Rodney Davis

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Latta for his comments. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), another E&C member.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank Mrs. Brooks for her comments tonight. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), another E&C member.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith), another E&C member.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington) for brief remarks.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers), another member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill H.R. 139, the Springfield Race Riot National Historic Monument Act, to designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riots as a National Historic Monument to preserve and recognize it as an important part of our nation's history. I am proud of the support this bill has received, and that the House Natural Resources Committee came together in a bipartisan way to amend this bill to pass it as the Springfield Race Riot Study Act, the next step in designating it as part of the National Park System (NPS). This site represents one of the three worst race riots in our nation's history, where terrible and appalling events of racially motivated mass violence were committed against African Americans for merely existing in their own community, destroying an entire neighborhood as a result. The site and artifacts were unearthed during construction of the Carpenter Street segment of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project and consists of the remains of five homes that were burned during the 1908 Springfield Race Riot. This event, and others like it in Illinois demonstrated that racial injustice was not an isolated issue only in the South, but one that must be addressed across the country. Ultimately the riots that occurred at the site played an integral role in the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) when Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a key leader in the African American civil rights movement, launched an anti-lynching campaign to end violence against African Americans as a result of the horrific events that occurred in Springfield. In 1909, just a year later, the NAACP was established, working tirelessly to improve race relations and to ensure that the events that happened just over a hundred years ago would never happen again. Just last month, we were successful in adding the Springfield Race Riot site to the African American Civil Rights Network in order to give it proper recognition immediately while we continue our work to designate the site as part of the NPS. The Site is now among several other important places that serve to commemorate and interpret the history of the African American Civil Rights movement. Also included in the Network is the Pullman National Monument in Chicago, which recognizes the first major labor agreement between a company and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American led labor union; the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which traces the route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama; and the A.P. Tureaud House in Louisiana, which was the home of the prominent civil rights attorney and legal counsel for the NAACP for more than three decades; along with many others. I thank the bipartisan group of my colleagues who supported this bill, Rep. Darin LaHood, Rep. Albio Sires, Rep. John H. Rutherford, Rep. Robin L. Kelly, Rep. Bob Gibbs, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Don Bacon, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Mike Bost, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Val Butler Demings, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Alma S. Adams, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Rep. Steve Cohen, and Rep. Sean Casten. I also thank Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, who co-sponsored my bill and led the African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017, which was signed into law in January 2018. This Act established this important Network that I am proud the Springfield Race Riot Site is now part of. Thank you to House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva and Ranking Member Rob Bishop for their support and moving this bill through their Committee. Thank you to the Springfield Branch of the NAACP, the Illinois NAACP, the Central Illinois African American Museum, and the Library of Congress, for their efforts to preserve the artifacts, and raise awareness regarding the importance of this site. We must continue this work to preserve and protect this site for present and future generations. It is imperative that we never forget the work that's been done or the innocent lives that were lost, and the work we must continue to do.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my wife, Shannon, because this is the 21st anniversary of her last chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed and treated for colon cancer in 1999. This is a day that we will all remember. It is the day of success, much different from the day of her diagnosis just a little over 6 months before that. We were a young couple with a 2-year-old daughter and didn't know what the future held. But because of the great American medical system and the research that was done out here at places like the NIH for years before my wife was diagnosed, she was able to get the surgery and the treatment she needed to now celebrate this anniversary. On that last day, when that poisonous chemotherapy stopped having to enter her veins, little did we know we would be blessed with two more children, twin boys, just a short time later. They were born less than a year from then. While our daughter is now 23 and our sons are 20, this is an opportunity to talk about the greatness of America's healthcare system and the greatness of the ingenuity within our healthcare system in this country. What is frustrating to me, Mr. Speaker, is that sometimes I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about how we on this side of the aisle want to get rid of preexisting conditions coverage. Every time I hear that, it hurts because I have seen what my wife went through. I live, she lives, and our family lives with her preexisting coverage every day. Let's stop playing politics with healthcare. Let's celebrate what America is all about and how we help heal the world. Let's do it today, the day that I get to honor the love of my life, my wife, Shannon. Shannon, I can't thank you enough for who you are. I can't thank you enough for your courage. And I am so blessed to be able to call you my wife.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Granger. I appreciate her leadership during this trying time of a pandemic. Madam Speaker, the last thing that the United States of America needs right now in the midst of a pandemic is a lapse in government funding that was set to expire at the end of this month. We need to do better when it comes to bipartisan agreements. I am extremely disappointed that it took us this long to get the CCC, the Commodity Credit Corporation, replenished in this agreement and not held hostage by the majority. Our farmers, our producers in middle America that don't know what the market conditions are going to be like when they harvest their crops, they needed the certainty of knowing that the United States Government was going to fully fund the risk management programs that we put in place in a bipartisan way. I also say thank you to those who were negotiating with Ranking Member Granger for also including language that provides the USDA with waiver authority that provides kids, our students, with free meals. That is something I have been working on over the last few weeks with my colleagues, Congresswoman Spanberger, Congressman Bacon, and Congressman Costa. With this language, we now give our schools, families, and school nutrition professionals certainty throughout the upcoming school year in the midst of a pandemic where many may not be able to get that hot meal that they have been used to getting during the normal school year. Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with Sonny Perdue, Secretary Perdue, and the USDA to implement this important language. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this package.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Oklahoma for yielding and for the glowing recommendation there. I think I could have gotten a better one from Mr. Perlmutter over there. It is great to be here. It is great to be among friends and great to see bipartisanship. This is an example of what the House of Representatives should do on a regular basis, have fun, joke around, like Ranking Member Lucas and I do on regular occasions. This is what we should do on a wide variety of other pieces of legislation, including what we want to do before the end of this month, how we want to fill the holes in the stimulus bill that we passed back months and months ago in a very bipartisan way. I have to raise some concerns about this piece of legislation because the House Administration Committee got this bill sent to the committee last November and, unfortunately, as has been the norm in this Congress and on this committee, we didn't hold one meaningful hearing or markup on this bill. The Chair waived our jurisdiction in February, and now 7 months later this bill is on the House floor without ever being discussed by the committee with jurisdiction over Federal election issues. H.R. 4990 allocates over $100 million over the next 5 years to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in order to conduct election system research and distribute grants to higher-education institutions and nonprofits. Funding expanded research at NIST, a nonregulatory agency of the Department of Commerce, would allow the agency to circumvent policy priorities set by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a politically balanced agency. This is especially concerning when we know there have already been calls for more transparency when it comes to the work that NIST does on behalf of the EAC. Currently, EAC commissioners are not regularly updated on the projects that they task NIST with. There is no timeline for completion and no reporting structure. H.R. 4990 further empowers NIST without proportional accountability to the EAC. I have addressed this issue previously in my bill H.R. 5707, the Protect American Voters Act, PAVA, by calling election-related work of NIST to be more accessible and visible by directing them to issue a report to Congress every year containing the status, timeline, and estimated completion of activities that they are tasked with under HAVA. Additionally, H.R. 4990 would expand the voting system definition to include nonvoting technology in the already overwhelmed voluntary voting system guidelines process. We have been waiting for updated HAVA guidelines, or VVSG 2.0, for over a decade now. So while I absolutely believe guidelines for nonvoting equipment, such as e-poll books are needed, adding more to the VVSG process likely isn't going to get this done. My bill, PAVA, addresses this by bypassing the costly and time- consuming VVSG process and calls for the EAC to establish a separate process for testing and certifying guidelines for nonvoting election equipment. The bottom line, H.R. 4990 does not update HAVA, and allocates over $100 million to the discretion of NIST, rather than investing in the bipartisan independent government agency created by Congress. And that agency is well-versed in elections. The EAC provides guidance, not mandates. Keeping power at the EAC preserves States' primary and constitutional role in administering Federal elections. This House should work in a real, bipartisan fashion to create the election reform that the American people deserve. I am willing and ready whenever my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would like to do this. I am happy we see bipartisanship today as this bill works its way through the process after it passes today. I certainly hope that the sponsors and my colleagues can work with us to address some of the concerns that I raise today. I thank, again, Ranking Member Lucas. I will give him a glowing recommendation, too, of nothing. And I thank the sponsors of this bill, Ms. Sherrill and Mr. Gonzales, for your work in this field. I would like to work with you to address some of these concerns as we move it to the Senate. Thank you for your time today.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to offer heartfelt congratulations to somebody who, over the last 8 years, has not just been a colleague but has become a friend while standing up at that same Speaker's rostrum when we were in the majority. The gentleman is none other than the House Parliamentarian, Tom Wickham. Tom has helped so many people on our side of the aisle. Now, as the other side has taken the majority, you have gotten to witness firsthand what I learned from Tom and the great people who work in the House Parliamentarian's Office during my 6 years in the majority and being able to be up in that chair working directly with him. Tom is somebody who I think everybody got to know very well as someone who is actually very fair at administering the rules of this House. But I always enjoyed most walking by his office and harassing him if his favorite baseball team wasn't doing that well or if his favorite college football team may have lost to one of the others in the Big Ten. An institution like the House of Representatives will move on from all of us who are here now, but this one is a hard one to replace. I thank Tom Wickham for his service, and I wish the best to Jason Smith, his successor.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Leroy Jordan. He was a beloved educator and community leader who passed away on September 5, 2020. Leroy was a native of Murphysboro, Illinois, and a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Leroy was hired by Iles Elementary School in Springfield, becoming the first Black male teacher in the district. He later served on that district's school board, including two terms as school board president. He also went on to become the vice president of academic affairs at Sangamon State University, which is now known as the University of Illinois at Springfield. He was a dedicated servant and leader to his community. He advocated for freedom and justice, perhaps most notably in his involvement in a 1974 desegregation lawsuit that created a busing system that helped balance the White and Black populations in Springfield's public schools and encouraged the hiring of more minority teachers. Leroy was a legend in the city of Springfield, both in and out of the classroom. He was active in the Springfield Diocese, serving as the director of Black Catholic Ministries and instrumental with the Springfield Dominican Anti-Racism Team. He was also a member of Prince Hall Freemasons and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. For so many, including our mutual good friend Irv Smith, Leroy was a friend, a role model, and a mentor. He will truly be missed. My prayers are with his wife, Johnetta; four daughters; and grandchildren. Congratulating Dove, Inc.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dove, Inc., on celebrating 50 years of dedicated service to their community. Formed in July of 1970, Dove has seen considerable growth in both their organization and the impact they have made on their community. Dove is a coalition of religious organizations that has excelled in their mission to address unmet human needs and social injustices. Their ministry, shared through a network of volunteers and advocates, aims to empower individuals to become self-reliant by encouraging clients' freedom to make responsible decisions and determine their future based on informed opinions. For half a century, community leaders at Dove have provided some of the most vulnerable in their community a place where they are cared for with dignity and compassion while on their path toward healing and self-sufficiency. Dove provides services on important issues, such as domestic violence, homelessness, emergency financial assistance, and prevention education programming to K through third grade students. They currently impact thousands of citizens every year through their various community service programs. Again, congratulations to Dove, Inc., on their 50th anniversary. I wish them and those they serve nothing but the best in the years to come. Congratulating Thomas J. Wickham

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Piatt County Mental Health Center on celebrating 50 years of excellent service to their community. Formed in July of 1970 much has changed on their path to 2020, but their commitment to the people they serve has not. The Center has excelled in their mission of assisting those in need to achieve recovery and self-sufficiency. They do so by helping clients identify, optimize, and utilize their own strengths and available resources. They do their work grounded in the principles of hope, personal responsibility, support, education and self-advocacy. For half a century, healthcare professionals at the Piatt County Mental Health Center have provided citizens with important services such as outpatient behavioral health services, addiction counseling, prevention education in schools, and a myriad of support services for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. They currently serve over 600 clients every year. Again, congratulations to the Piatt County Mental Health Center on their 50th anniversary. I wish them and their clients successful outcomes in the years to come.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the Postal Service is a lifeline to rural communities. While some Americans have had the opportunity to work from home during this pandemic, our letter carriers and postmasters do not. They're working tirelessly to ensure people in every comer to the country are getting their mail and packages, which for our at-risk population, has been especially critical. I've been supportive of the $25 billion in emergency funding included in this legislation and I'm relieved that at the urging of members like myself and the postal workers, a dangerous private right of action provision, which would have allowed trial lawyers to take advantage of the 2020 election, was removed. As someone who has worked across the aisle to support the Postal Service, I was disappointed when it recently became a political weapon. We should not be politicizing the Postal Service and in tum, the thousands of hardworking employees that serve each of our districts. As Ranking Member of House Administration, I'll tell you that, while I'm supportive of this bill, it is not going to solve our election administration problems. Despite early warnings from the Postal Service, at least eighteen states still have ballot request and return policies that are incompatible with their delivery standards, which significantly increases the risk of disenfranchising voters. We saw hundreds of thousands of ballots during recent primaries across the country go uncounted for this very issue. NPR estimates nearly a half a million were rejected--disproportionately disenfranchising minority and younger voters. Despite early warnings from the Postal Service, unrealistic ballot request and return policies continue to be one of the biggest impediments to ensuring every vote is counted. A recent poll found 59 percent of Americans still prefer to vote in person, yet there's nothing in this bill to help states allow people to safely go to the polls. So I'm not voting for this bill because I think the post office is trying to sabotage our elections, I'm voting for this bill because we're in the middle of a pandemic, the Postal Service is vital to our society, and they need our help. And while I'm glad we're back here for a special session to help the Postal Service, I wish we were also voting on a deal to help our schools, small businesses, and the millions of people still out of work because of the pandemic.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Dennis Shackelford, who passed away last week. I got to know Dennis very well during my first campaign for Congress when he ran for State Representative in 2012. Though he was unsuccessful in his campaign, our friendship continued. Dennis was a small business owner for 30 years, running Hallmark stores across central Illinois, including in my hometown of Taylorville. After that successful career as a small business owner, he continued working in the banking industry in the Springfield, Illinois, area. Dennis served his community being elected to the Lincoln Land Community College board in 2013, and later he rose to chairman while serving students across central Illinois. Dennis was also elected a trustee for Rochester Township. Dennis was a great friend, deeply involved in his community, whether it was coaching baseball, youth baseball, or mentoring high schoolers, and countless others throughout his life. My condolences extend to his wife, Judy, his son, Andrew, and his three daughters, Amy, Lindsey, and Emily as well as his extended family. Dennis was one of a kind and will be deeply missed by all.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I don't know if I can say anything more about my colleague. I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Chairman DeFazio; Ranking Member Graves; all Members who worked on this bill; my good friend Mr. Suozzi, who was here not too long ago, another cosponsor of Mr. Smith's bill. This is a day that we ought to remember here in Congress as getting back to bipartisan solutions. As I said earlier, Sami Josephson, her life was tragically taken, but because of bipartisanship in this institution and good policy coming from good Members of Congress, her legacy will live on and protect many others like her from ever being put in the exact same position of getting in an Uber, a Lyft, or any other future ridesharing company's vehicle without knowing exactly if that car was coming to get her. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Smith again for his tireless advocacy. I thank all who worked on this. I look forward to seeing this bill pass unanimously, I hope. It should. But in the end, I also thank the companies who worked with Members of Congress to put this good policy in place today that I urge everyone to support. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), another tireless advocate for Sami's Law and the ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today to thank Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves, and all who have worked hard in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to get this legislation to the floor known as ``Sami's Law.'' I, too, support this legislation. I also want to applaud the dedication and the hard work of the sponsor of Sami's Law, and that is none other than my good friend, the Representative from New Jersey, Mr. Chris Smith. I met with Sami's parents at the urging of Mr. Smith a few months ago. Marci and Seymour Josephson, your government today will show you that it is working for you and for all Americans, and that is because you have a tireless advocate, somebody who I have never seen work harder on an issue that is so important to so many young people in this country than Mr. Smith did. There has been no one in my time in Congress who has come to me on this floor advocating for a single issue that can mean so much to kids like my daughter who is in college, like my sons who are in college that is going to have an impact on their generation as much as the advocacy of Congressman Chris Smith because this bill is going to pass today. We are one step closer to making Sami's Law law. As we know, this law is going create minimum standards and requirements for safety for passengers who utilize ridesharing platforms. We want to make sure that digitally they know that the driver they have reserved is the driver who is rolling up next to them to pick them up. This verification process is essential in making sure tragedies that took Sami's life don't happen to other families. This bill also creates an advisory council, Sami's Law Council, to make safety-related performance standards and recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation. Also a very important point: To keep bad actors out of this arena, we are also going to ban something that I learned about, again, from Congressman Smith, that there are bad actors that were able to purchase Uber and Lyft stickers, put them on their car, and they were able to do it on Amazon, and they had zero experience and zero intention of ever legally getting the clearance to participate in those rideshare programs. This is going to save people in America. I support this legislation. And my last message to Marci and Seymour Josephson: Sami's legacy lives on after we pass this bill in the House of Representatives today. Thank you for your tireless advocacy, Marci and Seymour, and thank you for sending such a tireless advocate to the House of Representatives in Congressman Chris Smith. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Graves for his leadership on this issue and also the ranking member of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, a good friend, Mr. Westerman, along with Chairman DeFazio and Chair Napolitano of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee. This is a great day. This is a continuation of what was started in 2014 under Chairman Shuster at the time, and it was with bipartisan success that we began getting the water resource development bills passed on a 2-year basis. This is another shining example of what bipartisan work can do. We are here to talk about the successes of authorizing all of the Corps of Engineers' programs, which is extremely important to my district, which is surrounded by the inland waterway system. If we don't do our job in this institution in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to pass a Water Resources Development Act on a biannual basis, then what happens is we put the effectiveness of our farmers and our manufacturers from getting their products from their manufacturing facilities or their fields into the inland waterway system and out into the global marketplace in a cost-effective way and in a way that is going to allow them to continue to provide jobs in my district. One aspect of this bill I am particularly grateful for is the cost share adjustment in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. This is a big deal for us to upgrade our antiquated lock and dam system along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. This is a success story. I thank Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves. I do also want to thank the staff of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee. They worked hard. All of them deserve a round of thanks, and I appreciate the efforts on not just this bill, but every other piece of legislation that goes through that great committee. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I am glad to see the process is working today.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Herrera Beutler), the Latino leader in the Republican Conference and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.