Joaquin Castro

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself an additional 30 seconds. Mr. Chair, Operation Lone Star isn't border security. It is just plain out brutality. There is a difference between treating people like human beings and treating them like animals. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes. My amendment would prohibit Federal Homeland Security funding from being diverted for Operation Lone Star, ensuring that Federal Homeland Security appropriations are spent on Federal operations like Border Patrol. Operation Lone Star, unfortunately, has been defined by corruption, incompetence, and cruelty. Two years ago, the Governor of my State of Texas launched Operation Lone Star, a destructive $4.5 billion political stunt that has led to a Federal civil rights investigation, the tragic deaths of 8 National Guard servicemembers, and a formal diplomatic complaint from our Nation's and Texas' largest trading partner. Under the guise of border security, Governor Greg Abbott has embarked on an unprecedented campaign of government overreach--seizing private property, destroying livelihoods, and turning American border cities and towns into war zones where helicopters buzz overhead and armed troopers pull over American citizens for looking too much like immigrants. At the beginning of the summer, Governor Abbott installed invisible razor wire in the middle of the Rio Grande and built a 1,000-foot string of floating deathtraps that are separated by serrated blades and secured to the riverbed with a net that is designed to catch and drown the families who reach it. During the August recess, I went down to Eagle Pass, Texas, to see the impact of Operation Lone Star for myself. Standing on the banks of the river, I could see scraps of clothing and shoes stuck in the razor wire mesh that Governor Abbott's troops have installed on the border. The wire isn't tall enough or strong enough to stop anyone who is desperate enough to cross, but it is sharp enough to leave them bloodied and broken. When families finally make it to U.S. soil, Operation Lone Star troopers have been arresting the fathers and sons on trumped-up trespassing charges and locking them up for months at a time, some without the ability to reach their families, while bussing their wives and children to cities that are thousands of miles away and also to other States, including New York, Colorado, California, and Illinois. Mr. Chair, Americans want border security. They also want an efficient and orderly immigration process. Operation Lone Star interferes with that. It hurts the Federal Government's effort, and it damages Border Patrol's efforts. When Democrats were in the majority, we voted for billions of dollars in funding for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and we fought to rebuild a functioning immigration system from what had been left behind by the Trump administration.

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

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Casar), my good friend.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, cruelty and incompetence, these are what define Operation Lone Star. Unfortunately, the era that we are in in American politics for those across the aisle is marked by fearmongering because they have no solutions to the real issues that confront Americans--education, healthcare, jobs. They can't even get a budget together, so they try to scare everybody. They try to use these brown-skinned immigrants to scare everybody. That is what this is about. They are either going to send this money to Border Patrol or they are going to send it to Greg Abbott so he can go on FOX News and be celebrated. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to participate in the vote series on September 14, 2023. My wife contracted COVID-19 while I was in Washington this week and I returned home to take care of her and our children. H.R. 1435 would disrupt the growing electric vehicle market in the United States, jeopardize American jobs in auto manufacturing, and hurt the EPA's ability to protect our clean air. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on Roll Call vote No. 391, H.R. 1435.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in honor of Belle Ortiz, who passed away on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Long known for her commitment to music education, Mrs. Ortiz was a trailblazer for the teaching of Mariachi music. She is survived by her husband Juan Ortiz, along with her 4 children, Annabelle Garcia, Roseanna Valenzuela, former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, and Rolando San Miguel. After graduating from what is now Our Lady of the Lake University with a degree in music education and performance, Mrs. Ortiz became an educator at a time when Texas schools were openly hostile to Hispanic culture. While teaching at Barkley Elementary School, Mrs. Ortiz was called before the school district's Board of Trustees for teaching children to sing in Spanish, then a prohibited practice in many San Antonio schools--but she could not be deterred. Utilizing her role as an educator, Mrs. Ortiz pushed for the creation of music education programs that promoted the unique Hispanic heritage of San Antonio. Foremost among her efforts was the creation of the first Mariachi education program in Texas at Lanier High School. Over the subsequent decades, Mrs. Ortiz would expand her Mariachi education efforts across Texas. At both high schools and universities, she touched the lives of thousands. Her actions cumulated when she and her husband founded the world-renowned 12-piece Mariachi ensemble, Campanas de America. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the life of Belle Ortiz. Although I am saddened by her loss, I am confident that her impact on San Antonio and Mariachi will last for years to come. I thank Mrs. Ortiz for her never-ending passion for music and teaching. May God bless her and her loved ones.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I urge this Congress to support amendment No. 71 to H.R. 3935. My city of San Antonio is known as Military City USA. It is home to tens of thousands of soldiers, airmen, intelligence professionals, and cybersecurity experts who need direct access to Washington, D.C. I hope that Members will support this amendment and support our airmen and our soldiers and support national security.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Adam Schiff did his job. That is why they are trying to censure him today. Mr. Speaker, he held a mirror up to today's Republican Party, and they can't stand the ugliness. Instead, they want to protect the most corrupt, indicted, and perhaps soon-to-be-convicted President of the United States. We should vote ``no'' on this censure resolution.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate a dedicated public servant on the occasion of his retirement from the United States Air Force. Senior Master Sergeant Louis Lusco II is an exemplary public servant who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and the highest standards of professionalism serving our Nation. Senior Master Sergeant Lusco spent 24 years exemplifying the motto of the United States Air Force--Aim High . . . Fly-Fight-Win, with his service to our country. Senior Master Sergeant Lusco is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. He went on to enlist in the Air Force in September 1999 as an aircraft fuel systems mechanic. His assignments took him from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas, to Osan Air Force Base, in the Republic of Korea. Over the course of his career, Senior Master Sergeant Lusco served through three deployments, including in Al Udeid, Qatar, and Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he led aircraft maintenance units advance their missions. Senior Master Sergeant Lusco continued his service at the Department of State, with the Office of Legislative Affairs, where he coordinated legislative activity for the Department. Following his time at the State Department, Senior Master Sergeant Lusco served in my office as an Air Force Legislative Fellow, before completing his legislative tour at the Pentagon. In addition to his career achievements, Senior Master Sergeant Lusco is a devoted husband and father to his wife, Katrina and their daughter, Nadia. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring Senior Master Sergeant Lusco for his two decades of service to our country.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the families of Uvalde, Texas. One year ago this week, 21 souls walked through the doors of their classrooms for the very last time. They were teachers, artists, athletes, aspiring police officers, and honor roll students. Hours later, they were dead, gunned down by a teenage shooter with weapons designed for the battlefield. At the morgue, their bodies were so ravaged they had to be identified through DNA testing. I have three children: 9, 7, and 1. When I drop my older children at school, I think of the families in Uvalde who never had a chance to say goodbye to theirs. Over the last year, those same families have held back tears in our committee rooms as they begged Congress to end America's gun violence epidemic. We know how to stop school shootings. We know that assault weapons bans, universal background checks, and a higher age for gun purchases will save American lives. The teachers and children who died cannot change the law, but we can honor their memories by having the courage to act.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2, which should be known as the child deportation act. Last year, my family marked 100 years since my grandmother, Victoria Castro, came to the United States as a young orphan in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. On her paperwork, the San Antonio relatives who took her in wrote that she was coming ``to live,'' to live in the United States. From the discussions on the floor today, it seems that many of my colleagues have forgotten about the lives of the asylum seekers who will be affected by their legislation. Under this bill, for example, if a Uyghur Muslim family escapes from one of China's concentration camps in Xinjiang and seeks asylum in the United States by way of Mexico, they will be turned away. If a group of Cuban dissidents sail to Florida and land outside of a port of entry, they will be turned away. Ukrainian families fleeing from Putin's state-sponsored kidnapping, Catholics fleeing religious persecution in Nicaragua, and Christians in Iran would all be required to remain in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador at the mercy of cartels and violent gangs. Under the Trump-era remain-in-Mexico policy, human rights observers recorded thousands of violent attacks against migrants, including kidnapping, rape, and other brutal crimes. That policy, as cruel as it was, included exemptions for unaccompanied minors and people who don't speak Spanish. This bill includes neither of those exemptions. H.R. 2 would also end humanitarian parole for tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees who fought side by side with our troops for over 20 years of war. These heroes and their families barely escaped from the Taliban last summer, and less than 1 year later, Republicans are trying to send our Afghan allies back to die. Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns about how the current immigration system will be able to handle a rising tide of immigrants post title 42. I agree that we need to build a more resilient, more effective, and more efficient system, but this bill is not the way to do that. Time and again, we have seen that cruel, restrictive policies like those in this bill do not stop desperate people from fleeing persecution, oppression, and violence. This bill would send the world's most vulnerable people to places where many Americans won't even drink the water. It would force asylum seekers to take dangerous, irregular paths to the United States, which is the exact kind of journey that led to the deaths of 53 people in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in my hometown of San Antonio last summer. There are meaningful bipartisan solutions to address the causes of forced migration to the United States. I have been proud to work across the aisle to introduce several bills that would do that, but this is not the answer.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2 does not include any serious attempt to address the root causes of immigration, and it will not make any real progress to fix our Nation's broken immigration system. Mr. Speaker, for that reason and many others, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I voted for H. Res. 311 on April 25, 2023, because I support the resolution's general goals to expand normalization agreements between Israel and its neighbors and encourage future cooperation between the United States and Israel on shared economic, security, and civilian priorities. However, I was disappointed that H. Res. 311 failed to reaffirm bipartisan support for a two-state solution that respects the dignity of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. As nations around the world confront their own struggles with democracy, H. Res. 311 also was a missed opportunity to emphasize U.S. support for a free and liberal democracy in Israel. I hope future efforts to recognize Yom Ha'atzmaut will fully address these important issues.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to cast my vote against H.R. 1 on March 30, 2023 due to my ongoing recovery from cancer surgery. Last year, House and Senate Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act to bring down household energy costs and create good-paying jobs in the growing U.S. clean energy sector. Instead of building from that progress, House Republicans have chosen to champion H.R. 1--an extraordinary piece of corporate welfare that would weaken enforcement of nearly all environmental and public health laws, exempt big polluters from Clean Air Act and hazardous waste permitting requirements, and rob Americans of much of their ability to make their voices heard against projects with serious environmental consequences for their communities. This legislation would risk America's clean air, water, and public lands to line the pockets of big polluters who are already making record profits. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on Roll Call No. 182.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to cast my vote against H.R. 5, the so-called ``Parents Bill of Rights Act'' on March 24, 2023, due to my ongoing recovery from surgery. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on Roll Call 161. We should encourage all parents to be engaged in their child's education and active in their school community, but H.R. 5--under the guise of parental rights--undermines our public education system. Instead of working to keep children safe in the classroom, provide better wages for teachers, and empower students of all backgrounds to learn more about the world around them, Republicans would rather help far-right extremists whitewash history in public schools. Our children deserve to learn without being caught in divisive culture wars. These partisan attacks on our students, particularly LGBTQ+ and minority students, need to stop.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for passage of the PARTNER with ASEAN Act, bipartisan legislation I introduced with Congresswoman Young Kim of California to strengthen the longstanding relationship between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). For nearly six decades, ASEAN has worked to promote stability, prosperity, and multilateral cooperation in Southeast Asia and has become a critical part of the diplomatic architecture of the broader Indo-Pacific. Together, the ten member nations of ASEAN represent the world's fourth-largest market, and U.S. trade with ASEAN accounts for hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Last fall, the U.S. and ASEAN agreed to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In 2017, I co-founded the Congressional ASEAN Caucus with Congresswoman Ann Wagner to foster greater dialogue on Capitol Hill around issues related to Southeast Asia. Today's consideration of the PARTNER with ASEAN Act comes from years of bipartisan work by our Caucus, and I also want to recognize the contributions of the bill's original co-sponsor Representative Steve Chabot, who was a leader on Asia policy issues in Congress for many years. The United States was the first non-member country to appoint an ambassador to ASEAN, and Congress has long recognized the regional and global importance of ASEAN. Despite the bipartisan consensus about the importance of ASEAN centrality, the United States has yet to accord ASEAN the routine diplomatic privileges that we provide to similar groupings like the Organization of American States, African Union, or European Union. The PARTNER with ASEAN Act would authorize ASEAN to be designated as an international organization with full diplomatic privileges and open new avenues for U.S.-ASEAN cooperation, including the potential establishment of an ASEAN mission in the United States. It has bipartisan support in the Senate, where a companion bill was introduced earlier this month, and President Biden has committed to signing the bill into law once it reaches his desk. At a time of increased global focus on the Indo-Pacific, the PARTNER with ASEAN Act makes a simple change that will have an outsized impact on our international relations. I thank Congresswoman Kim for her partnership on this bill, and I also want to recognize the work of Erik Ashida, who served on my staff until last month and played an instrumental role in moving this legislation forward. I urge my colleagues to support the swift and bipartisan passage of the PARTNER with ASEAN Act and applaud the longstanding commitment of this body to maintaining strong relationships with our partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in honor of the late Jesse Trevino, an internationally celebrated artist whose work has significantly influenced San Antonio's cultural landscape. Jesus ``Jesse'' Trevino was born on December 24, 1946, in Monterrey, Mexico, and moved to San Antonio when he was 4 years old. One of 12 siblings, Jesse grew up on our city's Westside in the Prospect Hill neighborhood. Jesse won his first art award, at the age of 6, for drawing a pair of doves in a student art competition sponsored by the Witte Museum. As a young adult, he spent a year studying at the prestigious Art Students League of New York before he was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Vietnam. He was not a U.S. citizen at the time, but he felt an obligation to serve the country he called home. In Vietnam, Jesse served in an infantry battalion deployed to the Mekong Delta until his unit came under fire in February 1967. Sprinting towards a helicopter, Jesse ``felt a pair of crushing explosions nearby, and then a third thundering blast suddenly lifted him from the ground and flung him about 50 feet into a rice paddy.'' When Jesse reflected on that moment in a 2009 interview with the San Antonio Express-News, he said he thought of his mother, brothers, and the barrio he grew up in. Jesse wanted to use his talent to paint these people and images. However, life as he knew it would change forever. Jesse's injuries were severe and resulted in an amputation of his right hand. He was discharged from the Army in 1968. Two years later, Jesse enrolled in San Antonio College and taught himself to paint with his left hand. It was through Jesse's love for the arts and his determination to capture San Antonio's Chicano culture and history that he became one of San Antonio's most famous artists. Jesse is responsible for signature pieces, including ``Mi Vida,'' an 8-by-14-foot pop art-inspired mural, ``The Spirit of Healing,'' a 93- foot-tall mural on the side of the Children's Hospital of San Antonio, and ``La Veladora,'' a three-dimensional, 40-foot-tall mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Some of his works have also been featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Sadly, on Monday, February 13, 2023, Jesse Trevino passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 76 years old. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in honor of the late Jesse Trevino, an American hero who used his gift of art to heal from the horrors of the Vietnam War and memorialize the Chicano culture that was dear to him. San Antonio was his canvas, and our city is blessed to have his artistry displayed throughout our neighborhoods. I am grateful to share Jesse Trevino's legacy with the rest of the Nation. May he Rest in Peace.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Thursday Luncheon Group, which was founded in 1973 to elevate the voices of African Americans in U.S. foreign policy. Since the early days of the State Department, patriotic African Americans have raised their hands to join our diplomatic service only to find their pathways too often narrowed by bigotry. In the face of this discrimination, early trailblazers like Ambassador Terence Todman, a six-time career ambassador and founding member of the Thursday Luncheon Group, successfully pushed the State Department to root out segregation and expand opportunities for all employees. Today, the Thursday Luncheon Group plays an active role in promoting African-American representation at all levels of the Department. As I have worked to increase opportunities for underrepresented groups in foreign policy, my efforts have been guided by the counsel of the Thursday Luncheon Group and other employee affinity groups. Congratulations to the Thursday Luncheon Group on their golden anniversary. I look forward to working with TLG and similar groups to recruit and retain a diverse diplomatic corps that proudly promotes American values at home and around the world.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer Castro amendment No. 4.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer an amendment to the Strategic Production Reserve Act to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from approving new oil and gas leases on Federal lands that have high concentrations of orphaned oil and gas wells. Over the 160-year history of industrial oil and gas extraction in the United States, companies have dug millions of oil wells to fuel energy demands at home and around the world. When the pumps run dry and the wells are no longer profitable, companies are supposed to seal them up to stop toxic chemicals from escaping into the environment. Unfortunately, they often have not. Between the lax regulations of the oil boom and the patchwork of current State and Federal laws, oil companies have been able to shirk their responsibility to keep the communities around their wells safe. Today, the American landscape is dotted with abandoned, uncapped wells that leak toxins into the air we breathe and the water we drink. The U.S. Geological Survey has documented more than 117,000 orphaned wells, and the EPA estimates that as many as 3 million could exist across the country. Last year, as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress authorized $4.7 billion in investment to plug orphaned wells and protect the areas around them from further environmental harm. But even with this funding, the government is playing whack-a-mole-- with new orphaned wells emerging as we struggle to clean up the ones we already have. Right now, as we debate this bill, the largest owner of oil and gas wells in the country is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy that could leave more than 70,000 orphaned wells spewing poison in different parts of the country. As taxpayers cover the tab for the mess that oil companies created, we should not be signing leases that open the door to a new generation of orphaned wells. My State of Texas is the top oil and gas producing State in the Nation, and I am acutely aware of how important the energy industry is to our State and our national economy. This amendment does not ask oil companies to repay taxpayers for the billions we have already spent to clean up their toxic wells, and it doesn't prevent further drilling. Instead, it pauses new drilling leases on Federal lands with the highest concentration of orphaned wells--giving the government a chance to catch up with the cleanup efforts that are already underway. This is a commonsense amendment that would bring relief to the 14 million Americans who live within a mile of an orphaned well. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Veteran Service Recognition Act because it is time to bring our deported veterans home. Five years ago, I led a delegation of lawmakers to meet with a group of deported veterans at a support house in Tijuana, Mexico. Most of those folks joined the military after 9/11, putting their lives on the line to defend American freedom and the freedom of our allies thousands of miles away. When they enlisted, our Nation gladly accepted their service--and if they would have perished on the battlefield, they would have been buried as American heroes right here in the United States. When they came back home and struggled, they were kicked out of the Nation they would have died to protect. Mr. Speaker, I represent San Antonio, Texas, known as Military City USA. From how I see it, deporting our veterans is one of the worst acts of betrayal that our Federal Government can commit. The Veteran Service Recognition Act will right the wrong by providing an opportunity for deported veterans to apply for permanent residency, and it will help current and future servicemembers apply for naturalization for themselves and their families. This bill is about doing the right thing for those who served. It is time to bring our deported veterans back home.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in honor of military veteran and retiree Ms. Serafina L. De Los Santos for her years of service to the United States and our San Antonio community. Ms. De Los Santos graciously served on my 2019 Military Service Academy Nomination Board and played an essential role in helping local students begin their military careers. A native of Brownsville, Texas, Ms. De Los Santos enlisted in the Air Force in 1977 and served until 1982. In 1986, she graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and joined the Army as an Officer. In 1996, Ms. De Los Santos earned a Master of Science in Management/ Logistics Management at the Florida Institute of Technology and during that same year completed a Logistics Executive Development Course in Fort Lee, Virginia. In 1999, she attended the Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. In 2004, Ms. De Los Santos began her civil service career at the Department of the Army Civilian as the Senior Logistics Officer for the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Four years later, in 2008, Ms. De Los Santos served as the Plans Officer and then as the Executive Officer for Fort Sam Houston Army Garrison, working on the Joint Base San Antonio transformation and implementation. In October 2010, Ms. De Los Santos became a Department of the Air Force Civilian as part of the Joint Base-San Antonio transformation. She served as Deputy for Installation Support of the 502nd Mission Support Group, Joint Base-San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston. Ms. De Los Santos currently serves as the Executive Director for the 502nd Force Support Group (FSG) at Joint Base San Antonio. FSG includes JBSA-Randolph, JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, and JBSA-Camp Bullis. Ms. De Los Santos oversees JBSA's Community Partnership for Transitioning Service Members, Military Spouses and Family Programs. She also works as the Chair of the Workforce and Transition Alliance. Madam Speaker, I am proud to recognize Serafina De Los Santos for her past and present contributions to our Nation and community. Her experience and commitment to civil service have helped usher in the next generation of military leaders. May we look to her leadership as the quintessence of true patriotism. I wish her continued success.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in honor of San Antonio native, Dr. Erika Gonzalez for her military service to our country and her impact on South Texas. Dr. Gonzalez graciously served on my 2020 Military Service Academy Nomination Board and played an essential role in helping local students begin their military careers. After graduating magna cum laude from St. Mary's University, Dr. Gonzalez obtained her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She returned home after completing 10 years of Active Duty Service as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Air Force. Dr. Gonzalez is currently the CEO and President of both South Texas Allergy & Asthma Medical Professionals (STAAMP) and STAAMP Clinical Research. She previously served as the Chief of the Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology division at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio. She was also an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. As an active community leader, Dr. Gonzalez has served on the Board of Directors and as the 2020 and 2021 Immediate Past Chairwoman for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors for Central Catholic High School. Dr. Gonzalez is an Advisor to the Dean of Science Engineering & Technology at St. Mary's University. At the State and national level, she is on the Stock Epinephrine Committee with the Texas Department of State Health Services and is Co-Chair of Small Business for America's Future. Dr. Gonzalez founded the nonprofit, Con Corazon SA to address inequities and emergency preparedness in San Antonio and the surrounding area. Dr. Gonzalez was selected as a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar and was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the National Medal of Science Committee. Madam Speaker, I am proud to recognize a member of the San Antonio community who continues to display an immense commitment to public service and whose knowledge and experience have helped usher in the next generation of military leaders. I am grateful for Dr. Gonzalez's service to the United States, and I wish her continued success.