Ilhan Omar

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Chair, I agree with my colleague: It is our responsibility to have oversight. That is simply what this amendment does. It makes sure that we have an understanding of what our money is being spent on and the benefits that that money will get us. We have to have a clear understanding of what the purposes are of the over 800 different military bases we have around the world and how much money it is costing us to continue to operate them. That is simply what we are asking for. That is what the American people want to know, and that is the kind of responsibility we shouldn't abdicate. So I want to make sure that we have a report that clearly lays out the kind of money that is being spent and the kind of benefits that we are getting for it. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 3055. My amendment addresses the misguided use of solitary confinement within our Nation's prison systems and the harmful impact it has on incarcerated populations. Solitary confinement is torture. For people with mental health issues, landing in solitary not only produces behaviors that yield more time in solitary, but it can also extend prison sentences, sometimes drastically. For these already vulnerable people, solitary confinement generates a cycle of punishment that for some can literally be endless. In many prisons in this country, the de facto penalty for even minor prison rules violations, including those obviously caused by psychological distress or disability, has become solitary confinement. The isolation of solitary almost inevitably causes a measurable deterioration in mental health, which in turn leads to more behavioral issues punished with more solitary confinement. Oftentimes, someone who was only supposed to spend a couple of years in prison ends up spending the rest of their life there, or they end up returning because they have been so damaged by solitary confinement that they can't adjust to life outside of prison. This vicious cycle of violence must end. Individuals with underlying psychological disabilities are already overrepresented in prisons and jails, and this inhumane, inexcusable punishment is only perpetuating those problems. That is why we must put an end to solitary confinement once and for all. I believe that, together, we can reform this cycle. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 310. Amendment No. 65 Offered by Ms. Porter

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the horrifying human rights abuses that our administration fails to confront. There are more than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees who have fled the genocide in Burma. About half a million were driven out by a deliberate, coordinated campaign by the Burmese state to destroy Rohingya villages. According to Human Rights Watch, refugees who arrived in Bangladesh in 2018 reported continued abuses by Burmese security forces, including killings, arson, enforced disappearances, extortion, severe restrictions on movement, and lack of food and healthcare. They also reported sexual violence and abduction of women and girls in villages and at checkpoints along the route to Bangladesh. Returnees to Myanmar faced arrest and torture by authorities. There are more than 128,000 Rohingya still in detention camps, where they have been confined since 2012. At its peak, Rohingya refugee resettlement in the United States was 2,573 refugees in fiscal year 2015. That number has dropped to just 207 in fiscal year 2019. We are supporting Rohingya refugees through funding programs in refugee camps, but we must do more and help them resettle here in the United States.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the horrifying crimes against humanity that China is currently committing against the Uighur population. About a million Uighur Muslims have been detained in so-called reeducation camps in China. Reports from the camps are scarce, but they indicate that physical and psychological torture is taking place. These are the precursors to genocide. We have the power to act. According to reports in The Atlantic, 22 Uighur Muslims with no known anti-American sentiments were detained at Guantanamo in late 2001 and kept there for 12 years at the urging of the Chinese Government. There are also known cases of Uighurs on the suspected terrorist watch list in the United States, and it is entirely possible they were added, unfairly, by the Chinese Government. Reporting in The Wall Street Journal indicates that U.S. companies, including Coca-Cola, the Gap, and Kraft Heinz, are materially benefiting from the Uighur detention, and this must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to defy the horrifying attacks happening against women's reproductive rights all across this country. Religious fundamentalists are currently trying to manipulate the State laws in order to impose their beliefs on an entire society, all with complete disregard for voices and the rights of American women. The recent efforts like those in Alabama and Georgia are only the latest in a long history of efforts to criminalize women for simply existing and to punish us when we don't conform to their attempts to control us. And a new proposal in Texas would go as far as to threaten women who obtain an abortion with capital punishment. If that were being proposed by any other country, we would be calling it a dangerous violation of human rights. But because it is happening here with the support of the ultraconservative religious right, we call it religious freedom. It is simply unthinkable. But this anti-choice movement isn't only unjust, it is dangerous because history has proven that when abortion is criminalized, the number of abortions do not simply go down. The number of deaths and injuries to women increase. Let's just be honest. For the religious right, this isn't simply about their care or concern for life. If they cared about or were concerned about children, then they would be concerned about the children who are being detained and those who are dying in camps across our borders or the children who are languishing in hunger and facing homelessness. This isn't about religious morality or conviction, because we have seen time and time again those who talk about their faith and want to push policies because of their faith are the ones who simply are caught with the hypocrisy of not living it out in their personal lives. I just remember recently, not too long ago, a Republican Congressman who had to retire, Tim Murphy, because he asked his mistress to abort their baby while pushing for a ban on abortion. Or I remember the anti- LGBT rights Republican, Larry Craig, who was found soliciting sex in a bathroom in a Minneapolis airport. I am frustrated every single time I hear people speaking about their faith and pushing that on to other people, because we know those so- called religious politicians, when it comes to their life and their choices, they want to talk about freedom, but when it comes to other people's lives and other people's choices, then they want to talk about religion. I feel that we must point out how ironic it is that women now are facing these challenges to their freedom in the week that we are marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. How can it be that an entire century has passed, and we are still forced to fight for our rights as women, as human beings, and as Americans? This should outrage every single person. It certainly outrages me, and we can no longer stand for it. So today I ask every woman in this country no matter her age, her race, or her political affiliation to stand with me--to stand with us-- to stand up and tell those who challenge our voice, our place, and our right to decide for ourselves to not be silent, to speak up and to reclaim their right to choose.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 185; YEA Roll Call No. 186; YEA Roll Call No. 187; and YEA Roll Call No. 188.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Reading from Volume II, page 157: The ``investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian- interference and obstruction investigations. The incidents were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels. These actions ranged from efforts to remove the special counsel and to reverse the effect of the attorney general's recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony. Viewing the acts collectively can help to illuminate their significance.'' Volume II, page 157.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. My amendment includes findings recognizing the importance of the Paris climate agreement's task force addressing the impact of climate change on displacement and the global refugee crisis. The United States is responsible for nearly a third of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today and, thus, bears more responsibility for the climate crisis than any other country. But the climate crisis is a major contributing factor of yet another devastating crisis we are facing today: the global refugee crisis. In 2017, more than 60 percent of the internal displacements in the world was a result not of conflict but of natural disasters. Since 2008, an average of 24 million people has been displaced by catastrophic weather disasters each year. Within three of the most vulnerable regions of the world--sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America--143 million people could be displaced by climate change impacts by 2050. We do not need to look that far from home to know this. At least 400,000 residents of New Orleans were displaced by Hurricane Katrina for at least a few days, and many were displaced permanently. A disproportionate number of them were Black Americans. We saw it happen last year in Puerto Rico when 3,000 people died because of Hurricane Maria and our current administration failed to help them recover. At a time when climate change is making droughts and famines worse, making conflicts fiercer and repression more brutal, our country is resettling historically low numbers of refugees. The United States should be offering protection and support to climate change refugees. Instead, we have capped the number of refugees that we resettle to only 30,000 people next year. Citizens of some of the countries that have been hit hardest by climate change, including Yemen, Iran, and Somalia, are currently subject to an arbitrary and racist Muslim ban. We cannot be willing to turn our backs on those suffering because of the effects of global catastrophes. We have to acknowledge that this tragedy is not going to go away any time soon. As food security, drinking water, and energy supplies become scarcer, more and more families are going to be forced to leave their homes. Countries that are responsible for perpetuating the climate crisis, like the United States, should rise as leaders in offering protection and refuge for displaced communities. It is our duty, as one of the richest countries in the world, to support the Paris Agreement and its task force on the impact of climate change on displacement and the global refugee crisis. Mr. Chairman, I ask for support for this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the student debt crisis that is holding back our students, our families, and our economy. Last year, American's collective student loan debt surpassed $1.5 trillion. The shackles of debt keep former students and their families from seeing the economic prosperity promised to them by their education. More than 40 million Americans now have student debt, and the amount of debt that the average student carries is rising. Student loan balances have more than doubled real terms since 2005. Average real student loan debt per capita for individuals between the ages of 24 to 32 has risen from $5,000 in 2005 to $10,000 in 2014. It is driving down home ownership rates, especially for young people. One study found that a $1,000 increase in student loan debt causes a 1- to-2 percent drop in home ownership rates for borrowers in their late twenties and early thirties, threatening to undermine the long-term financial stability of an entire generation. Young adults who graduate college with a student debt now have negative net worth with a median net worth of $1,900, down from $9,000 in 2013. Student loan debt does not only impact young people. The number of people over 60 with student loan debt has quadrupled in the last four decades. Parents are increasingly jeopardizing their retirement to pay off loans they took out to pay for their kids' education. The source of student debt does not affect all Americans equally. Students of color face a higher risk of defaulting on their student loans and struggle to find jobs to pay off these loans due to discrimination in hiring practices. First generation and immigrant college students face much higher default rates, and women own two-thirds of the $1.4 trillion total of student debt. The burden of this debt will be intensified postgraduation by the gender gap. It is time we started treating student debt like the national crisis it is. We need urgent action to address it. That is why I support debt free and tuition-free college and will be introducing a bill to cancel all student debt. Our Debt-Free College Act would make debt-free college a reality for students within 5 years. We can ensure that students graduate debt free and are not at a competitive disadvantage as a result of the burden of student loan debt. Making public 2-year and 4-year colleges free and accessible to all is essential in investing in an equitable future. It would also provide an enormous middle class stimulus that would boost economic growth, increase home purchases, and fuel a new wave of small business formation. Student debt is not the result of bad choices or behaviors. It is the result of a system that tells the students to get an education, go to college in order to have a stable life, but then does not provide the resources so that they can afford that education. But I believe together we can reform that system.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 126.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment. This amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act includes language of a bill that I am proud to be an original cosponsor of called the Abby Honold Act. Abby is a constituent of mine, a former student at the University of Minnesota. A survivor of sexual assault, she has been a fierce champion of this initiative and was the driving force behind this legislation that bears her name. I want to make sure that my colleagues support this amendment on behalf of the thousands of victims who experience trauma. This is a key part of their recovery process and a crucial response to the immediate aftermath.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Chair, I am honored to rise today to speak on H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. I am proud to be part of a Congress that is finally taking action to close the gender pay gap. After so many years of inaction on this issue when our Republican colleagues were in the majority, I think it is fair to say that it is about time. It is hard to imagine that, in this day and age, women could be paid less than a man for doing the same job. But it happens, and it happens often. Statistics show that pay disparity isn't a thing of the past; it is happening today. It isn't just holding women back; it is amplifying racial inequalities across the country. We often hear the statistics that say women make 80 cents to every dollar that is paid to a man, but those figures are often worse for women of color. Black women are making only 61 cents on the dollar. For Latina women, that is 53 cents. For Native American women, it is 58 cents. Clearly, the pay gap is compounded by a racial gap. It should be obvious to all of us that this problem extends beyond the workplace. Madam Chair, you see the impact everywhere you look around our society. Women of color are less likely to have healthcare coverage. They are more likely to experience hunger. They are less likely to own a home or be fully prepared for retirement. At the end of the day, those pennies on the dollar add up, and that loss of income is putting women of color at a serious disadvantage. The Paycheck Fairness Act will take aggressive action to remedy these inequalities and tear down the economic barriers that women of color face. It will do that, in part, by ensuring the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has the information it needs to detect pay discrimination and to identify those additional cross-section biases.

Ms. OMAR. Madam Chair, I am proud to introduce an amendment with my colleague, Representative Beyer from Virginia, that will ensure that the major employers are required to report that information to that commission. That will go a long way to finally ending the systemic barriers that women and women of color face in this country. I thank Chair Scott and Chair DeLauro. I am really excited to be part of this change-making Congress. I include in the Record a letter from the NAACP in support of this legislation. Washington Bureau, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Washington, DC, March 25, 2019. Re: NAACP Strong support for the immediate passage of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Honorable, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative: On behalf of the NAACP, our nation's oldest, largest and most widely-recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization, I strongly urge you to support and vote in favor of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. This critical legislation would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which mandated that employers pay equal wages to men and women who perform substantially the same work. The Paycheck Fairness Act closes loopholes in the Equal Pay Act which have diluted its effectiveness in combating unfair and unequal pay. While the Equal Pay Act has helped to narrow the wage gap between men and women in our workforce, significant disparities remain and must be addressed. Especially in today's economy, more women work outside of the home and their paycheck is a necessary part of their households' resources. Yet all too often women are forced to raise their families on incomes lower than that of male colleagues performing the same jobs. According to 2018 data, women in the United States are typically paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. The median annual pay for a woman who holds a full-time, year-round job is $41,977 while the median annual pay for a man who holds a full-time, year-round job is $52,146--a difference of $10,169 per year. The statistics are even worse for women of color. African- American women make only 61 cents, and Hispanic women only 53 cents, for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. These gaps translate into a loss of almost $24,000 a year for African-American women and almost $28,500 annually for Hispanic women. The Paycheck Fairness Act is a responsible, steady yet aggressive bill. It will help remedy this inequity and close this unacceptable gap. In short, the legislation will protect women and families across America by: protecting against retaliation for discussing salaries with colleagues; prohibiting employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history or requiring salary history during the interview and hiring process; requiring employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons; providing plaintiffs who file sex-based wage discrimination claims under the Equal Pay Act with the same remedies as are available to plaintiffs who file race- or ethnicity-based wage discrimination claims under the 1964 Civil Rights Act; removing obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to facilitate plaintiffs' participation in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination; and creating a negotiation skills training program for women and girls. I again urge you to do all you can to see that this important legislation is enacted as quickly as possible so that women can begin to have some parity for a day's work. This in turn will help hard working American women, their children and their families gain the economic stability they deserve. Please support the Paycheck Fairness Act and work to eliminate this unacceptable gap in pay. Sincerely, Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau & Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 26th day of what is now the longest running government shutdown in history, a shutdown which is nothing more than a manufactured crisis designed to distract us from the instability and dysfunction that rules the Trump White House. Trump has orchestrated this shutdown because he is looking for someone else to blame for the ineffectiveness of his administration. He wants to point to us here in Congress and claim that we are the reason he is failing to lead this country. But that blame, Madam Speaker, belongs to Trump--and Trump only. He singlehandedly forced seven agencies to stop their crucial work, work that impacts the health and safety of every American. Soon, millions of people could start to go hungry as the government runs out of money to fund nutritional assistance through the SNAP program. Thousands could face eviction and become homeless as HUD becomes unable to deliver desperately needed housing assistance. Federal courts could shut down. Our aviation system could come to a halt as flights are grounded. And the list, Madam Speaker, goes on and on. But even before this shameful shutdown began, the executive branch agencies were already struggling to operate under Trump's leadership, or the lack thereof. As of today, there are more than 200 critical agency positions for which Trump has failed to even put forward a nominee. That is more than 200 agencies, offices, and programs that are operating without defined leadership, full staff, or resources. Consequently, even once we are able to end this debilitating shutdown, our Federal Government will still be operating at less than full capacity so long as we have an ineffective, ego-driven President at the helm. As Members of Congress, we took an oath to put the people of this country first, to protect their rights, safety, and well-being. That is why we, here in the House, voted on day one of this Congress, and nearly every day since, to reopen this government. The President took a similar oath, and it is time that he honor it because, Madam Speaker, the American people deserve better. The 400,000 furloughed Federal employees deserve better, including the 6,000 workers in my district, alone, who are currently wondering how they are going to pay their rent at the first of the month and if they are able to afford simple necessities like childcare and food. They deserve better. If the President wants to have a real conversation about border security, we are ready to have it. We can talk about finding a solution to our broken immigration system and how to adopt policies that extend humanity and compassion to migrants and refugees. Every day, families are fleeing violence and untold hardships in countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These people are running from situations that are so brutal, that most Americans, thankfully, could not comprehend, but as a refugee from Somalia, I do. So I invite the President to engage in a real conversation with Congress on immigration. If he wants, we can talk about the $2 million the Guatemalan Government paid to D.C. lobbyists and how our government is cozying up to corrupt regimes in that country. If he is interested, we could also talk about the U.S. funding and training for Honduras security forces that are involved in serious human rights violations and how these policies that we support are forcing people to flee from their homeland. If he wants to talk, we are ready to talk, but we don't need a government shutdown to do it. I join the similar calls made by my colleagues today, and I demand that the President end his temper tantrum and quest for a racist and cynical big wall, and I demand that he work with us to reopen the government before any more damage is done. Enough is enough. The American people deserve better.

Ms. OMAR

Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 4.