Carolyn Maloney

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of New York's renters and the far-too-many families who are struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Hardworking New Yorkers who have lost their jobs and closed their businesses, through no fault of their own, now are struggling, too, to pay their rent. The American Rescue Plan would provide more than $20 billion in total for emergency rental and utility assistance. This is in addition to the $25 billion provided in the December package. The House took bold action last week by passing the American Rescue Plan, and I call on the Senate to pass it immediately and get it to the President's desk. This is the lifeline our families and businesses so desperately need. Hope and health are on the way.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 1, the For the People Act. Included in this important legislation is the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, legislation I introduced to ensure that all ballots in Federal elections have a Postal Service barcode. This would enable election officials and the public to track the status of a ballot from when it is put in the mail to when it is delivered, reducing anxiety, increasing accuracy, transparency, and accountability for our ballots. After an election year with record-breaking numbers of Americans voting by mail, it has never been more critical to provide election officials and the public peace of mind that every vote matters and is counted accurately. I urge overwhelming support for H.R. 1, which includes reforms across our Government that are critically important, and it includes this important bill, too.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill and of the 1.4 million first responders, teachers, transit workers, sanitation workers, and other public servants already laid off from State and local governments across this Nation. We must act before more people lose their jobs, and before more lifesaving programs are cut. Madam Speaker, the State and local funding included in this package will provide many local governments dedicated support for the first time since this pandemic struck. It can be used to administer vaccines, increase testing, and save countless jobs by replacing lost revenue. For New York City, which last month projected a $10.5 billion loss in expected tax revenue, this money would mean it can continue to provide vaccines and food assistance and reopen schools safely. Hundreds of local officials told us the relief in this bill will mean recovery instead of recession and cannot come fast enough. Taken together, this could be the light this-- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. The Chair would again remind all Members to heed the gavel.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Equality Act, long overdue legislation to continue the progress made under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Opportunity Act, and other vital laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. These civil rights laws were passed to provide critical protections for people who unnecessarily live in fear and were unfairly persecuted simply because of who they were. They were passed because the promise of America--equal treatment under the law--was nonnegotiable. It is still nonnegotiable. So with the Equality Act, we must take the next step to guarantee equal protection and rights under the law for all, no matter who you love or your gender identity. The Equality Act seeks to stamp out discrimination against the LGBTQIA community--something that we, unfortunately, see far too often. Mr. Speaker, no one should face discrimination in employment, housing, education, public space, or federally funded programs because of who they are or who they love. I am proud to be an ally of the LGBTQIA community and have worked to advance these rights and protections with groups and individuals throughout my career in public service, including hiring an out, HIV positive, gay man to serve as my first Congressional chief of staff. In 1986, while serving on the New York City Council, I introduced the first bill to legally recognize same-sex partnerships in New York State history, and I had to threaten the city of New York to even get the bill printed. City officials said the bill was unconstitutional and could not even be printed. And while we have made great progress--the bill was printed and passed since then--we still have work to do. Mr. Speaker, I am proud that New York State recently enacted legislation to repeal the ``walking while trans'' ban, but we must ensure that the LGBTQIA community has these protections and equal rights all throughout the country. Access to equal rights should not depend on your ZIP Code. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to join me today in voting to pass the Equality Act so that every American, regardless of who they love has equal protection under the law.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this Budget Resolution. The pandemic has left millions of Americans hungry, homeless, or unable to make rent and mortgage payments. This resolution would provide critical support that is, quite literally, life or death. It's a time to make life better for Americans who are hurting, using every tool available to us. From extending eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, to supporting public transit like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority so my constituents can still get to work and healthcare appointments, we must act holistically. Upon passage, the Oversight Committee will immediately get to work on one of the most important aspects of this package--providing desperately needed funding for states, local governments, tribes, and territories. This money will allow these governments to help distribute vaccines, expand testing, keep frontline workers employed, and maintain vital services. It will also keep our economy afloat by allowing states, local governments, tribes, and territories to avoid laying off their employees en masse. The Committee will include expanded emergency paid leave for federal employees, available for those who need to quarantine, isolate, or need to provide care due to the coronavirus. We also will include funding for oversight and transparency efforts to ensure every taxpayer dollar included in this package is spent on its intended purpose. The President's American Rescue plan would deal a decisive blow to this devastating pandemic, providing the resources that our families, communities, and economy need to survive. We must do everything we can, as fast as we can, to get vaccines in arms, to get resources to struggling communities, and to get Americans back to work.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, this vote is not one man, one party, or even one day. It is about protecting our Nation, preserving democracy and the rule of law. The facts are clear and undisputed: President Trump used a litany of lies about a stolen election and willfully incited an armed insurrection with the intent of stopping the peaceful transfer of power. He attacked not just the Capitol, not just Congress, he even attacked democracy itself. That is why he must be impeached.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, like all of us in this Chamber, the Vice President and the Cabinet swore in their oaths of office to protect and defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. Now they must fulfill that oath by invoking the 25th Amendment. Donald Trump's reckless actions on and leading to January 6 underscore that he is a clear and present danger to our democratic traditions. He repeatedly and blatantly lied, spouting baseless claims of a stolen election and fraud. He called on his supporters to come to D.C. on January 6, a day which he said ``will be wild,'' and willfully incited an armed and deadly insurrection against another branch of our government. President Trump must be held accountable, and we must return to the peaceful transfer of power. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 21) to enhance the innovation, security, and availability of cloud computing products and services used in the Federal Government by establishing the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program within the General Services Administration and by establishing a risk management, authorization, and continuous monitoring process to enable the Federal Government to leverage cloud computing products and services using a risk-based approach consistent with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 and cloud-based operations, and for other purposes.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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 the measure before us.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 21, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank Representatives Connolly and Comer for working on this important bipartisan issue. A version of this bill passed the House in the last Congress, and it has been improved after receiving technical assistance from the General Services Administration. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Authorization Act would codify and improve the existing FedRAMP in the General Services Administration. First established in 2011, FedRAMP is an important program that certifies cloud service providers who wish to offer services and products to the Federal Government. The FedRAMP certification process outlined in this bill is comprehensive, facilitates easier agency adoption, promotes agency reuse, and encourages savings. The FedRAMP process uses a risk-based approach to ensure the reliability of any cloud platform that hosts unclassified government data. A significant provision of this bill is the Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee. This committee would be tasked with key responsibilities, including providing technical expertise on cloud products and services and identifying ways to reduce costs associated with FedRAMP certification. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget would be required to issue regulations pertaining to FedRAMP and would ensure that agencies are not using cloud service providers without authorizations. This bill supports a critical effort to keep our Nation's information secure in cloud environments. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 22) to amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, to require the budget justifications and appropriation requests of agencies be made publicly available.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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 the measure before us.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, is a commonsense, good-government measure every Member should support. It would require the congressional budget justification documents that agencies prepare for congressional committees to be posted online in a centralized, searchable database. This would make these detailed, plain-language explanations of how agencies plan to spend taxpayer dollars more accessible to the public. I thank Representative Mike Quigley for his work on this bill. He has a long history as a strong advocate of transparency in the operations of the Federal Government. This bill builds on the work of the committee to improve government transparency by allowing the public to more easily learn how Federal agencies spend their taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 22, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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 the measure before us.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure before us.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 23) to require congressional notification for certain changes in status of inspectors general, and for other purposes.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. 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 the measure before us.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Inspector General Protection Act was introduced by Representatives Ted Lieu and Jody Hice. An identical measure passed the House in the last Congress. I am proud to support this bipartisan measure, which would improve the independence of inspectors general. The bill would also address the disturbingly slow nomination of IGs that has been the norm across multiple administrations. The bill would require notification of Congress 30 days prior to an IG being placed on leave. Such notification is already required prior to an IG being removed from duty. The bill also would require the President to report to Congress if he has not nominated an IG after 210 days of a vacancy occurring. This report must include the reasons for failing to make the nomination and a target date for doing so. The requirement will hopefully prod the executive branch to nominate IGs in a more timely manner. IGs provide critical oversight and accountability within Federal agencies, and the positions need to be filled more quickly than is currently the case. I urge Members to support this bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).