Donald Beyer

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 7361, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7361, the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act. This bipartisan bill, introduced by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Feenstra) directs the National Weather Service to improve its current instant messaging communication service, also known as NWSChat. NWSChat is a vital tool used by National Weather Service professionals to communicate with emergency managers, the media, and other strategic partners during high-impact and severe weather events. This tool ensures that the media and emergency response managers can retrieve real-time information to help protect Americans and their property during dangerous events. However, NWSChat has experienced several issues recently which have caused delays in the National Weather Service's ability to share critical weather information. This bill would help to address these issues by requiring the National Weather Service to transition NWSChat to an up-to-date, cloud-based commercial platform. Just last week, the National Weather Service announced that it would be upgrading its chat service to use the commercially available Slack collaborative platform. It was reassuring to see the Weather Service take this step to address the recent outages and issues with NWSChat. This bill will help support the agency with clear congressional direction and corresponding authorization of appropriations language to help ensure a seamless transition of NWSChat to this new platform. Reliable and uninterrupted communication is critical during severe weather events. The National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act will support the improvement of this lifesaving tool. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I also urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7361, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3588, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3588) to coordinate Federal research and development efforts focused on modernizing mathematics in STEM education through mathematical and statistical modeling, including data-driven and computational thinking, problem, project, and performance-based learning and assessment, interdisciplinary exploration, and career connections, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3588, the Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act. I thank Representatives Chrissy Houlahan and Jim Baird for introducing this bill. U.S. capabilities in science and innovation are critical for our future prosperity, national security, and global competitiveness. I am thrilled that this week the House will consider landmark legislation that will accelerate progress on cutting-edge science and technology. However, we cannot fully realize this vision unless we build a domestic STEM workforce that is poised to turn these investments into breakthrough discoveries and transformative innovations. To that end, we must address the longstanding challenges in K-12 STEM education. H.R. 3588 will advance research to improve mathematics education by incorporating statistical modeling into mathematics curriculum. We know that students from diverse backgrounds are attracted to STEM if they can see it as a tool for solving real-world challenges. This bill will help researchers develop innovative teaching methods to do just that. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing. Madam Speaker, so far this year, I have completed two undergraduate mathematics courses at George Mason University. Calculus II starts on August 22. I will tell you personally the evolution of the teaching of math has come so far since I graduated from college. I am very excited by this legislation. The thought that we can take so much progress in teaching and software to our next generation of students is very exciting. As I sit, sometimes in despair, watching my friends get out their calculators to figure out the 15 percent or 20 percent tip, I think this would be wonderful legislation to move forward. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3588, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7180, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7180, the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act. I thank Representative Gonzalez for introducing this important bill. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted our lives in countless ways over the past 2 years. As many of us continue to pick up the pieces and settle into a new normal, we can't lose sight of those who haven't been as fortunate. Early research results indicate that a COVID-19 infection may leave individuals with an increased risk of developing mental health conditions. Millions who have been infected with COVID-19 now find themselves saddled with crippling anxiety, depression, and sleep problems, and they may be at an increased risk of death by suicide and drug overdose. While researchers are raising alarms about these risks, improved data collection and additional research is needed to better understand the mental health implications of a COVID-19 infection. This bill directs the National Science Foundation to rally the research community to take on this task. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I, too, thank Congressman Gonzalez for offering this bill. I suspect there is nary a family represented in this body that has not been touched by a mental illness at one point or another and the tragedy and the suffering that that involves. We have all seen what happens with the loss of a child. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7180, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Karen Rosales on her recent selection to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU). Karen currently serves as the President and CEO of Arlington Community Federal Credit Union, serving the financial services industry for more than 30 years. As CEO, Ms. Rosales has guided the strategic direction, service delivery, and operational efficiency of ACFCU. Under her leadership, the credit union now serves more than 23,000 members who live, work, worship, volunteer, go to school, and do business in the Arlington area. Karen has served on the Board of Directors for many community and Credit Union industry organizations, including Leadership Center for Excellence, Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. and Credit Union Miracle Day. Ms. Rosales also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Callahan and Associates. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Karen Rosales and wishing her the best of luck in her new role on the NAFCU Board of Directors. I look forward to working with her in this regard.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support Ms. Sanchez' amendment on malign disinformation spread within the Department of Defense and the VA. Within the military, a 2019 Military Times survey found that 36 percent of Active-Duty servicemembers have personally witnessed white nationalism or ideology-driven racism within recent months, a 12 percent year-over-year increase. This is not about vaccinations. This is about extremism, and specifically about racism. Witnessing extremist views is more common among enlisted members than among officers, and a majority of minority servicemembers, 53 percent, reported some experience with extremist ideology in the military. We know this ideology is fomented through mis- and disinformation. Our enlisted people need to be ready to work as a unit with very diverse peers, and our military needs to able to engage globally at all times. That means we need to have a view of the world based in reality, not disinformation. This is even more paramount when we know that Russia intentionally engages in disinformation to sabotage our country and our troops. We can't let our troops be susceptible. I can't think of a more important effort to help our troop readiness. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today, and I ask my Colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Matthew Smith for more than 35 years of dedicated service to the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Smith began his service with the Office of the Clerk in December 1986 as an Office Supply Clerk where he served in that position for 2 years. Matthew was subsequently promoted to the Records and Registration section, still within the Clerk's organization, where for the next 5 years he served in three different capacities which included the following positions, Processing Clerk, Microfilmer Clerk and Data Processing Clerk. In July of 1995, Matthew transitioned to the Clerk's Legislative Resource Center where he served as General Clerk, an Assistant Registration and Compliance Clerk, and in his most recent capacity, as a Public Information Specialist, where he has served for the last 19 years. In his current position, Matthew provides excellent customer service to those patrons who visit and call requesting documents. Matthew is the longest tenured employee in the Clerk's House Document Room where he serves in the capacity as Public Information Specialist. Matthew's institutional knowledge is an important asset to the House Document Room team. Matt has become the resident expert on all House Document Room equipment, including the high production printer and Digibinder. Over the years, Matt's patience and outgoing demeanor have assisted in molding him into an excellent coach to the new employees on all relevant processes; and Matt has helped considerably by drafting and sharing step-by-step instructions on many of these processes. Matthew is a dedicated husband and father. He frequently speaks fondly of his daughter who is the joy of his life. Matthew is very passionate about his own physical fitness, and he enjoys playing basketball; and over the years, Matthew has participated in several marathons. Madam Speaker, I am pleased for this opportunity to acknowledge Matthew Smith for his outstanding service to the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today with my friend and colleague Congresswoman Lori Trahan to recognize the work of Dr. Rein Beeuwkes and his recognition as the first recipient of the MIT Better World Alumni Service Award. This award honors a single MIT alumnus who ``has demonstrated the ability, passion, and unwavering commitment for working wisely creatively and effectively to advance the MIT idea for the betterment of humankind.'' In 2005, deeply concerned about the need to move the U.S. and the world to a low carbon sustainable future, Rein recognized that in order to meet even the modest climate goals that had been set, there would need to be major technological breakthroughs. After considerable research, Rein was persuaded that fusion energy could become one of those breakthroughs if government adequately funded it and if the scientists working on fusion directed their focus to getting energy to the grid at a competitive price. Rein, affectionately known as ``fusion man,'' has become the evangelist for the potential and promise of fusion energy. Rein has worked tirelessly with the community of fusion scientists to set goals that will bring fusion energy to the grid in this decade. Rein was instrumental in urging the formation of the bipartisan Congressional Fusion Energy Caucus. Over the past decade, Rein has been an enthusiastic citizen-advocate for an accelerated fusion energy program in which MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center has played a leading role. Rein's support for MIT's fusion research helped spur the first commercial nuclear fusion reactor in North America which is being built in Devens, MA by Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, the pandemic magnified suicide risk, anxiety, and depression with two out of five adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression. The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report this morning that found that suicide death rates rose by 12 percent from 2010 to 2020--with rates rising fastest among people of color, younger people, and our good citizens in rural areas. Help can't come fast enough. I thank the Rules Committee for allowing the Katko-Napolitano-Beyer amendment to be included in the first en bloc today. This reauthorizes and ensures sufficient funding and provides oversight of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. As the House and Senate finalize any mental health package to be signed into law, I want to flag my bill with Adam Kinzinger--the Campaign to Prevent Suicide--which was passed by the committee and the House last year. It would help educate the American public both on the new 988 suicide lifeline number and also change the culture from one in crisis and avoidance to one that connects to resources. SAMHSA has stated that the campaign is crucial to the success of 988. We can save an untold number of lives. 988 can be among the most important bipartisan success we have ever had. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Pallone, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and the committee staff for their commitment to tackling mental health. It is 2022, and we know far, far more than ever before in human history. It is time to put our healing knowledge to work.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 2974, a bill originally introduced by Representative Delgado of New York, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. Included in this legislation, is the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which I have been proud to co- lead for many years with my friend and colleague, Congressman Carbajal. Madam Speaker, April 16, 2007, 15 years ago, 32 Virginia Tech students, in my home and Commonwealth, were killed by a young man who was well-known to the community to have paranoid schizophrenia. He had been hospitalized. He had been picked up by the police. He had been banned from classes. There was every reason in the world for him to be on the background checklist. Yet, he was able to buy the weapons legally that killed those 32 kids. In 2014, I had a long conversation with a friend who was deeply depressed. He was having trouble getting out of bed, trouble finding a psychiatrist who would treat him. I made some calls to try to find somebody, and then didn't do anything but worry, and was stunned when he got out of bed to go buy a gun and kill himself. To this day, I so regret that I did not call his wife, and we went together to the court to get him on the background checklist. We have all lost too many friends. We all are grief-struck by the massacre of children. Red flag laws may not protect everyone, but it will save many lives and it is a start.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of last Friday, May 20, 2022, being the one-year anniversary of President Biden signing into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which included the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act. This law was named after victims of two high-profile hate crimes: Khalid Jabara, who was killed in 2016 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Heather Heyer, who was murdered in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The murders of these two individuals were prosecuted as hate crimes but not reported in hate crime statistics. The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act is aimed at improving hate crime statistics and promoting a better response to hate crime within communities. At a time when hate crimes against Asian American communities as well as hate crimes against other people of color, religious minorities, immigrants, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community are increasing, this legislation is crucial to driving community-centered policies that reflect the needs of people targeted for hate. Through this bill, Congress and the President sent a powerful message that we must center communities targeted for hate and invest resources to meet their needs. The legislation is a significant first step in achieving meaningful hate crime reporting and prioritizing law enforcement accountability and community empowerment in the federal, state, and local responses to hate crime. I want to also commend the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights for their work to mark the anniversary last week with a celebration of Humanity Over Hate, culminating in a webinar that featured interviews with the families of victims of hate, including Heather Heyer's mother Susan Bro and Khalid Jabara's sister Victoria Jabara. In the wake of the horrific tragedy in Buffalo, where an alleged white supremacist murdered 10 people, most of whom were Black, it is more important than ever that we commit to confronting anti-Black hatred and white supremacy. Please join me in commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act and continuing to confront anti-Black hatred and white supremacy.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the beginning of Building Safety Month and to recognize the more than 64,000 members of the International Code Council (ICC) who have dedicated their livelihoods to ensuring public safety throughout the built environment--whether our homes, offices, schools, houses of worship, et cetera. Building Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council and its partners to remind the public about the professionals who ensure buildings are safe, resilient, efficient, and livable. The Code Council brings together local, state, and federal as well as stakeholders from the private sector to develop model codes and standards that protect the occupants of the buildings in which we live, work, and play. Those standards are then implemented year-round by building safety officials, the fire service, architects, engineers, plumbers, and laborers to ensure the safe construction and maintenance of buildings. This year's Building Safety Month theme is ``Building Codes in Action'' which encourages all of us to raise awareness of the importance of safe and resilient construction, fire prevention, sanitation, disaster mitigation, and innovative technologies in the construction industry. Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released its Building Codes Strategy, which exemplifies this year's theme by recognizing that community adoption and enforcement of hazard-resistant building codes and standards ``lays the foundation for increased resilience'' and creates a ``culture of preparedness by making mitigation a standard practice.'' In late 2020 FEMA released a study, titled ``Building Codes Saves'', which found that implementing modem building codes could save $600 billion in disaster spending by 2060. FEMA further confirmed a prior report by the National Institute of Building Sciences that found that adopting modem codes provides $11 in mitigation savings for every $1 invested. With natural disasters increasing in frequency and severity, building codes and standards include important safeguards to protect the public from snow and ice storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes. We thank those who implement and enforce building codes for protecting lives, property, businesses, and communities. Development, adoption, and implementation of up-to-date codes and standards has enabled Virginia through its 2018 Uniform Statewide Building Code to ensure its codes assure building safety and waste the least energy in the Southeastern United States. Madam Speaker, please join me in thanking International Code Council Board President Cindy Davis--a constituent I represent, as well as ICC's Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, the International Code Council leadership, and ICC's Members and staff as they recognize Building Safety Month.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a critical issue facing women's health that is often misunderstood, grossly underfunded, and has significant ripple effects on a woman's physical and mental health. This condition is uterine fibroids: noncancerous growths in the uterus that can cause severe bleeding, body pain, infertility and miscarriages, and several other consequences. Uterine fibroids affect 70 percent of White women and 80 percent of Black women in the U.S. during their lifetime. Each year, over 200,000 women undergo hysterectomies for uterine fibroids, with Black women twice as likely to undergo this treatment to alleviate symptoms. We need to do more for these women. Other treatments exist, and we cannot allow a lack of awareness to put women through an unnecessary, lifechanging operation. We do not need to deprive women of their right to have children, to instruct them to sit home for six weeks and recover from such an invasive procedure, to put them at risk of complications. More must be done to research uterine fibroids, educate health care professionals, and raise awareness for patients. I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 2007, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021, as it would expand and coordinate uterine fibroid research at NIH and direct HHS to issue an awareness campaign and research Medicaid coverage of uterine fibroids. We are in Women's Health Month. In this Month, we reflect upon the important women in our lives, and how medical research must better represent them. I am proud to support the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Uterine Fibroid Research and Education Act of 2021 and urge my colleagues to join me. This condition cannot wait, women suffering with this condition cannot wait, and this bill cannot wait.

Mr. BEYER

Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I confess, I cannot connect my friend from Arkansas' comments with this motion to instruct, but I won't take any time to refute these things. Madam Speaker, manufacturing has long been a core strength of the American economy. But the decades-long decline of manufacturing jobs in the United States has cut off pathways to economic security for so many families across this country. Passage of the America COMPETES Act will be a landmark investment in infrastructure, in clean technology, in innovation that will create and preserve high-quality jobs in communities across America, and advance U.S. competitiveness and drive long-term economic growth. Disinvestment in American homemade products has also contributed to the severe supply chain disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic that have pushed up prices for so many American consumers. The America COMPETES Act will bolster supply chains, ramp up domestic manufacturing of critical components, like semiconductors, and insulate U.S. workers and families from price volatility and help build their own economic resilience. Part of the House-passed version is the National Secure Data Service Act, which will allow agencies to link together data collected through surveys, Federal program administration, nongovernmental data sources to advance evidence-based policymaking. This will be a great boon for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Also included in the COMPETES Act, is an amendment I cosponsored with Representative Trahan to increase investment in fusion energy, the holy grail for our climate and for world poverty. The COMPETES Act bottom line gives the U.S. the competitive edge needed to maintain our global leadership in innovation and research. Madam Speaker, I am not sure why my Republican friends felt the need to offer this motion in the first place. Of course, we all understand that the essential subtext of the COMPETES Act has been to strengthen our competitive position versus communist China or, to restate my friend from Arkansas, to put us in the dominant position to compete against communist China. Of course, nothing in this landmark initiative in American research, in American innovation, in American manufacturing, American artificial intelligence or American chips is intended to be transferred to the PRC. So if this is meant to show that Republicans are tougher on China than Democrats, that is silly and untrue. Together, we will fight China's human rights abuses. We will fight its cheating on trade. We will fight its autocratic, dictatorial government. And the COMPETES Act gives us the strength we need to do that today.