersons, social justice leaders, such as dr. King, john lewis, and yes, malcolm x. Youve not seen us as women, rosa park, sojourner truth, Coretta Scott king, harriet tubman, stand away from the fight. We have embraced freedom, justice and equality. You did not see us attack this most solid and come behr institution, sacred, on january and somber institution, sacred, on january 6, 2021. We were in the the masses trying to undermine democracy. In fact, in this last election, i stood on the premise of defending democracy and i take no back seat to my love of this nation. And so i ask my colleagues why do you in any way doubt the value and importance of h. R. 40 . The purpose is to acknowledge the fundamental injustice and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and to establish a commission to study and consider a National Apology and proposal for reparations from the for the institution of slavery. It was biensd the premise of racism. There was in fact no compensation, no life insurance, no salaries and slaves were born, they lived and died in slavery. Never seeing freedom. They worked from sun up and beyond and they worked until they fell dead in the fields. They built this nation that built the United States capitol. They built the white house. They in fact created an economic engine by making cotton king and they created an economic engine by the transatlantic slave trade. The traders decided to stop trading spices and gold and to use the human beings they marched for 300 miles to weaken the slaves so they would not have a fight before getting on those ships. Many dropped into the watery grave before they got on. Many died in the dark passage. But yet here we are today. So this is not a pointing the finger. This is not accusatory. This is in fact a reconciliation. I insist that we establish this commission. And we must establish it by a vote or establish it by executive order. Reverend Mark Thompson said, a Political Action for social justice, said if we were granted h. R. 40 by executive order it would be america timely saying, black lives do matter, and its restoration and repair. Its restoration and repair, but it stands on the basis of facts. Theres no doubt we have been impacted. The d. N. A. And trajectory of slavery to today. For example, covid. Black africanamericans got covid at a rate nearly 1 1 2 times higher than that of white people. Or hospitalized at a rate nearly four times higher and three times as likely to die. Covid hit us desperately. Interestingly, a peerreviewed study from Harvard Medical School suggests reparations for africanamericans could have cut covid19 transmission and infection rates both among blacks and the population at large. Reparations are curative. Theyre not punishment. The Analysis Continued to look at data throughout the nation. And so as we move in this lame duck session, it is important that we come together for reconciliation, restoration, and provide the commission to study slavery and to develop reparation proposals. I thank my colleagues for their support. And i believe together we make america strong, america free and america equal. With that, i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in