Jerrold Nadler

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I support this amendment, which would require the preparation of a GAO report on the return on investment for legal assistance grants for victims. Studies show that the efficiency of the legal system improves whenever victims receive assistance by legal professionals. This amendment would provide a vehicle to help us assess the effectiveness and ramifications of providing legal assistance for victims, particularly in the areas of housing, medical needs, and employment social welfare programs. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, every year approximately 7.9 million women are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. An average of three women are killed every day by a current or former intimate partner. These grim statistics underscore the crucial need for us to act without delay to reauthorize VAWA and to enhance and expand the act so that it is even more effective than it has proven to be in the past. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019 is comprehensive and inclusive legislation that I hope will earn bipartisan support in the long tradition of this important law. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to join with me in voting for this critical legislation today. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), a co-chair of the Bipartisan Women's Caucus.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass), the chair of the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee and the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Brown).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan), the assistant Democratic leader.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Wexton).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a distinguished member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Demings), the vice-chair of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, will not only reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, also known as VAWA, but will also strengthen and expand the act's critical programs. VAWA's grant programs provide communities across America the crucial assistance they need to combat crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. H.R. 1585 builds on this foundation by enhancing the services available under these programs and by expanding their reach to include vulnerable populations who are victims of these crimes. VAWA, which is not gender exclusive, addresses the needs of men and women, children, persons with disabilities, homeless persons, and LGBTQ people, among others. Importantly, H.R. 1585 includes new protections for transgender individuals. The range of individuals VAWA helps is broad and should be as diverse as our communities around the country. I am pleased that this reauthorization continues our commitment to this important principle. This bill reauthorizes a wide variety of grant programs, including programs to help prosecute violent crimes against women and to provide services to sexual assault victims. It also strengthens various nondiscrimination provisions, provides greater protections for survivors during the prosecution of perpetrators, expands services for older survivors of abuse, authorizes programs specifically targeted toward rural areas, strengthens protections against gun violence in domestic abuse situations, and expands the jurisdiction of some Tribal authorities over non-Indians who commit certain crimes on Tribal lands. I want to thank Ms. Bass, the chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and the sponsor of this legislation, for her outstanding leadership in the effort to reauthorize VAWA. I also want to thank Ms. Jackson Lee for her longstanding and tireless efforts over the years to protect and strengthen the act. Thanks to their efforts and the efforts of many others, this bill will not only continue the progress enabled by VAWA as originally enacted, but it will also make the act an even more effective tool in addressing the horrible scourge of domestic violence. Mr. Chair, accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC, March 14, 2019. Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Pallone: I am writing to you concerning H.R. 1585, the ``Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019.'' I appreciate your willingness to work cooperatively on this legislation. I recognize that the bill contains provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. I acknowledge that your Committee will not formally consider H.R. 1585 and agree that the inaction of your Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the matters contained in H.R. 1585 which fall within your Committee's Rule X jurisdiction. I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward to continuing to work with you as this measure moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, Jerrold Nadler, Chairman.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and in opposition to the administration's ban on openly transgender individuals in the armed services. Throughout history, each time we expand who may join the armed services to better reflect the diversity of our Nation, the same tired and disproven arguments are brought back: that any individual within a new group, regardless of their ability, is unfit to serve and that they will disrupt unit cohesion. We heard these arguments with respect to Black and Latino men; women; and gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. But we know that is simply untrue. There are no issues with transgender individuals serving in our military. You don't have to take my word for it. The service chiefs of all five branches of our military have testified that there have been zero instances of transgender servicemembers hurting cohesion or readiness since the ban was first lifted. The conservative obsession with targeting and attacking transgender individuals in all areas of American life is cruel and immoral. It is astonishing that, after years of ``support our troops'' demagoguery from my colleagues across the aisle, they would choose to turn their backs on Active-Duty servicemembers and vote to specifically deny them medically prescribed care. After 2\1/2\ years of transgender servicemembers serving with no issues, there is one reason and one reason alone for this administration to be bringing back a ban on transgender servicemembers: to force a bigoted agenda on the military that they cannot force on the rest of the American people. Mr. Speaker, much of the history of this country is the history of expanding our understanding of whom the Declaration of Independence meant when it said that all men are created equal. It didn't mean, in 1776, Black men; it certainly didn't mean women; it didn't mean Native Americans; and it didn't mean LGBTQ people. We have come to the point where we understand, at least aspirationally, it means all of those things. This resolution gives us a choice: Do we join the march? Do we continue the march to expand the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to declare equality for everyone regardless of specific characteristics, or do we join that dreary procession of slavers, confederates, racists, and misogynists who have dragged this country through the mud and have besmirched the ideals of the Declaration of Independence? That is our choice today. Let's take the right one.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, in 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women earned 59 cents on the dollar compared to men. In the 56 years since, that gap has only closed by 21 cents. Women still make only 80 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts and earn less than men in nearly every single occupation. The pay gap is even more extreme for women of color. Over the course of an entire career, that gap results in women losing millions of dollars in earnings compared to their male counterparts. In today's economy, in which women make up more than half of the workforce and are the sole or co-breadwinner in half of American families, that is simply unacceptable. Being paid fairly for your work is a fundamental issue of fairness and freedom. Pay disparity can limit women's career choices and their financial independence, but equal pay enables women to save for retirement, to build careers, to buy homes, and to support their families. Today, I am proud to vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation I have cosponsored in every Congress since 1997. This legislation gets us closer, at last, to fulfilling the promise of equal pay for equal work and finally ensuring that women have the ability to fight back against wage discrimination and close the wage gap. I wish to thank Chairman Scott for including language in this bill that mirrors legislation I introduced with Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton to address how employers use salary history. Many women and minorities start their careers with unfair and artificially low salaries compared to their White male counterparts. That discrepancy can be compounded from job to job, when employers rely heavily on salary history in compensation packages. This change will help ensure that women's pay is based on their merit and not on the past discrimination of other employers. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and to finish the work of closing the wage gap.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of overriding the President's veto of H.J. Res. 46. One month ago, the House passed a bipartisan resolution to terminate the so-called national emergency declared by President Trump. The Senate has likewise voted on a broad bipartisan basis to reject that emergency declaration, leaving President Trump to issue the first veto of his Presidency. I am more convinced than ever that the President's actions are not only unlawful, they are deeply irresponsible. A core foundation of our system of government--and of democracies across the world going back hundreds of years--is that the executive cannot unilaterally spend taxpayers' money without the legislature's consent. The President shredded that concept when he declared an emergency after he failed to get his way in a budget negotiation. As he often does, he announced his intention to ignore Congress in plain sight for all the world to see. Meanwhile, hundreds of Americans have started receiving letters from the Federal Government demanding entry onto their land. Soon our fellow citizens' backyards may be seized in order to build a medieval border wall that Congress and the American people do not want. The senseless diversion of military resources to the southern border has also created concerns about our troops' combat readiness and their ability to implement other key priorities, and the Trump administration appears to be deciding on the fly which military construction projects they are planning to raid, leaving our men and women in uniform and everyone else who might be affected in a prolonged state of uncertainty. This type of chaos and confusion is the inevitable result when the President ignores the express will of Congress. The Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing to discuss the National Emergencies Act and to begin considering reforms to check abuses of this power. I was heartened by the enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle for such efforts, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on these proposals. But these longer term reform efforts should not detract from our responsibility to address what the President is doing right now. President Trump's invention of a so-called national emergency to suit his political goals and to get around Congress' refusal of the funding request is intolerable, and I will be proud to cast my vote to override his veto.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.