Teresa Leger Fernandez

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, which I hope we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of a resolution that affirms the House's unwavering commitment to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare and states that it is the position of the House to reject any cuts to the program. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record, along with any extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I close with some powerful words from a Republican, a Republican Governor who vetoed a similar bill in his State. He said, ``I must admit I am not an expert on transgenderism. I struggle to understand so much of it, and the science is conflicting. But when in doubt, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy, and compassion.'' ``Here are the numbers that have most impacted my decision: 75,000, 4, 1, 86, and 56--75,000 high school kids participating in high school sports in Utah; four transgender kids playing high school sports in Utah; one transgender student playing girls' sports; 86 percent of trans youth reporting suicidality; 56 percent of trans youth having attempted suicide. ``Four kids, and only one of them playing girls' sports. That is what all of this is about. Four kids who aren't dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day. Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don't understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do, but I want them to live.'' I want our transgender children to live. I want them to have the ability to do what they need to do in school, which is to learn, to play, to compete, to learn about what it is like to be on a team. I want them to live, which is why I oppose this rule, and I am asking all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Please err on the side of compassion, kindness. Let them live. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this legislation would not protect kids. We must remember that this legislation could require female student athletes to be subjected to invasive genital examinations or forced to disclose their menstruation data. What parent would want their child to go through that? This is a grotesque violation of privacy and the complete opposite of protecting our children. If Republicans really want to protect our girls, they should focus on real issues. The sexual abuse of female athletes and students goes unreported too often. The U.S. Center for SafeSport found that 93 percent of athletes experienced sexual harassment or unwanted contact and they were too afraid to report it. We must address the real issues that our children face. With regards to the D.C. bill, Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Illinois.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, we can actually point to two accomplishments that we did on this House floor when Democrats were in charge. The Democratic leadership in Congress helped us lead to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was bipartisan, but we had very few Republicans. That would have provided the kind of resources we need in our schools to help our children. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Sorensen).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we consider a rule for two bills that do not address the most pressing issues in our country. Over the last 2 weeks in New Mexico, I spent my time in my beautiful, large district in classrooms, meeting with healthcare providers, learning from Tribal leaders, and talking to students and their parents. They shared their worries about poor access to healthcare, about affordable housing, their worries about whether we were going to target Social Security and Medicare in this House. They talked to me about the epidemic of gun violence. Let's talk about that epidemic. There have been at least 145 mass shootings so far this year. More kids die from gun violence than from any other cause. Americans want Congress to pass meaningful gun safety laws so our kids can be safe and cared for in our schools. What are we getting out of the Education and the Workforce Committee? We are getting book banning and now sports banning. You know what? Books and sports don't kill kids, guns do. I have behind me here just some of the names of the many children who have died in their classrooms and in their schools. Parents are scared. Students are terrified of being killed at school, a place where they should be safe and ready to learn. Kids should be able to go to a 16th birthday party and come home again. But the bills this rule makes in order won't fix the scourge of gun violence in this country. While kids are dying from gun violence, the answer from the House Republican majority is to bully trans girls with H.R. 734 and undermine D.C.'s local laws. That is not okay. Today, I stand in strong solidarity with some of the most vulnerable students in our schools, trans girls. Trans kids deserve to be understood. They deserve to be loved. They deserve an opportunity to play on a team and make friends. Today, the Republican majority has brought up yet another bill that is meant to divide us and to get people angry and upset over things that are not key to whether they can have what they want their kids to accomplish in school. H.R. 5, which the Republican majority passed in March, was about banning books. H.R. 734, which we are debating this week, is about bullying kids. The problem is this: When you bully these kids it can lead to their death. I am worried that this bill will lead to rising suicide rates among the most vulnerable kids in our schools. Studies have proven that when we welcome trans kids with compassion and kindness they are less likely to attempt suicide. Studies have shown that the problem isn't whether a kid is trans or not, it is are they accepted? At a time when trans kids face alarming rates of behavioral and mental health issues and 53 percent of trans kids have considered suicide, my colleagues have chosen to use fear to score political points. Mr. Speaker, 1 in 25 American kindergartners won't live to adulthood. Imagine that. Imagine going into a kindergarten class, like I did several times in my district, looking out at that class and thinking, which one of those precious children will not make it to adulthood? That is the issue we should be addressing, both gun violence and addressing behavioral and mental health, and providing the resources that they need. You know what? The rate of children not making it is twice as much for Hispanics and over three times as much for Black students. Do we go after that in this bill? No, we don't. Sports and books are what H.R. 734 goes after, not guns and violence. There is already a mechanism in place to address the fairness in playing sports that has been raised on the other side of the aisle. There is already a way of addressing those distinctions in playing sports. The NCAA and Olympics put these in place decades ago. The Olympics already has a manual for what you should do, and it was done in 2003. Here in the United States we already have something done by the NCAA. The NCAA adopted a student athlete participation policy that will cover the concerns that some people may have. Women in sports, I will tell you--they say they are doing this for women. Guess what? Women in sports who compete, they don't want this bill. They understand it is not about sports but about making people angry. We have the statements of women's rights and gender justice organizations in support of full and equal access to participation in athletics for transgender people, and it is signed by numerous women's sports organizations. One after another they have lined up to say, no, this bill is bad for women in sports. You know what? I want to make sure here in Congress that we lead with compassion. We are all human. We all have within our families, within our communities, people who are lesbian, who are gay, who are trans, who are many, many different aspects of who they are, who they actually are and authentically are. Why are you willing to sacrifice those beautiful kids of ours? Why? I just don't understand it. You know what? Trans kids deserve to live. The rule also makes in order H.J. Res. 42, which disapproves of the District of Columbia's Comprehensive Police and Justice Reform Amendment Act. The D.C. Council, elected by D.C. residents, passed this bill through democratic process. D.C., just like those in Kentucky and other local jurisdictions--it is the local jurisdictions which should have the right to enact laws through their democratic process without congressional interference. We should not be having congressional interference into local matters, like protecting our citizens and like having a police force that is responsible to those citizens. Just because Congress can intervene in D.C. affairs, doesn't mean that it should. The D.C. reform bill includes many of the reforms that both Republican and Democratic States and localities have passed, things like banning choke holds, things like using body cameras. That is available in red districts, in red States, in red cities, and in blue cities. In New Mexico we have those things. So let's stop interfering in D.C.'s affairs. Let's put forward legislation in contrast that addresses the needs of all Americans. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gomez).

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, all opposition to this bill is not radical. Indeed, the Republican Governor of Utah also opposed a similar bill, and in his veto message he talked about the fact that even though he might not understand what it means to be trans, even though he doesn't understand the science which might be conflicting, he said: I choose to err on the side of kindness and compassion. He wanted to make sure that the children live, the few children in his State who play sports, the few trans children in his State who play sports, he said: Why are we heaping so much hatred on those children? I want them to live. The reason why that concern is so profound is because of the fact that transgender kids have an extremely high risk of suicidal behavior. In 2021, suicide was the second leading cause of death for kids ages 10-14 and 20-34. Nearly one in five trans kids attempted suicide that year. I want our trans kids to live. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Rules.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his visit to my district. I also invite the gentleman to the northern part because, at New Mexico Highlands University, we have an excellent forestry department where we are looking at the center of excellence. I know the gentleman's interest in forestry. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Chair, I rise today to oppose the polluters over people act and the mining provisions that will make it easier for foreign-owned companies to pollute our lands and waters and destroy our Tribal cultural resources. America's 150-year-old mining law already fails to protect our communities from irresponsible mining. We see that in the thousands of abandoned mines that dot New Mexico and the West. H.R. 1 would only make it worse, threatening our water and, as we know, ``agua es vida,'' ``water is life.'' I am disappointed that the Republicans blocked my amendment to stop mining exploration on public lands if it harms our water, farmers, and Tribal communities. Do they not care about our most essential resource, our water? Indeed, some proposed mining projects are from subsidiaries of foreign companies like Resolution Copper in Arizona, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Why are they protecting the Chinese Communist Party's subsidiary mining our precious resources? That mine would devastate Tribal cultural resources and threaten our precious water resources. I urge my colleagues to oppose this polluter over people act.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to debate and consider my amendment to encourage local hiring and recruitment, but I also want to note my disappointment that my friends across the aisle rejected any consideration of my other two amendments on this floor. One of those amendments would allow the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to prevent exploratory mining from taking place on Federal land if it would negatively impact our water, farmers, Tribes, or local communities. In New Mexico, ``agua es vida''; ``water is life.'' It shouldn't be controversial to protect our waters from mining contamination for our people, farmers, and environment. My other amendment would have simply stated that this bill would not go into effect until the Federal Government certified that it would lower costs for American consumers and save taxpayers money. If this bill is really designed to lower energy costs for American consumers and taxpayers, let's verify that before putting polluters over people. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to consider my amendment, which would require local units of the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service to conduct an outreach plan to disseminate and advertise local civil service positions with functions relating to permitting and natural resources in their offices. Each plan must include outreach to local high schools, community colleges, institutions of higher education, and other relevant institutions. The BLM, the Forest Service, and the National Park Service field offices, and ranger districts and sites are stewards of our lands and waters, but they also operate within communities within which they are located, whether it is Cuba or Farmington or Roswell, New Mexico. Adequate staffing at these offices and their headquarters, and our Federal agencies more broadly, is critical to our ability to effectively steward our natural resources and environment and move projects through the permitting process efficiently, responsibly, and with an ear tuned in to what the local communities need. Unfortunately, we are seeing many of our agencies struggle to fill vacancies and staff up. For example, an E&E News article from last year said there are vacancy counts for all BLM State offices; the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho; the Bureau's National Operations Center in Denver; and the other directorates. To be clear, I know BLM and other Federal agencies are working hard to address these challenges. My amendment would take another step to help address the staffing challenges by making sure local offices are communicating with the local communities about open positions. Whether it is New Mexico Highlands University, Eastern New Mexico University, or Navajo Tech, I believe we should be taking advantage of talent in the communities where these offices are located. To be clear, once again, we must also provide our Federal agencies with the resources and tools they need and support our Federal workforce along the way. The investments made last Congress to increase capacity at our Federal permitting offices were a downpayment, but we need to continue to invest in agency capability. Again, this amendment simply makes sure that our local agencies are thinking about communicating with our local talent when trying to fill those hiring challenges. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Command Sergeant Major Christopher Poccia for his service to the people of San Miguel and Mora counties during the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire started on April 6, 2022, when a U.S. Forest Service prescribed burn got out of control. The fire burned 341,735 acres between April and late August in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It was the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. In northern New Mexico many residents were displaced. Command Sergeant Major Christopher Poccia was deployed to San Miguel and Mora counties with his National Guard unit for Task Force Wildfire. He distinguished himself as a trusted helper to community members who told me how grateful they were for his service during a time devastation and uncertainty. His kindness, positive attitude, and willingness to serve will have a lasting impact for generations to come. Every day, Christopher and his team worked at the improvised shelter. They delivered supplies, helped people to find assistance, and ventured to evacuated areas to assist those afraid to leave. He is an example of service, and service is an act of love. During his more than 90-day deployment, Christopher was away from his family. Today we also honor his wife Allison, his children Alec, Bella, and Jack, for the sacrifice they endured in his absence. Christopher has returned to his work serving his community as a sergeant with the Albuquerque Police Department, where he is an exemplary model of leadership. At every turn he is at service to others and an example of how we can always look for the gaps where help is needed--and fill those spaces. We honor him and the other guardsmen and women of the National Guard who gave the most precious gift they had-- their time--to help their neighbors during this crisis. They are heroes. In line with the acts of service originating with the local community, President Biden signed my bill, the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act. This law provides $3.95 billion in relief to victims of the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. Sacrifice and heroism are cornerstones of America's history. Thanks to Command Sergeant Major Poccia, his team, and others like him, New Mexicans received the help they needed to survive and begin their journey to recovery. I thank and honor him for his selflessness dedication to service.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, Democrats believe in putting people over politics. Last Congress, Democrats tackled climate change and brought down energy costs for the American people. Those investments in the Inflation Reduction Act have already spurred investments in clean energy projects and created good-paying jobs. At a time when we see rising costs, the Inflation Reduction Act will save the average American family $1,800 a year. The Biden administration is also moving forward with an important rule to limit methane emissions nationwide. New Mexico led the way on this. We strengthened our methane emissions rules in 2021. The Energy Information Administration data shows that even though we strengthened our methane emissions, we grew year after year for 5 years in natural gas and energy production. The Land of Enchantment shows us that we don't have to sacrifice the environment for energy production. H.R. 1 would sacrifice the environment and put polluters over people. Members of the majority are pursuing this at a time when CEOs for large corporations have made record profits. While the industry made $451 billion in profits just last year, New Mexicans and people throughout rural America were taking groceries out of their carts to pay for gas. H.R. 1 will not make it cheaper for the ranchers I know in Colfax County to fill up their trucks. Republicans dispute this and say the bill will lower costs. Let's see. I offered an amendment to see if that is true. My amendment simply states that H.R. 1 does not take effect until the Secretaries of Energy and of the Interior certify that it will lower costs for American taxpayers and consumers. What did the Republicans do with this commonsense amendment? They voted it down unanimously. What are they afraid of seeing? What are they afraid of debating? The reality is H.R. 1 guts our longstanding environmental safeguards. It makes it easier to dump toxic and hazardous wastes. It threatens clean drinking water and lines the pockets of the wealthiest CEOs. The Clean Water Act has long been key to protecting America's water. As we say, ``agua es vida'', ``water is life.'' This bill guts our Clean Water Act in favor of polluters. The Republicans also rejected my amendment to protect our water from mining for our farmers, ranchers, and Tribes. We have to remember that the mining that is proposed that would decimate our waters is often proposed by Chinese-owned subsidiaries or foreign-owned subsidiaries. The Republicans also blocked an amendment that would have required that Chinese subsidiaries not own our minerals.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate Mary Gatton for her selfless commitment to the care of cancer victims, the terminally ill, and their families. Ms. Gatton recently received Business First's `Lifetime Achievement Award' as a part of the Health Care Heroes program. At age 79, Ms. Gatton has spent much of her adult life supporting sick patients, the dying, and their families, through her work at Hospice/Hosparus Health, Inc. and Gilda's Club. Many struggle to find words of comfort for those experiencing grief and loss, but not Ms. Gatton; she is truly `there' for those in need, whether sitting at hospital bedsides with dying patients, in the waiting rooms with family members helping provide peace and understanding, facilitating a support group, comforting a newly diagnosed or newly bereaved person, leading a memorial service, or simply assisting at an event to support patients and caregivers. As a single mother of four children, Ms. Gatton pursued a bachelor's degree in social work in 1977, in the hopes that hospice care would one day make its way to the U.S. The National Hospice Organization wasn't even created until 1978, when it then began to promote the concept of hospice care. Congress passed a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit in the 1980s, by which time Gatton had earned a master's degree in social work. Karen Morrison, CEO of Gilda's Club explains, ``The number of lives Mary has touched in her career is immeasurable. Everywhere I go in the community, people remember the impact she made for them . . .'' Ms. Gatton is a shining example of the dedication that defines end- of-life care. I offer my congratulations to Ms. Gatton for her well- deserved award and thank her from the bottom of my heart for her loving care of our families and departed loved ones. She is an Angel.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago today, New Mexico was the first State to adopt a law that recognizes language and culture are inseparable, that students learn better if they take the language from their kitchen into their classroom. Fifty years ago, my parents helped write and pass the Bilingual Multicultural Education Act so Keres, Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Dine, Apache, Zuni, Spanish, and ASL would be taught in our schools. Like many New Mexicans, they understood the importance of culturally relevant content. Today, 70 percent of New Mexico school districts have bilingual multicultural instruction. Bilingualism is a treasure. Nearly 22 percent of the U.S. speaks a language other than English at home, and roughly 245 indigenous languages are spoken across the country. Studies have shown that having a second language helps students be better problem solvers, more creative, able to concentrate, and communicate better. ``Que viva nuestra herencia y cultura.'' ``Long live our heritage and culture.''

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Janna Lopez from Las Vegas, New Mexico. The Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire started on April 6, 2022, when a U.S. Forest Service prescribed burn got out of control. It burned 341,735 acres between April and late August in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains in San Miguel, Mora, and Taos counties. It was the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Janna immediately stepped up to help the residents of Mora and San Miguel Counties. In collaboration with the community, she rapidly set up a shelter where her team, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, provided food and shelter to hundreds of displaced residents for over 10 months. Janna's commitment to serving others is inspiring. Her work to bring people and organizations together is the embodiment of community. Neighbors Helping Neighbors serves San Miguel, Mora, and Colfax counties and beyond. The team has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars directly and in kind to their neighbors. During the initial phases of the wildfire response, Janna also coordinated donations from local businesses, national relief organizations, and established a co- located Disaster Relief Center with FEMA. Her passion for serving others has also led to her service as a Committee Chair for the Mora San Miguel Hermit's Peak Calf Canyon Long Term Recovery Group. Janna is an exemplary model of how we can help one another as fellow citizens of this great Nation. We honor her and the countless New Mexicans, businesses, non-profits, and organizations who also donated their time, effort, and money to help New Mexico recover during this extremely difficult time. When President Biden visited New Mexico on June 11, 2022, he said, ``We have a responsibility to help this state recover, to help the families who have been here for centuries in beautiful northern New Mexico villages who can't go home and whose livelihoods have been fundamentally changed.'' Empowered by the work and stories of Janna and so many Nuevo Mexicanos, I introduced the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act. Congress passed and President Biden signed into law this legislation and $3.95 billion in relief to rightfully compensate the fire's survivors and help them recover. Uniting to work toward a common goal is what America represents. Help is finally here. The hardworking people in New Mexico and across the country have shown us what true community looks like. Janna is one of those community heroes. I thank her for her selflessness and dedication to service.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, it is an honor to be on the floor of the people's House once again in support of this bill, as we hope to pass it out of the House. It passed in the 117th Congress, and I have great expectations that it will do so again. H.R. 423, the Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act, introduced by Representative Issa from California, will direct, as noted, the transfer of approximately 721 acres of land into trust for the Pala Band of Mission Indians. The Pala Band is located in northern San Diego County with 918 enrolled Tribal members. Members of the Pala Band belong to the Cupeno and Luiseno Tribes, who were forced together by Spanish Franciscan missionaries during the 1800s. The Pala Band recently purchased the property that includes the remaining portion of Gregory Mountain that is not on the existing Pala Band Reservation and other sacred and culturally significant sites in Gregory Canyon. The land was purchased to protect and preserve Gregory Mountain, Medicine Rock, and other sites considered sacred by Luiseno Tribes. Taking land into trust is an integral part of the government-to- government relationship between the United States and Tribal governments. By maintaining Tribal lands, Tribal governments can protect and preserve their ancestral homelands or sacred sites considered culturally significant. This bill takes those 721 acres into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band to ensure that the sacred sites and cultural history located on those lands will be honored and appropriately safeguarded. As noted, it also stipulates that current land and water rights are not affected by its enactment, nor is there any effect on any rights-of-way or rights-of-use as currently permitted. Madam Speaker, I would point out that the two bills we are considering on the floor today have significance beyond the acreage that is being transferred. As noted earlier, the United States has moved from an era when it systematically pushed Native Americans off their ancestral lands through treaties that were broken, as we heard about in the bill we considered earlier, into ever-smaller territories of reservation land. There was an effort to try to destroy Tribal culture and ``kill the Indian to save the man.'' It has taken far too long, but Congress has finally recognized that Tribal nations will not and cannot be vanquished out of existence and that previous policies were pushing our indigenous nations and Tribes into extreme poverty. The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act recognized that allowing Tribes to reacquire land and place it into trust was key to the future prosperity of Tribes and essential for them to maintain the culturally significant areas that are central to their identity, religion, and beliefs. It has not been an easy path forward since then, but Congress has repeatedly adopted laws that also recognize and strengthen Tribal self- governance and sovereignty. Today's bills are continuity of this recognition. Madam Speaker, I take this moment to thank Chairman Westerman for bringing these two bipartisan bills to the House floor for passage in the first few weeks of our legislative business in the people's House. I often note that the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, previously known as the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States, is some of the most bipartisan work in the House. It is extremely important work that we do for millions of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, who rely on Congress to act consistent with the trust responsibility we owe Tribal nations and peoples. Congress must legislate on issues regarding criminal jurisdiction, health, and education funding, and so much more. Each Member of this body represents Native Americans, and many of us represent one or more of the 574 federally recognized Tribes. In some districts, like mine, they represent a significant portion of the population. In many districts, Tribes are major drivers of the economy. Approximately 56 million acres of land are held in trust for Tribes and individuals, and they are proud stewards of the natural resources on those lands. Last week, one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle belittled this important congressional work by calling it similar to naming post offices. Such a statement does not recognize the importance of our work in Congress on Tribal issues. In contrast, Chairman Westerman's presentation of these bills today demonstrates his commitment and leadership on Tribal issues. Once again, I thank Chairman Westerman for recognizing how important our work is for Tribal nations and peoples. Madam Speaker, I support this bill. I thank Representative Issa for bringing it once again to Congress and the floor of the House, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.