Yassamin Ansari

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 314.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Ramirez for her leadership. Mr. Speaker, the Trump regime's mass deportation agenda is not about public safety. It is part of a much bigger story of corruption, cruelty, and abuse of power that defines Trump's America. Earlier this year, Congress authorized a massive slush fund under Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill, pouring more than $170 billion of taxpayer money into enforcement and detention center expansion without any sort of meaningful oversight. At the heart of this system sits a vast network of privatized detention facilities run by private prison corporations, like CoreCivic and GEO Group, whose bottom lines depend on filling these beds. These companies are awarded government contracts worth billions of dollars, yet their facilities are notorious for cutting corners on healthcare, food, and safety in order to maximize shareholder profits. I have seen this firsthand at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona run by CoreCivic. I have talked to dozens of women who have been detained there. They shared with me their testimonies about lack of clean drinking water, lack of air conditioning during Arizona's extreme heat, racist inhumane treatment, and of course my constituent Yari, who was a green card holder who has leukemia, has been detained there and refused access to an oncologist for 6 months until direct outreach from our office and the community's input as well. This is all, again, all about shareholder profit. CoreCivic, for example, had a revenue of $530 million during the second quarter of this year alone, an almost 10 percent increase from 2024. Meanwhile, GEO Group's chairman said: Republicans' new slush fund for ICE would provide ``unprecedented growth opportunities.'' CoreCivic's CEO Damon Hininger stated in shareholder calls that this is a ``pivotal moment,'' and that ``business is perfectly aligned with demands of this moment.'' That is disgusting. Donald Trump's cruelty against immigrants has transformed human misery into both a political spectacle and a business model. The more people that are detained, the more money private corporations make, and the more campaign contributions and political power flow directly back to Donald Trump and those who fund this system. This is Trump's corruption machine turning our immigration system into a pay-to-play racket for his donors. Meanwhile, families across the country are paying the price, and parents are torn from their children, leaving households and communities economically devastated. Taxpayers in this country are footing the bill for a system not designed to keep us safe, but to funnel money into the pockets of a powerful few. It does not have to be this way. We can invest in alternatives to detention centers that are proven to be more humane and effective. We can end blank checks for ICE and stop the privatization of immigration detention centers once and for all, and we can finally reject the lie that Trumpian cruelty is security because in America, our safety should never come second to a billion dollar corporation's profit.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, the walls are closing in on Donald Trump and his rich and powerful friends who either abused or raped children or who were enabling and complicit in these heinous crimes for decades. This vote today matters, but here is the truth: Donald Trump could direct the Department of Justice to release the files today. He is choosing not to. Led by Oversight and Government Reform Democrats, they are already under subpoena and have refused. This is an ongoing cover- up by the Trump White House. Mike Johnson and the White House have been complicit. Mr. Speaker, what is Trump hiding? Why not release the files today? Release the files today.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for empathy in the wake of fear-driven hate. Fear has become the air we breathe in America. Parents breathe it as they drop their kids at school, wondering if today will be the day they get a call that no parent should ever get. Teachers breathe it, walking into classrooms, rehearsing how they might shield their students. Immigrant families breathe it in their own neighborhoods where ICE raids at schools and festivals turn everyday life into a source of terror. Transgender Americans breathe it just stepping outside, never knowing if they will be targeted for simply existing as themselves. Journalists and everyday Americans breathe it for simply exercising their free speech rights. Elected leaders, including myself, breathe it after watching colleagues and public figures gunned down in front of their families. This is the America we are living in right now, and this is not okay. We don't need to agree with someone's politics to say that their murder is a tragedy. The assassination of Charles Kirk, the murders of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the countless children lost to school shootings, are not partisan issues. These are human tragedies. Violence against any American is violence against us all. Yet what did we hear in the immediate aftermath? We didn't have space for grace or respect for families left behind. We heard Fox News hosts declare this is a war. Mr. Speaker, that is not what America needs right now. That instinct to weaponize tragedy betrays our humanity because political disagreements, even vast ideological differences, never justify violence. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a reminder of the imminent threat that having so many guns in our society poses to all of us, not just to our immediate safety, but to our freedom and our democracy. Violence cannot heal division. History teaches us that it only deepens it. Somewhere along the way we have lost our empathy. We started debating which families deserve protection, which communities deserve safety, and which children deserve dignity. That is not who we are supposed to be. Empathy is not weakness. Empathy is strength, and empathy is action. It is action against the epidemic of loneliness that leaves millions disconnected and vulnerable, a crisis that fuels despair and radicalization. We need to invest in connection in this country: in schools, in civic spaces, in mental health services, and in communities where people can see one another as human beings again. Empathy is action against the viciousness of unchecked social media. Cruelty isn't an accident of these platforms. It is their business model. When algorithms reward division and hate, that hate doesn't stay online. It shows up in our streets, in our schools, and in our politics. Congress cannot keep looking away while Big Tech profits from tearing our communities apart. Empathy is action against gun violence, the fear that stalks every one of us. It stalks every school, every community, and every public gathering. Enough with the excuses. Enough is enough. Children's lives are worth more than the profits of gun manufacturers. We need commonsense gun safety laws, and we need funding for mental health care. We cannot weaponize tragedy to silence dissent. When hate and fear are unleashed, then nobody is safe. Today it may be immigrants; tomorrow, transgender Americans; last week, a conservative political leader. Hate corrodes the bonds of belonging for all of us. I am asking my colleagues: Resist the temptation to harden your hearts. Choose empathy instead. Choose courage over cruelty. Choose action over indifference. That is because our strength as a nation will never be measured by how viciously we fight one another, but how deeply we care for one another. Let this moment of grief be a call to empathy, to decency, and to action.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, this week I offered four commonsense amendments, several with bipartisan support, that would have made the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act stronger and more responsible. I want to specifically highlight two of these important amendments for you all in the limited time that I have. The first amendment would have included a penalty in law for using artificial intelligence to impersonate Federal officials. This provision is identical to a bipartisan bill I introduced early this year titled: the AI Impersonation Prevention Act. I introduced this bill to safeguard national security from the clear danger of the misuse of AI to impersonate Federal officials. There have been multiple recent incidents of AI being used to falsely impersonate Federal officials, posing a very serious threat to our national security. Recently, an imposter using AI attempted to contact high-level U.S. security personnel pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio. AI will only continue to be more powerful and accessible, so we must act now to establish strict guardrails and accountability. That is why we need this amendment. As AI continues to become more widely adopted and more sophisticated, measures such as this amendment will ensure that we have critical trust in the messages and content we all receive on a daily basis and that there are penalties for the abuse of this very powerful technology. The second amendment I want to highlight speaks to a deeply disturbing issue that we all, both Republicans and Democrats, should be horrified by. This is about the Trump administration's deportation of veterans and servicemembers, including an Iraq war veteran detained by ICE in my district, Arizona's Third. Veterans are the best of us, our most patriotic Americans. This amendment to the NDAA would have required a study by the Defense Department and other relevant agencies on the procedures in place to assist noncitizen servicemembers with their citizenship applications. Ultimately, this disregard for the welfare of veterans and servicemembers stems from the top. I am disappointed but not surprised that none of my important amendments were allowed to be considered on the floor by House Republicans.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I want you to imagine for a moment that a person is going to the grocery store, grabbing coffee, or picking their child up from school. Instead of running errands or waiting for the school bell like usual, that individual is surrounded by masked men who scream at them, shove them to the ground, threaten them with weapons, and throw them into the back of a car. People are calling out for help, asking where that person is being taken. Authorities refuse to answer. The person has no idea where they are going, who these people are, or when or if they will ever see their family again. Mr. Speaker, imagine if you, or worse, your child, experienced the terror, the fear, and the blind pain of being kidnapped off the street. For many of my constituents, this is a horrific reality that they are dealing with every single day. ICE is terrorizing our communities. They are kidnapping people off of the streets, tearing families apart, and destroying futures to meet insane daily quotas enacted by Donald Trump. Just a few weeks ago, Republicans in Congress passed a massive budget that funnels billions of new dollars to ICE. This money makes ICE the largest domestic police force in the United States with more resources than dozens of militaries around the entire world. This funding is unprecedented, and it is a free pass for ICE to ramp up Trump's cruel and inhumane mass deportation policies. They are already building concentration camps in Florida where they are threatening to lock up legal immigrants and Latinos from across the country. I have visited facilities like this. On May 29, I went to the Eloy Detention Center just outside my district. I met with women who wanted to and, frankly, were desperate to share their stories with me. One was a green card holder who had been pulled over for a traffic stop. When they learned of her status, they stripped her of her green card and threw her into ICE detention without another thought. She had been trying to reach her family for months. Another woman told me a story about a guard taking all of the women out into the blazing Arizona heat. He forced them to march in circles for hours without water. One woman fainted and needed medical attention. While they marched, the guard yelled at them: This is the price of the American Dream. It should not matter who these women are. It should not matter whether they are citizens, legal residents, or undocumented people trying to make a life for themselves. It is shameful and embarrassing for our country that we would treat any human being like this. The detention centers and the facilities in this country are atrocious. They have absolutely zero oversight mechanisms in place. More than a month later, after formally inquiring to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE about the conditions that I saw firsthand, I have yet to receive a response. People are being harassed. They are being dehumanized. They are being abused. Last weekend, I tried to return to Eloy to meet with several constituents of mine who are detained there. I wanted to meet with a woman named Yari who has chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She has been detained at Eloy since February and has lost 55 pounds while in detention. She needs help. I also hoped to meet with a man who has been coughing up blood for weeks. Lastly, I wanted to meet with a 35-year-old woman with a kidney infection who says her antibiotics are not working and her condition is worsening. Even after ICE put in place new protocols to make it more difficult for us to do our job and our oversight work, we tried to follow their new rules. I gave them ample notice of my visit and a list of constituents that I hoped to meet with. They let us know that our visit was approved. Then less than 24 hours before I was supposed to make the trip, they changed their minds and said that my meeting with my constituents was denied. ICE is leaving families without answers and human beings without care. They are doing it, regardless of whether people are undocumented, legal residents, or even American citizens. They are splitting up parents by sending them to different detention facilities and then making children navigate the funds for a lawyer and basic survival. If I cannot get answers as a U.S. Congresswoman, how is anyone else in my district supposed to? Any one of us could be next. I will always stand with and fight for our immigrant communities. I will do everything I can to push back against Trump's authoritarian overreach.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend today's vote. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 156.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of long-overdue legislative measures to prevent Members of Congress from trading stock. The original STOCK Act passed in 2012 bars a Member of Congress, the President, Vice President, and high-level staff from engaging in insider trading or otherwise using nonpublic information for their own benefit. The bill also included important updates to financial transparency by requiring these high-ranking government officials to quickly disclose financial transactions to the public. In fact, it is because of this bill's provision that we know that Members of both parties are still consistently able to use nonpublic information to benefit their own stock portfolios. Incidents like these break our trust with the American people, with our constituents. That is why I am so proud to cosponsor Congressman Magaziner's TRUST in Congress Act. This bill would require Members of Congress and their immediate family members to divest from individual stock holdings or place them into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in Congress. In practice, it would ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. This is just common sense. Members of Congress should be prohibited from using nonpublic information for our own benefit. Polling has shown that nearly 86 percent of Americans support barring Members of Congress from trading stock, so this should be easy and it should be bipartisan. The TRUST in Congress Act and bills like it would prevent corruption and restore trust in Congress. Before I was sworn in to Federal office, I made a personal effort to sell stocks that I had and to ensure that my financial future would not and could not be dependent on information that I might become privy to as a Member of the House of Representatives. It is about more than following a set of rules. It is about acting ethically and respecting the power of the offices we hold. In a time where the President of the United States is expected to accept a plane worth hundreds of millions of dollars from a foreign nation, respecting a moral code and setting a strong example could not be more important. I am heartened to see my colleagues on both sides of the aisle standing in support of this issue.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out and condemn Donald Trump's astounding corruption. Just last week, he signaled that he would change the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf. Today, he arrived in the Middle East, where he is expected to accept a luxury 747 worth $400 million from Qatar to replace Air Force One. From attempting to rename the Persian Gulf to accepting luxury airplanes as unprecedented personal gifts, Donald Trump would rather waste time on ridiculous political stunts designed to curry favor with foreign governments and line his own pockets than address the issues affecting the American people. Mr. Speaker, as the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress, I can tell you that the Persian community in the United States and across the world is outraged at the attempt to change the historically significant name. That is why, today, I am proud to introduce the Persian Gulf Act to prohibit any Federal funds from being used to rename the body of water and prevent government documents from referring to the Persian Gulf by anything except that name. As Donald Trump acts only for himself, I will continue fighting against his corruption and the American people.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor local Phoenix trailblazer and community leader, Mary Rose Wilcox. As the first Hispanic woman ever elected to the Phoenix City Council and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Mary Rose spent her career in public service standing up for our vibrant immigrant and Latino communities and lifting up underserved neighborhoods like south Phoenix, the west valley, and Grant Park. Even in her retirement, she and her husband Earl continue to bring the community together, utilizing their restaurant, El Portal, as a gathering space for advocacy and organizing. She has been a huge inspiration to me in my career. More than anything, Mary Rose shows all of us what it means to be a fighter. Despite having faced discrimination, threats, and even violence, Mary Rose stands tall as an example of the resilient spirit of Phoenix. I was so glad to see Mary Rose recently honored with a ceremonial street sign at Second Avenue and Grant Street, now named Mary Rose Wilcox Way. This weekend, I was honored to attend the celebration for the new Mary Rose Wilcox Health Center in Grant Park. Mr. Speaker, I thank her for her service and kindness.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday night, the community that I represent in Glendale, Arizona, was rocked by yet another mass shooting in America. As families and friends came together to eat, drink, and dance, they looked forward to celebrating Cinco de Mayo and spending time in their community. Instead, their worlds were shattered as someone with a gun fired into the crowd outside the restaurant, killing three people and injuring five more. I cannot imagine the pain and sadness that their families and loved ones now feel, and I am sending them love and strength. Every single person there will be forever impacted by the violence and trauma that mass shootings impose on communities. For far too long, we have been forced to watch as gun violence devastates our communities, and we feel unsafe going to the movies or eating out at a restaurant. One thing is clear. These acts of violence and the trauma they inflict on all of us are preventable. They are a policy choice. It is time for us to make a new choice. Commonsense policy reforms to regulate guns and prevent mass shootings like this one in Glendale have broad, bipartisan support. It is beyond time we stand up and do something.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, a tragic incident occurred last night in my district outside the El Camaron Gigante restaurant in Glendale. A senseless act of violence took the lives of three people, injured five others, and shattered our community. I am heartbroken to say that my district has once again been touched by gun violence as far, far too many have. No one should be unsafe in this country eating in a restaurant or celebrating a holiday like Cinco de Mayo with friends and family. Mr. Speaker, in memory of the innocent victims of this tragedy, their families, and the entire community, I would ask for everyone present in the Chamber to please rise for a moment of silence.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, last week, I traveled to El Salvador, along with three of my colleagues, to see firsthand the chaos unleashed by the Trump administration through its unconstitutional and illegal deportations of U.S. residents to third-party countries. I represent a beautifully diverse district in which 64 languages are spoken and where families of immigrants like mine thrive. I have heard more about this issue from my constituents than any other during my time in Congress. In El Salvador, we met with the U.S. Ambassador and demanded that the Trump administration facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in compliance with the 9-0, unanimous Supreme Court decision of the United States and the lower Federal court judges. Mr. Abrego Garcia and many other wrongfully deported individuals were sent to El Salvador with no due process and no legal recourse just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is outrageous and indefensible that the Trump administration continues to defy a Supreme Court ruling to return this man to his family. In fact, it is a full-blown constitutional crisis. There are other people--including Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a makeup artist and legal asylum seeker, and Merwil Gutierrez, a teenager who was mistakenly picked up by immigration enforcement--languishing in El Salvador. Now, the Trump administration is admitting to deporting a 2-year-old U.S. citizen with cancer. It is cruel, it is despicable, and it is totally illegal, no matter what Stephen Miller or Tom Homan may say. These cases are not just about these specific people or children sent on planes to foreign prisons by the U.S. Government. Our entire system of justice hinges on the rights afforded to us by the Constitution, the rights of due process, access to legal representation, and the ability to be heard in a court of law. It is a dark day for our democracy when the Federal Government snatches people off of the streets, flies them out of the country secretly in the dead of night, and sends them to a foreign prison to be detained indefinitely with no legal recourse or chance to prove their case. Who is to say that it couldn't be you or me next? I will continue to speak out for due process and our constitutional rights.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in firm opposition to the Republican passage of the so-called SAVE Act, an act of legislative voter suppression that will make it much harder for most people to vote, the cornerstone of our democracy. This bill, which just passed the Republican House, is designed to combat a nonexistent problem. Noncitizens are already not allowed to vote under Federal law. Instances of fraudulent, noncitizen voting are exceedingly rare. You are literally more likely to get struck by lightning than encounter noncitizen voting. To address this made-up problem, Republicans have passed a draconian bill that would make it extremely difficult and costly for servicemembers, married women, and disadvantaged Americans to register to vote. In most cases it requires a person to present their birth certificate matching a current ID. There are no exceptions for the 70 million American women who changed their married name. This bill also mandates in-person visits to register to vote, disenfranchising potentially tens of thousands of deployed servicemembers, as well as Native Americans in rural areas like northern Arizona. This is a shocking act of voter suppression.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise with deep shock, concern, and outrage at the carelessness of the Trump administration in disclosing highly sensitive operational military plans on a commercial chat platform that included a reporter. Without a doubt, this reckless incompetence put our servicewomen and -men in danger. Last week, I received a call from a constituent whose son is deployed abroad in the region. His son's mission was personally put at risk by the very same people charged with safeguarding our Armed Forces who put their lives on the line for us. This Arizona father and his son sacrifice for our country, and we should all be ashamed that this is how their service is repaid. The Trump administration officials who set up and participated in this Signal chat debacle should have taken responsibility for their egregious mistake and instantly offered their resignation for having violated the law, contravened common sense, and put American troops in harm's way. Let me put it this way: Not only did the National Security Advisor set up an illegal, unsecured chat with the Secretary of Defense, the CIA Director, the Vice President, and others to discuss highly, highly sensitive and imminent attack plans, but they also bungled their way into adding a random person into the chat. We should not be surprised in the slightest that the Trump administration treats our Nation's secrets this way. This is the same man, after all, who had our nuclear codes sitting in his bathroom in Mar-a-Lago. The way that the administration has handled this entire calamity has been equally as dangerous. Secretary of Defense Hegseth straight-up lied. He said there was no classified information on the chat, that he didn't share attack plans, and that no troops were put in harm's way. Then, there is our Director of National Intelligence, who is supposedly our Nation's most trusted, meticulous secretkeeper, who went before the Senate to mislead, evade, and perjure herself. What a truly disgraceful episode. This is not a partisan issue. In fact, both the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a bipartisan manner, requested that the Pentagon investigate the use of the Signal app to share classified information. We can all agree that no government employee, let alone a Cabinet member, should be sharing classified information in a Signal chat and be careless enough to add a reporter to it, as well. There should be a serious after action review to prevent this from ever happening again and one that considers the criminality involved. Yet another Trump lackey, our Attorney General, who is officially supposed to be the people's lawyer, is ruling out a criminal investigation into this scheme altogether. Mr. Speaker, these are the same people that spent the better part of a decade looking into Hillary's emails. They evidently do not care to even pretend to investigate how our Nation's most secret information is being shared. The ramifications of this unmitigated disaster will be felt for years, even decades, to come. Why would any of our allies share sensitive information with us if the Secretary of Defense is just going to pop it into a group chat and share it with the editor in chief of a national publication? In conjunction with all of the other actions the Trump administration has taken to dismiss or turn our backs on our allies, I am deeply concerned about how Signal-gate will make us much, much less safe in the long term. Our Nation deserves better. Our servicewomen and servicemen deserve better. We deserve better.

Ms. ANSARI

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

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of the Iranian-American community and all those who celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Alongside Congresswoman Lofgren, I am proud to introduce two pieces of legislation today, one which designates March as Iranian-American Heritage Month and the other to provide congressional recognition of Nowruz. At the same time, I recognize the fear and pain in many communities about the Trump administration's war on immigrants and refugees. I was proud to lead a letter of over 30 Democrats to the President urging him to reconsider an immoral and harmful potential travel ban. Each year, millions of people around the world join together in celebration of the Persian New Year. The roots lie in ancient, secular Persian traditions and an annual celebration of rebirth, renewal, and community. I am proud to host perhaps the first Haft Seen table in the Halls of Congress outside of my office, and I thank the many individuals who helped put it together, especially Mitra Ghahramani and Parisa Bahadoran of Designs by Mitra. This is such a meaningful time for me, as the daughter of Iranian immigrants, and I am honored to be celebrating our community in this special way.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my outrage and strong opposition to the inhumane treatment of migrants fleeing religious persecution. Earlier this month, the Trump administration deported roughly 300 men, women, and children seeking refuge in the United States to Panama on U.S. military aircraft, locking them in hotel rooms without access to basic rights or counsel. This includes asylum seekers from Iran, China, and other countries known to persecute religious minorities. They have since been deported to detention camps in a remote jungle and are being forced to live in degrading and dangerous conditions with little to no access to the outside world. Among them is Artemis Ghasemzadeh, an Iranian woman who fled Iran after converting to Christianity, a crime punishable by death under the brutal Islamic regime. Artemis converted to Christianity in secret through a network of underground churches and online classes in Iran. Last December, she set out for the United States in search of a new life. In a haunting image, she was photographed from inside her detention room in Panama with the words ``help us'' written on the window in her red lipstick. Artemis is 1 of 10 Iranian Christians, including 3 children, who are detained in Panama. These people sought safety and refuge in the United States. Instead, they were rounded up, flown thousands of miles away, and imprisoned in detention camps in brutal conditions. They are afraid for their lives as they wait to be sent back to their home countries to face deadly consequences for their human right of religious freedom, what this country was founded on. The United States should never be responsible for sending people to face persecution, especially those who have risked everything to seek refuge right here. These actions not only violate our moral responsibilities and our shared humanity, but they are in direct conflict with the values upon which our Nation was founded. I am the proud daughter of immigrants from Iran. My parents came to the United States fleeing the brutal revolution that led to the current regime. This country welcomed them with open arms, allowed them to work hard and succeed, and in just one generation, they have witnessed their daughter make history as the first Iranian-American Democrat ever elected to Congress. Asylum seekers come to this country to escape violence and persecution. Turning these people away is cruel, fundamentally un- American, and does nothing to fix our broken immigration system. That is why I plan to introduce legislation that would halt expedited removal for individuals fleeing countries noted for persecuting religious minorities. We can have secure borders and also have an immigration system based in empathy and humanity. Mr. Speaker, I urge this administration to uphold our Nation's legacy as a beacon of hope and a defender of religious freedom, not a facilitator of suffering.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark Black History Month and recognize the contributions of Black-led organizations in Arizona's Third District doing the work on the ground to uplift their communities. Today, I want to honor Project Roots. Project Roots is a nonprofit community garden founded by two incredible women, Dionne Washington and Bridget Pettis, who recognized an unmet need in their community and stepped up to address it. Their goal is to empower community members to grow their own crops so that their neighbors have access to fresh produce while also providing food to anyone who needs it. Project Roots is a pillar in our community and an inspiring example of what can be when we envision a future where every single person has reliable access to fresh, nutritious food. This Black History Month and every month, I hope we can follow Dionne and Bridget's example by centering those with the most need and working together to build a more connected, healthy, and equitable community for all.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 26. My constituents sent me to Congress to fight for them for clean water, clean air, job security, and lower prices. This legislation accomplishes absolutely none of those things. H.R. 26 says that the President cannot issue a ban on fracking unless authorized by Congress. It is obviously a little bit ridiculous that President Trump is not going to ban fracking. In fact, no President has ever banned fracking. What this bill is, is just an opportunity for some House Republicans to signal their support for their Big Oil allies and their billionaire friends. The United States is already producing more oil than ever, more than any other country in history. Republicans' dirty drilling agenda will not make America any more energy dominant, and it won't drive prices down. If we could drill our way out of the affordability crisis, then we would have already done so. The answer is not more oil. When we drill more and more, the only ones who benefit are those at the top, the CEOs, the multinational corporations, and the already rich billionaires who are profiting off of the American people. In fact, several Federal Trade Commission complaints and class action lawsuits from last year say that Big Oil CEOs have been illegally colluding with each other and with some of our adversaries to keep prices high and profits up. Big Oil is already getting at least $15 billion in subsidies from the Federal Government. What more could they possibly want? This dirty drilling agenda has never been about lowering costs. Less than 3 weeks in, this administration's true colors are already shining. After promising lower prices for everyday Americans, the President is threatening a trade war with our closest allies which will drive up the costs to produce everything from energy to cars to technology. The administration is threatening mass deportations of people who are part of the workforce and contributing to our economy, and the Republican-led Congress is plotting how to cut spending on healthcare and clean energy in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 26.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Harder), the sponsor of the bill.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Mr. Speaker, day after day, Donald Trump is abusing power, breaking the law, and tearing apart our Constitution. Trump has handed over the government to Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire who does not care about the American people. Trump has given Musk and his cronies extensive access to confidential, personal information across all Federal agencies, including the Treasury. The Treasury makes 1.5 billion payments a year to taxpayers, businesses, and seniors, everything from Social Security benefits to tax refunds, Medicare, and Medicaid. Musk now has access to Americans' confidential tax refund information, which includes their names, Social Security numbers, and home addresses. That is why I am headed to Treasury this evening to stand up for Arizonans' privacy and to stand up for our democracy. As a member of the House Oversight Committee, we are calling out this breach of law, privacy, and national security on behalf of the American people.

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act. September 11 remains a horrific, indelible moment etched in our Nation's history. We will forever strive to honor the innocent lives lost and reckon with the sacrifices of so many. That is why House Democrats have stepped up time and time again to support the ongoing management needs of the national September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Located at Ground Zero, this site is the principal tribute of remembrance to honor the lives lost on this tragic day, as well as the lives lost in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It is a hallowed ground and deserves our support. Over the years, Congress has provided significant financial support to the nonprofit organization that operates it. This bill continues that tradition by calling on Congress to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to provide a one-time grant for security, operation, and maintenance of the grounds. I say ``calling on'' because one big caveat is that the bill does not actually create this grant program. Due to the Freedom Caucus' budget protocols, the bill instead clarifies at the end that the grant program shall not be authorized until subsequent legislation authorizes it and that, of course, it will not be funded until a third bill passes to appropriate the money. Those are the fiscal gymnastics necessary to comply with Republican spending protocols. Yes, even the 9/11 Memorial gets only lip service and window dressing. To be crystal clear, this bill doesn't do anything at all. Of course, even if Congress some day passes a bill to authorize the grant envisioned here and then passes a third bill to appropriate the money for this grant, we have seen in recent days that some Republicans believe that congressional appropriations are completely optional. Republicans in the White House are illegally stopping vital funding that Congress has ordered to be spent, and their friends in Congress are defending them. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said last week that all the bills in his jurisdiction that Congress passes are actually not laws. If we ever do create this grant, I hope no one in New York makes any enemies in this administration because apparently the administration thinks it can just ignore Congress and block the money. Madam Speaker, I want to be clear that my criticisms are not aimed at the sponsor of this bill. He is doing everything he can to advocate for the museum under the unreasonable constraints of the Freedom Caucus and the administration. I commend his efforts. Finally, I note that the 9/11 Museum has faced criticism from local community members since its opening for some of its content. We continue to encourage the museum's management to engage with stakeholders to ensure that the site is welcoming and representative for all. Perhaps it is something we can address in the multiple pieces of future legislation that will be necessary to actually make this grant a reality. I wish we were here today to actually do something to support and improve the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, but unfortunately, that is not the case. On balance, this bill doesn't do any harm either. It attempts to bring attention to a very important effort. I will be voting for it, but I am disappointed that this is where things are. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Ms. ANSARI

Ms. ANSARI. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of Representative Begich's H.R. 42, the Alaska Native Settlement Trust Eligibility Act. Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971 to address land claims in the State of Alaska. Per an agreement, Alaska Native corporations were established, and the Federal Government transferred to them 44 million acres and $962.5 million in compensation funds. However, when an individual receives a distribution from an Alaska Native settlement trust, part of this law requires that the Federal Government include that distribution when determining the person's eligibility for various governmental programs such as for housing and supplemental income and nutritional assistance. H.R. 42 would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exclude from that calculation any such distributions provided to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives. These are critical services that support the livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable Alaska Natives. Over the years, the failure to address this issue has often forced Alaska Natives to choose between receiving the settlement trust fund benefits they are entitled to or qualifying for need-based Federal benefits. H.R. 42 would solve this problem, which is great news. I will remind my colleagues, though, that this bill of course, doesn't remove the risk that this administration will try to illegally freeze or pause anyone's Federal benefits. Moreover, this bill will be of small comfort if Republicans make good on their promises to cut need-based Federal programs to pay for their billionaire tax breaks. These aren't hypotheticals. The House Republican Study Committee's budget proposal last fall called for cutting SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by about 22 percent, for example. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, but I also urge them to oppose the lawlessness we have been seeing in the administration and to oppose cuts to programs that help the most vulnerable people in our communities. I reserve the balance of my time.