Joe Courtney

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill and salute Mr. Takano and Mr. Roe for their fine work. In particular, I want to foot stomp section 2011, which instructs GAO to conduct an independent analysis of the VA's 1-year manifestation rule, which has unfairly blocked benefits for three debilitating conditions caused by Agent Orange dioxin used in the Vietnam war. In a nutshell, veterans are required to show these illnesses manifested themselves within 1 year of exposure in order to get VA help. Only one problem: 50 years ago, when servicemembers were handling this poison, the U.S. Government never disclosed how dangerous it was. When its toxicity was finally recognized decades later, the 1-year clock to prove manifestation had long expired. It is the ultimate catch-22. Section 2011 would not exist but for the tireless work of Vietnam veteran Gerry Wright from Andover, Connecticut, who has crisscrossed America rounding up support for abolishing this rule--no lobbyists, no super-PACs, just old-fashioned citizen activism. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Gerry. He is a true patriot. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in a few hours, the House of Representatives will be voting on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021. This bill is our Nation's annual defense policy law that the U.S. Congress has approved every year for the last 59 years. It establishes the legal basis for thousands of operations of the Department of Defense, including military pay, the startup of new technologies, and investment in planes, ships, logistics, and infrastructure at military installations at home and abroad. This year's bill, like the 59 bills that preceded it, represents 11 months of bipartisan work at the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, whose members and professional staff have worked with the entire Congress to produce a bill that will strengthen our security, support our servicemembers, and boost our economy in countless ways. As House chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, a body I have served on for 14 years, I want to spend a moment on our section of the bill which I believe is remarkable. The Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee is vested with jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as set forth in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Those services today are engaged in the highest operational tempo in our military. In every part of the globe, the Indo-Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Middle East, our sailors and marines are in heel-to-toe operations that are straining our fleet and manpower. Our chief competitors, China and Russia, in these regions have been steadily growing their naval forces in both numbers and quality. China's navy grew to 355 ships and submarines this year, versus 292 in our fleet. Russia's Navy continues to grow under Putin, particularly with the new, lethal Severodvinsk-class submarines. With this backdrop, it was quite surprising when, last February, the Trump administration submitted a budget with the lowest number of requested Navy ships since 2009. As the Congressional Research Service noted, the Trump budget asked for just seven new ships and, incredibly, cut one of the two planned Virginia-class submarines, a program that has successfully sustained a two-per-year build rate that began in 2007 under the Obama administration. This baffling cut ignored all the warnings from commanders who testified at Seapower that our declining, aging fleet of 1980s-era submarines risk losing the one clear tactical advantage that we as a nation retain--namely, our superiority in the undersea domain. This chart shows the steep decline in the sub fleet in the 2020s, even with a 2-per-year build rate, and the red dotted line shows that the Trump plan worsens that slide. This cut would also disrupt the skilled workforce that has been assembled over the last decade to execute this highly complex production. At committee, administration witnesses, such as Secretary Esper, gave completely unsatisfactory explanations for this cut, leaving us in Congress with the job to clean up their mess. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that today's bill, in fact, does reverse this cut. Working with Ranking Member Rob Wittman, Seapower led the way in restoring the second submarine with offsets and savings as required by the spending cap in the 2019 bipartisan budget law. We worked with our colleagues on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee to ensure that this $2.6 billion change will be funded in their bill. And I want to thank retiring Chair Pete Visclosky for his strong support of this effort, as well as HASC Chair Adam Smith and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry. Having the two House defense committees united on this measure ensured that our position would prevail in conference negotiations since the Senate did not initially vote for full restoration. Ironically, late last month, with Congress deep in the process of negotiating this agreement, the Trump administration suddenly disavowed its own budget and sent a letter to Congress asking us to fully fund the second submarine it wanted to cut just last February. Thankfully, the House had already acted responsibly to do just that earlier this year. Mr. Speaker, I want to salute Admiral Michael Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, who foot-stomped the second submarine as the Navy's top unfunded priority this year and also wrote a powerful support letter to Congress. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record that support letter. Department of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, DC, November 13, 2020. Hon. Joe Courtney, Chairman, Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to follow up on our phone call of November 12, 2020. As I detailed in the Navy's February 19, 2020 Unfunded Priorities List, the second Virginia Class Submarine in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 remains my top unfunded priority. The FY 2021 shipbuilding budget reflected a balance between requirements, capability, affordability, and the need to sustain the industrial base while maintaining a reasonable degree of risk. Increased funding to enable the Navy to procure a second Virginia Class Submarine in FY 2021, the 10th under the current contract of the Block V submarine build is critical for a number of important reasons: it supports stability within the industrial base and the workload ramp up for COLUMBIA Class construction and helps mitigate the SSN trough in the late 2020s. Additionally, recent DoD studies highlighted the need to increase the number of submarines to counter the threat. The Navy supports the President's FY 2021 budget request and will consider the potential for restoring the submarine in future budget submissions, ensuring the proper balance of resources between investing in tomorrow's fleet and sustaining today's fleet. However, if Congress has the opportunity to add one ship to the FY 2021 budget, my recommendation would be an attack submarine. Thank you for your continued support for the United States Navy and its submarine force. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Sincerely, M.M. Gilday, Admiral, U.S. Navy.

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Navy League and the AFL-CIO metal trades unions, whose members do such amazing work at our Nation's shipyards, also provided critical advocacy throughout this fight. Seapower's professional staff Phil MacNaughton, Dave Sienicki, Kelly Goggin, and Navy fellow Lieutenant Commander Cam Massey rose to the challenge and did the hard work to make this plus-up fit within the overall bill. In my 14 years on Seapower, this act of bipartisan congressional independence and leadership to pass a shipbuilding plan that faithfully addresses our Navy's needs stands out as its finest hour. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the NDAA today.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 2021 William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act. I want to begin by congratulating Chairman Smith and Mr. Thornberry for their persistent teamwork in bringing this bill to fruition. It is the way Congress is supposed to work. Mr. Speaker, the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces made a significant mark in this year's bill. Last February, the President's budget, out of nowhere, cut the Navy's shipbuilding budget by 17 percent, including the removal of an entire Virginia-class attack submarine, with no rationale or 30-year shipbuilding plan, as required by law. Our subcommittee led the way in fully restoring that submarine, having listened to the combatant commanders who have articulated the need for that repeatedly, and adding a fast transport ship, bringing the total new ships in this bill to nine, two more than requested in the Trump budget. We also focused attention on our domestic sealift fleet. The final bill authorizes half a billion dollars for the Maritime Security Program to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on our domestic sealift fleet and creates a new tanker security fleet aimed at addressing alarming gaps in at-sea logistics. The bill enhances crucial airlift programs by funding our next- generation refueler, the KC-46A, and rejecting harmful cuts in our refueling fleet. The final agreement also includes a provision that sets a firm floor in support of more than a dozen State Governors' requests to preserve the C-130 aircraft for the Air National Guard. Mr. Speaker, this is truly a bipartisan bill that represents the hard work and input of Members on both sides of the aisle. Thank you to my friend, Ranking Member Rob Wittman, for his amazing friendship and work, and our colleagues on the subcommittee for their hard work in crafting this year's bill. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge a ``yes'' vote today.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of swift passage of H.R. 8472, the Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act, my legislation with Representative Dusty Johnson to ensure school districts with high numbers of military-connected children are not further financially impacted by the coronavirus's devastation. This bipartisan, bicameral bill would allow school districts to use their last student headcount on upcoming applications for federal Impact Aid rather than conduct a student audit during this highly unusual and disruptive school year, and would eliminate the risk losing funding due to an undercount. Impact Aid supports school districts that encompass large amounts of federal land such as military installations and tribal land, and ensures they have the resources they need that would otherwise come from local taxes. With this school year's unprecedented complexities, our bill would relieve these districts' already overburdened administrators and staff of one labor intensive requirement, and ensure that they receive the full amount of Impact Aid payments they need to support our military and tribal students. In my district in Eastern Connecticut, the Ledyard and Groton school districts rely on Impact Aid as a key funding source. As schools are under immense pressure to keep kids learning in new formats this year, these funds are more crucial than ever, and this bill would ensure that schools can count on them. I thank my counterparts in the Senate for their work to build on the original proposal by including the Migrant Education Program as well, which requires a similar student count. This addition ensures that children of migrant agricultural workers receive the full public education they are entitled to. Many thanks as well to Chairman Bobby Scott of the Education and Labor Committee for his support of this legislation. I urge the Senate to pass this bill without delay.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to salute the extraordinary efforts of the officers and crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. These dedicated sailors deployed in late January, navigating over 60,000 nautical miles from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Arabian Sea, conducting 166 sorties and 1,135 flight hours in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel in the Arabian Sea. This group deserves special recognition for their successful deployment in which COVID-19 restrictions presented the traditional port visits. Upon returning to homeport on August 10, the crew of the Mighty Ike was underway for an astounding 206 consecutive days. To the officers and crew, including two constituents from eastern Connecticut, Petty Officer Ashley Maratta of Amston and Lieutenant Charles Peck of Old Lyme, an aviator on his first carrier deployment who I proudly nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy in 2011, I say Bravo Zulu, the sea service signal for job well done. Thank you all for your service.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, as we stand here on October 1, a few hours ago the leadership of airline industries all across America announced very sad news for their workforce. The fact of the matter is that, with CARES Act money expiring at midnight last night, massive layoffs are now going to be implemented over the next few days and weeks. American Airlines and United Airlines, together, about 32,000 workers are going to be laid off today, this morning. Again, other airlines are doing exactly the same thing. The impact, the ripple effect in terms of the collapse of consumer demand because international air travel is virtually nonexistent, domestic air travel is way down and it is going to stay down for months to come, has resulted, again, in a ripple effect in the aerospace industry. Raytheon Technologies up in New England, which is the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, announced 16,000 layoffs, again, because the commercial airline industry's demand is basically drying up. Boeing industry announced 16,000 layoffs also because of the same reason. The commercial sector in terms of airline orders, again, has completely dried up. They are not the only sector that are still struggling in this COVID recession. Talk to any restaurant owner in any district all across America, talk to anyone who is involved in the tourism destination. Disney announced 23,000 layoffs on Monday, again, because of the collapse in visits because of the COVID pandemic. In Connecticut, we have two large, Native-American casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan. They have started partial operations, but still, half their workforce, again, has not been recalled, again, because it is just not safe for people to have gatherings in large density. Tuesday night, the President of the United States, before the American people, made the claim that: nothing to worry about; we are in a V-shaped recovery. Well, tell that to the airline workers. Tell that to the people in the restaurant and hospitality sector. Tell that to the people in the tourism sector. Again, all across America, 780,000 new unemployment claims yesterday across this country. We are not in a V-shaped recovery. We have got a lot of businesses out there working their tails off to get back to work and to get normalcy back. But the fact of the matter is, as Jerome Powell, President Trump's own chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has said repeatedly: Until we get control of COVID, we are not going to have a sustained economic recovery that is going to bring back the jobs that, again, we have lost in the millions. So here we are. We are on the verge, again, of another wave of job losses in this country. And the question of the day is whether Congress is going to step up like it did four times previously on a bipartisan basis to pass COVID relief? The CARES Act being, obviously, the biggest one back in March, which, again, the American people are desperate for us to move out on. A couple of days ago, the Speaker released a package, which for the first time included a COVID relief extension for airline workers, which, again, would avoid the bloodbath that is going to happen in terms of jobs in the next few hours in this country. Finally, we have seen the Secretary of the Treasury show up here at the building 130 days after we passed the Heroes Act to have a serious conversation about getting some COVID relief out there to, again, stabilize this economy. We can do this. And I say that because we have done it four times already acting on a bipartisan basis. What we have to do, though, is just sort of drop the happy talk about the fact that this virus, we are on the other side of it, nothing to worry about, V-shaped recovery. It is really just almost insulting to the American people to spin that kind of message out there when people are struggling, having their unemployment benefits run out, their economic impact payments have long since been spent, they have got rent due, they have got utility bills due. They want to go back to work, but the fact of the matter is, we are still not there yet where we can have a sustained economic recovery. Mr. Speaker, I plead with my colleagues on the other side, who, again, have whip notices going out to oppose any Heroes 2.0 or anything like it, to please just think about the success that we did back in March when we passed the CARES package, which to this day is still providing some benefit. Those new rapid tests that the President announced a couple of days ago, which is a wonderful development, was paid for by the CARES Act, but we need more. And Jerome Powell has warned us repeatedly since May that the CARES Act was a great achievement by Congress, but we need to have more fiscal stimulus until we get past this pandemic. Again, the clock is now ticking. And, again, Mr. Speaker, for the sake of all of us and our fellow citizens, please let's come together and get a COVID relief bill passed this week.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Navy Captain Scott ``Topper'' Farr for his twenty-eight years of faithful service to our country. In May of 1992, CAPT Farr was commissioned as an Ensign and proceeded to Pensacola, FL for flight training. After earning his gold wings, he flew both the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler jets operationally, practicing his specialty of electronic warfare. His responsibility was protecting U.S. and coalition aircraft from the threat of surface to air missiles, as well as soldiers, Sailors, airmen and Marines on the ground from improvised explosive devices. His dedicated service through eight deployments, 3,409 flight hours and 669 carrier landings on eight different aircraft carriers was responsible for countless American and Allies' lives saved during Operations Southern Watch, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Unified Protector. In addition to commanding Electronic Attack Squadron 140 and the Electronic Attack Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet, his ultimate assignment was as the Director of the Navy's House Liaison Office. In this job, he both represented the Navy to most House members and oversaw the numerous congressional and staff delegation trips that we annually execute across the globe. These crucial trips are beneficial for members and staff to achieve a deeper understanding of the issues facing our Navy and its Sailors, as well as strategic issues facing our nation. It was on these CODELs that I came to know Topper for the good- natured and stalwart professional that he is. Two events that highlight Topper's work ethic and professionalism immediately come to my mind. The first was an extremely successful bi- partisan CODEL across Australia from Perth to Alice Springs to Sydney. Topper handled all of the logistical and diplomatic tasks flawlessly in what the Australian embassy noted was the largest group of House and Senate members to visit Australia since World War II. Second was an anti-submarine focused CODEL of NATO countries. During both of these CODELs, it wasn't CAPT Farr's superb planning or execution skills that most impressed me and my colleagues. It was his ability to substantively answer questions from members on a wide range of military issues. This knowledge was no doubt based on his impressive record of service and simply stated, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Navy are better off due to his service. As CAPT Farr embarks on a new chapter in life, it is my hope that he may recall, with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, the outstanding contributions he has made to the United States Navy while attached to the Office of Legislative Affairs. I would like to send him, his wife Melanie, daughter Kathleen and one of a kind dog Gracie, my very best wishes for continued success in his future.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share a remembrance of Mr. Vincent Giedraitis, a member of the ``Greatest Generation'' from Vernon, Connecticut who passed away at the age of 95 on August 10, 2020. Vin, as he was known to friends and colleagues led an extraordinary life, setting an example of how to really succeed by balancing family, professional success as an attorney, and service to his country at sea in the U.S. Navy. Vin balanced a long life full of many interests and hobbies with his work, with his valued friendships and his vibrant family life. He was an avid skier and fisherman. He enjoyed tennis, ballroom dancing, boating, golf and making a yearly batch of wild grape jelly. He played, studied and worked with determination and great satisfaction. He graduated from New Britain High School and then served in the Navy as a radar engineer on the U.S. John Bole destroyer in WWII. In the time after the war, he attended Central Connecticut State College and graduated from McGill University with a degree in Philosophy. While at McGill he met the love of his life, Joyce, and they were married for over 70 years. After settling in Connecticut and while raising their family, he went on to earn his Law Degree at the UConn School of Law. He went on to work for IBM, Aetna Insurance, Fuller Brush and then established his own private law practice in Hartford. He became a Public Defender for the City of Hartford and then for the town of Vernon-Rockville. Madam Speaker, I had a chance to see Vin's work in the Public Defender's Office up close over the years. As a law school intern who worked in the Hartford Superior Court, I helped interview clients and witnesses and assisted him during court hearings and trials. After passing the bar I continued to work with Vin as a public defender myself and in private practice. As most people know, public defenders have to grapple with high caseloads, sometimes difficult clients and limited resources to fully investigate cases. Sometimes public defenders succumb to viewing their role as moving cases along, and not pursuing the fullest defense possible. Not Vin. He took his oath and the constitutional duty under the Sixth Amendment to provide effective assistance of counsel to the fullest degree possible. I saw him press judges and prosecutors harder than they were normally accustomed in his pursuit of fairness and equal justice. It gave me a true insight into his strong character, which I admired deeply. As friendly and affable a person as he was, he had a spine of steel that was always centered on ethics and compassion. Madam Speaker, Vin was devoted to his amazing, impressive wife Joyce, their eight children and many grandchildren who all loved him dearly and mourn his passing. Madam Speaker, I would ask the members to join me in honoring the wonderful life and legacy of Vincent Giedraitis.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to provide my warmest congratulations and thanks to Peg Fitzgerald, a long-time resident and public servant in the State of Connecticut, who is retiring on October 1st after more than 42 years of service to our state. Like so many other citizens of our great state, I had the privilege to interact with Peg in government and had a front-row seat to watch her skillful use of shrewd intelligence, empathy and humor to advance the public interest in whatever role she took on. I first met Peg when I was an intern at the State Capitol for then-State Representative Sam Gejdenson in 1978 when Peg first went to work at the State Budget Office under Governors Ella Grasso and William O'Neill. Despite being a young woman given the weighty task of securing legislative support for the Governor's budget, she did not back down and could go toe-to-toe with the crustiest older male legislators and yet still make them laugh at her sharp Irish wit. When she would walk into Sam's committee room, he would yell, ``Hey Irish, what's going on?'' and the two of them would start busting each other, leaving all of us in stitches. It was like watching a sitcom. Seriously though, during her twelve years at the State Capitol, Peg worked with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, crafting compromises and ultimately promoting bills that would advance the health and welfare of citizens of the State of Connecticut. She provided training, guidance, and supervision to dozens of state agencies and their staff at the state Capitol in their own advocacy efforts for the Executive Branch. In 1990, Peg joined the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, bringing with her outstanding expertise in the legislative process and a passion for affordable housing. In her thirty years at CHFA, Peg has continuously fought for the underserved, and taught dozens of employees what it means to be a true public servant. For Peg, service to others never stopped at the office. When Peg wasn't at the Capitol, she often dedicated her time to organizing food drives or donations for local hunger relief organizations or finding homes for animals in need of adoption, including her own, many times over. Peg Fitzgerald--through four decades--has been the embodiment of public service, showing a uncompromising commitment to the public good, a passion for the democratic process and a dogged determination to help those most in need. I thank Peg for her service to the State of Connecticut and offer best wishes to her on her well-deserved retirement.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the retirement of Mr. Ken Delacruz, President of the Metal Trades Council at General Dynamics Electric Boat, after 46 years of service as a shipbuilder and a leader in our region. In his time at the shipyard, Kenny has seen it all--he saw the boom years of construction on the Los Angeles and Ohio Class submarines early in his career as a welder, the lean post-Cold War years of Seawolf and the uncertain start of Virginia class. In recent years, he's led the workforce as the yard ramped up for steady rate construction of the Virginia class program and the start of the Columbia class submarine, an historic expansion in work and activity that has surged hiring in the yard with a new generation of shipbuilders. Since 1991, Kenny has served as President of the Metals Trades Council at Electric Boat, representing thousands of workers across the waterfront trades. In that position Kenny has negotiated eight collective bargaining agreements--the latest winning 85 percent approval among members in 2019. Being a labor leader in a shipyard is a tough job, but in his incredible 29 years as president Ken has earned the respect of generations of his members, management, and elected officials. Kenny's permanent footprint on the yard will be felt in other ways as well, most importantly with his focus on the future of the workforce. In 2014, Ken was instrumental in helping to make the case to then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez during his visit to Groton about the need for federal investment in the manufacturing pipeline program to help new tradesmen and women gain the skills and training they need to succeed. After that visit, the eastern Connecticut workforce investment board received a $6 million workforce innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that has resulted in hundreds of pre-apprenticeship graduates acquiring entry level skills at EB. And, he led the effort re-establish and re-invigorate the apprenticeship program to ensure that the knowledge of our veteran skilled machinists and welders can be handed down to the next generation. On a personal note, for over twenty years, Kenny has always been a good friend and confidante, who taught me a lot about his members, their amazing talents and value to eastern Connecticut, navy shipbuilding and our national defense. As Kenny prepares for his well-deserved retirement, he can take pride in knowing that the shipyard he joined in 1976 has a more solid foundation and a brighter future thanks to his leadership and commitment to his workforce and the nation's undersea priorities. He has been a trusted ally, a committed partner and a friend to me and my office. And most important, he's been a fearless advocate for the men and women of the Metal Trades Council. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Kenny's 46 years of service to Electric Boat and our nation, and in wishing him a safe and happy retirement.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, one of the most dynamic and striking figures in American history was General George Patton. He was famous for saying: Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Mr. Speaker, those words were given at a time of world crisis when he was leading the Third Army through France and Germany and still ring true today. We are in a world crisis. This morning, the government released its GDP numbers, and it showed that, in the second quarter, the U.S. economy shrunk by 10 percent. That is the largest number since the government started recording GDP numbers since 1947. Annualized, that is a 33 percent hit to the economy. What is even more, I think, concerning, is that the new numbers in terms of new first-time unemployment claims this morning grew again this past week to 1.43 million claims. Yesterday, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Jerome Powell, foot-stomped the fact that not just the numbers from last quarter are of concern, but, again, looking out in the future, the Federal Reserve sees trouble ahead. The amount of credit card activity is dropping, and again, as I said, new first-time claims are growing. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Powell, back in May, warned us that the CARES Act was not going to be enough. This economy needed more fiscal stimulus, and the House did show leadership because we passed the HEROES Act, which was a package of fiscal measures whose cornerstone was extending unemployment compensation and State and local assistance, again, following the lead of the Federal Reserve Board Chairman, who said that those are the most efficient ways to make sure that this economy does not falter. Well, here we are today, finally, after the Senate responded with sort of a package, which, again, is completely missing any relief for State and local government and which has this convoluted unemployment extension, which Secretary Scalia, President Trump's own Secretary of Labor, said would take 8 weeks for State government departments of labor to implement. It is totally inadequate, totally insufficient to deal with the magnitude of the challenge. Again, when we look at State and local assistance, there is not a Member in this body who does not have a board of education, a local council, or a finance board that is struggling with making sure that public safety, public education, and public works are going to continue because revenue is cratering just the way the government showed this morning that the economy is cratering. We have this debate about defunding the police. Not voting for the HEROES Act was, de facto, defunding the police. How are local governments, which primarily fund police departments, going to have the resources in this economy to make sure that people's public safety ranks are, in fact, protected? Mr. Speaker, McConnell's plan, which he released earlier in week, his own people called it a mess, a mistake--Ted Cruz. The President said it is semi-irrelevant. It is time to wake up and get serious. The blueprint is there with the HEROES Act, in terms of making sure that we heed the warnings of President Trump's own economic advisers--Chairman Powell--and look at these numbers this morning: historic, jaw-dropping. We need to act. It is time to listen to General Patton: Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Child Care Is Essential Act. This bill is badly needed to clear a massive roadblock on our Nation's path to economic recovery. The choice is clear. Without assistance, only 18 percent of existing childcare programs will remain open a year from today. Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, not known as a strong supporter of social services, announced its support for emergency aid for childcare providers, declaring that ``for millions of Americans, returning to work is not just contingent on the lifting of stay-at-home orders . . . but on securing care for their children.'' This aid is critical because childcare providers are small businesses and have been operating at reduced capacity and much higher costs, if they are open at all. This situation is not sustainable. Every month more centers are closing as costs exceed revenues. Some estimates predict that we may lose as many as 4.5 million slots nationwide unless Congress acts and acts fast. Mr. Speaker, our Nation has long undervalued the role that childcare plays in enabling our workforce, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed that deplorable lack of investment. Making sure the childcare industry survives, as the Chamber testified, will shorten the recession by getting parents back to work. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and neighbor, Rosa DeLauro and Chairman Scott for their work on this bill and I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment numbered 71 to Division C of H.R. 7608 to increase base funding to $300,000 within the National Park Service budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 for the New England National Scenic Trail (NET). The NET was designated by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 making it the newest of the nation's 11 national scenic trails. The NET is a 220-mile hiking trail winding through 40 communities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Nearly 2 million people live within 10 miles of the trail, and since the designation, excitement about the trail and activities to improve the trail have continued to increase. The NET is managed through a partnership between the National Park Service and two of New England's most established nonprofit trail and conservation organizations--the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), established in 1876, and the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA), established in 1895. Since designation, the NET has been flat-funded at an average level of $127,000 in Operation of the National Park System funding, despite a conservative recommendation in its original 2005 NPS Trail Feasibility Study of an annual operating budget of $271,000. An increase in base funding is needed to implement the federal portion of the Trail Management Blueprint for the NET and to support the work of two trail partner organizations, the AMC and the CFPA. Based on more than a decade of experience with NET trail operations and needs, a total annual appropriation of $300,000 in FY 2021 is recommended to fully fund this trail and to support the work of volunteers, regional partners, and youth trail crews as they execute improvements to trail infrastructure, trail protection and planning, and trail information and promotion. I urge adoption of this en-bloc package, and I want to thank Mr. Himes, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Larson, Ms. Hayes, Mr. Neal, and Mr. McGovern for their kind support for this measure.

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment, numbered 40 to Division B of H.R. 7608, to provide $750,000 for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agricultural and Food Research Initiative to research innovative practices to increase carbon storage in agricultural land. My amendment identifies Enhanced Rock Weathering as a priority research area, with a focus especially on how this practice enhances carbon sequestration or may affect air quality and soil health. Additionally, my amendment requires that research also identify any impacts this practice would have on workers and consumers. As discussed by a new major research study from the University of Sheffield, published in Nature, adding rock dust to farmland could remove up to two billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year and help significantly reduce our global CO2 footprint. The technique of adding crushed volcanic rock dust to farmland--known as ``enhanced rock weathering''--has shown great potential to increase the soil's extraction of carbon dioxide from the environment. However, there are significant gaps in this research, including the side effects of this method on public health for both farmworkers and neighboring communities, and USDA is not currently engaged in studying this particular practice. Clearly more research is needed on this technology, and USDA is well-positioned to fund this work. I urge the adoption of this commonsense amendment to this en-bloc package.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states: ``Congress shall have the power . . . to provide and maintain a Navy.'' The Seapower and Projection Force's Subcommittee mark in this year's 2021 NDAA rises to that constitutional duty with a coherent, workable shipbuilding plan and a Projection Force mark that ensures air and sealift forces are capable of fulfilling their mission. It became abundantly clear when the administration sent over its 2021 budget that we were facing daunting challenges in our subcommittee's jurisdiction. Airlift and sealift were underresourced; the Navy shipbuilding budget was cut by 17 percent from last year; the request for new ships as verified by the Congressional Research Service was seven, the lowest since 2009; and the statutory requirement for the Department of Defense to submit a 30-year shipbuilding plan was, and continues to be, brazenly ignored. Our mark corrects these hits to our shipbuilding industrial base and is aligned to the Navy's actual requested priorities that were not included in February's budget. This includes nine ships, including the first Columbia-class ballistic submarine, two Arleigh Burke destroyers, and two Virginia-class submarines, to name a few. I want to foot-stomp that the mark reverses one of the most compounding elements of the administration's budget: the elimination of a Virginia-class submarine, which would disrupt the two-a-year build rate for the first time in a decade that Congress has diligently sustained. We have heard Navy officials confirm that there is industrial base capacity to support a second sub in 2021, and that platform is their number one unfunded priority. Its production represents the most cost- effective way to mitigate our declining submarine fleet. Even more importantly, we heard from combatant commands in the Pacific and Atlantic about the need to stop that decline and retain our undersea superiority as the most effective deterrent to keep the peace. We fixed that flaw in our work, and we did it underneath the bipartisan budget caps. Mr. Speaker, all of this was accomplished with teamwork, and I want to thank my friend and colleague, Ranking Member Rob Wittman, all of the subcommittee members, and our amazing staff: Phil MacNaughton, Dave Sienicki, Kelly Goggin, and Sean Falvey. And I also want to thank Lieutenant Commander Cam Massey, our Navy fellow in our office, who was instrumental in getting this fine product. I urge passage of the Thornberry NDAA.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, again, I think the gentlewoman described very well the situation that is there. We obviously, as I said, learned a lot in this process in terms of maybe trying to get more reassurance about the precision of the definition of what are agricultural products, as well as making sure that the regulations in Connecticut are beefed up so that the maximum level of truck safety would be incorporated into any such change. As I said, it needs more work. I want to thank Mr. DeFazio for at least listening to us and Mr. McGovern for making this amendment in order and Mr. Graves, again, for the work that he does on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. As a friend of mine once said when he was redirected out of a seat in the Connecticut Legislature: Don't send me flowers, because I am coming back. Don't send us flowers, because we want to really bring this issue, sometime in the future, to Congress to try and help really great people who work every day, get up early, and are doing wonderful things in terms of food production and agriculture products. I ask unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment.

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, in 2013, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a law which was enacted that tried to modify and did modify, at least at the State level, the truck weight limits for agricultural producers, which, again, is sort of caught in a bit of a geographic box, given the fact that it is an 80,000 limit in Connecticut, 127,000 in Massachusetts for interstates, and 143,000 in the State of New York. This is a very densely concentrated part of the country, and almost all of their feed, almost all of their silage, a lot of their fuel, and a lot of their equipment comes in from out of State. So when you have got trucks that can carry 120,000 going down the Mass Pike and then enter Connecticut, you are suddenly having a very disruptive, expensive proposition in terms of actually needing more trucks or having to have the products offloaded. That is why the general assembly passed this statute. They thought they fixed it, but as, of course, we know here, in fact, Federal law has to be modified in order to make it effective. And that really was the purpose of this amendment. I had the support of the Governor and all of the relevant agencies in Washington. Truck weights are complicated. We know that, and I think we have really learned a lot in terms of this process. Again, I will be making a motion which I think will bring this event to a conclusion, but before I do that, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Hayes), a great advocate for farms in the State of Connecticut, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, and someone who has been very involved in terms of trying to help on this issue.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, today, we vote on this bill that improves the Affordable Care Act by cutting the cost of healthcare for families at an unprecedented, anxious time in American life. More than 2.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19. In the insurance world, that means millions more with a preexisting condition. Astonishingly, in the midst of this healthcare emergency, when we should be protecting coverage, the Trump administration, last week, asked the Supreme Court to strike down the entire ACA. If Mr. Trump has his wish, those 2.5 million Americans, along with 130 million others with preexisting conditions, will lose the landmark pro-patient protection that has been on the books for the past 10 years, namely, the right to health coverage even if you have been sick before and the confidence and serenity to know that you won't be charged more because of an illness in your past. It is right there on the first page of the ACA, section 2704: ``Prohibition of preexisting condition exclusions or other discrimination based on health status.'' Yet, the administration in its brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court a few days ago says: ``The entire ACA must fall.'' That is a verbatim quote. Well, Madam Speaker, if the ACA falls, preexisting condition protections fall with it, along with age-26 coverage for dependent children and the elimination of lifetime limits on health coverage, which will devastate patients with chronic illness. Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported that the President once again admitted that neither he nor his Senate majority have the slightest clue what their plan is if their wrecking ball of the ACA succeeds. Madam Speaker, during the last 4 months' avalanche of layoffs, millions of Americans have desperately reached out to their State's ACA exchanges in search of health coverage after losing job-based insurance, 54,000 just in Connecticut alone. At this time of severe economic uncertainty when a deadly virus is ravaging communities both rural and urban, we must do everything in our power to strengthen health insurance and make it more affordable, which this bill does. To shrink from this challenge and roll back the clock on 10 years of progress would be a complete dereliction of duty. Vote ``yes'' on this bill.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago, right before Memorial Day, President Trump very quietly, behind closed doors, vetoed this bill, a bill that protects a borrower defense rule, which was supported by a wide range of veteran service organizations. For years, young veterans who sought an education after serving their country have been targeted by for-profit, rip-off education factories that swallow up their GI benefits and then pile on new student loans. Stories abound about men and women who wore the uniform of this country left with crushing debt and worthless degrees that denied them the rewarding careers they were promised. Although many today are entitled to loan forgiveness, the Department of Education, under Secretary Betsy DeVos, has willfully made this process as onerous as possible. Mr. Speaker, if we listen to the American Legion, the Iraq and Afghan Veterans of America, and the Vietnam Veterans of America, vote to override, and we can restore these victims of fraud and greed some semblance of financial solvency. If we do not override this veto, the share of eligible debt forgiveness will drop from 53 percent to just 3 percent, and we will betray thousands of Americans who stepped up and volunteered to protect our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' to override.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, today the House of Representatives is voting on two pieces of legislation designed to improve upon the Paycheck Protection Program--the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, and the TRUTH Act. Although I am a cosponsor of both pieces of legislation and will vote in favor of them, I remain concerned that these bills fall short of the Paycheck Protection Program fixes which were already included in the HEROES Act--legislation that the House has passed and which is pending action by the Senate. For example--I am glad that the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 includes provisions to modify the use of PPP loans, providing businesses with 24 weeks (instead of just 8 weeks) to use the loan. This bill also makes more flexible the requirement imposed by the Small Business Administration that 75 percent of the loan be used for payroll, and instead only requires 60 percent of the loan to be used for payroll in order to receive the full amount of forgiveness. Unfortunately, this bill fails to include many of the provisions from the HEROES Act that are urgently needed to assist in our nation's economic recovery. For example, the HEROES Act extended eligibility for PPP loans to nonprofits of all sizes and would carve out funds specifically for the smallest businesses--those with 10 or fewer employees--ensuring that they are not left behind. By expanding PPP to all nonprofits, the HEROES Act would allow chambers of commerce and other nonprofit entities that are not classified as a 501(c)(3) to take advantage of this important assistance. Additionally, the HEROES Act removes the size restrictions for nonprofits, allowing nonprofits with more than 500 employees to still maintain payroll during this time of economic hardship, while their services are needed more than ever. The HEROES Act--section 20235--also clarifies that expenses paid or incurred with proceeds from PPP loans (or EIDL grants) would not result in the denial of any federal tax deduction. Small businesses need as much support as possible at this time, and tax provisions such as this in the HEROES Act would provide a much-needed boost to our economy. Unfortunately, the two PPP bills we are voting on in the House today fail to include the full gamut of improvements from the HEROES Act, including this additional tax assistance for small businesses. I will be voting in support of these bills but believe that it is essential that we not stop here--Congress must improve the PPP and small business assistance beyond what these bills would provide. The HEROES Act provides a strong model for what these changes should entail, and I urge my colleagues to continue improving these programs, even after these PPP bills pass the House.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to both recognize and congratulate Rear Admiral Brad Cooper for his service as he concludes his tour as the Secretary of the Navy's Chief of Legislative Affairs. In this capacity, he oversaw and led a team of 40 Naval officers, sailors, and civilians helping set departmental priorities and advancing the shared understanding of what our Navy continues to do in support of our Nation. I have had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Brad through my role as Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee in various CODELs and oversight hearings. Last year alone, he personally accompanied me, and many other members of Congress, to the United Kingdom, Iceland and Norway to see first-hand how the Navy was conducting anti-submarine operations in the High North and to see the awe-inspiring work that our sailors were doing on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) off the coast of Florida. In various office calls and oversight engagements, the quality of assistance given has been unrivaled. Simply said, my office, the House Committee on Armed Services and this entire chamber is better off due to Admiral Cooper's service. A career surface warfare officer, Admiral Cooper has served in various ships including destroyers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers culminating with command of USS Russell (DDG 59) and USS Gettysburg (CG 64). To help articulate the caliber of officer that Brad is, I will share this anecdote: Every year, the Navy awards the Battle E to the best ship in a given squadron. Brad, and the phenomenal teams he helps build, have achieved this award ten times. During his recent tenure as Chief of Legislative Affairs, Brad has served admirably through significant change while keeping the Navy's Capitol Hill posture even-keeled through the tenures of multiple Navy leaders. His staff has flawlessly executed Congressional Delegations throughout the world, supported hearings, and negotiated the NDAA while considering military, political, and budgetary priorities. His team works flawlessly, and is my, and many of my colleagues, staff of choice when dealing with defense issues. I believe Brad's success is built on his understanding that what makes this country great is the ability to establish and keep relationships. This fundamental approach to his craft has gained respect and admiration in both chambers of Congress and on both sides of the aisle. He has worked with us to broaden the Navy's outreach beyond just those members of defense committees. His efforts, solidified alongside those of the Navy's senior leaders, exposed the House of Representatives to the great work our sailors are doing around the globe each and every day. As Admiral Cooper continues his Naval service, it is my hope that he may recall, with a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, the outstanding contributions he has made to the United States Navy as Chief of Legislative Affairs. I would like to send him, his wife, Susan, and their children, Bradford and Katie, my very best wishes for continued success in Norfolk and their future endeavors. Well done Admiral. Fair winds and following seas.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today we are voting on the HEROES Act, two days after the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Jerome Powell very bluntly stated that the Federal Reserve has exhausted its capacity to maintain liquidity in our financial markets, and that given the severity of this recession, the Congress needs to step up again to provide more fiscal relief to keep this country from going into a tailspin. He went on to say a protracted recession will do far more damage than the cost of the measures we're voting on. He was very explicit--fiscal policy is going to be costly, but the harm that would be done if we undershoot providing relief for individuals, households, and communities will be far more expensive in the long term than if Congress acts in a timely fashion. This bill does a number of things--it is a lengthy bill, but fundamentally it provides support for states and local communities to keep the lights on in terms of vital public services, and deal with the fact that revenue is collapsing with the economic downturn we are experiencing. The bill includes a bipartisan request from the National Governors Association for $500 billion to states hard hit by the Coronavirus. The State of Connecticut, which has done a great job in terms of shoring up its rainy day fund is going through those funds at a very rapid rate, and this measure will help stabilize state and local finances over two years. Not only is this money just targeting larger municipalities, but also communities of less than 50,000 residents. That's funding directly to small towns like Vernon, where I live, which is a community with 30,000 people, and many of the more than 60 communities in the second Congressional district. This means we can protect our school systems, our public safety programs, and essential services like public works that are the underpinning of economic activity we would be hardpressed to maintain if we don't step in with some real fiscal relief. There will also be for the first time, a real financial recognition of those workers who throughout this whole ordeal have been deemed essential, have been going to work, and have been keeping this country going. Whether that's health care services like nursing staff in hospitals, janitors, food supply workers, people in meatpacking plants, and in grocery stores that have kept this country fed. It also includes the people who have to go to work as a result of an order from the Pentagon, like the shipyard workers down in Groton, who are specifically enumerated in this bill as being eligible for hazard pay. These workers will be rewarded with premium pay for their essential work, on top of their normal wages, if this bill becomes law. There are many other important provisions in this bill, from help to the unemployed, to hospitals, to farmers, to further direct assistance to families, all of which are gravely needed. I want to thank the people of the Second district for the strong input that our office has received. It is my hope that this important emergency response effort becomes law. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. Our nation is experiencing unprecedented job loss as our communities deal with a global health pandemic that is responsible for the deaths of more than 85,000 individuals in our country in just the past few months. We cannot wait another day, another week, or another month to take action. Our communities need help now and they are looking to Congress to lead. I'm grateful for the leadership of the House of Representatives, Speaker Pelosi, and our committee chairs and staff for working with us to put together an ambitious bill that will send needed help to individuals and families in the form of an additional direct stimulus payment; to our state and local governments, which are experiencing extreme budget shortfalls; and to our small businesses that are the backbone of our local economies and the heart of our communities. Although I am disappointed that the bill does not include several provisions including ongoing payments for individuals and families, additional funding to support child care, and a strong investment in our workforce systems, among other things, I will support this step forward. We heard loud and clear from our state and local governments--they need more support to keep our communities safe. This bill includes $915 billion in emergency funding to state and local governments, funding that can be used to help prevent teacher job loss and funding cuts to education and, importantly, the bill expands the use of funds to cover lost, delayed, or decreased revenue from the public health emergency. The HEROES Act also includes $90 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund that can be used to provide emergency support to students--including Dreamers, who were previously excluded from receiving emergency grants--schools, and institutions of higher education. These funds are critical to supporting public colleges and universities, addressing student mental health needs, and purchasing technology and mobile hotspots to support distance learning. Under this proposal, my home state of Oregon would receive approximately $980 million. During this public health crisis, no one should have to choose between affording basic needs or making payments on their student loans. The CARES Act suspended involuntary collection like wage garnishment or reduction of Social Security payments for delinquent federally-owned student loans. The HEROES Act follows my recommendation to extend these protections to all borrowers, including those who have privately held student loans. Building on my earlier efforts to make sure K12 students can access school meals during school closures, this legislation funds school meal and child and adult care food programs with emergency relief that will help schools continue to meet the needs of children and their families. This bill will further help families access nutritious meals by increasing the SNAP benefit level by 15 percent. I am grateful that this bill provides $7 billion for child care, but this is far from the investment that is needed to support families, providers, and the child care workforce at this critical time. I will continue to fight for significant, additional funding in future relief packages. If child care is not available and affordable, families will be not be able to return to work. Additionally, I will continue to fight for additional funding for the Community Services Block Grant program to support the vital anti-poverty work of the more than 1,000 Community Action agencies across this country. We cannot overcome this virus until we drastically increase our public health efforts. The HEROES Act provides crucial funding to conduct national testing, implement a contact tracing and surveillance strategy, and allow all Americans to seek treatment for COVID-19 without worrying about the cost. The bill also increases support for our frontline health care providers, invests in public health infrastructure, and expands access to health coverage whether employer- provided, publicly supported, or on the open market. The HEROES Act also provides key resources to older adults and people with disabilities. The bill provides an additional $85 million in funding for Older Americans Act (OAA) programs that were reauthorized earlier this year by legislation I was proud to lead. This means more resources for supportive services, nutrition programs, assistive technology, and elder rights protection activities. The direct payments to individuals in the CARES Act was an important first step, but I know that too many people in Northwest Oregon and across the country need more support during this health and economic crisis. Although this bill does not provide at least $2,000 per month for individuals through the duration of the pandemic, which I advocated for, it does provide a second stimulus payment of $1200 to most individuals and, importantly, it retroactively fixes a problem in CARES and will now extend direct payments to individuals filing with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. More than 396,000 Oregonians have filed for unemployment insurance in the last two months. I know how important this support is during the pandemic, and I'm working in Congress to strengthen and expedite access to these benefits. The HEROES Act expands the additional $600 in federal benefits added to every weekly unemployment compensation check through January 2021, and it extends eligibility for self-employed individuals, gig economy workers, and independent contractors. This vital economic support must continue until workers can safely get back on the job. Also it is truly unfortunate that, despite the merits of a more comprehensive approach, the HEROES Act does not include the Paycheck Guarantee Act, legislation spearheaded by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. The Paycheck Guarantee Act would allow most individuals to stay on payroll during this national emergency and keep their benefits, and it would also significantly reduce the number of people filing for Unemployment Insurance. I will continue to advocate for creative approaches like the Paycheck Guarantee Act that maximize the benefits to workers and the economy while also reducing bureaucracy. We need to do more to protect workers from hazardous conditions on the job, and I will keep fighting for workplace protections and personal protective equipment for all workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am an original cosponsor of the COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act, and I'm pleased that it is included in the HEROES Act with additional funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Protecting essential workers during the pandemic is one of my top priorities. I have also advocated for premium pay for essential workers to recognize their role in sustaining our communities and the sacrifices they are making during the pandemic. The HEROES Act will provide frontline workers who are in contact with patients, the public, or co-workers--including grocery store workers, health care workers, and first responders--with an additional $13 per hour in premium pay on top of regular wages, up to $10,000. As more communities start to lift stay-at-home orders, all workers need access to paid family, medical, and sick leave benefits. The HEROES Act will help expand access to emergency paid sick leave and emergency paid family and medical leave by eliminating exemptions for health care workers, first responders, workers at businesses with fewer than 50 employees, and workers at businesses with 500 or more employees. And I will keep working with my colleagues to secure permanent paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for all workers. I started working at Legal Aid while I attended community college, and learned there that people do not struggle by choice. With our national economy upended, consumers face even greater financial hardships and predatory actors continue to take advantage of people facing this crisis. We should have implemented the strengthened consumer protections in the HEROES Act at the beginning of this crisis, and I have continued calls for their passage. I'm glad that the HEROES Act suspends consumer debt collection during the COVID-19 emergency and for 120 days after the end of the national emergency to make sure consumers can fully recover. I worked with the Congressional Progressive Caucus to make debt collection suspension a priority in relief legislation. We know that Oregonians are struggling through no fault of their own, and they should not be further harmed financially. Negative credit reporting will be suspended under the HEROES Act for the duration of this crisis and any future national emergencies. This is an essential step to safeguard consumers most affected by the current outbreak. I have also continued to call for medical debt collection and credit reporting suspensions--needed reforms to prevent a hospital visit from destroying the credit of consumers. I am glad to see that medical debt related to coronavirus treatments will not result in adverse credit information; however, we must give consumers the flexibility to settle their medical debt before it shows up on a credit report and we must continue to fight so everyone can access affordable health care. The HEROES Act also clarifies the intent of the CARES Act by preventing the garnishment, levy, or seizing of direct payment for private debts. I have been a vocal advocate for stopping unfair garnishment and protecting payments like Social Security and other essential earned benefits. Oregon has strong laws to prevent unfair price hikes during crises like the current pandemic. I am continuing to work with Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on ways to expand Oregon's protections to all Americans. It's beneficial that the HEROES Act includes provisions to stop unconscionably excessive prices on necessities like food, hygiene products, personal protective equipment, and health services. Workforce boards, labor unions, community colleges, community-based organizations, small businesses, and other stakeholders are training health care, direct care, and frontline workers, but they are in desperate need of more resources. I am pleased that the HEROES Act includes $2.5 billion for adult education, youth training, dislocated worker grants, migrant and seasonal farmworker programs, and public health worker recruitment and training as authorized in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, but this funding is insufficient to meet the scale of the crisis at hand. For comparison, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act provided more than $7.7 billion in workforce funding. To respond to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, we need at least $15 .1 billion in supplemental federal investments to help prevent further layoffs and provide dislocated workers and employers with access to employment services like training, career navigation, and supportive services. I will keep working with my colleagues on the Education and Labor Committee to advance the Relaunching America's Workforce Act because the historic unemployment levels over the last two months require an equally historic response to support workers. No one should be forced to choose between paying their bills and paying for food, but as Oregonians face the ongoing economic consequences of COVID-19, this is becoming a reality for too many working families. This bill includes $175 billion to assist renters and homeowners make monthly rent, mortgage and utility payments, and other housingrelated costs. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is an important wraparound support that helps low-income families pay for heating and cooling bills. The HEROES Act includes another $1.5 billion in supplemental funding for LIHEAP, but many more households will need and likely qualify for assistance in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, as individuals comply with stay-at-home orders across the country during the pandemic, they will likely be using more electricity and heat or air conditioning to keep their homes habitable. As we work to craft the next response package, I will keep fighting for more funding for LIHEAP to provide tangible assistance to families who are struggling to pay their bills. I also advocated for assistance similar to LIHEAP that would help households economically affected by COVID-19 with drinking water and wastewater services during this national emergency. The HEROES Act includes an additional $1.5 billion for this support. The success of our economic recovery will depend on the success of our small businesses. The Paycheck Protection Program was a good first lifeline for many, but many business owners are concerned about artificial timelines and a lack of flexibility in the program. I'm glad that the HEROES Act will extend the coverage period to the end of 2020 and give businesses additional flexibility while still adhering to local stay-at-home orders that may not allow them to fully open and resume operating for some time to come. The bill would also expand PPP eligibility to additional nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes, as well as provide an additional $10 billion in economic injury disaster grants (EIDL) through the Small Business Administration. Fisheries are an important part of our economy in Northwest Oregon, and I know that our coastal communities need more assistance to get through these challenging times. The HEROES Act provides an additional $100 million in disaster funding, and I will keep working to secure more direct assistance for fisheries and the domestic seafood supply chain. Northwest Oregon is known for its prestigious specialty crops, and our farmers have been struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. The HEROES Act will also support our specialty crop farmers by providing $100 million for specialty crop grants and $50 million for support for local farmers markets and other direct to consumer markets. This bill addresses one of the key shortcomings of previous legislative efforts; the exclusion of individuals from direct economic relief because of their immigration status. The HEROES Act retroactively extends direct payments to mixed-status families and immigrants who file taxes using ITINs, and it expands eligibility for other economic support. It removes barriers to testing, treatment, vaccines, and other health care based solely on immigration status and automatically extends work permits for individuals with DACA or TPS. The bill offers protections from ICE removal and employment authorization for individuals in critical industries, including agricultural workers and meatpackers. It also requires ICE to review its detention policies and find alternatives for individuals not subject to mandatory detention. Importantly, the HEROES Act strengthens our democratic institutions with new resources to conduct secure, reliable elections using vote-by- mail. Oregonians have used this trusted method of voting for more than twenty years, and it should be implemented nationwide as a simple and safe solution that will increase access while allowing voters to maintain physical distancing measures. We must act quickly and decisively to curb the spread of COVID-19 and create conditions that will allow us to begin our recovery, but we must also act boldly so our response is sufficient to prevent a widespread resurgence of the virus. We must also not leave behind any segment of our society as we work to repair the immense and harmful economic damage that we see across Oregon and the country. We are all safer and healthier when everyone in our communities is safer and healthier. I commend House leadership for putting forward a proposal that responsibly addresses the desperate need we are currently facing while also acknowledging the potentially disastrous costs of doing too little. I urge all my colleagues to support our nurses, first responders, grocery workers, and all frontline heroes by supporting this legislation.

Mr. COURTNEY

Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the third COVID-19 relief package--the CARES Act. House and Senate leadership has worked tirelessly around-the-clock to find middle ground to deliver tangible relief to communities around the country reeling from the impacts of COVID-19. The final bipartisan compromise that was negotiated over the last few days included some meaningful changes with input from the House of Representatives, including major additional investments in the health care sector that was missing from the original bill. These investments include an additional $100 billion for hospitals and health care providers, $16 billion for the production and purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, and $11 billion to fund critical, lifesaving medical research so that we may better understand this virus and someday soon, have a vaccine to stop it. While our state and local governments are making heroic efforts to combat COVID-19, there is no doubt they need additional support. The revised CARES Act does just that--providing over one billion dollars at a minimum to every state in the nation to fight this, including $1.38 billion for Connecticut. This funding will be critical to make sure we can get the job done. Mr. Speaker, while there is more work to be done to support our constituents through this crisis, the CARES Act is a much-needed step in the right direction, and I urge its immediate passage.