Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I rise in support of S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act, which would award Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the Women's Army Corps who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the ``Six Triple Eight.'' S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act, directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty, and contributions to increase the morale of personnel stationed in the European theater of operations during World War II. On July 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation that established the Women's Army Corps (WAC) as a component of the Army. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, advocated for the admittance of African-American women into the newly formed WAC to serve as officers and enlisted personnel. As a result of their efforts, the ``Six Triple Eight'' formed an all- Black battalion of the Women's Army Corps. The 6888th had 855 Black women, both enlisted and officers, and was led by Major Charity Adams. Most of the 6888th worked as postal clerks, but others were cooks, mechanics and held other support positions, making the 6888th a self- sufficient unit. During World War II, there was a significant shortage of soldiers who were able to manage the postal service for the U.S. Army overseas. The 6888th left the United States on February 3, 1945, sailing on Ile de France and arrived in Glasgow on February 12. When the 6888th arrived in Birmingham on February 15, 1945, ``they saw letters stacked to the ceiling of the temporary post office, some letters had been in the offices for as long as two years.'' Army officials believed that undelivered mail was ``hurting morale.'' Early in the operation, a White general sent a White officer to ``tell them how to do it right,'' but Major Adams responded, ``Sir, over my dead body, sir!'' The battalion finished what was supposed to be a six-month task in three months in May 1945. The women of the 6888th worked in three different shifts, seven days a week, processing and delivering mail--a morale booster--to the troops in Europe. The 6888th was a segregated unit, sleeping and eating in different locations from the White, male soldiers. European ``locals'' treated them better than other American soldiers did, which was the experience of most Black troops who served during WWI and WWII. Once the backlog in Birmingham had been dealt with, the 6888th were shipped across the Channel to Le Havre in May 1945 and were sent to Rouen, where they dealt with another backlog of mail, with some letters being three years old. In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States where it was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. There was no public recognition for their service at the time. On February 25, 2009, the battalion was honored at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Alyce Dixon and Mary Raglan, two former unit members were honored by President Barack Obama and first lady, Michelle Obama in 2009. The extraordinary accomplishments of this unit are deserving of official congressional recognition and the United States is eternally grateful to the soldiers of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II, which saved lives, boosted morale and made significant contributions to the defeat of the Axis powers. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to vote for S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 854, the ``Methamphetamine Response Act of 2021'' which designates methamphetamine as an emerging drug threat (a new and growing trend in the use of an illicit drug or class of drug). It also directs the Office of National Drug Control Policy to implement a methamphetamine response plan. Methamphetamines are a highly addictive substance that can cause considerable health adversities which can sometimes result in death. Meth not only changes how the brain works, but also speeds up the body's systems to dangerous, sometimes lethal, levels--increasing blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates. People who repeatedly use meth may also experience anxiety, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, and mood disturbances. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the misuse of methamphetamine remains an extremely serious problem in the United States. In some areas of the country, it poses an even greater threat than opioids, and it is the drug that most contributes to violent crime. According to data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), over 14.7 million people (5.4 percent of the population) have tried methamphetamine at least once. NSDUH also reports that almost 1.6 million people used methamphetamine in the year leading up to the survey, and it remains one of the most commonly misused stimulant drugs in the world. According to a report commissioned by the CDC in 2018, the age- adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving methamphetamine in the United States more than tripled from 0.6 per 100,000 population in 2011 to 2.1 in 2016. The rate increased on average by an astounding 29 percent per year. Jane Carlisle Maxwell from the University of Texas found in 2021 that methamphetamine still outnumbers other drugs in the four drug reporting systems, and it continues to increase, a pattern consistent with that seen in other states. Over the years, the proportion of methamphetamine items seized has changed. In 2005, methamphetamine represented 21 percent of all items identified by DEA laboratories; in 2019, methamphetamine comprised 50 percent of all the items examined. Methamphetamine admissions to treatment programs increased from 3 percent of all admissions in 1995 to 11 percent in 2007, dropped to 8 percent in 2009, and then rose to 22 percent of admissions in 2020. The race-ethnic composition has changed in terms of Hispanic representation. In 1995, 91 percent were White, 2 percent were Black, and 5 percent were Hispanic. Of the 2020 admissions, 90 percent were White, 7 percent were Black, and 18 percent were Hispanic. Forty-one percent of the admissions were ages 26-35. In 1994, 59 percent of the clients were male, as compared to 45 percent male in 2020. Based on the results of Maxwell's previous research, females use methamphetamine for energy, to lose weight, and to counter depression. There is a significant need to consider gender issues in methamphetamine treatment, which could certainly be taken into account by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in its response plan. Additionally, the Office of National Drug Control Policy should make treatment for methamphetamine addictions the center of its response plan. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has found that the most effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction at this point are behavioral therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral and contingency management interventions. For example, the Matrix Model--a 16-week comprehensive behavioral treatment approach that combines behavioral therapy, family education, individual counseling, 12-step support, drug testing, and encouragement for non-drug-related activities--has been shown to be effective in reducing methamphetamine misuse. Contingency management interventions, which provide tangible incentives in exchange for engaging in treatment and maintaining abstinence from methamphetamines, have also been shown to be effective. Motivational Incentives for Enhancing Drug Abuse Recovery (MIEDAR), an incentive-based method for promoting cocaine and methamphetamine abstinence, has demonstrated efficacy among methamphetamine misusers through NIDA's National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network. It is, therefore, clear and obvious that treatment should be the center of ONDC's response plan, not incarceration. Incarcerating those addicted to drugs has clearly not worked considering methamphetamine users continue to use throughout our country despite the present criminal penalties. This bill is of the utmost importance to me considering the major threat methamphetamines pose in Houston. The DEA via Operation Crystal Shield, an operation to ramp up enforcement to block the further distribution of methamphetamines into America's neighborhoods, has designated the city of Houston one of eight major transportation hubs for methamphetamines. The flow of methamphetamines in Houston is significant, with major busts by authorities not being out of the ordinary. Just two weeks ago, Click2Houston reported an umpire was arrested after authorities say he was in possession of drugs while working around children at a youth baseball tournament in the Houston area this week. When authorities arrived at the scene, deputies say they found 2.7 grams of crystal meth inside the umpire's vehicle. Additionally, in May 2021, authorities seized 1,789 pounds of methamphetamines in the north Houston area, as well as large quantities of other narcotics. According to authorities, the street value of the seizure was approximately $3.4 million. The city of Houston is under attack, and the belligerent parties are drug traffickers and their henchmen. They alone are ruining the lives of countless Americans, but this bill creates a comprehensive response to ensure that no more lives are lost. It is for that reason, Mr Speaker, that I am urging my colleagues to support the Methamphetamine Response Act of 2021.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 55, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which amends title 18, section 249 of the United States Code to make lynching a hate crime under Federal law punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment. But before I go any further, let me acknowledge Congressman Bobby Rush who has been steadfast in the years that I have known him pushing day after day because Mamie Till and Emmett came from Chicago, from Illinois, going down to Mississippi, as Black children typically did, to see relatives in Mississippi, in Georgia, in Florida, in Texas, and in Alabama. He went down in 1955. I thank Congressman Rush for his leadership and persistence. We tried to get this in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but I think we are where we want to be, a freestanding bill. In 1989 a civil rights memorial was dedicated in Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, one of the efforts of Bryan Stevenson, to memorialize these individuals who were hanged. It honors the lives and memories of 40 martyrs who were slain during the movement from 1954 to 1968, including Emmett Till. We know that many more people lost their lives to racial violence during that era. As we were studying H.R. 40, the Reparations Commission, we determined 4,000--and most of those who were lynched were African Americans--the killers of 13 of the 40 martyrs whose names were inscribed on the memorial had not been prosecuted or convicted, and it is dedicated to those martyrs. In 10 of the 40 deaths, defendants were either acquitted by all-White juries or served only token prison sentences. We also know there are many cases that still cry out for justice that involve hanging in particular of African Americans. These unsolved crimes represent a continuing stain on our Nation's honor and mock its commitment to equal justice under the law. The legislation before us is intended to help remove that stain once and for all. The 40 victims selected for inclusion in the civil rights memorial fit at least one of three criteria: they were murdered because they were active in the civil rights movement; they were killed by organized hate crimes as acts of terror aimed at intimidating Black and civil rights activists; and their death, like the death of Emmett Till, helped to galvanize a movement by demonstrating the brutality faced by African Americans in the South. That young boy aged 13 was hanged. These individuals were hanged. Several were White; 33 were Black. They were students, farmers, ministers, truck drivers, a homemaker, and a Nobel laureate. But, Madam Speaker, there are many, many other victims besides the 40 who were remembered in the memorial. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports through its research that approximately 75 other people died violently between 1952 and 1968 under circumstances suggesting that they were victims of racial violence. For most of them, the reason their names were not added to the memorial is because they were not enough; because the killings of African Americans were often covered up or not seriously investigated. There is little to doubt that many slayings were never recorded by authorities. The crux of the matter is that lynching, even up to today, 2022, was not a Federal crime, and the heinous and evil act of lynching another human being was not a Federal crime that could be prosecuted. These are the ways that we can address this question by a Federal antilynching bill once and for all, making it a crime to lynch anyone in the United States. So let me thank Mamie Till for being a courageous and wonderful civil rights activist driven by the heinous and horrible killing and hanging of a 13-year-old boy. This is both mother and son in a much nicer time, and this is a mother who is expressing pain at the funeral of her child. And this, of course, is a photograph of what a 13-year-old, handsome, little boy looked like after he was beaten, lynched, dragged, and thrown in the water. This has to stop. Now with this legislation we will finally have an antilynching legislation that makes illegal the idea of lynching. Let me say that this idea of lynching is not an old act. 1981 was one of the most recent acts of lynching a fellow human being. So it is extremely important that we have this law that once and forever says that if it is not in the Constitution in terms of the exact language, it is tied to the Constitution, the 13th Amendment, which is the prohibition of slavery, the 14th Amendment which is due process. And I can assure our colleagues that we have not completed the thoughts of both of those amendments without having H.R. 55 which helps to ensure that justice is rendered and that lynching forever is stopped and that we realize that it is both a devastating and deadly act. But it is the ultimate indignity of taking another human being and hanging them like a piece of whatever one would like to imagine, like meat in a meat locker. Let us stop that now. Let America stand as a place of human rights and a place of dignity. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 55.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 55, the ``Emmett Till Antilynching Act,'' which amends the Title 18, Section 249 of the United States Code to make lynching a hate crime under federal law punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment. Madam Speaker, in 1989, the Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The Memorial honors the lives and memories of 40 martyrs who were slain during the movement from 1954 to 1968, including Emmett Till. But we know that many more people lost their lives to racial violence during that era. In fact, at the time the Memorial was dedicated, the killers of 13 of the 40 martyrs whose names are inscribed on the Memorial had not been prosecuted or convicted. In 10 of the 40 deaths, defendants were either acquitted by allwhite juries or served only token prison sentences. We also know there are many cases that still cry out for justice. These unsolved crimes represent a continuing stain on our nation's honor and mock its commitment to equal justice under law. The legislation before us is intended to help us remove that stain once and for all. The 40 victims selected for inclusion in the Civil Rights Memorial fit at least one of three criteria: (1) they were murdered because they were active in the civil rights movement; (2) they were killed by organized hate groups as acts of terror aimed at intimidating blacks and civil rights activists; or, (3) their deaths, like the death of Emmett Till, helped to galvanize the movement by demonstrating the brutality faced by African Americans in the South. The 40 persons who fit the selection criteria ranged in age from 11 to 66. Seven were white, and 33 were black. They were students, farmers, ministers, truck drivers, a homemaker and a Nobel laureate. But Madam Speaker, there are many, many other victims besides the 40 who are remembered on the Memorial. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that its research uncovered approximately 75 other people who died violently between 1952 and 1968 under circumstances suggesting that they were victims of racial violence. For most of them the reason their names were not added to the Memorial is because not enough was known about the details surrounding their deaths. Sadly, the reason so little is known about these cases is because they were not fully investigated or, in some cases, law enforcement officials were involved in the killings or subsequent cover-ups. And because the killings of African Americans were often covered up or not seriously investigated, there is little reason to doubt that many slayings were never even recorded by the authorities. The reason justice had not been served was the callous indifference, and often the criminal collusion, of many white law enforcement officials in the segregated South. There simply was no justice for African Americans during the civil rights era. The whole criminal justice system--from the police to the prosecutors, to the juries, and to the judges--was perverted by racial bigotry. African Americans were routinely beaten, bombed and shot with impunity. Sometimes, the killers picked their victims on a whim. Sometimes, they targeted them for their activism. In other cases, prominent white citizens were involved, and no consequences flowed. Herbert Lee of Liberty, Mississippi, for example, was shot in the head by a state legislator in broad daylight in 1961. It is, of course, fitting and proper that this legislation bears the name of Emmett Till, whose slaying in 1955 and his mother's decision to have an open casket at his funeral stirred the nation's conscience and galvanized a generation of Americans to join the fight for equality. Sadly, hundreds of them were killed in that struggle, and many of the killers, like those of Emmett himself, were never successfully prosecuted. Madam Speaker, over the past half century, the United States has made tremendous progress in overcoming the badges and vestiges of slavery. But this progress has been purchased at great cost. Examples of unsolved cases include the 1968 ``Orangeburg Massacre'' at South Carolina State University where state police shot and killed three student protesters; the 1967 shooting death of Carrie Brumfield, whose body was found on a rural Louisiana road; the 1957 murder of Willie Joe Sanford, whose body was fished out of a creek in Hawkinsville, Georgia; the 1946 killing of a black couple, including a pregnant woman, who was pulled out of a car in Monroe, Georgia, and dragged down a wagon trail before being shot in front of 200 people. Solving cases like these is part of the great unfinished work I of America. Madam Speaker, 53 years ago, Medgar Evers was murdered in Jackson, Mississippi; justice would not be done in his case for more than twenty years. But that day was foretold because the evening before the death of Medgar Evers, on June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the state of race relations and civil rights in America. In his historic speech to the nation President Kennedy said: ``We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. ``One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.'' H.R. 55 will help ensure that justice is received by victims of lynching and in doing so, this legislation will help this Nation fulfill its hopes and justify its boast that in America all persons live in freedom. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for its passage.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1662, Supporting the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration Act, to increase funding for the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration and for the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. The Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration is an independent 501(c)(3) organization created by Congress ``to advance the mission of the FDA to modernize medical, veterinary, food, food ingredient, and cosmetic product development, accelerate innovation, and enhance product safety.'' The Foundation embodies FDA's vision of collaborative innovation to address regulatory science challenges of the 21st century and assist in the creation of new, applied scientific knowledge, tools, standards, and approaches the FDA needs to evaluate products more effectively, predictably, and efficiently, and thereby enhance the FDA's ability to protect and promote the health of the American public. The Foundation serves as a crucial conduit between FDA and the public, providing a means for FDA to interact directly with stakeholders, including industry and consumers. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) has created hundreds of cross-discipline consortia and partnerships whose initiatives have generated new ideas, overcome obstacles and achieved groundbreaking biomedical research results. The FNIH has created an environment where trust and the exchange of new ideas can thrive, resulting in scientific innovations. The FNIH and its partners have successfully generated and implemented new research models that are lowering the cost and accelerating the progress of biomedical research nationwide and across the globe. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution grants Members of Congress the powers and the authority to ``promote Science and useful Arts.'' As Members of Congress, it is our duty to award funding to these institutions, so they may continue their groundbreaking work in their respective fields. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to vote for the S. 1662, Supporting the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committee on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and on the Budget, and an original cosponsor of this important legislation, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2116, the ``Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2021'' (``CROWN Act). This necessary legislation explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of hair texture or hairstyles commonly associated with a particular race or national origin in areas of the law where discrimination on the basis of race or national origin is already prohibited. It has long been my position that discrimination based on hair texture and hairstyle is a form of impermissible race discrimination. According to a 2019 report, known as the CROWN Study, which was conducted by the JOY Collective (CROWN Act Coalition, Dove/Unilever, National Urban League, Color of Change), Black people are ``disproportionately burdened by policies and practices in public places, including the workplace, that target, profile, or single them out for their natural hair styles--referring to the texture of hair that is not permed, dyed, relaxed, or chemically altered.'' The CROWN Study found that Black women's hair is ``more policed in the workplace, thereby contributing to a climate of group control in the company culture and perceived professional barriers'' compared to non-Black women. The study also found that ``Black women are more likely to have received formal grooming policies in the workplace, and to believe that there is a dissonance from her hair and other race's hair'' and that ``Black women's hairstyles were consistently rated lower or `less ready' for job performance.'' Among the study's other findings are that 80 percent of Black women believed that they had to change their hair from its natural state to ``fit in at the office,'' that they were 83 percent more likely to be judged harshly because of their looks. The study indicated that Black women were 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from the workplace because of their hair, and that they were 3.4 times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional compared to non-African-American women. Eight years ago, the United States Army removed a grooming regulation prohibiting women servicemembers from wearing their hair in dreadlocks, a regulation that had a disproportionately adverse impact on Black women. This decision was the result of a 2014 order by then-Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to review the military's policies regarding hairstyles popular with African-American women after complaints from members of Congress, myself included, that the policies unfairly targeted black women. In 2015, the Marine Corps followed suit and issued regulations to permit lock and twist hairstyles. The CROWN Study illustrates the prevalence of hair discrimination but numerous stories across the country put names and faces to the people behind those numbers. In 2017, a Banana Republic employee was told by a manager that she was violating the company's dress code because her box braids were too ``urban'' and ``unkempt.'' A year later, in 2018, Andrew Johnson, a New Jersey high school student, was forced by a white referee to either have his dreadlocks cut or forfeit a wrestling match, leading him to have his hair cut in public by an athletic trainer immediately before the match. That same year, an 11-year-old Black girl in Louisiana was asked to leave class at a private Roman Catholic school near New Orleans because her braided hair extensions violated the school's policies. The next year, two African-American men in Texas alleged being denied employment by Six Flags because of their hairstyles--one had long braids and the other had dreadlocks. And earlier this year, there were news reports of a Texas student who would not be allowed to walk at graduation because his dreadlocks were too long. The CROWN Act prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs and activities based on an individual's hair texture or hairstyle if it is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin, including ``a hairstyle in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros.'' The legislation also provides that the prohibition will be enforced as if it was incorporated into Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in federally-funded programs, and that violations of Section 3(a) will be treated as if they were violations of Section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for the passage of H.R. 2116, the CROWN Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and a member of the Equality Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act of 2021. I strongly support H.R. 3485 the Global Respect Act, which would mandate the listing of, and visa restrictions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people around the world continue to face discrimination, violence, and bigotry. Sixty-eight countries criminalize same-sex sexual relations, which means that more than one-third of United Nations Member States criminalize consenting, adult, same-sex sexual relations. In up to nine countries, same-sex sexual relations may be punishable by death, and so-called anti-LGBTQ+ ``propaganda'' laws inhibit LGBTQ+ advocacy in at least three countries. While many countries have made tremendous strides in embracing equality for LGBTQI+ community members, other countries remain stagnant or, worse, are undertaking steps to further marginalize or harm LGBTQI+ community members. That is why I support H.R. 3485, a bi-partisan bill, which requires the Administration to provide Congress with a list of foreign individuals found responsible for human rights violations against LGBTQI+ persons abroad, and equally important, mandates that individuals included on this list are ineligible for visas to, or entry into, the United States. The U.S. Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has documented hostility toward LGBTQ+ citizens in every region of the world. These violations include murder, rape, torture, death threats, extortion, imprisonment, and loss of employment and access to health care, as well as restrictions on freedoms of assembly, press, and speech. The Global Respect Act would provide a means to prevent individuals who violate the human rights of LGBTQ+ people from entry into the United States. The Global Respect Act also would require the Executive Branch to biannually send Congress a list of foreign persons responsible for, complicit in, or who have incited extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of human rights based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. As I stated, there is teeth in the legislation because it requires the denial or revocation of visas to individuals placed on the list, with waivers only for national security or to allow attendance at the United Nations; Finally, the legislation requires the annual State Department Report on Human Rights to include a section on LGBTQ+ international human rights, as well as an annual report to Congress on the status of the law's effectiveness; and requires the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to designate a staffer responsible for tracking violence, criminalization, and restrictions on the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms in foreign countries based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in strong support of H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act of 2021, which mandates a listing of and visa restrictions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons. It is very difficult for these individuals to suffer what they suffer. This community, of course, faces discrimination, violence, and bigotry all over the world. Sixty-eight countries criminalize same-sex sexual relations, which means that more than one-third of the United Nations' member states criminalize consenting adult and same-sex sexual relations. It includes nation-states in Africa. In up to nine countries, same-sex sexual relations may be punishable by death, and so-called anti-LGBTQ-plus propaganda laws inhibit LGBTQ-plus advocacy in at least three countries. Let me thank Mr. Cicilline and the leadership for putting this bill forward. This is a bipartisan bill with a list of foreign individuals found responsible for human rights violations against this community. I am supporting this bill because it has teeth because it requires denial of and limitations on visas. Let me ask the Senate to pass Global Respect Act, H.R. 3485.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me acknowledge just a stunning and very pivotal and important Black history message that our whip has given. He really is our historian, and I certainly want to pay tribute and give credence to the great work that he has established here for us. Mr. Speaker, it was so powerful to be able to reorder critical race theory to critical race fact. I just want to reinforce that everyone knows, and it has been for decades, that critical race theory is an aspect of graduate teaching, master's, Ph.D.s, and in law schools. The basis of it is the seeming infusion of racism in society by way of laws and other actions. Black history has always been, and the founder of Black history always wanted it to be, an opportunity for healing and bringing us together by understanding. I think the whip has laid out a stupendous story, a better understanding of Charles Drew and a better understanding of the light bulb. Why wouldn't boys and girls from all walks of life want to understand how we are better together than we are separate? I just want to take a moment to take up a different theme that speaks to the issue of Black history. I want to talk about the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. As well, I want to make sure that we highlight some aspects of Black history. Mr. Speaker, let me, first of all, indicate that Black history is an important element of who we are. I am just going to call off the kinds of names that I hope will be welcomed in any classroom: President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, the first African- American President; Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce; U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland; Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford; Mae C. Jemison--people that I knew because, living in Houston, they were astronauts that went out of Johnson Space Center-- Dr. McNair, whose life was lost in the service of this Nation as an astronaut. Why wouldn't we want to talk about such beloved personalities who overcame obstacles to do great things? Activists and intellectual authors and artists like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, these were individuals in the era of post-slavery and post- Reconstruction, in many instances, who still laid the groundwork for us. James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks, just to name a few of the countless number of well-known and unsung heroes. James Baldwin, of course, an author; Toni Morrison, an author; and Gwendolyn Brooks. Obviously, Toni being maligned because of not being understood. Harriet Tubman, an unbelievable story with the Underground Railroad. Rosa Parks, who sat down along with others. Maya Angelou, poet laureate. I also want to put into the Record names of historical figures, some of whom have passed, from my own community: Reverend F.N. Williams, Sr.; Dr. S.J. Gilbert, Sr.; Reverend Crawford W. Kimble; Reverend E. Stanley Branch; Reverend William A. Lawson, emeritus; Reverend Johnnie Jeffery ``J.J.'' Roberson; Mr. John Bland; Ms. Ruby Moseley; Ms. Dorothy Hubbard; Ms. Doris Hubbard--all of them infused liberty and liberation into our community--Acres Homes; Third Ward; Fifth Ward; South Park; Sunnyside; Willie Bell Boone; Ms. Holly Hogrobrooks, one of the first student protesters at Weingarten's; Mr. Deloyd Parker, who founded SHAPE, a pivotal agency in our community; Ms. Lenora ``Doll'' Carter; and Mr. Gerald Womack. At 16 years old, Gerald Womack opened his own real estate company, and he is one of the most generous humanitarians and businessmen living in our community today. I only call these names out to align myself with the issue of facts. Why wouldn't we want to know the facts of each of our communities? Why wouldn't we want to know those who descended from those who came on Pilgrims' pride? Why wouldn't we want to know those who are the legacies of the indigenous people, Native Americans, and many different Tribes, many of whom, of course, married African Americans as slaves or in the post-slave era? Why wouldn't we want to know that history? I am stunned that we would not want to do so. I believe it is important to not only know history that is pleasant but that we can call off wonderful people in our community who, in spite of the challenges and tribulations, became great leaders. But I also want to bring to the attention--because I have such an affection and love for this book taught to me by not only the whip, who appreciates this book called the Constitution, but Barbara Jordan reminded me to always carry it, for ladies, in their purses. George Washington called the Constitution ``the guide, which I will never abandon.'' He is absolutely right. ``The Declaration of Independence was the promise; the Constitution was the fulfillment.'' A Republican judge, Warren Burger, said that. It couldn't be more true. That seems to be taken sideways today because you can wrap the Constitution in the history of Black America, Mr. Speaker. So I rise for us to discuss today both the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. As I cherish the Constitution, I can assure you that I cherish those amendments. I think we should remind America that we are the only population--we don't do it angrily--that were held in bondage for a period of time, longer than two centuries, 246 years longer than the Nation is old--we will meet that timeframe probably this July--but for a long time, longer than the Nation was old. We know that President Lincoln had many reasons. He frankly thought he could bring the Union together if he could crush the rebellion in the South by freeing the slaves. In 1862, President Lincoln came to believe--and by the way, I and my friends, all of us call ourselves Lincolnesque. We look to the other party as the party of Lincoln, those wonderful stories that we learned in school, and we just knew this tall man called Abe Lincoln. He was humble, not rich, but rich in spirit and courage. He believed firmly that emancipating the enslaved people in the South would help the Union crush the Confederate rebellion in the Civil War and win the Civil War. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which took effect in 1863 announced that all persons held as slaves within any State shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. Wouldn't that be a good lesson to understand, whether you are in first grade or whether you are in fourth grade or whether you are in middle school? The largesse and the values embedded in the Constitution to create a more perfect Union, here we are in the 1800s trying to proclaim that value. That is a value. That is a fact. But as we know, the Emancipation Proclamation itself did not end slavery in the United States, as it only applied to the 11 Confederate States then at war against the Union and only to the portion of those States not already under Union control. To make it permanent, it would have to be a constitutional amendment. So in 1864, the U.S. Senate passed a proposed amendment banning slavery with the necessary two-thirds majority, but it faltered in the House of Representatives. So when Congress reconvened in 1864, the emboldened Republicans put the proposed amendment up for a vote again, and Lincoln threw himself into the legislative process, inviting individual Representatives to his office to discuss the amendment and putting it forward. Isn't that like sweet music? The Republicans, the Lincoln Republicans, got going. Lincoln was committed to the passage of the 13th Amendment, telling his allies to see what is before you to focus on the most important thing, that this amendment protects the slaves now born and in the United States but settles the question for all time for the millions yet to be born. What an emotional and moving set of words. How emotional for the world to see how small it was at that time of this new experiment that left the shores of Europe. What is this thing called the United States of America? Can they actually govern? Can they lead? Can they live? Is democracy real? It is a democratic republic wrapped up in the history of slaves, Black history, the history of African Americans. The allies got busy and got working, and he reportedly told them: I leave it to you to determine how it shall be done but remember that I am President of the United States, clothed with immense power, and I expect you to procure these votes. That gives a sense of democracy that he didn't go in and drag people out. He actually told his allies: Let's try to get it done. I have got the power, but let's try to get votes. We have seen that happen with some sadness to lack of success, but we stand on this floor in tribute to a man who wanted to see voting rights continue and continue and continue. So on January 31st, 1865, the House of Representatives passed the proposed amendment with a vote of 119-56, just over the required two- thirds, and the following day Lincoln approved a joint resolution of Congress submitting it to the States for ratification. That is a beautiful story. That is a fact. That is Black history. This is American history. I think that is the point that I want to make, that Black history is American history. It is no less and no more. There should be no doubt in trying to teach American history that has the wonderful tinge of Black history. Yesterday, February 8, 2022, honored the 15th Amendment--which I will speak somewhat about--to the United States Constitution which outlaws discrimination in voting on the basis of race, color, and previous conditions of servitude, therefore, advancing suffrage for African Americans. This was the last and most difficult and hard-fought of all the Reconstruction congressional constitutional amendments to confer citizenship upon the formerly enslaved. The intention of this amendment was to codify permanently the right to vote for all freed men. Immediately the impact of this amendment proved transformative as freed men--women still were not allowed to vote--exercised the right to vote and in coalition elected several hundred African Americans to office. How powerful this history is. How factual this history is. How coming together this history was, that you had, by birthright citizenship, the right to vote no matter whether or not you were previously enslaved or the color of your skin or previous condition. That is history. So why do we talk about history today? I said it was in the name of our dear, late friend and the many people who Whip Clyburn spoke to, but we do it because--although the 13th and 14th Amendments, the 14th giving due process rights--1921, this is a picture that we saw: captured Negroes on the way to the convention hall during the Tulsa race riot. The freed slaves actually did everything that America said they shall do. They built this community on land given to them. They had hotels and hospitals. They had schools, and they had marching bands. Yet, unfortunately, it triggered a dislike. Maybe this should be a continuation of an understanding and grades that would appreciate the fact that there were those who stood, had economic development and did all that citizens were expected to do, integrated into society but happened to be some freed slaves and some the descendants of enslaved Africans. The Tulsa race riots were 1921. So the question of race continues. It started in the origins of slavery and slaves coming to the United States, but it continued. But true history, Mr. Speaker, is a recognition that the facts won't hurt you, that they give you strength and allow you to continue to grow. But I think that is what I think this little book represents. Quickly, I want to show a more potent picture, for that is what happened in America for 246 years. Again, the anguish and anger are not the approach that we want to leave with our fellow Americans. It is the appreciation of the significance of Black history and the significance of a presence of a people in this country. And the fact that this Constitution wanted to get rid of that, that is a good thing. That is the goodness of America. That story should be told. So when we talk about the many Members of Congress who have come to accept the healing powers of a bill that studies slavery and establishes a commission to deal with its repair and restoration and results like H.R. 40, 33 years filed in this Congress, what happens is that we have the facts, we have the approach, and the approach is healing. So as I close my remarks, let me say that we are a continuing work in progress. I am so grateful to the whip for allowing me this moment to remind us that our special history is this book. So when we hear a Brian Flores lawsuit about our friends in the NFL and the numbers that are so awkward--I won't pursue that now. But what I will say is: Can we work together? Because issues still exist. Can we teach our children the goodness of the history of a people? And then, can we take the next step to work with institutions who have not yet fulfilled the beginning of this book that says we organize to create a more perfect Union, and the 13th and 14th Amendment which rids of us of all discrimination? Mr. Speaker, I hope we can do that for this month, and I hope we can do that forever. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of this body and the Committee on the Judiciary, I am pleased to join my colleagues in this Special Order marking the anniversary of the passage on December 6, 1865 of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and celebrating the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments, known as the Civil Rights Amendments. I thank my colleague, Congressman Butterfield, for anchoring this important Special Order and am remembering our late colleague, John Lewis, a great and beloved man, who risked and gave his life to make real the promise of those amendments. The 13th Amendment, the first of the three great Civil War Amendments, was passed in 1865 and abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment conferred citizenship on the newly emancipated slaves, and the 15th Amendment prohibited abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Taken together, these amendments were intended and have the effect of making former slaves, and their descendants, full and equal members of the political community known as the United States of America. By 1861, when the Civil War broke out, more than 4 million people (nearly all of them of African descent) were enslaved in 15 southern and border states. By 1862, President Abraham Lincoln came to believe firmly that emancipating enslaved people in the South would help the Union crush the Confederate rebellion and win the Civil War. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect in 1863, announced that all enslaved people held in the states ``then in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.'' But the Emancipation Proclamation in itself did not end slavery in the United States, as it only applied to the 11 Confederate states then at war against the Union, and only to the portion of those states not already under Union control. To make emancipation permanent would take a constitutional amendment abolishing the institution of slavery itself. In April 1864, the U.S. Senate passed a proposed amendment banning slavery with the necessary two-thirds majority but it faltered in the House of Representatives, as more and more Democrats refused to support it. When Congress reconvened in December 1864, the emboldened Republicans put the proposed amendment up for vote again and Lincoln threw himself in the legislative process, inviting individual representatives to his office to discuss the amendment and putting pressure on border-state Unionists (who had previously opposed it) to change their position. Lincoln was committed to the passage of the 13th Amendment, telling his allies to ``see what is before you, to focus on the most important thing; that this Amendment protects the slaves now born and in the United States, but settles the question for all time for the millions yet to be born.'' He authorized his allies to entice House members with plum positions and other inducements, reportedly telling them: ``I leave it to you to determine how it shall be done; but remember that I am President of the United States, clothed with immense power, and I expect you to procure those votes.'' On January 31, 1865, the House of Representatives passed the proposed amendment with a vote of 119-56, just over the required two-thirds majority, and the following day, Lincoln approved a joint resolution of Congress submitting it to the state legislatures for ratification. Mr. Speaker, the United States is the world's only superpower and boasts the largest economy in the history of the world and for many years was the world's indispensable nation and the example that all aspiring democracies wished to emulate. But at the same time, this nation has also been home to many searing instances of social unrest resulting from racial injustices, as we witnessed this year on the streets of big cities and small towns in urban and rural communities. We saw Americans, by the millions across the country, coming from all races and ages, engaging in what the late John Lewis called ``good trouble'' by protesting and demanding an end to the systemic racial inequality in our criminal justice system that too often victimizes and disproportionately treats black Americans worse, ceteris paribus, when it comes to suspicion, apprehension, arrest, detention, trial, sentencing, and incarceration. While the brutal deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville shocked the conscience of the nation, most black Americans will tell you what they experienced is not new, but has been occurring for generations, if not centuries. What is critically important to understand is that the instances of brutal and unfair treatment the nation has witnessed this year cannot be attributed to the proverbial few ``bad apples in the bushel'' but is instead the foreseeable consequence of systemic racism and racial inequality in the system. Not just the criminal justice system, but the health care system, the economic system, and the educational system to name the most glaring examples. To find our way out of this dark time, we need to understand how it came to be. That is why in January 2019, I introduced H.R. 40, which establishes a commission to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements, the commission shall identify the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery; forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants; and lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society. Official slavery ended with the Civil War and ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. But unofficial slavery was continued with the new institution of sharecrop farming, a criminal justice system that would press convicts into work once done by slaves, and labor policies that dictated income for work done based upon skin color. And, of course, all of this was reinforced by the systematic disenfranchisement of black Americans, the ``discrete and insular minority'' excluded from ``those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect'' them, to quote Chief Justice Hughes' famous Carolene Products Footnote 4. For these reasons, the history of the United States is intertwined with the history of enslaved Africans in the Americas. There is blood and there are tears, but there is also redemption and reconciliation. But to get there, we must have the complete truth and lay our history bare. It is the light that sheds the way to the more perfect union all Americans want. The Commission created and empowered by H.R. 40 is a necessary first step in that effort to get to truth and reconciliation about the Original Sin of American Slavery that is necessary to light the way to the beloved community we all seek. Finally, I join all my colleagues in pointing out that the most fitting and proper means of paying tribute to the beloved John Lewis's extraordinary life is for the Senate to immediately take up and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, landmark legislation to protect the precious right to vote for all persons and to ensure that our democracy has the tools needed to remain strong. Mr. Speaker, this February we recognize and celebrate the 40th commemoration of Black History Month. This month we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the history of our great nation, and pay tribute to trailblazers, pioneers, heroes, and leaders like the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce; U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland; Astronauts Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford, Jr., and Mae C. Jemison; activists, intellectuals, authors, and artists like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks just to name a few of the countless number of well- known and unsung heroes whose contributions have helped our nation become a more perfect union. The history of the United States has been marked by the great contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and artists. As a member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of giants whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me to stand here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and progress for all, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The greatest of these giants to me are Mrs. Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, a vocational nurse, and Mr. Ezra A. Jackson, one of the first African- Americans to succeed in the comic book publishing business. They were my beloved parents and they taught me the value of education, hard work, discipline, perseverance, and caring for others. And I am continually inspired by Dr. Elwyn Lee, my husband and the first tenured African American law professor at the University of Houston. Mr. Speaker, I particularly wish to acknowledge the contributions of African American veterans in defending from foreign aggressors and who by their courageous examples helped transform our nation from a segregated society to a nation committed to the never ending challenge of perfecting our union. A few years ago about this time, I was honored to join my colleagues, the late Congressman John Lewis and former Congressman Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran, in paying tribute to surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen and the 555th Parachute Infantry, the famed ``Triple Nickels'' at a moving ceremony sponsored by the U.S. Army commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen in escorting bombers during World War II--achieving one of the lowest loss records of all the escort fighter groups, and being in constant demand for their services by the allied bomber units--is a record unmatched by any other fighter group. So impressive and astounding were the feats of the Tuskegee Airmen that in 1948, it helped persuade President Harry Truman to issue his famous Executive Order No. 9981, which directed equality of treatment and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces and led to the end of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces. It is a source of enormous and enduring pride that my father-in-law, Phillip Ferguson Lee, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Clearly, what began as an experiment to determine whether ``colored'' soldiers' were capable of operating expensive and complex combat aircraft ended as an unqualified success based on the experience of the Tuskegee Airmen, whose record included 261 aircraft destroyed, 148 aircraft damaged, 15,553 combat sorties and 1,578 missions over Italy and North Africa. They also destroyed or damaged over 950 units of ground transportation and escorted more than 200 bombing missions. They proved that ``the antidote to racism is excellence in performance,'' as retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter once remarked. Mr. Speaker, Black History Month is also a time to remember many pioneering women like U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; activists Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks; astronaut Mae C. Jemison; mathematicians like Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson; authors Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have each in their own way, whether through courageous activism, cultural or intellectual contributions, or artistic creativity, forged social and political change, and forever changed our great Nation for the better. It is also fitting, Mr. Speaker, that in addition to those national leaders whose contributions have made our nation better, we honor also those who have and are making a difference in their local communities. In my home city of Houston, there are numerous great men and women. They are great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who said: ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'' By that measure, I wish to pay tribute to some of the great men and women of Houston some of whom who have passed: Rev. F.N. Williams, Sr. Rev. Dr. S.J. Gilbert, Sr. Rev. Crawford W. Kimble Rev. Eldridge Stanley Branch Rev. William A. Lawson Rev. Johnnie Jeffery ``J.J.'' Robeson Mr. John Bland Ms. Ruby Moseley Ms. Dorothy Hubbard Ms. Doris Hubbard Ms. Willie Bell Boone Ms. Holly HogoBrooks Mr. Deloyd Parker Ms. Lenora ``Doll'' Carter Mr. Gerald Womack As we celebrate Black History Month, let us pay tribute to those who have come before us, and pay forward to future generations by addressing what is the number one issue for African American families, and all American families today: preserving the American promise of economic opportunity for all. Our immediate focus must be job creation, and enacting legislation that will foster and lay the foundation for today's and tomorrow's generation of groundbreaking activists, leaders, scientists, writers and artists to continue contributing to the greatness of America. We must continue to preserve the American Dream for all. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here in celebration of the heroic and historic acts of African Americans and their indispensable contributions to this great Nation. It is through our work in creating possibilities for today and future generations that we best honor the accomplishments and legacy of our predecessors.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair and the ranking member for this amazing legislation. To my good friend from Oregon, Mr. DeFazio, I remember that bill year after year after year because the post office was given the death penalty. That is what happened in the dark of night. I worked for the post office. Yes, I remember sorting the mail in those old days. But what I most remember is the 1 million new delivery points every year that the post office adds. While others are making a lot of money, they go to the rural areas. I also remember the letter carriers, the rural postmasters, and all the hardworking men and women who were coming to us week after week, day after day, and said: We are dying out here, and we need to be able to have our healthcare taken care of. But guess what? The post office had to prepay it. No one else had ever had to do that. It was one of the highest liabilities. Along with that, they were required to fund their pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the Federal Government. To conserve cash, they hadn't been paying since 2012. Can you imagine, they stopped paying their bills since 2012 because they didn't have any money? By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it can save $22.6 billion over 10 years. What a smart thing to do. Then, of course, the Postal Service Reform Act would eliminate the requirement of the prepaid retirement. And, then, it would require USPS to develop a public-facing online dashboard. Again, the idea is to save the post office for the American people, save it for the workers, and save it because it is patriotic to do so. I congratulate you. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and a member of the Equality Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. Passage of this legislation is urgently needed because USPS incurred its fourteenth consecutive net annual loss in 2020, and even if USPS continues to default on mandated payments, it would likely run out of cash to fund its operations prior to 2024. Madam Speaker, USPS funds the universal mail service it provides to nearly 159 million delivery points solely through the sale of postage. USPS adds one million new delivery points every year, even as mail volume continues to fall. This means USPS must deliver less and less mail to more and more places. In addition, several congressional mandates imposed when mail volume was at its peak put USPS on the road to insolvency. USPS is required to pre-fund the health care costs of its employees, regardless of whether they actually serve until retirement. USPS is also required to fund its pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the federal government. To conserve cash, USPS has defaulted on retiree health care payments since 2012. That is why the key reforms in the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are so important. First, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require future Postal Service retirees, who have been paying into Medicare their entire careers, to enroll in Medicare. Currently, roughly a quarter of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible, which means USPS is stuck paying far higher premiums than any other public or private sector employer. By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it could save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years. Second, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would eliminate the requirement that USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years in the future. No private company or other federal government entity is required to comply with such a burdensome requirement and its elimination is estimated to drastically reduce its prefunding liability and allow USPS to save roughly $27 billion over 10 years. Third, USPS Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to develop a public-facing, online dashboard with national and local level service performance data updated each week to provide additional transparency and promote compliance with on-time delivery of mail. Fourth, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network. Finally, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would allow USPS to enter into agreements with State, local, and tribal governments to provide non-commercial property and services that provide enhanced value, do not detract from core postal services, and provide a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs. In addition, the legislation contains several provisions that will improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service, including: The expansion of special rates for local newspaper distribution to promote local news organizations; A Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) review of cost attribution guidelines for different Postal Service products to ensure pricing accuracy and better accounting; Increased funding autonomy and control for the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase its budgetary resources commensurate with its mission of regulating the Postal Service, and to shield the PRC from government shutdowns; A study on operational inefficiencies in Postal Service flats and magazine processing; Regular congressional reporting on Postal Service operations and financial performance to enable accountability of stated cost savings, revenue, and infrastructure investment goals; Adjustments to the considerations USPS must make when deciding which mode of transportation to use to deliver mail in order to ensure greater consistency and reliability; and The consolidation of the PRC's small Inspector General Office into the more robust Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Madam Speaker, the Postal Service's unmatched network and Universal Service Obligation serves 159 million homes and businesses every day, processing and delivering an average of 430 million pieces of mail and packages per day. In fact, USPS often delivers seven days a week due to demand and necessity. This has been especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic as American homes, businesses and private shippers have relied on the Postal Service to meet their needs in these extraordinary times. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and a member of the Equality Caucus, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022. Passage of this legislation is urgently needed because USPS incurred its fourteenth consecutive net annual loss in 2020, and even if USPS continues to default on mandated payments, it would likely run out of cash to fund its operations prior to 2024. Madam Speaker, USPS funds the universal mail service it provides to nearly 159 million delivery points solely through the sale of postage. USPS adds one million new delivery points every year, even as mail volume continues to fall. This means USPS must deliver less and less mail to more and more places. In addition, several congressional mandates imposed when mail volume was at its peak put USPS on the road to insolvency. USPS is required to pre-fund the health care costs of its employees, regardless of whether they actually serve until retirement. USPS is also required to fund its pension liabilities at a much higher level than the rest of the federal government. To conserve cash, USPS has defaulted on retiree health care payments since 2012. That is why the key reforms in the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 are so important. First, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require future Postal Service retirees, who have been paying into Medicare their entire careers, to enroll in Medicare. Currently, roughly a quarter of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible, which means USPS is stuck paying far higher premiums than any other public or private sector employer. By more closely integrating Medicare, USPS estimates it could save approximately $22.6 billion over 10 years. Second, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would eliminate the requirement that USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits for all current and retired employees for 75 years in the future. No private company or other federal government entity is required to comply with such a burdensome requirement and its elimination is estimated to drastically reduce its prefunding liability and allow USPS to save roughly $27 billion over 10 years. Third, USPS Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to develop a public-facing, online dashboard with national and local level service performance data updated each week to provide additional transparency and promote compliance with on-time delivery of mail. Fourth, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would require USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network. Finally, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 would allow USPS to enter into agreements with State, local, and tribal governments to provide non-commercial property and services that provide enhanced value, do not detract from core postal services, and provide a reasonable contribution to Postal Service institutional costs. In addition, the legislation contains several provisions that will improve the effectiveness of the Postal Service, including: 1. The expansion of special rates for local newspaper distribution to promote local news organizations; 2. A Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) review of cost attribution guidelines for different Postal Service products to ensure pricing accuracy and better accounting; 3. Increased funding autonomy and control for the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase its budgetary resources commensurate with its mission of regulating the Postal Service, and to shield the PRC from government shutdowns; 4. A study on operational inefficiencies in Postal Service flats and magazine processing; 5. Regular congressional reporting on Postal Service operations and financial performance to enable accountability of stated cost savings, revenue, and infrastructure investment goals; 6. Adjustments to the considerations USPS must make when deciding which mode of transportation to use to deliver mail in order to ensure greater consistency and reliability; and 7. The consolidation of the PRC's small Inspector General Office into the more robust Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Madam Speaker, the Postal Service's unmatched network and Universal Service Obligation serves 159 million homes and businesses every day, processing and delivering an average of 430 million pieces of mail and packages per day. In fact, USPS often delivers seven days a week due to demand and necessity. This has been especially true during the Covid-19 pandemic as American homes, businesses and private shippers have relied on the Postal Service to meet their needs in these extraordinary times. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, many of our jurisdictional committees have oversight over the major league sports teams, from baseball to basketball to football. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been engaged with my committee in the oversight of the National Football League. In fact, I remember more than a decade ago we were the first committee to deal with brain concussions and the lack of response by the NFL to the players. Today, I rise for the lack of response to racism and racial discrimination in the NFL. I take note of the lawsuit filed by Coach Brian Flores and would hope that the words, ``it is without merit'' will not stand. I believe it is important, with the number of minority players versus the number of coaches to that in terms of statistics, that we address the seeming appearance of racial discrimination in the NFL. I think it is important to reassess the Rooney rule to give a criteria for how coaches are selected, so mistakes like the coach from Boston sending the wrong notice that ``you have been hired'' to someone else would not happen. To Mr. Goodell and the owners, let's work together, let's get the teams to look like America.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for his leadership, and I thank my distinguished friend from Illinois, Congresswoman Bustos for her constant determination. It is wonderful that H.R. 4445 is restoring freedom and justice to women. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation that will not allow any pre-dispute arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint action waiver to be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to a sexual assault dispute or sexual harassment dispute. I am glad to hear friends on the other side, as this is a bipartisan bill, acknowledge the fact that this is an absolute injustice; an injustice that befalls a certain segment of the population, and that is women. One of the cases that is most stark is the one of Stefani Bambace. Many witnesses came before us in the Judiciary Committee. Witness after witness gave us horror stories of isolation and fear and the absolute inability, because of the fine print, to do anything about it. Stefani Bambace alleged that she worked in a sexually charged and hostile work environment, including being subjected to sexually explicit language from her employer, sexual advances and groping. Let me say that again. Touching in her space from her employer, sexual advances and groping and explicit images. How can you work as a professional or anyone? Think of the levels of work that women are in; from domestic to as high a level as scientists and CEOs. But yet, they are subjected to this kind of behavior. According to Ms. Bambace's petition, she complained to human resources to no avail about the harassment. And guess what her relief was? Guess what empathy was shown? Guess what comfort and reforming the system was? It was her being fired. That is right. She was fired. How many stories of women are there, that are yet not told, who were fired? And so this agreement of which my colleague has worked on, and we are pleased in the Judiciary Committee to be part of moving this legislation, this will end these arbitration agreements that are snuck into a packet of materials that you sign. It is imperative we pass it, but more importantly Madam Speaker, it is imperative that it is passed in the Senate because it is bipartisan, but it is signed by the President and becomes law. I thank Ms. Bambace and all of the witnesses that came before us. They sacrifice, they suffered, but yet today, hopefully, will be an announcement, a pronouncement of freedom and justice for women who have struggled with this all of the time. H.R. 4445 is a relief that is a long time in coming, and it should move away from blind, silent, quiet agreements that no one knows what it is. Freedom and justice for women in the workforce today. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. This bill will amend Title 9 of the United States Code, empowering survivors of sexual assault and harassment by restoring their access to justice and public accountability under the law. By ending forced arbitration in lawsuits involving these claims, survivors of sexual assault or sexual harassment are empowered with making the decision on whether they wish to pursue legal action against their assailants which often includes going to court to arbitrate their claims. It is estimated that 60 million Americans have signed away their right to seek real justice and most don't realize it until they try to get help. H.R. 4445 will not allow any pre-dispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver to be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to a sexual assault dispute or a sexual harassment dispute. In the Judiciary markup which brought this bill to the floor, survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault shared their stories with the committee about their devastating experiences and the subsequent arbitration process they were forced to endure as a condition of their employment. The #MeToo movement chipped away at the culture of secrecy that protects predators and silences survivors. Ending mandatory arbitration has the power to ensure that survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace have their voices heard. For example, in Bambace v. Berry Y&V Fabricators, LLC, Stefani Bambace alleged that she worked in a sexually charged and hostile work environment, including ``being subjected to sexually explicit images from her employer, sexual advances, and groping.'' According to her petition, she complained to Human Resources about the harassment and was fired three weeks later. She filed a lawsuit alleging violations of Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. Like more than half of non-unionized American workers, Bambace was subject to an employer promulgated arbitration agreement. These arbitration agreements are often snuck into a packet of materials employers give employees on their first day of employment to sign and they are rarely negotiated or even discussed. In a well-reasoned opinion in Bambace, the Court held that the arbitration agreement, which required the Plaintiff to litigate sexual harassment claims in confidential and binding arbitration, violated public policy, injured the public good, and was therefore void and unenforceable. Critically, the Court further rejected Defendant's argument that the arbitrator, not the Court, should determine whether the sexual harassment claims were subject to arbitration. Fortunately, in the Bambace case Harris County Judge Lauren Reeder understood that cases such as these should be determined by a court, rather than an arbitrator irrespective of whether the agreement purports to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. This is just one story out of millions where forced arbitration agreements attempt, and usually succeed, to silence sexual assault and sexual harassment victims. These forced ``agreements'' strip survivors of the right to decide how to pursue accountability of their predators. Instead, these survivors' stories are heard in secret, behind closed doors, and do little to nothing to stop the systematic abuse from occurring again. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 will ensure that these survivors will have their voices heard in a court of law if they choose to do so. No survivor of sexual harassment or sexual assault should be forced into silence, especially by a piece of paper buried within their employment agreement. Forced arbitration allows companies to hide and shield sexual predators and keep employees from knowing that their other colleagues could be victims of the same person. Voiding these clauses in sexual harassment and discrimination cases would aid victims by pulling back the veil of secrecy on bad behavior in the workplace. More than 56% of Americans are subject to these mandatory arbitration agreements. These victims deserve the right to choose to go to court, it should not be in the hands of their employer. A 2011 Cornell University study found that employees are less likely to win arbitration cases. These corporations embrace arbitration because it is a cheaper and faster way to settle disputes and can cut down frivolous lawsuits. Corporations do not want to face juries because they know citizens will punish them for their wrongdoing, so they sneak arbitration language into their take-it-or-leave-it contracts. Forced arbitration is a sexual harasser's best friend, it is an issue of fundamental human rights. Eliza Dushku, an actress, testified that she had been fired from the CBS prime-time drama ``Bull'' after she asked her co-star, Michael Weatherly, a producer on the show, to stop harassing her. She said he had made rape jokes about her and had told her in front of dozens of cast and crew members that he wanted to be in a threesome with her. She said she had later learned that the contract she signed with CBS included a forced arbitration clause. After a mediation, the company agreed to a confidential settlement that would pay Ms. Dushku $9.5 million. Situations such as Ms. Dushku's aim to sweep sexual harassment and assault cases under the rug. Silencing these victims is exactly what forced arbitration agreements are meant to do and I believe we should no longer tolerate this behavior. This is an excellent and common-sense bill that will ensure victims are not silenced by forced arbitration agreements any longer. Although we cannot bring justice and a voice for those who have already settled their cases to their arbitration agreements, we can ensure that future victims will be heard and not suppressed in their truth.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. Madam Speaker, H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, is bipartisan and bicameral legislation that empowers survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment by giving them a choice to go to court instead of being forced into arbitration. This legislation would amend the Federal Arbitration Act for disputes involving sexual assault and sexual harassment in order to stop employers and businesses from forcing employees and customers out of the court system and into arbitration. It would ensure that predispute arbitration clauses and waivers of the right to bring joint actions in cases of sexual assault or sexual harassment would not be valid or enforceable for cases that are filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law. Under current law, many employment and other contracts require binding arbitration for a wide range of matters before a dispute arises, which denies survivors the ability to decide whether to pursue their claim with the procedural protections provided by courts, and silences victims of abuse by forcing them into a confidential dispute forum without the right to appeal. Madam Speaker, more than 60 million Americans are subject to mandatory arbitration clauses in the workplace, often without realizing it until they come forward to bring a claim against their employer. The Report of the Co-Chairs of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace notes that between 50-75 percent of women have faced some form of unwanted or unwelcome sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, contracts for services may include mandatory arbitration clauses in the fine print that shield companies and businesses from being held publicly accountable for the harm caused. I support this necessary legislation because it advances efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment and sexual assault, strengthen rights, protect victims, and promote access to justice. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, the head of the NFL said that racism of any kind is unacceptable. Having worked on these issues since the very beginning of my tenure in the United States Congress, including hearings in Houston on brain injuries that were undiagnosed, I take a special interest in the Brian Flores lawsuit for the reality that it means something is wrong and it must be changed. Yesterday, I honored a Houston Texan who had a great history. Today, as I tweeted early this morning, the vacancy should be filled by Lovie Smith, an African American, a coach for the Houston Texans. Later today they announced that Lovie Smith will be the new coach. With experience having taken the Chicago team to the Super Bowl, could it be anyone else? Now, we need to begin to assess how we can act on the words ``racism is unacceptable'' in any sport in any part of America's life. I am excited. Congratulations to Coach Smith and to the Houston Texans. But let us acknowledge David Culley and go forward so that the example can be across the landscape of sports wherever it is and across the Nation.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California, as always, for reminding us in almost every moment of her tenure here in the United States Congress of the spirit and the investment that Shirley Chisholm made in her personally and the investment that she made as a young college student, saying that I am going to find Shirley Chisholm or accept the call and be in her Presidential election. What a historic moment for her. Also, the very pathway that she has taken in the United States Congress is evidence that she is definitely a living example of the fighting spirit of Shirley Chisholm. It is great to be here to acknowledge this 50th commemoration of this historic moment. I thank our chair, the Honorable Joyce Beatty, for reminding us of Our Power, Our Message. I would like to say our message, our power, and to recognize that the Congressional Black Caucus is the pacesetter for justice and equality and the elimination of racism, which still lifts its head today. To my other colleagues that are here today, I am grateful for their presence on the floor, for Shirley Chisholm deserves the recognition and the acknowledgment of who she was but also what she did and what she invested in America. Let it be known that even as she was an African-American woman, she was a great American that made differences that can be seen today. I want to honor and acknowledge the shoulders upon which I stand. That includes, in our Congress, Shirley Chisholm, John Conyers, John Lewis, Ron Dellums, and Barbara Jordan. I also want to acknowledge my parents, Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, a vocational nurse, and Ezra C. Jackson, one of the first African Americans to succeed in the aftermath of being discriminated against in the comic book industry. All of that pours into the work of Shirley Chisholm and her campaign slogan in this, her congressional district race in 1968: ``Fighting Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.'' That continued throughout her life. She remarked that women in this country must become revolutionaries, that we must refuse to accept the old, traditional roles and stereotypes. This is a sentiment that I take to heart myself and that the women of the Congressional Black Caucus have taken to heart. We have told the Nation that we must have self-determination. We want to lead. Shirley Chisholm was at the core of the movement of women leading. That is why, on January 25, 1972, Shirley announced her candidacy. She stood before the cameras, and in the beginning of her speech, she said--before I say these words, let me be very clear. There weren't thousands of people. There may not have been hundreds and hundreds of people. I can tell you there was a bounty of skeptics, people standing back and saying: This is unimaginable. Why would she do this? We don't need her to do this. She is getting in the way. I am grateful that Shirley Chisholm, fighting Shirley Chisholm, unbought and unbossed, maintained the dignity of the right of a Black woman, an American, to run for the Presidency of the United States. So, she said: ``I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States.'' How sweet those words are. ``I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political''--bosses--``or special interests. . . . I am the candidate of the people.'' We keep that in mind, this Congress, the Democratic Members of Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus must keep in mind that we are the candidates, the spokespersons of the people, that it is their truth that we must tell. Shirley Chisholm always told their truth. She did not win the nomination, but she went on to the Democratic Convention in Miami and received 151 votes. We know that the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, stands on the shoulders of Shirley Chisholm. The women today that are elected across America, in all different positions, stand on the shoulders of Shirley Chisholm. We recognize that barriers still stand. One that we hope will be corrected in this month, Black History Month, in Shirley Chisholm's fighting spirit, is that an African-American woman, a Black woman, will be nominated to the United States Supreme Court. We want more than that as well. We want an age-old bill that has been languishing for so long, H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, that Congresswoman Chisholm would have been on. We want it to be pronounced and announced this month. As we honor her tonight, fighting Shirley Chisholm, let me acknowledge the different poses, the different leadership, as she has stood for the people of Brooklyn, but the people of America. That is the face of a fighting woman, and that is the face of the person we honor tonight. I am delighted to be here with my colleague, who has always put Shirley Chisholm in the forefront of our thinking, of how progressive and innovative and powerful and strong and empowering--I want to leave you with that. She believed in empowering others and understood the words of Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Shirley Chisholm was ahead of her time. Shirley Chisholm is to be honored every day, as my colleague said, as we walk through these Halls. I look up and see Barbara Jordan, and then I look up and see Shirley Chisholm, unbought and unbossed. Honor her tonight and always.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Congresswoman, thank you so very much. I wanted to offer my appreciation first to you because I want you to be the last word on this floor tonight because I truly mean what I said earlier, and in almost every moment there has been an anecdotal story, a very important one that you have reminded us of the strength of Shirley Chisholm. I do want to go back to Shirley's Caribbean roots, but her strong roots in Brooklyn. I know that you said this, or I am sure it has been referred to or you will, is that when she came to the United States Congress, being the first African-American woman and being dismissed not by her constituents, but by the hierarchy that was here, and I am sure someone with a little chuckle thought: Brooklyn, urban, guess where we will put her? On the Agriculture Committee. And that will get her packing up and running out. But Shirley Chisholm, again, fighting Shirley Chisholm was her theme, showed them. I remember those words either said by her or describe her, a tree grows in Brooklyn. Don't sell us short. A tree grows in Queens, a tree grows in Manhattan, a tree grows in New York. She did take to the leadership of the Agriculture Committee, particularly becoming an expert on SNAP and many other aspects of agriculture that really dealt with the vulnerable and starving people in America. That was Shirley Chisholm. And then as I intertwine the question of the selection and nomination of an African-American woman to the United States Supreme Court, I want to put in the Record the words, if you are always ruled but denied the opportunity to rule, in turn, you are simply a subject and not fully a citizen. And so Congresswoman Chisholm's presence was to deny being only ruled and simply being a subject. The cases that spoke to that are the Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Korematsu v. United States, civil rights cases in 1883, Bowers v. Hardwick, Lochner v. New York, and Buck v. Bell. These cases from 1857 to 1927 all showed where America was in terms of this cancer called racism. I want to refer us tonight in my final words on the floor in tribute to Shirley Chisholm to the words she said about do women dare. As I do so, with a little bit of sense of great honor is to show a picture of myself and Shirley Chisholm that I now found and relocated and will actually get framed, my presenting her with an award after a speech that she gave in front of the Black women lawyers. When we were few, unknown, and unlisted and probably unappreciated, she actually came to speak before the Black women lawyers in Houston, Texas, having some years before that worked as an intern in her district at one of the State representatives' offices, Representative Bellamy. And I might say, as I talk about Shirley, I have to put on the record that she was selected for the Agriculture Committee, but I am told by my former colleague, Pat Schroeder, that when she and Ron Dellums went to the Armed Services Committee, they were given one chair. And they had to sit in one chair because they were trying to diminish them and dismiss them. They could not do that. And though this is not about Ron Dellums, he became the chair of the Armed Services Committee. But let me give these words in conclusion on the fighting Shirley Chisholm. This is her speech ``Do Women Dare,'' and it just has been discovered. ``The topic this morning of course is, `do women dare?' '' These are her words. ``And I have said, of course women dare. Do women dare? I assume that the question implies do women dare take an active part in society, and, in particular, do they dare to take a part in the present social revolution?'' We need this now more than ever. And I would say, Do Americans dare? Do men and women dare? Do African Americans dare? Do vulnerable people dare? ``And I find the question as much of an insult as I would the question, `Are you, as a Black person, willing to fight for your rights?' America has been sufficiently sensitized to the answer, whether or not Black people are willing to both fight and die for their rights. To make the question itself is asinine and superfluous. America is not yet sufficiently aware, but such a question applied to women is equally asinine and superfluous.'' And so she goes on to say: ``I am, as is obvious, both Black and a woman. And that is a good vantage point from which to view at least two elements of what is becoming a social revolution. The American Black revolution and the women's liberation movement. But it is also a horrible disadvantage. It is a disadvantage, my friends, because America as a Nation, is both racist and antifeminist. Racism and antifeminism are two of the prime traditions of this country that we have to face objectively. For any individual, therefore, challenging social traditions is a giant step. A giant step, because there are no social traditions which do not have corresponding social sanctions, the sole purpose of which are to protect the sanctity of the traditions.'' And so she goes on to talk about do women dare. I cannot think of more important words in 2022 as we fight against racism and sexism, as we fight to give a sense of reality and honesty and equality to the idea of a Black woman going to the Supreme Court. And as we raise up the issue of the study of slavery and the development of reparation proposals under H.R. 40, can that be a simple, obvious reality? Can that be something that is just accepted because it is right? Shirley Chisholm has taught us to keep fighting and to dare. I thank the gentlewoman for bringing us to this place and also to this understanding. Madam Speaker, this February we recognize and celebrate the 44th commemoration of Black History Month and the Jubilee anniversary of Shirley Chisolm's historic run for the presidency in 1972. I am honored to co-anchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order with my dear friend and colleague, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. This month we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the history of our great Nation, and pay tribute to trailblazers, pioneers, heroes, and leaders like Kamala D. Harris, the 49th Vice-President of the United States and the first woman and person of color to be elected to the office; 44th President of the United States and First Lady, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, respectively; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce; U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland; Astronauts Dr. Guion Stewart Bluford, Jr. and Mae C. Jemison; activists, intellectuals, authors, artists, and entrepreneurs like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Shonda Rhimes, Ava Duvernay, Oprah Winfrey, and Super Bowl LIV winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes and National Football League Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, just to name a few of the countless number of well-known and unsung heroes whose contributions have helped our Nation become a more perfect union. The history of the United States has been marked by the great contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and artists. As a member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of giants like Shirley Chisolm, John Conyers, John Lewis, Ronald Dellums, and Barbara Jordan whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me to stand here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and progress for all, regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. The greatest of these giants to me are Mrs. Ivalita ``Ivy'' Jackson, a vocational nurse, and Mr. Ezra C. Jackson, one of the first African Americans to succeed in the comic book publishing business. They were my beloved parents, and they taught me the value of education, hard work, discipline, perseverance, and caring for others. And I am continually inspired by Dr. Elwyn Lee, my husband and the first tenured African American law professor at the University of Houston. Madam Speaker, I particularly wish to acknowledge the contributions of African American veterans in defending from foreign aggressors and who by their courageous examples helped transform our Nation from a segregated society to a nation committed to the never-ending challenge of perfecting our union. Several years ago about this time, I was honored to join my then colleagues Congressmen John Lewis and former Congressman Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran, in paying tribute to surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen and the 555th Parachute Infantry, the famed ``Triple Nickels'' at a moving ceremony sponsored by the U.S. Army commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen in escorting bombers during World War II--achieving one of the lowest loss records of all the escort fighter groups and being in constant demand for their services by the allied bomber units--is a record unmatched by any other fighter group. So impressive and astounding were the feats of the Tuskegee Airmen that in 1948, it helped persuade President Harry Truman to issue his famous Executive Order No. 9981, which directed equality of treatment and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces and led to the end of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces. They proved that ``the antidote to racism is excellence in performance,'' as retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter once remarked. It is a source of enormous and enduring pride that my father-in-law, Phillip Ferguson Lee, was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Madam Speaker, Black History Month is also a time to remember many pioneering women like activists Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks; astronaut Mae C. Jemison; mathematicians like Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson; authors Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have each in their own way, whether through courageous activism, cultural or intellectual contributions, or artistic creativity, forged social and political change, and forever changed our great Nation for the better. Madam Speaker, it is particularly fitting and proper this evening to remember and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic and audacious campaign for President of the late U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm. Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman elected to Congress, when she was elected to represent the New York's Twelfth Congressional District in 1968 running on the slogan, ``Fightinq Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.'' She reflected that spirit well during her 14 years in Congress. During her first term she spoke out for civil rights, women's rights, the poor and against the Vietnam War. Her first term in Congress was set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the women's movement for equal rights. Shirley Chisolm had an understanding that during those turbulent times the Nation required a determined leader to represent the voice of so many Americans who felt dismay at their treatment. She took an extremely active role in changing the way women were to be judged from that point on. She remarked that ``Women in this country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional roles and stereotypes.'' This is a sentiment that I myself take to heart, women in this Nation are now told they have a right to determine the kind of life they want to lead; Shirley Chisholm was at the core of this movement. On January 25, 1972, Chisholm announced her candidacy for President. She stood before the cameras and in the beginning of her speech she said: ``I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States. ``I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. ``I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or special interests. ``I am the candidate of the people.'' Shirley Chisholm did not win the nomination; but she went on to the Democratic Convention in Miami and received 151 delegates' votes. More than that, she demonstrated the will and determination of so many Americans, particularly black women, who had previously felt forgotten, and she lit the fire inspiring so many who had felt disenfranchised. I am glad to walk in their footsteps and will continue to encourage women to uphold the principles they taught us to fight for and cherish. Madam Speaker, because Shirley Chisolm dared to reach for the brass ring 50 years ago, she ushered in the era where women could aspire, seek, and win leadership roles in this country's local, State, and national governments. Before Shirley Chisolm, no black woman had ever served in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, but following in her footsteps are 51 black women Members of Congress, two black women U.S. Senators, including the President of that body and Vice-President of the United States; 23 Hispanic members; and 15 Asian-Pacific Members, along with the first woman Speaker of the House, and mayors of several of the largest cities in the Nation, including the District of Columbia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Baltimore, Hartford, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and St. Louis. One barrier left to fall, however, is one of the most important, and that is membership on the Supreme Court of the United States. For most of our national history, Presidents and Senators have turned a deaf ear to Abigail Adams' plea to her husband ``to remember the ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.'' Since Justice O'Connor's 1981 appointment, only four women have been nominated to the High Court for the 18 vacancies occurring during this time despite the fact that women constitute a majority of the general population, 37 percent of all attorneys in America, a number that will soon exceed the majority since a substantial majority (54 percent) of all law students in America are women. With the announcement of his retirement by Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, President Biden and the U.S. Senate, now have been presented and should move quickly to capitalize on this opportunity to begin to rectify the High Court's gender imbalance and to diversify its composition by nominating and confirming a member of the most underrepresented, disadvantaged, marginalized, longest suffering, and most patient demographic in America: black woman. Longer than any other racial or ethnic group, black women have been subjected to the coercive powers of the law while being excluded from the opportunities to make the laws citizens are to live under. If you are always ruled but denied the opportunity to rule in turn, you are simply a subject, and not fully a citizen. And that is how you get Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Korematsu v. United States (1944), Civil Rights Cases (1883), Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), Lochner v. New York (1905), and Buck v. Bell (1927). Simply stated, the purpose of pursuing diversity in the composition of a political system's decision-making institutions is not to elevate any particular man or woman, but to enhance, as Condorcet's Theorem posits, the quality and accuracy of institutional decision making and to bolster institutional legitimacy by increasing its diffuse support from marginal members of the political community. Researchers have shown that people are more likely to trust those with whom they share physical characteristics and thus as documented by the Center for American Progress, ``in the interests of both equality and the perception of fairness, it is important that judges reflect the parties and populations they serve.'' Or as described by scholars Jason Iuliano and Avery Stewart, ``In dispensing justice to all citizens, the legal system cannot allow one demographically homogenous group to hand down decisions while other racial and ethnic groups bear the brunt of those decisions.'' The federal judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, does not resemble the public at large. Glaring disparities exist for women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, American Indians, and LGBTQ individuals. Consider for example that of all the judges currently sitting on federal Article III courts, only about 10 percent are African American and 2.6 percent are Asian American. In contrast, Blacks and African Americans comprise 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, while Asians make up 5.7 percent of the population. Hispanics are woefully underrepresented on the courts compared with their share of the population with only 6.6 percent of sitting federal judges of Hispanic origin despite the fact that this group comprises 18.3 percent of the U.S. population. It is neither improper nor erroneous to say that President Biden owes black women because without their overwhelming support, his reeling campaign would not have cruised to victory in the 2020 South Carolina presidential primary, which led to his resounding wins on Super Tuesday, which put him on the glide path to the Democratic nomination and victory in the general election. So, if anybody is ever due to fulfill a key campaign promise, it is President Biden vowing to make ``sure there's a Black woman on the Supreme Court, to make sure we in fact get every representation.'' And when President Biden acts to keep his sacred promise, Shirley Chisolm will be smiling down at us from Heaven. It is also fitting, Madam Speaker, that in addition to those national leaders whose contributions have made our Nation better, we also honor those who have and are making a difference in their local communities. In my home city of Houston, there are numerous men and women who are great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who said: ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'' By that measure, I wish to pay tribute to some of the great men and women who help to make Houston the wonderful, dynamic, vibrant, inclusive, and progressive city that it is. As we celebrate Black History Month, let us pay tribute to those who have come before us, and pay forward to future generations by addressing what is the number one issue for African American families, and all American families today: preserving the American promise of economic opportunity for all. Our immediate focus must be to work `For The People' to crush the pandemic, continue this Administration's and this Congress's record setting pace for job creation (6.5 million in the first year), and enacting legislation that will foster and lay the foundation for today's and tomorrow's generation of groundbreaking activists, leaders, scientists, writers and artists to continue contributing to the greatness of America. We must continue to preserve the American Dream for all. Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand here in celebration of the heroic and historic acts of African Americans and their indispensable contributions to this great Nation. It is through our work in creating possibilities for today and future generations that we best honor the accomplishments and legacy of our predecessors. [From Rolling Stone, February 3, 2022] Shirley Chisholm's Newly Unearthed `Do Women Dare?' Speech Is Just as Relevant Today In July 1971, Shirley Chisholm began to talk about it. Chisholm, who in 1968 had become the first African American woman elected to Congress, would run for president. The congresswoman from New York announced her intentions to secure the Democratic nomination in September, and formally announced on Jan. 25, 1972. The Democratic candidates who sought to oppose President Nixon's bid for a second term counted ``Fighting Shirley'' and nine white men, all of whom had higher degrees, like Chisholm. Of the 10, all but Chisholm, Wilbur Mills, and Hubert Humphrey had served in the military. Chisholm was the first African American to contend for the presidential nomination of a major party. On the 50th anniversary of Chisholm's protest-era run, America is again reassessing itself and its history; the lesson of historical re-evaluation is seemingly how well we forget, and how fallible we are in remembering. Chisholm taught at the New School from 1971-75. ``Black Power and White Politics,'' her inaugural course (eight sessions for $40) posed the question: ``Can the political system be made responsive to the needs of minorities?'' The issues are familiar, as is the broil of her audience and a citizenship that feels unheard. Chisholm, in 1972, is already a celebrity--simultaneously a voice of the people and a spokesperson for a lying, thieving political system manipulated by Ivy League elites. The Chisholm audience, as well as the camera crew, chuckles uncomfortably as one questioner takes the soapbox, picking up ``the hot coal'' and imploring listeners to consider: ``Why do we fail as a country to address these urgent needs . . . what is basically wrong with America that we can keep talking and everything gets worse?'' ``The American public as a whole is too complacent,'' Chisholm answers. ``Not only is it complacent but it's also gullible. . . . We don't question enough. We don't concern ourselves about things until they hit us on our front doorstep. . . . For a long time we had been taught in America about the need to bring about 'social justice' that nobody worried about before in this society. But all of a sudden, middle-class America woke up about six years ago, when we began to have riots and conflagrations in the big cities of this country. Prior to that, nobody wondered what was happening to the Indian, the African American, or even the Puerto Rican, or even the Black because we were getting along as a whole and it didn't touch us on our front doorstep.'' Tracking back to 1969, we find Chisholm empaneled at the New School with Gloria Steinem, author, feminist, and activist, and Jacqueline Grenenwexler, the former president of Webster College. The three women, inaugurating the Human Relations Center at the New School, considered the provocation ``Do Women Dare?'' In the wake of the social upheavals of recent years, the speech, which is not known to have been published or broadcast since the event 50 years ago, feels as vital today as it did half a century ago. Through the discussion, Chisholm pointed to what we would now call intersectionality; the term was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 to describe the ways in which identity is nuanced and individual experience is not based on skin color or class alone. Intersectionality makes the invisible visible. It adds dimensionality to a type of racism that can be one- dimensional. What is diversity without diverse socioeconomic backgrounds? Recorded via a WBAI broadcast, and newly digitized and transcribed here, Chisholm's opening remarks for the 1969 panel are expansive, yet immediate. She's radical in one moment, citing the divisive author Eldridge Cleaver, and pronouncedly centrist in the next, pointing back to personal responsibility: ``The law cannot do it for us. We must do it for ourselves.'' Chisholm's words are charged and nuanced and controversial, she is hearing the unheard, endeavoring to listen and to keep listening and vowing to fight. Here are her remarks. Shirley Chisholm: The topic this morning of course is, ``do women dare?'' And I have said, of course women dare. Do women dare? I assume that the question implies do women dare take an active part in society and, in particular, do they dare to take a part in the present social revolution? And I find the question as much of an insult as I would the question, ''Are you, as a Black person, willing to fight for your rights?'' America has been sufficiently sensitized to the answer, whether or not Black people are willing to both fight and die for their rights. To make the question itself is asinine and superfluous. America is not yet sufficiently aware, but such a question applied to women is equally asinine and superfluous. I am, as is obvious, both Black and a woman. And that is a good vantage point from which to view at least two elements of what is becoming a social revolution. The American Black revolution and the women's liberation movement. But it is also a horrible disadvantage. It is a disadvantage, my friends, because America as a nation, is both racist and antifeminist. Racism and antifeminism are two of the prime traditions of this country that we have to face objectively. For any individual, therefore, challenging social traditions is a giant step. A giant step, because there are no social traditions which do not have corresponding social sanctions, the sole purpose of which are to protect the sanctity of the traditions. Then when we ask the question, ``do women dare?'' we are not asking are women capable of a break with tradition so much as we are asking, are they capable of bearing with the sanctions that will be placed upon them? Coupling this with the hypothesis presented by some social thinkers and philosophers that in any given society the most active group are those who are nearest to the particular freedom that they desire, it does not surprise me that those women, most active and vocal on the issue of freedom for women, are those who are young, white, and middle class. Nor is it also too surprising that there are not more from that group involved in the women's liberation movement. There certainly are reasons why more women are not involved, and this country, as I said, is antifeminist. Few, if any Americans, are free of the psychological wounds imposed by racism and antifeminism.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, the outstanding speakers of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Bryan Stevenson combined together to say, Use your faith to make a difference. Let me applaud the President of the United States. And in this month of February, where we typically honor African Americans and the history of how they contributed to this Nation, the President announced that he would nominate to the United States Supreme Court an African-American woman, a Black woman. Since 1789, March 4, was when the Supreme Court first organized, there has never been one of the major elements of society--first, a woman, and then a Black woman, who, of course, in slavery, suffered alongside of men and children. Black women continued, in essence, to be subordinate. Continuing as domestics, fighting in wars, supporting families, and intellectually some of the smartest geniuses around. They were in fact ready to be on the Supreme Court. They won't have a ``woke'' agenda. There won't be a question of whether they know a law book. Let me just say, it is time for a Black woman on the United States Supreme Court. Do it now. I thank the President.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in enthusiastic support of H.R. 5577, which designates the United States Postal Service facility located at 3900 Crown Road Southwest in Atlanta, Georgia, as the ``John R. Lewis Post Office Building.'' As a senior member of this body, a former colleague of the great and beloved John Lewis, and as a member of a generation that engaged in direct action inspired by his work in the Civil Rights Movement, I am proud to vote for H.R. 5577 in this tribute to an American original. I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Williams of Georgia, for introducing this historic legislation to honor the memory of our dear friend and one of the greatest Americans, the beloved Congressman John Robert Lewis, who died in July 2020, leaving a big hole in the hearts of freedom loving people everywhere. To honor John's outstanding contributions to the civil rights community in Atlanta and his extraordinary life of service to others, it is both fitting and proper to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3900 Crown Road Southwest in Atlanta, Georgia, as the ``John R. Lewis Post Office Building.'' John Lewis was a lifelong warrior for a more just, equitable, fairer, and better America, one of the Original Big Six, and a giant of the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders, who in 1961 challenged segregated interstate travel in the South. He was a founder and early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which coordinated lunch-counter sit-ins. He helped organize and was the last surviving person who addressed the multitude at the March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his immortal ``I Have A Dream'' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. John Robert Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, the third of ten children, to Eddie and Willie Mae (Carter) Lewis near the town of Troy on a sharecropping farm owned by a white man. John was a child when his parents bought their own farm--110 acres for $300. He performed farm work, leaving school at harvest time to pick cotton, peanuts, and corn. John Lewis's family members called him ``Preacher,'' and becoming one seemed to be his destiny. John often said he drew inspiration by listening to a young minister named Martin Luther King on the radio and reading about the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott. John Lewis did not just listen to Martin Luther King, Jr., he took action to follow his example. The first time John Lewis was arrested was in February 1960, he and other students demanded service at whites-only lunch counters in Nashville, the first prolonged battle of the movement that evolved into the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. John Lewis's advocacy was fierce and joyful, as embodied in his common refrain to involve oneself in the actions and passions of one's time, `to get in the way, make necessary trouble. Less than two years after, in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, John led over 600 peaceful demonstrators across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, in a march demanding the right to vote. That protest was met with violence by Alabama State Troopers, as John Lewis was beaten and his skull left bloodied, the horror left bare for a nation to see on television. That incident, forever remembered as Bloody Sunday, led to the passage and enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was my personal honor to accompany John Lewis on countless pilgrimages to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to remember and acknowledge those common persons with common dreams and uncommon courage and love for the promise of the country. In 1986, John Lewis was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Georgia's 6th District and served in that role for 17 terms until the sun set on his heroic and extraordinary life. John Lewis's moral authority was colossal because he had seen the worst of us, but he always appealed to the best of us and never ceased to inspire us to strive to create the beloved community. John Lewis was the conscience of the Congress, widely beloved and revered on both sides of the aisle and the Capitol, he became the first African American lawmaker to lie in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. John Lewis' moral authority in the United States House of Representatives was in full display when he led members in a 24-hour sit in on the floor of the House of Representatives. In John Lewis' final act of civic engagement and civil disobedience, he stood in the middle of Black Lives Matter Plaza showing solidarity and the continuity with the now global movement fighting galvanized by the horrific murder of George Floyd to peacefully protest for justice and equal treatment in the criminal justice system. Mr. Speaker, John Lewis was among the finest Americans this country ever produced, it is no exaggeration to say he was a man, the likes of which we shall not see again. In 2011, at a White House ceremony, President Barack Obama awarded John Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. John Lewis also received the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) Spingarn Medal. John Lewis was a true man of honor who dedicated his life to civil and human rights, as he broke down racial barriers while maintaining imperishable perseverance. John Lewis lived a consequential life, and his legacy is all around us, in the realization of talent and opportunity of millions of persons who walked through the doors of progress that John Lewis helped open. I hope it is comfort to the family and loved ones of John Lewis that people around the world are celebrating his life, including the act of Congress designating a post office in his name.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, sadly I rise to indicate that domestic terrorism is on the rise in America. We have all faced the tragedies of terroristic acts by our fellow Americans, chiefly, of course, the January 6 insurrection, which it is so striking to me that people want to dumb down the language used. It was insurrection by terrorists who happened to be Americans. We focused on 9/11. The very action of terrorism was associated internationally. I was in this place, in this Capitol on 9/11, in a meeting on 9/11. As we fled this building, clearly looking, as I went to the right to escape what we thought was an imminent attack on this building by foreign terrorists, I could see the building, the black smoke of the plane that had just hit the Pentagon. It is real, and January 6 is real as well. So it is important that we as Members of Congress address this for the Nation. One, it was real in Colleyville for my fellow Texans as they were attacked in their synagogue, their place of worship. How horrific anti-Semitism is. I stand against it, as I stand against the horrors of representing what critical race theory is, which it is not in any way an attempt to create racist divide. It is a college phenomenon. It is a higher-grad phenomenon. It is not teaching our elementary school children about George Washington Carver or the history of African Americans or slavery or the importance of passing H.R. 40, the commission to study slavery and develop reparations, not anything that is going to not stand on its own about the wonderment of our history and acknowledging the original sin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of the dastardly behavior of the numbers of historically Black colleges in this month who have now received bomb threats. This is not something to take lightly. It is not something to ignore. It is not something that we, as Members of Congress, parents, who can understand the frightening prospect of parents who send their children to school, just as it was certainly frightening to have two officers in the Virginia college shot dead. We don't know what the facts are in that, but certainly that is an extreme action--to shoot dead. One of the witnesses said that when the officer was down, this perpetrator shot them dead blank, again. How outrageous. What could it be? I speculate we don't know what it is. As we are in the midst of a hearing with Homeland Security, I call upon Homeland Security and those reinforced entities dealing with social media. I also think the FBI should specifically focus on domestic terrorism with a more enhanced and reinforced section of agents that are dealing both with social media but, also, dealing more vigorously with an action that seems to be a collective action. So I want to put into the Record, tragically, the following colleges: Rust College, Tougaloo College, Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State, Fort Valley State, Spelman, Morgan State, Coppin State, Harris-Stowe State University, Kentucky State, Xavier University, Philander Smith College, Edward Waters University, Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record this article from the Washington Post. [From the Washington Post] Fear, Anxiety Follow Third Wave of Bomb Threats Targeting HBCUs (By Lauren Lumpkin and Susan Svrluga) For the third time in just a month, Howard University warned its campus on Tuesday of a bomb threat. Each time, a law enforcement search found no sign of the threatened explosives. But as students spilled out of academic buildings and headed to their next classes, or lined up for burritos at a nearby Chipotle, the campus was still on edge. ``Most of us are feeling anxiety,'' said Troix McClendon, a 19-year-old freshman. ``There's not really a lot of information.'' The bomb threats at Howard are part of a wave to hit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) this year. On Jan. 4, at least eight HBCUs were threatened. On Monday, at least six were. Tuesday's threats, most coming early in the morning on the first day of Black History Month, broadened and deepened the sense of unease: At least 16 universities closed or swept their campuses. In all, more than two dozen have faced similar threats this year. No bombs were found, and law enforcement agencies did not identify possible motives. But the threats weigh heavily on many, particularly given the emotional attachment and deep loyalty many students, faculty, staff and alumni feel for the campuses--a haven, a calling, a family. ``February 1st, it's a moment when we usually celebrate the innovation and the resilience of our people, and now to be faced with an issue of this kind at our HBCUs nationwide, we want our community to know that we're standing together,'' said Tashni-Ann Dubroy, Howard's executive vice president and chief operating officer. The university in the District has increased the police presence on campus, reminded students of the safety resources on campus and offered support, Dubroy said. The FBI has said it is working with law enforcement partners to address potential threats, according to the agency, and it asked the public to report anything suspicious to law enforcement immediately. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also is aware of bomb threats received by some HBCUs, Carolyn Gwathmey, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in a written statement. ``We take all potential threats seriously and we regularly work with our law enforcement partners to determine the threat credibility.'' She said it could not comment on the specific details at this time because it is a fluid situation with ongoing investigations. The threats in the past month have touched some of the country's most iconic schools, such as Howard and Spelman College, as well as regional institutions all across the country, triggering cancellations, lockdowns and fear. On Tuesday, the schools targeted included: Rust College, Tougaloo College, Jackson State University and Alcorn State University in Mississippi, as well as Mississippi Valley State University; Fort Valley State University and Spelman College in Georgia; Morgan State University and Coppin State University in Maryland; Harris-Stowe State University in Missouri; Kentucky State University; Xavier University of Louisiana; Philander Smith College in Arkansas; Edward Waters University in Florida; Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia. ``We stand in solidarity with our historically Black institutions,'' Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland--which includes Coppin State and Bowie State, another school targeted by a threat this week--said Tuesday in a written statement. He added: ``Knowing that their strength is our strength, and that their power--on display like never before--will not be diminished by cowardly acts meant to menace and harm and intimidate. If the intent of these threats was to restrict access to our historically Black institutions--to restrict access to higher education itself--it will fail. If it was meant to sow division, it will fail. If it was meant to terrorize students and communities of color, it will fail.'' At the University of the District of Columbia on Tuesday, officials cleared a threat placed about 3:20 a.m. and opened the campus. Xavier University of Louisiana evacuated the area of the threat and issued a shelter-in-place order for students living on campus, according to Patrice Bell, the school's vice president and chief of staff, until it was cleared to reopen by law-enforcement officials. Tougaloo College, one of several HBCUs threatened Tuesday in Mississippi, received a call about 4:20 a.m. that brought FBI and other law enforcement to sweep campuses. Even after the threat was found to be unsubstantiated, the campus remained in virtual mode for students, faculty and staff on Tuesday, with college officials pledging to remain vigilant. Mississippi Valley State University locked down after a threat was received through its guardhouse. Philander Smith College, in Arkansas, lifted its lockdown and resumed classes and operations at noon Tuesday. Kentucky State University issued an all-clear Tuesday and planned to resume normal operations and classes Wednesday. Morgan State University was also targeted. Leaders received the threat around 4:50 a.m. and issued a shelter-in-place order. Classes went virtual and employees were told to work from home. ``My main concern is my students' mental health. As college students, we already have so much mentally to deal with,'' said Jamera Forbes, a senior at Morgan State and student body president. ``We've tried to push through and overcome so much with covid over the years, and we're just trying to get back to a norm.'' At Howard, freshman Jalen McKinney, 18, said the threats are making him worried, but some on campus seem less concerned. ``People are kind of brushing it off because it didn't happen,'' McKinney said. D.C. and university police performed a sweep after the threat was made about 2:55 a.m. ``But at the same time, it could happen.'' An expert in campus security was reassuring about the potential danger. ``I've always subscribed to the theory that bombers bomb and threateners threaten,'' said Robert Mueck, director of public safety at St. John's College and a member of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators' Domestic Preparedness Committee. Calling in a bomb threat is ``more of a nuisance crime,'' he said, ``like back in high school, kids pulling a fire alarm to get out of an exam.'' Of course, he said, officials cannot ignore it--they must ensure there is no explosive. But Mueck cautioned against overreactions by college officials, because the warnings, building closures and lockdowns are disruptive and alarming. These particular threats are troubling, though, he said, because they appear to be targeting HBCUs, and might be motivated by bias. The menace is there: ``It's almost like reaching out and saying, 'We can get you,''' he said. While law enforcement have not identified suspects or named their motives, the recent threats evoked the long history of intimidation and violence against Black schools, said Greg E. Carr, chair of Howard's Afro-American studies department and associate professor of Africana studies. ``There is this deep-seated racial insecurity that has historically come from segments of White populations that feel that somehow the self-improvement of Black folks will cost them something, either in prestige or social position,'' Carr said. ``Whether any of these threats would manifest into anything tangible or not, it's just the idea that `Ya'll are a little too big for your britches.' '' As officials continue to monitor the situation, students and faculty are hoping to get back to business. ``Our response has been, historically, to simply redouble our efforts,'' Carr said. ``The intimidation never works.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, my real point is that we need to get serious about domestic terrorism. The lives lost through domestic terrorism is compelling and increasing. Until we get serious about the actions of the Oath Keepers and the boogaloo boys and the Nazi wearers and proponents, in light of the First Amendment, which as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary I highly respect, we are losing lives. Our children are in jeopardy. Misrepresentation is occurring about innocent discussion about race and history. Let us put that kind of attack aside. Let us find a way to deal with domestic terrorism to save lives in America. Mr. Speaker, I hope that I will draw upon my colleagues. I will be introducing legislation, as I have done, on dealing with this idea of bomb threats to universities in this instance, bomb threats to historically Black colleges last week and coming into this week. God knows what will be next. I pray for their safety, as I do all students and all Americans. We must stand against domestic terrorism.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, this is reminiscent of more than a decade and a half ago, but it means that it is long overdue for us to now start anew with the America COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521. Let me, first of all, say that in the passage of legislation, isn't it exciting that we have a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will match very nicely along with the America COMPETES Act and, as well, we will pass the Build Back Better Act, that has a sizeable proportion of broadband and many other aspects dealing with climate. So I rise today to support H.R. 4521 for a number of reasons, but I will put in the forefront the idea that it will promote around the world America's values of justice and competitiveness, equality and, yes, human rights. And all the nations that pretend to be competitive, but yet do not have the aspect of compassion and laws that the United States has will be in the back seat, and we will be in the front seat. Let me, first of all, say that we are bringing relief to all the folks that are trying to get their automobiles; $45 billion in the American fund for chips that will incentivize private sector investments and continued American leadership in semiconductor fabrication, and will address simply the supply chain disruption, and ensure that more semiconductors are produced here at home. There are also jobs for my inner-city young people, my rural young people. I was at TRRX in the city of Houston, and we were looking at--a truck driver talked to me and said, I stopped driving trucks. I had health issues, and I am now dealing with technology training that they are giving in at-risk communities. Strengthening the supply chain with $45 billion to improve the Nation's supply chain and national security by preventing the shortages of critical goods and ensuring that more of these goods are made right. And advancing what is very important to me, having served on the Science Committee, NASA is in my backyard, the Johnson Space Center, and I am excited about what we have been able to do over the decades. But now we will be able to focus on scientific research, technology and innovation and excellence. That creates jobs. Madam Speaker, I rise with enthusiasm to support H.R. 4521. Let's compete. Let's show our values. Let's train, and let's make money. Make it in America. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, I rise in strong support of the Rule governing debate of Rules Committee Print 117-31 and H.R. 4521, the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength or ``America COMPETES Act of 2022,'' as well as the underlying legislation. I also support the Rule as it pertains to H.R. 3485--Global Respect Act H.R. 4445--Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, both of which I strongly support on the merits. Madam Speaker, the America COMPETES Act of 2022 is a bold legislative package that makes transformational new investments in research, innovation and American manufacturing that will ensure that America can outcompete any nation in the world, now and for decades to come. The package will accelerate production of critical semiconductor chips, strengthen the supply chain to make more goods in America, turbocharge our research capacity to lead the technologies of the future, and advance our global competitiveness, while supporting strong labor standards and human rights, among other key provisions. The America COMPETES Act of 2022 is a bold, comprehensive package to strengthen America's competitiveness, which includes the ``Creating the CHIPS for America Fund,'' providing $52 billion to incentivize private- sector investments and continue American leadership in semiconductor fabrication, helping address supply chain disruptions and ensure that more semiconductors are produced here at home. The legislation strengthening the supply chain and American manufacturing by authorizing $45 billion to improve our nation's supply chains and strengthen our economy and national security by preventing shortages of critical goods and ensuring that more of these goods are made right here in the United States. The America COMPETES Act of 2022 advances American scientific research, technology, and innovation excellence by making major new solutions-driven investments in every aspect of innovation and scientific research, making the kind of investments that will lead to breakthrough discoveries. I am particularly pleased that the America COMPETES Act will help maintain and secure America's global competitiveness and leadership through economic development diplomacy, human rights, and partnering with allies by including numerous provisions to strengthen and promote America's leadership around the globe, including in such areas as investing in partnerships and alliances, investing in standing up for America's values, expanding our investments in diplomacy, and promoting human rights. Madam Speaker, the United States has long been a beacon of excellence in science and technology in the world. I have worked hard on the COMPETES Act over time to make sure that this legislation includes provisions that stimulates government reinvestment in the private sector; and reimagination of the Federal government's approach to innovation that ignites and excites new ideas that ensure that the United States remains the leader in innovation globally. The need to reinvest in and reimagine our approach to science and innovation has become a national imperative so I am very pleased that the legislation before us retains provisions I sponsored that were included when the America COMPETES Act was previously passed. One of those provisions, which is incorporated in RCP 117-31 addresses the STEM education gap for K-12 students by creating State and regional workshops to train K-12 teachers in project-based science and technology learning, allowing them to provide instruction in initiating robotics and other STEM competition team development programs. Another provision included in the legislation requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of ``Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics'' (STEM) industry internship program recipients. Facilitating links between institutes of higher education and the private sector is vital to ensuring that education enables a skilled and relevant workforce. Such links are especially important for minorities and under-served communities because these students often lack alternative avenues to connect their education with an industry. Internship experience is an increasingly vital component of a successful resume, yet the unpaid nature of internships is cost- prohibitive for many people. Mandating that the National Science Foundation report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of STEM program recipients will help ensure that minorities and economically-disadvantaged students have adequate access to internships that bridge STEM academia and industry. I am hopeful this data will provide evidence of robust participation by minority and economically-disadvantaged students; however, if such students are not fully participating, these reporting requirements will provide Congress with the data it needs to facilitate broader participation. Now is the time to recommit to boldly and strategically investing in our nation's future--to promote America's economic strength, the well- being of our communities, our national security and our leadership in the world. This transformative legislation will ensure that America can out-compete any nation, for decades to come. Madam Speaker, I also support the provisions of the rule governing debate of H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that empowers survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment by giving them a choice to go to court instead of being forced into arbitration. This legislation would amend the Federal Arbitration Act for disputes involving sexual assault and sexual harassment in order to stop employers and businesses from forcing employees and customers out of the court system and into arbitration. It would ensure that predispute arbitration clauses and waivers of the right to bring joint actions in cases of sexual assault or sexual harassment would not be valid or enforceable for cases that are filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law. Under current law, many employment and other contracts require binding arbitration for a wide range of matters before a dispute arises, which denies survivors the ability to decide whether to pursue their claim with the procedural protections provided by courts, and silences victims of abuse by forcing them into a confidential dispute forum without the right to appeal. More than 60 million Americans are subject to mandatory arbitration clauses in the workplace, often without realizing it until they come forward to bring a claim against their employer. The Report of the Co-Chairs of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace notes that between 50-75 percent of women have faced some form of unwanted or unwelcome sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, contracts for services may include mandatory arbitration clauses in the fine print that shield companies and businesses from being held publicly accountable for the harm caused. I support this necessary legislation because it advances efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment and sexual assault, strengthen rights, protect victims, and promote access to justice. Finally, I strongly support H.R. 3485 the Global Respect Act, which would mandate the listing of, and visa restrictions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons. In the face of rising violence targeting LGBTQI+ persons around the world, the Administration recognizes that LGBTQI+ persons face serious and unique threats to their safety due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. While many countries have made tremendous strides in embracing equality for LGBTQI+ community members, other countries remain stagnant or, worse, are undertaking steps to further marginalize or harm LGBTQI+ community members. That is why I support H.R. 3485, a bi-partisan bill, which requires the Administration to provide Congress with a list of foreign individuals found responsible for human rights violations against LGBTQI+ persons abroad, and equally important, mandates that individuals included on this list are ineligible for visas to, or entry into, the United States. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for the rule governing debate of RCP 117- 31, the America COMPETES Act of 2022, H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, and H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, first of all, I think it is important to say how great it is to have an opportunity to create jobs and promote human rights at the same time, while respecting our fellow Americans, Asian Pacific Americans. I think it is important that we make that statement, that as we promote this very important legislation, Asian Pacific Islanders and others will also have the respect of this Nation because we do believe in human rights. But I want to pause for a moment to be able to thank my friend, my colleague, the Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson, for sticking to her higher values, her commitment to science for more than two decades, going on three decades. As I watched her on the Science Committee, first as a member myself, and then as she proceeded to take the leadership reins, look where we are today, with an outstanding America COMPETES Act that builds on previous legislation, brings together 11 jurisdictional committees, and comes out on the side of creating jobs. We owe her a great debt of gratitude, and I am grateful to call her a Member of the United States Congress, but I am even more grateful to call her a fellow Texan. This legislation will answer the questions of those who are complaining about the supply chain because $45 billion will improve our Nation's supply chain and strengthen our economy and national security by preventing shortages of critical goods. There is an outcry of inflation. There is an outcry of empty shelves, but I will tell you that the immediate signing of this bill will turn the corner for all Americans. I am grateful that we will be advancing the American scientific research technology and innovation. Just the other day I was at the Ion Center sponsored by Rice, and looking at a number of technology companies in my 18th Congressional District. I was glad to talk to a former truck driver who was there in a program that dealt with training at-risk persons or persons who were changing careers. He was saying he could not do trucking anymore, but how glad he was to do this. I am also very glad that legislation that I had is in this bill regarding STEM and also K-12 students by creating State and regional workshops to create jobs. This is a bill that will continue to create jobs and working with the National Science Foundation to ensure the diversity in STEM. I will continue to work on these issues and create jobs. The COMPETES Act creates jobs. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House and the Committee on Homeland Security, and as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, I rise in strong support of Rules Committee Print 117-31 and H.R. 4521, the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength or ``America COMPETES) Act of 2022,'' as well as the underlying legislation. I particularly wish to thank my colleague from Texas, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, the Chair of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, for her extraordinary leadership and the progress and success made possible by her steadfast commitment to fairness and equality. For 15 terms the constituents of her congressional district have been ably represented by one of this body's great legislators, who will be missed deeply when she leaves this body at the end of the current Congress. Madam Speaker, the America COMPETES Act of 2022 is a bold legislative package that makes transformational new investments in research, innovation and American manufacturing that will ensure that America can outcompete any nation in the world, now and for decades to come. The package will accelerate production of critical semiconductor chips, strengthen the supply chain to make more goods in America, turbocharge our research capacity to lead the technologies of the future, and advance our global competitiveness, while supporting strong labor standards and human rights, among other key provisions. The America COMPETES Act of 2022 is a bold, comprehensive package to strengthen America's competitiveness, which includes the ``Creating the CHIPS for America Fund,'' providing $52 billion to incentivize private- sector investments and continue American leadership in semiconductor fabrication, helping address supply chain disruptions and ensure that more semiconductors are produced here at home. The legislation strengthening the supply chain and American manufacturing by authorizing $45 billion to improve our nation's supply chains and strengthen our economy and national security by preventing shortages of critical goods and ensuring that more of these goods are made right here in the United States. The America COMPETES Act of 2022 advances American scientific research, technology, and innovation excellence by making major new solutions-driven investments in every aspect of innovation and scientific research, making the kind of investments that will lead to breakthrough discoveries. I am particularly pleased that the America COMPETES Act will help maintain and secure America's global competitiveness and leadership through economic development diplomacy, human rights, and partnering with allies by including numerous provisions to strengthen and promote America's leadership around the globe, including in such areas as investing in partnerships and alliances, investing in standing up for America's values, expanding our investments in diplomacy, and promoting human rights. Madam Speaker, the United States has long been a beacon of excellence in science and technology in the world. I have worked hard on the COMPETES Act over time to make sure that this legislation includes provisions that stimulates government reinvestment in the private sector; and reimagination of the Federal government's approach to innovation that ignites and excites new ideas that ensure that the United States remains the leader in innovation globally. I am very pleased that the legislation before us retains provisions I sponsored that were included when the America COMPETES Act was previously passed. One of those provisions, which is incorporated in RCP 117-31 addresses the STEM education gap for K-12 students by creating State and regional workshops to train K-12 teachers in project-based science and technology learning, allowing them to provide instruction in initiating robotics and other STEM competition team development programs. Another provision included in the legislation requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of ``Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics'' (STEM) industry internship program recipients. Facilitating links between institutes of higher education and the private sector is vital to ensuring that education enables a skilled and relevant workforce. Such links are especially important for minorities and under-served communities because these students often lack alternative avenues to connect their education with an industry. Internship experience is an increasingly vital component of a successful resume, yet the unpaid nature of internships is cost- prohibitive for many people. Mandating that the National Science Foundation report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of STEM program recipients will help ensure that minorities and economically disadvantaged students have adequate access to internships that bridge STEM academia and industry. I am hopeful this data will provide evidence of robust participation by minority and economically disadvantaged students; however, if such students are not fully participating, these reporting requirements will provide Congress with the data it needs to facilitate broader participation. Now is the time to recommit to boldly and strategically investing in our nation's future--to promote America's economic strength, the well- being of our communities, our national security and our leadership in the world. This transformative legislation will ensure that America can out-compete any nation, for decades to come. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting for the rule governing debate of RCP 117- 31, the America COMPETES Act of 2022.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, today I rise with a heavy heart, to remember the life of a special young woman, and to celebrate a life interrupted too soon. Zenobia Viola Harris Bivens, 40, of Houston, Texas, passed away on January 8, 2022 after a sudden and unexpected case of meningitis. Zenobia was a mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, cousin, and friend. She was born on September 15, 1981, in Goldsboro, North Carolina at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to Johnny Harris Jr. and Major Regina V. Harris. She is preceded in death by her father, Johnny Harris Jr. and is survived by her husband, Darvell Bivens; son, Dean Roque Harris Bivens; mother, Regina V. Harris; sister, LaGina R. Harris; and brother, Johnny B. Harris III and his wife, Jessica M. Saulter Harris. Zenobia's greatest impact was sharing her heart and time with those that knew and loved her, especially Darvell, her college sweetheart and best friend for over 20 years. Together they gathered a `Village' of educators, friends and family to create a loving, fun, and nurturing environment for their son Dean. Zenobia based her actions on her family values of `God, Family, and Education'. Zenobia graduated from San Angelo Central High School in 1999 and went on to attend college at West Texas A&M where she won a National Title in Speech and Debate was named University Woman of the Year, was featured in Glamour Magazine, and met the love of her life--Darvell Bivens. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication--Broadcasting. She received the Future Faculty Fellowship (full scholarship to receive master's degree and doctorate) to attend the University of Alabama. While at the University, Zenobia was the co-founder of the Coalition for Change (organization dedicated to identifying and preserving historic Civil Rights sites including discovering unmarked graves of the enslaved on the campus grounds). She graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama. Zenobia then attended Northwestern University--Pritzker Law School where she was a legal extern to former Senator Barack Obama and graduated cum laude with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. In her profession, Zenobia's achievements are numerous and impressive. Zenobia served as clerk for the Honorable Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and the Honorable Justice Dale Wainwright (ret.) of the Texas Supreme Court. She was a renowned trial and appellate lawyer. She served as counsel in cases involving NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development among many. Her cases were featured in Forbes, The New York Times, and The Houston Chronicle. Zenobia successfully argued a case before the United States Supreme Court. At the time of her death, Zenobia was a Managing Partner for the Frost, Brown & Todd Law Firm. She was relentless in her pursuit for justice, and this was evident in her pro bono advocacy work as she was particularly passionate about helping those who had been denied justice by the legal system that she so cherished. Zenobia was truly a force of nature. She commanded attention and respect in any space she entered, be it a family room, courtroom, a garden, or even a podium for one of her epic speeches. Anyone meeting Zenobia for the first time might have been intimidated by the sheer power of her presence. Those who knew Zenobia realized that one of her most significant impacts was in the one-on-one discussions, when her questions or advice could provide new confidence or reveal a new strength in those she loved. Zenobia did not get the quantity of time on Earth she deserved or that we wanted; what she lacked in quantity, she more than made up for with quality. Zenobia once mentioned that the greatest people in history made their biggest impacts early in their lives. She was taken physically from this world much too soon, but Zenobia leaves it, and us, better. As Zenobia walked ahead of us, she set the bar high and built upon the foundation her predecessors laid. She walked beside us, as a companion on our own journeys of growth. She supported and sustained us when we fell. As a result of having known her, we are invigorated and stronger. Zenobia did her work to change the world now, we must honor her by continuing ours.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I stand here in strong support of H.R. 1836, the Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act (EVEST), which provides automatic enrollment in the VA for all transitioning service members, and veterans who don't want to obtain its services have the easy choice of opting out.