Jennifer McClellan

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I will put today's anniversary in a larger context, but first, I will center on these four little girls again. As the congregation of the 16th Street Baptist Church greeted each other before the start of Sunday's service, five little girls gathered in the ladies' room in their best dresses. They chatted about the first few days of the school year. They were excited about Youth Day. They were excited to take part in the Sunday adult service. Rather than rising to begin prayers, just before 11 o'clock, the congregation was knocked to the ground when a bomb exploded under the steps of the church. In the basement, 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley were killed. Addie's sister, Sarah, survived but lost her right eye. Between 14 and 22 other people were injured. Dr. King described the attack as ``one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.'' Two years later, the FBI shut down its investigation after determining that the bombing had been committed by four members of the local Ku Klux Klan: Thomas Edwin Blanton, Jr., Herman Frank Cash, Robert Edward Chambliss, and Bobby Frank Cherry. They chose the church because it had been a rallying point for the civil rights activities of that tumultuous spring of 1963. In 1971, Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case and requested evidence from the FBI. After building trust with witnesses who had been reluctant to testify, they were able to convict Robert Chambliss on November 14, 1977, of his part in the crime. It would be decades later before the other suspects were tried. On May 1, 2001, Thomas Blanton was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted. He boasted that he was the one who planted the bomb next to the church wall. That brag is what sent him to prison. Justice was delayed, but ultimately, justice for these little girls was had. Putting this in a larger context, as we grapple with the fact that political violence has reared its ugly head in America yet again, yet again, we see anger, fear, hatred, and division across the Nation. We have been here before multiple times. We don't have enough hours in the day to do a Special Order hour on everyone who has suffered because of political violence. Focusing on how we move forward, Dr. King's words have been on my mind a lot in the past few years. In response to the violence of Charlottesville after the Unite the Right rally, in response to assassination attempts, in response to school shootings, in response to hate crimes, whether political violence, racial violence, or just violence grown out of hate, Dr. King gave us a way forward in two speeches that I come back to as being relevant today. He gave two speeches, one in 1957 called ``Loving Your Enemies,'' and he gave one in 1967 called ``Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?'' That question is relevant today. We see a lot of chaos around us. We have lost sight of community, but we come out of chaos when we focus on community. I am going to read some of Dr. King's words. His speech ``Loving Your Enemies'' was rooted in the Sermon on the Mount. It was rooted in the commandment that Jesus added on the Sermon, in addition to love God, love God as you love yourself, to love your enemies. Mr. Speaker, he talked about how difficult it is to love our enemies. How do we do it? He gave some practical suggestions. He said: ``In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I'm sure that seems strange to you, that that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.'' He went on to talk about how sometimes there is something in the way a person carries himself that triggers a hate response or anger in someone else. He said that the first thing we have got to do is look at ourselves. Was it something I said, even if I didn't mean it? Was it something I posted? Take a look at whether we are embodying love. He said that sometimes we have got to admit there are people that just aren't going to like us, and that is okay. The second, and much more important one, was that an individual must discover the element of good in his enemy. ``Every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will overbalance the bad points.'' . . . ``We're split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives.'' He put it in the context of what was happening in the south. I think we have heard rumblings over the past few years and questions: Are we facing another civil war in ourselves? He said: ``So somehow the `isness' of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal `oughtness' that forever confronts us.'' . . . ``That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. ``And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls `the image of God', you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God's image there.'' Mr. Speaker, I think that is really important. I regret the fact that I never got to meet John Lewis or Dr. King because I want to ask both of them one question: How did they come to love people who physically threatened or attacked them? They both found a way to do it. I think it was rooted in the fact that they recognized--and I think all of us watching in this Chamber, and around the world, should remember what John F. Kennedy said, which is that we all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. We may violently disagree in theory, but that does not mean we should put that violence into action solely because we don't like what someone has said or what they have done. I think we all need to take a step back and see the face of God in one another. Growing up, I remember listening to my parents tell stories of my great-grandparents and the racial terror and lynchings that they faced. I remember them telling me stories of the violence of the 1960s. I remember being lulled into this false sense of security as a Gen X child of the seventies and the eighties of how great it is we moved beyond that. Unfortunately, this week reminded us we haven't. We never will if we don't acknowledge and hold onto the basic decency that tells us, yes, we should love our neighbors but also love our enemies. If we don't, I don't know that we will survive as a country. That is one of the things Dr. King talked about. As a historian, he talked about how different civilizations fell. He talked about the destructive nature of hatred not only toward the person that is hated but toward ourselves. One of my favorite quotes from him is how in both of these speeches he said: ``And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love. ``Hate is too great a burden to bear.'' Hate twists us up. It eats us up and destroys us. He told a story about how he and his brother were traveling in Tennessee. Every time they would go down a road, the oncoming car would leave their bright lights on. His brother said: The next time somebody does that, I am going to leave my bright lights on. He said: Hold up. Somebody has got to have sense enough to turn down the lights. If we don't, we will both be blinded and run off the road. I think we are at a point where we need to have sense enough to turn off the lights, to turn down the temperature, and remember our children are watching. Our children are watching. As we see a rise in gun violence, I have been particularly disturbed by how many children have gotten to the point where they let their hatred allow them to kill other children. As I raise a teenager and a tween, as a preacher's daughter, I try to instill in them the same message of love our neighbors and love our enemies. It is really hard to do that. When I am away from home, making sacrifices to make their lives easier, they see not only the violence that we have become numb to but they see people, their mother included, get threatened. They see people that they have seen in this body say the most vicious things on social media. These are people who were kind to them when I was sworn in and when they stood beside me. They ask some pretty tough questions. As leaders in this country, we have a responsibility to understand that when we stand in this well, at this podium, in our committees, at a press conference, or post on social media, we are not just trying to get clicks, or we shouldn't be. We are not just trying to get attention, or we shouldn't be. We are setting an example for the next generation of leaders. We are setting an example for our children. I think we need to think about that before we post or say something in anger. If somebody doesn't have sense enough to turn on the lights, our hatred is going to blind us to the point where we tear each other and ourselves apart. I get asked all the time: How do you stand it on the Hill? How do you stand in the same room with this person or that person? It is because I do what Dr. King says, which is rooted in love. I look at that person, even if they give me a reason not to, and I recognize: You and I breathe the same air. We both cherish our children's future. We are all worthy of love and respect. We need to get back to that, Mr. Speaker, because if we don't, then I don't know where that leads. Does it lead to a civil war? Does it lead to chaos and everybody just being afraid to leave the house, give a speech, go to a rally, to a movie theater, to school, or to church? Violence isn't new, but in the past, we have found a way to come together and focus on community in the midst of chaos. I am afraid we are losing the ability to do that. We have a responsibility as Members of Congress and as leaders in our community to show the way, to show a way toward community and to show a way out of chaos. It is up to us. It is up to us whether we make it to 2026 where we can celebrate a revolutionary idea that the power of government was derived from the people. I don't know if we can do that if we allow hatred to tear us apart. I think we owe it to everyone who has suffered at the hands of violence, political, racial or otherwise. I want to end with something Dr. King said at the funeral of these four little girls whose lives we celebrate on the 62nd anniversary of when they died: ``Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and difficult moments. Like the ever- flowing waters of the river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. Like the ever-changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. And if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, and that God is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace.'' I think there are a lot of people this week who need that hope. I think there are a lot of people who worry and fear: Will they feel the same despair that so many others have felt when a loved one is killed because of hatred? We owe it to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to do our best every day to build what Dr. King called the ``beloved community,'' where someone will not go to a college campus, a church, or to the movie theater and have their lives snuffed out solely because someone hated them. We can get there if we focus on building community out of chaos, if we focus on the goodness of everybody, and if we focus on love. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McIver for co- anchoring this Special Order hour tonight. You don't grow up in the Commonwealth of Virginia without getting history lessons, and those lessons stuck with me. I am cognizant that next year we have the opportunity to celebrate 250 years of an extraordinary, revolutionary, radical idea that had never been tried, truly, before in the world: the idea that the power of government derives from the people, not from brute force, not from getting it from an inheritance, but the consent of the governed to give power to the government. Why do they do that? It is to meet their needs, to solve their problems. It is an idea that sparked my imagination as a child. It is an idea that as I listened to my parents tell stories of what their life was like growing up during the Depression, growing up during Jim Crow, where they didn't always have their needs met, not because of any fault of their own or their parents, but they saw the best of government through the New Deal, where the Federal Government used its power to help people who couldn't afford to put food on the table, to help people who lost their life savings overnight in the stock market crash, but didn't help all the people because at the same time, my parents saw the worst of government, a government that oppresses some for the benefit of a few. That sparked my imagination again to say what can I do to make government a force for good that helps people and solves problems, rather than oppresses some for the benefit of a few? Eventually, that question led me to Congress. After growing up as a member of Generation X on ``Schoolhouse Rock,'' learning about just a bill's journey to becoming a law, I got here and thought, they didn't get it right because there is no song for what I have seen since coming to Congress, particularly in the 119th. We stand here today, 22 days before government funding expires. We stand here, House and Senate Democrats, ready to pass a bipartisan funding bill that will improve the health of Americans, that will improve access to quality, affordable healthcare, that will improve the safety and economic well-being of every American. As a matter of fact, our leaders sent a letter to Republican leadership in the House and the Senate to that effect. The very next day, the President sent down a pocket rescission that the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee said was unlawful. I happen to agree. Most of this Congress, we have watched a President ignore the will of Congress, Mr. Speaker, or we have seen, at the President's request, congressional Republicans cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits, put lifetime caps on student loans, Federal student loans, cut funding that Congress appropriated for cancer research, for the National Institutes of Health, a whole host of things. People at home are scratching their heads saying: How does this help me? How does this solve my problem? It creates more. I spent the August recess mostly in my district, but I spread out a little bit beyond my district because I am one of only two Virginians on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Healthcare, in particular, has been very important to me. I spent time talking to my constituents, and listening, more importantly, to their concerns, what they were worried about, what they were afraid of, and then talking particularly to healthcare providers across the Commonwealth. What I heard was a lot of anxiety and fear, whether it was my farmers who because of tariff policies aren't seeing the kind of orders-- particularly for soybeans--that they used to see this time of year going overseas. Mr. Speaker, some can't get the parts to repair their equipment because of tariffs. Some businesses have had to raise prices because they have absorbed them for as long as they can. Yet, they are in between a rock and a hard place where if they raise their prices too much, especially the small business owners, they are going to go out of business. I heard from State legislators who wonder how am I going to fill the hole in my State budget caused by cuts to Medicaid, cuts to SNAP, and the requirements on States to pay more when I am also trying to fill the holes in NIH funding and in all the other healthcare funding that helps me meet the needs of my constituents. How am I going to fill the hole when I am still waiting for the Department of Education to send money that was appropriated as schools are about to start. What my State legislators and my local elected officials told me was--I keep hearing people say about how this big, ugly bill is a tax cut, but what it is doing to me is forcing me to either cut services or raise taxes at the State or at the local level. Congress has 22 days for Republicans to decide whether we are going to have a government shutdown because they have made clear from day one that they are in charge. They have made clear from day one that the President can just decide not to spend money we have appropriated, and that is okay. They have made clear that they can pass reconciliation bills without giving us a seat at the table. It is up to them whether Congress will pass funding that meets people's needs and solves their problems and keeps the government open or not. I am usually the eternal optimist. I am a little worried. I am a little worried. Virginia has the second highest number of Federal employees, and since the cuts to the Federal workforce have now seen unemployment increase multiple times before the folks that were paid to stay home until September 30 come off the job rolls, those people are not able to find jobs. Mr. Speaker, unlike what our Governor says: Just because you are a NASA engineer, doesn't mean that you are qualified for the healthcare jobs that our healthcare providers can't fill. The big, ugly bill is going to make all of those issues worse. I want to share some of what I heard from our healthcare providers. You have the academic research hospitals who are worried they can't attract students, particularly medical students, because of the lifetime cap on student loans which are $257,000. Today, I talked to a physician from Roanoke, Virginia, who has $500,000 in medical school debt. That math doesn't math. When you have enough medical school debt, you have enough debt to pay for somebody's house. Yet now, the next generation of students coming up behind him can only get half of that in Federal student loans. That math doesn't math. I visited a dental clinic in Abingdon, Virginia. Before the dental clinic, most people west of Roanoke who needed dental services waited until once a year when the RAM Clinic came to Wise County. You would see the longest line you have ever seen of people waiting to get dental services because they live in a dental desert. Now, this clinic was able to open, and 80 percent of their patients are Medicaid recipients. The other 20 percent are uninsured. They are worried what happens when the Medicaid cuts take effect and the 80 percent starts to decline as to how many are actually paying something. They won't be able to cover their costs. When Medicaid reimbursement rates were already too low for them to completely recover their costs, that is going to be even harder. When I shared with the press what I was hearing from healthcare providers across the State, how they were worried they were going to have to close because of Medicaid cuts, the gentleman who represents that area said that Democrats are just spreading fear. Well, imagine my surprise--actually not surprised--when last week Augusta Medical Group, which covers parts of southwest Virginia, announced they were closing three primary care centers in western Virginia as part of its response to the one big, ugly big. It is not hyperbole. You have rural hospitals that are already operating on the margins who now are going to have to provide more uncompensated care. Mr. Speaker, when people come off of Medicaid and when the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits for purchasing insurance on the Affordable Care Act Exchange expire if we don't act by the end of this year and more people become uninsured, they are not going to magically never get sick. They are going to get sick. When they get sick and show up for care, they will go to the emergency rooms. They will be treated. It is going to be more expensive to treat them. It will be uncompensated care. Guess who pays for that? We do when our insurance premiums go up or when the price of care goes up to recover the cost from private insurers. All of these jobs that are lost, that is also employer-provided health insurance. That is even more uninsured. My colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee said they are trying to make sure Medicaid is made sustainable for future generations. That bill did not do a thing to address the underlying reasons healthcare costs are going up. It just provided that fewer people would end up getting health insurance, up to 17 million according to the Congressional Budget Office. Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot about the SNAP benefit cuts. I heard from recipients who were worried, but I also heard from grocery stores, rural and urban. I represent Surry County. Surry County has one grocery store. It opened last year. Prior to that, it didn't have a grocery store for 20 years. That meant that people in Surry County drove 30 minutes to go grocery shopping. They couldn't get a lot of perishable items. They could only get what would fit in a cooler. The Surry Marketplace helped with that. The Surry Marketplace took forever, but we were able to help them become eligible for SNAP. They would receive SNAP benefits. They knew that certain times of the month the SNAP recipients would come in. It was mostly the seniors living in two senior facilities within walking distance to the grocery store. The grocery store bought enough fresh food, produce and meat, that made it sustainable for the market to buy fresh food in bulk and know it would be sold. That is 10 percent of their revenue. Their worry is that when people lose their SNAP benefits, they can't count on that bulk anymore. It will be harder for them to keep their doors open. I heard the same thing from the market in Church Hill in downtown East End, Richmond. Both of these areas were food deserts before these stores opened. By the way, a lot of their customers are also Medicaid recipients. The same people who lose access to the food benefits and lose access to their healthcare in the HUD funding bill could lose access to rental assistance, as well. I heard a lot about FEMA cuts. We had a water infrastructure roundtable. I represent cities that have water infrastructure that is over 100 years old. One of them received a grant to help upgrade its water treatment plant and its water infrastructure that failed earlier this year during a storm. They got a resiliency grant from FEMA to help upgrade that infrastructure so they would know that when there is a natural disaster the water infrastructure will survive it and the people in the region will have clean drinking water. The Department of Homeland Security canceled that grant, saying it had nothing to do with natural disasters. Mr. Speaker, I think we all want to be sure that a water infrastructure system will provide clean drinking water when there is a hurricane, a tropical storm, or another natural disaster. From childcare to healthcare to housing to utility bills, these are just a few of the things that I heard from my constituents about how the price of everything is going up. You name it, Mr. Speaker. So far, the funding actions of the President and Congress have made it worse. We passed an energy bill last week that gutted the very programs that help people weatherize their homes to reduce their energy costs. We cut in half the very department that has that program. People ask me: Weren't you elected to help people solve problems? I was, but we have to work together to do it. Just because Republicans are in the majority does not mean that they only govern over Republicans. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in Virginia's Fourth District and across the Commonwealth want us to come together to help them solve their problems. That is what the best of government does. It does not make them worse. In November, the people made very clear--and they continue to make clear today--the cost of everything is too high. When I talk to Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--rural, urban, and suburban-- no matter where they were born, no matter what language they speak, no matter the color of their skin, no matter who they love, no matter how they worship, they want three things: They want to know they live in a thriving and healthy community. They want to know that they have a job that allows them not just to pay their bills but to have a fair shot at a better life for their children than they had. When they get sick, they want to know they can go to the doctor and not go bankrupt. Every single person that I talked to in my district during the August period said it is getting harder to do that, and they are afraid it is not going to get better. We answer to our constituents. When we all took our oath of office, we took an oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and to do our jobs to the best of our ability. When we see people who are hurting and we have the ability to help, our job--or as Matthew 25 says: When we see somebody who is hungry, we feed them. When we see someone who is homeless, we give them shelter. When we see someone who is sick, we provide them care. When we see a stranger, we welcome them. When someone is in prison, we visit them. At a minimum, how about we make sure they are in conditions that are humane? We can do a lot better. The American people deserve better. It is going to require us to put politics aside and focus on the people. We have 22 days to do it, Mr. Speaker. We have 22 days to decide: Are we going to come together, find common ground, fund this government in a way that helps people and puts people over politics, or are we going to let it all shut down? I didn't come here to shut down the government. I also didn't come here to vote for a bill that strips food out of children's mouths and that strips healthcare away from the people that need it. That is not what my constituents sent me here to do. That is not what my constituents sent me here to do. That is not what this government has done in the past when people were hurting. I end where I started. My parents saw the best of government, and they saw the worst of government. If we had another hour, I could walk down the path of how a lot of what I am seeing in 2025 reminds me of what my grandparents saw in 1925 or what my great-grandparents saw in 1905, but we only have 1 Special Order hour and not 2. Let me just say: Let's find our better angels and show the American people the best of government, where we come together and put people over politics and meet their needs and solve problems together.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, for the last 6 weeks, I traveled around not just my district but the entire Commonwealth of Virginia to talk about the work that we are doing here in Washington as we headed back to try to avoid a government shutdown in the next 28 days. Frankly, I didn't hear a lot about Jeffrey Epstein, although what happened is very serious and the survivors do indeed need closure. I didn't hear very much about January 6, although that was a serious stain on American history. What I did hear about were concerns about rising costs. The costs of everything from healthcare to childcare, energy, food, and technology, everything is going up. The President's illegal tariff policy is making that worse. I heard concerns from providers and patients about the impact that Medicaid cuts are going to have on hundreds of thousands of Virginians. I heard from State legislators and local government officials about the concerns they have about shifting costs on their budgets. That is why I oppose the energy appropriations bill here today because one way to reduce costs while meeting our energy demands is through energy efficiency programs and clean and renewable energy. However, this bill cuts in half the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office and by extension the programs for energy efficiency and clean energy. We will never meet our exploding energy demands affordably, reliably, and quickly without energy efficiency and clean energy programs, and that is why I stand to oppose this bill.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commemorate the Reverend Dr. Todd Gray's 30th anniversary as the pastor of Fifth Street Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. For three decades. Reverend Gray has provided unwavering spiritual leadership, compassionate guidance, and steadfast service to his congregation and the greater Richmond community. Since answering the call to lead Fifth Street Baptist Church in 1994, Reverend Gray has embodied the principles of faith, humility, and service. Under his leadership, the church has grown both spiritually and numerically, expanding its ministries and deepening its outreach to meet the evolving needs of its members and the surrounding community. Throughout his tenure as pastor, Reverend Gray has remained committed to preaching a message of hope and justice, empowering individuals to live lives rooted in faith and purpose. His passion for education, economic empowerment, and social equity has been evident not only in the pulpit, but also in his civic engagement and community partnerships. He has mentored young leaders, supported families in crisis, and spoken out boldly for those whose voices often go unheard. Reverend Gray's leadership has been a stabilizing force and a source of inspiration. His devotion to his congregation and community knows no bounds. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Reverend Dr. Todd Gray for his 30 years of outstanding leadership at Fifth Street Baptist Church.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 20th pastoral anniversary of Reverend Tyrone Nelson, a native of Richmond, Virginia, and the esteemed pastor of Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church. For two decades, Reverend Nelson has led Sixth Mount Zion with vision, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to service. Under his leadership, the church has grown not only in membership, but in its outreach and impact throughout the Richmond community. He has been a steadfast advocate for the needs of his congregation and a champion for justice, education, housing, and economic empowerment in the city and beyond. Reverend Nelson's tenure has been marked by a spirit of innovation and inclusivity, fostering a welcoming environment for individuals and families from all walks of life. His ability to connect faith with action has helped shape the church into a community anchor, offering programs and partnerships that address food insecurity, youth mentorship, and senior care, while serving as a safe gathering place for civic dialogue and community advancement. In addition to his responsibilities as pastor of Sixth Mount Zion Baptist, Reverend Nelson has remained active in civic life, lending his voice to advance equity, opportunity, and public service. His leadership extends far beyond the pulpit, touching the lives of countless community members through both his words and his work. Reverend Nelson's dedication over the past 20 years is a testament to what can be achieved when faith, integrity, and community come together. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Reverend Tyrone Nelson on 20 years of extraordinary service. May his leadership continue to inspire, uplift, and strengthen the Richmond community for many years to come.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a group of courageous Virginians who demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service and persevered through adversity to open doors for future generations. On July 1, 1950, the City of Richmond hired ten African-American men to serve in the Richmond Bureau of Fire, making them the first Black career firefighters in both the city and the Commonwealth of Virginia. I recognize and commend these trailblazers: Charles L. Belle, William Brown, Douglass O. Evans, Harvey Hicks, Warren W. Kersey, Bernard C. Lewis, Farra Lucas, Arthur L. Page, Arthur C. St. John, and Linwood M. Wooldridge. Their arrival formed the first all-Black unit in Richmond's segregated fire department. Although these men met all the qualifications, the department subjected them to unequal treatment, including segregated facilities, extended training periods, and limited chances for promotion. Despite holding college degrees and completing superior training, the men of Engine Company No. 9 worked exclusively at a single station at Fifth and Duval Streets, in the heart of Richmond's Black business and residential district. These men trained as a unit and held higher qualifications than many of their white peers, yet the department consistently denied them equal opportunities for advancement. They waited years for the department to recognize their promotional exam results. Mr. Charles L. Belle passed the lieutenant's exam in 1956 but didn't receive a promotion until 1967, after he retook the test ten more times. Several other men overcame similar barriers to advance their careers: Harvey S. Hicks earned promotions to Lieutenant in 1955 and Captain in 1961; Linwood M. Wooldridge became a Lieutenant in 1956; Oscar L. Blake advanced in 1959; and Arthur L. Page earned the rank of Lieutenant in 1961. These brave men faced discrimination on and off duty. Many times, homeowners forced them to use back entrances or refused them entry when they responded to emergencies. Despite these challenges, they served with dignity, courage, and professionalism. Their presence uplifted Richmond's Black community, where they actively participated in faith- based, civic, fraternal, and social institutions. In 1963, the Richmond Fire Department finally began to desegregate six of its 28 companies. Although the city demolished Engine Company No. 9 in 1968, its legacy endures. In 1992, former members of that unit founded Engine Company No. 9 and Associates Inc. to preserve and share their history. On July 1, 2000, the City of Richmond honored the 50th anniversary of its hiring by installing a Virginia State Historic Highway Marker--Marker Number SA-54--at the corner of Fifth and Duval Streets. These men were more than firefighters. They were pioneers who paved the way for equity in public safety. I rise to honor their memory and the legacy of courage, service and perseverance that continues to inspire generations of public servants across the Commonwealth.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1766, the NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act, which I was pleased to introduce with the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte). Mr. Speaker, this important bipartisan legislation would cement the responsibilities of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, by codifying, renaming, and enhancing the work of its Office of Policy Analysis and Development, which plays a critical role in shaping our Nation's telecommunications and information objectives. NTIA is already central to advancing market-driven strategies that foster innovation, expand broadband deployment, and promote a competitive digital economy. However, this legislation ensures that NTIA is equally empowered to help safeguard that digital future, particularly as the cybersecurity threats we face grow more complex and more dangerous by the day. Last year's Salt Typhoon cyberattack was one of the most sophisticated and malicious efforts to infiltrate our telecommunications networks. It was a sobering reminder of how vulnerable our communications infrastructure remains and how deeply those vulnerabilities can impact multiple sectors from healthcare to national security. In today's interconnected world, a breach in one wireless network can compromise critical services in transportation, healthcare, finance, and public safety. As our reliance on digital technologies increases, so too does the scale and sophistication of these threats, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence. While AI holds tremendous potential to improve efficiency, optimize networks, and revolutionize industries, it also introduces new cybersecurity risks. Foreign adversaries and malicious actors are already leveraging AI to enhance phishing campaigns, automate malware, and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities faster than ever before. These tools can evade traditional defenses, manipulate systems, and do so at a scale and speed that we have never encountered or imagined before. That is why this legislation is so timely and so necessary. By reinforcing the NTIA's authority and resources in cybersecurity policy, we position the agency to not only be a leader in innovation and broadband expansion but a central player in securing the Nation's digital infrastructure against these emerging threats. As the principal adviser to the President on telecommunications and information policy, NTIA must be equipped to identify risks early, coordinate effectively across agencies, and shape forward-looking policies that protect American consumers, businesses, and critical services. Mr. Speaker, I applaud my colleague for introducing this bill, and I urge my fellow Members to join me in supporting it. Strengthening NTIA's cybersecurity capabilities is not just a matter of good governance but a national security imperative.

Ms. McCLELLAN

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to anchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour marking the fifth anniversary this Thursday of when we lost a civil rights giant, Congressman John Lewis. Congressman Lewis' parting words to us were published in The New York Times in an op-ed entitled, ``Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation.'' It was a message of hope as he passed the baton as a drum major for justice to the next generation of Americans. His words are more necessary today than ever and need to be repeated. For the next hour, my colleagues will hear members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other members who served with Congressman Lewis or were inspired by him, using his own words to talk about his legacy. I would like to start with the beginning of his op-ed, which is poignantly relevant today. ``While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life, you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people, motivated simply by human compassion, laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and around the world, you set aside race, class, age, language, and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.'' Mr. Speaker, we need that call, that clarion call, that demand for respect for human dignity today more than ever before. We need the hope and inspiration that this drum major for justice saw in the next generation that would succeed him in the battle for the soul of our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), who is our immediate past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), who is the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), who is the Speaker emerita and who worked with Congressman Lewis very closely for many years.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), one of John Lewis' delegation mates.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell), who has made sure that Members of Congress follow the footsteps that John Lewis took, where he bled for our right not only to vote but to be here in this Chamber.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams).

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for her words. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to Representative Lucy McBath, one of Congressman Lewis' delegation mates from Georgia.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield to Congressman Lewis' successor, Representative Nikema Williams of Georgia's Fifth.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).

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

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California, Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island, Gabe Amo.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), one of Congressman Lewis' delegation mates.

Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. McIver).