Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), Fifth District, for his comments. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), the really extraordinary Congressman from District 21, who has just been unwavering as a freedom fighter here not just for our country but for countries around the world that are trying to liberate themselves from the type of tyranny that Ukraine is facing. Congressman Costa.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Costa for his fervent leadership on every level and for all he has done to continue negotiations with our closest allies that fight at our side and push back the edge of tyranny wherever it exists. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Vindman), a great patriot from Virginia's Seventh District.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Vindman for his service to our country and also to the cause of liberty globally.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Landsman), who represents Ohio's First District in the greater Cincinnati area. Let's be kind to him. He has been waiting a long time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Landsman. He is such an outstanding Member. I thank him for being here. Mr. Speaker, thank you for your deference and ability to allow us to speak. I just want to end this evening by saying that this Special Order is not really just about this generation but those to come, and for our children, for our grandchildren, the kind of world that we leave them. We simply cannot appease dictators, because we will leave a very ugly world to them in the future. The last thing I wish to place on the Record, if you would allow me just a couple of seconds here, in 2014, when the Olympics were going on in Sochi, for the first time in Russia in modern history, Vladimir Putin used the Olympics, when most people were distracted, to cover up the fact that he was going to invade Ukraine, which he did. The Olympics were the shield from a public relations standpoint, but what had just happened was that his stooge who was the head of Ukraine then, Viktor Yanukovych, had to flee the country because he was such a crook and was totally a tool of Putin. What the American people need to understand is, Ukraine had to dig itself out from under decades, centuries of Russian imposition and corrupt leaders that held down the ability of this country to flower into a free nation. What we are fighting for is for the ability of people to have liberty first, last, and always, in the place, in the world where Stalin killed more people than anyplace else in the history of the world. God bless America. ``Glory to Ukraine,'' ``Slava Ukraini.'' Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, it has been only 7 months since billionaire Elon Musk fled town and barely 1 month since his heartless DOGE machine collapsed, yet the damage keeps spreading. Now, the target is the U.S. Maritime Administration, MARAD, at the Department of Transportation. MARAD strengthens our maritime industry, and it protects our economic and national security. In the Great Lakes, our Nation's third and longest coast, we rely on a strong, capable American shipping fleet. Our economy depends on it. MARAD supports 13 public and 50 commercial ports across the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. In my district in northwestern Ohio, the Port of Toledo and Sandusky Harbor connect us to global markets for energy, metal, farm commodities, and more. In 2024, South Bass Island and the Put-in-Bay Port Authority received $10.3 million from MARAD to improve infrastructure, and they needed it. Our ports generate real dollars for families and jobs, nearly $900 million in annual economic activity and 8,000 jobs by the latest count. Apparently, this does not matter to the President and his administration. Unemployment has been rising. Let's be honest. DRP does not mean Deferred Resignation Program. It means destroy, ruin, and punish. Madam Speaker, stop this madness. Protect MARAD. Protect our ports. Protect our workers. Protect and grow jobs in America.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, let's talk about a topic of vital importance: the rising cost of living in America and the rising unemployment rates. Mr. Speaker, 700,000, more workers got pink- slipped. Throughout the last year, the President of the free world made numerous golden promises that prices would come down under a Trump administration. Unfortunately, to date, that promise hasn't been kept. Everywhere I go in my district, from Bryan to Defiance, from Sandusky to Toledo, I hear the same plea over and over: Life isn't affordable, and it is getting worse, Marcy. My constituents in northwestern Ohio are struggling to afford the cost of their groceries at the checkout counter. They are struggling to afford their cost of rent, of buying a home, and property taxes are on the rise. In Ohio health insurance costs, too, are set to skyrocket for over 500,000 families due to inaction to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. This July, households in Ohio saw their monthly energy bills increase a minimum of 10 percent. Some more than doubled with AI data centers competing for land. Congress must help local communities develop plans to prevent rising bills for energy and water. Our constituents in Whitehouse told me that her family already saw their energy bill go from $230 a month to $494 in July. How can any family afford that? In my part of the country, the Great Lakes, our region's economy is intertwined with our neighbors to the north, Canada, our largest trading partner. If our Great Lakes nation were a country, we would be the third largest economy in the world. Why is this administration and Congress hurting us? Punitive tariffs have sent our regional economy spiraling. The cost of lumber is up. The cost of cars is up. The cost of steel is up, and the cost of potash is up. The cost of almost everything is up. This hurts not only our consumers but also our workers who make Toledo Jeeps or parts for other American automakers like General Motors and Ford. Thousands of autoworkers have been laid off. Tariffs also really hurt our farmers in the field. They have lost major share of markets in corn and soy abroad because of reckless trade wars. Higher input costs cripple the ability to farm the same fields their families have farmed for generations. Cattlemen in our region are struggling to feed their herds and also get their beef to market affordably at the same time that President Trump gave $40 billion--handed over $40 billion--in American taxpayer money to Argentina whose farmers are trying to undercut the very cattlemen I represent. One farmer called my office yesterday. He made $100,000 less this year because of tariffs and rising input costs because of tariffs. He said: Luckily, Marcy, we saved some money from the Biden years, but our income has been very, very difficult to meet rising costs. We make some money from ethanol and biodiesel. Keep up the work on that, Marcy, he said. Mr. Speaker, tens of thousands of people across northwestern Ohio, 500,000 Ohioans in total, and 15 million more nationwide are at risk of losing their health insurance, being priced out of the market. A constituent from Clyde, Ohio, said: Marcy, high insurance prices will allow people to die by making health insurance unaffordable. It was terrible for our family before the ACA. We will band together to try to help feed our neighbors, but we aren't doctors. We need affordable healthcare. A Toledo resident told me their family cannot afford another crushing expense. He said: ``Groceries cost more than twice what they did a few years ago. Childcare and rent are up for us more than ever. Now, unless Congress acts, our health insurance premiums could double. For a family like mine, that means an extra $100 per person, per month. It is money we simply don't have. Please, extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits and protect working families. We need relief, not higher costs.'' These pleas aren't aberrations. They come every day. They are the norm. Wherever I go, I hear someone suffering under rising costs. Our neighbors are struggling to afford their groceries as States nationwide are trying to cut SNAP dollars for those who need them and limit what they can buy. Meanwhile, food costs across the board are up 3.1 percent. Beef and veal are up 14.7 percent as of the end of September. A pound of beef costs $6.23 or more. It is simply just unaffordable. That number continues to climb. For the last year, there has been no action by the majority in this Chamber, by the White House, or anyone else in power to address the affordability crisis. Hello? Hello? Reckless and ill-considered tariffs have made it worse. Let me assure you, Mr. Speaker, people in northwest Ohio are paying attention and deciding how to live. We need this Congress and the President, the other end of this avenue, to work together.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today and every day for the working families of northwestern Ohio. This includes rural Americans across this country who are being left behind by the bills not reaching this floor this week. Right now, Congress is debating healthcare as if it were an abstract policy exercise, but back home, it is very real. It is the factory worker in Defiance choosing between insulin and groceries. It is the farmer in Fulton County driving an hour to see a doctor and then opening a bill he simply cannot pay. These proposals do nothing to protect them. Let's be clear. A $1,000 health savings account is not insurance. It is a coupon, one that disappears the moment you walk into an emergency room. That money helps people who already have savings. It does not help families living paycheck to paycheck. One hospital visit costs more than a month's rent. Instead of stabilizing premiums, extending ACA subsidies, and protecting coverage, these phony bills gamble with people's lives. Madam Speaker, healthcare should not depend on your ZIP Code, your job title, or the balance in your bank account. Working Ohioans deserve real coverage, not false, empty promises.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I say thank you so very much to Ohio's corn and soy farmers for their excellent agricultural summit in which I participated about a week ago in Defiance, Ohio. We discussed the importance of biofuels as a reliable source of income for northwest Ohio farmers, in fact, 44 percent of their income and rising. This is a great victory for our country over the last three decades. Let me thank our region's farmers, processors, and growers for bringing together leaders from the biofuels industry, ag commodity groups, Ohio Farm Bureau, and refineries to hear directly about the increase in demand and production for biofuels as a new initiative every day to increase income for farmers as they lose export markets due to tariffs. Biofuels now comprise over 44 percent of their bottom line. In the early days, I worked with Senators on both sides of the aisle and led the effort here in the House to make sure people had access to E85 ethanol at the fuel pumps. It has been a great gift of my career to have served long enough to see that we have been successful. We also flew the first fighter jet F-16 out of our base 20 years ago using biofuels, and it worked. We are very proud of this industry as it grows. My hat is off to Ohio farmers and Midwest farmers who are making this reality in our lifetime. What America makes and grows makes and grows America.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the pastoral service of Bishop Duane C. Tisdale in Toledo, Ohio. I will be honored to join his congregation and our community leaders to celebrate his 40th anniversary this Sunday at his church, Friendship Baptist Church, where he was first elected to Associate Pastor in 1985. Beginning on December 9, 1986, Bishop Tisdale has been the congregation's senior Pastor. As noted in the history, ``Bishop Tisdale's leadership, preaching and teaching gave birth to a new concept of ministry for the congregation of Friendship Baptist Church. As a result, Friendship Baptist Church adopted this new concept, entitled `New Vision' as its church vision. `New Vision' embraces the spiritual, mental, physical, economical, and social dimensions of our total being, therefore emphasizing `Ministering to the Total Person.' Through ``New Vision'' Friendship Baptist Church integrates a holistic ministry in all areas that affect man, his family, and his worship.'' CEO of Friendship New Vision, Bishop Tisdale has led the effort toward practical applications of the ``New Vision'' philosophy. The outreach ministry offers drug and alcohol outpatient treatment, transitional and residential housing, tutoring, teen services and an economic empowerment and financial freedom initiative. Bishop Tisdale was born to Pastor Clyde E. and Thelma M. Tisdale, their fourteenth child. Accepting the call to ministry at the age of fifteen, he began preaching at his home church where his father pastored, Rossford First Baptist Church. He was ordained at age nineteen. In 1987 Bishop Duane Tisdale married his wife Thelma. Together they raised five children: LaTonya, Jerel, Samuel, Joshua, and Sara. Continuing his calling, Bishop Tisdale received his Bachelor's Degree in Religious Education from the Calvary Bible Institute, Toledo, Ohio in 1981. He went on to attain a Master's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1994. In June 2010 Bishop received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from St. Thomas Christian College, Jacksonville Florida. Bishop Tisdale completed his Doctorate of Ministry Degree in Black Church Studies from Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio in June 2011. Bishop Tisdale became affiliated with Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship International in 1995 and he is a student in the Full Gospel Graduate School of Episcopal Studies. Since then, he has served on the national level in the Pastor's Division on the Advisory Board under Bishop H. Jerome Ross. On the district level he served as the Northern District Overseer in the State of Ohio. On the state level, he served as the First Administrative Assistant to State Bishop William Morris. From the years of 2001 to 2023, he served as Bishop of the State of Ohio. A pillar in our community, Bishop Tisdale saw the critical need for financial services in the neighborhoods. He inspired civic and community leaders to rally around a ``New Vision'' and established the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union. Since its founding in 1996, the credit union has grown into a strong $10 million institution of stability, serving small and larger depositors alike while developing its mission to secure the economic futures of Toledo's central city residents. Throughout his life, Bishop Duane Tisdale has led with a servant's heart. He has been minister, mentor, leader and friend. A guiding light in our community and to his congregation, we thank Bishop Tisdale for forty years of faithful service and look forward to his continued light.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm across Ohio. The Trump administration has recklessly frozen all of Ohio's Manufacturing Extension Partnership offices--I repeat, Manufacturing Extension Partnership offices. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have worked hard to grow manufacturing jobs in America, in the places we represent, to recover from the four decades of outsourcing of U.S. production. I am really shocked at what they have done. This impulsive decision is a direct blow to family-owned businesses and American entrepreneurs competing against Communist China, Mexico, and every other low-wage haven in the world. This decision delays critical upgrades, injects uncertainty into local production lines, undermines new jobs being created, and undermines every worker this Nation depends upon. The Department of Commerce should release and restore these job- creating dollars immediately. Congress voted for them. They should be expended. If the Trump administration can send $40 billion off to Argentina to buy foreign beef that hurts Ohio cattlemen, they ought to restore this support to boost U.S. factories, companies, and new jobs here at home. This is simply unbelievable. By the way, the U.S. Commerce Department Secretary is a Wall Street magnate. He doesn't understand what it takes to create manufacturing jobs in this country.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm for our Republic and our Constitution. Every one of us here in Congress swore a solemn oath to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. We did not give any President a blank check for war. President Trump is over his skis. Article I of our Constitution, the first power the Founders saw fit to forge into the foundation of our Nation, gave Congress the power to declare war and send our troops into battle. No one person can send our brave sons and daughters into conflict on a whim. Instead, what have we witnessed? We have witnessed a dangerous, aggressive build-up of U.S. military power in the Caribbean. Where is the money coming from to do that? What is it being taken from? Lethal strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela are increasing. Then the Secretary of Defense allegedly gave an order to kill everybody on a boat. What is the legal authority under which those orders were given? These strikes both are an escalation abroad and a direct attack on our U.S. Constitution here at home. Congress must reassert its constitutional authority to authorize the funds to pay for war. Mr. Speaker, I strongly supported this year's national defense bill. We must conduct vigorous oversight to halt this executive branch unilateral war-making. Our soldiers deserve us to do that.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, with deep gratitude, I rise today to honor the AFL-CIO's 70th anniversary. Seventy years ago, the AFL-CIO joined laborers with a bold vision: The dignity of a day's work must be matched by the dignity of a worker's life. Their merger formed a promise: America would be stronger when working people stand together. That promise is personal. Our mother was a proud union organizer. Her union badge, along with our father's, helped our family be more secure with union membership. It opened doors for opportunities we could only dream of as a working-class family: a living wage and the opportunity for more education, health insurance, and retirement benefits. Today, let us honor the bold generations of workers who built our factories, powered our industries, cared for our ill, and advanced our communities. As our Nation faces new challenges, from international outsourcing to corporate consolidation, we recommit ourselves to the fight for living- wage jobs, fair trade, and affordable health insurance, and to passing the pro-worker protections in the PRO Act. I thank the AFL-CIO for 70 years of solidarity, strength, and service to America's working families. Here is to 70 more.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, citizens nationwide and across our district are pushing back on AI data centers. They are concerned these facilities demand massive amounts of energy and water, driving up rising regional utility costs even more. How much more will our citizens be forced to pay for power and water? They have a right to know. Will our building trades be true partners in economic growth or just temporary labor, while facing higher utility bills at home? How many permanent jobs will these largely opaque facilities actually provide? Exactly which out-of-town interests will get the profits if these firms succeed? Residents across our region complain State and local approvals are moving too quickly. In Ohio, the crooked PUCO and Ohio's Legislature have granted giant tax breaks to data centers, while local township officials remain in the dark about details. That is not fair. Ohioans know what secrecy and inside deals bring. FirstEnergy scandals led to indictments, prison terms, and even suicides. Ohio Statehouse corruption rewards big business and harms the public. The American people deserve to know how AI data centers will affect their communities. Public hearings must be more robust and factual, not merely road shows by proponents.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a story of renewal, of history and heritage rediscovered, and of deep respect for heritage in the American heartland. For 167 years, one of the world's greatest collections of coins-- doubloons, silver dollars, and denari--that tell the story of civilization and economic progress itself sat largely unseen in vaults in Manhattan, New York. These coins crossed oceans, witnessed empires rise and fall, and marked the turning points of human history, and they rested largely unseen. In New York, this priceless collection had few visitors, little space, and no real home, but now these treasures are coming to northwest Ohio to the world-class Toledo Museum of Art. The American Numismatic Society has chosen Toledo, located on beautiful Lake Erie, as the place where its future can flourish. We are so grateful that the society saw what we know so well: a community that opens its doors wide to history and also a world-class museum that inspires. Mr. Speaker, children will be able to learn about heritage in this great location. I will thank and congratulate Adam Levine, the director of the museum, and the inspired board of the Toledo Museum of Art. We give Mr. Levine a salute and congratulate him. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a New York Times article titled ``After 167 Years in New York, a Priceless Coin Collection Heads to Toledo.'' [From The New York Times, Nov. 20, 2025] After 167 Years in New York, a Priceless Coin Collection Heads to Toledo (By Dan Barry) On the 11th floor of a downtown Manhattan building, just around the corner from the Holland Tunnel, sits one of the world's finest collections of coins. Stored behind a series of locked doors in a massive, climate-controlled vault, the coins tell the story of civilization, from antiquity to today. A Sumerian clay tablet from about 2000 B.C.E. Early Chinese forms of money shaped like miniature tools. A silver French penny from the age of Charlemagne. A medal given by the Lincoln administration to a Native American chief, pierced by a bullet. More than 800,000 other telltale coins, medals and objects of wonder. But apart from scholars, members and the occasional enthusiast, almost no one sees this treasure, which is one reason its guardian, the American Numismatic Society, is leaving the city where it was founded in the mid-19th century--and moving to Toledo, Ohio. The society announced today that it will be making a ``strategic'' relocation to an Art Deco building on the spacious campus of the Toledo Museum of Art. The $20 million plan, to be completed in 2028, would make possible its long- harbored vision of a state-of-the-art money museum, a dream that has proved elusive in New York. ``One of our members said that this will mean a terrible loss to New York City,'' the society's executive director, Ute Wartenberg Kagan, said. ``But if no one uses it, what's the loss?'' Wartenberg Kagan, a scholar of ancient Greek coinage, left the British Museum in 1998 to join the American Numismatic Society and someday establish a proper money museum where one belonged, in the city of Wall Street. But exorbitant costs and space constraints conspired against those plans, as did an apparent indifference to the charms of numismatics. So: Hello, Toledo! Wartenberg Kagan said that she and several other colleagues are eager to make the 560-mile move west, where the society has already bought the building that will house its collection as well as a library, auditorium and education center. The population of the Toledo metropolitan area is about 650,000, less than one-tenth that of New York City, but there are many buts. The cost of living is lower. The campus has plenty of space to accommodate the school buses that never pulled up to the current location because there was nowhere to park. And there is the opportunity to work in concert with the museum, integrating collections to produce dynamic exhibits for an engaged community. ``We're not just buying real estate,'' Wartenberg Kagan said. ``We're buying a relationship.'' But as one relationship begins, another ends. The American Numismatic Society traces its origins to 1858, when a teenage boy named Augustus B. Sage invited other coin obsessives to his family's Manhattan home to discuss the creation of a society dedicated to all matters numismatic. Sage, who would go on to serve in the Civil War and die young, of pneumonia, donated the first object: an 1825 American half-cent. In 1908, the society built a neoclassical building at 155th Street and Broadway, in the city's Washington Heights section, to accommodate its growing membership, library and collection. The numismatic cognoscenti gathered there for lectures and exhibits, for celebrations of National Coin Week and debates about the aesthetics of the buffalo nickel. But as the years passed, fewer people traveled to Upper Manhattan to see and discuss coins. Mentions of the society sometimes appeared in newspaper roundups of out-of-the-way places to visit in Manhattan. Excitement occasionally paid a call. In 1977, four armed men overpowered two society guards, meticulously taped cloth over display cases to muffle the sound of glass being broken and made off with about 300 rare coins worth as much as $100,000. As they calmly exited the building, the thieves told three impatient visitors at the door that the place was closed. And in 1989, a heart surgeon and coin collector from California arrived in New York to be honored by the society for his beneficence, only to be arrested--and later convicted--instead. During his occasional visits, the good doctor had been pocketing rarities worth about $1 million: a gold coin of the Roman Emperor Hadrian here, six gold coins of the Visigoths there. Facing a yawning deficit, the society sold its Washington Heights building and moved to the Wall Street area in 2004, with plans to open a money museum. But the plan never came to fruition. In 2008 the society moved again, to leased space on the llth floor of an old building at 75 Varick Street. Over eight hours one late-spring Saturday, its entire collection, cocooned in bubble wrap and packed in more than 400 plastic crates, was transported to the new location as quietly as can be done with a police escort. Both the appeals and challenges of the society's current home were evident during a recent tour. An extensive library all but begged the visitor to pause and flip through a book, any book: on heraldry or mythology, shipwrecks or excavation. Then, once past the several locked doors that guard the vault, Wartenberg Kagan and Peter van Alfen, the chief curator, shared with glee just the smallest hint of the society's immense treasure. In this sliding drawer, a silver coin from the reign of Alexander the Great, one of many, portraying him in battle in India. And in this drawer, the famous silver denarius, minted to commemorate the murder of Julius Caesar and depicting two daggers and the bust of his assassin, Brutus. Here, a 1787 doubloon made by a New York City goldsmith, and here, a rare 1861 Confederate half dollar, struck in New Orleans. A year could be lost in the vault of the American Numismatic Society. But the society's leased space is too expensive ($1.8 million a year, including taxes), too small to accommodate its ever-growing holdings and not conducive to public engagement. A few years ago, a travel guide included the society among its list of free attractions--open by appointment and closed on weekends--in Lower Manhattan. Even then, only a half-dozen or so tourists might wander in every week. ``This is both a big and a small place,'' Wartenberg Kagan said. ``That's one of its problems.'' For the last several years, the society--which has 1,400 members, including 265 outside the United States--has searched for more suitable quarters. Plans to move to the University of Chicago fell apart, as did those to move to the University of Pennsylvania, Long Island City in Queens and a warehouse in Fall River, Mass. Then came a bit of numismatic serendipity. It just so happened that Adam M. Levine, the president and director of the Toledo Museum of Art, had spent the summer of 2009 at the American Numismatics Society, studying the iconography of Justinian II coinage. He contacted Wartenberg Kagan, whom he knew, and suggested that she consider Toledo, where he just happened to know of a four-story building on the museum's 37- acre campus that would soon become available. Levine, who grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, expressed great affection for his native city. But he is now imbued with what he called the ``zeal of the convert,'' and he vouched for Toledo's cultural amenities, community spirit and easy, relatively short ride to the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. ``I feel very confident that there is life after New York,'' Levine said. ``And Toledo is made special by being the only place where you can pretty much guarantee that you'll like the next person you meet.'' A dubious Wartenberg Kagan visited Toledo--and came away persuaded. It checked every box for the society's trustees, including a supportive, good-sized city, reasonable housing costs and proximity to major research facilities. Other staff members also made the trip to Toledo and liked what they saw. About half of the 17-member staff will be making the move, including Wartenberg Kagan and van Alfen. ``They will be welcomed with open arms,'' Levine predicted. ``And they'll have more visitors in their first year than they've had in the last five.'' ``Probably 10 years,'' Wartenberg Kagan added.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Susan Olsen Murray, a beloved daughter of Sandusky, Ohio, and a shining star of the very kind and generous heart of northwest Ohio's people. Susan was a woman whose generosity was limitless. She carried within her a rare and radiant gift, the ability to make every person she met feel valued, uplifted, and truly seen. During her decades in Sandusky, she poured her energy into service, education, and community building. Whether teaching young readers at Saints Peter and Paul School, helping found the Boys and Girls Club of Erie County, or simply offering a kind word at precisely the right moment, Susan made humanity her vocation. Always prioritizing positivity, she always put others before herself. What a great world it would be if everybody was that way. Susan and her husband John walked through life with devotion and joy. They raised a caring, wise family rooted in love, learning, and compassion. Her children, Leslie, John Jr., and Tim, and grandchildren Heather, William, Hugh, and Ella, carry forward her spirit of warmth and boundless generosity. To all who mourn her, may her memory be a blessing, and may her life be a reminder that a life lived generously can brighten an entire community.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce bipartisan legislation, alongside my northwest Ohio colleague, Representative Bob Latta. Our purpose is to honor a legendary Ohioan and pioneer of American military history, Rear Admiral Alene B. Duerk. Admiral Duerk was the first woman in the United States Navy to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral. Our legislation would require the Navy to rename a naval vessel in her honor. Admiral Duerk was born in Defiance, Ohio, raised in Holgate, and graduated from the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing in 1941. Over her long career, she treated wounded servicemembers during World War II and the Korean war. In 1972, she became the first woman in naval history to attain flag rank. In August, I also joined Representative Tim Kennedy in sending a letter to the Secretary of Defense asking to rename a vessel in her honor and in September sponsored a separate amendment to this year's National Defense Authorization Act. Our added legislation continues our effort to properly honor Rear Admiral Duerk. I look forward to working with colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to ensure Rear Admiral Duerk's legacy of service, sacrifice, and excellence is properly honored and commemorated by the people of the United States of America. Go Navy.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of National Health Month, let me put some quotes out there from individuals that I represent. Just in Ohio, we know health insurance will become unaffordable for tens of thousands of people across our northwest Ohio district, over half a million Ohioans, and 15 million Americans. Please let me share some examples. A constituent from Clyde, Ohio, said it clearly: High insurance prices will allow people to die by making healthcare unaffordable. It was terrible before the ACA. We need affordable health insurance. Another citizen from Edon in Williams County shared how their medications had become so costly that they now have to seek out patient assistance programs. Their prescription insurance has increased by $119 a month, which is unmanageable on a fixed income. A Toledo resident told me that everything is going up. Groceries cost more as well as childcare and rent. Unless Congress acts, health insurance premiums for us will double. Our family cannot make it. We don't have an extra $100 per month. Mr. Speaker, I hope you are listening to these pleas because unless we address the cost of health insurance in this country, too many people are going to die.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member DeLauro for yielding. Mr. Speaker, Congress should vote today for affordable health insurance for Americans and reduce its rising costs. Instead, in the dead of night, eight Senate Republicans slipped into this bill a payola for themselves, literally raking in millions of dollars to themselves. This payola is called corruption. It is corruption. Millions of taxpayer dollars now are slated for Senators Graham, Hagerty, Hawley, Sullivan, Tuberville, Johnson, Lummis, and Blackburn. Each is teed up to personally rake in a minimum of $500,000 up to $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the American people need more affordable health insurance, but these Senators, with their House allies, are lining their own pockets. I say: No more tax breaks to billionaires and no payoffs to U.S. Senators. This is what happens when power serves itself instead of the people. This isn't leadership. It is corruption disguised as legislation.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, let's cleanse America of disgusting corruption. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a truly remarkable American, Mr. Roger Carpenter of Oak Harbor, Ohio, who just celebrated an extraordinary milestone: seventy-five years of service as Scoutmaster of Troop 316. Seventy-five years, that's three-quarters of a century of guiding, teaching, and uplifting generations of young people. Shaping their character, their sense of service, and their love for community. Few can say they have given so much of themselves, for so long, to a single purpose. But Roger Carpenter can. And he has done so with a humble heart, steadfast faith, and a pair of calloused hands that never stop building, fixing, or helping. At 97 years young, Roger remains active with his troop, recently repairing the very log splitter used to make the Scouts' famous apple butter. This tradition has warmed both hearts and bellies at the Oak Harbor Apple Festival for decades. This festival, itself a celebration of community spirit, fittingly chose this year to honor Roger for his life of selfless service. He is believed to be the longest-serving Scoutmaster in our nation's history. But beyond the record books, his impact is written in the lives of the hundreds, more likely perhaps thousands, of young men he has mentored. Many of them have gone on to serve their country, their neighbors, and their families with the same quiet strength they learned under his guidance. During this year's festival, we presented Roger with a flag flown over our United States Capitol as a symbol of the deep gratitude we hold for his unwavering devotion to the values that Scouting and citizenship share: duty, honor, leadership, and service. As we constantly reflect on what it means to build a strong America, we must look to people like Roger Carpenter. Those who invest in others, who give without seeking recognition, and who, year after year, live the ideals they teach. His life is a testament to what one dedicated citizen can do to shape the moral fabric of a community and a nation. So today, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives and the people of Northwest Ohio, I extend our deepest congratulations and gratitude to Scoutmaster Roger Carpenter for 75 years of remarkable leadership, for his enduring spirit, and for reminding us all that service to others is the truest form of patriotism. I thank Roger for being a living example of the Scout Oath and Law and for inspiring us all to leave this world a little better than we found it.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a milestone year in the Toledo Zoo's remarkable journey in my district. The Zoo is celebrating 125 years in our community with a series of events culminating in a special gala on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Rated the top zoo in our Nation, Toledoans are justifiably proud of our treasure. The Toledo Zoo began modestly in 1900 when Megan Cole donated a woodchuck for display at Walbridge Park along the Maumee River in South Toledo. The attraction was popular, and within the year, thanks to continued donations, the zoo had 39 animals in its collection. Unprepared to properly house and care for the growing collection, the Toledo Zoo built the Lion House in 1907. During these earliest years, when housing was a challenge, animal escapes were not uncommon. The Toledo Zoological Society was subsequently founded in 1913 to spark development. William H. Roemer was the first president, and by 1916, the Toledo Zoo exhibited 471 animals. In 1922, the position of curator was developed, and the indefatigable Frank Skeldon was the first curator for the zoo. It was during this time that national recognition was pursued. Building continued, and by 1929, the Giraffe House, Carnivora Building, and Primate House were all housing the animals. Building continued through the Depression-Era WPA, so that by the 1930s the Reptile House, Aviary, Museum of Science, Amphitheatre, indoor theatre, and Aquarium were all completed, along with structural improvements, the subway and zoo entrances. The 1940s, 50s, and 60s brought new adventure with the addition of a miniature railway, the publication of Safari magazine, the nation's only indoor trout run, the development of waterways, and other improvements. By the 1960s, the Toledo Zoo's collection included more than 3,600 animals. Facing significant funding challenges following the region's 1980s financial collapse, the Toledo Zoo was on the verge of closure. A zoo levy was initiated in 1980, and in 1981, Bill Dennler became the new zoo director following Frank Skeldon's retirement. Under his tutelage, buildings were restored, a children's zoo opened, the birth of two baby hippos was caught on tape, and China lent the zoo two giant pandas. People flocked to the zoo to view these wonders. The 1990s saw continuing innovation, community support, and national and global supremacy for the Toledo Zoo. By the early 2000s, the zoo was well into its successful breeding program, including the rare birth of an African elephant. Development continues to this day. There are 1 Million visitors a year and 78,000 households hold membership. The highest in the nation! There are 16,000 animals from more than 680 species, including 90 endangered species, and 73 Million dollars are generated for our local economy. The Toledo Zoo has arrived at its 125th birthday as the top zoo in our nation and a global leader in wildlife conservation and engagement in sustainable practices. There are forty acres of native plants and 110 prairies planted at the zoo and around the region. More than 45,000 students and families learn from tours, camps, overnights, virtual programming, scouts, and gardening workshops. The Zoo hosts Music Under the Stars in its lovely Amphitheatre, where people can hear the symphony and creative performers on beautiful nights. People from all over come to view the Toledo Zoo's African Savannah, Aquarium, Arctic Encounter, Aviary, Rescue Roost, Cassoway Crossing, Conservatory, Flamingo Key, Kingdom of the Apes, Museum of Natural History, Nature's Neighborhood, Penguin Beach, Pheasantry, Primate Forest, Reptile House, Tembo Trail, Tiger Terrace, Snow Leopards, beautiful flora, fun amusements, nourishing treats and the stunning Lights Before Christmas. The Toledo Zoo is an absolute star on the map of Northwest Ohio. It truly and uniquely lives up to its motto: ``Enjoy. Inspire. Educate. Act.'' Our entire community congratulates our wonderful Toledo Zoo as we look back on a fantastic journey and look forward to an awesome future.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the ``Balancing Incentives Act'' of 2025, Bipartisan legislation to restore fairness and integrity to America's patent system. Innovation is the beating heart of American progress. From workshops and factories to classrooms and garages, inventors across our Nation embody the creativity, determination, and optimism that define the American spirit. They turn ideas into opportunities and dreams into progress. Yet too many inventors face an uneven playing field that makes it harder to protect their work. The ``Balancing Incentives Act'' ensures that inventors have a fair chance to defend their creations. By doing so, we reaffirm that innovation belongs to everyone with an idea and the determination to bring it to fruition. With the ``Balancing Incentives Act,'' we stand up for the spirit of American ingenuity that built our middle class, that powers our industries and continues to light the way toward a more prosperous and inventive future. By standing up for inventors, we stand up for America's future. Because what America makes and grows, makes and grows America. I urge my colleagues to join myself and Congressman Thomas Massie in supporting this vital legislation.