Judy Chu

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), who is the coauthor of this bill and introduced this bill with me.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), who is the co-chair of the Equality Caucus.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, it is long overdue for Congress to take action to ensure equal dignity in our Tax Code. The product will send a strong message to our LGBT brothers and sisters to say that our Tax Code should represent you, too. I am proud that this bill is endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and passed unanimously out of the Ways and Means Committee. I strongly urge my colleagues to continue to build on this progress and support its passage on the House floor. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my strong support of the Butch Lewis Act. This bill would ensure that multiemployer pension plans can continue to provide security to millions of retired workers, everybody from the Teamsters to the United Food and Commercial Workers. This is particularly important for my district in Los Angeles County, which is home to thousands of actors, musicians, and so many more creative professionals. But the American Federation of Musicians and Employers' Pension Fund is set to run out of money within 20 years, putting their 50,000 members in danger. In fact, it is tragic that this fund has been put in the position of applying to the U.S. Treasury for a reduction in benefits, the benefits that these workers put in a lifetime of hard work to earn. Instead, the Butch Lewis Act would give pension funds like this loans for 30 years to help build up their funds, ensuring that workers can keep the full benefits that they earned and counted on. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to vote for the Butch Lewis Act.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 748, repealing the so-called Cadillac tax. I believe that we in Congress should be incentivizing employer- sponsored insurance to be more generous, not less; and at a time when the President is working to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and pushing through regulations that allow junk plans to flourish, we need to stand with American workers and fight for more generous health plans. The plans that are hit by this tax cover more female employees, more workers with dependent children, more older workers, and employees at small businesses. These are the people who are being hit by high deductibles, rising premiums, and more cost sharing in the health system than ever before. A recent study showed that in 2018, 58 percent of Americans do not have $1,000 of savings in case of an emergency, and yet the average deductible in 2018 was $1,350. We must pass this bill. I include letters of support for H.R. 748 into the Congressional Record from organizations such as the Alliance for Retired Americans, the Alliance to Fight the 40, and the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Alliance for Retired Americans, Washington, DC, July 15, 2019. Dear Representative: On behalf of the 4.4 million members of the Alliance for Retired Americans, I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 748, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act, when it comes up for a vote on the House floor this week. As you know, approximately 181 million Americans rely on employer-provided health insurance to pay for the medical care that they need. The 40% excise tax, originally passed as a part of the Affordable Care Act, is assessed on any health plan that provides more than $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. While intended to target high-premium plans for the wealthy to expand benefits and coverage for uninsured individuals, the tax squarely affects middle class workers and their families. Johns Hopkins University researchers projected that 75% of employer-sponsored plans will be affected by the tax. Retirees are especially vulnerable to higher health care costs and will be hurt if the tax goes into effect. Older Americans' retiree insurance plans typically have higher premiums. If not repealed, employers may reduce the benefits provided to their retirees who are younger than 65 and eliminate supplemental coverage altogether for Medicare eligible retirees age 65 and over. In addition, the tax disproportionately hurts women, low- to middle-class individuals and families, people with disabilities, workers with high-risk occupations, and those with chronic medical conditions. Many workers are already experiencing the effects of the tax. Some employers are reducing health coverage for their employees to avoid the tax. Others are increasing premiums and deductibles to shift costs to workers. The Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act will eliminate this looming danger facing millions of American workers. I urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 748 to protect quality health coverage for older Americans and millions of workers and their families. The importance of this vote cannot be overstated. Sincerely, Richard J. Fiesta, Executive Director.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act. This is a historic day. H.R. 6 provides a long-awaited pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, to temporary protected status recipients, and deferred enforced departure status individuals. A floor vote on this bill could not have come soon enough. More than 2.5 million immigrants currently living in fear that they would be torn from their families could find relief in this bill. Losing them would be disastrous to our communities, and it would harm our economy. It would be devastating to so many. This includes 130,000 Asian American Dreamers and 9,000 TPS recipients who urgently need relief from the President's xenophobic threats to tear apart immigrant families. The Dream and Promise Act unites us around the shared ideal that anybody can live the American Dream if they are willing to work for it. That is the lesson that has inspired generations of immigrants to build this country, and that is the lesson we cannot afford to forget. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill. Parliamentary Inquiry

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2940. The bill authorizes the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Child Care Entitlement to States, which expire on June 30. These are vital programs that help keep children and families out of poverty. TANF provides an important safety net for families, and States use the money to give very low-income families with children direct cash assistance, childcare, and work training. In my home State of California, TANF is critical to so many families. Administered through the CalWORKs program, California supplements its Federal TANF programs with its own State dollars to help lift individuals out of poverty, and it is working. In Los Angeles County, where my district is located, an additional 71,000 children would be living in poverty and 31,700 children in deep poverty without TANF. Altogether, that would be over 100,000 more children living in poverty. California sees the value in TANF and is supplementing its TANF dollars with increased State investments for cash assistance and restoration of cost-of-living adjustments. Reauthorization of Federal funds is key in ensuring that there is progress in reducing poverty, so I urge all my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 2940. We must ensure that funding for families in need continues until the end of this fiscal year.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Edgar G. Griffin, who passed away in April at the age of 94. Mr. Griffin was a World War II veteran, proud member of the Knights of Columbus, and a longtime resident of California's 27th Congressional District. Mr. Griffin was born in Leon Guanajato, Mexico on December 7, 1924 and emigrated to Los Angeles as a teenager with his mother after the death of his father. Although he held American citizenship through his father, Mr. Griffin joined the Army to secure his mother's residency. A paratrooper in the 101st airborne division of the Army, Mr. Griffin survived the Normandy landing on D-Day in 1944. He was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for his service, as well as a Purple Heart and numerous other medals. At the time of his passing, Mr. Griffin was the only surviving Mexican-American veteran of the landing at Normandy. After the war, Mr. Griffin returned to California, where he met his wife Mimi and they raised their nine children together. After first settling in the City of Commerce while Mr. Griffin worked in their Aircraft Assembly Radar Section of Hughes Aircraft, the family eventually moved to Monterey Park. There, he worked as a sound and lighting engineer for the Century Plaza Hotel, until he retired at the age of 68. He was also an active member of the Knights of Columbus, elected Grand Night four times. Mr. Griffin was due to return to Normandy next month for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. He would have been nearly a century old and one of very few surviving veterans of the battle that heralded the end of World War II. While his passing deprived him of that distinction, I would like to take this opportunity to honor the memory of a true American hero.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, climate change is a crisis that demands our immediate attention. Its effects are ongoing. It will impact all of us eventually, whether through worse storms, bigger wildfires, less food and water, or conflicts over resources. The good news is, we still have the time and ability to halt the worst effects. That is what the Paris climate agreement achieved. This landmark agreement was the first ever to unite 195 countries around the common goal of protecting our planet from the worst impacts of our own actions. That is why we must pass H.R. 9, to keep the President from pulling us out of this deal and require the administration to develop concrete plans to meet our emissions reduction targets. Under the Paris Agreement, each country agreed to meet our own goals to keep global temperatures from raising more than 2 degrees Celsius. Despite Trump's step backwards, I am proud that my State of California shows change can be made with commonsense steps. Investments in important technologies like renewable energy, clean cars, and green buildings mean that California is on track to drop our emissions to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Now the Federal Government must follow. The urgency of fighting climate change cannot be in question. Neither can our commitment to the Paris Agreement. I urge passage of this bill.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Marilee K. Scaff, who passed away on March 8th, 2019 at the age of 103. Ms. Scaff was an active member of the Claremont community for nearly 70 years and her passion for public service, education, and the outdoors will leave a positive impact for years to come. Marilee Scaff was born in San Marcos, Texas, on November 27th, 1915. As her father worked on the Southern Pacific Railroad, her family lived in several communities across the southwest, instilling in her an early love of nature. She eventually settled in Austin for college on a Girl Scouts scholarship, setting her sights on a sociology degree, and later graduate degrees in American history and educational psychology. Dr. Scaff's passion for learning and education would play an ongoing role in her life, as she taught at El Roble Intermediate School in my district, held faculty positions at the University of Iowa and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, acted as First Chair of the Clinebell Counseling Center at Claremont School of Theology, and served twice on the Claremont Board of Education. Dr. Scaff also travelled broadly, serving as a missionary in the Philippines with her husband, Alvin, beginning in 1940. She returned to teach there 40 years later, after living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for several years in the interim. The Scaffs lived in Claremont periodically beginning in the 1960s. Ms. Scaff was an active member of the Claremont United Church of Christ, where she established the nursery school, the Claremont and Los Angeles Leagues of Women Voters, and a founding member of the United Nations Association. She was closely involved with the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden through the end of her life, where she gave tours and taught school children about local wildlife. It was this same enthusiasm that she brought to community efforts to save the Thompson Creek Spreading Grounds in Claremont, as well as other sustainability measures, making her the city's resident expert on water issues. When a ballot measure to allow Claremont to acquire their own water system was placed on the ballot in 2014, Dr. Scaff, who was 99 years old at the time, was chosen to lead the campaign effort, bringing that measure to victory by a 71 percent margin. Marilee Scaff was an integral member of the Claremont community for more than half a century, and because of tireless dedication to service and working towards a better community for all of us, I was honored to recognize her as our 2015 Woman of Distinction for the City of Claremont. She will be missed by her three children, five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and the entire community she loved so dearly, but her legacy will be felt for years to come.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Francisco Han Ping Hsieh, who passed away on March 26, 2019 at the age of 85. Mr. Hsieh played an important role in the Asian-American community in California for more than 50 years. Mr. Hsieh was born in Hubei, China on October 14, 1933. After his graduation from Soochow University in 1959, he worked as a journalist, which eventually brought him to San Francisco in 1965. There, he was employed as a correspondent for Central Daily News, until he went on to serve as publisher and editor at Kiu Kwong Newspaper and Chinese Commercial News. Following his successful career in journalism, Mr. Hsieh opened Hunan Village Restaurant in San Francisco, bringing the cuisine of his childhood to the city he had grown to love. He shared his passion for Chinese cuisine widely, teaching cooking classes at City College of San Francisco and assisting in the development of other Chinese restaurants in the area. Following the closure of his restaurant in 1987, Mr. Hsieh pivoted his attentions once again, working on the campaigns of several California politicians, including former Congressman Mike Honda, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and former Governor Gray Davis. Mr Hsieh also served on the California Acupuncture Board, the Commission on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs, the California State Friendship Committee, and the Chinese American Democratic Club. In every part of his life, whether publishing a weekly newspaper, bringing Hunan cuisine to a new audience, or political activism, Francisco Hsieh spent his life sharing the subjects he was passionate about to a wider audience, welcoming new members into a vibrant and robust community that he helped build. Mr. Hsieh was a central figure in the Asian-American community in California for more than half of a century. It is my honor today to pay tribute to his memory and his enduring legacy.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the BRIDGE Act, which would ensure that all unemployment insurance beneficiaries could use reemployment service grants to get back to work sooner. Currently, only unemployed individuals who are likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits have access to these grants. I know this change will make an impact in my district. In Pasadena, California, the Employment Development Department administers this program, which offers an orientation to dislocated workers. At the orientations, these clients are given a tour of all the services available, including partner services under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and they are then able to pick out a service that best fits their needs. But this change would allow all individuals to have access to this program and will help coordinate services better so that staff can help these individuals so that they don't have to figure it out on their own, and then more dislocated workers in my community could find work more quickly. It would help people like Hector. Just last week, I met with the Los Angeles Workforce Development Board and they told me his story. Hector lost his job as an account manager, where he was making $44.71 per hour. This forced him to seek public assistance to make ends meet for himself and his family. Through the help of the staff at the East Los Angeles/West San Gabriel Valley America's Job Center of California, Hector was able to receive a referral for an interview with the Maintco Corporation and was provided a bus pass that enabled him to get to the interview. He was able to quickly secure employment as a finance controller and is now making $55 an hour, which is $11 more than when he lost his job. We must pass this bill to make sure that individuals who lose their jobs are not out of the workforce for too long. I applaud my colleague, Stephanie Murphy, for introducing this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Taxpayer First Act, the first package of IRS reforms that Congress has considered since 1998. This bipartisan bill takes broad steps to improve the taxpayer experience by making the filing process easier and more efficient. It also strengthens the IRS' ability to combat identity theft and refund fraud. These are issues that create worry and stress for our constituents, and I am proud that we are acting swiftly to bring relief. This bill also tamps down on the program that allows the IRS to outsource debt collection to private contractors. These contractors often use many aggressive tactics to pressure the poorest and most vulnerable among us, forcing them to make payments even if they can't afford it. This creates economic hardship for families who would otherwise qualify for alternative payment plans by the IRS. What is worse, it costs the U.S. Treasury more than the money it brings in. I believe it should be abolished for good, but this bill reaches a strong compromise to ensure the poorest are no longer targeted. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Joan Roberta Williams, who passed away on February 20, 2019 at the age of 86. Mrs. Williams was named Miss Crown City in 1958 after being nominated by her colleagues at Pasadena City Hall. Though she was supposed to perform the ceremonial duties around the Rose Parade now performed by the Rose Queen, such as ribbon cuttings and appearances with the Mayor of Pasadena, the float on which Mrs. Williams was scheduled to appear was cancelled. Mrs. Williams was denied these honors after city officials discovered that she was African American. It wasn't until New Year's Day of 2015 that Mrs. Williams finally appeared in the Rose Parade, this time in a float honoring ``Inspiring Stories.'' After an article appeared in the Pasadena Weekly detailing her racist treatment nearly half a century earlier, Mrs. Williams received a formal apology from the Mayor of Pasadena and was offered the opportunity to ride in the parade that had been denied to her, which she accepted as an opportunity for reconciliation. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Williams in 2014, when the Pasadena non-profit Men Educating Men About Health honored her at a gala, where I had the opportunity to present her with their Woman of the Year Award. In the years between her original crowning and her eventual appearance in the Rose Parade, Mrs. Williams had a long career with Kaiser in Southern California, including several years in their Medicare office in my district. She volunteered for the Pasadena AIDS Service Center and with the Pasadena Unified School District, was honored on the floor of the California State Assembly, and had three children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. When she finally made her appearance in the 2015 Rose Parade, Mrs. Williams said the experience was ``especially important because [it pointed] out that with people of goodwill working to correct these mistakes, change can come. We hope it won't take so long, but when you look at our history, none of it has happened overnight, none of it has happened without a fight. The fight goes on.'' It is my honor today to recognize Mrs. Williams' legacy in that fight.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, today, I went to the Jose Andres food bank in Washington, D.C., for Federal workers. I was stunned to see hundreds waiting in line in the rain. Inside, they were giving a hot meal to everybody, as well as fresh vegetables, diapers, and feminine products. And they were assisting those who were in danger of missing utility payments. As I served the workers, I asked them what their jobs were. They worked for the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the D.C. Superior Court. How many of these workers were served by this food bank yesterday? Eleven thousand. They are like the Federal workers in my district, people like Catherine, who has back problems and now can't afford the copay for physical therapy and epidurals, or Eric, who told me he had to defer car maintenance in order to avoid missing his son's college tuition payment. This suffering could end right now. But instead of ending their pain, Trump ignores it. Just this morning, his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, said he could not understand why furloughed workers have to go to food banks. Well, I say: End this shutdown today.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, as chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise to reject white nationalism and white supremacy. These philosophies divide us, teach fear, and lead to violence. They are to blame for the worst of American history, from slavery and Jim Crow to the fatal shooting of Sikhs at an Oak Creek gurdwara and Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue. White nationalism led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, forcing Chinese immigrants like my grandfather to be condemned to life as a second-class citizen. But today, his granddaughter stands here as the first Chinese American woman in Congress. I am not alone. This is the most diverse and representative Congress in our history. The message is clear: diversity has a place in Congress, prejudice does not. But white nationalism is finding a home in politics once again through racist rhetoric and xenophobic misinformation aimed at immigrants and others. Any attempt by politicians at any level to encourage fear of those who look different must be rejected. Madam Speaker, I urge support for this resolution.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 116, the Investing in Main Street Act of 2019. I am so pleased that the House is considering this bill at the very start of this new Congress because small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They account for two out of every three new jobs and lead the way in innovation. The SBA's Small Business Investment Company, or SBIC, program is an effective tool that helps small businesses get off the ground and succeed. The program facilitates private investment into early-stage startup small businesses across the country, and all at no Federal cost. Staples, Tesla, FedEx, Apple, Intel, and Costco are just a few examples of the thousands of small businesses that have successfully used the Small Business Investment Company program during their early stages of growth. In fact, in 2016, the SBIC program provided $6 billion in financing to 1,200 small businesses and helped to sustain over 120,000 jobs. It has afforded America's small businesses an invaluable opportunity to grow their innovative ideas. Now, many decades ago, the SBIC program was restricted from taking more than 5 percent of capital investments from banks due to this provision in the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. That provision is still the law. However, since then, banking regulations established by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency allow these same banks to invest up to 15 percent of their capital and surplus into SBICs. I introduced the Investing in Main Street Act with Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina to correct this discrepancy. This bipartisan bill would allow banks and Federal savings associations to invest up to 15 percent of their holdings to these funds to match current banking regulations. This change will strengthen and grow the SBIC program, unleashing more capital to small businesses, and all at no cost to the taxpayer. That means more entrepreneurs will be able to access the capital they need to grow their businesses and hire their workers. This legislation makes a sensible change to address the number one need of small firms accessing capital. I, therefore, ask my fellow Members to support this bill.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 430) to extend the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families and related programs through June 30, 2019.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 430, the TANF Extension Act of 2019. This bipartisan legislation would extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, known as TANF, and the Child Care Entitlement to States, or CCES, through June 30, 2019. Due to the stalemate in budget negotiations, TANF and CCES funding lapsed at the end of 2018. Enacting this legislation will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to send States, Tribes, and territories TANF and CCES grants for the second quarter of the fiscal year, which are now late, and to make on-time payments to States for the third quarter. States depend on Federal TANF and childcare funding to help level the playing field for struggling parents trying to work and support their families. These grants help pay for important programs such as childcare, transportation, and job training. Funds are also used to help cover basic necessities like food, housing, and diapers. Right now, our failure to pay for what was promised is hurting State budgets, and pretty soon it will begin to affect family budgets as well. CalWORKs, as my home State of California calls its TANF program, provides help to over 50 percent of poor children in California, which is over 1 million children, but California has a very small reserve of unspent Federal TANF funds to cover the Federal lapse in payment. Our reserve is about the level of Federal funding the State will use in just over 2 weeks of operating CalWORKs. California's counties are currently implementing the changes to CalWORKs that we hope will make it even more effective in stabilizing families and lifting them out of poverty. Disrupted Federal funding would make achieving that goal much harder. We need to do far more to help children and families, and States need more stability and certainty to operate their programs. This is why the first bill that was passed in this new Congress to reopen the government included provisions to extend TANF and childcare for 2 years. This bill would also have provided Congress with new data on beneficiary sanctions, employment, and poverty outcomes. Unfortunately, the Senate has refused to take up that bill, leaving our government in a partial shutdown and causing Federal funds for TANF and CCES to lapse, as well as payments to the States. In the meantime, as the two Chambers continue discussions, this legislation will allow us to quickly restore payments and ensure that families who rely on TANF and childcare assistance are not collateral damage in the Trump shutdown. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), an incredible advocate for those in need.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this simple bipartisan legislation to allow us to meet our commitments to State governments and to families in need across this country. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JUDY CHU of California

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, this morning I met Chrissy, an air traffic controller from Ventura, California. Her job is to ensure the safety and efficiency of air travel, but the Trump shutdown has caused chaos. Air traffic controllers will not receive their paychecks on Friday. The FAA support staff has been furloughed, and the students in the air traffic control academy have been sent home. Because of this, air traffic controllers like her are being forced to slow down everything in order to ensure the same level of air safety. But it is not just Chrissy's work that is being impacted. She and her husband, who is also an air traffic controller, lost their home in the Thomas fire, and now, as they try to rebuild their home and their lives, Trump is forcing them to do it without a paycheck. How can we do this to our workers? Last night, Trump tried to make his case to the Nation. What we heard was a lot of xenophobia and division. What we didn't hear was any urgent threat that would justify a shutdown right now over a wall that would be built in the future. That is why we are bringing up today's bills to reopen government. If Trump wants to negotiate over border security, he should show concern for workers like Chrissy and sign these bills. Nineteen days into the shutdown, Trump is making the American people suffer for the sake of his ego. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule, and join us in passing these bills to reopen government functions that have nothing to do with Trump's demand for a wall.