Tom Malinowski

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, as we mourn the victims of another senseless mass shooting in America, I rise to recognize two police officers in my district: Jeffrey Johnson and Michael Pollack of the Westfield Police Department, who prevented a potential mass shooting in my district in 2019. On June 13 of that year, Officers Johnson and Pollack responded to a call at Tamaques Elementary School in Westfield, where they were met with a man armed with a .45-caliber gun, hollow-point bullets, and 130 rounds of ammunition; an arsenal much of which is not legal in New Jersey, but which he had obtained legally in another State. The officers disarmed and arrested the man, potentially saving the lives of teachers, staff, and kids. The officers recently received the Hero Award from our Union County Prosecutor's Office, and I continue to honor their heroism here on the House floor today. This incident is another reminder that while we have strong gun laws in New Jersey and one of the lowest rates of gun violence fatalities in the country, as a result, many of our neighboring States do not. As long as our gun laws are inconsistent across State lines, those who wish to commit mass murder will find the means to do so.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 71.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Ridge High School Thespian Troupe 7742. As part of New Jersey Thespians' Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat program, Troupe 7742 collected close to 170 pounds of food for the Somerset County Food Bank. Their donation efforts came at a critical time for many New Jerseyans who are utilizing community food banks now more than ever before. Ridge High School Thespian Troupe 7742 is comprised of students who not only excel in the arts, but who also strive to make a difference in their own neighborhood. Their contributions here demonstrate just that. Thank you to Troupe 7742 for the work they do to enrich and give back to the Somerset County community.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about unity, let's remember we were united last October when the House came together almost unanimously to condemn QAnon in a resolution that I had introduced. We said that QAnon was fanning the flames of anti-Semitism, that the looney lies it was spreading online would lead to people being killed in the real world. But then yesterday, Mr. McCarthy, the minority leader, said something that mystified me. He cited that resolution as a reason not to remove Representative Greene from her committee. We had already condemned QAnon, he suggested, so why would we need to do anything else? It is like saying: We condemned bank robbery last year. We don't need to actually stop any bank robbers this year. How could almost 400 of us say that QAnon is a threat and then when we see someone who has spent years spreading the same conspiracy theories, the same anti-Semitism, the same calls for violence, someone who 3 days ago called her critics pedophiles--not 2 years ago; 3 days ago--then say that person should be given all the privileges of a Member of the House? Mr. Speaker, if you condemn QAnon, that means you have to fight it. If you believe that these conspiracy theories are dangerous, you have to separate yourself from the people who are spreading them. If even a substantial number of us stand with Representative Greene today, violent extremists will see it as another sign that they have a legitimate place in our national debate, that respectable leaders in our society either embrace them or fear them too much to stand in their way. I ask you, do not send this message. Let's unite against extremism, not with it.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, they condemned Canada for doing exactly the same thing a few months ago. I don't believe they expect us to do it. They surely expect us to condemn them. They surely expect us to slap a few sanctions on their leadership, as the State Department did today, which I am fine with. But they do not expect us to use the strength of our society against the weakness of theirs by opening our doors to Hong Kongers fleeing persecution, giving them that option that is being denied to them in Hong Kong itself. So let's stand by the brave people of Hong Kong. Let's make the Chinese Communist Party uncomfortable, as this sure will, and let's do it in the best traditions of America's openness to people seeking freedom from oppression around the world.

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Engel for his leadership for human rights on this issue and on so many issues as the leader of our committee, and for the very strong words that he just delivered on this important legislation, the Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the bipartisan sponsors, Representatives Kinzinger, Castro, and Curtis. I want to thank Ranking Member McCaul and leadership on both sides of the aisle for making the issue of Hong Kong and our efforts to provide safe haven for its people a bipartisan issue. As the gentleman mentioned, the China Task Force that he chaired, recommended an approach very similar to the one that we will be embracing here today. I think the reason why we are united on this issue is that, although we may sometimes use different language, we do have a common understanding of the challenge that the United States faces with respect to China. We understand that we are in a contest, not with China the country, not with the Chinese people, but with the Chinese Government, the Chinese Communist Party. It is a contest of ideas and ideals. It is about the most fundamental questions: how the world should be organized, whether there are any rules that apply to the most powerful nations and the most powerful governments, or whether those nations and governments can impose their will on anyone as they choose; a contest between democracy and kleptocracy. It is a contest that we win, in my view, by remembering what we stand for as a country, by staying true to that, by winning allies to that, by rallying hearts and minds around the world to that. So with that in mind, I would like to make just two points that are relevant to this bill. Number one, Hong Kong is very important to this contest. It is a city on the front lines, geographically and morally, just like Berlin was during the Cold War. It is a place where the Chinese Government made a promise to respect the autonomy of Hong Kong, to respect the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the rule of law that people enjoyed there. China, today, is plainly breaking those promises, and by breaking them, it is testing us, because those promises were made not just to the people of Hong Kong but to the United States and to the international community. It is testing to see whether we will do something; and, therefore, we must. The second point I will make is that we know something as a country about how to win a contest like this because we waged one during the Cold War. We have learned lessons about what to do and what not to do, and one of those lessons is that the best way to win against a dictatorship is to pit the strength of our system against the weakness of theirs, to hold up the glaring contrast between our free, open, and self-confident democracy, against the weakness of the oppressive, closed, and fearful system that the Communist Party has imposed on the Chinese people, including, now, in Hong Kong. One way we do that is by self-confidently opening our doors. That is what we did during the Cold War. Hundreds of thousands of people from the former Soviet Union, including 400,000 religious refugees from the former Soviet Union itself and many, many more from Hungary, Poland--my family, for example--Czechoslovakia, and others, came to the United States over the decades. Yes, they were dissidents. Sometimes they were protestors; sometimes they were political; but mostly, they were the people with open and inquiring minds, the risk-takers, the entrepreneurs, the scientists, the artists, and the best and brightest. And the Soviet bloc's loss was our gain. They made us stronger, and their success here was a constant reproach to the Communist regimes that they left behind, a constant reminder to the people still trapped behind the Iron Curtain, that there is a better way to live than in a dictatorship. So that is what we are doing in this bill. We are saying that we are willing to provide temporary refuge to Hong Kongers who are already in the United States, to expedite processing of refugee applications for Hong Kongers fleeing persecution. We call for a strategy to work with our allies, because the United States, obviously, cannot do this by itself, but we can lead this effort. We are saying, by passing this legislation, something very, very important to the Chinese Government. We are saying: If you crush Hong Kong, you will lose its best and brightest citizens, the people responsible for its vitality, but we will let them come to the United States and contribute to our vitality instead. So it is a humanitarian gesture, but it is actually much more than a humanitarian gesture. It is one of the best ways we have to deter China from crushing Hong Kong. The Chinese Government understands perfectly well that this is a threat. When the United Kingdom offered asylum and citizenship to Hong Kongers earlier this year, they said it was a gross interference, and they condemned it.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, it is one of the oldest lies in the world. A blood libel. It always goes something like this: that there is a powerful, secret group of people who just happen--many of them--to be Jewish, and they are trying to control the world, and, for good measure, kidnapping our children. This is the central conspiracy theory that QAnon promotes today. And it sounds crazy--so crazy that sometimes we don't take it seriously enough. But throughout history, conspiracy theories, just like this one, have fueled prejudice, terrorism, even genocide. And today, social media is fanning the flames. Their algorithms know everything about us: what we search for online, our biases, and they feed us more and more extreme versions of what they think we want so that we stay glued to our screens and see more ads and buy more stuff. That, above all, is what is causing so many of our fellow Americans to fear and hate one another. And while many extremist groups on the left and the right are recruiting followers online, nothing today matches the scale of QAnon. Nothing comes close. On Facebook alone, QAnon pages and groups have had up to 3 million members there. There have been days this year when the most widely shared social media messages in the country are those promoted by QAnon. The physical threat is also real. The FBI, as we have heard, says that political conspiracy theories like QAnon increasingly motivate domestic extremists to commit violence. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point says, QAnon ``has demonstrated its capacity to radicalize to violence individuals at an alarming speed.'' And QAnon adherents have, in fact, committed numerous criminal and violent acts in the last 2 years. I think the greater threat is to our social fabric. QAnon is like a pill that immunizes you against objective reality, which millions of our fellow Americans are taking. It destroys trust in government, in Democratic institutions, in science, and in facts. Mr. Speaker, the resolution we will pass today categorically condemns QAnon. It has an equal number of Republican and Democratic cosponsors, and I would thank them: Representatives Riggleman, Kinzinger, Fitzpatrick, Gottheimer and Luria. Our goal is a fully bipartisan repudiation of this incredibly dangerous phenomenon. Extremist movements gain validation from the belief that they are making inroads into the mainstream. So it is important to make clear we are unified against them, both parties, no hedging, no winks and nods. Now, there is just one more point I would make today, and that is, when we vote for this resolution today--and I am confident we will all vote for it--we need to mean it. And here is the only reference that I will make to partisan differences. It is an objective fact that this particular group of extremists today identifies with the right. There are a lot of them. And right now, even as we vote to condemn QAnon, there are political operatives out there putting out vile attacks that deliberately play to the paranoid fears QAnon promotes. Some people may rationalize this by pretending, Oh, QAnon, it is not that bad. These folks are just against sex trafficking, which is a real threat. Or they are just against the deep state, and hey, so is President Trump. Some might say there are crazy groups on the left, too, and that is absolutely true. And this resolution condemns them all. But you know what? When I criticize antifa, as I have, I don't get half-a-dozen death threats in a day. Only one of these things--for now at least--is considered an active terrorist threat by the FBI. Only one is a political force. Only one is winning elections. Remember what QAnon is: It is an anti-Semitic, conspiracy-mongering cult that the FBI considers a potential terrorist threat, and it has real growing political power. So if you vote against fire today, please don't play with fire tomorrow. Don't be righteous here today and then go QAnon-lite on the campaign trail. Don't do or say anything to fan the flames further. Mr. Speaker, America desperately needs to come together. Conspiracy theories are tearing us apart. Let us pass this resolution and do it overwhelmingly and with true conviction so that we can say clearly, we have all had enough.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, after 9/11, President Bush never once called terrorism a Muslim virus or an Arab virus or a Saudi virus. He made clear that the enemy was not the place where the terrorists came from or the people who lived there, but terrorism itself. He did that because it was right and because he knew that equating the evil of al- Qaida with an entire faith or nationality or country was exactly what our enemies wanted. So today, when prominent people in our country, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, or anybody in the media, encourage Americans to call COVID the ``China virus,'' language that seems to blame this pandemic on a country and a people, they are not only doing something wrong, something that has already encouraged violence and discrimination against Asian Americans, they are playing right into the hands of a Chinese Communist Party that wants Asian Americans to feel unwanted and unsafe in America. Now, if you want to blame this on the Chinese Government, sign me up. If you want to blame them or anybody else for lying to the American people, sign me up. But if you are going to give this virus a nationality, you are doing something wrong. And if you don't see the difference between those two things, then you don't understand what is going on in this country in this moment of division, this moment of danger that we face. Madam Speaker, I am proud to support this resolution condemning anti- Asian rhetoric in any form. I ask my colleagues to vote for it, and I urge them to live up to it.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, when President Trump first announced the Muslim ban, we were told it was temporary, 90 days, according to the executive order, or until we ``figure out what the hell is going on,'' in the President's own words. It has been 3\1/2\ years. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, including many of my own constituents, are still cut off from their loved ones, missing births, missing weddings, and missing funerals. We are still not admitting refugees to this country for the first time since we turned back Jews fleeing Hitler before World War II. And by now, we know exactly what is going on. It has nothing to do with national security, and it never did. There has never been a deadly terrorist attack carried out in America by someone from any of these countries. One of them is Iran, after all, a country whose people have themselves been targeted for extinction by ISIS. How many times do we hear from the administration that we stand by the people of Iran even as we ban them from visiting our country? These good people were sacrificed for a cheap campaign promise. They were hurt, and our country's ideals were betrayed, because someone decided it would be easier to seek scapegoats than solutions to our country's problems. It is wrong, and it should stop.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, over the last 3 months, the people in my State of New Jersey have pulled together in extraordinary ways to fight the coronavirus. Our leaders made good decisions. But, more important, all of us understood that public health had to come first. The sacrifices we made were worth making. Today, all our numbers are looking good. The rate of spread of the infection, testing positivity are way, way down. If all of America were New Jersey, we could stand here today and say that America is beating COVID-19. But that doesn't make the sacrifices any less hard to bear. And among those who sacrificed were our young people who were looking forward to graduation; not just the formal ending of their high school education, but the celebration of it with family and friends, the dances, the big games, the rites of passage that all of us experienced when we were their age and that we want for our kids. Many of our graduating seniors did end up having outdoor graduations, but they came late and with social distancing. And let's face it, a socially distanced graduation is kind of an oxymoron. But we have also seen our communities come together in creative ways to celebrate the accomplishments of our young people, and I want to recognize those efforts today. In Hunterdon County in my district, the parents, teachers, and school administrators implemented an Adopt a Senior program, where volunteers adopted a graduating student to send a letter, a card, or a gift to let them know their communities are rooting for them. In Berkeley Heights, the light poles downtown are decorated with seniors' pictures, announcing what college they will be attending in the fall. In Bridgewater, an administrator visited the home of every senior in a bus with a banner celebrating the class of 2020, dropping off a graduation package and a personalized Bridgewater-Raritan High School lawn sign for each senior. In Mount Olive, posters celebrating the graduating class were placed throughout town. In Springfield, the school surprised students with a display of personalized banners on the fence outside of the high school, each one bearing the name and photo of a member of the graduating class. In Westfield, a video slideshow played in the window panels of the historic Arcanum Hall, with montages of senior portraits, pictures from school events, and a countdown clock to graduation. These efforts from our communities are wonderful to see and, I am sure, are tremendously appreciated by the recipients. During my time in Congress, I have worked hard to reach out to young people to encourage their interests and involvement in the conversations that are happening every day here in Congress. I have visited dozens of schools throughout the 75 towns of my district and have hosted two classes of my youth advisory council. This year, about 170 kids in my youth council spent the entire year breaking up into congressional committees and proposing legislation. I intend to introduce some of their proposals in this body this year. Their questions are always thoughtful, and they are always eager to get involved and make a difference. It is tough to see them graduate in a time of so much uncertainty and fear, but throughout the many crises our country has faced in recent months, I have seen our young people step up and lead time and time again. If the students in New Jersey's Seventh District are any indication of young people around the country, the future of America is in good hands. Congratulations to all of our 2020 graduates. I can't wait to see everything they are going to accomplish in the years ahead.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of amendment 122 offered by Mr. Deutch of Florida, which adds the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. Madam Speaker, this amendment is named for Bob Levinson, the longest held American hostage. I have the honor of representing one of Bob's daughters in Congress. He was a 25-year FBI veteran who disappeared from Iran on March 9, 2007. Time and again, the Levinsons watched as other Americans came home from Iran, and Bob was left behind. After 13 years, his family learned this March that a determination was made that he was no longer alive. It was a heart-wrenching moment for them and for everyone who had worked on their behalf. The amendment before us today will ensure that families receive the support they need, that the U.S. Government will have a coordinated and coherent hostage policy, and that the position of Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs will be permanently codified in law, and it authorizes sanctions against those who engage in hostage-taking. Madam Speaker, I thank the many bipartisan cosponsors of this amendment for recognizing that we have no higher national security responsibility than the protection of Americans.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, this week 64 years ago, Dwight Eisenhower signed the interstate highway bill; and as our chairman keeps reminding us, we have been living off of that ever since. Actually, in New Jersey, we consider ourselves lucky to get to work on something built as late as the 1950s. Many of our bridges and tunnels are over 100 years old and falling apart. This bill will repair and replace that infrastructure. It invests in projects important to the whole country, including our Gateway tunnel, and includes provisions I wrote to ensure that those funds cannot be held up for political reasons. And, yes, it is a different infrastructure bill. It is something new, and that is a good thing. We are encouraging smart highways and materials. We are building mass transit that more people will want to use, modernizing our electrical grid, deploying national infrastructure, all of which will help us win the race with China to build the clean energy economy of the future. And we are doing all of this with the first true economic stimulus bill of the coronavirus era, one that actually creates jobs rather than simply preserving them. I urge my colleagues to embrace the future and support this bill.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the memory of William ``Will'' DeGregorio, a beloved member of the Cranford, NJ community. A fiercely dedicated member of his community, Will worked with the New Jersey State Legislature to advance S1538/A894, a bill to create a State pediatric cancer fund to advance research efforts in the battle against pediatric cancer. The measure sought further to amend the personal income tax form to allow filers to make direct contributions to the fund. Although the measure remains outstanding, Will's contributions demonstrates his ability and willingness to use the means he had available to him to make the most positive change he could. Will also always remained active and engaged in his local community, particularly with sports organizations--most notably the Cranford Police Athletic League (PAL), in which Will played sport for much of his life. When he was not doing his civic duty to improve the lives of others and communities around him, Will loved anything and everything related to sports and was a fierce competitor. He loved playing video games with his friends and bantering back and forth about plays, players, and coaches with anyone that would challenge his knowledge of the sport and the game. He loved the color blue, any shade of it mainly because blue represented all of his favorite professional teams: The Giants, Yankees, and Rangers. Will always sought to unite, rather than divide, those around him. His charm was one way to do this, but he also embraced #WillPower and #WillsWarriors hashtags as rallying cries to face adversity with a positive attitude. Though he faced a myriad of challenges in his life, his grit and determination allowed him to brighten up every room he entered. His beautiful blue eyes and infectious smile and giggle allowed everyone around him to feel at ease, even when he was in discomfort. He had a gift for making people laugh, most especially his friends at Brookside Place School in Cranford. Madam Speaker, please join me today in recognizing the extraordinary accomplishments of Will DeGregorio.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, 40 million Americans have lost their jobs in the biggest global pandemic in modern history. Not long ago, most of them would have lost their health insurance, too. I bet that in the last 3 months every single one of us, Republican and Democrat, in private or public moments with our constituents has reassured them that at least the Affordable Care Act is there for you, you do not have to lose your health insurance in the middle of this crisis. So how can it be that at this very moment when the value of the ACA is so plainly obvious to tens of millions of Americans, the administration is in court trying to strike it down? The President has told us repeatedly he wants to protect people with preexisting conditions, but right there in his brief to the Supreme Court, it explicitly says that should be struck down, too. And when we ask him, What will you do to replace the ACA if it is struck down? He says, I won't tell you until after the election. Come on. Now, today we are going to pass the Patient Protection Act, which means, unlike the President, we are willing to tell the American people, now, exactly how we plan to improve healthcare in America. We believe that the ACA should be improved, not taken away. The Congressional Budget Office says that this plan for doing so will lower premiums Americans pay by 10 percent. We want what President Trump said he wanted in the 2016 election, to let Medicare negotiate the price of prescription drugs which will save Americans money and save the government over $500 billion. And we want to eliminate the junk insurance plans that the administration wants all those folks who are losing their jobs to take, even though they don't cover essential services like prescription drugs and maternity care. I hope everyone will vote for this bill. If there are Members who disagree, so be it. I would just ask, Madam Speaker, that they please be honest. Don't say you want to protect people with preexisting conditions if you won't vote to do so or put forward a plan to do so. Don't advise your constituents to take advantage of the ACA if you are not going to do anything while the President tries to strike it down.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I will proudly vote for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act because I believe that Black lives matter, because I believe that nobody in America should have to fear an encounter with police simply because of the color of their skin, and because I believe that what we need right now above all is trust, trust between law enforcement and the people, all the people they are sworn to protect. Trust is not built by police who use force as a first resort, it is not built by police who look like they are the 82nd Airborne parachuting into a war zone, it is not built by hiding problems so abusive officers get assigned to train rookie cops or those fired for misconduct can get rehired somewhere else. Trust is built from better training, transparency, and the accountability that every true public servant welcomes. Now, this may not be a perfect bill, but it is surely the start of a process that will make us better. So, please, let's get this process started. If we also want to fund the police, if we want to support the good cops who are out there, then please ask the Senate to support the HEROES Act alongside police reform, the whole point of which was to help our State and local governments keep our first responders on the job.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, for the last 3 months, tens of millions of our fellow Americans have chosen to make painful sacrifices to keep one another safe. They made that choice before any Governor of any State told them they had to. They did what they thought was right, what was decent, what was responsible. Overwhelmingly, the American people still believe that social distancing to protect our neighbors is the right thing to do even where States have lifted stay-at-home orders. You wouldn't know this by watching the news because the news dwells on conflict, not consensus. The loudest voices say: ``Reopen everything now. Yes, people will die, but people die of car crashes, of cancer, of heart disease. We don't stay home for that.'' The angriest voices say: ``Go to the grocery store. Throw off your mask. Make them call the police.'' They pretend to be brave. They shout childish slogans about liberty, as if liberty meant the right to endanger the lives of others for our own convenience. On social media, there is an effort to make everything about this pandemic partisan; as if whether you are a Democrat or Republican should determine what medicines you should take or whether you should wear a mask. I have been to plenty of countries where everything is made to be political, where everything is made to be tribal. I never thought I would see people in the United States of America trying to make our country like that. But, Mr. Speaker, America is not like that. The vast majority of Republicans and Democrats still say that of course we should do what is needed to protect others. We are still a country that cares whether people live or die more than we care about the stock market. In New Jersey this year, we have had 177 road fatalities. Thus far, we have lost more than 11,000 people to the coronavirus, and that number would be vastly higher if not for the lockdowns. Now, nobody is rushing to our State capital with guns, screaming to keep the economy closed. No one ever loudly clamors for shared sacrifice. But the quiet majority still say that we should put public health first. The vast majority still want to be sure that we have to do this only once, and therefore, we have to do it right. So, yes, I get a lot of questions back home about when things are going to reopen. But the most urgent question I get is not when do we reopen, but: How are you going to help us safely reopen? What are you doing about that? Right now, the only responsible answer is that we must vastly expand contact tracing and testing for the coronavirus so that people can go back to normal life, knowing it is safe. Unfortunately, the administration's plan for testing, which we just received, basically states to the States around our country: We will give you some supplies, but otherwise, you are on your own. It is a shameful abdication of responsibility. At this point, I am done with expecting better from our President. We are on our own in New Jersey, in Michigan, in Ohio, in California. So, let's at least give our State and local governments the resources they need to bear this burden that our national government will not. The HEROES Act would provide $75 billion to help our States conduct the testing and contact tracing that we need if we want to go back to work and school safely. The HEROES Act also provides the funding our State and local governments have been pleading for to make up for revenues lost because of coronavirus. Mr. Speaker, in my district, I represent 75 small towns. We have more Republican mayors in those towns than Democrats, but this is not partisan in my district. Every one of them would rather spend money to pay our cops, our firefighters, and our teachers to do their jobs than spend money to pay for their unemployment. My message to those who are stepping down from responsibility is at least help us to help those who are stepping up. You want to go to the beach, to a ball game? You want to hold political rallies? Fine, so do I. Help the people who are risking their lives to make it safer for us to do those things. Help the people who are working, who never stopped working, to give us liberty without giving us death. That is what the HEROES Act does. If the Senate has a better plan, then let's hear it; let's negotiate; let's find our common ground. Otherwise, let's send it to the President and get this job done.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I will vote ``yes'' on the HEROES Act today because it will help the small towns I represent and keep our first responders on the job. I wish that my colleagues would listen to the Republican and Democratic local leaders who are pleading with us to do that. I will vote ``yes'' because it pays for the testing we desperately need to go back to work safely. I will vote ``yes'' because it will help every American exercise our right to vote without jeopardizing our right to life. I don't expect Senator McConnell to agree with everything in this bill, but the time has come for him to start negotiating and find common ground.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the Town of Scotch Plains, New Jersey and many local governments throughout my district and the country. The coronavirus has decimated local revenues and increased costs and only Congress can provide a lifeline to small towns through direct and flexible funding. Scotch Plains is a 9 square mile town of about 24,000 people. It has a medium-sized downtown of about 200 small businesses with an additional 100 businesses spread throughout other commercial corridors of our town. The town is in the process of planning a revitalization of the downtown in conjunction with providing affordable housing. The town has a Aaa bond rating and the budget is lean. The coronavirus has hit Scotch Plains hard. As a result of the State's stay at home order, just about all the small businesses are closed, and the businesses that remain open for takeout/curbside pickup are barely surviving. Very few of the businesses received assistance from the first round of the CARES Act due to their small size and lack of credit history with banks. A Scotch Plains Business Resource Group comprised of volunteers and concerned citizens has been formed to assist the small businesses community navigate the various federal and state assistance programs. Attached is my four-point plan to assist those businesses that can remain open during the stay at home executive orders. Similarly, the town residents have been hit hard. Many of them have been furloughed from their jobs or forced to work at home at reduced hours. The closure of the schools has added additional difficulty for our residents to manage children as well as maintain employment. It is difficult to gage the percentage of residents who have been economically adversely affected, but it appears to be substantial. The township budget has been introduced on April 21, 2020 with a reduction in forecasted nonproperty tax revenue and a reduction in expense. However, the big unknown is the ability of our residents to continue to pay property taxes given the adverse effects of the corona virus on the economy. Under State law, the township must first fund the schools, counties and then the municipality. For 2020, the township has an obligation to fund the schools and the county at $69.5 million and $22.7 million, respectively. The municipal budget is $26 million. With a total obligation to raise $109 million in property taxes, a 5 percent loss in the collection of these taxes would be almost $5.5 million dollars with the responsibility of the municipality to pay the county and school taxes first. Therefore, the municipal budget would have a 21 percent deficit leading to a significant reduction of municipal services and municipal staff. A 10 percent loss in property tax revenue would lead to an $11 million loss or a 42 percent reduction in municipal funds, severely impacting the municipal government's ability to deliver essential town services. Given the current economic situations, estimates of 5 to 10 percent loss in property tax collection are probable. In addition, state aid of approximately $2 million is potentially being deferred from August to as late as December of 2020. The township's ability to secure short term bonds to cover these types of potential revenue shortfalls would be non-existent. Only the federal government has the capacity to help states and local governments of all sizes from falling off the above described budgetary cliff. Therefore, I strongly urge you to include in any future Coronavirus relief package my bill, H.R. 6467, which would provide $250 billion in stabilization funds to localities with populations lower than 500,000.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the Town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey and many local governments throughout my district and the country. The coronavirus has decimated local revenues and increased costs and only Congress can provide a lifeline to small towns through direct and flexible funding. I learned recently from the joint press release from our office, that Warren County has been left out of the $82,202,575 in Federal funding awarded to the State of New Jersey from the stimulus package passed by both the Congress and the Senate to help states fight the Coronavirus Pandemic. We were one of only four NJ counties to have received no funds. I have received numerous calls from residents over the last few weeks as to why we did not receive any funding, and as the Mayor of Phillipsburg, I have no answers. This federal aid is to help all communities and evidently Warren County was not included. This Pandemic did not pick and choose, and neither should the government on who should receive funding. Everyone should be helped in this time of need. Phillipsburg is a small rural community in Warren County, New Jersey and just like every other community across our great State we are all facing the same challenges due to this outbreak. Every city, town or borough is dealing with the crisis in their own way because no two communities are the same however we are all facing the same obstacles that need to be overcome. This crisis will not only affect what is happening in 2020 but also will affect the Town's ability to budget in future years especially in 2021. We believe that next year's budget may be more adversely affected than the 2020 budget. Most if not all revenue collections will be down and must be adjusted and accounted for. The revenues that Town's collected in 2019 cannot be guaranteed to collect the same amount in 2020 thus creating a shortfall and unfortunately those shortfalls will carry over to the 2021 budget. To compensate for the decreased revenues Towns must for other ways to make up for lost revenue such as using more from surplus if they have the ability or probably more likely and most unfortunately look to reduce services or staff. Laying off an employee who works and lives in the municipality is one of the hardest decisions any City or Town must make. Although we hope the layoffs won't be permeant, in looking to future budgets no one can guarantee that it won't be. Cutting services such as not opening a municipal pool, golf courses or campgrounds, canceling recreational activities such as summer sports or day camps and canceling Town celebrations, concerts, festivals, fairs and carnivals can lead to a sense of depression that is felt all over Town. For many of our residents this may be the only entertainment or activities they get each summer and in a moment in time where we must look to raise our resident's spirits, we seem only to be offering disappointing and heartbreaking news. Again, the lost revenues from these activities are crushing to a municipal budget who count on these activities. Although we all hope these are temporary cancelations, done with the best interest of our residents in mind to keep them safe, it would be nice if we didn't have to do it at all. The federal government is under a lot of pressure right now to try to help an entire nation, we just ask that the local governments who are also under the same amount of pressure cannot be and must not be left out and forgotten. The stimulus money the federal government can offer will go a long way to ensure the local governments can still meet all the needs of our community.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the Town of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey and many local governments throughout my district and the country. The corona virus has decimated local revenues and increased costs and only Congress can provide a lifeline to small towns through direct and flexible funding. With a population of just under 13,500, the Township of Berkeley Heights in Union County, New Jersey has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have witnessed 129 cases to date with 21 deaths and residents testing positive every day, adding to our overall caseload. Our local budget is set to be introduced before the state's extended deadline of April 28th while our second tax collection period begins May 1st. The timeframe does not allow our governing body to make an informed decision of tax collection versus expenditures. As a result, we significantly cut our spending to provide a zero dollar increase to our residents since the outbreak of the pandemic. Layoffs of part-time employees and cutting police radios, police cars, fire department gear and sewer department equipment and has been sacrificed this year amidst the financial crisis that our state, county and township faces as we follow Governor Murphy's Stay-at-Home order. As we remain at home to spare the lives of our family, friends and neighbors, our local budget faces shortfalls from: the closure of our municipal court and resulting halt in fees it generates; hotel occupancy tax revenue--which generally produces $250,000 in revenue directly to the municipality not shared with the Board of Education or County; Uniform Fire Prevention inspection decline due to social distancing rules; Little interest being earned on investment as a result of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates to 0 percent; Anticipated lower-than-usual collection of current year taxes as a result of economic hardships experienced by our residents such as employment or loss of their small businesses; Cancellation of Spring and likely Summer recreation programs, halting fees into our Recreation Trust Fund, which pays for our recreation employees. Further, we also anticipate an increase in tax appeals from businesses for 2020. The Township already received notice of appeal from its two biggest taxpayers--Connell Office park and Nokia/Bell Labs--and anticipates that many small businesses will follow. Additionally, as a result of our Judgment of Repose, the Township is obligated to move forward with 6 redevelopment projects that have PILOT agreements attached to pay for a $32,000,000 municipal complex to house our police, senior, library, recreation and administration space. The facilities will be essential for our residents as we move through this pandemic into our new ``normal.'' Delays in redevelopment construction due to supply chain disruptions related to Covid-19 will likely impact future construction fees, which means anticipated revenue to the Township from these projects will not be realized sooner, when it is so desperately needed. Finally, we anticipate the State of New Jersey and County of Union will also face great fiscal challenges and therefore, the Township expects a decrease in grant money available for infrastructure repair such as roads and our sewer infrastructure, which has not been upgraded since constructed. Additionally, New Jersey municipalities have a legal obligation to pay the Board of Education and the county, even if our portion of taxes cannot be collected. This places a tremendous burden on small towns. It is crucial that smaller municipalities receive CARES 2 funds to help stabilize our local government and economies. I implore the United States House and Senate to pass legislation that will help small-town America.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the Town of Clinton, New Jersey and many local governments throughout my district and the country. The coronavirus has decimated local revenues and increased costs and only Congress can provide a lifeline to small towns through direct and flexible funding. As a mayor of a small town in NJ I am not only worried about my current year's revenue loss but also the implication of that lost revenue on my 2021 budget. We cannot anticipate in a future year more revenue that we actually brought in. What we do anticipate is probably a 15-20 percent reduction in miscellaneous revenue (which is approximately one quarter of my total revenue)--this would include our court fees, permitting, Energy Tax Receipts, hotel/motel occupancy fees as well as UCC fees. What does this mean? Services may have to be cut back or eliminated that residents count on, we would not furlough employees because this is not a savings for a small town like ours--we are a ``pay as you go'' unemployment. Any employees we lay off we would still be responsible for the two-thirds of the salary. What communities like Clinton need to have is the ability to replace the lost revenue in the line items so that we do not see a longer term impact with future budget years. I know that I am not alone in my concerns and other mayors are struggling to manage--we work with slim margins and any reduction creates havoc with municipal budgets and tough decisions that impact our residents.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the Town of Dover, New Jersey and many local governments throughout my district and the country. The coronavirus has decimated local revenues and increased costs and only Congress can provide a lifeline to small towns through direct and flexible funding. Due to COVID-19 the Town of Dover has been forced to take unprecedented measures to educate the community on the virus and CDC guidelines to ensure the residents understand and practice social distancing and other protocols. These measures have forced the Town to have a higher number of expenses that were not included in the budget, therefore, the Town has to suspend a number of services and activities for the residents. Furthermore, the number of unemployed residents has increased which has created a very high demand for basic essentials like food, personal hygiene items, baby food and diapers. The Town was forced to suspend all parking enforcement, permits, and sports activities which all have negatively impacted revenues. The Town was not able to hire additional firemen during this very difficult time, which puts the existing personnel at higher risk. We desperately need financial support to help ensure that our community is able to bounce back from this health and economic pandemic.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Peter Klein, a World War II veteran and beloved member of the VFW Post No. 335 in Cranford, NJ. Mr. Klein is typical of his war time generation. He is soft-spoken, and self-effacing, never bringing up his wartime experiences unless you broach the subject first. Even then, his humility is an obstacle you must overcome to get him to truly discuss his history, and history is what he does indeed possess. In World War Two, Peter Klein was a military trained medic. He was armed in battle with only his modest medical kit and the knowledge he was taught on how to give first aid and comfort to those down on the battlefield of war. His very first opportunity to put his expertise to use was a significant one. Mr. Klein was in the third wave of the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, on June 6, 1944. Rushing off the landing craft, he soon found himself knee deep in sand tending to those boys who had fallen while machine gun bursts flew above his head. As if D-Day wasn't enough, he went on to see action during the frigid Battle of the Bulge and Hurtgen Forest, in Germany as well. These were two of most significant events of the latter stages of the war. Mr. Klein undoubtedly did his part in fulfilling his obligations to the country he loves. Coming home after the war, Mr. Klein found work as a mason and building inspector, raising a fine family in the town of Cranford, NJ. His wife passed a few years ago and he will tell you his life will never be the same. He still visits the VFW Post in Cranford on a weekly basis, ``shooting the breeze'' with his veteran buddies and enjoying his 97th year of life. To the men and women of the VFW post No. 335, he has always been and will always be their ``Pete,'' a very special veteran. Madam Speaker, please join me today in recognizing the extraordinary accomplishments of Peter Klein.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here today and to say to my constituents in Phillipsburg, in Dover, and in Clark who are out of work, to our restaurant owners in Somerville and Summit, to our nurses and doctors at Overlook and Hunterdon Medical: Help is on the way. This does not mean we are done. There is so much more to do for our local governments, for example, for our hospitals and healthcare system. Congress must keep working. Let's use technology. Let's use remote voting. Let's have virtual hearings to make sure this money we are approving goes out the door quickly and to the right people. And let's remember, we are not here today rescuing the economy because of a virus. We are rescuing the economy because of our failure as a nation to test for that virus. So Congress will do our job. We will take care of the economy. I implore the President to work with us, Republicans and Democrats, to fix the supply chain for masks, for ventilators, for test kits. Don't talk about reopening America until we have done what we must to reopen it safely.

Mr. MALINOWSKI

Mr. MALINOWSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the heroism of two New Jersey State troopers, Trooper Robert Tarleton and State Police Lieutenant Edward Ryer. On March 2, Trooper Tarleton was stopped and talking with a driver on I-287 in Bridgewater, New Jersey, when a tractor-trailer ran off the road, hit a structure, and burst into flames. Trooper Tarleton immediately ran toward the scene, where he met Lieutenant Ryer, who was off-duty but had stopped to help. With no thought to their personal safety, they grabbed the incapacitated driver from the wreckage, dragging him to safety seconds before the truck exploded. Mr. Speaker, I thank Trooper Tarleton and Lieutenant Ryer for their selfless actions that saved a man's life. I also want to take a moment to recognize the everyday acts of heroism by our law enforcement officers that may not make the news or be captured on a body cam, as this one was. We call them when we need help, and no matter how dangerous the situation, they always come. We are grateful.