Joaquin Castro

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, my vote was not recorded on rollcall No. 224 on H.R. 2048--USA Freedom Act of 2015. I was present for the vote but not recorded due to a mechanical problem with my voting card. I intended to vote ``aye.'' personal explanation

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I know the appropriations process is a tough one. You are making difficult choices among many things. I would just point out that, in this account, as you know, there have been funds that have gone unallocated in recent years in this very account from which I withdraw. Again, our local agencies in Republican and Democratic districts have already committed these funds with the promise that they would be reimbursed. A failure to reimburse them is essentially saying that we are going to stiff them on money that we said that we would pay them. This is a very small amount given the amount of money that is owed by the Corps to our local agencies. I would ask you for your reconsideration now, and certainly, as I know how Congressman Hurd feels and many others, I would ask for your help in remedying this situation. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Absolutely. Mr. Chairman, if you will permit me, I would be glad to yield time. How much time do I have?

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd).

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, the Army Corps of Engineers construction general account permits the Corps to enter into agreements with local governments and municipalities to reimburse these entities for certain funds. This allows cities across the country in both Republican and Democratic districts to take on public works projects and leverage the fact that they will later be reimbursed by the Federal Government. The problem we face today is that millions, hundreds of millions of dollars are owed to localities across the country, and the account to pay them back this year is slated to have only $10 million in it. Last year, that amount was $25 million. It has gone down by $15 million. So for just a second, I want to give you an example of a wonderful public project in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas. The San Antonio River Authority, or SARA, recently undertook a sizable project along the San Antonio River, called the Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration project. It has been an effort to extend, both to the north and the south, the wonderful San Antonio River Walk in San Antonio, Texas, one of the crown jewels for tourism and culture in our city. Despite the fact that this project was completed sometime ago, the city is still owed much money from the Corps. This is just one example of a wonderful public project where the Federal Government owes our cities or local entities a substantial amount of money. There are other examples in Texas, in Harris County, the Brays Bayou project in Harris County, where $146,885,000 is pending; the White Oak Bayou project in Harris County, where $73 million is pending; also, the Lower Colorado River Basin, Onion Creek, in Austin has $5 million pending. I know there is a big project in Florida. So my effort, my amendment, is an attempt to expedite getting these local agencies paid back because they are owed so much money. I know that as we do our budget and we do our appropriations, we are talking about doling out money in the future to fund programs, but these are projects that were already completed with the promise that they would be reimbursed. They have not been reimbursed to the tune of millions and millions of dollars. I hope that as a gesture of good faith we can increase this account by $10 million. Bear in mind, that would still be $5 million less than was dedicated to this account in the last year. With that, Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. I reserved the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Memorial High School in San Antonio for its exceptional music education program. This year, Memorial is one of just 120 schools in the nation to be awarded the prestigious SupportMusic Merit Award from The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation. The school's outstanding commitment to music education is particularly evident in the spirited, talented, Memorial High band. Music education is so important for our young people. Not only does it help students develop leadership skills, but new research shows that participation in music education programs can improve brain function, spark language development, and lead to increased academic success in subjects like reading and math. Despite the proven benefits of music education, arts departments are often the first to suffer budget cuts, or to be eliminated altogether, when school funding is tight. Receiving the NAMM SupportMusic Merit Award helps schools like Memorial High demonstrate the importance of music education to their students' overall success in school and draw attention to the need for further resources to sustain these vital programs in the future. Again, I want to congratulate Memorial High School for this achievement and for giving San Antonio students the opportunity to experience the joy of music and all the other academic advantages music education affords.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, first, I am very honored to be joined by my fellow colleagues and Members of Congress from both parties from San Antonio, Texas--Congressmen Smith, Doggett, Cuellar, and Hurd--who each represent a portion of Bexar County and have joined me on this amendment. My amendment would give the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to establish the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium, or NCPC, within the Department of Homeland Security. Doing so would formally allow this consortium, which already exists outside of the government, to assist State and local entities in developing their own viable and sustainable cybersecurity programs, and it would be at no cost to taxpayers. The NCPC consists of five university partners. The University of Texas at San Antonio leads the effort, along with Texas A&M University in College Station, the University of Arkansas, the University of Memphis, and Norwich University in Vermont. These schools proactively came together to coordinate their work, helping State and local officials prepare for cyber attacks. The consortium also develops and carries out trainings and exercises to increase cybersecurity knowledge. Additionally, the NCPC uses competitions and workshops to encourage more people to pursue careers in cybersecurity and grow the industry's workforce. States and communities need the ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber events as they would any other disaster or emergency situation, and they need to be aware of the fact that cyber events could impede emergency responders' ability to do their jobs. This amendment helps address those State and local needs by codifying this valuable consortium. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Thank you, Congressman Richmond, for reminding us that the big businesses that get attacked by hacks make the big headlines, but we can't forget about small businesses and medium-sized businesses who day in and day out are vulnerable to the same kind of cybersecurity threats. So, with that, I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, first, I would like to thank my colleague and fellow Texan, Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson of the House Homeland Security Committee for bringing up my amendment for consideration to H.R. 1731. This amendment supports small businesses across the Nation at no cost to taxpayers. My amendment would make self-assessment tools available to small- and medium-sized businesses so they can determine their level of cybersecurity readiness. Oftentimes, medium-sized and small businesses don't have the framework or capability in place to protect against cybersecurity threats. In 2014, for example, 31 percent of all cyber attacks were directed not at large businesses but at businesses with less than 250 employees. This is a 4 percent increase from 2013. As the chairman knows, Texas is home to many small companies in so many critical industries: biomed and pharmaceuticals, energy, manufacturing, and many more. Some of these businesses employ as few as 5 to 10 people, and their technology is unprotected, vulnerable to cyber attacks. Today most small businesses use the Internet, collect customers' information, and store sensitive information on business computers. Yet many of these same companies don't have the readily available information to self-assess their ability to defend their digital assets. They lack the tools necessary for determining cybersecurity readiness. This pro-small business amendment fills that void and provides the information and tools needed to secure and empower small businesses across the country. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond).

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I yield back back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lucy Coffey, the oldest living female veteran who passed away last week after 108 vibrant years. Originally from Indiana, Ms. Coffey was working in a Dallas, Texas supermarket when she learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Putting country before self, Ms. Coffey quit her job and joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. She bravely served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, earning two bronze stars and ascending to the rank of sergeant. For 13 years after her discharge in 1945, Ms. Coffey worked as an Army civilian in Okinawa, Japan. She ultimately settled in my hometown of San Antonio, where she worked in the procurement office at Kelly Air Force Base until her retirement in 1971. Last year, Ms. Coffey visited the nation's capital on an Honor Flight. While in Washington, she not only visited the women's memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and the National World War II Memorial, she also met with both Vice President Biden and President Obama. Ms. Coffey leaves behind an abundance of admirers who have sung her praises since her passing. President Obama cited Ms. Coffey's pioneering spirit and the inspiration she has provided generations of patriots since her service. Vice President Biden celebrated her legacy and said he was honored to have met her. Bexar County veterans service officer Queta Marquez highlighted Ms. Coffey's liveliness and spunk. Mr. Speaker, I want to offer Ms. Coffey's loved ones my sincere condolences for their loss and echo San Antonians' deep gratitude for her exemplary service and unwavering patriotism. She was a remarkable American who will be greatly missed.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. I hear the gentleman's concerns, and I understand that most of the power in this subject matter is vested with the States. But the fact is there are real problems in some of our States that are not being addressed and that aren't being handled in the State capitols. This position is a nonbinding one, one where folks in the States would have to come and voluntarily seek out a dispute resolution. This person wouldn't have any power to make decisions for the States or override any decisions. I understand the wariness among many here in this Chamber of the role of the Federal Government.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, this is a commonsense amendment that seeks to appoint a neutral ombudsperson within the Department of Education to address student K-12 textbook standards and concerns. This neutral ombudsperson would be somebody who could receive complaints from students, teachers, administrators--anybody in the schools. This person would be independent of the Secretary. And most importantly, because I know that we yield much power to the States over curriculum in textbooks, this is somebody who would not have any authority to make binding decisions to overturn State decisions, but somebody who could help take in complaints or concerns and also help resolve those concerns within the States, sometimes between publishers in the States, for example. There are a few reasons I brought this forward. First, in different States, as in my State of Texas, for example, there have been some very heated disputes over what should be included in textbooks--when we think about history, for example. In 2010, I believe, the State Board of Education in Texas considered removing Thomas Jefferson--for the Virginians that are here--from the list of influential philosophers. They have tried to remove Cesar Chavez from Texas textbooks. Some of the same things have happened in places like Arizona, where there have been very heated battles over textbooks there. This ombudsperson would not have any binding authority to resolve those disputes. This would simply be somebody at the Department of Education who could offer voluntarily to help resolve them or also take in those concerns. The second part is several years ago--and this is just an anecdote to illustrate this--there was a woman who sent me a picture over Facebook. The picture was of her daughter's textbook. Her daughter was taking summer school at, I believe, my old high school, Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. This textbook was completely graffitied. It was torn up. It was about as battered as you could find a textbook. This woman was making the point to me that her daughter should not have to be learning from that textbook because the quality was absolutely horrendous. Well, it turns out that in Texas, in some school districts, students were no longer able to take textbooks home with them. Even though the school district had not moved to online learning or anything like that, they weren't able to take textbooks home with them because of the condition of the textbooks and because they were being torn up so much. I think that we need at the Department of Education somebody who can take in those concerns and let the Congress know about them and let the Department know about them, but also offer to work with the States to improve those conditions because something like that is most certainly affecting students' learning ability. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman from Indiana yield me 30 seconds?

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would require States to provide a blueprint for college and career counseling opportunities for homeless youth. This is a bipartisan amendment. In fact, I want to thank very much Mr. Stivers of Ohio and his staff who were very helpful in drafting this amendment. We know that there are an estimated 1.6 million homeless youth and runaways in this country, and we also know that they are especially vulnerable to falling through the cracks of our educational system. This would simply ask States to show how they are going to help these youth with career and college readiness. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), my colleague.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, let me just say, in conclusion, I also want to thank the Congressman one more time and the chairman and the ranking member and their staff, who were very gracious and helpful in drafting this. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as part of the growing chorus of Americans calling for Republicans to stop playing politics with the safety of the American people and to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. A small group of elected officials are holding our national security hostage and compromising the government's ability to guard our borders, patrol our waters, and protect our airports. Not only would this bad strategy force more than 40,000 Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers out of work, but also 40,000 Active-Duty Coast Guard military members and more than 50,000 TSA aviation security screeners, it would cause all of these folks either to be out of work or to work without pay indefinitely. In my home State of Texas, there are more than 24,000 Homeland Security employees who could face similar impacts. If Republicans want to prove that they can lead Congress, they shouldn't manufacture a bogus crisis. They should fund the agency responsible for protecting our Nation at once. The American people deserve better than these unnecessary political games.