Lloyd Doggett

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Hydrocephalus Awareness Month. Every September patients, caregivers and their families come together throughout the nation in support of the more than 1,000,000 people of all ages living with hydrocephalus in the United States. As co-chair of the Congressional Pediatric and Adult Hydrocephalus Caucus, I believe Congress has an important role to play in both raising awareness of this condition, as well as crafting policies that result in better treatments and potentially a cure. I urge my colleagues to join the caucus to learn more about this devastating condition. Anyone can develop hydrocephalus, an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain, at any time. This can include premature babies, active duty service members, veterans, and seniors. Individuals can also be born with hydrocephalus, develop it as part of the aging process, or acquire it as a result of infections, brain tumors or traumatic brain injuries, among other causes. The only present treatment for this condition is brain surgery. From children to veterans, the prevalence of this condition is reflected in my own district. The physicians and staff at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio perform the brain surgeries necessary to treat many of the one in 770 babies across the country who develop hydrocephalus per year. Nationwide, these cases alone cost the U.S. health care system $2 billion per year. Veterans and active military personnel, such as those stationed at Joint Base San Antonio, are also disproportionally affected. Medical researchers believe that two-thirds of our nation's current and former military service members suffering from moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries are at risk of developing hydrocephalus. In the midst of this pandemic, it is now more important than ever to improve the federal government's partnership with the hydrocephalus community. Many individuals with hydrocephalus live with other serious medical comorbidities, putting them at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. We must do all we can to help patients, health care professionals and families as they struggle to maintain and improve quality of life during these challenging times. I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Hydrocephalus Awareness Month and the 1 million Americans living with hydrocephalus by joining the Congressional Pediatric and Hydrocephalus Caucus.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, as Congress considers new investments in research and development, let's direct our efforts where we can achieve the greatest savings and the greatest efficiency. While carbon capture and storage, the process of capturing carbon dioxide formed in power generation and some industrial processes, has potential, many substantial questions remain about its cost- effectiveness compared to other low-emission technologies, particularly since hundreds of millions of dollars in current tax subsidies are directed, often improperly, to those promoting fossil fuels. Accordingly, the amendment I have offered that is included in this en bloc amendment gets the facts for taxpayers by asking the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the efficacy of carbon capture technology and evaluate industries regarding its potential. Enough of the fossilized thinking about fossil fuels. Let's explore all available tools and technologies, while ensuring that taxpayer dollars are utilized to achieve maximum savings, because energy savings could mean the difference between the Earth's saving and its destruction. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the amendment.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, even during these challenging times, most Americans recognize that when they get home, they find a habitable place and the lights come on with the flip of a switch. But preserving future American energy independence and energy efficiency is a greater challenge. The climate crisis that we confront today is not just about endangered polar bears and Antarctic ice sheets that are melting and will submerge our coastal areas; it is here and now with our erratic weather, with our soaring temperatures, and with blazing wildfires across the country. Energy- efficient technology shouldn't be the ``alternative,'' it should be the regular standard. Now, while my home State of Texas is the national leader in greenhouse gas pollution and in climate deniers, it is also the home to really significant growth in wind power, the leading State in the country, and a growing source of solar power. Investments in clean energy protect taxpayer investments and promote public health and safety. These investments ensure America is leading on the road to clean energy, not being run over by it.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, Saturday Libby and I joined many at the Supreme Court to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a true defender of our most fundamental rights at a time when this President and his enablers increasingly threaten the very preservation of our democracy. Having fought her entire professional life against double standards, it is essential that a double standard not apply to her replacement. When Justice Scalia died 8 months before a Presidential election, Republicans blocked any consideration of President Obama's nomination to the Court. Only total hypocrisy would permit Republicans to name a replacement after voting for President has already begun in a number of States. Why Trump's big rush? Because he wants this court packed with judges that will take away healthcare and protection for preexisting conditions for millions of Americans. And just in case, when he loses the popular vote once again, he needs some judges to help him cling to power. The best tribute to Justice Ginsburg is demanding consistency and then replacing a President who shares absolutely none of her values. With everything at stake, we need to give it everything we have got. Let's protect the equality and justice she worked a lifetime to defend.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which I authored, to authorize the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to establish this commemorative work here in the District of Columbia honoring the Republic of Texas Legation. This is a bipartisan effort supported by a number of my colleagues from Texas, as well as Representative Holmes Norton, who represents the area where the memorial will reside. And it has the approval, initially, of the subcommittee which my colleague, Ms. Haaland, chairs. The history of the Texas Legation and its significance to American history is as broad as the pride held by present-day Texans over a time when we were once an independent Republic. The district that I now represent includes the historic Alamo in San Antonio. With the battle cries of ``Remember the Alamo,'' and ``Remember Goliad,'' Texas won its independence on March 2, 1836. And as most Texans are aware, for almost a decade thereafter, Texas was a whole other country, an independent Nation with the same independent spirit that pervades our State today. What are frequently less discussed are the diplomatic efforts stretching over almost a decade by this young new Nation, sending emissaries to Europe and to Washington. At multiple times from 1836 to 1845, the Texas Legation negotiated the terms by which Texas would become a part of the United States. While everything is still bigger in Texas, the territory of the Republic of Texas, as a sovereign independent Nation, was much more than the current State of Texas. Indeed, it included parts of New Mexico, including Albuquerque, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and even Wyoming. How different America would be today had not this huge part of the center of our country been incorporated into the United States. The young Republic of Texas had many debts and many challenges from abroad. My own home in East Austin is only a few blocks away from the historic French Legation, this is the place that the diplomats from France used to establish their formal diplomatic relations with the Nation of Texas. Texans in turn established legations abroad to negotiate terms of trade and recognition with multiple European countries. Most importantly, the Texas delegation came here on the very difficult journey to Washington. Today, we find the plaques about the work of the Texas Legation in London and Paris, but not yet here in Washington, where the Legation's effort had its most profound effect. Here in this area the Legation operated from a number of houses, boarding houses, some near the present-day National Archives and the Navy Memorial, which is appropriate since one of the diplomats involved, Mr. Memucan Hunt, who also served as secretary of the fledgling Republic of Texas Navy. In Washington, the diplomats left their most significant legacy by negotiating the terms of annexation in 1845 when Texas became the 28th State to join the Union. That is why this bill approves a commemoration here. Most appropriately, this commemoration is spearheaded by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, our State's oldest patriotic women's organization committed to the preservation of Texas heritage and historic sites. They will work together with our National Park Service to develop and design a location here that is appropriate within Washington D.C. Madam Speaker, I would like to extend a special thanks to Kitty Hoeck, she has led the way as the historian of the Elisabet Ney Chapter, that includes the Daughters in the District, Virginia, and Maryland, for her commitment to this effort. I ask that she be particularly recognized in connection with this work, along with other representatives of the Daughters. The history of the Texas Legation did not end with the annexation of Texas in 1845. Today, it lives on in the strength of multicultural and multilingual communities across the Lone Star State. They have made our State so dynamic. With this commemoration, those who visit our capital will have the opportunity to learn about a turning point in the history of Texas and in the history of the United States, and reflect on the sacrifices by the diplomats who made this possible. Madam Speaker, I urge approval of the resolution, and thank both of my colleagues for their support.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, childcare is so very neglected--a neglect that has been amplified by this pandemic. Without adequate care, parents simply cannot go back to work. Always essential for economic development, adequately funded, quality childcare is more than daycare, more than babysitting. It should play a key role in educating the next generation. The National Association for the Education of Young Children has estimated that without adequate Federal support, over 4 million American children will lose their childcare this year. In Texas, with Governor Abbott offering inadequate State support, and temporarily, but recklessly, suspending facility safety precautions, like taking temperatures, the lives of children and their families have been endangered with coronavirus infections at more than 1,400 childcare facilities. Our two-pronged legislative approach today cannot undo such ineptness, but it does offer much-needed resources for both childcare providers and parents in making one of their most important investments. This is the first of many steps needed to build an early learning system truly worthy of our youngest children.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman. Madam Speaker, for the past 3 years, it has been my good fortune to sit next to Mr. Lewis on the dais of the Committee on Ways and Means. His warmth, his humility, his lack of bitterness after all that he endured was truly extraordinary. His decades of service touched so many lives. With his multi-volume graphic novel, ``March,'' he found a way to reach a younger audience with his enduring message of struggle, hope, and love. Reading it to my own grandchildren, they were hooked early when John talked about the fact that, as a young boy, he preached to his chickens--and that is how he became the great orator that we know him as being. He noted that: They would never quite say amen. The dedication in March reads, ``To the past and future children of the movement.'' Not just this work, but his entire life's work was dedicated to the past and future children of the movement. For all that you have done, for all our children, John, we say ``amen.'' John knew that America could not call itself a democracy until everyone could cast a ballot, and that the struggle for voting rights was a struggle for democracy itself. He dedicated himself to completing the promise of the Declaration of Independence as he exhorted the crowd down the Mall here at the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington to ``Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this Nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete.'' And, again, in 2015, as he annually commemorated that March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, John asked ``Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America.'' John Lewis worked so tirelessly to get in ``good trouble.'' When the LBJ Foundation from Austin awarded him with the Liberty & Justice For All Award, I learned that he had experienced over 40 arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries. But then I had seen, sitting next to him, some of the marks on his balding head of those very attacks. Through it all, he maintained that ``good trouble'' was what America really needed. There will never be a time when America can afford to forget the legacy of John Lewis. He fought so long, so selflessly to advance our democracy, and he called the right to vote ``sacred.'' Madam Speaker, we honor his tireless labor by picking up the baton and voting. We honor his legacy when we vote and enable more of our friends and neighbors to do the same. John Lewis now rests, but we cannot. Inspired by his sacrifice, we must continue his struggle. No one can ever replace him, but no one person must. There are so many who share John Lewis' dream. And we will grow our numbers, and when we do, we will overcome.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, approaching July Fourth, we should be celebrating the greatness of our country. Instead, we are mired in a pandemic when we have more people infected and more deaths from this pandemic than any country in the entire world--with President Trump floundering and whining. His approach to this pandemic--denial, delay, and ongoing deception-- has been exposed for the fraud that it is. And because of his multiple failures, now is a time when more Americans desperately need the opportunity to enroll in health insurance, not the junk insurance that he has been promoting. Instead, he seeks to eliminate--as do our Republican colleagues--the Affordable Care Act and the coverage that it has today for millions of our citizens. Madam Speaker, today's bill offers a reaffirmation that the Affordable Care Act should be strengthened, not destroyed. Strengthening that would have been occurring long ago but for the fanatic decade of our Republican colleagues in trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Next year, however, we have to do much more for healthcare than simply to return where it should have been. Millions of Americans, particularly in a State like Texas, which has more uninsured children than any State in America, they are still likely to be excluded because of obstructionist Republican State leaders. And even those who have insurance, are still often the victims of prescription price gouging. Madam Speaker, the exceedingly modest pharmaceutical provision in today's bill excludes the uninsured and falls well short of what is needed to prevent monopoly prices for drugs developed at taxpayer expense. This bill pours more billions into pharmaceutical development with no assurance that the prices or the resulting cures will be affordable. We see only today with the pricing of remdesivir, a drug that would have been left in the scrap heap of failures but for taxpayer funding, that the same taxpayers that developed the drugs will be charged billions to get them. Let's look forward to a day when we have a competent and committed President to bring healthcare for all.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her tremendous leadership. Mr. Speaker, this bill is an important start--not an end--of what must be done to stop racism in America. So much more must be accomplished by the local police departments across the country. This is more than a few bad apples. It is a virus that has too often infected the orchard. This is not a time for meaningless gestures or watered-down proposals, but for real, meaningful action. Black lives matter because for so often and for so long they have been the subject of violence and prejudices as though they did not. In Austin, Mike Ramos was fleeing. Javier Ambler couldn't breathe. Both were unarmed, unthreatening, and both are now dead. While technology has literally brought this violence into our homes, we also recognize how many incidences have never been reported. Failure by some law enforcement personnel to protect Black citizens, threatens the very core of our democracy. What we do today is not only about protecting those victims, but it is also with respect and thanks to the many dedicated police officers who put their lives on the line daily for our security. What we need is to reach across the divide, to have protesters educating police about their concerns, and officers listening and affirming that they want to be a part of the solution that we offer today.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, with yesterday's storms in Texas, my early morning post-election day flight to Washington was delayed, preventing my arrival before the coronavirus bill vote. Had I been present, I would have voted for H.R. 6074, which I strongly support. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 86.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, as usual, Trump says one thing here and does another. He continues his assault on healthcare--no protection for preexisting conditions, nothing done to lower prescription price- gouging, and even considering potential cuts to what they call ``entitlements'' and we call Medicare. Trump supports only junk insurance and junk ideas, like this crazy idea to block-grant Medicaid, which is a truly block-headed approach that will jeopardize insurance coverage for 1 in 5 Americans. In Texas, Medicaid is a safety net with more holes than net through which many needy Texans regularly fall. Much of the available assistance is critical to our seniors. Already slashed to the bone, Texas Medicaid does not have any more room for the kind of cuts that Trump is urging. Hospitals are struggling to stay afloat in many parts of the State. Healthcare providers, some of them go out of business. And to the disgrace of the Lone Star State, we have almost 1 million children, more than in any other State in the Union, who lack any insurance access. Indeed, it is the Affordable Care Act that actually slowed Medicaid spending, but Republicans will have none of that. This landmark legislation tried to patch the holes in the safety net, but even when Texas was offered 100 cents on the dollar from the Federal Government to extend Medicaid to some of its citizens, Texas refused to do that, and has continued to do so. Now this Trump block-headed approach would widen the coverage gap for 5 million people with disabilities and millions of children who suffer when their parents cannot get care.

Mr. DOGGETT. One of the advantages of the Medicaid program is if more people require coverage during an economic downturn, or if costs go up because of a public health emergency, like coronavirus or an opioid epidemic, the Federal funding automatically increases. If you have a stingy State Republican government that caps it, that coverage will go down instead of up. What is out of control in America today is not Medicaid spending, but this unhinged President's attempts to undermine healthcare access for as many Americans as he can do. Madam Speaker, let's oppose it.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, Trump has no plan, no strategy in the Middle East, but this self-described ``stable genius,'' who tells us he is smarter than our generals, smarter than our military and intelligence leaders, he wants sole control over whether our Nation is plunged into a war with Iran. Today, we say: No, Mr. President. You are not yet the tyrant that you wish to become. You defied military judgment by rejecting the Iran nuclear agreement. You abruptly abandoned our Kurdish allies, so vital to the fight against ISIS and terrorism, and you have taken us to the brink of war with an assassination of a foreign leader without any imminent threat demonstrated, only double-talk to explain that assassination. It is time to put the brakes on his dangerous pursuits. We reject this reckless and impulsive escalation, the endless bloodshed, and the lack of vision beyond promoting his own selfish interests. It is Congress that our Constitution vests with responsibility to declare war. If 1776 stood for anything, it was that America would not be ruled by a king or one who today aspires to be an authoritarian. This legislation will cut off funds for future war with Iran unless Congress authorizes war, has a specific authorization, or we face a true, genuine imminent threat. Before young Americans are again placed in harm's way, let's be sure it is the only choice to ensure our security and have a strategy for victory. Today, let's set the groundwork for peace, not more architecture for endless war.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, ``All is well!'' ``So far, so good!'' This is the latest sequel in Trump's government-by-tweets, that couldn't be further from reality. Hopefully, we pray that no American lives were lost last night. But every American is less safe today than before Trump's assassination of a major foreign leader. He has taken us to the brink of war, and, hopefully, he will use the opportunity of a restrained counterattack not to escalate further but to seek an off- ramp to deescalate the crisis that could endanger the world. Attack begetting attack, and hate begetting hate--in that direction lies the abyss. The only justification that he can offer for ignoring President Ronald Reagan's Executive Order against assassination of foreign leaders is that of an imminent attack, that we need to get them before they get us. He has failed to offer any such evidence of an imminent attack to justify this rash assassination that previous administrations, Republican and Democrat, and the Israelis who had the capacity to do this, recognized posed more danger than good. ``Overreliance on our packing the biggest gun and having the fastest draw as in some old John Wayne western movie does not truly make us safer. This is not a formula for the safety of our families. It is a formula for international anarchy. A quick draw may eliminate the occasional villain, but it comes at the cost of destabilizing the world, disrupting the hope of international law and order, and, ultimately, it will make even Austin a very unsafe place in which to live.'' Those were the precise words I used in challenging the horrendous Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq, and they apply even more today to the war with Iran, a country that is about four times the size and three times the population of prewar Iraq and has far more capacity to do harm to us and our allies. Trump has no plan and no strategy in the Middle East. Ending one general's life is not an endgame. Like the invasion of Iraq, already the biggest winner from Trump's misguided non-policy is the country that he opposes the most, Iran, whose allies now in Iraq have asked all of our troops to leave and who have called them occupiers; Iran, whose presence has caused the removal of all civilian employees and foreign service officers of the United States from Iraq. Now, with the assassination, Trump has united those who were once opposing the regime in Iran. In Iran, there are incredible protests, and in Iraq there are protests against Iranian influence. So after abandoning our Kurdish allies and surrendering that part of the Middle East to our adversaries, Trump has now managed to unite the many people who were favorable to the United States and who were questioning the very malicious presence of Iran. I believe that Congress must act and this House must act to assert its constitutional authority to rein in this out-of-control President. Last July, we attempted to do just that. I voted with a strong majority in this House to adopt the Khanna amendment to basically say that we would deny all funds for his attacking Iran without his coming first to this Congress to justify it; and I supported a second amendment that was adopted by our colleague, Representative Lee, which made it clear that there is no authorization for use of military force that exists on the books today that justifies any offensive action against Iran. This House should use the full strength of our authority to restrict President Trump from rushing into another war that will be so costly to us in blood and treasure. It is a war that American families do not want. As one very concerned father movingly wrote to me this week: ``[If] my son is to be deployed to protect and serve our country, please do your best to be sure it is for the right reasons. He is proud to [serve] and will do his duty to the best of his ability without question. His Mother and I could not be prouder. Please don't let it be about some ill-conceived political distraction from an egomaniacal madman.'' Let us come together to build a better path forward. Let us give peace a chance.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, this agreement is good for moving more commerce across our three countries. It means more jobs, and it means lower prices for consumers. That is especially important in Texas where the original NAFTA was signed only a few blocks from my San Antonio office: Mexico, our top trading partner; Canada, our second. Some were so eager for this commerce that would be produced by continuing NAFTA that they were willing to accept most any agreement. But, we insisted that we get a much-improved agreement to address the legitimate concerns of those who raised objection to previous agreements. What we have today is an initial step, an important step, toward achieving a truly 21st century trade agreement that not only encourages trade but protects the environment and recognizes the legitimate concerns of workers. This victory results from major changes in what President Trump proposed 14 months ago. First, we secured additional funding for the North American Development Bank, the NAD Bank, based in San Antonio, which is important in addressing especially environmental concerns. Second, and very significantly, we deleted the horrible Big Pharma power grab to extend its monopoly power for prescription price gouging. Third, each country was forced to take all necessary measures to comply with multilateral environmental agreements which take precedence over trade. This includes an additional recent agreement to dramatically reduce heat-trapping chemicals. In 2021, when we have a new president who actually believes in science, the agreement will facilitate, not impede, our response to the climate crisis. And, finally, instead of platitudes, we have an enforceable agreement to address worker concerns. Let's celebrate a major step forward in building broad public support for trade.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Tyranny rarely appears full borne. It arises, it encroaches as freedom ebbs. Our Nation's great Founders sought to protect us from tyranny with a carefully crafted system of checks and balances. But now along comes a President who actually says he is constitutionally empowered to do whatever he wants, that he can neither be prosecuted nor even investigated for any crime, and that he can totally ignore any impeachment proceeding of which he disapproves. These are the claims of a wannabe tyrant who has extolled the virtues of tyrants and autocrats from Manila to Moscow. To advance tyranny, he adopts an open-border policy inviting foreigners to come into our country and intrude in our elections. Foreign nations have their own agendas, especially adversaries like Russia and China. American citizens should be the only ones determining the fate of America. If the President continues demanding more foreign interference, we will never have truly free elections, and we will not be free. We act today, recognizing the solemn responsibility to safeguard our security and Constitution. We pledge allegiance to the flag and the Republic for which it stands, not to one man who would be king.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, for those insured who rely on insulin or who are fortunate enough to win the lottery to have their drugs selected to be negotiated, this is a valuable piece of legislation. But for 30 million Americans who are uninsured, they are denied any guarantee of lower prices. Inexplicably, this rule rejects a proposal by me and 28 of our colleagues to provide relief for the uninsured. It bars all of my amendments to improve H.R. 3, including those that addressed outrageous new drug launch prices; price spike protection, which price spikes are occurring at an alarming rate, by the thousands; and ensuring negotiation for those drugs where the taxpayers are actually picking up the tab to finance the research that produces the drug. Of all of these, the most troubling concerns the uninsured. USA Today just published a powerful op-ed by Nicole Smith-Holt. It is entitled: ``My Son Died From Rationing Insulin. Democrats' Drug Pricing Plan Still Wouldn't Help Him.'' She writes of her son, age 26, who aged out of his parents' insurance and had a job with no benefits. She expresses the same concern that a group of Michigan high schoolers recently wrote me in a compelling letter that they are raising money to help those who lack insurance buy their drugs, saying: ``Drug manufacturers should not be able to determine who does and who does not get better. Everyone deserves to be healthy . . . .`' And everyone deserves to be helped by our legislation, but some are left out. My goal has never been to turn this bill to the right or to the left, but to deal with those and provide assurances to those who have been left out by it. Under this legislation, it will still remain illegal, a violation of Federal law, to negotiate lower drug prices on two-thirds of the drugs----

Mr. DOGGETT. It remains illegal to negotiate on two-thirds of the drugs that are covered by Medicare. Prescription drug price gouging, enabled by government-approved monopolies without any restraint, is not limited to one disease or one class of drugs. The perfect should certainly not get in the way of the good in drafting such legislation, but we should be doing more to deliver the good we promised. I reluctantly oppose this rule.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Chair, there is only one problem with this bipartisan plan that the Republicans have embraced: It will not lower manufacturers' prescription drugs prices by a penny. As to the phony argument that there are some cures out there that will be lost by this legislation, it also does not stand the test of analysis. The suggestion is that 8 out of 200 drugs over the next 10 years may not be presented. Not new cures, but in many cases, if we look at the current market, these are simply reformulations of existing drugs that manufacturers use to extend their monopoly positions. All of this about a bill that, frankly, I am not all that enthusiastic. I think this legislation was originally advanced as a narrow approach to win over Republicans, and that doesn't appear to have been too successful this evening. For that purpose, it may have merit. But as a model for comprehensive future legislation on prescription price gouging by government-approved monopolies, this narrow measure does not. Its negotiation scope is restricted to insulin and certain high-cost, high-volume drugs. Despite our pledge to repeal the Republican-imposed prohibition of Medicare negotiation, it still remains illegal, a violation of Federal law to negotiate lower prices for two-thirds of the medications covered by Medicare. That includes EpiPens and many other treatments. No negotiation for lower prices is assured even when the taxpayers paid for much of the research to develop the drugs. Price gouging is not limited to one disease or one class of drugs. This bill also does not provide any guarantee to 30 million uninsured Americans that they will get any lower prices. I look forward to a new Congress with a President who wants to follow the campaign promises that President Trump has ignored, to provide relief for all Americans with a comprehensive solution to contain this Big Pharma monopoly power.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, today's bill, which I am pleased to cosponsor, accomplishes much good. While providing critical support for minority-serving institutions like Huston-Tillotson in Austin, it includes provisions from the bipartisan Student Aid Simplification Act, which I introduced earlier this year. It will assist students in all universities, and it is also mighty important to graduates repaying student debt. I salute the chairman, Mr. Scott, for the work of his committee; College Forward and National College Access Network, who have worked with me on this for months; and, certainly, Senators Murray and Alexander for moving this through the Senate. Too many students find the current Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, so complicated and the difficulty of getting all of the financial information required so demanding that they never complete the application. In fact, I was in San Antonio this past weekend. The completion rate there is a mere 35 percent. So $2.6 billion in free money available for student financial assistance goes unclaimed each year. This bill will eliminate up to 22 FAFSA questions and require the Department of Education and IRS to work together and do some of the heavy lifting for the students by sharing the taxpayer information required for FAFSA completion. This means an increase in access to Pell grants and other educational opportunities, especially for first-time students whose parents may work multiple jobs. And the provisions included from the bill that we introduced earlier this year will also eliminate problems that about 7 million students who graduated have faced in the annual recertification process for income-driven loans. These are folks who may owe a lot, but they don't earn a lot. They include many teachers who have been kicked out of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for not recertifying each year. We eliminate that. These borrowers will now be protected from payment spikes. We do all this through administrative simplification, through greater accuracy, so the bill actually raises the $2.8 billion that we need for our minority-serving institutions. When more students can access all the education that they are willing to work for, the students win, their families win, and our economy wins. Investing in our students is one of the best investments we can make, and investing in our minority-serving institutions means that opportunity is available for all.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Voting rights guarantee all of our other rights. When Americans are obstructed from freely participating in elections, our democracy is imperiled. This bill, six long years overdue, restores a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that was wrongfully nullified by Republican-appointed justices. How troubling that a law that President Lyndon Johnson long ago secured now is being obstructed, while our home State of Texas has become ground zero for voter suppression. State Republicans have aggressively, illegally purged voting rolls. They eliminated mobile voting to quash especially student and senior voters. They enacted a cumbersome voter ID law. And they horribly, illegally gerrymandered our State. Republicans split 100 voting precincts to create the district which I serve today, creating one of the most crooked districts that weaken the accessibility and accountability of Congress Members. A three-judge Federal court with two Republican-appointed judges unanimously condemned Texas redistricting as intentional racially discriminatory intent in its work. Fortunately, the Texas Civil Rights Project, MoveTexas, LULAC, and other groups have challenged the suppression, but this bill is essential to offer the protection that they, and our democracy, deserve. We need preclearance in Texas. We need preclearance to clear away all the obstacles Republicans insist on imposing to ensure that our State remains a voter nonparticipation State for democracy. Madam Speaker, let's support H.R. 4.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, a scheduling conflict in Texas prevented my presence for the July 12th vote on H.R. 1327, the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act, which was approved 402 to 12. I would have voted for this bill, which I have sponsored. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 474.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, ``Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated, and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in our military? Really?'' ``They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own, brought in by parents at young age.'' Those were the words of a President Trump tweet on September 14, 2017, but, unfortunately, Donald Trump is a man of his last tweet. Later, when a bipartisan group of Senators went to meet with the President and present a viable bipartisan plan, he flew into a racist rant and refused to act. Only because of Federal court orders, consistently rejecting the Trump administration arguments, do our Dreamers have any protection today. I have visited personally with these young people: a nurse, a teacher, a county prosecutor, a key person in a small business, many students. They are contributing to our communities, and America is stronger for their presence. They are Americans in every sense except for the documents that allow them to fully participate.

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, if protection for our Dreamers is terminated, all of us will lose. A coalition of Texas businesses has estimated that Texas, alone, will lose $6 billion in economic activity every year. Mr. Speaker, let's provide our Dreamers the certainty of a clear path to citizenship. Let's recognize them as the full-fledged Americans they certainly are.

Mr. DOGGETT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairwoman for her leadership because today's bill is about restoring effective law enforcement for consumers and protecting them from predatory Wall Street practices. Republicans want to shield Wall Street, granting it free rein to plunder. Instead of draining the swamp, this lawless President has drained the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of its strength. Public enforcement actions are down 75 percent. That is how they feel about law enforcement. The President is refusing to protect our active-duty military from predatory lending; halting payments to consumers who have been wronged; eliminating the office that is designed to prevent discrimination in credit against Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans; and eliminating the office dedicated to addressing student loan abuses. Enough is enough. Instead of handcuffing those who do wrong, this administration is handcuffing the agency designed to ensure law enforcement. And while this President profited himself from scams like Trump University, it is time to restore important consumer protections: law enforcement to protect students, active military, and the retirement savings of our seniors. In just five years, $12 billion was returned to over 30 million American citizens. Wells Fargo would never have been penalized a penny for its multimillion-dollar fraud without a cop on the beat. Mr. Trump and Mr. Mulvaney have been about pulling that cop back so that there is no protection for those this agency was designed to serve. Let's approve this bill to protect Americans from financial piranhas who would strip their savings to the bone. Mr. Chair, I salute the leadership of the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, for standing up for Americans who have been abandoned by this administration. It is essential we do our work in Congress to say it is consumers who come first, not those who would prefer to take advantage of them.