Chrissy Houlahan

Ms. HOULAHAN

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chairman, defense-centric, small businesses, and the industrial base face unique challenges in creating new advanced production lines, scaling, expanding manufacturing capacity, and in competing and leading to issues with how to best support our warfighters with key advanced defense capabilities. For many of these U.S. businesses, translating investments into marketable products and services remains a challenge. As job creation engines, start-ups are vital to the American economy, but they often lack the resources to bring good ideas to market or to establish a contract with the Department of Department. That is why I introduced my bipartisan bill, H.R. 3147, which establishes a defense industrial base advanced capabilities pilot program, to help small businesses bridge that gap between creating innovative ideas to help our servicemembers, and the time that it takes to get to full production capacity. This bill builds on the success of SBIR and STTR programs to further increase private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from federally funded R&D. I was very proud to see this bill included in this year's NDAA in Section 853 of the House-passed bill and in Section 831 of the Senate- passed bill, and now we just need to fund it. Due to its targeted support to small businesses, it is no surprise that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made this effort a top legislative priority, and I am very proud to have had their support over the years to make this much-needed change. What does this amendment do? This amendment would direct $50 million in O&M defense-wide to the Defense Production Act purchases account to fund the Advanced Defense Capabilities Pilot Program. Funding in fiscal year 2024 would accelerate the scaling, production, manufacturing, and acquisition of defense-centric advanced capabilities to bolster DIB resilience and modernize and increase our competition advantage versus China and other adversaries. The public-private partnership pilot funding would increase support and investments for domestic small, advanced defense-focused businesses, and stimulate key defense-centric industrial base markets, create new production lines, decrease defense-centric manufacturing supply chain vulnerabilities, provide advisory and scaling support, and unlock private equity capital for advanced warfighting capability aligned with the National Defense Strategy. Due to this targeted support to small businesses, it is really no surprise that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made this effort a top legislative priority, and I am very proud to have their support. As a former engineer and entrepreneur, I know how urgent this legislation is, and we have to support our talented entrepreneurs in translating their innovative ideas into marketable products and cutting edge technologies and to make sure that many endeavors don't fail because they lack access to capital. Mr. Chair, I very much appreciate your support for this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this motion to instruct.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because this House has a choice. We can either stand up for the rights of servicemembers and military families or we can allow the Republican-led House, and specifically the extreme faction of the Republican Conference, to continue their assault on reproductive freedoms. For my Democratic colleagues and I, this choice is clear. We will fight. We will fight for the freedom of servicewomen and for their families, and I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to please do the same. Many of our servicemembers joined the Armed Forces prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade last June, and they did so with the understanding that they and their families would be treated with dignity and would receive comprehensive and high-quality healthcare services, regardless of where they were stationed--and, yes, that also includes access to abortion care. Since Roe was overturned, servicemembers and their families have had access to travel and to leave if they need to seek reproductive healthcare, but unfortunately, that freedom is now being threatened today. Mr. Speaker, today, for the very first time since 1973, 14 States have passed outright abortion bans. Seven more have passed partial bans, and six more have tried but have been stopped by the courts. Nearly 120,000 servicemembers are currently stationed in Texas. This is a State that has implemented a draconian anti-choice law and now has among the worst maternal health outcomes for women in the entire Nation. Our servicewomen deserve better. This issue has been politicized, and it has been distorted. Outright lies have been spread by elected officials and by anti-abortion activists alike. I will set the record straight. Here are the facts: Women in States with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, during childbirth, or soon after giving birth. Let that sink in. We are stationing our women in uniform and their families in States where they are three times more likely to die during pregnancy. No servicemember should have to accept a reality where they could literally die as a result of the anti-choice State law where they are stationed. These are the conditions that our servicewomen and their military families have to consider when they decide to serve. Nearly half of servicemembers no longer have access to abortion care, and that is not counting even the members of their families, as well. Our servicemembers signed up to serve our country with the understanding that one day they may have to make the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of their life. Let me remind the Chamber and those who are watching that we have an all-volunteer force. Again, I will repeat: We have an all-volunteer force. As we look to recruit and retain the best fighters and the greatest minds that this Nation has to offer, we really cannot restrict the very freedoms that we ask women and men in uniform to potentially die for. It is also important, as we talk, to go beyond the facts and figures and to share the personal and human impact of these anti-abortion laws and the choices we are facing here this week in this body. In Texas, the second-largest State for Active-Duty servicemembers in our country, Amanda Zurawski was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke, putting her at a high risk for developing a life-threatening infection. Doctors told Amanda that her life was in danger and that the fetus was going to die, but doctors could not provide the medical care that she needed because their hands were tied by Texas law. Amanda eventually did develop sepsis and did eventually nearly die. Heartbreakingly, her ability to be and get pregnant in the future might be damaged, as well. Amanda survived, and she survived to share this story about her harrowing experience to hopefully prevent others from having this experience, as well. This story and the data that we have talked about today is why I am working with my colleagues, led by my dear friend and fellow veteran, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, to try to codify this basic travel policy. This body decided that women cannot be trusted to make their own reproductive healthcare choices, and instead, the majority in this House has decided to make it harder for servicewomen and their families to access care; to make it harder for them to make their own healthcare choices; to make it harder for servicewomen and military families to decide on their own if, when, and how to start their own families. Also, a single United States Senator is holding up more than 300 military promotions and counting, hollowing out the military leadership and hurting our military readiness in the process. He is doing this all because he is that adamant that women in uniform cannot be trusted. As a veteran myself, let me say out loud and clear that his actions are a disgrace, and Americans agree. Again, more data: 70 percent of our constituents believe that women should have access to abortion care. Mr. Speaker, the grave concerns I have outlined don't even begin to scratch the surface of all the harmful amendments that are also tacked on to this bill. Quite frankly, it is an embarrassment to this institution that our governance is just so fractured, so unable to agree on something so simple as letting a woman in uniform make the best care decisions for her family, her career, and herself. Sadly, this is indicative of where we are today. I grew up in a military family, and I myself served. My parents didn't always agree on politics, but they shared a common love for the promises that this Nation offered my father, a refugee and Holocaust survivor who became a Navy aviator. I have colleagues on the other side of this aisle with whom I work and respect, which is why I am deeply saddened to see a bipartisan bill that has endured for 60 years fall victim to this kind of partisan politics because the bipartisan bill that we passed originally out of committee by 58-1 is literally no longer recognizable. Today, Mr. Speaker, is about choice, choice in more ways than one. We can either let this far-right minority continue to hold our national security hostage to their radical agenda, or we can refuse to allow them to play politics with our national security and with the health and well-being of our servicemembers. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Just before I introduce our next person, I want to emphasize that this is not a new policy. The DOD is not simply creating a new policy out of thin air. The DOD is, in fact, using precedent from the nonavailability of care and simply allowing women with reproductive health service needs to be able to have effective travel and reimbursement for said travel. Again, this is not a new policy, and it simply updates a policy that allows for travel reimbursement to ensure that we have equal access to healthcare. Thankfully, we have a President in Joe Biden who is responsive to the needs of our military servicemembers and who supports this effort. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Here are the facts: Not a single dollar is going toward paying for an abortion under the current DOD travel policy, which only provides for leave and travel reimbursements for servicewomen who are forced to travel for their healthcare due to restrictive laws of the State that they are stationed in, in line with a very longstanding DOD policy that has always provided for travel and leave where specialized healthcare is not provided or allowed for. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin).

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We don't get to choose what our facts are. The chilling effect that is happening right now on recruiting is caused by a variety of things, but the number one reason, the number one contributing factor to a servicemember's decision to enlist or reenlist, is the support of their spouse. If we are showing the entire country that we don't trust women and families to be in control of their own healthcare decisions, why would they encourage anyone in their family to reenlist or to enlist in the service at all. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow).

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Colorado.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), former Speaker of the House.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, just a reminder that President Biden knows personally what it means to support those in uniform and to keep the administration's promise to make sure that our servicemen and -women are protected as they serve us all. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Washington.

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

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton).

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like very much, Mr. Speaker, if I could ask you to ask my colleagues to not presume to judge who I am. I stand here as a woman who has worn the uniform, who has given birth while wearing the uniform. To have assumptions about who I am or what I am and to judge me or any of my other colleagues who have worn the uniform is an offense to me, and I would ask that you advise them not to presume anything about me. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, a far-right minority in Congress has spent the last 9 months holding this process, this NDAA, hostage--again, a reminder that this passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. They are currently struggling to even pass a rule for Defense appropriations, let alone to pass the budget itself. They have gone through attacks on servicewomen, on LGBTQ servicemembers, on immigrant servicemembers, and so much more. Their allies in the Senate are risking our military readiness with asinine confirmation holds and ignoring the repeated requests of our most senior military members to stop. Time and time again, they have used must-pass, historically bipartisan legislation such as the NDAA to force an extreme agenda on our servicemembers and many others in our country. As an Air Force veteran and as a proud military child who lived and served across this great country and in many other places outside of this country, I did so with the full protections of Roe v. Wade. It not only saddens me but also pains me to think that we would give servicewomen orders without the full reproductive freedoms and protections that I had when I was able to serve. Today, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to choose to be on the side of our servicemembers, military families, and all Americans who love and support them by supporting this motion to instruct. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. HOULAHAN

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, today Appropriations Committee Republicans struck down community project funding requests for three projects related to LGBTQ organizations, and one was from my community. The decision to strip this specific request from the bill, a request previously approved by the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee is not based in reasoning or legitimacy, but instead on bigotry and discrimination. My office's selection process for Community Projects Funding is recognized as one of the most thorough and fair in Congress. We use an independent board of community leaders from our district. That means today the committee overrode the will of my constituents. My district is a vibrant community in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and I would venture to say that many on the committee who voted against this funding have never visited it. It is demonstrated in the fact that they couldn't pronounce the name of the city of Reading and pronounced it Reading. They have not visited the LGBT Center of Greater Reading itself like I have many times, and they have never seen the food pantry that helps those who have been rejected by their family or the warm spaces that welcome people in the winter and allow them a clean space to live and be themselves. These are basic human needs. On behalf of my community and on behalf of the LGBTQ community, I express my vehement opposition to stripping lifesaving funding from the LGBTQ Center of Greater Reading.

Ms. HOULAHAN

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, later today, I will offer the motion to recommit on this bill. I stand with my colleagues who have stood shoulder to shoulder in support of our brave servicemembers in an effort to put together this bill for the last nearly 1 year. I stand with the spirit of those who are currently serving in uniform who are sick and tired of this legislative body politicizing their lives, their livelihoods, and their bodily autonomy. I rise today in honor of my grandfather and my father, who served full, distinguished careers in the military, and my mom and my grandmother, who served as military spouses, each for over 30 years. I rise today as someone who was born and grew up on a military base and moved across this Nation and to other countries. I rise as someone who raised my own hand and my own child when the time came. I rise for my cousins who serve today. I don't need my colleagues to tell me what it is like to be a mom in uniform because I lived that experience, or a child in the military. I lived that, too. Here I am today, standing up on behalf of all servicewomen and military families who are willing to risk their lives for our freedoms, yet we are not willing to protect theirs. What I have seen on the floor over the past 2 days has really saddened me: targeting LGBTQ families like my own, targeting libraries, targeting the reproductive freedoms of servicewomen and military families stationed in States that do not respect their own bodily autonomy. Chair, we even saw a colleague refer to our Black servicemembers as ``colored people.'' To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, let me make a few things clear. We agree there are threats around the world like China that we should be spending our time and efforts on. We agree the historic recruitment challenges we face are a risk to our national security. We agree the brave men and women who serve in uniform should not be used as political pawns. So why did this Republican-led body decide to take a historically bipartisan piece of legislation from the House Armed Services Committee hostage by adding scores of extreme GOP culture war priorities to it, including, least of all, a clear-as-day backdoor policy to a national abortion ban? Chair, I want the American people to know that Democrats support our men and women in uniform. We proudly voted forward by 58-1 a bipartisan piece of legislation to increase their pay, to improve their housing, and to expand their access to childcare. However, the GOP is putting that bipartisan progress in jeopardy, and the toughest part is that they know it. I have a great deal of respect for the handful of my colleagues who recognize the extreme turn that this legislation has taken, and I thank them. So, I look at them again, and I look to them again. We must do what is right by our servicemembers. Put the political gamesmanship aside and return this extreme bill back to committee where it can return it to its bipartisan nature. I will work tirelessly across the aisle to ensure that we give the President, our Nation, and, in fact, our globe a bill that truly provides for the collective defense of our American values. It really saddens me to say that this bill does not do that. This bill will hurt our recruitment and retention.

Ms. HOULAHAN. It makes it extremely difficult for a proud veteran like myself and so many others to look at future leaders of America and say that, yes, this military is a home for you. I took the uniform nearly 30 years ago, and it is a travesty that servicewomen today will have less freedoms than I did. Chair, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this MTR and send this extreme bill back to committee where we can truly deliver for those in uniform.

Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.