Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, the well-being of these prisoners is critical, along with protecting the safety, well-being, and civil rights of incarcerated people and prison employees, including correctional officers, medical personnel, and other staff. Let me just simply say, as I close, on the Bureau of Prisons, there is more work to be done. They have to do work on how they are treating women. There was a recent hearing that shows that women have been abused, sexually abused, in prisons, besides addressing other terrible issues, and that includes both prisoners and employees. In addition, the Bureau of Prisons has been known to not utilize the compassionate release. In fact, their percentages are disgraceful. Most of the prisoners have had to go outside with a lawyer. This is a law. They should use it. I hope that as we look at improving the cameras that will provide due process to these prisoners who are incarcerated, who are doing their time, they will also have a bureau that is responsible and sensitive to their responsibilities of incarceration but also fairness and due process. I thank my colleague for yielding, and I ask for support for all of the legislation that I just commented on, particularly the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2991, the ``Countering Human Trafficking Act of 2021,'' which would make the Center for Countering Human Trafficking permanent and require other changes to strengthen the Center's contributions to the fight against human trafficking. Human trafficking is one of the greatest threats to human rights in the United States. In 2020, 11,193 instances of potential human trafficking were reported to the United States National Human Trafficking Hotline with at least 70 percent of those instances involving sex trafficking. I will continue to advance and support legislation, like the bill before us today, as well as programming aimed at preventing human trafficking and protecting victims and survivors--as an estimated 25 percent of human trafficking victims are reportedly in my home state of Texas at any given time--many of whom are minors. At least 5,359 of trafficking victims and survivors identified through the hotline in 2019 were under the age of 18, and in 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 17,200 reports of suspected child sex trafficking. That is why I introduced the H.R. 7566 Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act, also known as the No Trafficking Zones Act, to ensure that our nation's schools are a safe haven for students. I hope the Senate will take up and pass my bill so that we may get it to the president's desk before this Congress ends. While traffickers seek out vulnerable minors and adults--no person is truly safe from the schemes of charismatic traffickers bent on exploiting and destroying lives. Sadly, these statistics were only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic--during which traffickers took advantage of individuals and communities in crisis--further increasing the number of people at risk of falling victim to human trafficking. It is for all of these reasons that we must help maintain the momentum gained by the Center for Countering Human Trafficking in recent years. The Center is responsible for integrating the efforts of 16 different offices and components of the Department of Homeland Security into a cohesive strategy that supports law enforcement investigations and training, shields and supports victims, develops and enhances prevention strategies, and engages with the public. S. 2991 is a straightforward, bipartisan bill that would make the Center permanent while promoting stability and modernization and encouraging continued collaboration, growth, and innovation. I thank Senator Gary Peters and John Katko for their leadership on this bill and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, S. 2899, the ``Prison Camera Reform Act of 2021,'' is bipartisan legislation that would require the Bureau of Prisons to evaluate the security camera, land-mobile radio, and public address systems in use at BOP institutions and submit to Congress a report on any deficiencies and a plan to implement needed improvements. Security camera systems within prisons are critical for protecting the safety, wellbeing and civil rights of both incarcerated people and prison employees, including correctional officers, medical personnel and other staff. Documented deficiencies in the federal Bureau of Prisons' security camera systems, however, limit the effectiveness of that protection. A 2016, DOJ Office of Inspector General report identified major deficiencies and needed upgrades within the BOP's security camera system, including blind spots, inoperable cameras and limited functionality. In a 2021 memo, OIG reaffirmed the 2016 report stating that ``the OIG continues to see the same deficiencies in our investigations that we observed during our 2016 review. These deficiencies have negatively impacted the OIG's investigations and ability to secure prosecution of serious incidents in BOP institutions, including sexual assaults, civil rights violations, introduction of contraband, dereliction of duty, and even inmate deaths.'' Although BOP has begun upgrading these systems at some institutions, serious shortcomings remain. This bill would require BOP to investigate and address deficiencies in the camera and radio systems across all institutions. BOP would also be required to implement all needed improvements within three years and submit annual progress reports. The significant oversight mechanisms within this legislation will enable Congress to hold BOP accountable and ensure all deficiencies are addressed within the specified time period. ``Dead spots'' in video surveillance coverage inside FCI Dublin in California may have even contributed to the lack of accountability for the sexual abuse committed against incarcerated women in that facility. Earlier this month, a former unit manager at FCI Dublin testified that the facility lacked sufficient security camera coverage and that many cameras are either not monitored or footage is deleted. The former warden is relying heavily on the lack of video footage in his defense against the sexual assault case. This tragic story highlights the need to address camera deficiencies within BOP facilities as quickly as possible. The lack of adequate camera systems puts the safety of both incarcerated individuals and correctional officers and staff at risk. This bill is a bipartisan common sense measure to require that BOP investigate and address these critical safety concerns and ensures that the improvements will be made by including adequate Congressional oversight. I want to thank Representatives Keller, McBath, and Trone as well as Senator Ossoff for introducing this important legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 5230, the ``Help Find the Missing Act,'' also known as ``Billy's Law.'' This bipartisan legislation would fix the gaps in our Nation's databases of missing persons and unidentified remains, providing much- needed closure to the thousands of families who have endured the trauma of losing someone they love. Each year more than 600,000 Americans are reported missing. While many are ultimately found, at least 22,000 Americans are currently missing, and the remains of over 14,000 individuals have been recovered but not identified. My own State of Texas has been hit particularly hard by the crisis of missing persons, as we have more than 2,200 open cases--second only to California--and three Texas cities rank among the top 10 cities with the highest number of missing persons. The pain that families experience when one of their loved one goes missing is unimaginable. It is not merely a loss; it is a loss accompanied by terror, uncertainty, and endless questions that are rarely answered. We can, and we must, do more to help find the missing; to save who we can; and to provide assistance to the families of those who we cannot find or save. Billy's Law would help us find more of our missing Americans by ensuring that the Department of Justice continues to maintain the National Missing Persons and Unidentified Persons System, or ``NamUs.'' In addition to providing a database of missing persons, NamUs provides a variety of critical support services to law enforcement, medical examiners, and families of those who have gone missing. But not all missing persons and unidentified remains are required to be reported to NamUs. That is why Billy's Law is so critical. Rather than having a multitude of unconnected missing person databases that cannot communicate with each other, Billy's Law would link NamUs with the FBI's National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database, creating more complete, comprehensive databases and streamlining the reporting process. The bill would also require the Attorney General to issue guidelines and best practices to the agencies that handle cases involving missing persons or unidentified remains. Lastly, Billy's Law would expand current law to require that missing children be reported to NamUs, in addition to NCIC, and it will require the reporting of information on every unidentified deceased person, adults and children alike. My State of Texas passed similar legislation just last year, requiring law enforcement agencies and medical examiners to use NamUs to solve missing and unidentified persons cases. But while I am proud of the steps my State has taken, this is a national problem that demands a national solution. Billy's Law is that solution. As a testament to the value of this bipartisan legislation, it is supported by numerous law enforcement and forensic specialist organizations, including the National Association of Police Organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, The American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the National Association of Medical Examiners. I commend Senator Murphy for his years of dedication to Billy's Law and missing persons across the country, and I thank Representative Hayes for her work on this issue as well. I urge my colleagues to support this significant bipartisan legislation.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, in this season of greetings and well- wishes for holidays for Americans, I do wish them a very special holiday season in all the ways that we, as Americans, will celebrate this holiday. We know that it is a season of giving and good cheer as we finish our collective work to be able to fund the government, to keep the doors open, and to help the services of those who need them to continue. I also think it is important to say that we have crucial legislation that should be passed. We cannot leave without passing voting rights. We cannot leave with gifting to the American people oppressive voting laws to stop them from voting, that purge the voting rolls. We cannot leave without real human trafficking legislation that protects our children at schools. The No Trafficking Zones Act is in the Senate, the other body, and it has to be passed. It is a pathway of protecting children and families feeling safe when their children go to schools, that predators will not be able to actually recruit children for human trafficking right at the school and even online. Madam Speaker, I give good greetings, but this legislation has to pass, voting rights and the No Trafficking Zones Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1156, expressing the commitment of the House of Representatives to building on the twenty years of success of the George McGovern-Robert Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program helps support education, child development and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries around the globe. In 2017, there were 821 million people worldwide experiencing hunger. That is one in every nine people. 66 million children are experiencing hunger worldwide every day. One in six children are food insecure. According to UNICEF, approximately 3.1 million children globally die from undernutrition every year. It is estimated that every 10 seconds a child around the globe dies from hunger. Even in the United States, hunger and food insecurity are major problems. In my home of Houston, almost 725,000 people experience food insecurity, which amounts to about 23% of Houston's households. More than 500,000 Houstonians live in food deserts. These food deserts are found mostly in areas with limited transportation, lack of aid, and high unemployment rates. Hunger is also tragic because it reflects economic and social inequity. In Houston, for example, food deserts are more likely to occur in primarily Black communities. Lack of food doesn't just impact a child's hunger levels. Food insecurity stunts a child's growth and development and often children fall behind in school because they are unable to focus while experiencing hunger. Children who experience food insecurity grow into adults with health complications that emerged from the lack of food. As former Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus I worked to improve the lives of children not only in the United States, but globally because the children are the future, and we must do everything possible to protect them. Global food insecurity is of great importance to me because, not only am I a longtime Member of the House Hunger Caucus, I represent the same Congressional District that had been represented by iconic leaders who fought to end hunger in the U.S. and globally. I am proud to continue the historic legacy of Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who was a champion for human dignity and fought for the rights of all people regardless of race, gender, heritage, or economic status, and Congressman Mickey Leland, who worked tirelessly to raise awareness of, and fight for, policies to end food insecurity around the globe and who, tragically, died in a plane crash while working to end world hunger on a relief mission in Ethiopia. Starvation is a terrible thing. It's something that nobody should have to go through. And yet, there are people in this world who are starving right now as a consequence of natural disasters, war, and even as a tool of warfare. In Pakistan, food deprivation is compounded by the human toll from recent floods and other natural disasters. Using drought to strategically exacerbate starvation is unacceptable. The people of Ethiopia's Tigre Province are being subjected to a truly vile and malicious use of food deprivation in this way. The region was already suffering from drought, and when compounded by forced starvation from denial of access to food as a weapon of war, the effect is heinous and the consequences are unforgiveable. Russia's aggression against Ukraine is a global food insecurity tragedy on multiple levels. As Putin wages his war against the people of Ukraine, he uses food as a weapon by destroying the food production and transportation capacity of the country he invaded. At the same time, since Ukraine grows grains and crops that feed much of the world, Putin's devastation of Ukraine's food production infrastructure and takeovers of Ukrainian food exports cause food insecure populations of countless countries to suffer, especially in Africa. The McGovern-Dole program also aims to defeat malnutrition. Children across the globe are affected by malnutrition and the McGovern Dole program is working to combat this debilitating condition. The McGovern Dole Program has been successful at saving lives all over the world for 20 years. This program boosts school enrollment, increases attendance, and improves reading outcomes and literacy results through providing school meals, teacher training, and government capacity-building. The McGovern Dole Program has been able to improve health, nutrition, and dietary practices through supporting Maternal and Child Nutrition (MCN). The program encourages the inclusion of health and nutrition sensitive activities, such as micronutrient-fortified products, take- home rations, treatments for illnesses, and nutrition education. H. Res. 1156 must be passed. With bipartisan Congressional support, the United States has been able to work with other countries on hunger, specifically childhood hunger, which is a devastating condition. It is imperative that we continue to work together to reduce hunger worldwide. We must end this unnecessary suffering before it claims even more lives. This bill must be important to us all. Investing in children today will only benefit the world in the future. We must continue this program to address global food insecurity and create conditions for peace and stability. This effort will support U.S. farmers, millers, shippers, and commodity groups that provide agricultural commodities for the program to help combat malnutrition and food insecurity worldwide. I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this critical bill that will build upon the 20 years of success of the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, why are we here this morning? We are here because dignity should be part of life in America. We are here because the Founding Fathers, imperfect as they were, said we are here to create a more perfect union. We are specifically here because a Justice on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas, appallingly stated that other cherished, fundamental rights should be subject to abrogation, writing: ``In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.'' It is shameful that we would have to be here today, but I proudly stand with my community, those who understand and recognize that it is crucial for the Respect for Marriage Act to pass so that respect can go for the loving relationships, the families, the daughters, the sons, the aunts and uncles, and all the husbands and wives that come as family. Let me be very clear: I am the only Member in the Texas delegation that voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. I voted against it. DOMA was wrong then, it is wrong now, and I continuously stand with all of you to pass H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in strong support for H.R. 8404, the ``Respect for Marriage Act'' and the collaboration in the Senate last week that enabled it to pass the Senate and return to the House for today's vote. I am very concerned that the archaic dictum that the Supreme Court used in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to justify overturning the well-established and reaffirmed right to abortion could be further weaponized in the future to strip away other fundamental rights, including the right to marriage equality. Specifically, in his concurring opinion to the Dobbs decision, Clarence Thomas appallingly stated that other cherished, fundamental rights should be subject to abrogation, writing, ``. . . in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.'' Thomas left no doubt about his regressive, byzantine intentions, adding, ``. . . we have a duty to `correct the error' established in those precedents, Gamble v. United States, 587 U.S. __x-8 __ (2019) (THOMAS, J., concurring) (slip op., at 9). After overruling these demonstrably erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad rights that our substantive due process cases have generated.'' To prevent Thomas's dream scenario from inflicting a nightmare on the rest of the country, the Respect for Marriage Act would codify in federal law our essential rights conferring marriage equality for same sex and interracial couples, protecting the rights of Americans to marry who they choose. It would also repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996 that problematically defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. I am always concerned when someone's rights are being infringed, which is why I wholeheartedly supported the version of this bill that passed the House earlier this year. Even with the Senate amendment, I still recognize the great strides that will be achieved with passage of this bill in its current form. The Senate's embrace of this legislation, with strong bipartisan support, demonstrates the bill's alignment with bedrock American values and its strong support among the American people, across political ideologies. After witnessing the Senate's passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, I am proud to say that we are on a path to guaranteeing marriage equality for every American. The Supreme Courts' rulings in Loving v. Virginia, and Obergefell v. Hodges were founded on the promise of unenumerated rights and due process for all American people as guaranteed in the 9th and 14th amendments of our nation's Constitution. The 9th Amendment states that the federal government does not retain final authority over rights not listed in the Constitution--which, in effect, includes the right to marry someone regardless of their sex or race. That very personal and intimate right is retained by the people. Additionally, the 14th Amendment ensures that no right afforded to the American people can be taken away without due process of law, while also guaranteeing to all Americans that they shall have equal protection under the law. The same law that applies to a Black man wishing to marry a Hispanic woman must be applied equally to an Indigenous woman wishing to marry a White woman, a nonbinary individual wishing to marry a man, and so on. That is the Constitutional promise in the United States. Marriage Equality is not a right that can be stripped away by a conservative faction of the United States Supreme Court, nor by extremist Republican legislators. It is a fundamental aspect of our democracy. The assurances of the 14th Amendment became part of our national governing documents as a protection against those who would use their power to wipe away the freedoms of others without restraint or consent of the governed. It is unfortunate that we must rely on its strength again today. We cannot and will not allow Republican lawmakers and conservative Justices to continue to toy with the rights of the American people. That is why I strongly support the Respect for Marriage Act and commend my friends in the Senate for garnering bipartisan support for this act. This Act would ensure that an individual be considered married as long as the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed. This ensures that same-sex and interracial couples would continue to enjoy equal treatment under federal law--as the Constitution requires. This bill would go further by officially repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. While the Supreme Court effectively rendered DOMA inert with its decision in Obergefell, this unconstitutional and discriminatory law still officially remains on the books. H.R. 8404 would repeal DOMA once and for all. The Respect for Marriage Act would also prohibit any person acting under color of state law from denying full faith and credit to an out-of-state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of those in the marriage. It would also authorize the U.S. Attorney General to enforce these protections and would allow recourse for any person harmed by a violation of this provision. We will not back down from demanding marriage equality. We will not back down from demanding racial justice. We will not back down from demanding equal rights for all of the American people. I strongly support H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, and encourage my colleagues to pass this bill.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I know how hard the chairman works. I would have preferred the mark of the President's budget, but this is hard fought and hard won. I thank the chairman for the raise that has been given to our servicemen, their housing allowances. Let me thank him for this important research stream to the historically Black colleges and for Ukraine. Let me also thank him for what we have fought for in the name of Vanessa Guillen, and that is a new protocol for the sexual assault that occurs in our military branches. Let me not point out a particular one. Let me also stand on this floor and say hostage Brittney Griner has come home. That is a testament to what America is all about. I thank all those who played a role and indicate that, as she has come home and her family is ecstatic, I remind everyone that former marine Paul Whelan should be brought home, as well. I thank President Biden for working on making sure there is an authorization bill that really responds to the people of the United States military. I am delighted that the amendments dealing with breast cancer that I offered were included, $10 million for triple-negative breast cancer. I am delighted for the PTSD funding, $2.5 million, that I offered, as well, to ensure that the people of the military are taken care of. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to recognize the importance. Brittney Griner is home. Madam Speaker, thank you for this opportunity to express my support for the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 7776, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023. Congress has the solemn duty to ensure that those who wear the uniform of the United States--and those civilians who provide logistical and operational support--have the equipment, training, and resources needed to carry out and complete their mission. And we must never forget that a grateful nation has a sacred obligation, in the words of President Lincoln, ``to care for him who has borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.'' This legislation rises to meet that mandate admirably in myriad ways, from providing a 4.6 percent pay raise for service members to increasing funding for housing, childcare, and improved food for service members. Importantly, the bill provides over $131 million in funding for research at HBCUs--a 22.8 percent increase--which improves integration of HBCUs into our country's national defense research and development infrastructure. These are important measures because, as the DoD is the largest federal agency, the wide scope of activities covered by the NDAA impact every sector of our economy and every facet of American life. The activities funded by the NDAA are, in effect, a microcosm of the activities of the United States, and, as such, they must set the tone for how these issues are to be addressed in our country's other industries and communities. Of course, the main purpose they serve is to protect our country and strengthen our national defense. So, I am pleased that this bill reinforces our capacity to meet the challenges posed by Russia's aggression in Ukraine, China's increasing agitation in the South China Sea, non-state terrorist groups, cyber-attacks, and other threats to our country. I am especially pleased that this bill adopts a modern yet long-term approach to our national defense by embracing innovative strategies, emerging technologies, workforce diversity and inclusion, preparation for asymmetric combat, and operational continuity and resilience. In furtherance of these essential principles and methods, I offered amendments to the NDAA when it came to the floor of the House in July, and I am very pleased that the legislation before us today includes my amendments which I would like to summarize. My amendment #191 authorizes a $2.5 million increase in funding to combat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and I thank my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee for adding the full $2.5 million increase into this legislation. PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as torture, being kidnapped or held captive, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. According to the NIH, an estimated 3.6 percent of U.S. adults had PTSD in the past year. People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally numb (especially in relation to people with whom they used to be close), lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate, be irritable, become more aggressive, or even become violent. Most people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in their thoughts during the day and in nightmares when they sleep. These are called flashbacks. A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe that the traumatic incident is happening all over again. My amendment recognizes that the soldiers afflicted with PTSD are, first and foremost, human. They carry their experiences with them. Ask a veteran of Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan about the frequency of nightmares they experience, and one will realize that serving in the Armed Forces leaves a lasting impression, whether good or bad. My amendment will help ensure that ``no soldier is left behind'' by addressing the urgent need for more outreach toward hard-to-reach veterans suffering from PTSD, especially those who are homeless or reside in underserved urban and rural areas of our country. My amendment #194 authorizes a $10 million increase in funding for increased collaboration between the DoD Office of Health and the National Institutes of Health to research and combat Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I am very pleased that my colleagues added the full $10 million increase into the bill. As a Member of Congress, a mother, a sister and a spouse, and a breast cancer survivor, I feel a special responsibility to do all I can to ensure that every American can defeat all types of cancer, and especially triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). We must increase our efforts to protect women in the military, and women who are spouses of service members, from this virulent and lethal illness. The 13-25 percent of breast cancers that are triple-negative disproportionately afflict Black women. Although the rate of all breast cancers is 10 percent lower in Black women than white women, Black women are 3 times more likely to suffer from triple negative breast cancer than are white women. In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimated that 27,000 Black women are diagnosed with the illness annually. African American women who are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer--an especially aggressive type of cancer which often occurs at younger ages than other breast cancers--have a five year survival rate of 78 percent after diagnosis as compared to 90 percent for white women. The key to beating this cancer is early detection, and the DoD's health care system for women service members and women who are spouses of service members can enable early detection. A 2007 study of more than 50,000 women with all stages of breast cancer found that 77 percent of women with triple-negative breast cancer survived at least 5 years, versus 93 percent women with other types of breast cancer. Another study of more than 1,600 women published in 2007 found that women with triple-negative breast cancer had a higher risk of death within 5 years of diagnosis. By prioritizing this very lethal condition, the DoD can make great strides in protecting women from triple negative breast cancer's worst effects. My amendment #199 directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure that candidates granted admission to attend a military academy undergo screening for speech disorders and be provided appropriate opportunities and supportive services. Academy students should have the option of undergoing speech therapy to reduce speech disorders or impediments. I am pleased that Report Language was added that cites the DoD's recent attention to this issue, and states, in part, that the DoD is now ``noting the availability of medical waivers in certain circumstances for physical or medical standards, providing the Reading Aloud Test administered to applicants,'' and very importantly, ``describing the availability of speech therapy.'' My amendment #195 directs the Secretary of Defense to audit current practices for the administration of sexual harassment claims and submit a report detailing efforts to prevent sexual harassment and protect service members, and compiling data and research on sexual harassment prevalence in the military, cases reported, legal proceedings, and convictions. Sexual assault is endemic in our military, especially for female service members. Streamlining and auditing the process of reporting sexual assault protects victims and is a necessary step in weeding out abusers. I am very pleased that this bill advances key reforms to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prevent sexual harassment and abuse by: placing sexual harassment and related sexual offenses in the jurisdiction of the Special Trial Counsel; requiring independent trained investigators outside of the immediate chain of command to investigate claims of sexual harassment; requiring the randomization of court-martial panels; expanding reporting requirements on the implementation of the New Special Trial Counsel program; and permitting the Secretary of Defense to expand restricted reporting of sexual assault for civilian employees rather than relegating them to only filing unrestricted reports with the military. In light of these measures to reform the enforcement process against sexual offenses, I am pleased that, as a result of my amendment, Report Language has been added, stating that, ``. . . the matters addressed in this provision are routinely addressed in the Department's Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military.'' My amendment #190 requires a report to be submitted to Congress within 240 days following enactment on the risks posed by debris in low earth orbit and to make recommendations on remediation of risks and outline plans to reduce the incident of space debris. Man-made objects in Earth's orbit that become space debris no longer serve a useful function, yet their impact can pose serious risks to personnel in orbiting spacecraft, satellites, and essential systems since they travel at speeds up to 17,500 miles per hour. Space debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris. I am very pleased that my amendment led to inclusion of bill language requiring the Secretary of Defense to respond to a reporting requirement regarding space debris that was included in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 specific to defense and national security space assets. My amendment #198 requires the National Guard Bureau, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to submit to Congress and others in 2023, 2024, and 2025 a report identifying the personnel, training, and equipment needed by the non-federal National Guard to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made disasters. Hurricane Harvey's impact in Texas was so severe that it lingered for years. The storm's footprint covered over 9,000 square miles, including the city of Houston. Hurricane Harvey dropped over 52 inches of rain in the Houston area. At its peak, one-third of Houston was underwater, leaving 34,575 evacuees in shelters across Texas. The scope and magnitude of these dueling disasters tested the National Guard and Reservists in unprecedented ways. To prepare for major natural disasters in the future, this amendment requires a readiness report by the National Guard and Reservists to make sure they have what they need to assist communities in need of disaster assistance. My amendment will help the National Guard help communities prepare for disasters, respond to them, and rebuild from them. It will improve the ability to support the important mission of the National Guard and Reservists to engage in disaster response. Thus, I am pleased that bill language was included to require the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to include in the National Guard Bureau unfunded priorities list any unfunded priorities related to non- Federal National Guard responsibilities in connection with natural and man-made disasters. My amendment #197 requires the Secretary of the Navy, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, to submit to Congress a report on desalinization technology's application for defense and national security purposes to provide drought relief to areas impacted by sharp declines in water resources. I am pleased my amendment resulted in Report Language stating that, ``We are aware of the importance of expeditionary desalinization capabilities to crisis scenarios, including natural disasters. Accordingly, we direct the Secretary of the Navy to provide a report to the congressional defense committees, not later than August 1, 2023, outlining the current inventory and usage of desalinization systems, planned future investments into technologies and systems, and any current and projected future needs for expeditionary water purification that may not be met by current and planned capabilities.'' My amendment #189 requires a report to be submitted within 220 days following enactment on the Capacity to Provide Disaster Survivors with Emergency Short Term Housing. As we witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, as well as other major natural disasters, enormous swaths of the population are displaced, communities are unlivable with no prospect for near-term rebuilding or restoration, and there is an enormous unmet need for emergency housing. Because of the need to prepare for the consequences of future major natural disasters, I thank my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee for including bill language that effectuates my amendment by directing the development and submission of a report that will help enable disaster survivors to access emergency short term housing. My amendment #59 recognizes that Black men and women have played an integral role in our nation's defense: from the bravery of Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, during the Boston Massacre, to today. The amendment would address the historical and current barriers to Black Americans' participation and equal treatment in the Armed Services. The racial inequality and mistreatment of Black men and women that has historically permeated our military continues to this day, with more than 750 complaints of racial or ethnic discrimination from service members in fiscal year 2020 alone. But discrimination doesn't exist just within the military rank-and- file, as in FY2020, civilians working in the financial, technical and support sectors of the Army, Air Force and Navy filed 900 complaints of racial discrimination and over 350 complaints of discrimination by skin color, as data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reveals. According to a report by the Defense Department's Diversity and Inclusion Board, while the enlisted ranks of the active and reserve military were ``slightly more racially and ethnically diverse than its U.S. civilian counterparts,'' the opposite was true for the officer corps. We owe it to those brave men and women who have proven time and time again to be an integral part of our military to examine the Armed Services' history of discrimination and to determine the necessary steps to repair the harm caused by these inequities. I am very pleased by the inclusion of report language acknowledging the history of inequities and stating in part, ``Therefore, we direct the Secretary of Defense to brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, not later than May 1, 2023, on those current and future efforts in support of a more inclusive force. The brief shall include resources allocated, lessons learned, how such efforts advance our strategic national security and readiness postures in support of the National Security Strategy and the Department's National Defense Strategy, and any such other information as the Secretary deems appropriate.'' My amendment #193 condemns the actions of Boko Haram and directs that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General, submit a report on efforts to combat Boko Haram. I am pleased that, as a result of my amendment, report language was included stating that, ``We direct the Secretary of Defense, not later than June 1, 2023, to brief the congressional defense committees on the activities and initiatives undertaken by the Department of Defense to assist the Government of Nigeria and countries in the Lake Chad Basin to combat Boko Haram, al-Qaeda affiliates, and other terrorist organizations while respecting and protecting human rights and promoting respect for the rule of law.'' My amendment #192 requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress about programs and procedures that ensure students studying abroad through Department of Defense National Security Education Programs are trained to recognize, resist, and report against recruitment efforts by agents of foreign governments. Because of the need for American students who are studying abroad to be protected from risks and dangers presented by agents of foreign governments, I am pleased that my amendment has resulted in bill language that effectuates my amendment by requiring that a report developed and submitted to Congress about the programs and procedures that are being undertaken to protect these Americans studying abroad. My amendment #196 directs the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress in not less than 180 days the actions taken to protect U.S. armed service personnel from armed attacks conducted by militants and terrorists in pursuit of bounties and inducements the agencies, organizations, or entities aligned with the Russian Federation. I am pleased that my amendment resulted in the inclusion of report language stating in part, ``. . . we direct the Secretary of Defense, not later than June 1, 2023, to provide a briefing to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on actions taken to protect servicemembers and U.S. personnel from armed attacks conducted in pursuit of bounties or inducements offered by agencies, organizations, or entities aligned with Russia.'' Madam Speaker, I applaud my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, as well as their Senate counterparts, and the committee staff in each chamber for their extraordinary work crafting this extensive, multi-faceted, visionary legislation that will strengthen our national defense both in the current fiscal year and for many years to come. I would also like to express my appreciation to my colleagues on the committee for recognizing the value that my amendments bring to our national defense infrastructure and maintaining them in the final language that is before us today.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this is a very historic day. We overturned and dismissed the words of Justice Thomas that the rights of Americans should be denied. We voted for the Respect for Marriage Act that will be signed by the President of the United States. Then in the midst of darkness, Brittney Griner was swapped and is on her way home. Negotiations by the hostage negotiating team took months because Mr. Putin would not negotiate. Finding our hostages and bringing them home is not a partisan issue. I love Paul Whelan and his family. We introduced legislation passed by the House that said to bring Brittney Griner home and bring Paul Whelan home. I am happy for Cherelle, Brittney's mother and father, Houston, Phoenix, the Nation, and all the players in the WNBA, but we will continue to use the power of the sovereign United States to bring Paul Whelan home, as we did Trevor Reed and as we did those who came from Venezuela. Let us unify together. Let us celebrate Brittney and fight to bring Paul Whelan home.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, 18 days before this Nation turns its eyes toward a beautiful recognition--for those of us who practice the understanding of the birth of our Lord--Christmas--and the many other faiths that will celebrate their special days in their own way-- Brittney Griner still remains incarcerated in the most devastating, horrific, cruel, and brutal conditions. She must come home, along with Paul Whelan. At the same time, I stand with the defenders of democracy, Ukraine, and hope that we will provide the resources necessary and be able to accept their fight for democracy while our former President asks to suspend our Constitution. Let us do the support for Ukraine and not suspend the Constitution. Finally, ravaging floods are still plaguing the people of Pakistan. We have asked for $600 million. They deserve those dollars to be able to restore their lives--pregnant women, families, farmers suffering and starving. It is necessary, as an ally of the United States, that we try to respond in this funding cycle now--dollars needed for Pakistan. I look forward to working with the administration to provide the relief that they need. We are a Nation of caring and humanitarianism. Bring Brittney Griner home now.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor and proponents of this legislation. It is so startling, stunning, shocking, absurd to even be standing here discussing the deportation of men and women who have worn the uniform and have offered to sacrifice their lives for the oldest democracy in the world. Mr. Speaker, it is clearly an effort that is long overdue, and I am stunned by my friends on the other side of the aisle--I have said that word, stunned and shocked, that there would be any opposition to this. We know that immigrants have served in the United States Armed Forces in every major conflict, and there are now 45,000 immigrants serving in the armed forces in this country. It is important that we fix the gap, the loophole, the calls that are gotten when immigrants are deported. This legislation, I am very grateful to say, is about fixing this problem. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 7946, that would require or would have DHS create and enforce a system for identifying noncitizen veterans and require their status as a veteran to be brought into consideration in the case of removal proceedings. Their service record will also be brought into it. Any of us can believe it, they could be heroic, and that doesn't even count in today's scheme. It would also require DHS to provide the opportunity for eligible noncitizen veterans to be granted lawful permanent residence. Identification of their veteran status would halt any removal proceedings, and there would be a final administrative decision on the veterans' eligibility. What I like also about it is that when you come into basic training, we can then naturalize these individuals, these servants who have offered themselves for training and to be part of this government by fighting, by wearing the uniform, by fighting for democracy to become citizens. The Veteran Service Recognition Act is offered in response to DHS' and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's failure to consistently follow its own policies regarding deportation of those. That means that we say on the floor of the House with great embarrassment that we have deported men and women who have served in uniform; and, yes, we have had challenges with the same kind of--how should I say it--detoured roads that our own veterans have had to fall to, substance abuse, or other incidences; but they have still worn the uniform. Our veterans can get into the Veterans Court or get into services; but the other veterans, who have the same defaults, if you will, because of the conditions of war, have to be deported. That doesn't make sense. More than 760,000 noncitizens have enlisted over the past century, with peaks in world wars and 9/11. There are approximately 45,000 immigrants, as I said, in active service.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that my county knows that there are 179,000 veterans who live in Harris County, and 1,567,000 veterans who live in Texas. Some of those are our immigrant veterans, and some are not citizens. So my point is, here today, that we must find every available way to treat them as they treated this Nation: I am willing to die for America and America's values. Mr. Speaker, I must raise this. Languishing in a Russian prison is a veteran, Paul Whelan, with bogus charges, a hostage. Alongside of him is Brittney Griner, and it has been determined that the conditions she is living in are just atrocious. My point is, that any time an American needs America to fix the problem, as a democratic nation, we must stand with those who have stood with us; those who are citizens and those who are immigrants who fought for us. I ask my friends and colleagues to support H.R. 7946. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7946, the Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022 that would address immigration-related issues pertaining to noncitizen military veterans. By enacting H.R. 7946, the Department of Homeland Security would be required to create and enforce a system for identifying noncitizen veterans and require their status as a veteran to be brought into consideration in the case of removal proceedings. H.R. 7946 will also require the DHS to provide the opportunity for eligible noncitizen veterans to be granted lawful permanent resident status. Identification of their veteran status would halt any removal proceedings until there is a final administrative decision on the veteran's eligibility. The Veteran Service Recognition Act is offered in response to the DHS's and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's failure to consistently follow its own policies regarding deportation of those who served in our armed forces. Immigration and Customs Enforcement already has policies that provides special consideration to veterans in light of their service, but has recklessly failed to follow them. The Government Accountability Office reported that between 2013 and 2018, ICE did not consistently follow its own policies or maintain electronic data on the number of veterans placed in removal proceedings. Investigators also found that a staggering 70 percent of cases involving the deportation of noncitizen veterans did not receive a review as required. This means that veterans were not granted their right to due process. As a result, we do not even have an accurate measure of the number of veterans who have been unjustly deported. As a nation, we should be ashamed and alarmed by this lack of information which reflects a lack of concern for treating them fairly. More than 760,000 noncitizens have enlisted over the past century, with peaks during the World Wars and 9/11 attacks. Today, there are approximately 45,000 immigrants in active service. This issue is important to me because many of our nation's veterans who are not US citizens are among the 29,000 veterans who live in my district, the 179,000 who live in Harris County, and the 1,567,000 who live in Texas, the second most of any state. The promise of naturalization is sometimes a military recruitment strategy that targets immigrant communities. Military service is supposed to qualify veterans for naturalization as U.S. citizens because honorable service satisfies the ``good moral character'' requirements, according to the 1940 Nationality Act. But then, in 2017, a Trump administration policy restricted access to the expedited citizenship that was promised to veterans after 9/11. This policy exacerbated the persistent problem of immigrant veterans not being given the proper guidance on how to complete the naturalization process. In turn, this systemic failure leads to more than half of the eligible noncitizen veterans not completing their naturalization process, leaving them in a permanent limbo. When we needed them the most, hundreds of thousands of noncitizens stepped up to fight for our wars. And now when they needed us, our nation failed to even recognize them, let alone protect them. ``Leave no one behind'' is a common mantra followed by the United States Armed Forces. We must abide by that principle in support of our noncitizen veterans who served our country honorably, and make sure that they, too, are never left behind again. We must do more to help our foreign-born veterans navigate the naturalization process. It is up to Congress to act. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Veteran's Recognition Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the horrible and despicable plight of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan among other hostages and United States citizens held around the world in this particular situation by a despot who wants to use Brittney as a pawn. This wonderful young woman, 6 feet 9 inches, an Olympian, is now being taken to a labor camp with vicious conditions, food that is disgraceful, conditions that are disgraceful. It is only because of the selfish despot that wants to eliminate democracy, live in an oppressive society, and use her as a vicious pawn. I warn Americans: When a former President suggests they want to suspend the Constitution, watch Iran that is killing people in the street simply because they want freedom and democracy, and watch Russia every day. It has been said, oh, you made a highlight or a star out of Brittney Griner. No. It was the outcry of her family and community that said: We just want her home. We want Paul Whelan, a veteran, home. Yet, this vicious and vile leader thinks that he has something he can dangle in front of our eyes. I demand that we get strong-handed with him. This young woman needs to be brought home to her family, and it is a disgrace that we cannot get her home.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 4834) to reauthorize the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 4834.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 4834, the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2022, a critical piece of bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, or ICAC, which has worked tirelessly for 14 years to protect our children from online predators. It is no exaggeration to say the internet today is one of the most dangerous places for our Nation's children, many of whom spend hours online each day. Predators use social media and other online resources to groom and entice children to commit sexual acts. The internet makes it easy for sex and labor traffickers to gain clandestine access to children and teens, recruit them into their organization, and exploit them. The internet is also the primary vehicle for distributing child sex abuse material and committing criminal acts of extortion against minors. It also provides an open forum for cyberbullying and online harassment, which can lead victims of such conduct to withdraw, become depressed, and even commit suicide. To combat these monstrous crimes and to protect our youth from exploitation, ICAC task forces work with Federal, State, and local law enforcement to develop an effective holistic response to cybercrimes against children. Their programs include forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education. This network is made up of 61 separate forces, three of which are in my home State of Texas. These task forces are created and authorized by the original PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, which expired this past September at the end of the fiscal year. Online threats to children and the need for ICAC task forces are only growing. Between 2008 and 2021, the number of these arrests rose from 2,500 to more than 10,000 each year. This agency's work resulted in more than 137,000 investigations and 90,300 forensic exams in 2021 alone. Earlier this year, the southern Texas task force received significant funding, its first, authorized by the PROTECT Our Children Act allowing it to provide substantial investigative, prosecutorial, and victim services and to utilize tips from the ICAC database and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a longstanding agency that has been fighting for missing and exploited children to identify and rescue child victims. The work of these task forces nationwide will not be able to continue unless we fund this critical law enforcement initiative. It is, therefore, essential that we reauthorize the ICAC program by passing the bipartisan PROTECT Our Children Act of 2022. The act would extend funding for these task forces and programs through 2024. Without this crucial legislation, our children will remain vulnerable to those who seek to exploit and hurt them in the most horrific of ways with the ease and anonymity that the internet provides. I commend my colleague, Representative Wasserman Schultz, for her work on the PROTECT Our Children Act as far back as 2008, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7158, the Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts and agreements for the payment of care in non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical foster homes for certain veterans who are unable to live independently. Medical foster homes are private homes where a trained caregiver provides services to a few individuals. These facilities serve as an alternative to nursing homes, providing residents with the comfort of home with medical attention readily available. Medical foster homes and caregivers must meet specific criteria to ensure that veterans receive the same level of care that would be provided in traditional Veterans Affairs facilities or nursing homes. Caregivers must demonstrate the ability to provide care and supervision 24/7, communicate significant changes in a veteran's status, and have caregiving experience, along with other requirements. The home where a veteran would be living must go through inspection with a VA multidisciplinary team, provide a home-like environment, meet National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Life Safety Code, and more. The medical foster care program started in 2008 and has served over 1,000 veterans nationally. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the demand for medical foster homes is highest in rural areas, where veterans want to stay in the communities in which they are comfortable. The Department of Veterans Affairs says that the home environment enriches the lives of veterans and their caregivers. Veterans who live in this type of setting tend to have fewer hospitalizations than those in institutional care or who live alone. This program is providing our nation's veterans with a sense of belonging and community while also providing them with the medical care they need. Many veterans that are in medical foster homes report feeling like they are part of a family and supported. It is estimated that there are 46,000 veterans in nursing homes across the country. Nursing homes do provide patients with the medical attention they need, but many patients miss the aspect of living in their community, in a home, and with family. This bill would provide veterans from my home of Houston, Texas with the option to stay in their communities and be part of a family while receiving 24/7 care. Instead of stripping these veterans from their communities this bill will provide them with a way to be better engrained in their communities. The Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act would provide veterans who want to be at home with the ability to seek care that provides that level of support and familiarity. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 7158, Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act. With the passage of this bill, we can give a sense of family back to many veterans who have been longing for a sense of normalcy.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his work on this bill and indicate that we are pleased to, likewise, support and thank Congressman Lamb and the gentleman from Georgia, Senator Ossoff, for introducing this legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, as well, and to ensure that we provide really deep collaboration in our rural communities to help people who don't have access either to this kind of treatment, knowledge or prevention, and then, as I indicated, to medical care because hospitals are closing. This is an important legislative initiative. I am hoping that we will support the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act because it is bipartisan legislation. It is time for our Nation to face the increased overall overdoses and deaths in everyday communities large and small. With more than 200 Americans dying of drug overdoses each day, Congress must act to support small and rural communities in addressing this crisis. Mr. Speaker, S. 2796, the ``Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act of 2022,'' is bipartisan legislation that would establish a pilot program for rural communities within the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program. The pilot program would make grants to rural areas to implement community response programs in order to reduce opioid overdose deaths. These community response programs would involve collaborations between public safety, public health, and behavioral health systems. The pilot programs would seek to identify gaps in current treatment availability and establish treatment programs to reduce opioid overdoses in rural areas. Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics indicates that in 2021 there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths. The data also shows overdose deaths involving opioids increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021. With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, it is even more important that we pass this critical legislation. In my hometown of Houston, overdose deaths have been exacerbated by strained access to treatment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Opioid overdose deaths have increased throughout the state of Texas, rising from 4,154 deaths in 2020 to 4,831 deaths in 2021. S. 2796 would enable local governments and community organizations to develop and expand initiatives targeting rural and low resourced communities. Eligible applicants of the grant program would be required to have a documented history of providing services to rural communities or regions highly impacted by substance use disorder. The programs supported by this legislation would be able to identify gaps in treatment access for rural communities, leverage federal resources to expand treatment options, and ensure rural and remote communities are not forgotten in our efforts to address the ongoing impact of opioid abuse disorder across the country. Building on the successful Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, this bipartisan bill would expand it to include a pilot program targeting rural communities. I want to thank Congressman Lamb and Senator Ossoff for introducing this important legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2796) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide for the eligibility of rural community response pilot programs for funding under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, and for other purposes.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on S. 2796.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me acknowledge that this legislation is from Senator Jon Ossoff. I know how important these issues are to him. At the very beginning, I thank him for his leadership. We have worked together as members of the Judiciary Committee, he in the Senate and myself in the House. I applaud him and look forward to more work on this constructive approach to drug use. S. 2796, the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act of 2022, is bipartisan legislation that would establish a pilot program for rural communities within the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program. The pilot program would make grants to rural areas to implement community response programs in order to reduce opioid overdose deaths. These community response programs would involve collaborations between public safety, public health, and behavioral health systems. The program will seek to identify gaps in current treatment availability and establish treatment programs to reduce opioid overdoses in rural areas. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics indicates that in 2021 there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths. The data also shows overdose deaths, including opioids, increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021. Mr. Speaker, what compounds this, as I proceed in my debate here today, is that, just this morning, I read an article that says Texas rural hospitals are closing by the dozens, impacted by the pandemic and lack of personnel. We have an emerging, surging, if you will, synergism of default: individuals who need care, can't get care, and hospitals in rural communities that are closing. With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, it is even more important that we pass this critical legislation to get in the way, if you will. In my hometown of Houston, overdose deaths have been exacerbated by strained access to treatment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Opioid overdose deaths have increased throughout the State of Texas, rising from 4,154 deaths in 2020 to 4,831 deaths in 2021. When we wanted to get the antidote to opioid, unfortunately, we couldn't get State funding. Police officers and recovery entities, they just couldn't get it because there was a philosophical disbelief that that had anything to do with some of the dangerous drugs out there to be able to help some of those who are in need. S. 2796 would enable local communities and community organizations to develop and expand initiatives targeting rural and low-resource communities. Eligible applicants of the grant program would be required to have a documented history of providing services in rural communities or regions highly impacted by substance use disorder. The programs supported by this legislation would be able to identify gaps in treatment access for rural communities, leverage Federal resources to expand treatment options, and ensure rural and remote communities are not forgotten in our effort to address the ongoing impact of opioid abuse disorder across the country. The point that should be made is that rural communities are north, south, east, and west. Building on the successful Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, this bipartisan bill would expand it to include a pilot program targeting rural communities. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Lamb and Senator Ossoff for introducing this important legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me, first of all, again acknowledge Senator Ossoff and Congressman Lamb. This is an important piece of legislation, but my good friend knows that I am going to have to add to this discussion by saying that, again, the question of fentanyl, no one wants to see that proliferated and causing the disastrous conditions that we have. But listen to the story of Ms. Alfaro, who was 19 years old. She lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, and ``was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the antianxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.'' The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times more powerful. One of the things that we should understand is fentanyl is everywhere, and it has been determined that most of the fentanyl that comes across the border is brought over by U.S. citizens. The other aspect that is very important that doesn't specifically cover this bill, but at least this bill provides what the mother indicated, she didn't know anything about these drugs. She wished she could have helped her daughter. Yes, her daughter did lose her life. The point this legislation is making is let's provide information to these rural communities, but also let's understand some of the techniques that some States and local communities were not providing law enforcement or anyone else. Certainly, that is the fentanyl test strips and Narcan. That certainly was a problem and continues to be a problem in the State of Texas. We have to look at this holistically, and I think this legislation focuses, certainly, on getting families information, particularly in the rural areas. This was Appleton, Wisconsin. At least, minimally, there would have been information about this, maybe in a broader way, because the mother of the 19-year-old said, ``Two years ago, I knew nothing about this.'' We have to do a better job of telling the facts about fentanyl that we all want to see be extinguished from causing the loss of life. I think this legislation for rural communities is a very good start, but we need to make sure that our facts are accurate as we talk about this deadly drug, which we want to get off the streets of this Nation. We need to find ways that can be very effective, and we need to keep working. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer a number of articles that speak to the importance of this legislation. I thank the gentleman from Iowa for his comments in support, and I know that the gentleman from Ohio will likewise, hopefully, join us. It is important to speak the obvious. U.S. overdose deaths in 2021 increased half as much as in 2020 but are still up. We know that we need legislation specifically in communities in rural areas that would close or identify the gaps in prevention, treatment, and recovery services for individuals who interact with the criminal justice system in rural areas and create new efforts to address the opioid crisis. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics. [From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 11, 2022] U.S. Overdose Deaths in 2021 Increased Half as Much as in 2020--But Are Still Up 15 Percent Provisional data from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2021, an increase of nearly 15 percent from the 93,655 deaths estimated in 2020. The 2021 increase was half of what it was a year ago, when overdose deaths rose 30 percent from 2019 to 2020. The data is featured in an interactive web data visualization. The 2021 data presented in this visualization are provisional--they are incomplete and subject to change. The new data show overdose deaths involving opioids increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021. Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl), psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, and cocaine also continued to increase in 2021 compared to 2020. The biggest percentage increase in overdose deaths in 2021 occurred in Alaska, where deaths were up 75.3 percent, while overdose deaths in Wyoming did not increase at all in 2021 and deaths in Hawaii declined 1.8 percent from the same point in 2020. The visualization includes: Reported and predicted (estimated) provisional counts of deaths due to drug overdose occurring nationally and in each jurisdiction. U.S. map of the percentage changes in provisional drug overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending in December 2021 compared with the 12-month period ending in December 2020, by jurisdiction. Reported and predicted provisional counts of drug overdose deaths involving specific drugs or drug classes occurring nationally and in selected jurisdictions. NCHS releases both reported and predicted provisional drug overdose death counts each month. They represent the numbers of these deaths due to drug overdose occurring in the 12- month periods ending in the month indicated. These counts include all seasons of the year and are insensitive to variations by seasonality. Deaths are reported by the jurisdiction in which the death occurred.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to emphasize that, really, treatment works, and this is an example. ``Thomas Gooch has spent more than 30 years struggling with illegal drugs. The 52- year-old Nashville, Tennessee, native grew up in extreme poverty. He was first incarcerated in 1988 and spent the next 15 years in and out of jail for using and selling narcotics. `Until 2003,' Gooch says. `That was the first time I went to treatment and the last time I used.''' This has to also be a component, which is the treatment of individuals whose conditions put them in this way. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record ``The Opioid Epidemic Is Surging Among Black People Because of Unequal Access to Treatment.'' [From Scientific American, Dec. 1, 2022] The Opioid Epidemic Is Surging Among Black People Because of Unequal Access to Treatment (By Melba Newsome and Gioncarlo Valentine) In one way or another, Thomas Gooch has spent more than 30 years struggling with illegal drugs. The 52-year-old Nashville, Tenn., native grew up in extreme poverty. He was first incarcerated in 1988 and spent the next 15 years in and out of jail for using and selling narcotics. ``Until 2003,'' Gooch says. ``That was the first time I went to treatment and the last time I used.'' Since then, for most of 19 years, Gooch has been trying to get others into recovery or just keep them alive. He handed out clean needles and injection- drug equipment--which reduce injuries, infections and overdose deaths--in Nashville's hardest-hit communities. In 2014 he founded My Father's House, a transitional recovery facility for fathers struggling with substance use disorder. But despite Gooch's long experience, the opioid epidemic recently has brought a level of devastation to the Black community that has shocked him. ``I had never seen death the way I've seen death when it comes to opioid addiction,'' he says. ``There's been so many funerals, it doesn't even make sense. I personally know at least 50 to 60 individuals who died from overdoses in the last 10 years.'' That staggering body count includes Gooch's recently estranged wife in 2020 and a former partner in 2019. A million people in the U.S. have died of opioid overdoses since the 1990s. But the face--and race--of the opioid epidemic has changed in the past decade. Originally white and middle class, victims are now Black and brown people struggling with long-term addictions and too few resources. During 10 brutal years, opioid and stimulant deaths have increased 575 percent among Black Americans. In 2019 the overall drug overdose death rate among Black people exceeded that of whites for the first time: 36.8 versus 31.6 per 100,000. And with the addition of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that's 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, Black men older than 55 who survived for decades with a heroin addiction are dying at rates four times greater than people of other races in that age group. The reasons for this dramatic change come down to racial inequities. Research shows that Black people have a harder time getting into treatment programs than white people do, and Black people are less likely to be prescribed the gold standard medications for substance use therapy. ``If you are a Black person and have an opioid use disorder, you are likely to receive treatment five years later than if you're a white person,'' says Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. ``Treatments are extraordinarily useful in terms of preventing overdose death so you can actually recover. Five years can make the difference between being alive or not.'' Black people with substance use problems are afraid of being caught up in a punitive criminal justice system and are less likely to have insurance good enough to allow them to seek help on their own. And the COVID pandemic disrupted many recovery and harm-reduction services, particularly for people of color. Gooch blames straight-out racial discrimination in the health-care system, too. ``When we call different places to try to get people into treatment, the question they ask is `What drug do they use?' '' he recounts with exasperation. ``If you say `crack,' all of a sudden they ain't got no bed available. If you say opioids and heroin, they will find a bed because that's the demographic they want. A couple of times I told patients that the only way they're going to get help is to get drunk and turn themselves into Vanderbilt Hospital because Vanderbilt will hold them for five days, and that'll get them into treatment.'' Gooch is one of the people trying to improve access to therapies for addiction and change the overall dysfunctional dynamic. Other groups are bringing more effective addiction treatments within prison walls, reducing the chances of recidivism on release. A proposed federal law would make therapy with the commonly used addiction medication methadone less onerous for an impoverished population, as well as less stigmatizing. And Volkow is using her platform at the NIH to highlight the overwhelming research-based evidence for better ways to understand and treat addiction.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I also include in the Record the article regarding the tragic young lady who died in Appleton, Wisconsin, and even now give sympathy to that family and make sure that we have the basic facts. ``Advocates warn that some of the alarms being sounded by politicians and officials are wrong and potentially dangerous. Among those ideas: that tightening control of the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the flow of the drugs, though experts say the key to reining in the crisis is reducing drug demand.'' She was looking for Xanax. Someone made phony Xanax, and then fentanyl was in it. That is just heartbreaking. It is tragic. We have to know where to spend our resources. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record this article: ``Myths about fentanyl persist as opioid continues to cause overdose deaths.'' [From the PBS News Hour, Oct. 28, 2022] Myths About Fentanyl Persist as Opioid Continues To Cause Overdose Deaths Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020. The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin. It killed them both. ``Two years ago, I knew nothing about this,'' said Holly Groelle, the mother of 19-year-old Alfaro, who lived in Appleton, Wisconsin. ``I felt bad because it was something I could not have warned her about because I didn't know.'' The drug that killed her daughter was rare a decade ago, but fentanyl and other lab-produced synthetic opioids now are driving an overdose crisis deadlier than any the U.S. has ever seen. Last year, overdoses from all drugs claimed more than 100,000 lives for the first time, and the deaths this year have remained at nearly the same level--more than gun and auto deaths combined. The federal government counted more accidental overdose deaths in 2021 alone than it did in the 20-year period from 1979 through 1998. Overdoses in recent years have been many times more frequent than they were during the black tar heroin epidemic that led President Richard Nixon to launch his War on Drugs or during the cocaine crisis in the 1980s. As fentanyl gains attention, mistaken beliefs persist about the drug, how it is trafficked and why so many people are dying. Experts believe deaths surged not only because the drugs are so powerful, but also because fentanyl is laced into so many other illicit drugs, and not because of changes in how many people are using. In the late 2010s--the most recent period for which federal data is available--deaths were skyrocketing even as the number of people using opioids was dropping. Advocates warn that some of the alarms being sounded by politicians and officials are wrong and potentially dangerous. Among those ideas: that tightening control of the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the flow of the drugs, though experts say the key to reining in the crisis is reducing drug demand; that fentanyl might turn up in kids' trick-or-treat baskets this Halloween; and that merely touching the drug briefly can be fatal--something that researchers found untrue and that advocates worry can make first responders hesitate about giving lifesaving treatment. All three ideas were brought up this month in an online video billed as a pre-Halloween public service announcement from a dozen Republican U.S. senators. A report this year from a bipartisan federal commission found that fentanyl and similar drugs are being made mostly in labs in Mexico from chemicals shipped primarily from China. In New England, fentanyl has largely replaced the supply of heroin. Across the country, it's being laced into drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, sometimes with deadly results. And in cases like Alfaro's, it's being mixed in Mexico or the U.S. with other substances and pressed into pills meant to look like other drugs. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has warned that fentanyl is being sold in multicolored pills and powders--sometimes referred to as ``rainbow fentanyl''--marketed on social media to teens and young adults. Jon DeLena, the agency's associate special agent in charge, said at the National Crime Prevention Council summit on fentanyl in Washington this month that there's ``no direct information that Halloween is specifically being targeted or young people are being targeted for Halloween,'' but that hasn't kept that idea from spreading. Joel Best, an emeritus sociology professor at the University of Delaware, said that idea falls in with a long line of Halloween-related scares. He has examined cases since 1958 and has not found a single instance of a child dying because of something foreign put into Halloween candy--and few instances of that being done at all. ``If you give a dose of fentanyl to kids in elementary school, you have an excellent chance of killing them,'' he said. ``If you do addict them, what are you going to do, try to take their lunch money? No one is trying to addict little kids to fentanyl.'' In midterm election campaigns, fentanyl is not getting as much attention as issues such as inflation and abortion. But Republicans running for offices including governor and U.S. Senate in Arkansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania have framed the fentanyl crisis as a result of Democrats being lax about securing the Mexican border or soft on crime as part of a broader campaign assertion that Democrats foster lawlessness. And when Democrats highlight the overdose crisis in campaigns this year, it has often been to tout their roles in forging settlements to hold drugmakers and distributors responsible. Relying heavily on catching fentanyl at the border would be futile, experts say, because it's easy to move in small, hard-to-detect quantities. ``I don't think that reducing the supply is going to be the answer because it's so easy to mail,'' said Adam Wandt, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Still, some more efforts are planned on the U.S.-Mexico border, including increasing funding to search more vehicles crossing ports of entry. The bipartisan commission found those crossings are where most fentanyl arrives in the country. The commission is calling for many of the measures that other advocates want to see, including better coordination of the federal response, targeted enforcement, and measures to prevent overdoses for those who use drugs. The federal government has been funding efforts along those lines. It also publicizes big fentanyl seizures by law enforcement, though it's believed that even the largest busts make small dents in the national drug supply. The commission stopped short of calling for increased penalties for selling fentanyl. Bryce Pardo, associate director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and a commission staff member, said such a measure would not likely deter the drug trade. But, he said, dealers who sell the products most likely to cause death--such as mixing fentanyl into cocaine or pressing it into fake Xanax could be targeted effectively. One California father who lost his 20-year-old daughter is pushing for prosecutors to file murder charges against those who supply fatal doses. Matt Capelouto's daughter Alexandra died from half a pill she bought from a dealer she found on social media in 2019, while home in Temecula, California, during a college break. She was told the pill was oxycodone, Capelouto said, but it contained fentanyl. The dealer was charged with distributing fentanyl resulting in death, but he reached a plea deal on a lesser drug charge and will face up to 20 years in prison. ``It's not that arresting and convicting and putting these guys behind bars doesn't work,'' Capelouto said. ``The fact is we don't do it enough to make a difference.'' While some people killed by fentanyl have no idea they're taking it, others, particularly those with opioid use disorder, know it is or could be in the mix. But they may not know how much is in their drugs. That was the case for Susan Ousterman's son Tyler Cordiero, who died at 24 in 2020 from a mixture that included fentanyl after years of using heroin and other opioids. For nearly two years, Ousterman avoided going by the gas station near their home in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where her son fatally overdosed. But in August, she went to leave two things there: naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses, and a poster advertising a hotline for people using drugs to call so the operator could call for help if they become unresponsive. Ousterman is funneling her anger and sorrow into preventing other overdoses. ``Fentanyl is everywhere,'' she said. ``You don't know what's in an unregulated drug supply. You don't know what you're taking. You're always taking the chance of dying every time.''

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