Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, and I submit for the Record this letter from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization committed to improving the lives of women and families by achieving equity for all women. September 15, 2020. The National Partnership for Women & Families is a non- profit, non-partisan advocacy organization committed to improving the lives of women and families by achieving equity for all women. Since our creation as the Women's Legal Defense Fund in 1971, we have fought for every significant advance for equal opportunity in the workplace, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). We write today in strong support for H.R. 2694, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This bipartisan legislation will support pregnant workers on the job, improving women's and families' economic security and promoting healthier pregnancies. More than 40 years ago, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, outlawing discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Yet pregnancy discrimination is still widespread and impacts pregnant workers across industry, race, ethnicity and jurisdiction. Nearly 31,000 pregnancy discrimination charges were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state-level fair employment practice agencies between 2010 and 2015, and the reality of pregnancy discrimination is likely much worse than illustrated by EEOC charges. As a result of this discrimination, too many women must choose between their paychecks and a healthy pregnancy. That's not a choice anyone should have to make. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would create a clear policy standard requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers. Support for a law like the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is nearly universal and bipartisan. Eighty-nine perfect of voters favor this bill, including 69 percent of voters who strongly favor it. Just this Congress, twenty-eight leading private sector employers endorsed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in an open letter to Congress. More than 85 percent of women will become mothers at some point in their working lives. And sometimes, an accommodation is needed in order for a pregnant worker to continue performing their job. Those accommodations are often small changes to their work environment such as additional bathroom breaks, a stool to sit on or the ability to have a water bottle at their work station. Although minor, these accommodations allow pregnant workers to stay in the workforce and continue to provide for themselves and their families. When pregnant workers are fired, demoted, or forced into unpaid leave, they and their families lose critical income, and they may struggle to re-enter a job market that is particularly harsh for people who are currently or were recently pregnant. Pregnancy discrimination affects women across race and ethnicity, but women of color and immigrants are at particular risk. They are disproportionately likely to work in jobs and industries where accommodations during pregnancy are not often provided (such as home health aides, food service workers, package handlers and cleaners). Black women are much more likely than white women to file pregnancy discrimination charges; they are also at a higher risk for pregnancy-related complications like pre-term labor, preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders, making reasonable accommodations on the job even more important, and loss of wages and health insurance due to pregnancy discrimination especially challenging. To date, thirty-one states including the District of Columbia and four cities have passed laws requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers. But the ability to maintain a healthy pregnancy and keep a job should not depend on where a pregnant person works. Women are a crucial part of the workforce and their participation matters for the growth of our economy and for the stability and wellbeing of families nationwide. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would strengthen existing federal protections, ensure more equitable workplaces and allow women to remain in the workforce and maintain their economic stability while having the accommodations necessary for healthy pregnancies. It is time to clarify and strengthen existing federal protections for pregnant workers by passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Sincerely, Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families.

Ms. DeLAURO. The bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is vital for women like Regina Scates, a firefighter in Connecticut. She was placed on unrequested, unpaid leave when she got pregnant, even though she was still capable of performing light duty work. She was left to ask: ``How am I going to be able to feed my family?'' Today, 88 percent of first-time mothers work in the third trimester, yet an estimated 250,000 requests for reasonable accommodations go unheard and unapproved. And women of color are disproportionately impacted, being overrepresented in low-wage jobs where accommodations during pregnancy are not often provided, like healthcare aides and food service workers. So we seek to build on the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the first social policy ever to be enacted into law to provide protection to working mothers. And we must. Decisions from the Supreme Court have made it exceedingly difficult for women to get reasonable accommodations under current law even when the adjustments could be as small as a chair and the stakes could be as enormous as a miscarriage or preterm birth. It is modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act. It establishes a clear-cut right to reasonable accommodations for all public sector employees and all private sector employees at companies with more than 15 workers. This is not just an economic question. It is a moral question. Like many of you, I was horrified by reports that doctors at ICE detention centers performed hysterectomies on women without their consent. It is unimaginable. It is inhumane and diminishes, dehumanizes and disrespects women. To all who preach a culture of life, to all who champion the dignity of work, I say let us seize the opportunity before us to protect life.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, to all who preach a culture of life, to all who champion the dignity of work, I say, Let us seize this opportunity before us to protect life, to respect women, to protect pregnant women at work and to do so with the strength, not of just words, but with the strength of the law. Let us pass this bipartisan bill.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it is with my heartfelt congratulations that I rise today to join the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the City of New Haven to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of our very own Union Station--a remarkable milestone for this community treasure. Union Station holds a special place in my heart as it has been of my life for many years. Having attended Lauralton Hall in Milford, I was at Union Station every day to catch the train to school. Today, as a Member of Congress, the train is how I commute to work every week. In fact, I would be remiss if I did not extend a special note of gratitude to the Red Caps of Union Station who have helped me with all of my luggage getting to and from the train on numerous occasions--without them I may have missed many trains. Designed by famed architect Cass Gilbert, with its vaulted ceilings and marbled brick, decorated with oblong benches upon which model trains are showcased, Union Station is not only a bustling intermodal center, it is a work of art. And though the original flip-card scheduling board has been replaced with an electronic version, that unique ticking sound of the flip-cards can still be heard throughout the Grand Hall as trains arrive and depart. Now in its centennial year, Union Station is one of the busiest rail facilities in the State of Connecticut along one of the busiest rail lines in the United States. It serves more than one hundred-twenty-five thousand passengers weekly and more than forty million a year, generating nearly fifty million dollars in revenue a year into our local economy. But beyond its economic importance to our community, its value lies in the connection it brings to us. It connects the New Haven line into New York City, the Hartford Line into Hartford and Springfield. It also connects the Shoreline East into New London and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C. and points beyond. Most importantly, Union Station connects our past to our future. Opened in the shadow of the Spanish Influenza pandemic, it is a particularly poignant reminder of what can be done and what must be done even amid calamity. We stand here today to both celebrate that old victory and to set our eyes forward to new ones. It is inspiring to see a local reminder of what America can do when we build toward a better future through infrastructure and when we at all levels of government support local priorities. I extend my deepest thanks and sincere appreciation to all the workers who keep Union Station running every day--especially those declared essential at this difficult time. I am honored to stand today and join all of those gathered in wishing this remarkable institution a very happy 100th anniversary. As we say in Italian, Cent' Anni.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, mail is an essential government service and a critical lifeline for many, especially during this pandemic. What have operational changes made to the postal system accomplished? Parts of the country are having their mail delayed by up to a week or more. This is harming veterans, seniors, and our rural communities. What has the Postmaster General already done? Curtailed overtime; restricted deliveries; eliminated sorting machines; in Hartford, Connecticut, in the parking lot there is a dismantled machine; removed mailboxes; prohibiting employees from making late mail deliveries, directing them to leave mail undelivered at distribution centers overnight; warned 46 States and the District of Columbia that it could not guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted. Yes, this is about our democracy, as well. This administration is undermining a pillar of our democracy, voting for a partisan purpose. Obstructing the Postal Service for political purposes is illegal. It is illegal to interfere with the mail. During this unprecedented time, we must be streamlining, not sabotaging, voting by mail. The administration wants to destroy the public's faith and trust in the public service. No, the American people are not going to let you do it. I might add, the Postal Service has a 90 percent favorability rating. It is the most popular Federal agency. Would that we had a 90 percent favorability rating. We must fight for this essential component of our democracy and of people's lives. We will, through rain, shine, or sleet, or President Donald Trump.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on a portion of the bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. To start, let me commend my dear friend, the chair of the full Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Nita Lowey, who is a path breaker and a change maker. Nita Lowey has made this Nation and the world a far better place because of the commitments that she has to the issues that come before this subcommittee: quality education, after school programs, and protections for working men and women. Under her leadership, appropriations proceeded despite, and in response to, this virus and the disparities that it has exposed. She is a force. She leaves a legacy of excellence and of innovation, and, as I have said before on a number of occasions, I will miss my friend. I will miss her in the Halls, and I will miss her in committee, but our friendship carries on. Also, I want to say thank you to Ranking Member Cole for his friendship and for his gracious, collaborative spirit in which we work together on the Labor-HHS bill, which we have for the last several years in producing the bill. While we have differences of opinion on issues, there is no difference of opinion on the shared values that we have in providing opportunity and creating opportunity for the people of this country. So I thank the gentleman very, very much. For 2021, the Labor-HHS bill includes $196.5 billion in overall funding. It is an increase of $2.4 billion above the 2020 enacted level, $20.8 billion above the President's 2021 budget request. The bill supports some of our Nation's most critical programs from early Head Start, Social Security, CDC, and NIH. They touch individuals and families throughout their lives and help to create that opportunity to allow America to realize its values and its promise. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee also continues to be central to our response to COVID-19. We are at the center of this health and economic crisis and the serious racial and economic disparities that it has exposed. Since March, we have appropriated $280 billion in emergency funding for education, for health, and for working people throughout the pandemic. We add $300 billion more in the HEROES bill: $197 billion in health, $100 billion in education, and $3.1 billion in labor. Today we seek to build on those emergency and supplemental packages so that we can be making it safe for our economy to reopen. Our Members recognize the importance of this bill. The subcommittee received more than 15,000 requests for today's bill, and I am proud to say that we were able to fill so many of them either in total or in part, and that is from both sides of the aisle. Let me provide a brief overview. Together, we are making investments for the Nation for health, education, good-paying safe and secure jobs, and to address the disparities that have been exposed by this virus: For health, $96 billion for programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an increase in $1.5 billion above 2020. That is a $500 million increase for the NIH and a $230 million increase for the CDC. For families, children, and seniors, we provide $150 million more for Head Start, $100 million more for childcare, $25 million more for preschool development grants, and $25 million more for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. For education, a $716 million increase from 2020. That includes $254 million for title 1 education for the disadvantaged, $194 million more for IDEA State grants for special education, $150 more for a maximum Pell grant, and $50 million more for minority-serving higher education institutions. As the school year approaches, while the White House chooses to make that a political battle to threaten schools and teachers, instead of beating them down, we are lifting them up to invest in them so that they can meet the education and the life challenges that face them. For working Americans, this bill provides an increase for the Department of Labor of $254 million, $12.7 billion in total. When unemployment remains at alarming high levels, we are investing in job opportunity and worker protection with $50 million for more workforce innovation and opportunity grants.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, there is $12 million more for Job Corps and a $15 million increase for worker protection programs. We plan future investments for our public health agencies in an emergency, $24.4 billion; for the CDC, $9 billion; NIH, $5 billion; for BARDA, $4.5 billion. Mr. Speaker, we are going to look at ensuring oversight on these dollars so that the scientists are in charge and not the politicians.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to move boldly, swiftly. Let's defeat the virus and the racial disparities it has exposed in health, education, and the economy. We can and must do so by passing the bill before us, and I urge my colleagues to invest in our constituents, invest in beating this virus, and closing those gaps it has exposed. We need to vote ``yes'' on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I will miss my colleagues, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Graves, Mrs. Roby, and Mr. Hurd. It has been an honor to serve with them. And to our staff in the majority: Brad Allen, Jared Bass, Jennifer Cama, Robin Juliano, Jackie Kilroy, Laurie Mignone, Stephen Steigleder, and Philip Tizzani. And my personal staff: Letty Mederos, Liz Albertine, and Caitlin Peruccio. I thank Ranking Member Granger, and to Shalanda Young and to Chris Bigelow for all of the help you provided us during this period of time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman for her passion, her concern, her courage, and her leadership on this issue. There really isn't much more to say. I thank her for standing up for women and for health. I am a survivor of ovarian cancer. The gentlewoman is tough. She is a warrior. She represents those who are suffering in pain every single day, when nearly 1 in 10 women are affected by this condition. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and support women's health research. It is imperative that women are able to survive endometriosis.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Congressman Foster's amendment, and was fascinated listening to the bipartisan support for this effort. This brings down the skyrocketing cost of healthcare, a universal interoperable patient identifier, reducing avoidable administrative errors as has been pointed out, and that is being further exacerbated by COVID-19 today. So we learned during this pandemic that accurate identification of patients is one of the most difficult operational issues in the field. Field hospitals, temporary testing sites are gathering demographic information of patients, but correctly matching that result after they return from labs is time-intensive, sometimes inaccurate, and it is a burden for the healthcare system. I also would make one point, and I have expressed this to my colleague, Mr. Foster. We have to do this in a way that protects the sensitivity of an individual's medical information and that person's right to privacy cannot be compromised. So we need to be firm, clear on that principle. I think it can be developed in a way that doesn't compromise right-to-privacy. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I would just say to the gentleman, I hope he had the same concern about what happens to our children and grandchildren as he may have supported the unbelievable--what is it?-- $2 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of the people in this Nation. Again, I rise in opposition to the amendment. It would cut funding for important programs and services that provide for working families in this country. Many of these programs are already underfunded; they fail to meet the existing need. For instance, the amendment would cut Head Start by $538 million, leading to thousands of children losing access to high-quality early learning programs, and that would be on the backs of today where we don't have an administration that wants to do anything about the loss of childcare in this country. They would cut the Childcare and Development Block Grant by almost $300 million at a time when childcare is in crisis. More than half of childcare programs could close if we do not provide emergency funding. Just yesterday, this House passed two emergency bills to bring much- needed relief to childcare providers, and yet this amendment would cut funding for childcare. It would cut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, a bipartisan priority, by $188 million. How about senior nutrition, which it would cut, including Meals on Wheels, by almost $50 million, resulting in 10 million fewer home- delivered or prepackaged meals for low-income seniors. Think about it. Think about that. It would cut biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health by $2.3 billion, resulting in a reduction of nearly 2,500 new research grants. It would cut title 1 funding for our public schools by $828 million, reducing needed resources for 25 million low-income students. It would cut special education grants to States by $648 million. That would reduce support to provide services for 7.4 million students with disabilities, curtailing their ability to succeed. It would cut Federal financial aid programs, Pell grants, the SEOG program, and the Work-Study Program by $1.2 billion for students and for families in need. It would cut funding for job training programs by $185 million, resulting in fewer supports for Americans who are seeking better opportunities for themselves and for their families. It would cut funding by $122 million meant to help States manage and administer unemployment insurance claims and benefits for struggling Americans. Today, people are not even sure if their unemployment benefits are going to be cut off tomorrow unless the Senate would move and pass the HEROES bill, where we extend unemployment benefits. But, no, this amendment would cut $122 million, again, cutting the unemployment insurance program. This is about values. Budgets are about values, and $135 billion that is in the CARES bill has gone to or was prepared to go to 43,000 taxpayers at $1.6 million as a tax rebate going back to 2018, 2019 when no one had even heard of the coronavirus. But that is okay. That is okay. We can pass that. We can do something about that because of whom it benefits. Think about whom we need to benefit in this institution and what our responsibilities are. Our responsibilities are to the working families and the essential workers today who are on the front lines trying to just be able to get by and also to save themselves, their health, and their families. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1053, I call up the bill (H.R. 7027) making additional supplemental appropriations for disaster relief requirements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of my bill to save the childcare industry: The Child Care Is Essential Act. Let me recognize my colleagues who join me here this morning, especially the Chair of the Committee on Education and Labor, Chairman Bobby Scott. To make clear our fight and our purpose, I quote The Washington Post from July 4. The title of the piece: ``Lack of childcare slowing recovery. Working Parents Swamped At Home. Productivity slump pinned on school, center closures.'' ``The childcare crunch triggered by the pandemic has rapidly become a crisis for many workers and companies that is hindering the economic recovery, disproportionately harming women and threatening to leave deep scars for years to come.'' The Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee has been central to our response to this pandemic and has provided much-needed funding to deal with the crisis--providing $3.5 billion for childcare in the CARES Act, and $7 billion in the House- passed HEROES Act. But, to be frank, $7 billion in the HEROES Act is not enough to save the childcare sector. It could take at least $9.6 billion per month to keep current childcare providers in business. This is a crisis. More than half of childcare programs could close if we do not act quickly. The biggest worry of the providers in my State of Connecticut are the loss of revenue, how to pay non-payroll business expenses, and they are concerned that families will not return after the public health emergency. Affordable childcare was a significant and a severe issue before the pandemic and will be after this pandemic is over. This is not about going back to normal. We cannot afford to do that either. If we cannot make families feel safe that their kids are going to be in a safe and secure environment, we are not going to get our economy back on track. Parents are not going to send their children to unsafe places or they have no place to send them. Mr. Speaker, the Childcare Is Essential Act creates a $50 billion childcare stabilization fund within the existing Childcare and Development Block Grant Program. The bill provides grant funding to childcare providers to stabilize the sector and support providers so that they can be safely reopening and running. This legislation helps childcare providers and working families by: Ensuring that the grants adequately support providers' operating expenses and funding gets to them quickly; Requires that providers continue to pay their staff; Providing tuition and copayment relief for working families; Promote health and safety through compliance with public health guidance; Prioritize providers that serve underserved populations; Ensuring grants are awarded equitably across childcare settings; and Conducting oversight through robust reporting requirements. Mr. Speaker, we bailed out the airlines--almost $60 billion--and we thought that that was necessary to do for our economy. Corporations have received $522 billion for PPP loans, and we knew that that was important to undergird our economy. Hedge fund managers and real estate developers got a $135 billion tax break completely unrelated to the pandemic. We did not need that. We need to save the childcare industry. It is a matter of values, of right and wrong, and it is a matter of the values of who we believe needs to be protected: Our children? Our families? Or special interests? It is a matter of economic security for women and families, and lack of childcare has been cited as a reason why women are still highly reflected in the unemployment rolls. Small businesses are concerned. One half of all essential workers in this country are women. Who are the essential workers? Grocery store workers, public transport, cleaning and sanitation, healthcare, retail workers. They have to go to work. Where do they put their kids? And it is a matter of addressing racial disparities, which this virus has further exposed, particularly when providers in communities of color continue to struggle to access small business loans, like those through the PPP because of systemic discrimination in banking practices, the wealth gap, higher debt. We must help now. Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I say: Let us move boldly in this historic moment for women, for families, for children, for small businesses, for communities of color. Let us stabilize the childcare sector. Childcare is essential. There is no reopening of our economy without it. So let us provide that $50 billion today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, can I inquire about the amount of time remaining?

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is an extraordinary time in our Nation's history. We are watching families today who are in the most serious economic and healthcare crises of their lives. What this pandemic has exposed are the serious, serious inequities that exist, the racial inequities that exist. What is becoming clear, from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, is that there are two classes of people. We have essential workers, who I pointed out are the grocery workers, the transit workers, the sanitation people, the retail workers who clock in and out every single day and who have to be on the job, and they have been told if they don't show up, they don't get paid. But they have kids; they have families. What is the main responsibility of a parent? The pride you take in making sure that your children are safe, that they are secure, that you are doing all you can for them to be able to survive. So, what is your choice? Leave your kid by themselves? You can't take them to work. You know, I had a lengthy conversation, almost 2 hours, on the phone with farmworkers in our country. Know what they do without access to childcare? They leave their kids home alone, or they take them to the fields. Who are we? This is the United States of America. Where are our values? What do we care most about? Let me just tell you about that $135 billion that is in the CARES bill. I will just say that the Democrats took it out in the HEROES bill. But as I see the bill that our Republicans colleagues put forward in the last 24 hours, it is still in there. It is a tax break for 43,000 people in this country, and they get a $1.6 million tax cut. They claw back to 2018, 2019. No one knew the word ``coronavirus'' in 2018 and 2019. It has nothing to do with this pandemic. I will mention those essential workers again to you today because there are 17.9 million children under the age of 13. Their parents are frontline workers, as I have laid out. I will also add, in full disclosure, that two-thirds of these children do not require emergency care because they have another parent. They have a family member or an adult caregiver available to them. But this implies that we have 6 million kids who need emergency care at 45 hours per week. There are 6 million children who need to be in childcare. The providers that remain open are providing emergency care to these workers, and they are incurring costs, including paid premiums for staff, substitute workers for staff who are out on paid sick or family leave, higher prices for food and materials, including recommended personal protective and sanitation equipment and supplies. You know, public safety demands that each center or home-based provider serves fewer children than they normally do. Why? For safety reasons. Understand, people want to talk about the economy reopening. Are parents going to send their kids to--first of all, we are talking about schools where the CDC has said that the worst situation is 5-day, in- person. Yet, what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to do is to tie their education funds to whether they do that, which is outrageous to begin with, and now they do not want to provide any funding for childcare providers. In the HEROES bill, it is $5 million and $10 million in grants. The National Women's Law Center has told us it will be about $9.6 billion a month to deal with this issue. Mr. Speaker, it is unconscionable. All I can say is, if we can bail out the airlines, if we can bail out the business community, we should be done with the $135 billion. Let's move forward: $50 billion for childcare legislation today. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Panetta.) The time of the gentlewoman has expired.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill).

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

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta).

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, let me thank Chairman Sanford Bishop and Chair Nita Lowey. I also appreciate the commitment that Ranking Members Jeff Fortenberry and Kay Granger have shown to support the hard work of our farmers and the safety of consumers. I had the honor of chairing this subcommittee a number of years ago, and I know firsthand the amount of work it takes. We face a health crisis and an economic crisis that have exposed serious disparities in our systems. This pandemic has further demonstrated how many were living on a knife's edge, and I strongly believe we must be doing more, not less. This 2021 bill is recommending an increase of $487 million, almost $24 billion. It builds on the work we have done in the emergency response bills for our nation's farmers, families, frontline food workers. This pandemic has pinpointed to us where our system of supports, our social safety net, is not as strong as we believed it to be, as strong as our families, our farmers and our food workers need it to be. So, I am glad this bill is making short-term and long-term investments. Let me touch on a few areas of strength. The bill makes strong investments to address the scourge of hunger in our country. The Census Bureau recently conducted a Household Pulse Survey to gather household information during the COVID-19 Pandemic. They found, quote, ``Households with children were more likely to report permanent loss of employment and food shortages since the start of the pandemic.'' Along with providing the necessary funding for the Food Stamp Program, Women, Infants and Children, and Child Nutrition Programs, the bill includes language to block implementation of rules that would threaten benefits for hundreds of thousands of people. I want to remind my colleagues that food stamp spending is a powerful anti-recession tool. It has previously been estimated that for each dollar spent from benefits, a $1.70 is generated in economic activity. The bill also takes action to ensure the safety of our nation's food supply, as well as the health of the workers producing that food. Workers on the frontline of our food supply chain--food processing, meat and poultry plant employees, and farmworkers--play an essential role in the availability of food. I thank the Chairman for his leadership on including language to prevent USDA from granting linespeed waivers to corporate meatpackers as well as the inclusion of language encouraging USDA to prioritize financial assistance to employers of farmworkers who can show they are complying with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. We must push for leadership and accountability. Recently, FDA Commissioner Hanh refused to refute the president's false claim about the severity of the virus. As has been reported by the Boston Globe, quote, ``the World Health Organization has said about 20 percent of those diagnosed with COVID-19 progress to severe disease, including pneumonia and respiratory failure.'' But, the president said 99 percent of cases were, quote, ``totally harmless.'' CNN's Dana Bash pressed Commissioner Hahn on this false claim. But, Commissioner Hahn said, quote, ``I'm not going to get into who's right and who's wrong.'' That is the mission of the FDA, as the public's primary regulatory agency for public health. The mandate of the agency is to distinguish between right and wrong, especially as it relates to misleading claims about this virus. So, as we invest in the FDA's mission, I look forward to working with others on the subcommittee and the full committee to make sure the agency provides the most accurate information to the public. Finally, I am proud of the $2 billion in international food aid provided by this bill. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased hardship around the globe and I believe we have a moral obligation to lend a helping hand. The bill includes $1.775 billion for Food for Peace grants, $235 million for McGovern-Dole, and again provides $1 million in funding for the International Agricultural Education Fellowship program. I close by thanking the leadership of this committee for continuing to be taking the long term and near-term actions necessary to be protecting the public, for food security, for food safety, and worker safety. This is what the social safety net is for: To assist members of our community in their time of need. No one should fall through the cracks. No one need suffer.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. In October 1995, the Black clergy in my community asked if I could get Congressman John Lewis of Georgia to come to New Haven for our local elections. I was honored to welcome John to my hometown. Here is what I said about him that evening. ``John Lewis is a true hero of the cause of progress. It is often said that John Lewis is `one of the most courageous persons the civil rights movement ever produced.' The most astonishing thing about that sweeping statement is that it probably doesn't go far enough to describe the heroics of the man you see before you. John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing personal dignity, and building what he likes to call `The Beloved Community.' His display of ethics and morality has won him rare admiration from both his House colleagues and from leaders around the world over.'' He thanked me for the introduction, and he said to the congregation, ``I love my sister Rosa DeLauro.'' And I loved that our offices, when I first came to the Congress, were next to each other. I served with Congressman John Lewis for 30 years, and I consider myself blessed. My grandchildren, Teo, Rigby, Sadi, and Jasper, met John Lewis. He signed for them his book, ``March.'' John Lewis' ``March'' tells the story of a poor sharecropper's son who transformed America and so much more. There are few in the world who change it. John Lewis changed it. The Black clergy in my community, my grandchildren, my family, you can be sure we will carry on your work, John Lewis. Count on it.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I want to recognize the remarkable leadership of Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey. Nita has made the nation, and the world, a far better place because of her commitment to the Appropriations Committee, and her outstanding achievements will forever be honored and celebrated here in the Congress. I cherish the 25 years we have spent together fighting for expanded access to women's health, the inclusion of women in NIH clinical trials, increased investment in early childhood education, adequate worker protections, and so much more. Beyond her professionalism, dedication, and leadership, Nita is genuine and compassionate. As she has for many of our other colleagues, she has been there for me in times of need. I will miss seeing her in the halls of Congress and on the Appropriations Committee, but our friendship endures. In honor of her outstanding legacy, I include in the Record the Chairwoman's farewell remarks to the House Appropriations Committee on July 15, 2020, the final day of markups for the 116th Congress: Good morning, everyone. As we begin our final day of consideration of the FY21 spending bills, I'd like to thank you all for your kind words and well wishes and ask you to indulge me in just a few more reflections. I came to Congress in 1989, one of just 31 women in the House and Senate, and to this Committee in 1993 alongside only six other women on the 64-member panel. This body is better for the 100 women serving in the 116th Congress and for the many women in this room today. It's my honor to address the full Committee for my final time as the first woman Chair. You know, it's ironic that back in 1993, I had to choose between serving on Appropriations or Ways and Means. And today we mark up my final Appropriations bills in the Ways and Means Committee room. I chose Appropriations because I believed it was the best place to give more people a better chance at a better life. After nearly 30 years on Committee, I still believe that. In fact, nowhere else in Congress could I have advanced such a diverse range of priorities. In the days of congressionally directed spending--something I hope you all restore--I brought home hundreds of millions to help my constituents directly, from transportation hubs and commuter services, bridge and road safety, early learning and health centers, to economic development and job training, school safety, senior centers, flooding relief, and more. Of course, without those projects, I have created new programs, including one that protects vulnerable nonprofits at a time of rising anti-Semitism and hate, like those in my district surrounding the community that experienced a tragic attack at a Hanukah party last year. Nationally, we advanced the .08 blood alcohol content standard for drunk driving that has saved countless lives. Following September 11th, we funded the new Department of Homeland Security, and I have fought hard for New York's fair share of its investments in our preparedness and response capabilities. I am so proud of tremendous accomplishments for women's health--from protecting and expanding access to family planning here and abroad, to gains in research equity and breast cancer research and securing contraceptive coverage for federal employees that led to dramatically expanded coverage for women today. And, let me just say, we will never go back to the days when NIH excluded women from clinical trials-when even the lab rats were all male. Among many education achievements, we established the first federal afterschool programs that have grown to a billion dollar investment today and served millions of children and families. And, it was certainly fun to bring Bert and Ernie to a hearing to help save PBS's federal funding. Despite my passion for these priorities, I bucked conventional wisdom to become Ranking Member on the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee rather than the Labor-HHS- Education subcommittee. I cannot overstate my commitment to our responsible investments through our foreign aid bill that make the world better, safer, and healthier while improving the security of generations here at home. At the heart of that work is providing a basic education to the world's children so that they may thrive and prosper, be healthier and resilient to dangerous influences, and create a more stable world. So what a moving and rewarding honor it was to have my dear friends Ranking Member Granger and Ranking Member Rogers recognize my work on international basic education by naming that program for me last week in the State and foreign operations markup. While my time as the Chairwoman of this Committee has been short, our achievements together will have a lasting impact. Despite our differences and disagreements, or perhaps because of them, we ultimately recognize that the power of the purse--one of the most important entrusted to us by the Constitution--requires us to build consensus and put the interests of the American people first. I took the Appropriations gavel in January 2019, in the middle of the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. Not only did we reach bipartisan agreement to reopen government, we cleared all 12 fiscal year 2020 appropriations bills through committee and 10 off the House floor before the Senate introduced a single bill, and we enacted all 12 before the end of the calendar year. As appropriators, we lead by example, with common sense and deliberation. Our ability to transcend party differences and make hard choices within the constraints of limited funding makes us worthy of the privilege to hash out the biggest battles of the day. Through virtual and remote work and in masks and gloves today, this Committee is confronting twin crises--one most of us never expected, the other only the willfully indifferent could not have anticipated. In recent months, we have led the way to invest trillions to stem the spread of a global pandemic and mitigate the worst of its devastating economic impacts. The fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills continue those efforts even as we address systemic racism, a crisis that has reached a boiling point in recent weeks. We have acted on the urgent need for meaningful police reform and economic development in disadvantaged communities that is fundamental to a more just and equitable society that lives up to our highest values and aspirations. We are living through a time of heightened cynicism and polarization, of suffering and pain, and great uncertainty, with too little compassion and leadership from some at the highest levels of power. The old adage you might have heard me say a time or two-- that in Washington there are Republicans, Democrats, and appropriators--is perhaps more important now than ever. My parting request to you is this: do not succumb to the pervasive partisanship that permeates what can feel like all aspects of our professional--and even sometimes our personal--lives. Beyond keeping government's doors open and lights on, conduct robust oversight and demand accountability and transparency on the use of taxpayer dollars, defend our constitutional prerogatives against Executive Overreach regardless of who occupies the White House or the Speaker's office. Always strive to use the power of the purse to unlock the full potential of this nation. Over the next weeks and months, I will continue that hard work with all of you, who are at the heart of what makes this the best Committee in Congress. If you're looking for a goodbye gift, I would love to get all our bills done by the end of the year. To the other members leaving Congress at the end of this term--my fellow New Yorker and dear friend Jose Serrano, Pete Visclosky, Tom Graves, Martha Roby, and Will Hurd--thank you for your service, and I wish you all the very best. To my subcommittee chairs--Marcy, Pete, Jose, Rosa, David, Lucille, Sanford, Betty, Tim, Debbie, and Mike--you have made your mark not just on your bills and on this Committee. Thank you for your steady, effective leadership and friendship. Kay, I could not ask for a better Ranking Member. We took turns as Chair and Ranking Member on State and Foreign Operations and have shown time and again that women get things done. I will deeply miss our partnership and you personally. I would be remiss not to mention former Committee Chairs Natcher, Livingston, Young, Lewis, Obey, Rogers, and Frelinghuysen who showed me what it takes to do this job well. None of us could fulfill our mandate without the support of excellent staff. All of the successes I've recounted today and more are also the achievements of many others. To the staff in both the Committee and my Congressional office: For a year and a half as Chairwoman, six years as Ranking Member--and for some, a whole lot longer--I have benefitted immeasurably from your wisdom, counsel, tireless commitment, and, on more than a few occasions, from your technological prowess. One of the benefits of being chair is having the largest and most experienced staff on the Hill. From all of our subcommittee staff led by clerks Martha Foley, Bob Bonner, Becky Leggieri, Jaime Shimek, Matt Smith, Darek Newby, Rita Culp, Stephen Steigleder, Robin Juliano, Matt Washington, Lisa Molyneux, Steve Marchese, and Joe Carlile to Adam Berg, Jason Gray, Adam Wilson, Tom Tucker, Anna Hansen, Mike Burns, Gloria Nlewedim, and Malachi White in the front office, I am grateful for everything you do to make this the best committee in Congress. My Congressional office staff in Washington, including Fae Rabin, Wendy Coursen, Liz Gauthier, Jane Richter, Matt Pastore, Steve Brenner, and Justin Barnes, have been invaluable during my final appropriations markups, as always. I especially note my gratitude for the extraordinary work of several staffers with whom I work most closely: Staff Director and Clerk Shalanda Young, Deputy Staff Director Chris Bigelow--an alum of my personal office, Communications Director Evan Hollander, Legislative Director Dana Acton, Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Healton, and my Chief of Staff for the last 15 years, Elizabeth Stanley. I appreciate the great contributions of former staff, including chiefs of staff--Scott Fleming, Howard Wolfson, Matthew Traub and Clare Coleman--and legislative teams led by Jim Townsend, Mark Isaac, Jenny Luray, Heather Howard, Beth Tritter, and Jean Doyle. At the committee, I valued the expertise of former Staff Director David Pomerantz, Deputy Staff Director Lesley Turner, and Communications Director Matt Dennis who also served in my personal office. I have enjoyed seeing so many current and former staffers grow in your careers, get married, have children, and even some of you retire before me. You will always be a part of the Lowey family. It has been the honor of my life to serve as Chairwoman of this committee. While I'll be sad to hand over the gavel, I know that all of us--members and staff--will live by the underlying principle that has guided our work together: do the best we can to make life better for the most people we can. Thank you.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise to support this override. Predatory for-profit colleges scam students and taxpayers out of millions of dollars. Predatory for-profit colleges account for 9 percent of students in postsecondary education but 33 percent of defaults. To help students, the Department of Education under the Obama administration created a streamlined resolution process under the borrower defense to repayment provision of the Higher Education Act. Now, Secretary DeVos is breaking the process. I will tell you what her goal is. It is to aid the perpetrators, not to help the victims. Under her new rule, borrowers lose out. They lose out if they cannot prove the school intentionally defrauded them, if they cannot file their claim fast enough, or if they cannot document their exact financial harm. As a result, as little as 3 percent of eligible debt will be forgiven now. What little relief there is now will likely be shouldered by taxpayers, not the schools committing the fraud. Stopping the Secretary as we are pushing to do has wide support: 20 State attorneys general and nearly 60 advocacy groups for students, civil rights, and education. The American Legion has said: ``Deception against our veterans and servicemembers has been a lucrative scam for unscrupulous actors.'' So I say to my Republican colleagues who want to support the military: Support this override. And to those of us who want to fight for racial and economic justice: Support this override. In 2018, we wrote to the Secretary, alarmed about how this rule could hurt students of color: ``Ninety-five percent of Black students attending a for-profit college took out student loans, and a staggering 75 percent of Black students who did not complete their programs defaulted.'' We must act now for veterans, for students of color, for borrowers across this country. In Connecticut, 1,100 defrauded students are waiting to be made whole. They need this override, not that cruel policy. Vote to override.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand with Members of the House and Senate leadership and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the legislation. This legislation is a timely, critical, bold, and transformative start to addressing the issues millions of Americans have been protesting about. I believe we also need to reorganize funding activities for law enforcement in a way that works to bring police and communities closer together, not further apart. We must also change our laws to enable swift action to prosecute misconduct by police officers, improve training and transparency, and create a national use of force standard for police who are charged to protect and serve our communities, all of which are included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We owe it to those who have died and those who have honored them. So let us vote ``yes,'' and let us vote to continue working on these critical issues.