Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee; Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, and the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, I rise today to offer thoughts and reflections on the congressional responsibility to bear witness to the counting of electoral votes to determine formally the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States and on the campaign and election that brought us to this day. The outcome of that count is not in doubt and has not been since November 7, 2020, when it became clear that Democratic candidates Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris had won the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona to become the 46th President and 59th Vice- President of the United States, earning 306 electoral votes, 36 more than the 270 needed for election. The results in those states, as well as every other state that chose presidential electors on November 3, 2020, has been certified and wherever necessary upheld against legal challenge by the courts in the affected states. On December 14, 2020, presidential electors met in their respective state capitols to cast their votes for President and Vice-President, with the documentary and video evidence clearly demonstrating that the Biden/Harris ticket was the clear and unassailable choice of the Electoral College. The counting of the electors' ballot today will ratify the outcome that has been foretold for months and only those with the most conspiratorial mindset and the willing suspension of disbelief, like the current occupant of the White House and his band of acolytes consisting of 140 Members of the House and 12 U.S. senators, could persist in the delusion that the vox populi, the voice of the people, has not spoken clearly and definitively. Madam Speaker, the Biden/Harris ticket won the national popular vote going away, by more than 7 million votes, 81.3 million to 74.2 million. Their victory was so sweeping that it won the majority of states, including five states won four years ago by the loser, including Georgia, which a Democratic candidate had not won since 1992, and Arizona, which last voted Democratic in 1996. This day is not like its counterpart of 2001, when the determination of the winner hung in the balance on the outcome of the contest in Florida, where 537 votes out of 5.82 million votes cast separated the candidates and the U.S. Supreme Court halted the vote recount ordered by the Supreme Court of Florida, thus leaving reasonable persons to question who was the true winner of that state's decisive 25 electoral votes. This day is not like 2005, where the outcome hinged on the 18 electoral votes of Ohio, and where state officials refused to count provisional ballots and engaged in other tactics alleged to be taken to suppress the votes of racial minorities. And certainly this day is not like 2017, when Congress met to count the electoral votes cast in the state's first American presidential election in which the U.S. Intelligence Community had confirmed was the subject of cyberattacks and other subversive activities of entities allied with the Government of Russia that were undertaken for the express purpose of influencing the outcome to secure the election of its preferred candidate, Donald Trump, who it should be added, openly invited a hostile foreign power to launch cyberattacks against his political opponent. Another important distinction involving the 2016 election is that it was the first presidential election held since the Supreme Court issued the notorious decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which neutered the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act and adversely affected the ability of hundreds of thousands of persons to cast a ballot and have their vote counted. In contrast, American voters in 2020 were forewarned and forearmed against Russian interference, propaganda, and disinformation and with no backing but with the active resistance of the Chief Executive, the governments of the United States and the individual states took active measures to ensure the security and integrity of election systems against fraud and undue interference. This effort was so successful that the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) Executive Committee, consisting of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), U.S. Election Assistance Commission, National Association of Secretaries of State, and the National Association of State Election Directors, issued the following statement on November 12, 2020: The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary. This is an added benefit for security and resilience. This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. Even United States Attorney General William P. Barr, the most politically biased person, to hold that office, publicly acknowledged that although U.S. attorneys and FBI agents had followed up on specific complaints and information they had received, ``to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.'' Under the laws of every state, the Trump Campaign was entitled to bring legal challenges to the administration of the election in any state where it felt aggrieved, and it took ample advantage of these opportunities, bringing scores of lawsuits alleging ``wide-spread fraud,'' requesting recounts, or demanding that votes cast for the Democratic candidate be thrown out or simply not counted. These legal challenges were met with colossal failure, the Trump Campaign suffering stinging defeats in more than 65 cases; its lone success came in Pennsylvania where a court granted its request to allow monitors to observe ballot tabulation from a distance of six rather than 10 feet away . Which brings us to this day, when die-hard followers of the current occupant of the White House, a group I call the ``Lost Cause Caucus,'' now seek to revive and press forward with the discredited and rejected claims of the Trump Campaign that the elections in the states that were key to bringing about his resounding defeat were ``rigged'' or ``fraudulent'' or the result of some vague conspiracy by the ``Deep State.'' Madam Speaker, this is utter nonsense; which I show by examining the challenge to the electors from Pennsylvania, where like Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, Trump pitched his flag and made his grand stand. Over 6.9 million Pennsylvanians voted in that election, with over 2.6 million of those voters using mail-in or absentee ballots; Vice President Biden received 3,459,923 votes, easily beating Trump, by 81,660 votes. Vice-President Biden's vote margin was twice as large as was Trump's when he won the state in an upset in 2016. Madam Speaker, it is not difficult to understand why so many Pennsylvanians voted in 2019, and by mail in unprecedented numbers. In 2019, with broad and bipartisan support, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted Act 77 of 2019, which made several important updates and improvements to Pennsylvania's Election Code, Act of Oct. 31, 2019 (P.L. 552, No. 77), 2019 Pa. Legis. Serv. 2019-77 (S.B. 421) (West) (``Act 77''). Among these were provisions that, for the first time, offered the option of mail-in voting to all Pennsylvania electors. See 25 P.S. Sec. Sec. 3150.11-3150.17. This change was a significant development that made it easier for all Pennsylvanians to exercise their right to vote and brought the state in line with the practice of dozens of other states. Under Act 77, voters had until October 27, 2020, to request a mail-in ballot for this year's November 3rd General Election. 25 P.S. Sec. 3150.12a(a). Act 77 set 8:00 p.m. on Election Day as the due date for returning those ballots to the county boards of elections. 25 P.S. Sec. 3150.16. The Election Code provides for a variety of safeguards to ensure the integrity of this process. See 25 P.S. Sec. 3146.8(g)(3); 25 P.S. Sec. 3146.2c; 25 P.S. Sec. 3146.8 (g)(4); 25 P.S. Sec. 3150.12b(a)(2). The presidential election results were certified, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the Certificate of Ascertainment on November 24, 2020, long in advance of the required date to fall under the ``Safe Harbor'' provision of three-day the governing Electoral Count Act of 1887, 3 U.S.C. Sec. 5, making the certification of Pennsylvania's electors conclusive. Madam Speaker, multiple challenges were made to the certification of Pennsylvania's electors, all of which were rejected by both state and federal courts. First, there is no merit or truth to the claim that the Pennsylvania Secretary of State ``abrogated'' the mandatory signature verification requirement for absentee or mail-in ballots. See In re Nov. 3, 2020 Election, 240 A.3d 591, 610 (Pa. 2020) (Election Code does not authorize county election boards to reject mail-in ballots based on an analysis of a voter's signature. ``[A]t no time did the Code provide for challenges to ballot signatures.''). Far from usurping any legislative authority, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused ``to rewrite a statute in order to supply terms which [we]re not present therein.'' Id. at 14. A federal judge reached the same result. See In Donald Trump for President, Inc. v. Boockvar, 2020 WL 5997680, at *58 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 10, 2020) (``[T]he Election Code does not impose a signature-comparison requirement for mail-in and absentee ballots.''). Second, there is a similar lack of merit and truth to the claim that certain Pennsylvania county boards of elections did not grant pollwatchers access to the opening, counting, and recording of absentee and mail-in ballots. See In re Canvassing Observation, _A.3d _, 2020 WL 6737895, *8-9 (Pa. 2020) (holding that state law re-quires candidate representatives to be in the room but the viewing distance is committed to the county boards, which, in that case, was reasonable); Trump for President, Inc. v. Sec'y of Pennsylvania, 2020 WL 7012522, at *8 (3d Cir. Nov. 27, 2020) (affirming dismissal of poll-watcher claim, in part, because the Trump Campaign ``has already raised and lost most of these state-law issues, and it cannot relitigate them here.''). Third, there is no basis to a claim that certain Pennsylvania counties adopted differential standards favoring voters in Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties with the intent to favor former Vice President Biden. This claim was raised and dismissed in Trump v. Boockvar, 4:20--cv- 02078 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 18, 2020) because those charges were backed by neither specific allegations nor evidence. Trump for President, Inc. v. Sec'y of Pennsylvania, 2020 WL 7012522, at *8 (3d Cir. Nov. 27, 2020). Fourth, that certain counties permitted voters to cure minor defects in mail-in ballots was permissible under Pennsylvania law because minor defects--such as a failure to handwrite the voter's name and/or address on the declaration--did not, in fact, void the ballot. See In re Canvass of Absentee & Mail-in Ballots of November 3, 2020 Gen. Election, 29 WAP 2020, _A.3d_, 2020 WL 6866415, *15 (Pa. Nov. 23, 2020) (``We have conducted that analysis here and we hold that a signed but undated declaration is sufficient and does not implicate any weighty interest. Hence, the lack of a handwritten date cannot result in vote disqualification.''); Trump v. Boockvar, 2020 WL 6821992, *12 (M.D. Pa. 2020) (``it is perfectly rational for a state to provide counties discretion to notify voters that they may cure procedurally defective mail-in ballots''), aff'd 2020 WL 7012522. Fifth, there was no state law violation when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court temporarily modified the deadline for the receipt of mail-in and absentee ballots, because state constitutional law required it. See Pa. Democratic Party v. Boockvar, 238 A.3d 345, 369-72 (Pa. 2020). Nothing in the Elections Clause of Article I ``instructs, nor has the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ever held, that a state legislature may prescribe regulations on the time, place, and manner of holding federal elections in defiance of provisions of the State's constitution.'' Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Indep. Redistricting Comm'n, 576 U.S. 787, 817-18 (2015) (AIRC). The same is true for the Elector Clause in Article II. Sixth, there is no truth to the claim that Pennsylvania ``broke its promise to the U.S. Supreme Court to segregate ballots and comingled illegal late ballots . The Pennsylvania Secretary of State had already instructed that all ballots received during the three-day period be segregated and counted separately and Justice Alito adopted these instructions by the Secretary as an order of the Court. The Pennsylvania county boards of elections complied with that order; qualified ballots received during the three-day extension were segregated and counted separately. The number of such ballots is too small to change the outcome of any federal election in Pennsylvania. Finally, there is nothing sinister, surprising, or fraudulent in the fact that late-counted mail-in ballots eviscerated Trump's temporary lead in the popular vote by disproportionately favoring Vice-President Biden. The votes counted before 3 a.m. and those counted afterwards were indisputably not ``randomly drawn'' from the same population of votes, as those counted earlier were predominantly in-person votes while those counted later were predominantly mail-in votes . Even the proponents of this bogus challenge to Pennsylvania's electors admit that Democratic voters voted by mail at two to three times the rate of Republicans. Both this fact and the expectation that it would result in a shift in President-Elect Biden's favor as mail-in votes were counted were widely reported months ahead of the election. Madam Speaker, as I noted at the outset, we are here today to exercise a duty imposed on Members of the House and the Senate by the Constitution and laws of the United States. But it is true that although we are called upon to bear witness to the counting of electoral votes, our role is not confined to passive observation. The Constitution and the law, specifically Section 15 of the Electoral College Act, 3 U.S.C. Sec. 1 et seq., authorizes Representatives and Senators to object to the counting of any vote cast by an elector if in their judgment the vote was not ``regularly given'' or the person casting the vote was not ``lawfully certified'' as an elector. The Constitution devolves this solemn duty upon the people's representatives, the Congress, because the linchpin of representative democracy is public confidence in the political system, regime, and community. That confidence in turn rests upon the extent to which the public has faith that the system employed to select its leaders accurately reflects its preferences. At bottom, this means that all citizens casting a vote have a fundamental right and reasonable expectation that their votes count and are counted. For these reasons, I owe it to my constituents and to the American people to consider each electoral vote certificate as it is presented and accept those that appear to be meritorious. Were any electoral vote certificate not to satisfy the statutory requirement that the votes reflected on the lists were ``regularly given' by ``lawfully certified'' electors I would oppose it. But that is not the case before us because the votes before us were regularly given by lawfully certified electors, whose status was resolved, where need be, at least six days before the meeting of electors pursuant to laws that were in place before the election as required by Section 5 of the Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. Sec. 5. That means the validity of their appointment is conclusive and their vote preferences binding on us. For this reason, I oppose the objections raised and accept the final vote tally that will be announced by the President of the Senate at its conclusion, and in doing so will be keeping faith with the admonition and prayer made by President Lincoln over the graves of patriots that `government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for her leadership and continued respect for the oversight of this body. And I particularly thank the gentleman from Illinois and his cosponsors for this very astute legislation. I join with my bipartisan colleagues to indicate that the transparency of funding by way of the budget process is absolutely crucial to be able to be guided by what is right, as well, to ensure that we, the Congress, have a knowledge of the importance of the funding process, the importance of the programs that are used for taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, let me just take a microcosm of what I believe will be an important aspect of this. Why don't I take COVID-19 as an example? Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have been hearing from all over the Nation that the Federal Government needs to be in charge. The agency that I think would be most effective as a national coordinator of vaccine transport and delivery is FEMA. For safe and effective supply chain transport, delivery, and site use of vaccines, FEMA has the ability to tell other agencies what to do or to be able to be part of the success of the distribution of these vaccines. They have broad stakeholder engagement. FEMA has personnel all over the Nation, and they are not in the business of picking business winners or losers. And implementing CDC COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, they know how to do that. Mr. Speaker, I say thank you to all the private-sector volunteers, all the pharmacies located in grocery stores and well-known chains, but that is not working. It is not going to work. This particular legislation would let us know the budget plan of an agency, like FEMA, which really looms large in our lives because whether you have experienced a fire in California, or whether or not you have experienced Hurricane Harvey in Texas, or whether or not you have experienced tornadoes, FEMA has been on the ground. They know how to put large efforts together. They can lead the effort for vaccine delivery so that we don't have these kinds of episodes. ``One American dies from COVID-19 every 33 seconds.'' Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article. [From CNN, Jan. 5, 2021] One American Dies From Covid-19 Every 33 Seconds as the Vaccine Rollout Hits Snags (By Holly Yan and Madeline Holcombe) While hopes of vaccinating 20 million people by New Year's Day sputtered out, the US now faces staggering new challenges in the fight against Covid-19. Over the past week, the US has averaged 2,637 coronavirus deaths every day, according to Johns Hopkins University. That's an average of one Covid-19 death every 33 seconds. December was the deadliest month yet of this pandemic, with 77,572 lives lost. And deaths are likely to accelerate as new infections and hospitalizations rise. On Monday, more people were hospitalized with Covid-19 than any other day in this pandemic--128,210, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The US averaged 213,437 new infections every day over the past week, largely fueled by holiday gatherings, health experts say. But while daily new infections soared 16% over the past week, testing has actually decreased 11.65% over the past week, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Doctors worry this rampant spread of Covid-19 will push more hospitals beyond capacity and lead to more deaths as the vaccine rollout staggers along. The possibility of giving half-doses of a vaccine About 15.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the US, but only 4.5 million people have received their first doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. That's far behind what officials had hoped for by now. And it means herd immunity is still many months away. ``We agree that there is a lag. We'll work with the states,'' said Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser of the federal Operation Warp Speed vaccination effort. To help expedite vaccinations, the US might start giving half-doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine to people age 18 to 55, which could make the vaccine available to twice as many people in that age group, Slaoui said. Slaoui said Sunday the US Food and Drug Administration would meet this week to consider the idea. But the FDA commissioner and its vaccine division chief said in a joint statement that people need to get two full doses instead of two half-doses. ``At this time, suggesting changes to the FDA-authorized dosing or schedules of these vaccines is premature and not rooted solidly in the available evidence,'' said FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the agency's vaccine division. ``Without appropriate data supporting such changes in vaccine administration, we run a significant risk of placing public health at risk, undermining the historic vaccination efforts to protect the population from Covid-19.'' It's understandable that people may want to stretch the vaccine supply, they said. But it's not advisable. ``If people do not truly know how protective a vaccine is, there is the potential for harm because they may assume that they are fully protected when they are not, and accordingly, alter their behavior to take unnecessary risks,'' they said. The two 100-microgram Moderna vaccine doses are intended to be spaced 28 days apart. CNN has reached out to Moderna for comment. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, said he does not agree with the idea of half-doses. ``We have about 13 million doses that have been shipped out to the states, and only barely 4 million doses that have gone into arms. So the bottleneck is not the lack of availability of vaccine. The bottleneck is actually the logistics of vaccinating people in this country.'' It's difficult enough to get some patients on board with getting a vaccine, he said. Going against the recommended dosing could hurt patients' confidence. ``When I see people in clinic, I talk about the vaccine every single day. I'm trying to reduce vaccine hesitancy,'' Reiner said Monday. ``And the strongest weapon I have is the data. I can tell people that these two vaccines have been studied in 70,000 people--more than 70,000 people--in this two-dose strategy. And when given that way, they're both 95% effective, and basically no one gets critically ill if you get this vaccine. . . . Once you break from the data, I can no longer say that.'' Study says holding back fewer doses could cut cases by 29% Right now, the federal government is allocating about half of the vaccines being produced. The other half is held in reserve to be used as a second dose or as replacements in cases where doses are unusable. But by reducing the amount withheld to 10% for the first three weeks and supplying a steady dose of 6 million doses per week, the US could avoid up to 29% more coronavirus cases over eight weeks, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found. ``We find that under most plausible scenarios, a more balanced approach that withholds fewer doses during early distribution in order to vaccinate more people as soon as possible could substantially increase the benefits of vaccines, while enabling most recipients to receive second doses on schedule,'' write the study's authors, who were supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers modeled several scenarios, with variables including vaccine supply, protection provided by the first dose, and waning efficacy of a first dose if a second dose is delayed. An emergency department employee dies of Covid-19 In California, health care workers are treating an unprecedented number of Covid-19 patients. Sometimes, those patients are colleagues. At Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, 44 emergency department employees tested positive for Covid-19 between December 27 and January 1, said Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager. On Monday, the hospital said one employee who was working on Christmas has died of Covid-19. ``Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible loss,'' the hospital said in a statement. ``We are providing support to our employees during this difficult time,'' according to a statement from the hospital. Over the weekend, Chavez said the medical center is investigating whether an inflatable, air-powered costume may have played a role in the spread. ``A staff member did appear briefly in the emergency department on December 25th wearing an air-powered costume,'' she said. ``Any exposure, if it occurred, would have been completely innocent, and quite accidental, as the individual had no Covid symptoms and only sought to lift the spirits of those around them during what is a very stressful time.'' Chavez said air-powered costumes will no longer be allowed at the facility. ``If anything, this should serve as a very real reminder that the virus is widespread, and often without symptoms, and we must all be vigilant,'' she said. `A rough start to 2021' On Sunday, five states reported their highest number of new infections ever in one day--Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington. And over the past week, at least five states have average test positivity rates higher than 40%--meaning more than 40% of people who take a Covid-19 test get a positive result. Those states include Idaho (57%), Alabama (46.7%), Iowa (44.6%), Pennsylvania (44%) and South Dakota (43.8%). For perspective, the WHO has recommended governments not reopen until the test positivity rates stays at or below 5% for 14 days. In South Carolina, which had a 29.6% test positivity rate Sunday, officials in four counties said their hospitals were at 100% capacity, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. ``We're in for a bit of a rough start to 2021,'' said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead for Covid-19 response. But it's possible daily life in the US could be closer to normal by the summer or fall, she said. Other countries are already well on their way--thanks to quarantining, testing, isolation and contact tracing. ``We've seen countries bring this virus to its knees, without vaccination,'' Van Kerkhove said. ``We have the tools at hand right now to actually bring this virus under control.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE. The city of Houston has done a phenomenal job by trying to open up these centers, but guess what? They are looking for their next delivery. We should not be looking for the next delivery. The delivery should be organized, logistically. It should be stored on the ground. ``Houston, have you finished your utilization? Are you ready for your next?'' ``L.A., have you finished your utilization? Are you ready for your next?'' That is not happening. ``COVID vaccine rollout is going about as well as you'd feared.'' Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record that article, along with an article regarding the opening of Houston's first public COVID-19 vaccine location. COVID Vaccine Rollout Is Going About As Well As You'd Feared Texans are beginning the new year the same way we spent much of the last one: straggling through a devastating pandemic with a patchy public health infrastructure, a confusing mishmash of rules and procedures, and an ominous absence of effective statewide leadership. We have a COVID-19 vaccine now: that's the good news. Two of them, actually, one by Pfizer and the other by Moderna, both developed as part of the federal Operation Warp Speed and approved by the Federal Drug Administration for emergency use last month. We knew that distributing hundreds of millions of vaccines would be a challenge. Each requires two doses and careful handling--including ultra-cold storage for the Pfizer vaccine. Each is being distributed to a population that includes potential recipients skeptical of vaccines in general, and the COVID vaccine in particular. But we had several months to figure this out. And it's quickly become painfully clear that we didn't. In Phase 1A of the plan put forward by the Texas Department of State Health Services, the first doses of the vaccine were distributed to front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, beginning last month. On Tuesday, the state announced that vaccine providers could begin immunizing Texans in group 1B--those over age 65 and those with pre-existing conditions. The experiences of Texans in that group gives you the impression that we've responded to an ongoing crisis with a maddening, high-stakes scavenger hunt. In Harris County, for example, there are dozens of providers that have partnered with the state to distribute vaccines, but making an appointment at any of them seems to require persistence, endless phone calls, and a hefty dose of luck. Overall, the distribution process has been inefficient and confusing. As of Dec. 31, according to DSHS, some 283,000 people across Texas--roughly 45,000 in Harris County--had received the first dose of the vaccine. That's of the 773,000 doses the state had shipped to various providers, up to that point. And it's a worrisomely low figure, according to public health professionals, given that we'll need to vaccinate up to 80 percent of the population to achieve the herd immunity that will allow normal life to resume. Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, has pointed to the straightforward back-of-the-envelope math: with roughly 30 million people in Texas, we should be aiming for a million immunizations a week to achieve herd immunity by mid-year. Last week, as these difficulties began coming to light, Gov. Greg Abbott pointed the finger at the state's hospitals and other vaccine providers. ``A significant portion of vaccines distributed across Texas might be sitting on hospital shelves as opposed to being given to vulnerable Texans,'' Abbott said on Twitter. ``The state urges vaccine providers to quickly provide all shots,'' he continued. ``We get plenty more each week.'' In the Houston area, at least, providers say they're doing just that. And Texans are having unpleasant memories of the early days of the pandemic, when state leaders such as Abbott took a largely hands-off approach to the public health response--intervening only when local leaders in cities such as Houston and Austin crossed what he deemed to be a red line. ``Here we are, once again, hoping that private companies will figure out a decent vaccine distribution system since the State of Texas sure hasn't,'' said state Rep. Erin Zwiener, a Democrat, on Twitter. ``But that means it will be disparate and confusing and hard for our constituents to navigate.'' These issues aren't unique to Texas. Even states with relatively robust public health systems have seen what Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker described this week as a ``lumpy and bumpy'' rollout. An exasperated U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah vented in a statement on New Year's Day. ``That comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable,'' Romney said. ``It was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with COVID care could take on a massive vaccination program,'' he continued. ``So too is the claim that CVS and Walgreens will save the day: they don't have excess personnel available to inoculate millions of Americans. Nor are they equipped to deal with the rare but serious reactions which may occur.'' The distribution of COVID vaccines is, without question, a matter of urgency. We begin the new year with more than 12,000 Texans hospitalized due to the virus, and public health experts fretting about the impact of holiday gatherings and travel on those statistics--as well as reports that cases of a more transmissible variant of the virus have been confirmed in the United States. The state's plan to rely on public/private partnerships to distribute the vaccine may be sensible, given Texas's extant public health infrastructure. But, at the minimum, we need better communication from state leaders about how Texans who are eligible for the vaccine can access it--not finger- pointing and politics.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, FDA is considering to halve the amount of vaccines going to Americans. This haphazard way will not work. And the budget bill that is before us gives Congress the insight into how agencies plan their work. So, is FEMA well-funded to take care of a pandemic? Were they funded the way they should have been in case a pandemic came and they were the right agency to do it? Please remember, when we were flagging around and flustering around at the beginning of COVID-19, the PPE had to be taken over by FEMA. That is what happened. We were struggling. People were fighting over PPE. Governors were out on the market. They were making negotiations individually with China while their health professionals were dying or reusing masks or reusing PPE. FEMA came in and did it. Mr. Speaker, I will be discussing this even further, but I support this legislation because it gives Members of Congress the ability to know budget and appropriations so that if a pandemic comes, what agency can handle it? FEMA, because it has the funding. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, and I look forward to this further discussion. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 22, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, which requires congressional budget justifications to be posted online in a centralized, searchable database, as well as on a Federal agency's websites. The bill also would require the Office of Management and Budget to maintain and regularly update a public list of agencies expected to submit congressional budget justifications, the date they are submitted to Congress, and when they are posted online. This bill is identical to one that passed the House under suspension in the last Congress. As a member of the Budget Committee, I applaud this progovernment budget transparency legislation because it will make sure that the people we represent know and understand how each agency is spending taxpayer dollars. Budget transparency is important during ordinary time but is much more important during extraordinary times like a global pandemic. I am particularly focused on federal pandemic response that FEMA is engaged in as it relates to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have worked on community access to testing and through this effort have opened over 40 testing centers in and around Houston, Texas. Now that there are vaccines it is time to pivot to vaccinations. For this reason, I will be introducing a new bill that will address vaccine delivery to every community across the nation. Making FEMA the lead agency is the first step, the next important is making sure the American people have access to information on how the agency is accomplishing the task and at what cost. My bill would establish: FEMA as the National Coordinator of vaccine transport and delivery; Safe and effective supply chain transport, delivery, and site use of vaccines; Broad Stakeholder Engagement; No picking business winners or losers; and Implementing CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations. FEMA will be empowered to: Lead the effort for vaccine delivery from the receipt from manufacturing facilities to delivery to designated inoculation sites (hospital, clinic, doctors' offices, schools, places of worship, community centers, parks, or neighborhood gathering locations, etc.) Develop and deploy a fully staffed and resourced 24-7 advanced real- time tracking system that allows FEMA to monitor shipments of vaccine units that can provide end-to-end transparency on the temperature, real- time location, origin, and destination data, anticipated time of arrival, and update recipients on the progress of their delivery and report on changes that may impact expected delivery or the viability of the vaccine while in transit; Provide an advanced communication system that allows public health departments to communicate their vaccine readiness, their capability of receiving vaccines, delivery locations, details of facility capability of storing, securing, personnel authorized to receive deliveries, logistics for delivering vaccines to patients, report on vaccine receipts, condition of vaccines, patient reactions, and feedback on how to improve the process; Design custom Apps for use by public health agencies, doctors' offices, etc. to be provided to patients to communicate information on the vaccine being received and the date and location of a second dose if required. The App should generate a token that corresponds to their vaccination record to ensure that the right vaccine is administered should a second inoculation be required and to ensure that a person is not vaccinated with different vaccines, additional information such as vaccine effectiveness period may be addressed as more is learned about this; Secure transportation for delivery or use of vaccines, and, when requested, security for the vaccine delivery sites or inoculation locations to ensure the life and safety of personnel and patients who seek to provide or receive vaccinations are free of interference or threat; Provide public education and patient engagement through the provision of inoculations of persons in areas and locations where vulnerable populations are under performing in getting vaccinations; Waive authority of the states to share vaccination data with HHS; Provide HHS with the capacity to manage the inoculations data on persons and tracking the second vaccination to ensure full immunity and to determine when enough vaccinations have been administered to unique persons to achieve herd immunity. HHS shall protect Vaccination Data as HIPAA protected data, and under the Privacy Act, which shall not allow a waiver of any provision of that law; and the Freedom of Information Act shall not apply to the records maintained. Provide civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation, per instance; and criminal penalties of 5 years in prison for violation of this section; or for the use of the information outside the specific purpose of the data collection, which is to assure full inoculation of individuals; and determination of local, state and national herd immunity goals being achieved. Include a data retention limitation--all records shall be destroyed after 5 years--Sunset this provision after 5 years. Provide an ombudsman to support: public (tribal, territorial, state, and local government); stakeholder input on the work being done; provide advocacy and advice for those who elect not to be vaccinated; and champion the privacy, civil liberty rights on behalf of the American people. Waive state laws regarding management of inoculation data; Provide HHS with the capacity as evidenced by the agency's prior experience in managing healthcare.gov, to manage the inoculations data on persons; for the purpose of tracking the second vaccination to ensure full immunity and the management of national inoculation goals. The protection of inoculation medical information is provided by the: Federal HIPAA medical information privacy law; the Privacy Act and eliminate access to that information through the Freedom of Information Act; and providing for civil and criminal penalties for access or use of the information outside the specific purposes of the collection, which are to ensure inoculations; and determination of progress in herd immunity goals. Patient Inoculation Data retention limitation--all medical records on inoculation of persons under this title shall be destroyed after 5 years--Sunset this provision after 5 years. Keep oversight Committees in the House and Senate, and the American people informed through daily and weekly reporting requirements comprising data the CDC determines to be relevant and have public benefit in measuring and reporting on inoculation statistics; Establish a stakeholder advisory board to support the collaboration and cooperation of participants that shall include representatives from, federal, state, and local governments, businesses, colleges, universities, K-12 schools, hospitals, clinics, professional medical associations. Others as deemed essential to the success of a national vaccination program. Lead government collaboration with Stakeholders in establishing vaccine inoculation centers in locations that shall include: Stadiums; Arenas; K-12 schools; Colleges and Universities; Places of Worship; and Other locations determined to be conducive to reaching the greatest number of person who are in need of inoculations. Empowering FEMA FEMA will be empowered to engage all stakeholders and marshals the resources of the federal government where needed to accomplish the objectives. FEMA employs about 20,000 people nationwide who are stationed in 10 regional offices and the Washington DC headquarters. FEMA has the authority during times of emergency to leverage its tremendous capacity to coordinate within the federal government, pull federal agency personnel from agencies throughout the federal government to make sure America is equipped and prepared to respond to disasters. I ask that my Colleagues join me in support of H.R. 22, and greater accountability to the American public on what the federal government is doing and the budget justification that supports expenditures.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to announce the reintroduction of H.R. 40, the ``Commission to Study and Develop Reparation proposals for African Americans Act,'' legislation which was cosponsored by 173 Members in the 116th Congress and today is being reintroduced with more than 100 original cosponsors. This legislation was first introduced in 1989 by the late and beloved Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, the former chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and is intended to examine the institution of slavery in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present, and, further, to recommend appropriate remedies. Since the initial introduction of this legislation, proponents have made substantial progress in elevating the discussion of reparatory justice at the national level and joining the mainstream international debate on the issues. Though some have tried to deflect the importance of these conversations by focusing on individual monetary compensation, the real issue is whether and how this nation can come to grips with the legacy of slavery that still infects current society. Through legislation, resolutions, news, and litigation, we are moving closer to making more strides in the movement toward reparatory relief. Today, there are more people at the table--more activists, more scholars, more CEOs, more state and local officials, and more Members of Congress. However, despite this progress and the election of the first American President of African descent, the legacy of slavery lingers heavily in this nation. While we have focused on the social effects of slavery and segregation, its continuing economic inequalities and disparities remain largely ignored by mainstream analysis. These economic issues are the root cause of many critical issues in the African American community today, such as education, healthcare and criminal justice policy, including policing practices. The call for reparatory justice represents a commitment to entering a constructive dialogue on the role of slavery and racism in shaping present-day conditions in our community and American society. H.R. 40 is important and needed legislation because it goes beyond exploring the economic implications of slavery and segregation. It is a holistic bill in the sense that establishes a commission to examine the moral and social implications of slavery. Madam 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. At the same time, this nation has also been home to many searing instances of social unrest resulting from racial injustices, as we are now witnessing on the streets of big cities and small towns in urban and rural communities. We are seeing 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 the purpose of 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 (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery; (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants; and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society. Truth and reconciliation about the Original Sin of American Slavery is necessary to light the way to the beloved community we all seek. The uncomfortable truth is that the United States owes its position as the most powerful nation in the world to its slave-owning past. Initially, slavery in America was not instituted for black people. The colonists in the southern states simply wanted persons to cultivate and hue the soil of the New World's wild untamed lands. And they wanted to exploit these boundless natural resources as cheaply as possible. At first, they tried to enslave the indigenous persons they found when they arrived from Old World but that did not work because the native persons they encountered were nomadic rather than agrarian. So next, landowners turned to poor persons from Europe arriving to work as indentured servants, but this did not work either for several reasons. First, such persons were not as hardy in working under the difficult conditions that existed. Also, because as subjects of the British Crown, indentured workers enjoyed legal rights and protections. Finally, being white themselves, European indentured servants could escape and blend into the general colonial population. That is why the landowners set their sights on the western coast of Africa and its people. That experiment in trafficking in persons failed as well and culminated in a bloody Civil War, but not before America profited handsomely from what President Lincoln rightly characterized in his Second Inaugural as ``the bondsmen's two-hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil.'' Slavery helped make America an industrial nation but at the cost of inflicting physical, economic, social, psychological, and political damage on Black Americans that despite the progress that has been made continues to this day with stark racial disparities in health care, employment, housing, food, education, and indeed nearly every aspect of American life and death. Madam Speaker, 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. Madam Speaker, there is blood and there are tears, but there is also redemption and reconciliation. But to get there, we must know the complete truth and lay our history bare. The Commission created and empowered by H.R. 40 is a necessary first step in that effort. I encourage all Members to join me in cosponsoring H.R. 40, the ``Commission to Study and Develop Reparation proposals for African Americans Act.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair and all of those who opened up their thoughts to this very important process. I participated through the Progressive Caucus, and I am very grateful for the work that included all Members. I believe in democracy; I believe in the rights of the minority; but I want to applaud this rules package in particular because, as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, I think extremely important is the language to protect whistleblowers. The responsibility of Congress is oversight, and even though this was not in the congressional wheelhouse, it was shameful what happened to Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a United States Army leader, if you will, who thought it was his patriotic duty simply to tell the truth. What happened to him as a whistleblower in the executive? He was fired. What happened to his brother, twin brother? No longer there. No one protected them. I want to applaud a Committee on Rules package that protects but, as well, a Committee on Rules package that also deals with diversity, gender, and puts America's business first. Vote for this package.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong support of H.R. 9051, the ``Caring For Americans With Supplemental Help Act of 2020, or CASH Act, which provides an additional $1,400 in recovery payments directly to Americans, who are desperately struggling to get by during the twin disasters of COVID-19 and a faltering economy. Because I had seen first-hand the pain and devastation caused by the pandemic, in March of this year, during the debate on the CARES Act, I advocated that the amount of direct payment should be $3,000. Madam Speaker, I see the disparities in the lives of so many of my constituents who suffer disproportionately from medical conditions that make COVID-19 deadly. They work low wage or no wage jobs to make ends meet, and they have no health insurance and rely on community health centers or pubic health services for routine care. I call them friends and neighbors because they are that to me. I am pleased to have this opportunity to vote in favor of this legislation that will provide them with the help they need to survive and recover from COVID-19. No one is benefiting from the COVID-19 economy. The U.S. poverty rate has grown at a historic rate over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty after the expanded $600 a week in unemployment assistance expired at the end of July. This represents the greatest increase since the government began tracking poverty sixty years ago. In the city of Houston, nine key service sectors, accounting for 70 percent of all jobs, hemorrhaged more 1,343,600 jobs, which to average folks is another way of saying that more than 1.34 million persons lost their livelihoods. Houston workers lost jobs in the following areas: Healthcare: 391,000; Retail: 303,600; Food services: 267,000; Finance: 166,000; Private Education: 63,400; Arts and Entertainment: 37,400; Accommodations: 28,700; Air Transportation: 20,200; Other Services: 115,800. In addition to these positions, jobs were also lost in other areas, the largest of which was the construction industry, which shut down 30,700 jobs. Professional and business services followed, with 25,300 jobs lost, although 13,900 were in temporary and provisional jobs in employment services; upstream oil lost 12,300 in March/April; and non-oil manufacturing lost 7,700 jobs. Americans out of work due to COVID-19 have generated 86 million jobless claims, with new claims being filed in recent weeks topping 800,000. Millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic have fallen thousands of dollars behind on rent and utility bills, a clear warning sign that people are running out of money for basic needs. If this is not enough evidence of what is happening just look at the miles of vehicles lined up outside of food distribution centers for assistance, we see nightly on our television screens and in our communities. Moody's Analytics warned in November 2020 that 9 million renters said they were behind on rent, according to a Census Bureau survey. The Bureau of the Census reports that twenty-one percent of all renters are behind on their rent, of which twenty-nine percent are African American families and seventeen percent are Hispanic households. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's analysis of persons who were employed prior to the pandemic, 1.3 million of these households are now, on average of $5,400 in debt on rent and utilities, after the family breadwinners lost their jobs. The new COVID-19 relief legislation passed last week by Congress and reluctantly but finally signed by the President Trump restores unemployment assistance, but cuts that assistance from $600 a week to $300 a week without consideration of the facts on the ground, which are that millions of Americans remain out of work due to COVID-19 public health policy, and have been without sufficient income since August 1, 2020. Today, we have twenty million Americans who are receiving some kind of unemployment aid, and about 12 million of the unemployed stopped receiving their benefits. The nation is on the cusp of a recession that is in danger of becoming a double dip event that would plummet the economy into a precarious economic state that will take much more than a $2000 payment to each individual to overcome. These are the reasons why I will vote for the CASH Act--it increases direct payments to individuals from $600 to $2000, which will be of help to families struggling with the economic impacts of COVID-19. COVID-19 is not waning or wearying as it continues its deadly work, and there are new reports indicating there is a new strain that is seventy percent more contagious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that as of December 23, 2020, 18.17 million cases of COVID-19, resulting in 321,734 deaths, had been reported in the United States. The new year will mark a terrible milestone for the United States-- the last time we witnessed death on this scale in our nation was during the 1918 Flu Pandemic, which recorded a total of 675,000 deaths in the United States. What the costs will be to our nation for the over 320,000 deaths have yet to be fully calculated. It is a tragedy that too many households who have lost a member to COVID-19 are struggling to accept these deaths, but it is also the friends, co-workers, business owners, professionals, students, teachers, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and grandparents who also are feeling these losses because someone that mattered to them is no longer here. Each of these lives impacted dozens of other lives, too many of whom were not allowed to be present with them during their final moments on this earth, but whose suffering is too often overlooked because we unduly preoccupy ourselves with only the immediate family. My deepest concerns are for the medical professionals who are seeing more death day after day than our soldiers saw on distant battlefields in foreign lands defending our nation going back to World War II. Our medical professionals and health care deliverers pride themselves on robbing death by keeping the very ill or critically injured alive but they are themselves wounded by each loss in ways that we cannot understand. Too many of our medical professionals are losing the battle with death as they attempt to treat extremely ill COVID-19 patients because they do not have access to sufficient amounts of essential therapies or the special trained staff to administer interventions that could save lives . Medical people also have not had the universal support of political leaders who are willing to promote wearing of face coverings, social distancing and handwashing to limit the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the infection that causes COVID-19. There is a hidden cost to this foolhardy disregard for the seriousness of this moment in American history. My concerns are for the economic impact and the long-term damage to our nation's health care delivery system . Today we will focus on the economic injuries caused by COVID-19, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on addressing the systemic long-term damage caused by unequal access to the health care. Small businesses and working men and women of this great nation, who are the life blood of the economy and who pay the lion's share of federal taxes now find themselves, through no fault of their own, in need of assistance in the form of direct payments that will provide a bridge to them and to the economy for the next few weeks so that the next Administration will have time to assess and craft the relief package needed to get the nation over the last hurdles of the pandemic's economic impact. Since the 1980s, corporate income tax revenues have become a smaller share of overall tax revenues paid to the federal government. In 2017, President Trump signed into law P.L. 115-97, the tax scam which substantially and permanently changed the U.S. federal tax system for the wealthy and large corporations. Most of the changes to the individual income tax system in P.L. 115- 97 for those less well-off are temporary and scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, after which the rates for these individuals will return to what it was for 2017. In contrast, many of the tax cuts made in P.L. 115-97 affecting corporations and wealthy individuals are permanent, in other words they will keep the drastic cut in corporate taxes. The facts are that working individuals and small businesses support the U.S. government's federal tax system. The largest source of revenue to the federal government is the individual income tax, which in 2019, generated $1.7 trillion. The second-largest source of federal revenue is payroll taxes, which is collected by employers and is often paid quarterly. In FY2019, payroll taxes generated $1.2 trillion in federal revenue or thirty-six percent of the total revenue for the federal government. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that federal income tax revenues in FY2020 will be $1.5 trillion, and payroll tax revenue will be $1.3 trillion. In FY2020, it is projected that about 47 percent of federal revenue will be generated through the individual income tax. In FY2019, corporate tax receipts were only $230 billion, or nearly 7 percent of federal revenue, and in FY2020, corporate tax receipts are expected to be $151 billion, less than 5 percent of federal revenue. Receipts from other sources are also projected to increase in FY2020 to $298 billion, from $271 billion in FY2019, which will result in 9 percent of total revenue up by from the 8 percent the previous year. Obligated social insurance federal program payments for Social Security and Medicare are paid through payroll taxes and are expected to generate an additional estimated $1.3 trillion, or 35 percent of revenue in FY2020. The $2,000 in payments to individuals will be used to pay bills, rent, utilities, car notes, or purchase needed items like food and winter coats, and other essentials, which will translate into income for small businesses. All of this spending will generate local, state and federal tax revenue as it fuels consumption and the provision of services that are still available through the economy. Overtime basic Keynesian economics has proven itself to be the most durable and reliable economic model and has repeatedly proven that money turning over in the economy makes more money. There is a reason why it is important to stimulate the economy during a deadly unchecked pandemic, chief of which is to stem the depressing of the national and global economies which exacerbate negative economic conditions. We know the end of the COVID-19 pandemic's grip on the economy is in sight with the development and distribution of a vaccine, but we are not there yet; we must help the American people, and our small businesses, endure until we reach seventy percent inoculation in the general population. The use of direct payments is the Keynesian solution that is winning the day across the globe for countries able to support their economies in this way. Payments to individuals allows them and not the government to make spending decisions on their household's essential life sustaining needs such as paying for housing, utility bills, food, and clothing which allows money they spend to circulate through the economy like blood throughout the body. The American people can and should be trusted to make decisions regarding how they spend the funds provided by the stimulus because they best know the needs of their own families. Consumers will spend money with small businesses who should have the freedom to pay their workers and suppliers, workers and suppliers will be free to buy goods from other businesses, and those businesses will pay their workers and suppliers, and so on. In this way, the $2,000 in spending by each individual is actually spent more than once as the effect of each dollar spent creates more spending. This is called the ``money multiplier'' effect: an initial increase in spending, cycles repeatedly through the economy and has a larger impact than the initial $2,000 amount spent. The economy needs to be inoculated against recession, which is what the $2,000 in individual payments will do, and it will need a booster in about thirty to sixty days. This is why the decision to provide a $600 a week addition to unemployment benefits is a good idea for those in labor markets with high costs of living like New York and Washington, D.C., but may have far out stripped the going rate for labor where the cost of living is much lower and $600 a week exceeded the going rate for labor. The Congress may need to revisit models for future programs of this type and provide a formula that is based on the actual spending power of funds provided so the ability of meeting the cost-of-living needs can be more in line with the intent of the funds provided, while ensuring that the spending power is equal. This may mean that depending on where someone lived at the time a disaster of this nature was declared the amount, they would qualify for receiving may be different depending on the spending power of a dollar where they live. If the overwhelming majority of those who will receive the $2,000 payment were planning to deposit the funds in a bank account rather than spend it, then this bill would not be needed, but we know this is not the case. For all these reasons, I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 9051, the CASH Act, to increase individual payments from $600 to $2,000.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for his distinguished leadership. I thank our Speaker for her persistent leadership. I thank all of the Democratic Members and Republican Members who understand what this legislation is. It is a survival cash payment for Americans making under a certain amount, which means they are on the survival pathway. Maybe they haven't spoken to the constituents of, I believe, probably 90 percent of the Members of this Congress who have said they are on the edge and they are about to go over. They can't pay their rent or buy food. They are in food distribution lines. Before I came here Sunday, I was at a church, and we were giving out food. I asked during the spring for $3,000. I was willing to go for $600 so that desperate Americans could get enough to survive. Mr. Speaker, I am supporting this. I ask my friends and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to recognize that, when you are privileged to stand in a place like this where the constitutional Fathers gave us the opportunity to lead this government, stand for the American people. I support the CASH Act because it is survival for Americans. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong support of the CASH Act, a bill to provide $2,000 in direct payments to individuals. It was welcomed news that the President signed the COVID-19 relief bill that also includes the Omnibus Appropriations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. This bill: Accelerates vaccine distribution and crushes the coronavirus; Provides rent, food, unemployment, and direct payment to put money in the Pockets of the American People through: direct payments worth up to $600 per adult or child; Averts the sudden expiration of Unemployment Insurance benefits for millions and added a $300 per week UI enhancement for Americans out of work; Delivers key tax benefits for Struggling Families--through changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit that help ensure that families who faced unemployment or reduced wages during the pandemic are able to receive a strong tax credit based on their 2019 income; Provides strong support for Small Businesses by providing: $284 billion for first and second forgivable PPP loans, $15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions, and $20 billion for targeted EIDL Grants which are critical to many smaller businesses on Main Street; Funds Education, Child Care & Students by providing: $82 billion in funding for colleges and schools, and $10 billion for childcare assistance to help get parents back to work and keep childcare providers open; Provides Pell Grant expansion to reach 500,000 new recipients, ensuring more than 1.5 million students will now receive the maximum benefit; and Supports the Global Fight Against COVID--with an additional $3.36 billion for a total of $4 billion for GAVI, the international vaccine alliance, recognizing that we are not truly safe until the whole world is safe from the coronavirus. I will vote for the CASH Act because it increases direct payments to individuals from a $600 direct payment to $2000, which will help families struggling with the economic impacts of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that as of December 23, 2020, that 18,170,062 cases of COVID-19 resulting in 321,734 deaths had been reported in the United States. The new year will mark a terrible milestone for the United States-- the last time we saw death like this in our nation was during the 1918 Flu Pandemic, which recorded a total of 675,000 deaths in the United States. What the costs will be to our nation for the over three-hundred thousand deaths have yet to be fully calculated. It is a tragedy that too many households who have lost a member to COVID-19 are struggling to accept these deaths, but it is also the friends, co-workers, business owners, professionals, students, teachers, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and grandparents who also are feeling these losses because someone that mattered to them is no longer here. Each of these lives could have had dozens of connections with other people who were not able to be with them during their final moments on this earth who are lost to us because we too often only consider the immediate household. My deepest concerns are for the medical professionals who are seeing more death than soldiers who have fought on battlefields in defense of our nation since World War II. Death every day for medical professionals who pride themselves on robbing death by keeping the very ill or critically injured alive are themselves wounded by each loss in ways that we cannot understand. Too many of our medical professionals are losing that battle with death as they attempt to treat extremely ill COVID-19 patients because they do not have access to: sufficient amounts of essential therapies, or the special trained staff to administer interventions that could save lives. Medical people also have not had the universal support of political leaders who are willing to promote wearing of face coverings, social distancing, and handwashing to limit the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the infection that causes COVID-19. There is a hidden cost to the fool-hearty disregard for the seriousness of this moment in American history. My concerns are for the economic impact and the long-term damage to our nation's health care delivery system. Today we will focus on the economic injuries caused by COVID-19, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on addressing the systemic long-term issues caused by unequal access to the health care. Small businesses and working men and women of this great nation are the life blood of the economy, and who pay the lion share of federal taxes, now find themselves, through no fault of their own, in need of assistance in the form of direct payments that will provide a bridge to them and to the economy for the next few weeks so that the next Administration will have time to assess and craft the relief package needed to get the nation over the last hurdles of the pandemic's economic impact. Since the 1980s, corporate income tax revenues have become a smaller share of overall tax revenues paid to the federal government. In 2017, President Trump signed into law P.L. 115-97, which substantially and permanently changed the U.S. federal tax system for the wealthy and large corporations. Most of the changes to the individual income tax system in P.L. 115- 97 for those less well off are temporary and scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, after which the rates for these individuals will return to what it was for 2017. In contrast, many of the tax cuts made in P.L. 115-97 affecting corporations and wealthy individuals are permanent, in other words they will keep the drastic cut in corporate taxes. The facts are that working individuals and small businesses support the U.S. government's federal tax system. The largest source of revenue to the federal government is the individual income tax, which in 2019, generated $1.7 trillion. The second-largest source of federal revenue is payroll taxes, which is collected by employers and is often paid quarterly. In FY2019, payroll taxes generated $1.2 trillion in federal revenue or thirty-six percent of the total revenue for the federal government. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that federal income tax revenues in FY2020 will be $1.5 trillion, and payroll tax revenue will be $1.3 trillion. In FY2020, it is projected that about 47 percent of federal revenue will be generated through the individual income tax. In FY2019, corporate tax receipts were only $230 billion, or nearly 7 percent of federal revenue, and in FY2020, corporate tax receipts are expected to be $151 billion, less than 5 percent of federal revenue. Receipts from other sources are also projected to increase in FY2020 to $298 billion, from $271 billion in FY2019, which will result in 9 percent of total revenue up from 8 percent the previous year. Obligated social insurance federal program payments for Social Security and Medicare are paid through payroll taxes and are expected to generate an additional estimated $1.3 trillion, or 35 percent of revenue in FY2020. The $2,000 in payments to individuals will be used to pay bills, rent, utilities, car notes, or purchase needed items like winter coats, and other essentials, which will translate into income for small businesses. All of this spending will generate local, state, and federal tax revenue as it fuels consumption and the provision of services that are still available through the economy. Overtime basic Keynesian economics has proven itself to be a reliable economic model and has repeatedly proven that money turning over in the economy makes more money. There is a reason why it is important to stimulate the economy during a deadly unchecked pandemic, the chief of which is its depression of the national and global economies resulting in a downturn creating recession conditions. We know the end of the COVID-19 pandemic's vice on the economy is insight with the delivery of a vaccine, but we are not there yet--we must help the American people, and most importantly our small businesses, endure until we reach seventy percent herd immunity. The use of direct payments is the Keynesian solution that is winning the day across the globe for countries able to support their economies in this way. Payments to individuals allow them and not the government to make spending decisions on their household's essential life-sustaining needs such as paying for housing, utility bills, food, and clothing which allows money they spend to circulate through the economy like blood throughout the body. People in this nation can and should be trusted to make decisions regarding how they spend the funds provided by the stimulus because they know their needs. Consumers will spend money with small businesses who should have the freedom to pay their workers and suppliers, workers and suppliers will be free to buy goods from other businesses, and those businesses will pay their workers and suppliers, and so on. In this way, the $2,000 in spending by each individual is actually spent more than once as the effect of each dollar spent creates more spending. This is called the expenditure multiplier effect: an initial increase in spending, cycles repeatedly through the economy, and has a larger impact than the initial $2,000 amount spent. The economy needs to be inoculated against recession, which is what the $2,000 in individual payments will do, and it will need a booster in about thirty to sixty days. If the overwhelming majority of those who will receive the $2,000 were planning to put it in a bank account and not spend it, then this bill would not be needed because the basic needs of the people would be satisfied, but we know this is not the case. No one is benefiting from the COVID-19 economy. The U.S. poverty rate has grown at a historic rate over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty after the expanded $600 a week in unemployment assistance expired at the end of July. This represents the greatest increase since the government began tracking poverty sixty years ago. In the city of Houston, nine key service sectors accounted for seventy percent of all jobs lost which totaled 1,343,600. Houston workers lost jobs in the following areas: Healthcare 391,000; retail 303,600; food service 267,000; finance 166,000; private education 63,400; arts and entertainment 37,400; accommodations 28,700; air transportation 20,200; and other services 115,800. In addition to these positions, jobs were also lost in other areas, the largest of which was construction which shut down 30,700 jobs; professional and business services followed, with 25,300 jobs lost, although 13,900 were in temporary and provisional jobs in employment services; upstream oil lost 12,300 in March/April; and non-oil manufacturing lost 7,700 jobs. Americans out of work due to COVID-19 have generated 86 million jobless claims, with new claims being filed in recent weeks topping 800,000. Millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic have fallen thousands of dollars behind on rent and utility bills, a clear warning sign that people are running out of money for basic needs. If this is not enough evidence of what is happening, look at the miles of vehicles lined up outside of food distribution centers for assistance; we have all seen this occurring in each of our states. Moody's Analytics warned in November 2020 that 9 million renters said they were behind on rent, according to a Census Bureau survey. The Bureau of the Census reports that twenty-one percent of all renters are behind on their rent, of which twenty-nine percent of Black families and seventeen percent of Hispanic households are behind on theirs. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's analysis of persons who were employed prior to the pandemic reports that 1.3 million of these households are now an average of $5,400 in debt on rent and utilities, after those people had lost jobs and their family's income dropped. The new COVID-19 stimulus bill, already agreed to by both the House and Senate and signed by President Trump, restores unemployment assistance, but cuts that assistance from $600 a week to $300 a week without consideration for the facts on the ground for the millions of Americans who remain out of work due to COVID-19 public health policy, and have been without sufficient income since August 1, 2020. In fact, the decision about a $600 a week in addition to unemployment benefits is a good idea for those in labor markets with high costs of living like New York and Washington, D.C., but may have far outstripped the going rate for labor and the actual cost of living where the spending power of $600 exceeded market costs for living expenses. The Congress may need to revisit models for future programs of this type and provide a formula that is based on the actual spending power of funds provided so the ability of meeting the cost-of-living needs can be more in line with the intent of the funds provided. This may mean that, depending on where someone lived at the time a disaster of this nature was declared, the amount they would qualify for receiving may be different depending on the spending power of a dollar where they live. Today, we have twenty million Americans who are receiving some kind of unemployment aid, and about 12 million of the unemployed stopped receiving their benefits. The nation is on the cusp of a recession that is in danger of becoming a double-dip event that would plummet the economy into a precarious economic state that will take much more than a $2,000 payment to each individual to overcome. For all these reasons, I urge all Members to join me in voting for the CASH Act to increase individual payments from $600 to $2,000.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong opposition to the Administration's seemingly callous veto of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and proudly announce my intention to vote to override this reckless veto. I take this action because I disagree with the President that preserving monuments and memorials and naming military installations for the defenders of slavery who took up arms against the United States to achieve their aims is more important and a higher priority than providing the funding, resources, and support to the nation's military and civilian defense person, one of the nation's most respected institutions and its most diverse and representative. Other than his pique at being on the short end of what is by his own account an Electoral College landslide and being routed by seven million votes in his failed bid for reelection, there is absolutely no basis for the erstwhile Commander-in-Chief to veto the bipartisan NDAA and deny our servicemembers a long-overdue pay raise and hazard duty pay many of whom live in or are from my congressional district. It is cruel, shameful, and heartless for a Commander-in-Chief to deny to more than 100,000 federal employees the paid family leave child care, housing and health protections authorized by the FY2021 NDAA or to withhold from our veterans the benefits that they need and deserve. The FY2021 NDAA Conference Report, negotiated under the careful stewardship of Chairman Adam Smith of Washington and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry in the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Ranking Member Jack Reed of Rhode Island is carefully crafted, exemplary legislation reflecting the nation's sacred commitment to those who willingly risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to keep our nation safe and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. The FY21 NDAA provides a long-sought after benefit for tens of thousands of Vietnam-era veterans who are struggling with certain health complications after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving their country. In addition, the legislation authorizes $8.4 billion in military construction projects to fortify critical infrastructure and base realignment and closure clean up, it contains important new tools to deter adversaries China and Russia from attacking or threatening our national interests; and mandates reforms to make the Pentagon more efficient, innovative, and cost-effective. In the legislation there are significant bipartisan provisions to strengthen our posture on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity and to fortify our alliance with NATO and our security relationship with Israel. With the passage of the FY2021 NDAA, expectant mothers in the military could receive free loaner maternity uniforms because the legislation directs the Department of Defense to conduct a pilot program to issue maternity uniforms and related items to pregnant military members on a temporary and as-needed basis. Madam Speaker, this is important because women make up about 21 percent of the Air Force; 20.2 percent of the Navy; 15.4 percent of the Army; and 9 percent of the Marine Corps. Also, the FY2021 NDAA makes needed reforms to prevent sexual assault, a matter of great importance to the public and my colleagues, particularly those of us from Texas, where Fort Hood is located and where Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen was murdered to prevent her from reporting the sexual harassment and abuse she suffered from her direct superior in the chain of command. I am very grateful to Congressman Brown of Maryland, himself a veteran of the Armed Services, for his leadership in ensuring the NDAA authorize and approve the renaming of military bases currently named for persons who took up arms for the Confederacy and against the United States. I am very pleased that included in the legislation is my language directing the consideration be given to distinguished and heroic African-American and Native American servicemembers in the renaming of military bases. Removing the stain of bases and military installations being name for confederate traitors is an act of profound reconciliation and healing. For too long African Americans servicemembers have been forced to tolerate the hidden racism that existed under the guise of the rebel flag, knowing through oral history the brutality of those who voluntarily fought for the Confederacy. The FY2021 NDAA ushers in a new enlightened era where the names of traitors who took up arms against the United States will have their names removed from places of honor such as military bases or installations. These individuals will not be forgotten; instead they will have a permanent place in history and their records will be studied and examined in full by historians and scholars. Madam Speaker, it is also fitting that FY2021 NDAA directs the Department of Defense to take concrete actions to recognize and memorialize the contributions made by African Americans and Native Americans servicemembers in defense of our nation. The history of African Americans and Native Americans serving in the military date back to the colonial period of our nation to the present day. In every war waged from the Battle of Lexington to the Battle for Fallujah, African Americans and Native Americans have honorably answered the call to duty, and served with great valor and distinction in America's armed forces. At decisive moments in our nation's history, the United States military and its citizens warriors answered the call and were decisive in the nation's epic battles for freedom and liberty, including: Revolutionary War (1776-1783); War of 1812 (1812-1814); Mexican- American War (1836); Civil War (1861-1865); Spanish-American War (1898); World War I (1914-1918); World War II (1941-1945); Korean War (1950-1953); Vietnam War (1965-1975); Gulf War (1991); and Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, as well as conflicts in other theaters of war. The military was there doing a job no other branch of our nation's government could do--in the face of overwhelming danger--when the fate of the American Experiment was on the line. Our thanks to the military for always answering the call of duty-- whether that call comes in the dead of night or the light of day--we know that we can count on you. The names and faces of millions of African Americans who have served our nation in uniform may fade from memory, but today we have the opportunity to remember and see them in the faces of the young men and women who preserved freedom in the world, even at a time when the blessings of liberty were denied to them at home. The Jackson Lee provision in the FY2021 NDAA recognizes that there is no shortage of distinguished veterans, and especially African American and Native American veterans, who are worthy of the honor of naming a military facility in their honor. Let me provide for the record some representative candidates.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I join in the prayer of the Chaplain this morning. I believe it is important to open this day of lifesaving relief with a prayer to ask that our Congress comes together and stands in the face with help on the way to dying Americans from COVID-19, the families of those who have died and those who are on the front lines fighting against this virus. It is important that we help our schoolchildren with educational dollars and, as well, make sure that the vaccines are going as fast as they can to the sites across America. I spoke to hospitals in my district, smaller hospitals and community hospitals that are still waiting for their vaccine. We know that they want their frontline medical professionals to keep saving and serving the public. So this is going to be a historic and important day. We know it is not what we want in complete, but we know we will be working into the new year to be able to respond to the needs of the American people helping our local governments and, as well, making sure that those children who will be returning to school and those teachers, as well, will be protected after they have the opportunity--the teachers, in particular--to have the vaccine. This is a historic day. Let us work together.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, help is on the way. Help cannot come faster. Help is desperately needed. Seventeen million Americans are infected by COVID-19. Almost 320,000 are dead, and the numbers keep growing. Hospital beds are overutilized. Cities across America are getting refrigerated trucks. Help is on the way. People are being evicted, and this legislation helps us stop the evictions. It provides for cash disbursements, up to $2,400 for a family of four and $300 extra in weekly unemployment payments. For hungry families, 54 million hungry families in America, including our young military personnel, help is on the way. This bill is a bill we wrote months ago. It is downsized, but it is the very language that we have written. So we know, in the new year, we will come back again to save lives. Let's get this done in unity. We know how it was blocked. We know the other House did not move forward. We know we did not get leadership on this bill. But as I close, let me thank Secretary Shalala, Congresswoman Shalala, for what she brought to this Congress, what insight, what specialness, and what kindness. We wish you the very best, and I look forward to working with you in the future. Mr. Speaker, help is on the way. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support for the Rule that the House is debating to provide for the consideration of the Fiscal Year appropriations for the federal government and urgently needed COVID-19 relief funding. Chairman McGovern, and Ranking Member Cole, thank you for your work to bring this Rule before the House so that Members can debate and vote for urgently needed aid to communities across the nation and the funding needed to keep the federal government operational through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2021. As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, and the representative of the 18th Congressional District of Texas, an epicenter for COVID-19 infections, I recognize the urgency of providing assistance now, but I also recognize that the assistance is insufficient to the needs of our state and local governments, our hospitals, or the people of our great nation. I support this rule that will facilitate passage of this interim package, while also saying that more is needed. Before the Rules Committee also was the omnibus appropriations bill providing funding to continue the operations of the federal government through September 30, 2021, thus avoiding a wasteful and irresponsible shutdown. I am relieved that at long last, agreement has been reached between the bicameral leadership to provide needed and long overdue relief to the tens of millions Americans whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. I am grateful that efficacious vaccines have been discovered and are on their way to providing much needed protection and relief, but this is just a down payment on the relief and support needed for our country to recover from the pandemic and build back better. Over the course of the 116th Congress the House Rules Committee has done its job and provided expert guidance on the progress of nearly 600 bills that have passed the House and gone to the Senate. These bills included legislation to lower health care and prescription drug prices, raise wages, advance economic and retirement security, end gun violence, act on the climate crisis, protect Dreamers, and strengthen voting rights. For example, in this Congress the House has passed and sent to the Senate the following major legislative bills: H.R. 1, For the People Act; H.R. 2, Moving Forward Act; H.R. 3, The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act; H.R. 4, Voting Rights Advancement Act; H.R. 5, Equality Act; H.R. 6, The American Dream & Promise Act; H.R. 7, Paycheck Fairness Act; H.R. 8, Bipartisan Background Checks Act; H.R. 9, Climate Action Now Act; H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act; H.R. 1425, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act; H.R. 1585, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act; and H.R. 7120, George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Also among the bills passed by the House was H.R. 3710, the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Remediation Act, legislation that increases the responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with respect to cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center of DHS under this bill is directed to disseminate protocols to counter cybersecurity vulnerabilities, including in circumstances in which such vulnerabilities exist because software or hardware is no longer supported by a vendor. This bill would also provide the Science and Technology Directorate the flexibility to establish a competition to develop remedies for cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Today, our nation is still attempting to understand the scope and breath of the latest Russia sourced attack on federal government cyber assets. In this moment we must address the crisis created by COVID-19, and the Cybersecurity threat that is ongoing. There are consequences for the Senate's failure to take up House bills once they are received in the Senate. In truth the Republican-controlled Senate has been missing in action for much of the 116th Congress. Whether it is the urgent need to fortify our election systems from confirmed foreign interference, notably from Vladimir Putin's Russia, or lower prescription drugs prices and expanding and protecting the right of all Americans to affordable, accessible, high quality health care, fixing our broken immigration system, or hold a wayward Executive to account, the other body has failed the American people in its basic duty to promote the general welfare and provide for the common defense. The consequences of its complete disregard for the work of the House is now more apparent than ever and is illustrated perfectly by the Senate's failure to take up and vote on the HEROES Act passed by the House in March of this year to address the devastating budgetary and fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which the President exacerbated by his incompetent response to the crisis. The numbers are heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with the over 315,000 families who have lost loved ones and the tens of thousand who are sick, and the many others who will struggle with the effects of COVID-19 over the coming days, weeks, months, and years. We owe a special debt to first responders who are the lifelines for those who are very ill or who will need medical care to overcome this coronavirus. The need to begin work on the next aid package is evident in the economic impact of COVID-19. Congress and the Executive Branch must be able to manage more than one crisis at a time, while avoiding crisis management decision making when possible. The Obama Administration exemplified what a President and a Congress working in concert can accomplish. The first two years of Obama's Administration had Democrats in charge of the House and Senate, which made it possible for the Legislative and Executive Branches to work in concert to attack and repel the economic disaster the nation faced from the housing value collapse; and addressing health care disparities by passing the Affordable Care Act both of which saved millions from economic disaster and saved tens of thousands of lives. The Obama Administration had a flu pandemic in 2009 and Ebola that threatened to become endemic in 2013. Both of these global health emergencies were expertly managed and because of this most Americans cannot recall the threat. President Obama had to deal with an ecological disaster in the form of the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened the environment and delicate hatcheries for sea turtles and the tourism industry long the coast. Both the turtles and tourism were saved, and as with the flu pandemic and Ebola crisis most Americans cannot recall the incident, because their lives were not overly disrupted and the problems were addressed effectively. That is the sign of a good president because he kept American safe. When President Obama left office on January 20, 2017, unemployment was at 4. 7 percent; but today, due to the mismanagement of the COVID- 19 pandemic by President Trump and Republicans, unemployment skyrocketed to 8.4 percent and currently stands at 6.7 percent. When Trump took office in January 2017, there were 241,000 initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims for the week ending January 28, 2017 and at the beginning of the 116th Congress in January 2019, there were 236,000 initial UI claims. Today, due to the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic by President Trump and Republicans, there were 885,000 initial UI claims for the week ending December 12, 2020. Approximately 30 million Americans have lost the job they had earlier this year because of this Administration's ineptitude and cavalier regard for the well-being of the American people. During President Obama's last full year in office in 2016, the national debt was $20.02 trillion but due to the misguided economic policies and utter mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national debt has increased by $6.7 trillion and is projected to reach an all- time high of $29.6 trillion by the end of the FY2021 fiscal year. The annual deficit had been cut to $585 billion (3.2 percent of GDP) in the last year of the Obama Administration but under the mismanagement of the current Administration, we have seen the deficit balloon nearly seven-fold to $3.1 trillion or 15.2 percent GDP, the largest since 1945 relative to the size of the economy. Continuing this Administration's unbroken chain of woe, in 2019, after repeated attempts by Republicans to undermine and sabotage the Affordable Care Act, there were 33.2 million uninsured Americans, 5 million more than when President Obama left office. It has been estimated by reputable experts that from February 2020 through May 2020 alone, an estimated 5.4 million Americans became uninsured because of unprecedented job loss caused by the Republican mismanagement of this pandemic. Given the wreckage to the economy and the damage to the lives and livelihoods of the American people, it is unconscionable that this Administration is pursuing a lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act, which would take health care coverage away from 20 million Americans and take away protections for 132 million persons who have pre-existing conditions. I strongly support this legislation and urge members of the Rules Committee to join me by voting for a rule to bring the bill to the floor today.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of Congress, as a proud citizen of the United States, as an African American woman, and as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I rise in strong support of President-elect Joe Biden's nomination of retired General Lloyd Austin as the 28th U.S. Secretary of Defense. Retired General Lloyd Austin is an accomplished and respected trailblazer in the United States Army. He is a trusted and crisis- tested leader who has broken barriers in his historic ascent to the highest ranks of the military. With more than 40 years of service, Retired General Lloyd Austin is a deeply experienced and highly decorated commander who has served with distinction in several of the Pentagon's most crucial roles. Retired General Lloyd Austin is a son of the South. He was born in Mobile, Alabama and grew up in Thomasville, Georgia. He graduated from West Point United States Military Academy and later earned degrees from Auburn University, Webster University, the Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. Retired General Lloyd Austin was promoted to Lieutenant General in 2006 and assumed command of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg. And in 2009 he handed over his command to become the Director of the Joint Staff. Retired General Lloyd Austin retired from the U.S. Army in 2016 as the first African American to serve as Commander of CENTCOM, the U.S. Central Command, where he oversaw America's military strategy and joint operations throughout the Middle East and in Afghanistan. He was the chief architect of the military campaign to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and became the second highest ranking commander in Iraq, taking command of the Multi-National Corps--Iraq. As commander, he directed the operations of approximately 152,000 joint and coalition forces in all sectors of Iraq. He led the transition of the U.S. and Coalition military forces and equipment out of Iraq, the largest logistics operation undertaken by the Army in six decades. Retired General Lloyd Austin served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, Operations Officer for the Army Indianapolis District Recruiting Command, Executive Officer 1st Brigade 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, Executive Officer for the 2nd Battalion 22nd Infantry, Chief of Joint Operations Division J-3, Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Commander of 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Commanding General of U.S. Forces in Iraq, Army Vice Chief of Staff and as Commander of CENTCOM. Retired General Lloyd Austin is highly decorated with many awards and decorations including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, three Army Distinguished Service Medals, a Silver Star, two Defense Superior Service Medals, and two Legion of Merit decorations. Retired General Lloyd Austin, if confirmed, will become the first African American Secretary of Defense which culminates a barrier- breaking career as the first African American general to command an Army Division in combat, to lead a Corps in combat, to command an entire theater of war, and to serve as Commander of U.S. Central Command. Secretary-designate Austin has proven and demonstrated extraordinary leadership across a lifetime of distinguished service and is well prepared to lead our nation's military as a strong and dedicated civilian leader.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the following release which includes excerpts from the statement of former Iranian political prisoners, witnesses to the 1988 massacre in Iran. The Amnesty International report, ``Blood-Soaked Secrets: Why Iran's 1988 Prison Massacres are Ongoing Crimes Against Humanity,'' on the 30th anniversary of the massacre was an important step in accelerating the justice movement and holding the regime's officials to account as those responsible for committing this great crime. The following are the excerpts from the former Iranian political prisoners, witnesses to the 1988 massacre in Iran: We, political prisoners who personally witnessed the 1988 massacre, as part of the large family of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), have made a solemn promise to the 30,000 proud martyrs of this massacre that we will spare no effort to shed light on the scope of the horrific and inhumane 1988 massacre and to ensure its perpetrators face justice. Amnesty International can rely on the support of political prisoners, families of the martyrs, and the Iranian people as it continues to speak the truth and expose this great crime against humanity. The regime's leaders must face the fact that four decades of crime and murder, which continued into the November 2019 massacre and the executions of Mostafa Salehi and Navid Afkari will not go unanswered. We stress in this regard that insulting and attacking Amnesty International and its researchers and reporters is deplorable and amount to aligning with and accompanying the murderous rulers of Iran. As stated in the statement issued by 1,404 political prisoners, We consider it to be the urgent obligation of all political prisoners and any dignified human being to expose anyone, whether a former prisoner or otherwise, with any political claim, who serves the interests of the clerical regime, and we condemn any silence with respect to such abhorrent actions. Political prisoners, witnesses to the 1988 massacre. October 2020 Three decades after the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, we are witnessing Amnesty International's efforts to expose the details of this great crime. This is a crime that the former designated heir to Khomeini described at the time as the greatest crime committed by the clical regime in its history and called its perpetrators criminals: This statement was distributed by the Iranian American Community of Texas, member of the Organization of Iranian American Communities-US (OIAC)

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, and daughter-in-law of a beloved member of the Tuskegee Airmen who served our nation so heroically in World War II, I rise in strong support of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7105, the ``Johnny D. Isakson and David P. Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020,'' which keeps faith with what President Lincoln called our solemn obligation ``to provide for them who have borne the battle, and their widow and their orphan.'' I support this bipartisan omnibus legislation because it provides support for women veterans, expands benefits for homeless veterans, and ensures servicemembers and veterans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic will be cared for properly and compassionately. Let me highlight some of the important elements of this most important legislation. Title V of the bill incorporates H.R. 7105, the Deborah Sampson Act, which the House passed on November 12, 2019, to address inequities and barriers that women veterans face when accessing VA care and benefits. Deborah Sampson Gannett was a Revolutionary War veteran who served in the Continental Army from 1781 to 1783 and was awarded a full military pension for her military service after years of petitioning Congress. Specifically the legislation creates a dedicated Office of Women's Health at VA, expands reintegration and readjustment group counseling retreats for women veterans and their family members, and bolsters call center services for women veterans. The bill eliminates barriers to care by staffing every VA health facility with a dedicated women's health primary care provider, training clinicians, and retrofitting VA facilities to enhance privacy and improve the environment of care for women veterans. In addition, the legislation bolsters supportive services by providing access to legal services for women veterans, expanding child care for veterans receiving VA health care, and requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on VA's efforts to support homeless or at-risk women veterans. And importantly, the bill improves access to care and benefits for survivors of military sexual trauma (MST) by expanding MST counseling to former Guard and Reserve members, allowing VA to treat the physical health conditions of MST, and improving the claims process for MST survivors at the Veterans Benefits Administration. Also included in the omnibus package before are several important provisions that I strongly support, including provisions directing VA to continue providing the disability benefits questionnaires online, streamlining veterans' access to earned disability benefits. The bill lowers the age at which a surviving spouse may still receive dependency indemnity compensation benefits at the point of remarriage and increases VA's funding cap from $5 million to $10 million annually to better assist states, territories and tribal governments in covering the increasing costs of operating and maintaining state-run veteran cemeteries. I am very pleased that this eliminates copayments for Native American veterans accessing health care at VA and establishes an Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs to advise the VA Secretary on matters relating to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Native American veterans. Mr. Speaker, this legislation requires VA to review the entire scheduling process--for both in-house and non-VA care--in order to increase veterans' access to timely health care and to remove barriers to VA funding for organizations in need of critical upgrades to keep homeless veterans safe from the coronavirus. Another important provision of the bill is the expansion of the Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses for Training Providers (VET TEC) program to help veterans and servicemembers transition to civilian life. In this time where the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of so many Americans, this legislation ensures that servicemembers who contract COVID-19 while serving will be eligible for VA benefits and requires VA to take a more central and active role by developing a plan to address the financial exploitation of veterans. The legislation requires VA to establish a national protocol for administering medical exams for volunteer drivers providing transportation for veterans who are unable to safely get to and from their appointments. Finally, Mr. Speaker, this legislation assists homeless veterans by improving VA's ability to award grant and per diem program funding to qualified providers of homelessness assistance services, expand HUD- VASH vouchers to veterans with other than honorable discharges, provide legal services for homeless veterans, and extend the coordination of case management services for homeless veterans. Elsewhere in the area of housing, the bill expands eligibility for VA Home Loan Guaranty Program to more members of the National Guard and Reserves, reduces the home loan funding fee for veterans impacted by disasters, and extends home loan funding fee rates through 2030. In a provision especially timely, the bill provides retraining Assistance for Veterans and provides the VA and Labor Secretaries access to the Federal directory of new hires to assist in veterans employment, expand the VET TEC training program for more veterans, extend the Off-Base Transition Training program, and direct VA to provide grants to community organizations for veteran transition assistance programs. Finally, the bill expands federal aid to counties for veterans' cemeteries; increases funds for State, county, and tribal veterans' cemeteries operating and maintenance expenses; and provides urns and commemorative plaques for deceased veterans. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support these bipartisan, common-sense reforms that would honor and provide for our veterans, who answered the call of their nation and were willing to risk and give all so that we can remain free. I urge all Members to join me in voting to pass Senate Amendment to H.R. 7105, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in strong support of S. 2216, the ``Transparency and Effective Accountability Measures for Veteran Caregivers Act,'' (Team Act), which strengthens transparency and communication for veterans and caregivers participating in the program. Mr. Speaker, it is fitting and proper that the VA provides stipends and support to caregivers for wounded veterans. To be eligible for this program, veterans must have sustained or aggravated a serious injury in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001 and need personal care services for supervision and protection to help them with daily living activities. Caregivers can include family members or other members of the veteran's support group that regularly help veterans recovering from injuries. Unfortunately, according to reports, caregivers and veterans have been arbitrarily discharged or downgraded from the program, with benefits subsequently revoked or reduced--often with little explanation or time to appeal the decision. In fact, the VA Office of the Inspector General reported in 2018 that VA failed to adequately manage the caregiver program and recommended improvements and reforms. The TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act takes a number of steps to improve the program. First, the legislation ensures that all caregivers are included in the veterans' medical records. Currently, only certain caregivers participating in the Caregiver Support Program are included in veterans' medical records. Including all caregivers in medical records strengthens communications between VA and caregivers and recognizes them as part of the clinical team. Second, the legislation requires a minimum standard of information in downgrade notification letters in that it requires VA to provide an explanation of downgrade or termination decisions. Caregivers have reported that their decision letters are sometimes missing important information that would be necessary to file an appeal. Finally, the legislation extends benefits after certain veterans are deemed ineligible for the program. Caregivers have reported being dropped shortly after receiving a termination letter without adequate time to appeal or make new accommodations. This codifies a goal of maintaining care for an extended period of 150 days in certain cases where a veteran is terminated from the program. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is strongly endorsed by Disabled American Veterans (DAV), a charitable organization with the singular focus and mission of empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. In supporting the TEAM Veterans Caregivers Act, DAV states: ``Family caregivers are the unsung heroes for thousands of severely injured veterans, as they not only perform complex medical and personal care tasks but are often the lifeline of many ill and injured veterans to lead dignified and independent lives. However, mismanagement of the VA's Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers has, in far too many instances, caused the improper disruption or termination of benefits family caregivers need to support their veteran.'' I support this bipartisan legislation because it provides needed support for veterans who can least afford to be without it, those disabled in connection with their service to our country. I urge all Members to join me in voting to pass S. 2216, the TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, and a representative from the New South that President Jimmy Carter symbolized, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5472, the ``Jimmy Carter National Historical Park Redesignation Act,'' bipartisan legislation that elevates the designation of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Site to accurately reflect its status in the National Park System and accord with a standard pattern of nomenclature. National historical parks are typically areas of greater physical extent and complexity than national historic sites; often they contain multiple discontiguous sites. According to the National Park Service, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, which was established by Congress in 1987, is comprised of facilities at several sites in and around the town of Plains, Georgia and has the characteristics that make the designation of ``national historical park'' a more appropriate title than ``national historic site.'' Congress passed the legislation in 1987 to preserve the key sites and structures associated with President Jimmy Carter during his life, provide for the interpretation of the life and presidency of Jimmy Carter, and present the history of a small rural southern town. The historic site consists of President Carter's boyhood home in the community of Archery; Plains High School, now used for a visitor center and headquarters for the historic site; the Plains depot, which was used as a headquarters for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign; and the Carter compound, where President and Mrs. Carter have resided since 1981. It is therefore fitting and proper that we pass this bipartisan legislation, supported unanimously by the Georgia congressional delegation, designating this complex of historically significant places as the ``Jimmy Carter National Historical Park,'' in honor of the 39th President of the United States, whose post-presidency is universally regarded as the greatest and most consequential in history. Madam Speaker, Jimmy Carter was little known outside the South before he became president and I vividly recall his acceptance speech in July 1976 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which he began by saying simply: ``My name is Jimmy Carter and I'm running for president.'' It was at that convention that the great Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who held the seat I now hold, made history by being the first African American woman to give the keynote address at a major political party nominating convention. Madam Speaker, it is perhaps a failing of all us that we do not acknowledge nearly enough the enormous achievements and contributions to our country of the Carter Administration. Let me list briefly some of the enormous positive changes wrought by President Carter, this most moral of public men was awarded the Medal of Freedom in addition to being the 2002 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. During his administration, President Carter signed into law many legislative proposals that have changed our lives for the better and made living in America safer, more affordable, fairer, and better. For example, President Carter signed into law the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, known as the Superfund Act (Pub. L. 96-510). The U.S. Department of Energy was created in 1977 with the enactment of Department of Energy Organization Act, signed into law as Pub. L. 95-91. The U.S. Department of Education was created in 1979 with the enactment of Department of Education Organization Act, signed into law as Pub. L. 96-88. Airline travel was deregulated, making it affordable for millions of Americans to travel by air for the first time with the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, Pub. L. 95-504. Under President Carter, both the trucking and rail industry were deregulated leading to reduced shipping costs and lower prices for consumers with the signing of the Motor Carrier Act, Pub. L. 96-296, and the Staggers Rail Act, Pub. L. 96-448. Madam Speaker, a little recalled fact is that under the Carter Administration, 9.8 million jobs were created, more than any president from Nixon until Clinton, thanks to economic legislation like the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, signed into law as the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act (Pub. L. 95-523) and Comprehensive Employment and Training Act Amendments (Pub. L. 95-524. A full listing of the important laws signed by President Carter would take more time than we have available but includes the Civil Service Reform Act, Pub. L. 95-454, which created the Office of the Inspector General, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Pub. L. 96-487, which designated certain public lands in Alaska as units of the National Park, National Wildlife Refuge, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Wilderness Preservation and National Forest Systems, resulting in 79.54 million acres of refuge land in Alaska, of which 27.47 million acres were designated as wilderness. President Carter was the first president to express to the nation the interrelation between national security and energy independence and to take action to enhance both, with the passage of the: 1. National Energy Act, Pub. L. 95-617 through 621, 2. Emergency Natural Gas Act, Pub. L. 95-2, 3. Reorganization Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-17, 4. Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act, Pub. L. 96-223, and 5. Energy Security Act, Pub. L. 96-294. Other major legislation signed into law by President Carter were the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, Pub. L. 96-221; the Trade Agreements Act, Pub. L. 96-39, and the Panama Canal Treaties. In the areas of foreign affairs and national security, President Carter deescalated and normalized diplomatic relations with China, brokered the historic Camp David Accord between Israel and Egypt, and hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union by supporting the mujahideen as it fought to repel and defeat the invading forces of the Soviet Union. President Carter proudly and firmly made promotion and protection of human rights a cornerstone of American foreign policy and made clear that the United States would not overlook or tolerate human rights abuses, whether committed by adversary or ally, which helped hasten the end of apartheid in South Africa and authoritarian governments in South and Latin America. President Carter appointed the first woman of color to a cabinet position when he chose the Hon. Patricia Roberts Harris as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and then as Secretary of Health and Human Services. It was President Carter who appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal judiciary when he nominated her to be a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. It was President Carter who appointed Stephen Breyer to the federal judiciary when he nominated him for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1980. In fact, when President Carter took office, just eight women had ever been appointed to one of the 500 federal judgeships in the country, he doubled that number and appointed 40 women, including eight women and 33 men of color. President Carter changed the face of the federal judiciary to make it more representative of the American people and set the example which Presidents Clinton and Obama followed. After leaving office, President Carter embarked on an energetic and tireless post-presidency, founding in 1982 the Carter Presidential Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which is devoted to issues relating to democracy and human rights. Most everyone has seen Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter working with Habitat for Humanity International building housing and helping underprivileged persons realize the dream of home ownership. President Carter has served as a freelance ambassador for a variety of international missions, including mediating disputes between countries, observing elections in nations with histories of fraudulent voting processes, and advising presidents on Middle East issues. He has also made time to be a prolific author, writing more than 30 books, including Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President (1983), Turning Point (1992), and An Hour Before Daylight (2001). The United States and the world are better off because Jimmy Carter emerged from humble origins to become the 39th President of the United States. Not bad for a Georgia peanut farmer, Annapolis graduate, and nuclear submariner, not bad at all. I strongly support this bipartisan legislation and urge all Members to join me in voting to pass H.R 5472, the ``Jimmy Carter National Historical Park Redesignation Act.'' God bless President Carter, and the United States of America.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thought about every day I would rise to emphasize the number of Americans who have died in the last 24 hours because of COVID-19, some 3,000-plus; 300,000 Americans have already died, a half a million are expected to lose their life by the beginning of the year. It is crucial that we, without ceasing, pass a COVID-19 package that includes a lifeline for families that are trying to survive: cash payment; unemployment; more money for vaccines; more testing; more money to stop evictions; more money for small businesses, restaurants, and our transportation community. But more importantly, children are losing parents. And the holiday season is coming, and many are not even thinking about another surge like we had from Thanksgiving. Madam Speaker, I beg of America to prayerfully commemorate, celebrate, love this holiday season, but it should be a skinny season to save lives. Save lives. And we must pass a COVID-19 package, not leave until we get it done. Americans are dying, and that means that we have to stand up, and stand up for them, and I am here on the floor to stand up for them.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, associate myself with the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019, a very vital act for dealing with families who have lost loved ones, as well as the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act, S. 3312, which deals with helping people who are incarcerated adjust back to the community. I believe that we had a day of hope yesterday in Houston and around the world. In fact, it was not only yesterday, but it was Monday. That is when the first vaccines began to come to the Nation. I went to the public hospital system, and I became part of UPS--that is, Pfizer vaccines that I was able to lift at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital and then walk that vaccine to the pharmacy so that people would have hope. Then, I went to Ben Taub Hospital--the public health system, again--and watched people from all backgrounds get vaccinated. This is a day of hope. We must continue, but we must continue to walk carefully. We must continue to stay distant, get testing, and wear our masks. There is hope. I am delighted to have been able to be there to say to our constituents that there is hope, Madam Speaker.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary, Committee and a member representing a state on the nation's southern border, I rise in strong support of S. 2174, the ``Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019,'' sponsored by the senior senator from Texas, Sen. Cornyn, and Sen. Kamala Harris, the next Vice- President of the United States and the first woman and person of color to win election to that high office. I support the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act because it is bipartisan legislation that will help prevent migrant deaths on the Southwest border and will help border counties and nonprofit organizations locate and identify missing migrants. Mr. Speaker, migrants seeking a better and safer life in the United States who attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry are often faced with difficult terrain and extremely dangerous conditions. The temperature in barren border sections of Arizona's Sonoran Desert, for example, can reach over 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and drop to below freezing in the winter. Since 1998, the U.S. Border Patrol has reported 7,505 migrant deaths on the border, most due to dehydration, drowning, and exposure to extreme heat or cold. For more than two decades, over one migrant a day has died while attempting to enter without authorization, a misdemeanor offense under Federal law. The actual number dead is likely much higher than that, as the statistics only report those who have been positively identified by border patrol agents. The bodies of migrants tragically lost during attempted border crossings become increasingly difficult to identify after exposure to the desert for prolonged periods. The continuing loss of life on the border is unacceptable and allowing many of the dead to remain unidentified is inhumane, families of border crossers unsure of their loved ones' fate and depriving them of the opportunity unable to say goodbye. The legislation before us would create grants for humanitarian and state actors to report and identify missing persons and unidentified remains, including migrant border crossers. The bill also provides resources for rescue beacons, which have been used effectively to rescue migrants who are in danger. Mr. Speaker, the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act would authorize the Attorney General to provide grants to various entities to report, process, and identify missing persons and unidentified remains. Entities eligible for the grants would include state and local governments, humanitarian aid groups, nonprofit organizations, forensics and toxicology laboratories, and medical examiners' offices. This funding will improve reporting of missing persons to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), databases used to identify border crossers who have lost their lives. Additionally, the legislation authorizes the purchase and implementation of up to 170 self-powered ``rescue beacons'' in isolated border regions to prevent further migrant deaths. Rescue beacons are tools used by U.S. Border Patrol in desolate border areas to rescue migrants in distress. They are 30 to 40 feet tall, solar-powered, and satellite-connected. They are equipped with a 9-1-1 cellular relay, a strobe light, and a multilingual instructional placard to help migrants alert border patrol personnel to a distress call. Not long ago, on Christmas Eve, 2017, a distress call from a rescue beacon allowed border patrol agents to rescue a migrant family near Lukeville, Arizona, representing three of hundreds of lives that have been saved by the beacons since they were first implemented in the late 1990s. As of November 12, 2019, there were 34 rescue beacons situated in desolate border areas; this bill would increase the total number of beacons by 600 percent. The bill clarifies privacy protections concerning the use of biometric data in the reporting and identification of missing persons and unidentified remains and provides that any piece of biometric evidence handled by an entity receiving grant funding be used for the sole purpose of identifying missing persons and unidentified remains. Finally, S. 2174 requires the Attorney General, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) each to submit annual reports on use of grant funding and on programs implemented to save migrant lives and identify the dead. Mr. Speaker, the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act would make an immediate impact, both by saving lives on the border and by allowing the families of those who have lost loved ones to gain closure. I strongly support this bipartisan, common-sense reform that would enable the United States to lessen the loss of life on our southern border and treat those dying or crossing between ports of entry with dignity and humanity. I urge all Members to join me in voting to pass S. 2174, the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary, Committee, I rise in strong support of S. 3312, the ``Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act,'' bipartisan legislation that ensures people experiencing a mental health crisis receive appropriate care while in a correctional facility. Specifically, the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act would authorize $10 million in grants to communities to create collaborative programs involving justice agencies and community-based behavioral health providers, including Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). Mr. Speaker, this legislation addresses the challenges faced by many person during their period of incarceration and as they seek to reenter the community. This includes access to proper medication and additional training for law enforcement officers so they can address the needs of our most vulnerable individuals. The bill also calls for a warm handoff between law enforcement and community mental health clinics upon re-entry into the community to ensure the best possible start. It would also create a national technical assistance center to serve communities around the country. Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act grants would support community-level crisis response programs, including collaboratively designed crisis response services and technical support programs that promote medication adherence and continuity of care. This grant funding will also support targeted training programs related to medication adherence and continuity of care; including the purchase and use of long-acting antipsychotic medications to support adherence. Importantly, the infusion of funding will strengthen local agency and provider capacity to reduce suicides during incarceration. Finally, the legislation establishes a national technical assistance center to support justice and mental health agencies, community behavioral health providers, CCBHCs, and other stakeholders in developing training and treatment approaches for justice-involved persons with mental illness, as well as payment strategies that promote best-practices with respect to care for this vulnerable group of persons. This legislation is strongly supported by and has earned the endorsement of The National Council, which is another reason why I strongly support this bipartisan, common-sense criminal justice reform and urge all Members to join me in voting to pass S. 3312, the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to offer a few brief thoughts on the process established by the Framers for the election of the President and Vice-President of the United States and the certain outcome of that process that will be known later today and ratified on in a Joint Meeting of Congress on January 6, 2021. The impeached and electorally defeated incumbent has amassed a 98 percent failure record (1/50) in his legal challenges to the certification of electors. Not to be outdone, the Texas Attorney General, joined by 17 Republican Attorneys General and 126 sitting Republican Members of Congress, filed a shameful, desperate Hail Mary action requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to disenfranchise 10 million voters in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin because they claim somehow by the local decision made by those sovereign states to protect their citizens from a lethal pandemic by permitting voting by mail. The Supreme Court summarily rejected this latest lawsuit, finding that petitioners lacked standing to bring their specious arguments. Madam Speaker, it defies belief that persons claiming to revere the 10th Amendment and federalism would have taken this action that makes a mockery of their core beliefs and is so inconsistent with the bedrock principle that in America, it is ``We, the People'' who choose our leaders; leaders do not choose their voters. The principle behind this most frivolous of lawsuits would allow the absurd result of California suing Texas for not expanding Medicaid, New York suing Mississippi for the way it runs its penal system, Illinois suing North Carolina for gerrymandering election districts, and Minnesota suing Alabama over its school funding mechanism. This latest Republican led and Trump-inspired law suit, like the preceding 50, was not grounded in reality so it is useful to describe what the Constitution and the law prescribe regarding the process for electing a president. First, it must be emphasized that while November 3 was Election Day throughout the nation, it was not a national election but a series of discreet and separate elections held in each state and District of Columbia to choose the persons who under the 12th Amendment are to meet six weeks later to cast the votes to elect the President and Vice- President. The result of those elections was that Joe Biden was the leading vote-getter in more states with more people by larger margins than Donald Trump. In fact, the latest tally of all votes cast shows Joe Biden has received more votes, 81.2 million, than anyone in history, outdistancing his vanquished rival by an astounding 7 million votes. Second, the next important date in the electoral process is today, December 14, which is the first Monday after the second Wednesday and the date set by federal law, when the men and women chosen by the voters of their respective states gather in the several state capitals to cast their votes for President and Vice-President. While there are a number of events yet to take place that are required by the Constitution and our laws, it is beyond any reasonable dispute what the culmination of these events will yield: an announcement on January 6, 2021 at a Joint Meeting of the Congress in the House of Representatives, by the President of the Senate, Mike Pence, to the nation and the world that Joseph R. Biden is elected as the 46th President and that Kamala D. Harris is elected the 49th Vice- President of the United States. While this meeting is popularly known as the Electoral College, it should be noted that this particular term is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution itself. Instead, the Electoral College should properly be understood as a process, not a place, for electing the President and the Vice- President. In every state, this process begins with the nomination by the state's political parties of candidates for the position of presidential elector. Next, is the ascertainment of which slate of candidates were selected to be the electors, which in every state is determined by the outcome of the presidential election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the preceding November. After the electors have been ascertained, they are provided a writ of election by the state governor directing them to assemble in the state capital at a time specified on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes for separately President and Vice-President. Any judicial disputes regarding the appointment of electors that are decided in accordance with state laws in place before the election at least six days in advance of the meeting are conclusive are conclusive as to the validity of the appointment. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia by law require electors to cast their votes for the candidate of the political party that nominated them and most of the rest require the elector to sign a pledge committing him or her to do so, but again, since electors are typically faithful members or workers of the political party that nominated them, such pledges merely state the obvious. As I speak, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified the results of the presidential election, and since this was done at least six days before the meeting of electors, under Section 5 of the Electoral College Act, 3 U.S.C. 1 et seq., it is conclusive on the issue of whether the electors in those states were ``lawfully certified.'' The Certificates of Ascertainment appointing the electors transmitted to the National Archivist and the President of the Senate will document that enough candidates nominated by his party were elected to cast at minimum 306 electoral votes for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be elected President and Vice-President of the United States, which is 36 more than the needed 270 vote majority. Put another way, Joe Biden is slated to receive the exact number of electoral votes that were deemed to constitute a landslide, blowout, historic triumph by the current President just four short years ago. Third and finally, after the electors meet in the various state capitals next Monday, they will transmit their Certificates of Vote to the National Archivist where they will remain until opened on January 6, 2021 by Vice-President Pence and counted in public before a Joint Meeting of the Congress. When all the votes are tabulated, the Vice-President will then announce and make official what we all know right to be true: Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris has been elected the 49th Vice-President and President of the Senate. Two weeks later on January 20, at noon, on the steps of the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Joe Biden will be inaugurated and will enter office after taking the oath in which he will solemnly affirm that he ``will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' This outcome is not in doubt and no amount of suspending disbelief will make it so. It is all over but the shouting--and the public counting of the electoral ballots in the Joint Meeting of the Congress on January 6, 2021. The center holds and the system is working as the Framers envisioned it. We can all celebrate that.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus and an original co-sponsor, I rise in support of the bipartisan S. 461, the ``HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act'' (HBCU PARTNERS Act), which will strengthen partnerships between federal agencies and the country's more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The HBCU PARTNERS Act requires federal agencies with relevant grants and programs to undertake annual planning and coordinate their efforts to support and expand HBCU participation in those programs. The bill strengthens the rigor and transparency requirements of existing law by requiring that agencies track their progress toward past goals and share their plans with Congress. In addition, it codifies the White House Board of Advisors on HBCUs, ensuring an ongoing avenue for the institutions' priorities and policy concerns to be raised. As a strong proponent of the preservation of our nation's HBCU's and MSI's, I support this bill because our students deserve to receive an outstanding education and have access to equal resources, regardless of the institution they choose to attend. Mr. Speaker, I am proud that one of the greatest HBCUs in the country, Texas Southern University, is located in my congressional district. Texas Southern University has a rich history with nine academic units, 1,000 dedicated staff members, and over 9,200 esteemed students. Like most of my HBCU Caucus colleagues, I have worked closely with my local HBCU to provide funding and resources needed to enable them to fulfill their mission of educating the next generation of social engineers and conducting research programs addressing issues of major concern to the African American community. As Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection in the 111th Congress, I authored the legislation to' establish a Transportation Security Center of Excellence at TSU and worked to help TSU secure $1.2 million in funding over four years from the Department of Homeland Security for this Center of Excellence. One of my proudest accomplishments as a member of Congress is my success in working with federal officials in the Clinton Administration to settle the lawsuit against TSU that had been pending for more than 23 years. I was proud to spearhead the initiative that brought more than $13 million in financial aid relief for the students and campus of Texas Southern University. I also worked with TSU administrators to initiate digital archive projects to preserve the records of two of its most distinguished alumni, the legendary Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland, both of whom preceded me as the Member of Congress for the Eighteenth Congressional District ofTexas, I was pleased to facilitate a partnership between Comcast and TSU's School of Communication to provide scholarships and internships to TSU students and in-kind marketing services to the university. I also worked to secure funding needed to establish the Center for Transportation, Training and Research in the TSU College of Science, Engineering, and Technology. Mr. Speaker, HBCU's have played a critical role in American history. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated: ``The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education.''' HBCUs do not just educate--HBCUs have and will continue to fill an important role in education opportunity and engagement for millions of young people from diverse backgrounds. As leaders of this country, the success and expansion of HBCUs and minority-serving institutions falls on our shoulders and we must act swiftly to ensure that these institutions are protected. In an effort to maintain the legacy and educational quality of our I historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions, we must act urgently to ensure the proper relationships are established between all of these institutions and the Department of Homeland Security. I ask all members to join me in voting for S. 461, the ``HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act.''

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I certainly associate with the concerns of the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer. I associate myself with his concerns and my appreciation for the Appropriations Committee. Let me thank Ms. DeLauro and my fellow Texan, Ms. Granger, and certainly make mention of her ascending to continue as ranking member in the next Congress. I rise to support this underlying legislation for the extension of the CR to December 18. And I rise to, as well, reemphasize the desperate conditions Americans are in. There are 14 million COVID-19 cases, almost 300,000 dead. It is predicted to have Americans, tragically, that will possibly lose their life in 2021, of upward of 500,000 Americans. This is a funding bill. When we say keep the government open, what we really mean is to serve the American people, to make sure that they have healthcare, that they have education dollars, that they are able to fund their local police and fire, that they have childcare dollars, that they have research dollars. At the same time, if I went on any local street in America today, they would be asking me to give them a lifeline so their restaurants can stay open. The small businesses, they would be asking about their unemployment extension and the cash payments. That is what we need to get into the negotiation, and we are hoping to do the funding bill and COVID-19 as well. I want to rise on the floor today to make a number of points in particular: the necessity of the unemployment extension and increase-- we had $600 in the past--and the necessity of the cash payment as well. But I also want to make mention of the fact that our local jurisdictions, our cities and counties and Tribal jurisdictions, they need the money for public funding to go directly to them, no strings attached by the State. They are losing out. Their firefighters are losing out; their health clinics are losing out; and their municipal workers are losing out because it is getting entangled with the State. Finally, the Department of Transportation needs funding for its environmental assessment for projects like I-45.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, there are so many projects, like I-45 in Texas, that recklessly tears into minority neighborhoods without any response to those voters, those constituents, wiping out their houses and churches and schools. So the Department of Transportation funding will be in here that we will have the opportunity to assess environment impact statements. Finally, let me offer my greatest appreciation for Chairwoman Nita Lowey; yes, an angel on this floor for so many years, guiding us, leading us in a way that brought back the kind of success that America needs. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. DeLauro for her hard work and I wish her success as well.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I know that we will be discussing COVID-19, and I cannot stand on this floor without ever mentioning that we must help the American people. But today I stand on this floor to acknowledge the existence of the Electoral College. Mr. Speaker, many Americans are unfamiliar with this very interesting fixture in law. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution gives us the Electoral College. But let me be very clear. In the next couple of days, many States will certify those who have voted. The Electoral College will meet, by the Constitution, on December 14. Most State legislators have indicated that the electors are to vote the popular vote. All of the battleground States have certified that the next President and Vice President of the United States are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. What is my plea today? My plea today is for us to harmoniously join together in recognizing the value of this Constitution, the sanctity of democracy, and to proceed as a House and Senate to embrace this election and the victors. Why? Because the Nation needs us, and the Constitution says so. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to us working together.