Jennifer McClellan

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I close with the words of Maya Angelou: You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I rise. A lot of our history wasn't written down, was erased, our files burned, our bodies burned, our bodies twisted, hung, shot, trod in the dirt, and still we rose. The Congressional Black Caucus founded by 13 members, now 62 strong, we will continue to ensure that our stories, that Black history is told. Still we rise because Black history is American history. Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to anchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour, as we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose national holiday was yesterday and who would have been 97 years old on January 15. Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago today was Martin Luther King Day. It was also Inauguration Day. As I sat in the rotunda watching the President take the oath of office, I couldn't help but ponder the final question that Dr. King pondered in the last year of his life: Where do we go from here? Chaos or community. Dr. King asked this question after the victory of the Civil Rights Act and after the victory of the Voting Rights Act. He pondered what the Black community should do with this extraordinary power, the power of the vote, when for the first time in American history, a government by, of, and for the people finally included Black Americans. He focused on addressing poverty. He focused on addressing discrimination. He focused on addressing war. I thought about another speech that he gave shortly before he died called: ``Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.'' Before Inauguration Day, one of the architects of Project 2025, which has been the blueprint for the second Trump administration, said this is the second American Revolution, which will be peaceful if the left allows it. I thought about what Dr. King would say today. His words remain relevant. Within hours of the President taking his oath of office, chaos was unleashed. Through an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, we saw over the past year efforts to roll back the hard-won victories of the civil rights movement. We see at the Supreme Court right now a case that could gut what remains of the Voting Rights Act after the court gutted section 5 and section 4 effectively in the Shelby County v. Holder case. We have seen Black and Brown communities, including American citizens, living in terror as ICE agents show up on streets, door to door, in our courthouses, and on the way to school, grabbing people and violating their due process rights. We have seen trade wars that make the cost of everything go up. We have seen a Federal workforce--which was the doorway to the middle class for many Black Americans--we have seen a Federal workforce, in the words of Russell Vought, ``traumatized.'' We have seen the largest cuts to food assistance and healthcare coverage in American history. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Chaos has been unleashed. Dr. King in his time, while he fought chaos, he stayed focused on community. He stayed focused on building what he called the beloved community. I think the beloved community is best described as a community in which we care for one another. It is where we feed the hungry, where we care for the sick, and where we house the homeless. He focused on making sure that the promises upon which this country was founded ring true for every American. Before he died, he wondered if the dream that he talked about on the March on Washington had become a nightmare and was too far out of reach. Yet, on the night before he died, he told us that he had seen the Promised Land, that he wouldn't get there with us, but he still believed in the power of community and the power of the beloved community. Today, the Congressional Black Caucus is carrying forward his work. We are his legacy. We ensure that what he fought for--what John Lewis fought for, and what millions of Americans have fought for--since the first day in 1619, when Africans were brought to these shores involuntarily--endures. From day one, through acts of rebellion, resistance, and self-liberation, fought for an America that included them, and we the people. We carry out that legacy, and we will fight the chaos every single day to ensure that his work continues. Whether it is expanding the right to vote, whether it is fighting unjust wars, whether it is working to eradicate poverty, whether it is standing up for the constitutional rights of every American, as the conscience of the Congress, we will continue that legacy. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to our chairwoman, the Congresswoman from New York (Ms. Clarke).

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair for her words. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to our immediate past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressman from Nevada's Fourth, Steven Horsford.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the Congresswoman from North Carolina's Fourth District, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Foushee. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey).

Ms. McCLELLAN. I thank Congressman Ivey for his remarks. Mr. Speaker, you see behind me a quote from Dr. King that he gave in an interview in 1967 where he talks about how in many ways the dream that he articulated in the march on Washington had become a nightmare. Most people are surprised by that. Why did it become a nightmare? It became a nightmare because after the victories of the Civil Rights Act, after the victory of the Voting Rights Act, when he really began to address the systemic issues facing this country of poverty, of hatred, of war, he began to see how deeply ingrained in American culture racism really was. He began to see that the systemic racism couldn't just be overcome with laws. I think for many African Americans today that is the heartbreak that we face. When Dr. King spoke at the march on Washington, he said that in many ways the marchers had come to collect on a promissory note in our Declaration of Independence written 250 years ago, which promised that all men were endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson didn't mean all men. He didn't include the men, women, and children that he owned, including his children and the mother of those children. When James Madison, the architect of the Constitution wrote the Virginia Plan that led to the Constitution in the beginning, ``We the people . . . in order to form a more perfect Union'' and laid out a vision of government by, of, and for the people, it didn't include all the people. My ancestors, our ancestors here in the Congressional Black Caucus, weren't even deemed people. They were deemed three-fifths of a person for purposes of apportionment. They were treated as property and in some cases animals. We have a country that was literally built on the backs of a whole race of people with an ideal that was revolutionary: it said the power of government derives from the people. My ancestors believed in that ideal just as much as yours, Mr. Speaker, but it took us a long time to participate in that government, in that promise. That is what the civil rights movement was about. It was also about recognizing the basic decency and dignity of every human being, regardless of where they are born, regardless of how they worship, regardless of the color of their skin. We still have a long way to go, because what diversity, equity, and inclusion recognizes is that when the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act and all of the laws that were passed because of the work of Dr. King, they weren't a magic wand that erased over 300 years of the impact of slavery and Jim Crow. That requires intention, intentional unwinding to recognize that you have people like my mother's family, who her parents, her brothers, and her sisters didn't go to school beyond the eighth grade because the State of Mississippi didn't find it important to educate Black children, and while the Catholic church did, they only educated Black children until the eighth grade. Their opportunities were limited. You had neighborhoods like Jackson Ward that I represent that was once the Harlem of the South, decisions were made to cut that neighborhood in half by a highway and segregate part of that neighborhood away from everything that they needed. Those were intentional decisions that were made rooted in this community doesn't matter. So, part of the nightmare has been the very things used to try to erase the legacy of Jim Crow and slavery have now been weaponized against that progress. When you see the President of the United States deride the very things used to try to eradicate the legacy of Jim Crow and slavery to divide again, to wedge, to sow division, it is as old as time. The history of this country has been every time we make progress towards the ideal, there is backlash, and it involves three things: violence, propaganda, and voter suppression. My great-grandfather lived through the first backlash. He was a man born on a plantation. His parents were enslaved. He exercised his right to vote after he was given a literacy test. He got all the questions right, and he heard the registrar say--and this is the only time you will hear me use this word is in a direct quote--``I need more questions because this nigger got them all right.'' He was on a list, do not register this man to vote. My parents saw the second backlash to the civil rights movement. We are in the third backlash now. What the backlash involves is propaganda that breaks up coalitions, whether it was a coalition of previously enslaved Black men and poor nonlandowning Whites who came together during Reconstruction to rebuild this Nation, the backlash to that involved racial terror lynching, or the lie of white supremacy and a rash of voter suppression laws that completely ignored the 14th and 15th Amendments. The backlash in the civil rights movement of Dr. King was a Southern strategy that intentionally carved a wedge between Black and White communities--it was intentional in order to suppress the vote--and the murder of our leaders who fought to change those laws and to change the system. We are in that backlash right now. We have a choice, and Dr. King spelled it out. We decide where we go from here. We decide: Is it more chaos, division, hatred, propaganda, violence, voter suppression, and tyranny where we pit one group against another to stay in power? That is one choice. Dr. King gave his life for community where we come together, where we work together, and where we uplift each other. We care for one another, we love one another, and we live up to the ideal upon which this country was founded. He died for that because it meant some people found that idea dangerous. We, the Congressional Black Caucus, stand here today recommitted to making his dream a reality. We won't give in to the nightmare. We will not give in to the chaos. Not only will we fight the chaos, we will fight for community. We can't do it alone. Just like the civil rights movement during Reconstruction and just like the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, it required people coming together from all walks of life putting aside hatred and division and loving their neighbor and their enemy. We can do that. We need a little love today. We need a little light in the darkness. We need community in the midst of the chaos. We have to do it because while we are fighting the same fights that our parents, our grandparents, and our great-grandparents fought, we cannot leave those fights to our children, our grandchildren, or our great-grandchildren if we expect this country to survive. That is because what Dr. King also recognized was that now human beings hold the power to destroy each other and to destroy this planet. If we don't get ahold of our hatred, then a lot of lives will be destroyed. That is not what Dr. King wanted. That is not what people elect us to do. They elect us to help people and solve problems. They elect us to focus on community. Let's not give into the chaos. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and remember the life of William J. ``Bill'' Martin, a cherished leader, historian, and steward of Richmond's history, who passed away on December 28, 2025, at the age of 71. Bill Martin served with distinction for over three decades as the Director of The Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia, dedicating his life to preserving and interpreting the rich and complex narratives of our community. Born and raised in Culpeper County, Virginia, Bill's passion for history and community storytelling grew into a remarkable career that transformed The Valentine into a dynamic, vibrant center of learning and civic engagement. During his 32 years of leadership, Bill guided the museum through financial crises, expanded its collections and programs, and fostered inclusive conversations about Richmond's past and its impact on the present and future. His stewardship helped ensure that The Valentine became not just a collection of artifacts, but a forum where history could be studied and shared by all. Bill's commitment to truth and community extended beyond The Valentine's walls. He embraced challenging and sometimes uncomfortable discourse about slavery, the legacy of the Confederacy and Jim Crow, and how Richmond's history is told. His efforts strengthened civic understanding, bridged diverse perspectives, and inspired countless residents and visitors to reflect deeply on our shared past. Bill Martin was widely recognized for his contributions to Richmond's cultural life. In 2024, he was named ``Richmonder of the Year'' by Style Weekly, as a testament to his influence and the profound respect he earned across the Richmond community. Bill was not just a constituent; he was a true friend, one whose passion and joy for his work and community were infectious. While his legacy will live on in the stories he brought to light, he will be dearly missed. These words reflect not only Bill's professional excellence but also his personal warmth, his ability to bring people together, and his unwavering belief in the power of history to guide us toward a more just and informed future. Today, we mourn the loss of a visionary leader, a devoted colleague, and a dear friend to so many in the Richmond region and beyond. Bill's legacy will endure in the countless lives he touched, in the stories he preserved, and in future generations of learners and leaders he inspired.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of a 3-year extension of the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits. Millions of Americans who benefited from these credits are now facing the real prospect of losing their health insurance because they can no longer afford their premiums. We have told their stories for months. These are small business owners, their employees, the self-employed, farmers, restaurateurs, beauticians, landscapers, mediators, chiropractors, on and on. They are people like Bobby Connor from Brunswick County, Virginia, who is 3 years away from Medicare. Last year, with the tax credit, he paid $34 per month for his insurance. This year, he was set to pay $92 with the tax credit. Now, without it, he is looking at $1,700 a month. Lester and Yolanda Johnson of Richmond, Virginia, co-owners of Mama J's Restaurant, and their 8-year-old daughter are going from paying about $700 a month with the tax credit last year to over $1,400 this year without it. We have a chance to give Bobby, Lester, Yolanda, and millions like them the peace of mind that if they get sick or injured, they can get the care they need without losing everything.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Dr. A. Lincoln James Jr., a devoted pastor, educator, and community leader whose faith and service left an enduring impact on Richmond and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dr. James answered the call to ministry in 1967 and dedicated his life to serving God and uplifting others. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from North Park College and Seminary and later received his Master of Divinity from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University, grounding his ministry in both scholarship and compassion. For over 45 years, Dr. James faithfully served as Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Richmond, where he shepherded generations of congregants with wisdom, humility, and grace. Under his leadership, Trinity Baptist Church expanded its ministry, strengthened its community outreach, and remained a steadfast spiritual home for countless families. One of his most lasting legacies is The Trinity Family Life Center and its mission to strengthen families and uplift communities by enhancing family stability, pursuing academic excellence and providing services that create fit and vibrant communities. Beyond his pastoral service, Dr. James was a respected leader in faith, higher education, and the Commonwealth. He served as President of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, fostering unity among churches, mentoring faith leaders throughout Central Virginia and beyond, and advancing the mission of service throughout the Commonwealth. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Richmond Virginia Seminary and as a trustee of the University of Lynchburg. In these roles, he helped guide institutions dedicated to theological education, leadership development, and community empowerment. Dr. James further shared his wisdom as an adjunct professor and lecturer at institutions including Virginia Union University and Richmond, Virginia Seminary, mentoring future ministers and leaders. He also served as a member of the Virginia Parole Board. Dr, James's ministry extended across Virginia and beyond, including earlier service in Chicago and pastoral leadership in Kilmarnock, Petersburg, and Prince George County. Wherever he served, he was known for his steady leadership, deep faith, and unwavering commitment to justice and compassion. Above all, Dr. James was a devoted husband, father, and servant- leader whose life reflected his abiding faith and love for others. His legacy lives on through the lives he touched, the leaders he mentored, and the community he strengthened. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the remarkable life of Dr. A. Lincoln James, Jr., and in extending our deepest condolences to his family, the Trinity Baptist Church family, and all who mourn his passing. May his memory continue to be a blessing.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. In just 15 days, health insurance premiums will skyrocket for more than 20 million Americans. At a time when people are already struggling with higher costs for groceries, rent, childcare, and utilities, this bill does nothing to stop the immediate harm heading their way on January 1. Here is what that looks like for Virginians in Virginia: A 60-year- old couple earning $85,600 a year will see their premiums rise by $15,446, and a family of four earning $66,000 a year will see their premiums jump $2,651. Mr. Speaker, these are not abstract numbers. They are small business owners, employees, farmers, gig workers, self-employed, and more who will be forced to make impossible choices. We still have time. We can pass a bill now to extend the tax credits. We should do so.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, we have 4 legislative days left in 2025, 17 days total. This is our last chance to prevent 22 million people from seeing their insurance premiums double or even triple and for some to see their health insurance premium spike beyond their ability to pay when the enhanced premium tax credits expire on December 31. An estimated 5 million people will find that they can no longer afford those premiums and will lose their coverage altogether. For the past month, the Congressional Black Caucus has told stories on this floor of our constituents who will be impacted by this body's failure to act. These include restaurant owners, beauticians, barbers, landscapers, florists, mediators, chiropractors, funeral directors, farmers, small business owners and their employees, gig workers, the self-employed, and more. We have told stories of people worried about how they are going to pay that unexpected bill if they get sick or injured or if they lose their health insurance. We have 4 days to prevent that from happening. Last week the Senate failed to act. The administration doesn't even seem to have a concept of a plan, so it is up to the House. Leader Jeffries has the discharge petition open right now to extend the credits, and we need just four Republicans to sign on. Last week Punchbowl News reported that Speaker Johnson is planning a long process to fix healthcare, saying he anticipates working on healthcare through the second quarter of next year. However, open enrollment ends on January 15, 1 month from today, and those new premiums will take effect on January 1, in 17 days. Mr. Speaker, do you know who can't wait for the Speaker's process? It is my constituent Lester Johnson, co-owner, with his wife, of Mama J's Restaurant. They and their daughter rely on the Affordable Care Act paying about $700 a month for their premiums in 2025. However, without the enhanced premium tax credits, their bill is going to go up to more than $1,400 a month, and many of his roughly 40 employees are going to see their premiums spike, as well. It is a lot of money for people, Lester said, and not knowing what the price is going to be because of a stalemate in Congress adds uncertainty. Everybody is feeling the anxiety. Lester is not sure what he is going to do. I have told stories of constituents in Virginia who found a plan they could afford but with higher deductibles. They are worried. They say they are just going to wrap themselves in bubble wrap and hold their breath. Bubble wrap doesn't help you, Mr. Speaker, if you are in a car accident. Bubble wrap doesn't help you, Mr. Speaker, when you get sick. Bubble wrap doesn't help you, Mr. Speaker, if you end up going into premature labor and have to pay an average of $70,000 a day for a NICU stay. Rather than addressing this premium cliff, House Republicans have put forth a reckless plan that will put millions more Americans' healthcare coverage at risk. This new bill does nothing to lower costs for millions of Americans who are now facing skyrocketing healthcare premiums. The bill is full of recycled failed ideas from previous efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It fails to extend vital enhanced premium tax credits, forcing more than 22 million Americans to pay, on average, twice as much to buy the same health coverage they have today. As I said, an estimated 4 to 5 million could become entirely uninsured, and everybody else will pay higher healthcare costs. This proposal increases premiums for millions of Americans by funding cost-sharing reductions, causing hundreds of thousands of people to become uninsured. It expands so-called association health plans that put comprehensive and affordable care for small businesses and workers at risk. This has been the centerpiece of Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act for decades. It doesn't work. The plan also creates a backdoor ban on abortion and reproductive healthcare. Republicans have shown they have no agenda to address healthcare affordability and access. As Americans stare down notices that their healthcare costs will increase by tens of thousands of dollars in just 2 weeks, Republicans are cramming through legislation that kicks them while they are down. Americans will suffer without the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, and yet Republicans still haven't put forward a clean plan that will provide relief. Instead, they are putting on political theater with an unserious vote on an amendment that will undermine the ACA that their leadership intends to see fail. This eleventh hour, half-baked plan isn't even feasible to implement. Earlier this year, Democrats urged Republicans to extend the tax credits fearing for those Americans whose costs were about to skyrocket. Instead, Republicans spent their time cutting $1 trillion from the healthcare system while Americans began receiving their notices that their healthcare premiums would skyrocket and Republicans stood idly by. Now we are just 2 weeks away from the expiration of these tax credits, and this half-baked plan isn't going to cut it. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Carter for his remarks. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't here when the Affordable Care Act was passed. I was in the State legislature in Virginia. It was after I had become a mother. It was while I was part of the sandwich generation, trying to raise two children and deal with elderly parents nearing the end of their lives. It was while I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how we were going to close the insurance gap so that no one would face a couple of scenarios that I was lucky enough to have health insurance to cover, but a lot of people don't. The first was when my son was almost 3 years old, and in the blink of an eye he grabbed my curling iron and burned his hand. We were in a rural community in Virginia whose hospital didn't have a burn unit. It was very small. They couldn't even figure out what degree the burn was. This was on a Saturday. They said: You can either go home--and on Wednesday there is a burn clinic where they can look at his hand for free--or we can see if the VCU Health center can admit him today. I said: Well, he is going to get admitted today because I knew I had health insurance, and whatever that bill was going to be, I didn't have to worry about it. If I didn't have health insurance, I would have been forced to wait until Wednesday to go to the clinic, and his hand probably would have been infected. After a 3-hour ambulance ride, a week in the burn unit, and all the medication, the bill was $15,000. In the blink of an eye, my son's injury cost $15,000. However, I was lucky because I had health insurance, so I only had to pay $1,000. I was lucky I had the ability to pay that. At the time, we were trying to figure out should Virginia expand Medicaid to help people who can't afford health insurance get it. We were able to expand it on a bipartisan basis because in our rural areas, they understood Medicaid expansion was critical to keeping their hospitals open. Over 300,000 Virginians got health insurance because of that. Now, those 300,000 Virginians face the prospect of losing their health insurance because of actions Congress took in July with the largest Medicaid cut in American history. In our rural areas, six hospitals in Virginia are at risk of closing because of those Medicaid cuts, one in my district that is a healthcare safety net. The closest hospital if they close is over an hour away. We also created our own State-based healthcare exchange, and 573,000 Virginians signed up. Many of them now face the prospect they won't be able to afford their premiums when their tax credits expire in 17 days. This is all in the context of folks seeing their housing costs increase, whether it is rent or mortgage, their energy bills increase, childcare increase. A lot of folks are facing the prospect that they cannot pay their rent and their health insurance, so they are playing the lottery, figuratively: The lottery that they won't get sick or the lottery they won't get injured. When they do, whether they are insured or not, they are showing up at the hospital, and the rest of us will pay the cost. Mr. Speaker, as we enter the holiday season, as a preacher's kid, I have been thinking a lot about Matthew 25:31-40, where Jesus said: ``Come, you who are blessed by my Father.'' He said when He enters into his kingdom, all the nations will come, and He will say: `` `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ``Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' '' When did we do this? And He said: ``Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me.'' Mr. Speaker, I came to Congress looking to do for the least of these as well as every American, but Congress' priorities this year have not been that. Congress bent over backward, congressional Republicans specifically, bent over backward to provide permanent tax breaks for people who make over $500,000 a year, but if you make $64,000 a year, or a family of four that makes $129,000 a year, you are just expected to absorb health insurance premiums that double or triple. If you make $21,597 a year, or a family of four who makes $44,000 to $45,000 a year, you are supposed to absorb your healthcare costs if you lose access to Medicaid. That is upside down, and what we are saying is to the least of these, you are on your own. They deserve better. We have 4 days to try to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to health insurance. Are we going to do it? Time will tell. I still have hope, but we will see. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, education is personal to my family. In the 1880s, my great-grandfather founded a school in a rural community because the State of Alabama did not think it important to educate Black children. As he explained in his autobiography, he wanted to teach the children, whose parents and grandparents had been enslaved on the plantations nearby, to be of better service to themselves, to their employers, and to the community in which they lived. In the 1930s, my father and his sisters attended that school because the State of Tennessee didn't provide a good education to Black children. Like his father and grandfather, my dad became an educator himself, ultimately teaching the next generation of educators at Virginia State University, which I now represent in Congress. In the 1950s, my mother moved away from her hometown because the State of Mississippi did not provide a good education to Black children. The only school that did was run by the Catholic church but only to the eighth grade. The third youngest of 14 children, she wanted more than the domestic and laborer jobs available to her grandparents, her parents, her brothers, and her sisters. She moved to go to high school, ultimately becoming an educator herself. She ran the federally funded TRIO Programs at Virginia State, which are run by the Department of Education, to ensure that children like her had the support they needed to go to and graduate college. Mr. Speaker, my parents saw firsthand how important a good education was to individual opportunity and a thriving and healthy economy, community, and democracy. They dedicated their lives to ensuring not only that their children but every child had a good education. Not every child is so lucky because the legacy of over 300 years of slavery and Jim Crow, massive resistance, and chronic underfunding has created too many obstacles to the ability of States and local governments to give every child an opportunity for a good education. For the past 20 years, first as a State legislator and now in Congress, I have worked to ensure every child in Virginia gets a good education. As a mother of two children in public schools, even with bipartisan and Herculean effort, I see every day that there are still gaps across the country. The Department of Education was created to fill those gaps. The Department of Education protects students' civil rights, particularly those with disabilities. It provides support to attract, train, and retain the best and brightest teachers, school administrators, support personnel, counselors, and mental health professionals. The Department of Education measures and tracks academic progress across the country and helps those school divisions that lag behind address areas of concern. It manages student loan and grant programs that ensure children without financial means to go college can do so without incurring more debt than they can ever pay off. Without the Department of Education, State and local officials in Virginia and across the country are worried that they do not have the funding or the staff to handle the workload, especially in the area of special education, especially in our rural areas. The block grant funding that the Trump administration keeps promising comes with little accountability, making it unclear whether those Federal funds will ever reach the students that need them the most. Education lays the foundation for a strong future, as well as a thriving, healthy community; a thriving, healthy economy; and a thriving, healthy democracy. We owe it to our grandparents, our children, and our grandchildren to protect that progress for future generations.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today to oppose H.R. 3638, which places an unnecessary burden on an already understaffed Department of Energy and does nothing of substance to support and secure America's electric supply chain. The Electric Supply Chain Act must be examined in the broader context of this administration's reckless workforce reductions and funding cuts at the Department of Energy and surging electric prices across the Nation. Already, as a result of DOGE buyouts or early retirements, the slashing of our workforce has forced over 3,500 Department of Energy staff out of office. In fact, the key offices responsible for implementing this very bill have lost a significant portion of their staff. The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains has lost about two-thirds of its staff and was eliminated from the Department of Energy's organizational chart altogether. The Loan Programs Office has similarly lost a significant number of staff and was further gutted under the Republicans' big, ugly bill. The effects of these cuts have far-reaching implications on the Department of Energy's ability to perform and meet expectations. Across the country, businesses and community partners are waiting to hear from the Department of Energy about critical contracts and access to funding. Congressional offices inquiring on their behalf are still waiting for answers. My office has heard that in some cases the Department of Energy can't even determine who is responsible for certain projects because too many experienced staff have been pushed out of office. With the Department of Energy already struggling to meet its current obligations, how can we pretend that it is business as usual and justify piling on additional duties when there is no one to perform them? Unfortunately, this bill represents much of the same failed energy policy that we have seen this year from our Republican colleagues. It adds busywork to the Department of Energy's already overfilled plate in the name of shoring up America's electric supply chain while doing nothing to address the active harm done to that very same supply chain by Republican attacks on clean energy, the cancellation--authorized by the big, ugly bill--of grants and programs that invest in American energy and tariff policies that make it difficult to complete some projects. If Republicans were serious about supporting and protecting our energy supply chain, they would not have canceled $8 billion worth of grants to over 300 energy projects across the country. They would not have decimated the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, which sought to encourage more domestic manufacturing and production of clean energy components. Instead, my colleagues across the aisle should have invested more in developing domestic sources of clean energy, invested more in domestic manufacturing, and invested more in producing and refining rare earth minerals, either domestically or with our close allies. What we have before us today is an empty messaging bill with unfunded mandates for busywork that will not provide the clarity and direction that we need to support and protect America's clean energy supply chain. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and refocus on efforts that will actually strengthen our energy supply chain and reduce energy costs for our families. I implore the Members of Congress to stand up for the Federal workforce that has been traumatized and decimated this year, while we continue to put bills forward that put more work on the backs of those that are left and ignore the fact that there is not a sufficient workforce to do any of the work that we have in these bills that keep coming to the floor. It is lunacy, and we need to get back to reality.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today for the third week in a row to anchor the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour to tell stories of people who stand to lose their health insurance if Congress does not act in 22 days. Mr. Speaker, 22 days. We have 22 days to prevent at least 5 million people from losing their health insurance. For the past 3 weeks, the Congressional Black Caucus has brought stories of the 22 million people who will see their health insurance premiums double or even triple and, for some, spike beyond their ability to pay when enhanced premium tax credits expire in 22 days. An estimated 5 million people will lose their health insurance because they can't afford these new premiums. The Congressional Black Caucus has told stories of people concerned that they will be among those 5 million. Mr. Speaker, I have good news. This Thursday, the Senate will have two competing plans on the floor for a vote. Yet, Speaker Johnson still has not committed to allowing a vote on the floor in this body. Leader Jeffries has a discharge petition open right now to extend the tax credits, and we just need four Republicans to join us in signing it. House Democrats have come forward with a plan. Senate Democrats have come forward with a plan. Senate Republicans have come forward with a plan. The administration still doesn't seem to have a concept of a plan, but we have 22 days where the American people are expecting us to act. Mr. Speaker, I will begin this Special Order hour by yielding to the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Yvette Clarke of New York.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our chair for her tireless efforts to fight for our constituents who have found their healthcare costs going up along with the cost of everything else. I yield to the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the gentlewoman from Ohio's Third District, Representative Joyce Beatty.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Beatty for her remarks. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, Punchbowl News reported that Speaker Johnson is planning a long process to fix healthcare. The Speaker says he anticipates working on healthcare through the second quarter of the year and have a vote in the first quarter or the second quarter. He acknowledges that there is a lot to fix in healthcare. Mr. Speaker, open enrollment ends on January 15. The new premiums, without the enhanced premium tax credits, take effect for 22 million Americans on January 1. Do you know who can't wait 6 months for a healthcare fix? The 5 million Americans who are estimated to find they can no longer afford their health insurance premiums when the premium goes up. I don't understand the priorities that Congress focused on this year. I really don't. I don't understand how under H.R. 1, which I call the big, ugly bill, Congress bent over backward, congressional Republicans specifically, bent over backward to provide permanent tax breaks for people who make over $500,000 a year, such as a permanent $15 million gift or estate tax break or a tax break for buying an airplane, but for people who make $64,000 a year or a family of four who makes just over $129,000 a year, congressional Republicans just expect them to absorb health insurance premiums that will double or triple. In my district, that family of four earning just over $129,000 a year will see their premiums increase by $4,675. A 60-year-old couple earning $82,800 a year will see their premiums increase by $11,968. My State legislators have predicted at least 60,000 Virginians will have to cancel their insurance coverage. Who are some of these people? We have heard stories, at least under the Medicaid cut debate, we heard Speaker Johnson say, well, these are young men who are living in their parents' basement playing video games. Who are we talking about? Who are these families who are going to see their health insurance premiums spike? They are restaurateurs, beauticians, landscapers, mediators, chiropractors, funeral directors, farmers, freelancers, contractors, and gig workers. They are the ones caught in the cross fire of a political battle that has now reached a stalemate. Roughly, half of the adults covered under the Affordable Care Act, about 10 million people, are small business owners, their employees, or the self-employed, according to KFF. One of them lives in my district. Well, one of the businesses is in my district. There are several people who work there. Lester Johnson and his wife, Yolanda, own and run Mama J's, which is a very good--I highly recommend it--southern cooking, soul food restaurant in my district in Jackson Ward, which was once known as the Harlem of the South. I talked to Lester and he said: It is a lot of gamesmanship, and the people are like the pawns. Lester and his wife and his daughter rely on the Affordable Care Act. They pay right now about $700 a month. He looked at his bill and his bill would go up more than $1,400 if he loses the tax credit. He has about 40 employees and they will see their premiums spike, as well. It is a lot of money for people, Lester said, and not knowing what the price is going to be because of a stalemate in Congress adds uncertainty. I think everybody is feeling the anxiety. Who else can't wait for 6 months? Who else can't wait for 6 months? A lot of people who rely on the Affordable Care Act live in States that voted for the current President, or people who voted for the current President, or live in red districts, like Reagan Fisher Wyssbrod from Salem, Virginia, who works three part-time jobs to help support her family while keeping the flexibility she needs for her children. She spends some days as a substitute teacher and as a business manager for a library association. She does some bookkeeping on the side. None of these jobs offers benefits. Her projected monthly premium increased by $400, raising her monthly out-of-pocket costs to $1,900, and her doctor moved out of network. It is astonishing, she said. She spent 3 weeks combing through plans and eventually found one that would save her family about $100 a month, bringing her premium down to $1,800, but the deductible is a lot higher. Worst case scenario, her out-of-pocket costs would be $20,000 on top of the monthly premium. She said, ``Ultimately, it came down to: I don't go to the doctor that often. My kids don't go to the doctor that often. And so, we just rolled the dice. We will wrap some bubble wrap around us, I guess.'' Bubble wrap is not going to help if she has a heart attack. Bubble wrap is not going to help if she is in a car accident. Bubble wrap is not going to help those mothers of premature babies who spend, on average, $70,000 a day in a NICU stay. Victoria Cassels, an accountant in Roanoke, worries about her adult daughter in Richmond, who is a self-employed graphic designer with an autoimmune disease. This year, her monthly premium rose by $400, about three times higher than it was last year. She plans to help her daughter cover the cost if she can't take on enough work to meet the new expenses. Cassels, who prepares taxes for individuals and small businesses, says that more of her younger clients are talking about dropping health insurance altogether. In the last few years, she has had a slew of clients in their twenties and thirties who have started their own business. They are just getting started in life. They don't have the savings to afford the increasing cost of health insurance. They are probably going to have to put off starting a family because, without health insurance, being pregnant and childbirth are pretty expensive, even with insurance. Ben Pearman, a financial adviser from Bent Mountain in Roanoke County, also runs his own business. Higher monthly costs have led him to reconsider his options. A single man in his fifties, he pays for his own health plan, and next year, his monthly premium will jump from $724 to $935. He can absorb the higher cost but is considering switching to concierge care that will let him pay a flat monthly rate or an annual fee. If he did that, he wouldn't have insurance if an accident happened. Accidents happen. I remember one such accident when my son, just before his third birthday, grabbed my curling iron and burned his hand. This was a Saturday. After a trip to the emergency room--we were in a rural county that didn't have a burn unit--they said: Well, you can either go home to Richmond, a 3-hour drive, and on Saturday there is a burn clinic, and they can take him then, or we can see if we can get him admitted to the hospital tonight. I said we were going to see if we could get him admitted because I had health insurance, and I knew the health insurance would cover it. If I didn't have health insurance, I probably would have had to wait for that burn clinic 3 days later, and his second-degree burn probably would have gotten infected. We took the ambulance ride, and we got to the hospital. After that and a week in the burn unit, the total cost of that bill--and this is in 2013, so you know the prices have gone up--that entire bill was $15,000. I had employer-provided insurance, so I paid $1,000. Imagine if I was one of these families that said that I am just going to wrap myself in bubble wrap or roll the dice and see what happens. $15,000 is a lot of money. These are just a few of the stories of people who right now are struggling to figure out which bill they are going to pay. They are counting on us to help them. Being a history maker who is also a history nerd, I have to tell a little history right now. My parents grew up during the Depression, and my father was born in 1925. He would have been 100 years old in September. He was just old enough to remember when the stock market crash happened. He didn't know what was going on. He was 4. He remembered how his father one day owned an apartment complex, a newspaper, and a nightclub, and the next day lost everything due to circumstances outside of his control. He also remembered and told us the story about the stress that put on his parents. A few years later, in 1934, his mother died from cancer when he was 10 years old. My dad went to Alabama to live with his grandparents, who founded a school. Because the State of Alabama didn't think it was important enough to educate Black children, his grandparents started a school. My dad saw the best of government and the worst of government. He saw the worst of government through Jim Crow. He saw the best of government when Congress and the President, through the New Deal, responded to the Great Depression, responded to people who, through no fault of their own, were economically devastated. My mother was born in the middle of the Depression, so she never knew anything other than poverty. She also experienced the best of government through the New Deal and the worst of government through Jim Crow. Telling me these stories, I came to understand that, at its best, government is a force that helps people and solves problems, especially when those problems are due to factors beyond their control and the solutions are beyond their reach. That is the best of government. The worst of government is when a few benefit from the oppression of the many. We just commemorated the D-day anniversary, a little bit later than the Depression, or as we were coming out of the Depression. There are only 12 people left who survived that. There are very few people alive today who remember the Great Depression. There are very few people today who remember when the United States Government lived up to its better nature and reached out, not to give a handout, but a hand up, to millions of Americans who, in the blink of an eye, lost everything and couldn't feed their families. Mr. Speaker, my father was also a pastor. I can't help but think of him without thinking of Matthew 25:31-40. This is the story of the sheep and the goats, and this is what Jesus talks about. ``When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the Nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right: Come you, who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me. And the righteous will say: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or you needing clothes and we clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The king will reply: Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.'' Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people in this country who are hungry, who are sick, who are unhoused, who are strangers, and who are imprisoned. This year, Congress basically said folks are on their own. This year, Congress basically said that we will make it harder for folks to eat. We will make it harder for people to get the care that they need. The President of the United States fought all the way to the Supreme Court to keep from feeding hungry children with money that Congress appropriated for that purpose in the event of a shutdown. We passed legislation that will strip an estimated 17 million Americans of their health insurance at a time when Americans are looking to us to help them and solve problems. The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. Do we really want to tell 22 million people that because Congress cannot stop playing political football with their lives, they have to gamble with whether or not they pay their health insurance bill when it is priced out of their reach? They are expecting us to act. We have 22 days. Whether it is Leader Jeffries's discharge petition or whether it is one of the bills on the floor of the Senate, we have 22 days to act. We have 22 days to at least say we will make sure that for the next year or 2 years or however many we can, until this magical concept of a plan appears for us to vote on, we will help them a little bit to at least pay for their health insurance right now so they don't have to rely on bubble wrap or a wing and a prayer. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. 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 in the Record.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, today is December 1. At midnight and 30 days, at least 5 million Americans could lose access to their health insurance, and 22 million Americans who benefit from enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act--as they began open enrollment 1 month ago--started to see their health insurance premiums spike. Last week, in honor of Prematurity Awareness Month, I stood on this floor to talk about how the Affordable Care Act expanded insurance to millions of Americans, how Medicaid expansion expanded insurance to millions of Americans, and how critically important that health insurance coverage is to a full-term birth with a nonfatal outcome for mother and child. In the middle of the week, with several other mothers of preemies, I talked about my birth story. Ten years ago, when I woke up one morning and my placenta ruptured and after almost bleeding to death, my daughter, Samantha, was born by emergency C-section. It was the scariest moment of my life. The hardest moment was the fact that I could not hold her, see her, or touch her for 24 hours, as she was in the NICU, and then the moment when I walked out of the hospital and had to leave her in the NICU for 6 more weeks. I don't remember how much that NICU bill was because I was one of the lucky ones who had health insurance to cover that stay. On average, a NICU stay is $70,000 a day. That is more than a single person who qualifies for the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act at the maximum rate of 400 percent of the Federal poverty line makes in a year. That person makes $62,600. The average NICU stay is $70,000. I was lucky not only because I was able to take my daughter home 6 weeks later, but that entire 6 weeks I didn't have to worry about how I was going to pay that bill. All I had to worry about was her and my recovery. There are a lot of people that aren't that lucky. There are a lot of people trying to decide right now whether to start a family. There are people right now who are in the process of starting a family who wonder if they will be able to afford their health insurance come January 1. They are having to make really tough decisions now, as they are in the middle of open enrollment, as to whether or not they can continue to afford health insurance. Tonight, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will bring you stories from our constituents, from the States that we represent, of people who will be priced out of the insurance market, who will be one illness or accident away from economic devastation if Congress does not act to extend the enhanced premium tax credits beyond December 31. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), our chairwoman and the Representative from New York's Ninth District, to tell some stories.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our chair for those remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), the Representative from Georgia's Fourth District.