Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, since March, I have traveled my district, administering COVID-19 vaccines. As a doctor and former Director of Public Health, I combat vaccine hesitancy by discussing the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, and the benefits of returning to normal lives, removing our masks, gathering together, and reopening businesses and schools by attaining herd immunity. But the deepening mental health crisis has become an epidemic within the pandemic. Yesterday, I read of yet another youth suicide. Eighteen- year-old star quarterback Dylan Buckner, with plans to attend MIT, committed suicide on January 7. His father said that the Illinois extended stay-at-home orders and school closures greatly contributed to his suicide. As leaders, it is our responsibility to encourage and incentivize vaccinations. One incentive is by removing our masks and returning to normal. Despite having reached the traditional level of herd immunity by our Members, our Chamber does not reflect a return to normal. I implore leadership and the Attending Physician to follow science and the CDC guidelines, and permit Members who have been vaccinated or who have naturalized immunity to forgo wearing a mask while in the Chamber, and incentivize and show the public that a world beyond the pandemic exists. Not another minute should go by where children as young as 9 years old commit suicide because they see no hope of a future beyond the pandemic. We cannot waste another second or another young life. Let us remove our masks and show America that there can be a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a young man in Iowa's Second Congressional District with an incredibly bright future. On June 28, Pella High School senior Tony Schmitz will enroll as a cadet at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Everyone knows just how tough it is to get into West Point, with its 12 percent acceptance rate, but getting in is only the beginning. As a 24-year veteran of the Army myself, I can speak firsthand of the challenging, fulfilling, and exciting journey Tony is about to begin. As the school year starts to wind down, I also want to remind all rising seniors in the Second District to reach out to my office if you have an interest in applying to any or attending one of our four amazing service academies. Once again, congratulations to Tony, and always remember: Go Army, beat Navy.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a young woman in my district who is making strides in the field of medical science. Mr. Speaker, 17-year-old Dasia Taylor of Iowa City is currently in the research phase for her groundbreaking invention: surgical sutures that change color when a wound becomes infected. These sutures will be an asset to both doctors and patients to catch post-surgical infections early on when they can be treated more easily with antibiotics. This, in turn, will save lives. For her intellect, research, and ingenuity, Dasia was recently recognized among the top 40 finalists in the 80th Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the most prestigious science and mathematics competitions in the United States for high school scholars. I could not be prouder of Dasia and excited for the next generation of women scientists who are working towards building a better future for generations to come.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the heroic actions of the U.S. Marshals Service. Last month, the U.S. Marshals Service issued this press release: In an ongoing joint operation known as Operation Homecoming, the U.S. Marshals, in coordination with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other Iowa agencies, have located 21 missing Iowa children between the ages of 4 and 17 since October 2020. As a mother, I cannot begin to imagine the heartache the families of these children have endured, but thanks to the U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies tasked with finding missing and exploited children, these 21 children have finally been brought home. I would like to thank Deputy Marshal Christopher Siemens, U.S. Marshal Doug Strike, and the more than 50 local task forces that are working to return Iowa children home to their families. Speaking of missing and exploited children, it cannot go without saying that, for missing and exploited children, know what is happening at our border is a travesty. I want to thank Customs and Border Protection agents for all they are doing to try to reunite these children and get them safely to their end result. But it should not continue as the U.S. Federal Government, under this administration, is engaged in a human smuggling operation.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to introduce this as a small business owner myself. The NFIB letter says: H.R. 7 will add significant burdens to small businesses and potentially expose them to frivolous lawsuits. In addition, the bill will make legitimate business-related pay differences difficult to defend in court, invite frivolous lawsuits against small business owners by allowing unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in equal pay lawsuits, and significantly increase small business paperwork burdens. Moreover, the NFIB letter says that H.R. 7 will make it nearly impossible for a small employer to defend against claims where an alternative employment practice exists and could serve the same business purpose without producing the wage differential. The letter also highlights the significant paperwork burdens H.R. 7 would place on small businesses who do not have a human resources department, a full-time staff member in charge, or attorneys for reporting and compliance. Mr. Speaker, having been a small business owner and supported by the small business owners, and during the pandemic when it is so necessary for us to get our small businesses up and operating, I urge my colleagues to take these views of small business owners into consideration before they vote on H.R. 7.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I rise as the designee of Representative Stefanik, and I have an amendment at the desk.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, equal work deserves equal pay, and we owe it to women to constructively engage on addressing pay disparities in the workplace and put forward real solutions. Unfortunately, Democrats have put forth a bill that prioritizes lawsuits and government regulation over women's economic empowerment and advancement. H.R. 7 would require employers to make intrusive data disclosures that would add compliance costs exceeding $600 million per year while posing serious threats to workers' privacy and their paychecks. On top of these onerous new requirements, H.R. 7 will force America's businesses to prepare for an onslaught of frivolous lawsuits, which now will be open to unlimited compensatory and limited damages. Forty percent of small businesses are run by women, and H.R. 7 would make it harder for these women business owners to succeed. This issue is too important to leave to partisan solutions. Our amendment, the Wage Equity Act, offers a stark contrast to the approach laid out in H.R. 7. We look to innovation in the States to find bipartisan policy that is supported by both Republicans and Democrats and signed by Republican Governors--proof that equal pay for equal work is not a partisan issue. The Wage Equity Act supports the empowerment of women in today's economy. America's businesses--particularly our small businesses--seek to do right by their employees. In recognition of this, the Wage Equity Act creates a voluntary pay analysis system to encourage the good-faith efforts of employers to self-identify and correct any wage disparities, should they exist, creating an environment of consistent self- reflection. We believe every American should be able to negotiate employment based upon their qualifications and merit for the position, and that a victim of wage discrimination should not have this discrimination follow them to their next job and compound through the rest of their career. This is why this amendment protects the employee's right to not disclose their salary history during the job interview process unless they wish to do so voluntarily. At the same time, we cannot erode the necessary negotiations that take place in a job interview. The Wage Equity Act protects the ability for an employee and their prospective employer to have a pay expectation conversation, an important part of any negotiation. Our amendment protects employees' ability to discuss compensation with their colleagues while giving employers the ability to set reasonable limitations on the time, location, and manner of this activity to protect employees from harassment. Furthermore, the Wage Equity Act seeks to put women on equal footing as men as they start their careers with a grant program targeted towards women in college and career tech programs to provide negotiation skills education. Lastly, our amendment directs the GAO to study the manager's gap to give us a clearer sense of the impact new parents leaving the workforce have on an employee's future earning and opportunity potential. These are commonsense proposals that are supported by both Democrats and Republicans alike. I encourage my colleagues to reject partisan Government overreach and to support practical, bipartisan solutions that improve the existing law of the land--equal pay for equal work--by voting for the Stefanik amendment. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the National Federation of Independent Businesses opposing H.R. 7.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank a young girl in my district for her charitable actions this year. For their birthday, most 6-year-olds ask their parents for gifts--a dollhouse, a puppy, or a trip to Disney World. But Dempsey Wagner of Lee County has decided to use her special day to raise funds to help keep Iowans safe. Dempsey, who tragically lost two relatives to drowning in 2017, is using her sixth birthday to help raise money for the Lee County Rescue Boat. The rescue boat, along with a trained dive team, have the capability to save many lives on the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers and surrounding Lee County lakes. Last year, Dempsey used her fifth birthday to raise $3,000 for Lee County Crime Stoppers Police Puppies. But this year, Dempsey has used her sixth birthday to more than double her record, raising over $13,610 for the Lee County Rescue Boat. My husband, Curt, and I were proud to contribute to this worthy cause. It is ``Iowa nice'' stories like this that make me more proud to represent Iowa and the Second District. Keep up the good work, Dempsey, and thank you for making both Lee County and Iowa safer.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a local hero in my hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa. This coming Wednesday, March 24, Mary Margaret Butler of Ottumwa will be recognized as a 2021 Hero of the Heartland by the American Red Cross. Mary Margaret is being recognized for founding Whatsoever You Do, Inc., a nonprofit that has worked tirelessly on creating shelters for the homeless in southeastern Iowa. For years now, Whatsoever You Do has helped hundreds with basic needs such as, food, clothing, and housing. Across the country, the Red Cross works every day through programs and services related to disaster relief, the military, health and safety, and helping the homeless. The Hero of the Heartland award recognizes outstanding individuals who demonstrate courage, compassion, selflessness, and work to better help their neighbors and communities. I am proud to not only represent Mary Margaret Butler in Congress, but proud to call her a neighbor. Thank you, Mary Margaret, for making Ottumwa a better place to live. Additionally, I would like to wish a happy birthday to two other amazing women of integrity, selflessness, compassion, and courage, my chief of staff, Tracie Gibler, and my daughter, Taylor Miller-Meeks.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I was going to ask for 1 minute yesterday, given that it was St. Patrick's Day and Pella High School Dutch's color is green, but they are the Pella Dutch, not the Pella Irish. Last Friday, the Pella High School Dutch of Marion County, Iowa, successfully completed their playoff run by winning the 3A Iowa boys basketball championship. Capping off a terrific 26-2 season with a 15-1 conference record, the Dutch brought home the State championship for the first time in 18 years. The achievement of winning a State title itself is something of which the Dutch team and the Pella community should be proud, but these players and their families should be even more proud of their commitment to the game, perseverance, sportsmanship and teamwork that guided them through this incredible season. For the seniors, I hope you continue to follow your passions, in basketball and elsewhere beyond high school. For the juniors and underclassmen, I wish you the best of luck in the coming years, both on and off the court. Mr. Speaker, I am thrilled for this team, the coaching staff, fans, and the entire Pella community, and I am honored to represent them in Congress, and speak about them on the House floor.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congresswoman Fischbach, for yielding me time. I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can take up my bill, H.R. 1897, the REACT Act. My bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to test all migrants illegally crossing our border who they plan to release into our communities for COVID-19. Yesterday, I traveled to El Paso, Texas, to meet with the men and women of the United States Customs and Border Protection. I saw firsthand the crisis they are facing and believe it is our job as Congress to do everything in our power to address it. CBP is currently encountering more than 3,000 migrants on average per day, which is rapidly approaching levels seen at the height of the 2019 crisis. To put this in perspective, President Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, stated during his tenure that 1,000 apprehensions a day was considered a bad day. We are at more than three times that now, and on top of it, we continue to face a global pandemic. In February, CBP encountered over 100,000 migrants on the southwest border trying to illegally enter our country. This does not include those migrants who may have gotten away or evaded detection, some of whom may be positive for COVID-19. The Department of Homeland Security announced today that we are on track to encounter the highest number of migrants along the southwest border in the last 20 years. Seasonally, migration gets worse in the spring months of April and May, so we are likely to see these numbers increase over the coming months. Yesterday, I heard directly from the Border Patrol agents that few, if any, of the thousands of migrants we saw in CBP custody are being tested for COVID-19. These migrants, and children, in particular, are being held in facilities that are already at capacity, and often for longer than the 72-hour limit permitted by law. According to recent reports, as of March 8, 185 migrants released into Brownsville, Texas, have tested positive for COVID-19. Border security and immigration is not an issue that only affects border States. It affects every community across the country. If the Biden administration continues to release these migrants, they will not stay in our border communities. Instead, they will travel to every State. Without proper testing and quarantine, they are likely to bring COVID-19 with them, and the communities to which they are transferred are unaware. As a physician and former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I know that the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over. We must ensure that any individuals the Biden administration insists on releasing into our communities do not have COVID-19. This is also why I support reinstating the PAUSE Act, to prevent the introduction of new COVID-19 cases from Canada and Mexico. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to require that we keep all of our communities and these migrants safe and to stop spreading COVID-19 by voting ``no'' on the previous question.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Foxx for yielding time for me to speak today. Even though I have family members who are members of unions, I rise today to speak in opposition to H.R. 842, the PRO Act. The PRO Act is an unnecessary challenge to the rights of business owners and workers alike. The legislation would eliminate right-to-work laws across our country, and Iowa has one of those. It is yet another attempt to attack States' rights. Abolishing these laws would force workers to participate in and pay dues to unions, even if they don't wish to be represented or support a union's political philosophy. If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cared about workers' rights, why did this administration cancel the Keystone Pipeline and open our borders to a crisis? Additionally, this bill would strike down other worker protections, including their ability to hold secret ballot elections and to be heard by the National Labor Relations Board, and would create burdensome guidelines for determining joint employment and independent contractor status. We need to do more to support our workers and businesses and do it in a bipartisan fashion. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to oppose the prounion boss act.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to call up H.R. 682, the Reopen Schools Act, to get our kids out from behind screens and back in the classroom.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements of nine young men in my district. Because schools in Iowa are open for in-person learning, our young men and women are able to participate in sports, and I am able to rise today to honor their recent achievements for winning Iowa's State championship in wrestling. Dustin Bohren, Bradley Hill, and Griffin Liddle of Bettendorf; Hunter Gavin of Iowa City West; Ben Kueter of City High in Iowa City; Matthew Lewis of Centerville; Hayden Taylor of Solon; Kobe Simon of West Liberty; and Marcel Lopez of New London each won State championships last month in Des Moines. Wrestling, we think, in Iowa, we are the center of the universe. When it comes to wrestling, we are, but we do give a nod to a certain Representative from Ohio. Wrestling and Dan Gable are as much a part of Iowa's unique history and culture as corn, first-in-the-Nation caucuses, Casey's Breakfast Pizza, and, of course, Chuck Grassley. Before the pandemic, fans would cram into gyms across the State to watch our local teams compete. For the lucky few who made it to the State tournament, thousands would travel from all 99 counties to watch. These young men and women have marked their place in Iowa history, and I could not be prouder to represent them in Congress.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, in the coming days, the House is expected to vote on a $1.9 trillion spending bill that the majority claims will help fight the COVID-19 crisis. Despite this massive price tag, less than one-half of 1 percent of those dollars in this bill will go to fund a local and State public health workforce. As a former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I have seen firsthand the great work our local public health departments do, and I know how necessary they are in this fight against COVID-19. It is unthinkable to me that any so-called COVID relief bill will dedicate such a miniscule portion of its funding to local public health departments, the same departments that are in our community, with us every day, working around the clock to defeat this pandemic. In contrast, FEMA is allocated $50 billion, and they have no medical personnel to dispense vaccines. Mr. Speaker, if we are serious about defeating this virus, I urge my colleagues to prioritize our public health officials and those on the frontline against COVID-19, instead of directing billions of dollars to programs and initiatives unrelated to this crisis. This funding should go as a passthrough to the CDC and directly to noncompetitive, local public health grants. In our 99 counties in Iowa, local public health officials are intelligent, experienced, and capable to dispense vaccines in a rapid and efficient process. They have proven their capabilities by setting up drive-through clinics for flu vaccines, and also in the H1N1 pandemic as well. And given their preparedness training, they have worked with our local emergency management associates to do drive- through testing. These are the same nurses and individuals who live in your communities and who have vaccinated your children and have been the source of information and calm and support throughout this crisis. Mr. Speaker, let's work together to defeat this virus by supporting our State and local public health teams by getting them the funding they need directly to them at the community level through noncompetitive, local public health grants. Acknowledging the tremendous work that our local public health workforce does on a daily basis and funding their efforts will defeat this virus and get America back on its feet.

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the accomplishments of someone in my district who is not as vertically challenged as I am. This past weekend, University of Iowa men's basketball player Luka Garza broke the University of Iowa's all-time scoring record in basketball. The new record of 2,126 points put Luka ahead of the late Roy Marble, who held the previous record of 2,116 points for over 30 years. A native of the D.C. area, Luka was a star player for the Maret School, leading the Frogs to a city championship while being named Gatorade D.C. Player of the Year and setting the school points record. Luka has been a dominant player in college basketball since his first game as a University of Iowa Hawkeye against Chicago State. Since then, he has gone on to win numerous conference and national awards, including Big Ten Player of Year and the Sporting News Player of the Year last season. As a former faculty member at the university, I was thrilled when Luka decided to return to Iowa City for his senior season instead of heading to the NBA draft. With four regular season games, the Big Ten Tournament, and March Madness left, I have no doubt that Luka will continue to break his own record and make Iowa proud and the best place to live, work, play, and raise a family.