Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, today I proudly recognize Captain Andrea Kaman of the United States Army for her extraordinary dedication to duty and service to our Nation. Captain Kaman will soon transition from her current assignment as an Army Congressional Liaison in the House of Representatives to attend Army Intermediate Level Education at Ft. Belvoir and return to duty as an Army Human Resources Officer. A native of Wakonda, South Dakota, Andrea attended the University of Wyoming on an ROTC scholarship, commissioning as a Distinguished Honor Graduate in December of 2007. Captain Kaman has held numerous leadership and staff assignments, including a deployment to Iraq with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, and company command in the 369th AG Battalion at Fort Jackson, SC. In 2016, Andrea joined my staff as a Defense Fellow. Her first-hand knowledge of the military and its culture was a tremendous benefit to my office. She is a thoughtful, intelligent and dedicated leader who quickly became a trusted member of my team. Following her time in my office, Andrea served throughout the 115th Congress as a Congressional Liaison in the United States Army House Liaison Division. As a primary liaison between fifty-seven Congressional Members, their staffs, committees, and the Army, she provided insight and understanding of Army policies, actions, operations, and requirements. Due to her exceptional planning abilities, agility, and attention to detail, Andrea was selected to coordinate numerous high profile engagements on behalf of Army Senior Leaders and to escort Members and staff on over twenty fact-finding and oversight delegations around the world. Mr. Speaker, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with Andrea during her time as an Army Congressional Liaison Officer in the House of Representatives. On behalf of a grateful Nation, it is my honor to recognize the selfless service and sacrifice of Captain Andrea Kaman, her husband Drew, and their children Elizabeth and Jacoby. I wish them the very best as they continue their journey in the United States Army, in service to our Nation.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, today I proudly recognize and honor a true public servant, Captain Andrea Kaman, of the United States Army. Soon, Andrea will transition from her Army Congressional Fellow assignment to continue service as an Army Human Resources Officer. In 2016, the people of Ohio's Ninth District were rewarded when Andrea joined our team as my first Defense Fellow. On behalf of a grateful Nation, it is my honor to recognize her selfless service and sacrifice, and that of her family, too, her husband, Drew, and children, Elle and Jack. I wish her well in her journey with the United States Army. And the type of commitment that her life represents is necessary for our Nation today as much as it ever was. Today, in my own State of Ohio, the FBI arrested two individuals suspected of plotting to kill a rabbi and Jewish worshippers in our region. Let me express to the FBI--which has been getting some criticism by members of the executive branch--and local Toledo Police Division Officers, and other law enforcement officials, deepest gratitude for their professionalism and dedication to duty, to protect and defend the American people against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Today, in Ohio, the FBI's motto of ``Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity'' was demonstrated again, backed by the brave blue line of the Toledo Police Division. This Member of Congress says: I salute you. Thank you on behalf of the people of our region and the American people. God bless you.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month on November 11, 2018, the Polish people celebrated 100 years of regained independence for their nation. I am delighted to rise along with my fellow Congressional Poland Caucus Co-chairs to introduce a bipartisan resolution to commemorate this historic event as well as the democratic values the United States and Poland have shared since the 1700s. As a proud Polish American, I join thousands of members in the Polish diaspora across our nation and in the world to acknowledge this very auspicious achievement. Indeed, the United States-Polish friendship precedes the birth of the United States, where Polish Generals Taddeus Kosciuszko and Casmir Pulaski bravely fought for independence and freedoms for both the United States and Poland. In the late 1700s, Poland adopted its first constitution in Europe, inspired by ours, based on the ideas of liberty and constitutional monarchy, which paved the way for future democratic reforms. Tragically just four years later, Poland was invaded and succumbed to the third partition between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Hapsburg Monarchy, and as a result lost its sovereignty for the next 123 years. Then in 1918, following World War I, with the support of President Woodrow Wilson, Poland was restored to the map of Europe and resumed its persistent climb to freedom. Heroic Polish resistance fighters and soldiers fought in World War II against tyranny on all fronts and at home only to find that liberation from the Nazis became domination by the Soviet Union. Yet, Poland refused to surrender. Poland's Solidarity movement, the largest European resistance movement, led to the ultimate defeat of communism and the fall of the Soviet Empire. In 1989, after 43 years of increasing resistance to occupation, Poland's fierce love of liberty spilled over into a massive electoral victory won by Solidarnosc. Poland's accomplishments in the generation of freedom which followed are nothing short of remarkable. Today we celebrate Poland's membership in the NATO Alliance and the European Union as a sign of its continued commitment to liberal democratic values, rule of law, human rights, and freedom of the press. Let this 100th anniversary year of Poland's rebirth serve as an occasion to honor the courage and sacrifice of the people of Poland, who never lost their determination to advance the cause of Polish independence. Let us come together to wish the Polish people one hundred years more of close friendship between our nations and the democratic values that bind us.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the Ukrainian Caucus, I rise to strongly condemn Russia's dangerous assault on Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait. Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports should alarm the world. As Russian dictator Vladimir Putin attempts to tighten his bloody, illegitimate grip on the Crimean peninsula and his ill will on the people of Ukraine, the free world cannot sit back and watch. Crimea and its surrounding waters belong to the people of Ukraine. No amount of propaganda can cover Russia's egregious human rights record in Crimea, including the illegitimate detainment of Oleg Sentsov. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community and our NATO allies in our unshakeable commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and freedom. We stand in steadfast solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Russia must understand that its actions have consequences. We must not hesitate to work with our European allies to increase sanctions on Putin's cronies to punish this continued, flagrant aggression. We demand that Russia withdraw from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow President Trump will claim victory as the United States, Canadian, and Mexican officials gather to sign a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement. But let us make no mistake, this is far from a finished deal. Congress has the final say on trade. From where we stand today, what has been called NAFTA 2.0 still requires work to reach standards acceptable to the American people and American workers and companies. How can any President claim this victory the same week General Motors announces the idling of five North American facilities, and as it cuts 15,000 living-wage jobs, including one in Lordstown, Ohio, not even counting the thousands and thousands more jobs that will be lost in the automotive parts sector in our country. What an affront to every promise President Trump has made American manufacturing towns. Ohio's trade message to our Nation is as loud and clear as it always has been. The job outsourcing destruction due to the original NAFTA deal, which passed a quarter century ago, over my great objection on this floor, continues to reverberate across our State and Nation. Now, we just saw at Lordstown, another, at that plant, 1,600 General Motors jobs, and upwards of 5,000 total job losses when the auto suppliers are counted at just that one facility. Following the original NAFTA's implementation, town after town lost good jobs with good wages and benefits. How many times must America's towns and workers bear witness to NAFTA's vast U.S. job outsourcing and wage drag? How many more? Millions have suffered firsthand as dire predictions actualized and the false promises of NAFTA job creation failed to materialize. Instead, they personally experienced the great sucking sound of job outsourcing, just what we said here on this floor back in the early 1990s. Whether GM's decision was at all influenced by NAFTA 2.0 is irrelevant. American trade deals have far too long allowed corporate America to run rampant over America's workers as they seek out the penny-wage laborers who can't afford to buy what they make. I have a couple of charts here that I want to bring to the floor to describe what has been happening across this continent now for a quarter century, and what is upsetting the American people. Millions of U.S. jobs have been obliterated year after year, as replacement workers toil and work in unsafe sweatshops and maquiladoras south of the border exposed to unimaginable toxins. The original NAFTA was supposed to create trade surpluses for the United States. It was supposed to create job growth in the United States. And you know what has happened? Exactly the reverse. These are the numbers just for the year of 2016. You can see how big the trade deficit is with Mexico, nearly $70 billion and with Canada, $8 billion. Now, that is up fourfold since back in the early nineties, before NAFTA was passed, when we already had a small trade deficit with those countries, but it has just exploded. The original NAFTA fueled massive migration on the Mexican side from their countryside to our Nation as millions upon millions of small farmers' livelihoods were extinguished in Mexico. Mexico's white corn industry was decimated. Why do you think people fled to the United States? If you were hungry, and you had nothing, and you lived in desperation, well, you might do the same. What a humanitarian tragedy has been occurring for over a quarter century. And yet, policymakers in the United States and Mexico close their eyes to the human tragedy. Trade with our closest neighbors is never simply a zero-sum game. There have been lots of losers. In fact, our country's been a loser. Yeah, there are some pockets of transportation jobs down at the border. Anybody would expect that. But overall, a net loser. And guess what? Under the Trump administration, the red ink is growing. In the nearly 3 decades since NAFTA's original passage, we have not even had 1 year of balanced trade accounts, which is the true measure of whether a trade agreement is successful or not. So we look at the Trump trade figures here, going across the months, and you look at the red line. Every month the trade deficit grows, including with Mexico and Canada; not even 1 year of balanced trade accounts, and the numbers are getting worse. NAFTA provided vivid evidence of a severely-flawed trade agreement that failed America's workers and communities as plant after plant shuts down. And you know, the sad tragedy is, at Lordstown, the third shift was gone a couple of years ago. But as the second shift left this week, they were told by the GM officials in the plant, these jobs are going to Mexico. Beyond just the NAFTA deficit, all our global trade deficits have ballooned under this administration's erratic trade and tariff agenda. It makes no sense. General Motors says that one of the reasons they are moving the jobs to Mexico is because of the cost of the Trump tariffs, and that they have had to pay several billion dollars more for steel that goes into making these vehicles. Well, you know, in this wake, a modern NAFTA agreement to correct all of the injustices associated with continental trade is long overdue. I have eagerly anticipated the release of specific text in this NAFTA 2.0 and strategic agenda from the administration on how President Trump plans to bring jobs back to America. He actually promised that in all the towns that have just gotten these pink slips. He said it in Youngstown. He told the people in Warren, Michigan, that they never had to worry if they voted for him; that they would never have a plant close down. Well, guess what? General Motors is closing down the transmission facility in Warren, Michigan. Thus far, both the trade deficit and the job outsourcing continue to, as the expression goes, go south. These numbers are going to get much worse for the workers and communities in our country. And the workers in Mexico, since NAFTA's passage, guess what? Their wages are going down. What kind of a system is this? Anything short of specifics in this redone agreement that will clearly improve job prospects for Americans will fall short of Trump's promises. Mr. Speaker, this is too important a moment to hang America's economy on faulty assumptions. We, in Congress, not I, but some in Congress, fell for NAFTA in 1994. We can't let it happen again. The signing of text tomorrow leaves with us a lot of work yet to complete. Let Congress do its job. Has this administration answered the question of whether the job outsourcing bonanza that has taken hold since NAFTA's passage in 1994 has truly been addressed? It is hard to believe that will be the case, given the current news about General Motors; and that is not the only company moving jobs out of this country. Have strong labor standards been included in NAFTA 2.0 subject to swift and certain enforcement? No. Will corporate interests retain the means to outsource American jobs, to take advantage of rock-bottom Mexican wages? Yeah, they will. Will we protect the rights of Americans to know what is in the food they are feeding their families, or will trade facilitation hold priority over food safety? Congress has to ask, will Americans have access to affordable prescription drugs made in Mexico, or will the new NAFTA further rig the system to delay access to more affordable and safe generic drugs and biosimilars? Globally, will we work to open closed and controlled markets? Will we equalize the negative impact of the value-added tax in our trade agreement? There is nothing in this on that. Will tax policy stop favoring outsourcing? No, actually the Trump tax bill favored more outsourcing. Democrats look forward to holding hearings and oversight of how these questions will truly impact all of America and America's workers and communities. We have called on this administration to work with us to reach necessary and substantive achievements. There is a new administration taking power in Mexico itself. We need to listen and work with them. Any new North American trade agreement must raise wages and create a level playing field across the board. The American people are not interested in staged production signing ceremonies. They want a NAFTA deal that is fixed and that will create good-paying jobs in America with benefits you can depend upon and heal the economic injustices suffered for the past 3 decades as people are exploited by institutions more powerful than themselves. And if America is going to be the leader of the free world, she has to be the leader in free trade agreements that are fair and offer the opportunity of rising living standards for all people, not harming people, but helping people. Trade is not just about goods, it is about people. We have to put people first. We have to put people at the top of the agenda. We have to put workers at the top of the agenda and treat them for their true worth, and not any longer allow trade deals like NAFTA to hollow them out, to hollow their communities out, and to hollow America out. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, how troubling it is that General Motors has announced it is idling five major auto plants across the United States and Canada. At the Chevy Cruze plant in Lordstown, Ohio, facility alone, 1,600 jobs are on the chopping block. The dire impact in Ohio surges to 5,000 more potential lost jobs when auto part suppliers are considered. President Trump promised to defend manufacturing. He promised to cure the red ink of manufacturing job loss and wage-crushing trade deficits. Under him, both are getting worse. Instead, his party enacted deficit- busting corporate tax giveaways with the Republican tax scam. Where do the automakers intend to invest their bonanza? Not here. Time and time again, American taxpayers and workers have been asked to help the U.S. automakers. This latest move from General Motors is an affront to their investment. President Obama and congressional Democrats refinanced the ailing American auto industry in 2009. Democrats saved American manufacturing while the vast majority of Republicans voted no. Madam Speaker, we need fair trade to open markets and create jobs here at home.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, Ohio's jobs and trade message to our Nation is as loud and clear as it always has been: trade must be about people, not just goods. The job and wage destruction due to the original NAFTA continues to reverberate across our State and the heartland. It undermines the economic security of hundreds of thousands of workers within our State and millions more across our Nation. Following the original NAFTA's implementation, town after town was emptied out of good jobs with good wages and benefits as jobs were outsourced south of our border. America has borne witness to NAFTA's vast job outsourcing and wage drag. Millions have suffered firsthand as dire predictions actualized and the grandiose promises of job creation failed to materialize. Our Nation has lost thousands of jobs to penny-wage environments where workers cannot even afford to buy the goods they make. They toil in sweatshops and maquiladoras, exposed to unimaginable toxins and unsafe working conditions. The original NAFTA fueled massive peasant migration from Mexico's countryside to our Nation as thousands of subsidized farmers in Mexico had livelihoods extinguished. Mexico's white corn industry disappeared. It was decimated. What a humanitarian tragedy is NAFTA. If anyone cares about people, not just goods, listen to my words: America must wake up to the impact our trade deals impose on people when negotiating with unequal economies. Just look to the devastation levied when multinational corporate interests dominate negotiations. Transnational banks and multinational corporations put a heavy thumb on the scales of economic justice for the poorest and for workers in our country as well as Third World economies. They exploit powerless people. Trade with our closest neighbors is never simply a zero-sum game. In the nearly three decades since NAFTA's original passage, our Nation has not even had 1 year of balanced trade accounts with Mexico and Canada. It has always been in the red. Indeed, the NAFTA deal has managed to add over $1 trillion to America's trade deficits--red ink--and millions and millions of outsourced U.S. jobs. Mr. Speaker, NAFTA renegotiation is too important an opportunity to hang on faulty assumptions. America fell for that back in 1993. We cannot let it happen again. The devil is in the details. Incremental progress to uplift North American workers devastated by the original agreement will not be enough. With the release of text, which remains unfinished and unresolved, comes the task to determine whether the job outsourcing bonanza that has taken hold since NAFTA's passage in 1994 has truly been addressed. Let me ask: Have strong, enforceable labor standards been included, subject to swift and certain enforcement? Will transnational corporate interests retain the means to outsource American jobs to take advantage of rock-bottom wages in Mexico? Will we protect the rights of Americans to know what is in the imported food they are feeding their families, or will trade facilitation hold priority over food safety for people? Will Americans have access to affordable prescription drugs, or will the new NAFTA further rig the system to delay access to more affordable, safe generic drugs and biosimilars? Let me ask people who visit Ohio to witness vivid evidence of a trade agreement that failed America's workers and communities as plant after plant shuts down. Beyond just the NAFTA trade deficit, all our global trade deficits have ballooned under this administration's erratic trade agenda. In this wake, a modern NAFTA agreement to correct these injustices is long overdue. I have eagerly anticipated the release of specific text and a strategic agenda from this administration on how President Trump plans to bring living wage jobs back to America. Anything short of specifics that will clearly improve job prospects for Americans will fall short of the President's promises. Congress must not rush any deal of such magnitude by only letting the executive branch negotiate. Democrats have called on this administration to work with Congress to reach necessary and substantive achievements beneficial for all Americans. No more fast track. No more. Any new North American trade agreement must raise wages. It must create jobs in America and create a level playing field across the board. Mr. Speaker, after a quarter century of job hemorrhaging and the upending of American workers and livelihoods, NAFTA must result in rising standards of living and new jobs that create real wages and benefits here in our country.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage every citizen to sign up for health insurance coverage during open enrollment, which ends on December 15. You still have several weeks. For details about available plans, please visit healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. Health insurance is a vital protection that ensures Americans won't be forced to put off a checkup or worry about going broke if they or a family member gets sick. As many in Ohio know, the average cost for 3 days in the hospital is $30,000. The majority of personal bankruptcies in our country result from healthcare expenditures. There are many affordable health plans on the exchange. In many cases, financial help is even available. In fact, 8 in 10 people qualify for financial help, with most getting a plan for $75 a month or less. Health insurance can provide you and your family with health security and peace of mind, and health insurance pays medical costs when you or a loved one really needs medical care. The marketplace provides access to quality and affordable health coverage. In order to get in touch with someone local to learn more, go to localhelp.healthcare.gov, or call 1-800-318-2596. Find out how much you can save while signing up for good health insurance. You have until December 15.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill to help address the grave threat posed to human health from ingestion of microcystin toxins. Four summers ago, a massive algal bloom exploded in western Lake Erie, which generated microcystin, a cyanobacteria that can cause liver damage, nausea, headaches, and skin blemishes in humans, and is known to be lethal to pets. Just in the last few months, ``do not drink'' advisories due to microcystin were posted in Salem, Oregon and Rushville, New York. As elected officials, our first priority must always be the safety and health of our constituents. In that vein, this bill moves to ensure microcystin will no longer be a public health threat. This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by specifying that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make a final determination on a maximum contaminant level goal and to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for microcystin toxin. It demands the EPA does this before or by the time the next round of determinations is due, in 2021. I commend the EPA's work to date to generate a strategic plan for dealing with algal toxins and for publishing an advisory for microcystin. The strategic plan and current health advisory that EPA already released are a good beginning point. But we need a finalized regulation for the dangerous microcystin that endangers Toledoans every summer with Lake Erie's recurring algal bloom problem. In addition to the threat they pose to public health, this bacterium casts a huge economic shadow over our vital and beautiful coast. Toledo's Water Crisis cost the city government over $200,000 in cleanup costs alone, not counting untold millions in lost business and ultimately lost tax revenue. This concern is not isolated to Lake Erie. Millions of Americans across the country rely on drinking water from natural sources that are similarly threatened by increasing levels of nutrient runoff, and the resulting toxic algal growth. A recent study from USGS showed that algal toxins are present in over 1/3 of all lakes nationwide. Additionally, the EPA recognizes harmful algal blooms as a major environmental problem in all 50 states, with severe impacts on human health. No one should ever have to worry whether the water coming from their tap is unclean or unsafe, no matter if you're in Toledo, Ohio; Flint, Michigan; Rushville, New York; Salem, Oregon, or anywhere else in America. This bill will make us all safer and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of the late Congressman Maurice Hinchey, our beloved colleague. He departed this life on November 22, 2017 after honorably serving two decades in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2013, and serving in the New York State Assembly from 1975 to 1992. He was a Navy veteran, an honorable and dedicated public servant, and stalwart for the working class people of New York. Of Ukrainian-American heritage, he was a founding member of the House Ukrainian Caucus. Recently, we were reminded of Congressman Hinchey's contributions to his people and our country. On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 4722-A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 111 Market Street in Saugerties, New York, as the ``Maurice D. Hinchey Post Office Building''. With the naming of this USPS office building, Maurice's family and his grateful constituency will proudly honor and remember a treasured son of Saugerties. I had the distinct honor and privilege of working alongside Maurice on the House Appropriations Committee. Through the Committee, he fought to protect student aid by supporting higher education for all worthy students and championed Pell Grants. He secured funding that would help art revitalization for the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. He understood governing started at the local level, and did all he could to direct federal support for a more prosperous life for his people. A fierce and notable environmental advocate, Maurice was dedicated to protecting his area's powerful and precious natural resource, the Hudson River. Through his dedicated work on the Appropriations Committee, he secured funds to modernize and develop environmental science laboratories at his district's local colleges. He also fought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lax initiative on cleaning up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) pollution in the Hudson River. As a member of the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee, and having my own congressional district surrounded by the Great Lakes, I found his leadership on renewable energy and cleaning up water ways both exemplary and inspiring. We are in his debt for his tireless environmental advocacy as he moved America along the path of progress. A man to stand up for blue collar workers, Maurice was very loyal and adored by the labor community. Having worked as a toll collector to pay his college tuition, and then a cement plant worker, he understood the economic difficulties of the working class people in his district. In the 106th Congress he introduced H.R. 2759, the Older Workers Pension Protection Act of 1999. This bill would have helped safeguard employees from age discrimination against their benefits. He also fought against funding cuts to Job Corps, a vital entity for young people in his area who need skill and job assistance. As we continue to fight for the rights and protections of our working women and men, may we continue to be inspired by Maurice's spirit and vision. Maurice and I shared a deep love for Ukraine and our central European roots. We served in the bipartisan Ukrainian Congressional Caucus and trumpeted a vision of an independent Ukraine, free of Russian aggression. Maurice uniquely understood the importance of a democratic, prosperous, and free Ukraine, as the edge of liberty on the European continent. He was a true champion of democracy both home and abroad. Maurice's leadership and indefatigable efforts on behalf of working people are sorely missed. May his life's work be an inspiration to the people of the Hudson Valley and his memory be cherished always. Rest well, my dear friend and colleague. May the angels of mercy usher you to a peaceful place where your genius and goodwill shower our planet.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the life profession of Doni Miller of Toledo, Ohio. Doni has given herself to the practice of public health administration and is being recognized in a silver anniversary celebration tomorrow evening. After serving as an administrator in a public hospital, Doni took over the helm of Toledo's then-struggling Federally Qualified Health Center in 1993. Under her able leadership and steady guidance, Doni was able to turn around the ailing system within a few years and turn it into a premiere organization which is a model for others. Now, 25 years later, the Neighborhood Health Association is a conglomerate of fourteen clinics in neighborhoods throughout Lucas County, Ohio serving well the health care needs of thousands of people. Its clinics are a medical home for some of the most vulnerable among us and the services provided are life changing and life altering. It is impossible to separate the growth and success of the Neighborhood Health Association from Doni Miller. Her skill at selecting the right person for the job, providing opportunity and accomplishment, has been an important part of the organization's incredible achievements. Doni Miller has sacrificed and persevered to bring the agency to the outstanding organization it is today. She has initiated creative and unique approaches to continue to develop the Neighborhood Health Association, and nurtures talent along with her. Because of her intimate knowledge of health care delivery, Doni's counsel is sought after by many, including myself. Her knowledge and advice is respected and well-earned. She is equally known for her ardent support of the rights of women and people who are underprivileged. In addition to her role as CEO of the Neighborhood Health Association, Doni Miller also served as President of the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority, is a founding member of the Black Women's Democratic Caucus, and has served on several other Boards and Commissions. She has been a political analyst for local television including Conklin and Company and Toledo Up-front. For several years she has hosted Bridges, a local public affairs television program focusing on important social and economic issues facing our community and nation. Just a few of the recognitions awarded to her include the Chamber of Commerce ATHENA Award, the YWCA Milestones Award, the state Democratic Women's Caucus Award, the African American Legacy Award and the 2016 NAACP Freedom Fund Award. Her most important role is that of mother to a young woman successful in her own right. Doni Miller is a true community leader. Her abilities, compassion and leadership have lifted up community. She notes she is most inspired by Nelson Mandela's quote, ``The elimination of poverty is not charity, it is justice.'' Doni Miller truly lives this creed and I am so proud to join our citizens in paying tribute to her.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Troubled Nuclear Power Plants Communities Assistance Act. This bill seeks to mitigate the human casualties that result from the upheaval of the energy industry, where we see many nuclear power plants struggling to remain afloat as other sources of energy have become cheaper and cheaper. The impact on local economies due to the potential loss of jobs and the tax base when nuclear power plants close can be severe. In my district, if the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant closes, it will mean the loss of 700 highly paid skilled 900 megawatt nuclear industry workers. And for every 100 nuclear power plant jobs, 66 related jobs are created in the local community. These plants are among the largest taxpayers in their communities, typically contributing tens of millions of dollars in local taxes. For years, the Davis-Besse plant in my District, generated $20 million a year in tax revenue for Ottawa County, of which $12.1 million went to the school district. This bill proposes to offer these communities adjustment support to soften the blow of the significant revenue losses that will harm local communities by infusing federal payments on a gliding path over eight years to eligible local governments--should the worst happen. The funding will provide 80 percent of the lost revenues during the first year and will decrease by 10 percent per year for the remaining years of eligibility. Let me be clear. We are not giving up on Davis-Besse, nor should we easily give up on other nuclear power plants around the country. Nuclear power provides the large majority of clean energy in this country. And from a national security perspective, we must consider the impact of the anticipated closure on our Nation's nuclear supply chain--that absolutely includes highly trained people and technologies. Ohioans don't give up. It is in our history. During the Battle of Lake Erie, Commander Oliver Hazard Perry, who is memorialized at Perry's Monument just a few miles from Davis-Besse, unfurled a flag that read ``Don't Give Up the Ship.'' Well we are not giving up and we plan to keep fighting for the community and those impacted by the future of Davis-Besse. But should the worst happen, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and to consider the toll this will have on communities. Schools, roads, law enforcement and other fundamental civil services that people need will be gutted. This is not an isolated problem facing the people of Northern Ohio, but dozens of other communities are facing the prospect of closures of plants across this nation. We owe them our best effort to provide a pathway for recovery should the worst happen.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this three-cornered minibus before us. It is really the opening pitch of 12 bills of which we are a part, and it partially funds our Nation's energy and water development requirements; military construction; the legislative branch; and, of course, programs to serve our Nation's veterans who put their lives in service to liberty at home and abroad every day. Please let me thank Chairman Frelinghuysen, Ranking Member Lowey, and our very able subcommittee chair, Mike Simpson, as well as our committee staff for their tireless efforts to bring this first set of appropriation bills over the finish line. Though it is fair to say Republican leaders took the long way to a bipartisan agreement, we now find ourselves passing three appropriations bills before the October 1 deadline of the beginning of the new fiscal year. Something that should not be a momentous occasion has thus turned into one. While I don't think that our subcommittee deserves a pat on the back for simply doing our job, let me note that this is an achievement we have not seen in many, many years with our bill, Energy and Water Development. This House must move toward regular order again, and this sets the pace. Our specific title contributes to ensuring the critical availability of energy and water for our Nation's domestic stability, as well as our national security, not just for today, but for the tomorrows to come. America has made enormous strides in increasing our energy independence to close to 90 percent in the short term. No bill is more important than this one in reaching 100 percent independence as the strategic goal for our Nation. But it is not yet time to declare mission accomplished. Future energy security is the ultimate goal we must continue to strive for. The nearly $7 billion in funding also in this bill for the Army Corps of Engineers will ensure continued forward progress across all project areas. The Corps can contribute mightily to infrastructure investment for modernization and job creation across our Nation. The Corps' role in essential flood control is critical as we watch the approach of Hurricane Florence and we think about navigation and the responsibilities of the Corps, as well as environmental restoration. I am grateful for the chairman's continued partnership to address the Asian carp threat to our freshwater Great Lakes ecosystem, as well as for funding to keep our Great Lakes ports open to shippers. Our Nation has a wonderful navigation system that drives economic investment and undergirds our essential industrial manufacturing base. This bill makes many other important investments for our Nation, including reversing the misguided cuts to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the House bill. The compromise yielded an additional $57 million to sustain the momentum to rapidly falling prices for wind and solar energy as critical to achieving an all-of-the-above energy platform. This funding also allows us to continue investing in the Office of Advanced Manufacturing, vehicles technology, and bioenergy. These programs are an investment in clean energy technologies, and they drive our global leadership in innovation and set us on the path for continuing job creation. This bill strongly funds programs that were eliminated in the President's budget, including weatherization assistance to conserve energy and the path-breaking office of the Department of Energy's advanced research, ARPA-E, which unlocks science to build our future and the progress that goes with it. Additionally, harmful, controversial policy riders that have no place in this bill were removed. One dealt with the waters of the U.S., and one would interfere with an ongoing judicial process. Both would have seriously hindered passage of this bill. With regard to funding the VA, I am concerned we have set ourselves on a course for another self-inflicted crisis when funding for the VA MISSION Act runs out. Our veterans deserve the best treatment in the world, not to have their care used as a political weapon for partisan gain. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleagues and friends from the committee, Chairmen Simpson and Frelinghuysen, and Ranking Member Lowey, for their persistent leadership for our Nation, and to the Senate for bringing such a good example of bipartisanship, which I hope we can continue. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this package.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my fellow co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus to introduce a Joint Resolution, which reaffirms the sovereignty and the freedom to choose their destiny for the people of Europe and Eurasia. Since the fall of communism, the countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia have made great progress in developing democratic institutions, free markets, and strong civil societies. Many have demonstrated their commitment to these important ideals through their accession in liberal institutions such as the European Union and that NATO Alliance, which are critical to our national security. Indeed, the American people have stood with freedom-lovers across this region, to spread the blessings of liberty and democracy to these nations. For this reason since 1959, the President of the United States has proclaimed the third week of July as ``Captive Nations Week.'' This very special occasion shined a light on the plight of nations oppressed by Soviet Russian regime, and continues to reaffirm America's commitment to those dedicated to democracy, rule of law, freedom, and justice. Tragically, Russia's thirst for power would seek to thwart the forward progress of these nations. Russia seeks to undermine democratic institutions, and thus strengthen is dictatorial and tyrannical hold on that region through hybrid warfare. This includes election meddling, disinformation campaigns, extrajudicial assassinations, the intimidation of journalists, and other forms of despicable behavior. Russia invaded and illegally occupies regions of Ukraine and Georgia, and seeks to rip away these nations' ability to choose their democratic future. It is a shame to have such bestial behavior on this earth. This resolution builds on the ``Captive Nations Week'' Resolution, and invites the President through an annual proclamation to set the record straight that all nations have the right to self-determination, territorial sovereignty, and to choose their own destinies. It sends a message to our partners in the region that we stand with those that embrace liberty, instead of those that seek to tear it down. By standing together, we ensure a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the distinguished life of Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. I extend my sincerest sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of this gifted executive and business leader. My heart goes out to his children, Alessio and Tyler, as well as his partner Manuela Battezzato. Sergio and I had many interactions and conversations over the years and he is someone for whom I had the utmost respect. Thanks to his indefatigable attitude and remarkable dedication, he shepherded the company through very turbulent times. After 2004, he worked closely and gained the trust of the Administration leading to the auto rescue preserving a long tradition and legacy of automobiles in Toledo, and across the region. It will come as no surprise to the generations of workers in Toledo that Jeep continues to be named the `most patriotic' brand in America. Thanks to the leadership of Sergio Marchionne, today, Toledo's Fiat Chrysler Automobile's Assembly Complex is one of the region's largest and most modern manufacturing plants. Since 1941 when Willys-Overland first contracted with the United States Military to design the Willys MB, what would become the iconic Jeep Wrangler, Toledoans' life blood continues to run through every Jeep Wrangler in the world. And nearly 80 years later, our region's heritage and connection to Jeep grows stronger each day, being a part of and touching the lives of thousands of families. Mr. Marchionne uniquely understood the power of the Jeep brand as a sign of America's can-do and industrious culture, tripling annual sales of the brand to 1.9 million automobiles in seven years. As the proud home of the Jeep Liberty, the Toledo community expresses its deepest gratitude to him for his productive life, sparkling imagination and respectful manner to both management and workers. Indeed, he understood in order to create a truly high-quality, global brand, workers need be given first-order priority. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Marchionne surely left his mark on our community and throughout our auto-producing American Heartland. I am proud to join thousands of workers and others across the region in saluting his life and paying tribute to his legacy.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the extraordinary evolution of the Toledo Sister Cities International (TSCI) presence in the City of Toledo as an umbrella group for the ten Sister Cities/ regions which constitute this membership. Members and friends are gathering this weekend to celebrate its silver anniversary. As TSCI celebrates its 25th anniversary, our community is also proud to celebrate what is regarded as the very first Sister City agreement when, in 1931, the Association of Two Toledos linking Toledo, Ohio with Toledo, Spain was born. That was years before President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1956, called for ``citizen diplomacy'' to create sister city relationships with the goal of promoting world peace. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., this organization oversees the establishment of sister city relationships which are mayor to mayor agreements that are initiated by citizens in interested cities across the globe and approved by local governing bodies. In 1985, a relationship with Qinhuangdao, China was initiated, and it became a sister city to Toledo. Qinhuangdao and Toledo are both known as ``The Glass City'' because of their history of glass production. When the oppression of communism ended in 1989 in Poland, a core group including Councilwoman Eleanor Kahle, future Councilman Peter Ujvagi, Ann Galloway and Sister Ann Frances Klimkowski, and myself discussed the formation of an association to reach out to cities coming to the light of freedom. Szeged, Hungary became the first Sister City in this new approach in 1990 and Poznan, Poland followed in 1991. We proudly welcomed our newest partners with the mayors and leaders of each community coming together in cultural, economic, educational and humanitarian exchanges. In 1992 an advisory board of community leaders, the Lucas County Port Authority, Toledo Edison, the Private Industry Council, and the City of Toledo came together to form Toledo Sister Cities International in order to unite existing sister city relationships and develop future affiliations. Twenty-three members of the civic, business, educational, and legal professions created the Founding Board of Trustees in 1993, and the formal incorporation of TSCI as a not-for-profit organization was finalized that year. The first International Youth Academy was offered by TSCI in 1997, in which students from the Sister Cities attend a three-week long immersion in the culture and language, living with host families in the cities. TSCI also sponsors an international festival each year, during which members of our region share their heritages in a daylong display of heritage, culture, and food showcasing uniqueness while highlighting commonality around the world. Toledo and TSCI were proud to be the host of the Sister City International Conference in 2002, which brought 600 delegates and 300 guests from 28 countries from around the world to Northwest Ohio. As the years continued, Toledo Sister Cities International flourished. A regional agreement with Lebanon's Beqaa Valley was established in 1998. Relationships were later cemented with Toyohashi, Japan in 2000; Tanga, Tanzania in 2001; Delmenhorst, Germany in 2002; Coimbatore, India in 2010; Hyderabad, Pakistan in 2011; Qinhauangdao/ Nanchong, China in 2017 and Coburg, Germany in 2017. While the stories behind each Sister City are unique, the way that each relationship was established was not--it all came about because people in the Toledo area and throughout the global community found a need to connect with those from another nation. The idea for `citizen diplomacy' has not diminished as time has marched on. The work that the Toledo Sister Cities International continues to do on behalf of our communities is extraordinary. I am pleased to join Toledo Sister Cities International as we celebrate its 25th Anniversary, reflecting on the past, looking forward to the future, and inspired by an incredible journey of international citizen diplomacy.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to condemn the efforts by the Trump administration and this Republican Congress to strip health insurance coverage from millions of Americans. Before the Affordable Care Act, greedy insurance companies locked out people with preexisting conditions like it was nothing. A Federal court is hearing a case, Texas v. United States, which could dismantle several key health protections, one of which is protections for individuals with preexisting conditions. Trump's Justice Department refuses to defend existing law, which is unprecedented, and shirks its responsibility to defend the laws Congress has passed. This could hurt millions of people. In the United States, there are 130 million people with preexisting conditions. In Ohio alone, 42 percent of the population has preexisting conditions. In a recent poll, 75 percent of the public, regardless of party affiliation, said protections for people with preexisting conditions are very important. This is what the American people want and need. As a Congress, we are charged to represent the interests of the people; to be for the people, not the big insurance companies, not the big pharmaceutical companies that would profit even more from a lopsided healthcare system. Every American life matters. Every single one of them.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, distinguished Members, and guests. It is my privilege to welcome Congressman Troy Balderson to represent Ohio's 12th District, succeeding Representative Pat Tiberi, who chose to retire before completing his term. Let us congratulate you and your coalition for a hard-fought campaign victory. We all know the demands required to compete in any election, and yours drew so much national attention. It is estimated that over $10.5 million was expended overall on the race, about 60 times what the job pays. So let me offer an idea, perhaps on a bipartisan basis, that Ohio's Representatives could join together to lead our Nation to finally limit campaign spending and be the first State to end this mad dash to excess cash. The money chase is a real scourge on the very foundation of representative government. Representative Balderson has served the State of Ohio in the State House of Representatives as well as most recently the State Senate. He is a father to one son, as well as an elder in his church. He now embarks on a new journey of service. From Zanesville, Ohio, he will represent the centrally located counties of Franklin, Marion, Muskingum, and Richland, which include a segment of Ohio's capital and our largest city, Columbus, as well as small towns and cities across central Ohio. Representing a diverse set of communities is a hard job. But it is the job radical gerrymandering has thrust on us. As Representatives in this people's House, we are designed to be the body closest to the American people. We know the people of America want reform. They want solutions. They want action. Our public is demanding that we work together to find common ground on the great challenges facing our Nation. Let us find that common ground by recalling the powerful words of Daniel Webster carved in this Chamber high above the Speaker's rostrum: ``Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.'' Welcome to the United States House of Representatives, Representative Troy Balderson. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share the powerful story of Douglas Rumsey, a retiree of Teamsters Local 707 Pension Fund. For years, Douglas paid into his pension fund. Time and again, he gave up pay raises, deferring those raises be invested in his pension to make sure his retirement would be secure with one. Tragically, millions of hard working Americans like him now face a grim prospect, a retirement without economic security as their hard- earned pensions is pulled out from under them. Due to no fault of his own, Douglas's pension was cut from $2,800 per month to $900 per month. Today, everything is a financial struggle. He can no longer support his family He can no longer pay his property tax, or his medical insurance. Even purchasing everyday items basic to daily life is a dilemma of true necessity. After 23 years of trucking service, after he put his life on the line for this country in his service in the Army, Douglas should be able to enjoy the golden years of his life, with his friends and family, without daily financial worry. Instead, he now lives in poverty, struggling to make ends meet. A robust member of his community, his distress is felt throughout his community. I include in the Record the full testimony of Douglas Rumsey. Douglas Rumsey is not alone in his plight. This Congress turned its back on more than 40 years of pension promises, rolling back anti-cutback provisions. It turned its back on hundreds of thousands of hard working Americans. Telling these personal experiences is critical to understand why immediate action is required to buoy hope, retirement security, and the livelihoods of millions of American workers. It is why I introduced the ``Keep Our Pension Promises Act,'' along with Senator Bernie Sanders for the last several years, which would establish a legacy fund within the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to ensure solvency for multi-employer pension plans, but really to ensure the solvency of so many hard working American's retirements. Additionally, it is why I joined my colleagues to introduce the ``Butch Lewis Pension Protection Act'' in honor of an Ohio Teamster. Without congressional action, nearly 50,000 Ohio retirees in the Central States Pensions Fund and thousands more Ohioans in the nearly 100 other troubled multi-employer plans pensions are in jeopardy. I have led the charge to push for a legislative fix to the multi-employer pension crisis year after year. The multi-employer pension crisis is just the tip of a looming pension crisis. It is time for Congress and this nation to come to terms with this economic threat in our own backyards. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense issue. Congress must act now. That's why I rise in strong support of this measure, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, Mr. Garamendi, for yielding. I welcome Congressman Garamendi back. Wouldn't I know he would be on the floor the very first moments we get back here. How fortunate the citizens of California are to have elected him. I am very proud to stand with the gentleman this evening for A Better Deal for the American people. And because it has been Labor Day week and we are celebrating Labor Day this week, I thought it important to link my remarks to his, and I will be very brief. As we celebrated Labor Day this week, we recall that it actually was declared Labor Day by a Republican president back in the 1890s. So this is an historic moment by any measure, but this past weekend, the President and Republican congressional leaders in this chamber chose to criticize, to vilify labor unions and their leaders, while the Republicans have failed to deliver on a living wage for America's workers. Wages are stuck, while many in the top 1 percent get very handsome bonuses and pay increases. And the Trump administration is actually increasing, and the record shows, job outsourcing, shipping out our jobs, by doling out, get ready for this, $50 billion in new Federal contracts to companies that continue to close down factories here and move them abroad. In fact, the President's trade antics can't hide the fact that with China--I remember how China feted him--can't hide the fact that China is drowning us in imports and we can't move an equal amount into that vast marketplace. The President actually tried to say he is renegotiating NAFTA, but it is funny that in that proposed agreement, he does end runs around the labor standards and living wage issues. More than 133,000 Americans have a certified trade-related job loss since this President took office, 133,000 people, and only 4 percent of the workers Congressman Garamendi talked about will receive an increase from the GOP's big tax giveaway to the top 1 percent. So for most Americans, real wages are falling and the middle class is a dream for tens of millions of people who can't seem to get there. Any pay raise people have earned is, in fact, now being eaten up, and I heard this at my meetings all across the district, as their costs of healthcare go up, the cost of medicine goes up, the cost of education for their family goes up. President Trump on Labor Day weekend announced that he is going to cancel pay raises for 2 million Federal workers, people who work in Homeland Security, people in our air control towers, people who are caring for the sick, people who are ministering to our veterans. How about that: cancel any cost of living. The pay increase is actually a cost-of-living increase. And for those that work in the capital city areas across our country, we know how expensive it is to live in these places. Americans' labor history shaped the American economic dream and grew the middle class, which is what you and I want to get back to. And following our 124th national Labor Day, the power and worth of hard work is worth fighting for, it is an earned status, and we must never diminish the value of hard work or, in fact, we will lose its value completely. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Garamendi for being here tonight. Americans deserve a Congress and a President that gives them A Better Deal and stands up for the true value of hard work for the people, always for the people, especially when Labor Day has been celebrated for the 124th time in our Nation's history, over a century and nearly a quarter.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, John Quincy Adams once said: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. Special Forces Sergeant Dana Bowman is the epitome of that leader, continuously inspiring those around him. Indeed, he is a retired sergeant first class with the U.S. Army Special Forces and a member of the elite parachute team, the Golden Knights. On February 6, 1994, while training and descending at 300 miles per hour from the plane that dropped him, he collided midair with his teammate, Sergeant Jose Aguillon. The result of that horrendous collision was the unfortunate death of Sergeant Aguillon and the severing of both of Sergeant Bowman's legs, one above the knee and the other below. Nine months following this deeply tragic event, he became the first double amputee to reenlist in the United States Army. I witnessed his fortitude firsthand this past week at the 2018 opening of the national Civilian Marksmanship Program in Port Clinton, Ohio. On July 9, at Camp Perry, during the beginning of the shooting matches for this year, Sergeant Bowman began the program by parachuting from very high with a gigantic American flag that he helped unfurl as he landed on Earth. After a few short minutes, Sergeant Bowman landed perfectly right behind the podium. What a sight to behold. I say to my fellow countrymen, truly, this man embraces the words, ``Land of the free, home of the brave,'' and teaches us all how to rise above adversity and reach beyond whatever limitations life may deliver to any of us. Godspeed, Sergeant Bowman. You make us proud to be Americans.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the bipartisan Polish Caucus, I rise to pay tribute to the brilliant life and unique contribution to scholarship of Dr. Thaddeus C. Radzilowski who passed away on July 20, 2018 at the age of 80. Dr. Radzilowski was the co-founder and President of the largest Polish American think tank in the United States known as the Piast Institute founded in Hamtramck, MI. An academic giant in his field, he taught at several prestigious universities including the University of Michigan, Madonna University, Heidelberg College, Southwest Minnesota State University, and finally as President of St. Mary College. He was a prolific leader in the Polish American community, who uniquely understood the importance of preserving Polish-American heritage in the United States. He held a piercing dedication to accurately and painstakingly recount the sacrificial history of Poland, its people, and its diaspora. The history of Poland, often under- presented, resulted from the annihilation by the Russian military squads (NKVD) of over 23,000 of its preeminent leaders in academia, the military, and religious and community life. Those who would have recorded the 20th century's most bloodied battles were annihilated, making Dr. Radzilowski's scholarship all the more critical. Under his leadership, the Piast Institute made significant contributions to the study of Central and Eastern Europe including publishing articles and school curricula, convening key experts, presenting exhibitions, and mentoring the next generation of leaders in his field. Thanks to his dedication, he was the recipient of countless awards including the Cavaliers Cross of the Polish Order of Merit presented to him by the Polish President. A man committed to serving others, Dr. Radzilowski served with dignity and honor in the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam. He truly embodied America's values which bind us. Mr. Speaker, please allow me to join hundreds of thousands of grateful Polish Americans in my district and across the United States in applauding his remarkable career and exemplary life. His legacy will continue to guide and inspire generations to come. That is why I am honored to fly an American flag over the Capitol in his name.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, on the important economic challenge of renegotiating NAFTA, once again, the Trump administration is leading us down a chaotic and unstable path. Our Nation must fix bad trade deals to create good jobs and stop the wage race to the bottom. President Trump is taking a ``shoot first, ask questions later'' approach. It reminds me of his recent backward walk of words diminishing our NATO allies and his brash capitulating performance in Helsinki. Closer to home, our continent has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape our trade deals that have resulted in lowered wages for the American people. Starting with NAFTA, we must re-create agreements that raise wages and lift up workers in our Nation and across the world. Current trade deals exact huge profits for transnational companies that outsource jobs but continue the race to the bottom on wages for workers. So far, Trump's unsteady actions on trade just create more chaos, with businesses putting hiring plans on hold or scaling back whole projects because of their confusion about tariffs. Is his trade rhetoric producing a good outcome for the American people or is it just continuing the red ink of worse trade deficits, suppressed wages, and rising costs for consumers? According to the PayScale Index, the paychecks of working Americans have fallen 1.4 percent just since 2017 when you adjust for the rising costs of essentials like healthcare, prescription drugs, gas, and groceries. In fact, wages have fallen, actually, 9.3 percent since 2006, as costs go up and up and up but wages stay flat or go down for so many families. This is not what the American people were promised. They were promised bigger paychecks, more reshoring of jobs--remember Carrier in Indiana--better trade deals, and a President who was on their side. So far, we have just unfulfilled promises and confusion. NAFTA negotiations press on, but there is concern President Trump will go the way of his recent NATO meeting. Reports from his trade ambassador seem encouraging, but will this administration follow through on its promises to turn NAFTA into a job-insourcing deal? If his promise to fix healthcare or promises that the GOP tax giveaway to the top 1 percent would raise wages is any indication, then count me as a sceptic. Since NAFTA's passage in 1993, there has not been a single year in which our Nation has achieved a trade balance with Mexico or Canada. These massive billion-dollar trade deficits power the harmful push of living-wage jobs beyond our borders and reduction in our wages. This low wage race to the bottom pits our workers against those making poverty-level wages in other nations. Talk is cheap, Mr. President. In Ohio, people judge people by their actions. Words aren't enough to help working families. Our workers and the middle class that powers this country should not be the victim of an ill-thought-out trade war or attacks on our allies. President Trump, listen to the people in places like Ohio, in both the industrial and agricultural sectors. Listen to the voters who took a chance on you because of trade. More trade chaos is not the path we were promised. Renegotiate a NAFTA that will result in trade balances, insourcing of jobs to this country with higher paying jobs in our country and rising wages for our workers, and with continental efforts to gain stability working with our trade partners in both Canada and Mexico. That is what a renegotiated NAFTA should look like. Let's hope we get it.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Takano for his great support and for yielding me the time, and I thank Chairman Roe very much for moving this bill through his committee. H.R. 2787, the Vet MD Act, also called the Veterans-Specific Education for Tomorrow's Health Professionals Act, I am honored to speak on its behalf this evening. The Vet MD Act works to break down barriers and expand opportunities for healthcare professionals to get training to care for our veterans. The bill creates a 3-year pilot program for pre-health undergraduate students to gain clinical observation experience within at least five VA medical centers. Health schools recommend or require clinical observation hours, but there is no formal process to apply for these hours. Opportunities to shadow are limited and are based on where you go to school or whom you know; and students who attend schools outside major cities, as well as those whose families lack connections to the medical community, find it harder and harder to shadow and are disadvantaged in medical school admissions. This places an unfair burden on otherwise qualified students who come from less affluent communities or rural areas. Several years ago, two premedical undergraduate students highlighted to my team the struggles disadvantaged, minority, and other young people who lack personal connections face as they apply for medical school. So I thank Seamus Carragher and Andrew Frank for bringing this serious omission to our attention, and I thank Carrie Swope, my legislative assistant, on this important issue, for her work throughout. Through their own struggle, these students struggled to gain access to clinical observation, experience so critical in medical circles, and they realized an immense opportunity was missing. The bill prioritizes students in medically underserved areas; first-generation college students, of which I was one; students referred by minority-serving institutions; and, of course, veterans. The Vet MD Act creates a pipeline for future physicians and medical professionals and prioritizes training for students who specialize in a health profession where there is a serious staffing shortage. This important step will help narrow the gap and ensure we are training pre- health students in careers that are in demand and necessary. I can tell you, in every hospital system I represent, there is an unmet demand. Thousands and thousands of individuals are needed.