Jake Auchincloss

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I mistakenly recorded my vote as NO when I should have voted YES on Roll Call No. 271.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Steve Khan and his colleagues were removed from the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting, where NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya was set to speak, while passing out copies of their editorial. Attacks on science always become attacks on scientists. This leads to policy by fear and favor, not evidence. The editorial said: ``Just a year ago, in these very pages, we highlighted the many threats the current U.S. administration posed to the health of our Nation. Since then, there have been actions by the administration that have caused grave health consequences, and their current approach will continue to do so. The numerous measles outbreaks and associated avoidable deaths have resulted in part from hyping disproven theories of harm rather than publicizing the effectiveness of the measles vaccine.'' While one would think that this congressional action to preserve the NIH budget was a clear repudiation, it has not stopped President Trump from requesting a 2027 budget that now seeks a $5-billion reduction to the NIH. Mr. Speaker, we call on all concerned citizens of our beloved country to contact their congressional Representatives to declare their alarm.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a few portions of the editorial written by Steven Khan and his colleagues regarding the Trump administration's cuts to U.S. biomedical research.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituent, Gerry Rovner, I include in the Record the following resolution, which was passed during the 2026 Needham Special Town Meeting by voice vote: Whereas, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, written by John Adams, helped shape the United States Constitution and enshrines core principles of American governance, including separation of powers, checks and balances, the rule of law, and the protection of individual rights and civil liberties; and Whereas, James Madison warned in Federalist No. 47 that ``the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny,'' affirming separation of powers as a fundamental safeguard of democracy; and Whereas, the Town of Needham governs according to democratic principles grounded in the United States Constitution, the Massachusetts Constitution, and applicable federal and state law; and Whereas, in the first year of his second term, President Trump has repeatedly undermined these constitutional principles by defying court orders, dismantling congressionally created agencies, withholding appropriated funds, imposing tariffs without congressional approval, and authorizing military actions abroad without congressional authorization; and Whereas, the administration has also used intimidation tactics, including deploying troops on U.S. soil, threatening federal prosecution of perceived political enemies, and withholding federal funding for education and research, including from Massachusetts institutions, that refuse to comply with unlawful executive directives; and Whereas, the administration has dismantled or weakened federal programs that support vulnerable populations, including programs affecting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, prescription drug affordability, and protections under the Affordable Care Act; and Whereas, immigration enforcement practices pursued by the administration and the Department of Homeland Security raise serious constitutional concerns, including detentions that undermine protections against unreasonable search and seizure, due process, and habeas corpus, and policies allowing agents to obscure their identities and detain individuals without judicial warrants; and Whereas, recent Supreme Court decisions, including Trump v. United States (2024), have expanded presidential immunity for certain official actions, raising concerns about accountability and the balance of powers, while Congress has failed to exercise its constitutional responsibilities over war powers, appropriations, and oversight; and Whereas, actions that undermine constitutional governance, civil liberties, and the rule of law at the federal level have direct consequences for the Town of Needham and its residents, as well as residents throughout Massachusetts, its municipalities, educational and research institutions, and vulnerable populations who rely on federal programs; and Whereas, residents of Needham have consistently demonstrated through peaceful protest and civic engagement their expectation that democratic institutions be protected and constitutional norms upheld; and Now therefore, be it resolved, that this Town Meeting affirms that no person, including the President of the United States, is above the law and that all pub]ic officials are bound by their oath to uphold and faithfully execute the Constitution of the United States; and Be it further resolved, that this Town Meeting urges the President of the United States to faithfully execute the duties of the office in accordance with the Constitution and federal law, and calls upon the United States Congress to exercise its constitutional authority to conduct robust oversight of the executive branch and investigate any violations of the Constitution or abuses of executive power; and Be it further resolved, that the Town Clerk transmit copies of this Resolution to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and to the leadership of both Houses of Congress The collective voice of the Town of Needham may be entered into the public record.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of the late Congressman Barney Frank. Barney Frank was a larger-than-life character. As a mentor and a friend, he made me a better lawmaker, and he made me laugh. My staff and I, representing the district that he faithfully served for three decades, will always treasure his stories, his encouragement, and his advice. He put wit and wisdom to work over a remarkable political career. Barney pioneered policies to ensure equality for gay Americans at a time when it wasn't popular or safe to be an out lawmaker. He enacted landmark regulation to prevent financial meltdowns, and he championed affordable housing. His legislation and leadership made America more fair and more just. The people of the Massachusetts Fourth, who elected him 16 times, have always held great affection and esteem for Barney. We will miss him. On behalf of all his former constituents, I extend to his family and friends condolences for his death and gratitude for his life of service.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes on March 17, 2026 through March 19, 2026. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 88; YEA on Roll Call No. 89; NAY on Roll Call No. 90; NAY on Roll Call No. 91; YEA on Roll Call No. 92; NAY on Roll Call No. 93; NAY on Roll Call No. 94; NAY on Roll Call No. 95; and NAY on Roll Call No. 96.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 71; YEA on Roll Call No. 72; NAY on Roll Call No. 73; and NAY on Roll Call No. 74.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. They are going to look at the total cost of ownership, including the initial purchase price plus the cost of utilities over long-term usage, understanding that many purchasers of manufactured housing don't live there for the 30 years that the Department of Energy was using to amortize the energy costs. This bill streamlines bureaucracy, and it clarifies accountability. It does not lower energy efficiency standards, but it does lower prices. This is why the National Housing Conference, which is a continuum of affordable housing stakeholders, has endorsed this legislation. I encourage my Democratic colleagues to do so, as well.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Housing affordability is the number one issue in the United States economy right now, and manufactured housing is part of the solution. It is housing in the range of $100,000 to $200,000. New manufactured homes are HUD energy code compliant, and some of them even are meeting Energy Star certification standards. However, we have a challenge. In 2022, under the Biden administration, with the Department of Energy and the Department of Housing and Urban Development sharing enforcement authority for energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing, the Department of Energy put forward energy efficiency standards that the Biden-era HUD said they could not enforce. I want to reiterate that for my Democratic colleagues. The Biden-era HUD said they could not enforce because of what they would do to housing affordability with manufactured housing. It was projected that at least 25,000 fewer homes would be constructed over the next 10 years, and one Biden-era Office of Management and Budget official said it could add $5,000 to $10,000 of additional costs per key for manufactured housing, all to save what could be a teaspoon of greenhouse gas emissions, about what one Ford F- 150 would emit on one visit to a construction worksite. This is not a workable scenario because when you have shared enforcement between two agencies that disagree, nothing happens. What this bill does is it puts accountability for housing affordability with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Department of Housing and Urban Development still needs to incorporate the expertise of the Department of Energy. I want to be clear about this. This does not necessarily lower energy efficiency standards. In fact, HUD could very well decide that they want to raise energy efficiency standards, but they are going to make that decision holistically. They are going to look at the costs.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to outline my concerns with a provision contained within the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which I will vote against. This provision, though well intentioned, is poorly drafted and shows the deficit of proper process. Referred to as the BIOSECURE Act, Section 851 of the NDAA will only apply to contracts subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations System--that is the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. This means that while Medicare and commercial-plan beneficiaries will be able to access the drugs captured by the BIOSECURE Act, veterans and service members could be alienated from treatments and cures that are available to other Americans. This bifurcation is not only unfair, it renders the disincentive to biotechs ineffective. In its form, this bill is not fit to function and makes no attempt to support a domestic CDMO or CRO industry. It simply limits care and cures for service members and veterans.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 308 and NO on Roll Call No. 309.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call Vote number 183 on H.R. 875, I mistakenly recorded my vote as YES when I should have voted No.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1664, the Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2025, which passed under voice vote. This bill gives the Department of Commerce broad authority to pursue U.S. leadership of blockchain technology. This is an unusual circumstance because I actually support the legislation and supported the legislation during the last administration because we had a Secretary of Commerce then who was one of the finest public servants that I have had the pleasure of working with. Now, however, we have a Secretary of Commerce who is pushing to use crypto to the benefit of himself and his own family, specifically his son, who is trying to make deals overseas. Our Secretary has strong ties to the stablecoin Tether. He spent 40 years as CEO and chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, one of Tether's key investors. He is using his and his family's weight to pitch Tether to foreign governments across the Middle East, turning public policy into personal profit. The United States Government must be a free and impartial referee. We should not be a bull or a bear on crypto. We should ensure market integrity, force amplification of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency, but that becomes impossible when the Secretary of Commerce is so conflicted as he is on this matter. That is on top of the fact that the President himself has been selling off the Presidency with the $TRUMP meme coin. We cannot allow this administration to continue to grift off of blockchain.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Madam Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 152, NAY on Roll Call No. 153, YEA on Roll Call No. 154, and NAY on Roll Call No. 155.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 130 and YEA on Roll Call No. 131.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to advocate against the funding cuts to the Medicaid program that have been proposed for consideration during the budget reconciliation process. Specifically, the Energy and Commerce Committee, of which I am a member, has been tasked with cutting $880 billion of Federal spending across the healthcare programs it oversees, a vast majority of which supports Medicaid. Cutting this program will be used in service of tax cuts for people who don't need tax cuts and will be devastating to children and families who do need the healthcare. Mr. Speaker, as we discuss cuts to this program, we must not forget the people behind these budgetary numbers. As such, I will highlight one Massachusetts family today. I will be reading a poem entitled, ``The Mathematics of Mercy.'' It was written by Betsy Johnson. Betsy is an autism educator with the ARC of Massachusetts and a mother of two young adult children with autism and other intellectual disabilities. They rely on Medicaid. She shared this poem with me to highlight the importance of Medicaid with her family and all families who care for their loved ones with disabilities. It speaks more powerfully than any amount of budgetary debate. ``The Mathematics of Mercy'': A direct care worker holds Someone's universe for $16 an hour, Lifts world, bathes dignity back into being Her hands trembling now As she reads the letter Saying her client's hours are cut, Knowing some bodies can't survive On spreadsheet logic. They speak of cuts in marble rooms, Voices that have never whispered, ``Your therapy is never medically necessary'' To a nonverbal child Who just learned to make sounds Like morning birds. In living rooms turned sacred spaces, Therapists pack up their tools of possibility-- Weighted vests, sensory brushes, Piece of someone's future Now deemed too expensive By men who've never seen How a body learns to trust itself One careful touch at a time. Listen to power chairs going still, To screens falling dark in throats That borrow them for voice, To support workers saying goodbye To people who stopped being clients Somewhere between the first smile And the last hug, While offshore accounts grow fat On the mathematics of suffering. This is how a nation bleeds: Not on battlefields but in group homes, Not from enemy fire but from funding gaps, Where independence becomes too expensive, Where institution beds cost less Than community care. In the halls of power, They call this fiscal responsibility As if responsibility means Telling a mother her daughter Can no longer see the therapist Who taught her how to speak, As if America means Pricing dignity like a luxury good. Every denial letter bears A signature of someone Who has never watched a child Take their first steps at 12, Never seen the light in eyes When words finally come, Never felt the weight Of a family's hopes Balanced against The coldness of cost. Yet in these rooms where care persists, Where love defies their calculations, We piece together what they tear apart Like a quilt of borrowed time, With midnight shifts and morning prayers, Hands that hold when budgets say let go. Here, in this web of grace we weave, Because what flows through us is stronger Than their ledgers and our stubborn refusal To let spreadsheets tell us what a life is worth. Again, this comes from Betsy Johnson, an autism educator with the ARC of Massachusetts.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the illegal and unwise policy recently announced by the National Institutes of Health to limit their indirect cost recapture rate to 15 percent. To start with, as we start with most Trump administration maneuvers these last 3 weeks, it is illegal. I know that my Republican colleagues don't think that it is possible for the President to answer to the rule of law, but it is critical, particularly with the biomedical enterprise that makes long-term, expensive investments, to have confidence that when Congress or the President make a commitment, they stand by it over the course of years and even across decades. Undermining the rule of law undermines our ability to do the kinds of long-term, transformational science that changes lives. In 2017, when the Trump administration first attempted to lower the indirect cost recapture rate to 10 percent, the Appropriations Committee, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote, rejected it and froze the IDC at its current level. That has been reauthorized every single year from 2017 through 2024. I ask my Republican colleagues: You voted for this. They are breaking that law that you voted for. What are you going to do about it? Now, the NIH might say: Well, we are referring to a different section of the code whereby we can, for a subset of grants with documentation, reduce the IDC. That is not the NIH policy, though. The NIH did not do a subset of grants. They did it for every single grant and with zero documentation. Wake up, Republicans. They are breaking your law. The NIH might claim that what we are doing here is actually not cuts to the NIH because the same $35 billion is going to go out to science, but now it is just going to be more of those direct experiments, the people, the reagents, and the travel, and less of that expensive overhead. While it is true that the same amount of dollars could go out the door, in reality, these institutions, whether universities or hospitals, are going to be decreasingly able to afford to accept them. Of any given experiment, the overhead associated with that experiment is well more than 15 percent. Research facilities, energy bills, support personnel, and data and technology, these things are expensive. We are not in the era of beakers in somebody's backyard doing chemical experiments. We are in an era of cutting-edge genetic engineering, and the equipment costs money. Fewer institutions and investigators are going to be able to accept these grants. What we are ultimately going to do is privatize research infrastructure, so we are going to get less of it. It is just as though the Department of Transportation told businesses to build their own bridges and sidewalks. We just wouldn't get as many of them. The impact in Massachusetts is going to be profound. It is a $2 billion attack on the research infrastructure that undergirds our eds and meds enterprise, an enterprise that creates billions of dollars in economic activity that supports hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs. Each of those jobs in biopharma, for example, can create five other jobs. That is a profound economic multiplier. The work that we do in Massachusetts changes lives. There is progress on Alzheimer's, under which 15 million Americans will suffer by 2050 if we do not come up with therapies. Gestational diabetes--and, just recently, a non-opiate painkiller was developed in Massachusetts with NIH basic research funds that will provide outlets for acute pain that do not expose people to this most addictive chemical that has caused so much pain. My Republican colleagues might say, ``Yeah, that is Massachusetts.'' That is the whole point, don't you see? ``It is the blue State and those universities and hospitals who think they are so much better than everybody else.'' That is exactly the point. Here is my challenge to my Republican colleagues: Go back to your districts, talk to your universities, and talk to your hospitals. See how they are feeling about this policy. What you are going to hear is that they can't afford to take these grants. The research, the development, and the commercialization that you brag about when you go home, the ribbons that you cut for new companies and for new projects, all rest upon this research infrastructure that is getting cut. Go talk to these companies. Go talk to these institutions of higher education. Go talk to these hospitals. They don't want to see this policy go into effect, and they want to see you vote for it and explain it back home, not hide behind the NIH. So, they are losing. Who is winning? China. There were two main themes in the recent J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. One was artificial intelligence, which, by the way, requires a lot of research infrastructure. The second was how good China has gotten at biotech in the last few years. The Chinese biotech enterprise is looking at the United States cutting our own research infrastructure at a time when they are investing tens of billions of dollars, and they cannot believe their luck. My Republican colleagues need to wake up, stand up, and support basic science.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I missed the vote on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 122. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 38.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, as the United States seeks to strengthen our position in the Indo-Pacific, let us commit to Taiwan as a long-term ally.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 33, the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act. This bill codifies the strong partnership between the United States and Taiwan by granting benefits to Taiwan's residents that invest in the United States without the undue burden of additional taxation. Taiwan's vibrant democracy and strong economy represent opportunity in the Indo-Pacific. In 2024, the United States was Taiwan's largest destination for its direct foreign investment, totaling more than $14 billion. To date, the United States has signed double taxation agreements with over 60 countries, including the People's Republic of China. It does not have one with Taiwan. The scope and severity of the threat from the Chinese Communist Party is crystallized in the Taiwan Strait, which is under constant harassment. The United States and Taiwan should help support each other's democracies through collaboration on countering disinformation and propaganda. We should go further to strengthen one another's economies through increased flows of trade and investment by negotiating expanded market access, common rules, and the end of this double taxation on Taiwanese investment in the United States. This is especially critical as we look to revive U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the late Cole William Schmidtknecht. Born in 2001 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Cole was a 22-year-old who, according to his parents, Bil and Shanon, did life on his own terms. Cole was known to them as Mr. Independent. As a toddler, he walked himself into kindergarten. Bil and Shanon said that Cole always stood up for the little guy. Growing up, Cole had a love for gaming and enjoyed playing in video game tournaments. He had gained a following online on Twitch that he shared with many of his gaming friends. His mother, Shanon, said he had a lifelong curiosity for knowledge. Cole had an affinity for elephants due to their wisdom and kindness and had wanted a tattoo of one on his arm. Cole had recently moved back to Appleton, Wisconsin, to live with his best friend. In January of 2024, Cole went to the pharmacy to refill his steroid medication for his asthma, a medication he had taken for years. A big 3 pharmacy benefit manager had increased the price of Cole's daily asthma medication from around $35 to over $500. He was told that no generic drug would be covered by his insurance, and Cole was forced to choose between his medication and his rent. He chose to pay his rent. Five days later, Cole suffered a severe asthma attack that led to cardiac arrest. On January 21, 2024, Cole passed away. These pharmacy benefit managers are the middlemen of drug pricing. They are owned by Fortune 20 health insurance companies and are working for profit, not patients. PBMs claim to negotiate on behalf of employers and patients to lower drug costs, but the Federal Trade Commission's July investigation into PBM price gouging abuses showed the facts. PBMs mark up the cost of drugs by thousands of percent above their acquisition cost and have captured $300 billion from the U.S. healthcare system. They have invested none of that into research and development for new drugs. PBMs influence what prescription drugs are available and what they cost by mandating patients receive expensive, brand-name drugs when cheaper, generic drugs are prescribed and are readily available. Now their greed is on full display. At the July House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing, I questioned big 3 PBM executives about these markups. I asked CVS Caremark President David Joyner, now CEO of CVS Health, why he was charging $6,229 for a $16 multiple sclerosis drug. This is a 38,000 percent markup for lifesaving medication. He had no real answer to my questions. It doesn't stop there. These exorbitant markups extend to drugs for leukemia, prostate cancer, kidney disease, and more. At this hearing, I unveiled H.R. 9096, the bipartisan Pharmacists Fight Back Act with Diana Harshbarger, a pharmacist. Pharmacists Fight Back will stop the most nefarious of PBM price gouging abuses. PFB is the most muscular reform ever introduced at the Federal level. It will implement a transparent pharmacy reimbursement model using market-based pricing benchmarked to the national average drug acquisition cost. It will end patient exploitation in Federal healthcare plans and impose criminal violations for such behavior. No family should suffer the loss of a child from PBM greed. Ahead of Thanksgiving, we reached our goal of 50 cosponsors to Pharmacists Fight Back, 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats. This is not a partisan issue. Cole had his whole life ahead of him. Because Cole was forced to choose between paying his rent or shelling out hundreds of dollars to cover his medication out of pocket for a drug that did not need to be that expensive, his family is without their loved one. There is no justification for a family facing Thanksgiving without their child. Cole's death was preventable. Since Cole's passing, Bil and Shanon, who are here today, have fought tirelessly for PBM reform. I am grateful for their presence today and that they have chosen to tell their story so no other parents experience this pain. Cole's parents said that Cole walked his own path in life. He was known by his loved ones to have deep care and compassion for those whom he encountered. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my fellow Members to protect patients like Cole and his family and to sponsor H.R. 9096, the Pharmacists Fight Back Act. In honor of Cole Schmidtknecht, we will carry forward the fight to end the price gouging abuses of pharmacy benefit managers.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to outline my concerns with H.R. 8333, the BIOSECURE Act, which I voted against last night. This bill, though well-intentioned, is poorly drafted and shows the deficit of proper process. The BIOSECURE Act would only apply to contracts subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation System. That is the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This means that while Medicare and commercial-plan beneficiaries could access the drugs comprehended by the BIOSECURE Act, veterans and servicemembers could be alienated from treatments and cures that are available to other Americans. This bifurcation is not only unfair, but it renders the disincentive to biotechs ineffective. This legislation also fails to provide due process so that Congress is not veering into potential bill of attainder challenges. In its form, the bill is not fit to function and makes no attempt to support a domestic CDMO or CRO industry.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from the 359th roll call vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on roll call No. 359.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Madam Chair, the Framers of the Constitution understood the importance of a strong and stable national currency, which is why Article I, Section 8, grants Congress the exclusive power to coin money and regulate its value. Congress must not forfeit this power to the Federal Reserve or the Department of Treasury when it comes to issuing a CBDC. CBDCs are digital liabilities issued by a central bank and made available to the public. My bill, the Power of the Mint Act, which I introduced alongside my Republican colleague and chair of the Digital Assets Subcommittee, Congressman Hill, would prohibit the issuance of a CBDC without authorization from Congress. The Rules Committee, though, controlled by Republicans, refused to consider my amendment, which would have made the text of the Power of the Mint Act the base text of this bill. Instead of voting on a bipartisan bill that I am confident would have secured a robust majority and achieved functionally similar ends, we are voting on one now that was thrown together haphazardly, ignoring the advice of legislative counsel, and combining our bills with no regard for duplicative sections. It was voted out of committee on a party-line vote. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this legislation.

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS

Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, today, we stand against anti-Semitism and in solidarity with the hostages and their families. We stand together against the depravity of Hamas holding innocent men, women, and children hostage for 6 brutal months. We proclaim with one voice that the hostages must be returned immediately and unconditionally. We stand together against the surge in anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate crimes. We proclaim with one voice that anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel have no place in our country. My forebears in Ukraine learned through torment that hate may begin with solitary, anonymous acts of desecration, but it does not end there. Hate does not end unless we drag cowardly anti-Semitic actions into the daylight, bear witness as a community to their personal and penetrating effects, and resolve together that we are our neighbor's keeper. I am committed to all measures that will counter the scourge of anti- Semitism and that will hasten the return of the hostages. We must all strive for an America that is true to its ideals and an Israel that is secure and democratic, where in both countries ``all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.''