Zoe Lofgren

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3648.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today the House is considering H.R. 3648, the EAGLE Act, a bipartisan bill that raises the per-country caps on family-sponsored immigrant visas and phases out the per-country caps on employment-based immigrant visas. The bill also includes significant improvements to the H-1B visa program that add protections for U.S. workers. Our immigration system has not been significantly updated since 1990, and it really just follows the basic outlines for the bill that was enacted in 1965. The failure to evolve the immigration system has significantly damaged America's ability to compete in an increasingly global economy. The system is supposed to encourage immigration based on an individual's family ties to the United States or their ability to contribute to our economy. It often falls short. For example, there are backlogs for families seeking reunification. That could be legal residents of the United States trying to get their spouse a legal residence visa. There are backlogs in some countries but none for Western Europe. In addition, in the employment-based context, before a foreign national can apply for a green card--here is the process--their employer has to advertise and demonstrate that there are no U.S. workers who are here who can do the job that they are being offered. This is to make sure that green card applicants are providing services and skills that are not readily available in America. But after this initial test, which is merit-based, the per-country caps kick in. For example, under current conditions, an individual from Western Europe, a Western European country, applying for a green card in the employment-based second preference category based on a bachelor's degree would be able to gain their permanent residency in about a year. In contrast, an Indian national with a Ph.D. and potentially superior skills might have to wait approximately 200 years. That doesn't help America. I would note also that the individuals who would ultimately benefit from the elimination of what amounts to a racist system of allocating visas, 95 percent of those individuals are already in the United States legally working on a temporary visa, but in limbo. As that limbo continues, their children who have been raised in the United States age out, and when they hit 21, they have to go back to the country their parents are from, but their parents remain legally in the United States. We are losing individuals who we need in America, including physicians--25 percent of the MDs in the United States are foreign- born; many of them are from India. I have personally met physicians whose children have aged-out who decided they have to move to Canada where they can get a green card equivalent in under 6 months. Now, the disparity, as I mentioned, in the family-sponsored context, there are some family-sponsored immigrants from Mexico whose wait time is over 200 years before they are eligible to receive a green card. That doesn't make any sense at all, and in fact, it is a fraud on those applicants. We have been trying to change this system for over a decade. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, an earlier version of this legislation, first passed the House in 2011 and again last Congress. Iterations of this bill have been led by both Democrats and Republicans, received over 350 ``yes'' votes in the House, and passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. The EAGLE Act is based on a bill that passed the Senate last Congress, with additional restrictions to protect American workers and a longer transition period to ensure that no country's nationals are excluded from receiving visas while the per-country caps are phased out. Why is this important? People base their expectations on the situation as it exists. The Congressional Research Service has analyzed this bill and stated that no one currently in line is negatively impacted by this legislation. I thank Representative John Curtis from Utah for working with me to introduce the EAGLE Act. I appreciate my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have previously supported this legislation, and I urge that we, once again, vote in favor of this bill. A system that is based on where you are born instead of what you can do is not what serves America well. A system that is designed to advantage someone born in Western Europe over the entire rest of the world doesn't really recognize merit, which is what this bill is all about. We should have a system based on competitiveness, not the country where you were born. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, before I recognize my colleague from the Judiciary Committee, I would just like to note that the issue about the EB-4, which is the children, is not correct. Under current law, if you are a minor and have been abandoned by your parent, you can go to State court, and the State court will make a finding that you have been abandoned by your parent. Then, you can become eligible for legal permanent residence in the EB-4 category. By the way, you are not, under law, able to then petition for a parent once the parent abandons you. They are out of the picture. That is backlogged right now from Central America. This bill will have the effect of easing those backlogs for orphans from Central America. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a distinguished member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I do want to address the issue of membership in the Communist Party. It has long been part of the Immigration and Nationality Act that if you were a member, you are not admissible. I will read the section. ``Any immigrant who is or has been a member of or affiliated with the Communist or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate thereof), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible.'' Now, there are some exceptions, for example, if your membership was not willing. We do know that in some cases, and not just in China, Russia signed up, essentially, Boy Scouts as members of the Communist Party against their will, and they were 12 years old. So the consular officer can find exceptions based on that, and that is sensible. Now, the one point that the gentleman did make in committee had to do with applying this Communist Party inadmissibility provision explicitly to H-1B applicants, and we did take him up on that suggestion. In fact, that is a reasonable thing to do. The gentleman made that point because H-1B visa applicants have dual intent. So the application is eminently reasonable when it comes to those dual-intent immigrants. Although we did not draft the amendment at the markup, we did contact the gentleman's legislative director and went back and forth with the lawyers on the staff, so there was full knowledge of this provision, and I thank the gentleman for raising the issue. There have been complaints that we haven't had hearings. We have had a lot of hearings on this issue. In fact, I can recall so well, physicians--a quarter of the physicians in the United States are foreign born. Most of those medical doctors were born in India, and they are providing medical services to underserved communities throughout the United States. I have met many of them. We have had testimony from them at our hearing in the Committee on the Judiciary. To tell the people who are getting their medical care from these physicians that it doesn't matter, these physicians have to go to Canada and leave them without a doctor in their small town, that is not reasonable. Failure to act will result in that type of situation. In fact, it is already resulting in that type of situation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make a note on the issue of nursing, which is very important. As you know, we have had a very tough time with nurses in America. They have been through COVID; the trauma has been enormous, and we have a need for more nurses while nurses are leaving the profession for understandable reasons. Part of the answer is nurses who want to come to the United States and practice nursing. That is not the whole answer, but it is part of the answer, and so at the request and suggestion of Senators who we have been talking about, there is a carve-out of 4,400 visas for nurses and physical therapists during the transition period. We think once the transition is over, we will be adequately accommodated, but during the transition, that is included. I would note that the Society of Hospital Medicine does support this bill. We had three hearings in the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee on this topic, and I think we had an understanding on the subcommittee kind of on what all the issues were. This is our best effort at dealing with those issues. It has received broad support in the past, bipartisan support in the past, and I hope it would do so again. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, just a couple of notes. First, this bill does not add any additional visas to the visa system. There were efforts to do that, plans to recapture visas. That was never agreed to by the Senate, and so this is an allocation of existing visas. It doesn't add a single visa. As I said before, 95 percent of the individuals who would be impacted are already here legally in the United States. They are legally working in the United States. So it is no new people coming in, either. It is people who are already here, no additional visas. We asked the Congressional Research Service to do an analysis because people wanted to know--and they were right to want to know--is there any adverse impact on Africa or the Caribbean, and CRS told us there was no impact on Africa or the Caribbean. Referring to the EB-5 category, I think those who are concerned don't realize that we actually changed the EB-5 Act through the Integrity Act earlier this year, and due to those changes, 32 percent of the green cards available every year for investments go to a new category. It is completely current. There is no backlog. I just want to talk a little bit about what we are doing here. My colleague from California said we are talking about picking winners and losers. In 1965, the Congress did pick winners and losers when they designed this structure. The winners were Western Europe, and the losers were everyone else. Now, that system, although not, I am sure, intended to be called racist, did advantage people from Western Europe to the disadvantage of the rest of the world, and we are still working on that system today. I think it is time to change that system. It is time to move to merit, not to race, not to the country you were born in. I am not accusing any critics of this bill, I am not talking about their motivation, but the fact is, if we don't change this system, we are supporting something that we did in 1965 that really has an effect of having race play a role in who gets a visa instead of merit on the employment side. I don't think that serves our country well. Put aside for a minute our ideals just to discuss the economic impact. We do well economically when the very most able people who want to come here and be Americans, to start companies, to invent things are able to do so. The current system throws a wrench into that, and it is not good for the United States of America. I hope, once again, that we can vote to approve this bill. It doesn't do everything I would like to do in reforming immigration law. As the gentleman knows, I have worked for many decades to do a variety of improvements, but this fixes something. Let's not say we can't do anything unless we do everything. That is a path toward mediocrity. Let's do what we can do to make this system work better, to move it away from its racist origins and have a system based on merit. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1508, I call up the bill (H.R. 7946) to provide benefits for noncitizen members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 7946.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today, this House will pass H.R. 7946, the Veteran Service Recognition Act 2022. This is a bill that recognizes and honors the commitment and sacrifices of our noncitizen servicemembers and veterans. Noncitizens have served in our military in every conflict since the Revolutionary War. In tribute to their patriotism, our laws offer noncitizen servicemembers an expedited pathway to citizenship. Unfortunately, this expedited path is not always known to the servicemembers themselves; sometimes there is confusion or lack of information. Not every legal permanent resident who could avail themselves of this opportunity has, in fact, done so; and we have found instances where servicemembers believed that just by serving they had become a United States citizen. Our bill does have some measures to make sure that that information is better communicated in the future and there is less confusion. However--and unfortunately--the complexity of the current immigration system puts some unnecessary roadblocks to naturalization but also can have a terrible impact on veterans who have not availed themselves of the opportunity. The traumas of war can have terrible effects on our veterans. Individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are far more likely to become entangled with the criminal justice system. When that happens, citizens merely avail themselves of the criminal justice system. For example, if they are arrested for drug possession, they might serve time in the county jail, and when they are released, they have paid their debt to society. But noncitizens who are in the same situation--people who fought for our country--might serve their jail time for drug possession, but then they also face immigration court because a crime that might lead to relatively minor consequences for a U.S. citizen could lead to deportation of a noncitizen veteran. Now, noncitizen veterans' service records are meant to be considered during removal proceedings, but such consideration rarely occurs. Consequently, veterans who earned the right to citizenship decades ago have been deported. H.R. 7946 corrects this problem by giving deported veterans the opportunity to apply for a second chance and obtain lawful permanent residency. Relief under this bill is discretionary--available only to those veterans whose return is in the public interest. Additionally, the bill creates a review process for servicemembers in removal proceedings to ensure that their service records are taken into account by immigration judges. It has an advisory council to examine at length the veteran's record to see whether or not he or she was suffering from PTSD and the like. The information can then be given to the immigration judge, but the immigration judge retains the authority to make the decision. The legislation, as I mentioned earlier, makes needed changes to current laws to allow servicemembers to naturalize as early as possible, and we believe these changes will ensure that future veterans will not be at risk of deportation. Finally, H.R. 7946 codifies the current Parole in Place for the immediate relatives of U.S. citizen servicemembers and veterans, making permanent an administrative program that began in 2007 under then- President George W. Bush. At the time, we had come across instances where an American soldier was killed in action, but his mother was subject to deportation, and that mother who was sent outside of the country could not even visit the grave of her deceased military son. George Bush sought to change that. We have kept that change in place ever since, and this would codify it. This bill is supported by numerous advocacy, labor, and veterans' groups, including The American Legion, the Nation's largest veterans service organization. We made a commitment to our noncitizen servicemembers when they joined our Armed Forces, and our laws really should reflect that commitment. I am proud to have worked alongside my colleagues, Chairman Nadler, as well as Chairman Takano, and I would like to mention specifically other members of our caucus who introduced bills on this subject--they were all collected into this final product--including Congressman Correa, Congressman Ruiz, Congressman Vargas, Congressman Grijalva, and several others. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will note that the exclusion of those serious offenses was in the base bill. We didn't have to be convinced of that. We used the definition of ``veterans'' in the veterans code, and veterans who have an honorable or a general discharge are eligible for benefits, so that is what we used. Dishonorable discharges are not included. I will just say this: These are discretionary matters. If you have multiple DUIs--let's say you have three DUIs, but they are 25 years ago, and you have a completely clean record. You might be able to seek administrative review of that matter. That is all this does. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee who has played such a key role in this, noting also that the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are supporting this bill and supporting Mr. Takano.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro), who has played such a useful role in the crafting of these measures.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I would just note, once again, that those with dishonorable discharges are not eligible under the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a member of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), who has served on the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee. He served in this Congress. He is the author of one of the bills that was included in this bill and has visited with deported veterans across the border.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), who is a proud member of the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee and a long-serving member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This bill is an important step forward to making sure that those who served our country in the military are given every consideration. We know from the reports we receive from our vets how tough it can be. I think it is important to note that Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are supporting this bill. They know better than I do the kind of trauma that can be experienced in these theaters and have been experienced by our brave men and women in the military. They also know that sometimes those traumatic experiences can lead to a path that is destructive for the veteran, a veteran who is suffering from PTSD. Now, if a military member, a vet, was born in California and they use drugs because of PTSD, they might spend some time in jail, but then they would have paid their debt to society. If, instead, their fellow soldier was a legal permanent resident of the United States, born in another country, but volunteered to fight for our country, after they pay their debt to society for the exact same circumstances, then they are booted out of the country. That is why The American Legion is saying they support this bill, because we owe some kind of honor and stature to those who step forward to volunteer to fight for our country. That is what we owe them. I will just close with this. I am going to represent a town called Salinas, California. I was there last month, and they have put up on every light pole on the downtown street pictures of people from Salinas who served in the military. It is so inspiring. They had a little ceremony to unveil these photographs of the Salinas heroes. After that, one of the veterans organizers said to me, the worst experience of his life was driving his sergeant to the border to be kicked out of the country he fought for. It is not right. This bill will change that, and I hope that we will all vote in favor. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, it is no secret that our country is facing increasingly devastating disasters, including wildfires. In my own home district, the SCU Lightning Complex fires of 2020 burned nearly 400,000 acres over 46 days across five counties, destroying more than 2,000 structures and damaging others. That was the fourth-largest wildfire recorded in California's modern history. As chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, I hear about fires like this almost year-round from my colleagues, but it is not just a Western United States problem. Fire risk areas are growing exponentially to threaten new districts and new States every year. And fires don't rage only in Democratic districts. This calamity knows no political divide. As wildfires continue to worsen, our government has not acted with enough urgency. It is clear that Congress needs to pass legislation to better prevent and respond to wildfires. Last month, I joined State and local officials to specifically discuss this policy and operational gaps, and the systems that we have in place obviously don't work as well as they should. FEMA's current statutory authorities and operational practices limit our ability to prepare for and recover from wildfires. That is why all the California firefighters, chiefs, and leaders I met with support the FEMA Improvement, Reform, and Efficiency Act, or FIRE Act. We know that wildfires present a unique and increasing danger, and we also know that policies written with hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes in mind don't always translate well. The FIRE Act would direct FEMA to create a process that uses the red flag warnings we are all too familiar with to take predisaster measures and predeploy resources to take disaster-specific damages into account during recovery and the like. It is commonsense legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to support it. I would like also to thank the co-leads on this bill--Congressmen Thompson, Huffman, and Panetta--for recognizing the importance of this legislation and for their hard work, as well as Senator Padilla for his leadership in the Senate on this bill. I thank Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer for their efforts to bring this to the floor. I would also like to recognize Ranking Member Graves and, of course, Congressman LaMalfa for working with us on reaching agreement on something that I think will be able to pass the Senate. This is a good bill. It will improve our response, and I hope we get overwhelming support here today.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember the life of Eric ``Rick'' Zabel, who worked for the U.S. House of Representatives' Chief Administrative Officer's Office of Payroll and Benefits, and passed away Saturday, February 5, 2022, after more than 43 years of Congressional service. Rick served as a Retirement Counselor, supporting staff in the offices of House Leadership, Officers, and Committees over his 13 years of service to the People's House. Before joining the House, Rick also worked for the U.S. Senate for over three decades as a Retirement Counselor for Senate Disbursing, providing faithful service to all Congressional staff throughout his tenure. Rick was a consummate professional and took great pride in providing detailed information, benefit options, retirement estimates, and advice to ensure Congressional staff could make well-informed retirement decisions and maximize their benefits. The CAO was lucky to be blessed with the knowledge and expertise of Rick's more than 43 years of Legislative Branch retirement experience. The House truly benefitted from his expertise, with staff of the Office of Payroll and Benefits learning under Rick's tutelage to progress in their careers as Benefits Specialists. Rick equipped staff from the Office of Payroll and Benefits with his knowledge, professional pride in ensuring staff understood their retirement benefits, and ability to assist Congressional staff in maximizing their benefits. Rick was an early-bird and always ready with a cheerful morning greeting of ``Hey, how you doin'?!'' Those who knew Rick will miss his passion for retirement as well as chatting with him about his wife, Rosemary, and his sons, Christopher, Matthew, and John Paul, his Maine Coon cat, T.C., his love of golfing, his green thumb gardening skills, his time at Virginia Tech, and his excitement about baseball--in particular, the New York Yankees. Rick coached his son's little league baseball teams and loved every moment of imparting his love and knowledge of the game with a new generation, specifically his boys. One of Rick's most exciting professional baseball memories was attending the New York Yankees World Series games in New York and being a part of the pinnacle of the sport, cheering on his favorite team. Rick also had a favorite National League team, the Washington Nationals, and was able to attend a World Series game for the 2019 season in which they won the World Series 4-3. Dealing with the loss of a colleague and friend is always very difficult. The Legislative Branch lost a dear colleague and friend in Eric ``Rick'' Zabel, who will be sorely missed. However, his legacy will continue in the Congressional staff he counseled about their retirement and the colleagues he trained over the years.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer congratulations to Steve W. Marsh on the occasion of his Congressional retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives, CAO Office of Finance--Accounting Department as of Thursday, May 5, 2022, after over 24 years of service. Steve started as a Staff Accountant with the Chief Administrative Office on March 16, 1998, tasked with the Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) reconciliation process where he quickly became the subject matter expert. Steve was promoted on October 1, 2000, to Senior Accountant, and July 1, 2012, to Accounting Manager. Steve played a significant role in the implementation of the House's financial system of record, PeopleSoft, and was an integral part of the CAO Office of Finance team that has received a clean audit opinion for twenty-three consecutive years for the U.S. House of Representatives. Best wishes to Steve W. Marsh on a long, happy, fulfilling, and well-deserved retirement.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer congratulations to Philip D. Hamner on the occasion of his Congressional retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives, CAO Office of Finance--Accounting Department as of September 30, 2022, after over 27 years of service. Philip started as an Accounting Supervisor with the Chief Administrative Office on June 12, 1995. Philip's outstanding work ethic and accounting knowledge of the U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL) allowed him to be promoted to various positions, like Systems Accountant, Deputy Director, Accounting, Acting Accounting Director, and finally Director of Accounting as of September 1, 2011. Philip has led his team in the compilation of the Annual Financial Statements and the annual external audits. Philip played a significant role in the implementation of the House's financial system of record, PeopleSoft. Through Philip's successful leadership and immeasurable knowledge of accounting, he has led the CAO Office of Finance team to receive a clean audit opinion for 23 consecutive years for the U.S. House of Representatives. Madam Speaker, I wish Philip D. Hamner embrace all new opportunities that are presented to him, as he did at the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize today a special group of dedicated and outstanding employees of the Officers (Clerk of the House, Sergeant at Arms, and Chief Administrative Officer) and of the Inspector General of the U.S. House of Representatives and congratulate those who have reached the milestone of 25 years of service to the U.S. House of Representatives. The House's most important asset is its remarkable and steadfast employees, whose work is essential to keeping the operations and services of the House running efficiently and effectively. The employees we acknowledge today are commended for their hard work, dedication, professionalism, and teamwork; support of House Members, their staffs, and their constituents, and for their contributions day- in and day-out to the overall operations of the House. These employees, whose work is often performed behind the scenes, possess a wide range of responsibilities and skills that support the legislative process, ensure the security of this great institution, maintain our technology and service infrastructure, and contribute to more efficient and productive House support operations. These devoted employees have accomplished significant and essential work in a diverse range of activities, and the House of Representatives, its Members, staff, and the American public is better served because of them. We recognize and honor the following individuals for 25 years of loyal service to the House. Collectively, the employees listed have provided 375 years of service to the U.S. House of Representatives. Gordon Alexander, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Ricky Buckler, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Alicia Carcamo, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; John Collins, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Andrew Graeub, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Michael Keane, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Adam Magary, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; David McKittrick, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Donald Myhill, Office of the Clerk of the House; Frank Overby, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Carol Peterson, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Nancy Sumner, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Gary Thiessen, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Alan Vaughan, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer; Donna K. Wolfgang, Office of Inspector General. On behalf of the entire House community, I want to congratulate, acknowledge, and thank these employees for their professionalism and commitment to the U.S. House of Representatives as a whole, and in particular to their respective House Officer, the Inspector General, and collaboratively across these organizations once again. Their long hours, hard work, diverse skills, and team spirit are invaluable, and their years of unwavering service and dedication to the House sets an example for their colleagues and raises the bar for the employees who will follow in their footsteps. I applaud all our honorees, and I am proud to stand before you and our great Nation on their behalf to recognize the importance of their public service.