Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We need this bill. We need this bill to continue negotiating final 2023 funding bills. With the bill before us, what is in this bill, and why is it so onerous to some? We provide relief to working families, our schools, our children, small businesses, and communities across this Nation. We support the people of Ukraine. We support them in what is the fight for their lives, for their democracy, and for world democracy against Russian aggression. We protect communities everywhere in need of safe water. We help to rebuild them from crushing natural disasters. This bill will make a very real difference in the lives of Americans everywhere, and I am proud to support it. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting these bills, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act. 9/11 is a day that left an indelible mark on all of us. We all remember where we were. When the towers fell, they took so many innocent lives, and the families left suffered irreplaceable loss. This bill would provide catch-up payments to 9/11 survivors, spouses, and dependents, who were unfairly excluded from the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. While no amount of money can make up for their loss, this bill would fairly compensate them for their claims against those responsible for one of our Nation's darkest days. It would provide some relief to people like my constituents: Gail Eagleson, who lost her husband, Bruce, on 9/11, and her son, Brett Eagleson, who lost his father on 9/11. He was just 15 years old. That dark day Bruce saved lives. He was an incredible human being, a devoted husband, father, and friend. In helping to save lives, he lost his own. Bruce would be proud to know that his son, Brett, has led the charge on this fight. I have been so proud to work with him. It is an honor to work with him to get this done. He never gave up. The families never gave up. While we cannot fill the hole in the hearts of these families, we can say, We understand your sacrifice, your loss, and make justice work on your behalf. Mr. Speaker, today, I urge my colleagues to stand with all these families. Do the right thing. Support this critical legislation. It is so long overdue.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 45) providing for a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 6833, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee to congratulate Philip D. Hamner on his 27 years of service to our Nation upon his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Hamner began his tenure with the Office of Finance of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House as an Accounting Supervisor in 1995. Since 2011, he has been serving as CAO's Director of Accounting. With outstanding work ethic and expert knowledge of the United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL), Mr. Hamner has been at the helm of House accounting since he joined the House staff, previously serving as Systems Accountant, Deputy Director of Accounting, and Acting Director of Accounting. Mr. Hamner's greatest contribution to this institution and its staff has been his successful leadership and immeasurable knowledge of accounting. During his tenure, he led his team in compiling the Annual House Financial Statements and annual external audits. Mr. Hamner played a significant role in the implementation of the House's financial system of record, PeopleSoft. Mr. Hamner has worked tirelessly over his distinguished career to ensure the House's financial transactions are accurately recorded and reported. These contributions have led the CAO Office of Finance team to receive 24 consecutive clean audit opinions for the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaking as an appropriator, that is a worthy distinction! Mr. Hamner is a dedicated, dependable, tried-and-true employee to whom the House owes a tremendous amount of gratitude. I extend my congratulations to Mr. Hamner on an outstanding congressional career. His country thanks him for his hard work and dedication to this institution. May Philip D. Hamner embrace all new opportunities that are presented to him in the future with the same passion and diligence he shared with us.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and on behalf of the Members of the Committee and its staff, to pay tribute to Adam Berg as he concludes 15 years of service to the House of Representatives. Adam began his career with the House Committee on Rules, serving under the late Chairwoman Louise Slaughter and current Chairman Jim McGovern. Adam faithfully served the Rules Committee for 10 years, where he began his tenure as an Intern and eventually served as Deputy Staff Director and Counsel. Throughout his tenure there, he found time to attend Georgetown University Law Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy in the evenings, earning his Juris Doctor and Master of Public Policy in 2010. Adam eventually saw the light and, in 2017, joined the Appropriations Committee under then Ranking Member Lowey. Adam has faithfully served as Chief Counsel to the Democratic staff in the minority and for the current majority of the Appropriations Committee for the last 5 years. During this time, Adam has provided vital counsel to me and my colleagues, helping guide Floor procedure and shepherd numerous Appropriations bills through the legislative process. I speak for myself, and I am sure his colleagues and other Members, when I say we will miss Adam upon his transition. I am excited for what the future holds for Adam and wish him, his wife Erika, and his daughters Ariel and Leila all the best. I extend my congratulations to Adam on an outstanding congressional career. His country thanks him for his hard work.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act. For years, Americans have faced rising costs at grocery stores, pharmacies, and in recent months, at the gas pump. Today, we will send this legislation to the President's desk to be signed into law so we can provide necessary relief to hardworking people across the country. The Inflation Reduction Act takes historic steps to reduce the deficit and fight inflation, invest in domestic energy production and manufacturing, and tackle the climate crisis by reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. The bill will also lower prescription drug and health care costs by finally allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and extending the expanded Affordable Care Act program for three years. Notably, this legislation makes sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay taxes. It establishes a 15 percent corporate minimum tax and invests in Internal Revenue Service tax enforcement to ensure that the biggest corporations, the ultra-wealthy, and rich tax cheats pay their fair share. Large corporations have been using inflation as an excuse to abuse their market power, jacking up prices for American consumers at the grocery store, the pharmacy, and at the gas pump. This law puts taxpayer dollars back into the pockets of working families. My vote today comes with a promise to my constituents in Connecticut and to the American people--I will continue the fight for common sense, proven solutions like the Child Tax Credit in the days and weeks to come. As I have said before, as American families face rising costs, the expanded Child Tax Credit is one of our best tools to help them face these challenges. We still have so much work to do to address the problems being faced today by working families. Today is an important step forward, and I am proud to cast my vote in support of this critical legislation.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, 26 souls, including 20 babies massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Parkland, Buffalo, Uvalde; the common denominator, an AR-15-style assault weapon, the weapon of choice. Eight of the 10 deadliest mass shootings involved an assault weapon. We cannot be numb to this needless violence. It is long past time for us to act. In Connecticut, the tragedy at Sandy Hook changed our lives forever. These are unspeakable tragedies. They are avoidable tragedies; and they are happening in our schools, our grocery stores, our places of worship. The legislation before us today will reduce the prevalence of assault weapons, ban the purchase of assault weapons, get them off of our streets, make our communities safer, protect our children, save their lives. Is that not the noblest of goals, to save lives? We have the opportunity to do that in this body today. Enough is enough.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), the chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The bipartisan en bloc amendment includes 29 proposals offered by my Democratic and Republican colleagues. This bipartisan en bloc amendment will make changes to the Financial Services bill, the Interior bill, and the Military Construction bill. For example, for the Financial Services bill, the amendment will increase funding for entrepreneurial development programs by $6.7 million, increase funding for the Truman Foundation, and provide $5 million to help prevent fentanyl overdoses. For Interior, the amendment will enhance activities for the preservation of historically Black colleges and universities and civil rights landmarks. For military construction, the amendment will provide $1 million for grants to assist States and Tribal organizations in establishing veterans' cemeteries and support increased access to medical care for veterans. These are bipartisan proposals that we can all support, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, as I stated, this en bloc will make this package stronger and meet the needs of the people who have entrusted in us their faith that we can serve them and serve them well. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendment offered by Ms. Tlaib. Our Nation's policy toward Cuba over the past six decades has proven to be ineffective and counterproductive. The Biden administration has started to peel back some of these restrictive policies in a manner that will both empower the Cuban people and safeguard U.S. national security interests, and this amendment would further these efforts. This amendment would lift the longstanding restrictions on the private financing of agricultural exports to Cuba, which harm U.S. farmers and ranchers and their competitiveness. Cuba imports more than $2 billion in agricultural exports per year. Eliminating this longstanding prohibition would increase business for our Nation's ranchers and farmers, and we would create jobs for hardworking American families. Let me give you an example. In 2021, the U.S. rice imports from Vietnam were $12.6 million; Malaysia, $16 million; Thailand, $51 million; and Pakistan, $34 million. We are costing American taxpayers dollars by importing when we could be helping Alabama and Louisiana and be able to import rice from Cuba at a lot lower cost. Mr. Chair, I support the reforms that allow for better relationships with Cuba, and I urge support for this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield the gentleman from Massachusetts an additional 2 minutes.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1232, I offer amendments en bloc.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), who is the chair of the Rules Committee.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who is the chairperson of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Golden).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that, in the engrossment of H.R. 8294, the Clerk be authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, spelling, and cross-references, and to make such other technical and conforming changes as may be necessary to reflect the actions of the House.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.