Elijah Cummings

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank you as well as Chairman Maloney, Ranking Member Graves, and Ranking Member Gibbs, for your leadership. I rise in support of H.R. 3409, and applaud the inclusion of Title VIII, the Coast Guard Academy Improvement Act. I have been honored to work closely with Chairman DeFazio and Chairman Bennie Thompson, the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, as well as with Congressman Joe Courtney, to address the troubling issues that have arisen at the Coast Guard Academy. As Chairman of the Coast Guard Subcommittee from 2007 through 2010, I convened a series of hearings to push the Academy to ensure that its cadet corps reflects the diversity of the nation it is being prepared to serve. And progress has been made. However, the recent Equity Scorecard evaluation has found profoundly troubling trends at the Academy. Specifically, the review found that, ``Black/African/American cadets have been consistently less likely to graduate than the all-cadet average'' and, ``Of particular urgency is Black/African-American cadets' disproportionately high share of disciplinary sanctions.'' Then, in December 2018, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security issued a report finding that a Lieutenant Commander on the faculty of the Academy, ``was retaliated against on the basis of her complaints, in violation of the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.'' Chairman Thompson, Congressman Courtney, and I are continuing to conduct oversight of the Academy's response to the Equity Scorecard findings, and we are investigating numerous disparities and shortcomings in how the Academy handles allegations of harassment and bullying. However, one thing is already abundantly clear: Business as usual is simply not an option. For that reason, in June, I was honored to join Chairman Thompson in introducing H.R. 3488, the Coast Guard Academy Improvement Act. I appreciate the thoughtful revisions that have been made to that bill's text through close collaboration with the Transportation Committee and I thank Chairman DeFazio for including those revisions in the Coast Guard Authorization Act before us. These provisions will require urgently needed assessments of and improvements in the Academy's outreach processes and institutional structures to foster expanded diversity. I urge all Members to vote in favor of the Coast Guard Authorization Act.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise to discuss the Safeguarding Student Veterans Act. In recent years, we have seen a wave of abrupt closures of colleges in Maryland and around the country, particularly those operating for profit. When a college closes, students are the ones that bear the burden and are left asking ``what's next?'' Students who have spent thousands of dollars can just be left with credits they are often not able to transfer. This leaves entire families placed in financial limbo due to circumstances of which the student was unaware. In the last five years, close to a half million students were impacted by closures of around 1,200 campuses. They were robbed of their education and a chance to better themselves. When these schools close, student veterans using the GI Bill benefits they have earned through their courageous service are disproportionately impacted. Furthermore, many for-profit schools have been found to target veterans for enrollment with deceptive and predatory practices. Between 2014 and 2018, the closure of for-profit colleges impacted almost 22,000 students using the GI Bill. In 2016, when ITT Technical Institute closed its doors, about 7,000 of its 40,000 students were on the GI Bill. Last year, Education Corporation of America suddenly ceased operations. Nearly 4,000 of its 18,000 students were using the GI Bill. In addition to harming veterans, these closings also leave taxpayers on the hook because the Department of Veterans Affairs has to double the amount of funding it provides for GI Bill beneficiaries when a school closes and their credits do not transfer. After serving our nation, veterans using their GI Bill benefits should have faith that they will be able to complete their degrees without their schools suddenly closing. We must do better for our veterans. Our veterans have served our country, and we must honor the sacrifices they made as they transition back into civilian life and seek to better themselves through education. That is why I am introducing bipartisan legislation to protect these student veterans. This week I am introducing the Safeguarding Student Veterans Act with Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida. Our bill will increase coordination between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Education, require the Department of Veterans Affairs to better understand and track the risks that certain schools pose to veterans, and empower veterans when deciding on which schools to attend. Under the bill, when the Department of Education determines that any school, including for-profits, are facing significant financial and compliance issues, the Department of Education would need to notify and coordinate with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs would then need to undertake a risk analysis for these schools. The analysis would include information the Department of Veterans Affairs receives from the Department of Education as well as additional factors such as the volume of student complaints, rates of Federal student loan defaults by veterans, and veteran completion rates. The Department of Veterans Affairs would then notify veterans of the results of the risk analysis and include the findings in the Department of Veterans Affairs' online GI Bill Comparison Tool. I am proud that our bill has wide-ranging support, including from the American Legion, Veterans Education Success, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the Safeguarding Student Veterans Act. We must do better to protect our student veterans.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, some of my colleagues have argued that holding Secretary Ross and Attorney General Barr in contempt of Congress is premature. That is simply not true. If anything, it is long overdue. The Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice have failed to comply with congressional requests for more than a year. The Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats first asked for documents from the Department of Commerce in April of 2018 and from the Department of Justice May of 2018. Those requests were ignored. When I became chairman, I renewed those requests. In response, the administration produced thousands of pages. But most of the documents were either heavily redacted, already public, or nonresponsive to the committee's request. So the committee narrowed its request and issued bipartisan subpoenas to compel production of that narrow group of documents. That was in April, more than 3 months ago. I even asked Secretary Ross to meet with me personally. He refused. And, last month, the committee passed the bipartisan resolution before us to hold Secretary Ross and Attorney General Barr in contempt of Congress. Still neither department has provided the documents that we have asked for. So I have come to the floor to urge our Members to vote in favor of this. I do not, again, bring this lightly. This is not theater. This is about doing our job. This is about protecting the integrity of not only our census, but of our Congress. Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to vote for this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is left?

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I want to just remind our distinguished ranking member, when he talks about quoting from the courts, we might want to look at what the Supreme Court said about the language that Secretary Ross used in our committee, because it is the same language used in the Supreme Court case. What the Supreme Court said was that that was ``contrived,'' and that is a quote, and incongruent with what the record reveals. In other words, he was saying it was not accurate. He may have come to testify before us, but it wasn't accurate. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), a member of our committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to make it clear, Madam Speaker, as I listened to the comments of our very distinguished minority leader, the fact is that what we are doing today is trying again to protect the integrity of this House and to protect the integrity of the Census and make sure that we get the records that we need to do our job, and I would hope that he would join us in making sure that happens. Because it is not just about us; it is about people who will come and fill these seats when we are dancing with the angels. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), the very distinguished gentleman who leads our Government Operations Subcommittee excellently.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman from Maryland an additional 1 minute.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), the chairman of our Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me be clear. First of all, I thank the gentleman for quoting me so much. I am tremendously honored. I think the quotes that he used just reiterate what I said when I began about how seriously I take this matter. I wouldn't be here if I did not consider this to be very serious. The other thing I would say is that we have made tremendous efforts, and the gentleman knows it because he has helped, working with me to try to get the documents and the things that we need. We have not been able to get them. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gomez).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), a member of our committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me be very clear: This is not theater. I wish it was theater. It is not theater. This is about us making sure that we protect the integrity of the Census and of this Congress. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As a result, on April 2, more than 3 months ago, after a bipartisan vote, the committee subpoenaed these key documents, including a secret memo that the Department of Commerce wrote about the citizenship question and gave to the Department of Justice. The Departments have admitted to us that this memo does exist, but they refuse to produce this document and many others. I must say, to give credit where credit is due, that my good friend and colleague on the other side, Mr. Meadows, worked tirelessly to try to help us get the things that we needed. I appreciate that, trying to work in a bipartisan way. Going on from there, last month, in light of this obstruction, the Committee on Oversight and Reform passed a resolution to hold Attorney General Barr and Secretary Ross in contempt of Congress. The vote was also bipartisan. However, many of our Republican colleagues apparently support the Trump administration's refusal to comply with duly authorized congressional subpoenas. Let me say to my colleagues that we need to be clear that we, as a body, have a constitutional duty to be a check on the executive branch. That is our job. Every 2 years, we swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. That is what we are supposed to do. Some of my colleagues claim that we were interfering with the Supreme Court's decision on this issue. That argument never did make any sense to me since we launched our investigation in 2018, more than 10 months before the Supreme Court took up the case. Even if you accept that misguided argument, the Supreme Court case is now over. That argument is gone. The President announced last week that he would no longer pursue adding a citizenship question to the Census. However, in that same speech, the President admitted that he wanted citizenship data to implement partisan gerrymandering. The President's statements directly contradict Secretary Ross' sworn testimony that the only reason, the sole reason, the Trump administration wanted this data was to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act. The Departments of Justice and Commerce have been engaged in a campaign to subvert our laws and the process Congress put in place to maintain the integrity of the Census. I would say to all of our Members: Let's be very careful about what we do with regard to the Census. It has a tremendous impact for 10 years on how more than $660 billion in Federal funds are appropriated, over and over again--apportionment, redistricting, and making sure that every American gets their fair share back of their taxpayer dollars; that is, the money of the hardworking people who raised the money for our taxes. The resolution before us today is about protecting our democracy. It is about protecting the integrity of this body. It is bigger than the Census. It is about protecting the integrity of the Congress of the United States of America. We need to understand how and why the Trump administration tried to add a question based on a pretext so that we can consider reforms to ensure that this never happens again. There are those who will ask the question: Why, with the Supreme Court having decided what they have decided, do you want the documents? We want the documents because we want to make sure that we do not, in the future, spend a year or a year and a half chasing something that is not accurate--in the words of the Supreme Court, a pretext--delaying our process of getting an accurate account, which is exactly what the Constitution says we must do. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our resolution to hold Attorney General Barr and Secretary Ross in contempt of the Congress of the United States of America. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes. Madam Speaker, I support this bipartisan resolution to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress because it is necessary to preserve the integrity of this body and of the Census. The Constitution mandates that we conduct a Census every 10 years, and that the Census count every person. A full, fair, and accurate account is critical to ensuring that we properly allocate Federal funding and congressional apportionment. I do not take this decision lightly. Holding any Cabinet Secretary in criminal contempt of Congress is a serious and somber matter, one that I have done everything in my power to avoid. But in the case of the Attorney General and the Secretary, Secretary Ross, they blatantly obstructed our ability to do congressional oversight into the real reason Secretary Ross was trying, for the first time in 70 years--in 70 years--to add a citizen question to the 2020 Census. Secretary Ross testified under oath that he added a citizenship question solely--I want you to concentrate on that word, ``solely''--to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act. But we now know that claim was nothing but a pretext. And do not take my word for that, Madam Speaker. The Supreme Court said that. Our committee's investigation uncovered evidence that Secretary Ross launched a secret campaign to add the citizenship question within days of assuming his post. We learned that Secretary Ross ignored warnings from experts inside and outside the Census Bureau, including the Bureau's chief scientist, that adding a citizenship question will be costly and harm the accuracy of the Census. In other words, they were saying: If you do this, you are not going to have an accurate Census. Our investigation also revealed that Secretary Ross spoke with Attorney General Sessions, Steve Bannon, and Kris Kobach. Contrary to his testimony to Congress, the Commerce Department conjured up the voting rights rationale to hide these interactions. This entire Congress should be insulted by this. Committee Democrats first asked for documents from the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice when we were in the minority in April and May of 2018. Both departments ignored us. When I became chairman, I renewed these requests on behalf of the committee. Since then, the administration has engaged in a purposeful effort to obstruct--and I do not use that word lightly--our investigation. The Departments have refused to provide key unredacted documents that we need to understand the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about why they really made this decision. Instead, what did they do? They produced thousands of pages that were largely nonresponsive, heavily redacted, or publicly already available. When they let us interview witnesses, what did they do? They ordered the witnesses not to answer more than 500 of our questions. Secretary Ross even refused my request to meet to try to work this out. Like I said, I do not come to this floor lightly. This is not an easy decision. But there comes a time when the Congress must be for the Congress.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 497) recommending that the House of Representatives find William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States, and Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, in contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, I call up the report (H. Rept. 116-125) to accompany the resolution recommending that the House of Representatives find William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States, and Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, in contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with subpoenas duly issued by the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise to condemn the racist statements made by the president of the United States against my colleagues here in Congress. Our nation is a beacon of hope to the world, a nation where people arrive with the goal of embracing the American dream. They and their children make vital economic, educational, civic, and social contributions to the American fabric--they become business owners, doctors, and even members of Congress. It is clear that the diversity that this country provides is not our problem, it is our promise. Although the president has indicated that there are ``many people [who] agree with'' his comments, I, and many Americans, were disappointed that the individual who acts as our representative on the world stage would share these racist sentiments. I have confidence that the beliefs reflected in the president's statements are not held by the American people as a whole and do not reflect who we are as a nation. This country has endured too many obstacles and undergone too many lessons learned to accept these offensive statements. We have endured slavery, forced displacement, Jim Crow laws, and internment camps. We are still working to fight against redlining, voter intimidation, hate crimes, and mass incarceration. Our country deserves better than this. The world deserves better than this. Americans yearn for a day when we are not fighting each other but are fighting towards a common mission to continually improve our great nation as the United States of America. This is why my colleagues and I are committed to fulfilling this agenda. We are working to lower drug prices, we are working to restore voting rights for every American, we are working to eliminate the opioid epidemic, and we are committed to ensuring that we find solutions to the problems in our criminal justice system. Let me be clear, these words should have no place in the dialogue of our United States of America. That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H. Res. 489, a resolution condemning President Trump's racist remarks against my colleagues who have dedicated their lives to public service and representing the constituents of their home districts. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution and condemning the president for these incendiary comments.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in celebration, of Immigrant Heritage Month and World Refugee Day, which comes at a time when this Administration is undertaking unprecedented and cruel actions against immigrants. Each June, we recognize the enormous contributions that immigrants have made to our country. Our country is a nation of immigrants and during this month we acknowledge their work in our military, as entrepreneurs, as educators, and activists. Today is also World Refugee Day. This year, the United States will only accept up to 30,000 refugees-- a historically low number. In 2016, our country took in almost 85,000 refugees. We must do better. As Americans of conscience, we must commit ourselves to standing against any treatment of immigrants and refugees that contradicts our values of inclusion and support for human rights. This Administration has undertaken a shameful immigration blueprint that has attacked and demonized immigrants at every turn. From the discriminatory Muslim Ban to the cruel Family Separation Policy, these actions will forever be a stain on our nation's history. The immigration policies of this President will also leave lasting scars for countless individuals and families. These include: Children ripped away from their parents and loved ones; Veterans deported after bravely serving our country; Children in government custody who had legal services, classes and recreation canceled; DREAMers who have had their DACA protections stripped away; and Immigrants at detention facilities with abhorrent conditions, including private prisons being run by for-profit contractors. We are better than this. I am working to improve conditions at immigration detention facilities. Immigrants in U.S. custody should be treated with dignity and respect. That is why I recently introduced the Waiver Accountability and Transparency Act, H.R. 2489. My legislation will stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's abuse of a waiver system that allows detention facilities to circumvent critical federal standards. Waiving these standards endangers the health and safety of tens of thousands of immigrants. In January, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General released a report showing that ICE had no formal policies to manage the waiver process and it detailed egregious waivers granted by ICE. For example, ICE signed off on a waiver to allow the for-profit contractor CoreCivic to use CS gas, a chemical agent 10 times more toxic than pepper spray, at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California. Furthermore, the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico was given a waiver by ICE allowing them to commingle low-custody and high- custody detainees. Detention standards prohibit commingling detainees with serious criminal histories with those who are non-violent or have only committed immigration-related infractions. My bill reforms ICE's out-of-control waiver process through increased transparency, accountability, and oversight. ICE would need to notify Congress and post online whenever a waiver is granted. ICE's leadership would need to sign off on waivers. Waivers would no longer be granted for indefinite amounts of time and would need to be renewed every 90 days. In the most serious cases, a corrective action plan must be in place before a waiver could be granted. We must do better. Those seeking a better life are not criminals and must be treated with dignity and respect. As we recognize Immigrant Heritage Month and World Refugee Day, it is vital to not only reflect on and celebrate the contributions of immigrants to our country, but to also act against this Administration's anti-immigrant policies.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, nobody is above the law, not even the President of the United States. Today's resolution reaffirms that Congress has the independent authority under the Constitution to investigate waste, fraud, abuse, and wrongdoing so that we can pass laws that are effective and efficient on behalf of all of our constituents. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.