Sheila Jackson Lee

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, we do have a very solemn responsibility to uphold the rule of law, but it is important to note that Democrats and the majority in the House have worked every day for the American people. Among the 400 bills that we have supported are: H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, legislation that I have consistently worked on for almost a decade; the Equality Act, which gives equality to all people; the Paycheck Fairness Act, to treat women fairly; the Climate Action Now Act and other legislation to recognize the crisis in climate change; national flood insurance, which my constituents in Texas are desperate for; directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen; and then, of course, a signature bill that I have written over a 2-year period, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which expands the rights of Native Americans and provides $291 million for our law enforcement and prosecutors. Finally, let me say, I was very proud to stand for H. Res. 183, condemning anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance, which are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States, and condemning anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance. We have been working on behalf of the American people. We ask the other body to work, but we are doing our job for the goodness and the greatness of this Nation.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, World AIDS Day affords us an opportunity to reflect on our progress in the fight against the global AIDS pandemic and to rededicate ourselves to ending the disease once and for all. We have come a long way since the first World AIDS Day in 1988 by dramatically expanding investments in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and research. Strong advocacy has paved the way for the Ryan White Act, the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS Initiative, growing investments in NIH research, and an end to the ban on federal funds for syringe exchange. Beyond our borders, our efforts have extended care to millions in the developing world, through increased resources for PEPFAR and the Global Fund. Our investments have saved lives--preventing millions of new HIV cases, expanding access to improved treatments, and enabling medical advances that help HIV/AIDS patients live longer and healthier. Here and across the globe, AIDS deaths are on the decline, and studies are pointing the way to new approaches to limit the spread of the disease, with treatment as prevention. While our efforts have grown, we still only reach half of all people eligible for HIV treatment; and more must be done. Working together, we must continue to strengthen--not weaken--our national and international efforts to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases. We must work to achieve the goal of an AIDS-free generation. We must honor the memory of those we have lost and act on our hope, optimism, and determination to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We must continue to work with programs and clinics, like the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD), who are treating and caring for patients with HIV/AIDS. In 1989, HCHD opened Thomas Street Health Center, the first free- standing facility dedicated to outpatient HIV/AIDS care in the nation. The center has become the cornerstone of all HIV/AIDS care available to Harris County residents. The Thomas Street Health Center has dedicated their services to about 25 percent of Harris County's HIV/AIDS. Annually, the health center, along with HCHD, serves 4,463 unique patients for about 37,000 patients' visits. We will continue to fight a tough fight against HIV and AIDS. We will continue to strengthen and support centers like Thomas Street Health Center who work diligently with HIV/AIDS patients. Our focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness will be to ensure all of our friends, relatives and children live healthy and full lives. There is a pressing need to raise awareness and engage in education within the African American community where HIV infections have been and continue to rise. The incidents of HIV have decreased for the majority population, while it has grown nearly unchecked among African Americans. This must change--decisions regarding funding for agencies charged with infectious disease education and minority health must be supported.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and one who served on the Committee during the last impeachment proceeding, I rise to share some of the fundamental principles that will guide my deliberations on the momentous task before the Committee. In 1776, the Framers founded this country and created this government on the basis of a bedrock belief in a revolutionary assumption: that all men are created equal and have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and property; are entitled to live free of arbitrary rule; and most important, are endowed with the right to govern themselves. Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that ``all Experience has sh[o]wn that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by taking'' immediate action against their oppressors. But, Jefferson continued, ``when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty'' to take immediate action to repel the danger. The Framers had first-hand experience with the types of abuses and usurpations committed by political leaders who ruled them but were not accountable to them and detailed many of those wrongs in the Declaration of Independence. The Framers understood and declared that democratic governors derived their powers from the knowing and voluntary consent of the governed as expressed in free, fair, and unfettered elections unmarred by the influence or sabotage of any entity not a member of the political community. If elections are influenced by foreign actors, then voters are reduced from citizens to subjects, and government for and by the people is a sham. The most important feature of a democracy is that it is the voters who alone can confer the legitimate consent and authorization necessary to govern upon the governors who are then duty-bound to represent the voters' interests, and only their interests. The fundamental democratic compact between the governed and the governors is that the latter's authority and continuance in office comes exclusively from the governed and allegiance is owed exclusively to the governed. This agreement can only be reached through free and fair elections, a breach of which threatens the vitality and viability of the social contract upon which democratic self-rule depends. Based on their personal experiences, the Framers understood the importance of a president's allegiance being always and only to the nation. That is why they included the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution as Article I, section 9, clause 8, which bans Presidents from accepting titles of nobility and strictly prohibits the acceptance of any emolument of any kind from any king, prince, or foreign state. President Lincoln called the United States the ``last best hope of man on earth'' and stated at Gettysburg the importance of finishing the work we are in to ensure that ``government of the people, for the people, by the people does not perish from the earth.'' The serious allegation before us is that the President extorted or bribed the head of a foreign nation to conspire with him to sabotage an American election by manufacturing false charges against his political rival so that he could retain his office and continue to abuse his power. This is undoubtedly the most serious transgression that could be committed by a president who, as Lincoln said, has taken an oath ``registered in Heaven'' to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. If American elections are not free, fair, and uninfluenced by foreign actors, then the democracy is extinguished, and the people do not rule. Instead, citizens are reduced to subjects, ruled by an authority dependent not on the consent of the governed, but on the assistance and beneficence of unaccountable foreign actors. Such a state of affairs inevitably would lead to actions taken by the ruler that are not in the interests of the nation, like dishonoring treaty agreements, abandoning allies, impugning the independent judiciary and the free press, disregarding fundamental rights and liberties of the people, abrogating civic norms and virtues, pursuing acts of personal enrichment, and currying favor with foreign despots and authoritarians. Although President Lincoln said in his First Inaugural Address that ``while the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years,'' the Framers anticipated that the day may come when the actions of a Chief Magistrate would constitute a clear and present danger to the security and survival of the republic. To protect the republic, the Framers equipped the representatives chosen directly by the people with the necessary means of protecting their liberty by wisely including in the Constitution of the United States, Article I, section 2, clause 5, which vests the sole power of impeachment in the House of Representatives. As a Member of Congress who has taken an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, these are the principles to which I am in fidelity and against which I will evaluate the actions of the President of the United States.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4803, the Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act. I applaud Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and House Judiciary Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) for introducing this bipartisan legislation aimed to fix a problem in current citizenship laws. The current citizenship law implemented by this Administration in October, serves as a disadvantage to certain children who are born abroad and reside with a parent serving overseas in the military or as a federal government employee. Under current law, such children are required to establish U.S. residency in order to obtain citizenship, which can be difficult when a parent is stationed overseas. This small but important change is the necessary fix for U.S. armed forces and in federal government positions overseas. I am glad we could work together to introduce this bipartisan legislation that provides greater flexibility and support to those who have dedicated their careers to serving our nation. American citizens who are deployed members of our military or government officials working abroad should have confidence their children will receive U.S. citizenship. Military families are already making tremendous sacrifices to serve our country abroad and the children should not have to be penalized. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4803 because our military families should not have to deal with the bureaucracy of this Administration for their children to be United States citizens.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 565, ``The Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success Act'' or AMIGOS Act. Despite deep ties with Portugal, it remains one of only five EU countries whose citizens are ineligible for E-1 and E-2 visas. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, nationals of countries with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation may be admitted temporarily to the United States to engage in international trade, an E-1 visa, or to develop and direct an investment enterprise, E-2 visa. E-1 and E-2 visas may be granted to individual traders and investors or to employees of organizational traders and investors. Applicants for E-1 and E-2 visas must generally demonstrate the existence of a bilateral treaty of commerce and navigation between the applicant's country of nationality and the United States. Some treaties allow for the admission of both E-1 and E-2 nonimmigrants, while others allow for the admission of only E-1 or E-2 nonimmigrants. In addition, the visa applicant must be a national of the treaty country. If the applicant is an employee of an organizational trader or investor, both the applicant and the organization must possess the nationality of the treaty country. The nationality of the organization is determined by the nationality of the individual owners--at least 50 percent of the organization must be owned by nationals of the treaty country. The enterprise must be more than marginal and must generate income beyond that which is required to provide a minimal living for the investor and their family. An individual investor must be coming to the United States to develop and direct the business. An applicant who is an employee of an organizational trader or investor must be coming to the United States to fulfill an executive or supervisory position or possess skills that are essential to the firm's U.S. operations. Spouses and minor children accompanying or following to join the principal E-1 or E-2 nonimmigrant will be admitted for the same period of stay as the principal trader or investor. Congress has the ability to take action to improve the historical relationship between the United States and Portugal. If H.R. 565 is enacted, Portuguese nationals would become eligible for E-1 and E-2 visas, but only after an agreement for reciprocal treatment between Portugal and the United States is finalized. In 2012, Congress passed--and the president signed into law--H.R. 3992 to permit Israeli nationals to participate in the E-2 treaty investor program. However, Israeli nationals did not have the ability to apply for E-2 visas until May 1, 2019, when an agreement with Israel was finalized and took effect. It was favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee without amendment by voice vote; passed by the House on motion to suspend the rules (371 to 0) and passed by the Senate, without amendment, by Unanimous Consent. Similarly, S. 2245, the ``Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors (KIWI) Act,'' became law on August 1, 2018, but New Zealanders were unable to apply for E-1 and E-2 visas until June 10, 2019 when an agreement for reciprocal treatment took effect. It was Discharged by the Senate Judiciary Committee by Unanimous Consent and passed by the Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent; passed by the House on motion to suspend the rules by voice vote. The last two bills to add countries to the E-1 and E-2 visa programs passed Congress without controversy. Portugal is a longstanding United States ally, with ``bilateral ties dating from the earliest years of the United States, when Portugal recognized the United States in 1791 following the Revolutionary War.'' The United States is also Portugal's largest trading partner outside the European Union (EU), with bilateral trade in goods and services reaching $8 billion in 2018, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. Similarly, U.S. direct investment in Portugal reached $2.1 billion in 2017, with U.S. companies playing a significant role, investing in the Portuguese banking, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Both countries have also agreed to a bilateral income tax agreement to prevent double taxation. Portuguese participation in the E-1 and E-2 visa programs will deepen an already strong bilateral trade and investment relationship, and benefit business communities in both countries. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 565, ``The Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success Act'' or AMIGOS Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to celebrate and recognize the importance of educational opportunities at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, creating opportunities for thousands of young men and women, many of them first-time college attendees. I am delighted to have Texas Southern University in my congressional district and, as well, to have Prairie View A&M in the near area. I was very instrumental in getting Hurricane Harvey relief dollars and financial aid relief for students at the campus of Texas Southern University in the amount of $13 million and to be able to help digitize the projects for former U.S. Members of Congress Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland. As well, I remember working with Prairie View A&M when they helped establish a very grand criminal justice center that is educating many young people. But I am really here to support the FUTURE Act, Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education, supported by the House and passed out of the House on September 17, 2019. Unfortunately, this bill is held up in the Senate. This House bill is much better. We support the House bill and would ask the Senator from Tennessee to do what he should do, which I believe he has done: to make sure that bill goes out, and goes out as the House bill. This is a bill to focus on STEM and to create opportunities for our young people. I support HBCUs and opportunities for those young people.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to celebrate and recognize the importance of educational opportunities that HBCU institutions create for thousands of young men and women from all walks of life. I am a member of the Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus because it promotes and protects the interest of HBCUs by: creating a national dialogue, educating Members of Congress and their staffs about the issues impacting HBCUs, drafting meaningful bipartisan legislation to address the needs of HBCUs, and supporting students and graduates of HBCUs by increasing access and career opportunities. One important solution must be access to affordable 7 quality education for every person in this nation. I am proud to count Texas Southern University as a constituent, a great HBCU--located in my home city of Houston. I routinely partner with Texas Southern University to promote education opportunities and collaborate on community projects routinely. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, I led the initiative to get financial aid relief for the students and campus of Texas Southern University in the amount of $13 plus million dollars. I continue to keep the university community informed about major issues impacting citizens of my city of Houston, Texas. Issues like Health Care, Economic Development, Education, and Social Security are of great importance to TSU academic programs. I initiated the digitization projects for former U.S. Members of Congress Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland who both have permanent archives at Texas Southern University. I also assisted with the establishment of several scholarship Endowments at Texas Southern University. I helped create a partnership with Comcast at TSU's School of Communication, which offers scholarships, internships and in-kind marketing. I helped establish the Center for Transportation, Training and Research in TSU's College of Science, Engineering, and Technology. On September 17, 2019, the House passed House H.R. 2486, the Fostering Undergraduate Talent Using Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act, which I cosponsored and supported. Title III, Part F of the Higher Education Act (HEA) provides funding to HBCUs, HSIs, TCUs, and MSIs to improve their self-sufficiency and strengthen their ability to serve low-income students, particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) professions. These funds advance these institutions' academic quality and fiscal stability. Unfortunately, funding for these institutions, as authorized by the HEA expired on September 30, 2019. It is crucial that these funds do not lapse. H.R 2486, the FUTURE Act, ensures that this will not happen. Under the FUTURE Act, HBCUs, HSIs, TCUs, and MSIs will continue to receive $255 million for the next two years. Without this funding, these institutions will suffer, particularly smaller institutions that will have to lay off staff and faculty and possibly face imminent danger of closure. Additionally, H.R. 2486 is completely paid for by eliminating Account Maintenance Fees, a proposal supported by Democrats, Republicans and the White House. It is time that the Senate takes up this important bill and pass it so that HBCUs can continue to do the important work of educating the next generation. HBCUs are more than just places of higher learning that are part of the nation's economy by contributing 15 billion dollars to the national economy annually. HBCUs provide pathways of opportunity for millions of Americans, many of whom are first generation college students. This underscores the need for the government to engage with HBCUs and other MSIs, and ensure these schools have the resources they need-- after a legacy of discrimination and neglect. The Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act reauthorizes crucial mandatory funding for HBCUs and all Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) for the next two fiscal years; $255 million a year, in total. Sustaining these funds is critical to supporting HBCUs and the students they serve. The FUTURE Act is intended to prepare HBCU students for careers in STEM professions--at a time when diverse representation is low in the STEM economy. Additionally, without this funding, small schools with small endowments will have to lay off staff and faculty in order to stay afloat; other schools will face imminent danger of closure. This bill represents the number one priority of all HBCUs in the country. This bill passed the House by a unanimous vote on September 17, 2019 but is being held up by the Senate due to the objections of Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Alexander has claimed he has a bill that will permanently reauthorize FUTURE Act funds. He did not offer his bill until FUTURE passed the House of Representatives. The Senate has failed to come to an agreement on comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). In contrast, the House Education and Labor Committee has advanced the College Affordability Act, which will incentivize states to lower the cost of college tuition, strengthen federal financial aid programs, and simplify income-based repayment plans for student loan holders. The HEA contains all the federal programs that provide a pathway for low-income, first generation students into college. Senator Alexander's bill in total is a micro-version of HEA reauthorization that does very little to reduce the cost of college or address rising student loan debt. For example, Senator Alexander's bill would raise the maximum Pell Grant award by $20--and not index the award to inflation. Currently, the maximum Pell Grant award is $6,195. The average tuition at a public college is approximately $15,000. The purchasing power of the Pell Grant has decreased by 70 percent since 1979. Senator Alexander has packed his bill with a lot of other priorities because he's attempting to leverage the fate of 4 million students of color to create a legacy for himself. Senator Alexander has also said he does not like the way the FUTURE Act is paid for. The bill is paid for with the elimination of Account Maintenance Fees paid to Guaranty Agencies; an offset that is supported by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as the White House. Given the significantly pared back services provided by guaranty agencies, and their ability to generate significant fee income through debt collection activities, this funding is no longer needed. Guaranty Agencies generate around $4 billion in annual revenue. They can fulfill their mission without these funds. Finally, Senator Alexander and the Department of Education has claimed they have funds to continue awarding grants through the end of Fiscal Year 2020. But that's only true because the Department has failed to award all Fiscal Year 2019 funding. In any case, institutions of higher learning need to budget at least a year in advance--without certainty, staff layoffs and a paring back of services will accelerate. On September 14, 1927, the Houston Public School Board agreed to fund the development of two junior colleges: one for whites and one for African-Americans. On September 14, 1927, the Houston Public School Board provided $2,800 in seed capital to form a Junior College for African American students. The initial enrollment for the first summer was 300 students. On June 1, 1951, the name of the school was changed from Texas State University for Negroes to Texas Southern University after students petitioned the state legislature to remove the phrase ``for Negroes.'' When the university opened its doors in September 1947, it had 2,300 students, two schools, one division and one college--the Law School, the Pharmacy School, the Vocational Division, and the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1973, the 63rd Legislature designated Texas Southern University as a ``special purpose'' institution for urban programming, which added four more academic units: the College of Education, the School of Public Affairs, the School of Communications and the Weekend College. Today, Texas Southern University offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in the following academic colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences; the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; the College of Science and Technology; the College of Education; the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs; the School of Communication; the Thurgood Marshall School of Law; the Jesse H. Jones School of Business; the Thomas Freeman Honors College; and the College of Continuing Education and the Graduate School. Currently, Texas Southern University is staffed by approximately 1,000 faculty members and support personnel. HBCU's have come a long way to be where they are today. The most significant milestone for HBCU's was the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. The Board of Education. Howard University School of Law graduates successfully argued against the constitutionality of ``separate but equal,'' opening the door for greater access to resources for institutions dedicated to education was a critical step forward. However, it was not until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that the federal government had the capacity and focus to enforce desegregation. On the 50th Anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King's ``I have a Dream'' speech given at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were we able to understand the long road to freedom. In that speech Dr. King spoke of a world where race would mean much less than the content of a person's character. Martin Luther King said, ``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--they build character. The Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus will create and explore legislation that will increase support for HBCUs, such as the Higher Education Act, America COMPETES, and Appropriations. The Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus will also work to connect HBCUs to funding opportunities that ensure schools have the resources needed to educate and prepare students for the global workforce. My focus in joining with my colleagues this evening for this special order is to support and continue my work with Texas Southern University and other HBCUs by: finding growth opportunities for HBCU students and graduates; working with private industry to connect students to jobs, internships, and scholarships; and opening up doors to HBCU students interested in coming to Capitol Hill. Each Congressional Black Caucus member works to expose HBCU students to global experiences to learn about other cultures. My office worked to assist students in my district in going on a trip to China--for many it was their first travel outside of the state of Texas. That one experience transformed their lives--by expanding their horizon from being local to global.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership. I rise as a cosponsor of the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Scott, and chairwoman of the subcommittee, Ms. Adams. I thank the complete committee for bringing this important legislation to the floor. As I have listened to testimony over the last couple of days, I began to frame a concept that we must do the right thing. As I have interacted with my constituents, as I understand the work of healthcare workers and social service workers, they take care of the broken of our society, some who may be ill, some who may have necessities of life that have not been fulfilled. These individuals are under enormous pressure, yet our workers in the workplace caring for these people have the largest heart. They train to be sympathetic and empathetic. I am reminded of a situation in my local hospital where an individual broke loose because that person was suffering from a mental challenge, illness, health need, mixed in with a population that was there for other reasons. That person was in the mix of healthcare workers trying to care for others, but trying to be kind, sympathetic, and caring, but that person was in a state of crisis that was threatening to the patients and threatening to the workers. This is a crucial act. We are at a crisis moment. It is important to recognize that these incidents, as have been evidenced on the floor of the House, happen every day, even as we speak. Those individuals with that person were not able to bring him to a resolve, and law enforcement had to be engaged. Those are situations that make it difficult. We need this interim response, and we need it quickly. 200,000 facilities will be covered, and, as was evidenced on the floor by Mr. Courtney, at $9,000 per facility. That is a worthwhile investment to stop someone who is injured from having a lifelong series of injuries.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Coming from the Texas Medical Center in my community and many other hospitals and seeing the proliferation of health clinics, federally qualified health clinics, and social service agencies all attempting to do the right thing--and the patients who are there deserve to have the best care possible, but they are, in many instances, ill; they are, in many instances, broken. In order to have the staff continue to serve them, let's protect those workers. Let's stand alongside those workers. Mr. Chairman, I ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support this legislation and let us begin to stand alongside those who work with those who are most in need.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Chair, I rise to speak in strong support of H.R. 1309, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.'' This bill offers workplace violence protection to our nation's caregivers--including nurses, social workers, and many others who dedicate their lives to caring for those in need. Last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that health care and social service workers were nearly five times as likely to suffer a serious workplace violence injury than workers in other sectors. Public employees, such as care givers in state and local government, health care and social service work, suffer particularly high rates of workplace violence. In 2017, state government health care and social service workers were almost nine times more likely to be injured by an assault than private- sector health care workers. Workplace violence often causes both physical and emotional harm. Victims of these incidents often suffer career-ending post-traumatic stress disorders that take away their livelihoods and weaken an already stretched health care workforce. In 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 707,400 Social Workers are employed in the United States. Social worker employment is expected to grow 16 percent between 2016 and 2026; a much faster rate than the average career in the United States. The ratio of social workers to populations varies widely in the United States, ranging from 80 per 100,000 people in Arkansas to 572 per 100,000 in Washington, D.C. Northeast states tend to have high numbers of social workers per capita, and the southern states have fewer social workers per capita. Social workers work in a variety of settings, including mental health clinics, schools, child welfare and human service agencies, hospitals, settlement houses, community development corporations, and private practices. They generally work full time and may need to work evenings, weekends, and holidays. There is currently no standard from OSHA, the federal agency created to protect workers' safety, that requires employers to implement violence prevention plans that would help reduce workplace violence injuries among health care and social service workers. The lack of an enforceable standard means that OSHA has few meaningful tools to protect health care workers from the threat of workplace violence. Unless Congress intervenes, it is highly unlikely there will be any action taken to protect health care workers in the next decade. The Government Accountability Office estimated, conservatively, that it takes OSHA at least 7 years to issue a standard. Two of the most significant OSHA standards issued in recent history-- crystalline silica and beryllium, which cause irreversible lung disease--each took OSHA 20 years to finalize. Despite OSHA promises and its obligation to defend workers' safety, the Trump Administration is erecting new barriers that will prevent OSHA from protecting caregivers from workplace violence. This bill is needed more now due to a shift in the social work industry: today's social workers are becoming less focused on solving problems and more focused on primary prevention, providing interventions in advance to prevent problems from ever occurring in at- risk populations. Social work is more than a job. Social workers help millions of Americans live fuller, more productive and safer lives. They often are the primary front line of assistance to 13.9 percent of Americans living below the poverty line. Through mentorship, social workers have contributed to a 68 percent decline in the juvenile arrest rate between 1996 and 2015. The incarceration rate in the United States is approximately 716 per 100,000, the highest in the world, which means that social workers are invaluable in helping the formerly incarcerated transition into community life. Social workers provide substantial care and services to the mentally ill. Reports state that 1 in 4 people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Child Protective Services and its social workers check up on 3.2 million children each year. Every year, more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies. These referrals involve more than 6.6 million children. Social Workers are the first line of prevention to prevent over 1.2 million students drop outs from high school each year (one every 26 seconds). Both Child and Family Social Worker and Clinical Social Worker rank among the top 100 best jobs of 2019. Professional social workers are the largest group of mental health services providers in the United States. 83 percent of all social workers are female. 86 percent of Master of Social Work graduates in 2015 were female. 47 percent of social workers work in the child, family, and school sector, 26 percent work in healthcare, 18 percent work in mental health and substance abuse, and 9 percent work in other sectors. The primary employers of social workers are governments (41 percent), private nonprofit or charitable organizations (34 percent), and private-for-profit businesses (22 percent). More than 40 percent of all disaster mental health volunteers trained by the American Red Cross are professional social workers. The importance of social workers has been recognized by Jane Addams, a social worker, becoming one of the first women to receive a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1309.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I have worked in the area of criminal justice and juvenile justice for as many years as I have served in the United States Congress. Dealing with juveniles here in this country and giving them a pathway of opportunity to success has been my dream and goal. I intend to introduce the Omnibus Juvenile Justice Restoration and Uplift Act. There are 75 million juveniles, plus, in the United States since 2013. That number has grown. That means that one in four have the possibility of being in the juvenile delinquency system. That should not be tolerated. My bill will include adding more trained social workers; giving sensitivity training and special training to our law enforcement officers, who really want to be role models; to Ban the Box, so they do not have a lifetime of saying, as a juvenile I was arrested; ending solitary confinement throughout the entire United States for juveniles; alternative sentencing, so that old-fashioned juvenile detention jails can be closed; gang intervention, so that we can find a way for resolution and direction and another way for gang prevention, violence cessation, wrap-around services, closing all juvenile centers over a 10-year period, and finally, conflict resolution. I encourage my colleagues to join me in introducing this legislation. Our children are our priority.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate a collective group of Republicans and Democrats, people from the faith community who joined together to acknowledge that Rodney Reed, an inmate on death row for more than 20 years, with new DNA evidence and witnesses who indicated that another individual, the fiance of the victim, may have committed this crime, was given the opportunity for an indefinite suspension by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. It is important, as Texas probably remains one of the States with the largest number of individuals on death row, that we do not take the victim's interests lightly or that of the perpetrator and convicted person. Mr. Reed did not and was not convicted by a jury of his peers. The jury was not diverse in Giddings, Texas. There was subsequent evidence, as I indicated, DNA evidence, as I have indicated. It is important as much for the justice for the victim to know, or the victim's family to know, the actual perpetrator who did this dastardly act and took a life as it is for the man sitting on death row. So religious community leaders, international leaders, my colleague in the United States Senate Senator Cruz, I, and others around the State want to recognize the work of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, after the fact, and, of course, the Board of Pardons. Justice must be rendered for all, and that is what is happening in Texas today.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my Colleague Congresswoman Plaskett for anchoring tonight's Congressional Black Caucus Special Order on Mental Health. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Those experiencing mental health problems can have difficulty thinking, experience mood swings or inappropriate emotional reactions to everyday events, and behavior or engagement with others could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including: biological factors can include individual brain chemistry; traumatic life experiences, such as the sudden death of a loved one, involvement in a major accident, traumatic experiences during times of war or as a consequence of serious illness; family history of mental health problems. People can experience different types of mental health disorders, such as: Uncontrolled anxiety, behavioral, eating disorders (anorexia, and bulimia are two frequently cited problems); substance abuse; mood problems such as overwhelming feelings of sadness, personality changes; psychotic behavior, and suicidal thoughts. African American adults are 20 percent more likely to experience mental health issues than the rest of the population. 25 percent of African Americans seek treatment for a mental health issue, compared to 40 percent of white individuals. The reasons for this drop off include misdiagnosis by doctors, socioeconomic factors and a lack of African American mental health professionals. Adult African Americans living below poverty are three times more likely to report severe psychological distress than those living above poverty. African Americans are less likely than white people to die from suicide as teenagers, African American teenagers are more likely to attempt suicide than are white teenagers (8.3 percent v. 6.2 percent). The number of professionals that provide mental health care: Only 6.2 percent of psychologists, 5.6 percent of advanced-practice psychiatric nurses, 12.6 percent of social workers, and 21.3 percent of psychiatrists are members of minority groups. According to the National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI), only 3.7 percent of members in the American Psychiatric Association and 1.5 percent of members in the American Psychological Association are Black. African Americans of all ages are more likely to witness or be victims of serious violent crimes. Exposure to violence increases the risk of developing a mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. African American children are more likely than other children to be exposed to violence, which can have a profound, long-term effect on their mental health. Some African Americans even see mental illness as a punishment from God. Up to 85 percent of African Americans describe themselves as ``fairly religious'' or ``religious,'' and they commonly use prayer to handle stress, according to one study cited by the American Psychiatric Association. Nationally, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among all Americans--over 47,000 people died by suicide in 2017. On average, there are 129 suicides per day. In 2017 there were an estimated 1.4 million suicide attempts. From 1999 through 2015, 1,309 children ages 5 to 12 died of suicide in the U.S. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among Black youth (Suicide is the second leading cause of death among all youth just behind accidental deaths). A report published in the JAMA Pediatrics, found that the rate of suicide for Black children ages 5 to 12 died by suicide exceeded that of White children. A study in the Journal of Community Health showed that suicide rates among black girls ages 13 to 19 nearly doubled from 2001 to 2017. For black boys in the same age group, over the same period, rates rose 60 percent. Black youth are about half as likely as their White counterparts to get mental health care. Trauma and Suicide: Among urban males, PTSD is associated with increased suicide attempts. African Americans living below poverty are three times more likely to report serious psychological distress than those living above poverty. While African Americans are less likely than white people to die from suicide as teenagers, African American teenagers are more likely to attempt suicide than are white teenagers (8.3 percent v. 6.2 percent). Less than 2 percent of American Psychological Association members are Black/African American, some may worry that mental health care practitioners are not culturally competent enough to treat their specific issues. African Americans are 10 percent more likely to experience serious psychological distress than their white counterparts. 70 percent of youth in State and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness (While just 14 percent of all youth under 18 in the U.S. are Black, 43 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls in juvenile facilities are Black.). Incarcerated youth die by suicide at a rate 2 to 3 times higher than that of youth in the general population. The LGBTQ+ community is 4 times more likely to die by suicide than their straight peers. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found 40 percent of respondents had attempted suicide in their lifetime--nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the United States population at large. The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth seriously consider suicide each year. The frequency and intensity of bullying that young people face are astounding: 1 in 7 students in Grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying. 90 percent of 4th to 8th grade students report being victims of bullying of some type. 56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school. 71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school. 15 percent of all students who don't show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school. 1 out of 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school. 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. 15 percent of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school. According to bullying statistics, 1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying. Suicides linked to bullying are the saddest statistic. David Ray Ritcheson was a victim of adolescent bullying. He was bullied, beaten and tortured nearly to death because of his race. He spent 3 months in a hospital as a result of his injuries and underwent more than 30 surgeries to repair his battered body. His courage in the face of such violence was reflected in his willingness to come before Congress to tell his story. His courage inspired members of Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which became law. [Public Law No: 111-084]. Negative attitudes about mental illness often underlie stigma, which can cause those suffering from mental illness or their families not to seek help or deny clear symptoms of mental illness. The stigma of mental illness may cause the mentally ill to delay treatment, experience job discrimination, lead to the loss of employment, loss of housing, or cost personal relationships, and undermine successful recovery of those with mental illness or substance abuse. To overcome stigma, we need to avoid using generic labels such as ``retarded'' or ``the mentally ill'' and terms like crazy, lunatic, or slow functioning. According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, most adults (88.6 percent) agreed with a statement that people are generally caring and sympathetic to persons with mental illness. Adults with mental health symptoms (77.6 percent) agreed that treatment can help them lead normal lives. However, only 24.6 percent of those surveyed who had mental health disorders believe that people are caring and sympathetic to persons with mental illness. Psychiatrists advise that emphasizing abilities and not limitations, when talking about someone who has a mental illness is important for the self-esteem of the mentally ill. Everyone has strengths that are not related to a mental illness, and these should be the focus of those seeking help for the mentally ill in their lives. We have to change cultural and socially acceptable language and behavior toward the mentally ill--mental illness is nothing to laugh at or make light of. Mental health care disparities exist due to: 1. Reluctance and Inability to Access Mental Health Services impacts the care of African Americans. Approximately 30 percent of African American adults with mental illness receive treatment each year, compared to the U.S. average of 43 percent. Here are some reasons why. 2. Distrust and misdiagnosis Historically, African Americans have been and continue to be negatively affected by prejudice and discrimination in the health care system. Misdiagnoses, inadequate treatment and lack of cultural competence by health professionals cause distrust and prevent many African Americans from seeking or staying in treatment. Socio-economic factors play a part too and can make treatment options less available. In 2017, 11 percent of African Americans had no form of health insurance. 3. Provider Bias and Inequality of Care Conscious or unconscious bias from providers and lack of cultural competence result in misdiagnosis and poorer quality of care for African Americans. African Americans, especially women, are more likely to experience and mention physical symptoms related to mental health problems. For example, they may describe bodily aches and pains when talking about depression. A health care provider who is not culturally competent might not recognize these as symptoms of a mental health condition. Additionally, men are more likely to receive a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia when expressing symptoms related to mood disorders or PTSD. Members of minority communities often experience bias and mistrust in health care settings. This often leads to delays in seeking care. Those seeking mental health services, must be informed on how to best determine the best person to provide them with care. Key factors should include whether the mental healthcare providers have: Cultural Competence in Service Delivery Culture--a person's beliefs, norms, values and language--plays a key role in every aspect of our lives, including our mental health. Cultural competence is a doctor's ability to recognize and understand the role culture (yours and the doctor's) plays in treatment and to adapt to this reality to meet your needs. Cultural competence is important because cultural competence in mental health care results in misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment. African Americans and other multicultural communities tend to receive poorer quality of care. To improve the chances of getting culturally sensitive care patients should go directly to a mental health professional because this is their area of expertise, if they do not feel comfortable right away, a primary care doctor is a great place to start. The primary care doctor might be able to start the assessment to determine if a patient has a mental health condition or help refer them to a mental health professional. When meeting with a provider, ask questions to get a sense of their level of cultural sensitivity. No person seeking help should feel bad about asking questions. Health care providers expect and welcome questions from their patients since this helps them better understand the patient and what is important to them. Some of the essential questions that should be asked are: Have you treated other African Americans? Have you received training in cultural competence or on African American mental health? How do you see our cultural backgrounds influencing our communication and my treatment? How do you plan to integrate my beliefs and practices in my treatment? The answers to these questions should inform the patient seeking medical care. Its is also important for the patient to know the clues that indicate that the medical professional may be biased in how they communicate with the patient regarding their medical condition. There have been tremendous advancements in medical care that include therapies and medications that allow persons with serious mental health conditions to lead productive and full lives. The Affordable Care Act takes a positive step forward to address the issue of mental illness and access by making it a requirement that all healthcare plans contain care for mental illness and substance abuse. Because of the health care law, for the first time insurance companies in the individual and small group market are required to cover mental health and substance abuse disorder services as one of ten categories of essential health benefits. Additionally, health insurance providers must cover mental health and substance abuse services at parity with medical and surgical benefits (which means things like out-of-pocket costs for behavioral health services must generally be comparable to coverage for medical and surgical care). The Affordable Care Act expands mental health and substance abuse disorder benefits and the parity created by the law protections approximately 60 million Americans by assuring coverage. The Affordable Care Act is one of the largest expansions of mental health and substance abuse disorder coverage in a generation. As part of the White House roll out of the Affordable Care Act a $100 million commitment to improve access to mental health services was announced. The Affordable Care Act is providing $50 million to assist community centers provide more mental health services. The Department of Agriculture will provide an additional $50 million to finance rural mental health facilities. The health care law requires most health plans to cover recommended preventive services like depression screenings for adults and behavioral assessments for children at no cost to consumers. In the State of Texas it is expect that 5,189,000 people will have access to mental health and substance abuse assistance programs. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life threatening event, such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. PTSD, one of the most prevalent and devastating psychological wounds suffered by the brave men and women fighting in far off lands to defend the values and freedom we hold dear. A suicide bomber, an IED, or an insurgent can obliterate their close friend instantaneously and right in front of their face. Yet, as American soldiers, they are trained to suppress the agonizing grief associated with those horrible experiences and are expected to continue on with the mission. And carry on they do, with courage and with patriotism. PTSD can cause problems like: Flashback or feeling like the event is happening again; Trouble sleeping or nightmares; Feeling alone; Angry outbursts; and Feeling worried, guilty, or sad. The fact of the matter is that most veterans with PTSD also have other psychiatric disorders, which are a consequence of PTSD. About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. More than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans have experienced clinically serious stress reaction symptoms. PTSD has also been detected among veterans of other wars. Estimates of PTSD from the Gulf War are as high as 10 percent. Estimates from the war in Afghanistan are between 6 and 11 percent. Current Estimates of PTSD in military personnel who served in Iraq range from 12 percent to 20 percent. We need to ensure that no soldier is left behind by addressing the urgent need for more outreach toward hard to reach veterans suffering from PTSD, especially those who are homeless or reside in underserved urban and rural areas of our county.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 499, the ``Service-Disabled Veterans Small Business Continuation Act.'' H.R. 499 amends the Small Business Act to clarify the treatment of surviving spouses for purposes of the service-disabled veteran-owned small business definition. This act will provide the surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran with federal contracting preference as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). On Monday we celebrated Veterans Day to show our veterans and military families how important they are to us and how grateful we are for them each and every day. I offer my deepest gratitude to our nation's troops and reservists, their families, and the 21.6 million veterans, including 29,126 here in the 18th Congressional District. 21.6 million brave men and women are veterans of our nation's military service. This includes more than 2 million women, 2.7 million African American men and women, 1.5 million Hispanic men and women, 342,000 Asian American Pacific Islanders, and 178,000 American Indians. The memory of the fallen are never forgotten. Each Veterans Day, Americans come together to remember those who have served our country around the world in the name of freedom and democracy. The debt that we owe to them is immeasurable. Their sacrifices, and those of their families, are freedom's foundation. This bill will help veteran families by extending additional benefits to the surviving spouses of deceased veterans across the country, including at home in Harris County. By allowing the spouses of deceased service-disabled veterans to retain their status as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, they will remain competitive in the federal contracting market. After the years of service their family members provide to our country in support of their loved ones who severve the military, veterans' spouses have earned the reliability this bill provides to them and their businesses. Current law allows surviving spouses of 100 percent service-disabled veteran business owners to continue receiving preferences for contracts with the VA, but the benefit does not extend to the spouses of veterans with a disability less than 100 percent. The bipartisan bill introduced today will extend the benefit to these spouses for three years, helping ensure their businesses are not upended after the death of their veteran spouse. I thank my colleague, Congressmen Chabot for sponsoring this legislation to support families of Veterans who so bravely supported the freedoms of the United States. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 499 to amend the Small Business Act to clarify the treatment of surviving spouses for purposes of the service-disabled veteran-owned small business definition.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4803, the ``Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act.'' H.R. 4803 establishes that a foreign-born child of a U.S. citizen member of the Armed Forces or government employee may automatically acquire U.S. citizenship even if the child is not residing in the United States. This bill is necessary because the Trump Administration announced on August 28, 2019 that it was changing its policy guidance and ending automatic American citizenship for children of U.S. service members and other federal workers stationed abroad. With these changes, government employees stationed abroad who are green card holders would have to move back to the U.S. and live there for three to five years in order to apply for citizenship for their child. Previously, children born to U.S. citizen parents were considered to be ``residing in the United States,'' and therefore would be automatically granted citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act Sec. 320. Without this legislation, children born abroad to U.S. service members and government employees in U.S. military hospitals or diplomatic facilities, will not be residing in the United States, and thus will not considered American citizens. This disadvantages children of parents who serve our country abroad. Under H.R. 4803, necessary requirements would be fulfilled if a foreign-born child is living in the legal and physical custody of the citizen armed services member or government employee who has been stationed abroad (or the accompanying spouse of such a citizen), and lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States. It is critical for the United States Congress to stand with the women and men who have served our country and allow their children citizenship. By allowing lawful, permanent resident children of members of the U.S. Armed Forces or federal government employees who are residing overseas to automatically acquire citizenship once certain conditions are met, parents avoid the inconvenience, expense, and paperwork delays required under current law, and continue their service commitment without interruption. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4803, and allow foreign-born children of U.S. citizens who have served as a member of the Armed Forces or are government' employees, to automatically acquire citizenship for their foreign born American child.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 619, I was detained. If I was present, I would have voted ``aye'' on the McAdams amendment to H.R. 4863, the United States Export Finance Agency Act.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me speak to a young man in my office who is studying at St. Edwards College in Austin, Texas. He is a person who is able to fulfill his dreams because of DACA. Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard the case about all of these young people, 800,000 who are working as paramedics, in medical school, in law school, going into rural communities and being servants of the people, some wanting to go into the United States military. Here is a program that was working well, and this administration imploded it because of wrongheaded decisions about immigrants. This is a nation of laws and of immigrants. We want to comply with the law. That is what DACA was allowing these young people to do. We need to restore DACA, work together so that young people all over, no matter what walk of life they come from, can have opportunity. At the same time, I am looking to reform the juvenile justice system. Most people don't know that when you go into a juvenile detention center, there is no sentence, and there is no bail. The bail process is complicated. We are looking to provide what we call an omnibus bill to deal with how we treat juveniles to ensure that we don't throw away lives; that if you have a mistake at the age of 12 or 14, your life is in front of you; and that we help parents with wraparound services. What I hear most of all is a parent saying: ``Help me. I don't know where to go. I don't have the resources.'' A nation as great as America can invest in her children, whether it is the DACA status of our young children attempting to be part of this Nation or whether or not, in fact, it is those young people who made a slight wrong turn and are thrown away for years in detention centers that are like jails. We are a nation that can do better. And, yes, God bless our veterans.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. DeSaulnier) for his leadership, and my good friend from Georgia, I thank him for his explanation of the process of democracy in this place. But I am excited to announce that this is a bipartisan effort, because the bipartisan aspect of it are the results of how this legislation will impact all of America irrespective, not respecting, their region, their faith, or their party. Let me be very clear to say what we are actually talking about today and the real-life stories that make a difference. It is called the Export-Import Bank and it is legislated as the United States Export Finance Agency, and its short name, as I said, Export-Import. What does that mean? I rise to support it, because it means something to individual businesses. It means something to rural American farmers. It means something to small manufacturers. We have been documenting that manufacturing is going down, manufacturing based upon how you sell your products. This is a 10-year plan with $175 billion to help those businesses, those small farms, those entrepreneurs in your community. That is jobs. What it means is the company that makes light bulbs can now export those to developing nations on the continent of Africa or they can go deep into Southeast Asia or Asia and sell products from the United States to a foreign country. For those of us who have seen the lopsidedness, there are governments that actually fund businesses outside the United States. We don't do that, mostly, unless it is through a grant or through a funding for a project that we need, and so you are on your own. But this is going to provide small businesses with an extra hand up. It is going to help those who are, in particular, minority and women- owned businesses, along with others. It is going to create a process so that it does not lapse. We had a period where there was no quorum. We couldn't help small businesses. I remember sitting in a room with this company in a foreign country, a U.S. company that was there, and they said, ``If it had not been for the Export-Import Bank, we would have lost 300 employees in the United States.'' This is bipartisan. This is where we help people, no matter who they are. I am a strong supporter of this bill because it takes into consideration working men and women, and it takes into consideration the environment. All of our union friends, who provide a pathway of success for working Americans, support this bill because it helps bring back manufacturing. We support it because it gives alternative options for energy a boost where jobs can be created with renewable energy.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me just simply say that you have to live this to understand it, and I have spoken to those businesses that have benefited from Export-Import. It sounds like a name that you can't get your hands around, but just understand it simply. You want to do business overseas. You want to get your products overseas. It is a big hurdle. You need additional finance. This is the place to come. And they have been successful in paying for themselves. That $175 billion is over 10 years, but it pays for itself with the number of businesses that Americans can take advantage of and create new businesses for the sole purpose of selling that product overseas, selling that small farmer produce, what is on that small farm, allowing them to send it to markets that are desperate for the wonderful bounty of food products that we are able to raise in this wonderful country. In particular, I would like to add, it is a good place for veterans who want to start their business, to add to their business, because many of them, obviously, understand the international realm. Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. I support this bill, the Ex-Im Bank, and I hope that my colleagues will support it.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, we honored the men and women of the United States military, the veterans that we so much admire and respect. I had the privilege of attending a number of veterans' commemorations, and that is why I intend to reintroduce my Battle Buddy bill, called the New Battle Buddy bill, to ensure that those leaving the Armed Forces and those already veterans have a buddy to assist them in times of crisis. They are freedom loving, and we are reminded of the words of President John F. Kennedy who said: The price of freedom is high, but Americans are willing to pay the price. That is why I also congratulate freedom-loving Turkish Americans and express my sadness and disappointment that the President of Turkey now comes to the United States, where, in his own country, freedom is not real. The locking up of political opposition, journalists and others, the question is: Why would he be extended an invitation for a state visit? It is important for the United States to stand for her values of freedom, democracy, and justice. It is time to free the political prisoners in Turkey and, as well, to respond to the devastation of the Kurds.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States and risked their lives to defend our freedoms and way of life and took and lived the oath to ``support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic'' and bore true faith and allegiance to the same, an obligation they took freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.'' Veterans are truly heroes walking among us. I want to thank all of our armed servicemen and women for their selfless dedication to our protection every day. Veterans Day is a reminder to all of us who live in freedom that as President Kennedy said, ``The price of freedom is high, but Americans have always paid it.'' This Veterans Day is a welcome opportunity to remember that the fallen who gave the last full measure of devotion to their country on battlefields around the world--in places whose names may be unforgettable--or locations that have slipped into the pages of history. We will never forget: Revolutionary War: Valley Forge; York Town. Civil War: The Battle of Antietam; The Battle of Gettysburg. World War I: The Battle of Argonne; Flanders Field; Verdun. World War II: Pearl Harbor; Battle of Bataan; The Battle of Midway; D-Day; Battle of the Bulge; Battle of Anzio; Battle of Corregidor. Korean War: Inchon; Heart Break Ridge; Pork Chop Hill. Vietnam: Tet Offensive; Battle of Hue. Desert Storm: September 11, 2001; Pentagon Attack (125 killed). Operation Enduring Freedom: Battle of Kandahar. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Second Battle of Fallujah. The memory of the fallen are never forgotten. Madam Speaker, each Veterans Day, Americans come together to remember those who have served our country around the world in the name of freedom and democracy. The debt that we owe to them is immeasurable. Their sacrifices, and those of their families, are freedom's foundation. Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and Coast Guardsmen and women and their families, our country would not live so freely. I offer my deepest gratitude to our nation's troops and reservists, their families, and the 21.6 million veterans, including 29,126 here in the 18th Congressional District. 21.6 million brave men and women are veterans of our nation's military service. This includes more than 2 million women, 2.7 million African American men and women, 1.5 million Hispanic men and women, 342,000 Asian American Pacific Islanders, and 178,000 American Indians. Nine in ten military families believe the public does not understand or appreciate their sacrifices. We use Veterans Day to show our veterans and military families how important they are to us and how grateful we are for them each and everyday. November is National Caregivers Month to show our caregivers how grateful we are for them. It is only fitting that we thank those caregivers who serve our military today. 5.5 million spouses, parents, children, and other loved ones care for our wounded warriors and 15 percent of caregivers spend 40+ hours a week providing care for our military families. As a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security, I care deeply about our veterans. I Congress, I have sponsored many legislative proposals and co- sponsored more than 50 pieces of legislation that will positively benefit our veterans and their families.'' On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind. This day and every day let us honor their service with actions that fulfill our commitment to our troops, their families, and our veterans--and that are worthy of our grateful nation.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2115, the ``Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts Act.'' H.R. 2115 requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish certain payment information regarding pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and prescription drugs. Specifically, the CMS must publish certain information, as reported by PBMs, relating to generic dispensing rates, drug discounts and rebates, and payments between PBMs, health plans, and pharmacies, in accordance with specified confidentiality requirements. Commercially available drug pricing comparison platforms can, at no cost, help patients find the lowest price for their medications at their local pharmacy. Such platforms should be integrated, to the maximum extent possible, in the health care delivery ecosystem, while also protecting patient privacy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding sensitive health care information. H.R. 2115 will provide patients with access to drug prices information while also protecting patient health privacy. Pharmacy benefit managers should work to disclose generic and brand name drug prices to such platforms to ensure that patients can benefit from the lowest possible price available to them; and overall drug prices can be reduced as more educated purchasing decisions are made based on price transparency. Diabetes is a life-threatening disease that disproportionately affects communities of color. Diabetes is associated with serious health problems, including heart disease and stroke, kidney failure, and blindness. In 2017, diabetes contributed to the death of 277,000 Americans--and was the primary death for 85,000 of those individuals. That same year diagnosed diabetes cost the United States an estimated $327 billion--including $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in productivity losses. Diabetes drugs, including insulin and oral medications that regulate blood sugar levels, play a critical role in helping people with diabetes manage their condition and reduce the risk of diabetes-related health complications. After the Democrats took control of the House in January we got to work on a report on the high cost of insulin and we determined that the Americans' with diabetes are in crisis. Even though analog insulin has been on the market for nearly 30 years, it has no meaningful generic competition. Over the past two decades, manufacturers have systematically and dramatically raised the prices of their insulin products by more than tenfold--often in lockstep. These prices dwarf manufacturing costs. One study found manufacturers could charge as little as $7 to $11 per month for insulin and still make a profit. In recent years, the high prices of diabetes drugs have placed a tremendous strain on diabetes patients as well as the federal government, which provides diabetes medications to more than 43 million Medicare beneficiaries. These high prices lead many people to ration or stop taking their medications, which can result in serious health complications and even death, as the Energy and Commerce Committee heard in direct testimony earlier this year. The prices of diabetes medications--and insulin in particular--are far higher in the United States than they are overseas, in part because certain federal programs lack the authority to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2115 to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to publish necessary payment information regarding pharmacy benefit managers and prescription drugs.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2440 the ``The Full Utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act.'' In 1986, Congress enacted the Harbor Maintenance Tax to recover the operation and maintenance dredging costs for federally-authorized ports from maritime shippers. This is a direct levy on importers and domestic shippers using coastal or inland ports and is typically passed along to U.S. taxpayers on the purchase of imported goods. These revenues are deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund within the Treasury Department, from which Congress appropriates funds to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for harbor maintenance dredging. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, navigation channels at our nation's 59 busiest ports are available less than 35 percent of the time. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that our nation's ports and harbors will need additional investment of $15.8 billion between now and 2020 just to meet the demands of larger and heavier ships that will use the Panama Canal. H.R. 2440 ensures that the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is used for its intended purpose--the maintenance of federally-authorized harbors. This will enable the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge all federal harbors to ensure that they are to their constructed widths and depths. The act also provides critical federal funding--$34 billion--for infrastructure investment for our coastal and inland harbors over the next decade. The bill achieves this task without raising taxes. This bill also authorizes the expenditure of the expected $25.5 billion in new revenue over the next decade, for our critical port harbor needs. And, the bill authorizes the appropriation of additional funds for harbor maintenance needs. As is clear, the need to ensure that this port, and similar such ports, stay open and operating as much as practical is vital. The failure to do so can impact employment, the economy, and the livelihoods of countless individuals and businesses. Ports are uniquely vulnerable to any number of disturbances, including those produced by weather, abuses by those who utilize the ports, and naturally-occurring wear-and-tear to the ports. One such example of this naturally-occurring phenomena which requires remedial efforts is dredging. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, dredging is the act of removing silt and other material from the bottom of bodies of water. NOAA goes further to explain that dredging is a routine necessity in waterways around the world because sedimentation gradually fills channels and harbors. In the aggregate, this filling of channels and harbors can prevent the movement of vessels. Dredging increases the depth of navigation channels, and thus plays a vital role in the nation's economy. The Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world. The Houston region is the country's top area for exports and the area surrounding the Port of Houston is home to the largest petrochemical manufacturing complex in the Western Hemisphere. Due to its strategically advantageous location, the ingenuity of the 200 private companies that constitute the Greater Port of Houston, the Port of Houston is the number one port in foreignwaterborne tonnage. And the most recent available statistics support the primacy of the Port of Houston. The Greater Port of Houston complex is ranked sixth among U.S. container ports by size, and is the largest gulf coast container port-- handling 69 percent of U.S. Gulf Coast container traffic--and is the largest Texas port, with 45 percent market share by tonnage, and 96 percent market share in containers. To wit, more than 200 million short tons of international cargo were handled in 2018 alone. As such, this redounds to the benefit of the economy. Nationally, the greater port supports 3.2 million jobs, boasts more than $801.9 billion in economic value and produces $38.1 billion in tax revenue. As a Senior Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, with a significant global port near my congressional district, I will work tirelessly towards enactment of this legislation. That is why I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 2440.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in remembrance of Chairman John Conyers, Jr., the tireless Fighter for Justice and Equality, Chairman of House Committees on Oversight and on the Judiciary, Founding Member of Congressional Black Caucus, Member of Congress From Michigan For 53 years, my mentor, a beloved colleague, and dear friend who died on Sunday, October 27, 2019, at his home in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 90. Madam Speaker, John Conyers, Jr. was a statesman and strong supporter of equality, economic and social justice, civil rights, and human dignity for all. John Conyers, Jr. was born May 16, 1929 in Highland Park, Michigan to Lucille Janice and John Conyers, Sr., a union organizer in the automotive industry and an international representative with the United Auto Workers. After graduation from Northwestern High School, John Conyers dutifully served his country in the Michigan National Guard from 1948 to 1950, the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1954, and the U.S. Army Reserves from 1954 to 1957, serving during the Korean War and as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he was awarded combat and merit citations. Following his military service, John Conyers earned his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from Wayne State University and was admitted to the Michigan State Bar. Chairman Conyers began his legislative career on the staff of the late Congressman John Dingell and during this time he also served as counsel to several Detroit-area labor unions and was referee for Michigan's workmen's compensation department. In 1964, John Conyers was first elected to represent the First Congressional District of Michigan and was reelected to the succeeding 90th Congress and the following 15 Congresses until he retired on December 5, 2017. On the retirement of Congressman John Dingell at the end of the 113th Congress in December 2015, John Conyers became the longest-serving member of the United States Congress, serving as Dean of the House from January 3, 2015 until December 2017. Madam Speaker, John Conyers was also the third longest-serving member of the House in history and the sixth longest-serving member of Congress in history; the second-longest serving member of either the House or Senate in Michigan history, trailing only his former boss, Congressman Dingell; and was the last member of the large Democratic freshman class of 1964 to serve in the House of Representatives. In the more than half century he served in Congress, John Conyers was at the forefront of most of the seminal moments in American political history, such as working to enact into law this partial list of landmark legislation: Voting Rights of 1965 Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) Fair Housing Act of 1968 Clean Air Act Clean Water Act Help America Vote Act Affordable Care Act Dodd-Frank Act American Act With Disabilities Act Assault Weapons Ban Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1982 Drug Kingpins Act Fair Chance Act Elementary and Secondary Education Act Social Security Amendments of 1965 (including Medicaid and Medicare) Voting Rights Act of 1965 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke Amendments Freedom of Information Act Child Nutrition Act National Historic Preservation Act National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act Cuban Adjustment Act Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 Bilingual Education Act Civil Rights Act of 1968 Consumer Credit Protection Act National Trails System Act Gun Control Act of 1968 National Environmental Policy Act Organized Crime Control Act, including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (``RICO'') Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 National Cancer Act Federal Election Campaign Act Equal Employment Opportunity Act War Powers Resolution Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act District of Columbia Home Rule Act Endangered Species Act Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Legal Services Corporation Act Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 National Mass Transportation Assistance Act Safe Drinking Water Act Privacy Act of 1974 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Copyright Act of 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Water Resources Development Act of 1976 National Forest Management Act The proposal to expand Medicare to all, a political idea gaining increasing popularity daily, was first introduced by John Conyers in 2003 as the United States National Health Insurance Act. John Conyers served on the Judiciary Committee that investigated Watergate and voted articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon in August 1974. John Conyers marched in the historic March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and later employed civil rights legend Rosa Parks in his congressional office until her retirement in 1988. John Conyers was loved by his constituents, regularly winning reelection with 80 percent of the vote or more. John Conyers is one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, which has worked diligently to strengthen African-American lawmakers' ability to address the legislative concerns of African American and minority citizens and has now increased to 55 members in the House and Senate, including myself. While in Congress, John Conyers chaired the prestigious House Judiciary Committee from 1989 to 1995 and Oversight from 2007 to 2011, the first African American to hold these coveted positions. Throughout his career, John Conyers used his influence to push civil rights; in 1968, only days after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Chairman Conyers began a long and ultimately successful effort to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday, which was enacted in 1983. John Conyers also cosponsored and worked tirelessly to pass the Anti- Apartheid Act of 1986, which help topple South Africa's system of apartheid and free Nelson Mandela from prison. In the 101st Congress, John Conyers introduced legislation to study the issue of reparations for slavery and was the original sponsor of H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. I am proud to have assumed principal sponsorship of this piece of landmark legislative proposal and continuing the fight for justice. John Conyers was dedicated to justice for all, he supported legislation to generate the Justice Department's national study on police brutality. John Conyers was opposed to the imposition of the death penalty and began a series of hearings on police brutality. As Judiciary Committee Chairman, John Conyers also worked to create and enlarge federal death benefits for police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty. Madam Speaker, John Conyers dedicated his life to serving his constituents and the citizens of the United States; his persistence for justice and his fight for equal rights is a testament to his character. Chairman John Conyers will live forever in the hearts of the people of Detroit, his state of Michigan, and the United States. John Conyers was a legislative lion whose presence will forever be missed, and we all mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Monica, his children, and family and friends who loved him so dearly, my deepest sympathies go out to and I hope you find consolation in the certain knowledge that John is now resting peacefully.

Ms. JACKSON LEE

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and one of only 5 members and one of three Democrats to serve on that House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of 1998, I rise in strong support of the Rule governing debate for H. Res. 660, as well as the underlying legislation--a resolution directing committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise the constitutional power, solely vested in the House of Representatives, to impeach Donald John Trump, the current President of the United States of America. This is a somber and solemn time. Today we choose our beloved nation over individual self-interest and a political party. We choose due process, regular order and fairness. And as the founding fathers crafted a document, which 230 years later, from 1789 to 2019, we can abide by, we choose the Constitution. When the Framers of our Constitution designed our government, they bifurcated power between the federal and state governments, and divided power among the branches. Indeed as the Framers debated ratification of the Constitution, they knew of the need to remove an individual who breached the public trust. James Madison of Virginia argued in favor of impeachment stating that some provision was ``indispensable'' to defend the community against ``the incapacity, negligence or perfidy of the chief Magistrate.'' With a single executive, Madison argued, unlike a legislature whose collective nature provided security, ``loss of capacity or corruption was more within the compass of probable events, and either of them might be fatal to the Republic.'' They wrote Article I and vested in the Congress the capacity to make the laws. They wrote Article II, and in the Executive vested the power to faithfully execute those laws. Because the House enjoyed a natural superiority, as most representative of the passions of the populace, the Framers vested in the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment, and made the Senate the judges. In Article II, they specified the standard by which a president or any constitutional officer is to be removed from office: for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. It is against that backdrop that we debate this resolution. In support this resolution because it protects our interests, holds us responsible, protects the American people and gives the president ample opportunity to try to justify his conduct. In September, members of the House of Representatives learned of a complaint filed by a whistleblower within the Intelligence Community. The whistleblower alleged that on July 25, 2019, in a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine, the American President sought to withhold foreign military aid from the besieged and beleaguered nation of Ukraine unless and until the Government of Ukraine produced or manufactured produced political dirt against a person he deemed his most formidable political rival. The allegation suggests an effort and intent to extort the assistance of a foreign power to help the current president retain his office. This is similar to the allegations surrounding his 2016 election victory, which were at the heart of the Special Counsel's Report regarding Russian election interference. After the whistleblower's details were made public, the White House engaged in a series of untenable defenses, all designed to discredit the courageous whistleblower's account, which the Intelligence Community Inspector General found credible. First, the White House indicated that the whistleblower should not be trusted because it referenced secondhand information, forgetting that much of the information in the Whistleblower's complaint was corroborated by the White House itself. Next, the White House claimed, without proof, that the whistleblower was a liar. Then, the White House spread a lie that it was a ``perfect'' call between the two leaders. Outrageously, the White House then claimed that Chairman Adam Schiff is lying and had helped the Whistleblower draft his complaint. That was before the President said that the whistleblower's complaint is a lie made up by the ``Deep State.'' And that was before the President said that he made the call at Rick Perry's urging and that the phone conversations with the Vice President are more problematic than his. The President and his last defenders are now trying to denigrate the life and accomplishments of Ambassador Bill Taylor, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and decorated soldier, and dismissing him as a Never Trumper, as if that is a demerit. This past Tuesday, Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, a member of the National Security Council who immigrated from Ukraine when he was three-years old and was dismissed by the President as insufficiently loyal to him, before one of the President's acolytes suggested Lt. Col. Vindman held a greater loyalty for Ukraine over the United States. Lt. Col. Vindman has loyally served our country and our Constitution. He was injured in the war in Iraq, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. It is thus fitting that when Lt. Col. Vindman appeared to testify in this impeachment inquiry, he did so wearing his Army class A uniform, and had inside his leg shrapnel from the attack that wounded him, and won him the commendation of his superior officers in the Army. And when he began his testimony, he indicated just what service to this nation meant. He stated: I have dedicated my entire professional life to the United States of America. For more than two decades, it has been my honor to serve as an officer in the United States Army. As an infantry officer, I served multiple overseas tours, including South Korea and Germany, and a deployment to Iraq for combat operations. In Iraq, I was wounded in an IED attack and awarded a Purple Heart. An immigrant to this country, Lt. Col. Vindman stated: The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, an immigrant. My family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half years old. Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs to support us, all the while learning English at night. He stressed to us the importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. For many years, life was quite difficult. In spite of our challenging beginnings, my family worked to build its own American dream. I have a deep appreciation for American values and ideals and the power of freedom. I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics. When Lt. Col. Vindman testified, he spoke of the horror he felt when he realized that our country's national security apparatus was being manipulated for the president's personal and political gain. He stated in his testimony: On July 21, 2019, President Zelensky's party won Parliamentary elections in a landslide victory. The NSC proposed that President Trump call President Zelensky to congratulate him. On July 25, 2019, the call occurred. I listened in on the call in the Situation Room with colleagues from the NSC and the office of the Vice President. As the transcript is in the public record, we are all aware of what was said. I was concerned by the call. I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for 6 the U.S. government's support of Ukraine. I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained. This would all undermine U.S. national security. Following the call, I again reported my concerns to NSC's lead counsel. Throughout the last five weeks, Congressional Republicans have presented a series of strawman arguments designed to deflect but not delve into the very serious charges against the President. Congressional Republicans' claims that the whistleblower complaint was hearsay are specious because its contents have been independently and repeatedly confirmed. Similarly, there is no merit to the claim that there was no quid pro quo when the evidence adduced to date confirms there was. In their perverse logic, Congressional Republicans decried the lack of due process for a man who once suggested that the Central Park Five should be summarily executed for a crime for which they were later exonerated, and could shoot someone in broad daylight with impunity. Despite these specious arguments, it is likely that these process arguments are only made because the substance of the president's allegations are utterly indefensible. The American people and their elected representatives cannot be distracted; they are paying close attention to the substantial wrongdoing emanating from this White House. They know what the President, which is why a clear majority support impeachment and removal of this President. As the House of Representatives continues its impeachment inquiry, H. Res. 660 is an especially timely piece of legislation, which squarely addresses the concerns of the President's most fervent supporters. Specifically, this legislation reaffirms that the six investigating committees--including the House Judiciary Committee, of which I am a senior member and which has exclusive jurisdiction to draft Articles of Impeachment--announced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been engaged in an impeachment inquiry and directs them to continue their vital work. That we have been engaged in an ongoing impeachment inquiry was ratified by the Article III branch when Judge Beryl Howell, the Chief Judge for the United States District court for the District of Columbia, recently held that the House is conducting an impeachment inquiry, which does not require a formal floor vote. Second, H. Res. 660 authorizes the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to make public transcripts of recent depositions with appropriate redactions made for classified or other sensitive information. This legislation, too, establishes procedures for all investigating committees to transmit their evidence to the Committee on the Judiciary for use in their proceedings. The resolution is also prospective, as it relates to these hearings moving from secure intelligence facilities to public view. H. Res. 660 also serves to enable effective public hearings as it permits staff counsels to question witnesses for up to 45 minutes. This is consistent with precedent established in 1998 of having staff counsel conduct initial questioning, followed by Member questions, by Republicans used to question Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr in 1998. The resolution also continues the precedent of giving the minority the same rights to question witnesses that was afforded the majority. This has been true at every step of the inquiry. Additionally, H. Res. 660 also permits the President opportunities to participate in this inquiry, in a manner consistent with past participation by Presidents. The resolution establishes opportunities for the President or his counsel to participate in impeachment proceedings held by the Committee on the Judiciary, including to present his case and respond to evidence. The President can submit written requests for additional testimony or other evidence. The President can attend hearings, including those held in executive session, raise an objection to testimony given and cross-examine witnesses. But, if the President unlawfully refuses to cooperate with Congressional requests, the Chair shall have the discretion to impose sanctions to enforce appropriate remedies, including by denying specific requests by the President or his counsel. H. Res. 660 explicates the procedure that applies after testimony is adduced in the HPSCI. H. Res. 660 directs the Committee on the Judiciary to review the evidence and, if necessary, to report Articles of Impeachment to the House. Following the precedent of every modern impeachment inquiry, the Committee on the Judiciary will decide whether Articles shall be reported to the House. H. Res. 660 is important legislation that specifies the parameters and the terms this body will follow as it undergoes its solemn and constitutional task. It affords equal time to the Chairman and Ranking Member to question witnesses and it treats the President and his counsel fairly. And, importantly, it lays out for the American people the manner in which this inquiry will proceed to the House Judiciary Committee--the committee of jurisdiction for impeachment and where I will bring to bear my decades of experience on Capitol Hill, including the lessons learned in the impeachment of 1998. Unlike that occasion, the allegations at the heart of this matter are serious, and damning of the president's conduct and fitness to serve and his ability to safeguard our national security. These allegations represent a violation of his oath, a betrayal of our national interests, a repudiation of Americans' cherished Democratic Values, and a violation of federal campaign finance laws. When the President stated that Article II permits him to do whatever he wants, he was invoking a fear of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. As the author of one of our nation's enduring documents, Jefferson was well-versed with what troubles would merit the erosion of public trust in its leaders. After all, the Declaration of Independence was a list of grievances of a lawless King, who felt impunity. But, almost 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote to another of our nation's founders: Nathaniel Macon. In 1821, Jefferson wrote: ``Our government is now taking so steady a course, as to shew by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit, by consolidation first; and then corruption, it's necessary consequence.'' It is clear that the consolidation that Jefferson feared--and the corruption which he said would be its necessary consequence--has now been realized in the actions of this President. We will not permit this to continue and we will put a stop to it. The President will be held to account. H. Res. 660 is the first step towards that accountability, and I am proud to support it.